The IRL @ The Nashville Speedway and Some Colts

Saturday night marked the inaugural IRL race at the new Nashville Speedway. Pre race hype was running high as the event was a sellout. Granted the speedway currently has but 75,000 seats, but for the IRL to stage an event in the heart of NASCAR country was quite a feat. But the real story has tot be the re-emergence of Buddy Lazier as possibly the best driver on the IRL circuit.

Let me be the first one to tell you that in May I said that the Indy 500 had been tainted in 1996 when Lazier won. It's not that I felt he did anything to deserve NOT to win, it just happened to be the first year the CART drivers were not at the Speedway. It just seemed opportunistic for a guy who basically had languished in the few CART races he ran and in the 500 up to 1996. When Arie Luyendyk won the race in 1997 it didn't ring as hollow as he had won the race in 1990. But while Lazier hasn't won the race since 1996 he has had some solid runs. More importantly though is the fact that he has become virtually impassable as this season has moved on. His runaway victory at Pikes Peak was a magnificent display of driving. Darting around the other drivers wherever he wanted. Then Saturday night, he gained the lead and was never headed. Lazier is at the top of his game right now. The other IRL drivers best be on the lookout if they are to stop him from winning his second consecutive IRL championship.

It's hard to blame the fans for staying away in droves from the Harrah's 500 at Michigan Sunday. After all, for CART fans in the area, it is a slap in the face to have the best race on the CART circuit pulled. First CART brass blames the loss of the event on International Speedway Corporation and their increasing affiliation with Tony George and the IRL. Then, in what seemed like and effort to tell the fans what they wanted to hear, CART says they may be back at Michigan after next year because ISC only has a one year deal with the IRL. Maybe I'm an idiot, but what does the IRL deal have to do with the CART race? Let's see, NASCAR has two races at the track, CART one. Are they trying to tell us that the track can only support three races a year? You are making a big mistake leaving Michigan CART. Here's hoping your management comes to their senses and stems this tide of nixing oval track races in the US in favor of ovals in Europe, Asia and South America and road course races here. They kinda have it backwards.

_________________________________

Finally, Colts camp opens Thursday in Terre Haute. Like last year, anticipation runs high coming off back-to-back playoff appearances. This year, however, there seems to be a little more sense of urgency from the Colts and especially from the fans. It is time for this team to produce, not only in the regular season, but especially in the post season. Head Coach Jim Mora has never won a playoff game in the NFL. He isn't the right man for this job and should not have been hired, but que sera sera. This team needs to face each opponent as if they were playoff games, get the home field advantage and the week off and win playoff games. It's as simple as that. Let's all forget about the Edge missing the voluntary camp. I thought he should have been there, but that is my opinion of how a team works together and how they improve. What's done is done and now is time to look forward, not back. Good luck Colts, but if you let us down again this year, don't expect smooth sailing on that stadium issue.