Norris McDonald's Auto Racing Blog

Why I like NASCAR best (and other mid-week observations)

I was caught up short when I bumped into a media colleague earlier this week and he said to me: “What have you got against NASCAR?”

This was in regards to a column I wrote in which I suggested that NASCAR, in suspending owner Joe Gibbs for six races for a relatively minor transgression (among other penalties levied against other competitors), was acting irrationally.

So when he said what he said, I said something flippant in reply but afterwards I thought, “Uh-oh.”

I like and admire the journalist in question, so if he’s wondering about my motives, perhaps others are too and that’s why I’ve called you all together today to say this:

I think NASCAR is the best organized and best managed racing business in the world.

In the world.

Formula One has been held together by one man, Bernie Ecclestone, and I guarantee you that when he either retires, is fired, or forced out, or dies, F1 will be a mess of public bickering and backstabbing. And the Indy car series, regardless of who’s been in charge, has been in chaos much of the time ever since the original split that saw CART break away from the USAC in 1979.

Yes, NASCAR has been, essentially, a France family business and it’s been their way or the highway. But I don’t think they’ve abused that trust and they've reached out to the grassroots by sanctioning and administering local racing just about everywhere in the United States and, on occasion, in Canada. Their regional racing series – eight, including the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series – has given (and is giving) scores of ambitious and talented racing drivers a professional environment in which to grow and demonstrate their talents. Their diversification program has demonstrated a commitment to helping minorities, be they non-Americans, drivers of colour, or women, advance in the motor sport. In short, no other sanctioning body has even attempted what NASCAR has already achieved.

So I’m a big fan of NASCAR.

That doesn’t mean I like everything – I think they need more road course races, with at least one during the Chase – but in a clutch I would take Mike Helton, Robin Pemberton, Brian France and the rest of the executive group over anybody that the other big leagues have to offer.

Which makes it even more puzzling for me, after reading what I’ve just written, to understand that penalty against Gibbs. And a $25,000 fine charged to Denny Hamlin when all he did was say he didn’t like the new car.

What?

When something goes wrong in a business, or a marriage, or whatever, things that don’t normally happen start happening.

They are usually signals, or symptoms, of something else going on – sometimes beneath the surface and away from public view.

So I wonder what’s happening inside NASCAR?

Because a $200,000 fine for next-to-nothing ain't normal.

I posted a report on Monday afternoon about the visit to Canadian Tire Motorsport Park of executives from the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and a truck from the Turner Scott Motorsport stable.

Led by series director (and former Sprint Cup competitor) Chad Little, the contingent gave Old Mosport the once-over in advance of the truck race there on Labour Day weekend - called the Chevrolet Silverado 250, by the way - and driver Nelson Piquet Jr. shook down the TSM entry in order to record data that will be shared with other teams in the series who won’t even see the facility until they arrive for the Sept. 1 race.

Although Piquet was the only one to get any track time, three other drivers came up for a look-see including defending truck series champion James Buescher, 20-year-old hot-shoe Jeb Burton (son of Daytona 500 winner Ward Burton and nephew of Jeff Burton) and Miguel Paludo, a Brazilian Porsche GT3 Cup driver now trying his hand at NASCAR.

But in posting my report, I didn’t have time to include photos so I’ve posted a bunch with this post over at wheels.ca that were taken by me (uncredited) or by Gary Grant, who writes Auto News for Toronto Star Wheels and the Insider Report for wheels.ca

(That's his photo here, by the way, with Paludo (left), Burton, Piquet, CTMP co-owner Ron Fellows and Buescher.)

Also, if you want to take a video tour of Mosport with Piquet, courtesy of Joel Robinson, click here 

Road racing in Ontario will officially get under way at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park this coming weekend, May 4 and 5.

The 63rd annual (wow!) British Empire Motor Club Spring Trophy Races will involve eight classes, including the BF Goodrich GT Challenge, GT Sprints presented by CSC Racing, Toyo Tires F1600 Championship, Formula 1200, Formula Libre, Formula Four, Vintage/Historic and G70+.

Action gets under way with a driver’s meeting in front of the infield restaurant at 7:45 a.m. Saturday morning. For more information, the weekend schedule and FREE TICKETS, go to the CASC-Ontario website (click here).

Speaking of NASCAR, and penalties (see lead item), the two Richard Childress Racing crew members arrested and charged with assault after approaching driver Piquet and another man outside the speedway in Richmond, Va., last Friday night following an altercation in the pits earlier have each been fined $15,000, suspended for the next four Nationwide Series races and placed on probation till the end of the year.

Piquet and another driver, David Scott, who got into a shoving match in the pits, have been put on probation till June 26th.

Oh, and late-breaking news has the penalties against Team Penske, for trying to sneak unapproved parts past NASCAR inspection, upheld by an appeals panel. Just about everybody has been suspended for six races (not the drivers) and the crew chiefs for Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski have been fined $100,000 apiece.

About as appalling as the refereeing in the NHL, if you ask me.

Denny Hamlin says he will start the Talladega 500 on Sunday and then give way to relief driver Brian Vickers. That’s what he tweeted Tuesday.

"They (his doctors) all came to the conclusion they were happy with me starting Talladega and getting out when it's a safe time to get out,'' Hamlin said.

He told ESPN.com that he would drop to the back of the pack and then pit at the first caution, confident that he and Vickers can switch and not lose a lap under yellow.

Okay, I want to say right here and now that if  he’s out there, and he’s racing, and he’s feeling good, that Denny Hamlin will not get out and let Brian Vickers in. He just won’t.

He’s a tough mother when it comes to pain. He’s done it in the past and he’ll do it again.

Mark my words: Once in the car, he won’t leave it.

It’s official. Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, known officially this season as Panther DRR with driver Oriol Servia up, will drop out of this season’s IZOD IndyCar Series following the Indianapolis 500.

Co-owned by Indy new-car dealer Dennis Reinbold and former driver Robbie Buhl, the team has run full-time in the series for the past 13 seasons.

Even if you’re low buck, car racing is a financial drain and these guys, racers to the core, can’t afford to keep doing it.

Sorry to see them go. They gave it their all.

Here’s what’s on tap at Toronto Motorsports Park. Starting today on the road course, motorcycle lapping is scheduled till 5 p.m. Registration is at the track and it’s $115 plus HST. Open car lapping is scheduled for Friday from noon till dusk for $130 plus HST. If you can’t make it till 5 p.m., the price drops to $90 plus HST.

Finally, on the dragway, the first Friday night test and tune will cost $20, $10 for spectators. ONDR Nostalgia Drag Racers plus test and tune on Saturday is $30 for competitors and $15 for spectators. Test and tune on Sunday, the 5th, is $30 for participants and $10 for spectators.

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NELSON PIQUET JR. SOUNDS OFF ABOUT RACING IN NASCAR AND THE EXCITEMENT IT GENERATES

There were several reasons why Toronto-area motorsport writers and broadcasters were summoned to Canadian Tire Motorsport Park on Monday.

First, the snazzy new Corporate Event Centre on a hill overlooking the circuit's Turn 10 was shown off for the first time. Since what was originally named Mosport Park was opened in 1961, corporate events have been held in tents. A race control tower and media centre was opened in 1962 and until last October track management, event organizers and reporters/photographers and TV camera operators were all crammed into the aging structure that also included a medical trauma room.

That cramped old tower now gone - bulldozed into the ground last fall - the new Event Centre is big enough to hold wedding receptions, if a happy young couple should want to rent the place for such a special occasion. Bottom line: it is large enough for race sponsors to entertain hundreds of  their guests and corporate clients and there is plenty of room on another floor for writers and broadcasters to do their work without sticking their elbows into the faces of the people sitting next to them.

In short, Old Mosport has been brought into the 21st Century and combined with improvements made to spectator and camping areas as well as to the circuit itself (several runoff areas have been paved, for example), the time has come to start showin' off.

The second reason was to announce that the much-anticipated NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race on Labour Day Weekend will be sponsored by General Motors of Canada and titled the Chevrolet Silverado 250.

"GM Canada is really proud to be a part of this," said GM spokesman George Saratlic, in making the announcement. "Really, it was a no-brainer for us, it being in our own backyard (CTMP is a short distance from GM's Canadian headquarters in Oshawa).  What better place to showcase our product."

Said circuit co-owner Ron Fellows: "This is great for the facility and I couldn't be more proud to have Chevy and GM Canada involved in our first-ever NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race. Thanks to NASCAR for its assistance, which is ongoing, and to Chevy, which is the winningest brand in the . . . series."

As was the case with his own entry, Fellows had no official announcement to make about Canadian driving content in the Labour Day classic.

When asked, he was coy about whether he will race in the event himself - he likely will, but the official announcement will come at a later date - and said he'd talked with Canadian  legend Paul Tracy about entering the race, but not Jacques Villeneuve. "I wouldn't be surprised if a couple of drivers from the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series entered the truck race," he added.

The third reason was that Camping World Series entrant Turner-Scott Motorsports hauled north with one of their trucks and brought driver Nelson  Piquet Jr. along to conduct a test. The reconnaisance information recorded by TSM and Piquet will be shared with other participants in the truck series, an arrangement agreed between the teams and NASCAR whenever the series goes to a new track.

Piquet, of course, is very much in the news these days because of an altercation he had last Friday night with fellow Nationwide Series driver Brian Scott at the conclusion of the race at Richmond, Va. Following a scuffle between the drivers and some crew members in the pits, Piquet and other man were accosted outside the race track and two members of Scott's team, who are employees of Richard Childress Racing, were each charged with one count of assault.

Piquet was most agreeable to talk about the test, the Canadian Tire circuit and the post-raced squabble he lived through at Richmond.

He said the Canadian Tire circuit is challenging to drive, and that "if you make a mistake, you will pay for it.  There is no forgiveness, there is no margin for error here. I'm sure the drivers are going to be very careful and only take risks toward the end of the race."

He said many of the truck drivers, who race mainly on oval tracks, will be at a disadvantage. "What they lack is (the ability to handle) the slow, stop-and-go corners. There are a lot of long, sweeping corners here and they should be able to handle them better."

He said the way race drivers feel about tracks, whether they like them or not, can often depend on how well they do in competition there.

"When you race well, you always love the track. Road America, for example, was a track I didn't think much about. We had a good race, a great weekend over there, so I like the track now. (CTMP) is difficult to judge. It's a tricky track with a lot of high-speed corners so you need to have a lot of courage over here."

Piquet said it's possible he could compete in the Labour Day race but it would depend primarily on sponsorship. "I would love to come here and compete," he said. "We might take the risk and do it. Obviously, we would have to come here straight for the race (after running in the Nationwide race at Atlanta on the Saturday), no qualifying, no practice, no anything."

He said although he misses some things about European racing, he feels quite at home racing in North America.

"The racing over here is much more exciting, much more fun," he said.  "And there's more racing; you can race much more. I'm the kind of guy who likes to race all the time, as often as I can, which pisses my father off, but I just love to be driving. I'm going to be racing every weekend this year, although I won't do the dirt-track race at Eldora Speedway. Every weekend I have off from NASCAR, I'm  going to do the X-Games."

He said he hopes what happened the other night in Richmond - the confrontation with Scott - is over.

"What happened is unfortunate. Obviously, we don't want to be getting into fights, but I've learned one thing and that's that you have to stand up for yourself. He ran into me after the race was finished; he'd done the same thing to me last year. I won't accept it any more.

"Both of the instances we had, the race last year and this one, wasn't bad. Last year, I was racing hard to win the race in Martinsville and I didn't hit anybody from behind but when you go into the corner you bang doors and it doesn't matter. And the incident the other night, I was passing him, we were both fighting, we had old tires and it was the end of the race, we were all struggling and I barely touched him and we both went sideways and there was no reason for him to get upset.

"If he wants to get upset, so come and talk to me, not come and hit my car, destroy my car, after the race when everything is done. You shouldn't do things like that.

"If I had done something wrong, if I had been too hard in the race, okay. But that was not the case. And then I had 20 guys running at me and I kicked them back. Unfortunately it was in the wrong place (Scott's groin area) but it certainly was not the plan. I just came out of the car, you see him  coming with a bunch of guys, what are you going to do? Just stand there and put your face out there and be hit?

"I  was just trying to get everybody away from me. I was defending myself, yes, but I just wanted to get everybody away."

Piquet said hard racing, NASCAR style, is what race fans like and want.

"You saw what happened with Jeff Gordon and Clint Bowyer last year," he said. "You don't want people getting hurt, but it's part of racing. Racing in America, people get angry and they'll show their feelings and sometimes they get a bit out of control."

He said the racing in Europe, primarily open wheel, doesn't allow for tradin' paint.

"You don't go banging wheels (in Europe), he said. "If they had closed fenders and were racing hard, I'm sure it would happen (emotions boiling over). It's not because they're more educated, or sophisticated; with the kind of cars they have, it doesn't allow them to."

Piquet said emphatically he has no plans to try Indy car racing.

"When I saw the possibility of doing NASCAR, what intrigued me in the beginning was the challenge," he said. "It is so different, it is so tough. That is what drove me to come over here. That was even before falling in love with the sport. After I got addicted, I just love it."

He says he has a lot to learn about stock car racing and NASCAR before leaving Nationwide and trucks to try the Sprint Cup circuit. And he would like to take the step with the right team.

"I do not want to go up to Cup until I have the right team to do it," he said. "If it's going to be two, three, four years - I don't know. I want to learn as much as I can to be prepared. Then if the right opportunity comes along, I'll do it."

- NORRIS McDONALD

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Weekend rdp: Piquet crotch kick overshadows Harvick victory

NASCAR should thank drivers Nelson Piquet Jr. and Brian Scott for acting like schoolchildren after Friday night’s Nationwide Series race at Richmond, Va.

Kevin Harvick's last-minute Sprint Cup victory Saturday night as well as the post-race finger-pointing by Kurt Busch and Tony Stewart helped, too. But the real buzz all weekend continued to be about Piquet and Scott.

Their post-race altercation – that ultimately led to the arrest of two of Scott’s pit crew who have each been charged with assault – diverted attention from what should have been the dominant topic of conversation this weekend: the odd behaviour exhibited recently by the sanctioning body itself.

Since the first of the year, NASCAR has fined a driver, Denny Hamlin, $25,000 (that’s 25 thousand dollars) for saying the new Sprint Cup car isn’t as good as the old one.

Then, after a driver complained that a team was using parts his team didn’t have, NASCAR swooped down on Team Penske and seized those parts and levied fines of $100,000 against the two crew chiefs involved and suspended them for six races. The drivers each lost 25 points, as did the team. Their crime? Using unapproved parts. Not illegal parts; unapproved parts.

Then, early last week, because one of eight connecting rods inside a motor built by an engine supplier was slightly under weight, a crew chief for Joe Gibbs Racing was fined $200,000 and he and owner Gibbs were each suspended for six races.

The Penske penalties, and those levied against Gibbs, are all under appeal and could be lessened or even reversed. But that's beside the point. The fact that NASCAR was so heavy handed - particularly in the case of Gibbs - is what's disconcerting.

It is, ladies and gentleman, abnormal behaviour. You want a definition of arrogance? This is it. The disdain currently being shown the independent contractors responsible for its success by NASCAR is typical of monopolies: they are right, every time, and everybody else is wrong, every time.

The reason NASCAR has such a tight rain over the teams is its trump card: it owns most of the tracks where the series goes to race. NASCAR really does own the  sandbox and if you want to play in it, you have to do it their way.

While teams in other leagues have revolted against contemptuousness of the kind being shown by NASCAR these days – Indy car racing has been through two or three rebellions/civil wars in the last 30 years and Formula One has come close on at least two occasions – NASCAR has been the only stock car racing game in town so everyone sooner or later falls into line.

But I suggest if NASCAR continues down this narcissistic road, there can't help but be consequences eventually. Take Joe Gibbs, a God-fearing man of exemplary character who doesn’t have a blemish on his reputation. You can't call him a cheater and not expect a backlash.

NASCAR has beaten back anti-trust lawsuits in the past but what goes around comes around and sooner or later there’s going to be a fall. And they were getting very close to that precipice when Piquet Jr. and Scott saved their bacon on Friday night. On Saturday night, Busch and Stewart added to the distraction.

On a late restart in the Cup race, Busch moved Stewart out of the way. Tony, who's not having a good year at all, fell from a top five finish to a top 15. He was not pleased and let Busch know it in the garage area later.

Busch, who thinks his newly calm, cool and collected demeanor will somehow endear him to fans (it will never work, Kurt), explained in what he thought was a rational manner (translation: sense of superiority) that there was all sorts of pushing and banging and bunting going on in the last few laps and that it was all part of the game and he didn't know why anybody else (read: Stewart) couldn't understand that it was just all good competition.

They're going to Talladega next weekend. We'll see how calm, cool and collected Busch is after that race. 

Meanwhile, on Friday night, Scott and Piquet had sideswiped each other a couple of times during the race at Richmond – won by Brad Keselowski, by the way (click here for a Nationwide story and finishing positions and click here for the Cup story and results) – and then continued their tradin’-paint ways on the cool-down laps.

Both got out of their cars and Scott immediately hustled over toward Piquet (he said later that he was going "to talk" to him) and one thing led to another and the pushing-and-shoving ended when Piquet kicked – or tried to kick – Scott in the crotch.

Scott complained to a TV reporter that Piquet kicked him below the belt – which Scott labelled a chicken move – leaving one to think a kick above the belt would have been okay. But I digress.

Later, apparently, Piquet and another man were confronted – or got into an argument, whatever – in the motor coach area away from the race track/arena and that’s when the police became involved and the two members of Scott’s Richard Childress Racing team were charged.

Piquet, who’s been trying to re-invent himself as a stock car driver after being forced to leave Formula One in disgrace following his involvement in a fake crash that helped his then-teammate Fernando Alonso win a race, comes from a truculent family, apparently.

His father, Nelson Piquet, tried to kick Eliseo Salazar after a crash in a Grand Prix years ago. You can watch it by clicking here.

You can make up your own mind about who was right/wrong in the Nationwide race Friday night by clicking here.

But given the severity of penalties for relatively minor transgressions that have been levied by NASCAR since the first of the year, I fully expect that Nelson Piquet Jr. and Brian Scott will be suspended from competition for the rest of 2013 and maybe even longer.

Anything less would be an indication that NASCAR is coming to its senses - which would be a good thing.

ELSEWHERE: The Indy cars will be in action in Brazil next weekend. Oakville's James Hinchcliffe will be out to turn his season around after having less-than-satisfactory outings the last two races. He started the season on a high note, winning the race in St. Petersburg. It's been all downhill ever since. . . . Cruz Pedregon (he and his brother Tony are summertime visitors to Toronto Motorsports Park near Cayuga) became the first two-time 2013 winner in Funny Car Sunday when he won the O'Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Spring Nationals at Royal Purple Raceway outside Houston. Other class winners: Bob Vandergriff Jr. in Top Fuel and Jason Line in Pro Stock. . . . Local short-track racing is getting under way for 2013. Merrittville Speedway near Thorold opened on Saturday night and Lucas Oil Weekly Racing Series action saw Steve Poirer win the Patriot Sprint Tour's race, Chad Brachmann win the Bobcat of Hamilton 358 Modified main and B.J. Willard win the Rick's Delivery Sportsman race.

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Is NASCAR losing its grip?

NASCAR hit Joe Gibbs Racing with one of the biggest fines in the sanctioning body's history, if not the biggest, when it fined crew chief Jason Ratcliff $200,000 for an illegal engine and suspended him for six races as well as suspending Gibbs's owner's licence for the same period.

The crime was that the Toyota-supplied engine had one of eight connecting rods below minimum weight.

Although he was docked 50 points, driver Matt Kenseth will still go down in history as the winner of the race at Kansas Speedway.

This is so stupid as to be farce.

This follows the book being lowered on Penske Racing for using unapproved parts on the cars of Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano. Note, the parts weren't illegal; they had not been approved. The crew chiefs were fined $100,000 apiece for that and everybody (just about) was suspended except the drivers.

NASCAR seems to be losing its grip.

I suggest NASCAR is losing audience because the racing is boring and the commentary is predictable and they’re doing stupid things to try to attract attention.

Like this sort of thing, which is stupid.

They suspend Gibbs' ownership licence for six races - for what? Not looking inside the engine and weighing the connecting rods - which he and others on his team can't do anyway because Toyota supplies the engines that just get dropped into the car?

Everybody says IndyCar has ownership and management problems.

Well, they now have company.

Ferrari says it has solved the problem of the DRS flap on Fernando Alonso's car that stuck open not once but twice at last weekend's Grand Prix of Bahrain.

In a statement, Ferrari said the cause of the failure had now been identified and resolved.

"Analysis revealed that the problem was caused by the breakage of a mechanical component within the system," Ferrari said.

Translation: The wire that pulled it shut snapped in half . . .

Michel Jourdain Jr. will race in this year's Indy 500. Should I get excited. Should anybody?

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But first . . .

Ten days ago, NASCAR caught Team Penske cheating and came down “hard” on the drivers and crew chiefs.

Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano were docked 25 points and their team managers, car chiefs, crew chiefs and engineers were all suspended for six races and the crew chiefs were each fined $100,000.

Yes, Penske has appealed but in the end, the drivers will still keep racing and the team will continue to operate.

Contrast that with what happened to a guy in the World of Outlaws Late Model Series.

After he won a big race in Illinois, series officials seized a tire from his car and sent it away for testing. They determined that a tire-softening agent had been used, which is against the rules.

So the series stripped the guy of his victory, made him give back the $20,000 he won, fined him an additional $3,000, docked him 1,000 points, put him on probation and suspended him and his team from competing for three months.

Now, that’s coming down hard on somebody for cheating.

Back to our headline.

The Detroit Grand Prix, which will be held on Belle Isle in the Detroit River May 31-June 2 - they have a double-header scheduled, as does Toronto's Honda Indy - is going all out to attract Canadian fans.

For $55 (or $105 for two days - both races) you get a reserved seat in a special Canadian Grandstand at the start/finish line and round-trip transportation from Windsor.

The City of Windsor is also going to sponsor the Media Centre, which is a smart move because if journalists are impressed by anything at these types of events, be it golf or baseball or horse racing, it's usually the food and drink that's provided. That, in turn, generally translates into positive copy.

Interested in going? Go to this website (click here) for more info.

Meantime, the Honda Indy Toronto is gearing up for its three-day extravaganza July 12-14 and Charlie Johnstone, vice-president and general manager of the event, says he hopes to have all sorts of special announcements posted to their website by the end of the week.

Go to www.hondaindytoronto.com for all the news.

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Auto racing: Vettel in F1, Sato in Indy, Kenseth in NASCAR

Takuma Sato won the first IndyCar race of his career Sunday in Long Beach as James Hinchcliffe's early season struggles continued. For the second race in a row, the Oakville native didn't finish - this time as the result of a crash.

Meanwhile, Matt Kenseth won the NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Kansas Speedway. He held off a fast-charging Kasey Kahne to win by 0.151 seconds. Jimmie Johnson was third, Martin Truex Jr. finished fourth and Clint Bowyer was fifth.

It was a typical NASCAR race, with spins and crashes and all sorts of high-speed excitement. One interesting note: the pole winner won the race for the third straight time. The last time this happened was in 1985. For full story and  results, click here.

Sebastien Vettel easily won the Grand Prix of Bahrain over Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean. It was an all-Renault powered podium. Lots of good racing back in the pack. For my take, please click here.

AT LONG BEACH

Sato's victory (see picture) was the first for the Japanese racer, who had a crack at Formula One, since the Macau Grand Prix in 2001. For his team, A.J. Foyt Racing, it was the first win since 2002 (Airton Dare at Kansas Speedway) and the first road course triumph since Silverstone in 1978 when God's own A.J. himself was driving.

(An aside: There are those who believe that if Eddie Cheever, who was driving for Foyt in 1995, had won that year's CART race at Nazareth, there never would have been an Indy Racing League. The reason? Foyt was a serious influence on the thinking of Tony George. Foyt had raced in CART going back to 1979 and couldn't win, so pushed George to form the breakway series. But, the thinking goes, if his team actually won a CART race, he'd have been more inclined to hang in. As luck would have it, Cheever ran out of fuel a lap short at Nazareth and the IRL started racing the next January.)

Sato had no trouble holding off second-place Graham Rahal, with Justin Wilson third and pole-sitter Dario Franchitti fourth. JR Hildebrand was promoted to fifth after Oriol Servia, who finished there, was assessed a penalty that moved him back a spot. For full story and results, click here.

Sato was delighted to win, and as Canada's Hinchcliffe had done at St. Pete with the Maple Leaf flag, the Japanese driver unfolded a Japanese flag and waved it in celebration. By winning, he became the first Japanese driver to record a victory in Indy cars.

Like Toronto, Long Beach is really too tight for the high speed Indy cars and many of the drivers were forced into the pits to have nose cones replaced on their cars after they broke them running into other cars.

And Servia wasn't the only driver penalized. Rookie Tristan Vautier was penalized twice, once for running into the back of Scott Dixon and again after he hit Will Power's car.

NOTEBOOK JOTTINGS

- You could look at the accident that eliminated Hinchcliffe three ways.

1. It was his fault for not slowing down and letting everybody else go through Turn One before him on a restart on Lap 36.

2. It was Tony Kanaan's fault for cutting down to the corner from the outside lane and chopping across the front of Hinchcliffe's car, making a collision unavoidable for the Oakville driver.

3. It was IndyCar's fault for giving the restart a green flag. Kanaan clearly was passing cars before the green was waved and the yellow should have been shown. As it was, Kanaan had a full head of steam that took him up into the lead pack and to make the corner he had to turn in sharply and that resulted in E.J. Viso and Hinchcliffe crashing, with Hinch getting the worst of it.

You know, everybody talks about how wonderful the officiating has been in that series ever since Brian Barnhart was relieved of his duties.

Oh?

You want me to start?

How about the penalty on Scott Dixon last year after which it was discovered the officials were watching the wrong video replay?

I could go on, starting with the green-that-should-have-been-a-yellow yesterday and one other glaring example of incompetence in the same race.

The Indy cars - never mind the sanctioning body. be it CART, IRL or Champ Car - haven't had a decent starter/flagger since Nick Fornoro retired. Nick was a midget racer who could feel the rhythm of a race and flag it accordingly. With an ace flagger like Roger Slack available (okay, his day job is running Eldora Speedway but somebody should ask if he's interested),  I can't understand why the top open-wheel racing series on the continent continues to employ officials whose qualifications are questionable. 

And then there was, as I called it two paragraphs back, that other glaring example of incompetence Sunday. With two laps remaining, Tony Kanaan misses his braking point and crashes into the tires at Turn One (the end of Shoreline Dr.). The decision is made that the race will continue and there will only be a local yellow waved.

So the leader of the race, Sato, who's starting the last lap, has to pick his way through there, as does the second place car, Rahal, and Wilson, and the rest.  The race continues at speed and then, when Sato has two corners to go before the checkers - two  corners - they decide to make it a full-course caution.

Huh? They decide on a full-course caution after the entire field drives through the crash scene and the race is two corners from beiing over? Is that a joke, or what?

Bring back Brian Barhart.

- Okay, how come the Grand Prix of Long Beach, which started in 1975 as a Formula 5000 race, became a Formula One race seven or eight years and has featured Indy cars ever since, continues to draw an enormous crowd (there wasn't a seat empty in any of the many grandstands) and yet the Indy car race in Toronto, which started in 1986, officially draws flies now in comparison.

Does it have something to do with the title sponsor? The Toyota dealers of southern Californa have been behind this event forever and continue to promote the living daylights out of it.

Just wondering. 

- The TV coverage of the race was abysmal.

First, I do not need some person getting a ride in the two seater and screaming over the air that the experience is just like getting a rocket ride to the moon. I could care less.

Next, like a great flagger (see above), a TV director has to feel the rhythm of a race and to be aware of what's happening. Sato peels out of the formation of front-runners, which starts a charge of cars toward the pits, and TV doesn't realize it's happening till he's stopped. Then they show Ryan Hunter-Reay's car being serviced, clearly unaware that Hinchcliffe, who pitted moments later than RHR, has beaten him out.

The kicker is when the camera is on Alex Tagliani and Charlie Kimball, side-by-side and rubbing tires and clearly heading for trouble, and suddenly the camera is switched to a stationary Franchitti getting fuel. Whoopie! Then we are returned to Alex and Charlie, who by this time have crashed, which we missed seeing because the guy/girl making decisions on what we see doesn't know what he/she is doing. 

I hate yelling at my television.

- Remeber Kimi Raikkonen crashing at Monaco a few years back and being so angry that he refused to take his helmet off as he walked all the way back to his yacht in the harbour?

That was Hinchcliffe yesterday. The Oakville driver was so pissed off that he walked back to the pits and got on his motor scooter and blasted off toward his motorhome and his helmet remained on his head and he even, like Kimi, kept the visor closed.

Usually a happy guy and ready to be everybody's friend, Hinch was obviously in no mood for company.

The next race is in Brazil in two weeks. Let's hope he has better luck there.

Other weekend races of note:

- The new Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Tex., played host Sunday to an early season Moto GP motorcycle race and a 20-year-old Spaniard, Marc Marquez, became the youngest winner in Moto GP history. Dani Pedrosa finished second with Jorge Lorenzo third. The motorycle circus will be back in North America in August for races at Laguna Seca in California and at Indianapolis. Next year, I suggest Montreal's Circuit Gilles Villeneuve will also be on the Moto GP schedule, either following Indianapolis or replacing it on the calendar.

- Klaus Graf and Lucas Luhr won the American Le Mans Series race at Long Beach. Jonathan Bennett and Colin Braun won in Prototype Challenge, Scott Sharp and Guy Cosmos were first in the P2 class, Bill Auberlen and Maxime Martin won the GT class and Henrique Cisneros and Sean Edwards were tops in GT Challenge.

Canadians: Kuno Wittmer of Hudson, Que., was 15th overall and eighth in GT and Kyle Marcelli of Barrie was 25th and sixth in Prototype Challenge.

Speaking of P2, and Canadians, Wheels special correspondent Sylvia Proudfoot reports that Leigh Pettipas of Halifax was the engineer for the winning car of Sharp and Cosmo. Pettipas also engineered the Extreme Speed Motorsports Ferrari F458 Italia that won the GT class at the 2012 Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta..

For race details and complete results, click here.

- At Road Atlanta, Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas won their one-millionth (I'm kidding!) Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series race, driving a BMW-Riley Daytona Prototype. John Edwards and Robin Lidell won the GT class in a Chevrolet Camaro. Joe Miller and Andrew Carbonell were first in the new GX class, driving a Mazda 6 Skyactiv Diesel. For details, click here.

Canadians in the Rolex race: Michael Valiante of Vancouver was seventh overall and seventh in a Ford-Riley DP; AIM Autosport of Woodbridge with assistance from Remo Ferri and Brian Wingett finished 17th overall and sixth in class with Max Papis and Jeff Segal aboard; the AIM Autosport Team FXDD with Ferrari car was 19th and eighth, Emil Assentato and Anthony Lazzaro driving. 

Canadians in the Supporting Continental Tire race: Scott Maxwell of Toronto, driving and Aston Martin Vantage for Markham's Multimatic Motorsports, finished fourth overall and fourth in class in  Grand Sport; Multimatic's sister Aston Martin racers were fifth (and fifth) with Tonis Kasemets and Michael Marsal driving and 11th and 11th with David Empringham and JohnFarano, both of Toronto, behind the wheel; Kenny Wilden of Oakville was ninth overall and ninth in the GS class; Ashley McCalmont of Ancaster finished 14th and 14th in GS; Taylor Hacquard of Vancouver was 30th overall and 14th in the Street Tuner class; Paul Dalla Lana of Toronto was 52nd overall and 22nd in GS.

- Canadians in the Indy Lights race at Long Beach: Matthew Di Leo of Innisfil was fifth. Quebe driver Mikael Grenier crashed.

- NORRIS McDONALD

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F1: Vettel, Raikkonen, Grosjean in Bahrain Grand Prix

Sebastien Vettel made it look easy by winning Sunday's Grand Prix of Bahrain from Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean but back in the pack there was some real edge-of-your-seat racing.

Vettel took the lead early in the 57-lap contest and drove his Red Bull-Renault to the 9-second-plus victory. The Lotus-Renault drivers made it a podium sweep for the French engine supplier.

Paul Di Resta finished fourth in his Force India-Mercedes. Lewis Hamilton snuck through at the end to take fifth for Mercedes as Red Bull's Mark Webber lost two places right at the finish, scoring seventh. Sergio Perez was sixth for McLaren-Mercedes, Fernando Alonso wound up eighth in his Ferrari, Nico Rosberg, who started from pole position, was ninth for Mercedes and Jenson Button arrived home tenth for McLaren.

The fighting for positions late in the race was enthralling, with battles between Perez and Alonso, and Webber and Hamilton particularly thrilling.

Although the circuit was far from empty, the crowd appeared down from previous years and this could be due to calls to boycott the race by protest leaders in the weeks leading up to the Grand Prix as civil unrest continues in the country (see picture).

Vettel now has a solid lead in seeking his fourth consecutive world championship. With 77 points, he is 10 up on Raikkonen. Hamilton's fifth-place finish and Alonso's less-than-wonderful eighth saw the Brit move ahead of the Spaniard, 50 points to 47.

Red Bull has a solid lead over Lotus in the constructors championship, 109 points to 93.

There is now a three-week break until the next Grand Prix, in Spain, May 12.

NOTEBOOK JOTTINGS

 - Sergio Perez had the bit in his teeth for McLaren on Sunday. He was happy with his sixth-place finish, the team was happy and even Jenson Button, his teammate, was full of praise (despite a slight criticism that he was too aggresive following a request to the team to "calm him down" after the Mexican ran into the back of him during a particularly boisterous joust they had toward the end of the race).

And why would this be, you ask? Because Carlos Slim, the richest man in the world who''s financing Perez's career, was at the race. It wouldn't do to be anything less than totally aggressive, would it? And the team and Button wouldn't be foolish enough to utter any really discouraging words either, considering that one of Slim's companies, Telmex, will be announced in December as McLaren's new primary sponsor . . .

- You've heard this before but I'll say it again: if Fernando Alonso didn't have bad luck, he wouldn't have any luck at all. Coming off a victory last week in China, the two-time world champion had qualified third and was mixing it up with pole sitter Rosberg and Vettel in the first few laps. Then his DRS flap stuck open and what promised to be a spirited run at or near the front became a struggle to survive. That he battled back to eventually finish eighth is a testament to his skill as a racing driver. 

Two things about the DRS flap: 1, How can it stick open? How can that happen? The rich teams spend millions on research and development and yet a stupid little flap can stick open? 2, This is a fine example of why Formula One (and other racing organizations) are too cute by half when it comes to gimmicks to "spice up" the spectacle. Why have those stupid things anyway? F1 drivers are supposed to be the most skilled in the world and anybody good enough to be in that league should be able to slipstream and slingshot past on a long straight and not need any help.

I feel the same way about the tires. Let them have all the qualifying (read: super soft) tires they want, so they're all out there trying their dardest to be the fastest and not have to worry about starting the race on the tires they used to qualify. Then, give them all the soft, medium and hard tires they want for the race and forget the "built-in degradation" business. Let the teams and drivers manage the tires any which way they want. If they stop once or twice or never, so be it. F1 has to stop trying to stage-manage races. 

- I've said many times that I don't like blocking in F1 or, as they call it, "defending." In my world, you "defend" by going faster so that the guy behind doesn't get close enough to try to pass. It's a chicken way, I think, to pull in front of a faster car and balk it. And before the emails start, I don't like slide jobs in sprint-car racing, either.

Anyway, the blocking started right at lights out when Rosberg pretended he was Michael Schumacher and went all the way across the track from pole position to block Vettel from going up the inside and beating him into Turn One. Just about everybody else was blocking, too. It continued throughout the race. It's a dangerous practice. One of these days, Alice . . .

- TSN lost the commenting feed for eight laps, between laps 16 and 24. The video feed was great and some sound was available - the scream of the engines and even one or two radio exchanges between drivers and teams - but the voices of Ben Edwards and David Coulthard went missing.

TSN went to a side-by-side commercial while trying to figure out what to do and then, after returning for two laps, went to commercial again but this time there was no side-by-side coverage, it was full-screen commerce. I suspect they were trying to reboot the system and had to shut everything down first. That didn't work, though.

But then, as quickly as it disappeared, it returned. It was nice to hear voices again.

- It's very hard to do play-by-play of anything. If you think it's easy, turn off your TV sometime when you're watching racing, or baseball, or hockey, and do the commentary out loud. See? It's a skill and it takes awhile to master it.

Having said that, Ben Edwards - at least once a race - allows a Murray Walkerism to slip into his commentary. So this is a public service message, courtesy of me:

Ben, Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button are no longer teammates. When they were playing tag at one point during the last half of the race, you said this: "Hamilton is about to pass his teammate Button." Maybe you meant to say "former teammate," but somehow the "former" never made it out of your mouth.

This has happened before. It bears watching.

- NORRIS McDONALD

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Bob Armstrong, 65: Racer, contributor to motorsport growth in Canada

Bob Armstrong of Ottawa, a competitor and major contributor to motor racing in Canada, died Friday of cancer. He was 65.

As well as race-driving himself – as recently as last fall, in fact, during the Celebration of Motorsport weekend at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park – he was an organizer, supporter, contributor (chief steward of  several racing series and director of track safety at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve in Montreal, for example) and an administrator and executive (the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame) of motor sport in Canada.

Dr. Hugh Scully, Chairman of the Motorsport Hall, announced Saturday that to honour Bob for his many contributions, he will be made an Honourable Member at an induction ceremony later this year.

Said Scully: "On behalf of the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame, and personally, I want to express sadness and heartfelt condolences to his family and a real sense of loss at the passing of Bob after a courageous battle against cancer.

"He was an accomplished racing driver, a highly respected teacher and mentor to young drivers and a leader in motorsport safety at all levels,including Formula 1, IndyCar and NASCAR.

"Bob's dedication to the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame was exemplary. As a member of the Board, his thoughtful,well-considered input to our discussions always resonated well. His leadership, honesty and fairness as Chair of the Inductee Nomination and Selection Committee were always very helpful.

"Indeed, it was with great pleasure that I talked with Bob recently to inform him that he had been unanimously elected to Honourable Membership in the Hall this year. He was very pleased, proud and appreciative."

Paul Cooke, vice-president of ASN FIA Canada, the regulatory body that governs motorsport in Canada, issued this statement Saturday:

"If there is a Canadian `Royal Family' of racing,  it is certainly the Armstrongs. On any given weekend it was not unusual to find Bob the father, Cindy the mother and Jennifer the daughter at a race event in any number of roles from track preparation, race driving, officiating, training or whatever was needed to be done.

"Bob was someone that I personally worked with on many projects for more than three decades. We worked together for a week or 10 days every year at Canada’s most prestigious motor sport event – the Grand Prix of Canada. In addition to safety responsibilities for the Indy Racing League in Canada, Bob was also a key player in NASCAR Canada’s safety program.

"To know Bob was to respect his wealth of experience, knowledge and his willingness and ability to share with others. More importantly, to know him was to like him.

"Motor sport in Canada is better because Bob was here," Cooke concluded.

I watched Bob race for years (the photo of us together at Mosport - above - was taken in the fall of 2011), but got to know him when we were both involved with the Motorsport Hall. When French-Canadians were inducted, I would read the English dedication while Bob — who was fluently bilingual — would read the French.

A contributor in many ways over the years, he served most recently as chairman of the Hall’s selection committee.

Throughout his on-track career, Bob raced Formula Fords and Formula Atlantic single-seat cars as well as IMSA GTO, Firestone Firehawk, Michelin Enduro and Sprint GT cars. No homebody, he raced at circuits throughout North America.

He was runner-up twice in the North American Pro-Ford Series and won three Canadian Formula Ford championships in the 1970s. He was 1994 Canadian Endurance Champion, 2003 Canadian Touring GT Champion and 2005 over-all Division winner of the Sprint GT Championship.

In the mid-1980s, while still competing, Bob became ASN Canada FIA’s Chief Steward for the National Formula 2000 and Rothmans Porsche Series and oversaw competition that featured drivers like Ron Fellows, Paul Tracy, Jimmy Vasser, Alex Tagliani, Patrick Carpentier and Scott Goodyear, among others.

In 1990, he also became Director, Track Safety at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve and since then worked with the FIA Formula One World Championship (Canadian Grand Prix), the World Sports Car Series, the CART Indy car series and the NASCAR Nationwide Series.

Bob was also the Chief Race Instructor for the CASC and provided advanced driving training to the staffs of automobile manufacturers operating in Canada. Another contribution he made to the industry was by helping out each fall at the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada’s annual TestFest.

Two of AJAC’s executive members, Richard Russell of Halifax and Clare Dear of London, Ont., were saddened by the news.

“Bob was an immense asset,” said Russell. “Working with him was a pleasure. He controlled the track component in his usual capable manner with humour and understanding, giving encouragement when deserved and discouragement when necessary.

“Bob was an asset to Canadian motorsport from his days as a competitor to those as a wise guide.”

Added Dear: “Bob’s skill and experience as a racer and track safety expert ensured all involved with our TestFest track activities were in the surest hands. The fact we’ve never had a crash or injury is a testament to his abilities to keep the journalist testers’ adrenalin and testosterone in check.

“He was quick to offer encouragement and advice to the newbies, yet he could tone down even the biggest egos in such a subtle manner, when necessary. And there was always that trademark smile.

“Bob has always been a huge supporter of Canadian motorsport, so it’s not surprising he was so actively involved in the Motorsport Hall of Fame. His contributions to the sport, and more important to the people who are involved in it at all levels, are immense, but equally important is the fact Bob was such a genuinely wonderful person.”

Thom Dickinson, vice-president of the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame, spoke about Bob's commitment to the sport.

"Bob was one of the most passionate and dedicated people I have ever known," Dickinson said.

"As a Member of the Board of the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame, and later as its Vice President, Bob would leave no stone unturned in his quest for the best for the organization. It would start with a four-to-five-hour drive each way from Ottawa to Toronto for our meetings. His attention to detail was impeccable, and his care and concern for the people we inducted was unmatched.

"I considered him a friend as well as a colleague, and will truly miss him, as will Canadian Motorsport."

Ralph Luciw, former Honda-Michelin Challenge Series director, and a friend, had this to say:

"Bob was very much a no-nonsense kind of guy, but only for the best of reasons. He wanted things done right, the first time.

"He worked tirelessly on the CMHF Honourable Members Inductee program and did a masterful job of chairing that process for the Hall of Fame. His contributions to the safe running of events, whether it was a club race or an International event or the AJAC Car of the Year competition, were too many to list and contributed to the success of all of these programs.

"He could be tough but he always had time to help people out and after he "straightened you out," he'd leave you with a big smile and a pat on the back."

Robert Allen Armstrong was born in Ottawa on April 5, 1948, and died in Ottawa on April 19, 2013. He leaves his wife Cindy, sons Scott and Trevor and daughter Jennifer, five grandchildren and 22 nieces and nephews.

A private family service will be held, with a Celebration of Life planned for the near future.

The family says it welcomes donations in Bob's memory to Pancreatic Cancer Canada or the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame.

- NORRIS McDONALD

On Paul Tracy, Stirling Moss and Justin Bieber

Canada's Paul Tracy was inducted into the Long Beach Motorsports Walk of Fame Thursday morning and the honour affected him more than perhaps even he'd anticipated.

He won the Long Beach Indy Lights race in 1990 driving for Brian Stewart, made his first Indy car start in Long Beach in 1991 for Dale Coyne and earned his first Indy car victory on the temporary street circuit in 1993 for Team Penske.

He also won the Long Beach Indy car races in 2000, 2003 and 2004.

Toronto Star Wheels' special correspondent Sylvia Proudfoot is in Long Beach and filed notes and quotes after the ceremony.

"You can’t have a great race without having a great city to host it," an emotional Tracy said during the ceremony.

"I want to thank Long Beach for everything that they do putting on this race. It's one of the marquee races in the world in terms of motorsports. If you've won a race here, you put your name on a list of some of the greatest drivers that have ever walked the face of the earth, guys like Parnelli [Jones, who attended the ceremony], Bryan Redman, Danny Sullivan, Michael Andretti – the list goes on and on.

"I drove in last night and I got to the hotel like I would every year for almost 25 years of my life. I went for a walk and the sun was setting to the west and I was walking across the bridge over to the marina. I took a look down the front straightaway and I said to myself, 'Man, where did all the time go?' I was looking at the sun setting and I was thinking the sun has set on my career now. But I feel as young as ever!

"I've got to thank all the teams I drove for and all the great competitors that spurred me on. Winning here at Long Beach has been one of the highlights of my career, so I'm very very honoured to be in this group and I really cherish it."Tracy, whose four Long Beach victories tie him for second with Mario Andretti (Al Unser Jr. has won the most: six), was joined by Adrian Fernandez in being inducted into the Walk of Fame during the eighth annual ceremony.

Previous inductees include Jimmy Vasser, Scott Pruett, Galles Racing, Chip Ganassi Racing Teams, Sullivan, Michael Andretti, Bobby Rahal, Mario Andretti, Unser Jr. Phil Hill, Dan Gurney, Brian Redman, Newman Haas Racing, Chris Pook, Parnelli Jones and Gary Gabelich.

After the ceremony, Tracy told Proudfoot that, "I'm thrilled to be selected to be part of this list of great drivers. They're legends. I never thought in my wildest dreams when I started racing, when I started my Indy car career here in 1991, that I would ever be mentioned with those guys' names, so it's a tremendous honour.

"Toronto, as my hometown (where he's won two races), was always my favourite race, but this race here was one that I've always excelled at. I've had a lot of success here, been incredibly lucky here. To win races, you've got to be good and you've got to be lucky. For whatever reason, I was always pretty lucky here and things kinda went the way that I wanted them to go.

"I won here in Indy Lights and four times in an Indy car, so Long Beach has been a great city to me."

Tracy's CART victory at Long Beach in 2003 was one of seven he scored during the season on his way to the series championship. He is tied with Sebastien Bourdais and Dario Franchitti for seventh on the all-time victory list with 31.

Proudfoot also caught up with Oakville IndyCar star James Hinchcliffe, in town for Sunday's Grand Prix of Long Beach, and reviewed his season to date: a victory in St. Petersburg and no points at the second race at Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama.

"It just highlights the sport," he said. "It really is the highest of highs and the lowest of lows and in the first two races we experienced pretty much all of that.

"It's hopefully going to be pretty straightforward from here on out. This (Long Beach) is a track that's historically treated me pretty well. We've had some good results here and the team's been strong here in the past. It's certainly promising coming into it, but these races are so unpredictable. You never know."

 

The other day, somebody asked Stirling Moss — Sir Stirling, to you — whether a woman could ever win a Formula One race and he said he didn’t think so.

There was outrage around the world.

How dare that man say such a thing!

Give me a break.

Can’t somebody say something these days, or do something, without there being outrage because whatever was said or done didn’t fit people’s preconceived notion of the answer or the deed?

Do people in the world walk around in a perpetual state of almost-outrage, just waiting for someone to say or do something so they can react? Get the juices flowing, as it were?

Moss stated an opinion. Maybe he’s right, maybe he’s wrong but doesn’t he have the right to answer a question without half the world jumping all over him?

Poor Justin Bieber, who’s a kid from Stratford, writes something in a book and the world is outraged. Or so the media say.

Justin Trudeau and Stephen Harper get up in the morning and they both say something and half of Canada is outraged about what one said and the other half is similarly outraged about what the other said.

I think the word outrage is now the world’s most overused word.

I’m outraged that so many people are outraged.

I don’t want to live in a world where nobody can have an opinion, which is what is happening here.

Relax.

 

Mathew Di Leo of IInnisfil will join another Canadian, Mikael Grenier of Stoneham, Que., in the Indy Lights race at Long Beach this weekend. In fact, the two Canadians will  make up 20 per cent of the field as only 10 cars are entered.

This is an appalling state of affairs. Indy Lights is supposed to be the final proving/training ground on the Road to Indy ladder system that IndyCar likes to crow about and there are no cars.

The Atlantic Series was in a mess like this back in 2005 when it was on the undercard at Champ Car races. About a dozen cars would show up for each race and only four drivers entered every race (26 in total scored points).

Kevin Kalkhoven, one of the owners of the Champ Car World Series, was appalled at what he saw and over the winter took control of the series. He put the arm on all of the owners in Champ Car as well as around the shoulders of many of his well-heeled friends and insisted they all get involved.

The entry list for Atlantics in 2006 went up to an astonishing 29 cars and 44 drivers in total scored points.

This is what IndyCar has got to do. Right now, in the Lights championship, IRL owner Sam Schmidt has three entries and Andretti Autosport has two. Where are entries from Chip Ganassi Racing, Team Penske, KV Racing (Kevin Kalkhoven did it once; he should do it again), Rahal-Letterman and on-and-on?

All the teams in the NHL have top minor-league affiliates, as do the teams in Major League Baseball. So should the teams in big-league, open-wheel auto racing.

The people who run IndyCar, Mark Miles and the rest, have got to put it to those team owners in IndyCar, as Kalkhoven did in Champ Car, and tell them to get with the program.

Otherwise, quit pretending the series is something it isn’t and shut it down.

 

Will the Grand Prix of Bahrain this weekend be the tire strategy race we’ve come to expect from Formula One this season?

And, in qualifying, will anybody go out in Q3? Or stand pat where they are after Q2 and save their tires? Or perhaps slap on a set of softs (or intermediates, or whatever) and run a lap or two to make it legal and then sit out the session in the garage.

Smart strategy but F1, as usual, is forgetting the fans, who are being cheated.

Why can’t F1 roll back the clock to the last century and let the teams have qualifying tires? That way, nobody has to worry about saving tires and they can strategize all they want in the race but qualifying would be what it’s supposed to be: a balls-to-the-wall, one-lap, banzai run for pole position and all the marbles that go with it.

 

All eyes will be on two drivers in the NASCAR races this weekend at Kansas Speedway. (An aside: the last time I was at Kansas Speedway, the tornado sirens kept going off. It was 4 o'clock in the afternoon and it was pitch black. That is a scary deal, let me tell you.)

Kyle Busch will be in his Camping World Truck Series truck as well as his Sprint Cup car. He has a habit of winning both races whenever he enters two of them on the same weekend.

Also, he’s on a tear. After finishing 23rd at Phoenix early in the season, he’s been fourth, second, first, fifth and first since — up to and including last weekend’s stop at Texas.

Busch didn’t make the Chase last season. It looks like he’s not taking any chances this year.

And, of course, the other driver people will be watching is defending Sprint Cup champion Brad Keselowski.

Yes, Joey Logano and his Penske Racing team were also nailed by NASCAR this week for illegal activity surrounding the suspension on their race car but the heat will be on the Keselowski side of the Penske garage because of his outburst following the Texas race when he suggested NASCAR was out to “get” them.

Both Penske teams have appealed the suspensions, fines, etc., that were levied but NASCAR is the law and the law will eventually win.

I hope Keselowski hasn’t done himself too much damage. His holier-than-thou statements last weekend were a little much and NASCAR fans can be fickle.

In short: a hero can become a villain just like that.

- NORRIS McDONALD

My Indy 500 memories won’t be my son’s

In 1971, I went to Indianapolis for the 500 with my great friend Billy Richards. I was on assignment and Billy was along for the ride.

Although I’ve since lost touch with him – in fact, I haven’t had any contact with him for years – I can tell you we were once the closest of friends: we drank booze in bars together, and chased women together and, at that time in our lives, that was pretty much all we did (except work, of course).

Billy was a graphic designer and magazine paste-up guy and I was copy editing for a national newspaper and writing about auto racing on the side. We had a lot in common.

On the morning of the Indy 500, I went up to my seat in the press box (at the time, a platform underneath the upper deck of seating on the outside of the main straightaway) and I looked down just as Billy was heading into the infield along with thousands of other people. I called down; he looked up and gave me a wave and then disappeared into a tunnel.

I’ll let him pick up the story.

"So I’m looking for a place to watch the race on the backstretch," he said. "Every available piece of real estate back there is occupied. I’m not that big (five-foot-eight, if he really stretched) so I can’t see over people. So after awhile I figure I’ll just lie down in the grass and listen to the cars go by.

"I’m standing there thinking about this and I look down and there’s this guy lying on the ground – leaning on his elbow, actually – and he’s looking up at me. He’s extremely muscular. His neck is bigger than my thigh. He’s got a square head and a flat-top brushcut. He’s looking at me and he seems kind of threatening and I’m thinking I should leave.

"So just before I start to walk away, he says to me: ‘Hey, you. Can you arm-wrestle?’

"I look back at him and I say, ‘No, thanks.’

"And so he says, ‘Can ya drink beer?’

" ‘Yes, I can do that,’ I say, so he motions me to sit down beside him. He gives me a beer out of his cooler, asks my name and introduces me to his family who are all there, and when it comes time to eat the fried chicken lunch they have with them, they count me in.

"They were from Kokomo and he was a real nice guy and I had a really great time.’ "

We agreed he probably had a better time than me, because I was working and there was no beer in the press box.

I started thinking about that trip, and Billy Richards, yesterday afternoon after I heard about the bombing in Boston.

Why?

Because after what happened at the Boston Marathon – the Boston Marathon, for crying out loud – there is a very distinct possibility that starting at the next really big public event, the Kentucky Derby, perhaps, or the Indy 500 right after, the security will be suffocating.

And it will never let up.

It’s highly unlikely that some guy from Kokomo – or others just like him – will be allowed to carry a cooler full of beer and chicken for his family into the infield at Churchill Downs or Indianapolis.

Which is really too bad.

We cry for the victims in Boston. And we cry a little for ourselves, too.

I have my memories. But I wonder about my 16-year-old.

What will he have?