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Filed under: IRL, Indianapolis 500

Reigning IZOD IndyCar Series championship owner Chip Ganassi will be doubling his efforts in the series in 2011, adding two additional cars to his trophy stable.

The team, which would not confirm or comment on the long-rumored news, has scheduled a press conference Thursday in Indianapolis where Ganassi will introduce the newest additions to a driver lineup that already features two-time defending series champ Dario Franchitti and former two-time champ Scott Dixon.

Second-generation driver Graham Rahal -- son of 1986 Indy 500 winner Bobby Rahal -- and Charlie Kimball, 25, a young talent moving up from the feeder Indy Lights Series, will campaign for Ganassi next year, working out of a "satellite" team shop rented from drag racing legend Don Prudhomme.

Rahal, 21, is the youngest IndyCar Series winner in history, scoring his only victory in the 2008 season-opener at St. Petersburg, Fla. However, he did not race full time last season. Kimball will be making his debut in the series.

Thursday's announcement will also confirm full-time sponsorship for both Rahal and Kimball -- significant for the series, which had several high-profile teams struggling to find primary corporate backing in 2010. In a unusual twist, Rahal actually announced a two-year sponsorship deal with TBC Corporation -- which owns several automobile tire retailers -- at this season's finale in Homestead, Fla. before having a contract in place with a team.

 

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Now that the IndyCar season is in the books, Danica has turned her full attention to the Nationwide Series.  Her start last Saturday at California kicked off a stretch run that will see her compete in every NNS race to finish out 2010.  Coming into Fontana, Danica hadn’t done much outside of running in the back and creating a ton of ridiculous hype.

At the Auto Club Speedway on Saturday however, something may have changed.  From a starting position of 14th (her best to date), Danica was able to run in the top-20 all day, and was looking to finish there before she was tagged in the right rear down the backstretch late in the race by James Buescher.  The move appeared to be payback, and it ended Danica’s day.  Now, as we head to Charlotte and the final NNS COT race of the season, was her performance a sign of things to come, or just a fluke?

For me personally, I think it would be huge if Patrick was actually showing signs of being competitive.  A competitive female driver would be huge for the sport.  But before I jump on the Danica bandwagon, I’ve got to see more.  Remaining on the schedule are Charlotte, Gateway, Texas, Phoenix, and Homestead, all of which are tough race tracks.  It would be a big step in the right direction if she could somehow find a way to do more then be a moving chicane.

Just so we are straight though, I am not naive enough to think that after just eight NNS starts, Danica has somehow figured it all out and will now become a weekly top-20 finisher.  I do think she still has a ton to learn about how to actually race in NASCAR, and her incident with Buescher showed that.

What I want to see is for her to run well and be consistent during practice sessions, effectively communicate her car’s handling characteristics to Eury Jr. and Co., qualify decently, and make laps during the races without tearing up race cars.  If she can do that, she just might convince me that success is possible for her.

It is no doubt a huge leap to go from open wheel to NASCAR, and Danica will definitely have a rougher go of it because she just isn’t as talented as guys like Juan Pablo Montoya and AJ Allmendinger.  However, with the proper guidance, the willingness to learn, and a little luck, she just might figure it out.

What do you think?

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Filed under: FanHouse Exclusive, IRL

Randy Bernard has been on the job for six months, and as anyone new to a large organization knows, the sheer challenge of simply remembering every one he's met has been a job in itself.

"I've met something like 2,700 people so far," Bernard said last week. "At least that's how many are added in my database."

That may sound trivial, sure. But when you're new to a business where longstanding traditions abound and the movers and shakers behind that business have long been influential, it's smart to know the players -- even just by recognition.

"To make sure when someone walks up you, can say 'Hey, Bill' or 'Hey, Joe', that's a pretty tough art," said Bernard, CEO of the IZOD IndyCar Series.

Bernard, obviously, has been focusing on much more than just face time to appease and serve drivers, team owners and the seemingly infinite number of people necessary to make the IndyCar world keep clicking.

It was just over six months ago that Bernard officially began his duties with IndyCar. From a background as head of the Professional Bull Riders, Inc., Bernard came from outside the racing world, and his hiring took some by surprise.

 

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Filed under: IRL

WEST ALLIS, Wis. -- Tire marks remain unpainted along the white walls of the Milwaukee Mile here, and race logos still emblazon the frontstretch pavement from the last time the NASCAR Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series competed here in 2009.

Even the media center podium features a backdrop celebrating the title sponsors of those defunct races.

But on Father's Day 2011, the IZOD IndyCar Series plans to rejuvenate the one-mile, flat oval. Once again, the open-wheel series will call the 107-year-old Milwaukee Mile home after a year's hiatus from the venerable venue -- just one element of a variety of changes the series officially announced Friday.

 

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Filed under: IRL

MILWAUKEE (AP) -- The IndyCar series has called a press conference at the Milwaukee Mile on Friday to announce its 2011 schedule, which means, of course, that the venerable old race track will be back in the series come next year.

The Mile withdrew from hosting marquee racing events this year after past promoters had financial problems and no suitable replacement could be found. But IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard said last month that he was optimistic that the series could return to Milwaukee.

The Mile -- a flat, one-mile oval at the Milwaukee State Fair Park -- held its first auto racing event in 1903 and is most closely associated with the Indy-style race it traditionally held the week after the Indianapolis 500.

In addition to re-adding Milwaukee to the schedule, the 2011 IndyCar series will feature a Labor Day street race through downtown Baltimore and the Firestone Twin 275s on June 11 at Texas Motor Speedway.

 

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Filed under: IRL

This time, Helio Castroneves was all hugs with IndyCar's security director Charles Burns.

Castroneves won Saturday night's Kentucky Indy 300 at Kentucky Speedway after his Penske team made a shrewd call for an extra pit stop during the race's second and final caution period. Just weeks ago, of course, Castroneves was violently shaking Burns after being denied of a win thanks to a last-lap penalty in Edmonton.

"You shouldn't actually interview me, you should interview (Tim Cindric)," Castroneves beamed after the race, crediting the winning call on fuel to Cindric, his race strategist. "It was kind of like rolling the dice, but this guy, he's kind of like the gambler."

Castroneves celebrated with his traditional frontstretch fence climb, and when he returned to the track gave Burns a hug as he walked back to his car.

 

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Filed under: IRL

INDIANAPOLIS -- In an effort to entice nearly every automotive-related industry in the world, the IZOD IndyCar Series announced a new race car aimed to allow nearly unlimited technical innovation on a base chassis design.

Amid a sparkling lighting display usually reserved for a rock concert Wednesday at the Indianapolis Museum of Art, IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard announced Dallara as the new chassis manufacturer for the open-wheel series along with a "Safety Cell" concept that will allow other manufacturers to provide changeable aero kits.

"This car puts everything all of our stakeholders want on the racetrack: safety, competition on and off the track, diversity, efficiency and more," Bernard said, standing in front of a video representation of the new Dallara. "The new car is also is a cost-effective package that positions the series for tremendous growth and enhances the series' relevancy to future automotive technology."

The new car choice was the brainchild of IndyCar's ICONIC (Innovative, Competitive, Open-Wheel, New, Industry-Relevant, Cost-Effective) Advisory Committee -- an eight-member team led by a retired U.S. Air Force general that included engineers, a track promoter and former Indianapolis 500 champion Gil de Ferran.

 

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Filed under: IRL

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (AP) -- Will Power has won the pole at Watkins Glen International as Team Penske captured the top three spots for Sunday's IndyCar Series race.

It was the eighth straight pole for Penske, extending its series record, and the fifth pole of the season for Power, the series points leader. Power covered the 11-turn, 3.4-mile course in 1 minute, 29.3164 seconds and was followed by teammates Helio Castroneves and Ryan Briscoe.

Defending series champion Dario Franchitti was fourth, followed by Takuma Sato, who earned his top qualifying spot of the season, and defending race winner Justin Wilson.

Danica Patrick, fresh from a one-week stint in NASCAR, struggled and will start 21st in the 25-car field.

 

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Filed under: Dale Earnhardt Jr., IRL, Danica Patrick, NASCAR

While NASCAR has great hopes of improved television ratings and larger crowds for Danica Patrick's return to the circuit this summer, she insists she's just another race car driver seizing an opportunity. Propping up an entire race series isn't her intention.

"I don't feel responsibility (to draw crowds), I'm just going out there and getting experience and trying to do well at the end of the day,'' said Patrick, who returns to NASCAR Nationwide Series competition this Saturday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway after spending the last three months focusing on her full time job in the IZOD IndyCar Series.

"I am just really lucky as an athlete that people are curious how I'm doing and want to see. So I just do my best to put on a show and hopefully it's something that gives people a reason to smile and cheer. And if I do that, then I'm doing my job.''

Patrick also quickly deferred to realistic expectations on the track.

"I hope this weekend I finish in the top twenty or the top fifteen and kind of build myself up,'' Patrick said Tuesday.

"I think the best thing I can do for myself on the NASCAR weekends is really come up with some realistic expectation levels instead of having them be like IndyCar expectations levels where I'm hoping to win and I'm hoping to finish on the podium.''

 

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by FanHouse NewswireKANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) -- Waiting for the final green flag after a caution a few laps from the finish, Scott Dixon jokingly asked his crew if he could save some horsepower boosts for the Indianapolis 500 later this month.

Obviously, the answer was no.

The way Dixon kicked off IndyCar's oval season, he might not need them anyway.

Making few changes to a fast-off-the-truck car, Dixon cruised to his second straight IndyCar Series victory at Kansas Speedway on Saturday, firmly placing himself atop the list of favorites for the big race on the bricks.

Scott Dixon Back on Top as IndyCar Moves to Ovals originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Sat, 01 May 2010 15:51:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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