Loud Day at Indy

Taking a cue from its NASCAR brethren, a movie-sponsored car turned the fastest laps at the world's most famous race track, Tuesday afternoon.
Marco Andretti may look like my brother when he was in 7th grade, but he doesn't drive like a 12 year old. Michael's son, who I think is long-overdue for a victory in Indy Car turned the fastest lap in the first day of full practice at IMS. He went over 226 and the second fastest, Tony Kannan went just over 225. The fastest former Champ Car driver turned a lap of over 223...It's good to see Power, Wilson and Rahal turning fast laps on the big oval.

Like I've said all season, the merger seems to be curing what has ailed open wheel the last few years. 33 drivers got out in 38 different cars...I'm hoping for around 38 drivers before the end of the month to bring some interest back to bump day. Also of note, nearly nearly 1,400 laps were logged yesterday. The Penske cars are meticulously setting up their "T" cars and probably won't get into their primary rides until next week.

Hearing about such a large number of cars on the track takes me back to the mid-80s when another Andretti dominated the month of May...until race day, of course.
Oh yeah, it was loud in Indy for another reason too...Did anyone notice how disinterested Bill looked during Hillary's speech late last night?

No Time For Regrets

Showing that they weren't going to lament too long over the loss of F1, the IMS & Tony George announced that Moto GP will be coming to the world's most famous racing venue next year. The whispers of this move have been around for about five years, but the announcement showed that the IMS will be just fine without F1.

I like this relationship quite a bit. There is a strong following of Moto GP in North America, but the nearest stop on the circuit currently is in California. This race should bring fans from Europe, possibly the Far East, as well as the Eastern US. Plus, we won't have to see Eccelstone or Mosley for a few years (until they come back with their hats in their hands).

If you've never seen this form of racing, check it out some time...it's ridiculously fast and seems to be the most dangerous-looking form of racing in the world. In my opinion, it's pretty entertaining stuff.

Fixing Open Wheel in America

We discussed this a couple of days ago- how open wheel racing in America, specifically the IRL & Champ Car circuits need eachother. I have a three-part solution that would go a long way in fixing the product.

First, a $5 million winner's purse for the Indy 500 would help. This prize might bring hedging Champ Car teams back to the IRL circuit...at the very least, it would be an incentive for drivers who love the 500. Maybe drivers like Bourdais, Junqueira & others over for at least one race, if not the entire season. Champ Car already has no events during the month of May...it seems to be catered for such a move.

You may even see NASCAR drivers come give it a whack again. How great would it be to see the 500 field with Gordon, Stewart, Johnson, Champ Car drivers and the best of the IRL drivers in one field? Plus, this flux of talent would make qualifications exciting again (thus generating advertising dollars throughout the month). The second part of this plan is George needs to go to NASCAR and politely ask them to move the Coca Cola 600 back to Monday or forward to Saturday. This would give Indy the stage by itself on Sunday.

The third and final part of my plan is more radical, but I think would be an amazing olive branch to Champ Car from George. If Champ Car is not going to fold (which to me, still doesn't seem to be definite), team up with that league to form a new Grand Prix in September at the IMS. The IRL season would be over, so you might get a few of that league's drivers to come over for just this race. Plus, if this race succeeded, IMS wouldn't need to get back into negotiations with F1. Granted, this portion of my plan is probably a pipe dream since George doesn't want to negotiate with Champ Car either, but I think this solution would help all sides.