by Christopher Estrada on November 20, 2009
The Milwaukee Mile saga has officially gone into the realm of the insane. An investor group led by Frank and Dominic Giuffre was set to take over promotions for the venerable racetrack, but now have pulled out of the deal according to the
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
In a letter to the Wisconsin State Fair Park board, the Giuffres accused chairwoman Sue Crane and the board of replacing a previous provision that allowed the promoters three years to "secure a National race" with another provision allowing only two months' time. The Giuffres assert that this was done unilaterally "without even as much the courtesy of a phone call."
"All of the work that we, and others, have done to move forward with rejuvenating The Mile's operations and bringing the vendors back into the fold which would both save and create jobs, and to re-energize all those involved, including the sponsors, is all for naught," they wrote. "What a waste of time and energy."
The Giuffres also accused the board of not properly vetting Tony Machi's Historic Mile LLC group, which had to pull out of its own deal with the Mile recently after being unable to raise all of the money owed by the track to NASCAR for 2009 and 2010 events at the track. The letter stated that the overall debt owed to NASCAR, the Indy Racing League and vendors by the track's most recent promoter is approximately $4.5 million.
A piece from the Journal Sentinel's Don Walker had a response from the fair's interim executive director Craig Barkelar. According to Walker, Barkelar said that Frank Giuffre had accepted the two months deadline but changed his mind. He also mentioned that the board was planning on talking to a third, non-local group about a promotions contract.
This may be the last nail in the coffin for one of America's most important race tracks. Checking the Walker piece in the above paragraph, it appears everyone is piling on Sue Crane and Wisconsin governor Jim Doyle. I'm more worried about whether any group will bother to even inquire about taking over the Mile's promotions after this entire mess.
by Christopher Estrada on November 20, 2009
For several years, the long-abandoned Laurel Hill Tunnel in western Pennsylvania has allegedly been a aerodynamics test site for Chip Ganassi Racing's NASCAR and IZOD IndyCar Series teams. During this time, we've heard a couple of
educated guesses about what exactly goes on inside that tunnel, including straight-line testing. If that's the case, it's not a bad weapon for Ganassi teams to have at their disposal.
That tunnel may wind up having a major role in the creation of the next-generation IndyCars, expected to hit the track in 2012. Curt Cavin of The Indianapolis Star reports that Ganassi's head of engineering, Ben Bowlby, has created a car design that's being talked up as "a cross between a sports car and a motorcycle." Cavin also says that Bowlby's design has gotten the support of major figures in the sport like Ganassi, Michael Andretti and Tony George.
There's no doubt that the league needs a car that instantly "pops" to both the casual and the hardcore viewer, so Bowlby's alleged sports car/cycle hybrid sounds like an interesting creature for sure. But I refer back to a comment from racing blogger The Speedgeek about this story over at Bill "Pressdog" Zahren's site -- if Bowlby's car gets the nod and gets developed in a facility that's allegedly used by Ganassi, will Ganassi engineers get two years' headstart development on the other teams?
I don't care how cool this car may look -- that scenario is the last thing the series needs. No car is worth that, and if and when this car comes out, the playing field needs to be as equal as possible or else we'll have the same situation we have now with one or two teams dominating everybody.
by Christopher Estrada on November 20, 2009
In the wake of Penske Racing's announcement that Will Power will drive for them full-time next season, a trio of tweets told a lot.
"As if two Penske cars [weren't] hard enough to beat, now there's a third," tweeted Newman/Haas/Lanigan driver Graham Rahal. Panther Racing's twitter page proclaimed that "winning an IndyCar race just got a lot harder." To their credit, both Rahal and Panther offered Power their congratulations.
But the third one, which came from our friends at RACER Magazine, posed a question: "Can anyone non-Penske/Ganassi crack the top five in [the] 2010 IndyCar season? Or is everyone else now shooting for sixth?"
Based on what we have seen the last two seasons, the answer appears to be the latter. The dominance of Team Penske and Target Chip Ganassi Racing has been so thorough, it's no wonder that fans are practically begging for somebody -- anybody -- to supply a jolt to the status quo. And now with Power, a true-blue talent, locked into a full-time deal with one of open-wheel racing's flagship teams, the stranglehold only gets tighter around the necks of Andretti Green, KV Racing Technology, Newman/Haas/Lanigan and their brethren.
The non-Big Two teams were only saved from a shutout in 2009 by Justin Wilson and the plucky Dale Coyne Racing squad, who managed to pull off a surprising victory at Watkins Glen. But the possibility of a clean sweep of the docket by the "red cars" has jumped even higher with Penske's signing of Power, a driver that can be downright nasty on road and street courses as evidenced by the whipping he delivered this past July in Edmonton.
With his elevation to full-time driving alongside talented teammates Ryan Briscoe and Helio Castroneves, he can safely be called a contender for next year's IZOD IndyCar Series championship.
"It is a dream come true," Power said. "It's something I've worked very hard for my whole career to end up in a place like this. I think that we have a very strong driver lineup for next year, and we'll be expecting to win a lot of races."
That's something the competition probably doesn't want to hear.
But on the other side of the coin, maybe a Penske-Ganassi lock on the top five in the title race isn't a foregone conclusion. Power hasn't raced at the majority of tracks on the IZOD IndyCar Series schedule since his last full-time season in 2008 with KV. And while he contended for victory in the Indianapolis 500 (he finished fifth in the end), he'll have to do the same on seven other ovals in order to hang with series champion Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon of TCGR -- not to mention, his new teammates.
Improving on the speedways will have to be a top priority, just as important as performing well on twisty tracks.
"It's something that I haven't had as much experience as I have on road courses," he said. "Of course, the sport's all about experience and beyond the two [ovals] that I did do this year, I cracked up on it. And you know, it made a big difference having a good team and a good car under you. It gives you a lot of confidence.
"I know I'll continually have to work on it and I couldn't be in a better place to learn, so I expect to be running up in the front from the very beginning. There is definitely a place that I'll focus hard on."
Penske Racing will also have to look out for any tension that could arise with three great drivers under one roof. There's always potential risks and rewards that go with expanding a program. Team president Tim Cindric has never worked with a full-season, three-car operation, so it'll be interesting to see how this situation fits for him and team owner Roger Penske.
However, Cindric believes the right people are in place to ensure a good environment that will allow Power, Briscoe and Castroneves to push each other on the track and defuse any problems, all with typical Penske professionalism.
"Whether it's this series or the [NASCAR Sprint] Cup series or whatever else it is, for us, it's pretty easy when you have a guy like Roger," said Cindric. " It works for us ‑‑ or we work for it, I should say. For us, when things get out of line, we usually hit the reset button and sit down and talk about it. The good news is we've got the right kind of personalities to be able to do that."
And going back to Power, he couldn't be in a better place to be in order to make the necessary leap toward becoming a driver that wins on any track. Don't forget that four-time Indy 500 winner Rick Mears is with Penske. The Australian indicated that just like last year, he'll be picking the brain of the Brickyard legend for advice on oval racing.
There could be a few obstacles in Will Power's path, but if he continues to perform like he has lately and utilizes the resources of his team, there's no reason to think he won't be fighting for a championship deep into next summer.
For the Big Two teams, the title battle got more intriguing. For the rest of the series, the challenge just got even bigger.
by Christopher Estrada on November 19, 2009
Edmonton winner becomes third full-time driver at Penske
Now we’ll get to see what Will Power can really do with Penske Racing.
The Australian driver shined in a part-time capacity for the team in 2009 before sustaining season-ending injuries in a crash at Infineon Raceway in August. Today, his efforts were rewarded with the announcement that he’ll drive a full-time program for Penske next season alongside teammates Ryan Briscoe and Helio Castroneves. Verizon Wireless will sponsor his No. 12 entry.
“It is a dream come true,” said Power during a media teleconference this afternoon. “It's something I've worked very hard for my whole career, to end up in a place like this. I think that we have a very strong driver lineup for next year, and we'll be expecting to win a lot of races.”
Penske Racing president Tim Cindric said that the opportunity to have three top-flight, full-time drivers on the team was there and that “all the moons aligned” for the team to make it happen.
“It's not every day that you have an opportunity like we have to put three proper programs together with your three very capable drivers,” Cindric said. “We feel obviously that this is a great opportunity for all of us.”
After seeing his drive with KV Racing Technology go away as the team shifted to a one-car operation, Power signed on with Penske during the 2008-2009 offseason to drive Helio Castroneves’ No. 3 entry while the Brazilian was battling tax evasion charges. Power finished sixth at the season-opening race in St. Petersburg, Florida, then placed second at Long Beach in the No. 12 car while an exonerated Castroneves re-claimed his ride that weekend.
From there, Power collected three more top-five finishes and a dominating victory in the Rexall Edmonton Indy, where he led 90 of 95 laps en route to his first IZOD IndyCar Series win.
The aforementioned incident at Infineon curtailed his season, but he said today that he’s currently ahead of schedule on his rehabilitation and hopes to be back in an IndyCar by January.
“That is sort of my plan,” the Australian said. “I'll probably be cleared to drive before then, but to get back to full cardio fitness, I think I need to wait until January."
Beyond getting fully healthy again, Power said he’s also ready to make necessary improvements in order to elevate himself to a title contender, a mantle that will be easier to grasp with Penske equipment and resources behind him.
“Every year you have to come away with a plan for the next year at places where you're going to be better,” he said. “I've always done that throughout my career. I already have in my head where I'm going to improve on the tracks that I raced at this year, so that's just a constant process with me.
“I'm always searching. I think to be successful in this business you have to be because it's always a development going on. It's always moving forward.”
Cindric hopes that Power’s addition will help Penske Racing move forward and past the Target Chip Ganassi Racing duo of series champion Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon. A nip-and-tuck points battle ended with Franchitti on top by 11 points over Briscoe.
All three Penske drivers have the ability to push each other for wins and championships. Cindric admitted that there’s a challenge in making sure everyone is racing for an organization, not just their respective team. But he felt that the right people are in place to prevent any major problems.
“For us, it's pretty easy when you have a guy like [team owner] Roger [Penske],” he said. “It works for us ‑‑ or we work for it, I should say. For us when things get out of line, we usually hit the reset button and sit down and talk about it. The good news is we've got the right kind of personalities to be able to do that.
“We're all competitive, and sometimes that gets the best of you. But I've seen all these guys in difficult situations that way. They've all come to the right conclusion at the end of the day. You know, that's the respect we have for the guy we all work for.”
Dave Faustino, who worked with Power when he drove for Walker Racing in the Champ Car World Series, has moved over from KV Racing Technology to be the Aussie’s race engineer.
by Christopher Estrada on November 18, 2009
Roger Penske's IZOD IndyCar Series operation will grow by one in time for next season.
Australian driver Will Power, who won at Edmonton and grabbed four top-five finishes in six starts with Penske last year, will be moved up to a full-time program alongside teammates Helio Castroneves and Ryan Briscoe according to Autoweek.
The magazine reports that Power's sponsor will be announced during a teleconference tomorrow at 3 p.m. ET.
Power saw his season cut short after sustaining multiple injuries in a vicious practice crash at Infineon Raceway this past August. But the pride of Toowoomba still managed to shine in his limited appearances with Penske. After starting the season in Helio Castroneves' No. 3 machine while the Brazilian was battling tax evasion charges, Power moved over to the No. 12 entry at the second race of the year in Long Beach, California.
It was in that car that he dominated the Rexall Edmonton Indy north of the border, leading all but five laps en route to victory on the airport course in July. He finished no worse than ninth (Kentucky) in his races last season excluding the 23rd place "did not start" finish he was credited with at Infineon.
UPDATE (11/19, 12:54 p.m. ET) -- Penske has now confirmed the signing of Power to a full-time deal with the deal, according to RACER Magazine. Verizon Wireless will serve as the sponsor of the Australian's No. 12 entry.
by Christopher Estrada on November 18, 2009
According to twitter reports from IsItMayYet.com's Will McCarty and RACER magazine, Penske Racing will have a driver/sponsorship announcement tomorrow afternoon concerning their IZOD IndyCar Series program. According to McCarty, the conference will go off at 3 p.m. ET. I'm taking an educated guess here and saying that Will Power will go full-time with Team Penske and make the squad a three-car operation for next year. We saw
what Power could do in a part-time capacity before his season-ending wreck at Sonoma, so it'd be intriguing to see what he's capable of in a full season...
Former Yahoo Sports scribe Jerry Bonkowski
checks in with his take on the ongoing Danica Patrick/NASCAR saga. He's saying that the longer this drags on, the worse off Patrick will be should she decide to give stock car racing a shot along with her IndyCar duties. He's got a convincing argument...
To dovetail with that piece, Norris MacDonald of the Toronto Star talks about
why Patrick's been staying silent. There's some precedence involved...
by Christopher Estrada on November 17, 2009
Ever since Jeff Belskus took charge of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway this past spring, an air of change has blown around the Pagoda. We've seen important figures like
Tony George,
Joie Chitwood and
Ron Green leave their posts or be released from them.
A wave of job cuts have chopped the IMS Corporation's roster considerably. And there's that rumor that won't completely die: One day, the Brickyard will fall into the clutches of International Speedway Corporation, the speedway conglomerate run by NASCAR's France family.
Not that Belskus has anything directly to do with that rumor. But with the economy still more bear than bull for motorsports, the former chief financial offier of the Hulman-George companies has had to make some moves in order to help the track get through this current downturn.
I'm reminded of the Northeastern wrestlers that worked out on the other end of the gym from me in college, running their tails off on the treadmills in order to cut weight before the next meet. No matter how much it hurt (and no matter how much they blew chunks as a result), they had to keep running and get in the best shape they could.
Such is what Belskus is having to do with IMS. Overweight entities cannot endure very well. And with the depression continuing to throw everyone around, Belskus feels that in order to counter, he needs a leaner and meaner Speedway -- and that also means a leaner and meaner Indy Racing League.
There's a few options that Belskus could use to get that, and Anthony Schoettle of the Indianapolis Business Journal lays out a few in his latest piece. But some options may certainly make some fans feel as sick as those wrestlers I talked about.
Schoettle thinks that Belskus will eventually get rid of the "seven-figure check" that full-time teams get for being in each race -- I assume that's the TEAM program he's talking about -- and also potentially shift the IZOD IndyCar Series schedule to a bigger road/street course lean. He also throws out the possibility that Belskus could hack a chunk off the Month of May and the preparation for the Indianapolis 500.
Considering that IZOD has just recently said they'd deliver a "multi-year, multi-million dollar commitment" to the TEAM program as part of its title sponsorship, I'm inclined to believe that TEAM can survive for at least a few more seasons. I understand Belskus is looking at the bottom line and I also understand that smaller teams shouldn't rely on handouts forever. But if IZOD money can help teams get on the grid (and, presumably, help teams save up for the purchase of the next-generation IndyCar), then I'm all for that right now.
As for the shift to more street racing, I think that was beaten into the ground throughout this past season. Some of you love it. Some of you hate it. But if street racing makes more coin for the league, what do you think is going to happen? It doesn't particularly make me happy since most American race fans appear to take to oval racing more. But as much as we want to glorify sports as something pure and ideal, it often is a cold, efficient business in reality. That's nothing you don't already know, I'm just pointing it out.
Finally, there's tinkering with the Month of May. Traditions have been changed in recent years at the Speedway to try and boost fan support, including the establishment of the "three shots per day" procedure for qualifications. If that's the criteria to change things -- an attempt to increase attention -- then you have to consider a shorter preparation process for the "500." You also have to keep in mind that a lot of IndyCar fans are used to shorter races and not the three to four hour stock car marathons.
Perhaps a shorter run-up to Indianapolis can translate with them.
by Christopher Estrada on November 15, 2009
There's been a few interesting news items involving the IZOD IndyCar Series recently. Let's take a look at them...
NEWS VIEW: The Indianapolis Motor Speedway laid off at least 25 people last week as the legendary track tries to streamline itself in the face of a continued economic depression. Reports have the cuts coming from track staff, the Indy Racing League and IMS Productions.
ESTRADA'S VIEW: I have nothing but sympathy and best wishes for these people. From all accounts, they seem like honest folks. But we knew the bottom line would come into play when Jeff Belskus (the Hulman-George companies' former chief financial officer) took the reins of IMS after the board ousted Tony George this past spring. The economy continues to hurt motorsports and not even the Brickyard is immune to its effects.
NEWS VIEW: Cooper Tires has signed on to be the exclusive tire supplier and presenting sponsor of the IRL-sanctioned U.S. F2000 National Championship, which is set to embark on its inaugural season in 2010.
ESTRADA'S VIEW: You'd think Firestone would be involved in this since it's an IRL-sanctioned series we're talking about here, but according to the press release, Cooper's had experience in the open-wheel feeder leagues. I'm all for another decent sponsor at this level of racing, but I wonder just how far the $500 pole award can go for a program.
NEWS VIEW: Versus, the IRL's cable partner, hasn't taken major damage since getting booted off DirecTV. A free preview on Dish Network has helped the Comcast-owned network prevent a bleeding of subscribers and with rumblings about a possible permanent move to Dish, Versus could have more momentum on their side while ratings increase from last year for their hockey, college football and bull riding coverage.
ESTRADA'S VIEW: It sounds like more and more people are figuring out where to find Versus. But while they're doing well in the face of adversity, I'm in agreement with Yahoo's hockey blogger, Greg "Puck Daddy" Wyshynski, about DirecTV managing to get through relatively unscathed as well. Of course, the potential Comcast/NBC merger could or could not have a major say in this.
I'd say I'm confident that Versus and DTV can hammer out an agreement by the beginning of the 2010 IndyCar season, but I figured they'd do it before the NHL started up this year too.
NEWS VIEW: Folks in the mainstream racing press are noticing a sense of newfound swagger around the IRL since IZOD came on board. One of those writers, The Birmingham News' Doug Demmons, wrapped his story on the matter around comments from [IZOD's parent company] Phillips-Van Heusen executive vice president of marketing Mike Kelly that pegged NASCAR as, in his words, "post-peak."
ESTRADA'S VIEW: This certainly runs contrary to my thoughts about IndyCar waging a PR war against NASCAR in its present state (namely, keep your head down and work on your product while NASCAR gets an embarrassing case of the 'yap-yap mouth'). But hey, if it gets scribes to write that IndyCar is a rising product, who am I to judge?
NEWS VIEW: Two of the IZOD IndyCar Series' natural-terrain road courses, Infineon Raceway and Watkins Glen International, are now selling tickets for their open-wheel dates next season.
ESTRADA'S VIEW: Both tracks had decent IndyCar shows last year and the Glen saw Justin Wilson taking the lone race that got away from the Team Penske and Target Chip Ganassi Racing drivers. Either one's worth the trip -- especially if you're a wine aficionado, as there's plenty of wineries in both spots (of course, I remind you to not get too carried away).
by Christopher Estrada on November 13, 2009
Report: Financial situation has forced layoffs of 25 people
The number of job cuts inside the Indianapolis Motor Speedway group rose
again yesterday. According to Curt Cavin of The Indianapolis Star, another ten people between IMS Productions and the Indy Racing League were laid off on Thursday.
Among the affected this week have been former public relations director Ron Green, the track's online staff and according to twitter reports, Indy DownForce liaison Chase Eaton.
A post from the league's public relations department on Trackforum.com revealed that Jason Penix will now be the main contact for Indy DownForce, the league's official fan club.
The IMS Corp. has issued a statement from executive VP of communications Fred Nation:
“All of our business units have been impacted by the tough global economy. We will continue to address these challenges by improving the operational performance of our companies. We anticipate consumer demand will continue to have an impact on our revenues well into 2010, but we have developed plans to meet the challenging business environment that give us great optimism for the future.”
by Christopher Estrada on November 13, 2009
Last night saw a long list of open-wheel bloggers take the mic on 1070 The Fan's "Trackside" radio show. Throughout the two hour program, a variety of topics were brought up and batted around between the word butchers and hosts Curt Cavin of the Indianapolis Star and Kevin Lee of IMS Radio Network/Versus.
Yours truly was part of the fun, but listen to the full show and you'll find plenty other major names in the strange little world known as the IndyCar blogosphere. Click here to check out the podcast.
