Graham Rahal post-race Interview

IndyCar Garage caught up with Graham Rahal after the race to get his thoughts on his first experience with Sarah Fisher Racing and his mid-race improvement. Click on the video to listen to Graham.

Will Power wins at St. Pete

Team Penske captured their second victory of the young 2010 IZOD IndyCar Series season, with driver Will Power taking his second consecutive checkered flag. Power started from the pole and was nearly flawless throughout the postponed 100 lap race. This race was orginally scheduled for Sunday at 3:30 p.m., but had to be moved to Monday at 10 EST due to severe thunderstorms. Several fans took advantage of free admission for the delayed race, and a festive crowd saw an action packed race. Check out the live coverage from IndyCar Garage in the video section of http://www.indycargarage.com/

Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg Postponed

The second race of the 2010 IZOD IndyCar season was postponed due to inclement weather. Strong storms and standing water throughout the 1.8 mile street course were the deciding factors. The season opener for Firestone Indy Lights was cut short due to the incoming weather, rookie J.K. Vernay of Sam Schmidt Motorsports took home the victory. Conor Daly, son of former F1 and IndyCar driver, Derek Daly, captured a victory in the Star Mazda Championship. The Star Mazda sereis is the middle level of the Road to Indy ladder system.

The IZOD IndyCar race will start at 10 A.M. EST tomorrow, and be carried on ESPN 2.

Off to St. Pete

Off to St. Pete !

IndyCar Garage will depart today for the race in St. Petersburg , Florida. Check out http://www.indycargarage.com/ for live coverage on Sunday. IndyCar Garage Weekly will have a wrap up show at the conclusion of the race, so check that out with moderator Tyler Carmichael.

Story lines to watch in St. Pete

Debut of the Road to Indy ladder system, with USF2000, Star Mazda, Firestone Indy Lights, and the IZOD IndyCar Series all racing on the same weekend.

The 2010 debut of Graham Rahal with Sarah Fisher Racing

The solid car count of 24 entries for the IZOD IndyCar Series.

Team Penske dominance - Will Power won at Brazil, Ryan Briscoe is the 2009 St. Pete winner.

The first of five races on ABC - The series needs to put on a good show for this prime-time race.

Robin Roberts confirmed as Indy 500 driver

Robin Roberts has been confirmed as the 2010 Indy 500 pace car driver. The announcement will take place on the co-anchor's show, Good Morning America. Roberts will be the first black woman to drive the pace car in Indy 500 history.

Helio Castroneves will be on hand for the announcement, which takes place at 8:30 A.M. EST live on Good Morning America.

IndyCar Garage talks with Sam Schmidt

IndyCar Garage Weekly will have the privilege of talking to former IndyCar driver and current Firestone Indy Lights team owner, Sam Schmidt. Sam will be a guest on IndyCar Garage Weekly tomorrow at 6:30 EST. IndyCarGarage.com had the chance to ask Sam a few questions prior to his appearance on IndyCar Garage Weekly. (Sam pictured above with four time Indy 500 champ, Rick Mears)
___________________________________________________________________
1. The Firestone Indy Lights 2010 season kicks off this coming weekend and your team includes three new drivers that didn’t drive for you in 2009. How’s the transition went from your 2009 lineup to your revamped 2010 lineup?

We’re actually up to 4 now for St. Pete, adding James Winslow from the UK today. I feel we will have a strong line up for 2010 and a good mix of experience. The schedule emphasizes road courses, so all four drivers have that background.

2. Sam Schmidt Motorsports has been a front runner in Indy Lights since their inception in 2001, how does your team and program continue to have success year in and year out?

The correct people behind the scenes. I haven’t turned a wrench in 10 years, so the mechanics and engineers deserve all the credit.

3. Several of your drivers have graduated into the IZOD IndyCar series in full or part-time rides. What does it mean to see the likes of Jay Howard, Alex Lloyd, Richard Antinucci, and Ana Beatriz competing this year?

That is what we are here for. The full trophy cases are nice to look at and we love the Championships, but at the end of the day, our success is measured by drivers graduating to the IZOD series.

4. You’ve teamed up with Chip Ganassi to enter a 2010 Indy 500 entry for Townsend Bell in the Herbalife sponsored machine. Talk about what it means to participate in the Indy 500 every year and is there any chance Pippa Mann becomes possibly the sixth female at Indy this year?

We should be really strong this year with that combination. Townsend finished fourth last year with a part time effort, so our expectations are high with a full boat program. I know Pippa would like to be in the ICS in 2011, so we are starting that process now.

5. We plan to talk more about this on IndyCar Garage Weekly on Wednesday, but tell us a little about the planning and organizing the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg 5K Walk, Run ‘N Wheel-a-thon.

Again…it’s all about good people. Ida Cahill and Cindy Norton of SSPF have teamed with the Challenged Athlete Foundation, Shoot for a Cure and the great people at the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg to create our largest Walk yet, which should have at least 1,500 folks walking, running and wheeling around the St. Pete circuit. Should be a blast!

Sell it Danica..... SELL IT!

The picture above is featured on Times Square in Manhattan, a borough of New York City. Great job by IZOD of featuring a reference to speed, and selling the most popular American driver in the IZOD IndyCar Series.

Thoughts about Brazil

The IZOD IndyCar Series wrapped up their inaugural race in the city of Sao Paulo, Brazil this past weekend. A 2.6 mile street course offered very exciting racing and lots of odd events that played out in front of the capacity crowd. IndyCar Garage leaves some thoughts from Brazil.

1. What a race

From the first lap race, to the long back stretch, the large mid race rain shower, and finally the last pass by Will Power, the race was everything the series could have hoped for. Will Power showed he will be a force to reckon with this season. Ryan Hunter-Reay was outstanding in his debut for Andretti Autosport. Vitor bounced back from his 10 month off-season with a podium for A.J. Foyt Racing. This race will only continue to grow, in terms of its popularity and demand, look for it to easily be the second biggest race of the season in years to come.

2. Lots of Passing

Tony Cottman did an excellent job of designing a race course that offered several passing zones for the temporary 2.6 mile street course. The 9/10 of mile backstretch let several drivers make great passes on the final turn of the course. Will Power was the key beneficiary, as his pass at turn 11 with four laps remaining in the race proved to be the difference maker. All street-courses should offer these many opportunities to pass, as the racing was dramatic and fun to watch.

3. Marco Andretti vs. Mario Maroes II

Moraes took out Andretti on lap one of the 2009 Indy 500, and this race was no different. At Indy both drivers argued about who was at fault, this time it was cleary Moraes who failed to lift off the gas when he came into turn one of lap one. The wreck sent Moraes straight onto the top of Andretti’s car, and provided a quick scary moment for a young 2010 season. Look for this feud to boil over into the rest of the season.

4. Versus / Direct TV dispute resolved

Even though the Versus / Direct TV conflict was not resolved by Sunday’s race, news of Comcast and Direct TV working out a deal to restore Versus back into the lineup of normal Direct TV channels is outstanding. Millions of viewers will now have access to a channel that has been not available for several months. If the IZOD IndyCar Series is going to capitalize on the momentum achieved from the Brazil race, this is a great stepping stone going into the domestic opener at St. Pete. Randy Bernard, good job for getting this done.


5. On to St. Pete and the first ABC race.

The Indy Racing League now moves on to their domestic open in St. Petersburg, Florida on March 28th. This weekend will showcase the début of the newly formed Road to Indy ladder program that was created over the off-season. USF2000, Star-Mazda, Firestone Indy Lights, and the IZOD IndyCar Series will all race on a long four day weekend. Graham Rahal also returns to the IZOD IndyCar Series with Sarah Fisher Racing, as part of a two race deal. ABC will also televise their first of five schedule races on the 2010 season, highlighted by the Indy 500. The IZOD Indy Car Series has generated the most momentum the IRL has experienced since the merger in 2008, due in part because of the this past weekends action, and hopefully they can keep building in two weeks.

6. IndyCar Garage Weekly – Wednesday night at 6:30 EST

IndyCar Garage Weekly returns this Wednesday night at 6:30 EST, streamed live on a http://www.indycargarage.com/. Tune into to listen on thoughts from moderator Tyler Carmichael on the Brazil Race and other IndyCar Series news.

Brazil Race Preview

The IZOD IndyCar Series opens up their 2010 season tomorrow along the streets of Sao Paulo, Brazil. This will be the first time the IZOD IndyCar Series will race in Brazil, as it’s the first year of a five year contract. Qualifying was postponed to 8:30 A.M. EST on Sunday, due to bumps on the race course. Live coverage of the race begins tomorrow at 11:30 EST on Versus. Qualifying more than likely will not be covered on VERSUS , as programming is not scheduled for IndyCar in that time slot of 8:30 A.M. IndyCar Garage previews the Sao Paulo Indy 300.

1. Brazilian flavor kicks off the 2010 season.

Seven Brazilian drivers will participate in tomorrows race, lead by three time Indy 500 champion Helio Castroneves. IZOD IndyCar veterans include Tony Kanaan, Vitor Meira, E.J. Viso, and Raphael Matos. Ana Beatriz and Mario Romancini round out the seven Brazilians drivers, as both Beatriz and Romancini are Indy Lights graduates. The IRL benefits from this race for the several drivers that are natives of Brazil, along with the Apex Brasil sponsorship package.

2. The Penske/Gannasi Domination

Team Penske and Chip Gannasi Racing won 16 of the 17 races in 2009, and swept the top four positions in the championship. If anybody plans to dismantle the Penske/Gannasi combination, then their best chance starts tomorrow. Who could challenge the Penske/Gannasi teams? Look for Andretti Autosport , who signed Ryan Hunter-Reay, to challenge under their new ownership of Michael Andretti. KV Racing will run three full time cars, with F-1 Veteran Takumo Sato leading the way. Improved teams included Dryer & Reinbold and the newly formed FAZZT Racing team.

3. The longest straightway of the entire season.

The street course that was created by Tony Cottman, features a 9/10 of a mile back straightway. The straightway should create some great passing opportunities, along with two to three wide racing. The straightway leads into turn 11 where a hard right leads to the start/finish line.

4. Women in the series

We all know about Danica Patrick, and some know about Milka Duno, but two new women will make their debuts tomorrow. Ana Beatriz moves up from Indy Lights to drive for Dryer and Reinbold Racing. At this point, Ana’s deal is for the Brazil race only, she likely could run the Indy 500 as well. The second new female to the series is Sweden driver Simon De Silverstro. Simon comes over from Atlantics, where she won four races in 2009 and finished third in the championship. Simon will be the sole driver for HVM Racing his year. We could possibly see five drivers in the 2010 Indy 500


5. 2010 Indy 500 ticket give away

IndyCar Garage will give away two free tickets to the 2010 Indy 500 once we reach 1,000 members. IndyCar Garage continues to grow, so tell your other IndyCar fans to sign up and become of IndyCarGarage.com today. In order to win the free tickets, you must be a member of IndyCar Garage.

Graham Rahal to drive for Sarah Fisher Racing

Sarah Fisher Racing has pulled the biggest shocker of the entire off-season. SFR has signed Graham Rahal to drive in two races at the beginning of the 2010 season. The two races that Rahal will pilot the #67 Dollar General machine, will be at St. Pete and Barber Motorsports Park. It’s unclear on what the rest of the 2010 season looks like for Rahal. Sarah Fisher was originally scheduled to drive in both of those races, but now it appears Rahal, a road course specialists, will pilot her primary entry. This would leave Sarah down to just seven races, all ovals. Tune into IndyCar Garage Weekly tonight for more details and reactions on the new Rahal deal.

IndyCar Garage Weekly returns tonight - 6:30 EST

IndyCar Garage Weekly returns for its weekly show, Tyler Carmichael, the moderator of IndyCarGarage.com will host. Tyler will talk about the upcoming race in Brazil, preview the driver combinations, and pick a favorite for Sunday’s race. The show starts at 6:30 EST and runs for 30 minutes. Calls are welcome, 1-347-826-9019.

To listen live, go to http://www.indycargarage.com/ and click on the IndyCar Garage Weekly tab. The podcast is up 15 minutes after the show concludes.

The BAT project is the final 2012 concept

The last and final proposed IndyCar for 2012 has finally been released after a group of Indianapolis 500 winning designers formed BAT Engineering.

Former Lola designer and Reynard US head Bruce Ashmore, ex-March and Galmer designer Alan Mertens, and former G-Force man Tim Wardrop have joined forces to create BAT.

The BAT Project is named after Bruce, Alan, and Tim from above.

BAT has also held meetings with renowned motorsport surgeon Dr Terry Trammell and IndyCar's safety and technical directors Jeff Horton and Les Mactaggart to ensure that its design offers safety benefits over the current chassis.

In addition, the company promises that the car will be constructed within 30 miles of Indy to keep teams' costs down and stimulate local industry.

Dallara, Lola, Swift and DeltaWing have already revealed their proposals for the new IndyCar, which will replace the current Dallara-Honda spec chassis from 2012. A decision on which car will be used in expected within the next few months.

Parts of this article originally appeared on autosport.com

Welcome Randy Bernard - 10 Suggestions

Good morning Randy Bernard and welcome to your first day as CEO of the Indy Racing League. As a one of kind social networking IndyCar website that features over 500 members, a weekly radio show, and daily discussion about IndyCar, we would like to welcome you with 10 suggestions for your new gig.

10 suggestions in no particular order.

1. Get IndyCar racing back on the sports map
Outside of the Indianapolis 500 and maybe the Texas race, who knows about IndyCar? IndyCar will never be a mainstream sport like the NFL, MLB, and NBA, but they can build a product that could rival NASCAR with some of the best racing in the world. No one knows about IndyCar racing right now and no one is watching outside of Memorial Day weekend.

2. Reduce costs so that more teams can hire DRIVERS and not ride buyers.
The hard aspect of IndyCar to accept right now is that the drivers that bring money to teams will get rides. Gone are the days of teams shopping for a driver because he/she is the best available. Today you better have money coming with you in order to race.

3. More American drivers please!
Americans are now a minority in a series that holds over 75% of their races in America. IndyCar doesn’t have to be an all American series, but more than two full time America drivers starting the series would be nice. It’s hard to identify with a driver when you can hardly pronounce his name.

4. More Ovals
The Indy Racing League was built on an all oval concept and it’s a far cry away from that today. IndyCar racing will never be all ovals again, but they can at least be a majority on the schedule. As it stands right now, for the first time in league history, more road/street course races will be run than ovals. You could bring any of the following ovals back and it would be good: Las Vegas, Phoenix, California, Charlotte, and Milwaukee.

5. Increase your schedule to about 26 races
IndyCar currently runs 17 races, hardly a dominate schedule as NASCAR runs over 40 races in one season. IndyCar can increase their ovals by six to 14, take in three more street courses and bingo you have a nice compact 26 race schedule. Start your season in late February and be done by the end of September. IndyCar would be wise to have a 24-26 race season.

6. Allow young American drivers to come up through the new ladder system and win.
I don’t know how you plan to get American drivers into the series if you don’t give them opportunities to race in your ladder system. Joey Logano is a great example of how NASCAR is bringing in the next generation of drivers into their series, IndyCar needs to be able to show young Americans that the Indy 500 is possible with the correct training and ladder system.

7. Don’t let Graham Rahal get away
Graham is one of the brightest young American stars the IZOD IndyCar series has right now and he currently doesn’t have a ride. Before you get the whole “how do we get Americans into our series again” figured out, figure out how to get Graham a ride right now. NASCAR will stick him in Truck or Nationwide and take away the best young star IndyCar has. Graham wants to be in open wheel, his father won the 1986 Indy 500, and he is wise beyond his years.

8. Make the right decision for the 2012 car and have them build it in Speedway, Indiana.
IndyCar has a very important decision to make about the new car that they plan to race in 2012. Dallara, Swift, Lola, and the radical Delta Wing have all submitted designs and everyone has an opinion on what should be selected. Without taking up three more pages by explaining each car and its benefits, I will be short. Make the right decision for 2012, well what is the right decision? Lower costs, increase participation, making the racing good , make the racing safe, and have the car built in Speedway, Indiana. The town of Speedway, Indiana is currently undergoing a major redevelopment project that will focus on racing related attractions.

See the website link -> http://www.speedwayindiana.com/

9. Move the start time of the Indy 500 up an hour or two.
The greatest spectacle in racing needs to have the greatest drivers in the world competing in it. The problem right now is that the Indy 500 starts too late for NASCAR drivers to compete in it, now obviously the Joe Nemechecks of the world aren’t going to come and run IndyCar. Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr, Sam Hornish Jr, Robby Gordon, Kyle Busch, and Kasey Kane would at least consider running Indy as way to showcase their talents. The start time prevents them from running both races. Think of the possible rivalry that would develop when NASCAR drivers try to drive in the Indy 500 and finish toward the back of the pack, or win the race on their first try.

10. Promote the best racing in the world like there is no tomorrow.
IndyCar racing is some of the, if not the best racing in the world when it comes to high speeds, new technology and driver skill. The problem is that it’s not promoted to a level that allows anybody to see it. Get out there and do some marketing, promoting, and selling on your product. The racing is about the best thing you have to sell right now, outside of IZOD helping you out, people need to experience the great racing of IndyCar.

IndyCar Garage would like to welcome Randy Bernard into the best form of motorsports in the world. IndyCar Garage would encourage Mr. Bernard to sign up and become a member of www.IndyCarGarage.com today!