2016 Verizon IndyCar SeriesOpen Wheel

[F1KimiFreak]

Really hope Milka will do good... Nice to see woman in the sport

Our commentator in holland was so hard on her in the indy500 last year, they could not stop saying how bad she is... well at least she has qualified for it, not like are our comentator (who is also a driver, but only in low low low national series)

 

[VNAF Ace]

2008 St. Petersburg GP Starting Lineup
The 2008 St. Petersburg GP airs tomorrow at 2:30 PM EDT on ESPN!

 

[TS]

Out of all drivers I would expect to be on pole on a road course (i.e. Scott Dixon, Well Done, CCWS refugees, hell, even Danica), Tony Kanaan wasn't too high on the list.

Congrats.

 

[TS]

<delete>

 

[kjb]

That was a great win by Graham Rahal.

 

[Studentdriver]

A great race all-around. Viso and Bernoldi were a great surprise as well.

 

[VNAF Ace]

2008 St. Petersburg GP Race Results
Congratulations to Graham Rahal for winning the 2008 St. Petersburg GP and his first IndyCar race!

 

[Earth]

This year the Indy Car Series will be 10x more entertaining then Formula 1

5 different leaders led at least 10 laps.

A dozen drivers have a realistic chance to win every race

It's going to be a great season

 

[JohnBM01]

Has this been the first wet race in IndyCar history? Let's retrospect on this bad boy in St. Petersburg. But before I do, I'd like to congratulate Graham Rahal. He's the youngest winner of an IndyCar race at 19 years, 93 days. Also the youngest in a major open-wheel series (courtesy of motorsport.com).



John's Debate! - What Did We Learn (Road Racing)?
Rain, Champ Car stars (including former Champ Car racers), and mayhem. What did we learn from this experience at St. Petersburg with the IndyCar Series? Did the Champ Car stars really shine in this IndyCar event? Did the IndyCar regulars stumble too much to let the Champ Car stars pick up the scraps? We've seen the two series race on an oval. Now with this race complete, what have we learned (or what should we learn) from the IndyCar experience alongside the Champ Car racers?


This is the first race Graham Rahal competed in. So suffice to say... Graham Rahal is undefeated! ^_^ 1-0. This is where the series split happens. I want to say G. Rahal will be in Long Beach, but I'm not sure. Next round for the series will be Champ Car at Long Beach and Twin-Ring Motegi Superspeedway for the IndyCar crew.

 

[TS]

I knew it wouldn't take very long for Rahal 2.0 to win, I didn't think he'd do it in his first start. Congrats Graham!

Has this been the first wet race in IndyCar history? Let's retrospect on this bad boy in St. Petersburg. But before I do, I'd like to congratulate Graham Rahal. He's the youngest winner of an IndyCar race at 19 years, 93 days. Also the youngest in a major open-wheel series (courtesy of motorsport.com).

I don't think so, I've heard of an IRL wet race at Watkins Glen a few years ago.

John's Debate! - What Did We Learn (Road Racing)?
Rain, Champ Car stars (including former Champ Car racers), and mayhem. What did we learn from this experience at St. Petersburg with the IndyCar Series? Did the Champ Car stars really shine in this IndyCar event? Did the IndyCar regulars stumble too much to let the Champ Car stars pick up the scraps? We've seen the two series race on an oval. Now with this race complete, what have we learned (or what should we learn) from the IndyCar experience alongside the Champ Car racers?

We learned that the road and street course races will be very, very competitive with the ex-CCWS drivers, rain or shine. We saw guys like Justin Wilson, EJ Viso, Enrique Bernoldi, Rahal 2.0, Ryan Hunter-Reay, that haven't been seen running in the front of CCWS/IRL races of the past run very well at St. Pete. I think things for the IRL can only get better from here, especially Indy, considering last year was the first time ever that the grand stands were empty on opening day.

This is the first race Graham Rahal competed in. So suffice to say... Graham Rahal is undefeated! ^_^ 1-0. This is where the series split happens. I want to say G. Rahal will be in Long Beach, but I'm not sure. Next round for the series will be Champ Car at Long Beach and Twin-Ring Motegi Superspeedway for the IndyCar crew.

Graham, Justin Wilson, Will Power and Jimmy Vasser are confirmed to be running long beach, I'm pretty sure that Forsythe-Petit racing and KV Racing will field the majority of the cars, and N/H/L racing will supply Graham and Justin's cars.

And I do believe that the race will be Saturday, the 19th on ESPN2, not sure about the time. (expect it to air around the time ESPN re-airs the round from Motegi at 3 EST).

 

[VNAF Ace]

According to ESPN's TV listings, the Japan 300 will air live on ESPN2 on Saturday, July 19th at 12:00 AM EDT, and will re-air at on ESPN on Saturday, July 19th at 3:00 PM EDT.

The Long Beach GP will air on ESPN2 on Sunday, July 20th at 5:30 PM EDT. I think it's tape delayed.

 

[TS]

Another interesting stat about Rahal's win on Sunday, this is the first time in 38 IndyCar races that a team other than Andretti-Green, Ganassi or Penske have won a race. (Rahal drives for Newman/Haas/Lanigan racing)

 

[KAMKA-Z]

That was an awesome race. Rain always ads a load of unpredictability. Big congrats to Graham Rahal. I was a huge fan of Bobby, now I've got an instant hero. The Champ Car guys showed well. Danica had a couple of early offs but was able to crawl back to 10th place. I have a wish that they could put all those guys together at Road America again. Maybe Next Year. Yeah, and with more chassis and engine manufacturers.

I'm Happier.

So. Where's Katherine Legge this year? She's a much more formidable force than Milka.

Edit: I see Katherine is racing DTM for Audi this year.

 

[TS]

Unofficial Long Beach GP Entry List

1. EJ Viso (HVM Racing)
2. Nelson Phillipe (HVM Racing)
3. Roberto Moreno (HVM Racing)
4. Jimmy Vasser (KV Racing Technology)
5. Oriol Servia (KV Racing Technology)
6. Will Power (KV Racing Technology
7. Justin Wilson (N/H/L Racing)
8. Graham Rahal (N/H/L Racing)
9. Paul Tracy* (Forsythe-Petit Racing)
10. David Martinez (Forsythe-Petit Racing)
11. Franck Montagny (Forsythe-Petit Racing)
12. Alex Tagliani (Walker Racing)
13. Mario Domingues (Pacific Coast Motorsports)
14. Alex Figge (Pacific Coast Motorsports)
15. Bruno Junqueira (Dale Coyne Racing)
16. Mario Moraes (Dale Coyne Racing)
17. Franck Perera (Conquest Racing)
18. Enrique Bernoldi (Conquest Racing)
19. Antonio Pizzonia (Rocketsports Racing)
20. Juho Annala (Rocketsports Racing)

*PT is currently in a legal dispute with Gerry Forsythe on Forsythe's not entering cars in the 2008 IndyCar Series campaign which may keep him from doing Long Beach if the issue isn't settled.

 

[Layla's Keeper]

Before we get off of the St. Pete good news, how about a big hand for Jay Howard in his Roth Racing ride!

Seriously, this is a full-time team that wouldn't exist without the TEAM program and Jay was, in all honesty, not on anyone's radar even with a great Indy Lights career. The team doesn't have the technical depth of even Panther or Rahal-Letterman, and it was a shame that owner/driver Marty Roth wrecked his car in practice and was unable to compete, but I seriously think that Jay Howard's run was one of the series' biggest success stories out of St. Pete.

 

[TS]

Long Beach GP can has 20 cars? o_O

Champ Car&#8217;s final go-around Sunday will also be Paul Tracy&#8217;s swan song with Gerry Forsythe but at least the four-time winner of the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach gets to race.

&#8220;I&#8217;m driving at Long Beach for Gerry, yes, we finally got everything worked out,&#8221; said Tracy on Thursday afternoon. &#8220;But this is the last race I&#8217;ll be driving for him.&#8221;

The 2003 CART champion has been in limbo so far in 2008 as his manager and attorney tried to come to some kind of understanding with Forsythe, PT&#8217;s employer since 2003. Because the longtime CART loyalist declined to field a car in the unified open wheel series, it&#8217;s left the series winningest driver a spectator.

Tracy&#8217;s name was on the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach entry list despite the fact he hasn&#8217;t spoken with Forsythe directly since just after Christmas and nobody in the Forsythe Racing
camp was sure of anything, except that David Martinez would be in one of their cars this weekend. It&#8217;s believed Forsythe paid P.T. his back salary earlier this week, so they agreed to go forward one last time.

&#8220;We haven&#8217;t resolved our differences in the issues of my contract, but we&#8217;ve decided to do it in a business-like manner after Sunday&#8217;s race,&#8221; said the 39-year-old veteran, who is supposed to make $2,5 million this year&#8212;the third of his five-year contract.

&#8220;I&#8217;m open to do anything after this race and I want to run at Indianapolis for sure,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;I don&#8217;t have a sponsor because Monster (energy drink) is too far along in this year&#8217;s budget&#8212;but they&#8217;re looking at next year so I&#8217;m hoping I can get something going.

&#8220;But right now I just want to try and win the last Champ Car race.&#8221;

LB GP pictures

 

[JohnBM01]

Danica wins! Danica wins! She's home!!! Nit-pickers may say that Danica's has yet to win in America. But hey, she's won in my favorite country of Japan. She now knows what being in Victory Lane is like. Only speculation is if this will give the 2005 Rookie of the Year the motivation to really rise up and be a consistent winning racer in future races. Sometimes, one race gives you the courage to win many more. I was alternating between my Rockets hosting the Utah Jazz in the Western Conference playoffs (Rockets sadly lost 93-82) and this race. My heart was pounding when Danica made the pass for the lead. The pit strategy has had Danica put in 8th or 9th. The cycling of the lead led to Danica pulling away for the win. I wasn't sure if she'd have enough fuel to make the distance. But when she did, I did a "woo-hoo!" in my room. I always thought Danica could win even when people keep telling me that she's just an overhyped and overrated race car driver. I always believed in Danica even while people kept pinning her down on message boards. I always watched for where Danica is in every race. I have a Danica Patrick calendar, I keep racing Danica's car in "ToCA Race Driver 3," anything with Danica... I want to win. She's my favorite racer in the IndyCar Series. She was so emotional and rightfully so. The 5'2" racer from Beloit, Wisconsin finally wins her first race. Only time will tell if she could win any other races. The Japanese fans LOVE their motorsports and are very supportive of racing whether it's the D1GP or Formula One. I think the fans were later allowed to get onto the track to get closer to the podium area to see Danica win. I can assure you that this is going to send some shockwaves even 11 to 14 hours away from home. It already hit Houston, Texas and this 25-year old named "JohnBM01" on GTPlanet. Her colors are black and blue. She has her 50th start. And what do they say about a 50th of anything? It's gold. Danica was golden in her 50th race.

Marty Reid and Scott Goodyear made a point about how there may be young girls watching TV perhaps seeing Danica's success in this series. I find some validity to this. I'm not going to say she's one of the best female inspirations in motorsports (Shirley Muldowney, Michele Mouton, and Lyn St. James come to mind), she's at least some of the modern inspirations. She got the big race trophy. She's 5'2", and the trophy was about 0.5 to 1 foot shorter than she is! She may need to put that thing on one of those hand trucks to cart that trophy around. Funny enough, after the race and after the champagne celebration, the sun shone on the race track. Maybe this gets her more wins.


John's Debate! - Danica Patrick
For those of you critical of Danica Patrick as not being able to win races, has your overall opinion of Danica Patrick changed now that she's finally won a race? Or do you think she still needs to do more to actually win your respect? Do you think she'll win any more races this season?


I'll have a debate ready for Long Beach once that race concludes. Until then, sound off on this one.

 

[Motominded]

One thing i want to add about Danica's first win in japan.

I don't know exactly how Japan compares to the rest of Asia where women are second to men. I wonder what the Japanese women felt like seeing her beat the guys. Women in America now demand respect but i wonder if this will inspire Asian girls to do the same.

I wonder if something like this has ever happened in Japan.

 

[JohnBM01]

So you think Danica's win at Motegi has some connotations for not only America, but Asia (and perhaps the rest of the world) too, Motominded?

 

[RACECAR]

I'm very proud of Danica. I've had confidence in her to win ever since 2005 and finally she comes through. And JohnBM01, that seems like pure irony that the sun comes out after she wins, almost as if it signifies something significant. One would sure hope it means this isn't the last time she's in victory lane.

 

[Motominded]

So you think Danica's win at Motegi has some connotations for not only America, but Asia (and perhaps the rest of the world) too, Motominded?

Of coarse, this event might not be seen as such an amazing thing in the U.S. cause most people over here still don't know who Danica is. But for those of us that want to see American open wheel racing succeed, this was a great boost to ticket sales and interest in the series.

Looking to the rest of the world. Yes it had a big impact. When this race will be broadcast on TVs in Japan, China, Korea and the other Asian countries, it will give the girls a confidence they don't get in their society.

 

[Sharky.]

X chromosome > ginger chromosome

Dixon needs to learn that a few seconds more fuel during a pitstop can equate to not having to waste another 20 or so coming in for a splash

 

[Motominded]

I'm watching the Long Beach race right now and it just hit me that the Champ cars are powered by a Cosworth 2.65 liter turbo engine that runs on methanol.

The Indy racing series cars will run a Honda 3.5 v8 that is naturally aspirated and runs on Ethanol.

Does this give either car an advantage since the two went against each other at St. Petersburg. And is this the last time we see these engines because what im getting from skimming the info is that this is the last race organized by Champ Car.

Here is the 2008 Indy Racing series schedule, does this mean that the races at Assen and Zolder organized by Champ Car will not be run? You can also see that the Long Beach and Surfers Paradice event is not on the list.

Here is the season schedule from the Indy Racing series website.

Sat 29-Mar Homestead-Miami Speedway 8 p.m./ESPN2
Sun 6-Apr Streets of St. Petersburg 2:30 p.m./ESPN
Sat 19-Apr Twin Ring Motegi Midnight live/ESPN2 :: 3 p.m./ESPN
Sun 27-Apr Kansas Speedway 5 p.m./ESPN2
Sun 25-May 92nd Indianapolis 500 Noon/ABC
Sun 1-Jun The Milwaukee Mile 4 p.m./ABC
Sat 7-Jun Texas Motor Speedway 10 p.m./ESPN2
Sun 22-Jun Iowa Speedway 1 p.m./ABC
Sat 28-Jun Richmond International Raceway 8 p.m./ESPN2
Sun 6-Jul Watkins Glen International 3:30 p.m./ABC
Sat 12-Jul Nashville Superspeedway 8 p.m./ESPN2
Sun 20-Jul Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course 1:30 p.m./ABC
Sat 9-Aug Kentucky Speedway 6:30 p.m./ESPN2
Sun 24-Aug Infineon Raceway 5:30 p.m./ESPN2
Sun 31-Aug The Raceway at Belle Isle Park 3:30 p.m./ABC
Sun 7-Sep Chicagoland Speedway 3:30 p.m./ABC

Compare that to this list from wikipedia.

March 29 (night) GAINSCO Auto Insurance Indy 300 Homestead-Miami Speedway Flag of New Zealand Scott Dixon
April 6 Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg Streets of St. Petersburg Flag of the United States Graham Rahal
April 20 Indy Japan 300 (see below) Twin Ring Motegi Flag of the United States Danica Patrick
April 20 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach (see below) Streets of Long Beach Flag of Australia Will Power
Date Race Name Location Time TV
April 27 RoadRunner Turbo Indy 300 Kansas Speedway 5:00 p.m. ESPN2
May 25 92nd Indianapolis 500 Indianapolis Motor Speedway 12:00 p.m. ABC
June 1 ABC Supply Company A.J. Foyt 225 The Milwaukee Mile 4:00 p.m. ABC
June 7 (night) Bombardier Learjet 550 Texas Motor Speedway 10:00 p.m. ESPN2
June 22 Iowa Corn Indy 250 Iowa Speedway 1:00 p.m. ABC
June 28 (night) SunTrust Indy Challenge Richmond International Raceway 8:00 p.m. ESPN2
July 6 Camping World Watkins Glen Grand Prix Watkins Glen International 3:30 p.m. ABC
July 12 (night) Firestone Indy 200 Nashville Superspeedway 8:00 p.m. ESPN2
July 20 Honda 200 Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course 1:30 p.m. ABC
July 26[3] Rexall Edmonton Indy Edmonton Street Circuit 3:00 p.m. ESPN
August 9 (night) Meijer Indy 300 Kentucky Speedway 6:30 p.m. ESPN2
August 24 Motorola Indy 300 Infineon Raceway 5:30 p.m. ESPN2
August 31 Detroit Indy Grand Prix The Raceway on Belle Isle 3:30 p.m. ABC
September 7 Peak Antifreeze Indy 300 Chicagoland Speedway 3:30 p.m. ABC
October 26 Gold Coast Indy 300 (non-points race)[4] Surfers Paradise Street Circuit 11:00 p.m. ESPN2

 

[TS]

Spoiler

Will Power

is the winner of the Long Beach GP!

And congrats to Danica!

Does this give either car an advantage since the two went against each other at St. Petersburg. And is this the last time we see these engines because what im getting from skimming the info is that this is the last race organized by Champ Car.

Umm, the Panoz DP01 and the IRL Dallara chassis did not race against each other at St. Pete, everyone ran the Dallara Chassis with the Honda engine and Firestone tires.

I will miss the unique engine note of the Cosworth turbo V8 though, hopefully we'll see it again in the future.

 

[Motominded]

Spoiler

Umm, the Panoz DP01 and the IRL Dallara chassis did not race against each other at St. Pete, everyone ran the Dallara Chassis with the Honda engine and Firestone tires.

I will miss the unique engine note of the Cosworth turbo V8 though, hopefully we'll see it again in the future.

Spoiler

Yeah, i just figured out all the details and how this was the last ever champ car race. Good to know thanx!

 

[JohnBM01]

Did anyone get the chance to see "WindTunnel with Dave Despain" tonight (as of 11:06 PM CDT on 4/20/2008)? Danica was the hot topic with her win. Her interview with Dave Despain kind of yielded a different view of Danica than normal. She said that she can't please everyone for those who continually and negatively criticize Danica. She just says that she'll do her best in all of her races whether her would-be critics like her or not. I think this is Danica finally telling critics to just shut up criticizing her like she's more camera fodder than a real racer. A win is a win is a win. She didn't cheat, she didn't pull some Tony Stewart move on somebody, she won the race fair and square even if it was a fuel race. She still won. You win however you can. So I don't want to hear that bulls:censored: about Danica getting an easy win or anything like that. It isn't like the other 17 cars just got out of her way (conspiracy theory) to eventually win. I'm sick of all the hate people put on Danica. She's just trying to win races and finish high and consistently.


Here are random WindTunnel notes I took:

FIRED UP:
* couldn't be happier for Danica to win
* wins on fuel mileage and considered an Indy 500 favorite?

* maybe the misogynists can get off of her back
* IRL morphs to NASCAR, Danica wins, Helio Castroneves wins Indy

* somewhere, all the lady racers are smiling

Janet Guthrie:
* Delighted for Danica.
* those who didn't think this was coming was sadly mistaken; stayed hard to try to win.
* might take two generations until a woman could win prior to this win.
* about time a femme wins; has a great team behind her.

* varying stats: the first female to win a major auto race; the first female to win an Indy Car event.


All in all, I'm proud for Danica. Just no other way to say it.



IndyCar at Motegi wasn't the only event. A much more prestigious race took place (spoiled by Speed Channel) as they released the results- Will Power powered his way to victory. I agree with Bob Varsha that it would be cool to see all the IndyCar stars race around in those wonderful Panoz DP-01's with the turbo engine. Robin Miller suggested that the IndyCar Series should study what has made these Champ Cars what they are in making the IndyCar Series better. So I'll leave this up to you all:


John's (Champ Car) Debate! - Rememberance and Moving On
1.) The Champ Car series sang its swan song at Long Beach. What memories do you have of about Champ Car?
2.) The SPEED Report had certain things about what the IndyCar Series could take away from the Champ Car World Series. Everything from using the Panoz DP-01's to that push-to-pass deal can make races more exciting. This may even play a factor on ovals and especially street circuits. What do you think the IndyCar Series can take away from Champ Car (if anything)? Should there be more international venues? What Champ Car races should carry over into the IndyCar Series? Should push-to-pass, varying tire compounds, and things like that carry into ICS and make the racing more exciting? What about going from the NA Honda V8 to a turbo-engine, or do you think a turbo powerplant would bump up costs?



Two debates. One on Danica and two on Champ Car. Have at it!

 

[RACECAR]

John's (Champ Car) Debate! - Rememberance and Moving On
1.) The Champ Car series sang its swan song at Long Beach. What memories do you have of about Champ Car?

I say that Its thanks to Champ Car I got to know the likes of Montoya, Vasser, De Ferran, Fernandez, Papis, Andretti, Fittipaldi, Herta, and Kanaan As well as Tracy, De Matta, Allmendinger, and Bourdais. It'll be strange not seeing it anymore.

 

[Omnis]

See, this is what's so damn confusing about IRL. They hold two different races halfway around the world at the same time?

And only half of the teams compete during each race or something? I really don't understand this crap.

 

[Motominded]

As happy as i am about Danica's win.

Some people need to watch how they describe her first win.

She is the first women to win an Indy car event, but not the first women to win an auto race ever.

Jutta Kleinschmidt won the Dakar Rally in 2001 and Michele Mouton won 4 races in the WRC and the 1985 Pikes Peak hill climb. She finished the 1982 WRC season in second place to Walter Rohrl.

 

[KAMKA-Z]

Congrats to Danica. She was going to win one sooner or later. She will likely win more.

Boo to ESPN for it's stealthy coverage.

Long Beach did not dissapoint. Great racing. We even got to see PT driving over his head. Graham Rahal spun himself and was working his way to a decent points position when he found a barrier on the final lap. Bummer.

I think the IRL should find their way back to a Turbo Engine formula. How about 2.5 Liter Turbo Stock Blocks?