Heads In The Game - An INDY Long Beach 2009 Retrospective

Penske Racing's driver, Ryan Briscoe, working through chassis set-ups with team owner, Roger Penske during Practice session #3 of the 35th Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. Ryan Briscoe had trouble handling the demands thrown up by the streets around Shoreline Drive, failing to make it into the Firestone Fast Six in "Knockout" qualifying and eventually finishing the race out of the top ten at P13 - while setting the fastest lap in the race at 1:11.2582 (on lap 82 of 85). Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2009)

Heads In The Game - An INDY Long Beach 2009 Retrospective

A Photo/Video compilation of the event from the pits. Photos taken during the three days of practice, qualification, and competition at the 35th Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach and the first ever IndyCar Series event in Long Beach under full unification of open wheel racing competition in North America.

The video uses close-up images of the drivers as they sit in their Dallara race cars while engineers tweak the chassis in order to gain faster lap times. Red Wall tires Vs Black Wall tires, umbrellas, cockpit fans to keep drivers comfortable, pit in, pit out, add fuel, and discuss the set up with team owners are postures expressed by the players who drive here and have their heads in the game.

Video music overlay performed by the Kings of Leon - "Sex On Fire" - launch 

and play while watching video below.

Players in order of appearance are (some are repeated with photos taken in time sequence) Graham Rahal, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dario Franchitti, Justin Wilson, Ed Carpenter, Danica Patrick, Marco Andretti, EJ Viso, Mike Conway, Stanton Barrett, Robert Doornbos, Ryan Briscoe, Helio Castroneves, Vitor Meira, Jimmy Vasser, Paul Tracy, and Will Power.

Dallara platforms at full song from the sounds of Honda engines overlay this version - mute volume and play music from video above as this content is timed to coincide.

Pole Position

Driver Will Power (Penske Racing)

Time 1:09.7107

PODIUM

First         Dario Franchitti (Chip Ganassi Racing)

Second Will Power (Penske Racing)

Third Tony Kanaan (Andretti Green Racing)

Last Note: Danica Patrick (Andretti Green Racing) qualified at P22 in a field of 23 cars and finished P4 just behind her teammate Tony Kanaan.

Enjoy.

... notes from The EDJE 

TAGS: Kings Of Leon, Doornbos, IRL, Long Beach Grand Prix, Viso, Wilson, Conway, Hunter-Reay, Andretti, Meira, Tracy, Patrick, Castroneves, Rahal, Vasser, Franchitti, Barrett, Briscoe, Power, Carpenter, The EDJE

“Vacation” Pays Dividends For Franchitti At INDY Long Beach

Dario Franchitti, driving the Target Chip Ganassi #10 Dallara, receives the White Flag as he crosses the Start/Finish Line on Shoreline Drive with one more lap to go for the win of the 35th Toyota Grand Prix Of Long Beach. Image Credit: James Doss, Have Camera Inc. (2009)


“Vacation” Pays Dividends For Franchitti At INDY Long Beach

On a 97 degree day (a record for this day) at Long Beach, one of the most demanding street courses in modern motorsports history, a driver has to bring his (or her) “A-Game” in order to win. Relaxed, Ready. And Rested … after taking a one year “vacation/break” from open wheel motorsports competition, Dario Franchitti, 2007 ICS Champion (and Chip Ganassi) - out pitted, out conserved (on fuel), and out communicated Will Power (and a Penske pit crew managed by Rick Mears) to win the 35th Toyota Grand Prix Of Long Beach.

Will Power had secured the pole position and maintained the position through the first round of pit stops. Chip Ganassi brought Dario in a little early during the first stint, suspecting that because most all of the teams had opted to start the race using the Red Option sidewall, softer compound tires, that the grip of the tires would go away … and some of the drivers would tangle, or make a mistake that would bring out a full course Yellow Caution Flag. Chip was right.

Mike Conway nosed his Dreyer & Reinbold, Dad’s Root Beer car into the Turn 1 wall bringing out a local Yellow. Then, Transition Player hopeful, EJ Viso of HVM Racing (starting in position #4) was tapped by Franchitti’s Target Chip Ganassi teammate, Scott Dixon (P6), stalling Viso’s broken Dallara at turn #7.

This incidents served to jumble the field and catch Power out for 32 laps until the next pit stop… along with a five car pile up going into the hairpin turn #11 that leads to the long right sweeping straightaway of Shoreline Drive. This incident put another top qualifier, and another Transition Player hopeful, out of the race from the damage the incident had caused. Justin Wilson, who had qualified for the pole position at the last ChampCar World Series race held here at Long Beach in 2008, qualified and started in position #5.

A disruption in communications had Will Power at a little disadvantage. Radio communications with the in-car radio system only operated with a small window of one-way (in) delivery so the Penske team had to resort to Pit Boards hung over the wall to let their driver know when to PIT and etc. Will believed he heard that there was a full course Yellow Flag caution when, in fact, the call was a local Yellow Flag caution. Will slowed and a couple of cars went by – one of them was Dario’s full communications enabled Target Chip Ganassi Dallara.

The stage was set for a show down of pit strategy and driving to conserve fuel. The attitudes of both drivers, in the end, was that each would have had the best of each other if they did not have to drive, maintaining position due to fuel conservation tactics, to win and to keep second place.

To be honest, the way the weekend unfolded for Will Power, and how he responded to the multiple unusual challenges thrown at him and the team (Helio Castroneves late arrival due to an acquittal on Tax issues – Will having to break in a new, untested chassis and still have the fastest track times), Dario needed his prior ChampCar track experience and the one year “Vacation/Break” … just to beat the former ChampCar and current ICS rising star!

How the field fared (*** denotes Transition Player):

Pos / Driver / Team / Gap
1. Dario Franchitti Ganassi
2. Will Power*** Penske + 3.3182s
3. Tony Kanaan Andretti Green + 4.0537s
4. Danica Patrick Andretti Green + 5.0742s
5. Dan Wheldon Panther + 6.5655s
6. Marco Andretti Andretti Green + 7.5900s
7. Helio Castroneves Penske + 8.6332s
8. Raphael Matos Luczo Dragon + 9.4835s
9. Robert Doornbos*** Newman/Haas/Lanigan + 9.9583s
10. Alex Tagliani*** Conquest + 13.6185s
11. Ryan Hunter-Reay Vision + 15.2097s
12. Graham Rahal*** Newman/Haas/Lanigan + 15.8507s
13. Ryan Briscoe Penske + 1m05.1013s
14. Vitor Meira Foyt + 1 lap
15. Scott Dixon Ganassi + 1 lap
16. Darren Manning Dreyer & Reinbold + 1 lap
17. Stanton Barrett 3G + 1 lap
18. Ed Carpenter Vision + 3 laps

Retirements:

Driver Team Laps
Mario Moraes*** KV 71
Hideki Mutoh Andretti Green 60
Mike Conway Dreyer & Reinbold 51
Justin Wilson*** Dale Coyne 24
EJ Viso*** HVM 16
(ht: autosport.com)

Unification of the series had brought out the best in Long Beach for this 35th edition of the race on Shoreline Drive. The competitors were very pleased with the crowd reaction and the environment during the four days of event activity.

Dario said it best during his post race news conference (to paraphrase) - "We went to local eateries at night and the crowds ... the buzz in the atmosphere surrounding the venue were fantastic ... pretty cool."

View Video Highlights From VERSUS Here>>

... notes from The EDJE

Transition Player, Will Power, Takes INDY LB Pole

Rick Mears (center profile with black cap) stands as "Captain" of the Will Power, Penske Racing, Verizon Wireless sponsored pit operation. Will Power takes the pole for the first ever IRL Long Beach Grand Prix ... Will was last year's ChampCar Long Beach Grand Prix winner. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2009)

Transition Player, Will Power, Takes INDY LB Pole

Dario Franchitti, Justin Wilson***, Raphael Matos, EJ Viso***, Scott Dixon and Will Power*** battled for the pole in the Firestone Fast Six after advancing out of the second round. Three Transition Players (***) make the Firestone Fast Six for sunday's race ... now, that's parity!

How they fared ...

Will Power will defend his Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach title from the pole on Sunday after running the fastest lap in the Firestone Fast Six final round of qualifying this afternoon.

Power, driving the "NEW" Vorizon Wireless No. 12 Team Penske machine (with the pit crew managed by Rick Mears) after Helio Castroneves returned to the No. 3 this morning, ran a lap of 1:09.7107 (101.631 m.p.h.) to defeat Dario Franchitti for the top spot.

Row 2 will feature rookie driver Raphael Matos and E.J. Viso, who earned his best starting position in IndyCar Series competition. The third row will see Justin Wilson on the inside and defending series champion Scott Dixon on the outside.

By comparison, last year, Justin Wilson captured the pole position in his ChampCar DP01 with a time of 1:06.6020 (105.898 m.p.h.).

... notes from The EDJE

INDY Long Beach - Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race

INDY Long Beach - Toyota Pro Celebrity Race Winners - Keanu Reeves & Al Unser, Jr.taking a victory lap. - Image Credit Edmund Jenks (2009)

INDY Long Beach - Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race

The Pro/Celebrity race was a test of patience and driving skill in combination with camaraderie and a love of competition.

Press Room branding change to Toyota Pro/Celebrity event - Image Credit Edmund Jenks (2009)

The really fun thing about this type of event is that in the department store of life, Sports is the toy store ... Pro/Celebrity racing is a first step at realizing how toy-like this once proud pursuit can become.

Cars crunch the walls around the track as the Professional drivers set up the unsuspecting Celebrities into doing something stupid ... like crash into the wall at turn one because the driver was not going to let the professional "out-brake" them into the corner and pass. So the Professional pushes the Celebrity just enough but not enough to carry too much speed so that when the celebrity crashes, they could just scoot around and leave the carnage behind.

The Celebrity Dais from left to right - Carlos Mencia - Comedian and host of Comedy Central’s “Mind of Mencia.” Has appeared in “The Heartbreak Kid,” “29 Palms.”, Winner Keanu Reeves - Actor whose films include “The Day the Earth Stood Still,” “The Matrix,” “The Matrix Reloaded,” “The Replacements,” “Speed,” “Walk in the Clouds,” “Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure.”, last year's Celebrity winner Jamie Little - ESPN/ABC pit reporter for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series who returns to compete in the “Pro” category, and Eric Close - Actor, currently co-starring on CBS's “Without a Trace” as FBI agent Martin Fitzgerald. Other television roles include “Steven Spielberg's Taken,” “Now and Again,” “Dark Skies,” “Sisters,” “The Magnificent Seven.” - Image Credit Edmund Jenks (2009)

Keanu shares with reporters how he was able to end up winning the Celebrity category after a Green Flag restart toward the conclusion of the event.

Al Unser continues to have a week of his life - after being inducted into the Long Beach Motorsports Walk of Fame on Thursday, re-dedicate the Weyland mural on the side of the Long Beach Convention Center on Friday, Al wins (in an extremely easy style) the Pro category of the 2009 Pro/Celebrity race.

A usually accessible Al Unser, Jr., signs a tee-shirt for a fan as he walks from the pits to an appearance at a sponsor event at the track. Image Credit Edmund Jenks (2009)

This excerpted and edited from China Daily -

Keanu Reeves revs engines to win Celebrity Race
China Daily - Updated: 2009-04-19 11:30

Keanu Reeves came in first among celebrities at the Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race at the 35th Annual Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach event on Saturday.

The “Matrix” star finished fourth overall in a mixed field that included racing pros Al Unser Jr., who won the 10-lap charity race, and Johnny Benson and Tom Rudnai, who finished second and third, respectively.

Other stars who revved up for the event included “Cadillac Records” star Adrien Brody, “Jeopardy” host Alex Trebek, comedian Carlos Mencia, “24” star Mary Lynn Rajskub and “From G’s To Gents” host Fonzworth Bentley.
Reference Here>>

Welcome to the Toy Department!

... notes from The EDJE

INDY Long Beach - Dallara's First Practice Sessions

Hot Wheels IndyCar Dallara - Hot Wheels take to the track at Long Beach the first time in unification of North American Open Wheel Automobile Racing. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2009)

INDY Long Beach - Dallara's First Practice Sessions

The sound of the Dallara Honda engines filled the air and bounced/reverberated off of the buildings in downtown Long Beach for the first time today.

Here is a sample of the experience with updates to follow.

At the end of the first practice session, three of the top five lap speeds were registered by Transition Players from the former ChampCar World Series!

Top Five As Follows (** denotes Transition Player):

Dario Franchetti - 1:11.1915
Ryan Briscoe - 1:11.5385
Mario Moraes** - 1:116395
Will Power** - 1:11.6512
Graham Rahal** - 1:11.6777

All covered by less than a half of a second on the clock!

Dallara Logo painted on the side of the manufacturer's transport truck. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2009)

Well, it's back to the track for the 2:00 PM PT session #2.

----

Second practice leaderboard. Screen Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2009)

The second practice ended and the Transition players did not fare as well as expected. It was the general consensus around the track that local knowledge would win out given all other things being equal. Guess again.

Penske Racing has a manufacturer's knowledge, a ChampCar ex-patriot as one of it's drivers, and a former home field advantage to take into account as the team has placed last year's winner Will Power in the lead speed position with Ryan Briscoe taking station at P9 - This just in ... Helio Castroneves, the two-time Indianapolis 500 champion, was just acquitted by a Florida jury of six counts of tax evasion and he will drive the #3 Dallara platform.

Chip Ganassi, team owner of the cars driven by ICS Champions Scott Dixon (2008) and Dario Frachetti (2007). Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2009)

Closely following Will Power and Penske (who will be assigned a third Dallara sponsored by Verizon Wireless and it will carry the #12) is Target Chip Ganassi's Scott Dixon in P2 and his teammate, Dario Franchetti notching in at P6.

Positions 3, 4, 5 are held by relative rookies to the track with Luczo Dragon Racing's Raphael Matos, Panther's Dan Weldon, and Dreyer & Reinbold Racing's Mike Conway.

This leaves the Transition Players (after Will Power who has to take on an untested chassis) struggling along at positions 10 - Graham Rahal, 11 - EJ Viso, 12 - Justin Wilson, 14 - Robert Doornbos, 15 - Mario Moraes, and finally, 17 - Alex Tagliani.

A slow, sad day for the merged ChampCar crowd and the people who follow their fortunes.

... notes from The EDJE

Two Questions With Graham Rahal - VERSUS

Two Questions With Graham Rahal - VERSUS

Actually, we at The EDJE had a few more questions that we would have loved to ask Graham, but VERSUS has a business model that serves a larger audience than just Edmund Jenks.

In fact, the above interview was part of a list of questions VERSUS asked from "... notes from The EDJE" that made up a larger exclusive video package produced by VERSUS in order to kick off the 2009 IndyCar Series championship season.

Here is an interview I had with Graham Rahal before the last ChampCar race held at Long Beach on turn 8. The Long Beach Motorsports Walk Of Fame induction ceremony had concluded and this small crowd had gathered in what appeared to be a track inspection and review process. Graham Rahal, Jonny Summerland and engineers from Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing were discussing bumps and other traits of the track at this corner on Pine Avenue (the one that begins at the back straightaway), and Graham decided to break off the discussion and give an impromptu interview. At the time, Graham had just won the first street course race of the first "Merged" ICS season in 2008 and Graham had mentioned in a previous interview that teams that were transitioning into the IRL from the ChampCar World Series had trouble getting parts for the Dallara cars they had been assigned ... especially OVAL racing parts.

Racing parts are not an issue this season and, in fact, the racing has developed some amount of parity in this young season. The first race of the season saw a front row filled with two of the eight drivers that were ChampCar Transition rookies to the IRL last season with Graham Rahal in the Newman/Haas/Lanigan, McDonald's sponsored Dallara holding down P1 and Justin Wilson driving for the Sonny's BBQ sponsored Dale Coyne Dallara in P2.

Graham Rahal answers questions from Bill Zahren of Pressdog.com. Now that you are the leader of the team at Newman/Haas/Lanigan .... and, What is the biggest challenge?

Graham Rahal answers questions from Will McCarty of IsitMayYet.com. Growing up, which drivers had an impact on you ... and, What do you expect from your team ... on OVALS?

Graham Rahal answers questions from James Black of 16thandGeorgetown.com. What do you expect out of the month of May this year at the INDY 500 ... and, Is there any added pressure following N/H/L/Racing's legacy of 8 Championships and 100 races won with the like of Tracy, Fittipaldi, Mansell, Mario and Michael Andretti?

The list of questions that did not make the VERSUS Exclusive Blogger Interview cut from "... note from The EDJE" were as follows:

Questions For Graham Rahal – VERSUS Interview 3-24-2009:

The first truly unified test of the new IRL for 2009 was held about a month ago and a couple of questions come to mind:

First off - How did it feel to be at a test where the Dallara and the IndyCar Series team were the only major overriding issues?
----
Robert Doornbos ("Bobby D"), a fellow CCWS competitor, Panoz DP01 pilot, and 2007 Rookie of the Year will be joining Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing for the season this year:

Question Used - Will he be able to catch on as quickly to the nuances of the Dallara and the competition in the IRL as he did at ChampCar?

What are your general impressions of Robert as a teammate? ... "Bobby D" as competition?
----
Milka Duno is a transferee to NHLR from an "Established" IRL program:

Have you seen any transitional differences between her understanding of CCWS culture and her approach to the IRL way?

What are your general impressions of Milka as a teammate? ... as competition?
----
You have had a very interesting association with open wheel racing and the Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing team in terms of the international exposure delivered by the teammates you have had to share space with (Bourdais, Doornbos, Duno, and etc.) - How has this effected the way you look at the job of driving competitively, say over other pure American racing teams in the IndyCar Series?
----
It has to feel good to open the 2009 season - First, at a track you became the first ChampCar transition team driver to post a win and personally won your first IRL race - St. Petersburg and second, at a venue you have an intimate knowledge with your shared CCWS experience with the rest of the Transition Team drivers (this includes your teammate "Bobby D") at Long Beach. Looking forward to Long Beach:

Your father, Bobby Rahal, will be honored in the 4th annual installation of the Long Beach Motorsports Walk Of Fame along with Al Unser, Jr. - Have you had a chance to talk to your father about his reaction to this event and honor?

How does he feel about being able to catch up and share this event with Al Unser, Jr. and the rest of the Unser family?

What is your personal reflection on the Long Beach Walk Of Fame event?

How do you think the Dallara chassis will perform on its maiden voyage at "The Beach"?

Will the pre-race "walking the track" inspection be any different for driving a Dallara than it would be inspecting the track when driving a Panoz DP01?

The "Established" teams and drivers will be with a car they know but racing at a track they will be seeing for the first time at Long Beach: How great of an advantage will the former CCWS drivers and teams have at Long Beach? Will it be a large advantage or small advantage? Why?
----
Last year, there was a question mark placed on the availability of parts for the IRL Dallara chassis to the teams that were transitioning from the ChampCar World Series in the merger (especially parts related to the performance of the chassis on ovals), do your foresee the shortage of parts as being a potential problem this year?

Question Used (in part) - Correct me if I am wrong - I believe that this is the first time NHLR has fielded three cars for a full season! How will it affect team resources to be a driver racing on a three car team this season? Do you have any concerns?

Good luck and great fortune to you, your father (yes, I know he is a competitor), and the teammates of Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing.

Edmund Jenks
The EDJE (pronounced edge)
http://theedje.blogspot.com/
Feature Page Manager/Editor – Motorsports – NowPublic
http://my.nowpublic.com/tag/Motorsports

The 35th Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach is just around the corner and we all in Los Angeles, can not wait to welcome a unified North American Open Wheel Racing championship series to our house!

The history comes full circle with Al Unser, Jr. and Bobby Rahal being inducted into the Long Beach Motorsports Walk of Fame, Al Unser, Jr. making apperaences as the Grand Marshal of the event, and eight Transition Players filling the field having a better knowledge of the track than most of the other drivers while Dallaras appear for the first time on the streets of Long Beach and a are able to receive the checkered flag on Shoreline Drive!

... notes from The EDJE

ChampCar Alumni Score Wins In The Vodafone A1GP Algarve, Portugal

Neel Jani notches tenth win in the A1GP international open wheel racing series. Image Credit: GP Update

ChampCar Alumni Score Wins In The Vodafone A1GP Algarve, Portugal

Robert Doornbos, ChampCar Rookie of the Year 2007, and Neel Jani, who drove for the PKV Racing team in that same year, won a Sprint Race and a Feature Race in the A1GP international open wheel racing series for their respective countries.

Robert Doornbos qualifies in P1 for the Feature Race, out-pacing everyone by a good margin, but gives up the event without taking one lap due to an electrical fire and system failure on the warm-up lap. Image Credit: GP Update

A1 Team Netherlands continued to set the pace in the final free practice session ahead of this weekend's Vodafone A1GP Algarve. Robert Doornbos, who is also competing for the full season in the IRL for Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing team with teammate Graham Rahal - and will be in Long Beach this next weekend, set the fastest ever A1GP lap around the circuit with a 1m 30.115s lap, nearly three quarters of a second quicker better than anyone else. Teams are allowed to trial one complete 'PowerBoost lap' in advance of being allowed to use it in one qualifying segment this afternoon. Doornbos used his to perfection, to send shockwaves through the rest of the paddock with his pace.

Switzerland's Neel Jani, who is driving full time with the A1GP at the moment, emerged victorious from an action packed Feature race at Vodafone A1GP Algarve, Portugal this afternoon. The result means Jani now has ten A1GP victories to his name – more than any other driver in the history of the sport. Portugal's Filipe Albuquerque drove a fantastic race to come through to second, while Fairuz Fauzy was third for Malaysia. Ireland's Adam Carroll finished second on the road, but a subsequent penalty dropped him to fifth.

Additional Event Photos HERE>>

Now it is on to the 35th Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach April 17-19, 2009, for the Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing driver, Robert Doornbos, for his second try to conquer the streets of Long Beach alongside teammate Graham Rahal.

... notes from The EDJE