INDYCAR: The Paddock Pulse (September 15 Edition)

Off-weeks usually play havoc with the IndyCar blogosphere. This past off-week was particularly harsh, because most of the IndyCar bloggers were busy dusting off their shrines and knee-pillows and prostrating themselves to the Football Gods. Then, after a weekend of tailgating and alcohol poisoning not seen since the "Danica Patrick Y'know Drinking Game," the last thing on their minds is to write stuff about IndyCar racing.

Still, there's enough in the tank to produce a Paddock Pulse entry this week, even as our racing heroes prepare for killer jetlag as they travel to Motegi, Japan. Just keep in mind what these heroic bloggers have overcome (hangovers, bloating from too many bags of Fritos, and in Hobbson's case coming down off a major Panamanian toad high) to bring you this quality material.

Links after the jump...

• 2012 IndyCar: Tony Cotman's blog [RACER]
  For the longest time, people have been begging the IndyCar powers-that-be for a word or two about 2012. So Tony Cotman has obliged... by writing 2,015 words about the subject! Thanks, Tony, but it would have been way cooler if you had written 2,012 words. Next time, LET ME EDIT YOUR COPY! (Ed. note: Please, for the love of Jeebus, do not let Tony J. edit your copy.)

• Breaking Down the 2011 Schedule [Drive Hard, Turn Left]
  You want me to break down the 2011 IndyCar schedule? BEER AND BRATWURSTS! That's all you need to know. Oh yeah, and CLAM CHOWDAH! (Because, see, New Hampshire Motor Speedway is about 45 minutes from Boston. Next time, Bill, do a gastronomical index to the IndyCar schedule. It'll be way more popular. (Then again, I haven't had lunch. Maybe that's influencing my thinking.)

• Attendance – Not Just An IndyCar Problem [Oilpressure]
  True story - if my kids get enough unexcused absences from school, I could actually get sent to jail. So why don't we use that paradigm for filling the stands at IndyCar races? Start with the Downforce club members - if they don't show up to EVERY RACE of the 2011 season, send a SWAT team to kick down their door and dropkick their dogs and pee on the carpet. THAT'S MOTIVATION!

• A funny thing happened on the way to hiatus… [So… here’s what I’m thinking…]
  So Meesh went to Kentucky and met with Roy Hobbson. Now, there are worse ways of celebrating an upcoming birthday than attending a Kentucky IndyCar race, but factor in Hobbson and his trenchcoat full of Mauretanian spotted sand slugs and it's not exactly an advertisement for the Chamber of Commerce, if you know what I mean.

• IndyCar's Soon To Be Announced 2011 Schedule Carries Evolution And Independence [VERSUS/Olson]
  I'm happy to report that Jeff Olson, my Facebook pal and a guy who actually clicked the "Like" button for Pop Off Valve, makes his VERSUS debut in the Paddock Pulse this week. Hey, this is a guy who proudly wears the official POV "Ride Buyer" hat (or at least has it stuck on a shelf somewhere collecting dust) and THAT, my friends, is a sign of a quality human being. Plus, his soul patch could kick Bruce Martin's chin beaver in a straight fight.

Final Thoughts

A fairly well-known automotive blogger issued a scathing, vitriolic screed saying that the IZOD IndyCar Series will be out of business by 2015 if Randy Bernard doesn't totally throw the entire 2012 plan into the toilet and adopt the Delta Wing instead. You can Google it if you want.

Honestly? I'd like to see Ganassi and Penske do what this guy says they will and start a racing series based totally around the Delta Wing. Hell, I haven't had a good Split for a few years now and I kind of miss it. I think it will succeed, though, especially if the Delta Wing - which is completely untested outside of CFD and still just a rolling clay model - is as BRUTALLY AWESOME as this guy (and the Delta Wing guys) says it is. Because if history has taught us anything, it's that if you've got the cars and stars, who needs the Indianapolis 500?