blognetnews.com
» Bloomington

Auto racing

  • Kurt’s final story

    I can't pretend to have known Kurt all that well. We talked sports, of course, and I always appreciated the way he wasn't afraid to express an unpopular opinion. He was a great admirer of the success of Roger Penske. I knew something about the Penske empire, seeing that it was [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: June 10, 2009, 5:00pm EDT

  • Kurt passed away today

    Here's the first story from HeraldTimesOnline.com: Kurt Van der Dussen, a 32-year member of The Herald-Times newsroom staff, died today at Indiana University Hospital in Indianapolis. He had been undergoing treatment for lung cancer for the past 18 months. “Kurt’s death is a blow to all of us at the H-T and to [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: June 09, 2009, 11:00pm EDT

  • Faith is the victory

    There was only one story at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway this month that mattered, and that was the complete vindication of Helio Castroneves. The man whose life was tormented and seized from his own hands for six months by cocksure, publicity-seeking, easy-pickings-thinking feds on trumped-up tax-evasion charges, only to be returned [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: May 24, 2009, 11:00pm EDT

  • Now go for the fence, Helio

    There was great news on two fronts today for Helio Castroneves. First, he was fastest in today's Carburetion Day tests up at the Speedway, with Penske Racing teammates Will Power and Ryan Briscoe 2nd and 5th. (Dark-horse threats Mario Moraes with KV Racing and Dan Wheldon with Panther were 3rd and [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: May 22, 2009, 5:00pm EDT

  • If Penske stats hold, Helio or Ryan wins Sunday

    If statistics mean anything, either Helio Castroneves or Ryan Briscoe will pull a Team Penske machine into Victory Lane Sunday. And my money would be on Helio. Since Rick Mears' first of four victories for Roger Penske in 1979, Team Penske has not gone more than two races in a row' [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: May 20, 2009, 11:00pm EDT

  • F1 skating on very thin ice

    Anyone who follows Formula 1 racing has been following the fight between the sport's governing FIA and the sport's major manufacturer participants, such as Ferrari, Renault, Toyota and BMW, about rules for 2010 and beyond. FIA is determined to reduce the sport's insane costs, but the prescription it has offered is [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: May 20, 2009, 11:00pm EDT

  • Most but not all Cup races would be better if shorter

    There was an interesting column today by Jeff Owens on the FOX Sports NASCAR site, http://msn.foxsports.com/nascar/story/9589662/Time-has-come-for-NASCAR-to-shorten-races, arguing for shortening NASCAR's races to make them more interesting. I thought the writer made a decent case, but an accompanying click-on poll was running close to two-to-one AGAINST shortening Cup races. I bet that reflects [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: May 19, 2009, 11:00pm EDT

  • What a great idea! A Cleveland oval/road doubleheader!

    SPEED.TV's Robin Miller is reporting an absolutely fascinating possibility for the 2010 IRL schedule: A possible doubleheader at Cleveland's Burke Lakefront Airport featuring an "oval" race followed two days later by a race on its traditional road circuit configuration! Super! One regular commenter here, "Formula Fox," already has posted a lengthy analysis [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: May 18, 2009, 11:00pm EDT

  • What a place to win Smoke’s first as owner!

    NASCAR's All-Star race at glitzy Lowe's Motor Speedway may not be a points race, but it IS a million-dollar race for the winner. And what a place and what a race for Tony Stewart to win his first race as a car owner! Smoke's been knocking at the door race after race, [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: May 17, 2009, 2:00am EDT

  • So many ways to write about Helio

    How many ways could I get into a blog about Helio Castroneves winning the pole for this year's Indy 500? Well, I could say he doesn't believe in the adage, "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again," because Saturday he needed only one try-again to unseat teammate Ryan Briscoe [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: May 09, 2009, 11:00pm EDT

  • Interesting twists at Darlington

    At least three interesting things happened in qualifying for Saturday night's Southern 500 at Darlington. First, Matt Kenseth won the pole. Now that's a real rarity. Kenseth is of a breed that includes Tony Stewart now and Dale Earnhardt Sr. in the past who never got much worked up over qualifying, [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: May 08, 2009, 11:00pm EDT

  • Penskes emerge as pole favorites

    While anything can happen with the Speedway's current qualifying formula giving a driver, car and team up to three cracks at the pole, it sure looks as if Team Penske has a real shot at a 1-2 day Saturday. Friday's rain-shortened practice saw Ryan Briscoe and Helio Castroneves as the only [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: May 08, 2009, 5:01pm EDT

  • An ode to Darlington by a better writer than I

    If you love old Darlington Raceway — and what REAL NASCAR fan doesn't adore it? — then you gotta read this piece. Look up http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/nascar/news/story?id=4146137 and read what maybe this sport's premier writer, Ed Hinton, came away with when he interviewed "The Lady in Black" — that's it, the track herself.' [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: May 07, 2009, 11:00pm EDT

  • Usual suspects, plus one rookie, up front at Indy

    When the final scoring sheet for Thursday's 32-car practice session at the Speedway spit out after 6 p.m., it was the usual suspects at the fore. Marco Andretti, who seems to have Indy figured out better than the rest of the IRL's tracks combined, narrowly led free-and-flying Helio Castroneves by .04 [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: May 07, 2009, 11:00pm EDT

  • Tense week coming up at Indy

    Used to be in the good old days that the Indianapolis Motor Speedway would be opening for practice today. Not any more. The only racing going on at the track this weekend is hot-air balloons, including three from Bloomington. The track doesn't open until Tuesday — and then and the first' [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: May 06, 2009, 2:00am EDT

  • Random thoughts at the start of May

    The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is about to open, NASCAR is entering its night-racing month and Formula 1 is unrecognizable headed to Spain and Monaco. Random thoughts to start the month: What's the deal with the Fords at Richmond? The fastest qualifier for the 400-lap Cup race Saturday night is Greg Biffle [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: May 06, 2009, 2:00am EDT

  • Jimmie vs. Little E on Talladega

    Hendrick Racing teammates Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr. have pretty widely differing ideas on how to deal with potentially lethal wrecks such as Carl Edwards' ride into the catch fence at Talladega Sunday. You can find the lengthy Associated Press article at ESPN's NASCAR site at http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/nascar/cup/news/story?id=4107566. It's also at' [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: May 06, 2009, 2:00am EDT

  • So what should NASCAR do — drop Talladega? No way!

    It was a scary instant Sunday when Carl Edwards' car went airborne over the hood of Ryan Newman's car in the finishing seconds of the Aaron's 499 and slam into the Talladega Superspeedway retaining fence, sending some pieces into the crowd and injuring several spectators, none critically. Both Talladega and NASCAR' [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: May 06, 2009, 2:00am EDT

  • Another typical performance from Milka — and her fans

    I was amused by the responses, one somewhat crude, from a couple of Milka Duno fans to my blog Friday bemoaning her return to the IRL. So let's see. She finished dead last of the drivers still running Sunday at Kansas, — though she DOES deserve some credit from out-qualifying such [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: May 06, 2009, 2:00am EDT

  • Danica’s road racing record showed promise before LBGP

    A reader has astutely responded to my blog on Danica Patrick perhaps turning a corner in her road racing abilities with the following: "Ahh, Danica Patrick also qualified on the front row of the Grid for the 2007 Grand Prix of Sonoma and ran with the leaders for almost 60 of" [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: May 06, 2009, 2:00am EDT

  • More rumbling about Cup at Kentucky in ‘10.

    Both the ESPN and FOX NASCAR Websites have interesting pieces today about Bruton Smith's continuing efforts to land a Sprint Cup date for Kentucky Speedway next year. What Bruton wants, Bruton generally gets, but both stories made clear NASCAR's refusal to even consider it before the antitrust lawsuit filed against it [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: May 06, 2009, 2:00am EDT

  • OK, so where’s Danica on TIME’s list?

    A few days ago, I blogged on the basis of several other racing Website reports that Danica Patrick had made TIME magazine's annual list of the 100 most influential people on the planet. The reports I read said she ranked 93rd, ahead of Oprah Winfrey among others. She even responded with [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: May 06, 2009, 2:00am EDT

  • Has Danica turned the corner?

    Danica Patrick is in the news again today, for something good and much-deserved. She won a SPEED TV Web site poll for "Drive of the Race" at the Long Beach Grand Prix Sunday, getting 36 percent of the vote compared to 29 percent for winner Dario Franchitti and 26 percent for [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: April 23, 2009, 5:00pm EDT

  • ALMS still reviewing Highcroft penalty at Long Beach

    The American Le Mans Series still is reviewing the pit penalty incident at Long Beach Saturday that cost the Patron Highcroft team the race, an ALMS official informed me today. Bob Dickinson, ALMS vice president of public relations and media services, asked me to take down his initial comment in response [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: April 23, 2009, 5:00pm EDT

  • 3 Bloomington balloons in Speedway’s centennial race

    A lot of you Indy car fans know that while the first Indianapolis 500 was run in 1911, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway itself opened in 1909 — exactly 100 years ago, when the track was laid down in the farmlands and woods then at the city's outer edge. One of the [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: April 22, 2009, 8:00pm EDT

  • ALMS responds on Highcroft penalty at Long Beach

    I've received a response from the American Le Mans Series concerning what in my Monday blog on the past weekend's racing, I called the "idiotic" penalty on the Patron Highcroft Acura team in Saturday's ALMS event at Long Beach that ended up costing the team the victory. Bob Dickinson, vice president' [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: April 22, 2009, 2:01am EDT

  • Indy 500 field looks pretty stout

    The entry list for the 2009 Indianapolis 500 doesn't have to take a back seat to very many past editions of the world's premier auto race. Even Paul Tracy is going to get another shot at winning the race he still says he knows he won in 2002, but let's not' [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: April 21, 2009, 2:01am EDT

  • What a great weekend of racing!

    If you're a racing fan, it just doesn't get much better than last week. Mark Martin finally wins another NASCAR Sprint Cup race, with the Phoenix crowd cheering so loudly it could be heard over the engines. The Long Beach Grand Prix recovers its full luster with a great show in front [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: April 20, 2009, 11:01pm EDT

  • A solid start to Indy car season

    Given that street races aren't always the most exciting form of racing, Sunday's IRL opener at St. Petersburg was pretty good. The top three finishers — Ryan Briscoe, Ryan Hunter-Reay and Justin Wilson — all made absolutely spectacular passes during the race. Wilson almost got poor Dale Coyne his first win.' [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: April 07, 2009, 12:02am EDT

  • Quick thoughts on qualifying at Texas and St. Pete

    It appears Texas Motor Speedway is now NASCAR's "fastest" track instead of Atlanta Motor Speedway. David Reutemann took the pole at Texas Friday at more than 190 mph, with Jeff Gordon also over that figure. By comparison, Mark Martin took the pole at Hotlanta at a tick over 187. Now, anyone with [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: April 04, 2009, 2:04am EDT

  • Rating IRL drivers mathematically

    Having just earlier this week put up my picks for the top 10 in the Indy Racing League this year, it got me to thinking about how drivers who might not be in the top 10 in skills — say Danica Patrick — can finish in them because of a [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: April 03, 2009, 12:04am EDT

  • Predicting the top 10 in this year’s IRL

    With the Indy Racing League season finally firing up Sunday (uh, you guys need to start in late February, not early April) at St. Petersburg, I suppose I might as well list my picks for the top 10 in the points at season's end: 1. I'm not a gambler. I like' [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: April 01, 2009, 12:04am EDT

  • Forget Versus; watch IRL on its Web site

    Now that the REAL racing season, which is to say open-wheel racing, is upon us, I want to pass on a tidbit I had confirmed during a visit to the Indy Racing League office this morning. The IRL will be video-streaming Sunday's season-opener and all races, plus their practice and qualifying [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: March 31, 2009, 5:04pm EDT

  • Lloyd Ruby was more than just a great Indy car driver

    The Indy car racing world, or at least those of us older than age 50, are marking the death of one of Indy's most popular drivers, especially in the 1960s — Lloyd Ruby. It would make a heckuva argument which of three drivers was the best at Indy NOT to win [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: March 25, 2009, 12:04am EDT

  • Will Mark Martin make the top 35?

    Bristol Motor Speedway is a fortunate track in that both its races have considerable significance to drivers and fans alike. Everyone knows the August night race there is the toughest ticket in NASCAR to get. The event may rank only behind the Daytona 500, Brickyard 400 and Coca Cola 600 in [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: March 19, 2009, 11:02pm EDT

  • Formula 1 gets one right

    I was stunned but delighted earlier today (Tuesday) to read that the czars of Formula 1 have decided to change more than half a century of tradition this year and award the F1 driver's championship to the driver who wins the most races. And let me be swift to join long-time [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: March 18, 2009, 1:03am EDT

  • More on Helio’s tax case

    Note to reader Don regarding his response to the Castroneves tax case and the likelihood of conviction: Thank you for the SI story reference, which spells out the issues in mind-numbing detail. Here's the problems with it: 1. If the "constructive receipt doctrine" the IRS follows is designed to preclude taxpayers from [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: March 12, 2009, 2:04am EDT

  • Big oops on Sebring — it’s NEXT Saturday, doofus

    Reader Kevin has both unmasked my calendar-checking deficiencies and ruined my weekend by noting that Sebring is NEXT weekend, not this one. Drat on both the error and having to wait a week, but thanks for catching me on it, Kevin. Meanwhile, a couple of other writers have checked in on [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: March 11, 2009, 12:02am EDT

  • Is this their case against Helio???

    I've been trying to follow Helio Castroneves' tax evasion case, and from what I can gather it seems to be about whether Twinkle Toes should have already paid federal taxes on $5 million in totally deferred money that was salted away for him for the future, out of his reach [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: March 10, 2009, 10:02pm EDT

  • 2009’s best sports car race coming up Saturday

    In the absence of a NASCAR Sprint Cup race this weekend, and with neither the Indy Racing League or Formula 1 seasons under way yet, a little more attention than usual may be focused on the nation's best sports car race, the 12 Hours of Sebring. While the Rolex 24 at [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: March 10, 2009, 1:02am EDT

  • Ol’ Bruton hits bullseye on tracks, starting times

    Everyone who follows NASCAR at all closely knows who Bruton Smith is. In case you don't, Ol' Bruton is a Charlotte bazillionaire who owns more than half a dozen of the Sprint Cup Series' tracks, including last week's venue at Las Vegas and this week's at Atlanta. Just ran across this' [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: March 10, 2009, 1:02am EDT

  • Castroneves trial, AP story

    For Indy Car and Helio fans without access to Associated Press coverage of the big tax trial in Miami, here's the March 3 Associated Press report: Lawyer: Castroneves never sought to evade US taxes Associated Press MIAMI — Race car driver and “Dancing with the Stars” winner Helio Castroneves never sought to evade [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: March 10, 2009, 1:02am EDT

  • Las Vegas is better track since banking increased

    They call them "cookie-cutter" layouts, the four 1.5-mile triovals at Chicagoland, Kansas, Kentucky and Las Vegas. It's never been quite true -- Chicagoland, for example, has no straightaway at all -- and it certainly isn't since Bruton Smith decided to turn Las Vegas Motor Speedway into not far from a 1.5-mile' [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: March 10, 2009, 1:02am EDT

  • Miami testing suggests some Danica-Milka duels

    The Indy Racing League has completed its "spring training" testing at Homestead-Miami Speedway with no surprises: Penske Racing's Ryan Briscoe and Target Ganassi Racing's Scott Dixon were the fastest two, with Andretti Green Racing members Marco Andretti and Tony Kanaan, third and fourth-fastest. What was interesting, though, was how close Milka [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: March 10, 2009, 1:02am EDT

  • Cup showing early manufacturer balance

    Ford's and Matt Kenseth's two season-opening wins notwithstanding, the Sprint Cup season is showing an encouraging level of balance among manufacturers after Daytona and California. Take the finish at Auto Club Speedway Sunday. Within the top 10, Fords were first, fourth and seventh, Chevies were second, eighth and ninth, Toyota got [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: March 10, 2009, 1:02am EDT

  • A relief for track owners, more respect for Kenseth

    If two things came out of Sunday's 500-miler at Auto Club Speedway in California, it was these. First, while Matt Kenseth might have gone winless in 2008, his two-for-two start to 2009 marks him up there with Roush Fenway Ford teammates Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle and Hendrick Racing teammates Jimmie [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: March 10, 2009, 1:02am EDT

  • Danica’s no dummy about F1 rumblings

    Danica Patrick is showing no shortage of intelligence in coming pretty close to short-shrifting the idea that she could be one of two drivers on a planned all-new, American Formula 1 team in 2010. For your reading edification, I post an Associated Press story that put the question directly to Danica: IndyCar [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: March 10, 2009, 1:02am EDT

  • California: How many fans will show up?

    The Daytona 500 had a pretty full house Sunday, but that was to be expected. Recession or no recession, it's one of a handful of U.S. sports events (the Indy 500, Kentucky Derby, Super Bowl, The Masters and the World Series) that are iconic enough to rise above recession hardships. Not [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: March 10, 2009, 1:02am EDT

  • Little E’s not-so-excellent adventure

    Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s two Rick Hendrick Racing teammates, Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson, have seven Cup titles between them. Little E has none. Sunday's Daytona 500 may be a textbook primer in why I doubt very much he ever will join them, even in a Hendrick Chevy. He made three mistakes with [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: February 17, 2009, 12:01am EST

  • Daytona: Where are the Dodges???

    When you look at the pole qualifying results Sunday from Daytona for next Sunday's Great American Race, the first question that comes to your mind might just be this: How the heck did Dodges finish 1-2 last year??? The fastest Dodge, Reed Sorenson's, is mired in 28th. Multiple Cup race winner Kasey' [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: February 08, 2009, 10:00pm EST

  • Now we’ll see what Milka has

    Yeah, I know, I bet y'all think I'm foaming at the mouth that Milka Duno is taking her Citgo sponsorship and other money to which she has access to Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing. I'm gonna rant about the injustice of Milk Dud having a top-of-the-line ride when people like Ryan Hunter-Reay, Buddy' [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: February 08, 2009, 10:00pm EST

  • Followup on Rahal and ethanol

    Check out what readers "Don" and "Formula Fox" have to say about the U.S. ethanol-Indy Racing League relationship. Thank you, gentlemen, for setting me straight -- and I am pleased to hear that the IRL did NOT dump the U.S. ethanol industry, but rather the U.S. industry left the IRL, [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: February 08, 2009, 10:00pm EST

  • Rahal would be a huge loss to Indycar

    The reports that Rahal Letterman Racing may have to forgo all of the Indy Racing League season except for the Indy 500 if they don't land a sponsor soon is sickening. Bobby Rahal has been a big part of Indy car racing ever since the day he won the Cleveland airport' [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: February 08, 2009, 10:00pm EST

  • If you didn’t like that, you don’t like racing

    If you missed the last couple of hours of the Rolex 24 at Daytona, you missed one heckuva race — for any category of auto racing. David Donohue's fraction-of-a-second victory in the Brumos Riley-Porsche over Juan Pablo Montoya in a Ganassi Riley-Lexus bidding for that team's fourth straight Rolex win, with [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: February 08, 2009, 10:00pm EST

  • No NASCAR testing means no real news

    It's been a NASCAR rite for years: Every January, the Winston/Nextel/Sprint Cup teams would show up at Daytona for testing and we'd get at least some feel for who was looking stronger or weaker for the upcoming season. It never really meant that much, of course, because nobody was going to' [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: February 08, 2009, 10:00pm EST

  • Luis, Milka is no Juan Pablo — or Ayrton or Emmo or Helio

    Reader Luis has taken umbrage with my observation that it's a disgrace that drivers like Buddy Rice and Ryan Hunter-Reay don't have Indy Racing League rides for 2009 yet while the immortal Milka Duno does. "The only disgrace is that you write," Luis opined of my pre-Rolex 24 column earlier this' [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: February 08, 2009, 10:00pm EST

  • 2009 racing finally ready to roll with Rolex 24

    After what seems like an endless two months for racing fans, the 2009 racing season finally is ready to roll. No, it's not NASCAR -- that fires up 10 days from now at Daytona with the first event of the week's buildup to the Daytona 500. No, it's not Formula 1; that [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: February 08, 2009, 10:00pm EST

  • Economy axes IRL’s race in Detroit

    The deepening recession and the genuine crisis facing the "Big 3" American auto makers and the city of Detroit have taken an innocent spectator. The Indy Racing League and American Le Mans Series events at Detroit's picturesque Belle Isle park-on-an-island road circuit have been canceled for 2009, after highly successful events [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: February 08, 2009, 10:00pm EST

  • And now it’s Audi bidding adieu

    Hot on the heels of Honda's shocking announcement early Friday (Japan time) that it is withdrawing immediately and entirely from Formula 1, Germany's Audi dropped an A-bomb on the world of sports car racing. After nearly a decade of dominating the American Le Mans Series' top prototype division, LMP-1, Audi said [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: December 05, 2008, 10:57pm EST

  • Shock news! Honda drops F1!

    Here I sit after midnight, trolling through my racing websites after eight hours of H-T deskwork, and I discover that Honda has just dropped one of the biggest bombshell announcements in the history of Formula 1 manufacturer participation. It's pulling out. Immediately. Totally. This is what the British "Autosport" site just posted: Honda [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: December 05, 2008, 12:57am EST

  • Time to name the year’s best drivers

    With the racing season over, it's time to select the year's top dozen drivers from across the sport. I'm going to omit drag racing, with the comment that Tony Schumacher had a fabulous year winning his sixth NHRA Top Fuel title, but drag racing is a creature unto itself. I'll work from [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: November 24, 2008, 10:58pm EST

  • Jimmie J. earns a place with the greats

    OK, we all know Jimmie Johnson has matched the great Cale Yarborough as a three-peat NASCAR champion, and they're the only two ever to do it. So where does that place Jimmie J. among the all-time greats? I'd say it gets him in the top 10 NASCAR drivers in history, and [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: November 17, 2008, 4:59pm EST

  • Too bad about Surfers Paradise, but …

    Along with the news of a date set for Helio's tax evasion trial comes news that the Surfers Paradise Indy car event is history. The Indy Racing League wanted a March date to make it the season-opener, moving the race from October, where it has been as a former CART and [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: November 10, 2008, 11:58pm EST

  • Time for Helio to take a “sabbatical”

    According to a posting by the Indianapolis Star, Helio Castroneves' trial on federal tax-evasion charges is set on the docket to start on March 2. I don't know how long such a trial would take, but it really puts car owner Roger Penske in an intolerable bind. And the best solution [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: November 10, 2008, 3:58pm EST

  • Hornish sticking with NASCAR, alas

    The last couple of weeks, there has been growing speculation that what with Helio Castroneves' tax troubles, Sam Hornish Jr. would return to the Indy Racing League next year in his place on Team Penske. Alas, Hornish said Friday at Phoenix that no, he is committed to NASCAR for at least [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: November 07, 2008, 9:58pm EST

  • Forget West Coast; start Cup races earlier

    I recently wrote about the various possible reasons for the increasing number of empty seats we're seeing at NASCAR Sprint Cup races; even Texas had thousands of them in sight this past Sunday. I mentioned the bum economy, the high gas prices for much of the year, the three-night minimums at [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: November 06, 2008, 12:58am EST

  • Where have all the people gone?

    Given the traditional quality of racing at Atlanta Motor Speedway and the fact that Sunday's race was shaping up as a "stop-Jimmie-now-or-never" contest insofar as NASCAR's Chase was concerned, the thousands of empty seats painfuly visible all around the track Sunday ought to be an alarm clock that can't be [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: October 27, 2008, 8:59pm EDT

  • No need to cut NASCAR field size

    NASCAR has officially announced it will be retaining 43-car fields for 2009, in response to speculation that the sick economy could cut the number of teams. At least to me, this is one of those "Duh!" situations. The 43-car field in reality is nothing more than a maximum; if more than [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: October 24, 2008, 6:58pm EDT

  • If Chrysler gets cut up, what of Cup teams?

    If you look elsewhere in HTO today under the Business section, you'll see a story about how Cerberus, the financial holdings company that owns Chrysler, is reported to be wanting out of the auto industry and is talking to General Motors and Nissan-Renault about cutting the company up among them. Whether [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: October 22, 2008, 9:58pm EDT

  • Jimmie J. about at point to flip on cruise control

    With four races to go in The Chase, Jimmie Johnson's about at the point where he can flip on the cruise control. With leads of 149 and 152 points over closest pursuers Greg Biffle and Jeff Burton, Johnson must encounter disaster at Atlanta this weekend for them or anyone else to [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: October 20, 2008, 4:03pm EDT

  • Financial mess could be disastrous for racing

    One thing I haven't seen a lot about in the racing media — apparently Carl Edwards and Kevin Harvick getting in a shoving match and Helio Castroneves' tax problems are SO much more important — is what the current financial and economic crisis could mean for auto racing. We've already had [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: October 10, 2008, 11:00pm EDT

  • Stewart/Smith ruling creating firestorm

    NASCAR's instant decision Sunday to declare Tony Stewart and not Regan Smith the winner at Talladega and NASCAR boss Mike Helton's defense of it have only succeeded in creating a firestorm of protest about Smith being stripped of the victory. The invective being directed at Helton from fans at racing websites [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: October 06, 2008, 10:59pm EDT

  • Helio doesn’t strike me as a crook

    To say I was stunned to be sitting with my wife in a log cabin in Copper Harbor, Mich., and hear on TV that Helio Castroneves had been indicted for federal tax evasion would be an understatement. When I checked the Web on the details in a Wisconsin inn Friday night, [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: October 06, 2008, 4:58pm EDT

  • Allmendinger bites NASCAR dust, unless …

    Well, well. Another former Indy car (as in Champ Car, not IRL) has finally bitten the dust. The Red Bull Toyota team has given A.J. Allmendinger his walking papers for 2009 and is expected to replace him with failed American ex-F1 driver Scott Speed, who has transitioned well to stock cars, [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: September 24, 2008, 11:59pm EDT

  • Good thing it’s Kyle and not Junior the Chase is shafting

    All the Kyle Busch haters out there, and their numbers are legion, are probably grinning, chortling and high-fiving each other that it has taken just two races of the 10 that make up The Chase to utterly destroy Busch's hopes of winning the title, turning his great pre-Chase season into [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: September 22, 2008, 5:00pm EDT

  • Road Atlanta race shaping up as IRL South

    For Indy car fans, especially those who don't hate the road races, the American Le Mans Series' upcoming Petit Le Mans 1,000-mile/10-hour race at Road Atlanta is shaping up as some sort of IRL South winter league. Roger Penske is adding a Porsche to his two regular ones in ALMS for [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: September 20, 2008, 12:58am EDT

  • Dover a good place for Busch to halt slide

    After a short pre-Chase slump turned into a full-scale disaster in Chase Race 1 at New Hampshire last week, Kyle Busch needs to come storming back to get back into the thick of it. And Dover's a great place for him to do it, given that he won the June race [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: September 20, 2008, 12:58am EDT

  • A wild and crazy Sunday in racing

    What a crazy day Sunday was! We get battered by the leftover winds from Ike, which kept a lot of us from witnessing the Colts' breathtaking come-from-15-back win over the Vikes — not to mention much if not all of the first race of The Chase at New Hampshire and an [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: September 15, 2008, 5:59pm EDT

  • What an intriguing way to start The Chase!

    The rain-out of qualifying at New Hampshire makes for possibly the most interesting way of all to start The Chase: With drivers lined up first through 35th based on points. In other words, Kyle Busch vs. Carl Edwards on Row 1, with Jimmie Johnson starting on Kyle's tail and Dale Earnhardt [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: September 12, 2008, 10:59pm EDT

  • Is F1 “Silly Season” ending — or just starting?

    SPEED TV is reporting from Monza that Ferrari has officially reconfirmed Kiki Raikkonen and Felipe Massa as its drivers, not just for 2009 but 2010 as well. Felipe already had a contract through 2010, while Kimi's ended at the end of 2009 and he was rumored to be thinking retirement. While [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: September 12, 2008, 10:59pm EDT

  • F1 on the coasts? Pray tell where?

    There has been much chatter in the past week about the desire of many of the Formula 1 manufacturers to have the United States Grand Prix revived. But not at Indianapolis and the F1 circuit that Tony George spent close to $50 million to build back in 1999 for what ended [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: September 11, 2008, 12:57am EDT

  • Dixon a deserving IRL champ

    Normally I'm a Team Penske man through and through, but Sunday I was pulling for Scott Dixon to get done what he had to do to win his second Indy Racing League championship. He did, and more, missing victory by maybe 5 inches, and he is a worthy champion. Any driver [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: September 08, 2008, 3:59pm EDT

  • As the Ganassi wheel turns: Franchitti in, Wheldon out

    Well, don't look now, but guess who's coming back to Indy car racing? Dario Franchitti, the 2007 Indy 500 and Indy Racing League title winner, is replacing Dan Wheldon in the cockpit of the #10 Target entry for 2009, partnering very likely 2008 IRL champ Scott Dixon. Wheldon in turn says he [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: September 02, 2008, 6:00pm EDT

  • After Sunday, does California deserve a race in the Chase?

    I commend to your reading Lee Spencer's scorching column Monday at the FOX Sports NASCAR website about how California Speedway or Auto Parts Speedway or whatever they call the thing simply does NOT deserve a place in the 10-race Chase starting next year, much less two Cup races, period. I agree [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: September 01, 2008, 11:59pm EDT

  • On Indy cars, ALMS and lap times

    I encourage all Indy car fans to read John Jones' response to my pre-California and Detroit column, in which he comments that it is sad that the fastest Indy cars and the fastest American Le Mans Series prototypes lapped the circuit at virtually the same times. He recalls that the [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: September 01, 2008, 9:58pm EDT

  • There’s no dodging it — Dodge just ain’t there

    So now there's one race left to decide which 12 drivers, cars and teams fill out the field for the 2008 Chase. And barring a near-miracle, Dodge won't have a team, car or driver among 'em. Kasey Kahne's August skid has taken him out of the Chase 12, even with a [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: September 01, 2008, 5:57pm EDT

  • California, Detroit look pretty interesting

    Two next-to-last races are on tap Sunday, and Friday action showed they're both shaping up to be plenty interesting. The 500-mile NASCAR show at California, next-to-last event in the Race to The Chase, will have California's two favorite-son drivers starting 1-3. That's Jimmie Johnson, who could badly use the 10 bonus [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: August 30, 2008, 1:59am EDT

  • Why the heck was EDWARDS put on probation?

    NASCAR has rendered another of its more or less frequent mystifying disciplinary decisions in connection with the post-race on-track dustup between Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards. If you saw the race, you know that Edwards performed a classic bump-and-run on leader Busch very late in the race to get and keep [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: August 28, 2008, 9:00pm EDT

  • Sorenson gone; what next at Ganassi?

    Well, the rumor I alluded to in Monday night's Gibbs/Ganassi blog didn't take long to reach fruition: It became official earlier today: Reed Sorenson is leaving the Chip Ganassi Dodge for Ray Evernham's Dodge team in 2009. Good for him. Fox Sports' racing website suggests this could reopen the door for [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: August 26, 2008, 10:00pm EDT

  • A tale of two race teams

    One team with a legendary owner so good, another with an equally legendary owner so bad. Joe Gibbs Racing and Chip Ganassi Racing. Joe Gibbs is likely to have three drivers — Kyle Busch and Tony Stewart for sure and likely Denny Hamlin — in The Chase. Chip Ganassi will have none. Gibbs [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: August 26, 2008, 2:59am EDT

  • Keep racing out of Olympics; it already has one (sort of)

    ESPN's racing website had an interesting poll going Thursday: Should auto racing be in the Olympics? I voted no and was pleased to see that 56 percent of the respondents were right and agreed, while 44 percent were wrong and said it should be. As far as I'm concerned, the luster of [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: August 21, 2008, 10:57pm EDT

  • No surprises in new NASCAR schedule

    NASCAR has released its 2009 Sprint Cup schedule and while there is a significant change, there are no surprises. The significant change is that the Labor Day weekend race at Auto Club (California) Speedway moves to the second weekend of October to become part of The Chase, while the late October [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: August 19, 2008, 4:10pm EDT

  • Can anyone beat Kyle Busch in the Chase?

    Here we are, four races left before the field is set for The Chase, and Kyle Busch already has clinched the No. 1 seed because of his eight victories. You've got to go back to a couple of the huge years Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Sr. had to find a [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: August 15, 2008, 12:19am EDT

  • Ho-hum: Kyle Busch, Scott Dixon win again

    It's getting monotonous. Kyle Busch won his third road race and eighth Sprint Cup race of the year. Scott Dixon won another Indy car race. Both led the bulk of their respective races, Dixon Saturday at Kentucky Speedway and Busch Sunday at Watkins Glen. Busch won going away. Dixon won on the last [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: August 11, 2008, 1:13am EDT

  • Two great road races on tap for weekend

    Two of the nation's premier road races are on tap this weekend, though you'll need to record one or the other since they air on TV at the same time. One, obviously, is the NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Watkins Glen. The Glen is a far faster and racier layout than [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: August 08, 2008, 1:16am EDT

  • Kanaan staying right where he is

    Well, it didn't take long for THAT rumor to go blooey. One day after the seemingly quite credible rumor on ESPN's open-wheel Web site that Tony Kanaan was very close to a deal with Target Chip Ganassi Racing to replace Dan Wheldon, the Indy Star's Curt Cavin reported Thursday that TK [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: August 08, 2008, 1:16am EDT

  • IRL may yet have a ’silly season’

    Thus far, there has been little in the Indy Racing League to indicate a "silly season" anything like in NASCAR, or even Formula 1, where the hot rumor is that Fernando Alonso will replace Rubens Barrichello at Honda, possibly just for 2009, for $15 million. But the Speed.com website had a [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: August 07, 2008, 3:15am EDT

  • All quiet on the August racing front

    Not much juicy to comment on for the past weekend of racing, but what the heck. I enjoyed reading on ESPN's NASCAR website that Dale Earnhardt Jr. said the Pocono races are too long and should be cut to 400 miles and NASCAR would like to, but the track, i.e. the [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: August 04, 2008, 5:15pm EDT

  • Yes, Julie, there ARE good things about NASCAR

    Reader Julie writes in response to my entry bemoaning this weekend's second summer race at Pocono to ask if I ever have anything good to say about NASCAR. Oh, yes, Julie, a lot. First of all, it's pretty close to a year-round sport for fans, unlike Indy car racing's April-to-September crunch. The [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: August 01, 2008, 6:16pm EDT

  • Oh, no, not another race at Pocono

    Let's see, it's the first weekend of August, which for NASCAR fans means — oh, no, please, not again! — Pocono. Worse, another 200 laps and 500 miles of Pocono, which is 80 laps and 200 miles too many. Actually, it's 200 laps and 500 miles too many; one dreary stop [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: July 31, 2008, 6:16pm EDT
← Inside Out, Outside In Derek Franklin's Digital Laboratory →

Blog Info:
Auto racing

» http://blogs.heraldtimesonline.com/auto

Categories

BNN Traffic Index

Alexa: 72,920
-1,440

Compete: No data
0

Quantcast: No data
15,034

BNN Traffic Index: -1,440

BNN Authority Index

Technorati: 0

Google: 0

BNN Authority Index: No data

» Subscribe to the Auto racing feed