What is millionaire Michael Schumacher
doing during the off-season?

(put your own funny line here.)

He is also building a new home in Switzerland
at Lake Leman, close to where he lives now. He
will have a nice view of the Lake and the Alps.
I hope it doesn't turn into Neverland II.

I'm just jealous ;-)

It looks like it has some Batman caves. Actually he has two floors that are underground.

Schumi's new home is next to a golf course too.
How cool is that!

Here are some "internet rumors" about the house: an underground garage to hold 19 cars, an in-door swimming pool, a sauna, a climbing wall, a gym and a 189-foot trophy room.

INDYCAR CRASH VIDEO (158Mb, 720x480) - March 26 at Homestead - Paul Dana hits Ed Carpenter INDYCAR CRASH VIDEO 2(48Mb, 720x480) Play with Media Player.

Paul Dana (1975-2006) Paul Dana began his IRL career by racing in the Infiniti Pro Series. Dana sought out and brought sponsor Ethanol to the IRL. He moved up to Indycar last year in 2005, driving for Hemelgarn Racing. When they got to Indy in May, Dana spun and hit the wall backward early in the month during practice. He came back the next day, spun again in the short chute, but broke his back this time. Dana would be out the rest of the season to heal. He was assuredly excited when he found that the Rahal Letterman team wanted him to drive for them beginning this season. (March 26, 2006) During practice this morning for the IRL's opener at Homestead Miami, Ed Carpenter hit the wall and drifted down into the race line. A few drivers avoided him, but Dana hit him at 176 mph, sending both drivers to the hospital. Carpenter is in stable condition, however Paul Dana did not survive. When word came at noon about Dana, the Rahal Letterman team withdrew their other drivers, Danica Patrick and Buddy Rice, from the race. Paul with his wife Tonya in 2004

March 2006 (3/30) - A Hoosier racing tradition is coming to an end apparently. The annual Hoosier Hundred sprint car race which is held the Friday before the Indy 500 will not be ran this year. The race has been ran at the 1-mile track at the Indiana State Fairgrounds since 1946. Many Indy 500 stars have raced in it over the years. It has also been called the Hulman Hundred and the Foyt Hundred. The whole reason that the event will not be ran is because the fairground's insurance company insists that the fencing and guardrails need to be replaced. The State Fair officials said refurbishing the barriers could cost millions of dollars. (3/26) - The IRL's first race of 2006 was today at Homestead. The day began with tears and ended in cheers. 3 minutes into final practice this morning at 10 a.m., Ed Carpenter lost his backend and hit the wall, then slid down the track. Before Paul Dana realized Carpenter's predicament, he slammed into him at 176 mph, reminiscent of the CART accident where Zanardi got T-boned and lost his legs several years ago in Germany. This time though, it was the hitter that took the worst of it. Track workers had to revive Carpenter. Both drivers were airlifted to the hospital. At 12:45 it was announced that Paul Dana was dead at age 30. Carpenter appears to be ok and has no broken bones. Dana had been a sports reporter as well as a promising young race car driver. He spent a few years in the Indy Pro Series and had even started on the pole at Homestead in 2004. Last year, he moved up to Indycar, driving for Hemelgarn racing. Dana missed out on most of his Indycar rookie season though because he broke his back during practice for the Indy 500 last May. Upon recovery late in 2005, he was picked to drive for Rahal Letterman Racing, joining sports sensation, Danica Patrick and 2004 Indy 500 Champion, Buddy Rice. Both drivers withdrew from the race after the news of their teammate's death. The last Indycar driver to die was also a newly chosen rookie who was to drive for Rahal Letterman Racing. Tony Renna died while practicing at the Indy Speedway in 2003. Dana's wife Tonya was here in Indianapolis attending church when she heard the tragic news. Paul Dana biography Age: 30. Born in St. Louis, Mo., on April 15, 1975. • Family: Dana and his wife, Tonya, have no children. Their home is in Indianapolis. • Education: Bachelor's degree in journalism from Northwestern. • Before driving: Started as a motorsports journalist and wrote for several magazines, including Autoweek and Sports Illustrated. • Driving experience: 1996-1997, debuted in Bridgestone Racing School Mechanics Championship and won three races; 1998-1999, ran in Skip Barer Formula Dodge Series, earning six wins and seven poles; 2000, competed in Formula Ford 1600 SCCA Nationals; 2001, made national USF2000 series debut, earning two top fives, and finished second in U.S. F3 series debut at Mosport Park; 2003, six top-10 finishes as a rookie in Indy Pro Series; 2004, finished second in Indy Pro Series points, including a victory at Milwaukee Mile; 2005, drove in three IRL IndyCar Series races, finishing 10th in debut at Homestead-Miami, but sustained season-ending broken back in crash during practice for Indianapolis 500 in May; 2006, signed with Rahal Letterman Racing. The race started with a smaller field than planned. Marco Andretti jumped the start in his debut Indycar race and dropped out early due to a broken half-shaft. Tony Kanaan and Bryan Herta crashed late in the race. The last 15 laps had the entire audience on their feet holding their breath as they watched 2006 Indy 500 champion Dan Wheldon duel with Helio Castroneves for the lead. They ran side by side at 215 mph with Sam Hornish, Jr, Dario Franchitti, and Scott Dixon running 3 wide right behind them. Castroneves held onto to lead until Wheldon pulled a few inches ahead of him at the finish line, denying Castroneves a hometown win for the third time. (3/25) - It was cold, rainy and snowy in Bristol this weekend. Cup qualifying in Bristol was rained out Friday while the Busch race was stopped for a whiteout after just 32 laps. As Frosty the Snowman blared over the track PA system, teams and drivers entertained themselves during the delay by throwing snowballs at each other and the fans. One crew even built a small snowman along pit road. The snow eventually stopped, the sun came out and racing resumed after a delay of 1 hour, 19 minutes. (3/22) - In an interview to the L.A. Times, Tony George said he and Kalkhoven would both like to see a merger of the IRL and Champcar. George said, "I'm one of many people who believe that open-wheel racing would be better served by a unified IRL and Champ Car. There is a lot of hair on this cat — it's not easy. Nothing is imminent." (3/19) - The Atlanta Nascar Cup race was postponed due to rain and will be ran tomorrow at 11 am, Kasey Kahne on pole. (3/19) - Malaysian Grand Prix Giancarlo Fisichella got the pole position. Rookie sensation Nico Rosberg started an amazing P3 ahead of his teammate Mark Webber who would start in P4. Unfortunately for WilliamsF1, Nico's engine blew, spectacularly by the way, on the 8th lap and Webber would be out 8 laps later. No drivers have been on the podium in Malaysia except for Schumi, Kimi and Alonso. This tradition was broken by the first lap, when Kimi spun and wrecked out of the race. Schumi had an engine change and had to start from the rear of the pack, along with four other drivers. He would work his way up into the points by race end. I started to get excited when Jacques Villeneuve passed Trulli, but as usual, everyone else began to pass him too. None the less, JV came home in the points and he showed up with a new girlfriend. Malaysia's idea of a flyover or practice for terrorist? Fisi, Button and Alonso were 1,2,3 respectively for much of the race, but by lap 43 Alonso won 2nd place thanks to fast pitwork. Nick Heidfeld's engine blew with just 8 laps remaining. Fisichella held on to win his third career F1 victory moving him into 4th in the points standing. Meanwhile Jenson Button ties a record of having the most podium finishes without a win in F1 history. Note: the ticket price for the Malaysian g.p. is $13. (3/13) - Patrick Faure is quitting as Renault's Formula One director, to be replaced by former team finance chief Alain Dassas. The announcement comes the day after Renault's defending world champion Fernando Alonso opened the 2006 championship with victory in Bahrain. "Our objective is to maintain the successful momentum of the team," said Renault's chief executive Carlos Ghosn. Dassas will replace Faure after the Australian Grand Prix. The Rosbergs of Finland! 20-year old Nico Rosberg was hired to drive for WilliamsF1 this year and he scored points in his first F1 race March 12th at Bahrain. Not only that, but he came back from a first lap collision to work his way up to 7th, right behind his team mate, Mark Webber. Nico's father was excited, "It was unbelievable to have a fastest race lap under normal conditions in your first ever Grand Prix I don't think anybody has ever had that. Phenomenal." Jackie Stewart was positive on Rosberg's race: "I think it's the best performance of any young driver that I've seen for a very long time. I can't remember a performance in a first Grand Prix that was so impressive. I had a sixth place in my first Grand Prix but he came from the back and I certainly didn't get fastest lap. His judgement and the manner in which he went about it is a rare commodity today but as a racing driver he knows how to pass and showed it." (3/6) - The Formula One season kicks off this weekend when they travel to Bahrain. There are 11 teams this year and 18 races. The engines are new this year, 750 H.P. 2.4 liter V-8's instead of the 900 H.P. 3-liter V-10's. However, Toro Rosso is using a restricted V-10. Williams, Toyota and Super Aguri join Ferrari and MF1 as teams using Bridgestone tires. The rest of the teams will by running Michelin tires. Qualifying procedures have been changed again - Instead of 1 flyling lap, all the drivers will now go out on the track Saturday afternoon at the same time. Every 15-20 minutes or so, as they race around the circuit, the slowest drivers will be yanked out and placed at the furthest spot left open on the grid. The top 10 qualifiers must start the race with the same amount of fuel as they had at the start of the last qualifying session. Apparently the other 12 drivers can fill up if they wish. There are three F1 rookies this year. America's Scott Speed drives for Scuderia Toro Rosso. Germany's Nico Rosberg drives for WilliamsF1. Japan's Yuji Ide drives for Super Aguri. (3/3) - Grand Prix racing is 100 years old. Indycar racing is 95. The IRL and this website is 10. There are 531 webpages on this site so far. (3/3) - The IRL has been testing at a 2.21-mile road course at Homestead yesterday and today. Helio Castroneves of Team Penske has been fastest both days. Testing wraps up this Sunday and the IRL season will kick off at Homestead at the end of this month. Tomas Scheckter's new car is cool. (3/2) - Rusty Wallace was at Homestead today driving one of Penske's Indycars. The 1989 NASCAR champion is preparing for his role as a television analyst for ABC Sports and ESPN's coverage of this year's IRL season, and was taking a few laps to see how they handle. "I tell you what, I gotta get one of these at home," Wallace said. "I had a good time. I feel like I need to breathe a little while and then try it again. I need to talk to Penske about running a third car at Indy. You never know."

April 2006 (4/24) - It looks like this year's Indy 500 Carb Day Concert will include the B-52's. They were a college type band back around 1979. They sing "Love Shack". Their upbeat music should work well on a a sunny afternoon in May." (4/23) - In today's San Marino grand prix Christian Albers got his racer upside down and walked away ok, as Jeff Simmons did in the IRL race yesterday. Lap 41 - Ferrari's Schumacher was holding up 2nd place Fernando Alonso, so Renault changed their strategy and pit early. Schumacher pit the next lap and got back in before Alonso went by. Schumacher won the race. (4/22) - Jeff Simmons, who took over Paul Dana's ride, seems to be keeping the same luck. He got caught up in a wreck today at the IRL race in Japan and flipped upside down before flipping right side up. Helio Castroneves won again today. Now that the IRL has a pretty even package for everyone, we are seeing that he and Dan Wheldon are the best drivers in the series. For now. Dixon, Hornish, Kanaan and Franchitti are keeping up. Wow, the IRL actually let Honda be the pace car. In Florida, and now Japan. (4/22) - Michael Schumacher captured the pole position at Imola today and broke another record. The "Wilt Chamberlain" of F1 knocked Ayrton Senna from the record books for having the most career pole positions. I'm not aware of any more important records left for Schumi to break. (4/21) - IRL Point-leader Helio Castroneves was awarded the pole position for the Indy Japan 300 after today's qualifying session was canceled because of rain. Sam Hornish, Jr and Jeff Simmons crashed during practice. Helio was fastest in practice. Tomas Enge was a late substitute for owner Eddie Cheever Jr., who will miss the Indy Japan 300 while he competes with his Grand Am Rolex Sports Car Series team at Virginia International Raceway. (4/13) - Six winning drivers are among the highlights of the entry list for the 90th Indianapolis 500, scheduled for Sunday, May 28 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The six winners on this year's list include defending champion Dan Wheldon, Buddy Rice (2004), Helio Castroneves (2001, 2002), Eddie Cheever Jr. (1998), Buddy Lazier (1996) and Al Unser Jr. (1992, 1994). It's the largest number of past winners on the entry list since 2002, when six previous visitors to Victory Lane also were named to entries for "The Greatest Spectacle in Racing." A total of 26 drivers have been named to the 38 entries filed this year for the 33 starting spots in the world's most prestigious auto race. Sixty-six cars are included on those 38 entries, including backup cars. This will be Unser's first attempt to qualify at Indianapolis since 2004. He has 17 previous Indianapolis 500 starts, the most of any driver named to an entry. Another past winner making a comeback is Cheever. He is driving the No. 51 Cheever Racing Dallara/Honda/Firestone in his first attempt to make the field since 2002. A high-profile comeback also is taking center stage at defending race champion Andretti Green Racing. Indy legend Michael Andretti will attempt to race in the "500" for the first time since 2003, driving the No. 1 Jim Beam/Vonage Dallara/Honda/Firestone. Andretti will attempt to earn his long-coveted first Indy 500 victory. He has led 426 laps during his 14 prior Indy starts, the most by any driver without a victory. The three rookie drivers registered so far include Arie Luyendyk, Jr., Marco Andretti and P.J. Chesson. (4/10) - Tensions are still simmering in the Red Bull camp after David Coulthard and Toro Rosso's Scott Speed clashed on and off the track at Melbourne. Speed was fined for swearing at Coulthard in a stewards' hearing but the American is unrepentant and claims Coulthard "started being a bit physical." "He was very disrespectful toward me," Speed said at a press conference. "The fact we have the same parent company, Red Bull, and that we're part of the same family means that eventually things will cool down. As it is right now, there's certainly a lot of tension between us." (4/9) - Has Nascar thought of a way to finally take some attention back from the IRL's Danica Patrick? In Sunday's race, Greg Biffle was crashed out by Kurt Busch. So Biffle's girlfriend Nicole Lunders marched over to the No. 2 pit and confronted Busch's fiancée Eva Bryan. The two had words before Lunders stormed off and had to be calmed down by Matt Kenseth's wife, Katie. Soap opera or Cat fights in the planning? Why don't the teams hire cheerleaders? That would rock. Here, go check out the NBA Cheerleaders The NFL rocks too. Start at one of my favorites - The San Diego Charger Cheerleaders (4/9) - The Champcar season kicked off today with their "premeire" event in Long Beach. When they were going to lose this street race last year to the IRL, they bought it outright somehow. There was a pile up at the first turn on the first lap. Several cars were out early in the race. Sebastian Bourdais won the race. Race Notes: A rookie driver is named "Will Power". They've jumped on the Danica bandwagon and have a girl from the UK driving. Jimmy Vasser has been convinced to return for a few more race this year. The IRL has also coaxed some old timers back - Michael Andretti and Eddie Cheever Jr., Roberto Morina showed up as is Buddy Lazier. Last week's IRL street race at St Pete was a success and a welcome win for Helio Castroneves. Danica Patrick finished in 6th! Fernando Alonso won his 2nd race of the year at the Australian Grand Prix. The safety car made 4 appearances during this crashfilled race. (4/8) - Lance Armstrong will drive the Corvette pace car for the Indy 500 in 2006. Now I'm a big fan of the Corvette, but this just doesn't seem right to me. After GM gave up on trying to build a competitive engine for Indycar racing, why are their cars still being used as pace vehicles? I mean that is some major advertising the IRL or IMS is giving to Chevy. The pace cars have always been American brands, but the car company would also have some cars in the Indy 500. If the American car companys can't compete at Indy, maybe they should cut back on Nascar or F1. If they don't race, then they should stay home. Honda is staying and keeping the IRL alive and they don't even get to advertise their cars?! I don't think Chevy will get serious about racing Indycar if the IRL is going to let them pace and get all of that advertising anyway. (4/6) - Toyota F1's chassis technical director Mike Gascoyne has quit the team after the team suspended him. Previously technical director at Renault, Gascoyne joined Toyota in December 2003 and his contract with the team was due to end this year. (4/4) - Jeff Simmons has won 7 races in the Indy Pro Series. He is stepping up to Indycars and taking over Paul Dana's ride at Rahal Letterman Racing.

INDY 500 News Indy 500 Entry List | Team Photos | Team Info | Indy 500 Results List | (5/28) - Sam Hornish, Jr. two-time IRL Champ, wins his first Indy 500 on a hot day and in the 2nd closest finish in 500 lore. Sam Hornish Jr. earned $1,744,855 from a record purse of $10,518,565 for his stunning victory in the 90th Indianapolis 500-Mile Race. Hornish passed rookie Marco Andretti on the final lap as they approached the famous "Yard of Bricks," crossing the finish line just .0635 of a second ahead of Andretti. Sam Hornish Jr. is the fifth Ohio native to win the Indianapolis 500. This puts Ohio into a tie, with Pennsylvania, for third place in producing 500 winners. First and second places are held by Indiana, with seven, and California, with six. Sam is the first driver from Defiance, Ohio, to win the race. It's about time things came together for Sam Hornish Jr. at Indianapolis. In his prior six starts, not only did he not win but he never even completed the full 200 laps. His best performance before today was in 2001, when he was flagged at 196 laps and credited with 14th place. In contrast, Hornish's teammate Helio Castroneves had completed all laps in his previous six 500 entries, winning twice, but today his run ended in a crash on the 110th lap. This is Roger Penske's 14th Indianapolis 500 victory. That ties him with the total of the next four most successful car owners combined: Lou Moore entered five winning cars, while Mike Boyle, Bob Wilkie and Pat Patrick were successful three times each. Twelve owners have attained two victories apiece. Hornish, a 26-year-old native of Defiance, Ohio, and resident of nearby Napoleon, Ohio, led three times for 19 laps, becoming the 18th driver to win the race from the pole and the first driver in the race to take the lead on the final lap. Hornish closed on the No. 26 NYSE Group Dallara/Honda/Firestone car of Andretti exiting Turn 4 and dramatically passed him on the inside just before the finish line. Front Row [photo by Jeff Barrie] The race featured 14 lead changes among seven drivers. 2005 winner Dan Wheldon led the most laps with 148. Andretti earned $698,505 for finishing an IRL IndyCar Series career-best second. The "500" was only his fourth start in the top-level open-wheel racing series, and his result earned him the prestigious Indianapolis 500 Chase Rookie of the Year Award and its $25,000 bonus. Andretti's grandfather, Mario Andretti, won rookie of the year honors in 1965 after finishing third, and his father, Michael, shared the top rookie award with Roberto Guerrero after finishing fifth in 1984. Michael Andretti followed his son across the line to finish third in the No. 1 Jim Beam/Vonage Dallara/Honda/Firestone and earned $480,105. Andretti nearly won the race, his 15th start at the "500," when he led Laps 194-197 before his son passed him. Hornish's contributions to the sport on a personal level also were recognized at the Victory Celebration. He was awarded the Scott Brayton Driver's Trophy, presented since 1997 to the driver who best exemplifies the character and racing spirit of the late Scott Brayton. Sugar Ray Leonard was today's Honorary Starter, and waved the green flag to start the race. Debris sent Al Unser Jr. into the wall. [photo by Jeff Barrie] Marco and Mario Andretti were the fourth father-son combination to race in the same Indianapolis 500. Three of the four pairs are Andrettis: Mario and Michael, Mario and Jeff, and now Michael and Marco. The only non-Andretti father-son pair was Al Unser and Al Unser Jr. The official high temperature during today's race was 89 degrees. This is the fourth hottest race day recorded since 1949. Of 225 fans who required medical attention, 90% were for heat-related ailments. The hottest race day temperature was 91 degrees in 1953. That year ten drivers required relief. After turning his car over to a relief driver, Carl Scarborough died of heat exhaustion in the field hospital. Bill Vukovich drove without relief, and scored the first of his two Indianapolis 500 victories. Lance Armstrong was the pace car driver. Here he is beside Ashley Judd. The 90th Indy 500 Finishing Order Starting Grid + Entry List Photos from Race Day - May 28th Photos from Carb Day - May 26th Photos from Bump Day - May 21st Photos from Practice - May 18th Photos from Practice - May 17th Photos from Opening Day - May 7th Day's Fastest Driver Date Driver Speed May 7 Michael Andretti 220.999 mph May 8 Townsend Bell 221.381 mph May 9 Sam Hornish Jr 224.811 mph May 10 Sam Hornish Jr 226.056 mph May 11 Sam Hornish Jr 226.789 mph May 14 Dan Wheldon 228.663 mph May 17 Sam Hornish Jr 224.381 mph May 18 Sam Hornish Jr 224.951 mph May 19 Sam Hornish Jr 227.925 mph May 20 Sam Hornish Jr 229.996 mph May 21 Sam Hornish Jr 226.256 mph May 26 Sam Hornish Jr 220.698 mph May Accidents Date Driver Notes May 9 Dario Franchitti Brushed wall exiting T2, he's fine. May 10 Jeff Simmons Spun out of T1, light contact with inside guardrail, he's fine. May 11 Buddy Rice Hit T2 wall backwards hard, bruised his knees. May 18 Arie Luyendyk Jr Hit T1 wall, he's fine. May 18 Thiago Mederios Hit T1 wall, he's fine. May 19 Jeff Simmons Hit T1 wall, he's fine. May 21 Marty Roth Hit T1 wall, he's fine. May 21 Sam Hornish, Jr Hit T1 wall, he's fine. (5/26) - Team Penske and Helio Castroneves won the Carb Day pit stop contest and received the $50,000 first prize for its speed and accuracy. (5/21) - Thiago Mederios qualified during Happy Hour on Bump Day to qualify in 33rd and last position for the 500 averaging 215.729 mph for four laps. PDM Racing had a wrecked car Thursday to rebuild and they got it done in time to qualify it! PJ Chesson got an Indy 500 tatoo on his left bicep in the Alley Cat's holding area in Gasoline Alley. Along with PJ Jones, there are two PJ's in the race this year. Marty Roth ran 219 mph yesterday. Today as he was attempting to qualify, he spun and wrecked in Turn 1. Sam Hornish Jr was out in his backup car when he lost control entering Turn 1 and he ended up wrecking today also. (5/20) - Sam Hornish Jr. will start from the pole position for the 90th running of the Indianapolis 500. Hornish's first pole at Indianapolis is the 13th for Team Penske. Hornish, who earned the pole at Miami earlier this season, now has eight IndyCar Series career pole positions. Hornish averaged 228.985 mph for four laps around the 2.5-mile speedway. Hornish's second lap was his best at 229.215 mph. (5/17) - PJ Jones, the son of 1963 Indy 500 winner Parnelli Jones will be joining Stephan Gregoire to drive for Greg Beck's Curb-Agajanian Beck effort - Team Leader Motorsports. Jones finished 28th in his first Indianapolis 500 in 2004 backed by the same entry. Frenchman Gregoire has been living in Indianapolis for 10 years now, but he hasn't competed in the 500 since 2001. (5/16) - Davey Hamilton, who was seriously injured in a crash a few years ago, was considered for a drive at Cheever Racing, however, Max Papis got the job. It will be the second Indy 500 for Papis, 36, who has competed in Formula One, CART and several sports-car series during a 24-year career. In 2002, Papis also drove for Cheever in The 500. (5/14) - The weather cleared Sunday for some practice laps before rain ended the day with no driver getting a chance to qualify. All 33 positions will be up for qualifying next Saturday. QUALIFYING ORDER Order Car/Driver 1 #92 Jeff Bucknum 2 #90 Townsend Bell 3 #4T Vitor Meira 4 #4 Vitor Meira 5 #25 Marty Roth 6 #31 Al Unser Jr. 7 #7T Bryan Herta 8 #1T Michael Andretti 9 #5T Buddy Lazier 10 #7 Bryan Herta 11 #3 Helio Castroneves 12 #41 Larry Foyt 14 #61 Arie Luyendyk Jr. 15 #91T PJ Chesson 16 #88 Airton Dare 17 #9T Scott Dixon 18 #55 Kosuke Matsuura 19 #2 Tomas Scheckter 20 #90T Townsend Bell 21 #51 Eddie Cheever Jr. 22 #55T Kosuke Matsuura 23 #52 TBA 24 #15 Buddy Rice 25 #1 Michael Andretti 26 #9 Scott Dixon 27 #31T Al Unser, Jr. 28 #10T Dan Wheldon 29 #51T Eddie Cheever, Jr. 30 #26T Marco Andretti 31 #6T Sam Hornish, Jr. 32 #21 Jaques Lazier 33 #48 TBA 34 #27 Dario Franchitti 35 #93 TBA 36 #11 Tony Kanaan 37 #20 Ed Carpenter 38 #18 Thiago Medeiros 39 #8 Scott Sharp 40 #15T Buddy Rice 41 #16 Danica Patrick 42 #26 Marco Andretti 43 #91 PJ Chesson 44 #2T Tomas Scheckter 45 #11T Tony Kanaan 46 #14T Felipe Giaffone 47 #27T Dario Franchitti 48 #22 TBA 49 #6 Sam Hornish, Jr. 50 #12 Jon Herb 51 #10 Dan Wheldon 52 #20T Ed Carpenter 53 #17 Jeff Simmons 54 #21T Jaques Lazier 55 #8T Scott Sharp 56 #16T Danica Patrick 57 #5 Buddy Lazier 58 #41T Larry Foyt 59 #17T Jeff Simmons 60 #14 Felipe Giaffone 61 #97 Stephan Gregoire 62 #3T Helio Castroneves (5/14) - The Andretti "family reunion" at Indianapolis this month took on another dimension Friday at Darlington Raceway, where John Andretti said he is considering an offer to drive in the Indianapolis 500. Andretti, who drives fulltime in the Busch Series was the first NASCAR driver to "do the double" when he raced in the Indy 500 and Coca-Cola 600 Cup race in 1994. (5/13) - Dreyer & Reinbold picked up a new associate sponsor - James “Jazzy” Jordan. He is a senior v.p for a African-American record company called Verity Records which promotes real music. Go check 'em out. (5/13) - Pole Day was rained out, however the Cheap Trick concert in T3 still took place. Pole Day will now be Sunday (weather permitting!) (5/12) - No practice today due to rain. (5/12) - Dr. Henry Bock has cleared Buddy Rice to drive following his accident yesterday. (5/11) - It rained a lot and it was very windy today. Still, drivers found a little track time. Last year at this time Buddy Rice wrecked injuring himself bad enough where he could not compete and defend his Indy 500 title. Today he hit the wall hard in the same spot, but only hurt his knees. (5/10) - It began raining during practice in the afternoon. (5/10) - The bands performing for Carb Day will be THIRD EYE BLIND and the B-52s. (5/7) - Kent Baker and Greg Beck have formed Team Leader Motorsports in collaboration with Bob Hillis, Mike Curb, Cary Agajanian and Turner Woodard and have officially entered the 2006 Indy 500. Stephan Gregoire has been hired to drive their #97 entry. (5/7) - Arie Luyendyk, Jr., Larry Foyt and Thiago Medeiros are on a budgeted engine lease program that won't begin until May 17th, so they won't be competing in the first weekend of qualifying. (5/7) - Mario, Michael and Marco Andretti took a ceremonial lap on OPENING DAY. Mario is driving his pole winning car from 1967! (5/6) - Townsend Bell will be piloting Vision Racing's 3rd entry for the 90th Indianapolis 500. He is sponsored by Rock & Republic. (5/6) - 2004 Infiniti Pro Series winner Thiago Medieros will attempt to qualify for the Indy 500 for PDM Racing. (5/6) - Playa Del Racing, which loosely translates to "Beach Racing" in Spanish, was founded in 2001 in the beach community of Playa Del Rey, Calif. Gary Sallee, Schafer, Jeff Brougher, Herb and Moody are the co-owners of the team. PDR announced sponsorship from Videopoker.com. Driver Jaques Lazier will be in the #21 Panoz, while Jon Herb will be driving the #12. (5/6) - For the first time since 1993, an American has won the Indy 500 Mini-marathon women's race. Lucie Mays-Sulewski is her name. Ben Kimondiu won the Indy 500 Mini-marathon men's race, extending the streak of Kenyan champions to 11 years in a row. His time of 1:03:22, was 21 seconds ahead of countryman Daniel Cheruiyot. Laban Moiben, also of Kenya, was third. (5/5) - MUSIC CONCERTS SCHEDULED AT THE SPEEDWAY FOR MONTH OF MAY May 13 - 3:00 p.m. - Cheap Trick May 24 - 4:00 p.m. - Sonicflood May 26 - 3:30 p.m. - B-52's & Third Eye Blind

June 2006 (6/25) - Indycar race at Richmond: Vitor Meira finished 2nd once again... always a brides maid, never a bride. 2006 Indy 500 champion Sam Hornish, Jr. won the race. (6/25) - A.J. Almendinger does it again, winning at Burke airport in Cleveland. A.J. also got engaged inbetween jobs 2 weeks ago, before coming back to Champcar and winning two races in a row! (6/24) - Here is a photo of Danica Patrick's mobile home which she takes to the races to live in with her hubby. It is 45-foot long and has 500 square feet. They have a kind of mirror on the ceiling over the bed. Oh yeah. Marathon Coach is the official motorcoach of the IndyCar Series. (6/18) - Sometimes a little shakeup is what a driver needs. Allmendinger, after switching teams this past week, then won his first Champcar race. This is his 3rd year in Champcar. (6/16) - American Champcar driver A.J. Allmendinger has found a ride with Forsythe Racing. (6/16) - Home of the U.S. Nationals, the Indianapolis Raceway Park has been around since 1961. A company is moving into Indy by the name of O'Reilly Auto Parts. They are out of Springfield Illinois. They are going to pay the the NHRA to rename it "O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis". The NHRA gets the money instead of the track, however they will be using some of it to continue to make improvements to this complex which is actually west of Indianapolis in Clermont. (6/11) - Rookie Denny Hamlin started from pole and won the Nextel Cup race at Pocono. He also won the first "race" of the year in Daytona, winning the "Bud Shootout". (6/11) - Champcar team RuSPORT announced they were replacing driver A.J. Allmendinger with Cristiano Di Matta. A.J. was Champcar's only American driver. (6/10) - Like the Indy 500, the Texas night race featured Dan Wheldon leading almost the entire thing, and then team Penske coming along with better pit stops and capturing the win. This time however, Helio Castroneves drove the Penske car past the two Ganassi racers. Sam Hornish, Jr. finished fourth. Wheldon, understandably, left the track very upset. Unlike many previous IndyCar races at Texas Motorspeedway, this one did not provide a lot of side-by-side action. (6/9) - The Indy 500 will be losing one of its many traditions next year. Tom Carnegie, who has been the P.A. announcer since 1946, is retiring at age 86. We'll miss his deep, smooth "aaaand he's on it!" (6/8) - Cheever responded to insults from Papa Mikey and Danica, saying neither of them are Indy 500 champions whereas he is. So take that! (6/4) - The IRL ran one of their 3 roadcourses of the year, this one at Watkins Glen in NY. The IRL drivers encountered some rain and fog at the start and finish of the race. Scott Dixon won the race for the second straight time. Eddie Cheever, Jr. pulled a boner and knocked Marco Andretti off course and them both out of the race. Papa Mikey let loose a tirade on television, calling Cheever an idiot and saying he did it on purpose and saying he didn't belong in the IRL. Vitor Meira won another 2nd place finish. He has yet to win. (6/4) - Perhaps Champcar should have sent some teams to the Indy 500 to get some practice on ovals, as today's race at their only oval track, Milwaukee, seemed to be a nonstop yellow. Hopefully the IRL will put on a better show there next month. Incidentally, Sebastien Bourdais, the Champcar 2004 & 2005 Champ, is now "four for four" having won today's race. His 175.394 mph qualifying lap put him on the pole for the race, however his average winning speed was 116 mph. (6/1) - Al Unser, Jr. and Michael Andretti were offered a deal to race in the IRL Texas race by the Texas Speedway, but both turned it down, apparently worn out from Indy in May.

JULY 2006 (7/30) - The Michigan Indycar race was delayed 2 1/2 hours due to rain, so it was not telecast live on ABC. I saw it later on ESPN2. Helio Castroneves won the pole, his team-mate Sam Hornish Jr. beside him. Hornish would retire with an overheated engine, but Castroneves went on to win and also capture the lead in points, moving Hornish into 2nd place. Vito Meira once again finished the race in 2nd place. Danica Patrick was very angry after running out of fuel in the closing laps, stomping her feet and even dropping her helmet. She dropped from around 8th to 17th. Scott Dixon, who has won two races this year, dropped out early when he ran out of fuel. Marty Roth raced today, he has previously only shown up for the last couple Indy 500's. He own his own team and he was no where near the pace of this fast race which had an average speed of nearly 194 mph! There is currently only 56 points seperating the top 5 drivers, making this season the closest ever. IRL Point Standings (7/30) - (Champcar in San Jose) A helmeted Alex Tagliani got in the face of a bald Paul Tracy after Tracy wrecked him. Alex was saying the F-word repeatedly and NBC obviously isn't on a delay! At first Tracy ignored him, but it finally came to blows. What was little Alex thinking? Tracy left him lying on the ground. Sebastian Bourdais won the race. (7/27) - Williams F1 will be switching to Toyota engines next year. They have signed a 3-year deal. Williams parted company with long time engine supplier BMW, which switched to the Sauber Team. This year Williams have been using Cosworth power. No mention was made of Toyota's current engine deal with MF1 but it seems likely that the relationship will terminate at the end of this season. (7/25) - Happily for Indycar fans, Danica Patrick wants to win some Indycar races and is remaining in the IRL despite recent rumors. She is switching teams however, to Andretti-Green Racing. (7/23) - NASCAR waved the black flag on Tony Stewart and Carl Edwards for two separate on track incidents at Pocono International Raceway. Just 31 laps into the race, Clint Bowyer ran Tony Stewart up the race track and the No. 20 Chevrolet tapped the wall. In retribution, Stewart stuffed Bowyer, who ended up spinning and collecting Carl Edwards. NASCAR black-flagged Stewart and held him for a one lap penalty on pit road for aggressive driving. To further make their point, he was ruled ineligible to receive the lucky dog (lap back rule) for the remained of the race. "What happened with me and Clint had nothing to do with Carl," Stewart said. "I'm sorry he got into it, but it all started with the 07 car. If he would have just used a little give and take at the beginning of it, none of us would have been in that position in the first place. So instead we had two guys that had driving penalties and two other guys that got their cars tore up. So one guys not being patient and using give and take cost four guys a rough day." Edwards just couldn't let bygones be bygones and sought his revenge on the orange car some 40 laps later. During a round of pit stops at lap 70 as Edwards and Stewart approached pit road, Edwards spun Stewart out. NASCAR black-flagged Edwards, also holding him a lap and made him ineligible for the lucky dog as well. "Man, I've got to choose my words carefully," Edwards said. "Let me just say this, if it weren't for respect of the sport and the people watching and his team and everything, he'd be out there bleeding right now. That's so frustrating. How can a person make it this far in life being that much of a jerk. He ran into Clint (Bowyer). I saw it on the big screen. "He turned into Clint and took both him and I out and probably made it just about impossible for us to make the chase, and then when I pull up beside him and wave my hand like, 'What was that about?' He gives me the finger. I mean, what a jerk. I don't even know what to say. It's amazing to me that someone can be that special." (7/11) - After Juan Pablo Montoya announced he would switch from F1 to stock cars next year, McLaren booted him right out the door. Now if he would have said he was moving to a team within F1, he would likely be able to finish the season. I think he was going to leave at the end of the season anyway to make room for entrance of reigning champ Fernando Alonso in 2007. I guess the snobbery at McLaren is more important than winning - Montoya is being replaced by Pedro de la Rosa. (7/11) - Jeff Bucknum will be replacing Felipe Giaffone at Foyt Enterprises. Jeff hails from Arizona and has competed in two Indy 500's. (7/10) - NASCAR drivers will be testing at the speedway this week. (7/9) - A.J. Almendinger wins again! Three Champcar races in a row! Sebastien Bourdais better look out. (7/9) - Juan Pablo Montoya having won 7 races in 6 years, is returning to the U.S. and Ganassi racing. But wait a minute! He's going to be driving in NASCAR, not Indycar! I'd rather see him in the IRL, but I can't blame him for wanting to try something new. Villeneve is reportedly having similar thoughts. This could prove interesting. I'm curious as to how the NASCAR fans will react. (7/6) - The Penske race shop in Reading PA was flooded by 4 feet of water. Some repair equiment was ruined. The shop will be moving to North Carolina in the Fall. (7/6) - The U.S. Grand Prix provides a nice boost to the economy of Indianapolis. One source says the F1 race has brought in 1 billion dollars to the city since 2000, another says over $100 mill a year. I highly doubt it. None the less, it certainly doesn't hurt the hotels and restaurants downtown. A new contract must be forged by Tony George and Bernie Ecclestone to bring the circus back next year. Since it is possible George might deem the price too steep, Indy's mayor, Bart Peterson mentioned he'd be open to considering aid from the city. George however shot that idea down, as his grandfather did not want the speedway to become a drain to the tax payer. Wouldn't it be nice for Indy if the Simons (who own the Pacers) and Irsay (the owner of the Colts) was as high minded? I don't know how those bastards can sleep at night. Hey, here's a thought. Maybe we should elect Tony George mayor! (7/5) - 2005 Nascar Champion Tony Stewart is being honored at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum with his own display. I found this remarkable since he has only won 1 time at IMS. Helio Castroneves has won twice, Jeff Gordon has won 4 times and Michael Schumacher and incredible 5 times. Perhaps it is because he's a native and has raced in the IRL, NASCAR and IROC here at the speedway. I think its because he's simply more popular in the U.S. than those others. Just not with me. (7/2) - Brian Barnhart says the IRL is thinking of adding a race next year in Iowa. (7/2) - Indycar raced at Kansas Speedway today. Indy 500 Champion Sam Hornish, Jr. won on his 27th birthday pushing him into the points lead! Once again Dan Wheldon found himself on the outside of a Penske car in the closing laps, dueling for the win in side-by-side racing. As usual this year, poor Dan found himself in 2nd place. Misfortune continued for Rahal Letterman racing as Buddy Rice slid into the wall wrecking his new Dallara chassis. Scott Sharp also slid into the wall when part of his suspension broke. Both drivers were ok. Helio Castroneves also had contact with the wall, however Team Penske was able to get his car fixed and back into the race. 1. (2) Sam Hornish Jr., Dallara-Honda, 200, Running $125,800 2. (1) Dan Wheldon, Dallara-Honda, 200, Running $104,850 3. (6) Vitor Meira, Dallara-Honda, 200, Running $80,750 4. (3) Scott Dixon, Dallara-Honda, 200, Running $63,000 5. (13) Tony Kanaan, Dallara-Honda, 200, Running $57,300 6. (4) Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Honda, 200, Running $50,200 7. (8) Tomas Scheckter, Dallara-Honda, 200, Running $50,700 8. (5) Kosuke Matsuura, Dallara-Honda, 200, Running $47,400 9. (11) Marco Andretti, Dallara-Honda, 199, Running $47,400 10. (17) Jeff Simmons, Dallara-Honda, 199, Running $45,900 11. (12) Danica Patrick, Dallara-Honda, 198, Running $44,400 12. (14) Dario Franchitti, Dallara-Honda, 198, Running $43,100 13. (15) Bryan Herta, Dallara-Honda, 197, Running $41,800 14. (19) Eddie Cheever Jr., Dallara-Honda, 196, Running $40,200 15. (7) Buddy Lazier, Dallara-Honda, 194, Running $38,900 16. (16) Ed Carpenter, Dallara-Honda, 184, Running $37,500 17. (9) Buddy Rice, Dallara-Honda, 174, Accident $36,100 18. (10) Scott Sharp, Dallara-Honda, 165, Accident $38,100 19. (18) Felipe Giaffone, Dallara-Honda, 66, Handling $34,600 Race Statistics Winner's average speed: 167.331 mph Time of race: 01:49:00.3423 Margin of victory: 0.0793 of a second Cautions: 4 caution flags for 31 laps Lead changes: 13 among 4 drivers Lap leaders: Wheldon 1-6, Hornish 7-40, Dixon 41-45, Hornish 46-98, Wheldon 99, Hornish 100-137, Wheldon 138-139, Hornish 140-148, Wheldon 149-153, Sharp 154, Wheldon 155-183, Hornish 184-196, Wheldon 197-198, Hornish 199-200. Point standings: Hornish 300, Castroneves 280, Dixon 261, Wheldon 257, Meira 227, Kanaan 206, Sharp 176, Franchitti 175, Matsuura 173, Andretti 172.

2006 U.S. GRAND PRIX NEWS (7/2) - The hot weather continued in Indianapolis with temperatures around 90. At the first two turns of the first lap, multiple accidents occurred which knocked both McLarens out of the race. Nick Heidfeld's car soared into the air, doing barrel-rolls across the gravel. Then Takuma Sato and Tiago Monteiro clashed, resulting in both of them retiring. The field dropped from 22 to 12. The two Ferraris streaked off and continued to pull away from the rest of the field. By the end, there were only 8 cars left. If was sadly reminiscent of last year's poor race, where the two Ferraris dominated the two poorest teams on the grid . I read in the Indy Star yesterday that Scott Speed said he'd never seen the Indy 500 and was not interested. I was taken back by that as it was not a very good P.R. move. Is he that ignorant of racing, or afraid of acknowleding achievements of others, or what? Michael Schumacher won the event again - his 5th time, not counting the victory he handed over to Rubens Barrichello in '02. Schumi has become the first 5 time winner at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway...the Wilt Chamberlain of F1. 2006 USGP Results Pos  Driver  Nat  Team  Time  Status  1.  Michael Schumacher  D  Ferrari  33:35.199    2.  Felipe Massa  BR  Ferrari  7.984    3.  Giancarlo Fisichella  I  Renault  16.595    4.  Jarno Trulli  I  Toyota  23.604    5.  Fernando Alonso  E  Renault  28.401    6.  Rubens Barrichello  BR  Honda  36.516    7.  David Coulthard  GB  Red Bull-Ferrari  -1 lap    8.  Vitantonio Liuzzi  I  Toro Rosso-Cosworth  -1 lap    9.  Nico Rosberg  D  Williams-Cosworth  -1 lap                DNF  Ralf Schumacher  D  Toyota  on lap 63  Wheel bearing  DNF  Christijan Albers  NL  MF1-Toyota  on lap 38    DNF  Jacques Villeneuve  CDN  BMW  on lap 24  Engine  DNF  Tiago Monteiro  P  MF1-Toyota  on lap 10  Accident  DNF  Takuma Sato  J  Super Aguri-Honda  on lap 7  Accident  DNF  Jenson Button  GB  Honda  on lap 4    DNF  Kimi Raikkonen  FIN  McLaren-Mercedes  on lap 1  Accident  DNF  Nick Heidfeld  D  BMW  on lap 1  Accident  DNF  Juan Pablo Montoya  COL  McLaren-Mercedes  on lap 1  Accident  DNF  Mark Webber  AUS  Williams-Cosworth  on lap 1  Accident  DNF  Scott Speed  USA  Toro Rosso-Cosworth  on lap 1  Accident  DNF  Christian Klien  A  Red Bull-Ferrari  on lap 1  Accident  DNF  Franck Montagny  F  Super Aguri-Honda  on lap 1  Accident              (7/1) - 1995 Indianapolis 500 winner Jacques Villeneuve posted his best qualifying of the year after slotting his BMW Sauber into sixth place on the grid. It is his best starting spot since he lined up fourth for the 2005 season opener in Australia. It is also the best yet qualifying place for the newly formed BMW Sauber team. American F1 rookie Scott Speed obtained his best qualifying performance of the season, putting his Toro Rosso Cosworth 13th on the grid. Speed hails from Manteca, Calif. US GP starting grid Pos  Driver  Nat  Team  Qualifying time  Notes  1.  Michael Schumacher  D  Ferrari  1:10.832    2.  Felipe Massa  BR  Ferrari  1:11.435    3.  Giancarlo Fisichella  I  Renault  1:11.920    4.  Rubens Barrichello  BR  Honda  1:12.109    5.  Fernando Alonso  E  Renault  1:12.449    6.  Jacques Villeneuve  CDN  BMW  1:12.479    7.  Jenson Button  GB  Honda  1:12.523    8.  Ralf Schumacher  D  Toyota  1:12.795    9.  Kimi Raikkonen  FIN  McLaren-Mercedes  1:13.174    10.  Nick Heidfeld  D  BMW  1:15.280    11.  Juan Pablo Montoya  COL  McLaren-Mercedes  1:12.150    12.  Mark Webber  AUS  Williams-Cosworth  1:12.292    13.  Scott Speed  USA  Toro Rosso-Cosworth  1:12.792    14.  Christijan Albers  NL  MF1-Toyota  1:12.854    15.  Tiago Monteiro  P  MF1-Toyota  1:12.864    16.  Christian Klien  A  Red Bull-Ferrari  1:12.925    17.  David Coulthard  GB  Red Bull-Ferrari  1:13.180    18.  Takuma Sato  J  Super Aguri-Honda  1:13.496    19.  Nico Rosberg  D  Williams-Cosworth  1:13.506    20.  Jarno Trulli  I  Toyota  1:13.787    21.  Vitantonio Liuzzi  I  Toro Rosso-Cosworth  1:14.041    22.  Franck Montagny  F  Super Aguri-Honda  1:16.036                (7/1) - The two Ferraris had the fastest times in practice Saturday, led by Michael Schumacher who did a 1:10.760 (7/1) - Honda third driver Anthony Davidson kicked off the US Grand Prix weekend at Indianapolis with the fastest time in the first practice session Friday, 1:12.083. Ferrari's Michael Schumacher only did one flying lap but it was enough for second quickest, just under four tenths off. Davidson bettered his morning time by less than a tenth of a second in the second session. (7/1) - The contract between IMS and Formula One ends this year. Will they be back? While F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone had made some comments about not caring if they raced in the U.S. or at Indy again, some of the management of F1 find it important to race in the U.S.: Norbert Haug (Mercedes-Benz Motorsport VP): "We are a German-American company officially, and if I could, then I wish we could have at least two races in America... (The U.S.) is important for us. It is our second-biggest market for Mercedes Benz and is obviously very important for our hosts, Chrysler, and we are producing a lot of cars over there. Of course, we want to support America, and I think we need to explore America further in F1 in the future." Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director): "It would be very important for the (auto) manufacturers (to race in the U.S.). America is basically the only big country in which F1 does not play the dominant role in motorsport, and I think we shouldn't give up on achieving this. The Indianapolis race has in the previous years had the biggest attendance of all the (F1) races, and I think it would certainly be worth to follow up on this or even to have a second one... With regards to sales figures, the U.S. is the most important market for the BMW Group, as there we have the two biggest production facilities outside Germany." Jean Todt (Ferrari General Director): "We like racing in the U.S. Just to recall that Ferrari has its biggest market in the U.S. - one-third of our cars are sold in this country - so for the visibility of Ferrari and of F1 we think it's important to do this race." Nick Fry (CEO of Honda Racing): "I'd say we think it's very important to have a race in America and would like more than one." Christian Horner: "For Red Bull it's an important event. You know, it's obviously their single biggest market. For us to have a Grand Prix in the U.S. is important for us." Aguri Suzuki - "The United States, is very important in Grand Prix, but here last year and this year. But I want to continue in Grand Prix here. Especially I have factory here near. Is many my employees coming here. I want to continue Grand Prix especially here, yeah." Frank Williams - "The world's largest economy by an enormous amount. Money is required very much in Formula One. Three of our main sponsors are from the USA, and we very much need presence here. (7/1) - After last year's debacle, where most of the field withdrew from the race because one turn of the IMS oval was too much for their expensive race cars, I was surprised to hear some driver's comments: Nick Heidfeld (German) - "It is something special to drive on the banking, although basically this is a simple task as you just go flat out." Rubens Barrichello (Brazilian) - "It feels good to drive through the first corner of the oval banking flat out, although it is an easy corner for us in an F1 car." (7/1) - Most F1 drivers were available for interviews and autographs on Thursday's Pit Walkabout. The interviews were broadcast later on television and included Fernando Alonso, Juan Pablo Montoya, Jacques Villeneuve and Michael Schumacher. This surprising turnout for the fans (surprising for F1 that is) was likely due to the black-eye they recieved at last year's U.S. grand prix.

AUGUST 2006 (8/31) - Cristiano da Matta's condition is improving according to Champ Car Medical Director Dr. Chris Pinderski. "Cristiano has made excellent progress in the past several days. Although he is still somewhat confused, he is now conversational in both English and Portuguese. Additionally, he has started to walk on his own for short periods of time with minimal assistance. We anticipate that Cristiano will be ready to make the transition to a rehabilitation setting next week." (8/31) - It was rumored last year that Indycar might lose their best American driver, Sam Hornish, Jr., to NASCAR. However, Hornish probably felt he needed to try to win the Indy 500 first, and did not seem to pursue it. Well he won Indy this year and now he has been granted permission from Team Penske to run some stockcar races (ARCA and Busch) next year. This may portend his leaving the IRL in 2008. (8/29) - Formula One will return to Spa next year, however the Nuerburgring and Imola have been dropped! Imola needs to rebuild and possibly could come back to the calendar. Hockenheim and the Nuerburgring will begin alternating as the German G.P. (8/27) - After winning road course races in Indy Pro Series, Marco Andretti won his first IRL race on the road course at Sonoma California, clinching the IRL rookie of the year honor in the process. Of the 13 races ran so far this season, Andretti has four top-five and seven top-10 finishes. He has recorded 313 points so far to runner-up Jeff Simmons' 193 points. At 19, Andretti is the youngest driver to win an Indycar race. (8/27) - Apparently Paul Tracy's recent success in fighting small Frenchmen has encouraged him to consider a new sport - Professional Wrestling. I know, I know... Champcar isn't really a sport. The Montreal race was rained out by the way. (8/27) - Speed Channel spent a little time before the Formula One race today interviewing some of the people who have worked with Jacques Villeneuve. Since it is looking like JV may not return to F1, people were being complimentary, at least from a European standpoint. As noted below, JV said some very uncomplimentary things about Michael Schumacher last week. So Speed approached Shumi with a question of what he thought of Villeneuve; obviously looking forward to some mudslinging. Schumacher kind of smiled and simply said, "I have short memories." thereby not giving the media any satisfaction in starting a verbal war. (8/23) - Andy Green is a jet figher pilot squadron leader in Great Britian. In 1994 when he drove the Thrust SSC, he became the first and only man ever to drive at supersonic speeds when he averaged 763.035 mph on the Black Rock Desert in Nevada. This week he has been at Utah's Salt Flats driving the JCB Dieselmax. This car has two turbo-diesel 4 cylinder 4.4 liter engines with a combined horsepower of 1500. He broke the world speed record for deisel cars by running an average of 324 mph, beating the previous record of 235.756 mph, set by Virgil Snyder on the Bonneville Salt Flats in 1973. Cool Video of one of his speed runs (size 31 Mb) (8/23) - The IRL is raising engine size back to 3.5 liters next year. IRL spokesman John Griffin said the modification will help increase the life of the engines by up to 300 miles, provide more torque for drivers on road and street circuits and accommodate the switch to ethanol fuel next year. Since the engines will last 3 races instead of 2, Honda will save money. THey will be lowering their lease price from $1.3 million to $990,000 for 2007. (8/18) - Are you sick of hearing praise about Michael Schumacher? Then read the upcoming interview in F1 Racing with Jacques Villeneuve, whom once again is out of F1. Apparently JV accuses the 7-time World Champion of being a liar, a cheat, and a egomaniac. He also said he won't be remembered by the fans. Schumie has definately been caught in a few unsportsman-like positions, but I've never seen a great driver who did not have a huge ego. After you break every record in the book, you're going to be remembered - think Wilt Chamberlain. (8/18) - Indy 500 announcer, Tom Carnegie, who retired this summer after 60 years of service at IMS, was inducted into the Motorsports Hall Of Fame in Detroit. (8/18) - Formula One will return to the Indy Speedway for the US Grand Prix in 2007. Tony George signed a new one year deal which will carry Indy through to the end of the current Concorde Agreement. F1's commercial and organizational structure is not yet finalized for 2008 and beyond. George said it was still his goal to make the Speedway the longtime home of the United States Grand Prix. The provisional date is Sunday, June 17th. (8/13) - Eddie Cheever, Jr. may have been taking a verbal beating amongst IRL drivers this summer, but he won an incident-packed Grand Prix Masters race at Silverstone with a near-flawless drive in tricky wet conditions. Silverstone Grand Prix Masters race result 1. CHEEVER 1h01m08.625s 2. VAN DE POELE +16.7s 3. DANNER +36.6s 4. STUCK +53.5s 5. CAFFI +1m03.0s 6. PATRESE +1m06.9s 7. MARTINI +1m46.4s 8. FITTIPALDI +1 lap 9. ARNOUX +1 lap 10. DE CESARIS +2 laps 11. TAMBAY +3 laps 12. JOHANSSON +4 laps 13. LAMMERS DNF 14. SALAZAR DNF 15. WARWICK DNF 16. MANSELL DNF (8/11) - Sarah Fisher has a new sponsor for her return to Indycar - Fastenal! (8/10) - Yesterday, Al Unser Sr. and Bobby Unser were driving home on Unser Rd in Albuquerque when they encountered some cops who had cornered a carjacker who had crashed his car. The brothers began to ignore the cops pleas to leave the area and tried to continue home, according to police, and both were arrested. The carjacker later shot and killed himself. (8/10) - Mark Webber has found a new F1 drive for next year at Red Bull, where he'll join David Coulthard. Now Christian Klein will be looking for a new job. (8/10) - Sarah Fisher was the most popular driver in the IRL for three years running. Since 2005, Danica Patrick has not only been the most popular driver in the IRL, she's likely the most popular driver in America. Sexy and tough, she's a true original who has garnered better rides than Sarah was able. (Today Andretti-Green Racing, the team Danica is moving to next year, announced a $21 million contract with Motorola for her.) These fast ladys will finally meet on the track at Kentucky Speedway this weekend. Obviously their gender is unique in this sport and many are looking forward to these two duking it out. However, the chances that Sarah will be able to keep up with Danica is not likely for three reasons: Sarah has not been in an Indycar for 2 years and she is going to be rusty. Danica competed in 2005 as well as in every Indycar race this year except the first one at Homestead, where her team-mate, Paul Dana, was killed in practice. That's 10 Indycar starts for her this year. Sarah ran stock cars last year and hasn't raced anything this year. Danica's Rahal-Letterman team has run three cars at each race all season while Sarah's Dreyer & Reinbolt team has only ran one car, except at Indy where they added a car for Al Unser Jr. This means Danica's team has a lot more feedback which provides better race setups. The proof is in the pudding. Danica has beaten every Dreyer & Reinbolt driver by a decent margin in every race this year except at the Glenn, where Ryan Briscoe finished third; and then at the last IRL race when she ran out of fuel at the end (Michigan). Here are the three Dreyer & Reinbolt drivers and Danica's finishing order in 2006: Buddy Danica Ryan Al Date Track Lazier Patrick Briscoe Unser Jr ---- ------------- ------ ------- ------- ------- 7/30 - Michigan 15 17 7/23 - Milwaukee 4 18 7/15 - Nashville 4 9 7/2 - Kansas 15 11 6/24 - Richmond 16 15 6/10 - Texas 19 12 6/4 - Watkins Glenn 8 3 5/28 - Indy 26 8 24 4/22 - Japan 14 8 4/2 - St Pete 14 6 3/26 - Homestead 14 DNS (8/6) - Jacques Villeneuve has been fired from Sauber BMW and replaced with Robert Kubica, who had been Sauber's test pilot. I wonder if its due to the rumor that JV was supposedely interested in following Montoya to Nascar. Frankly, I find that hard to believe. Why either of these race car drivers would choose stockcars over Indycars is beyone my comprehension. They both already have enough money to last them several lifetimes. Jenson Button won a rainy race in Hungary. Pedro de la Rosa had his first podium finishing in 2nd and Nick Heidfeld finished 3rd. Kimi Raikonnen's bad luck continued, as he crashed. Points leader Fernando Alonso had car troubles and did not finish. Michael Schumacher is now just 10 points behind Alonso. (8/4) - Champ Car driver Cristiano da Matta needed surgery to remove a ruptured blood vessel in his head after his race car collided at ~180 mph with a deer that wandered onto the track during a test session at Road America on Thursday. (8/3) - Sarah Fisher will return to Indycar this year! She will be driving for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing at Kentucky Motor Speedway. Her past successes at the track include a podium 3rd place finish in 2000, the pole in 2002. She still holds the track record qualifying record as well. The last time (and first) two females competed in an Indycar race, was the 2000 Indy 500. Sarah Fisher and Lynn St James tangled and took each other out! Danica better look out! (8/2) - Williams F1 confirmed that Alex Wurz will race alongside Nico Rosberg for the team in 2007. Wurz joined Williams as test and third driver this season after holding the same role at McLaren for five years. His last full time role as a race driver was with Benetton in the late nineties. He replaces Mark Webber, whose future is currently unknown.

2006 ALLSTATE 400 AT THE BRICKYARD August 9, 2006 Race Results Laps Prize Money Fin Car# Driver Completed --------------------------------------------- 1. (5) Jimmie Johnson 160 $45,2861 2. (20) Matt Kenseth 160 361,141 3. (10) Kevin Harvick 160 327,636 4. (2) Clint Bowyer 160 271,900 5. (19) Mark Martin 160 239,150 6. (31) Dale Earnhardt Jr. 160 230,516 7. (37) Kyle Busch 160 209,825 8. (32) Tony Stewart 160 237,111 9. (22) Carl Edwards 160 202,975 10. (14) Denny Hamlin 160 177,225 11. (13) Tony Raines 160 168,825 12. (3) Kurt Busch 160 211,933 13. (8) Ryan Newman 160 198,308 14. (11) Ken Schrader 160 184,264 15. (1) Jeff Burton 160 243,995 16. (16) Jeff Gordon 160 198,236 17. (30) Brian Vickers 160 161,675 18. (24) David Stremme 160 179,033 19. (23) Martin Truex Jr. 160 174,733 20. (34) Scott Wimmer 160 152,275 21. (12) Scott Riggs 160 148,350 22. (26) Bill Elliott 160 143,850 23. (39) Casey Mears 160 181,308 24. (21) Joe Nemechek 160 171,845 25. (36) Travis Kvapil 160 158,558 26. (18) Jamie McMurray 160 186,575 27. (40) Kyle Petty 160 161,508 28. (35) Dale Jarrett 160 172,825 29. (42) Dave Blaney 160 149,797 30. (41) Reed Sorenson 160 147,725 31. (33) Sterling Marlin 160 136,225 32. (28) Kenny Wallace 160 136,125 33. (7) Greg Biffle 160 156,625 34. (6) J.J. Yeley 160 170,500 35. (9) Robby Gordon 160 134,925 36. (4) Kasey Kahne 159 accident 173,689 37. (17) Mike Skinner 159 134,750 38. (29) Jeff Green 159 142,625 39. (25) Chad Chaffin 158 134,525 40. (38) Bobby Labonte 135 engine 171,386 41. (15) Jeremy Mayfield 82 suspension 164,316 42. (43) Boris Said 19 accident 134,225 43. (27) Elliott Sadler 3 accident 162,383 Race Statistics: ---------------- Winner's average speed: 137.182 mph Time of race: 2:54:57 Margin of victory: under caution Cautions: 8 for 24 laps Lead changes: 18 among 9 drivers Lap leaders: ------------ Burton 1-6; 8-41; 43-58; 61-69; 71-71; 90-109; Kahne 7; Wallace 42; Vickers 59-60; Harvick 70; 73-89; Kenseth 110-116; 124-125 Johnson 117-123; 128-143; 151-160 Ky. Busch 126; 144-150 Nemechek 127; Jimmie Johnson (08/06) - RACE WRAPUP Neither dead batteries nor flat tires nor pit fires could keep Jimmie Johnson from the coveted Victory Lane at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Aug. 6, as he overcame several early-race hurdles to win the 13th Allstate 400 at the Brickyard. Johnson handed Hendrick Motorsports its record fifth win in NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series competition at the famous 2.5-mile IMS oval by leading 33 laps of the 160-lap race in a No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet that was dominant when it counted, toward the end of the race. Matt Kenseth equaled his 2003 best-career finish of second at this event in the No. 17 DeWalt Ford. 2003 race winner Kevin Harvick was third in the No. 29 Reese's/GM Goodwrench Chevrolet, while Harvick's Richard Childress Racing rookie teammate, Clint Bowyer, who started second, finished fourth in the No. 07 Jack Daniel's Chevrolet. Mark Martin was fifth in the No. 6 AAA Insurance Ford. Johnson was able to cruise to the checkered flag on the last lap due to two incidents that brought out the yellow flag, causing the race to finish under caution. The race, which saw eight cautions for 24 laps, had an average speed of 137.182 mph. Johnson earned $452,861. "I'm speechless right now," said Johnson, who drives a car that is co-owned by Rick Hendrick and four-time Allstate 400 at the Brickyard winner Jeff Gordon. "I can't thank this race team enough for what they've done. We overcame a left-front flat tire to rally back. We drove all the way to the front. I never thought I would win at this racetrack. We had such a drought at this racetrack, and now we have a victory." Johnson and his team struggled in three of their previous four starts at the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard. After finishing ninth in 2002, his rookie season, Johnson's respective finishes in 2003-05 were 18th, 36th and 38th. The victory also extends Johnson's lead in the NEXTEL Cup Series points by 107 over Kenseth, but Johnson's focus wasn't on points. "There was nothing of a championship on my mind today," he said in Victory Lane. "I wanted this trophy over here with the brick on it. I want to pucker up and kiss those bricks on the front stretch. It was all about winning the race today." Johnson's 2006 Allstate 400 at the Brickyard started ominously. He was a late departure from the grid as the field pulled away to start pace laps because his team had to frantically replace a dead battery on the car. On Lap 40, the caution flag flew as smoke trailed from Johnson's car entering Turn 1 due to the left-front tire problem. Johnson was able to nurse the car back to pit lane with only very minor damage. Following the pit stop, a minor oil fire erupted in Johnson's pit that was more dramatic than dangerous, due to the cloud of smoke and fire retardant that briefly erupted over the No. 48 pit near the south end of pit lane. There were no injuries. Johnson also was sent to the tail end of the longest line on the Lap 45 restart for pitting before pit lane was open. But once the green flag flew, Johnson started a pace that would see him in ninth place by Lap 79. Pole winner Jeff Burton dominated the first two-thirds of the race and led the most laps, 87. He led all but 21 of the first 109 laps but said the No., 31 Cingular Wireless Chevrolet did not handle well late in the race. "We made huge adjustments, and it never fixed it," Burton said. "So I don't know, we might go home and find that a spring collapsed or something unusual. I would be shocked if we just tuned ourselves out like that; we never do. To lead that many laps and to have that big of a dominant car and then not even be in the mix is really disappointing." Johnson had a commanding lead of 2.3 seconds on Kenseth when the caution flag flew on Lap 143 due to debris in Turn 3. The leaders, including Johnson, Kenseth, Martin, Denny Hamlin, Bowyer and Harvick, dove into the pits for tires and a splash of fuel while Kyle Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Ryan Newman and Joe Nemechek stayed on the track. On the restart on Lap 147, Busch and Earnhardt pulled away from the field while the drivers that pitted battled behind them. Johnson and the other drivers on fresh tires quickly got around Newman and Nemechek and, on Lap 150, Earnhardt took the lead from Busch in Turn 2 while Johnson was on a fast approach. Johnson passed Busch on the backstretch on Lap 150 and took the lead back from Earnhardt in Turn 4. Kenseth got around Earnhardt and Busch and tried to give chase to Johnson, but Johnson gradually widened the lead to 2.144 seconds when he received the white flag with one lap to go, just before the last-lap incident involving Kasey Kahne brought out the caution flag. Robby Gordon and Greg Biffle also made contact on the last lap and they finished 33rd and 35th, respectively. LaPorte, Ind., native Tony Raines was caught in Kahne's accident but still managed to finish 11th in the No. 96 DLP HDTV Chevrolet. 2005 Allstate 400 at the Brickyard winner Tony Stewart finished eighth in the No. 20 The Home Depot Chevrolet, while four-time race winner Jeff Gordon encountered bad luck early when a tire deflated on the No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet on Lap 7, breaking a sway bar. He went three laps down but returned to the lead lap, finishing 16th. Johnson's win marks only the second time in race history that the same driver has won NASCAR's Daytona 500 and Allstate 400 at the Brickyard in the same year. Dale Jarrett accomplished the feat in 1996. Brickyard 400 Qualifying August 5, 2006 Pos No Driver Make Team Time 1. 31 Jeff Burton Chevy Childress 49.240 2. 07 Clint Bowyer* Chevy Childress 49.242 3. 2 Kurt Busch Dodge Penske 49.247 4. 9 Kasey Kahne Dodge Evernham 49.331 5. 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevy Hendrick 49.386 6. 18 J.J. Yeley* Chevy Gibbs 49.404 7. 16 Greg Biffle Ford Smith 49.433 8. 12 Ryan Newman Dodge Penske 49.471 9. 7 Robby Gordon Chevy Gordon 49.484 10. 29 Kevin Harvick Chevy Childress 49.523 11. 21 Ken Schrader Ford Wood 49.576 12. 10 Scott Riggs Dodge Rocco 49.703 13. 96 Tony Raines Chevy Hall of Fame 49.714 14. 11 Denny Hamlin* Chevy Gibbs 49.741 15. 19 Jeremy Mayfield Dodge Evernham 49.859 16. 24 Jeff Gordon Chevy Hendrick 49.860 17. 37 Mike Skinner Dodge Carter 49.865 18. 26 Jamie McMurray Ford Roush 49.882 19. 6 Mark Martin Ford Roush 49.935 20. 17 Matt Kenseth Ford Roush 49.965 21. 01 Joe Nemechek Chevy MB2 49.969 22. 99 Carl Edwards Ford Rousch 49.982 23. 1 Martin Truex Jr* Chevy Earnhardt 49.982 24. 40 David Stremme* Dodge Ganassi 50.150 25. 34 Chad Chaffin Dodge Front Row 50.177 26. 100 Bill Elliott Chevy Waltrip 50.207 27. 38 Elliott Sadler Ford Yates 50.215 28. 178 Kenny Wallace Chevy Furniture Row 50.223 29. 66 Jeff Green Chevy Haas 50.272 30. 25 Brian Vickers Chevy Hendrick 50.287 31. 8 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevy Earnhardt 50.301 32. 20 Tony Stewart Chevy Gibbs 50.305 33. 14 Sterling Marlin Chevy MB2 50.323 34. 4 Scott Wimmer Chevy Morgan-McClur 50.355 35. 88 Dale Jarrett Ford Yates 50.368 36. 32 Travis Kvapil Chevy PPI 50.380 37. 5 Kyle Busch Chevy Hendrick 50.414 38. 43 Bobby Labonte Dodge Petty 50.435 39. 42 Casey Mears Dodge Ganassi 50.463 40. 45 Kyle Petty+ Dodge Petty 50.555 41. 41 Reed Sorenson+* Dodge Ganassi 50.765 42. 22 Dave Blaney+ Dodge Davis 50.856 43. 160 Boris Said Ford No Fear 50.412 DNQ 15 Paul Menard Chevy Earnhardt 50.499 DNQ 55 Michael Waltrip Dodge Waltrip-Jaspe 50.536 DNQ 170 Johnny Sauter Chevy Haas 50.676 DNQ 49 Kevin Lepage Dodge BAM 50.818 DNQ 190 Stephen Leicht Ford Yates 50.863 DNQ 104 Bobby Hamilton Jr. Dodge Hamilton 50.903 DNQ 61 Derrike Cope Dodge Peak 51.565 * Series rookie + Set by owner points (8/4) - Ken Schrader and Robby Gordon were the only drivers to hit 180 mph in the first Nascar practice session on Friday. Others reached that speed in the second session, with Kurt Busch going 182 mph. (8/4) - While the Corvette has paced many Indianapolis 500's, it will pace the Brickyard 400 for the first time this year. I would not be surprised if it can lap the track faster than the cup cars.

SEPTEMBER 2006 (9/29) - The Detroit Grand Prix at Belle Island may return next year. This time the IRL would be the main event on Sunday, Sept. 2 with the debut of an American Le Mans Series race the day before. The Detroit City Council all but approved a proposal from Roger Penske and Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick today. The contract with IRL would be for five years. The last Detroit Grand Prix was a CART race in 2001, and was won by Marlboro Team Penske driver Helio Castroneves. (9/27) - The IRL has tested Indycars at the Daytona Motor Speedway this week in anticipation of a possible race on their 10-turn, 2.73-mile roadcourse which has 31-degree banking. Indycar teams Panther, Penske and Ganassi participated in the test. It is the first time Indycars have been on the historic track since a open-wheel race back in 1959. The drivers all seemed to enjoy the tests, except for the "love" bugs. Sam Hornish, Jr. said his face mask was covered with them after only two laps. Vitor Meira said the bugs would swarm all over him when he was in the pits. These insects are only a seasonal problem. The new 3.5L engines running on 100% Ethenol was also tested. Tony Kanaan said the package was working great. Brian Barnhart said if these compatability tests worked out, and apparently they have, then he will shoot for an open test at Daytona next year. He said a race is a long way off, but a goal. (9/26) - Scott Dixon, a defending champion of the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona, said he thinks next year he'll return driving for Ganassi, along with Dan Wheldon and Juan Pablo Montoya. (9/24) - During the Champcar race today at Road America, Katherine Legge was approaching 165mph corner when she lost her rear wing. The car spun and she hit the wall backwards. The car flew into the air, climbing the fence. When it hit the ground, it snapped in two, flew up in to the air and was spinning. It was a devastating wreck. I thought the cockpit was chopped in two and that Legge was dead. Fortunately, her driver compartment was intact. After a short while, we saw her smiling and walking into her trailer! Amazing. Legge shortly after the wreck. (9/23) - Cristiano da Matta has been released from the hospital in Wisconsin and is returning home to Miami to continue his rehabilitation process. (9/19) The FIA continues to amaze me with their brass. After the Turkish GP, the President of Northern Turkey presented the winner's trophy. Apprently, the international community recognized the president of southern Turkey. So the FIA is angered, considers it a breach of contract and fines them $5,000,000.00, the largest fine in sports history. In 2002 Ferrari was fined $1 million after Rubens Barrichello and Michael Schumacher muddled about on the steps after the Austrian debacle and Jerez has been barred from holding a race since 1997 when the mayor made an unscheduled appearance on the podium to present trophies. Apparently Turkey has gotten off lightly as they will remain on the F1 calendar next year. Remind me never to make any deals with the FIA. Tony, good luck. (9/15) - Bobby Rahal's son Graham Rahal had a two-day test session with Champcar's Newman-Haas Racing this week. The 17-year-old completed almost 200 laps at the Sebring circuit behind the wheel of Bruno Junqueira's No. 2 car. Graham is currently in 2nd place in the Atlantic Championship chase. He is expected to return to A1 GP this fall before possibly embarking on a Champ Car career next year. (9/10) - Ferrari's 7-time World Driver's Champion Michael Schumacher announced after winning the F1 grand prix at Monza Italy that he would retire at the end of the season. He is now only 2 points behind reigning F1 champion Fernando Alonso and has a real chance of winning the title for the 8th time. (9/10) - The 2006 IRL Indycar Championship was won once again by the reigning Indy 500 Champion. Last year, it was Dan Wheldon. This year it was Sam Hornish, Jr.. The exciting conclusion to the Indycar season was the closest in history. Wheldon won the Chicago race today while Hornish finished in 3rd and they both ended up with 475 points! The tie was broken by the fact that Hornish had won four wins this year to Wheldon's two. This fact won Hornish an extra million dollars. You have to feel sorry for Wheldon who had dominated some races this year, including the Indy 500, only to have the win snatched away in the closing laps. Sam Hornish, Jr. You have to feel for Helio Castroneves too as he entered the race today in first place, but ended the season in 3rd, only two points behind! Somehow he managed to keep that smile on his face and congratulate his Penske teammate. He's a class act. This is Hornish's 3rd IRL Championship. His first two were won with Panther Racing. This was Penske Racing's first Championship in the IRL. Penske joined the IRL in 2002. (9/11) - Red Bull F1 team's test and third driver, Robert Doornbos will replace Christian Klien for the remaining three races of the F1 season. Mark Webber will take over that drive next year. Klein was offered a Champcar drive by Red Bull, but he declined. He is now loooking for another F1 job. (9/9) - Going into the final race of the Indycar season, four drivers are capable of winning the championship: Helio Castroneves, Sam Hornish, Jr., Scott Dixon and Dan Wheldon. Sam Hornish, Jr. captured the pole for the race at Chicagoland speedway. He is followed by the other three drivers. A.J.Foyt IV, driving in his first IRL race of the year, qualified in 11th. Sarah Fisher returns for her second IRL race of the season, qualifying in 16th position, right behind Danica Patrick. There are 19 cars qualified for the Peak Antifreeze Indy 300. (9/9) - Kasey Kahne finished 3rd at Richmond tonight and moved into the top 10 and the NASCAR Nextel Cup Chase, pushing reigning Cup Champ Tony Stewart out of the Chase. 10 drivers will now compete in the final 10 races to determine the new NASCAR Cup Champ: Matt Kenseth Jimmie Johnson Kevin Harvick Kyle Busch Denny Hamlin Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Mark Martin Jeff Burton Jeff Gordon Kasey Kahne (9/8) - Peter Brock was killed today in a racing accident in the Targa West Rally in Perth Australia. Brock raced V8 Supercars down under and won a total of nine Bathurst 1000 events and one Bathurst 24 hour event. He was 61. (9/6) - Andretti Green Racing announced today that A.J. Foyt IV will drive the #27 Klein Tools/Canadian Club Dallara/Honda/Firestone in the final race of the 2006 IndyCar Series season Sunday at Chicagoland Speedway. Foyt IV will replace Dario Franchitti, who sustained a concussion Friday during a qualifying session for the Goodwood Revival at the Goodwood Motor Circuit in Goodwood, England. Sunday's race will mark the 48th IndyCar start of Foyt's career and the first since last October at California Speedway. He left the IRL after last season to pursue a career in NASCAR Busch series, but that has not worked out.

OCTOBER 2006 10/29) - Ha! After last week's race at Martinsville, Va., 2005 Cup champion Tony Stewart described David Ragan as "a dart without feathers." Ragan, who'll replace Mark Martin in the No. 6 Ford next season, found a way to discuss the matter. At a Speedway Children's Charities auction, Ragan bid $5,750 for a ride around Atlanta Motor Speedway with Stewart. "I've never spoken to Tony before," Ragan said. "This will give us a chance to talk a little bit. Tony criticized me a lot after last week, and when a champion does that it's good to go talk to him. I think I'll ask him ...what I should have done different and just introduce myself so if I step out of line in the future he'll come and talk to me about it." (10/23) - Forsythe Championship Racing quickly released A.J. Allmendigner upon his announcement of his 2007 NASCAR ride - not unlike Montoya's quick release from McLaren earlier in the year. Allmendinger is reportedly being paid $9-million for a 3-year deal with the formative Red Bull Toyota team. In Allmendinger's place, Forsythe has hired 2004 Indy 500 Champion, Buddy Rice to compete in the last race of the year - at Mexico City. Self Gratuitous Quote of the Week! "Buddy has shown great potential throughout his career and he deserves a shot at Champ Car." - Jerry Forsythe Rice was in need of a job as Rahal Letterman Racing couldn't afford him since he did not have enough sponsor money to bring. Rice's performance has not been great since he won the 500 and he just barely beat his rookie teammate this year. 2006 Final IRL Standings for Rahal Letterman Racing Standing Points Driver 9th 302 Danica Patrick 15th 234 Buddy Rice 16th 217 Jeff Simmons RLR is losing Danica Patrick to Andretti-Green next year, leaving them just with Jeff Simmons. [Thankfully she is remaining in Indycar!]. RLR may just be a 2-car operation next year. Rumor has it that Scott Sharp may join them. (10/23) - The only American driver in Champ Car, A.J. Allmendinger, announced he is leaving Champ Car to pursue a career in NASCAR next year. He will be driving for Team Red Bull. Allmendinger competed in two NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series events this season under the tutelage of Rick Viers with Bill Davis Racing. Viers will move to the new Cup team with Allmendinger as his crew chief along with earlier-signed Cup driver Brian Vickers. Allmendinger is currently 2nd in the Champ Car point standings. (10/22) - Young Spaniard Fernando Alonso whipped Michael Schumacher for the second year in a row, winning the F1 World Drivers Championship. While Alonso will move to team McLaren, Schumacher is set to retire. Joining Schumacher in leaving F1 for 2007 are driver's Juan Pablo Montoya and Jacques Villeneuve, engine builder Cosworth, tire manufacturer Michelin and tobacco sponsors Mild Seven and BAT. Flavio Briatore and Fernando Alonso star in this week's episode of "Love European Style". (10/22) - In 2003, Frenchman Sébastien Bourdais won three CART races in his freshman year. By then, most of the good teams had left the series, Newman-Haas and Forsythe sticking around. By the end of that year, CART went out of business. A foreign investor created the Champcar series on the dregs left over from CART's collapse. Since then, Sébastien Bourdais and his Newman-Haas team has dominated the series. With several races to go this year, he wrapped up his 3rd championship today by finishing 8th in Australia. Bourdais also won the FIA International F3000 Championship in 2002. He has always wanted to race in Formula One, but they won't hire him for some reason. I thought maybe it was because F1 was prejudiced against U.S. racers, but Dan Wheldon was offered a ride in F1 last year by some slow teams. Maybe that's Bourdais' problem, he was wanting the F1 Champions to hire him. With Fernando Alonso's exit from Renault, I would have thought they'd have given him a shot. Ok, we get it. What is up with those fingers? Is he part Vulcan? (10/21) - Indycar owner Sam Schmidt won the Humanitarian Award from the Las Vegas Walk of Stars Foundation. On October 28th, the Mayor will present the award, a 3-foot slab of polished granite with Sam's name. It will be place on a 4-mile section of the famous Las Vegas Blvd. sidewalk. (10/20) - During the second stage of qualifying for the Brazilian Grand Prix, Michael Schumacher's Ferrari got stuck in gear and he did not get a chance to qualify, forcing him to start 10th in the last race of the season. Fernando Alonso qualified 4th, with Brazilian Felipe Massa on the pole. Massa's uniform is made in his country's flag colors instead of Ferrari Red. (10/15) - The Karting World's biggest event of the season, the RoboPong.com 200, is being ran today in Indianapolis at the New Castle Motorsports Park. Looking at the entrylist, I found some famililar names from the Indycar, Nascar and Champcar world. Start Finish Drivers Team 11 1 Ricky Rudd RH Racing/Racersites.com #41 team 23 15 Tomas Scheckter BeST #21x< 54 26 Robby McGehee Indywolves #51 team 33 31 Katherine Legge Sarah Fisher Team MKP GP #457 team 10 34 Dan Wheldon Mark Dismore Jr. Comet Kart Sales #7 Team 20 35 Scott Dixon TKM Motorsports #12 team< 34 53 Rick Treadway Triple Threat Racing #14 team DNQ Jeff Simmons Team Ethanol – MKP #e team DNQ Arie Luyendyk Jr. Average Joe’s Racing #18 team (10/12) - Last month the IRL added another road course to their schedule -Belle Isle in Detroit. The IRL has now added a 5th road course to the 2007 schedule. They will be racing at Mid-Ohio on July 22nd. Like in Detroit, their Saturday support race will be the American Le Mans series. I like Mid-Ohio, but there are no hotels anywhere close. If you don't have a camper, you are stuck with living in a tent in what will probably be extreme heat. Although I do not see why the IRL needs so many road courses, the idea to run the road course at Daytona is a great idea, so I hope it works out! The only oval track Champcar has had for the last couple years has been Milwaukee, They have dropped it from their 2007 schedule. The IRL will race there after the Indy 500 next year. (10/10) - If there was any doubt that NASCAR fans are serious, Lowe's Motor Speedway Chairman Bruton Smith has assigned extra security for Brian Vickers for the upcoming race at Charlotte. Vickers wrecked Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Jimmie Johnson at Talledega last weekend on the last lap, as he went for the win, and their fans are not too happy with him. "He didn't wreck anybody on purpose," commented Earnhardt. "I think he was just trying to push the No. 48. He didn't think, oh here's my chance to knock them both out. He just got excited trying to push the No. 48. I don't think he should lose any points or anything. He was just racing hard there." Note: NASCAR mandated that teams switch to a smaller restrictor plate after practice speeds topped 198-mph. (10/8) - I've often been surprised by the extreme good fortune which Fernando Alonzo has enjoyed. His boldness and confidence, too, are amazing. Today's Formula One grand prix in Japan was no exception. While Alonso and Michael Schumacher were tied for first place in points, Schumacher had the lead with one more race-win than Alonso. With both Ferrari's starting the race from the front row, Alonso was starting back in the 3rd row behind both Toyotas. If 7-time World Champion Michael Schumacher won this race and Alonso did not finish in the points, Schumacher would win his 8th title. Alonso did not take it easy and try to insure some points, he charged to the front and was soon in second place. Now, is when Alonso's amazing luck made an appearance. With Schumacher about to take a two race-win advantage and a 2 point lead over Alonzo, going into the last race of the year, Schumacher's Ferrari engine blew up! This was the first engine failure for Schumacher in six years. 25 y/o Alonso went on to win his 15th grand prix victory, tied Schumacher for the number of 2006 race wins and pulled ahead 10 points. As long as Alonso finishes in the top 8 in Brazil in two weeks, there is nothing Schumacher can do to capture another championship. We've seen that Schumacher is willing to crash his opponents when it comes down to the last race and the championship is on the line. These instances were among the few actions the German has ever been criticised for. He will need to knock Alonso out of the race, while going on to win the race. How will he do it? With this being perhaps his last race, does the champion of champions want to go out with a "black-eye" from such unsportsman-like behavior? He has pretty incredible luck himself. If I were him, I'd try to concentrate on winning and hope that something happens to Alonso. Ferrari could also urge Schumys team-mate, Felipe Massa, to take Alonso out. "Take That!" Alonso in Japan Alonso's teammate, Giancarlo Fisichella, was teary-eyed on the podium. He announced in the after-race interview that his best friend had died this week. He dedicated his 3rd place to him. (10/7) - 2000 Indy 500 winner, Columbian Juan Pablo Montoya, debuted in stock cars at the ARCA race at Talledega. He finished 3rd. Montoya said, "In F1, if you go to the back, you stay in the back. Here, you can be in the back of a 30-car line and still get up front. That's just really, really nice. I passed probably 40 cars today. It was freaky, but I never had so much fun in my life." (10/7) - Mark Martin, who was supposed to have retired in 2005, is leaving long-time team Roush Racing where he drove for 19 years, to race a partial 2007 Cup schedule with MB2 Motorsports. Martin will be switching from Ford to Chevy too. I would find it surprising if he can continue his success by leaving Roush and racing part-time. (10/4) - Tony Kanaan joined three other drivers who participated in winter practice at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway the past two days. He continued the test of the 2007 Indycar. He reports, "It was a very important practice because Firestone was testing something new on its tires." The IRL engine is increasing in size from a 3-Liter to a 3.5-Liter. The new fuel-mixture is going from 10% Ethanol to 100%. (10/1) - 2006 CHINESE GRAND PRIX It was a damp weekend in Shanghai. Both Renaults qualified on the starting row. As Fernando Alonso raced away in the lead, his team-mate, Giancarlo Fisichella held up the field. When Alonso began slowing, two attempts had to be made to get Fisi out in front. Michael Schumacher soon passed Alonso and stayed on Fisi. Schumacher would move in to first when he made a daring pass on Fisi who had just came out of the pits. Kimi left the race with car trouble again. If I were Alonso, I'd be scared about moving to McLaren next year. Schumacher held onto the lead. It started to rain during the last 5 laps and a pack of drivers got wild and reckless with a few crashing. Alonso ended up 2nd on the podium, but was very sad. Michael was exuberant. With two races remaining, Michael and Fernando are tied! Schumacher said his tires and Ferrari's switching to slicks, helped him win. Fernando Alonso, on the other hand, blamed his intermediate tires for his decrease in speed. Renault dropped the champaign bottle from the podium, but they didn't catch it and it broke. It just wasn't their day.

NOVEMBER 2006 (11/20) - Juan Pablo's first Cup race ended in a fiery wreck. He is ok. Ryan Newman got into him and sent him into the wall, bringing out a red flag on lap 284. Montoya was hired to replace Casey Mears for Ganassi's 2007 Nascar Cup effort. He's quickly been trying out a few types of stock cars. He finished 20th in the Phoenix Busch race a week ago. (11/17) - What has Jacques Villeneuve been doing since his exit from Formula One? Why making a music video course!! Go HERE to see it. By the way, his wife, Johanna Martinez, had their first child on November 14. The newborn baby boy was named Jules. JV is now 35 and his wife is 21. (11/14) - Darren Manning is returning to the IRL, but instead of racing for Chip Ganassi, he will drive the #14 car for A.J. Foyt Enterprises. Larry Foyt has been made Team Director. (11/7) - Jeff Gordon has married Belgian model Ingrid Vandebosch in a private ceremony in Mexico. Here's a picture of them at the 2006 United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis.