Thanks for visiting our Hot News page
Please visit our
Rumors page for all the scuttlebutt. If you have some
news, or can supply more information about one listed here,
e-mail us with as much supporting information as possible
and we may post it. User agreement & disclaimer. Newer rumors supercede older ones of the same topic. Go to our
forums to discuss any hot news.
Pruett wins Trans-Am race
Scott Pruett proved he hadn¹t lost anything in the seven years he¹s
been away from the Trans-Am Series for the BFGoodrich Tires Cup by
becoming the first repeat winner of the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg
Sunday at the temporary combined street and airport circuit in
downtown St. Petersburg. Pruett won the 1987 edition of the this race,
run on another street circuit around Tropicana Field, en route to one
of his two Trans-Am championships. Driving the No. 7 The Jaguar R
Performance Jaguar XKR, Pruett simply dominated the race, winning the
pole, leading the most laps, setting the fastest race lap and beating
Boris Said, in the No. 33 ACS Express Menards Ford Mustang, by 1.296
seconds. Johnny Miller, driving the No. 64 Eaton Cutler-Hammer
AutomationDirect Jaguar was third, ahead of Paul Gentilozzi, in the
No. 3 The Jaguar R Performance Jaguar XKR and Stu Hayner, No. 2
Trenton Forging Chevrolet Corvette. Pruett won the BFGoodrich Tires
Take Control Award for leading the most laps and the newly announced
$2,000 Flowmaster American Thunder Challenge for his dominant run. ³I
didn¹t have to worry about Boris,² said Pruett, who returned to the
Trans-Am Series this year after his last full season in 1994. ³I saw
him coming and we wanted to keep a good pace. This Jaguar just didn¹t
miss a beat all day long. When I wanted a little bit more, it had it
in it. It¹s a terrific car. ³This is just a great way to come back,²
he added. ³(Team owner) Paul Gentilozzi and all the Rocketsports team
just gave me a great drive. I said I was a rusty nail on Friday. I
guess maybe I¹m just a little bit tarnished, but not rusty any more.²
Said drove from dead last on the grid after his qualifying time was
nullified for a rule infraction found in post-qualifying inspection,
and put on a driving clinic on the fast 1.806-mile circuit. Said said
he enjoyed his drive through the field. ³This is the best street
course I¹ve ever been on,² said Said. ³The crowd was great. Scott is
just a really great driver. I don¹t know if we could have caught him
in the end.² Miller, too, had his own fight to the front, after losing
several positions on a mid-race restart. ³I think we were both
pedaling really hard,² said Miller. ³On the first restart, the tires
just got covered in sand and I lost a couple positions, so we just had
to go for it. It was just an absolute blast there at the end.² Pruett
led from the pole, but lost the lead briefly to Gentilozzi on lap 14,
only to take it back for good on the following lap.
2/23/03
Aero Not Yet A Competitive
Issue The two highest finishing Chevrolets in the Subway
400 were those of Jimmy Johnson in eighth and his teammate,
Jeff Gordon, in 15th. However, the Chevrolet camp isn’t even
close to being concerned. Next week, if the Chevrolet fails to
contend for a fair share of top ten finishes a bit of concern
just might show on the faces of Chevrolet car owners and crew
chiefs. However, for now, whether one car make has an
advantage over another is still an unanswered question. “I
don’t think anyone can say anything about one make or another
being better until we’ve got a few more races under our belt,”
said Robbie Loomis, crew chief on the #24 Dupont Chevrolet
driven by Gordon. “We didn’t test here. We didn’t get any
practice on Saturday so we stuck with last year’s setup and I
think we were fairly close to where we needed to be.” Gordon
was running fifth with 100 laps to go when he spun out exiting
the fourth turn. Loomis pointed the finger at Dale Earnhardt
Jr. as the root cause of the spin. While Gordon and Johnson
were competitive, the DEI and RCR teams flailed about for most
of the afternoon. “We just never hit it,” said Steve Hmiel, of
the efforts of the #1, 8 and 15 teams. “We found ourselves
with a lot more front downforce than we had last year and we
just never worked out the balance we needed to be competitive.
We really needed to be able to practice on Saturday but things
will be different next week. We practiced at Las Vegas and
have a good idea of how we’ll run.” Michael Waltrip, 15th and
Steve Park, 21st, managed to stay on the lead lap but never
broached the top-ten. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. finished 33rd, three
laps off the pace after blowing a left front tire 45 laps into
the race and then spinning out three times over the remainder
of the event. Of even greater disappointment were the finishes
of the three RCR drivers, Jeff Green, 31st, Robby Gordon, 29th
and Kevin Harvick, 25th. “We just missed the setups,” said Gil
Martin, Harvick’s crew chief. The best Chevrolet over the
course of the afternoon belonged to Bobby Labonte. He kept the
#18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet in the top ten until the
final ten laps. His tires wore out Labonte faded to a 16th
place finish. Stan Creekmore – NASCAR
Editor
2/23/03
Good inaugural crowd at St.
Pete We spoke to CART's John Lopes after the race
and he was happy with how things turned out. The racing
was good, cars were in 4-wheel drifts through the turns and
the crowd was very enthusiastic. John told us "this will
probably be our smallest crowd all year." We estimate
the Sunday attendance around 40,000. We have not heard
what the weekend figures were, but probably in the
neighborhood of 80,000. If that is the case, CART is in
for a stellar year. After the race, most fans stayed in
the grandstands and enjoyed the post-race ceremonies.
Mark C.
Photos by Mark Scheuern and Scott Morris
2/23/03
Why no turn numbers?
A reader writes, Dear AR1, how come CART does not paint big
turn numbers on the pavement (outside the groove) so that TV
viewers can see what turn number the drivers are in when
viewing from home or on the Jumbotron's at the track? I also
noticed how wide the main straight was at St. Pete. Are
we ever going to see standing starts in Champ Cars?
Mordichai Rosen, LA, California. Dear Mordichai,
That sounds like a good idea as long as they paint the numbers
where the cars won't lose traction on the paint. They
could also paint them on the concrete walls, but the numbers
might be too small there. As for the standing starts,
CART does not think its drivers are good enough to do standing
starts like F1, F3000, F3, Fran-Am and most other open wheel
road racing series do. Besides, the CART fans might get
too much entertainment from a standing start and pass out from
the sheer excitement after being born on bred on parades.
Mark C.
2/23/03
Arden team spotted in St. Pete
We spotted several members of the Arden F3000 team in the pits
and paddock of the St. Pete race surveying the action and
taking notes for their upcoming rumored entry into CART.
2/23/03
Another autopsy photo fight An
Iredell County legislator who represents Dale Earnhardt's
family in the N.C. House filed a bill last week to remove
autopsy photographs as public records. But officials at the
N.C. Press Association promise to oppose the legislation.
Under the bill sponsored by Rep. Karen Ray, R-Iredell, court
officials, investigators and family members of the deceased
would have access to autopsy photos, videos and audiotapes.
But others would have to ask a judge for a court order to
release photos or tapes or allow copies. Ray said that the
bill was prompted by the furor two years ago when newspapers
and other media outlets asked for photos from the autopsy in
Florida of NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt after his fatal wreck
at the Daytona 500. Earnhardt's widow, Teresa Earnhardt, was
on the steering committee for Ray's campaign last year in a
Mooresville-based district that is heavily populated by NASCAR
drivers, team members, crews and companies. Ray says that
protection in the bill extends beyond NASCAR drivers. The bill
would make it a felony to illegally provide a photo or
recording from an autopsy to an unauthorized official. But
Teri Saylor, the executive director of the N.C. Press
Association, said that her group of newspaper publishers is
likely to oppose Ray's bill, just as it did a similar bill
that died in the 2001 legislature. Saylor said that
information such as autopsy photos can be critical to a
newspaper's watchdog role. Saylor said that many newspapers
have strict guidelines about photos. Some newspapers provide
links to autopsy reports on their Web sites, but not to
autopsy photos, Saylor said. Florida's legislature removed
autopsy photos from the state's public records after the flap
over the Earnhardt photos. But John Bussian, a lobbyist for
the press association, said that Florida voters passed a
ballot proposal last year that requires a two-thirds vote in
the legislature to remove items from the state's
public-records law.
Winston Salem Journal
2/23/03
American Spirit team launches
website American Spirit Team Johansson is pleased to
announce the evolution of
AmericanSpiritTeamJohansson.com for the 2003 Bridgestone
Presents the Champ Car Season Powered by Ford season and
beyond. A resource for fans, partners and the media, the
innovative site provides extensive information about A.S.T.J.
and their drivers Jimmy Vasser and Ryan Hunter-Reay, as well
as their sponsors and the Champ Car World Series.
AmericanSpiritTeamJohansson.com encourages viewer
interaction, the website features the “Pick the Podium”
contest. The contestant correctly determines the top three
positions in correct order, will win a Mark II Stefan
Johansson watch. Visit
www.sjwatches.com for more information on the Mach II
watch and the entire line of Stefan Johansson watches. The
contest will run throughout the 2003 Champ Car season, 19
watches will be awarded, one for each event. In addition to
the latest team news, the easy to navigate site will include
track information, schedules, results, favorite links, and
driver interviews.
2/23/03
UK fan laments over delayed TV
Dear AR1, With less than 1 hour to go before the season opens,
I have put 4 new Bridgestone tires on my Ford, the Corona beer
is in the fridge and I'm all set for... a 25.5 hour delay
before I get the highlights on St. Pete's on British
Eurosport. Nice start, CART! That means a whole day without
AR1 too! Rockingham Motor Speedway is making up for losing
Champ Cars to Brands, next month they are hosting the Dutch
National Circus, and
promoting it better in the local area than they ever
did the 2 CART races. Still, all credit to them for doing
something to make back the £50 million that has been spent.
Who'd invest in an Oval now? Lets hope it's worth the
wait. Ed McFarlane, England
2/23/03 F3000
Cumulative test times from
Imola
These are the cumulative times
from the two days of testing at Imola.
Driver
Team
Time
Gap
Patrick Friesacher
Red Bull Coloni
1:35.345
115.735 mph
Bjorn Wirdheim
Arden International
1:36.020
0.675
Vitantonio Liuzzi
Red Bull Coloni
1:36.530
1.185
Ricardo Sperafico
Coloni
1:36.727
1.382
Enrico Toccacelo
Super Nova Racing
1:37.007
1.662
Nicolas Minassian
Brand Motorsport
1:37.092
1.747
Townsend Bell
Arden International
1:37.349
2.004
Gary Paffett
Brand Motorsport
1:37.403
2.058
Tony Schmidt
Team Astromega
1:37.470
2.125
Raffaele Gianmaria
Durango Formula
1:37.503
2.158
Nicolas Kiesa
Den Bla Avis
1:37.517
2.172
Jamie Melo Jr
Durango Formula
1:37.609
2.264
Jaroslav Janis
Charouz ISR Racing
1:38.413
3.068
Yannick Schroeder
Charouz ISR Racing
1:38.444
3.099
Rodrigo Sperafico
BCN Motorsport
1:38.528
3.183
Marcel Costa
BCN Motorsport
1:40.372
5.027
Angel Burgueno
BCN Motorsport
1:50.038
14.693
Kevin Nadin
BCN Motorsport
2:10.166
34.821
2/23/03 Industry News
Goodyear Tire plots comeback This
Cleveland Plain Dealer
article says, The next few months will be critical for
Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. as it tries to restore investor
confidence and get its finances in order. Haunted by heavy
borrowing for expansion and suffering two years of losses, the
Akron company faces a possible cash crunch. So the world's
largest tire maker seeks a new deal with its banks, trying to
buy time while it lowers costs and plots a comeback. The
problems it faces:
Potentially huge pension obligations.
Big payments on its debts.
Price spikes in oil, a major raw material.
Dealer discontent and resistance to tire price increases.
Declining market share.
Sluggish tire demand. The company faces bankruptcy if its plan
fails
2/23/03
Max wants privateer teams in
2005 In this Planet F1
article, Max Mosley says, I would be very surprised
for 04,"he told Autosport. "Looking to 2005 and 2006 if we get
our regulations sorted then we will see new teams coming in.
If everything goes as we hope it will, you will be able to get
hold of last year's Ferrari, for example - if they would sell
it. The engines would last six races and all the other parts
would last a long time, too." "Then if you had a brilliant
driver - such as Rob Walker had with Stirling Moss in the 50's
and 60's (using cars bought off Lotus) - you would probably be
in there with a chance of winning a race." Mosley wants to see
the field expanded to 24 cars again and has already hinted
that the prohibitive $48 million FIA deposit could be waived.
"The big teams will still spend a fortune on their own cars
and engines but with the new rules, it will be expedient for
them to sell their cars on. The second string teams will
increasingly tend to have the equipment of the first string
teams and that's where the cost-saving will come." Former
Prost technical director Alan Jenkins thinks teams could be
run at a fraction of the cost on this basis, hardly more than
the number of people needed for an F3000 team... "And it would
be especially feasible at this time, because there are so many
people with the necessary skills who are out of work at the
moment." But he also had a word of warning. "It's also worth
remembering that teams set up in such a manner and in such a
small amount of time can also depart at the drop of a hat too.
Is that what F1 wants or needs?"
2/23/03
Everyone will use HANS in
Australia Max
Mosley has issued a warning to the drivers moaning about the
HANS system. Get on with it. Formula 1 drivers have been
warned that if they want to compete in the Australian Grand
Prix on March 9th, they will have to wear the Head And Neck
Safety system. "The insurance issue is a complete red herring
and is something that drivers have to sort out with their
helmet manufacturers and their insurance companies," said Max.
Our position is very simple, you don't have to wear a HANS
device, but you won't leave the pitlane in Melbourne unless
you're wearing one."
2/23/03
Manning loves CART
This Toronto Star
article says, Englishman Darren Manning could well be
in Japan instead of getting ready for CART's season-opening
race tomorrow but for an 11th-hour phone call from team owner
Derrick Walker. Unable to land a ride with a CART team for the
2003 season, Manning was in Japan for several days around
Christmas, testing with a team in the Japanese GT championship
and Formula Nippon series. "I was all set to sign a contract
when I got a call from Derrick," said the 27-year-old Manning,
who had spent the 1999 season in Japan and emerged as the F3
champion in that country. "He said, `Are you still interested?
Have you signed anything?' "I said `yes,' I was interested.
And so I put off signing with the Japanese team. It would have
been a step up (from his previous stint in Japan). And it
would have been a good living. The prize money is pretty good.
It was where I could have spent the rest of my life. "But this
has been a dream of mine, so here I am." "I don't care if it
takes five years," he said. "I want to stay over here. I think
if I keep proving myself I'll get my name on the minds of
American fans. "I love it here. I love the people. It's a nice
way to go racing. I wish I could have been here a lot sooner."
2/22/03
Jaguar extends Trans-Am
sponsorship Jaguar North America has expanded its
sponsorship with the Trans-Am Series for the BFGoodrich Tires
Cup for the 2003 season. For the third-straight year, Jaguar
will continue as a contingency sponsor, as well as presenting
the ³Pole Award² program. In addition, Jaguar will recognize
the driver contributing the most points for Jaguar in the
coveted Manufacturers¹ Championship with the new ³R
Performance Award.² Jaguar will also provide an
all-wheel-drive 3.0 X-Type as the ³Official Safety Car² for
the Trans-Am Series. Through its Contingency Award, Jaguar
drivers will earn a $5,000 bonus for a victory, a $3,000 award
for a second-place finish and $2,000 for a third-place finish.
The Jaguar Pole Award is a performance-based initiative that
rewards drivers who win the pole at each of the Trans-Am
Series¹ 11 events this season. Polesitters will receive a key,
regardless of what type of car they race, which, at the
culmination of the season, they will use to attempt to open
the door to a 2004 Jaguar XK8, during a formal ceremony. The
driver whose key opens the vehicle will win a one-year lease
on the car. A new element to this year¹s program, the Jaguar R
Award, will reward the Jaguar driver who contributes the most
points for Jaguar in the Manufacturers¹ Championship. That
driver will earn a one-year lease on an XK8. Should the same
driver win both awards, Jaguar will present the winner with a
two-year lease on an XKR, Jaguar¹s marquee grand touring car.
2/22/03
Unser's
mother happy with son's debut We chatted with
an ecstatic Shelley Unser this evening, beaming ear to ear
that her son Alfred, who started 19th in today's Barber Dodge
Pro Series race, moved all the way up to 11th at the finish in
his series debut. He gained more positions than any
other driver in the race. Photo of "Just Al Unser" by
Mark Scheuern.
2/22/03
Maia goes flag-to-flag in
Barber Dodge Pro
Leo Maia of Miami, Florida converted his second-ever pole
position start into his second career win in the Barber Dodge
Pro Series as he drove a flawless race, leading from flag to
flag on the 1.806-mile temporary street circuit to take the
win over second-place finisher Dan Di Leo, with Memo Rojas
coming home in third. Scott Poirier of Deerfield Beach,
Florida finished an outstanding fourth in just his first
Barber Dodge Pro Series start, with Chris Green fighting his
way up into fifth from his tenth starting spot. Burt Frisselle
moved up from the eighth starting position to take sixth at
the finish. Alex Sperafico of Taledo Parana, Brazil took the
seventh spot while German Quiroga of Mexico moved from
fifteenth to take the eighth spot in his Gigante-Reynard. Guy
Cosmo, the 2002 Formula Mazda Champion , also made a move to
the front with his drive from twelfth into ninth. Nelson
Phillippe of Valence, France came home in tenth, one spot
ahead of Al Unser.
Pos/Car/Driver/Hometown/Points/Purse/Laps/Laps/Status
1/6/Leonardo Maia/Oakland, Calif./21/$13,000/30/Running
2/19/Dan Di Leo/Markham, Ontario, Canada/17/$8,750/30/Running
3/15/Memo Rojas/Mexico City, Mexico/14/$6,500/30/Running
4/67/Scott Poirier/Deerfield Beach,
Florida/12/$4,500/30/Running
5/96/Chris Green/Beaconsfield, Quebec/11/$2,500/30/Running
6/24/Burt Frisselle/Kihei, Hawaii/10/$1,500/30/Running
7/23/Alexandre Sperafico/Toledo Parana',
Brazil/9/$1,250/30/Running
8/33/German Quiroga/Mexico City, Mexico /8/$1,250/30/Running
9/45/Guy Cosmo/Bohemia, New York/7/$1,250/30/Running
10/26/Nelson Philippe/Valence, France/6/$1,250/30/Running
11/31/Al Unser/Corrales, New Mexico/5/$1,000/30/Running
12/25/Atticus Missner/Chicago, Illinois/4/$1,000/30/Running
13/34/Mike Richardson/Kelowna, B.C.,
Canada/3/$1,000/30/Running
14/63/Craig Duerson/St. Petersburg,
Florida/2/$1,000/30/Running
15/12/Shinji "Racer"Kashima/Tokyo, Japan/1/$1,000/30/Running
16/95/Victor Gonzalez/Hatoray, Puerto Rico/$750/30/Running
17/16/Antoine Bessette/ St. Bruno, Quebec/$750/29/Contact
18/11/Chris Baker/Houston, Texas/$750/29/Running
19/30/Ron Atapattu/Boca Raton, Florida/$750/29/Running
20/59/Hima Maher/Calgary, Alberta/$750/29/Running
21/18/Robbie Montinola/Laguna Beach, Calif./$500/29/Running
22/49/Luis Pelayo/Mexico City, Mexico/$500/28/Contact
23/20/Matt Franc/Plainfield, New Jersey/$500/28/Running
24/40/Bud Risser/Clearwater, Florida/$500/28/Running
25/28/Colin Fleming/North Hills, Calif./$500/28/Running
26/21/Roland Isra/New York, New York/$250/27/Running
27/27/Josh Beaulieu/Langley, B.C., Canada/1/$250/2/Contact
2/22/03
CART's
Class of 2003 The photo to the right is CART's Class
of 2003 taken at the season opener in St. Petersburg Florida
today. The big guy in the back row is Joel Camathias,
who towers over all the rest. Photo by Leslie Ann
Miller/LAT courtesy of CART
2/22/03
Scott Pruett wins pole for
Trans-Am race
1 (7) Scott Pruett, Jaguar XKR,
1:14.545, 85.961.
2 (3) Paul Gentilozzi, Jaguar XKR, 1:14.560, 85.944.
3 (64) Johnny Miller, Jaguar XKR, 1:15.192, 85.222.
4 (2) Stuart Hayner, Chevrolet Corvette, 1:15.361, 85.031.
5 (5) Tomy Drissi, Jaguar XKR, 1:15.624, 84.735.
6 (12) Michael Lewis, Jaguar XKR, 1:16.387, 83.889.
7 (83) Max Lagod, Chevrolet Camaro, 1:16.488 , 83.778.
8 (8) Jorge Diaz, Jr., Jaguar XKR, 1:16.755, 83.486.
9 (86) John Baucom, Jaguar XKR, 1:16.957, 83.267.
10 (49) Randy Ruhlman, Chevrolet Corvette, 1:17.286, 82.913.
11 (23) Bob Ruman, Chevrolet Corvette, 1:17.677, 82.495.
12 (18) Jon "Chevy" Leavy, Chevrolet Camaro, 1:18.080, 82.070.
13 (6) Greg Pickett, Jaguar XKR, 1:18.466, 81.666.
14 (07) Claudio Burtin, Panoz Esperante, 1:19.769, 80.332.
15 (46) Bill Bentley, Chevrolet Camaro, 1:21.326, 78.794
16 (59) Simon Gregg, Chevrolet Corvette, 1:23.430, 76.807
17 (10) Bobby Sak, Chevrolet Corvette, 0, 0.
*18 (99) Paul Menard, Ford Mustang, 1:16.511, 83.753.
**19 (33) Boris Said, Ford Mustang, 1:15.264, 85.140.
*(99) Moved to back of field--Replacement of declared tires.
**(33) Moved to back of field--Failed post qualifying
technical inspection.
2/22/03
Kendall to let loose
This Pasadena newspaper
article says, The muzzle is no longer in place. When
the CART season begins Saturday with qualifying for the
inaugural Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, Fla., Tommy Kendall is
going to let loose. The former seven-time Trans-Am series
champion and La Canada High product is the lead commentator
for CART's Champ Car series. "I was at eight-tenths, in terms
of some of my candor, last year,' Kendall said. "I made the
conscious decision to try to scale it back a notch, in terms
of that eight-tenths. "I knew Chris Pook had a lot of fires he
was trying to put out and manage. And I know that when I'm
totally frank, I can start some more fires for him to deal
with. There were a number of times when I wanted to say this
team owner or that team owner was like an (idiot) and I
didn't. This year, rest assured, I will.'
More....
2/22/03
Bridgestone dealers hit bonanza
with CART We were talking to Mark Robinson of
Bridgestone this morning and he tells us Bridgestone ran a
promotion with its dealers in the Tampa St. Pete area whereby
anyone visiting a Bridgestone store received free Friday
tickets t this weekends CART race and each dealer had a
drawing to win tickets to race day as well. He reports
that the dealers did a large volume of business that weekend
and some dealers had record days. Bridgestone is going
to use this as a model in other markets. Mark C.
2/22/03
Maia wins Barber Dodge Pro pole
Leo Maia made the most of final qualifying to take the pole
position for Saturday's race with a lap time of 1:14.142
seconds on the 1.806-mile temporary street circuit in St.
Petersburg, Florida. The Barber Dodge Pro Series again showed
itself to be one of the most competitive categories in the
world, with the top eleven drivers qualifying within one
second of each other.
Pos/Driver/Hometown/Lap/MPH
1/6/Leonardo Maia/Oakland, Calif./ 01:15.119/01:14.142/87.691
2/27/Josh Beaulieu/Langley, B.C.,
Canada/01:14.972/01:14.419/87.365
3/19/Dan Di Leo/Markham, Ontario,
Canada/01:15.041/01:14.405/87.381
4/15/Memo Rojas/Mexico City, Mexico/01:16.354/01:14.479/87.294
5/67/Scott Poirier/Deerfield Beach, Florida/01:15.100
01:14.575/87.182
6/23/Alexandre Sperafico/Toledo Parana',
Brazil/01:16.190/01:14.697 87.040
7/26/Nelson Philippe/Valence,
France/01:15.907/01:14.874/86.834
8/24/Burt Frisselle/Kihei, Hawaii/01:16.171/01:14.875/86.833
9/28/Colin Fleming/North Hills,
Calif./01:15.571/01:14.936/86.762
10/96/Chris Green/Beaconsfield,
Quebec/01:15.818/01:15.091/86.583
11/16/Antoine Bessette/St. Bruno,
Quebec/01:15.769/01:15.160/86.503
12/45/Guy Cosmo/Bohemia, New York/01:16.431/01:15.243/86.408
13/49/Luis Pelayo/Mexico City,
Mexico/01:16.020/01:15.329/86.309
14/20/Matt Franc/Plainfield, New
Jersey/01:16.561/01:15.410/86.217
15/33/German Quiroga/Mexico City,
Mexico/01:15.623/01:15.426/86.198
16/34/Mike Richardson/Kelowna, B.C.,
Canada/01:16.485/01:15.544/86.064
17/25/Atticus Missner/Chicago, Illinois/01:15.905/01:15.608
/85.991
18/11/Chris Baker/Houston, Texas/01:15.637/01:15.637/85.958
19/31/Al Unser/Corrales, New Mexico/01:16.228/01:15.738/85.843
20/63/Craig Duerson/St. Petersburg,
Florida/01:16.569/01:15.788/85.787
21/21/Roland Isra/New York, New York/01:17.782/
01:15.861/85.704
22/12/Shinji "Racer"Kashima/Tokyo,
Japan/01:17.426/01:16.101/85.434
23/95/Victor Gonzalez/Hatoray, Puerto Rico/01:16.384/
01:16.384/85.117
24/18/Robbie Montinola/Laguna Beach,
Calif./01:17.218/01:16.652/84.820
25/59/Hima Maher/Calgary, Alberta/01:17.658/01:17.529/83.860
26/30/Ron Atapattu/Boca Raton,
Florida/1:18.018/01:18.002/83.352
27/40/Bud Risser/Clearwater,
Florida/01:18.951/01:18.613/82.704
2/22/03
Wallace claims Chevy's are
cheating Rusty Wallace accuses the Chevy teams
of cheating a Daytona. This Winston Salem Journal
article tells the story.
2/22/03
Daytona 500 a bonanza for
sponsors The Daytona 500 airing on Fox last
weekend provided corporate sponsors with more exposure value
than any other U.S. motorsports broadcast in history, as 271
brands accumulated some $251.4 million of exposure value —
nearly 10% more than last year’s Daytona total of $228.7
million. According to research conducted by Joyce Julius and
Associates’ Sponsors Report — which has documented exposure
received by corporate entities during national television
broadcasts of the NASCAR Winston Cup Series for the last 19
seasons — sponsors garnered more than seven hours of on-screen
time and 250 verbal references during the live 4.5-hour Fox
telecast. Exposure value is calculated by comparing the amount
of time each sponsor appears clear and in-focus, as well as
all mentions of sponsors, to the cost of purchasing a
commercial during the network’s broadcast. Budweiser was the
biggest exposure winner among the sponsors during the
season-opening telecast, as the beer brand collected more than
27:00 of on-camera time and 20 mentions, bringing about a
comparable value of $16.1 million. Meanwhile, race winner
Michael Waltrip’s main sponsor, NAPA Auto Parts, finished a
close second in the battle for exposure after collecting $15.5
million. As a group, brands functioning as primary team
sponsors averaged $2.1 million in comparable exposure value,
or nearly the estimated cost of eight, 30-second commercial
spots during the Daytona telecast.
Joyce Julius
2/22/03
Herbert crashes Bentley
Johnny Herbert crashed his Bentley ALMS car this week testing
at Jerez and it has set the team back a bit in their
preparations for the 12-Hours of Sebring.
2/22/03
Another
new sponsor for PK Racing
Another new sponsor for PK Racing is Optium
which is company that uses its proprietary device and
optoelectronic packaging technology to provide optical systems
manufacturers with the highest-performing, best-value optical
subsystems for transmitting and regenerating 10- and 40-Gbps
data. Optium will produce module level solutions that will
radically alter the economics of high-speed data transmission.
One of the investors in the company is Kalkhoven, Pettit, and
Levin Ventures, LLC (KPL) that was formed in August 2000 by
Kevin Kalkhoven, ex-CEO of JDS Uniphase, Danny Pettit, ex-CFO
and President of European Operations of JDS Uniphase, and Jack
Levin, formerly a Partner of, and Director of Legal and
Regulatory Affairs for Montgomery Securities. Paul
Josephson
2/22/03
City
of Lugano to sponsor Camathias
Dale Coyne Racing and car number 19 driver Joel Camathias have
a new marketing partner in a groundbreaking relationship
established with the beautiful City of Lugano, Switzerland.
Lugano is one of the most picturesque cities in the world.
This breathtaking city is located on pristine Lake Lugano with
a backdrop of the fabulous Swiss Alps. Lugano is one of the
most sought after destinations in Europe. With its natural
setting, modern city conveniences, entertainment and casinos,
Lugano offers the total travel experience. “I have
visited
many places in the world throughout my travels, and by far
Lugano with its natural setting is the most memorable and
beautiful marriages to nature I have ever seen,” commented
team owner Dale Coyne. “We are honored that the municipality
of Lugano has realized the international appeal of Champ Car
racing by supporting our efforts with Joel in 2003 and
beyond.” “We are pleased to be able to support such a world
wide championship as the Champ Car World Series with one of
our very own favorite sons, Joel Camathias. Many areas around
the world have utilized international sport to bring
recognition to their region. This is a wonderful opportunity
for the people of Lugano to bring awareness to our historic
and beautiful municipality.” - Municipal Government Statement
The City
of Lugano will embark on several marketing relationships to
bring awareness to the region of Lugano as well as it’s
tourist and business opportunities. This partnership with Dale
Coyne Racing and Joel Camathias is the first step in a
detailed marketing plan for the City of Lugano. As a native of
Lugano driver Joel Camathias knows well the spirit of the
people. “For me I am very honored to bring the spirit and
color of this wonderful city to the people of the world.”
Commented the talented 22-year-old Camathias. “I was raised in
Lugano and attended all of my education including college
here.”
2/22/03
Al Unser Jr. at St. Pete
We spotted former CART champion Al Unser Jr. having dinner
last night in the exquisite Renaissance Vinoy Resort in St.
Petersburg with his son Alfred, his ex-wife Shelley, Shelley's
new fiancé (that must have been comfortable) and Dede Rogers,
a key principal in the DSTP Toyota Atlantic series team.
We understand Unser Jr. made a surprise visit and will likely
be here all weekend with his son. He then goes to
Homestead for next weekend's IRL opener. DSTP's Joey
Hand is helping to coach Alfred, and don't be surprised i
Alfred drives for DSTP in the CART Toyota Atlantic series in
2004. Mark C.
2/22/03 WoO
Donny Schatz in action (L)
Opening night was a blur of activity in the (15) Donny Schatz
pits as the Parker Store team struggled with a fuel cell
problem in practice and time trials at Kings Speedway in
Hanford, California, on Friday night, February 21, 2003.
Schatz and his crew repaired the problem and came back to win
the first qualifying heat for the O'Reilly World of Outlaws
event. (R) (15) Donny Schatz and the Parker Store team
struggled with a fuel cell problem in practice and time trials
at Kings Speedway in Hanford, California, on Friday night,
February 21, 2003. Schatz and his crew repaired the problem
and came back to win the first qualifying heat for the
O'Reilly World of Outlaws event.
Photos courtesy of David Allio
2/22/03
Massa's first taste of a
Ferrari (at Fiorano)
Photos courtesy of Ferrari
2/22/03
St. Pete ticket sales
We are hearing that advance ticket sales for Sunday's
inaugural Grand Prix of St. Petersburg are about 35,000 (for
Sunday). They are confident that number will go
significantly higher on Sunday because the weather forecast is
favorable. For a first-year event, if they get 50,000 or
more on race day we hear the promoters will be happy.
The Long Beach Grand Prix wasn't built in a day either.
This event is another one where CART is taking a shared
risk/reward with the promoter (Dover Downs).
2/22/03 Industry News
Bridgestone recovers from
Firestone recall Brisk exports helped top Japanese
tire maker Bridgestone lift net profit 161 per cent last year,
confirming a comeback from a recall scandal that nearly
destroyed its US Firestone brand. The results offered further
evidence that Bridgestone - battered for two years by the
fallout from deadly accidents involving its US unit's tires -
had largely put the Firestone mess behind it after settling
more than 700 related cases. The USA market is still
soft for Firestone, but Bridgestone sales worldwide are
strong, more than offsetting the Firestone losses.
2/22/03
Jaguar powers back into
Trans-Am Jaguar power returns to Trans-Am racing
this summer with a thundering 650-horsepower Jaguar AJ-V8
engine, developed by Michigan-based Rocketsports Racing. A
4.5-liter version of Jaguar’s lightweight dual overhead-cam V8
will power one of the team’s Jaguar XKR-bodied race cars in
the 2003 Trans-Am Series for the BFGoodrich Tires Cup, and
will be driven by two-time Trans-Am champion Scott Pruett.
“The last time a Jaguar engine competed in Trans-Am was back
in 1981. Its return is long overdue,” said Rocketsports Racing
team owner, Paul Gentilozzi. “It’s only right that we should
be using a Jaguar engine in our XKR.” Gentilozzi re-introduced
Jaguar to Trans-Am competition during the 2000 season. The
following year he drove the Rocketsports Racing XKR to his
third Trans-Am title and delivered the coveted Manufacturers’
Championship title to Jaguar. Earlier this year, Gentilozzi
approached Jaguar Cars North America with a proposal to switch
from Ford pushrod power to the Jaguar AJ-V8. He was given an
enthusiastic reception – together with a new engine.
Merlins Energy Source signs on
with Johansson American Spirit Team Johansson is
pleased to announce their partnership with Merlins Energy
Source, a leading natural energy drink. The partnership
includes associate sponsorship for the #12 entry driven by
Jimmy Vasser and the #31 entry driven by Ryan Hunter-Reay in
the 2003 Bridgestone Presents the Champ Car World Series
Powered by Ford. “I am very excited to have Merlins Energy
Source on board,” commented team owner, Stefan Johansson. He
continued, “I have known Tim for a long time. He, along with
Sabrina have created a very progressive company and I look
forward to developing a good business relationship as we go
forward.” Timothy Kahn and Sabrina Champi developed Merlins
Energy Source four years ago after a visit to Sweden. Merlins
will make its debut in Mexico later this year, “I am really
excited about our partnership with Stefan (Johansson) and
American Spirit Team Johansson. CART and their focus on the
NAFTA community offer a fantastic avenue for Merlins Energy
Source to introduce itself to the North American market.”
commented Kahn. A natural, caffeine free energy drink, Merlins
carefully balances guarana seed and ginseng root to increase
mental and physical stamina. The Champ Car World Series tour
is diversified in climates. Extreme temperatures coupled with
the physical demands for the drivers and the crew, make
Merlins Energy Source a natural choice as the official drink
of American Spirit Team Johansson. “This is an extremely
competitive series, both on track and off. Merlins Energy
Source will offer a natural advantage for our drivers and
crew,” commented Johansson. Headquartered in Indianapolis,
Indiana, American Spirit Team Johansson is makes its Champ Car
debut this weekend at the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. For
all the latest news and more information on the team, it’s
drivers and partners, please visit
www.AmericanSpiritTeamJohansson.com. For additional
information on Merlins Energy Source and a complete list of
its products, please visit
www.Merlinsenergy.com
2/21/03
AJ eating his words A
reader writes, Dear AutoRacing1.com, Doesn't A J Foyt seem to
be a hypocrite? Here he is running a team in a series that has
the evil Team Penske (who he used to badmouth), a "girl"
driver (as he calls them), packed full of "them fereiners,"
and Japanese engines (oops, he has one) and leased engines,
that he was so vehemently against in CART. Markus
McClusky, Texas Dear Markus, The motto is "watch
what you say, it may come back to haunt you." Mark C.
2/21/03
Holland catching onto CARTUPDATE Correction - three
articles
on CART today. Our Dutch associates are astonished.
2/21/03 - For the first time ever, this Dutch
website is running articles on the CART series.
It appears CART is getting column space in all the traditional
F1 circles, which leads us to believe Bernie Ecclestone is
already beginning to work his magic behind the scenes.
2/21/03
Beaulieu tops first qualifying
round Josh Beaulieu of Langley, B.C., Canada took
the first provisional pole position of the season in today's
first qualifying session with a lap of 1.14.972 seconds at the
1.806-mile temporary street circuit on the streets of St.
Petersburg, Florida.
Qualifying in second spot was Dan Di Leo of Markham, Ontario,
who held the top spot during most of the session only to come
up a scant .069 seconds short in his quest for the pole. Just
.059 of a second behind Di Leo was rookie Scott Poirier from
nearby Deerfield Beach, Florida in his first start in the Pro
Series.
Pos/Driver/Hometown/Lap/MPH
1/Josh Beaulieu/Langley, B.C., Canada/01:14.972/86.720
2/Dan Di Leo/Markham, Ontario, Canada/01:15.041/86.641
3/Scott Poirier/Deerfield Beach, Florida/01:15.100/86.573
4/Leonardo Maia/Oakland, Calif./01:15.119/86.551
5/Colin Fleming/North Hills, Calif./01:15.571/86.033
6/German Quiroga/Mexico City, Mexico/01:15.623/85.974
7/Chris Baker/Houston, Texas/01:15.637/85.958
8/Antoine Bessette/St. Bruno, Quebec/01:15.769/85.808
9/Chris Green/Beaconsfield, Quebec/01:15.818/85.753
10/Atticus Missner/Chicago, Illinois/01:15.905/85.654
11/Nelson Philippe/Valence, France/01:15.907/85.652
12/Luis Pelayo/Mexico City, Mexico/01:16.020/85.525
13/Burt Frisselle/Kihei, Hawaii/01:16.171/85.355
14/Alexandre Sperafico/Toledo Parana', Brazil/01:16.190/85.334
15/Al Unser/Corrales, New Mexico/01:16.228/85.291
16/Memo Rojas/Mexico City, Mexico/01:16.354/85.151
17/Victor Gonzalez/Hatoray, Puerto Rico/01:16.384/85.117
18/Guy Cosmo/Bohemia, New York/01:16.431/85.065
19/Mike Richardson/Kelowna, B.C., Canada/01:16.485/85.005
20/Matt Franc/Plainfield, New Jersey/01:16.561/84.921
21/Craig Duerson/St. Petersburg, Florida/01:16.569/84.912
22/Robbie Montinola/Laguna Beach, Calif./01:17.218/84.198
23/Shinji "Racer"Kashima/Tokyo, Japan/01:17.426/83.972
24/Hima Maher/Calgary, Alberta/01:17.658/83.721
25/Roland Isra/New York, New York/01:17.782/83.587
26/Ron Atapattu/Boca Raton, Florida/01:18.018/83.335
27/Bud Risser/Clearwater, Florida/01:18.951/82.350
2/21/03
Ticket sales slow in Homestead We
checked with the Homestead track registration office today to
see how ticket sales are going for next weekends IRL race.
As it turns out, not very well. To date only 2,300
tickets have been sold. The rest have been given out as
giveaways or by the sponsors. For example, if you visit
a Toyota dealer you get a free ticket. We hear a lot of
tickets are being given away so hopefully the grandstands will
look reasonably full.
2/21/03
CART rules update meeting A
2003 rules update briefing was held today with Vice President
of Operations for Champ Car, John Lopes. Mr. Lopes, Lee
Dykstra, Director of Technology, John Anderson, Senior Manager
of Technology, and Chris Kneifel, Chief Steward. Transcript
2/21/03
CART lowers minimum age for
ladder series Opening the door for talented young racers
to get an earlier start on their professional racing careers,
Champ Car officials announced today that drivers under the age
of 18 will now be eligible to drive in both the Barber Dodge
Pro Series and the CART Toyota Atlantic Championship. The new
arrangement allows 16- and 17-year-old drivers to compete in
both driver development series, providing they fulfill
experience and talent requirements in addition to completing
the emancipation process. Emancipation is a legal process
which allows those under the age of 18 to be considered adults
and sign all legal documents for themselves. Drivers must be
first emancipated in their state of residence and then have
that decree enforced in the state of Indiana as a result of
Champ Car being based in Indianapolis. From a racing
perspective, this means the driver can sign his/her own Waiver
of Liability, which is required to compete in any Champ Car
sanctioned event. The new policy will be evident this weekend
at the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg as 16-year old driver
Nelson Philippe of Valence, France will make his debut in the
Barber Dodge Pro Series. He is a veteran of karting and
formula car ranks in Europe. For Champ Car Ladder System
officials, this is welcome news. "I think this announcement is
extremely positive and very significant in that it deepens the
pool of drivers our team owners have to choose from," said
CART Toyota Atlantic Championship President Vicki O'Connor.
"Our team owners are always trying to find the most talented
and marketable drivers to build their programs around, and I'm
looking forward to getting qualified younger drivers into our
series. Likewise, Champ Car sponsors are interested in hiring
talented young drivers that they can build long-term programs
around." "As Champ Car focuses more and more on the
development of young drivers, it is crucial that we eliminate
any potential roadblocks for talented and capable drivers
under the age of 18," commented Champ Car Driver Development
Series Manager Robert Dole. "I think this process gives Champ
Car Ladder System competitors a head start in their climb to
the top ranks of racing, and more specifically, the Champ Car
World Series." "Looking across the sporting landscape, the age
of competitors is gravitating toward younger participants, and
motorsports is no exception," said George Tamayo, Director of
Marketing and Communications for Skip Barber. "We have seen a
number of exceptionally talented drivers in recent years have
to put their careers in a holding pattern just because of
their age. Thanks to this rule change, that will no longer be
the case."
2/21/03
News tidbits during the rainy
moments at Rockingham While work continues on
finding an acceptable device to filter carbon monoxide from
the air drivers breath inside the racecar, there are currently
no teams doing an on-track testing for NASCAR. That according
to the Director of the Winston Cup Series, John Darby. Darby
also says that rumors Ford might get a change to the headlight
area of their current nosepiece are just that, rumors. “Not
going to happen,” said Darby when asked about the possibility.
“They will have a new nose in 2004. We’ve known for some time
2004 marks a model change at Ford and they’re working on that
right now.” NASCAR President Mike Helton answered questions
from the media on Friday afternoon concerning the policy of
calling a race complete once it reaches the halfway mark.
Helton says the sanctioning body will not change that policy
for a single event, but would consider a viable alternative
that could be applied to the entire schedule. “Today’s
schedule doesn’t allow the time needed to carry an event over
until the next week,” said Helton. “You might remember in the
past there was always a open weekend after the big races. We
don’t have that anymore.” The half-way policy, according to
Bill France, Jr. was put into effect formally in 1969 but was
used all the way back in the 1950’s. “Bill, Jr. said that his
father used the procedure much like baseball has a set number
of innings that must be completed before a game is considered
official,” said Mike Zizzo, NASCAR public relations. Stan
Creekmore
2/21/03
PUMA signs on with Team Rahal
PUMA has committed to a partnership in the USA with Team Rahal
to provide fireproof racing footwear to the drivers and pit
crews for competition in the Champ Car World Series, the Indy
Racing League's IndyCar Series and CART's Toyota Altantic
Championship. "We are pleased to join in this
partnership with PUMA for the upcoming season," said
three-time CART champion and 1986 Indianapolis 500 winner,
Bobby Rahal. "PUMA has established a reputation as one
of the leading footwear and athletic apparel companies in the
world. They are leaders in their industry who strive to
excel at every venture. These are the kind of
like-minded partners that we seek here at Team Rahal."
2/21/03 F3000
Friday times from Imola
1 Patrick Friesacher - Red Bull -
1'35,345"
2 Björn Wirdheim - Arden - 1'36,048"
3 Vitantonio Liuzzi - Red Bull - 1'36,530"
4 Ricardo Sperafico - Coloni - 1'36,727"
5 Nicolas Minassian - Brand - 1'37,092"
6 Enrico Toccacelo - SuperNova - 1'37,242"
7 Townsend Bell - Arden - 1'37,349"
8 Gary Paffett - Brand - 1'37,403"
9 Tony Schmidt - Astromega - 1'37,478"
10 Raffaele Gianmaria - Durango - 1'37,503"
11 Nicolas Kiesa - Den Bla Avis - 1'37,517"
12 Jaime Melo Jnr - Durango - 1'37,787"
13 Jaroslav Janis - PSM-Charouz - 1'38,740"
14 Yannick Schroeder - PSM-Charouz - 1'39,138"
15 Marcel Costa - BCN - 1'40,372"
16 Angel Burgueno - BCN - 1'50,038"
17 Kevin Nadin - BCN - 2'10,166"
2/21/03
CART looking to limit chassis
manufacturers According to John Lopes, CART is
trying to decide what the optimum number of chassis
manufacturers should be in 2005. History has shown that
two can turn a profit, but three is too many for anyone to
make enough revenue to survive. He stated that one of
the Champ Car manufacturers will get the Toyota Atlantic
contract and this should help in the volume to offset the
possible increased competition. Lopes said CART is
currently talking to five chassis manufacturers.
2/21/03
Ford has not asked CART to
extend engines into 2005 According to CART's John
Lopes, Ford has not officially asked CART to extend the
current turbo engine through 2005.
2/21/03
Aero update, more cost cutting
in 2004 CART is looking to allow Lola and Reynard to
update some of their aero pieces, including possibly the
underbody, in 2004. However, CART is also looking to
possibly implement other measures to cut team costs further.
2/21/03
Driver weight now factored in
CART has finally implemented the rule that a drivers weight is
factored into the overall weight of the car. In this
way, a heavier driver is not unfairly penalized.
2/21/03
Sarah Fisher, IRL's most
popular driver, to miss opener Dreyer
& Reinbold Racing today announced that a second team entry for
the IndyCar Series opener at Homestead-Miami would not be
submitted to the Indy Racing League offices. Dreyer & Reinbold
has been working feverently to complete the requisite
sponsorship program that would have allowed IndyCar series
standout Sarah Fisher to pilot the team’s #23 Chevrolet
Dallara at Homestead-Miami Speedway on March 2. “We have spent
considerable sums testing and preparing the #23 Dreyer &
Reinbold team for the 2003 IndyCar Championship independent of
any outside support, but we are not at a point where we are
able to complete the necessary sponsor partnership program to
currently make it a reality,” said Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
co-owner Dennis Reinbold. “We are naturally disappointed to
reach this conclusion, but we are committed to a first class
effort, deserving of Sarah and the on-track competitiveness
she demonstrated last year. We only want to enter an effort
that has the proper support for Sarah and the crew of the #23
team.”
2/21/03
Daytona costly to eight crew
chiefs NASCAR officials announced fines were
levied against eight crew chiefs for infractions that were
discovered during Speedweeks. Those fined include:
Peter Sospenzo, crew chief for the No. 25 car of Joe
Nemechek, was fined $2,000 for two rear coil spring mounts
that did not meet NASCAR specifications.
Dennis Connor, crew chief for the No. 0 car of Jack Sprague,
was fined $1,000 for external probe heaters that did not
conform to NASCAR rules.
James Ince, crew chief for the No. 10 car of Johnny Benson,
was fined $500 for underpans that did not meet NASCAR
specifications.
Chris Carrier, crew chief for the No. 4 car of Mike Skinner,
Mike Beam, crew chief for the No. 30 car of Jeff Green, and
Anthony Gibson, crew chief for the No. 1 car of Steve Park,
were each fined $500 for fuel filters that did not conform to
NASCAR rules.
Raymond Fox, crew chief for the No. 38 car of Elliott
Sadler, was fined $250 for adjustable fender braces that did
not meet NASCAR specifications. John Darby labeled the
infractions as the “typical nickel and dime stuff you expect
at Daytona.” In addition, Billy Wilburn, crew chief for
the No. 2 Ford, was fined $10,000 for an illegal carburetor
used during the second Gatorade Twin 125 qualifying race.
Stan Creekmore
2/21/03
Mini Al has his sights set on
Champ Cars According to this Tampa Bay Tribune
article, according to his ambitious plan, Alfred Unser
is to spend one year in Barber Dodge, one year in Toyota
Atlantic [CART's Triple-A division] and drive a CART Champ Car
in 2005. Al Unser Jr. and Sr. are each two-time CART
champions, although Al Jr. now drives in the rival Indy Racing
League. ``It's been proved that an Indy- car driver can go to
NASCAR for example and do well, but a NASCAR driver can't come
back into road racing and be competitive,'' he said. ``So I
want to gain experience as a road racer, fine-tune my skills
and then, if that's how things turn out, I can go to the IRL
or NASCAR.'' Alfred lists his racing hero as Mario Andretti.
Nevertheless, he is part of a family that has produced three
generations of multiple Indianapolis 500 winners.
2/21/03
Ralf tops Friday times in
Barcelona
Pos Driver Chassis-engine Tyres
Time Laps
1 Ralf Schumacher Williams-BMW M 1m17.959s 81
2 Juan Pablo Montoya Williams-BMW M 1m18.291s 80
3 Ralph Firman Jordan-Ford B 1m18.396s 59
4 Antonio Pizzonia Jaguar M 1m19.398s 68
2/21/03
Fox Sports en Español to
broadcast all CART races
Champ Car racing has made vast inroads among the North
American Hispanic population in recent years, sparking
interest in the series to an all-time high - a fact that was
evident during the 2002 season finale in Mexico City, as an
all-time Champ Car event attendance record 351,972 fans came
through the gates at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez. This
season, the Bridgestone Presents The Champ Car World Series
Powered by Ford will extend its reach even deeper into the
Hispanic population of the United States as cable network Fox
Sports en Español will carry the entire season of Champ Car
races live starting February 23 at 1PM ET. Firmly entrenched
in many of the nation's major television markets including Los
Angeles, New York, Miami, Denver, Chicago and San Francisco,
Fox Sports en Español reaches over five million households,
with over 40 percent of those being exclusively Hispanic. "We
value our Hispanic partners and fans very highly as is evident
through our work with the Latino Marketing Initiative," said
CART President and CEO Christopher R. Pook. "The passion that
the Hispanic fans have for our series is shown not only at our
Mexican races, but also at our U.S. stops where the local fans
come out in great numbers. We are pleased to be able to help
them follow the Champ Car World Series with the signing of
this deal." Hispanic fans will have a large contingent of
drivers to root for in the Champ Car World Series this season
with veteran Adrian Fernandez leading a group that includes
Michel Jourdain Jr., Oriol Servia, Mario Dominguez, Tiago
Monteiro and Rodolfo Lavin. "The surging interest of expanding
the visibility of sports such as the Champ Car World Series to
U.S. Hispanics is a clear indication that targeted broadcast
platforms are needed to reach this significant U.S. consumer,"
said David Sternberg, General Manager of Fox Sports en Español.
"We have the right vehicle to help them do just that." Fox
Sports en Español is available through affiliated cable
systems and through DIRECTV and Dish Network satellite
providers. Fox Sports en Español is distributed by Fox Cable
Networks Group and operated by Fox Pan American Sports LLC, an
international sports programming and production entity jointly
owned by Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst, Fox Sports International
[owned by Fox Entertainment Group (NYSE: FOX) and News
Corporation (NYSE: NWS)], and Liberty Media Corporation.
2/21/03
Fire
sidelines Gonzalez
Roberto Gonzalez's car caught fire in the first practice
session at St. Pete this morning and he is not on the track
for the 2nd session, which has just started. They are
working on getting the car fixed. He does have Lotto
Speed as a sponsor, which is what we had previously rumored.
We have updated our 2003 CART
Teams PageMark C.
2/21/03
Fain promoted at Martinsville Sarah
Fain has been promoted to chief operating officer of
Martinsville Speedway and Tracie Powell has been promoted to
ticket office manager for the speedway. Fain, who has been the
speedway's ticket manager, "will be taking a more active role
in the day-to-day operation of the business with oversight of
all departments and functions," said track President Clay
Campbell. Fain, the granddaughter of Martinsville Speedway
founder H. Clay Earles, has worked in the ticket office for 25
years. She trained under her mother, Dorothy Earles Campbell,
and her aunt, Mary Earles Weatherford, both who still work in
the ticket office.
2/21/03
F1 USA TV
A lot of people have contacted us about F1 TV in the USA in
2003. As with the past two years, the deal probably
won't get signed until the last day, but we expect SPEED
Channel to broadcast most of the races and ABC a few like they
did last year.
2/21/03
Scientific
Atlanta signs on with PK Racing
- Scientific Atlanta has signed on as a primary sponsor for PK
Racing. They are a leading supplier of broadband
equipment & services to the cable industry & home subscribers,
satellite network design and systems integration. They
are headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia and hold 319 patents. Mark C.
2/21/03 F3
Piquet
to British F3
- "Nelsinho" Piquet, son of three-time F1 World Champion
Nelson Piquet, officially announced this Thursday his already
well-known plans for the 2003 season. Nelsinho will campaign a
Dallara F303 powered by Mugen for his father-owned Piquet
Sports team at the prestigious British F3 championship. Season
is scheduled to kick off April 5th. With backing from Autotrac
(security systems), TAM Airlines, Oi (cell phone provider) and
UniOil lubricants, Nelsinho expects a season of
"apprenticeship", but is quick to note that "many drivers,
including my father, jumped from F3 straight to F1". The young
Piquet embarked to England today, and will make his first test
session at Snetterton, next month. In 2002, amidst accusations
of illegal extra tests from his rivals, Nelsinho broke all
records in the South American F3 championship, winning the
title with four races to go before the season's end. Cássio
Côrtes
2/21/03
CART scanner frequencies
- The scanner frequency link on our CART page has been updated
with a partial list of 2003 scanner frequencies. We will
complete the table as we get the frequencies. Mark C.
2/21/03
City
of Canoas, Brazil to become the mecca of Fittipaldi fans
- PORTO ALEGRE, Brazil - A three-hour visit was enough to
convince racing legend Emerson Fittipaldi to choose the Museum
of the Automobile in Canoas, Brazil, to host the first public
display of his career's most important cars, photos and
trophies. The Museum belongs to the Lutheran University of
Brazil - ULBRA, one of the countries' largest universities,
and is considered Latin America's premier auto museum. It
currently displays over 256 historic vehicles from all over
the world. General Motors of Brazil recently transferred its
own factory museum from Sao Paulo to the Canoas facility. A
'78 Copersucar F1 car (from Fittipaldi's ill-fated
owner/driver period at the pinnacle of motorsport) and the
1989 Indy 500 pace car Pontiac Trans Am (the year of Emmo's
1st Indy victory), plus 156 trophies and many photographs have
already arrived. All items were previously stored in Emerson's
Araraquara, Sao Paulo farm and were not available for public
viewing. Soon to follow are Frank Williams's 1st F1 car,
originally steered in the '70s by Brazilian Jose Carlos Pace
(winner of the '75 Brazilian GP and a personal friend of
Fittipaldi, killed in a plane crash in '77) and two of Emmo's
Penske Champ Cars, currently stored in the United States.
ULBRA's museum already displayed the first race car Emerson
ever rode on, a Ford "Carretera" from the '50s that belonged
to racer José Asmuz. Young Emerson, at age 11, was taken by
his father Wilson (affectionately known as "The Baron"), then
Brazil's most famous racing radio broadcaster, to watch the "carreteras"
practice at Interlagos. The Baron eventually talked Asmuz into
giving his son a joyride, and the young Fittipaldi ran shotgun
a few hotlaps at Interlagos' historic, now-inactive
7km-circuit. Small detail: Emerson was sitting on the gas tank
throughout the whole ride, for there wasn't any other possible
place to tuck himself inside the old Ford. The Emerson
Fittipaldi Wing will occupy the whole 4th floor at ULBRA's
Museum of the Automobile, and is expected to be open for
visitors in the next few months. ULBRA is located only 10
miles away from Porto Alegre's Int'l Airport. Porto Alegre,
home to the globally famed World Social Forum, is Brazil's
southernmost capital, a 90-minute flight away from Sao Paulo.
By the way, entrance to the world-class Museum of the
Automobile since Jan 15 2003, the museum is charging a
symbolic R$ 5.00 (USD 2.00) ticket. Cássio Côrtes
The SL Benz belonged to Ayrton
Senna, it was given to him by MB for his '93 Brazilian GP
victory
2/21/03
CART/Octagon playing the London
theme
- In this article
we published by Gary Parravani, we suggested that CART play
the big city London theme and they are. Advertising has
started in the UK and they are calling the race the London
Champ Car Trophy.
Brands Hatch is located very near London, the biggest city in the UK
(and one of the biggest in the world). Brands (as it’s
affectionately known) resides just outside the south east quadrant
of the M25 motorway. For those of you that don’t know, the M25 is a
huge circular freeway that surrounds London and approximately 16
million people. In logical terms if you want a huge crowd at a race
it makes sense to race where there is a large population!
Chris Pook is adamant that CART race as close as possible to
big cities. We never heard of any race at Brands
previously tied directly to London, but it makes perfect
sense. Mark C.
Da Matta in testing shunt
Cristiano da Matta's day ended early yesterday when the
extremely wet track conditions in the late morning and a
technical problem, which still has to be determined, caused
his TF103 to aquaplane into a wall, resulting in some damage
to the car. Thankfully the Brazilian was uninjured in the
shunt. "We have had a lot of rain here in Barcelona and the
track was extremely wet this morning, so the session was
delayed for a long time,” Cristiano explained. “We went out
for an installation lap and I felt something wrong with the
car. I was trying to get the TF103 under control but it wasn't
possible with the wet track and I hit the wall. I am fine,
just frustrated because I was really hoping to get some good
running in today." Thursday Times
Richard horrified by Dennis and
Williams letter BAR Team Principal David Richards
has condemned the actions of Frank Williams and Ron Dennis who
notified the FIA yesterday that they would be taking them to
court over the rule changes being introduced by the sport’s
governing body. Dave Richards believes that this kind of
action is inappropriate in the current state of instability
that the sport finds itself in. The Briton believes everybody
should be pulling together to make the new regulations work
instead of starting what has been dubbed a ‘civil war’ within
the sport. Richards was quoted as saying by the Guardian: "I
am horrified and absolutely astounded. This is the last thing
the sport needs at the moment. We should all be pulling
together to make it a success."
2/21/03
Mosley tries to isolate Dennis
and Williams This Planet F1
article says, Max Mosley is already trying to isolate
Williams and McLaren by claiming that it is just two teams
that object to his changes Interviewed on Channel 4's evening
news program on Thursday, Mosley had clearly decided that his
best plan was to make light of the challenge. He claimed that
it was only two teams who didn't like his changes. He also
gave the impression that Ferrari supported all the regulation
changes brought in since Suzuka. "Ferrari, who won the
championship last year and have the most to lose, accepted the
changes with very good grace," claimed Max. "It's just two
teams who don't like what we've done."
2/21/03
Readers take on Dennis/Williams
letter In the press
release by the Williams and McLaren teams they say
they are "deeply concerned" that FIA President Max Mosley is
seeking to introduce changes that will undermine the
fundamental values of F1 as the pinnacle of motorsport and a
technological showcase. In my opinion, this "dumbing" down of
F1 is what is needed if they want to put butts in the seats at
INDY, or anywhere else they plan to race in the USA, period.
What's wrong with creating an even playing field? It's worked
in almost every other sport, so why not F1? Times are now
different and the sooner these "money" teams realize it the
better. If F1 would have seen the forest through the trees a
few years ago maybe we'd still have teams such as Arrows and
Prost in the mix. Take the Jordan team for example. They've
had to except an engine deal with Ford that will most likely
put them in a worse position in the points hunt than they were
last year. My guess is that Jaguar will get the better end of
that deal. Same goes for Sauber. Year old Ferrari engines?
Give me a break! Maybe if the rest of the F1 teams ran a
year-old Ferrari, we'd actually see some cool racing. I went
to the Inaugural USGP at INDY in 2000 and was blown away by
the qualifying, but frankly disappointed in the race and have
been lackluster in my support for F1 since. If the current
manufacturers want to whine and moan, then they can go
somewhere else to play follow the leader (Ferrari). Other
manufactures will step up and play their cards in F1 to take
their place anyway. I don't know who they may be, but Honda,
Toyota, Ford/Jaguar, Nissan/Infinity and Volkswagen/Audi come
to mind. The market they are making cars for (maybe with the
exception of Ford) are generally upper class folk who can
afford those marquees anyway. On the other hand, however, I
can't remember a time I've walked into a Honda or Toyota
dealership and were exposed to their onslaught of racing
point-of-purchase displays and publicity for the racing they
throw millions of dollars into. I don't think, however, the
"race on Sunday, sell on Monday" mentality applies to F1. Just
some thoughts. Paul Richards, Des Moines, Iowa
2/20/03
Trueman Scholarship Award for
karting winner
- The late Jim Trueman was a big believer in helping young
North American drivers who were attempting to climb the auto
racing ladder. Trueman, the founder of the CART championship
and Indy 500-winning Truesports racing teams, was renowned
throughout the motorsports community in assisting young
drivers for decades including the likes of Bobby Rahal, Willy
T. Ribbs, Ed Pimm, Steve Millen and many others. Trueman, a
Can-Am champion driver himself, lost his battle with cancer in
1986 but his family continued his legacy by assisting drivers
in the CART system. Barbara Trueman, Jim’s widow, announced
today that the Trueman Family has continued Jim’s commitment
to support young, upcoming North American drivers with the
establishment of the new “Jim Trueman Scholarship Award” to
the Champ Car Snapon.com “Stars of Tomorrow” karting series.
The “Jim Trueman Scholarship Award” will be a $25,000 “final
dollar” cash payment to the top driver annually from Stars of
Tomorrow who moves to the Barber Dodge Series or Toyota
Atlantic Championship. The recipient will come from either the
ICC or ICA category and will be chosen from the season-long
Stars participants. “Our family is very pleased to continue
Jim’s commitment in assisting young drivers,” said Ms.
Trueman. “Jim helped many up and coming drivers just like
Bobby Rahal in developing their talents to reach their
ultimate racing goals. This new scholarship award in Jim’s
name will give some of our finest American karting drivers a
chance to continue their racing dream to the next level.” Ms.
Trueman also said the new award is a multi-year commitment
from her family to the Stars of Tomorrow program. Rahal, the
driver who Trueman put into Champ Car racing in 1982, believes
this new award is a tremendous catalyst to give young drivers
a chance to get to the next racing level.
2/20/03
Question on 2005 engines
- A reader writes, Dear AutoRacing1.com, I have read where you
propose that CART adopt identical engine rules to F1 in 2005
or 2006 and beyond. If Bernie Ecclestone nixes that
idea, what do you expect CART's 2005 V-10 engine specs to be?
David Butler, Rockville, MD. Dear David, If CART
does not adopt identical engine rules to F1, where cost
savings will be introduced by making engines last more than
one race weekend, look for them to essentially have a V-10
version of the IRL V-8 engine. It will be 3.5 liters
with fixed RPM limit (around 13,000 to 14,000), fixed bore and
stroke, a standard CART issued ECM, the banning of exotic
materials and technology such as pneumatic valves, etc.
A very much controlled formula like NASCAR and the IRL.
Although the displacement will be the same, the CART engine
will be able to run at higher RPM because it will have a
shorter stroke and two additional cylinders, meaning the
reciprocating mass of each piston and crank rod will be less.
Heavier pistons self destruct at lower RPM than lightweight
pistons. Over the years, lightweight pistons made from
exotic metals and a very short piston stroke have been one of
the secrets to race engines turning very high RPM and lasting
a full race distance. For a given engine displacement,
High RPM results in more HP but comes at the expense of
increased cost and shorter engine life. Another cost-saving
approach would be for CART to blueprint an engine design, hand
it to any manufacturer and tell them to build the engine
exactly to that spec and if they do, they would have the right
to put their name on the engine. Randomly throughout the year
CART could breakdown down an engine and measure the internal
dimensions. If one fails, the penalty would be immediate
disqualification. If everyone builds an engine to a CART
blueprint, all would be within 10 to 20 HP and the racing on
the track will be close Mark C.
2/20/03 F3000
Townsend Bell fares well in
first F3000 testUPDATE
As it turns out, the times we listed below are from the
morning session. Bell faired even better in the after
noon. Full
Story2/20/03 -
Imola F3000 test, day 1
(Morning only)
Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1 Bjorn Wirdheim Arden 1m36.020s 69
2 Patrick Friesacher Red Bull 1m36.467s 41
3 Ricardo Sperafico Coloni 1m36.742s 55
4 Enrico Toccacelo Super Nova 1m37.007s 68
5 Vitantonio Liuzzi Red Bull 1m37.145s 39
6 Jaime Melo Durango 1m37.609s 68
7 Townsend Bell Arden 1m37.764s 62
8 Nicolas Kiesa Den Bla Avis 1m37.976s 39
9 Raffaele Gianmaria Durango 1m38.411s 39
10 Jaroslav Janis PSM-ISR Charouz 1m38.413s 38
11 Yannick Schroeder PSM-ISR Charouz 1m38.444s 62
12 Rodrigo Sperafico BCN 1m38.528s 55
13 Nicolas Minassian Brand 1m38.599s 17
14 Tony Schmidt Astromega 1m38.841s 60
15 Gary Paffett Brand 1m42.864s 10
2/20/03
MSD named official ignition
system of Trans-Am MSD Ignition has been named
the ³Official Ignition System² of the Trans-Am Series for the
BFGoodrich Tires Cup. As part of the agreement, MSD will
supply the spec ignition systems required by this year¹s
Trans-Am Series rules. MSD had been a Series contingency
and award sponsor in previous years, but in 2003 it has
stepped up its involvement with America¹s longest continuously
running road racing series. ³MSD has been involved with
the Trans-Am Series for a long time,² said MSD National Sales
Manager Russell Stephens. ³It¹s a great racing program. We¹re
happy to be the official ignition system and to provide the
ignition to all of the cars out there. MSD is the ignition of
choice for motorsports. ³When people see the MSD
on the race car they want to buy it for their street car,²
added Stephens. ³People that have performance and muscle cars
make up our biggest market. Those are the people that pay
attention to motorsports. That¹s why being involved in the
Trans-Am Series is so important.² This year MSD will
provide spec, sealed ignition systems, which include all
necessary ignition parts such as coils and rev limiters to
competitors. The ignition systems will be distributed during
pre-race inspection by a blind draw.
2/20/03 Announcement
Announcement It has come
to our attention that a number of you are missing Hot News
items because they scroll off to archives so fast. We
bring you a lot of news, so it does scroll off sometimes
within 24 hours or less. At the bottom of both the Hot
News and Rumors pages are pulldown menus to take you to
archived material. If you have not been logged on for 24
or more hours, you might want to look at archives.
Mark C.
2/20/03
More Miami IRL doings Many
IRL IndyCar Series and Infiniti Pro Series stars will help
kick off Toyota Indy 300 race weekend during the inaugural
Toyota IndyFest presented by Homestead-Miami Speedway on Feb.
27 in South Miami, Fla. The street festival, free to the
public, will take place from 4-11 p.m. (EST) at the Shops of
Sunset Place on 5701 Sunset Drive in South Miami. Among the
features at the Toyota IndyFest will be driver autograph
sessions, IndyCar Series race cars on display, the third
annual SunTrust Media Challenge, interactive racing displays,
live entertainment, food and beverages and more. All of the
activity will serve as a gateway to the season-opening Toyota
Indy 300 on March 2 at Homestead-Miami. Practice for the
IndyCar Series and Infiniti Pro Series starts Feb. 28 at the
1.5-mile oval. “We invite all of South Florida to experience
the excitement of the IndyCar Series at the inaugural Toyota
IndyFest at the Shops of Sunset Place in the city of South
Miami,” said Curtis Gray, Homestead-Miami Speedway president.
“This free-to-the-public street festival for all ages will be
the ideal place to get fired up for the big race weekend.”
2/20/03
Hot Laps IndyCar
Series drivers Eddie Cheever Jr. and George Mack will appear
at the Indianapolis Metro District’s 2003 MDA Muscle Team Gala
on Feb. 22 at the Westin Hotel in Indianapolis, a fund-raising
dinner and auction that benefits those suffering from muscular
dystrophy … 1999 Indianapolis 500 BankOne Rookie of the Year
Robby McGehee will sign autographs from 1-4 p.m. (CST) Feb. 22
at the All Sport Show at The Center in Springfield, Ill.
2/20/03
Portland Town Meeting a big hit
already
- The fans of the Bridgestone Presents The Champ Car World
Series Powered by Ford are taking full advantage of the chance
to meet some of the major forces behind the Champ Car World
Series, responding to the point where organizers of the Town
Meeting in Portland next week have had to move to a larger
venue. Overwhelming response to the February 26 meeting in the
Oregon city forced a change Thursday, causing the first
Town Meeting of 2003 to be moved from the Doubletree Columbia
River down one block to the Grand Ballroom of the Doubletree
Hotel at Jantzen Beach, 909 N. Hayden Island Drive. The
Portland Town Meeting will be the first of the year and
follows on the heels a successful debut last year, when over
1,500 fans attended the program in Columbus, Ohio to ask
questions of the some of the principal members of the series.
Fans can still visit
www.champcarworldseries.com to register
for their free tickets to Wednesday's panel discussion, which
will feature Champ Car President and CEO Christopher R. Pook,
1996 CART Champion Jimmy Vasser and SPEED Channel race analyst
Scott Pruett. Doors open for the event as 6:30 p.m. Fans with
any questions should call Global Events Group at 503-232-2336.
Weekly IRL teleconference We
are joined today by three guests from the IRL Infiniti Pro
Series. First, we have four-time Indianapolis 500 champion and
recently named Infiniti Pro Series driver coach and
consultant, Rick Mears. We are also joined by two drivers who
have to be considered front-runners for the 2003 Infiniti Pro
Series title: Arie Luyendyk Jr. and Ed Carpenter. Transcript
2/20/03
Patrick Racing adds Infineon as
sponsor
- U. E. “Pat” Patrick announced today that Infineon
Technologies will be a major associate sponsor of the #20
Visteon/Patrick Racing entry, driven by Oriol Servia. “We are
please to be able to announce that Infineon Technologies North
America Corp. has committed to partner with the
Visteon/Patrick Racing Team for the 2003 Champ Car World
Series season,” Patrick said. “Infineon is an outstanding
company that has a deep and successful involvement in global
motorsports and therefore, is a perfect fit for our team. We
look forward to contending for the 2003 championship on behalf
of Infineon and all of our sponsors,” Patrick concluded.
Infineon Technologies AG, headquartered in Munich, Germany,
offers semiconductor and system solutions for the automotive
and industrial sectors, for applications in the wired
communications markets, secure mobile solutions as well as
memory products. The company achieved total sales in fiscal
year 2002 of Euro 5.21 billion. It is now the world’s second
largest supplier of chips used in automotive systems,
including key components for anti-lock brakes and air-bag
controllers, intelligent engine control, GPS location and
advanced telematics systems that enhance safety and provide
new in-car entertainment options. Further information is
available at
http://www.infineon.com
2/20/03
What teams can do to F1 cars
between qualifying and race
After qualifying
Tire pressure checks
Removal of bodywork and the fitting of cooling devices
Connection of jump battery
Download of data by physical connection to car
Fitting of water heaters
Fitting of slave tires
Carrying out work required by the FIA Before the race
Repair crash damage
Some liquids and gases may be drained and replenished - not
fuel
Race tires can be removed but not changed
Main battery may be changed
Cleaning of bodywork
Tires and brake ducts changed for a fluctuation in weather
conditions
2/20/03
Tracy's Chief Engineer quits
suddenly
This Toronto Star
article says, Paul Tracy has hit a sizable bump in the
road just days before his debut this weekend with
Player's/Forsythe Racing. Tracy's chief engineer, Kelly Loewen
of Lethbridge, Alta., resigned unexpectedly last weekend,
leaving the team scrambling to fill the void for Sunday's
Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, the opening event of the 2003
CART Champ Car World Series season. "It's a little
disheartening," admitted Tracy, who joined Player's/Forsythe
after five seasons with Team Green. "We lost (technical
director) Bruce Ashmore in the off-season and now Kelly. It's
created a fairly big void. "It's a good thing we'll have (four
weeks) off before the second race (March 23) in Monterrey,
Mexico." Player's/Forsythe's vice-president of operations,
Neil Micklewright, said he was surprised by Loewen's sudden
departure. "I left the office Friday afternoon to go to
Michigan (from Indianapolis) and Kelly called me on my cell
phone to say he was resigning," Micklewright said. "All he
said was that he felt he could not do all he wanted here. "I
was blissfully unaware that he had any concern of the
magnitude that would cause him to suddenly bail." Loewen, who
was Alex Tagliani's engineer last season, has joined Eddie
Cheever Jr.'s Red Bull Cheever Racing in the Indy Racing
League.
2/20/03
Kansas pushing for 2nd Cup date Kansas
Speedway joined by government and civic groups on both sides
of the state line, is pushing hard for a second Cup date when
NASCAR reshuffles its schedule for 2004. But if a second date
doesn't materialize, track president Jeff Boerger said, the
2-year-old speedway will expand again after this season.
Kansas Speedway added 1,500 seats in the offseason after its
second straight sellout year, bringing its capacity to 78,000,
and has already sold out its 2003 season-ticket package. "We
could go, if the market would let us, to 150,000. We have the
infrastructure in place for that," Boerger said Monday. Last
week, he and other officials presented the track's case to its
parent company, Daytona, Fla.-based International Speedway
Corp. ISC is owned by the family of NASCAR owner Bill France.
NASCAR's realignment could include moving races between tracks
but likely won't involve additional dates. That means one of
the circuit's older tracks - perhaps Darlington Raceway or
North Carolina Speedway in Rockingham, both of which now have
two races a year - could lose their Cup dates. But Kansas City
isn't the only ISC track looking for a second date, and SMI's
Texas Motor Speedway has long argued that NASCAR has never
given a second date as promised when the $250 million track
opened in 1997. "Within ISC, I would say our competition is
probably going to be between Phoenix, California and Chicago,"
Boerger said. "And you know, Darlington is not just going to
give us a second date. They're going to give us a challenge."
ThatsRacin.com/AP
2/20/03
No Cup race for Kentucky If
Kentucky Speedway is on the verge of landing a NASCAR Winston
Cup race, the indications were well hidden in Daytona last
week. While acknowledging that "you never know what is going
to happen," NASCAR Vice-President Jim Hunter described
Kentucky's chances of landing a Cup date as "slim and none."
NASCAR's much-discussed plans to revise the 2004 Cup schedule
is not aimed at moving races to new tracks, Hunter said.
Instead, it is designed to allow the companies that own tracks
that already have Cup dates to move races to other facilities
they own if that makes business sense. Anyway, the best chance
for Kentucky Speedway to get into the big leagues of NASCAR
may not be an actual points race, but an exhibition event such
as The Winston, Hunter says. Speculation has been that
Kentucky Speedway's best chance to get a Cup date would be
either buying or renting one of the two dates controlled by
New Hampshire International Speedway. Bob Bahre,
owner/chairman of the track, said Kentucky Speedway honcho
Jerry Carroll visited with him in recent months inquiring
about availability of a race date. And he said Carroll called
after NASCAR announced that its '04 Cup schedule would be
revised. However, Bahre says he told Carroll that he will not
sell or rent one of his Cup dates. Asked if there were any
price that could get him to sell or rent a Winston Cup date to
Kentucky Speedway, Bahre said, "No, none."
Herald Leader
2/20/03
Dominguez meets the press in
Monterrey
[Translated by Ed McFarlane] The Press Conference presented by
the Organizing Committee of the Telcate Telmex Grand Prix, at
which were present Arturo Mendez, Director General of the
Monterrey Grand Prix; Mario Doninguez, CART Rookie of the
Year, Fernando Elizondo Barragan, State Governor of Nueva
Leon; Felipe de Jesus Cantu, Mayor of Monterrey; Joe Heitzler,
President and CEO of Grand, has set out the expectations and
interest that everyone in Monterrey has for this unique and
spectacular event. The Mayor of Monterrey City, Felipe de
Jesus Cantu opened the Conference brimming with enthusiasm for
the imminent arrival of the Champ Car Series in his city, but
not before wishing the best of luck to Mario Dominguez, and
the Mexican contingent in general. He was adamant that the
organization of a race of this magnitude would not be possible
without the enthusiasm and backing of the people of the city.
On another point, the Mexican driver Mario Dominguez spoke
about the importance of racing in his homeland together with
four of his countrymen. "For me it means a great deal to be
able to compete in my country. I always look forward anxiously
to this race, as well as the Mexico City race because for me
they are the most important of the year" On the Mexican
contingent of five, Mario said "It's great (that 5 Mexicans
are racing), it shows that we are working hard on the national
auto racing scene to go out, win and show what we Mexicans are
made of" It gives us the opportunity to fight for the Nations
Cup and what would be better than a strong start in St.
Petersburg to arrive fired up at Monterrey to give something
back to the people who support our race year in and year out.
Concerning his preparation for the Grand Prix of Monterrey,
Dominguez said: "The three days at Sebring helped me a lot"
referring to the recent Spring Training " We had the chance to
go up to the car and try a lot of things. In addition we could
see that the season will be a great tussle as all the drivers
were running right on the pace". On his part, Mr. Elizondo,
The Governor of Neuvo Leon emphasized the promise of his
government to the citizens of the State to make this event the
most spectacular and transcendent in the region. He emphasized
the importance of the people of Monterrey showing the world
something of their culture and ability to put on great events.
He gave assurances that he will continue to give all the
support necessary to the organizers and said that all the
committees that he set up to assist the events organized
around the race are working full steam ahead to make this a
great event. In relation to the modifications and improvements
to the circuit. "The grandstands are 90% finished, and will be
completed on 7th March. In respect of the walls, they are 100%
finished except for the entrances to the park, which can't be
closed until the week of the race. Ticket sales to date are at
18,882 for Friday, 18,882 for Saturday and 18, 882 for Sunday
for a total of 56, 646.
2/20/03
Drivers not required to wear HANS!
With many F1 drivers crying about wearing the HANS Device, Max Mosley
has come out and said they don't have to wear. They won't be
allowed onto the track in Australia without it on, but they don't have
to wear it. That should settle the matter - the drivers now have
a choice!
New
Minardi breaks cover
PThe Minardi Formula One team’s 2003 challenger, the PS03, ran
successfully for the first time today during a private test session at
Ferrari’s Fiorano facility. The new car, powered by Cosworth Racing’s
CR-3 V10 engine, is a carefully considered technical evolution of last
year’s already effective chassis, and features an improved aerodynamic
package and better weight distribution than its predecessor. The
performance potential of the PS03 is also notably enhanced, courtesy
of the reduced weight, higher maximum engine speed and increased power
output of the Cosworth engine compared with last year’s power unit.
The gearbox is a further development of the innovative,
titanium-cased, six-speed transmission that Minardi has used to great
effect over the past two years. Drivers Justin Wilson and Jos
Verstappen were both present at Fiorano for the “roll-out” of the
PS03, with the experienced Dutch driver the first to sample the
performance of the car the team will race at the Australian Grand
Prix, in just over two weeks’ time. The latest Minardi did not
disappoint, and after some software issues were addressed during the
morning, Verstappen completed a total of 24 trouble-free laps of the
famous Italian test track in sunny, but cool conditions, pronouncing
himself well pleased with the feel of the PS03 at the conclusion of
the afternoon session. The test will continue tomorrow, with Wilson
scheduled to have his first outing in the new car.
2/19/03
Schumacher breaks lap record at Imola
Pos Driver Chassis-engine Tyres Time Laps
1 Michael Schumacher Ferrari B 1m20.441s 52 (2003 car)
2 Michael Schumacher Ferrari B 1m21.532s 42
3 Rubens Barrichello Ferrari B 1m21.541s 68
4 Nick Heidfeld Sauber-Petronas B 1m21.749s 82 (2003 car)
5 Heinz-Harald Frentzen Sauber-Petronas B 1m22.117s 74 (2003 car)
2/19/03
Ralf and Juan fastest in rain at
Barcelona
Pos Driver Chassis-engine Tires Time Laps
1 Ralf Schumacher Williams-BMW M 1m31.569s 54
2 Juan Pablo Montoya Williams-BMW M 1m31.931s 42
3 Giancarlo Fisichella Jordan-Ford B 1m32.485s 25
4 Fernando Alonso Renault M 1m32.693s 23
5 Ralph Firman Jordan-Ford B 1m32.716s 52
6 Mark Webber Jaguar M 1m33.062s 48
7 Olivier Panis Toyota M 1m34.017s 39
8 Jenson Button BAR-Honda B 1m34.148s 31
9 Marc Gene Williams-BMW M 1m34.189s 34
10 Antonio Pizzonia Jaguar M 1m35.029s 46
11 Cristiano da Matta Toyota M 1m38.810s 52
12 Jacques Villeneuve BAR-Honda B 1m39.766s 27
13 Allan McNish Renault M 1m54.056s 13
14 Jarno Trulli Renault M no time 1
2/19/03
BMW perplexed with lack of speed
BMW.WilliamsF1 have admitted they are extremely worried by the lack of
pace that their new Williams FW25 car has shown in pre-season testing
to date. Despite extensive mileage at the Spanish circuits of Valencia
and the Circuit de Cataluyna, Mario Theissen, Director of BMW
Motorsport, is extremely critical of the speed shown by the new
package. "Some things are occurring that we are not able to understand
right away," Theissen told a German newspaper. "At the same time,
we'll have to investigate why the new car is not fast." BMW are
reportedly advanced with the design and construction of their own car
which has been designed at BMW's German factory; a full BMW works team
could make it to the grid by 2005.
2/19/03
More
on Indy 500 ticket sales We previously reported that
most grandstands still have tickets available for this years Indy 500.
The race normally sells out within a month (i.e. it should have sold
out by last July). A quick random check today finds you can
still buy big blocks of tickets in some prime grandstands. The
maximum number of tickets we could buy in a single purchase for the
Paddock Grandstand (Front & Center) was 10 seats (together) today. The
maximum number for the C Grandstand was 46 together. The maximum
number of tickets we could buy, just moments ago, for the Tower
Terrace, get your Visa ready, was 70 seats together. Clearly for the
first time in history, many tickets remain unsold far past the
traditional sellout period - end June/Early July. Many factors
have contributed to the downfall of the once greatest spectacle in
racing, but clearly the CART/IRL split is beginning to take its toll.
2/19/03
A revamped CART enters pivotal year
This USA Today
article says, Finally, CART is winning back some respect.
After two years marked by divisions, defections and doomsayers, CART's
new-look Champ Car World Series is making a defiant stand for
survival. The efforts of CEO Chris Pook to stem the tide of bad news
and get CART back on track as a viable, credible sanctioning body are
being recognized in unexpected areas......"Everyone's pulling for
CART," says Vasser, who made his stock car debut. "People in other
series, even NASCAR, want to see us survive. You didn't used to hear
that support before." Under Pook's year-old change-or-die
regime, CART has reorganized, reconstituted and reinvented itself as a
racing-focused enterprise after several years of mismanagement and
infighting among car owners. He has overridden the agendas of leading
team owners, whose control of CART's board of directors undermined the
authority of his predecessors. "We have new sponsors, a new look, and
we're starting to move forward," says Pook, who disagrees with the
suggestion that this year is make-or-break for CART. "That's too
harsh," he says. "We've stabilized the company. The big year for us
will be 2005," when new engine and chassis rules are introduced.
2/19/03
Trucks get good initial rating on SPEED The
debut of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series on SPEED Channel was a
ratings success. SPEED’s 1.03 household rating (576,000 HH) for the
Florida Dodge Dealers 250 on Feb. 14 was the highest Daytona rating
received by the NASCAR Craftsman Trucks since the series first ran at
the famed speedway in 2000. According to Nielsen Media Research, SPEED
Channel’s 1.03 rating was a 75 percent increase over last year’s
Daytona season opener on ESPN (.6) and generated 14 percent more
household impressions (576,000 to 507,000) and 42 percent more total
viewers (870,000 to 612,000). The quarter-hour high for the SPEED
broadcast (1:15 – 1:30 p.m.) was a 1.21 with more than one million
total viewers.
2/19/03
An interview with SPEED Channel's CART
lineup
Today we were joined by the president of SPEED Channel, Jim Liberatore,
along with the president of Lingner Group Productions Terry Lingner,
as well as race analysts Tommy Kendall, Calvin Fish and Derek Daly for
the CART weekly teleconference. Transcript
2/19/03
Sunday morning warm-up axed
Formula One's governing body, the FIA, have finally announced
the schedule for the Australian Grand Prix and other rounds of
the 2003 World Championship. As was widely expected the
traditional half hour warm-up session which preceded the race
itself has been axed in the wake of new refueling regulations
introduced for the forthcoming season. Teams will now be
unable to alter fuel levels following the Saturday qualifying
session in a bid by the FIA to increase excitement by
revolutionizing strategy calls from the pit wall. The FIA must
now refund any television company who have already paid for
the rights to screen the warm-up session. In addition to the
new, two hour test session which will grace the Friday of
every meeting and be attended by Renault, Jaguar, Minardi and
Jordan, a five minute warm-up session will run immediately
prior to the second, crucial qualifying hour of the weekend
which will allow teams to shakedown their cars before drivers
launch an all-out assault on the track to claim their
qualifying position. Qualifying on the Saturday has also been
pushed back an hour and will now run between 1400 and 1500.
The weekend schedule now stands as follows: Friday:
0845-1045: Test Session (Renault, Jaguar, Minardi and Jordan)
1100-1200: Free Practice Session 1
1300-1400: Qualifying Session 1 Saturday:
0900-0945: Free Practice Session 2
1015-1100: Free Practice Session 3
1330-1335: Warm-Up Session
1400-1500: Qualifying Session 2 Sunday:
1400: Race
2/19/03
Daytona still bothers Penske According
to this Pennsylvania Live
article, Roger Penske was still fuming 48 hours
after Michael Waltrip won the rain-shortened Daytona 500. Indy
car racing's winningest owner of all time looks at Rusty
Wallace's finish Sunday and can't help but wonder what
might've been. Penske is steamed about the post-race
inspection Thursday when Wallace turned in an excellent
qualifying effort in the second of the Twin 125s. NASCAR
inspectors discovered that a part on the carburetor on
Wallace's Miller Lite machine did not meet specifications.
Wallace was sent back to 38th on the starting grid and crew
chief Bill Willburn was hit with a big fine. "I've been
involved with racing since 1958 when I was at Lehigh
University," Penske said. "And all that's just a part of
racing. You move on." By Monday, Penske already had shifted
his attention from NASCAR to the Indy Racing League and was
overseeing Marlboro Team Penske at Homestead-Miami Speedway in
preparation for the series' season-opening Toyota Indy 300 on
Sunday, March 2. But it was obvious Daytona was still sticking
in his craw. "It was very disappointing," Penske said.
"Sure, it's embarrassing to me, personally. I had a long
conversation with our people and, obviously, I'm going to have
more. We don't run a business that way."
2/19/03
It's man over machine now
According to this Gazette Global
article, Patrick Carpentier and Paul Tracy agree
off-season changes will make the Champ Car World Series more
competitive, but driving ability will ultimately decide who
wins. "Drivers will be a factor more than in the past," said
Carpentier, the 32-year-old LaSalle native who begins his
sixth season with Player's/Forsythe Racing and with a new
teammate in Tracy. "While everybody will be using the same
engines and tires, and teams will be more competitive than a
couple of years ago, it will be the driver who makes the
difference," Carpentier said. "It will be about a driver's
ability more than before," offered Tracy, who was in Montreal
with Carpentier for a brief PR stop yesterday. "When that's
the case, the cream comes to the top."
2/19/03
IPS in trouble? According
to this Autoweek
article, IRL officials insist Infiniti isn’t going
anywhere, though Infiniti sources say the company “doesn’t
need to be in racing.” The truth is probably somewhere in
between. "Absolutely not,” said series boss Roger Bailey.
Bailey said the IRL begins its second year of a four-year
contract with Infiniti providing Q45 engines for the series.
Bailey has 17 car-and-driver combinations for the
season-opening race at Homestead March 2. That’s as many as
the series had at its highest point in its inaugural season
last year.
2/19/03
Hand to coach "Mini" Al Unser
Joey Hand, one of the most talented up and coming open wheel
racers in North America will lend his expertise to one of the
most famous family names in all motorsports this weekend at
the inaugural Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. Al Unser, who is
the son of two-time Champcar Champion, Al Unser Jr., will make
his debut in the CART Barber Dodge Pro Series this weekend on
the 1.806-mile street course in central Florida. Before Unser
Jr. nabbed titles in 1990 and 1994 along with 31 career
victories in Champcars, his father, Al Unser Sr., had earned
Championships in 1983 and 1985. The youngest Unser has plotted
a career path through the CART ladder system to continue the
Unser tradition in open wheel racing. Hand, who will kick off
his third season in the CART Toyota Atlantic Championship next
month in Mexico, will coach the youngest Unser in his first
race in the Barber Dodge Pro Series. Since this is the first
race on the new St. Petersburg temporary street circuit, Hand
was a natural selection to help a young driver learn a new car
and course. During his rookie season in 2001, Hand finished
third on his first trip to Long Beach as well as grabbing wins
on his maiden visits to city circuits in Houston and
Vancouver. “I have done a little coaching at my own karting
school as well as some in Formula Mazdas, but this will be the
first time I have actually gone to a race to coach only,” said
Hand, who won the 2001 Rookie of the Year award with DSTP
Motorsports. “It will be a little different, but it should
still be fun. I grew up watching Al Unser Jr. race in
Champcars, so it is kind of bizarre in a cool way that I’m
coaching his son.” With an eye on the future of her team, DSTP
Motorsports owner, Dede Rogers, will take in the weekend with
Hand as well. “We are very excited to be working with Al this
weekend in St. Petersburg and also hopefully working with him
in the future as he moves up the ladder system to the CART
Toyota Atlantic Championship,” quoted Rogers. “To be working
with a family like the Unsers is truly an honor for Joey and
me.”
2/19/03
Vasser to join Town Meeting
Champ Car has confirmed that 1996 series champion Jimmy Vasser
will join President and CEO Christopher R. Pook along with
some of the most influential and established personalities in
open-wheel racing when it hosts the 2003 Champ Car Town
Meeting: Portland on Wednesday, February 26th from 7:00 - 9:00
p.m. Since ticket reservations for the Town Meeting in the
Pacific Northwest became available online Monday, the media
and fan response has been overwhelming as more than 400
confirmations have been received in just two days for the
event at the Doubletree Columbia River at Jantzen Beach. A
limited number of tickets are available and will be reserved
on a first-come, first-served basis through Champ Car's
official web site,
www.champcarworldseries.com. For more information on the
Town Meeting contact Kathi Reichert at Champ Car
communications at (317) 715-4167, or via email at
kreichert@cart.com, or
Sharon Tracy at Global Events Group at (503) 821-4347, or by
email at
sharon@globaleventsgrouppdx.com.
2/19/03
Ricardo Gonzalez to run ALMS
Carsport America is thrilled to announce the addition of
Mexico’s Ricardo Gonzalez to the team’s new Pagani GTS effort.
Gonzalez will be the lead driver in the team’s new Pagani
Zonda, starting with the season-opening Mobil1 Twelve Hours of
Sebring, and continuing for the full 2003 American Le Mans
schedule. Gonzalez will also get behind the wheel of the new
stunner at Le Mans. The 24 year-old Gonzalez, brother to
CART’s Roberto Gonzalez, brings his driving talents to
Carsport America’s new challenge to the ALMS GTS Championship.
In 2001, Gonzalez finished 4th in the European FC
Championship, with 2 podium finishes, a pole and a lap record.
In 1998, 1999 and 2000 Gonzalez distinguished himself in the
Mexican Indy Lights Panamerican series, with several podium
finishes and many top 5 results. In 1994 and 1995 Gonzalez ran
in Mexico’s International FIA F3 series, where he was the
youngest ever participant - winning a pole in his first event
and accumulating several top 5 finishes. “I’m really excited
that Ricardo has joined us for the season,” said team owner
Tom Weickardt. “Ricardo brings a new energy with him that will
be invaluable toward our assault on the GTS championship. This
will be Ricardo’s first visit to Sebring, and his first turn
behind the wheel of the Pagani – and the Pagani’s first ever
race as well. I know that we’ll all definitely put our best
foot forward with this first race. I’m also sure that as time
goes by, and we continue to develop the car, and as Ricardo
gets more and more time behind its wheel - you’ll start seeing
Ricardo on the podium.”
2/19/03
No Hemelgarn ride for Boat or
Lazier The Indy Star reports that Hemelgarn
Racing team manager Lee Kunzman said today that he does not
have a deal to field either Billy Boat or Buddy Lazier, both
former race winners in the IRL. Lazier won the 1996
Indianapolis 500 and the 2000 league championship. Therefore,
the team will skip the Homestead race, its first missed race
since the league was founded in 1996.
2/19/03
Jeff Ward to drive for Bradley
Motorsports Jeff Ward will join Bradley
Motorsports in a G-Force/Toyota package crewed by former Indy
winner Owen Snyder.
2/19/03
CART announces new sales agency
Champ Car announced today a partnership with Stefanucci &
Turner (S&T) that will associate the Sunset Beach,
California-based company with the series as a third-party
sales agency effective immediately for the upcoming 2003
Bridgestone Presents The Champ Car World Series Powered by
Ford season. In addition to assisting with overall sales for
the series, S&T- formerly Sports Consultants International-
will support sales efforts for the Champ Car World Series at
overseas events in Europe as well as the CART Toyota Atlantic
Championship. Formed in 1977 by Brian Turner, S&T has
developed into one of the nation's leading sponsorship
development and event management companies. Since its
inception as the marketing agency for the Long Beach Grand
Prix, the company handles a variety of regional, national and
international projects ranging from motorsports to soccer and
from food and music festivals to the arts. "We are pleased to
have Stefanucci & Turner join Champ Car along with our top
developmental series, the Toyota Atlantic Championship," said
Champ Car Vice President of Marketing Steve Fusek. "Mr. Turner
brings years of experience and motorsports knowledge to our
sales efforts and we look forward to this partnership with his
company. Exposure for our back-to-back European dates in
England and Germany is continually increasing and this
announcement furthers that effort." Turner has an extensive
background in developing and selling major sponsorship
programs. While working with Philip Morris Inc., he was
responsible for the development and implementation of the
Marlboro's $10 million Champ Car program. He was also
responsible for the design and acquisition of financing for
the $45 million Pikes Peak International Raceway in Colorado
and acted as General Manager for the first two years of the
track's operation. Turner is currently involved as a
consultant to the organizers of a series of motorsport events
in China.
2/19/03
Manning - CART all about
talent, F1 about politics
In this Ananova.com
article, Darren Manning says, "I want to score points,
I want to win races and I know I will with Walker Racing,"
said Manning. "We all know F1 is so political and it's all
about the right timing, the right sponsor. Your opportunity
can be gone in the blink of an eye. And being an F1 test
driver is no guarantee either. "That's why I like CART because
they seem to recognize talent. Plus drivers have a chance to
show what they can do. Starting 17th on the grid doesn't mean
your weekend is over in a champ car race. "If I get an
opportunity with a team that can succeed and I'd spent 10
years in CART I'll be fine with that. I've got a racing life
here in powerful cars that compete on the world map." But
Manning would not rule out a switch to F1 should he impress
team bosses with his performances in Champ Cars which features
a mixture of road courses and street races as well as oval
tracks. "For me to be competing in Champ Car, hopefully
winning some races for Derrick (Walker) and myself, you never
know, in a couple of years' time, I might be in Formula One,"
added Manning.
2/19/03
Greg Ray to form new IRL team Former
IRL champion Greg Ray of Plano will be the co-owner and driver
for a new team called Access Motorsports, which will be
headquartered in Indianapolis. The team will use Honda engines
and the Panoz G Force chassis. The IRL season begins March 2
with the Toyota Indy 300 at Miami, but the first race for
Access Racing probably will be the second IRL event of the
year at Phoenix on March 23. "Doing this gives me more control
over my own destiny," Ray said. "This is a big step forward
for me and for my future. Being a team owner is stepping over
the edge a little with more risks, but it also has more
rewards. "We've put together a solid group of people."
Dallas Morning News
2/19/03
Begley's determination won over
CART
This St. Petersburg Times
article says, Tom Begley just wouldn't let go.
Indifference, rejections, debt, none of it mattered -- only
that, as far as he was concerned, St. Petersburg was going to
have a world-class grand prix along its travel-poster
waterfront. "I'm pretty pig-headed and stubborn," he said.
"I'm Irish and I'm determined." After a 12-year quest, the
Grand Prix of St. Petersburg is approaching the starting line.
In 1991, Begley bought for less than $50,000 the assets of a
waterfront grand prix that had gone bankrupt the year before.
Part of the problem was that there was another car race, the
Tampa World Challenge, at the Florida State Fairgrounds. The
area couldn't support both. Begley began working to revive the
race and, in 1996, staged a Trans-Am race around Tropicana
Field, then called the ThunderDome. The group backing it lost
more than $500,000. The 1997 race broke even, Begley ended up
owing the city $40,522, the race's title sponsor withdrew and
that ended its brief run. Begley turned his attention to Chris
Pook, then president of the Long Beach Grand Prix. Pook
ignored Begley. "It's very difficult rebirthing a race," Pook
said recently, reflecting on his thoughts nearly two years
ago. A turning point came in 2001, when Championship Auto
Racing Teams dropped its Homestead-Miami Speedway race. There
would be no open-wheel presence in the southeastern United
States. CART began examining Boston, Philadelphia, Phoenix,
Denver and San Francisco as potential street-race cities.
"None of them was St. Petersburg-Tampa," Begley said. "I sent
the demographic information about our market to Chris. I still
have the letter, June 30 (2001), to me from Chris. He said
he'd talked to his associates in Troy, Mich., CART's
headquarters then, and Dover, Del. (where the company that now
owns the Long Beach race is based). He said, 'We're not
interested in your market.' I thought, 'That's crazy.' "
Begley called people he knew who knew Pook and asked them to
intercede on his behalf. In August 2001, Pook agreed to visit
St. Petersburg.
More.....
2/19/03
Special Brazilian seating at
Homestead Brazilians are encouraged to
celebrate Carnaval at Homestead-Miami Speedway's CARNAVAL
BRAZIL reserved special seating section at the Toyota Indy
300, February 28 through March 2. In the section, Brazilians
will be able to cheer together for the Brazilian IRL IndyCar
Series drivers competing in the season-opener of the 2003
IndyCar Series. "Section 220 of the main grandstand across pit
lane is now reserved for CARNAVAL BRAZIL," announced Curtis
Gray, President of Homestead-Miami Speedway. "We encourage all
Brazilian racing fans to sit in the CARNAVAL BRAZIL section
and cheer for their favorite drivers, who will be racing at
speeds faster than 200 miles per hour at the Toyota Indy 300."
2/19/03
Correction on Doran-Lista and
Grand-Am Last week we published a hot news item
that indicated the Doran team (run by Kevin Doran) was going
to run in ALMS this year and would forego participation in the
Grand-Am series. As it turns out Doran will run both the
ALMS and the Grand-Am series. In fact, Doran Enterprises
is the designer and builder of the new Doran JE-4 Daytona
Prototype Grand-Am car, which will be sold to customers.
You can learn more about the team at
www.doranracing.com.
You can also find information about the Daytona Prototypes
class at
www.grandamerican.com.
2/19/03
Lazier re-signs with Menard Coming
back from a major back injury last April, Jaques Lazier will
return to the seat of the Johns Manville Menards
Dallara/Chevrolet/Firestone car for the 2003 IRL IndyCar
Series, Team Menard owner John Menard announced today. "It
required a lot of perseverance and determination for Jaques to
get back to where he is today," Menard said. "As a driver and
an athlete he is stronger than ever. All of us at Team Menard
are pleased to have him back in the car for the 2003 season."
Lazier, of Alta Loma, Calif., first joined Team Menard in 2001
winning his first career IndyCar Series victory at Chicagoland
Speedway. He was gearing up for a successful season in 2002,
finishing second at California Speedway, before he was
sidelined because of a back injury caused by a multi-car
accident at Nazareth. "When I originally signed as a driver
for Team Menard, I told John all I wanted was a home," Lazier
said. "I have found that, and I am thrilled to be back as a
driver for Team Menard. "It has been a difficult road to
recovery with a good five months of rehabilitation but now I
feel better than I did before the crash. We had a lot of
momentum before my accident last year. I believe we can
continue to improve and reach that promised land again this
season." Vitor Meira, a native of Brasilia, Brazil, drove the
final four races of the 2002 season for Team Menard. As a
rookie driver, he was impressive, winning the pole position
and finishing third at Texas Motor Speedway. Meira will
continue as a test driver for both Team Menard and Red Bull
Cheever Racing. He will work closely with the teams' new
research and development partnership, Menard Cheever
Technologies.
2/19/03 Industry News
SPEED TV to present DOTY Award
In 2003, SPEED Channel will be the official presenter of the
Driver of the Year (DOTY), supporting the prestigious award
with multiple in-program mentions and announcements of
quarterly winners. In addition, SPEED Channel’s Internet Web
site -- SPEEDTV.com -- will host online fan voting for the
award. “This is such a natural fit,” said SPEED Channel
President Jim Liberatore. “With SPEED Channel establishing
itself as the premier motor sports network in North America,
partnering with the Driver of the Year award was a real easy
decision. SPEED looks forward to honoring a tradition that has
such a rich history in racing.” The DOTY, an annual award
given to the top driver in a North American racing series,
enters its 37th year in 2003 with a list of winners that makes
up a virtual Who’s Who of motor sports. The first award, given
in 1967, went to Mario Andretti. Andretti received a bronze
trophy and a check for $7,500, edging out Bruce McLaren, A.J.
Foyt and Richard Petty. Selected by a media panel, the Driver
of the Year vote is based on a 25-point system. Each panelist
selects a top-six from the nominees, and points are awarded to
the drivers as follows: nine points for first, six for second,
four for third, three for fourth, two for fifth and one for
sixth. In addition to the annual award, drivers also are
recognized quarterly for their performances throughout the
season. The media panel added two new members in 2003 – SPEED
Channel’s Bob Varsha and Jim Pedley from the Kansas City Star.
The other members include:
• Chris Economaki, Editor &
Publisher Emeritus, NSSN
• Dr. Dick Berggren, Fox Sports
• Eli Gold, TNN/MRN
• Bob Jenkins, motor sports broadcaster
• Steve Ballard, Indianapolis Star
• Lewis Franck, Reuters
• Mike Harris, AP
• Mark Armijo, The Arizona Republic
• Shav Glick, LA Times
• Gary Long, Miami Herald
• John Sturbin, Ft. Worth Star-Telegram
• Mike Vega, Boston Globe
• Steve Waid, Winston Cup Scene/Illustrated
• Dave Woolford, Toledo Blade
• Chris Jenkins, USA Today
In addition to the 18-member media panel, a single ballot with
the top-six vote getters from the fan voting site also is
included in the final tabulation. In 2002, a tie-breaker was
needed for the first time in the award’s history, as CART
champion Cristiano da Matta topped 2002 NASCAR Winston Cup
Series champion Tony Stewart. NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon is the
DOTY’s only four-time winner, with Darrell Waltrip and
Andretti each winning three times. Further information on the
DOTY award can be obtained from Barry Schmoyer at the DRIVER
OF THE YEAR Foundation, P.O. Box 49827, Sarasota, FL 34230 or
(941) 953-6209
2/19/03
Sebastien Bourdais speaks
In this F1-Live article,
Sebastien Bourdais talks about landing his CART ride and his
early days of testing and settling down in the USA.
Bourdais will be writing a regular column for F1-Live.
2/19/03
Mosley willing to compromise on
engine rules As expected, Max Mosley has said there
is room for compromise on the FIA’s radical new engine rules.
The regulation is scheduled to be extended for 2006, where
teams will be required to use one engine for six races, and
this everyone expects to be a negotiating position. Many team
bosses and engine chiefs have criticized the rule change,
claiming that it goes against the spirit of Formula 1 with
Renault and Ferrari being particularly critical. Mosley says a
compromise is always possible but this depends on the major
manufacturers supplying the smaller teams with cheap engines.
"A compromise is always possible if the major constructors are
prepared to supply the small teams with engines," he told AFP.
"The major constructors need us and we need them but we need
to open talks and so far the the only one to respond has been
Patrick Faure (Renault)." At last month’s Renault F1 launch
Faure threatened to withdraw if the new engine regulations
were introduced. "The plan for an engine for six races is the
end of Formula 1," he said. "We will not stay in the
championship with these kind of rules, clearly, none of us."
We here at AR1 feel the FIA will compromise to something
around a required 2 or 3 race weekend engine, assuming they
can police it. It will be interesting to see if CART
takes up Ford's proposal to keep the current spec turbo engine
through the 2005 season (1 year longer than contracted) so
that in 2006, when the F1 engines are far less expensive, a
common platform can be adopted with F1. A common engine
between the two series makes a lot of sense, however, it will
take Bernie Ecclestone to make it happen because we know that
CART has developed specifications for its V-10 without
consulting with the FIA. One would hope the rules makers
from both sides will sit down and see if a compromise
agreement can be reached on a common V-10. By doing
that, both CART and the FIA will bring more value to the
engine manufacturers and it's quite likely we would see even
more manufacturers jump in. If Bernie Ecclestone is indeed
buying into CART as the rumors suggest, one would think it
would be in his best interest to make both CART and F1
healthy, and in step with one another. CART will be the
best training ground for F1 if the cars are similar in size
and make the same HP. The only difference need be the
weight of a Champ Car - it should be heavier and use steel
disk brakes so F1 cars are faster. Bernie will certainly
want F1 positioned just above CART. Mark C.
2/19/03
Troubles for Target? [Editor's
Note: The Target retailer in Australia is not affiliated to
Target Corporation in the USA. They only happen to share the
same name as Target Corporation doesn't own the trademark
rights in Australia.] Another
retail giant, Target, is in trouble, at least in Australia
they are. Target of Australia is run separately from the
USA operations, but the USA has seen a drop in profits as
well. Kmart has left racing because of its
financial woes, let's hope it does not spill over to the USA. This article
says -- Ten years
ago, Target was the star performer in the Coles Myer stable.
At the height of the 1990-91 recession, shoppers were flocking
to the discount department store chain, drawn by its low
prices, good-quality products and clear positioning as a
retailer of value-for-money goods. The 1990-91 year was a hard
one for Coles Myer, but Target shone: sales of $1.26 billion,
earnings before interest and tax (Ebit) of $103.8 million, and
an operating profit margin of 8.2% - the highest in the Coles
Myer group. The retail industry is now in another recession,
but shoppers are no longer flocking to Target. Many are
avoiding it, complaining that it has become too expensive,
that it no longer offers value for money, and that its stores
are cluttered and poorly laid out. The former star of
Australian retailing has fallen - hard. In the six months to
January 31 this year, the sales of the 113-store (Australia) Target chain
fell 2.3% to $1.3 billion. Ebit crashed 85%, to $9.3 million,
giving Target a profit margin of 0.7%. On July 19, Coles Myer
confirmed what rival retailers had been predicting for months:
Target will lose money for the 12 months to July 31 this year.
The fall of Target is a classic example of how not to manage a
brand and how to mismanage a retail business. It is also a sad
comment on the performance of Coles Myer's directors and
senior executives in recent years. Ten years ago, Target was a
focused retailer churning out a steady stream of cash for
Coles Myer. Today, it is a shambles, dragging down its parent
company. More...
2/19/03
Greg Ray to BGN Former
IRL driver Greg Ray, once called the Tiger Woods of Auto
Racing by Jack Arute, is trying to finalize a deal to
run several Busch series races this season as a teammate to
Matt Kenseth at Reiser Enterprises. Robbie Reiser, the crew
chief for the Winston Cup car Kenseth's drives, owns a Busch
team and wants Ray to drive a second Busch car for them if the
sponsorship can be worked out. "We should know something on
that by March 1," Ray said. "If we can finalize things, my
first Busch race will be March 29 at Texas Motor Speedway."
Dallas Morning News
2/19/03
Coulthard not happy with way
FIA implemented new rules According to David
Coulthard although FIA proposed changes will hopefully improve
the spectacle, the way in which the FIA is going about it is
wrong. Not only does the Scotsman feel that there have been
too many regulation changes, but he also believes that Mosley
has not clarified the rules enough, leading to confusion. "The
way in which the rule changes came in is embarrassing. To have
so much confusion put out in such a way and to have so many
changes was not good. We do not know where we stand and I
can't start focusing until I know what the rules are,"
Coulthard told The Independent.
2/19/03
Button says Jacques does not
speak to him
Despite Villeneuve’s constant comments about Jensen Button,
Jenson him self has been unmoved by the French Canadian’s
banter as he tries to settle into his new surroundings. After
talking to Button regarding the situation last week, Richards
said there was not an issue between the team mates and the so
called ‘fight’ was all one sided. “I think if it’s managed
properly it can be regarded as healthy competition,” Richards
told an Australian media conference. “I was with Jenson the
last couple of days in Spain, where he has been testing and we
discussed it. It’s mostly come from Jacques’ side, and Jacques
is renowned for his forthright views and speaks his mind about
things. I asked Jenson how he was getting on, and anything
between him and Jacques that I needed to be involved in, and
he said: ‘No, not an issue, really. Jacques just doesn’t speak
to me.’” Asked to explain the situation further Richards said:
“I think what Jenson meant by that is they are not sort of
talking in a social sense and sort of spending their lives in
each other’s pockets. Certainly when they sit down on the
track they talk about the car and the development. “It always
takes time for these relationships to build up as well and to
build respect and to understand how the other person works as
well, so I don’t think of that as a problem at all. And we
have seen teams built around great relationships that sort of
work very well, and we have seen other equally successful
teams built with a bit of friction, and I have no issue in
managing either of those. Certainly one will be easier than
the other, but if there is to be a little bit of friction in
the team then I will manage that process.”
2/19/03
Champion Audi team testing at
Moroso J J
Lehto and Emanuele Pirro join Team ADT Champion Racing regular
Stefan Johansson in shakedown runs at the Moroso track in
Florida this week.
2/19/03
More detail on Daytona 500 TV ratings Sunday's
rain-shortened running of the 45th Daytona 500 still captured 29.4
million viewers, the event's fifth-biggest audience ever, according to
Nielsen Media Research. Despite televising approximately two-hours and
ten minutes of race coverage during a four-hour and 38-minute
broadcast, the Daytona 500 on FOX scored an impressive 9.8/21
preliminary national household rating/share, and ties the 1987 race as
the fourth highest-rated Daytona 500 ever. At any given time, the 2003
race averaged 16.8 million viewers, the third highest in history.
Initial viewership for the 2003 Daytona 500 actually out-paced last
year's record-setting start on NBC by 4% until the first rain delay
occurred at 2:13 PM ET (9.7 vs. 9.3). Uninterrupted and in the midst
of that network's coverage of the Olympic Winter Games, the 2002 race
scored a 10.9/26, with 35 million total viewers, both records for the
Daytona 500. "Given the fact that we had just over two hours of live
racing and never got the huge bump that is normal at the end of an
uninterrupted race, to have this be among the most-watched Daytona
500s ever is remarkable, " said FOX Sports president Ed Goren.
"Between this and the great ratings we had earlier in Speed Weeks,
NASCAR continues to amaze." The Daytona 500's showing comes after FOX
posted strong ratings for its first two broadcasts this season.
Saturday's (2/15) running of the NASCAR Busch Series Koolerz 300 on
FOX scored a 3.6/8 household overnight rating/share, the race's
highest overnight mark since 1998, and 24% better than FOX's last
presentation in 2001 (2.9/7). Conservatively, the national rating for
the Koolerz 300, unavailable until Friday, should exceed last year's
race by 50%, and is likely to be the most-watched NASCAR Busch Series
race from Daytona ever. The 2003 NASCAR on FOX season began on Sat.,
Feb 8 with the first-ever prime time presentation of the Budweiser
Shootout. The event posted a 5.5/10 national rating/share, 62% higher
than a year ago (3.4/8 on TNT), and is now the most-watched Budweiser
Shootout ever with 9.5 million viewers. As unlikely as it would seem
given the lengthy rain delays, several markets actually posted
year-to-year increases compared to the 2002 Daytona 500 broadcast.
They are: Kansas City (14.2 vs. 9.8, +45%); Louisville (18.0 vs. 18.3,
+35%); Oklahoma City (10.4 vs. 8.2, +27%); Memphis (11.6 vs. 9.2,
+26%); St. Louis (14.3 vs. 11.6, +23%); Richmond (17.6 vs. 15.4,
+14%); Greensboro (26.3 vs. 23.5, +12%); Buffalo (11.2, vs. 10.3,
+9%); Washington, DC (11.2 vs. 10.3, +9%); Charlotte (22.2 vs. 20.5,
+8%); Austin (9.5 vs. 9.2, +3%); Minneapolis/St. Paul (9.5 vs. 9.4,
+1); and Phoenix (9.8 vs. 9.7, +1%). Even with Sunday's rain delays,
the Daytona 500 still posted the highest rating of any sporting event
since Super Bowl XXXVII, and easily beat events such as the NBA
All-Star Game and NFL Pro Bowl. The Daytona 500 also retains its title
as the top event in motorsports. Yesterday's 9.8/21 out-rates the last
10 Indianapolis 500s. One national ratings point represents 1% of the
106,700,000 million estimated television households in the United
States (1,067,000). FOX News Release
2/19/03
Dominguez looking for consistency
This El Norte article
features Mario Dominguez in Monterrey, Mexico yesterday promoting the
upcoming CART Champ Car race. Dominguez says he is looking for
consistent good finishes this year.
More on Yates and NASCAR's antiquated
engines A reader
writes, Dear AutoRacing1, I read the transcript
with Robert Yates and found it interesting. All I can say is about
time somebody in NASCAR woke up to overhead cam engines. Though I find
it interesting that Gary Nelson asked about the need for carburetors.
Has he never heard of spec ECU's? Also, all the praise that Yates
heaps on Ford's 4.6L engine reminds of an article in Road and Track
from about 10 years ago when the Romeo 4.6L (that's the engine's name)
made it's debut in the Lincoln MKVIII. The article, written by Dennis
Jenkinson, made note of the engine's structure, and that it reminded
him of one of Ford's CART or F-1 engines. He also noted that Cosworth
was instrumental in the development of the engine. I myself drive a
4.6L powered Mustang GT, and Yates has stumbled upon something we
Mustangers have known since 1996. The 4.6L Cobra (the 32V version) can
make serious high rpm horsepower...and stay together. Pick up any of
the enthusiasts magazines, and you'll pages of 4.6L powered STREET
Mustangs that make well over 500 horsepower. And then there are the
1000 hp drag race cars. Like I said before, Cosworth and Ford knew
what they were doing with this engine. Who knows...maybe those crazy
furriners have known what they've been doing all along. Regards,
Joe Angers, Boston, MA Dear Joe, We agree, especially with
this statement Yates made - "This is a 4.6, four-valve, and it
comes in several of your performance cars. The good thing about it is
it's designed around the engine that's in everything, so all of the
technology is there. It's a well-designed piece. We just made a few
alterations and had some fun with it. Right now, we're just cranking
these valves way down in the cylinder to get them out of the way of
the air-flow and that's hard. We've developed springs and made parts
that can do this, but I feel like we're just working on dinosaurs.
I just think we can accomplish the same thing with something that's
built by the manufacturer (ie the new engines). That's when the price
comes down. If you get these parts from the manufacturer and let those
be the parts we race, then our engines would be back in line. The way
it is right now, we spend a lot of money for nothing. Nobody reaps any
benefit from pouring cast-iron blocks and all this stuff. The cars
could actually be a little lighter and safer and just much more
modern." Mark C.
2/19/03 Industry News
Simple
Green signs on with TMS
Simple Green has signed a sponsorship deal with Texas Motor Speedway
to advertise on the large billboard behind the back straight
grandstands. It will be up all year. They are also doing a
huge promotion with O'Reilly Automotive chain wide incorporating this
sponsorship.
AutoRacing1 is an independent internet online publication and is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by CART Inc., NASCAR, FIA, FedEx, Winston, or any other series sponsor. This material may not be published, broadcast, or redistributed without permission. User agreement & disclaimer
Another
new sponsor for PK Racing
Another new sponsor for PK Racing is
City
of Canoas, Brazil to become the mecca of Fittipaldi fans
- PORTO ALEGRE, Brazil - A three-hour visit was enough to
convince racing legend Emerson Fittipaldi to choose the Museum
of the Automobile in Canoas, Brazil, to host the first public
display of his career's most important cars, photos and
trophies. The Museum belongs to the Lutheran University of
Brazil - ULBRA, one of the countries' largest universities,
and is considered Latin America's premier auto museum. It
currently displays over 256 historic vehicles from all over
the world. General Motors of Brazil recently transferred its
own factory museum from Sao Paulo to the Canoas facility. A
'78 Copersucar F1 car (from Fittipaldi's ill-fated
owner/driver period at the pinnacle of motorsport) and the
1989 Indy 500 pace car Pontiac Trans Am (the year of Emmo's
1st Indy victory), plus 156 trophies and many photographs have
already arrived. All items were previously stored in Emerson's
Araraquara, Sao Paulo farm and were not available for public
viewing. Soon to follow are Frank Williams's 1st F1 car,
originally steered in the '70s by Brazilian Jose Carlos Pace
(winner of the '75 Brazilian GP and a personal friend of
Fittipaldi, killed in a plane crash in '77) and two of Emmo's
Penske Champ Cars, currently stored in the United States.
ULBRA's museum already displayed the first race car Emerson
ever rode on, a Ford "Carretera" from the '50s that belonged
to racer José Asmuz. Young Emerson, at age 11, was taken by
his father Wilson (affectionately known as "The Baron"), then
Brazil's most famous racing radio broadcaster, to watch the "carreteras"
practice at Interlagos. The Baron eventually talked Asmuz into
giving his son a joyride, and the young Fittipaldi ran shotgun
a few hotlaps at Interlagos' historic, now-inactive
7km-circuit. Small detail: Emerson was sitting on the gas tank
throughout the whole ride, for there wasn't any other possible
place to tuck himself inside the old Ford. The Emerson
Fittipaldi Wing will occupy the whole 4th floor at ULBRA's
Museum of the Automobile, and is expected to be open for
visitors in the next few months. ULBRA is located only 10
miles away from Porto Alegre's Int'l Airport. Porto Alegre,
home to the globally famed World Social Forum, is Brazil's
southernmost capital, a 90-minute flight away from Sao Paulo.
By the way, entrance to the world-class Museum of the
Automobile since Jan 15 2003, the museum is charging a
symbolic R$ 5.00 (USD 2.00) ticket. Cássio Côrtes
Much
More...click on 2002 archives button below
