Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Doug's latest letter

Gentlemen,

I haven't written in a while so I had a lot bottled up. Please feel free to edit as you see fit. After my last letter, many people may be wondering how crow tastes. I can assure you I have no idea, as my opinion of Danica has not changed at all. Motegi was not an epiphany of speed or skill. If anything, Motegi just proved that racing is a team sport, and she did her part. The strategy was brilliant. The execution was flawless, the driver weight perfect. Yes, that’s right the driver weight. The new weight rules are an improvement but hardly create an identical playing field. Given that it would be easier to establish a fixed car and driver weight than create some convoluted rule using averages and max weight shifts, it makes you wonder why they didn’t. Bottom line: whether you view it as a real life ‘tortoise and the hare’ story, or an apocalyptic moment of biblical proportions where “the first shall be last and the last shall be first,” she has won. I wonder which trophy will lose the spot on the mantel, the 12 year old Karting trophy or the 2002 Long Beach Pro/Celebrity trophy.

The media has discussed how she has changed since the burden has been lifted from her shoulders. The way I see it, in one short week, Danica transformed herself from “gas miser” to “gas bag.” After she sheared the studs off her right rear, she gave an interview that lasted so long she must have thought she was at a Champ Car race. It was so bad, I swear the pit reporter reached for a Snickers bar. “Not going anywhere for awhile.” What did we learn after listening to 2 minutes and 4 seconds of her wisdom replete with 17 “ya know’s”? That she is inarticulate, arrogant and will never be more than an average driver. Or nothing because she has already demonstrated that. I think saying “ya know” 17 times “ya know” supports my statement that “ya know” she is inarticulate, “ya know.” I am sure that “ya know” Motorola and “ya know” XM Radio, “ya know” would appreciate hearing “ya know” “Thank you,” “ya know” once. The single line, “I don’t even know who EJ Viso is?” supports both of my latter statements. The arrogance of not bothering to know who a rookie is, is apparent enough. But it also shows that she is not serious enough about her craft to ever be truly successful. She is not playing golf or running SCCA solo events, there are competitors out there on the track. A good driver will know their competitors and their tendencies, their strengths and their weaknesses. Princess Danica can’t even be bothered to know their names.

By the way, Danica, EJ Viso is the Venezuelan driver who finished 4th to your 10th at St. Petersburg and 14th to your 19th at Kansas. Maybe if he wasn’t so far ahead of you, you would, “ya know,” know who he was. She is not entirely to blame for the monster she has become. I blame her fabricators, Tony George and the media. If you were to go by them, there are no other drivers. Instead of promoting the new drivers in the series and doing something original by sending Danica, Marco and Graham out on a Media Blitz promoting the series, it is nothing but Danica-Mania.

The ESPNnews headline was “Danica Patrick First Woman to Win Open Wheel Race.” Let me help with that. No, that’s Katherine Legge. With a little re-arranging the headline can be fixed. It should read “Danica Patrick Wins Her First Open Wheel Race.” While it is a milestone of sorts, it is not the Rosa Parks moment that it has been made out to be. What hardship did she exactly overcome while driving one of the best cars on one of the best teams? Having her car set up by an Indy Car Champion? And Jack Arrute is intolerable. Thank God they are not in Toronto this year or he might accidentally break out into “Oh, Danica!” during the playing of their national anthem. I was hugely disappointed by the sudden departure of Frank Perrera from the series due to funding. But no number of Danica fluff pieces or even wins is going to suddenly bring him back.

I didn’t open the newspaper and read “Danica Wins, Sarah Fisher to Run Full Season,” Or “Danica Triumphant, Walker to Run in IRL. Tagliani and Tracy to be Announced as Drivers.” Like it or not, the IRL stands for Indy Racing LEAGUE and the word LEAGUE implies more than one. Until Tony George turns on the marketing machine and starts promoting the full product, the league will have a revolving door of drivers and be incapable of building a fan base. The IRL need only look at Champ Car for an example of that. Perrera’s leaving is the canary in the mine. Quit putting lipstick on this pig and make some real changes. The way things are going now, there will be no one left to compete against Danica because the IRL doesn’t promote anyone but her.

Danica will have to start buying teams and putting second rate drivers in so she can consistently win and maintain an income for her empire. Everyone thinks Tony George buying Champ car out was some magnanimous gesture. In reality he bought the league 8 rides for 15 million bucks. You can't do that even in Atlantics. The question is can he turn that initial investment into a solid foundation or did he just put all the open-wheel eggs into one basket. Time will tell. In the mean time, I will be watching more NHRA and cheering on a winner in every sense of the word, Ashley Force, just in case someone steps on the basket.

Cheers,

Doug

Monday, April 28, 2008

Updted Standings after Kansas

I have no idea how this race ended because the TV broadcast switched to ladies nine ball pool as soon as Danica's bitter and repugnant interview was over. In fact, I believe the Indy Car stewards spent 25 minutes looking through the rule book to see how they could award her the win.

Anyway, normal service was resumed this week with a frightening display of speed by Target Chip Ganassi Racing. Wheldon took the win when he took advantage of a yellow which came out almost precisely as Scott Dixon entered the pits for his last green flag stop. Either way, the only car likley to go to victory lane yesterday was red with white circles. All of you Dixon teams out there were probably licking your chops in anticipation of a maximum haul of points on Sunday. If it is any consolation, Dixon is very capabale of that feat at Indy where it will be worth double points.

Thomas Scheckter and his Penske B Team, oh sorry, Luczo Dragon Racing were mightly impressive coming straight out of the box and onto the pace as fast as they did. They now have a month of Indy preparation ahead of them and they cannot be ruled out for a strong finish, possibly even a victory. Any of you who picked him up on the cheap for Kansas will be very happy when the driver values are published later on today.

With that in mind, don't forget to follow the unofficial practice from Indy. There will be live online coverage from the start of May and you will have until just before the start of pole day to make your choices. I will be updating the blog on a regular basis throughout May so just keep logging on and there should be plenty there to keep you informed/occupied.

If anyone wants to vent about anything at all, please email me and I will try and publish it on the blog. The latest standings are below:


1st
672 - Doug Werner - "Drivers who weigh more than Danica"
[Scott Dixon, Hideki Mutoh, AJ Foyt IV, Marty Roth, Ed Carpenter]

2nd
660 - Maureen O'Neil - "PT Cruiser
[Dan Wheldon, Graham Rahal, Ed Carpenter, Ernesto Viso, Mario Moraes]


3rd
635 - "RPH Racing" - Julie Werner
[Helio Castro Neves, Hideki Mutoh, Ryan Hunter Reay, Ed Carpenter, Mario Moraes]

4th
620 - "Gerry Forsythe's 'Play your cars right'" - Declan Brennan
[Helio Castroneves, Hideki Mutoh, Marco Andretti, Jamie Camara, Milka Duno]


5th
615 - "Tony George stole my Series" - Emiliyan Stoykov
[Helio Castro Neves, Dan Wheldon, Marty Roth, Jay Howard, Roger Yasakawa]

6th
610 - "Team IndyCart" - Robert Duffield
[Helio Castroneves, Hideki Mutoh, Ryan Hunter Reay, Mario Moreas, Franck Perera]

7th
605 - Michael Gathman - "Weekend Warriors"
[Tony Kanaan, Ryan Hunter Reay, Ernesto Viso, Jay Howard, Ed Carpenter]

8th
570 - "3.2 Million Bricks" - Michael Rennick
[Scott Dixon, Vitor Meira, Ernesto Viso, Jay Howard, Ryan Hunter Reay]


9th
569 - "Should We Stay or Should We Split Now?" - Andrew Harbey
[Dan Wheldon, Justin Wilson, Darren Manning, Enrique Bernoldi, Buddy Rice]


10th
530 - "no Ferrari Influence Apparent" - David Harbey
[Dan Wheldon, Marco Andretti, Darren Manning, Mario Moraes, Franck Perera]


11th
520 - "Opposite Lock Motorsports" - Louis Berlan
[Dan Wheldon, Ryan Briscoe, Ryan Hunter Reay, Mario Moraes, Roger Yasukawa]

12th
485 - "Empty Tank Racing" - Matt Thompson
[Marco Andretti, Will Power, Enrique Bernoldi, Danica Patrick, Marty Roth]


13th
482 - "One Lap Down" - Jeremy Scott
[Will Power, Ryan Hunter Reay, Ed Carpenter, Thomas Scheckter, Jaime Camara]

14th
480 - "Super Duper Best Friends" - Andy Blackmore
[Tony Kanaan, Marco Andrettti, Franck Perera, Milka Duno, Townsend Bell]


15th
460 - "Come back to Rockingham" - John Harbey
[Scott Dixon, Ryan Briscoe, Vitor Meira, Mario Moreas, Milka Duno]


16th
455 - "Team Bigger USA" - Jon Bigger
[Marco Andretti, Ryan Briscoe, Danica Patrick, Milka Duno, Vitor Meira]

17th
442 - "I Hate Tony George" - Jim Casey
[Dan Wheldon, Danica Patrick, Bruno Junquiera, Jay Howard, Mario Moraes]


18th
437 - "Month of Mayhem" - Adrian Bourne
[Helio Castro Neves, Vitor Meira, Bruno Junquiera, Townsend Bell, Darren Manning]

19th
435 - "I am Timgray" - Tim Gray
[Scott Dixon, Ryan Briscoe, Danica Patrick, Townsend Bell, Mario Moraes]

20th
432 - "I am Hindy" - John Hindhaugh
[Marco Andretti, Hideki Mutoh, Bruno Junquiera, Ernesto Viso, Darren Manning]


21st
415 - "Why do we keep turning Left on our way to the merger?" - Nick Daman
[Tony Kanaan, Justin Wilson, Jay Howard, Jaime Camara, Mario Moraes]

22nd
392 - "Chip, your name doesn't mean you have to eat Chips" - Matthew Hyndman
[Helio Castroneves, Ryan Briscoe, Ryan Hunter Reay, Jay Howard, Milka Duno]

23rd
365 - "Indy Pace Car Speed" - Jason Kwok
[Tony Kanaan, Justin Wilson, Darren Manning, Mario Moreas, Roger Yasakawa]

24th
367 - "Joe Blob & the Spoonerisms" - James Murphy
[Marco Andretti, Ryan Briscoe, Hideki Mutoh, Mario Moraes, Buddy Rice]


25th
365 - "Sideways Sam's Sideways Tings" - Sam Collins
[Dan Wheldon, Hideki Mutoh, Danica Patrick, Jay Howard, Franck Perera]

26th
307 - "Team IROC - Indignantly Racing Our Crapwagons" - Simon Speichert
[Helio castroneves, Ryan Hunter Reay, Bruno Junquiera, Jay Howard, Jaime Camara]

27th
227 - "Danika Wheldon Crash Team" - Chris Vince
[Oriol Servia, Ryan Briscoe, Vitor Meira, Ernesto Viso, Mario Moraes]



- The Commish

Saturday, April 26, 2008

Business as usual up front...but then it goes a bit mad!

Qualifying from Danicapalooza in Kansas is now over and please don't all run out at once to get your eyes tested. You are seeing correctly, Scheckter is on the second row, 900 year old Marty Roth is on Row 4 ahead of both Penske cars.

Target Chip Ganassi Racing kept the flag flying for the super teams by annexing the front row while Tony Kanaan qualified outside of the top 10 for the first time since the renaissance. Marco is even further down the order in 14th and Danica Patrick is the top qualifier for AGR (which vindicates everything and makes her the best driver on the planet ever....ever).

The only thing that is certain is that the grid should provide us with quite a race tomorrow evening. The whole shebang is off at 5pm EST, 10pm GMT and should be all lovely.

1 - Scott Dixon, 213.956
2 - Dan Wheldon, 213.641
3 - Danica Patrick, 213.225
4 - Tomas Scheckter, 212.762
5 - A.J. Foyt IV, 212.478
6 - Ed Carpenter, 212.401
7 - Marty Roth, 212.182
8 - Helio Castroneves, 212.078
9 - Ryan Briscoe, 211.979
10 - Vitor Meira, 211.843
11 - Tony Kanaan, 211.804
12 - Ryan Hunter-Reay, 211.681
13 - Hideki Mutoh, 211.346
14 - Marco Andretti, 211.256
15 - Jay Howard, 210.617
16 - Darren Manning, 210.341
17 - EJ Viso, 210.112
18 - Will Power, 210.091
19 - Jaime Camara, 209.922
20 - Graham Rahal, 209.799
21 - Buddy Rice, 209.766
22- Justin Wilson, 209.405
23 - Oriol Servia, 209.239
24 - Milka Duno, 208.516
25 - Enrique Bernoldi, 208.442
26 - Bruno Junqueira, 208.022

- The Commish

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Conquest Money Troubles?

This has come out of nowhere and is very important to all of you/us team owners who have Franck Perera in their squads. Jaime Camara has been signed to drive the #34 Conquest Dallara and it leaves one of the favourites for Rookie of the Year honours, Franck Perera, out of a ride this weekend in Kansas and for the forseeable future.

This is not good news, the series looks like it's about to lose one of it's brightest young talents before he has had a chance to peove himself.

I will add Camara to the driver listn and apportion a value to him as soon as possible.


- Conquest Racing announces Camara, renews sponsor agreement -

Conquest Racing announced today that they have signed Jaime Camara for the remainder of the season to drive their #34 entry as well as an extension to their sponsorship program with current partner Sangari. Camara will start his duties with the team at this weekend’s Road Runner Turbo 300 at Kansas Speedway.Camara, a native of Goiania, Brazil, comes into Conquest Racing with loads of oval experience after having competed for three seasons in Firestone Indy Lights and racking up testing miles in Andretti Green Racing’s IndyCar Series car last year.Camara finished fifth overall in his Firestone Indy Lights rookie season in 2005 for Sam Schmidt Motorsports recording three pole positions and two victories including the Freedom 100 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
In 2006, he drove for Andretti Green Racing’s Firestone Indy Lights team capturing his third victory and establishing a Firestone Indy Lights record by qualifying in the top 10 in 18 consecutive races.Last season saw Camara record seven top-five finishes including thirds at Indianapolis (oval and road course) and Nashville aboard the Andretti Green/AFS Racing machine. The 27-year-old also earned the Most Improved Driver award for improving the most positions throughout the season and established another series record with 42 consecutive starts. “It’s a great opportunity for me to be driving for Conquest Racing. This has always been a goal for me, to get to the IndyCar Series. It’s been hard work since 2005 when I came to the United States to race. I want to thank Eric Bachelart for giving me this opportunity as well as Sangari and Geraldo Rodrigues my manager that worked out for this to happen. It’s just a dream come true.
My goal was always to go to IndyCar, I never looked at going to Europe to try different series, it was always here. It s a good feeling that I have now, I am happy that it happened with the merger going on because now all the teams are here and the Series is gaining momentum and that’s going to be great.”Conquest Racing Team Owner Eric Bachelart said: “Jamie will be a great addition to our team. With his oval experience and Enrique Bernoldi’s road, street course experience it will be a good combination. Jaime has proved himself in Indy Lights and I think he will fare well in the IndyCar Series. We are also pleased with the extension of our sponsorship program with Sangari following the loss of both Opes Prime, who went into receivership, and ARES who were supporting the 34 car driven by Franck Perera.
“That being said, as much as we are happy to have Jaime join the team, we are saddened that it is at Franck’s expense. He has done exceptionally well in his IndyCar Series debut as well as in his one and only Champ Car race and we are keeping him as our reserve driver for the remainder of the year but he will be released should a racing seat be available for him with another team.”

Monday, April 21, 2008

The 'Transfer Window' is...................................

......................officially open.

The 7 day outlook is for reduced confusion

It's finally over the logistical chaos of the Motegi/Long Beach weekend is behind us and the unprecedented slew of unwarranted hyperbole is heading straight for us. Danica finally got the win by driving quite slowly and listening to the radio (something we can all aspire to). Good for her!

It is also more than good for Matt Thompson and his 'Empty Tank Racing' team. He had the winners of both events in his team and they helped contribute to his whopping 320 point haul this week.

But in truth, it has been a sensational weekend for the ladies, Danica won in Japan, Simona De Silvestro won the Formula Atlantic race at Long Beach and Jamie Little won the Pro-Am race. Erik Dickerson, complained to the stewards that he wasn't allowed use a stock car as a blocker in front of him, but that fell on deaf ears. Most importantly, however, Julie Werner and Maureen O'Neil have leapt to the top of the standings with more than solid selections this weekend. Team PT Cruiser, used the opportunity to pick two teams to firmly establish herself as one of the teams to beat this season.

Normality returns this weekend as the circus regroups in Kansas and we will see how the new guys adapt to the shorter ovals.

The transfer window will open very shortly, just as soon as I calculate the new driver values.



1st
500 - "RPH Racing" - Julie Werner
[Helio Castro Neves, Hideki Mutoh, Ryan Hunter Reay, Ed Carpenter, Mario Moraes]

2nd
495 - Maureen O'Neil - "PT Cruiser
[Dan Wheldon, Hideki Mutoh, Ed Carpenter, Townsend Bell, Roger Yasakawa]
[Alex Tagliani, Graham Rahal, Ernesto Viso, Mario Moraes, Juho Annala]



3rd
305 - Michael Gathman - "Weekend Warriors"
[Tony Kanaan, Ryan Hunter Reay, Ernesto Viso, Jay Howard, Ed Carpenter]

4th
480 - "One Lap Down" - Jeremy Scott
[Helio Castroneves, Ryan Hunter Reay, Ed Carpenter, Townsend Bell, Roger Yasukawa]
[Paul Tracy, Jimmy Vasser, Roberto Moreno, David Martinez, Mario Moreas]

5th
462 - Doug Werner - "Drivers who weigh more than Danica"
[Scott Dixon, Hideki Mutoh, AJ Foyt IV, Marty Roth, Ed Carpenter]

6th
460 - "Gerry Forsythe's 'Play your cars right'" - Declan Brennan
[Helio Castroneves, Hideki Mutoh, Ryan Hunter Reay, Jay Howard, Franck Perera]


7th
455 - "3.2 Million Bricks" - Michael Rennick
[Scott Dixon, Vitor Meira, Ernesto Viso, Jay Howard, Ryan Hunter Reay]


8th
445 - "Team IndyCart" - Robert Duffield
[Helio Castroneves, Hideki Mutoh, Ryan Hunter Reay, Mario Moreas, Franck Perera]

9th
435 - "Empty Tank Racing" - Matt Thompson
[Marco Andretti, Will Power, Enrique Bernoldi, Danica Patrick, Marty Roth]


10th
425 - "Tony George stole my Series" - Emiliyan Stoykov
[Helio Castro Neves, Dan Wheldon, Marty Roth, Jay Howard, Roger Yasakawa]

11th
414 - "Should We Stay or Should We Split Now?" - Andrew Harbey
[Dan Wheldon, Justin Wilson, Darren Manning, Enrique Bernoldi, Buddy Rice]


12th
395 - "Opposite Lock Motorsports" - Louis Berlan
[Dan Wheldon, Ryan Briscoe, Ryan Hunter Reay, Mario Moraes, Roger Yasukawa]

13th
370 - "Month of Mayhem" - Adrian Bourne
[Helio Castro Neves, Vitor Meira, Bruno Junquiera, Townsend Bell, Darren Manning]

14th
355 - "Team Bigger USA" - Jon Bigger
[Marco Andretti, Ryan Briscoe, Danica Patrick, Milka Duno, Vitor Meira]

14th
355 - "no Ferrari Influence Apparent" - David Harbey
[Dan Wheldon, Marco Andretti, Darren Manning, Mario Moraes, Franck Perera]


16th
350 - "Super Duper Best Friends" - Andy Blackmore
[Tony Kanaan, Marco Andrettti, Franck Perera, Milka Duno, Townsend Bell]


17th
225 - "I am Hindy" - John Hindhaugh
[Marco Andretti, Hideki Mutoh, Bruno Junquiera, Ernesto Viso, Darren Manning]


18th
320 - "Come back to Rockingham" - John Harbey
[Dan Wheldon, Paul Tracy, Franck Perera, Mario Moreas, Roger Yasukawa]


19th
305 - "I Hate Tony George" - Jim Casey
[Graham Rahal, Jimmy Vasser, Roberto Moreno, Ernesto Viso, Roger Yasakawa]


20th
295 - "I am Timgray" - Tim Gray
[Scott Dixon, Ryan Briscoe, Danica Patrick, Townsend Bell, Mario Moraes]

20th
215 - "Why do we keep turning Left on our way to the merger?" - Nick Daman
[Tony Kanaan, Justin Wilson, Jay Howard, Milka Duno, Roger Yasukawa]

22nd
132 - "Chip, your name doesn't mean you have to eat Chips" - Matthew Hyndman
[Ryan Briscoe, Ryan Hunter Reay, Buddy Rice, Bruno Junquiera, Franck Perera]

23rd
255 - "Indy Pace Car Speed" - Jason Kwok
[Tony Kanaan, Graham Rahal, Jay Howard, Mario Moreas, Roger Yasakawa]

24th
250 - "Sideways Sam's Sideways Tings" - Sam Collins
[Dan Wheldon, Hideki Mutoh, Danica Patrick, Jay Howard, Franck Perera]

25th
232 - "Joe Blob & the Spoonerisms" - James Murphy
[Marco Andretti, Ryan Briscoe, Hideki Mutoh, Mario Moraes, Buddy Rice]


26th
230 - "Team IROC - Indignantly Racing Our Crapwagons" - Simon Speichert
[Oriol Servia, Hideki Mutoh, Ernesto Viso, Franck Perera, Juho Annala]

27th
182 - "Danika Wheldon Crash Team" - Chris Vince
[Oriol Servia, Ryan Briscoe, Hideki Mutoh, Marty Roth, Buddy Rice]

Sunday, April 20, 2008

Wow!!! Danica WINS!!!!!


Danica Patrick takes the one and only victory of her long career, yesterday.

Saturday, April 19, 2008

Long Beach Final Qualifying & Motegi Update

It's official, Bobby Unser and Justin Wilson are bookends in American Racing history.
Unser took pole at Phoenix in March 1979 at the opening round of the inaugral CART Championship. Wilson continued the form of Friday and has made history by becoming the final pole winner in Champ Car History. In doing so he has bagged a 15 point bonus and may well be on for the clean sweep on Sunday

Quite lliterally as I write this the Boston Bruins have just forced a deciding game seven against the Montreal Canadiens! That will more than likley wipe the smile off front row starter, Alex Tagliani's face. A quick review of the teams reveals that there were no takers on 'Tag's' amongst the teams who have been in from the start. Maureen O'Neil's PT Cruiser outfit is one of the late starters who have been given the chance to catch up with two squad selections this weekend. She has given herself a tremendous chance of doing serious damage to the leaderboard with the choice of Tagliani for Long Beach.

Hands up all of you who thought Franck Perera would qualify on row two? I have said on air from pretty much day one of this young man's career at the top level of American Open wheel racing that it will be shortlived. He will be back in Europe with a water tight F1 contract before you know it. This afternoon's performance in the second qualifying session will have not gone unnoticed on the other side of the Atlantic.

1 - J. Wilson, 1:06.902
2 - A. Tagliani, 1:07.084
3 - F. Perera, 1:07.180
4 - W. Power, 1:07.205
5 - P. Tracy, 1:07.352
6 - F. Montagny, 1:07.360
7 - N. Philippe, 1:07.415
8 - E. Bernoldi, 1:07.682
9 - G. Rahal, 1:07.703
10 - M. Dominguez, 1:07.745
11 - B. Junqueira, 1:07.786
12 - O. Servia, 1:07.858
13 - J. Vasser, 1:07.859
14 - E. Viso, 1:07.927
15 - A. Pizzonia, 1:08.463
16 - A. Figge, 1:08.489
17 - R. Moreno, 1:08.549
18 - D. Martinez, 1:08.645
19 - M. Moraes, 1:09.279
20 - J. Annala, 1:09.555


BREAKING NEWS!!!! -

Marco Andretti is in the wall on lap one and that has put a massive dent in his title hopes already. It is also a blow to many of you who have in your squads this weekend. He will finsh 18th here and will score no points in the Fantasy League.

- The Commish

Friday, April 18, 2008

Long Beach Qualifying Update

Part one of part one is in the bag and Justin Wilson has struck first in his bid to join Helio Castroneves in the 'Pole Position Club' this weekend. He has taken provisional pole after the first qualifying session at Long Beach on Friday. The threat of Frank Montagny in the Forsythe car failed to materialize in qualifying after promising a great deal in practice. Walker Racing has put their recent troubles behind them with a tremendous effort by Alex Tagliani who claims a provisional third position. Paul Tracy will be somewhat disgruntled to find himself in P8 and he will be very keen to rectify that in final qualifying tomorrow.

The full provisional lineup is as follows:

1 - J. Wilson, 1:07.356
2 - O. Servia, 1:07.858
3 - A. Tagliani, 1:07.887
4 - M. Dominguez, 1:07.998
5 - G. Rahal, 1:08.172
6 - E. Bernoldi, 1:08.272
7 - F. Montagny, 1:08.325
8 - P. Tracy, 1:08.488
9 - W. Power, 1:08.519
10 - E. Viso, 1:08.532
11 - R. Moreno, 1:08.549
12 - A. Figge, 1:08.549
13 - A. Pizzonia, 1:08.658
14 - B. Junqueira, 1:08.813
15 - J. Vasser, 1:09.066
16 - F. Perera, 1:09.153
17 - D. Martinez, 1:09.381
18 - M. Moraes, 1:09.438
19 - J. Annala, 1:11.265

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Transfer Window shut and locked as rain sets the field

No more entries please. The window has been shut and locked and won't be opened again until Sunday night.

But more importantly, the field has been set for tomorrow night's Japan 300, the first leg of the Indy Car double header brought to you by Ripley's Belive it or Not. Heavy rain throughout Friday meant that the final practice and qualifying was cancelled. Indy Car rules dictate that the field is set by the current points standings.

In theory, this means that Graham Rahal could start 4th on the grid in Japan (I wonder has anyone informed him of this yet?). In practice it means Helio Castroneves has secured pole position and the 15 bonus points that go with it.

The full lineup is as follows:

1 - Helio Castroneves

2 - Scott Dixon

3 - Tony Kanaan

4 - Marco Andretti

5 - Dan Wheldon

6 - Danica Patrick

7 - Ed Carpenter

8 - AJ Foyt IV

9 - Hideki Mutoh

10 - Ryan Hunter-Reay

11 - Buddy Rice

12 - Darren Manning

13 - Vitor Meira

14 - Jay Howard

15 - Ryan Briscoe

16 - Marty Roth

17 - Townsend Bell

18 - Roger Yasukawa

Combined practice times from the first two sessions at Motegi

Hopefully this will be a bit of a help for those of you wrestling with your team selections for Motegi and Long Beach or both. Seems all of the nonsense written about this being a great opportunity for Danica (I'm looking at you ESPN) is once again proven to be just that, nonsense.

The weight regulations mean that she is unlikely to trouble the scorers in qualifying. Although its worth noting that Danica had her quickest laps early doors which may indicate that she could be good in the four lap qualifying format later on tonight.

The rest is up to you.

1 - Tony Kanaan, 27.2453
2 - Scott Dixon, 27.3067
3 - Dan Wheldon, 27.3259
4 - Helio Castroneves, 27.3556
5 - Ed Carpenter, 27.3960
6 - Marco Andretti, 27.4046
7 - Ryan Briscoe, 27.4638
8 - Danica Patrick, 27.5155
9 - Townsend Bell, 27.6356
12 - Darren Manning, 27.6844
13 - Ryan Hunter-Reay, 27.7585
10 - Hideki Mutoh, 27.6651
11 - AJ Foyt IV, 27.6732
14 - Buddy Rice, 27.7774
15 - Vitor Meira, 27.8480
16 - Marty Roth, 27.9084
17 - Jay Howard, 28.1630
18 - Roger Yasukawa, 28.7137


-

The Commish

Monday, April 14, 2008

BREAKING NEWS - ROOKIE STATUS UPDATE!

Hello All,

I have just checked over my own rules and regs and there is a provision within the rules which means that there is no 'Rookie Bonus' designation for drivers competing at Long Beach.

On further review, it has been decided that the bonus rules will apply for all drivers at Long Beach except Graham Rahal. I'm letting you know now in case any of you based your selections on his ability to potentially pick up 'Rookie Bonus' points.

I hope that is all clear. I have edited the driver values on the home page to reflect this.

- The Commish

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Full rules for Motegi & Long Beach

Hello All,

So we have finally reached that point of the season that is quite simply a logistical nightmare.

Two races on one weekend, more than thirty drivers, rookies all over the shop and some new and 'one time only' rules for this weekend of Fantasy League racing in bizarro world!

It is really quite simple.....well sort of:

All of you who entered in week one get to pick 5 drivers as per normal. These can be drivers appearing in either the Japan 300 Indy Car Race at Motegi or the Grand Prix of Long Beach. But be aware that the driver values have been radically altered to reflect the levels of competitiveness in both races.

Those of you who entered in week two will have the chance to redress the balance by picking 5 drivers for each race. Any drivers you keep from your current line up will be valued at the original price at which you acquired them, but all other members of your team will be valued using the latest Week 3 numbers. Can you please ensure that your drivers appear in the right team for each race?

For the purposes of clarity, the following are the team owners that are eligible to pick two teams this week:

- Tim Gray
- Matt Thompson
- Jeremy Scott
- Paul Lucas
- Maureen O'Neil
- Brett Johnson

Rookie bonus points could be key this weekend so make sure that you are familiar with the rookies status of the drivers in both events.

The closing date for final league rosters is Thurday, April 17th at 7pm EST or, if you prefer,
Midnight GMT.

Regards,


- The Commish

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Simon Speichert Speaks

Now that The Great Swallow (it's clearly not a merger) has occurred, I've been doing a great deal of thinking about what has been, over the past few years, North America's healthiest open-wheel racing series, the Atlantic Championship. After much speculation about its ownership and direction, including rumors that indicated IMSA would become the sanctioning body and run the series alongside its lesser-powered Star Mazda series, the series has defined a 2008 schedule and confirmed Kevin Kalkhoven and Gerry Forsythe retain ownership of the series.

Pre-season testing has continued with just under 20 cars participating, and a lineup of strong teams including Walker Racing and Forsythe Racing. Some may worry that an Atlantic drive is now a drive to nowhere, as the championship no longer feeds directly to a larger, more powerful series. But by sharing dates with North America's top 3 road racing series, Atlantic drivers and teams can hope for increased exposure. Sure, nobody comes to a Grand-Am race, so the Frankie Muniz t-shirts might not move so quickly out of the merchandise stands, but networking with sports car teams can do wonders for a driver's career. One only needs to look at the success of Atlantic champions Raphael Matos and Jon Fogarty in Grand-Am to realize team owners take Atlantic graduates seriously. Atlantic graduates also find themselves contending for open-wheel seats on a more international scale than the IndyCar series. Robert Wickens and James Hinchcliffe have done well in A1GP, and the former looks to be a strong contender in the World Series by Renault this year.

The schedule is an exciting one. The series visits historic American venues at Long Beach (hopefully not for the last time), Laguna Seca, Road America, and for the first time Road Atlanta as part of the Petit Le Mans weekend. Two new American tracks are on the schedule: Miller Motorsports Park and the yet-to-be-completed New Jersey Motorsports Park. I'm personally delighted to see Atlantics retain such a Canadian feel, with four races in Canada. The series' only tie-up with IndyCar results in a double-header in Edmonton. Trois-Rivieres sees the series headline in Quebec, the heart of open-wheel racing in Canada. And with Champ Car's demise, the Atlantics will race at the Sommet des Legends historic festival at Mont-Tremblant on the Canada Day weekend.

The Atlantic Championship doesn't need to be a feeder series to succeed. It has a long history of being a powerful regional championship with a Canadian twist. Canadian racing legends passed through the series, including Gilles Villeneuve and son Jacques, Paul Tracy and Patrick Carpentier. Today, fan favorite James Hinchcliffe and rising star Kevin Lacroix have the opportunity to build their own careers with Atlantic wins. It is in many ways an advantage not being tied to the success or failure of a single larger championship; indeed, Mazda's support of Atlantics as its premier championship can only serve to raise its profile among teams, drivers and fans. Perhaps soon, someone other than myself will watch a Mazda motorsport commercial and remark, "Hey! That's Carl Skerlong!"

Monday, April 7, 2008

Standings after Race 2:

There are a number of lessons to be learned from the St Petersburg outcome.
It should not have escaped anyone's notice that the top two team managers
kept their lineups intact after Week One and it has paid off handsomely. Secondly,
Graham Rahal's victory gave only one team manager reason to celebrate.
Maureen O'Neil's 'PT Cruiser' outfit has burst into the league in Week Two with
a record haul of 250 points and sixth spot in the standings. Rahal provided the
first 'Rookie Bonus' points of the season too and this is something worth looking
at with Long Beach coming up.

John & Andrew Harbey again have formed an exclusive club of Team Managers
with five scoring drivers this week. Metaphorical promotional hats of to both of
them for that effort.

All of you tinkering team bosses should take note, the second 'Transfer Window'
will open as soon as the Week Three driver values are published. This is highly
significant as the driver choices for the next round will be spread across the races
at Long Beach & Motegi. The driver values will be significantly different seeing as
both races will run with essentially weakened fields. The latecomers will get the
chance to catch up as they will be able to pick squads for both races, but again, this
will provide a stern test of their selection skills and will not give them any edge
over those who have been in since Week One.

Points Standings

1st
310 - Doug Werner - "Drivers who weigh more than Danica"
[Scott Dixon, Hideki Mutoh, AJ Foyt IV, Marty Roth, Ed Carpenter]

2nd
305 - Michael Gathman - "Weekend Warriors"
[Dan Wheldon, Marco Andretti, Ernesto Viso, Jay Howard, Ed Carpenter]

3rd
295 - "RPH Racing" - Julie Werner
[Helio Castroneves, Hideki Mutoh, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Ed Carpenter, Townsend Bell]

4th
285 - "3.2 Million Bricks" - Michael Rennick
[Scott Dixon, Vitor Meira, Ernesto Viso, Jay Howard, Ryan Hunter Reay]


5th
255 - "I Hate Tony George" - Jim Casey
[Marco Andretti, Ryan Briscoe, Darren Manning, Danica Patrick, Milka Duno]


6th
250 - "PT Cruiser" - Maureen O'Neil
[Dan Wheldon , Ryan Briscoe , Graham Rahal , Ernesto Viso, Mario Moraes ]


7th
245 - "Tony George stole my Series" - Emiliyan Stoykov
[Helio Castro Neves, Dan Wheldon, Jay Howard, Townsend Bell, Franck Perera]

7th
245 - "Gerry Forsythe's 'Play your cars right'" - Declan Brennan
[Helio Castroneves, Hideki Mutoh, Ryan Hunter Reay, Jay Howard, Franck Perera]


9th
240 - "Team IndyCart" - Robert Duffield
[Helio Castroneves, Hideki Mutoh, Ryan Hunter Reay, Mario Moreas, Franck Perera]

10th
230 - "Super Duper Best Friends" - Andy Blackmore
[Tony Kanaan, Marco Andrettti, Franck Perera, Milka Duno, Townsend Bell]


11th
225 - "I am Hindy" - John Hindhaugh
[Marco Andretti, Hideki Mutoh, Bruno Junquiera, Ernesto Viso, Darren Manning]


12th
224 - "Should We Stay or Should We Split Now?" - Andrew Harbey
[Dan Wheldon, Justin Wilson, Darren Manning, Enrique Bernoldi, Buddy Rice]


13th
215 - "Why do we keep turning Left on our way to the merger?" - Nick Daman
[Dan Wheldon, Hideki Mutoh, Danica Patrick, Jay Howard, Franck Perera]

14th
210 - "no Ferrari Influence Apparent" - David Harbey
[Dan Wheldon, Marco Andretti, Darren Manning, Mario Moraes, Franck Perera]


15th
200 - "Team Bigger USA" - Jon Bigger
[Marco Andretti, Ryan Briscoe, Danica Patrick, Milka Duno, Vitor Meira]

16th
195 - "Month of Mayhem" - Adrian Bourne
[Helio Castro Neves, Vitor Meira, Bruno Junquiera, Townsend Bell, Darren Manning]

17th
185 - "Come back to Rockingham" - John Harbey
[Dan Wheldon, Ryan Briscoe, Enrique Bernoldi, Jay Howard, Vitor Meira]


18th
180 - "Indy Pace Car Speed" - Jason Kwok
[Dan Wheldon, Ryan Briscoe, Ryan Hunter Reay, Mario Moraes, Ed Carpenter]
Dan Wheldon

18th
180 - "One Lap Down" - Jeremy Scott
[Helio Castroneves, Justin Wilson, Franck Perera, Ernesto Viso, Townsend Bell]

20th
167 - "Joe Blob & the Spoonerisms" - James Murphy
[Marco Andretti, Ryan Briscoe, Hideki Mutoh, Mario Moraes, Buddy Rice]


21st
145 - "Opposite Lock Motorsports" - Louis Berlan
[Dan Wheldon, Ryan Briscoe, Ryan Hunter Reay, Jay Howard, Franck Perera]

22nd
140 - "Sideways Sam's Sideways Tings" - Sam Collins
[Dan Wheldon, Hideki Mutoh, Danica Patrick, Jay Howard, Franck Perera]

23rd
132 - "Chip, your name doesn't mean you have to eat Chips" - Matthew Hyndman
[Ryan Briscoe, Ryan Hunter Reay, Buddy Rice, Bruno Junquiera, Franck Perera]

24th
115 - "Empty Tank Racing" - Matt Thompson
[Marco Andretti, Will Power, Enrique Bernoldi, Danica Patrick, Marty Roth]


25th
87 - "Danika Wheldon Crash Team" - Chris Vince
[Oriol Servia, Ryan Briscoe, Hideki Mutoh, Marty Roth, Buddy Rice]

26th
80 - "Team IROC - Indignantly Racing Our Crapwagons" - Simon Speichert
[Marco Andretti, Justin Wilson, Mario Moraes, Bruno Junquiera, Franck Perera]

27th
30 - "I am Timgray" - Tim Gray
[Scott Dixon, Ryan Briscoe, Danica Patrick, Townsend Bell, Mario Moraes]

28th
0 - "Team To Be Named Later" - Brett Johnson

28th
0 - "Team To Be Named Later" - Paul Lucas

Saturday, April 5, 2008

My Qualifying Report...not brought to you by Firestone

Success!!!

I would suggest that the new road course qualifying system was indeed a success.
Helio Castroneves will be the first member of the fan club seeing as he made the
'Fast Six' on his last lap. Conversley Oriol Servia will be calling for it to be abolished
after he lost sixth position to Helio at the death.

The format really seemed to work correctly and it was exciting from the start of the
opening session. The timing of each session is crucial and it is really hard to get a clean
and clear lap while the tires are at their best.

Champ Car refugees can be delighted with their contributions to the whole affair, as
Wilson and Power took positions two and three. Ryan Hunter Reay was on the pace for
all three sessions and will start on the third row cementing my belief that he is the USA's
finest racing driver. Marco Andretti's failure to make the 'Fast Six' woud not have been
expected based on his pace in unofficial practice and he has to be content with 12th.

The performance of Tony Kanaan in grabbing pole was as about as unsuprising as Scott
Dixon's qualifing effort was shocking, he didn't even make it out of his first qualifying group
and will start one place behind Marco in 13th.

The whole system was highly enetertaining and has produced a grid which will ensure
a fair degree of fireworks come Sunday afternoon.

Enjoy.

1 – Tony Kanaan, 1:02.5322
2 – Will Power, 1:02.6096
3 – Justin Wilson, 1:02.6426
4 – Helio Castroneves, 1:02.6462
5 – Ryan Briscoe, 1:02.7071
6 – Ryan Hunter-Reay, 1:03.0077

-----------------------------

7 – Oriol Servia, 1:02.7427
8 – Dan Wheldon, 1:02.7964
9 – ® Graham Rahal, 1:02.8122
10 – ® Franck Perera, 1:02.8749
11 – Darren Manning, 1:03.0136
12 – Marco Andretti, 1:03.2443

-----------------------------

13 – Scott Dixon, 1:03.2365
14 – Hideki Mutoh, 1:03.2757
15 – Ernesto Viso, 1:03.3067
16 – Buddy Rice, 1:03.3591
17 – Vitor Meira, 1:03.4480
18 – ® Enrique Bernoldi, 1:03.4568
19 – Danica Patrick, 1:03.5766
20 – ® Jay Howard, 1:03.7447
21 – Ed Carpenter, 1:03.8007
22 – ® Mario Moraes, 1:04.1590
23 – Townsend Bell, 1:04.3880
24 – A.J. Foyt IV, 1:04.4996
25 – Marty Roth, 1:07.7041
26 – Bruno Junqueira, 1:09.3851


PS - I got four of the 'Fast Six' right, so I'm rather pleased with myself.

Friday, April 4, 2008

Transfer window Number 1 has been nailed shut!

I must first say well done to all of you for the level of restraint that you have all shown during the first transfer window. I expected a much more corpulent inbox considering the fact that we have moved from an oval to a street circiut. A fact that should provide the road racers and Champ Car refugees with a much needed boost.

Is the first day's practice any sort of diving rod for Saturday qualifying? It is hard to say for certain. What we do know is that Helio Castroneves was on the pace almost immediately he left pit road and clocked the quickest time of the second session in almost half the laps of Tony Kanaan in second place. The time that really leaps out you before poking you in the eye with a tiny promotional samurai sword, is that of AGR's Hideki Mutoh. He topped the charts for much of the session despite an off that restricted him to just 10 laps. He will be well worth watching in final qualifying tomorrow, he may even make the 'Fast 6'.

Will Power shrugged off a problematic opening session to log an impressive fourth best time and Atlantic's graduate Franck Perera continues his eye-catching start to the season with 5th on the time sheets.

It all points towards and intriguing afternoon of qualifying on Saturday,

The second session times were as follows:

1 – Helio Castroneves, 1:03.3068
2 – Tony Kanaan, 1:03.3680
3 – ® Hideki Mutoh, 1:03.4491
4 – Will Power, 1:03.5983
5 – ® Franck Perera, 1:03.6346
6 – Vitor Meira, 1:03.6505
7 – Marco Andretti, 1:03.6576
8 – Scott Dixon, 1:03.7358
9 – Oriol Servia, 1:03.7377
10 – Ryan Hunter-Reay, 1:03.7379
11 – Ryan Briscoe, 1:03.8044
12 – Justin Wilson, 1:03.9599
13 – Darren Manning, 1:03.9905
14 – Bruno Junqueira, 1:04.2090
15 – Dan Wheldon, 1:04.2912
16 – Buddy Rice, 1:04.4419
17 – ® Enrique Bernoldi, 1:04.5261
18 – ® Graham Rahal, 1:04.5618
19 – Danica Patrick, 1:04.7718
20 – Townsend Bell, 1:04.7961
21 – ® Ernesto Viso, 1:05.0462
22 - A.J. Foyt IV, 1:05.3497
23 – Ed Carpenter, 1:05.7426
24 – ® Jay Howard, 1:05.7668
25 – ® Mario Moraes, 1:05.8624
26 – Marty Roth, 1:08.7802

Firestone's Fast Six with Firestone - Presented by Firestone

All you need to know about the contrived new road course qualifying system is, who is going to come out on top. Here are the choices of the Podcast presenters:


Tim Gray

- Marco Andretti (pole)
- Ryan Briscoe
- Scott Dixon
- Tony Kanaan
- Darren Manning
- Dan Wheldon


Declan Brennan

- Justin Wilson (pole)
- Tony Kanaan
- Scott Dixon
- Helio Castroneves
- Ryan Briscoe
- Marco Andretti


Now get your team picks in before 12 midnight GMT.
We will revisit this and much more after qualifying...............

Names to conjure with - Redux

Apologies to our American members as the following entry, from James Murphy, will probably go right over your heads like the Blue Angels on opening day.

Edmonton 'Hatch' Burkefront burst onto the scene as yet another fast bowler from the Caribbean and for a decade Burkefront terrified batsmen the world over. Muscular and tall (6ft 2ins) with a classical action, he presented a fearsome sight. A long, lithe approach ended with a fast and well-aimed delivery. Not a flicker of emotion would be evident save a gunslinger's narrowing of the eyes; while some thought his frequent use of bouncers was intimidating, no-one stood up to the athletic Bajan. He varied its pace, often setting batsmen up with a slower one and then pole-axing them when they were late on the quickie. It took “Hatch” less than two and a half years to reach 100 Test wickets. A compete “ferret” with the bat, he averaged just 1.7 runs in Test cricket, with a top score of 11 against India, in Madras (now Chennai) in 1978/9.


Edmonton 'Hatch' Burkefront,
steaming in from the
Kirkstall Lane end, yesterday in 1977

A Lap of St. Petersburg with the 'I am Hindy' Boss

Thursday, April 3, 2008

A little pre-St Petersburg fun

Names to conjure with:

During a conversation with our esteemed League Leader last night we chanced upon a little game that you can all play along with at home.

It is very simple, take the name or part of the name from any of this year's Indy Car venues and last season's ChampCar venues. Then combine any bits of them you want to create as many new characters as you can. They all have to have a biography of some sort to go with them:

I will start with Tremblant Cleveland, the magician of now the defuct ABA. A man who inspired 'Doctor J' to literally new heights. He, along with many in the ABA, was known for the inverse proportions of his shorts and fro/beard combination.

Doug Werner has written to add that Glen Long, is shown opposite Tremblant Cleveland (below) just before his career was cut short when he poked himself in the eye with his elbow while trying to draw a charge on diminutive dribbling legend Fontana Burkefront.


Tremblant Cleveland, in action, in the seventies, earlier today


Michael Rennick has reminded us of that tremendous 'specialist' film star, Laguna Paradise. She started her career as an exotic dancer in Montreal. She then moved into films where she frequently co-stared with Tracy Bourdais. The most notorious of these films, “Chrome Horn”, earned them a Bridgestone Passion for Excellence Award.

Jim Casey clearly has his finger on the pulse of the nations favourite pastime. He has contacted the blog with this Major League Baseball update -

The Washington Nationals expect to compete for the NL East title this season with their revamped pitching rotation. Coming out of nowhere is Edmonton Kansas, featuring a 105 mph fastball, kneebuckling curve, and savage splitfinger. Joining him is Long Beach Motegi, Japanese Gyroball expert, whose father named him after the nearest city to his WW II internment camp for some reason. Following them is spoiled rich boy Watkins Van Couver, whose parents hired Nolan Ryan to be his high school coach. Filling out the rotation are knuckleballer Houston Infineon, and spitballer Sebastian Panoz.