15 reasons why Ryan Briscoe will win the Kentucky 300... and few why he won't

The IZOD IndyCar Series will complete their 15th race of the 2010 season at Kentucky Motor Speedway on Saturday night at 8 EST, coverage starts at 7 EST on VERSUS. Kentucky is a 1.5 banked oval that offers some of the most exciting racing IndyCar has to offer, its one step safer than Chicago style racing, but just as exciting. IndyCar Garage will be in attendance for the Kentucky race, but from the grand stands. The IndyCar Garage crew will be taking their 3rd annual camping trip down to Sparta, Kentucky in hopes of enjoying another shootout style race , similar to last years race, where Ryan Briscoe edged Carpenter. IndyCar Garage gives you the Kentucky Preview of why Ryan Brisoce is going to win again, and a few why he won’t.

15 reasons why Briscoe will Win
1. Briscoe drives for Roger Penske… enough said
2. Briscoe won the 2009 Kentucky race… his setup should be intact
3. Briscoe sat on the pole at Texas 2010 and Chicago 2010, both 1.5 ovals
4. Briscoe won the Texas race this year
5. Briscoe started on the Chicago 2009 pole and won
6. Briscoe was nice enough to let IndyCar Garage interview him in 2008 after the Kentucky race 7. Briscoe’s wife is Nicole Briscoe and she is a pit reporter for NASCAR, but married an IndyCar driver

8. Briscoe is a nice guy
9. Briscoe drives a smart car
10. Briscoe is still trying to redeemed himself for Motegi last year
11. Briscoe is Australian and they have cool accents
12. Briscoe has just dominated 1.5 ovals, no matter how many stats you look at
13. People like Briscoe’s personality
14. Briscoe could probably beat every other IndyCar driver in wake boarding
15. Briscoe always smiles no matter what question you ask him

5 Reasons why Briscoe won’t win

1. 2010 has belonged to Dario and Briscoe’s teammate Will Power
2. Briscoe will have problems in the pit
3. Briscoe will help Will Power do whatever he can to keep the championship lead
4. Briscoe will get wrecked due to the pack racing on 1.5 ovals
5. Briscoe will get wrecked by Danica in the pits

IndyCar Garage Predications for Saturday Night
Winner – Ryan Briscoe
2nd – Scott Dixon
3rd – Dario Franchitti
4th – Will Power
5th – Ed Carpenter

Dreyer & Reinbold Racing to discuss driver lineup....PT?

Dreyer and Reinbold Racing will discuss their driver lineup for the final three races of the 2010 season tomorrow at 1 p.m. on a teleconference with the media.

All signs point to Paul Tracy being named as the team’s second driver for the reminder of the season. Dreyer and Reinbold Racing has had several drivers fill in for the injured Mike Conway since his wreck at the Indianapolis 500.

Tomas Sheckter, Ana Beatriz, Graham Rahal, Tracy, and J.R. Hildenbrand are among the notables that have had seat time with D&R.

Check IndyCar Garage tomorrow for the official announcement.

www.IndyCarGarage.com

Ryan Briscoe takes poll for Chicagoland

Ryan Briscoe captured his second pole of the 2010 season by averaging over 216 mph over the course of two laps. Briscoe was the only driver to top the 216 mph mark, and he also knocked off Dario Franchitti from pole, costing Franchitti a valuable bonus point in his chase for points leader Will Power.

Among the notable starting spots for tomorrow’s 300 lap race, Will Power starts 3rd, Marco Andretti 5th, Graham Rahal, 6th, Ryan Hunter-Reay 9th, Ed Carpenter 11th, Danica Patrick 12th, Scott Dixon 14th, Sarah Fisher 25th, Milka Duno 26th, and Simona de Silvestro 27th. Coverage starts tomorrow at 7 p.m. EST on VERSUS.
Check IndyCarGarage.com for predications for tomorrow’s race. The entire starting field is below.

1 6 Ryan Briscoe 216.36 mph
2 10 Dario Franchitti 215.75 mph
3 12 Will Power 215.661 mph
4 3 Helio Castroneves 215.588 mph
5 26 Marco Andretti 215.38 mph
6 02 Graham Rahal 215.32 mph
7 4 Dan Wheldon 215.102 mph
8 06 Hideki Mutoh 215.11 mph
9 37 Ryan Hunter-Reay 215.019 mph
10 5 Takuma Sato 215.116 mph
11 20 Ed Carpenter 214.976 mph
12 7 Danica Patrick 214.988 mph
13 11 Tony Kanaan 214.779 mph
14 19 Alex Lloyd 214.546 mph
15 9 Scott Dixon 214.31 mph
16 8 EJ Viso 214.213 mph
17 36 Tomas Scheckter 214.227 mph
18 2 Raphael Matos 214.028 mph
19 77 Alex Tagliani 214.056 mph
20 34 Bertrand Baguette 213.702 mph
21 32 Mario Moraes 213.679 mph
22 24 Ana Beatriz 213.432 mph
23 22 Justin Wilson 213.412 mph
24 14 Vitor Meira 213.125 mph
25 67 Sarah Fisher 213.14 mph
26 18 Milka Duno 212.827 mph
27 78 Simona de Silvestro 212.754 mph
28 21 Davey Hamilton 212.559 mph
29 66 Jay Howard 212.136 mph

Tony Cotman named 2012 Car/Rules Chief

Tony Cotman, the former chief steward for Champ Car from 2005 – 2008, has been named the rules/technical director for the 2012 IndyCar, according to Speedtv.

Cotman, who will oversee the direction of the 2012 rules for the new generation of IndyCar’s, has experience in a variety of roles for open wheel racing. Cotman most recently has been the chief steward of the Firestone Indy Light Series and has his own consulting company that designs new tracks across North American. Some of the quotes from Speedtv’s article are below.

Tony Cotman Quotes:

“My job is rules, prices and anything to do with the new car,”

“If I don’t like it, I’m going to fix it with the league’s support and I need to start talking to the teams because they need to be part of what is going on.”

“We’ve got to get this cluster under control and my job is to represent the owners and the series,” he said. “We have to make it very clear that Indy car is running the ship, not Dallara, or any other suppliers.

“People need to know how things are going to affect their budget and I’m all for a new car but we’ve got to be smart in doing it. We’ll see what, if anything, is useful from the car we have now than can be carried over.

“And we need to get the engine rules out there so Randy has them when he meets with interested manufacturers.”

Randy Bernard Quotes:

“I’m happy Tony has accepted this job, he’s well respected and a bright guy who has the experience of delivering a new car,” said Bernard.
“His priorities and mine are the same and that is to come up with the best competitive car for 2012.

2011 Indianapolis 500 Logo

The logo for the 2011 Indianapolis 500 – the 100th anniversary of “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” – was unveiled simultaneously Friday, Aug. 13 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.

Three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Johnny Rutherford and Indianapolis Motor Speedway Corporation President and CEO Jeff Belskus revealed the logo during festivities at the IMS Hall of Fame Museum, while three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Bobby Unser performed the same honor at Pebble Beach, Calif., with Indy 500 winners Parnelli Jones and Danny Sullivan and legendary American open-wheel driver Dan Gurney also participating.

NASCAR Invasion of IndyCar's Schedule will have major affects on 2011

(What does two Nationwide races at Iowa mean for IndyCar?)

NASCAR’s massive shake up to its top three levels of competition for next season will likely have a huge impact on the 2011 IndyCar Schedule. IndyCar knew for sometime that this might be coming, and with NASCAR’s sagging T.V. Ratings, and visible attendance decline, it appears NASCAR is digging deeper into their bag of weapons to save their big leaky ship that they created during their boom years of the late 1990’s and early 2000’s.
Over the course of the last week and half, four different tracks that IndyCar will have raced on in 2010 had major announcements regarding NASCAR races or been rumored to be involved in the schedule shake up.

Let’s start from the top: Items 1 and 3 are confirmed, 2 and 4 are rumors that appear to be true.
1. Chicagoland Speedway (ISC Track) will kick off the chase next year in the Sprint Cup, this will move their date from early July to mid-August, directly impacting the late August IndyCar Race
2. Kansas Speedway(ISC Track) will pick up a second Sprint Cup date that will remove the IndyCar Series from racing at a track that they have visited since 2001

3. Kentucky Speedway (SMI Track) has been awarded a Sprint Cup date, and will be the newest track on the Sprint Cup track schedule. This race will take place on July 9th, 2011, Chicago’s old date.
4. Iowa Motor Speedway has been awarded a second Nationwide Race, to go with their original July date. The date for this race is May 22nd, which would be bump day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

What does this all mean?

It means that’s Kansas is long gone, Chicagoland will need a new date, Kentucky probably needs a new date and a second Iowa race will impact attendance at IMS. IndyCar also will probably have to move their New Hampshire race, and their Baltimore race to accommodate tracks like Chicago and Kentucky.

The issue at hand is that NASCAR is dicing up their schedule to
A. save markets (Chicago) ,
B. try new markets out (Kentucky)
C. Reward markets for investing (Kansas)
D. Build on good markets (Iowa)

IndyCar probably won’t announce their schedule before August 18th, (NASCAR major announcement date) and it could probably be Labor Day weekend at Kentucky before we actually get a solid confirmation of the 2011 IndyCar Schedule.

One thing is sure, expect the unexpected for 2011, as NASCAR's mess is creating new headaches for Randy Bernard and company.

29 IndyCars ready for Chicago

Twenty-nine entries for Chicagolyand race: For the second time in three races, the sanctioning Indy Racing League has amended its rulebook to allow for a larger starting field.

Twenty-nine cars are expected at Chicagoland Speedway - the most outside of the 33 for the Indianapolis 500 - to be entered for the PEAK Antifreeze& Motor Oil Indy 300 on Aug. 28 at the 1.5-mile oval. Rule 8.1(E)(5)(f) caps the starting field at 28 cars for races other than Indianapolis, Brazil, Toronto and Mid-Ohio based on pit lane space. The rule also was amended for the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio presented by Westfield Insurance on Aug. 8 to allow for a 27th entry.

In addition to the 24 full-season entries, expected to join the initial practice session at 9:15 a.m. (local time) Aug. 27 are Davey Hamilton in the No. 21 HP de Ferran Dragon Racing car, Graham Rahal in the No. 02 Quick Trim Newman/Haas Racing car, Sarah Fisher in the No. 67 Dollar General car for Sarah Fisher Racing, Ed Carpenter in the No. 20 Fuzzy's Ultra Premium Vodka car for Panther/Vision Racing, and Jay Howard in the No. 66 Service Central car for Sarah Fisher Racing.

Ed Carpenter back in for three more races

Ed Carpenter is returning to the IZOD IndyCar Series for three more races in 2010. Carpenter will drive a second car for Panther Racing with sponsorship from Fuzzy’s Premium Vodka, his sponsor from the 2010 Indy 500.

Carpenter , whose specialty is oval racing, will drive in the three domestic oval races (Kentucky, Chicago, and Homestead) that remain on the second oval portion of the schedule. Carpenter had a career best finish of second at Kentucky last year, where Ryan Briscoe edged him in the 10th closest finish in series history.

Dario Franchitti wins at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course

Dario Franchitti captured his second win of the 2010 season by holding off points leader Will Power. IndyCar Garage will have more coverage of the Honda 200 later tonight and tomorrow morning. Check below for how ICG did on predications for today’s race.

5^th Graham Rahal – Rahal started 25^th and battled all day but couldn’t make up enough ground and finished 20^th

4^th Ryan Hunter-Reay – Hunter-Reay had a rough first pit stop and battled back to finish 10th

3^rd Justin Wilson – Wilson tangled with E.J. Viso early and finished 27^th

2nd Will Power – Spot on pick here, Power finished 2nd

1^st Scott Dixon – Dixon was near the front all day but just didn’t have enough to get up to his teammate.

Actual results are below:

Rank	No	Name	Laps
1	10	Dario Franchitti	85
2	12	Will Power	85
3	3	Helio Castroneves	85
4	77	Alex Tagliani	85
5	9	Scott Dixon	85
6	6	Ryan Briscoe	85
7	2	Raphael Matos	85
8	78	Simona de Silvestro	85
9	26	Marco Andretti	85
10	37	Ryan Hunter-Reay	85
11	36	Bertrand Baguette	85
12	32	Mario Moraes	85
13	19	Alex Lloyd	85
14	4	Dan Wheldon	85
15	14	Vitor Meira	85
16	24	JR Hildebrand	85
17	11	Tony Kanaan	85
18	06	Hideki Mutoh	85
19	27	Adam Carroll	85
20	02	Graham Rahal	85
21	7	Danica Patrick	85
22	34	Francesco Dracone	82
23	18	Milka Duno	81
24	66	Jay Howard	38
25	5	Takuma Sato	28
26	8	EJ Viso	22
27	22	Justin Wilson	22

Mid-Ohio Race Preview - Honda 200

(2009 Indy Lights Champ J.R. Hidebrand makes his IZOD IndyCar debut)

IndyCar begins their 12th race weekend, as the IZOD IndyCar Series and the Firestone Indy Lights Series will race on the permanent 2.4 mile road course at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Park. Scott Dixon dominated the 2009 race, with a winning margin of almost 30 seconds. 27 cars are entered for Sunday’s 85 lap race, among the many storylines heading into this weekend, most centers around the blocking controversy that happened two weeks ago at Edmonton. IndyCar Garage gives you five storylines to watch heading into this weekend.

1. The Championship is Will Power’s to lose
Will Power has dominated in 2010, and his strength is on the road courses, as all four of his wins this season have come in non-oval races. Power has a commanding 50 point lead over second place Dario Franchitti, but one bad race and that could easily slip away. If Power has another dominate weekend, which would include the pole and victory lane, then the championship could be over by the time IndyCar hits the second portion of ovals on the 2010 schedule.

2. The 2011 Schedule?
Several changes have been rumored for the 2011 IndyCar Schedule, but IndyCar has been fairly quiet on when the actual schedule will be announced. Will there be 18 races? Any new venues? Milwaukee? Vegas? How many road/street course races? How many ovals? How many ISC tracks? All of these questions are up in the air at the moment, and many of the fans are starting to wonder when they will get answered. Randy Bernard and Gil DeFerran will be answering questions from the fans at Mid-Ohio, look for some possible answers at those forums.

3. Shake up within the cockpit

Graham Rahal returns with Newman/Haas, J.R. Hildebrand makes his IZOD IndyCar Series debut with Dryer and Reinbold, Adam Carroll returns with Andretti Autosport, Jay Howard returns with Sarah Fisher Racing, and Francesco Dracone makes his debut for Conquest Racing. All in all, several new faces will be driving at Mid-Ohio and it will mark the first time that last four Indy Lights Champs will be driving in the IZOD IndyCar Series. Hildenbrand (2009), Raphael Matos (2008), Alex Lloyd (2007), and Jay Howard (2006) all have graduated to full or part time rides within the IZOD IndyCar Series.

4. Scott Dixon Domination again?

Dixon has dominated in 2007 and 2009 at Mid-Ohio, and expect this weekend to be no different. Dixon , who sits third in the championship, could get back in the mix this weekend if he can qualify well and demonstrate the dominance that helped him win by over 30 seconds last year.

5. IndyCar Garage Picks for the weekend

5th Graham Rahal – Mid-Ohio is his home track, look for him to do well

4th Ryan Hunter-Reay – RHR has been the most consistent Andretti driver this year and finished 4th last year at this track while driving for A.J. Foyt Racing.

3rd Justin Wilson – Wilson should have won in Toronto, and has two runner finishes this year.


2nd Will Power – Power will be in the mix just because he is that good


1st Scott Dixon – Dixon dominated last year and looks to do so again this year