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O/IRR Photo by
Iceman
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The only
time Tomas Scheckter had won an IndyCar event was at Michigan
International Raceway in 2002, when the Team Cheever car was
powered by an Infiniti engine. The last time Panther Racing won
an IndyCar event was in 2003, and Sam Hornish Jr was the team's
driver. That was also the last Chevy win. Since then, after
Scheckter joined the Panther team in 2004, it almost appeared
that the duo was in a quest to find as many different ways to
lose races as possible. Saturday night, almost a year and a half
of frustrations and disappointment came to an end in a
convincing and dominating fashion. In winning at TMS, they
helped spoil almost everyone's Danica Patrick party. Read my
Bombardier Learjet 500 recap here...
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(6-11-05)
O/IRR has had aXe at the track again this week, and he has had
computer issues, since the Media Center is now wireless, and
there is no desk space left for using a dial up connection.
He
had been giving me updates via cell phone. aXe said that there
was a record number of credential requests for this race, more
than any TMS event ever, even the NASCAR dates. He also says
that Argent has printed over 9,000 large Danica posters, and is
giving them away at the gates. He expects that the attendance
will be close to, or better then the initial TMS IndyCar event,
which drew over 100,000 people. It appears that many of the
drivers are concerned about the line Danica Patrick is
running. Read a synopsis of what else aXe had to say
here...
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There is no doubt that there
isn't a sports fan that doesn't know the story of Danica Patrick
in the Indy 500, and thanks to the promotional efforts of ESPN,
most of them know that Danica's next outing will be tonight at
TMS, a track that likes to bill itself at IndyCar's second home.
If the Indy 500 is the leagues signature event, the excitement
laden, close quartered racing and photo finishes seen at TMS is
the race the series wants everyone to see, their showcase event.
Read the entire race preview here...
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Photo courtesy of
Honda IRL Racing
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(6-10-05) I'm not sure that
conditions are any better, it is still hot and humid, but the
IndyCars are back on the TMS track for the first of two Friday
practice sessions. Other than leak and performance checks on
recently installed engines, I don't know what the teams will
learn about running a night race in the middle of a hot
afternoon. There will be one more practice session later today
and closer to what will be the scheduled race time, look for
practice coverage here....
The final practice is over, the recap is complete, follow the
link above.
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(6-9-05) this weekend the Danica
traveling road show heads for the Texas Motor Speedway, and we
will soon find out if the Danica story has legs, meaning staying
power, and the ability to not only play well, but continue to
boost the IndyCar appeal, both in event attendance and TV
ratings. We are less than an hour away from the first of two
practice sessions, slated for 3:00 PM EDT and 5:45 PM EDT. The
"Q" runs will begin at 8:30 PM EDT.
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IMS Photo by Ron
McQueeney
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The above picture shows Danica
Patrick and Kenny Brack at speed at IMS, with Danica on the
outside. Much has been said about Danica's weight advantage, but
I think this picture best demonstrates the real size advantage
she has, her height and small helmet size. Look at the distance
between the top of Danica's helmet and the bottom of the Panoz
air scoop and compare it to that of Brack. While Kenny's helmet
doesn't obstruct the air inlet, it certainly changes the airflow
pattern. Couple whatever horsepower advantage the clear airway
allows with any weight advantage she has and it might to be
easier understand how she was the fastest Honda qualifier
yesterday at TMS. That doesn't explain why the two Chevy's were
locked into the first row, clearly they were fast at Indy, but
not that fast. On the other hand, Scheckter did qualify for the
pole at TMS last October, but the rear wing was found to be
illegal. For that Chevy sponsored race, Chevy was granted
changes to their airbox/plenum, and the engine has been fast
ever since. While it could be that Panther Racing just has the
TMS setup nailed after all those Sam Hornish victories, I
suspect that Chevy has found some additional horsepower. Funny
that Chevy can keep pace with Honda and Toyota can't.
A complete running recap of
yesterday's P&Q runs can be found here...
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