Norris McDonald's Auto Racing Blog

Daytona deal for Danica Patrick is a bad move

Danica Patrick is a good enough race driver that she should be able to qualify for the iconic Daytona 500 without being handled with kid gloves by new Sprint Cup employer Tony Stewart.

It was announced Tuesday that Stewart made a deal with Tommy Baldwin, whose Tommy Baldwin Racing’s car No. 36 (now renumbered 10) driven by Dave Blaney finished 32nd^d in points last season and is thus guaranteed a starting spot in the first five races of 2012, for Patrick to drive the car at Daytona.

She doesn’t need the pampering. And if, in fact, she does, then she shouldn’t be driving in Sprint Cup.

Now, we all know that this sort of thing goes on all the time in NASCAR. Deals get made for drivers to have places in major races – and it’s happened in all the other major series too.

But NASCAR, sponsor GoDaddy and Stewart have a lot riding on Patrick. She has to prove she’s not just another pretty face or the wonderful reception she’s received by fans to date will very quickly turn to jeers.

Patrick did well in IndyCar but that didn’t stop the whispers in the paddock that the sanctioning body allowed her to have more horsepower than all the other drivers. And that her one victory was a "fuel- mileage" deal that somehow really didn’t count, her critics conveniently forgetting that many of the IndyCar men who won races over the years also did it because they managed their fuel better than everybody else.

But that doesn’t matter. It’s all perception in today’s world and if she’s to succeed in NASCAR, Stewart and her other handlers would be better off throwing her to the wolves and seeing if she can survive before the whispers about favouritism grow loud in that series too.

The NASCAR drivers, by and large, are a tougher bunch than those who drive in IndyCar. They go almost as fast as the open wheelers but they also trade paint, drive primarily on ovals and it can be a pretty intimidating scene out there. (Note that I said tougher, not braver. There's a difference.)

It really is survvival of the fittest. If Patrick is to survive, she has to give as good as she gets.

Which means qualifying for the dozen or so Sprint Cup races she’s to run this season is essential in order to prove she’s at least as fast as that gang.

Let her do that, and then let her do some bashin’ and crashin’ to prove her mettle in combat, and she’ll continue to be a fan favourite. Paving the way for her before she’s even driven in her first Sprint Cup race will only prove to be counter-productive.

F1 refugee Rubens Barrichello finished two days of testing with KV Racing in the IZOD IndyCar Series and said that he’d enjoyed himself and hoped he’d been able to give the team some good feedback.

KV co-owner Jimmy Vasser said it had been a pleasure to have him around for the Sebring test and there was a budget in place to run him if details can be worked out.

There’s the rub, however. The details.

Rubens Barrichello has been a "paid" Formula One driver for 19 years. He was never a driver who had to "bring money." He is used to the F1 lifestyle; he travels around in his own private jet and he’s been able to do that as a result of the millions of dollars he’s been paid to drive cars for Ferrari, Williams and the rest over the years.

A "budget in place" in IndyCar means it won’t cost the driver any money to race the car.

But does KV Racing have several millions of extra dollars lying around to pay Rubens to race their car in order for him to continue living in the style to which he’s become accustomed?

I doubt it, but there’s the rub.

Tony Kanaan, KV’s regular driver and Barrichello’s best pal, has had to bring sponsorship money to continue racing in the series. Rubens will want to be paid to race.

Regardless of their friendship, how long will Kanaan be happy racing on that team when he’ll be writing cheques that may very well just be signed over to Rubens?

NASCAR's Tony Stewart returning for Ontario race

NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Tony Stewart, who was presented the 2011 Mario Andretti Trophy Sunday night for his amazing end-of-season charge that saw him win five of the 10 Chase for the Championship races, is returning to where it all began, Ontario’s Ohsweken Speedway, next summer.

Stewart was having a less-than-stellar season in 2011 until one night in July when he drove in a World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series race at the dirt oval on the Six Nations Reserve near Brantford and won not only his first Outlaws feature but his first race of the year in any series.

After that, he seemed buoyed and his NASCAR season turned around.

According to my friend Dean McNulty of the Sun, Stewart displayed the oversize cheque for $10,000 that he received for winning the Ohsweken race from the rear window of his motorhome for the rest of the summer. He said, according to Dean, that it served as inspiration for him to buckle down and win the Sprint Cup.

I was told late last week by a World of Outlaws regular that Ohsweken owner Glenn Styres received a commitment from Stewart at the Chili Bowl midget race in Tulsa in January – both Styres and Stewart were competing in the annual mid-winter indoor classic – to return to Ontario in July to defend his race championship.

I’ve said on many occasions that if you haven’t seen a World of Outlaws race in person that you are missing one of the great spectacles in sport, not just racing.

And with Stewart returning to take on the King of the Outlaws, Steve Kinser, and the rest of the band led by Joey Saldana, Jason Myers and Craig Dollansky, you can bet it will be thunder and lightning at Ohsweken next summer.

Check the Ohsweken Speedway website for additional details and advance ticket information.

Andretti presented his namesake trophy to Stewart on Sunday night’s edition of the Speed Center motorsport news program, acknowledging the three-time champion’s Chase run as the difference maker among a very impressive field of finalists for the annual SPEED Performer of the Year presented by ACE

Runner-up in the 2011 season was Moto GP ace Casey Stoner. In 2010, the winner was F1 world champion Sebastien Vettel with five-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson second. Johnson dominated from 2006 to 2008, with drag racer Tony Schumacher winning for 2009.

If Rubens Barrichello likes the KV Racing Indy car he’s testing for two days at Sebring – the final day of his test is today (Tuesday) – there is funding in place for him to run a full season, team co-owner (with multimillionaire Kevin Kalkhoven) Jimmie Vasser said Monday.

Barrichello took just a few laps to get his bearings before ripping off laps that were just a shade short of the times being turned in by his best friend and countryman Tony Kanaan, whose email of support to the F1 star last week triggered the tryout.

Barrichello was dropped from the Williams F1 lineup when Sir Frank opted to sign Bruno Senna. Kanaan’s email suggested there was life after F1 - in the IZOD IndyCar Series.

Said Barrichello: "I don't have anything else (in competitive driving in 2011), so we'll see."

NASCAR driver Allmendinger wins Rolex 24

TRACY SAYS HE'S CLOSE TO INDYCAR DEAL - BUT IS HE?

NASCAR driver A.J. Allmendinger hadn’t won a race in either the Sprint Cup stock car series or the old Champ Car Indy car series in five years but that drought came to an end Sunday afternoon at Daytona International Speedway when he drove the Michael Shank Racing Ford-Riley Daytona Prototype sports car past the checkers to win the 50^th anniversary Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona.

Allmendinger, who shared his drive with IndyCar and ex-F1 racer Justin Wilson and two "gentlemen drivers," John Pew and Oswaldi Negri, defeated second-place finishers Ryan Dalziel (who started the marathon from pole), Allan McNish, Lucas Luhr, Alex Popow and Enzo Potolicchio by 5.198 seconds, which was pretty close after a complete day of racing that started at 3:30 p.m. Saturday.

The second-place car was also a Ford-Riley, as was the third-place finisher – also entered by Michael Shank Racing – that was driven by Felipe Nasr, Mike McDowell, Jorge Goncalvez and Gustavo Yacaman.

Allmendinger led the first-place finishing car in the Grand Touring class – a Porsche GT3 driven by Andy Lally, John Potter, Rene Rast and Richard Lietz – by 9.412 seconds at the checkers in a race that saw an average speed of 126.300 miles an hour for the prototypes and 118.031 for the GTs. There were 13 caution periods for a total of 64 laps.

Here is a link to the complete story but I have these observations:

– I know it’s an iconic race and that they said there was a record crowd in the infield (75,000, they say . . . ) but there’s something the matter when a speedway has seating for 165,000 people and the winning driver gets out of the car and waves to the crowd and there is absolutely nobody there.

Yes, in the middle of the night at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, nobody is watching that race either. They are too busy partying. But when the race starts and when the race ends, there are thousands of people in the grandstands on both sides of the track, waving and cheering.

Not in Daytona, boy. I felt sorry for Allmendinger. He even had an American flag to wave and the only people standing in front of him in Victory Circle as he jumped out and let go with a winning war whoop were about 50 photographers.

It felt like a club race.

There were NASCAR drivers, IndyCar drivers, ex-F1 drivers and legendary sports car drivers in that field and yet it is obvious that there is next to no interest in that race so far as it being a spectator sport is concerned.

Which is really too bad. It was a good race and an exciting one. I mean, after 24 hours of racing there was five seconds between the winner and the second-place car and it can’t get much better than that.

– I love the holier-than-thou attitude experessed by many top racing drivers. Nothing is ever their fault or of their own doing. They are perfect.

Although I tried, I couldn’t watch the whole 24 hours of that race. I was dragged away, kicking and screaming, to go out for breakfast Sunday morning with my sweetheart and our youngest son. I got back just in time to see an interview with Allan McNish in which he shook his head and said (in so many words) what a numbskull Allemdinger was for running into him at 180 miles an hour.

A replay of the incident appeared to show Allmendinger moving up the track and clipping McNish, who was running beside him on the high side. "I don’t know what he was thinking," said the totally innocent-looking McNish.

So I thought to myself: "Maybe the Dinger should have been a bit more careful."

But lo and behold, 20 minutes later, Speed TV (which did its usual excellent job of televising the race) showed a replay of something that happened an hour or so earlier when Allmendinger pulled alongside McNish in the infield and made a move to pass, only to be pushed off the road by McNish.

"Aha," I said to myself. "So that’s it. McNish, the Innocent, started the fight. Allmendinger is a NASCAR driver now and that business on the high banks was just a little payback. And Mr. McNish is lucky the Dinger didn’t just ding him right up into the wall. What's that they say about, 'people who live in glass houses . . . ?' "

– Every time I hear Ryan Dalziel’s name (it’s pronounced Dee-all), I think of that town north of Pembroke on the Ottawa River called Des-Joachims. It’s pronounced "De Swisha."

– Although the Rolex 24 is a very important motor race, they mix and match drivers right up until the last minute. Although Mark Wilkins of Toronto was on the official entry list, his name was missing from the results. And Marco Andretti seemed to be added to the driver lineup of one car after the race was started.

What was scary is that Marco had never raced at Daytona before, had never sat in the car he was going to race, and wouldn’t arrive till 8 p.m. after testing an Indy car at Sebring earlier in the day. I know Marco is a good race driver, but doesn’t that seem a little ridiculous?

– It will be interesting to see if the cable commercials that played non-stop on the Speed Channel throughout the Rolex 24 ever make it onto network TV – the ones dealing with prostate problems and low male testosterone.

(By the way, every time I see Joe Theismann – he did the prostate pitch – I think of his rookie year with the Toronto Argonauts in 1971 when he was just 22. He came into the Globe and Mail, where I worked at the time, for an interview with the late sports editor, Jim Vipond. He looked like a million bucks, unlike most of the young athletes who play for the Leafs these days. He was in a three-piece grey suit and carried a briefcase. All the 30-something secretaries, who’d known for a few days that he was coming in, were all dolled up. He was greeted by a woman named Nancy, who was Vipond’s assistant. She took him into an office and when she came out, she looked somewhat cross. "What’s the matter?" I asked. "Aw, he’s just a kid," she snapped, as she stomped past.)

– Okay, here is the news of the day.

Paul Tracy was interviewed by the racing press corps and announced that he is "close" to signing a one-year deal with Michael Shank Racing for a full-time ride in the IZOD IndyCar Series that will, in fact, be a farewell tour.

However, Tracy also revealed that they are still working on a sponsorship deal and an engine deal for the season, which will start in less than two months.

Most IndyCar teams will be testing at Sebring this week, which means that even if things come together as hoped, this particular rookie team will be way behind everybody else.

Now, the significance of the timing of Tracy’s announcement is twofold:

First, he identified Michael Shank Racing as the team he would like to drive for if things can be worked out. That eliminates rumours about a return to Dale Coyne Racing, where he started his Indy car career at Long Beach in 1991.

Second, he essentially said that if he can’t run Indy cars, he would move immediately into sports cars and Michael Shank’s Grand Am team needs a driver of Tracy’s calibre, seeing as the two guys who won the Rolex 24 for Shank this weekend, Wilson and Allmendinger, won’t be available.

Paul Tracy is my favourite race driver and I want to see him wind up his career with dignity and class. But it’s very much a long shot because – if you read his quotes from the interviews he gave in Daytona at the weekend – he’s pretty much admitting he won’t be competitive.

"I still want to compete and drive," he said. "I still have the passion to drive. But at the level that it takes to run in IndyCar, at my age, 43, I think I could be more competitive and be able to compete and be in good equipment in sports cars."

If I was a sponsor being pitched to spend several millions of dollars to put him into an Indy car, my pen might run out of ink after reading that quote.

On the other hand, maybe he was pitching Shank to put him into the Daytona Prototype full-time . . .

Incidentally, Tracy finished ninth in the Rolex, driving - with others - a Doran Racing Dallara-Ford Daytona Prototype for 748 laps in 24 hours compared with the winning car’s 761 laps.

Here are where other Canadians finished:

– AIM Autosport of Woodbridge’s Ferrari 458, driven by full-season drivers Emil Assentato and Jeff Segal with the help of two others, finished eighth in the GT class (and 20^th overall) after starting second in class. It was the team’s first race in GT after a successful run in the prototypes. Look for them to do better as the Grand Am season progresses.

– IndyCar driver James Hinchcliffe of Oakville finished sixth in GT and 18^th overall in a Mazda RX-8.

– Paul Dalla Lana of Toronto, who won the GT season championship last year, was 16^th in the GT class (29^th overall) in a BMW M3.

– Darryl O’Young and Brett Van Blankers of Vancouver finished 20^th in GT and 33^rd overall in a Porsche owned by Steve Paquette’s Bullet Racing out of Vancouver.

– Chris Cumming of Vancouver was 24^th in GT in a Porsche, good for 39^th overall.

– Taylor Hacquard of Vancouver was classified 37^th in GT and 52^nd overall in a Mazda RX.

Foyt to miss Rolex 24; great qualifying result for AIM team

There’s lots of news coming out of Daytona this weekend.

Qualifying for the 50th Anniversary Rolex 24 that goes to the post at Daytona International Speedway at 3:30 p.m. today (Saturday - Speed TV at 2:30 p.m. Eastern) resulted in an upset with Ryan Dalziel of Orlando capturing the pole in a Ford-Riley Daytona Prototype.

Rounding out the front row will be a Corvette DP with driver Max Angelelli at the wheel.

In the GT class, the No. 59 Brumos Racing Porsche and driver Andrew Davis won pole over the Woodbridge-based No. 69 AIM Autosport Team FXDD with Ferrari and driver Jeff Segal.

That, ladies and gentlemen, is a great result for a new team.

For me, however, the most important headline was that A.J. Foyt had to cancel acting as Grand Marshal for the 50^th anniversary of the iconic event.

God’s own A.J. Foyt is the last American hero. It is not Junior Johnson, who really didn’t do much. Foyt won Indy four times and he won the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the 24 Hours of Daytona. He won the Daytona 500 stock car race and more midget and sprint car races than you can count.

In battle, he was braver’n Dick Tracy and you didn’t mess with him if you were smart.

But A.J. is 77 now and had a knee operation the other day and infection set in. He sent his regrets with the following words:

"I am really sorry that I can’t be there this weekend for the Rolex 24. I was really looking forward to it because I thought it was a great honour to be asked to be the Grand Marshal of the 50th Anniversary of that race and I considered it to be one of the great highlights of my career.

"I feel so bad that I let everyone down. I was also looking forward to seeing some of my old friends and the race cars that I drove in that race. It was going to be a really fun weekend for me but I guess I’ll be watching the race from my hospital room — yep, the doctors pulled rank on me. And I hate to admit, but I think they’re right — this time. I’d like to wish everyone a safe race and I’ll be with you in spirit."

A.J. Foyt is a giant among men and there are not many like him left in the world.

Meantime, Billy Johnson and Jack Roush Jr., in a Jack Roush Racing Ford Mustang Boss 302R, won the first official race of the 2012 season Friday by finishing first in the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Series BMW Performance 200.

Top Canadian in the field was 2011 Continental Tire GS champion Paul Dalla Lana of Toronto, driving a BMW M3 with American Billl Auberlen to a seventh place finish in a race that saw six caution flags. Twenty-five of the race’s 58 laps were run under caution. Nobody was injured, although several drivers were taken to hospital for checkups after crashing.

Other Canadians:

– David Empringham and John Farano, both of Toronto, were 12^th in a Porsche.

– Scott Maxwell of Toronto was 16^th in an Aston Martin Vantage.

– Jean-Francois Dumoulin of Trois-Rivieres was 25^th in a Porsche.

– Fraser Wellon of Mississauga and Frank Rossi of Kleinburg were 26^th in a Porsche.

– Taylor Hacquard of Vancouver was 31^st overall and fourth in ST class in a MazdaSpeed3.

– Michael Valiente of Vancouver finished 50^th (23^rd in ST) in a Honda Civic.

– Brad Wood of Brantford was classified 58^th (28^th in ST) in a Honda Civic.

– Ashley McCalmont of Ancaster was credited with a 73/36 result in a Camaro.

– Emanuel Anassis of Montreal was credited with a 77/37 result in a Mustang.

Barrichello IndyCar test will just be the first

Although Rubens Barrichello reportedly told his wife once that he would never race Indy cars — the memory of fellow Brazilian Nelson Piquet’s trip into the Indianapolis wall still vivid — the news that he will test a KV Racing Dallara-Chevrolet at Sebring next week should come as no surprise.

When Emmerson Fittipaldi’s F1 career ended, he went to CART.  So did Raul Boesel, Cristiano da Matta, Christian Fittipaldi, Mauricio Gugelmin, Roberto Morena and Alex Ribeiro.

Non-Brazilian F1 drivers who’ve switched to the Indy car ranks include Sebastien Bourdais (a back-and-forth, actually), Juan Pablo Montoya, Timo Glock, Alex Zanardi (ditto), Justin Wilson and, perhaps the most famous, Nigel Mansell in 1993, the year after he won the world championship.

Tony Kanaan drives for KV Racing, so there’s the link. As well as being fellow Brazilians, Kanaan and Barrichello are close friends and even switched helmet liveries once with Barrichello wearing Kanaan’s in the 2006 Grand Prix of Monaco and Kanaan wearing Rubens’ in that year’s Indy 500 (both races were on the same day).

And just the way Rubens has been talking indicates he is not yet ready to stop race-driving. “I have a lot of speed left in me yet,” he said as recently as last weekend after finding out that Bruno Senna would replace him at Williams.

If Barrichello makes the move, I suggest other F1 drivers without a ride in F1 this season will take a strong look at the IZOD IndyCar Series. Why? Because CART was once considered a viable alternative to F1 and today’s IndyCar series is looking very much like that again.

Although there is just once chassis, the Dallara, there are now three engine manufacturers in the primarily road-and-street circuit series and there are not really any weak teams. Yes, Penske, Ganassi and Andretti will be expected to lead the way but none of the teams expected to run the full series will really be also-rans so an unemployed F1 driver like Jaime Alguesuari, say, would not be out of line taking sponsorship money to Dale Coyne Racing, which announced this week it will run with Honda power and Justin Wilson aboard one of its two cars.

Vitaly Petrov is also without employment at the moment and is too young and too good to be content driving in one Friday practice session as a reserve.

It’s better to do what guys like Montoya, Zanardi and Bourdais did — stay active and dominate — than to hover around F1 in the background like an obedient puppy.

There are only a few seats left in IndyCar at the moment but if Barrichello is sniffing around, the chances are very good that there will be others.

The first race of the Rolex 24 at Daytona weekend will go to the post Friday. About a dozen Canadians are entered in the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge BMW Performance 200 (whew — what a mouthful!).

They are:

Ashley McCalmont of Ancaster in a Camaro; Emmanuel Anassis of Montreal in a Mustang; Jean-Francois Dumoulin of Trois-Rivieres in a Porsche; Scott Maxwell of Toronto in an Aston Martin Vantage; David Empringham of Toronto teaming with John Farano, also of Toronto, in a Porsche; Frank Rossi of Kleinberg teaming with Fraser Wellon of Mississauga in a Porsche; Paul Dalla Lana of Toronto in a BMW; Brad Wood of Brantford in a Honda Civic; Taylor Hacquard of Vancouver in a MazdaSpeed3 and Michael Valiante of Vancouver in a Honda Civic.

Now, Multimatic Motorsports of Markham has cars entered, as does Karl Thomson’s Compass360 Racing team of Toronto. Speaking of Compass360, the following release arrived in my emailbox this week:

“Compass360 Racing is no stranger to winning on the high banks of Daytona International Speedway, having been on the Street Tuner podium four straight years from 2007 to 2010. To extend that impressive result the team has assembled a driver roster for this weekend's Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge race that's arguably the strongest it's ever had, counting three former series champions and one runner-up in the squad.

“Grand-Am's 2007 ST Champion Adam Burrows will share the #74 Dr. Kimberly Henry / Speed Secrets / HPD Honda Civic Si with Andrew Novich, who impressed the team in his rookie year the previous season.

"I'm excited to be back with Compass360 Racing and all the guys, especially Andrew, who I think is going to impress a lot of people this year," noted Burrows. "Coming into a series this competitive as a rookie is a real challenge, and I know Andrew finished fourth here last year, so we're shooting for a podium finish in 2012."

“Burrows last ran with C360R in 2008, co-driving with 2007 ST Champion Trevor Hopwood, who will drive the #77 Joe Marina Honda / Luna-C / HPD car with Bo Roach.

"Like Adam, I'm thrilled to be back in a C360R Honda after a couple of years in other cars." remarked Hopwood. "These guys have always been at the front, and I have a really good feeling about this race."

The Daytona event is particularly meaningful as Roach, promoter of Midnight Drags at Tulsa Raceway Park, is returning to Grand-Am racing after a two-year absence. "Running this race, with support from Joe Marina Honda in Tulsa, on the 50th running of the Rolex is just so amazing," enthused Roach, who turns 50 this weekend. "It's a 50-50 race for me!"

David Thilenius, the third former champ in the line-up, won the Grand-Am Street Tuner in 2010 with Compass360 Racing. He's returning for his third straight season with the team, sharing the #76 Metropolitan Foods / HPD Honda with John Kuitwaard, who after a number of years doing select races has signed on for a full campaign.

"I'm looking forward to driving last year's car without the restrictor!" laughed Thilenius. "The Hondas have always been good cars at Daytona, and although we know the rest of the field is very strong I'm hoping to get a good points haul this weekend."

Last year's Street Tuner battle was a fight to the finish in the season finale, and if not for being spun out in the closing stages by a Mazda, Ryan Eversley might have won the title for C360R. As it was, he finished second, one better than in 2010.

This year he's aiming for the top spot, co-driving with veteran Grand-Am competitor Ray Mason in the #75 Columbus Truck / Children's Wish Foundation / HPD car.

"Ray (Lee) and the Compass boys have been working on this new 2012 Civic for the past six months and at the test a few weeks ago, I was really impressed," exclaimed Eversley. "For a new car, I think it's going to be ready to go right out of the box."

The Continental Tire Daytona race starts at 1:30 p.m. on Friday, and will air on the Speed TV channel  Feb. 4 at noon.

Fewer Canadians enter Rolex 24 at Daytona

The 50^th anniversary Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona sports car race will kick off the 2012 auto racing season this weekend and, as usual, Canada has supplied a number of competitors for the headline event at Daytona International Raceway.

Although there is an exciting new team in the mix, the AIM Autosport of Woodbridge partnership with Ferrari (and more about that later), there are not as many Canadian drivers entered this year as there were a year ago and you wonder why, considering that the Canadian economy is doing much better than that of the U.S.

In 2011, four Canadians (f you count Darren Law, who was born in Toronto) were entered in the Daytona Prototype class, compared with just one this year, and 10 Canucks did battle in the GT class compared with nine this year. In all, it’s a significant drop – from a total of 14 in 2011 to 10 in 2012.

(There are more Canadian drivers and teams entered in the supporting Continental Tire race that goes to the post on Friday, but we’re talking the main event here, the Rolex 24, a race in which Canadians have not only contested but won.)

There’s a suggestion that because it’s the 50^th anniversary event, organizers have worked to put former champions and well-known competitors in cars, thus cutting down on the number of seats available. On the other hand, maybe it’s just one of those things — but it’s worth noting.

The lone Canadian entered in the glamour-puss class, the Daytona Prototype division, is Paul Tracy of Scarborough, who’s still out there fighting to find a full-time ride in the IZOD IndyCar Series but also laying the groundwork for another of his ambitions, to close out his glorious career with some success in long-distance races like the Rolex, the 12 Hours of Sebring and the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Tracy has signed to drive Doran Racing's No. 77 Combos/Circle-K Ford-Dallara with brothers Brian and Burt Frisselle and Dr. Jim Lowe.

In a release, Tracy said he was exciting about the opportunity to take another crack at Daytona with a team he drove for in the race back in 2005.

"I'm very excited to make my return to Daytona for the 50th Anniversary of the Rolex 24, and especially with Doran Racing," Tracy said. "I drove my first Rolex 24 in a Doran JE4 design back in 2005 and it was a great experience. I'm grateful that (the team has) put his trust in me as a driver and paired me with the Frisselle brothers and Jim Lowe."

As well as the 2005 race, in which the team failed to finish, Tracy also raced at Daytona with Michael Shank Racing in 2006 and 2007. He’s no stranger to the Frisselle family, either.

"One of my first big race wins as a driver (at Mosport in 1986, in a car owned by Horst Kroll, when Tracy was only 17) came in a Frisbee Can-Am car that Brian and Burt’s father (Brad Frisselle) built, so I’m thrilled to now be able to race with the next generations of Frisselles," Tracy said.

In addition to Tracy in Daytona Protytpe, other Canadians lined up for the Rolex 24 in the GT class include:

— Toronto drivers Scott Maxwell, driving a Mazda RX-8 for Dempsey Racing, Mark Wilkins aboard a Paul Miller Racing Porsche GT3 and Paul Dalla Lana driving for Turner Motorsports in a BMW M3;

— Oakville IndyCar star James Hinchcliffe racing a Speed Source Mazda RX-8;

— Vancouver drivers Chris Cumming (Porsche GT3), Darryl O’Young (Porsche GT3), Brett Van Blankers (Porsche GT3) and Taylor Hacquard (Mazda RX-8).

Meantime, AIM Autosport, which for years was an entrant in the Rolex Daytona Prototype division (a Riley-Ford, with primary driver Mark Wilkins of Toronto), has announced a full-year program in GT with 2010 GT champions Emil Assentato and Jeff Segal in a new, factory-built, Ferrari 458 Italia GT Grand Am and will kick off the program at the Rolex 24.

Assentato, of Locust Valley, N.Y. and Segal of Miami will co-drive the new Ferrari in their fifth full season as teammates. They will be joined at Daytona by Anthony Lazzaro of Canton, Ga., and Nick Longhi, of Nyack, N.Y.

Title sponsor is FXDD, an online currency trading service that is also a partner of the F1 Red Bull Racing team.

"FXDD is excited to announce our title sponsorship of AIM Autosport Team FXDD and our commitment to the Ferrari 458 Italia GT Grand Am racing program in the Rolex Sports Car Series," said John Corbett, FXDD director of marketing, when the new team was formed in late 2011. "We are very proud to partner with a team that exemplifies the precision and dedication we provide to our clients every day."

The AIM team began as a partnership between Andrew Bordin, Ian Willis and Keith Willis and made headlines in the 2008 Rolex season when drivers Brian Frisselle and Wilkins scored back-to-back Daytona Prototype race wins at Watkins Glen and Montreal. The Canadian victory remains the closest finish in Daytona Prototype history.

"I'm invigorated by this program," said Bordin, AIM Autosport Sporting Director and Team Principal. "I have been a Ferrari fan since I was little and it's tremendously exciting to now be involved with a Ferrari racing program."

Said AIM Autosport race engineer and Team Principal Ian Willis: "I have been involved in racing all my life and one name personifies racing cars like none other: Ferrari. As a boy growing up, I watched Ferrari Formula One, Can-Am and sports cars at Mosport, so to be campaigning a Ferrari in the 50th anniversary of the Rolex 24, and chasing the 2012 Rolex Series GT championship, is like a dream come true."

It is kind of exciting, isn’t it?

Kimi admits he'll need time to adjust to F1

DANICA OFFICIALLY OUT OF INDY 500

Kimi Raikkonen, who's well into Day 2 of his return to Formula One by driving a 2010-spec Renault around the Valencia circuit in Spain, said following Monday’s session that he expects he’ll need a little time to get readjusted.

Ya think?

The 2007 world champion, who spent two years competing in the World Rally Championship and took a detour to North America in 2011 for a couple of NASCAR races, is now back in F1 with Lotus (which used to be Renault, remember?) and said that while he didn’t have any real trouble driving the car Monday, he expects it will take some time to get used to the team and to the spec Pirelli tires.

Raikkonen said he’d enjoyed his short time in NASCAR, which convinced him he really wanted to go circuit racing again and "if you want to go racing, then you want to be in F1."

The second day of the test Tuesday was geared to getting him ready to step into the 2012 car at the first F1 pre-season test at the Jerez track, which starts on Feb. 7.

Good luck to him and it's good to have him back. But if Michael Schumacher had trouble adjusting to the new reality that’s F1 after his time away from the sport, it’s very likely that Raikkonen will find it a struggle too.

At least he has the courage to admit it.

By the way, it comes as absolutely no surprise that Danica Patrick has officially ruled out trying to drive in this year's Indianapolis 500.

She made it official Monday at Daytona International Speedway, where she's preparing to make her full-time stock car racing debut next month.

Instead of Indy, she'll drive in NASCAR's Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Both the 500 and the 600 are scheduled for May 27.

"I hope to do it (the Indy 500) in the future," she told reporters. "At this point, after a lot of conversations, it's just going to be the Coke 600. I think it's going to be a big challenge, but I'm looking forward to it."

Patrick left the IZOD IndyCar Series to drive in NASCAR this season. She'll run the entire Nationwide Series for Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s JR Motorsports team and for Tony Sterwart's Stewart-Haas Racing team in 12 Sprint Cup races, starting with the Daytona 500 on Feb. 26.

She left the door open to returning to Indy, where she's raced the last seven Mays, at some time in the future - perhaps even trying "the double," in which a driver runs both Indy and the Coke 600.

Although some may disagree, her absence could affect Indy 500 attendance and TV ratings. Anybody who has spent any time in Indianapolis around 500 time knows that Danica Patrick is the star of that race, so far as everybody from local TV weathermen to morning disc jockeys on radio are concerned.

The purists might not like it, but it is fact.

I don't have any news to pass along about TSN's plans for Formula One coverage this year (rest assured, I have asked) but here’s some of what SpeedTV has lined up for auto racing generally in 2012.

Speed Center, the Sunday evening motorsport news program that covers NASCAR, IndyCar, F1 and the short tracks, will return on Jan. 29 at 7 p.m. to report on the 50^th anniversary running that weekend of the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona.

In addition, the presentation of the Mario Andretti Trophy to the 2011 Speed Performer of the year will be made on that edition of the show. (I suggest the winner will be Tony Stewart.)

It is sincerely hoped that Speed Center will continue on the schedule it carved out for itself last racing season when it would kick off racing weekends with a Friday night edition and insert updates throughout the weekend leading to the wrapup Sunday night program.

No definitive word on that, though.

In any event, at 8 p.m. that evening (Jan. 29), the 10^th season of Wind Tunnel with Dave Despain will go to air and everybody who’s watched that show in the past knows it is a must-see program.

Incidentally, Despain – who really should do more specials like the one he's done on Carroll Shelby; his profile of Chris Economaki a few years ago was a masterpiece and I wish Speed would make it available on DVD – says his easiest and most colourful interview has always been drag racer John Force, his best interview has always been Jeff Gordon and his most challenging interview has always been Tony Stewart – will anchor the 535^th episode of Wind Tunnel when the red light goes on that night.

Wow.

Oh, before I forget. SpeedTV and speedtv.com will cover the Daytona 24 live around the clock. Here’s how.

The pre-race program will go to air at 2:30 p.m. Eastern on Sat., Jan. 28, with the green flag expected an hour later, at 3:30 p.m. Full coverage of the race on Speed will continue until 11 p.m., at which time coverage will switch to speedtv.com and continue there overnight. Television coverage will resume at 9 a.m. on Sunday and continue through to the checkers and the post-race celebrations and interviews.

The Rolex show will be anchored by Bob Varsha and Leigh Diffey with help from colour commentators/analysts and pit/paddock reporters David Hobbs, Tommy Kendall, Dorsey Schroeder, Calvin Fish, Brian Till, Justin Bell and others.

Here’s something a little different. Jim Clarke, who handles PR for Kawartha Speedway, sent this out late last week:

"Sometimes things just happen. At Kawartha Speedway’s 2011 award’s banquet – Sat., Jan. 14^th – the rookie of the year honour in the Hasiuk Trailer and Container Rental Mini Stock division was presented to seventh place point finisher Alex Lees, who won three main events during the year. After checking statistics for the season, the track has announced that the award should have actually belonged to Ryan Oosterholt, who picked up only one feature race win but finished second in points. General Manager/Promoter Derek Lynch says the track regrets the error and will be sending a trophy to Oosterholt."

Here's how F1 teams get their money

Of all the motorsport journalists writing for all the motorsport publications in all the world, I trust maybe three or four more than everybody else.

Nigel Roebuck is at the top of my list for Formula One. Joe Saward is close behind.

Saward was mentored by Roebuck when they both worked at Britain’s Autosport magazine back in the 1980s. He left Autosport to write for F1 News magazine (which is where I became a fan) and when it ceased publication, he went on to write for other motoring magazines and, in recent years, Internet sites. As well as also being the author of books, he writes for, and maintains, his own racing web site.

Now, a lot of motorsport journalism suffers from sameness. There are many journalists out there who write the same way about the same subjects as everybody else does. There is very little to set them apart.

So, if you’re a fan, you go looking for things that will separate a particular reporter from the others: great writing, great insight or opinion – that sort of thing. In the case of Roebuck, you will get great detail and historical context in everything he writes. In the case of Saward, you will get exclusive reporting in areas where the average reporter wouldn’t stand a chance.

Case in point. Where does the money come from in Formula One?

We know it is a multi-billion-dollar enterprise (yes, that "b" on "billion" is correct). We know it is just a humongous amount of money.

But who ponies it up? Who writes the cheques? Where (and how), for instance, does Ferrari come up with its hundreds of millions of dollars to do battle each year?

Saward has been around F1 since the mid-1980s. Since 1988, he has covered every single Grand Prix. He knows people. As a result, he’s able to stitch together facts and figures from nearly a quarter-century of covering the sport and write definitively about something that most journalists would consider a mystery and only able to guess at.

He posted this "primer" on F1 financing on his blog in recent days. I repeat it here, with full credit. I do so, because it’s fascinating. But it also explains why so many people (and corporations) go into F1 full of bravado and soon find themselves heading for the hills.

Read Saward’s story and you will realize why there are only four or five teams (Ferrari, McLaren, Williams and one or two others) that are still around after all these years.

And dozens that are not.

Writes Saward:

"People often ask how Formula 1 teams are funded. It is not a subject about which there is much information available. Most of the teams have annual tax returns which become public but these do not (generally) give breakdowns of where revenues were generated.

"Teams gain money from different sources: notably sponsorship, merchandising and in some cases from selling their expertise to others teams, or using them in other industries.

"Sponsorships are not always what one sees on the side of the car. There are, for example, title sponsorships where a company buys the naming rights for the team (such as AT&T Williams or Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro). There are also "off-car" deals in which companies are allowed the right to use an association with the team to sell their products. In most cases the sponsorship is the primary source of revenue for an F1 team. Merchandising is still underdeveloped in F1, with only Ferrari really enjoying big revenues.

"Under the terms of the 2009 Concorde Agreement, the big Formula 1 teams make a lot of money from the prize fund. This is made up of 50 per cent of the revenues of the sport, which means around $500 million at the moment. Ferrari has a special deal and gets 2.5 percent of the overall figure ($12.5 million) and the rest is then split into two different prize funds: the first is divided equally between the top 10 teams; this means that they get around $25 million apiece. The second is based on the performance of the previous season and is divided up on a scale that is detailed in the Concorde Agreement.

"The World Champions get around $47 million, with runners-up getting $40 million, third-placed getting $32.5 million, fourth place $27.5 millon, fifth place $25 million and so on down to 10th, which gets $10 million. Thus Red Bull Racing will be picking up around $72 million this year, based on its performances in 2011, while Ferrari will pick up $70 million despite having been beaten to second place by McLaren, which will get around $65 million.

"There is believed to be side deals for McLaren and Williams, but it is not clear how much that is worth, although it is unlikely to be more than $5 million apiece. If that.

"At the bottom end of the scale, the numbers are less impressive. By finishing 10th for the second consecutive season, Caterham F1 Team has jumped from earning $10 million as a new team to earning $35 million in 2012. This is why the battle at the back of the grid is so intense. HRT and Marussia, which finished 11th and 12th, remain with $10 million apiece. All the teams also get some of their freight and travel bills paid for as part of the deal.

"If the teams were better organised and could gain control of the commercial rights, they would make considerable gains in the longer term, based on the current system, although loans to acquire those rights would take a few years to pay off.

"If, after that, the teams were to share 85 per cent of the revenues, rather than the current 50 per cent, the World Champions would make more than $120 million a year and the 10th placed team would get nearly $60 million. With sensible cost restrictions in the future this would mean that with other incomes from sponsorship, merchandising and so on, even the smaller teams could always be profitable.

"Given that the absolute minimum that a team can be run on at the moment is in the region of $40 million, there is still a good amount of money that is required to allow the little teams to survive.

"A pay-driver these days will need to be able to bring $10 million, although one or two of them turn up with a lot more. Despite this, the smaller teams still struggle to break even. In part this is because they do not get much TV exposure. However, increasingly this is not the goal of the sponsorships as companies buy teams (or buy into teams) in order to promote their brands, so it is part of their marketing budgets and they have the added benefit of being able to use F1's corporate hospitality as a place to entertain their corporate customers and to do deals.

"What the small teams really need is investors who are willing to swallow losses for a few years in order for the teams to move up the F1 ladder and then either enjoy the profits, or cash in and sell up. This is what is going on at Marussia Racing, with Virgin and Lloyds Development Capital, and – apparently – at HRT with Banco Popular aiming to recoup the loans it made (unwisely) to the Carabante Family before selling the business at a later point.

"Ultimately, however, it all depends on performance, which is why Marussia (for example) is buying technology from McLaren."

NASCAR star Carl Edwards coming to Toronto

Here are two big pieces of news concerning the Canadian Motorsports Expo, which will be held at the International Centre out by the airport the weekend of Feb. 10-12.

First, NASCAR star Carl Edwards, the guy who finished second to Tony Stewart in last season’s Sprint Cup series, will be at the Expo on Sat., the 11th, between noon and 2 to sign autographs and answer questions from fans.

Actually, although he officially finished second in the Chase to the Championship, Edwards was actually tied with Stewart following the final race but lost because Tony had more wins. Having said that, it was the closest championship battle in NASCAR’s history and Edwards won universal praise for his performances, both on and off the race track.

Said Edwards in a release: “I’m looking forward to coming to Toronto to meet Canadian racing fans at the Canadian Motorsports Expo. I was in kind of a rush the last time I was in Canada, last August. We were doing double-duty that weekend, shuttling back and forth between the Michigan Cup race and the Nationwide race in Montreal (which he won). This time, it’ll be nice to chat with the fans in a more relaxed setting.”

(I’ve just re-read that quote and I hope somebody’s told Carl that there are about 300 miles (500 kms) between Montreal and Toronto. I’ve always found Americans (many of them, anyway) to be a little geographically challenged when they talk about “Canada.” But I digress . . .)

Edwards, who’s won 19 Sprint Cup races, will only drive in the Sprint Cup this season in order to concentrate on winning the title.

Meantime, the other piece of good news is that for the first time, the Honda Indy Toronto is going to have a display at the Expo and fans are going to get an up-close look at the new 2012 Dallara DW12 IndyCar.

This will be the first time Canadian race fans will have the chance to view the long-awaited car, which has been designated the DW12 in honour of the late Dan Wheldon, who was a series champion and two-time winner of the Indy 500 and who did most of the testing of the new chassis.

“Canadian Motorsports Expo visitors are going to be the first in Canada to get a first-hand look at the new road course version of the Dallara DW12 IZOD IndyCar Series car, identical to the ones that will be in action on the streets of Toronto July 6-8,” said the Expo's David Weber.

“The Honda Indy Toronto is one of Canada’s biggest sports and entertainment events and we’re excited to be working with the organizers to promote both the event and Canadian motorsports.”

Located at the core of the Expo’s 80,000-square-foot display area, the Honda Indy Toronto booth will be hosted by event representatives who will be happy to discuss the 2012 race and the new car.

Fellow Canadian and 2011 IndyCar Rookie of the Year James Hinchcliffe – a former Inside Track Readers’ Choice Award winner and current nominee – will be vying for a victory on the streets of Toronto after recently signing with Andretti Autosport.

Another Canadian – 2011 Indy 500 pole-winner Alex Tagliani of Quebec – will also be in action in Toronto in July, having recently signed a deal to race for Bryan Herta Autosport.

Canadian racing veteran Paul Tracy is reportedly still in discussions to contest the full 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series schedule but nothing has been confirmed as of yet for “The Thrill from West Hill.”

The connection between high speeds and hwy. crashes

Last week, on the Wheels Smackdown feature at wheels.ca (that’s where Mark Richardson and I look at each other and shout: “You’re wrong!”), I argued for the retention of the 100 km/h speed limit on Ontario’s 400-series highways.

(I know, I know – what does this have to do with auto racing? Which is what I usually write about? Please, bear with me . . .)

I started my argument by saying that if people want to drive really fast, there are places to do it — like in race cars on the road circuit at Mosport International Raceway, or on the drag strip at Toronto Motorsports Park (see, I told you this was about racing . . . ).

I went on to say that, in my opinion, many of the licensed drivers on Ontario highways are not capable of driving safely at speeds above 100 km/h and that the debate really centres around safety: higher speeds means more accidents.

In any event, I lost the argument, big time. When readers’ votes were calculated this week, Richardson – who argued that the limit should be raised to at least 120 km/h – received 83 per cent of the votes cast (5,789, to be exact) and I only got a paltry 17 per cent (1,207).

But this discussion is not confined to Canada.

Case in point: the government of South Africa is conducting research into the possibility of reducing the legal limit there to 100 km/h from 120 km/h in an effort to reduce that country’s highway death toll.

On average, up to 40 people are killed on South African roads every day, which translates into more than 1,000 every month.

Transport Minister S'bu Ndebele said on Monday that while there had been an outcry against reducing the speed limit, the idea should not be dismissed outright.

“Let us have this debate about reduction of speed, from 120 km/h to 100 km/h.”

The minister claims high speeds were a major factor in 1,200 crashes during the Christmas holiday season.

Besides speed, drinking and driving is also a problem in that country. About 2,400 people were arrested for drunk driving during the holidays. (The legal limit for alcohol consumption in Ontario is 0.08; in South Africa, it’s 0.05).

Now, you will never see a Smackdown about drinking and driving, because that’s a no-brainer.

But the debate about speed limits on the public roads will continue, here and elsewhere, as this story from South Africa illustrates.