|
***
|
|
Dan Wheldon
Wins the Peak Antifreeze Indy 300, Sam Hornish Jr. is the 2006
IndyCar Champion.
|
|
|
|
|
IndyCar Photo by
Chris Jones
|
|
Last week I had
several issues that kept me from first doing the running recap
of the race and later doing a review. I'm way late on this but
the season has ended and not only do I need closure, but those
that visit the site regularly still want to read my take on the
race, so here goes...
Read my belated recount of the race and my thoughts on points
racing here...
|
|
|
|
|
Sam
Hornish Jr. wins the Peak Antifreeze
Indy 300 pole position with a 215.319 mph run, red and white
cars fill the first two rows for the championship run Sunday...
|
|
Sam Hornish Jr. managed to
bleed off the least amount of speed from his best practice
result to win the pole position for the Peak Antifreeze Indy 300
at Chicagoland Speedway this afternoon. Conversely, teammate Helio
Castroneves lost 2.1 mph but managed to hold 4th on the grid as
his closest rival, Scott Sharp lost even more speed. the drivers
were blaming cooler temperatures (4 degrees) and higher wind (5
mph, but perhaps at a more critical angle), but I expect most of
them posted speeds that were more draft related than others.
AJ Foyt IV out qualified his
three AGR teammates (11th), and AGR changed engines between
practice and qualifying on the Kanaan and Herta cars. Danica
Patrick lost more "Q" speed than most to run a 211 mph
lap and will again start along side of Sarah Fisher in the
"woman's row," but faster than three of the guys.
Vitor Meira, at least 7th best in the practice "combined
behind Kosuke Matsuura will start 6th, with Tomas Scheckter 7th.
Matsuura will start 8th and the RLR duo of Rice and Simmons
round out the top ten. Here's the IndyCar "Q" session
T&S chart showing the top-ten qualifiers....
|
|
Pos
|
Driver
|
Diff
|
Best Time
|
Best Speed
|
Best Lap
|
|
1
|
Sam Hornish Jr (6)
|
...
|
25.4134
|
215.319
|
2
|
|
2
|
Scott Dixon (9)
|
0.0862
|
25.4996
|
214.592
|
1
|
|
3
|
Dan Wheldon (10)
|
0.1105
|
25.5239
|
214.387
|
2
|
|
4
|
Helio Castroneves
(3)
|
0.1660
|
25.5794
|
213.922
|
1
|
|
5
|
Scott Sharp (8)
|
0.2078
|
25.6212
|
213.573
|
2
|
|
6
|
Vitor Meira (4)
|
0.2197
|
25.6331
|
213.474
|
1
|
|
7
|
Tomas Scheckter
(2)
|
0.2738
|
25.6872
|
213.024
|
2
|
|
8
|
Kosuke Matsuura
(55)
|
0.3112
|
25.7246
|
212.715
|
2
|
|
9
|
Buddy Rice (15)
|
0.3197
|
25.7331
|
212.644
|
2
|
|
10
|
Jeff Simmons (17)
|
0.3758
|
25.7892
|
212.182
|
1
|
|
|
IndyCar Photo by
Jim Haines
|
|
Here's AJ Foyt IV at speed in
the #27 Klein Tools/Canadian Club AGR car usually driven by
Dario Franchitti.
|
|
***
|
|
The first practice session of
the day is underway, AJ Foyt IV was allowed extra practice time
this morning to make his refresher run, he was scheduled to do
this on Thursday but it turned out that the track wasn't
available to Foyt, Fisher and Roth because it rained earlier in
the week and there was some track maintenance that needed to be
finished before race weekend. Foyt's run was cut short when he
apparently hit a bird in turn two, here's the IndyCar T&S
report on the run. Read more about today's P&Q sessions in a
running recap format here...
|
|
Pos
|
Driver
|
|
Best Time
|
Best Speed
|
|
|
|
Last Lap
|
|
1
|
AJ Foyt IV (27)
|
|
25.9076
|
211.212
|
|
|
|
18
|
|
|
***
|
|
It's the final IndyCar race
weekend of the season, too soon to wrap this one up as far as
I'm concerned with NASCAR still having their "Chase"
sham to run and The CCWS with three races to go, but more on
that later in the weekend.
Dario Franchitti managed to
trash a vintage Jaguar in England last weekend and somewhere in
the processes suffered a concussion that will leave him
sidelined at Chicagoland this weekend. AGR shocked the racing
world in picking AJ Foyt IV to drive the car, perhaps thinking
that would get them an extra testing opportunity as Foyt would
get some on-track "refresher" time. As for Foyt IV,
Chicagoland is a track where he has had some of his best results
and most of the thinking this week is that it will be good to
see him get a run without grandfather AJ looking over his
shoulder and calling the shots. The move isn't unprecedented, AJ
has had two Andretti's in his cars at Indy, Jeff and John, but
if there were debts to be paid on that account, it would be with
Mario, and his grandfather status comes with little clout. I
doubt this a one grandfather to another deal. Here's the weekend Schedule (all times converted to EDT):
Practice 1 Sat, 9 Sep @ 9:15 a.m.
Practice 2 Sat, 9 Sep @ 11:45 a.m.
Qualifying Sat, 9 Sep @ 6 p.m.
Final Practice Sun, 10 Sep @ 9:45 a.m.
Race Sun, 10 Sep @ 1:30 p.m.
|
|
|
Marco
Andretti wins The Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma.
|
If Marco Andretti was in fuel
conservation mode, everyone else was working harder at it,
because no one else was able to get close to him. Target Chip
Ganassi Racing may have also lost yet another race on pit road,
failing to get a left front tire mounted on the Dixon car in
regulation time on his final stop. On the final lap Vitor Meira
got around Dixon and both of them pass Castroneves. Kanaan then
pitted for fuel. Apparently Castroneves, Dixon and Meira got
jammed up behind a slowing and out of fuel Tony Kanaan and Meira
came out 3rd. Marco Andretti wins, followed by Franchitti,
Meira, Dixon and Castroneves.
If you read too many internet IndyCar related forums you would
get the opinion that no one likes or wants road and street
racing, but this is the 6th example of it, and the only one that
was close to being a stinker was the one at Infineon last year.
Every other race has offered it's share of IndyCar excitement.
I'm sure I'll have more pictures to post later, but check out
the running recap of the race here...
|
|
|
Scott
Dixon fastest in final Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma practice,
Townsend Bell substitutes for Tomas Scheckter in the session.
It's race day at Infineon Raceway...
|
|
|
|
Late Saturday afternoon in the
final practice session Townsend Bell replaced Tomas Scheckter in
the Vision racing #2 Dallara Honda and posted the slowest speed
in the session. Scott Dixon again topped the IndyCar T&S
chart shown below, but Ryan Briscoe backed up his 7th place
qualifying position with another solid run. Race day
commentary and pre-race photos can be found here...
|
|
|
Scott
Dixon, who's been fastest on the track most of the weekend,
managed to "win" the Firestone Fast Six edging out
qualifying leader Marco Andretti...
|
|
Marco Andretti posted the best
qualifying speed, but once the Fast Six session ended it was
Dixon on the pole, Marco Andretti came back to regain 2nd, and
Castroneves gained a position over Kanaan. Read more here...
|
|
|
Morning practice is underway now,
but we have yet to see any speeds from the first group of cars. I
have started a Saturday P&Q page here, and I have a
backlog of more than a dozen Dennis Sylvia photos to load along
with running commentary from both the practice and qualifying
sessions. Keep checking back for the latest news and photo's,
again, here is the link...
|
|
|
|
Here's a fan's favorite, Vitor
Meira and the Panther Racing Dallara Honda at Infineon Raceway
yesterday.
|
|
|
Friday
practice has begun for the Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma, Scott
Dixon fastest in practice.
|
|
|
|
Scott Dixon at speed on the way to
posting the fast speed of the day.
|
|
|
|
Scott Dixon and Helio Castroneves
at the end of the day "fastest two" press conference.
Helio was quickest in the first session, Dixon "won"
the 2nd. Read more about today's two practice session's from
Infineon Raceway and see additional photo's in a running recap
format here...
|
|
|
|
Helio Castroneves was fastest in
the first practice session...
|
|
***
|
|
The start of the first practice
session was delayed due to "wall repair," but they are
now underway. Already Dan Wheldon, Scott Sharp, Jeff Simmons and
Sam Hornish have been off course, with Wheldon making light
contact. For Hornish to survive the weekend in points contention
he has to avoid this kind of mistake, and he should be
practicing that more than seeing how fast he can go. Sam has
never had a "clean" road or street race, and he needs
one badly this weekend. The first session has now
ended,
|
|
|
12
Dallara's 6 Panoz cars set to practice Friday at Infineon
Raceway for Sunday's Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma...
|
|
O/IRR
will have Dennis Sylvia at Infineon Raceway this weekend for
pictures and commentary as 18 entries practice and Qualify for
Sunday's race, Normally the IndyCar Series is Dallara only, but
Target Chip Ganassi Racing, Rahal Letterman Racing and Scott
Sharp of Fernandez Racing are continuing to use their Panoz
equipment on road and street courses. TCGR has won twice in 5
races with Panoz cars while turning left and right, and RLR has
run very well with them as well.
With
Sam Hornish Jr. in the heat of a points championship battle, he
will have to be mistake free this weekend, something Sam has
never managed to accomplish on roads and streets. Even when he
runs well, Hornish has been hard on brakes, loosing them late in
the race every time he has been close to seeing the checkered
flag. To put additional pressure on Sam; Infineon Raceway, where
you are constantly turning in one direction or the other or
going through frequent elevation changes, will he tough on
brakes. I doubt Sam will try to contend for the win under
"just-finish" kind of pressure, and I think he will
see the checkered flag somewhere in the middle of the top ten.
I will begin coverage Friday somewhere in the middle of the
first practice session and by then we'll have some Dennis Sylvia
photos to post.
Here is the weekend schedule (all times converted to EDT):
Practice
1
Fri, 25 Aug @ 1 p.m.
Practice 2 Fri, 25 Aug @ 5:15 p.m.
Practice 3 Sat, 26 Aug @ 12:30 p.m.
Qualifying Sat, 26 Aug @ 3:05 p.m.
Final Practice Sat, 26 Aug @ 9:20 p.m.
Race Sun, 27 Aug @ 3:30 p.m.
|
|
|
The
Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma/Sonoma 100 from Infineon Raceway are
the next races on tap for IndyCar and the Indy Pro Series on the
weekend of August 25th, 26th and 27th...
|
|
Last year Ryan
Briscoe played a major roll in both qualifying and the eventual
outcome of the race as well. Briscoe won the pole position for
the race and led the first 17 laps until he made his first pit
stop under caution. Split pit stop strategies and a poor pit
location caused Briscoe to be in about 7th position on the
restart, and heading for the carousel
Briscoe made an ill-advised run down the inside of Danica
Patrick's car with at least two wheels in the dirt when they
weren't in the air. Briscoe cue-balled Patrick into Helio
Castroneves and all three drivers were done for the day. Tony
Kanaan would win the race followed by Buddy Rice. Read more
about The Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma here...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
It's
Sam Hornish Jr., Helio Castroneves, Scott Dixon and Dan Wheldon
in a red and white finish in the Meijer Indy 300 at Kentucky
Speedway...
|
|
(5 to go and under green)
Within a lap of the return to green flag racing Hornish and
Castroneves were around Dixon and the race would end with
Hornish in the lead, followed by Helio, Dixon and Wheldon. Tony
Kanaan would finish 5th and Meira 6th. Danica had head rest
issues with her repaired car, but hung on for an 8th place
finish. Sarah Fisher remained on the leader lap until late in
the race, finishing 12th, one lap down. Here's a detailed
race recap. Here's the IndyCar T&S chart showing the
finishing order of the race.
|
|
Pos
|
Driver
|
|
Best Time
|
Best Speed
|
|
|
|
Last Lap
|
|
1
|
Sam Hornish Jr (6)
|
|
24.4350
|
218.048
|
|
|
|
200
|
|
2
|
Scott Dixon (9)
|
|
24.4209
|
218.174
|
|
|
|
200
|
|
3
|
Helio Castroneves
(3)
|
|
24.3740
|
218.594
|
|
|
|
200
|
|
4
|
Dan Wheldon (10)
|
|
24.3581
|
218.736
|
|
|
|
200
|
|
5
|
Tony Kanaan (11)
|
|
24.5681
|
216.867
|
|
|
|
200
|
|
6
|
Vitor Meira (4)
|
|
24.4439
|
217.968
|
|
|
|
200
|
|
7
|
Tomas Scheckter
(2)
|
|
24.5400
|
217.115
|
|
|
|
200
|
|
8
|
Danica Patrick
(16)
|
|
24.5207
|
217.286
|
|
|
|
200
|
|
9
|
Dario Franchitti
(27)
|
|
24.5293
|
217.210
|
|
|
|
200
|
|
10
|
Bryan Herta (7)
|
|
24.3154
|
219.120
|
|
|
|
200
|
|
11
|
Ed Carpenter (20)
|
|
24.4993
|
217.476
|
|
|
|
199
|
|
12
|
Sarah Fisher (5)
|
|
24.7593
|
215.192
|
|
|
|
199
|
|
13
|
Jeff Bucknum (14)
|
|
24.7146
|
| |
