Nashville no more for IndyCar?

The IndyCar Series failed to reach an agreement for 2009 for Nashville Superspeedway. Story here. There are also some reports that the series will instead run in Toronto. Either way, I think that the Canadian market will be very important as the ICS continues to grow. It's also worth noting that every report I saw from Edmonton discussed an enthusiastic, growing crowd attending the races. Good news for Canadian fans, ey!

Edmonton Preview

History:
The Edmonton airport circuit at the Edmonton City Centre Airport has only been in existence for just a few years, although the city of Edmonton has a history of racing dating back to the Can-Am days of the late 60's and early 70's. Roger Penske himself has won at the Edmonton International Speedway circuit in a Porsche 917 against stiff competition from Mark Donohue, Sir Jackie Stewart, and Bruce McLaren. He's not the only big name to have enjoyed racing at this too often overlooked city. During the early days of Formula Atlantics, the greatest Canadian racer to have ever put their right foot down, Gille Villenuve won twice at EIS.

The airport circuit, although not as richly steeped as its older sibling EIS, still holds amongst its list of competitors a significant number of stout drivers. The three races at this circuit, beginning in 2005, were held by the Champ Car World Series, many of whose drivers are now with us in the IndyCar Series. Those drivers returning for a fourth visit to the Edmonton Indy event are Justin Wilson (who won this event in 2006), Paul Tracy, Oriol Servia, and Mario Dominguez. Ryan Hunter-Reay competed in the 2005 event, but was out of an open-wheel ride for 2006 before his being hired by Rahal-Letterman Racing before the 2007 Mid-Ohio event. Other notable drivers from that race are its inaugural pole setter, A. J. Allmendinger who now runs in Sprint Cup, Jimmy Vasser, now part owner of KV Racing Technologies, and Sebastian Bourdais and Timo Glock who are both in Formula 1. Other drivers who will be driving this Saturday who have visited this circuit before are Bruno Junquiera, Graham Rahal, and Will Power.





Visit the official site for the Rexall Edmonton Indy for a detail facility and track map.

Thursday Practice:
Unfortunately, there was no video feed for the first session, so we have no information other than lap times, but the surprise of the afternoon has been Paul Tracy. The Thrill from West Hill has never driven a Dallara, yet he spent most of the first session among the top 10 on the speed charts. Not surprisingly, many of the new drivers to the series who have had experience at this track also put up good times with circuit veterans making up half of the top ten in Session 1.

Video is back for Session 2, and there's been a lot of spins. Bruno suffered the most with a very expensive off after a suspension failure. Danica continues to struggle on the road courses. Her best lap still can't bring her in the top 20. By the end of the session, many of the new teams and drivers had figured out the subtle differences in how the Dallara gets around the track and took 7 of the top 10 spots.

Here's the top 5 for the day:
Will Power - 1:02.3404
Oriol Servia - 1:02.3900
Helio Castroneves - 1:02.5365
Ryan Briscoe - 1:02.5831
Justin Wilson - 1:02.6220

What to Watch:
The 14-turn circuit is different than most airport circuits in that its hybrid in design. Most of the course is run on the airport's concrete runways, but a purpose-build section of asphalt road course was layed down to form turns 2 through 7. The road course section is not only a different compound, but also much narrower. This is where many of the less skilled drivers will lose time, and the great drivers will pull away. The airport part of the track, like most airport circuits, offers a very wide racing line that rewards aggressive driving styles. Because of this, look for drivers like Ryan Briscoe, and the infamous Paul Tracy to do quite well. That isn't to say that patient and precise drivers like Will Power, and Justin Wilson won't do well. The road course section is where the precise drivers will shine as opposed to the high-speed airport section.

Corners to watch for bold moves and spectacular passes are turns 1, 9, 10, 11, and 13. Turn 1 will see drivers fighting to gain a positional advantage going into turn 2 and the road course section. Many passes may start in turn 1, but not be fully complete until the exit of turn 2. Turn 9 is another competition for position corner. Drivers will be trying to maximize their exit speed in turn 9, so if two cars are close, they may end up trying to occupy the same racing line if neither driver backs down. The reason why the exit of turn 9 is so important is because of turn 10. This is a perfect corner for drivers to make a pass by braking later and going deeper into the turn than their competitors. Turns 11 and 12 are really one long double-apex right-hander that sets up similar to the turns 9 and 10 sequence. Drivers can make a pass going into 11, but the important part of the 11/12 complex is getting a good exit to make the run down to turn 13 which will be another prime location for overtaking.

Mid-Ohio Preview

History:

Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, much like Watkins Glen, is steeped in racing history. The course was built in 1962 and has been the site of numerous karting, sports car, and open wheel events. Most of the racing at Mid-Ohio is sports car and motorcycle racing. Most notibly, the SCCA Runoffs were held at Mid-Ohio for 11 years between 1994 and 2005 before moving to Heartland Park in Topeka. IndyCar racing first appeared at Mid-Ohio in the CART days of 1982 through 2003 when the infamous Paul Tracy won from the pole on his way to the 2003 CART championship. The IRL returned open-wheel racing to the venue last year as a package weekend with the American Le Mans Series and the Speed World Challenge series. The same pairing of events is scheduled for this year as well. One unique feature about Mid-Ohio course is that the race start happens on the longer back stretch so there's less congestion and less carnage in the first turn after the green flag. That didn't work exactly as planned in 2007.

Last Year:

Not surprisingly, Helio Castroneves set the pole at last year's inaugural (although, not really the first IndyCar race here) Honda 200 at Mid-Ohio presented by Westfield Insurance with a lap time of 1:06.8375 sec. Yes, I know that its typical in the IndyCar Series for the lap speed to be displayed rather than lap time, but whereas that's fine for an oval, its not meaningful for a road course. Lap time is better, trust me. However, once the race started chaos ensued. Danica Patrick was slow, perhaps on her own, perhaps because of the pace car. The debate still goes on, but the results were catastrophic for Team AGR. Tony Kannan slammed on the brakes to avoid running into the back of Danica who had to cut through the China Beach section of the track. When TK hit the brakes, he started to spin and collided with Marco Andretti. When Marco's car came to a stop, it was upside down. Both Tony and Danica would recover to finish 4th and 5th, respectively. Marco, obviously, was finished for the day. Dario Franchitti avoided the mayhem and he and Scott Dixon proceeded to run away from the field and have their own private battle as they'd had all year long. Dixon would win out in the end, with Dario trailing by just under three seconds. Helio rounded out the top three.

Last year was also the first race for Rahal Letterman Racing's new driver, Ryan Hunter-Reay. Ryan did very well for his first time out in the car finishing the race in seventh. There are still some harsh feelings toward RLR amongst the fandom for how their previous driver, Jeff Simmons, was released. Jeff was at the track with his motorhome set up for the weekend when he receieved a phone call with the bad news. Jeff will return this weekend to the Mid-Ohio venue to compete in the Firestone Indy Lights races on Saturday and Sunday.

What to Watch:

As with any road course, passing takes some planning. Drivers won't be able to pass just anywhere on the track. Look for prime passing opportunities at the entrance to T2, the Keyhole, and at the entrance to the esses in T4. The straight along Thunder Alley after the esses has the potential to provide a good braking zone as drivers go into the Carousel, but it depends upon whether the drivers can make a two-wide run through T11.

Weather will be something to watch throughout the weekend. Right now, there's a 25% chance of rain on both Saturday and Sunday. Unlike an oval race, rain will not halt a road race. Remember the St. Petersburg Grand Prix from earlier this year? Racing in the wet is not something that many of the existing IndyCar drivers have done a lot of recently. The new drivers to the series coming over from ChampCar have a lot more recent experience. If the track becomes wet, expect to see the new and old drivers much more mixed up in the standings than they've been previously. Especially be on the lookout for Justin Wilson and Oriol Servia. If the track remains dry, expect those teams most experienced with the Dallara to remain up front. It will likely be a scrap between Dixon, Briscoe, Helio, TK, and RHR. For the latest in race weather, check out the weather blog by fellow IndyCar Garage member, Cassie.

If you've never watched the Firestone Indy Lights races, this would be a great event to watch for your first time. The FIL cars will actually run two races over the weekend. The first on Saturday at 5:25pm EDT and the second on Sunday at 10:35am EDT. Unfortunately, these events aren't shown on ESPN until Thursday afternoon, but you can go to the IndyCar.com website and catch the live video stream and radio broadcast. Last year, Richard Antinucci won here inspite of Alex Lloyd taking the pole. Antinucci is now in Lloyd's #7 Lucas Oil car for Sam Schmidt Racing. Antinucci will have strong competition from last years Atlantics champion, Raphael Matos. The two drivers are separated by only 15 points in the standings, with Richard on top. However, the two young men had better keep an eye out for Antinucci's teammate, Ana Beatriz. Ana scored her first win, and the first win for any female driver, in the Indy Lights series at Nashville last weekend. In truth, this should have been her second win as she was leading the St. Petersburg GP when her teammate got into the back of her and spun her out in T1. With the confidence and momentum of her first win, look for Ana to be very strong this weekend.

Nashville Firestone Indy 200 Preview

History:
The Nashville Superspeedway, owned by Dover Motorsports, is a relatively new track, constructed in 2001. This is almost an exact opposite of the previous venue, Watkins Glen. The Glen is a road course set in the beautiful forests of upstate New York and steeped in decades of grand prix racing, whereas the Nashville Superspeedway is a new 1.3 miles of hyperfast concrete oval racing action. There are some similarities, however. Scott Dixon has been dominant at both tracks for the past two years. The IndyCar Series has held an event every year since the track was first constructed, and every one of the races have been sponsored by Firestone. Depending upon how the 2009 schedule shakes out, this may be the last IndyCar race at this venue. Firestone has already made it clear that its primary interest is in the health of the series. They'd like to see the Nashville race continue since Firestone's North American headquarters are in Nashville, but first and foremost, they would like a healthy and robust series to whom they can sell tire. One of the unique aspects of the event is its trophy. The winner will receive a genuine Gibson electric guitar custom painted for each year's event.

Last Year:
Last year's race was delayed by rain and held on Monday instead of Sunday. That certainly hurt the attendance numbers, and the TV ratings. The on-track product, thought, was out of sight! Although it was Scott Dixon sitting on the pole, Dario Franchitti jumped ahead to take an early and very dominating lead. It really looked like it was going to yet another Dario win and that his championship lead was going to extend to a near insurmountable gap. Dixon in the meantime had fallen back to third. Dixon would regain the lead for keeps by making the most impressive pass of the 2007 season, blowing by both Dario and his own teammate Dan Wheldon on the low side as the trio caught up to lapped traffic.
With a lot of racing action throughout the field, and especially up front, the 2007 Firestone Indy 200 was a great race to watch. Dario finished in 2nd, thus minimizing Scott's gain on his lead. A driver that was, if you can believe it, somewhat overlooked during the race was Danica Patrick. After posting practice times that were routinely in the top three, she qualified 7th. During the race, she stayed clean on the very green track and motored her way up to 3rd. Tony Kannan, however, found the wall in what's become an all too familiar scene: TK passing on a line that's too high on the track, swapping ends, and hitting the wall.

What to Watch:
Unfortunately, due to a tight personal schedule, there won't be time to include an analysis of the Friday practice sessions, so we'll just skip to things to watch for in this year's event. First of all is the carnage. At just 1.3 miles in length, Nashville is somewhere inbetween a short track and a superspeedway. This means that you have cars moving at superspeedway speeds of over 200 mph, but on a rather narrow, short, and concrete track with only two racable grooves. Lapped traffic comes up early and often, and was a major contributor to Scott Dixon being able to make his pass for the lead from P3 last year. Lapped traffic was also a major contributor to a few incidents including Tony Kannan's unfriendly meeting with the T2 wall. Considering the increased level of competition and aggression, and the decreased level of driver respect and restraint we've seen this year, expect another outbreak of yellow fever. Restarts will be critical! This plays well into the hands of TK and Jaime Camara. Their restart skills are fantastic, with Tony's being near legendary. On the other end of the spectrum are Danica's restart skills, or lack thereof. Once up to speed, she will be able to pick her way through the field, provided the oversteer that's plauged here all season doesn't show up again. During the restarts, however, she always seems slow, loses a couple of spots, and really bunches up the field behind her. It really wouldn't be a bad idea for her to practice those restarts once she has her qualying and race setups dialed in.

There are a number of drivers that could win this race. So far this season, there have been eight different winners of eleven different races: Dixon, Rahal, Patrick, Power, Wheldon, Briscoe, Kannan, and Hunter-Reay. We just might see a ninth unique winner. This type of track really favors Marco's style, and if he can keep from running into someone, look for Andretti 3.0 in the top 5. Vitor Meira is hungrier and faster than ever! Its really a wonder that he hasn't won a race yet this season. This could be the site of his first win. Many of the new teams and drivers are starting to really figure out ovals and the Dallara chassis. Bruno Junquiera will be fast and should be fun to watch, even if he won't be in the top 5, but drivers like EJ Viso, Oriol Servia, and Justin Wilson just might! There's a lot of parity amongst the teams and drivers, so its really hard to have n outright favorite. It should be a fun-filled, if a bit chaotic, race down in Music City.

Watkins Glen Preview

History

The Watkins Glen course, as its currently configured, was established in 1956 and hosted the Formula 1 US Grand Prix from 1961 through 1980. American Open Wheel Racing began at The Glen when they expanded the track to include the boot section in 1971. CART ran its last race at The Glen in 1981 when the track went bankrupt and open-wheel grand prix racing didn't return until 2005 when the IRL ran one of its first road course events there. Scott Dixon won that first race, ...and the second, and the third! Perhaps they should rename the track Dixon's Glen? You can read more about the history of this fantastic track at the official site for Watkins Glen. They have a great essay summarizing the history of the venue.

Last Year

Helio Castroneves took the pole with a track record time of 1:29.1919 and lead the opening laps of the race, but Dixon's menacing presence right behind him perhaps contributed to his mistake coming out of T11. The back end stepped out on Helio and he was out of the race. Dixon took over the lead and never really gave it up. Sure others just as Wheldon and Meira lead the race for a few laps as everyone cycled through the pits, but no one had anything for Dixon and he cruised to his third straight win at Watkins Glen, a feat matched only by the great Graham Hill in the 1963, 1964, and 1965 USGPs. This feat was overshadowed a bit by the post-race pit brawl as a heated discussion between Sam Hornish Jr. and Tony Kannan grew out of hand and devolved into fisticuffs between Sam Hornish Sr. and one of AGRs staffers.

Practice Sessions

Friday, Session 1

The first practice session was delayed a bit due to a bit of fog and wildlife. Anyone who remembers Christiano da Matta's tragic incident with a deer at Elkhart Lake in 2006 can fully appreciate why they delayed practice. Once the track was cleared, practice commenced with an unsurprising result of both Target Chip Gannasi Racing cars finishing in P1 and P2 followed closely by Tony Kannan and last year's pole winner and track record holder Helio Castroneves. From fifth on down, its really difficult to make any judgements on who has speed and who doesn't as the first practice is usually just a shakedown for many, but KV Racing looked very strong. Oriol Servia had the 5th fastest before spinning at the exit of T10 and just touching the inside wall with his front wing. There was no appreciable damage to the suspention and he should return for the 2nd session. His teammate Will Power also ran strong for a while, even sitting on top of the speed charts for a time, but ended up 9th fastest.

Friday, Session 2

No one is safe around Dixon, not least of all the insectile fauna around Watkins Glen. Scott was blazing fast during the second practice session, but fast as we was, he still couldn't best Helio's track record. He couldn't even shake his nemisis this season as Helio in the last minutes of the session posted a 1:30:2891 time, just 0.0944s behind Dixon. Tomorrow's qualification should make for great viewing! The surprise performer of the session was Bruno Junqueira. Its not surprising because of the driver, but because of the team. Dale Coyne Racing has not been real strong this year, and Bruno has not been shy about expressing his dissatisfaction calling the team a bunch of "club racers". In spite of all that, Bruno was eighth on the speed charts. There's one more practice session before tomorrow's qualifying run, but expect that to be a race setup shake-down. There may be a few of the backmarker teams still working on qualifying setup, but the top teams will have their work already done and be working on race setup.

What to Watch For

This is the first trip back to a twisty track since the street race at St. Petersburg, at least for the all of the competitors, and keep in mind that race was won by the young "Son of Stache" and other new IndyCar Series teams showing strong in the top 10. EJ Viso, Enrique Bernoldi, Oriol Servia, Will Power, and Justin Wilson all made the top 10. Look for these teams to be strong again at The Glen, especially KV Racing with Oriol Servia and Will Power. Both KV drivers performed extremely well in practice and will be top 5 contenders both during qualification and on race day. Lesser speed was shown by the NHL duo of Graham Rahal and Justin Wilson, but as we all know, race day performance isn't always linked to practice performance. Don't be surprised to see both solidly within the top ten if not in the top five. Dixon has owned this track since IndyCars returned in 2005. His name is the only name on the trophy! In practice, both TCGR cars were fast, and it will be a surprise if Dixon doesn't dominate the field again. Recently he's struggled at the short tracks of Iowa and Richmond, but those struggles will likely just be fuel for his drive and determination this weekend. Lets just hope that there's no extracurricular activities this year like we had last year!