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Filed under: Nationwide Series, IRL, Danica Patrick, NASCAR

IndyCar driver Danica Patrick confirmed her 2011 NASCAR Nationwide Series schedule Wednesday and will compete in four markets that she didn't visit last season in her stock car debut.

Patrick, who races full-time for Andretti Autosport in the IZOD IndyCar Series, will again run 13 Nationwide Series races -- the bulk of the schedule coming before and after her open-wheel commitments.

As expected Patrick will open the year in the Feb. 19 Nationwide 300-mile race at Daytona International Speedway, and will compete in the next three races on the schedule in Phoenix, Las Vegas and Bristol, Tenn.

After running the opening races of the IndyCar Series, Patrick then returns to the seat of the JR Motorsports' No. 7 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet for summer races at Chicago and Daytona, then, for the first time, at the road course in Montreal, and the ovals in Richmond, Va., and Kansas.

Patrick will finish out the year in Fort Worth, Phoenix and the finale at Homestead-Miami, where she recorded her best start (fifth) and finish (19th) of 2010.

"I have a much different perspective heading into this season,'' Patrick said. "I know a little more of what to expect, and I'm not as out of my element.

"I've had a year to work with my team, and there is a comfort level that comes with returning to some of these tracks. It's obvious experience goes a long way in this sport. Thanks to everyone at Go Daddy and JR Motorsports that have been incredibly supportive throughout this process."

Joining Patrick at Daytona will be fellow IndyCar driver Milka Duno, who announced Wednesday she is entered in the Feb. 12 ARCA Series opener.

 

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Filed under: IRL, Indianapolis 500

Speaking to racing journalists and industry insiders Tuesday in Indianapolis, INDYCAR CEO Randy Barnard revealed big changes for the series ranging from a new name for the sanctioning body -- INDYCAR -- to double-file restarts in oval races, to lowering the age for visitors in the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway garage area.

In his first formal "state of the sport'' address since taking over as CEO a year ago, Barnard (above) spoke about the responsibility and commitment to listen to open-wheel fans as he tries to reinvigorate the once-thriving genre. And that means, according to Barnard, a new name "to move the sport forward.''

One of the most visible changes announced Tuesday will be double-file restarts beginning with the May 29 Indianapolis 500, where, for the first time in the track's 102-year history, children nine years of age and older will be allowed in the garage on race day. The engine committee also revealed it will go with a smaller 2.2-liter engine for the new 2012 car, instead of the 2.4-liter originally approved for the cars. Honda, Chevrolet and Lotus have all committed to supplying engines.

"We're trying to increase the excitement and drama around the events," said President of Competition Brian Barnhart. "Much of it is a response to fans' expectations."

Earlier Tuesday, INDYCAR announced the opening of an office outside Los Angeles with the intent to integrate a Hollywood-feel within the series -- bringing the entertainment industry into the fold to help promote the sport.

"This will be a one-stop shop to pursue opportunities and make deals across multiple business lines and entertainment outlets,'' Barnard said.

 

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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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Filed under: Chevrolet, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, IRL, Indianapolis 500

The IZOD IndyCar Series announced Friday that Chevrolet will partner with the sport's legendary Team Penske race team for a return to Indy car competition in 2012.

The Penske cars will have a new twin-turbocharged direct-injected V-6 engine using renewable E85 ethanol fuel that will be built jointly by General Motors and Ilmor Engineering. Team owner Roger Penske,a partner with Ilmor, is the first owner to commit to the new power plant giving the series two engine manufacturers (also Honda) for the first time since 2005.

"With a competitor on the race track, we're going to see the game move up,'' said Penske, who is credited with brokering the negotiations that brought Chevy back to open-wheel racing.

Team Penske driver and three-time Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves, who won his first two Indy 500s (2001-2002) driving a Chevrolet, joined a Who's Who's list of the sport's most celebrated drivers past and present, team owners and Chevrolet executives at the announcement in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum.

"Turbocharge is back, baby,'' Castroneves said. "It's about fun and as a driver it will be enjoyable again. And as a fan, they are going to see competition. You'll cheer whatever manufacturer you're looking for. It's a win-win situation.

"We are going to create excitement again and make people want to come back.''

 

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by Holly Cain

Filed under: IRL

The IZOD IndyCar Series announced Wednesday that the Edmonton road course event scheduled for next summer has been canceled due to a conflict between the city and the race promoters about necessary track improvements.

"We are disappointed that the city and the promoter were unable to reach an agreement on the venue changes,'' the IndyCar Series said in a statement.

"It's unfortunate that in a time when IndyCar is experiencing momentum and growth, the city would want to miss out on the opportunity to be part of it. We've enjoyed our time at Edmonton as the fans there truly embraced Indy car racing. We currently are examining options for our schedule to see if there are opportunities to replace the event.''

The three-year old race was run on a temporary circuit set up on Edmonton's City Centre Airport. Promoters would have to spend approximately $3.2 million (Canadian) to upgrade and repave a different runway.

Scott Dixon won two of the three races in Edmonton, including this year's event which gained international attention when three-time Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves unleashed a post-race tirade and grabbed an IndyCar Series official after being black-flagged for blocking late in the race.

The removal of Edmonton leaves the series with a 15-race schedule that begins March 27 in St. Petersburg, Fla.

IndyCar Series Cancels 2011 Edmonton Race originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Wed, 03 Nov 2010 16:19:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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Filed under: Tony Stewart, Nationwide Series, FanHouse Exclusive, IRL, Danica Patrick

More so than her win in Japan two years ago; more so than a half-dozen dazzling showings in the Indianapolis 500, the last 20 laps of Saturday night's IZOD IndyCar Series finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway may have been the most game-changing miles Danica Patrick has ever raced.

Her runner-up finish -- courtesy of an aggressive last-lap pass -- is not only a significant statement about her as a legitimately competitive IndyCar driver, but speaks to her prospects in NASCAR, where she begins a six-race run in the Nationwide Series Saturday at California Speedway.

What stands out isn't so much Patrick's finish Saturday night but the dogged pursuit to get there -- a tenacious 220-mph wheel-to-wheel, guts-for-glory duel with former champion and surly teammate Tony Kanaan, in which she prevailed.

Her much-publicized Indy 500 success may have landed Patrick on the Hollywood red carpet and into the hearts of race fans, but her much-less-publicized effort Saturday impressed her fellow racers.

It most certainly earned her some respect and gave her the dose of confidence and Chutzpah she'll need as she transitions to NASCAR to close out the season. It was exactly the kind of sendoff she needed.

 

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Filed under: IRL

HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- Target Ganassi Racing swept all honors in Saturday night's IZOD IndyCar Series finale with Scott Dixon comfortably beating Danica Patrick and Tony Kanaan by 2.7 seconds to take the win at Homestead-Miami Speedway, while teammate Dario Franchitti's eighth place finish was enough to overcome an 11-point deficit earning him his second consecutive series championship and third overall.

Team Penske driver Will Power, who previously led the championship for all but one week of the season, saw his title hopes extinguished on lap 135 of the 200-lap race when he brushed the wall and broke the right rear suspension on his car. The team tried to repair the damage and he turned a handful of laps only to come in again for good.

It's the second straight year Franchitti, husband of actress Ashley Judd, came into the final race needing to overcome a points deficit to win the title. The native of Scotland needed to win the pole position, lead the most laps and win the race to guarantee the title. He did win the pole and led the most laps, but his title was all but secure upon Power's uncharacteristic mishap.

"Last year I was here watching this race in a back brace, so it's been the best year of mine in motorsport, though obviously I'm very disappointed with the outcome tonight,'' Power said.

 

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Filed under: Nationwide Series, FanHouse Exclusive, IRL, Danica Patrick, NASCAR

Far away from the red carpet, bright lights, television cameras and massive crowds of fans, Danica Patrick emerged from the office in her Andretti Autosport transporter Friday at Homestead-Miami Speedway dressed casually in jeans and a white polo shirt.

Smiling and engaging, she candidly and calmly analyzed what has been a character-builder of a race season juggling between her full time job competing in the IZOD IndyCar Series and her part-time foray into NASCAR.

People are more accustomed to seeing America's most famous race car driver in sexy television commercials for her sponsor, GoDaddy.com, smiling on Hollywood red carpets or posing for provocative photo spreads.

But Patrick is one of the most thoughtful, genuine and honest athletes you'll ever meet. For all the confidence and self-assurance she exudes, she also has an air of vulnerability and is admittedly a work in progress.

Patrick has struggled this year in IndyCar, where she's ranked 11th -- her worst since finishing 17th in the final standings in her rookie year -- and has only two top-fives in 16 races. Likewise in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, where she has yet to post a top-20 finish in seven starts.

Everyone else seems to have an opinion on her efforts as the most successful female IndyCar driver in history. As she finishes up the IndyCar season here Saturday and prepares to finish out the NASCAR schedule, here's what she has to say in this FanHouse Exclusive about what she calls a "humbling experience" in the "hardest year" of her career.

 

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Filed under: Carl Edwards, Dale Jarrett, Talladega Superspeedway, IRL, NASCAR

No way. Won't happen. No need.

That's the prevailing consensus on whether NASCAR drivers will ever create the type of drivers organization formalized in the IZOD IndyCar Series a couple weeks ago and that has long existed in Formula One and even the National Hot Rod Association.

There have been concerted efforts over the years by some of NASCAR's biggest names, like Richard Petty, and even a rarely-talked-about effort in 1997 by the late seven-time champ Dale Earnhardt, but nothing sustainable. More often, it was a hush-hush, backroom suggestion that a committee or association was even necessary. The idea of anything resembling a union, pure blasphemy.

And that's from current and former drivers, not just the sanctioning body.

"It's pretty simple, NASCAR is the destination of choice for almost every driver in the world so if you don't like it, there's someone that will be right there on your heels ready to take your place,'' driver Carl Edwards said this week. "Maybe that's why they (NASCAR) have been able to do their own thing for so long.''

Or as 1989 champion Rusty Wallace puts it, "Having some sort of committee like that would just screw everything up.''

 

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Filed under: Penske Racing, IRL

Nearly two weeks after a controversial late-race penalty cost him an IZOD IndyCar Series victory, Helio Castroneves told FanHouse.com he still adamantly disagrees with the call and revealed exactly what was going through his mind during an uncharacteristic, post-race tirade.

"For the rest of my life, I will always add one victory when people say how many I have,'' an animated Castroneves said by telephone Thursday from his Miami office.

The three-time Indianapolis 500 winner was placed on probation for the remainder of the season and fined $60,000 after a post-race confrontation in Edmonton on July 26 when he grabbed the collar of a league official.

Castroneves was angry after being called for blocking his Team Penske teammate Will Power while leading the race with three laps to go. He was dropped to 10th in the finishing order despite the fact he was the first car to take the checkered flag and Target Ganassi driver Scott Dixon was awarded the win.

The Penske driver has long been one of the sport's most popular drivers, becoming a household name thanks to his great Indy 500 triumphs (2000-2001, 2009) and championship on the popular television show "Dancing With the Stars."

But the emotional outbursts fans are more accustomed to seeing from the friendly Brazilian involve climbing fences in his trademark "Spiderman" victory celebration, not the sort of tirade following the Edmonton race.

"I really remained quite calm coming into the pits, almost relaxed, feeling like what was done, was done,'' Castroneves said, revealing for the first time exactly what was going through his mind in those minutes after the checkered flag.

 

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