Norris McDonald's Auto Racing Blog

Paul Tracy back in harness for two IRL races

I'm on vacation with my family this week and didn't plan to blog.

So, guess what? News breaks out.

Paul Tracy will be driving in the next two IRL races, the first of which is this Saturday night.

Here is the complete press release as sent to me earlier today. It's not too big a surprise for Tracy fans who follow him on Twitter, as he's been dropping hints for several days. But for everybody else, it should be welcome information.

Dreyer & Reinbold Racing announced today that Canadian driver, Paul Tracy, will join the team in Kentucky and Japan. Tracy will replace the injured Mike Conway for the two events and will drive the team's No. 24 Motegi Racing Wheels/ Dreyer & Reinbold Racing / Dallara entry.

The Canadian was the sensible choice for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing as not only does he have experience on ovals, over his entire career, he has competed in 270 Indy car-type events.

Tracy, the 2003 Champ Car World Series champion, will be making his tenth IZOD IndyCar start at Kentucky. However, it will be his first time to compete at Kentucky Speedway and his sixth time to compete at Twin Ring Motegi (Sept. 19).

He is one of the most successful drivers in the history of open-wheel racing with 31 career victories.

Wheel manufacturer, Motegi Racing Wheels will join the team and Tracy for the two events, as they will sponsor the No. 24 entry.

"Motegi Racing Wheels is excited to be supporting one of the most exciting drivers, Paul Tracy for the Kentucky and Japan races. We"ve known the type of energy, honesty and excitement that PT brings to the series. Motegi Racing Wheels has had a great experience this year being associated with PT and certainly the Dreyer & Reinbold Team.

"It"s certainly been a great relationship and we appreciate the opportunity to work with Dennis & Robbie this year," stated Motegi Racing Wheels president, Jody Groce.

Tracy first ran with the team a couple of months ago at Watkins Glen and he will be making his return with DRR this weekend in Kentucky and Dreyer & Reinbold Racing couldn't be more excited to have him on board.

"We are very happy to have Paul back with us for the next two events. He's a great driver and big personality and we are thrilled to have him driving for us in Kentucky and Japan. Paul did a great job for us in Watkins Glen and we can't wait to get him on an oval with us. We are also thrilled to have Motegi Racing Wheels with us for the two races as well. We have developed a great relationship with them and we know that Paul and Motegi Racing Wheels will be a great combination for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing for the next two events," commented Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Co-Owner, Robbie Buhl.

Tracy, now in his 20th season, has had a storied career that has made him one of the top drivers in open-wheel racing. He is among the top-10 in almost every Champ Car career statistical category including wins, 31 (tied for seventh all-time), poles, 25 (ninth all-time), and laps led, 4,238 (sixth all-time).

Over the last 20 years, Tracy has earned 75 career podium performances, 102 top-five finishes and 144 top-10 showings in 270 starts (262 in Champ Car and eight in IZOD IndyCar, tied for seventh all-time).

In the 15 seasons in which Tracy has competed in over 80 percent of the races, he has finished in the top-10 in the championship standings 10 times including eight times in the top-five, four in the top-three and captured the championship in 2003.

"It's great to be back with the Dreyer & Reinbold Racing again this year. I'm excited to have the opportunity to run some ovals with the team. It's been a while since I"ve raced on an oval but I'm ready for the challenge with the next two races, plus I have some experience in Japan.

"Many thanks to Robbie & Dennis again for welcoming me to their team. Motegi Racing Wheels also deserves a big thanks for sticking by me. I"m also looking forward to working with Justin (Wilson) again. I also want to thank my personal sponsors for their continued support; Motegi Racing Wheels, CEC Wheels, Oakley, Kicker Car Audio & MONSTER Energy," said Tracy.

About Dreyer & Reinbold Racing:
Dreyer & Reinbold Racing is entering its 11th season of full-time competition in 2010, making it one of the longest-tenured teams in Indy Racing League competition.

Current co-owners, Dennis Reinbold and Robbie Buhl, first teamed in full-time competition at the Walt Disney World Speedway in January of 2000. With Buhl behind the wheel, the two owners tasted victory in their debut race.

The 2009 IZOD IndyCar Series season-opener on the streets of St.Petersburg marked Dreyer & Reinbold Racing's 200th series start. DRR now has over 250 starts to tuck under its belt and has qualified a total of 27 cars for the Indianapolis 500.

In its history, the team has boasted a championship list of alumni drivers. Besides Buhl, the team has run Indianapolis 500 winners, Al Unser, Jr., Buddy Lazier, and Buddy Rice, along with IZOD IndyCar Series race winner Ryan Briscoe.

The team has one of the longest lines of heritage in American open-wheel racing and the Indianapolis 500 as Dennis Reinbold's grandfather, "Pop" Dreyer, built leading roadsters that raced at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway during the 30s, 40s, and 50s.

F1: Is Vettel really that good, or that bad?

 

Weekend headlines:

1. F1 – Is Vettel really that good, or that bad?

2. IndyCar: It’s not often a driver admits being scared

3. NASCAR: Second-stringers put on a show in Montreal

I spent the weekend at Mosport, covering the American Le Mans Series race for the Star. For the full, unedited, version of my report, which includes comments and observations on races other than the headline event, please see the post below.

But because I was there, I didn’t get to see – live and in person – all of the other races this weekend. But that isn’t going to stop me . . .

Before we begin the discussion of whether or not Sebastien Vettel really has The Right Stuff to be a Top Gun in Eff-One, I have news:

Someone has swiped the mirror out of the men’s washroom on the second floor of the control tower at Mosport.

Don’t laugh. This is serious.

That mirror has been on the wall in that washroom since the control tower opened in 1962. The greats of the sport have looked at themselves in that mirror – Jim Clark, Graham Hill, Jackie Stewart, Emerson Fittipaldi, Peter Revson and on and on.

Which means that mirror has reflected history.

How do I know that all those great drivers (and not-so-great drivers, too) saw themselves in that mirror? Because for many years in the early days of Mosport, the men’s and women’s loos on the second floor of that tower and the co-ed can on the main floor were the only – the only – decent toilets to be found at Mosport.

Which means that most civilized people, at one time or another, managed to find a way to get into the tower to use those facilities.

Now, how do I know it was filched?

Well, there was no indication that it had been broken. There was no evidence in the form of broken mirror glass on the floor, or anything.

And, being an investigative reporter, I sought out the building’s custodian and he told me that he, too, had noticed it was gone.

So somebody had to have taken it. It was the official 50^th anniversary weekend of the opening of Mosport and I guess whoever did it must have thought they were being pretty clever.

But now, because of this publicity, their friends and relatives will know they are nothing more than a dirty, low-down, rotten, stinking, cheap, thief.

Return it immediately. The ghosts of Clark, Hill, Revson and the rest will forgive you – but only if you put it back.

You have been warned.

This has been a public-service announcement.

By the way, the ALMS action picture at the top of today’s blog entry was taken by my friend John Strothard. You can view more of his work at www.lugnutsracing.com

I met John a number of years ago and we spent an entire dinner trying to stump each other on such auto racing trivia questions as, "On what lap did Jimmy Bryan get killed at Langhorne?" (The first.) Or, "How does Kenny Brack pronounce his last name?" (Brack, then Breck, then Brack again.)

In his youth, John raced TQ midgets (until one time he ran out of talent and went for the ride of his then-young life) and freelanced as a photographer for Pete Chapman’s Wheelspin News and Autosport Canada. Thanks for the photo, Johnny.

Okay, as mentioned, I spent the weekend at Mosport and, while discussing Sunday’s Grand Prix of Belgium, a reporter for another newspaper suggested that perhaps Sebastien Vettel, who suffered through a dreadful day at Spa, maybe isn’t as good a Grand Prix driver as everybody thinks he is.

I agree. And I think I know what the trouble is.

First, a recap. Lewis Hamilton won the GP in his McLaren-Mercedes, with Mark Webber second (who bogged down so badly at the start that his anti-stall mechanism (!) had to kick in) in a Red Bull-Renault and Robert Kubica third in a Renault (full story here).

It was, in the words of several correspondents, a "hectic" race with rain showers catching some drivers unprepared (sending several of them sliding off the track) and careless driving eliminating others.

It was the latter that prompted my reporter friend to suggest that Vettel isn't cutting the mustard.

The Red Bull driver attempted to pass defending world champion Jenson Button and, in so doing, managed to, first, get bent all out of shape and to, second, crash right into him, putting Button out of the race.

Vettel continued on after pitting for repairs but was given a drive-through penalty for his disobedience and then picked up a flat tire when he somehow managed to collide with another car, this time the Force India of Tonio Liuzzi.

The Button accident was reminiscent of the accident in Turkey involving Vettel and Webber in which the German appeared to turn into his teammate.

I’ll tell you what the problem with Vettel is – and it’s happened time and again to talented youngsters in all walks of life – and it can be summed up in four words: too much too soon.

In 2006, Vettel became the youngest driver – 19 years and 53 days – to participate in a Grand Prix meeting (he drove in Friday practice) and a year later he became the youngest F1 driver to score points. Also in ‘07, he became the youngest driver to lead a Grand Prix. In 2008, he became the youngest driver to win a Grand Prix.

He’s 23 now but it all seems to be coming apart. Why? Because he didn’t get the proper seasoning; because he wasn’t allowed to mature to the point where he could handle all of this.

The greats of the sport weren’t kids when they broke into the big time. Schumacher was 22 before he made his first F1 start. Senna was 23. Prost was 25.

It happens in all sports, of course, not just in car racing. Kids get rushed in hockey and baseball and most of them flame out. Sure, there’s an occasional Bobby Orr or a Gretzky. But the ones who profit are the ones allowed to grow, to mellow out.

Why is it that sport is the exception? Is there a major city anywhere in the world with a mayor who’s 19 or 20? How about the principal of a high school? Any 19 or 20-year-olds have that job? Any managing editors that age? Or heads of law firms? How about president of the United States? Any 20-year-olds out there up for that job?

You’re laughing now, wondering how I could be asking such foolish questions.

Which is exactly my point.

What is a 19-year-old kid doing driving a Formula One car anyway?

INDY CAR DRIVER SAYS HE WAS SCARED

I saw most of the IZOD IndyCar Series race on Saturday night and my heart was beating quickly for most of the last 40 laps.

And that’s because you could have taken a blanket and covered the first dozen cars with it.

They were flying at 200-plus miles an hour around the Chicagoland Speedway and one false move by any of them could have resulted in disaster.

Dario Franchitti won, with Dan Wheldon second and Marco Andretti third (full report here). But it could just have easily been Scott Dixon or Tony Kanaan or Ryan Hunter-Reay or Ryan Briscoe. If you were watching that race and blinked, the order would change just like that.

In fact, at the finish, the first 10 cars flashed past in the same second. Danica Patrick, who was 14^th, was 1.5 seconds behind the winner; Sarah Fisher, who was 15^th, was 2 seconds back.

Incredible stuff.

One driver, however, laid it on the line for all to hear. Kanaan said, in so many words, that he was frightened.

"We were fighting for our lives," he said on TV. "It might have made for great television for people watching at home, but it was no fun for us. I didn’t like it out there at all."

It takes guts to say something like that.

But IndyCar is damned if it does and damned if it doesn’t. Last year at Richmond, the race was so bad that Franchitti apologized on national television. The IRL then went to work and made some aerodynamic changes and the result was the beehive we saw Saturday night.

I feel for Kanaan and the other drivers.

But Saturday night's race was great to watch and let’s have more just like it.

By the way, here’s a link to a video of the race highlights and I think you’ll agree – the action is hairy.

Unfortunately, the live audience wasn’t very big. I’d suggest there were more people in the stands for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race on Friday night than took in the IndyCar race Saturday.

Of course, in the truck series, there were crashes. Many . . . big . . . crashes.

One other thing: Will Power was winning that race, or heading for a podium finish, when his car ran out of fuel with three laps remaining. He had to pit for a splash in order to finish and record points.

At race’s end, he immediately stepped from his car and disappeared into the infield blackness, heading for his motor home. He was obviously very upset.

Reporter Jack Arute chased him down and Power agreed to stop for a TV interview, in which he was polite and charming.

Picture that happening with Kyle Busch.

BORIS WHO? BEATS MAX WHO? IN MONTREAL

Speaking of NASCAR, Boris Said just beat Max Papis to the line to win Sunday’s Nationwide Series race at Circuit-Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal.

1997 world driving champion, Jacques Villeneuve of Saint- Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que., who was top Canadian, was third (full story here).

Other Canadians: J.R. Fitzpatrick of Cambridge finished a fine seventh, D.J. Kennington of St. Thomas was 11^th (he started 30^th, so way to go D.J.), Ron Fellows of Missisauga was 30^th, Patrick Carpentier of Montreal was 32^nd and Andrew Ranger of Roxton Pond, Que., was 39^th.

One of the reasons the Nationwide race has always been held in Montreal during an "off" weekend for the Sprint Cup Series was the hope that some of the big stars of NASCAR would enter.

You know, Jimmie Johnston, Kyle and Kurt Busch, Dale Jr., Jeff Gordon – those guys.

It’s never happened. Joe Nemechek, Robbie Gordon and Carl Edwards were the "names" this weekend (even though there was no Cup race and all sorts of "names" were available) and although it might have been a mighty clash between Said and Papis, they are far from being among the front ranks of NASCAR drivers.

But tens of thousands of Montreal fans turn out for the race each year anyway, which is a mystery to me. Somebody will have to explain it to me, sometime.

Earlier Sunday, Ranger continued his domination of the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series by winning yet another race.

After losing the lead briefly to Jason Bowles on the white-flag lap, Ranger muscled past on the final turn to claim victory in the Canadian Tire race at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve. It was Ranger's second win in three years at Montreal's 2.709-mile course; he was second in last year's event.

It's the third win of the season – all on road-courses – for the Roxton Pond, Que., driver who is running a partial schedule in the series. The two-time NASCAR Canadian Tire Series champion has 12 career wins in the series with nine coming on road courses.

Don Thomson Jr. of Hamilton finished second, followed by Robin Buck of Toronto, Scott Steckly of Milverton and Jason Hathaway of Appin.

Kerry Micks of Mt. Albert, Trevor Seibert of Williams Lake, B.C., J.F. Dumoulin of Trois-Rivieres, Ron Beauchamp Jr. of Windsor and rookie John Farano of Toronto rounded out the top 10.

Points leader J.R. Fitzpatrick and his closest challenger, D.J. Kennington, both suffered mechanical issues early. Fitzpatrick, who started on the front row alongside Ranger, picked up enough spots through attrition to finish 18th. Kennington completed just 14 laps of 24 laps and finished 28th. Fitzpatrick, who carried a 16-point lead into the race, extended that to 51 points with just three races left on the schedule.

OTHER RACING: James Hinchcliffe of Oakville won the Indy Lights race at Chicago. Philip Major of Ottawa was third. . . . Robert Wickens of Guelph and Toronto won the GP3 race on Saturday at the Grand Prix of Belgium . . . Kyle Busch won that NASCAR truck race on Friday night at Chicagoland, with Todd Bodine second and Ron Hornaday third . . . The AIM Autosport of Woodbridge Pacific Mobile/Biosign No. 61 Ford Riley Daytona Prototype only lasted a little over a lap in Montreal Saturday during the Grand Am Rolex Sports Car Series race when Burt Frisselle spun it into the wall. . .

AND FINALLY:

A child was killed racing motorcycles at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday.

Peter Lenz of Vancouver, Wash., who was 13, fell off his bike during a warmup lap and was run over by another motorcycle, ridden by a 12-year-old.

His father published the following on the boy’s Facebook Page:

"He passed doing what he loved and had his go-fast face on as he pulled onto the track. The world lost one of its brightest lights today. God Bless Peter and the other rider involved. 45 (the number on Peter's bike) is on another road we can only hope to reach. Miss you kiddo."

I’ll tell you what Peter loved as much, or more, than anything else: Making his father happy.

It’s such a shame that Peter now knows all about death without being old enough to know very much about life.

Graf, Dumas win shortened Mosport Grand Prix

The American Le Mans Series endurance race at Mosport Sunday, originally scheduled for 2 hours and 45 minutes, was stopped with 29 minutes remaining following a spectacular accident on the Mario Andretti Straightaway that brought out the red flag for only the second time in series history.
After a delay, the Mobil 1 presents the Grand Prix of Mosport, officially scheduled to end at 5:45 p.m., got the checkered flag at 6:12 p.m.  with Klaus Graf of Dornham, Germany, and co-driver Romain Dumas of Ales, France, leading in a Porsche RS Spyder.
Simon Pagenaud of Indianapolis and David Brabham of Henley-on-Thames, U.K., were second in a Honda ARX Prototype and Tony Burgess of Toronto and Johnny Mowlem of Berkshire, England, were third in a Lola B09 Prototype.
Gunnar Jeannette of Salt Lake City, Utah, and Elton Julian of Santa Monica, Calif., were first in the Prototype Challenge class (fourth overall); Joerg Bergmeister of Langenfeld, Germany, and Patrick Long of Belleair, Fla., won the GT class in a Porsche 911 (11th overall), and Lawson Aschenbach of West Palm Beach, Fla., and Shane Lewis of Jupiter, Fla., were first in the GT Challenge class, also in a Porsche 911. They were 22nd out of 29 cars that started the race.
The only other Canadian in the race, Kyle Marcelli of Barrie (co-driver Chapman Ducote of Miami) finished fifth in the Prototype Challenge class and 18th overall.
Although nobody was hurt when a Porsche 911 driven by Luke Hines of Essex, England, ripped a large hole in the guardrail, the damage was enough for series officials to stop the contest for repairs.
The accident was started by Prototype driver Jonny Cocker of Guisborough, U.K., whose car clipped the rear of Hines` as he pulled out to pass. This sent Hines` Porsche flying into the guardrail and the car and barrier were both extensively damaged.
Following a 40-minute delay, during which attempts were made to repair the guardrail, ALMS officials decided to throw in the towel. Drivers, who had spent the recess chatting in pit lane, were ordered to their cars, engines were started and one slow lap behind the safety car was made of the Mosport circuit before the checkered flag was displayed.
In a prepared statement, the ALMS said that it would have taken a minimum of three hours to repair the barrier and the decision  to terminate was made instead of asking fans to stick around for another 29 minutes of racing that would have ended after dark.
Graf, who celebrated his fourth series victory – his second overall – said that a win is a win, regardless of the circumstances.
``We take them as they come,`` he said. ``Whether it goes the full distance or not is not something you think about as a racing driver.  The important thing is to be in front when the race ends."
Burgess was thrilled with one of his best finishes as a professional racing car driver.
`This was a great race,`` he said. ``We measured the Drayson car, which we thought was our competition, and we got a lap up on them. My stint was perfect,  Johnny`s was perfect and we were set to cruise home. We didn`t make any mistakes.
"Ì would have preferred to have finished the race at race-pace but as soon as I saw that guardrail, I knew there was no way they were going to be able to fix it."
 Series officials said the only other time a red flag was displayed during an ALMS race was a year ago during the Petit Le Mans event at Road Atlanta. Torrential rains wiped out the last four hours of the 10-hour race.
Dumas took the lead at the start and began pulling away from the rest of the field immediately. His car was so powerful and well-balanced compared to some of the others that he was lapping slower cars within five laps of the 2.45-mile circuit.
There were several other incidents, the most serious taking place at the one-hour-and-15-minute mark  when David Murry of Cumming, Ga., lost control of his Ford GT and spun approaching Turn 9.  Joey Hand of Sacramento, Calif., tried to avoid him but, in so doing, drove his Rahal-Letterman Racing BMW M3 straight into a tire wall, bringing out the race’s first full-course yellow.
Neither driver was injured but it was during this safety car period that Dumas pitted and gave way to Graf, who drove the car to the finish.
Pagenaud and Brabham – who drove in his 100th ALMS race on the 43rd anniversary weekend of his father Jack Brabham`s victory in the first F1 Grand Prix of Canada at Mosport in 1967 – still lead the overall points standings with 152.
Graf and his regular co-driver Greg Pickett (who was injured in a testing accident at Mid-Ohio and was replaced last weekend at Road America by Timo Bernhard and this weekend by Dumas) are in second place with 136 points.
Only the Petit Le Mans race at Road Atlanta in October remains on the schedule.

INSTANT REPLAY FOR TOURING CAR RACES

In support series racing earlier, the Castrol Canadian Touring Car Championship race was won – again – by Dave Ciekiewicz of Toronto, with Gregory Pootmans of Toronto  second – again – and Sasha Anis of Brampton third (ditto).
In fact, you had to go down to fifth place to find a change from the order of finish Saturday, when the touring cars raced at Mosport for the first time this weekend.  Sunday, Etienne Borgeat of Montreal finished fifth; Saturday, it was Nick Wittmer of Montreal.
Just so he doesn’t feel left out, Mathieu Audette of Ste-Anne-des-Lacs, Que., was fourth both days.
These drivers were all, of course, racing in the Super Touring class. The Touring Class race was won Sunday by Tom Kwok, who was third in that class on Saturday.
By the way, the margin of victory was very close on Sunday – 0.553 of a second, as compared to the plodding 0.837 of a second margin on Saturday.
In the Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Championship race, brothers Lucas and Matt Downs of Butterfield, Minn., finished first and second with Charlie Shears of Houston in third place.

Although there were accidents in other races, including the main event, there were several in this race that were completely avoidable – caused by drivers pulling their cars back onto the racing surface before the coast was clear.
In fact, Gary Gibson of Riverwoods, Ill., was winning the race handily when he spun backwards into a tire wall to avoid some dolt who pulled out on the track right in front of him. His race was over on the spot, directly due to the carelessness of the other racer.
The weekend’s competition was conducted under gorgeous sunny skies and Mosport attracted one of its biggest crowds in years.
The ALMS weekend is always strongly attended but the crowd was particularly heavy this weekend and was undoubtedly due, in part, to the 50th anniversary celebrations and the attendance of six former national driving champions as well as retired Indianapolis driver Bobby Unser, who won the first Indy car race at Mosport on July 1, 1967.
Interview and autograph sessions featuring the six champs – Ludwig Heimrath Sr., Bill Brack, Horst Kroll, Craig Hill, Eppie Wietzes and Ross de St. Croix, who are all members of the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame – were very well-attended.
Unser was a particular hit, entertaining fans with stories of his early racing days and post-racing broadcasting career that included working with Brian Williams on CBC-TV telecasts of Molson Indy races in Toronto and Vancouver. 

Graf wins Mosport pole; Daly's Star Mazda champ

Still smarting from losing the most recent American Le Mans Series race at Wisconsin’s Road America last weekend, Germany’s Klaus Graf turned a flying lap Saturday afternoon of 1 minute and 6.956 seconds (132.212 miles an hour) in a Porsche Spyder Prototype to win the pole for Sunday’s Grand Prix of Mosport.
Chris Dyson of Pleasant Valley, N.Y., qualified second in a Lola B09 Prototype (1:07:142/131.846 mph) while Simon Pagenaud of Indianapolis was third in a Honda ARX Prototype (1:07:228/131.677 mph).
Although impressive, all times were significantly slower than the all-time qualifying record set in 2008 by Italian driver Dindo Capello, who drove an Audi R10 diesel around the 10-turn, 2.45-mile Mosport circuit in 1 minute and 4.094 seconds, which translates into an average speed of 138.116 mph – scary fast.
The speed of the circuit was not lost on Graf, who will be partnered in Sunday’s race by Romain Dumas of Ales, France.
“Obviously, there is not much runoff (spaces where out-of-control cars can scrub off speed if they leave the racing surface),” Graf said in an interview. “The speed is so high – I don’t know what our average is but it’s way up there.
“Turns 1 and 2 and turn 8, you are flat out in sixth gear.  That’s high, high speed. But the trade is that as race-car drivers, we love the challenge. But you have to stay on the black stuff (pavement) here.”
Graf was winning the Road America round of the nine-race ALMS season with just two turns of the last lap to go last Sunday when he was passed by Englishman Jonny Cocker – hence the motivation to go fast enough to win the pole Saturday and to win the race Sunday.
“We came so close (to winning) last week,” he said. “On the other hand, we were successful because we were on a very risky strategy and we beat some of our strongest competitors. So we lost, but we won as well. But if we make it two corners more, I`ll be a very happy man tomorrow.``

Sunday's feature race will go to the post at 3 p.m., with Grand Marshal Bobby Unser – who won the first Indy car race in Canada on July 1, 1967 – giving the command to fire up the engines. Twenty-nine cars are expected to start the race.

Sports-car racing of the American Le  Mans Series variety is made up of four classes, running from the sleek Prototypes (cars designed especially for the race track) to the Grand Touring Challenge class – souped-up versions of automobiles that the buying public can purchase off the showroom floor that are entered by privateers rather than factories.

Two Canadians will be in  Sunday`s race – Tony Burgess of Toronto, who will co-drive a Lola B06 Prototype with Johnny Mowlem of Berkshire, England (they will start the race fifth) and Kyle Marcelli of Barrie, who`s contesting the Prototype Challenge class with Chapman Ducote of Miami. They will start the race from ninth place.

The fastest car in the Prototype Challenge class was driven Saturday by Luis Diaz of Mexico City who turned a time of 1:11:455 (123.888 mph).

In GT qualifying, Gianmaria Bruni of Rome won the pole in a Ferrari 430 with a time of 1:17:160 (114.728 mph) but because his co-driver, Jaime Melo of Brazil, fell ill and was unavailable to drive if needed, Bruni will have to start the race at the back of the field.
He will be partnered by Tony Vilander of Kankaanpaa, Finland, who was left without a drive when his regular partner, Pierre Kaffer of Salenstein, Switzerland, demolished the team’s other Ferrari 430 in a Saturday morning crash.
Kaffer was taken to the Lakeridge Health Centre in Bowmanville where he was treated and discharged. The car was withdrawn and shipped to the team’s headquarters in Houston, Tex., for repairs.
Second-fastest in GT qualifying was Joerg Bergmeister of Langenfeld, Germany, in a Porsche 911 (Patrick Long of Belleair, Fla., is the co-driver) with Tommy Milner of Leesburg, Va., third in a BMW (Bill Auberlen of Redondo Beach, Fla., also aboard).
The fastest of the famous Corvette Racing team was Oliver Gavin of Yardley Hastings, England, who finished fourth in GT qualifying. Gavin, who has been partnered for many years by Olivier Beretta of Monte Carlo, is co-driving this weekend with Jan Magnussen of Roskilde, Denmark, while Beretta is sharing the second Corvette with Johnny O’Connell of Flowery Branch, Ga.
Corvette says the changes were made to shake up the team in an effort to  improve its results. Observers were quick to point out that the team has not performed well since it dropped Ron Fellows of Mississauga from its lineup.
Fellows is in Montreal this weekend, driving in Sunday’s NASCAR Nationwide Series race for Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s team.
The fastest car in the GT Challenge class was Bryce Miller of Summit, N.J., who drove a Porsche 911 around Mosport in 1:22:495 (107.308 mph), which is a record for that class. His partner, Luke Hines of Essex, England, in an effort to change the team’s previous poor luck, shaved his head down the middle so that one side was bald.
He attracted some attention.
Following the Saturday morning Ferrari mishap, there was a close call in Saturday afternoon practice when Scott Tucker of Leawood, Kan., driving a Prototype Challenge car, pulled out of the pits and directly into the path of last week`s winner, an on-the-throttle Prototype pilot Cocker.

The resulting collision damaged both cars but neither driver was injured.

CONOR DALY WINS STAR MAZDA CHAMPIONSHIP

Earlier Saturday, Conor Daly, the 18-year-old son of former Formula One and CART Indy car star Derek Daly, won the Star Mazda Series feature race and, with it, the 2010 series championship.

Daly, of Noblesville, Ind., who earlier won his ninth pole position of the season, took the lead at the standing-start green light and was never headed. He easily held off Jorge Goncalvez of Venezuela and Connor De Phillippi of Murrieta, Calif.,  who finished second and third in the 45-minute timed race.
Canada was represented in the international field by Mikael Grenier of Stoneham, Que., who finished sixth, David Ostella of Maple, who was 10th and Mikhail Goikhberg of Toronto who finished 19th.
Proud-as-punch papa Derek Daly credited the Ontario Formula Ford Challenge Series for much of his son’s development as a driver.
“We made the decision two years ago to come to Canada to run with Brian Graham Racing so that Conor could better understand the engineering of a racing car, something he couldn’t get in the United States at that time.
“He was running the Skip Barber (national) Series in the U.S. at the same time but he wasn’t allowed to  change the car (to suit his style).  His season up here gave him a much better understanding of the way a racing car works and how to change or adjust it to his advantage and he won races and was successful.
“He also came to love Mosport (scene of many of the Formula Ford races) so he’s come back for more.”
Graham, of Innisfil, was almost as thrilled as the young driver’s father.

“To watch young fellows come through our program and to progress and to move up is so exciting,” he said.

“I’m really proud of the way the Ontario Formula Ford Series allows young drivers to grow and to learn.  Unlike a lot of ‘spec’ series (like the Jim Russell), they have input and it goes from there.”

Conor Daly, who’s won championships in every series he’s contested and seems to have a ticket on a rocket ship to somewhere, said he’s not sure – at the moment – where his future lies.

“The ‘Road to Indy’ program (Indy Lights) is obviously very attractive but there’s also a part of me that wants to represent America on the top step of the podium in Formula One.  So, we’ll go to Road Atlanta (in October) and finish up the season and evaluate all the possibilities and go from there.”

CASTROL CANADIAN TOURING CAR SERIES

 Late in the day, Dave Ciekiewicz of Toronto finished first in the Super Touring Class of the Castrol Canadian Touring Car Series race, which had to stopped for a lengthy cleanup after a big crash on the first lap eliminated four cars.
Kurt Langeveldt of Bowmanville won the Touring Car class.

Thank goodness! F1 is back this weekend

Formula One returns this weekend with the Grand Prix of Belgium and I can’t say it’s a minute too soon.

Because there has been no F1 for most of August, there has not been one decent rumour to write about or talk about.

NASCAR? Rumours in NASCAR? No such thing. The only thing people talk about in NASCAR anymore is "payback" and that’s officially boring now.

There are no rumours in IndyCar because there is no intrigue. Simona de Silvestro is allegedly being courted by at least two F1 backmarker teams, but so what?

There hasn’t even been a decent catfight because Milka has been watching her mirrors ever since they put her on probation and Danica might be out there but her mind seems to be elsewhere (like NASCAR, perhaps?).

So, welcome back, F1. Now we can get back to the Good Stuff, such as which driver – Sebastien Vettel or Mark Webber – is really No. 1 at Red Bull? Will Felipe Massa pull over and let Fernando Alonso past the next time Ferrari tells him to? And what’s going on at McLaren? Can two guys who are Formula One drivers – Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button – really get along all that well together and like each other so much?

And, finally, has the leopard really changed its spots? Is Michael Schumacher genuinely sorry for nearly crashing Rubens Barrichello at the Hungarian GP a few weeks ago? Or would he do it again in a heartbeat?

We’ll find out Sunday.

Gerald Donaldson, Canada’s foremost expert on all things Formula One, will record his F1 Weekend Preview Podcast for wheels.ca Friday (tomorrow) morning (with Wheels Editor Mark Richardson conducting the intervierw, as I am on vacation . . . ) and it will be posted to the wheels.ca website no later than noon Friday.

Look for it among the half-dozen rotating stories at the top left corner of the site.

Gerry will bring everybody up to date on everything going on in Belgium as F1 heads into the home stretch. Where’s the time gone, eh?

Other weekend races:

– For the first time since Indianapolis, there will be five women (barring a cat-astrophe) in the IndyCar race at Chicagoland Speedway on Sunday – Danica Patrick, Simona de Silvestro, Milka Duno, Sarah Fisher and Anna Beatriz.

A total of 29 cars are entered, which is also the biggest field for an Indy car race since Indy.

Dario Franchitti, who always does well on the ovals, will be taking it to points leader Will Power, who is not as comfortable.

The IRL cars always run close at Chicagoland, so this race could be a treat. It will also be of interest because the IRL and NASCAR off-track war appears to be heating up again (they really don’t like each other) and this will likely be the last Indy car race at the Chicago-area oval, which happens to be owned by the same people who own NASCAR.

– NASCAR Sprint Cup has an off-weekend but the "B" Series, the Nationwide, and the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series will draw 70,000-plus to Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve this weekend for the NAPA Auto Parts 200 presented by Dodge.

It has puzzled me since the beginning how a minor league race (and that is what the Nationwide Series is) can continue to draw such huge crowds in Montreal, which is a big-league city and where the fans refuse to attend if the home team isn’t winning.

The Expos had to leave because there was no interest in baseball after (1), the Expos were losing and (2), the Blue Jays beat them to the world series.

There are plenty of empty seats at the Bell Centre whenever the Canadians go on a losing streak and if the Alouettes don’t win the Grey Cup at least once every two or three years, all the season-ticket holders cancel.

Montreal wants to be No.1, don’t ever kid yourself.

So why, oh why, do people continue to flock to the Ilse Notre-Dame to watch – what? Carl Edwards? Robby Gordon? Jacques Villeneuve in a stock car?

Where’s Jimmie Johnson? Jeff Gordon? Dale Jr.? (Ron Fellows and J.R. Fitzpatrick, two good Canadian boys, are driving Dale Jr.’s cars this weekend but where's NASCAR's most popular driver?)

I don’t get it.

– What I do get is what’s going on at Mosport this weekend.

The American Le Mans Series is returning for its annual stop – supported by the Castrol Canadian Touring Car Championship, Star Mazda Series, IMSA Lites, etc. – and the Sunday afternoon race could very well be worth the trip out to the track north of Bowmanville because one team in particular appears to have found its sea legs.

Drayson Racing of Great Britain, with Paul Drayson and Jonny Cocker, won last weekend’s Road America round in dramatic fashion with Cocker passing for the lead on the last lap. The team also won pole and set the fastest race lap.

It can’t get any more exciting than that.

Action will get under way Friday, with the ALMS cars going on track at 2:15 p.m.

Practice and qualifying for the big series goes Saturday afternoon; the first race of the weekend, the Star Mazda, will take place Saturday at 1:15.

Final races in all series will happen Sunday afternoon with the headline event, featuring Grand Marshal Bobby Unser giving the command to start engines, going to the post at 3 p.m.

NOTE: All of the above major races (F1, etc.) can be seen on TV. If you can’t make it to Mosport, the ALMS can be seen in its entirety Sunday afternoon on Speed TV, starting at 4 (just a slight tape-delay).

Mosport, Mini Grid movie night Wednesday

I published this notice in my Saturday Wheels column a few weeks ago but thought I'd best repeat it for online readers who might have missed it.

Tomorrow night (Wed., Aug. 25) at the Regent Theatre at 551 Mt. Pleasant Rd. (on the east side of the street, north of Davisville), Mosport and Scott Maxwell’s Mini Grid shop will present “Red Mist Stuff,” the story of the Mosport IMSA Six-Hour races in 1981 and 1983. Doors open at 6:30; first film will screen at 7 p.m.

Two films – 40 minutes apiece – that were produced for the CBC by Lawrence Partington will be shown and both will be followed by a question-and-answer session featuring Canadian racing champions Bill Adam, who won the 1983 race co-driving with Bob Tullius, and Eppie Wietzes, who finished second in the 1981 race.

Maxwell, who’s seen both films, says people will love the scenes from Mosport. “The in-car camera work is spectacular,” he said.

Maxwell said that besides Adam and Wietzes, he expects the legendary Ludwig Heimrath Sr. to attend. “He was racing then, as was Ludwig Jr.”

Tickets are now available at Mini Grid (416-488-7663) and are selling for $10 in advance. They will be sold the evening of the presentation at the box office for $15 (all taxes included).

It will be a great “slow-lap session” leading into the American Le Mans Series weekend at Mosport, which starts this Thursday (don't forget the Mosport RaceFest today - Tuesday - at Yonge-Dundas Square from 11 a.m. till 2.) The big race, the Mobil 1 Presents the Grand Prix of Mosport, will get the green flag on Sunday at 3.

Raikkonen turns back on F1; Mosley butts in (oops)

Weekend headlines:

1. Kimi douses F1 return rumours; Mosley butts in

2. Kyle Busch makes history; NASCAR eyes bottom line

3. Power in IndyCar class of his own; Atlantics return possible

4. Mosport ALMS race earlier in 2011; NASCAR Canada report

1. Max Mosley was forced out of his position as head of the FIA (okay, okay – he chose not to run for another term, but he was toast anyway) because of behaviour that illustrated poor personal and moral judgment.

Translation: he became an embarrassment.

So what’s he doing, on the eve of the Belgian Grand Prix next weekend, poking his nose into the Ferrari "team orders" controversy? (That was when, at the German Grand Prix in July, Felipe Massa was told by Ferrari to let Fernando Alonso through, which was contrary to the rules, as well of the spirit of the rules, of post-2002 Formula One.)

Does anybody care what Mosley thinks? He’s apparently under the impression he still wields some influence. Witness this quote:

"I will not make any recommendation, but on the facts at the moment there should have been some sporting sanction and not only a fine."

"I will not make any recommendation?"

Max, maybe you’ve decided not to "make any recommendation" because you know that nobody would listen to you anyway.

The hard truth, Max, is that nobody cares what you think about anything, but particularly when it comes to any kind of legal or moral question.

Everybody on Earth heard Ferrari tell Massa to let Alonso past. And everybody in the world knows the stewards chickened out when – other than levying a $100,000 fine – they referred the matter to the World Motorsport Council, hoping the council would throw the book at the team.

But now, believe it or not, you’ve put the council on the spot. By going public with your "I will not make any recommendation" statement, the council might now feel pressured to let Ferrari off with a warning, so as not to seem to still be in your pocket.

You’re yesterday’s man, Max. You’ve had your time in the sun, now buzz off and stop making mischief.

And let’s hope the council doesn’t pay any attention to your musings and issues an appropriate punishment against Ferrari.

Meantime, Kimi Raikkonen said at the weekend that it was highly unlikely he would ever again return to Formula One as a driver and suggested he was moving on to other things, like the World Rally Championship where he’s driving this year and – maybe in future – sports car racing at Le Mans.

Of course, when you’re the third highest-paid driver in F1 this year, and you’re not even in a car, it’s pretty easy to make statements like that. (It’s true: see the F1 drivers' salary breakdown here.)

Of course, Raikkonen is smart enough to know that trying to make a comeback in F1 is a foolish thing to do, regardless of how good you think you might be – witness Michael Schumacher’s failure to even make it near the podium this season.

"I came to Formula One to win the world championship and I did that," Raikkonen said. "That’s good enough for me."

Amen.

2. Kyle Busch made NASCAR history at the weekend by becoming the first driver to score the triple. He won all three series races at Bristol, Tenn. – the Camping World Truck Series race, the Nationwide Series race and then the Sprint Cup Series race. (See full story here.)

The way he’s going this season, I won’t be surprised if he becomes the driver to finally beat Jimmie Johnson for the Sprint Cup championship – something that hasn’t happened the last four years.

And then – and I really think this is possible – if Charlotte Motor Speedway owner/promoter Bruton Smith goes through with his idea of offering a $20-million bonus to the first driver to win the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 on the same day, Kyle Busch might just go looking for a competitive Indy car ride.

As he said at Bristol in the Sprint Cup winner’s circle: "I like firsts."

Meantime, and this is much more interesting, look at what NASCAR has been up to lately so far as the bottom line is concerned.

In an effort to make sure the business of running race tracks remains profitable – and NASCAR itself owns many of the speedways where NASCAR races are promoted – NASCAR has cut the purses for the Nationwide Series by 20 per cent next season.

This is the second straight year this has happened to the Nationwide series. To be fair, NASCAR also cut the purses for the Sprint Cup series before this season began.

Now, this is an interesting quote from Marcus Smith (Bruton’s kid), who’s president and CEO of Speedway Motorsports Inc., which owns most of the rest of the tracks that NASCAR doesn’t.

"The purses and the sanctioning fees have gone up a tremendous amount over the last 15 years."

Hmmm. The two words that caught my eye in that sentence were "sanctioning fees." That’s the money the tracks pay NASCAR to bring in the races. Don’t see anything anywhere that says the sanctioning fees are coming down.

So NASCAR owns most of the tracks NASCAR races at. And the tracks pay NASCAR a sanctioning fee, which isn’t coming down. But the purses for the racers are being cut to make sure the tracks remain profitable.

Something doesn’t seem right there. Maybe when the Nationwide fields start to drop off even more than they already have, NASCAR might make a correction.

3. Will Power is in a class of his own in the IZOD IndyCar Series.

A year ago, he suffered a broken back in an accident at California’s Infineon Raceway. This weekend, he won the pole at that track and then led 73 laps of the 75-lap race to win Sunday’s Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma. (Full story here.)

Scott Dixon, who was right behind him at the finish and who led the other two laps, was second and Dario Franchitti finished third.

Alex Tagliani, the only Canadian in the field, finished 14^th after starting fourth. Poor Alex: if he didn’t have bad luck he wouldn’t have any luck at all.

Danica Patrick, who confirmed at the weekend that she would continue her insane experiment of driving in the IndyCar Series as well as a limited schedule in NASCAR in 2011, finished 16^th after starting 23^rd. She was the last car on the lead lap and actually had a pretty good race, although the result doesn't reflect it.

Simona de Silvestro, who started 11^th, wound up 13^th; Milka Duno actually drove somewhat competitively and wasn’t last, for a change. She was 22^nd in the 25-car field.

In Indy Lights, J.K. Vernay of France was first, while James Hinchcliffe of Oakville was third. Alex Ellis of St. Catharines qualified ninth (out of 16) and was running in seventh position when his car – a one-off provided by Sam Schmidt Motorsports for the driver who won the Jim Russell Series Championship – just flat-out stopped. He was officially classified 14^th. Philip Major of Ottawa was 11^th.

Now, as is the case with many weekend results columns, the secondary stories are frequently much more interesting and this is one of them:

I hear that people at Mazda are working really hard to revive the Formula Atlantic series.

Why?

Because Indy Lights is costing in the neighbourhood of between $750,000 and $1 million for a 12- to 14-race season with very little – if anything – in return.

Sure, the cars race on the undercard of all the IZOD IndyCar Series events (usually three hours before the main event when there are not that many people in the grandstands) but there is no TV contract (how can anybody sell a sponsorship when there is no TV?) and no testing.

The drivers who pay this serious amount of money get a couple of practice sessions and a race each race weekend but that’s pretty much it – including not much hope of moving on to the big time. Of all the drivers in the IndyCar series, only Raphael Matos has moved up in recent years and he’d already made his reputation in Atlantics before doing a season in Lights.

In fact, the current IndyCar rookie sensation, Simona de Silvestro, was in Atlantics last season before the series went on hiatus.

The other negative to Lights is that, as a flat-bottom car, you don’t really prepare yourself for any other series (other than the IRL cars or, perhaps, NASCAR) whereas in Atlantics, you can go just about anywhere, be it single-seaters or Le Mans Prototytpes.

The primary problem for Mazda would be to find a series where Atlantics could fit. The IRL will not run two development series and is committed to Lights (and, in fact, has promised a "big and exciting" announcement concerning Lights in the days ahead). There is no more Champ Car and fewer and fewer cars ran in the series last year when it was aligned with the American Le Mans Series.

Which leaves the Grand Am Series. Would a partnership be possible there?

Who knows? But there’s something going on.

4. Talking about the American Le Mans Series (well, we were – a bit), the news this weekend (other than the results of what’s been described as a pretty exciting race at Road America) is that next year, the Mosport round will be moved to July 31 from the end of August, where it’s been in recent years.

Ironically, NASCAR released its schedule for the Nationwide Series in recent days and its uber-popular NASCAR weekend in Montreal is being moved from the end of August back a week or so. The good news for everybody here is that while next weekend, the ALMS Mosport round and the NASCAR Montreal date are smack up against each other, that will not be the case in 2011 and both live gates could benefit, as a result.

On the other hand, that means there will be two "big-event" auto racing meets in the Toronto area in July – the Honda Indy Toronto downtown at the Ex earlier in the month and the ALMS at Mosport at the end, which could have a negative impact on one gate or the other. Only time will tell on that one.

The other thing is that the ALMS schedule for 2011, although officially public, has two blanks on it. The series says races will take place – somewhere.– on the July 4 weekend and again at the first of September. But where?

I don’t really understand why they’ve done this – but they have.

Anyway, the ALMS is heading for Mosport next weekend after coming off what sounds like a barn-burner of a race at Elkhart Lake. (Full story here.)

To quote from the release, Jonny Cocker went from fourth to first in the last four laps as Drayson Racing won its first race in the ALMS. The capper came on the last lap when he got past the Porsche Spyder of Klaus Graf with just two turns left. His partner, Paul Drayson, shared in the victory, of course.

Let’s cross our fingers that we have as great a race next weekend to celebrate Mosport’s 50^th anniversary.

Timo Bernhard and Graf finished second while Simon Pagendaud and David Brabham were third.

Now, talking about Mosport (we were, weren’t we?), for the second year in a row it was raining cats and dogs everywhere else except at the Mosport Speedway oval on Saturday night. Of course, the weather at the track 12 miles north of Bowmanville has always been a mystery because the reverse can also be true: it can be raining at Mosport and beautiful everywhere else.

Go figure.

In any event – and I know people who didn’t chance the drive out because the forecast was so dismal; it was actually teeming in Toronto – Don Thompson Jr. of Hamilton won the NASCAR Canadian Tire Dickies 200 race Saturday night, with J.R. Fitzpatrick of Cambridge second and Kerry Micks of Mount Albert, third.

Fitzpatrick is in a dogfight for the series championship with D.J. Kennington of St. Thomas, who won the pole but finished sixth in the race. Fitzpatrick has 1,509 points to Kennington’s 1,493.

Ron Beauchamp of Windsor had his best finish of the season when he took the checkers fourth while Pete Shepherd III of Brampton, making one of his infrequent starts in the series, was fifth.

The NASCAR Canadian Tire Series will race next weekend at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve on Ilse Notre-Dame in Montreal as part of the NASCAR Nationwide Series weekend.

Hey, with all the scheduling moving around going on next year, maybe the Canadian Tire Series could be part of the American Le Mans Series weekend at Mosport next July?

Just a thought -- but it would make for a great double-header.

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

Here's who's making what in Formula One

I wrote an item the other day about the poor pay of people driving in the IZOD IndyCar Series.

The guy who runs Newman-Haas Racing said – and this is a quote: “The drivers are being paid very little, if anything.”

Imagine how many of them are feeling today after they’ve seen what their open-wheel, open-cockpit compatriots in Formula One are making.

Millions and millions and millions of dollars.

Now, we always knew the absolute top guys in F1 were making money that was right off the charts. The Prosts, the Sennas and the Schumachers (when he was at the top of his game).

Those guys.

But how about Kimi Raikkonen pulling in 13 million pounds-plus?

What’s that you say? Kimi isn’t even in F1 and he’s third on the money list?

Yep. He’s got one of those deferred wage contracts and he’s being paid a fortune not to drive in F1 this year and that’s why he’s over in the World Rally Championship and not doing very well.

Everybody knows the NASCAR drivers are all millionaires – I always loved this quote from Ryan Newman, as he explained how easy it would be to get to a mid-week exhibition race:: “We've all got planes.”

So here’s the rundown as to who is earning what in F1, as reported by the Spanish newspaper, El Mundo:

.

Note: A pound sterling today is equal to $1.63 Canadian:

.

Drivers

1. Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) £24.6m

2. Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) £13.1m

3. Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) £13.1m

4. Felipe Massa (Ferrari) £11.5m

5. Jenson Button (McLaren) £7.4m

6. Michael Schumacher (Mercedes GP) £6.6m

7. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes GP) £6.6m

8. Robert Kubica (Renault) £6.2m

9. Rubens Barrichello (Williams) £4.5m

10. Mark Webber (Red Bull) £3.4m

11. Jarno Trulli (Lotus) £2.5m

12. Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) £1.6m

13. Heikki Kovalainen (Lotus) £1.6m

14. Timo Glock (Virgin) £820,000

15. Nico Hülkenberg (Williams) £573,000

16. Pedro de la Rosa (Sauber) £410,000

17. Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber) £410,000

18. Vitaly Petrov (Renault) £328,000

19. Jaime Alguersuari (Toro Rosso) £328,000

20. Sébastien Buemi (Toro Rosso) £328,000

21. Adrian Sutil (Force India) £164,000

22. Vitantonio Liuzzi (Force India) £164,000

23. Lucas Di Grassi (Virgin) £164,000

24. Bruno Senna (Hispania) £164,000

25. Karun Chandhok (Hispania) Nil (pay driver)

26. Sakon Yamamoto (Hispania) Nil (pay driver)

Team Budgets (operating expenses)

1. Ferrari £49.1m

2. McLaren £20.5m

3. Mercedes GP £13.1m

4. Renault £6.5m

5. Red Bull £5.1m

6. Williams £5.1m

7. Lotus £4.1m

8. Virgin £983,000

9. Sauber £819,000

10. Toro Rosso £655,000

11. Force India £328,000

12. Hispania £123,000

Weekend preview: Third Canadian in Indy Lights

Normally, in doing a preview of weekend racing, the focus is usually on the big series.

But I want to draw your attention today to the Indy Lights race taking place this weekend on the IZOD IndyCar Series program at Infineon Raceway in California. A young guy from St. Catharines named Alex Ellis has got a one-off with Sam Schmidt Racing.

I think this young driver might be the real deal.

I first met Ellis, along with fellow St. Catharines racer Gianmarco Raimondo (he also has promise), a year ago June during an open house at the Vaughn headquarters of Team Autotecnica, which – at the time – was competing in the now-defunct Formula BMW-Americas Series.

Ellis and Raimondo were the only two Canadian drivers in the series and they came from the same town, lived in the same neighbourhood, went to the same school and drove for the same team, which was really quite a coincidence.

Said Ellis at the time: “It seems like I’m in the middle of a dream. If someone had told me two years ago that I would be here on this team, running with Gianmarco, I wouldn’t have believed them.”

Raimondo, who finished third in the BMW-Americas standings, went off to Italy this season to race in the Formula 3 Italia Series. Ellis, who was sixth, opted for the U.S. Jim Russell Series and earned his Indy Lights ride by winning the championship.

 The 19-year-old had four wins and two seconds in the six-race series that started in June. When he wrapped up the title early in August, he had a perfect day: he won the pole and the fifth and sixth races.

He had a seat-fitting in Indianapolis several weeks ago and then a test at the Putnam Park road course near Indianapolis in the car he’ll drive this weekend.

Said Ellis: “The test went amazingly well. I was so pleased with how quickly I was able to get up to speed in the car. As odd as it sounds, I feel that the faster a car gets, the more power and grip that I have; I feel more at home and comfortable. I love the Firestone Indy Lights car as it is a truly fast vehicle. The transition wasn’t that hard to make.”

Seventeen cars have been entered in the Indy Lights race at Infineon and drivers include fellow Canadians James Hinchcliffe of Oakville and Philip Major of Ottawa. Hinchcliffe is currently second in the standings, while Major is eighth.

The Indy Lights race will take place on Sunday at noon Pacific (3 p.m. Eastern). You can watch it at www.indyracing.com

Here’s what else is happening this weekend:

•     The NASCAR Canadian Tire Series Dickies 200 will get the green flag at Mosport Speedway on Saturday night.

The 200-lap feature will start at 7 p.m. Practice and qualifying are scheduled for Saturday afternoon, starting at 1:30.

J.R. Fitzpatrick of Cambridge is leading in the standings by one point over D.J. Kennington of St. Thomas.

•     The Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma will go to the post Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. Pacific (5 p.m. Eastern) and can be seen on TSN2.

•     NASCAR is in Bristol this weekend. The Nationwide Series race can be seen Friday night on TSN but will be tape-delayed until 11:30. The Sprint Cup race Saturday night at 7 p.m. will be live on TSN.

Paper reveals true NASCAR attendance figure

Several things today:

1.     Inflated race attendance figures.

2.     Driver salaries.

3.     Strange sponsorship decisions.

1. The chickens are coming home to roost, as they say.

Back at the time of the Honda Indy Toronto (about a month ago now), when some newspaper editors got excited because race officials refused to issue attendance figures, I wrote a column (you can read it here) suggesting they’d better fess up because otherwise they could get burned.

In that column, I reminded everyone about the time a Toronto newspaper blew the whistle on a labour union’s march to protest against the policies of the Mike Harris government.

Organizers said 100,000 people had taken to the streets and that number was dutifully reported by most media outlets in T.O. However, the newspaper in question had photographed the march from a plane overhead and blew up all the pictures and counted heads. The “100,000” turned out to be a little more than 14,000.

I don’t know if anybody read that column and took note, but lo and behold a Pennsylvania newspaper did just about the very same thing at the recent Pocono 500 at Pocono International Raceway.

NASCAR and the speedway announced that an estimated 100,000 had taken in the race. The newspaper, the Pocono Record, took photos of the crowd from the air and did what that Toronto paper did years ago and counted heads.

Fewer than 50,000 were at the speedway, less than half of what NASCAR and the race track would have people believe.

It’s an interesting piece – here’s the link – and a fair warning to any cultural or sporting event that accepts public money:

You’d better say how many people attend your event because, if you don’t, or else lie about the true number, some newspaper or TV or radio station’s gonna get ya.

It also makes you wonder what really is happening to attendance at NASCAR races and why the crowds are off by as much as they are. It can’t all be the economy.

2. My friend David White sent me a link earlier today to an article written by another old friend and colleague, Gordon Kirby, concerning the problems being encountered by the Indy Racing League (or IZOD IndyCar Series, take your pick). You can read it here.

It’s mostly an interview with the fellow who runs the Newman-Haas team these days and he has some interesting things to say about the rejection of the Delta Wing concept car, among other subjects.

But one sentence caught my eye, and I repeat it here:

“Most of the drivers are getting paid very little, if anything, and drivers who can bring cash to a team, particularly the smaller teams, get the drive.”

Most of the drivers are getting paid very little, if anything . . . ?

Are we talking “relative to,” as in, “relative to a NASCAR or F1 driver?

Which, when translated, would mean the Indy car drivers who are being paid would be getting $500,000 as compared, say, to Kyle Busch’s $2 million.

Or, is he saying that most Indy car drivers are racing just for expenses and a cut of the purse?

Because, if true, that is a blockbuster of a statement.

We know, for instance, that guys like Mario Moraes and E.J. Viso and Mario Romancini are paying for their drives.

But what’s being said here (or what I'm interpreting being said) is that – with the probable exceptions of Dario Franchitti, Danica Patrick and, maybe, Helio Castroneves – drivers like Tony Kanaan, Ryan Briscoe and Scott Dixon aren’t being paid all that much and that, to me, is more noteworthy than just about anything else being said about the IRL these days.

3.     Another friend (he doesn’t like me using his name) sent me a link to a very confusing story about Max Papis and his sponsor, the U.S. insurance company Geico. You can read it here.

I think Max is talking up a storm in an effort to control the message but when you read between the lines it seems clear that Geico doesn’t want to keep sponsoring a guy who has a hard time qualifying for NASCAR Sprint Cup races.

I’ve always been curious about the relationship between Papis and Geico anyway. Max is a nice guy with a terrific (and forceful) personality but I’ve never been able to figure out how a European, formula-car, road racer was able to land a multi-million-dollar sponsorship package to go racing in an American oval-track stock car series.

I mean, it makes no sense.

I know how he got that sponsorship – he worked his butt off, as compared to other, equally talented drivers, whose sense of entitlement has them sitting on their sofas at home, waiting for the phone to ring.

Having said that, there are all sorts of talented and experienced stock car drivers who would do a better job for Geico than Papis or his heir apparent, Casey Mears.

Maybe there’s more to sponsorship decisions than I’m aware of (forgetting family ties to either corporations or the vice-president who makes sponsorship decisions), but I would think if you’re going to shell out millions of dollars for somebody to go racing that the aim of the game would be to, a) win – or at least be in contention, and/or, b) attract positive media attention, which European road racers driving stock cars poorly don’t.

Oh – speaking about guys waiting for the phone to ring, Paul Tracy has tweeted his followers (read his tweets here) that he’s working on a deal to run the last four IndyCar Series races. “Getting closer,” he says.

I can’t understand why Paul Tracy is unemployed and Max Papis and Casey Mears aren’t.

As I said above, it makes no sense.