Justin Wilson takes first Indy Car Series win in Detroit.
August 31, 2008
Helio Castroneves surely had another fence-climbing celebration running through his mind as he raced toward victory Sunday at the Detroit Indy Grand Prix.
Then came a caution flag that cut his lead over rookie Justin Wilson to less than a second.
With Wilson breathing down his neck, Castroneves moved his race car into Wilson’s path three times on lap 72, forcing IndyCar Series officials to make the rare and controversial decision to compel Castroneves to allow Wilson to speed ahead of him into first place.
Wilson held the lead the rest of the way, taking his first-ever IndyCar Series victory and sending Castroneves into a tizzy.
“I’m very surprised — very much surprised about this call,” he fumed.
Wilson had an altogether different take on the decision to penalize the flamboyant Brazilian.
“In my mind, it was so clear and so obvious that something had to be done,” he said.
Castroneves led for the majority of the road race on the Belle Isle course, holding the top spot for 53 of the 87 laps.
Series points leader Scott Dixon finished fifth. That result, coupled with Castroneves’ strong showing, means the IndyCar championship will be decided at next weekend’s final points race at the Chicagoland track.
The odds of winning the series title still favor Dixon, who entered the Detroit race 43 points ahead of Castroneves. Dixon needs to finish eighth or better next week to win his second title and first since his rookie year of 2003.
Dixon’s lead now stands at 30 points.
Wilson, an Englishman who started in the race’s fourth position and drives the No. 02 car for actor Paul Newman and his Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing team, had six top-10 finishes entering Sunday’s race, including a season-best third-place run at Edmonton.
He started the day in 16th place in the series standings.
Newman/Haas/Lanigan’s other victory of the season came with Graham Rahal in April in St. Petersburg, Fla.
“This is the most important win of my career,” Wilson said. “It’s been a long, difficult year. A lot of things have happened. A lot of things are going on, but we managed to pull through. This one means a lot, and this one is also for you, Paul.”
Castroneves dominated much of race and looked as if he was headed to another win after finishing first in California last weekend, but IndyCar officials ordered Wilson’s car to the lead after the blocking call was made by Brian Barnhart, IndyCar Series president of competition and operations.
“We did what we did because it was a pretty easy call,” Barnhart said. “He had a tremendous run out of Turn 12, and Helio crossed over almost the entire width of the track to impede the progress of the car behind him.”
The explanation did little to change the mind of Castroneves, who questioned whether Barnhart’s decision was personal and why no warning was given first.
When his crew relayed the decision to him over the radio, Castroneves asked whether anything could be done, and he was told the decision would not be changed.
“It was just an unusual call,” he said.
Wilson relayed a different message to his crew when Castroneves kept getting in his way.
“It was pretty severe,” Wilson said of the series of blocking maneuvers. “I was upset and even complained on the radio.”
The scheduled 90-lap race ended after 87 laps when the race hit the 2-hour time limit.
Tony Kanaan, last year’s winner at Detroit, finished third. Oriol Servia was fourth.
Dixon, the fastest qualifier, and second place-starter Castroneves remained in first and second place for the first 18 laps, then Dixon pitted on No. 19, allowing Castroneves to take the lead position.
Dixon never regained the lead.
“That was pretty much the race,” Dixon said.
On the 17th lap, Dan Wheldon made contact with rookie driver Jaime Camara. Wheldon spun into a tire barrier, but was able to restart.
Wheldon also had trouble with about 20 laps to go when he missed a turn and slowly ran into the barrier. He finished 20th and yielded third place in the series standings to Kanaan.
Castroneves didn’t initially pit until lap No. 32, but only briefly and didn’t lose the top spot.
Danica Patrick and Vitor Meira slapped tires a third of the way through the race, forcing Patrick’s car to stall and Meira’s No. 4 to head off the course. Meira, who started the race in 14th place, had to do the equivalent of a three-point turn before heading to pit road.
Patrick ended up 16th after starting 10th.
Hookscenter.com wire report.
Danica Patrick looks for strong run at Detroit Indy Grand Prix.
August 29, 2008
Danica Patrick would be ecstatic with another strong run at Detroit Indy Grand Prix.
After starting 11th at the Raceway at Belle Isle Park, Patrick worked her way up to fifth late in the race when the cars running second, third and fourth were involved in an incident with two laps to go. Patrick sped past the wreckage and held on for a second-place finish behind Andretti Green Racing teammate Tony Kanaan.
“I remember it like it was yesterday,” said Patrick, fifth-fastest in practice Friday with a lap at 100 mph. “I’m very fortunate that I didn’t get caught up in it. It was great to stand next to Tony Kanaan on the podium, first and second. Hopefully we can do something similar again.”
Despite winning her first IndyCar race earlier in the season at Twin Ring Motegi, nothing has come easy this year for Patrick. She has finished in the top 10 in nine of 15 races this year, but only three times in the top five, including a fifth-place showing Sunday in Sonoma, Calif.
“It’s been a year of ups and downs, and drama,” Patrick said. “It’s either been something on the track drawing attention or something off the track. It’s just been like that this year.
“(Winning) hasn’t lessened the pressure to win again. We’re shooting for No. 1 every week. It’s the other drivers who are making it hard on me. The competition is very deep out there, especially on the road courses. It’s tough every single weekend.”
The success has been accompanied by some distractions. The most notable one occurred during practice for the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio when Patrick marched over to driver Milka Duno’s pit box to complain to her and Dreyer & Reinbold crew members that Duno was too slow on the course and blocking faster drivers. Duno responded by twice snapping a white towel at Patrick before eventually yelling at her to leave.
Still, Patrick has been able to continue to focus on her driving. She’s sixth in the driver standings, 45 points behind fifth-place Ryan Briscoe.
“Every year at the end you think if it wouldn’t have been for that one thing,” Patrick said. “That’s just the way it goes. But you can’t control it. Everybody has their bad races. Everybody has their throwaways. That’s what makes a season.
“Obviously Scott Dixon is kicking everybody’s butt and doing a good job this year.”
Patrick admitted that a repeat of her last performance at Detroit is going to be difficult on the 14-turn, 2.07-mile circuit.
“Passing is very difficult here,” she said. “It’s difficult to pass on any road course, really, but here it’s not like you drop a wheel off in the gravel and keep going or get pushed wide. You hit a wall.
“There’s just nowhere to go. I did a couple of them last year, but they weren’t pretty. A lot of crashes end up happening when you try. The only other spot you can make up spots outside of actually passing would be through strategy, through fuel saving, through pit stops. I think a lot of us tend to rely on strategy for the cleanest passing.”
Plus, Patrick noted that this year’s race field was expanded from 17 to 26 with IndyCar’s merger with the Champ Car series.
“We’ve got 10 or 11 new entries and that definitely gets into the mix. It fogs it up,” she said. “Last year there were a lot of top fives and running up front a lot. This year it’s just not been quite the same. There’s just too many drivers out there.”
Hookscenter.com wire report.
Castroneves keeps 2008 IRL title hopes alive with win at Sonoma.
August 25, 2008
For Helio Castroneves, his first win in 30 races was a matter of faith.
Known as Spider Man for his fence-climbing celebrations, Castroneves acknowledged that he checked out the best place to make his climb just in case he won Sunday’s Grand Prix of Sonoma at Infineon Raceway.
“I did, actually,” Castroneves said. “There were photographers there and I told them exactly where I was going to go. I said, `Right there. Make sure you wait for me there.’ It’s just a positive attitude.”
The victory did more than break a winless string stretching back to the St. Petersburg race on April 1, 2007. It also put Castroneves squarely back into a championship duel with IndyCar Series leader Scott Dixon that looked like a lost cause before Sunday.
Dixon suffered through one of his worst days of the season, finishing 12th, and saw his lead shrink from a seemingly comfortable 78 points to 43 heading into next week’s race at Detroit’s Belle Isle, the penultimate race of the season.
Castroneves and teammate Ryan Briscoe started 1-2 and finished the same way, completing an amazing weekend after losing their primary cars in a transporter fire on Wednesday and racing here in hastily prepared backup cars.
Castroneves, frustrated until now by seven runner-up finishes this season, was almost delirious with joy as he crossed the finish line, screaming and hollering, “Bring it home, baby.”
Living up to his prerace promise to those photographers, the Brazilian scrambled out of his No. 3 Dallara Honda at the finish line and ran to the short fence behind the pits. He quickly climbed it and found himself surrounded by admiring fans.
Castroneves then jumped back down to the track and sprinted back to his team, joining them in a group hug.
“They kept telling me, `Push, push, push.’ And I was pushing to the limit,” Castroneves said. “There was nothing left out there.
“That was fun, a lot of fun. Oh my God, this is awesome. We’ve been close so often. We never lost faith. This is great for Detroit.”
Tim Cindric, president of Team Penske and the man who manages the races for Castroneves, said, “We would not have won this race if Helio hadn’t driven the wheels off it when he needed to. … We will keep going and see where we end up at the end of the year.
“I think our approach next weekend is the same: We go for broke. That’s the only thing that is going to get us where we need to be.”
As happy as Castroneves and his team were, Dixon was just as frustrated.
“It was definitely a bad day. We lost a ton of points,” the New Zealander said. “This is a race that’s very tough. Unfortunately, we got the bad end of the stick. I guess we just need to shrug it off and come back strong next week.”
Team owner Chip Ganassi said Dixon is still the favorite to add another title to the one he won in 2003.
“I think if Helio wins the next two (races), we just have to place fourth, so we should be able to do that,” Ganassi said. “We just have to stay behind him. We’re OK. We have a long way to go yet.”
Castroneves, who started from the pole Sunday, won this one, his 13th career victory, with a perfect pit strategy and a very strong car.
He gave up the lead on his first stop on lap 17 of the 80-lap event and regained the top spot when the last of the leaders, rookie E.J. Viso, finally pitted on lap 36. By the time Castroneves pitted again on lap 44, he had built a lead of more than 16.5 seconds over Briscoe.
That put the two-time Indianapolis 500 winner right where he wanted to be. After he made the last of his three fuel stops on lap 57, all Castroneves had to do was wait for the drivers ahead of him to make their last stops.
He took over the lead for good on lap 59 when Viso pitted and easily led the rest of the way on the 2.245-mile, 12-turn road course, beating Briscoe to the finish line by 5.29 seconds — about 30 car-lengths.
Tony Kanaan and Den Wheldon, both eliminated from championship contention on Sunday, finished third and fourth, followed by Danica Patrick and Viso.
When Dixon made his second of three stops, also on lap 44, he was third, just behind Briscoe. But Dixon came out of that stop deep in the pack and was never in contention again.
“I’m not upset with anybody, particularly. We just did absolutely nothing right,” said Dixon, who has a record-tying six wins this season and had only two finishes worse than fourth until Sunday. “Everything we did was wrong.”
Hookscenter.com wire report.
Scott Dixon can wrap up second IndyCar series title in Sonoma.
August 24, 2008
Scott Dixon would like to get it over with this weekend.
The New Zealander heads into Sunday’s Grand Prix of Sonoma at Infineon Raceway with a chance to wrap up his second IndyCar Series championship.
After losing the title to Dario Franchitti last year when he ran out of fuel on the last lap of the last race, taking the championship with two races to go would be a good feeling for Dixon and his Chip Ganassi Racing team.
To get it done on Sonoma’s 2.245-mile, 12-turn road circuit, Dixon will have to come out of Sunday’s race at least 106 points ahead of second-place Helio Castroneves, third-place Dan Wheldon, his teammate, and Tony Kanaan — the remaining contenders.
Former series champions Wheldon, 138 points behind, and Kanaan, 147 in back of Dixon, would need a win and a miracle — or at least an early crash or engine failure by the leader — to stay in contention beyond Sunday. But, even if Dixon adds to his record-tying six victories this season, Castroneves can stay at least in the background of the title picture by finishing eighth or better.
Considering that the Brazilian has 12 finishes of fifth or better — including seven seconds — in 14 starts this season, that’s likely to be the case.
“It can definitely go down to the last race, it’s quite possible,” Dixon said Saturday. “We’re happy with the lead that we have.”
And Dixon has studied the possibilities. He knows that, if he can just add eight points to his lead over Castroneves on Sunday, it will be little more than a formality in the last two races at Detroit’s Belle Isle and Chicagoland Speedway.
“We’d have to turn out for the last two races, but that’s about it,” Dixon said. “So, if we can do that, that would be amazing.
“But those guys have already proven they’re very fast here, so that’s going to be very tough to do,” he added.
Castroneves, despite losing his primary car in a transporter fire earlier this week, kept up the pressure Saturday, winning his third pole of the season and the 26th of his career as he and Team Penske teammate Ryan Briscoe, also driving a backup, swept the front row in qualifying.
“What a great comeback for Team Penske,” Castroneves said. “Those guys on our team did a great job. If you close your eyes, you can’t tell the difference (from the primary car).”
Will Power was third, followed by Kanaan, Dixon and Oriol Servia. Wheldon will start 14th.
Although he isn’t haunted by last year’s hard-to-take finish, Dixon said the memory does make him aware of the bad things that can happen if you let other drivers stay too close.
“It does worry you because it kind of drags out a bit,” he said. “It’s so easy these days to have a mechanical failure on a car that’s performing so highly, be it the engine, the gearbox or even something else.”
That’s exactly what happened to Dixon earlier this season at St. Petersburg, where a mechanical problem relegated him to a season-worse 22nd-place finish.
“It’s far from done,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of hard work to do yet.”
Castroneves isn’t ready to concede anything to Dixon.
Asked if he can still win his first IndyCar title, without hesitation the Brazilian replied: “Absolutely!
“If there’s a chance, we’re not going to give up,” he added. “We’re trying to make the gap in the championship closer. But tomorrow’s going to be tough. The times are ridiculous, just so close. It’s going to be very hard to pass.”
Besides staying alive in the championship, Castroneves would love to get his first victory of the season.
“Fortunately, we’ve been quick in Sonoma in each visit, but we haven’t been able to bring home a win,” he said. “We’ve finished in the top-five the past two years, and I really want to take it to the next level this season in order to keep the Championship battle going.
“We’re not out of it, but we’re going to need a strong run to be able to stay in the fight.”
Hookscenter.com wire report.
Castroneves needs a miracle to win 2008 IRL Championship.
August 23, 2008
Helio Castroneves knows how to win.
Two of his 12 career victories have come in the Indianapolis 500, and just about everyone — including a lot of people who wouldn’t know an IndyCar from a pickup truck — is aware that Castroneves won the 2007 Dancing with the Stars competition.
But, somehow, a series championship has eluded the personable Brazilian.
Now, heading into Sunday’s IndyCar Series race at Infineon Raceway — despite being second in the points with three races remaining — Castroneves’ chances of winning the big trophy in 2008 have to be considered a long shot.
This has probably been the most frustrating season since Castroneves became a full-time driver in the old CART series in 1998. While Scott Dixon, the 2003 IndyCar champion, has won six races and done just about everything right, Castroneves has chalked up seven runner-up finishes without a victory and trails by 78 points.
If Dixon wins Sunday and Castroneves finishes ninth or worse, the championship battle will be over.
But Castroneves isn’t conceding anything.
“We have a lot of points (left) in the game,” Castroneves said Friday. “We know what we need to do. I think they have more to lose than us. … We’re going to be fighting.
“If there is one point (between us), even (if) at sometimes (it) looks impossible — and right now it’s not even close — we’re going to have the faith. We’re going to continue working.”
Fate tossed another hurdle in his path Wednesday when one of the Team Penske trucks — the one carrying the primary cars for Castroneves and teammate Ryan Briscoe — caught fire on a highway somewhere in the wilds of Wyoming. The cars were damaged by water and smoke, and quite a bit of equipment was too badly damaged to use.
Still, driving a backup car that was quickly put into racing shape, Castroneves was second in the opening practice Friday and led in the second session.
“I told the guy my setup was on fire,” Castroneves said, laughing. “Joking aside, the good news is nobody got hurt and things can definitely be replaced.
“We’re trying to put that behind,” he added. “But, when you go back to the truck, it’s hard to forget. A lot of our tools that we would be able to use here are gone. The good news is Team Penske is always prepared. We already had a truck that came from Charlotte, stuff that we’ll be able to use now.”
Dixon, who lost the title to Dario Franchitti last year when he ran out of fuel on the last lap of the final race, won’t take anything for granted.
“A lot can (still) be lost or gained,” the New Zealander said. “You just have to keep focused on what you’re trying. That’s the biggest thing for us, making sure that we make as many points as we can at any opportunity. At least then you know you’ve done your best, even if somebody takes you out of it.”
Asked about Castroneves, Dixon, who drives for Chip Ganassi Racing, said, “He’s very competitive, and Penske is a team that has won many races, a lot of championships, a lot of (Indy) 500s. So they’ve definitely got the equipment and the drivers to do it.”
“Look at Helio. He’s come second seven times this year, so easily he could have won some races. He’s on top of his game.”
Now he needs a little good luck, with the races on the road circuits and Detroit’s Belle Isle coming up before the final points race of the year on the oval at Chicagoland Speedway.
“The good news is that I’m very comfortable with the road courses,” Castroneves said. “The bad news is he is also very comfortable with the road courses. It’s going to be a neck and neck.
“In his situation, Scott doesn’t have to do much. I think (to) just follow would be the best thing he can do because, if he makes a mistake or something like that, it would count more than the gain. I’m not counting on his mistake and I’m not wishing his mistake, but we’re just going to focus on our work.”
Hookscenter.com wire report.
Dixon moves closer to 2008 Indy Car series title with Kentucky win.
August 10, 2008
Scott Dixon is having one of those near-perfect seasons, and it’s more than a little frustrating for the guy trying to chase him down.
Dixon came from behind Saturday night at Kentucky Speedway, passing Helio Castroneves coming off the final turn on the 1.5-mile oval to win the Meijer Indy 300. It was the second win in a row and the sixth victory of the season for Dixon, tying the record of Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Dan Wheldon as he races toward what would be his second IndyCar Series championship.
Series runner-up Castroneves, still trying for his first victory of the season and his first series title as he chases Dixon, tried to get this one with fuel strategy.
It looked as if Castroneves had it when he took the lead with six laps to go when Dixon, who had dominated most of the 200-lap race, was forced to make a fuel stop.
Dixon came out just over six seconds behind the Brazilian, but steadily cut into the margin. He started the final lap just six-tenths of a second behind and finally passed Castroneves as the leader slowed coming off the fourth turn, out of fuel.
Castroneves then coasted slowly across the finish line, barely holding off Marco Andretti.
“I knew he was a little bit slow and I could see us catching him, and to get him on the last corner was pretty fantastic,” Dixon said. “I said that view was pretty sweet.
“I think this is the view Dario had on the last lap in Chicago last year,” added Dixon, referring to Dario Franchitti passing him on the last lap to win both the race and the championship last year in the season-finale.
It was the seventh second-place finish of the season for the frustrated Castroneves.
“Going into turn three I was like finally, I’m going to win a race,” Castroneves said. “In turn four I was just trying to finish. I saw a bunch of cars pass me and I’m like ‘I can’t believe it.”‘
Still able to smile, he added, “I tried everything. Second seems to be my place. What can I say? Every time he wins I finish second and, unfortunately, every time I finish second, he finishes first. We’ve got to change that.”
Tim Cindric, the president of Penske Racing, who calls the races for Castroneves, brought his driver in to top off the fuel tank on lap 143, meaning Castroneves had to go the final 64 laps on a tank of fuel — about 12 laps further than the average.
As Dixon chased down the leader, Cindric could be heard on the radio exhorting Castroneves: “You got to go! You got to go! He’s coming!”
He did his best until the ethanol ran out.
Castroneves was philosophical.
“It was the opportunity to play strategy and I give the total credit to Tim Cindric,” he said. “It was his call. It almost worked.”
Dixon also earned the three-point bonus for leading a race-high 151 laps and extended his series lead over runner-up Castroneves by 13 points to an almost insurmountable 78 with three races remaining.
“Scott is having a fantastic year,” said Castroneves, who has finished in the top five in all but two of the 14 races this season. “This is one of the first races where we didn’t have the car, but we took chances.”
The finish was almost as frustrating for Andretti, also winless this season. The son of Andretti Green Racing co-owner Michael Andretti lost his shot at his second career victory and first since August 2006 when he had to make his final pit stop on lap 189.
“We have got to start capitalizing on these cars that can win these races,” said Andretti, who led 38 laps. “Dixon had a bit of speed on us, but I think we had a better car in traffic. It was between him and I to win this race, and I think it is just unfortunate.”
Vitor Meira, in the hunt throughout the race, finished fourth, followed by Wheldon, Ed Carpenter, Ryan Briscoe and defending race winner Tony Kanaan. Danica Patrick, who had to start last after crashing in practice and missing Friday’s qualifying, finished 11th, a lap off the pace.
Dixon now has five of his six wins and 10 top-five finishes in 10 oval races this season.
Starting from the pole for the sixth time in 2008, he looked unbeatable early in the race. But both Meira, still looking for his first IndyCar victory in his 90th career start, and Andretti were able to stay with him. Each was able to pass Dixon for the lead at times, but the eventual winner was able to keep his near-perfect season going.
Hookscenter.com wire report.
Tony Kanaan signs extension thru 2013 with Andretti Green.
August 9, 2008
Andretti Green Racing, a team that appeared to be in disarray two weeks ago, was on the same page Friday at Kentucky Speedway.
Answering persistent rumors that Tony Kanaan, its “franchise player,” would sign with another team for 2009, AGR announced the 33-year-old Brazilian has signed a five-year contract extension through 2013.
“It has been an eventful week, with a lot of rumors and a lot of things that people come up with and I have no idea where it’s coming from,” said Kanaan, the only remaining driver from AGR’s entry into the IndyCar Series in 2003. “This defines where we are at and I am really excited about the opportunity that these guys gave me six years ago.”
Michael Andretti, co-owner of AGR along with Kevin Savoree and Kim Green, said the rumors that Kanaan would leave to drive for Chip Ganassi Racing or some other IndyCar team had gotten out of hand and were starting to interrupt the normal flow of the team.
“It got ridiculous. Some of the guys were asking, ‘Is Tony leaving? What’s going on?’” Andretti said. “We felt like we had a deal a long time ago with Tony with a handshake. … The test was just trying to get it on paper. Tony is what we consider a franchise player and one of the foundations of the team. He’s part of the family.”
Savoree agreed, noting he and Kanaan also have talked about his future beyond driving.
“Tony gave us our first pole, our first win and our first championship, and that’s the kind of relationship that we’ve had,” he said. “You know, like so many families, once in a while, we have our squabbles … Sometimes, they get pretty loud. But I promise you, that guy sitting up here, there’s nobody more motivated in the sport.”
Danica Patrick and rookie Hideki Mutoh already were under contract for 2009 and the signing of Kanaan means Marco Andretti, Michael’s son, is the only AGR driver not locked up for next season.
“There’s still a few things to iron out, but he’s going to be here next year,” the elder Andretti said. “Now, we can concentrate on finishing out this season strong and getting ready for next year.”
So far, 2008 has been a disappointing season for AGR, although Kanaan goes into Saturday night’s Meijer Indy 300 fourth in the standings, 118 points behind series leader Scott Dixon.
Patrick, who got her first victory earlier this year in Japan, is sixth in the standings, just ahead of Mutoh, a leading candidate for rookie of the year. Marco Andretti is a disappointing 10th.
“We thought we should have at least three of the four as championship contenders,” Green said. “We’ve been very competitive at almost every racetrack, and that’s probably the most frustrating thing. We’ve been in the position to win quite a few races but, either an incident on the racetrack has taken us out, or driver error or, in fairness, some bad strategy on our part.”
There also have been rumblings of dissension in the once close-knit AGR ranks on and off throughout the season, and it appeared to come to a head two weeks ago at Edmonton.
It appeared Patrick and Andretti held up a faster Kanaan, who had started last because of an engine change and was making a charge toward the front. Then Andretti locked up his brakes and knocked Patrick’s car into the wall.
An obviously angry Michael Andretti called the team together for a postrace meeting that lasted about one hour and included a lecture on working together from the former driving star.
“I had a little meeting with them after the last race and I think we all are pretty much on the same page,” Andretti said Friday.
Asked if Kanaan is the team’s No. 1 driver, Andretti said: “There is no No. 1 driver. … What has made this team work, I think, is that there isn’t that, it’s the four working together. Have we had that all year this year? No. Has there had to be some reminders? Yes.
“But I would say most of the races we have worked together and those were where we had our best races. That’s constantly a challenge obviously. You have four (drivers) that want to win. Sometimes you’ve got to remind them that if they all work together, that all four can get better.”
Hookscenter.com wire report.
Sarah Fisher to race the Indy 300 at Kentucky Speedway.
August 8, 2008
There are five offices at the home of Sarah Fisher Racing in Indianapolis. Yet you won’t find the company’s founder, office manager, accountant, marketing head and star in a massive wood-paneled room with a dutiful assistant parked outside the door.
Instead, the only female owner-driver in the IndyCar Series decided to take a small room overlooking the team’s garage.
“I want to see the shop, see what’s going on,” Fisher said with a laugh.
She always does, one of the main reasons Fisher will be back in her “other” office this week at the Indy 300 at Kentucky Speedway.
Saturday’s race marks her first start since a disastrous month of May, when two title sponsors backed out and she and husband Andy O’Gara poured their life savings into helping the team make the field for the Indy 500.
Fisher qualified 22nd, but her hopes of impressing future sponsors ended when Tony Kanaan spun into her halfway through the race. She finished 30th and was in tears while riding to the medical center, knowing her season may be over.
“It’s very character-building,” she said. “I could write a book on the month of May alone.”
Rather than give up, Fisher simply went back to work. While her team reassembled the car, she worked the phones trying to find a sponsor for two more races.
Enter Dollar General CEO Rick Dreiling, a racing fan who was moved by Fisher’s story. The company has signed on to help sponsor Fisher this week and in the season-ending event at Chicago in September. Dollar General could stay involved in 2009 if Fisher can recapture the form that made her one of the series’ most popular drivers earlier in the decade.
“He’s looking at 2009, he’s asking questions and that’s a start,” she said. “But you can’t just expect them to jump on board and expect them to sign up because we had a good race.”
Finding a way to be competitive at the 1.5-mile Kentucky oval, though, won’t hurt. Fortunately for Fisher the track’s notoriously bumpy corners are laced with good memories. She became the first woman to capture an IndyCar pole when she set a track record qualifying time in 2002. She ran third at Kentucky in 2000 and launched her last comeback bid with a 12th-place finish in 2006 while working for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing.
That partnership ended after last season, and rather than try to find a job on someone else’s team, Fisher decided to be her own boss, a job that’s proven to be equal parts liberating and frustrating.
“At the beginning of the year, I didn’t realize how deep and how organized that I needed to be,” she said. “I run all of the financial side of it. If they need something, they come to me, whether it’s accounting, managing, payroll, everything a young businessperson goes through.”
Most young entrepreneurs, however, don’t conduct their business at 200 mph. Her business obligations have limited her time in the cockpit, though Fisher was encouraged by her car’s performance during a recent test at Kentucky. Fisher believes she can be competitive this weekend and knows a poor showing will make finding a sponsor for next year more difficult.
“The pressure is undeniable,” she said. “I don’t think it’s totally from our ontrack performance, but who we are, how we represent ourselves on and off the track. It’s not just going around in circles. There’s pressure as a team owner to make sure all the ducks are in a row.”
Simply getting on the track, however, is a victory for Fisher. When she slides into the cockpit for qualifying on Friday, all the pressure from the office will melt away and it’ll just be her and the car, just the way she likes it.
“It’s so easy to tune it all out when I put that suit on,” she said. “When we rolled into Kentucky for the test, I didn’t even take the computer with me. It’s easy to separate (business and racing). Racing is the funnest part of the job.”
There will come a time when Fisher sees herself moving to the front office full-time, but the checkered flag on her racing career isn’t yet in sight. She knows her name — and her ardent fan following — is her team’s hottest commodity. Though she hopes to gain enough sponsorship to run all at every IndyCar race on an oval next year, a lifetime in racing has taught her plenty of lessons about looking too far ahead.
Maybe this weekend will work out, maybe it won’t. Either way, she’ll still be back in the office next week, watching the garage and working the phones.
“I have a goal in mind and this is what I want to do with my life, my family and my team,” she said. “It’s a full-time job and it’s hard, but I love it.”
Hookscenter.com wire report.
Toronto and Long Beach added to 2009 Indy Car schedule.
July 31, 2008
The Indy Racing League’s IndyCar Series will debut in Long Beach and Toronto next year.
The Grand Prix of Long Beach in California will be run on April 19. The 35-year-old event has hosted Formula One, CART and Champ Car World Series races. This season, Champ Car ran its final event there after its merger with the IRL, but awarded the drivers IRL points. Next year, it becomes a full-fledged IRL event. The agreement is through 2015.
The IRL will hold the Streets of Toronto race on July 12. It will make up for the loss of the Nashville event, which was dropped after efforts to negotiate an agreement for a 2009 race there failed.
“We don’t think it’s a perfect schedule, but we think it’s progress towards a much improved schedule,” Terry Angstadt, president of the IRL’s commercial division, said in a teleconference.
Angstadt said the IRL was interested in expanding into Cleveland and Houston, as well as sites in the northeastern and northwestern United States.
The IRL has taken steps to expand globally. The league will run its first IndyCar Series event in Australia this season with the Gold Coast Indy 300 scheduled for Oct. 26 in Surfers Paradise. The race also could be added to next year’s calendar.
“We are in active conversations with them for ‘09,” Angstadt said. “We are keeping a couple of slots open for them. We are hopeful we can get them included.”
HVM Racing Team owner Keith Wiggins said the updated schedule, and specially the expansion in Canada, was good for the IRL.
“When you race at venues like St. Petersburg, Toronto and Texas, along with Indianapolis, it naturally creates a better environment and greater interest,” Wiggins said in a statement. “This can only move our sport and, therefore teams like HVM Racing, to the next level.”
Speedway Motorsports president Marcus Smith had hoped the IRL would expand even more.
“We are very pleased that Texas Motor Speedway and Infineon Raceway will be returning to the lineup of tracks hosting IndyCar Series events in 2009,” Smith said in a statement. “However, we are disappointed that the Indy Racing League chose not to add dates for Las Vegas Motor Speedway and New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Those two first-class facilities would have been excellent additions for the league and race fans next year.”
Angstadt didn’t rule out a move to those locations in the future. Las Vegas and New Hampshire host NASCAR races.
The season opener will be a road race in St. Petersburg, Florida on April 5. The season finale will be on Oct. 11 at the Homestead-Miami Speedway, where this season began.
The 2009 schedule features 10 oval races, three permanent road courses and five temporary circuits.
The Indy Japan 300 at Twin Ring Motegi in Japan was shifting to Sept. 19 after running in April since 2003.
The 93rd Indianapolis 500 will be on May 24.
Hookscenter.com wire report.
Paul Tracy is still a major attraction in Indy Car Series.
July 31, 2008
It seemed like the IndyCar Series was getting along fine without Paul Tracy until the former champion showed up.
Like in the old saying: out of sight, out of mind.
Not anymore.
Tracy’s performance this past week at Edmonton in his second race of the season and first IndyCar race since running in the 2002 Indianapolis 500 raised eyebrows, proving that the 39-year-old Canadian still has the ability and star power that the newly unified open-wheel series can use.
“He’s a guy we need in the series,” said IndyCar points leader Scott Dixon, the Edmonton winner. “He’s fantastic to watch.”
Tracy, who said he spent way too much time on the couch and not enough in a race car in the past few months, shook off the rust in a hurry.
He consistently ran among the top 10 in practice, qualified 16th and drove to a surprising fourth-place finish on the temporary airport circuit, a track most of the returning drivers called the most physically demanding in the series.
The one-race deal came together at the last minute as the result of an effort by Tony George, the IndyCar founder and Vision Racing team owner, to help both Tracy and team owner Derrick Walker get back on track in the wake of the unification of the two American open-wheel series in February.
Tracy had been driving for Forsythe Championship Racing in Champ Car, while Walker had been fielding a two-car team in the series that was absorbed into IndyCar. Gerald Forsythe decided not to make the switch to the new series, while Walker was unable to find sponsorship to make the move.
Tracy’s only racing action came in the Champ Car finale at Long Beach in April, while Walker was spending his time fielding cars in the developmental Atlantic Series for the sons of former Formula One champion Nigel Mansell.
“Derrick and I had been talking, you know, all the way through the summer from Long Beach about trying to put something together and finding sponsorship, working on things,” Tracy explained. “It kept going down dead end roads.”
Finally, the deal for Edmonton, with Subway as the primary sponsor, popped up two weeks ago.
“I went to Indianapolis for a seat fitting, got to know the team and, four days later, we were at the track,” Tracy said. “In between, I went home to Las Vegas and trained like crazy… I wasn’t in the best shape of my life … but definitely was able to carry it through here and was strong all through the race.”
Vision Racing, which supplied Tracy’s car and technical help to Walker, has generally been a midpack team and Tracy outperformed both of George’s drivers, with A.J. Foyt IV finishing 12th and Ed Carpenter 13th.
“I’m excited for Derrick and I’m excited for Tony’s team,” Tracy said. “I think the equipment they’ve got, we’ve shown them what the level is, where they’re at. So, hopefully, we can continue.”
Tracy, whose 31 career victories are the most of any active driver in the American open-wheel series, certainly enjoyed being back.
“The race was great,” he said. “There was action all the way through. I was fighting with many different drivers, passed a lot of guys, made a lot of really daring passes in the infield. … You know, I got this opportunity and we cashed in on it.
“So, from that standpoint, I hope the door cracked open for us. I hope it’s wide-open for me and Derrick to be able to move forward and do something long term.”
Now they just have to wait and see.
Hookscenter.com wire report.