Can the Denver race be more important for AJ Allmendinger and Cristiano Da Matta? 3 DNF’s in a row for AJ. He’s still 5th in the championship, so you could imagine the dent he would have made in the standings if he had finished the races (and probably won in Edmonton at least). There’s nothing better for a young driver to experience the kind of pressure he’s feeling right now. You can’t teach something like this. It has to happen. Its definitely happening to AJ right now. Let’s not forget the fact that RuSport is based in Colorado. As if AJ needed any additional pressure to perform. I know a lot of people talk about how he’s a young driver and that he will get better with time and will be better able to handle the pressure in the future. That may be true. But let’s not forget that he’s in the show now. He’s in the big leagues and when in the bigs, no matter what age, you are expected to perform. The guy can drive the heck out of his car, there’s no question about it. The guy has one of the best careers ahead of him in all of open-wheel racing, there’s no doubt about it. But, in a lot of ways, the future is now for him. I make it a point not to cheer for anybody in particular, at least publicly, at the track. But I would be very happy if he could snag a victory in Denver and get back to his winning ways and make a strong run at the championship.

Da Matta has 4 DNF’s in a row. He must be starting to curse his win in Portland, cause it has been all downhill since and looks to be getting worse. I’m not saying the team is getting worse. I’m talking about Lady luck. You need her on your side to perform well and she has been nowhere near the PKV 21 since Portland. I don’t know the reasons for his downfall. I don’t know if he made a deal with the devil to win Portland. But the fact is, he’s a world champion, he had one of those rare dominant seasons in 2002 and should be a lot higher than where he is. He’s sitting in 10th, thanks in part to his ‘10th’ place finish in San Jose. He needs to turn it around and do it quickly. He’s had some hard luck last couple of years in F1 and expectations were high when he came back to Champ Car in the off-season. He has not lived up to those expectations, there’s no way to dance around that one. Here’s hoping Denver is the start of the turn-around for PKV’s number 21.

Well, I was going to leave it at those two, but let’s talk about the 27 for a second. He’s fallen to third in the rookie standings and 12th in the overall standings. He has 3 DNF’s in a row and 5 for the season. Think about it. Of 8 races, he’s finished 3. It’s simply unacceptable for a driver to put up those numbers, no matter how old he is or whom he/she drives for. Sure, he may be one of the brightest stars in North America with a long and prosperous career ahead of him. But see what I wrote about AJ above. At this point, Andrew needs to bring it home. It doesn’t matter if he finished 12 laps behind in 18th, if he can bring his 27 home clean, then it’s a step in the right direction. Unfortunately for him, Denver isn’t exactly ‘open’ and one small mistakes and Eric Bachelart has to dig even deeper in his pockets.
3 very good drivers with huge expectations this weekend, most of it coming from themselves. As if there weren’t enough good story lines right now in Champ Car, add this one to the mix. It’s going to be a great race this coming weekend!

Taking a quick look at the world of open-wheel racing these days and you can’t help but feel the momentum for both series is on the upswing. After futile battles between the two series in the late 90’s and early 2000’s, the two seem to be competing hard against one another, this time with both series going up and not in the other direction.

When the IRL and CART waged war in the late 90’s, everybody agreed that the real winner was NASCAR and that the casualty was open-wheel racing in America, period. That was probably true at the time. Both series were in a rut. CART with its financial woes, as well as watching all these big time teams defect to the IRL. Not to mention two engine manufacturers. Their survival was unknown. On the other side, they were enjoying poaching all these teams and manufacturers, but saw no real growth in the sport. Despite all the money arriving and big sponsors such as Target and 7-11, the sport was still in a big stink. It seemed as though they couldn’t get out of this hole. Meanwhile NASCAR was enjoying unparallel success.

NASCAR is still king in terms of ‘motorsports’ in North America. To argue that would be ignorant. However, with the work that Kevin Kalkoven and the amigos have put into the Champ Car World Series and the work of a fine young woman driver, a great marketing department and the crown jewel of races, both series have seen a surge in their ratings and attendance. Nobody would argue that all is rosy in the world of open-wheel racing in America. But I would venture to guess that nobody could have predicted this much success for both series 2 years ago.

I bring this subject up because of the fact that Champ Car has surpassed 1 million fans after 8 races and is on pace to average 150 thousand fans a race this year, something that has never happened. Unfortunately I am not privy to the numbers the IRL has, but the fact of the matter is, the Indy 500 had huge ratings this year and DanicaMania continues to invade the United States, whether you like it or not. The IRL has benefited tremendously from her. We should give them credit for also putting on exciting races.

Suddenly, many journalists tune has changed. Maybe unification isn’t the answer. Maybe both series can strive, even if it’s just a niche market, but strive nevertheless. Its nice to see reporters finally look past just unification and concentrate on both Champ Car’s and the IRL’s business model as an independent racing league. But…


I have no real opinions on unification. There are some advantages to it and some disadvantages. I leave the debating to the people. All I will say is that there’s a much better chance of unification if both series are doing well, then if both series are doing poorly. From a business standpoint, teaming together when both series are strong is more likely than when both businesses were really struggling just a few years back.

Jump on the pendulum, its swinging up!

I feel bad for Danica. Dang it, I do. The poor girl is just trying to get through rookie campaign and every single performance she achieves is almost viewed as a make or break in her career. Her performance this past week in Michigan was a 20th place finish on account of an engine failure. Now the talk is whether or not she can actually ever win, how she might be vulnerable and intimidated. How because of her weight, she can’t get traction control devices to work for her. Is the general population losing interest? Has the Danica bubble burst? The biggest favor we can do now is to let her concentrate on driving and doing well in an IRL car. Let’s give her a chance without teams boycotting anything, without the media putting crazy expectations on her. Racer magazine had her on the cover talking about her saving open-wheel racing in America. Let’s put that all aside for the remainder of the season and let’s see what she can do in her car, without analyzing absolutely everything about her. So what if she changes cereal on race day? So what if she uses a different conditioner? Let her race, as well as the other competitors, without the additional baggage.

Although I will say this, because I pride myself on knowing the real thing when I see it. Katherine Legg is fantastic. What people might not realize is just how good this crop of Atlantic drivers really are. This is without a doubt the best field in 5 years. I know that is a bold statement. But I really think if you compare rosters over the past 5 years, all in all this is the best field. And the fact that Katherine is a 3 times winner is so impressive. Now, I am not saying that she is ready for champcar. I am not saying she has the muscles to handle that 750hp beast. That day will come, or at the very least, hopefully will come. But the fact remains, she is top 3 Atlantic drivers in a crop that is very very good. What can we expect from her in the future? Only time will tell, but I very much look forward to seeing it.

I know I’m biased, but leave to the French to have a major airplane crash and have NOBODY die. As a frequent traveler I know which airline to chose from in the future. Seriously though, amazing. What that flight crew did is truly remarkable.

So all in all, San Jose was a very successful weekend. Sure, there’s work to do in the future, but at the end of the day, everybody went home happy. Is there work to do in the future? Of course there is. But these are expected and things will only get better and better. San Jose embraced the Champ cars and vice versa. We’ll all in this together, that’s the great part. Whether its Tony Cotman looking for some reconfiguration, whether its Justin Wilson already thinking about next year and where he can pass, or whether its you, a fan who attended and emails ChampCar about suggested changes for next year. We are all in this together and that is what makes this series so special.
At the very end of the weekend, I was returning my radio when Billy was talking to a few fans. As I walked by, he made a comment on how I was the announcer which lead me to them. These were fans who had attended and we all chatted on how the weekend went. Well, at the end of the conversation, Billy pulled out his card and told these fans that if they had ANY recommendations to email him and let him know. I was very proud to be part of the ChampCar family at that point. The best part is that he will listen to that fans analysis’s. And for those wondering, Billy is a man who can make any change happen!

Sunday morning

Sunday: The Atlantics are going out in a few minutes for their morning warm up. Champ Cars about an hour later. I don’t often get to write Sunday mornings, but the way things are set up here, I have a computer at my disposal. Its going to be a heck of a day, there’s no question about it. The weekend has been fun, but somewhat turbulent, both on and off the track. For the drivers, well literally turbulent on account of the bumps. But, hey, that’s racing and that’s what makes these drivers the toughest drivers in the world.

I am happy for Brian Herta, he’s a good guy and its nice to see him on the pole. I have to admit I am surprised that Danica didn’t qualify better. Rahal has been struggling this year, plain and simple. I heard that Rahal might be returning to the Atlantics next year to field Graham. Interesting. I guess the notion is that Graham has a future in sportscars, so running on some good road courses would be beneficial to his career. But that team has been anything but spectacular this year, although Vitor has had a few highlights. Its too bad, since they are getting so much attention.

Zwolsman has himself another pole and looks good. But he’s started on the pole 4 races in a row, but hasn’t won since Cleveland. So is there a curse of the pole? Or maybe I just haven’t had enough coffee yet. Oops, I gotta go talk some Atlantic! I’ll be back. I’m back. What’s also going to be real interesting is the new crop of drivers joining the ranks this series, all vying to make their mark early in their career. I’m talking about the likes of Phil Giebler, Alan Sciuto and Ryan Spencer-Smith. Of course, with the announcement of the future generation of the Atlantic, I think it’ll be phenomenal and its fantastic that Champ Car truly gets it. They understand the importance of the Atlantic to them and the world of open-wheel racing in America. We want the best Atlantic drivers driving in Champ Cars. We don’t want them to want or go anywhere else after their career. Should they choose a career in sportscars, that’s a different issue. But their main focus should be a ride in Champ Car and the series is going to do everything they can to make sure it happens.

So far, the Trans-Am made it through the first chicane clean, but the touring cars didn’t. So, 1 for 2. It’ll be interesting to see who can be smart and level-headed and who might bonsai their way up (or down) the grid off the opening green flag. The most important thing for Newman/Haas is to get through it clean. But with Paul Tracy behind you, its never easy. I’m looking at the middle of the starting grid and that is where its going to get real interesting. Nelson Philippe has been fast all weekend. Plain and simple, he’s been fast. He’s starting 6th, the highest of his career, so its all new pressure on him. Bjorn Wirdheim started the weekend slow, literally, but really picked it up when it counted and starts 8th. Between them is rookie Timo Glock. How are they going to handle the track? I can’t wait to find out. Team Australia will be using slick strategy as both start 17th and 18th, while Jimmy was able to jump to 10th on the starting grid, while his teammate still struggles, starting in 13th. Look for them to use alternate strategy also. Its an 1:45 hour race. So, its going to be about 105 laps. I don’t mind Champ Car experiencing with the idea of a timed race. Naturally, its nothing new in the world of auto racing. timed races have existed since the beginning of the sport. With the television restraints that Champ Car currently deals with (won’t be long before that changes), a timed race puts it all out there and nobody will be going home feeling cheated. It won’t change the dynamics of the race, since the teams will go on the assumption of about 105 laps. It’s a good move and a necessary move, for the time being.

Enjoy the race everybody!!