IndyCar Title Sponsor IZOD Out After 2013 Season

Similar to many sport events such as the Olympics or the NFL, auto racing has become a brand-littered environment. With large race tracks to place banners and automobiles presenting ideal moving billboards to profile businesses or products, sponsorship is not only accepted but greatly appreciated.

For a major auto racing series, presence of title sponsorship would not only provide a useful cash infusion but a way to sell a sporting organization's creditability. After supporting the North America's biggest open-wheel racing tour six years, serving as a major title sponsor for four seasons, designer apparel company IZOD was announced as ending its sponsorship commitment of the IndyCar Series with the conclusion of the ongoing 2013 season.

Described as a change in circumstances that will leave IndyCar searching for a new title sponsor for 2014 and beyond, chief executive officer of Hulman & Co. Mike Miles said, "We are proud of our partnership with IZOD over the past six years and we're grateful to PVH Corp., owner of the IZOD brand, for its support, creativity and vision,". From the side of IZOD, the brand's parent company PVH Marketing Group said the discontinuation of sponsorship is a change in product focus. We would like to thank the IndyCar community, from the amazing fans, to the incredible drivers, to the entire series, for their partnership. We wish the series all the best and we look forward to finishing out the 2013 season with much success." said Executive Vice President of PVH Marketing Group  Mike Kelly.

IZOD began its marketing partnership as an official apparel provider in 2008. The company made a crucial move upgrading itself to title sponsor of the IndyCar Series for 2010. Ahead of the 2010 season, the series was still sorting itself out following years of acuminous battling between the Champ Car and the Indy Racing League. Through the 2010 season, a stabilized IZOD IndyCar Series began to prove inviting for sporting audiences. In addition to appearing along with the IndyCar name, IZOD also appeared on the side pods of competition cars fielded by Andretti Autosport and Team Penske.

"We are proud of our partnership with IZOD over the past six years and we're grateful to PVH Corp., owner of the IZOD brand, for its support, creativity and vision," said Mark Miles as the IndyCar Series will be adopting a new identity next season either without a title sponsor or with a new name.

Are the Days Numbered for Auto Racing on Streets of Toronto?

Photo Credit: Chris Nagy

This year’s Honda Indy Toronto closed on a high note. Headlined by the IZOD IndyCar Series’ first doubleheader event on the streets of Toronto, we have seen two action-filled races where Scott Dixon came out on top with a $100,000 bonus for sweeping the weekend. The first standing starts in the IZOD INDYCAR Series on Sunday also provoked an extra tone of excitement for race fans. With the 2013 edition of the July weekend motorsport near-tradition is in the books, the future of the auto racing on the street course could be altered. Last renewed in early 2012 through to the 2014 season, there is a possibility that the same thundering roar of engines may not be produced by the waterfront location.

　

History

Originally called the Molson Indy, the most of North American open wheel racing has catered to established auto racing fans and won over so many others since 1986. Back then, the CNE grounds was a more bustling location for entertaining Canada’s largest city. The Toronto Blue Jays were still playing at a stadium on the land, the Canadian National Exhibition was larger and nearby Ontario Place provided all the reason for the area to be a go-to place for fun. For better or worse, the Blue Jays have long been playing at the Skydome (Rogers Centre) while Ontario Place is currently an unattended island. Despite this, one ongoing event has been held 26 times in 27 years has been a modern mainstay that has both noise to property lining Lake Shore Boulevard. Cancelled in 2008 due to the Champ Car series merging with the Indy Racing League, the race returned in 2009 through the intervention of a seven-time Toronto event winner Michael Andretti. Assuming the title Honda Indy Toronto, shaky Champ Car fields prior to 2009, a one-year absence and an economic downturn led to a less impressive spectator count for the race headlined by the IZOD INDYCAR Series. Crowds have been gradually returning to the race event (although real number to confirm this have not been released by the less-than helpful race promoters. attendees and television viewers of the 2013 Honda Indy observed near full grandstands within a crowded CNE grounds.

　

The Changing City

　

Toronto has been a city undergoing a major metamorphosis. Thanks to high property values, every parcel of land in the city is seen as the next condominium development or big box store location. Until a city council vote put the kibosh on the Toronto casino plan, the CNE grounds was being eyed as a location for a gambling-related resort area. This move would have undoubtedly prompted the immediate end of the Honda Indy Toronto (at least in its current location). Even Scott Dixon noted the high-rise development during the Sunday press conference after the 2013 Honda Indy. It is widely suspected redevelopment of the Ontario Place grounds could involve the addition of new condominiums or other buildings. Part of it is already stated to be reimagined as a giant green space that will still require the movement of heavy equipment in and out of the Ontario Place grounds. Construction that has gripped the city could cause a rethinking of the Honda Indy Toronto’s route.

With a 2017 target date set for Ontario Place refurbishing, part of the land is slated to be used for the 2015 Pan Am Games. Hosting one of the largest, international multi-sport gatherings behind the Olympics, the Pan Am Games will run July 10 through to the 26 (squarely within the Honda Indy Toronto‘s typical dates). Though the two events are significantly different, it could prove difficult to stretch City of Toronto resources for a pair of major sports. It is possible the Honda Indy Toronto and Pan Am Games will divide attention for three days (not including the pre-race activities).

Without an announcement for a contract extension, the Honda Indy Toronto may be faced with cancellation or relocation in 2015.

Photo Credit: Chris Nagy

Where the Honda Indy Could be Held in 2015?

Throughout the running of the racing festival on the streets, closing down a stretch had not been popular for non-race fans. While many Toronto festivals involve street closures, the Honda Indy Toronto has been earning distaste for some since it causes traffic interruptions for multiple days consecutively. If the long-used CNE grounds would be unavailable, the IZOD IndyCar Series and other support series could presented near Toronto with two options involving no street closures.

The first future venue choice could be the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (traditionally known as Mosport). Serving as a venue for the USAC open wheel series four times from 1967 to 1978, recent development of the road course facilities around the 2.46-mile track has been underway. Along with hosting sports car racing and other national racing series, Canadian Tire Motorsport Park will be hosting its first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race late this summer. Would the road course prove as welcoming to IZOD IndyCar fans as the street circuit in the heart of downtown Toronto?

From the oldest-operating track in Canada to what will be the newest, Canadian Motor Speedway under construction right now in Fort Erie is more than a one and a half hour drive from Toronto but have the potential of treating IZOD IndyCar fans to oval track racing on our home turf. The one-mile oval serving as the centerpiece of the project will host a grandstand capacity for 65,000 spectators. A 2.5-mile road course is also part of the Canadian Motor Speedway complex.

　

　

While the Honda Indy could be moved, there could be a strong likelihood the race may stay by the Toronto waterfront. It would be a shame the electric weekend of this year’s event would cease being a part of a Toronto summer.

Briscoe Toasts an INDYCAR Series Win in Sonoma Wine Country

Photo Credit: INDYCAR/LAT USA

The third to last event on the 2012 IZOD INDYCAR Series calendar, the Sonoma region of California hosted a 85-lap contest of turbocharged, open wheel racing during a pivotal time in the rapidly passing season.

Retuning to action after a three-week hiatus, the IZOD INDYCAR Series drivers and teams entered the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma knowing they’re proceeding into the homestretch of their 2012 season. Drivers Will Power, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Helio Castroneves, and Scott Dixon approached the hilly 2.385-mile California road course with the knowledge that you miscue could desperately impact their chance of hoisting the overall IZOD INDYCAR Series championship trophy.

Taking his fourth pole in the 2012 season, Australian Will Power placed his Chevrolet-powered #12 Team Penske car at the front of an event he had won the previous two years. A 1-2 start of Team Penske cars with Power’s teammate Ryan Briscoe claiming the second-fastest time in qualifying, the third Roger Penske-owned machine piloted by Helio Castroneves would gain unfavourable attention once the green flag dropped. Starting 4^th, Castroneves made contact with championship rival Scott Dixon’s #9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing car in the turn 7 area of the Sonoma racetrack. Contact that amounted to Dixon spinning on-track losing ground to the lead of the field early, the #3 car of Helio Castroneves would himself be plucked from the front of the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma when the IZOD INDYCAR Series assessed the Brazilian driver a penalty. Serving a drive-through penalty in the pit lane, Castroneves would make his way back through the race field to 6^th place at the end of 85 laps.

 

Photo Credit: F. Peirce Williams.LAT Photo USA/Honda

 

 

With the first 65 laps of the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma passing without a single yellow flag, the Team Penske race cars of Will Power and Ryan Briscoe were supreme to the rest of the IZOD INDYCAR contenders. Will Power was in control for much of the event reflected in a 8.44-second lead he had on teammate Briscoe on lap 50.

Contrasting the fortune of the Team Penske organization, the other IZOD INDYCAR superteam of Andretti Autosport suffered bad luck for 2 of its 3 entries. Canadian James Hinchcliffe retired from the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma on lap 35 due to an engine problem. Hinchcliffe’s exit in the #27 car would be followed 11 laps later by Marco Andretti. Only Andretti Autosport car left was the championship-contending driver Ryan Hunter-Reay.

The GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma’s first caution would be the result of a scary collision in turn 8 section of the road course. Colliding entering the corner, the #7 of Sebastien Bourdais and he #67 driven by Josef Newgarden sailed into an outer retaining wall. Despite a severe impact with the concrete wall, both drivers escaped major injury. However, it was determined after the race that Josef Newgarden did suffer an injury to his left index finger. His Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing team opted to place Bruno Junqueira for the upcoming Labour day weekend street course race in Baltimore.

As the field operated under its first full-course caution, this incident would be defining for the event. Two laps prior to the Bourdais/Newgarden accident, the leader Will Power had pitted relinquishing the lead to the #2 car of teammate Ryan Briscoe.

Restarting on lap 74, the late laps of the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma would claim other championship-contending driver when an overly ambitious move performed by Alex Tagliani led to contact with the #28 car of Ryan Hunter-Reay. INDYCAR race control penalized the Canadian driver Tagliani but Hunter-Reay lost a potential top-5 finishing a disappointing 18^th place with only two races remaining to compete for the series’ overall championship.

Photo Credit: Camden Thrasher.LAT Photo USA/Honda

With his newfound advantage over teammate Will Power, Ryan Briscoe soared away on the race’s final restart at Sonoma winning his first IZOD INDYCAR race since the 2010 race at Texas Motor speedway. As the 2012 had been reaching an end, Briscoe’s presence with Team Penske for 2013 and beyond has been much questioned. With the victory in the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma, the Australian driver Ryan Briscoe has allowed Team Penske to have all three drivers in the 2012 winner’s circle.

Chevrolet-powered contenders in the IZOD INDYCAR Series led every lap in the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma acting as additional garnish to locking up the engine manufacturer championship for 2012. A season where the Bowtie brand has won 9 of the 13 races so far in the 2012 IZOD INDYCAR Series, Chevrolet’s battle against tour mainstay Honda and the limited resources of Lotus is a triumphant return to a series they were absent from since the end of 2005. Chevrolet’s open wheel racing is made possible with a twin-turbocharged, 2.2 liter V-6 engine the auto company says reflects the technology currently being implemented in production cars for the street.

Next race for the 2012 IZOD INDYCAR Series is a Labour Day weekend Sunday race on the streets of Baltimore.

　

2012 IZOD INDYCAR Series
GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma
Race Results

	Car #	Driver	Driver Nationality	Race Team	Engine Supplier
1	2	Ryan Briscoe	Australia	Team Penske	Chevrolet
2	12	Will Power	Australia	Team Penske	Chevrolet
3	10	Dario Franchitti	Scotland	Target/Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda
4	8	Rubens Barrichello	Brazil	KV Racing Technology	Chevrolet
5	38	Graham Rahal	United States	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda
6	3	Helio Castroneves	Brazil	Team Penske	Chevrolet
7	77	Simon Pagenaud	France	Schmidt-Hamilton Motorsports	Honda
8	4	JR Hildebrand	United States	Panther Racing	Chevrolet
9	98	Alex Tagliani	Canada	Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb Agajanian	Honda
10	11	Tony Kanaan	Brazil	KV Racing Technology	Chevrolet
11	18	Justin Wilson	England	Dale Coyne Racing	Honda
12	19	James Jakes	England	Dale Coyne Racing	Honda
13	9	Scott Dixon	New Zealand	Target/Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda
14	14	Mike Conway	England	AJ Foyt Enterprises	Honda
15	17	Sebastian Saavedra	Columbia	Team AFS	Chevrolet
16	5	EJ Viso	Venezuela	KV Racing Technology	Chevrolet
17	78	Simona de Silvestro	Switzerland	Lotus-HVM Racing	Lotus
18	28	Ryan Hunter-Reay	United States	Andretti Autosport	Chevrolet
19	22	Oriol Servia	Spain	Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	Chevrolet
20	20	Ed Carpenter	United States	Ed Carpenter Racing	Chevrolet
21	83	Charlie Kimball	United States	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda
22	7	Sebastien Bourdais	France	Dragon Racing	Chevrolet
23	67	Josef Newgarden	United States	Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing	Honda
24	6	Katherine Legge	England	Dragon Racing	Chevrolet
25	26	Marco Andretti	United States	Andretti Autosport	Chevrolet
26	27	James Hinchcliffe	Canada	Andretti Autosport	Chevrolet
27	15	Takuma Sato	Japan	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	Honda

　

Ryan Hunter-Reay Wins Milwaukee Mile Indyfest

Photo Credit: INDYCAR/ LAT USA

A United States auto racing venue that pre-dates the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, The Milwaukee Mile has been the site of motorsport competition since 1903. Preserved as a staple venue for Indy car-style racing, the one-time centerpiece for open wheel made headlines in 2010 when the IZOD INDYCAR Series was unable to hold a race at the 1.015-mile oval. The Milwaukee Mile’s historic allure brought the major open wheel racing tour back to the racetrack in 2011 but was hurt by poor planning leading to many questions of whether the event will continue for 2012. Five-time winner at The Milwaukee Mile Michael Andretti would save the race through his sports marketing firm proving the 2012 IZOD INDYCAR Series another chance show-off the 22-lap event as a historical crown jewel.

On race day Saturday, rain delayed the start of the Milwaukee Indyfest by around two hours. However, with aggressive track drying, The Milwaukee Mile’s race start was inevitable. Little past two 2pm local time, pole-sitter Dario Franchitti led the 25-car IZOD INDYCAR field to the double-file start. A neat flawless start for almost all competitors, the #10 car of Franchitti benefited from his front starting position to secure a comfortable lead through the Milwaukee Indyfest’s first 63 laps.

On lap 28, a pit stop for the #67 Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing car was penalized when Josef Newgarden ran into an air wrench lying in his stall. The penalty for the American driver Newgarden added insult to the injury of losing their 7^th place qualifying due to an unapproved engine change. Josef Newgarden would be the first retirement from the event with a mechanical problem reported on the #67 Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing race machine.

The first caution of the Milwaukee Indyfest was thrown on lap 67 when Simona de Silvestre’s #78 car was stopped in turn 4. The sole Lotus engined runner currently in the 2012 IZOD INDYCAR Series, the HVM Racing car ended its day with the driver de Silvestro stating, "I just made a mistake.”.

With the #10 Target Chip Ganassi Racing car pitting just ahead of the yellow flag period, the race was ultimately out of the hands of the car’s Scottish driver Dario Franchitti. Later in the race, Franchitti would end up in the turn 3-4 wall finishing a season-worst 19^th. The Milwaukee Indyfest event would prove tedious for the Target Chip Ganassi Racing squad with #9 car of Scott Dixon penalized with a drive-though sentence for passing under yellow. Several observers including Dixon questioned the officials’ penalty. "I really don't know what happened on the restart where we got penalized. I think the one they waved off was the one we got out of line when EJ Viso was trying to restart at 20 mph.” said Scott Dixon. Running third when he was assessed the penalty lap 123, Scott Dixon and the #9 car was only able to claim 11^th place at the end of 225 laps.

After the 63^rd lap, Chevrolet powered would rule The Milwaukee Mile in a dominance not seen since earlier in the 2012 IZOD INDYCAR season. The #3 Team Penske car of Helio Castroneves took the lead from Dario Franchitti with James Hinchcliffe leading a lap through a pit stop exchange. Assuming the lead by staying out on the racetrack while others pitted, EJ Viso in the #5 KV Racing Technology vehicle would lead 27 laps. Viso would turn the lead back over to Castroneves on lap 96 during a caution for Justin Wilson #18 Dale Coyne Racing car sitting on the racetrack with a blown Honda engine. Misfortune would also find Wilson’s Dale Coyne Racing teammate James Jakes who was part of a coming-together with the #15 car of Takuma Sato. Unrelated to the crash between Jakes and Sato, the #4 car of JR Hildebrand was also part of the race’s third yellow period as his car stalled due to a mechanical problem.

The winning pass of the event was made on lap 142 when the #28 car of Ryan Hunter-Reay took advantage of a slight bobble by Castroneves. Surviving the attacks under two additional cautions, Hunter-Reay gave the Andretti Autosport group their first victory in 2012. By winning the Milwaukee Indyfest, Ryan Hunter-Reay will have won at least once in all three seasons he raced with Andretti Autosport. "It's amazing. First of all, thank you to all of the fans for coming out, filling a great number of seats in here. What a race. I know we would all have liked to see a little more passing, but from the car it was so busy, just trying to hang on to it. But getting a win for DHL and Sun Drop, it's unreal.” said the winning driver Hunter-Reay. For winning car owner Michael Andretti, the victory in a race promoted by Andretti Sports Marketing was a significant day.

Photo Credit: INDYCAR/ LAT USA

Quietly claiming his best finish of the season, Tony Kanaan finished ahead of the Andretti Autosport #27 car of James Hinchcliffe. For another incredible top-5 performance for the Dreyer & Reinbold Racing #22 car of Oriol Servia, the Spanish driver weaved this way from 20^th to 4^th in the Milwaukee Indyfest. Rounding out the top-5 for the 2012 Milwaukee Indyfest is the EJ Viso’s #5 car for KV Racing Technology.

With the top-5 in the 2012 IZOD INDYCAR Series’ The Milwaukee Mile all Chevrolet powered, this was the first win by the bowtie win since the Sao Paulo street race event. After 225 laps in the Saturday event, Alex Tagliani’s #98 Bryan Herta Autosport race car was the highest-finishing Honda-engined runner.

The next venue for the 2012 IZOD INDYCAR Series is June 23^rd at Iowa Speedway for the Iowa Corn Indy 250 night race.


2012 IZOD INDYCAR
Milwaukee Indyfest
The Milwaukee Mile
Race Results

	Car #	Driver	Driver Nationality	Race Team	Engine
1	28	Ryan Hunter-Reay	United States	Andretti Autosport	Chevrolet
2	11	Tony Kanaan	Brazil	KV Racing Technology	Chevrolet
3	27	James Hinchcliffe	Canada	Andretti Autosport	Chevrolet
4	22	Oriol Servia	Spain	Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	Chevrolet
5	5	EJ Viso	Venezuela	KV Racing Technology	Chevrolet
6	3	Helio Castroneves	Brazil	Team Penske	Chevrolet
7	98	Alex Tagliani	Canada	Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb Agajanian	Honda
8	20	Ed Carpenter	United States	Ed Carpenter Racing	Chevrolet
9	38	Graham Rahal	United States	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda
10	8	Rubens Barrichello	Brazil	KV Racing Technology	Chevrolet
11	9	Scott Dixon	New Zealand	Target/Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda
12	12	Will Power	Australia	Team Penske	Chevrolet
13	77	Simon Pagenaud	France	Schmidt-Hamilton Motorsports	Honda
14	2	Ryan Briscoe	Australia	Team Penske	Chevrolet
15	26	Marco Andretti	United States	Andretti Autosport	Chevrolet
16	14	Mike Conway	England	AJ Foyt Enterprises	Honda
17	83	Charlie Kimball	United States	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda
18	6	Katherine Legge	England	Dragon Racing	Chevrolet
19	10	Dario Franchitti	Scotland	Target/Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda
20	15	Takuma Sato	Japan	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	Honda
21	19	James Jakes	England	Dale Coyne Racing	Honda
22	4	JR Hildebrand	United States	Panther Racing	Chevrolet
23	18	Justin Wilson	England	Dale Coyne Racing	Honda
24	78	Simona de Silvestro	Switzerland	Lotus-HVM Racing	Lotus
25	67	Josef Newgarden	United States	Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing	Honda

Wilson Whips INDYCAR Superteams with Texas Win

Photo source: Michael L. Levitt. LAT Photo USA

The IZOD INDYCAR Series trip to the Texas Motor Speedway has always been one a fan favourite. While last year's race featured much of the drama within the twin-race experiment, many believed the reversion back to the single 228-lap formula in addition to the new 2012 race cars would amount to a better quality race at Texas for the Firestone 550. Fortunately, the result for this Saturday night contest among the open wheel racing stars of the 2012 IZOD INDYCAR Series was everything fans wanted. Race-long competition, a few harmless crashes and a late lap fight between two hungry drivers.
When the 25-car field took the field at the 1.5-mile Texas Motor Speedway, pole-sitter Alex Tagliani led the Firestone 550 for 20 laps. The #98 Bryan Herta Autosport car's presence at the front was disturbed by the charge of the #9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing piloted with the hands of Belle Isle race winner Scott Dixon. Dixon took the lead from Tagliani through turn 3 coming on the 20th lap. 
The race's first caution came on lap 31 with Charlie Kimball crashing his #83 car slammed the turn 4 wall. Kimball left out of his vehicle unhurt but expressed displeasure with the driver of the #5 KV Racing Technology driver EJ Viso. "It's disappointing. The car was going to get better and better, especially in clean air. I had really good pace but the No. 5 car of Viso was all over the road in front of me. I had no idea what he was going to do for five laps in a row. I'd go low and then he'd chop me, and I'd take off toward the fence." said Kimball.

leaders of the Firestone 550 would pit on lap 36 making use of the caution period ahead of a restart on lap 40 where Scott Dixon continued to lead the early stage of the Texas oval race. Between lap 62 and lap 65, the Firestone 550 saw two potential front-runners fall to the waste side during the Saturday night race. Started with the souring of the Chevrolet engine inside the #28 Andretti Autosport of Ryan Hunter-Reay, Takuma Sato lost control of his #15 car in turn two drawing the race's second yellow flag.

Photo Credit: INDYCAR/LAT USA

During the Firestone 550's first 173 laps, Oriol Servia, Mike Conway and James Hinchcliffe would lead on occasions but the race was dominated by the #9 car of Scott Dixon. The New Zealand driver Dixon was at front for 133 of the laps Saturday night but would not finish the Texas Motor Speedway. After a fantastic performance, the Target Chip Ganassi Racing driver spun out in turn 4 and made slight contact with the wall. "I turned in and the rear just started to slide and I kind of dipped down onto the apron and shut around again." said Dixon who would wind up in 18th place.

Following the clean-up of the Dixon caution, the plot thickened to the Firestone 550 as the new leader of the race Will Power made contact with the #11 car of Tony Kanaan during a three-way battle for the lead. Resulting in minor damage to the #11 KV Racing Technology car, the #12 Team Penske car of Power was charged with a violation relating to blocking on lap 194. "I had (Ryan) Briscoe on the outside and Tony (Kanaan) took me by surprise. I feel bad for him. I ruined his day because he had to come in and change the front wing, and we ruined our own day by getting the penalty." said Will Power who ended up 8th in the event.

Will Power's teammate Ryan Briscoe inherited the lead of the Firestone 550 on lap 194 but would lose the position 6 laps later to Graham Rahal's #38 Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara-Honda. Through the final 28 laps, the story was about the leading car of Rahal and the charging #18 Dallara-Honda under the Dale Coyne Racing banner. Reeling in the leaders, British driver Justin Wilson in the #18 car focused on providing the first win to his race team since his 2009 victory at the Watkins Glen INDYCAR event. Into the final laps, Wilson caught Rahal and Briscoe for a final two-lap showdown among three cars. Through turn 4, a bobble by Graham Rahal's #38 car opened the door for the #18 of Justin Wilson to pass and win the Firestone 550.

Justin Wilson's first oval victory in an Indycar-type machine (counting INDYCAR and Champ car competition for the British driver), this memorable win with Dale Coyne Racing was a significantly treasured triumph against the heavyweight teams in the 2012 IZOD INDYCAR Series that ruled the season. Wilson returned to Dale Coyne Racing in 2012 after two seasons signed with the Dreyer & Reinbold Racing organization. "I just can't believe we managed to pull this off. The car was fantastic. And on the long runs, it just got better and better. I saw people sliding around and knew I just had to hit my marks." said the winning driver of the Firestone 550.

Photo source: (c)2012, Phil Abbott. LAT Photo USA

Despite the late-race mistake, Graham Rahal held onto 2nd place ahead of Ryan Briscoe. After being the victim of a degrading Detroit race track on the previous race weekend, the #27 Andretti Autosport driver James Hinchcliffe rebounded to finish 4th. The Canadian driver Hinchcliffe was elevated back to third in the overall driver points standing with Will Power still holding on to the top spot.

The euphoria of that win was dampened slightly away from victory lane as the #18 Dale Coyne Racing Dallara-Honda was sent through inspection. An forbidden aerodynamic adjustment on the winning race machine resulted in a fine of $7,500 and the deduction of 5 points earned through the Texas Motor Speedway win.



2012 IZOD INDYCAR
Firestone 550
Texas Motor Speedway
Race Results

	Car #	Driver	Driver Nationality	Race Team	Engine
1	18	Justin Wilson	England	Dale Coyne Racing	Honda
2	38	Graham Rahal	United States	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda
3	2	Ryan Briscoe	Australia	Team Penske	Chevrolet
4	27	James Hinchcliffe	Canada	Andretti Autosport	Chevrolet
5	4	JR Hildebrand	United States	Panther Racing	Chevrolet
6	77	Simon Pagenaud	France	Schmidt-Hamilton Motorsports	Honda
7	3	Helio Castroneves	Brazil	Team Penske	Chevrolet
8	12	Will Power	Australia	Team Penske	Chevrolet
9	98	Alex Tagliani	Canada	Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb Agajanian	Honda
10	19	James Jakes	England	Dale Coyne Racing	Honda
11	11	Tony Kanaan	Brazil	KV Racing Technology	Chevrolet
12	20	Ed Carpenter	United States	Ed Carpenter Racing	Chevrolet
13	67	Josef Newgarden	United States	Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing	Honda
14	10	Dario Franchitti	Scotland	Target/Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda
15	6	Katherine Legge	England	Dragon Racing	Chevrolet
16	14	Mike Conway	England	AJ Foyt Enterprises	Honda
17	26	Marco Andretti	United States	Andretti Autosport	Chevrolet
18	9	Scott Dixon	New Zealand	Target/Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda
19	5	EJ Viso	Venezuela	KV Racing Technology	Chevrolet
20	22	Oriol Servia	Spain	Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	Chevrolet
21	28	Ryan Hunter-Reay	United States	Andretti Autosport	Chevrolet
22	15	Takuma Sato	Japan	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	Honda
23	83	Charlie Kimball	United States	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda
24	8	Rubens Barrichello	Brazil	KV Racing Technology	Chevrolet
25	78	Simona de Silvestro	Switzerland	Lotus-HVM Racing	Lotus

No 2012 INDYCAR Race in China

Image Credit: INDYCAR

After several sources detected troubling signs that the 2012 IZOD INDYCAR Series event in Qingdoa, China was in peril, the sanctioning body has announced that the planned August 19th trip has been cancelled. The China race for the IZOD INDYCAR Series was set to be the sole Asian event effectively replacing the tour's former event at the Twin-Ring Motegi in Japan that concluded last season.

According to the INDYCAR CEO Randy Bernard, it was the race promoter that pulled the plug on what was going to be the first visit by the North American open wheel racing series to the highly-populated country. "After ongoing discussions regarding alternative dates, as well as doing our due diligence in exploring alternate venues in China, the promoter cancelled the event. A decision had to be made to allow INDYCAR and its participants to plan accordingly for the second half of the season." said Bernard.

INDYCAR is currently eyeing options for replacing the Chinese date with another 2012 event. Rumours indicate Road America had been mentioned as a leading candidate but no decision has been made.

Weekend Auto Racing Weather Forecast June 9-10, 2012

Photo Credit: Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images for NASCAR

IZOD INDYCAR Series
Fort Worth, Texas, United States
Firestone 550
Texas Motor Speedway
Saturday
	4 pm	7 pm	10 pm
Temperature (Celsius):	31	29	24
Temperature (Fahrenheit)	88	84	75
Chance of Precipitation:	0%	0%	0%
General Race Conditions: Temperatures will be extremely hot during the afternoon and remain high even through the evening.
NASCAR Sprint Cup
Pocono, Pennsylvania, United States
Sprint All-Star Race
Pocono Raceway
Saturday
	10 am	1 pm	4 pm
Temperature (Celsius):	18	18	20
Temperature (Fahrenheit)	64	65	68
Chance of Precipitation:	20%	80%	70%
General Race Conditions: Windy in the morning with increasing chance of rain through the afternoon. Slight chance of thunderstorms.
Sunday
	10 am	1 pm	4 pm
Temperature (Celsius):	21	25	26
Temperature (Fahrenheit)	70	77	79
Chance of Precipitation:	0%	40%	0%
General Race Conditions: Partly to mostly cloudy.
Formula 1
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Canadian Grand Prix
Circuit Gilles Villeneuve
Saturday
	10 am	1 pm	3 pm
Temperature (Celsius):	18	22	23
Temperature (Fahrenheit)	57	66	70
Chance of Precipitation:	10%	10%	10%
General Race Conditions: Clear skies with gentle wind.
Sunday
	10 am	1 pm	3 pm
Temperature (Celsius):	20	24	25
Temperature (Fahrenheit)	68	75	77
Chance of Precipitation:	10%	10%	10%
General Race Conditions: Clear skies.
Grand Am Rolex Sports Car Series
Lexington, Ohio, United States
Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course
Saturday
	9 am	12 pm	3 pm
Temperature (Celsius):	19	25	27
Temperature (Fahrenheit)	66	77	81
Chance of Precipitation:	0%	0%	0%
General Race Conditions: Clear skies with temperature growing hotter over the day.

Dixon Wins Detroit INDYCAR Race Amidst Track Decay

Photo Credit: Phillip G. Abbott/ LAT Photo USA (American Honda Motor Company)

The race on the Belle Isle circuit was touted as a major deal with the open wheel racing series’ returning engine supplier Chevrolet sponsoring the ‘motor city’ event. The Chevrolet Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix was granted the special honour of being the race that followed the Indianapolis 500 on the 2012 IZOD INDYCAR Series calendar. With many minds still recalling the 96^th race at the Brickyard fondly, the 2.07-mile street course in the state of Michigan one week later served as restart point for the 2012 open wheel racing season.

In Saturday qualifying the #9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing car of Scott Dixon broke the pole position dominance that Team Penske held throughout the 2012 season up to the Chevrolet Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix. Only the three IZOD INDYCAR Series event of the season where Honda was able to make use of a more powerful turbocharger unit, the engine is coming off of a momentous Indy 500 win powering Dario Franchitti‘s Target Chip Ganassi entry. Will Power qualified 2^nd quickest as the highest Team Penske car intent to allow their Chevy engines capture the Chevrolet-sponsored event.

Photo Credit: Phillip G. Abbott/ LAT Photo USA (American Honda Motor Company)

As cars took off through the warm-up laps of the Chevrolet Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix, the 3^rd place starting #98 Bryan Herta Autosport machine of Canadian driver Alex Tagliani would not start. This race was the second race of 2012 where the Bryan Herta Autosport team were utilizing Honda power rather than the Lotus engine they ran for the first 3 IZOD INDYCAR Series events of 2012. The #98 car was able to restart but lost its prime starting spot as the scheduled 90-lap street race were sent to green.

Besides, Tagliani, there was also early race troubles for the #18 Dale Coyne Racing car piloted by Justin Wilson. On the first lap, Wilson slid and made side contact with concrete barrier out of a turn. While Justin Wilson remained in the race for 28 more laps, the Dale Coyne-owned car was retired based on mechanical issues pertaining to the crash damage finishing 22^nd. James Jakes, Sebastian Bourdais and Rubens Barrichello were also early retirements from the Chevrolet Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix by the time the race‘s first pit stops were taking place.


From pole, Scott Dixon was having an opportune race leading all the early laps of the Detroit IZOD INDYCAR event up to the pit stop cycle. Thanks to a comfortable lead and other lead cars pitting, Dixon’s #9 car left his Target Chip Ganassi Racing pit crew still holding the race lead as he returned to competition. While passing wasn’t impossible on the Belle Isle track, the pace of leaders gave few teams an chance to challenge the New Zealand driver Dixon. There was also a number of accusations that 5^th place starting EJ Viso’s slower race pace divided the field.

An event composing of 40 laps of green flag racing, the 2012 Chevrolet Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix’s first caution resulted from two incidents on track caused by a deterioration of the race surface. While almost every driver on the course were realizing sizeable pieces of asphalt flying from the Belle Isle track, it wasn’t until the #27 GoDaddy.com car of James Hinchcliffe sailing hard into the tire barrier of turn 7 that a problem presented itself to everyone observing the spectacle. In addition to Hinchcliffe, the Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing #15 car of Takuma Sato was also bit by a decaying track in turn 12. After retiring from his first 2012 IZOD INDYCAR Series race, James Hinchcliffe commented "It was like Russian Roulette and I just pulled the bullet."

Photo Credit: INDYCAR/LAT USA

Given a choice to run the race under caution to 45 and calling the event as official, the IZOD INDYCAR Series official elected instead to give track repairs an opportunity to patch up the sections of the Belle Isle street. More than 2 hours and 15 minutes of red flag to replace the defective parts of the Belle Isle track, the event would continue without further interruptions from the surface. The remaining IZOD INDYCAR drivers were sent back out on the course to receive green for a reduced race distance of 60 laps (turn from 90).

There were two full course yellows the slowed the Chevrolet Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix in the final 15-lap dash.. On lap 47, an incident involving Helio Castroneves spinning out on a slick turn 6 that also collected the #20 car of Ed Carpenter. The #67 car of Josef Newgarden had spun out during this caution after receiving contact from another car.

The race’s final caution flew as a result of a turn-5 incident involving KV Racing Technology driver EJ Viso and the #26 car of Marco Andretti. The final caution period came at lap 52 giving the field one more chance to chase race leader Scott Dixon.

The extended break in the 2012 Detroit Grand Prix did little to upset the rhythm of the leader Scott Dixon. Through the final 15 laps, the #9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing car kept his teammate Dario Franchitti in his rearview mirrors on route to his first victory of 2012. A dominant performance where the New Zealand driver led flag-to-flag in the shortened Detroit race, Dixon’s first victory comes after finishing three times in the runner-up position in this year’s events. “If I could have gotten my gloves off I'd have chewed my nails for sure on those final laps. I'd like to give a lot of credit to everyone at INDYCAR and the Detroit staff for getting the track back in shape so we could race. The final 15 lap shoot-out was exciting for me - so I sure hope the fans liked it.” said Scott Dixon.

Photo Credit: Phillip G. Abbott/ LAT Photo USA (American Honda Motor Company) 

Even a final chance 7 laps to go wasn’t enough for Dario Franchitti to follow-up his Indy 500 win with a victory on the streets of Belle Isle. Still a solid effort based on the start of the 2012 season, Franchitti in 4^th place in IZOD INDYCAR Series overall driver points. In post-race, Dario Franchitti responded, "I thought in the first couple of laps I had a chance, but I couldn't, he was too quick. And with our car breaking the front wing early on, the more the run went on, the more understeer it got. But that's not to take anything away from the job Dixie did, and a 1-2 for Team Target after his brilliant qualifying and my abysmal one, we'll take it." Franchitti and the #10 car came from a 14^th place starting spot to 2^nd at the end of 60 laps.

Aside from the two Target Chip Ganassi Racing cars powered by Honda engines, rookie driver for Schmidt-Hamilton Motorsports Simon Pagenaud allowed the Japanese auto company to own the podium for the Chevrolet-sponsored Detroit street race.

Chevrolet’s top finisher in the Chevrolet Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix was Australian Will Power in 4th. Leading the overall driver points standing by 26 points over Scott Dixon, Power and the Team Penske group are starting to feel a much stronger challenge from old rival Target Chip Ganassi Racing as 2012 progresses.

After a quiet but effective effort at Indianapolis that resulted in a 4^th place finish in the 500-miler, Oriol Servia and the #22 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing team continues to impress with their new Bowtie engine at Detroit. With a 5^th place result, Servia finished ahead of multiple car team Chevrolet contenders KV Racing Technology (Tony Kanaan in 6^th) and Andretti Autosport (Ryan Hunter-Reay in 7^th).

Worthy of honourable mention, Alex Tagliani and the #98 Bryan Herta Autosport team didn’t give up after their early race setback. After starting deep in the field, Tagliani managed to break into the top-10 during the final race restart. The 10^th place is the first top-10 for the former Lotus-powered entry in 2012. The only Lotus-engined car on the IZOD INDYCAR Series grid throughout the 2012 season, HVM Racing’s #78 car driven by Simona de Silvestro took a respectable 13^th place from the Detroit event.

On Saturday night, the 2012 IZOD INDYCAR Series will participate in their second oval race of the season at Texas Motor Speedway.



2012 IZOD INDYCAR Series
Chevrolet Detroit Belle Isle Grand PrixRace Results

	Car #	Driver	Driver Nationality	Race Team	Engine Supplier
1	9	Scott Dixon	New Zealand	Target/Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda
2	10	Dario Franchitti	Scotland	Target/Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda
3	77	Simon Pagenaud	France	Schmidt-Hamilton Motorsports	Honda
4	12	Will Power	Australia	Team Penske	Chevrolet
5	22	Oriol Servia	Spain	Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	Chevrolet
6	11	Tony Kanaan	Brazil	KV Racing Technology	Chevrolet
7	28	Ryan Hunter-Reay	United States	Andretti Autosport	Chevrolet
8	83	Charlie Kimball	United States	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda
9	14	Mike Conway	England	AJ Foyt Enterprises	Honda
10	98	Alex Tagliani	Canada	Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb Agajanian	Honda
11	26	Marco Andretti	United States	Andretti Autosport	Chevrolet
12	20	Ed Carpenter	United States	Ed Carpenter Racing	Chevrolet
13	78	Simona de Silvestro	Switzerland	Lotus-HVM Racing	Lotus
14	4	JR Hildebrand	United States	Panther Racing	Chevrolet
15	67	Josef Newgarden	United States	Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing	Honda
16	2	Ryan Briscoe	Australia	Team Penske	Chevrolet
17	3	Helio Castroneves	Brazil	Team Penske	Chevrolet
18	5	EJ Viso	Venezuela	KV Racing Technology	Chevrolet
19	38	Graham Rahal	United States	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda
20	15	Takuma Sato	Japan	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	Honda
21	27	James Hinchcliffe	Canada	Andretti Autosport	Chevrolet
22	18	Justin Wilson	England	Dale Coyne Racing	Honda
23	19	James Jakes	England	Dale Coyne Racing	Honda
24	7	Sebastien Bourdais	France	Dragon Racing	Chevrolet
25	8	Rubens Barrichello	Brazil	KV Racing Technology	Chevrolet