Rebuilding the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race Opening Up The Rules One aspect of the 500 that drew in crowds of fans, competitors, and manufacturers was that the rules were open enough for teams to build their own car and develop their own innovations. If the current culture of IndyCar racing had existed in mid-20th century, we would never have had seen diesel power, turbo chargers, that amazing gas turbine engine, and most amazing of all no wings. We would still be running front-engine, naturally-aspirated, carbureted roadsters all made by the…
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OP-Ed – Rebuilding the 500 – Part 1 of 5 – Intro
Rebuilding the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race An Introduction A few weeks back, I posted the article, The Role of a Series, arguing that most successful series throughout the history of motorsports, including American open-wheel racing, were successful because they had one marquee race that everyone in the racing world wanted to win. Sportscar racing has the 24-Hours of Le Mans, stockcar racing has the Daytona 500, Formula 1 has Monaco, off-road racing has the Baja 1000, and rally has the Dakar (Da Argentina now?). American open-wheel racing has always had…
Read MoreIndyCar – IZOD Becomes Title Sponsor
For at least a couple of years running, Terry Angstad has told us after each season that the IndyCar Series was close to inking a deal with a title sponsor. The problem is that deal never materialized. The rumor recently was that IZOD was being sought after to be the title sponsor for 2010 and beyond, and that they were close to inking a deal. Call me a skeptic, but I wasn’t buying it. Sure, I believed that the league was working towards a deal, but I wasn’t going to…
Read MoreMotoGP – Race Day at Indianapolis
Race day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the 2nd running of the Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix, the twelfth stop on the MotoGP schedule. There was no way the weather could have been worse than last year as the remnants of Hurricane Ike slammed into the Speedway shortening the 125cc and GP races, and canceling the 250cc race, but no one expected the weather to be as absolute gorgeous as it was. Sunrise on Sunday morning found many fans shivering and wrapped up in blankets and jackets as temperatures…
Read MoreMotoGP – Saturday Qualifying
The weather during morning warmup was unseasonably cool, again. However, this is likely a good thing since Race Day will be even cooler. It gave the teams perhaps a chance at guessing the grip level correctly for the race and qualification. Tyre degradation was an issue all morning long, and during qualifications. Neither the tyres or the cool weather seemed to phase Dani Pedrosa in the slightest, as he set a new track record of 1’40.271″ during FP2 in the morning. During qualifications, he set a new track record again…
Read MoreIndyCar – Richmond Highlights
IndyCar – Indy 500 Parting Shot
The banquet is over, the teams have packed up and everybody is gearing up for Milwaukee this weekend. Helio climbed the fence on Sunday, ending an idyllic month of May for himself and for Team Penske. It tends to be a bit of a surprise when the strongest car all month actually goes on to get the milk bath, but Penske didn’t put a foot wrong in preparation for the May classic and their detailed preparation payed off. This year saw a noticeable increase in attendance (from my vantage point),…
Read MoreIndyCar – Dust Settles at IMS
Earlier today, an article by Robin Miller at SpeedTV.com was published that stated that Tony George had been ousted by a vote of the board comprised mainly of his family as CEO of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Later, they rephrased the title to “Transition at IMS” and added the speedway’s rebuttal to their article. SI.com, the IBJ and Channel 6 all got involved in the act, but at the end of the day, we have had no confirmation that Robin Miller’s assertions were correct. The article on SpeedTV has not…
Read MoreTony George Denies Removal
IndyCar – Not So Fast Miller!
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway has released a statement debunking the speedtv.com article put up by Robin Miller earlier today. Here is their statement: At a regular meeting of the board of directors of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Tuesday, May 26, board members asked Tony George, chief executive officer of the IMS companies, to devise a plan for management of Hulman and Company, the Indy Racing League, Clabber Girl and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway that would allow him to focus on the business which requires the greatest attention. This plan…
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