So according to the wonderful world of the Internet, Chipster is now talking about a three teams a side borrowing equipment from each other and run a few races together and sort of have a ‘champion’ after its all said and done. I like it. Three of their top teams versus three of our top teams, each run a selection of races and at the end a ‘champion’ is crowned. Forsythe had a good point though, where else will Champ Car want to race besides the Indy500? And will they even want to race? If were talking top teams, we’re talking Rusport, meaning AJ would go and do the 500? I mean, he probably would out of obligation and tradition, but the guy hates ovals. I don’t see AJ being all that enthusiastic about running some IRL events, unless they are St. Petes or their road courses. But there’s no value in racing at their road courses. Decent crowds, but nothing spectacular, hardly worth taking part (at least from a sponsors point of view).

Still, it’s a start at unify the series without having Tony George directly. I think that few would argue that they are willing to see unification if Tony has little or nothing to do with. Chips plan is similar to Mario Andretti’s plan from back in May and yours truly offered an even more similar idea by taking their top drivers and ours and having a ‘battle royale’. Chip’s idea is the same, but instead of making new venues, they simply race at our good races and Champ Car races at theirs. Might get a little distracting, but the attention it might garner from the fans and the media could help boost both series status. Good publicity. Whatever ends up happening, I’d like to be there the next time Tony George hangs out with Chip Ganassi.

George: Hi Chip
Chip: hey Tony
George: can I talk to you for a second?
Chip: shoot
George: could you go one day without trying to sabotage the series that you’ve been employed by for the last few years? Just one day? Maybe if you stopped worrying about them and more about us you wouldn’t wreck every race.

(at this point Tony George taps Chip on the head and runs in the other direction. Chip tries to chase him, but Chip hasn’t run since grade school, so Tony, being the lean machine he is escapes…for the time being)

by the way, as much as Chip likes this idea, if he wants the top three teams from each series, what does his team have to do with this? finishing 14th doesn't qualify you as a top team. sorry chipster, maybe next year.

Speaking of Chip. Ryan Brisco’s name is being tossed in this ‘competition’ for a seat at PKV next year. (see how that segue works? I’m learning kids!) boy do I like this idea. A handful of drivers competing for a seat. Some veterans, some rookies, some surprises. A weekend surrounded by each other. Same hotels, same lunches, same team. Each a professional athlete and respectful of his competitor. Each a hungry driver with something to prove. Someone get a freakin’ film crew on this and film it. I’m no real fan of reality television, but this could be awesome!! If the list of drivers holds true, then PKV will have a fine driver if Jimmy retires (if). I have been surprised to hear that Cristiano wanting back at PKV. I had heard that he wasn’t very happy all year and looked to get out of that seat in 2006. personally, I think he’s made a lot of mistakes and has nobody but himself to blame. Now that he has gotten to know the crew and the car, maybe another year in that seat is what he needs. He won’t have to reorient himself with a new environment. He can simply concentrate on avoiding the same mistakes he made this year.

Congratulations to Sebastien Bourdais for clinching his 2nd Vanderbilt Cup in as many years. The guy is a true superstar of racing and we are fortunate to have him drive for the series. As the series grows, so should Bourdais’ namesake, because he deserves all the media and fan attention he gets. He’s that good and could tear Alsonso a new one if need be. I hope that he continues to gain success at IROC, a great place to get exposed amongst the diehard NASCAR fans. Say what you want, but I really believe that if we want this sport to return to its heyday, we need to embrace and welcome these fans. They have already said no to the IRL. It’s clear that America doesn’t want an all-oval open-wheel series. The evidence shows it and that series doesn’t seem to know which direction they are heading in. Champ Car is on the upswing and it’s the perfect time to show off their superior product to all of America. I am not saying ‘superior’ against any other series per say. I am simply saying a ‘superior’ product, period.

The good news is that there is still a lot on the line for the race in Mexico. If you think the series is over now that the championship has been determined and the Rookie of the Year honors, think again. Drivers are a proud bunch for sure, but they also like the Benjamin’s and I am not talking about Rick. I am talking about performance clauses in their contracts. If a bonus of, let’s say, one hundred grand is what you attain by finishing 5th in the series instead of 6th, think those guys won’t be gunning for it? Its going to be a good show.

Nice punt by Tony Stewart on Jimmy Johnson and what a ride by Jeff Gordon. It amazes me that a driver can accumulate 4 wins in a season (and counting) and not be in contention for the championship. That’s NASCAR for you, all 36 weeks of it. I think on a small track like Martinsville, a little punt like Stewart delivered is called for, especially in the last moments of the race. Its a short track that the worst that could happen is a slight run uptrack and a bump with the wall. I would have liked to see Jimmy get his opportunity to bump him back, but then again, I am cheering for Stewart (between Jimmy and Tony that is), so why would I want that? Nice to see Gordon win the race for the Hendrick family and give them a shout out. We all remember the tragedy that struck there at the Martinsville airport. It will never again be easy for Hendrick and the gang to race at Martinsville. If they can leave the track with a win, then at least its somewhat comforting.

It reminds me a little of when I was with Team Players and after Greg’s death, the entire team hated going back to Fontana for that event. No matter what the results were, celebration was always kept to a minimum out of respect and basically a lot of the team personnel just wanted the race over as soon as possible and, naturally, as safe as possible. Going back to the scene of death is not easy and not very pleasant.

Hey, I know I harp on this, but did you happen to watch the ballgame last night? It was arguably one of the better games of all time and likely a top candidate amongst World Series games. Talk about drama, talk about action, talk about tension. I always liked Fox’s tagline for the baseball playoffs, something along the lines of “you can’t script October” or some spoof at Reality television. Regardless, last night’s drama couldn’t have been written as accurately as what happened on the field. Simply amazing. Tune in on Tuesday, cause this series is just getting warmed up.

race quotes from Surfer's

Sebastien Bourdais #1 McDonald’s Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone: “Well, I guess it didn't really start the way it was supposed to. I guess we didn't understand each other. We were supposed to kick off things really early with Oriol. By the pass, we were still idling in second gear. I was getting a little worried. I saw everybody bunching up behind us. I thought, "Trouble coming." Sure enough, when we got to the braking point, I was a little ahead, but not by much, everybody was all over us. What happened wasn't supposed to happen. I was behind PT, who came out of nowhere, jumping up and down in the chicane. I was like, "Yeah, that's just great." After that, I really had to win this race because it would have been terrible if PT had won the race for Oriol. So I was giving it all, even more than in regular conditions. I was able to stick with him. I nearly lost the car in the braking over the bump in turn three. I nearly lost it. I lost like two seconds in this lap. After I had to keep on saving fuel to try and go a lap further and still catch him because we were still too far away. It was like a tough mission, but I still managed to get back in touch with him. We adjusted the car on the first stop, too much understeer. From there on, the race really turned around because we went one lap further with the changes. The car was responding really well, and I was just like a flying lap every lap. I did something like six laps like that before pitting. We pulled out a very nice speed and took the fastest lap of the race with it, which was something like 5 or 6/10ths faster than the qualifying lap. I was very happy with that, even more happy when I saw that we were going to stay in front because AJ didn't go a lap further either. He probably short fueled the same as us in the first stop. After that, it was a pretty straightforward deal. We proved we had the quicker car. I was just taking it easy. It was a cruise to the finish. It was overall a very good day for Newman/Haas Racing and my McDonald’s team. “

AJ Allmendinger #10 Intel Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone: “RuSPORT gave me a great car today. We struggled a bit early in the weekend. I mean, can't say enough about my team. They just keep fighting to improve the car. You know, the car during the race was absolutely amazing. We had to calculate the first stint on fuel. We had a little problem in warm-up calculating it. We had to be conservative. I had to save a lot of fuel on the first stint. After that, it was just trying to chase down Sebastien. Unfortunately, you know, all these podium finishes, I got about one guy that's got a real quick car during the race. You know, I mean, it looks like from the lap times we had everybody else covered, but I was just trying to hang on to him. After the second pit stop, he had about 10 seconds on me. I just kind of took it easy. At the end, pushed a little bit just to see what car still had. But I'm pleased to be on the podium here. Didn't expect it. I think everybody in the series talks about what a feeling it is to be on the podium in Surfers Paradise. Glad I get to enjoy it.”

Jimmy Vasser #12 Gulfstream/PKV Racing Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone: “It was a great finish for the Gulfsteam/PKV Racing team. It is always good to finish on the podium and get some points, but we are in a tight race with Allmendinger (A. J.) and Dominguez (Mario) for fifth in the championship, so it looks like it is going to come down to the final race in Mexico City. I think this is my third podium in 14 tries at Surfers Paradise and it is always a great place to get that trophy. I just want to give all the credit to the PKV Racing team. They have worked very hard this season and we are starting to reap the benefits of all that hard work. I am also very happy for Gulfstream, Bell Micro and everyone involved with PKV Racing.”

Alex Tagliani #15 Aussie Vineyards Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone: “What can I say? I feel really sorry for Will. He had held me up a couple of times through the quick chicane. I used a bit of push to pass between turns two and three to get to him, but then I underestimated here he was going to brake. I did not study him enough on the previous laps, it was my mistake and I feel sorry for the team. The guys encouraged me to put my head down after the incident and we went on from there. I am not sure if we would have been on the podium, but we certainly would have been close without the last stop for five seconds fuel. I think the team has done an outstanding job to get three cars together for this race in a short space of time and need to be congratulated. Unfortunately we could not reward them appropriately. The Australian fans have been fantastic this week and this team is something all Aussies can be proud of.”

Oriol Servia #2 PacifiCare Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone: “To be taken out at the start ws not what we wanted. Especially here because I think we had a car that could fight for the win. I had good fun and I hope I did a good job for the fans after basically starting last and finishing fifth. I had to work real hard for it; I had a good time. When you think you can win, anything else feels like not enough but I’m happy to have almost locked up second place for the PacifiCare team in the championship. A one-two finish in the championship is great especially since it would only be the second time for the team.”

Timo Glock #8 DHL Global Mail Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone: “The DHL Global Mail car was good today during the race. We were still struggling with wheel spin, like we had been all weekend, but other than that it was a top-five car. I made a mistake after the restart as I headed into Turn Four, locking my brakes up and going wide into the turn, which allowed three cars to get around me and I lost my top-five position. The Rocketsports team did a great job today, we had two great pit stops and I thank them for that. That mistake during the restart cost us a top-five finish today, but we will take 6th. Most importantly, today I earned enough points to wrap up the Roshfrans Rookie-of-the-Year award and that is a great accomplishment, considering there was some tough rookies out there this season to compete against. I am happy that I can bring this award to the team, and hope to finish the season up on the podium in Mexico City.”

Marcus Marshall #5 Aussie Vineyards Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone: “It is funny how quickly things can change,” said Marshall. We were traveling pretty well after getting a good start and then I just clipped the tires on the back chicane and it loosened my front wing. It was not making a lot of difference to the car, but if it had come off we could have been in a whole lot of trouble. After stop to replace it we just go into a groove and cruised home. I am glad the car is still in one piece and that the guys can at least take a deep breath after our next race in Mexico. I have to thank everyone who has supported us this week and throughout the year, it has been amazing.”

Michael McDowell #31 Commercial Defeasance Rocketsports Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone: “Well it was a tough start and a bad break. (Ronnie) Bremer hit the tires in the chicanes and they were in my way. There was nothing I could do in time and I hit them, causing my whole front wing to fall off. We had to pit to get a new front wing, so that threw us off sequence for the race. The Commercial Defeasance car was not bad this afternoon, but we were experiencing brake malfunctions. I was catching (Marcus) Marshall towards the end, so we had the speed in the car, but that is when I lost the brakes all together. Overall, it was a great debut and I am so happy we finished. Now I look forward to improving our results in Mexico City.”

Rodolfo Lavin #55 HVM Inc. Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone: “We worked really hard all weekend and at times we were running really well. At the end I made contact with Nelson while trying to pass him. I struggled throughout the race, I just couldn’t go any quicker than a 1:35 sec. lap and it was frustrating. I am very disappointed, the indications from the beginning of the weekend were that we were going to have some success but at the end we obviously didn’t get the result we were expecting. I am really looking forward to returning home and racing in front of my great supporters in Mexico City.”

Will Power #25 Aussie Vineyards Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone: “I don’t really know what happened, all I know is that I copped a nasty bump from behind. I was going to let Alex through down the back straight if he was close enough to me, but I never got the chance. I don’t know whether he had a brake or other problem or just made a mistake and we all know mistakes happen. Overall I was pretty pleased with the way things were going, but unfortunately it did not end how I wanted it to. I have to thank everyone who made this possible and look forward to coming back next year with a full season under my belt with Team Australia.”

Fabrizio del Monte #4 HVM Inc. Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone: “We found a lot of speed this morning and had a good warm-up session; I was really looking forward to the race. This weekend has been a great learning experience for me as it was just my second Champ Car race and of course my Champ Car race in Australia and with my new team CTE-HVM Racing. I was certainly hoping to bring home a better result and I am disappointed but I will take everything I learned this weekend and apply it in two weeks time in Mexico City. Thanks to my team for their great efforts this weekend.”

Cristiano Da Matta #21 Bell Micro/PKV Racing Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone: “Going into the first chicane Sebastien (Bourdais) and Oriol (Servia) started on the brakes. I just couldn’t slow down quick enough. I was to close and should have given myself more space, but I wanted to beat Dominguez (Mario) to the chicane. It was a mistake. I feel bad for the Bell Micro/PKV Racing crew. They worked very hard to give me a good car and we missed an opportunity to score some valuable points. My goal now is to finish off the season with a very good performance in Mexico City.”