GRAND-AM, the sanctioning body that controls the Rolex Sports Car Series (Ever seen the 24 hour race at Daytona? That's them.) has placed a $25,000 bounty on the Ganassi Racing TELMEX BMW/Riley which has won six races in a row stretching back to the 2010 season. Tactics like "rewards" weight and engineering restrictions were apparently deemed too subtle for GRAND-AM Director of Competition Mark Raffauf. Drivers Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas now face an entire field of Daytona Protoype Boba Fetts.

Again: the sanctioning body of a sport offered $25Gs to anyone who can beat one of its competitors. That's unheard of, and there's an official "wanted" poster below the jump.

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Likened to Norman Rockwell on CBS Sunday Morning, artist David Uhl is honored to be selected Program Cover Artist for the historic running of the 100th Anniversary Indianapolis 500.    

David Uhl has devoted much of his career to creating masterpieces reflecting his passion for the romance of eras past. His understanding of light and color has allowed him to provide beautiful windows into historically intriguing subjects which were originally recorded in black and white.   Because of the timeless nature of his works, David's pieces are sought after by a diverse range of collectors around the world.

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(Courtesy of IndyCar PR)

One of the biggest supporters of grassroots racing in America has joined forces with INDYCAR's Road to Indy as Mazda announced a multi-year partnership with the INDYCAR developmental ladder.

As the title partner of the Mazda Road to Indy, Mazda will provide scholarships to the 2011 champions of the three affiliated series - the Cooper Tires presents the USF2000 National Championship powered by Mazda, the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear and Firestone Indy Lights - to graduate to the next level of the sport.

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From IZOD IndyCar Series PR:

Bryan Clauson says he might need a few days to fully grasp the accomplishments of the 2010 USAC season. On Thanksgiving night at Toyota Speedway in Irwindale, Calif., he was truly thankful for the bounty.

The 21-year-old from Noblesville, Ind., wrapped up the inaugural USAC National Drivers Championship, which includes the $300,000 Firestone Indy Light scholarship to compete in the six oval races on the 2011 schedule.

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Hi, I'm mike and this is my first post on this site and I just decided that i will no longer be watching nascar and i will only Watch Indy Car Racing from now on. I considered  making this jump last year but i decided to give nascar one more year to prove that its isn't fixed but of coarse jimmie johnson won the championship again. so they lost me as a fan. i just learned about Chevy and Lotus joining Indy Racing in 2012, and I'm really excited.These moves will bring Indy to yet another level above nascar, and i came up with this idea, Picture this, Indy holds a race at either Darlington, Daytona, or Talladega. Having a race at any one of these tracks will further prove that Indy Car Racing is a better watch than nascar. and i would love to see how fast Indy cars can go at tracks like these.

Slightly early posting of Power Rankings because of the big announcement Friday that two mystery tracks named Milwaukee and Vegas (or Cali) will be on the schedule.  OOPS!  Have I said too much???

*Sigh*  Yep.  Another Red Car.  Fuel strategy this time.  I thought the ovals were supposed to be EXCITING, not ANTICLIMACTIC.

The one thing not anticlimactic is the title fight heating up.  Wait, that involves a Penske car and a Ganassi car.  Okay, maybe that too.

So perhaps who's up and down in Power Rankings should suffice....right?

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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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