My Name Is IRL

US F1 - The Mini Series Pt 3

2009-11-05T14:12:00.001-07:00

SPEED TV come to visit and have some harsh words for Peter

Robin says

2009-11-05T06:32:00.002-07:00

His latest involves the new title sponsor's favorite driver.

Hidden in Thursday's press conference to officially announce IZOD as IndyCar's title sponsor is the fact Ryan Hunter-Reay looks like he's going to land on his feet thanks to his association with the clothing company.

SPEEDtv.com has learned that Hunter-Reay, the face of IZOD's television and advertising campaign the past two years with his personal services deal, is closing in on the fourth seat at Michael Andretti's team for 2010.

Sources say IZOD is committing $5 million a year to marketing and promotion, $100,000 per car to IndyCar owners and providing seven-figure sponsorship for Hunter-Reay.

(MORE from SPEEDtv)

Whither Hideki Mutoh? And what of his fictitious reality series "Wanna Be My Grid Girl?"

(Photo: TrackSide Online)

A tedious death by tedium - tediously.

2009-11-04T12:20:00.003-07:00

The twittisphere is buzzing (well one tweet so far) about the latest on Danica's latest potential stock car deal. She is in the 'final' stages of an agreement with JR Motorsports. That truly is a match made on Madison Avenue and could bring together America's most over hyped and nauseatingly visible drivers. Maybe they can pool resources and learn to string a coherent sentence together pre or post race?

Anyhow, it reminded me of a piece from Marshall Pruett's excellent 'Triple Stint' column which appears weekly over at www.speedtv.com.

'Rant of the week' this week was as follows:

Hello Triplestint,

After reading about the pending launch of your Danica News Network, I'm confused and I think you may be the only entity that can help.

As I follow Danica Patrick's ongoing and unfaltering tedious flirtation with stock car racing, I have noticed that, amongst her many superpowers, she has the ability to re-invent the mundane as the radical and the fundamentally basic as the intriguingly complex. This would be quite a talent in itself if it were not for the fact that she seems to be able to transfer this gift to those around her. Take her recent visit to Michael Waltrip Racing for example.

After she spoke with Michael with regards to running some Nationwide Series races in 2010 he said the following in something I read on ESPN.com: "The thing I liked about her, and appreciated, was it was intense -- it was just about racing a car. Her people have studied the industry and they've chosen a path for her to get experience in a car. That includes Nationwide."

Notice how a discussion about racing for a stock car team is 'intense' because 'it was just about racing a car'. Straight off the bat she has nailed it, she has made a potential employer believe that the very act of giving her a job has a special quality and intensity because she will, at some point in the future, want to do that actual job she has been hired to do. Genius!

In the world of us mere mortals, the path to Sprint Cup goes through an apprenticeship of Camping World Trucks and Nationwide Series and possibly some early ARCA events on Superspeedways like Daytona or Talladega. But team Danica have turned basic logic into the sort of intense and detailed study that only an expensive agency/consultant can truly deliver. Who am I to question their abilities and it would be simply wrong of me to suggest that 10 minutes on Wikipedia would have delivered all the information they needed on the career path of Juan Pablo Montoya, AJ Allmendinger, Sam Hornish Junior, Scott Speed and Michael McDowell.

"She got me right off the bat, just with talking about her history in open wheel and what she's accomplished, and the way she progressed to where she is now, and wanting to do the same thing in stock cars, telling the story with passion and conviction and desire. I left the meeting wanting to go race a car. It was that infectious."

If her 'passion' and 'conviction' were all it took to get MW hooked I would suggest she must be using something similar to Wonder Woman's 'lasso of truth'…

The arts and entertainment business has proved that once you have a reputation you can pass any old rubbish off as a work of art/genius. 'Mr. Bean' is a perfect example. The character that Rowan Atkinson has created has made him wealthy beyond his wildest dreams despite being a basic homage to the work of silent movie legend, Buster Keaton and that of the French physical comic genius, Jacques Tati.

Danica Patrick seems to be stock car racing's 'Mr. Bean', keeping her unsuspecting public entertained by passing off an old act as something new and original, convincing them that what she is doing is a fresh and radical approach to success in NASCAR.

So I need to know if it is just me or is she becoming a trail blazing pioneer who has thrown away the rule book only to replace it with the same rule book with a different cover?

You can read the whole column at -

http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/pruett-triple-stint-1031

IZOD makes it rain

2009-11-04T06:38:00.004-07:00

Our long, national nightmare is over. For the first time since 2002 the IndyCar Series will finally - finally - have a title sponsor. The intrepid Curt Cavin broke the news, it's now the "IZOD IndyCar Series" to about the tune of $10 meeeellion per year in an agreement spanning five years.

While we don't know how much of that total amount is going directly to the league, how much involves ad buys, how much goes to help an unnamed driver race for an unnamed team (consult your local rumor mill for your own answers) of that single most over-aired commercial in racing history, we do know that on the surface it appears that commercial was a correct: everything IS gonna be alright, heh heh.

The most obvious side effect of this deal is that there is a lot more money floating around the league, which should serve to attract a bit more competition. And having a title sponsor should make it more convincing for others to join the sponsorship bandwagon. That's the the theory at least, but I'm not entirely sold.

Beggars can't be choosers, but that doesn't mean a starving man wants a handful of cotton-polyester blend to eat. I have nothing against IZOD and I sincerrely hope they can make more than ONE commercial, but let's be honest - the majority of auto racing fans probably don't own any IZOD stuff. They don't shop at Macy's for $60 shirts, and just because IZOD is the title sponsor it doesn't mean they will. It's not so much that it's a bad sponsor like "Bill's House of Crack", it's just, well, maybe it's me but I'm a little uncomfortable with the direction this goes.

Over the past few years we've seen lots of fashion designers sponsor various racers. Companies like Rock & Republic, William Rast, etc., likely because of the speed and glamor of racing. That makes sense for IZOD or all these $100 jeans makers as sponsors, but there's a subtle message here: The IRL is happily coupling their product with over-priced stuff people don't need. Some might argue is a factual message at this point, but the folks at 16th and Georgetown probably aren't actually considering the slogan "IndyCar - we're an overpriced product you don't need." I'm not saying this is the only message here with this announcement, just that this was my first thought. Maybe it's just me.

I'm still glad there's a title sponsor of some sort, because goodness knows there wasn't a huge line of folks waiting to drop wads of cash on this series. It's fantastic for the series to have that finally checked off the to-do list, but the fact remains that until they lower the cost of operation and improve the actual racing they're going to continue to struggle to find sponsors not named "IZOD".

Wheldon stays, Viso does not

2009-10-28T20:49:00.001-07:00

Curt Cavin reports the unspectacular union of Dan Wheldon and Panther Racing that resulted in a total of 8 laps led in 2009...will continue. This is not unlike an unsatisfied married couple who both went out to separate bars, surveyed the options available, then went home to tell their spouses how much they love them. Wheldon is still a skilled driver, and Panther is still able to put a competitive car on the track (at least as competitive as anyone not in the Big Two) but I'm sure both would rather forget that 2009 ever happened. Well, except for that nice check they got for finishing 2nd at Indy.

Meanwhile, HVM Racing has issued a press release

With the checkered flag unfurled on the 2009 IndyCar Series season, HVM Racing is planning changes for the off-season to get the historically winning team back on track for 2010.

The team plans to return next season as a two-car operation after adding a second car mid-season in 2009 with the signing of Robert Doornbos. Doornbos is signed to return in 2010, and the team is now exploring options with their second entry after E.J. Viso's contract with the team expired.

Team principal and owner Keith Wiggins is already busy looking for the right talent that he feels is needed to get team performance back to past levels...

Which means if you have sufficient funding, you too might be "the right talent". And the return of Robert Doornbos practically begs the use of the term "meh", except that I don't say "meh". I just kind of shrug my shoulders, which of course you can't see. So OK, good for Bob, and now we're all moving along.

Meanwhile, I can't say that anyone can blames Viso for leaving. After an exciting rookie season where he made as many enemies as fans, Viso was featured in IndyCar fanclub ads as one of the more prominent drivers. "Spend a Day with Viso", they said. In reality most folks wouldn't wanted to have spent race days with Viso, as his '09 campaign was a dismal failure resulting in 18th place in the championship standings - last of any driver who competed in every race. You don't have to be a Venezuelan snake enthusiast to know that when you finish 12th or worse in all but one race it's time to look elsewhere.

Where that elsewhere will be is anyone's guess, but if there's any way he can be paired with his rumored punching bag Mario Moraes then I'd be willing to pitch in $20 to help fund that team.

US F1 - The Mini Series (Day 2)

2009-10-27T12:29:00.000-07:00

Scheckter ready to get messy

2009-10-24T11:53:00.001-07:00

It always seems like a logical idea that racers find a way to keep racing, no matter what kind of vehicle, and IndyCar drivers especially need to seek out ways to hone their skills since the IRL schedule constitutes less than a third off all weekends. (Which is probably why we spend half the year wondering "Is it may yet?...but that's another post for another site.) To be sure, there are a few testing weekends and a couple more for the Month of May, but over the course of 52 weekends more often than not there is plenty of time to work in time with go karts or stock cars or antique roadsters or sports cars or ten speeds.

Or even souped up, tricked out, off-road golf carts.

Dreyer and Reinbold Racing's driver for the 2009 IndyCar Series season, Tomas Scheckter, and William Yokley, defending National Champion in the UTV Division in the GNCC Series, will team up during the season ending GNCC Race in Crawfordsville, Indiana on October 24, 2009.

"I'm really happy to go to Crawfordsville and have a look around. I have an ATV myself, so it's really exciting to be associated with a champion like William Yokley and with MonaVie. I'm looking forward to have the chance to ride on board with him. It will be something very fun and exciting. I hope he is safe and that I'm buckled in tight, and hopefully he can win another one," commented Scheckter.

I had to bust out my Google to find out about this "GNCC UTV". Looks like Tomas better bring a towel.

USF1 - The mini series

2009-10-23T09:53:00.000-07:00

If a picture says a thousand words

2009-10-14T07:03:00.002-07:00

What does this one say?

(Photo of Mario Moraes and, uh, friends courtesy of reader "devmd01")

Audience participation requested

2009-10-13T00:04:00.000-07:00

Now that the IndyCar season is over, I have a small and painless favor to ask of all of you. It's a simple request that I know every one of you can do, and your participation will mean the world to a few people who deserve a little love from the otherwise silent masses. Don't worry, this isn't a call to support some sort of cause célèbre. No, it's just a modest project to help make the IndyCar universe a happier place.

As many of you know, My Name Is Irl is what's referred to as a "blog" which means it's a place where some otherwise non-professional writer conducts lots of non-professional word butchering. It is not, however, the ONLY IndyCar blog and I am obviously not the ONLY Indycar blogger. And although IndyCar bloggers might earn in the neighborhood of $1.63 per year in earnings from ad clicks, our real currency is this: comments. Real, meaningful, thoughtful comments - not the ones that simply say "ur a dumbs$%*" - are the treasure that makes every blogger's day. (Well, that and media credentials with buffet tickets and a parking pass.)

Because the IndyCar season is over and history shows many of you will soon tune out from our blogs for the winter, I your humble host am unilaterally declaring today, October 13th, "IndyCar Blog Comment Day". All that I am asking is that you, dearest IndyCar fans, celebrate this occasion by checking the sidebar here, clicking over to your favorite IndyCar or general motorsports "blog", and leaving a thoughtful comment of appreciation for the the "blogger". Anything from a simple "Thanks, and keep up the great work" to a sixteen-paragraph love letter will do. Think of this as leaving a tip that literally costs you nothing, and know that *Jack Arute voice* the words you leave today may well give one man or one woman the strength to blog tomorrow.

In all seriousness, if you've never left a comment before now then make it a point to do so now for one (or more!) of the many bloggers who share your passion for auto racing. Oh, and one other thing: please don't leave one of these comments for me. This isn't an exercise in ego-stroking, because I already know that I am blessed with a plethora of thoughtful readers. As always I sincerely appreciate your words of encouragement, but today is about those other bloggers who may or may not enjoy the same level of audience participation. Instead, if you are so inclined, comment here about the other IndyCar sites you enjoy, just in case one of your fellow readers might similarly enjoy them.

There is plenty of intelligent and witty and thoughtful and fun writing by IndyCar bloggers out there right now, and they deserve your encouragement before the series goes into it's annual hibernation. Forgive me for being so bold, but please, go forth and share the love with them today by leaving a comment. Thank you.

The one lingering question

2009-10-12T06:47:00.003-07:00

(I don't get as much mail as Curt Cavin, but I got a few of these yesterday.)

Q: Was it me or was that race fugly and super disappointing? I was completely put off by it. I'm not quite as pissed today, and nobody else seems to be enraged, so it might just be me.

A: Of course it was an exciting race, featuring lead changes among the very three drivers who were contending for the championship. There was strategy, we had to keep an eye on who led the most laps, and it had an intensity throughout the entire race. It was even noteworthy as the first ever caution-free race in the IRL.

Except...this was a three car race. Literally. Everyone else was lapped - at one point in multiples - rendering the entire field a bunch of obstacles. If you had no interest in those three drivers then this was the pinnacle of ambivalence for you as a fan.

Except...how different was this (at least for TV viewers) from the US Grand Prix debacle that left six cars on the track? There were 20 other cars out there - they were just completely irrelevant. And for the most part it's been like that the entire year. Two teams won all but one race in 2009, for crying out loud!

Except...the entire event was also weighed down by the six week drumbeat to the final. No slam on Motegi, but it's almost not a race since many folks don't stay up to see it, and if you didn't watch that then you had a month and a half to stir with Dixon, Dario, Briscoe and not much else. And that's exactly what the race ended up being. Exciting, yes, but ultimately unsatisfying to fans of other drivers who know their driver has literally no shot to win.

Except...what happened to the aero changes that were supposed to make everyone race more evenly? Chicagoland is virtually the same track as Homestead, but six weeks was all it took for Penske and Ganassi to re-open the ridiculous margin of competition. If this is what it takes to separate the field so widely, perhaps the IRL should change the aero configurations for each race, or have "competition cautions", or have Firestone design tires to randomly blow out. (That's full-rich sarcasm, dear reader.)

Except...having the entire field other than the Top 3 completely disincentivizes any prospective race participant from attempting to compete in this series, because not only do you have no shot at winning (except possibly on a few road courses) but you're not going to get jack squat of broadcast time if there's a close race at the front. That's not VERSUS fault - they were covering this race properly. That's just the fact that when you have three drivers with a shot at winning and those three drivers are battling for the win then the airtime will get sucked faster than (insert lewd Courtney Love reference).

But yes, dear reader, it WAS an exciting race. You just have to look at it a little differently.

LiveBlog: Homestead 2009

2009-10-10T13:00:00.034-07:00

Welcome to Miami, which has replaced Chicagoland as the site of the series finale. With only a few exceptions in the outcome, the IndyCar Series champion will be determined here by whoever finishes first out of the group of Ryan Briscoe, Scott Dixon, and Dario Franchitti. Probably a safe bet to say whoever wins this race will win the whole she-bang, but that remains to be seen.

Enough talk. We've waited SIX WEEKS for an IndyCar race in this hemisphere. It's time to start!

0: Al Trautwig? Really? I thought that was Juno's dad wrapping up the football coverage.

0: Bob Jenkins is standing on the start finish line for the introduction. He needs to get off that track - stat!

0: Robbie Buhl is talking about being a team owner - from the Ganassi pit box. Why couldn't he do this from his own team's pit box? Did his own team evict him?

0: Jenkins is back in the sky lair. Behind him you can see TENS of people in the stands, ready to witness this exciting race day.

0: Gratuitous Briscoe Inferno 2005 footage. I suppose that's preferable to Paul Dana footage since we're at Homestead.

0: Grpahic says Briscoe has won this year at "St. Pete, Kentucky, Joliet". P2 asks "What's Joe-lye-ett?" Good question.

0: Helio discussing his accident in practice this week. Makes a reference to "pain keee-llers". The sound much more soothing the way he says it.

0: Arute informs us that all of the IRL official are wearing pink shirts today for Breast Cancer Awareness. Unlike Chris Berman, he does not say "Breast Awareness". Sarah Fisher gets a big check and whole segment featuring her a pink car to promote the issue, which includes pink sidewalls on her tires. P1 says she "likey".

0: Nice job by VERUS showing the pit teams for the contenders. It's always good to emphasize the team aspect of this sport. However, I still think all the Penske crew are actually cyborg prototypes he purchased from the Pentagon.

0: Only a few more dozen airings and presumably that IZOD ad will be put to rest.

0: Replays of the races this year. Listen closely and you can hear the sound of Ed Carpenter just throwing something across the room.

0: That musical chairs CGI thing is creeping me out. It makes the drivers look like Terence and Phillip clones. I'm imagining Briscoe and Dixon making incessant fart jokes right before the championship is decided.

0: Wow, Arute gives an obvious nod to pressdog by saying "We just wanna light this candle...A dozen clowns suddenly climb out of a Ford Escort in Iowa and slather our blogger buddy in SPF 45. (I couldn't resist).

0: @curtcavin says Helio's girlfriend is due to have a little Helio in January. That's Fun-tastic news!

0: Hey, suddenly a bunch more people showed up! Seriously, the stands look a LOT better. Thousands of people suddenly come back to their seats after getting their pre-race nachos.

0: Al Unser Jr, decked out in a pink shirt, announces "In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness, ladies and gentlemen, fire up those Honda engines!" A bit verbose, but the fist in the air was a nice touch.

0: The cars are on the track. Dario and Dixon lead the way.

1: We are GREEN! Dixon pulls behind Dario as Ed Carpenter jumps into third.

2: Forget strategy - Dixon pulls next to Dario to do a two-wide dance.

5: Briscoe gets around Carpenter and is closing in on the Target Two-Step.

7: Briscoe has caught up and is considering going three-wide. Oh, this ought to be fun!

10: Dario appears to slow down - perhaps assuming the dreaded "Fuel Position 4" - and let's Dixon and Briscoe by.

15: Dixon, Briscoe, Dario, Marco, Wheldon. Yes, there are other drivers in this race.

18: NostraBeekhuis says drivers will be "working the controls". I think he meant tools. The extended layoff has obviously affected him.

22: Here's Alex Lloyd in his pink car with a 5-digit number. Bob Jenkins says Alex lloyd will be in this car "full time next year". Really?

28: Still Dixon, Briscoe Franchitt, albeit a bit spread out. Maybe pit stops will change that.

30: @IndyCarPR says that Jaques Lazier in the Team3G car has retired with mechanical issues. Well, that's 30 more laps than they were able to get Leilani Munter this weekend. *shaking head*

35: And here we see the leaders going around Milka. What's more frequent - shots of someone lapping Milka or IZOD commercials?

43: @FuriousWedge says "Race control says Milka is out of power assist pushes". At least she's using the thing.

46: Briscoe pits. In and out.

49: Dixon pits. In and out.

50: Dario pits. In and out. This is a 200 lap race for those of you watching with a calculator in hand.

53: And after all that Dixon and Briscoe are 1-2 and Dario is...well, he's about 4 or 5 seconds back. Danica and Tony Kanaan round out the Top 5.

54: Whoa - Briscoe closes a bit on Dixon then has 'a moment" in Turn 3. Nothing seriuos, but he may just duck in behind Dixon for a moment.

61: Holy smokin' rotors! Marco is in the pits with the wheels off and steam rising from his wheels.

63: Briscoe gets a good run and gets around Dixon to take the lead.

69: There's some good racing being show and the commentators just keep talking about the Top 3.

72: Dixon goes back around Briscoe. Woo-hoo, another pass for the lead!

73: Danica Patrick is in 4th - TWENTY SECONDS behind the leaders. This is such a three-car race.

78: Danica is in 5th, and has now been lapped. Tony Kanaan is 25 seconds back - the only other car on the lead lap.

85: While we were away during a commercial break Kanaan was passed. Also, Briscoe took the lead. Also, Tomas Scheckter nearly faded Briscoe into the wall. Well, that would have been a bit awkward.

92: Briscoe, Dixon 2.8 seconds back, then Dario 8.1 seconds back. And then a bunch of other drivers not on the lead lap.

98: Briscoe and Dixon make pit stops. In and out. Briscoe leads.

100: Dario pits. In and out. Assumes third position behind the leaders, six or so seconds back. If there's no yellow this bodes well for the Scotsman. Of course, when's the last time you saw an indyCar race without a yellow?

106: Dixon gets hold of the low line and squeezes the lead from Brisoce.

111: Dixon is opening a bit of a lead. Try not to suck away whatever drama remains here, Scott.

116: Bob Jenkins just informed us Marco is out of the race with a brake issue. We kinda figured that about 50 laps ago, but thanks anyways Bob.

122: Soon Dixon will secure the extra point most laps led in this race, which means if he finishes second in the race behind Briscoe he'll still win the ICS title. Excitement reduced.

125: Hold the phone - Dixon gets held up in traffic and Briscoe regains the lead.

128: Just noticed that Hideki Mutoh has gone from starting near the back to 7th. AGR cars are 4th, 6th and 7th, with Marco fuming (perhaps literally) in the garage.

133: Would a yellow flag now make this race more or less interesting? I'm wondering What Would (Mike) Conway Do?

140: Link, sitting in the room, suggested another network gets the rights to all of the cars other than the Penske and Ganassi teams.

145: Briscoe and Dixon again pit simultaneously. In and out.

151: Dario pits. In and out. Your calculator will tell you that if there is no caution - and there has NEVER been and IRL race without a caution - then Dario will win this race by making one less pit stop.

153: Hello! Danica is backwards in her pit box. Dan Wheldon is busting out a hand puppet show. Looks like the two had a fender bender as Dan was exiting and Danica was entering. Some crewman is goin to get an earful for that.

155: Danica's still in the pits. Her car may have a case of bent-metal-itis. Time to put those Boost Mobile dudes in miniskirts to work.

163: Briscoe has just surpassed Dixon for "most laps led" in this race, which means if he wins then, well, he wins everything.

167: Briscoe just lapped Kanaan. FOR THE SECOND TIME. A valiant effort but now all non-title contenders have been moved to the back of the bus, two laps (or more) down.

175: Dixon looks like he's dropped back a couple seconds and may be saving fuel. Or he may simply be getting his tail kicked by Briscoe.

178: Imagine if Dixon runs out of fuel on the last lap and is passed by Dario. Has that every happened before? *cough* 2007 *cough cough*

180: Well, I guess we're just waiting. Lots of shots of nervous relatives in the pits. Oddly enough, Ashley Judd appears the image of serenity.

185: Dixon has closed in on Briscoe and is about .3 seconds back. I don't know if they're racing or conserving fuel or what. Maybe they'll both slow to a crawl and let Dario catch up at some point.

192: Dixon will pit! Looks like there will be no repeat champion in '09.

193: Here comes Briscoe! Splash and go and wait for Dario.

195: Dario is told "they are right behind you". Dario has about a 6 second lead.

196: Dario lets Danica by. Briscoe is 5 seconds back.

198: Briscoe is four seconds back.

199: White flag. Limping around. And...and...

200: And it's Dario!!! He wins the race, he wins the championship, and he does it in the first IRL race ever without a caution.

Swithcing to Ashley-cam: "How great is my husband at saving fuel? WOOOOOO-HOOOO!!!!!!" And that, dear readers, is a direct quote.

Dario has run out of fuel during his "Zanardi's" so he needs to get a push to Victory Lane. Just noticed Security Chief Charles in a pink shirt. Vexing.

Dario says he's "definitely loving it. Definitely loving the IndyCar series. Gotta say thanks to these fans for hanging out in this weather." It's icky sticky in Miami today.

Briscoe, says "I guess I can't be too disappointed". Oh yes you can, Ryan. He's probably thinking about running into the pit wall at Motegi right now. Probably thinking about it A LOT. But that's just speculation on my part.

Meanwhile Scott Dixon is walking around saying "fantastic day for Team Target" and doesn't look too troubled. Why should he - he only got beaten by Dario on fuel conservation for the second time in three years. What could be bothersome about that.

Just an observation - everyone looks really sweaty.

Well, with another 15 minutes in the broadcast they're probably going to interview some more folks but I'm not sure what they can say. "Hi, did my car get any airtime today?" Oh well.

The good news: once again the Indycar series comes down to the drama of the last lap. The bad news: once again it's all about who is best at conserving fuel. The ugly news: without any cautions this was a ridiculous three-car race.

Regardless, this will bring a close to 2009. Congratulations to Dario, who returns to the league and picks up where he left off. Sam Hornish Jr, take note. Take care everyone, drive safely, thank you very much - good night!

Milka wins something

2009-10-08T06:34:00.004-07:00

Really. It's not a race, but it's a major award.

IndyCar driver Milka Duno, the first Hispanic woman to compete in the Indy 500 and the IndyCar Series, has won the 2009 American Latino Award in the "Favorite Alternative Athlete" Category in the 3rd annual American Latino TV Awards.

The American Latino TV Awards serves to recognize excellence and achievement in the American Latino community and is a tribute to the individuals, organizations and projects that have been featured in their seven-season library of multi-award winning and groundbreaking television shows.

The nominees were selected by the producers of American Latino TV " but the winners were decided by online fan voting. Videos of the nominees and winners in each category are available at http://www.americanlatino.tv/awards/.

(MORE from MilkaDuno.com)

I don't know what criteria defines an "Alternative Athlete", as if Milka was nominated with Hispanic skateboarders and skeet shooters, but whatever the case she was the winner. And since she isn't winning much else it's newsworthy. However, I am completely befuddled by American Latino TV viewers who voted, because although I am not an American Latino (despite being able to cook some fan-ta-bulous tomatillo and chicken enchiladas) I can say without hesitation she is not even the most interesting "Alternative Athlete" in her home nation of Venezuela.

You think I'm going to say it's EJ Viso, right? *BUZZER* Wrong! No, I think I found Viso's "Alternative Athlete" mentor. He's a 42-year-old baseball player by the name of Omar Vizquel.

Last winter, Vizquel and some buddies went to a wildlife refuge in Venezuela in the search for anaconda and to view other wildlife as well. About four hours into their trip, they found their snake.

In a video that Vizquel shared in the Rangers clubhouse during spring training, the group's guide stepped into shallow water to grab an 11-foot anaconda by the tail and pulled it onto dry land.

The Texas Rangers infielder... plans to try bullfighting when he goes home to Venezuela this winter.

I'm sure driving at over 200 miles per hour - and yes, there are times when Milka actually exceeds that speed - is quite a thrill, but when viewed as a skill I would rather take a chance at racing over Bullfighting or bare-handed Anaconda hunting. But that's just me.

Maybe next year Omar can rightly claim his award, although I suppose he has no shot at being determine a "favorite" unless he looks like this.

Blah blah Danica blah

2009-10-07T00:52:00.002-07:00

Blah blah blah, blah blah Danica Patrick blah blah N****R blah blah blah.

The two most popular drivers in auto racing -- Danica Patrick and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. -- may soon be involved in a limited N**** arrangement, N****R team owner Rick Hendrick confirmed to SI.com.

According to Hendrick, the plan would be to put Patrick in the JR Motorsports team that is owned by Hendrick driver Earnhardt, Jr. with sponsorship from GoDaddy.com.
"We have no deal but she has spoke with Kelley Earnhardt [Dale Jr's sister who handles that teams business affairs] about a limited number of N****R races in that car," Hendrick told SI.com. "I have had some conversation and Kelley Earnhardt has had some conversation with that but Kelly is heading that up.

(MORE from SI.com)

Blah blah blah, Danica blah blah blah blah blah.

Add Michael Waltrip Racing to the list of N****R suitors for IndyCar Series star Danica Patrick for 2010.

Team owner Michael Waltrip said on Tuesday he's met with Patrick and given her a tour of the team facility. He is willing to put her in a limited number of races in the Nationwide and Truck Series. "Whatever she wants," he said.

(MORE from ESPN.com)

Blah. Blah. Blah.

Quote of the day

2009-10-06T20:48:00.002-07:00

"I plan to run in the IndyCar Series as long as it possible to do so. I love racing the Indy cars and I hope to do it for as long as I am able. The opportunity to test a truck along with Nelson Piquet Jr. came up and it sounded like fun. I thought I might be able to give Nelson some pointers on running an oval because this will be his first time on an oval track. Before I agreed to do it, I asked both A.J. and Larry Foyt about it, and they gave their permission. It doesn't mean I'm looking to go N****R racing now because my priority is racing with A.J.'s team in the IndyCar Series. I've really enjoyed working with A.J., Larry, our sponsor ABC Supply and Honda Racing this year and I want to continue to work with them as long as they want me." - Vitor Meira, clarifying his racing preferences and explaining how one little test does not mean he intends to become a Truck Drivin' Man.

Penske kills Saturn deal

2009-10-01T06:39:00.003-07:00

After further consideration, Roger Penske has decided he does not want to buy Saturn - the car company, not the planet (which he may still one day acquire) - effectively bringing an end to the auto manufacturing brand.

General Motors will close Saturn and wind down its dealership network after a deal to sell the faltering brand to Penske Automotive Group collapsed, the automaker said Wednesday.

The breakdown of a deal that had been widely expected to close this week will force some 350 Saturn dealerships to close and could cut thousands of auto retail jobs that would have been preserved under a plan by auto magnate Roger Penske.

(MORE from CNBC)

Rest in peace, oh plastic-door and fixed price innovator. I shall remember you well, mourning the loss of any possible cross-promotional advertising with Helio Castroneves.

She's staying

2009-09-24T20:33:00.004-07:00

Who knew this otherwise trite little tweet from Danica Patrick would foreshadow today's HUGE news:

I cant believe I have actually been sleeping well since coming home from japan. Getting my solid 8-9 hours per night!

She may be resting easy because The Worldwide Leverage Tour appears to have ended - right where it started. Curt Cavin delivers the scoop that will now allow Fanicas to exhale.

Danica Patrick is now, officially, staying in the IndyCar Series.

Patrick signed a three-year contract to remain with Andretti Green Racing during last weekend's event at the Twin Ring Motegi circuit in Japan. She will continue to drive the No. 7 car with a Motorola-based sponsorship.

Same team. Same sponsor. Very interesting.

I'm still trying to soak it in, or maybe it's dragged on so long this is all I have to say about it. I guess my first thought is whether you're elated, disappointed, or just plain shocked at the news, give a moment to thank pressdog - the WWDT project worked.

My second thought is that P1 is going to do a total Snoop Dance when I give her the news. My third thought is...what does this mean for Marco Andretti?

The Milwaukee Mile looks to be revived, but...

2009-09-22T06:42:00.007-07:00

I'm not going to jump to conclusions, but, well, the way this is worded it sure looks like despite finding even more people to try to run the facility, those in charge of The Milwaukee Mile just gave the IRL a big fat "whatever".

It seems a resolution is near for YET ANOTHER series of folks to take over handling and promoting the facility, which is controlled by the Wisconsin State Fair Park Board. The latest deal will call for smaller payments to The Board with the option to defer some of the initial ones in an effort to offset the money currently owed to the IRL and N****R for licensing their most events.

But here are the uncomfortable parts, which are worded at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in such a way as to seem as if only tin tops may be racing there in the future.

The proposed agreement with Historic Mile appears intended to give the new group as much help as possible to stage races at the track. In return, Historic Mile also agreed to pay for improvements that sanctioning bodies such as NASCAR and the Indy Racing League might require in the future.

In anticipation of the new group reaching agreement with State Fair, NASCAR scheduled a June 18 Camping World Truck Series at the track, followed the next day by a Nationwide Series race.

However, NASCAR and the IRL are collectively owed an estimated $2 million from previous unpaid sanction fees. Asked if his group had satisfied that debt, Machi said: "We made NASCAR happy." He declined to provide further details.

(MORE from JSOnline)

OK then.

A quote attributed to no one in particular

2009-09-19T08:51:00.002-07:00

I just noticed I got this in the email yesterday (sorry, I was prepping for the race) which is "a statement from the Indy Racing League". I guess they got everyone in the offices at 16th and Georgetown together and in unison chanted...

STATEMENT REGARDING VERSUS COVERAGE ON DIRECTV

INDIANAPOLIS, Friday, Sept. 18, 2009 - The following is a statement from the Indy Racing League, the sanctioning body of the IndyCar Series, regarding VERSUS' coverage of the Indy Japan 300 on DirecTV:

"We have been in constant communication with our television partner VERSUS regarding its negotiations with DirecTV. Talks have been ongoing and, while we're hopeful for a speedy resolution, we do not anticipate coverage of the Indy Japan 300 on DirecTV this weekend.

"As announced earlier in the week, there will be comprehensive coverage of practice, qualifying and the race on IndyCar.com. We could not be happier with the partnership we have forged in just over a year with VERSUS and look forward to a long and healthy relationship. Both VERSUS and the IndyCar Series share the frustration of DirecTV subscribers and we are hopeful that the two sides will continue talks and that DirecTV subscribers will have the ability to view IndyCar Series coverage for the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway."

You don't need a press release to tell you VERSUS and the IndyCar Series and DirecTV subscribers are all frustrated at this contractual stalemate, but let's also not forget those folks who help pay for the rides and the broadcasts - namely, the sponsors. They bought ad time and paid for snappy decals on the cars and did all sorts of other expensive things that cost money, and I'm sure they're none too pleased at this development. Especially the series title sponsor, who...oh, wait - nevermind that last bit.

Perhaps it's wishful thinking, but I have a hunch this will all be resolved somewhere before the start of the National Hockey League season, which would result in minimal damage to the IndyCar series. That would mean only the Motegi event would be unavailable, and it's not like anyone was expecting a huge audience for an overnight race in Japan in the first place. As long as the series finale, which once again will effectively be the championship match, is on DirecTV then antacid consumption around the league will decline considerably.

Until then though, we can all marvel at the irony of how in a year DirecTV has gone from "presenting sponsor" of the series to, well, the unoffical sponsor of non-presentation.

LiveBlog: Motegi 2009

2009-09-18T19:27:00.031-07:00

Hello again, race fans. I realize it may be late for many of you on the East Coast as well as the tens of Indycar fans in Europe, but here in sunny Arizona it's just past dinner time.

In honor of the annual race in Japan we here at My name Is IRL World HQ are enjoying an evening of Japanese cuisine...oh, wait, we're not having Japanese cuisine? Well what are we having? Tacos? Oh, OK. I love tacos. And truth be told I'm not a fan of sushi much. At any rate, we're celebrating Twin ring Motegi with a lovely Pico De Gallo.

Tonight we will still enjoy Japanese, as there are three drivers of Japanese heritage: Hideki Mutoh, Kosuke "Sofa King" Matsuura, and Roger Yasukawa. If any of these fine young men wins today I promise to immediately run out to BevMo and down an entire bottle of Sake.

We are also at the first ever event in the history of the IRL where the defending champion is a woman. And that woman is Milka Duno...just kidding. Had to see if you were paying attention. No, all eyes will be on Danica Patrick, about whom recently much has been said and little has actually occurred. If she wins tonight I think we should all start a "Danica to Formula Nippon" rumor.

First though, a moment of silence for our friends who are subscribers to DircTV, which recently dropped VERSUS from their offerings...

...And with that, it's time to start.

0: Gentleman Jack Arute is the only actual member of the VERSUS on-air team to have made the trip to Japan. I can't believe they let him go after he practically sullied Danica's post-race celebration last year by asking here "When are you gonna win AGAIN?" I still love Jack, but I'd vote for LindyCar.

0: Moraes is starting 2nd tonight, so he's the favored underdog. Jack Arute informs us "he sat on the podium in Chicago." I guess it was his first time there, so it's possible Mario didn't know you're supposed to stand on the thing. Perhaps it's some sort of rookie hazing thing for first-timers.

0: Arute loves interrogating Danica so much there's a PART II to her "In Color" that is in black and white. Danica says she remembers women scrubbing weepers, and now I'm going to refill my adult beverage.

0: With it's odd shape Motegi is notorious for eating cars. Heck, it ate two in qualifying. First out picks tonight: Link says Stanton Barrett, P1 says Moraes (she's such a hater - she calls him "Monkey"), and I'm going with Kosuke Matsuura. May the best man win.

0: "Konichi wa, watashima Bob Jenkins"...?

0: A bigwig with Bridgestone musters his best English and tells us "Lady and gentleman, start your engines!"

0: Warm up laps are under way.

0: Arute says Danica won last year "by fuel consumption". I think he meant "fuel conservation". Or maybe he's just already overworked.

0: Coming to the green flag. I agree with Roy Hobbson - having Kanaan and Helio starting at the back makes this race about 3500% more interesting.

0: And we are GREEN. Everyone makes it through the first lap without incident.

3: Camerawork in Japan is very erratic. Thank goodness for the ticker scrolling at the top.

5: Dixon, Dario, Moraes, Briscoe, Danica. Scheckter right behind her. Marco has already moved up 7 spots to 8th, with Graham Rahal right behind him.

10: Cars are starting to spread out, with many positions already having as much as a second between them. No one is going to confuse this place with Kentucky or Chicagoland.

15: Scott Dixon is leading by about a second over his teammate Dario Franchitti.
g
18: In case you were wondering, Kanaan and Helio are up to 16th and 17th now. Mike Conway is next up to pass on their to-do list.

20: The Japanese delegation is bunched together in 19th (Yasuakawa), 20th (Mutoh) and 21st (Matsuura). I'm sure the home crowd is thrilled by this development.

21: Dan Wheldon goes around Danica to take 5th. This might be the first time he's been in the Top 5 since Indy. If it's not it sure seems like it's been that long.

30: I sure hope you saw that AWESOME vintage promo for early travel to racing in Japan. If not, you have my condolences.

32: Dixon, Dario, Moraes, Briscoe, Wheldon...for now. Dan is all up in Ryan's business.

40: No change up front. Eagerly awaiting pit stops in this fuel conservation parade.

42: Dixon is lapping people. And by people I mean Stanton, Yasukawa and now Kosuke.

47: Moraes pits. Seemed to take an extra second or two trying to get the fuel into the car. Replay looks like the fuel man didn't get the nozzle in all the way until about halfway through the stop.

51: Everyone not named Dario seems to be pitting. Dixon appears to be held up by Hideki Mutoh, although I thought they're all supposed to be going the same speed.

52: Dario and Briscoe pit. On exit it looks like Dario will now be ahead of his teammate.

53: Dixon is trying to pass Dario, but it ain't happening. I'm sitting in a roomful of family members hoping they put each other into the wall. Welcome to my world.

55: Dario, Dixon, Wheldon, Briscoe, Danica. Moraes in 6th but Arute informs us he only has half a load of fuel. Heh heh - he said "load".

58: Morgan Freeman is telling me to "let your freak flag fly". Umm, OK.

65: Tony Kanaan just got lapped. Luckily P3, our resident Kanaan fan, has already gone to bed.

70: Dario is lapping Mike Conway in 15th. Helio in 14th is the last car on the lead lap. This is what happens when you have extended green flag racing.

72: Moraes has to pit. That's what a "half-load" of fuel will do to you.

75: Nostrabeekhuis is lulling me to sleep by telling me about rack and pinion steering. Six teeth versus ten teeth. Steering ratioooooooozzzzzzzz...

83: Sorry, I nodded off and suddenly Dan Wheldon is in 3rd. Mario Moraes in 19th. Just got lapped by Dario to go 2 laps down. Looks like I picked the wrong week to take Mario in the TSO fantasy league.

90: Scheckter is in the pits. And out of the car. Looks like I picked the wrong week to have him on my TSO fatasy league as well.

91: BIG moment for Kosuke. Much see-sawing of the wheel. I almost one the first out pool, but sadly his crazy mad driving skillz saved him from contact with the wall. to the surprise of no one, Matsuura coasts into the pits.

97: Dario, Dixon 2 seconds back, Wheldon 3 seconds back, Briscoe 12 seconds back, Danica 19 seconds back. Feel the excitement.

101: Wheldon pits. In and out.

102: Dixon pits. In and out.

103: Dario pits. In and out. But he's not leading because Brisoce is still out there conserving fuel like nobody's business.

106: And Briscoe pits. And Conway has gone into the wall. And Briscoe will not be penalized. AND BRISCOE TAPS THE WALL ON PIT EXIT. Oh, crikey! He's driving around with the "pit zone" cone stuck under his car.

108: Briscoe rolls through the pits for what I suppose it a penalty.

109: Uh, anyone wanna tell us if Conway is OK? That was a big hit.

110: Briscoe is still listed as the race leader but he'll need to pit. Here he comes. Change the wing, change the tires, change the postion back to third. Yes, it says third, even after all those recent pit stops. he must have been ahead by a lot.

111: Dixon, Dario, Briscoe, Wheldon, Servia. Hooray for Oriol!

112: Briscoe is back in the pits. Probably not a potty break. He's going laps down so he might as well get out and visit the restroom.

113: Arute is telling us about plastic cones, saying "I know I've hit one now and again". Memo to self: if Jack offers to give me a ride, DECLINE.

114: Briscoe is still in the pits. Somewhere Chip Ganassi is already counting the dollars for whichever of his drivers wins the 2009 ICS Championship.

118: Conway's status is still unknown. But we're back to GREEN regardless.

121: Airtime for Rafa Matos, who has gotten around Servia and has stormed up to 5th. Meanwhile, Moraes is back on the lead lap and in 9th.

124: Ryan Briscoe meekly re-enters the race. Actually he just did an entire lap on the apron before getting up to speed. Ryan is in 19th, 12 laps down. Looks like I picked the wrong week to pick Briscoe for my TSO fantasy league.

125: In case you were wondering, I think I also had Ed Carpenter and Dario Franchitti in the TSO fantasy league. I'm only mentioning this in case something happens to either of them.

130: Danica has gone backwards to 9th and is now the last car on the lead lap. She's 6 mph slower that the leaders, so she's probably conserving fuel again.

131: And Briscoe is back in the pits.

133: And Briscoe leaves again. Meanwhile Servia has wrested 4th back from Matos. Wouldn't it be nice to see this battle instead of Briscoe sitting in the pits? Why, yes it would.

139: Mario Moraes is up to 6th. Impressive.

142: @DRRIndyCar just tweeted "Mike (Conway) is back in the team offices and relaxing. Thank you all for your concern!"

145: Moraes is slowing, now back to 8th. Looks like he's trying to save fuel now. I tell ya, you ain't seen nothing until you seen these IndyCars "make fuel". It's simply breathtaking. /sarcasm

153: Dixon, Dario, Wheldon, all within a second or so, with Rahal back in 4th 11 seconds back.

154: Ryan-Hunter Reay gets airtime because no pit stop goes untelevised. Same for Justin Wilson who's running...well, he's still out there in some-teenth.

158: Wheldon pits.

159: Matos pits.

160: Dixon and Dario pit at the same time. Rahal takes the lead. RYAN HUNTER-REAY GOES INTO THE WALL. Dixon beats Dario off the line but Rahal should have a lap on them.

162: Hunter-Reay's #14 has a lot of damage. Replay shows a hard hit (is there any other kind here?) back first, but Ryan is out and walking around.

163: Rahal, Servia, Danica, Marco, Moraes and a bunch of others pit. I have no idea what's going on, but the announcers are saying the Ganassi drivers will be shown in the lead. Dixon, Franchitti, Rahal, Servia, Moraes.

167: Bob Jenkins informs us that VERSUS will now "welcome N****R" and will profile the 12 drivers in the Race for the Chase for the Cup for the...well, that's something else DirecTV subscribers can eagerly look forward to missing.

171: Back to GREEN...or not. Dixon tried to jump everyone. Jon calls it "Premature acceleration". Har har.

172: Now we're back to GREEN, as Matsuura and Carpenter inadvertantly run interference for the two Ganassi cars.

175: Moraes, Rahal and Servia are all over each other for 3rd, 4th and 5th. If you are still awake you are certainly appreciating this. And thank you VERSUS for showing the racing instead of the lock-step up front.

179: Bob Jenkins tells us Mike Conway is OK with ice on his foot. Also, Ryan Hunter-Reay is alright but he has a bruised knee. Thanks for the update.

180: I think for about the 10th time this season I'm thinking "Gosh, if you'd take the first two cars off the track this would be a heck of a race." So it goes.

190: Dixon, Dario, Rahal, Servia, Moraes. Probably going to end that way. Meanwhile Helio and Kanaan are 10th and 11th respectively.

195: Japanese driver update: Mutoh 14th, Matsuura 17th, Yasukawa 20th. Roger's 29 laps down though, so it's not a very close 20th.

198: Danica is in 6th. No repeat. I know you're all stunned, but what are you gonna do?

199: White flag for Dixon.

200: Checkers for Dixon, his 5th win of the season. Dario and Graham will join him on the podium.

It's late, so I'll let you all go to bed, presuming you all are still awake. Congrats to Scott on a solid effort and a serious dose of luck on the timeliness of the Hunter-Reay wreck. All that remains is for Scott to give a dull interview, a required follow-up with Danica, and then we get to wait to see if the ICS reached a perfect .00 in the ratings for this race.

Thank you all very much - especially the folks who've been keeping each other awake and amused on twitter - and good night.

The Sofa King returns

2009-09-17T21:26:00.003-07:00

It's time for Motegi, which means it's time for any driver with a Japanese surname and a recent history of driving to suddenly find himself behind the wheel of a Dallara. Case in point Roger Yasukawa and Kosuke Matsuura.

Roger's a likable guy and his record at Indy is solid, but let's face it - he's never had a career moment quite like this one Kosuke had, which was the cherry on top of his odd career rivalry with Jeff Simmons. Here's to broken English, thick accents, and an honest dose of profanity that hopefully my kids still can't understand.

All Hail the Sofa King! Tens of race fans will be downing coffee and eagerly awaiting his inevitably candid 2am interview with Gentleman Jack Arute at Motegi this weekend.

(Photo: IndyCar.com)

Quote of the day

2009-09-17T00:38:00.001-07:00

"When I made the deal with Ryan, I had told him he'd have a ride for the rest of the season because I didn't really know if Vitor would be ready. And even though Vitor has been cleared to drive, the more I thought about it, I don't think having his first race back being at Miami is the best thing for Vitor. There's a lot of risk and not that much to be gained. We want to get a good start on 2010 with Vitor and do more testing over the winter so I think it's in all of our interests to have him focus on next year." - AJ Foyt, signaling the official end to Vitor Meira's season, and saying that if the #14 is going to get wadded up at Homestead then he'd much rather have Vision Racing's Ryan Hunter-Reay in the cockpit.

How to fill a void

2009-09-16T21:04:00.004-07:00

At this time your humble host is not able to comment on my conspicuous absence over recent days, however I will categorically deny certain vicious rumors I have read. Let me say in no uncertain terms: I did NOT fall into a crushing state of depression over LindyCar Thackston stealing what little readership I had at Silent Pagoda, I did NOT have my password to my site hijacked by M.I.T. Pre-Emeritus Interuptus JR Hildebrand after I off-handedly called him "Jimmy Neutron", and at NO POINT was I chained as a love slave in the basement of Lauren Bohlander's lounge. (I might strongly consider applying for that position, though.)

Despite my absence it seems I haven't missed too much because almost all anyone has been talking about for the last week and a half is innumerable sentences containing the words "Danica" and "N****R". It appears to have all started with an article at ESPN, which led to several blog posts, as well as poor Curt Cavin having to answer daily questions on something that hasn't actually occurred.

# Sept. 3: On Danica and Alex Lloyd - 09/03/09
# Sept. 8: On Danica and IMS surface - 09/08/09
# Sept. 9: On Danica and Grand Am - 09/09/09
# Sept. 11: On Danica and Osama Bin Laden - 09/11/09
# Sept. 13: On Danica and Kanye West - 09/13/09

I can see how a lot of people want to chatter about such a subject, but again - NOTHING ACTUALLY HAPPENED. To recap: Tony Stewart says he talked with her, that she's looking to run some stock car feeder series in the next year or two, that she really wants to race tin tops for a living, and all of a sudden it's IndyCarmageddon. No contract was signed, no official announcement was made, and most importantly no new sponsors were hooked up to Danica's gravy train. All that happened was that Smoke said she "looked him in the eye" and told him this is what she wanted to do.

How is this news? As if anyone on a job interview - and when you think about, the Danica World Leverage Tour was a lot like a prolonged one-woman job fair - would say something different. As if we didn't already know Danica and her mysterious cadre of handlers haven't already been publicly talking up the idea of her in the most widely watched racing series in America? As if we're all suddenly shocked, SHOCKED that there's gambling in Casablanca.

Yet poor Bob Kravitz, who I last saw sleeping on Race Day at Indy this year, went into his best Chicken Little impersonation, saying nonsensical and contradictory things like her departure "won't kill the sport, but it will deal the open-wheel types a painful and possibly even fatal blow."

I'm not sure that was actually Bob, but before we all get navel-gazing about what the A.D. (After Danica) era would be like we need to remember she's still probably going to be in the IndyCar series for the immediate future. Yes, someday soon Danica may find herself elbow deep in studies similar to the Sam Hornish Jr Stock Car Education Curriculum, and she may have some as yet unknown fairy sponsor drop a $30 meeeeelion dollar package into her lap to jump to the Cup series, and she may find herself racing around for 30th place not because she can't drive the car but because she can't drive as well as the other 42 more experienced drivers. Someday. Not today, probably not this year, and maybe even not next year. But someday, maybe.

Friends, the WWDT mission has not failed. Not yet, at least. Somebody tell Hitler to take a breath and chill, because no matter how much wanderlust Mrs Hospenthal might have currently she will still for the foreseeable future be stuck with us and we will be stuck with her. Just remember this in case the three-week delay between Motegi and Homestead gets filled with even more hysteria.

If a picture says a thousand words

2009-09-03T22:42:00.000-07:00

What does this one say?

Photo: Nelson Philippe twitpic

Quote of the day

2009-09-03T20:37:00.003-07:00

"I’m not his father, but I feel the same level of pride...There have been several teams interested in doing a program with Alex. Frankly, he couldn’t have signed with a more competitive and professional organization. We look forward to the fantastic results we know he is capable of achieving." - Sam Schmidt, beaming with pride that his former driver, 2007 Indy Lights Champ Alex Lloyd, is getting a one-race deal with Newman/Haas/Lanigan for the season finale at Homestead.

Oriol Servia's father figures were unavailable for comment.