Norris McDonald's Auto Racing Blog

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.

Will Toronto Indy promoters take over in Baltimore?

Let’s take a first crack of the New Year at the state of the IZOD IndyCar Series, which – as usual – has challenges.

NASCAR, despite some attendance problems because of the state of the U.S. economy, remains almost as popular as ever (their TV numbers were back up last year after a drop the previous three). The addition of Danica Patrick to the driver lineup will also give that series a boost, for sure.

And Formula One will attract renewed interest this season (as if it needed it) because of a significant shakeup in the driver lineup. Many of the teams behind the Big Three (Ferrari, Red Bull and McLaren) have made cockpit changes already and chances are there will be more before the season opens in March.

IndyCar, though: now that’s another story.

A schedule for 2012 was issued just before Christmas but it listed only 15 races, down from 18 scheduled in 2011. CEO Randy Bernard said he expected to add another race "soon" and was working on a 17^th.

This sort of thing is not helpful at all when it comes to teams or drivers trying to sell sponsorship. And then there’s the added problem that two of the 15 races announced are, to be brutally frank, on shaky ground.

The first is the Baltimore Grand Prix, which was a highly successful Labour Day weekend IndyCar/American Le Mans Series double-header in 2011 but whose contract with the promoter was terminated by the city of Baltimore last Friday.

It seems the organizing company owes the city $1.5 million – a sum it failed to pay on time. As a result, the 2012 race is officially off unless a new promoter – approved by the city – can be found.

Kaliope Parthemos, the deputy mayor for economic development, told the Baltimore Sun that finding a new promoter will be Job 1 but the circle of people with the degree of expertise required is small and "we will only be having discussions with that group of people."

One of that "group of people" will undoubtedly be the duo of Kevin Savoree and Kim Green, who promote the Honda Indy Toronto, the St. Petersburg Grand Prix and the IndyCar and ALMS races at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, which they own.

Whether Savoree and Green would agree to take over Baltimore is an interesting prospect but it could spread them pretty thin – unless, of course, they made a deal to hand over promotion of one of their other properties in order to more fully concentrate on Baltimore.

At end of day, of course, it’s possible – possible – that nobody will step forward to promote Baltimore and the race could be lost.

And then there’s Detroit. Remember that the Penske Organization has cancelled races there previously (2009, 2010) when the expected advertising and other economic support fizzled because of the Michigan economy.

There is a growing sense of doom that Detroit city is in so much financial trouble that in order to keep itself going (it doesn’t police, or collect garbage, or turn on street lights in large parts of the city as it is), it will have to declare bankruptcy.

If that happens, it could combine with other factors to negatively impact the race on Belle Isle, currently scheduled for June 3.

So two of the 15 races are "iffy."

It’s when you look past the races themselves, and at the racers and racing teams, that things get really kind of serious.

As of today (Jan. 2), I count 20 cars/drivers as either definite or pretty definite to start the season at St. Pete on March 25. They are:

– Dario Franchitti, Scott Dixon, Graham Rahal and Charlie Kimball at Chip Ganassi Racing.

– Helio Castroneves, Will Power and Ryan Briscoe at Team Penske.

– Marco Andretti and Ryan Hunter-Reay at Andretti Autosport.

– Tony Kanaan, E.J. Viso and Katherine Legge (I think . . . there will be a third driver, though) at KV Racing.

– Ho Pin Tung at Dragon Racing.

– Josef Newgarden at Sarah Fisher.

– Ed Carpenter at Ed Carpenter Racing.

– Takuma Sato at Rahal-Letterman.

– Mike Conway at A.J. Foyt.

– Simon Pagenaud at Sam Schmidt.

– Simona De Silvestro at HVM Racing.

– J.R. Hildebrand at Panther Racing.

Considering that the IndyCar Series had an average of 28-29 cars at most races in 2011, a drop of eight to nine cars is pretty significant.

Yes, there will undoubtedly be some additions – I’ll guess at a few in a moment – but the fact that it’s January already, a new car and new engines are being introduced to a series that starts in March, and that there are still only 20 confirmed cars (and one or two of them might not make the swing into Canada in July) is not terribly encouraging.

Having said that, here are a few very possibles:

– Oriol Servia to partner Hildebrand at Panther. Servia has money to pay for a seat; Panther would like him to mentor Hildebrand, a potential superstar.

– Ana Beatriz could take her money to Sam Schmidt’s team to run alongside Pagenaud.

– Vitor Meira and his cash could land at Rahal-Letterman.

– Or, Meira and Beatriz could buy rides at either Dryer & Reinbold or Dale Coyne – both of which have always entered cars in the past but haven’t announced anything for 2012. (It is not safe to assume anything – particularly when a long-established team like Newman-Haas Racing is now officially out of the series.)

You will note that there are several notable names missing from the lists above – James Hinchcliffe, Justin Wilson, Sebastien Bourdais, Alex Tagliani and Paul Tracy.

All have been linked to teams but nothing has been announced – primarily because, with the exception of Tracy, the drivers don’t have money to pay for rides, or else their pride and reputations (Wilson, Bourdais) won’t let them.

Hinchcliffe is the big mystery. He’s young, handsome, articulate, sophisticated, silly (when he has to be), talented, winner of the top rookie title – everything you have to be to be successful in the IZOD IndyCar Series.

When Newman-Haas dropped out in December, leaving "Hinch" and Servia rideless, it was expected that "the Mayor" would be snapped up within days. The betting was that he was Tailor-made for the Go-Daddy seat at Andretti but it hasn’t happened, despite predictions of an announcement "any day now."

"Tag" could be in line for a seat at Brian Herta Autosport but that might wind up being an Indianapolis-only or limited schedule arrangement.

And Tracy, who’s told the world he has $2 million in sponsorship and can’t understand why nobody has taken it, and him, continues to hope for a full-season ride with which to to say farewell to his fans.

One of the problems might be that $2 million isn’t enough.

I have a friend who knows of what he speaks. He’s been in the Indy car business. So I put it to him:

"How much money would you need to put a one-car Indy car team together properly and how long would it take to do it?

And this is what he said:

"$6.5 million and 48 hours. As soon as you have the money, everything else just falls into place."

So the money would appear to be the problem. And where have we heard that before?

Hinchcliffe still has hopes for IndyCar ride

NEWMAN/HAAS RACING WON'T PARTICIPATE IN IZOD INDYCAR SERIES IN 2012

WILL OTHERS FOLLOW?

Mario Andretti and Paul Newman are seen in Toronto during the glory days of the Molson Indy (note size of the crowd). Newman/Haas Racing was the only team to compete in every Toronto race, going back to 1986. That streak will, sadly, come to an end in 2012.

Despite the shock announcement Thurday by his employer, Newman/Haas Racing of Chicago, that it wouldn't participate in the 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series, Canadian Indy car racer James Hinchcliffe of Oakville remains optimistic he will be on the grid when the season opens next March.

"I'll have to regroup but there are still some seats available on good teams," said the young Canadian, who won the series Rookie of the Year title in 2011.

Hinchcliffe and his teammate, Spanish veteran Oriol Servia, were left high and dry Thursday when their employer issued a terse, two-paragraph statement in mid-afternoon.

"Newman/Haas Racing announced today that it will not enter cars in the 2012 IndyCar Series," the statement said.

"The economic climate no longer enables Newman/Haas Racing to participate in open wheel racing at this time,” said Carl Haas, owner and co-founder of Newman/Haas Racing."

Hinchcliffe edged young American J.R. Hildebrand for the top rookie award. Hildebrand is under contract with Panther Racing for the 2012 season.

It's a huge disappointment for Hinchcliffe, who showed the IndyCar world in 2011 that he was ready to join the big time after a half-dozen years in the minors. He only found out the bad news himself on Thursday afternoon.

"About 10 minutes before you did," the racer told me in an interview. "It's a sad day for the sport."

Hinchcliffe said he's thankful that the announcement came on Dec. 1 instead of Jan. 1 because there is still time to find a quality ride for next season.

"A lot of people (in the series) had approached us in the off-season," he said. "But because we were under contract to Newman/Haas, obviously we couldn't go too far in the discussions.

"But this has changed things and so I'll make a few phone calls. In fact, the phone has been ringing off the hook for the last 20 minutes."

Hinchcliffe said he feels badly for the 40 or so full-time employees of the team who now find themselves out of their jobs. "They're a great group and worked so hard and I'm so sorry for them."

Asked specifically about the openings at Michael Andretti's team, Hinchcliffe was bemused, saying only that they were among several of the quality seats still available and he would just have to regroup.

The news also means, of course, that the team won't be participating in the 2012 Honda Indy Toronto, scheduled for next July, thus breaking a record of participation in the Toronto race that goes back to the first Molson Indy in 1986.

The IndyCar Series is introducing a new car for 2012, designed and developed by Italy's Dallara Automobili. Although costs have been kept to a minimum, a two-car team would have to spend in the neighbourhood of $2 million just to stay in business and it's a known fact that a number of IndyCar teams are not in a position to spend that kind of money.

So the question has to be asked: is the Newman/Haas announcement the first crack in the dike? Will other Indy car teams be forced to follow suit because of poor economic conditions?

In addition, engine competition has been re-introduced for 2012, with Chevrolet and Lotus joining Honda in providing power plants for teams in the series. Engine leases have also been kept as low as possible but they run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars and will also  be a problem for some entrants.

Newman/Haas Racing was formed by the late actor/race car driver Paul Newman and racing entrepreneur Carl Haas in 1983 and has been one of the most successful open wheel racing teams in the sport's history.

 

The team participated in 29 consecutive seasons of competition from 1983-2011 and earned a total of eight championships, 107 race wins and 109 pole positions with drivers such as Mario and Michael Andretti, Nigel Mansell, Paul Tracy, Christian Fittipaldi, Cristiano da Matta, Sebastien Bourdais, Bruno Junqueira, Servia, Graham Rahal, Justin Wilson, Hinchcliffe and others.

The team finished fourth in the 2011 IZOD IndyCar Series with Servia and earned the Sunoco Rookie of the Year award with  Hinchcliffe.

All-Canadian Monster Truck and farewell, Brian Barnhart

Several things to look at today, including Brian Barnhart's dismissal from the role of chief steward/race director by IndyCar, women racing drivers in Formula One and Canada's very own Monster Truck.

First, the truck.

CAM McQUEEN AND THE NORTHERN NIGHTMARE MONSTER TRUCK (photo by Rick Eglinton/Toronto Star)

You know that when you take your kids to see the Monster Trucks at the Rogers Centre (aw, c'mon - you know you do . . . You go to the Monster Trucks at the SkyDome just like you go to the WWE at the ACC to see Triple H ), you have to cheer for all those American trucks like Grave Digger and Bounty Hunter, right?

Well, the good news today is that when you attend the Maple Leaf Monster Jam in January (Jan. 21 and 22, to be exact), you and your children will have an honest-to-goodness, specially built, Canadian-to-the-core Monster Truck of your very own to cheer for, the Northern Nightmare!!!

Unveiled at Rogers Centre Wednesday morning by Monster Jam Canada and Feld Motor Sports Inc., Northern Nightmare will take on all comers on home soil starting in London Jan. 14 and 15, and arriving in Halifax in June via Toronto, Vancouver, Edmonton and Winnipeg.

Driven by Cam McQueen, a professional stunt driver from Kelowna, B.C., the Nightmare is covered in red maple leaves and will carry a Canadian flag in competition. It weighs approximaely five tons, is 11 feet tall and 12 feet wide and rides on 66-inch-tall monster truck tires.

It's big.

"As a proud Canadian, I'm thrilled to be at the wheel of Northern Nightmare," McQueen said. "I intend to do some rockin' and roarin' in this machine."

At Monster Jam, the big rigs battle each other in two types of competition, side-by-side racing and freestyle. The racing is straighforward; the freestyle portion allows the drivers solo time to show off their skills and the fans serve as the judges.

Although I have no inside information, I suggest it's a good bet that Northern Nightmare will come out on top in that particular category.

Everywhere north of the border, anyway.

The name, incidentally, was chosen from among hundreds of entries entered in a national online contest called Name the Canuck Truck. Entries were judged on originality, creativity and Canadian pride and the winner was sent in by Thornhill resident Greg Duclos, who attended the unveiling with his family.

Driver McQueen started on dirt bikes at the age of 5 and was doing motocross at 11. He built his first monster truck in high school and got a chance to show his stuff at a show where one of the regular drivers was injured and he was asked to fill in. Now that he has a regular ride, he's over the moon. "We're a force to be reckoned with." he said.

McQueen told one of his favourite stories during the ceremony. It was when he was going to high school and had to take an aptitude test.

"So the first thing I put down was that when I got out of school, I wanted to be a Monster Truck driver," he said. "The second thing I put down was stunt man.

"The funny thing is, I failed the course because the teacher said they weren't real jobs."

That teacher, presumably, is still stuck in some high school in Kelowna. Former student McQueen, on the other hand, is riding high in Toronto aboard Northern Nightmare and loving every minute.

"I'm living the dream," he said. "I'm stoked!"

For more information on Northern Nightmare and about the Maple Leaf Monster Jam Tour, go to monsterjamcanada.ca

Tickets for the January event at Rogers Centre can be purchased through ticketmaster, at retail locations, the Rogers Centre Box Office or by calling 1-855-985-5000.

 

Okay, some drivers, some owners and most fans of the IZOD IndyCar Series have been calling for the head of chief steward Brian Barnhart since summer because of poor officiating, several instances of which might have put the health of some drivers at risk - specifically the decision to restart an oval race at New Hampshire when it was raining and a close call at Baltimore where a rescue truck just got off the track in time to avoid running into a racing car or cars at speed.

On Wednesday, IndyCar announced that Barnhart would no longer be chief steward but would continue with the company in another capacity.

You know, this is real inside baseball stuff. Does anybody know, or care, who makes race decisions at NASCAR? Does anybody know which of a revolving group of stewards makes decisions at a particularly Formula One Grand Prix?

If there's fault here, it's with the people who run IndyCar for having a rule book you can drive a tank through and leaving Barnhart in that position as long as they have.

I

t's to his credit that second-year CEO Randy Bernard saw fit to remove him.

Now, Tony George, the guy who started the IRL, has a favourite expression: "Be careful what you wish for."

I'm serving up that quote because, at end of day, the job of IndyCar chief steward is one of the toughest in sport. In my lifetime, there have been only two men who could do it correctly - Henry Banks and Wally Dallenbach.

Everybody else, from Harlan Fengler to Kirk Russell to Chris Kniefel was eventually run right out of town. Barnhart lasted longer than most, but now he's gone and the $64,000 question today is:

Who's next?

I doubt there will ever come a time when people will reminisce about "the good old days, when Brian Barnhart was running things." I emphasize: I doubt it.

But you never know.

Be careful what you wish for . . .

 

 Okay, the silly season continues in Formula One. It was reported Wednesday that Lotus-Renault has signed an official reserve driver for next season, Maria de Villota, a 31-year-old Spaniard who has limited experience in racing cars, never mind serious single seaters.

Please.

Old guys and retreads we can handle. But rank amateurs?

Edwards on NASCAR pole; Video - NASCAR Canada

SATURDAY EVENING UPDATE: Brad Keselowski won the final NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Homestead-Miami Speedway Saturday while Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who finished second, won the series championship. Carl Edwards, in the hunt for the Sprint Cup title, finished third in the race.

Earlier, Edwards won the pole for the Sprint Cup showdown Sunday afternoon, with Martin Truex Jr. second and Kasey Kahne third. Tony Stewart, the only driver other than Edwards in contention to win the Chase for the NASCAR Championship, will go off 15th.

Earlier . . .

The best kept secret in Canadian sports is the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series.

Don’t believe me? Take a look at this video,  which gives you an idea of what this series is all about.

When you finish watching the video, make plans to watch the Year in Review TV program that is scheduled to be shown Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. on TSN2.

(It will be shown again on TSN2 Monday at 8:30 p.m., Tuesday at 3 p.m. and again next Saturday at 11 p.m. Don’t get TSN2? It will be on the main channel, TSN, on Wednesday at midnight and next Friday at 4 p.m.)

 

Speaking of NASCAR, the big showdown for the Sprint Cup Chase for the Championship will take place Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Florida. The pre-race show will be on TSN2 at 2 p.m. and the green flag will fly at 3 p.m.

The only two drivers who can win the title are two-time champion Tony Stewart, who has won four of the Chase races to date, and Carl Edwards, who has won none.

However, Edwards leads by three points (Stewart won the race last weekend at Phoenix and still couldn’t overcome the three-point lead Edwards had going in: NORRIS NOTE - I apologize for the severe brain fade here - Kasey Kahne won the Phoenix race) and has won two races at Homestead-Miami to Stewart’s none, so  they’re really pretty even.

Of course, the trash-talking dominated the last media conference of the week and what would you expect?

Best line was Stewart’s: “I’d wreck my mom to win a championship.”

Of course you would, Smoke, and so would Edwards.

Incidentally, TSN2 will carry the NASCAR Nationwide race Saturday at 4 p.m. And the last truck race of the Camping World Series can be seen tonight on Speed TV at 8 p.m.

Incidentally, NASCAR has still not issued a truck series schedule for 2012. Speculation continues to swirl about a potential Mosport date for that series . . .

Here’s some hard news: Suzuki Motor Corp. has pulled out of motorcycle racing at the Moto GP level but says it will be back on track for the 2014 season.

In a student, Suzuki said: "Suzuki Motor Corp. has decided to suspend temporarily its participation in FIM Road Racing Grand Prix MotoGP from 2012.

"This suspension is to cope with tough circumstances mainly caused by the prolonged recession in developed countries, a historical appreciation of Japanese yen and repeated natural disasters.

"Having an eye to returning to MotoGP in 2014, Suzuki will now focus on developing a competitive new racing machine for that class.

"Suzuki will continue motocross racing activity and support of road racing activities using mass-produced motorcycles, by obtaining FIM homologation and co-operation with the supplier of its development racing kit parts."

Ace Suzuki rider Alvaro Bautist has already left the team for Honda.

Finally, ekartingnews.com is live-streaming editor/publisher Rob Howden’s race call of the Superkarts! USA SuperNationals competition this weekend in Las Vegas. It started Friday morning and will go all weekend at link here.

Four IndyCar racers are entered:  Raphael Matos, EJ Viso, Jay Howard and Martin Plowman.

Rob reports that the team Dan Wheldon was supposed to run with has his prepped kart in Vegas and, as a tribute, his name will be kept on the entry list and in the results. Dan was well-loved in the paddock and his absence is much noted, Rob says.

I'll quit if I can't race full-time, Paul Tracy says

'THRILL' SAYS INDYCAR CAN RACE ON 'GOOD' OVALS IN EUROPE, WANTS TO TAKE LEAD IN FORMING DRIVERS GROUP TO PROMOTE SAFETY

You always know when you're about to get a zinger from Paul Tracy. His eyes light up and the corners of his mouth curl into a grin and he lets loose with - whatever.

This time it was about his possible retirement from Indy car racing, which is now officially off as the result of an interview he did last week with Marshall Pruett of speedtv.com in which he said he intends to race full-time in the IZOD IndyCar Series in 2012.

Three weeks earlier, in the aftermath of the racing crash at Las Vegas that killed Dan Wheldon, Tracy had appeared on Canada AM and said he was seriously considering calling it a career because his wife and his mother had both asked him to stop.

"So, what was their reaction (to the Pruett story)," I asked him last Saturday at Action Honda out in Scarborough, where he'd gone to support Rick Hansen's 26th Anniversary Man in Motion Relay.

Tracy's eyes lit up - and . . . get ready, because here it comes:

"I haven't told them yet!" he laughed.

Which is why it's always such a delight to talk to the "Thrill from West Hill," because you never really know which way the conversation's going to go.

In a wide-ranging interview, Tracy made it clear that:

- if he doesn't get a full-time ride in 2012, he will retire from Indy car racing. Therte will be no one-offs in Toronto and/or Edmonton next year. It's going to be all or nothing.

- if IndyCar can't find suitable oval speedways to race on in the United States, they should look to Europe.

- he is prepared to take a leadership role in a drivers' organization that would include racers of all types and focus specifically on safety issues.

- he thinks a roll cage or canopy protecting the cockpit of an Indy car is a good idea - maybe.

- and plexiglass over the fencing above the SAFER barrier at oval race tracks is a good idea.

As far as talk of him retiring is concerned, he said everybody was upset in the aftermath of the Wheldon tragedy.

"What I saw in the hospital unit (doctors fighting to revive Wheldon), nobody wants to see," he said. "I was shook up a little bit but everybody’s had a chance to calm down and think about it and I'm saying today that my plans remain basically unchaged.

"I want to compete next year – a full season – but if I can’t do that, if I can’t get a full season, I’m over trying to get into cars part-time, with part-time teams. I’m not gonna race any more stuff part-time."

Toronto and Edmonton have always been on Tracy's schedule in recent years, even though he hasn't been employed full-time by one of the full-time teams, but even that scenario is now out the window, he says.

"I don’t see the point in it any more," he said, "running around at the back. The last four years that I’ve done it, I’ve been put in a spare car that’s been off in a corner of a race shop somewhere, and my crew has been a bunch of guys that they hired for the weekend. You can't compete at this level any more doing it like that."

Tracy said even if he gets a full-time deal, it will still be his final year in Indy cars.

"I still want to do some endurance racing - Le Mans, Sebring - but I'll be finished with the Indy cars. I want to go out on top, though. We've got some meetings lined up with a couple of teams.

"I've got a level of funding that I can take to the table and some of the teams I’m talking to have a level of funding. Hopefully, we can put it all together."

One of the criticisms of  IndyCar following the Wheldon crash was its insistence on racing at high-banked, mile-and-a-half speedways that some say are better suited to NASCAR stock cars.

But the series has been running into difficulty in recent years to fullfil its marketing plan of racing on superspeedways, short ovals, road courses and street circuits. To be blunt, there are not enough flat, mile-long, oval tracks to race on and fans have not exactly been breaking down the doors to watch the racing there anyway - the tracks at Milwaukee and New Hampshire being prime examples.

Tracy thinks there's a solution - in Europe.

" First, I don't think they want to go over to Europe, but if they need ovals, they do have some options on tracks that worked for Indy cars in the past.

"The Lausitzring Speedway in Germany is a good oval speedway. It's pretty flat, and so is Rockingham (in England). It's also pretty flat. I think they're good venues and I think they should look at them. They both always drew a good crowd; whether they made any money, I don't know.

"On the other hand, I don’t think they should abandon mile-and-a-half tracks in the States, but they have to figure out a way so that the cars aren’t running three and four wide. My problem is that I don't know how you stop the cars from pack racing on those high banks.

"I don’t know the answer, because if you slow the cars down. you’re going to have more of a pack, and if you speed them up, keep ‘em going up to 240 miles an hour, then you have a different problem.

"We ran around Texas in a CART car at 240 mph and everybody was blacking out from the G forces. I don’t know how you separate the cars, except on a flatter track where you might be able to run side-by-side for a couple of corners but you’d better get back in line pretty quick."

Tracy said he thinks racing drivers from all categories should band together to make sure their concerns, particularly about safety, get a proper hearing with racing authorities. He said, for instance, that the Indy drivers had talked to CEO Randy Bernard about two abreast restarts as being too dangerous and had been ignored.

"(In the aftermath of the Wheldon crash) I sent out a tweet that said, basically, that we’re all playing the same game, we’re all playing football but it’s a different sized ball. We’re all running on the same tracks; we’re just using a different ball to play the game, whether it’s NASCAR, or IndyCar or drag racing or sprint cars.

"Safety inovations can improve across the board. My thought is that we’ve got all these driver groups – IndyCar’s got a driver group, I’m sure NASCAR does - and what we need is for some of the top guys from every level - John Force, Jimmie Johnson, Dario - to get together at some point and form not so much a union but maybe have a meeting once or twice a year and you talk about the safety issues in everybody’s sport and I bet you'll find there’s a common thread running through the whole thing.

"A lot of the problems are probably the same problems. So how do we get the organizing bodies of every group to fix it? Everybody’s trying to do their own thing and that doesn’t solve anything."

Tracy said he's been pretty busy the last few weeks and that his friend Johnson is in the middle of the NASCAR Chase.

"He’s got a lot going on right now. So I’d have to talk to Dario and him and see what would have to be done to get something going. But yes, I'm going to push for that."

Tracy had these thoughts on several other subjects of concern:

- A roll cage or canopy to protect Indy car drivers who race now with exposed cockpits:

"The questions I have would be how do you get out of it (the car) in a hurry? What if the mechanism to get out was somehow damaged in a crash, or if there was a fire? Those are some of the issues that you’d have to tackle."

He said the modern Indy car is difficult to exit as it is.

"Even right now, most of the drivers can’t get out of an IRL car (quickly) because you can’t get the headrest off. The headrests fit so tight because of the aerodynamics around the driver’s head – the driver’s helmet is basically encased all the way around - and you can’t get out from under it.

"There should be a five-second rule; you should be able to get out of the car and touch both feet on the ground within five seconds. I mean, you should be able to get the headrest out, the steering wheel off, unbuckle and jump out of the car within five seconds. It’s an FIA-mandated rule in F1 and it’s something that I’ve never seen enforced in my career but I think it’s something that should be done."

- His suggestion of plexiglass over the fencing after Wheldon was killed (when his car went above the SAFER wall and into the wire):

"It was just a thought, I don’t know if anybody’s done anything about it. I mean, I’d never looked at the fencing before and I was talking to Davey Hamilton and he said the fencing at Vegas and Texas is completely set up wrong.

"You have the wall, the fence post comes up out of the wall, and you’d think they’d have the fencing mounted on the track side but no, they have the fencing on the spectator side so the first thing that’s exposed to a car is a pole and the guy wiring and all the rest to hold it in place. The fence is on the wrong side of the pole.

"I’ve suggested it (the plexiglass). I don’t know what it would cost but if it ended up saving the life of a driver, then it’s worth the investment.

"At some point, somebody did make a big investment in safety. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway made the investment in the development of the SAFER barrier, which is virtually on every track now, so we’ll have to see where this goes."

Wheldon cherished as great man, champion at Indy memorial

Two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Dan Wheldon was remembered as a great race driver - but more importantly, as a wonderful father, husband, friend and man - at a public memorial service Sunday, Oct. 23 at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

A large crowd, including Wheldon's wife, Susie, and family, gathered to cherish the life of Wheldon, who suffered fatal injuries in a racing accident Oct. 16 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Speakers shared thoughts, memories, laughter and tears about 2005 IZOD IndyCar Series champion Wheldon, who won the Indianapolis 500 in 2005 and 2011. Many anecdotes during the 90-minute ceremony centered on Wheldon's skill as a driver, zest for life and practical jokes, love of family and friends, and obsession with neatness.

"I love him like a brother," said former teammate Tony Kanaan, a close friend of Wheldon. "I'm grateful for the time we got to spend with him on Earth. Although that time here is done, our time together is not over. We have our memories. We have our feelings. And one day we will be together again.

"For that reason, I'm not saying goodbye to Dan. Not today. And not ever. Goodbye is final, and our friendship won't end. So for now, I'm simply saying I'll see you later. I love you."

Said two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Dario Franchitti, another former teammate and close friend: "At first, Dan was pretty much the little brother we didn't want. And now, we would do anything to have him back. We miss you, D-Dub."

Other speakers included team owner and former teammate Bryan Herta, Wheldon's representatives Adrian Sussman and Mickey Ryan, INDYCAR Chief Executive Officer Randy Bernard, Indianapolis Motor Speedway Corporation President and Chief Executive Officer Jeff Belskus, Target Chip Ganassi Racing team manager Mike Hull, friends and associates Mike Kitchel, Benito Santos and Misty Gibbs, INDYCAR Ministry Director and Chaplain Bob Hills, and masters of ceremonies Bob Jenkins and Marty Reid.

Musical performances also were poignant during the one-hour ceremony. Country music superstar Reba McEntire sang "If I Had Only Known" at the start of the service, while rising stars The Band Perry performed "Amazing Grace." Country superstar Garth Brooks closed the ceremony with an acoustic version of his hit "The Dance."

Also performing were the Indianapolis Children's Choir and the "Indianapolis 500" Gordon Pipers bagpipe group, an Indianapolis Motor Speedway tradition during Wheldon's beloved Month of May.

Numerous still photos and video clips from throughout Wheldon's life captured his skill, flair, spirit and warmth during the ceremony, including a video of thanks from his family.

Decorating the stage were the Borg-Warner Trophy awarded to the winner of the Indianapolis 500, the Indianapolis 500 winner's wreath, two bottles of milk signifying Wheldon's two Indy 500 victories, the Indy Racing League championship trophy that Wheldon won in 2005 and a 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series car painted in the St. George's cross of Wheldon's native England.

Other tributes to Wheldon included Franchitti, Kanaan and Herta wearing Wheldon's 2005 championship ring and Franchitti wearing white shoes in honor of Wheldon, a noted aficionado of style, fashion and shoes.

Fans were able to participate by signing banners in Conseco Fieldhouse, leaving condolences and memories.

The Dan Wheldon Family Trust Fund has been established for the financial security of his family. The public can make contributions to the Dan Wheldon Family Trust Fund at:

Fifth Third Private Bank

Attn: Dan Wheldon Family Trust

251 North Illinois St.

Suite 1000

Indianapolis, IN 46204

All of Fifth Third Bank's Indianapolis branches also are accepting contributions in person, which will be routed to the account.

In lieu of flowers, friends and fans also can choose to make a donation to the Dan Wheldon Family Trust Fund or the Alzheimer's Association, a cause close to his heart. For more details, visit

www.alz.org or www.danwheldonmemorial.com

which is a GoDaddy.com-created memorial site, which includes a Facebook link to leave condolences and remembrances and a career photo retrospective.

Those wishing to send their sympathy and condolences to the Wheldon family can address letters to:

The Wheldons

9600 Koger Blvd N, Ste. 105

St. Petersburg, FL 33702

Press release received from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Sun., Oct. 23, 2011

Another driver talks stupid about Dan Wheldon

As I’ve written a column about Dan Wheldon for the Saturday Star Wheels section (online tomorrow), I’m about to move on. But here are some parting thoughts.

As Jimmy Durante used to say, “Everybody wants ta get inta da act.” 

So Jimmie Johnson was first out of the gate to say IndyCar shouldn’t be racing on ovals. The five-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion, who’s never raced an Indy car, has since modified his position because of the backlash, but he’s still talking about something he doesn’t know anything about.

Then retired F1 driver David Coulthard, who’s never raced an Indy car, spouted off with his two cents.

Now we have Mark Webber, who’s never etc., saying that “what organisers certainly have to do is work out how to stop cars leaving the ground and flying into the air in such situations.”

What?

Isn’t this the same guy who nearly went into orbit last year when he ran into the back of Heikki Kovalainen at the Valencia circuit in Spain (watch video here)? I didn’t see a quote from him after he landed in which he said that F1 organizers “certainly have to work out how to stop cars leaving the ground and flying into the air in such situations.”

Did you?

Then we have Jean Alesi, who’s never etc., saying that the Wheldon crash hasn’t spooked him about racing in the Indianapolis 500 next May. Why?

“What happened at Las Vegas can't happen in Indy: the banking there is negligible and most of all you never take it flat out except in qualifying." 

Huh?

How does he know?

Who are these people?

Don’t you find it interesting that the two guys who know what racing an Indy car is all about – Tony Stewart and Juan Pablo Montoya – haven’t said squat about the Wheldon crash?

So here is a quote to chew on:

Confucius: “It’s better to keep one’s mouth shut and be thought a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.”

That kind of fits, doesn't it?

Somebody wrote in their blog that auto racing should be outlawed as a result of the Wheldon accident.

In the last three weeks, three people participating in city marathons (including one in Toronto last weekend) died of heart attacks.

I think marathon running should be outlawed...

By the way, most auto racing websites are reporting that the FIA and ACCUS (Automobile Competition Committee for the United States) are part of the team investigating the Wheldon accident.

IndyCar revised that this morning:

“As part of our standard safety protocol, a full investigation has been launched by IndyCar, with assistance from individual members of various motorsports bodies. It was incorrect to state that either ACCUS or FIA are formally involved.”

Bob Winegar, who’s been around racing forever, works for a courier company. He makes a run to Buffalo every couple of weeks and keeps me up to date on what’s happening at the site of the proposed Canadian Motor Speedway in Fort Erie (which is, according to his latest report, nothing).

Bob emailed me this yesterday:

“At a time in my life when I should probably be developing a Bucket List, I've opted instead to put the pedal to the metal and create an IZOD IndyCar List.

My suggestions (some borrowed):

 - reduce speeds on ovals

 - have more street or road races, less roundy-round

-  design catch fencing with flex

 -  add roll cages similar to supermodifieds

 - reduce fields from 33 (or 34) to 24 on ovals

 - starts 2 wide, restarts single file

 - eliminate big dollar prizes for winning from scratch position

Will these suggestions ever be enacted by an IndyCar hierarchy soaked with rodeo machismo, cowboys who say, "You just gotta get back on that bull, boy!"

The answer is yes, if you believe;

  - that Elvis will make a personal appearance at Collingwood next summer

 - that Charlie Sheen will become a Tibetan monk, go to India and become known as Father Teresa

 - that Bill Barilko, haggard and gnarly, will re-emerge from the wilderness to lead the Leafs to their first Stanley Cup in 45 years.

It will only be through media pressure that meaningful changes in safety will come to IndyCar racing.”

I mostly agree, Bob. Thanks.

Don't bet on Paul Tracy retiring

Paul Tracy told CTV’s Beverly Thomson Tuesday that he was thinking of retiring in the aftermath of the crash at Las Vegas Speedway Sunday that killed Dan Wheldon.

Tracy, Canada’s fastest, badest, daredevil racing driver whose nickname is “the Thrill from West Hill,” said his mother and wife had encouraged him to consider hanging up his helmet.

Now, I don’t really know Paul Tracy. I’ve interviewed him a bunch of times, had dinner with him, hung around a little and so-on, but I don’t really know what’s going on inside his head.

Having said that, and knowing what I do about what makes racing drivers tick, I suspect at the end of the day that he won’t say he's quitting. Now now, anyway.

I wouldn’t bet my house on it, but if Paul Tracy decides to call it a day eventually, I think it will be on his terms and not in the emotional aftermath of tragedy.

Paul Tracy is 42 and has been racing almost his entire life. When he was a kid, his dad would drop him off at a kart track while he was on his way to work and pick the boy up on the way home. He was in formula cars as a teen (he was Canada’s youngest Formula Ford champion at 16) and drove in — and won — the last Can-Am Series race ever held when he was 17. He was a record-setting Indy Lights champion before he was 20 and then started driving for Roger Penske. He's been an Indy car driver ever since.

In his time, Tracy's been in races where people were killed, most notably Greg Moore in 1999. I don’t think he considered giving up then and I don’t think, at the end of the day, that he’s seriously considering giving up now.

Yes, this is a time of grieving for a racing life lost, a time of personal reflection and of respect for the wishes of others. But Paul Tracy is a racing driver. It’s what he does and it’s who he is.

And he’s still got races to win and projects to complete. He’s got a book in him (I’ve had my hand up to help him with that for awhile now) and sports car races like the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the 12 Hours of Sebring to run.

And then there’s that little bit of unfinished business called the Indianapolis 500. He won it in 2002 but his name and mug still aren’t on the Borg-Warner Trophy and I suspect he’ll want to try to change that before calling it a day.

Paul Tracy has said he wants a farewell tour. He wants one more trip around the circuit to say goodbye. If that’s not possible — if the sponsorship isn’t there to support him and his team for a season — then he’ll likely settle for Toronto, Edmonton and Indianapolis.

For a guy like Tracy, you want to go out with your head held high. You want to do it your way.

With your fist in the air and the checkered flag flying.

Wheldon’s dad pays tribute to ‘gentleman’ son

Calling him “a gentleman on and off the track” and “a true champion,” Dan Wheldon’s father, speaking outside the family home in Emberton, England, paid tribute to his son Monday, a day after the 2005 IZOD IndyCar Series champion and two-time Indianapolis 500 winner, was killed at a race in Las Vegas:

“The family would like to thank everybody for their overwhelming sympathy in such a difficult time,” Clive Wheldon said.

“Daniel was born to be a racer and yesterday he left us doing what he loved. He was a true gentleman and champion, on and off the track.

“He was a devoted son to Sue and myself, loving husband to his wife Susie, and a loving father to his children, Oliver and Sebastian.

"Words cannot describe how much our family will miss him. He touched so many and the world is a better place for him having been in it. We want to thank everyone for allowing us time to grieve in private.”

Other tributes continued to pour in from around the racing world. One in particular came from retired F1 pilot Derek Warwick, who survived any number of scary crashes himself.

Speaking as president of the British Racing Drivers Club, he said:

“The BRDC is extremely proud of Dan and all that he achieved and was achieving in the United States.

“He was undoubtedly one of the great talents of his generation as his racing results testified. Two victories in the Indy 500 put him in a very select group of drivers and having won the Rookie of the Year honours in 2003 it was no surprise that he should win the IndyCar championship in 2005.

“Dan followed this in 2006 by winning the BRDC Gold Star, beating the likes of Jenson Button, Mark Webber, David Coulthard and Dario Franchitti to this coveted award.”

A memorial service is planned for Indianapolis, with a date to be announced.