The Rolex 24 Starts The Racing Season, IndyCar And NASCAR Notes

By Steve Zautke
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Updated: January 31, 2010

Big Bend, WI (January 31, 2010) – The racing season is underway. With this weekend’s Rolex 24 at Daytona, it’s a chance to see the most star-studded event of the year. The reigning NASCAR champ (Jimmie Johnson) and IndyCar champion (Dario Franchitti) are entered as is two-time IndyCar champion, Scott Dixon and former F-1 winner, Juan-Pablo Montoya. Other top drivers competing are Justin Wilson, Buddy Rice, Ryan Hunter-Reay, A.J. Allmendinger, Jamie McMurray, Jimmy Vasser, Max Papis, Sebastien Bourdais, Paul Menard and Bobby Labonte all winners in NASCAR Sprint Cup, Nationwide, IZOD IndyCar or the former Champ Car Series. It was the SunTrust Team which with a last lap burst of speed and Max Angelelli behind the wheel, gained the pole position for Saturday’s Rolex24 at Daytona as RacingNation correspondent Joe Jennings reported. Angelelli blazed around the 3.56-mile road course at a speed of 127.293 miles per hour. Angelelli drove the SunTrust Racing Ford Dallara, and will be joined in the 48th Rolex 24 by co-drivers Pedro Lamy and the father-son team of Wayne and Ricky Taylor. SI’s Tim Tuttle summed it up the best when he wrote the Rolex 24 is the true International Race of Champions.

The news of Tony George shutting down Vision Racing was tough blow for the IZOD IndyCar Series. One, it removed another car from the full-time pool of cars. It possibly will remove a entire row of cars in May for the “500.” Two, it removes an American driver from the Series. Three, it removed the fan friendliest team in the paddock. Pat Caporali was one of the first to utilize Twitter as a powerful tool to interact with fans. Vision was the leader of using social media to connect the IndyCar Series with the fans. One wonder if TG, a man without a team or Series, will assemble a new team to purchase the IRL from the Hulman Group, owned by his sisters who voted him out as CEO.

It was announced Friday that NASCAR is cutting the race winnings by approximately 10% they will award teams in the Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Truck Series this coming season. The purse reduction is part of cost-cutting measures that the sanctioning body said will help alleviate “some of the financial burdens on tracks that have suffered during a tough economic environment that has forced them to cut ticket prices with declining attendance.” “Last year we launched an industry-wide effort to help the sport manage budgets in this economy,” NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston said Friday. “NASCAR did the right thing to work with the tracks to reduce their costs in order to manage the economic realities. In return, the tracks have done a great job reducing ticket prices and enhancing the fan experience. Likewise, we worked with the teams to contain costs such as elimination of testing and other steps. This is consistent with how virtually every sport and business has adjusted to the economy over the past year.”

The move will help the track owners, however will make the bottom line a bit tougher for teams and drivers. The drivers are the ones who may see a bigger earnings decline in the future as sponsorships, licensing agreements have all seen big drops and look to continue falling. With the NASCAR television contract coming up it’ll even get tighter. This is just not a NASCAR problem as IndyCar has seen these same issues in the previous several years. Racing isn’t the only ones hurting. The NBA has seen attendance plummet and may see another lockout in their future as the NFL may face in 2011. The sports scene in 2012 will look a lot different, especially the paystubs drivers and players receive.

Indy 500 stuff for Haiti. A helmet signed by 22 Indianapolis 500 winners is among the unique new items added recently to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway eBay auctions to benefit American Red Cross relief efforts in Haiti, which already have raised more than $8,400.

Indy winners who signed the helmet include Helio Castroneves, Scott Dixon, A.J. Foyt, Gordon Johncock, Buddy Lazier, Arie Luyendyk, Rick Mears, Bobby Rahal, Jim Rathmann, Buddy Rice, Johnny Rutherford, Tom Sneva, Al Unser, Al Unser Jr., Bobby Unser, Dan Wheldon and more.

“What a great piece of history,” Dixon said. “I’m not sure anything like this helmet exists today. I hope it will bring in a big number, as the proceeds will definitely be going toward a very worthy cause.”

All proceeds from the eBay auction of racing memorabilia, which began Jan. 15, are being donated to Red Cross relief efforts for the devastating earthquake Jan. 12. Items are designated as part of the Haiti relief program. More items are arriving from race teams and competitors from around the world and being added to the auction regularly. Check the auction site daily for updates. The auction site: http://shop.ebay.com/ims_online/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=25 (cut & paste link)

Penske Racing driver Parker Kligerman will continue his development in 2010. Kligerman will begin the NASCAR Nationwide Series season behind the wheel of the No. 42 Dodge for Team 42 Racing. Kligerman, 19, will compete in at least the first five series races for the Eddie Smith-owned team, with the possibility of entering more events this season.

“We believe Parker has a bright future in NASCAR and, like many young drivers, what he needs most right now is experience,” said Tim Cindric, President of Penske Racing. “This is a great opportunity for him to continue his development in the Nationwide Series. We are fortunate to be able to align with Eddie’s organization to further develop Parker’s potential.”

In 2009, Kligerman joined Penske Racing’s driver development program. Working with crew chief Chris Carrier in the ARCA RE/MAX Series, Kligerman posted a series-high nine victories last season while finishing a close second in the championship standings. He earned the chance to compete at the Nationwide Series level with the Penske team and won the pole at Kansas Speedway in his team and series debut before he produced a 16th-place finish in the race. 2010 marks the sophomore season of Team 42 Racing in the NASCAR Nationwide Series.The No. 42 Dodge, owned by Florida businessman Eddie Smith, competed in 15 races in the team’s 2009 rookie season. The team’s performance in the 2009 Nationwide Series included qualifying in the top-10 five times with three top-15 finishes. After employing a host of veteran drivers in 2009, including Cup Series driver David Gilliland, the 2010 Nationwide Series season promises to be one of big opportunity for Team 42 Racing with Penske Racing.

Monster Energy drink will grace the green and black No. 4 Chevrolet Silverado of Ricky Carmichael in the 2010 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Joining forces with Turner Motorsports, LLC, Carmichael will compete in the entire 25 race NCWTS. The 15-time American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) champ and five-time AMA “Rider of the Year” Clearwater, Florida native competed in 16 NCWTS races last season for Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI) scoring two top-10 finishes before moving over to Turner Motorsports for the final two Truck Series races of the year, where he drove the No. 31 Chevrolet. He also piloted a KHI entry in two ARCA Racing Series presented by REMAX and Menards races in 2009. Carmichael will wheel the Monster Energy sponsored truck in all 25 NCWTS events. In addition he will steer a Monster Energy Chevrolet in nine ARCA races, beginning with the season opener at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway.

The IZOD IndyCar Series will open its 2010 season March 14 on the 2.6-mile, 11-turn circuit that mirrors the metropolis – built for speed and excitement. The course, located in the north central section of S?o Paulo known as Anhembi, incorporates the Sambodromo – permanent grandstands lining the route primarily used for parades during Carnival – that will include the start/finish line and forms one of three long straightaways. The backstretch is nine-tenths of a mile long, leading into a sharp right-hand turn into the Sambodromo. Seventy-five laps will constitute the S?o Paulo Indy 300.

“Two of the long straightaways have relatively slow corners leading onto them,” said Tony Cotman, who designed the course and is overseeing the construction through his new company, NZR Consulting. “There are some good 90-degree turns at the end of them, and on one occasion a little tighter than that. It’s a track that’s challenging but can create some exciting racing. I like to see a course that is really quite challenging on a driver and has potential for the driver to either A, take multiple lines or B. Entice them into mistakes.

“Running through the middle of the stadium that hosts Carnival, which holds about 30,000 people, I think will be an electric atmosphere for the drivers. That portion of the track through the stadium is concrete and everywhere else will be asphalt, so there will be some surface changes. That’s always good for the racing.” We hope so.

IZOD IndyCar Series, Team Penske and Turner Motorsports media contributed to this column

Steve Zautke

Steve Zautke, a Milwaukee, WI native, was raised in the sport of auto racing. His father, Bill, was a movie photographer that shot racing footage at tracks such as the Milwaukee Mile and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the 1960’s and 1970’s Steve’s first professional job in racing was as an Emergency Medical Technician at tracks such as Angell Park and Hales Corners Speedway (1988-1991). Steve has also worked for the Milwaukee Mile as videographer, in media relations and historian (1993-2011). Steve also has worked as a reporter for Racing Information Systems (RIS) and has written features for ‘Vintage Oval Racing’ and ‘Victory Lane’ magazines. Most recently, Steve has written a book on Road America for Arcadia Publishing. ( http://www.amazon.com/Road-America-Nascar-Library-Collection/dp/1467111457 ) Steve co-hosts “Sparky’s Final Inspection” a motorsports-based radio show with hosts, Steve “Sparky” Fifer and “NASCAR Girl” Summer Santana on Sports Radio 1250AM in Milwaukee and is also available on the internet at www.Sportradio1250.com. A member of the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame Induction Committee, Steve follows all types of racing from the dirt tracks to Formula One.

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