Richmond Gone? (I say add New Hampshire)

Reading through Bruce Martin's article on Versus.com, it becomes apparent that Richmond will not be on the 2010 IndyCar schedule - that kind of thing happens when one side does not want to negotiate a new contract. From the mouth of Terry Angstadt, who talked to Martin:

“We absolutely wanted to race at Richmond. It is an important venue for one very important sponsor of ours and one of our teams. We were somewhat surprised at the lack of negotiation for that venue but that is something that we deal with.

“It puts two sides to put a deal together and we respect their decision. It is not being negotiated and they will not be on our schedule.”

It's a shame that the IndyCar Series loses one of its footholds in the South, but you could see this coming after the last two races there - the crashfest of 2008 and the parade in 2009.

So, where should the series turn to for 2010? I vote New Hampshire. With ICS adding Barber to the 2010 schedule, the series will still have a race in the South, just a different part of the Southern United States. It does not have a race in the New England area, and New Hampshire has an IndyCar friendly executive vice president in Jerry Gappens.

While Martin's article does not address New Hampshire, he does talk about the rumors surrounding the purchase of the Milwaukee Mile and whether or not Tony George is actively trying to raise money to purchase the IndyCar Series - definitely items worth checking out by clicking the link above.

Let's See What Happens

Basically, the Honda engines that will race at Kentucky will be equipped with push-to-pass.

We'll see what it adds to Saturday's race (and I'll file a full report on returning from Kentucky Speedway), but Graham Rahal seems to think it will be a idea, telling Curt Cavin of The Indianapolis Star:

"You wouldn't think so, but 5 horsepower is a pretty big deal, even on these ovals. Every little 'hp' is going to help you.It will improve the racing because people forget that it's not only something that's used for overtaking, it's also for defending. It can be interesting. There's no doubt in my mind it's a good thing."

Rahal would know - he used a similar system when running Champ Car. Whether the push-to-pass and the added car options for teams help the racing this weekend remains to be seen, but give the IndyCar Series credit for trying to spice up the competition.

Edmonton Primer

I might get to see some racing this weekend, fantastic. Plus, my view will be the same as most Indianapolis Star journalists, who are staying in town to cover the NASCAR parade instead of traveling to scenic Edmonton. Before I get into a preview of the Rexall Edmonton Indy, I feel like I should critique myself from those predictions I made prior to my departure for vacation.

So, let's start with my continued underestimation of Andretti Green's awful season (Danica Patrick largely excepted). They don't appear to have "it" this year (and they barely had it last year) in any regard, with poor qualifying efforts and poor race results. Give this, why I would continue to think Tony Kanaan would finish on or near the podium is ridiculous on my part; despite his driving talents, he can't get a car that actually works for him, and it doesn't appear he's had a good car since around Long Beach or Kansas. I'll have more thoughts on this team next week. Why, with two road courses, did I not expect Justin Wilson to finish on the podium at least once? Simply put - I'm dumb and overlooked him. So, congratulations to Justin and Dale Coyne Racing on picking up the win at Watkins Glen. Thank you for breaking the streak of Ganassi and Penske winners. Hopefully more of your brethren follow in your footsteps.

On the plus side, the Toronto race reached the magical 1.0 rating. And with so many people watching, at least there was a good show. I was driving home from Maine during the race, but I can attest that it received some solid air time on the Sunday night news in Buffalo.

Now, with regard to Edmonton, it's being touted as a course similar to Watkins Glen and Toronto, i.e., a street course that allows passing. And, given the topsy-turvy nature of this IndyCar season (street racing being exciting, ovals being boring), I suppose we should expect some entertaining racing on the 14-turn circuit.

With Alex Tagliani and Paul Tracy both racing, the field continues as it was from Toronto, where both drivers put forth solid performances and came away thinking they should have finished better. The Canadians will hopefully bring a few more fans to the track, too (and if they want to boo Helio Castroneves again, it's ok, but Helio is doing his level best to prevent it). In his only race of the 2008 IndyCar season, Tracy finished fourth while driving for Vision Racing.

Last year, roughly 160,000 spectators made it to Edmonton over the race weekend. That's great for the ICS, as the TV ratings for the race will probably be low, due in some part to the race going up against the Brickyard 400 on Sunday. Which begs the question, why can't this race be moved to the weekend before the Brickyard, when both series are currently off? Wouldn't having an exclusive weekend for IndyCar racing, especially on a good circuit, be good for the ICS?

In that 2008 race, Scott Dixon took the checkered flag (shocking), while Castroneves was second (another surprise). So, it's not like Ganassi and Penske don't know this track. Expect those teams to be near the front again. On the lowest part of the podium in 2008 was Justin Wilson, and given Coyne's road/street proficiency, I would expect him to be a contender this year.

Now that I'm looking at things logically (it's amazing how a vacation helps settle the mind and allows you to think of things like "Why would I expect AGR to perform well in a race at this point?"), I think the race shapes up as such: A red car will win (though Franchitti is in a blue car this weekend - kudos to Ganassi for mixing up the colors of his team's cars this year, by the way - let's continue that trend into 2010.). Though a yellow car could win in Will Power's sweet Penske Truck Rental car. I look for Tracy and Tagliani to shape up perform better than at Toronto. Mike Conway will probably qualify well, but again, Jan Beekhuis will tease Robbie Buhl about having to repair a car. Here's how I look the race right now:

1. Dario Franchitti (who will pull away in the points a bit; when he passes someone in this race, since he's driving the Vaseline car, does Jenkins say, "Franchitti slides past (fill in driver's name)"?)
   
2. Ryan Briscoe (who stays in the championship chase)
3. Scott Dixon (also stays in the hunt)
4. Will Power (he definitely could win this race - can we get him a full-time ride and sponsor for 2010, please?)
   
5. Justin Wilson
6. Paul Tracy
7. Helio Castroneves
8. Alex Tagliani
9. Tony Kanaan (oh, what the hell - let's toss AGR a bone - Kanaan did lead some laps here last year)
10. Tomas Scheckter (quietly building some momentum for 2010)
11. Marco Andretti (sure a top 10 sounds nice, but let's be honest - more is expected)

This Should Please Tony George's Sisters

If the true reason for telling Indianapolis Motor Speedway President Tony George that he must reevaluate his commitments to IMS and the IndyCar Series was because of the Hulman-George family's concerns over money, then the news that Ryan Hunter-Reay will drive for A.J. Foyt Racing for the remainder of the season must be greeted with smiles.

Vision Racing, owned by Tony George, will now suspend operations for the No. 21 car immediately, which will save the team (and George family) money. Sponsorship for Hunter-Reay's car never developed, aside from Hunter-Reay's personal sponsorship from Izod. And after his podium performance at St. Petersberg, the team struggled, culminating in a lack of speed and crash at Indianapolis.

With Izod in tow, Hunter-Reay will join the iconic Foyt Racing Team and provide a permanent solution to the absence of Vitor Meira for the remainder of the season. Meira, for his part, hopes to be back for the season finale at Homestead.

Hunter-Reay pushes aside Paul Tracy, who drove at Milwaukee, and A.J. Foty IV, who drove at Texas. Born in Texas, Hunter-Reay will look to boost the performance of Foyt Racing, while leaving open the possibility of returning to Vision Racing in the future:

"We all have the big picture in mind for Vision's future, and that is not only to find our way to Victory Circle but for Vision to have a program that is capable of challenging for the championship. As competitive as the Indy Racing League is today, those goals require a strong commitment not only by the team but also by sponsors and partners.

"In the very short time I have been at Vision their efforts in developing sponsorship and B2B opportunities have yielded positive results which have laid a strong foundation we intend to build on. Knowing what I know today, I am optimistic of continuing with Vision in 2010 with a strong program."

Basically, two birds are killed with one stone here: first, Foyt gets a permanent solution for losing Meira. Second, Vision Racing saves money on a car that brought in no outside money and Tony George keeps the face of the IndyCar-Izod relationship in the IndyCar Series on a competitive team. The downside comes in the fact that the ICS loses one of its cars.