Dual in Detroit Preview: Forget That Motor City

Photo from toledoblade.com

Already at the halfway point of the season thanks to Brazil‘s cancellation, Toronto’s contraction and an absurdly abbreviated schedule,  IndyCar heads north to its dominant dynamo’s dwelling in destitute, dead-beat and derelict Detroit. Hardly the hub of America’s much less the world’s motor industry since at least the 1970s, today the city’s a bankrupt, decaying embarrassment – an open sore on an unhealthy nation. Oh well, at least a Honda probably won’t win this weekend.

Photo from idelectus.com

Crumbling old Detroit is a relic, a taxpayer bailed-out husk of a once great city. It’s a case study in decades of extremely poor one party rule and union control. It’s also where Roger Penske made his millions and since it’s easier to make a quick buck on a street “race” or two than a real race down the road in the Irish Hills, then that’s where IndyCar races. Because the Cap’n wills it. Penske’s former pride and joy Michigan International Speedway – a tremendous two mile oval southwest of Detroit – hosted extraordinary open wheel racing on and off from 1968 until 2007. Sold to ISC by Penske in 1999, IndyCar disappeared from the schedule completely soon thereafter. It’s the story of IndyCar ovals in a nutshell.

Photo from michigan.org

So we prepare to watch two half assed races where top speeds are in the 160s and passing’s at a premium. Oh, we’re back to the winged aero kits this weekend too, so you might want to bring along a helmet if you’re attending in person.

Indy 500 Predictions and Prognostications: Humble Edition

Photo from indycar.com

The Indy 500 remains the most preeminent event on the American racing calendar, whether most people know it or not. Indy represents the high point of the IndyCar season and will be watched by several hundred thousand people at IMS and millions more on television around the globe. Disturbingly, for the first time in many years there exists real doubt surrounding driver and fan safety in the world’s biggest race. It’s a humbling thought, isn’t it?

Photo from Motorsports Snippets

We’re tempted to predict rain for the race on Sunday the way IndyCar’s year has gone so far. Let’s recap the first third of the season – a canceled opener in Brazil, an injured fan due to flying debris and a couple other races that nearly bored viewers to death. Now there’s the somersaulting car problem and most recently Hinch‘s serious injury, both troubling issues indeed. In reality a rain postponement – it’s in the forecast – which would bring out a smaller crowd and shrunken press coverage may be the safest outcome for a series in the midst of another crisis, humbled once again.

Photo from sports.usatoday.com

Conventional  wisdom holds the 500 will be a crash-fest – particularly if practice has been any indication – and it could well be. But we think not.

Indy 500 Qualifications Instant Reaction: Exorcism Edition

Photo from ap.org

An exceptionally odd weekend unfolded at Indianapolis Motor Speedway with weather, aero kit caused crashes and high level closed door meetings all playing large roles in the dada-esque Indianapolis 500 qualifications show. Somehow IndyCar pulled it off in a single afternoon without anyone getting hurt or too many thousands of fans growing irate. Qualifications Sunday were in fact uneventful and even boring, just as the series wanted after a harrowing few days of testing, rain forcing a compressed one day schedule and another scary crash in the final practice. Carpenter’s wreck damaged the wall, delayed proceedings past the television window and eventually changed the Indianapolis 500 mile race.

Photo from Motorsports Snippets

Decreased funding this year from Target helped Scott Dixon as the third driver on track put up the fastest speed of qualifications at 226.76 mph – over 3 miles per hour off last year’s pole. It’s the New Zealander’s second Indianapolis 500 pole – last time in 2008 he dominated the race and won. “I’m so damn happy – for this team,” he blurted after being forced to watch drivers target his speed all afternoon.

IndyCar News Week in Review: “Talkin’ ‘Bout Practice” Edition

Photo from motorsport.com

Misleading Speeds: Andretti Autosport’s cat-like Colombian Carlos Munoz topped the speed charts at Indy this week with a lap of 230.1 miles per hour on Wednesday. It’s a misleading number, however. Without tows from other cars the speeds had been in the high 220s, compliments of Helio, Pags and Chevy’s special new aero pieces. We stand by our prediction that there’ll be no new track records at Indianapolis this year, at least not in qualifying. Possibly in the number of back-flips by a car down the straightaway, though.

Photo from ap.org

Helio’s Bad Day: Wednesday’s practice got expensive and scary for Team Penske’s Helio Castro-Neves, who got sideways, hit the wall and then somersaulted down the straightaway ultimately landing upside down on track. Fortunately and thanks to the safety of the Dallara cars he was uninjured. All this after IndyCar slapped him with an iron fisted though admittedly tortoise-paced reprimand subtracting eight points. Talk about adding insult to injury. The penalty was for last Saturday’s punting of Dixie at the start of the Grand Prix of Indy and was deserved, if not obvious. It came four days later – now that’s some decisive decision making from race control for ya. 

IndyCar News Week In Review: Ishtar Edition

Photo from Getty Images

500 Field Fillers: Andretti Autosport got sportier for the month of May. Easter wishes came true for both big Brit Justin Wilson and Swiss Miss Simona de Silvestro who’ll drive for AA in the Indy 500, bringing the team’s total to five cars for the five hundred mile extravaganza. No announcement was made regarding the replacement of Marco in the car as of yet, though due to his dismal record of one win per decade we expect one at any time. On the bright side, at least Kurt Busch won’t be driving one of Michael’s rides this year.

Photo from flickr.com

The Aged at the Ancient: Like an old married couple, together for over fifty years and still going is the world’s greatest rock and roll band The Rolling Stones who’ll play at the Brickyard in July. At 106 years old, the Speedway’s a bit senior to Mick and the boys who now are in their seventh decade of existence. Having seen both, at this point in their respective careers we recommend IMS over IBS and the Stones.

Photo from Indy Race Reviewer

ABCs of Ovals: AJ Foyt Racing’s longtime sponsor ABC Supply Co. will sponsor the 500 mile IndyCar race at Pocono August 23.

IndyCar News Week in Review: Keep the Change Edition

Photo from racing.ap.org

In With The New: Eight drivers tested at Sebring this week, including the Penske Powerhouse tetrarchy of Power, Helio, Montoya and newcomer Pagenaud. The other veteran was SeBass, but new faces drew our attention. 2014 IndyCar winner Carlos Huertas and Venezuelan Rodolfo “Speedy” Gonzalez – who’s twenty eight and an unknown quantity –  tested Dale Coyne’s cars. Huertas drove for Dollar Dale in his rookie campaign while Gonzalez hasn’t driven an IndyCar for anyone, coming from the failed F1 team Marussia’s test program.

Photo from hoyvenezuela.info

Gonzo almost certainly brings some petro cash to the table from his basket case socialist paradise of a homeland where toilet paper is eternally in short supply. Ryan Phinny from LA tested KV’s second car and seems a perfect fit for fellow Californian Vasser while Swiss Miss Simona de Silvestro is rumored to be close to Andretti’s fourth seat. Sorry Conor, Zach and JWil – the few remaining seats in the series could be taken.

Photo from usatoday.com

Changing Numbers: 

IndyCar News Week in Review: Goaaal! Edition

Photo from blogs.wsj.com

UPDATE: AP is reporting the season opening IndyCar race scheduled in Brasilia, Brazil has been canceled by local authorities. The costly construction and renovations at the race course have been ongoing for some time and could well be the issue. This is truly a crisis for IndyCar and makes an already short season even shorter. We’ve offered alternatives to a race in Brazil as well as skepticism towards holding a race there for months now. It was another poor decision by the series to schedule a race in Brazil to begin with and now once again it’s the fans who suffer due to a further abbreviated schedule.

Photo from indycar.com

Brian Barnhart Battles Back: IndyCar announced Wednesday that Brian Barnhart will resume his former duties as Race Director. He’d served in that role from 1997 until 2011, after which ‘Beautiful’ Beaux Barfield took over due to controversies at New Hampshire and elsewhere. The system, described as being like a “jury,” will consist of three stewards who make the calls and assess the penalties collaboratively. Mindful of the anti-Barnhart and anti-IRL sentiment that exists in some quarters, we say anybody but Beaux.

Photo from indystar.com

Drivers’ Meeting in Indy: The Barnhart announcement was made at the winter drivers’ meeting at IMS. Of note were some of the drivers in attendance, including Americans Conor Daly and Zach Veach, British brothers Justin and Stefan Wilson, and Colombians Carlos Huertas and Sebastian Saavedra.

IndyCar’s Chopping Block: A Gory Recent History

Image from Indy Race Reviewer

It’s a bloody business ending people’s careers, although not so long ago it was a good deal worse when one’s fate literally rested in the executioner’s hands. At the risk of sounding unsympathetic or even – gasp! – ‘mean spirited,’ IndyCar’s a business and personnel changes are a grim but necessary aspect of the sport. Besides these folks get paid handsomely to ‘work’ in IndyCar, which would be a dream job for millions. Sentimentality aside, let’s cut to the chase and review the recent terminations and potential axing of some of IndyCar’s more recognizable faces.

Photo from autosport.com

Living the dream until lately, Sebastian Saavedra made fifty seven big league starts and has absolutely no results. Never coming close to a win, the quirky Colombian failed to crack the top five and only recorded three top tens in the equivalent of four seasons. He’s finished at the very bottom of the field with KVSH two years running now. You may recall his one highlight turned out to be a disaster, as pole position at the inaugural Indy Grand Prix led to a stall and spectacularly expensive carbon fiber shower. In SeSaav’s case as in others it was high time a quick cut was made.

Photo from foxsports.com

Ryan Briscoe had a decent IndyCar career over the last decade with seven wins, but it appears to be in the past tense.  

An Interview with Brian Carroccio Previewing IndyCar’s 2015 Season, pt 2

The conversation moved to one of our favorite topics, the Indianapolis 500. We asked Carroccio who he thought would win the ninety ninth running of the Greatest Spectacle in Racing.

Photo from heavy.com

BC: “Montoya. Penske is due for a win at Indy and Montoya was in my opinion the best driver in the three 500 milers last season. So, if I have to pick someone right now to win Indy give me JPM.”

Photo from sports.yahoo.com

IRR: Do you think Busch will be back with Andretti Autosport for Indy in light of his legal troubles? Should he be asked back to Indy?

BC: “To be honest, I haven’t followed the Busch case closely. It was sad to see that things went south for him, because at Indy last year he seemed to be in a really good place. Whatever ends up happening is a matter for the courts to decide. The one thing I’ll add is that last May went about as well as could have been expected for Andretti Autosport, KB and IndyCar. I was amazed how well Busch seemed to adapt and his approach was very professional. I think if they do give it a second go, it will be hard to replicate the success they had.”

Photo from zimbio.com

The IRR crew composed ourselves as best we could for the mere mention of Busch makes us fighting mad – though not nearly as angry as what would come next.

‘Dollar Dale’ Doesn’t Do Domestic Drivers, Despite No Discernible Dearth

Image from Indy Race Reviewer

Ever notice ‘Dollar Dale’ Coyne’s revolving door of drivers? Colorful, attractive, tempestuous and even successful every few years, there’s one thing the Coyne merry go ’round of British blondes and Venezuelan beauties never includes – that’s American drivers. Can you remember the last U.S. born pilot employed by DCR, an American team based out of Chicago? We can’t, although despite her utter lack of driving ability Milka Duno stands out in our memory for a couple of reasons.

Photo from reviews.careerreview.com