The Land of Brats and Beer

After a one-year hiatus, the IZOD IndyCar Series is headed back to Milwaukee.

A driver's track, the short oval gives the series three such tracks now - New Hampshire, Iowa and Milwaukee.  Drivers have been clamoring for more "driver's tracks" that require more than holding the gas down for two hours.

The full schedule release will be done from the Milwaukee Mile on Friday, but it appears that the series will have a 8/9 oval/road & street mix.

IndyCar Says Goodbye to Milwaukee in 2010

So the IndyCar Series clarified three points on their 2010 schedule.  Motegi will now be on Sunday, Sept. 19 (still aired live on Saturday night in Indianapolis), while the Kentucky race will be Saturday, Sept. 4 at night.  If I can, I will return to Kentucky and campt this time.  Lastly, Texas was moved up to Saturday, June 5, the weekend after the 500.

Being the race directly after the 500 has been what Texas Motor Speedway President Eddie Gossage has always wanted.  However, it's doubtful he wanted it to be the week after the 500 - he's always wanted that week in between to promote his race.  In either case, it has come to fruition, while simultaneously guaranteeing that Milwaukee will not be on the 2010 schedule.

However, since Milwaukee was more than likely not going to be on the ICS schedule in 2010 anyways, I think this is one way for the IndyCar Series to bring Milwaukee back into the fold in 2011, just in a different slot on the schedule.  

Eliminating Milwaukee in 2010 gives the series a fresh slate for negotiations in 2011, including the date/time.  Back in one of my speculative schedules (here), I had surmised Milwaukee could move to Sunday, June 19, 2011.  New Hampshire and Texas would fill in the gaps between Indianapolis and Milwaukee under my proposed schedule.  And while I don't see Texas giving up its spot directly behind the 500 (unless the Truck Series date moves), I could see them accomodating NHMS, as both tracks are owned by the same Speedway Motorsports Inc. company.

They Should Have Called It The Speedy 225

To put the pace of the ABC Supply A.J. Foyt 225 in perspective, let it be known that I was at the Indianapolis Indians' game, working in the press box. The Indians game started at 2:03 p.m. ET, while Race #6 of the IndyCar season began at approximately 3:30 p.m. ET. However, the 225-mile race was over by the time the Indians game wrapped up at 5:37.

Completed in just 1 hour, 38 minutes and change, the A.J. Foyt 225 was the quickest in the race's history, averaging 138.784 miles per hour. With just 22 laps of cautions, those in attendance saw plenty of green flag racing an exciting action up front. And with Scott Dixon's win, they witnessed a new leader at the top of the IndyCar Series points standings.

Dixon ran away with the race after passing leader Ryan Briscoe on lap 200. He cruised to victory, beating Briscoe to the checkered flags by 2.1257 seconds, not too shabby considering that Briscoe led 154 of the 225 laps on the day. Still, Briscoe, the 2008 winner of the A.J. Foyt 225, stayed in the championship hunt, where he just 4 points from Dixon.

Two drivers took significant hits to their championship aspirations: Tony Kanaan and Helio Castroneves. Kanaan, my pick to win at Milwaukee, pulled off an impressive start to the race, ducking under Briscoe to nab first place on the opening lap. Driving with bruised ribs, Kanaan led the opening 25 laps before slowing back into the middle of the field.

After the first round of pit stops, Kanaan seemed to find his pace again, but under green flag stops around lap 127, Kanaan was forced back into the pits at lap 132, with smoke coming out from under his engine cover, an apparent fire forcing him to be lifted from the car. Still, Kanaan managed to deliver a solid quote, via his twitter page:

Dificult day for us. On fire but not the the right way to be on fire.

With a 27th at Indianapolis and a 19th in Milwaukee, the points leader entering Indy now sits seventh, 39 points behind Dixon and 17 behind teammate Danica Patrick for fourth. Without another run of finishes similar to or better that his first three (fifth, third, third), Kanaan will seemingly miss out on the championship chase.

As for Castroneves, he started last after crashing during qualifications. Saddled with a conservative setup, the three-time Indy champion fell a lap down midway through the race, eventually placing 11th, three laps off the pace. Still, the news isn't all bad for Castroneves, as he gets to appear on the Late Show with David Letterman Monday night.

So, what did we learn from Milwaukee? The cream is starting to rise to the top of the IndyCar Series, once again. The top three drivers (Dixon, Briscoe, Franchitti) are separated by 4 points, while the top seven drivers are withing 40 points of each other.

Should make for a fun summer and another entertaining show at Texas next week.

MIlwaukee Preview

With Helio Castroneves starting second-to-last (Stanton Barrett crashed during practice and will technically start last, but I don't see him actually taking part in the race.), it seems to open up the ABC Supply A.J. Foyt 225 on Sunday at 3:30 ET.

While the three-time Indianapolis 500 champion will start 20th, his teammate and defending Milwaukee champion Ryan Briscoe will start on the pole. It was at Milwaukee last year that Briscoe turned his season and perhaps his IndyCar Series career around - beating Scott Dixon across the finish line after a wreck with three laps to go put "Poor" (it seems like everyone refers to Vitor as "poor Vitor" these days) Vitor Meira flying above Marco Andretti's car.

Briscoe's win was his first career ICS win and the first of three during the 2008 season. In 2009 Milwaukee qualifications, he was .2 mph quicker than his front row partner, Graham Rahl. The Penske and Newman/Haas/Lanigan teams were the only ones to crack 168.00 mph during qualifications, which should help them stay out front of the field, theoretically.

However, lurking in the inside of row two is Tony Kanaan, who has never finished worse than fourth at the one-mile ring, picking up victories in 2006 and '07.

Scott Dixon will start next to Kanaan, and I see him, Kanaan and Briscoe challenging for the lead most of the day.

I fear that Castroneves will either be too aggressive in passing his way through the field or use up too much of his car in doing so; however, I see a top 5 finish for him.

So, my predictions for the ABC Supply A.J. Foyt 225:

1. Tony Kanaan
2. Ryan Briscoe
3. Scott Dixon
4. Helio Castroneves
5. Dario Franchitti
6. Graham Rahal