The worst kept secret in the IRL is now official. Mr. McMahon Tony George has named Paul Tracy to the WWE Smackdown Roster Vision/Walker Racing ride. The #22 entry will be sponsored by Subway, which Brother Indy sees as an audition for the title sponsorship role in ‘09. Is this what Vitor Miera was talking about when he said the IRL needs to do something about E.J. Viso?? Sounds like a good solution!

When your not backed by a South American Dictator (hmm, no mention of that in the Citgo press release) A Girl has to hit the phones a little harder to fund her team. Regrouping after a crazy month of May, Sarah has caught a break in that Dollar General has come on board for the Kentucky and Chicago races. Brother Indy would stop in and say thanks at his local Dollar General, but the closest store is about a thousand miles away…

Enjoy this clip of Sarah at Eldora in 1998:

The Team Penske cars of Helio Castroneves and Ryan Briscoe have a special decal at Nashville in memory of employee Bill Passwater. The transportation co-ordinator for the team’s NASCAR Sprint Cup teams died Wednesday, leaving his wife and an infant daughter.

Danica Patrick watched Helio Castroneves’ first qualifying lap Friday at Nashville Superspeedway.

There wasn’t a need to watch the remaining three.

She knew she had been bumped off the pole for tonight’s Firestone Indy 200.

Castroneves won his first pole of the season and at the superspeedway with an average speed of 204.519 mph. (tennessean.com)

Castroneves turned a 204.313 mph first lap. This year IndyCar drivers use the average of four laps to determine qualifying order. In the past, the starting grid had been set by choosing the fastest of two laps.

It was Castroneves’ 24th career pole and extends his IndyCar series record to seven consecutive seasons with a pole.

“Awesome,” Castroneves said. “The car is incredible. It’s great momentum for (tonight).”

Helio Castroneves won the pole for Saturday’s Firestone Indy 200 at the Nashville Superspeedway. The No.3 Team Penske driver made four laps around the 1.33-mile oval in one minute, 31.5320 seconds (204.519 m.p.h.).

The pole victory was Castroneves’ first of the season and 24th of his IndyCar career. The Brazilian Castroneves extends his IndyCar Series record to seven consecutive years with a pole.

“I’m excited to be on pole, especially after what happened last week in Watkins Glen (did not post a qualification lap because of a mechanical issue),” said Castroneves.

“The Team Penske guys worked really hard to make sure everything was in great condition, and wow, what a great four laps. Awesome.”(kansascity.com)

Hideki Mutoh (203.316 m.p.h.) and Ryan Hunter-Reay (203.306 m.p.h.) will start in row two.

Other drivers of note and their starting positions: Scott Dixon (fifth), Dan Wheldon (sixth), Tony Kanaan (seventh) and Marco Andretti (11th).

Opportunistic passes, avoiding the mistakes of others and a strong sprint to the finish netted Ryan Hunter-Reay his first IndyCar Series victory Sunday at Watkins Glen International Raceway. In doing so, the Florida native became the first driver other than Scott Dixon to win in four IndyCar races at the historic 3.37-mile road course in upstate New York.

Hunter-Reay started third, moving up to second by passing outside front-row starting Justin Wilson on the opening lap. During the middle portion of the race, Hunter-Reay joined the group running on a two pitstop strategy, while the rest of the field elected to make three stops. As a result, by Lap 45 of the 60-lap event, Hunter-Reay was running fourth behind Darren Manning, Dixon and Ryan Briscoe. But he successfully avoided trouble when Dixon spun while warming his tires in preparation for a restart, collecting Briscoe in the process. On the restart, Hunter-Reay dived under Manning heading into the first turn and was never headed, holding off Manning during one final restart on Lap 54 to win by 2.4 seconds.

It was another typically successful weekend for Honda, engine supplier for the full IndyCar Series, in the middle of a run of six consecutive race weekends. A total of 26 Honda-powered drivers ran 11,009.9 miles of practice, qualifying and racing this weekend without a single engine-related failure.

Following Hunter-Reay to the finish, Manning ran second in the best IndyCar result for A.J. Foyt Racing since Airton Dare won in Kansas on July 7, 2002. Tony Kanaan ignored pain from a broken left wrist — suffered when suspension failure led to a crash during race-morning warmup session — to round out the podium finishers. Buddy Rice held off several late-race passing attempts by Marco Andretti to finish fourth, his best result of 2008. Dale Coyne Racing’s Bruno Junqueria and Mario Moraes continued the trend, finishing sixth and seventh, respectively, in their best finishes this year.

For two-thirds of the day, the race was “clean and green” with just a single caution flag, a two-lap yellow when Team Penske’s Helio Castroneves briefly encountered gearbox problems that would blunt his efforts today. But from lap 40 on, the race was interrupted no less than five times, causing 14 of the final 20 laps to be run under caution for various spins and collisions, all without injury to the drivers involved.

In addition to the Dixon-Briscoe collision, A.J. Foyt IV was eliminated in a similar accident with Milka Duno under caution on Lap 48. Panther Racing’s Vitor Meira led four laps, but was bounced into the Turn 7 barrier following contact with rookie E.J. Viso on Lap 40. Enrique Bernoldi crashed in Turn One on Lap 45, and his Conquest Racing teammate Jaime Camara crashed out on Lap 52 for the final caution.

Next week, the IndyCar Series returns to oval track racing for the Saturday night, July 12, Firestone Indy 200 on the concrete-paved 1.33-mile Nashville Superspeedway.

Ryan Hunter-Reay (#17 Rahal Letterman Racing Honda) Started 3rd, finished 1st, 1st career IndyCar victory, also has 2 Champ Car victories: “I’m so happy I can’t even tell you. We were pushing so hard, I was driving my rear end off there at the end. The car was great, I have to give it to the team. These guys perform flawlessly. week-in and week-out. This is a huge win. I’m an American kid; we’ve got Ethanol on the car and Izod on the car, and to win on the Fourth of July doesn’t get any better than that.”

Darren Manning (#14 A.J. Foyt Racing Honda) Started 8th, finished 2nd, best finish of 2008, first laps led in 2008: “This is a great result, and something that we really needed after the last couple of races. It’s great to finally get back to the road courses again. I tried everything I could to hold off Ryan [Hunter-Reay] and get a win for A.J. [Foyt], but they were just too strong for us today. But I think we were the next best car out there in the closing laps and it’s just a fantastic, fantastic day.”

Tony Kanaan (#11 Andretti Green Racing Honda) Started 6th, finished 3rd, raced with a hairline fracture of the left wrist sustained in a crash during pre-race practice: “I’m not tired, but I am in pain. My arm’s in pretty tough shape right now but this was a good result in the championship. We made up a lot of ground on everyone who’s ahead of us in the points, so we did what we needed to do. It’s good that I can rest my arm for a day or two now, but Nashville’s next week and that will be a tough race, too.”

WHAT A SHAME!!!!

Owner Ganassi can’t find sponsor for his third team

Dario Franchitti’s rookie Sprint Cup season came to an abrupt halt Tuesday, leaving his racing future uncertain.

Co-owner Chip Ganassi ceased the operation of the Williamson County driver’s No. 40 race team effective immediately Tuesday because of a lack of sponsorship.

“If I keep going I run the risk of dragging the other two teams down,” Ganassi said. “I don’t want to do that. “There’s no money. It makes no sense to be running this out of my pocket.

“I had to put a stop to it.”

Franchitti spent Tuesday afternoon at Nashville Superspeedway visiting friend and IRL driver Tony Kanaan. Franchitti declined to comment on his situation.

Kanaan was at the superspeedway testing for the July 12 race at the track.

Franchitti jumped from the IRL to NASCAR after winning the Indianapolis 500 and IRL championship last season. But the success he enjoyed in open-wheel never transferred to the Cup circuit where he was 41st in points with a best finish of 22nd. (tennessean.com)

Keeping his cool when almost all others were losing theirs on a hot, sultry Saturday night at Richmond International Raceway, Tony Kanaan dominated the second half of the SunTrust Indy Challenge, leading 166 of the 300 laps to score his first IndyCar Series triumph of 2008.

Kanaan’s strongest challenger through the first two-thirds of the contest was his Andretti Green Racing teammate Marco Andretti, who led 90 laps until his team elected to go “off sequence” in his pit stops due to the high number of cautions and the possibility of a rain-shortened event. However, the strategy backfired when the rain never came and the final 72 laps ran caution-free. As a result, Andretti was forced to make his final pit stop under green flag conditions and dropped off the lead lap, finishing ninth.

It was another typically successful weekend for Honda, engine supplier for the full IndyCar Series. A total of 26 Honda-powered drivers ran 6,400 miles of practice, qualifying and racing this weekend without a single engine-related failure reported.

The race was interrupted nine times by the caution flag, including seven for crashes that eliminated 10 of the 26 cars in the starting field, but all without injury to the drivers involved.

One of those to crash out was rookie Jamie Camara, who to that point was having his strongest race of the season for Conquest Racing, as the Brazilian came from his 24th starting position to lead the field for 44 laps during the middle stages of the race. Unfortunately, like several other drivers tonight, Camara lost control exiting Turn 4 on Lap 217 and made contact with the outside wall to end his night.

Almost five seconds behind Kanaan at the finish, Helio Castroneves came from 18th on the starting grid to finish second, his eighth top-five finish in nine races this year. The Team Penske driver remains second in the championship standings, 43 points behind leader Scott Dixon.

Meanwhile, Dixon passed his slowing Target Chip Ganassi Racing teammate, Dan Wheldon, to finish third. KV Racing Technology’s Oriol Servia was the top-finishing former Champ Car driver, running fifth, with Danica Patrick rounding out the top six.

Next week, the IndyCar Series remains in the eastern U.S., but heads north to the Watkins Glen road course in upstate New York for the Camping World Grand Prix at the Glen on July 6.

Tony Kanaan (#11 Andretti Green Racing Honda) Started 1st, finished 1st, first win of 2008, 13th career IndyCar victory: “I feel bad about Marco [Andretti]. I think he had as good a car as I did and we worked very well together early in the race. But we did it. I want to dedicate this win to my son and to Robert Clarke, who is retiring and did a lot for me, and also all the guys from HPD. This shows the strength this team has. It was a great team effort tonight. We’re coming. Scott [Dixon]’s doing what he needs to do, but now we’re in the chase.”

Helio Castroneves (#3 Team Penske Honda) Started 18th, finished 2nd: “Wow! That’s the only thing I have to say. What a race! It was a lot of fun for us, we passed a lot of cars tonight. But probably not as much fun for a lot other people. We did not have the fastest car out there, but it was not the worst, either. My car was really good on new tires, but would start sliding around more and more as the run went on. AGR [Andretti Green Racing] was very consistent, and that’s what won them the race tonight. Second is definitely pretty darn good on a night like this one.”

Sarah Fisher Racing wants $635. The IndyCar team staged a photo opportunity on Primary Election Day providing caps and other props to the campaign.

This is just a part of Hillary Clinton’s record campaign debt of $22 million with at least 17 unpaid bills in Indiana.

Markey’s Audio Visual supplied sound services at an April 23 Hillary Clinton rally on the American Legion Mall. It was the last Clinton rally for Markey’s because of unpaid bills.

“It was close to $20,000, yeah, at one point we had to kind of cut them off and say we can’t do anymore. We want to do your events, but we can’t until we actually have the payments,” said Mike Burman.

At least some of the Clinton debts will get paid and spokesmen for Markey’s, Indiana University and Sarah Fisher Racing all say they expect payment. (wishtv.com)

Not to sound to much like the classic exchange from Days of Thunder - but Dr. Indy has noticed something watching the race at Iowa. To refresh your memories, here is the exchange I am referring to:

Harry Hogge: What do you know about racing?
Cole Trickle: Well… watched it on television, of course.
Harry Hogge: You’ve seen it on television?
Cole Trickle: ESPN. The coverage is excellent, you’d be surprised at how much you can pick up.
Harry Hogge: I’m sure I would.

What Dr. Indy picked up from the In-Car camera shot is that Ryan Hunter-Reay’s front wing vibrates and shakes all of the time. Not just when he is in traffic, but all of the time. The same view of Marco and Will Power showed their wings to be rock solid - steady. (The same vibration was noticed on the left front of Tony Kanaan’s front wing from an exterior shot on 2 occasions and look what happend to him), but RH-R and the Ethanol car was shaking like a diving board.

This can not be good for the handling of the car. No wonder he got out of the car with a blister on his right elbow. The car is dancing more than Helio was a couple of months ago becaue the front wing looks like it was assembled by a boy scout before a pinewood derby race.

Did any one else notice this and what effect do you think that would have on the car, other than keeping Ryan on Dr. Indy’s OH-Fer list?

Target Chip Ganassi Racing’s Dan Wheldon celebrated his 30th birthday in the best way possible for an IndyCar driver, by winning Sunday’s Iowa Corn 250 with a calculated gamble on fuel strategy, followed by a determined drive to the checkers.

Wheldon, who ran in the lead pack all day, was one of three front-runners who elected not to pit with the rest of the field under caution on Lap 190. Andretti Green Racing’s Hideki Mutoh and Danica Patrick also elected to stay out and conserve fuel to the finish.

It was a gamble that paid off as Wheldon held off the advances of Mutoh and Marco Andretti by just 14 thousandths of a second in one of the closest green-flag finishes of the season. IndyCar Series points leader Scott Dixon put on a late race charge to finish fourth, while Vision Racing A.J. Foyt IV scored a season-high fifth place. Battling understeer in the closing laps, Patrick rounded out the top six finishers.
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Target Chip Ganassi Racing’s (TCGR) Dan Wheldon celebrated his birthday in victory lane Sunday by winning his second race of the season at Iowa Speedway in the Iowa Corn Indy 250. Teammate and polesitter Scott Dixon finished fourth in the No.9 Commit Honda Dallara to extend his lead in the IndyCar Series championship race from 35 to 48 over Helio Castroneves.

Wheldon started third on championship points after qualifying was rained out and took the lead out of a caution flag with 60 laps to go after his team made the decision not to pit. The move paid off, as Wheldon held off Andretti Green Racing drivers Hideki Mutoh and Marco Andretti down the stretch.

The win was TCGR’s fifth in nine IndyCar Series events this season and marked the 98th victory for Chip Ganassi Racing Teams. Inc. Wheldon and Dixon donated their combined winnings to the victims of Iowa’s recent floods and tornados.

Dixon leads the IndyCar Series championship (316 to 268) over Castroneves, with Wheldon now just a point back of Castroneves in third. Up next for the Target team is the SunTrust Indy Challenge on June 28 at Richmond International Raceway.

TCGR Quoteboard:

Dan Wheldon:

“What a great day for Target Chip Ganassi Racing and a great birthday present. My wife and I drove from Chicago to Iowa earlier this week and we saw the flooding and it was just heartbreaking. Scott and I are glad we could help out as best we could this weekend. I hope the race today put a smile on the faces of the people of Iowa and took their minds off the challenges and most difficult times they are facing.”

Scott Dixon:

“Early on, the car was definitely not working the way I wanted. It was very loose, especially on the low line. I started using the high line and it came together better. The high line was definitely the choice of the day. When you had three or four guys in front on you trying to do the same thing, it was difficult to pass. I think strategy played out in the end and that’s the way it goes. It’s hard work to pass here. It’s good to see Dan get a break; he’s had a tough year so far.”

Special Thanks to Target Chip Ganassi Racing for including Dr. Indy on your Race Report Distribution List.

Race Teams - Please send your race reports & releases to drindy(at)drindy.com.

McDonald’s driver Justin Wilson drove to a 12th place finish after starting 20th in the Iowa Corn 250 on the .894-mile Iowa Speedway and ran in the top-10 for a good portion of the race. The inaugural event here last year lacked passing but the capacity crowd was rewarded with a much-improved race this year that saw increased passing opportunities.

On the start, Wilson took the high line and was able to gain four positions on the opening lap and another two on the following one to run in 14th place. He alternated between 14th and 15th until the first of six cautions came out from Laps 39-50 for Ed Carpenter, who crashed. He also inherited one spot when Vitor Meira was penalized for running over another team’s air hose during the stop. After the restart, Wilson ran as high as 10th place for five laps before he was passed by John Andretti but regained 10th when he passed Will Power on Lap 80. He held 10th until Lap 106 when the field pitted during the caution from Laps 103-110 for the slowing car of Jaime Camara.
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Blockbuster driver Marco Andretti scored his third podium finish of the 2008 season with a third-place result at Sunday’s running of the Iowa Corn Indy 250 at Iowa Speedway. It was Andretti’s best finish since a third-place result at the Indianapolis 500.

Less than 20 laps into the race, Andretti was running third, five spots better than where he started. He would stay among the top three, including a stint as the race leader, until lap 190 when three drivers opted to stay on the track during a caution period in an effort to make it to the finish without stopping. The Blockbuster team chose to pit, taking only fuel during the stop.

On the race’s final restart on lap 227, Andretti gained two positions and was running third overall with the only two drivers in front of him being Dan Wheldon and Hideki Mutoh, two of the drivers who stayed on the track during the final caution period. Despite several attempts over the final 10 laps, Andretti was unable to get around Mutoh and finished third.

Wheldon scored his second victory in 2008. Mutoh’s second-place finish was his career best.

The SunTrust Indy Challenge at Richmond International Raceway is the next race on the IndyCar Series schedule. Saturday night’s race will be broadcast live by ESPN at 8 p.m. (EDT). The race will also be heard on XM Satellite Radio, channel 145, the official home of the IndyCar Series.

Marco Andretti, #26 Blockbuster Dallara/Honda/Firestone:

“If I had the speed to get around Hideki (Mutoh), I think I would have had the speed to get around Dan (Wheldon). Regardless, it was a great day for Andretti Green. It was good, clean racing today. It had to be entertaining for the fans because it was fun in the cockpit, for sure. I’m proud of the Blockbuster boys. We were toward the front all day and they were great in the pits. We set up the car to match the conditions and the traffic and I think we had a very good car.”

Ziggy Harcus, Race Strategist, #26 Blockbuster Dallara/Honda/Firestone:

“It was a great day for the Blockbuster car. Marco drove a great race this afternoon. We had a car that could have won the race, but we ran out of time at the end. I am very proud of Marco and the crew for the third-place finish.”

Tony Kanaan, driver of the #11 Team 7-Eleven car, crashed with less than 40 laps remaining at finished 18th at Iowa Speedway on Sunday. Despite the finish, Kanaan remains in fourth place in the IndyCar Series standings.

From the race’s onset, the Team 7-Eleven car was strong. Kanaan, who started fourth, took the
lead on lap 16 and would stay there for the next 36 laps. He led two additional times during the race and was running third when the vehicle spun on lap 211 and made contact with the outside retaining wall.

Tony Kanaan, #11 Team 7-Eleven Dallara/Honda/Firestone:

“I just lost it. It’s tough to say because I may have heard someone say that something broke on the car but I can’t really say. I lost it coming into Turn 1 behind Dan (Wheldon) and Hideki (Mutoh). It’s unfortunate because we were having a good race and the Team 7-Eleven car was competitive. I was setting myself up for the end of the race. Turn 2 has not been a good turn for me at this race.”

George Klotz, Race Strategist, #11 Team 7-Eleven Dallara/Honda/Firestone:

“It’s really too bad. The Team 7-Eleven guys did a great job in the pits all day. The car was excellent and Tony was doing a good job all day. I just don’t know what happened. It’s been one of those years and we have to get out from under this rock.”

Will Power has achieved his first top 10 finish on an oval in a breakthrough result with ninth in the Iowa Corn Indy 250 at Iowa Speedway in Newton, Iowa today.

The Aussie Vineyards – Team Australia driver improved two spots in the 2008 IndyCar Series standings with this result and now lies ninth in points after seven races.

Significantly, Power is the first driver in the championship standings outside of the ‘Big Three’ established IndyCar teams of Chip Ganassi Racing, Penske Racing and Andretti-Green Racing, showing just how fast the driver from Toowoomba, Queensland and his Aussie Vineyards – Team Australia crew are coming to grips with a new car and oval racing in their first IndyCar season.

The strength of Power’s result was not just the final finishing position, but the way the 27-year-old achieved it, running with and passing established IndyCar Series drivers and teams around the 0.875-mile oval.

Power ran strongly all day in the #8 Aussie Vineyards – Team Australia Honda/Dallara/Firestone and towards the end of the race the IndyCar rookie really began to make his mark.

Power moved past drivers such as Ryan Briscoe, Helio Castroneves and Ryan Hunter-Reay as part of a frantic battle over the final 20 laps of the race.

Dan Wheldon won today’s Iowa Corn Indy 250 at Iowa Speedway ahead of Hideki Mutoh and Marco Andretti.

Power and the Aussie Vineyards – Team Australia crew will back up for the second race in a six-week stretch of consecutive events in the Suntrust Indy Challenge at Richmond International Raceway in Richmond, Virginia.

WHAT THE TEAM HAD TO SAY …

Will Power: #8 Aussie Vineyards - Team Australia Honda/Dallara/Firestone

“That was a really good race for the Aussie Vineyards – Team Australia car,” said Power.

“I was able to get really good re-starts, but just lacked some speed towards the end. I am extremely happy with a top-10 finish.

“It is good for us and that’s as good as we have run on this type of oval, so I am very happy. The Aussie Vineyards – Team Australia crew have done a great job all weekend and I am looking forward to continuing to make progress next weekend in Richmond.”

Craig Gore: Aussie Vineyards - Team Australia

“My hat goes off to Will and the Aussie Vineyards – Team Australia guys,” said Gore.

“Will ran right up there in the top 10 today and had great car speed.

“With every oval race Will and the team get stronger and stronger and today was a big achievement. Things are set to get even better over the second half of the season.”

Special Thanks to Chris Jordan of Team Australia Racing for including Dr. Indy on your Race Report Distribution List.

Race Teams - Please send your race reports & releases to drindy(at)drindy.com.