THE LINE

September 19, 2012

(Jamey Price - INDYCAR/LAT Photo USA 2012)
Ed Carpenter (No. 20 Fuzzy's Vodka/Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet) earned his second IZOD IndyCar Series victory Saturday night in the MAVTV 500 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California. See the IndyCar Fast Forward highlights here.

(Phillip G. Abbott - INDYCAR/LAT Photo USA 2012)
Dario Franchitti (No. 10 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Honda) finished second Saturday night. Franchitti tied Al Unser Jr. and Bobby Rahal for fifth all time with 88 podium finishes. He also passed Rick Mears with his 112th top-five finish and tied Castroneves and Dixon for eighth with his 29th runner-up finish.

(Phillip G. Abbott - INDYCAR/LAT Photo USA 2012)
Ryan Hunter-Reay (No. 28 Andretti Autosport Team DHL/Sun Drop Citrus Soda Chevrolet) leads Scott Dixon (No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet) during the race. Dixon finished third.

(Perry Nelson - INDYCAR/LAT Photo USA 2012)
It was Ed Carpenter's first win in 2012 and his second career IndyCar win. It was also Ed Carpenter Racing's first win as an IZOD IndyCar Series team. "This feels great for a brand new team that just started in November," Carpenter said. "I probably should have won Indy but I kind of messed up a little bit. We have been trying to win ovals all year and finally got it done tonight. A good way to end the year." On passing Dario: "I got a good start, I thought that maybe that was going to be my last chance to get by him and then he just kept protecting the bottom and I started working the top where I would run all night through one and two and kept building momentum, and building momentum and finally got close enough to get a draft and get a run around him on the front stretch."

(Perry Nelson - INDYCAR/LAT Photo USA 2012)
Carlos Munoz (No. 26 Team Dialy-Ser) won the Firestone Indy Lights Auto Club Speedway Foundation 100 by .6334 of a second over David Ostella (No. 22 TMR-Global Precast-Xtreme Coil Drilling). Esteban Guerrieri (No. 11 Pistas Argentinas/SSM with Curb-Agajanian) finished third. Tristan Vautier (No. 77 Mazda Road to Indy/SSM with Curb-Agajanian) finished fourth to claim the Firestone Indy Lights championship by eight points over Guerrieri. "I came over to the USA because of the Mazda Road to Indy," Vautier said. "I was struggling getting up the ladder in Europe, and I knew that if I was coming over here and was able to win the Star Mazda Championships I would be able to get into the bigger cars. That was the goal. I won the championship last year. I cannot be thankful enough to Mazda for what they do for young drivers. Obviously, you have to earn it. You have to win championships. But it really rewards the winners and you know, they don't pick you up because they like you they pick you up because you earned it. You have to win to get into this scholarship system so I'm really thankful to that, I wouldn't be here without them."

(John Thawley  ~  Motorsports Photography @ www.johnthawley.com  ~ 248.227.0110)
The 3.27-mile VIRginia International Raceway hosted Saturday's American Le Mans VIR 240, the ninth round of the 10-race 2012 American Le Mans Series. Klaus Graf and Lucas Luhr teamed for a three-lap victory in the four-hour race driving Muscle Milk’s Honda Performance Development ARX-03a. The day also belonged to Corvette Racing’s Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner (No. 4 Corvette Racing Compuware C6.R) who clinched the GT title with a class victory. The victory also sewed up the team championship for Corvette Racing and manufacturer title for Chevrolet. And Alex Job Racing’s Cooper MacNeil, who clinched the GT Challenge championship thanks to a class win with Leh Keen. CORE autosport’s Alex Popow wrapped up the Prototype Challenge title with a third-place class finish in the No. 06 ORECA FLM09 as CORE teammates Colin Braun and Jon Bennett won in the No. 05 entry. Check out John Thawley's scintillating images from the race here. And A.J. Morning's report below.

Heaven On Earth. One Hell of a Show.

By A.J. Morning

Alton, VA.  Two weeks ago in Baltimore, the world of sports car racing was rocked by the news that the American Le Mans Series and Grand Am Road Racing were “merging,” before details were revealed that showed this was one of those “don’t-call-it-a-buyout” buyouts. In the short time since, countless experts – including a few who actually know enough to speak intelligently on the subject – have weighed-in on what it all means; for the combined series promoters, for the teams and manufacturers, the sponsors, and the fans.

The dust still has yet to settle, and the chatter remains: Is it good news? Is it bad news? The press conference on September 5^th left open far more questions than it answered, but the inside line suggests this much: Come what may, the combining of the two series was probably the eventual outcome with the least amount of fallout (both economically and politically) for all those involved, as both groups had spent some 13 years fighting over a decreasing slice of the motorsports pie. NASCAR Holdings simply took the textbook corporate approach: If you can’t beat ‘em, buy ‘em. No matter your take on the acquisition, it’s just one big wait-and-see for the next year or so – and there’s lots of racing to be done before the end of 2013.

This brings us, of course, to this weekend’s first-ever appearance of the ALMS at Virginia International Raceway, quite possibly the most astute definition of the word “bucolic” as you’ll find applied to an American racing circuit. The track is wrapped in Southern charm, and proudly bills itself what the late Paul Newman described as “heaven on Earth.” In basic terms, VIR is 3.27 miles of rolling hills, fast straights, one big beautiful oak tree, and as many turns as Sebring. It’s hard to ignore the red clay and down-home feel reminiscent of Road Atlanta – albeit with some uncommonly swank track side accommodations for the “coffee on the balcony overlooking a motoring paradise” set.

With ALMS, of course, comes a huge crowd. By Saturday morning, overflow parking was loading up, and several track workers and local volunteers around the circuit were overheard stating “I’ve never seen so many people in all my life!” Not “people at the track,” but “people.” For a group putting on what had to be by far its biggest show ever, the friendly staff at VIR did a commendable job of keeping things moving along.

As has been the case for a few years now, the real show in ALMS is the absolutely fierce competition in GT class – and Corvette Racing was able to use the four-hour event to lock up the manufacturer and driver’s championships for the year, while class-winning driver Oliver Gavin celebrated his 100^th series start: “For me, my 100th race, to win the race and win the championships, driver’s, team, and manufacturer, I don't think there is anything else I could have done today… We made our own luck. We clambered and put our self in the right position. We executed that 4 times this year, that’s why we won the championship.”

The series’ LMP1 class is set to enter the final round of the season at Petit Le Mans with the title still undecided. Greg Pickett’s Muscle Milk Racing Honda once again had the speed, and without the tight course and concrete barriers of Baltimore’s street circuit, Lucas Luhr and Klaus Graf were able to keep the nose clean and sprint to victory. The two-car Dyson Racing Lola/Mazda team, however, were never quite up to speed. Dyson used the VIR race to debut it’s “Flybrid” KERS system, which with the season nearing its end and the championship still within reach, seems quite a gamble. The KERS “works efficiently,” according to Chris Dyson, “when it’s working.” He added that the system is still in the early stages of development, and that it will return in the car at Petit Le Mans.

The grid at Petit, of course, has been hurt by the loss of the WEC sanction – though it’s also being bolstered somewhat by the addition of some entries coming over from the now-cancelled (or “on hiatus”) European Le Mans Series – which was utterly decimated by Euro-based teams flocking to the FIA-sanctioned series. To anyone who just plain loves sports car racing, however, Petit Le Mans is the last race of the year that matters.

That’s it for now; I’ll see you at the next pit stop.

(Highcroft Racing)
The Nissan DeltaWing will race in North America for the first time at Petit Le Mans, the finale of the 2012 American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón. The DeltaWing first captured the world’s attention on its debut at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The pioneering Nissan DeltaWing racer will compete in the 1,000-mile Petit Le Mans powered by Mazda on October 17-20 at Road Atlanta. The revolutionary race car was designed to perform like a contemporary sports prototype while cutting weight, fuel consumption and tire use by half. Monday’s announcement (9/17) came at Nissan's North American headquarters in Nashville with Nissan Americas Vice-Chairman, Bill Krueger, on hand. Watch it here.

(Courtesy of SRT)
Brad Keselowski served notice on Sunday that the Penske Racing driver would be more than just a factor in NASCAR's Chase for the Championship, he might just win the whole damn thing. The hugely-talented 28-year-old recorded his fourth win of the 2012 Sprint Cup season in the GEICO 400 by running down Jimmie Johnson (No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Lowe's/Kobalt Chevrolet) in his No. 2 Penske Racing Miller Lite Dodge with 35 laps remaining and then pulling away. ''I feel like it's my goal to be a Sprint Cup champion, to be a winner,'' Keselowski told the assembled racing press after the race. ''Racing is one of the few things I've ever done in my life that has been able to take me to another level mentally and physically, and it demands that out of you to be successful.'' ''It's a great day for us,'' owner Roger Penske said. ''It cools me down a little bit after being hot last night.'' Penske missed out on the IndyCar Championship when Will Power smacked the wall during the IndyCar finale at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif. Saturday night, so he was understandably more pleased with Keselowski's performance on Sunday at Chicagoland Speedway. Kasey Kahne (No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Farmers Insurance Chevrolet) finished third.

(SCCA)
The Sports Car Club of America has announced the formation of the U.S. Majors Tour, a series of premium national events for top-tier amateur drivers. The Majors, which was piloted in 2012, will launch nationally in January and offer 24 race weekends across the country in 2013. “We are tapping into drivers’ extraordinary sense of competition,” Jeff Dahnert, SCCA President and CEO, said. “Top-tier amateur racing in America has become diluted over the past decade, with too many events and too many organizations competing for the same pool of drivers. The very best want to race against large fields of similarly talented drivers – in a structured and safe environment – and the Majors offers just that.” Drivers will be divided into four conferences, each competing for a Conference Championship. The season culminates with the 50th running of the SCCA National Championship Runoffs at Road America next September, 2013, where the best from the Majors race with SCCA’s other nationally qualified drivers to crown national champions. For more information about the U.S. Majors Tour, visit SCCAMajors.com.

(Porsche)
The Porsche 918 Spyder prototype has achieved a best time of 7 minutes and 14 seconds around the 12.8-mile Nürburgring Nordschleife in test runs. The plug-in hybrid super car has surpassed expectations, according to Porsche, and proven its dynamic driving potential nearly one year before the start of series production. "With the time of 7:14 minutes, the 918 Spyder prototype is already proving to be a fully sustainable concept after just a few months on the road,” said Dr. Frank Walliser, head of the 918 Spyder project. The lap time of the Porsche 918 Spyder prototype is one of the best ever recorded for a street-legal vehicle with standard tires. It is particularly impressive as it was achieved from a standing start. The 795-horsepower plug-in hybrid super sports car was equipped with production-intent Michelin street tires and the optional "Weissach" feature package, which includes measures to improve driving dynamics.

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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