I wanted to like what happened at Chicagoland.  I really do.  The danger, side-by-side action, SARAH LEADING, KV Racing's friendly-fire pit incident, it all seemed great.  Two obvious things kept me from getting too happy about the race: yet another Ganassi victory and ISC.  Those two are IndyCar's greatest threats today.  Forget attendance and forget the TV ratings.  Hell, forget the economy itself and lack of sponsorship.  With the same teams winning each week and NASCAR ISC kicking us (but mostly racing fans) out to the curb it's hard to share any euphoria with some fans. 

That takes us back to one year ago….Richmond.  The Parade.  The death of the Tony George era.  The rule changes.  Push to Pass.  Aero options. 

Then we went to Kentucky….AWESOMENESS ENSUED.

Will we see that again?  Oh I think so.  Will Ed get his revenge?  Will we see another Red Car win YET AGAIN?  Will Ashley Judd come out of hiding (where has SHE been?) looking like THAT?

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That's more I like it.  Wait....another Red Car won?  Don't care.  It was epic enough.  Sarah leading, Eddie running fast, Marco passing high, Kanaan in-car cam views....THAT'S Chicagoland. 

THAT....was the final race there (I hope not....but probably right).

Also it showed us that Will Power's kryptonite is left turns and left turns only.  Even when he masters them something is bound to go wrong.

This week's Power Rankings MC Willy P must bow down to MC Scottsman D and his huge nasal strips.

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A moment of silence please for Chicagoland Speedway.....

With its NASCAR date moved to cancel IndyCar's late-summer date and the possible open warfare between IICS, NASCAR, SMI, and ISC it appears the wildest track in the IRL's short history will be gone. 

The Cup Series date now closer to IndyCar's (among the other recent Cup date moves) is NO accident.  IT'S ON.

The moment Tony George went bye-bye, the IZOD deal and The Cowboy took over it appears the "good ol' boys" at NASCAR decided that it's time to treat the IRL as a real competitor.  The 800 Pound Gorilla saw Bruton Smith buddying up with IndyCar and didn't even think twice.  Your prestigious opening Chase race at Loudon?  BYE!  Atlanta?  POOF!  ONE RACE ONLY!  Kentucky needs a date?  Okay, but only to show them fellers what REAL racing is (complete with BS debris cautions and 10 second margins of victory) and how much better it is than IndyCar "racing" ("Racing" in IndyCar??? HAHAHAHA!  Hear that Jethro?  I made a funny!)

It's sad not only to see a once great race fade away, but it's possible the good people in Joliet may see its track slowly disappear as well.  A Cup date during BEARS SEASON?  REALLY????  You would stoop to that level?  All this to cloak IndyCar's date in August?

Actually, this shooting themselves in the foot could be a blessing.  Anything to spite one of THE WORST racing affiliated corporations in the land.  It really is time to begin the Tiger Woods-level divorce with ISC.

But Chicagoland....  *sigh*

Anyways, with that off of my chest back to the preview of the race.  Even with the ovals you should know the drill with those damn Red Cars and all....but which one?

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Last time we saw a roundy-round race, TK obliterated the Red Car Death Star and even raised our hopes for the upcoming twisty races.  DOH!  So much for that.  The Death Star has been completed on schedule AND is operational.  Too much Power and too much Ganassi has rendered the competition to the dark ages.  Sonoma had yet another 1-2-3-4-5 Red Car finish.  It's getting to the point that I'm running out of material for these guys.  The only things left to say about them….well….I have to make my posts SOMEWHAT family oriented (although for some families that shouldn't be a problem no matter what I say).

As much as an oval fan that I am (NASCAR will do that to you, and cause you to murder people for touching you at the grocery store checkout line) I have a hard time getting into IndyCar ovals.  You can say all you want about how exciting they are (yes, they are) but ovals usually intensify the advantage of superior equipment.  The Red Cars have something better: superior attachments....and the superior Power Rankings.

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Bob Jenkins practices for the Versus telecast of the upcoming IndyCar race at Sonoma….

"Hello, race fans!  You are watching the IndyCars at Simona, Califor….DAMMIT!  Okay, Bob.  Just like you practiced yesterday….At Mid-Ohio, rookie Sonoma De Sil….NOT AGAIN!  I spent the better part of the winter getting her name right!  I was hoping she would lose her ride by now so I wouldn't have to bother mixing her name up with Simona, Californ….SONOFABITCH!  Screw it, I'll just say Sears Point.  D'OH!  It's Infenion now.  This isn't Winston Cup on ESPN anymore.  *sigh*  Arute is right.  Drinking and chain smoking would solve most problems such as this.  How else would he come up with those props?"

Now that Bob got that out of the way, we can now concentrate on the race at hand.  SEARS POINT (I'll say it.  That name sounds better) marks the final twisty event of the IndyCar season.  That means only one more race the non-Red Cars might win (no WAY anybody else has a shot, unless there's a surprise short-oval for Kanaan to dominate.  Wait, ISC just told me to GTFO....) with a funky strategy call.  Snore-oma hasn't really produced much excitement over the years and I'm guessing this year won't be any different.  Those turbos can't come soon enough for the 0.3 of us. 

So Will Power it is, then?  Oh, yea I forgot: HE HASN'T WON IN TWO RACES!  So who should take his place as the one to watch Sunday?  Of course, it's one of the other FOUR Red Cars.

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Zzzzzzzzzz....wha....huh....?  Oh, the race ended.  So much for that.  WOAH!!!  WILL POWER DIDN'T WIN???  Oh, it was Dario.  Red Car.  Whatever.  This is getting ridiculous.  What's it going to take?  A nuclear strike?  Arming Milka Duno with Mario Kart weapons (preferably a blue shell)?  Hell, arming her with REAL weapons?  Perhaps had Tagliani and Simona had nitrous hidden in their firesuits (like a certain fella named "Super Tex" did at least once, so they say on his "SportsCentury" episode) it would've made the race FAR more interesting.  Memo to Bernard: P2P must have more power.  What kind of power?  Play "Ivan Stewart's Off-Road Arcade" and load up on nitros (or even Danny Sullivan's IndyCar version of basically the same game).  Keep hitting the nitro button.  THAT'S what no-passing zone rolling-hill twisties NEED, a P2P button with a million extra horsepower where only the skilled can master it.

Anyway, did Dario's win help him take P1 in the Power Rankings this week?  Well, since that photo was taken "William" hasn't won a single race.  ON TWISTIES.  P1, baby.

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INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (August 9, 2010) - Vision Racing and IndyCar driver Ed Carpenter are happy to welcome back Fuzzy's Ultra Premium Vodka to run three more IZOD IndyCar Series events in collaboration with Panther Racing during the 2010 season. Carpenter, who ran with Panther Racing as a second team entry in the 2010 Running of the Indianapolis 500, will drive the No. 20 Fuzzy's Ultra Premium Vodka entry at upcoming races at Chicagoland Speedway, Kentucky Speedway and Homestead-Miami Speedway. The collaboration between the two IZOD IndyCar Series teams will once again pair Carpenter with full-time Panther driver Dan Wheldon, pilot of the No. 4 National Guard Panther Racing entry.

"We're really very excited about the opportunity to compete in more IndyCar races this season thanks to the support of Fuzzy Zoeller and his Ultra Premium Vodka along with John Barnes and the Panther Racing team," said Vision Racing Team Owner, Tony George. "We're looking forward to building on the experience of both teams and our partnership at the Indianapolis 500 this year to secure strong results."

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Twitter-bitching.  A rampaging Helio.  A driver winning without leading a lap.  Will Power losing a roadie event.  Danica in the top 10 of a roadie event.  Too many cars announced for an IndyCar series race.  Delta Wing dead.  Robin Miller happy.  Robin Miller mad.  The spirit of the Crapwagon living on.  Lotus returning.  Shane Hmiel getting a Lights ride. 

What the HELL has happened to IndyCar since July 14th???

I can't figure it out either.  Such madness can be good for IndyCar, but not all of this is positive.  It's like the 2010 IndyCar season can really be divided into two parts: Pre-July 14th announcement and post.  The Canadian races have basically been "Went to an IndyCar race and a hockey fight broke out" affairs.  Not surprising.  Our "friendly neighbors up north" are anything but.  They invented hockey after all.  NO, I am NOT complaining (hockey and Canadians rule)….the race results aside IndyCar's Canadian Vacation has been quite good for most of those reasons listed above....at least it WOULD'VE been had that darn Helio didn't "block" (I guess).

Now that we're on US soil in Mid-Ohio this weekend perhaps all will return to normal.  Who takes the win at Bobby Rahal's stomping grounds?  Hopefully it's the Prodigal Son of 'Stache (just avoid Briscoe, young Grahammo), but with his defeat at Edmonton Will Power has to be ever so pissed. 

Anyways, is it just me or did Bobby Rahal from the glory days remind you of a bowling league team captain?  Just look at that picture.  The bald head, mustache, and barley-pop sponsorship just oozes of manliness.  If Super Mario got drunk while playing Mario Kart and later took up bowling the end result would look EXACTLY LIKE THAT.

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I thought to myself after Helio went nuts over Moraes taking him out at Texas that "I can count with one hand the times I've seen Helio mad.  Ever.  And with a couple of fingers to spare."  Well, so much for that.  Other than the $60,000 fine he and Milka now share something in common:  Double secret probation from the Dean of IndyCar Brian Barnhart.  Does this hurt his Power Ranking?  Epic rampages such as that deserve a pass.  Had Barnhart actually stepped outside and Helio had given him a Chuck Norris roundhouse-kick-to-the-FACE he would've been number ONE.  Oh, well....

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Marshall Pruett had an interesting combination interview/commentary with Tony Cotman earlier this week.  While various parts of both Cotman's answers and Pruett's editorializing are noteworthy and are sure to spark disagreements, it was the photo at the top that caught my eye: a split image of a 1996 and a 2001 Reynard ChampCar.  It's a perfect illustration of what the caption says: even in CART's heyday, evolution was a slow process, and cars looked pretty much the same year to year, but that didn't seem to matter at the time.  It was still exciting racing that drew big crowds.  Now, however, everyone is clamoring for revolution, something new to grab the attention of the masses.  So what's changed?  I'll tell you: the current Dallara is ugly.  And based on the concepts shown, 2012's cars could end up just as ugly.  And that would be bad.

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