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Twenty degrees in Homestead
This TC Palm
article says, It's now 20 degrees in tropical southern Dade County. And by
most accounts, the folks are ecstatic. Most people have the same reaction when
they see it for the first time. Usually, it's a big 'Wow!' The feedback has been
really positive," says Curtis Gray, president of the reconfigured, 1.5-mile
Homestead-Miami Speedway. Reacting to input by NASCAR drivers and race fans, the
International Speedway Corporation that operates the 434-acre motor sports plant
has done away with the nearly flat, 6-degree banking in the turns. Work is winding
up on a $10 million, computer-designed racing "variable" surface that guarantees a
change in the tone of racing at the facility that was opened in 1995 to help pump
life into the economy of the Hurricane Andrew-thrashed community.....And right on
the mark when it comes to transforming the track from a 72-foot-wide,
tough-to-pass-on ribbon of asphalt to a 55-foot-wide track that could have as many
as three racing grooves and should be more conducive to higher speeds as well. Now
somewhat Darlington in nature, the narrower course will feature more passing
thanks to the banking that will be 18 degrees in the low groove, 19 degrees in the
middle groove and 20 degrees for those daring enough to run the high line next to
the SAFER soft-wall system that also will be in place at what is being dubbed "The
New! Homestead-Miami Speedway.".......The new configuration won't just affect the
NASCAR teams. Competitors in the Indy Racing League open-wheel program also will
have a new learning curve when they open the 2004 IndyCar Series at the track on
Feb. 29. "There's no question that this design was done with NASCAR in mind," Gray
said. "Winston Cup is the most visible form of racing in America and our Cup event
is the biggest one we have each year. But the IRL is very important to us, too,
and we're working with them as much as possible to maintain what has been a
successful partnership for us both."
9/2/03
Fittipaldi to present Latin Grammy
Former CART Champ Car World Series champion and current team co-owner Emerson
Fittipaldi has been one of the biggest celebrities in Brazil for many years,
dating back to his championship-winning days as a Formula One driver in the 1970s
and ‘80s. As one of the country’s most recognizable stars, Fittipaldi will award
the next generation of Brazilian talent when he serves as a co-presenter Wednesday
night in Miami with Cuban singer Willy Chirino and Brazilian vocalist Daniela
Mercury in the 4th Annual Latin GRAMMY Awards. The show airs live from Miami’s
American Airlines Arena at 9:00 p.m. ET on CBS. Fittipaldi will be presenting the
award for Best Brazilian Contemporary Pop Album and will be joined by many of the
stars of the Latin entertainment and sporting world for the ceremony, which
celebrates the achievements of Latin artists in the past year. The Latin GRAMMY
Awards structure includes 41 award categories, including four general categories:
Record Of The Year, Album Of The Year, Song Of The Year and Best New Artist. Latin
GRAMMY fields include: Pop, Rap/Hip-Hop, Rock, Tropical, Regional Mexican,
Traditional, Jazz, Brazilian, Children's, Classical, Production and Music Video.
9/2/03
Burton renews with Roush Racing
Roush Racing announced today that Jeff Burton,
driver of the No. 99 Roush Racing Ford, has been signed to a
new multi-year contract to continue driving for Roush Racing
in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series. “Jeff Burton is and has been
an integral contributor to the success of Roush Racing for
many years,” said Geoff Smith, Roush Racing president. “Jeff
is an outstanding talent and ambassador for Roush Racing and
the industry and his renewed commitment allows us to maintain
our complete competitive strength. Now that Jeff is signed,
we will continue to move forward to solidify a primary sponsor
for the No. 99 team for 2004 and beyond,” Smith added. “Jack
Roush has done so much for me and my career over the last
eight years, I’m truly looking forward to continuing our
partnership into the future,” said Burton. “We have a really
strong, young team and they all have a tremendous work ethic
and a hunger to win which is what Jack Roush and Roush Racing
is all about. That combined with Jack’s willingness and
ability to provide us with everything we need to be
competitive, will enable us to win many races in the future
and vie for championships.” Said owner Jack Roush, “The
re-signing of Jeff, in addition to our other outstanding
drivers, completes our competitive Winston Cup structure and
provides us with an unmatched and quite remarkable line up for
the next several years.”
9/2/03
Norris denies power struggle at
DEI
Teresa Earnhardt and Ty Norris, the general manager at Dale
Earnhardt Inc., appear no closer to signing a third driver for
2004, and their sponsorship hunt is still cloudy. However,
Norris refuted reports this past weekend of a power struggle
inside the operation and insisted that Teresa Earnhardt is
indeed 'very much aware of what is happening' even though she
is seen by many people, including many on the teams she owns,
as an absentee car owner who is out of the loop and
unavailable to make many key decisions. 'There is no power
struggle -- Teresa owns the company, and we respect her
decisions,' Norris said. 'She has the class and dignity to
handle every situation behind closed doors. She doesn't need
to answer all the negative publicity. She doesn't have a need
to answer all the critics.' Despite DEI's on-track success,
the Winston Cup garage has been rife with reports of in-house
problems, highlighted by Teresa's inability to sign Dale
Earnhardt Jr. to a new contract after months of negotiations,
and by reports from the Indy Racing League about DEI's failure
to sign two-time IRL champ Sam Hornish after long talks.
Norris denied the IRL report that Theresa vetoed his handshake
deal with Hornish for a Winston Cup ride. 'I told Dale Jr.
that Sam was the guy we wanted to drive our Busch car, and I
was going to put him in some ARCA races too, and run him in
the Daytona 500 and Brickyard 400 and all the Cup races after
the IRL season,' Norris said. 'But Dale talked with him and
said he didn't seem that interested, and Sam's agent said he
wasn't interested in a Busch ride.' 'As far as 'power
struggle,' I do my job, and Steve Hmiel does his job, and
Teresa owns the company and makes the final decisions. Don't
think for one minute just because she's not sitting on the pit
box that she is not fully engaged with what is happening with
our teams and our sponsors. 'She is running a company that has
had a tremendous curveball thrown its way the last 21/2 years,
and we're sitting here with two teams in the top 10, with
great sponsors, and we're moving forward on almost every
front. I feel there are a lot of race teams envying our
position. And that's a testament to what she's done. 'I think
she's done a pretty damn good job dealing with the personal
issues and company issues. There were a lot of things laid in
that lady's lap, and she's somehow been able to take the
company to a new level. And I think people ought to be
applauding her.' John Andretti will take over as DEI teammate
with Earnhardt and Michael Waltrip next week, but Norris said
that 2004 is still up for debate. And team sources said that
it could be a while before a decision is made. 'We have
options for that car,' Norris said. 'The sponsor knows who
those options are, and they're comfortable. We have two very
legitimate potential sponsors, but we're on their schedule.'
Winston Salem Journal
9/2/03
Bubbly is ruled out
Champagne will not be allowed on to the winner's podium
at the end of the Bahrain Formula One Grand Prix. The
race, to be held at the Bahrain International Circuit, in
Bahrain next April, will not allow any bubbly to flow during
post-race ceremonies as a mark of respect for the country's
Islamic traditions.
9/2/03
Denver race to stay on Labor Day weekend
This Denver Post
article says, Contrary to a television report Sunday night, the
Grand Prix of Denver is not looking to move from Labor Day weekend. CART's
Chris Pook, the CEO for the organization that fields cars for the race,
told KMGH-7 that he would pursue another date for next year's third event.
But John Frew, vice president and general manager of the Grand Prix of
Denver, said Monday that CART - which could be under new leadership within
a week - doesn't have the authority to change dates. "Chris Pook (was)
freelancing," Frew said from the Pepsi Center grounds, a day after Bruno
Junqueira won for the second time on the 1.65-mile course. "CART is in no
position to tell us the date has changed." The Grand Prix of Denver is
owned by Dover Motorsports Inc. and has 10 years remaining on a 12-year
contract, which specifies the race will be run Labor Day weekend, Frew
said. The contract is among the city of Denver, Kroenke Sports
Enterprises, which owns the Pepsi Center, and CART. There is an option
after the seventh year. Pook complained there were too many activities
taking place in the city, including the weekend-long Taste of Colorado and
Saturday night's Colorado-Colorado State football game. But Frew said he
would not consider a date change unless a national television network
demands it. "A different date wouldn't be all bad - but only because of
CBS," he said, referring to the network that is scheduled to televise as
many as 10 CART races next year. "As long as we're on Labor Day (weekend),
we'll never be on CBS." CBS annually televises the U.S. Open tennis
tournament during Labor Day weekend. "That will always trump us," Frew
said. Speed Channel has aired the race live the past two years.
9/2/03
Dale Jr. DEI rift continues,
visits Ganassi
Friction between Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his
stepmother Teresa Earnhardt continues to hold up a deal that
would legally bind Junior to the organization his father
founded. Sources say that Earnhardt Jr., who has never had a
formal contract with Dale Earnhardt Incorporated, was ready to
ink his deal last week. But after a brief meeting with Teresa
he walked away with the contract still unsigned. Most DEI
insiders believe that it is all a matter of time before an
agreement is reached. However, as long as Earnhardt Jr. is
still technically a free agent other teams are trying to
seduce the young star -- which may explain why Junior spent
four hours last week at the Chip Ganassi shop.
RPM.ESPN.com. Despite DEI's on-track success, the
Winston Cup garage has been rife with reports of in-house
problems, highlighted by Teresa's inability to sign Dale
Earnhardt Jr. to a new contract after months of negotiations,
and by reports from the Indy Racing League about DEI's failure
to sign two-time IRL champ Sam Hornish after long talks.
Norris denied the IRL report that Theresa vetoed his handshake
deal with Hornish for a Winston Cup ride. 'I told Dale Jr.
that Sam was the guy we wanted to drive our Busch car, and I
was going to put him in some ARCA races too, and run him in
the Daytona 500 and Brickyard 400 and all the Cup races after
the IRL season,' Norris said. 'But Dale talked with him and
said he didn't seem that interested, and Sam's agent said he
wasn't interested in a Busch ride.' Hornish signed an Indy-car
deal last week with Roger Penske, who runs Dodges in NASCAR
and Toyotas in the IRL. Dale Earnhardt Jr. has still not
signed his contract, Norris said. 'He has a couple of issues
he wants Teresa to address, and it's up to those two, but
there has been some movement. 'As far as 'power struggle,' I
do my job, and Steve Hmiel does his job, and Teresa owns the
company and makes the final decisions. Don't think for one
minute just because she's not sitting on the pit box that she
is not fully engaged with what is happening with our teams and
our sponsors.' John Andretti will take over as DEI teammate
with Earnhardt and Michael Waltrip next week, but Norris said
that 2004 is still up for debate. And team sources said that
it could be a while before a decision is made. 'We have
options for that car,' Norris said. 'The sponsor knows who
those options are, and they're comfortable. We have two very
legitimate potential sponsors, but we're on their schedule.'
Greg Biffle is reported to be on DEI's list of potential
driver. 'It's all open right now,' Norris said. 'John ran for
us at Indianapolis, and that was a great weekend for us to see
how he would interact with our guys. Now we want to see how he
does at Richmond, Loudon and Dover. If he has some consistent
runs, it will bode well for his career and our sponsor search.
'The sponsor front is a lot better than it was at the
beginning of the summer, when it was a really tough time for
everybody. I've been talking with other GMs, and they're all
pretty pleased with the sponsor movement. A lot of that has to
do with the work by Brett Yormark, Andrew Feit and Chris Brahe
in NASCAR's New York office, because during the entitlement
search they got companies excited about NASCAR.' Kraft, an
associate sponsor, won't be stepping up, Norris said. 'That's
not in their plans the next three years.'
Winston Salem Journal
9/2/03
Michelin to defy FIA warning
"If the FIA want to disqualify 10 cars from the final
results, then go ahead," Pascal Vasselon, Michelin's Formula
One program manager, told Italy's Gazzetta dello Sport
newspaper on Tuesday. He said that the French company's tires
were legal and Michelin saw no reason for change at a decisive
stage in the championship. Ferrari's Michael Schumacher, whose
car uses Bridgestone tires, is clinging to the overall lead by
one point from Williams' Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya and two
points from McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen. Williams, who lead
Ferrari in the constructors' standings by eight points with
three races remaining, and McLaren both run on Michelin tires
as do Renault, Jaguar and Toyota. Vasselon said that the tires
to be used by Michelin teams at Monza next week and in testing
at the circuit starting on Tuesday would have the same
dimensions as those used at the last Hungarian Grand Prix.
"Since our tires have been considered legal up to now there is
no reason to change them and above all we question the change
in the interpretation of the rules with the championship still
under way," he said. "The tires for these Monza tests were
manufactured in the days immediately after the Hungarian Grand
Prix and there was clearly not time to change them."
9/2/03
Schumacher 16th richest in world
According to Fortune magazine, to be published later this week,
Michael Schumacher is the 16th richest person in the world under the
age of 40. Top of the list is Russia's Roman Abramovich who is
estimated to be worth a cool $8.3 billion now that he has sold his
interests in Russia. He's also rumored to being interested in
starting a Formula 1 team.
Stewart & Petree ready for Richmond
truck go
The way Andy Petree looks at it, he and driver Tony
Stewart are undefeated at the .750-mile Richmond (Va.) International
Raceway, site of Thursday night’s Virginia Is For Lovers NASCAR
Craftsman Truck Series race. Stewart will drive Andy Petree Racing’s
Monaco Coaches/Diamond Rio Chevrolet in the race. A year ago, Stewart
and Petree won the event. The victory continued a string of strong
runs for Petree’s Truck teams, the previous ones coming with Petree
himself behind the wheel. “We’re in this to learn what we can learn
about the track and to have some fun, and we want to give Monaco
Coaches and Diamond Rio a great night,” Petree said. “But if we’re in
a race, we’re going to do everything we can to win it. If it’s Trucks
or Busch or Cup or a footrace, we’re going to work as hard as we can
and do everything we can do to win. That’s what it is all about.”
Stewart, the defending NASCAR Winston Cup champion and driver of Joe
Gibbs’ Home Depot Chevrolet, agreed. “The race might give us an idea
as to how the track will change on Saturday night, but for me, I’m
running this race for the fun of it,” Stewart said. “I just want to go
out and have a good time, and not worry about points for a night. I’ve
always enjoyed racing at Richmond, so I’m just looking forward to
getting another race - and, hopefully, another win - under my belt
there.” Stewart started 25th in the Richmond race a year ago but
steadily made his way to the front, taking advantage of his own
championship driving talents and the top-notch equipment fielded by
Andy Petree Racing. He grabbed the lead from Kevin Harvick 34 laps
from the end and never looked back, pulling away to a 0.259-second
victory. Petree is also fielding a car for young up-and-coming driver
Paul Menard through an ARCA, Busch and Winston Cup combination
program. Menard is driving the Turtle Wax/Menard’s entry in Friday
night’s NASCAR Busch Grand National race at Richmond as well, and that
car will have Monaco as an associate sponsor. Petree will be back
behind the wheel of the Monaco Coaches Chevrolet in the Craftsman
Series race at Martinsville, Va.
9/1/03
As NASCAR goes past its roots
An article in today's NY Times sports section is titled
"As NASCAR Goes Past Its Roots, Southerners See Betrayal" and was
written by Viv Burnstine. The gist of the story points out what is
good for NASCAR at this time, to move race dates to other markets, it
is also devastating to the economy of the local markets they leave.
Darlington will not feel the complete impact of the race date change,
like the community of Rockingham, which lost its race date completely.
9/1/03
A visit to the McLaren factory
This BBC
article gives you some insight on what it takes to build and
maintain a winning F1 car. It can best be described as simply
amazing.
9/1/03
Carl Russo's intentions A reader writes,
Dear AR1, The comments Carl Russo made regarding unification of the IRL and CART
really disturbed me, especially the part about Tony George running the whole show.
Considering this is a man who's on the record as saying he is seriously
considering running a full time IRL campaign in 2004, his interest in buying CART
is curious at best. It seems to me that this is just an attempt at buying
CART...only to kill it off later on and TG gets his way anyway. As much as I would
love to see AJ Allmendinger in ChampCars...if Russo wants the Indy 500 so
badly...then buy a Crapwagon and go IRL'ing to your heart's content..and leave CART
alone. Any CART fan should be very suspect of what Russo is proposing.
Regards, Joe Angers Boston, MA. Dear Joe, While I can understand why
you might draw that conclusion about Mr. Russo, let me set the facts straight - 1)
Carl does not want to own CART. He has made that perfectly clear. He
is only doing it because he's trying to save it. Carl does not have to buy
CART to kill it off. If he wanted to do that he could not buy it and just
let it die. 2) Anyone in their right mind knows that the split of Indy Car
racing has been almost fatal to the sport. Strategically it was perhaps the most
flawed idea in the history of racing. It should have never happened, but it
did. The sooner it's back together the better. If CART dies before
that happens, its fans will be disenfranchised and lost forever. CART must be
saved, strengthened and re-positioned. Then, if and when it makes sense to
merge with the IRL it will happen. 3) I wouldn't concern yourself with the IRL,
it's going nowhere fast. TV ratings are dropping, a 15,000 attendance at
Nazareth is considered good by some in the IRL paddock, drivers are being injured
at an alarming rate, and expensive equipment is being destroyed weekly. At
some point the participants will realize they have had enough and quit. Even IRL
faithful John Menard has packed it in and gone home two races in a row after his
umpteenth car was destroyed, and he's worth billions. 3) As for letting Tony
George run the whole show, if CART lives and is made stronger, I don't see the
CART owners giving up full control to Tony with nothing in return for all their
hard work and substantial financial investment. I envision a merger whereby
the CART folks will run the road racing division of the IndyCar league, Brian
Barnhart the oval division, some joint races, division and overall champions, the
Indy 500 with 33 strong starters again, and Tony as the Grand Poo-Pah "figurehead"
of IndyCar Racing, which is really all he wanted all along. By the way, some
have talked of just combining the best races of both series and having one unified
20-race series, but that would a) cause a lot of good venues to lose a race, and
b) put a lot of people out of work because only so many teams/drivers can fill a
grid. Instead I see each league/division keeping its 14 best races and teams
being required to run at least 6 races per year in the other division for a total
of 20 points paying races for each team. So while each division may only
have say, 16 strong cars each, when you add in the crossovers from the other
division on any given race weekend, you would have over 20 strong cars on the grid
each race, and of course 33 for Indy. And if there's any good that has come
out of the split, as miniscule as it is, it is the rivalry you would have between
the two divisions after all these years of hating each other. I believe
there was too much complacency in Indy Car racing. NASCAR thrives on rivalries
between drivers, teams and car makes. It would be analogous to some of the
rivalries we see in other sports where each side takes great pride in beating the
other. Sometimes the fans get out of hand, but in most cases it's limited to a
healthy exchange "your team stinks" kind of stuff. A fierce rivalry is
healthy for any sport. Mark C.
9/1/03
CART
pit fires A reader writes, Dear AR1, It seems to me that there is a very
simple solution to preventing pit fires and other potential catastrophes
associated with a driver being waved off too early by his crew. Steve Matchett
made a great point during the F3000 race at Hungary, that the rear of the car
should be on its air jacks until all service is done. This seems to make perfect
sense for both CART and F-1. Keep the car on its air jacks until all service is done,
then wave it off. Has CART considered implementing this as a rule? Regards, Joe
Angers, Boston, MA Dear Joe, Now that they have moved the air hose/jack
man behind the car and out of harms way, this idea makes perfect sense. When the
guy was next to the refueler and in danger of being hit by the rear wheel if the
driver tried to leave too early, it was thought it best to get him away from the
car ASAP and therefore, let the car off the jacks as soon as the tires were done.
Hopefully CART will make this change effective the next race. Mark C.
9/1/03
No major changes planned for NASCAR
point system
NASCAR is not likely to make any drastic changes to the
championship points system, instead focusing on alterations to the
cars. Since NASCAR adopted common templates this year, drivers have
complained that passing is nearly impossible and the competition is
too even. By fixing that - perhaps by reducing rear spoilers by a half
inch next season, thus cutting down on downforce - NASCAR officials
said Sunday it would help even out the current points system. NASCAR
has been toying with different ways to change the points system,
ranging from awarding extra bonuses for victories and poles and
changing the way points are given to cars finishing at the back of the
pack. But every formula under consideration has been applied to the
past 10 years final point standings, and NASCAR spokesman Jim Hunter
said the champion never changed. Plus, talk of making changes is
insulting to current points leader Matt Kenseth, who has built a
tremendous lead through consistency and just one victory this season.
NASCAR is still considering awarding extra points for victories and
poles, but Hunter said changes to the way points are given to the back
of the field will likely not change.
AP/ThatsRacin.com
9/1/03
Nadeau could test soon
Jerry Nadeau goes back to the doctor next week and if he gets
clearance he could be approved for testing at Concord and Kentucky.
'We'd put him in a late model at Concord, and give him his own team and
let him go over there any time he wants to,' general manager Jay Frye
says.
Winston Salem Journal
F1 news in brief - 2
ON OCTOBER 18, a Formula One car will run on Russian soil for the
first time, on the streets of Moscow. Its pilots for the
demonstration? Fernando Alonso and Jarno Trulli, at the helm of a
Renault R23B. 'I am looking forward to sharing my passion with the
Russian public,' said Trulli.
LOUISE GRIFFITHS, perhaps better known as Jenson Button's girlfriend,
has been rejected by viewers of TV talent show Fame Academy. The
25-year-old is the fifth contestant to be cast out but is nonetheless
delighted to be heading home to her F1-racing man. 'He is the love of
my life,' she said.
MINARDI DRIVERS Jos Verstappen and Nicolas Kiesa enjoyed their first
try at NASCAR-style racing on Saturday with a run in the West-Tec
Chevrolet Monte-Carlo at Rockingham. Jos, a Dutchman, did five laps in
the 500bhp, V8-powered machine. 'It's hard,' he said. Visibility is
less and it's a lot heavier than my F1 car.'
AND ON Sunday, Jos won his first-ever F1 race - at the helm of an
'impressive' two-seater Minardi for the team's 'Thunder At The Rock'
day at Rockingham. Teamed with pop star JK, Verstappen said: 'I can't
believe how close the two-seater is to my race car in terms of
performance. I only wish this had been a real Grand Prix!'
9/1/03
F1 news in brief - 1
FOUR FORMULA One fans were injured on the weekend near Sauber's team
base in Hinwil, Switzerland. On a 'fan day,' a demonstration of an old
C5 sportscar went wrong and it crashed into a spectator area. The fans
in question got away with little more than a few cuts and bruises.
F3000 CHAMPION Bjorn Wirdheim might not, as planned, drive a Jordan on
the Friday morning of next weekend's Italian Grand Prix. Zsolt
Baumgartner, who filled in for an injured Ralph Firman in Budapest,
paid a quarter of a million dollars for that drive and might also be
included in the free testing at Monza.
MINARDI CHIEF Paul Stoddart crashed a 2001-spec PS01 F1 car on
Saturday at Rockingham. For his team's 'Thunder' extravaganza, the
48-year-old Australian and racing enthusiast lost control of the
ex-Fernando Alonso car and hit a concrete wall. 'I don't have anyone
to blame for that bill!' he smiled.
DAVID COULTHARD conjured red faces but no laughs when he let a risqué
joke slip at the recent Laureus Sports awards in Monaco. Introducing
pole vaulter Sergei Bubka, the 32-year-old called him a 'Ukrainian
with a big pole'. 'I decided to ignore the autocue and in my head I
was giggling away,' said the Scot.
9/1/03
Denver
attendance While no official attendance figures were released, it was
clear the Saturday attendance numbers were down this year because of the
threatening clouds. However, on
Sunday the majority of grandstands were full, again despite the rain showers in
the morning and threatening skies. On the pace lap a couple of
grandstands were quite barren, but that was because many fans were taking in the
plethora of concessions and other entertainment around the track and it took them
time to cross the bridges to get over to their seats. 10 laps into the race and
the grandstands looked as full as 2002. There were reports the race was
sold-out though we saw no evidence of that. Last year's race-day attendance was
60,000 and we would put this year's at about 50,000 to 55,000. The race was also up
against the Taste of Denver event which draws 500,000 for the weekend. On
Saturday the big Colorado U vs. Colorado State football game was in town. Mark C.
9/1/03
Ticket
sale date set for Bahrain
The flag is up for the Middle East's first-ever Formula One
Grand Prix - to be held in Bahrain on April 4 next year. (See race's
website) Tickets
will go on sale on September 21 and 100,000 spectators are expected to
flock to the three-day event. Those who can't find accommodations in
Bahrain will spill over into neighboring countries, say officials. The
date, first reported exclusively by the GDN in May this year, was
officially announced yesterday by Bahrain Motor Federation president
Shaikh Tariq bin Mohammed Al Khalifa. A new track logo (shown at
right) and a new name - the Bahrain International Circuit - were also
unveiled at a Press conference at the Ritz-Carlton Bahrain Hotel and
Spa. The track has up to now been known as the Bahrain Racing Circuit.
The race is on to finish the Sakhir track and all its facilities by
March 7, with Shaikh Tariq confident of beating the deadline. "We have
seven months to go till this date, but we would like to assure
everyone that we are ahead of schedule," he said.
8/31/03
CART Board meeting set for Thursday We
heard rumblings over the weekend that a deal had been reached between Open Wheel
Racing Series LLC and CART. However, Kevin Kalkhoven told AR1 they were
close, but not quite there. Today we learned there will be another CART
Board meeting on Thursday, where hopefully a final price will be agreed upon.
The rumor is that Open Wheel Racing Series LLC has made, or will make a
counteroffer, we assume something above their already bid price of $0.50, but
that's just conjecture. Mark C.
8/31/03
Please CART, we need the button A reader
writes, AR1 After watching today's Denver race on SPEED Channel, and then
listening to driver after driver say after the race it was impossible to get
around the driver in front of them, I am now convinced beyond a doubt that CART
needs the push-to-pass button we have read so much about on AutoRacing1. As
a long time fan of CART's, if I have to sit through another year of follow-the-leader
racing, I simply won't. It's been a year now since I first heard about this
idea, and I have had to endure an entire 2003 season of, as AR1 calls them,
parades. Joe Disgusted in Tampa Melling Dear Joe, Only Mario
Dominguez did any passing all race long, but hang in there
until 2004 when we hear the button will be in use. If not, CART must have a
death wish, or they like their title of the USA's #1 parade company.
Everyone likes to be #1 in something. Mark C. P.S. None
of the races at Denver had any passes for the lead this weekend. None have a
push-to-pass button. Maybe they should. If CART and its support series
want to be in the urban racing business, they had better take a hard look at the
on-track entertainment value they are delivering to their customers.
8/31/03
Pruett holds off Said in Denver Scott
Pruett proved his lack of experience at Denver didn’t matter, as
he simply dominated Sunday’s MotoRock Mile 100, part of the Centrix
Financial Grand Prix of Denver, and recorded his seventh victory in nine
MotoRock Trans-Am Tour for the BFGoodrich Tires Cup starts this season.
Pruett, driver of the No. 7 MotoRock Jaguar XKR, led from the pole at
Denver’s 1.647-mile temporary street course, and then held off defending
champion and last year’s Denver race winner Boris Said for the victory.
Said (No. 33 ACS/GE Access/Sun Microsystems Ford Mustang), Johnny Miller
(No. 64 Eaton Cutler-Hammer Jaguar XKR), finished second and third, while
Stu Hayner (No. 2 GMAC Commercial Finance/Trenton Forging Chevrolet
Corvette) rebounded from early contact with Tomy Drissi (No. 5 Stuck on
You, The Movie Jaguar XKR) to finish fourth. Justin Bell (No. 59 Ultama
Swimwear Chevrolet Corvette), filling in for Simon Gregg, who is
recovering from minor elective surgery, finished fifth. “This season has
been just terrific,” said Pruett, who leaves Denver, unofficially, with a
49-point lead in the championship. “We ran hard here, but left a little on
the table. You can’t challenge this track 100%; one little bobble and you
can lose a half a second or more. You’ve got to be heads up enough not to
get in too deep and pay a big price. We were really laying it down. At the
beginning, my car had an ugly understeer, but by the end, it was sweet.
The car really came in well. “Both Boris (Said) and I race in Winston Cup,
so we’re used to leaning on each other a bit,” added Pruett, who with his
21st career victory tied Bob Tullius for fourth on the all-time Trans-Am
win list. “It makes it more of a challenge. If you’re in the position to
do it, you let the guy in front know he needs to speed up or move out of
the way.” With his victory, Pruett earned the BFGoodrich Tires Take
Control Award for leading the most laps, after being presented the Jaguar
Pole Award, when he was placed on the pole after qualifying was rained
out, and the grid was set by combined practice times. In fact, the only
award Pruett didn’t win was the Flowmaster American Thunder Challenge
Award, which will roll over to the next Trans-Am Series race in Miami.
Since the award wasn’t claimed at Road America, it will be worth $6,000 in
the MotoRock Miami 100. Said admitted he tried to challenge Pruett, and in
fact ran nose to tail with the two-time Series champion early in the
event. However, in the end, Said didn’t have enough car to make the pass.
“I used my car up pretty well all race,” said Said, who earned his fourth
podium finish this year in four starts. “We are a little disappointed.
This is my last Trans-Am race this season, and I really wanted to go out
with a win. We also wanted to put on a good show for (sponsor) GE Access.
They’re local and we wanted to give them a win here. I tried to get up
close to Pruett to put a fender on him, but we just came up a little bit
short.” Miller said if qualifying hadn’t been rained out, Sunday’s results
might have been much different. Miller started fourth. “I think not having
the chance to qualify played a role in our race today,” said Miller.
“We’ve had a good car all weekend and would have likely had a solid
qualifying effort. We basically finished where we started; it’s so tough
to pass on this track. You get one foot off line here and the car just
sails.” The race ran in one hour and 15.342 minutes at an average speed of
77.342 miles per hour. Pruett set the track race lap record of 1:12.121
minutes at an average 82.212 miles per hour. The race was slowed by the
caution flag from laps 44 through 47. Miller and Said each earned one
bonus point for being within five seconds of leader Pruett on the Fast
Five Lap, lap 12 here. Today’s MotoRock Mile High 100 will air on
tape-delayed basis tomorrow (Monday, Sept. 1) at 1:30 EDT on SPEED
Channel. The next race for the Trans-Am Series, the MotoRock Miami 100,
Round 10 of the 2003 MotoRock Trans-Am Tour championship is scheduled for
the weekend of Sept. 26-28, as part of the Grand Prix of Americas in
downtown Miami.
1. (1) Scott Pruett, Jaguar XKR, 59, Running.
2. (2) Boris Said, Ford Mustang, 59, Running.
3. (64) Johnny Miller, Jaguar XKR, 59, Running.
4. (4) Stu Hayner, Chevrolet Corvette, 59, Running.
5. (9) Justin Bell, Chevrolet Corvette, 59, Running.
6. (7) Bobby Sak(R), Chevrolet Corvette, 59, Running.
7. (10) Randy Ruhlman, Chevrolet Corvette, 59, Running.
8. (3) Jorge Diaz, Jr(R), Jaguar XKR, 59, Running.
9. (8) Michael Lewis, Jaguar XKR, 59, Running.
10. (12) John Baucom, Jaguar XKR, 58, Running.
11. (14) Joey Scarallo (R), Chevrolet Corvette, 58, Running.
12. (13) Mike Davis, Ford Mustang, 57, Running.
13. (17) Glenn Andrew, Chevrolet Camaro, 54, Running.
14. (18) George Nolte (R), Ford Mustang, 54, Running.
15. (5) Tomy Drissi, Jaguar XKR, 13, Suspension.
16. (16) Marvin Jones (R), Qvale Mangusta, 4, Engine.
17. (11) Rick Lee (R), Qvale Mangusta, 0, Mechanical.
18. (15) Wayne Hartzler (R), Chevrolet Camaro, 0, Mechanical.
Race Statistics
Time of race: 1:12.121
Margin of victory: 1.176 seconds.
Winner's average speed: 82.212 mph.
Caution flags: 1 for 4 laps.
Lead changes: 0.
Lap leaders: Pruett 1-59.
8/31/03
Plans for Silverstone
Silverstone bosses are drawing up a $ 80 million
development plan to save the British Grand Prix and make their
circuit a world center for motorsports. The British
Racing Drivers' Club, owners of Silverstone, will put their
proposal to the government via the East Midlands Development
Agency in a bid to secure the race until 2015. "We've
done a lot of work already, and we intend to go on making
improvements. We are prepared to put in more money, but we
don't have the money to do it on our own. There are four
parties involved, and all of us have to play our part.
"We shall be putting our proposal to the EMDA and hopefully in
the next few weeks we can move on to the next stage."
The circuit was given a huge boost by last month's spectacular
British GP, and public support has grown. Stewart said: "I
think there is, more and more, the realization that this is a
matter of national importance. It's about jobs and the economy
as well as motor racing. Everyone appreciates we have to find
a solution."
8/31/03
Ritchie Hearn to drive for Menard We
bumped into Ritchie Hearn in the CART paddock today. He told us he
tested for John Menard and will drive for them at Chicagoland next
weekend.
8/31/03
Russo confirms role in buyout In
this AP
article, Carl Russo confirms his involvement in the CART buyout,
and reiterates what we here at AR1 have said, if CART dies, its fans will
be so bitter they will never embrace the IRL. Both sides must see it
as a merger. Russo says, "In the long-term, there should be just one
series. What might make that happen, I don't know. Everyone I talk to here
wants to run here and run the ovals and run at Indy. Everyone I talk to in
the IRL wants to run ovals and road races. It is very clear that virtually
everyone I have interacted with wants to see it become one series.
The first thing we have to do is not disenfranchise the fans by
letting it die. Instead we need to invest in it and keep these fans, and
grow the fan base and see if we can bring the two back together."
8/31/03
[Paul] Newman's Own This Denver
Post
article Contains an interview with CART team owner Paul Newman.
A portion of the article: Q: How intense is your commitment to keep the Champ Car World
Series alive? A: It's furious. Q: Did you ever consider driving Champ Cars? A: I've driven them, but for me to compete out there, I'd probably
take out six or seven cars on the first lap, if I survived. It's way over
my head. Q: You started racing at age 47, after playing the role of an Indy
driver in the 1969 film "Winning." Did you ever consider giving up acting
to compete in another series regularly? A: Yeah, I was starting to get tired of acting. It's funny, passion
bleeds into everything that you do. (But racing) kind of invigorated me as
an actor. That's my wife's theory. I don't know whether it's mine or not,
but it sounds good. Q: Do you foresee a merger between the IRL and CART, or do you
think both circuits can survive on their own? A: Well, ultimately, the health of open wheel racing probably
depends on them coming together. How that comes together, I don't know. Q: What do you think of the Grand Prix of Denver? A: I wish the track was a little longer. It used to be that the
cars would give out, the tires, the brakes, and the guy who was smart and
conserved his car had a chance to move up. But now the cars are so
absolutely equal, you're behind a car that's a 10th of a second slower,
it's awful hard to get around, unless he makes a mistake. The tires and
the brakes don't give out anymore, so that's when technology works against
you sometimes.
8/31/03
Hall wins Fran-Am race Charles
Hall, who is from Sheffield, England, was the winner in Saturday's Fran-Am
race. Hall won the 24-lap race nipping Andrew Ranger of Roxton Pond,
Quebec, Canada by a mere 0.895 of a second. "This is great for my team,"
Hall said. "I'm glad I could get them their first win. I didn't know how
the track would be on the first lap after the rain, but I made my moves
stick and kept the lead. (Ranger) came up late in the race and we did have
a touch, but it was OK. I was feeling some rain and just needed to drive
fast. It worked."
8/31/03
Mexico puts racing right after soccer
This Denver Post
article says, As far as Mexicans are concerned, the World Cup is
in Denver this weekend. CART drivers Michel Jourdain Jr., Adrian
Fernandez, Mario Dominguez and Rodolfo Lavín represent a country that has
become almost as passionate about auto racing as soccer. "I would say
soccer is No. 1 and racing No. 2," Jourdain said of Mexico's top sports.
"Boxing has been good, too, (but) there's not a big boxer right now."
Jourdain, 26, has become Mexico's big racer. He's third in the Champ Car
World Series standings, just seven points behind second-place Bruno
Junqueira of Brazil and 35 behind leader Paul Tracy of Canada. Fernandez,
40, who has one victory, is eighth in points, and the 27-year-old
Dominguez is 10th. Rookie Lavín, 26, is 17th overall and sixth among nine
rookies. With Mexico's combined four drivers' points, the country is
second in the Nation's Cup standings. Mexico trails Canada, which is
represented by Las Vegas residents Tracy, Patrick Carpentier and Alex
Tagliani. Defending Nation's Cup champion Brazil, spearheaded by
Junqueira, the 2002 Grand Prix of Denver winner, is third. Jourdain, who
lives in Mexico City - near the racetrack where 192,000 fans flocked to
CART's three-day event in March - was treated like a gold-medal hero after
last Sunday's Molson Indy Montreal. "We were there in Canada and I won,
and there were Mexican flags all over the podium," Jourdain said. "Because
of something I did, they played the national anthem in Canada. That
feeling is great, when you hear the Mexicans singing. It's like winning
the gold medal in the Olympics." Jourdain said the celebration really got
emotional in Mexico City. His victory was the hot topic not only in
Mexico's capital but most of the country. He shared the front page of
virtually all the country's newspapers with Ana Gabriela Guevara, who won
the 400 meters Wednesday at the world track and field championships. "It
was huge," Jourdain said. "(Racing) is getting bigger and bigger for us,
and the two Mexico races really help. Our (first) race down there is the
biggest event in the spring." To the delight of CART, Mexicans take the
Champ Car World Series to heart. The circuit's two road races in Mexico,
at Fundidora Park in Monterrey and the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriquez in
Mexico City, are CART's most attended events. "They're a big part of our
business model," CART CEO Chris Pook said. "We're about Canada, the U.S.
and Mexico. The capability of this series hinges on how we reach these
markets. With respect to geography, and with the exception of a couple
holes in the U.S., we got this place covered."......"Denver is a great
city, and this is an important market for our team and the series,"
Fernandez said. "We have a lot of fans here, and we are looking forward to
putting on a good show for them." Roberto Martinez-Maestre, president of
Denver's El Hispano newspaper, said the success of Mexican CART drivers
has largely gone unnoticed in the United States. "In general in the United
States, people think all we care about is soccer," he said. "So the fact
that these four guys are here representing Mexico, and the fact that Bruno
is here representing Brazil, along with three other Brazilian drivers, it
tells you that there is a big following for our sport in Latin America."
8/31/03
Denver loses out if support for CART folds
This Denver Post
article says, The Grand Prix of Denver has the feel of walking
through Lakewood's Villa Italia, the showcase shopping mall in the metro
area as recently as the 1980s, in its final years. Or, if you want a
sporting example, attending a game in the final days of one of the many
franchises that have come and gone in Denver, whether Francoise Durr and
the Racquets tennis team or Chico Resch and the old hockey Colorado
Rockies. You sensed the end was coming. You usually were right. A year ago
at the Denver race, the circuit's governing organization - Championship
Auto Racing Teams - gathered team owners on one two-tiered dais in the
Pepsi Center press room. Under prompting, and with varying decisiveness
and sincerity, they proclaimed the 2003 CART circuit would be healthy and
stocked with enough teams to make it competitively viable in the ongoing
rivalry with the Indy Racing League. The defiant production was staged as
much to provide reassurance for the traveling CART community, including
specialized auto-racing media, as to provide copy for anyone from a local
outlet. With CART losing thousands of dollars on every 2003 lap, and
survival questionable, a publicly staged Second Annual CART-Will-Survive
Summit in Denver wouldn't have been credible. But a group of four team
owners, including Carl Russo of the Colorado-based RuSport, is attempting
to buy the publicly traded CART operation at a rock-bottom price and keep
it going beyond this year. The circuit is worth saving, and so is the
Grand Prix of Denver. We'll find out today whether the race again is a
no-passing zone on the temporary street course, but all signs point to the
continuation of the precedents of last year. Regardless, the state-fair
atmosphere on the Pepsi Center grounds and open-wheel racing itself still
can be enjoyable to watch and experience. And if a CART sale keeps Denver
in the picture until either the bugs can be worked out of the Pepsi Center
course or a suitable temporary road-course alternative can be found in the
area, it would be a checkered flag for the Colorado racing constituency.
Denver would win. Denver would win because it would give Grand Prix
organizers time to make this one of the top stops in open-wheel racing and
an obvious choice when the IRL and CART schedules are merged. Now, Denver
wouldn't make the cut. Put another way, if CART folds, there will be no
2004 Grand Prix of Denver. The IRL would grab the best CART stops and
won't even give Denver a look. Yes, that would be unfortunate. Open-wheel
isn't everyone's can of oil, but done right, it's the best show in racing.
"What we should be doing in open-wheel racing is save every fan we can,"
Russo said. "That's why we'd save this series. You have this set of fans,
IRL has that set of fans, and we'd like to bring them together. Then you'd
have something far more powerful. ... So let's get on with it. Let's keep
the fan base, let's grow the events, let's winnow out the weak ones and
bring it back together." That means one series. Eventually.
More.....
8/31/03
Russo's goal is to get CART & IRL back
together [Editor's Note: this article reiterates the same
conversation we had at Mid-Ohio with Carl Russo] This Denver
Post
article says, Carl Russo, one of four CART owners attempting to
buy the troubled Champ Car World Series, doesn't want to be viewed as a
savior. Along with partners Gerald Forsythe, Paul Gentilozzi and Kevin
Kalkhovan, he simply wants to establish a better relationship with the
Indy Racing League - with the hope that the two circuits become one.
"It's real simple," Russo, who owns Loveland-based RuSport, a two-car
CART Toyota Atlantic Championship team, said Saturday at the Grand Prix of
Denver. "There are two ways to get back to a single series. One is to let
this die. The other is to strengthen it and then sit down and figure out a
way to bring it back together (to one series). That's the approach we're
taking." Russo and his partners recently formed Open Wheel Racing Series
and offered a bargain-basement price of 50 cents per share for the
outstanding shares of the company that had an initial offering of $17 per
share in 1998. If the parties strike a deal, presumably for twice as much
as the initial offer, Russo said his group would have no long-term
interest in running the series. "Fundamentally, none of us want to own a
series," he said. "But nobody else is doing anything. It didn't look like
anybody was going to put in an offer, and it was clear that CART was going
to disappear before the end of the 2004 season." Preserving elite-level
North American road and street racing motivated Russo to join Forsythe,
Gentilozzi and Kalkhovan. If CART dies, the oval-only IRL likely would
take over a handful of CART's most successful and established races. But
if CART can negotiate a merger, events such as the Grand Prix of Denver
have a chance to survive. "Talk to the people in this paddock, they all
want it to be one series. Talk to the people in (the IRL) paddock, they
all want to be one series. Talk to the sponsors, they all want to be one
series," Russo said. "Everybody here wants to be running Indy, and
everybody (in the IRL) wants to be running at Long Beach and Montreal.
What's in the way?" Russo declined to guess if the deal will happen. But
if it doesn't, and nobody else makes an offer, the Grand Prix of Denver
might end in the same amount of time as the 1990 and '91 Denver races near
the state capitol. "I'd like to see it go through, obviously, otherwise we
wouldn't have made the offer," he said. "But I don't have any
expectations. There's still a lot of negotiating going on and outside
issues that have to be resolved. I wouldn't even venture to put odds on
it. But we very much want it to go through."
8/31/03
Any new manufacturers for CART?
A reader writes, Dear AR1, Are there any signs that CART is even close to
signing a new engine manufacturer for the Champ Car Series? The
racing is good this year, and I like the fact that everyone has equal HP,
but it's clear to me Ford isn't spending much money in CART and how can
they advertise they won every race when in fact they are only beating
themselves? Daniel Rodgers, Vancouver, BC Dear Daniel,
We are not
aware of any new engine manufacturers on the horizon for CART. If
it's just Ford again for 2004, the new series owners are going to lose a
lot of money. And your point about Ford not spending a lot of money
in CART is true, financially the company can't afford it right now and
traditionally they don't spend a lot on advertising their involvement in
CART even when they were beating Honda and Toyota. Without car
manufacturers in the series, and the related companies they bring along
with them as sponsors, CART will die. If you don't believe us just,
just look at how much money CART lost in just this one year (2003).
Death is pretty much certain without additional manufacturer support.
The losses for CART this year are staggering because Honda and
Toyota spent so much money in CART for all sorts of things, the least of
which was team support and TV ad time, both a big money drain for CART
this year. From our perspective CART's only hope to land more
desperately needed manufacturers in the foreseeable future is to badge the
existing Cosworth engines by up to five manufacturers. In it's current
state of near-death, we doubt any manufacturer would deem CART
commercially viable to spend hundreds of million of dollars to design and
build a new engine for CART, and if they did, we doubt Ford would be
willing to respond with a new engine design to compete head-to-head.
This badging concept is win-win for everyone but is anyone in CART
actively working on it? Has a detailed proposal been written and
sent to all manufacturers around the world for consideration, for the 2004
season? The clock certainly is ticking. Will any want to do
it? We think so, if the right people are making the sales pitch. We
have already made a strong case for why this "tolling fee/badging" model
makes absolute sense for CART and for Ford (Ford would get a portion of
the tolling fee from each manufacturer to supply engines to them with
their name boldly displayed on the cam covers.) Here's some
additional food for thought. We have documented on these pages the
logarithmic rise in the China auto industry, but to the world market, they
are largely invisible....for now. The China auto manufacturers need to
demonstrate that they even exist to consumers around the world in
preparation for their cars being sold in the USA market and elsewhere in
the coming years. With so many world manufacturers already producing their
brands (in joint ventures) for the Chinese market, CART could be the
perfect outlet to launch an "awareness" campaign, especially if CART were
to add that rumored race in Beijing as icing on the cake. The amount of
money for the Chinese automotive manufacturers to associate with CART
under this badging scenario would be miniscule because they would not have
to design and build a new-from-scratch racing engine, but could use CART
as a marketing vehicle. The problem is does the current CART regime know
whom or how to establish communication with the Chinese manufacturers? We
know of just the individual who could do that, but it's not our position
to intervene. We don't run CART. What about the South Korean
manufacturers? What about Cadillac or Chevy? Chevy badges a Cosworth in
the IRL already. The possibilities are endless, but each day the CART
ownership issue drags on, is another day lost to CART getting additional
engine manufacturers in the series and plugging the profuse bleeding of
money. Of course the current regime could be writing the detailed proposal
to go out to all manufacturers and they could be talking to Ford's Dan
Davis about renegotiating the contract with Ford (the Cosworth contract
would still be an exclusive) but are they? Not according to our
sources. Meanwhile, the clock is ticking and the final nail could
soon be driven..... Mark Cipolloni
8/31/03
Four injured at Sauber Fan Day
According to the reports in the Blick newspaper,
four people were injured at Sauber’s fan club day at Army
Motor Park in Hinwil yesterday when Walter Schumacher crashed
the team’s C5 into a fence. While stunned fans watched on in
horror, the red 200 hp car spun after Schumacher was
reportedly showing off with his son beside him and lost
control after a left turn. One of the injured was Blick’s own
photographer, Erwin W. Wyrsch, who suffered face and leg
injuries. Thankfully the injuries were not serious while two
fans also suffered shock. “I’m sorry” Schumacher was quoted as
saying.
8/31/03
Renault to make demonstration
run in Turkey
On Saturday, 18 October, 2003, a Formula 1 team will
run on Russian soil for the first time. One week after the end
of the 2003 Formula 1 season, the Mild Seven Renault F1 Team,
with race drivers Jarno Trulli and Fernando Alonso, will touch
down in Moscow for a public demonstration of the latest F1
technology in the Russian capital. This unique event,
organized with the full support of the national and City of
Moscow authorities, will see the Mild Seven Renault F1 Team
run their cars through the city streets, allowing the many
Russian fans to get up close to both cars and drivers. "This
event is a privilege for us," commented Renault F1 Team
Chairman Patrick Faure. "The Russian people are real car
enthusiasts, and big Formula 1 fans. Moreover, an F1 car has
never run on Russian soil. I am pleased that our team will be
the first to take this important step, and even more so
because Renault has strong historical links with Russia, on
which the company will continue to build in the future." Mild
Seven Renault F1 Team driver Jarno Trulli is equally
enthusiastic: "I am looking forward to sharing my passion for
Formula 1 with the Russian public. Compared to a Grand Prix,
this kind of event allows the fans to really get up close and
experience what F1 is all about. It's going to be a special
day for the spectators, and for the team." Teammate Fernando
Alonso agrees. "In May, when I ran my F1 car in downtown
Madrid, we had over 100,000 spectators turn up. That was an
unforgettable day, and I think we can expect the same thing in
Moscow. It will be fun meeting the Russian fans and showing
them for the first time what an F1 car can really do!"
8/31/03
Rookie
Monteiro has best qualifying effort ever
Rookie pilot Tiago Monteiro drove the #7 Fittipaldi-Dingman Racing entry
to the team’s best qualifying result of the season today in Denver. The
young Portuguese driver will start 5th on tomorrow’s grid for the Centrix
Financial Grand Prix of Denver after finishing 3rd in today’s session with
a fast lap time of 101.628. The team’s previous best qualifying was 9th in
Milwaukee. Monteiro was elated with today’s qualifying. “It definitely
feels nice to perform so well,” he said. “We’ve been strong all weekend;
the car’s been going good since we arrived. I was a little concerned about
tire pressure with such short qualifying laps, but my engineer did a good
job on the tire pressures. Instead of one good lap yesterday, I was able
to push hard for two laps today. We had a better balanced car. I’m really
happy for everyone; the team and myself. Now all we have to do is finish!”
Legendary champion and team owner Emerson Fittipaldi is delighted with the
way the weekend has progressed thus far. “I’m very pleased with Tiago’s
performance; the best of the season so far. He’s showing more maturity and
better speed. I’m extremely happy with the team’s effort. Don (Bricker) is
doing a great job engineering the car. We’re moving up on the grid every
race, so I am very, very happy. I think we have a good chance to finish in
the top 3 tomorrow.” Team owner James Dingman was thrilled with the day's
result. “I’m very excited for Tiago,” he said. “He deserves this after the
last couple of weeks of unfortunate mishaps. Hopefully this is the first
step toward a great end to a great weekend. I’d also like to thank the
crew for giving Tiago a car that enabled him to be where he is today.”
Photo by Mark Cipolloni/AR1
8/31/03 Industry News
Toyota poised to become biggest USA car
seller To understand the ongoing assault by foreign
automakers in the United States, look no further than the traditional car
market. If sales trends don't change dramatically, Toyota will sell more
cars in the United States this year than each of the two brands that have
dominated for a century: Chevrolet and Ford. It would mark the first time
a foreign automaker has held that mantle and illustrates the growing
impact of Toyota Motor Corp., Honda Motor Co., Nissan Motor Co. and
Hyundai Motor Co., all of which continue to expand their domestic lineups
and manufacturing capacity. "What you're seeing from Toyota is an
expansion into new segments, both on the production and sales side, and a
further entrenchment of their strong sales position in current vehicles
like the Camry and Corolla," said Michael Robinet, vice president of
global forecasting for CSM Worldwide, which provides market information
and forecasts to more than 350 automotive suppliers. On the passenger car
side, Toyota, excluding its Lexus luxury brand, sold 520,991 cars in the
United States through July, about 20,000 more than Ford and nearly 47,000
more than Chevy, General Motors Corp.'s top-selling brand.
More.....
8/30/03
Denver GP gets approval to use banned fuel
additive
The Grand Prix of Denver received a one-time exemption from state health
rules to use a fuel additive that has been banned because it poses a
danger to water and humans. The Legislature banned MTBE in 2000
after California studies showed it contaminated water and may cause cancer in
humans. The director of Colorado's Air Pollution Control Division
authorized the use of MTBE on Monday after a Grand Prix fuel supplier
realized a week before the race that the chemical was illegal in the
state. The race will be run Sunday after qualifying on Friday and
Saturday. Using MTBE-based fuel at the race ''does not appear to
pose any threat to Colorado's environment or to groundwater,'' the
director of the division, Margie Perkins, said in an Aug. 25 letter to VP
Racing Fuels of Delaware. Perkins said only a small number of cars
in the race require the additive. The fuel will be stored above ground in
tanks or drums, where leaks into groundwater are unlikely, she said.
Doug Benevento, head of the Colorado Department of Public Health and
Environment, said the Grand Prix would have been canceled without the
exemption. He said no exemption would be granted next year.
Steve Glazer, who follows state water pollution issues for the Sierra
Club, said health regulators should ensure that precautions are taken to
prevent spills. Perkins said the health department would take
enforcement action if MTBE fuel is spilled or released.
AP
8/30/03
AR1 chats with Kenny Brack
AR1 was at Chicagoland testing today and interviewed a few
drivers, one being Team Rahal driver Kenny Brack. Q. First time here, what's your impression? Brack: "It's a nice track. It's smooth and it's fast
and it's got a lot of banking. I think it's going to be a
really exciting race here." Q. Remind you of Kansas Speedway at all? Brack: "Uh, yeah. Kansas is uh, this place is a little
tighter it feels like than Kansas. It's gonna be same type of
racing as Kansas probably." Q. You are the only driver here that has a chance
to win here and has won at the oval in Cicero. It's closed now
and they are going to tear it down. Brack: "Really? I didn't know that. What a shame. So
yeah, we''ll see about that. I don't know, that could be a
nice thing I guess. But I have never really thought of it that
way." Q. What do you enjoy more, driving or performing
with your Rock band, and what is the name of your new CD? Brack: "(Laugh) The new CD is titled "Live from
Nashville" which we recorded live there and I think it turned
out really really good. We are going to release it next week
and it's for charity and it sounds really good. But you know,
it's really two different things. Racing is my day job,
serious stuff. Ya know, there's not so many old people in Rock
and Roll I feel. (Laugh) It suites me better. AR1: (This 57 year old walked away from this interview
with his microphone hanging between his legs). Rick
Schenk
8/30/03
AR1 chats with Scott Sharp
AR1 was at Chicagoland testing today and interviewed a few
drivers, one being longtime IRL driver Scott Sharp. Q. Welcome home. Sharp: "Yeah. Yeah, it's good to be back here. Ya know,
what's great is the opportunity obviously goes without saying
how big this race is and comes in a strong time in a
championship run. A track we have done as a team quite well on
also. We have not done a lot of testing this summer and I
think we have fallen behind a bit because of that. So it's
great to have a chance to come here today and we might even
run into tomorrow. Really tune-up our big track setup for the
final three races." Q. Realistically, what can you guys get
accomplished with the three races that are left? Sharp: "As far as points go or what?" Q. Yes Sharp: "Well, I haven't even really thought about that.
We just try to maximize every weekend. You know? Let the
points fall where they do. Ya know, sometimes, I had a couple
great races; finished fourth at Michigan and I actually fell
back in the points (laugh). Ya know so it all depends where
everyone else finishes around you of course. But if we can
just finish the year off strongly that would be a big kick for
us. Realistically we know probably top 300 points is gone. If
we could somehow find a way to break ourselves in the top five
or six we would be pretty pleased about that." Q. Intro stated "Welcome Home", does that mean
you are from around this area? Sharp: "No, no. I'm just here a lot. I ran a couple,
this year IROC race here, last year IROC race here, of course
IRL race every year they have had it here. We were here for
the track opening. Delphi has always been highly involved with
the track which is wonderful. It's a track I love running on
for one, a track we have done well on two. So it just feels
comfortable being here." Q. Do you wish that IRL would run one or two road
courses and get away from so much oval racing? Sharp: "Uh, ya know? I don't have that high on my wish
list that that has to happen. I spent a lot of years racing
road courses so I think that would be great for me personally
if that happens. And if it does, I think that's one more step
towards getting the series back as one series so I'm an advocate
of that. But ya know? When and how doesn't concern me so much.
I mean, I'm sure it will happen at the right time." Q. How old are you? Sharp: "35" Q. About time to retire then? Sharp: "Look at the guys around me. Hopefully my
teammates, uh what's Al; 41, 42? Somewhere in there and he's
still running strong. So, uh, he's good inspiration for me. I
don't plan on retiring for a long time. I'm a young 35.". Rick
Schenk
8/30/03
Pruett nominated for 3rd Qtr DOY
Scott Pruett, driver of the No. 7 MotoRock Jaguar XKR in the MotoRock
Trans-Am Tour for the BFGoodrich Tires Cup, has been nominated for the
third quarter voting for the SPEED Channel Presents the DRIVER OF THE YEAR
award. The two-time Trans-Am champion and current Trans-Am Series points
leader joins an elite group of eight drivers chosen from different forms
of North American auto racing. “I’m very honored to receive this award,”
said Pruett. “The fans in this industry are what it’s all about. We’ve
been doing really well in both Trans-Am and Winston Cup, but the
competition is really stiff. Then again, you never know.” In its 37th
year, the third-quarter DRIVER OF THE YEAR, will be determined by an
independent vote of the 18-member panel of blue ribbon auto racing
journalists and broadcasters and one vote based on the cumulative tally of
fans voting at www.speedtv.com. Other drivers nominated for the
third-quarter voting are Helio Castroneves (Indy Racing League), Larry
Dixon (NHRA), Kevin Harvick (NASCAR), Ryan Newman (NASCAR), Paul Tracy
(Champ Car World Series) and J.J. Yeley (USAC). “The quality of the
nominees this quarter reflects consistent excellence in performance by
great drivers,” said DRIVER OF THE YEAR President Barry Schmoyer. “The
second quarter fan vote—approximately 129,000–encouraged me because it
proved how seriously auto racing fans take their favorite sport.” At the
end of the year, a special and separate vote will be held for the 2003
DRIVER OF THE YEAR. The winner of the quarterly voting will be given a
trophy and a Maurice Lacroix Swiss Watch, the official watch of the DRIVER
OF THE YEAR, to commemorate the honor. The Trans-Am Series features
closed-fendered, production-based, V-8-powered sports cars, competing on
permanent road courses, and temporary street and airport circuits
throughout North America. The Trans-Am Series is America’s oldest
continuously running road racing series and celebrates its 38th
anniversary in 2003. MotoRock is the creation of a popular culture brand
that blends the enthusiast markets of cars, stars and guitars. It is a
yearly series of destination live events that showcase the excitement of
motorsports, music and lifestyle while delivering a unique new form of
broadcast entertainment programming.
8/30/03
AR1 chats with Tony Kanaan
AR1 was at Chicagoland testing today and interviewed a few
drivers, one being Andretti Green driver Tony Kanaan who is in
the hunt for the points championship. Q. Maybe you got your bad luck out of the way
last week. Kanaan: "Somebody created the bad luck. I would not say
it was may fault. Yeah, probably, hopefully we have three good
ones until the end then we will see what happens." Q. Has this track changed since last year? Kanaan: "It's my first time here so I have no idea. I
have only done ten laps so far. Very smooth, and very fast. So
I think you guys gonna see a close race. Which I watched last
year and was so close too. So it's tough to say but race will
be very close." Q. How tough are the Penske guys? Kanaan: "(Laugh) Ah, not just the Penske guys, I think
Scott (Sharp) and Sam (Hornish) have been very strong to. But
Penske guys are tough and they are Brazilian so I know them
very well. (Laugh) They gonna be tough. They have a great
organization, they are great race car drivers so is Scott and
so is Sam. A lot of people are going to got in the mix now.
Especially with Chevy stepping up. You gonna see Scheckter
trying to prove his point to. And the other guys running up
front so it's going to be tough." Q. What did everybody think when Chevy got the
help mid-season? Kanaan: "Well, I would say the Chevy guys are very
happy. And if I would be in their shoes I would be happy too.
And the other guys have their own opinion about it. But I
would say it is not up to us to decide that. IRL? It's a great
series and they have great people running it and if they did
that it must be for a reason. But, my personal opinion? Being
a Honda driver I dont like the idea that they (Chevy) sat out
six months and saw what everybody else was doing and they are
allowed to come in with a new engine. It's tough to judge. I
don't like to judge anybody. I just hope we can finish this
championship and this series needs to grow. And to grow we
need competition and we can't keep just Chevy out if they are
not competitive. They have to have a chance to allow to
improve. But now they open the window so I think we should be
allowed to make an improvement to and so is Toyota so that is
what's going to happen." Q. Are you at a disadvantage coming to a track
for the first time where the other drivers have been on it for
2 years? Kanaan: "Maybe in the race yeah. Because you don't know
these conditions. I mean ovals are not simple but are quite
easy to learn as a race car driver. If you have a good car you
can be competitive right away. So I don't think it's a
disadvantage for me. It's more of a challenge than a
disadvantage." Q. With your connection with the Andrettis, were
you surprised at the crowd turnout at Nazareth Speedway last
week? Kanaan: "Well I was surprised at the crowd definitely.
Michael and our whole team work hard to promote that race with
the IRL. Michael is really really popular there. It was a lot
of people. I was extremely happy to see that. That's all we
need. We need to bring people to the race track. That's why we
race. We race for them. I wasn't surprised at all because we
did really work hard with autograph sessions in the city.
Parties, closing streets, and showing them race cars. So I was
make yourself proud, because you said ok, the work that I done
was worth it." [Editor's Note: the crowd was estimated by
everyone as only 15,000, but perhaps that's good for the IRL] AR1: See you in Victory Lane? Kanaan: Big smile. Rick
Schenk
8/30/03
AR1 chats with Felipe Giaffone
AR1 was at Chicagoland testing today and interviewed a few
drivers, one being a returning Felipe Giaffone. Q. Are you having any problems with the pedals in your
car? Giaffone: "The pedals are a little softer and taller so
now I can hold them flat". Q. You tell your crew chief you always hold it
flat, don't you? Giaffone: "(Laughs) We can't lie right now because they
have all the telemetry so if you lie they know right away.
Actually though, they told me I was not flat. They said you
better put your foot down. I said it is. They said uh uh. So I
put my left foot on my right foot and pushed it down. Q. Are there simulators you can work on before
you come out to test? Giaffone: "Well yeah, they do a few things there but
that's not pretty much my job. They do, they know what we have
done here, what we have used in the past. If a track, like
Japan, we have never run and we go there first time, they
simulate in the computer gears and everything." Q. Having a broken right leg and pelvis in the
July race at Kansas, do you have trouble getting rehab while
you are out here on the road? Giaffone: "Yeah, that's what's hard you know. That's
why I went for only one race cause I went to Kentucky. But
that is the first 3 days that I have not worked out for pretty
much the full month. So then I decided not to go to Nazareth
just to be ready for this test. My concern, and my doctors
concern, is just like I cannot put a lot of weight on the
right side all the muscle will disappear fast. So I am working
flat a lot on this leg in a lot of ways." Q. Was it physically uncomfortable out there
today? Giaffone: "It was. I mean it was but on the other hand
I have been working out a lot my upper body to be ready. I
think I am in better shape than I was before. But I was just
not used to the car as I was before. Even though I work out,
when you drive you play with different muscles which for sure
tomorrow will be a little sore, which is normal." AR1: Godspeed Felipe Giaffone: "You are very kind" Rick
Schenk
8/30/03
Allmendinger wins pole, Fogarty
4th on return Points leader A.J. Allmendinger
captured the pole position with a fast lap of 88.540 mph,
setting a new track record. Michael Valiante moved up to 2nd
on the grid and Aaron Justice will start 3rd.
Allmendinger is poised to win the Atlantic championship this
weekend if he finishes sixth or higher. Team Rahal's Jon
Fogarty shook off the rust and qualified fourth while Danica
Patrick battled an ill-handling car and qualified seventh for
Sunday's Argent Mortgage Challenge at the Centrix Grand Prix
of Denver. Fogarty, the 2002 Toyota Atlantic champion,
won the Denver race in 2002 starting from fourth. Fogarty
hasn't driven a competitive race since that win last Labor Day
weekend. Fogarty posted a fast lap of 87.647 mph. "The
session went pretty well," said Fogarty. "I just drove my ass
off and the Norwalk car was pretty good and we ended up
fourth. We made some changes overnight and we really didn't
get a chance to check them out in this morning's practice,
fortunately everyone here at Team Rahal knows what is up so we
made the right changes and it paid off in qualifying. It was
still a chore. It isn't anything I didn't expect after a year
out of the saddle, but I feel good about it. I am happy. I
started fourth here last year and we won so it seemed to work
for us. Other than being a touch rusty everything is good. We
have a strong car and there is still more to go so we can get
some more speed out of it tomorrow. I am really looking
forward to tomorrow." Patrick slipped from fifth to
seventh on the grid due to a car that was very loose. Patrick
posted a quick lap of 87.428 mph. "The Argent car was
really loose today and that affected the ability of the car to
get the power down which meant it was simply a handling issue
we couldn't get around. I am a bit disappointed because we
started so strong this weekend, but we are still seventh and
it could be a lot worse. We will go back and make a few
changes and we will be better for the race tomorrow."
Sunday's Argent Mortgage Challenge will be run at 12:30 pm EDT
and seen on a one hour tape delay (1:30 pm EDT) on SPEED
Channel. Starting lineup for Sunday's Argent Mortgage
Challenge CART Toyota Atlantic Championship race at the
Centrix Financial Grand Prix of Denver with car number in
parentheses, driver, type of car, top time and speed.
1. (4) A.J. Allmendinger, Toyota/Swift, 1:06.966, 88.540 mph.
2. (19) Michael Valiante, Toyota/Swift, 1:07.268, 88.143 mph.
3. (3) Aaron Justus, Toyota/Swift, 1:07.541, 87.787 mph.
4. (1) Jon Fogarty, Toyota/Swift, 1:07.649, 87.647 mph.
5. (28) Ryan Dalziel, Toyota/Swift, 1:07.692, 87.591 mph.
6. (69) Alex Figge, Toyota/Swift, 1:07.743, 87.525 mph.
7. (24) Danica Patrick, Toyota/Swift, 1:07.818, 87.428 mph.
8. (33) Luis Diaz, Toyota/Swift, 1:07.827, 87.417 mph.
9. (7) Kyle Krisiloff, Toyota/Swift, 1:07.914, 87.305 mph.
10. (84) Jonathan Macri, Toyota/Swift, 1:07.968, 87.235 mph.
11. (27) Joey Hand, Toyota/Swift, 1:08.406, 86.677 mph.
13. (9) Alex Garcia, Toyota/Swift, 1:09.408, 85.425 mph.
12. (12) Marc Breuers, Toyota/Swift, 1:09.005, 85.924 mph.
14. (2) Eric Jensen, Toyota/Swift, 1:10.214, 84.445 mph.
8/30/03
Rain washes out Trans-Am qualifying in
Denver Qualifying for Sunday’s MotoRock Mile High 100,
part of the Centrix Financial Grand Prix of Denver, was called due to a
thunderstorm that hit the Denver metro area. The provisional starting grid
was set by combined practice times, recorded yesterday, placing Scott
Pruett (No. 7 MotoRock Jaguar XKR) on the pole. Boris Said (No. 33 ACS/GE
Access/Sun Microsystems Ford Mustang) will start second, ahead of rookie
Jorge Diaz, Jr. (No. 8 Don Q Rum Jaguar XKR), Johnny Miller (No. 64 Eaton
Cutler-Hammer Jaguar XKR), and Tomy Drissi (No. 5 Stuck on You, The
Movie). Due to the rain, a practice replaced the qualifying session. The
practice started on time, was subsequently red flagged for rain, and was
then checkered early due to extensive water on the course. The MotoRock
Mile High 100, Round 9 of the 2003 MotoRock Trans-Am Tour for the
BFGoodrich Tires Cup, will take the green flag tomorrow at approximately 4
p.m., following the Champ Car World Series race.
1. (7) Scott Pruett, Jaguar XKR, NT.
2. (33) Boris Said, Ford Mustang, NT.
3. (8) Jorge Diaz, Jr., Jaguar XKR, NT.
4. (64) Johnny MIller, Jaguar XKR, NT.
5. (5) Tomy Drissi, Jaguar XKR, NT.
6. (2) Stu Hayner, Chevrolet Corvette, NT.
7. (10) Bobby Sak, Chevrolet Corvette, NT.
8. (12) Michael Lewis, Jaguar XKR, NT.
9. (59) Justin Bell, Chevrolet Corvette, NT.
10. (49) Randy Ruhlman, Chevrolet Corvette, NT.
11. (00) Rick Lee, Qvale Mangusat, NT.
12. (86) John Baucom, Jaguar XKR, NT.
13. (11) Mike Davis, Ford Mustang, NT.
14. (06) Joey Scarallo, Chevrolet Corvette, NT.
15. (87) Wayne Hartzler, Chevrolet Camaro, NT.
16. (45) Marvin Jones, Qvale Mangusta, NT.
17. (9) Glen Andrew, Chevrolet Camaro, NT.
18. (43) George Nolte, Ford Mustang, NT.
8/30/03
CART drivers call for tire warmers
With single-car qualifying as CART is using this weekend in Denver, it's difficult
to get your tires up to full operating temperature before your qualifying run is
over. In the post-qualifying press conference
today the top-3 drivers, Bruno Junqueira, Oriol Servia and Sebastien
Bourdais all agreed that at least one more warm-up lap should be given.
When quizzed on whether it was time for tire warmers, their unanimous
response was yes, yes, and yes. When asked who would pay for the
expense of the tire warmers, Oriol Servia chimed in that tire warmers are
cheap, followed immediately by Bruno Junqueira who said, "one crash on
cold tires in qualifying costs more than supplying the entire field with
tire warmers for the year." With tire warmers the drivers can be quick right out
of the pits and start their qualifying lap the first time past the S/F line. Tire
warmers, an idea whose time has come. Mark C.
8/30/03
CART drivers happy with single-car
qualifying After hearing complaints of blocking all year,
CART instituted single-car qualifying this weekend in Denver. In the
the post-qualifying press conference today the top-3 drivers, Bruno
Junqueira, Oriol Servia and Sebastien Bourdais all agreed that it was much
better than having everyone on the track at the same time and being
blocked. Bourdais made a point of saying you can't see around the
corners very well on street circuits and when you come around a corner and
all of a sudden see a slower car it ruins your lap. With single-car
qualifying that's no longer an issue and he's happy about it. "It's
definitely the right thing to do," said Junqueira after claiming the
seventh pole of his Champ Car career and 76th for Newman/Haas Racing.
Maybe we don't need it at Elkhart Lake or Mexico City or Montreal but,
for sure, it's good for every street circuit. "Maybe it could be four laps
instead of three, I think that would be ideal, but you can still get a
good lap on your third one." Bourdais feels like safety enters into
the decision. "It's always blind on a street course and you don't know if
somebody is stalled or spun out in front of you so this is definitely the
way to do it," said the 24-year-old rookie from France who lines up third
in the Lilly's-McDonald's Lola/Cosworth. "It's too dangerous with all the
cars out there together." Junqueira said he'd like to see CART adopt the
one-car format everywhere because "there are no excuses and everyone has a
fair shot at the pole." But Bourdais disagreed. "It's not fair for the
first three or four guys because they are already the slowest and then
they go out after other series and safety trucks and the track couldn't be
any worse," he said. "I'd like to see 10 minutes of practice right before
qualifying like we do on the road courses. It would be more fair for the
slower guys." Servia said penalizing a driver for crashing, like what
happened to Mario Domínguez on Friday, is also wrong. "It should be like
an oval. If you crash on your second lap you don't lose your first one and
that wasn't fair for Mario. They just need to tweak the details of
single-car qualifying, the concept is good" stated Servia. While
single-car qualifying makes for decent TV and gives the car's sponsor
focused coverage for the 4 laps the car is on the track, it can be a bit
boring for the spectators at the track. That's where the track
announcer and the Jumbotron's can help. It will be important to keep
the fans informed on how the car on a qualifying run is doing compared to
the fastest so far, both lap times and segment times. On a long
track like Road America, single-car qualifying can really be boring.
Perhaps in that situation CART can keep the old formula of having everyone
on the track together, or.....maintain single-car qualifying but look at
the possibility of qualifying two cars simultaneously, each separated by
1/2 lap. If one goes off, let him sit in the gravel trap and only
throw a red if he's obstructing the other driver on the track. Whatever
they do, it's important that CART go to single-lap qualifying to help
shuffle the starting grid, making for a better race on race day. Mark C.
8/30/03
Helio Castroneves on why choose
IRL over CART AR1 was at Chicagoland testing today
and interviewed a few drivers. Helio,
why should fans choose IRL over CART? "Well, that¹s a
good question. I think this is a competitive series, a very
competitive battle, and winning, you never know who¹s going to
win, to be honest. I would just say everybody has their own
freedom to decide whatever they¹re going to follow, but I
think just because I¹m here, they should follow IRL, no I¹m
just kidding. Only thing I wish is that whatever happens, we
have one strong open-wheel series." It doesn¹t look like it¹s
going to happen, though, huh?" "Unfortunately not, but my
crystal ball is not working real well right now, I wish I
could give you an answer." Rick
Schenk
8/30/03
Giaffone returns to cockpit
Felipe Giaffone returned to the cockpit of an IndyCar Series
car Aug. 27 during private testing at Chicagoland Speedway. It
was the first time Giaffone has been in an IndyCar Series car
since he suffered fractures to his right leg and pelvis in an
accident during the Kansas Indy 300 on July 6 at Kansas
Speedway. "It's just great, really great to be back," Giaffone
said. "My leg wasn't a big issue. Toward the end of the day,
it was getting a little tired. I would feel it a little bit,
but then I would just put my left foot on top of my right one
and go on."
8/30/03
RuSport
team announces move to Denver CART Toyota Atlantic
championship leading team RuSPORT, currently based in
Loveland, Colorado, today announced their move to Denver,
Colorado sometime in 2004, probably prior to the season
starting. "We looked at many cities and found that Denver
offers the best tangible business and economic benefits for
RuSPORT to develop and succeed," said team owner Carl Russo
(Photo of team owner Carl Russo on right). "Denver
is a city with a focus on the future and we see ourselves as
part of that future." Team President Jeremy Dale told us
that when they looked at all the factors, Denver made a lot of
sense for a lot of reasons. "Historically, a lot of
teams were based in Indy because of the long month of May.
However, being remote certainly hasn't hurt Reading, PA based
Team Penske," stated Dale. "We can get to the southwest
testing venues during the Winter off-season easier and we are
two hours by plane to most of the venues and our trucks are
within two-days of most of the venues if we are based in
Denver. With a world class airport and a central
location, not only did Denver make make the most sense for
our team's needs but also offers a high quality of life,
resources and opportunities for our employees families and
spouses." RuSPORT currently has 24 employees but plans to
grow its staff significantly, drawing on the considerable
resources Denver has to offer.
8/30/03
Observations from Denver No
one we talk to appears worried about the CART series future. That
includes team members and CART personnel. The general feeling is
that the buyout deal is close and that it will be very good.
Everyone wants to see the deal done so they can move forward. If you
notice, the CART teams and events have been signing up sponsors at a
fairly regular rate now, which leads one to conclude they have faith in
the new business model of the series and in the new owners (Messrs.
Kalkhoven, Gentilozzi, Russo, Forsythe and MotoRock)..........The majority
of drivers we spoke to are happy with the single-car qualifying.
They now get 1 warm-up lap and 3 timed laps. The good news is that
CART is going to consider reversing that in the future-- 3 warm-up laps
and just a single timed lap. Doing just a single lap perfect is very
hard and is certain to shuffle the starting grid such that some of the
faster cars start further back. This will help make the races more
exciting........Along those same lines we are happy to report the
push-to-pass button, though not finalized, is getting closer to being
approved for 2004. This and the single-lap qualifying will certainly
put an end once and for all to CART's parades such that CART can forfeit
their crown as the USA's #1 parade company. Events like here in
Denver, and the next race in Miami will benefit from the push-to-pass
button, tracks where today passing is nearly impossible........Ticket
sales here in Denver are slightly down from last year, but talking to Jim
Michaelian, they're hopeful of coming very close to last year's race day
attendance. Mark C.
8/30/03
Turkish government will
underwrite entire F1 race UPDATE The 7-year
deal was officially signed Friday. The race is a go for
2005 if the track is ready in time. Turkey is scheduled
to break ground next month on a $60-million US Formula One
track in Istanbul. Federation president Mumtaz Tahincioglu
said the track will be completed by March 31, 2005. ``Fears
that the track won't be finished are definitely out of the
question,'' said Mehmet Yildirim, president of Istanbul's
Chamber of Commerce, which is sponsoring the project. The
groundbreaking for the track on the outskirts of Istanbul had
been scheduled to take place in July. Organizers said it was
held up because of red tape and concerns the track could harm
rare butterflies and flora in the area. 8/29/03 - Today's Financial Times reports that the Turkish
government has vowed to pay Formula One the entire $13.5 per
year for seven years to gain the rights to stage a F1 race in
Istanbul starting in 2005. They also vowed to pay a $25
million penalty if their track isn't ready by the March 2005
deadline. It's commitments are contained in
correspondence signed by Mehmet Ali Sahan, Turkey's Deputy
Prime Minister, and Kemal Unakian, Finance Minister.
"The letters are in our hands," said Mumtaz Tahinciogiu,
chairman of the Formula One Association Economic Enterprise.
"They've been dispatched to the Turkish consulate in London to
be notarized. On Friday (today) the contract will be
signed by Bernie Ecclestone's company and our company."
One board member said, "this is a done deal as far as we are
concerned . Unless Bernie's lawyers come up with some
objection today, the contract will be signed Friday."
The $80 million track is being built on the Asian side of
Istanbul (Istanbul is the only city in the world that
straddles two different continents.). Mr. Tahinciogiu
stated that Tobacco sponsorship would not be allowed at the
event. How then can Bernie cancel the race in Canada
because tobacco sponsorship is no longer allowed, while at the
same time do a deal in Turkey where Tobacco ads will also be
banned? Bernie loses all credibility when he pulls
stunts like this. The real reason may be that he'll make
more profit at some of the newer tracks, like Turkey, and he's
using tobacco laws as an excuse to cancel existing races that
pay a lower fee, or that limit the amount of profit Bernie's
FOM company can make. When it comes to making money,
Bernie knows how to play the game. He's usually one step
ahead of everyone else, and that appears to be the case once
again.
8/29/03
Fight with Busch pays off for
Spencer Jimmy Spencer learned that his trackside
souvenir sales increased 40 percent over the three-day Bristol
weekend as fans swarmed the Team SIRIUS souvenir location to
buy Mongo T-shirts, hats and banners. If that wasn't enough to
prove the public's affection, the deafening cheers of 165,000
people at Bristol Motor Speedway when the #7 SIRIUS Dodge
rolled out was. Only problem, Spencer wasn't there to see it
after being suspended one race for punching out Kurt Busch.
Jimmy
Spencer website Jimmy Spencer said a week's
suspension by NASCAR won't change his aggressive driving
style, but added that he has no intention to continue
bickering with Kurt Busch. ''It's over as far as I'm
concerned,'' Spencer said yesterday in his first public
appearance since being suspended for punching Kurt Busch
following a heated race at Michigan two weeks ago. ''But I
won't change the way I drive. I'll still drive hard. It's the
only way I know to race.''
Tenneseean
8/29/03
Motorock makes initial announcementsUPDATE We spoke to Jamie Rose
and his MotoRock entourage (out of NY City) after today's racing action
concluded. They said that in the hairpin at Miami will be a MotoRock
section and it will have a footbridge crossing over to the Arena. There
will be parties in conjunction with the race. Considering
MotoRock was just formed in March, it shows how connected the group is to
land a big name act like Elton John. Gentilozzi met Rose at the
Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. "I’ve been turning money into noise for
the last 30 years," Gentilozzi said with his customary grin. "Now we’re
going to make a different kind of noise. This is the beginning of a
concept that will turn into an entertainment company that changes the way
we look at racing on the track." During the press conference,
Paul Gentilozzi said, “A lot of things are going to come up in the
next few weeks. Jamie has some exciting announcements that are going
to take place a month from now (Miami)...and the whole MotoRock idea is
going to be much, much more than any of you anticipate. We’ve heard some
of the media tell us what MotoRock is because we haven’t be able to tell
you. I can promise that as you learn more about MotoRock, the
entertainment value that it brings . . . you’ll be excited about all those
things.” According to Gentilozzi, he and Rose have discussed the
MotoRock Trans-Am concept with their partners in Open Wheel Racing Series
LLC and there is general agreement it “meets the philosophy of what we
want to present to the fans. He also announced that the Trans-Am
Series won’t be racing at every CART event, but it will usually be part of
the weekend. They went out of their way to make it clear the
MotoRock concept is not restricted to urban street races. “Each
event has its own footprint,” said Rose. “This is not a cookie-cutter
concept. It will be specific to every event, be it Paintball battles, car
wars . . . the shows will be specifically tailored to the individual
markets.” They also went to great lengths that racing will be front
and center, and the concerts, etc will be part of the sideshow. The 2004
concert schedule won't be announced until after CART announces its
schedule. Motorock’s second event will take place at the Trans-Am series
finale in Puerto Rico. The concert lineup will be announced in the next
two weeks. 8/29/03 - It's been well documented that Motorock and CART will be developing a
close relationship next year related to concerts and racing. This
morning here in Denver, Paul Gentilozzi and Jamie Rose from Motorock
announced 1) Motorock will appear as a sponsor on Alex Tagliani's car, 2)
Motorock will appear as a sponsor on Scott Pruett's Trans-Am car, 3)
Motorock will put on a concert in conjunction with the CART Miami race
weekend featuring Elton John and a 2nd act to be announced later, 4)
Motorock will be the title sponsor for the Tans-Am series. More
later....
8/29/03
Patrick and Fogarty happy with
5th & 6th Team Rahal's first day as a two car Toyota
Atlantic team, saw drivers Danica Patrick and Jon Fogarty both
qualify in the top-six for Sunday's Argent Mortgage Challenge
at the Centrix Grand Prix of Denver. Patrick posted the fifth
fastest lap with an effort of 86.459 mph while Fogarty
returning to competitive driving for the first time in a year
was sixth at 86.342 mph. "This is another good start to a race
weekend," said Patrick. "It is encouraging that we are
starting strong and looking to fine tune the car instead of
making major changes to find the setting. That has just comes
with experience and with the team and I starting to make a
connection. I think there is more in the Argent car and it is
just a case of making the small changes to bring that out.
Having Jon as a teammate this week has been helpful. His
knowledge of the track gave us a great baseline to start and
has really helped us make the acclimate ourselves quickly."
"It is a little bitter sweet being back in the car," said
Fogarty. "The car was pretty good and I am happy with my
performance overall, but I made a mistake on my last lap in
the next to last corner and lost what would have been my
fastest lap. It really doesn't matter because it is just dust
in the wind now. The Norwalk car is good and it is capable of
more that I gave it. I am still knocking the rust off, but
with each lap I feel more and more comfortable and I try to
make fewer mistakes. It is amazing how many little intangibles
that you lose, things that aren't really quantifiable, but
just things that help you get back on the pace." Points leader
A.J. Allmendinger captured the provisional pole position with
a fast lap of 87.641 mph. Allmendinger is poised to win the
Atlantic championship this weekend if he finishes sixth or
higher. Practice and qualifying will resume on Saturday for
Sunday's Round 11 of the 2003 Toyota Atlantic Championship.
8/29/03
Team Rahal and Argent Mortgage
announce charity effort Team Rahal and Argent
Mortgage Company announced today a charitable program that
will raise funds for Camp Heartland based upon the on track
performance of Team Argent Toyota Atlantic driver Danica
Patrick. Camp Heartland is a national, non-profit organization
that enhances the lives of children living with and affected
by HIV/AIDS through year-round support, advocacy, recreational
programs and community AIDS-awareness efforts. The cornerstone
of the program will see Argent and Team Rahal combining to
donate $100 for each lap Patrick completes in the remaining
Toyota Atlantic Championship events of the 2003 season. A
bonus of $2,000 will be donated for each race win by the
Argent car. In the event the Argent car fails to finish the
event a minimum donation of $3,000 will be made by Argent and
Team Rahal. "There is no greater cause than helping children,"
said Bobby Rahal, Team Rahal owner. "Argent has a longstanding
relationship with Camp Heartland and when they invited us to
join them in this program it was an opportunity we were glad
to embrace. It is a great feeling to be able to make a
difference in the lives of these kids and to make the
difference through racing." "Supporting an organization such
as Camp Heartland is wonderful on many levels," said Johanna
Maher of Argent Mortgage. "To see these children in person and
experience the smiles, happiness and the liberation they
display as individuals and a group is simply heart stopping.
They tackle every day as if they are not affected by this
terrible disease. Trust and encouragement are important to
these children and Argent is delighted to provide our support.
" As a kick-off to the program Team Rahal and Argent Mortgage
Company have made the program retroactive to the race at
Montreal last week.
8/29/03
CART penalizes Domínguez As noted
in the Official Champ Car Qualifying results issued at 4:13pm local time
today, Mario Dominguez was penalized for causing a red flag stoppage
during qualifying by the loss of his fastest lap. The time of his previous
lap was 1 minute, 3.732 seconds (93.033 mph/149.722 kph), dropping him to
16th on the provisional grid. As if crashing and damaging the
car isn't bad enough, CART added insult to injury by taking away his
fastest lap moving him down to 15th fastest. We guess this means one
can never crash in racing and must be perfect. CART is the only
series in the world that penalizes a driver for crashing. It's one
thing to do something against the rule book, or endangering another
driver, and be penalized, and quite another to be penalized for crashing.
This is analogous to dropping a pass in Football, and to be penalized
because you dropped it, or to strike out in baseball and have to sit out
the next inning. CART needs to add a new rule to their rule book
that outlaws crashing. They have one for timed sessions - rule
6.10.5A.2 in the CART rule book, which says if you cause a red flag you
lose your fastest lap. However, in oval track qualifying (single
car) they don't penalize someone for crashing. There has been single
car oval track qualifying for years with no penalty. To do it now just
because it is a road course is plain silly. Guess what, this was single
car qualifying too, and yes, in oval qualifying, the next car in line goes
out before the prior car is off the track. Mark C.
8/29/03
CART stock watch
In NYSE trading today MPH closed DOWN $0.13 p/shr or 11.11% to $1.04 p/shr
on Volume of 103,700 shares.
Multiple trades of 8,000 shares or more, one as high as 15,000.
Low/High of Session: $1.00/$1.16
NYSE UP 41.61 or 0.44% on Volume of 1.11B shares.
NASDAQ UP 10.40 or 0.58%
S&P 500 UP 5.16 or 0.51%
A safe and restful Labor Day Weekend to all.
courtesy of C3I.AndersonGroupe – Chicago www.andersongroupe.com
8/29/03
Allmendinger extends point lead
with provisional pole With his eyes focused on
wrapping up the 2003 CART Toyota Atlantic Championship title
this weekend, rookie A.J. Allmendinger (#4 RuSPORT) extended
his championship lead by another point by putting his car on
the provisional pole for Sunday's Argent Mortgage Challenge at
the Centrix Financial Grand Prix of Denver (SPEED Channel,
2:00 p.m. ET). With a best lap of 1:07.653 (87.641 mph),
Allmendinger obliterated the previous Toyota Atlantic track
record at the 1.647-mile temporary street circuit of 1:09.085
(85.825 mph) established by Ryan Dalziel (#28
Pro-Works/Discovery Lake/Daily Record) in the inaugural Toyota
Atlantic visit to the Mile High City last year. It was the
13th time this season that Allmendinger has earned a bonus
championship point for being the fastest qualifier, and he has
earned an additional six bonus points for leading the most
laps in each of his six race victories this season, which has
significantly contributed to the 27 point lead he now holds
over Dalziel. If Allmendinger's lead is more than 22 points
after Sunday's race, he will clinch the title and become the
second consecutive rookie driver to wear the Toyota Atlantic
crown. Qualifying second on the provisional grid was Michael
Valiante (#19 Lynx Racing) at 1:08.306 (86.804 mph). The
Canadian has started inside the top four positions in each of
his past five starts, including a pair of second place
starting spots in the last three races. However, he goes into
Saturday's final round of qualifying looking for his second
career pole position and his first since starting on the
inside of the front row at Trois-Rivieres last year. Third
quickest in the provisional qualifying session was
Allmendinger's RuSPORT teammate Aaron Justus (#3 RuSPORT) at
1:08.360 (86.735 mph). Justus was second-quick in the morning
practice session and briefly led the session before a light
brush with the wall and a mechanical problem prevented him
from advancing further up the grid. Nevertheless, Justus
credited his previous experience at the track with his speed
on the first day, and he expects to improve throughout the
weekend. He has started inside the top five in each of the
past five events. Dalziel, the defending Denver polesitter,
was fourth on the provisional grid after turning in a best lap
of 1:08.419 (86.660 mph). He has started third in each of the
past three races and has not failed to qualify outside the top
four since he put his car ninth on the grid for the
season-opening Tecate Telmex Monterrey Grand Prix. He has also
finished second in each of the past three races, and knows
that he will need a win or podium finish and some help if he
is to push the championship fight to the season finale in
Miami next month. Rounding out the top five in provisional
qualifying was Danica Patrick (#24 Argent Mortgage Company),
who posted a best lap of 1:08.578 (86.459 mph). The rookie has
qualified inside the top five in two of her past three starts,
is working with a teammate for the first time this season, as
Jon Fogarty (#1 Norwalk Furniture) has joined the team for the
final two races. Fogarty-the defending champion of the Argent
Mortgage Challenge and the reigning champion of the CART
Toyota Atlantic Championship-joins Patrick on the provisional
third row after qualifying sixth at 1:08.671 (86.342 mph).
1. (4) A.J. Allmendinger,
Toyota/Swift, 1:07.653, 87.641 mph.
2. (19) Michael Valiante, Toyota/Swift, 1:08.306, 86.804 mph.
3. (3) Aaron Justus, Toyota/Swift, 1:08.360, 86.735 mph.
4. (28) Ryan Dalziel, Toyota/Swift, 1:08.419, 86.660 mph.
5. (24) Danica Patrick, Toyota/Swift, 1:08.578, 86.459 mph.
6. (1) Jon Fogarty, Toyota/Swift, 1:08.671, 86.342 mph.
7. (33) Luis Diaz, Toyota/Swift, 1:08.723, 86.277 mph.
8. (69) Alex Figge, Toyota/Swift, 1:08.815, 86.161 mph.
9. (84) Jonathan Macri, Toyota/Swift, 1:09.004, 85.925 mph.
10. (7) Kyle Krisiloff, Toyota/Swift, 1:09.095, 85.812 mph.
11. (27) Joey Hand, Toyota/Swift, 1:09.199, 85.683 mph.
12. (9) Alex Garcia, Toyota/Swift, 1:10.227, 84.429 mph.
13. (12) Marc Breuers, Toyota/Swift, 1:10.473, 84.134 mph.
14. (2) Eric Jensen, Toyota/Swift, 1:11.389, 83.055 mph.
15. (8) Philip Fayer, Toyota/Swift, no time, no speed.
8/29/03
Reynards show well
Although smoother this year, Denver is still a bumpy track, so why are the
Reynard drivers so competitive given the Reynard is known to not like the
bumps. Darren Manning had two theories. First some of the
Reynard drivers come from F3000 who have to come up to speed quickly to
set a good qualifying time. Second, because the cars lose so much
downforce, what little is left is not important to the overall lap time as
is mechanical grip and tire temperatures.
8/29/03
Why Bruno Junqueira broke the track record
Champ Cars have less HP and no traction control this year, so how did
Bruno Junqueira break his lap record in Denver set last year?
"Top-end HP is not important here because you are not full throttle that
much, but more importantly, the track is 29% smoother than last year,"
stated Junqueira. How do you know it's 29% smoother, we quizzed?
"Our Engineers monitor the up and down movement of the dampers and this
year they are moving 29% less," replied Junqueira.
8/29/03
Sportsbook.com to sponsor Darren Manning
Team owner Derrick Walker
announced today that Sportsbook.com has signed on as a primary sponsor of
rookie Darren Manning’s #15 RAC Walker Racing Champ Car entry in a rare
foray of an on-line gaming company into the motorsports arena. “We
are delighted to have an international company of Sportsbook.com’s caliber
further their motorsports sponsorship in the Champ Car World Series with
Walker Racing,” said team owner Derrick Walker. “We look forward to
growing a partnership that allows Sportsbook.com to grow their brand
throughout the international platform in which we compete.” More.....
8/29/03
DEI hires Andretti for #1 car
Dale Earnhardt, Inc. has hired John Andretti to drive the No.
1 Pennzoil Chevrolet beginning with the NASCAR Winston Cup
Series race at Richmond International Raceway on Sept. 6,
2003. Andretti is a two-time winner in NASCAR Winston Cup
Series competition who brings more than 10 seasons of
experience to the team. Earlier this month, he drove a
DEI-supported Chance 2 entry at Indianapolis Motor Speedway;
where he qualified 11th. “The racing heritage we have at DEI
is unparalleled,” said Teresa Earnhardt, President and CEO of
Dale Earnhardt Inc. “We look forward to making this team
stronger with the invaluable experience that John brings.”
Since the May race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, Jeff Green and
Ron Fellows have shared driving duties in the No. 1 Pennzoil
Chevrolet. This year, the team has earned a Bud Pole Award and
two top-10 finishes. Andretti is the nephew of Mario Andretti
and godson of AJ Foyt, both accomplished championship drivers
in their own right. John is looking forward to his name now
being associated with Dale Earnhardt, Inc., as well. “I look
at driving for DEI as a great opportunity,” John said. “I’m
excited to become a member of the team for the next few races.
And, it’s also nice to be reunited with Pennzoil again. I
drove an Indy Car they sponsored in 1991 and 1992 and won my
first race in their yellow car. This team at DEI is
established in NASCAR and I’m hoping to do a good for them.”
In addition to his two-career NASCAR victories, Andretti has
also earned four Bud Pole Awards, 13 top-five and 37 top-10
finishes. DEI
8/29/03
Haberfeld under track record in Denver,
0.070 sec. cover top 4
Rookie Mario Haberfeld put his Reynard to the top of the time sheets, and
faster than last year's pole time, right at the end of the second practice
session in Denver. The Brazilian headed Championship leader Paul Tracy who
had two spins, the second damaging the rear wing of his Lola. Single-car
qualifying is next, with Tracy and Haberfeld the last two to run. More
practice news here soon. CART
8/29/03
Miami added
to 2003 Trans-Am schedule, MotoRock new sponsor, Elton John to perform
MotoRock LLC has signed a multi-year agreement to become title sponsor of
the Trans-Am Series for the BFGoodrich Tires Cup. The Series will now be
known as the MotoRock Trans-Am Tour for the BFGoodrich Tires Cup. The
agreement is a continuation of MotoRock’s title sponsorship of the
MotoRock Mile High 100, part of the Centrix Financial Grand Prix of
Denver. The announcement was made in Denver by MotoRock Chairman and CEO
Jamie Rose, Trans-Am Series principal Paul Gentilozzi and Trans-Am Series
Executive Director John Clagett.
Under the new agreement, MotoRock will present cutting-edge music and
ambient programming as part of racing weekends. The Grand Prix Americas
event will feature Elton John, with another act to be announced later.
With the title sponsorship, the Series announced it would run its first
event in conjunction with MotoRock this year, with a return to the Grand
Prix Americas in Miami, Sept. 26-28, along with the Champ Car World
Series. The added Miami round brings the total races on this year’s
schedule to 11.
“MotoRock is a new generation of pop culture that blends cars, stars and
guitars,” said Rose. “MotoRock is a series of live events that showcase
the excitement of motorsports, music and lifestyle, while delivering a
unique new form of broadcast entertainment programming. It’s the new breed
of speed.
“By integrating music, lifestyle and entertainment, MotoRock hopes to
bring a new audience to the thrill of motorsports, as well as a
dramatically enhanced opportunity for media partners and corporate
sponsors at every level,” concluded Rose.
“This agreement shows a significant change in direction for the Trans-Am
Series and represents an important step forward for the Series,” said
Clagett. “Pairing popular music with the Trans-Am Series is a perfect fit,
as both are American institutions. We are proud to be a part of this
venture.
“We’re also looking forward to returning to Miami,” added Clagett. “The
South Florida market is a perfect fit for the Trans-Am Series. The
location is ideal and boasts some of the most avid racing fans in North
America. The event was extraordinarily exciting last year, and we expect,
with the addition of MotoRock, this year’s event will be even better.”
The Trans-Am Series features closed-fendered, production-based,
V-8-powered sports cars, competing on permanent road courses, and
temporary street and airport circuits throughout North America. The
Trans-Am Series is America’s oldest continuously running road racing
series and celebrates its 38th anniversary in 2003.
MotoRock is the creation of a popular culture brand that blends the
enthusiast markets of cars, stars and guitars. It is a yearly series of
destination live events that showcase the excitement of motorsports, music
and lifestyle while delivering a unique new form of broadcast
entertainment programming. MotoRock & Trans-Am
8/29/03
Motorock
named title sponsor of Denver Trans-Am race
MotoRock LLC has agreed to become title sponsor of the Sunday, Aug. 31
Trans-Am Series for the BFGoodrich Tires Cup race, part of the Centrix
Financial Grand Prix of Denver. The race, Round 9 of this year’s Trans-Am
Series championship, will be called the MotoRock Mile High 100. The
announcement was made by MotoRock Chairman and CEO Jamie Rose, Trans-Am
Series Principal Paul Gentilozzi and Trans-Am Series Executive Director
John Clagett.
The MotoRock Mile High 100 is running in conjunction with Champ Car World
Series on the 1.647-mile temporary street course in downtown Denver. The
Trans-Am Series returns this year after being part of the Grand Prix of
Denver in 2002.
“The Trans-Am Series was chosen as a MotoRock partner because of its raw
energy, excitement, fan loyalty, and history,” said Rose. “Denver was
chosen as the first MotoRock event because of the loyalty of the fans,
excitement of the city and that it plays host to the Trans-Am Series and
the Champ Car World Series.”
“We’re pleased to welcome MotoRock to the Trans-Am Series,” said Clagett.
“The Trans-Am Series is an American icon, and pairing it with the rock and
roll is a perfect fit. We’re privileged to be a part of it.”
The MotoRock Mile High 100 is scheduled to start at 4 p.m. on Sunday, Aug.
31. The race will air on tape-delayed basis on Monday, Sept. 1 on SPEED
Channel at 1:30 p.m. The Trans-Am Series features closed-fendered,
production-based, V-8-powered sports cars, competing on permanent road
courses, and temporary street and airport circuits throughout North
America. The Trans-Am Series is America’s oldest continuously running road
racing series and celebrates its 38th anniversary in 2003.
MotoRock is the creation of a popular culture brand that blends the
enthusiast markets of cars, stars and guitars. It is a yearly series of
destination live events that showcase the excitement of motorsports, music
and lifestyle while delivering a unique new form of broadcast
entertainment programming. MotoRock & Trans-Am
8/29/03
Townsend Bell to attend F1
event
Leading American racer Townsend Bell is the latest
driver to join the star line-up at Rockingham this weekend for
the unique Trust Thunder at the Rock, Formula One event which
is being run in association with the Minardi team. Bell, who
has previously raced on the Northamptonshire banked oval
circuit in the CART Fed Ex Champ Car series, will switch this
weekend to the road course, joining drivers including Minardi
F1 regulars Jos Verstappen and Nicolas Kiesa in the teams
unique F1x2 cars. Also trading places, Jos Verstappen will try
his hand at lapping the banked oval track on Saturday
afternoon in a 500-horsepower Days of Thunder Pontiac. Another
of the Days of Thunder cars, which will race on Sunday, has
been sponsored by the rock band ‘The Darkness’, who will be
performing at the end of the race day.
8/29/03
Atlanta signs sponsors
President and General Manager Ed Clark announced that Bass Pro
Shops and MBNA have signed for the track's fall race for the
next four years, and Golden Corral has signed for the spring
race for the next three. "That was huge for us to find three
great partners to work with to further grow what are already
the two largest single-day sporting events in Georgia," Clark
said. But more than that, he said all of racing should share
his enthusiasm. "Even with the current economic climate,
racing has definitely held its own," Clark said. "Companies
are obviously still seeing great returns - in fact, greater
than almost any other sport - or else we wouldn't be
succeeding." "Golden Corral is really excited to be associated
with NASCAR and the Atlanta Motor Speedway for their spring
race in March 2004," said Bob McDevitt, Sr. Vice President of
Marketing and Franchise Operations. "We chose the Atlanta race
because the broadcast is highly rated, and it's always a great
race because the track is so fast. We also like the fact that
this race is in March, which kicks off our peak sales season.
Its just a great fit."
8/29/03
Joe Gibbs Performance vehicle
As a three-time Super Bowl-winning NFL coach, NASCAR team
owner with two Winston Cup championships, philanthropic leader
and dedicated family man, Joe Gibbs drives every successful
life endeavor with integrity, quality and teamwork. His new
Joe Gibbs Performance Chevrolet Silverado is no different.
Merging his two lanes of life - passion for racing and
remarkable business acumen - Gibbs presents this vehicle with
an exclusive, yet affordable edge for distinct driver
satisfaction. The Joe Gibbs Performance Silverado boasts
race-bred style, best-in-class engineering, beyond-peak
performance and the same high standard of quality customers
expect from the General Motors name. The Silverado will
include performance features such as Gibbs/Baer-designed brake
package, Gibbs-designed Eaton Generation V "Roots" type
supercharger/intercooler system rated at 395 horsepower and
425 foot pounds of torque, Gibbs-designed suspension system
(shocks, springs, sway bars), and Tonneau cover with Joe Gibbs
Performance logo.
8/29/03
New sponsor for Fittipaldi team - Denver
only
The Magnolia Hotel Denver joins the Fittipaldi-Dingman Racing team as an
associate sponsor for this weekend’s Centrix Financial Grand Prix of
Denver. Team owner Emerson Fittipaldi is thrilled to have the Magnolia
Hotel as a sponsor. “I am extremely pleased to have such a magnificent
hotel as the Magnolia Hotel as a sponsor this weekend,” he said.
“Fittipaldi-Dingman Racing is very proud to be associated with such a
prestigious property.” “This is a special opportunity for us to be
involved with the Fittipaldi-Dingman Race team,” said Mike Pratt, the
Director of sales and marketing for the hotel, “not to mention hosting the
prestigious VIP Sunday Night Driver’s Party. To be associated with such a
class organization such as theirs is truly a pleasure and we look forward
to an exciting weekend. The Magnolia Hotel will certainly be cheering for
Tiago Monteiro to bring the Denver Grand Prix trophy to our hotel at the
end of the race!” The hotel will also be the site of this weekend’s
Driver’s VIP Party hosted by Fittipaldi-Dingman driver Tiago Monteiro
Sunday night following the race. There are still a limited number of
tickets available for the party. Tickets are $125 with proceeds going to
charity. For ticket information, contact Darrell Nardiello at
303-523-5032.
8/29/03
A
lap around Laguna Seca with Frank Biela The
American Le Mans Series will compete in the Fry's Electronics
Sports Car Championships at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in
Monterey, Calif., Sep. 5-7. In this first-person narrative,
Infineon Team Joest Audi R8 driver Frank Biela of Germany, a
four-time winner in the ALMS in 2003, describes how he drives
a lap of the 2.238-mile circuit. Biela knows his way quite
well as he has won the ALMS event at Monterey the past two
years Laguna Seca is one of the most demanding tracks of the
ALMS. It is a very beautiful track, sitting above a
picturesque landscape, where the weather is always beautiful.
Driving there is always a lot of fun. But the track is very
difficult, especially finding the right line. There are some
corners that are hanging to the outside. Then there are other
ones where the apex is slightly banked before it becomes flat
on the exit again. From a driver's point of view the track is
very difficult and demanding.
Difficulties start as soon as in Turn 1. After a relatively
long straight you come over a crest and must brake downhill
which always gives a funny feeling. The first corner hangs to
the outside. When you turn into the corner the car starts to
understeer. As soon as you get on the gas, it changes to
oversteer. You exit in second gear and accelerate for a right
hand corner which is faster than you expect it to be. It´s not
so difficult to find the line through this corner as the
classic outside-inside-outside thing works. The next right
hand corner is very, very fast despite hanging a bit to the
outside. It's very difficult to see the entrance and get the
turn-in point right. You take it in fourth gear and change to
fifth before the exit. While you normally avoid the kerbs at
Laguna Seca because there is so much sand, you have to take
them at the exit of this corner. You accelerate up into sixth
gear before entering a left hand corner which is a little
banked at the entrance. That's why you have to turn in earlier
than you would tend to do. At the apex, the grip level is very
high. You don't want to have an understeering car in this
corner because you have to be early on the throttle. You have
a slight oversteer at the exit, which is no big problem
because you are going in third or fourth gear and have no
wheelspin.
Accelerating uphill to sixth gear you enter a fast left hand
corner with an almost blind entrance because it is situated
behind a crest. To take as much speed as possible for the rest
of the uphill part, you take the kerbs on both side of the
track. However, you can't drive too hard over the kerbs on the
inside because the car would jump. After the rest of the
uphill section you arrive at probably the most famous corner
of all the ALMS circuit, the famous "Corkscrew". You can't see
the braking point which is as difficult to find as the point
to turn into the corner. It's also easy to lock the wheels
because the track is going downhill again. You lose grip and
it is difficult to control the car and to enter the left hand
corner. The Corkscrew itself is always a strange feeling for
the driver. It's interesting but very difficult. If you get
the right line, you are very fast, changing from second to
third before the next right hand corner where you feel a
compression. If you don't get the Corkscrew right, you can
easily go off there.
The next downhill left hand corner is very fast. Again you
have to turn in earlier than you would normally do. You take
it in fourth or fifth gear before entering a fast banked right
hand corner. You run over the kerbs at the exit, but you risk
going off there into the dirt with the left side of the car.
If you do so, your lap is destroyed. This downhill right-left
section is very fast and physically demanding for the driver
because the grip level is very high and you have so much g
forces.
The last corner is no big deal. You have to brake as late as
possible. The exit is very important because quite a long
straight follows. The corner is not so nice because it is very
slow. You do about 80 kph which means you get a lot of
wheelspin which gets worse and worse during the race with the
tyres going down. So, every time you do this corner quite well
and you do not lose too much speed at the exit, you feel quite
happy.
8/29/03
Stewart stays with Gibbs
Winston Cup champion Tony Stewart ended speculation about his future
by agreeing Thursday to a five-year contract extension that will keep
him with Joe Gibbs Racing through 2009. "I'm happy to have all of this
worked out," said Stewart, who races Sunday in the Southern 500. "Joe
Gibbs and everyone associated with Joe Gibbs Racing have been very
good to me in the seven years I've been here. "They've always given me
everything I need out on the race track, and they've always been there
to support me off the track as well."
Leffler lands Cup ride
Haas CNC Racing announced today Jason Leffler will be behind the wheel
of the NetZero HiSpeed Pontiac for the remainder of the 2003 NASCAR
Winston Cup season and continue with the team in 2004. I’m happy to be
a part of the Haas CNC Racing team,” said Leffler, 27. “It’s a great
team and a great opportunity for me to get back to the Winston Cup
Series. Gene Haas, Joe Custer and Tony Furr have worked hard to get me
here and I’m looking forward to our future together. NetZero is a
great sponsor and I’d like to thank everybody involved for giving me
this chance.” Leffler, who was active in the Winston Cup Series in
2001 while racing for car owner Chip Ganassi, has been a fierce
competitor on the NASCAR Craftsman Truck circuit for the past two
seasons. In 2002, Leffler racked up eight pole positions en route to a
fourth-place finish in the championship point standings. During the
first 16 races of the 2003 campaign, Leffler captured his first
victory, which came at Dover (Del.) International Speedway, and scored
two additional poles. “We are thrilled to have Jason Leffler become a
permanent part of our team,” stated Joe Custer, General Manager of
Haas CNC Racing. “We think Jason is a good, young driver with a ton of
potential and we look forward to a long, successful future together.”
Leffler, a native of Long Beach, Calif., will make his fourth start
behind the wheel of the No. 0 NetZero HiSpeed Pontiac this weekend at
Darlington (S.C.) Raceway.
8/28/03
IRL drivers still long for CART
Dave Argabright writes in his latest NSSN column from Nazareth about how the team
owners now in the IRL have no interest in hiring short track oval racers and the
current crop of drivers are all road races. He talks about USAC featuring
three divisions at Nazareth, including the midgets and sprints. While they
were on the track racing and dicing it out one reporter told of stepping into a
luxury coach behind the pit area, where two prominent IndyCar drivers were
relaxing. Instead of walking 50 yards to watch the midget race, they were
watching CART qualifying on TV. A very telling scenario indeed.
8/28/03
CART continues dismal TV ratings on SPEED
CART's Sunday race from Montreal recorded a pathetic 0.26 (152,000 HH) rating on
SPEED. By comparison, also on SPEED, Wind Tunnel with Dave Despain scored
some of its best Nielsen ratings to date as the Aug. 19 viewer call-in program
discussing the Jimmy Spencer-Kurt Busch spectacle scored a 0.40 (229,000
households) and Mike Helton's appearance on Aug. 21 picked up a 0.37 (213,000
households) ... SPEED Channel's 2 Wheel Tuesday programming is settling in nicely
to its new
10 p.m. ET time slot as the Aug. 26 show scored a 0.44 (252,000 HH) ... These
ratings indicate CART's on-track parades have made the series almost comatose.
While CART's hardcore fans get upset when we make fun of CART's parades, the good
news is that CART may be changing things for next year with the implementation of
ideas like single-lap qualifying and a push-to-pass button. Something has to
be done, as doing nothing could be fatal.
8/28/03
Some insight into Kevin Kalkhoven
Thought you might find this
article on CART team owner, and soon-to-be CART series owner Kevin
Kalkhoven interesting. It gives you some insight into the man, and what
makes him tick. CART is lucky to have him on their side right now.
Related article.
8/28/03
Spencer to replace Leffler at Richmond
NASCAR Veteran Jimmy Spencer has been tabbed as the replacement for
Jason Leffler as the driver of the Team ASE/CARQUEST Dodge for the
Virginia is for Lovers 200 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event at
Richmond, VA. Leffler will take over the reins of the No. 0 Net Zero
Pontiac on a full time basis in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series. "Jason
has a chance to move up to the NASCAR Winston Cup ranks and we wish
him the very best of luck," said Ron Weiner, President of the National
Institute for Automotive Service Excellence (ASE). "We certainly
appreciate the effort that he put forth on our behalf over the past
two years. By the same token, we are very appreciative to Jimmy
Spencer for helping us out at Richmond, where ASE is celebrating our
200th race as an NCTS sponsor. "Mr. Excitement" is a working-man's
driver, and the 450,000 ASE certified mechanics clearly identify with
his work ethic and his 110% efforts on the track."
8/28/03
Major blow to karting as talks break down
Just when it looked liked go-karting would be consolidated and end the confusion
over which path to take, The Snap-on Champ Car Stars of Tomorrow presented by
RACER released the following statement regarding the previously announced
intention to merge operations with Superkarts! USA. "After understanding the
situation through due diligence of the material requested by Stars of Tomorrow,
LLC in its proposed purchase of SKUSA stock and/or selected assets, it was decided
by the Board of Directors of Stars of Tomorrow, LLC that any such purchase would
not be in the best business interests of Stars of Tomorrow, LLC or the sport of
karting as well. While the philosophical arguments for a purchase of SKUSA were
clear, the sustainable business model through such a purchase could not be
justified. “While those involved at Stars of Tomorrow are regretful of such a
conclusion, it is the mandate of the Board of Directors to continue with the
progress made during the 2003 season.” Just as CART and the IRL remain
divided and going nowhere, the same exists for go-karting, with the competition
between the two groups holding both back from really taking off.
8/28/03
More bad press for CART in Denver - Nothing left in
CART's tank
The Denver press just keeps pouring it on, pounding CART into oblivion.
First it was the Denver Post, now it's the Rocky Mountain News. This
article says, The picture was supposed to get brighter. Before
Championship Auto Racing Teams came to town for the inaugural Grand Prix of
Denver, the CEO acknowledged the company's shaky financial status but professed
optimism in its future. "This series has had its hits, don't get me wrong," Chris
Pook said. "But I believe that we're over the pass. And we're growing the series
back." In the 12 months since then, the company has been hemorrhaging cash. After
losing more than $43 million in the first six months of the year, CART announced
it would run out of money by the end of next year. Some analysts think the bottom
will be reached well before then. "It is clear there will be no 2004 (season)
unless CART is sold to people with awfully deep pockets," Forrest Bond, a 40-year
veteran of the motor sports scene, wrote in his well-respected newsletter, Racefax.
Bond reviewed CART's financial statements and concluded that the company would go
broke by the end of this year. "The best-case scenario leaves CART with just $3.4
million to celebrate New Year's, and the worst-case, minimum projected revenue and
maximum projected expenses would leave the company $2.3 million in the red," Bond
wrote. One group of investors, Open Wheel Racing Series, offered to buy CART on
Aug. 18, but the offer, for 50 cents a share, was less than one-third the stock
price. While the company did not sign the group's initial letter of intent, CART's
board of directors conducted a full-day meeting Saturday and decided to pursue
some type of agreement with the group. "Management was given very clear direction
to continue its negotiations with Open Wheel Racing Series and seek to conclude
those negotiations as quickly as possible so that everyone clearly understands the
future direction of the company," Pook said in a prepared statement. Speed matters
as much in these negotiations as it does on the racetrack. As long as uncertainty
hovers above CART's future, race teams will have trouble securing sponsorships.
And without sponsors' dollars, teams will have trouble securing drivers'
contracts, hiring other personnel or building their program for next year. And
already, it looks like next year will come at a higher price than this year did.
8/28/03
Kurt Busch neutered
"I want to offer a sincere apology to the fans, my team, my
sponsors, NASCAR, the media and my fellow competitors. I am
still learning how to deal with public situations that are
suddenly placed in front of me while filled with adrenalin
from the racetrack. All Winston Cup drivers with experience
have learned to do this. It is obvious to me that I handled
the situation poorly, which is one reason why I accepted
NASCAR's punishment without appeal. I appreciate that Jack
Roush, Roush Racing and Newell Rubbermaid are committed to
helping me grow and improve. "Earlier this week, Jack Roush
and my sponsors at Newell Rubbermaid separately met with me to
discuss the recent events and to review them from many
different perspectives. They made it clear to me that in
addition to being competitive on the track, that Rubbermaid,
Sharpie, Irwin, and the entire Rubbermaid family of companies,
deserve and need me to be a true and complete ambassador of
their great products. "I have committed to do my best to
uphold the proud name of Rubbermaid and Roush Racing on and
off the track. With that in mind, I will continue to compete
on a week-to-week basis in a manner that will make my
sponsors, team and fans proud. I am here to win every weekend
and the entire team supports that. I look forward to
Darlington and the rest of the season. "I know very well that
words are cheap and that my sincerity and commitment will be
judged by what I do in the weeks and months ahead. I am going
to work very hard with the help of my sponsors, Roush and my
teammates to live up to the promises I am making today. I
truly hope all racing fans will support me as well."
8/28/03
Toyota
Tundra makes first official test The NASCAR
Craftsman Truck Series Toyota Tundra race truck, which will
make its racing debut in February 2004 at Daytona, ran its
initial test yesterday at Caraway Speedway in Asheboro, N.C.
The historic session was the first for the manufacturer since
it officially submitted the truck to NASCAR in July. Veteran
racer Joe Ruttman handled the driving duties at the 0.455-mile
oval. "It was another significant step in the truck program’s
progression,” said Jim Aust, vice president of Motorsports at
Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., and president and CEO of Toyota
Racing Development (TRD) U.S.A. “For Toyota, it is a special
day as we prepare for the Tundra’s debut at Daytona next
February. It is a rewarding moment for those who have worked
on
the truck program over the last year.” The test was conducted
to learn the Tundra race truck’s basic characteristics,
evaluate systems, and gain first impressions on down force and
balance. “It’s really an honor to be first to climb behind the
wheel of the Tundra,” said Ruttman, a NASCAR Craftsman Truck
veteran since the series’ inception in 1995. “For being its
first time on the track, I was really impressed with the
truck’s performance. It hit as close to the mark as any new
race vehicle could hope to achieve for a first test. I’m
really looking forward to experiencing the truck’s learning
curve and contributing to its progression.” The NASCAR
Craftsman Truck Series Toyota Tundra will continue testing
throughout the fall in preparation for the 2004 season.
Photo Credits: "Worth Canoy-VPS Motorimages"
8/28/03
First test of new Ford F-150
not so good NASCAR Craftsman Truck driver Rick
Crawford and the folks at Ford Racing planned to use all of
Thursday to learn the ins and outs of the new 2004 Ford F-150.
Instead, they lost an engine only 2 hours into the test and
had to pack up and head home. "We didn't get nearly as much
on-track time as we'd hoped for on our maiden voyage, but I
think we still learned a lot," Crawford said. "This truck has
a lot of promise and potential. We were creeping up on it;
every run was faster and faster. This truck has surely not
reached its peak." Still, in the 25 or so laps Crawford was
able to run, he managed a top speed of around 170 mph. "Today
was just about getting ready for 2004, trying to get a leg
up," said Robert Brooks, NASCAR truck program manager for Ford
Racing. "We'll take all of the information we gathered today
and give it to the whole Ford family for next year. It wasn't
as much as we'd hoped for, but it's still a great start."
Crawford and several other Ford drivers were in Atlanta just
last month to test different tape configurations on the front
air dam, measuring how much it changed the trucks' cooling
system and downforce. "Between that last test and this test, I
have a real comfort zone here in Atlanta," Crawford said.
"This is a great, fast track. I wish I would have had the
afternoon to play around with the new truck, because we were
pretty conservative in the morning, but we feel good about how
things went."
8/28/03
Cause of Barrichello accident
After an accurate analysis of the available data and
after studying film of the Hungarian Grand Prix, Scuderia
Ferrari has ascertained the most probable cause of Rubens
Barrichello’s accident in the event. When he found himself
very close to the car which preceded him, Barrichello twice
hit the curbs at an unusual angle of impact at the chicane
between Turns 6 and 7. The impacts put excessive stress on the
leading arm of the upper wishbone of the left rear suspension.
This part then broke under heavy braking on the main straight
at the start of lap 20. Ferrari
8/28/03 Industry News
Aerodynamic seminar plannedUPDATE The two well known
automotive guests are, John Dinkel, ex-R&T chief editor, and Paul
VanValkenburgh, past Chevrolet race engineer and inventor, are scheduled
to appear for a Q&A period at the end of the seminar. 8/27/03
- A new seminar on racecar aerodynamic development, at the Holiday Inn
hotel in Burbank, CA, on September 20, will offer current aerospace perspectives
on the subject. The presenter will be Paul T. Glessner, a leading aerospace
engineer at America's renowned Edwards Air Force Base who has also worked on
racecar aerodynamics for Champ Car, IMSA sportscar and NHRA drag racing.
The Holiday Inn is located at 150 E. Angeleno Ave. in Burbank. Two very
special, well-known guests will add to the day's agenda; details to be
released. To hold your spot, email ptglessner@aol.com
8/28/03
Miller on IRL attendance
Q&A from Robin Miller's latest article on RPM.ESPN.com - Q: Why
doesn't IRL release attendance figures for their races? I'm particularly
interested to know how the Nazareth race on Aug. 24 compared to the past
spring race (2002). Greg O'Brien, Pottstown, Pa. Robin Miller:
The tracks announce the attendance, not the IRL in keeping with IMS
tradition. The crowd last Sunday was estimated at 15,000 and it was
pathetic, especially considering what a gorgeous day it was. Moving from
the cold spring date to summer obviously didn't help. I think there were
more people in the stands in 2002 when it was frigid. Tracks often lie
about attendance (check this year's Kentucky figure and CART's Cleveland
crowd) and the season tickets are counted as bodies at most ISC events.
8/28/03
Miller on CART vs IRL
Q&A from Robin Miller's latest article on RPM.ESPN.com - Q: After
seeing the great crowds for CART at Montreal (70,000 race day), and the
sparse crowds for the IRL at Nazareth (15,000) last weekend, along with
both series fielding 19 cars for the race, is the television deal
advantage that the IRL has the only thing that is preventing it from being
on life-support instead of CART? And how is the attendance battle playing
out this year? Being a loyal CART fan and anti-Tony George, I love seeing
all the empty seats at IRL events. Will the respectable crowds at CART
help it survive in the short term? John Petersen, DenverRobin
Miller: Good observation. Yes, the dying series draws 150,000 for
three days and the series that's "right where we need to be" can't get
15,000 on a perfect summer day. ABC and ESPN pays Tony George (mainly
thanks to Indy) to put the IRL on air while CART forks out $800,000 a race
for CBS. Plus, Tony has an outlet to make money (Brickyard 400) and has
much deeper pockets than CART, which must figure out a way to make money
again to survive past 2004. Funny, Brian Barnhart was worried about having
enough pit box space for all the IRL teams this year and they're barely
ahead of CART in car count. I think at least three IRL teams are 50/50 to
answer the bell next year and, without Toyota and Honda, yes the IRL would
be treading water. I think you'll see Michael Andretti down to two cars
next year because his sponsorship isn't that much. As far as attendance,
CART kicks butt in Canada, Mexico, Australia and Long Beach but still
struggles in most of its other U.S. venues, although Cleveland and
Mid-Ohio both had crowds twice the size of IRL races at Nazareth and St.
Louis. The IRL depends on ISC's season tickets to get crowds at Texas, K.C.,
Fontana, Chicago but they are smart about not charging too much compared
to some of CART's high prices. But empty seats for IRL and CART races
aren't good for open wheel. And CART cannot grow or even survive just
solely on drawing good crowds to street races.
8/28/03
The real race in CART is on Saturday
The real race in CART is on Saturday during qualifying, with Sunday
reserved as parade day. Not only we have picked up on this apparent flaw.
This Rocky Mountain Newspaper
article says, Pole-to-pole, wire-to-wire, green-to-checkered flag
- there is nothing like being up front when it comes to winning on the
CART circuit. Bruno Junqueira of Brazil found himself in that situation in
last year's Grand Prix of Denver. He led all 100 laps on the 1.647-mile,
temporary street course around the Pepsi Center. Scott Dixon (who started
No. 4) and eventual CART champion Cristiano da Matta (No. 7) finished
second and third, respectively. There certainly was nothing unique about
Junqueira's win in Denver. In fact, winning from the front row has become
more common in CART (the #1 parade company) than in any other venue of
racing. Junqueira won Road America at Elkhart Lake, Wis., three weeks ago,
also from the pole, for his only victory this season. In 14 races this
season, 12 winners have come from the front row - the Nos. 1 and 2
qualifiers - and the other two have come from the second row - Adrian
Fernandez in the G.I. Joe's 200 in Portland, Ore., from the No. 3 position
and Michel Jourdain Jr., Sunday at Montreal, from the No. 4 position. The
article goes on to further analyze the issue and talks about where, if
any, is there a place the drivers can pass in Denver. The next race
is in Miami in four weeks, and if you thought Denver is hard to pass on,
just wait. CART had the opportunity to mix the starting grid up
(which would result in some of the faster guys starting a few rows further
back) by using single-car, single lap qualifying. Instead they blew
the call by giving the drivers three timed laps meaning they are likely to
get at least one good lap and the fast guys will start up front (and
finish the 2-hour procession that way). Single-lap qualifying and/or
a push-to-pass button would go a long way toward making the on-track
race-day product of CART more exciting for the paying customers, i.e. the
fans.
8/28/03
Status of CART buyout talks Still
no CART Board approval of Open Wheel Racing Series, LLC's bid to buy CART.
Everyone has gone relatively silent, and we believe the primary concern is
getting enough shareholders to approve the sale to Open Wheel at the price
bid. We believe that all the parties involved recognize that Jon
Vannini and friends could make or break the vote. Do they really want it
to go before the shareholders for vote not having any idea of the outcome?
We think not. Defeat would be devastating. We can tell you
that Kevin Kalkhoven had his first meeting with Jon Vannini on Tuesday of
this week. The meeting ended with a general feeling of mutual
respect and both sides came away agreeing to talk again in a few days.
Both sides now have a better understanding of what the other's position is,
and hopefully, after further thought and negotiation, this will lead to an
agreement to work together. As we have stated on numerous occasions,
this deal, and the future of CART, will be much stronger if everyone is
united. We have the utmost respect for Jon Vannini, Kevin Kalkhoven,
Paul Gentilozzi, Carl Russo and Gerald Forsythe. Together they would
make one heck of a strong team, each bringing different skills and
resources to the deal and the organization. All have a desire to want CART
to succeed, despite the enormous hurdles that must be overcome.
Let's get this done gentlemen, whatever it takes. Too many people's
livelihoods, and the entire CART series and its ladder series are in
jeopardy. Time is of the essence.......Mark C.
8/28/03
Conflict between Smith & France
in Texas & NY City This
Winston-Salem Journal
article says, Bill France and Bruton Smith have given
Texas lawyers their sides of the debate over that 'promised'
second Winston Cup date for Smith's Texas Motor Speedway. No
matter how that lawsuit works out - a TMS stockholder has sued
to force NASCAR to give the track another race - the biggest
battlefront between stock-car racing's two giants is not
really Texas but rather New York, where both men have been
scrambling, for several years now, to find land to build a
racetrack within sight of the skyline. France has Donald Trump
as his point man, NASCAR executives are using New York for
every possible angle of exposure for the sport, and there have
been recent reports of four possible sites getting closer
scrutiny, including the Aqueduct Raceway near JFK Airport.
France is still positive, but Smith says he has put his New
York projects on the back burner, in part because until the
Texas case is resolved, there's little point in cranking up to
build a track anywhere. 'I've been all over that area,' Smith
says of New York. 'We started about three years ago ... and I
think some other people have been right behind me, trying to
go behind everything I did. 'I was offered a huge piece of
property on Long Island (an old Grumman plant). Well, I didn't
know much about Long Island, so I went out there for a day,
and learned we can't build a speedway out there, because you
can't get people out there. There are only two ways to move
the people, the Long Island Railroad and the Long Island
Expressway. I timed a trip from the Waldorf, at 55 mph or 60
mph, and it took us 55 minutes. So it's much farther out than
I thought. 'The (then) governor (of New Jersey) wanted to sell
the Meadowlands to me, and I was very interested,' he said. 'I
met with her five times, Christine Whitman. She called an
attorney in to work with me, and I told them I needed a copy
of the lease between the state and the Giants. It took me four
months ... and when I got a copy I saw why they were so
reluctant. Because the Giants have the right to refuse anybody
if they think it interferes with what they do. And the
assemblymen I met were adamant about not having a speedway
there. I forgot about that. So I'm not involved anywhere in
New York at this time. That doesn't mean we might not revive
something. 'But we would have to have a date or two. And
NASCAR is not giving out dates.'
8/28/03
Big Toyota F1 budget
Sports Business Journal reports that Toyota's budget for its 2-car F1
effort is $300 million. Reports like this must have some in
NASCAR worried.
8/28/03 F3000
Townsend Bell may be next American in
F1
This AP article says,
American racer Townsend Bell is ready to play his part in Formula
One's incursion into the U.S. market. He's getting a test drive with
the BAR-Honda team in Monza, Italy. Bell, the 2001 CART Indy Lights
champion, is racing this season in Formula 3000, a European feeder
series for F1. He's on a roll he hopes will land him a ride in the big
show next year. ``I was seventh in Britain, fifth in Germany and third
this time,'' Bell said of his effort last weekend at the Hungarian
Grand Prix. ``I hope my streak continues.'' Bell has gradually
improved his record over the season with five point finishes in nine
out of the 10 races he has completed. The so-called silly season in
F1, when contracts for the upcoming year are sealed, has been declared
open and talented drivers are invited to test. Bell, 28, from San Luis
Obispo, Calif., is on the lost of hopefuls. Being an American gives
him an advantage, he says. ``Over in the U.S., drivers are lamenting
that Canadians and Mexicans are pushed by teams and sponsors,'' Bell
said. ``But F1 racing wants to conquer the American market, and so I
am on pole here.'' Being in F3000 doesn't hurt either. Previous series
champions who have moved to F1 include former CART stars Juan Pablo
Montoya and Christian Fittipaldi. ``I will stay in Europe, because
it's the place to be, if you want to drive in F1 at some stage,'' Bell
said. ``You are looking for momentum. ``You need to be in the
headlines, need to be talked about.'' His podium finish at the
Hungarian race certainly didn't hurt his chances. But Bell has not
always hit the news in a positive fashion. As a CART series rookie, he
was fined $10,000 and placed on indefinite probation for his part in
an accident in 2001 in Toronto, where he knocked Bruno Junqueira out
of the race. Bell had previously been on probation for an accident in
the Grand Prix of Monterrey and was replaced midway through the season
when team owner Pat Patrick decided he was ``looking for more patience
inside our cockpit.'' Now, Bell is looking to become the first
American F1 driver since Michael Andretti more than a decade ago. ``I
am sure I will get a shot,'' Bell said, mindful of his upcoming test
in Monza. ``If I do well there, who knows. Anything can happen.''
Scenes from Hungary - Bell on his way to 3rd place.
8/28/03
Allmendinger looks to lock up crown
After setting a modern-day CART Toyota Atlantic Championship rookie
record with his sixth victory of the season in last weekend's Molson
Indy Montreal, A.J. Allmendinger (#4 RuSPORT) wrapped up the
prestigious BG Products Rookie of the Year title. In Sunday's Argent
Mortgage Challenge at the Centrix Financial Grand Prix of Denver
(SPEED Channel, 2:00 p.m. ET), however, Allmendinger will be looking
to put the series' biggest prize in his trophy case, as he is poised
to join Jon Fogarty (#1 Norwalk Furniture) as the second consecutive
rookie to win the CART Toyota Atlantic Championship title. With last
weekend's Montreal win, Allmendinger mathematically eliminated every
driver in the field from championship consideration except for Ryan
Dalziel (#28 Pro-Works/Discovery Lake/Daily Record). Allmendinger
holds a 26 point advantage over the Scot, and will clinch the title
this weekend if that advantage is more than 22 points at the end of
the day on Sunday. What may provide extra incentive for Allmendinger
this weekend is the fact that his RuSPORT team is based in nearby
Loveland, Colo., and it would provide a little extra sweetness-like it
does for any other professional sports team-if the championship is won
"at home." That being said, it isn't likely to come easy for
Allmendinger this weekend. Dalziel had what was then his best weekend
ever in CART Toyota Atlantic Championship competition at last year's
event in Denver, as he claimed his first career Toyota Atlantic pole
position and led the first 12 laps in the race en route to equaling
his career best result with a second place finish. Clearly, Dalziel
knows the quick way around the quirky, 1.647-mile temporary street
circuit in the shadow of the Rocky Mountains, and will need to use all
of that knowledge to push the championship chase to Miami. Dalziel
isn't the only one that will make things difficult for Allmendinger,
as Fogarty, who is the defending champion of the Argent Mortgage
Challenge in addition to being the reigning series champion, is
returning to the cockpit for the first time since last year's battle
on the streets of Denver. Fogarty announced last weekend in Montreal
that he will be part of what is now a two-car assault for Team Rahal,
joining rookie Danica Patrick (#24 Argent Mortgage Company) for the
final two races of the season.
8/28/03 Industry News
India overtaking Japan as #2 in Asia
Now you understand why F1 is eyeing India. Here's one example.
India was poised to become the second-largest market in the Asia-Pacific region
behind China for US software giant Oracle, its executive vice-president said on
Wednesday. At the India launch of Oracle's new e-business software for the
Asia-Pacific region, Derek Williams told a press conference the Chinese and Indian
markets would outstrip the more mature markets of Japan and Australia. "I have had
a dream. It now looks like it could turn into reality in a couple of years. China
will be the biggest market in the Asia-Pacific region and India will be No 2,"
said Mr Williams. "I cannot give an exact time frame for the change but it will
happen in a couple of years." Oracle said Japan was currently its biggest
information technology (IT) market in the region followed by China, Singapore and
Australia.
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Ticket
sale date set for Bahrain
The flag is up for the Middle East's first-ever Formula One
Grand Prix - to be held in Bahrain on April 4 next year. (See race's
Miami added
to 2003 Trans-Am schedule, MotoRock new sponsor, Elton John to perform
MotoRock LLC has signed a multi-year agreement to become title sponsor of
the Trans-Am Series for the BFGoodrich Tires Cup. The Series will now be
known as the MotoRock Trans-Am Tour for the BFGoodrich Tires Cup. The
agreement is a continuation of MotoRock’s title sponsorship of the
MotoRock Mile High 100, part of the Centrix Financial Grand Prix of
Denver. The announcement was made in Denver by MotoRock Chairman and CEO
Jamie Rose, Trans-Am Series principal Paul Gentilozzi and Trans-Am Series
Executive Director John Clagett.
Much
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