Feature Stories
For Paul Tracy, making his pitch now part of the game
by DaleNixon on Sep 1, 2010 11:00 AM EDT
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As Paul Tracy prepares for his fourth IZOD IndyCar series start of the season at Kentucky Speedway, the transformation from brash racing superstar to grizzled veteran qualifies as a makeover worthy of Dr. Phil's couch.
Gone, it seems, is the gruff exterior and the win-or-leave-a-pile-of-shredded-carbon-fiber mentality.
Now Tracy heads a personal marketing team that pulls together sponsorship packages to create racing opportunities and values the idea of finishing races as much as starting them.
Somewhere, Gerry Forsythe is chuckling at the irony, along with a bevy of former engineers and crew chiefs.
Does IndyCar have a future at Chicagoland Speedway?
by Tony Johns on Aug 27, 2010 12:38 PM EDT
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And each time I roam, Chicago is,
Callin' me home, Chicago is,
One town that won't let you down;
It's my kind of town.
Frank Sinatra - My Kind of Town
Hmiel's road to redemption takes a turn towards Indy
by Tony Johns on Aug 5, 2010 1:37 PM EDT
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If you didn't know anything about Shane Hmiel before 2008, you might think that he was the ideal candidate for a future IZOD IndyCar Series ride.
He comes from racing stock. His father, Steve, is a well-recognized name in NASCAR circles and currently manages Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing in the Sprint Cup Series. Shane himself is a NASCAR race winner and at one point was the protege of Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Now he competes on all three top-level USAC tours, and later this month he will be making his Firestone Indy Lights Series debut at Chicagoland Speedway.
Sounds great, right? So why aren't more IndyCar fans excited to see him advance?
It's because Hmiel is a recovering drug addict and suffers from bipolar disorder. It's because in 2006 Hmiel was banned for life from NASCAR after a third drug-related suspension in three years.
It has the fans asking: Should the road to redemption be taken at high speeds and in traffic?
Infuriated Castroneves cedes Honda Indy Edmonton to Dixon on blocking penalty
by Tony Johns on Jul 25, 2010 10:42 PM EDT
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(Ed. note - updated with additional information)
A series that certainly does not need any further controversy got a BP oil rig full of it on Sunday after the Honda Indy Edmonton.
Helio Castroneves, the leader of the race on the final restart with less than five laps remaining, was penalized by IZOD IndyCar Series race control for blocking teammate Will Power, resulting in Target Chip Ganassi Racing's Scott Dixon being named the race winner at the checkered flag.
An enraged Castroneves spent several minutes in berserker mode, screaming at series officials and at one point grabbing IndyCar security chief Charles Burns by the collar and shaking him forcefully. He was scored 10th, the final car on the lead lap, after failing to heed race control's pass-through penalty.
The official race standings were validated by embattled director of competition Brian Barnhart after a lengthy review.
Click here for Pop Off Valve's EMOTICONIC Live Blog of the Honda Indy Edmonton
"Out of the box" driving: Multi-discipline racing in a specialized world
by Tony Johns on Jul 16, 2010 9:46 PM EDT
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Danica Patrick was not grinding her teeth. Not physically, anyway. But if her imagination had teeth, they had been worn down to the roots by now.
Sitting in the media center at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, she was near the limits of her patience. It was not because of the bright glare of the lights or the proximity of all of the reporters. In fact, the racing media was not so bad in this respect. In a couple weeks' time, she would be on the red carpet at the ESPY Awards with a horde of TMZ-level media and flashbulbs so bright that they would make this press shindig look polite and deferential by comparison.
Anyway, after all of these years she was used to the media and to the crush of attention. What she was frustrated with right now - and had been ever since the start of the season - was the topic. They would not stop asking her about it. Nor would they at least come up with a new way to ask. Always the same questions, always the same tone in their voice.
And beneath it all lurked the ugly subtext: Shouldn't she stick to what she knows?
8 comments | 1 recs |
Delta Wing without the Delta Wing: IndyCar unveils 2012 chassis strategy
by Tony Johns on Jul 14, 2010 2:19 PM EDT
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13 comments
You can't always get what you want
But if you try sometime you find
You get what you need.
Rolling Stones
The IZOD IndyCar Series continued their move towards embracing low-cost flexibility with their announcement today of their 2012 chassis strategy.
IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard, accompanied by members of the ICONIC advisory panel and representatives from Dallara Automobili, took to the stage in an Apple-style presentation that took the wraps off of their new plan, which has been kept close to the vest for some time now.
Rather than choosing one of five potential new IndyCar concepts submitted by Dallara, Lola, BAT, Swift and Delta Wing, however, the series has elected to debut a rolling chassis (or "Safety Cell") designed by IndyCar and built by Dallara, augmented by "aero kits" which can be built by any manufacturer.
See the reaction to the new chassis strategy as it happened on Pop Off Valve's Live Blog!
Are we not entertained? The case for Paul Tracy in IndyCar
by Tony Johns on Jun 25, 2010 3:12 PM EDT
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3 comments
I haven’t always liked Paul Tracy as a driver.
I have friends from Canada who swear by him. I think he’s their version of Dale Earnhardt - brash, totally unapologetic, completely fearless, and willing to push beyond the limits of his talent if necessary to win.
But me, well... I’ve always been torn when it comes to PT. It’s been strange over the years how every time I try to like him, he does something stupid or outrageous... but then, when I decide I don’t like him, he comes back and turns that feeling on its head and makes me laugh at his jokes or gasp in amazement at some new feat of derring-do.
Whether I like him or not, of course, is totally immaterial - both to me and to Tracy himself. The Thrill from West Hill (for you non-Canucks out there, that’s in Scarborough, which ironically is on the east side of Toronto) doesn’t appear to care who likes him. What’s important is that he’s liked - or if he is not, he is at least talked about - and to him that in itself is a reason why he should be in an IndyCar.
And I agree with him.
The Ultimate Delta Wing Interview - Is Ben Bowlby the Next Granatelli or Frankenstein?
by DaleNixon on Jun 13, 2010 12:07 PM EDT
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If there has ever been a more polarizing concept car design than the Delta Wing IndyCar, it certainly has not been in the modern era of IndyCar racing.
Or for that matter, any form of auto racing.
Part stealth fighter, part Jetsons factory car, (and some might argue, part lawn dart or tricycle), the Delta Wing is not simply a boring update like NASCAR's "Car of Tomorrow" (which looked pretty much the same as the car of last week) nor an evolution of an existing open wheel design like competing entries from Swift, Dallara, Lola and BAT.
It is a revolution in terms of both design and materials. Lighter, faster, sleeker than the present car yet less complex and expensive, the Delta Wing model on display in front of the Pagoda at Indianapolis Motor Speedway was a neck-snapping, traffic stopper of both the drunk and sober alike.
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