IndyCar 2013 Season Opener – St. Petersburg Grand Prix

It is that time of the year, people! After a 6-month hiatus from along, long offseason, we have IndyCar racing back.

Last year’s race was kind of a 3-part race: exciting, then dull, then exciting! Helio Castroneves (my favorite driver, if you are not tired of reading this!) is the defending Champion of the race. Every lap, pole, start and win Mr. Castroneves completes he pushes himself into IndyCar lore.

The field of drivers is the most competitive in years and the championship should be decided again at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California’s Season Finale. More on my predicitions on a later blog post.

Now, the weather could be a factor at St Pete as rain is expected in the afternoon. My trusted friend, IndyCar Weatherman (@Indycar_Wxman) has confirmed this: “@IndyCar_Raider right now I think race starts dry, with rain to the north moving into TB/StP area in 2-3pm timeframe…” . So we could see a flurry of strategies going overboard as the rain could catch up by the last 10-20 laps.

My Top 5 for the race are Castroneves, De Silvestro (yes, you read right!), Bourdais, Pagenaud and Hunter-Reay. As you can read Will Power is not on the Top 5. He has dominated all practices and spring training but strategy usually hurts his chances as this venue and will do so again. The Ganassi boys have looked slow and they are hurting from the, dare to say, the Honda’s lack of power.

There will be lots of contact as these drivers are still rusty from the long offseason and weather could be a factor.

The race will air on the NBC Sports Network (Dish Network Channel 159) at noon with pre-race coverage. Today is the qualifying efforts brought to you LIVE by NBC Sports Network at 2:30pm EST.

Race #14 – Grand Prix of Baltimore Presented by SRT – Top 5 Race Headlines

INDYCAR is going to beautiful downtown Baltimore and its Inner Harbor area. This race last year was awesome on track and it had 150,000 people attending the 3-day event. Yet, after that it was on the news for the wrong reason mostly by an irresponsible management team that left the city and its fans with a big debt. This year – which almost did not happen – the race is at the heat of the Championship race.

#5 How Many Fans Will Show Up? – this has been the constant question from everyone. Based on last year’s figures this should be a cake walk and be full again specially with new cars, engines and being the next to last race of the Championship. The biggest issue was the black eye it received in the media regarding the previous promoter which left millions of dollars in debt to the city and its businesses…enter Andretti Sports Marketing…

#4 Andretti Sports Marketing (ASM) – I gotta tell you, I was never a Michael Andretti fan (mostly because I was a Penske Racing fan and Newman-Haas Racing was the enemy!) and recently noticed that, if ALL owners committed to INDYCAR as he does, the series would be the best-managed and opportunity-provider series on the planet. ASM took the Milwaukee Mile race and made it a winner again and even with the late start in ticket sales I would expect huge crowds once again. ASM will make this calendar stop a must-have for all fans and city residents for years to come.

#3 Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake – Probably Mrs Rawlings put her career in jeopardy at some point by declaring last year that the Baltimore Grand Prix (last year’s race name) would be the city’s game changer. No one should had questioned that specially when NO major sports have been part of the city, only host of Major League Baseball All-Star, since 1969. It almost blew in her face but thanks to INDYCAR, Randy Bernard, and ASM (#3) the Grand Prix of Baltimore should reward Mrs. Blake for her confidence, trust and loyalty to the series by not pulling the plug. She had a firestorm in her back by city officials and some local business owners. INDYCAR commitment to Baltimore should be in full force.

#2 Championship Contenders – Basically, this is a 3-man race (although mathematically up to 7th place is still in the hunt) between Will Power, Ryan Hunter-Reay, and Helio Castroneves. It is very hard to bet against Power in this race (he’s the race defending champion) but I think he will leave the door open for Hunter-Reay and Castroneves heading into Fontana Auto Club Speedway’s Season Finale. If Power leaves Baltimore with a 42-point lead…its all over!

#1 Rest of the Field – I think this Headline is more important since there will be 22 cars that could change the landscape of the Championship (Alex Tagliani at Sonoma last week, anyone remembers?). There are several drivers that have a shot at winning this race Oriol Servia, Scott Dixon, Sebastian Bourdais, and even Dario Franchitti (who will try to take as much points away from contenders for his teammate Dixon to be close at Fontana). The agressiveness from some of the drivers could create a bowling alley in the streets of Baltimore which, as any street course, will not be forgiving when you hit the wall. I expect some heated battles in the race. Could fists fly at pit lane?

Race Winner: Ryan Hunter-Reay

2nd Place: Helio Castroneves

3rd Place: Will Power

Green Flag waves on NBC Sports Network at 2:30pm EST channel 159 on Dish Network. You can also watch live stream on www.vipbox.tv starting at 2:30pm EST.

Race #13 – GoPro Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma – Top 5 Highlights

We have just witness another great road course event even at one of the traditionally slow-action venues. To be honest, usually this race has been a snoozer for me yet on Sunday I was entertained for about 75% of the time which is HUGE coming from Sonoma and a road course. The crowd seemed to improve and the track changes made for some passing options. There were even passing on some areas that there were not supposed to be some. Great race overall and I’m very happy that Ryan Briscoe has finally won a race since Texas 2010.

#5 Action All Around The Track: Ladies and gentlemen, the DW12 chassis has been baptized as the best chassis in probably 20 years. The work put out by Dallara Automobili has been impressive. During spring time there were so many ditractors and critics of the new chassis, there seem to be no way this equipment would improve speeds, passing or even contact. People, we have been wrong in all counts. It even showed it can withstand a HUGE crash like Josef Newgarden had into the concrete wall covered with tires. It is unbeliveable that he walk away with maybe a broken finger. I’m sure that there were at least threefold the amount of passes on this race versus last year.

#4 Josef Newgarden: The guy has skills, looks, and charisma to be the next star in the series…if he just can finish races! I know, I know…he is a real rookie in the series and he is earning his stripes. But why on earth he’s racing Sebastian Bourdais (at that point Bourdais is P3 in the race) so hard and pushing the guy at every corner…being ONE LAP DOWN?!?! He should have learned what happened to him at Toronto when another “rookie” made a foolish assault on him…his day was ruined. SFHR team needs to control him more so he can make the best of the situation and bring the car in one piece. He will get it and could win a race next season but…hold your horses, son!

#3 Alex Tagliani Ruining Ryan Hunter-Reay’s Season: I’m still waiting for Tags to make a ridiculous excuse on how he would explain his boneheaded, wanker-like, unprofessional move he did at turn 7 spinning around Hunter-Reay. Ryan is 3rd at that point in the race and it is 2nd in the championship. Tags was all bragging on his bad experience at a Nascar race at Canada when Jacques Villeneuve (another spinning wanker) ended his race and a shot at winning. Beaux Barfield (Race Director and President of Competition) should put Tags on Probation and even dock points for this. It has to stop. PD: Ryan’s taking out EJ Viso a couple of laps later is of no consecuense as that event would not have happened if Tags is not unprofessional before. EJ Viso was in no contention for the win or the Championship.

#2 Ryan Briscoe On Victory Lane: Well, I almost picked him for this win…twice! But, he usually has bad luck when his car is the one to beat. I’m very, very happy that he won this race and may win another next week. He deserves to keep his seat at Penske Racing and have another shot. People are writing/saying he should move to Sports Cars with Penske after 2013 if he keeps his seat…but, why he would change his dream at running IndyCars? Unless…great pay, a chance to win championships at Sports Cars and a secure Indy 500 seat every year. That would be interesting to see if Ryan buckles to that one.

#1 Chevrolet Wins Manufacturer’s Championship: You can argue why I put this at #1 but really is simple…manufacturer’s competition has been needed for a long time and always has been on IndyCar’s DNA. Chevrolet with all its financial problems of the past (…and future still a possibility!) has demonstrated they have the experience, knowledge, and wisdom to be competitive and win races. Honda had the upper hand as it was the sole manufacturer and knew most of the players from 2006-2011. This shows you two things: how under-powered the Honda engines ran without no competition during those years and how “Turbogate” really mattered for Indy. Yes, Honda got Indy but Chevy had the whole season…GREAT JOB!

INDYCAR’s next race is Sunday, September 2nd at the streets of Baltimore for the Grand Prix of Baltimore Presented by SRT. The event website is here. Join the conversation at Twitter with #GPoB and @GPofBaltimore

Race #13 – GoPro Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma – Top 5 Headlines

We have arrive to beautiful Sonoma Country (better known as Wine Country!) in California. Usually the racing here is processional and kind of boring but there have been 3 modifications in the venue to promote passing. That, in addition that the DW12 chassis has provided ample passing opportunities by itself, there should be a better race this year. We have 4 drivers in the Championship hunt with 3 races remaining.

#5 Every Driver Must Finish: There is no room for a DNF to any of the championship conteders if they want to be alive by Fontana Speedway on September 15th World Championships 500-mile race. Will Power leads Ryan Hunter-Reay by only 5 points heading into this race. Scott Dixon (4th) is only 28 points out of 1st place in the standings. Will Power has won the last 2 races at Sonoma.

#4 The Track Layout: The qualifying is usually the best way to win this race as it historically is a processional and no-passing-on-track kind of race. Yet, INDYCAR made 3 changes on the track (turn 7, 11, and turn 9) and with many elevation points, this track is for the fittest driver.

#3 The Non-Contenders: There is plenty on the line for the other 23 race car drivers on the field. This field is the highest number of entries (27) since Indianapolis (33) and there is a lot of stake for many of them (sponsor continuation, new contract, win a race, make the podium). I think Sebastian Bourdais will have the race of the season and finish 2nd.

#2 Helio Castroneves: From a personal standpoint I’m rooting for Helio to win here and the Championship. For INDYCAR he may be the best option to keep ascending into mainstream media as he is in the Dancing With The Stars – All Stars Cast coming to ABC on September. Imaging the tagline on the show: “Helio Castroneves 2007 Dancing with the Stars Champion and new IZOD IndyCar Series Champion going for the All-Star sweep” How about that!!!

#1 Racing versus Controversy: It has been rumored (…and rumored…and rumored!!!) about the owners and their attempt to stage a buyout/coup of Randy Bernard and/or the series. I think it is time to go racing, let the season finish and crush once and for all those owners that don’t “get it”. This racing series is run by the FANS…yes owners put their money into play but if we fans don’t buy their sponsors products or buy tickets to the races or tune-in on TV, then there is nothing for them to gain. Work all differences behind doors  with Randy and its management team…SHUT UP AND RACE!!!

Race Winner: Helio Castroneves (3rd win of the season)

2nd Place: Sebastian Bourdais (1st podium of the season)

3rd Place: Will Power (6th podium of the season)

Green Flag waves on NBC Sports Network at 4:45pm EST channel 159 on Dish Network. You can also watch live stream on www.vipbox.tv starting at 4:30pm EST.

Race #11 – The Edmonton Indy – Preview

INDYCAR is visiting my favorite venue type after the ovals — AIRPORT COURSES — which usually provides fast racing, bumpy surface, hard-turn corners, and lots of passing. The layout was changed in 2011 (picture below) to spice the competition but last year it was a dud in terms of passing and that expected excitement. Yet, the DW12 has been awesome and practice times are already on record-pace so we should expect a very fast and competitive race. The nature of IndyCar racing fits perfectly with this kind of venue (Cleveland Burke Lakefront Airport hosted the best airport course for the Cleveland GP) and its competitive nature where even the bumpy-runways surface has to be conquered in order to win the race. Just awesome!

The storylines are as follows:

• Honda Engines – most of the teams are on their final engine change already (5 allowed in the season) and some like Scott Dixon is on its sixth. We may see more dropping on this race’s hard-on-equipment venue.
• The Helio Castroneves Watch – He has been the most consistent racer on the year and that has kept him in striking distance. I’m betting he will make a jump in the standings after this one. He loves this circuit.
• The American Hero Watch – Ryan Hunter-Reay can punch out the rest of the field with a podium finish let alone a win. I will say everything will need to fall his way to make INDYCAR history by winning 4 straight races…he has the team, the will, the skills, and destiny on his side. This feat has not been completed by an American since Al Unser Jr. in 1990.
• TV Partner and Ratings – the race will be on NBC Sports Network and the TV partner will provide 5 (FIVE) hours of INDYCAR coverage. Just like the Iowa Race, NBC Sports Network is all INDYCAR tomorrow and we have the best broadcast team in the house. I’m really looking forward that, after the Olympics are broadcast in this channel, people will find it and bring new fans for the rest of the INDYCAR season.
• Will There Be Some Issues at the Race? – I can only think one issue: RAIN!!! That would be just a game changer that may be good for an Oriol Servia, Scott Dixon, or Sebastian Bourdais coming from the pack of the field on different strategies (based on qualifying I have not seen yet).

As in every race, we should pick a winner, just for the sake of trying to be the guru of INDYCAR knowledge (which I’m far from it, but let’s do it anyway!):

Race Winner: I will pick Helio Castroneves to win his 2nd race of the season on another Airport Course (he won the opener at St. Pete which includes part of the airport) and possibly vaulting him to 2nd place in the Championship.

Engine Winner: Chevrolet should win once again!!!

Highest Rookie: Well I’ll go with Josef Newgarden to try and make a streak of good luck for him. He deserved at least a 4th position finish at Toronto.

Well, tune in TODAY at 12:00pm on NBC Sports Network (Channel 159 on Dish Network) to INDYCAR 36 featuring James Hinchcliffe…then the IndyLights race…and then the Edmonton Indy race (Green Flag scheduled at 2:45pm). Enjoy!

Race #10 The Honda Indy Toronto – Recap

Ok, wait a minute…was it not supposed to be now the moment that Will Power would leave everyone on the dust with 5 straight road and street races? Well, it surely started that way but with so many twists (pun intended!) in the race the win fell in Ryan Hunter-Ray’s lap like a kitten. He has now won THREE races in a row…yes, the AMERICAN RACE CAR DRIVER, is in the Championship lead by 37 markers. So much for Graham and Marco being the American heroes!!! We can certainly write (and be relieved!) that Dario Franchitti is done for this year’s championship as he is now 107 points out with 5 races remaining. It is just too much ground to make. Read the Official Box Score here.

Career Best for Charlie Kimball (USA) as he finishes in 2nd.

The storylines are as follows:

• Engines – we can safely say that the THREE engine manufacturers are pushing the limits and it is also creating havoc in the races. Today’s race featured engine failure to Scott Dixon (Honda), Simona de Silvestro (Lotus), and James Hinchcliffe (Chevrolet).
• The Sebastian Bourdais Watch – Sebastian is coming back after taking the oval portion off the schedule (commitments in 24-hours of Le-Mans) and was knocking on the win (he was 3rd at the last restart) but got pushed to the wall and ended one-lap down in 14th. I would bet that SeaBass will be a winner before the season ends. He showed his team is ready to provide him the best car possible.
• The Ryan Briscoe Watch – Ryan once again was robed of at least a Top 5 finish when he was pushed toward the wall during turn 3 scrimmage and got into Dario Franchitti ending his race. He just cannot get a break. Maybe a win at the Season Finale at Fontana will erase all bad memories.
• TV Partner and Ratings – as usual, ABC missed a restart, some passes (at least they went back to replay them), and there were some names misspelled by the whole crew up and down. They were off their game a bit…I would expect a 1.0 rating with a 1pm start. Hopefully it finishes at 1.2 and that should be the upswing INDYCAR needs.
• Will There Be Some Issues at the Race? – with Toronto there are ALWAYS issues on track as Simon Pagenaud, who has raced very clean this year, just was awful blocking going into turn 3 and destroyed Josef Newgarden’s race. Josef also got into Will Power, Graham Rahal into teammate Charlie Kimball, Charlie Kimball into Sebastian Bourdais (although Charlie was not at fault but SeaBass had another perspective!) and Tony Kanaan had a run into a tire in pit lane. Great all-around action!!!

Race Winner: Due to my grandma’s passing I was not able to do this race’s preview and I did not pick a winner but RHR would have not been my pick. Yet, he has shown that he is poised to be reckoned with the Championship run. He was my pick at the start of the season to finish a close second to Will Power. If he wins it…I will not complain!

Ryan Hunter-Reay wins his 3rd consecutive race.

Engine Winner: Another Chevy win…Honda got the other two podium spots!

Highest Rookie: It looks like Josef is soooo close to being at the podium in every race but something happens (by him or into him!) that just destroys his great effort and potential results. Simon has his worst day even after leading 23 laps. His mid-pack racing left some bad taste after blocking a couple of times.

2012 INDYCAR Season Round Table – 3rd Quarter Predictions

At Iowa tonight, INDYCAR will start the season’s 3rd quarter. Now, we move to our picks and other stuff starting with the Iowa Corn Indy 250 (TONIGHT at 9:00pm on NBC Sports Network)

The 5-member board which will have their opinions posted here are (Names are followed by Twitter handle):

• Matthew Hickey (@Indycar_MN) – you can also link to his blog via the main page blogroll (IndyCar Minnesota)
• Kent Muller (@Kent_RM) – you can also link to his blog via the main page blogroll (Racing Mania 101)
• DJ Jordan (@djordan3223) – you can also link to his blog via the main page blogroll (Djordan 3223′ Blog)
• David Zehr (@groundedeffects) – you can also link to his blog via the main page blogroll (Ground(ed) Effects)
• Jerry Cruz (@jerrycruz1077) – also owner of this blog!

• Based on your predicted leader for the season’s 2nd quarter, how well do you think this driver will do on the next 4 events? 

Matthew Hickey (MH) – I think once the series get’s back to the road courses, the season is over, and Power runs away with it

Kent Muller (KM) – Will Power will struggle in Iowa then win Toronto and Edmonton and struggle at Mid Ohio again.

DJ Jordan (DJ) – Will Power will bounce back and be in contention for wins at 3 of the next 4 races (really going out on alimb there!)

David Zehr (DZ) – Hinch was my guess to sit atop the points after the second quarter and he’s close (2^nd), but heading back to road/streets will allow Power to keep a firm grip on the points lead through Mid-Ohio

Jerry Cruz (JC) – Will Power will be mid-pack on Iowa and hold a small lead (less than 20 points) on James Hinchliffe but will go to his comfort zone on the next 3 roadstreet course events and probably secure his championship.

• Who is your pick to win the Iowa Corn 250? Do you like the Heat Qualifying Format? Why?

MH – I love the heat racing but that has something to do with me going in person, let’s wait to see how it looks on TV. JR Hildebrand is my pick to win.

KM – Win is Marco Andretti. Yes I do like the heat races format but I believe that it should be like NASCAR’s Daytona 500 qualifying races because practice times are a little boring and with that format (Daytona 500) you could qualify good then race bad and get a bad spot. That’s the cool part about it because its down to the driver.

DJ – Marco Andretti will win for the 2nd year in a row at Iowa. I like the concept of the qualifying format. It gives the fans more action to watch on the track instead of 1 car qualifying at a time.

DZ – I keep picking Kanaan to win an oval and he comes ever-so-close, but hasn’t yet won. I will pick him again if he promises to win at Iowa. I am undecided on how much I will like to the heat races until I see them, but I’m all for throwing some out-of-the-ordinary things into the middle of the season. The idea of heat races at a small track seems like fun for all.

JC – I was tempted to pick Marco Andretti as he excels in this venue but I’m going with James Hinchcliffe to win his 1st IndyCar race. He is just too consistent and he should be there in the final lap. On the Heat Qualifying Format I’m all for the entertainment side of the business. Now, you need the drivers to understand that they are nothing without the fans and their investment on the series.

• Who will be the Top Rookie at Iowa?

MH – Life’s a New Garden

KM – Barrichello

DJ – Josef Newgarden will stay out of trouble & be the top finishing rookie.

DZ – Newgarden has been fast everywhere except across the finish line so I’ll pick Pagenaud to be the top rookie at Iowa which, knowing my luck, will almost certainly mean this is where Newgarden places highest among the rookies

JC – I’m picking Simon Pagenaud to avoid the bad luck I give Josef Newgarden every time I pick him.

• Who will win the Pole?

MH – Idk probably a Ganassi

KM – Briscoe

DJ – Marco Andretti will win the pole.

DZ – The pole will go to the winner of the first heat race. Since I don’t have a clue who is racing which heat, I’ll just say Justin Wilson for fun. He’ll have a Gen 2 turbo in his Honda for Iowa and as quick as he was at Milwaukee, he’ll be even faster here.

JC – I would go with Marco Andretti or Ryan Briscoe

• Who will win Honda Indy Toronto GP?

MH – Justin Wilson

KM – Power

DJ – Will Power will win at Toronto.

DZ – Surprise Toronto GP winner will be Simon Pagenaud.

JC – I like DZ’s pick with Simon Pagenaud…I’m going with it!

• Who will be the Top Rookie at Toronto?

MH – Going with Simon Pagenaud

KM – Barrichello

DJ – Simon Pagenaud will be top finishing rookie at Toronto.

DZ – Top rookie goes to my pick for winner – Simon “Jean Girard” Pagenaud.

JC – Of course, Simon Pagenaud

• Who will win the Pole?

MH – Will Power

KM – Power

DJ – Will Power will get pole at Toronto.

DZ – Another Power Pole

JC – It is hard to pick against Will Power but I’ll go with James Hinchcliffe on his home-court!

• Who is your pick for Podium at Edmonton GP?

MH – Will Power, Takuma Sato, and Sebastien Bourdais.

KM – Power, Hinchcliffe, Servia

DJ – The podium at Edmonton will be Will Power (1st), Scott Dixon (2nd) and Simon Pagenaud (3rd)

DZ – Edmonton podium will be 3^rd– Helio, 2^nd– Hinchcliffe, 1^st– Power

JC – 3rd – Bourdais, 2nd – Power, 1st – Helio Castroneves

• Who will win the Pole?

MH – Sebastien Bourdais

KM – Power

DJ – Will Power will win the pole at Edmonton

DZ – Franchitti surpasses Al Unser on the all-time Indycar pole winners with his 28^th at Edmonton

JC – I’m going with Scott Dixon but he’ll fade in the race

• Who is your pick for Podium at Mid-Ohio GP?

MH – Will Power, Scott Dixon, and Graham Rahal

KM – Dixon, Pagenaud, Hinchcliffe

DJ –  Mid-Ohio podium will be Graham Rahal (1st), Simon Pagenaud (2nd) & Dario Franchitti (3rd)

DZ – Mid-Ohio podium will be 1^st- Dixon, 2^nd Power, 3^rd Wilson

JC – The Podium will be: 3rd – Briscoe, 2nd – Servia, 1st, Power

• Who will win the Pole?

MH – Simon Pagenaud

KM – Hinchcliffe

DJ – Simon Pagenaud will win pole at Mid-Ohio.

DZ – Mid-Ohio pole goes to Power.

JC – Will Power

• Who should be leading the standings by the end of the quarter?

MH – Will Power by 30+

KM – Power barely again.

DJ – Will Power will still lead after the 3rd quarter mark.

DZ – At the close of the 3^rd quarter of the season, I’m going with Power leading but only by the slightest of margins over Dixon, Hunter-Reay, and Hinchcliffe.  Pagenaud, Franchitti, and Kanaan will also be nipping at the heels of the Top 4.

JC – I’ll have Will Power by the same margin as the last quarter (about 36 markers!) over James Hinchliffe. Dixon and Castroneves should be almost tied for 3rd place. Ryan Hunter Reay should be behind them and in front of Briscoe.

• Which race should replace the China GP on the schedule (originally Aug 19th)?

MH – Road America is the best option becausing picking MIS would be tough to promote in a short time. Road America is already hosting ALMS and can do a double header weekend

KM – Road America because they could run with ALMS and it would be a great trial event for next season. If not, go to Laguna Seca on September 9th with Grand-Am.

DJ – The replacement for the China race (if there is a replacement) will be Road America. It makes too much sense not to do it.

DZ – I say which ever makes the most financial sense at this point. All things being equal, I’d love to see a successful return to Road America or Pocono (especially since I’ve been patiently waiting for both of these tracks to return to the schedule). Also getting a few mentions is Laguna Seca, but I doubt that will be the preferred track.

JC – I’m thrilled to read that Michigan International Speedway is interested but I prefer that the schedule is not altered and have AutoClub Speedway as the finale to avoid any issues with the track president and promoters. Therefore, they should go to Road America which has already a scheduled event and fans will already be there and then some.

• Any chance current drivers outside the Top 5 could still be in contention for the Championship by early-August?

MH –  Oh for sure, mainly Franchitti, Pagenaud, Servia, and Hunter-Reay.

KM – Tony Kanaan because if it wasn’t for his bad runs in the first two races he’d be up there. Experience will pay off in this championship run.

DJ – There will be no drivers outside the top 5 that will contend for the championship, however I do think Oriol Servia will make a run at getting into the top 5.

DZ – It will take some great luck for current 6^th – 9^th spots Pagenaud, Franchitti, Kanaan, and Briscoe to get back into the title chase, but I also think there was ever a group of talent that could do it.

JC – I doubt anyone with a 100+ point deficit could make a run with 4 races remaining unless it wins 3 of the 4 and Will Power DNFs in 3 of the 4. Both scenarios together are very unlikely.

• Does Josef Newgarden has a chance to make a comeback for ROY Honors?

MH – No chance, he will have a good second half of the season, and needs some luck, but Pagenaud has such a big lead.

KM – I say no because most of the races are on road and street for the rest of the season and he is an oval guy plus Pagenuad is sixth in points and he’s way down there.

DJ – Simon Pagenaud will win Rookie of the Year. Josef Newgarden has too much ground to cover, considering all but 2 of the remaining races will be on road / street courses.

DZ – I think GO JOE Newgarden has a great chance to get back in contention for ROY, but he also cannot do it without some poor finishes or DNFs from Pagenaud, and by not only finishing races, but finishing in the top 10.

JC – I will like to think that this ROY race gets almost even by Baltimore GP but Josef has to get Top 10’s from tonight all the way to the finish.

Race #6 Chevrolet Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix – Recap

Yes, it was a strange weekend at the return to Belle Isle. The parade with no passing; the track literally coming up into pieces; bad officiating on restarts; bad rules for tire selection after a red-flag condition…all of this and Scott Dixon led EVERY lap on Sunday. Great run by the Kiwi but did he really should have won this one? (better him than Dario Franchitti  and his lucky charm!) Dixon jumped probably ALL starts which gave him enough room to hold off Will Power and Franchitti at the end. INDYCAR Race Control better get their s@#t together because Scott will do this ALWAYS when leading.

The storylines are as follows:

• Chevrolet Engines – will the Chevy engines bounce back on their home court as they were outperformed at Indy on the 2nd half of the race? I think they will, but they may not get the win, yet dominate the podium. // The Honda engines made it 2 straight win with Dixon dominant performance. If fact, they swept the podium. HPD is making a comeback!!! 
• The Rubens Barichello Watch – Rubens is poised to hit the Top 5 any time now. This race will be his proven ground. // Rubens had engine troubles and was done early. Better luck at Texas’ oval next week!
• The Sebastien Bourdais Watch– Well this is awkward…this was supposed to be the grand season for Sebastien’s full time ride on IndyCars since 2007 yet the Lotus engine issues have relegated the team to change to Chevrolet…great move for the team but now they will have only one lease…and Bourdais will do only Road/Street Courses. He will make the most of it. I’m tempted to have him on podium but he’s still learning the Chevy powerplant capabilities. A Top 10 is very doable…Top 5 is pushing it…a win…almost a miracle with lots of attrition. // This race had some great potential in landing Bourdais easily in the Top 10 and probably at Top 5 (he ran in the Top 7 all day!) but his Chevrolet engine quit on him…now we have to wait until Toronto on July 8th to see him again.
• TV Partner and Ratings – We are going back-to-back on National TV and coming from arguably the best Indy 500 ever, the momentum is there. Belle Isle has always been a well-attended venue and this should be good on TV. St. Pete’s rating was a 0.9 which was not as expected. ABC could probably hit 1.0 rating due to Detroit’s anticipated comeback and the word-of-mouth carryover from the Indy 500. // Overall it was a great job on the broadcast until the track’s asphalt/concrete patches started to gave way and INDYCAR went red-flag condition. From there the broadcast was transfer to ESPN News after 6pm (restart occurred at 6:53pm) and that’s were the ratings, interest and the broadcast fell apart. Granted, NO ONE was prepared for this but at least they should have transfer to a more “ratings friendly and available” channel like ESPN 2. The race got a 0.7 rating which is not bad considering all the trouble with the red-flag condition and channel transfer. 
• Will There Be Some On-Track Passing? – as the Barber AND Long Beach races showed, the DW12 chassis is quite good in creating passing and the sturdiness and should be able to give drivers plenty of passing opportunities. Belle Isle has mostly been parades but based on the practices videos there seems to be a lot of handling problems. This could be a thriller for the 1st time!!! // WOW!!!, We expected some magic like it happened at Barber, LB, Sao Paolo, but it never happened. Hardly any passing at all. Their is some rumblings that the course layout could change to a more passing-friendly format. Hopefully it will. This was by far the worst race competition wise. On the business side it was a total success as it was a sell-out event.

As in every race, we should pick a winner, just for the sake of trying to be the guru of INDYCAR knowledge (which I’m far from it, but let’s do it anyway!):

Race Winner: Takuma Sato…YES, he will make the passes stick on this one and will win ahead of Will Power and Helio Castroneves. He will show that Indianapolis was no fluke and he should have been the Indy 500 Champion. // Yeap, I’m looking for a new house because this one bite me big time!!! Takuma was taken by his mistake in hitting a chicane to hard and losing grip as his wheels went off the track and eventually into the tire barrier. Hey, you gotta try and get a dark horse in front, right?

Engine Winner: Honda should make this a 2-race winning streak!!! // At least Honda did not make me have a bad weekend!!! A Podium Sweep!!!

Highest Rookie: Simon Pagenaud will be the highest on my list until Josef Newgarden can master the RC/SC venues. // OK, Simon is making himself a star in the series. He continues to amaze me and fans. This is great news for Schmidt Hamilton Racing. I will love to see him win one before season’s end. Great job getting in the podium!!!

We are going to Texas Motor Speedway next Saturday so hold on to your seats, pants, teeth, beer, remote control, because it will be fast and edgy as usual in the 1.5-mile oval.

Race #6 Chevrolet Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix – Preview

The race this weekend is a come back to the Belle Isle street course. INDYCAR had not raced here since 2008 due to economic reason in the Detroit market. With a renewed economy and Roger Penske’s helping hand with General Motors, we are racing once again in this beautiful island scenery.

The storylines are as follows:

• Chevrolet Engines – will the Chevy engines bounce back on their home court as they were outperformed at Indy on the 2nd half of the race? I think they will, but they may not get the win, yet dominate the podium.
• The Rubens Barichello Watch – Rubens is poised to hit the Top 5 any time now. This race will be his proven ground.
• The Sebastien Bourdais Watch– Well this is awkward…this was supposed to be the grand season for Sebastien’s full time ride on IndyCars since 2007 yet the Lotus engine issues have relegated the team to change to Chevrolet…great move for the team but now they will have only one lease…and Bourdais will do only Road/Street Courses. He will make the most of it. I’m tempted to have him on podium but he’s still learning the Chevy powerplant capabilities. A Top 10 is very doable…Top 5 is pushing it…a win…almost a miracle with lots of attrition.
• TV Partner and Ratings – We are going back-to-back on National TV and coming from arguably the best Indy 500 ever, the momentum is there. Belle Isle has always been a well-attended venue and this should be good on TV. St. Pete’s rating was a 0.9 which was not as expected. ABC could probably hit 1.0 rating due to Detroit’s anticipated comeback and the word-of-mouth carryover from the Indy 500.
• Will There Be Some On-Track Passing? – as the Barber AND Long Beach races showed, the DW12 chassis is quite good in creating passing and the sturdiness and should be able to give drivers plenty of passing opportunities. Belle Isle has mostly been parades but based on the practices videos there seems to be a lot of handling problems. This could be a thriller for the 1st time!!!

As in every race, we should pick a winner, just for the sake of trying to be the guru of INDYCAR knowledge (which I’m far from it, but let’s do it anyway!):

Race Winner: Takuma Sato…YES, he will make the passes stick on this one and will win ahead of Will Power and Helio Castroneves. He will show that Indianapolis was no fluke and he should have been the Indy 500 Champion.

Engine Winner: Honda should make this a 2-race winning streak!!!

Highest Rookie: Simon Pagenaud will be the highest on my list until Josef Newgarden can master the RC/SC venues.

Courtesy of Phillip Abbott LAT Photo USA

Well, tune in TODAY at 3:30pm on ABC (Channel 20 on Dish Network) to the pre-race show. The green flag should drop at 3:45pm… Enjoy!

2012 INDYCAR Season Round Table – 2nd Quarter Predictions

At Indianapolis, INDYCAR started the season’s 2nd quarter. We had already taken Indy on Q1 based on the relevance of the race. Now, we move to our picks and other stuff starting with the Chevrolet Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix (Sunday, June 3rd at 3:30pm on ABC)

The 5-member board which will have their opinions posted here are (Names are followed by Twitter handle):

• Matthew Hickey (@Indycar_MN) – you can also link to his blog via the main page blogroll (IndyCar Minnesota)
• Kent Muller (@Kent_RM) – you can also link to his blog via the main page blogroll (Racing Mania 101)
• DJ Jordan (@djordan3223)
• David Zehr (@groundedeffects) – you can also link to his blog via the main page blogroll (Ground(ed) Effects)
• Jerry Cruz (@jerrycruz1077) – also owner of this blog!

• Based on your predicted leader for the season’s 1st quarter, how well do you think this driver will do on the next 3 events? (Indianapolis has already been included on the 1st part)

Matthew Hickey (MH) – I think Power can and will continue to pace the field on his way to his first title.

Kent Muller (KM) – Will Power, good at Detroit and struggles at Milwaukee and Iowa

DJ Jordan (DJ) – Will Power will prove to be the dominate driver at Bell Isle before showing he still needs more experience on the ovals

David Zehr (DZ) – Predicted leader – Kanaan – Of Belle Isle, Texas, and Milwaukee, Kanaan will win 1 and podium 1 other.

Jerry Cruz (JC) – Will Power should be at the podium in Detroit and Top 10 in ovals; with that finish he should be 1st coming out of this quarter but Helio and Hinchcliffe should be at striking distance.

• Who is your pick to win the Chevrolet Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix? Do you expect another exciting Street Course Race?

MH – Justin Wilson, he’s the defending champ there and he’s coming off a fantastic run at Indy

KM – Will Power, yes, if Barber can, why can’t Detroit?

DJ – Will Power will win at Belle Isle and do so in a dominating fashion. It will be an exciting race as long as ABC shows the passing that will happen in the middle of the field

DZ –  I just can’t convince myself that Power will win everything, so against the odds, I’ll say Dixon at B.I. in an event where crash damage will eliminate at least 8 cars.

JC – Going on a limb and say it will be Takuma Sato…yes, I’m betting the house on this one! I will say that some attrition will happen based on basic inexperience of the track (last race here 2008) so around 6-8 cars will be out on crashes as Sao Paolo.

• Who will be the Top Rookie at Detroit?

MH – Josef Newgarden

KM – Simon Pagenaud

DJ – The top “rookie” finisher at Belle Isle will be Simon Pagenaud

DZ – Top finishing Rookie at Detroit – Newgarden (assuming Barrichello was labeled a rookie only for Indy)

JC – Simon Pagenaud

• Who will win the Pole?

MH – Wouldn’t be surprised if it was a Penske

KM – Will Power

DJ –  The pole sitter for Belle Isle will be Will Power. No explantion needed

DZ – Will Power on pole AGAIN *yawn*

JC – Will Power

• Who will win the only 1.5 mile oval at Texas Firestone 550K?

MH – Hard to tell at this point, TK or Marco maybe

KM – Scott Dixon

DJ – Scott Dixon will win at Texas. This is a track I feel he is due for a win. His last win there was his championship season of 2008

DZ – Coolest guy on 4 wheels – The Iceman – Scott Dixon wins at Tejas (Editor: Tejas is the correct written format for Texas in Spanish! This blogger knows some s**t!!!)

JC – JR Hildebrand

• Who will be the Top Rookie at Texas?

MH –  Josef Newgarden because he has tested there and is no strangers to ovals

KM – Josef Newgarden

DJ – The top rookie finisher at TMS will be Josef Newgarden. He was expected to win the ROY at Indy & he didnt. Look for him to be the top rookie on all the ovals remaining

DZ – Texas rookie – Newgarden again. SFHR will give him a great car and set-up, he will guide it home just inside the Top 5

JC – Josef Newgarden

• Who will win the Pole?

MH – Don’t know, it won’t matter though, you can win from anywhere at TX.

KM – Marco Andretti

DJ – Pole winner at TMS will be Dario Franchitti. With the updated Honda engines (only 1 race) he & his teammate have been the fastest cars.

DZ – Texas Pole – Hinchcliffe

JC – Marco Andretti

• Will the Milwaukee Indy Fest 200 be a outstanding success? Will Andretti Promotions get a sellout?

MH – The racing will be great. There seems to be buzz on Twitter for the race, and the Andretti’s, like past events, will do a great job of things. It’s just a matter of fans showing up. Success, yes. Outstanding success? Hard to tell

KM – Yes because Andretti knows racing and I believe that his promotions will do an excellent. By the way, I’m going to that race. Home race can’t wait (sorry)!

DJ – Will Milwaukee be a success? Good question. The action on the track will be very good. There will be more people in the stands than last year (not hard to top that) but it will not be a sellout. The television ratings will be worse than expected since the race is on Saturday, the day before Father’s Day.

DZ – Milwaukee IndyFest will be a huge upgrade from the previous event, marginally successful from a profit standpoint, but enough so to give the event another go in 2013. It will not be a sellout, but close, maybe 90% of capacity (Editor: this guy must have a camera in my office predicting the 90% capacity…now where is it?)

JC – I have been marveled by the promotion, the attention to details, the scope in giving fans more bang for their buck; I;ll say they will get it at 90% – Great event!!!

• Who is your pick for Podium at Milwaukee?

MH –  3rd) Rahal 2nd) Briscoe 1st) Dixon

KM – Hinchcliffe, Helio, TK

DJ – The Milwaukee podium will consist of Dario. Franchitti (1st), Ryan Briscoe (2nd) and Takuma Sato (3rd)

DZ – Milwaukee Podium – 1^st – Kanaan, 2^nd – Hinchcliffe, 3^rd –Newgarden

JC – 3rd) Helio 2nd) Hinchcliffe 1st) Andretti

• Who will win the Pole?

MH –  Someone on the Death Star

KM – James Hinchcliffe

DJ – The Milwaukee pole sitter will be Takuma Sato. He has been fast all year, he just has had problems seeing the checkered flag, either by mechanical failure, his own failure or someone else’s failure

DZ – James Hinchcliffe

JC – Scott Dixon

• Who should be leading the standings by the end of the Milwaukee race?

MH – Let’s just put it this way. It would be miraculous if Power doesn’t have lead after these next three races (Editor: Probably some biblical calling from John Barnes could change that!!!)

KM – Will Power

DJ – Will Power will still hold the points lead after Milwaukee, however Dario Franchitti will be much closer than he is now.

DZ – James Hinchcliffe (Editor: Ballsy call!!!)

JC – Will Power over Helio Castroneves by same lead as now – 30-40 points

• Do you expect to see new drivers in the series (non-regulars) by the end of this quarter?

MH – The only two I could see would be Scheckter at the ovals and Filippi fulfilling the talks in the offseason in racing at Indycar.

KM – No but I wouldn’t be surprised to see Ana Beatriz at Milwaukee or Iowa.

DJ –  I would be shocked if there were any drivers who joined the series from here on out, especially since Dragon racing is essentially a one car team split between two drivers

DZ –  I think we see just one or two at Texas only, but none for the rest of the season

JC – I’m guessing that Lotus could provide another engine by Milwaukee. Based on Andretti Promotions connection at Milwaukee we could see Michael adding Saavedra or Beatriz for that race.