Just finished taping Off the Record with Sebastian Bourdais, Alex Tagliani and a very charming Tara Macleod. We talked about Danica, we talked about Champ Car’s popularity, we talked about performance enhancing drugs in sports. It was really fun and the three of them were great. I tell you, Bourdais isn’t shy and loves to chat. He spoke the most in the show. Tagliani also gave great views. I won’t spoil what they both said, but they truly spoke from the heart and that’s the kind of thing you like to see. As for yours truly, well I knew my role. I didn’t pipe up too much, cause it wasn’t about me, but I definitely had a good time. The best part was during the commercial breaks, where things really got candid. Naturally that part was ‘off the record’ so I shouldn’t repeat too much. Although at the end when explaining Danica at the Indy500, it was like lighting a match under Bourdais, cause he went on and didn’t mince words! Good for him!

The resentment that is brewing in the IRL over the attention that Danica is receiving is getting publicly noticeable, especially following Kanaan’s win in Kansas when he basically opened with “you guys came to see Danica. Sorry” (not an exact quote there). Wow. An obviously overjoyed Kanaan starts off by bashing the media and the public before getting into his ‘we had a great car speech’. Then there are those ‘Danica who?’ t-shirts that are affectionately worn by a few members of the IRL squad. It’s all in good fun, no doubt. But behind every ‘joke’ there’s a certain amount of truth to it and it’s getting obvious the other drivers are frustrated by her attention.

You can tell the drivers all day that “its good exposure for the sport” and “they come to see her and then stick around for the rest of the field” as much as you want. The drivers will even repeat that mantra when asked by all the journalists about Miss Patrick. But they know better. They know that they come for her, stay for her and cheer for her. Any new fan that has arrived after the Indy500 is a Danica fan. There’s no question about it. Case in point: before Indy and the usual barrage of IRL PR, you seldom heard about Danica in the mainstream media. Nobody was really paying attention to her or the IRL in general. Then came the Danica-Media blitz and suddenly ticket sales and rating are higher than last years. You could spin this all you want, but the fact is, they are there to see her. And when she’s got the pole position, yet falls back to 8th before completing the first lap, the people won’t stick around much longer. When they see her in 16th place, the people won’t stick around much longer.

And its not that the drivers are upset with Danica. She’s essentially an innocent (I’ll be it pro-active ) member here. No, they resent the IRL for putting all their eggs in one basket. The top drivers in the IRL are worthy of twice the amount of press that she’s gotten. But the officials at the top knew that it took a pretty girl to get the media’s attention, so they have basically shun the other drivers for her.

The sad part is that the IRL is producing great racing this year. Very close finishes and a line-up that is likely its strongest in years. But nobody outside the racing world cares about that. People who watched ‘entertainment tonight’ or whatever chat shows she did don’t care that Wheldon is running away with the championship thanks to fantastic results. They don’t care that Sheckter is coming on very strong and is finally starting to look a little like his championship father. All they want is Danica and more Danica. Again, this is good short term exposure for the IRL, but it’s frustrating to the other drivers and for Danica who continues to be ‘below expectations’ even though she’s just a rookie. But I digress.


Paul Tracy coming in to Toronto as the leader of the Champ Car World Series! What an absolutely brilliant scenarios. I have to admit, following Long Beach, I feared that Seabass would run away with the championship. I literally thought he could win every race. But, it has not been the case at all and in fact, all expectations and predictions before the season started are coming true. They said the competition was the deepest its been years. Check. They said that PKV would compete for the championship. Check. Rusport would establish itself as one of the top teams. Check. We’d see quality runs out of the talented rookies. Check. We’ve got the recipe of a great season going!

This is all great for the series. Its ultra competitive and each victory earned are by results of hard-fought battles. Thus, making them extra special. I firmly believe that should Paul Tracy win at home this weekend, this win would eclipse his win in 2003. I know he’s proclaimed it to be the biggest win of his career. But with the series being what it is this year, I think the thrill from West Hill would have a new career highlight.
FYI: Bronte Tagliani will be on Wednesday’s Off the Record, while Alex, Bourdais, Tara Mcleod (CASCAR driver) and myself will be on Thursday. Hmm, wonder if the Danica question will come up? We’re set to be on, but with the looming NHL agreement, we could very well be bumped on account of TSN’s inevitable marathon coverage. I guess I shouldn’t make fun of TSN on the eve of my appearance on their network. Go tsn!

I have to give the IRL drivers at the front a lot of credit following this week’s race in Kansas City. Consistently going at those speeds side by side, being able to concentrate during long periods of green flag and not make contact with your opponents is a remarkable feat. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised, this is what they do, after all. They are bread for these ovals and the guys up front are used to one another and the element of trust is there. They put on a good show, with Kanaan taking the checkered with his teammate Dan Wheldon right behind him. There’s little doubt that Vitor is the best driver of Rahal racing, even if he’ll never get 1/3rd of the attention that Danica and Buddy get. But, he keeps being quiet and let his driving do the talking and he’ll turn some heads, if he hasn’t already. Another fine Brazilian driver.

Technically, Danica should get the pole every race. With 50 pounds less than everybody, in a one lap qualifying session, it’s hers to lose every time. Don’t give me the ‘she’s a rookie’ excuse, because she has plenty of practice time during a weekend to find the right line (there’s only two!) and her team to find the right set up. Sure, it isn’t going to happen every race, but those 1.5 mile tracks or anything larger with horsepower being a factor, they are all hers to lose. Now, during the race, she’s starting to show that she’s a rookie. Nothing wrong with that. Well, nothing wrong, if the IRL didn’t place way too much pressure on her. Had they built her up properly (some attention this May. Not the blitz they put on), it could have been a long term project. But, in what looked like a desperate attempt at getting attention, they pushed and pushed and pushed her so she appeared on every show and magazine cover. Now, if she doesn’t win, she’s the Anakornikova of racing. If she doesn’t capture a win this season, all the attention will fade out. America loves their sweethearts and darlings, until the next one comes by and replaces the current ‘America’s darling’. She can hold that position for only so long.
Personally, I have enjoyed watching the media attention fade somewhat, simply so she can go racing without too many expectations. You can pound that ‘she’s a rookie’ phrase all you want, but it ain’t going fly in North America. They want her to win and they want her to win now. Now with a little more time for her to concentrate on racing, maybe she can start posting good results. I don’t want to be critical, but hovering around the top 10 every race isn’t exactly stellar. Especially considering the advantages she has. How many drivers in that series would like to have the equipment and team she has? We know Bobby loves her and wouldn’t dare replace her simply on performance, so her job is safe. That’s something else that nobody has as much as her, job security. She is a rookie, still learning the tracks, so expecting a top 3 every race is a little much. But, rookie or not, given what she has, she should be contending for top 5’s at every race.

Nice to see Jr. back in the ‘chase’ after this Saturday’s Pepsi 400. You know he wanted to make the move, but the thought better. He thought big picture and that’s a very hard a thing to do for a driver in the heat of the moment. But it’s a long season and he knows that a good solid result will help his confidence and the team’s confidence. Plus, let’s not kid ourselves, that race was Tony Stewarts!!! Man oh man, did he put on a great drive. A new record for laps lead. Its something you seldom see in NASCAR, given the lengths of their races and the multiple pit stops. Two in a row for Tony and, suddenly, there’s a new racing team in town and their name is not Hendrick or Roush.
2 and a half hour delay and not ONE person left the grandstand. 1:45am finish and not ONE person had left the Daytona speedway. Truly amazing. If you have any doubts as to the legitimacy of the popularity of NASCAR, all you had to do was tune in for that one. A more loyal fanbase could not be found. You’ve got to give the fans a lot of credit for sticking around. Then again, it was a Saturday night at the track and some of us can’t think of a better way to spend a weekend night. Some of us are single too.

For you canucks, I believe that myself, Tagliani and Bourdais will be on TSN’s Off the Record this Wednesday. I also think that Bronte Tagliani will be on Thursday’s show, but at this time I don’t know who else in the ‘racing’ world will be on that day. Should be fun.