A Christmas List

Charles Dressing gives us his Christmas list at ALMS.com.  It got me thinking of my Christmas list:

1 - confirmation that the new ALMS/GrandAm merger will embrace the technologies that make Le Mans prototypes so much fun.
2 - IndyCar to start opening up their rules as was the original plan with the new 2012 cars.
3 - SCX Slot car - 2007 Laguna Seca corvette Jake #3.  I have the #4 but the yellow nosed #3 is next to impossible to find.
4 - Wheels & axles for my collection of 1:32 Corvette bodies.
5 - an interesting web article or commentary that includes F1, Sports Cars, and slot cars.

Thanks Chuck! I can cross #5 off my list!

Indy Corn Heats

I am looking forward to this heat race format. I am tuned in for the Q heats right now. I hope it has the feel of a night at the local short track.

after watching the Q heats it is obvious that arules change is needed for next year. Something to maakes the heats worth something.

of Indy, Heat Races, & Iowa

I like the idea. Not for every race but this makes Iowa not just another race. Good idea by the promoters. Good job on IndyCar for allowing this creative approach.
The Full Story

2012 Indy Car Testing

I don't know what to think of the looks of these cars. Right now it is a love-hate thing. But the best part is that there are going to be different aero-kits and different engines. We will still have one chassis but Indy is no longer going to be a spec series. This is a good thing.

Racer Slideshow.


The Racer Article

I read the comments and think that some people will never be happy.

of Indy & What You'd Love To See

Everyone and their monkey's uncle tries to pick the winner. Meh! That is a 1:33 chance. Who cares? This is what I'd like to see happen in this Indy 500.

1 - I'd love to see Paul Tracy kick everyone's ass and retire from racing. Oh & it would be sweet if he could win the race, too.
2 - Tags and the Sam Schmidt team win! This could be the start of a new dynasty in racing - or not.
3 - I like Dario. Having him win would be nice and who doesn't want to see his lovely wife in her hat running up the pit lane crying for joy? Who?
4 - Danica. OMG. Is she the new Michael-I-need-more-cheese-with-my-whine-Andretti? Goodness gracious. If she could retire the car in the first 5 laps, I'd be happy.
5 - Pippa. Wow. What doesn't she have? Let's see: a sister married to the Prince, a bum that has its own twitter page (several in fact), a fan club, AND A RACE CAR in the Indy 500?!?!!? Go Pippa!
6 - Nice weather, no controversy, and no one maimed.

It's Official - IndyCar Returns to The Mile

This is great news! Lower ticket prices. Just that little bit later in June for warm weather! The race is scheduled for June 18-19.

JSONLINE STORY

INDYCAR

One thing jumped out at me though. I could have rented The Mile for $20,000? That is all it took?

of IndyCar & The MKE Mile

Indy is back - at The Mile! YES. There is an announcement scheduled for tomorrow. IndyCar is returning to the Milwaukee Mile in June of 2011. The race will not be the traditional weekend following Memorial Day, but I'll take it. The rumored late June date will probably be better weather-wise. I remember standing in freezing rain and sleet for an IndyCar race one June. Summer usually starts in Wisconsin the next week.

Indy Predictions

OK - The 2002 Indy 500 winner did not make the race so now I'll have to come up with something else.

The winner - Will Power. You can't bet against Penske at Indy and Will Power is the driver to beat this season.

I am cheering for Dario Franchitti. He has been racing hard all season and is due for a win. GO Dario GO.

Surprise feel good story - Sarah Fisher. If she finishes ahead of Danica there will be no surprise. But look for Sarah Fisher Racing to get he car into the - top 10? No. Top 5. Wouldn't it be great she broke through and won?

If you are an Arrested Development fan you will be rooting for Ana Beatriz. Steve Holt!

Indy Is Back!

Indy Qualifying
Wow. Seriously. Wow. The new format works.

Part of me misses the whole Month-Of-May build up, the tradition. But most of that was gone years ago. There are still some that miss the front engine roadsteers. We need to move on. When I first heard that the top 24 would be locked in on Pole Day and that the top 9 would then have another Race For The Pole. I thought, "NO!!!!!" But I settled down and thought for about 5 minutes and realized SOMETHING needed to change and heck if IndyCar found sponsor for this format all the better.

There was still all the drama of Pole Day. There were teams posting times. Waiting in line only to decide to keep their time and get back in line. There were teams that crashed during practice. There were teams that had a car safely in the race that decided to withdraw their time and try again. Sometimes that worked - Helio Castroneves. Sometimes it was a ticket to Sunday's Bump Day - Paul Tracy.

The Top 9 Race To The Pole was dramatic with Chip Gannasi declaring on live TV that Penske's stall tactics were "Bull shit and you know it!" Once a car is in the top 9 the team can continuously re-try for a better time without the worry of giving up the already scored fast time. This allowed Penske's pole sitting Castroneves to run absurdly slow warmup laps before his retry. This was eating up time for the other pole wanna-bes. The only rule preventing this was a mushy directive that if they were short on time and the next in line was already on the pole the pole sitter would not be allowed to retry. Huh? What is "short on time"? Why should the pole sitter be denied an attempt at a better time?

There was an obvious hole in the rules and Penske drove a truck through that hole. Don't tell me that Chip wouldn't have done the same with his drivers. In the end Penske's move didn't matter. How do we patch the hole for 2011? The pole sitter must be allowed to defend the pole by being allowed to run faster and faster just like everyone else. I would allow the current Race To The Pole rules for the first part but then for the last 30 minutes (or 15 minutes - I'm flexible) a team would have to withdraw that car's time to re-qualify. Withdrawing would mean that the car is now in 9th position, not out of the race, until a new time is posted and the car is positioned accordingly.

Bump Day provided us with some real excitement. There was a very real chance that Tony Kannan was not going to make the race. Did those crashes get in his head? Was there something wrong with the car? KV Racing's Paul Tracy was in the race - again - but continued to fall closer and closer to the bubble. Time was running out but the KV Racing took a chance and decided to withdraw PT's car. He sat in line as time for his Indy return ticked away.

There is still a lot of room to improve in IndyCar. But, Indy is back!

of Doyle, the State Fair Board, & Decay

The Milwaukee Mile is dead, probably for good. This Governor is succeeding in destroying this once great state. This week the lastest deal to find a promoter for the Milwaukee Mile failed when the Governor's State Fair Board quietly changed the already agreed upon contract. The Guiffre Brothers with Menard and other Wisconsin business were our only hope. Trust between the State and WI businesses have been left in ruins.

The Mile will sit now, it's new stands rusting, without races for the foreseeable future. Doyle's DOT also announced this week that the nearby I94 I894 (Zoo) Interchange, which by the way is already diverting truck traffic off the bridges, needs to be rebuilt by May 30, 2010. This emergency bridge rebuild is not the planned 2011 or 2013 redesign. That work will have to come later at more cost. Doyle and his cronies are leaving Wisconsin is decay because they do not understand the importance of cars, roads, and those silly races that glorify a time gone by. The history of this once great track has been destroyed.

Saved The Mile - Lost The Race

There is not much else to say. The State Fair Board reacted too slowly. They picked a "top promoter" but the agreement is dependent securing NASCAR and IRL races for 2010. Today the IRL dropped the Milwaukee Mile from the 2010 schedule.

Now what? This plan never had a chance and Doyle the Weasel's cronies knew it.

The Mile

Your calls and emails are working...
from 12 WISN
Milwaukee 2009/07/21
Wisconsin State Fair Park is looking for someone to run the Milwaukee Mile.

The board of directors decided to end its contract with Wisconsin Motorsports, which was running the track.

Park officials said the promoter faced insurmountable financial challenges.

The board said it's looking for a new promoter to secure IRL and NASCAR races for next year.

SaveTheMile.com

Keep up the fight!

http://savethemile.com/contact-lawmakers.html

What more can be said?

Save The Milwaukee Mile

I could write about a lot of things this week. The ALMS is denying all rumors about Grand Am DP buyouts or mergers. The ALMS is closer to the ACO than ever. The ALMS admits that the 2009 Le Mans break was too long. OK. That's all great - really. I could say more but do not have time. The FIA and FOTA are still fighting and plans continue to move forward for a new FOTA series. This is just getting silly. FOTA - go for it. Bernie and Max have shown their time has passed them by. But there is something that has been keeping me up at night all week and now the news broke - The Milwaukee Mile has been driven into the ground by a promotions hack and it needs your help.

Some background - The Milwaukee Mile is a $150 to $180 million, newly renovated asset owned by the State of WI, overseen by the WI State Fair Board, and it's promotional rights are leased out. The current promoter is Wisconsin Motorsports' Claude Napier. The Giuffre Brothers successfully ran the track from 1983 until 1991. The Mile is 106 years old. It's North America's oldest continuously run race track and has always had a major sanctioned race.

Stories (1, 2, 3) have been out there for a few weeks now. On July 2, Mark Belling discussed the situation in depth on his radio show. The Milwaukee Mile can't pay the bills it owes to the IRL and NASCAR. We are talking about nearly $4 million for the 2009 races. Claude "The Hack" Napier, head of Wisconsin Motorsports can't seem to make money with a NASCAR weekend. As of July 8 the remainder of 2009's races have been canceled. In 2010 the track could be closed.

The Giuffre Brothers have offered - pleaded with the State Fair Board to allow them to come out of retirement and take over the running of The Milwaukee Mile. The Giuffre's have reported that they have backing from John Menard. Mr Menard runs a small lumber yard hardware store business and has a small interest in motorsports. The offer seems like a no-brainer for Governor Doyle and Wisconsin.

The Milwaukee Mile needs your help. The following people or organizations can make a difference but they need to know that Wisconsin's racing heritage and The Mile are worth saving. Please contact them now.

WI State Fair Board 640 South 84th Street West Allis, WI 53214 1.800.884.FAIR	Jim Doyle WI Governor Madison Office P.O. Box 7863 Madison, WI 53707 608-266-1212
Senator Herb Kohl Washington Office 330 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510 (202) 224-5653 Fax: (202) 224-9787	Senator Russ Feingold Washington, DC 506 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510-4904 (202) 224-5323 TDD (202) 224-1280 Fax (202) 224-2725
Scott Walker Milwaukee County Executive 901 N. 9th Street Courthouse, Room 306 Milwaukee, WI 53233-1458 Phone: 414-278-4211 Fax: 414-223-1375 countyexec@milwcnty.com	Dan Devine West Allis Mayor 7525 W. Greenfield Ave West Allis, WI 53214 (414) 302-8200

of ALMS & Indianapolis

In the past two months the Hulman-George family ousted Tony from 1st being CEO of IMS and then IRL. Mom allowed Tony to stay on the various boards but like all good children he is to be seen and not heard.

Things are changing on Georgetown Road and they might be looking for a sports car race. Now, the American Le Mans Series web site is running a poll. "Would you like to see the Series race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway?" Well, Duh! YES! Please head over to the ALMS and vote yes.

I know it would be too much to ask the ACO to allow a 24° of Indianapolis but a 12° enduro there would be spectacular.

of The IRL, IMS, & Tony George

NOW the war is over. After being voted out by the Hulman-George board of directors Tony George is no longer the CEO of IMS or his IRL. He was allowed to remain a board member.

Anyone who knows me will remember that I pledged to not attend an IRL race until Tony George apologized for destroying American Open Wheel Racing. With ChampCar gone, I had given up on ever seeing a live IndyCar race again. But now it was announced that Indianapolis Motor Speedway is free of Tony George - mostly. I will take this opportunity to accept, if not Tony's apology, then IMS' admitting to the huge mistake. The Speedway will still need to make me want to come back but there is hope.

This story has been brewing for months: here and here. In May, Tony George was voted out of power CEO of IMS by his mother and sisters. His foolhardy plans for forming the IRL cost the family too much money. Numbers have been reported that come in between $600 to $700 million in 13 years. Mom said, "enough Tony".

Yesterday it was reported that Tony George was stripped of his precious Imitiation Racing League. After last month's firing, Mom allowed Tony to save face and resign as CEO of the IRL and to stay on the various family boards. But, don't make any mistake - Tony is grounded and can't come out to play. He might be allowed to to play on Sundays with his Vision Racing Team - if he saves his allowance & behaves.

This is good news for IndyCar racing. The Hulman-George family could have hired a monkey to do a better job than Tony did. OK. I'll try to be fair. In the nearly 20 years that Tony has been in charge he has done a few good things. He started the Brickyard 400. He brought F1 back to the US and built the road course at IMS. I don't think he can be blamed for losing the USGP. MotoGP now races at Indy. These are good things that bring The Speedway closer to that original plan of Mr Fisher's over 100 years ago. But, Tony's temper tantrum resulted in a 13 year fight over Indy Cars eclipsing all of the progress.

Once it was announced that Tony George no longer controlled the purse strings or the series, the ugly truth was once again openly discussed. Kevin Kalkhoven of KV Racing and former ChampCar owner, "Clearly, we have a problem right now with boring races and old technology so we need new cars and engines as soon as possible." Sure. Now you speak up. Thanks for nothing Kalkhoven. The fans of American Open Wheel Racing knew this last year!

Tony's resignation & dismissal came, at the very least, 18 months too late. ChampCar could have been saved! Heck, the IRL could have been saved. ChampCar and the IRL could have merged on better terms. The Hulman-George family reports that they remain committed to the IndyCar Series as they do all of their companies. But something is up. If Mari's daughters are tired of paying for Tony's folly then why would they remove him only to keep paying for it? I don't believe they will. The former CFO of ChampCar, Gene Cottingham, is currently doing a top to bottom examination of the Hulman-George properties. I'm sure he is to report back on what is worth salvaging. Tony's IRL is eating money even after the 'merger' and the Hulman-George family is tired of paying. Someone needs to step forward and drive IndyCar into its second century.

My hope is that there are more team owners and manufacturers that feel the same way that Kalkhoven feels. Maybe they will step up to save IndyCar. I still have hope for the Indy 500 to return to true greatness by 2011.

The New Open Wheel Split

FOTA is announcing that it is setting up a new Formula 1 alternative. They have threatened this before, but the threats were years out and the FIA had given concessions. This time it just might happen. WOW! Tony George needs to call FOTA now and come up with a common formula. 2011 with two series under one formula would be too unbelievable. FOTA teams to launch breakaway series It will never happen. (The Indy/FOTA formula - that is.)