Norris McDonald's Auto Racing Blog

Texting and Tweeting while racing sprint cars

Back when I was involved in racing, either driving or announcing (as I did at Oswego Speedway in New York State for years), I tended to be very focused.

I considered (and consider) racing to be a deadly game and so I avoided distractions. I was in my own little bubble and didn’t particularly like talking to anybody. Many of the other racers were also very much into themselves, particularly as the time for the feature approached.

Even when I was announcing, I was preoccupied with what was happening on the speedway and in the pit area it surrounded. I was taking note of who was doing what with whom in order to report the race properly and to ask the right questions of the winner in Victory Lane later. I wasn’t much for small talk.

The world has changed with the advent of social media.

Last Saturday night, I was sitting in the second row near the first turn at Merrittville Speedway outside Thorold, enjoying some down ‘n dirty dirt-track racin’, when my phone chimed that I had a text.

It was from Glenn Styers (left), the owner of Ohsweken Speedway on the Six Nations Reserve and a sprint car pilot in his own right. In fact, he was racing at Merrittville that very evening with the Lucas Oil Empire Super Sprints Touring Series.

Wheels is planning a spread on Styers near the end of July in advance of the annual visit to Ohsweken by the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series featuring NASCAR star Tony Stewart and so we’re doing some special things with him at his speedway. He wanted to know if he had the correct night reserved on his calendar for one of our visits.

I was impressed. Here was a guy getting ready to go out for a sprint car heat race and yet he still had the time and presence of mind to be takin' care of business.

I texted him back the date we'd agreed upon and then watched as he lined up for the first heat of the night. Once the eight cars got the green, he got a little too high on the cushion exiting Turn Four, spun around and backed the car into the wall ever so slightly. When he rejoined, he was last but battled his way up to third by the checkers.

Five minutes later, my phone chimed again. "Ya, that works," his text said.

I had to tell him I was impressed with his recovery from that spin and his top three finish, which meant he went into the redraw for the "featch." The Empire State regulars, plus some runners from the Southern Ontario Sprints, are a tough bunch and not to be taken lightly (26 eventually started the Main Event, while 10 had to settle for tow money) and Styres had just shown that he very much belonged.

"Nice recovery from that spin," I texted. A few minutes passed and there went the chimes again. "Thanks," he replied.

I stopped bothering him after that -- although I'm sure if he texted me that he was texting and Tweeting with others.

In the Main, he finished second to winner Lance Yonge of Penn Yan, N.Y., which had him on a bit of a roll for the weekend, considering he'd won the Feature the night before at his own Ohsweken track.

I should have texted him at the time, but I was hustling to get out of the place ahead of the huge crowd that was on hand. So I'll say it now: Well raced, well placed.

Farewell Dick Berggren, ace pit reporter

Dick Berggren, who will retire Sunday as a pit road reporter for NASCAR on FOX  at the completion of the FedEx 400, is a journalist in the true sense of the word.

And what’s my definition of a journalist? Someone who is interchangeable among the media.

Yes, that means most of the "journalists" you encounter during your daily lives – the radio and TV reporters, the anchors, sports editors on newspapers, editors-in-chief of major magazines – aren’t, even if they like to call themselves that.

Like the late Pierre Berton, who wrote newspaper columns, books of Canadian history and magazine profiles, conducted interviews on radio and was host of any number of television programs – and he did much of that simultaneously – Berggren, who turned 70 last weekend, has a lengthy list of accomplishments in his curriculum vitae.

Besides being a writer and photographer (and a former college professor, by the way), he was the editor of Stock Car Racing magazine and the late, lamented, Open Wheel magazine before taking his talents and knowledge to television.

And do you know what sets him apart from most of the other reporters covering auto racing (and most other sports, come to think of it)? Like the original ABC pit road reporter and colour commentator, Chris Economaki, he actually asks questions of the people he’s interviewing.

I don’t believe I’ve ever heard Berggren start a question with the worst four words in the English language:

"Talk to me about . . ."

So where did Berggren (known for years as "Dr." Dick Berggren because of a PhD in psychology he earned at Tufts University in Boston) come by his knowledge of virtually every kind of car racing going?

Because he’s a fan, primarily, who inhales everything he reads or hears about the sport. Second, unlike most "journalists" covering racing, he’s been Out There: for more than 20 years, he raced stock cars, sprint cars and (regular readers of this column know what’s coming next . . .) supermodifieds.

In fact, Berggren was one of a number of owners and drivers – future NASCAR stars Geoff Bodine and Tim Richmond among them – who were caught out in the late 1970s (he was building one) when Oswego Speedway in northern New York banned rear-engine supers, a decision (along with one made by the U.S. Auto Club to ban rear-engine sprints and midgets) that had a profoundly negative effect on the progression of short-track oval racers to Indianapolis.

But I digress.

Berggren was inducted into the U.S. National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 2002 - he's also a proud member of other halls - and says that among the projects he’s got planned for his post-NASCAR career (as well as visiting as many short tracks as he can) is the building of an auto racing museum at New Hampshire Motor Speedway to celebrate the accomplishments of the racing community in the U.S. northeast.

Talking about accomplishments, I think his personal biggest and best was the founding in 1980 of the magazine Open Wheel. As I write this, I’m holding in my hands Vol. 1, No. 1 that is, as the cover says, "a collector’s first edition."

The cover photo was taken by Mike Arthur at Ascot Raceway in Gardena, Calif., and shows Ronnie Shuman in full flight in a sprint car on the dirt (which means sideways). Inside are features on Steve Kinser, Sammy Swindell, Gary Bettenhausen, Roger Penske’s racing operation and lots and lots of some of the greatest racing photographs you’ll find anywhere.

Berggren, in his job during the Seventies as editor of Stock Car Racing, had increased – over time – the number of articles and features on open wheel racing appearing in that publication. At some point, the people in charge of Lopez Publications, which published Stock Car and other titles, gave him the co-ahead and Open Wheel was born, first as a quarterly and then monthly.

I don’t have a complete collection, but I have lots and lots. And all of them, in one way or another, trigger a memory.

– Vol. 1, No. 3, published in early 1981, has a striking cover photo of the late Stan Fox at the wheel of his Pabst Blue Ribbon beer-sponsored midget. Several months later, at Indianapolis Raceway Park for the Night Before the 500 midget races, I got to meet Fox. I’d consumed a little too much of his sponsor’s product, though, and in my enthusiasm I made an offer to buy the car. He was very polite about it, but told me to get lost.

– The May 1994 issue has a photo of Mares Stellfox on the cover. She ran with the ARDC midget club. When I announced at Oswego Speedway in the Nineties, I was sometimes a wise guy. One night I was interviewing her and I said, "So tell me Mares, what’s a nice girl like you doing in a place like this?" And she got me good. "Norris, " she said, "I might be a girl to you but when I put on my helmet, I’m one of the boys."

– In the May 1986 magazine, Berggren himself wrote an incredible story about an incredible racer named Jan Opperman who’d twice suffered grievous head injuries and was confined to his parents’ home, requiring constant care. Opperman was one of the most interesting people you’d want to meet - a pot smoker who was a serious Christian. Before his second accident, I saw him at a sprint car race at the New York State Fairgrounds. It was delayed by rain. To fill in the time, Opperman borrowed the infield announcer’s microphone and delivered a sermon.

– The November 1988 Open Wheel contains a pleasant surprise. There, on Page 16, is an article about Canadian supermodified racer Gary Morton by – wait for it – me. Over the years, I was fortunate to have three articles published in Open Wheel (one on Warren Coniam and another about one of the great women of our time, Proud Mary Copeland of Indianapolis, Ind., who is now Mary Walsh of Knoxville, Tenn., who held up the start of a midget race at IRP one night by – well, use your imagination).

But enough about me. The really great writers who appeared in Open Wheel were John Sawyer (his stuff brings tears to my eyes every time I read it; in what other publication could you read Sawyer writing about Langhorne Speedway, or Don Branson, or Eddie Sachs? Bruce Ellis, Andy Fuscoe, Terry Reed (he wrote a great piece about the widow of Jerry Hoyt, who was killed at Oklahoma City about two weeks after they were married, after only knowing each other for about a month; she still visited his grave every day – years later) and Al Stilley, who wrote so lovingly and well about Indy cars.

And yes, Open Wheel’s racing photography was breathtaking: how about Jim Hurtubise powering out of four at Terre Haute in 1976 (photo by Steve Ellis) , or Steve Chassey at Springfield in 1986 (photo by Don Figler). You could frame those pictures and hang them on the wall in your living room because they were art.

Sure, there were the really bad times, too, and Berggren handled those stories with dignity and grace. His farewell to supermodified king Jimmy Shampine, an innovator like no other who was killed in, of all things, a modified race, still brings a lump to my throat.

I could go on and on – but it’s time to stop, just as Open Wheel itself was stopped shortly after the turn of the century when the publication changed corporate hands and the new owners killed it off.

So when Dick Berggren walks away from Dover International Speedway on Sunday afternoon, after completing his last assignment for NASCAR on FOX, I hope there’s something else on his mind besides that auto racing museum in New Hampshire.

Yes, I know he’s got Speedway Illustrated magazine going, and probably a book or two to write (an autobiography would be nice) but unless there’s a non-compete clause floating around in a contract he signed somewhere, I think he should give serious thought to reviving that much-missed magazine.

How does Open Wheel 2012 sound, Dr. Dick?

Norris on NASCAR, Monaco & Danica

Saturday evening update:

Brad Keselowski won Saturday's NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Charlotte, with Denny Hamlin second and Kyle Busch third. Kevin Harvick finished fourth and Elliott Sadler arrived home fifth.

Danica Patrick, everybody's favourite punching bag, qualified third (must have been a fluke) and finished 13th.

Unless my math is wrong, that means she finished ahead of 30 other drivers who were in the race - but she was just lucky, I guess.

All of her critics can drive better than her, of course. I mean, the guy who argued against me in the Wheels Smackdown this week contends that if she hadn't taken her clothes off to get to where she is today that she'd be lucky to land a ride at a local dirt track.

(By the way, the top woman jockey in North America, a Canadian, is naked in the current issue of Vanity Fair. I have never seen Danica Patrick naked. But I digress.)

According to the Nationwide standings, she's in ninth place. In the seven years she drove in IndyCar, she finished in the top ten in points six times, had a career high finish of fourth in points and finished second in races twice.  Her first time at Indy, she set the fastest time all month and came about as close as Hinchcliffe did to winning the pole.

But I guess I'm the one who's delusional, thinking she's got talent.

Of much more interest, however, is the continuing rumour that Michael Andretti will enter a team in the NASCAR Sprint Cup series and will partner with Dodge.  Neither Andretti nor Dodge will deny that talks have been going on, according to various Internet sites.

Some of the reports even include the names of potential drivers, Ryan Newman and Kurt Busch being prominent.

First, I suggest it will happen. Why not? Roger Penske and Chip Ganassi are Indy car owners who run teams in NASCAR so why not Andretti?

Second, Michael Andretti in recent years has branched out to become involved in not only Indy car racing but sports promotion generally. 

He was partners with Kevin Savoree and Kim Green when Andretti-Green Promotions rescued the Honda Indy Toronto from oblivion. Although that company doesn't exist any more, Andretti operates a sports marketing subsidiary of Andretti Autosport that is promoting races this season in Milwaukee and Baltimore.

Third, here is the clincher.

I have a friend who was prominent in Indy car racing public relations going back years. This person was offered employment by Andretti Autosport before this season began but then the offer was suddenly withdrawn, with no explanation.

Only afterward did my friend find out that Andretti had decided to hire, instead, someone with extensive experience in NASCAR. Jade Gurss, who is head of corporate communications for Andretti, started the original NASCAR truth-and-rumours-for-insiders blog back in 2004 and recently published a book on Dale Earnhardt Jr.

If you're considering a foray into NASCAR, it's probably better to have someone experienced in that sport than not and explains, for me anyway, why my friend got screwed in favour of someone from Down South.

So count on Andretti Autosport going to NASCAR.

And the driver? Ryan Newman will never leave Tony Stewart's team so long as Stewart is in charge there. They're a couple of short track guys at heart and birds of a feather stick together.

But if you're looking for a shoe who's done a good job for Dodge in the past, look no further than Kurt Busch, who happens to be available. The fact that, emotionally, he's still 6 shouldn't deter a potential employer from at least considering him.

Earlier Saturday:

Michael Schumacher won the pole for the Grand Prix of Monaco in his Mercedes Saturday but will have to start sixth in the classic on Sunday because of a penalty levied against him at the last F1 race in Spain.

So Mark Webber, who finished second in time trials for Red Bull-Renault, will go off first, with Nico Rosberg, who qualified third for Mercedes, starting second.

Confused yet?

And Pastor Maldonado (Williams), who qualified ninth, will drop back to 19th because of a 10-grid-position penalty he incurred after the last practice session for exhibiting anti-social behaviour of the type usually found in kindergarten playgrounds.

He retaliated against something Sergia Perez (Sauber) apparently did - both cars were damaged as a result of the incident - and it distressed everyone from the stewards, to team owner Sir Frank Williams, to the TV announce team no end.

"Pole position at Monaco, Michael; congratulations," Mercedes' Ross Brawn said over the team radio, moments after the 43-year-old Schumacher - who first won a pole at the storied circuit in 1994 when he was a child in his 20s - crossed the line in first with a time of one minute, 14.301 seconds. 

So. the lineup tomorrow:

Webber (1:14:381); Nico Rosberg (Mercedes-1:14:448); Lewis Hamilton (McLaren-Mercedes-1:14:583); Romain Grosjean (Lotus-Renault-1:14:639); Fernando Alonso (Ferrari-1:14:948); Schumacher; Felipe Massa (Ferrari-1:15:049); Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus-Renault-1:15:199); Sebastien Vettel (Red Bull-Renault-no time, as he didn't go out in Q3) and Nico Hulkenburg (Force India-1:15:421, who was moved up from his 11th position after Maldonado was banished to the back).

Jenson Button of McLaren-Mercedes was the only one of the big names to not make it into the final, pole-qualifying session. The best he could turn was a lap of 1:15:536, which was only good for 13th fastest.

This was Schumacher's 69th pole. The last time a driver over 40 won a pole in a Grand Prix was Nigel Mansell in 1994.

The day was gorgeous with hardly a clould in the sky, which makes you wonder about all the empty seats for qualifying. If you can afford to purchase a grandstand seat for the Grand Prix of Monaco, why in the world would you not use it? I mean, they are not cheap.

Talking about currency, the announcers - David Coulthard, Eddie Jordan - were wondering why Sir Frank would allow Maldonado to go out for final qualifying after what he'd done. "He'll give him a good talking to later," said Jordan.

First, I don't think Frank Williams will say anything. And Pastor Maldonado does what he wants with that team. He ponied up in the vicinity of $46 million of Venezuelan government money for that seat, which means he drives when he wants to drive or else Hugo Chavez will be on the phone to somebody.

And the bottom line is, without that $46 million, Williams F1 isn't in business.

Two quick bits of short track news: Jarrett Andretti, son of CART and NASCAR star John Andretti and nephew of Mario Andretti, will race full-time in the supermodified division at New York's Oswego Speedway this season, starting June 2. He'll pilot a rocket prepared by Jim Paternoster and Shawn Muldoon as well as continuing to race sprint cars and midgets in the midwest. This was the route his father took to the big time and is most unlike other youngsters who tend to concentrate on road-racing ladders. . . And David Ostella of Maple, after a best-ever qualifying effort in Indy Lights, crashed out of Friday's Freedom 100 at Indianapolis when he was caught up in a five-car pileup. He wasn't hurt physically, but his feelings sure were. He'd gone off fifth, which is pretty good in that company.

On Jean Alesi, a fork, and rioting at the Canadian GP

The first time I got into a racing car to run a feature at "the home of the supermodifieds," Oswego Speedway in northern New York, they told me to take the green and to get off the track.

"You’re not fast enough yet," said pit stewart Jerry Rich back in 1982. "They’ll be up your ass in half-a-dozen laps. You’ll save everybody the trouble of black-flagging you if you just get out of the way early. So take the start and pit."

Which is what I hope IndyCar tells Jean Alesi before the start of the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday.

When Lotus driver Alesi came to Toronto on Monday, with Alex Tagliani and Simon Pagenaud, to beat the drum for the world’s most famous race (Sunday, TSN, 11 a.m.), he told me he had his fingers crossed that a request by his team for extra boost to help him stay competitive in the race against drivers being powered by either Chevrolet or Honda engines would be approved.

IndyCar announced Tuesday – a day later — that no, there would be no favours done for Lotus and all engines would run in the 500 with the same amount of turbocharged power.

The writing is on the wall for Alesi. Competition director Beaux Barfield said all entries would have to maintain a minimum speed once the first green flag is thrown and that the sanctioning body’s policy is that all cars must be running within 105 per cent of the leader’s speed.

Ryan Briscoe won the pole with a speed of 226.484 miles an hour; Alesi lumbered around at 210.094 mph.

To save the F1 legend – and 1995 Canadian Grand Prix winner – Alesi (and the other Lotus entrant, Simona de Silvestro, as well) the embarrassment of being black-flagged out of the Indianapolis 500, I hope Barfield borrows a page from Jerry Rich’s playbook and suggests an early and unobtrusive exit.

It’ll be better for everybody all ‘round.

Speaking of Alesi, I got a laugh out of him Monday by telling him the following story.

In 1997, the Globe and Mail sent me to Montreal to cover the Grand Prix and I was invited to have lunch with him in the Benetton hospitality area at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve

It was a highlight of my motorsport writing career. Over the years, I’ve been able to interview most of the top F1 drivers of the day but I’ve only been invited to share a meal with two – Alesi and Juan Pablo Montoya, when he drove for Williams.

In any event – and this is something quite out of character for me, but I did it anyway – as I got up to leave the Alesi lunch, I slipped the fork I’d used into my pocket and I brought it home with me to Toronto.

I have used that fork to eat every meal I’ve consumed in my house ever since. Every breakfast, every lunch and every dinner I have eaten at home since June, 1997, has been with that fork – and if you don’t believe me, you can ask my wife.

One time, my sister came from Nova Scotia to visit for Christmas. When she left, she took food to eat on the train. She asked if she could take a fork. I said sure.

That night I was setting the table and I couldn’t find my fork. I was a wreck for a week until she FedExed it back to me.

So I told Alesi on Monday about my fork fetish and when he finished laughing he thought for a moment and then asked if I used it to cut my food too.

I told him no, but that he was going to have to invite me to lunch again sometime so that I could steal a knife.

CVC Capital Partners, which owns 40 per cent of Formula One (Bernie or one of his many trusts still owns much of the rest of the total, estimated to be about $9 billion) has sold a stake in the sport for a little more than $1 billion.

My friend Pete asked if, as a result, Bernie would cut and run.

I replied that he would die with his boots on.

I mean, there is only one way Bernie will ever leave F1 and that’s in a pine box.

Look at that item above again. Look at the figures: $1 billion, $9 billion.

The Grand Prix of Monaco is this weekend and the Grand Prix of Canada is two weeks after that and the marshals and corner workers and other support staff members who will ensure the success of those races, and without whom those races could not be held, will still pay their own way to get to Monte Carlo and/or Montreal, as well as the outrageous hotel room charges and so-on, and they will do all that for a free ham sandwich at lunch on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

If you ask me, there is something seriously wrong there.

Jacques Villeneuve will drive in two NASCAR races again this year for Team Penske - the Nationwide Series events at Road America in Wisconsin and at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve in Montreal.

Talking about Montreal, I am now officially worried that the ongoing student demonstrations there will interfere with the Grand Prix.

Hmmmm. F1 was villified for racing in Bahrain in the face of civil unrest there. What will be the world reaction when F1 goes to Montreal and there are hundreds arrested and the plume of black smoke hangs just as heavily over that city?

Yes, the situation is different. . .

Or is it?

About Pfaff, Porsche, Pinecrest and Davey Hamilton

When the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada series was launched in 2011, fields of seven or eight cars were normal.

Now, two weeks out from the start of its second season (part of the May 18-20 Victoria Day Speedfest Weekend at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park), more than 20 entries have signed on and the series shows every sign of being as popular and successful as the original Porsche Challenge Series was back in the mid-1980s.

David Deacon was the founder of that series and I’m proud to direct you to a story I did on him for this weekend’s Toronto Star Wheels section. It’s also online at wheels.ca and you can read it here.

Meantime, Pfaff Automotive Partners (a major supporter of Canadian motorsports for years) threw a shindig the other night to formally announce their participation in the GT3 Cup Series with Kyle Marcelli of Barrie driving.

I’ll have a report on the evening and an interview with Marcelli in my Monday Morning Racing Roundup that I post late on Sunday evenings.

Meantime, the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame is inviting anyone and everyone interested to attend a reunion of drivers and fans to celebrate the 60^th anniversary of the openings of the CNE and Pinecrest Speedways, both now long-gone, unfortunately.

The reunion will take place on Sat., May 19, at 11:30 a.m. at the original Pinecrest Restaurant on Highway 7, between Keele and Jane streets. The Pinecrest Speedway used to be behind the restaurant but is now an industrial area.

Drivers of the day will be introduced by the “voice” of Pinecrest, Ernie Martin, and his assistant, Toronto radio personality Ted Wolyshyn. Books on sale will include the Golden Years of Stock Car Racing by Nate Salter and Remember When by Rick Sharples.

There will, of course, be no admission.

Finally, although I won’t be there, my home away from home for many summer years will return to racing again Saturday night. Oswego Speedway in Oswego, N.Y., expects nearly two dozen supermodifieds to haul in for the first green flag of the season along with a like number in the small-block modified support class.

Indy car star (and now co-owner of Sam Schmidt Motorsports) Davey Hamilton will fly in from Indianapolis to race one of John Nicotra’s cars and that makes me doubly sad for not being there.

The IZOD IndyCar Series sent out a story on Hamilton earelir this week and it’s my pleasure to print it out for you here. Davey is one of the bravest and toughest people I’ve ever met and the fact that he’s battled back from crippling injuries is a testament to his determination and ambition. He’s one of the few oval-track racers in recent years to not take “no” for an answer when it came to his desire to make it at Indianapolis.

Here's the story:

It was strange, Davey Hamilton acknowledges, checking the Indianapolis 500 entrant list and not spotting his name.

Hamilton, an 11-time starter in the 500 Mile Race, this year is concentrating on his role as co-owner of Schmidt Hamilton HP Motorsports.

“I still have that drive and desire to be in the car, knowing I can’t be on road courses because of my injuries, but still be able to do something,” says Hamilton, who returned to the Speedway in 2007 following the 2001 crash at Texas Motor Speedway that required more than 20 surgeries to his lower extremities.

“The only way I’ll drive an IndyCar again is if it’s an asset to the team - if it’s done in the right manner and funded. But if it’s a hindrance to the team and a financial stress to the team I won’t do it.”

Hamilton will compete May 5 on opening night at Oswego (N.Y.) Speedway in the Novelis Supermodified division, driving the No. 6 Nicotra Racing car. He ran his first supermodified event at Oswego in the 1992 Budweiser International Classic.

“I will do some short-track stuff to have some fun and mining the grassroots,” he says.

Click it: Davey Hamilton's Indy 500 record || Month of May calendar

Hamilton and Sam Schmidt teamed up again to operate a full-season IZOD IndyCar Series team, with Simon Pagenaud as the driver of the No. 77 Honda-powered car. The Itaipava São Paulo Indy 300 presented by Nestle on April 29 marked the 63rd time a Schmidt-owned car has lined up on the grid of an IZOD IndyCar Series race.

Hamilton was in the cockpit of the No. 99 car when SSM made its first race in March 2001 at Phoenix International Raceway. That was a long time ago, Hamilton says, with numerous twists and turns for both team owners.

“It’s a big step,” Hamilton says of the ownership stake. “This is the pinnacle of open-wheel racing and I never knew I would be in this position to be able to do it and being able to do it with Sam – a guy I’ve been friends with for so long. He’s been very successful as an owner. To be able join him and help each other out brings a good package, and we’re fortunate to have Simon as a driver.”

Pagenaud, who has finished in the top 10 in three of the first four races -- with a high of second in the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach – will participate in the Rookie Orientation Program on May 10 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Indianapolis 500. He’s by far the Rookie of the Year points leader heading into the first oval race of the season May 27.

Hamilton will be in attendance – in a different capacity.

“I was a rookie in IndyCars in the mid-90s and I was a rookie again when I came back from my injuries in ’07 because I was so far out of it,” said Hamilton, who has a best finish of fourth in the 1998 500 Mile Race. “And now here I am a rookie again as a car owner. I’m learning a lot and it’s a change of pace. It’s been a lot of hard work.

“I look at drivers in a different way now. I know what kind of money it takes to do this, and the pressure is on me to find the proper funding to have a winning team. As a driver, I just drove my own. It’s good to have different aspects of sports.

“There will be more responsibilities for me and I look forward to it. Right now, I’m just getting my feet wet.”

Hewlett Packard, the multinational information technology corporation headquartered in Palo Alto, Calif., which has a long association with Hamilton, came on board as the primary sponsor this season.

“HP it what makes it happen; they’ve been great partners since my comeback in ’07,” Hamilton says. “It’s a good business relationship and a very good friendship with all the folks at HP. When you can create friends out of any business it’s great.

“From the first year doing the Indy 500 in my comeback and here we are with a full-funded program with Simon, Sam and HP it’s really a dream come true.”

The best Christmas driving home song — ever

Every time I hear the Best Christmas Driving Home Song Ever, I think of my old friend John Chatsko.

In 1962, when I was a cub reporter on the Orillia Packet & Times, I lived at Mrs. Brown’s boarding house on Nottawasaga Street with John and about six other guys – printer Reg LaHay and bush pilot Elliott Pitt, among them. The only trouble we ever had in that place was when somebody would forget to clean out the tub; harsh words at the dinner table inevitably followed.

John and I were both from Niagara Falls – our families lived right around the corner from each other, in fact – so as Christmas approached, we made plans to travel home together on Christmas Eve, which that year was on a Monday.

John, an optician, had a brand new car, a Ford Falcon, of which he was most proud.

Now, most of the fellows in the house owned cars. In winter, to get them off the street at night, they would drive them up and onto the grass of a small park on Patrick Street, which was right across the road from the boarding house. Winter had come early that year, which meant there was a good amount of snow in the park that had been packed down by the cars on the patch where they were parked. As luck would have it, it rained a bit on Christmas Eve morning that December, and then the temperature had plunged, leaving the “parking lot” icy.

So it’s about 3 in the afternoon and I’m outside waiting for John to come home so we can load up and get on our way. Another couple of the guys were also out there, as Mrs. Brown didn’t allow smoking in the house and they were having cigarettes.

Up Nottawasaga Street comes John Chatsko, driving his brand new Ford Falcon. It’s Christmas Eve and he’s excited. He honks the horn as he approaches Patrick Street, just to make sure we see him coming in his snazzy new car, takes a big, wide, sweeping turn around the corner and then flat-out floors it as he drives up over the curb, fully expecting to jam on his brakes and stop with a flourish in front of us in the parking lot.

Except the snowy surface he left that morning is now ice. As he hits the brakes of his brand new car, I can still see the look of surprise and then terror in his eyes when he realizes that the car isn’t stopping. In fact, it skids right past where we’re standing in the parking lot, plows through a snowbank and smashes into a telephone pole that’s near the corner of the park.

John Chatsko isn’t hurt but his pride and his car sure are. He’s dinged that pole with the left front of the Falcon and a headlight is smashed and the fender is pushed back into the left front tire where it’s just jammed right in there.

I won’t tell you what he said but the language was colourful. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, because what had just happened was hilarious. But I’m also thinking that there goes my ride home to Niagara Falls for Christmas.

Now, John — after he got over the shock of what had just happened — was very angry. I remember him as being a big guy — not particularly tall but built like a CFL linebacker — and he gets out of the car, leans over and takes that crumpled fender in his hands and just pulls on it with all his might in an attempt to get it away from the tire. In so doing, of course, he actually moves the car. So he has to sit down on the snow, brace his feet up against the left front wheel and pull again. This time it works; the fender comes away from the tire.

He backs up the car and says for me to get in. “We’re goin’ home for Christmas,” he says.

John, I say, the cops are going to stop us because there is only one light on this car and we have to get down Highway 11 from Orillia to the 401 in Toronto and then down Highway 27 to the Queen E. and then west and south on the QEW to the Falls and we’ll never make it.

And so John Chatsko then goes and does one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen in my life.

He gets a flashlight (I’m not making this up) and a big roll of hockey tape and he used a whole roll of that tape to attach that flashlight to the crumpled left-front corner of his Ford Falcon where the headlight used to be.

Says John, “When it gets dark enough to turn on the real lights, I’ll stop the car and turn on the flashlight. It’s not much, but it’ll do. The cops can’t say we don’t have two lights on the front of the car.”

And that’s how John Chatsko and I drove home on Christmas Eve, 1962, with a crumpled left front fender on his brand new Ford Falcon and praying that the batteries in that flashlight would last long enough to get us to the neighbourhood near Drummond Road and Scott Street in Niagara Falls, where our folks lived.

And made it, we did.

So this afternoon, or tonight, or tomorrow, or on Christmas Eve Saturday, when you hear Chris Rea’s classic Drivin’ Home for Christmas song on the radio, if you don’t have your own Christmas Eve driving home memory, you can have mine as my gift to you.

Merry Christmas, everyone. And to you, too, John Chatsko. Wherever you are.

All hail Sebastien Vettel, F1 superstar

There’s a great old newspaper story about the time that Herbert Whittacker, the late theatre critic for the Globe and Mail, finished the first parapgrah of a review of the Broadway musical Oklahoma with the words: "What more can I say?" before going on for another 15 paragraphs.

Patrick Scott, a hardboiled copy editor, promptly put "30," after that first paragraph – "30" being an old telegraph symbol used throughout the industry meaning "the end."

And that’s what appeared in the next day’s Globe: a one-paragraph review of Oklahoma, ending with: "What more can I say?"

I was reminded of this Sunday night as I sat down to pontificate about Sebastien Vettel’s latest triumph in Formula One racing – what some people are calling his "grand slam" at the first Grand Prix of India Sunday in which he won the pole, led every lap while winning, set fastest lap of the race and set the record for number of laps led in a season – 711 as of now but still counting.

What more can I say?

Jenson Button was second in the race in his McLaren-Mercedes, 8.5-seconds behind Vettel at the checkers, while Fernando Alonso was third in a Ferrari, another 16 behind Button.

Yes, Vettel has the best car and he has the best crew and the best engineers and the best of everything.

But he still has to drive the thing and it takes a special skill to do that , something that few mortals possess.

The delightful thing about Vettel, who’s still just a kid of 24, is that he seems – seems – to be completely down to earth. Not for him the rock ‘n roll lifestyle of clubbing his way around the world. Any paparazzi photos out there? I haven’t seen any. In fact, his favourite form of recreation seems to be watching football or hockey games featuring the teams that represents the community where he lives in Switzerland.

Despite the number of times he’s won (11 times this year; 21 times in his career), he still seems to get a huge kick out of it all. Shortly after he took the checkered flag Sunday, he shouted over his team’s radio: "Yes, boys! Yes, we did it! Winner of the first Indiana Grand Prix. Enjoy the moment."

That he is a perfectionist, let there be no doubt. He appeared to be quite concerned, during the post-race press conference, that he had lost time to second-place finisher Button during pit stops.

"We pushed very hard on the in-lap and the out-lap, but Jenson closed on us. We will have to investigate why that was."

He says he is looking forward to the next race, at Abu Dhabi, in two weeks. "I am still hungry and I love what I do," he told reporters later.

Which is not particularly good news for F1 because the best anybody else will be able to do for the rest of the 2011 season is shoot for second place.

Four quick notes: The Felipe Massa-Lewis Hamilton "war" continued at India with Hamilton running into the side of Massa as they fought for a corner. Massa was given a drive-through penalty that, to my mind, was unfair. However, perhaps the stewards didn’t want to make Hamilton’s weekend any worse – he’d been penalized three grid positions (he qualified second, but started fifth) for ignoring waved yellow flags during Friday practice. . . Everybody talks about Mark Webber’s poor starts this season (he finished fourth in Sunday’s Grand Prix after starting second). I thought he got away really well and had to check up (I think) to avoid running into the back of Vettel going into the first corner and that loss of momentum is why Button got past him two corners later. . . Lotus wouldn’t let Karun Chandhock race in his home Grand Prix, saying before the weekend that they preferred to stay with Jarno Trulli because they didn’t think the Indian could handle the pressure and Trulli would deliver a better result. So Trulli finished in 19th place, four laps behind, and was the last car still running at the finish. Could Chandhock have done any worse? Could anybody? . . Hey, look who finished in fifth place Sunday? Michael Schumacher, that’s who. There’s still life in the old boy yet. One of these days, he’ll be on the podium. . . Full results story here.

Joe Gosek, at 55 the Oswego Speedway supermodified track champion and one-time Indianapolis 500 racer who was a 2011 Oswego Speedway Hall of Fame inductee on Saturday night, put the death of Dan Wheldon into perspective for me during a post-induction chat we had.

"All of us in racing, whether’s it’s NASCAR or Indy car or Formula One – whatever – whenever something like this happens we all pull together. We’re all affected by it. We might not all watch a particular form of racing, or sometimes even like it, but when something happens like happened to Dan, we all feel it and it has an effect on us all."

I’m glad I talked to Joe about this, because after NASCAR paid its tribute to the two-time Indy 500 champion last weekend at Talladega, Formula One held a minute of silence in memory of Wheldon and motorcycle racer Marco Simoncelli, who was killed last weekend, before Sunday’s Indian Grand Prix.

Afterward, Jenson Button suggested the race be dedicated in memory of the fallen warriors.

"The last two weekends have been very, very difficult. We have had two fatalities so it is very difficult, especially with Dan. I knew Dan from a very early age, he was the guy we always had to beat in the early formulas. So I think we should dedicate this first Indian race to Dan and obviously Marco, another super talented youngster. He was the most amazing guy to watch on a bike so I think we should dedicate this to them."

Moments before, Vettel had made mention of the fatal accidents in his post-race comments: "Looking back to last weekend, we lost two of our mates. I didn't know Dan Wheldon but he was a big name in motorsport. I got to know this year Marco Simoncelli and our thoughts are with them.

"Yes, we are ready to take certain risks when we jump into the car but we obviously pray that every time nothing happens but sometimes you get reminded and it is the last thing that we want to see. So, as I said, it is a bit mixed emotions and our thoughts are with them at this moment."

Ferando Alonso added: "As Sebastian and Jenson said, mixed feelings this weekend with sad weeks for motorsport with the two accidents. I think we all raced for them today and try to go ahead but always remember these two fantastic people."

I had a friend at the Indian race, Clive Rayman of Toronto, a Formula Ford driver from the early 1970s who was a real balls-to-the-walls kind of guy in the cockpit. He sent me this report Sunday night:

Hi Norris,

Another boring F1 race. From what I saw from my seat at the hairpin, there was hardly any passing. There was a half-hearted attempt by Webber to pass Button at the end of the straight. Other than that, the only passing done was the lapping of slower cars.

The Buddh track was designed supposedly to increase overtaking. Is race craft in F1 a thing of the past? They may as well just have time trials. The rules, political correctness and technology have turned F1 into a boring sport.

It seems that the only people that get a kick out of the race are the drivers, engineers, designers, aerodynamists and computer nerds. I spoke with some of the spectators after the race and they also found it quite boring. This is definitely the last F1 race that I will attend.

As far as the paying public is concerned, getting tickets, etc., was to say the least a bit of a joke. There were many empty seats in my stand and in the other stands that I could see. Bookmyshow, who were the ticketing agent, had a website that did not function properly. In September, unless one had an address in India, you could not get a ticket online.

I had to contact Jaypee sports, the organizers. I spoke to the Commercial Officer who had not a clue as to how disorganized the sale of tickets was. She eventually said to use her office address to have my ticket sent to me. Bookmyshow's website would not accept Jaypee's address, as it was so long. After numerous attempts, she said to use her home address.

When I did eventually get to book both my race ticket and my shuttle bus ticket to the track, the
final window just showed payment of my entry ticket but no bus ticket and there was no way to correct it. The result being that I needed to book my bus ticket separately, resulting in another booking charge and additional courier costs. I would suggest this was a deliberate rip-off.

Some stands were oversold and people were moved into stands less filled when they arrived at the circuit. Incredible.

To purchase food, one had to join a long line to get coupons, then join another line to get food, water and pop. One could not take food or water into the circuit – not unusual in some venues today. However, on Saturday, the first day I went, after purchasing a bottle of water (only sold in 1 litre bottles), I headed for my seat, only to be told I could not bring it into the stand!

Fortunately there were some Buddh officials at a table close by. I went to them and basically gave them a piece of my mind. Did they think that people would sit in the hot sun without anything to drink and after purchasing a 1 litre bottle of water? Were you expected to drink it all at once before going to your seat? Well, they changed it (the rule) pretty quickly and I was allowed in and everyone else. too.

Holwever, the TV screen in my area was better suited for a living room. The result being that you could not read the times or the order of the cars during the race and of course, due to the noise of the cars, you could not hear the speakers. Other than first, second and third, one had not a clue where anyone else was in the race.

It is one thing to put on an F1 race and get the track ready, etc., but a very important part that seems very much forgotten here was the comfort of the paying spectator. I would not be surprised if the Indian GP went the way of the Turkish GP.

You asked me to send my impressions of the GP. Well, the race you know all about, so I thought I'd let you know about the BS that spectators had to put up with and that does not include the horrendous dust and smog.

Cheers, Clive

Thanks Clive. And, finally, Tony Stewart won the NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Martinsville, Va., Sunday (full race report here). He’s nipping right at Carl Edwards’s heels as the Chase winds down. Jimmie Johnson is out of it. NASCAR will have a new champion in less than a month.

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.

Button lost Sunday Grand Prix on Saturday

POWER WINS INDYCAR SNOOZER; KESELOWSKI ON A ROLL; OSWEGO CLASSIC NEXT SUNDAY

Jenson Button took a lot of years to get going and is now in the sweet spot of his career but the biggest problems he’s encountered lately have originated within his own team.

It’s reminiscent of a famous quote from the old New York goalie Gump Worsley, who replied – when asked which team gave him the most trouble – “the Rangers.”

Button finished third in the Grand Prix of Belgium on Sunday – Red Bull-Renault teammates Sebastien Vettel and Mark Webber were first and second – but could have challenged for the win or at least a runner-up spot if he hadn’t started 13th.

And the reason he was back in the second-half of the field at the start is because he never made it out of Q2 in Saturday qualifying because of a “misunderstanding” he had with his race engineeer.

Button thought he had three laps in which to set a time when he only had two. How this happened is anybody’s guess. Said the ever-diplomatic Button:

“My engineer did say before I went out, not that I recall it but I believe him (my italics), that you’ve got two laps to do. It was a miscommunication. It shouldn’t have happened, but it did. We messed up.”

So instead of starting, perhaps, in the top six, Button he was able to make it to the podium from 13th. Pretty good.

(Not as good as Michael Schumacher, of course. The seven-time world champion who was celebrating 20 years in F1 this weekend started 24th – last – because he crashed in qualifying when a wheel came off his Mercedes. He made it all the way up to fifth by the end of the race so it’s obvious he still has magic in him.)

Button, who drove one of the greatest Grand Prix races of his – or anybody’s – career when he won the Canadian Grand Prix at Montreal in June, has never been out of the top six this season when he’s been able to finish.

The two times he didn’t came when his team sent him on his way during the British Grand Prix without a wheel properly attached (it fell of, natch) and a hydraulic problem did him in at the next race in Germany.

But he’s got two victories, a second and three thirds in the other races, which means that without “misunderstandings” or "miscommunication" or incompetence, he’d maybe be higher than fourth in the standings.

Of course, nobody can hold a candle to Vettel, who’s now 92 points clear in the standings. After seeming to take a couple of races “off” just before the summer holiday break, the defending world champion returned to battle at Belgium and won the pole and the race, showing the world that although he might be human on occasion, he’s the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world of motorsport when he has to prove it.

Webber, who signed a contract to continue racing with Red Bull through 2012, battled back from a lousy start (he always seems to have trouble getting off the line, doesn’t he?) to finish second to his teammate.

At 35, he continues to have huge balls. He and Fernando Alonso, who eventually finished fourth for Ferrari, were heading toward Eau Rouge together at about a million miles an hour and somebody had to lift or else they were both going to go into orbit.

As it was not going to be Webber, who was on fire, Alonso did the smart thing and eased off, preferring to fight (and live) another day.

Notebook jottings:

– F1 might have Monaco but nothing is more grand than a traditional road course like Spa-Francorchamps. And Spa these days is looking manicured, complete with lawn on both sides of the tarmac. Simply beautiful.

– Poor Lewis Hamilton. He’s showing serious signs of suffering from Paul Tracyitis (a malady in which the sufferer’s brains periodically turn to cement).

He was holding off an attacking Kamui Kobayashi and, thinking he had the corner, moved ever so slightly to his left before turning in. The problem was that Kobayashi hadn’t surrendered the corner completely and was still there, so KA-POW.

This sense of entitlement has bitten Hamilton previously. “I’m coming through, so get outta my way,” seems to be his motto.

He ran into Button in Montreal (I still can’t believe he tried that pass when – and where – he did) and bulldozed his way past Pastor Maldonado on Saturday during qualifying (which angered Maldonado to the point that he banged wheels with Hamilton later and earned himself a five-spot grid penalty as a result).

Here’s hoping Hamilton puts his thinking cap on really tight from now on or else one of these times he’s going to hurt himself.

(He made a start in that direction last night when he tweeted that he’d seen the replay and realized it was his fault. “I didn’t give Kobayashi enough room,” he said. “Apologies to Kamui and my team.”)

– Bruno Senna showed the world what the Renault can do (something the dismissed Nick Heidfeld couldn’t) and qualified seventh. He also showed the world what he can do when given a good car to drive.

Unfortunately, he has to work to do on his race craft; he went barreling into the first turn way over his head and it’s lucky he didn’t take out half the field.

The nephew of the great Ayrton Senna finished 13th in the race but will be well worth watching from now on.

– F1 might have been on vacation for three weeks but there was all sorts of press-release journalism going on in an attempt to keep it in the public eye (most ignored, except by the hard-core racing sites).

The big story was speculation that Michael Schumacher would retire again at the end of 2011. What made it nuts was when commentators started guessing who would take his place at Mercedes. The favourite seemed to be Paul DiRestra.

Speculate all ya want, folks. Michael is not going anywhere. In fact, I won’t be surprised if he signs a contract extension with Mercedes to go past 2012.

Other racing:

– INDY CAR: The IZOD IndyCar Series race at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif., started with Will Power on pole, Helio Castroneves second, Ryan Briscoe third, Dario Franchitti fourth and Scott Dixon fifth. The race ended exactly the same way.

I had a nap in the middle.

James Hinchcliffe of Oakville started sixth and finished seventh. Actually, he finished eighth but moved up a spot when original sixth-place finisher Giorgio Pantano (subbing for Justin Wilson) was penalized 10 finishing positions for blocking.

Alex Tagliani of Montreal started 12th and finished 20th. Danica Patrick started 25th and finished 21st – a lap behind. Top woman was Ana Beatriz in 13th. Simona de Silvestro missed the race because she wasn’t allowed back into the United States, following a trip home to Switzerland, a problem that hopefully will be cleared up soon.

The first three drivers are employed by Penske Racing. The last time the team had a sweep was in 1994 when Paul Tracy won at Nazareth, followed by Al Unser Jr. And Emerson Fittipaldi.

It was also a particularly good weekend for the Captain. His driver, Brad Keselowski, won the NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Bristol, Tenn., on Saturday night.

– NASCAR: Earlier this month, Brad Keselowski crashed at Road Atlanta and broke his ankle. Since then, he’s won twice and had a second and a third in four races.

This puts him very close to a place in the Chase for the Championship with just two “regular season” races to go – at Atlanta Motor Speedway over Labour Day and at Richmond, Va., the week after.

He won the race at Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday night over Martin Truex Jr. Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Jamie McMurray were the others in the top five.

On Friday night at Bristol, Kyle Busch won the Nationwide Series race by inches over Joey Logano. Elliott Sadler was third. It was Busch’s 50th trip to Victory Lane in that series, making him the all-time leading winner.

– OSWEGO SPEEDWAY: Indy 500 veteran Joe Gosek won the Oswego Speedway track championship Saturday night by finishing second behind first-time winner of a 45-lap feature at the Steel Palace, Dave Danzer.

Randy Ritskes, formerly of Brockville, finished third in the race Saturday and second in the championship.

Next weekend will see the 55th Budweiser International Classic 200 for supermodifieds get the green at or about 4 p.m. on Sunday afternoon.

Indy veterans Davey Hamilton and Bentley Warren are expected to be in the field (although maybe not Warren, who's 71 and not feeling 100 per cent these days).

Canadian drivers expected to try to qualify include Dave McKnight Jr. of Brampton and Gary Morton of Stouffville.

IndyCar to hear appeals of New Hampshire race result

BENTLEY WARREN, 71, TO ENTER OSWEGO CLASSIC

The IZOD IndyCar Series will hear two appeals of the result of last Sunday’s race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway that was "won" by Ryan Hunter-Reay, who was in second or third place on the speedway when a yellow light came on to effectively end proceedings.

The appeals were filed within 30 minutes of the race ending by Newman-Haas Racing, whose driver, Oriol Servia, was ahead of Hunter-Reay and by Target Chip Ganassi Racing, whose driver, Scott Dixon, had also passed the "winner."

IndyCar race control had decided to restart the race late in the day when it was raining. Most drivers and teams had argued against a restart and there was a pileup, as a result.

Race control subsequently said the race should never have been restarted, that it had been a mistake, and the order of finish would revert to the order the field was in before the restart.

Brian Barnhart, president of competition and operations for IndyCar, said in a release that he would select a panel of impartial individuals to resolve the protests.

"Given my role in race control, I feel that it is in everyone's best interest to have an independent panel hear the protests. I believe a panel will help maintain a fair hearing."

Many commentators and fans – including me – have called for Barnhardt’s dismissal, as a result of this controversy and several others earlier this season, as well as last.

It is unfortunate that Barnart will select the panel, as there could be suspicion that although he’s ostensibly stepping aside, the people he selects will be sympathetic to his predicament.

It would be much better if CEO Randy Bernard struck the committee.

Speaking of Bernard, SpeedTV commentator Marshal Pruett has done a wonderful job analyzing what happened on the track last Sunday and applying it to pertinent passages of the IndyCar rule book. You can read it here.

But he says this about Bernard: "He might not know it right now, but he’s at a critical juncture where making the wrong choice (decision) could kill his credibility within the paddock and the grandstands.

Strong words.

My friend John Bassett, who’s written a number of excellent articles about Indy car racing for Toronto Star Wheels and wheels.ca this season, also has a great sense of humour. In an email, John said:

"Perhaps the (IndyCar) series will put race control on probation now for avoidable decisions!"

CLARIFICATION:  When a little birdie called me yesterday to tip me off about the following story, I got two facts mixed up. Bentley Warren plans to drive Vic Miller's supermodified car No. 71 at the Thomson World Series at Thomson Speedway in Connecticut in October. He won't drive the 71 car at Oswego.

However, Warren does plan to test a car sometime between now and Labour Day weekend and if he likes the car, he will drive it in the Oswego Classic on Labour Day weekend. Maybe even sooner.

Ergo, the following item has been slightly edited from the original.

Bentley Warren, 71, the legendary six-time winner of the Oswego International Classic 200 who’s also won the Little 500 twice as well as other U.S. short track classic races, will enter this year’s Oswego Classic on Labour Day weekend if he likes a car he plans to test.

The resident of Kennebunkport, Maine, who used to drive the U.S. Secret Service crazy by flying his helicopter into restricted air space above the family summer cottage at Kennebunk when George H.W. Bush was president, started 37 Indy car races in the early 1970s and made the field for the Indianapolis 500 twice.

The owner of his own "Champ Car" team toward the end of his Indy car career, Warren was severely burned during a U.S. Auto Club race in Argentina. Following his recovery, he’s spent his time since collecting checkered flags on the U.S. short-track circuits.

In 2006, at Star Speedway, in Epping, N.H., Warren tutored the late actor and racing fanatic Paul Newman on the fine art of going fast in a supermodified. "He really surprised me," Warren said later. "He was 81 years old and he was keeping right up. I was haulin’ ass, too."

Asked if Newman said anything afterward, Warrren added: "He said he wished he was 80 again and then he’d have been able to go a little faster." Newman died at age 83.

The owner of Bentley’s Saloon in Arundel, Maine, Warren rode his motorcycle to Florida in recent weeks, so would seem to be in good shape for the Oswego challenge.

Only the late Nolan Swift of Syracuse won as many Oswego Classics – six – and Warren would love to break the tie before he hangs up his helmet.

 
COURTESY, RACE-PLACE.NET

BENTLEY WARREN (R) WITH ANOTHER INDY 500 VETERAN AND SHORT-TRACK CHAMPION, DAVEY HAMILTON.