"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.

June 28, 2008--Pre Race Musings

I said I'd have a comment on Casey Mears's departure from Hendrick Motorsports. The genesis of this started in 2001, when he finished in the top 5 at a Champ Car race at Fontana. It was outrageous that no open wheel owner would take a chance on him--and he became yet another of those who got their start in open wheel racing to make the jump over to NASCAR. With the exception of the win at Lowe's Motor Speedway in May 2007, his NASCAR tenure has been less than stellar--equipment does have something to do with this. What would his career have been like if, for instance, he was in a Newman-Haas Champ Car, or a Menard Indy Car of that vintage? That we shall never know. Personally, I hope he lands on his feet at a contending team--Childress Racing comes to mind as an option.

John Andretti (yep, Aldo's son, Michael's cousin and Marco's uncle)--starts mid pack here tonight for Roth Racing. Scott Dixon is likely to finish better than where he starts (4th).

I'm still shaking my head as I read the Grant v. NASCAR complaint. Was that arrogance, stupidity or an overabundance of XY chromosones?

We'll update you with the winner's comments from Richmond later on.

Kanaan, Andretti Sweep Front Row for Andretti-Green; Rahal 3rd

Qualifying for the SunTrust Indy Challenge is done here at the 3/4 mile Richmond International Raceway, with Tony Kanaan winning his 2nd pole of 2008, with an average qualifying speed of 167.876 miles per hour on the "Action Track". That knocked teammate Marco Andretti off the pole for this week Marco's 167.795 was nothing to sneeze at. Graham Rahal could back up his St. Petersburg win with one here if he gets a break or two...the son of Bobby Rahal starts 3rd. Indy Car series point leader and Indianapolis 500 winner Scott Dixon starts 4th. In the hard luck department, Ryan Hunter-Reay of Rahal-Letterman Racing was fastest in practice...but his car wouldn't start and had to be pulled from the qualifying line--so he could not qualify and will start the race in 25th.

All of the drivers say the extra 50 laps will make this race more interesting than it already is. Dixon says the race won't be won on lap #1, nor will it be won on lap 200. Seems obvious, but drivers don't think ahead sometimes in the heat of racing. Speaking of which...the shower seemed to break the back of the humidity...and qualifying was downright comfortable on an early summer evening.

Helio Castroneves was not pleased with his speed...though the two time Indianapolis 500 winner exhibits a happy go lucky persona most of the time, he is a dedicated hard competitor and was grumpy after his qualifying run. Castroneves will start the Indy Challenge from 18th.

That's it for this evening...we'll post up tomorrow.

Dixon Anchors Ganassi Sweep of Homestead

Although his car would give up on long runs...Scott Dixon put together two short stints of speed which put him into the lead and Homestead's Victory Circle for the Gainsco Indy 300. Marco Andretti led 85 of the 200 laps and finished 2nd. Ganassi Racing teammate Dan Wheldon drove his guts out to get from the back to the front...and ended up 3rd (in the last four years, Wheldon has won three and finished third...not a bad record). Helio Castroneves (he of the DWTS "Happy Feet") came home 4th.

The general consensus is that the teams which came to the IndyCar Series through reunification and had drivers with little oval experience are bucking an almost vertical learning curve. Drivers were very complimentary--Wheldon did remind us that the teams would eventually figure things out and be competitive...but it would take a long time.

Scorecard for Racing Owners:

Roger Penske--Daytona 500 Winner and 12 Hours of Sebring Overall Winners

Chip Ganassi--24 Hours of Daytona Winners and IndyCar Unified Series Opener at Homestead

See you next week at St. Pete...and on the radio with Race-Talk and Radio-Road-Test.

Busch, Tryson Dominate Pennsylvania 500; Andretti-Green 1-2 sweep in MIS crashfest

The Captain (Roger Penske) had the best day of all at Pocono...Kurt Busch gained points on Dale Earnhardt Jr by leading 175 of 200 laps at Pocono for his first race win since March 2006, and second win on the tricky 2.5 mile tri-oval. Busch beat his rival for the "transfer slot" for the Chase for the Championship, Dale Earnhardt, Jr.It was also the first Penske Racing win for new crew chief Pat Tryson. Busch (left) and Tryson (right) talked for a half hour after their Victory Lane duties were completed.

His IndyCar series drivers weren't so fortunate at Michigan--Tony Kanaan nipped Marco Andretti by .05 of a second to win the last IRL race at the 2 mile Michigan oval. Sam Hornish was credited with 9th place but wasn't running at the end. Last year's winner, Helio Castroneves, touched wheels with Vitor Meira and both crashed out on lap 58.

Busch tells us they get inspiration from having Tim Cindric (Penske Racing President) across the hall from their garage at Mooresville...and the fact that Penske Racing is one of the world's most successful road race operations is not lost on either Busch or Tryson. That said, both are on the way to Road Atlanta to test their Car of Tomorrow piece, which will run next weekend at Watkins Glen.

Though we're keeping a low profile...we'll keep our ear to the ground.

Pre-Race Musings from the Soggy Brickyard

Milka Duno (above) says she's ready to start her first Indianapolis 500. Milka starts 29th. The last starter is rookie Phil Giebler.

Musings:

• Penske Racing can never be counted out. They are masters of showing one facet, and concentrating on another to get one of their drivers up front...see 2006, when Sam Hornish won. By the way, 2 time 500 winner Helio Castroneves starts from the pole.
• Ganassi Racing is another contender, with IndyCar Series point leader Dan Wheldon, and Scott Dixon (who is one of my best Indy Car drivers who haven't won the 500)
• Andretti-Green has two sentimental favorites named Andretti (Michael, who has come so close in past years and says he'll hang up the helmet after Sunday and son Marco, who came so close in 2006). They have a dark horse in Tony Kanaan (another of the best drivers who haven't won Indy).
• My dark horse sentimental picks would be, in order, Sarah Fisher and John Andretti.
• I think, however, that Penske and Helio pick up another "Baby Borg" for winning the 500.

Posted at 11:58 am local time

Saturday, 3/31/2007, from St. Petersburg

Dan Wheldon crashed his car in practice for IndyCar qualifying later this afternoon...it's the second hard whack he has taken in successive weeks. Wheldon's OK, not so the car. Dario Franchitti hit in Turn 8...he's also OK.

The GT American LeMans series cars are louder than the LeMans, Sebring and 2006 LeMans Prototype 1 championship winning 12 cylinder Audi R10 TDi diesel powered LMP1 car. No diesel clatter, smoke or anything like the stereotypical truck diesel from the tailpipe of either Audi.

We'll add a picture or two from our travels later on.

Paul Kaminski

11:34 am

Add Tony Kanaan to the crashers...he was the fastest IndyCar qualifier, crashed in the Fast Six session to decide the pole. Kanaan's time was scratched because he brought out the yellow; defending winner Helio Castroneves from Team Penske (above, after post qualifying news conference) sets a track record of 105.052 miles an hour to win the pole. Marco Andretti starts 2nd.

3:44 pm

Gil de Ferran visiting Homestead, Penske Racing

Gil de Ferran is the Sporting Director for Honda's Formula One Grand Prix team. He won the Indianapolis 500 for Roger Penske in 2003; he and his family are visiting before the Malaysian Grand Prix.

He was asked by a veteran tracksider whether Marco Andretti (yes, 3rd generation Andretti) was going to get another test in a Honda Formula One machine. de Ferran was non-committal, but praised Marco's accomplishments.

Methinks family Andretti would like to see Marco follow in his grandfather's footsteps, and avoid the mis-steps and overall bad situation which arose when Michael went to the McLaren F1 team in 1993.

de Ferran enjoys the job...though it has a lot of pressure...and said he didn't have any desire to get back behind the wheel.

Paul Kaminski

3/24/2007

Jan Magnussen on pole for Grand-Am Rolex Series Race

Magnussen, who drives for series stalwart Wayne Taylor, lapped the 2.3 mile Homestead road course with a qualifying speed of 111.409 miles an hour. The series leading prototype of Chip Ganassi, driven by Memo Rojas and leader Scott Pruett, starts 7th (110.322 miles an hour). Milka Duno, who has two wins here at Homestead, and earlier announced her move to the Indy Racing League's IndyCar Series, will take the green from 16th in a 45 car field.

Duno will get extra practice

IndyCar Series President Brian Barnhart says Milka Duno will get extra practice in this rookie season. Barnhart says the testing rules which limit testing won't apply to her--just like the situation with IRL Rookie of the Year Marco Andretti in 2006.

IRL Pole Stuff Later.

Paul Kaminski

3/23/2007