monterrey

Fundidora park baby!

Here’s the good news. For the next 6 months we can put aside any negative aspects brought upon us from the dreary waiting period. We can put aside all the stories of re-unification to rest. The wait is over my friends. Now the season kicks it up a notch and we go racing! No more 6 week break! No more reporters with deadlines forced to write ‘news’ stories. Now its time to get it on!

Alex Tagliani had an impressive debut with Team Australia and could surprise many this weekend. He’s the kind of driver that has immense talent, but according to his career, lady luck has seemed to guide his results. There have been instances where he was the run away winner of the race before having something go wrong with the car. Then there was his win last year in Elkhart lake, this time the lady reversed her curse on him and brought him some good fortune. Fundidora park is his kind of track. If the lady is on his side, look for him to finish very strong this weekend. He made a very impressive start with Johnson Controls two years ago in Monterrey, I’m sure he’d like to repeat that for his new team.

Justin Wilson is a driver I will be keeping my eye out all season, no matter where he starts in the race. The guy has got ‘it’ and in terms of the challengers to Bourdais this year, I have to put him in the top 5. Last year he ran into some misfortunes and admittedly, made some rookie mistakes. This year with a new outfit, along with a teammate that will light a fire under his pedal, I expect Wilson to find himself on the podium quite a few times. And it could all start this weekend.

Paul Tracy demonstrated in Long Beach that he still has the passion to compete and would like nothing more than to get his crown back. Would he be more likely to retire as defending champ? I would imagine so. But again, we aren’t here to speculate like so many people did in the 6 week lull. Tracy, and perhaps more importantly, his team have gotten used to not having the ‘players’ budget and are making due with what they have. That was the biggest hump for them in 2004 I believe, and frankly, I think that PT winning the first race that year was ultimately a bad thing for the team. Now there’s no room for complacency and everybody knows it. If this does turn out to be PT’s swan season, then it’ll just be more motivation for him to get that cup. Not that a guy like PT needs much more motivation anyway.

Tune in all week, I’ll continue to evaluate the upcoming race and drivers!

Champ Car baby! Champ Car for life!