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IndyCar Series Homestead Preview

The wait is almost over. The 2008 IndyCar season is about to begin and a new era in American open-wheel racing will begin on March 29 with a unified series.

It should be an exciting weekend as the GAINSCO Auto Insurance Indy 300, which will be run under the lights at Homestead-Miami Speedway. This is an opportunity for the established teams to set a tone that perhaps Target-Ganassi Racing, Andretti-Green Racing or perhaps Team Penske will be the team to beat. Other questions remain such as how will the new teams adapt, how about Newman-Haas-Lanigan Racing? How will Dale Coyne Racing for KV Racing look? By late Saturday night we should be able to tell.

Looks like a field of 25 cars will take the starting grid at the Homestead-Miami opener. The car count represents 17 cars from teams that previously competed in the IndyCar Series and eight cars from five teams transitioning to the series.

Who’s the favorite? It has to be newlywed, Dan Wheldon of Target Chip Ganassi Racing who’ll be looking for his record-setting fourth consecutive victory on the fast 1.5-mile, banked oval. Last year, Wheldon, thumped teammate Scott Dixon by over six seconds to win the event last year. However, in 2006, he narrowly beat Team Penske’s Helio Castroneves by just 0.0147 of a second in the closest finish in track history.

You may be thinking, 25 cars? I thought there were going to be 26 cars? Well, Graham Rahal, 19, wrecked his Newman-Haas-Lanigan (NHL) car in a testing accident on Tuesday, he’ll miss the race. The Newman-Haas-Lanigan Racing team withdrew the car for Rahal on Thursday. The team will field a Dallara Honda for Justin Wilson in the race. Many teams making the transition to the newly unified IndyCar Series have been against the wall with many with one race-ready chassis and had little time with their new cars to prepare for the season opener. Rahal was among nine former Champ Car drivers who tested at Homestead-Miami earlier this week. Rahal crashed hard during the Tuesday test and the team just doesn’t have the parts to get the car ready said a team spokesman. Rahal escaped injury. The NHL team will focus on rebuilding the crashed car for a test at Sebring International Raceway on Tuesday in preparation for next week’s Honda Indy Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. Rahal was quoted, “It’s disappointing that we’re not going to be racing in the season opener and I feel bad about it,” said Rahal, the son of 1986 Indianapolis 500 winner Bobby Rahal. “It will be tough not to be out there. But, at the same time, we need to take it slowly and not rush putting the car back together. Earlier in the week he said, “For us at Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing, it’s been very busy, especially after I crashed on Tuesday. The unification was a great thing for us. I think everybody here is looking forward to it, but certainly the situation wasn’t really ideal because of how quickly we had to get ready for this weekend. We missed last week’s test at Sebring. Obviously going into this weekend and also St. Pete, it was going to be quite the challenge. I think out of the box on Monday things went pretty well, we were running pretty quick, and also on Tuesday until my shunt. Unfortunately, I won’t be racing this weekend, but overall I think the team has done a great job preparing these cars. We’re looking forward to next week and building the car for St. Pete. I think we all have a shot at winning one of the first two races it was going to be St. Pete. So, we’re going to work on that now.”

One new rule making news is the new weight rule. The cars are now weighed with the driver’s weight figured in. In the past many thought this gave diminutive drivers an advantage, one driver that was mentioned was Danica Patrick. What does 6′ 3″ Justin Wilson think of the new rule? “I think it’s very important. I feel it’s the first step in making things fair. In every form of motorsport I’ve come across, especially Formula One, the weight is so critical. The combined package of the car and driver, usually on a road course 10 pounds equals one-tenth of a second, so if you’re 100 pounds heavier than somebody it’s a second a lap you’re giving away. I’m fortunate, and quite a lot of the drivers here are fortunate, that the IRL has seen that and made some adjustments to help make it equal. They haven’t gone all the way, but it definitely it gets closer in line with the rest of the world on weight.”

Speaking of Danica, she was asked in a press conference earlier this week about being fastest at last month’s Open Test at Homestead-Miami Speedway: “It’s always nice to have a good run, but I think this oval racing is so tempermental that one weekend you’re on, one weekend you’re off, and sometimes you don’t know exactly why. I’ll take it. I don’t think it’s the magic pill that all of the sudden unlocks the season. I think it’s a good thing, and it’s a good sign. I’m happy with it, and I think ultimately what it does is give us some confidence. Confidence can take you a lot further than anything sometimes. We all feel pretty anxious and ready for this to start.”

One racing legend who has been an outspoken critic of the ‘other’ series is happy with the unified series, A.J. Foyt spoke about unification: “I’m glad to see it happen. It will eliminate the confusion caused by having two series which made it hard to explain the differences in the cars and the motors. We don’t have to do that anymore which makes it better for the fans, the sponsors and the teams. The Indy 500 has been coming back stronger over the last several years and this will help make this year’s race stronger yet.”

What does Darren Manning who is starting his second year with A.J. Foyt Racing think about the season opener? “It got me thinking to when I came over to CART-my first race was on the oval at Rockingham in England (2002). I thought of it as four fast corners. I didn’t get a lot of practice but I led some laps (18) and finished ninth on the lead lap. That drive got me my ride in CART the following year. Now it will be different for the Champ Car regulars because Miami is a banked superspeedway whereas Rockingham was flat and single lane, more like a road course. The banking makes the track easier to drive but you don’t get much feeling from the car. My first time at Miami, I felt like I didn’t get it figured out until the race was nearly over. I think the new guys will find the speed pretty quick but the challenge will be the race itself. You’re racing two-three lanes and that takes some getting used to. You have to know how to negotiate the traffic, time your overtaking. It’s also about learning your fellow drivers and how close you can run with them. You have to give each other a wider berth, especially now. Some guys will be trying to figure out what they’re doing or they may be struggling with their car. You have to give room for error, and I’m sure that will be emphasized to everyone at the driver’s meeting. A lot of those guys are good friends of mine and I’ll be glad to give them advice–and I’m sure the other guys will too–because that just makes it safer for everyone.” How about Homestead-Miami Speedway? “Miami-Homestead is not a standard shaped oval. Although the turns are similar at both ends they are different because of the winds. In turns one and two the cars get loose, and in turns three and four, they tend to push or understeer. It’s a tough track to get a handle on. However, it will be good in the race because of the variable banking which means the different grooves have different angles of banking: 18-19-20 degrees, allowing for a lot of side-by-side racing. I think it’s the only track like that.”

Foyt Racing has hired Mike Colliver, of Bloomington, IN, as Chief Engineer. Colliver, 43, has worked in professional motorsports since 1994. Earning his bio-engineering degree from Purdue University in 1988, he worked in the bio-medical field for six years designing coronary products before launching his motorsports career. Also ABC Supply returns for its fourth year as primary sponsor of A.J. Foyt’s No. 14 with GAF-ELK signing on for another year on the car’s engine cover. Cabo Wabo Tequila returns as an associate sponsor for the third straight year.

The Indy Racing League announced that IRL and Bridgestone Firestone will assume title sponsorship of the Indy Racing League’s official development series and re-establish the series name as Firestone Indy Lights.

The change harkens back to the 11 seasons that Firestone served as title sponsor and exclusive tire supplier to one of the most successful driver development series in American history. Firestone and Dayton brands headlined the Indy Lights Championships from 1991-2001. Many of today’s top open-wheel competitors cut their racing teeth on its diverse array of tracks.

Current IndyCar Series drivers Tony Kanaan, Oriol Servia, Scott Dixon and Townsend Bell are all past Indy Lights champions, not to mention current team owners Eric Bachelart and Robbie Buhl. In addition, Helio Castroneves and Dan Wheldon used Indy Lights as a seasoning steppingstone on their way to capturing Indianapolis 500 victory glory.

In 2006, Firestone Indy Lights witnessed the closest championship battle in its history. In 2007, the series enjoyed a 48 percent increase in the number of cars on track. All indications are that 2008 will provide additional growth and intense battles on the track.

“Firestone Indy Lights is definitely one of the first places people look to further their racing careers,” said Roger Bailey, executive director of Firestone Indy Lights. “We offer a balanced schedule of races on ovals and road courses, almost $4 million in prize money and a stringent cost containment program.”

On the track, 2008 promises to be much more like 2006, when the championship was decided by two points.

Sam Schmidt Motorsports, which fielded championship-winning entries for Jay Howard in 2006 and Alex Lloyd in 2007, knows all to well the process of reloading for another championship run.

For 2008, the powerhouse team has signed three full-time drivers with legitimate chances at the Firestone Firehawk Cup.

Richard Antinucci, the nephew of 1998 Indianapolis 500 winner Eddie Cheever and a two-time race winner in 2007, will drive the No. 7 car formerly occupied by Howard and Lloyd. In addition, the team signed Australian James Davison, who finished second in Star Mazda in 2007, and Brazilian Ana Beatriz, a Formula Renault veteran.

Another Brazilian, Raphael Matos, figures to play a significant role in the championship race. The 26-year-old, who makes his home in Miami, won two Firestone Indy Lights races in 2006 and won the Champ Car Atlantic title in 2007.

He is set to drive for Andretti Green Racing, the winningest IndyCar Series team that fields Tony Kanaan, Danica Patrick and Firestone Indy Lights graduates Marco Andretti and Hideki Mutoh.

Firestone Indy Lights veteran Bobby Wilson, who has finished fourth the past two seasons, also has his sights set on a championship. Wilson has teamed with Florida businessman Neil Enerson in a new venture, Team E.

Team E, based near Ocala, Fla., is one of two new teams taking the grid in Firestone Indy Lights in 2008, continuing the growth of the series off the track. The championship will be fought in a record-tying 16 races, including eight on ovals and eight on road/street courses.

Panther Racing signed British driver Dillon Battistini to pilot its second Firestone Indy Lights entry. Battistini, the defending Asian Pacific Formula 3 champion, will join Brent Sherman in the team’s 2008 lineup beginning with the Miami 100 on March 29.

The series returns to Kansas Speedway in April, site of the series’ first race in 2002, and includes the sixth annual Freedom 100 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway two days before the 92nd Indianapolis 500.

“I’m very excited about the 2008 season,” Bailey said. “We should see more cars on track, and in turn it should lead to highly competitive racing.”

Michael Smith of the Sport Business Journal wrote, “Sources say the IRL is close to finalizing a deal that would make DirecTV the presenting sponsor for the league’s top circuit, the IndyCar Series. It is uncertain how DirecTV would be integrated into the name and logo of the series. IndyCar still is searching for a title sponsor as well. Both the IndyCar Series and Firestone Indy Lights open their seasons Saturday at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Meanwhile, the IRL is also expected to announce this week that Coca-Cola will become the circuit’s official soft drink.”

The 2008 IndyCar Series season begins under the lights with the GAINSCO Auto Insurance Indy 300 on March 29 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The 2008 schedule, one of the most diverse in all of motorsports, features races on ovals, permanent road courses and temporary street circuits, all broadcast worldwide through a comprehensive, long-term agreement with ESPN. All races in 2008 will be telecast in High Definition. The 2008 Firestone Indy Lights season also begins on March 29 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The 16-race schedule, which features eight ovals and four road/street course doubleheader weekends, will be televised by ESPN2.

IndyCar Series Media contributed to this article

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