Blog Posts
Chicagoland Speedway thriller shows best, worst of IndyCar
by Tony Johns on Aug 29, 2010 11:59 AM EDT
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Oh, Craig Rust. Your decision to replace the IZOD IndyCar Series next year with a NASCAR Chase race and a Nationwide Series event at Chicagoland Speedway is not sitting well with IndyCar fans after last night's amazing event.
Last night's Peak Indy 300 at Chicagoland had everything that IndyCar fans love about racing. It was as good an advertisement for IndyCar-style oval racing as you could hope for. It was so good that NASCAR fans on Twitter were trying to get their compadres to tune in during the late stages.
And yet, you couldn't help but notice the vast expanses of empty seats in the grandstand, any more than you'll be able to pretend that the abysmal TV ratings that will be announced over the next couple of days do not exist.
Two things were obvious last night - the IZOD IndyCar Series is capable of showcasing one of the most exciting products in modern motorsports, and the number of people that care about that is very small.
IndyCar "owner revolt" rumors an unwelcome reminder of a best-forgotten era
by Tony Johns on Aug 25, 2010 8:10 PM EDT
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The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Robin Miller (apparently after talking to Mike King's Breakfast Spectre) has dropped the big bombshell that some of the IZOD IndyCar Series owners are up in arms about the 2012 IndyCar and the ICONIC committee recommendations. Robin titled his piece "Owners Reject 2012 Car" and led with this sphincter-tightening thought:
What happens if the IZOD IndyCar Series builds a new car for 2012 and most teams refuse to buy it? We just might find out.
Now, Robin being Robin, this breathless inducement to panic doesn't quite play out the way you'd expect in the article. It's a hook designed to get your brain screaming and your eyeballs dangling from their sockets.
Still, there's plenty in Robin's story to get in a tizzy about, and probably the biggest is the fact that some of the IndyCar owners seem to be regressing into some very disturbingly familiar thought patterns.
The Day After: Battling a Power Hangover
by Tony Johns on Aug 23, 2010 12:19 PM EDT
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You know those mornings after an all-night bender when you spend your moments alternately watching your shoes come out your mouth into the toilet and trying to keep the weapon of mass destruction in your forehead from killing you outright?
That's probably how the rest of the IZOD IndyCar Series field feels right about now after Will Power broke the back of his competition (zing!) during yesterday's Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma.
Power went to plaid on the field, leading every lap and at times racing in his own zip code en route to the victory. Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti rounded out the podium but it was clear that they were basically there to keep the stage balanced while Power accepted his accolades like an Aussie-accented Roman emperor.
Some stray observations - mostly non-Power-related - after the jump...
Requiem for a blogger
by Tony Johns on Aug 21, 2010 2:39 PM EDT
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I'll say this from the outset: I didn't know Marc Boland personally.
The most I really knew about him was that his Twitter account had a hot dog avatar. Heavy on the ketchup.
He also lived in Manila, which is the capital of the Philippines. Most of what I know about the Philippines is courtesy of my brother-in-law, who met his wife in the small city of Cebu. I'm not sure why he lived there - maybe he visited there during his 20-year US Navy career. I suppose I could call his family and ask... but now's not the time for me to be nosing around in their affairs.
The thing that most of you who will read this will know about Marc is that he was the publisher of Full Throttle, a multi-discipline motorsports blog. The thing you may not know or may not have heard is that he died ten days ago.
Holding on to hope for IndyCar's future
by Tony Johns on Aug 19, 2010 3:42 PM EDT
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So there's this guy.
He's not rich. He doesn't own a Ferrari or a big house. In fact, he probably sees more of motels or his car than the apartment where his mail goes.
He doesn't earn a lot of money. He often relies on the good-heartedness of friends he has made over the years in lieu of cash. He writes his own press releases and e-mails them to a relatively small list of people who have stayed interested in his career.
He is a racer. And if you don't know his name, you probably used to.
Cotman's engine rule decisions will make or break IndyCar's future
by Tony Johns on Aug 16, 2010 5:50 PM EDT
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To seize everything you ever wanted in one moment
Would you capture it? Or just let it slip?
(Author's note: This is an updated version of an article previously written with changes made based on more expert knowledge than my own. Thanks to POV readers Oben and JagtechOhio for clarifying critical issues for me.)
So Robin Miller got his wish, and Tony Cotman is the new head honcho for the IZOD IndyCar Series' rules.
Miller prefaced his scoop by saying that Cotman's hiring was "a move called for by fans, the paddock and many journalists," but let's be honest here - it was Miller himself who was pushing the hardest and calling the loudest for Cotman to take the reins.
Cotman, according to Miller, is the only guy with the foresight, the objectivity, and the straight gonads to make the right decisions for the series' technical future. Miller points to Cotman's tenure in Champ Car and the way he rode herd on the series' short-lived but well-received Panoz DP-01 racecar as evidence that Cotman is the correct guy for the IndyCar job.
Well, 2012 is not far away and Cotman's got a big stack in his to-do pile. But there's one decision that is going to be the make-or-break for the 2012 IndyCar and, perhaps, for the long-term health of the series itself. That's where Miller's faith in Cotman needs to be validated - and where Cotman can create the most attractive atmosphere possible for new investment in the IndyCar series..
Manufacturers' best bet for 2012: Go "all in"
by Tony Johns on Aug 12, 2010 12:51 PM EDT
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So we have the basic outline of the 2012 IndyCar. A standard "safety cell" built by Dallara, with open (within reason) aerodynamic development on key body pieces and open (within specs) engine development.
In theory - or at least in the theory of those who came up with the idea - you have the maximum amount of flexibility allowed within a narrow set of cost constraints. You can theoretically have a field of 33 completely unique-looking racecars at Indianapolis, all powered by a handful of different engines. Variety - without breaking the bank. That's the idea.
The most breathless supporters of the new rules package - or, rather, philosophical package, since the rules haven't been written yet - believe that we'll see a half-dozen different engine builders from big companies to independents, and "aero kit" manufacturers from the aerospace sector. The idea of a Honda twin-turbo V6-powered Dallara squaring off against a Cosworth-powered "Lotus" is one that most people expect; the most optimistic also hope to see a Ford turbo-inline-4 with, say, Boeing bodywork at some point in the future.
It probably isn't going to work that way, though. Obviously we still need to wait and see how the actual rules shake out, but the most reasonable expectation is that the way new manufacturers are going to get involved with the 2012 philosophy is by creating a "total solution" - an engine and aerodynamic package that together would work to offset the built-in advantage enjoyed by Honda and their years of R&D.
Constructive IndyCar Criticism: The NASCAR Way
by Tony Johns on Jul 30, 2010 12:42 PM EDT
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As usual, anytime the IZOD IndyCar Series has something that gains them publicity and/or notoriety, NASCAR has to come along and upstage them.
In the wake of last weekend's Honda Indy Edmonton that featured a controversial "regifting" of the winner's trophy to Scott Dixon and Helio Castroneves nearly becoming pulpier than a bowl of oatmeal at the giant hands of Security Chief Charles Burns, the Associated Press reported early this week that NASCAR has fined two drivers - apparently, Ryan Newman and Denny Hamlin - for comments made that, according to NASCAR, were detrimental to the sport.
I can only imagine how frustrated the IndyCar cognoscenti were by NASCAR stealing the spotlight again - even though it was stealing a spotlight made of embarrassment and the mental image of a monkey seducing a football.
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