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.
ThinkFirst ALMS race at Road America
Road America has teamed up with the Neville Public Museum and St.
Vincent Hospital in Green Bay for the ThinkFirst Bicycle Grand Prix on
Wednesday, Aug. 20, with area youth participating. The ThinkFirst
Grand Prix will teach children basic bicycling skills and encourage
them to think first and prepare for activities with the proper safety
gear. An American Le Mans Series (ALMS) race car driver will
participate in the rodeo, which will be held from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at
the museum. The Green Bay Police department will assist in the
ThinkFirst Grand Prix. The ALMS series will be at Road America Aug.
21-24. ThinkFirst is the official charity for the American Le Mans
Series, one of the top professional racing series in the U.S. The
ThinkFirst Grand Prix will reinforce the importance of safety gear in
bicycling, focusing on helmet use to prevent brain injury. The event
will allow the youth a chance to practice their skills on a bicycle
rodeo course. St. Vincent ThinkFirst is in its seventh year in the
Greater Green Bay area. Last year the St. Vincent program reached over
6,000 students in the classroom with its “use your mind to protect
your body” injury prevention message. In addition, ThinkFirst is
involved in many community events.
8/13/03 Industry News
AJ Watson surgery We hear
famed car builder AJ Watson just went through a surgery by Dr. Terry
Trammel for a pinched nerve in his back and is recuperating at the
west side facility in Indy. From what we know, all is well.
8/13/03
Controversial
mother of FIA president Max Mosley dies
Diana Mosley, mother of FIA president Max Mosley, the widow of Sir
Oswald Mosley and one of the celebrated Mitford sisters, died on
Monday aged 93 at her flat in Paris, surrounded by friends and family,
a week after suffering a slight stroke. In a letter to a close friend
10 days ago, she said that despite her love of hot weather, she was
finding the heat wave in Paris a struggle. Diana Mosley, regarded as
the most beautiful of the daughters of Lord and Lady Redesdale, was
also the most controversial. She left her first husband, the brewing
heir Bryan Guinness, and embarked on an affair with Sir Oswald, the
leader of the British Union of Fascists. They were married in Joseph
Goebbels's drawing room in Berlin in 1936. Adolf Hitler gave them a
silver-framed photograph of himself as a wedding present. Their high
regard for the Nazis before war broke out damned the Mosleys forever
in the eyes of the British public. Soon after the war they moved to a
house outside Paris and remained in France for the rest of their
lives, befriending, among others, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor.
Lady Mosley was frequently asked to recant her earlier beliefs but did
so in terms which rarely satisfied her critics. She remained a
vigorous defender of her husband and his views. Last year she posed
for Vogue magazine with some of her numerous grandchildren and
great-grandchildren. Of her five sisters and one brother, only her
youngest sister, the Duchess of Devonshire, survives.
8/13/03
Ford Racing tests 2004 Taurus
in wind tunnel (DEARBORN, Mich., Aug. 13,
2003) - The 2004 Ford Racing Taurus participated in a test
session at Atlanta Motor Speedway today, and when it was over,
Ford Racing officials were very happy. "It went
extremely well and pretty much according to plan," said Greg
Specht, Manager, North American Racing Operations, Ford Racing
Technology. "And we're very pleased that we got the track test
out of the way." The 2004 Ford Racing Taurus was built
by the Wood Brothers and was driven in the test by 1999 NASCAR
Winston Cup champion Dale Jarrett, who also was pleased by the
test. "Everything went well," said Jarrett. "The car
seems to be very well balanced. They did a really good job of
building the car. It looks really nice, the lines on it are
good, and it did things on the race track that we think will
help us to be more competitive even for next year."
Specht said today's test with the 2004 Taurus was truly a team
effort, involving Wood Brothers Racing, Robert Yates Racing
and Roush Racing. "I'd like to thank the Woods for
allowing Dale Jarrett in their car in place of Ricky Rudd, who
had a previous commitment and couldn't be here today," said
Specht. "This is a great sign of cooperation between our top
NASCAR teams. We had all three of our partners represented at
the test here today: Dale, being the driver from Robert Yates
Racing; obviously, the Wood Brothers built and brought the car
here; and, we got engineering support from Roush Racing. I
think that's important as well." Jarrett said the
2004 Ford Racing Taurus seemed to have improved downforce over
the current model. "I can see where the car has
potential when you get it in race trim," said Jarrett.
"Something the Fords fight, and that's a little more front
downforce, and it seems like this car may have that without
creating a lot of drag. And I think that's something that we
were interested in: Could we make something that was good for
us still on the straightaways, but get us through the corners
a little bit, too?" The on-track test consisted of a
series of multi-lap runs. "They wanted to run over 10
laps at a time, and so we went out and did that, and they were
looking at times," said Jarrett. "They had a certain time that
they wanted to see, and I didn't even know how many laps I was
going to be running, I just ran until they told me to come in,
that the NASCAR folks were satisfied that that's what they
were looking for." The 2004 Taurus was tested later in
the day with NASCAR at the wind tunnel at Lockheed in Marietta,
Ga.
8/13/03
CART stock watch In
NYSE trading today MPH closed UP $0.06 p/shr or 3.3% to $1.88
p/shr on Volume of 82,400 shares.
Low/High of Session: $1.74/$1.89
NYSE DOWN 38.3 or 0.41% on Volume of 1.48B shares.
NASDAQ DOWN 0.42 or 0.02%
S&P 500 DOWN 6.32 or 0.64%
courtesy of C3I.AndersonGroupe – Chicago www.andersongroupe.com
8/13/03
Mercedes to relocate engine
group
According to Autosport, Mercedes-Benz Motorsport plans to
house its F1 engine program under one roof at Ilmor
Engineering in Brixworth, UK, according to German media
reports. The current operation in Stuttgart is to be suspended
and the new structure will operate under the leadership of
Ilmor founder Mario Illien, MD Hans-Ullrich Maik, former BMW
F1 project leader Werner Laurenz and the current head of the
Stuttgart division, Hans-Peter Kollmeier.
8/13/03
CART could lose $17 million on
TV
This Long Beach Press Telegram
article says, When Grand Prix Association of Long
Beach founder Chris Pook took over as CART's president and CEO
in December of 2001, reporters asked if he would try to
pattern other events after the race he created. "You can't
have a Long Beach (Grand Prix) in Mid-Ohio,' Pook said at the
time, referring to the road course in Lexington, Ohio. But you
can replicate a Long Beach Grand Prix on street courses in
urban areas, and it appears CART will head further in that
direction for the 2004 season. As part of CART's
reorganization efforts detailed in its second quarter earnings
report released Tuesday, the open-wheel series will have a
pared down schedule running nearly exclusively on street
courses. "We are encouraged by the attendance and enthusiasm
of the crowds at our events as we continue to develop our
urban race strategy, but we still have much work to do to
bring back the corporate involvement to the levels of past
years,' Pook said in the statement. With every financial
release the company has put out over the past two years,
CART's future grows dimmer. But in this release, CART Chief
Financial Officer Tom Carter detailed some remedies including:
The Entrant Support Program (ESP), which has provided a
minimum of $1 million per car at the end of the season, will
remain but there will be no further support beyond the $1
million given. The ESP has helped keep many of CART's 19-car
field on the track this season. CART will no longer self-promote races. The series expects to lose between $10 and $11
million on six self-promoted races this season. An altered TV
package for 2004. The cost to televise races on CBS and Speed
Channel this year which include the purchasing of air time and
production expenses is expected to reach up to $17 million, a
far greater loss than CART had anticipated. Spike TV, formerly
known as TNN, and other basic cable outlets could be in the
mix. CBS will televise some next year, but it is unclear
whether Speed Channel will. Eight street circuits will be
scheduled for 2004, including the three races put on by the
Grand Prix Association: Long Beach, Denver and St. Petersburg,
Fla. There could be as few as 14 races, with CART's European
races (the EuroSpeedway in Germany and Brands Hatch, England)
off the schedule. Road America, Mid-Ohio and Fontana are
questionable for next year. The Milwaukee Mile could be the
series' lone oval. "People are beginning to realize that CART
needs to concentrate on the areas that generate revenue for
the series,' said Grand Prix Association President and CEO Jim
Michaelian, who is readying for the Grand Prix of Denver on
Aug. 31. "They need to find ways to cut down on costs and
concentrate on areas and venues that can get them a great deal
of exposure. That's what they are going to have to do to get
the sponsors back.' And the route CART seems to be going is in
the one Pook and Michaelian created here in the race known as
"The World's Fastest Beach Party.' The Saturday concert has
become a popular addition to the Long Beach weekend, with acts
like Third Eye Blind, the Goo Goo Dolls and the Gin Blossoms.
CART appears ready to copy that format on all of its street
courses in 2004. "That makes a lot of sense,' said Stefan
Johansson, who owns a two-car team. "Everything is right there
for a concert. You're in the middle of the city. It's a
brilliant idea.' CART is still up for sale, but it's unclear
when, or if, the series will be purchased. ESPN.com recently
reported Paul Gentilozzi, who fields a one-car team in CART
and heads the Trans Am Series, was mentioned to be part of a
group led by Team Players owner Gerry Forythe and Kevin
Kalkhoven, co-owner of PK Racing, that could purchase CART and
take the company private any day now. The Press-Telegram could
not reach Gentilozzi for comment and the Associated Press
reported Tuesday night that there was no "imminent buyout of
the beleaguered Champ Car series.' The next several weeks are
vital to CART's future since that's when teams are expected to
confirm if they will race in the series. "The clock is
ticking,' said Tom Anderson, co-owner of Fernandez Racing.
"Obviously, the news CART is releasing isn't positive. It's
very difficult to keep our sponsors enthused."
8/13/03 Open Wheel
Sprint car driver killed
A sprint car driver died Tuesday night during at race at the
Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa. Keith Hutton, 53, of
Knoxville, died when his car apparently struck the rear wheel
of the car in front of him, causing his car to hit a guardrail
and roll several times, racing officials said. The impact with
the guardrail sheered off a portion of the car¹s protective
cage, said Ralph Capitani, director of racing at the nearby
Knoxville Raceway, which is hosting this week the Knoxville
Nationals, sprint car racing¹s annual national competition.
Hutton was pronounced dead on arrival at Mahaska County
Hospital, said Bill McCroskey, a promoter of the Oskaloosa
race.
8/13/03
Demonstration planned for
Montreal race
A group of Montreal business people are planning a
demonstration Saturday in support of saving Montreal's grand
prix race which has been removed from the 2004 Formula One
calendar. The group is demanding that the federal government
relax tobacco advertising laws until 2006, like Europe.
Spokesperson, Alain Creton, is suggesting that Ottawa and
Quebec could relax tobacco advertising for six days over two
years and allow racing cars to carry the ads. The group
includes business people from the regions in Montreal that
benefit the most from tourism associated with the race:
Crescent St., Peel St, St. Laurent Blvd. and little Italy. The
protest will take place from 10 a.m. to noon, Saturday August
16 at the corner of Peel St. and Réné Levesque Blvd.
8/13/03
2004 Renault already in the
Wind Tunnel
Although there are still four races left to run this season,
and seven months to go before Melbourne 2004, the next Renault
Formula 1 car is already taking shape in the Enstone wind
tunnel. Renault F1 Team Technical Director Mike Gascoyne put a
radically new organization in place when he arrived at Enstone
in 2001. The aim was to maximize the length of time available
for designing a new car, and the design office is now reaping
the rewards: two technical teams work in parallel, and each
has twelve months to conceive a new car. "Tim Densham spent
2002 hard at work on the R23, which he has also developed this
season," explains Mike. "In parallel, Mark Smith began work on
R24, the design of which began last December. And then, while
Mark is developing the new car in 2004, Tim will begin the
process again with R25…" The new chassis, which incorporates
the change in engine architecture for next year, is already
being tested in the wind tunnel. A 50% scale model of the R24
has been on the rolling road for a number of weeks. "Strangely
enough, the model is actually painted green," explains Mike.
"The reasoning behind it is very simple: it doesn’t make it
any faster, but means we avoid any potential confusion with
models from previous years when it comes to keeping parts in
Stores." Furthermore, a dark color means shadows can be seen
better, allowing the team to spot quickly any possible
problems in the tunnel. It is still too early to go into
detail about the new car, but Mike is nonetheless confident.
"The R23 is already very aerodynamically efficient," added
Mike. "With the R24, we hope to make another step forward. The
data we have already collected is encouraging, and there are
still six months available to hone the project. We are pushing
ahead at full speed." Renault F1.
8/13/03
Why the USGP date was moved
This TAG Heuer
article says, After reports saying it was, then denials
from Ecclestone stating it wasn't, it certainly seems that the
Canadian Grand Prix will not take place in 2004. However,
there could be a last minute change such as the teams agreeing
to run 18 races or the Canadian legislation concerning tobacco
advertising is either cancelled or the teams agree to
run without Tobacco sponsorship. Looking back at the recent
announcement that the USGP was going to be changed from its
traditional September date on the calendar, it seems as if
Bernie Ecclestone certainly knew that the Gilles Villeneuve
circuit would not be taking place next season so therefore he
agreed to move the USGP to June. The original changing of
the Indianapolis date was justified in the reduction of travelling costs of trips for the F1 teams as just one trip to
America comprising both the American and Canadian events was
both logical and judicious and therefore gaining acceptance
from team bosses. However that logic has been blown out of the
water now with the news that Canada has been struck from the
agenda and worse still, to organize the USGP for June is not
really the best date for the American public, which is focused
on other sports at that time of the year. In terms of motor
racing, the USGP will take place shortly after the
Indianapolis 500 and it is not very likely that passionate
motorsport fans could afford a double visit to Indianapolis so
close together. Therefore, we are left wondering just why
things have unfolded the way they have. Surely things will
all become clear eventually.
8/13/03
CART team owners buying CART
A reader writes, Dear AutoRacing1.com, Whoever buys CART
should have NO ownership in any team involved in competing in
the series, plain and simple. I believe it is a conflict of
interest and those owners would basically run the gamut on the
teams that don't have ownership interest. Maybe, we'll all be
pleasantly surprised and the new owners of CART won't be
directly involved, like those mentioned on your site. Paul
Richards, Des Moines, IA Dear Paul, It appears team
owners will run the series, but it's going to be imperative
that the management and operations of CART be given free reign
to run the series without interference by the owners, who are
also team owners. The owners will probably sit on the
Board of Directors, and get involved with administration and
financial issues, but should be hands-off when it comes to
race operations, rules, and other competition related
decisions. If not, team owners who don't own the series,
or team owners coming into the series, will feel they can't
get a fair shake and leave or never enter CART. Mark
C.
8/13/03
Childress to do lap in #3
Car owner Richard Childress will drive the late Dale
Earnhardt's No. 3 Chevrolet in a pre-race ceremony at Lowe's
Motor Speedway. Childress unveiled the car he will drive
alongside Jeff Gordon during the parade laps before the Oct.
11 race at Lowe's. The promotion is part of NASCAR's "Victory
Lap" tribute to longtime series sponsor R.J. Reynolds'
contributions to the sport. RJR is ending its sponsorship at
the end of the year. "It will be emotional," said Childress,
who teamed with Earnhardt to win six of the drivers' seven
Winston Cup championships.
8/13/03
Canadian government gets
involved to save F1 race
This Canadian Press
article says, The federal government will join lobby
efforts to save the Canadian Grand Prix but won't repeal a law
banning tobacco advertising, Prime Minister Jean Chretien said
Tuesday. A federal representative will be appointed to a
Quebec-led committee planning to lobby Formula One teams and
officials to keep the lucrative motor race in Montreal. But
representative Marc Lafreniere, a deputy minister for the
Economic Development Agency of Canada, will not yield to
demands that Canada ease its anti-tobacco restrictions. "Like
the (Quebec) provincial government said, there is no question
of changing the law," Chretien said in Ottawa after a cabinet
meeting. "If a contractual arrangement can be reached, all the
better. "The law is the law. What do you want me to tell you?"
On Monday, the Quebec government announced plans to form a
committee with representatives from the federal and provincial
governments as well as Montreal's tourism bureau and chamber
of commerce to try to save the race, which brings thousands of
tourists and an estimated $80 million into Montreal each year.
The governments want Formula One to exempt it from a rule
requiring races to allow tobacco advertising. A similar
exemption has been given to the French and British events.
Both Ottawa and Quebec City, meanwhile, have refused to exempt
the race from a ban on tobacco sponsorships due to take effect
on Oct. 1. Formula One is expected to bring back the Belgian
Grand Prix in Montreal's place now that Brussels relaxed its
anti-tobacco laws. Ottawa will lobby Formula One officials to
add an 18th race to its calendar, meaning Belgium and Canada
could both be on the schedule. "If there's an 18th race it
will be Montreal," International Trade Minister Pierre
Pettigrew said. "We will do everything to save the Grand Prix
- but we will respect the Canadian tobacco law."
8/13/03 STRANA Trucks
New
Elan STRANA Super Trucks to debut Elan Motorsports
Technologies is set to unveil its biggest racing project yet
this weekend at the Toronto Grand Prix at Mosport - the latest
round of the 2003 American Le Mans Series. Designed and built
by EMT in Georgia, the first of the new STRANA Super Truck
racers had its initial shake-down at Road Atlanta last week
with STRANA Executive Director Brian Till, a former IndyCar
driver and Toyota Atlantic Champion behind the wheel. "It's a
giant, long-awaited step in the development of the Tonka Super
Truck Racing Series to have trucks on the track," Till said.
"Considering the ground we've covered in such a short amount
of time, it's pretty amazing. "Anytime you can take high-speed
laps in a 10,000-pound vehicle on a race track, it's pretty
cool." Three of the EMT built machines will take part in the
first demonstration event of the Tonka Super Truck Series this
weekend at Mosport with a fourth truck also taking part the
following weekend at Road America. "This is an extremely
important project for Elan
Motorsports
Technologies because it highlights the diversity of our
motorsport engineering skills and capabilities," EMT Chief
Executive Officer, David Bowes. "We have worked hand in hand
with STRANA to design and build the trucks to provide a safe
and fast race vehicle that is kept within a reasonable budget.
"American race fans are going to be in for a real treat with
this championship - the action is going to be very
spectacular." The debut of the new STRANA Super Truck racer
marks another significant milestone for Elan Motorsports
Technologies for 2003. The Panoz G Force IRL IndyCar Series
chassis built by EMT won this year's Indianapolis 500 with Gil
de Ferran and construction is about to commence on the new
Star Mazda racer - the first carbon fiber chassis to be
introduced into that series.
8/13/03
Fan sentenced An
angry NASCAR fan who flooded Fox Entertainment with e-mails
after a Boston Red Sox game pre-empted an auto race has been
sentenced to six months of home detention. The fan paid
$36,000 in restitution before his sentencing and also will
have to pay a $2,000 fine. He pleaded guilty in May to a
federal misdemeanor charge of damage to a protected computer
system. He admitted he wrote a computer program that fired off
more than a half-million e-mail messages to WFXT-TV 25 in
Boston after a Red Sox game was aired instead of a NASCAR race
in 2001. The e-mail messages were automatically forwarded to
Fox-25's Los Angeles parent company, Fox Entertainment. The
network, thinking it was a hacker attack, shut down Internet
communications with the affiliate and was forced to spend
about $36,000 to clean up the site.
Sporting News
8/13/03
Ford troubles could affect F1
Ford Europe has reported that its President Martin Leach is
leaving the company following recent reports of major losses -
estimated at $525m for the three months ending in June - he
will be replaced in the short term by David Thursfield,
executive vice president of Ford. In a statement issued last
night, Thursfield said: "Martin contributed to our growth in
Europe under challenging conditions," said Thursfield in a
statement. "As we move forward, we will build upon that
foundation. The Ford of Europe team remains committed to
improving our financial results and to delivering outstanding
products." Leach was responsible for the Jordan-Ford deal and
it remains to be seen whether his departure - or indeed Ford's
financial crisis - will have an effect on the partnership.
Suffice it to say that some pundits are predicting Ford will
eventually file for bankruptcy.
8/13/03
CART could have a buyer
This Toronto Star
article says, CART could have new owners as early as
today. [AR1 has already reported it won't be today.] According
to reports, Gerry Forsythe, Paul Gentilozzi, Kevin Kalkhoven
and Paul Newman have banded together to purchase the
financially-troubled, publicly-owned racing series and return
it to private ownership. All four are owners or part-owners of
current teams in the series. The series has been up for sale
since it hired New York-based investment banking firm, Bear
Stearns & Co., in June to find ways of attracting more
financing or alternative strategies (read, sell) to lift the
series out of its financial quagmire. "I understand there's
going to be an announcement (today) regarding some sort of
restructuring," said a source familiar with the CART scene.
CART vice president of communications, Adam Saal, said he has
not been told of any impending announcement. If an
announcement was coming from a new ownership group, though, it
would not necessarily involve CART personnel.
8/13/03
Watkins Glen ratings up Sunday's
coverage of the Winston Cup race from Watkins Glen on NBC turned in a
solid overnights of a 5.0 rating and 12 share, according to Nielsen
Media Research, as reported in Sports Business Daily. It was easily
the #1 rated sports broadcast for the weekend. This is up 6% from last
year's 4.7 overnight. The 2001 race also had a 4.7 overnight. Last
year's contest had a solid small market bump to finish at 5.3. How big
has the NASCAR TV monster become? The pre-race show was the #2 rated
sports broadcast with overnights of a 2.9 rating and 7 share. In third
place was final round coverage of golf's The International.
MotorsportsTV.com
8/13/03 F-3000
F3000 to add pitstops The
last two F3000 races of this year will feature pitstops. Look
for them to be mandatory at every race starting in 2004
8/13/03
Put away those stupid 'Road to Indy' hats
We don't know if seeing the Midwest short trackers wearing their Road
to Indy hats is comical or sad. As this RPM.ESPN.com article
points out, there are no opportunities for American short trackers in
the IRL, as its brightest star, JJ Yelly, heads south to NASCAR
following those before him. Driving a front-engine car fast on
dirt or pavement gives a driver zero experience needed for CART or the
IRL. CART was always criticized for not hiring a lot more
American drivers, yet if the IRL does it the critics are silent.
They should hand out "Not the Road to Indy" hats to those short
trackers, because clearly, the Road to Indy (where the only successful
drivers are road racers) is through the superior CART ladder system.
-- J.J. Yeley -- leading all three of the United States Auto
Club's highly-competitive open-wheel divisions and is trying
to duplicate Tony Stewart's triple crown of 1995, recently
broke a USAC record set by A.J. Foyt in 1961. His work ethic
is right out of Foyt's era as he takes care of his sprint car
and knows as much about a chassis and engine as any mechanic.
At 26, he's very clever, handsome, articulate and marketable.
Yeley is the ideal American oval-track racer and the perfect
peg for the puzzle that has become Tony George's Indy Racing
League, which was supposedly formed to restore deserving USAC
drivers to Indy-car prominence. A series now dominated by road
racers, foreign drivers and Japanese engines is crying out for
a Heartland Hero from Indy's grass roots heritage like Yeley.
But, unless one of the IRL's owners suddenly wises up and
notices this kid's pedigree, he's headed south to join Jeff
Gordon, Ryan Newman, Jason Leffler and Stewart. Yeley will be
yet another USAC star swallowed up by NASCAR's vortex because
nobody in the all-oval IRL is paying attention. "I haven't
heard from anyone in the IRL all year but several NASCAR teams
have called me," said Yeley, who qualified for the 1998
Indianapolis 500 at age 21 but has only been employed to drive
the IRL's two-seater around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway
since that May. "There's nothing I can do about who's
interested and who isn't. I don't have anyone chasing me in
the IRL right now and that's fine by me. I've got some things
happening in NASCARland and you know that's where the racers
are going right now. There's nothing available in the IRL for
us USAC guys. Our future is in NASCAR."
Fran-Am V6 coming to North America in
2004 [Editor's Note:
At 50% of the cost, and a car with far greater performance in all
aspects (handling, HP, braking, etc), it's everything the Toyota
Atlantic Series should be but isn't.] FRAN AM Sport today
announced the introduction of the FRAN AM V6 Formula to the North
America racing scene. This ultra-modern, high performance open wheel
car becomes the highest level of development racing in the FRAN AM
Sport family and indeed in the North American market. "I am very proud
to make this announcement and bring this new series to North America
for the 2004 season," stated Thierry Burckhart, President and CEO of
FRAN AM Sport. "This car and this series respond to the needs and
requests of teams, drivers and event organizers by providing high
horsepower, high tech, big event and reasonable cost racing to North
America." The FRAN AM V6 is a cousin of the Formula Renault V6 which
debuted this year in the Eurocup series. The FRAN AM V6 will share
technical specs with the Eurocup car creating a stable world class.
The car is evolving and when the North American series begins in April
2004
the car will be even more developed than that which now competes in
Europe. Technical specs include a 3.5 liter engine creating 415 HP, 6
speed semi automatic sequential gearbox controlled by steering wheel
paddles, carbon fiber tub meeting F3000 safety standards, an advanced
aero package, Michelin tires, Magneti Marelli electronics, Magneti
Marelli Data Acquisition and Brembo brakes. The car has proven itself
in Europe this year but will pack more power and more advances for its
North American debut with a dramatically improved engine sound similar
to F1. "The FRAN AM Sport concept of high tech formula cars has proven
itself in North America, growing in just one year to fields of over 30
cars in the FRAN AM 2000 series," continued Burckhart. "I expect a
similar reaction and response from pro teams for the V6 program, some
Teams have already ordered the FRAN AM V6. These two series complement
each other so well for FRAN AM Sport Teams and the V6 completes the
FRAN AM Sport ladder of development. Our V6 series retains standing
starts and some events will introduce tire changing pit stops to
further the training of teams and drivers. We provide the best, most
modern, and now most powerful group of cars which will take a young
driver from karting to FRAN AM 1600, FRAN AM 2000, and now FRAN AM V6,
before we graduate our drivers to the highest levels of racing." The
FRAN AM Sport formula for cost containment is evident in the V6
program. The initial cost for a car, including engine, data
acquisition, wheels and tires, ready for the track, and including
shipping and taxes, is an astounding $165,000. Season long budgets are
estimated in the range of $550,000-$650,000 US, a fraction of
competing formulas. Remaining consistent with European rules, engine
will run the full season without rebuild, testing will be restricted,
locked ECU after events and testing, as well as other limitations to
reduce costs and equalize opportunities. The 2004 FRAN AM V6 season
will begin in April and consist of 13 races on 12 weekends and will
operate in conjunction with the established FRAN AM 2000 series. The
specific schedule including prize fund will be announced in September.
The 2003 schedule includes CART, Grand-Am Rolex and other prominent
events and the 2004 schedule is expected to be even stronger with TV
coverage and with major events in Canada, the United States and
Mexico. "I want to join in this announcement and add my enthusiasm,"
stated FRAN AM Sport COO Arden Weatherford. "We are in position to
deliver cars in November of this year and look forward to full fields
for the coming season with a superb car, fully developed and
compatible with our European cousin series." Further information is
available at www.fran-am.com or
by reaching FRAN AM Sport at (970) 920 7650 or Paul Grosjean (paul@fran-am.com)
at (503) 760-0817.
8/12/03
Carl Russo bio Carl
Russo is rumored to be one of the buyers of CART and a
full-time Champ Car owner in 2004. Here is a bio
on him.
8/12/03
CART stock watch (final)
NYSE trading today MPH closed DOWN $0.35 p/shr or 16.1% on
Volume of 152,300 shares.
Profit taking, helped presumably by last night's release of
CART’s Q2 financials, began pushing the share price down right
from the open.
Low/High of Session: $1.81/$2.15
NYSE UP 92.71 or 1.01% on Volume of 1.38B shares.
NASDAQ UP 25.5 or 1.53%
S&P 500 UP 9.76 or 1.0%
courtesy of C3I.AndersonGroupe – Chicago www.andersongroupe.com
8/12/03
CART announces 2004 Toyota
Atlantic cost reductions
In an effort to maintain a high level of competition while
reducing teams' operating costs, CART Toyota Atlantic
Championship officials today announced plans to implement
several new regulations that will take effect for the 2004
racing season in the areas of testing and technical
specifications. Within the next month, the series will
identify off-season testing rules for teams in the series, and
will limit the number of days that teams will be allowed to
test during the off-season. This will be the first time that
off-season testing will be limited by the series. Once the
2004 season schedule is available, the series will announce
in-season testing rules, and by limiting in-season and
off-season testing, teams should realize a significant savings
to their operating budgets. On the technical side, the series
is moving forward with plans for a single engine builder for
the 2004 season. This will provide an opportunity to prepare
all engines with an eye toward equality and prevent changes in
configuration during the season. The CART Toyota Atlantic
Championship and Toyota Racing Development (TRD) will also
look to reduce costs by working with the engine builder to
improve mileage between engine rebuilds. Likewise, the series
is investigating the possibility of using specified components
such as shocks and limited slip differentials. Announcements
identifying the single engine builder and specified component
providers will be made after agreements are finalized. In
addition to lowering costs for the teams, another goal of the
new regulations is to maintain parity on the racetrack. "One
of the biggest challenges every racing team faces -- no matter
what series they choose to compete in -- is putting together a
proper budget to compete in a season," said CART Toyota
Atlantic Championship President Vicki O'Connor. "While racing
is inherently expensive, we have listened to our teams in
their requests for assistance in reducing their budgets, and
these new regulations are a direct response to their concerns.
We feel that these regulations will provide balance to our
fields and make it significantly easier for all teams to
compete on relatively equal footing in 2004 and beyond."
8/12/03
The new CART This
Autoweek
article pretty much says the same thing as the Robin
Miller article, and it agrees with what we hear too.
However, look for Motorock to do more than just concerts.
They will be involved with an entire lifestyle/image change.
8/12/03
CART stock watchUPDATE The profit taking
continues as MPH retraces yesterday’s solid gain to find
itself DOWN $0.29 p/shr or 13.4% to $1.88 p/shr on Volume of
117,800 as of 12:18PM EDST. 8/12/03 - Profit
taking on the open has taken back $0.21 p/shr and pushed MPH
down to $1.96 on Volume of 29,700 shares as of 9:49AM EDST.
Courtesy of C3I.AndersonGroupe – Chicago www.andersongroupe.com
8/12/03
CART's top 10 A
reader writes, Dear AutoRacing1.com, Your website is the best
racing news source I have ever subscribed to, hands down.
Since you seem to be in tune with CART, what is your top 10
to-do items for the new CART administration? Dave
Lepore, Boston, MA. Dear Dave, you asked, here it is,
in no particular order:
1. Badge existing 2.65
L Turbo Cosworth engine with up to five manufacturers forever.
Without more car manufacturers with deep pockets immediately,
CART won't survive.
2. Implement standing starts
at St. Pete, Cleveland and Portland - all with wide start
straights
3. Implement the
push-to-pass button - the parades must stop
4. Implement single-car,
single-lap qualifying - will help to mix up the starting grid,
and create more passing in the race
5. Restructure CART such
that the team owners have zero say with respect to technical
and competition issues. The owners should only concern
themselves with the commercial viability of the series -
management, administration, finance, marketing, promotion and
sales.
6. Get some of the wealthy
team owners to take a financial position in Road America and
Mid-Ohio to bring those tracks up to current standards -
Jumbotron's, proper garages with corporate suites, widening,
etc.
7. Implement a soft rain
tire and a harder intermediate rain tire - CART must be able
to race in the rain
8. Eliminate at least 50% of
the full-course cautions. They are far too long and too
numerous. Whatever happened to the local yellow?
9. Fix the rolling starts.
If the drivers can't line up in perfect formation, those out
of line should be black flagged after the start for a stop and
go penalty. Once a driver is penalized for being out of
line, they will quickly learn to do it right. The ladder
series drivers can drive in the rain and line up properly on
the starts, yet the so-called superior Champ Car drivers
can't?
10. Aim for 75% of the races to be
on network TV in 2005.
8/12/03
Hardcore fans will probably
keep CART at Mid-Ohio There is
still hope that CART and Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course can reach some
kind of agreement for 2004 and beyond. A lot of the optimism is based
in fact, some on conjecture, but the feeling coming out of this past
weekend is much better than it was going in when neither side was
talking to the other about the future. CART and its drivers laid the
saving of future races at the feet of the fans. If the fans want it,
they'll show up. CART doesn't care if 2,700 signed a trackside
petition, the only numbers they wanted to count were butts through the
gate. Saturday's crowd was okay, but nothing special. Mid-Ohio
officials wondered if this was the year the Honda Super Cycle Weekend
would overtake the venerable open-wheel race that dates back to 1980.
Based on early ticket sales it certainly seemed that way, as the
Superbikes reportedly did something like 2-to-1 in presales compared
to CART. Sunday morning gave a glimmer of hope when the weather was
absolutely perfect for a summer day. As the race neared its 2 p.m.
start, it was obvious the public responded to its call. The Esses was
full. The paddock was busy. The area outside the track along Thunder
Valley and the Carousel had more than a few people sitting on the
hillsides. While they never release attendance figures, it was one of
the best walkup crowds in Mid-Ohio history. As we said, these
road courses attract CART's hardest core fans, unlike street races
which attract fans of the "event." CART would be wise to not
turn its back on Mid-Ohio and Road America, and to help rebuild them.
Portions provides by Mansfield News Journal
8/12/03 Formula Ford 2000
Is this American destined for Champ
Cars? Here is an update on a very talented young American
racer on the rise ... Jonathan Bomarito, one of the original 5 CART
Stars of Tomorrow who tested the Champ Car for Team Rahal in 2000,
along with AJ Allmendinger, current points leader in the Toyota
Atlantic Championship ... For those teams who are lamenting that they
missed on AJ, Jonathan is clearly that caliber, a rare combination of
talent and speed, not to mention a very well liked and respected
driver out of the race car as well ... At 20 years old from Monterey,
California, as a rookie, Bomarito has gone on a tear in this season's
F2000 Zetec Championship ... Along with the East Series Championship
wins, the most recent being this past weekend where he doubled up at
Mid Ohio with the added pressure of all the Atlantic and Champ Car
teams in attendance, he also doubled with two wins at Phoenix in the
West Coast opener against Westley Barber, last year's dominant British
F2000 Zetec Series Champion and this season's USF2000 Zetec points
leader together with the rest of the formidable and more experienced
Cape Motorsports team ... Right now, each driver has three wins on the
season, five for Bomarito if you count the Phoenix event ... However,
as the Zetec series allows each driver to "throw out" two races,
Barber gets to throw out a 23rd while Jonathan is forced to throw out
his worst finish of the year, a 7th ... after that, each driver is
throwing away a top five finish! This certainly points to a very
interesting Championship showdown at Road Atlanta in October when the
Zetec Series completes it Championship with the final two rounds
during the Petit Le Mans weekend. Whatever the outcome, it is apparent
Jonathan Bomarito, much like AJ Allmendinger this season, will be the
one to tab as the next young American to make the jump to Atlantics in
winning style. Mark C.
8/12/03 Industry News
China gets into the car craze
So you think mainland China is populated by peasant farmers and straw
huts? While that may be partially true in the suburbs, but the
big cities, are quite different. The number of vehicles on
Beijing's roads has reached two million, meaning there is one
car-owner for every four residents in the capital. The statistic from
the Beijing traffic authorities has been met with mixed feelings in
the city. While some see it as a sign of progress and modernization,
activists are worried about the impact on the environment, pollution
and worsening traffic congestion. The Beijing Evening Post said it was
a sign that Beijing had "entered a genuinely motorized society". Of
the number of vehicles in the capital, 1.28 million, or 64 per cent,
are privately owned, with 800,000 of them saloon cars, the newspaper
reported. "There is one driver for every four residents [in Beijing],"
the paper said. "This is a meaningful milestone in the capital's
transport development." The number of vehicles in Beijing rose from
2,300 in 1949 to a million in 1997. But in the past six years, the
number has doubled - to eight times the total of 1986. Last year,
there was an increase of 276,000 vehicles from the previous year,
while there were 190,000 more vehicles on the city's roads in the
first seven months of this year, a monthly increase of 27,000, the
newspaper said. The situation in Beijing is a reflection of the
nation's trend: the number of private cars on the mainland rose 26 per
cent last year to 9.69 million. Still a small percentage for a country
of 1.6 billion people, but you can understand why car manufactures are
scrambling to get into the market. The future potential is
enormous.
8/12/03
Reader pans Chris PookUPDATE Another reader responds,
Dear AR1, I for one, think Chris Pook has done an exemplary job as
CEO of CART and wholeheartedly disagree with your other reader. Mr.
Pook is the reason that this series is still around, and the reason it
has a fighting chance of being here next year and the year after.
Sure, he's made some bad moves, but he's human - he's entitled to a
few of them. Your reader needs to get his facts straight. Toyota had
pretty much made up their mind to leave for the IRL before CP came
into the picture. The Players/Paul Tracy story was blown out of
proportion, and your reader talks as if landing Bernie Ecclestone as
CART's savior was some small feat. I think that the vast majority of
the CART community is proud of the job that Mr. Pook has done, and I,
for one, would like to thank him for his efforts. A fan, Dennis
Szot - Dallas, TX.8/12/03 - A
reader writes, Dear AR1, I just read the 2nd quarter financial statement
put out by CART. Based on the financial performance by CART this
year, I think it's safe to say that Chris Pook may be one the worse
managers of all time. He's bleeding the company to death, has
not signed up even one new major sponsor, hasn't signed even one new
manufacturer, spent all that money to support teams and didn't insist
they run more American drivers, every race his management team
co-promoted lost a lot of money, he's pissed off Player's, Paul Tracy,
Toyota, some of the team owners, and he couldn't land Bernie
Ecclestone to buy into CART. He's unequivocally a complete and
utter failure and should be run out of racing forever for destroying
the series I love. Paul Lashinsky, Brooklyn, NY
Dear Paul, Tell us how you really feel. Mark C.
IRL TV ratings continue to tank
Last year the IRL Gateway race pulled a final 0.75 rating on cable
(ESPN). This year the overnight rating on network TV (ABC) was a
0.8. The final rating, as always, is expected to be lower.
Historically CART and IRL network TV ratings are significantly above
their cable TV ratings. With the possibility that the final
Gateway rating on ABC may come in lower than last year's cable TV
rating, the IRL front office, and all the big name sponsors, drivers
and teams, must be scratching their head on where they went wrong.
We can answer that. By creating the IRL, and splitting the sport
of Indy Car racing in two (instead of funding 8 Americans in CART each
year for
25% of what he spent on the IRL, at a time when CART was at its peak
in 1995 and getting NASCAR-like TV ratings. Imagine how big Indy
Car racing would be now.) Tony George has succeeded in severely
damaging open wheel racing, allowing NASCAR to become essentially a
monopoly in the USA. Stick a fork in Indy Car racing. It's done.
Mark C.
IRL TV Ratings Trend
2002:
Homestead (ABC) 1.5
Phoenix (ABC) 1.2
California (ESPN) 0.5
Nazareth (ABC) 1.3
Indy (ABC) 4.8
Texas (ESPN) 0.6
Pike's Peak (ABC) 1.0
Richmond (ESPN) 0.6
Kansas (ABC) 1.3
Nashville (ESPN2) 0.5
Michigan (ABC) 1.2
Kentucky (ABC) 0.9
Gateway (ESPN) 0.8
Chicagoland (ABC) 1.1
Texas (ABC) 0.9
Gateway (ESPN) 0.75 2003:
Homestead (ABC) 1.8 (Up 20%)
Phoenix (ABC) 0.9 (Down 25%)
Japan (ABC) 0.9 (First Time Event, but down from a 1.0 for CART on ABC
in 2001)
Indy (ABC) 4.6 (Down 4.1%)
Texas (ESPN) 0.4 (Down 33%)
Pike's Peak (ABC) 0.7 (Down 30%)
Richmond (ESPN) 0.48 (Down 20%)
Kansas (ABC) 1.2 (Down 7.7%)
Nashville (ESPN2) 0.3 (Down 40%)
Michigan (ABC) 1.0 (Down 16.7%)
Gateway (ABC) TBD (Down TBD%)
TBD = Final rating to be determined
8/11/03
Montreal radio station interviews
Bernie Ecclestone
Go to this site.
It is a Montreal radio station. Listen a few seconds and the recording
will turn to English. The guy doing the interview is a sly fox,
he even got the Queen of England on the phone in the past - this time
he plays Canada's Prime Minister Jean Chretien - you will hear Bernie
Ecclestone talking to him and thinking he is actually talking to the
Prime Minister. Tobacco is the problem with the Canadian GP - period.
Bernie is trying to turn the screws tight. Could this be the first
time Bernie was ever duped? Mark C.
8/11/03
Paul Newman finishes 8th
CART team owner and movie legend Paul
Newman competed in yesterday's Grand-Am race at Watkins Glen.
The 78 year old competed for charity as a guest of Gunnar
Racing and finished eighth.
8/11/03
CART stock watch
In NYSE trading today MPH closed
UP $0.41 p/shr or 23.3% breaking back through $2.00 on the way
to closing at $2.17 p/shr on Volume of 194,900 shares. Strong
buying developed in the last 45 minutes of the session pushing
MPH to a high for the session of $2.28 p/shr.
High/Low of Session: $1.78/$2.28 $1.55 Bid/$2.55 Asked on the
close.
NYSE UP 26.26 or 0.29% on the lightest daily volume of the
year, 1.23B shares.
NASDAQ UP 17.48 or 1.06%
S&P 500 UP 3.00 or 0.31%
courtesy of C3I.AndersonGroupe – Chicago www.andersongroupe.com
8/11/03
Bill France speaks on TV and
night racing Bill France gave an extensive
interview in USA Today, and said on a TV-related
topic: "Everybody talks about TV ratings, and that's
important, but what's more important to me is how many people
are watching in the household. How many eyeballs have we got
watching the events? ... One of our commissioners years ago
was (GM design chief) Harley Earl. He mentioned to my father
years ago that he needed to put in foundations for triple
decking (at the race tracks), because one of these days you're
going to have that kind of audience. Now, we've got about 19
of the top 20 (live gate) sporting events in the United
States. And I'm not talking about the infield crowd. This is
just reserved seating, and not counting the suites and all of
that. The Indianapolis 500 is in there with us. They're
probably the leader, No. 1. Daytona has over 160,000 seats,
Talladega has 130,000-some. When you look at all other sports
events, with the exception of a few soccer games down in South
America, we're sitting there at the top of the mountain. We
just don't want to get shoved off." Also, on the subject of
night racing: "It's kind of up to the broadcasters to decide
what they want to do. .. I'm okay with it, but we need to
balance it out with the live audience. They've got to go home.
If it's a Sunday night, they've got to get up and go to work
the next morning. If they're driving from 300 miles away and
they get home at 4 in the morning and have to go to work at 7,
that's a hardship on the live gate."
8/11/03
Mari Hulman George surveys
Champ Car action
While waiting for the final round of qualifying on Saturday by
the Goodyear tower we observed Tony George's Mom, Mari Hulman
George observing the Champ Car action. She stood there for
about 10 or 15 minutes watching the cars go out on to the
track and then she was looking around at all the people that
were there to watch. We only saw one person go up to her
to have a picture taken with them. We know she was there to
watch her grandson Kyle Krisiloff in the Atlantics, but
one has to wonder what she was thinking as she was standing
there taking it all in? Was she learning in preparation
for the IRL going road racing, or someday even racing at
Mid-Ohio, or was she just killing time?
8/11/03
Gateway pit lane too narrow
Will Gateway lose its IRL race too? That's the rumor.
With regard to this weekend's pit lane accident at Gateway,
the Autoweek
article says, IRL chief steward Brian Barnhart
said future tracks must have wider pit roads. Gateway’s pit
road is only about 36 feet wide, the narrowest on the IRL
schedule. Indy’s pit road came under fire for being only a
touch over 50 feet, about the same configuration as when the
track debuted with the first 500 in 1911. Gateway held its
first race in 1997. IRL driver Vitor Meira said Gateway’s pit
road barely has room to put three cars side by side. Tomas
Scheckter called it “a mess” when 21 cars all try to pit at
the same time. “One of the guys brakes in front of you and so
you brake, too,” he said. “It all happens so fast. People get
nose to tail, and the people in the back aren’t ready for it.
It’s hard to see.”
8/11/03
Drivers at odds with NASCAR
over safety team Mike Helton, president of NASCAR,
commented over the weekend with respect to NASCAR not having a
traveling safety team. Helton implied the NASCAR system works
as is, with the track owners taking the full responsibility
for the first response safety teams. The response of the
NASCAR drivers interviewed for the same segment all implied
there was a need for a full time traveling safety team such as
CART uses.
8/11/03
Miami GP Americas race news46 DAYS TO GO! The Grand Prix Americas presented
by Sportsbook.com is only 46 days away! This year’s race
promises to be as exciting as ever as the Toyota Atlantics,
the Bridgestone presents the Champ Car World Series powered by
Ford and the American Le Mans Series bring together a perfect
trifecta of auto racing. The cars will be zooming down the
streets of Biscayne Boulevard and Bayfront Park at speeds of
almost 180MPH. This year’s events will also include a FanFest
at Bayside Marketplace, the Magic in Miami Charity Ball, and
the Coconut Grove Street Festival. You can buy your tickets
online at www.miamirace.com
or by calling 305-373-3333. All tickets are good for 3 days!
You Can Bet It’s Going to be a Great Event!
Sportsbook.com has signed on to be the presenting sponsor for
the Grand Prix Americas. This sponsorship marks the rare
partnership of an on-line gaming company with a major
motor-racing event. “Sportsbook.com is excited to begin
a long term relationship with CART and the Grand Prix
Americas,” said Jeff Gilroy, spokesperson, Sportsbook.com.
“This is a key element of our auto racing program and I
believe you will see more pro sports leagues and organizations
working with Sportsbook.com in the near future.”
Sportsbook.com, a progressive online gaming company, was
founded in 1997 from a base in the Caribbean and has since
grown to become the industry leader. Sportsbook.com, now based
in London, is publicly traded as part of the Sportingbet
PLC Group, the largest online gaming company in the world. For
more information on Sportsbook.com visit
www.sportsbook.com. The Club presented by THE COLLECTION THE
COLLECTION, South Florida’s foremost luxury automotive
dealership, has signed on as presenting sponsor of The Club,
announced Chuck M. Martinez, president and general manager,
Grand Prix Americas presented by Sportsbook.com. The Club will
now be known as The Club presented by THE COLLECTION. Join the
distinguished list of corporations that entertain clients,
associates and guests at their private reserved tables.
Located trackside, The Club presented by THE COLLECTION offers
the most luxurious way to view the race in the ultimate Miami
style.
M E M B E R B E N E F I T S I N C L U D E:
• Admission to the Grand Prix Americas
• Access to The Club, track and paddock areas
• Sumptuous breakfast and luncheon buffets
• Premium open-bar
• Private parking
• Extra-comfortable, reserved grandstand, chair seating
• Closed-circuit television
• Free Cigar Bar
For membership information call 305.533.1033 or email at
info@miamirace.com or
click on the following link:
http://www.miamirace.com/HTML/Hospitality/Club/index.phpMiss Grand Prix Americas Hits Ft. Lauderdale The second heat of the Miss Grand Prix Americas hits Ft.
Lauderdale this Wednesday, August 13th from 10PM to midnight
at Café Iguana Pines, as some of South Florida’s most
beautiful models compete to advance to the finals of the Miss
Grand Prix Americas Pageant for a chance to win top prizes
including a trip for two on Spirit Airlines via Spirit Plus, a
stay at any InterContinental Hotel in the US, Coach Bags,
courtesy of Bloomingdale’s and more. Café Iguana Pines is
located at 8358 Pines Boulevard. Exit Hollywood Blvd on either
I-95 or the Turnpike and head west. For more info click on the
following link:
http://www.miamirace.com/HTML/EventInfo/MissGPA/index.php
8/11/03
More on F1 Montreal story
A reader writes, Dear AR1, I live in Montreal where there has
been much talk obviously about the Grand Prix's future. Over
the weekend, it essentially came to a showdown between Legault
saying he'd gotten a letter saying we're off the 2004 calendar
and Ecclestone saying that he has no idea where Legault got
that idea -- the schedule hasn't been finalized. I guess
Legault doesn't like to have his integrity called into
question because he gave Montreal's La Press newspaper the
letter he received from FOM. Here, the Montreal Gazette
reports in English on the matter. Basically: A letter
written on behalf of F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone says Montreal
has been dropped for the time being from the 2004 race
schedule, Montreal La Presse reported Monday. The letter was
written by F1's legal department for Ecclestone and is dated
June 12. A photocopy of the letter was reprinted by the
newspaper. The letter says, "We write to advise you that the
Canadian Grand Prix will not be included on the 2004 FIA
Formula One World Championships calendar pending the outcome
of various issues. In the event that the Canadian Grand Prix
is not included in the calendar for next year the provisions
of clause 26.2 of the promoters agreement will apply.'' The
two-paragraph letter does not elaborate. Normand Legault,
Canada's Grand Prix promoter, has said he received a letter
from Ecclestone but wouldn't release its contents for legal
and contractual agreements. Jonathan Carroll, Montreal,
Canada
8/11/03
Ryan Hunter-Reay proves himself
This Mansfield News Journal
article talks about how Ryan Hunter-Reay proved he
belongs in Champ Cars this weekend.
Keep your eye on Marco Andretti
AR1 was at the Mid-Ohio track late Saturday evening finishing up the
days reports. We had the time to talk with Matt Cleary of the
Barber Dodge Series. We asked him how 16-year old Marco Andretti
was doing in the regional Barber Dodge Series. He told us Marco
appears to be the real deal. Not only is he winning races, but
when they purposely start him in the back, he comes right up through
the field to win. At the end of the race weekends they usually
have a half-distance race where even the instructors participate.
He beats them too. The cars in that series are strictly "spec"
and the driver can't even make setup adjustments. They try to
take the equipment out of the equation and focus on driver ability.
So far the young Andretti is coming up all aces. Don't be
surprised if he moves up to the Barber Dodge Pro Series next year.
Most recently Marco Andretti seized the spotlight at last weekend’s
race in Mont Tremblant, Canada. With father, Michael, there to
witness, the youngest Andretti driver performed impressively around
the 2.47 mile track – again and again. The showdown was between Marco
and a skilled Mexican driver, Salvador Duran. The two went
head-to-head throughout the weekend and the competition was tight.
Andretti started the race weekend from the back in 14th position due
to an off road excursion during qualifying. But the race, itself, was
a different story. Andretti battled his way through 12 other cars to
the front of the pack and finished the day in 2nd place, just behind
Salvador Duran. Despite Duran’s win, Marco set the fastest lap of the
race - .004 of a second over Duran. The second day of racing was even
better than the first. From the stands, Marco appeared to have the
confidence of a seasoned driver, not a sixteen-year-old boy. He
started on the outside of row 1. Contending for the lead, Marco made
numerous passing attempts on Duran. At last, with the right
opportunity, Marco moved up to the front and charged ahead. With
incredible speed, Marco finished the race with an 8 second victory.
Jeff Andretti (Marco’s coach): “Overall performance for Marco this
weekend was very impressive. Marco faced adversity and showed maturity
in intimidating his competition and flat-out smoked them!”
Mark C.
8/10/03
CART officials are not out to get Tracy
This Arizona Republic
article talks about Paul Tracy and the fact that it may
appear CART is playing hardball with him, in fact they are just
enforcing the rules.
8/10/03
Rahal has high hopes for CART's future
In this AP
article, Bobby Rahal says, "At this point, we're going ahead
as though CART will continue next year," he said Saturday at the
Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. "I'd say the chances are 50-50 that the
series will be back, based on what I know. I know that's a little
nebulous, but I'm not on the inside anymore." CART announced last
month that it won't be able to run a full season in 2004 unless it
raises more money. There has been speculation that the publicly owned
company will be sold and taken private, by either a group of team
owners from within the series or Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone.
Rahal said he has no plans to join any potential investment group. I
already gave, obviously in my personal time and with the racing team,"
he said. Rahal was acting president of CART from mid-June to early
December in 2000 and helped stabilize the series during turmoil after
Andrew Craig's resignation from the top job. "What's going on
currently in CART is a reflection on the economy as much as anything,"
he said. "This series is hurting no more than others in that respect.
It's tough for anyone in auto racing to find sponsors right now."
8/10/03
IRL medical update
Anton Julian, left-rear tire changer for Al Unser Jr.’s No. 31 Corteco
Dallara/Toyota/Firestone, is in fair condition after a pit-road
accident on Lap 40 of the 200-lap Emerson Indy 250 at Gateway
International Raceway. Julian, from Auckland, New
Zealand, was transferred by air to St. Louis University Hospital.
According Dr. Henry Bock, medical services director for the Indy
Racing League, Julian has a concussion, a right-knee injury and will
be admitted overnight for further evaluation.
8/10/03
CART needs to go one more step for the
Reynards Now that American Spirit Team Johansson has
shown that the Reynards can be more competitive with the Reynske front
wings, it's time for CART to take the next step and allow the Reynske
underbody as well. While they were competitive this weekend at
Mid-Ohio, the underbody is still needed because the car is much more
sensitive to chassis setup and on most weekends, they still are not
fast enough to race for the lead. Meanwhile, the Lolas, with
their higher underbody downforce, are right at the front every
weekend. IRL officials are smart enough to allow Chevy to do an
entire engine change mid-season to make the Chevy teams competitive,
and were able to keep Honda and Toyota quiet about it (both would have
complained vehemently if that was allowed by CART when they were in
the series. Look at the stink that was made when CART tried to
fix the pop-off valve fiasco...yet now both manufacturers are biting
their tongue in the IRL). CART must allow the Reynard teams to
use the Reynske underbodies. And if the Lola teams complain,
they should tell them to shut up (yes, we said shut up) and race, just
as Toyota and Honda are doing in the IRL. For teams to land
sponsorship they must be competitive week in and week out! Lola
teams say they paid more so they should be faster. BS.
Once the Reynard teams finish buying all the Reynske pieces, they will
have paid as much as the Lola teams. This is the problem with
CART, the team owners are running the asylum. When are they
going to learn that they must give up all control of the rules to the
competition team? Mark C.
8/10/03
Forsythe: Canada will lose CART
race too2nd UPDATE
Another reader writes, First off, thanks to AutoRacing1.com -
by far the most informative racing site on the web! What
do you think of Mr. Forsythe's strong words after Team
Player's Mid-Ohio first and second place finishes? I know
you've mentioned that it doesn't look like Mr. Ecclestone will
be involved in a potential CART privatization, but is this a
sign that the two series (F1 and CART) could potentially work
together in some sort of formal or informal partnership to
help each other with regard to certain important issues down
the road (engine suppliers, driver development or other
important matters)? Maybe I'm reading too much into this but I
was very surprised with what I heard - Canadian voters ousting
anti-tobacco politicians and the like and CART race(s) to
disappear from Canada. Maybe Elkhart Lake could absorb the
passionate, intelligent and rather numerous Canadian fans when
the Great White North races go bye-bye. What do you think -
Are F1 and CART working together to strong-arm the
anti-tobacco countries that host races? It seemed to work (at
least temporarily) in Belgium. Or is this more of a ploy aimed
specifically at Canadian officials to allow Players to
continue auto racing sponsorship for another couple years.
Take care, "Name Withheld" please, Newport Beach, CA
Dear No Name, Yes, it appears CART and F1 are working
together, at least unofficially. However, CART is not in a
strong enough position to cancel one of its successful
Canadian races, especially since the IRL would be more than
willing to take it over. Mark C. 8/10/03
- A reader writes, Dear AR1, After hearing Forsythe's post
race tirade, it will be good to know that the more things
change, the more they stay the same. So we will have a bunch
of egomaniac team owners running a private shop rather than
egomaniac team owners running a public shop. I believe
he is targeting the Montreal race specifically because a) The
organizers of the Montreal Champ Car race have been far from
supportive in the last weeks with leaks to the media that they
felt the series was no help and was done for, b) he and
Legault rub each other the wrong way and he blames him for
Bernie's backing out of the CART deal (Legault was reported as
having advised FOM to keep out of the deal in Hockenheim last
week....ironic considering he got in the rear from Bernie a
few days later) and c) he wants to hurt the Canadian
government for pulling the plug on his sponsorship by pulling
the plug on one of the 3 lucrative Canadian races. So who
loses again in all this politicking? The fans of course. The
irony of it all being that when the CART contract is
renegotiated for any of the Canadian races, no Canadian,
American or foreign cigarette companies will be in the series
anyhow. That is unless Penske and his Marlboro money come
running back, which we all know won't happen. James
Dahan, Canada8/10/03 - CART team owner
Gerald Forsythe and soon to be one of the series owners, said
today at Mid-Ohio after the Players drivers finished 1-2 that
they once again represented the country of Canada well and
that Player's will no longer be able to sponsor the team after
October 1st due to Canadian tobacco laws. Forsythe also
said, "Restrictions on tobacco advertising in Canada which take
effect Oct. 1 mean Player's no longer can sponsor the team. Forsythe
says it will go out of existence as a result. "I can't wait for the
next election so the politicians can be voted out," he said. "Player's
has represented Canada extremely well for many years and it's
unfortunate they can no longer sponsor a race team. Canada lost their F1 race this past week because of
their tobacco laws and I can guarantee you that when it comes
time to renegotiate their CART contract they will lose that
race too if they don't change the laws." He didn't
specify if he meant just the Montreal race or all three CART
Canadian races. Mark C.
8/10/03
Valiante wins in Mid-Ohio
A bump between Michael Valiante (#19 Lynx Racing) and points
leader A.J. Allmendinger (#4 RuSPORT) on the first green flag
lap left Allmendinger out of the race, but Valiante was able
to continue and went on to lead the remainder of the race en
route to his second win of the season and the fifth win of his
Toyota Atlantic career in the Champ Car Grand Prix of
Mid-Ohio. After a yellow start due to improper field
alignment, the field took the green flag on Lap 2 and
Allmendinger, who started from the pole, led cleanly into the
first turn. Meanwhile, Valiante got the jump on third place
starter Ryan Dalziel (#28 Pro-Works/Discovery Lake/Daily
Record) and outside polesitter Aaron Justus (#3 RuSPORT) to
move into second in the first turn and closed in on
Allmendinger heading into the second turn. Valiante moved to
the inside of Allmendinger in the turn and his right front
wing and tire made contact with the left rear of
Allmendinger's car, sending the RuSPORT machine off course and
into the tire barrier. Valiante was able to continue in the
lead despite the contact, but Allmendinger's car was
terminally damaged and he was out of the race almost as soon
as it began. Allmendinger was not injured in the incident.
1. (4) Michael Valiante, Toyota/Swift, 30.
2. (3) Ryan Dalziel, Toyota/Swift, 30.
3. (2) Aaron Justus, Toyota/Swift, 30.
4. (7) Joey Hand, Toyota/Swift, 30.
5. (5) Jonathan Macri, Toyota/Swift, 30.
6. (6) Bryan Sellers, Toyota/Swift, 30.
7. (8) Luis Diaz, Toyota/Swift, 30.
8. (9) Alex Figge, Toyota/Swift, 30.
9. (10) Kyle Krisiloff, Toyota/Swift, 30.
10. (11) Danica Patrick, Toyota/Swift, 30.
11. (13) Alex Garcia, Toyota/Swift, 30.
12. (14) Marc Breuers, Toyota/Swift, 30.
13. (15) Eric Jensen, Toyota/Swift, 30.
14. (16) Philip Fayer, Toyota/Swift, 29.
15. (17) Dan Selznick, Toyota/Swift, 23.
16. (12) Stephan C. Roy, Toyota/Swift, 15, mechanical.
17. (1) A.J. Allmendinger, Toyota/Swift, 1, contact.
Time of Race: 41:50.941.
Average Speed: 95.734 mph.
Margin of victory: 0.672 seconds.
Lap leaders: Allmendinger, 1; Valiante, 2-30.
Caution Flags: two for four laps.
Championship standings: 1. Allmendinger, 150; 2. Dalziel, 130;
3. Macri, 114; 4. Valiante, 111; 5. Justus, 97; 6. Hand, 80;
7. Patrick, 73; 8. Figge, 69; 9. Diaz, 68; 10. Krisiloff, 57.
8/10/03
Hunter-Reay shows the way This Mansfield news Journal article
says, Ryan Hunter-Reay is the poster boy for CART's ladder
program. Starting out in karts, he moved on to the Skip Barber
programs before landing in Toyota Atlantics last year. Today
he is at the pinnacle of open-wheel racing in America,
garnering a spot in the Champ Car World Series. "It's been
faster than I anticipated, but I think that's what has helped
me grow, not waiting too long," the 22-year-old Texan said.
"It gets too stale if you wait too long, then you don't learn
fast enough. "It's been real rapid. Two years ago, I was (at
Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course) in the Barber Dodge Pro Series and
now in Champ Car, so that's as quick as it goes." Hunter-Reay
began as a 15-year-old champ, winning eight categories and
three Gold Cup titles in the WKA National karting
championships. The following year, he won WKA's Competitor of
the Year Award. From there, he moved on to the Skip Barber
program, winning one of four scholarships offered. By 1999 he
was a genuine prospect, winning Barber's Big Scholarship after
earning the Formula Dodge National Championship. He also
co-drove a Ferrari with road racing vet Boris Said in a
six-hour endurance race in Florida. In 2000, Hunter-Reay used
the scholarship to win the Barber Dodge Pro Series Rookie of
the Year trophy and finished fifth in points. The next year,
he won two Barber Dodge races with three more podiums to
finish fifth. It was good enough to move up to Triple-A
racing, the Toyota Atlantic Championship. "Going from Barber
Dodge to Atlantics was good because the Barber Dodge cars
don't handle as well as the Atlantics, so it was like swinging
two bats before going into a baseball game," he said. He
adapted quickly, winning on an oval (Chicago), road course
(Laguna Seca) and temporary track (Cleveland). He led a
series-high 160 laps and finished sixth in the title hunt.
While each rung had its learning curve, it was nothing like
stepping into a high-powered Champ Car the first time. "No
traction control (and) 800 horsepower on city streets with no
rubber on them doesn't get much tougher," he said. He joined
former CART champ Jimmy Vasser in the lineup for startup
American Spirit Team Johansson. The team formed late, so
Hunter-Reay didn't get a lot of laps in before it was time to
go racing. "It's been tough, but it's been a great learning
experience," he said. "That makes you tougher and it makes you
a better competitor when you're forced into a difficult
situation." At times he's struggled to keep up. During one
four-race stretch, he qualified no better than 15th, and
through the first eight races, he only cracked the top 10
finishers once. "I've never experienced going through the
hardships of a new team," he said. At other times he's looked
racy. He battled all night to finish ninth at Cleveland. He
was seventh in Long Beach, and at Vancouver had his best
showing yet with a sixth-place finish. "It's inconsistent
because we're still growing. Some weekends you just tell
yourself to drive within the capabilities of the car and not
push too hard," he said. As he's proven, Hunter-Reay is a fast
learner, which means soon he'll be a fast racer.
8/10/03
Mario learned a lot form LeMans This Mansfield news Journal article
says, Mario Andretti wasn't always America's greatest auto
racer. Like anyone else, he had to learn his craft from
someone, someplace. The person was the late Bruce McLaren. The
place was Le Mans, France, in the mid-'60s. "I remember the
technique I needed to learn was not high-speed corners. It was
hairpins," Andretti said. By following McLaren around, he
picked up some tricks. By speaking with him, he learned even
more. "He was always quickest in the slowest corner. I learned
a lot from him and we became good friends," Andretti said. "I
would ask him the pertinent questions and he would always be
honest with me which is very different. (He) was a prince of a
guy." If not for the Ford GT and its endurance road racing
program back then, who knows what would have came of
Andretti's career. He got all the seat time he wanted testing
the cars for Ford. "We were doing simulated 24-hour runs and a
lot of drivers would say they would do a couple of hours. I
said I would be there for the duration. I wanted to do all the
tests," he said. "That program was a godsend because I wanted
to do Formula One in the worst way and where else could I have
gotten seat time." Champ Car was just starting to go road
racing in the mid- to late-'60s, but the cars were bulky and
not very conducive to the constant turning and shifting needed
in navigating the roads. "I needed to get in a proper road
racing car," he said. In 1966, he was part of the Ford GT team
that finished 1-2-3 at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Fast forward
37 years and Andretti found himself in the driver's seat of
the new Ford GT which is due out in 2005 as a high-end
production car. Before taking it out as the pace car for the
Cleveland Grand Prix, Andretti marveled at how advanced the
originals were. Incredibly, a lot of the cutting edge
technology of the mid-'60s is still relevant today. "I love
the pace car program," he said. "They really let me just let
hair down and ring the hell out of the car," the now
63-year-old icon said with a laugh. "I tell them I'll buy the
tires. I get them free from Firestone."
More...
8/10/03
Ladder to what? This Mansfield news Journal article
talks about how good American drivers are being passed up for
rides to foreign drivers who bring money. Hasn't racing
always been that way? It's an expensive sport.
8/10/03
Michelle Trueman interview This Mansfield news Journal article
says, Michelle Trueman Gajoch has been around auto racing all
her life. As the daughter of Red Roof Inns founder Jim
Trueman, it was hard to avoid since he raced sports cars,
owned teams, promoted events and bought Mid-Ohio Sports Car
Course. When he died of cancer in 1986, her mother Barbara and
herself took over the TrueSports empire. Since the
fall of 1995, Trueman Gajoch has served as president,
overseeing the day-to-day operations of the world-renowned
permanent road course. In her time she has started the
Mid-Ohio School, secured the Valvoline Runoffs, established
the two motorcycles events as the best of their kind in the
country and has continued to host the Champ Car World Series
for more than 20 years. In a rare interview in mid-July,
Trueman Gajoch spoke on a variety of topics concerning
Mid-Ohio and open-wheel racing. On CART's
place in the Mid-Ohio business model: "We're
always looking down the road and hopefully weighing and having
a clear vision of the ups and downs of each series we work
with. Hopefully we create a balance that doesn't leave us in a
situation where one series leaving here is catastrophic. Yes,
in the case of an event the size of the CART race, it
certainly makes you sit back and re-evaluate the things you
might be doing." On what happens to Mid-Ohio if
CART leaves: "As a business, it's not going to
be damaging at all. Financially, it will not be damaging to us
at all. Where the public is concerned, that's going to be our
biggest challenge, making people understand that perhaps it's
not our decision." On how business is for
Mid-Ohio overall: "We do so many things here
that support our bottom line every day between the school and
the track rentals and the club events. People get very myopic
when they look at these race tracks. They think if one event
goes away, it's one-sixth of our business, and it's certainly
not. We braced when the economy started to change and Sept.
11th occurred. We really expected to see those club events and
track rentals and the school suffer because you're looking at
the weekend warrior types and teams cutting back on testing.
We've seen just the opposite. I can't explain it. We're fully
booked and already people are lined up to book dates for next
year. We've got new customers wanting in. The number of
participants in club events and regional and national events
that go on here have not declined." On CART CEO Chris
Pook: "Chris gets a lot of credit for
understanding (the plight of the promoters) right out of the
box. That's really important. I think he underestimated taking
the job. As we all hoped naively, we were continuing to
underestimate the task at hand, the magnitude of the changes
that probably needed to take place, and the challenges they
were facing. Under Chris Pook's leadership a lot of business
models, the relationships with the teams and the sanctioning
body and the tracks and the sanctioning body changed
dramatically from an equitability standpoint. Those were all
great changes, but I don't know if it has proven to be as
productive as CART wanted it to be as far as rebuilding."
On the future of road courses in CART: "If CART stands up and says what they've been hinting at,
'This is our future and we don't see ourselves at the road
courses,' then that's the way they want to redefine their
product. They've been going through this redefinition process
for a long time. I think what they've tried to do is stabilize
it from the rules to their business practices. Everything is
all sort of melding together. As far as the venues, it's true
they would be turning their back on the road courses if they
choose to do that. Do I dislike that? Sure, I dislike that,
but to this point I haven't been able to have any productive
conversations to understand why they think this is important."
On the possibility of IRL coming to Mid-Ohio:
"I have no doubt they are going to go road racing. We have
made no plans to go road racing with the IRL. I stay focused
on what I'm doing and I make (my staff) do the same thing. If
we get bogged down in all this, hearing one thing in one ear
and something else in the other, it just slows everything down
here and you get off task and unfocused. I get 10 to 15
e-mails from fans per week asking those very questions. It
sounds so strange that I can't give them an answer on both
fronts: What's going on with CART and have you done a deal
with the IRL?" On working with CART to put
on the 2003 Champ Car Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio as co-promoters:
"The most positive thing that's going on right now in our
relationship with (CART) is that they have an extremely strong
management and operations group right now. Despite all this
negativity and speculation about Mid-Ohio, we have worked with
them more cohesively than we ever have in the past ... Chris
has assembled a very strong group of people." On
Mid-Ohio's future: "Whether it's
open-wheel racing, sports car racing or motorcycle racing, we
will continue to do what's in our best interest. That's a safe
bet going forward."
8/10/03
Newcomer Breuers ready for
first race Despite a weekend of hiccups, Marc
Breuers is optimistic about his prospects in his CART Toyota
Atlantic debut today at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. "I
would be really excited to get into the top 10," Breuers said
after Saturday qualifying. "I didn't get a chance to see what
I have for a car. I think it's going to be up there with the
big pack of people. I'd like to make some initial passes just
off the first lap or two and sort of stick with the pack. If I
can just be in there and give me a chance to race with some of
them, I'll be real happy." A broken gearbox on the opening lap
of Friday's practice session left Breuers with essentially no
track time heading into first-round qualifying. The crew
worked feverishly to get the gearbox put back together for
qualifying and Marc posted a lap time of 1:19.675, good enough
for 14th on the starting grid. The car improved in Saturday's
morning practice session and Marc knocked nearly 7/10s off of
his Friday fast lap. The team made changes to the setup for
final qualifying. Unfortunately, just minutes into the
session, the skies over Central Ohio opened up and rain
prevented Marc from running enough laps to see how well the
changes worked. "We haven't had a chance to shine, really, as
much as we could," Breuers said. "We made some really good
changes to the car in the last practice session and didn't
really get a chance to put it down because we didn't put the
(new) tires on until a little bit too late. We were really a
little bit better than we showed on the time sheets." "Marc
hasn't put a wheel wrong all weekend," team owner John Brooks
said. "He's been doing a great job with feedback, with his
performance behind the wheel. We're just playing a lot of
catch up. Everybody has been out for eight races doing data
gathering on these new tires and everything like that. We're
definitely behind. But with Marc behind the wheel and all of
us working hard, we're confident we're going to make
improvements."
8/10/03
In-car camera too heavy says
Earnhardt Dale Earnhardt Jr. received permission
Saturday from his team's sponsor, Budweiser, to have the
in-car camera system it had paid for removed from his car.
Each week several teams' cars are equipped with the in-car
systems. The systems are generally paid for by one or more of
a team's sponsors. With the system removed, Earnhardt Jr.'s
team had to add 30 pounds of weight to offset the difference.
Earnhardt Jr. sought the change following Saturday's final
45-minute practice session. He said the in-car system's weight
was throwing off the balance of his car on the road course.
"It was enough to kind of offset the balance of the car
compared to when they were here testing," said team publicist
Jade Gurss. "They did have two test dates up here. The team
was excited. Junior's excited. "After they put the camera
system in before practice, the weight differential was enough
that he didn't feel like it was balanced quite like it was
before." Earnhardt Jr. qualified sixth for Sunday's Sirius at
the Glen at Watkins Glen International. He was 12th fastest in
Saturday's first practice and third fastest in the final
practice. Gurss said Budweiser did not have a problem with the
request. "The executives at Budweiser have always told the
team that performance is the key," Gurss said.
ThatsRacin.com
8/10/03
80% chance of rain could mean
rain tires The forecast for today's Sirius at The
Glen was calling for an 80 percent chance of rain, and the
chance that NASCAR would conduct its first-ever race using
Goodyear's rain tires became a possibility. "It could be
historic," said Rick Heinrich, marketing manager for Goodyear.
"That's why we bring 'em. We want to be ready." A torrential
downpour forced the Busch North series race to be called after
41 of 62 laps Saturday, giving Ted Christopher the victory.
Heinrich said Goodyear shipped 1,200 rain tires to Watkins
Glen. He added that NASCAR indicated it would not like to
begin the race on the tires, which cost $394 apiece and have a
tread depth of 6/32nds. "They want to have the option to use
them under the right circumstance in order to get the race
in," Heinrich said. If the tires are used, pit strategy could
become critical. Heinrich said that under extremely wet
conditions cars could run the whole race on one set of tires.
Mike Skinner won an exhibition race in Suzuka, Japan in 1999
on rain tires, and Mark Martin, Terry Labonte and Robby Gordon
are among a handful of drivers who have tested in the rain at
The Glen. NASCAR said a decision will be made at race time. If
it rains, one windshield wiper and one brake light in the rear
window would be added to each car.
ESPN/AP
8/9/03
Benihana to sponsor American
Spirit Racing
American Spirit Racing announced today that Benihana Inc. has
signed as an associate sponsor of the team for this year’s
Grand Prix Americas in Miami. Benihana, an international
Japanese restaurant chain, sponsored American Spirit Racing’s
Trans-Am operation in 2002, and will return as sponsor of the
Team’s #12 AmeriSuites LMP900 entry in the American Le Mans
Series. “I am very excited that Benihana returned with
us this year,” stated American Spirit Racing President, Jon
Lewis. “Benihana has been a leader in the restaurant industry
since it began. The correlation between our primary sponsor,
AmeriSuites who are the leaders in mid-priced, non-food
service hotels and Benihana is a perfect fit.” More than 20
years ago, after a near fatal speed boating accident and a
record setting hot air balloon flight across the Pacific
Ocean, Benihana founder and sportsman Rocky Aoki embarked on
his next adventure and got the Company involved in auto
racing. Since that time Benihana has participated in a variety
of grand prix events, including the Grand Prix Americas. “We
are proud to extend the Benihana racing tradition by being a
part of the Grand Prix Americas,” said Kevin Aoki vice
president, marketing for Benihana. “It will be a great
opportunity for us to share in the fun of the sport with
customers and fellow racing enthusiasts here in our hometown
of Miami.” The Grand Prix Americas is run through the downtown
streets of Miami near Bayside Marketplace and the American
Airlines Arena. With the picturesque setting of the bay of
Miami in the background, the Grand Prix projects an
international flair with Miami’s Latin influence. The Grand
Prix Americas will be held Sept. 25-28. The American Le Mans
Series race will take place on Sept. 27 at 4:00 p.m., with
live flag-to-flag television coverage provided by the SPEED
Channel Network.
8/9/03
Dave Despain pans idea of IRL
going road racing
In this SPEED TV
article, Dave Despain cuts holes in the idea of the
IRL going road racing. He suggests the IRL stay focused
on oval racing. A few questions for the IRL's Tony
George: First, are the fans telling you something the rest of
us are missing? "Hey, Tony, these things are great on an oval.
We can't wait to see 'em at Road America." Or are you just
positioning yourself, hoping you can encourage CART road
courses to defect? Tell me this. If there really is a huge
demand for a combined oval-and-road-racing open wheel series,
why is CART in such trouble? From here, IRL road racing looks
like the answer to a question nobody asked. Does this
turn-right notion comes from your car owners? Well, if it's
your new best friends whispering in your ear, you might want
to reflect on their contributions to CART's current troubles.
Are Honda and Toyota crying out for road racing? If so, just
say no! And while you're at it, suggest they find ways to
lower the cost of their engine packages. For what it's worth,
I was one of the first talking heads to support your original
IRL vision. Years later, right here on Speed Channel, I
repeated that support FOR THE ORIGINAL VISION, not necessarily
for what the IRL has become, or threatens to become.
8/9/03
Danica
Patrick & "Zero to Sixty" on Spike TV Air Times
- Premiere Day, 3 different
episodes
- Monday 8/11
- Noon (Episode 3)
- 4:00p (Episode 4)
- 7:00p (Episode 5)
Then, for the next 10 weeks, we will air on weekends only:
- Saturdays, beginning 8/16 at 11:00a, 1:00p and 4:00p
- Sundays, beginning 8/17 at Noon, 2:00p and 5:00p
8/9/03 Formula Ford
Cooper
Tire sponsors Formula Ford 2000 series Cooper Tire
and Rubber company has announced a new five-year agreement
with Formula Motorsports, Inc. (FMI) to create the Cooper Tire
Championship Series. This Series will be the new home of the
Formula Ford 2000 Zetec racing program, which boasts alumni
including Indy Car stars Alex Barron (Mo Nunn Racing), Sam
Hornish (Panther Racing), Buddy Rice (Red Bull Cheever), Dan
Wheldon (Andretti Green Racing) and Greg Ray (Access
Motorsports). More.....
8/9/03
Maia wins, completes weekend
domination Leo Maia of Oakland, California led every lap
of the Barber Dodge Pro Series race at Mid Ohio in wet
conditions to take his sixth win of the season. Dan Di Leo
finished in second place for his fourth podium of the season
as Antoine Bessette of St. Bruno, Quebec, made his first
appearance on the Barber Dodge Pro Series podium with his
third place finish. Nelson Philippe backed up his Vancouver
round podium finish with fourth, with Ben Freudenberg showing
himself to be a talented runner in the rain as he finished
fifth after having started in fourteenth. Memo Rojas took
sixth place in his Telmex machine, with Burt Frisselle taking
seventh, putting him atop the points standings in the Rookie
of the Year battle. Ryan Millen also had a fine showing in the
rain, moving from fifteenth on the grid to finish in eighth
position. David Martinez took ninth, with fellow Mexican
Salvador Duran taking tenth in just his first Barber Dodge Pro
Series race finish.
8/9/03
Late crash hands Simmons win in
IPS at Gateway
Jeff Simmons scored his first career Infiniti Pro Series
victory today at Gateway International Raceway. Simmons led
only two laps, but he led the ones that counted -- the last
two. Mark Taylor led the first 78 laps of the event, but
crashed in Turn 2 on the second to last lap while battling
with second-place Brandon Erwin. Neither driver was injured. A
four car wreck in practice before the start saw only 11 cars
start the race. It was another expensive day of oval track
racing in the IRL.
1. (3) Jeff Simmons, Dallara-Infiniti, 80
2. (6) Cory Witherill, Dallara-Infiniti, 80
3. (7) Arie Luyendyk Jr., Dallara-Infiniti, 80
4. (5) Ed Carpenter, Dallara-Infiniti, 80
5. (2) Tom Wood, Dallara-Infiniti, 80
6. (9) Aaron Fike, Dallara-Infiniti, 80
7. (10) Paul Dana, Dallara-Infiniti, 79
8. (8) G.J. Mennen, Dallara-Infiniti, 79
9. (4) Mark Taylor, Dallara-Infiniti, 78, Accident
10. (1) Brandon Erwin, Dallara-Infiniti, 78, Accident
11. (11) Thiago Medeiros, Dallara-Infiniti, 43, Fuel Pressure
12. (DNS) Gary Peterson, Dallara-Infiniti, 0, Did not start
13. (DNS) Moses Smith, Dallara-Infiniti, 0, Did not start
8/9/03
Open wheel Ambassador Andretti
interview This Mansfield news Journal
article talks about open wheel racing's biggest
ambassador Mario Andretti and reports his views on various
topics.
8/9/03
M-O fans go to bat for CART
race This Mansfield news Journal
article talks about what fans are doing to help save
the CART race at Mid-Ohio.
8/9/03
Rain ensures Allmendinger
retains
pole Not even
rain could prevent A.J. Allmendinger (#4 RuSPORT) from
extending his lead in the championship standings in final
qualifying as he gained another point in a rain-soaked session
and will roll off the starting grid from the inside of the
front row for the sixth time this season in Sunday's Champ Car
Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio (SPEED Channel, 12:30 p.m. ET). Just as
the field prepared to leave pit lane to begin final
qualifying, raindrops began falling around the 2.258-mile
permanent road course, leaving teams and drivers with little
time to claim a guaranteed front row starting spot and a
championship point. The competitors knew that conditions would
deteriorate quickly and all made their best efforts to turn in
the quickest speed, but it was Allmendinger who would turn the
quickest lap, as the rookie posted a best lap of 1:17.376
(105.056 mph) before the skies opened up and effectively
brought the session to a conclusion after little more than
five minutes. A handful of drivers continued to run laps in
the wet conditions, but nobody was able to come close to
topping Allmendinger's time, allowing Allmendinger to extend
his lead in the championship standings to 36 points over Ryan
Dalziel (#28 Pro-Works/Discovery Lake/Daily Record). He will
start from the pole position based on his track record speed
of 1:15.668 (107.427 mph) established in Friday's provisional
qualifying session, and his Saturday performance was the
eighth consecutive time that he has been the quickest at the
end of a qualifying session.
8/9/03
Vannini speaks again- a star is
born? Dear AR1, A Star Is Born? I believe that
today at Mid-Ohio, we may well have witnessed the emergence of
the next American star in American road racing....22 year old
Ryan Hunter-Reay...RHR, as he will come to be known. With only
11 laps in a Champ Car at Mid-Ohio prior to yesterday's first
qualifying session, Ryan has shocked many with a lap time only
16/1000's of a second off of the hugely talented Paul Tracy's
pole time and ahead of the equally sensational French rookie
Sebastien Bourdais. Of course, what makes this all the more
impressive is that it was done in a 2 year old Reynard chassis
fielded by one of the more modestly funded teams on the grid.
While a comparison to Minardi in F-1 may be overstating the
case in magnitude, it is certainly directionally correct. In
my judgment, the current crop of front running Champ Car team
owners should view Ryan's performance in the same light as
Renault and Jaguar viewed the exploits of Messrs. Alonso and
Webber while driving for Minardi...the equivalent of "Just
imagine what he could do in one of our cars!" Lest the naysayers attribute this to luck or circumstance, we should
remember that Hunter-Reay has fewer test days in a Champ Car
than at least 95% of the field. Moreover, close scrutiny of
lap times throughout the season inexorably led one to the
conclusion that this performance was destined to happen...and
soon! The momentum was clearly building and was obvious to
anyone paying close attention. Recall that Ryan was off pole
in preliminary qualifying at Portland this year before his car
was found to be 3 lbs. underweight during tech inspection.
Moreover, a pole lap time was scuttled by Mr. Tracy in the
final sector. Of note is the fact that Ryan's Portland
performance was done without the aid of the Reynske parts that
ALL of the other Reynard drivers were utilizing by that time.
Similarly, in Road America last weekend, Ryan had a P3
qualifying run ruined by the spinning Gualter Salles in the
final turn of his last available lap. One should realize that
final qualifying at RA was the first time this season RHR has
been on an equal footing with the other Reynard drivers in
that this was the first time he ran with ANY of the Reynske
modifications. Hopefully CART and the front-running team owners will realize what a boon to the series it would be to
have RHR driving for a top tier team. Credit also goes to
Jimmy Vasser. We have seen time and time again the steadying
and positive effect Jimmy's tutelage has provided to his teammates. RHR is but the latest to benefit from this. Ryan has
been effusive in his praise on this score and well he should
be. Kudos also to Dan Benton and Chris James for funding a
team to highlight American road racing talent. They get far
too little, if any, acknowledgment and praise on that score.
This should also quiet all of those folks who have concluded
that the Toyota Atlantic series provides inadequate
preparation to run at the front in ChampCar. Let's hope this
opens eyes to the talents of the likes of Jon Fogarty, Rocky
Moran, Michael Valiante (he's almost American isn't he?) et
al. Nothing would help ChampCar's relevance to the American
fan more than having a gaggle of these young guns slugging it
out for Champagne-spraying rights. Jon Vannini, California
8/9/03
All drivers calling for
single-car qualifying
Almost all the CART Champ Car drivers are now calling for
single-car, single-lap qualifying in CART. Either CART
would add tire warmers so drivers would only have to do one warm-up
lap and then go for it, i.e. a single lap. If CART does not
allow tire warmers, then drivers will need up to three laps to
get heat in the tires. Not only will this eliminate
claims of blocking, it will mix up the grid a bit as it has
done in F1. This AP
article quotes Patrick Carpentier on the topic.
8/9/03
Newman
furious with NASCAR safety crewsUPDATE We have added a
photo of Newman's car after the crash. (Photo by CIA Stock
Photo) 8/9/03 - This is more evidence of why
NASCAR will be forced to adopt a CART dedicated and trained
safety crew. Look for an NBC special on that tomorrow on
NBC before the Cup race. Ryan Newman qualified 13th for
Sunday's Sirius at The Glen in a backup Dodge after crashing
his primary car in practice Friday morning. Newman, who wound
up with his car turned sideways sitting on the driver's side
after it slammed thick foam barriers guarding a tire barrier
off Turn 9 of the Watkins Glen course, was uninjured in the
crash. Still, he was critical of the way the track's emergency
team handled the crash. "I hit a rock with my helmet getting
out of my car because the safety crew was about 10 minutes
late getting there," he said. "It was pretty ridiculous. When
they got there they didn't know what they were doing"
ThatsRacin.com
8/9/03
Roush sponsorship news
According to this Ford Racing
article, Geoff Smith, Roush Racing president, is very
bullish on the prospects of getting Jeff Burton's Ford
sponsored for the 2004 season and beyond. In fact, Smith hopes
to have something to announce soon. "We're in discussion with
sponsors," the executive told TFR. "I hope that one of
the prospects will have a deal within 30 days." Asked about
the difficulty placing sponsors, Smith said, "We're having a
really good selling year. We've had three companies sign with
us that could have gone away." Plus, he is speaking with four
potential parties for Burton's car.
8/9/03
CART shuffles Steward
responsibilities
The CART Champ Car World Series announced a revision today to
its Competition Department organization and to its panel of
competition stewards, shuffling the duties among the current
staff in order to capitalize on the strengths of the
individuals in the paddock and in Race Control. The shuffle of
the lineup more accurately describes the race-day duties of
CART's officials into the categories of Race Director, Clerk
of Course and Stewards. Director of Competition Chris Kniefel
will serve in the new position of Race Director, and will be
responsible for calling the race as well as any procedural
issues. John Anderson will move from pit lane to the tower and
will join Beaux Barfield, Jim Swintal and Tony Kester as
stewards responsible for judgmental officiating calls. The
stewards will also act on any observed violations. Jim Swintal
will be responsible for giving all direction to the course
marshals during an event as Clerk of Course. The stewards will
oversee all CART series and all changes are to go into effect
immediately. In addition, the restructuring of the staff means
that the position of Chief Steward no longer exists. "After
putting a new team together, this is the next logical step in
building a strong unit to officiate our events," Kniefel said.
"Having a veteran guy like John Anderson that has been on the
team side of things for many years, helps balance out our team
and gives us a fuller perspective over what happens on the
track." Veteran Billy Kamphausen will assume control of pit
lane while Anderson will remain in charge of both pre- and
post-session technical inspections. Kniefel and Anderson will
be in charge of the driver meetings and Anderson will also
oversee any post-event meetings that may be necessary.
Effective immediately, all drivers involved in any race
incident that requires the attention of the stewards will be
required to report to the CART stewards after the event, and
shall remain at the circuit until dismissed by CART stewards.
8/9/03
CART holds off renewing
Cleveland GP with IMG
This Cleveland Plain Dealer
article says, The uncertain status of the Championship
Auto Racing Teams series has hit Cleveland-based race promoter
IMG and left a cloud over the 22-year-old Cleveland Grand
Prix. CART's contract with IMG Motorsports ended Aug. 1 and it
has not been renewed. This has led to some layoffs at IMG,
although the possibility exists CART and IMG will join again
in the near future. Still, this news, combined with the recent
report that CART will not be able to exist beyond this season
unless the company is sold, does not paint a rosy picture for
the future. Since CART owns the Cleveland race, the Grand Prix
becomes part of the purchase if and when a deal is done. Until
then, the business adage of "lean and mean" seems to apply as
CART tries to get its affairs in order. "We're going to
re-evaluate then come back with a decision [to renew or not]
in October," said Adam Saal, CART's vice president of
communications. "The race is on; we have our contract with the
city. This is essentially a summer hiatus. We are going
forward. We look forward to many more successful races in
Cleveland, as our current agreement with the city extends
through 2007." It is understood that while the race, held at
night this year for the first time, was an artistic success,
it remains a financial drain on both the promoters and CART. A
logical replacement for IMG would appear to be the Cleveland
Sports Commission, but commission President Dave Gilbert said
that would not necessarily be the case. "Certainly we would
have an interest in a race being in Cleveland," Gilbert said.
"It has proven that it can be a big driver for our economy.
But from what we know over the past several years the race has
lost a tremendous amount of money. As a small, non-profit
organization, we are not in a position to get involved, as
with any company, with something where we know we are going to
lose money. "[But] would I discount the Sports Commission
getting involved in some form? Certainly not," Gilbert added.
"I think that is something we would have to look at to see
what our role would be in having a major sporting event like
the race in Cleveland." Throughout the history of the race,
the cost of putting on the event at Burke Lakefront Airport
has challenged a list of race promoters, including C.K.
Newcomb, Roger Penske, IMG when it ran the race alone and now
CART. While the event has been popular with race fans, it has
not been a mainstay for big business. And that keeps the race
in jeopardy. "A lot of it revolves around sponsorship,"
Gilbert said. "This is certainly a tough climate everywhere
around the country for sponsorship right now. Major events are
so dependent on sponsorship revenue to break even, much less
to make money. I am certain the race is no exception to that.
There are very few events that can operate on gate alone." If
and when CART solidifies its future, IMG officials say they
are ready, if asked, to work with that organization to put on
the Cleveland race just as in the past. "Sure, and they know
that," IMG Motorsports President Bud Stanner said. "CART owns
the race and they will determine what happens. They are the
ones who are driving this. In terms of the race, everything is
in CART's hand. They are the boss, we are just waiting to hear
from them."
8/9/03
Owners rallying around
Gentilozzi
It is becoming clearer to us each day that the CART buyout
plan is being led by Paul Gentilozzi. Gentilozzi can
walk into a room, let everyone have their say, then stand up
and speak and immediately command a presence. Not only
does he understand racing, from being a fierce competitor and
team owner for many years, he has the business acumen as well
as the contacts necessary. Gentilozzi is a no-bullshit
kind of guy, yet can work a crowd as well as anyone we have
seen. From what we can tell, the other team owners who
are buying into the series, all successful and powerful
businessmen in their own right, have been willing to cede the
lead in this deal to Gentilozzi. Whether Bernie
Ecclestone was ever part of the CART buyout deal, or whether
that was just a smokescreen to hide behind, at the end of the
day it will be the new team owners (Gentilozzi, Kalkhoven,
Pollock and Russo (perhaps Russo)) who will have stepped up
and saved the day. Sure Gerald Forsythe and Paul Newman
are key, but without the new guys on the block, there might
have not been a 2004 for CART. It will all become
clearer in the coming weeks.
8/9/03
Goodyear won't return
ITV-F1 reports, Goodyear do not intend to return to F1 despite
a former employee from the F1 team being spotted in the
paddock at Hockenheim. Tony Shakespeare, Goodyear’s former F1
organizer, insisted he was merely on holiday and that his
presence was not a sign of the tire company’s return to the
sport. He said: "Don't read anything into it. "I am here on
holiday with my kids. There is almost no-one left from the old
Goodyear F1 team nowadays and there is no sign of anything
happening."
8/9/03
Ecclestone ruthless at
negotiating table This Toronto Star
article is an interesting read on how F1 czar Bernie
Ecclestone operates and will operate when it come to the
Montreal F1 race.
8/9/03
Shanghai circuit to be
problematic We here at AR1 will predict right now
that the Shanghai circuit being built by famous F1 circuit
builder Herman Tilke is going to always have problems with
an uneven track surface. The track is being built in marshland
(read that swamp) and as such is being built on 1-meter thick
polystyrene blocks so it floats on the wet ground as
necessary. They are using so much polystyrene to cover
over 350 square kilometers that they have created a shortage
of the stuff in China. Depending on the wetness in one
area vs. an adjacent area over time, we see problems with an
uneven track surface over time. It's hard enough to keep
a road surface smooth on properly drained subsurface let alone
a wet swamp one.
8/8/03
IPS qualifying from Gateway
Qualifying Friday for the Gateway 100 IRL Infiniti Pro Series
event on the 1.25-mile Gateway International Raceway, with
starting position, car number in parenthesis, driver and
chassis-engine:
1. (99) Brandon Erwin, Dallara-Infiniti, 152.312
2. (9) Tom Wood, Dallara-Infiniti, 150.125
3. (20) Jeff Simmons, Dallara-Infiniti, 150.059
4. (4) Mark Taylor, Dallara-Infiniti, 149.35
5. (14) Ed Carpenter, Dallara-Infiniti, 148.949
6. (92) Cory Witherill, Dallara-Infiniti, 147.674
7. (5) Arie Luyendyk Jr., Dallara-Infiniti, 145.876
8. (27) Gary Peterson, Dallara-Infiniti, 144.814
9. (25) G.J. Mennen, Dallara-Infiniti, 144.659
10. (91) Aaron Fike, Dallara-Infiniti, 144.545
11. (24) Moses Smith, Dallara-Infiniti, 144.442
12. (33) Paul Dana, Dallara-Infiniti, 143.627
13. (36) Thiago Medeiros, Dallara-Infiniti, no speed
8/8/03
Loss of F1 race will be a boon
to CART
It won't have an affect this year, but next year it is
expected that CART's Montreal race will see a big jump in
attendance because of the city's loss of its F1 race.
Promoter Normand Legault will have more time to focus on the
CART event and the Montreal fans will be more hungry for their
one remaining race. Mark C.
8/8/03
Allmendinger takes provisional
pole Can he be
stopped? A.J. Allmendinger's (#4 RuSPORT) recent
qualifying and race performances are beginning to sound like a
broken record to followers of the CART Toyota Atlantic
Championship, and in first-round qualifying for Sunday's Champ
Car Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio (SPEED Channel, 12:30 p.m. ET),
Allmendinger broke a track record that has been in place for
10 years to put his car on the provisional pole. For the
seventh consecutive qualifying session, Allmendinger placed
his car atop the time charts with a best lap of 1:15.668
(107.427 mph) to shatter the existing one-lap track record of
1:16.319 (106.13 mph) established by Jacques Villeneuve in
1993. In the process, Allmendinger extended his lead in the
2003 CART Toyota Atlantic Championship standings by another
marker and now leads Ryan Dalziel (#28 Pro-Works/Discovery
Lake/Daily Record) by 35 points. He also assured himself of a
front-row starting position, and has not yet failed to qualify
inside the top-three in his nine-race Toyota Atlantic career.
Allmendinger is joined on the provisional front row by his
teammate, Aaron Justus (#3 RuSPORT), who turned a best lap of
1:15.841 (107.182 mph) in his similarly-colored bright yellow
Toyota-powered Swift. Justus has already started inside the
top-five positions in six of eight starts thus far in 2003,
and is looking to rebound from a disappointing 14th place
result in last weekend's Grand Prix de Trois-Rivieres.
Following his only other finish outside the top-five this
season (a 13th place performance at Cleveland), Justus
rebounded to start and finish second in the Molson Indy
Toronto. His performance on Friday puts him in position to
duplicate or exceed that performance this weekend. Dalziel
qualified third provisionally with a best lap of 1:15.853
(107.165 mph), and heads into Saturday's final round of
qualifying looking to continue a streak of consecutive
top-four starting positions. The Scot has placed his car
inside the first two rows in each of the past seven events,
dating to a third place qualifying result for the Argent
Mortgage Toyota Atlantic Race at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long
Beach. Qualifying fourth on the provisional grid was Canadian
Michael Valiante (#19 Lynx Racing), who clocked a best lap of
1:15.927 (107.061 mph), and has qualified inside the top-five
positions for the past four races. He has also finished on the
podium twice and been inside the top-four in four consecutive
events, which enabled him to move into fourth place in the
2003 CART Toyota Atlantic Championship point standings.
1. (4) A.J. Allmendinger, Toyota/Swift, 1:15.668, 107.427 mph.
2. (3) Aaron Justus, Toyota/Swift, 1:15.841, 107.182 mph.
3. (28) Ryan Dalziel, Toyota/Swift, 1:15.853, 107.165 mph.
4. (19) Michael Valiante, Toyota/Swift, 1:15.927, 107.061 mph.
5. (84) Jonathan Macri, Toyota/Swift, 1:16.074, 106.854 mph.
6. (17) Bryan Sellers, Toyota/Swift, 1:16.324, 106.504 mph.
7. (27) Joey Hand, Toyota/Swift, 1:16.393, 106.408 mph.
8. (33) Luis Diaz, Toyota/Swift, 1:16.422, 106.367 mph.
9. (69) Alex Figge, Toyota/Swift, 1:16.486, 106.278 mph.
10. (7) Kyle Krisiloff, Toyota/Swift, 1:16.730, 105.940 mph.
11. (24) Danica Patrick, Toyota/Swift, 1:16.891, 105.718 mph.
12. (16) Stephan C. Roy, Toyota/Swift, 1:17.193, 105.305 mph.
13. (9) Alex Garcia, Toyota/Swift, 1:17.764, 104.532 mph.
14. (12) Marc Breuers, Toyota/Swift, 1:19.675, 102.024 mph.
15. (2) Eric Jensen, Toyota/Swift, 1:19.951, 101.672 mph.
16. (8) Philip Fayer, Toyota/Swift, 1:20.095, 101.489 mph.
17. (49) Dan Selznick, Toyota/Swift, 1:20.150, 101.420 mph
8/8/03
IRL or CART, you be the judge
[Editor's Note: If this article doesn't make CART realize they
need some passing in the series because their #1 competition
has it, they are asleep at the wheel. CART needs the
push-to-pass button ASAP]. The Madison, Wisconsin
Capital Times
article says, When I tune in to catch a couple of laps
of an Indy Racing League Series race every now and then, I'm
captivated by the fact that cars are driving side-by-side and
are competitively passing each other on a regular basis. While
the CART Champ Car Series has changed its aerodynamic package
to improve competition and achieve the same type of racing,
fans have not seen much competitive passing on ovals,
particularly at The Milwaukee Mile, in CART for several years.
So the announcement Wednesday that the eight-year-old IRL
Series will compete next season at The Milwaukee Mile should
be welcome news for open-wheel fans. Now fans will get the
opportunity to compare the two styles of open-wheel racing and
judge for themselves which they prefer.
More...
8/8/03
Vannini speaks
CART's 2nd largest shareholder writes, Dear AutoRacing1.com,
Race after race we are seeing the close competition that the
current engine formula is promoting. Hats off to a highly
competent Cosworth on that front. If anyone wanted evidence
that your idea of having a standard engine formula (I would
stick with the turbo format for development cost, heritage and
ease of regulation reasons), badged by multiple manufacturers
is the way to go, they need look no further than today's
preliminary grid. Throw in your "Boost On Demand" idea and the
racing side of the ledger would be pretty much set in my
opinion. Paul Tracy appears to be in a class of his own right
now, no doubt spurred by a desire to rub Christopher Pook's
nose in the dirt for his hapless meddling in issues beyond his
scope of understanding and authority (further delusions of
Ecclestone I wonder?). Behind him is nothing short of guerilla
warfare. P3 - 6 are separated by about a 1/10 of a second
while P7 - P12 are separated by about 2/10's of a second.
Special note should go to Paul Gentilozzi's Team Rocketsports.
They have jumped in the deep end on very short notice with a
staff notably lacking in Champ Car experience and a driver
heretofore characterized by many as fast but fickle and has
made it work to impressive effect. As one of the rumored
buyers of CART, let the sportsman in us all hope that he can
run CART as well as he has his own team...I would say better
than the current Captain of CART's ship but that would a bar
set so shockingly low that Mini-Me would have little trouble
clearing it with both legs tied together. Also of note is the
recent form of the American Spirit team, particularly Ryan
Hunter-Reay. Study of photographs from recent events suggest
he has only recently (read: As of RA) been availed of the
benefits of some of the Reynske bits others have put to such
good use of late. Today's P9, less than 3/10's off of
Carpentier's P3, attests to this. Let's hope that this
underfunded team eventually finds the resources necessary to
run Lolas. Then, CART may find the young American sensation
they are so desperately in need of. Throw in a couple of
genuinely quick young Yanks that are already out there
(Fogarty, Moran, Allmendinger, Gidley, etc.) and CART may have
something the American audience can identify with. If America
can be convinced to get behind Lance Armstrong and the Tour de
France ( I'm a BIG fan of this guy, by the way), young
American road racers should be an easy sell. Sadly, apparently
no one in the CART front office grasps this very simple
concept...or if they do, they are doing an effective job of
keeping it a secret. But given all the apparently baseless
rumors emanating from that particular geography over the last
18 months, one has to conclude that discretion is not a trait
that exist in any abundance with that crew. Jon Vannini,
California
8/8/03
Tracy comments on CART venues
My feelings, we talked about this last night, and I heard
Bobby Rahal say some interesting things. It's not really my
feelings that count. Sure, I'd like to stay here. Sure, I'd
like to stay at Elkhart Lake. But it's up to the fans to make
that happen. You know, it's not our responsibility. I mean,
Elkhart Lake got put back on the schedule, and the fans didn't
show up to support it that said they'd be there. That just put
the nail in the coffin for Elkhart Lake. You know, sure, if
you ask any racing driver, we'd love to race at Elkhart Lake.
But when there's nobody there, then you can't afford to be
there. It's the same for this venue. We all love to be here,
but it's up to the fans to show up at the gate to make it a
viable race. When you go to a street race and you get 180,000,
200,000 people for the weekend, you know, financially it's a
much more viable product to put on than what happened at
Elkhart.
8/8/03
Will CART keep Mid-Ohio?
We quizzed Michelle Trueman Gajoch, President of TrueSports,
whether she thought CART would return to Mid-Ohio. "We
had some dialogue recently with David Clare, but clearly CART
is in a holding pattern until the sale of the company gets
finalized." She said ticket sales have been surprisingly
good in the last 10 days, and she's hopeful the attendance
will be as good this year as last. "Corporate sales are down,
but ticket sales have been pretty steady the last couple of
years," stated Michelle. When asked if the CART weekend
was profitable for the track she would not comment, but did
admit it was always profitable until recently when corporate
sales dropped off. CART and Mid-Ohio are sharing in the
risk of this year's race, so she could not comment.
8/8/03
Mid-Ohio fans appreciated
This Mansfield News Journal
article talks about the loyal Mid-Ohio CART fans.
8/8/03
Chris Pook interview
Chris Pook had some interesting comments in this Mansfield
News Journal
interview. Clearly the biggest challenge before him is
the sale of the company.
8/8/03
Carpentier penalized but keeps
3rd CART penalized Patrick Carpentier for
blocking Max Papis during qualifying today costing him his
fastest lap. However, his 2nd fastest lap was good
enough for him to retain 3rd fast time for the day.
8/8/03
Tagliani's Cosworth fractures
The Ford Cosworth engine everyone is using this year in CART
has been very reliable. However, when Alex Tagliani put
his car in gear and pulled out of the pits this morning in
practice there was a large pop. The engine block had split
wide open, spilling oil on pitlane. The team had to pull
him back to his pit box. Tagliani had to switch to his
backup car.
8/8/03
Maia looking to move up to
Toyota Atlantics We spoke to Barber Dodge Pro Series
standout Leo Maia today at Mid-Ohio. We quizzed him
about his plans for next year. "I hope to move up to the
Toyota Atlantic Series in 2004," said Maia. He is
lining up test drivers with several Atlantic teams and is
guaranteed a test with leading Atlantic team RuSport. Maia
has been almost as dominate as AJ Allmendinger was last year and
we see how well points leader Allmendinger is doing this year
in the Atlantic Series.
8/8/03
Maia wins provisional pole
The Leo Maia train kept on rolling in Mid-Ohio today as 2003
Barber Dodge Pro Series champion scored the provisional pole
position with a lap time of 1.25.157 seconds on the 2.258-mile
road course in Lexington, Ohio. Maia was followed closely by
Dan Di Leo of Markham, Ontario with a lap time just .062
seconds behind but quick enough for second position on the
provisional grid. Burt Frisselle of Kihei, Hawaii, took third
on the grid ahead of Mexico's Memo Rojas. David Martinez and
Colin Fleming qualified fifth and sixth respectively, with
German Quiroga and Scott Poirier taking spots on the
provisional fourth row. Nelson Philippe of Valence, France
scored his first podium finish at the last round in Vancouver
and qualified ninth, with Chris Baker continuing to come back
up to speed as he recovers from a hand injury as he took tenth
spot on the grid. The half-hour qualifying session ran under
green conditions as five different drivers sat atop the pole
before Colin Fleming brought out the red flag with six minutes
to go. The track was cleared quickly, but none of the drivers
who returned to the track were able to improve on their times
with the limited laps available.
Pos/car
#/Driver/Hometown/Fastest Lap/MPH
1/6/Leonardo Maia/Oakland, Calif./01:25.157/95.457
2/19/Dan Di Leo/Markham, Ontario, Canada/01:25.219/95.387
3/24/Burt Frisselle/Kihei, Hawaii/01:25.413/95.171
4/15/Memo Rojas/Mexico City, Mexico/01:25.413/95.171
5/47/David Martinez L./Monterrey, Mexico/01:25.624/94.936
6/28/Colin Fleming/North Hills, Calif./01:25.763/94.782
7/33/German Quiroga/Mexico City, Mexico/01:25.852/94.684
8/67/Scott Poirier/Deerfield Beach, Florida/01:25.923/94.606
9/26/Nelson Philippe/Valence, France/01:25.938/94.589
10/11/Chris Baker/Houston, Texas/01:25.959/94.566
11/16/Antoine Bessette/St. Bruno, Quebec/01:25.969/94.555
12/49/Luis Pelayo/Mexico City, Mexico/01:25.995/94.526
13/17/Ben Freudenberg/North Bend, Oregon/01:26.032/94.486
14/82/Salvador Duran/Cuernavaca, Mexico/01:26.080/94.433
15/39/Ryan Millen/Newport Beach, Calif./01:26.179/94.325
16/31/Al Unser/Corrales, New Mexico/01:26.555/93.915
8/8/03
Bill Davis Racing offers to
terminate Ward Burton Ward Burton said Bill Davis Racing
has offered to terminate his contract with the team for next
season, but Burton isn't prepared to sign it yet. Burton told
reporters last week at Indianapolis that he was exploring his
options for 2004, but he wants to be honorable in how he
handles a possible split with the team. And he expects the
team to do the same. "I'm looking for other options," Burton
said. "So is the car owner. The reason it happened last week
is because I received a notice that said we ought to be
looking for other options. We've had success before. Some of
the things that are going on may not be good for them or me. It's an option to terminate our agreement for '04, Nov. 30.
Obviously, I'm not going to sign it until I have an agreement
with someone else." Burton has talked to other car owners but
declined to name any.
8/8/03
Newman OK after flip Ryan
Newman was only 30th fastest on the practice sheet, but he
escaped injury in a crash that left him trapped inside his
car. Newman wrecked in the right-hand Turn 8 and slammed the
foam barrier off the race track. The No. 12 Dodge ended up on
its driver side, leaving Newman trapped inside. "Just got
loose going into the carousel, had to correct and got it up
into the stuff," Newman said. "Thankfully, this is one of the
few places that's got soft walls." Newman spent an extended
period of time in the car before safety workers were able to
prop it up enough to let Newman crawl out of the driver's-side
window. Newman walked on his own to a nearby ambulance. "It's
pretty ridiculous," Newman said. "I sat there a good 40
seconds before anybody even came. And once they got there,
they asked me if I had the power turned off. It's like,
'Hello, anybody home?' It's kind of ridiculous. I hope
something gets done about it pretty soon."
8/8/03
CART stock watch - II
In NYSE trading today MPH leapt from near its 52 Week Low on
the open and never looked back, posting one of its most
impressive single day gains of the summer closing UP $0.31 p/shr.
or 21.38% at $1.76 p/shr. on strong Volume of 206,600 shares.
Individual trade volume was not available until late in the
session but there were trades in excess of 20,000 shares. MPH
traded to a High for the session of $1.85, a solid gain of
27.6%, before profit taking in the final minutes produced
today’s settlement of $1.76 p.shr.
High/Low of Session: $1.85/$1.45 $2.11 Asked, $1.14 Bid on the
Close.
NYSE UP 64.64 or 0.71% on Volume of 1.26B shares.
NASDAQ DOWN 8.15 or 0.49%
S&P 500 UP 3.47 or 0.36%
courtesy of C3I.AndersonGroupe – Chicago www.andersongroupe.com
8/8/03
CART stock watch- I
MPH UP 26.21% or $0.38 p/shr. on Volume of 167,200
shares as of 2:30PM EDST.
Courtesy of C3I.AndersonGroupe – Chicago www.andersongroupe.com
8/8/03
ALMS to return to Mid-Ohio
The American Le Mans Series, the world's premier sports car
racing championship, will return to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course
in 2004 under a new, three-year agreement. The joint
announcement was made Friday by Michelle Trueman Gajoch,
President of TrueSports, Inc., owner and operator of Mid-Ohio
Sports Car Course, and Scott Atherton, President and CEO of
the American Le Mans Series. Mid-Ohio will host the American
Le Mans Series for a nationally-televised event June 25-27,
2004, on what has traditionally been the 2.258-mile circuit's
sports car racing weekend. Race teams will be coming to
Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course straight from France and the June
12-13 running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the world's most
famous endurance race and the event upon which the ALMS is
based. "It's with great anticipation and enthusiasm that we're
able to announce that the American Le Mans Series will be a
part of Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course's 2004 schedule," said
Gajoch. "The 2002 American Le Mans at Mid-Ohio was highly
successful, which made this year's scheduling conflict very
unfortunate. The numerous e-mails and phone calls from the
dedicated road racing fans near Mid-Ohio made it clear that
this was an event that we absolutely had to make work in
2004." The American Le Mans Series held races at Mid-Ohio in
2001 and 2002, but an event was not held in 2003 due to
schedule and TV contract conflicts that prevented the
confirmation of a date. "It was a top priority for us to be
able to return to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in 2004 and for
years to come," said Atherton. "We're very pleased that we
were able to make it happen, and we know that our competitors
and fans will also be pleased to hear this good news. Mid-Ohio is a track that is very suited for sports car racing
and the two events we have held here have been fantastic and
competitive races," he said. "Mid-Ohio has everything we are
looking for in a venue to host our races." The news of the
return to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in 2004 was well-received
by drivers in the American Le Mans Series. "I think it's great
news that the series is going back to Mid-Ohio," said David Brabham, the Australian who was on the overall winning Panoz
team in the inaugural ALMS event at Mid-Ohio in 2001 and is
now driving for the Prodrive Ferrari team. "I have lots of
fond memories of racing there and it's a great American road
racing circuit. It's very challenging and I think all of the
teams will be excited about going back." Scott Atherton
said the full 2004 schedule will be announced on Friday
October 17th at the Petite LeMans race at Road Atlanta.
8/8/03
CART owners meet
CART's John Lopes called a team owners meeting for 12:45 today
and we are waiting to hear what was discussed. All indications
are that the meeting was about technical issues related to
next year and/or 2005 and beyond.
8/8/03
Martinsville signs sponsor
Martinsville Speedway and Advance Auto Parts announced this
morning that Advance Auto Parts will be the title sponsor for
the spring NASCAR Nextel Cup race at Martinsville Speedway.
The Advance Auto Parts 500 is scheduled for April 18, 2004.
The companies have agreed to a two-year contract with an
option for a third year. Financial details were not released.
While it is the first NASCAR Nextel Cup endeavor for Advance
Auto Parts, the Roanoke-based company and Martinsville
Speedway have enjoyed a long history together. Most recently,
Advance Auto Parts has been the title sponsor for the two
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series races at Martinsville. “This is
an exciting day for Advance Auto Parts. For the first time in
our 70 year history, we have the privilege to be the title
sponsor of the Spring 2004 Nextel Cup race at Martinsville
Speedway,” said Paul Klasing, Executive Vice President,
Merchandising/Marketing of Advance Auto Parts. “A large number
of our customers share our excitement and commitment to NASCAR
and we look forward to sharing this race with them.”
8/8/03
Gold Coast Indy under threat
This FOX Sports
article says, THE future of the Gold Coast Indy race
will be up in the air after this year's event unless a buyer
emerges to bail out US organizers. A recent notice released by
Championship Auto Racing Teams Inc (CART) to the US stock
exchange said the organization would not get through the 2004
season unless it found more money. "Due to the continuing
downward trend in several of its critical revenue streams ...
and a lowering of expectations regarding the 2004 year,
management now expects that it will raise additional capital
to complete the 2004 season," CART said in the statement.
"Projections beyond 2004 are, in management's view, very
speculative." Queensland deputy premier Terry Mackenroth said
this year's event was assured and expressed confidence CART
would be able to sort out its future. "The week before last a
CART vice-president (Tim Mayer) came out and met me and
assured me the event will continue," Mackenroth said. The
Queensland government kicks in $10.8 million a year to run the
event, which it co-owns with sports management group IMG and
has a contract to run the race until 2008. It is thought to be
one of CART's most profitable events.
8/8/03
2004 Canadian GP cancelledUPDATE Now this is getting
silly. The promoter Legault says the race is cancelled
and in this
article, Ecclestone denies it. 8/7/03 - At
a press conference in Montréal which started at 3:30 PM, Normand Legault has announced the Canadian GP will not be held
in 2004 because of the anti-tobacco laws taking effect in
Canada by then. The date has already been awarded to the
Belgium GP. Legault said he would not appeal the government to
revise their law, that they knew since 1997 that those laws
were coming and they were half-expecting this to happen. You
can confirm this by going on Le Réseau des Sports' website at
www.rds.ca
8/8/03
Fernandez personnel changes
Fernandez Racing has restructured its engineering department
with the departure of Race Engineer David Watson earlier this
week. The changes will take effect with this weekend’s Champ
Car Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio, Round 13 of the Bridgestone
Presents the Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford. The
engineering staff will be led by Chris Finch, race engineer,
who is in his third season with Fernandez Racing. Finch will
be supported by the team’s existing engineering staff of Dan
Grabski, assistant race engineer, Matt Huth, data acquisition
engineer, and Ivan Koldsgaard, data/shock engineer. “It was
felt that a change of direction was needed regarding our CART
engineering program,” said Tom Anderson, Co-Owner/Managing
Director. “Adrian will work with our existing engineering
staff with Chris assuming the role of Adrian’s engineer.”
Finch, 36, of Hoffman Estates, Illinois, has worked as a both
an assistant and race engineer with Adrian Fernandez. Finch
came to Fernandez Racing from Riley & Scott where he spent
four years as project engineer on the company’s IRL program
prior to assuming the role of assistant aerodynamicist in the
Cadillac Sportscar and IRL programs. He is a graduate of
Purdue University with a Bachelor and Masters of Science
Degree in Mechanical Engineering. “This is a tough business
and sometimes you have to make tough decisions unfortunately,”
said Fernandez. “Chris has been with the team since the
beginning as have Matt and Ivan, with Dan joining us full time
last year. We have a core engineering group, and we will all
work to make the most out of the seven races remaining this
year.”
8/8/03
CART stock watch
A brisk start for MPH this morning! MPH up $0.07 p/shr. or
4.83% to $1.52 on early Volume of 122,100 shares as of 10:52AM
EDST. courtesy of C3I.AndersonGroupe, Chicago www.andersongroupe.com
8/8/03
CART Mid-Ohio fan fest
A reader writes, What a great show. CART rules. These are a few
pictures from the fan fest. Tiago playing to the crowd, Patrick
jamming on the drums and Paul telling the facts......I love your site
keep up the good work!!! Ken
8/8/03
Brickyard 400 TV ratings #1 but down 5%
The Brickyard 400 on NBC finished as the #1 ranked sports broadcast
for last week, turning in a 6.0 rating and 15 share, representing
6,415,000 households, according to Nielsen Media Research This is down
5% from last year's 6.3 final rating. The closest competitor to the
race from Indy was the ABC primetime Battle of the Bridges with Tiger
Woods, garnering a 4.6 rating and 8 share. It also beats the
Indy easily three years running.
MotorsportsTV.com
CART on the brink of extinction
Everyone had such high hopes Chris Pook would save CART. Is this
what people thought Chris Pook would lead CART to, the brink of
extinction? That's what this
Dallas Morning News writer says - Believe it of not, there was
a time not long ago when CART was the most popular racing series in
America. NASCAR was just something those good-old boys did at mostly
rural areas in the South. The IRL didn't exist. It was CART that had
the glitz, the glamour and the celebrity names like Foyt, Unser,
Mears, Rutherford and Andretti. It's a glorious past for a series that
may not have a future. After 25 years as an open-wheel sanctioning
body, CART is teetering on extinction. No one knows if CART will
continue as a series in 2004. At the moment, the money isn't there to
operate a full schedule next year.....so will Chris Pook go down in
history as a failure who could not save CART, or will he pull together
a last minute blockbuster deal? Time certainly is not on his
side. The clock is ticking.....
8/8/03
Hungary ticket sales down
Advance ticket sales for the Hungarian Grand Prix held at the
Hungaroring on August 24 are down by as much as 35% on last year,
according to the race organizers. Péter Gerstl, director of Ostermann
Forma-1 Kft, partner in charge of entrance control and ticket sales
for Hungaroring Sport Rt (the state owned company that runs the
Hungaroring), said, "This is no big disappointment as Formula 1 ticket
sales have dropped on a global scale." He added that while ticket
sales are expected to be down this year, television viewing audiences
for the race are expected to rise by at least 20-25% year-on-year.
Modifications to the Hungaroring have just been completed, a few weeks
ahead of schedule, and the circuit is now being made ready to host the
Hungarian Grand Prix on August 24. Since the Hungaroring was completed
in 1986, only one significant modification had been made to the track.
In 1989 one of the two S-bends, just after the start-finish straight,
were removed to allow for greater speed. In 1997 the pit lanes were
extended but the modifications did not affect the track layout. This
year's changes will come as welcome news to critics of the Hungaroring
who have long since bemoaned the circuit for its lack of overtaking
opportunities. Many Formula One drivers have also said they disliked
the Hungaroring because it was too slow. Nevertheless, Bernie
Ecclestone, who holds the commercial rights for Formula One, has been
very appreciative of the circuit over the years, once even stating,
"The Hungaroring is the best circuit in the world."
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
Controversial
mother of FIA president Max Mosley dies
Diana Mosley, mother of FIA president Max Mosley, the widow of Sir
Oswald Mosley and one of the celebrated Mitford sisters, died on
Monday aged 93 at her flat in Paris, surrounded by friends and family,
a week after suffering a slight stroke. In a letter to a close friend
10 days ago, she said that despite her love of hot weather, she was
finding the heat wave in Paris a struggle. Diana Mosley, regarded as
the most beautiful of the daughters of Lord and Lady Redesdale, was
also the most controversial. She left her first husband, the brewing
heir Bryan Guinness, and embarked on an affair with Sir Oswald, the
leader of the British Union of Fascists. They were married in Joseph
Goebbels's drawing room in Berlin in 1936. Adolf Hitler gave them a
silver-framed photograph of himself as a wedding present. Their high
regard for the Nazis before war broke out damned the Mosleys forever
in the eyes of the British public. Soon after the war they moved to a
house outside Paris and remained in France for the rest of their
lives, befriending, among others, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor.
Lady Mosley was frequently asked to recant her earlier beliefs but did
so in terms which rarely satisfied her critics. She remained a
vigorous defender of her husband and his views. Last year she posed
for Vogue magazine with some of her numerous grandchildren and
great-grandchildren. Of her five sisters and one brother, only her
youngest sister, the Duchess of Devonshire, survives.
Cooper
Tire sponsors Formula Ford 2000 series Cooper Tire
and Rubber company has announced a new five-year agreement
with Formula Motorsports, Inc. (FMI) to create the Cooper Tire
Championship Series. This Series will be the new home of the
Formula Ford 2000 Zetec racing program, which boasts alumni
including Indy Car stars Alex Barron (Mo Nunn Racing), Sam
Hornish (Panther Racing), Buddy Rice (Red Bull Cheever), Dan
Wheldon (Andretti Green Racing) and Greg Ray (Access
Motorsports).
Much
More...click on 2002 archives button below
