Countdown to Indy (#6): Five Most Significant Indy 500 Pace Cars

For number 6 to the XSL Speed Reporter Countdown to Indy I would like to direct you to a recent article I wrote for automoblog.net on the Top 5 Most Remarkable Indy 500 Pace Cars. An automotive news website, I have currently stepped up my association with this very promising web publication. Please click on the photo below to be taken to the Automoblog.net article.



Photo Credit: Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Countdown to Indy (#7): Pictures of the Indy 500 Parade

Just a day before the 94th Indy 500, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway might have gone quiet but the city of Indianapolis, Indiana is awakened by pre-race celebrations. The Indy 500 Parade is one such festivity where the enthusiasm of the milestone American race encapsulates the city.

With many popular IZOD IndyCar drivers participating in the event including Sarah Fisher and Helio Castroneves, its a clear sign that the 2010 Indy 500 is only one day away.



Photo Credit: Dana Garrett


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Photo Credit: Dana Garrett



Photo Credit: Dana Garrett



Photo Credit: Dana Garrett

Countdown to Indy #9: The 2010 Indy 500 Starting Grid

1. 3 Helio Castroneves/Brazil/ Penske Racing
2. 12 Will Power/Australia/ Penske Racing
3. 10 Dario Franchitti/Scotland/ Target/Chip Ganassi Racing
4. 6 Ryan Briscoe/Australia/ Penske Racing
5. 77 Alex Tagliani/Canada/ FAZZT Race Team
6. 9 Scott Dixon/New Zealand/ Target/Chip Ganassi Racing
7. 20 Ed Carpenter/United States/ Panther Racing
8. 30 Graham Rahal/United States/ Rahal Letterman Racing
9. 06 Hideki Mutoh/ Japan/ Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing
10. 99 Townsend Bell/United States/ Chip Ganassi Racing/Sam Schmidt Motorsports
11. 22 Justin Wilson/England/ Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
12. 2 Raphael Matos/Brazil/ Luczo Dragon/de Ferran Motorsports
13. 32 Mario Moraes/Brazil/ KV Racing Technology
14. 21 Davey Hamilton/United States/ de Ferran Dragon Racing
15. 24 Mike Conway/England/ Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
16. 26 Marco Andretti/United States/ Andretti Autosport
17. 37 Ryan Hunter-Reay/United States/ Andretti Autosport
18. 4 Dan Wheldon/England/ Panther Racing
19. 8 EJ Viso/Venezuela/ KV Racing Technology
20. 23 Tomas Scheckter/South Africa/ Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
21. 25 Ana Beatriz/Brazil/ Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
22. 78 Simona De Silvestro/Switzerland HVM Racing
23. 7 Danica Patrick/United States/ Andretti Autosport
24. 36 Bertrand Baguette/Belgium/ Conquest Racing


Qualified through Bump Day Qualifying on Sunday

25. 33 Bruno Junqueira/Brazil/ FAZZT Race Team
26. 19 Alex Lloyd/England/ Dale Coyne Racing
27. 34 Mario Romancini/Brazil/ Conquest Racing
28. 43 John Andretti/United States/ Richard Petty/Andretti Autosport
29. 67 Sarah Fisher/United States/ Sarah Fisher Racing
30. 14 Vitor Meira/Brazil/ AJ Foyt Racing Enterprises
31. 5 Takuma Sato/Japan/ KV Racing Technology
32. 11 Tony Kanaan/Brazil/ Andretti Autosport
33. 29 Sebastian Saavedra/Columbia/ Bryan Herta Autosport

Failed to Qualify for 2010 Indy 500

15 Paul Tracy/Canada/KV Racing Technology
18 Milka Duno/Venezuela/ Dale Coyne Racing
41 A.J. Foyt IV/United States/ A.J. Foyt Racing Enterprises (Jacques Lazier subbed as driver)
66 Jay Howard/England/ Sarah Fisher Racing

Countdown to Indy (#13): IndyCar Drivers Make Most of Monday's Rain Out

Photo Credit: Bret Kelly


Hoping to get their first constructive day of car tuning time, IZOD IndyCar Series drivers and teams watched as rain pelted the surface of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Monday. Weathering the storm, otherwise busy drivers and crews found off-track activities during the washed-out session.

Several drivers had scheduled press and sponsorship commitments to keep them busy. Sarah Fisher and Paul Tracy had separate interviews on Monday while Verizon Penske Racing drivers spent the early evening making appearances by Roger Penske's car dealerships. With Ryan Briscoe at Penske Chevrolet and Helio Castroneves at Penske Honda, the driver's dedication to meeting and signing autographs through the past two days must be putting the two popular IndyCar drivers close to developing writer's cramp.

While some IZOD IndyCar drivers were dealing with business, others enjoyed the break in the racing action at Indy. Drivers Ed Carpenter and Justin Wilson set sights on the gym during the rain delay wanting to substitute one workout for another. First time Indy 500 hopeful Simona de Silvestro spent time with her HVM Racing team playing Monopoly (By the way, is there an IndyCar version of Monopoly?). Another Indy rookie Ana Beatriz enlightened herself to the history of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway by going to the Speedway Museum. To see some pictures of Beatriz's visit, she welcomes you to view her website at www.biaracing.com. Seeking a more solitary past time Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing driver Hideki Mutoh unwound to a Japanese comic book.

FirestoneBesides providing moments of personal recreation, several drivers devoted time Monday to meet and greet with the all too young patients of Riley Children's Hospital. Sarah Fisher, John Andretti and Ryan Hunter-Reay were joined by 4 crew members of Andretti Autosport plus two Firestone Indy Lights stand-outs (James Hinchcliffe and Stefan Wilson) in bringing some cheer to children in a heartening visit. Amongst one of the highlights of providing a smile to kids by eagerly conversing with the young race fans and non-race fans, John Andretti autographed a diaper. While only one winner can prevail in the Indianapolis 500, these drivers leave wanting every child in the Riley Children's Hospital to achieve their personal victories in having a long, happy life.

According to weather forecasts for Tuesday, a 40% chance of showers will persist to threaten track time on the 2.5 mile speedway. With some track time as least likely tomorrow, teams will definitely prefer Wednesday and Thursday where the bright stars of IndyCar will be illuminated by mostly sunny conditions.

Countdown to Indy (#15): First Day Practice Speeds

Photo Credit: Dan Helrigel


In 15 days, the Brickyard classic Indianapolis 500 will allow 33 drivers and teams to compete for the 94th time for open wheel racing's greatest accomplishment. However, with the race still in the distance, IZOD IndyCar teams arrive at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Saturday May 15th for their first day of practice. As could be expected, the initial two-hour practice for veteran drivers was dominated by the 2010 IZOD IndyCar Series superteams.

Setting the early mark on Saturday, 2009 Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves hustled his #3 Penske Racing car around the 2.5 mile track for a 39.7170 second lap time. Translating to an average speed of 226.535 miles per hour, Penske Racing is vying for their 11th Indy 500 win and Helio Castroneves is contending to become the 4th driver find his face on the Borg-Warner trophy 4 times. "It's always good when you start with a positive wave, there is certainly still a lot of work to go." Castroneves reacted to his top time. As a team, the 3-car Penske Racing appears to be playing safe in Indy 500 preparations. Ryan Briscoe settled in 9th and Will Power placed 11th on the day.

Showing to be a stronger collective in the veteran practice, the two-car Target/Chip Ganassi Racing organization showed themselves to be the perfect rival to spoil Roger Penske's dreams of the 2010 Indy 500 victory. The #10 car of Dario Franchitti was 2nd fastest with a lap time just .0120 seconds slower than the #3 Penske Racing machine. Teammate Scott Dixon in the #9 car resided in 3rd place more than 5/100th of a second slower than Franchitti. "Like Helio, pretty solid day, short day but good. It was a good day for Team Target, myself and Scott. To have the car feeling so good was really encouraging." Franchitti commented post-practice. Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon are both former winners at the Brickyard.

Looking at the Day 1 practice time sheet, the veteran driver Tony Kanaan's name appeared 5 times with the car number of every Andretti Autosport team. Kanaan would drive a Dallara-Honda from each team to determine a car set-up baseline for him and the other drivers. The fastest lap for Kanaan on day 1 was performed in John Andretti's #43 car at 40.0369 seconds or 224.793 miles per hour. Providing the #43 team with a car proven good enough for 5th fastest, Tony Kanaan regular #11 gig is shown to be just as strong only one spot behind on the time sheet.

While 8 of the top 10 positions in the veteran's practice session was held by the league's three superteams, the well-established Panther Racing IndyCar team succeeded in embedding themselves on the top of the time charts. 2005 Indy 500 winning driver Dan Wheldon recorded a 4th fastest time in the #4 car while the #20 Indy-only effort driven by Ed Carpenter provided a 7th quickest time in the practice. Panther Racing, loyal to the IRL since 1998, were making their presence felt with a two-car effort in their 12th attempt to claim an elusive Brickyard victory.

With the veteran practice concluded after 2 P.M., the seven rookies began what was supposed to be 3 hours of practice known as Rookie Orientation. Required to perform 10 laps within 4 speed brackets, Ana Beatriz, Simona de Silvestro, and Takuma Sato became the first rookies to pass phase 2 of the Rookie Orientation requirements. Along with the 7 rookies making their first Indy 500 attempts, 4 drivers (Davey Hamilton, Tomas Scheckter, Graham Rahal, A.J. Foyt IV and Townsend Bell) run what was known as a Refresher Test . The Rookie Orientation was cut 30 minutes short due to rain showers over the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Besides focused on setting the fast lap times needed to earn their way into the 33-car Indy 500 field, drivers are paying also interested in determining where their cars measure in the longer runs "It seems to be very interesting this year: Even if you are away from another car, the draft is tremendous. It is going to play a lot of tricks during the month of May." Castroneves provided an observation after day 1 practice.

For Sunday, another set of practices will bring the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to life as rookies prepare to complete their Rookie Orientation and the veteran teams work on fine-tuning their race cars for last week's qualifying.

Countdown to Indy (#17): Indy 500 by the Numbers

Photo Credit: Bret Kelly


INDY 500: BY THE NUMBERS

3- Number of 4-time winners of the Indy 500 (Helio Castroneves seeks to become the 4th in 2010). List consists of drivers AJ Foyt, Al Under Sr and Rick Mears.
4- Former Indy 500 race winners competing in the 2010 race.
5- Women who have previous started in the Indy 500. Janet Guthrie, Lyn St. James, Sarah Fisher, Danica Patrick and Milka Duno.
9- Wins by Chassis builder Dallara. Number will grow to 10 after 2010 with the entire entry list running Dallaras.
10- In years, the longest wait between Indy 500 wins for a multiple race winner. AJ Foyt won in 1967 and again in 1977.
40- Cars which participated in first Indy 500 event.
47- Age of oldest Indy 500 winner. Al Unser was 47 years, 360 days old when he won his 4th race 1987.
67- Drivers having won the Indy 500.
74.9- Average speed in miles per hour for the first Indy 500 event won by Ray Harroun. Race would be slowest 500 mile event ever held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
93- Indy 500 races held prior to the upcoming 2010 race.
102- Fewest laps competed for a shortened Indy 500 race. In 1976, red flag flew on after 255 miles. Johnny Rutherford was named winner.
185.981- Miles per hour. Average speed of the fastest Indy 500 race in 1990.
233.718- Miles per hour. Fastest 4-lap qualifying effort by a driver on Indianapolis 500 Pole Day recorded by Scott Brayton in 1996. Unfortunately, Brayton would not have the opportunity to lead the Indy 500 after perishing in a fatal crash at the speedway just 5 days after earning the honour.
300- Mileage of first race to be run on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (Winner declared after 235 miles due to accidents)
1911- Year of the First Indianapolis 500
45432.5- Miles Completed in 93 previous Indy 500 events.

XSL Speed Reporter's Countdown to Indy (#19): Should the Indy 500 become a non-points event?

Photo Credit: Jim Haines

Draped in history and set on a pedestal of prestige, the Indianapolis 500 is the most prized car races in the world, let alone open wheel racing. Even within the years of the divided open wheel racing series in North America, the Indy 500 reigned above every other spectacle in motorsports as every driver wants their face on the Borg-Warner Trophy. A truly cherished honour to run on the 2.5 mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway, another battle continues to be raged in the race's background. The IZOD IndyCar Series points continue to me counted in this unique event. For day two of XSL Speed Reporter's coverage leading into the 94th running of the Indianapolis 500, this is a chance to pose a question. Should the Indy 500 event be excluded from the IZOD IndyCar Series points?

With 14 limited-schedule race efforts attempting to break into the 33-car field for the 2010 Indy 500, it can be argued that these cars possess an interesting advantage over the season-long IZOD IndyCar teams. Without the underlying fear of upsetting their championship hopes, drivers in fearlessness of points will be able to take their vehicles a little deeper into corners and nose forward for that daring (or potentially stupid) pass.

Maintained as a non-points event for a long-time, the 24-Hour of Le Mans has remained the pinnacle of sports car racing. With only a grand win at streak, the best of the best drivers and manufacturers devote themselves to being remembered for their Le Mans result. If the season's points battle would be abolished for the Indy 500, the only thing that mattered for the Indy 500 would be the race itself.

Through post-World War 2 events, the revered 500 mile race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway has rewarded drivers and teams in one or even multiple point championships. In the 1950s, the Indianapolis 500 was complicatedly a fixture in the Formula 1 World Championship. While Indy 500 winning drivers within this era was never officially recognized as winning a Formula 1 event, these drivers were able to apply their points to the world championship. When the CART championship was formed in 1979, the Indy 500 was still sanctioned by the existing USAC management. USAC retained their own championship until the Indy Racing League took control in 1996 where points are gathered on a single structure.

Despite the long-stemming fears that points can still be up for grabs, the best cars through the open wheel racing series have the habit of surfacing for strong Indianapolis 500 performance. While the IZOD IndyCar Series points hunt remains very hot in the Indy 500, several race winners went on to capture the season's championship which includes a run between 2005-2008. What might aid the cause of the Indy 500 is the race is run roughly 5 months before the season ends.

As the Indy 500 stands as a cornerstone to the IZOD IndyCar Series, it remains unlikely that the IRL would consider removing their shining race from the ever important season-long championship. Casting a thought on the Brickyard as a non-points event could surely be turn focus for the Indy cars in the month of May.

XSL Speed Reporter's Countdown to Indy Day 20: Indy 500 Entry List

With 20 days left before one of 33 qualified open wheel drivers drinks from the milk bottle of triumph, noise is only starting to rush over the 2.5 mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway. In honour of the upcoming Indianapolis 500 this May 30th, XSL Speed Reporter will devote itself to including at least one new post relating to this major event on the 2010 motorsport landscape.

Below, I have compiled an entry list of the IZOD IndyCar Series teams striding to first make the field for the 500 mile race at the Brickyard. While cable TV channel Speed reported 40 entries, my review of material has so far only turned up 39 entrants. This is still a far improvement from last year where it was a struggle to make it to just 33 cars. A number of factors are playing a part in the larger contention including a 33% drop in the cost of Honda racing engines for the Indy 500 only teams and the sea of talent wanting once again to be part of the open wheel racing which is now under the IZOD IndyCar Series.

With many of the Indy 500 only or limited schedule rides announcements having tickled out through the past month, teams have also entered T cars as usual for the Indy 500 which have in the past allowed otherwise unattached drivers a chance to qualify. Previously listed 'To Be Announced', Ana Beatriz confirmed Saturaday on Twitter that she will be driving the #25 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing car. Not a major surprise based on her excellent performance in the season opening race at Sao Paulo, this officially declares that 5 women will be vying for 1 of 33 prized starting spots when qualifying starts May 22nd.


Green denotes Indy 500 only or limited schedule entry

Reported Entry List for Indianapolis 500 as of May 10th

1. 06 Hideki Mutoh/ Japan/ Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing
2. 2 Raphael Matos/Brazil/ Luczo Dragon/de Ferran Motorsports
3. 3 Helio Castroneves/Brazil/ Penske Racing
4. 4 Dan Wheldon/England/ Panther Racing
5. 5 Takuma Sato/Japan/ KV Racing Technology
6. 6 Ryan Briscoe/Australia/ Penske Racing
7. 7 Danica Patrick/United States/ Andretti Autosport
8. 8 EJ Viso/Venezuela/ KV Racing Technology
9. 9 Scott Dixon/New Zealand/ Target/Chip Ganassi Racing
10. 10 Dario Franchitti/Scotland/ Target/Chip Ganassi Racing
11. 11 Tony Kanaan/Brazil/ Andretti Autosport
12. 12 Will Power/Australia/ Penske Racing
13. 14 Vitor Meira/Brazil/ AJ Foyt Racing Enterprises
14. 15 Paul Tracy/Canada/KV Racing Technology
15. 18 Milka Duno/Venezuela/ Dale Coyne Racing
16. 19 Alex Lloyd/England/ Dale Coyne Racing
17. 20 Ed Carpenter/United States/ Panther Racing
    
18. 21 Davey Hamilton/United States/ de Ferran Dragon Racing
19. 22 Justin Wilson/England/ Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
20. 23 Tomas Scheckter/South Africa/ Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
21. 24 Mike Conway/England/ Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
22. 25 Ana Beatriz/Brazil/ Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
23. 26 Marco Andretti/United States/ Andretti Autosport
24. 27 TBA/TBA/ AFS Racing
25. 29 Sebastian Saavedra/Columbia/ Bryan Herta Autosport
26. 30 Graham Rahal/United States/ Rahal Letterman Racing
27. 32 Mario Moraes/Brazil/ KV Racing Technology
28. 33 Bruno Junqueira/Brazil/ FAZZT Race Team
29. 34 Mario Romancini/Brazil/ Conquest Racing
30. 36 Bertrand Baguette/Belgium/ Conquest Racing
31. 37 Ryan Hunter-Reay/United States/ Andretti Autosport
32. 41 A.J. Foyt IV/United States/ A.J. Foyt Racing Enterprises
33. 43 John Andretti/United States/ Richard Petty/Andretti Autosport
34. 66 Jay Howard/England/ Sarah Fisher Racing
35. 67 Sarah Fisher/United States/ Sarah Fisher Racing
36. 77 Alex Tagliani/Canada/ FAZZT Race Team
37. 78 Simona De Silvestro/Switzerland HVM Racing
38. 98 TBA/TBA/ Curb/Agajanian/Team 3G
    
39. 99 Townsend Bell/United States/ Chip Ganassi Racing/Sam Schmidt Motorsports