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IRL Notes: Howard, Dominguez set to return at Watkins Glen

After multiple races on the sidelines, IndyCar Series drivers Jay Howard and Mario Dominguez are coming back this weekend at Watkins Glen, N.Y.

Howard, who had been replaced for the last five races by John Andretti, will re-take control of Roth Racing’s No. 24 machine for Sunday’s Camping World Grand Prix at the Glen. Andretti took over Howard’s ride leading up to the Indianapolis 500 in May and managed to score a high finish of 11th in June at Iowa Speedway.

As he prepares to make his return to the IndyCar Series, Howard told Dave Lewandowski of IndyCar.com that he’s trying not to look back at his time out of the car:

“It’s hard to describe feelings when I’m on the sidelines watching. More than anything, I’m looking at this point forward and not looking at what happened over the last five races. I’m just going to go out and do what I do best and try to get a good result for the team.”

Also looking to get back on track properly is Dominguez and his Pacific Coast Motorsports team, who sat out Iowa and Richmond to re-evaluate their program after a tough start that saw them fail to qualify for the 92nd Indianapolis 500.

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Bruton’s bent on IndyCar date at New Hampshire

I was a part of the Boston Globe’s team up at Loudon, N.H. this past Sunday for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

As this was the first major race for NHMS under its new management at Speedway Motorsports Inc., there were plenty of power players around, including SMI CEO Bruton Smith and Texas, NHMS general manager Jerry Gappens, and Texas Motor Speedway general manager Eddie Gossage.

Smith held a press conference to discuss a variety of topics including his company’s plans for the speedway (still in progress), whether SMI will take a NASCAR date from New Hampshire (a terse “No”), and the rumors of a third weekend at Loudon involving the IndyCar Series. You can read my account of the meeting here.

Gossage is currently serving as SMI’s negotiator with the IRL as the company attempts to put five of their tracks onto the 2009 schedule — Kentucky, Texas, Sonoma, New Hampshire and Las Vegas in a possible season finale. That being said, Smith told the media that he wants an ‘09 IndyCar date — or else.

As a result, Gossage is in damage-control mode, but in my opinion, it’s much ado about nothing. From Smith and Gappens’ comments, I think we can assume a date is coming to Loudon in short order. Let’s just hope Gossage can find a decent date in between NHMS’ two Cup events to do it.

I also talked to Gossage a little as well and some of his comments were off-record, so I can’t relay them to you unfortunately. But I could tell that he and SMI were confident that they can help the IRL even further.

Speaking of which, if you find yourself in Smith’s presence, don’t say “IRL.” He took some light-hearted offense when I mentioned the moniker in a question to Gappens, and then whispered “IndyCar, IndyCar, IndyCar” at another reporter when he also used the IRL handle. Again, it was fun to hear him speak.

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All quotes used in this article have been attributed to their proper writers, subjects, and/or organizations. 

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