Final Practice Nets Tragedy For SMP Racing And Aleshin

SMP Racing's Mikhail Aleshin as he prepares to be the first of 22 cars to run qualifying laps for the MAVTV 500 IndyCar World Championships at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana California. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2014)

Final Practice Nets Tragedy For SMP Racing And Aleshin

A crash involving three drivers happened in the final practice for the MAVTV 500 IndyCar World Championships at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana California.

Safety crew extracts Aleshin from cockpit of his DW12. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2014)

Wheel ensconced in catchfence. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2014)

The three drivers were Snapple Andretti Autosport's Marco Andretti, NovoLog FlexPen Ganassi Racing's Charlie Kimball, and SMP Racing's Mikhail Aleshin. Two of the three drivers were able to walk away but the rookie driver from Russia, Mikhail Aleshin (pronounced Ah-lotion), needed to be helped through the efforts of the Holmatro Safety Team out of the Dallara DW12 and onto a stretcher.

Aleshin being helped to the stretcher. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2014)

The first report issued at the track is that Mikhail is conscious and being transported by Helicopter to Loma Linda Hospital in San Bernardino County complaining of right shoulder and right foot pain/injury. He is listed in Serious Condition.  

UPDATE >>>

Charlie Kimball's Dallara DW12. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2014)

The photos from the video feed at the track suggested something a bit more tragic than the first reports on Aleshin's condition because one of the cars was seen as flying up into the air into the catch fence.

Further images showed that a tire from a car was embedded in the fencing material with the car Aleshin was driving in shambles further down the track exiting Turn 4.

Tony Kanaan (center), Scott Dixon (right), and Helio were shaken at the images shown at the track, saying to each other ... it looks bad. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2014)

The last time cars flew into fences at an oval IndyCar event, the results cost us all with the life of Dan Wheldon which also happened at a season ending event.

The initial reports are promising and we all pray for a positive, and life affirming result from this final practice crash.

... notes from The EDJE

Honda Indy Toronto's tale of two races with one result

TCGR's three-time IndyCar Champion wins race #32 in his career to mark a strong three race charge to challenge for the 2013 Championship. Image Credit: Honda Indy Toronto (2013)

Honda Indy Toronto's Tale Of Two Races With One Result

With a strong potential of a major points swing in the offing, the thrill of a first-time Standing-Start in IndyCar (ChampCar used them), Push-To-Pass (P2P), two tire compound (Reds/Blacks) strategy, and the 24 year history of exciting temporary street races as a backdrop, the double-header weekend of the 2013 Honda Indy Toronto did not disappoint.

Okay, so the first race of the weekend really was disappointing to not have the Standing-Start as advertised. Josef Newgarden's car failed on the grid sequence which created a 'called' ABORT of the Standing-Start. The cars were rolled off and the formation lap counted as a race lap with the Rolling-Start GREEN Flag which began Lap 2. It was ruled that the Standing-Start would replace the planned Rolling-Start for Race 2 for the second race on Sunday.

Honda Indy Toronto's Race 1, itself, was one of the most entertaining and competitive temporary street course races this season, and what seems to be happening more often than not, the driver to lead the most laps did not win. Marco Andretti comes to mind.

Dragon Racing's Sebastien Bourdais, four-time ChampCar Champion, qualified in P2, right next to four-time IRL/IndyCar champion Dario Franchitti for Honda Indy Toronto Race 1. SeaBass eventually ended up on the podium at P2 next to the two Target Chip Ganassi drivers Scott Dixon in P1 and Dario Franchitti in a confusing P3. Image Credit: More Front Wing via Twitter

In Race 1, Will Power was able to take over control of the race after Power took the lead from Sebastian Bourdais on Lap 32 shortly after the first cycle of green flag stops ended. Bourdais had managed to keep his advantage through the cycle, but was unable to stop Power from pulling off a tail-twitching inside pass in Turn 1 on the 1.75-mile Exhibition Place street circuit.

A full-course yellow on Lap 35 for contact between Tristan Vautier and Graham Rahal erased a two-second edge for Power, but he was able to hold off Bourdais on the next restart at Lap 40. Will Power went on to lead the most laps in the race when he was able to keep the lead until Lap 60 when he gave it up during Green Flag pit-stops to Sebastien Bourdais.

Soon after the Lap 40 restart, Scott Dixon was able to pass Bourdais in Turn 3, moving to P2 on the course. Through the same round of pit-stops where Power gave up the lead, to Dragon Racing's Sebastien Bourdais, Scott Dixon came in last, extending his fuel run ... and filed in behind Bourdais and ahead of both teammate Dario Franchitti and Will Power. With Bourdais on the softer Reds, and Dixon on the Blacks standard compound tires, the showdown of tire wear and P2P began. Bourdais had no P2P left and Dixon had about 3 or 4 pushes left. After a couple of set-up attempts, on Lap 78 using one of the two remaining P2Ps while Bourdais was powerless on used-up Firestone Reds and without a Push-To-Pass to use in defense of the Target Chip Ganassi Honda. Dixon overtook race leader and held off the four-time ChampCar champion on a Lap 84 single-file restart to earn his 31st victory to tie Bourdais, Dario Franchitti and Paul Tracy for seventh on the all-time Indy car list.

"These doubleheaders are tough; we got through Race 1. Just a crazy day," said Dixon, who earned the Verizon P1 Award with the fastest lap in qualifications for Race 2 earlier in the day. "This is what we need to get the momentum going."

As far as the Championship race within a race - In Race 1, Helio Castroneves extended his championship lead from 23 points to 41 with a fifth-place finish in the 12th event of the season, combined with Ryan Hunter-Reay's 18th-place result. Hunter-Reay encountered a myriad of problems, including stalling the No. 1 DHL Chevrolet twice leaving his pit stall and making contact with the Turn 3 tire barrier on Lap 79.

Honda Indy Toronto's Race 2 saw a ruled 'do-over' of the Standing-Start with the caveat that if the first attempt did not take for any reason, there would be at least one additional attempt. This ruling was not the only change in the interpretation of the rules by substitute, and former, Race Control head, Brian Barnhart. In Race 1, Barnhart first assessed a late race penalty on Dario Franchitti for blocking on Will Power as Power attempted a pass causing Power to tap the inside wall and miss Turn 3. This post-race penalty ruling was then later rescinded and everyone then knew that Race Control was not being headed by the current IICS Race Control captain, Beaux Barfield (who was unable to attend the Honda Indy Toronto weekend for personal reasons).

Also, the Standing-Start came off without a hitch, in that every car got rolling but Dario Franchitti suffered front wing damage and came in at the end of the first lap, took off his minimum two lap Firestone Red alternative tires, and put on the standard Blacks which he used for the balance of the 85 Lap race. Barnhart was an influence to the end of this race as well. He ruled that due to the fact that this was a two-race weekend, and that Red alternative tires were in short supply, Dario Franchitti would not be penalized for using Reds for only one lap as opposed to the mandatory two lap minimum as stated in the rule book. Most are having trouble with this typical Brian Barnhart autocratically-interpretable Race Control attitude. Question: Why does this Race Control captain always seem to make the race become more about Race Control decisions than the race itself?

Back to Race 2 which ran without any full course cautions for 64 of 85 laps. This has to be a Green Flag running record for the tight and treacherous 1.7-mile, 11-turn temporary street circuit. In 24 years, the Honda Indy Toronto has never seen a race without at least one Yellow Flag full course caution.

Scott Dixon went on to win a most convincing race and many would consider, save the Standing-Start, was just a continuation of the race ran the day before. The Target Chip Ganassi driver put on a clinic of driver and car domination in Race 2 that had him leading every lap except for Lap 24 and 25 when Helio Castroneves stayed out during the first set of Green Flag pit-stops. All other pit-stops, Scott Dixon kept the lead due to his lead on the track - that's domination.

A second Yellow Flag full course caution was called when Ed Carpenter lost it in Turn 5 and slammed the wall on Lap 77, this had another restart incident happen on Lap 83 where the driver who was the pre-race P2 in the Championship points, Andretti Autosport's Ryan Hunter-Reay try to make a three-wide pass on the outside of Turn 1. As the middle car, which squeezed down on the inside corner car of Will Power, cleared, Power applied the pedal and his rear end twitched, tapping RHR's car and this sent the Yellow DHL DW12 into the wall to finish the race in P19.

As far as the Championship race within a race - Helio Castroneves was able to finish Honda Indy Toronto's Race 2 on the podium in P2. Scott Dixon ended up by winning three races in a row with his win at Pocono, moving him up three positions in the Championship points to P4, the win in the Honda Indy Toronto Race 1 moving him to P3 ahead of Andretti Autosport's Marco Andretti, and this last win in Honda Indy Toronto Race 2 moving him to P2 ahead of Andretti Autosport's Ryan Hunter-Reay.

In a post race interview, Dixon was informed that he had also won the $100,000 SONAX Perfect Finish Award for winning both races of the Honda Indy Toronto. Dixon Quote - "$100 Grand is good but I'd rather have the points. Points ... is why were here." 

Before the weekend, Helio had a 23 point margin between him and all other drivers. Helio Castroneves now leads all drivers by 29 points for a net gain of 6 points - not a huge shift. The biggest shift in the standings has to be the movement up the championship points ladder of Target Chip Ganassi's three-time IndyCar Champion, Scott Dixon who moves 5 point's positions in just three races.

The biggest loser for the Honda Indy Toronto double-header weekend was Andretti Autosport who have had chances to lock up the championship points race due to their qualification's performance in recent race weekends, but have not been able to convert their most laps led or front-row owning qualification performance by their drivers to Championship points.

More Front Wing's Stephanie Wallcraft caught up with Andretti Autosport's James Hinchcliffe and he let her know in no uncertain terms that he is not a fan of double-header weekends. Said Hinch:

“I don’t think anybody likes them. Scott Dixon gets 100 points. How come we don’t have two races at Iowa (where Hinchcliffe not only won but dominated in much the same way the Target Chip Ganassi driver did in Toronto this weekend)? That would have been awesome for us.

“You have to have double-headers at all of them or none of them. I’ve said that since they announced these things. It’s not a fair way to do it. We as a team didn’t have particularly strong cars here, and we get penalized twice as much. And we’re going to go to Houston, and somebody’s going to nail it and have a really good day. It’s unfortunate that that’s how it works.

” Nobody in the series will ever warm up to these. They’re too hard on the drivers, they’re too hard on the teams. You get so little practice, it’s so tough to get the car set up right.”

After 13 of 19 races in the 2013 season, it looks as though this season will end as many of the last several season's have ended (not 2012) with a shootout between a Penske Racing and a Target Chip Ganassi Racing driver for the season's driving Championship.

Two races in one road/street course weekend seems like the IZOD IndyCar Series might be stretching the performance rubber-band a little too far. This weekend, while being a crowd-pleasing event for those in Toronto, sucked all of the attention off of the supporting World Challenge and Road to Indy races.

In the end, the two days of races paid double points to Scott Dixon for what translated to be a single tour de force 170 lap race through the streets of Toronto.

... notes from The EDJE

Featured Article >>>

TAGS: Helio Castroneves, Andretti Autosport, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Will Power, Dario Franchitti, Penske Racing, Sebastien Bourdais, The EDJE, Scott Dixon, Marco Andretti, Chip Ganassi Racing, Dragon Racing,

Pocono's elevated sprocket drive shape gives IndyCar traction

Marco Andretti, driving at his family's home track for the first time as an IICS driver hopes to follow in his grandfather's footsteps and notch a win at Pocono Raceway ... something team owner and father has never done. Image Credit: Chris Owens via motorsport.com

Pocono's elevated sprocket drive shape gives IndyCar traction

For the first time since 1989, American open-wheel racing comes back to an area of the United States that has become known as racing's Magic Triangle due to the location of Pocono Raceway to the population centers of New York and Philadelphia.

Pocono Raceway is about 90 miles away from both New York and Philadelphia with New York having the distinction of the #1 largest TV market and Philadelphia, the #4 largest TV market. This also places the super-speedway within 200 miles of 60 million people and when you consider that the average NASCAR Sprint Cup fan (the main fan base that have used Pocono Speedway these last 24 years) travels 300 miles, this race track is in the highest population density of almost any other popular racing destination.

Everyone loves to bring their own analogy to this uniquely shaped racing venue ... being a triangle, people call the 'Tricky Triangle' a tri-oval or 'roval' because of its asymmetric configuration - an oval with three corners that drives like a road course, The Devil's Triangle, and, naturally, the Bermuda Triangle because of the good driving careers that have been dashed here by drivers and teams that can best figure out the set-up for a car that will encounter very fast speeds around three very differently shaped turns.

The concept of an elevated sprocket for driving the track was first introduced in production as far back as 1917 when the Dayton-Dick Company of Quincy Illinois, introduced its Leader Model 25-40 tractor ... as described in the book, Caterpillar Chronicle: The History of the World's Greatest Earthmovers. This approach has become the most successful track design for heavy equipment. Image Credit: chinesewheelloader.net

The best analogy may come from the design of a continuous drive track of a bulldozer known as an elevated sprocket drive found on modern tractor vehicles. The shape delivers superior traction and allows the machine operator great handling performance and control of this earth-moving device.

Pocono Raceway's shape can be described as follows - The front/main straightaway (no-name) leading to turn one is .7083 of a mile or 3,740 feet which enters the Trenton Speedway shaped Turn 1 and catches the cars at 14° banking. The “Long Pond” (the second longest straightaway) stretches for .5786 of a mile or 3,055 feet between Turns One and Two and enters the "Tunnel Turn" (designed to be similar to the high-speed turns at Indianapolis Motor Speedway) at 8° banking. Lastly, the 'no-name' stretch from Turn Two to Turn Three is a mere .3371 of a mile or 1,780 feet and enters the final turn, the Milwaukee Mile Turn 3, at 6° banking.

The unusual triangular configuration is conducive to many lead changes since this track sports the longest and widest straightaway with the longest and widest Pit Road of any on the modern NASCAR circuit. This gives Pocono a uniqueness that will certainly be exploited by the IZOD IndyCar Series open-wheeled DW12s.

During practice and qualifications leading up to this first open-wheel race, the traction of the cars to this unique asymmetrical track layout proved itself. All of the cars that had practiced on Thursday's first day of track activity broke the last open-wheeled race car speed record set by Emerson Fittipaldi at 211.715 mph, with the slowest practice fast lap recorded being Sebastian Saavedra of Dragon Racing at 215.001 mph. Compare this with the fastest speed registered by the other leading racing series to use the track - NASCAR's Joey Logano at 179.598 mph - June 9, 2012. 

Andretti Autosport's Ryan Hunter-Reay and James Hinchcliffe fill out the three-wide start front row to make it an all Andretti Autosport front row for the first time 'home track' race in the 2013 IZOD IndyCar Series season. Image Credit: Bret Kelley via motorsport.com

Qualifications had Andretti Autosport and Marco Andretti blister the track record by nearly 10 miles per hour with a 221.237 mph two lap average. Further, this 'home track' to the Andretti family, since the Nazareth, PA home base is only about a 20 minute drive from the "Tricky Triangle', had the three-wide starting front row filled with Andretti Autosport teammates of Ryan Hunter-Reay at P2 - 220.892 mph, and James Hinchcliffe at P3 - 220.431 mph. The only dark spot that could have had Andretti Autosport from filling the first four positions on the grid was that during his qualification run, EJ Viso's DW12 stepped out and hit the safer barrier wall ending his Lap 1 run at 219.952 mph.

Final Qualifications Results Here >>>

With the IZOD IndyCar Series visiting this Magic Triangle for the first time in 24 years, traction is the order of the day and the elevated sprocket drive shape of Pocono Raceway delivers on its promise of this nation's most unique super-speedway.

The Pocono Indy 400 Fueled by Sunoco race is set to take place at Pocono Raceway on Sunday, July 7, 2013 at Noon ET, televised on ABC, SiriusXM Channel 211 radio, IndyCar Timing & Scoring found at - racecontrol.indycar.com - , and mobile phone app INDYCAR 13.

... notes from The EDJE

Featured Article:

TAGS: Andretti Autosport, Ryan Hunter-Reay, elevated sprocket drive, Pocono Raceway, traction, Tricky Triangle, Magic Triangle, IZOD IndyCar Series, super-speedway, Bermuda Triangle, Marco Andretti, James Hinchcliffe, Motorsport, The EDJE

Tony Kanaan Earns Lifetime Achievement Award Through 97th INDY 500 Win

For a decade, Kanaan was IndyCar’s reigning Best-Never, as in “best never to have won the Indy 500.” Sure, he’d won the championship in 2004, but make no mistake: in IndyCar, it’s all about the race that gives the series its very name. More than the Daytona 500 to NASCAR drivers, more than The Masters to golfers, more than Wimbledon to tennis players: This is the race that defines drivers; any second-place challenger isn’t even on the same lap. Caption Credit: Jay Busbee | Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013)

Tony Kanaan Earns Lifetime Achievement Award Through 97th INDY 500 Win

It is understood that we humans are saps for happy endings – and for those who had invested their emotions in the 97th Indianapolis 500 race over the weekend, the payoff was anything but anticlimactic, even with the race ending under a full course YELLOW Flag caution.

Most of the easy money was on any one of five Andretti Autosport drivers taking the Borg-Warner Trophy inscription/sculpture prize and the lifetime of notoriety that comes with being “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” winner. In the final tally, Andretti Autosport had Columbian rookie Carlos Munoz riding P2 (voted Indy 500 Rookie of the Year), 2012 IZOD IndyCar Sreies Champion Ryan Hunter-Reay – P3, and the current 2013 IZOD IndyCar Series championship points leader Marco Andretti rolling along under the YELLOW Flag at P4.

The easy money did not win but the emotional money paid off big time … if the emotional money were on a deserving previous non-winner of the event, driving for a team that had never won either the INDY 500 or a series championship – 38 year old Brazilian Tony “TK” Kanaan.

TK even had an additional emotional story about luck that presented itself just days before the race.

The Handford Device was created as a way to slow the cars down and try and improve overtaking. The strip or plate was placed on the tailing edge of the rear wing and aided in reducing downforce, increasing drag, and generating a larger wake for the drivers of cars behind to use for a slipstream. Image Credit: f1technical.net

This excerpted and edited from NBC Sports -

Kanaan: Oval racing about “playing the game” given power levels
Tony DiZinno May 27, 2013, 2:30 PM EDT

A veteran of open-wheel’s top level since 1998, Indianapolis 500 champion Tony Kanaan is well-versed on the various “styles” of racing that have occurred in ovals in either CART, IRL or IndyCar iterations.

The second year of IndyCar’s new Dallara DW12 chassis at Indianapolis once again featured a plethora of passing thanks to the “slingshot” effect created by a tow. The cars punch such a big hole in the air that drivers catch up to each other fairly easily. Passing was as prevalent on Sunday as crushed beer cans in Indy’s new “Snake pit,” Turn 3.

But for Kanaan, who raced in the CART-era “Hanford device” period, the racing now isn’t as random or affected by the aero slingshots as it was then. The device, created by aerodynamicist Mark Hanford, was used in CART from 1998 through 2002 on high-speed ovals at Michigan and California Speedways.

“I’ve driven all types of IndyCars, I would say,” Kanaan said Monday at IMS. “I drove the Champ Cars with the thousand horsepower, a lot of downforce.  Then we went to the Hanford device, which was worse than this as far as drafting.  This car has a little bit less.”

The Dallara DW12’s powerplants have only 550 horsepower for ovals. What that has done is altered the racing, but away from the scary “pack racing” that plagued the IRL era, and made it about positioning compared to the CART days when cars could come from nearly a second back to pass [at will]  someone in one straightaway.

Kanaan would know, given his first major open-wheel win was a 500-mile CART race at Michigan in 1999, and he barely held off Juan Montoya after the Colombian hauled him in thanks to a monster tow.

“My most fun years were the years that we had the big horsepower cars and you just had to go flat out; it was pure racing speed,” Kanaan admitted. “You had the faster car, you’re going to take off and win this thing because you had a chance to lap the field.

“That’s not going to happen nowadays. Now you play the game we played yesterday.  You feel it out, what kind of car you have during the race, and you position yourself to win.”

Greater horsepower is a near universal desire of the field of drivers, but for now, Kanaan and others are playing with the resources at their disposal.

“So I would rather have more horsepower and do that.  But nowadays with the cost, it’s quite impossible for that to happen.”
[Reference Here]

TK drove the Hydroxycut KV Racing Technology-SH Racing (KVRT) prepared Chevrolet-powered second-year Dallara DW12 co-owned by Jimmy Vasser, Kevin Kalkhoven and Imran Safiulla.

KV Racing Technology team leader/co-owner Jimmy Vasser knows what it is to be a race car driver w/o INDY 500 recognition. He now has it as a team owner and joins a very exclusive group of drivers who turned to being a team owner to have this kind of success. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013)

“I never won this race as a driver and couldn’t seem to do so, so I had to hire a driver to do it,” said on-track team owner Jimmy Vasser in a post race interview. “Tony is the consummate professional and he’s been a long time coming here. Starting a year ago, we decided to focus on Indy by taking a chassis and putting it aside. A lot of credit goes to the boys, who have worked very hard over the winter. Tony was right, ‘the stars started lining up for us,’ and we didn’t really get a race set-up until last Sunday [one week before the race] with two hours to go and within 45 minutes, we hit on it. We knew we had the right guy and the right set-up for the race.”

While the race ended under a full course YELLOW Flag caution, everyone invested in the event were treated to a highly competitive, record-setting run for the first 197 laps.

Tony Kanaan celebrates with winners milk in front of team owner Jimmy Vasser (clinched-fists, arms raised) after winning the Indianapolis 500. The American Dairy Association released a milk preference poll for all 33 drivers in this year’s race. Sixteen of them are opting for 2 percent, eight are going for whole, four of them chose skim milk, and five couldn’t care less … so long as they get to drink it. TK signed up for a quart of 2 percent! Image Credit: IndyCar.com

Some numbers of note following the 97th Indianapolis 500 Mile Race, including the top three positions at 20-lap intervals (ht: IndyCar.com):

Lap 20 — Tony Kanaan, Marco Andretti (-.0077 of a second), Ed Carpenter (-.3487)
Lap 40 — Ed Carpenter (under caution), Marco Andretti, Ryan Hunter-Reay
Lap 60 — Ryan Hunter-Reay (under caution), Marco Andretti, Ed Carpenter
Lap 80 — Will Power, Tony Kanaan (-.3984), Ryan Hunter-Reay (-.6241)
Lap 100 — AJ Allmendinger, Tony Kanaan (-.0473), Ryan Hunter-Reay (-.4544)
Lap 120 — Tony Kanaan, Marco Andretti (-.1399), Ryan Hunter-Reay (-.3720)
Lap 140 — AJ Allmendinger, Ryan Hunter-Reay (-.1390), Marco Andretti (-.3408)
Lap 160 — Ryan Hunter-Reay, Marco Andretti (-.1167), AJ Allmendinger (-.4829)
Lap 180 — Carlos Munoz, Ryan Hunter-Reay (-.2866), Helio Castroneves (-.9251)
Lap 200 –Tony Kanaan (under caution), Carlos Munoz, Ryan Hunter-Reay

68 — Race-record lead changes, breaking 34 in 2012.

14 — Race-record different lap leaders — a third of the field — breaking 12 in 1993.

27 — Race-record cars running at the finish, breaking 26 in 1911.

133 — Consecutive green flag laps (from Lap 61 through Lap 193), the longest green flag period in Indianapolis 500 history since caution flag laps were recorded beginning in 1976.

21 — Caution flag laps, the fewest in an Indianapolis 500 that went the full distance since caution flag laps were recorded beginning in 1976. The 1976 race also had just 21 caution-flag laps, but that race ended after 102 laps because if rain.

187.433 — Average speed in miles per hour, a race record. Arie Luyendyk held the record of 185.981 mph since 1990. It was only the fourth time the race record has been broken.

13 — Positions gained by Simon Pagenaud, who finished P8 from P21, the most in the field.

6 — Drivers who led their first laps in the Indianapolis 500.

9 — Indy 500s led by Tony Kanaan in his 12 starts.

62 — Temperature in Fahrenheit at the green flag, tying the 1930 race for the third-coldest in the race’s history.

226.940 — Fastest overall lap in miles per hour by Justin Wilson (the highest placing Honda-powered DW12 at P5) on Lap 185.

223.651 — Fastest lap in miles per hour by a race leader, Carlos Munoz, on Lap 184.

168 — 2013 series championship points for Marco Andretti after five races. Takuma Sato is 11 points behind.

226.176 — Field qualifying average in miles per hour. It’s the fourth-fastest field in Indianapolis 500 history, exceeded only in 1995, 1996 and 2002. The 2002 field averaged 228.648 mph, the fastest in history.

228.762 — Four-lap average speed by pole winner Ed Carpenter, the fastest since 2006 by Sam Hornish Jr.

Favorite post race Tweet:

E.M.H @elmondohummus
Yes This! No gimmicks in Indycar. RT @TonyJWriter: Oh, and hey, screw green-white-checker finishes. #Indy500orBust #IndyCar #dw12

Longtime American open-wheel writer, SpeedTV’s Marshall Pruett Predicted: He’s come close before and has, in my estimation, another legitimate shot at winning this year. The most popular driver in the field without his likeness on the BorgWarner trophy will likely put on more displays of bravery and miraculous passes—but can his team get his No. 11 car just right for the sprint to the finish? That’s the only thing I see holding TK back from Victory Lane.

Well, they did, Marshall!

Results – 200 laps:

Pos  Driver               Team/Engine        Time/Gap

1.  Tony Kanaan          KVRT/Chevy
2.  Carlos Munoz         Andretti/Chevy     + 0.1159
3.  Ryan Hunter-Reay     Andretti/Chevy     + 0.2480
4.  Marco Andretti       Andretti/Chevy     + 0.3634
5.  Justin Wilson        Coyne/Honda        + 0.8138

6.  Helio Castroneves    Penske/Chevy       + 3.0086
7.  AJ Allmendinger      Penske/Chevy       + 4.0107
8.  Simon Pagenaud       Schmidt/Honda      + 4.2609
9.  Charlie Kimball      Ganassi/Honda      + 5.6864
10.  Ed Carpenter         Carpenter/Chevy    + 6.8425

11.  Oriol Servia         Panther DRR/Chevy  + 7.8633
12.  Ryan Briscoe         Ganassi/Honda      + 8.9216
13.  Takuma Sato          Foyt/Honda         + 10.2602
14.  Scott Dixon          Ganassi/Honda      + 11.3858

15.  Ana Beatriz          Coyne/Honda        + 12.2657

16.  Tristan Vautier      Schmidt/Honda      + 15.3045
17.  Simona De Silvestro  KVRT/Chevy           + 15.7201
18.  EJ Viso              Andretti/Chevy     + 17.8056
19.  Will Power           Penske/Chevy       + 22.5403

20.  James Jakes          Rahal/Honda        + 1 lap

21.  James Hinchcliffe    Andretti/Chevy     + 1 lap
22.  Conor Daly           Foyt/Honda         + 2 laps
23.  Dario Franchitti     Ganassi/Honda      + 3 laps*
24.  Alex Tagliani        Herta/Honda        + 4 laps
25.  Graham Rahal         Rahal/Honda        + 7 laps*

26.  Katherine Legge      Schmidt/Honda      + 7 laps
27.  Townsend Bell        Panther/Chevy      + 8 laps
28.  Josef Newgarden      Fisher/Honda       + 9 laps

* Not running at finish

Retirements

Sebastien Bourdais   Dragon/Chevy       178 laps
Pippa Mann           Coyne/Honda        46 laps
Buddy Lazier         Lazier/Chevy       44 laps
Sebastian Saavedra   Dragon/Chevy       34 laps
JR Hildebrand        Panther/Chevy      3 laps
(ht: autosport.com)

As Tony was overheard to say during the ceremony at race’s end, “This is it … man, I made it. Finally they’re going to put my ugly face on this [Borg-Warner] trophy.” This inscription and facial sculpture will become a well earned award for a lifetime of achievements.

… notes from The EDJE

**Article first posted as "Tony Kanaan Earns Lifetime Achievement Award Through 97th INDY 500 Win" at Motorsports Unplugged**

Will The 97th INDY 500 Become An Andretti Autosport Shootout?

A joyous Michael Andretti as he basks in the glow of being the team owner of the 2012 IZOD IndyCar Champion Ryan Hunter-Reay while fielding questions from the press just after the last race of the season at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, CA. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2012)

Will The 97th INDY 500 Become An Andretti Autosport Shootout?

The month of May, 2013, at the famed two and a half mile rectangle/oval located at Speedway, Indiana has been dominated by cars prepared and driven by Andretti Autosport. During the week leading up to Pole Day, which took place last weekend, saw all five cars comfortably posting speed times in the top 10 with the consistency usually reserved by Penske Racing or Target Chip Ganassi (who, under their direct banner, have fielded five cars combined).

On Pole Day, Andretti Autosport cars made it to the “Fast Nine” shootout for the pole … the only other multiple car team to place all of its cars in the final cut was Penske Racing (P5. (2) AJ Allmendinger, Dallara-Chevy 02:37.8264 (228.099) | P6. (12) Will Power, Dallara-Chevy 02:37.8342 (228.087) | P8. (3) Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Chevy 02:38.0596 (227.762)) leaving Target Chip Ganassi Racing (TGR) locked out – TGR’s Dixon and Franchitti are P16 and P17 respectively (row six).

The Andretti Autosport DW12′s qualified at P2. (26) Carlos Munoz, Dallara-Chevy 02:37.6581 (228.342) | P3. (25) Marco Andretti, Dallara-Chevy 02:37.7139 (228.261) | P4. (5) EJ Viso, Dallara-Chevy 02:37.7907 (228.150) | P7. (1) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dallara-Chevy 02:37.9614 (227.904) | P9. (27) James Hinchcliffe, Dallara-Chevy 02:38.5411 (227.070).

Andretti Autosport’s Ryan Hunter-Reay just moments after he pits his #1 DHL sponsored Dallara-Chevy at the end of the race that rewarded him with enough points to secure the 2012 IICS driver championship. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2012)

If qualifying position and overall team performance were the solid gold predictors in the outcome of a race run, then one would have to give the inside track to ANY Andretti Autosport team car and driver.

When one adds the calculation of team performance to the winning of races, Andretti Autosport is also given the edge starting the last half of 2012 – when Ryan Hunter-Reay won Race #8 of a 15 race season at the Milwaukee Mile, Race #9 Iowa, and Race #14 through the streets of Baltimore and eventually seizing the 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series (IICS) Driver Championship  – then continuing the performance during the first four races of the 2013 season with James Hinchcliffe winning Race #1 at St. Petersburg and #4 at Sao Paulo, not to forget the win by last year’s IICS champion Ryan Hunter-Reay in Race #2 at Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama – the team is on a roll.

James Hinchcliffe prays in the cockpit of his Andretti Autosport Go Daddy sponsored Dallara-Chevy before taking to the track. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2012)

Lastly, through four races of the 2013 season, the consistency of performance can not be ignored. The driver championship standings with over 20% of the season being run has Andretti Autosport season regular drivers Marco Andretti standing at  P2, James Hinchcliffe at P4, Ryan Hunter-Reay at P6, and EJ Viso at P11. And, again, the pinch-hitter for the INDY 500, Carlos Munoz sits as the top qualifying driver for the team at P2 – WOW!

A shootout in the INDY 500 by Andretti Autosport drivers is a very real possibility because the team, and the way the second season DW12 cars have been prepared, would allow this to happen.

Andretti Autosport drivers Marco Andretti and James Hinchcliffe take to the ‘Brickyard’ for set-ups. Marco sets a speed of 225 on the first day of practice laps leading all cars that ran on the first day of May practice at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Image Credit: IZOD IndyCar Series

This excerpted and edited from SB Nation -

2013 Indianapolis 500: Power ranking the field of 33
By MattWeaver on May 21 2013, 10:00p 

Instead of compiling a traditional power rankings list like we normally do on Tuesday afternoons at SB Nation IndyCar, this week’s post will rank the top-10 drivers most likely to win the Indianapolis 500-mile Race.

Drivers can typically be lumped into three groups entering the month of May:

1.) The top-10 drivers that have the easiest path towards winning the Borg-Warner Trophy.

2.) The group of 10 that will need some help or a little bit of luck.

3.) The final 13 that are best described as a long shot.

Conceivably any of the 33 drivers have a shot after 500-miles, as fuel strategy has generated some surprise winners over the last century. That’s one of the many reasons the Greatest Spectacle in Racing is still the greatest race in the world – it’s still the 500-mile sweepstakes.

And yet, there is still a clear hierarchy led by traditional powers Andretti Autosport, Team Penske and Chip Ganassi Racing. Our top-10 picks to win the 2013 Indianapolis 500 can be found below, with an explanation for each of the top contenders. For reference’s sake, we’ve also included a complete ranking to the last driver.

1. Marco Andretti
The entire month of May seemingly has been dedicated to Andretti Autosport, the Andretti Curse and Marco Andretti’s career resurgence. While just a little off the pole speed on Saturday, the number 25 team appears fastest in traffic, picking up a toe [TOW] and several other deciding factors in traffic.
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He’s also number 1 on the power rankings list because he’s shown the most consistent speed at Indianapolis since teams unloaded the DW12 oval model last May, leading the most laps of the 2012 race and dominating the practice sessions leading up to the 2013 race.

2. Ed Carpenter
One of the biggest misconceptions about the buildup to this year’s Indianapolis 500 is that Ed Carpenter is some sort of heartwarming underdog victory after capturing the pole on Saturday afternoon. Sure, Ed Carpenter Racing doesn’t have the same budget as Penske or Ganassi, but he is the most prolific oval racer of the post-split era.

3. Carlos Muñoz
With reservation, a 21-year-old rookie makes the podium in the most-likely to win the Indianapolis 500 power rankings post.
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Only Marco Andretti has shown quicker pace in practice, and Muñoz has looked confident running in a pack with his Andretti Autosport teammates. He’s looking to do what JR Hildebrand couldn’t do in 2011, and that is winning this race in just his very first attempt — so don’t be surprised if it actually happens.

4. Hélio Castroneves
If youthful disregard could win on Sunday for Muñoz, experience and patience will do it for Hélio Castroneves. There is more than one way to win this race, and it will be interesting to see how Castroneves approaches another attempt to win his fourth Borg-Warner.

5. Dario Franchitti
Repeat everything that was said about Hélio Castroneves in regards to Dario Franchitti. The only thing placing Castroneves over Franchitti is his Chevy turbocharger which appears much-stronger at Indianapolis. Dario is also looking for his fourth win at the Speedway.

6. Will Power
Based on his championship finishes over the past three seasons, Will Power has inherited the title of Team Penske’s number 1 driver. With that title comes a lot of responsibility at Indianapolis Motor Speedway but not a lot of success thus far.
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Will Power can absolutely win this race. And in a season where he has somehow gone winless through four-consecutive road and street course events, wouldn’t a victory in the Indianapolis 500 just make sense?

7. James Hinchcliffe
The Go Daddy Andretti driver has been sneaky competitive at Indianapolis, qualifying 13th for Newman/Haas in 2011 and finishing sixth in last year’s race. Brimming with the confidence off two wins to start the 2013 season and the powerful Andretti Autosport backing his entry in 2013, Hinchcliffe could finally and completely break out of her shadow with a win in the Indianapolis 500.

8. EJ Viso
Andretti Autosport has seemingly concentrated the raw potential of EJ Viso, and that could again show itself with a surprise victory in the Indianapolis 500.

9. AJ Allmendinger
Casual observers were quick to point out that AJ Allmendinger’s lack of results in his first two races back in Indy car was a sign of his inability to drive these cars after six seasons or the result of his mixed commitments to both IndyCar and NASCAR.
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Like any Penske car, the No. 2 has speed the driver has shown the ability to wield it for brief practice or qualifying spurts, but can he do it for 500 miles? That’s the only question separating AJ Allmendinger from the Borg-Warner trophy.

10. Scott Dixon
In a repeat of last season, Honda and Target Chip Ganassi Racing look to be just off the pace set by their Chevrolet rivals. But like last season, Honda and Ganassi will rise to the occasion and will be a constant threat for the lead in the late stages of the race.

The Borg-Warner Trophy – this image never gets old. Image Credit: Dreyer & Reinbold Racing

Lost in the shuffle between the legendary Dario Franchitti/Takuma Sato duel last year was that Scott Dixon was leading the Indianapolis 500 up until three laps to go. That isn’t likely to change on Sunday.

11. Ryan Hunter-Reay
12. Tony Kanaan
13. Takuma Sato
14. JR Hildebrand
15. Ryan Briscoe

16. Alex Tagliani
17. Charlie Kimball
18. Graham Rahal
19. Justin Wilson
20. Oriol Servia

21. Townsend Bell
22. Simon Pagenaud
23. Simona de Silvestro
24. Josef Newgarden
25. Sebastien Bourdais

26. James Jakes
27. Sebastian Saavedra
28. Conor Daly
29. Tristan Vautier
30. Pippa Mann

31. Buddy Lazier
32. Ana Beatriz
33. Katherine Legge
(Reference Here)

Predictions are a funny thing because when the race is run, the story always takes on an edge that can never be calculated for. This is why we race, and watch American open wheel races – F1 has nothing like this.

Broadcast Information:

The Memorial Day weekend tradition returns with the 97th running of the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday, May 26, beginning at 12pm ET from famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

ABC airs the race for the 49th straight year, beginning with a one-hour preview show Sunday at 11am ET. The production will use 84 cameras, including three on-board cameras each on 12 of the 33 cars. Viewers can also choose a live streaming video feed from the on-board cameras on ESPN3. Marty Reid calls the race with analysts Scott Goodyear and Eddie Cheever. Lindsay Czarniak hosts, with Rick DeBruhl, Jamie Little, Dr. Jerry Punch and Vince Welch reporting from pit row.

… notes from The EDJE


** Article originally posted as "Will The 97th INDY 500 Become An Andretti Autosport Shootout?" at Motorsports Unplugged**

IZOD IndyCar Series Review At 3 Of 19 Scheduled Races For 2013

Former F1, and IZOD IndyCar Series KV Racing Technologies team driver, Takuma Sato - AJ Foyt Racing ... looking at data feedback after posting a P4 in qualifications for the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013)

IZOD IndyCar Series Review At 3 Of 19 Scheduled Races For 2013

With 15.7894% of the season in the books, an early review of the 2013 IZOD IndyCar Series (IICS) season seemed to be in order.

The Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach helped to cement a couple of themes that seem to shaping up in this sophomore season of the Dallara DW12 racing platform, two engine manufacturer era of American open-wheel racing.

Takuma Sato and the AJ Foyt Racing team in winner's circle at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. Image Credit: AJ Foyt Enterprises (2013)

First, congratulations to AJ Foyt Racing for helping to deliver a team effort role in Japanese, and former F1 driver, Takuma Sato's first win in the top rung of world automobile racing. A fully honest win won racing starting from P4 at the drop of the green flag aided only by a flawless performance driving the Honda-powered DW12 on the track, and team work in the pits for tires and fuel.

By winning the third race of the season, Takuma Sato notches his first win in 52 IICS race starts. His previous best finish at Long Beach was P8. Image Credit: Chris Jones IICS (2013)

This excerpted and edited from Aljazeera -

Sato and Japan make mark on IndyCar
Aljazeera – Fri, Apr 26, 2013

Takuma Sato says joining AJ Foyt Racing put him in position to become the first Japanese driver to win an IndyCar race.

Sato returned to Japan on Friday to speak about his historic win last Sunday in the Grand Prix of Long Beach, just his third race with the team.

"Motorsports is a team sport and you can't win without complete effort from the team," Sato said at a news conference. "The thing about AJ Foyt Racing is that regardless of the conditions they provide the stability needed to win."

The win at Long Beach came in Sato's 52nd career start in IndyCar, but was the first for AJ Foyt Racing since Airton Dare won Kansas in 2002.
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IndyCar pulled out of Japan after the 2011 race, and Sato said he hopes his win at Long Beach will help return the series to his homeland. "People in Japan love IndyCar," the 36-year-old Sato said. "I can't bring it back myself but I hope in some small way the win in Long Beach will help bring it back. I want to race in the Indy Japan before my career is over."
[Reference Here]

Helio Castroneves survives a Honda engine onslaught at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach to lead all drivers in the points with his Penske Racing Chevy-powered DW12 after three races. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013)

When the dust settled on the third race of the 2013 season, the top five drivers in the points for the IZOD IndyCar Series season championship are 1) Penske Racing's Helio Castroneves - Chevy - 99 points, 2) AJ Foyt Racing's Takuma Sato - Honda - 93 points (the only race winner this season in the top five), 3) Target Chip Ganassi Racing's Scott Dixon - Honda - 89 points, 4) Andretti Autosport's Marco Andretti - Chevy - 87 points, and 5) Dale Coyne Racing's Justin Wilson - Honda - 81 points. To paraphrase Takuma Sato in what he stated in the interview above, these drivers through three races "regardless of the conditions they (the teams and drivers) provide the stability needed to win."

The drivers of the podium take their victory lap to the cheers of the crowd - all three drivers were from teams that were not named Andretti, Ganassi, or Penske. Takuma Sato of AJ Foyt Racing - P1 (R), Graham Rahal of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing- P2 (L), and Justin Wilson of Dale Coyne Racing - P3 (C). Image Credit: John Cote IICS (2013)

The other observable major point is that the top five, which almost always is exclusively populated by three multiple car teams ... and we know them all to well, have been broken up with the presence of two very competent drivers who drive for single car teams that have had trouble with consistency in previous years. That, and

Honda, after not showing so well in the first race of the season at St. Petersburg, Florida, has rebounded to the point that one could say that if you are driving for a team with a Honda engine, you may have a shot at an IICS Championship. Honda was able to occupy 9 of the top 15 positions at race's end at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach - which Honda and HPD consider their home track being that their main facility is located in Santa Clarita.

Some numbers to note from the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, the third race of the 2013 IZOD IndyCar Series season:

1 - Indy car race winners from Japan: Takuma Sato, who became the second first-time winner in three races.

2 - Consecutive fifth-place finishes at Long Beach for JR Hildebrand.

3 - Drivers who have finished in the top 10 in each of the first three IZOD IndyCar Series events: Marco Andretti, Helio Castroneves and Justin Wilson.

5 - Different teams represented in the top five in the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.

6 - Points separating the top two drivers, Helio Castroneves and Takuma Sato, in the IZOD IndyCar Series standings.

7 - Different teams represented in the top 10 in the IZOD IndyCar Series standings.

8 - Different drivers to score podium finishes in nine races.

12 - Positions gained by Graham Rahal in the IZOD IndyCar Series point standings, the biggest jump among drivers who competed.

13 - Drivers with at least one top-five finish in 2013.

18 - Points separating the top-five drivers in the IZOD IndyCar Series standings.

20 - Drivers with at least one top-10 finish in 2013.

21 - Positions improved by Justin Wilson, the most positions gained by any driver. Wilson finished third. ["I think (the competition is) just so tense," said Justin Wilson, who charged from the 24th starting position to earn third place at Long Beach in the No. 19 Dale Coyne Racing entry. "There are so many drivers in this championship that are capable of winning races. When you do your lap in the car, you don't know when you come in if you're first or 25th.

"You can't afford to miss anything. You can't afford to have a bad result. The way this championship happens, when racers have had bad results, it opens it right up. I think it's going to be more intense and interesting as the season goes on."]

27 - Laps led by Dario Franchitti at Long Beach. Franchitti led a total of 11 laps on road/street courses in 2012.

50 - Laps led by Takuma Sato at Long Beach, the most laps he has led in any Indy car race. Sato's previous high was 31 at Indianapolis in 2012.

199 - Consecutive Indy car starts for Tony Kanaan dating to the 2001 CART race in Portland. Kanaan is second to Jimmy Vasser's 211 straight starts.
(ht: indycar staff)

Lastly, do not bother to try to break into the top five in the points unless your car (and in one case, including helmet) livery colors include Red, White, and Blue:

Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013) 

Helio has Automobile Club of Southern California - "Triple A",

Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013)

TAKU sports the ABC Supply Americana motif,

Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013)

Dixie's predominately Red with White lettering and logo Target car combined with his distinctive Blue lid,

Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013)

Marco with RC Cola,

Image Credit: Richard Dowdy IICS (2013)

Finally, who can imagine becoming more Red, White, and Blue than the Boy Scouts of America who wraps the DW12 of Justin Wilson!

Quite fitting for the ultimate professional open-wheel racing series in America to be led by such a thematically colorful, yet international contingent.

Next weekend is the running of the fourth straight road/street race of the season and the last race before the INDY 500, the world's most famous 'oval' race track. The drivers become the boys and girls of Brazil (Helio's home track) as they race at an event facility known in Sao Paulo for it's Samba Festival held during pre-Lenten celebration of Carnival.

... notes from The EDJE

Andretti Prediction In Baltimore Becomes Reality For Hunter-Reay In Fontana

After surviving a Lap 55 near miss take out by Will Power's out of control #12 Penske Racing DW12, Ryan Hunter-Reay puts in a steady 250 Lap drive in the MAVTV 500 IndyCar World Championships at Auto Club Speedway to win it all, run the table, and take home all of the chips. Welcome the 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series Champion, the A.J. Foyt Trophy honoree for most points scored in a season on oval courses, and first American born driver to become American open wheel racing champion since 2006. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2012)

Andretti Prediction In Baltimore Becomes Reality For Hunter-Reay In Fontana

With 36 points separating Ryan Hunter-Reay (RHR) from the championship points lead and two races to go left in the season, the Andretti Autosport driver wins on the temporary street circuit race promoted by the recently formed Andretti Sports Marketing ... the Indy Grand Prix of Baltimore. This left RHR with a tall, but not impossible mountain to scale of 17 points to overcome in order to clinch the 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series Championship.

Immediately after Ryan crossed the finish line at the inner harbor track location, in a post race interview on NBCSC, team owner Michael Andretti came out with a strong prediction - "We are going to win the championship in Fontana at Auto Club Speedway."

This isn't the first time this motor culture legend, in his own time, came forth with a prediction that paid off - and Michael Andretti never was the kind of personality to boast.

Ryan Hunter-Reay of Andretti Autosport becomes the first American born driver to win a race in this 2010 IZOD IndyCar Series season. Image Credit: Andy Sallee (2010)

This excerpted and edited from "... notes from The EDJE" -

Toyota GP of Long Beach: Owner Andretti Predicted Hunter-Reay Win
By Edmund Jenks - April 19, 2010
 
With the confidence that comes from being a multiple time race winner here at motorsports premiere temporary street course race at Long Beach, Michael Andretti predicted that his recently signed driver (a test for a few races to begin), Ryan Hunter-Reay, would win the race.

What makes this prediction almost astounding is that none of the cars had set a tire anywhere on Shoreline Drive and he made this prediction at a post induction ceremony interview on Thursday, April 15, 2010, where he, along with Danny Sullivan, were honored with an achievement medallion in the sidewalk along the Long Beach Motorsports Walk Of Fame located in front, and the West side, of the Long beach Convention Center along Pine Avenue.
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Add the fact that in the post race interview in front of the gathered press, Ryan Hunter-Reay cited his previous Formula Atlantic (2002) and CCWS experience with his positive feelings for the track (which he considers his "home" track) at Long Beach ... one could say Champ Car has never left ... in this, the sophomore year for IndyCar at the famed streets in Long Beach ... for at the end of the race it was P1, P2 , and P3 on the podium for former ChampCar World series experienced drivers!
[Reference Here]

The set up seemed insurmountable. Penske Racing's Will Power, who had been here in this same position of having to finish off the year on an oval racing course ahead of his next leading points owner the previous two years, looked as though all he had to do was finish the race on the same lap as Ryan Hunter-Reay. He had all the confidence of being the only driver to ever hold the Mario Andretti Trophy for the most points scored on road/street courses ... three years running.

For Ryan's part, in order to have any chance at all, he needed to finish the race P6 or better to have any of the championship scenarios to play out. Further, RHR was tied in the points for the season championship trophy for most points scored on oval courses with KV Racing Technology's  Tony Kanaan ... so he also had to finish ahead of this competitor as well.

Again, the prediction by Michael Andretti, that his driver would win the IICS Championship at this final race, when the new DW12 chassis had never competed at this track and that no American open wheel races had been run at Auto Club Speedway since 2005 seemed astounding being that it came directly after the Baltimore win.

Andretti Autosport racing team came to the Auto Club Speedway track loaded for bear. In qualifications, the DW12's go out for three laps with the final two laps (5 miles) total time used for formation to the grid (baring any penalty for engine changes - later). Michael's son and third generation racing Andretti, Marco bested the next closest competitor, Penske' Ryan Briscoe, to gain the championship point and the check by .2614 of a second. Hunter-Reay did not do so well. His time combined with the fact that most all of the top competitors changed to fresh engines for the 500 mile race, had him starting at the back of the grid at P22 with Will Power at P13.

The pre-race odds for the top five drivers to win the race were published (in the newsroom) as follows - Will Power - 2/1, Ryan Hunter-Reay 5/2, Scott Dixon 7/2, Ryan Briscoe 5/1, and Dario Franchitti at 6/1 odds.

All Will had to do was basically stay on the same lap and dog/stalk RHR around the track, have clean pit stops, and finish the race. The start of the race saw Will Power struggle with the handling of his car and eventually, Ryan and Will were running with each other. After about a fifth (of the laps in the race ... not the bottle), Will Power responded to calls from his team over the radio in his ear to pass RHR. On Lap 55 in turn #2, Will dropped down low and according to his view, caught a seam in the pavement that got his car loose and he spun up into the safer barrier wall, just missing the #28 of Ryan Hunter-Reay - WOW!

Ryan Hunter-Reay pulls into pit box #25, takes off his helmet and is first greeted by a member of his team ... believe it Ryan, you are the 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series Champion! Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2012)

This excerpted and edited from IndyCar - 

Drama, intrigue, excitement: Hunter-Reay grabs title

By Dave Lewandowski - Published: Sep 16, 2012 @ 12:01 AM

For the third consecutive year, contact in the season finale altered the title aspirations of the Aussie. The No. 12 Verizon Team Penske car "caught a seam" in Turn 2 of the 2-mile oval, spun and made contact with the SAFER Barrier while running 12th -- a few car lengths ahead of Hunter-Reay's No. 28 Team DHL/Sun Drop Citrus Soda car.
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Click it: Box score | Hunter-Reay signs two-year extension

Andretti Autosport owner Michael Andretti relayed to a surprised Hunter-Reay, who 18 hours signed a two-year contract extension, that he had to finish sixth to claim his first series championship by one point.

But wait. In this season of surprises, ultra-tight competition and high drama, all three collectively focused on the Team Penske garage as the crew converged to repair the Dallara chassis and collect 11 more laps to finish 24th and ahead of the retired car of E.J. Viso.

That's exactly what transpired, forcing Hunter-Reay to finish at least fifth. Crews from rival teams cheered as the No. 12 entry was wheeled onto pit lane.

"It's fantastic," said Power, who quickly changed back into his firesuit.

But as Power maintained throughout this three-race duel with Hunter-Reay, "You can on focus on what you can control." So he watched the remainder of the race unfold from the team transporter, hoping that others would occupy the top five positions.

That went by the wayside as Alex Tagliani's engine expired with 20 laps left and then Tony Kanaan's car made contact with the Turn 4 SAFER Barrier on Lap 241. That created a red flag, with the restart on Lap 244. 

Hunter-Reay was running third on the restart, lost two positions, but the 31-year-old Floridian regained one spot when Takuma Sato's car crashed on the final lap. The difference in over 15 events on the most diverse set of racetracks in motorsports was three points over Power.
[Reference Here]

Driving legend, team owner, sports marketing operations magnet, and excellent prognosticator, Michael Andretti as he congratulates Ed Carpenter on his first win as a driver/owner of the Fuzzy's Vodka #20 DW12 Chevy-powered Dallara at the post race press conference at Auto Club Speedway. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2012)

At the post race press conference, Michael was reminded about this penchant he seems to have to predict and then deliver on the prediction. Michael bristled at the suggestion that he might like to take this 'talent' to Las Vegas with the attitude of a person who never gambles and frowns upon it.

This is a funny reaction to attribute to a past open wheel driving legend who would gamble on the track and, for the most part, win (or as on that 1998 Mid-Ohio day when he flipped head long into the run off at the end of the straight) or survive! Now, as an owner, expands his operation through the formation of Andretti Sports Marketing to include promoting the Milwaukee Mile (which his driver won) and picking up the Grand Prix of Baltimore (oh yes, that's right, his driver won the race the team Andretti operation was promoting for the first time this year as well).

All anyone can know, with this kind of track record, if one hears Michael Andretti blurt out a prediction of an outcome, and the Andretti Autosport operation has a hand in controlling some of the variables ... TAKE THAT BET ... the odds are good for a Michael Andretti predicted outcome!

... notes from The EDJE



** Article first published as Andretti Prediction In Baltimore Becomes Reality For Hunter-Reay In Fontana on Technorati **