After dominating nearly every road circuit this year, Power’s lack of oval experience and skill caught up to him in the end. Dario Franchitti’s consistency all season long, as his strong performances on the oval circuits , allowed him to chase down Will Power and take the 2010 IZOD IndyCar Series Championship for the second year in a row. Even more impressive is to consider that Dario spent the 2008 season experimenting with NASCAR, but the year prior, 2007, Dario again won the championship. That means Dario has won the…
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IndyCar – One Freaky Friday!
So as we were sitting here just waiting for the season to end, we figured that most of the news bombshells would likely be waiting for after the Year-End Banquet. Well, we were wrong! There was a ton of stuff that went down yesterday, some of it not so good unfortunately. Here’s a quick rundown of yesterday’s events. Saavedra is Back After he jilted Bryan Herta Autosport on race day morning of the Firestone Indy Lights race at Chicagoland Speedway, it was assumed by most of us in the fandom…
Read MoreTV – Weekend Racing Schedule for Sept 24, 25, and 26.
Formula 1 is back on track! …well, such as the track may be. The Singapore GP is this weekend, and it really is a great spectacle, even if the racing action is junk. Being on the opposite side of the planet as the US is mitigated a bit by the fact that the race will be at night. The practice, qualifying, and race will be broadcast by Speed at sensible times of the morning. Cool! Formula 1 cars under the lights, even if the racing isn’t great, is always a…
Read MoreOpEd – How important are aesthetics anyway?
Discussion of the DeltaWing concept has arisen once again, and also once again at the instigation of Gordon Kirby who wrote an article Rediscovering racing’s true self, and Peter De Lorenzo via his article IndyCar’s death warrant. In these articles, Kirby and De Lorenzo dote on the DeltaWing and its superior engineering concepts. When one talks with a typical race fan about the DeltaWing, however, what one hears most often is something along the lines of, “It’s a brilliant engineering exercise, but …well… it’s ugly isn’t it.” Is the look…
Read MoreOpEd – Thoughts on FLD’s Most Influential Drivers
You’ve already seen this video, because you already watch Fast Lane Daily religiously, right? RIGHT? Well, if you don’t you should! In their latest episode, they go through the history of motorsport and select the top five most influential drivers. If you missed it, here’s the vid. In summary, the top five most influential according to FLD: Aytron Senna Rodger Penske Dale Earnhart, Sr. Dan Gurney James Garner as Pete Aaron I think they make some compelling arguments, but I also think they got it a bit wrong if we’re…
Read MoreTV – Weekend Racing Schedule for Sept 3rd, 4th, and 5th
The schedule this weekend is considerably lighter than it was last weekend, but then most weekends are. Last week was almost too much! …nah, there is no such thing as too much motorsports. This week, though, we do get a bit of a breather. IndyCar Racing arrives at the extremely competitive 1.5-mile Kentucky Speedway. Last year Ed Carpenter nearly pulled off a David-and-Goliath story against Penske driver and then championship leader Ryan Briscoe. Ryan just barely nosed ahead of Ed to score the win. Last week’s race at Chicagoland Speedway…
Read MoreEpisode 54 – Openpaddock.net Podcast
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Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadJoin Mike and myself as we review Chicago and a great race at Spa! We also have PT at DRR and Sarah Fisher taking Graham Rahal for Kentuckey, as well as a number of manufacturers wanting to go rally. So as always, sit back with a beverage of your choice and enjoy our humble ramblings on all things motorsport…and some things not!
Read MoreF1 – Could Spa Switch to Every Other Year?
To paraphrase the stunned and dismayed youngster who confronted Shoeless Joe Jackson after the infamous 1919 Black Sox incident, “Say it ain’t so, Spa!” The president of the Spa-Franchorchamps circuit, Etienne Davignon, admitted to Belgian newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws that the Belgian Grand Prix would likely become a once-every-other-year event. “We have already been congratulated by F1 boss, Bernie Ecclestone. The facilities we have here are perfect. I have said in previous years though we will look at the figures and examine them year-on-year. We have certain overall targets in…
Read MoreIndyCar – Paul Tracy Back In The Saddle
Paul Tracy will be back in the #24 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing car at Kentucky and Motegi in replacement of the still convalescing Mike Conway. Tracy had ran at Watkins Glen for DRR earlier this year, and had driven for KV Racing Technologies in the two Canadian races. With as dodgy as the action was at Chicago, this weekend’s race at Kentucky could get extremely interesting with PT in the mix. I say this for a couple of reasons. First, because PT is …well… because he’s PT. Let’s face it,…
Read MoreTV – Weekend Racing Schedule for August 27, 28, and 29th
FORMULA 1 RETURNS! MOTOGP RETURNS! INDYCAR OVAL RACING RETURNS! Its a great weekend to be a racing fan with access to cable TV. At long last, the Formula 1 returns from holiday to compete at one of the most epic racing circuits on the planet: Spa-Francorchamps! Spa is always a good show, especially if the rains come as forecasted. The shorter MotoGP break is also over and the riders return to Indianapolis. Sadly, I will be watching on TV this year, rather than being at the track. I’m gutted about…
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