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Paul Tracy and Barry Green reunite for 2010 Indy 500

Paul Tracy tweeted some news news today revolving around 2010 Indy 500 effort that Barry Green is going to wire up the ol’ headset and call race strategy for Mr. Chrome Horn in the duo’s attempt at winning the Indy 500 for a second time. Ok…. In reality Paul is still vying for a first win at the Brickyard, while Green seeks to put an exclamation point on the 1995 Indy win he captured with with Jacques Villeneuve. Speaking of 1995, that race finish was nearly as controversial as the 2002 race, so Green has gotten both ends of the proverbial stick when it comes to winning and losing the Greatest Spectacle In Racing.

This reunion puts Tracy with his former team owner from the FedEx Championship Series (a.k.a. CART) when he drove for Team KOOL Green. Tracy said that the two have “unfinished” business to tend to at the Brickyard. But can Tracy pull the rabbit out of the hat, beat the likes of Ganassi and Penske, and exorcise the ghosts of the 2002 race? Doubtful, of course. I wonder, though, what kind of celebratory exhibition Paul Tracy might put on if he were to somehow win the 500 mile race.

He’s had a long time to think about it.

USA Today also has a real news story about these developments: Barry Green to work with Paul Tracy in Indy 500

MotoGP Spanish GP an instant classic as Lorenzo charges to victory

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If you saw the MotoGP race this morning on SPEED, you probably won’t need coffee to get amped up for your Sunday activities. Jorge Lorenzo came out of nowhere in an adrenalin-pumping ride to win the Spanish Grand Prix with a thrilling last-lap pass on fellow countryman Dani Pedrosa.

The buzz around this race was huge, with over 120,000 fans packing into the Jerez circuit. This race is the Super Bowl of motorcycle racing for Spain, and it was an instant classic. As the field took the green light, Dani Pedrosa defended his pole position starting spot to take the early lead. He was followed by Valentino Rossi, Nicky Hayden, and Jorge Lorenzo as the field accelerated out of turn one. Ben Spies also had a good start as he improved from his eighth starting position to sixth with some brilliant moves.
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Hayden happy to be in one piece after a big tumble in Spain

Earlier today I joked in a post that the Ducati boys are getting familiar with the gravel in the early part of the 2010 season after Nicky Hayden took a spill in Saturday morning practice. What I didn’t realize until late in the day (due to lack of coverage available here in the United States), is the accident was pretty major, and Hayden was very fortunate to have walked away with just abrasions and bruises.

It is remarkable that after taking a fall at 130 mph that Hayden got up and rode again to a fifth place grid position only two hours later.

Hayden talked about his crash with SpeedTV.com. “I was bouncing and rolling and thinking man, stay awake, stay awake with every tumble,” Hayden said. “I hit my head pretty hard and my helmet is trashed. Every time I hit my head I thought OK, I’m awake.”

That comment really brings a reality to the dangers these guys face every time they get on the bike.

More on Hayden’s take on the accident: Hayden Talks About Terrifying 132-mph Crash

Scott Dixon is again the king of Kansas

The fans at Kansas Speedway today experienced an episode of Déjà vu as they watched Scott Dixon run away with the Road Runner Turbo Indy 300 for the second year in a row. Dixon led the most laps in a race that started out with a tight and competitive run at the front, and ended with a total blowout by the New Zealander.

The only thing that made the latter part of the race interesting were a string of yellows that kept the field in touch with the leader. But as the race came to a close, Dixon had 18 Honda push-to-pass “shots” with only 15 laps to go, and it was his race to lose. And for a guy with ice-water in his veins, it was a walk in the park.

The field took the green at about 2 p.m. ET, and I was amazed to see a nicely formed field of 2-by-two race cars. That’s how a race start is supposed to look, and a huge improvement over the sloppy starts of the past few races.
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Pedrosa surprises field and thrills crowd in MotoGP Spanish GP qualifying

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Dani Pedrosa provided his countrymen a thrill today at Jerez with a brilliant pole position performance in qualifying for the MotoGP Spanish GP. His lap of 1:39.202 was almost three-tenths faster than Jorge Lorenzo’s best effort.

“It’s always nice to get pole position and especially here because it is my home race and the support from the fans is amazing, so I’m very happy for them”, said Pedrosa after qualifying. “I really didn’t expect this pole to be honest, but I was pushing very hard so I’m very pleased about it.”

Casey Stoner qualified third after posting fast time in practice yesterday despite a Friday practice fall. The Ducati team made some changes to Stoner’s bike that didn’t work out so well and put him out of pole contention.
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Oval opener brings reversal of fortune during Indy Car Kansas qualifying

Indy Car has finally been un-caged this week, set free from the narrow concrete-canyons of Sao Paulo and Long Beach and unleashed on the tri-oval at Kansas Speedway. And with this change in scenery comes a change at the front of the grid, and tonight there are a bunch of drivers breathing deep sighs of relief to be back in the Midwest on an oval. Others that have had so much success early in the season have been left scratching their heads and wondering how they went from the front to the back.

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Stoner fastest and crashy-est again during Jerez practice

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So what’s up with Casey Stoner? The wickedly fast Ducati rider and former world champ is becoming more familiar with the various type of gravel found in the runoff areas of tracks all over the world. Stoner found the gravel today in Jerez, Spain during Friday practice at the MotoGP Spanish Grand Prix. This follows a similar crash during the race a few weeks ago in Qatar, a miscue that cost him a podium finish and quite possibly a win.

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Indy Car’s new three-tiered championship a good move but is no magic pill

The talk amongst Indy Car fans today was the announcement by the IRL that they will be adding two new championship titles to the series. The head honcho, Randy Bernard, declared that the series will be adding a “road course” championship and an “oval” championship to the agenda for 2010. That means this weekend’s race in Kansas will be the inaugural race for the yet to be named “oval” championship. Additional, they say that these two new titles will be named by the fans, although they haven’t announced how that will happen yet. Perhaps the oval championship trophy might be named “The Foyt Cup”, or the “Harroun Trophy” (and while this fan involvement is great, I think a better idea would be to find title sponsors for each cup).
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MotoGP Notes - Volcanos, semi-production bikes and FIAT’s pushing of Rossi to Ferrari F1

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MotoGP finds itself in an off week, but not because of an empty weekend in the 2010 calendar, but due to the fallout of volcano Eyjafjallajökull. Who could have predicted this? An ash cloud the size of Valentino Rossi’s trophy case disrupted air traffic so much that MotoGP had no choice but to postpone the Japan round scheduled for this weekend. But this turn of events hardly leaves us without anything to talk about.

The buzz lately in MotoGP revolves around the push by FIAT to see Valentino Rossi in an F1 car next year. The thinking behind this crazy idea is that Ferrari will somehow lobby F1 to allow a third car, because current regulations require 2-car teams in the constructors’ championship. I can’t see the FIA bending the rules for this situation in a manner that would fit FIAT’s wishes.
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Jeff Gordon vs. Jimmy Johnson - Here’s hoping for a sequel

During Monday’s Last rain-postponed Texas race a gimpy Denny Hamlin scampered off with the ol’ cowboy hat and his first win of 2010, a remarkable feat for a guy who went under the knife for knee surgery only three weeks prior. But the other bit of news that developed during the Texas 500 was a little tiff between Jeff Gordon and Jimmy Johnson that was sparked by a turn 4 incident in the middle of the race.

If you didn’t see it, Gordon and Johnson were battling wheel to wheel with 94 laps to go, and Gordon made an aggressive move on the low side of Johnson. Coming onto the flat part of the race track the two got together resulting in a crushed left front fender on Johnson’s Impala that eventually caused his left front tire to fail a number of laps later.

It looked to me like Johnson didn’t leave Gordon much racing room, and pinched the 24 down a little bit. And Gordon wasn’t giving up any room either. And in radio exchanges that followed, Jeff wasn’t thrilled about the situation. He keyed up and said, “He must want to be treated differently than everybody else.” Whoa, harsh words from the usually polished Gordon.
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