The Paddock Pulse: Jan. 18 Edition

Happy MLK Day, dear readers! Thanks to a wonderfully-timed illness, my weekend writing schedule got all messed up - so like any lazy writer, I'm putting up "new content" in the form of an early Paddock Pulse. Without further ado, here we go!

• COUNTERPOINT: Street racing [Planet-IRL]
  Paul and Steph from Planet-IRL do word-battle about the relative merits of having street racing around in the IndyCar Series. Some entertaining dialogue, with Paul preferring not to watch any racing at all to watching an IndyCar street race and Steph laying down some criteria for whether a street race should be held in a particular market. (Spoiler alert: street races aren't going anywhere.)

• Are Street Circuits Really Needed? [Oilpressure]
  Not to be outdone, George Phillips also gets in on the whole street circuit issue at the Oilpressure blog.

• Images Of The Decade [16th And Georgetown]
  Enjoy some of the landmark events of the IndyCar decade past with an aggregation of photos from the IRL media archive, presented by our buds at 16th and Georgetown.

• Sarah Fisher has special plans for the Indy 500 (and they involve Ellen DeGeneres). [ESPN]
  Ryan McGee jumps on the #Ellen2Indy500 bandwagon in his ESPN blog. Worth reading if only for the second sentence in the article: "She was Danica before Danica..."

• Reid, Goodyear return [The Indianapolis Star]
  Marty Reid and former Indianapolis 500 driver Scott Goodyear will return to the television booth this year to host ABC's five IZOD IndyCar Series races, including the 500. Eddie Cheever, who won the 500 in 1998, will join them in hosting the 500. That, apparently, is the good news, which means that the bad news is really bad - Brienne Pedigo isn't coming back.

• More questions than answers after IndyCar Series meeting [The Indianapolis Star]
  Curt Cavin, intrepid reporter for the Indianapolis Star, tracks down some of the current issues as far as driver plans for the upcoming season - including the current lack of contract for "Son of 'Stache" Graham Rahal.

• Antonio Sabato Jr. and Danica Patrick to Heat Up CSI: NY [People Magazine]
  Because we know you couldn't wait for the scoop, we have Danica Patrick's CSI: NY character name: Liza Gray. The article also mentions an "explosive car crash" during an "expedition" race. I'm guessing People's editors are complete idiots and don't know the difference between "exhibition" and "expedition," because the odds of Fictional Danica being wiped out by a car crash while climbing a mountain or searching for intelligent life in the New York sewers are rather low.

• Danica Plays Marilyn Monroe, Reprises Flashdance and Weird Science In New Ads [Sporting News]
  And since we know that you can't get enough Danica, here's some inside scoop on her upcoming Super Bowl ads (complete with a truly unfortunate image of Danica playing Kelly LeBrock's character in Weird Science). Behold the awesome awfulness of press release blather:
  

  “This is our best work ever!” proclaimed Go Daddy CEO and Founder Bob Parsons. “The Internet-Only version of 'Movies' with Danica as Marilyn Monroe is smokin’ hot and I predict people of all ages are going to enjoy our Go Daddy Girl as 'the girl' from 'The Seven Year Itch' for years to come.”
  
  Patrick said, “All of our new commercials are visually beautiful and very funny. These ads are all top-notch, but the Internet-Only version of 'Movies' is definitely my favorite!”

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