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Mountain Dew to expand sponsorship Kasey
Kahne, NASCAR Nextel Cup Series rookie, is the newest member of the
Mountain Dew team. Kahne joins his Evernham Motorsports teammate,
Jeremy Mayfield, who has been sponsored by Mountain Dew since the 2002
season. Pepsi-Cola North America, makers of Mountain Dew, today
announced an agreement with Evernham Motorsports to extend their
sponsorship to include rookie driver Kasey Kahne and the over-the-wall
crew of Kahne's No. 9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge who compete in the
Nextel Cup Series. The Evernham Motorsports pit crews for Kahne and
Jeremy Mayfield will be known as the "Dew Crews." Kahne's Dodge
Dealers/UAW Dodge will race in a special Mountain Dew color scheme for
one race in 2004. In addition, Kahne and Mayfield will appear on
in-store display materials and make appearances during the season for
Mountain Dew.
2/12/04
Air Force Chief of Staff at 500 General
John P. Jumper, Air Force Chief of Staff, will be attending the
Daytona 500 race events on Saturday and Sunday, 14 - 15 Feb. As Chief,
he serves as the senior uniformed Air Force officer responsible for
the organization, training and equipage of 710,000 active-duty, Guard,
Reserve and civilian forces serving in the United States and overseas.
General Jumper will be participating in Air Force Recruiting events on
Saturday, including an enlistment ceremony to over 30 young men and
women joining the Air Force. On Sunday, he will be addressing the
Daytona 500 race crowd at 1220 and will join the crowd as the B-2
Stealth Bomber flies overhead following the National Anthem. General
Jumper will spend much of the race in the pit area cheering on the #21
Motorcraft/Air Force Taurus and driver Ricky Rudd.
2/12/04
Long Beach construction to begin
Construction of the 1.97-mile temporary race circuit through the
downtown streets of Long Beach for the 30th Anniversary Toyota Grand
Prix of Long Beach begins Monday, Feb. 16. The first phase of
racetrack construction will begin Monday at Shoreline Drive and Linden
Avenue in Long Beach at approximately 7:30 a.m. as the first concrete
blocks are dropped into place. Over the next 60 days, a city within a
city will be built with over 1,400 concrete blocks forming the
temporary racetrack, debris fencing, grandstand seating, power,
telephone lines and countless amenities for fans. The 30th
Anniversary Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach will run April 16-18.
2/12/04
Stars adds 6th class The
Snap-on Stars Of Karting proudly announce Easykart 125 as the sixth
class to run in the National series for 2004. As part of the Grand
prize for the Snap-On Stars of Karting, Easykart USA is offering to
each of the East and West Champions a trip to Valencia, for a 3-day
Formula BMW test. In addition to the test, a $15,000.00 cash prize
will be awarded to the Snap-On Stars of Karting Easykart 125 National
Champion. "This is an ideal opportunity to show all the benefits of
Easykart as being the only 100% spec class in North America where the
chassis, motor, and tires are the same for all the competitors, and
where the only difference is the drivers, and not the size of their
wallets. It is an honor for Easykart America to be a part of the
Snap-On Stars of Karting, since it is considered the premier
karting series in the USA" said Pablo Montoya, C.E.O. Easykart
America. "With the popularity of the TaG (Touch and Go) format of
racing, it was important for us to offer a competitive class that had
more control over the rules and regulations", said Paul Zalud of
Stars. "With the credibility that Formula BMW provides, we are looking
forward to adding this truly spec class to our series, and giving the
competitor a chance to experience Formula BMW for themselves." "As we
continue to build our National and International Programs, we are
thrilled to be a part of the Snap-On Stars of Karting Series. Our
ultimate goal is to give each and every driver an opportunity to
compete at a National and International level. Easykart America will
travel to all the East and West coast Stars National Events with
karts, parts, gear, tires and engines to support the Easykart 125
class and its drivers," said Salomon Bendayan, C.O.O. Easykart
America. Stars Technical Director, Scott Evans adds, "The Easykart
rules structure takes spec racing to the highest degree, with control
not only over the engine and tires, but also very limited adjustments
to the required chassis. It is obviously focused on driver skill and
should be an exciting class for inclusion in the 2004 Stars program.
2/12/04
Dixon dominates on Day 2 Scott
Dixon dominated the final day of the IRL IndyCar® Series Open Test at
Phoenix International Raceway leading both sessions at the 1-mile
oval. Dixon, the 2003 IndyCar Series champion, lapped the track
in 20.1438 seconds, 178.715 mph in the No. 1 Target Chip Ganassi
Racing Panoz G Force/Toyota/Firestone in the morning session and
backed that up with a lap of 20.2732, 177.574 in the afternoon
session.
More....
2/12/04
Champ Car to preview season in
Long Beach
Followers of the Champ Car World Series will get their
long-awaited first look at the lineup of cars, teams and
drivers for the 2004 season as the series unveils its new
look on March 8-9 in Long Beach, California. The lineup of
750hp turbocharged Champ Cars will be on hand for two days
in Long Beach, site of the April 16-18 season opener, where
the new look of Champ Car will be unveiled for the first
time. The cars will be revealed to the media at press
conferences throughout the two days, along with a series of
2004 driver and team lineups along with sponsor
announcements. “We are delighted that Champ Car has selected
Long Beach as the site for this year's preview event,” said
Jim Michaelian, president and CEO of the Grand Prix
Association of Long Beach. “This is a great opportunity to
showcase the teams and drivers as well as the excitement
that we all anticipate will be a part of the 2004 Champ Car
World Series which will begin with the 30th anniversary
Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach this April.” The festivities
will open Monday morning and will feature press conferences
throughout the two days with Champ Car officials along with
other series partners. The preview will end Tuesday evening
with a fan event at the Long Beach Convention Center. Fans
will have the opportunity to see the new cars and meet all
the drivers of the Champ Car World Series as they prepare
for the 30th running of the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.
“We know that our fans have been anxiously awaiting the
chance to see what we have planned for 2004,” said 2003
Australia race winner Ryan Hunter-Reay. “We are equally
anxious to give the fans a chance to see what we have in
store as we gear up for what will be a very exciting racing
season.” A more detailed schedule concerning timing of
specific announcements will be released at a later date.
2/12/04
Duracell official battery of
NASCAR Duracell yesterday announced a
multi-year deal with NASCAR to become the Official Status
Sponsor and the Official Alkaline Battery of NASCAR.
Duracell will leverage with consumer promos, in-store POP,
FSIs and TV, print and radio advertising highlighting
Duracell's "Trusted Everywhere" theme. Duracell also becomes
an associate sponsor of Kevin Harvick's No. 29 Chevy, with
Duracell logos adorning Harvick's race suit and the car's
front lower quarter panel. Also, Harvick will appear in a
Duracell spot that is scheduled to break Sunday during NBC's
coverage of the Daytona 500. Duracell.
2/12/04
Sebastien Bourdais to co-host
radio show
Last season’s Champ Car Rookie of the Year Sebastien
Bourdais of Newman/Haas Racing made his mark on the Champ
Car World Series competition in his series debut, earning
five poles and three wins in the open-wheel championship
that boasts the truest test of driver and machine. This
Friday night from 8:00 – 9:00 p.m. ET, the Frenchman will
make his debut as a co-host on the popular motorsports radio
show Focus on Racing Radio with their coverage from the
Mobil 1 Speedweeks party in Orlando, Florida.
Bourdais will join the program with regular hosts Billy
Edwards and Bob Varsha when they broadcast to 70 nationwide
affiliates on the CBS/Westwood One Radio Network from the
Orlando Hilton in front of a live audience. Topics for the
hour-long show will include Bourdais and his preparation for
the start of the 2004 Champ Car World Series season with the
30th Annual Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, April 18.
The 24-year-old Champ Car standout returns to the Sunshine
State once again after a recent visit to Daytona
International Speedway to watch NHR co-owner and
accomplished driver Paul Newman compete in the Rolex 24 At
Daytona. Bourdais, a qualified sports car driver in his own
right before making the move to Champ Cars, has competed in
24-hour races at Le Mans and Spa, in addition to multiple
wins in the 2002 FIA Sportscar championship.
Focus on Racing Radio provides coverage of all major racing
venues, including the Champ Car World Series, with trackside
reports from all races along with news and human interest
features concerning drivers and teams. Now in its 22nd year
of production, Focus on Racing Radio is celebrating its
third season on the CBS/Westwood One Radio Network.
2/12/04
Cosworth Champ Car engines for
sale
A new listing on our Classified page - Cosworth Racing Inc.
has an assortment of used '96 to '99 XD engines @ $35k each.
A few electronic accessories are also available to fully
compliment running these engines at $10k each. See Classifieds page for more
detail.
2/12/04
Montagny tops Thursday times in
Jerez Renault's Franck Montagny was fastest
at Jerez today. McLaren's pilots were yet again slow, as
were the Williams drivers (sandbagging we suppose). Pos Driver Car-Engine Time Laps
1 Franck Montagny (Renault) 1m17.051s 90
2 Takuma Sato (BAR-Honda) 1m17.175s 105
3 Jarno Trulli (Renault) 1m17.252s 91
4 Felipe Massa (Sauber-Petronas) 1m17.388s 90
5 Giancarlo Fisichella (Sauber-Petronas) 1m17.391s 84
6 Kimi Raikkonen (McLaren-Mercedes) 1m17.529s 109
7 Juan Pablo Montoya (Williams-BMW) 1m17.554s 60
8 Rubens Barrichello (Ferrari)* 1m17.667s 99
9 Mark Webber (Jaguar) 1m17.717s 116
10 Ralf Schumacher (Williams-BMW) 1m17.785s 73
11 Anthony Davidson (BAR-Honda) 1m18.179s 37
12 Christian Klien (Jaguar) 1m18.250s 92
13 Alex Wurz (McLaren) 1m18.609s 39
14 Nick Heidfeld (Jordan-Ford) 1m19.449s 93
*Denotes 2003 car
2/12/04 IROC
Newman on oval track cartel
poleUPDATE
International Race Of Champions president Jay Signore said yesterday
he has been flooded with e-mails in support of Toronto's Paul Tracy
being included in the series' race tomorrow at Daytona. But Signore
said the decision has been made and Tracy won't be part of this year's
$1-million US event. "Paul Tracy will be in IROC at some point,"
Signore said. "It is no reflection on Paul as a person or as a driver,
but we couldn't get an iron clad commitment from the Open Wheel Racing
Series that he would be available for all of our races and we needed
that to go ahead with our race plans." [Editor's Note:
What a crock. Jay did not even bother to call Tracy to inquire
about his availability.] 2/12/04 - Over the past year, NASCAR NEXTEL Cup
Series competitors have become accustomed to seeing the back
bumper of young gun Ryan Newman. But on Friday, drivers from
other top racing series' will also know how it feels to
follow Newman to the green flag as he drew the top starting
spot for the season-opening event for the Crown Royal IROC
Series at Daytona International Speedway on Friday, Feb. 13,
an All-Star race for oval track cartel drivers - note: no
road course drivers invited..
Newman drew the top starting spot Wednesday afternoon over
11 other drivers representing the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series,
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, IRL IndyCar Series, USAC, and
the World of Outlaws. Fellow young gun Jimmie Johnson will
start on the outside of the front row followed by World of
Outlaws veterans Danny Lasoski and Steve Kinser, with
defending NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series champion Matt Kenseth
rounding out the top five.
"We don't qualify very well (at Daytona) so it's cool to be
able to start up front," said Newman. "In an IROC race you
be about sixth after the first lap. We'll see how it works
out. I look forward to the opportunity in the IROC Crown
Royal Series and hopefully we can do some good things in the
races and get the million dollar victory."
Below is the Starting Lineup for Friday's Crown Royal IROC
Series including driver name, car number, and series they
represent.
1. Ryan Newman, No. 12, NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series (An Oval
Cartel Track Series)
2. Jimmie Johnson, No. 48, NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series (An
Oval Cartel Track Series)
3. Danny Lasoski, No. 20, World of Outlaws (An Oval Cartel Track
Series)
4. Steve Kinser, No. 11, World of Outlaws (An Oval Cartel Track
Series)
5. Matt Kenseth, No. 17, NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series (An
Oval Cartel Track Series)
6. Scott Sharp, No. 8, IRL IndyCar Series (An Oval Cartel Track
Series)
7. Travis Kvapil, No. 24, NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series
(An Oval Cartel Track Series)
8. Kurt Busch, No. 97, NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series (An Oval Cartel
Track Series)
9. Kevin Harvick, No. 29, NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series (An
Oval Cartel Track Series)
10. Scott Dixon, No. 1, IRL IndyCar Series (An Oval Cartel Track
Series)
11. J.J. Yeley, No. 80, USAC (An Oval Cartel Track Series)
12. Helio Castroneves, No. 03, IRL IndyCar Series (An
Oval Cartel Track Series)
2/12/04
McNish
seeks return to Sebring glory
Allan McNish put together one of the most dominant seasons of any
driver in professional sports car racing history when he won the
American Le Mans Series driving championship with the factory Audi
team in 2000. But there was one huge piece of unfinished
business when the popular Scotsman departed the Audi team at the end
of the season to pursue a Formula One career: he hadn't won at
Sebring. More....
2/12/04
Michael Waltrip on health of
seriesUPDATE
After getting only 38 entry forms for next week's race at Rockingham,
N.C., NASCAR and speedway officials worked the telephones this week
trying to get part-time teams to show up. A lack of sponsorship has
reduced the number of full-time teams to 36, meaning a lot of fields
in the future might include teams that show up just to collect
last-place money.
Augusta Chronicle. Related
article. 2/12/04 - "Most of the teams are well-funded and
have great sponsors. The sport is healthier than ever, I
think, as a whole. More people are showing up and the TV
ratings are high. The majority of our cars are well funded.
Any time that the economy turns down a little bit, there are
people who make decisions that affect motorsports in
general. So, we're talking about two or three teams that
have proven they can win races and are very deserving of
sponsors that haven't been able to come up with them yet. I
don't think that means the sport isn't healthy. I think it's
very healthy. The reason you see 45 cars at Daytona is
because they're only going to start 43 cars. The reason why
there aren't 55 cars here is because of the competition
level of our sport. People with cars all over this country
used to wash them off and drag them down here to try and
make the Daytona 500. Those days are over. There are 43 fast
race cars that are going to be in the race. Most people
figure if they're not going to be able to make the race, why
even bother? Realistically, it would be very difficult for
somebody who hasn't been a regular on our circuit to make
the race. I would rather have 40 cars at Rockingham -
and the competition level be what it is today - than have 50
cars at Rockingham with 20 of them having a shot to win and
30 of them don't."
2/12/04
Not in NASCAR A reader
writes, I think NASCAR is preaching more than racing only on
Ovals….“From Shepherd's
perspective, NASCAR's alliance with the
Christian faith gives the sport a more wholesome, family oriented
image. “I guarantee you're never going to see anything like what
happened with Janet Jackson," Shepherd said, referring to the singer
whose breast was exposed during the Super Bowl halftime show. "Those
things are not going to happen in our sport. Not while Bill France is
around." While Shepherd said he's received plenty of praise for
his Victory In Jesus racing team, that hasn't translated into
financial backing. His hopes of qualifying for the Daytona 500 were
scuttled by a shoestring budget. "Why does corporate America
spend so much money ... supporting things that don't have moral
values?" Shepherd asked. "And here we are, trying to serve the Lord.
There's nothing bad in the Bible. Even if you don't believe in God, if
everyone would just live by the Bible and the Ten Commandments, see
how much better the world would be." I guess it is the
“do as I say, not as I do” mentality….Aren’t Shane Hmiel and Scott
Wimmer racing this weekend alongside Jimmy Spencer? Clu
Connors, California
2/12/04
Peter Gibbons moves to Andretti Green
RacingUPDATE
The Newman/Haas team response - Newman/Haas Racing announced today the
departure of Senior Engineer Peter Gibbons who will leave the
four-time Champ Car World Series champions. Gibbons joined the team as
race engineer late in 1991 from Penske Racing and was promoted to
senior engineer in 2001. "I would like to thank Peter for his
contribution to the team over the years," said Carl Haas, co-owner of
Newman/Haas Racing. "Newman/Haas Racing has assembled a strong
engineering department lead by Senior Engineers Guillaume "Rocky"
Rocquelin and Craig Hampson, who, along with VP Operations Brian
Lisles, and Team Manager John Tzouanakis will assume Gibbons'
responsibilities." [Editor's Note: In other words, he's
not needed] 2/12/04 - Peter Gibbons of the Newman/Haas team has left to go and
work for Andretti Green Racing in the IRL. Gibbons tried hard to
get Newman/Haas to field an entry in the IRL, but was repeatedly
rebuffed by team owner Paul Newman who used words like, "over my dead
body." Michael Andretti tried to talk Gibbons over to the IRL
for quite some time. Now he has got his man to help engineer his
4-car assault on the 2004 season.
2/12/04
Speed World Challenge
Cosworth to power Volvos
Cosworth Racing, the most successful engine manufacturer in
the history of Formula One, today announced that it is to
provide engine power to the At Speed Motorsports Volvo S60R
race cars competing in the 2004 SPEED World Challenge GT
Series in North America.
The At Speed Motorsports organization will be fielding a
four-car team in the championship, spearheaded by veteran
racer, Derek Bell. Partnering Bell will be At Speed
Motorsports’ owner, Bob Miller, in a dual role of Team
Director and driver, alongside Journeyman racer Paul Gerrard
and a fourth driver to be named later.
Commenting on the announcement, At Speed Motorsports owner,
Bob Miller said; "We entered the racing program with one
goal: to win races. By using all of the might and resources
of one of the best-known names in racing engines, we are
staying true to that goal. Cosworth was my first and only
choice when the decision for which company to utilize came
up. I'm overjoyed to be working with such a professional
group".
"With Cosworth on board, we'll be able to run with, and
eventually beat, competitors with much larger displacement
engines in the World Challenge series."
Design and initial development work will be undertaken at
Cosworth Racing’s Northampton, UK, headquarters, while the
developmental dyno testing, build, supply and maintenance
work will take place at Cosworth Racing Inc’s facility in
Torrance, California.
Cosworth Racing Inc’s Vice President, Ian Bisco, said;
"Cosworth has a long and successful history in the USA, in
many forms of racing. I welcome this opportunity for us to
expand our expertise and resources in supporting the At
Speed Motorsports Volvo S60Rs. Our goal here at Cosworth
Racing Inc is to succeed and to win races and this is no
exception. We look forward to working with Derek Bell, Bob
Miller and the At Speed Motorsports Team to jointly achieve
these goals." Press Release, Cosworth Racing
2/12/04
Nigel Roebuck bored with
rev-limited IRL cars that drone in circles
Respected motorsports journalist Nigel Roebuck responds to a
reader in his latest Autosport.com Q&A
article. He has the IRL sized up pretty well, even
from the UK. Dear Nigel, Now that the sale of
Champ Car is final, and OWRS has been declared the winner,
what are your feelings about this mess? I find it
disingenuous, to say the least, that Tony George claims he
wanted to reunite open-wheel racing in the US, but wants
nothing to do with a merger of the two groups. And there is
the duplicity of the former CART owners/teams now running in
the IRL who denigrate their former series – even though it
was through their ego and mismanagement that the whole
series crumbled! I'd love to see what you think about this
mess. Chris Sawyer, Farmington Hills, USA
Dear Chris, What are my feelings about this mess? Just
that – it's a mess! And I can't disagree with a single point
you have made. The whole thing makes me terribly sad,
because I have adored 'Indycar racing' all my life, and for
years and years always managed to work at least one CART
race into my schedule. When CART was at its zenith – 10 or
12 years ago – I thought it the best racing series on earth.
At Milwaukee each year, I'd see more wheel-to-wheel action
than in the rest of the season put together. Sadly, though,
the last race I saw there – in 2002 – pretty well put me to
sleep. The quality of the field was much reduced, and the
'aero regs' of the time had made overtaking virtually
impossible. I sometimes watch IRL races on TV, but
frankly find them boring – great bunches of rev-limited cars
droning round together, NASCAR-style, and the occasional
terrifying accident. I hope the OWRS guys find a way to make
their series a success, but they've got a mountain to climb.
Nigel Roebuck
2/12/04
Cook on truck pole but Toyotas
surprise Terry Cook didn't take long to get
his new team up to speed as he put his No. 10 PowerStroke
Diesel Ford on the pole for Friday night's Florida Dodge
Dealers 250. Cook, who moved to PPC racing in the
off-season, turned a lap of 183.643 mph as the NASCAR
Craftsman Truck Series veteran continued his strong
performances at Daytona International Speedway. Cook has
finished no further than ninth in four starts at the "World
Center of Racing." "We had our back against the fence
because we had no provisionals," said Cook. "We had no
points and to come here and sit on the pole, this is big.
This is Daytona."
Raybestos Rookie-of-the-Year candidate Chase Montgomery
qualified on the outside of the front row in his No. 8 Bobby
Hamilton Racing Dodge. Montgomery also spoiled the debut of
the Toyota Tundra into the Craftsman Truck Series, as he
bumped defending series champion and third-place qualifier
Travis Kvapil off the front row with a lap of 183.113 mph
late in the qualifying session. Dennis Setzer qualified
fourth in his No. 46 Chevy Silverado, while Matt Crafton
rounded out the top five in his No. 6 Goodwrench Silverado.
With the solid qualifying debut for new manufacturer Toyota,
all four manufacturers landed spots among the top four
qualifiers. I knew we would do well, but not
this well," said an excited Travis Kvapil. "Toyota didn't
have a lot of time to fine-tune the engine, but they should
be very proud of the improvements they made from testing in
January." The Florida Dodge Dealers 250 will roll off
at 8:00 p.m. on Friday night and will make history as the
first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race run under the
lights at the World Center of Racing. Toyota began its
new NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series program with seven Tundra
race trucks qualifying in the top 20 on Wednesday night as
the manufacturer prepares for its inaugural race at Daytona.
2/12/04 IROC
Newman on oval track cartel
pole Over the past year, NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series competitors
have become accustomed to seeing the back bumper of young gun Ryan
Newman. But on Friday, drivers from other top racing series' will also
know how it feels to follow Newman to the green flag as he drew the
top starting spot for the season-opening event for the Crown Royal
IROC Series at Daytona International Speedway on Friday, Feb. 13, an
All-Star race for oval track cartel drivers - note: no road course
drivers invited.
Newman drew the top starting spot Wednesday afternoon over
11 other drivers representing the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series,
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, IRL IndyCar Series, USAC, and
the World of Outlaws. Fellow young gun Jimmie Johnson will
start on the outside of the front row followed by World of
Outlaws veterans Danny Lasoski and Steve Kinser, with
defending NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series champion Matt Kenseth
rounding out the top five.
"We don't qualify very well (at Daytona) so it's cool to be
able to start up front," said Newman. "In an IROC race you
be about sixth after the first lap. We'll see how it works
out. I look forward to the opportunity in the IROC Crown
Royal Series and hopefully we can do some good things in the
races and get the million dollar victory."
Below is the Starting Lineup for Friday's Crown Royal IROC
Series including driver name, car number, and series they
represent.
1. Ryan Newman, No. 12, NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series (An Oval
Track Series)
2. Jimmie Johnson, No. 48, NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series (An
Oval Track Series)
3. Danny Lasoski, No. 20, World of Outlaws (An Oval Track
Series)
4. Steve Kinser, No. 11, World of Outlaws (An Oval Track
Series)
5. Matt Kenseth, No. 17, NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series (An
Oval Track Series)
6. Scott Sharp, No. 8, IRL IndyCar Series (An Oval Track
Series)
7. Travis Kvapil, No. 24, NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series
(An Oval Track Series)
8. Kurt Busch, No. 97, NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series (An Oval
Track Series)
9. Kevin Harvick, No. 29, NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series (An
Oval Track Series)
10. Scott Dixon, No. 1, IRL IndyCar Series (An Oval Track
Series)
11. J.J. Yeley, No. 80, USAC (An Oval Track Series)
12. Helio Castroneves, No. 03, IRL IndyCar Series (An
Oval Track Series)
2/12/04
Childress in AOL commercial America
Online [AOL] announced a series of new initiatives launching
today for NASCAR's Daytona 500 that gives fans unparalleled
access to the kick off of the NASCAR season. This
comprehensive race package, Daytona 500@AOL, features video
highlights of the best Daytona 500 moments, daily photos
with ZoomView technology and exclusive clips from the Warner
Bros. Pictures upcoming film NASCAR 3D: The IMAX Experience
-- all available for viewing up to five times faster than on
a standard dial-up connection and up to two times faster
than on a standard high-speed connection with the new AOL
TopSpeed technology. AOL will also launch a new ad on behalf
of the AOL TopSpeed technology featuring the Teutuls from
Discovery Channel's "American Chopper." Daytona 500@AOL
continues AOL Sports' new programming offerings that debuted
with SuperBowl@AOL and includes innovative and engaging
content, best experienced via AOL for Broadband, that brings
fans closer to major events. The content package builds upon
the company's partnership with NASCAR and sponsorship of the
Richard Childress Racing #30 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series race
car [driver Johnny Sauter]. During the Daytona 500, AOL will
debut the latest commercial in a series of ads showcasing
the popular Teutul family and the AOL TopSpeed technology
that kicked off during the Super Bowl. The new ad will
feature a cameo by NASCAR team owner Richard Childress. In
addition, AOL is sponsoring the "Daytona to Daytona"
Sweepstakes for AOL members which features as the grand
prize a custom built TopSpeed(TM) chopper built by "Monster
Garage" star Jesse James (valued at $150,000) as well as
$50,000 cash. The sweepstakes begins February 12 and runs
through June 25. The winner will be announced at the Pepsi
400 in Daytona on July 3. For Official Rules, see AOL
Keyword: Daytona Sweeps.
Business Wire
2/12/04
Collins aims to be 5th Brit in IRLUPDATE We have added some photos
of Collins as taken by our Guenter
Reinhold at an ASCAR event in 2003 2/11/04 - According to Autosport Magazine, Ben Collins, 28, was put in touch
with the team as part of a package called ‘PDM Go Britain’. Backing
for the project will come from the British Tourist Board, which wants
to use the venture to encourage business and tourism across the
Atlantic. PDM hopes to give the British ASCAR champion his
rookie test ahead of the second race of the IRL season at
Motegi. If that is successful Collins could race in Japan. “My focus
is on the test and, if there’s races after, that would be mega,” he
said. “Driving an IRL car is something I’ve always wanted to do.”
Team boss Paul Diatlovich is looking forward to giving Collins his big
chance. “It could be good,” he said. “The first thing we need to do is
give him a test, and if that goes well we can think of running him.
Time is of the essence, but hopefully we’ll see him test before
Motegi.”
2/12/04
IRL looking at another down year The
IRL held steady in gate attendance for 2003, but saw its TV ratings
plummet putting the future of the series in serious jeopardy.
2004 starts on another down note. This AP
article says, ``It's a very tight sponsorship market with lots
of competition,'' said Fred Nation, the right-hand man to IRL
president Tony George. ``We've got several teams close to final deals.
Some will get there. Some won't.'' Last year, every IRL race had
at least 21 cars. At Homestead, where Nation is hopeful that at least
one more car will complete a sponsorship deal, there probably won't be
more than 19.
He blames a still-recovering economy and the tight sponsorship market,
which has been felt all the way to the Daytona 500 in the more-popular
NASCAR Nextel Cup series. Only 45 cars attempted to qualify for
Sunday's race - eight fewer than a year ago. ``Everybody's
wanting more this year as far as cars,'' Nation said. ``I know Daytona
is a little lower than usual.''
While the economy has shown definite signs of being on the upswing,
including corporate earnings and Wall Street performance, the results
haven't fully trickled down to the IRL. ``That's what we're hearing
from our car owners,'' Nation said. ``It has not improved to the
extent that they hoped it would.'' That's not all.
``There's increased competition for motorsports as well as all
sports,'' Nation said. ``More people are vying for the same or a very
slowly growing pot of dollars. It's tight.''
As an older open-wheel series, CART, spiraled into bankruptcy, IRL
lured away top organizations such as Team Penske and Chip Ganassi
Racing and more prominent drivers, including Helio Castroneves and
defending champion Scott Dixon. ``Yes, we're down a few cars,''
Nation said. ``But the teams we have are pretty solid. Some are more
solid than others, but our core is well-sponsored, well-run,
competitive teams.''
Fisher and several other drivers have lined up one-race deals for the
Indy 500, which traditionally has a 33-car field. The IRL is hopeful
that some of those cars will find the money to make it to other
tracks.
Nation isn't worried about having enough cars to fill out the field at
Indianapolis. ``There's no great concern over it,'' he said.
``It's a little too early to tell right now, but we have a number of
existing teams that told us they will add entries for Indy. There are
several one-off deals we are aware of. So we expect to have a full
field for Indy.''
As Walker pointed out, there should be at least 36 open-wheel racers
this year. The problem is: They're divided between two rival series.
Champ Cars, which picked up the remains of CART, plans a 15-race
season with at least 18 cars, including defending CART champion Paul
Tracy of Toronto.
For now, there's no sign of a reconciliation, which most believe is
vital to rebuilding open-wheel racing to the popularity it once
enjoyed. ``If we had one series, we would have about 36 cars,''
Walker said. ``Thirty-six cars trying to get into any given race. That
would be what we see in NASCAR. That would be a hell of a show. The
Indy 500 would be what it used to be.
``That's the dilemma we have. We have two series. It needs to be
one.'' [Editor's Note: Tony George should have thought of
that when he split the sport in two in 1996 and just about killed it.
History must never forget the tactical blunder he made.]
2/12/04
Today OWRS completes final takeover of
CART Today is the final day for OWRS to file all paperwork
with regard to its acquisition of the assets it bid on to acquire the
Champ Car World Series. We expect to see some announcements
within days and we assume one of the first ones will be the 2004
schedule.
2/12/04
Kelley Racing signs Sarah Fisher Indy
Racing League driver Sarah Fisher confirmed Wednesday she has signed
to race with Kelley Racing. However, Fisher could not say how many
races, or even which races, she will compete in this season. Team
officials declined to comment pending a news release expected today.
"We're close on a lot of things, but they're not nailed down yet,"
Fisher said from the IRL's open test. "So rather than saying we're
going to be in 'this many' races, we're just going to say I'm driving
for the team." Fisher, 23, has driven in 47 IRL races, finishing a
career-best second at Homestead, Fla., in 2001.
2/12/04
Iron man Labonte at it again Labonte
enters the 2004 season carrying a string of 42 consecutive races
without a DNF (did not finish), the longest current streak in NEXTEL
Cup. The modern-era record is 56 straight, set by Jeff Gordon in
2001-02. Labonte was one of only two drivers who completed all 36
races last season, the other being Kevin Harvick. Labonte also
holds the record for starting the most consecutive Nextel Cup/Winston
Cup races.
2/12/04
Newman picked to win title Ryan
Newman, driver of the No. 12 ALLTEL Dodge, was named the pre-season
No. 1 pick to win the inaugural NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series championship
in balloting by the motorsports media. Newman earned 1, 915 points and
27 first place votes to make him the pre-season favorite.
2/12/04
Budweiser Shootout #1 rated cable show Saturday
night's Budweiser Shootout from Daytona pulled in a stout 6.6 rating,
the #1 cable TV show of the week. If this is any indication,
NASCAR is in for another big year.
2/12/04
Patrick Carpentier enters snowmobile
race Champ Car Series driver
Patrick Carpentier (shown here in action during practice) will enter
this weekend's Ski-doo snowmobile Celebrity Race at the Valcourt Grand
Prix. The Canadian race car driver will team up with Fran-Am 2003
champion Andrew Ranger and Formula Ford former champion Didier
Schraenen in a tag team snocross relay race against three-time
Canadian Motocross champion Jean-Sébastien Roy, newly crowned Canadian
Superbike and Pro 600 Sport champion Pascal Picotte and former
Atlantic and Indy Lights driver Bertrand Godin. The proceeds
from the Celebrity Race and the ensuing auction of the drivers
memorabilia will be donated to l'Association en coeur, a non-profit
organization that helps children suffering from heart diseases. The
race will be held on Saturday, February 14 at 2:00 p.m. Practice is
schedule for Saturday morning.
Alex Job Racing to have new drivers for
Sebring
Returning American Le Mans Series GT class champions Alex Job Racing
will unload at Sebring with new cars and two new drivers Marc Lieb and
Romain Dumas. The new pilots will join last years GT class runner-up
pairing of Jorg Bergmeister and Timo Bernhard in the Alex Job
Racing/Mail2Web Porsche 911 GT3 RSRs.
The foursome will be piloting the new Porsche 911 GT3 RSR racers. For
2004 the cars will use a sequential gearbox for the full season. In
addition, the cars will have enhanced front and rear bumpers as well
as more muscular fender flares giving the 911 a stronger stance.
Overall there are more than 200 new items on this years car. To
highlight the package, AJR will have a new livery to debut at Sebring.
"We have added Marc and Romain to the team this year replacing Sascha
Maassen and Lucas Luhr, who will race in Europe this season. Romain
raced with us at Petit Le Mans last year, so he is no stranger to the
team. Marc is someone who has a lot of Porsche experience and has
previous starts in the ALMS series. I have a lot of confidence in our
four drivers to be able to keep the team at the top and further our
excellent record in the series," said Alex Job, team owner. "We will
have Sascha and Lucas in the cars for Sebring and Petit Le Mans,
giving us a good base of experience in each car for the longer races.
The new car is an improvement in several areas, nothing radical, just
typical Porsche making something great even better. With the new car
and the always competitive Michelin tires, we are looking forward to
another great year."
The team has added Tim Pendergast as team manager. Pendergast comes to
AJR from the American Le Mans series where he was operations and
special projects director. Mike Evans continues as the team's
technical director, with Greg Fordahl handling the engineering duties.
At Sebring, Kerry Foote will crew chief the #24 car with Evans and
Phil Pierce handling the #23 entry.
Sebring driver pairings:
#23 Alex Job Racing/Mail2Web Porsche 911 GT3 RSR
Jorg Bergmeister
Timo Bernhard
Sascha Maassen - Sebring and Petit Le Mans
#24 Alex Job Racing/Mail2Web Porsche 911 GT3 RSR
Romain Dumas
Marc Lieb
Lucas Luhr - Sebring and Petit Le Mans
2/11/04
Quotes from Phoenix HELIO
CASTRONEVES (No. 3 Marlboro Team Penske Dallara/Toyota/Firestone): "We
had a test here in December, so we started out pretty quick right off
the bat. Unfortunately, it was a little bit chilly, so we started a
little bit slow. Plus, the cars seem to have a little less downforce
than we used to run with the configuration from last year. We were
just trying to make sure everything was working and getting to know
the track again. In the afternoon, we worked more on our race setup
and made sure that we understand the car in this configuration and see
how much can we do and how much we can take out, so when we come back
on race day, we don't have to waste time on that." (About the
reconfiguration of the track): "Going into the turns seems to be the
same. On the exit, you have a little bit more space, so you don't have
to keep turning the car. That's why a lot of people had some problems
last year. They smoothed it out, and they did a hell of a job compared
to December.
SCOTT DIXON (No. 1 Target Chip Ganassi Panoz G
Force/Toyota/Firestone): "We were trying to go for speed for most of
the day. We had balance issues throughout the morning and this
afternoon. We could never really get where we wanted. We were working
on that, trying different variations of setups, and I think we started
to head in the right direction. I think we ended up setting our quick
time on our fourth or fifth run on a set of tires." (About the
reconfiguration of the track): (Turn) 4 was really good in December,
but now I think it's a little worse. It's definitely improved in the
exit of (Turn) 2. I think with the exit of (Turn) 2, it gives you a
little more room and a little more confidence. I think it made the
track a little easier, because that wall used to come up pretty
quick."
DARIO FRANCHITTI (No. 27 Archipelago Dallara/Honda/Firestone): "It's
been a long time since I was on a 1-mile oval. Things come at you
pretty quickly, and it was nice this morning to take a couple of laps
to get into it and get to know the car and the track a little bit. We
just worked with the setup and put a new set of tires on. I'm pretty
happy. The cars are a bit more difficult to drive. They've got a bit
less downforce, and you've really got to think about it and work with
the setup a bit more. I'm very happy with the direction the crew has
taken with that. It was a good day for us." (About the reconfiguration
of the track): "There's a couple of bumps on the exit of Turn 2, but
as far as driving the track, it feels very similar to what we had last
season. It's just a lot nicer to get in under the track with that
tunnel there."
A.J. FOYT IV (No. 14 Conseco/A.J. Foyt Racing
Dallara/Toyota/Firestone): "Today went good. We struggled with the
handling a little this morning. Then we changed just about everything
for the afternoon session, and it helped the Conseco car a lot. It was
more stable and secure. I was more confident, and the speed came to
me."
ROBBIE BUHL (No. 24 Team Purex/Aventis/Dreyer & Reinbold
Dallara/Chevrolet/ Firestone): "Today was a big disappointment for us.
The good news is that all of the safety efforts did exactly what they
were supposed to do. The bad news is that despite our team putting in
a lot of extra effort, we don't get to finish working on a bunch of
different combinations. To miss a day and a half of testing for us
right now hurts, given the track time that most of the teams have had.
We'll have to pick it up and move on to Homestead."
2/11/04
Castroneves fastest on first day in
Phoenix Helio
Castroneves and Scott Dixon posted the top two laps in the morning
session and those laps remained the quickest of the day as the IRL
IndyCar Series began a two-day Open Test at Phoenix International
Raceway on Feb. 11.
Castroneves' Marlboro Team Penske Dallara/Toyota/Firestone lapped the
1-mile oval in 20.3095 seconds, 177.257 mph. He was closely followed
by Dixon, the 2003 IndyCar Series champion, who posted a fast lap of
20.3126 seconds, 177.230 mph in his Target Chip Ganassi Racing Panoz G
Force/Toyota/Firestone.
Andretti Green Racing's Dario Franchitti was fastest in the afternoon
session and third-quickest overall with a lap of 20.3518 seconds,
176.889 in the Archipelago Dallara/Honda/ Firestone.
Several drivers struggled with the reconfigured oval as the caution
flag fell four times in the morning session for four separate
incidents.
Tora Takagi, Scott Sharp and Darren Manning all spun in the newly
widened Turn 2, but none of the drivers were injured and continued to
practice in the afternoon session. Team Purex/Aventis/Dreyer &
Reinbold Racing left the test early after driver Robbie Buhl severely
damaged his car following contact with the SAFER Barrier in Turn 4.
TOP SPEEDS FROM MORNING PRACTICE
1. Helio Castroneves, Marlboro Team Penske, D/T/F, 177.257 mph
2. Scott Dixon, Target Chip Ganassi Racing, G/T/F, 177.230
3. Sam Hornish Jr., Marlboro Team Penske, D/T/F, 175.597
4. Tony Kanaan, Team 7-Eleven, D/H/F, 174.365
5. Dan Wheldon, Klein Tools/Jim Beam D/H/F, 172.731
TOP SPEEDS FROM AFTERNOON PRACTICE
1. Dario Franchitti, Archipelago, D/H/F, 176.889 mph
2. Scott Dixon, Target Chip Ganassi Racing, G/T/F, 176.665
3. Tony Kanaan, Team 7-Eleven, D/H/F, 175.768
4. Helio Castroneves, Marlboro Team Penske, 175.647
5. Dan Wheldon, Klein Tools/Jim Beam D/H/F, 172.954
WEDNESDAY'S TOP PRACTICE SPEEDS (COMBINED)
1. Helio Castroneves, Marlboro Team Penske, D/T/F, 177.257 mph
2. Scott Dixon, Target Chip Ganassi Racing, G/T/F, 177.230
3. Dario Franchitti, Archipelago, D/H/F, 176.889
4. Tony Kanaan, Team 7-Eleven, D/H/F, 175.768
5. Sam Hornish Jr., Marlboro Team Penske, D/T/F, 175.597
2/11/04
Tracy sets sights on Montreal This
Globe and Mail
article says, This could be Paul Tracy's last season in
open-wheel racing, and the Canadian driver has expressed a burning
desire to add a storied road-course win to his impressive list of
triumphs. Tracy has won in Vancouver and Toronto, including both
races last year, when he was top driver in the Champ Car series.
Now he has his sights set on winning in Montreal, where victory has
eluded Tracy, winner of 26 Championship Auto Racing Teams races, in
both his starts at the Molson Indy event at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
Tracy was in Vancouver yesterday to promote the 2004 editions of the
three Canadian races that last season attracted nearly 500,000
fans......Clean-shaven and sporting a shadowy beard, the fit-looking
Tracy said he had kept his racing team intact from last season, when
he won seven times and claimed the overall driver's title. "My
focus is still the same," Tracy said. "The job in the race car is
still the same. I want to win another championship. "I enjoy
road racing in Canada. I've won [Vancouver] and I've won in Toronto.
One more feather in my cap would be to win in Montreal. Hopefully, I
can do that.
2/11/04
A dead series huh?UPDATE
With over 4,000 votes now, CART is widening its lead.
CART: 42%
IRL: 29%
NASCAR: 24%
Formula One: 5%
Total Votes: 4155
2/11/04 - The
bottom left side of this Indy Star article has a
poll of which race series Indy Star readers will follow most.
Interestingly, even in the IRL's backyard, in a publication that seems
to favor the IRL and publish a lot of negative things about Champ Car,
the results stand as:
Which of these auto racing series do you
follow most closely?
CART: 40%
IRL: 31%
NASCAR: 24%
Formula One: 4%
Total Votes: 2870
2/11/04
STP back with #43 History
was repeated today at Daytona International Speedway when Richard
Petty announced that his long-time sponsor, STP, will join Cheerios
and Betty Crocker on the hood of the famed #43 Dodge for one race this
season. The unveiling of the new paint scheme kicks off a celebration
of Petty family anniversaries by sponsors General Mills and STP. The
Cheerios/STP #43 Dodge will race at the Subway 400 in Rockingham, NC
on Feb. 22. For the Pettys, a family steeped in NASCAR tradition, 2004
marks numerous monumental racing anniversaries. It is the golden
anniversary of patriarch Lee Petty's first championship; the 45th
anniversary of Lee Petty's win of the inaugural Daytona 500; the 40th
anniversaries of Richard Petty's first Daytona 500 win and first
series championship; and the 20th anniversary of Richard's
record-setting 200th and last win. Long-time sponsor STP is also
celebrating a key milestone as 2004 marks its 50th anniversary as a
pioneer in the fuel and oil additive category. The STP logo, which
will remain on the car throughout the 2004 season as an associate
sponsor, began making headlines in 1972 with the historic sponsorship
of Petty and the #43 car. In 1979, Richard won his seventh NASCAR
title, which put him in a class of his own, and also etched STP as an
icon in the racing world. General Mills, sponsor of Petty Enterprises'
#43 car since 2000, returns as the primary sponsor in 2004 through its
Cheerios and Betty Crocker brands. Outside of the special paint
scheme, to recognize this historic year for the Petty family, General
Mills brings a unique opportunity to race fans - a series of
collectible "Salute to Petty" die-cast cars representing Petty family
racecars past and present. The special collection features 21
different die-cast cars, 16 from Hot Wheels, including replicas of the
1957 Pontiac GTO, 1964 Plymouth Belvedere, 1970 Plymouth Barracuda,
1974 Dodge Charger, 1984 Pontiac Grand Prix, 2004 Dodge Intrepid and
more. For a limited time, consumers can find die-cast cars free in or
near specially marked packages of General Mills brands including
Cheerios, Honey Nut Cheerios, Lucky Charms, Wheaties, Honey Nut Chex,
Pop Secret, Old El Paso, Betty Crocker, Bugles and Pillsbury Grands!.
STP PR
2/11/04
Barber Dodge announces new prize fund The
Formula Dodge National Championship Presented by RACER has unveiled an
entirely new prize package for 2004 as part of its ongoing commitment
to elevate the series' competitiveness and profile. The champion of
this 14-race North American open-wheel series now wins $100,000 in
cash. The $100,000 is payable to any race team in the racing world,
provided it is a step up in the driver's career. In addition, each
driver finishing second-through-10th in FDNC season points wins
$10,000 in cash, paid directly to the driver. "This is an exciting
advance in North American open-wheel racing, one that we're confident
will strongly appeal to up-and-coming drivers," said Divina Galica,
Vice President of Racing for the Skip Barber organization. By creating
a significant cash purse for FDNC, we continue, in an even stronger
fashion, to add to our long history of materially assisting drivers
climbing the motorsports ladder." Galica added, I have to say, despite
our adding a major cash prize element to FDNC, we are still charging
just $5,450 for each race weekend -- and that's two races. That means
the champion actually makes money. Where else in open-wheel road
racing is that possible?"
2/11/04
2004 Molson Indy websites go
live The 2004 Molson Indy website for the
three Canadian Champ Car races in Toronto, Vancouver and
Montreal is now live and updated with 2004 race information.
They are not selling tickets for the Montreal race until
after the Canadian GP F1 race runs.
2/11/04
Ecclestone warns we must cut
costs and HP [See full interview on our Home
page] Bernie Ecclestone has issued a warning to cut
costs to survive. Speaking in an interview with
members of the Australian media, Ecclestone said that he
believed the sport in general - and not just the handful of
small teams - was threatened by the rising cost of
competition, hastened in part by the return of the major
motor manufacturers supplying engines to teams and
fielding works operations of their own.
"We've got to reduce the costs dramatically, for the
survival of Formula One," former Brabham team owner
Ecclestone emphasized, "If we don't reduce the costs
dramatically, the people that are currently at the top in
Formula One - and spending all the money - may say 'listen,
we've spent enough and we're leaving'."
"I have been around Formula One for a long time now, and
there have never been more than three or four really
competitive teams in any one year, so it's about normal," he
said of the current situation with Williams, Ferrari,
McLaren and Renault leading the way, "We've got now, I
think, four very, very strong teams.
"Could we change that? The only way you will ever change it
is to find a way to drastically reduce the costs in order
that the people at the back end of the grid can catch up. At
the moment, the amount that the teams spend is so vastly
different that it wouldn't be possible for someone that's
got a budget like the Jordans of this world to ever, ever be
able to compete with McLaren."
"To get someone like Jordan to the budget that McLaren has
got would be extremely difficult but, to get the regulations
changed in order to bring down the costs to run the McLaren
team to somewhere near Jordan, would probably be quicker and
easier," he explained, "All the people that have got the
budgets are happy to spend the money to go quick. That's how
it is.
"All the teams that have big budgets are really not
interested in reducing them because, if you think about it,
they've got an awful lot of money invested - and, as long as
the money is there, they want to spend it to win. And they
will spend all they have to win. That's how competitive the
teams are. It's very, very difficult to get the engineers
and the real people to get their heads together and say
'listen, we've got to be sensible, we have got to find ways
of reducing our costs', because it's not their way of going
on. They want anything new and whatever they can do they
want to do, as I say, to go a bit quicker."
Asked for his ideas on the subject, Ecclestone turned
immediately to a reduction in power.
"These guys, the top teams, are in excess of 900 horsepower
now - but does anybody need 900 horsepower?" he asked, "The
answer is no. The TV audience hasn't changed from when we
had 700 horsepower. So, the obvious thing to do is to reduce
the power, but how would you do that and keep all the
technology that we currently have? Chop away a few litres, I
suppose. "People have been talking about this now for two or
three years, but I think now we've got a single engine [per
GP weekend], and possibly we are going to have Max [Mosley]
wanting to go to three races with one engine. I'm not so
sure I go along with that but, maybe, now is the time to
have a change and see what power 2.5 liters can produce and
whether they get the job done. I don't think the public
care."
2/11/04
BAR Honda 1-2 at Jerez Jenson
Button kept his name at the head of the timesheets by
setting the fastest time on the second day of testing at
Jerez in Spain today (Wednesday). Takuma Sato underlined the
potential of the BAR-Honda 006 with the second quickest
time. The Briton set his quickest lap during the morning
session, before BAR turned its attention to running a race
simulation for both its drivers. Button duly completed his
'race', in the process posting a string of impressively
consistent laps. The team was running Honda's Melbourne-spec
engine today, and the unit performed reliably. "It's
all good," Button told autosport.com. "We did a long run,
which is all part of the tire test. The car was pretty
consistent and we got some good data. I'm happy with what
we've done, but we do have a few problems to address. I'm
reasonably happy, but we just need more long runs." Pos Driver Chassis-engine Tires Time Laps
1 Jenson Button BAR-Honda M 1m16.997s 108
2 Takuma Sato BAR-Honda M 1m17.273s 59
3 Franck Montagny Renault M 1m17.297s 109*
4 Ralf Schumacher Williams-BMW M 1m17.357s 83
5 Jarno Trulli Renault M 1m17.408s 102
6 Marc Gene Williams-BMW M 1m17.411s 71
7 Kimi Raikkonen McLaren-Mercedes M 1m17.826s 95
8 Mark Webber Jaguar M 1m17.890s 57
9 David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes M 1m17.972s 96
10 Luca Badoer Ferrari B 1m18.070s 109*
11 Christian Klien Jaguar M 1m18.168s 99
12 Felipe Massa Sauber-Petronas B 1m18.937s 63
13 Giancarlo Fisichella Sauber-Petronas B 1m19.283s 44
14 Nick Heidfeld Jordan-Ford B 1m20.109s 51
15 Giorgio Pantano Jordan-Ford B 1m21.584s 24
2/11/04
No Successor to Bernie This
Autosport
article says, Ecclestone, who has been at the helm
of F1 since the late '80s, says that no-one can fulfil his
role while he is still around. "As long as I'm here, it
would be difficult to put anyone around me that would be
meaningful," said Ecclestone. "People will step into my
shoes as soon as I'm not here, for sure. If you went out
today to try and choose a person it would be very difficult.
"Somebody would have to grow into what I do, which has taken
me a few years to do that properly. We're looking for a new
used car dealer!" Ecclestone says he has given no thought to
retiring, and has previously hinted that he will continue
his role until he is physically unable to fulfil his duties.
"The minute I feel I'm not doing what I should be doing, or
not delivering, I would be happy to hand my gloves in and
stand down."
2/11/04
Brooks Racing renews sponsor,
testing drivers Brooks Associates Racing is
proud to announce the renewal of its team sponsorship with
Port-A-Cool. Port-A-Cool, a worldwide industry leader in
portable evaporative cooling units, has been a sponsor of
the team for many years. “We came on board when John was
still driving. The visibility that motorsports provides us
adds to our sales opportunities, both at-track to racing
fans and through business to business relationships and
through entertainment of key accounts,” said Rick Campbell,
President. “The team mirrors our own corporate philosophies
and we are proud to continue helping John and his team
anyway we can.” This season, in addition to signage and
hospitality at the races Port-A-cool plans a promotion that
provides racing T-shirts and a chance at an all expense paid
trip to the Long Beach Grand Prix in 2005, through its sales
of the popular cooling units. Brooks Associates Racing has
ambitious plans for the 2004 season. They will be testing
drivers in the coming weeks and hope to contest two cars for
the season. Driver announcements should come in early March
as the preseason testing shifts into high gear in
anticipation of the season opener through the streets of
Long Beach.
2/11/04
Motorock Trans-Am tour returns
to Long Beach The Toyota Grand Prix of Long
Beach announced today that it will host the opening round of
the 2004 Motorock Trans-Am Tour during its three-day, 30th
anniversary race weekend, April 16-18. It’s the seventh
consecutive year – and 13th overall – that America’s
longest-running road racing series (39 years) has come to
the famed seaside circuit. The Trans-Am race will wrap up an
action-packed weekend schedule that includes the first round
of the 2004 Champ Car World Series, the 28th annual Toyota
Pro/Celebrity Race, the opening round of the Toyota Atlantic
Championship and the Long Beach Historic Grand Prix
featuring vintage Formula 5000, Formula One and 1984-90 era
Champ Cars. "We are absolutely delighted to welcome the
Motorock Trans-Am Tour back to the streets of Long Beach
this April,” said Jim Michaelian, president and CEO of the
Grand Prix Association of Long Beach. “That race always
provides some of the most exciting side-by-side action and
is the perfect way to conclude our 30th anniversary
weekend." The 2004 Motorock Trans-Am Tour features sports
cars such as the Jaguar XKR, Chevrolet Corvette, Panoz
Esperante, Dodge Viper and Ford Mustang. Scott Pruett won
the Trans-Am Series championship last year after a
dominating season that saw him win eight of the 11 events in
his No. 7 Motorock/Jaguar R Performance XKR. It was Pruett’s
first full season of competition in Trans-Am since 1994, and
the Oregon resident surpassed former Jaguar racer Bob
Tullius for fourth on the all-time Trans-Am win list (22).
Pruett will have to defend his 2003 championship against the
popular Boris Said, winner of last year’s race at Long Beach
and 2002 Trans-Am champion. Said’s Long Beach victory was
his first and it was well deserved. The Carlsbad,
Calif.-resident passed Pruett with four laps to go in the
race and held on for a 4.296-second win over Johnny Miller
and Pruett, who had led every lap until Said’s pass. “The
Motorock Trans-Am Tour is privileged to return to the Toyota
Grand Prix of Long Beach and help it celebrate its 30th
anniversary,” said Motorock Trans-Am Tour Executive Director
John Clagett. “Long Beach has traditionally been one of
Trans-Am’s most competitive and exciting venues, and has
hosted some of its most memorable events. We’re looking
forward to yet another exhilarating Long Beach race
weekend.” The Trans-Am race is tentatively scheduled to
follow the featured Champ Car World Series race on Sunday
afternoon, April 18. There will be Trans-Am practice on
Friday followed by qualifying on Saturday afternoon. Ticket
prices for the three-day Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach
range from $40 for a Sunday-only general admission ticket to
$110 for a three-day ticket that includes Saturday and
Sunday reserved seating in upper levels of the grandstands.
Pre-paid parking packages are available and can be purchased
when ordering tickets through the Grand Prix ticket office.
Tickets for the 2004 event can be placed by calling the
ticket hotline toll-free at (888) 82-SPEED or logging on to
www.longbeachgp.com.
Copies of the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach ticket
brochure can also be obtained by calling the ticket hotline.
The ticket brochure includes a circuit map with grandstand
and parking locations as well as ticket prices and a ticket
order form. Handicapped seating, Bosch Champ Car Garage
passes, super photo tickets and hospitality club packages
are also available. For updated Toyota Grand Prix of Long
Beach ticket information, news or announcements of special
race week activities, visit
www.longbeachgp.com.
2/11/04
Renault to announce
new series
in USA4th UPDATE
Autoracing1.com has now learned today that indeed the
Renault V6 program will be discussed for the USA. It
is possible we will see it start as a Winter Series in late
2004 with a full blown effort in 2005. Grand-Am currently
has the sanctioning agreement with Renault so if the series
does happen it will be in direct competition with Toyota
Atlantic, but now run under the oval track cartel's Grand-Am
banner. 2/11/04
- Just
to be clear, the V6 cars won't be racing in the USA in 2004, just a
demo on Sunday to go along with the smaller FR2000 series
introduction. What we proposed was for OWRS to get the Renault
V6 series into the Champ Car ladder system ASAP. 2/10/04
- the
Formula Renault V6 design criteria are extremely strict, and the
carbon-fiber monocoque adheres to the FIA Formula 3000 criteria. The
3.5 liter V6 engine performs 425 HP at 7,000 rpm and has a
weight/power ratio of 2 kg/bhp. The top speed is over 300 km/h (180
MPH). Reliability has been a major consideration: the engine only
needs to be rebuilt once every two seasons (can you say economical?)!
Magneti Marelli provides the electronic management, while the tires
have been specifically designed by Michelin. Just like in Formula One,
the driver has a semi automatic sequential six speed gearbox with
limited slip differential, choosing the appropriate gear via the
steering wheel, and uses left-footed braking. The suspension has
torsion bars and adjustable shock combinations. Weight of the car
without driver: 580 kg. To further their motorsport education, the
talented young drivers will get used to the radio, an electronic
display on the steering wheel, data acquisition, tires changes during
the race and two different race starts (FIA standing start and
Indianapolis - rolling start). Technical assistance for the
engine-power, electronics, suspension, transmission and tires will be
available to the teams at each event. Brochure
(PDF File) 2/10/04 - A reader writes, Dear AutoRacing1.com, I don't understand
why you "like the gradation between the rungs on that ladder
vs. what CART had before where Barber Dodge Pro and Toyota
Atlantic were similar in performance and they were both too
far below Champ Car." The Renault V6 series will be the
death of Toyota Atlantic. It is already too much money to
run in the CART Toyota Atlantic series not to mention that
it, along with whatever new series may be in creation, is
virtually unmarketable. It will only dilute the already
delicate and confusing ladder that exists. If CART is going
to have a ladder system it must adopt the European system of
F3 to F3000 to F1 or Champ Car. There is no viable economic
reason for any driver to consider that Toyota Atlantic would
even be a stepping stone between an F2000/F3/Barber Dodge
Pro Series and a new F3000 series. If this new U.S. F3000
series comes to fruition...Goodbye Toyota Atlantic...It's
been fun. Malcolm Ross, Former Owner, Active Motorsports,
Inc. Dear Malcolm, Thanks for writing. We
agree with you that Toyota Atlantic is far too expensive.
The solution then would have Toyota supply engines for an F3
chassis (perhaps a slightly detuned existing Atlantic
engine) and cut the cost to race to $0.5 million per year.
With Renault V6 fitting the F3000 rung you propose, the
Champ Car ladder would be complete as we proposed,
karting-->Formula BMW-->Toyota Atlantic/F3-->Renault
V6/F3000-->Champ Car. The more manufacturers involved
the better. Mark C.
2/10/04 - On Sunday February 15th look for
Formula Renault V6 to make a major North American Debut/RaceTeam
Promotions to announce 2004 FR2000 Plans. On hand will be
Brett Ross, General Manager, FR2000 Winter Invitational,
John Kolody, President, RaceTeam Promotions, and Renault
Sport representatives. The RaceTeam Promotions group will
announce 2004 plans for the FR2000 Championship, including
two new championships, sanctioning announcement and
manufacture participation. Renault Sport will be unveiling
the new Formula Renault V6 and the car will be performing an
on-track demonstration at Homestead-Miami Speedway. These
cars are more powerful and faster than a Toyota Atlantic car
(similar to F3000) and will unofficially slot in between
Atlantics and Champ Cars in the USA. If Renault really gets
behind this series, and with Barber Dodge Pro going away,
perhaps someday the Champ Car road racing ladder will be
karting-->Formula BMW-->Toyota Atlantic-->Renault V6-->Champ
Car. We like the gradation between the rungs on that ladder
vs. what CART had before where Barber Dodge Pro and Toyota
Atlantic were similar in performance and they were both too
far below Champ Car. OWRS would do well to bring another
manufacturer (Renault) into their fold/ladder.
Why should the Fran-Am V6 3.5L cars become official rungs on
the CART ladder? Renault and Nissan are joined at the
hip commercially. Nissan sells a lot of cars in the
USA. It's possible Nissan could get involved in a
project like this, or perhaps Renault has decided to sell
cars again in North America in the near future. We shall
know soon enough!
2/11/04 Industry News
Would IRL ABC deal be affected? In
a surprise move, cable TV giant Comcast Corp. proposed early
today to buy Walt Disney Co., the iconic media and
entertainment powerhouse that owns the ABC and ESPN
television networks, movie studios and theme parks, for
stock valued at about $54 billion. The nation's
biggest cable systems operator said it would also assume
$11.9 billion in Disney debt to push the total value of the
deal to $66 billion.
Comcast's stunning proposal was made even as Disney boss
Michael Eisner is fending off criticism from former board
members Roy E. Disney, the nephew of Disney founder Walt
Disney, and Stanley E. Gold about his performance and lack
of a succession plan as Disney's chief executive.
Comcast said Eisner declined earlier this week to discuss a
possible merger.
"This is a unique opportunity for all shareholders of
Comcast and Disney to create a new leader of the
entertainment and communications industry," said Comcast
president and chief executive Brian L. Roberts in a
statement. Calls to Disney representatives Zenia Mucha,
Michelle Bergman and John Spelich were not immediately
returned. Michael Citrick, spokesman for Disney and Gold,
said they had no immediate comment.
Comcast also released a letter sent to Eisner indicating
that Eisner had personally rejected Roberts' offer to enter
into discussions about a merger earlier in the week.
The letter from Roberts called it "unfortunate" that Eisner
was not willing to enter into discussions. "Given this, the
only way for us to proceed is to make a public proposal
directly to you and your board," the letter stated.
AP Story
2/11/04
F1 race fans staying home With
Formula One racing coming to Shanghai this year, travel
agents around the city are having trouble selling overseas
trips to local race fans. It's too early to say
package deals will be a flop, many say, but early sales are
worrying.
Spring International, one of the city's leading travel
agencies, is offering a 9-day trip to Australia centered
around the final F1 race of the season. It successfully
launched a package trip to Malaysia for fans eager to watch
Michael Schumacher and his rivals race around the Sepang
Circuit last year. Only 10 people, less than one-third
of the number allowed, have signed up for the Australian
trip on March 7, although the booking deadline is only two
weeks away, said Shen Hao, an outbound section official of
Spring International. "The high cost might account for
the low sales," said Shen, noting the trip costs 11,900 yuan
(US$1,434), excluding race tickets which range from US$73.70
to US$387.70 each.
Shen said the company is also looking forward to setting up
other package deals to every spot on the F1 circuit Chinese
are allowed to travel to. "Last year, sales ignited
only one week prior to the deadline," Shen added. But
a much cheaper trip to Malaysia is also generating less
interest than last year.
Shanghai CYTS Co Ltd has booked 700 plane tickets for the
trip which starts on March 21, according to its manager Zhen
Jianhong. While it only began selling the tour
yesterday, Zhen admits interest seems limited so far.
The 4-day trip costs 3,280 yuan, including a ticket to the
race. "As the F1 will begin to take stops in Shanghai
from this year on, I prefer to stay home for the
appreciation," said Luo Zheng, a 33-year-old IT manager.
Chen Zhengxi, a local racing fan, added that a lack of time
was another reason.
Eastday.com
2/11/04 Formula BMW
Minardi starts Asia team The
Minardi F1 Team is today pleased to announce the formation
of Minardi Team Asia. This follows the signing of an
agreement with Eurasia Motorsport, and will result in the
new team entering Asian drivers in both the Formula BMW Asia
and Asian Formula 3 series in 2004. In addition to its F1
presence, the Minardi name will thus be seen at important
regional motor racing events in China, Malaysia, South
Korea, Thailand, Japan and the Philippines this season.
Headquartered in Hong Kong, Eurasia Motorsport will run up
to four cars in the 2004 Formula BMW Asia Series, and a
single chassis in the Asian Formula 3 Series, all painted in
Minardi’s distinctive black, white and red colors. Owned and
managed by Piers Hunnisett, Mark Goddard and Martin Quick –
all of whom have extensive experience of international
motorsport – the team’s in-depth understanding of the Asian
racing scene will give it a competitive edge while, at the
same time, providing talented young drivers and technicians
from this important region with a clearly defined “ladder”
for career advancement.
“There has often been talk of Formula One teams helping to
popularize motorsport in Asia, but up until now, nothing of
any substance has been done,” says Minardi Team Principal,
Paul Stoddart. “As a team, Minardi has worked with many
Asian companies over recent years, and has said consistently
that it wants to assist the development of the sport in this
area of the world. The Minardi Team Asia initiative allows
us to do just that, and I’m sure, considering the population
of Asia, a young driver will be discovered via this program
who has the ability and the determination to make it to
Formula One.
“From a commercial perspective, this venture will provide
the Formula One team’s sponsors with the chance to be
associated with Minardi at a regional level in what is an
extremely important global market. It will also help to
introduce Asian companies to motorsport, while allowing them
to explore the potential benefits associated with
sponsorship.”
Piers Hunnisett, speaking on behalf of Eurasia Motorsport,
comments, “I have been talking to Paul about this project
for a number of months, and am extremely pleased we are able
to announce the formation of Minardi Team Asia today.
Interest in motor sport in Asia has been growing very
strongly over recent years, undoubtedly assisted by the
presence of the Malaysian Grand Prix on the Formula One
calendar. Now, with the inclusion of the Chinese and Bahrain
races in the World Championship schedule for the first time,
the floodgates have been opened for Asian motorsport.
Audiences in this part of the world are clamouring for local
heroes, and there is no doubt this link with the Minardi F1
Team will assist the career development of young drivers,
while also having the benefit of encouraging new sponsors
into the sport.”
Hunnisett has been associated with Asian motorsport since
1994, when he ran up-and-coming Malaysian, Alex Yoong, in
his debut season of racing. Yoong and the team made history
that year, winning the first-ever single-seater car race
held in China. Coincidentally, the Kuala Lumpur resident
made history again seven years later when, signed by the
Minardi Team, he became Malaysia’s first Formula One driver.
Minardi Team Asia will announce its 2004 driver line-up in
the near future.
2/11/04
Champ Car needs to be like F1 Since
we here at AutoRacing1.com have campaigned for the next generation
Champ Cars to be exactly the same size as a F1 car, this letter to
Autosport Magazine caught our eye - Champ Car will always struggle for
money and influence while it remains in competition with the IRL
IndyCar Series. It needs the killer idea that can move it forward in
the eyes of the racing community and I believe there is a simple
answer. Run Champ Car races to the current Formula 1 rules, with
the exception of allowing purchased components on any part of the car.
You can imagine the interest of manufacturers, teams and drivers from
all over the world who want the F1 Experience without the F1 Budget
restrictions. I would be surprised if they didn't fill the grid for
every race, and the IRL will only be able to look on in envy as the
new stepping-stone to F1 takes shape. Julian Bailey (not that
Julian Bailey!) Dear Julian, Champ Car needs to become the premier
open wheel series in North America, and a low-cost alternate to F1
worldwide, so we agree with your proposal, though we would be a bit
more restrictive with the rules to lower costs. Mark C.
2/11/04
Where is he now? Bruce
McCaw is no longer a Champ Car team owner, but he still enjoys motor
racing. The Seattle native races vintage cars several times a year,
and he plans to run a Nardi and an Alfa Zagato at the upcoming Grand
Prix de Monaco Historique. Today the 57-year old
concentrates on family life with his wife Jolene and three young
children, as well as his other business activities. Bruce and Jolene
co-chair the board of the Talaris Research Institute, dedicated to
advancing knowledge of early brain development in children. McCaw is
also chairman of the Board for Seattle’s Museum of Flight, which
recently received one of two British Airways Concordes in the US for a
long-term exhibition. McCaw remains a keen car collector and
racing enthusiast and he has closely followed the recent travails of
CART. “Jolene and I miss seeing the many, many friends we knew in
CART,” he says. “Frankly, I’m appalled at how the resources of CART
were squandered in the past 18 months. I’m pleased that the gentlemen
backing the Open Wheel Racing Series stepped forward to continue this
fabulous series.” Autosport Magazine
2/11/04
McNish & Herbert to drive for Audi
The newly-formed Audi Sport UK Team Veloqx lines-up with two Audi R8
prototypes. Four of the six Veloqx drivers have already won the Le
Mans 24 Hours at least once: Frank Biela (Germany) in 2000, 2001 and
2002, Johnny Herbert in 1991, Allan McNish in 1998, Guy Smith (Great
Britain) last year. German Pierre Kaffer and Briton Jamie Davies
complete the Le Mans squad of the British team. In preparation for the
Le Mans event, Veloqx will contest the 12-hour race at Sebring on
March 20 with the same driver squads. Long-time Formula 1 test driver
Darren Turner (Great Britain) is the team's reserve driver.
The American Team ADT Champion Racing and Team Goh from Japan each
enter one Audi R8 at Le Mans. The Finn JJ Lehto (1995 winner), the
Italian Emanuele Pirro (victorious in 2000, 2001 and 2002) and the
German Marco Werner drive for Champion, while the Japanese driver
Seiji Ara, last year's winner Rinaldo Capello from Italy and five-time
winner Tom Kristensen from Denmark (1997, 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003
winner) drive for Goh.
Goh (Ara/Capello) and Veloqx (Davies, Kaffer, McNish, Smith, Turner)
also contest the new European Le Mans Endurance Series (LMES) which,
with a total of four races starting on May 9 at Monza (Italy), revives
the classic 1000 kilometre races.
In the American Le Mans Series (ALMS), JJ Lehto and defending ALMS
Champion Marco Werner set off on the title hunt in the Team ADT
Champion Racing Audi R8. At the season opener in Sebring - as at Le
Mans - they will be supported by DTM driver Emanuele Pirro.
"It speaks volumes for the Audi R8 that our customer teams can start
with such high-caliber driver squads," explained Audi motorsport chief
Dr Wolfgang Ullrich. "Whether it is Formula 1 stars, legends such as
Paul Frère or newcomers like Pierre Kaffer and Jamie Davies: Up till
now everybody who has driven an Audi R8 was impressed." Audi Teams competing at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2004:
Audi Sport Japan Team Goh:
Seiji Ara (J), Rinaldo Capello (I), Tom Kristensen (DK)
Audi Sport UK Team Veloqx *:
Frank Biela (D), Jamie Davies (GB), Pierre Kaffer (D), Johnny Herbert
(GB), Allan McNish (GB), Guy Smith (GB)
Team ADT Champion Racing:
JJ Lehto (FIN), Emanuele Pirro (I), Marco Werner (D) Audi Teams competing in the 2004 Le Mans Endurance Series 2004 (LMES):
Audi Sport Japan Team Goh:
Seiji Ara (J), Rinaldo Capello (I)
Audi Sport UK Team Veloqx *:
Pierre Kaffer (D), Jamie Davies (GB), Allan McNish (GB), Guy Smith
(GB), Darren Turner (GB) Audi Team competing in the 2004 American Le Mans Series (ALMS):
Team ADT Champion Racing:
JJ Lehto (FIN), Marco Werner (D) Audi Teams competing in the Sebring 12-hour race in 2004:
Audi Sport UK Team Veloqx *:
Frank Biela (D), Jamie Davies (GB), Pierre Kaffer (D), Johnny Herbert
(GB), Allan McNish (GB), Guy Smith (GB)
Team ADT Champion Racing:
JJ Lehto (FIN), Emanuele Pirro (I), Marco Werner (D)
* The driver line-up for Audi Sport UK Team Veloqx's two cars have not
yet been finalised
2/11/04
Customer cars closer Autosport
Magazine reports that F1 teams are edging towards an agreement to
allow smaller outfits to buy customer chassis, despite previous
reluctance for a change in regulations. The Concorde
Agreement, the document by which F1 is run, forces teams to build
their own cars, but a consensus for change is growing as a means of
boosting the grid. McLaren boss Ron Dennis, who had been
against relaxing the rules, has even suggested new teams be given a
three-year period of grace, during which they can buy customer cars
while they learn the ropes in F1. Max Mosley, president of
the sport’s governing body, said: “One or two teams were a bit nervous
to begin with, but they are coming around to it. It’s being discussed
in a very positive way by everybody.” But Eddie Jordan,
whose team could benefit from a new rule, said: “I would only do it if
there was no other way out.”
2/11/04
Anderson concerned with F1 safety Autosport
Magazine reports that F1 teams are compromising safety in their
efforts to minimize the weight of their cars. That is the view
of Jordan’s former chief technical boss, Gary Anderson, who believes
the sport has become complacent to the possible dangers because there
have been no fatalities since Ayrton Senna was killed in the 1994 San
Marino Grand Prix. Anderson is particularly concerned
about how light the cars have become – ballast sometimes adds as much
as 100kg to bring them up to the minimum weight regulation of 600kg
(about 1,200 Lbs). Speaking to AUTOSPORT, Anderson said:
“It is difficult to see why you should allow 100kg of potential
safety to be wasted. “No matter what people say, and I have been
to Technical Working Group meetings where they have said ballast is no
problem for safety, if you add that same weight into structures –
whether it be within the suspension or the chassis – you will end up
with a safer car.”
2/11/04
Shanghai construction photos Photos
courtesy of Tilke Engineering
2/11/04
Miami fencing to Sebring To
better protect the spectators, the Sebring Raceway has purchased three
miles of additional debris fencing. That came from Miami, where the
Grand Prix of the Americas was held. Some of that will go up
before the 12-Hour event, but the majority of it will go up after the
event.
2/11/04
Brian France named most
influential2nd UPDATE We
were questioned about the France Family tie to Street & Smith's
SportsBusiness Journal. This is what we hear - Street & Smith's was
originally American City Business Journals publishing, a small
publicly traded company that produced a string of City Business
newspapers. The Chairman was Ray Shaw, former president of Dow Jones
and Company, publishers of the Wall Street Journal. We are not sure of
the order of things but in 1993 The Shaw family through their
conservative network of connections came into Stock Car racing by
buying Winston Cup Scene from Griggs Publishing for $15 million. They
later purchased On Track (for a tiny fraction of that) and finally
went back to Griggs and bought Winston Cup Illustrated (for $1 mil +
change). Somewhere along the line they acquired, or were
acquired, in a reverse merger with the venerable Street & Smiths
Sports guide publishing company. On Track died a slow expensive death
(1999 or 2000 we think) as they found everything but NASCAR hard
work. They do pay some sort of license fee to NASCAR and Brian France
makes sure all advertising and partnership dollars flow like water to
them and few else. They call this "guided media". Everything
from here on out is just hearsay but ... legend has it that Ray Shaw
(who we think may still be at the helm of Street & Smiths) has been a
helping hand to the Frances in making the right power play connections
on Wall Street and the Fortune 500 beyond their already formidable
reach. Not surprisingly, rumors also abound that "Sports Business
Journal" was/is backed by the Frances as way of positioning NASCAR
above everything but the NFL and the Olympics. Who knows if this
is really true, though some tell us it is. We are sure
some will connect the dots and assume that "It is all part of a vast
right wing conspiracy". We are not so sure, and just think it is a
rare case of smart business thinking and transcendent ambition in a
sport (auto racing as a whole) that has shown astounding stupidity in
the past ten years. 2/10/04 - The oval track cartel is EXPOSED again. No wonder Brian France
was named the most influential person in motorsports (even over Bernie
Ecclestone, can you believe that?), his family indirectly control the magazine!
2/10/04 - NASCAR Chairman Brian France has
been named the most influential person in motorsports by
Street & Smith's SportsBusiness Journal. The magazine this
week named France and his father, former NASCAR Chairman
Bill France Jr., to the top two spots on the list, which is
dominated by NASCAR officials and others with close ties to
the sport. Bruton Smith, chairman of Speedway Motorsports
Inc. took the third spot in the rankings, followed by Fox
Sports Television Chairman David Hill and NASCAR Chief
Operating Officer George Pyne.
NASCAR Scene Daily
Newsletter
Medeiros fastest in Phoenix Infiniti
Pro practice, only 7 cars show up Seven Menards
Infiniti Pro Series drivers completed a total of 1,095 laps during
testing Feb. 10 at the reconfigured Phoenix International Raceway.
Thiago Medeiros posted the fastest lap of the day at 156.718 mph,
22.9712 seconds in the No. 11 Sam Schmidt Motorsports
Dallara/Infiniti/Firestone. Rookie Jesse Mason was second fastest at
154.687 mph, 23.2728 seconds in the No. 3 Brian Stewart Racing
Dallara/Infiniti Firestone, but his test ended early after he made
contact with the SAFER Barrier in Turn 4. There was significant damage
to the right side of his car, but Mason was uninjured. Another rookie,
Phil Giebler, was third quickest at 154.457 mph, 23.3074 seconds.
Giebler, a former Red Bull Driving Search candidate, ran his first
laps in the Menards Infiniti Pro Series in the No. 2 Keith Duesenburg
Racing Dallara/Infiniti/Firestone. Car count will be an issue
for this series again.
2/10/04
Nextel
announces NASCAR phones Nextel today announced the
availability of a NASCAR Nextel Cup series phone and ten driver
phones. The eleven new handsets – which will share the Motorola i736
model name – are the first NASCAR-branded wireless phones.
Featured drivers include Rusty Wallace,
Mark Martin, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Michael Waltrip, Matt Kenseth, Tony
Stewart, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Dale Jarrett and Kurt Busch
(Nextel). Motor Music, a partnership between NASCAR and Cherry Lane
Music Publishing, today announced the unveiling of NASCAR’s theme
song, “Thunder.” It is the first branded theme music in the 56-year
history of NASCAR.
2/10/04
Tracy says Champ Car must focus on more
than rival IRL This canada.com
article says that CART is back on track for at least one more
season, but defending champion Paul Tracy says the circuit can't just
focus on staying ahead of the rival Indy Racing League in order to
survive. Tracy was in town Tuesday to promote ticket sales for the
Vancouver Molson Indy, which will be held July 23 to July 25. The
Toronto native said CART can't afford to be narrow-minded. "We're not
fighting against just the IRL in terms of sponsorship dollars," Tracy
said during a news conference. "The series needs to look at this as a
whole. We're in the entertainment business. We're fighting for
sponsorship dollars, we're fighting for ratings against football,
basketball and hockey. Extreme sports have become very popular. We
just can't become narrow-minded and look at motor sports. We're out
there to compete for the same dollars and the same ratings as
everything that is on television." Holding races outside the United
States in places like Canada, Mexico and Australia gives CART
international prestige, said Tracy, who clinched the drivers crown
with seven victories last season. "These races in Canada, Mexico and a
few key races in the United States are what hold CART together," he
said. "I think it's a new start. The people have spoken. They want
CART to survive and prosper. That's what the future is."
More.....
2/10/04 Industry News
Motorsports Consultants reveal new
website Motorsports Consulting Services is proud to
announce the unveiling of our new website.
Designed to inform potential clients and interested parties about the
services we specialize in and the people that make them happen.
Please take the time to review the site. Martyn Thake,
Motorsports Consulting Services
2/10/04
Interview with Paul Tracy - Molson Indy
Vancouver Press Conference By Gerry Frechette Q: Forsythe Team Sponsor for 2004 Tracy: “I don’t know yet who my sponsor will be. As far
as I know, they have something they are working on, but it isn’t all
nailed down. We were all hopeful it would have been done by now. But
Jerry Forsythe has lots of money, so we’ll just have to wait and see
what happens in the next month or so. Everything is going forward.”
Q: How do you feel about the new OWRS point system? Tracy: “I think it’s good. What they are trying to
promote is a closer Championship at the end of the season. It puts
greater emphasis on keeping your car going in the race. Now, that will
be crucial. It’ll be more like NASCAR, where you have to fix the
problem and get back out on the track, so the fans have something to
watch, even if the cars aren’t going full speed. It adds another
dimension to the race.”
Q: Possibility of standing starts. Tracy: “It doesn’t really matter to me. I’ve done them
before. But you have to think of what happens if a car stalls on a
street course start, and how you get it off the track in less than a
minute. There is no point in having a full-course yellow and then
going to a rolling start after that.” [Editor's Note: Standing
starts should only be used where the starting straight is wide enough.
As for stalling, Cosworth is working on making it harder to
accidentally stall, however, nothing can help spastic clutch and
throttle feet. That's all part of the challenge that the best
drivers can handle.]
Q: Other series you would like to try? Tracy: “I’d still like to try NASCAR and Le Mans. I love
driving Champ Cars, and the schedule and the cities we go to, and my
only drawback with NASCAR is that the schedule is so long, I don’t
think I could handle it. It would do me in.”
“We are in the entertainment business and fighting for sponsorship
dollars and exposure like any other sport. Our new television
package with Spike and CBS will be stronger than it has been the last
couple of years.”
“It’s key for me to have the three races in Canada. They and the
Mexican ones and a few others in the U.S. hold the Series together.
I’m glad the judge made the right decision.”
“There’s a lot of good things happening with the Series now.
There will be the announcement of a really key new race venue in
another week or two which will inject a lot of new life into the
Series.”
“I think things will be better run in the Series now. I don’t want to
have a run-in with my boss! I believe in what they are trying to do.
My goal is to try to help as much as I can and be an ambassador for
the sport. But a little controversy generates interest too, like here
in Vancouver last year. Sometimes you need that, and to not dumb
everything down like the corporate approach of NASCAR.”
“My off-season has been easier than some other drivers who don’t yet
have a contract, so that was a nice situation for me to be in. If CART
wasn’t going to survive, I had the option to go do something else. As
long as this series was happening, though, I intended to drive Champ
Cars for this team.
2/10/04
Button tops charts again with
BAR Honda Jenson Button continued to impress
with the new BAR-Honda 006 chassis, setting the fastest time
on the first day of a five-day test at Jerez in Spain. It's
possible the Michelin tires have made a big difference for
the team. Button has been consistently near, or at, the top
of the times since the launch of the rapid new BAR and his
fastest lap of 1m17.708s today was not a one-lap qualifying
run, although it was on low fuel. Teammate Takuma Sato
confirmed the team's pace with third fastest, as he got more
running in the new 006. Pos Driver Chassis-engine Tires Time Laps
1 Jenson Button BAR-Honda M 1m17.708s 79*
2 Jarno Trulli Renault M 1m17.868s 62*
3 Takuma Sato BAR-Honda M 1m18.022s 81*
4 Luca Badoer Ferrari B 1m18.269s 84
5 Alex Wurz McLaren-Mercedes M 1m18.429s 67*
6 David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes M 1m18.545s 20*
7 Franck Montagny Renault M 1m18.636s 87
8 Christian Klien Jaguar M 1m19.272s 83*
9 Giancarlo Fisichella Sauber-Petronas B 1m19.287s 73*
10 Felipe Massa Sauber Petronas 1m19.450s B 93*
11 Giorgio Pantano Jordan-Ford B 1m22.288s 35*
12 Nick Heidfeld Jordan-Ford B 1m22.963s 23*
2/10/04
Sierra Sierra announces 2-car
assault Sierra Sierra Enterprises announced
their 2004 line-up today; 2003 race-winner and series
runner-up Ryan Dalziel will return to drive the #28 ProWorks/Daily
Record entry. He will be joined by series newcomer and 2003
Fran Am Champion, Andrew Ranger. Sierra Sierra is entering
their second full season in the Toyota Atlantic series,
after finishing second in the championship last year and
earning nine podium finishes in the 12 race series. Team
owners Dennis and Diane Kottke commented on their driver
line-up, “2003 was a year of learning and development for us
and we believe in 2004 with Ryan and Andrew that Sierra
Sierra clearly poses a very serious threat both to the
Championship and the Rookie of the Year title.”
Dalziel, 21 from Glasgow, Scotland joined Sierra Sierra last
year and had an extraordinary sophomore season in Atlantics.
He earned two pole-to-flag victories and nine podium
finishes en-route to his second place finish in the 2003
championship. A 10x karting champion, the amiable Scot came
to America from the British F3 series where he drove for the
Prost F1 Junior Team and recorded 17 top-ten finishes.
Dalziel earned his first Atlantic victory early last season
at the Milwaukee Mile, dominating throughout the event
despite it being just his second race ever on an oval.
Accomplished at all of Atlantic’s disciplines, he is a
favorite for the 2004 Atlantic title. “My thanks go to
Dennis and Diane Kottke for bringing me back this year. They
have assembled an outstanding team with whom I have a great
relationship. We have the fastest and most reliable cars in
the paddock and my intentions are to take our results one
step further this year and win the championship,” said
Dalziel. “It is an exciting time for Toyota Atlantics,
running under the OWRS umbrella and I am proud to be part of
it. I plan to drive Champ Cars in the future and it gives me
great confidence knowing that I am getting the best
preparation possible in and out of the car driving for the
best team in the competitive Atlantic series.”
Andrew Ranger 17, from Roxton Pond, Quebec made the
transition from karts to cars last year while competing in
the Fran Am 2000 series. Ranger’s transition was flawless.
He dominated the series championship with four pole
positions, five victories and nine podium finishes. The
former Canadian karting champion began racing just four
years ago at the age of 13 and became the first Canadian to
win the FIA/CK Viking trophy in Denmark in 2002.
Ranger commented on his step up the Champ Car ladder, “I am
really proud to make the step up to Atlantic, particularly
with a leading team like Sierra Sierra. I am especially
motivated coming off of the exceptional season I had last
year. I had a two-day test with Sierra Sierra and after
working with David Empringham and their engineers, I knew it
would be the best opportunity for me to develop my ability
and fight for the Rookie of the Year title. I have a
fantastic company backing me which we will be announcing
soon, it is going to be an exciting season.”
Sierra Sierra recently completed their first test of the
season with Dalziel and Ranger. Manager of Driver
Development and two-time Toyota Atlantic Champion David Empringham left the test very confident for the upcoming
2004 season, “I am excited to have two gifted drivers to
work with this year. We have the perfect environment to
attack the 2004 Championship. I feel fortunate to be working
with Ryan again and now to have Andrew on board gives us so
much added strength. It’s hard to believe this 17 year-old
(Ranger) has only one season of experience racing cars,”
exclaimed Empringham.
Based in Northern Nevada, Sierra Sierra Enterprises is led
by championship winning team manager Richard Raeder. The
team has a rigorous test schedule planned in preparation for
the 2004 Toyota Atlantic Championship, which kicks off at
the 30th running of the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. For
more information, photos and statistics please visit
www.sierrasierra.com or call (775) 783-1900.
2/10/04
Economy hits NASCAR tooUPDATE
A reader writes, Dear AutoRacing1.com, We all hear about the
lack of cars in Champ Car and the IRL. Why is it the press
isn't really getting on the lack of cars at Daytona? I know
you mentioned it, but let's look beyond Daytona. Look at the
45 cars entered in the 500. We know Shelmerdine and
Hillenburg are not going anywhere after Daytona which leaves
43 teams. The last time I checked, the 14 (Foyt) didn't have
enough $$$ to go very far. What about the 50 (Cope) and the
09 (Benson)? The 7 (Spencer) isn't going on, and the 33
(Skinner) is a part time ride too. Isn't the 23 (Blaney)
part time also? I even thought the 1 (Andretti) was part
time, but maybe funding was secured for most of the season
now. Let's not forget the 44 (Fittipaldi) and Roush's 99
(Burton). I thought that deal was a partial season too. What
are we down to, 35 full time teams in NASCAR? Is it not
conceivable that NASCAR is going to have trouble fielding 43
cars all year? Doesn't their TV contract have a minimum car
count like CART did last year? Leads to a bigger question.
Is the France family going to have to pull a page out of the
Grandson's book and start funding teams to fill the field?
Chad Larimer, Rochester MN2/10/04 - This
St. Petersburg Times
article says, Apparently the Daytona 500, the
signature event of NASCAR's Nextel Cup season, is not immune
from the economic woes that have put some teams out of
business and threatened others. The race once drew as many
as 60 teams, but just 45 cars will attempt to make the
43-car field in Thursday's twin 125-mile qualifiers. ARCA
regulars Kirk Shelmerdine and Andy Hillenburg, who were 44th
and 45th in average qualifying speed on Sunday, fill out the
field of NASCAR regulars and semi-regulars. It's a risk
worth taking if a team can secure financing. Last place in
the Daytona 500 pays $177,000.
2/10/04
Williams names Pizzonia as
official test driver The BMW WilliamsF1 Team
today confirmed that Antonio Pizzonia (BR) has been retained
as an official test driver and will undertake testing duties
for the team in 2004. The twenty-three year old driver
from Manaus, in the Brazilian Amazon, performed testing
duties for the BMW WilliamsF1 Team during the 2002 season.
His competence as a test driver for the team in 2002 earned
him a race seat for the following season, but for 2004 he
returns to a crucial testing role to assist with the
development and progression of the WilliamsF1 BMW FW26.
On the announcement of his appointment, Antonio said, “It
feels great to be back working with everyone at the BMW
WilliamsF1 Team. My long term future in Formula One is as a
race driver, but my aim for this year is to do everything I
can as a test driver to help the team win the World
Championship.”
2/10/04
Baumgartner suffers $$$ blow This
Grandprix.com article
says, The Hungarian Sports Ministry has cancelled a deal
worth $4m, knocking a big hole in the Hungarian driver's
budget for 2004. The government has tried to offset the
problem a little with a promotional deal from the
Hungaroring worth $290,000. Baumgartner says that the
problem will not affect his drive with Minardi as the
payment schedule will be restructured. Baumgartner still has
another $5m for the drive. The deal was cancelled -
ostensibly by the government and Baumgartner because of
adverse public opinion as it is thought more important that
the state improve the situation with housing and other
social issues.
2/10/04
Imola refuses to give up easily This
Grandprix.com article
says, The mayor of Imola Massimo Marchignoli says that it is
not certain that the San Marino Grand Prix will be removed
from the Formula 1 calendar in 2005 and says that he intends
to negotiate to save the race with Formula One group boss
Bernie Ecclestone. Ecclestone recently said that after this
year's event the race would no longer happen.
Marchignoli has been mayor of Imola since 1999 but his
efforts to secure funding from regional and national bodies
have not been successful despite support for his efforts
from the Automobile Club of Italy as the local authority and
SAGIS, the company which owns the track, cannot raise the
money needed to do the safety work needed to keep the Grand
Prix.
Imola has been on the F1 calendar since 1980 but with
increasing legislation in Europe and Imola's inability to
raise the cash needed, the race has become a victim as
non-European races bid for dates in 2005 and beyond. If The
Italians can come up with money to do the work and pay as
much as the non-European events it is possible that Imola
might survive but that does not look very likely to happen
in the current economic climate.
2/10/04
Bahrain GP Experience sold out The
first Grand Prix ever to be held in the Middle East is
creating a real buzz of excitement in the Gulf region and
today the race organizers are able to announce that
subscriptions for one of the specialist packages, the
"Bahrain Experience," are now sold out.
Race fans shouldn't be alarmed though. There are still
tickets available for the historic event on 04.04.04.
As the date for the race draws nearer the interest of race
fans and enthusiastic supporters of Grand Prix racing is
increasing dramatically. More and more people are waking-up
to the fact that World Champion Michael Schumacher and his
19 fellow racers will be arriving in the Middle East in less
than two months.
The FIA Formula One World Championship begins its 18-race
program in Melbourne, Australia on March 7th followed two
weeks later by the Malaysian Grand Prix in Kuala Lumpur. But
it is the third race on the championship calendar that has
everybody's pulse racing. The Formula One circus will be
arriving in Bahrain shortly after the Malaysian Grand Prix
and over the two week period prior to the race the Kingdom
and the city of Manama will come alive to the sights and
sounds of the fastest sporting show on earth.
Practice for the Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix starts on
Friday morning with further on-track activity throughout the
day and during Saturday. The inaugural Bahrain Grand Prix
starts at 14:30 on Sunday 04.04.04 and will be the
culmination of years of planning by a great number of people
in the Kingdom of Bahrain.
Tickets for the race are still available through the Grand
Prix Ticket Hot Line on +973 406 222 and there are
Grandstand seats and packages available to fit all sizes and
budgets. Gulf Air are laying on extra flights around the
time of the race and information is available from the
airlines offices worldwide and throughout the region.
Contact the Hot Line now to reserve your seat for the
greatest sporting spectacle ever to hit the Middle East.
2/10/04 Industry News
ISC Rewards Program Fans
can now gain access to celebrate in Victory Lane through a
newly announced rewards program! Race fans visiting
International Speedway Corporation-owned motorsports
facilities can turn purchases into ticket and merchandise
savings, behind the scenes track tours and other exclusive
race experiences.
The International Speedway Race Rewards* Visa® allows
cardholders to earn two percent back in the form of LAPS™
for every dollar spent on qualified Race Rewards purchases
with the card. Qualified facilities include Daytona
International Speedway, Talladega Superspeedway, Michigan
International Speedway, Richmond International Raceway,
California Speedway, Kansas Speedway, Phoenix International
Raceway, Homestead-Miami Speedway, North Carolina Speedway,
Darlington Raceway, Watkins Glen International and Nazareth
Speedway.
"This rewards program is an easy way for fans to get behind
the scenes where not many other people get to go," said ISC
Vice President of Sales and Marketing Paul Phipps. "We're
excited to offer this unique and exclusive opportunity to
our fans."
Fans can earn 2 LAPS™ for every dollar spent on qualified
purchases and 1 LAP™ for every dollar spent anywhere Visa
credit cards are accepted. Use LAPS™ toward the purchase of
tickets and merchandise or save LAPS™ to earn access to
special race experiences like celebrating in Victory Lane or
going behind the scenes on a VIP tour.
Lincoln, Nebraska-based World's Foremost, the fastest
growing bank in Nebraska, will serve as the credit-card
issuer, providing co-branded Visa cards to customers and
clients.
For more information on this unique program, call
1-800-843-5940.
2/10/04 Industry News
Indy Speedway buys land for
parking This Indy Star
article says, The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is
buying and clearing 16 acres across 16th Street to make room
for more parking for race days. Crews are demolishing
the Classic Motor Inn and will begin soon on the American
Art and Clay Co. factory. Motor Speedway executives
said the demolished buildings would be replaced with parking
lots for cars and recreational vehicles. Some of the space
near the main gate area will be used for food and racing
merchandise vendors. The land is expected to be
resurfaced in time for the May activities surrounding the
Indianapolis 500-Mile Race on May 30. The executives
would not give specifics on long-range plans for the land.
The new parking areas will be second in size outside the
track to the "Coke lot," or IMS Lot 1, on 30 acres northwest
of 25th Street and Georgetown. "The idea is just to
add some conveniences for our fans," said IMS Senior Vice
President Mel Harder. "We'll improve the walks, the entry
and traffic flows. "We think we'll be good neighbors
and everyone will be happy with the results in the end."
2/10/04
More live races for Grand-Am Grand
American Road Racing Association announced its SPEED Channel
broadcast dates for the remainder of 2004 Grand American
Rolex Sports Car Series and Grand-Am Cup Series, with the
number of live Rolex Series events increased to eight this
season. SPEED Channel kicked off its coverage of the 2004
Rolex Series with a 15.5-hour live broadcast of the Rolex 24
At Daytona earlier this month and will follow it up with
seven additional live races and four tape-delayed events.
Round two of the Rolex Series will be the Grand Prix of
Miami at Homestead-Miami Speedway. SPEED Channel will air
the race on a tape delay, Sunday, March 7 at 4 p.m. ET.
SPEED Channel's live coverage of the Rolex Series will pick
back up with the Phoenix 250, Saturday, April 10 at 9 p.m.
ET, and continue with the 6 Heures du Circuit Mont-Tremblant
on Sunday, May 23 at 11 a.m. ET. All broadcast times
and dates are subject to change, and the latest schedule of
events can be found online at
www.grandamerican.com
or www.speedtv.com
2/10/04
Canadian Infiniti Pro Series
driver loses sponsor and ride Jonathan Urlin
would rather be hitting the pavement, instead of hitting the
books for a symbolic logic exam tomorrow at Western. But the
"dirty, dark part of motorsports" has parked the talented
21-year-old racer from London this season. With no
sponsorship money available from Budget-Rent-A-Car Canada,
Urlin will spend his track time teaching at racing schools
and chasing new sponsors for next year. Urlin was a rookie
in the Indy Racing League's Infiniti Pro development series
last year, but with Budget filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
protection in the U.S. last summer, that put the brakes to
Budget Canada's sports sponsorship. He hopes to return to
the Infiniti series next year. "You can't really put it into
words. It's horrible," Urlin said yesterday, taking a break
from playing in a two-on-two outdoors hockey tournament.
"This is the longest stretch I've gone in motorsports
without competing since I was eight years old." It takes $1
million to do the Infiniti series properly. The cars cost
$115,000 US. Urlin was racing on a shoestring budget of
about half that. "No teams are prepared to take anybody on
where the driver has no money," he said. "It's not like
hockey where if you have the right talent, the right
motivation and the right attitude you go. "With racing, you
have to have the skill, the motivation, the attitude -- and
the money. You have hundreds of drivers out there perfectly
capable of being at the top of motorsports, but they don't
have the money to let that path grow. It's the dirty, dark
part of motorsports, but that's just the way it goes. You
can't beat it."
More....
2/10/04
Gentilozzi speaks This
Motorsport Forum
article says, Jaguar is spending a ton of money in the North
American market to link its brand to sports car racing. In 2003 the
company supported six XKR Trans-Am race cars along with an X-TYPE
safety car.
Whether or not they follow Gentilozzi into the Champ Car World Series
remains to be seen. But Gentilozzi is upbeat about the future of North
American open wheel racing and plans to continue the variety of racing
venues that characterized the 25-year-old CART series.
"We would like to do ovals," Gentilozzi said. "We're
going to do Milwaukee and would like to do one more in the U.S. But we
don't own a lot of oval tracks and a lot of independents don't own
them. So we may do ovals in other parts of the world."
There are no further legal concerns regarding the purchase of CART's
assets. "It's a done deal," Gentilozzi said. "The headquarters
will stay in Indianapolis."
According to Gentilozzi the only deal not finalized for the 2004
schedule is Portland and he predicted they would have a deal done by
the end of the week.
St. Petersburg Florida will be back on the schedule May 16,
which is a qualifying day at Indianapolis and the date assigned to Las
Vegas on the original CART schedule.
For now there is no chance for reconciliation with the Indy
Racing League. "That's not even a topic for discussion,"
Gentilozzi said.
He predicted at least 18 cars will participate and that everyone
would have a sponsor, but they will run their 2003 paint schemes until
all are revealed at the same time during a press conference the first
week of March.
There is a possibility that more than 18 cars will race. "Yes,
we've had a lot of guys come out of the woodwork now that they know we
are alive," said Gentilozzi.
Multiple racing series will highlight events and a new production
based touring-car-type series is being discussed. "Our support base
will be, from the beginning, Champ Car, Trans-Am, Toyota Atlantics,
and another open wheel foundation series," Gentilozzi said. "We
are trying to do a production based tin-top production car deal."
The rock and roll/Champ Car connection will not get started until at
least June. "The concept worked," Gentilozzi said. "But we know now we
are not concert promoters. We know now how much you really have to pay
up front. So we learned a lot."
It took a lot of money to keep CART running during 2003, but
Gentilozzi said they were fine as far a 2004 budget.
When asked if he was going to be funding any of the teams
Gentilozzi replied, "Just my own."
Gentilozzi left the Chicago Auto Show bound for New York to finalize
details for the 2004 Champ Car World Series television schedule.
2/10/04
Toyota owner fires back According
to this Indy Star
article, Fox broadcaster Larry McReynolds wasn't anticipating
the negative backlash that came with his move into an ownership role
with Toyota's first-year NASCAR truck series program. His
computer lit up with e-mails from fans questioning why a true-blue
American and former crew chief for Dale Earnhardt would want to get
mixed up with a Japanese manufacturer. "But if you walked into
their homes," McReynolds said of his detractors, "they've probably got
Mitsubishi TVs sitting there." [Editor's Note: That is probably
because there are no TV sets still made in the USA for them to buy.]
Casite Company to be associate sponsor
for BAM The Casite
Company announced today that their 2004 Associate Sponsorship of
NASCAR’s BAM Racing, Dodge car #49 car, will kick-off at the Daytona
500 in Florida on February 15. “We are thrilled to sponsor and
partner with BAM Racing, NASCAR’s only female-owned race team, for the
2004 season. We feel the determination of Beth Ann – coupled with the
experience of Kenny Schrader – makes BAM the perfect fit for our
company,” said J. John Antakli, president of Casite.
Casite has been supplying the racing and automotive industries with
quality aftermarket automotive chemicals since 1922. And while Casite
is not new to sponsoring racing, this will be their first national
sponsorship at this level. "We are very happy to have The Casite
Company, with their great line of quality automotive products, join us
for the 2004 season and, hopefully, many years beyond that," said Beth
Ann Morgenthau, owner of BAM Racing. "They are really starting our
relationship with a bang, and we are very excited to welcome them on
board," she added. Casite will also participate in the following
Nextel Cup NASCAR races with BAM: Food City 500 in Bristol, TN on
March 28; Coca-Cola 600 in Concord, NC on May 30; Michigan 400 at MIS,
MI on June 20; Brickyard 400 at Indy on August 8; EA Sports 500 at
Talladega on October 3; and one other yet to be determined race. For
the past two years, Casite has sponsored the Casite Classic at Flat
Rock Speedway and recently concluded their 2003 ARCA Street Stock race
sponsorship at Flat Rock. “We really enjoy supporting racing and
providing quality family entertainment to race enthusiasts. We are
confident that NASCAR’s fans will embrace our high quality products as
quickly as the drivers and fans at Flat Rock and even BAM’s own shop
manager did,” Antakli added.
2/10/04
Arie Jr. stays in Infiniti Pro Series Arie
Luyendyk Jr., the 2003 IRL Crew "Most Popular Driver Award" winner for
the Menards Infiniti Pro Series, will return to that series in 2004
driving the #5 Dallara/Infiniti/Firestone for Sam Schmidt Motorsports.
Arie Jr.'s plan of running in the IRL IndyCar Series is still a
primary goal for 2004, and ongoing efforts continue to be made for a
full or partial season program. While partnerships are being put into
place, the opportunity to continue to race in the Infiniti Pro Series
became available through the Sam Schmidt Motorsports team.
"I am really happy to have the opportunity to race for Sam this year,"
Arie Jr. said as he prepares for the Infiniti Pro Series Open Test in
Phoenix. "I know he's got good equipment, good personnel and an
all-around good team, so I should be able to do very well there and
hopefully win a race or two. Of course, we are still working on an
IndyCar Series program for this year, and hope to have something in
place soon. But I need to be in a race car as much as possible, and
this ride is giving me the opportunity to do that and stay sharp as
the 2004 season starts. I want to thank Sam for this ride - I hope I
can reward him by landing in Victory Circle."
Sam Schmidt is happy to add Arie Jr. to his team and lineup of
drivers, which includes Arie Jr.'s good friend, on-track rival and
2003 Texas winner, Thiago Medeiros.
"Arie Luyendyk Sr. and I were teammates on Fred Treadway's IndyCar
team in '99 at Indy, and I still have that in my memory as one of my
absolute best experiences as an IndyCar Series driver," related
Schmidt. "He was a phenomenal teammate. Either one of us should have
won (the Indy 500) in that year. So to be able to put this deal
together to run Arie Jr. is great for everybody. I'm pleased to be
running Junior. I think he has a great personality and I think he's
got a lot of talent - hopefully our team can help show that."
The IRL Menards Infiniti Pro Series kicks off its 2004 season February
29th at the Homestead-Miami Speedway with the "Homestead-Miami 100."
ESPN2 will replay highlights from this event March 4 from 4:00-4:30
p.m. ET.
2/9/04
IRL Teams prepare for final pre-season
test The Indy Racing League will wrap up its spring
training two days before pitchers and catchers report to open the
first Major League Baseball camp. Spring cannot be far off.
IRL IndyCar Series® teams and drivers have a buffet line of items to
address at Phoenix International Raceway on Feb. 11-12 in the final
tests before the season opener – the Toyota Indy 300 – on Feb. 29 at
Homestead-Miami Speedway. Because the IRL has a limited number of
testing dates this year, efficiency is important for teams. More.....
2/9/04
Tickets going fast in Bahrain
The first Grand Prix ever to be held in the Middle East is creating a
real buzz of excitement in the Gulf region and today the race
organizers are able to announce that subscriptions for one of the
specialist packages, the "Bahrain Experience", are now sold out.
Race fans shouldn’t be alarmed though. There are still tickets
available for the historic event on 04.04.04.
As the date for the race draws nearer the interest of race fans and
enthusiastic supporters of Grand Prix racing is increasing
dramatically. More and more people are waking-up to the fact that
World Champion Michael Schumacher and his 19 fellow racers will be
arriving in the Middle East in less than two months.
The FIA Formula One World Championship begins its 18-race program in
Melbourne, Australia on March 7th followed two weeks later by the
Malaysian Grand Prix in Kuala Lumpur. But it is the third race on the
championship calendar that has everybody’s pulse racing. The Formula
One circus will be arriving in Bahrain shortly after the Malaysian
Grand Prix and over the two week period prior to the race the Kingdom
and the city of Manama will come alive to the sights and sounds of the
fastest sporting show on earth.
Practice for the Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix starts on Friday morning
with further on-track activity throughout the day and during Saturday.
The inaugural Bahrain Grand Prix starts at 14:30 on Sunday 04.04.04
and will be the culmination of years of planning by a great number of
people in the Kingdom of Bahrain.
Tickets for the race are still available through the Grand Prix Ticket
Hot Line on +973 406 222 and there are Grandstand seats and packages
available to fit all sizes and budgets. Gulf Air are laying on extra
flights around the time of the race and information is available from
the airlines offices worldwide and throughout the region.
Contact the Hot Line now to reserve your seat for the greatest
sporting spectacle ever to hit the Middle East. Press Release
2/9/04
Gryphon now owns 6% of CART According
to this SEC
Form 13G received today, but filed December 31st, 2003,
Gryphon Master Fund, L.P., registered in Bermuda, now owns 884,000
shares, or 6% of CART. Who is hiding behind this offshore
company?
2/9/04 Formula BMW
Formula BMW announces six USA
scholarships
BMW of North America, LLC proudly announces the six $40,000 Formula
BMW USA scholarship winners for the inaugural 2004 Formula BMW USA
race series. The winners are Trevor Daley (17), Billy Johnson (17, not
pictured), Graham Rahal (14, not pictured), James Hinchcliffe (17),
Tom Milner (17) and Jonathan Summerton (15). A total of 23
participants, most with karting experience, were invited from North,
Central and South America to take part in an intensive licensing
program and competition administered by BMW Motorsport. Held at the
"Circuit de la Communitat" from January 8-10, 2004 in Valencia, Spain,
home to the Formula BMW Racing Center, the participants varied in age
from 15 to 23.
The course consisted of both classroom
theory and on-track exercises to introduce the young drivers to the
sleek, 140-horsepower, 1000-pound Formula BMW FB2. While quickest lap
times were certainly a major component of the total score, the final
day's judging took into account car control, age and improvement shown
during the program. All of the participants earned an International C
competition license.
"If the talent and passion of these first Formula BMW USA participants
is any indication of what we will see when our season begins, then I
believe the future of Formula BMW USA is looking very bright," said
Alex Schmuck, Formula BMW USA Motorsports Manager. "The first cars
have arrived in the United States and we expect to release a schedule
soon", he added.
Announced at the United States Grand Prix last September, Formula BMW
USA Joins the new UK series and the established championships in
Germany and Asia, making Formula BMW a true international formula for
the aspiring open-wheel driver. [Editor's Note: Formula
BMW will run in conjunction with Champ Car in 2004]
2/9/04
Former Motorock Trans-Am competitor,
Roy Woods, dies Roy Woods, a competitor and team owner
in the Motorock Trans-Am Tour from 1969-1982, died Jan. 29 due to
complications from leukemia. Woods is well known for his success
as a team owner. In 1972, George Follmer, driving for Woods’ American
Racing Associates team in an AMC Javelin, earned the second official
Trans-Am Drivers’ Championship. Prior to 1971, SCCA only officially
awarded a Manufacturers’ Championship. Woods also fielded Trans-Am
cars for Tony Adamowicz, Gary Belcher, Vic Elford, Jimmy Insolo, Milt
Minter, Brian Redman, Peter Revson, and Dick Trickle. As a
driver, Woods made 45 starts, recording two victories—at Watkins Glen
International in 1979 and at Le Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières in 1979.
Woods also recorded 10 podiums, 17 top-five and 27 top-10 finishes,
and three poles. “We are saddened to see the passing of a
Trans-Am legend,” said Motorock Trans-Am Tour Executive Director John
Clagett. “Roy Woods had a long history of excellence in Trans-Am
competition, both behind the wheel and as a team owner. Our thoughts
and prayers go out to his family.”
2/9/04
Bridgestone/Firestone designates
spokesperson The
smells and sounds of the race track are common themes to any
race fan’s experience, but the experiences offered by the
Champ Car Pace Car program are anything but common. No one
knows that more than 17-year veteran driver Trish Hessinger,
who puts smiles on the faces of thousands of fans each race
weekend as the senior member of the all-female Champ Car
Pace Car team. Recognized as the first woman to
pilot a Champ Car World Series Pace Car, Hessinger was
recently called upon by series backer Bridgestone/Firestone
to represent its Retail & Commercial Operations (BFRC)
division as the company’s new national spokesperson on Car
Care. As part of the deal, Hessinger will conduct free Car
Care Academies and interactive seminars held at Firestone
Tire & Service Centers and Tires Plus stores across the
United States. Bridgestone joined the Champ Car
World Series as the Official Tire in 2002 and increased its
position to Presenting Sponsor of the series in 2003.
“Hessinger has been teaching people the fundamentals of
caring for their vehicle for over 15 years,” said BFRC
Director of Public Relations Victoria Condell. “She has
hosted numerous car care shows on television, and her
expertise is unmatched. We are thrilled to have her as a
part of our team.” Hessinger, a native of
Allentown, Penn., has gained national acclaim as a leading
authority on automotive issues. As host of three successful
national automotive cable television programs, a nationally
televised “build a kit car” workshop and numerous training
videos, Trisha has also appeared as an authoritative guest
on nationally aired morning shows, most notably CBS’s
popular “Early Show.” Hessinger has been a key
presenter and facilitator for automotive industry new
product launches, a keynote and guest speaker for major auto
manufacturers and a contributing writer for various
magazines and newspapers on automotive subjects. In
addition, she has competed in open wheel and showroom stock
car races and is a celebrity race trainer and driving
instructor.
2/9/04 IROC
Oval Track Cartel run IROC shuns Paul
TracyUPDATE We brought
this issue up several weeks ago and now Robin Miller
supports it with this SPEED TV article
which talks about Paul Tracy being miffed at the obvious
snub by the oval track cartel. 1/28/04 - The IROC Series is another version of NASCAR with different bodies.
It is controlled by the Oval Track Cartel. There have been zero
CART drivers in the series for 2 years and again in 2004, not even an
invite to series champion Paul Tracy. Yet, Scott Sharp, who
isn't fit to tie Tracy's bootstraps, gets invited. We hear Paul
is livid over the situation. We here at AutoRacing1.com have
said for a long time that the Road Racing Cartel must start their own
IROC series and invite drivers from around the world and make it a
true "international" race of champions instead of the farce that IROC
has become. They need to change the name to AROC - American Race
of Oval Champions
2/9/04
Ferrari completes final test
day at Mugello Today was the third and last day of
testing for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro at the Mugello
circuit. Once again today Rubens Barrichello took to the
track, to continue development of the F2004. In
total, Barrichello completed 74 laps (9 on the short version
of the track) with a best time of 1’18”704.
Development testing of the F2004 will continue tomorrow at
the Fiorano circuit, with Michael Schumacher driving.
2/9/04
Brabham joins Saleen's ALMS
Sebring assault David Brabham has landed a
plum GTS class ride for next month's Sebring 12 Hours,
having signed to partner Johnny Mowlem and Terry Borcheller
in the ACEMCO Saleen S7R. The Australian completes a
three-man line-up in Jeff Giangrande's team, as Saleen
attempts to end the Ferrari and Corvette domination of the
GTS class on its return to ALMS competition. The car will
run on Pirelli tires, as the Italian brand attempts to vault
back into the sportscar limelight with victory in one of the
great endurance races.
2/9/04
Jordan signs partnership deal
with Scientio Jordan Grand Prix has signed up Scientio
Inc., an artificial intelligence and data mining specialist,
to assist the team in various problem-solving projects.
Scientio specializes in software which will be used to
analyze Jordan’s technical data in various ways and assist
in understanding links and patterns between data sets. The
artificial intelligence technology employed can be applied
with good effect to many areas of the team’s work - from pit
stop strategies to aerodynamic data and in the future Jordan
may use Scientio technology for optimizing mechanical
designs and to improve simulation driver models. The
company’s technology includes: data mining techniques, fuzzy
logic, genetic algorithms and software which learns optimum
solutions to problems. James Key, Jordan’s Head of Vehicle
Science, said, "We welcome Scientio and its technology to
Jordan and look forward to a prolific future partnership.
There is a vast amount of data surrounding a Formula One
car, most of which can be linked in some way. We believe
Scientio’s expertise will prove extremely useful in
assisting us with pulling this data together and
understanding the car as a whole. We have already identified
many projects with which Scientio’s assistance will be
fundamental. The first project to be undertaken concerns an
important area of performance which over time should reap
some very interesting results." Dr. Andy Edmonds, technical
director, of Scientio, said, “We’re delighted to be working
with Jordan; they have a refreshing and open attitude to
technology. They’ve given us a wonderful opportunity to
demonstrate the benefits and performance of our products in
one of the most challenging environments.”
2/9/04
Jordan signs supplier
Jordan Grand Prix has signed an agreement with TMA, a
strategic marketing agency, for the provision of design
services. "Jordan enjoys a unique positioning within the F1
paddock as the team with a bit of fun and personality. 2004
will see the rejuvenation of Jordan Grand Prix, and a
strengthening of this brand positioning. TMA, with their
experience of working with major global brands, will be
instrumental in helping us to achieve this," said Mike
Hall-Taylor, Head of Marketing and Brand, Jordan Grand Prix.
Ian Shortman, MD of TMA, said, "TMA will provide Jordan with
a range of design services, including press, sponsorship and
fan club collateral for the 2004 season. In return, we look
forward to adding an exciting new name to our client
portfolio - and receiving certain partnership benefits,
which will enhance our credentials when marketing TMA to new
and existing clients."
2/9/04 Industry News
India ratifies ant-tobacco
treaty [Editor's Note: Will Bernie now
cut off all talks of a F1 race with India?] According
to this Grandprix.com article,
India has become the eighth country to ratify the World
Health Organization's Framework Convention on Tobacco
Control. Ratification is the second stage of the
process which will bring the global anti-tobacco treaty into
force and stamp out tobacco sponsorship across the globe.
The convention will become international law 90 days after
the 40th country ratifies the agreement. At the moment
only Norway, Malta, Fiji, Sri Lanka, the Seychelles, New
Zealand, Mongolia and India have ratified the treaty but
India's signature is nonetheless another major step forward
in the gradual process by which tobacco is being restricted.
Countries which have ratified the agreement undertake to
stop all tobacco sponsorship in sport, including
cross-border advertising and to require the tobacco industry
to fully disclose all of its expenditure on tobacco
advertising.
2/9/04 F3000
First Turkish F3000 driver ever Can
Artam – the 22-year-old Turkish driver – has signed with top
FIA International Formula 3000 team Coloni Motorsport for
the 2004 season. “I am thrilled to be participating in this
championship with Coloni Motorsport,’’ Can said. “We have
been considering various options during the last few months
– EuroF3, British F3, Euro3000 and FIA International Formula
3000 – but Coloni Motorsport turned out the be the best
option to further develop my career. The team’s results in
the past few years – Coloni finished second in 2003 scoring
two wins with Sperafico – and their approach to racing was
the most attractive proposition.” Can (pronounced Djan) has
collected a number of notable “firsts” since he started
racing in 1999 – First Turkish driver to win a race in the
USA; first Turkish driver to win an International FIA race;
first Turkish driver to race in British F3 and Euro Formula
Renault V6 and now first Turkish driver to race in the FIA
International Formula 3000 Championship. Coloni Motorsports’
owner Paolo Coloni, said: “With the Turkish Grand Prix
programmed in 2005 we are excited to have signed Can Artam
with our team. I came across Can last year when we were
competing in the winter series in the USA in early 2003 and
when we heard he was coming to race in Europe we got in
touch and it only took few weeks for him to sign with us. We
are now completing our line up and will be able to make an
official announcement about our other drivers in the next
few days.” Can, who is currently racing in the Formula
Renault Winter Series in Florida, will travel directly to
Jerez for the first official testing session on February
17th and 18th. “I am looking to 2004 as a learning season.
It will be a new team, a new car and with the exception of
Spa where I raced with the Euro Formula Renault V6 last
August, new tracks for me. I want to learn as much as
possible as quickly as possible and get ready for the season
and hopefully bring some good results for the team and for
my country.” “I want to be well prepared for the 2005 GP2
series when my ultimate aim is to become the first Turkish
driver to race on my hometown Formula One track.”
2/9/04
Morgan
team heads to Sebring Buoyant from a milestone
performance at the Le Mans Bugatti circuit last November, the
MorganWorks Race Team is preparing to take its highly popular campaign
to the USA in March, where it will compete in the American Le Mans
Series 12 hour endurance race at Sebring in Florida. Works lead driver
Adam Sharpe, the 19 year-old GT star who recently joined the Morgan
squad in Los Angeles to launch the USA Aero 8 road car, heads a driver
line-up that also includes his regular team mate and mentor Neil
Cunningham. The duo, who finished a superb debut Morgan season in the
British GT Championship with a stunning win at Brands Hatch, are
joined by Keith Ahlers, who impressed many with a strong 3rd place in
the same Championship and a solid performance in the recent Bathurst
24 hour race. Adam Sharpe comments: “The Aero 8 is a superb car to
race and our introduction to the highest levels of GT racing last
season demonstrated our potential and pinpointed the areas we need to
develop” – adding, with a characteristic grin, “and we know how much
more there is to come!” A challenging 2003 season for the official
MorganWorks team ended with an encouraging 8th in a very strong class
of 17 in the 1000km Bugatti Circuit race, signaling to the GT racing
world that the legendary independent manufacturer is determined to
prove it is a credible contender for major honors. Team Manager David
Dowse comments: “A good performance at Sebring will underline our case
for an entry at Le Mans this year and will give many thousands of
American Morgan supporters and potential sponsors a chance to see the
team in action. We are continuing our quest for additional backing
from trade and commercial partners. Our attendance at Sebring typifies
the additional exposure and value we aim to bring sponsors who
associate with the Morgan brand.“
2/9/04 IROC
Castroneves hits Daytona wall Two-time
Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves hit the wall during
International Race of Champions series practice Sunday morning (race
is this Friday). He was limping slightly after being helped from his
car but was treated and released from the track medical center.
Daytona track worker killed by 100 MPH
car According to this AP
story, A worker at Daytona International Speedway was struck
and killed by a paraplegic driver going more than 100 mph during a
race for compact cars Sunday. The worker, 44-year-old Roy
H. Weaver III, was standing in the middle of the track picking up
debris during a caution period when he was hit by a car driven by Ray
Paprota of Birmingham, Ala., track spokesman David Talley said.
Paprota, who doesn't have use of his legs and drives a car equipped
with hand controls, was trying to catch up the main pack of cars after
a two-car crash at the opposite end of the track brought out a yellow
flag. Weaver was struck in turn two on the 2 1/2 -mile trioval.
``The worker was standing right in the middle of the track when he hit
him,'' said Jeff Tillman, who was behind Paprota when the accident
occurred. ``It flipped him over the car.'' Several drivers
said Weaver's body already was covered by a tarp as they continued to
circle the track under a yellow flag. Eventually, the IPOWERacing 150
was red-flagged for about 1 1/2 hours, finally running to the finish
under the lights after police investigated the scene and took pictures
of Paprota's car in the garage. Paprota was loaded into a
wheelchair-accessible van and left the track without discussing the
accident with reporters. ``I'm sorry,'' he said. ``I can't say
anything.''
2/8/04
Malaysia expecting bigger turnout The
Sepang International Circuit (SIC) are expecting a bigger turnout for
the Formula 1 Petronas Malaysian Grand Prix at the Sepang Circuit from
March 19-21. With a comprehensive promotional program, SIC hope
to encourage the local motorsports fraternity to come in droves to
support the world’s biggest and hottest race. The SIC are
forecasting a 25% increase from last year in ticket sales from the
120,000 fans targeted for the event. “We are expecting
about 120,000 fans this year and I believe the target can be
achieved,” said SIC general manager Ahmad Mustafa yesterday.
He said that with Maybank and Perodua joining in the promotion of
ticket sales, there was every reason to be optimistic of reaching the
target. Perodua had initiated a scheme for F1 ticket
buyers by offering a RM56,000 Perodua Kembara as the top prize for its
Formula Kembara contest while Maybank offers its credit card holders a
zero interest installment plan with a choice of six or 12 months, for
purchases of RM500 and above of F1 tickets. “Ticket buyers
should take full advantage of Maybank's easy payment scheme to
purchase the tickets or participate in the Formula Kembara contest,”
said Ahmad at the official launch of the Formula Kembara contest
yesterday. The SIC are also offering a 50% discount for
students when they produce their student ID cards when purchasing
tickets. – Bernama
2/8/04 Industry News
Petroleum
Museum to open Jim Hall Chaparral wing The Chaparral
Gallery at The Petroleum Museum draws closer to its grand opening set
for April 15-17, 2004. Construction crews are beginning to install
10,000 square feet of rough face limestone on the concrete walls of
the gallery. Visitors will be able to experience Jim Hall’s legendary
Chaparral Road Racers up close and personal in the Chaparral Gallery.
The cars to be displayed are the 2, 2D, 2E, 2F, 2H, 2J, and 2K. “The
applications of engineering sciences, particularly those in
aerodynamics and mechanical engineering, are embedded throughout the
exhibits and Chaparral Car displays,” says Kathy Shannon, Director of
Education for the Chaparral Gallery at The Petroleum Museum, “Each
discipline was mastered by the Chaparral team to design and build the
race cars that would revolutionize motor sports.” The Gallery will be
dedicated to inspiring future generations of engineers and sharing
with the thousands of Chaparral and auto racing enthusiasts the story
behind these innovative machines. For information about the Chaparral
Gallery and/or grand opening events, visit
www.chaparralgallery.org
or call 432-683-4403.
2/8/04
Petty Enterprises in Newsweek Magazine Petty
Enterprises is the only NASCAR Nextel Cup team featured in a Newsweek
magazine article appearing in editions of February 9. Subscribers will
receive the magazine early this week, while it will begin appearing on
newsstands nationwide later in the week. The national magazine
interviewed Richard and Kyle Petty for the article, and spent several
hours at the team's Level Cross, N.C., shop last week in preparation
for the story regarding safety. The magazine also visited NASCAR's R&D
facilities, and interviewed other experts.
2/8/04
Rolex 24 gets big ratings increase This
year's Rolex 24 At Daytona was one of the most exciting races the
historic twice-around-the-clock event has seen in its 42-year history,
and there were plenty of fans paying attention. SPEED Channel
announced this week that its broadcast of the Rolex 24 At Daytona saw
a 52 percent increase in the Nielsen ratings, and Grand American
announced its website received a record-number of visits during the
week of the race. SPEED Channel's more than 15 hours of coverage of the
Rolex 24 At Daytona delivered strong numbers despite severe weather
bringing out full-course cautions and a red flag. The Nielsen rating
for the two-day broadcast averaged .42, a 52 percent increase from
last year's .28 rating. The average households also experienced a
tremendous jump to 257,000, a 69 percent increase from last year's
153,000. The peak of SPEED Channel's race ratings came on Sunday
afternoon, with a .9 (549,000 households), and the ratings broke past
the 1-mark multiple times during the 15.5 hours in the Men 35-64
demographic, topping off at a 1.21 on Sunday afternoon. Grand
American's official website, which features Zippo Live Timing &
Scoring during all of the Rolex Sports Car Series and Grand-Am Cup
Series on-track activities, also experienced a record-number of visits
during the week of the Rolex 24 At Daytona. A total of 801,052 page
views were recorded on
www.grandamerican.com, generating more than 22 million hits. Race
fans from more than 70 countries from around the world log onto
www.grandamerican.com
during race week. Fans in the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Japan,
Belgium and The Netherlands recorded some of most visits to the site
from overseas. However, attention to the race was widespread,
including locations like Croatia, Zimbabwe, Thailand, Finland, Chile,
Kuwait and Israel.
2/8/04 Industry News
Court rules Castroneves breached
contract with Fittipaldi3rd UPDATE
AP correction that ran 50 minutes ago: Correction:
Fittipaldi-Castroneves Story - In a Feb. 7 story about a breach of
contract lawsuit between race car driver Helio Castroneves and driver
Emerson Fittipaldi's management company, The Associated Press reported
erroneously that a jury found Castroneves breached the deal's terms. 2/8/04
-
Just to be clear - According to an AP story, Helio Castroneves breached a management agreement
he signed with fellow Brazilian driving superstar Emerson Fittipaldi,
a jury ruled Saturday. But the four-man, two-woman panel didn't award
Fittipaldi any financial damages. So on principle, Fittipaldi
won, but didn't get the money he was seeking. 2/7/04 - A Miami jury today denied Emerson Fittipaldi's claim for breach of contract against two time Indy 500
winner Helio Castroneves. Fittipaldi sued Castroneves, claiming that
Helio wrongfully breached a management contract he signed with Emerson
in 1997, seeking in excess of $3 million in damages. Helio
countersued, alleging mismanagement, fraud and failure to perform by
Emerson. The jury trial, which lasted six days before Miami
Circuit Court Judge Gill Freeman, resulted in a victory for
Castroneves, in that the jury, finding in Helio's favor, rejected
Emerson's claim for breach of contract and refused to award him any
damages. It took just a little over an hour of deliberation for them
to render their verdict. Castroneves, sobbing with joy after the
verdict, said sitting through the trial was the most difficult week of
his life. Courtroom observers opined that if a chain link fence was
anywhere near the courtroom, Helio would have climbed it after his
victory. Fittipaldi sat stone-faced in disbelief as the verdict was
read. Castroneves was represented by Larry Stumpf, a partner of famed
criminal defense lawyer Roy Black. Mr. Stumpf heads the civil
litigation division of Mr. Black's firm. This related
article also says the jury rejected all of Helio's
countersuit claims. Castroneves countersued, claiming
Fittipaldi did not live up to terms of the deal, including
failure to provide "$1 million in sponsorship funds in 1999"
payable to Hogan Racing, Castroneves' former team. Jurors
ruled against Castroneves on all eight claims in his
countersuit.
2/8/04
Corvette to pace Daytona field General
Motors has provided the Official Pace Car for the Daytona 500 during
the entire "Modern Era" of NASCAR and this year is no exception. The
2004 Corvette Coupe, considered "America's performance icon," will
continue that tradition and pace this year's Daytona 500, the opening
race of the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series on Feb. 15. Today's Corvette
continues to deliver excitement by combining the perfect blend of
performance, technology and content. Nearly 1.4 million Corvettes have
been sold worldwide in its 51-year history. Corvette will pace four
events at the Daytona International Speedway during Speedweeks this
month, including the Budweiser Shootout, the Gatorade 125-Mile
qualifying races, the Hershey's Kisses 300 and the Daytona 500. These
four events help make up the 57 national NASCAR events Chevrolet will
pace in 2004 season (26 Nextel Cup, 18 Busch, and 13 Craftsman Truck
races). GM PR
2/8/04
NASCAR working on new car with Crumple
Zones In this 2001
article our Mark
Cipolloni discussed Soft Cars vs. Soft Walls for NASCAR and the
physics behind it. The article was written before the SAFER Wall
was introduced, but the idea of Crumple Zones in race cars is still a
valid one. It looks like NASCAR is taking the idea to heart.
NASCAR is closer to a futuristic car that
promises a safer ride for stock car racers and millions of drivers
buying vehicles off the showroom floor. The fatal crashes in 2000 of
Adam Petty and Kenny Irwin in New Hampshire and Tony Roper in Texas
led NASCAR to reach out to the best engineers it could find, and the
Dale Earnhardt accident threw the project into high gear. There have
been plenty of crashes since, some serious, but no deaths. And if
NASCAR's safety program keeps progressing as it has recently, the
risks of deadly wrecks will keep going down. With the major carmakers
working on the program with NASCAR, it's a good bet that some of those
safety features will wind up on street cars. Practically every part of
the car is being examined for ways to make it safer. New high-tech
materials - a foam aluminum that resembles a sponge; a honeycomb metal
that looks as if it came out of a mutant beehive; steel designed to
bend and crinkle on impact - are under investigation. Improved "crush
zones" would absorb energy in a crash to protect occupants. Better
collapsible steering wheels, changes in the location of the oil tanks;
refined gas, brake and clutch pedals; a new generation of shock
absorbers and tires that will make cars easier to control; systems to
prevent fires or suppress them - they're all part of NASCAR's
overhaul.
FoxSports/AP
2/8/04
Industry News
Bell introduces its new Racestar HP1
helmet Bell Racing
Europe has the immense pleasure to announce that it completed
certification of the very first helmet in the world to meet the new
FIA 8860 Standard: The BELL Racestar HP1.
In their continuous quest to improve safety in Formula One and in
autosport in general, FIA mandated TRL, a UK based research and
development company, to develop a new standard for "Advanced Helmets
for Automotive Sport" that would by far exceed the most stringent
existing standards. The basic requirements of the new standard seemed
to be so high that FIA did not only finance the drafting of this new
standard, but also decided to have TRL making a prototype helmet
demonstrating the technical feasibility of the project.
FIA and TRL accepted the offer of Bell Racing Europe to work together
with the purpose to develop the prototype helmet that would meet the
new FIA 8860 standard. TRL focused mainly on the shell structure while
Bell Racing supplied the impact energy absorbing inner liner as well
as the helmet shell geometry and design. After 2 years of R&D, the
BELL Racestar HP1 in its FIA version was officially certified to both
the FIA 8860 standard as well as to Snell SA2000 standard at the
beginning of February 2004.
The BELL Racestar HP1 features a full carbon fiber shell combined with
a specific expanded polystyrene energy absorbing liner. Its radical
and innovative aerodynamic design features a totally integrated double
screen anti- fog visor flush with the shell surface (Patented Design).
The integrated visor brings a huge improvement on safety by removing
most of the external projections of the shell surface in the visor
area. It also improves and smoothens the aerodynamic flow, making the
air intakes on the forehead area and the ventilation more efficient.
Depending of the fit pad size and the mounted accessories such as
spoilers, the BELL Racestar HP1 weighs only 1245 grams (+/- 5%),
making it the lightest and the safest helmet actually available in the
world for automobile racing.
The BELL Racestar HP1 can be equipped with various detachable spoilers
and air intakes. On track testing with Formula One drivers will start
in March 2004 while Grand Prix debut should take place in April,
probably at the first European race. Due to its actual method of
fabrication and its very high cost price, the Bell Racestar HP1 will
be reserved to Bell Racing F1 drivers and will be made available in
the second part of 2004 to a few selected customers. Press release
Bell Racing Europe
2/8/04
Williams BMW test summary from
Barcelona (with chart) The
BMW WilliamsF1 Team completed their five day test program at the
Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona, today. The team had five drivers on
duty throughout the week, including Ralf Schumacher and Juan Pablo
Montoya, test driver Marc Gené as well as Antonio Pizzonia and Nelson
Piquet. In preparation for the season opener in Melbourne on 7th
March, the team concentrated on mechanical set-up work and systems
checks of the FW26, as well as completing longer runs for engine
reliability testing. The modified FW25 was used to carry out tyre
testing work with Michelin and practice starts. On Wednesday, the race
team joined the test to practice pit-stops with Juan Pablo’s car.
More....
2/7/04
Barrichello gets first shot at
2004 car
Under cool and wet conditions the Scuderia Ferrari team
began their first day of testing at the Mugello Circuit for
the year 2004. Regular driver Rubens Barrichello took to the
track today, the Brazilian climbing into the cockpit of the
new F2004 for the very first time. Testing was
affected by rain, which lasted all day but despite this
uncontrollable factor, Barrichello continued development
work of the Italian team’s 2004 contender, running on rain
tires throughout the course of the entire day. A total
of 56 laps were completed (6 on the short version of the
track,) the quickest being in a time of 1’26”823.
Barrichello will continue testing at this circuit tomorrow.
Photos courtesy of
Ferrari
2/7/04
Sadler fastest in Saturday
practice The new 2004 Ford Taurus debuted in
grand fashion during the first day of practice for next
weekend's Daytona 500 as the foursome of Elliott Sadler,
Ricky Rudd, Dale Jarrett and Greg Biffle were among the top
10 in speeds during both practice sessions Saturday. Taurus
swept the top three spots in the afternoon session as Sadler
paced the field with a speed of 189.366 mph while Rudd was
second at 189.088 mph and Jarrett third at 188.739 mph.
Sadler, driver of the No. 38 M&M's Taurus, gave his reaction
to the first day of practice while Ford's NASCAR Field
Manager, Robin Pemberton, spoke about the overall
performance of the '04 Taurus.
ELLIOTT SADLER - No. 38 M&M's Taurus - "I think it's running
pretty good, especially from what we've seen at winter
testing here at Daytona and Las Vegas with the new nose and
tail. It feels like the Fords actually have a gun at a
gunfight now instead of what we had last year. We've got the
right tools to make some winning race cars and now we've
just got to massage them a little bit and find the balance
that they need. We seem to be on the right track."
ROBIN PEMBERTON, NASCAR Field Manager, Ford Racing
Technology - "It's too early to get over-excited, but I
think it does show that the teams worked real hard. I think
by getting the car into the hands of the crew chiefs and the
teams early like we did has really paid off. They had their
parts and pieces to work on this year's car back in August,
so hat's off to the Ford guys and everyone who has gotten us
to this point. Hopefully, it will stay the way it is, but if
it doesn't we at least know we've made some big gains." IS
THIS A BIG WEIGHT OFF YOUR SHOULDERS? "It's a huge weight
off of our shoulders because you never know. When you come
down and test you don't know you only suspect things. We
have spent hundreds and hundreds of hours working on this
stuff. We thought we were going to be a lot better than we
were last year, and I still think we've got some work to do,
but it's a big relief. Just about everybody is on the
correct side of the computer screen now, which is on the
left-hand column and up in the front. That's a big help."
Speeds
2/7/04
Tire voucher system announced for Champ
Car's 1st rung Snap On Stars of Karting and their
Bridgestone Tire partner, Grand Products announce today the
infrastructure set in place for purchasing the mandatory Bridgestone
Tires for all Stars national events for all classes. All classes must
run the mandatory Bridgestone Tires regulated by the 2004 Stars of
Karting Rule Book, and said tires must be purchased from the official
tire supplier, Grand Products at the track. In an effort to make
things more convenient for the racer, and to streamline the process,
Stars and Grand Products have implemented a tire voucher system to be
in effect at all 2004 national races. A tire voucher will consist of
one set of Bridgestone tires 2(2) fronts and two (2) rears, for
competition in the ICC, ICA, 80cc Junior Shifter, and JICA classes at
the price of $180.00 per voucher.
2/7/04
Car shortage in NASCAR Next
Thursday's Twin 125-mile qualifiers will be superfluous this
SpeedWeeks since only 45 teams arrived for the 43-car Daytona 500
field. NASCAR officials are reported to be scrambling to add cars to
the 125s.
Winston Salem Journal
2/7/04
Champ Car drivers to race Midgets According
to this SPEED TV article,
A special added attraction has been organized for the Mopar Twin 25's
Irwindale, and it's big! Famed Champ Car stars Adrian Fernandez,
Michel Jourdain Jr. and Patrick Carpentier will climb into Focus
Midgets to pit their racing skills in these quick, twitchy race cars
against the best Focus Midget regulars. Race fans will see 25 laps of
race action as these star drivers bring their open-wheel skills to the
Irwindale short track. The 2nd Annual Mopar Twin 25's Irwindale
will be held Saturday, March 27, at Irwindale Speedway, in Irwindale,
Calif. The unique racing format of the Mopar Twin 25's provides a full
night of frantic, wheel-to-wheel USAC Midget racing action, with two
25-lap feature races. ARP is offering a bonus prize of $50,000
to a driver who wins both of the night's feature races. The exciting
challenge is that the winner of the first feature race starts dead
last in the second 25-lap feature, and has to pass the entire field to
claim the $50,000! "We're going to have some fun," said Steve
Lewis, Premier Racing Entertainment, producers of the event. "We're
very happy -- and grateful to these world-renowned drivers -- to have
them be part of this exciting preliminary race at the Mopar Twin 25's.
We think they'll have a lot of fun, and the thousands of race fans in
the Irwindale Speedway grandstands will love seeing their favorite
Champ Car drivers take on the Focus regulars on Irwindale's 1/3-mile
oval!"
2/7/04
Renna Memorial Tournament this weekend The
life of the late Tony Renna will be remembered at a golf tournament
aimed at raising funds for a scholarship that bears the name of the
rising IndyCar® Series driver. The event, scheduled for Feb. 8 at
Pelican Bay North Country Club in Daytona Beach, Fla., is sponsored by
Father Lopez Catholic School in Daytona Beach. The school
renamed its annual tournament in January to honor Renna, a native of
nearby DeLand, Fla., and a 1995 graduate of the school. Renna was
killed in private testing at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in
October 2003. “The point is to remember one of our former
students forever,” said Bob Booth, one of the tournament’s organizers.
“Tony’s name will be on a scholarship that will help someone go to the
school. His family will play a role in selecting that student, and it
will go on forever.” Members of Renna’s family and his
fiancée, Debbie Savini, will attend the event, which will be followed
by a dinner. Proceeds from the tournament will benefit the Renna
scholarship, the Tony Renna foundation and the Father Lopez Booster
Club.
2/7/04
Valiante watching Champ Car
hopes slip awayUPDATE
A reader writes, David Rutledge has also been knocking on the door and
is thought of by many to be just as fast as Michael and very good on
technical feedback. He has had no help from CART with landing a ride
but there could be a major sponsor in the wings that likes the
prospect of running him. Apparently quite a few teams are keen
to take him if he can land the sponsor. Peter Holt Dear
Peter, For his sake we certainly hope so, but you can't blame us for
being a bit skeptical after hearing similar rumors of a sponsor that
never materialized for Rutledge in past years. Mark C.2/6/04 -
[Editor's Note: OWRS would be wise to look after
Valiante. With three races in Canada, and because the
current crop of Canadians won't be around forever, the
series is going to need some top Canadian talent.
Valiante has proven to be very fast in the Toyota Atlantic
series and in his Champ Car test, sometimes winning in
inferior equipment.] This Vancouver Province
article says, First came the California wildfires.
Then came Championship Auto Racing Teams bankruptcy and
formation of the Open Wheel Racing Series, which has
salvaged Champ Car racing. And now comes speculation
that Burnaby driver Michael Valiante, who dominated a
two-day track test session at Sebring, Fla. last December,
may be without an OWRS ride this season if team owner
Derrick Walker secures Indy Racing League sponsorship and
bolts to the rival series. Valiante could wind up
running the family's karting business instead of running
against racing greats. "This is really difficult, but
to be honest, it's been really difficult every step of my
career," Valiante, 24, said Wednesday amid news that Walker
has been selling off his Reynard chassis and buying Lolas.
"It's frustrating but at the same time I'm so close right
now and I'm just trying to stay focused and prepare when
that opportunity comes." Valiante was to make his CART
debut for Walker Racing on Nov. 2, but raging wildfires
cancelled the 2003 season finale on the Fontana oval.
More.....
2/7/04
Marco Andretti to race in Fran-Am and
Formula Dodge Marco Andretti went to Buttonwillow,
California January 31st and February 1st for the Fran-Am test to start
their winter season. Marco will be joining Fran-Am this year with the
Knudsen Racing team. Marco was quick both days of testing.
The first day was mainly spent getting him adjusted to the car.
Feeling more comfortable the second day, Marco worked on tire testing.
His performance on the track illustrated promise for a successful
season with the team. After the positive results of the weekend, Marco
commented that he is “excited to drive for Knudsen Racing and hoping
to get them a lot of wins.” The first Fran-Am race is not
until March 7-8 in Fontana, California. However, Marco will be
competing in the first Skip Barber race on February 20-22 in Sebring,
Florida.
2/7/04
Drug user Shane Hmiel allowed back by
NASCAR Busch Series driver Shane Hmiel, suspended since
September after failing a post-race drug test, has been reinstated by
NASCAR. He paid a fine and agreed to random drug testing.
2/7/04
Ford's new Taurus When
the 2004 Taurus makes its debut in the 2004 Daytona 500, it will
represent Ford's most synergistic effort in race car design to date.
This synergy comes from all corners of the Ford empire and includes
solid representation from not only the NASCAR ranks but also the real
world production side. More....
2/7/04
Ford's new cylinder head Ford Racing's NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series teams head into the 2004
season with a new cylinder head and front/rear aerodynamic
improvements.
More....
2/7/04
Formula Dodge National 2004 schedule [Editor's
Note: Marco Andretti, son of Michael Andretti, will be competing
in this series in 2004. Marco won the regional championship last
year with some impressive drives] The
Formula Dodge National Championship Presented by RACER, an official
ladder series to the Champ Car World Series, announced its 2004
schedule today. As has been the case since 2000, the 14-race
championship is comprised of seven double-race weekends, and for the
second year in a row the FDNC opener will be at the Mobil1 Twelve
Hours of Sebring in March. The championship will wrap up the year at
the Champ Car World Series event at Road America in August.
Skip Barber Racing's Vice-President of Racing, Divina Galica, said,
With the Barber Dodge Pro Series on sabbatical, our focus in 2004 will
be on making important improvements in many areas of the National
Championship. FDNC is not to take its place, but there are benefits to
this series that we want to make even more attractive to karters and
other young racers. We will also have some exciting news to announce
very soon regarding prize funds and scholarships."
The Formula Dodge National Championship Presented by RACER is owned
and operated by Skip Barber Racing, Lakeville, Conn. The series
employs 26 identically prepared 150hp 2.0-liter, sequential gearbox,
wings-and-slicks Formula Dodge single-seat race cars. A full season of
14 races (seven race weekends) costs $37,800 (EURO29,776;
UKPOUND20,500; CAN50,200).
The Formula Dodge National Championship Presented by RACER 2004
Schedule:
Sebring, Fla. Mar. 17-19 (w/ALMS 12-Hour)
Virginia Int'l, Va. Apr. 23-25
Road America, Wis. May 21-23
Shenandoah, W.Va. June 11-13
Mosport, Canada July 19-21
Mont Tremblant, Canada July 24-25
Road America, Wis. Aug. 6-8 (w/Champ Car World Series)
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McNish
seeks return to Sebring glory
Allan McNish put together one of the most dominant seasons of any
driver in professional sports car racing history when he won the
American Le Mans Series driving championship with the factory Audi
team in 2000. But there was one huge piece of unfinished
business when the popular Scotsman departed the Audi team at the end
of the season to pursue a Formula One career: he hadn't won at
Sebring.
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Nextel
announces NASCAR phones Nextel today announced the
availability of a NASCAR Nextel Cup series phone and ten driver
phones. The eleven new handsets – which will share the Motorola i736
model name – are the first NASCAR-branded wireless phones.
Much
More...click on 2004 archives button below
