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Drivers beware A
reader writes, Dear AutoRacing1.com, I just raced a pro F2000 Zetec
race at Infineon, and it is a perfect place for the IRL in that
someone is sure to get seriously hurt there. Coming out of Turn 6
there is a hillside with light posts where if you go off you can get
thrashed. The exit of super fast Turn 10 has virtually no
runoff and a tire wall (which I nailed head on); and in the hairpin,
Turn 11, if there is a brake failure there is absolutely nowhere to
go except head on into the wall (which cannot be moved back because
a road and a building are there). I went off in Turn 10 at 125 MPH
and went head-on into the paltry tire wall. Minimum dirt runoff
there. The data showed a 52 MPH to zero mph trace. Ouch. Can you
imagine how fast one of those IRL guys is going at that point?
Perfect for Tony's version of racing. We will see how much slower an
IRL car is than the Champion Audi. Ira Fierberg, Hermosa Beach,
CA Dear Ira, The instructors at the Jim Russell School there
told us that when Adrian Fernandez's girlfriend was there for some
sort of school, they gave him a ride around the track and asked him
if Champ Car could race there. "Absolutely not, too unsafe"
was his reply. However, there have been some improvements made
to the track since then and one IRL official mentioned SAFER
Barriers would be installed. We shall see, but the drivers had
better be certain their medical insurance premiums are paid up
before racing there. Once again this is an example of the IRL making
a decision to do something because Champ Car does it (so they can
say they road race and steal venues from Champ Car), rather than
focus on their core business, oval track racing. The current
cars simply are not equipped to road race, and when they do, the
upgrades will be expensive. Mark C.
8/2/04
Busch team folds
Owner Michael Holigan announced today he is closing the Enzyte
NASCAR Busch Series team. “Enzyte was very supportive of us, and I
appreciate them taking a chance on a startup team,” Holigan said.
“Miller Electric, Kaeser Compressors and Peterbilt have also been
very supportive, and I want to publicly thank them as well. “Regan
Smith brought a lot to our efforts, and worked hard for us on and
off the track. Tim Sauter tested for us, and offered us a lot of
input. I am grateful for both of them,” he added. “Our crew chief
Todd Myers and all of the guys who worked on the team did their best
and I am proud of their efforts.” Holigan Walters Racing motocross
team will continue competing in the AMA Chevrolet Motocross
Championship. The Reality Of Speed, the successful weekly
motorsports reality television series, will continue for the
remainder of the year.
8/2/04
IRL Chatter A reader writes,
Dear AutoRacing1.com, I am curious as to the rationale for printing
every hypothetical situation, rumor, innuendo, etc. involving the
IRL's assault on Champ Car? This type of rhetoric seems more
appropriate for the chat rooms and race forums. Maybe you
should start an Op/Ed page in addition to Hot News and the Rumor
section. To the casual fan or reader, the constant chatter
about the IRL stealing this venue or that venue, some negative press
written by some sports writer, etc. just fuels the fire that Champ
Car is failing and the IRL is winning. I would like to poll
how many readers dropped their subscriptions to Racer magazine/Indy
Car? I know I am not renewing because I could care less about the
IRL. I would suggest some serious investigative journalism to
determine how foreign automakers have seized control of the Indy 500
and now are attempting to control US motorsports through strong-arm
tactics, leveraged buyouts, cash handouts, and buying media
coverage. Who is paying for the TV ads, full page spreads in
USA Today (Firestone ads, ABC/ESPN, etc. )? Find out how much money
is being back channeled to Penske, Ganassi, Rahal, Fernandez, and
most of all Andretti/Green. Hopefully Champ Car
will be announcing some blockbuster news soon to counter the IRL,
including sponsor, TV, schedule, and new engine/chassis formula.
This silliness has to end some time, and Champ Car has made it clear
what their future plans and business model will be. Why can't
the IRL stick to their plan and leave Champ Car alone? Name
withheld by request. Dear No Name, The IRL can't stick to
their original business plan because it was a complete and utter
failure, so they have had to revert to morphing into what CART once
was. Many of the letters we receive from fans are as a result
of not being comfortable that Champ Car has a future. They
have witnessed CART lose one battle after another vs. the IRL, and
given their attack appears unrelenting, they remain worried.
We have received countless emails from readers, which we did not
print, mocking Champ Car for not being able to finalize the 2004
schedule and it's already August, let alone announce a 2005
schedule, its dismal TV coverage and its lack of series and driver
promotion. Until they hear some blockbuster news about Champ
Car, news that will ensure its future, they will remain worried.
When its future is secure, it will no longer be a story, and we will
no longer report on it. Mark C.
8/2/04 Industry News
Toyota expected to post healthy
profit Toyota Motor Corp. is expected to report
about a 13-percent gain in first-quarter profit after it cut costs
and led Asian vehicle manufacturers in taking record shares of U.S.
automotive sales. Net income in the three months ended June 30 is
projected to rise to 251 billion yen ($2.23 billion) from 222.6
billion yen a year earlier, according to the median estimate of four
analysts polled by Bloomberg. Toyota reports results Tuesday in
Tokyo. Toyota President Fujio Cho, who led the carmaker to four
years of record profits during his five years at the helm, has been
expanding production in the United States, eastern Europe and China
to sell more Lexus LS 430 sedans, Soluna Vios compact cars and
others.
Chief Japanese rival Honda, faced with sliding sales in the crucial
U.S. market and the embarrassment of a big recall for transmission
repairs, relaxed its tough stance against incentives. It still
avoids outright cash rebates to consumers but is slipping money to
dealers to help them close sales. During the first half
of 2004, Honda racked up a 3 percent increase in U.S. sales,
compared with the market’s overall rise of 2.2 percent.
But that modest gain was achieved at a price: Honda more than
doubled incentives, to $1,011 from $479 a year ago, according to
Autodata Corp. in New Jersey. “The market is as
competitive as I’ve seen it in the last 10 or 11 years,” said Dick
Colliver, vice president for sales at Honda’s U.S. operations.
With North America accounting for around 80 percent of Honda’s
profit, higher incentives are squeezing margins. In addition, the
yen’s rise erodes the value of Honda’s U.S. earnings. The company
expects its earnings this year to fall 10 percent from last year’s
record $4.4 billion profit.
8/2/04
Williams admits FW26 not fast enough According
to Frank Williams, the FW26 "is faster than its predecessor." The
problem, though, is that "Ferrari, BAR, Renault and McLaren-Mercedes
have also improved." However, Williams is still determined to end
the season on a high and believes he can still put one of his
drivers on the top step of the podium. "It's very simple: in order
to win you need a car in which you can win in," he told the BMW
Motorsport website. "Our goal has to be to supply a car that is in a
position to do so." He added: "The best driver in the world can only
win when he has a car capable of doing so."
8/2/04
No dash lights, no more changes Nextel
Cup director John Darby says NASCAR is working on sending caution warnings,
possibly by radio, to drivers when there are accidents or debris on the
track. Darby isn't a big fan of using dashboard lights for that purpose. He
wonders where they'd go and whether drivers would notice them. "You can't
guarantee that the driver is going to see it," Darby says. "You have to
develop a system that's easy to put into play." Darby added that after
evaluating the first half of the season and recent wind tunnel tests, he's
fairly confident that no more changes will be made to the cars this season.
FoxSports/Sporting News
8/2/04
Can Earnhardt finish the Brickyard 400? That's
the question on everyone's mind going into next weekend's Brickyard 400.
Earnhardt turned his Chevrolet over to Indianapolis native John Andretti
after completing just 52-of-200 laps of the 2.5-mile Pocono Raceway.
Earnhardt, who started 16th, was already a lap down in 32nd place when he
called it a day. He was clearly hurting as he sat in his pit, head down,
while Andretti was strapped into the car. Earnhardt said later he got
out more because of the car's condition than his own. But he clearly still
is experiencing considerable discomfort from the second-degree burns to his
thighs. "Hopefully I can go to Indy and get through it," he said. "I
think I'll be able to without any problem. I just wish this thing would heal
up a little faster."
Long Beach is the next big Champ Car/IRL
battle A reader writes, Dear AutoRacing1.com, "Is the
Handwriting on the Wall"? With IRL tentatively going to St. Pete,
which is not a big market, I now fear they will take Long Beach. They will
do it, by (1) having Toyota threaten to leave, and (2) Tony George offering
to pay the purse, thereby leaving Dover Motorsports a "risk free" event. OWRS
cannot possibly match the offer since they are a "for profit business" and
not a "communist conspiracy that pays no attention to the laws of capitalist
economics" (ie. subsidizing failing industries). In that event, OWRS would
lose its signature USA event, and would be mortally wounded. Mordichai
Rosen, LA California Dear Mordichai, With their 2005 schedule now
set to be released this week, the IRL can then turn its focus toward which
events they can take from Champ Car in 2006. Certainly Long Beach will
be a prime target. Can OWRS come up with a big enough counterproposal
to beat the IRL's? If not the IRL will indeed cripple Champ Car.
That win, more than any other, will make headlines and have the media
worldwide proclaiming a major victory by the IRL. The next 12 months could
get interesting. Mark C.
8/1/04
Gentilozzi dominates at Three Rivers
Paul Gentilozzi dominated Sunday’s Motorock Trans-Am Series race at Le Grand
Prix de Trois-Rivières in Quebec. Gentilozzi, driving the No. 3 Jaguar R
Performance XKR, led 64 of 65 laps to win his fourth race season and the
28th of his career, moving him just one victory away from the Trans-Am win
record held by the legendary Mark Donohue
Gentilozzi led a sweep of the podium by Rocketsports Jaguars, with Tomy
Drissi (No. 5 TAXI – The Movie Jaguar XKR) and Tommy Kendall (No. 11 Jaguar
R Performance XKR) finishing second and third, respectively. Randy Ruhlman
(No. 49 Preformend Line Products Chevrolet Corvette) and Bob Ruman (No. 23
McNichols/Cenweld Chevrolet Corvette) completed the top five.
The Rocketsports sweep was the first for the Lansing, Mich.-based team since
1991, when Darin Brassfield led Irv Hoerr and Gentilozzi to the checkered
flag at Infineon Raceway.
Gentilozzi took the lead from Kendall, who started on the pole, when Kendall
overshot turn six on lap two. Gentilozzi wasn’t seriously challenged from
there. More.....
8/1/04
Michigan tidbits
Thomas Scheckter can't escape drama at Michigan.
Two years ago, in the middle of a highly public feud with team owner Eddie
Cheever, he drove to victory, narrowly beating new teammate (and heir to his
seat) Buddy Rice. Last year he won the race again. This year he was again
going for the lead when he was spun in the pits, losing any hope of the win
along with the services of his fuel man for a few months to come.
From Chevy comes this word... They are in IRL
through at least 2005, using motors provided by Cosworth. They are not
excited about racing beyond North America, as the budget for the IRL engines
comes from Chevy North America, and that division would not benefit from
racing beyond the US and Canada.
From the IRL and Michigan International
Speedway... there will be an IRL race next year at Michigan. The crowds, no
doubt boosted by massive local promotion plus tons of freebies distributed
by Marlboro, saw the largest open-wheeled crowd since the tragic July 1998
CART race, in which three fans were killed and six more injured as a tire
left the track. No official estimates of the crowd are given, but press room
guesstimates are around 35,000+.
The grandstands were full of red Marlboro hats.
Between kids being free and the Marlboro giveaways, estimates are that 2/3
of the people there on Sunday were there free of charge. Smokers probably
wanted the free smokes (Michigan cigarette taxes were just raised by $0.70 a
pack).
A warped humor moment occurred when holders of
Marlboro freebie tickets, who got them by smoking cigarettes, were seen
huffing and puffing while climbing to the top of MIS's tallest grandstand.
One wonders if any smokers decided to quit when they reached the top....
We suppose it has a different meaning at CART
races, but a lovely young lady was seen wearing a tee shirt that said (in a
spot suitable for advertising), "You can't spell 'girl' without 'IRL.'
8/1/04
Broken leg for Panther Racing crew member Panther
Racing crew member Steve Namisnak sustained a fractured right tibia in a pit
road incident. He was being transported to Indianapolis for further
treatment. His driver, Tomas "Crash" Scheckter bowled him and a couple
of other crew members over on his first pit stop. Scheckter’s (and
Chevy’s) day was ruined when another competitor was signaled out of the
re-fueling spot seconds before the South African driver arrived at the same
cross point. The collision sent Tomas into one of his crew and resulted in
his being a lap down when the mess was cleared.
8/1/04
Gomes out duels David at Three Rivers
Marcos Gomes took his first win in North American Formula Renault 2000
competition after besting fellow Brazilian Renato Jader David in race-long
battle for the lead in the Formula Renault Western Union Grand Prix at the
35th running of the Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières on Sunday.
Eurointernational’s Juan Martin Ponte took the final podium spot and scored
five bonus points for the fastest lap of the race, just .001 of a second
faster than David’s quickest, to extend his lead in the points championship.
Mark Wilkins took forth in his Aim Autosport Formula Renault, with Briton
Katherine Legge impressing again in her GTI/Roshfrans machine, improving one
position from the sixth place she scored in her Toronto debut to take fifth
at Trois-Rivières.
Brandon Thomas brought his Western Union-liveried Renault across the line in
sixth, with Philippe Gelinas scoring seventh at the finish. Antoine Bessette
lost his rear wing in the closing laps of the race, but the former rally
driver kept firm control of his car and finished in eighth. Ricardo Imery
overcame braking problems during to race to finish ninth, with Valerie
Limoges of Longueil, Quebec, netting tenth in her debut.
Results
1/Marcos Gomes/GTI/Roshfrans/32 laps/35:113
2/ Renato Jader David/Gelles Racing/-2.114
3/Juan Martin Ponte/Eurointernational/-3.563
4/Mark Wilkins/Aim Autosport/-9.636
5/Katherine Legge/GTI/Roshrans/-15.426
6/Brandon Thomas/Gelles Racing/-37.534
7/Philippe Gelinas/Gelles Racing/-40.798
8/Antoine Bessette/Aim Autosport/-41.826
9/Ricardo Imery/Eurointernational/-1:01.501
10/Valerie Limoges/Valerie Limoges Racing/-1:08.501
11/Tim Hauraney/Condor Motorsport/-1 lap
12/Michael Yager/Gelles Racing/-13.034
13/L-P Dumoulin/Aim Autosport/-13.732
14/Daniel St. Germain/ Atlantic Racing Team /-21.381
15/ Robert Siska/RJS Motorsports /-26.549
16/Stephane Roy/Atlantic Racing Team/-11 laps
8/1/04
Chesson wins Michigan IPS race, his
first Results Sunday of the Paramount Health
Insurance 100 IRL Menards Infiniti Pro Series event Aug. 1 at the
2-mile Michigan International Speedway, with order of finish,
starting position in parentheses, driver, chassis-engine, laps
completed, reason out (if any):
1. (5) P.J. Chesson, Dallara-Infiniti, 50
2. (3) Thiago Medeiros, Dallara-Infiniti, 50
3. (1) Al Unser, Dallara-Infiniti, 50
4. (4) Paul Dana, Dallara-Infiniti, 50
5. (10) Phil Giebler, Dallara-Infiniti, 50
6. (8) Jesse Mason, Dallara-Infiniti, 50
7. (6) Leonardo Maia, Dallara-Infiniti, 50
8. (2) Arie Luyendyk Jr., Dallara-Infiniti, 36, handling
9. (9) Gary Peterson, Dallara-Infiniti, 26, mechanical
10. (7) Billy Roe, Dallara-Infiniti, 8, accident
11. (11) Rolando Quintanilla, Dallara-Infiniti, 0, did not start Race Statistics
Winner's average speed: 173.112 mph
Time of race: 34:39.5834
Margin of victory: 0.0941 of a second
Cautions: 1 for 4 laps.
Lead changes: 8 among 3 drivers.
Lap leaders: Luyendyk 1, Medeiros 2-32, Chesson 33-34, Medeiros 35,
Chesson 36-37, Medeiros 38-41, Chesson 42, Medeiros 43, Chesson
44-50.
Point standings: Medeiros 322, Dana 236, Mason 205, Luyendyk Jr.
188, Maia 155, Pollard 152, Quintanilla 145, Roe 142, Chesson 142,
Giebler 136.
8/1/04 German DTM
Paffett wins, Audi driver Ekström
takes back DTM lead
Gary Paffett started from pole position and won a dominant victory
at the Nürburgring with Mattias Ekstrom second and Bernd Schneider
third. Mattias Ekström has kept his promise of
recapturing the DTM lead for Audi at the Nürburgring. Before a
perfect turnout (103,000 spectators during the weekend), the Swede
in his Audi A4 DTM clinched second place, now leading the overall
standings by five points ahead of the previous leader, Christijan
Albers. Though Ekström had fallen back to third place right after
the start, he managed to move back to second as early as in the
first lap. Over the whole distance, the Audi works driver stayed on
the heels of Gary Paffett, the ultimate winner of the race, whilst
avoiding any unnecessary risk that might have jeopardized his aim of
recapturing the lead of the standings. Tom Kristensen, as well,
delivered a strong performance: the Dane in his Audi A4 DTM fought
his way up to fifth place after starting from grid position nine.
The other four Audi drivers were involved in collisions right in the
starting lap, which frustrated any ambitions they'd had for the
race. Audi
8/1/04
IRL going to erode Champ Car's marketUPDATE
Another reader responds, In response to Mr. Smith’s ridiculous comments
regarding the IRL now being able to offer race promoters (like they’re that
stupid) a low cost alternative to Champ Car that will finally put Champ Car
out of business, please permit me to, once again, point out to your readers,
and Mr. Smith in particular as he apparently hasn’t been paying ANY
attention to what’s REALLY going on in the world of open wheel, the most
salient facts he, and the other five IRL fans, again fail to acknowledge
when their wishful thinking again asserts the IRL, by virtue of the fact
the Idiot Grandson has managed to scrape together a couple of road races
(that wasn’t part of the vision was it Tony), is now ideally positioned to
finally, after 10 years, kill off Champ Car.
First, the IRL has no fan support. Not at the races, not on TV. If I’m a
promoter why would I EVER consider switching from a product that pulled 2.6
million ticket buying fans last year, and is well on its way to beating
that attendance this year (hell, the two Mexico events alone probably drew
more fans than all the IRL events combined, excluding the Irrelevant 500 of
course, which is now on life support thanks to Tony’s “vision”), to a
“cheaper” product that can’t fill my grandstands even if I deeply discount
my ticket price to Toyota and Honda and Penske so they can give those
tickets away? What’s wrong with this business model Mr. Smith? You're
absolutely right. The IRL is a cheaper product! So cheap in fact NO ONE is
willing to buy a ticket they can get for free! The IRL exists only as a
support race for the 500. The IRL’s “All Ovals, All The Time” business plan
has been proven to be a complete and utter failure. Hence the need to now
try road racing, as if a couple of road races (do any of those guys remember
how to change gears and turn right?), one at a GREAT track in the middle of
nowhere, the other at a facility long ago deemed UNSAFE for anything other
than sports cars, is going to save the IRL! Bring on the IRL at Portland!
Let’s see how many fans show up for THAT snooze-a-thon!
Second, the IRL package is dumbed down NASCAR style managed
competition that has been flatly rejected by the marketplace and is
completely inferior to Champ Car. With all due respect to AR1 it doesn’t matter what formula Champ
Car puts on the track (though a formula closer to F1 would be better), Champ
Car fans are road racing fans and they see Tony and the IRL for the farce
they are. Crapwagons on a road course is like elephants on ice skates and
will also be rejected by Champ Car fans.
And finally, Champ Car and road racing fans hate anything with Tony’s
fingerprints on it. True motor racing fans resent the way NASCAR and the IRL
have tried to return racing to a blood sport. You IRL fans are nothing more
than NASCAR fans who didn’t get enough wrecks during your Sunday Bubbafest.
No true fan of motor racing would support a product that puts “the show”
ahead of driver safety and honest competition. May you all go to hell for the
damage you have supported to a once proud sport.
Mr. Smith, it is the IRL that is destined to fail, as recently proven by Mr.
Penske’s self-serving attempt at unification, which OWRS smartly rejected
for fear that even the slightest taint of Tony George on Champ Car might
damage the progress they have made. The music over there in the Invisible
(even more so with each race) Racing (that’s not racing) League is gonna
stop real soon and Penske is facing the prospect of not having a chair for
the first time in his racing career! Too bad Roger. When you lay down with
dogs, you catch Bubbas! Wishing all you IRL ghouls are somehow included in
the next major IRL crash I remain, Most unrespectfully, J.N. Anderson
Chicago, Illinois Dear J.N. Whether the IRL has any fans or
not, what you fail to address is the fact that they have all the sponsors
and hence money. If the IRL outbids Champ Car in all its key markets,
eventually there may not be any Champ Car left. To date, the IRL mode
of operation has been to steal everything that was once CART's - races,
teams, sponsors, drivers and manufacturers. We see no indication that
strategy is changing, and if they take Portland and St. Pete, both former
Champ Car races, there will be further proof the full-scale attack
continues. Long Beach 2006 will be the next major battle - to be
fought in 2005. Mark C.8/1/04 -
A reader writes, Dear AutoRacing1.com, Now that the IRL is definitely going
road racing, Champ Car is redundant and should be eliminated. The IRL
will now offer every Champ Car promoter a cheaper alternative and put them
out of business. So what if their cars will be slower. NASCAR is
much slower yet they are the most popular. Using your words, Stick a
fork in Champ Car, they're done. Maxwell Smith, Atlanta, Georgia
Dear Maxwell, You bring up a good point. As long as Champ Cars are still
thought of as "Indy Cars" the IRL will attempt to steal every bread-n-butter
street and road race from them. As their existing race contracts expire they
will offer the promoter an alternate "Indy Car" race, and at a lower cost.
Yes, they will be many seconds a lap slower, but the casual fan won't know
the difference. And if the next generation Champ Car switches to a normally
aspirated V8 (same as the IRL) the two types of cars become even more
similar.
Now I hope our readers understand why we have repeatedly said that the next
generation Champ Car must be very F1-like so that the cars can be referred
to as F1-style cars and not Indy Cars. There is a significant difference
between a F1 style car and an Indy Car. Even the casual observer can see the
difference. Hence why the next generation Champ Car must be: 1) the size of
an F1 car, i.e. a bit smaller, 2) lighter and nimble like an F1 car, i.e.
weigh no more than 200 pounds more than an F1 car, 3) scream like an F1 car,
i.e. they need to switch to a V10 engine turning around 13,000 RPM. A V10
engine has a much more pleasant engine note (sound) than a V8 engine. The
pistons are smaller and lighter and rev up and down the RPM range faster.
They won't scream as high-pitched as a current 19,000 RPM F1 engine, but
scream they do.
Ideally, the next generation Champ Car engine will be based on a detuned 3.5
liter V10 ex-F1 engine, lasting 1,200 miles between rebuilds to keep costs
down. If the next generation Champ Car is a F1-style car, then Champ Car
will have a reasonable chance of selling a promoter thinking about switching
to the IRL, a superior product that not only sounds faster, but is visibly
faster. If instead they adopt the same heavy car (so they can also race on
ovals) with a V8 engine, then they offer a promoter and the fans nothing
more than what the IRL offers and, as we have seen already in every race
market Champ Car is currently in, the IRL will come in and outbid them.
OWRS can't afford to get the next generation 2006 Champ Car wrong. If they
do, their long-term future will be in serious jeopardy. As an example, the
Long Beach race contract expires after the 2005 race. We already know that
the IRL is going to offer Dover Motorsports (the promoter) a better "Indy
Car" deal because they have deep pockets and are flush with big sponsors
behind them, including Toyota, the current race sponsor. We saw how much
more they offered the city of Portland (CART rented the track for $80K vs.
the IRL bid of $250K plus a title sponsor) and for Long Beach their bid will
be significantly better. If Champ Car offers the city of Long Beach an
F1-style race rather than an Indy Car race for 2006 and beyond, they might
have a chance of renewing the contract, because Long Beach fans still long
for F1. If however, they offer Dover nothing more than an Indy Car race,
Long Beach, arguably Champ Car's premier race, may be an IRL event from 2006
forward.
By adopting an F1-style car, Champ Car opens itself up as a viable alternate
to F1 in the world market as well. To me the choice is obvious.
Mark C.
8/1/04
Toronto Star hammers Champ Car
This Toronto Star
article says, F1 isn't the only series that could use some
fan-friendly counseling. For instance, how did you like the little
stunt that Champ Car pulled in Toronto a few weeks ago? The Molson Indy,
which was advertised as a 95-lap race, was checker-flagged after only 84. (I
saw rip-off mentioned in just one report among all the newspaper, radio and
TV coverage of that event.) Why did they do this? Because, although
there were more than 72,000 people in the stands at the CNE, and thousands
more watching from coast-to-coast on Global TV in Canada (would there even
be a Champ Car series if it wasn't for Canada?), the people in charge of
that series were more concerned about wrapping everything up in exactly two
hours so it would fit nicely into the time period reserved for the race on
the U.S. cable network, Spike TV. Let me point something out here:
there were more people watching that race in person in Toronto that day than
ever watch a Champ Car race on Spike TV. More people watch the
Ren & Stimpy adult party cartoon on Spike than a Champ Car race on that
channel. Maybe one of these days, when nobody is watching the races
anymore, in person or on television, a little light might pop on in the
heads of the people who make some of these really dumb decisions.
Fans? What fans? What happened to them anyway? Where'd they go? Those
folks really do need some help ... Memo Gidley getting a Rocketsports ride
again in Vancouver when Canadian Toyota Atlantic graduates Michael Valiante
or Jonathan Macri could have done at least as good a job is just plain
stupid.
8/1/04
Photos from Pocono
Our photos
from Pocono by Jim Garrahan on Saturday are now available. Happy hour
was canceled due to the rain. You'll notice some photos of John Andretti and
the #8 Earnhardt car. They put a formed "booster seat" in the #8 for John
and he was trying it on for size. Not sure why, because we thought the rule
was that he had to turn at least one lap in the car to be a back-up for
Junior. That never happened to our knowledge. The on track action is from
the ARCA Giant 200 race won by Ryan Hemphill.
8/1/04
Three Rivers race lands Western Union
North American Formula Renault officials announced today that Western Union
will be the presenting sponsor for the Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières round of
the 2004 championship. The partnership will feature an on-site presence for
the famous gold and black colors of Western Union, and every Formula Renault
car will carry Western Union identification as well.
Western Union is a global leader in money transfer and message services,
with a history of pioneering service dating back more than 150 years.
Western Union continues today to help consumers and businesses transfer
money or make payments using money orders and other electronic systems.
“Western Union is very excited about the opportunity to be a part of this
energizing and amazing event,” said A.J. Hanna, Vice President and General
Manager of Western Union Financial Services. “The excitement and speed of
the Trois-Rivières weekend attracts people of all ages, from around the
corner to around the country, and it provides an ideal environment for us to
participate in. Western Union is involved with cultural and sporting events
all around the world, and we are particularly ecstatic to be representing
Quebec at this level, as it reinforces our desire to be a part of everyday
life for all Québéquois.”
Western Union, which has over 190,000 locations around the world, and over
2,800 locations in Canada, was welcomed as a partner for the Formula Renault
series.
“Formula Renault is excited to have Western Union support the series and our
drivers for this fantastic event,” said North American Formula Renault
General Manager Brett Ross. “The opportunity to participate in the 35th
running of the Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières was a special one for the
series, and Western Union joining us makes it even better. We appreciate
their involvement, and will work to grow the relationship in the future.”
8/1/04
Gomes to start today's race from pole
Marcos Gomes scored the pole position for Sunday’s North American Formula
Renault 2000 race at the 35th running of the Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières
with a 1:12.488-second lap of the 1.502-mile temporary street circuit in
rainy conditions, besting championship points leader Juan Martin Ponte by
just .017 of a second in a fiercely competitive session, which saw the top
nine drivers qualify within one second of Gomes’ time.
The pole position is the third of the season for Gomes, who moved to fifth
ahead of Renato Jader David in the championship standings with the five
bonus pole points. Gomes knows that he has a lot of ground yet to make up to
Ponte, but he also knows that he has to finish the race to make a dent in
Ponte’s lead.
“I know we have a good chance to win tomorrow, no matter what the conditions
are,” said the GTI/Roshrans/ITUPETRO pilot. “I want to win and get as many
points out of the weekend as I can, of course, but I have to keep in mind
that this is a long championship and points will be important in the end.
The track is very challenging with the bumps and the variety of surfaces,
but it is a lot of fun, and I know that the race is going to be exciting
tomorrow.”
Championship points leader Ponte was disappointed to have come so close to
the pole but not get it, but is feeling confident about the race.
“I did the best that I could, there was no more speed in the car, so I am
happy to get the most out of it, but its of course difficult to be so close
and not get it!” said Ponte about the pole and the five bonus points. “We
should be ok in the race as we have a very good car, and I will try to keep
the championship in mind.”
8/1/04
Toyota gets first NASCAR win
Travis Kvapil gave Toyota its first NASCAR victory by winning the flag in
the Line-X 200 Craftsman Truck race at 2-mile Michigan Speedway. Kvapil, the
2003 series champ driving a Chevrolet, won for the first time this year in a
Toyota.
IRL to announce 18-race schedule
The IRL is set to announce a 16-race 2005 schedule on Tuesday with two
additional TBD dates for a total of 18 races. This SPEED TV
article says, As expected, the Indy Racing League will add two road
courses - Watkins Glen International and Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif.
- to its preliminary 2005 schedule during a press conference Tuesday at
Watkins Glen, N.Y. IRL officials confirmed Saturday that the league
will unveil a 16-race schedule during Tuesday’s announcement. Two additional
to-be-announced dates will be available in the schedule, with their intended
use for road or street-course events. One of those dates is likely to go to
Portland International Raceway, which has not renewed its contract with
Champ Car World Series (they are trying to get St. Petersburg for the other
date). Specific details of the schedule were not disclosed by
IRL officials Saturday at Michigan International Speedway, where the IndyCar
Series is preparing for Sunday's Michigan Indy 400. The
announcement marks a much-anticipated move by the IRL from its ovals-only
format to a more varied mix of venues. It also marks the return of
Indy-style racing to Watkins Glen and Sears Point, two of the nation’s most
famous and storied race courses......“We’re going to have to a lot of
changes,” said Tony Kanaan, the IndyCar Series’ current points leader.
“These cars are built to race on ovals. We’ll need a new brake system, for
sure. We’ll need a new differential, and maybe a little bit more power, too.
Otherwise we’re going to be too slow.” Others indicated the cars would need
new or revamped gearboxes. “Brakes and gearbox will be the biggest changes,”
Bell said. “A couple of tests in the fall will tell. It’s no different from
a Champ Car, really. The parts have been around forever. They know how to do
it. I’m sure there will be some teething problems, but it shouldn’t be a big
deal.”
Related ESPN.com article, which adds that the two road races will
be in September. It also says Portland is doubtful for the IRL, though
the schedule will list two TBD dates so Portland could still be added.
7/31/04 Formula Renault Eurocup
American Red Bull team 1-2 at Spa
To pack your bags for Formula 1, championships are requisite luggage, and
Scott Speed continues to prepare for his trip up the ladder as he moves in
on the Formula Renault Eurocup championship. Speed extended his points lead
with another win as he led fellow American Colin Fleming across the line for
yet another Red Bull Junior Team 1-2 finish at the Grand Prix circuit of
Spa-Francorchamps. "A perfect day - pole position, a start-finish-victory,
the fastest lap, and I am further ahead of Pagenaud in the championship,”
said Speed. “A big thanks to my Red Bull Junior teammates!" Fleming had a
strong start, catapulting from fourth on the grid to move ahead of Speeds’
championship rival Pagenaud and come home second, with Dominique Claessens
just missing out on a podium spot with a fourth-place finish. “What a day
for the Red Bull Junior Team!” exclaimed Fleming. “First, second, and fourth
for the American drivers is outstanding. I would have liked to had more of a
battle with Scott, but he was just too quick today.” All three drivers have
progressed through the Red Bull Driver Search; a program that aims to
discover and support the "diamond in the rough," lacking the knowledge and
contacts needed to embark on a career in racing, as well as talented young
drivers already in racing. The long-term goal is to have a steady group of
three to six American drivers racing in Europe, on the Red Bull Junior Team,
groomed to break into Formula 1 and compete for the World Championship.
7/31/04
Unser wins IPS pole at MIS
Qualifying Saturday for the Paramount Health Insurance 100 IRL Menards
Infiniti Pro Series event on the 2-mile Michigan International Speedway,
with starting position, car number in parentheses, driver, chassis-engine
and speed:
1. (2) Al Unser, Dallara-Infiniti, 193.118 mph
2. (5) Arie Luyendyk Jr., Dallara-Infiniti, 193.064 mph
3. (11) Thiago Medeiros, Dallara-Infiniti, 192.620 mph
4. (91) Paul Dana, Dallara-Infiniti, 192.598 mph
5. (76) P.J. Chesson, Dallara-Infiniti, 191.084 mph
6. (33) Leonardo Maia, Dallara-Infiniti, 190.190 mph
7. (24) Billy Roe, Dallara-Infiniti, 190.022 mph
8. (3) Jesse Mason, Dallara-Infiniti, 189.262 mph
9. (27) Gary Peterson, Dallara-Infiniti, 188.786 mph
10. (22) Phil Giebler, Dallara-Infiniti, 187.651 mph
11. (10) Rolando Quintanilla, Dallara-Infiniti, no speed
7/31/04
Kendall inherits pole at Three RiversUPDATE This afternoon’s Motorock
Trans-Am Series qualifying session at Le Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières, which
was postponed from this morning due to inclement weather, was canceled due
to rain. The session was run as a practice. The field was set by the fastest
times earned in the four practice sessions, placing Tommy Kendall (No. 11
Jaguar R Performance XKR) on the pole, his 43rd in Trans-Am competition.
Paul Gentilozzi will roll off second in tomorrow’s race in the No. 3 Jaguar
R Performance XKR, ahead of Tomy Drissi (No. 5 TAXI – The Movie Jaguar XKR).
Canadian Ron Fellows (No. 40 Derhaag Motorsports Chevrolet Corvette) and
Jorge Diaz, Jr. (No. 8 Puerto Rico Grand Prix Jaguar XKR) will start fourth
and fifth, respectively. Due to the cancellation of qualifying, no bonus
points were awarded. 7/31/04 - Tommy Kendall set the
fastest time during third-round practice Saturday at Le Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières.
Kendall, driving the No. 11 Jaguar R Performance XKR in rainy and wet
conditions, set a time of one minute, 16.039 seconds (72.010 miles per
hour). The morning practice was originally scheduled as a qualifying
session. Qualifying was postponed to this afternoon due to rain. Paul
Gentilozzi was second fastest in the No. 3 Jaguar R Performance XKR, ahead
of Tomy Drissi (No. 5 TAXI – The Movie Jaguar XKR). Canadian Charlie Webster
(No. 95 CJ Webster of Canada Chevrolet Corvette) and Joey Scarallo (No. 06
Toyo Tires/ROH Wheels Chevrolet Corvette) completed the top five.
7/31/04
Seen in MichiganUPDATE According to this Michigan
Speedway
schedule, Friday was Fan Appreciation Day. From
the looks of these grandstands, it appears not too many fans were
appreciated. Next year they'll have to give away some free tickets in the
hope more fans will come out for Fan Appreciation Day. 7/31/04
- (Left) Dan Wheldon shaved his head. (Center) Vitor Meira and Buddy
Rice stare at the empty grandstands at yet another IRL Friday practice.
Whereas Champ Car draws 40,000 + on Fridays at its street circuit events,
the IRL drivers drone around in front of no one. A complete waste.
(Right) Kenny Brack is looking healthier each time we see him.
Photos courtesy of Ron McQueeney/IMS
7/31/04
Kanaan tops Saturday AM practice
Pos Driver Diff Time Speed Lap C/E/T Status
1 Tony Kanaan (11) 33.3533 215.871 1 D/H/F
2 Helio Castroneves (3) 0.1467 33.5000 214.925 1 D/T/F
3 Kosuke Matsuura (55) 0.1791 33.5324 214.718 1 G/H/F
4 Scott Dixon (1) 0.2401 33.5934 214.328 1 G/T/F
5 Sam Hornish Jr. (6) 0.2635 33.6168 214.179 1 D/T/F
6 Vitor Meira (17) 0.2776 33.6309 214.089 2 G/H/F
7 Buddy Rice (15) 0.2888 33.6421 214.018 1 G/H/F
8 Townsend Bell (2T) 0.3148 33.6681 213.852 1 D/C/F
9 Dan Wheldon (26) 0.3197 33.6730 213.821 1 D/H/F
10 Bryan Herta (7) 0.3389 33.6922 213.699 1 D/H/F
11 Adrian Fernandez (5) 0.3779 33.7312 213.452 1 G/H/F
12 Dario Franchitti (27) 0.3991 33.7524 213.318 1 D/H/F
13 Darren Manning (10) 0.4078 33.7611 213.263 1 G/T/F
14 Tomas Scheckter (4) 0.4263 33.7796 213.146 1 D/C/F
15 Alex Barron (51) 0.5450 33.8983 212.400 2 D/C/F
16 Ed Carpenter (52) 0.5563 33.9096 212.329 1 D/C/F
17 A.J. Foyt IV (14) 0.6341 33.9874 211.843 1 D/T/F
18 Mark Taylor (13) 0.7186 34.0719 211.318 1 G/H/F
19 Scott Sharp (8) 0.7358 34.0891 211.211 1 D/T/F
20 Felipe Giaffone (24) 0.8627 34.2160 210.428 2 D/C/F
21 Jaques Lazier (20) 0.8851 34.2384 210.290 2 D/C/F
22 Tora Takagi (12) 0.9064 34.2597 210.159 1 D/T/F
7/31/04 Open Wheel Racing
Another great article
A reader writes, Dear Autoracing1.com, Mark Cipolloni and Cassio Cortes hit
the proverbial nail on the head yet again with the article, Open Wheel Racing is in serious
need of consolidation. I have been thinking the same thing for quite
some time now and I am glad someone has addressed it. It isn't just
about the CART/IRL split, which is the first thing that comes to your mind,
it's the entire sport of open wheel racing that needs consolidation,
worldwide. Gregory Haynes, Miami, FL
7/31/04
Biffle says he is staying at Roush
Take Greg Biffle's name out of the 2005 sweepstakes. He says he's staying
with Jack Roush, even though it's unclear if his sponsor, the National
Guard, will return. Biffle has been under consideration for the third-team
ride with Joe Gibbs.
Winston Salem Journal
7/31/04
NASCAR Trucks/IRL divorce at MISUPDATE This MLive.com
article says, Race promoters in Portland, Ore., still want to stage
an Indy Racing League event at Portland International Raceway next July or
August, but apparently it won't be on July 31 -- the date for Michigan
International Speedway's IRL race in 2005. MIS President Brett
Shelton said Friday that he fully expects Michigan to once again be the site
of the IRL's race in the final weekend of July 2005. The IRL schedule could
be released as soon as early next week. "That's one date that's been
talked about," Larry Blackmar, a promoter for Peter Jacobsen Productions in
Portland, said Friday. "But frankly, we've been talking with Ken Ungar
(senior vice president of business affairs for the IRL) about a range of
dates, and the range has been the last part of July to the first couple of
weeks of August."
More.... 7/30/04 - This MLive.com article says, The future of the Indy Racing League at
Michigan International Speedway is somewhat fuzzy. But one thing is
clear: The NASCAR trucks are moving from July to June.
NASCAR released its schedule for the 2005 Craftsman Truck Series on
Thursday, and the traditional pairing of the IRL and the Truck
Series is no more. The trucks will race at MIS next year on June 18,
the day before the Nextel Cup Series event at the Brooklyn track.
MIS officials knew the announcement was forthcoming but were
surprised by the timing of it. "They didn't inform us
that they were going to announce it yet," MIS spokesman Bill Janitz
said.
The Truck Series will hold the Line-X Spray-On Truck Bedliners 200
on Saturday, one day before the Michigan Indy 400 IRL race. That
will be the end of a marriage between the IRL and the Truck Series,
which have been held on the same weekend the three years the IRL has
raced at MIS. Janitz said an Infiniti Pro Series event will
work as the lone support race for the IRL next year. The
developmental open-wheel league will hold a 100-mile event Sunday
prior to this year's IRL race. Janitz said the
traditional open-wheel weekend will shrink from three to two days
next year. Qualifying for the Truck Series race is traditionally
held on Friday.
The IRL has not released its much-anticipated 2005 schedule. The
series is expected to add at least two and as many as four road
races to next year's schedule, and one Oregon newspaper has reported
that the IRL is considering running a race at Portland International
Raceway on July 31, 2005, which is traditionally Michigan's weekend
for an open-wheel race. Race promoter Larry Blackmar
told the Portland Tribune, a free city newspaper, that the last
weekend in July 2005 is a possibility. "They've just asked us
to consider that date," Blackmar was quoted as saying in a July 23
story. "It's not guaranteed, but it's right where we wanted to be."
7/31/04
No Toyota engines for Jordan until....
Toyota has gone on record saying they are prepared to share their F1 engine
with at least one other team, but not until the final engine specs are
agreed upon and there is some stability. The FIA is pushing for a move
toward 2.4-liter V8's.
7/30/04
Gentilozzi fastest in afternoon at Three Rivers
Paul Gentilozzi led a trio of Rocketsports Racing Jaguar XKRs during
second-round practice Friday for Sunday’s Le Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières,
Round 6 of the 2004 Motorock Trans-Am Series title chase. Gentilozzi (No. 3
Jaguar R Performance XKR) turned the 1.502-mile temporary street circuit in
one minute, 4.497 seconds 84.897 miles per hour. Gentilozzi’s teammate Tommy
Kendall (No. 11 Jaguar Performance XKR) was second quickest, ahead of Tomy
Drissi (No. 5 Taxi-The Movie Jaguar XKR). Jorge Diaz, Jr. (No. 8 Puerto Rico
Grand Prix Jaguar XKR) and Randy Ruhlman (No. 49 Preformed Line Products
Canada Chevrolet Corvette) completed the top five. Qualifying for Sunday’s
race is scheduled for tomorrow at 10:40 a.m., followed by final practice at
2:30 p.m.
7/30/04
Renato David fastest at Three Rivers
Renato Jader David quickly acquainted himself with Trois-Rivieres'
1.502-mile temporary street circuit in Friday practice for the North
American Formula Renault 2000 race on Sunday as part of the 35th running of
the famed event, powering his Gelles Racing machine to a quick time of
1:06.131-seconds in the second of two practice sessions on the day. Marcos
Gomes, who was fastest in the morning session, scored a quick lap just .094
of a second behind David in his GTI/Roshrans/ITUPETRO-livered Formula
Renault. Championship points leader Juan Martin Ponte was another driver to
set a time under 67 seconds, finishing third on the day, with UK Formula
Renault graduate Katherine Legge just behind in fourth. The Trois-Rivieres
event is the second North American Formula Renault start for the Guildford
Surry, UK native, as she ran her first-ever street race in Toronto as part
of the Molson Indy and showed no fear, taking a strong sixth. Gelles Racing
pilot Brandon Thomas, who broke out during the Toronto round to score his
first podium in Formula Renault competition, continued to show good pace
with the fifth quickest time of the day in his Western Union machine.
7/30/04
IMSA extends eligibility of
prototypes
The American Le Mans Series and its sanctioning body, the
International Motor Sports Association (IMSA), have extended the
eligibility of 2003 specification Prototype race cars in the series
through the 2005 season, officials have announced.
The eligibility of Le Mans Prototype (LMP) cars homologated under
the 2003 Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) LMP 900 and LMP 675
regulations and run under the 2003 configuration will continue in
the American Le Mans Series through the end of 2005. The cars will
continue to be classified as LMP1 and LMP2 as specified under the
relevant ACO regulations. Cars homologated under subsequent
specifications will also remain eligible in their configurations.
The American Le Mans Series operates on an agreement with the ACO
that includes use of the famous "Le Mans" name as well as use of the
technical rules and regulations of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The
eligibility extension applies only to the ALMS and not to the 24
Hours of Le Mans or the Le Mans Endurance Series.
"One of the founding principles of the American Le Mans Series is
stability of rules and regulations," said Scott Atherton, President
and CEO of the ALMS. "The announcement now of the extension of
eligibility for 2003 specification Prototypes through 2005 allows
our current race teams, as well as those that will be joining our
series, to operate in a stable environment as they make their plans
for 2005 and beyond.
7/30/04
Big Champ Car weekend slated for Road
America
Road America will host five of the top open wheel racing series in
the U.S. beginning Thursday, Aug. 5 and running through Sunday, Aug.
8, when the feature, Bridgestone Presents Champ Car World Series
Powered by Ford takes the green flag at 2:00 p.m. Other series
running include the Motorock Trans-Am Tour, Argent Mortgage Toyota
Atlantic Championship of Road America Presented by Yokohama, Formula
BMW USA and the Skip Barber National Championship. Tickets for the
four-day weekend are available online at www.roadamerica.com and by
phone, 800.365.7223. Daily prices are $10 Thursday; $25, Friday;
$40, Saturday and $55 Sunday. More.....
7/30/04
Townsend Bell crashes at Michigan
Townsend Bell hit the Turn 2 wall at Michigan in this afternoon's
practice. The red flag came out to end the session. No
report of any injuries so far. The same can't be said for the
car however. The Panther/Menard team has another big repair
bill to set them back. They have had quite a few this year.
7/30/04
Kanaan leads Friday PM practice at
Michigan IRL IndyCar® points leader Tony Kanaan posted the
fastest lap during the opening day of practice for the Michigan Indy 400 at
Michigan International Speedway. Kanaan's best lap around the 2-mile,
D-shaped oval was 33.5200 seconds, 214.797 mph, in the No. 11 Team 7-Eleven
Dallara/Honda/Firestone. Kanaan's lap was slightly faster than rookie Kosuke
Matsuura, who posted a lap of 33.5799 seconds, 214.414 mph in the No. 55
Panasonic ARTA Panoz G Force/Honda/ Firestone. "There was a lot of
drafting, and we worked on race setup a lot," Kanaan said. "I ended up
having a pretty good lap behind my teammates. I don't think the lap time
says a lot. We're just working, like I said, on race setup, and we'll see
what happens tomorrow."
Tomas Scheckter, who captured the MBNA Pole Award in the previous two
IndyCar Series events at Michigan, was third after posting a lap of 33.6013
seconds, 214.277 mph in the No. 4 Pennzoil Panther
Dallara/Chevrolet/Firestone. The only incident of the day occurred
when Townsend Bell, driver of the No. 2 Menards/Johns Manville
Dallara/Chevrolet/Firestone, spun and made contact with the SAFER Barrier in
Turn 2. Bell was uninjured. Also on July 30, Paul Dana posted the
fastest lap during practice for the Menards Infiniti Pro Series Paramount
Health Insurance 100. Dana, who captured his first Menards Infiniti
Pro Series victory at The Milwaukee Mile on July 25, posted a lap of 37.2627
seconds, 193.223 mph in his No. 91 Ethanol/Hemelgarn Johnson
Dallara/Infiniti Firestone.
Kendall fastest at Three Rivers so
far
Tommy Kendall proved he hadn’t forgotten his way around
Trois-Rivières’ tight 1.506-mile temporary street course as the
three-time winner set the fastest time in Friday morning’s
first-round practice. Kendall (No. 11 Jaguar R Performance XKR)
turned in a 1:04.462-minute lap at 84.943 miles per hour. Paul
Gentilozzi was second fastest in the No. 3 Jaguar R Performance XKR,
ahead of Canadian Ron Fellows (No. 40 Derhaag Motorsports Chevrolet
Corvette). Randy Ruhlman (No. 49 Preformed Line Products Canada
Chevrolet Corvette) and Bob Ruman (No. 23 Cenweld/McNichols
Chevrolet Corvette) completed the top five. The next practice
session for the Motorock Trans-Am Series is scheduled for 3:10 p.m.
today.
7/30/04
CARA Charities picnic at Road America
Next Saturday (August 7), CARA Charities will hold a special free
picnic for the Champ Car community as part of the Champ Car World
Series weekend at the legendary Elkhart Lake’s Road America. CARA
Charities, founded in 1981 by Betty Rutherford and the women of
open-wheel racing, has distributed over $3.5 million dollars to
numerous racing and community organizations. CARA serves the
community through charitable work and promotes the friendship of all
those involved in the motor sports family. Led by national director
Mary Lou Bogner, CARA Charities hosts a variety of charitable events
during the 2004 racing season. “We want to invite all of the CARA
Charities membership and all of the Champ Car community to join us
for our annual picnic at Road America,” said Barbara Butz, president
of CARA Charities. “It is a great opportunity for everyone to get
together and enjoy some great food and conversation.” The picnic
will be held in a special tent area at the “top of the hill” of the
motor coach, just south of the Champ Car paddock area, and will
start at 12 noon. “There is no charge for the luncheon and we at
CARA Charities hope everyone can attend this gathering at such a
picturesque racing facility as Road America,” said Butz. “There are
very few road courses in the world like Road America.” Reservations
are encouraged by e-mail at
carachar@aol.com or by calling 317-299-2277.
7/30/04
It was time for Trulli to go
Flavio Briatore says he and Jarno Trulli needed to part ways in
order to avoid the Renault team from becoming stagnant.
"It was a very tough decision because Renault is competitive thanks
to Trulli," Briatore tells the Italian daily Gazzeta dello Sport.
"Jarno and Fernando are friends. We need competition within the team
in order to improve the performance, in order to motivate Alonso,
who at 23 is our man for the future. I have peace of
mind over Trulli," adds Briatore. "I started managing him when he
was racing in F3 in the German championship, we have been together
for 10 years. Now he must go on alone. He's a fine driver and a
brave man. What we are giving Fisichella is the chance of his
life. Next year we expect to be fighting for the title and he will
play an important role."
Watkins Glen looking good for IRL
race
This Star-Gazette
article says, The Glen could be on the verge of gaining a
highly coveted open-wheel series race in the Indy Racing League.
"It's pretty safe to say we'll see some road courses on our
schedule," is all IRL spokesman John Griffin would say Wednesday. He
said the IRL's 2005 schedule could be announced as early as Tuesday.
"We're cautiously optimistic about the IRL," Glen President Craig
Rust said Monday. Griffin said last week that the IRL was
looking at Watkins Glen "favorably."
While Griffin wouldn't comment further this week, with words such as
"cautiously optimistic" and "favorably" regarding a Glen-IRL
marriage, I'd say it's a good bet Penske Racing and the rest of the
IRL teams will be here in 2005. However, new concerns have emerged
about the future of the Glen's NASCAR Nextel Cup event because of
International Speedway Corporation's proposed new track near New
York City. ISC owns 12 of the tracks on the Nextel Cup circuit,
including Watkins Glen.
ISC spokesman David Talley said Wednesday from his Daytona Beach,
Fla., office that ISC entered into an agreement Friday to purchase
676 acres of waterfront property in the New York City borough of
Staten Island. The plan is to build an 80,000 seat, three-quarter
mile oval track on the site in hopes of hosting two Nextel Cup
events and an Indy Racing League race.
It's been one of NASCAR's primary goals in recent years to have a
race in the nation's top financial and media market, but could it
come at the expense of the Glen? Brian France, NASCAR's
chairman of the board and an ISC board member, told AutoWeek in its
July 19 issue that "it's possible" the Glen could lose its Cup date
if a new speedway were built in the New York metropolitan area.
"Do I like to see that in print? No," Rust said Monday. "What does
it say? It means it might not happen, also."
Talley backed up Rust, saying "It's a little early to call the
demise of Watkins Glen. To have the diversity of a road course like
Watkins Glen is something that NASCAR fans enjoy. At this time, we
wouldn't expect that it would lose a race."
7/30/04 Industry News
Jim Murray Memorial Foundation Golf Classic
Auto racing will mix with golf on Oct. 18 at the Wilshire Country Club in
Los Angeles. The Sixth Annual Jim Murray Memorial Golf Classic will honor
The Wonderful World of Auto Racing benefiting the Jim Murray Memorial
Foundation. Indy-winning driver and car owner Bobby Rahal will represent
auto racing. Details as to participation, program advertising and
sponsorship, can be obtained from Linda McCoy Murray, PO Box 491304, Los Angeles, Calif.
90049, phone (310) 476-8948.
7/30/04
Ferko case cost ISC $2 million. ISC's
recent second-quarter conference call for analysts revealed the now-settled
Ferko lawsuit cost it over $2 million to defend. ISC is also investing
back into its business. 2004 capital expenditures including the
Daytona infield upgrades recently reported here, track lighting at Fontana,
Darlington and Phoenix along with widespread SAFER barrier installation,
will cost $135 to $140 million.
7/30/04 Industry News
Dover Motorsports reports earnings increase
Dover Motorsports has reported its latest financial figures – and thanked
its NASCAR races for boosting earnings. The firm revealed
earnings before income taxes for the quarter ended June 30, 2004 increased
by $3.047m or 30.3 percent to $13.093m compared with $10.046m in the
comparable quarter of the prior year. It says improvements in all of
the company's NASCAR events as well as lower general and administrative
expenses, depreciation and net interest expense contributed to the increase
in earnings before income taxes. Revenues increased by $3.039m
or 6.4 percent to $50.888m compared with $47.849m in the second quarter of
2003. Broadcast revenues, admissions and event-related revenues all
increased over the comparable period of the prior year. Dover
Motorsports operates five tracks in four states and stages races for NASCAR,
IRL, NHRA and Champ Car.
7/30/04
No Mexico for Trucks in 2005
It was rumored, but it looks like NASCAR won't be racing in Mexico in 2005,
at least the Truck Series will not be. The 2005 Busch Series schedule has
yet to be announced. The 2005 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series
schedule was announced Thursday with no hint of Mexico or Canada. It
increases the number of races held in conjunction with the NASCAR Nextel Cup
Series and closes existing "gaps" between late winter and spring events. The
25-race schedule, which opens Feb. 18 at Daytona International Speedway and
concludes Nov. 18 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, includes 16 same-week races
in cities hosting NASCAR Nextel Cup events. 2005
Truck Schedule
Fellows to drive Caddy at Mosport
The General Motors' Cadillac CTS-V racing team will field a third car for
Round 6 and 7 of the SCCA Speed World Challenge GT at Mosport International
Raceway on August 7 and 8. Ron Fellows, Corvette C5-R driver, will pilot the
#12 CTS-V race car in the events, joining Max Angelelli and Andy Pilgrim on
Team Cadillac. The Mosport weekend consists of two Speed GT races; Fellows
will compete in three races during the weekend as he will also continue with
his role with the Corvette team. “Ron Fellows is one of the world’s best
road racing drivers and will be a great ambassador for our Canadian
motorsports and V-Series fans at Mosport,” said Mark LaNeve, general manager
of Cadillac. “Many people forget that Ron was actually our first test car
driver for the Cadillac LMP program and has had a relationship with Cadillac
and GM Racing going back many years. We’re very excited for him to join us
for these two races at Mosport.”
7/29/04
Final IRL Nashville TV rating
The final rating for the IRL's race at Nashville shown live on ESPN was a
0.5. That race was two weeks ago but the rating was so low we had a
hard time getting the data. Clearly all the artificially close
rev-limiter created finishes the IRL generates isn't winning over any new
fans or getting them to tune in on TV. As we stated long ago, the IRL
alienated the Champ Car fans when the league was created and now has
alienated the oval trackers who supported it in the first place by morphing
into CART, which the oval trackers hated. And now they are going to go
road racing, which should alienate the oval track fans even more and drive
ratings lower in coming years. It should have stuck to all ovals and
all American drivers, and then it might have ridden on the coattails of
NASCAR and won over some of its fans. By going after CART and stealing
everything it could out of the CART paddock, it lost sight of its original
intended purpose. By shifting its business focus to destroying CART,
the IRL lost any hope of creating a unique niche and growing from there.
Clearly the IRL has made some major tactical blunders and its future looks
bleaker by the day. Mark C.
7/29/04
Milwaukee - IRL TV ratings continue to disappointUPDATE As expected, the final
rating for the IRL race in Milwaukee live on ABC dropped to a 0.8
(0.7 in the LA market), which is
horrible for network TV and trending toward cable TV territory. The more
money Honda and Toyota pump into the series, and the more free tickets that
are given away at the races, the further the all-important TV ratings are
dropping for the IRL. By comparison, the last time Champ Car's Milwaukee
race was on network TV it got a 1.2 final rating (CBS 2002).
7/28/04 - ABC's broadcast of the IRL race from Milwaukee this past weekend
garnered a 0.9/2 share overnight rating, which is horrible for
network TV. The final TV rating is expected to go lower.
In the San Francisco Bay area the ABC rating was 0.3! Despite
all the money Honda and Toyota are pumping into the series to try
and make it successful, the ratings have now fallen below ALMS,
which on CBS the previous weekend, garnered a 1.2 rating (also
network TV). The IRL can tout all their rev-limited
artificially close finishes they want, the fans simply are miffed at
Tony George for splitting the sport of Indy Car racing and killing
it, hence they are rejecting it.
7/29/04 Industry News
Atlanta Motor Speedway 2005 schedule
Atlanta Motor Speedway officials announced Thursday the speedway’s
2005 schedule, which included the addition of a second NASCAR
Craftsman Truck Series race, as well as the return of the Aaron’s
312 NASCAR Busch Series race to the spring race weekend.
Thanks to the overwhelming success of this year’s EasyCare Vehicle
Service Contracts 200 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race, Atlanta
Motor Speedway added the second truck race to the fall Bass Pro
Shops MBNA 500 weekend.
The March 18-20 Golden Corral 500 weekend will also be shuffled, as
the NASCAR Craftsman Truck race will move from its previous Saturday
afternoon slot to Friday night, immediately following Georgia Power
Qualifying, which will also move to a nighttime start.
The Golden Corral 500 weekend will continue on Saturday with the
return of the Aaron’s 312 Busch Series race, which had been
traditionally held in March until moving to the fall date two years
ago.
The Oct. 28-30 Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500 weekend will again kick off
with Georgia-Pacific Qualifying Night and continue on Saturday with
the newly added second NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race. The
weekend will culminate with the running of the Bass Pro Shops MBNA
500, the seventh of 10 races in the Chase for the NEXTEL Cup.
“We’re pleased with the changes to our schedule and feel that NASCAR
has done a great job in working with us to give the fans two solid
weekends of great racing action,” said Atlanta Motor Speedway
President and General Manager Ed Clark. “Our fans have told us they
love night qualifying, they love the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series …
and we’ve updated our schedule to reflect their requests.”
In addition to the two NASCAR Nextel Cup weekends, Atlanta Motor
Speedway will also host one of the largest car shows in America, the
NOPI Nationals, and a full season of grass-roots racing in the
Thursday Thunder Legends, Bandolero and Roadster Racing series.
7/29/04
No more Father Phil
Father Phil will be leaving the motorsports community in Nov. 2004.
His new assignment will be in Rome, Italy at the Missionaries of the
Sacred Heart. He will be Rector of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart at
Piazza Navona (in the heart of Rome.) CARA is compiling
a book of letters which will be book-bound and presented to him
later in the season. If you wish to be included, please mail a
letter to Father Phil on your stationary to CARA, 2915 N. High
School Rd, Indianapolis, IN 46224.
7/29/04
New Hampshire TV ratingUPDATE TNT’s coverage of
Sunday’s NASCAR Nextel Cup Series Siemens 300 earned a 5.3/
(4,700,000 HHs) final Nielsen cable rating, making it TNT’s
highest-rated Cup race ever. The 5.3 is a 13% increase over last
year’s 4.7/ (4,000,000 HHs). Through two races, NBC/TNT’s combined
NASCAR coverage is averaging a 4.9 (not including the Daytona 500),
up 8% over last year’s 4.5. HHs are up 10% to 5.3 million from 4.8
million TNT7/28/04 - NASCAR fans revved up ratings for TNT's coverage of the Siemens 300.
The Sunday night race was the most watched basic-cable show, with
6.8 million viewers. As usual, HBO's Six Feet Under was the most
watched pay-cable show, with 3.8 million. Yahoo New
England doubleheader a hit ... In the off-to-a-good-start
department, TNT's season debut at New Hampshire mirrored that of its
sister network, NBC, three weeks ago at Chicagoland Speedway. The
two networks will televise the second half of the 2004 NASCAR NEXTEL
Cup Series season, and just as NBC enjoyed significant viewer
response in Chicago, TNT scored big last week with its
season-opening coverage of the Siemens 300 at New Hampshire
International Speedway. According to Nielsen Media Research, an
average of 4,706,000 households tuned in, a 17% increase from 2003.
An average of 6,766,000 viewers tuned in, a 15% increase from 2003.
The Siemens 300 was the most-watched NASCAR NEXTEL Cup event since
premier-series competition began at New Hampshire in 1993. But
that's not all. The NASCAR Busch Series event, the Siemens 200, also
was a viewer hit. An average of 1,514,000 households tuned in, a 41%
increase from 2003. An average of 1,954,000 viewers tuned in, a 43%
increase from 2003. The Siemens 200 was the most-watched NASCAR
Busch Series event since that series debuted at New Hampshire in
1990." NASCAR PR
7/29/04
Modest growth for the IRL in MichiganUPDATE A reader responds to this
article, Well of course the IRL is doing better at MIS. Where else
do they have to go but up! The real question should be WHY are they
doing better? The answer, if we were to be brutally honest with
ourselves, is the high speed (I know that’s a contradiction in terms
for the IRL) superspeedway events; IMS, MIS, Fontana, TMS, offer the
greatest potential for “death and destruction” so the “fan support”
(is there really such a thing as an IRL fan?) is greater. The IRL
and NASCAR have turned the motorsports clock back to 1961 and have
converted modern motor racing back into the blood sport it once was.
All it’s going to take is another Dale Earnhardt, or a couple more
Kenny Bracks and maybe throw in a few dozen dead spectators for good
measure and ALL corporate support for motor racing will once again
disappear under an avalanche of memos from insurance companies
BEGGING their clients to sponsor golf or figure skating, ANYTHING
but car racing! Once the corporate liability insurance premiums
start going up watch how fast corporate support completely
evaporates when management must justify to the board obscene
insurance premiums. The oval track cartel's thirst for a freak show,
and what else can you call Bubbas throwing beer cans at race cars
going 180 mph, and the IRL’s lust for “a good show” at all cost,
should be categorically rejected by ALL who call themselves true
fans of professional motor racing until such time as these
sanctioning bodies place the overall advancement of the sport, the
ENTIRE sport, ahead of their simpleminded cultivation of a customer
base that has more in common with ghouls . . . than with us. An IRL
“fan” is a NASCAR fan who doesn’t get enough taxi cab crashes!
J.N. Anderson, Chicago, Illinois7/28/04 - This Michigan MLive.com
article says, The Indy Racing League is back at Michigan
International Speedway this week, and despite predictions of another
modest fan turnout, the open-wheel series continues to strengthen
its foothold at the Brooklyn track. That's the company line
anyway, as MIS president Brett Shelton expects a satisfactory
attendance for the Michigan Indy 400. The race is slated for 3 p.m.
Sunday. In 2003, the speedway offered discounted
tickets, weekend ticket packages and free admission for children age
12 and younger. The event drew an estimated crowd of 30,000, which
was consistent with the first IRL race at MIS in 2002.
The speedway and other tracks owned by International Speedway Corp.
decline to release official figures, but Shelton said interest has
grown each year for the IRL. "We've seen growth the three
years, and in that way, it's been consistent," said Shelton, who is
in his fourth year as MIS president. "That's probably good and bad
that it's been consistent growth. I'd like to see some abnormal
growth."
MIS' peak day for open-wheel racing came in May 1996, when MIS and
Championship Auto Racing Teams went head-to-head with the
Indianapolis 500, and the IRL and drew 105,000 fans. A second CART
race at MIS that summer attracted 84,000.
Interest in open-wheel racing at MIS, at least in terms of
attendance, hit a low point in 2001 when a track source said that
29,000 tickets were sold for the final CART race at the speedway.
The IRL's debut one year later drew a similar-sized crowd.
"I said all along, the first year I really thought that the IRL
couldn't be judged purely by the folks in the grandstand," Shelton
said. "You have to look at it as a property, as a series of racing.
We're a race track. We're not a fairground or a shopping mall. You
look at racing series as business partners. In the open-wheel world,
I think the IRL is doing a great job. Certainly the association with
the Indy 500 is extremely important to us."
Still, racing fans have yet to fully embrace the IRL as the
country's premier open-wheel series. The proof will be in the
100,000 or so empty seats at MIS on Sunday. Both series
would probably benefit by merging into one series. Should the two
sides merge, or should one side close up shop, it stands to reason
that the new series would draw up a new schedule by picking and
choosing tracks that draw the most fans. That day could
be a day of reckoning for MIS, which could find itself without an
open-wheel race if its attendance does not pick up. MIS has played
host to open-wheel races since 1968. "We're working hard
toward earning on our spot on the schedule, whether its NASCAR or
the Indy Racing League," Shelton said. "We don't take being on
someone's schedule for granted. You have to work hard to earn your
keep around this place. No one is going to give it to us."
Shelton said that despite the low attendance figures, the race still
makes money. "We're happy with the race in our business
plan," he said. [Editor's Note: It's rumored that the
IRL still pays the purse, hence MIS can make money.]
7/29/04
Haug calls for 50% cost reduction
Mercedes boss Norbert Haug has called for a 50% cut in spending on
Formula One engines. Haug, who supplies engines to McLaren,
said: "We need to save money and do better things with the money we
have. The money we spend on engines should be cut by 50%. If
we spent that much less we would be in a position to give a little
bit of money to the McLaren team and we could help the smaller
teams, do better promotion that kind of stuff. We are inclined
to think about the future of Formula One, we are here for the long
term. A company like DaimlerChrysler, and especially
Mercedes-Benz, takes care and that is probably why sometimes we are
controversial. But we are always constructive on the future of the
sport." [Editor's Note: Cutting the engine size
to 2.4 liters certainly will not cut costs at all. The
solution to cutting costs is quite simply really - 1) Ban exotic
materials, 2) Limit RPM to say, 15,000 RPM, 3) Ban pneumatic valves,
4) Set a minimum engine weight, 5) Require engines to last 4
complete race weekends.]
7/29/04
Hamilton Jr. signed by PPI for 2005
PPI Motorsports has signed Bobby Hamilton Jr. to replace Ricky Craven as
driver of the No. 32 Chevrolet for the 2005 NASCAR Nextel Cup series.
Craven, a veteran of 14 seasons in the Cup series, said last week he would
finish out the season with PPI but would not return to the team next year.
He is currently 32nd in the season points and has not finished better than
16th. PPI hired veteran crew chief Harold Holly to come along with Hamilton
Jr. next season, PPI team owner Cal Wells said Wednesday. Four of Hamilton's
victories came in 2003 with Holly as his crew chief. Holly also helped Jeff
Green win the series title in 2000.
7/29/04
Formula Renault to debut at Three Rivers
After a weekend off following the Molson Indy Toronto race weekend, North
American Formula Renault will reconvene to race north of the border once
again this weekend on the 1.5-mile temporary street circuit at the famed
Grand Prix of Three Rivers for round five of the 2004 season.
Eurointernational’s Juan Martin Ponte of Argentina leads the point standings
by ten points over Venezuelan teammate Ricardo Imery, with Canadians Antoine
Bessette and Mark Wilkins tied for third just seventeen points behind Ponte.
Ponte, who won the series debut race in Phoenix, but was knocked out of the
race while going for the lead at Mt. Tremblant before rebounding to take the
win at Watkins Glen, is glad to be back atop the standings after scoring
third place in Toronto.
“Having everyone chase me in the points is definitely something I prefer!”
said a smiling Ponte. “This series is so competitive, you can’t give an inch
to anyone or they will pass you by on the track, or in the points, so I am
hoping for another strong podium result at Three Rivers and to grow my lead.
I enjoy the street circuits. I think it is a special challenge for the teams
to get the car set up well, and there is risk at every corner for the
driver, so it is very satisfying to do well on these kinds of tracks.”
7/29/04
Ford racing drivers to visit Jackson Place
Ford Racing and Your Indiana Ford Stores will host Ford Racing Fan
Appreciation Day on August 5, 2004, from 4 - 10 p.m. on Jackson Place Street
in downtown Indianapolis. This year's Ford Racing Fan Appreciation Day will
give fans a chance to meet many of today's biggest racing stars. The
event will feature Ford NASCAR NEXTEL Cup drivers including Dale Jarrett,
Elliott Sadler, and Kurt Busch and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series drivers Jon
Wood and Rick Crawford. All Ford Racing drivers will participate in
autograph sessions as well as a question and answer session for the fans.
Ford Racing Fan Appreciation Day is a free event and consumers can have the
chance to win great Ford Racing prizes by picking up a scratch-off to win
coupon at their local Indiana Ford Stores beginning July 19th. Everyone is a
winner, but the coupon is redeemable only at the Ford Racing Fan
Appreciation Day. Prizes would include 200 pairs of PowerStroke Diesel
200 tickets for the race at IRP August 6th, Ford Racing merchandise, and
other items such as food and beverage coupons for local restaurants.
In addition, fans will have a chance to meet with product specialists to
learn more about Ford products. They will also have a chance to schedule
test-drives at the Ford dealer nearest them for the weeks following the
event. Fans will have the opportunity to check out the new 2005 Ford products
including the 2005 Ford Mustang GT and the all-new Ford Five Hundred and
Ford Freestyle. Ford Racing drivers will sign 400 autographs during
90-minute sessions. Autograph sessions will run from 4:15 - 6 p.m. and 6:30
- 8:15 p.m. Select drivers will also participate in question-and-answer
sessions. As schedules permit, other Ford drivers may be added to the event.
7/29/04
Champ Car uses wind tunnel for Las Vegas
This Champ Car
article says, Tuesday at the Auto Research Center (ARC) in
Indianapolis, Champ Car and ARC engineers spent all day working with
scaled-down versions of the latest Lola and Reynard Champ Car models,
searching for the optimal aerodynamic configuration for the September 25
Champ Car Las Vegas 400 to be held on the Las Vegas Motor Speedway oval.
Champ Car Director of Technology Lee Dykstra and Technology Manager Steve
Sewell orchestrated a day-long session at the ARC wind tunnel facility on
Tuesday, teaming with the respected engineers from ARC to find a useful
superspeedway setup. The goal was to find a way to maintain the high-speed
action that fans come to expect from the Bridgestone Presents The Champ Car
World Series Powered by Ford, while still providing a challenge for the
drivers.
“We could make it so the cars would be flat (full throttle) all the way
around the track,” Dykstra said. “But that is not a situation we want our
guys to be in. We want to set it up so they have to drive the car and use
their skills. By taking out some of the downforce, we will give them cars
that are challenging to drive while still being very competitive.”
More.....
Automotive industry tidbits
Over the next 24 months, Fiat brands will introduce
four-wheel-drive versions of 10 vehicles in a bid to break Fiat Auto out of
its sales doldrums. If consumers respond positively, the Italian automaker
is considering adding up to five more models with the option by
2008..........Ford Motor Co. is reviewing the structure of its
Jaguar unit after a disappointing second-quarter loss for the Premier
Automotive Group. PAG swung to a $362 million loss for April to June from a
profit of $162 million a year earlier.........Hyundai is
developing a luxury brand similar to Toyota's Lexus marque, say sources
here. Hyundai would introduce the new brand in 2007 to counter its "cheap"
brand image in US and European markets................General Motors
remains coy about what it plans to do with the Daewoo name in Europe, but it
is keeping open the option to use the Chevrolet brand in all European
countries.....................Mercedes-Benz will drop
supercharged Kompressor gasoline engines from its future lineup in favor of turbochargers. Mercedes will add a turbocharged
2.0-liter gasoline engine in the new A class this autumn. According to
Bosch, 40% of European gasoline passenger cars will be turbocharged by 2008. ...............UnitedAuto
Group, a US-based dealership group, is expanding aggressively in
Europe. In July, it acquired nine dealerships plus a 75 percent
interest in 10 other sales outlet in Europe........The Dodge Viper,
a muscular American sports car, has been "Europeanized" by British
performance-engineering specialist Prodrive Ltd. The third-generation Viper,
the SRT-10, will be introduced in Europe in December as part of parent
DaimlerChrysler's plans to turn Dodge into a global player.............Kia
Motors Corp. was the hottest carmaker in Europe in June, and Spain
continued to be the fastest-growing major European market. Kia sales grew 49
percent to 15,610 units compared with the same month a year
ago..............Ford Motor Co. has been promising that its
Premier Automotive Group luxury division will deliver 30 percent of group
profits by mid-decade. Following news last week of PAG's $362 million
second-quarter loss, that goal now seems elusive, to say the
least.......Analysts are recommending the Jaguar F1 program be
dropped........Volkswagen is preparing its first branding
campaign in China to defend its lead in the world's fastest-growing
automotive market. The ad agency Dynamic Marketing Group will bring VW's
"love"-based marketing platform to the country........Eckhard Cordes
is likely to be named next head of DaimlerChrysler's Mercedes Car Group this
week, say sources.
7/28/04 Industry News
Rahal and Parsons to be inducted
1986 Indianapolis 500 winner Bobby Rahal and 1950 Indianapolis 500
winner Johnnie Parsons head a class of seven inductees July 29 into
the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America. Also being inducted
into the hall's 16th class during ceremonies at the State Theatre in
Detroit will be NASCAR executive Bill France Jr., NHRA Top Fuel
champion Joe Amato, multi-class sports car champion and former Indy
500 and Brickyard 400 starter Geoff Brabham, driver-designer-builder
Don Vesco and longtime Los Angeles Times motorsports writer Shav
Glick. Rahal made his Indy-style car debut in 1982 and was
named Rookie of the Year. He won Indy as a driver in 1986 and
recorded a victory May 30 in the 88th Indianapolis 500 as co-owner
of the IRL IndyCar® Series team Rahal Letterman Racing with Buddy
Rice behind the wheel. Rahal recorded seven top-10 finishes in
his 13 career Indianapolis 500 starts. Parsons won the 1949
AAA National Championship after only limited experience in
Indy-style cars the previous year. He was second in the 1949
Indianapolis 500 as a rookie, and won the following year. He also
finished fourth in 1956. Parsons had 11 Indy-car style
victories. He died in 1984. The Motorsports Hall of Fame of
America in Novi, Mich., houses more than 40 racing and
high-performance vehicles. For tickets to the induction ceremony,
call (800) 250-7223.
7/28/04
Driver comments on possible NY City
race
It was reported this week that ISC had purchased over 600 acres of
land on Staten Island, NY to build a 3/4-mile, 80,000 seat oval by
the 2009 season. Here is the reaction by some NASCAR drivers
to the news. More....
7/28/04
Renault 2005 driver lineup announcement The
Mild Seven Renault F1 Team today announced its official
driver line-up for the 2005 season, which will see Spain’s
Fernando Alonso joined at the team by Italian Giancarlo
Fisichella. For 31 year-old Fisichella, this will mark his
debut as a Renault driver, but a return to the team he last
drove for (as Benetton) in 2001. “We are delighted to
welcome Giancarlo to the Renault team,” commented Managing
Director Flavio Briatore. “Since we last worked with him in
2001, every aspect of his approach to the sport has matured.
I am confident that Fernando and Giancarlo are the drivers
we need to achieve our goal of winning the world
championship in the coming seasons.” Fisichella’s arrival
will see the departure of Jarno Trulli from the Mild Seven
Renault F1 Team, upon the expiration of his contract at the
end of the season. “Jarno’s dedication and enthusiasm have
been great assets and he has made an important contribution
to the development of the team, and the image of the Renault
Group” concluded Briatore. “He is assured a successful
future in Formula 1, and I wish him all the best for the
future on behalf of the entire team.”
7/28/04
Minardi and Wilux terminate relationship
The Minardi F1 Team has today released the following statement
regarding its relationship with Wilux B.V. Netherlands: "Due
to irreconcilable differences concerning, among other
things, the decision by Minardi to run without sponsorship
livery in the 2004 British Grand Prix and the decision by
Wilux not to adhere to contractual payments, sadly, the
sponsorship agreement between Wilux and Minardi has been
terminated today. The Team wishes Wilux every success in the
future."
7/28/04
Toyota blames drivers, not new car for poor results
Toyota technical director Mike Gascoyne has hinted that poor
driving, rather than fundamental problems with the car, was
to blame for the team’s new TF104B failing to shine on its
debut in Sunday’s German Grand Prix. “There’s
nothing wrong with the car, not a single problem,” he said.
“I’ve always said that if you do the wind tunnel testing
properly and make it work to the right level of accuracy,
then what you have in the tunnel is what you have at the
track, as happened with this car. I don’t think
we’ve got any issues. We were able to get the car dialed in
pretty quickly, so we don’t have any issues from a set-up
point of view. We don’t need to learn anything more from the
car. We’ve got the performance gain we expected and we’ve
got a new package coming for Monza, so I’m confident we’re
going to score some points, but it’s just frustrating
because we should have scored them here. We need to
find another second in aerodynamics,” he said. “But I’m very
confident we now know how to do that.”
7/28/04
Stewart welcomes 3-car team
Tony Stewart is not concerned about dwindling resources at Joe Gibbs
Racing if the team adds a third Nextel Cup team for the 2005 season.
The team currently fields a pair of Chevrolets for Bobby Labonte and
Stewart. “You don’t have to have three times the equipment,” Stewart
said. “A lot of times you can utilize the same resources and not
necessarily have to have so many extras. If you have adequate
resources to start with I think it helps. If you’re a team that
doesn’t have enough funding to begin with it can be a distraction
and take away from the effort.” Regarding the addition of a driver,
Stewart doesn’t have a preference between a veteran and a rookie.
“There’s pros and cons to having a veteran, and there’s pros and
cons to having a rookie. It could really go either way. You could
have a rookie and do just fine or you could have a veteran and do
just fine.” The 2002 series champion also says that he had a phone
conversation with Kasey Kahne today, discussed their July 11th
coming together at Chicagoland Speedway and that “there’s no
problems between Kasey and I. It was a very productive phone call.”
NASCAR Scene
Daily Newsletter
7/28/04
Renault defends replacing Trulli with Fisichella
Trulli is 14 points ahead of the highly-rated Fernando Alonso in the
World Championship, so why is Renault replacing Trulli and not Alonso?
"We looked at all the performances," Faure told the AFP newsagency,
"the lap times, the qualifying performances, the race, the mistakes
(Trulli made amateur mistake in French GP and lost a position on the
last lap]. We took everything into account and we could not gloss over
such a mistake. Recently we have lacked a bit of dynamism and
aggression and we think Giancarlo can bring that to us and fulfill our
ambition to win the Constructors' championship in 2005 or 2006. We
were accused when we let Jenson Button go of not going on the results
achieved by the drivers but we were proved right and now we will be
judged by the ones in 2005."
7/28/04
Williams plans test for Ralf
BMW-Williams is planning a minor test session in the days preceding
the Hungarian Grand Prix to determine if Ralf Schumacher is capable of
getting back behind the wheel of a Formula One car this season.
Schumacher is continuing to recover from neck and back injuries
sustained at the U.S. Grand Prix earlier this year. However, he made
it clear during last weekend's German Grand Prix that he plans to be
back in time for the race in Hungary.
7/28/04
Webber
leaves Jaguar for Williams
Jaguar Racing announces today that after two mutually successful and
rewarding years with the team, Mark Webber (27) the much liked Australian
driver, has chosen to contend the 2005 F1 season with opposing team,
BMW-WilliamsF1. Mark Webber will continue to race for Jaguar until the end
of the 2004 season and will remain integral to the development of the Jaguar
R5 until close of season. More....
7/28/04
2004 Champ Car attendance to date
Figures include practice, qualifying & race.
Long Beach..............167,000
Monterrey, Mexico....183,000
Milwaukee..................46,500
Portland.....................50,000
Cleveland...................46,000
Toronto.....................164,000 Vancouver.................158,400
Dixon does need surgery
IRL driver Scott Dixon definitely needs hand surgery after two high speed
crashes in practice for the Milwaukee round of the IRL. He severally
sprained his ankle, chipped a bone in his right thumb and also bruised his
ribs, ruling him out of the race. A spokesperson from Team Target has
confirmed he will undergo minor surgery this week to remove a piece of
dislodged bone from his hand. Dixon will need a four day rest period, but
will be available for the next round in Michigan this weekend.
7/27/04
Penske Racing to take Matsushita plant
After considering a competing city for its headquarters, Penske Racing South
will stay in Mooresville, buying and renovating a massive former industrial
plant at a cost of $15 million. Penske's NASCAR teams, which include drivers
Rusty Wallace and Ryan Newman, will be consolidated into half of the vacant,
440,000-square-foot Matsushita Compressor Corp. building in Mooresville
Business Park. The motorsports company will try to lease the rest of the
building, says Don Miller, Penske president. Penske expects to close on its
purchase of the property within 60 days. "We like it here," Miller says of
Mooresville. "A lot of our people live right there." Mooresville, which
touts itself a Race City USA, considers Penske's decision a major coup,
ensuring the team's 200 jobs will remain in town. Miller expects
Penske to complete its renovations of the building by year end. Plans call
for installation of a 300-foot elevated walk above the shops, intended for
fans to view team operations. Penske will move into the facility right after
the first of the year, Miller says.
Charlotte Business Journal
7/27/04
Industry News
Delphi to establish Asian presence
Delphi Corp. plans to announce today that it has opened a
technical center in Japan, wrapping up a string of announcements that
bolster the world's largest auto-parts maker's presence in rapidly growing
Asia Pacific markets. Troy-based Delphi started using its new engineering
center, which includes product-testing equipment and an advanced
videoconferencing system, earlier this year, near Nagoya, home of Toyota
Motor Corp. It also recently opened smaller customer-service centers
capable of light engineering work in Utsunomiya, where Honda Motor Co. has a
research facility, and Hiroshima, where Mazda Motor Corp. is based. Both
centers are designed so that they could be expanded later.
"We know how important it is to our Japanese . . . customers to have local
support in their home market, so we are pleased to enhance our presence
here," said J.T. Battenberg III, Delphi's chairman, CEO and president.
"With our major engineering centers in all four regions of the world, we'll
be able to provide around-the-clock support to our customers here."
Battenberg has been on a tour of the major Asia-Pacific markets. Last week,
he attended a ground-breaking ceremony for a $50-million technical center in
Shanghai, China. Friday, he formally opened the company's second South
Korean technical center, a $40-million, 240-person facility for developing
gasoline and diesel engine-management systems.
Detroit Free Press
7/27/04
More good news for World Series by
NissanUPDATE
As previously rumored, the World Series by Nissan will indeed invade
EuroSpeedway with 19 cars. Epsilon Euskadi signed the Frenchman Julien
Vidot, runner-up in the World Series Lights in 2003, as a replacement
for Ander Vilarino. And Team Gabord has a second car now, surprisingly
with Japanese Takaya Tsubobayashi at the wheel. What's good for World
Series, is bad for the World Series Lights. This category is down to 7 cars,
after Giovanni Tedeschi took the step to the World Series category.
7/23/04 - It looks
like the World Series by Nissan is getting healthier by the day.
Sergio Hernandez (19), from Spain, signed for the rest of the season
with Saulnier Racing. Tristan Gommendy will stay, so Saulnier will
field two cars from Lausitzring on....... Guenter Reinhold reporting
from Europe
7/27/04
NBC Ad revenue up
NBC’s ad revenue from NASCAR is up 20 percent this year, a “jump attributed
primarily to the new format in which the final 10 races will act as a
playoff” for the Nextel Cup, according to Andy Bernstein of the Sports
Business Journal. The network has “sold title or presenting sponsor ad
packages for 10 races and expects to close a few more by the end of the
season. Last year it sold 11 in all.” Presenting deals require the purchase
of at least six 30-second spots per race, and title sponsorships require
eight to 10 spots, costing $750,000 to nearly $1.5 million. ExxonMobil
retailers recently signed on as the presenting sponsor for the Aug. 8
Brickyard 400. Subway, already title sponsor of the Oct. 24 race in
Martinsville, bought the presenting sponsorship of the Checker Auto Parts
500 in Phoenix Nov. 7. But NASCAR is still “not making money for NBC.” NBC
Sports President Ken Schanzer, on breaking even with NASCAR: “We’re not
there, but we’re gaining on it.”
NASCAR Scene Daily
Newsletter
7/27/04
Dashboard caution lights coming
NASCAR vice president of communications Jim Hunter says that series
officials are looking at the possibility of adding dashboard caution lights
and functioning taillights to cars. The caution lights, which already are
being used in other racing series, could be used to quickly warn drivers to
slow down for accidents; a yellow light would be mounted on each car's
dashboard and could be activated by NASCAR officials. As it stands, drivers
must rely on their team spotters, trackside yellow lights or the official at
the start/finish line to determine when officials have issued a caution. The
lights could be a safety improvement, but officials remain concerned that
they could lead to more timing and scoring disputes between teams and
NASCAR. Having functioning taillights on race cars, meanwhile, would be a
radical change. They could play a marginal role in helping a driver avoid
plowing into the car in front of him, an issue on restarts during several
recent races. But drivers likely would not want the driver behind them able
to tell precisely when they were braking heading into a turn; that would
allow the trailing driver to better judge where passing might be easier.
USA Today
7/27/04
Feedback on ride-buyer article
We received a lot of email agreeing with this letter, i.e.
that ride-buying has no place in the major leagues, though a token
few readers felt ride-buying was acceptable. Dear
AutoRacing1.com, I just read the article on your
site by Mr. Cortes and feel as if he read my mind. For quite some
time now I've been preaching the simple, seemingly obvious and even
more obviously ignored (particularly in the open-wheel ranks) fact
that amateurs pay to race while professionals are paid to race. I'm
no real NASCAR fan and never in a million years would've thought I'd
use any corner of that world as an example of how to do things, but
I'm not aware of a single Cup-level driver who isn't paid to
play...hell, even the Joe Ruttman, Morgan Shepherd, Carl Long gang
profited from their field-filling efforts! Peter Stark
7/27/04 Karting
Go-kart racer killed
This Ekartingnews.com
article says, David Smith, 22 years old, of Barrington
Hills, Illinois was fatally injured this past weekend during the WKA
Dunlop Tire Road Racing series event at Summit Point Raceway in West
Virginia. Competing in the CIK 125 Sprint class on Saturday, David
struck a deer in the early laps of the race. He was flown by
helicopter to a nearby hospital. David passed away Sunday afternoon.
He had been attending the event with his father, Roger. Smith was a
regular competitor in the WKA series, which was holding the fifth of
nine national events. Smith with sixth in the championship in the
CIK Sprint 1 class. This is the fourth road racing fatality in the
U.S. within the last three years. Ronnie Jackson died at Summit
Point in July 2001 when his B-Stock kart left the track and impacted
a barrier. Michael Davis was killed at Daytona International
Speedway in December 2001 after contact with another kart sent him
into a barrier and Jeff Edwards died at Thunderhill Park in
California last summer when he left the racing surface and
reportedly was struck by another kart.
7/27/04
More on the future of Vancouver
This Canadian The Province
article says, While there were signs of scaled-down
corporate involvement in the Champ Car event (Vancouver) whose
three-year lease extension has expired, series co-owner Kevin
Kalkhoven said negotiations with landlord Concord Pacific have
shifted gears. "There have been very serious negotiations but
there are issues about the site," said Kalkhoven, who is also
part-owner of PKV Racing, which fields drivers Jimmy Vasser and
Roberto Gonzalez.
"Vancouver is a great site and it's a great track. We very much want
to come back as long as it's practical. We really do. And I think we
have every chance of doing so." Is there anything Kalkhoven
would change here? "Frankly, nothing," he said.
There's the possibility of a one- or two-year extension if the
business plan makes sense to Molson -- which also has interest in a
proposed Calgary race. So Molson Sports and Entertainment
vice-president Bob Singleton clarified Kalkhoven's comments.
"We didn't have any talks this weekend," said Singleton. "We had
conversations, but no real talks. Kevin is like everybody. It's
wishful thinking, but that's okay." Mayor Larry Campbell sang
the same tune before the Indy. "We're working hard with the
sponsors and Concord, and we hope to have it back," he said.
Champ Car will release its tentative 2005 schedule in early
September. The Vancouver date is expected to be available, although
it hasn't been awarded.
7/27/04
Bourdais doesn't agree with IRL
concept
This St. Petersburg Times
article says, Sebastien Bourdais does not like oval-track
racing. His 18th-place finish this season at Champ Car's only such
track - the Milwaukee Mile - is not the reason. That's why Champ
Car, with its schedule full of street/road courses, suits the
25-year-old Tampa resident so well. Though the Indy
Racing League is considered the dominant open-wheel series in North
America, Bourdais said he wants no part of it in its all-oval
format. "I would not want to compete in the IRL because it is
very dangerous on the ovals," said Bourdais, who finished fifth in
the Molson Indy Vancouver on Sunday and leads the standings by 27
over teammate Bruno Junqueira. "I am not really keen to do that.
I think it is very interesting and very technically challenging and
good for the series, but I think there is a balance you have to
find. (Champ Car) is shy on the ovals, but the IRL is just
wrong," Bourdais said. "The whole thing with trying to repeat NASCAR
with open-wheel racing is just wrong. It is way too dangerous.
I can accept doing five or six races on ovals, but a whole season is
too much."
7/27/04
#99 still looking for sponsor
Jeff Burton has been in a funky mood since NASCAR's Mike Helton rejected a
$15 million a year team sponsorship offer from Crown Royal three weeks ago -
a sponsorship package that NASCAR's sister company, the International
Speedway Corp., quickly picked up without batting an eye about a conflict of
interest. But car owner Jack Roush says he has some new leads for
sponsorship for Burton's team. "We've got a number of new, potentially
positive discussions going on," Roush said. "I'm very hopeful based on some
news I got today that we'll have full sponsorship, at the kind of numbers
we're looking for, for next year for Jeff's car. I'm very hopeful that we'll
get the help we need to help us have a reasonable finish with it this year.
We have the resources to stay with the program until we decide that there is
no prospect for sponsorship for it, and it's very much alive today."
Winston Salem Journal
7/27/04
Said gets sponsorship for The Glen
USG Corporation announced that it will sponsor Boris Said in the
Aug. 15 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup road race at Watkins Glen International to help
promote its Durock Brand Cement Board, a high-strength ceramic tile backer
that provides superior tile adhesion. Said will drive the #36 USG Durock
Brand Chevrolet as a third entry for MB2 Motorsports, which fields Joe
Nemechek's #01 U.S. Army Chevrolet and Scott Riggs' #10 Valvoline Chevrolet.
USG is also an associate sponsor on the #01 and #10 MB2 cars plus a primary
sponsor on Nemechek's #01 car at four Nextel Cup races. MB2 Motorsports
PR
7/27/04
Rain washes out first test day at The Glen
A light rain washed out the first day of NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series
testing at Watkins Glen International, leaving 14 teams with hopes of
sunshine for tomorrow's final day of testing [shame they didn't test the
'wet' tires]. With tomorrow's forecast calling for more rain, few teams
opted to head home early and try again next week. Track officials have been
able to schedule additional NASCAR testing time around existing track rental
customers on Monday, August 2 from 7:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. Tomorrow's session,
scheduled from 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m., and the newly scheduled Monday session
will be open to the public. Drivers that arrived at the historic road course
Monday included defending race champion Robby Gordon, last year's
second-place finisher Scott Pruett, road course aces Boris Said and Ron
Fellows, veterans Mark Martin, Dale Jarrett and Michael Waltrip and rookies
Kasey Kahne, Brian Vickers, Brendan Gaughan, Scott Wimmer and Scott Riggs.
German Klaus Graf, who competed earlier this year at Infineon Raceway, was
also on hand. Jamie McMurray and Casey Mears are scheduled to test on
Tuesday. Watkins Glen PR
7/27/04
Dixon to miss Milwaukee,
cleared for MichiganUPDATE Scott Dixon has been given
clearance from doctors to get back behind the wheel of his Toyota/ Panoz G
Force for this upcoming weekend's Michigan Indy 400. Dixon returned to
Indianapolis and met with orthopedic surgeon Dr. Kevin Scheid of Ortho Indy
on Monday afternoon for further evaluation of his injuries. A CAT scan was
performed on his ankle and closer examination has determined that he has a
contusion and sprain of his left ankle but has not re-injured any old
fractures. It was also revealed that Dixon's right hand sustained a small
bone chip (non displaced fracture) and ligament tear at the base of his
right thumb. Dixon will be fitted for a brace on his right hand to stabilize
his thumb and allow him to grip the steering wheel and drive comfortably at
the next race this weekend in Michigan. He will wear the brace until next
week, when he will be scheduled for a minor surgical procedure, requiring a
four day recovery period, to repair the ligament and secure the small piece
of bone fragment in his thumb. "I'm really happy to know that I'll be able
to get behind the wheel this coming weekend in Michigan since both the ankle
and the thumb are feeling much better," said the reigning IndyCar series
Champ Scott Dixon. "I'll be fitted for a brace for my thumb in the next few
days simply to make it more comfortable to drive but I'm sure it'll be fine
by race day. This past weekend on track was very disappointing for all of us
at Target Chip Ganassi Racing. However, while it has been a rough season to
date, it is a credit to this Target team to see how hard the crew has been
working to get the cars ready to race, not just this past weekend but every
single time out there. I just want to get back to racing as soon as possible
and get back on top where we should be." 7/25/04 - Defending IRL IndyCar® Series champion Scott Dixon will not compete
in the Menards A.J. Foyt Indy 225 on advice of Dr. Henry Bock, IRL
Director of Medical Services. Dixon suffered a chipped
bone in his right thumb and a sprained left ankle in a separate
incidents July 24. He will meet with Dr. Terry Trammell and undergo
an MRI on July 26 in Indianapolis. Dixon, sixth in IndyCar
Series points, qualified 14th (164.420 mph) and will receive points
for a 22nd-place finish. Dixon's No. 1 Target Chip Ganassi
Racing Panoz G Force/Toyota/Firestone made contact with the Turn 2
wall in the practice session preceding MBNA Pole qualifying. On the
second timed lap of his qualifying run in the No. 1T, the car made
contact with the Turn 4 wall. Dixon was taken to the track medical
center and then transported to Froedtert Memorial Lutheran Hospital
in Milwaukee for X-rays.
7/27/04
Star Mazda
Hearn team gets sponsorship deal
Showtime Networks has signed a deal with Richie Hearn Motorsports
to sponsor his racing team in the US Star Mazda Series. It will
utilize the sponsorship – which runs from July 30 to September 15 – to
showcase its upcoming reality series, American Candidate. The deal includes
on-car signage and a major promotional push through Mazda dealers.
7/27/04
ISC buys Staten Island landUPDATE International
Speedway Corp., the country's largest motor sports raceway operator,
announced yesterday that it has signed a deal to buy more than 600 acres of
Bloomfield land to build the New York metropolitan area's first NASCAR
track. Representatives of the Florida-based company told the Advance they
signed contracts Wednesday with two companies to buy two adjacent parcels of
land in the shadow of the Goethals Bridge, to build an 80,000-seat raceway.
ISC officials hope that buying the parcels will lead to bringing NASCAR to a
population and media market they've been trying to break into for years.
NASCAR president Brian France and ISC president Lesa Kennedy are brother and
sister. France has said he's eager to bring stock car racing to the New York
City market. However, ISC officials noted they have no guarantee from NASCAR
to run any of its premier Nextel Cup races on Staten Island. Once ISC closes
on the land, the racetrack plan must still survive a lengthy approval
process, complete with public hearings and an environmental impact review,
before the city ultimately decides whether the races can begin.
Officials insisted the track would only host three big race weekends a year.
ISC officials said they'd like to see two Sunday races in the NASCAR's
Nextel Cup series, the sport's top level of competition, plus one Indy
series race, on the three-quarter-mile track. Some of NASCAR's other
races, like the Busch circuit, would likely run on Saturdays during the big
race weekends. Besides the races, the track would be available for events
like car and boat shows or charity functions, officials said. Staten
Island Advance7/26/04 - International Speedway Corp. has
signed a deal to buy more than 600 acres on Staten Island on which to build
its long-coveted track in the New York City metropolitan area, according to
a report in the Staten Island Advance. Officials of ISC told the
newspaper they hope to close the deal by November. Now we shall see if
they get all the approvals necessary to actually build the track, though
this purchase appears to suggest they believe they can.
7/27/04
More on Champ Car video game "We actually see our new company as being in the racing and
driving business, more than the game business. We are putting together a
global Web site that will be a central place for anyone interested in racing
and driving--from beginners, who need some initial instruction in a racing
school, up to professional race drivers who would like the opportunity to
get track time at a low cost. In addition to providing a simulator and
training, we will be sanctioning online race series at all levels--from 140
hp Formula Fords up to 800 hp champ cars, with everything in between--and in
many types of cars, including formula, sports car, stock car, even off-road
cars. Racing is a very expensive sport, so not many people get a chance to
participate. We would like to change that, to allow more people to really
learn about racing and to experience some of the thrill. In addition, we
want to open up the data formats so that our members can build virtual
racecars of all types and tracks as well." - David Kaemmer - Ex-Papyrus
head honcho and current head of a new "development" project for SE games
7/27/04
Schumacher to compete in Race of Champions
Organizers of the Race of Champions competition have signed up
Michael Schumacher and World Rally Championship leader Sebastien Loeb to
take part in the end-of-season head-to-head competition in identically
prepared rally-raid cars. The event will move from the Canary Islands to
Paris's Stade de France and the two World Champions could be up against Moto
GP's Valentino Rossi if he agrees to join the party. The Race of Champions
has also featured stars from NASCAR in the past and it is quite likely that
Jeff Gordon has received an invitation and will be joining in the fun. The
event will take place on December 4 and there are likely to be 70,000 people
present to watch the show, which will take place on a one-kilometer
figure-of-eight parallel course designed and built especially for the
occasion. Schumacher will represent Germany in the contest which is billed
as a Nation's Cup with teams of two drivers per country. "I have seen it on
TV before," Schumacher said. " It looks like a lot of fun."
7/27/04
Industry News
Tecate sponsoring a different kind of car We were at one of the local arcades in Monterrey recently
and noticed
a few new machines in their racing section of the arcade. Next to a very old
game called CART Racing (Montoya is one of the characters) they added 3
machines of a game called Karting Duel. It's some kind of simulator. A
go-kart is attached to the machine and it moves according to the movement of
the screen. The funny part is that the 3 karts have Tecate livery, and they
added Tecate logos in the parts adjacent to the screen. Now we know where all
the Fernandez money went - sponsoring of arcade games. José Arrambide
reporting from Mexico
Daytona
upgrades underway
The multi-million, multi-faceted infield renovation
project at historic Daytona International Speedway is going full
throttle. Since 1975 Daytona 500 champion Benny Parsons kicked off
the massive renovation project earlier this month, the NASCAR NEXTEL
Cup Series garages, the NASCAR Busch Series garages, the Goodyear
tire building, the scoring trilions, the Pepsi scoring tower, the
Sunoco gas station and track offices have all been demolished. The
only buildings still standing in the infield are the infield media
center, the care center and Gatorade Victory Lane. In addition, the
digging for the new state-of-the-art tunnel in Turn 1 is also
underway and the filling of the borrow pit has started. Daytona
International Speedway's infield renovation project, which is
scheduled to be completed in time for December's Daytona KartWeek,
includes: *
A new tunnel located in Turn 1 that will accommodate team transport
vehicles and guest's specialty vehicles.
* New NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series and NASCAR Busch Series garages
* Uniquely designed Fan Zone that offer a variety of entertainment
and fun for all ages as well as roof-top viewing of the new NASCAR
Nextel Cup and NASCAR Busch Series garage areas and action on the
track
* Waterfront specialty vehicle parking area with premium and
standard specialty vehicle parking spots as well as waterfront
docks, activity zones, playgrounds and an exclusive community
center.
* New Gatorade Victory Lane where fans can now also be part of the
Victory Celebration by taking advantage of the new unique Victory
Lane Club and Victory Circle Plaza.
7/26/04
Earnhardt Jr. comments on his
condition
"The
plan is to rest and take it easy this week so I'll be ready to do
500 miles Sunday. The burns heal a little more every day, but I'm
still in a lot of pain. I felt pretty good inside the car, but I'm
going to need all my strength. Pocono can wear you out even when
you're 100 percent healthy. I couldn't have finished 300 laps (at
New Hampshire) but I'm going to do all I can to get through this and
be ready to go this week. I owe it to my team. They've worked so
hard for so many years to put us in a place where we're in position
to grab a championship, and I owe it to my sponsors and especially
my fans. Everyone has been really supportive of me and that means a
lot. Anybody can be cool and get along great when you're winning
races and kicking butt, but when things don't go right, it's
important to have that support behind me."
7/26/04
Industry News
Molson & Coors to expand sports
sponsorship
In Denver, Darrell Proctor wrote that once the
Coors-Molson merger is complete, “Molson Coors will almost certainly
be looking to expand its sporting presence.” The Bonham Group Chair
Dean Bonham said, “Long-term, it's very likely they will create
efficiencies by combining budgets and pursuing properties that
weren't equitable for them. I don't expect to see that in the short
term. It typically takes a year or two to see that.” Coors CEO Leo
Kiely, who will be CEO of the new company, said that Coors Field
will keep its name. Coors is also the official sponsor of the NFL.
Molson CEO Dan O'Neill, who will be Vice Chair, said the merged
company “would keep its current ties to hockey and likely look for
new ones.” Molson sponsors eight NHL teams –- the six Canadian
franchises and the Sabres and Red Wings, as well as Champ Car races
in Canada. Rocky Mountain News
7/26/04
Helton warns drivers to respect all
sponsors
NASCAR President Mike Helton told drivers Sunday that they
should “be respectful of every one of the sport’s sponsors, even if
it sells a product that competes with” a driver’s sponsor, according
to Rick Minter of the Atlanta Constitution. Helton added that
drivers who are sponsored by companies that compete with victory
lane sponsors should not knock the competing products off of their
cars after winning a race. Helton: “Don’t take it on yourself to
take the product off your car. You can move away from it or move
around it to be polite and respectful to everyone involved”
Atlanta Constitution. More Helton: “For years there
have been sponsors that conflict with a car’s sponsor or a driver’s
personal sponsor. We’ve been able to work through those with
politeness and respect, and we need to get back to that”
Charlotte Observer. Kurt Busch, who is sponsored by
Coca-Cola, accidentally thanked the wrong company after winning
yesterday’s Nextel Cup Siemens 300 in New Hampshire. Busch: “This is
an awesome win for Coca-Cola, Gatorade, well not Gatorade, a few of
our other guys we’ve got laying around.” Gatorade is a Pepsi brand,
while Powerade is Coca-Cola’s isotonic beverage TNT.
7/26/04
F1 upstages Tour de France
9.04 million German viewers tuned in to RTL TV to watch
the German GP from Hockenheim Sunday, far surpassing the 3.05
million German viewers tuned in to watch the conclusion of the Tour
de France. The difference - national pride. Michael
Schumacher is German whereas Lance Armstrong, as dominating on
bikes as Schumacher is in F1, is an American.
7/26/04
Industry News
Herdez pullout starts early
Mexican driver from Monterrey David Martinez, who was
competing in Europe’s Renault Formula series, will not complete the
season because his sponsor, Herdez, has pulled the plug on their
European team. David Martinez was having a Cinderella story - he was
invited to a one race deal to run at Monterrey in 2003 in the Barber
Dodge Pro Series, and because he won the race he was able to find
sponsorship for the rest of the year. Because of his performance he
was able to move to the Renault Series in Europe, but now his
promising career will have to be put on hold, making him one of the
first casualties of Herdez pulling out of racing. Jose
Arrambide reporting from Mexico
7/26/04
Brawn thinks 2005 tire rule will be
good
“Every driver has to have sympathy with tire use and it's
going to be particularly interesting next year because we've got one
tire for the whole race," said Ferrari's Ross Brawn.
"It means that a driver will have to think about the tire from the
time he starts qualifying to the time he finishes the race. It
will be interesting to see how that evolves. Some drivers will use
the tires at the beginning of the race and have nothing left, while
some will be more conservative and then come back. If you
remember the days of Alain Prost, he would spend half the race
looking as if he was nowhere and then come back and destroy
everybody. That's what will happen next year. I think you'll see
some interesting racing because towards the last third of the race
some guys will be running out of tires and we might actually see
some overtaking. Michael is very good at that and Rubens
is very good at it. I don't know if this year's softer tire
compounds have particularly worked in Michael's favor, but I'm sure
that next year the driver's feeling for the tire and getting the
most out of it over 60-70 laps, is going to be crucial.”
7/26/04 MotoGP
Rossi bounces back
Valentino Rossi has answered the challenge laid down by
arch-rival Max Biaggi after his win in the German GP a week ago the best way
he knows how – with a clear-cut victory in the British GP at Donington.
It was Rossi’s fifth win of the season on his Yamaha and gives the reigning
world champion a 22-point lead in the championship.
It was also his 95th GP podium, equaling the tally of Australia’s five-time
world champion Mick Doohan. Rossi’s podiums have been scored in the 125cc,
250cc, 500cc and MotoGP classes, while Doohan’s were all in 500cc.
“This was a great victory at an important race, and the bike was good to
ride,” Rossi said. “I had a little problem with the gentle rain that
started falling, but everybody slowed down and then the weather got better
and it was possible to win. I am happy because I have taken a small
advantage in the championship and at some tracks we will not have the
advantage in race conditions so it is good to have these extra points.
I will sleep much better in the summer break.”
Biaggi could only manage 12th at Donington after starting from eighth on the
grid, while Spain’s title challenger, Sete Gibernau, was third. The Honda
pair are now equal second in the championship on 142 points.
American Colin Edwards upstaged teammate Gibernau for second place, scoring
his first MotoGP podium since switching from world superbikes last season
and moving up to fourth in the championship on 95 points. Troy Bayliss
also heads into the break in a good mood and predicts more from Ducati in
the second half of the season. Bayliss finished fifth at Donington
after starting from fourth on the grid - just five thousandths of a second
from the front row - and clocking the fastest lap in the damp warm-up
session before the race. It was the Australian’s first finish in five
races and included a heart-stopping 195kmh excursion off the track after
being passed by American Nicky Hayden on his Honda. “ I’m really happy
to finally get a decent result under my belt, especially after a tough few
races,” Bayliss said. “ But really I thought I might do a bit better.
The track was quite a bit cooler than it had been and we lost some grip. I
had one big ‘let go’ down Craner (curves) which was pretty scary. It was a
long ride across the grass. I just told myself, ‘Don’t touch anything!’
Feedback on next-gen Champ Car
A reader writes, Dear Autoracing1.com, Didn't Lola submit a design
to supply the GP2 spec chassis and lost to Dallara? Wouldn't it be smart for
Champ Car to investigate if they could adopt whatever Lola had on the drawing
board for GP2 or even the A1 Grand Prix for their 2006 chassis formula?
I really like the current turbo formula, because the ability to adjust the
flexible boost level gave it longevity. But I see a current opportunity to
adopt the V-10 that I think Champ Car should not ignore. Ford (current
series supplier) is pulling the plug on the expensive factory Jaguar F1 team
to become a customer base supplier of the Cosworth V10's. I think Ford would
be pretty receptive to transitioning from the Cosworth turbo motor, they
currently supply, to a variation of the Cosworth V10s they developed for the
factory Jaguar team. Champ Car should also then court BMW (support series
supplier and huge advocate of the V10 formula) with guarantee of V10 formula
as direct alternative to uncertain future F1 motor formula. If everything
worked out Champ Car could line up their chassis supplier and two motor
suppliers for the 2006 season. Just a thought. I love
autoracing1.com. Keep up the great work! Thanks, Nathan Brophy,
Dallas, TX Dear Nathan, Champ Car will need to decide whether it
still wants to race on ovals. If they do, the car must be stronger and
heavier, so the GP2 design wouldn't work in that scenario. The old
Ford 3.5 liter F1 engine used pneumatic valves, which are expensive to
maintain. The current 3-liter engines do too, but Champ Car will want
longevity from their engines, which means lower revs than a F1 engine,
coupled with a larger displacement (3.5 or 4.0 liters) to gain back some HP
lost by turning the revs down. We have maintained for quite some time
now that the next-gen Champ Car must be about 200 pounds lighter than the
current car and have a V10 with about 700 to 750 HP. If they look like
F1, and sound like F1, they become a suitable alternative to F1 worldwide.
They also need to have a narrower track like F1 for all their narrow street
circuits....in other words, a GP 2 car with a V10 engine making 100 HP more
than a GP2 car. Mark C.
7/26/04
HDNet concert before Vancouver race
A reader writes, Just wanted to let you guys know that HDNet
broadcasted a Gloria Estefan concert just before the Vancouver Champ Car
race. I
thought that was a good idea on behalf of HDNet. Kind of goes with the
Motorock theme Champ Car was doing. Gloria Estefan and her performers are so
internationally diverse, just like Champ Cars. I think it will be great for
Champ Cars if they get HDNet to do a different concert before each race.
Also wanted to ask, why doesn't Champ Cars have their sponsors periodically
appear at the top of the screen before and after the race timing display
during the race. It would make the sponsors a little happier. Rod,
Orlando, FL.
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