Episode 37 – Open Paddock Podcast

Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadJoin Mike and me as we cover my thoughts on Kansas as well as some driver updates for the 500. We jump into a little F1 with Ferrari and China. Who doesn’t want to see more Chinese Grand Prix action! ;-P Sit back with one of your favorite beverages and enjoy our random rambling.

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IndyCar – Night Before the 500

This year’s Memorial Day weekend will be an even larger speedfest than usual for fans of open-wheel racing. For the past seven years, the Firestone Indy Lights series has had their Firestone Freedom 100 race on Carburetion Day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. In addition, there’s also plenty of midget and sprint car action throughout central Indiana the weekend of the 500. Most famously are the Night Before The 500 USAC midget race at O’Reilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis and the Little 500 at Anderson Speedway in Anderson, IN. This…

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Kansas Review – Open Paddock Podcast

Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadJoin Mike and Doug as they discuss the IndyCar race in Kansas. Doug was on hand for the weekend and took some amazing shots at the track and tells Mike all about the events over the weekend. Very special thanks to Doug for going out and taking some just beautiful shots of the IZOD IndyCar drivers and cars in anger! Be sure to also check out the photo gallery on a regular basis for the latest shots out of Kansas!

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IndyCar – Kansas Retrospective

Let’s be honest. We may have seen the last open-wheel race at the Kansas Speedway. The track is very capable of producing great racing. If you read my preview posts discussing the history of the IZOD IndyCar Series in Kansas City, you already know that. The track is the home of some of the closest finishes and most exciting racing in the history of IndyCar racing under Indy Racing League sanction. However, the event in recent years has been poorly promoted, and as a result its been poorly attended. Estimates…

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IndyCar – Live From Kansas: Quals Review

The rains from the morning finally ceased and the Kansas Speedway crew broke out the parade of trucks and the jet blowers to try and dry out the saturated track. As a result, IZOD IndyCar Series officials decided to push back the start time for qualifications from 4:30pm to 5:15pm. The delay was designed to allow teams and drivers to get at least two hours of practice time earlier in the afternoon, which was very welcome for all the competitors. Well, all perhaps except for Mario Romancini who backed his…

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IndyCar – Live from Kansas: Friday Morning

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,…

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Episode 36 – Open Paddock Podcast

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

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IndyCar – 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…

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IndyCar – 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…

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IndyCar – 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…

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