IndyCar – Pole Speed Predictions: We Set the Line

For the past three years, the race at the Kansas Speedway has preceded the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race. I started to notice a trend, and thought I’d explore it further. Yes, I hear you statisticians out there, three data points does not make a statistically significant sample. Well, I’m running with it anyway. I thought I’d look back at the races since 2001 and see if there was a relationship between the speeds we see at Kansas and the speeds we see at Indianapolis. Sure enough, after deftly applying various…

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Op-Ed – The Rules Are Clear! …clear as the Muddy Mo.

The crown jewel of Formula 1, the historic Monaco Grand Prix, took place this past weekend and as usual the race was filled with lots of interesting happenings except for actual racing. …ok, there was Alonzo who was simply brilliant, but that’s only a single data point, not a trend. You can hear Shaun and Mike dissect the race later this week in Podcast Ep 39, but I want to take some time to analyze the mayhem that happened at the end of the race. With just a handful of…

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F1 – Grand Prix of Monaco

This weekend Formula 1 was on its grandest stage of all with the Monaco Grand Prix. Red Bull Racing was able to take yet another pole position with Mark Webber carrying momentum from the Spanish Grand Prix. However, we all know that Monaco can yield some surprising results and nothing would be a guarantee. Those surprises would not creep up this weekend as Mark Webber dominated his second event in a row. The Australian led flag to flag in what would be a Red Bull Racing 1-2. The result would…

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Episode 38 – Open Paddock Podcast

Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadJoin me and Doug as we discuss last weeks motorsports and look ahead to this weekend. IndyCar, F1 and Rally news for you to digest. So as always, sit back with your favorite and enjoy!

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Innovation, Spec Racing & GP2 Cars Outclassing Their Big Brothers

GP2 Cars Faster than the Cosworth End of the F1 Grid A curious thing happened today in Monaco. Several of the GP2 cars put in faster laps than some of the new F1 teams. F1 is the undisputed pinnacle of modern motorsport with fantastically large budgets, while GP2 is a spec feeder series. As eloquently put by Flavio Briatorre, “There are teams in F1 who are only two seconds quicker compared to GP2 teams and they are spending 60-70 million while GP2 costs three million. Something’s wrong there.” Just imagine…

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IndyCar – Good News for Tags

When you listen to our Podcast – Episode 38, you’ll hear Shaun and I talk about some scary news that broke in Racer Magazine that Alex Tagliani was admitted on Tuesday night into the Intensive Care Unit of Indianapolis Methodist Hospital with apparent respiratory issues, severe congestion and persistent coughing. Word was that it wasn’t pneumonia, but the exact cause of the ailment was otherwise unknown. Indeed some extremely nerve wracking times. Our thoughts and prayers certainly went out to Tags yesterday, as they continue to do today, but this…

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Road to Indy – Test Results Are In!

Wednesday and Thursday of last week, the US F2000 National Championship presented by Cooper Tires powered by Mazda and the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear held a test on the 5/8-mile oval at O’Reilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis. For many of the drivers, this was not just their first time driving on an oval circuit, it was their first time BEING at an oval circuit! That didn’t seem to intimidate some as some blindingly quick times were posted. US F2000 Test Of the teams that tested at ORP on…

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