Please! We Need Randy to Succeed; RE: Schedule

Photo Credit: Speed

The 2012 IndyCar schedule is less than impressive. It doesn’t have anything that the average fan wants. I mean this, no history (other than Indy and Long Beach), and very few ovals. Remember when the series was all ovals. Well, that was under Tony George’s guidance. Since George left in 2009, the schedule has gone from a fairly balanced schedule to an unbalanced schedule. I know I’ve been kind of stupid in writing all these fantasy schedule articles but NOW is the time to get down to business in trying to get a good schedule. I don’t think any of this is Randy Bernard’s fault at all when he was introduced as IndyCar’s new CEO in 2010 he was left with a schedule that was already set and stone. In 2011, he added Las Vegas, Loudon, Milwaukee and Baltimore. Milwaukee was down on attendance. Loudon was the same. Obviously Vegas with Dan Wheldon’s passing. Baltimore was very successful. So it’s not an oh, Randy’s not trying type of question. He got stuck this year because of the safety of the 1.5 mile tracks in announcing this year’s schedule. He made a very smart decision last year in cutting Japan but then why would they go over to China in August? This is my thought; China has a ton of money and that’s what Randy wants. I think that is a great philosophy.  He brought back Detroit, although it’s not that great of a track, it still has a lot of feeling in IndyCar’s history.

Some of the tracks Randy has thrown around are:

• Fort Lauderdale, Florida- street course
• Chicagoland-oval
• Charlotte-oval
• Road America-road course
• Laguna Seca-road course
• Quebec City, Canada-street course
• Cleveland-airport course
• Houston-street course
• Porto Alegre, Brazil-street course
• Qatar-street course
• Mexico City- road course
• Watkins Glen-road course
• Phoenix-oval

Fort Lauderdale: This race is targeted to debut in 2013, to me this race makes zero sense. Yes, you have the sponsors but you already have a good race that makes money in south Florida (St. Petersburg).  If you add this race it won’t make much sense at all. It’ll be a bust.

Chicagoland: Chicagoland last had an IndyCar race in 2010. It was a major race on the schedule for years, but in 2011 ISC (NASCAR) decided to dump it. The race needs to be back.

Charlotte: The one and only time IndyCar raced there it was a disaster. Don’t go back!!

Road America: This is a legendary track for IndyCar and racing in general. If a struggling series (ChampCar) can keep that race going, I don’t see any problem with IndyCar running it.

Laguna Seca: The track is just like Road America on the history side but on the racing side its terrible, the track is way too tight its just like Barber, Infineon and Mid-Ohio. That track is great for motorcycles but not IndyCar’s. For all means, if you want to sleep for two and a half hours please watch an IndyCar/ChampCar race at Laguna.

Quebec City: Unlike Laguna Seca and Fort Lauderdale, this race makes sense for two reasons. First reason, Canada is huge. Two races isn’t enough for Canada. Canada is bigger then the United States of America. That explains a lot. Second reason is that rumor has it that the track is supposed to be just like Formula One’s Monte Carlo street circuit in Monaco. That is a great track, so if IndyCar can get a race up there that’s a huge success.

Cleveland: The mid-summer IndyCar classic needs to return. Just like Road America if a dying series can keep it alive why can’t IndyCar?

Houston: ChampCar went there for two years (2006 and 2007). The track sucks! But it does make sense to go there.

Porto Alegre: Just like my arguement for Canada, Brazil needs the same thing. The Sao Paulo street circuit is already a hit with the fans down there and the addition of Rubens Barrichello only helps that chance.

Qatar: All I say is NO!

Mexico City: Yes, yes, yes! ChampCar has had great races down there. Same arguement for Canada and Brazil with Mexico. Great track in Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.

Watkins Glen: In my opinion is one of the top road courses in North America, great market (northeast) and a great market.

Phoenix: Please bring this track back Randy! Its the roots of IndyCar!!

Some tracks that aren’t on that list that I would add are:

Michigan: Same as Phoenix

Surfers Paradise: Even if it seems like I’m Asia bias, I’m not. I’m saying its a waste of money. Go to Surfers Paradise, Australia at the end of the season as an Non-Championship event in late November or early December.

Portland: The great track in the northwest needs to comeback! CCWS raced there from 1984 to 2007, the race was a huge success out there. Growing the market out west is really important.

Richmond: They have held IndyCar races before and had good attendance and racing.

Kentucky: Bring it back great racing!

Loudon: Same as Kentucky!

Walt Disney: Please bring back the first ever race of the series, great little track.

We are going to say this happens in 2014, Randy Bernard’s last year as IndyCar’s CEO (as of this moment). Randy wants a 50-50 split with about 24 to 28 races. He hasn’t ruled out the possibility of starting before the Daytona 500. I think 24 is a good number to start this plan because it is right in Randy’s target area.

This is what we know:

LOCKS:Indy, Long Beach, Sao Paulo (3)

KEEP: Texas, Iowa, Milwaukee, St. Petersburg, Fontana, Toronto, Edmonton and Baltimore (8)

DROP: Belle Isle, Barber, Mid-Ohio, China and Infineon (5)

ADD: Chicagoland, Road America, Quebec, Cleveland,Watkins Glen, Phoenix, Portland, Richmond, Loudon, Kentucky and Michigan,Houston and Walt Disney. (13)

It is very important to have the schedule economically friendly also. So connecting races is kind of important. Then a two week break then pick it back up.

The only way IndyCar is going to succeed is if you get a good TV contract in place (NBCSN) and have good promoters (ISC, SMI, Andretti). Randy has money but he can’t do it by himself. Its up to us as fans to help Randy deliver his promises.

Plus, at some of the ovals, do the one day show, it saves money on the sanctioning fee and gives more for the fan to see throughout the day. On the road and street course events, its important to have American LeMans, IndyLights, Star Mazda, Grand-Am and USF2000 with you because just like the ovals, more for the fan to see throughout the weekend.

Targeted schedule should be:

Streets of St. Petersburg- 1.8 mile street course- February , 23

Photo Credit: Autosport News

Walt Disney World- 1 mile oval- March, 1

Photo Credit: Great American Days

Streets of Houston, Texas- 1.7 mile parking lot course- March, 8

Photo Credit: American Grand Prix

Streets of Sao Paulo, Brazil- 2.6 mile street course- March, 15

Photo Credit: USA Today

Richmond International Raceway- 0.75 mile oval- March, 22 (NR)

Photo Credit: Auto Racing Daily

Streets of Long Beach, California- 1.96 mile street circuit- April, 6

Photo Credit: Inside the Race

Phoenix International Raceway- 1 mile oval- April, 12 (NR)

Photo Credit: IndyCar Media

Portland International Raceway- 1.9 mile road course- April, 20

Photo Credit: Global Events

Indianapolis 500- 2.5 mile oval- May, 25

Photo Credit: IMS

Texas Motor Speedway- 1.5 mile oval- May, 31 (NR)

Photo Credit: Auto Week

Iowa Speedway- 0.8 mile oval- June, 7 (NR)

Photo Credit: Bleacher Report

Milwaukee Mile- 1 mile oval- June, 14 (NR)

Photo Credit: Racing Nation

Watkins Glen International- 3.3 mile road course- June, 29

Photo Credit: Auto Blog

Burke Lakefront Airport (Cleveland)- 2.1 mile street course- July,6

Photo Credit: Blog Cleveland

Streets of Toronto, Canada – 1.7 mile street course- July,13

Photo Credit: RACER

Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez- 2.77 mile road course- July, 20

Photo Credit: ChampCar

Edmonton City Centre Airport- 2.2 mile airport course- July, 27

Photo Credit: Auto Racing and News

Chicagoland Speedway- 1.5 mile oval- August, 9 (NR)

Photo Credit: Open Paddock

Kentucky Speedway- 1.5 mile oval- August, 16 (NR)

Auto Week

Road America- 4 mile road course- August, 24

Photo Credit: Triple League Racing

Streets of Baltimore, Maryland- 2 mile street course- September, 7

Photo Credit: Auto Week

New Hampshire- 1 mile oval- September, 13 (NR)

Photo Credit: Pop Off Valve

Michigan International Speedway- 2 mile oval- September 20 (NR)

Photo Credit: Jeff Simmons

Auto Club Speedway- 2 mile oval- September, 27 (NR)

Photo Credit: Auto Week

Surfers Paradise- 2.7 mile street circuit- October, 25 (NC).

Photo Credit: ABC

 

Hopefully Randy Bernard can get this going as soon as he possibly can. Remember, this isn’t all his fault.

IndyCar Preview

The 2012 IndyCar Series Season starts up this weekend in the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida. There are a ton of changes in this season from last.

Dan Wheldon: As Robin Miller revealed in the weekend of 2011 Las Vegas, Wheldon did sign with Andretti to replace Danica. But then tragedy struck and that didn’t happen. Wheldon would’ve been the man to beat if he was around, he tested the new car at several places and that would have only helped him.

Engines: For the first time since 2005, there will be multiple engine manufactures in the series. As previously announced in November of 2010 Chevrolet will be a supplier. Honda stays and Lotus joins in on the action. Chevy has the bulk of the good teams and so does Honda. Lotus has struggled with getting up to speed and getting more than 6 engine contracts. There was a recent feud between Michael Shank Racing and Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing in who gets Bobby Rahal’s unused engine. I think Rahal made the smart choice in going with Fisher’s team because they hired Graham (his son) for a few races to keep his championship hopes alive a few years ago. The other option was give it MSR but the deal with RLLR and Paul Tracy fell through.

Newman Haas: The team that was around for twenty five years has closed down.

New teams: Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing returns after a four year absence. Ed Carpenter has started up his own team with step-father Tony George, Dragon Racing is going full-time with two teams and Michael Shank has started up his IndyCar team after success in the Grand-Am series.

Race Control: Randy Bernard has gotten rid of Brian Barnhart and went with former American LeMans Series race director Beaux Barfield to run race control. There will be qualifying heat races at Iowa and single file restarts at Indy, Texas and Fontana. Double-file restarts will stay at road and street courses. Barfield stated that they will try standing starts eventually at street circuits later in the season.

TV: Versus has been re-named as the NBC Sports Network. They will carry ten races this season starting at Barber in April. ABC has gotten an extra race. The thing I like is that the Firestone Indy Lights will get all their races on TV this season. Plus qualifying is on NBCSN for all there conjuction races plus Indianapolis 500 time trials in the Month of May.  The on-air talent has switched gears a little bit, Townsend Bell replaces Lindy Thackston at NBC Sports Network. I haven’t heard anything about any changes at ABC. I predict no changes at all.

New races: After the aftermath of Las Vegas in October, that race has been dropped and in exchange the Auto Club Speedway has been added on as the season finale in the middle of September. The new race in China replaces New Hampshire. Belle Isle is added in place of Kentucky. And Milwaukee and Baltimore were reinstated after financial problems.

New cars: The ugly IR-07 chassis have been dumped for 2012. We were supposed to go to aero-kits this season but the owners voted it off. The new cars look great in testing in my opinion. Hopefully they can produce on Sunday and throughout the season.

Driver Changes:

• Danica Patrick- Andretti Autosport to NASCAR
• Oriol Servia- Newman Haas to Dreyer & Reinbold
• James Hinchcliffe- Newman Haas to Andretti Autosport
• Mike Conway- Andretti Autosport to Foyt
• Alex Tagliani- Sam Schmidt to Bryan Herta Autosport
• Simon Pagenaud- Sports Cars to Sam Schmidt
• Seb Bourdais- Coyne to Dragon
• Katherine Legge- DTM to Dragon
• Takuma Sato- KV to RLLR
• Rubens Barrichello- Formula One to KV
• Ed Carpenter- Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing to Ed Carpenter Racing
• Justin Wilson- Dreyer & Reinbold to Coyne
• Josef Newgarden- IndyLights to Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing
• Luca Flippi- GP2 to RLLR (starting at Indy)

The main thing to watch in 2012 is?? That we ARE NOT in a spec-series anymore. In my book, everybody is even. The championship is going to get a lot more interesting. We could see more than the typical Penske and Ganassi domination, which is a good thing.

Now to the team previews.

Andretti Autosport: The team keeps Marco Andretti in the #26 car and Ryan Hunter-Reay in the #28 car. They drop Mike Conway and Danica Patrick for 2012 and add last year’s rookie of the year James Hinchcliffe to the squad to run the #27 GoDaddy car in place of Danica Patrick. Sebastien Saavedra will run a limited schedule in conjuction with AFS Racing. This year I expect a lot out of the team. The addition of James Hinchcliffe only helps the team. Michael Andretti made the right decision in dumping the fourth car on a full time basis. The team will run Chevy engines which is a good thing. They have full funding and we should see no problems for the team this season.

Chip Ganassi Racing: The team keeps all four drivers for 2012. Expect Graham Rahal, Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon to be contenders for the championship. I also expect Charlie Kimball to improve this year also. The team is running Honda engines for 2012.

Dale Coyne Racing: The team keeps James Jakes and brings back Justin Wilson to the squad along with engineer Bill Pappas. Coyne managed to get a Honda engine. And Justin Wilson looks more hungrier then ever. Hopefully Wilson will do good in his return to Coyne.

Dragon Racing: Jay Penske has announced a full-time return to the series with Katherine Legge and Seb Bourdais as his drivers. The team has a Lotus engine contract but the team has struggled to get two of them. Sponsorship is a MAJOR issue with this team. Hopefully they can make it through out the season because the driver talent is there.

Dreyer & Reinbold: The team goes from two cars to one. Oriol Servia is brought over after his original team (Newman Haas) ceased its operations. Justin Wilson is gone. The team has plenty of sponsorship with Servia and they have an engine with Lotus. I don’t expect Servia to be at the form of last year at all.

Ed Carpenter Racing: Ed Carpenter has started his own team this season in Ed Carpenter Racing. He has Mike Cannon and Derrick Walker on his team. He has getting major help from his step-father Tony George. He has Chevy engines. I expect Ed to excel on the ovals but struggle on the twisties.

Foyt: The team released driver Vitor Meira and signed Mike Conway. Conway won at Long Beach last year. So maybe they can be good. The team has Honda engines.

HVM: No changes at the team except for the Lotus engines. Simona should be really good this year I think!!!

KV: The team keeps Viso and Kanaan. Tony Kanaan has brought over his “brother” in Rubens Barrichello to IndyCar. Hear me out, this is HUGE!! This is just Nigel Mansell all over again. Rubens will be great at the road and street circuits but I don’t think he will do terrible on the ovals either. I personally think he’ll raise Kanaan’s efforts and he and TK will take Viso under their wing again. I expect huge things out of KV this year especially with them locking up Chevrolet engines. Takuma Sato is gone from the team.

Panther: The team has Chevy engines and they keep driver J.R. Hildebrand. The team should do a lot better this year.

Rahal: The team returns full-time for 2012. They bring in Takuma Sato for the whole season and Luca Filippi from Indianapolis on. The team has Honda engines. You can’t judge this team on performance right away because they are just making a return.

Schmidt: The team has Honda engines and they get rid of Tagliani for sports car specialist Simon Pagenaud. Expect big things out of Simon this year. Especially on the road and street circuits.

SFHR: The team has Honda engines (thanks to Bobby Rahal!) And they bring on Wink Hartman to co-own the team. Plus they add Josef Newgarden to the stable. They don’t have much sponsorship either which kind of sucks.

Team BHA: Bryan Herta’s team has Lotus engines and they get Alex Tagliani from SSM. They got a good team. They should do good this year!

Team Penske: The Captain retains all three drivers and he’s got Chevy as his engine choice, expect WP to contend and Helio and RB to rebound into to championship contention.

This year is a true toss-up for the championship. I got Will Power in a close one over Dario Franchitti and Rubens Barrichello. Stay tuned to IndyCar-All Access for more during the season.

IndyCar All-Access: Previewing St. Petersburg

Sunday is the opening race of the 2012 IndyCar season. Hopefully it’ll be just as exciting as the Formula One season opener in Australia.

Track Layout:

Photo Credit: Wikipedia

Entrant List:

#	Driver	Team	Sponsor	Engine
2	Briscoe	Penske	IZOD	C
3	Castroneves	Penske	Shell	C
4	Hildebrand	Panther	N.G.	C
5	Viso	KV	Citgo	C
6	Legge	Dragon	Truecar	L
7	Bourdais	Dragon	Lotus	L
8	Barrichello	KV	BMC	C
9	Dixon	Ganassi	Target	H
10	Franchitti	Ganassi	Target	H
11	Kanaan	KV	Geico	C
12	Power	Penske	Verizon	C
14	Conway	Foyt	ABC Supply	H
15	Sato	RLLR	Mi-Jack	H
18	Jakes	Coyne	Acorn	H
19	Wilson	Coyne	Sonny’s	H
20	Carpenter	ECR	Fuzzy’s	C
22	Servia	DRR	Lotus	L
26	Andretti	AA	RC Cola	C
27	Hinchcliffe	AA	GoDaddy	C
28	Hunter-Reay	AA	DHL/SunDrop	C
38	Rahal	Ganassi	TBC	H
67	Newgarden	SFHR	SFHR	H
77	Pagenuad	SHM	HP	H
78	de Silvestro	HVM	Entergy	L
83	Kimball	Ganassi	Novo Nordisk	H
98	Tagliani	BHA	Barracuda	L

Previous Race Winners

• 2005- Dan Wheldon
• 2006- Helio Castroneves
• 2007- Helio Castroneves
• 2008- Graham Rahal
• 2009- Ryan Briscoe
• 2010- Will Power
• 2011- Dario Franchitti

To preview this race we are going to bring back our roundtable members (excluding John Oreovicz due to other commitments)

• Matt Hickey (@IndyCar_MN)
• Matt Bauer (@bauerracing)
• Jerry Cruz (@jerrycruz1077)
• John Hetrick (@hetrick32)
• Tony Tellez (@tonytellez)
• Kent Mueller (@Kent_RM)

Q: Biggest story lines coming in to the season, please explain your explanations.

MH: Indycar post Wheldon, time to show the world we haven’t wavered in this off season.

MB: Dan was already the biggest story of the year but with the first race since his death in his adopted hometown it’s as Dario would say “mega.” There are other big story lines but not for me not this weekend. This week is all about the man whose last words to me we’re “see you soon my friend.”

JC:

• Dan Wheldon’s memoir – arguably the emotions will not allow any eyes tuning in stay dry. This will be an emotional roller coaster for fans, drivers and INDYCAR.
• DW12 Performance – Here we will witness how good the new car has been develop SO FAR. We cannot expect the car to run smoothly after the green flag. We wanted competition, well, we will have it with the unknowns!
• Engine Manufacturers Performance – Like the chassis, we will witness how good and reliable the engines have been developed SO FAR.
• Dario Franchitti – How well will he adjust to the new braking setup, emotions on DW, and Honda engine troubles.
• Rubens Barichello – All the media frenzy coming from ABC (no more Danica for them to crawl in!) will focus on him and how he manages his first new circuit!

JH: Has to be Dario’s chase for another championship and Rubens coming to town. I think Dario is as good as any open wheel driver to ever drive. He will never be looked at like AJ or Mario but he is in the same room as those guys. What he does in the new car will cement is legacy. With Rubens we will all be comparing him to the other drivers. If he comes in and wins 8 races and the championship it will make Indycar look pretty inferior to F1. But if it is challenging for him and he struggles it will show the world that Open Wheel racing is back to where is was in the early 90′s.

TT: Many will say the biggest storyline coming into 2012 will be the arrival of Rubens to the driver mix.  I disagree.  I think the biggest story line of this season is going to be the entire mix of true “rookies”.  Katherine Legge showed flashed of promise in her Champ Car drives, and Josef Newgarden is an astonishing talent who looks to figure BIG into IndyCar’s future.  What about Simon Pagenaud?  He’s a champion in two different series’ one open wheel (Atlantics 2006) and one ALMS class (LMP1 2010) and not it’s time for him to show what he has full time in the big boys.  Look for Pagenaud to be the hottest rookie coming into St. Pete.  I look for a top ten from him if the SSMDH team can keep the car in one piece.  I don’t know if I even see Lotus Dragon and Legge finishing, and I think that limited track time will limit the success of Newgarden in the first race, but he will quickly become familiar with the car, and the competition level. Second biggest story, how un prepared Lotus will be.  Look for Lotus DRR with Oriol Servia and Lotus BHA wth Tagliani to be the top competitors with a Lotus badge.  On a personal note, it will be sad for me to see Sebastian Bourdais struggle for the first few races with Lotus Dragon Racing, but I hope they get things figured out and provide him the opportunity to compete.

KM: For me it has to be Rubens Barrichello. I’m really excited to see what he can do see this for more.

Q: What effects will the death of Dan Wheldon have on the race and the season in general?

MH: Other than heavy heart, I see none. The racing will still be hard. Once the visors go down, it is game on.

MB: I think the weekend will be a great but extremely emotional celebration of Dan’s life & career. We’ve already seen an increased emphasis on driver safety & it will be ongoing. Dixon, TK & Dario all loved Dan a lot & won’t forget but they are also total bad asses & will be able to focus on racing.
JC: I’ll say it will affect mostly St. Pete, Indy, and Texas…after those it will settle nicely in great memories!
JH: It will be strange to be at the racetrack and him not be around. Indycar will honor him big time this season and I think it will help the series overall just because he meant so much to so many people that they will want to come out and show support. Just tough that we will see a great season and him not be around to witness it. He would love to see what this season has shaped up to be.

TT:While this weekend will be emotional, I truly believe the time for mourning is passed, for most.  I think now is the time for a life celebration.  Dan was such a happy man who always had a smile on his face, and I hope this weekend GP of St Pete helps the healing process transition to a celebration of his life and Legacy.  On another note, today is Oliver’s 1st birthday.  I can only hope I am around 20 years from now to see him win the Indianapolis 500 just like his dad.

KM: It’ll be definitely emotional. I think it’s great that his sister will be presenting the trophy and waving the green flag. IndyCar needs to stay strong. RIP Dan!

Q: What manufacture does the best and will the DW12 have good reliablity when it comes to the race?

MH: Too early to tell, I’m going with Chevy

MB: Chevy has AA & Penske & has had fewer issues so far so I think they have the early advantage. I think the new chassis will be reliable but it will be an ongoing process.
JC: I’ll bet Chevy will come on top on this one. The chassis will probably favor those drivers who had a bad year last year as the chassis will not make a difference versus those accustomed to the IR07. Just a hunch!
JH: Chevrolet will do well this weekend and I fully expect the new car to be very racey around the track. Although I do expect to see a couple blown engines which just adds to the spectacle.
TT: Coming into St. Pete, it’s a tossup of which of the two top engine manufacturers are ready.  Everyone has had issues.  I mean EVERYONE.  Chevy, Honda, and Lotus. Lotus is purely an issue with track time.  I think the reliability award goes to Honda.  Based purely on time in the series.  However, on the track at St. Pete, look for Chevrolet to set a quick pace with Tony Kanaan and Rubens Barrichello on the grid together for the first time.  Competitive juices will be flowing.  I am really excited for this first race.  There will be broken equipment, but those who make it through the aftermath will be fast, and successful

KM: No doubt about it, Chevy. Too talented. On the DW12, I see no problems other than Lotus blowing all their engines. OUCH!! Sorry.

Q: Pole?

MH: Will Power? Also too early too tell

MB: Pole Scott Dixon

JC: It is very hard to bet against Will Power on Chevy powerplant. I still think Helio Castroneves will dominate.

JH: Ryan Hunter-Reay- He will be right there with Will Power but I expect him to have a great season and will get it started by getting the pole at St. Pete. Also my wife and I will be at the track and there is nobody who is a bigger fan of RHR than her. So he will feel obligated to do well all weekend! Kidding aside I expect him to be fast all weekend and do well in qualifying.

TT: Scott Dixon will start on the pole.

KM: Power, too fast on the twisties but Barrichello will be strong.

Q: Darkhorse for the race and why?

MH: Ryan Hunter-Reay, I think he has a legit chance to win
MB: Pagenaud, Barrichello, Wilson because of the new cars & the fact that they are awesome.
JC: Ryan Hunter-Reay could sneak a win right out of the box. There are so many unknowns that I might even give Oriol Servia on Lotus power the chance for the win.
JH: Rubens Barrichello. No idea what to expect here but he will definitely be in the mix at the end of the race.
TT: Tony Kanaan.  TK was hot out of the box last year, and I look for the same from him in 2012.  On another note, he and I have a twitter bet.  If he does not finish in the top 5 at St. Pete, he has to mention my twitter name on TV in some way (written or spoken) and if he DOES, I will show up at Pole Day in whatever costume he wants me too. (this bet has not been confirmed on twitter, but I know he will live up to it )
KM: I’m going with two on this one, I see Barrichello and Marco Andretti. Andretti needs to do good this year, I’m a huge fan of both drivers and it’d be great to see them have great weekends.

Q: Winner?

MH: Graham Rahal

MB: Dixon gets the setting up his record breaking, dominating undefeated season.

JC: Helio Castroneves

JH: Will Power. The dude is just that good and hungrier than ever. Will be surprised to see anyone else take the checkered flag. Should be a great race and a great season!
TT: I say overall winner due to engine reliability, and desire entering the 2012 season is Scott Dixon.  BUT, I see Dario and Will Power falling off the podium. Look for a Honda win, with Chevy 2,3.  My guess is 1st Dixon, 2nd, RHR, 3rd, TK.
KM: Rubens Barrichello pulls the Graham Rahal of 2008. It comes down to strategy and Power plays it wrong. That’s the way I see it coming down to.

Combined Testing Results (More Later)

Pos Driver Team/Car/Engine Time
1. Scott Dixon Ganassi DW12-Honda 51.7932s
2. Dario Franchitti Ganassi DW12-Honda 52.0157s
3. Helio Castroneves Penske DW12-Chevrolet 52.1413s
4. Rubens Barrichello KV DW12-Chevrolet 52.1615s
5. Will Power Penske DW12-Honda 52.2059s
6. JR Hildebrand Panther DW12-Chevrolet 52.2068s
8. Ryan Briscoe Penske DW12-Chevrolet 52.2072s
9. Mike Conway Foyt DW12-Honda 52.2230s
10. Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti DW12-Chevrolet 52.3466s
10. Takuma Sato Rahal DW12-Honda 52.3841s
11. Graham Rahal Ganassi DW12-Honda 52.4692s
12. Simon Pagenaud Schmidt DW12-Honda 52.4698s
13. E.J. Viso KV DW12-Chevrolet 52.6317s
14. Justin Wilson Coyne DW12-Honda 52.6537s
15. Josef Newgarden Fisher DW12-Honda 52.6551s
16. Charlie Kimball Ganassi DW12-Honda 52.7328s
17. James Jakes Coyne DW12-Honda 52.8228s
18. James Hinchcliffe Andretti DW12-Chevrolet 52.9125s
19. Oriol Servia DRR DW12-Lotus 52.9125s
20 Tony Kanaan KV DW12-Chevrolet 52.9195s
21. Alex Tagliani Barracuda DW12-Lotus 52.9308s
22. Marco Andretti Andretti DW12-Chevrolet 52.9577s
23. Simona de Silvestro HVM DW12-Lotus 53.2312s
24. Sebastien Bourdais Dragon DW12-Lotus 53.2993s
25. Ed Carpenter Carpenter DW12-Chevrolet 53.4764s
26. Katherine Legge Dragon DW12-Lotus 53.8161s
27. Ana Beatriz Andretti DW12-Chevrolet 54.1478s

From www.racer.com

Round 2 of IndyCar All- Access

This week we are back with IndyCar All-Access, if you forgot who are participants are: here they are:

• John Oreovicz (JO)
• Matt Hickey (MH)
• Matt Bauer (MB)
• Tony Tellez (TT)
• John Hetrick (JH)
• Jerry Cruz (JC)
• Kent Mueller (KM)

This week we discuss, MSR and Conquest, Barrichello, races, and where standing starts should take place.

Photo Credit: IndyCar.com

Q: Now that it is official, what are your reactions to Rubens getting a one-year deal? Does he get any wins? And will a KV driver win the championship?

 JO: It’s basically good for Indy car racing, mostly from an international perspective. Rubens is popular and everyone loves to cite those 1.47 million Twitter followers. He’s a great guy and a proven, successful racer. But I think INDYCAR is kidding itself if they think he will have the same impact as Emerson Fittipaldi and Nigel Mansell. Those guys were true world champions, among the very best of their era. Barrichello is basically the seventh or eighth best driver of the last 20 years. That said, with the great number of full course cautions and opportunities to utilize strategy, I think that Barrichello has a pretty solid chance of winning an IndyCar Series race this year. I can’t see a KV driver winning the championship, but I can see Barrichello’s experience helping the team take the next step toward being a championship contender.

MH: World class talent, and he has a ton of support back in Brazil and will soon gain a lot of fans here in America.

MB: I think Rubens will be great for Indycar with 1.5 million followers he will bring a lot of new fans. I do think he will get a win this year it’s a new car drivers haven’t mastered yet, the schedule is mostly road & street courses & he’s been using carbon brakes for years. I don’t think a KV driver will win a championship but they will be very competitive.

TT: Rubens entering the league right now is a great thing for both KV Racing, and the series.  He ALONE brings a fan base of 1.5 million twitter followers, and even MORE brazilian fans.  Even better, if he wins.  I think if there is a KV driver in the championship chase it will be TK, and probably because of the game raising that Rubens will bring to the team, and the league.

JH: I only wish it was a longer deal. I think Rubens will be a contender. There is no reason why he can’t win a race. I don’t see a KV driver winning the championship but I guess stranger things have happened.

JC: I will say Rubens will inject more international attention to the sport. It is a very good opportunity for IndyCar and for Rubens to prolonge his HOF career. The impact may not be as Nigel Mansell’s crossover but it is very close in my book. He could get 1 win this year but all the tracks are new to him. No KV driver will win the championship but they should get in victory lane at least 2 times.

KM: I think that Rubens got a fair deal, Tony Kanaan got what he wanted plus an incentive (a two year deal). Sure he’ll definitely out run Viso but can he out run Penske, Ganassi, Andretti and Tony Kanaan week in and week out. I think I could see Rubens pulling a Mansell all over again, I’m not saying he wins the first race but by Long Beach, he’ll have a good understanding of the road and street circuits. Everyone is saying oh well, he’s going to have to learn the ovals but what’s the difference, Iowa and Milwaukee are like a road course in essience because of lifting and braking in the corners, as for Indy, Texas and Fontana I see him doing great because its just get it in gear and pedal down, just like an F1 driver (go fast) As for a KV driver winning the championship, I see him and TK doing great, Viso struggles but what else is new?

 

Q: Will Milwaukee, Belle Isle, Baltimore and Auto Club Speedway be successful, why or why not? Out of these races which one gets axed in 2013?

JO: I have a good feeling about Milwaukee, though maybe that is just me being a hopeless optimist. I understand why Michael Andretti loves the place. He won there a lot of times and was just spectacular to watch there in the ’80s and early ’90s. Michael is smart enough to drop ticket prices to help the event rebuild itself. I was crushed to see the infield empty for last year’s race. If you’re an Indy car fan, you owe it to yourself to stand on the inside fence at Milwaukee and take in the action. I thought last year’s Baltimore event was fantastic. Ahead of time, my prediction was a home run or a strikeout, and for the most part, it was a home run. But it was a strikeout financially – as the early years always are for street races. If the new promoter can find some sponsors and not cheapen the event too much, it should have staying power. I’m not nearly as confident about Fontana. Indy car oval races in general have really struggled for attendance the last five years or so and that’s not really a market that has embraced open-wheelers. And let’s be clear: Fontana is NOT the Los Angeles market. It’s more than an hour away, and as a spectator experience, it’s not enough to entice people to make the long drive from LA or Orange County. Sad, because I remember when the grandstands were packed for the first couple of CART races in 1997-98.

MH: I don’t see why they wont succeed, the only one in that group that I have my doubts on is Fontana. Attendance in ’04 and ’05 was poor to say the least.

MB: Baltimore drew 150,000 plus fans last year that’s outstanding, I don’t know how the money got so messed up. The racing is great & I think the fans will return. Belle Isle is boring racing in a depressed area financially & I don’t think even The Captain can save it. Milwaukee HAS to be successful & I think it will be. Milwaukee has great racing & is one of the few ovals left, I think Michael Andretti, Randy Bernard & the rest of Indycar know this & will do everything they can. Auto Club Speedway is unique because of it’s size of 2 miles & has a few race lines that I think will make for exciting racing. I think it will draw good TV ratings but I’m not very confident in the attendance. I hope they all make it & without knowing the contract situations I think Detroit will be left off next year.

TT: Baltimore will be a success, and I hope that Milwaukee is as well.  Baltimore was a huge event in 2011, just mismanaged. With the right group handling this we should see another huge turnout for this years event, and hopefully a profitable turn of events.  Andretti Sports Management taking on the promotion of the Milwaukee event is HUGE.  This shows that the series teams want to race there, and a fan base should follow.  I was at MKE last year, and while it was a great show, there was no one there, but there was also no promotion.  Three days, not one commercial, not one sign. This has to change for the event to be a success.

JH: I see Auto Club Speedway being the least successful of these. I hope I am wrong but I don’t see the excitement and promotion about this race like I do the other three.

JC: I have a gut feeling all tracks will do fine with probably AutoClub Fontana being the one slightly behind (unless all IndyCar fans unite and come full force in California). It is my believe that for these venues to work and be successful, you need to give them 3-year contracts to create fan equity. I would not axe any of them.

KM: On the racing side, I see Fontana, Milwaukee and Baltimore being huge successes. I think the new promoters at Milwaukee and Baltimore will do a way better job in trying to get ticket sales. As for Belle Isle, I see a huge disaster in the making, racing will be terrible and so will the attendance, I think. Fontana will do good because of the ticket package with NASCAR.

 

Q: Should Rubens Barrichello be considered a rookie, since Montoya, Zanardi and Mansell were considered rookies when they came over?

JO: Yes, because Indy car racing is significantly different from F1 – more yellows, oval races etc. It’s his first year in the series, therefore yes.

MH: I think he should. A rookie defined as someone who is the new to the series. Last time I checked, Rubens has never raced in Indycar before.

MB: If Scott Dixon wasn’t considered a rookie in 2003 after 2 years in CART I don’t think Rubens should be, yes he’s never raced on an oval but he has the most career starts in the history of F1 racing. If I would have known Simon Pagenaud would be considered a rookie I would have picked him as my ROY.

TT: 19 years of experience in an open wheel car?  nah.

JH: I was very surprised to see that Barrichello is not being considered as a rookie. He is a great driver with a lot of experience but he is a rookie to our series. I think he definitely should be considered a rookie but I understand why he is not.

JC: This one have me baffled since, as you pointed out, historically all racers were considered rookies coming into IndyCar. Rubens may be a 19-year F1 veteran but he IS a rookie in the IICS. There are 5 ovals (a third of the schedule) which he has NEVER raced. Another matter is that he has no track experience in ANY venues IndyCar is racing. He is a rookie in my book.

KM: He’s never ran an IndyCar before, he’s a rookie no doubt, please re-think this Mr. Beaux Barfield. If Zanardi, Montoya, and Villenueve are rookies when they came over it’s not fair to give Rubens “special treatment”.

 

Q: What are your reactions on standing starts? Should they be implemented at certain tracks? What tracks wouldn’t work for standing starts?

 

JO: I’m not losing sleep over where or when they take place. I think the obvious place to implement them is Toronto. They might have a hard time doing them at Baltimore because there’s not a long straight. If they really wanted to shake things up, they should try a standing start for an oval.

MH: They need to be implemented at tracks in which the turn before the start doesn’t produce nice defined rows of two. I would love to see them.

MB: I love standing starts & don’t see why they couldn’t work on all tracks as long as driver safety isn’t compromised.

TT: I would have to say I am of the opinion that I don’t really care either way. Perhaps a standing start at Baltimore might be a cool option, especially with the hairpin where everyone got bottled up last year.  Could spread the field out a bit better.  MAYBE Mid Ohio.

JH: I do not really have an opinion about standing starts. I will have to see how it works before I make an opinion.

JC: For a “Show Entertainment” point of view I would adopt standing starts in ALL Road and Street Courses venues. I will also tell Beaux Barfield to go back to double-file restarts in ALL ovals. Enough of the drivers complaining about everything. They are professionals…deal with it!

KM: As a Formula One fan, I think this is great, you can’t do it at Infineon or Barber but all the other tracks (pending China’s layout) it should work great at. As Oreo said, a standing start on the ovals would be great maybe at Milwaukee.

 

Q:  Will Conquest Racing and/or Michael Shank Racing get an engine before St. Petersburg?

JO: No. Paul Tracy’s deal is contingent upon getting a Honda and he’s pretty frustrated that it isn’t happening.

MH: Negative ghost rider.

MB: I think there is zero chance that either team get a an engine before St. Pete & probably not until the Indy 500.

TT: Conquest will not be competing before Indy, and I’ll be surprised if Shank does too.  I’d say Indy on for Shank, and maybe just a one off for Conquest.

JH: I am pretty sure that if a team wants an engine bad enough they will get one. I just can’t imagine a team wanting to run and the manufacturer not making darn sure they will get an engine. I don’t see Shank on the grid at St Pete. Probably just Indy on…

JC: Sadly, this 2 teams if they make it I think it will be at Long Beach. There is enough time to get it done by then and the sponsors would love to hit that market and historic venue.

KM: No way, not even possible probably for Indianapolis, go back to Grand Sham Mike Shank, I’m sorry but you committed to IndyCar, its your responsibility to get a driver and an engine, it’s not Randy Bernard’s fault, quite crying to IndyCar to get an engine, seriously. Same thing to you Eric Bachelart.

Day 2 Testing @ Sebring Report

Today was the second and final day for group 1 of Sebring spring training testing on the short course. It’s mostly a Chevy powered group but a Honda (Pagenaud) ended up third and fifth respectively both days.

Lotus still had problems with getting de Silvestro and Bourdais on track. Bourdais didn’t even complete one lap. He’s scheduled to go with group 2 on Thursday and Friday.

Chevy looks lighting fast! Helio is back, he was first today and second yesterday.

Good: Team Penske, Sam Schmidt Hamilton Racing, Ryan Hunter-Reay.

All of these teams/drivers were constantly fast throughout the two days. It seems that RHR is back and same thing with Helio. Briscoe seems to have a rebound in his step.

Bad: Andretti, Lotus, Coyne.

Andretti Autosport is looking bad except for Ryan Hunter-Reay. James Hinchcliffe and Marco Andretti have struggled for speed, same thing with the Dale Coyne Racing cars. Lotus hasn’t get a single lap on the track with Bourdais and not many with de Silvestro (bust)!

Car	Driver	E	Team	Time
3	Castroneves	C	Penske	52.141
12	Power	C	Penske	52.205
2	Briscoe	C	Penske	52.207
28	Hunter-Reay	C	AA	52.346
77	Pagenuad	H	SHM	52.496
18	Wilson	H	DCR	52.653
19	Jakes	H	DCR	52.828
26	Andretti	C	AA	52.957
27	Hinchcliffe	C	AA	53.031
78	de Silvestro	L	HVM	53.231

IndyCar: Sebring Testing Day 1 Recap

Today started the four day spring training season for the IndyCars at Sebring International Raceway’s short course.

Some things that we saw was Simon Pagenaud in HP colors after a confirmation of Davey Hamilton co-owning the team with Sam Schmidt, they have now formed Schmidt Hamilton Racing.

In other team/investment news. James Jakes was officially confirmed in the second Dale Coyne Racing entry. He’ll drive the #19 Boy Scouts of America/Acorn Stairlifts Honda-Dallara in 2012.

Andretti Autosport showed up finally with all three cars! James Hinchcliffe was quite impressive in his first real drive in the GoDaddy machine. His teammates Marco Andretti and Ryan Hunter-Reay showed off their ultra-cool liveries, Andretti has RC Cola and Hunter-Reay has DHL/Sun Drop again this season.

Team Penske had all three cars their once again. They weren’t as dominate but Helio Castroneves was impressive.

Simona de Silvestro had engine problems after the first session. She didn’t run the second session.

As mentioned above, Dale Coyne Racing, Justin Wilson was in the middle on his times in his return to Dale Coyne Racing.

This was a Chevy dominated test but we’ll see more Honda and Lotus on Thursday and Friday. Now to the results of the test,

You can see all the paint schemes here:

More to follow tomorrow…

One side note Bourdais and Legge were supposed to be running today but no Lotus engine was available for them.

 

Rank	Car	Driver	E	Team	Time	Laps
1	28	Hunter-Reay	C	AA	52.582	60
2	3	Castroneves	C	Penske	52.709	83
3	77	Pagenaud	H	SHM	52.731	81
4	27	Hinchcliffe	C	AA	52.912	76
5	2	Briscoe	C	Penske	52.927	63
6	12	Power	C	Penske	53.051	84
7	18	Wilson	H	Coyne	53.177	59
8	26	Andretti	C	AA	53.281	68
9	19	Jakes	H	Coyne	53.926	69
10	78	de Silvestro	L	HVM	54.546	31

UPDATED: IndyCar Lineup w/ Paint Schemes

#	Driver	Team	Engine	Sponsor
2	Briscoe	Penske	Chevy	IZOD
3	Castroneves	Penske	Chevy	Shell
4	Hildebrand	Panther	Chevy	National Guard
5	Viso	KVRT	Chevy	Citgo
6	Legge ®	Dragon	Lotus	TrueCar
7	Bourdais	Dragon	Lotus	Lotus Cars
8	Barrichello	KVRT	Chevy	BMC/Embrase
9	Dixon	Ganassi	Honda	Target
10	Franchitti	Ganassi	Honda	Target
11	Kanaan	KVRT	Chevy	Geico
12	Power	Penske	Chevy	Verizon
14	Conway	Foyt	Honda	ABC Supply
15	Sato	RLLR	Honda	Mi-Jack
18	Wilson	DCR	Honda	Sonnys
19	Jakes	DCR	Honda	Boy Scouts of America
20	Carpenter	ECR	Chevy	Fuzzy’s
22	Servia	DRR	Lotus	Lotus Cars
26	Andretti	AA	Chevy	RC Cola
27	Hinchcliffe	AA	Chevy	GoDaddy
28	Hunter-Reay	AA	Chevy	DHL/Sun Drop
38	Rahal	Ganassi	Honda	Service Central
67	Newgarden ®	SFHR	Honda	TBA
77	Pagenaud ®	SHM	Honda	HP
78	de Silvestro	HVM	Lotus	Entergy
83	Kimball	Ganassi	Honda	Novo Nordisk
98	Tagliani	BHA	Lotus	Barracuda Networks

NZR Consulting: What Have They Done?

NZR Consulting is a race circuit design company that is ran by former Champ Car steward Tony Cotman. He has designed the following tracks:

• Las Vegas Street Circuit
• Sao Paulo, Brazil Street Circuit
• Baltimore Street Circuit
• Edmonton City Centre Airport (rejuvanted)
• Qingdao, China Street Circuit

I pose the question what have they done for open wheel racing and how can they improve their tracks?

First thing is first, Tony Cotman knows open-wheel racing better than anyone I’ve seen trying to design a race track. Look at Hermann Tilke, the Formula One designer. His (Tilke) tracks have no real passing zones, all it of his tracks have one long straight, one medium straight and a combination of rhythm corners to round out the rest of the track. Unlike Tilke, Cotman has designed just excellent tracks. his first one Las Vegas in 2007 for the ChampCars had a ton of wide open sections followed in by a technical section, then followed by a speed zone. Now I’m going to show some of the outstanding layouts that he has came up with.

Photo Credit: Vegas.com

Photo Credit: Wikipedia

Of some of the current tracks what one’s could Tony Cotman fix, lets see.

n:

Hopefully Randy Bernard will step up and say something to Cotman to fix these tracks. 

 

Places Where IndyCar Needs to be in

Last week, I wrote an article on fixing the IZOD IndyCar Schedule (again!). I discussed the idea of bringing back some historic venues (Road America, Portland, Surfers Paradise, Richmond, Watkins Glen, Phoenix, Michigan and Cleveland.) Also some new places (Memphis International Raceway and Fort Lauderdale, Florida-street course). How can we get races there? That’s a very good question because CART had all but one of the historic venues at one time in the schedule.

Even with CART being bought out ChampCar still had very successful races at Road America, Cleveland and Surfers Paradise. IndyCar tried out Surfers Paradise in 2008, as a non-championship event, it was very popular by the fans and fellow drivers. Believe or not, Dario Franchitti called Surfers Paradise “a great street circuit”. Portland was ran for 25 years, that has to say something.

As for Michigan, Phoenix, Richmond and Watkins Glen; One of IndyCar’s (Indy Racing League) first ever venues. IRL had Phoenix on its schedules from 1996 to 2005, then Phoenix mad Tony George mad. Michigan was part of the “Triple Crown of Ovals”. It was once again successful until 2007 when IRL decided to dump it before the unification between the ChampCar World Series and Indy Racing League. Richmond ran for eight years on IRL schedules and drew 40,000 to 50,000 fans every time they were there. The race was dumped in 2009. Watkins Glen was IRL’s first road courses (2005). Dates shifted a lot with that race but, still provided great races

The new venues that I mentioned make sense because IndyCar doesn’t run in the mid-east section of the United States. They had Kentucky, dumped that, Nashville was terrible. So, with that said Memphis International Raceway makes sense. Fort Lauderdale doesn’t really make sense but IndyCar wants it. One new venue I didn’t mention was Pikes Peak International Raceway, great track, great location (Rocky Mountains).

With all that said, how can we get races in those places? Next I’m going to give some possible answers to this question with the races I listed above.

Road America: Road America, a home track for me. This race being brought back to American Open-Wheel racing would be a dream come true for me. America’s fastest road course. Mario Andretti had to save the race a few years ago, and it was very successful. There are companies in that area that would make sense for a sponsor such as Generac Power Systems, Briggs and Stratton, Kohler and Bucyrus. Bucyrus sponsors the NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Road America, to me that race is a lame duck event. NASCAR doesn’t belong at Road America, it’s a too fast of a circuit for slow cars. Generac sponsored the Champ Car event at Road America in 2007. Kohler is a local company that makes furniture and does plumbing. Motorola sponsored the race from 2000 to 2002. Texaco/Havoline was a major sponsor for the race also, they sponsored the race from 1990 to 1999. I believe that if you can get Generac Power Systems to sponsor and have a good promoter (Michael Andretti) it could be very successful.

Photo Credit: Blog.Cleveland

Cleveland: Cleveland was a very special race in the American Open-Wheel schedule, the first ever airport course. Fans miss the speed of that track. That race drawed at least 50,000 people every time they ran there. Some major sponsors that were a factor in keeping that race on the CART/ChampCar schedule for 26 years were: Budweiser, U.S. Bank and Medic Drug. Mike Lanigan (the Lanigan in Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing) has a sponsor in Mi-Jack that has the money to sponsor an IndyCar race but I think that’s not enough sponsorship. Bring in U.S. Bank in along with Mi-Jack and you have a great investment set up. Run it as an Independence Day weekend race.

Photo Credit: Motorsport Magazine

Surfers Paradise: Probably the most memorable moment of the history of the Surfers Paradise race is in 1994. They started on rain tires, and aboarded the start. The race ended at night, Chip Ganassi was screaming to stop the race. That race was like a party race because of the warm weather in Australia. If you can get the race back in March instead of October because you to end the season in the United States. Lexmark, Honda, Gold Coast, and Nikon have been some of the sponsors of that race. Bring back Lexmark as a sponsor.

Photo Credit: Mark Plourde Racing

Portland: Portland, like Cleveland was a race that ook place for over twenty consecutive seasons. This race wasn’t transferred in unification. The track is wide and fast like Cleveland. Some sponsors that helped out the race were Budweiser from 1986 to 1999 plus the help from G.I. Joes. This could be a great combination sponsor event with Budweiser and G.I. Joes. This is a track that would need a good promoter, Randy wants to run in the Northwest but he can’t promote it by himself.

Photo Credit: AutoWeek

Richmond: Richmond, a short oval in the Atlantic Ocean region, provided great racing, good attendance but no real sponsor. Sun Trust sponsored the race for a while, then they dumped their sponsorship then IndyCar had to self-promote the event. Just like Portland, find a promoter and IndyCar will be there in a heartbeat.

Photo Credit: Auto Blog

Watkins Glen: One of IndyCar’s first road courses, and host to Formula One’s United States Grand Prix East, is a fast track with elevation changes. Attendance was down a bit for the race but that shouldn’t be a reason not to race there. Camping World sponsored the race from 2007 to 2010. Corning sponsored the IndyLights races. Once again get a promoter and a decent sponsor and they (IndyCar) will be there, the race is targeted for a revival next season.

Photo Credit: Jeff Simmons

Michigan: Part of the “Triple Crown of Ovals” from 1980 to 1989 was a race ran from 1979 to 2001 in CART and 2002 to 2007 in IndyCar. The most dramatic open-wheel race held at MIS was in 1996 when CART staged the U.S. 500 to go up against the Indianapolis 500, it failed. Some sponsors of that race were: Pepsi, Marlboro, Harrah’s, Norton and Firestone. Bring back the U.S. 500 and you got a Triple Crown back in store (Indianapolis and Fontana).

Photo Credit: IndyCar Media

Phoenix: Open-Wheel has raced at Phoenix since the 1950s, once again, great racing, great sponsors, but poor attendance. Sponsors that took part in the race were: Miller High Life, Valvoline, Slick-50, Dura Lube, Copper World, Pennzoil and XM Satellite Radio. Bring back the Valvoline 200, as a season opener possibly. Randy Bernard is working towards getting this race on for next season.

Overall, the thing that Randy Bernard is looking for is a good promoter, good sponsors and he’ll try to get a race there.