Pop Off Valve - All Posts

End of a season

2012-09-16T04:33:36Z

In the end, it came down to three points. An American accepted the Astor Cup with the title only decided at the checkered flag. An American stood in victory lane after 500 miles on an oval track.

In other words, it was the coda that many IndyCar fans had only dreamed of for over a decade.

Yeah, I'm not going to get into the caterwauling that broke out when Beaux Barfield threw the red flag at the penultimate caution so that the race would end under green. In every silver lining there's a raincloud, I guess.

But after a season which had more peaks and valleys than a Six Flags rollercoaster, you can't help but give Randy Bernard and the INDYCAR brain trust kudos for delivering the best season in nearly two decades.

So here we are, basking in the afterglow of a dramatic finale to a great season. It is a good note for Bob Jenkins to go out on, that's for sure. The veteran broadcaster is retiring to spend more time with his wife, who has been ill for some time. Still, he got to announce that his friend Ed Carpenter had won the final race he called, and he also got to see Ryan Hunter-Reay crowned as champion.

Bob Jenkins means the world to me because of his career and because of who he is. He is a true gentleman in every sense of the word, and his career puts every American race fan in debt to him for raising the profile of racing in the United States. No one deserves a happy retirement more than Bob. I'll miss him greatly - it truly is the end of an era.

While I'm talking about endings, there is one more which I am loathe to bring up, but must. Tonight also marks the end of Pop Off Valve's coverage of the IZOD IndyCar Series.

SBNation, our host for the past three years, is transitioning to a new format - SBNation United - which is a watershed for the network and the sites it hosts. It is a new era for SBN and I am thrilled for everyone involved for their future and what it means for them.

Unfortunately, with the change to SBNation United, the network has re-evaluated its approach to motorsports and is eliminating individual racing blog sites in favor of a centralized motorsports section headed by SBN NASCAR editor Jeff Gluck, my friend and colleague over the past couple of years. SBN still intends to publish IndyCar news on their racing hub, but Pop Off Valve will be archived and, eventually, shut down.

Before I go on, I want it understood that Jeff and SBN offered to let me stay on and publish under United's racing hub, but I have declined that generous offer. While it is true that my readership would likely have skyrocketed, the cost in personal terms was too much for me. The blunt truth is that the job deserves to go to a younger writer with more flexibility, who is closer to Indiana and who has the energy and time to devote to making IndyCar a presence on the United network instead of simply an afterthought or bottom-page curiosity.

So the end of the 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series is a bittersweet ending for me. The afterglow of the concluded Astor Cup championship and the 500-mile opera that ended it has me happy and excited, but the end of Pop Off Valve adds an edge of sadness. I think in a way it's a good thing - it helps me to appreciate how lucky I was to see this season; more than that, though, how lucky I was to have this platform to share it and the past three seasons with you.

I want to thank Nathan "fleshwound_NPG" Gruenholz, Dale Nixon, Scott Whitmore, Brian Neudorff, Matt Weaver, and Shannon McIntosh for their support and exceptional contributions to Pop Off Valve over the years. They worked without compensation and were - and are - great examples of spirit and talent. I am indebted to you for your influence on me.

I also want to thank everyone in the INDYCAR community - on Twitter and elsewhere - who have supported Pop Off Valve as more than just a blog from a cranky old fat man. That includes my fellow bloggers out there, my Twitter family, and my allies and pals who keep siphoning me press releases and teleconference invitations (even after my employment circumstances changed so that I couldn't call in anymore). I have enjoyed being a peripheral member of the INDYCAR media community as much as anything I have done in racing, and given my history that is saying quite a bit, trust me.

I suppose I could go on, but I think I'll finish with this. Last year we were saying goodbye to Dan Wheldon with bitter tears and mourning. This year, you're only saying goodbye to Pop Off Valve. Given the choice, I'll take the latter any day of the week and twice on Sundays. I am grateful that I am going out on a high note for INDYCAR and that we have so much to look forward to over the next few months.

Thank you, my friends. Enjoy the moment.

INDYCAR: The Friday Setup (Fontana)

2012-09-14T12:00:04Z

"The Friday Setup" will be a preview of the upcoming races and the schedule of the weekend events (practice and qualifications) leading up to race day. Also it will include other forms of rambling about the upcoming race (and the overall state of IndyCar) by yours truly, because I got to somehow bring up the word-count so SBNation will allow the posting of this article/schedule so you can see it. Or something like that.

2012. There's only 500 miles left. Yep, 500 miles.

No, this isn't Indy. The powers that be decided that to makeup for the China DERP there should be a 500-mile race to decide the title. Yes, a rare 500-mile race that DOESN'T take place at Indy. Yea, those weren't any good in their day...

Anyways, I'm sure the whole title fight story is getting a lot of run in the (racing) media now. The mere 17-point spread is a fine attention-getter, but in my mind it's not the biggest story:

Dario and Ganassi...DENIED.

Yep, it's the first time since Dan Wheldon's 2005 IndyCar Series Championship with Andretti/Green Racing that neither a Ganassi car nor a car driven by Dario Franchitti is in the hunt for the title at the final stop of the IndyCar season. Nope, there won't be a celebratory 94-hour clubbing posse led by the Chipster nor will there be any sight (or preferably, sound) of Ashley Judd. This is indeed a new era. A brand new champion will be crowned by ~~the break of dawn~~ ~~sometime around 2am EST~~ ~~the Izod Trophy Girl as she makes a triumphant return to the public eye~~ the end of the night.

...and the trophy will be neither a glorified birdbath nor an aroused cyborg with a gut-penis.

Also the end of the evening will be highlighted by Simona de Silvestro and HVM Racing starting a bonfire with all existing Lotus hardware and paraphernalia. Probably.

(Race weekend schedule and Iron Maiden Song of the Week after the jump)

TV Schedule (NBC Sports Channel)

Qualifying, Friday 7:30pm Eastern
Race, Saturday 7:30pm Eastern

(INDYCAR 36 will air BEFORE qualifying)

Race Weekend Schedule of Events

ALL TIMES LOCAL (Pacific, left-coast night racing means you have our permission to stay up past bedtime)

Friday, September 14

9:45 a.m. - Firestone Indy Lights Practice

10:45 a.m. - IZOD IndyCar Series Practice

1:00 p.m. - Firestone Indy Lights Qualifying

2:15 p.m. - IZOD IndyCar Series Qualifying

4:45 p.m. - Firestone Indy Lights Practice

5:45 p.m. - IZOD IndyCar Series Practice

Saturday, September 15

3:00 p.m. - Firestone Indy Lights Race (50 laps)

5:50 p.m. - MAVTV 500 INDYCAR World Championship Race (250 laps)

* * * * *

Iron Maiden Song of the Week - "When The Wild Wind Blows"

Goodbye, IndyCar blogosphere.

Until we meet again...

The better part of valor: Conway recuses himself from INDYCAR finale

2012-09-13T21:18:09Z

No more.

That is what Mike Conway said when he considered taking part in this season's final IZOD IndyCar Series race at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California.

Conway, a genial, mild-tempered Brit, has plenty of reason to hate high-speed oval racing. His shunt in the 2010 Indianapolis 500 still gets airplay even today. A similar wreck in this year's 500 was one of the most frightening tests of the new Dallara DW12 chassis.

And then there is Dan.

Eleven months ago, Conway was in the field for another season-ending INDYCAR race at a high-speed oval. The race was cut short when a vicious multi-car crash resulted in his countryman Dan Wheldon's death.

Conway weighed all of the variables, measured all of the angles. Then he did what very few racing drivers have ever done - or, at least, would admit to doing, or even wanting to do.

He walked into the offices of A.J. Foyt Racing and asked them to remove him from his race seat.

Forget the testosterone-laden bloviating that is done about motorsports; don't quote that hoary old Hemingway cliché; save the inevitable, albeit behind-the-back questioning of Conway's manhood. What Mike Conway did was as courageous as anything he could have done behind the wheel.

"It took a lot of courage for Mike to come forward and we respect him highly for that and we certainly want to honor his decision," agreed Larry Foyt, the team's director.

To understand why it is an act of courage and not one of cowardice, you must understand that there are easier and far less public ways of keeping oneself out of danger in an auto race. High-downforce setups in lieu of the less-stable ones which are necessary to run up front; claiming a mechanical failure and falling out early; or even just lighter pressure on the gas pedal. Boom. You stay out of trouble, you stay away from the madness, you salvage your ego.

But to let it slip to the public that you asked out of the ride, that you admit you are frightened, that you do not trust yourself or the venue under the conditions at hand... that requires backbone. Because you know that in the immediate aftermath people will question your commitment, your ability, your nerve... even your very career.

The #14 ABC Supply car will instead have Wade Cunningham in the driver's seat, a young New Zealander with more time in the INDYCAR ladder system than Conway had and who could be considered an oval-racing specialist.

Conway, who came to INDYCAR racing from the European ladder, may end up back there if he cannot find another opportunity. It is possible that he might find a partial-season deal for an INDYCAR team solely on road and street courses; it may be that he could even stay with A.J. Foyt Racing. He is, after all, a proven winner in an IndyCar. But in the cold, dog-eat-dog world of professional motorsports, his forthrightness might be his undoing in the eyes of owners for whom personal courage counts less than other factors.

But Mike Conway deserves our respect, not derision. And even if he never turns another lap in an IndyCar, he still has proven that he does have the right stuff, even if showing it meant he had to give up the most important thing in his professional life.

INDYCAR: Power Rankings (Fontana)

2012-09-13T15:40:31Z

U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!

It ain't over yet. Stud Hunter-Reay will not go quietly into that good night after all. The last race is a Saturday night oval, and dammit we want our American hero conquering all. Also we want PENSKE B*TCHFACE one more time. Sad Penskeface on television cures all forms of the soon-to-be-long-postseason blues. Ha ha ha, whining about the final restart like that...

The final race also means this is the final Power Rankings. As you know I didn't get to finish Power Rankings last year, and I won't do so again this year. Why there won't be another after this week will be answered sometime soon after Fontana. But who cares; doesn't it only come down to just two guys, really? WINNER TAKES ALL.

(This week's Power Rankings after the jump)

THE GRID

1. Will Power

Previous ranking: 1 (no change)

Strangely, he doesn't appear to be worried about potentially losing three straight titles...

2. Ryan Hunter-Reay

Previous ranking: 3 (+1)

I'm still waiting for him to rip his face off and reveal to the world (and especially to Will Power) that he is instead DARIO FRANCHITTI, TROLL GENIUS! FOUR IN A ROW, BITCHES!!! Betcha Power wrecks on the warmup laps at the sight of that.

3. Scott Dixon

Previous ranking: 2 (-1)

This will be the first year since 2007 that the IndyCar Series Champion doesn't drive for Chip Ganassi. Which means this will be the first time since 2007 that the winning car owner DOESN'T do Jägermeister shots out of a scuba fin.

4. Helio Castroneves

Previous ranking: 4 (no change)

Most drivers would be sad to lose that many championships that closely in their careers. Most drivers do not have Penske Racing contracts, nor have 3 Indy 500 victories. Nor do they seem like they're high on happy pills. Nor do they have liquid Kevlar hair-gel.

5. Simon Pagenaud

Previous ranking: 6 (+1)

Robin Miller's Grid Run at Baltimore may have set back American-French relations by 40 years.

6. Tony Kanaan

Previous ranking: 5 (-1)

KV Racing might end up being a one-car effort next year, unless they can find another driver and sponsor to replace Rubens (and maybe Viso). I know someone, KV Racing. I know someone...

7. Ryan Briscoe

Previous ranking: 7 (no change)

The rumor that wouldn't go away the past three seasons might actually happen at seasons end. He might actually be out at Penske. That restart DERP didn't help his cause. Also not helping his cause are the missed opportunities and wrecked race cars since 2008. Hmmm...maybe she was right after all?

8. Dario Franchitti

Previous ranking: 8 (no change)

Watch him walk on stage during the championship trophy ceremony post-race "accidentally"; with Ashley Judd beside him doing what Ashley Judd always does, and that is Ashley Judd Interpretive Dancing. It is muscle memory for them at this point. They will haz such a confused this Saturday night. More so if Dario wins the race. Who cares...finally the lucky championship horseshoe becomes horsesh*t.

9. Alex Tagliani

Previous ranking: 10 (+1)

Sears Point DERP (almost) excused. Hip-check Power in pit-lane and we're basically even.

10. James Hinchcliffe

Previous ranking: 9 (-1)

Curse of #HinchForHomepage?

11. JR Hildebrand

Previous ranking: 11 (no change)

This is his team's co-owner: The Anti-Chip Ganassi.

12. Rubens Barrichello

Previous ranking: 14 (+2)

I've gone through the entire season using not one single rubens sandwich joke.

[fistpumps]

13. Oriol Servia

Previous ranking: 13 (no change)

Oriol. Baltimore. Baltimore Oriol. We know...we get it. Let's instead talk about who's on his helmet, which will never get old.

14. Justin Wilson

Previous ranking: 12 (-2)

Bench-pressing race cars, the Holmatro Safety Crew workout regimen. Still trying to redeem ourselves of Texas 2010, aren't we?

15. Graham Rahal

Previous ranking: 15 (no change)

He's really going to go through with this...

DNQ (bumped from the field)

Mike Conway

Oh, dear...

Charlie Kimball

DID YOU KNOW...that he is the first licensed IndyCar driver with diabetes? No? Well, that's proof you haven't watched a single race and are probably here by accident because Google detected the phrase CHRISTINA HENDRICKS NUDE (BWAHAHAHAHA!!! Padding site-view stats like a BOSS).

Marco Andretti

Well, at least he won't be the only daddy's boy son-of-the-boss out there next year.

Takuma Sato

Sad haiku about
Dying engine when leading
Bad DERP poetry

Simona de Silvestro

One more race. Just one more race...I'M NOT A PRISONER!!!!!!!

On mergers and unifications: enduring the long road ahead

2012-09-06T19:17:27Z

I have to say that while I don't know nearly as much about the inner workings of sports car racing as I do about other series like IndyCar and NASCAR, I have always been turned on by sleek prototypes, supercars, and even the "lowly" touring series.

And, it turns out, I have a lot of friends in both the Grand Am and American Le Mans Series. Some of them emigrated there from other disciplines; others have spent their entire careers in sports cars.

There is, too, something sublime about being around an endurance race. In a world where success is largely governed by TV ratings and what concerts filled with has-been or B-list rockers you can attract to your race, a day-long festival at a racetrack like Sebring or Miller Motorsports Park or Road Atlanta is a pleasant no-frills indulgence of your inner petrolhead.

All of this is why I was very interested in the big announcement that in 2014 the two biggest sports car racing sanctions - Grand Am and ALMS - would merge into a single entity. Interested, and somewhat hesitant to join the throngs of celebrants cheering the news.

Why was I so loathe to blow the party horns and fire off the bottle rockets? On paper, this deal is the greatest thing to happen to sports car racing in decades. Ever since the IMSA Camel GT series went up in smoke and first ALMS, then Grand Am leaped into the breach to fill the void, sports car racing has been a house divided - not nearly as acrimonious as the IRL/CART split of the same era, but certainly not partners in crime or, indeed, in philosophy.

To simplify things enormously, ALMS was the wine and cheese, while Grand Am - owned by NASCAR's France family - was the greasy hamburger. The exotic and innovative carbon fiber ALMS cars were the stuff of Le Mans, that storied and legendary French Valhalla of endurance racing. Grand Am's tube-framed, stock-block wonders, meanwhile, were more in the vein of Daytona's rough-and-tumble biker culture - destined more for close-quarters, hard-impact battles than the more surgical Le Mans-style racing.

ALMS, by rights, should have had the upper hand all along. The sexy cars, the links to Le Mans, the Petit Le Mans and the 12 Hours of Sebring... it made Grand Am look like a cheap knockoff - which, in point of fact, it kind of was. But Grand Am had the France money, the political power to wrangle a TV contract, and the giant hammer of the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona - an endurance race which, if it did not have the haute couture of Le Mans, made up for that with an influx of star power of teams and drivers from all areas of motorsport, not to mention its primo timing as the first major racing event of the motorsports season worldwide.

Unlike the IRL and its "Indy hammer" which it used to force unification in the middle of the last decade, ALMS could not leverage its assets and its connection to Le Mans to gain an advantage. Also, the high-dollar formula did not prosper in a global recession, and without a solid TV contract the hemorrhaging was impossible to stanch. Not that Grand Am was a world beater itself given its attendance and ratings, but the France clout and coffers ultimately proved to be too much for Don Panoz and his cabal to withstand.

So we have a merger. But don't call it a unification, because it isn't one.

You could call the IRL/CART combination a "unification" for more than just PR purposes. It wasn't just a bringing together of teams from both sides, it was also the culmination of a unification of philosophies. The CART/Champ Car side had eventually needed to acknowledge that open-wheel racing in the US without the Indianapolis 500 was a doomed prospect, as was the idea of a series made up entirely of "rock star" street festivals. The IRL, on the other side, saw its foundational platform eroded by reality - a low-tech, all-oval, all-domestic series was enticing no one outside of the faithful, and by the time unification happened the series resembled CART far more than it resembled its own origins.

ALMS and Grand Am will not have as easy a road to merging their two operations as IndyCar had - and considering the shoddy state that IndyCar still finds itself in at present, that is saying quite a bit. If it were not for Le Mans, it seems likely that Grand Am - the entity that is essentially buying out ALMS, regardless of all this "merger" talk - would prevail and consign the exotic paradigm to the trash bin. The Frances have made their fortune on the low-tech, high-debris niches of racing, and since they are the ones holding all of the cards at this point, their predominance in philosophy seems inevitable.

But can the tube-framed, stock-block Daytona Prototypes be accepted into the Le Mans paddock as anything other than an amusing curiosity? Can a US sports car series survive if they do not have representatives challenging for top honors at the world's greatest endurance race? From a layman's perspective, it is hard to see how the unified sports car series could be relevant on an international stage otherwise.

Already some of the ALMS-side manufacturers are making subtle policy statements about that element of the series' future. Honda Performance Development, for instance, made no less than three allusions to "innovation," "technology," and "forward-thinking" in their press release about the merger - clearly, the manufacturer has little interest in changing their philosophy from using sports cars as an exercise in engineering innovation to another glorified badging opportunity (similar to the one they engaged in with the IRL for so many years).

In other words, there will be a lot of work, sacrifice, and most likely endured pain to be expected in this merger if it is to come off without looking like a bunch of hopelessly-tangled Christmas lights.

It is to their credit that so many of those involved are still so enthusiastic about the future. But I must caution them to not only be realistic but to watch their step in the upcoming months. Mergers and unifications are symbols of hope in theory, but as IndyCar has shown all too painfully of late, even a united front sometimes is only good enough to keep one's head above water.

No, it may be years before the spoils of this merger can be enjoyed. Until then, there is just another long, hard road to endure.

Viva Zanardi!

2012-09-05T16:10:04Z

(Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images)

No words necessary.

INDYCAR: The Friday Setup (Baltimore)

2012-08-31T13:00:00Z

Normally I would be rambling about the upcoming race or something else relating to IndyCar in this post. This week's Friday Setup, however, is going to be a bit different. Why?

Tomorrow is Simona de Silvestro's BIRTHDAY!!! YES SIR, IT'S SIMONA DE SILVESTRO DAY!!!

Yes, the cake's all ready....

Wait, I know what you're saying. "78? She's not 78 years old, dumbs**t!!!" HEY, IT'S HER CAR NUMBER. THIS IS ART. SHUT UP AND BASK IN THE GLOWING PRESENCE OF WIN.

Okay, a cake just isn't enough. Hell, buy the time you read this a big chunk of it will be located somewhere in my septic system in a very different...state. (YAY NATURE!) So, I decided to get her something far more thoughtful and longer lasting than just a piece of lousy cake...

You KNEW I was going to do it again eventually...A POEM!!!

For Her Birthday

Young Simona, one year older

My dear, it hasn't been your year

Pretty soon, outside's going to get all colder

Before that, one thing has to be clear

An engine you need, quicker than the last

Much faster than the Lotus sled

You deserve the fastest of the fast

And soon over everyone you'll be ahead

HOORAY CREEPINESS!!! No? Not enough? Well, I guess a song rather than a poem should also be in order. What better way to sing to the Iron Maiden on her birthday than with some "Wasted Years" by Iron Maiden?

Yes, Simona..."Do not go wasting time always searching for those wasted years."

Yep, that should do it. No, not just a good poem and a great song, but finally that restraining order ~~that I've been trying to get the past two years~~ is finally going to get written. Yes, today is the day. That's the last time I blog and drink at the same time.

Happy Birthday Sim, from all of us at PopOffValve.com and the rest of the IndyCar nation of fans. Hang in there, kid. The results are going to come.

Alright, on to business BLAH BLAH Baltimore Grand Prix BLAH BLAH BLAH and such.

(Race weekend schedule and Pre-Race Snack of the Week after the jump)

TV Schedule (NBC Sports Channel)

Qualifying, Saturday 6pm Eastern
Race, Sunday 2pm Eastern

(INDYCAR 36 will air after the race, IndyLights before)

Race Weekend Schedule of Events

ALL TIMES LOCAL (Eastern)

Friday, August 31

8:00-8:30 AM USF2000 Practice
8:40-9:10 Star Mazda Practice
9:30-10:00 Group A IZOD IndyCar Series Practice
10:00-10:30 Group B IZOD IndyCar Series Practice
10:50-11:50 ALMS Practice
12:10-12:55 PM Firestone Indy Lights Practice
1:15-1:45 USF2000 Qualifying
1:55-2:25 Star Mazda Qualifying
2:45-3:45 IZOD IndyCar Series Practice
4:05-5:05 ALMS Practice
5:10-5:25 ALMS Qualifying GTC
5:25-5:40 ALMS Qualifying GT
5:50-6:05 ALMS Qualifying LMPC
6:05-6:20 ALMS Qualifying LMP 1 & 2

Saturday, September 1

8:00-8:40 AM Firestone Indy Lights Practice
9:00-10:00 IZOD IndyCar Series Practice
10:20-10:45 ALMS Warm Up
11:05-11:45 Firestone Indy Lights Qualifying
12:05-1:20 PM IZOD IndyCar Series Qualifying - Firestone Fast Six
1:40-1:45 USF2000 Pre-Race/DSYE
1:45-2:15 USF2000 Race #1
2:30-2:35 Star Mazda Pre-Race/DSYE
2:35-3:05 Star Mazda Race #1
3:00-4:35 ALMS Pre-Race
4:30-6:30 ALMS Race

Sunday, September 2

9:45-10:15 AM IZOD IndyCar Series Warm Up
10:35-11:15 USF2000 Race #2
11:35-12:15 PM Star Mazda Race #2
12:42-1:42 Firestone Indy Lights Race
2:45-5:00 IZOD IndyCar Series Race

Pre-Race Snack of the Week - Epic Meal Time's Meat Cthulhu

I figure since Baltimore is beside the sea, how about a nightmarish sea creature snack thing that should not be?

Also as an added bonus a Deadmau5 performance for you kids into that stuff...

INDYCAR: Power Rankings (Baltimore)

2012-08-31T01:25:46Z

So much for that 4-way title fight we were promised.

All Will Power has to do is cross the finish line in first place Sunday and that elusive title is finally his. The best we can hope for is a Ryan Briscoe at Motegi DERP of epic proportions. Or perhaps our best bet is to have Dreyer and Reinbold to be pitted just before Will Power again.

Well with all that and this week being ~~Will Power~~ Baltimore Grand Prix week I'm going to have to summon up some sort of mirth to cheer us all up. With this being the internet I've got a good idea to run with. BEHOLD, POWER RANKINGS MEME EDITION!!!

(This week's Power Rankings after the jump)

( All "meme" images courtesy of leragecomics.com and memegenerator.net )

THE GRID

1. Will Power

Previous ranking: 3 (+2)

It's finally going to be ALL MINE!!!!

2. Scott Dixon

Previous ranking: 1 (-1)

HELIO, IT WAS ONLY LAP ONE!!!

3. Ryan Hunter-Reay

Previous ranking: 2 (-1)

TAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

4. Helio Castroneves

Previous ranking: 4 (no change)

Well, that should be good for a contract extension...

5. Tony Kanaan

Previous ranking: 5 (no change)

Good enough.

6. Simon Pagenaud

Previous ranking: 7 (+1)

I haz Rookie of the Year award?

7. Ryan Briscoe

Previous ranking: 10 (+3)

Didn't even need to pass for the win.

8. Dario Franchitti

Previous ranking: 9 (+1)

Too little, too late...

9. James Hinchcliffe

Previous ranking: 6 (-3)

ANOTHER ENGINE?!?!

10. Alex Tagliani

Previous ranking: 8 (-2)

11. JR Hildebrand

Previous ranking: 13 (+2)

Home race...nothing went wrong...

12. Justin Wilson

Previous ranking: 12 (no change)

13. Oriol Servia

Previous ranking: 11 (-2)

14. Rubens Barrichello

Previous ranking: unranked

15. Graham Rahal

Previous ranking: unranked

DNQ (Bumped from the field)

James Jakes

Mike Conway

Previous ranking: 15

As long as AJ ain't mad, I'm cool...

Charlie Kimball

Previous ranking: 14

Broken hand might have ruined my mojo...

Marco Andretti

Simona de Silvestro

Seventeenth?!?!?!?