Norris McDonald's Auto Racing Blog

Honda Indy: no Target, no more TSN and Hunter-Reay's mom

Sunday's Honda Indy was one of the best races in years. Good weather, good crowd and good competition.

Winner Ryan Hunter-Reay surprised everyone by mentioning that his late mother, Lydia, was from Hamilton. This is almost becoming a ritual. Two years ago, Will Power revealed that one of his grandmothers came from Edmonton.

There were many stories out of the weekend. Here is a brief glimpse at some of them, particularly the confirmation from IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard that he's negotiating with Rogers Sportsnet on a TV contract for 2013.

Hunter=Reay, who became emotional when he left the podium Sunday after winning the Honda Indy, calls himself half-Canadian.

Although born in Dallas, Tex., his mother, Lydia, came from Hamilton, Ont. She died of cancer in 2009 and the thought of winning, and of being so close to her hometown, was overwhelming for him.

Hunter-Reay honours her by driving car No. 28, which stands for the 28 million people currently fighting various forms of cancer.

The Andretti Autosport driver, who has now won three races in a row in the highly competitive IZOD IndyCar Series, beat Charlie Kimball, a Type 1 diabetic, and Mike Conway to the top step of the podium.

It was Kimball's best finish in IndyCar competition; Conway, who battled back from serious injuries suffered in the 2010 Indianapolis 500, drives for A.J. Foyt and third place was their best finish in the last three years.

Tony Kanaan finished fourth, Oriol Servia was fifth, Helio Castroneves finished sixth, J.R. Hildebrand was seventh, James Jakes was eighth, Takuma Sato finished ninth and Alex Tagliani, one of two Canadian drivers in the classic, was tenth.

The other Canadian, Oakville's James Hinchcliffe, had a horrible weekend that ended early when his second Chevrolet engine went kaput. He finished 22nd, officially.

He missed the entire second practice on Friday after the first engine failed. That earned him a 10 grid-position penalty to be assessed after qualifying, in which he was ninth fastest, sending him off in Toronto from 19th position. He was on the charge, and well up in the top ten, when the second engine blew up.

This means that at the next race in Edmonton, he will be assessed a further 10 grid-position penalty after qualifying, which hardly seems fair but rules are rules.

Tagliani was also the victim of a 10 grid-position penalty and started the race 16th. He had an up and down day, charging to the front but then falling back. His tenth-place finish was excellent, all things considered.

 

IndyCar President and CEO Randy Bernard confirmed that the series is negotiating with Rogers Sportsnet to take over the televising of Indy car racing from 2013 on. TSN, which broadcast the race in Canada Sunday (ABC carried the event in the U.S.), has televised Indy car racing for years, as well as NASCAR and F1 races.

Bernard says the time is ripe for IndyCar to make a Great Leap Forward in Canada because of the popularity of Oakville's James Hinchcliffe.

"When a guy who's running 22nd or 23rd comes to me and says 'I'm not getting enough exposure,' my answer to him is 'win.' When you have someone like James who is right up there kicking butt, this is the type of guy - he's got a great personality, he's got a great sponsor - this is the type of guy you want to take that momentum and build and that's why the time is ripe for us to build in Canada.

Bernard wouldn't be specific and, in fact, ducked the direct question but did confirm that IndyCar is looking to grow the series in Canada.

He wouldn't bite when asked about the possibility of a third race north of the Canada-U.S. border, as has been rumoured. IndyCar has two races in Canada, here in Toronto and in Edmonton, but CART and Champ Car previously raced in Vancouver, Montreal and at Le Circuit Mont-Tremblant in Quebec.

Quebec City has been rumoured but IndyCar would love to somehow get back to Vancouver.

Bernard, who wouldn't say if he was negotiating, or with whom, did say he would be open to any race that didn't negatively impact the current races in Edmonton and Toronto.

 

Michael Andretti owns Ryan Hunter-Reay's car. Andretti won the Toronto Indy seven times but this is his first victory as a car owner. With this victory - his third straight - Hunter-Reay now leads the IZOD IndyCar Series points standings.

Andretti said it was unfortunate that the Honda Indy had to end under yellow that that a green-white-checkers finish would not be a good thing for Indy car racing. 

"You can't do that (have a green-white-checkers)," he said. "Some guys were just running on fumes and wouldn't be able to compete."

He said NASCAR, where he's rumoured to be entering a team in 2013, is different.

"Their races are a lot different than ours. For them, it works. They just shut their cars off on the backstretch and park 'em and we can't do that so all we'd do is hold the show up and maybe make the fans mad so we shouldn't do it."

 

Where was Target?

A year ago, after it was announced that the U.S. department store would be coming to Canada in late 2012 and 2013, they used the Honda Indy to market their company and their involvement in racing.

They threw a wonderful reception on Sunday morning in advance of the race, brought in their American executive team and introduced their Canadian executives. Target drivers Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon entertained the assembled media and even Chip Ganassi showed up.

Out on the grounds, there were signs with the Target logo everywhere and young men and women were dressed in Target-branded clothing and were handing out flyers and small merchandise.

This year, nothing.

Yes, the Chip Ganassi team is still Target Chip Ganassi but there were no signs around the site nor were there any representatives of the store wandering around publicizing it.

It was a complete withdrawal and it seemed strange

ASN Canada FIA supervised kart races that were held in the infield of the Honda Indy Toronto circuit during the weekend.

Nearly a half-million dollars were raised for women's programs at Sunnybrooke Hospital from the kart races that started Thursday with a Bay St. celebrity event and continued Saturday and Sunday.

 

Gustavo Yacaman, the Colombian racer who won Saturday's Indy Lights race, said Sunday morning that he hopes to be in the IndyCar Series next season.

"That's the plan," he said, adding that he expects the necessary sponsorship to be in place before the 2013 season starts.

Yacaman, echoing Roger Penske, also said it was disappointing to hear about NASCAR star A.J. Allmendinger's failed drug test that saw Sam Hornish Jr, replace him for the Coke 400 at Daytona Saturday night.

"It's disappointing when you see a driver get an opportunity like he did with Penske Racing and then do something that could destroy his career. We have to give him the benefit of the doubt, but it's disappointing to see."'

Allmendinger, who was mentored by Paul Tracy, raced in the Champ Car World Series before going to NASCAR. He is married to a girl from Toronto.

 

Other racing news: Mark Webber passed Fernando Alonso with two laps to go to win the British Grand Prix Sunday. Sebastien Vettel was third. . . . Tony Stewart won the Firecracker 400 at Daytona Saturday night (now called the Coke Zero 400). A.J. Allmendinger failed a drug test and has been suspended temporarily. It could be indefinite, depending. Dinger previously pleaded guilty to DUI. . . . Klaus Graf and Lucas Luhr came back from being four laps down to win the American Le Mans Series race at Lime Rock, Conn. The ALMS will be at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (Mosport) in two weeks.

 

Mayor Rob Ford came to the Honda Indy Sunday morning talked about the $50 million economic impact the race has on Toronto and expressed hope that the event would continue for years.

He noted that there are more construction cranes in the air in Toronto at the moment than there are in any other major North American city.

The mayor said he couldn't pick a winner because he wished the best of luck to all the drivers.

 

Meantime, back at the Honda Indy, the two front row starters, pole sitter Dario Franchitti and outside front row starter Will Power, have had better days.

Franchitti took the lead at the start, only to be passed by Power. When Franchitti, who's won this race three times, including last year, made his first stop for fuel and tires, he stopped too far out from the pit wall for the fuel hose to attach to the car. By the time his crew were able to move the car in enough to fuel it, his race was essentially over.

It ended shortly before the finish when he collided with Ryan Briscoe and both cars were too damaged to continue.

Power, meantime, had a slight coming-together with another car and the front wing on his car came apart, damaging a tire. He made two stops, one for fresh rubber and fuel and another for a new nose and that was pretty much all she wrote. 

Power officially finished 15th and Franchitti was 17th.

It was a fast race and, until the last laps, remarkably clean. There were only two caution periods before the schmozzles at the end and, according to the official score card, only eight laps in total were run under yellow all race.

It only took a little over 90 minutes to run the Honda Indy and the average speed for the 85 laps was 95.787 miles an hour. There were five lead changes between Franchitti, Power, Pagenaud (who ran near the front all day but was assessed a 30-second penalty after the checkers for blocking, dropping him to 12th place), J.R. Hildebrand and Hunter-Reay.

Sebastien Bourdais was heading for a top five finish when he crashed to bring out the second caution flag (Graham Rahal's crash brought out the first) and was extremely angry at Kimball, suggesting he didn't deserve a podium. (Kimball was on the inside and Bourdais  was outside going into Turn One and often in siutations like that, two into one won't go and Bourdais wound up in the wall.)

Kimball was asked about this afterward and was very calm, sugggesting any anger should be directed at officials in Race Control who didn't see fit to send out a sweeper to get rid of the marbles that were everywhere on the course once a car got off the racing line.

The inference was that Bourdais was the architect of his own demise by getting off the race line and into the marbles.

The big Honda Indy question: how to beat Dario

The question that 24 of the 25 drivers starting Sunday's Honda Indy Toronto are asking themselves is short and to the point: How to beat Dario Franchitti?

Franchitti, the swashbuckling Scottish racer who lives in Tennessee and is married to one of Hollywood's biggest stars, Ashley Judd, won the pole Saturday for Sunday's race with a last lap burst of speed that left his opponents shaking their heads.

His time around the 1.755-mile circuit at Exhibition Place was 59.3510 seconds, which translates into a speed of 106.451 miles an hour. It just beat Australian driver Will Power's time of 59.3757 seconds (106.407 mph) and English driver Justin Wilson's 59.4506 seconds (106.273 mph).

Canadian drivers did well and not so well at the same time. Alex Tagliani of Montreal was sixth fastest on the day, which normally would have seen him starting on the outside of the third row but a 10 grid-position penalty imposed after his team changed his car's engine before it had gone the required number of miles will see him go off 16th Sunday.

And James Hinchcliffe of Oakville, who gave it the old college try after missing Friday's second practice session completely, could only go ninth fastest but will have to start 19th, also because of an engine-change penalty.

"It's tough out there," said Hinchcliffe. "It's IndyCar. It's a lot of good drivers and it's only a tenth-of-a-second (separating the top ten cars) that sort of makes a difference. Our big thing is we were using up our tires quicker than the other guys. The second lap was . . . my quickest and I didn't have a chance to improve on that so it's too bad.

"We have to take the penalty so we'll start 19th and see what we can do from there."

Tagliani was much more optimistic about his 16th starting spot.

"We can win from there," he told the Star. "This track provides a massive amount of windows for strategy and it could be something that we can turn to our advantage. We can select a different set of tires. We can run long or come in early for fuel, that sort of thing."

Franchitti is the defending IndyCar champion and the defending race winner here in Toronto. He's won a total of three Toronto Indys to date and won  this year's  Indianapolis 500. Before winning the pole today, he'd been fastest in two of the three practice sessions.

"He's going to be tough to beat, for sure," said Tagliani.

Like Formula One, the IZOD IndyCar Series features knockout-style qualifying with 12 drivers advancing to the second session and six surviving to challenge for the pole.

Big names eliminated in the first round where ex-F1 star Rubens Barrichello of Brazil, the always-popular Tony Kanaan, also of Brazil, and the only woman in the race, Simona de Silvestro of Switzerland.

Hinchcliffe and Brazilian Helio Castroneves, who's famous for winning TV's Dancing With The Stars as well as for auto racing, went out in the second round, leaving Franchitti, Power, Wilson, Sebastien Bourdais of France, Scott Dixon of New Zealand and Tagliani to fight it out for the pole.

For Wilson, it was a great comeback. In the opening practice session Friday, he wasn't able to stop his car when he entered his pit stall and hit four crew members who were preparing to service his car and the one being driven by Bourdais.

Although none was seriously hurt -- only two were taken to hospital and they were treated and released -- it was upsetting for Wilson who's never won the Honda Indy but started from pole in 2010.

"It still lingers on," he said. "I was texting backwards and forwards with Chuck (Homan) last night. He was back at his hotel and told me not to worry. I went round this morning to see the guys and make sure everybody was okay."

One of the big questions facing the drivers is how IndyCar officials will define "defending" in the Sunday morning drivers' meeting.

For years, "defending a position," or "blocking," wasn't allowed in IndyCar racing. In fact, at the Toronto race, drivers were specifically told they couldn't even drive to the right of the middle of the track going into Turn 3 (at the end of the Lake Shore Blvd. W. straight) unless they were passing.

This rule was enforced rigidly because of the accident in 1997 that killed driver Jeff Krosnoff and marshal Gary Avrin that happened when Krosnoff was blocked while attempting a pass heading into Turn 3.

Said Franchitti, now that "defending" is allowed again: "It depends how the defending rule is explained. I've had a couple of diffferent explanations this year - defend to the wall, then to the car within an inch - so it will be interesting to see what happens."

"Push to pass" is being reintroduced here in Toronto and it is exactly what it sounds like: an overtake assist feature that allows a driver to add turbocharger boost and additional RPM with the press of a button on the steering wheel to complete a pass. Of course, drivers being passed have been known to use it to fend off an opponent. There is a limit on the amount of extra juice than can be used over the course of the race: use it all early and you have none at the end.

Mayor Rob Ford's office announced that he will be at the race Sunday morning to take a ride in a pace car and to meet Hinchcliffe and Tagliani. Although Mel Lastman attended when he was mayor, David Miller did not.

The Honda Indy, 85 laps of the CNE circuit, will get the green flag at 1 o'clock Sunday afternoon.

In the weekend's main support race Saturday, the Firestone Indy Lights race, Gustavo Yacaman of Colombia was the winner. Canadian driver David Ostella of Maple came home seventh.

Franchitti wins Honda Indy pole; Hinch to start 19th

Dario Franchitti won the pole for Sunday's Honda Indy Toronto moments ago, pipping Will Power and Justin Wilson.

 

Alex Tagliani was the only Canadian to make it into the Fast Six, James Hinchcliffe just missing make it out of the second qualifying session.

 

He set ninth fastest qualifying time and will start 19th as a result of a 10 grid-position penalty assessed Friday after his team had to change his engine before the pre-determined number of laps had been turned.

 

So Sunday's race will look this way: Franchitti on pole with Power beside him on the front row. Wilson will start inside Row Two with Sebastien Bourdais beside him. Scott Dixon will go off fifth (inside Row Three) with Ryan Hunter-Reay beside him.

 

Canadian Alex Tagliani was sixth fastest but, like Hincchcliffe, was assessed a 10-grid-position penalty because of an engine change and so will go off 16th.

 

Tag thinks that might give him an advantage, as it allows for the potential for different strategies. When you're at the front, the race pretty much dictates how you will handle tires and fuel. But when you're in the back, you can maybe do things differently and get the win that way.

 

 Earlier,

 

Over the years, politicians have been largely  absent from the Honda Indy.

 

David Peterson was just about the last Liberal to show up and that was in the 1980s. Bob Rae didn't attend when he was premier, nor has Dalton McGuinty. Mike Harris came, of course, as did Mel Lastman. But David Miller? It is to laugh.

 

The news today is that Rob Ford is coming to the Honda Indy on Sunday morning. He will be taken for a pace car ride a little after 9 in the morning (brother Doug will be here as well) and then will meet James Hinchcliffe at Andretti Autosport and Alex Tagliani at Bryan Herta Racing. He's also going to meet Roger Penske and Chip Ganassi at some point.

 

Whether he'll stay for the race is not known.

 

Earlier,

 

Where is Target?

 

A year ago, after it was announced that the U.S. department store would be coming to Canada in late 2012 and 2013, they used the Honda Indy to market their company and their involvement in racing.

 

They threw a woonderful reception on Sunday morning in advance of the race, brought it their American executive team and introduced their Canadian executives. Target drivers Dario Ffranchitti and Scott Dixon entertained the assembled media and even Chip Ganassi showed up.

 

Out on the grounds, there were signs with the Target logo everywhere and young men and women dressed in Target-branded clothing handing out flyers and small merchandise.

 

This year, nothing.

 

Yes, the Chip Ganassi team is still Target Chip Ganassi but there are no signs around the site, there are no representatives of the store wandering around publicizing it.

 

It's a complete withdrawal and it seems strange.

 

Earlier,

Although this is Honda Indy Toronto weekend, there is still other racing going on.

 

-Kurt Busch won the NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Daytona Friday night. There was a "big one" two thirds into the race, collecting (and wrecking) 16 or 18 cars.

 

-In Britain, Fernando Alonso won the pole for Sunday's British Grand Prix. The story, though, was the rain. Jenson Button's miserable season continued wen he couldn't get a handle on the Silverstone track and couldn't make it out of Q1 qualifying. He will start 17th.

 

And Silverstone bought radio ads urging people not to go to the circuit because the parking and camping areas were quagmires. Traffic jams were more chaotic than usual.

 

Meantime, Scott Dixon was fastest in third practice leading up to Saturday afternoon qualifying for Sunday's Honda Indy Toronto. Ryan Hunter-Reay was seoond and Simon Pagenaud was third.

 

James Hinchcliffe finished seventh after returning to the track aftger Friday's disastger in which his team had to change the engine in its car before it had gone the required number of miles. Ergo, it was an "unauthorized" engine change and he will be penalized 10 grid positions after qualifying later today.

Franchitti happy, Hinchcliffe dour after Honda Indy practice

Three-time winner Dario Franchitti of Scotland threw down the gauntlet Friday by setting fastest times in both practice sessions leading up to Sunday's Honda Indy Toronto.

 

His Target Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Scott Dixon of New Zealand was second in the hour-long morning session, with Simon Pagenaud of France third. They traded places in the 60-minute afternoon session, with Pagenaud, who drives for Schmidt-Hamilton Racing, finishing in the second spot. 

 

James Hinchcliffe of Oakville, the GTA's hope for victory in Sunday's race, was forced to miss the afternoon practice because of mechanical issues with his Andretti Autosport car that resulted in an unauthorized engine change (because the engine gave out before its due date).

 

This means he will be assessed a 10 grid-position penalty following Saturday afternoon's qualifying session, something that disappointed the young Canadian who's been hitting his stride recently in the IZOD IndyCar Series.

 

He's fifth in points going into the Honda Indy.

 

"Unfortunately, today is a day to forget, really," Hinchclife said afterward.

 

"It's too bad what happened in the second session because with the first session not going too smoothly (he was only 15th fastest) we were really looking to make some gains.

 

"Hopefully we can learn a lot off what (teammates) Marco (Andretti) and Ryan (Hunter-Reay) accomplished, but it's just putting us on the back foot - not only with setting the car up but with the engine penalty as well. 

 

"Certainly it makes it more of a challenging weekend than we wanted, but at the end of the day it's still possible for the Go Daddy car to move forward. Last time we got an engine penalty (early in the season), we were able to come back and finish on the podium.

 

"So we may be down but we're certainly not out."

 

Justin Wilson of England, who ran down four crew members in his pit stall during the Friday morning session (all were treated and released, including two who were taken to hospital by ambulance), recovered sufficiently to post the fourth fastest time Friday afternoon while Ryan Briscoe of Australia was fifth.

 

Drivers of the four quickest cars enjoyed power provided by Honda engines while Briscoe drove the fastest Chevrolet-powered car. The third engine manufacturer, Lotus, was represented by the 19th fastest driver, Simona de Silvestro, of Switzerland.

 

Franchitti's record illustrates the importance of a good qualifying effort. When he won the Honda Indy in 2009 and again last year, he started from the pole position both times. When he won the race in 1999, when it was still the Molson Indy, he started second.

 

Franchitti's best time Friday around the 1.755-mile circuit at Exhibition Place (the IndyCar series uses Imperial measurements) was one minute, 00.2786 seconds for a speed of 104.813 miles an hour.

 

He said he was most satisifed with his car in both sessions and raved about the smoothness of Lake Shore Blvd. West that was recently resurfaced.

 

"Lake Shore is like the top of this table, billiard-ball smooth," he said, referring to a table he was leaning on. "For years, I couldn't see as I was heading toward Turn 3 (because of vibrations from the bumpy road). 

 

"It's good to see that the promoters and the city got together to solve this. And it (the repaving) will make it safer because you won't have cars moving around out there (trying to find a smooth portion of the road to set up for Turn 3, where there is usually passing)."  

 

Pagenaud acknowledged that the race's title sponsor was getting its money's worth because Honda engines were leading the way.

 

"I think they will be very happy," he said, adding that he'd had a run-in with Australian driver Will Power at Turn 8 during the second practice

 

"We hit (together)," he said. "I don't know (what it was about); you'll have to ask him."

 

The morning practice was interrupted for about 10 minutes after Wilson was unable to stop his car while entering his pit stall and ran over four crew members, two from his team and two from the team that fields a car driven by Sebastien Bourdais of France.

Michael Cole of Dale Coyne Racing, Wilson's team, and Daniel Martin of Dragon Racing, Bourdais's, were treated and released from the infield care centre.

Chuck Homan and Raffi Aroyan, both of Dragon Racing, were taken to St. Michael's Hospital for evaluation of lower leg and foot injuries and subsequently released.

Both Bourdais and Wilson returned to the track after the accident and, in fact, Wilson later spun into a tire wall when he tangled with a car driven by Alex Tagliani of Montreal. No one was hurt in that incident.

Said Wilson later: “I came down pit lane and the car refused to go into neutral. I was stuck in first (gear). On top of that, these carbon brakes don't work when they're cold, so I was hard on the brakes and I couldn't stop.

"At the last second, I tried to drive into the wall to take speed off but those guys were there and had no idea I was coming.”

The turnout for Free Friday was steady but not overwhelming (admission was waived for the day, which was sponsored by the Honda Dealers of Ontario in return for a donation to Make-A-Wish Canada). It was very warm at Exhibition Place and many of the spectators spent most of their time inside the air-conditioned Direct Energy Centre.

The support race Star Mazda Series will kick off Saturday's on-track activities at 8 a.m. The Indy cars will go out for final pre-qualifying practice at 9:45 a.m. with qualifying commencing at 1:05 p.m.

In addition to Hinchcliffe, Tagliani and de Silvestro will be assessed 10 grid-position penalties post-qualifying for unauthorized engine changes.

The featured race of the day Saturday will be the Firestone Indy Lights, with the green flag scheduled to be waved at 4 p.m.

Bernie Ecclestone in jail is no laughing matter

PRECEDE: Terrible news from Europe this morning.

Spanish driver  Maria de Villota, recently signed to test drive for the Marussia F1 team, is in hospital in England after a crash during a straightline test at Duxford airfield on Tuesday.

Local ambulance officials says her injuries are "life-threatening."

De Villota's Duxford outing was her first test for Marussia. She was set to give the major upgrade package that the team is introducing for the British Grand Prix its first run.

The daughter of ex-F1 racer Emilio de Villota, she is a former World Touring Car Championship driver. At age 32, she first drove an F1 car at the Paul Ricard circuit last year.

She was testing what Marussia described as a major upgrade to be introduced at next weekend's British Grand Prix.

Here's a link to the latest story.

Earlier:

It bothers me that so many people apparently think the possibility of Bernie Ecclestone going to jail is something to laugh about.

I suppose it’s human nature to be jealous of success, of good fortune, and of success gained through great risk and very hard work, as is the case with Ecclestone.

It’s a pity his critics didn’t work as long or as hard or else they might have success of their own and not be so jealous.

The really difficult thing to comprehend is that all these people say they’re fans of Formula One racing . What they fail to understand is that if it wasn’t for Ecclestone, there wouldn’t be F1 racing as we know it.

The fact of the matter is that the guys who were F1 racing in the Sixties, the Ron Dennises and the Ken Tyrrels and the Frank Williamses were, like most road racers of the time, content to play pretty much in their own little world.

They disdained commercial involvement; they really were, in the true sense of the phrase, independent contractors and if a country wanted to promote a Grand Prix, the national motor racing authority had to deal with the drivers and teams on an individual basis just to get them to show up.

Most of the participants lived hand-to-mouth. The drivers and mechanics were often so hard up they frequently shared flats or apartments and when they went racing they lived in tents at the circuits.

One person changed all that: Bernie Ecclestone.

After Colin Chapman, because of his experience at Indianapolis, introduced Gold Leaf tobacco sponsorship to F1, it was Ecclestone who saw the potential for the whole of F1, not just one team.

Anybody who’s paid attention knows that Ecclestone, who owned Brabham, then got the teams to form the Formula One Constructors Association, with him as its head, and the rest is history.

From a small-thinking, low-buck (for the times) bunch of blue-collar auto racers came the licence to print money that we know today. And each and every one of them is filthy rich – all thanks to Bernie.

And, yes, he took a big chunk of the cash that came in up front because it was his initiative, his bargaining, his vision that got that series – and auto racing in general – to where it's at now.

Because of Ecclestone's scheming and chutzpah, Dan Gurney, Roger Penske, Jim Trueman and Pat Patrick were inspired to break away from the U.S. Auto Club (stuck in the same small-town mindset that F1 was in the mid-Sixties) and formed CART. And they all got rich, too.

And from F1 and CART on down, through F2 (now GP2) and F3 (GP3/Indy Lights), racing entrepeneurs created a world-wide industry that generates billions in economic activity and employees hundreds of thousands of people.

And it’s all – all – because of Bernie Ecclestone.

What?

Don’t believe me?

Tell me who, then? Who else did it?

It wasn’t Frank Williams or Ron Dennis or Jackie Stewart or any of the rest.

And it wouldn’t have "just happened," either.

No, it took the little genius, B. Ecclestone, to chart the way.

If he’s broken the law, either in England or Germany or wherever, the charges will be laid and the chips will fall where they may.

But before any of that happens, laughing at the possibility of someone – anyone – going to jail is repulsive.

It is most undignified, and people should be ashamed.

Weekend Racing:

– The scary thing about the NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Kentucky Saturday night – won by Brad Keselowski, with Kasey Kahne second and Denny Hamlin third – is that there are only nine races left before the Chase for the Championship starts.

Where has the time gone.

If Kahne hadn’t had to stop Saturday night because of a botched pit stop (a loose wheel), he might have given Keselowski a run for this money. He was on the charge the last 10 laps; another couple of laps and he would have caught the leader.

Matt Kenseth, who will likely drive for Joe Gibbs Racing in the No. 20 Home Depot-sponsored car from 2013 on, leads the Sprint Cup standings with Dale Earnhardt. Jr. second and Jimmie Johnson third.

The NASCAR stars now go to Daytona for the Firecracker 400, now known, of course, as the Coke Zero 400, which just doesn’t have that July 4 ring.

In the Nationwide Series, Austin Dillon won the Kentucky race Friday night by cheating. Kurt Busch was second and Kevin Harvick was third.

Dillon was dominant in his win but in post-race inspection, NASCAR found the team to have been cheating (actions detrimental to stock car racing, among other infractions) and fined the crew chief $10,000 and docked the owner, Morgan Shepherd, and the driver, Dillon, six points each.

It’s hard to tell why anybody wouldn’t cheat in NASCAR. If you win the race, or finish second or third, you get to keep the position. It’s there in the record book and you get the payoff – in this case, $97,000. So you pay the fine and you’re still $87,000 ahead. Where’s the deterrent?

– Joao Barbosa and Toronto-born Darren Law won the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen Grand Am Rolex Sports Car Series at Watkins Glen, N.Y., on Sunday. In GT, Robin Lidell and John Edwards won the class and took the points lead in their Chevrolet Camaro.

Up next for Toronto race fans: the Honda Indy Toronto. James Hinchcliffe, Dario Franchitti, Marco Andretti, Scott Dixon, Graham Rahal, Alex Tagliani and the rest of the IZOD IndyCar Series warriors will do battle on the streets of Toronto Friday (Free Friday practice),  Saturday (qualifying) and Sunday (race) next weekend.

Plus there will be a full lineup of supporting class races, including the Firestone Indy Lights (David Ostella of Maple driving).

More information and tickets at www.hondaindytoronto.com

Podium won't save Schumi's seat at Mercedes in 2013

On Sunday, Michael Schumacher scored his first podium since returning to Formula One three seasons ago but his third-place finish in the European Grand Prix at Valencia, Spain, which was won by Fernando Alonso with Kimi Raikkonen second, likely won’t save his seat with Mercedes for 2013.

If the way Mercedes boss Norbert Haug was talking about him in Montreal a few weeks ago is any indication, that is.

Haug is in charge of all motorsports for Mercedes – including F1 and the German Touring Car Championship (DTM) – and he was largely dismissive of the seven-time world champion when asked about him during a breakfast meeting with Canadian reporters on the first day of the Canadian Grand Prix.

It wasn’t what he said about the 43-year-old Schumacher that was startling. It was the way he said it.

In fact, when you read the words, he seems to be a big supporter of the legendary racer. But trust me: he might have spoken the words but his hand was waving away from his face in the manner of someone shooing away a fly.

I had asked whether Mercedes was optimistic about Schumacher’s chances in Montreal, considering he’d set fast time at the Monaco Grand Prix the week previous and had nearly made it to the podium in Canada a year earlier.

Haug, a former journalist, mused that being optimistic doesn’t help in today's Formula One.

"Yes, he was on the podium here (in 2011) until the last lap, or the last couple of laps (when he was passed for third). But you need to get the job done.

"We have 15 cars within six-tenths of a second of each other in Formula One and that says it all. If you get it just a little bit wrong . . . "

Dean McNulty of the Toronto Sun followed up by asking about a new contract.

"That is something that is not decided yet," Haug said. "We have a contract that runs out at the end of this year and we will take a decision together later in the year."

Then he said these words:

"You can see the speed of a driver best during qualifying. He has done well there, better than the two-time world champion, in fact. It just goes to show that the basics are still there.

"But we are a young team now." (My italics.) "Michael, of course, is very experienced but his time in Formula One until 2006 was a very different period. Testing was allowed, tire development was allowed for the particular car for the particular team. Now it’s controlled tires, the same for everybody. You have to adapt to that."

The inference was that Schumacher wasn’t adapting as well as someone younger might.

But he sure looked good Sunday in Spain. As was the case with Alonso (see blog post below), he needed some help and a lot of luck to get up to third.

But third place is a podium and you can’t take that away from anybody.

Mercedes might not want Michael Schumacher back after this year but the old guy is going to go out looking like a champion. He qualified 12^th and finished third on Sunday, which is pretty up and walkin’ good.

His much younger teammate, Nico Rosberg, who turns 27 on Wednesday and who’d outqualified his elder by six positions, could only manage a sixth-place finish.

The adage about hockey goalies – you have to be lucky to be good and good to be lucky – could have applied to Alonso on Sunday.

After missing pole position Q3 qualifying on Saturday, and starting the European Grand Prix from 11^th position, the Spanish hero proved on Sunday that he’s the driver of the year by bulling his way through to win the race at Valencia.

The two-time world champion was quite caught up in the emotion of the moment, first by tearing up during the playing of his country’s national anthem and later by saying that the victory was the greatest of his career.

Yes, Sebastien Vettel's Red Bull-Renault had to break down while leading, and Romain Grosjean had to suffer a mechanical misfortune with his Lotus-Renault that took him out of the contest, but Alonso was the class of the field (closely followed by Schumacher on this day) and was not to be denied.

Like Nigel Mansell in another era, Alonso has the heart of a lion and a mindset that won’t allow him to be beaten once he has the bit in his teeth. He was not to be denied.

A couple of quick observations about the F1 race:

– How many years have they had a safety car in Formula One? How come it always looks like the first time?

– Marshals and corner works are out on the track pushing Vettel’s car out of the way and some dimwit flagger is waving a green flag. How does that happen?

(I’ll tell you how it happens: it’s a professional sport worth billions of dollars officiated in many ways by non-professionals working for a ham sandwich and a beer at the end of the day, which is ludicrous.)

– I watched the replay several times Sunday night and have changed my mind about the Maldonado-Hamilton accident. I originally thought Hamilton was the victim. He was – but he brought it on himself. He pushed Pastor wide – and off the track – but the Williams driver had to get back on the track or else run into a wall. Hamilton didn’t leave him room to re-enter and bam! So since Hamilton pushed him off the track in the first place, setting up the ensuing scenario, how come Pastor gets a 20-second penalty for the subsequent collision, dropping him to 12^th from 10^th?

– In the closing laps, every time Alonso passed a grandstand, those sitting there would rise in unison to wave and cheer and salute. There was a "wave" all the way around the circuit as Alonso drove to victory.

It reminded me of the glory days of Jacques Villeneuve in Formula One, when he would race in Montreal and it didn’t matter whether it was an out lap during practice or during the race itself: every time JV would drive past a grandstand, they would Rise up! Rise up!

It was glorious to watch then, as it was to watch on Sunday in Spain.

Quick observations on other weekend races:

– Villeneuve’s arrogance is getting a little tiresome. Okay, he might not have meant to nail Danica Patrick on the last lap of Saturday’s Nationwide Series race at Road America but it was damn careless of him, regardless of the circumstances, and his post-race comment of, "It didn’t have anything to do with me, I don’t care," was unacceptable.

It was your fault, Jacques. ‘Fess up like a man.

- Hey, the TV folks spent most of the hour before the NASCAR Sprint Cup race from Sonoma talking up the "tradin' paint" aspect of stock cars racing on road courses. The message was simple: sparks will fly today, folks.

Well, by NASCAR standards, it was kinda tame. They went ab out 80 laps before there was even a yellow; there were only a couple of fender-benders thereafter. Clint Bowyer won. Dale Jr. didn't.

– Twice during the weekend, Ron Fellows, a child of 52 who finished third in that Nationwide Series race, made reference to racing as "keeping him young." Ron , 52 is not old. Trust me. I know.

– The IZOD IndyCar Series might think it’s the cat’s meow but it’s anything but. To have a race in the series scheduled to start at 10 p.m. Eastern was stupid to start with. Then, of course, it rained and it didn’t get going till after 11 p.m. and finished well after midnight.

I am a rapid fan of Indy car racing but I fell asleep on my couch. I suspect I was not alone.

Want to hear something even more ridiculous? The Indy Lights race got rained out earlier so they decided to run it after the Indy car race. Those guys took the green shortly before 1 a.m.

Oh, here’s another one. You’ll love this. The original start, once the cars got rolling, was waved off because the two-seater Indy car carrying a "civilian" was still on the track! The fact that Dario Franchitti's engine blew up moments later saved the series from certain embarrassment over that miscue.

– Talking about embarrassment, though, there was supposed to be a Plan B in place in case the race in China had to be cancelled. It was. Cancelled, that is. Where is Plan B?

- Poor James Hinchcliffe. The Oakville racer has had a stellar season in Indy car and went into the race at Iowa in second place in the standings. He spun out and crashed mid-way through and today's he's all the way back in sixth place.

Just like in F1 - Alonso is now leading the championship, replacing Hamilton who dropped to third place - a bad race in Indy car can cost you.

At Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (courtesy of Ryan Chalmers):

The final day of the Sports Car Doubleheader Weekend at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park saw non-stop action with five races to cap off the weekend.

In the Pirelli World Challenge Championship, Charlotte, N.C., native Mike Skeen made it a weekend sweep in his Chevrolet Corvette taking the checkered flag by 12.284 seconds over Maryland resident Lawson Aschenbach in a Porsche 911.  Alex Figge of Denver, Colo., finished third in the GT class driving a Volvo S60.

Aurora driver Mark Wilkens drove his Kia Motors Optima to a win in front of his home track fans in the GTS class.  

In Touring class action, Markham’s Gary Kwok drove his Honda Civic to victory for a second straight day.  Andre Rapone of Thornhill won for the third time over the weekend in the B-Spec class.

Scarborough racer Mike Mallais won both Porsche 944 Cup races in the Super Cup class while Coldwater’s Randy Smith and Tyler Comat of Burlington won in Cup class respectively.

The Can-Am Cup race in the Ontario Formula Ford Championship was won by Orangeville’s Caitlin Johnston.

(Norris Note: Way to go, Caitlin!!!)

In the Canadian Touring Car Championship (courtesy of Dominique Longval):

 Round 5 Saturday at Mirabel Airport's Circuit ICAR saw Sasha Anis of Mississauga win in a Hyundai Genesis with Benjamin Distaulo of Lorraine, Que., second in a Honda Civic and Philip Fayer of Montreal third in a Pontiac Solstice. Michel Sallenbach of Roxton Pond, Que., in his MINI Cooper and Damon Sharpe  of Tottenham in a Honda Civic Si were one-two in Touring Class.  Jacques Belanger of Quebec City finished third in his Honda Civic.  Nick Wittmer of Hudson, Que., and Simon Dion-Viens of St-Joseph de Kamouraska, Que., were first and second in Honda Fits in B-Spec with  James Bergeron third in a Mazda. 

Round 6 Sunday, also at Mirabel, saw the same three - Anis, Distaulo and Fayer - repeat their Saturday finish in Super Touring. In Touring, Belanger won with Sallenbach second and Adam Isman of Vancouver third in a MINI Cooper. Wittmer led from start to finish in B-Spec with Dion-Viens second and Bergeron third. 

The CTTC will next race at Le Circuit-Mont Tremblant on July 6th and 7th.

At Toronto Motorsports Park (courtesy of Bruce Mehlenbacher and Tim Miller):

At the Canadian Nitro Nationals, three-time PMRA champion Bruce Boland returned to his winning ways, capturing the Pro Modified Racing Association final. Michael Hinbest drove his Top Dragster to his first win in Quick 32 Sportsman Series racing and Pete Stewart took another win in the PBSS.

 Boland, of Hamilton, driving his 1941 Willys Pro Modified, took his first win of the season, defeating Kenny Lang of Grande Point, Man., in the final round. Boland also qualified No. 1 for the race with a 6.005-second, 238.05-mph pass, his fourth straight No. 1 qualifying run in PMRA racing.

 

Lang struggled after leaving the line, while Boland motored on to a solid 6.008, 237.71 drive over Lang’s 9.824, 94.14. Semi-finalists were Rocky Dilecce of Mississauga and Eric Latino of Whitby. 

 

Hinbest, of Orangeville, marched through a strong field of Top Dragster entries in the Quick 32 Sportsman Series to meet up with Top Sportsman driver Spencer Hyde in the event final. With his supercharged ERD-powered Mike Bos dragster, Hinbest left first and drove to a 6.551, 198.09 win over the 7.043, 196.82 of the 1968 Camaro of Hyde, from Stratford. 

  

On his way to the final, Hinbest, who qualified No. 4, took out Top Dragster finalist Bill Moloughney of Shawville, Que. Victor Puglia of Clarence Center, N.Y., and Brody VanDerGeld of Cambridge were semi-finalists.

 

On the Top Sportsman side, Hyde, who also qualified fourth, met up with and defeated the supercharged 1957 Chevy of Paul Martin of Breslau in the class final. Darrin Grubb of Pine River and Bob Bauer Jr. of Elma, N.Y., were semi-finalists.



After qualifying 13th in the field, Pete Stewart rode his Pro Bike Suzuki GSXR to the PBSS win over Milton's Ted Glinny with his Pro Bike Kawasaki Ninja. Stewart, of Toronto, ran a 9.47 at 145.67 to best Glinny’s 8.467 at 154.74. The win was Stewart’s second in PBSS racing.

 

Semi-finalists were Pro Bike rider Mike LaLande of Sturgeon Falls and the Pro Sled entry of Jeff Lippert of Amherstburg.

 

With the three events completed in the 2012 season, Boland leads the PMRA with 838 points. Second is Jeff Roth of New Dundee with 798 points, and third is Jack Grainy of North Tonawanda, N.Y., with 797 points.

 

The team of Michael Hinbest and Katie Ward (the two drivers share racing events) leads the Quick 32 Sportsman Series with 698 points, followed by Hyde with 658 points, and Top Dragster driver Mike Everitt of Stratford with 645 points.

 

Pro Bike rider John Orfanidis of Toronto is ahead in the PBSS points race with 600 points, followed by the Pro Sled entry of Chris Bondi of Aurora with 596 points and another Pro Sled rider, Jeff Lippert.

 

The next event for the Quick 32 Sportsman Series and the PBSS will be the Community Weekend at Cayuga Dragway Aug. 3-5. The next event for the PMRA is at the IHRA Mopar Nitro Jam Nationals at the Grand Bend Motorplex July 20-22. Then, the PMRA returns to Cayuga with its companion series for the Community Weekend event.

 

The Pro Modified Racing Association, www.PMRA.ca competes with its two companion series, the Quick 32 Sportsman Series, www.Quick32.ca and the Pro Bike & Sled Series, www.PBSS.ca to offer an exciting and diverse package of drag racing action.

Hinchcliffe on front row for IndyCar race in Alabama

After starting from pole, Kevin Harvick won today's Camping World Truck Series Race at Martinsville, Va. The good news for Canadian fans is that J.R. Fitzpatrick of Cambridge, Ont., finished 12th after starting 20th.

EARLIER:

Stunning news from Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama where James Hinchcliffe of Oakville has qualified second behind pole-sitter Helio Castroneves for tomorrow’s second race of the young IZOD IndyCar Series season.

Hinchcliffe, who replaced Danica Patrick in the Go-Daddy-sponsored Andretti Autosport Dallara -Chevrolet after the 2011 season, turned a time of 1 minute, 10:5222 seconds (117.410 miles an hour) to just edge Scott Dixon’s Dallara-Honda (1:10:529/117:398 mph) for the front-row spot beside last week’s St. Petersburg season-opener winner, Castroneves (1:104768/117:485 mph).

It will be the first IndyCar front-row start for Hinchcliffe, who won the series’ Sunoco Rookie-Of-The Year title last season. He started fourth in St. Petersburg and finished fourth, which tied his best finish of a year ago.

“Obviously, a great start for us to be on the outside of the front row,” said Hinchcliffe, a veteran of Indy Lights and Formula Atlantic. “It’s a great result after the way practice went and being rained out (Friday), then being fogged out this morning. We only had 14 dry laps coming into qualifying.”

But it was the same for everybody and it produced lots of other surprises.

Team  Penske’s Will Power set a track record but will start ninth. Tony Kanaan, who had a miserable time last weekend, will go off sixth. Perennial champion Dario Franchitti (three straight titles, four in the last five years – and he took a crack at NASCAR that other year) could only manage to qualify 18th. Ex-F1 driver Rubens Barrichello will start 14th. Fastest of the Lotus qualifiers was Sebastien Bourdais, who will start 17th. Alex Tagliani of Montreal will go off 23rd and 26th and last is a very swift driver indeed, Oriole Servia.

The race is scheduled for 2 p.m. tomorrow but won’t be seen up here till 5 p.m. on TSN2.

It’ll serve them right if Hinchcliffe wins. . .

Incidentally, people are emailing me, suggesting that Hinchcliffe is already overshadowing Danica Patrick.

Well, of course he is, but let’s not get too carried away. They have a new chassis this year and a new engine. She drove the old Dallara with a Honda; he has the new chassis and a Chevy. So there’s a bit of apples and oranges going on.

Witness Franchitti. He’s not gelling with the new car at all. Which is pretty obvious. On the other hand, his teammate, Dixon, is. So who knows how she would have done?

Full results:

Qualifying Saturday for the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama IZOD IndyCar Series event on the 2.3 mile(s) Barber Motorsports Park, with starting position, car number in parentheses, driver, chassis-engine, time and speed in parentheses:

1. (3) Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Chevy, 01:10.4768 (117.485)
2. (27) James Hinchcliffe, Dallara-Chevy, 01:10.5222 (117.410)
3. (9) Scott Dixon, Dallara-Honda, 01:10.5291 (117.398)
4. (14) Mike Conway, Dallara-Honda, 01:10.8791 (116.819)
5. (4) JR Hildebrand, Dallara-Chevy, 01:11.0759 (116.495)
6. (11) Tony Kanaan, Dallara-Chevy, 01:11.3740 (116.009)
7. (5) EJ Viso, Dallara-Chevy, 01:11.5257 (115.763)
8. (38) Graham Rahal, Dallara-Honda, 01:11.5841 (115.668)
9. (12) Will Power, Dallara-Chevy, 01:12.0098 (114.984)10. (77) Simon Pagenaud, Dallara-Honda, 01:14.2839 (111.464)
11. (28) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dallara-Chevy, No Time (No Speed)
12. (2) Ryan Briscoe, Dallara-Chevy, No Time (No Speed)
13. (26) Marco Andretti, Dallara-Chevy, 01:10.6512 (117.195)
14. (8) Rubens Barrichello, Dallara-Chevy, 01:10.5664 (117.336)
15. (67) Josef Newgarden, Dallara-Honda, 01:10.6851 (117.139)
16. (15) Takuma Sato, Dallara-Honda, 01:10.6111 (117.262)
17. (7) Sebastien Bourdais, Dallara-Lotus, 01:10.7255 (117.072)
18. (10) Dario Franchitti, Dallara-Honda, 01:10.6749 (117.156)
19. (18) Justin Wilson, Dallara-Honda, 01:11.5524 (115.719)
20. (19) James Jakes, Dallara-Honda, 01:10.7526 (117.028)
21. (78) Simona de Silvestro, Dallara-Lotus, 01:11.5721 (115.688)
22. (83) Charlie Kimball, Dallara-Honda, 01:11.3594 (116.032)
23. (98) Alex Tagliani, Dallara-Lotus, 01:12.5778 (114.084)
24. (20) Ed Carpenter, Dallara-Chevy, 01:11.8672 (115.213)
25. (6) Katherine Legge, Dallara-Lotus, 01:13.6457 (112.430)
26. (22) Oriol Servia, Dallara-Lotus, 01:13.3349 (112.907)

Elsewhere, Kasy Kahne has won the pole for the NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Martinsville, Va. Kevin Harvick will start second, with Denny Hamlin third (full lineup here). Dave Blaney, Scott Speed and Mike Bliss missed the show.

TSN's IndyCar coverage starts on Sunday

Great news for fans of the IZOD IndyCar Series.

Beginning this coming Sunday, and continuing through to the conclusion of the season on Sept. 15, TSN or TSN2 will televise all the 2012 IndyCar races, most of them live.

And the bonus coverage around the Indianapolis 500 in May is almost enough to make a grown man weep. Not only will we get to see the Greatest Spectacle in Racing, but extended coverage of Pole Day qualifying is planned, as are the final hours of Bump Day (when cars already qualified for the 33-car Indy field can be bumped out by faster cars) as well as Carb Day activities two days before the big race when final practice for the 500 as well as the Indy Lights Freedom 100 classic can be seen.

I know there’s a tendency to criticize TSN and other broadcasters for perceived slights when it comes to coverage of auto racing (and I’ve been down that particular road a time or two myself). But at the end of the day, folks, this is more than good: it’s pretty damn good.

Two of the series’ 16 races are in Canada – the Honda Indy Toronto and the Edmonton Indy – and a rising star is young James Hinchcliffe of Oakville, Ont., who took over the Go Daddy-sponsored ride at Andretti Autosport when Danica Patrick left for NASCAR.

(Hey, Don Cherry! The IndyCar Series has an Ontario guy, which is more than can be said for the Maple Leafs!)

Here is an overview. As always, I direct you to "George’s TV listings for race fans," which can be found on the home page of wheels.ca, for a quick reference as race weekends draw near.

First up this coming Sunday is the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. It can be seen live on TSN (and ABC) at 12:30 p.m.

Then follows the Grand Prix of Alabama on Sun., April 1 (TSN2 at 5 p.m. – a delay of three hours), the Long Beach GP on Sun., April 15 (live at 3:30 on TSN2) and the Brazil race from Sao Paulo on Sun., April 29 (live at noon on TSN).

May means the Indianapolis 500 on May 27 (live at 11 a.m. on TSN) plus – and I talked about this earlier – bonus coverage: Pole Day qualifying on Sat., May 19. starting at 11 a.m., Bump Day qualifying on Sun., May 20, starting at 5 p.m. and Carb Day practice/Firestone Indy Lights racing starting at 11 a.m. on Fri., May 25.

The Indianapolis race is the beginning of five straight weeks of competition. On Sun., June 3, the Detroit Grand Prix will be seen live on TSN2 at 3:30 p.m. On Sat., June 9, live at 8 p.m. on TSN2, the twin 225-mile races from Texas Motor Speedway will be seen. On Sat., June 16, the race at Milwaukee will be seen on a delayed basis at 5 p.m. on TSN2 (but will be live on ABC at 1 p.m.). On Sat. June 23, the last race of the five-weekend grind will be held at Iowa Speedway and can be seen live at 8 p.m. on TSN2.

July brings us to the Honda Indy Toronto, which will be televised live on Sun., July 8, from the CNE in Toronto on both TSN and ABC starting at 12:30 p.m. Two weeks later, on July 22, the Edmonton Indy will be seen live on TSN at 2 p.m.

The three races scheduled for August will be televised – delayed until 5:30 p.m. on Sun., Aug. 5, from Mid-Ohio on TSN2 (but live on ABC at 12:30 p.m.), live on Sat., Aug. 18, from China on TSN at midnight and live on Sun., Aug. 26, from Sonoma, Calif., at 4 p.m. on TSN2.

The season wraps up in September. The Grand Prix of Baltimore will be seen on the Sunday of Labour Day weekend (Sept. 2) on a delayed basis at 11 p.m. on TSN2. The season finale from California Speedway will be live, however. It can be seen at 8 p.m. on Sat., Sept. 15.

I can’t get upset about the Baltimore race – which is the longest delay of the season with no alternative. I mean, it’s Labour Day weekend. I’ll be at a race somewhere. Maybe even there!

Sarah Fisher should change her name to Danica Patrick

Sarah Fisher should change her name to Danica Patrick. If she did, her latest problem might be solved in a jiffy.

Fisher used to be a racing driver in the IZOD IndyCar Series (they called it the IRL back then) and, in fact, was the first woman to win a pole in that series. She was always voted most popular driver. Although she came close a few times, she didn’t win a race and eventually retired to raise a family and become a team owner.

Last season, her driver, Ed Carpenter, won the race at Kentucky, making her the first woman owner in Indy car racing history to make it to Victory Lane. During the off-season, she acquired a moneyed partner, Willis Hartman, built a team headquarters near the famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway, got one of the new Dallara chassis for 2012 and contracted to have young American Josef Newgarden, the 2011 Indy Lights champion, drive for her.

Everything looked rosy until the last week or so. Then she found out her application for inclusion in the league’s Leader Circle subsidy program had been rejected and now she’s found out that she can’t get an engine in time for the start of the season, which is scheduled for late March in St. Petersburg, Fla.

IndyCar, after years of being a one-make series, opened up competition in the engine area for 2012. Chevrolet and Lotus were selected to join long-time partner Honda in providing power for series entrants. Fisher tried for a Chevy engine but was turned down. Honda has offered to supply one for Indianapolis. There are suggestions that she could have had one from Lotus but opted not to apply.

It’s easy to point the finger of scorn at times like these. It’s IndyCar’s fault, or it’s Chevrolet’s fault, or it’s Lotus’s fault, or it’s somebody else’s fault. I would venture to suggest it might be Sarah Fisher’s fault, in that her team has never been able to run a car for a full season and everybody in the Leader Circle and supplied-engine programs has a track record in that area. Promises of future participation only go so far when there is no history.

But be that as it may, I guarantee the situation would be resolved lickety-split if her name was Danica Patrick and not Sarah Fisher.

Patrick’s name turns heads and opens doors. She’s everybody’s favourite. There are big reasons why NASCAR laid out the red carpet for her and they go far beyond the bikini pictures (which are ancient history anyway).

She is forceful, cooperative, cheerful, optimistic, happy, pretty, jovial, ambitious, intense and focused. She never takes her eye off the ball, regardless of the situation or circumstance. She is all business, all the time.

I’m sure Fisher has many of these attributes. But something’s missing or she wouldn’t be in the fix she’s in.

I suggest she take a serious look at what Patrick has done to build on her abilities to drive a racing car really fast and then at herself to determine her future course.

I’m only kidding when I say Fisher should change her name. On the other hand, it might be a good start to adopting some of Patrick’s persona.

Legge signing would be step back for IndyCar

KATHERINE LEGGE (WITH ALEX TAGLIANI, A.J. ALLMENDINGER AND JUSTIN WILSON) IN 2006.

I got an email the other day from a guy who writes me frequently, and this is what he said:

"Now that Danica’s gone, who is going to replace her?"

So I wrote back and said: "I hope whoever it is turns out to be is a really good racing driver – as good a driver as she’s been."

And he wrote back and said, "No! What I mean is, who is going to replace her as a woman racing driver?"

I didn’t continue the debate because I was too busy shaking my head and thinking to myself, "I thought  we were over all that."

You know, once upon a time, a female racing driver was a curiosity. There weren’t that many. Janet Guthrie was the first to drive through the glass ceiling in the modern era. She was the first woman to qualify for the Indianapolis 500, in 1977. What a lot of people don’t know, or have forgotten, is that she qualified for what was then the NASCAR World 600 a year earlier. And she was an accomplished sports car racer.

Since then, Indy car, USAC, NHRA and NASCAR and CASCAR lineups have included names like Lynn St. James, Arlene Hiss, Kathy Rude, Shawna Robinson, Shirley Muldowney, Kat Teasdale, Bev Griffiths, Kelly Williams, Kathy Muller, Teri MacDonald-Cadieux, Juliana Chiovitti, Melanie Troxle and Desire Wilson, among others

In recent years at Indianapolis there have been - in addition to Patrick - Milka Duno, Pippa Mann, Ana Beatriz, Simona de Silvestro and Sarah Fisher.

In short, women racing drivers are no big deal any more.

But my friend’s note is not the only one around. There seems to be a feeling out there that the IndyCar Series has to have "another Danica."

At the moment, there doesn’t seem to be one. Mann has shown that while she was a good Indy Lights racer and passable in an Indy car on the big track at Indy, she was way over her head in races on shorter ovals.

Beatriz is an okay racer but will likely never challenge for a victory. So is De Silvestro (an okay racer) but she hasn’t been near the front very often and while Patrick had only the one Indy car victory before leaving for NASCAR, she was frequently in the hunt for others, particularly on ovals.

Fisher, who was also a potential race-winner, has retired as a driver to concentrate on being a team owner and the series made it clear to Duno that she wasn’t welcome back.

A name that’s been bandied about recently as being in line for a ride in 2012 is that of Katherine Legge. There seems to be a consensus that she has a sponsor and will drive in the series next year and if it turns out to be true, I say it will be a step backward.

This has nothing to do with Katherine Legge, the person. I’ve met her a few times and she’s very nice; she’s good looking and personable.

It has very much to do, however, with her ability as a racing driver and she’s simply not good enough.

One of the things people asked following the disaster at Las Vegas that killed Dan Wheldon was whether some of the drivers were sufficiently talented, or experienced enough, to have been allowed to start that race. One of the results of the subsequent inquiry was expected to be a more vigilant examination of drivers licensed to race in IndyCar.

Legge was introduced to the Champ Car World Series in 2006 by series owner Kevin Kalkhoven, who - frankly - was looking for a woman driver to counter Patrick’s celebrity in the then-rival Indy Racing League.

Legge had won three races the year previous in the Atlantic series but before anyone points to that grand achievement as proof of her ability, it should be noted that only four drivers ran the entire series (she tied for third place in the standings . . . ) and the average starting field was less than a dozen cars.

I interviewed her prior to her Champ Car rookie season and here is how she described her career:

"Here I am today and what's amazing to me is that I've still only done about 30-35 races in my whole life. I always believed I had the talent, but I never really had anyone behind me who believed in me. I had my dad, but he's not a millionaire who could afford to send me racing.

"So I did a handful of races in Formula Ford and then I had the opportunity to try Formula Renault for a few races. . . I met Kevin Kalkhoven and my world changed. I did Atlantics for a season (he sponsored her and she won those three races) and now here I am in Champ Car (his team). I'm surprised. But I knew I could drive the car; I knew I could be fast in the car."

As it turned out, she wasn’t particularly fast in the car. She did two seasons in Champ Car, never got near the podium and stood 16^th in points her first year and 15^th the second. She then did three seasons in the German Touring Car Championship with similar results – 19^th place, 18^th and 18^th. She didn’t race at all in 2011.

To repeat, Katherine Legge is a nice person but with that record, she has no business racing an Indy car on the same track as Dario Franchitti, Will Power, Scott Dixon and the rest (including currently unemployed drivers James Hinchcliffe, Oriol Servia, Justin Wilson and Paul Tracy).

This is a series whose president boasts that it wants to feature the best drivers in the world. It already put the boots to Marty Roth and Milka Duno because of safety concerns and I'm sure there are now some others on their "discourage list."

If Katherine Legge isn't on it, she should be.