Saturday, May 29, 2004
2004 Indy Preview
Wednesday, May 26, 2004
IRL and F1 Stuff
Tomorrow is Carb Day. Other than race day itself probably the most fun day of all. The weather doesn’t look like it is going to cooperate, but it should still be fun. Try to make it out if you can. There will be a full prerace analysis Friday.
F1
The short week after Monaco didn’t really leave any time for testing as the teams head to Germany for the European Grand Prix Sunday. It does not mean that the news doesn’t come fast and furious. Kiwi Scott Dixon who had practiced in France and Spain for the Williams team signed a new contract with the Target Chip Ganassi IRL team virtually squashing any chance Scott will be in the FW whatever next year. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but probably includes an out if the Grove team comes a calling in the future, especially in light of the relationship the two teams have had in the past.
Williams really had no comment on their driver situation for the coming year when it is universally thought they will have two different drivers. Mark Webber is a solid shot for one of the seats, but his contract may prevent that from happening. That left the other seat open ostensibly for Dixon. Now that Dixon seems to be out of the mix the door is open. But for who? Williams who is not in the habit of paying big contracts for drivers may do just that. In fact, I think this opens the door for Jacques Villenueve’s return to F1. Villeneuve was sniffing around the scene last week at Monaco and at Imola. He is desperate to get back in a car, and doesn’t want to be in a back marker.
Of course, Williams performance this year is far from top notch. But what kind of money will Jacques require? When he left BAR he was the second highest paid driver behind Michael Schumacher. Speculation has been that Villeneuve could be paid on a per point basis thereby costing the team little unless they are successful. It’s probably too early to tell what will happen. I am sure each team thinks the door is open now that Schummi has lost a race, but they will probably be brought back to earth Sunday. As for the rumors and my thoughts, wait and see what happens!
Monday, May 24, 2004
The field is set for the 88th running of the Indianapolis 500. The field was filled on a breezy, cloudy day that held really very little drama. Greg Ray was the fastest qualifier of the session while Robbie McGehee was slowest on the day and in the field. Jacques Lazier had turned some laps in Foyt’s 14T car on Friday and was well over the slowest speeds but the deal apparently fell through and he never took the track after Friday.
Brian Barnhart told the potential qualifiers that a “respectable” speed was all it took to get in. Speculation was that 210+ would be considered respectable. The fact that Lazier never got in the car smacks of politics to me. I really have to wonder if he would have made an attempt had Marty Roth been the slowest qualifier. I have said it before and I will say it again. If you raise the purse of the race to $25-30 million then you will have no problem getting 50 cars to attempt to qualify. As it stands, it just isn’t cost effective to run unless you have big sponsor money or you can get a top 5 finish.
FTRG was also in the paper yesterday talking about shortening the month. Again, if you raise the purse, that kind of problem goes away.
F1
Congrats to Jarno Trulli who won the Grand Prix de Monaco yesterday and in the process ended Michael Schumachers bid for his 6th consecutive win to start the season. Trulli, who started on the pole, lead all the way in this one. Down the stretch he was chased by Jensen Buttons, but his lead was never really in doubt.
Trulli was a wildly popular champion, but to be honest anyone NOT in a Ferrari would have been a welcome change of pace. The irony is that Schumacher pretty much did himself in that he was screwing around behind the safety car and locked up his brakes forcing Juan Montoya to hit him and send him into the guard rail. Schumacher took the low road and claimed the incident was Montoyas fault, but anyone who saw it knows otherwise.
Tuesday, May 11, 2004
F1 and IRL
Interesting stories during the non practice off week coming from the various team camps. First of all Ferrari seems confident that they will retain the Marlboro sponsorship past the 2006 deadline. All this tells me is that the persistent rumors of the demise of F1 in Europe will come to fruition. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens with this one.
More speculation out of Williams regarding their 2005 driver situation. Now it is looking more and more like Mark Webber will get one of the seats. The team would love to have Buttons, but his contract with BAR will probably not allow him to leave. Besides, given the current state of affairs with the teams, why would he want to leave BAR for Williams. Rumors persist about the other seat, but according to sources, Jeff Gordon’s name is being bandied about as someone who deserves a test. Gordon was in Spain for last weekends race, but only said he was a guest of Williams. He also has stated many reasons why he would not go to F1, but then also has expressed that he is not too old to go F1 racing. He feels an F1 ride would be more for US sponsor dollars coveted by F1, but he seems curious.
IRL
Rain washed out a portion of yesterday’s track activity, and when it was all said and done Julio was on top with a lap of 220.3. Julio, first on the track Monday becomes the first driver of the month over 220. Dixon was second at 219.5. Yellows were out for a spin by Marty Roth and for Robby Gordon. Gordon became the first driver to tag the wall this month, but damage on the car was reportedly minor.
500 Qualifying
Qualifying is done for the first weekend at Indianapolis. Honda was dominating on a cold and cloudy Saturday afternoon. They took the top seven slots. Julio was the top Toyota and will start 8th.
22 qualified Saturday and another 4 went Sunday. At this point only Greg Ray has a car that everyone assumes will make an attempt. His team was in tech on Sunday, but he didn’t practice. Word is that he is attempting to get some sponsorship.
Buddy Rice driving for the Rahal/Letterman team took the pole with Dan Weldon second and Dario Judd third. Rice’s speed average of 222.024 was slower than the 223.7 that Tony Kanaan put up in the practice session Saturday, but higher than Rice had been all month. He seemed to be the only one who did not lose speed. So now we have 26 cars in the field.
Larry Foyt is slowest at 213.277. That leaves 7 spots to fill. With Ray making 27 that leaves 6. Drivers wandering about the pits looking for rides include 1996 winner Buddy Lazier, his brother Jacques. 1999 ROY Robbie McGeehee, and P.J. Jones (who looks to be penciled in as the Beck Motorsports driver).
The defunct PDM team is reporting it is close to making a driver deal. Dreyer and Reinbold, Panther and Mo Nunn have all expressed interest in trying to qualify another car for the race. And the 66 Penske G-Force was out again Sunday opening speculation that a deal similar to last year could be in the works.
Honestly it looks like they will get to 33, but at what cost? If they get to 34 are they going to allow a Foyt car to get bumped? What about Mary Roth. He looped it twice last week and still isn’t up to speed, but he is still trying. Practice resumes Wednesday and runs until Sunday when the last day of qualifying takes place.
NASCAR
Junior wins again! And now Jeffy is all pissed off at the dumbass Tony Stewart for slamming him into the wall. Maybe one of these days NASCAR will figure it out and suspend that moron!
Monday, May 10, 2004
F1 and IRL Early May
Michael Schumacher wins his fifth straight race this season and ties Nigel Mansell for that distinction. The Sandwich was second and Jarno Trulli was third. JPM was a DNF and Fernando Alonso was fourth in front of the home crowd. Sorry but that is about all the excitement I can muster for the Spanish Grand Prix.
One thing of note was the Bernie saying he wasn’t making qualifying changes ASAFP. His proposal is two 30 minute sessions where you must complete a minimum of 6 laps with the fastest being the counted lap. Failure to complete the prescribed number of laps would result in the car being moved to the back of the starting grid.
I like the change proposed as it brings back the more traditional style of qualifying.
IRL
Practice is underway for the 88th running of the Indianapolis 500. On a warm and breezy Mothers Day 33 cars were on the track. For the record Scott Dixon in the 10 car was the fastest at 219.7. Julio was second and Adrian Fernandez was third. Sammy was sick and could not come out to practice. Sarah was the first one out at approximately 1:09 when her mother waved the green flag to start the session. I heard AJIV went out but I never saw his car. I saw him heading back to the garage. I got up to get a Fosters and I guess I missed him.
We were right behind their pits but I never even saw the car come out. The cars seem ready to start attacking the 220 mark today and probably by the time I get out there Friday will be assaulting the 225 mark. With the wind and heat yesterday I thought 219 was pretty good.
I was a little disappointed with Mike. He was only able to muster a 216.763 for 13th best. Guess they still have some work to do.
When we got there I thought the crowd was going to be pathetic. We drove in had a parking spot that indicated there were not many fans there. It was early, but still I expected more. As we neared the pagoda however it appeared as though there were quite a few fans present. The autograph lines were deep and there were a lot of fans milling around. When we came around to the stands I was surprised to see as many as I did. It was an hour before practice and the stands had as many people as were at most practice days combined last year. Again though the weather was great.
Thursday, May 6, 2004
IRL
A couple of days ago I wrote that I thought Ron Hemelgarn would be good for a car or two in the 500. Apparently I was mistaken. Hemelgarn announced late Tuesday that he would not only be skipping the 500, but would most likely go to the rival OWRS.
As you might imagine over on Speednet there is quite a lively debate about this announcement. IRL haters are talking about how TG has turned his back on the little guy in lieu of Penske and AGR. Mind you, some of these are the same people who mocked a small budget operation like Hemelgarn. The IRL fans are making excuses why Hemelgarn is not making it in the IRL. Mainly they use the economy and walk lock step with TG over the issue. But I think there is more to it.
I admit, I don’t know a lot about Ron Hemelgarn, but he has always been at Indy and has usually found enough to run more than one car. Before the split the team usually ran one car in the CART series, but not always. They were always down on the food chain though. Then when the IRL started it seemed like a perfect fit for a guy like Hemelgarn. Capped costs were just the beginning. When the league struggled early Hemelgarn was most likely, and by all accounts, given subsidies by TG to increase his IRL and Indy 500 presence.
Fast forward to 2003. Instead of the Aurora and Infiniti engines, the Aurora is reborn the Chevrolet and Honda and Toyota come on board. TG basically tells the teams that his subsidies will end. After all, the league is entering its 8th year and the teams should be stable. What is really happening though is the influx of former CART teams who are stable and bring big sponsorship money. Along with this the Toyota and Honda engine programs are lease programs and they are quite costly. Naturally chassis costs rise as well. To further exacerbate the situation, the lower cost Chevrolet engine is a downright dog. Not even Sammy is able to do anything with it.
So you have a Ron Hemelgarn at the crossroads. His driver brings some Coors money, but not like Miller and Budweiser bring. The team’s main sponsor, Delta Faucet, is a small outfit located in Westfield, IN. Good company, fine fixtures, but not a lot of money for a race team. Hemelgarn really has no choice but to run the Chevy engine and thus is uncompetitive. In fact they are one of the last teams to get the updated “Chevworth” engines later in the season.
Now it is 2004. Hemelgarn seemingly wanted to run the IRL, but he just doesn’t have the money. The Chevworth package is as much as the Toyota or Honda, plus the fact that by Indy, a $100k upgrade package will be needed to convert the 3.4L engine to a 3.0L. The team has no driver bringing in money after canning Bubby last year and Delta’s money is nowhere near enough to run Indy, let alone the IRL season.
Hemelgarn waits, and probably asks TG for assistance (I don’t know this, just that it makes sense if you look at the timing of everything). When no assistance is forthcoming Hemelgarn has serious choices to make. He has entered 2 cars in the 88th 500, but again he has not signed an engine deal, nor does he have a driver. At this point it will cost about $600k for just a car and engine. That is no crew or any other expenses. He need a driver that can bring at least that much money, but who in their right mind would do that. Buddy would probably come back, but he doesn’t bring enough. Hemelgarn knows he is unlikely to make more than $300k on the race. You do the math.
So, Tuesday’s announcement comes as no real shocker to the world. What is the shocker is what team manager Lee Kunzman says next. Not only will the team not be in the 500, but they are working on a deal to go OWRS racing. On the surface this seems ridiculous. In fact my friend Scott wondered about it.
Well it is simple. You see, the Three Stooges aka, Kalkhoven, Gentilozzi and Forsythe (sorry if I misspelled them but I don’t care enough about them to check) are now subsidizing cars to keep OWRS afloat. The rumor is that Forsythe has offered to lease 2 cars to Hemelgarn for $1. Yes that is ONE DOLLAR! Now Hemelgarn would be an idiot not to take the offer and run with it. By doing this he really doesn’t have to sign a money driver, but can take a chance on a young talented driver who has shown some skills. He still will have the Delta money which he can use to travel from event to event and pick up some prize money along the way. Plus, if his cars are out on the track he just might pick up some added sponsorship money.
I certainly do not blame Hemelgarn for doing this. I doubt if the press or other teams will be very receptive to him, but if he can make it financially I doubt if he cares. What gets me goes back to the message boards. The subsidizing of teams by TG was wrong according to the CARTers, but what the Stooges are doing goes unchallenged. What gets me is that these are team owners who are running the show. This is ultimately what did CART in, but these boobs don’t see it. From the IRL standpoint, fans are calling Hemelgarn a sellout, but they loved him when he was getting those same subsidies.
I for one wish Hemelgarn good luck. I don’t see any future in OWRS, but when they fold hopefully there will be a spot for a guy who seems to just love racing.
F1
For one thing, and I agree and applaud them for actually thinking more than one race season in advance, when that tobacco money goes away in a couple of years ALL of the teams will have to tighten their belts. Right now there are what, 5 teams who have tobacco as their main sponsors. That is a lot of money. Without it I think you will see the smaller teams really suffer as their sponsors fill the void with teams like Ferrari, McLaren, BAR and Renault because of the potential for greater exposure. That puts the guys currently at the back of the grid in a position of having to find new sponsors. And if reports are correct, new sponsors aren't exactly lining up to get in.
The Bernie even called Stoddardt a beggar for the way he courted potential sponsors in the paddock last season. Ferrari can probably keep their advantage because of their personnel and because they are so far ahead of everyone. But for how long? When the Marlboro money is gone how will a car company that sells what, 3000 cars a year be able to afford the testing they do now? If I was them, and I am sure this has already been considered, I wouldn't count on FIAT making up the difference. I just think there is going to be less money to go around in the very near future.
Bottom line, IMO, is that the teams, and especially engine manufacturers, know new rules are coming. They have a couple of years before new engine rules take effect, so they have a couple of years where I think you will see some MAJOR investment into R & D, but after a couple of years it will drop dramatically. Will it turn into just another spec series? I certainly hope not. I have nothing against the notion of throwing everyone into equal cars and letting the drivers hash out who is best, but we already have enough of that and F1 is supposed to be about drivers AND cars. Or so I had been told!
Tuesday, May 4, 2004
F1
Well the boys all got together today and decided to create a dream come true....oh wait a minute.
Well yes, the F1 clan did all meet today in Monaco with FIA president Max Mosley. The biggest surprise is that most of the matters put forth last week by the Max were met with open arms.
The engine configuration of the current V-10 or changing to a V-8 still has to be hashed out. On one hand, keeping the current config would allow teams to keep their current engines thereby cutting costs. On the other hand, if those engines are kept teams are going to be expected to make them last 4 or more race weekends. It looks like if the engine is changed to a V-8 it will be limited to 2 race weekends.
One interesting thing is that a separate championship for engine manufacturers could become a reality. I thing that would be an awesome addition to the series.
One of the big obstacles of getting these changes in place before 2008 is the Concorde Agreement. The official governing rules of F1 also allows King Bernie to rake in a whopping 70% of F1 profits. Certainly Bernie has to be credited with the explosive growth of F1 all over the world over the past 20 years, but one must wonder when too much is simply too much.
With the Concorde Agreement not set to expire until 2007, don't expect any changes until then unless Bernie is willing to take a smaller slice of the pie. Yeah right! Also, we will have to wait and see how the majority really feels when it comes to voting on new rules and configs. Everyone seemed happy today. I mean shit, who couldn't be happy at a fancy F1 bean feast and meeting? Who knows how these guys will act in the future. Their track record is that they will never agree on anything!
Monday, May 3, 2004
F1 and IRL
Tomorrow the big “Monaco Summit” starts for the F1 boys. Team owners are expected to meet to discuss the future of Formula One racing and Max Mosley’s proposed changes. I chronicled them in a previous article so I won’t list them again. But, what are they really going to accomplish at this meeting?
This is a group of people who will never agree on anything. As I understand it, the Concorde Agreement requires full approval by ALL owners before a change can be implemented. Under Mosley’s plan, only a majority would have to agree.
To be honest the owners really do need to address the future. As we are down to 10 teams, with no new teams seemingly showing interest and the loss of several teams over the past few years, it is incumbent upon the current owners to promote and save their own series.
The series needs new sponsors with the loss of all tobacco money in 2006 and it needs younger team owners who will become the stewards of the series. The old guys now in aren’t getting any younger and there seems to be no one to take their place or start new teams.
F1 is at a crossroads. Tracks like Imola, Austria and even Silverstone are taking heat for not being up to quality standards. Some like Belgium have felt the sting of losing races. Spa is back this year, but Austria is not. Places like China and the Middle East are being courted as the new hotbeds of F1 racing. Sure there is money in the oil rich OPEC nations, but China? Turkey and Russia also want in. Where does that leave some of the European markets? And what of the USGP? Frankly I think TG and the Bernie’s relationship is strong and the race will continue, but it is no secret Bernie wants to be on the west coast too.
Canada damn near lost their race this year. Without sponsor dollars to replace those lost when tobacco money goes away there will be less cars, not more. On the surface Ferrari would appear to have the world in the palm of its hands, but they are such a small part of FIAT that they can not be self sustaining without the Marlboro money. No government can or should be expected to run race teams. Renault is in the same boat. McLaren, BAR and Jordan all rely on tobacco money. What is their future? When it comes right down to it, only Williams, Minardi, Jaguar, Toyota and Sauber aren’t sponsored primarily by tobacco companies.
And of those teams, only Toyota seems to be on unquestionable solid footing. Williams is probably looking to hire a young driver so they can pay less for him, Minardi has the support of Ferrari but for how long, Sauber has good money with Petronas and Red Bull but there has been scuttlebutt regarding Ford’s commitment to the Jaguar program.
The bottom line is this. These owners are going to have to face a future without tobacco money and that future will be bleak if they decide not to do anything about it. Costs are spiraling despite efforts such as the one engine per weekend rule, but this if F1. Costs are supposed to be high. For the owners, they will have to decide how high is too high and they will have to show some profit to entice new money, owners and sponsors to the series.
IRL
The open test completed last week showed that Penske was still king at Indy. Sammy led all sessions with Julio right behind him. Dixon was consistently third. Some good news for the 24 car of Dreyer and Reinbold was that Mike was fast right away. Generally he was fourth fastest in every session. Honda struggled, but Tony Kanaan did not take part in the test. He was allegedly tire testing in Kentucky.
The track opens for practice Sunday. As it stands today, temps are supposed to be in the 80’s and of course there is a chance of rain.
Someone on the message boards started a thread about Snakepit memories. I added this gem…
Letsgocolts
Member
Registered: Aug 2002
Location: Indy
Posts: 792
Man oh man those were the days.
I don't remember the year, but Q95 was sponsoring Tim Richmond and they were having banner contest for some $1000 stereo, which at the time was a lot. All you had to do was have a banner that had Tim Richmond's name and Q95 on it.
We snagged three sheets from my buddies mom on the Friday night before Pole Day and sewed them together and spray painted "Show us your t*ts for Q95 and Tim Richmond".
Well as you may or may not remember, Richmond tried to knock the wall down in the morning practice. Q95 postponed the banner contest a week if I remember right, but it didn't stop us from proudly displaying our banner stretched across three cars.
It was a rainy and muddy day and the infield was a mess, but we had what seemed like a thousand people around our banner and any females that happened by were "encouraged" to heed the advice of the banner by all the people around.
For the most part it was all good, muddy fun, but there were a few who would jump on or in cars that would try to drive by with girls in them.
I had an old Torino that at one point I counted 20 people standing on. The truck which was the other end of the banner had a cap on it and one of the corners was caved in, but the guy who owned it just stood back and laughed about it!
That went on for about 5 hours. I don't think I ever saw a race car that day, but I was young and stupid and it was all about the party. What a day!
F1 and IRL
So Jacques Villeneuve wants another shot at F1 eh? Well good luck you turd. Just look at how good BAR is doing this season without your sorry, albatross ass at the wheel! And don’t tell me it is because of the Michelins, or because they have a new engineer or because Honda all of the sudden decided to turn up the wick. No JV you just sucked.
Back in 1995 JV won the Indy 500. He was young, aggressive and human. He then made the leap to F1 where two seasons later he was World Champion in the Williams. Now he has made himself available again to that Williams team. So far there has been no response from Sir Frank.
Villeneuve’s manager Craig Pollock has been campaigning for JV’s return to the big stage, but he has also claimed that Jacques will not be taking a seat so as to hang around at the back of the pack. He wants to compete with Schumacher. He must be stoned.
I used to like JV, then he became this overblown, self-important, me me me turd of a human being who’s greatest line came before last season when he tried to run down Jensen Button-his team mate-by saying he would not respect Button if he could not keep up with him. Button not only kept up with him, he outqualified and outraced him on a consistent basis.
JV, maybe you ought to go back to CART and see if they can help you. Pollock has said money is not an issue. I assume that is because of JV’s fleecing of BAR over the past few years. Well if money is not an issue, then CART/OWRS should love to have you back!
IRL
Practice for the 88th Indianapolis 500 begins Sunday. Currently there are 25 confirmed car/driver combinations, but there are 9 more entries, some with two cars listed. The question will remain, however until the end of qualifying: Will there be 33 starters? Of course according to TG, 33 is just a number.
Unfortunately PDM who had two cars entered closed shop on Friday and unless a driver with money steps in it looks like they are out.
The problem with the other 9 entries is almost the same. With the engine lease being $350k and $100k for the upgrade kit a driver is going to have to bring a half a million dollars in sponsor money to get a ride. Then the owner still has to have a chassis and crew members. All told it will cost about a million dollars to run Indy. Of course some of these costs can be deferred if teams will joint the IRL circus, but travel does add to expenses as well.
Here is a breakdown of who or what may happen between now and Bump Day. At least from a perspective 5 days away.
First of all, one of the 9 entries is for the Newman Haas team. They have already named Bruno to drive their car so that puts us up to 26. The remaining teams with extra cars are, Team Rahal (2), Nunn Racing (1), Dreyer & Reinbold Racing(1), AJ Foyt Enterprises (2), Panther Racing (2), Beck Motorsports (2), Marlboro Team Penske (2) and Hemelgarn Racing (2).
Let’s take these in logical order. First of all AJ will try to stick another car in the field. Personally I would like to see Airton Dare get the nod. He and AJ seemed to get along well enough and Dare was fast in inferior equipment. The downside is that Mo Nunn probably had Mike picked before he signed on with Dreyer and Reinbold. Nunn may do the right thing and give Dare the ride. That’s 27. Hemelgarn wants to be at Indianapolis. Could your 1996 winner (hack) Buddy Lazier be in the wings. Buddy worked for Hemelgarn for years. A lot of speculation has been floating around that Beck will hire Jimmy Kite. That would be 29.
Now there is the last 4 spots in the field. Being local I think Panther will give someone a chance. That could also be Kite. Penske most likely lease his car out. I kow Robbie says he is retired, but is he going to be able to resist one more shot at the big money if Mike gets in safely on Pole day? The only one who probably won’t field another car is Rahal.
This is just the tip of the iceberg. A lot could happen with T cars after the first weekend. Stay tuned for more!
