Wind, thunder, lightning, and hail. Welcome to springtime in Kansas! A line of storms are moving through the area this morning dumping copious amounts of rain on the speedway flooding most of the infield. Quarter-sized hail also pounded the track this morning. Expect the morning practice session to be terminated, and it’s not likely that the afternoon session will be a go, either. The storms should move out in time for qualifications, but with no practice time, drivers new and inexperienced with oval racing will be seriously disadvantaged. In fact,…
Read MoreMonth: April 2010
Episode 36 – Open Paddock Podcast
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadJoin Mike and I this week as we give a brief review of the Olympus Rally. We try to hash out IndyCar engine news and go over the landmark (yeah right) WRC 2011 calendar. We briefly talk F1 as the circus continues and Mike uses profanity…thats new! lol 🙂 Sorry Mike
Read MoreIndyCar – Kansas Preview: Revised aero could make for revived racing
The Story Thus Far The First Oval This weekends race at the Kansas Speedway will be the first oval event of the season, and will serve as the lead-in event to the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race at the end of May. Not only is this the first oval race of the this season, its also the first oval race for a number of rookie drivers to the series. [aside: it seems very strange to call Takuma Sato a “rookie”.] Takuma Sato, Simona De Silvestro, and Bertrand Baguette will compete for…
Read MoreIndyCar – Kansas Preview: Kansas Speedway 2007-2009
The Spring Years: 2007-2009 As exciting as the summer races at the Kansas Speedway were, the spring races have been lack-luster. During the 2007 race, the leaders ran away from the rest of the field. Dan Wheldon crossed the checkered and yellow flags ahead of the eventual season champion Indianapolis 500 winner Dario Franchitti as the race ended under caution. There was no doubt about who the winner was going to be, though. Dixon was definitely the class of the field that day. 3rd and 4th place finishers Helio Castroneves…
Read MoreIndyCar – Kansas Preview: Kansas Speedway 2001-2006
The Summer Years: 2001-2006 The first IZOD IndyCar Series race at the Kansas Speedway was held on July 8th, 2001. Those of you in the Midwest already know that no July 8th, surrounded by tarmac and concrete, it will be oppressively hot, and so it was for the first six races. Summertime in the Midwestern states, and especially in the central plains are brutal for both their high temperatures and high humidities. These conditions would challenge and tax both drivers and fans, but these years also produced some of the…
Read MoreIndyCar – Friday Night Sprints at Valley Speedway
Coming to Kansas City for the IZOD IndyCar Series race this weekend, or are you fortunate enough to live in the area? This Friday night, get in touch with the origins of open-wheel racing in the US, good ol’ fashion wingless sprint cars running around on a local 1/4-mile dirt track. On April 30th, Valley Speedway in Grain Valley, MO, will be featuring wingless 305 sprint cars, 1200cc lightning sprints, 600cc micro sprints, and Midwest mod-lites. Valley Speedway is a great small-town track with easy parking, great stands and facilities,…
Read MoreRally – Who is the Bigger Media Circus?
One of the exciting prospects we had heading into this year’s World Rally Championship was the two media circus drivers who would compete. Both Kimi Raikkonen and Ken Block had mega hype surrounding them as they announced their plans to compete at rally’s top flight, but the true question up to this point is who is the biggest of the media juggernauts? Kimi Raikkonen came over to the Citroen Junior Squad after a successful stint in Formula 1. The Finn would capture the 2007 championship during the first year of…
Read MoreIndyCar – Kansas Preview: A look at the history of open-wheel racing around Kansas City
History: An Interview with Kansas City Sprint Car Legend Luther Brewer: Open-wheel racing has always been a major part of the motorsports scene in Kansas and Missouri. After WWII, motorsports throughout the country exploded in popularity, and the MidWest was the center of sprint and midget car racing. That rich tradition hasn’t faded. Every week, you can find winged and wingless sprint cars doing battle on dirt ovals across the Kansas City area. I thought about trying to piece together a review of the sprint car history from around the…
Read MoreIndyCar – DeltaWing Announces Partnership With Milliken & Company
Many of you know that I’m not a big supporter of the DeltaWing effort, but understand that its not for any of the technological goals and philosophies of the group. I just can’t get past the tricycle appearance of the thing and the mundane performance specs for the engine. Of all the designs and proposals made public thus far, I must say that Swift Engineering is by far my favorite. The renderings of their proposed models look great, but that’s not their primary strength; it’s their technological expertise and partnerships…
Read MoreIndyCar – Kansas Preview: An introduction to open-wheel racing around Kansas City
Introduction: The IZOD IndyCar Series has been coming to the new Kansas Speedway since its opening in 2001. This year with be their 10th race at the 1.5-mile D-shaped oval track, and for the second time in a row it will be the first oval race of the season, and since 2007 it will be the lead-in event to the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race. So far this season, we’ve seen three street races and one road race, two of which were outstanding, one was still pretty good, and the last…
Read More