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Indy Notes - May 5th - Tracy schools the rookies

The Indy 500 on-track activities have begun.  Well, sort of.  The “Rookie” orientation program was run today at the Brickyard, with a few non-rookies running refresher courses. Most notably, Paul Tracy and Scott Sharp were in action today, putting on a little competition for the fastest lap by the “old guys”. Tracy ended up posting the best lap of the day at 223.089 mph.

“I am just excited to be back on track,” Tracy said. “The GEICO - KV Racing Technology team did a great job today. The mechanics, the engineers, everyone on the team did great. The first few laps were a little hair-raising, but the car was good, just like Jimmy Vasser said it would be, so I just had to keep my foot down. I want to thank GEICO, Kevin Kalkhoven, my personal sponsor Monster and Firestone and Honda, who are all contributing to this program, as well as everyone who is involved on the team for making this an exciting day for me.”

The top time by Tracy was not a huge surprise. The 2003 Champ Car champion has plenty of previous experience at the brickyard, and raced well in a Dallara last year at Edmonton.

Scott Sharp returned to Indy for the first time since 2007, and put up fast times today as well in his Panther entry. Sharp won the pole in 2001, and more than knows the fast way around Indy.

Robert Doornbos continues to impress the Indy Car world with his ability to learn the ovals quickly. After qualifying in the front row at Kansas, Doornbos posted third quick time on his first day ever on the 2.5 mile oval.

PRACTICE TIMES 5/5/09
1 - Paul Tracy - 223.089
2 - Scott Sharp - 221.878
3 - Robert Doornbos - 221.735
4 - Raphael Matos - 218.613
5 - Alex Tagliani - 218.333
6 - Mike Conway - 217.063
7 - Nelson Phillippe - 214.786
8 - Alex Lloyd - 213.032
9 - Stanton Barrett - 207.522

Paul Tracy quote credit: KV Racing PR

Indy Notes - May 2nd Edition

This weekend in Indianapolis is a little like the quiet before the storm.  The drivers, teams and officials of the IRL and the city of Indianapolis are all gearing up for the 93rd edition of The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.

Paul Tracy returns to the fray in Indy Car racing for KV Racing, and will compete at Indianapolis for the first time since that fateful day in 2002 when he un-won the 500 mile race.

Paul’s return comes with a good dose of humor, but also with a slight chip on his shoulder.  On PaulTracy.com the Canadian quipped, “Indy is important to me because I feel like I won the race in 2002, but a decision was made otherwise. I look around my home and it’s the one trophy that has escaped me, so I am looking forward to returning to the 500 and taking another shot at it. People close to me know my passion for the history of racing and it’s no secret that the Indy 500 is the biggest race in the world, so a win for me, GEICO and KV Racing is our goal.”

Danica Patrick’s Dallara will have a new look for the month of May and the remainder of the 2009 season.  She will be driving and orange and black car sponsored by Boost Mobile.

The big unveiling of the new livery took place at Indianapolis International Airport where Patrick sped around on the tarmac.

Others returning to Indy this May

AJ Foyt IV is back in action for Indy in 2009.  AJ drove in recent years at Indianapolis for Vision racing as a full time drive.  Foyt IV returns this year, driving for his grandad in a one-off.

Paul Page, who’s voice I knew as the “voice of the Indy 500″ growing up, will be back in the radio booth for the race this year.  Paul commented about this on his personal blog this week.

Davey Hamilton will run a car for Kingdom Racing in a partnership with Dreyer and Reinbold racing.  This will be Davey’s ninth Indy 500.

Dixon rides the wind to victory in Kansas

Scott Dixon mastered the windy conditions at Kansas Speedway on Sunday to win the Road Runner Turbo Indy 300 in dominating fashion. Dixon rebounded strongly from two poor finishes at the street courses of St. Petersburg and Long Beach to give Target/Chip Ganassi racing a third straight win at the Kansas oval.

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Rahal saves the best for last, takes Kansas pole

Graham Rahal was last in line for qualifying, but will be on pole for the Road Runner Turbo Indy 300 at Kansas Speedway on Sunday. Rahal drove the #02 McDonalds car to a four lap average of 211.311 mph.

Rahal’s late qualifying draw was fortunate, because as the track got faster and faster as the session went on. The session began late due to a large amount of oil and fluid on the track left by a NASCAR race truck the blew a motor during their session that preceded the Indy Car qualifying session.  The cleanup lasted almost 45 minutes.

Early in the qualifying session, Scott Dixon set the time to beat at 210.220 mph. Dixon’s time was beaten by Target teammate, Dario Franchitti, who ran a four lap average of 210.967. Franchitti’s held the provisional pole until Rahal’s run the finished the session, landing him in the second spot. However, Franchitti’s time was thrown out by Indy Racing League officials because he broke series rules crossed below the white line during his run.

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Dixon leads Indy Car Kansas practice

Scott Dixon set fast time in Indy Car practice at Kansas Speedway in preparation for the Road Runner Turbo Indy 300 coming up on Sunday. Dixon drove the Target car to a speed of 211.980 mph, turning in a lap on the 1.5 mile oval in 25.8137 seconds.  The Target/Chip Ganassi team has a strong history at the Kansas track, having won the race with Dan Wheldon at the wheel for the last two years in a row.

The top 10 cars in practice were all within .15 seconds of each other, showing the incredible parity in the series this year.  With stricter technical rules on ovals this year, the teams will have to work hard to gain hundredths of seconds at tracks like Kansas.

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Indy Car Kansas Practice

The Indy Car Series takes on the first oval of 2009 at Kansas.  Watch the live streaming video at IndyCar.com or click here: http://indycar.neulion.com/indy/console.jsp

Kansas features the return of two more female drivers.  Milka Duno and Sarah Fisher join the action this week.

Also look for a couple of new paint jobs for two series regulars.  Last week’s winner, Dario Franchitti, in a blue Nicorette car.  Marco Andretti is reported to be a black #26 car this week as well.

Indy Car Kansas Preview

The Indy Car Series shifts gears this week, leaving the narrow street course of the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach to tackle the first oval of the year at the Road Runner Turbo Indy 300 at Kansas Speedway.  The event outside of Kansas City is a 1.5 mile tri-oval that lends itself to side-by-side racing which will be quite a contrast from the opening races at St. Pete and Long Beach.

Sarah Fisher Racing will be joining the Indy Car action this week with Fisher at the wheel.  Fisher racing is a part time Indy Car team that will run at Kansas and the Indianapolis 500, with hopes of running a couple more oval events later in the season.   Dollar General has stepped up for Fisher this year, which will give her a lot of confidence going into Indy that she can put together a good effort.

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Indy Car’s wild weekend at Long Beach

The Indy Car series made it’s first visit to the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach this weekend, and put on a great show in what turned out to be a wild weekend both on and off the track.

Dario Franchitti of Target/Chip Ganassi Racing posted a fantastic run on Sunday afternoon to outrun Will Power and Tony Kanaan and drive to his first victory at Long Beach.

In the post-race press conference, Franchitti said, “Yeah, the Target cars do have a great history here. Jimmy (Vasser) won in ‘96, and ‘97, and (Juan Pablo) Montoya in ‘99. I finished second to (Alex) Zanardi in ‘98, and Montoya in ‘99.

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Indy Car’s freaky friday

Wow, what a day!  The Indy Cars invaded Long Beach for the first time, Paul Tracy inked a deal to run in the Indy 500, and Helio Castroneves flew to Long Beach today to race in a third Penske car after being acquitted in his much ballyhooed court case.   Friday was a little on the freaky side today, but it was good.

The day got started with a 90 minute morning practice session that kind of got started slowly.   A number of drivers had never driven on the Long Beach circuit, and seemed to be tippy toeing around to get a feel for it.  The Newman/Haas/Lanigan team, to little surprise, posted some quick numbers early in the session.  But as the session continued, the Target and Penske guys started posting some quick times, too.  Dario finished quickest in the session, followed by Ryan Briscoe, and Mario Moraes.

But the biggest news of the first session today had nothing to do with the on-track action.  With about 30 minutes to go in the session, the news broke that the Miami jury that sat in on the Helio Castroneves case had come back with an acquittal on six of seven charges, and that the seventh charge was deadlocked in a hung jury.  Castroneves was freed, and Long Beach was abuzz.

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Long Beach Preview: Indy Car’s return to the beach party!

Long Beach, California has become famous for, amongst other things, hosting the biggest beach party in the world for 34 years straight, The Long Beach Grand Prix. This storied race is famous for fast cars, and an incredible atmosphere that draws over 100,000 fans every year.

The Long Beach Grand Prix debuted in 1975 as a Formula 5000 race, and became a stop on the Formula 1 schedule for eight years, starting in 1976. However, Long Beach gained its popularity in the 80’s and 90’s as an Indy Car race where the likes of Mario Andretti, Al Unser Jr., Michael Andretti, Paul Tracy and Alex Zanardi all competed and won. The Grand Prix became one of the biggest events on the schedule, and has maintained its status as the crown-jewel of street races in the states. The race became part of the history of the open-wheel split in recent years, but that’s a saga that has come to a close.

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