OT: Racing 2012 (Spoiler Alert)

[pk500]

Tim:

INDYCAR has raced at Iowa annually since 2007, the year after the track opened. It's been a great marriage, with near-capacity or capacity crowds every year. So expect to see Iowa on the INDYCAR schedule for a long time.

Sage Karam won the Star Mazda race. He's definitely aiming for INDYCAR, as he is one of the stars in Andretti Autosport's driver development program. AA is the only INDYCAR team to have at least one driver in all three rungs of the Mazda Road to Indy ladder system, comprised of USF2000, Star Mazda and Indy Lights.

Glad you had a great time, and happy to hear the fellas are blossoming INDYCAR fans! The sport needs more young faces in the grandstands and watching race telecasts.

[toonarmy]

Indycar has hit on one hell of an oval package. Another great race tonight, love watching the cars come and go throughout a stint.

I wish they would drop some of the road courses and add more ovals to the schedule. The road courses just don't deliver the same excitement and suspense as do the ovals.

Two problems. One, ovals don't draw as well as street courses, outside of Indy, Texas and Iowa. Two, there aren't many suitable ovals left for INDYCAR to race in the U.S.

INDYCAR may return to Michigan, but the series didn't draw sh*t there for its last few races. Same with Phoenix. Pocono could be an option since it has been repaved. Daytona and Talladega are far too fast. Bruton Smith was on record earlier this month saying Texas would be the only SMI oval that will play host to INDYCAR.

Dover and Gateway are dumps. Rockingham and Darlington wouldn't draw flies, in the heart of NASCAR country in North Carolina and South Carolina, respectively. Richmond is arguably too small, and the crowd dwindled the last few INDYCAR races there.

Crowds also were shrank at Chicago and Kansas, forcing a mutual divorce between ISC and INDYCAR at those facilities.

INDYCAR runs more street races because the sanctioning body and promoters usually make more money at those events. Plus they create a "big event" buzz in the city, attracting race fans and people just looking for a high-octane party. Oval races located far from downtown areas don't achieve that vibe.

I assumed it was mainly about the money and the buzz you speak of. The spotty crowds over the past several years at some of the oval tracks were pretty disappointing to see. I was speaking from a fan's perspective in that the racing is more nail-biting and intense at the oval tracks, not to mention you can actually see most of the track at many of the oval courses. Watching 90% of the race on a big monitor at a road course is not as much fun for me, even though the atmosphere and off-track buzz is indeed greater at road courses. It's ashamed fans are not more supportive of the oval track races. There is no doubt that the series has to go where the money and sponsors are, so I can appreciate that angle.

[EZSnappin]

The only oval race I watch is the Indy 500. I hate ovals. It's why I gravitated toward CART/Champ Car when open wheel racing split, and why I now enjoy F1 more than either big domestic racing series.

[tjung0831]

Tim:

INDYCAR has raced at Iowa annually since 2007, the year after the track opened. It's been a great marriage, with near-capacity or capacity crowds every year. So expect to see Iowa on the INDYCAR schedule for a long time.

Sage Karam won the Star Mazda race. He's definitely aiming for INDYCAR, as he is one of the stars in Andretti Autosport's driver development program. AA is the only INDYCAR team to have at least one driver in all three rungs of the Mazda Road to Indy ladder system, comprised of USF2000, Star Mazda and Indy Lights.

Glad you had a great time, and happy to hear the fellas are blossoming INDYCAR fans! The sport needs more young faces in the grandstands and watching race telecasts.

Thanks for the info, I read something today where it said that Iowa Speedway and Indycar were working on a 3 year extension to keep Indycar in Iowa.
As for Sage Karam, what kind of time frame do you think before he makes it to Indycar? I assume he will move to Indy Lights next year possibly?

[pk500]

Karam definitely is a strong candidate for an Andretti Autosport Indy Lights car in 2013. This is his third year as a contracted driver for Andretti Autosport and his second year in Star Mazda.

Karam is from Nazareth, Pa., the same town as the Andrettis. I know Michael thinks very highly of him. The kid also has done a ton of public service and community work since he joined Andretti. Damn good driver, too.

http://sagekaram.com/

[fsquid]

thought it was cool that Sebastian Loeb came over and participated in the rallycross at the X games. Gave a different audience a chance to see the best in the world

[pk500]

thought it was cool that Sebastian Loeb came over and participated in the rallycross at the X games. Gave a different audience a chance to see the best in the world

True. But another great WRC champion, Marcus Gronholm, was lucky to escape serious injury in a scary accident.

[DChaps]

Speaking of scary accidents, it appears that Maria De Villota has suffered a horrible incident after a test run in the Marussia F1 car. There seems to be varied reports, some saying she is still in life or death situation, others saying that she has now spoken to her family. Very scary stuff either way.

BBC Radio Cambridgeshire presenter Chris Mann, who saw the accident, said: "She got into the car, fired it up and did a test run at probably about 200mph in the rain.

"The car was slightly misfiring but there didn't seem to be any concerns.

"She came back into the area we were in with the engineers. She slowed down but then suddenly, inexplicably accelerated through the crowd and smashed into the side of the truck.

"The top of her car and her helmet seemed to take the brunt of it.

"She didn't move for about 15 minutes. Fire crews were there within seconds and the ambulance within minutes.

"After a while we thought we saw some movement of her hands but she appeared to be unconscious or unable to move for quite some time."

[DChaps]

Sad update on this strange accident:

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/100907

Marussia test driver Maria de Villota has lost her right eye and remains in critical but stable condition following her crash on Tuesday.

Marussia said a surgical team at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge "embarked on a lengthy procedure to address the serious head and facial injuries sustained" in the accident.

The team said the operation began yesterday afternoon and she was in theatre until this morning.

Team boss John Booth said de Villota has lost her right eye as a consequence of the accident.

"We are grateful for the medical attention that Maria has been receiving and her family would like to thank the Neurological and Plastics surgical teams," said Booth in a statement.

"However it is with great sadness that I must report that, due to the injuries she sustained, Maria has lost her right eye.

[pk500]

Very sad news about Maria De Villota. Hope she recovers to enjoy a full life.

The time is not appropriate now, but serious questions need to be asked at some point about why Marussia placed De Villota in the car as a test driver. She has been a backmarker in every major formula in which she has raced, and the zenith of her career has been a part-time seat in the third-rate Superleague Formula series. She couldn't replace the ill Timo Glock two weeks ago at Valencia because she lacked the FIA Superlicense required by all F1 race drivers.

There's no question De Villota was placed in the car as a publicity stunt. She's an attractive, well-spoken woman from a country that is mad about F1 due to Fernando Alonso. But driving an F1 car isn't a game. It's serious, deadly business, and Marussia played with the life of -- by all accounts -- a very nice young lady by putting her in the car.

Maybe this accident would have happened if Michael Schumacher or Alonso was behind the wheel. Maybe it was true mechanical failure. But De Villota's qualifications and inexperience in an F1 car -- this was her first test in the Marussia -- cause questions to be raised.

I certainly hope she gets well soon.

Here's Joe Saward's opinion on this sad episode:

http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2012/07/ ... t-duxford/

[pk500]

What an EPIC MotoGP race today at the Sachsenring.

When MotoGP is at its best, there is no more exciting motorsports series in the world. And it was at its very best today at the Sachsenring.

Check it out at 6 p.m. (ET) tonight on SPEED if you missed it!

[DChaps]

I know it's not racing, but this newest Ken Block Gymkhana video is insane. What really gets me about this video is how the hell did they clear out the city of San Francisco to film this thing. It must have been 6:00am on a Sunday morning because the city looks empty. The section with Travis Pastrana is crazy as well. Talk about trust.

[RobVarak]

Very cool.

All that burning rubber must have given Nancy Pelosi conniptions.

[pk500]

Head's up, boys: The BRILLIANT documentary "Senna" is on ESPN2 from 10 p.m.-midnight tonight.

Set your DVR's!

[EZSnappin]

Watch the Senna doc instead of the Hungary grand prix. Hungarboring.

[RobVarak]

Watch the Senna doc instead of the Hungary grand prix. Hungarboring.

I did enjoy the hot Lotus-on-Lotus action after Kimi's pit stop, but you're mostly right. Speaking of Senna, a nice race for Bruno. He finally qualified reasonably well and did a decent job with the spot.

[wco81]

Heard that Danica has wrecked 7 cars in the past 8 weeks.

Doesn't sound typical. Or do NASCAR teams have dozens do cars to use during the season? Do the owners of teams fire drivers for wrecking cars? Obviously you can't be winning races if you're getting in wrecks.

[DChaps]

I initially thought James Hinchcliffe's schtick was too contrived and pushed on the Indycar fans, but over this season he has really grown on me. His Kimi Raikkonen impression on Wind Tunnel sealed the deal. He is my new favorite Indycar driver.



His Dario and Helio impressions aren't bad either (1:55 and 2:40 into the clip respectively). Funny stuff.....

[Gurantsu]

OK, so the Baltimore Grand Prix is fast approaching. Me and a couple friends are going, and have a hotel room one block from the track for Saturday and Sunday nights. If any of you guys are going and are looking for a place to stay let me know, we have room for one more guy if you're willing to split the cost. Send me a PM if interested. If you have more than one guy who are going, well we can discuss that too!

[toonarmy]

I initially thought James Hinchcliffe's schtick was too contrived and pushed on the Indycar fans, but over this season he has really grown on me. His Kimi Raikkonen impression on Wind Tunnel sealed the deal. He is my new favorite Indycar driver.



His Dario and Helio impressions aren't bad either (1:55 and 2:40 into the clip respectively). Funny stuff.....

The Kimi impersonation is just too awesome. He nailed him perfectly.

[F308GTB]

MotoGP at Indy just feels so unnatural. The counter clockwise running just throws me compared to the old F1 direction.

[toonarmy]

What a messed up start at Spa. Grosjean manages to take out both Hamilton and Alonso at the start with unbelievably irresponsible driving. Grosjean is a fast driver but he is absolutely s*** when other cars are around him.

[Rodster]

What a messed up start at Spa. Grosjean manages to take out both Hamilton and Alonso at the start with unbelievably irresponsible driving. Grosjean is a fast driver but he is absolutely s*** when other cars are around him.

Add Maldonado the list. He was being investigated for a jump start after the restart. A talented driver that needs to dial in his aggression.

[toonarmy]

Kimi with the pass of the year, hands-down. The pass on Schumacher at Eau Rouge was gorgeous driving.

[Rodster]

Grosjean suspended for 1 race and a fine of 50k euro. The concluded he's been involved in several 1 st incidents and was serious enough that someone could have been badly hurt. I'm sure taking out Capt. Morgan did him no favors with the stewards.