Hey guys,

My friends at Textamerica just let me know that they've launched a site, Missing Katrina, to allow victims of Hurricane Katrina to post photos to try to find missing friends/family.


If you have a website or blog, please take a few minutes to post a link to Missing Katrina.

"This site is here to help you try and find your missing friends and relatives from hurricane Katrina. You can post their pictures here by uploading them directly from your PC. You may also enter details like your phone number and email address."

They've also set up a toll-free number if you need help uploading photos and posting information - 1-800-774-0512

Well, its official, Timo’s my boy. After that race in Montreal, he officially became my boy! I don’t know that I was necessarily cheering for him at the end, but I wanted the kind of ending that only Champ Car could provide, and, well we got it. Even if it was somewhat controversial, it was a pretty darn good ending. I heard Oriol say to Timo on the podium something to the effect of “sorry, I had to pass you, I had no choice, I was going to pass you to matter what” to which Timo nodded and continued talking forever on the podium (inside joke if you were at the event). The fact that the officials warned him the first time made all the difference and proved to be the right call. I still think Timo had nowhere to go and the consequences would have been worse had he NOT moved out of the way. You got to give props to Oriol for being aggressive, something that some people thought he lacked. Had he settled for second place, then that reputation would have grown. Instead, he now joins the ranks of true road racers willing to do what it takes to win. 2nd is not an option anymore for Oriol.

After that pitstop by Paul Tracy, I hope my buddy Neil is doing alright. I spoke with him after the race and I initially didn’t realize he was the one that Tracy hit in the pits. He was fine, of course and joked about all the airtime he was going to get that night on television. He wasn’t kidding.

The Champ Cars this year have a wonderful way of making their races very exciting, be it at the end or the very beginning. This one was no exception. Talk about good passing and good battles taking place all over the track all race long. Yes, for a little bit there, it seemed like we would be running nothing but green flag and had the making of a bit of a parade, but come on, this is the Champ Car World Series, you didn’t think it would finish this way, did you?

Good for Antoine Bessette who was absolutely speechless after the race. He was so happy and excited and emotional, it was nice to see. I shook his hand on the podium and with a spark in his eye and a child-like enthusiasms, he said “I did it in Montreal!”. I can’t imagine what that feeling must be like. Racing isn’t like any other sport. First of all, you’re very lucky if you have a big league race in your hometown. Second of all, you are only going there once a year, so you have ONE opportunity before having to wait 361 days to try again. To be able to put it all together and make it happen in front of your home crowd is simply amazing. Good for him.

No updates for a week??! What kind of blog is that?? Well, I apologize for the lack of updates and though the story as to why I haven’t is interesting, I will simply apologize again and continue writing about the topic at hand. But it is interesting…

So….93 thousand, down from 133 last year and 175 in 2002. Yet…the series is on a huge upswing, there continues to be three Canadian drivers, including the up and comer or the ‘new’ star of Quebec, a Frenchman leads the standings and we’re coming off four events at over 140 thousand people. Doesn’t make much sense does it?? When I first walked into my ‘office’ over the weekend in Montreal, an office which overlooks the pits and the start/finish, the first thing I noticed were the lack of grandstands on the front straight. I knew there was triple that in the years past. I knew all those grandstands had been full on raceday. I knew something didn’t sit right. I couldn’t believe for a minute that it was because they couldn’t sell those tickets. Even a half-full grandstand is better than nothing.

By now everybody knows the reason, or at least the potential reason. The people in charge of the Montreal track want NASCAR and will do what they can to not renew ChampCars contract in 2007. Representatives from NASCAR were at the event this weekend and I am told they even got a pacecar ride. NASCAR wants to race in Canada and there is no easier place to do it then Montreal. Apparently Montreal wants NASCAR more than it wants a series with three Canadians, a proven record at the circuit Gilles Villeneuve and a heck of a fan base in Quebec. Not to mention a series with a history of launching some of the biggest stars ever in Quebec.

I don’t blame NASCAR one bit in all of this. They have been vocal about the fact that they want to race in Canada and that the circuit Gilles Villeneuve is a choice for them. Why not? They can literally flick the switch at the track and go racing. But NASCAR hasn’t said they want to steal an event away from ChampCar, they haven’t been derogatory towards our series and that event. They simply want to race there.

My personal feelings about all this is that this series is doing too well, its too strong, and has too many potential markets to be treated this way. Having said that, before checking out of Montreal, a race in the north-east is necessary (hello Philly!). But once we do get a race secured in the area, well then it becomes Montreal’s loss.

The circuit Gilles Villeneuve isn’t made for Champ Cars anyway. I am not talking about the actual track. I will get to that in a second. I am talking about the whole island. The paddock is tiny and it takes a ridiculously long time to get there. Access to anything like stands takes forever to get too and the lack of a pitlane makes it impossible for a certain jackass to film any type of ‘feature’. Okay, maybe that last one isn’t important, but the others are. Walking 6 miles from your seat to the paddock shouldn’t happen. But what do you expect? Its built for Formula One where you go to your seat and shut up. A fan friendly and accessible series like the Champ Car World Series needs a venue where everything is within short walking distance and the attractions are never more than a few feet away, be it the track or anything on the outside. Although Molson does have a stage In Montreal and there ARE many activities, getting from one to the other takes several hours.

Having said all that, the track itself is perfectly suited for the current generation of ChampCars, more so then the Formula One cars and more so than stockcars and Indy Cars. Now, the track is fast with long corners, blind corners, a great hairpin…I mean the track is great, that’s the bottom line. But aside from the very first moment of the F1 race where the cars are still relatively close together, it quickly becomes a parade. I know there have been ‘moments’ in the past, but that’s going to happen when you’ve been at one place for so many years. You’re bound to find a few needles in the haystack.

Stock cars still haven’t found a great formula for road racing yet. That’s why there have only been two on the schedule for so many years. It’s not particularly exciting and what ‘saves’ them is the amount of cars on the track. But let’s face it, those stockcars are meant for the ovals. I don’t know that too many people would argue with that. And we saw what happened at Infineon with the IndyCars. It’s just not that exciting. Without ‘power to pass’ and with traction control, it just makes it too easy for some of those machines.

All in all, the big losers will be the fans in Montreal. I know there are many stockcar fans in Montreal and I have no doubt that they will come out in droves to the circuit (like they would have come out for Champ Cars, had the grandstands been built. It’s a city that loves racing and supports it!). But for city that knows the intricacies of a good quality race, they are going to be disappointed in the product.

You couldn’t ask for a better finish to the Molson Indy Montreal and its something we have seen in the past and will (hopefully) continue to see at the circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
I’ll leave it at that for today and talk about the race tomorrow.