May 30, 2012
(F. Peirce Williams - INDYCAR/LAT Photo USA 2012)
The key moment in the 96th running of the Indianapolis 500 last Sunday: Takuma Sato (No. 15 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda) dives inside Dario Franchitti (No. 50 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Honda) going into Turn One on the last lap, before the contact and the spin into the wall. "What an incredible weekend," Sato said afterward. Not only the weekend, but also the month of May. I was going for the win. On the last restart, we jumped from seventh to fifth, then taking fourth, third, second. I kept pushing and overtaking. On the very last lap, I had a good tow from Dario. I thought I had the job done. But he kept pushing and didn't give me enough room, so that I was well below the white line. But an outstanding job by the team. It was a very exciting race." Sato drove a magnificent, aggressive race. The race of his life, in fact.
(F. Peirce Williams - INDYCAR/LAT Photo USA 2012)
The action was absolutely furious throughout the Indianapolis 500 with a record 34 lead changes. Here on the restart on Lap 184 you can see Tony Kanaan (No. 11 GEICO/Mouser Electronics KVRT Chevrolet) about to go by Dario Franchitti (No. 50 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Honda) into Turn 1. You can also see Ryan Briscoe (No. 2 Team Penske IZOD Chevrolet), Takuma Sato (No. 15 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda), Scott Dixon (No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Honda), Justin Wilson (No. 18 Sonny's BBQ Honda), Marco Andretti (No. 26 Andretti Autosport Team RC Cola Chevrolet), James Hinchcliffe (No. 27 Andretti Autosport Team GoDaddy.com Chevrolet), Rubens Barrichello (No. 8 BMC/Embrase KV Racing Technology Chevrolet) and Charlie Kimball (No. 83 NovoLog FlexPen Honda). "... I had a wonderful afternoon," Barrichello said. "You learn who races a little bit harder, who races a little bit more friendly. But the last 20 laps, I tell you, they are completely different from the whole other 180. It's just, people are just really, really going for it, as I did, but like I said I was flat out all the way through, but I had a bit too much push."
(Michael L. Levitt - INDYCAR/LAT Photo USA 2012)
A very ugly moment in Sunday's race that potentially could have been much, much worse. Mike Conway (No. 14 ABC Supply Co./A.J. Foyt Racing Honda) lost it in Turn 1 after a pit stop and ended up slamming into the wall and up into the catch fencing, cockpit first, with Will Power (No. 12 Team Penske Verizon Chevrolet) crashing into him while he was airborne. "My mistake coming into the pits," Conway said. "Came in a bit too hard and collected some of my guys, and that screwed up the front wing and we didn't realize it till I got out. Through Turns 3 and 4, it felt a little wiggly, and I thought it was just tire temperatures. But down the front straight when I went down into Turn 1, I could see one of the endplates sticking up in the air. I knew it wouldn't be right turning in, so I tried to back out just going in. But I knew Will was close behind me so I didn't want to back out too much, and the car got very loose, which I was able to correct it once. But it broke loose again, and I couldn't catch it the second time and then I was just a passenger onboard. I'm very sorry for my guys; I'm glad that they are OK. I'm sorry for our sponsor ABC Supply as the car was really good, and we were moving up through the field." Power was obviously bitterly disappointed. "(Conway) said the team sent him out with a broken wing," Power added. "I don't understand why they would do that. I'm fine, but I'm just disappointed for the Verizon guys. All the work they put in this month, and to be just taken out that. Obviously, both of us are OK. We'll move on."
(Michael L. Levitt - INDYCAR/LAT Photo USA 2012)
Scott Dixon (No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Honda) and Dario Franchitti (No. 50 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Honda) took turns drafting each other going into Turn 1 in the closing laps. Dixon drove yet another superb "500" but ended-up second. "It was pretty close and (Dario Franchitti and Takuma Sato) got a run on me into (Turn) 1 there, Dixon said. "Sato was definitely a guy throwing it in there all day, and he tried to do the same thing to Dario. I thought we were going to get really lucky because they touched, and I thought they were both going to end up in the fence. Credit to Dario. He had a bad start to the day and came through the field. It's a 1-2 finish for Target on their 50th anniversary. You couldn't have it a better way. I just wish the No. 9 was first. He drove a hell of a race and definitely deserved it." (About Honda's performance on race day): "I think (Honda) have been working hard, and mileage to start the month was pretty high. They worked hard on the race engine and fuel mileage, and I think fuel mileage was the biggest part today. We definitely had the Chevys covered. Real happy for Honda. What a way to win their first race of the year. They can forget about the other four. To come out and win Indy in their first attempt against Chevy is pretty cool." (About the finish and the fact that Dan Wheldon's three closest friends - Franchitti, Dixon and Kanaan ended-up on the podium): "It's pretty crazy how it all lines up. Dan still owes me one, I think. Dario did a fantastic job. All of us wish Dan was still here racing with us. He's a hell of a guy and left a big void and hole in all of our lives. I hope we put on a good race for the fans, and I'm sure he's smiling down on us."
(Maria W.Grady - INDYCAR/LAT Photo USA 2012)
Tony Kanaan (No. 11 GEICO/Mouser Electronics KVRT Chevrolet) gets pit service on Sunday. Kanaan drove yet another superb Indianapolis 500, finishing third. "To lose the race this way, battling until the end ... it's not a loss," Kanaan said. "I had a lot of fun. I mean, the first thing I did when I passed the five cars on the restart, I looked at the grandstands because I wanted to see the people. They were all up and cheering for me. During the yellow flag, I can see it. People were screaming. It's awesome. I love this place. I can't thank enough the Hulman-George family and everybody. What a great way, what a great race to honor Dan Wheldon today." (About the last lap): "On the last lap, I was trying to set up Scott. I knew I was a sitting duck on that restart, and then I see Taku going on the inside of Dario, and I know Dario. I said, 'Either they're both going to crash, and I'm going to have to pass Dixon for the win, or Dario's going to win.' And Dario won."
(Todd Davis - INDYCAR/LAT Photo USA 2012)
Oriol Servia (No. 22 Panther/Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Chevrolet) had an outstanding run from 27th to fourth place in the "500," although Marco was upset with him. "We got a flat spot on our first stint and I was like, 'Wow, a lap down already,'" he commented after. "Usually, you get a chance to get your lap back and it didn't happen until the last pit stop. We were last, but on the lead lap. I knew it was our chance. Every restart, we moved forward. It was like non-stop. If there was one more restart, I think we would have had something for the win. But, I'm not complaining. Basically last to fourth. I'm super happy. We never gave up. We had a couple of issues. We knew we could do it together. We finished second in the pit stop competition and showed that we have nothing to fear from the big teams. We showed that again on the restarts. I'm extremely proud of all of us."
(F. Peirce Williams - INDYCAR/LAT Photo USA 2012)
Ryan Briscoe (No. 2 Team Penske IZOD Chevrolet) sat on the pole and ended-up a disappointing fifth in the highly-competitive "500." "I had a pretty good car. I was driving a lot in traffic. We were probably running a bit less down force than the Ganassi cars. But man, they were fast. They were fast. It was good. I had a good race car that second-to-the-last one (pit stop.) I made a few positions and certainly got ourselves back in the game. It was a long and hot day. It was pretty tiring out there. I'm a bit upset. I really wanted to win this, and we had a good shot at it. Hopefully, we can come back next year and try again." Not a great day for Team Penske, all things considered.
(Michael L. Levitt - INDYCAR/LAT Photo USA 2012)
Dario Franchitti (No. 50 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Honda), Scott Dixon (No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Honda) and Tony Kanaan (No. 11 GEICO/Mouser Electronics KVRT Chevrolet), Dan Wheldon's three closest friends, cross the finish line under yellow to bring the 96th running of the Indianapolis 500 to a close. A most memorable race, for a thousand different reasons. (See Peter's comments in "Fumes.")
(Michael L. Levitt - INDYCAR/LAT Photo USA 2012)
Dario being wheeled into Victory Lane after winning his third Indianapolis 500. Dario joins select company becoming the the 10th driver to have three or more wins in Indianapolis 500 history. Dario joins Helio Castroneves as a three-time Indianapolis 500 winner in the fewest number of starts: nine. Louis Meyer won for the third time in his ninth start, but it was his 10th Indianapolis 500 because he drove as a relief driver only in his rookie year. "I just want to dedicate this to two of Indianapolis' finest, Dan Wheldon and Michael Wanser," Franchitti said. "Thanks to all of the Indianapolis fans for their tribute to Dan today. What a race. What a race. I think D-dub (Wheldon) would be proud of that one." (About his Turn 1 confrontation with Takuma Sato): "I moved over, and I saw he was coming. I came back over, and I moved up the track. He got loose underneath me. Kind of reminds me of Emerson (Fittipaldi) and Little Al (Unser) at the end there. This means the world. This is Indianapolis. To be on this trophy on either side of Dan, that means more than anything. The last week I've been studying my buddy JR's book, Johnny Rutherford gave me his book with a wonderful inscription, and he said he hoped to welcome me to the three-time club. To be in the company of guys like that means so much. What a great race today, to be able to come from the back of the grid after being in the pit lane and being spun." (Michael Wanser died last Oct. 23, 2011, exactly one week after Dan Wheldon passed away. Wanser was the 6-year-old son of Target Chip Ganassi Racing team manager (racing operations) Barry Wanser. Michael Wanser was suffering from acute myeloid leukemia. Team members nicknamed him "Iron Man Mike" for the courage and strength he showed during his fight with the disease.)
Chip Ganassi post-race comments: "I remember Dario, when I first met him I think was at Toronto in 1996, 1997, and he was driving for Carl Hogan. I remember meeting him. You have to remember, these guys have been in a lot of races since then, seen a lot of things. He's been through a lot of the changes in the sport, different cars, different tires, different engines, different series, different this, different that. He's the kind of guy you'd like to have because he's sort of been there, done that. When it comes to a day like today and we were last after the first pit stop, there was never one word about that. It wasn't like, Oh, man. Nobody on the team said anything. Came in, changed the front wing. He went out. He said, All right. Before you know it, he was 23rd, next thing he was 16th, next thing he was 10th, yeah. That's the kind of guy you want in your car."
Mike Hull (Team Manager, Ganassi Racing): "I'd only say that because of Chip and his ability to be able to think as a race driver, he was a race driver before he was an owner. Race drivers understand race drivers. I think that's an advantage for us. He understands the difference between one driver that has talent and another one that has talent. It's that extra ingredient that's really important. So when it comes time to fill a slot, we fill a slot. In Dario's case, we have a guy that hasn't reached his midlife crisis yet, that drives with the experience of his age, but he comes to work every day with the enthusiasm and the intent of an 18-year-old. That's a pretty tough combination to beat. Then what he does, he's absolutely unselfish. In motor racing around the world with two-driver teams, how many teams can say that? I don't think there's one, except this team. Of course, I have a biased opinion. The two drivers that we have (Dixon and Franchitti) that work together as one got us to the front today. That's made a big difference over time."
Indy 500 ca$h. Besides being the one single motor race in the world that every driver would love to win, the lure of the Indianapolis 500 is the fact that it pays out some serious ca$h. Dario Franchitti earned $2,474,280 from an overall purse of $13,285,815 for his victory last Sunday in the 96th Indianapolis 500 Mile Race, driving his No. 50 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. 2008 Indianapolis 500 winner Scott Dixon brought his No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Honda up from the 15th starting position to finish second and earn $1,102,280. It was Dixon's seventh consecutive top-six finish at Indianapolis. 2004 IZOD IndyCar Series champion Tony Kanaan posted the fifth top-five Indianapolis 500 finish of his career, placing third in the No. 11 GEICO/Mouser Electronics KV Racing Technology Chevrolet while earning $636,580. Oriol Servia climbed 23 spots from his 27th starting position - more positions gained than any other driver in this year's race - to finish an Indianapolis 500-best fourth in the No. 22 Panther/Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Chevrolet. He earned $443,430. After winning the closest battle for the pole in the history of the Indianapolis 500 Ryan Briscoe rounded out the top five finishers in the No. 2 Team Penske IZOD Chevrolet and earned $489,930. Formula One veteran Rubens Barrichello won the prestigious Chase Rookie of the Year Award after placing 11th in the No. 8 BMC/Embrase KV Racing Technology Chevrolet, the highest-finishing rookie. Barrichello's total earnings were $331,080, which included a $25,000 bonus from Chase.
(Phillip Abbott - INDYCAR/LAT Photo USA 2012)
Esteban Guerrieri (No. 11 Pistas Argentinas/Sam Schmidt Motorsports with Curb-Agajanian) overtook race leader Tristan Vautier (No. 77 Mazda Road to Indy/SSM w/Curb-Agajanian) and Gustavo Yacaman (No. 2 TMR-Tuvacol-Xtreme Coil Drilling) in Turn 1 on Lap 38 and went on to win the Firestone Freedom 100 Indy lights race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Friday. Guerrieri won for the second time this season and it was the fourth consecutive year that a Sam Schmidt Motorsports driver won the race. Carlos Munoz (No. 26 Team Dialy-Ser) finished second with Vautier settling for third place.
(motorvationllc.com)
American Conor Daly escaped injury over the weekend after a spectacular accident in Monaco during the GP3 support race. The accident happened at the fastest part of the circuit as the cars exited the tunnel and braked for the Nouvelle chicane. Daly, who started the race from the 23rd position (after receiving a jump-start penalty in Friday's race), had moved up to 12th place when the accident occurred. He tried to pass Russian Dimitri Suranovich on multiple occasions but the Russian driver, who had lost his rear wing in a separate accident, ignored the move over and mechanical damage flags while blocking Daly's every move. Suranovich eventually pulled in front of the passing Daly causing him to vault over the top of the Russian's rear wheel. Daly's car immediately took off and flew through the air at more than 100 MPH before tearing sideways through the safety catch fencing. The car began to disintegrate as it landed back on the ground (on its wheels, fortunately) and the race was red flagged immediately due to the irreparable damage done to the safety catch fencing. "That was the biggest crash I've ever had," Daly said. "Thank you GP3 for a safe car. I could hardly believe that he was weaving that much with no rear wing. My car was mega, I hate when people do such stupid stuff." GP3 series officials excluded Suranovich from the race results for his actions. The next rounds of the GP3 series takes place in Valencia, Spain, June 23rd-24th.
(Ford)
Marcus Grönholm (Best Buy Mobile Ford Fiesta) won the Global Rallycross season opener and inaugural visit to Charlotte Motor Speedway Saturday night, taking the win in the 10-car final. The two-time World Rally Championship driver won the first two qualifying rounds and dominated the final to cap off a perfect night. Tanner Foust (Rockstar Fiesta) chased his Olsbergs MSE teammate throughout to finish second while Stephan Verdier gave Hyundai its first GRC podium to finish third. The Global Rallycross Championship returns to action June 9 -10 at Texas Motor Speedway.
Editor-in-Chief's Note: I really think an experienced visionary promoter is going to have to take the GRC by the scruff of the neck and whip it into shape. Sure, there are a lot of cool elements, but it needs a very taut format that features nonstop bang-bang-bang action. Just getting it off of the ground is not enough. In this case, it's about The Show, and that has to be the driving factor until further notice. Does it have potential? Absolutely. But now is a very critical time, and the dramatic improvements must come in bunches. - PMD
Editor-in-Chief's Note: if you follow Indy car racing and IndyCar, there is no more influential or knowledgeable voice covering it than Robin Miller. This week, on the heels of a scintillating Indianapolis 500, Robin exposes the dark underside of IndyCar and a movement to unseat its CEO, Randy Bernard. I've gotten to know Randy over the years and I think he has done a tremendous job. And any movement to unseat him is incredibly ill-advised and counterproductive. Yes, he needs a No. 2 with deep knowledge of the inner workings of the sport, as Robin points out, but he needs to stay right where he is and finish the job he set out to do. Read Robin's excellent piece about the situation here. - PMD
Editor-in-Chief's Note: Check out Michelin's racing website - "Michelin Alley" - and get in on all of the behind-the-scenes buzz. Go here. - PMD
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