Out with the old………a year until “In with the new”. Well it is almost over, the year of 2010 is soon to be history like USAC overseeing the Indy 500. The year was dominated by Will Power who looked to be possibly finished after a horrific 2009 crash. It saw the decision on a new chassis for 2012. We got a new leader in Randy Bernard, gained new unity and respect. The series gained a real title sponsor, and even gained a new X-rated trophy for the winner of the…
Read MoreCategory: OP-Ed
Check out the opinions of the guys on the site and you the fans!! Post your own article here!
Indy Hump Day report, on the bubble: FESTIVUS
A New day for TK As a long time fan of racing, I love guys who give their all and leave nothing on the table. The IZOD INDYCAR Series has a few, Helio, Will Power, Paul Tracy, and Tony Kanaan. Just look at the start of the 2010 Indy 500 and that amazing opening run TK had. That is what I love in a racer, charge like Elwood Blues being chased by the police. (Let’s just hope TK does not fly into a mall toy store.) While TK and de…
Read MoreOpEd – The Knob
Throughout the past several years in IndyCar racing, the fuel knob has been a contentious point for fans, teams, drivers, and league officials. The cars had been run without the luxury of a fuel mixture knob until 2008, when it was reinstated. That lasted two years until in 2010 the league removed the knob in favour of a system where the cars could run full-rich, or leaned down for yellow-flag conditions. This ultimately put the job of fuel conservation into the hands (and feet) of the drivers. Those of us…
Read MoreINDYCAR – “It’s a New Track Record”, PR Bluff or Potential Reality?
Nothing tends to stir up a gaggle of Indy 500 fans more than hearing a recording of Tom Carnegie’s iconic pipes announcing another amazing feat of man and machine. Well, except that no new speed records have been set at Indy since 1996 maybe. Arie Luyendyk set the single lap record at 237.498 mph and the four lap average record at 236.986 that year. And since then, there has been a constant dialog between fans, series officials and media about whether 237+ is safe at IMS for the drivers and…
Read MoreIndy Hump Day Report, On the bubble: Final Exams
A few quick happy words This week is finals week for myself, and with that I have little time to write a column. So the December 15th edition of the Indy Hump Day Report will be brief. But just be warned I will have plenty of time over the next four weeks to write so expect some more in depth columns. First I am so happy that JR Hildebrand will be in the IZOD INDYCAR Series where he belongs. Not just because he was a great asset to the Indy…
Read MoreINDY Hump Day Report, On the bubble: American seats
THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK: Well, we entered another week with sponsorship announcements. Again the Penske Empire seems to just keep gaining financially on the competition this off season. Should anyone be shocked Penske just keeps upping the ante this off season? They (Penske) have now lost the INDYCAR Championship two seasons in a row at the last race. Penske is an operation that wants to travel the galaxy meet interesting and exotic tracks, drivers and teams, and conquer them. Darth Penske hates losing especially to his biggest rival of an…
Read MoreINDYCAR – On Sponsorships, Cherry Picking and Penske
There has been a litany of sponsorship announcements in the last few days coming from the Penske camp. First we heard of the Shell/Penzoil deal for Helio, then comes word that Meijer had jumped ship from Andretti, and today the announcement that IZOD has joined up with the Captain. Danny Sullivan once said that “When the music stops, Roger always has a chair.” Apparently its Michael Andretti’s. One would have to wonder what the mood is like in the Andretti Autosport shop the last few weeks. Shell/Penzoil’s return to open…
Read MoreGaming – Grand Turismo 5: First Impressions
As listeners of our podcast know, I am a big fan of the Grand Turismo series, and that I’ve also been very frustrated with the multiple delays of the release of GT5. Well, it is finally out! The game hit the shelves on November 24th, and yes, I ran out and got it that same day! So was it worth all the wait and extra development time? I’m not sure, but that’s not to say that GT5 isn’t a great game. Its just that I’m not sure the extra wait…
Read MoreSpell it ‘IZOD INDYCAR’ and just stop complaining!
Just a quick commentary on the new spelling of “INDYCAR”. So the last few years the series went from “IRL” to “IndyCar” Series. Well in 2010 the series got a title sponsor in IZOD. And notice it is spelled in all capital letters. Look it up, they are not “Izod” They always use all capitals in their logo and press releases. Just go to www.IZOD.com and notice in the “About IZOD” section. The corporation’s PR staff always spell it “IZOD” So when they made up the series logo (which is…
Read MoreINDY Hump Day Report, On the bubble: HIV/AIDS
Normally the Indy Hump Day Report is very humorous. Filled with insight and sarcasm. Today however is World AIDS day 2010. Having grown up in the shadows of Pocono Raceway, I became a massive racing fan watching the late Tim Richmond. Richmond while better known for his amazing talent behind the primitive wheel of a NASCAR stock car in the 1980’s got his big break in Open Wheel racing. Richmond was born into wealth, and in the mid 1970’s was given a chance to hop in a friends Sprint car.…
Read More