Greetings from a "Green Racetrack"
The first of our four race in a five and 1/2 week eastern/western swing is at Homestead-Miami Speedway...where the Grand-Am/Rolex/Crown Royal sportscars share the weekend with the Indy Racing League sanctioned IndyCar series. After two Grand-Am events...Ganassi Racing's Scott Pruett has a 3 point lead over Max "The Ax" Angelelli with an average of a 2.5 finish.
The greening of Homestead has nothing to do with irrigation (despite a lack of rain) and everything to do with renewable fuels. Each of the 20 IndyCars will be powered by ethanol (which is the chemical term for what Junior Johnson called 'corn squeezins'). The ethanol used by the series is treated with 2% gasoline so it can co-exist with the yards of plumbing in a race car fuel system. Teams and tracks alike have to adjust--fuelers and firemen have been finding out what the fuel will do in crashes and when the cars are cruising at 200+ miles an hour.
Another lady joins the IRL...Endurance driver Milka Duno will race in at least 10 races for the SAMAX team, backed by Venezuelan owned energy company CITGO. Ms. Duno is a Venezuelan. When she won her first of three Grand-Am races in February, 2004 here, she dedicated the win to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
The Saturday ticket at Homestead is a bargain for those who enjoy a smorgasbord of racing...a true day-night double header. We'll let you know who won the poles for both the Grand-Am and IRL events...and maybe post a hi-res photo or two.
Paul Kaminski
3/23/2007
