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Dixon Tops IndyCar Day 1 Practice
Posted by: | CommentsScott Dixon was fastest Tuesday at Homestead-Miami Speedway in the first IndyCar test session of the week. His lap of 211.372 mph was just seven-hundredths of a second faster than Ryan Briscoe's top speed of 210.793 mph. Dario Franchitti didn't require long to get re-acclimated to an Indy car. He was third-fastest at 210.603 mph on the 1.5-mile banked oval. Dixon is the defending IndyCar Series champion.
Rounding out the top 10 were Mario Moraes, Will Power, Marco Andretti, rookie Robert Doornbos, Briscoe in a second car, Tony Kanaan, and Graham Rahal. Danica Patrick was 11th-fastest.
In all, 21 cars participated in the test, turning nearly 2,100 laps combined.
Testing resumes on Wednesday from 4:00pm to 10:00pm ET.
IndyCar Series Set for Testing Feb. 24-25
Posted by: | CommentsThe Homestead-Miami Speedway will host two days of pre-season open testing for the IndyCar Series this week. The track will be available from 4:00pm to 10:00pm ET on Tuesday, February 24 and Wednesday, February 25. The Firestone Indy Lights will share the track with their own testing on Tuesday morning. The support division also had a test session for rookies on Monday.
"It's definitely important for me and Panther Racing in particular, because we've got to figure out where we need to improve as a group so when the season starts we're very, very strong," said Dan Wheldon, the 2005 series champion, who joins Panther Racing after three seasons with Target Chip Ganassi Racing. "Those first few races for points are very, very important. We're not taking it lightly by any stretch. We're going to work very hard to make sure we come out of the blocks swinging."
Dario Franchitti is returning to the IndyCar Series after last year's foray into NASCAR. Franchitti had a disappointing year after being injured at Talladega in May. Meanwhile, NASCAR driver Stanton Barrett intends to compete in Indy cars this year.
For more information, including the schedule and participant list, hop over to IndyCar.com.
The first IndyCar race of the season is scheduled for April 5 -- the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg (FL).
Back-to-Back: Kenseth Wins California
Posted by: | CommentsMatt Kenseth held off Jeff Gordon through the final 20 laps to win the Auto Club 500 at California Speedway, kicking off the NASCAR Sprint Cup season with two consecutive wins. Kenseth, who won last week's rain-shortened Daytona 500, beat Gordon to the checkered flag by just over a second.
Jimmie Johnson and Gordon dominated the first half of the race, but Kenseth's team consistently got their driver out of pit road first and by the time nightfall came Kenseth was the man to beat. His teammate, Greg Biffle, sported a solid car most of the night but overshot his pit stall on the final round of stops, pinning the air hose under the front wheels. The mistake cost him several positions, but he rebounded to finish fourth.
Kyle Busch, after winning two NASCAR races Saturday, had to settle for third place Sunday night. His brother Kurt rounded out the top five.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. retired with engine troubles 40 laps from the end. Shortly thereafter, Kevin Harvick blew his engine and crashed in turn one. The race was slowed on several occasions by rain showers.
Matt Kenseth is only the fourth driver to back up a Daytona 500 win with a second consecutive victory. Richard Petty did it in 1973 (Richmond), Cale Yarborough in 1977 (also at Richmond) and Gordon in 1997 (Rockingham).
The tour resumes next week at the 1.5-mile tri-oval in Las Vegas, NV.
Busch 2-for-2 at California
Posted by: | CommentsKyle Busch led all but 12 laps of competition Saturday at California Speedway, snagging a pair of victories in the process. Busch started the afternoon with a win in the San Bernardino County 200 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race, leading 95 of 100 laps. He then followed it up with a win in the Stater Bros. 300 NASCAR Nationwide Series race Saturday night.
Busch dominated both races before sparse crowds, yielding the lead only during pit stops. In the Nationwide race, Greg Biffle brought out the final caution with 20 laps to go by crashing in turn 1. On the subsequent pit stops, Carl Edwards' team was able to get him out quick enough to pick up the lead, just beating Busch's car to the pit exit line by a few feet. But on the restart, Busch tapped Edwards lightly exiting turn one and was back into the lead by the time the field hit the backstretch. He was left unchallenged for the remainder of the race. Edwards finished fourth.
Kevin Harvick took second place followed by Busch's teammate Joey Logano. Edwards' teammate David Ragan rounded out the top five.
Busch will try for the weekend sweep from a 10th place starting position in Sunday's Auto Club 500.
Sprint Cup Final Practice
Jimmy Johnson was fastest in the final Sprint Cup practice session, posting a lap of 179.582 mph. The remainder of the top five included Denny Hamlin, Jamie McMurray, Mark Martin and Biffle.
Reed Sorenson crashed at the beginning of the practice session and will have to start a backup car at the rear of the field with pole-winner Brian Vickers.
Vickers Takes Pole at Fontana, Will Start Last
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Brian Vickers started the weekend off right by winning the pole for Sunday's Auto Club 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup race at California Speedway. His speed of 183.439 mph just edged out Jimmie Johnson who qualified second. Vickers is eager to put the controversial incident with Dale Earnhardt Jr. in last week's Daytona 500 behind him. Unfortunately, Vickers will have to start at the rear of the field after the team found problems with the engine and opted to replace it with another.
Qualifying third was Jamie McMurray's Ford; fourth was Kurt Busch, and Greg Biffle fifth. Rounding out the top ten were Jeff Gordon, David Reutimann, A.J. Allmendinger, rookie Scott Speed and finally Kyle Busch.
Tony Stewart was 11th fastest, Mark Martin 18th, Daytona 500 winner Matt Kenseth qualified 24th, rookie Joey Logano 34th and Dale Earnhardt Jr. 35th.
Those failing to qualify include Todd Bodine, Tony Raines, David Starr, Sterling Marlin, and Mike Garvey.
Kyle Busch won the pole for Saturday's San Bernardino County 200 NASCAR Camping World Series Truck race.
Reunification: Much Hype, Little Results
Posted by: | CommentsWatching the travails of the Indy Car Series over the past decade has definitely left me scratching my head on more than one occasion. Last year the hype was over "reunification" -- the agreement that finally brought the Indy Racing League and Champ Car World Series back together. Robin Miller was consistently talking about its necessity on Dave Despain's TV show. But to what end?
As much as the IRL had struggled in recent years, I couldn't really see what Champ Car brought to the table, except maybe a couple of teams to help fill out fields. I don't think Champ Car racing (or the IRL for that matter) is particularly attractive to the average American race fan.
So here it is, 2009, everyone's back together, and what do we have? Very little difference in my estimation. And by that I mean the obvious: very little interest from most racing fans with very little opportunity for growth.
That, I think, is the key. I have seen some very close finishes in recent IRL oval races -- three-wide for the win and the like. But, to be honest, even they never really generated much excitement in me. It's hard to be excited about a series where the drivers have almost no fan base. And contriving a false "Danica-Mania!" isn't going to cut it.
There is a lot of talk in Indy Car circles about sponsors and teams and car owners and venues... but I've seen very little focus on finding ways to generate enthusiasm amongst fans, sans maybe a couple of ill-fated advertising campaigns ("I am INDY", anyone?). What we have seems to be a series that has relegated itself to "club" status -- racing for each others' money and that's about it.
With the growing number of entertainment options available today, it's hard to see how the Indianapolis 500 is going to survive this poor leadership long into the future.
500 Ratings Down, Trucks Up
Posted by: | CommentsFox Sports reported that its coverage of the 51st Daytona 500 earned a 9.2 rating, down almost 10% from last year's race which earned a 10.2 rating. The steep decline was blamed on rain washing out the event's last 48 laps. Fox says the final laps typically draw the most viewers.
Nevertheless, the race averaged 16 million viewers, just above the NBA Finals and more than twice that of last year's Indianapolis 500.
Meanwhile, ratings for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series opener -- also at Daytona -- posted a 20% increase over last year's race. SPEED televised the Friday night race won by Todd Bodine.
NASCAR and Fox have been consistently pushing the start time for the 500 back the past several years. The intention is to move the race closer to primetime and pick up more West Coast viewers. The downside is what we saw on Sunday: fewer options for completing the race when rain moves in. As such, they lost the highest-rated part of the race. In 2000, the race was scheduled to start at 12:15pm. This year the green flag dropped after 3:30pm.
Daytona International Speedway added a lighting system in 1998 for its July 400-mile race.
