Motor Sports Radio Blog

2011-07-21T17:46:00.001-04:00

"Yes, we still have a blog..."

Seems like I haven't posted in a while. Yep, that's obvious; most of what used to go here is now on Twitter. So I'm trying to figure how best to use the resource.

In the next few days, you'll see some on-line book reviews that I pitched in my "Race-Talk" program of July 22. The publisher links will be on the main site links page (msrpk.com/links.html). I'll be reviewing titles from my kumotre (Polish for friend) Jerry Bonkowski (whom you hear occasionally on SiriusXM Channel 90) and some other assorted NASCAR and Formula One titles. The idea here is to keep it short so you will go to the library or better yet, download it to your Kindle, or (gasp!) buy the dead tree version to see what I found in the book.

This is a work in progress. Listener/reader comment is always solicited; computer spam (not SPAM, a product of Hormel Foods) is not solited or tolerated.

2010-08-08T12:21:00.006-04:00

"Blog Extra August 8, 2010"

When reading Jim Donnelly's collaboration with Don Miller (retired VP Penske Racing South), I wasn't expecting to find out much more than what he did with Penske and the full fendered cars.

The book ("Miller's Time A Lifetime at Speed, Coastal 181 Publishing http://www.coastal181.com/) opened a window into the life of someone who changed the way drivers in all of auto racing make money. For it was Miller, working with Roger Penske, who put together what today would be looked at as a tiny trailer with what at the time was called "trinkets and trash" and discovered a revenue stream that, today insures racing drivers in all series a comfortable income--that is, of course the souvenir trailer. Miller was a drag racer of some repute, but was an even more effective marketer and builder of relationships. His relationship with the Captain's long time PR whiz Dan Luginbuhl, and what those two men would do to get the job done, were crucial to the success of Penske Racing.

Miller and Donnelly didn't sugarcoat the incident at Talladega in 1974 which cost Miller's right leg, and left him with injuries that plagued him through the years. Those would have sidelined a less dedicated person.

The most interesting facet of this book is the relationship building; not just those with Roger Penske, the Goodyear tire people, sponsors, drivers, media and fans--it includes the relationship he built, and maintains with Pat, his wife of some 48 some years. Some were fruitful, others not so much.

The net proceeds from this book are pledged to help fight child abuse and neglect in the Carolinas, which is reason enough to buy it. The other is for the window that Miller and Donnelly opens into the world of big time stock car racing.

We'll also link to Coastal181 (who's published books with Ken Schrader and the racing equivalent of the Eveready Energizer Bunny, Kenny "Herman" Wallace) from our listener page. That link is http://bit.ly/pHP28 .

Now more comments.

If a person or organization has built a relationship on openness and candor, then it causes the parties in the relationship--be they customers, fans, employees, contractors or competitors--cognitive dissonance when the first party in the relationship backs away from the openness and candor, and begins to suppress that in the name of protecting the "brand" or "relationship" (Our Twitter page says we tweet for thinkers; we've always blogged that way, and encourage you to research cognitive dissonance). Hint: it concerns perception and reality and the differences between what you think, and what really is.

If a party to a relationship backs away from candor, or punishes it, it begs some questions:

Can the relationship ever regain full trust?

What is the other party hiding?

Is the relationship mutually beneficial, or is the other party trying to exert unfair control over the other party, when confronted with a show of equal power?

Let me state for the record that NASCAR is a private organization, and can do or say anything they please that is legal--and will most likely continue to do so. Their past history shows that they like to have a "gotcha" sanction and vague hammer that they can hold over the independent contractors who drive and compete in their series (Rule 12-A actions detrimental to stock car racing, and the absolute lack of specificity in all but the construction of the cars that compete in its series).

One does not build trust for the long run by having "gotcha's" in a relationship, be it personal or business. When Moses came down from the mountain with the Ten Commandments, there were no vague clauses--just simple, measurable, definable rules on a tablet for all to see.

NASCAR--get back to being Moses, and not a Pharisee.

Comments are welcomed, and moderated for propriety, grammar and length. The best ones may be mentioned on a future "Race-Talk" program.

2010-05-26T08:38:00.003-04:00

Information on Podcast Links

I upgraded the software which is used to encode our Motor Sports Radio podcasts so you can find them with programs like Juice, etc.

It generates a different file, with a different file extension.

The updated link is at our listener page, which is: http://msrpk.com/listener.html

In case you enter links manually, here they are:

Race-Talk: http://www.msrpk.com/podcast/racetalk.rss.xml

Radio-Road-Test: http://www.msrpk.com/podcast/roadtest.rss.xml

Special Programs: http://www.msrpk.com/podcast/special.rss.xml

I wanted to make sure that all subscribers to the podcast (all over the world--thanks!) notice no disruption in the download.

If you have any questions, comments or concerns-don't hesitate to contact us on our feedback (a) msrpk.com e-mail address.

2010-04-16T13:12:00.002-04:00

"Yes, I Am Still Here"

I have been Tweeting, much more frequently than I've been blogging; those of you who have discovered our listener blog and have bookmarked this site see the Twitter links, which update much more frequently.

With BlackBerries, iPhones and mobile web updates, it is sometime easier to Tweet than blog.

Be assured that if there's a situation that demands more than a special podcast or a Tweet, you'll find more information here. I believe that you listeners and blog readers deserve an explanation of how I make editorial judgements on how I get information and commentary out.

If you think I need to blog more, shoot me a note to feedback (at) msrpk.com, and tell me where I can do better.

2010-02-16T08:47:00.002-05:00

The Pothole

I posted this earlier on Twitter, but thought it might be useful to have it available for you to look at, and see for yourself why this was a problem for the Daytona International Speedway and NASCAR in its biggest race of the year. Pity it happened. In any other time, the pavement holds up. Given the age of the pavement (August 1978), the below normal temperatures, the position on track (where it goes into shadow quickly and loses the benefit of direct sun for warmth), the rains, and the propensity for water to seek its own level. The beat scribes + scribettes are trying to create controversy by suggesting that there was some nefarious scheme to cover up the defect.

I will be asking for your Tweeted comments on what Daytona should do to fix this once and for all.

2010-02-12T11:45:00.001-05:00

"Crown Royal Presents the Heath Calhoun 400"--May 1, 2010

Tweets say it all about this soldier.

2010-02-08T08:18:00.007-05:00

"Fame Monster" Doubles Down; Stock Car Debut Part Deux

Danica Patrick, as you have seen and heard in the Twitterverse, and soon elsewhere, will continue her learning process this weekend at Datytona International Speedway when she enters and runs the NASCAR Nationwide Series race on Saturday, February 13. Her entry will get the guaranteed points from a car acquired by JR Motorsports--so Kelly Bires ought to be able to compete.

Her debut in the ARCA race was not spectacular, but solid. She dodged flying sheet metal, felt a few nudges, gave some back, and brought the car back into the garage area 6th--on the lead lap. Patrick showed some car control skills during a spin--which will be necessary to perfect as her time in stock cars continues. Randy Bernard, IndyCar Series CEO, can only hope that her new found notoriety in the stock car arena is a good thing for Patrick's day job--competing in the IndyCar Series full time for Michael Andretti.

We're taking care of other business, and will have a very busy Race-Talk this week. We will likely be busy for CBS News, Radio, as the hype continues for the 52nd Daytona 500--which, it seems, is being overshadowed somewhat by Patrick's stock car debut

2010-02-06T14:10:00.003-05:00

"The Danicar"

Mattel's iconic Hot Wheels brand of miniature cars returns to the racing market with JR Motorsports and Danica Patrick. Kelley Earnhardt (left) says the company will have an associate sponsor position for Danica's foray into the world of full fendered racing in NASCAR's Nationwide Series. In August at Michigan International Speedway, Danica's #7 Chevy Impala will wear full Hot Wheels livery.

When asked if she had Hot Wheels when she was younger, Patrick replied, "I'm a girl--I had Barbie dolls." Dale Jr. didn't say too much except that he had Hot Wheels in his youth.

Keep your eye on the Tweets for fresh info.

2010-02-05T16:52:00.000-05:00

"When the Iron's Hot, Strike!"

Danica Patrick, meeting most of the NASCAR beat reporters after the final ARCA practice was washed out at Daytona International Speedway, who kept asking her the same questions shw was asked yesterday--and weeks before, about her motivation to try racing full fendered stock cars.

We called her the "Fame Monster"--and I submit that the attention she'll receive from this race, the Super Bowl commercials, the CSI episode (where she plays a race driver, go figure!), and her long awaited Nationwide debut (whether that's next week here, but definitely at Auto Club Speedway at Fontana on February 20) qualifies her.

With the birth announcements for Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Carl Edwards and Elliott Sadler and the Kyle Busch engagement--the old-school NASCAR scribes are eagerly awaiting some racing action to talk about, instead of the minutia that masquerades for news in the off season. So too, are we.

2010-02-04T11:35:00.002-05:00

Danica-Mania, Shootout Style

Thanks to Mark Williams of MrNews Productions (halifaxareanewswatch.com) for this picture of Danica Patrick, just a few hours before a four hour and 50 minute practice for the ARCA cars at Daytona International Speedway.

Jim Hunter, the VP for Corporate Communications at NASCAR is battling cancer. He stopped by media days, and reporters offered well wishes. I knew he was on the mend when he told me "not today" when I asked him if he was ready to play nine (holes of golf, Hunter enjoys his time on the links) with a wink. Everyone hopes Jim will get back to the trail (and the links soon).

Danica Patrick suggested that she was not aware that the ARCA race here could, and has in the past turned into a crashfest. That was a rather curious remark.

Jimmie Johnson met the media and said that he'd really like to win Daytona for his crew chief, Chad Knaus. One will remember that Knaus spent time in NASCAR's doghouse for rule violations here, and his replacement, Darian Grubb, won the 500 in 2006.

The Rolex Series gremlins that befell AJ Allmendinger still haunt him--but he says running the #43 Ford with Yates horsepower gives him confidence for the 500.

More later.

2010-02-01T16:15:00.002-05:00

Speedweeks/Tailgating/Racing's Fame Monster

Random comments about the brief time I spent at the Rolex 24 Grand-AM 24 Hours of Daytona:

Crowd was its usual enthusiastic self--but not as big as it's been.
Michael Shank Racing and AJ Allmendinger cannot buy a break at the (TM) World Center of Racing, it seems. Every racing gremlin (not the American Motors car) seems to camp out at the 6 or 60 car garage, and waits until things are going better than well to strike.
How about a Porsche team taking the win with a V8 and not the legendary and proven boxer 6? And how about the fact that it's sharing garage space and engineering smarts in Jacksonville with the Brumos Porsche team?
With the hoopla about NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers in the race--the only ones with significant hardware were Max Papis and part-timer Scott Pruett in the Riley BMW, finishing second to the Action Express Porsche Team in the Daytona Prototype Class and second overall for the Chipster. Ganassi's other BMW Riley ran like Jack the Bear until it expired with about 9 hours to go (Jamie McMurray and Juan Pablo Montoya in that seat).
Doubtless you saw the NFL stories on increased security. Wonder what that would be like if NASCAR and the track operators tried that at a place like Pocono, Talladega or any one of the other venues where the folks like to pop off firecrackers, have a couple barley-pops and grill a steak.
Auto Racing's "Fame Monster", Danica Patrick, will make her initial stock car foray at the 200 mile ARCA race on Saturday, nestled between the 36 Hours of Daytona (Sprint Cup restrictor plate qualifying seems to take that long) and the all-skate Budweiser Shootout that evening. She will have to at least qualify in the top 10 (should be no problem to do that given JR Motorsports' ingenuity) and would have to have a top-10 finish to be taken seriously given all the hype. Even though her handlers are doing their best to lower expectations, her fans and sponsors expect a bit more. It would make a good story if she were to win the ARCA race, then change her mind and add the Daytona Nationwide race to her 2010 schedule.
Lost in all this is Hurley Haywood's last hurrah as a sports car driver at Daytona. Haywood will give up driving the #59 Porsche Daytona prototype...but not an affiliation with the legendary Brumos Porsche team.

You will hear the reason why the Action Express team won in the winner's comments this week on Race-Talk, along with some chat with the aforementioned Ms Patrick. You may always hear this week's program, as well as the past two editions on our Motor Sports Radio archive page:

http://msrpk.com/archive.html

2010-01-26T19:39:00.004-05:00

Catchup

Since we did not venture that far from our cave (erp...office) in the past month, we got a chance to ruminate on the racing developments--a short take is included in the Race-Talk program for this week...along with the last question in our Twitter contest.

You can hear any of our programs(present and a few past programs) at this link: http://msrpk.com/archive.html .

Our season is ramping up--fast for our broadcasts and for the coverage I produce for CBS News, radio--Next week I'll originate the programs from Daytona.

You may have seen some tweets from our CBS News colleague Peter King--the situation is as bad there as anyone can imagine--perhaps worse. Catholic Relief Services is co-ordinating the response from the Roman Catholic bishops here in the US. The Haitians can use a bunch of help, which CRS wants so desperately to provide--one may text the word "relief" to 30644 ; call them toll free at 877-CRS-HELP or go on line at http://crs.org/ to send a donation.

Now for some more crockpot fun from the old bachelor man--this time beef barley soup.

1 small to medium onion chopped

1 15 oz can mixed vegetables

2 packs low sodium Herb-Ox bouillion powder

1/2 to 3/4 lb lean (90 per cent) ground beef, browned

two or three shakes of worcestershire sauce on ground beef while it's browning

1 187 ml bottle of red wine (hint here--use the small version of what you'd usually drink--adds extra flavor

1/2 of the 15 oz mixed vegetable can of water

2 to 4 ounces of pearl barley

Brown the ground beef, as though you were going to make a rare hamburger. One may add a few of the chopped onions to brown up with the beef if desired. Drain excess fat, chop or crumble the beef and place it into the crockpot. Pour in the small bottle of red wine and the bouillion. Stir to mix it up.. Turn the crockpot on high for a few minutes till it gets warm. Now add the mixed vegetables, half can of water, pearl barley, and the rest of the onoins, stir, and turn on low for about five hours.

Enjoy.

You can use this for a starter for your own recipe, adding or subtracting ingredients...it worked very well for football watching. One could use this for a tailgating recipe made in advance if going to a spring race or fall football game where the weather gets a bit chilly--and it does not cost that much to make!

See you on Twitter, and "Race-Talk". We'll use this blog for catching up, and takes that won't fit into 35 seconds or 140 characters..

2010-01-01T14:11:00.003-05:00

Happy 2010

I'm writing this from my office, after closing out the financial books on 2009. On a weekend where the action includes TV turf wars between FOX and Time Warner Cable, the reinstatement of the original Kentucky Speedway v NASCAR antitrust suit (because some of the original owners are thickheaded) and still some unanswered questions on the economic health of auto racing, I'm looking ahead to 2010.

Daytona Speedweeks will be interesting because of the ARCA debut of one Danica Patrick.

Izod's series sponsorship of the IndyCar Series will certainly get a close look to see what, if any effect it may have in the general population.

The American LeMans Series is trying to maintain its presence in this economy--hard to do when the prototypes (the most incredibly complex racing machines anywhere) have to combine classes, and the series loses some venues.

The only series which seems to have legs is the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series. They've found a niche and are super serving it for their sponsors and marketing partners. Even with 1,000 feet in the nitro Top Fuel and Funny Car classes, the racing has been entertaining and compelling.

Michael Schumacher makes his return from retirement not to the Prancing Horses of Maranello (Ferrari) but the Petronas Mercedes Formula One Team. The reported American Grand Prix entry fronted by Peter Windsor made lots of noise about trying to sign an American driver. Windsor will likely sign a European F1 veteran for the Charlotte, NC based squad--the short list of American born open wheel drivers who can play in that sandbox is all but non existent--most of them are pursuing a NASCAR career, or are getting the requisite seasoning in IndyCar or perhaps Grand Am.

That, plus doings at the Speedway Motorsports Inc. Charlotte/Lowe's Media Tour, will keep us busy for January, along with our Twitter contest. You may get the details from this link: http://msrpk.com/contest.html

I'm scheduled to attend the North American International Auto Show January 11-12 as of right now.

I am going to adjust how I use the blog to help get information, perspective and images to you this year. You may have seen my Twitter feed (MSRnet) from races, which will now replace blog posts during events, and when events break. I'll use the blog posts to help provide perspective and explain complex concepts that might need more than 140 characters or a one minute segment on "Race-Talk". I will also produce special podcasts for breaking news/events.

For the rest of New Year's Day, I'll finish up with a New Year's Day tradition that is reported to being good luck to those who eat it. Not black eyed peas, but pork and sauerkraut, for all of us with Eastern European roots. I'll share my bachelor's special (all but foolproof, you can't screw this up)with you here:

Ol' Bachelor Man's Pork + Sauerkraut in the Crockpot

1 can sliced potatoes

1 can of sauerkraut, rinsed

1 3/8" thick slice of medium to large onion, diced

pinch of whole caraway seeds

one or two boneless pork chops sliced

1 12 ounce bottle of beer

Combine ingredients in a crockpot. Start the cooking on high for one to two hours. Turn the crockpot down to low heat. Leave it covered on low until you're ready to eat. Makes 3-4 normal servings.

Hope you enjoy 2010, and my recipe.

2009-11-22T21:56:00.002-05:00

Picture says it all--2009 and four time consecutive Sprint Cup Champion driver (Jimmie Johnson) and crew chief (Chad Knaus). Yep--they are looking ahead already to 2010.

2009-11-20T17:18:00.002-05:00

On Stun: Johnson wins pole for season ending Ford 400

So much for playing it safe--The newly resigned Jimmie Johnson and crew chief Chad Knaus teamed up to put the No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet Impala (Lowe's also re-upped as the sponsor) on the pole for Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup season ending Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Johnson was among the last of the 35 locked in cars to take a qualifying lap, and was timed at 31.049 seconds (173.919 miles an hour). Scott Speed lines up second, Marcos Ambrose, 3rd.

Other musings: NASCAR CEO Brian France got his meeting with the media out of the way early. Auto racing is not a leading economic indicator, and France lowered expectations for the 2010 economic picture, saying that the sanctioning body would try to help with cost cutting, because "we (NASCAR) don't believe that 2010 looks, from just a pure economy standpoint, an awful lot better." That said, France says there is encouraging movement among sponsors, but not what was anticipated, and hope for in the future.

On the declining TV ratings: "on any given weekend, we still remain the second or third, depending on which weekend it is, most popular sport." He also said that NASCAR had no policy that demands that its media partners do one thing or another thing (in its broadcasts). As to whether the sanctioning body has a policy of retribution against media criticism from its broadcast partners, "There isn't a policy". On that, sir, we shall see.

2009-11-19T18:14:00.003-05:00

Jimmie Johnson Meets the Media 11/19/2009

We rejoin our blogging after a hiatus. This weekend, like on October 8-10, we will be at the Homestead-Miami Speedway for the Sprint Cup season finale, where Jimmie Johnson, pictured, above, needs to finish 25th or better to lock out Mark Martin to win his fourth consecutive Sprint Cup title--which has never been done by any driver in the 60 years of NASCAR.

Johnson, contrary to what some might believe, did not just fall from the sky into the seat of the #48 Lowe's Chevrolet Impala owned by Rick Hendrick. He came from a modest Southern California background, ran off road and ASA, and was discovered by Hendrick while running in the then Busch Series. He takes the racing seriously. As you saw from my Tweets from the news conference, Johnson and crew chief Chad Knaus are going for a decisive performance.

You also saw the kind of respect that Mark Martin commands from his teammates in those Tweets as well.

We'll blog from the track, and Tweet as needed on Friday and Sunday.

2009-10-10T20:36:00.002-04:00

Dario Franchitti--2009 IndyCar Series Champion

Saving fuel at 201.420 miles an hour? That (and a little bit of pit road strategy from the Ganassi Racing braintrust) won the 2009 IndyCar title and the Firestone Indy 300 season ending race at Homestead-Miami Speedway for Dario Franchitti of Target Ganassi Racing--his second IndyCar title in three years.. Franchitti started the race from the pole...and got into a battle with Penske Racing teammate Scott Dixon and Ryan Briscoe. Those three cars were the class of the 201 mile an hour field--the first in the 14 year history of the IndyCar series to complete an event without a caution period, covering 300 miles in 1 hour and 28 minutes. At the checkers...Franchitti bested Briscoe by 4.788 seconds. Franchitti stopped earlier than Dixon and Briscoe--that made the difference.

Franchitti was emotional when he thought of his friend Greg Moore (who died 10 years ago this month in a racing accident at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California), and was also thoughtful when asked about winning the championship. He said that the team's disappointing finish at the Indianapolis 500 was a wakeup call and rallying point, and that those resu.lts galvanized the team to work harder. I guess five wins says a lot about the results.

In the Grand-Am Rolex Series Championship, Hurley Haywood and Joao Barbosa won the race...but by finishing 4th, Jon Fogarty and Alex Gurney, won the Daytona Prototype title. Of the 100 laps of racing...a full 25 of them...to include the last 8...under caution. Haywood was a last minute substitution for Barbosa's usual co-driver, the now suspended JC France, suspended for an off track incident in Daytona Beach, FL, where police charged hiom with possession of crack cocaine, DUI and street racing. If his last name sounds familiar, it should. JC is the son of Jim France of NASCAR and International Speedway Corporation. There was no official mention of the incident by Grand-Am.

The race was sparsely attended--unseasonably hot (90 degrees vs 80 degrees) weather and humidity held down the crowds. The tweets at MSRnet explain a bit more.

We'll get back to our headquarters to regroup and get ready to return to Homestead-Miami Speedway to cover the Sprint Cup Championship next month.

2009-10-09T15:01:00.003-04:00

Championship Trio Sweeps Top 3 Spots at Homestead-Miami Speedway

The championship contenders from left to right: Scott Dixon, the point leader who'll start 2nd, polesitter Dario Franchitti, who took a point from Dixon and has a 4 point gap, and Ryan Briscoe from Team Penske starting 3rd and 7 points back from Dixon.

Below the contenders, the Indy Racing League Championship Trophy.

Jon Fogarty and Alex Gurney are the Grand-AM Rolex Series point leaders and pole sitters. Brian Frisselle and Max Angelelli start 2nd, Memo Rojas and Scott Pruett are 3rd and the defending champions.

Homestead-Miami Speedway boss Curtis Gray thinks "there's something sexy about South Florida." That quote in the context of describing how South Florida is accustomed to having championships decided in the major sports, and for the last few years, in NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series. South Beach, and some of the other beaches in the area may bolster Mr. Gray's assertion. We'd suspect a good crowd--and an even better Saturday race--where ticket holders will get to see two closely contested auto racing series decide their champions in the last event, in the last few laps--will raise the sex appeal in this part of Dade County, Florida.

We'll join you tomorrow with double championship blogging.

2009-10-02T22:25:00.004-04:00

BS Detector Alert

Something about the NASCAR admission on 10/2 that the Rick Hendrick #5 and #48 Dover cars were legal--but just barely--and that Hendrick's brain trust (crew chiefs Alan Gustafson and Chad Knaus were told to never run them again doesn't pass the smell test. On the face, it is the same thing as when the police radar indicates you are going 65.001 miles an hour in a 65 mile an hour zone--legal, but within tolerance.

Where the "bovine scatology" comes in is this--NASCAR can, under its catch-all rule 12.A-1 (actions detrimental to stock car racing), do what it pleases (and can also do so because it is a private organization). If the violation was egregious enough to evoke that verbal warning-- then why were penalties not assessed? Isn't legal legal? Do the words publicity, sagging ratings on TV and controversy ring a bell? They ought to.

In the continuing saga of Jeremy Mayfield--celebrity attorney Mark Geragos has been hired to assist in the conduct of Mayfield's case. Geragos has defended some misbehaving Hollywood types in some high profile cases.

Is it not interesting that this admission was also revealed when the series was in Kansas City Kansas--a good size, but not major media market?

Again, do the words publicity and controversy ring a bell?

The NASCAR beat media is getting played like a snare drum on both these issues...and needs to call "BS"--"bovine scatology"-- on stories like this so it can once again be the fan's eyes, ears and the sport's mirror.

2009-09-28T08:00:00.004-04:00

Checking In

I'm updating the blog since I haven't been on the road since August--the end of year trips to Homestead (twice) fairly devour travel budgets, and we're in business to make a profit.

We note with pleasure that Felipe Massa is getting back into the swing after his consult with Dr. Steve Olvey in Miami. The Ferrari F1 pilot, who was injured in Hungary, is getting back into karts to knock off the racing rust--his short term goal is to return to the Grand Prix seat by November...but 2010 is a better possibility.

Greg Anderson is one of the stand-up guys in NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing. He made a big move to third in Pro Stock points with his Dallas win, behind Mike Edwards.

Some major props to the Patron Highcroft American LeMans Series LMP1 team, for building one of those LeMans Prototypes from the tub up at the track, after a nasty crash by Scott Sharp destroyed the primary mount in pre-race practice. Sharp was uninjured; he and teammate David Brabham now lead DeFerran Racing by 21 points, and have all but clinched the LMP1 title after the rain shortened Petit LeMans at Road Atlanta.

Rookie Joey Logano's wreck at the "Monster Mile" (a/k/a Dover International Speedway) is a wake up call to remind all of the NASCAR apologists that drivers can still get hurt--or even killed--in the new design Sprint Cup race car. It is less likely, thanks to safety improvements, but it is still possible.

Finally, why is the melody from "Won't Get Fooled Again" (The Who) running through my mind when I see the three time and defending Sprint Cup Champion Jimmie Johnson run toward title number 4 ("Meet the new boss...same as the old boss...")?

2009-08-16T19:32:00.003-04:00

"Wiiings Over The Irish Hills--Brian Vickers Wins The CARFAX 400"

Our winner's snapshot is of Brian Vickers' Red Bull Toyota Camry getting fueled after winning at Michigan International Speedway. This happens as part of the post race inspection. As you saw by our Tweets (you did sign up to follow us at http://twitter.com/MSRnet ,right?) Vickers won when then leader Jimmie Johnson's gamble on fuel came up a few laps short. Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt, Jr finished 2nd and 3rd.

This is the first ever win for Red Bull Racing in NASCAR Sprint Cup competition. It's Vickers' 2nd career win in Cup racing, and more importantly, it brings Vickers to within 12 points of 12th place Mark Martin (finished 31st) for the post-season championship chase. It will likely help move Vickers' negotiations with Red Bull supremo Dieter Mateschitz along.

Other Notables: Pointleader Tony Stewart finished 17th...and has a 284 point lead over Jeff Gordon (3500 to 3216) who's now second. Jimmie Johnson (three time and defending Sprint Cup Champion) is third in points. Martin has four wins.

The Daly Planet (http://www.thedalyplanet.tv) had two interesting days of live blogging on the quality of ESPN's coverage of Nationwide and Sprint Cup racing. Those who watch that coverage are very vocal about their likes and dislikes. John Daly is a TV veteran who's been on our Race-Talk program before, and runs the blog, where strong feelings are expressed in a manner that's safe for the family--hard to do in the blogosphere. If you have ever been frustrated by the quality of the coverage (or perceived lack thereof), this is your blog.

We are back in the office on Tuesday evening and will be staying close to our base until the last race to the Chase, at Richmond's Action Track on September 12--three races away.

2009-08-16T10:15:00.002-04:00

"No Dents or Dings in Practice"

One of the great story lines in the 2009 season has been the ability of the Darian Grubb-led #14 Old Spice/Office Depot Stewart-Haas Racing team to battle back from adversity and turn it into a top 10 or better finish. That, and a bunch of driving ability, is why Mr. Stewart is presently leading the NASCAR Sprint Cup points. Not having to roll out backups, jack in the track setup and otherwise stress out whether the setup was right goes a long way for Grubb and "Smoke's" crew, and bodes well for Stewart improving his 18th place starting position.

Blue Funk for the Blue Oval Gang--Bill Elliott has the best starting position of all the Ford Fusions entered in today's contest. "Awesome Bill", a 7 time winner here in the Irish Hills, starts 9th. Next closest is Greg Biffle, starting 17th.

Back-benchers: Kyle Busch starts 39th. After his dust-up with Brian Vickers in Saturday's Nationwide Race, "Shrubby" will make things entertaining, no doubt.

Ram Tough Beer Wagon Battle: Kurt Busch in the Miller Lite Dodge starts 6th for Roger Penske; Kasey Kahne hopes the 10th place Budweiser Dodge will run faster than the beloved Clydesdales.

More later; Tweets as events dictate; and definitely a last snapshot of the CARFAX 400 Sprint Cup winner from the Joe Dowdall Media Center, before the wrecking ball strikes on Tuesday.

2009-08-15T11:11:00.003-04:00

"Triple H Day in the Irish Hills"

Looking at the hauler of Mark Martin, you see what will be needed today and tomorrow--stacks of Goodyear racing rubber, and even more stacks of water, waiting to get dunked into a tub of ice. Welcome to Michigan International Speedway, and "Happy Hour" for the Sprint Cup cars, headed by polesitter Brian Vickers. The aforementioned Mark Martin (with five wins here on the 2-mile D-shaped Michigan oval) starts alongside Vickers.

Weather forecasts call for heat in the mid to high 80's.

We'll keep our eyes and ears open, Tweet when events dictates, and rejoin you on the blog tomorrow.

2009-08-09T17:20:00.003-04:00

"The All Time IndyCar Series Victory Leader--Scott Dixon"

By taking a dominating (by time) 29.7 second lead over challenger Ryan Briscoe, Target Chip Ganassi Racing driver Scott Dixon accomplished a number of feats:

Achieved career victory number 20 in the IndyCar Series, breaking a tie with Sam Hornish, Jr. at 19
Won his 4th race of the 2009 season
Retakes the series point lead, 460 to 457 over challenger Ryan Briscoe (finished 2nd, 6th time he's done that in 2009 for Roger Penske)
Reminds us that he has a figurative and literal "Target" on his back for Briscoe and his teammate, Dario Franchitti as the defending series champion and point leader. In 13 races this season, the points lead has changed 12 times.

Some Attaboys: Ryan Hunter-Reay gets a 4th place finish for owner AJ Foyt. Hideki Mutoh upholds the Andretti-Green Racing honor with a 5th place finish. The "Thrill from West Hill", Paul Tracy, gets a top 10 (7th) subbing for Mario Moraes. Justin Wilson for another stellar road course performance leading early, but burping out of contention with a late race pit stop with lower than low fuel, finishing 13th.

We'll rejoin you from Michigan International Speedway next week with blogging and Tweeting, and radio next weekend with "Race-Talk".

2009-08-09T09:54:00.002-04:00

"A Movable (or Moving) Feast"

Dawn overlooking one of the general camping areas at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, pretty full in some spots, plenty of room in others. One item not on the dance card today is rain--which our friends at Watkins Glen are dealing with even as we post. No race track is pleasant when it rains. And NASCAR does not have the equipment and skill (with the exception of Juan Pablo Montoya, Marcos Ambrose, Robby Gordon, Boris Said, Max Papis) to put on a competitive race in the rain. IndyCars do.

Mid-Ohio has been pleasant all weekend once settled in. Sometime after 4 PM, we will learn how pleasant the 2.1 mile natural road course has been been to the IndyCar drivers, led by polesitter and point leader Ryan Briscoe of Penske Racing.

Temperatures are scheduled to be in the 90's around race time. So any "loaded for bear" cloudy setups will be saved, perhaps for later in the season.

We will Tweet during the race, and post up our usual winner's snapshot afterwards.

2009-08-08T18:41:00.003-04:00

"Emotional Weekend for deFerran; Briscoe on IndyCar Pole at Mid-Ohio"

On top, Gil deFerran, principal of deFerran Motorsports after winning his 4th American LeMans Series LeMans Prototype 1 race of 2009. That is 4 in a row. It is also Gil's first victory at Mid-Ohio (in Champ Cars and ALMS LMP Prototypes). You may see a Tweet with a quote from Gil on "mind management"--he credits Sir Jackie Stewart--his mentor--with that concept. deFerran and co-driver Simon Pagenaud had that eventful start in the warmup--with a spin and a half when the morning sprinkles came out. Some of those sprinkles appeared during the race--they left as quickly as they came.

Below, polesitter Ryan Briscoe, who used another kind of management--tire management--to notch his third pole of the season. The IndyCar series point leader will start on the right side of the front row, because the start of the race is actually on the backstraight of this 2.1 mile natural road course. Alongside Briscoe is Watkins Glen winner Justin Wilson. 3rd is the defending series champion, Scott Dixon, of Chip Ganassi Racing.

Between this and the tweets--we hope you get an insight into what goes on. You'll always hear a bit of what goes on on our Race-Talk program.

We'll catch up with you tomorrow with blogging, Tweeting and some radio to fill our Sunday morning.

2009-08-08T11:01:00.002-04:00

"Rain Makes For Soggy Mid-Ohio ALMS Warmup; May Soak IndyCar Fast Six"

Pop-up showers kept the dust down overnight at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. During IndyCar practice, some of what Weather Underground.com calls a 70 per cent chance of showers fell, and caused a lull in the action. It kinda picked up during the American LeMansSeries warmup...where the pole winning car did a spin and a half on the start finish straight. And that's where we are right now...with GT2 and other cars making off course excursions and more spins.

We will Tweet from IndyCar qualifications, and blog a pole winner snapshot later, along with a ALMS Race winner snapshot when that action concludes.

2009-08-07T15:48:00.003-04:00

"deFerran on pole, Announces Retirement and IndyCar Intentions"

As you read from the Tweets, team principal Gil deFerran took the opportunity of an ALMS pole winning news conference to announce his re-retirement from driving, effective after the American LeMans Series finale in October. deFerran will concentrate on team direction, and announced an expansion to field an IndyCar team.

You will hear him talk a little about this on next week's edition of Race-Talk.

2009-08-07T10:43:00.003-04:00

#&^%!)* Hackers!

We join you this weekend from Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, where we will see IndyCars and American LeMans race cars compete on one of the most bucolic and park like circuits anywhere.

The Corvette has made its return to ALMS, transitioning to GT2 from the GT1 (where it won just about everything in sight. If the rest of Chevy was as successful as Doug Fehan's road racing operation, they would have never been bankrupt.

The Twitter site, as you are aware, has been hacked by some ignoramus, who should be drawn and quartered once caught. Blackberry tweets are as of this hour nigh impossible.

More later.

2009-08-01T23:22:00.003-04:00

"Penske Stronger than Rent Money; Aero Rules Rule, Power Boost the Ticket at Kentucky"

Our late friend Paul Harvey would say something about the "rest of the story". And so we shall, sans snapshot.

The order of finish will show that Ryan Briscoe won by .0162 seconds over Ed Carpenter. Yes, the stepson of Anton H. "Tony" George came that close to delivering a win for the Vision Racing squad and sponsor John Menard, under some very trying circumstances--the cancellation of an entire day of practice and qualifying, with new aerodynamic rules for ovals designed to make passing easier, and a power boost option for extra RPMs for the Honda Indy V8. As you read here earlier, water seeping through the racing surface ("weepers") cancelled all Friday's activity.

Carpenter started 13th (entrant points) and led five times for 34 laps. He was not credited with leading the last 10 laps...but Briscoe could see Carpenter's day-glow Menard livery in his side vision. Briscoe tried low, then high and held on at the checkers. The power boost helps drivers get a few extra RPM's which translate into a small boost of speed--not the neck snapping push-to-pass of the Champ Car Turbo Cosworth days. That speed can make the difference getting back on the gas out of a corner or on a straightaway. When you have Roger Penske's voice in your helmet telling you to use the pass button, you use it and in Briscoe's case, use it to win the second fastest race in Indy Car history--200.893 miles an hour. That win was Briscoe's second of 2009, and jumps him into the point lead by 8 over defending series champion Scott Dixon (finished 7th but led 95 of 200 laps), as the series goes to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course next week.

That is where we will rejoin you for race blogging and Tweeting. We'll break in with developments if necessary.

2009-08-01T19:41:00.002-04:00

"Bruton in Kentucky"

The Chairman of Speedway Motorsports, Inc and major domo of Sonic Automotive, O Bruton Smith, came into the Kentucky Speedway press room to speak with reporters.

2010 Indy Car Schedule and the ratio of 9 road/street to 8 oval races--"History's gonna repeat itself, so I don't know who's making them (decisions), but they will find that that was not the proper decision."
On A NASCAR Sprint Cup Race here in 2010--"Months ago, I really thought we'd be able to run a (Sprint) Cup race here next year. That is a disappointment."
Naming Rights for Charlotte (Lowe's) Motor Speedway--"We'll be working toward something else. Asked if the 9-million dollar figure for those naming rights was accurate, he said that he had heard the figure. He said that that was a "Marcus Smith" (son, President of the Speedway) decision, and that he would get with Marcus on that issue (said that with tongue firmly planted in cheek and a Brutonesque smile.)
Weepers at Kentucky Speedway--"We will not change the configuration." In one of our Tweets, we quoted Smith as saying his crew would install a system that would solve the "seepage" problem.

You will hear more comments from Smith on our "Race-Talk" program next weekend.

Now time to find out about the Meijer Indy 300.

2009-08-01T13:13:00.002-04:00

"Rain"

Here in Sparta, Kentucky, the Speedway was bushwhacked by a couple of stray raincells and the skies opened up just as I finished taking my TwitPic of the lap leading Ford F-150.

There are some major questions on whether a race can be conducted tonight or tomorrow other than the weather. To wit:

Where does this rain drain to? Yes, the rain will follow the slope of the banking, but what about the rain elsewhere that has been finding the weepers?
When would the race be rescheduled? Not much leeway on schedule.
What about practice with the new rules envelope?

One thing--Versus has shown flexibility in working with the series to televise events--sure any rescheduling will not pose a problem.

We are on hold here at Kentucky Speedway.

2009-07-31T18:48:00.003-04:00

"Dixon on Pole At Kentucky"

The defending IndyCar Series champion and last year's winner Scott Dixon commenting on the 2010 IndyCar Schedule and the lack of qualifying at Kentucky Speedway for Saturday's Meijer Indy 300.

Dixon likes the mix of road, street and oval venues in the 2010 schedule.

The introduction of new aerodynamic tweaks for the cars and the push to pass option will make whatever practice that happens extremely crucial. But the good teams will adapt quickly (Penske and Target) and the others adapt a little less quickly.

Comments: 2010 is almost a 50/50 mix between ovals and road/street courses for the IndyCars. Dixon says he would like to see a few more races added to the schedule. Were I asked, I might like Terry Angstadt to consider these venues:

Cleveland's Burke Lakefront Airport

Wisconsin's Road America in Elkhart Lake

New Hampshire Motor Speedway

Las Vegas Motor Speedway

Michigan International Speedway

Angstadt (IRL Commercial Boss) said, when I asked him on the Richmond question, that he respected the International Speedway Corporation's decision not to renew the race there. I am wondering whether ISC has the corporate will to continue a relationship with the series. Sure, they have races scheduled for Kansas, Watkins Glen, Chicagoland Speedway and Homestead-Miami Speedway. But can that relationship survive economic softness?

Still waiting on whether cars will get back on track...and when O. Bruton Smith might appear to share pearls of wisdom

2009-07-31T17:37:00.002-04:00

"IndyCar 2010: Brazil, Birmingham In; Richmond Out; Milwaukee in Limbo"

The IndyCar Series announced a 17 race schedule for 2010 at Kentucky Speedway, making it the first of the major American racing series to announce their schedule.

The season begins on March 14 in Brazil at a venue to be desigend by the league and announced at a later time. The US opening race will be in St. Petersburg, FL on March 28. The Barber Motorsports Park hosts its first IndyCar race on April 11.

The schedule does not show a race at the Milwaukee Mile after the Indianapolis 500 on May 30. The promotional turmoil at Milwaukee is the reason that the race was not able to be scheduled--IRL commercial President Terry Angstadt says the series would like to return to Milwaukee.

Richmond International Raceway, as you read here earlier, is not on the 2010 schedule.

The race here will be contested on Labor Day Weekend in 2010.

The season will end in Homestead, FL on October 2.

The league has been talking with Road America in Elkhart Lake, and has also considered a return to racing at Cleveland's Burke Lakefront Airport.

New Hampshire Motor Speedway was again considered and left off the schedule. Angstadt addressed the New Hampshire issue and says that two NASCAR Sprint Cup dates, and the prevailing weather conditions in New Hampshire makes "a very compressed window to try to make anything (races) work."

We'll tweet on Twitter if IndyCars do get on track this evening.

2009-07-31T16:37:00.002-04:00

"Weepers? Jeepers Creepers!"

When rain saturates the ground, the water will find its own level. Usually, water will find the path of least resistance. In the case of Kentucky Speedway, the water that saturated the ground around the racetrack found that path of least resistance in some spots in the pavement and roadbed that make up the racing surface. That is called a "weeper". With IndyCars running on ovals with racing tires with no tread blocks, a spot of water would cause problems. Hence the caution in drying up the water seeping through the surface. Indy Lights have the similar problem.

Therefore, the officials put the schedule in flux until the weepers can be fixed.

2009-07-31T11:01:00.003-04:00

"IndyCar 2010: Bye-Bye Richmond"

A short take to start the blogging from the Meijer 300 IndyCar race weekend at Kentucky Speedway: No more "flying jets in a hangar"; Richmond out for 2010.

International Speedway Corporation, the owner of Richmond International Raceway, says they opted not to host IndyCars at their 3/4 mile oval for 2010--costs and other business decisions the stated reasons.

The 2010 schedule will be released in a few hours. Qualifying for Saturday evening's race takes place later.

Tweets, Twitpics, etc. as necessary.

2009-07-29T15:00:00.002-04:00

Schumacher Back With the Prancing Horses

The all time Formula One victory and championship leader, Michael Schumacher, ended his retirement and will return to the Ferari team to drive the second Ferrari after the mid summer break ends. Schumi will take the place vacated when Felipe Massa suffered injuries at the Hungarian Grand Prix. How long do you think he will tolerate not running at his expected level?

2009-07-28T06:43:00.003-04:00

"Four In A Row--More than Possible"

The defending NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship brain trust, explaining how they won a back to back Allstate 400 at the Brickyard. Crew Chief Chad Knaus, driver Jimmie Johnson and owner Rick Hendrick had a fast car--no doubt. What won them the race is that they were able to capitalize on a pit road mistake (speeding) by 2000 Indianapolis 500 winner Juan Pablo Montoya (the leader who led about two hours of the 2:45 race), that dropped him from the lead. If the Vegas sports books will let you make a championship tri-fecta box (for entertainment purposes, of course), Johnson, Stewart and Jeff Gordon in any order would be a safe bet.

Point leader Tony Stewart heads back to Pocono this weekend in the point lead.

We were kinda Twittered out with the live Tweeting during the race--and with our CBS obligations, we were kinda raced out on Sunday night. We did promise you the snapshot--and we delivered, albeit a bit late.

Speaking of the Twittering--NASCAR got awful defensive when some tweets suggested that they may have manipulated the reading on Montoya to knock him out of the lead. The sanctioning body's past history of secrecy prompted cynics to suggest that. That seemed to have enough "legs"; so much so that NASCAR actually tweeted the speed splits (@NASCARSays). We like transparency, and give NASCAR some props for doing this.

The crowd was down--about a third, if you trust the Indianapolis Star and other local media estimates in 'Naptown. While there were plenty of empty seats--and traffic did not reach the usual 16th Street gridlock--this is the biggest crowd NASCAR plays to anywhere they run--bar none.

Mayfield--what reputation he had is slowly being nuked by NASCAR's legal team. Every time I read something or hear the latest revelation, I feel like taking multiple showers because of the tawdriness of the whole affair. The more and more I discover, the more I remember that "Denial" is not just a river in Africa.

We're getting ready for the MidWest Tour and will rejoin you from Bruton Smith's Kentucky Speedway on Friday morning.

2009-07-26T09:30:00.003-04:00

"Morning Briefing"

Alan Gustafson, crew chief for Mark Martin and the pole winning Chevy Impala SS outside "Gasoline Alley" at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He was briefing reporters before sliding into the garage to supervise final preparations for the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard.

Ryan Newman won the final happy hour and a half practice with the fastest speed of 176.706 miles an hour. Martin clocked in 5th in the final on-track activity before today's race.

Last year, there was a tension convention around the Goodyear corner of Gasoline Alley. This morning, Greg Stucker, Goodyear's NASCAR Tire marketing director, was most relaxed--unlike last year, the Pocono tires are en route to Long Pond, PA and not 4790 W 16th St, 46224.

Until the first few laps are run, the tires will still be a factor in most minds. Once that first run is made--that storyline goes away.

The two oldsters (Martin and 2002 Brickyard Winner Bill Elliott, who starts 4th) with a legitimate shot to win is another storyline. Juan Pablo Montoya (2000 Indianapolis 500 winner) starts 2nd, and could make Brickyard history as the first and only driver to win both the 500 and the 400--yet another storyline.

The Hoosier Connection--Ryan Newman, David Stremme, some guy named Jeff Gordon (the event's only four time winner) and the current Sprint Cup Series point leader--Columbus Indiana's Tony Stewart is strong.

The weather looks OK for a complete 160 lap race. Weather Underground calls for a 20 per cent chance of showers--a look at the radar shows spotty green well away from the corner of 16th Street and Georgetown Road.

We'll blog you a photo of the winner and Tweet on Twitter (twitter.com/MSRnet) throughout the race.

2009-07-25T16:32:00.003-04:00

"OK, I'd Like to Be At the Race Track, Driving the Fastest Car"

At 50 years, 197 days, Mark Martin becomes the oldest pole winner of a major auto racing event at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, by winning the pole for Sunday's 16th running of the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard. NASCAR'S hottest driver with four victories, and now four poles this season, qualified first with a lap of 182.054 miles an hour--49.436 seconds to go 2 1/2 miles. Starting alongside Martin is 2000 Indianapolis 500 winner Juan Pablo Montoya, at 180.083 miles an hour.

The caption is a quote from Martin's press briefing after picking up the pole award, and being asked about his mind set after a couple years of semi-retirement.

The series point leader, Tony Stewart, will start from the 7th position. Stewart has two Brickyard wins.

Montoya can help owner Chip Ganassi make some racing history. If he wins, Montoya will be the only driver in Indy history to notch a victory in the two major auto racing events. Montoya has competed in the 500, the 400 and the Formula One US Grand Prix here. Scott Speed competed in both the Grand Prix, and will now compete in the 400.

Happy Hour and a Half awaits. I'll continue to Tweet any updates.

2009-07-24T15:55:00.004-04:00

"Tryin' to get Over"

If you are a devotee of 70's music, you will remember these words from the theme from "Superfly" sung by one Curtis Mayfield.

The more I think about the Jeremy Mayfield situation, the more that song sticks in my mind. The 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals vacated Mayfield's injunction against NASCAR's suspension of him in May for failing a drug test. The NASCAR Vice President for Corporate Communications, Jim Hunter, says the decision "is an important decision for NASCAR to make fair and equitable regulations for the safety of competitiors and spectators at the track." The sanctioning body will continue to make its case for as long as the litigation continues.

That litigation involves a suit against NASCAR by Mayfield asserting that the organization's suspension of him was inaccurate and that his ability to earn a living as a stock car driver is damaged by that action. NASCAR countersued for what they perceived as damages and costs incurred defending their actions.

There are some unconfirmed reports circulating that Mayfield has signed a deal to sell his team. So is this how the soap opera ends? Do we ever see him in a car again? Stay tuned.

2009-07-24T12:30:00.005-04:00

Indy and Brickyard--In Good Hands?

We begin our blogging with some gleanings from an informal chat with Fred Nation, Indianapolis Motor Speedway Corporation VP of Public Relations.

Some speculation in other outlets suggests that the vacancy which will be left at the Speedway by the departure of President Joie Chitwood might be filled by one H. A. "Humpy" Wheeler. This was fueled by Humpy's appearance at the Indianapolis 500 in May. The speculation is best described as connecting dots that don't exist. As of now, there are no plans to fill Chitwood's position at this time.

We also spoke about the vacancy that will exist at the FIA once Max Mosely retires in October. The ACCUS (Automobile Competition Council of the United States) met here in Indianapolis, as they do each year around the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard. Jean Todt (ex of Ferrari) looks to be the choice of the ACCUS for Mosely's job--Todt would be expected to appoint American Nick Craw as President of the FIA Senate. Craw came to prominence as the boss at the Sports Car Club of America, and is presently involved as the FIA's Deputy President for Sport (#2 in the sporting side).

I asked Fred about the possibility of Formula One returning to Indianapolis, given the dynamics of the FIA leadership and Grand Prix commercial supremo Bernie Ecclestone. Fred told me point blank that the Speedway (the only existing venue in the USA which can conduct a F1 event, given the logistics and regulations in place) would like to have one but "only if it made economic sense."

Sprint Cup Cars will begin practice a little later. This may be pivotal, with the weather forecast for qualifying day (Saturday) calling for showers and thundershowers--Rainouts of qualifying would put the point leader (Tony Stewart) on the pole. Jeff Gordon has four wins here--is going for number 5. Stewart would like win number 3--and the other 41 drivers would, of course, be happy to make the big left turn into Indy's Victory Circle.

Tires were a big deal last year--Goodyear stepped up their testing at the corner of 16th and Georgetown significantly. Depending on which driver you speak with, the new spec tires last anywhere from 32 to in one case 40 laps before performance falls off enough to warrant replacement. You might want to go through the July 2008 archives to find out what happened in 2008--twasn't pretty, fun or desirable.

2009-07-18T18:48:00.004-04:00

"Win From the Pole? Not As Easy As It Sounds"

The winning team of Gil deFerran (left) and Simon Pagenaud (right) briefing reporters after the Northeast Grand Prix, Round 5 of the American LeMans Series, at Lime Rock Park.

DeFerran started the race and drove away from Scott Sharp, after the first start was waved off. Traffic from the slower ALMS Challenge (GT3) cars, and GT2 cars played a part, and gave both drivers some interesting moments. DeFerran also was clipped during one of his stints on track, and accidentally turned on the pit lane rev limiter which slowed him down.

All this time, the Patron Highcroft team of Scott Sharp and David Brabham waited to pounce into the lead, if the deFerran team bobbled. Late in the race, Brabham drove into the lead...and looked like he'd duplicate the Highcroft win of 2008--not so fast.

Brabham suffered a puncture with under 15 minutes to go, and had to pit while leading. That gave the lead back to Pagenaud, who drove to victory. The Patron Highcroft team still leads the LMP1 standings by 13 points over the deFerran squad, who'll get some time to do some more tidying up before the next ALMS race, at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on August 8th.

The much ballyhooed Corsa Ginetta Zytek hybrid prototype was able to stay with the Acuras early, but ended up 3rd overall and made history as the first hybrid to compete and complete a major American auto race.

The LMP2 win went to the Dyson Racing Mazda driven by Marino Franchitti (yes, that's Dario's younger brother) and Butch Leitzinger--first win for the 4 cylinder LMP2 program. The Fernandez Racing Acura had mechanical issues but finished second in class and seventh overall, many laps off the pace.

We'll rejoin you from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Friday, July 24. Blog posts and tweets at any time before then if necessary.

2009-07-18T08:32:00.003-04:00

"Soap Opera, Frog-stranglers and Race-Day"

More soap opera: head over to the Daly Planet's (dalyplanet.tv) comment area on the Mayfield situation to read the latest --a "negative" drug test released by Mayfield and his lawyers to attempt to blunt the court filing. I saw the document and was interested in the lack of specificity, when compared to the detailed court filed document from Aegis Labs. Now, the NASCAR apologists might (properly) be skeptical of this, and suggest that it might simply be something written on business letterhead, simply because of the lack of detail--which is a derivative of the same argument that the Mayfield apologists use about the NASCAR/Aegis tests. What say you?

Here at Lime Rock Park for the Northeast Grand Prix, which will tell a lot about the LMP1 championship, with frontrunners Simon Pagenaud and Gil deFerran starting on pole and pointleaders David Brabham and Scott Sharp second. In LMP2, the Fernandez Racing Acura will start third. Adrian Fernandez and Luis Diaz survived challenges in the first four races from the to stake their claim on first place. The Mazdas (Dyson Racing) are catching up.

Beacuse of a classic deluge here at Lime Rock last night, any of the race rubber laid down in practice and qualifying is likely on its way toward the watershed. The warmup will be important for more than obvious reasons.

The Corsa Zytek Hybrid Prototype was quick--and if some strangeness happens to the front running Acuras--might make even more racing history if Johnny Mowlem and Stefan Johansson can find the checkers first. The Zytek KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System) cars in Formula One have had their share of teething pains. And it is never pretty to do a lot of development in public--but that is what racers do, and that's why (as Jackie Stewart once told me) motor racing is a great test bed--because what usually takes 2 or more years in classic development channels, takes months on the track under fire.

We'll Tweet and blog up a overall winner's photo later on.

RIP--Walter Cronkite, who set a high bar for radio and TV journalists to reach.

2009-07-17T16:55:00.003-04:00

"Acura Sweep at Lime Rock"

A familiar picture in the American LeMans Series this year, with Adrian Fernandez (left) the LMP2 fastest qualifier, and Simon Pagenaud (right) the LMP1 fast qualifier and overall polesitter for the Northeast Grand Prix tomorrow at Lime Rock Park in Lakeville, Connecticut. Pagenaud lapped the mile and a half natural road course at 114.965 miles an hour. Both drivers are in Acura prototypes; Fernandez, the Lowe's Acura ARX-01B; Pagenaud, the XM/Panasonic deFerran Motorsports Acura ARX 02a. Both Pagenaud and deFerran suggest that the much slower GT3 Challenge cars will pose some issues for the much faster prototypes. Pagenaud also says drivers must exercise good judgement when overtaking that traffic, and sometimes suppress the normal racing instincts to bunt and move traffic out of the way--not easy to do on this very tight road course.

ALMS point leaders David Brabham and Scott Sharp (the home team, Patron Highcroft Racing based in nearby Danbury) will start the race second in their Acura LMP1 prototype.

The next fastest LMP1 car was the Corsa Zytek Hybrid Prototype, driven by Johnny Mowlem and Stefan Johansson. With the wiring harness problems solved, the history making hybrid will start from the outside of the third row in 6th.

National Weather Service forecasts call for some big-time thundershowers later this evening and rain through tomorrow morning.

We'll rejoin you tomorrow from Lakeville, CT.

2009-07-17T13:09:00.009-04:00

"KERS 101--Zytek at Lime Rock"

KERS is the shorthand familiar to Formula One fans for kinetic energy recovery system. The Zytek KERS system used on Steve Pruitt's Corsa Zytek Prototype uses an electric motor that is connected to the car's rear axle through the gear box. When the brakes are applied, and kinetic energy is used to slow the car, a KERS motor turns counterclockwise, which helps the braking and at the same time, generates electricity. That electricity is sent to a lithium-ion battery. When the car needs better fuel economy or a boost of power, the battery will release 140 volts of DC to an inverter, which converts the DC to AC (what you get from your house outlets), which drives the KERS motor in the opposite direction, serving as a motor to power the car.

Team owner Steve Pruitt says the Corsa Zytek can operate by itself on traction batteries, the 4.5 liter E10 powered V8, or a combination of both. The scenario of running on electric during pit stops is exactly what they hope to do. As I write this, the Corsa team is trying to fix a balky wiring harness, which is necessary for the E10 V8 to function. Could it run on batteries in race condition? If the harness is fixed, theoretically , yes. Operationally, the amount of electric power made by the battery is in proportion to its capacity to accept, store and deliver electricity.

Pruitt greenlighted the project when oil was $140/barrel.

More later.

2009-07-17T08:24:00.003-04:00

"Auto Racing History about to be Made at Lime Rock"

This is the Corsa Zytek LMP1 Prototype, which is expected to run in hybrid mode during the American LeMans Series racing weekend at Lime Rock Park in Connecticut. If/when it does, it will be the first time that a hybrid powered car will compete in a major American auto race. The car has been approved by the FIA to run as a hybrid in competition and will be driven this weekend by Johnny Mowlem and Stefan Johansson. Listeners of our Radio-Road-Test program know all about hybrid autos, and how the traction battery (the battery that powers the electric motors) is recharged through regenerative braking (this week's test car is the Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid). Essentially that is what most of the working KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems) in Formula One do (when they are turned on or work).

The hybrid system is certainly a work in progress--but in the American LeMans Series, there's enough technical latitude for teams and constructors to try grand experiments such as this.

We'll Tweet some other pics, and blog after qualifying.

2009-07-15T20:05:00.003-04:00

"What In the Name of Sam Hill is Going On With Jeremy Mayfield?"

One can only follow a soap opera so long before fatigue sets in. Or so it seems. Doubtless you've seen Jenna Fryer's reporting on the results of the second drug test on Jeremy Mayfield, and Fryer's recounting of the accusations that Mayfield has had a history of methampehtamine use. You may have seen Bob Pockrass's reporting on the events surrounding the second test of Mayfield and the comedy of errors that ensued.

What we see is NASCAR saying the second test came back positive for methamphetamines. We suspect that the A and B samples were tested and that was why no word from Daytona Beach--until the test results were finished. Mayfield again denies the allegations of past methamphetamine use. NASCAR went before Judge Graham Mullen in Federal District Court to have the original injunction granted by Mullen vacated. NASCAR has also filed appeals in Richmond at the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals to have the injunction quashed, and allow them to reinstitute the ban on Mayfield.

Here are some questions that you might ask yourself:

Would NASCAR have been so quick to release details of a passed test?
Is Mayfield's stepmother (see Jenna Fryer's article)a reliable source?
Could there have been some collusion to make sure any test of Mayfield would be positive--since that was what NASCAR has been saying about Mayfield since the Mullen injunction on July 1, and the second test followed the protocols of the first test?
Were there any indications of aberrant behavior when Mayfield drove for Carl Haas, Roger Penske and Ray Evernham?
Is this Mayfield's flameout, and exit from the scene? Reports suggest the team is all but done in name only--and that Mayfield and his wife want to sell the cars.
Who can you believe, and who do you believe?

Again, we all want to give people the benefit of the doubt. But in fact if Mayfield is "dirty" he needs to get clean, first, and then publicly apologize to those fans and sponsors who believed his story. What Kevin Grubb (Nationwide Series driver, suspended for drugs who shot himself to death back in May) did was the easy way out--Mayfield should then show the same kind of tenacity fighting this problem that he showed at Pocono when he bunted Dale Earnhardt out of the way for a win. He will have to fight this every day he lives. People have fought it and gotten clean and gotten back on with their lives.

And to clear up the image of "shooting at people in lifeboats", the sanctioning body should, through either Mike Helton, or Brian France, make it clear in public that Mayfield could return to the cockpit after completing a recognized third party rehab program (Betty Ford, etc.) and staying clean with weekly testing for a two year period. Helton or France should also say that NASCAR would have no further comment until that time either through official release, media inquiry or "leak".

Comments?

2009-07-05T16:28:00.003-04:00

One for the Racers: Justin Wilson wins at Watkins Glen; gives Dale Coyne his First Win in Indy Style Racing"

It only took 25 years as an owner and driver--but Chicago area businessman Dale Coyne finally tasted the champagne as a winner--when Justin Wilson won the Camping World Grand Prix at Watkins Glen International in a car owned by Coyne. Wilson started second, and used a red-black-red tire strategy to hold off Ryan Briscoe (pole sitter) and the new series point leader, Scott Dixon from Target Chip Ganassi Racing who finished third. The red-black-red describes the option-primary-option Firestone Firehawk tires the crew decided to mount on his Z-Line Dallara Honda. This is Wilson's second IndyCar series win; he has four others in the CART/Champ Car World Series.

There were eight lead changes among Wilson, Dixon, Briscoe, Helio Castroneves (finished 4th) and Marco Andretti (5th). Average speed was double the double nickel--111.915 miles an hour. Four cautions flew.

Dario Franchitti spun into the kitty litter in Turn Five, and finished one lap down--but is second in points, with 294. Briscoe also has 294 for Team Penske--but Franchitti gets the nod for tie breakers. Helio is 4th and going into Toronto next weekend, Danica Patrick is in fifth place.

The Coyne team opted to do some heavy road course testing at places like Sebring early in 2009, followed a couple weeks ago by a long test here on the real 3.377 mile 11 turn classic Glen circuit. The results derived paid off. Coyne had to step up his investment this season when Wilson became available as a driver and some other crew and engineering people became available. Wilson almost won at St. Pete, and if not for a bad bit of pit stops, would have been a contender in Long Beach. The next two consecutive circuits are temporary circuits (Toronto and Edmonton), which may play to the new found strength of the Coyne camp.

We get a weekend off the road and rejoin you with American LeMans road racing style blogging and Tweeting in a couple of weeks--if stuff blows up--or we get more interesting e-mails--we'll break in. Yes, I will bring my camera for a TwitPic and blog picture of three.

2009-07-05T11:05:00.003-04:00

"Humpy Wheeler: Both NASCAR and IRL Must Cut Costs Even Further"

As I mentioned previously, Humpy Wheeler exchanged an e-mail with me on the resignation of Anton H. "Tony" George as the boss at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Indy Racing League, and the ongoing soap opera that marks the Jeremy Mayfield v NASCAR drug testing saga.

George, says Wheeler, "is a racer, and that is what we lack in top management in auto racing today--people who truly understand racing. There are some, but is the passion there like we have seen in the past? Great leadership is needed now more than ever at the Brickyard."

Humpy praised George's attempts at cost containment, but says it has to continue and make greater strides. "NASCAR Cup racing is still out of hand, despite NASCAR's attempt to cut costs. Both the IRL and NASCAR must cut costs by at least 30-40 per cent to make it through this still sliding economy." That said, Humpy felt that the status quo (with cars and races) won't help the IRL to survive. His take: "You simply can't hold your very top drivers unless you have 20-24 races; every starting field should have at least 30 cars." It might be a little difficult to find 30 cars--not so much proper venues (New Hampshire, Cleveland, Road America for example).

Wheeler suggests Jeremy Mayfield will have a rough time coming back. "Once you are branded (as a user of banned substances), it is hard to lose it. He's still a fine race driver and can win races. Is he guilty of taking banned substances? I have not a clue and only hope he isn't. If he does come back, I think NASCAR will play it straight with them. They (NASCAR) will have to be very careful in how they conduct everything with him if Judge Mullen rules permanently that he (Mayfield) can return."

Agree or disagree, please feel free to comment.

2009-07-05T10:05:00.004-04:00

Greetings From The Glen--No Pix Today

In what I'll describe as a "senior moment", the infamous Fuji blog and Tweet camera was left safely on my desktop in the office. So I will attempt to do for you readers what I do on radio--that is, to paint a word picture. (I am thankful that I am around to have a senior moment--many of my brothers in arms weren't so fortunate during their service in the Army--and we always remember them, most especially on the Independence Day weekend).

Since 1977, I've been attending and covering races here at the Glen. I have been at the track when it snowed before a F1 race, and flat monsooned for sports car and CART Champ Car events. There is no such weather issue today--beautiful blue skies, moderate temperatures, and sun--good weather for growing grapes, and even better weather for racing.

The Governor of the Empire State, David Paterson, will be the honorary starter for the Camping World Grand Prix at the Glen. He, I'm sure, is glad to get away from the New York State Senatorial sturm und drang at least for a few hours--and appearing in the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York makes an image that will be helpful in his bid to be elected governor in his own right.

Helio Castroneves set fast time in Indy Car practice for the race--his average was 137.731 miles an hour over the 3.37 mile 11 turn natural road course--first of three such circuits this year (Mid-Ohio and Infineon in Sonoma, California the others). Milka Duno was involved in a late session crash which will keep the Dreyer & Reinbold crew busy until race time this afternoon.

You'da thunk there might have been some pole Tweets from the Glen yesterday (7/4). Ryan Briscoe starts from the pole.

Tweets during the race and a post race blog post will be provided for your reading pleasure, along with the promised comments from auto racing legend H. A. Humpy Wheeler.

2009-07-03T14:54:00.004-04:00

Dario on Richmond Saturday Night: "Fans needed to know what was going on with few passes"

The 2007 IndyCar champion, and present point leader, Target Chip Ganassi driver Dario Franchitti, took a little time to fly over to the Binghamton Regional Airport in "Fat Albert"--the US Marine Corps C-130 that provides logistical support for the US Navy Aerial Demonstration Team--the "Blue Angels". Dario, teammate Scott Dixon, EJ Viso, Hideki Mutoh and Mike Conway, along with some journalists flew the Hercules C-130T from the Elmira Corning Airport to Binghamton to meet with some local journalists and talk about this weekend's racing at Watkins Glen International road course. Dario clarified his remarks on the podium last Saturday night at Richmond.

He said the remarks were't intended to call out IRL President Brian Barnhart or Technical Director Les MacTaggart. "They are on the case (working on the changes that will go into effect for the ovals starting at Kentucky)." I wanted to make sure the fans knew what was going on."

Franchitti says that who ever wins up at Watkins Glen this Sunday will have to have a near perfect--if not perfect-- race to win.

As for his teammate--Scott Dixon--the defending series champion can break Sam Hornish's record if he wins on Sunday (that would be 20 wins in IndyCars).

The Greater Binghamton Airshow (July 4-5) will also have the US Army's Parachute Team--the Golden Knights--performing as well. A Harrier jet was practicing vertical takeoffs and landings while the C-130 was parked on the ramp, and almost in unison, every cell phone camera was snapping pictures when the Harrier jet operated vertically.

Got an e-mail from H. A. Humpy Wheeler with some comments on the Jeremy Mayfield situation, the departure of Anton H. "Tony " George from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Indy Racing League helms, and what the two major racing series--NASCAR's Sprint Cup and the IndyCar series--need to do to make it through the rough economy. We'll share some of that throughout the weekend.

Point of Personal Privilege: The men and women who wear the uniform of this country and go in harm's way to stand between us and our enemies are perhaps not direct descendants of those who signed the Declaration of Independence--they carry on the tradition of bravery and sacrifice and self reliance that began on July 4, 1776, when the Declaration was signed. Please remember that when you see the colors fly this weekend.

2009-07-02T16:10:00.004-04:00

"Mayfield Wins Injunction, but at What Cost"

Jeremy Mayfield, as I'm sure you now have read elsewhere, has prevailed for the moment and can now resume driving in NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series until the court cases have been decided, or NASCAR decides to appeal the ruling handed down in Federal District Court in Charlotte, to the Appeals Court located in Richmond.

The defense used by his legal team will be familiar to those people who may have beat a charge of driving under the influence--bring up as much doubt as possible about the validity of the testing and care of the sample. Where this gets twisted is that the sanctioning body (NASCAR) has NO, repeat, NO published list of banned substances. The sanctioning body says they want flexibility to be able to test for anything. Therein lies the rub.

NASCAR has been notorious for using "gotcha" clauses to mete out its punishment. Section 12-4 (a) (the infamous actions detrimental to stock car racing) can be invoked for any reason. The lack of a published list of banned substances is again a "gotcha". That is the reason that you will see the "lash of NASCAR justice" tag here, or hear it on my "Race-Talk program when I am describing the sanctioning body's disciplinary actions.

NASCAR is certainly within its rights to allow or not allow drivers or participants to drive or participate, and suggested that Federal drug testing regulations (which include lists of banned substances) do and should not be applied to its operations.

Those "gotcha" clauses are patently unfair. How does one know how not to break a rule, when the rule is a moving target and can be changed at any time? Moses knew that instinctively when the Ten Commandments were written in stone. More importantly, this is a trust issue.

If an organization resorts to ambiguous language in its dealings, then that organization ultimately has only its own best interests at heart; pious blatherings to the contrary. Do the interests of any organization have more primacy than the legal, ethical and moral rights of the individuals involved? There's nothing wrong with properly directed self-interest; that's the force that makes entrepreneurs survive. When self-interest is improperly directed whether by organizations or individuals, bad stuff happens.

The inspection process has for years been referred to as the "room of doom". Were I employed by Mr. Mayfield as a crew chief, or if I were an owner and considered him for a relief driver, I would make damned sure that every facet of the car conformed 100 percent to the portion of the NASCAR rule book that is in black and white. Even then, with the "gotcha" clause, cars could still flunk--and receive big fines--that would make Carl Long's indiscretions look like schoolyard follies. Would NASCAR do that? Very likely--they have done so in the past to send messages. Would Mayfield's legal team go to court to have that struck down? It'd be like a baseball player taking an umpire to court over a called third strike--a judgement call. No court would ever rule on a judgement call by a sporting official.

Mayfield will likely be tested every time he appears on track--I don't have a problem with that. It is his chance to prove his innocence and start to regain the trust of the garage area, which, for whatever reason, has been bruised. We will likely never know with any degree of certainty if Mayfield was using meth, as NASCAR alleges. If Mayfield did, he got a major league wake up call and break to get and stay straight. If he did not, Mayfield's reputation has been damaged--perhaps beyond repair--and needs to be made whole.

2009-06-27T23:28:00.006-04:00

" Dixon Wins Richmond SunTrust Indy Challenge"

The Target Chip Ganassi Team is on a major roll, with Scott Dixon winning his 3rd of 2009 and 19th of his IndyCar driving career by taking the checker over Dario Franchitti at Richmond International Raceway. Graham Rahal finished a career best 3rd on the ovals (to go with his 2008 St.Petersburg street course win). The 19th win by Dixon ties the record set by Sam Hornish.

All three drivers mentioned that the passing was not as easy and as plentiful as it has been here in past years, with point leader Franchitti apologizing to fans in Victory Lane on the podium. In the post race briefing, Franchitti said the cars were very difficult to drive and that what looked easy to the untrained eye was anything but. There were an unusually low three lead changes between Dixon, Franchitti and Hideki Mutoh (who finished 4th).

Team Penske had a not so good night, with first Ryan Briscoe and then Helio Castroneves crashing out of the event. They hold on to 3rd and 4th in points, respectively.

We'll have more on this week's Race-Talk with both Dixon and Franchitti as they get ready for racing ("only twisted") on the historic and let it all hang out Watkins Glen International natural road course in Schuyler County, New York.

2009-06-27T12:58:00.004-04:00

"Finish Line At the 'Action Track' "

In 2008--Tony Kanaan reached this first, after 300 laps (225 miles) of full contact, slice and dice, on like Donkey Kong IndyCar racing. TK has not had the start he and team owner Michael Andretti would like--so a repeat of last year's result would get that squad jumpstarted.

Polesitter Dario Franchitti says fans here at Richmond and watching on Versus will see some moments when cars try to pass one another. That task becomes easier as a second groove of Firestone Firehawk racing rubber is laid down, over what the Hoosier-shod USAC Silver Crown cars will deposit during their own race which is the preliminary event leading up to tonight's SunTrust Indy Challenge.

This race marks the second of four IndyCar races in as many weeks. The winner here carries a lot of momentum into the road course portion next weekend at Watkins Glen International.

We'll Tweet on Twitter with updates and maybe a shot on Twitpic, and post up after the post qualifying session. Oops!-- meant to type post race news conference with the winning driver and newsmakers.

2009-06-26T18:42:00.004-04:00

"Dario Franchitti leads Ganassi Crew to Richmond IndyCar Front Row"

In 2008, Franchitti was in the midst of his NASCAR attempt. The last time he raced here in 2007, the race distance was 250 laps. Fast Forward to Peak Performance Pole Day today:

After the practice, Franchitti's crew and that of teammate Scott Dixon went into a skull session to see if more speed could be found. Dixon's crew adapted Franchitti's set up to their Target Dallara. Franchitti says his car was a bit tight going into turn two, and more than rather loose going out of turn four. Conventional racing wisdom says one has to "hang it out" for a quick lap. Franchitti's average speed of 167.315 miles an hour for the four qualifying laps won the pole--and the point that goes with it. Dixon's average was 166.638 miles an hour.

An all Penske second row of Helio Castroneves, 3rd, and series point leader Ryan Briscoe 4th. Graham Rahal starts 5th.

The most important half hour they will spend is the final night practice under the lights--that will be the closest they will come to in race conditions until tomorrow night.

Catch you on race day.

2009-06-26T12:07:00.003-04:00

"Contrast at Richmond"

In the foreground, part of the equipment for Andretti-Green Racing's Tony Kanaan, who with the other drivers will soon be taking practice laps here at the 3/4 mile "Action Track". In the background, part of the crew and equipment of Bobby Santos, among the USAC Silver Crown drivers on track getting ready for their one day, practice, time trial/qualifying and race program.

We'll let you think about the contrast here.

More to come later; as always breaking stuff on Twitter, which is linked to on this page.

Clarification: The one-day show will be for the USAC Sprint Cars, which will run tonight 6/26. The USAC Silver Crown cars will run as a preliminary to the "SunTrust Indy Challenge".

2009-06-26T10:36:00.003-04:00

"Hello from the 'Action Track'"

Here at Richmond International Raceway for the weekend festivities, we found out some things about the purported FOTA 2010 schedule--a source at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway says that officials at the Speedway were never contacted by the FOTA powers that be about that schedule. Where I come from, that meant the "schedule" was simply a rumor. Reporting that as a fact--and not a rumor-- was not fair to readers of the internet sites who ran with that as "gospel"--and especially to American fans of Formula One, who would like to see a return of Grand Prix style racing to the Brickyard--which is the only venue in the US that has the proper infrastructure to run such an event as they are presently run. Such reporting raised a false hope that F1 could come "back home again in Indiana". That was similarly unfair to Canadian fans of F1 who would like to see a return to the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

Today's action at Richmond includes practice and qualifying for the IndyCars and a USAC Silver Crown race. We'll of course blog from IndyCar qualifying, and with any tidbits that may be uncovered.

2009-06-24T18:16:00.003-04:00

"Send Eli to College: Info about the College Fund for David Poole's Grandson:"

Regular readers know we like to write our own posts. When we find something of great value, we will post a link to another on line resource. Here, then , is today's most valuable post on ALL the internet, thanks to veteran TV observer John Daly of the Daly Planet, subject as above:

http://dalyplanet.blogspot.com/2009/06/college-fund-for-david-pooles-grandson.html#links

An aside: regular listeners remember how ol' David used to rail about men wearing flip flops and their "man feet". It might be nice if someone figured out how to get the words "Man feet" on some inexpensive flip flops, sell them for about $5, and give $4 of each sale to Eli's college fund. Wonder if any of the NASCAR marketeers would want to get in.

2009-06-18T21:11:00.005-04:00

"Race-Talk Extra: FOTA Says it'll run its own F1 series in 2010"

Just read the words from FOTA, the Formula One Teams Association, which said, in essence, that it would begin plans for its own F1 style series in 2010. Teams like Ferrari, McLaren, Brawn, Toyota, BMW, etc.--the major players in today's FIA F1 series--would contest the events. No word on where they'd run, or if they'd consider coming back to venues in North America. No word if this series would consider returning to venues in Europe that Bernie Ecclestone of Formula One Administration (commercial rights holder) has abandoned. The cars would likely resemble those running at Silverstone this weekend.

A pretty brave statement by FOTA, given the economic downturn world wide.

I'm wondering whether this is an even higher stakes game of chicken, where the marinade is like that for chicken wings--hot, very hot and suicidal.

Update on Friday June 19, at 2:30 EDT--Ferrari and the FIA will likely meet in court over all of this...the FIA (Max Mosely's operation) is taking action against Ferrari because of its work in setting up the Formula One Teams Association (FOTA). If Brawn and Jenson Button all but run the table at the British GP, and the rest of the season--the most interesting stuff in F1 land will be the court battles. I am not sure you'd see News of the World getting ready to hammer ol' Max after the Nazi debacle a couple of years ago..but I'm sure the teams and their principals are brushing up on the Machiavellian theory and practice.

2009-06-14T18:43:00.004-04:00

"Jeg, Tony Pedregon & Larry Dixon and the Catchfence Today's Winners at Englishtown"

Defending Pro Stock Champ Jeg Coughlin, Jr after his win over Mike Edwards at the NHRA Full Throttle US Supernationals at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park. Jeg is two for two weeks in final rounds going into the break this weekend.

Tony Pedregon is also two for two weeks in Funny Car final wins--Tony took home the Wally by defeating Ashley Force Hood in the finals for the second consecutive week, and now sits atop those points going into the break.

Larry Dixon won his fifth Top Fuel title here when point leader Antron Brown redlighted in the final round. Dixon notches another win for the Alan Johnson Al-Anabi Racing squad...Dixon now is 4th in Top Fuel points going into the break.

The big winner of the weekend is the catch fencing system the Napp family (track operators) installed after last year's fatal accident involving Scott Kalitta. The system consists of a sand trap, two sets of catch netting and a barrel system designed to soak up impact. The system was tested twice in a row in the Alcohol Funny Car class--first by former Olympic cycling Gold Medalist Marty Nothstein, whose dragster suffered a parachute malfunction and found the first net. Nothstein was gnashing his teeth when he emerged from the car--but was OK.

The top end crew took a half hour to reset the system--good thing there, since on the next run, the Alcohol Funny Car of Alexis DeJoria suffered a parachute failure, and contacted both sets of catch nets. DeJoria was unhurt but miffed, since her car was fast enough to have won her drag race. De Joria's car bent the nose 90 degrees. Better that than bending the driver.

The best comment was from the New Jersey State Police Auto Racing Safety Unit. The officers "couldn't have been happier" after their investigation of what happened when they saw how the net and sand trap worked. In New Jersey, the State Police is empowered to enforce safety regulations at all auto racing events in the Garden State. That unit has a more grim mission when not at the track--it investigates fatal accidents in NJ.

Dixon said "you can thank Scott Kalitta for that (the improved catch fencing system at the top end).

We're not at a race track until late June at Richmond--we'll be busy with a web site redesign and administrative tasks that need attention. If something blows up in F1 or something major happens with the Mayfield fiasco, or other auto racing major news, we'll post here, and Tweet on Twitter.

2009-06-14T09:40:00.003-04:00

NHRA Englishtown--SUNDAY!!!!!!

Driving to Old Bridge Township Raceway Park, we saw some wet pavement and ran through some fog en route. Temperatures are in the low to mid 60's and skies are grey. If this holds up--there will be some big times from the Pro Stock cars, and of course the Nitro Top Fuel and Funny Cars in their eliminations. We suspect that the sunny conditions that are prevalent on the west side of Interstate 95 will appear right on cue this afternoon at Englishtown.

The hospitality area meet and greets continue right up until it's time for the pro categories to go to the line and all the pre race ceremony is finished.

One of the pre race ceremonies we'll watch with interest is the public acknowledgement of the US Army Birthday. It's Flag Day, too. Which brings me to a point of personal privilege:

When you see the Stars and Stripes, please remember the men and women who served under that flag, and those of them who made the ultimate sacrifice. Please also remember the men and women who now wear the Army Combat Uniform--it is their service, and the freedom it protects, which lets us live our way of life in the way we choose to. They do something that 98 1/2 per cent of the population of this country cannot or will not do--and that is to serve in the active defense of this country.

We'll blog a few snapshots of the Pro winners later--Tweets at MSRnet will get updates.

2009-06-07T19:38:00.003-04:00

"Post #300--Smoke's First Win as Owner/Driver"

The winning crewchief, Darian Grubb, and owner/driver Tony Stewart of Stewart Haas Racing after Victory Lane at Pocono Raceway. You will remember that "Smoke" had a problem at during Saturday practice and that caused Grubb and his team to roll out a backup Chevy Impala that had to start today's race from the back, per NASCAR rules. All Stewart did was slice his way through traffic, run in the top three in speeds...and when it counted--got the lead for good when his pit crew put him out ahead of Carl Edwards's Ford Fusion. All the front runners had to save gas...but Stweart saved enough fuel so he could run quickly enough to finish 2 seconds ahead of Edwards, and notch his first win of 2009, and first as the Stewart in Stewart Haas Racing. This helps him with making the Chase, since he extends his Sprint Cup Series point lead to 71 over Jeff Gordon.

SO how will "Smoke" mark the win? He'll celebrate a little tonight...but tomorrow 6/8, will be at Virginia International Raceway tweaking on his road course setup for Infineon Raceway in two weeks.

Here's the top 12 Chase Contenders (official NASCAR stuff comes out Monday):

Stewart--2043

Jeff Gordon--1972 (-71)

Jimmie Johnson--1940 (-103)

Ryan Newman (teammate)--1840 (-203)

Kurt Busch--1819 (-224)

Carl Edwards--1762 (-281)

Greg Biffle--1753 (-290)

Matt Kenseth--1745 (-298)

Kyle Busch--1731 (-312)

Jeff Burton--1725 (-318)

David Reutimann--1701 (-342)

Denny Hamlin--1679 (-364)

It is amazing how accountability helps maturity. It is also refreshing to see and deal with. Stewart may well be one of a few owner drivers in the history of the sport who could pull off a championship contention year--or better. Ryan Newman may be the next member of the team to make the desired left turn into Victory Lane--perhaps next week at Michigan.

We'll be blogging straight-line action from NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in Englishtown, NJ next weekend. Or if events break loose.

For our updates, check our Twitter page: twitter.com/MSRnet.

2009-06-07T10:01:00.003-04:00

"Sprint Cup Point Leader Starts Shotgun at the Tricky Trioval"

Crew Chief Darian Grubb is supervising final tweaks on Tony Stewart's #14 Chevy as the hours tick down to the green flag for the Pocono 500. Stewart's original #14 Chevy suffered some damage in a Saturday practice, so Grubb and the Stewart-Haas racing team rolled out the backup. What this means is that Stewart will lead a ceremonial lap, and then drop to the back of the 43 car field to take the green.

Another thing makes this interesting: The implementation of the NASCAR double file restart rule, which puts cars trying to get laps back at a disadvantage. One suspects Mr. Stewart will wish to set sail toward the front to maintain his position atop the points.

I also promise not to use the "on like Donkey Kong" line to describe the racing here at the tricky tri-oval today.

2009-06-06T20:54:00.003-04:00

"Four Way Tie for Grand-Am Rolex Series Daytona Prototype Lead"

On top the racewinners of the Sahlen's Six Hours of the Glen: Left, Scott Pruett (who notched his 20th career Daytona Prototype (DP) victory) and Memo Rojas. Below, Brian Frisselle and Max Angelelli, who finished second.

The Chip Ganassi Racing team of Pruett and Rojas led the most laps on the way to breaking a nine race losing streak. Pruett was being caught by Angelelli at the end; with "Max the Axe" beginning to chop into a sizeable lead for the defending DP champions. A yellow with less than two minutes to go raised an issue with Pruett's fuel. Pruett set the fastest lap time ten laps from the end and was on the gas till the yellow flew--he had to be, or else Angelelli would have caught him.

Roger Penske's drivers--Romain Dumas and Timo Bernhard--led some early laps...but fell back and finished third in their final tuneup before they go to LeMans to drive for the Audi team next weekend.

Next action for the Daytona Prototype cars is at the Mid Ohio Sports Car Course in two weeks. Pruett, Rojas, Frisselle and Angelelli are in a four way flatfooted tie with 140 points. Alex Gurney and Jon Fogarty--leaders when the day started, fell back to third in points--just six behind.

We get a short night and will catch up to you from the tricky trioval--Pocono Raceway--on Sunday.

2009-06-06T11:01:00.004-04:00

"A Riley-Saturn?"

Roger Penske with his Grand-Am Rolex Series crew. This is actually a Porsche-Riley, driven by Romain Dumas and Timo Bernhard in Verizon Wireless livery. They will chase the polesitting car driven by Memo Rojas and Scott Pruett--the defending series champions--when the Sahlen's Six Hours of the Glen gets the green flag around 2:15 pm here on the hilltop overlooking Seneca Lake in Schuyler County, NY. The sponsor--Sahlen's makes some great provisions--I can recommend their hot dogs without reservation.

The Captain seems a bit relaxed this weekend. Roger, for those with short memories, was a sports car driver of great repute, even winning a driver of the year award from Sports Illustrated. He parlayed that, and some degree of success at Indianapolis, into a racing empire that was the genesis for the Penske Automotive Group--soon to be the new owners of the Saturn brand.

We'll be here for a while, and will Tweet updates at MSRnet, with a snapshot of the overall winners later this evening.

2009-06-05T09:53:00.003-04:00

"Road Test 800"

The 2009 Ford F-150 Lariat Crew Cab model I drove in April is the subject of my 800th episode of "Radio-Road-Test", which is available from our weekly podcast area. Just click on this link:

http://msrpk.com/podcast/roadtest.rss

I'm re-tweaking the msrpk.com website to add more functionality which will include an archive of Radio-Road-Test episodes that you may listen to or download at your leisure.

The data for it, and the other vehicles I've driven so far in the 2009 test year, can be found at this page:

http://msrpk.com/09Data.htm

I return to race blogging and tweeting from Watkins Glen International tomorrow, and from the tricky tri-oval a/k/a Pocono Raceway on Sunday.

2009-05-25T19:04:00.002-04:00

"Rainout Morning Matinee at the Brickyard"

Behind the scenes at the official photo shoot with the Indianapolis 500 winner, Helio Castroneves of Team Penske. Joie Chitwood, Speedway President, poses with Helio and the Borg Warner Trophy for all the other photogs lensing it up, while the Indiana skies opened over the Speedway. So the rain-shortened Coca Cola 600 was not the only facility affected by weather on Memorial Day.

Point of Personal Privilege: I thought the Memorial Day tribute at Lowe's during the 600 was sincere and appreciated, but a few years too late for some of my contemporaries who served in the US Army during the Vietnam era. I hope those who spat on the soldiers as they came through San Francisco during that time reflect on what they did as much as our brothers in arms do and learn from the mistakes of the past.

2009-05-24T19:58:00.002-04:00

"Could You Write a Better Script for May at Indianapolis?"

From left to right: Penske Racing President, Tim Cindric, three time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves, and 15 time Indianapolis 500 winning car owner, Roger Penske.

Castroneves led early fell back and relied on his crew and his usually heavy right foot to get past the wreckage of eight caution periods for contact...getting past runner-up Dan Wheldon and third place finisher Danica Patrick to become the most recent of six drivers to win the Indy 500 three times.

The scariest moment came when AJ Foyt racing driver Vitor Meira and Luczo Dragon racing driver Raphael Matos hooked wheels in turn one and Meira went vertical with his wheels riding the SAFER barrier. Meira was admitted to Methodist Hospital with a fracture of the L1 and L2 vertebrae. Indy Car Medical Director Dr. Michael Olinger says the plan is for Meira to be treated with a back brace ("non-surgical management"). Dr. Terry Trammell will keep tabs on Meira during the recovery. Meira is expected to be at Methodist for two days. Vitor felt well enough to call the team on his cell phone after being examined at Methodist.

We will be here for the front row photo and maybe try to chat up our pal Helio some more.

2009-05-24T09:37:00.002-04:00

"Race Morning from the Pagoda"

Still early at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and no upsets, drama or other untoward incidents so far--unless you are trying to drive in to one of the spectator entrances on 16th Street or on Georgetown Road. We've heard reports of people waiting in line; and some where the wait was ten minutes or less. The average lies somewhere between the low and high figure.

The building from where I watch the race is next door. If you see any shot on ABC television with the words "100 Years of the Greatest Race Course in the World" that is where the deadline writers, broadcasters netsters and bloggers ply their trade.

Let me make a bold prediction: The winner of this year's Indianapolis 500 will likely come from this group of drivers. In order: Polesitter Helio Castroneves can join six other drivers as three time winners--with all the off track drama and complete vindication in the Federal Courts, and a win in the Pit Stop Competition--a fence climb is not out of the question and would cap a great story.

Last year's winner Scott Dixon is the driver who can spoil that Hollywood ending for Helio.

2007 winner Dario Franchitti is not to be counted out.

Ryan Briscoe starts second, and has Roger Penske calling his race strategy.

Tony Kanaan from Andretti Green leads the best of the rest.

Graham Rahal would like to join his dad, Bobby, on the Borg-Warner Trophy.

Upset special: Scott Sharp in the Patron Tequila car.

We'll be a little busy for CBS News and their affiliates so we'll blog afterwards. Tweets, of course, as events break.

2009-05-22T12:54:00.003-04:00

"Early Weekend; Carb Day Fans at the Speedway"

Some of the Friday crowd getting an early start to the weekend's festivities at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway; the view is of the Pagoda Plaza just before the Freedom 100 Indy Lights race.

The final on track checks for the Indy cars are complete...33 cars ran laps during the final practice, known as Carb Day. The fastest driver on Carb Day is the fastest qualifier--Helio Castroneves, who ran a lap at 223.9 miles an hour (his pole speed 224.1) Penske teammate Will Power clocked in at 223.5 mph.

Later on this afternoon, the Pit Stop Competition takes place after the Freedom 100 concludes.

I'll tweet on Twitter (MSRnet) with updates from the festivities.

By the way, we're scheduled to visit an Indianapolis institution for dinner Friday. The quintessential neighborhood bar and burger joint called the "Workingman's Friend" is about a mile or so from the Speedway--a burger from there is always in order--and requires a good appetite. It is certainly not as fancy as St. Elmo's (Steakhouse), but it is a lunchtime legend.

UPDATE: The Workingman's Friend is a place to get good burgers at a great price.

Keep Tweeting in the meantime.

2009-05-22T10:54:00.004-04:00

"Veteran Scribe Honored at Carb Day Lid-Lifter"

We start our Indianapolis blogging with a note about one of the legends in the auto racing journalism business--Mike Harris of the Associated Press, who wraps up an active 40 year career next weekend at the IndyCar race at the Milwaukee Mile. A scholarship in Mike's name for the sports journalism program at Indiana University was announced by Indianapolis Motor Speedway VP Fred Nation. The recipient will have the opportunity to intern with either the Indianapolis Motor Speedway or IndyCar Series media relations staffs. Donations from the Speedway and the IndyCar Series got the ball rolling.

Mike's been a friend and mentor to many in the press room; his presence will be missed once he and his wife Judy go gently into retirement.

We'll post some further observations later on.

2009-05-03T00:39:00.004-04:00

"Birthday Boy Sweeps Action Track"

The rains stayed away and the fans who made it to Richmond saw a rootin' tootin' short track special that saw Kyle Busch reverse an early season victory slide with his third win of 2009. It came on his 24th birthday. Busch joins Cale Yarborough as the only two NASCAR drivers to win in the top division on their birthday.

Multiple stories this evening: Jeff Burton looked early like a pinball getting knocked around. He finished 3rd, behind Tony Stewart and Busch. Ryan Newman took a strong 4th, which pleased Stewart--his boss and teammate. Jeff Gordon also showed strength, leading laps and notching an 8th place finish, which put him back into the Sprint Cup point lead over Kurt Busch who dropped to second--10 behind Gordon. Stewart-Haas Racing has been a pleasant surprise with their steady progress toward the top ranks of Sprint Cup teams--pundits predicted the progress but not as quickly.

Denny Hamlin led the most laps, and was on pace for a hometown win. The rule change with lug nuts for this night anyway, flummoxed Hamlin's crew. Hamlin ended the race 14th.

The snapshot with crew chief Steve Addington, Busch and Coach Joe Gibbs came during their post race news conference.

We'll do this again next Saturday night at Darlington Raceway--the "track too tough to tame"--for the Southern 500.

2009-05-02T13:44:00.002-04:00

Rain at Richmond

Just a few moments ago, we felt the first few drops of what the weather prognosticators are predicting for later on this afternoon and evening. The Mark Martin crew thought they could take down the awning on the pit box--but not so fast, as you see above. We're hearing the rain on the roof here in Richmond's Media Center. The race is slated to start around 7:45 pm +/-.

Brian Vickers and Jeff Gordon are on the front row, qualifying 1 & 2 for the Crown Royal Presents the Russ Friedman 400, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Event that begins the professional racing season at Richmond's "Action Track". Gordon trails point leader Kurt Busch by five point.

The weather forecast is not promising for Sunday either.

You may have seen the Tweet about the passing of veteran NASCAR scribe David Poole. It's still the topic of many conversations in the infield. The guy could flat write, no question. There's a picture of David and a place reserved for him in the press room as a small memorial. RIP, David.

2009-04-19T20:40:00.005-04:00

"Long Beach IndyCars--Something for Everyone"

On the bottom--Dario Franchitti, who like Gil deFerran yesterday, found his way to Victory Lane at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. Franchitti, with the win for owner Chip Ganassi over polesitter Will Power, now takes the series point lead to Kansas. He was challenged by Danica Patrick, who started 22nd and thanks to race strategist and team owner Michael Andretti, picked her way through the full course cautions and made it to second, before a fade to a 4th place finish.

On the top--Will Power and Helio Castroneves of Team Penske chatting after a post race media availability. Power gave up the #3 to Castroneves this weekend, as he agreed to do, and will next be in Penske livery at the corner of 16th St. and Georgetown Road in late May for the Indianapolis 500, a race where Mr. Penske has a solid record of accomplishment. Helio started 8th, led some laps, but also shuffled back in the pack--he finished 7th.

We will be back at the track in Richmond for Sprint Cup qualifying on May 1, and the race on May 2.

2009-04-19T10:24:00.003-04:00

"One Year Later--Victory At Long Beach"

The last motor racing victory for Gil deFerran was an IndyCar win in 2003 at Texas Motor Speedway. He came close here in Champ Cars, one year leading 100 of 105 laps (1997) only to fall victim to mechanical gremlins. A year ago he announced his return to driving, and his entry into team ownership in an American LeMans Series LeMans Prototype 2 Acura. Fast forward to Saturday, where he led a 1-2-3 Acura sweep of the podium.

This is a big deal, since he started on the fly in 2008 with the LMP2 Acura. After the season ended, deFerran ramped up to the LMP1 Acura Program, starting with Sebring a few weeks ago.

He will have a tall order next race at Miller Motorsports Park in Utah...we'll have more previewing that race in an upcoming edition of "Race-Talk".

In other auto racing...Winnngs over Shanghai... Red Bull Racing's Sebastian Vettel wins the Chinese Grand Prix; Jenson Button remains the Formula One point leader with a third place finish. Mark Martin showed Saturday night why Rick Hendrick picked him as a driver...the 50 year old Martin beat Tony Stewart to break a 98 race victory drought in NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series. Comments from him on this week's Race-Talk, as well.

We'll blog a snapshot from the IndyCar winner's news conference later on.

2009-04-18T19:50:00.003-04:00

"Will Power on Pole; Can He Win His Way to A Full Time Ride?"

Will Power (center, black driving suit), last year's winner, sits on the pole for Sunday's 35th edition of the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. This is a big deal, since all he had to do is acclimate himself to a new engineer and team, after putting the #3 car driven now by Helio Castroneves in front in Friday practice. It's a big deal, but do-able since he drives for Roger Penske, and "The Captain" is one of a few owners in any form of auto racing with the acumen and resources to pull this off. Power knows the way to Victory Lane, since he won here last April. Dario Franchitti made his return to Long Beach in fine style, starting alongside Power in 2nd. Teammate Scott Dixon also in the top 6 in 6th...as are Justin Wilson (5th), EJ Viso (4th), and Raphael Matos (3rd). Helio Castroneves did not get to the Fast 6 but was in the Swift 12...he'll take his first green of 2009 from the 8th starting spot. Other notables: St. Petersburg winner Ryan Briscoe starts 10th; Tony Kanaan 11th, Marco Andretti 19th, Danica Patrick 22nd.

The rhetorical question I ask is this: If Power wins, and attracts the interest of an advertiser with sufficient willingness and authority to commit to a sponsorship (yes, even in these times sponsors are there--but they are harder to find), would the "Captain" reconsider?

2009-04-18T16:14:00.004-04:00

"Helio's Back"

We join you from the 35th edition of the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, where a real-life feel good story just took place. Helio Castroneves retook his place behind the wheel of the #3 Dallara Honda owned by the legendary "Captain", Roger Penske--scan hours after a Miami jury acquitted him on six counts of federal tax evasion in US Federal Court. Penske made it clear--he stood behind Helio and assured him that he (Castroneves) would get the seat back if acquitted. That put Will Power into a third car in Verizon livery this weekend, and for the Indianapolis 500. The Captain was certainly loyal to Castroneves and kept his word. I am not so sure other owners would have had that much patience and loyalty if faced with such a dilemma.

Helio makes no secret about the practice of his Catholic faith. He says that faith, and weekends in shifter go-karts, helped him through the dark days of that 7 week trial.

The last time Castroneves raced here in 2001, he led 82 laps on the way to Victory Lane. The fastest driver this morning was Dario Franchitti. Power, who won this race in 2008 (the last of the Champ Car series in reunification) was third in the Verizon car...point leader Ryan Briscoe (third member of the Penske triumverate) clocked in 16th.

David Brabham put the Patron Acura LeMans Prototype 1 car on the pole for this afternoon's race in the American LeMans Series sprint race which will take the green after qualifying.

In the signature Toyota Pro Celebrity Race, a familiar name took the checkers in the Pro category--the now retired Al Unser, Jr. with seven checkers--five in the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, and now two in the Celebrity race (first one was in 1985--25 years ago) Keanu Reeves won the celebrity portion--Jamie Little was mired in mid pack--the ESPN pit reporter and last year's celebrity winner was never a factor.

More after qualifying for the Indy Cars and definitely more after the American LeMans race.

2009-04-08T13:19:00.004-04:00

Segway, Fisker Electric Options @ NY International Auto Show

Sustainable mobility is not only cute---it can be fast, too.

Top is the GM/Segway collaboration for a two person people mover powered by batteries.

Bottom is the business end of the Fisker hybrid convertible. The manufacturer's figures for their conventional hybrid, gets 0-60 in 7.5 seconds running on batteries alone; 5.1 with the 2.0 liter gas engine working. The company also markets a plug in hybrid.

All of the manufacturers are touting enhanced fuel economy numbers. For the four and six cylinder models, you get specific numbers. For the performance and big V8 engine models, you get a percentage.

As you saw on the last Tweet, Roger Penske and I had a chance to chat as we met near the Cadillac exhibit and the new SRX. "The Captain" is looking over the new models (after all, his Penske Auto Group sells vehicles from most of the manufacturers exhibiting) and was pleased when I congratulated him on his IndyCar team win at St. Petersburg.

Most interesting panel of all will be the Future of Automotive Newsweek panel discussion later this afternoon.

I'll Tweet if there's any neat stuff.

2009-04-08T09:09:00.006-04:00

"Answer Me This:"

Interesting Keynote Speech by Stefan Jacoby, Volkswagen of America President & President of Auto Alliance. He says he and the organization supports regulations mandating fuel economy and, befitting his European background, perhaps more government influence on owners of cars to get rid of them for more efficient models, as is done in Germany. But one of the first things he said was "(the) free market works."

How do you have a free market with restrictive regulations that mandate building cars that people in the real world don't want?

He set the themes for the show--fuel economy, alternative fuels and sustainable mobility. I suspect that performance, if it is mentioned at all, will be very much in the background.

More later.

2009-04-08T07:42:00.002-04:00

"NY International Auto Show"

Checking in early from the press room...with all that is going on in the business...the GM & Chrysler sessions ought to be interesting.

We'll blog a picture of any interesting cars/trucks we see...and we will Tweet from the floor.

2009-04-05T19:16:00.004-04:00

"The Captain Wins Again in St. Pete; Briscoe Takes IndyCar Green-White-Checker"

Ryan Briscoe survived a challenge by Ryan Hunter-Reay in the last two laps, to notch his third career win, and owner Roger Penske's third win here on the temporary downtown 1.8 mile street circuit. Justin Wilson was the beneficiary of a first lap incident that punted polesitter Graham Rahal from the lead. Wilson led the most laps, but was caught by Roger Penske's strategy, which put Briscoe in the lead. Hunter-Reay was catching Briscoe, but thought better of a last lap banzai move in the late stages of a caution filled Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. The green-white-checker evolved because the last green flag of the race flew on lap 99 (green). The next lap was the white flag lap (100) and then the checker was shown first to Briscoe.

The win is the Captain's 30th victory since Penske Racing joined the IndyCar Series.

We'll blog from the NY International Auto Show later this week...and don't be surprised if you see something about our 800th Road Test somewhere else.

2009-04-05T12:57:00.002-04:00

"Junior (Strous) the Real Deal"

We are in sunny St. Petersburg, FL, and not outside Ft. Worth, TX (as a reminder), and had the chance to witness a performance from Junior Strous in the Indy Lights doubleheader that opened our eyes. Strous swept both ends of the doubleheader with impressive drives.

This is one of the big dilemmas of the open wheel world. Even before the economic contraction, drivers with lots of talent and not so much money had a very hard time advancing from solid performances in the junior formulae to the "show" a/k/a, IndyCar Series. Now, marketeers will tell you that no other form of racing exists other than NASCAR and its Sprint Cup Series, and that they would not back drivers in open wheel like Strous, with sponsorship for a race car, even with demonstrations of talent such as Strous's this weekend. NB: Regular readers know I use the term marketeers to describe the "geniuses" that provide vision, strategy and direction for a firm's marketing budget, and base their judgement on a herd mentality.

The marketeers need to do more study and look beyond the figures.

2009-04-04T19:38:00.003-04:00

"Acuras Double Up in St. Pete; Brabham, Sharp Notch First LMP1 Overall Win for Patron Highcroft Racing"

Scott Sharp started, and David Brabham finished up in Victory Lane with the LMP1 Acura ARX 02a, which we showed you on this blog in January. (OK, that's the excuse I am giving for not blogging a snapshot). The Acura driven by Simon Pagenaud and Gil deFerran started on pole and was fast--the gremlins bit, and the car completed only 66 of 93 laps on track...and was on the transporter by the time Sharp and Brabham went to Victory Lane.

This is Sharp's first LMP1 win, and the first in ALMS competition for the ARX 02a. Sharp and Brabham won Acura's first LMP2 tilt at Lime Rock last July.

The Patron Highcroft team leads the LMP1 points as the series gets a break for Easter next week.

In LMP2, Adrian Fernandez and Luis Diaz are two for the season. Their Acura ARX 01b was the only LMP2 car fast enough to stay on the same lap with the Patron squad, notching their second class win.

Fernandez and Diaz similarly lead the LMP2 points.

We're multitasking and trying to watch a little NC2A Final Four National Semifinal action in between work. Time for us to say good night and see all of you tomorrow morning.

2009-04-04T14:01:00.003-04:00

"Front Row At St. Pete"

To your left, Graham Rahal, at 20 years, 90 days old, the youngest IndyCar pole sitter, with an effort of 103.828 miles an hour for his first pole, and a leg up on defense of his win here last year. To your right, Justin Wilson, who drove his fast lap of 103.196 miles an hour to give new owner Dale Coyne Racing his best ever team starting position. Rahal had a semi-close moment on an otherwise impeccable Fast Six...the son of Bobby Rahal thought he needed to get an even quicker lap, and upset the car ever so slightly enough to kiss the wall.

The top 6 are Rahal, Wilson, Tony Kanaan, Ryan Briscoe, Dario Franchitti, and Will Power. Scott Dixon will see the green from 8th, Danica Patrick 15th, and her teammate, Marco Andretti, 18th. Rahal showed a bit of pleasure when asked whether he derived satisfaction from beating and out qualifying Marco.

We'll blog after the American LeMans Series race wraps up.

2009-04-04T11:32:00.002-04:00

"Knockout Qualifying at St. Pete; ALMS Warmed Up--Just Like the Weather"

Our colleague Jeff Wolf reported in yesterday's Las Vegas Review Journal the presumptive move of NASCAR's season ending Sprint Cup Awards banquet/ceremony to Glitter Gulch, a/k/a Las Vegas...leaving the Waldorf-Astoria and confiscatory New York taxes behind. A good move--besides, America's Happiest Mayor, Oscar Goodman, actually enjoys the visits--unlike the sourpuss Michael Bloomberg. Bloomberg has a more important task--actually trying to attract and keep taxpayers in New York City.

Here at St. Pete, the first pole position of 2009 is up for grabs in the Indy Car Series. The "knockout" format works like this--drivers are split into two random groups. The top 6 from each group go to Round 2. The twelve are reduced to the 6 fastest. Those six shoot it out in a ten minute no-holds barred qualifying session. BTW last year's winner Graham Rahal, and last year's series champion, Scott Dixon are in...along with returnee Dario Franchitti.

We'll blog you a pole winning snapshot later on.

2009-04-03T15:01:00.009-04:00

"Lid-Lifter on IndyCars; ALMS Acuras On Pole "

American LeMans-- Simon Pagenaud from deFerran Racing is on overall pole with the new Acura ARX02b LMP 1 prototype--101.606 miles an hour around the 1.8 mile course. Third overall and first of the LMP2 cars--Luis Diaz 99.420. The diesel Peugeots and Audis aren't here...so the prototype field is a bit sparse. That said, Pagenaud didn't have a lot of time to get into the Wirth Racing simulator for the ARX02b...so he looked around on the net, and downloaded some games and simulations of the St. Pete circuit, a lot like Denny Hamlin at Pocono in 2006.

IndyCar--Last year's winner, Graham Rahal, set the standard for the IndyCars--his practice run 102.3 miles an hour. The IndyCars sound a bit different in 2009, thanks to a rule tweak that put a different exhaust system on the Honda engines. Also...the ethanol that they use is Brazilian branded, thanks to the demise of the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council, who sponsored the fueling in 2008 Twenty-two IndyCars took practice times this afternoon. The series will also have a different tire rule for road and street courses for 2009. Firestone, at the behest of the IRL, developed a two tire scheme--primary (black sidewall) and alternate (red sidewall). The rules state that each team use one set of unused ("sticker") primary tires and one set of unused ("sticker") alternate tires for at minimum two laps of green flag racing. The alternate tires share the same construction as the primaries, but have a stickier tread. Firestone Racing Boss Al Speyer suggested that teams who bolt on the red-label Firehawks could gain a half to a full second of speed over use of the primary tires. This introduces some strategies in the management of the tires. But wait, there's more: The teams must declare one hour after final qualifying, what compound (primary or alternate) their car or cars will use at the green flag. If the race is declared a wet race--the rule is suspended.

Danica Patrick still draws crowds in the paddock, not quite like AJ Foyt did in his heyday...we had to squeeze up against the ropes to snap this shot of the crew working on the Motorola car.

We'll rejoin you from the downtown circuit tomorrow. In the meantime, (and I hope you will pardon this point of personal privilege) please keep my neighbors in Binghamton, NY in your thoughts and prayers, as they try to make sense of what happened on Front Street today.

2009-04-03T13:59:00.003-04:00

"Toy Store vs Real World"

We have been monitoring events in our area--we are based in Johnson City, NY, two miles to the west of Binghamton, NY--and we note, with a lot of concern, the stories about a shooting incident at the American Civic Association, which has made worldwide news. Had we been there, we'd have been working on that story, which is never a good story to cover, or see unfold. Our thoughts and prayers (especially on this Palm Sunday weekend) are with all who are affected by this outrage. It reminds me that most of the time, what I cover is from the "Toy Store" of life. What happened in Binghamton this morning was as "real world" as one gets.

We're going to shoot some pictures from the paddock and ask Father Phil DeRea (IndyCar Catholic Chaplain) to remember the Binghamton victims at Holy Mass here at the track this weekend.

2009-04-03T11:32:00.003-04:00

"St. Pete--Day 1"

Greetings from the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, the season opener for the IndyCar Series and race number two for the American LeMans Series.

I'll blog a few pictures from the paddock later on. The ALMS prototypes and GT cars will qualify later this afternoon--we'll snapshot the overall polesitter.

Also going on this weekend is my 800th Radio-Road-Test. I am testing a Ford F-150 Lariat 4x2 with a five and 1/2 foot box seating for four and a V8 engine which will launch the vehicle from 0-60 in the eight second range (I gotta save the exact figures for the radio program which will likely air the week of June 3, 2009). Mileage bumps 20 on the highway...16.5 combined +/-.

I'll blog a picture of the test vehicle later in the weekend. The skies opened up this morning and washed all the Alligator Alley dust out of the box.

2009-03-29T20:01:00.003-04:00

"RIP--Mike Stolarcyk III 1975-2009"

This is primarily for my listeners on WEBO, who might know Mike Stolarcyk Chevrolet as one of our program sponsors. Mike's dad was our original program sponsor in 1988, when "Race-Talk" premiered in April, 1988. Mike III died on March 26, at 33 years of age, from a heart condition. He leaves a wife, two small sons, and a lot of people in the village of Whitney Point, NY who respected him and his family. I was looking forward to helping him sell Chevys for years to come.

Mike's passing reminds us of the fragility of life. It further reminds us of a prayer that's said by Catholics when they pray the Rosary: "May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace."

We'll rejoin you from St. Petersburg, FL later this week, when the IndyCar season begins, and we road test our 800th vehicle for "Radio-Road-Test".

2009-03-22T00:22:00.004-04:00

"A Battle From the First to the 12th Hour"

Words from Rinaldo Capello, who along with Tom Kristensen and Allan McNish (above, in the post race news conference), won the 12 Hours of Sebring in a brand new Audi R15/TDI clean diesel powered LeMans Prototype 1 machine. McNish drove the last few laps, and benefited from the team's strategic thinking on fueling, while being chased by the Peugeot Diesel driven by Franck Montagny, Stephane Sarrazin and 4 time Champ Car Champion and present Formula One driver Sebastien Bourdais. The Audi beat the Peugeot by 22.27 seconds at the end of 383 laps--longest distance for any of the 57 editions of this race.

Adrian Fernandez was the top finishing Acura prototype--his LMP 2 ARX-01B was first in class and 4th overall.

The pole winning car driven by Scott Dixon, Gil de Ferran and Simon Pagenaud-- the new Acura ARX-02a lasted about 9 hours before falling out with mechanical teething problems finishing 18th overall. The Acura ARX-02a driven by Dario Franchitti, Scott Sharp and David Brabham lasted a little longer, finishing 15th. So the HPD folks will get to work before St. Petersburg, in two weeks.

The Audis and Peugeots won't be seen for a while at other American LeMans Series weekends--a pity, since those cars demonstrate how a diesel can be made to run and run quickly, as well as reliably.

Normally when race cars pass where you sit, you look up to see who is going by. With both the Peugeot and Audi turbo diesels running so quiet, you would look up when you didn't hear anything.

We'll catch up with the ALMS in a couple weeks, when we get to see both Dixon and Dario Franchitti (Dario's brother Marino Franchitti runs in the ALMS) work their day jobs--driving for Chip Ganassi Racing.

We get to veg for a couple days before heading back to the office. If events dictate, we'll blog about them, but will most certainly send a Tweet on Twitter to nudge you about our "Race-Talk" and "Radio-Road-Test" programs. Here's how to find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/msrnet

2009-03-21T16:46:00.002-04:00

"Dueling Diesels"

This is not about Shaq and a clone; it's about the Peugeot diesel 908 HDI and the Audi diesel R15. At the 200 lap mark, well past the six hour point, a Peugeot driven by Franck Montagny leads the Audi diesel driven by Allan McNish. Third belongs to the Audi driven by Mike Rockenfeller. The best of the rest is led by the polesitting car of Gil de Ferran, the Acura ARX 02a. When Scott Dixon gets in the car, he can run faster times than the diesels on some laps. But the advantage gained on the start is hard to nibble on, especially when the diesels are running new track record times in race trim.

They call it endurance racing for a reason. Mechanical gremlins do pop up at inopportune times.

And if you are watching this on SPEED, you see some gray skies. The track is cooling. Radar suggests that any rain will pass to the north of this historic facility. Michelin and the other tire builders have sets of rain tires available. And the cars did practice in some rain on Thursday.

We will Tweet each hour starting at 5:30 pm local (ET), and do the wrap up blog post after the race finishes.

2009-03-21T12:19:00.005-04:00

"Clean Diesel Cleaning Clocks At Sebring"

We near the two hour mark here at the 12 Hours of Sebring, with the Peugeot diesel driven by Nic Minassian in the lead, the Audi diesel driven by Rinaldo Capello second, a Peugeot in 3rd wheeled by Stephane Sarrazin, and Marco Werner in the 4th running Audi diesel. The best of the rest is the pole sitting Acura, driven this stint by Simon Pagenaud. All five are LeMans Prototype 1 (LMP1) cars.

The LMP1 car driven now by Scott Sharp is 6th, a lap in arrears.

Neither polewinner Scott Dixon, or Dario Franchitti have made an appearance behind the wheel. One would expect them to go for it once they strap in to their Acura LMP1 cars.

We'll update a bit more frequently on Twitter, and of course here, if events dictate.

2009-03-20T18:49:00.002-04:00

"Dario & Dixon--The IndyCar Superteam?"

Here at Sebring, I had a chance to talk with both of Chip Ganassi's IndyCar drivers, defending series and Indianapolis 500 champion (and not so coincidentally, the polesitter for the 12 Hours), Scott Dixon, and Dario Franchitti (the 2007 IndyCar champion and Indianapolis 500 winner).

Dario says he'll be content to let David Brabham and Scott Sharp do the sprint races (less than 6 hours) when the American LeMans Series and IndyCar series race at the same venue. Franchitti will join the Patron Highcroft team for the longer races. He says with a big smile on his face, that driving the ARX-02 is fun.

Both drivers won't have a lot of time to rest after Saturday's 12 Hours--they get on a plane for Barber Motorsports Park and the IndyCar Series Open Road Course test, to tune up for the series opener on April 5th in the streets of St. Petersburg, FL.

Bad news for the rest of the cars in the IndyCar paddock: Both Dixon and Franchitti say they will have to raise their game.

We'll rejoin you tomorrow morning.

2009-03-20T13:37:00.003-04:00

"The Race is NOT the Only Challenge here at Sebring"

Chatted with GM Racing Boss Mark Kent about a number of things, and a topic that came up was green racing. GM's green racing credentials are solid (with the renewable fueled E85 GT1 Chevy Corvette--soon to be GT2--). They may become even stronger, once the Chevy Volt electric car goes into production. I asked Kent whether one might see the Volt compete on track. Kent said, "Don't rule it out. People love to race, and people will race about anything". Kent said that a lot of work would have to be done by GM and any interested sanctioning body before that would become a reality. We will have more with Kent on some future "Race-Talk" programs.

Dr. Mario Theissen and Bobby Rahal met us assembled scribes for a chat on why BMW returned to the American LeMans Series in the GT2 category. Rahal is heading up BMW's efforts in GT2 against Mazda and soon--the Corvettes. Theissen says BMW has a strategy of competing in racing with the cars they sell. I asked Theissen about the possibility of alternate technologies (similar to the Formula One Kinetic Energy Recovery System they'll use in F1 in about a week) filtering down to Rahal's operation. He says racing sanctioning bodies have to sign off on rules that would allow such a piece to compete. Even in the back of the room, you could see his eyes light up when he said that would be an interesting engineering challenge. Rahal is not just a racer--he is an auto dealer of some repute, especially in the Harrisburg, PA area. Rahal says the "win on Sunday, sell on Monday" mantra really holds true for cars like BMW. He holds a BMW dealer franchise.

All of the ALMS drivers are presently involved in a mandatory driver autograph session. I'd bet such a mandate would be as popular in the NASCAR Sprint Cup garage area as a rain delay.

We'll wrap it up with some driver chat later today.

2009-03-20T10:35:00.002-04:00

"Green, Orange, Loud--57th edition of the 12 Hours of Sebring"

You may have seen the "Tweet" on Twitter this morning...had a cup of coffee with Scott Atherton, CEO of the American LeMans Series, which marks its 100th race event this weekend here at Sebring. Atherton and I spoke for a few minutes on the green racing initiatives in ALMS racing for a CBS News report. I thought I'd share some of that on the blog.

The Yokohama Tire people are proud of their new "orange oil" tire, which is fitted on all the cars in the ALMS Patron GT-3 Challenge by Yokohama Series. Orange oil is blended with natural rubber to make the base for the tires, which will also be available on street cars such as the Toyota Prius and Camry Hybrids and Honda's Civic and Accord Hybrids this summer. With a smile, Atherton suggested that there might (yes, might) be a slight citrus aroma when the cars light up the tires under acceleration. The street version will be called the dB Super E-spec. The process uses less petroleum products to manufacture tires. The orange oil is derived from what's left when orange juice is made--a renewable resource.

Saturday's Race marks the 100th event for the American LeMans Series.

The biodegradeable motor oil is, if it is validated in a race car, an interesting development. If, for instance, a significant portion of lubricants could be made with the animal fats left over from meat processing, it would reduce the amount of petroleum used to make the lubricants.

We'll have more later.

2009-03-19T16:43:00.002-04:00

"Acura LMP1 on Pole; Scott Dixon; Adrian Fernandez take LMP1 & 2 Honors at Sebring"

"It's an animal". That is what Indy 500 winner, and Indy Car champion Scott Dixon (2nd left)said about the de Ferran Racing Acura ARX 02a LMP1 (Le Mans Prototype 1), that he drove to the overall pole for Saturday's 12 Hours of Sebring. He nipped the vaunted challenge of the new Audi LMP1 R15 diesel driven by Tom Kristensen to notch the pole for the American LeMans Series opener here. You will be able to hear the smile in his voice on our "Race-Talk" program this weekend.

Erik Berkman (left) is the boss of Acura Racing...and had two reasons to smile. Adrian Fernandez put the Acura ARX-01B on the pole for the LMP2 class. They are a tick slower and will start 7th overall, with a speed of 121.438 miles an hour.

The ALMS is actually making strides in green racing, as our readers and listeners know. The series signed a deal with Green Earth Technologies to feature their G-OIL Ultimate Biodegradeable Motor Oil as the official motor oil. G-OIL is made from beef fat derived from processing. Animal fats share similar molecular construction to petroleum oils, and are renewable. The company experimented with plant based oils and found beef tallow worked better and was readily available.

We'll have more tomorrow.

2009-03-15T18:17:00.003-04:00

"Third Time's a Charm"

In his third outing with the Alan Johnson Al-Anabi Race team, Larry Dixon won his fourth Top Fuel title at the AC Delco Gatornationals, sending Cory McClenathan to the trailer with a final round win. Dixon was the number one qualifier. He says he's most impressed by the level of preparation that new crew chief Jason McCullogh and Johnson brought to the team. The victory brings him to third in points behind point leader Antron Brown.

Bob Tasca III won one for the "Blue Oval" gang. Tasca defeated friend Tony Pedregon to notch his first career victory. Tasca's day job is at his family Ford dealership in Rhode Island, so getting a note from Ford CEO Alan Mullaly was big for him, as was the number of text messages from the Ford Racing Boss, Brian Wolfe. Tasca reminded me that his grandfather used to say "Win on Sunday, Sell on Monday". While the Ford Mustangs in the Tasca dealership are light years removed from Bob's Funny Car, Bob says there is as much off track involvement to drive sales of Motorcraft parts and Quick Lane services as there is with the nuts and bolts of the racing program.

Jason Line added to his Pro Stock point lead with a very quick reaction time win ("hole shot") in the final round over Allen Johnson. That's two of three races so far in 2009. Like many drivers, Jason has other duties for the Keith Black Pro Stock team--his is running the dynamometer to see how much horsepower can be wrung from the 2009 Pontiac GXP. Line will be testing here tomorrow so he can work on his starts from the starting line, which make for better reaction times. Reaction times are what wins drag races, along with big time reliable horsepower.

Top five in each Pro Category

Top Fuel--

Antron Brown/259-1 win

Brandon Bernstein/239

Larry Dixon/206-1 win

Doug Kalitta/194-1 win

Tony Schumacher/181

Funny Car--

Ron Capps/263-2 wins

Bob Tasca III/225-1 win

Del Worsham/188

Robert Hight/164

Mike Neff/164

Pro Stock--

Jason Line/285-2 wins

Allen Johnson/228

Jeg Coughlin/223-1 win

Greg Anderson/212

Mike Edwards/211

We'll join you from Sebring later this week with coverage from the 57 th edition of the 12 Hours of Sebring.

2009-03-15T09:36:00.003-04:00

"AJ's Skunk Works"

Greetings from the 2009 AC Delco NHRA Gatornationals, round 3 of 24 that decide the Full Throttle Championships. This is a snapshot of the pits of Top Fuel Top Qualifier Larry Dixon, who drives for the legendary master tuner Alan Johnson and Al-Anabi racing. Dixon has the top starting spot, thanks to a 1000 foot run of 3.886 seconds (310.20 miles per hour), and will face Doug Kalitta. Top Fuel point leader Antron Brown qualified 7th, and will face Clay Millican.

In Funny Car, the Blue Oval Gang gets bragging rights with Bob Tasca III, who put his Mustang on top with a run of 4.124 seconds (301.00 miles an hour). Tasca will race Jim Head in his first round elimination match. Point leader Ron Capps is 6th fast (4.156; 293.15 miles an hour), and goes up against Tony Pedregon.

In Pro Stock, Mike Edwards starts first with both the low E.T. (6.582 seconds) and top speed (209.95 miles an hour) honors in qualifying. Edwards and V Gaines duke it out in their first round elimination match. Point Leader Jason Line qualified 5th (6.618 seconds; 208.81 miles an hour); Line and Jim Yates lock horns in their first round elimination tilt.

Alachua County's Chamber of Commerce is likely beaming about the weather. What's not to like about 80 degree weather in mid-March?

We'll blog a snapshot and synopsis with the pro winners later on, or update if events dictate.

2009-03-01T21:58:00.003-05:00

"The Show"

Kyle Busch won the Shelby 427 in grand fashion before a nearly sold out Las Vegas Motor Speedway (they would have sold you a ticket--but it sure looked like a pre-contraction crowd here at Glitter Gulch). As we recounted, Busch had to fall back to the last starting spot. During the driver introductions he said to the fans "Know what? We're going to the back , get ready for a show, here it comes." Clint Bowyer and Jeff Burton sniffed the lead...but in the end the victory was Kyle's.

Matt Kenseth suffered engine problems to drop him out of the point lead. Kenseth finished 43rd on the day.

Here's the top 12 going into Atlanta:

Jeff Gordon--snatched a 6th place finish from what could have been a disaster, and took over the point lead with 459

Clint Bowyer/441

Matt Kenseth/419

Greg Biffle/419

David Reutimann--comes off a 4th place finish, his best/408

Kyle Busch/405

Kurt Busch/393

Tony Stewart/379

Carl Edwards/377

Bobby Labonte--finished 5th/360

Kevin Harvick/351

Michael Waltrip/346

It is always great to see a dream come true.

We'll take a week back at the office and get ready for straight line action next time we are on the road. You can always find out what we are doing by going on Twitter (twitter.com/MSRnet), and talk about it there.