Norris McDonald's Auto Racing Blog

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.

Will Wheldon death be Indy wakeup call?

A lot of the fun went out of racing Sunday afternoon when there was a NASCAR-style "big one" in the IndyCar race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. It happened in a heartbeat and was over almost as fast.

The sport lost English driver Dan Wheldon in that crash. He died of massive head injuries.

A NASCAR pileup can be fun to watch because it’s like bumper cars at the Ex. This is because the death of Dale Earnhardt at Daytona 10 years ago forced NASCAR to take a hard look at the design of its cars. The "Car of Tomorrow" that they race now is so much safer. It’s almost guaranteed that a driver will walk away from a trip into a wall at 180 miles an hour.

Will Wheldon’s accident prove to be IndyCar’s wakeup call?

Before too many people start pointing fingers, and despite IndyCar’s somewhat poor officiating record this season, there is no way anyone can be directly blamed for what happened Sunday. Nobody could have seen that coming.

The drivers are saying after the fact that they had warned series officials that there could be a problem. But nobody said anything in public – so far as I know – and they got into their cars Sunday and went out there to race just like they always do.

In fact, Wheldon was bubbling with enthusiasm while talking from his cockpit during the warmup laps with ABC announcer Scott Goodyear. Wheldon was the network’s “in-race reporter” and told Goodyear how he was looking forward to trying to win a $5 million bonus he’d be paid if he won the race from his last-place starting position.

And, in fact, he’d used his Twitter account when the race started to illustrate his excitement at going racing. His Tweet?

“GREEN!!!”

Having said that, it quickly became apparent that the cars were going way too fast for the size of the Las Vegas facility. Within a lap or two, the cars were three-wide and sometimes four-wide down the straights. It might be okay to go 220 miles an hour at the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway but those speeds were over the top on a 1.5-mile oval.

Canadian racer James Hinchcliffe came right to the point: "There is zero margin for error."

NASCAR uses restrictor plates to slow down the cars on super-fast speedways. So, should IndyCar consider something similar to slow down the cars at some venues?

Or, with the exception of Indianapolis or other 2.5-mile speedways like Michigan or California, should IndyCar leave the ovals behind and just race on street circuits or road courses where “pack racing” at 220 mph isn’t possible?

Open-cockpit racing is extremely dangerous. Former double world champion John Surtees (F1 and motorcycles) lost his son Henry when the teen was hit on the helmet by a wheel that came off his car in a crash. Jeff Krosnoff was killed at the 1996 Molson Indy when his car went cockpit-first into a light pole. Greg Moore lost his life in a CART race at California in 1999 when he, too, went head-first into a wall. (Greg’s dad, Ric Moore, was at the Vegas race Sunday and consoled Dario Franchitti, his son’s great friend.)

There are open-wheel series that have roll cages protecting the cockpits – midgets, sprint cars and super-modifieds. Might a roll cage have helped Wheldon? Should IndyCar consider something similar?

Wheldon was racing for a $5 million bonus. Should that sort of bonus, or bounty, ever be offered again?

There were so many cars out there – 34, the biggest field of the year and more cars than start the Indy 500 – that the track was very crowded and some of the drivers were not sufficiently experienced to be driving that fast on that type of banked speedway.

Should IndyCar take a look at its driver licencing system? Even on a race-by-race basis? And how about capping the number of cars that can start? That could vary from track-to-track also.

Wheldon was testing the 2012 car that will replace the current chassis next season. It has fenders over the rear wheels that some say might have prevented Wheldon’s car from “taking off.” But the exposed front wheels were actually what caused Wheldon’s car to ride up over the spinning car in front of him. 

Should the front wheels of Indy cars have fenders too?

So many questions – and perhaps there will never be any answers.

But when it comes to racing, there should never be anything that smacks of complacency. A horrible thing happened on Sunday: a husband was killed, as was a son and a father.

We – and by "we," I mean everybody involved in the sport – has to do something other than pray that it will never happen again.

Tributes pour in for Dan Wheldon

Tributes poured in overnight for Dan Wheldon, two-time Inianapolis 500 champion who died at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday:

RANDY BERNARD (CEO, INDYCAR): No words can describe my feelings as I reflect on my memories of Dan.  His infectious smile, bubbly personality and big heart made Dan one of the most caring people I had ever met. You could never ask for a better ambassador to a sport. Dan represented IndyCar with the upmost respect and integrity.  Dan will not only be immortalized as being a great racer but also a wonderful person.  My prayers are with Susie and his two children in this very difficult time.   

SAM SCHMIDT (Owner, Sam Schmidt Motorsports): "Dan Wheldon was a tremendous competitor, a great racer and an even better person. It was an honor to have him be a part of our team. All of us at Sam Schmidt Motorsports are deeply saddened by his passing. On behalf of everyone at Sam Schmidt Motorsports, our prayers go out to all of his family, especially his wife, Susie, and their two children."

DARIO FRANCHITTI (Target Chip Ganassi Racing): "We lost a good friend.  Everybody in IndyCar Series considered Dan a friend. He was one of those special, special people from the first moment he showed up in IndyCar. And he was kind of the brash, but he was a charmer. Then he became this loving family guy who was still charming, but he had this whole new side to him. I'm just thinking of Susie and the boys. When I think about them I'm struggling to hold it together."

CHIP GANASSI (owner, Target Chip Ganassi Racing): "What can you say? He was such a big presence in our sport and quite a talent.  Today we lost a little bit of IndyCar.  He raced here for us for three years, won six races and made many friends - the whole Chip Ganassi Racing organization mourns his passing.  My thoughts and prayers go out to Susie, the boys and the whole Wheldon family."

SCOTT DIXON (Target Chip Ganassi Racing): "Dan is family and I will miss him badly. Such an amazing person and wonderful family man. We will be with Susie, Sebastian and Oliver for whatever they need. I still can't believe it."

ORIOL SERVIA (Newman/Haas Racing): "This is incredibly sad. We all know this is part of the sport.  Cars are getting safer, tracks are getting safer so fortunately it hasn't happened in a long time. We all had a bad feeling about this place in particular just because of the high banking and how easy it was to go flat and if you give us the opportunity, we are drivers and we try to go to the front - we race each other hard because that's what we do. We knew if could happen but it's just really sad.  It's so tough to understand when somebody is gone that quickly.  Dan was always a very happy guy; he was always smiling.  He was a funny, great person that touched a lot of people.  He will be missed."

JAMES HINCHCLIFFE (Newman/Haas Racing): "It's a black day for the sport.  We came in here hoping for a good season finale and ended up losing a very close friend and a very good racing driver.  I think Dan was coming into his second wind as a driver.  He had so much success early on and he was getting back into that.  It's going to be hard next year to climb into the new cars every time knowing that if it wasn't for Dan this thing wouldn't be what it was.  He made such an impact on this sport and will even continue to now.  It's proof that this is still a very dangerous sport.  As hard as we work on the safety side, these things are still very possible.  It's tough to put into words what everybody is feeling.  We're going to have to regroup over the winter and head into the first race next year and race the whole year for Dan because all I said, the new car that we all are going to be blessed with the opportunity to race, a lot of that is as good as it is because of Dan. My thoughts are with Susie and the kids."

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway issued this statement on behalf of President and CEO Jeff Belskus:

"We are incredibly saddened at the passing of Dan Wheldon. He was a great champion of the Indianapolis 500 and a wonderful ambassador for the race, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and all of motorsports.

"Most importantly, he was a fantastic husband, father and man - a good friend to so many in this sport. His memory will live forever at the Speedway, both through the magnitude of his accomplishments on the track and his magnetism off the track.

"Our deepest sympathies are extended to his entire family, team and fans."

Al Speyer, director of racing for Firestone, said:

"Recently, we had been working very closely with Dan on the development of the 2012 IndyCar. His passion for the sport was evident every day and he worked endlessly to do the best he could at everything he did. 

"We extend our sympathies to his family, to his team, and to his many friends and fans.  He was a talented competitor on the track who will be long remembered by all who had the privilege of working with and knowing him."

GRAHAM RAHAL (Chip Ganassi Racing): "My heart goes out to the Wheldon family. Dan was an incredible champion, a great friend and someone I will always respect and admire. We have truly lost one of the greatest members of our IndyCar family."

CHARLIE KIMBALL (Chip Ganassi Racing): "We lost a special member of our IndyCar family. Dan was doing exactly what he wanted and died doing what he loved. Our thoughts are with his wife, Susie, and his two children. There are much bigger plans in life than we can ever hope to understand. Dan will be forever missed."

ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT: "It is with extreme sorrow that we have lost one of our champion drivers today. Dan was an Indy 500 champion and IndyCar Series champion with Andretti Autosport, and one of our closest competitors. Dan brought such enthusiasm and passion to the sport not often seen in motorsports. We will remember Dan's tremendous racing accomplishments with our team as well his infectious personality. We would like to express our deepest sympathy to Dan's family, racing team and friends today. Dan is one of IndyCar's greatest champions."

BOBBY RAHAL (co-owner, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing): "The passing of Dan Wheldon today is a great shame. Dan was a great driver as evidenced by not only his Indianapolis 500 victories, but by his many wins and great performances in the race car. But he was much more than a great driver. He was a good guy, good family man and really seemed to have a bright future not only as a driver but as a television personality as well. We had spoken to him very recently about his prospects as a driver for 2012 with our team and he was very enthusiastic about his future. He will be missed."

ALLEN SIRKIN (President, PVH Corp): "On behalf of everyone at the IZOD brand, our prayers and thoughts are with Dan Wheldon's family. We are very proud to have worked with Dan and consider him a true friend. He was one of the best race car drivers in the world and a wonderful ambassador for the sport. Dan's love of racing was only surpassed by his love and dedication to his family. He will be missed by all."

ROGER PENSKE (owner, Penske Racing): "Today was a sad day for IndyCar and the IndyCar family. Dan was a champion, a wonderful young man and a terrific competitor. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his wife Susie, his children and his entire family."

GEORGE BODENHEIMER (President, ESPN & ABC Sports): "We are very saddened by the tragic passing of Dan Wheldon. He was a great champion both on and off the racetrack and he will be greatly missed. We extend our deepest sympathies to his family."

HELIO CASTRONEVES (Team Penske; three-time Indianapolis 500 winner): "Our thoughts and prayers go out to Dan Wheldon's family - what happened today was terrible. It is hard to put into words how sad this is for all us of here. On the track we compete but at the end of the day we are like a big family and today we lost a part of that. I think that the series made a good call to end the race and have the parade laps to honor the life of our fellow driver." 

RYAN BRISCOE (Team Penske): "My thoughts are with Dan's family right now. He has been a good friend and a great competitor for many years and I'm greatly saddened by his loss. I do applaud the decision made by the series to call the race and line the cars up for a few parade laps in Dan's memory. It is truly a sad day for all of us."

WILL POWER (Team Penske): "What a tragic loss. I'm devastated that we lost Dan Wheldon today. It was a terrible accident and I feel so bad for Dan's family. My thoughts and prayers are with them. Dan was a great champion and a great guy. He will definitely be missed."

GREGG STEINHAFEL (Chairman, President and CEO, Target): "We are deeply saddened by the tragic and sudden death of Dan Wheldon, who drove for Target Chip Ganassi Racing from 2006 to 2008.  He was a special part of the Target family and our heartfelt sympathies go out to Dan's family and friends."

EDDIE GOSSAGE (President, Texas Motor Speedway): "On behalf of the entire staff at Texas Motor Speedway, our sincere condolences go out to Dan's wife Susie and their two young boys, Oliver and Sebastian. Dan was a tremendous race-car driver and even more tremendous as a person. I was fortunate to get to know Dan over the years with the series annually visiting Texas Motor Speedway and he always arrived with that infectious personality and charming wit. His outstanding skill in the cockpit and his personality and good nature out of it will be greatly missed by the entire IndyCar community."

Team Canada racer second in brands hatch race

SATURDAY AFTERNOON UPDATE:

Huge news from Brands Hatch in England.

CANADIAN XAVIER COUPAL (23) WENT ON TO FINISH SECOND BEHIND AMERICAN NEIL ALBERICO (21) IN HIS FORMULA FORD FESTIVAL HEAT AT BRANDS HATCH IN ENGLAND TODAY. BRAVO!

Last week, I wrote a column in Toronto Star Wheels about Grote Industries and Brian Graham Racing taking a young Canadian to the Formula Ford Festival in Britain - a frantic two days of racing in which a poor finish in any of the heats or quarter/semi finals can sink you. 

So Team Canada driver Xavier Coupal of St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que., went out today and finished second in his first race, a scant 0.334 seconds behind American Neil Alberico.

Fingers crossed that Coupal can keep up the good work Sunday.

SATURDAY MORNING UPDATE

Lewis Hamilton edged Sebastien Vettel on Saturday to win pole position for Sunday's Korean Grand Prix.

The last time a Red Bull-Renault wasn't starting first at a Grand Prix was at Abu Dhabi last year.

Hamilton's McLaren-Mercedes teammate Jenson Button will start third with Mark Webber fourth in the second Red Bull. Felipe Massa again outqualified his Ferrari teammate, Fernando Alonso, and will start fifth with his teammate in sixth.

Nico Rosberg in the Mercedes will go off seventh and Vitaly Petrov will start eighth in his Renault. The Force India cars qualified ninth and tenth but didn't try to improve their positions in the final qualifying sesssions.

TV reminders: The F1 race will be live on TSN at 1:55 a.m. and repeated at 8 a.m. Sunday on TSN2. The NASCAR Sprint Cup race from Charlotte can be seen tonight on TSN2 at 7:30 (pre-race) and 8 (green flag). It will be preceded at 5:30 by a replay of the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series' Kawartha 250. The final race of the IZOD IndyCar Series season can be seen Sunday afternoon at 4 p.m. It comes on a half-hour earlier on ABC Buffalo channel 7 (Rogers 18, Cogeco 09).

Oh, and Carl Edwards won the Nationwide race at Charlotte Friday night with Kyle Busch second and Trevor Bayne third.

FRIDAY EVENING UPDATE

 

Veteran open-wheel star Tony Kanaan won the pole Friday for Sunday's final race of the IZOD IndyCar Series season with a blistering time of 222.078 miles an hour around the 1.5-mile Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

 

Kanaan went out late in the 90-minute session to knock Oriol Servia off pole. The difference between the two cars was .0057 second. Ed Carpenter, who's a master oval-track racer - he won the race at Kentucky Speedway two weeks ago - will start third.

 

Danica Patrick, who started the weekend off with a bang by turning fastest time in first practice Thursday - about two miles an hour faster than Friday's pole speed - will start ninth. 

 

The two drivers in contention for the championship, Will Power and Dario Franchitti, both had poor qualifying sessions. Power will go off 17th and Franchitti will start 18th.

 

Interestingly, the two racers trying for the Sunoco Rookie-of-the-Year award, James Hinchcliffe of Oakville and American J.R. Hildebrand, will also start together with Hinchcliffe 14th and Hildebrand 15th.

 

Canadian Alex Tagliani will go off fourth. Paul Tracy will start 27th.

 

Kanaan, ever the comedian, said after qualifying that his pole run might have looked hard but wasn't. "There's really nothing to it," he said. "You just have to remember to turn left . . . four times."

 

On another racing front, Mosport announced Friday that the American Le Mans Series race originally scheduled for Sat., July 21, 2012 will be held on Sun., July 22. As the ALMS will run with IndyCar at a number of venues next season, there was speculation (mine) that the 2012 Toronto IndyCar race would be moved from the CNE street course to Mosport but that obviously isn't the case.

 

I suggest there was an effort made to have that happen. Maybe in 2013 . . .

 

And Michael Shank Racing announced it will field a team in the 2012 IZOD series. Kenny Wilden of Oakville drove races for Shank in sports cars. Is it too much to dream that Wilden might get another shot at an Indy car ride?

 

Earlier . . .

 

Danica Patrick is leaving IndyCar with a bang.

 

In first practice for Sunday's grand finale of the 2011 IZOD IndyCar Series season at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the Andretti Autosport veteran turned the fastest lap around the 1.5-mile speedway - 24.7349 seconds, which is 224.719 miles an hour.

 

The slowest of the 34 drivers was Jay Howard and his lap was 25.3269 seconds, a half-second slower.

 

Wow. Every one of the other 32 drivers who took time was in the same frame, which means the pack racing that will take place Sunday will be absolutely hairy.

 

"It's friggin' fast here," said Patrick in what had to be a serious understatement.

 

"Almost a 225 lap is like Indy speeds. The track is nice and smooth . . . we'll be three-wide there, maybe even four wide, which will be exciting. The race is going to be crazy and the crashes will be spectacular.

 

"Nothing would let me turn the page better than winning here."

 

Indy car racing's most famous personality will bring down the curtain on her open wheel career Sunday. She is contracted to join Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s NASCAR Nationwide Series team for 2012 and will also drive some Sprint Cup races for Tony Stewart's team.

 

She won't be waiting for 2012, though. In fact, she'll be racing in several Nationwide Series races between now and the end of the season.

 

Her'es how fast they were going at Las Vegas Thursday.

 

Oriol Servia went 24.8114 to set the second-fastest time and Ryan Hunter-Reay was third at 24.8267 seconds.

 

Notables: Dario Franchitti (shooting for his third consecutive championship) was ninth at 24.8737 seconds; Ed Carpenter, who won the oval race at Kentucky on a similar speedway two weeks ago, was 13th at 24.9956; Will Power, the only other driver in contention for the title and trying for his first IndyCar championship, was 14th at 25.0131; James Hinchcliffe of Oakville, leading the race to be Sunoco Rookie-of-the-Year, was 15th at 25.0156; Paul Tracy of Scarborough was 21st at 25.0990 and Alex Tagliani of Montreal was 23rd at 25.1027;

 

Dan Wheldon, the Indy 500 winner who will try to come from the back of the pack (he'll start last, regardless of how fast he goes in practice or qualifying), turned a lap of 25.1012 seconds, good for 22nd fastest and J.R. Hildebrand, the American driver in a tustle with Hinchcliffe for the rookie award, was 24th fastest with a time of 25.1102 seconds.

 

Meantime, at Charlotte Motor Speedway, scene of this week's Saturday night Chase race, Tony Stewart won the pole, followed by Matt Kenseth and Carl Edwards. Other Chase contenders:

 

Ryan Newman, sixth; Jimmie Johnson, ninth; Kevin Harvick, 14th; Dale Earnhardt Jr., 15th (boy, did Jimmy Spencer ever tear a strip off him this week for asking after the Washington Redskins in the middle of the race last week in Kansas), Denny Hamlin, 17th; Kurt Busch, 20th; Jeff Gordon, 23rd; Kyle Busch, 25th and Brad Keselowdki, 26th.

 

Okay, now let me get this straight.

 

Robert Wickens of Guelph and Toronto, a champion karter, won the Formula BMW-USA championship. This earned him a Red Bull sponsorship.

When he went to Europe to drive in Formula 2, Helmut Marko, the ex-F1 driver in charge of driver development for Red Bull-Renault Racing, told him he was expected to win.

Wickens finished second in the series and was stripped of his sponsorship.

Said 'Dr.' Marko: “See ya.”

Wickens was not surprised. “They expected me to win, and I didn’t,” he said.

Jean-Eric Vergne of France is a Red Bull sponsored driver who’d previously won the British Formula 3 championship.

He was entered in this year’s World Series by Renault, in which he finished second.

(Do you see where I’m going with this?)

You would expect that Vergne would be stripped of his sponsorship – particularly since the guy he lost the championship to was none other than Canadian Robert Wickens.

But instead of ‘Dr.’ Marko saying “See ya,” Jean-Eric was at the Korean Grand Prix today to drive a Toro Rosso F1 team car in first practice.

Hmmm. I wonder why?

Actually, I’ll tell you why.

Robert Wickens is a North American and Jean-Eric Vergne is a European.

F1, despite calling itself a “world’ series, is a European series complete with Eurocentric attitudes and prejudices.

Which explains why Robert Wickens, a Canadian who lost, got his walking papers and Jean-Eric Vergne, a Frenchman who lost, got promoted.

Vergne replaced Jaime Alguersuari in the Toro Rosso.  

First practice in Korea today (Friday - Thursday night in Canada) was pretty much ruined by rain. Michael Schumacher was "fastest" with a time of 2 minutes, 02.784 seconds, followed by Sebastien Vettel (2.02.840) and Paul Di Resta (2.02.912).

Jenson Button, Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa went out for one slow lap and retired to the garage where it was dry. Lewis Hamilton was seventh fastest and Mark Webber was 10th.

Vergne was 13th fastest, but was about five seconds slower than Schumacher's time.

In the second session, which dried up enough for the guys to get down to work, Lewis Hamilton was fastest with a lap of 1:50:828. His McLaren-Mercedes teammate Jenson Button was second at 1:50:932.

Third through fifth fastest were Sebastian Vettel, Fernando Alonso and Mark Webber. Sixth through 10th quickest were Alguersuari (nothing like having to sit out a session to motivate a fellow . . .), Felipe Massa, Nico Rosberg, Sebastien Buemi and Paul di Resta.

F1 team half sold; 'Hinch' gears up for Indy finale

On Oct. 7, Vijay Mallya denied that his Force India F1 team was for sale.

“Rubbish,” he thundered. “Speculative b-llsh-t.”

So today, six days later, it is announced that Mr. Mallya has sold half of his team.

It seems that Sahara India Pariwar, a big Indian promoter of, mainly, cricket, has purchased 42.5 per cent of Force India, which will be renamed Sahara Force India.

So much for truth in Formula One.

Or else this deal came together really, really quickly.

Said Mallya today: "The Sahara Group has played a very important role in the development of sport in the country and is an ideal partner to take the Force India F1 Team to greater success in the Formula 1 World Championship."

Prediction: Mallya’s gettin’ out of the sport, just like the Spyker car company and Canadian entrepreneur Alex Shnaider before him.

It would just be so refreshing, though, if people in this world generally, not just in F1, answered truthfully when asked a question.

How hard would it have been if Vijay Mallya, when asked that original question about the possible sale of his team, had replied:

“Not all of it. F1’s a tough business to be in. Sometimes, you need some help.”

Some people – media trainers and the like - would disagree with that, suggesting Mallya would be giving up control of the conversation.

And I would say anything’s better than showing the world that you’re a (insert word here; my choice would be one that starts with the letter “L.”)

Someone you can always count on to tell the truth is race driver James Hinchcliffe of Oakville, who’s leading the Sunoco Rookie-of-the-Year standings going into the last race of the IZOD IndyCar Season at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday (3 p.m. on ABC, 4 p.m. on TSN2).

Asked if he is looking forward to the showdown with American rookie J.R. Hildebrand (Hinchcliffe holds a six-point lead, 302 to 296 despite missing the first race of the season), the Canadian said:

“I’m excited but sad at the same time. Nobody wants the season to end because it’s been a fun and very memorable year. I have very bittersweet emotions going into the final.”

All things being equal, when both drivers were running at the end of races this year, it’s been Hinchcliffe who’s come out on top at the checkers, which has put him 12th in the point standings to Hildebrand’s 14th.

“Yeah, I think for the most part, if both of us had problem-free races, we had his number a little bit. But it was just a little bit. It’s been close, back and forth. We’ve both been the victim of circumstances over the year.

"But he did have an extra race; even if we’d gone out of the race at Turn One in St. Pete (site of the season-opener, which he missed), we’d have 12 more points than we do now and be in a bit more comfortable position.

“Having said that, it’s been a fun battle all year so it should be fun on Sunday.”

Hinchcliffe, who said he expects to be back at Newman-Haas Racing in 2012, said Sunday’s race could be a “manic” event.

“We’ll have the biggest field outside of Indianapolis (34 cars are entered and all will start, including two other Canadians – Paul Tracy and Alex Tagliani),” he said.

“It’s a new track, in that the series hasn’t raced there in a number of years. It’s widely known for really close, pack racing and those races are always a bit of a lottery and always difficult. You have to make sure you’re in the right place at the end. It’s going to be a long afternoon but it should be an exciting race.”

Hinchcliffe, who spent a number of seasons in the minors preparing for his shot at the majors (A1GP, Formula Atlantic, Indy Lights), said he’s pretty satisfied with his first season in the bigs.

“ I think the season has massively exceeded expectations,” he said. “Coming into a series that everybody agrees is now more competitive than it’s been in more than a decade, and with so little testing and practice time whether pre-season or in-season, the challenge has been monumental.

"As a team, we’ve met that challenge very well. We’ve shown competitive pace in qualifying and races. It’s not been a flash in the pan, it’s not that one track suits us better than another. We really have been a well-rounded effort and that’s something we can take pride in.

“In fact, I’d rather have a top five finish consistently than a podium on one type of track — a short oval or a road course — and be outside the top ten for the rest of the year. There’s been some rookie mistakes but I’m glad I made those because at some point you’ve got to expect those things and when you’re a rookie it’s a little more tolerated. As a combined effort, we’ve risen to the challenge.”

As mentioned, the season finale is in Las Vegas and, as expected in that town, there have been promotions and appearances all week along the Strip. Hinchcliffe, for instance, had to pick some music to accompany the dancing fountains outside the Bellagio and went for Luck Be a Lady and (“I went a little corny”) Viva Las Vegas.

And while he’s confident of having a good shot at the rookie title (oh, the series championship will also be decided Sunday, with Dario Franchitti shooting for his third straight and Will Power his first), Hinchcliffe also acknowledged having a chance to take the whole jackpot.

“We’ve been knocking on the door,” he said, “and this is going to be a big gamble track so it’s fitting we’re in Las Vegas. The winner here is up in the air because of the nature of the track and the nature of the racing.

"It’s not necessarily going to be the fastest driver or the fastest car; it’s going to be the guy who’s in the right place at the right time.

“Anybody’s got a shot at winning this one.”

Indy race boring, Castroneves calls Barnhart 'circus clown'

The IZOD IndyCar Series has lucked out yet again. An appallingly boring race in Japan Sunday (Saturday night here with the time difference) that probably put most people to sleep (it did me, anyway) was saved yet again by the complete and total incompetence of chief steward Brian Barnhart.

Instead of having the race consigned to the dust bin where it belonged – the guys who started on the front row, Scott Dixon and Will Power, finished exactly that way 63 eye-glazing laps later (official order of finish here) – Barnhart went and handed a perfectly justified penalty for passing under the yellow to Helio Castroneves and all hell broke loose.

Castroneves made it known in his past-race interview for the media that he wasn’t happy about being penalized and tore a strip off Barnhart for being inconsistent. Later, when he got hold of his Blackberry in the safety of his motorhome and out of sight of his media handlers, he really let loose and called Barnhart a circus clown, which was reminiscent of a crack Paul Tracy made about Chris Kniefel years ago that cost him $50,000.

(The ever helpful Tracy kicked in on Twitter: "Probably not the best idea to call (Barnhart) a clown, but what do I know . . .")

What led to Castroneves’s blowup was the severity of his penalty. For passing under the yellow (a local yellow, by the way; not a full-course yellow), he was moved from his seventh-place finishing position to 22^nd (last car on the lead lap). As I said earlier, it was justified, but . . .

This cost him a lot of money, lost him a lot of points and by being moved back so far it allowed defending champion Dario Franchitti to advance one position, thus reducing the number of points now separating him from series leader Power, who happens to be his (Castroneves's) teammate.

When I said it was an awful race, I mean it. These people are supposed to be professional racing drivers with the ability to handle the cars they drive and I guarantee that you would have seen better racing and better car control if you’d gone out to Mosport at the weekend and watched the Ontario Regional races.

For instance, Simona De Silvestro ran into Giorgio Pantano while trying to pass him. She didn’t stand a hope in hell of pulling it off but that didn’t stop her and she plowed right into him. No penalty.

A few minutes later, driver Joao Paulo de Oliveira smacked into Takuma Sato while trying to pass. Again, no chance of making the pass but full speed ahead anyway. No penalty.

Now it gets interesting.

Franchitti decides to try an impossible pass up the inside on Ryan Briscoe and runs into the back of him. Briscoe spins and bashes into Charlie Kimball and Graham Rahal.

Franchitti stalls but is able to get his car going again and goes to the pits where he gets a new nose for the car and some fresh tires. He’s in there for between 25 and 30 seconds and when he leaves the pits and falls in at the back of the field, he is dead last.

Remember that. There will be a test later. In review: Franchitti hits and ruins the races of three cars – all racing in the top five, by the way – and is dead last on the track after spending so much time in the pits.

Barnhart brings down a penalty. For avoidable contact, Dario Franchitti is sent to the "back of the line," where he already is.

Virtually everybody who has been penalized for "avoidable contact" this year has been given a drive-through penalty under green. But not Franchitti, and you can bet this had much to do with Castroneves’s outburst after he was given Life in Prison for something he shouldn’t have done but what was certainly far from being a hanging offence. So here, exactly, is what Castroneves Tweeted:

"Very disappointed for finishing 7^th and being put to 22^nd. This is just ABSURD."

"Making the famous @paultracy’s words mine: Brian Barnhart is a circus clown."

"In the same race in International television, he penalizes some but not others."

"Brian Barnhart is inconsisent and even changes the rule book when is convenient for him and his own personal interests."

"It is sad to see one person being responsible for bringing down an entire series."

Okay, I suggest Castroneves – who was livid when Barnhart robbed him of a win at the 2010 Edmonton Indy – is really in big trouble this time. Tracy was fined fifty large, had points taken away and was put on probation for the last two races of the year when he let his emotions get the better of him.

But all he did was call Kneifel a circus clown.

Castroneves called Barnhart a circus clown but then accused him of being biased and suggested he is doing what he’s doing on purpose. I suggest a $100,000 fine, the loss of championship points and suspension for the last two races of the season will be the penalty handed down to Helio Castroneves.

Brian Barnhart is incompetent. That’s a long way from being subversive.

Notebook Jottings:

– Castroneves might just have saved Ryan Briscoe his job. Before the outburst, it was generally agreed that Briscoe was the odd man out at Penske Racing for 2012, when it’s expected the team will cut back to two cars from the three it’s running now. This outburst might very well have put Castroneves on the bubble.

– To his credit, Tracy tried to calm down Castroneves. Paul Tweeted: "calling a chief steward a circus clown cost me 50k . . . take it easy. . ."

– To all their credits, the Versus broadcast crew was terrific in their analysis of just about everything that was terrible about that race in Japan as well as the awful officiating.

The start was a shambles and Wally Dallenbach Jr. said so, often and loudly. (By the way, he would make a good chief steward, y’all. Why? Because his father was the only chief steward in the history of Indy car racing who could do the job properly and the acorn doesn’t fall far from the tree.)

Dallenbach, John Beekhuis, Bob Jenkins and Robin Miller called a spade a spade throughout. When Franchitti made his banzai (kamikaze?) move, Dallenbach said: "He’d better get a penalty for that."

Then, after Franchitti got no penalty (being made last when you are already last is not a penalty), they were all forthright in pointing out Barnhart’s inconsistencies.

– Although they were properly critical of many things about that race, they missed something pretty important. There was an awful lot of exposed concrete around that circuit. At least one of the underpasses (Twin-Ring Motegi twists and turns and goes over and under at several places) had no protection, not even a tire.

Yes, this was the last race but it shouldn’t have been allowed to take place without the proper safety precautions.

– Sebastien Bourdais runs into Ryan Hunter-Reay and beaches him. No penalty. (Oops, are we back to that stuff again . . .?)

– Dario Franchitti will win his - what? - fourth IndyCar championship because the last two races of the year are on ovals. Franchitti runs well on ovals and Will Power does not. End of story.

Why IndyCar can’t fire Brian Barnhart

NASCAR race today; Oswego Safety Crew rides to the rescue – again

Following a season of almost near-unanimous condemnation of his officiating, highlighted by his decision to restart a race at New Hampshire speedway in mid-August when it was raining, IndyCar chief steward and operations manager Brian Barnhart received a vote of confidence from his boss, Randy Bernard, who said he had no plans to make staff changes.

That was before Barnhart called for the green flag on a restart Sunday at the Baltimore Grand Prix while a safety vehicle was still on the track (video here). Graham Rahal came very close to colliding head-on with that truck.

As you can imagine, the boo birds are out in full force again.

"That was the last straw," read one tweet. "Fire him."

"Get rid of that incompetent a–h—," read another.

"Bye-bye, Brian," was yet another. And so-on.

It’s easy to say that. Even I have suggested that Bernard consider making a change. It’s not good for the business of racing (or any sporting business, for that matter) when an official gets more attention from the media than the drivers.

It started with Barnhart back in 2002 when he made the call that robbed Paul Tracy of the Indianapolis 500. Last year in Edmonton, it was Barnhart who robbed Helio Castroneves of the race win there.

This year, right from the start, it’s been his wrong calls, or non-calls, that have infuriated the race drivers and fans of the series. And Bernard’s reluctance to fire Barnhart has been curious.

Many years ago, when CART was still in business, the series went to England to race at the Rockingham Motor Speedway. The operations manager was Kirk Russell, a good and faithful servant of the series who did a variety of jobs.

A problem with "weepers" (water coming up through the pavement) forced a cancellation of the scheduled race. Fingers were pointed and Russell was fired on the spot by then-CART CEO Andrew Craig. In fact, the termination was so decisive and sudden that Russell had to pay his own way back to the U.S.

So why hasn’t Bernard tied the can to Brian Barnhart’s butt?

Probably, as a friend of mine explained at the weekend, because he can’t.

Not yet, anyway.

My friend is someone who’s been around Indy car racing for years and years. This is how he explained it:

"When the George sisters convinced their mother that their brother, Tony, had to go, it was because he’d spent millions and millions of family money on the war with CART and Champ Car. When Randy Bernard was hired, he was told to promote the series but mainly he was told to get the budget under control. So he’s limited in the amount of money he’s got to spend.

"Brian Barnhart has had his job for years. In fact, for a few years there, he was president of the IRL. He’s a long-term employee who undoubtedly makes a lot of money, likely in the hundreds of thousands. To get rid of a guy like that is going to cost a bundle and Bernard probably doesn’t have that kind of money. So, in the short term, he’s stuck.

"Bernard has said that over the next winter, they (meaning he and some special advisers) are going to take a hard look at the rule book to, as he says, ‘help Brian.’ What that means is they are going to rewrite the rule book to take a lot of the power out of the hands of the chief steward.

"Right now, everything in that rule book can be interpreted, or not interpreted, by the chief steward. In short, he has all the power to make any decision he wants, right or wrong. So they’ll change that. They’ll get rid of all the grey areas and make it more black and white.

"Meantime, Randy will start to squirrel some money away to offer Banhart a buyout. If he takes it, great. If not – and he probably won’t – then IndyCar, the drivers and the fans will just have to put up with Brian Barnhart for a while longer."

I thanked my friend for his explanation. I didn’t like it, but it makes sense.

Notes on the IZOD IndyCar Series Baltimore Grand Prix:

– A fabulous crowd and a fabulous first event. They have some work to do on the design of the circuit but other than that, it was a dynamite spectacle.

– Will Power won the race, with Oriol Servia second and Tony Kanaan third. Alex Tagliani of Montreal finished seventh, with James Hinchcliffe of Oakville 24^th. Danica Patrick was top woman, finishing in sixth place after starting 24^th. Simona de Silvestro was 12^th and Ana Beatriz was 16^th.

– Kanaan drove from last place (27^th) to finish third in a spare car that was set up for the ovals. An incredible performance. He lost his brakes at more than 160 miles an hour during the morning warmup and was forced to sideswipe Helio Castroneves to slow himself down enough so that when he hit a series of tire walls his car came to a stop. It was too badly damaged to enter the race, hence the spare. Whew.

– Dario Franchitti, who finished fourth, still leads the standings but Power is just five points behind.

– In the American Le Mans Series race on Saturday, Kyle Marcelli of Barrie stood atop the podium for the second time this season, partnering with Tomy Drissi of Los Angeles to finish first in the Prototype Challenge class and third overall in the feature race, which was won by Humaid Al Masaood of Abu Dhabi and Steven Kane of Northern Ireland in a P1 Lola.

Wolf Henzler of Germany and American Brian Sellers won the GT class in a Porsche 911 while Tim Pappas of Boston and Jeroen Bleekemolen of Monte Carlo were first in the GT Challenge class, also in a Porsche 911.

That race was carried live on Sporrtsnet 1. I'm sorry to report that Sportsnet 1 did exactly what TSN has been doing for years: as soon as it could, it cut away from racing to join a recorded soccer game. I wish they'd stuck around long enough for the recap. Oh well, I guess you can't have everything. And I guess all the soccer fans in Canada were flooding the switchboard, demanding to know when soccer would be on. I mean, that sport is only available on - what? - five or six other channels at all hours of the day and night?

Notes on NASCAR:

– The Sprint Cup race from Atlanta has been postponed twice because of rain and is now scheduled to get the green flag at 11 a.m. today. Carl Edwards won the Nationwide Series race at Atlanta Saturday night and Ron Hornaday was first in the Camping World Truck Series race last Friday night.

Notes on all kinds of other racing:

– Last July (as in 2010), I wrote a feature about life on the road with the World of Outlaws. I focused on the son of a friend of mine, Darryl Turford of Stratford, who is the chief cook and bottle washer (and mechanic, and cheerleader, and friend) for driver Sam Hafertepe Jr. of Sunnyvale, Tex. Well, on the weekend, at Skagit Speedway in Washington State, Hafertepe won his first World of Outlaws feature race and the $20,000 that went with it. Darryl was thrilled, you can bet. And his dad, my friend Peter Turford, is undoubtedly proud as punch.

– Otto Sitterly of Canajoharie, N.Y., passed his teammate, Mike Lichty of Kitchener, on the last lap Sunday to win the 55^th Budweiser International Classic 200 for supermodifieds at Oswego Speedway in New York.

It was the first time a Classic win had been decided on the last lap and, so far as anybody could remember, the first time team cars had finished 1-2 in the big race.

Lichty was hired by team owner John Nicotra on Saturday when regular driver Davey Hamilton was unable to travel to Oswego because of commitments he has with the IZOD IndyCar Series, which was racing in Baltimore. Hamilton takes corporate guests for rides in the two-seat Indy car and is the on-site PA colour commentator and analyst on the IndyCar radio network.

Randy Ritskes, formerly of Brockkville, finished third. He won the pole and led the most laps. Track champion and Indy 500 veteran Joe Gosek finished eighth. Former NASCAR star Johnny Benson Jr. was 13th; his dad won the Classic in 1966. Dave McKnight Jr. of Brampton was 18th and Gary Morton of Stouffville was 24th.

– The Oswego Speedway safety crew was at it again on the weekend. The best short-track safety team on the continent went into action on Saturday night when modified driver Jake Rought of Rome, N.Y., suffered a heart attack in the pits. Rought flatlined but his heart was restarted by paramedica George Feeney and others before he was taken to Oswego hospital and then Syracuse where he underwent a triple bypass.

If I’m hurt, or fall ill at a race track, I want George and the boys around, I’ll tell ya.

IndyCar appeal panel suspect

IndyCar announced late yesterday the makeup of its panel to hear appeals of the results of last Sunday’s IZOD IndyCar Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and it’s very much a disappointment.

Instead of asking, say, a retired judge from the Indianapolis area to adjudicate, Brian Barnhart appointed three people – one of whom has a conflict of interest and two others connected with an organization that was fired for incompetence by the previous CEO of the Indy Racing League, Tony George.

The three-member panel will hear appeals the week of Aug. 22 from Newman-Haas Racing and Target Chip Ganassi Racing of the order of finish of Sunday’s race that was restarted when it was raining and in which there was a serious crash.

At the end of the day, Barnhart, as president of competition for IndyCar, had ruled that the restart should never happened and the final finishing results would be the order that the cars and drivers were in before the restart.

Both Newman-Haas and Target Chip Ganassi maintain that their drivers were ahead when the race was eventually stopped, and not in second and third places as ruled.

The three people are:

Jerry Gappens: Gappens is the Executive Vice President and General Manager of New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Gappens spent 15 years working in public relations, marketing and events at Charlotte Motor Speedway, most recently serving as Senior Vice President. He also worked with National Speed Sport News and served as a pit reporter for ABC's coverage of the Indianapolis 500 as well as various CART, NASCAR and IROC races.

Rollie Helmling: Helmling currently serves as Director of Automotive Business Development and the Governor's Motorsports Initiative for Indiana Economic Development Corp. He is the former president and chief executive officer of the U.S. Auto Club (USAC) and former team owner for drivers such as Jeff Gordon, John Andretti and Tony Stewart. Helmling serves on the Rules and Appeals Committee for the World of Outlaws racing series.

Jeff Stoops: Stoops currently serves as Chairman of the Board for USAC. He is a former car owner whose achievements include the 1987 and 1988 USAC National Sprint Car Owner championships. Stoops is an IndyCar team sponsor through his company, Stoops Freightliner.

Now, on the surface, those guys look like good choices. But they’re not.

Gappens was in charge of the facility, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, where this fiasco took place. He has a conflict of interest and shouldn’t have been selected. He cannot rule on something in which he was involved, even if the link appears tenuous. It was his place where this happened. 

Helmling raced with USAC for years and then ran it. Stoops is the current chairman of USAC. For those with short memories, George fired USAC for incompetence after very shoddy officiating of the very first IRL race at Texas Motor Speedway in 1997. (That was the famous night when A.J. Foyt socked Arie Luyendyk in Victory Lane.)

USAC officiates short track races. Anybody who is familiar with short-track racing knows that whenever anything happens, the order of the lineup for a restart or the order of finish if a race has to be stopped for any reason always, always, always reverts to the order of finish of the previous complete lap – and guess what this argument is all about?

Talk about cookin’ the books before the hearing.

Sure, the panel could surprise, but I wouldn’t count on it.

Having said all this, the person that Tony George put in charge of the IRL after he gave USAC the boot is Brian Barnhart, whose officiating – particularly near the end of last year and at many of the races this year – has been, shall we say, erratic, if not downright horrible.

And do you remember what happened the last time they held one of these kangaroo courts? It was in 2002, after Paul Tracy was robbed of winning the Indianapolis 500 by Guess Who? And then, in the end, he and his team weren’t even allowed to appeal.

I guess, in a perverse way, we’ve advanced.

Castroneves upset by Franchitti’s remarks

HELIO TO DARIO: YOU KNOW MY PHONE NUMBER

You may recall that in my Monday morning blog entry, I mentioned that Milwaukee IndyCar winner Dario Franchitti had torn a strip off Helio Castroneves for what he said was blocking during the race.

I had a telephone chat with Castroneves earlier today (Tuesday) and he was not amused.

"He's a champion and he should act like a champion," snapped the three-time winner of the Indianapolis 500, suggesting that criticizing losing drivers after the fact might be a little much.

We were chatting about him racing in next month's 25th anniversary Honda Indy Toronto when the subject of Franchitti's criticism crept into the conversation, which was unfortunate, because the usually-always-cheerful Castroneves had been talking about how much he liked Toronto and how he's planning on bringing his girlfriend and new baby daughter to the city with him for the July 8-10 event.

The call-out by Franchitti was on live TV at the conclusion of the poorly attended Milwaukee race on Sunday afternoon. Said the Target Chip Ganassi driver, who’s won the IZOD IndyCar Series championship the last two years:

"Racing with Tony (Kanaan) is a pleasure. An absolute pleasure. Just inches apart, giving each other room and respect, and then Helio joins the party and does his usual blocking crap . . ."

Castroneves, of course, had a victory taken away from him at Edmonton last year when it was ruled that he’d blocked Will Power on a late-race restart and so the subject of blocking is a bit of a sore point. (I originally wrote that he'd blocked Scott Dixon. My bad.)

Asked how he felt being criticized by Franchitti for something that IndyCar officials had either missed or else didn’t consider serious, Castroneves – who’s finished second twice in the IndyCar championship, always for Team Penske, but has never won the title – replied:

"I’m very sorry he felt that way. I want to talk to him to understand why he’s thinking like that. The guy has had such great success, he should enjoy his victory.

"I don’t agree with what he said. If he has something to say, he knows my number. He knows where I am and I’m just one phone call away.

"Right now, winning the race as he did, he should look more to what happened in his race and he should be happy that he finished first. I feel very sorry about the way he felt. I don’t agree with it and I will have a discussion with him and ask him why he says that."

Castroneves, a.k.a. Spiderman because of his fence-climbing antics after he wins races, first came to Toronto in 1996 when he was racing in the Firestone Indy Lights Series. In 1997, he won the Lights race, which has turned out to be his only trip to a Toronto Victory Lane to date, something he wants to change in July.

His last two visits ended in crashes – first with Paul Tracy in 2009 and then with A.J. Foyt’s driver, Vitor Meira, last year.

When he and Tracy piled into each other in ‘09, Castroneves was booed by fans along the main pit straight.

"I certainly understood that (the booing)," he laughed. "A local hero, a Canadian in a Canadian race, you don’t want to tangle with a guy like him. He and I have a long history together, so its kind of funny that it happened that way.

"But last year, I noticed that people had kind of moved on and it was great."

He bemoaned the crash with Meira, however.

"We always start good in Toronto and then we make mistakes," he explained. "I was so excited about the car last year but I should be a better judge of some guys. I should have been able to make a better pass (in Turn 3 at the end of the Lake Shore Blvd. straight) and keep going to the front but when you try hard, sometimes you make mistakes and that’s what happened."

Castroneves thinks IndyCar’s mandated double-file restarts, which have been roundly criticized by some drivers, including Franchitti, will stand through Toronto but might be re-examined during the off-season.

"It’s great to try," he said, "but it’s already been proven that double-file restarts on road courses, or street courses, are very difficult. Street courses are very narrow and it’s difficult to avoid accidents.

"I don’t think they’re going to change (for Toronto), I think they’ll leave it the way it is, but for next year I hope they change it and leave it for the ovals and not have double-file restarts on the street courses so you can at least finish the race.

"At the very least, it’s going to be an interesting scenario. Of course, I’m going to try to be in front and that way we won’t have any issues . . ."

Speaking of issues, Castroneves’s familiar No. 3 car is no longer decked out in the traditional red, white and black colours of Team Penske and that’s created some problems for his team.

"Sometimes my guys, they look for me on the track and they say, ‘Hey, where are you?’ " Castroneves laughs. "They can’t find me because everybody’s so used to the one colour (which is now the yellow and orange of primary sponsor Shell)."

But Castroneves, as usual, always looks on the bright side. 

"It’s a great opportunity for new sponsors, new partners to be involved in the IndyCar series," he said. "Shell, AAA – for years they were in NASCAR but now they’re in IndyCar – it shows the great value of this series, particularly with an incredible organization like Team Penske."

Castroneves and his girlfriend, Adriana, have a daughter, Mikaela, who’s 1 and he says having her around has changed his life.

"So far, it’s been a difficult season and to be able to come back home and, before, I used to be very upset, not sleeping for two or three days, and now it’s just great therapy having her and you just forget about the trouble.

"It’s been an incredible experience."

Red Bull's NASCAR team in big trouble

In a shock announcement Monday afternoon, the Red Bull Racing Team, which employs Sprint Cup drivers Brian Vickers and Kasey Kahne, said it was seeking outside investors in order to keep its NASCAR operations going.

Analysts were quick to conclude that Red Bull is planning to deep six its NASCAR operations but I prefer to think it’s re-evaluating its position and will keep going if it can either find serious money from some associate sponsors or else sell the team and stay on as the primary sponsor.

Red Bull’s statement said it fully intends to support its NASCAR effort for the remainder of the 2011 season as "we fight for victories and a position in the 2011 Chase for the Sprint Cup."

Vickers would be the victim here as Kahne will be driving for Rick Hendrick in 2012 and is just marking time at Red Bull anyway. Of course, many people other than the drivers are under threat there and jobs in NASCAR are very scarce these days.

I’ve often wondered about the apparent millions and millions of dollars Red Bull spends on motorsport. The Formula One "A" team’s budget is undoubtedly over the moon and the "B" team Toro Rosso can’t be far behind. Two F1 teams? One is crazy; two is – well, you can use your own word.

Throw in a NASCAR team with two cars and sponsorship of hot air balloon races, aerobatic airplane races and so-on and the amount of money being spent on motorsport and the like is simply unimaginable.

Something had to give, and the NASCAR team would appear to be it.

Or, is it the first domino to fall?

We’ll soon see, won’t we?

Two other follow-ups to blog items I published Monday:

– McLaren is apparently gearing up to meet the challenge from Ferrari and offer Grand Prix of Canada winner Jenson Button a long-term contract for mucho moolah.

Well, that was kind of expected, wasn't it? Of course, we still await word from Button about all of this.

And the IZOD IndyCar Series’ return to Milwaukee may turn out to have been a one-off. CEO Randy Bernard is quoted by Speed TV reporter Robin Miller as saying he was pretty disappointed with the crowd (13,000 in a 40,000-seat facility) and won’t confirm that there will be a race there next year.

Status quo is great when times are good and things are humming. That was in the 1990s when Milwaukee and Elkhart Lake and Michigan International were all on the schedule and all jam-packed.

But status quo is not so good when something’s gummed up the works, which is the situation now. To explain the sorrry attendance at Milwaukke, people are suggesting the promoters were new and didn’t do a proper job and the race was at 3:30 because of TV and it rained in the morning and yada yada yada.

The reason only 13,000 people showed up at Milwaukee on Sunday is because that market, for whatever reason, doesn’t give a damn about Indy car racing anymore and no amount of promoting and/or sunny skies or a noon start (or an 8 p.m. start under the lights) is going to change that.

You can’t keep beating a dead horse.

USAC (the U.S. Auto Club) was in that rut back in the Seventies. They went to Milwaukee then – twice. And Phoenix twice and Trenton twice. Maybe the racing was good and the crowds were good but the sponsors couldn't have cared less. 

It was only after Dan Gurney, Pat Patrick, Jim Trueman and Roger Penske formed CART and started takin’ it to the streets of Long Beach, Detroit and Toronto that Indy car racing started to explode.

As I said Monday, there are plenty of markets in North America where IndyCar would be welcomed with open arms. It’s up to Bernard, et al, to go find them.