I know I am late on this, but good on Newman/Haas not to return to the Indy 500. Now more than ever, that race means so little. It's just not worth it. Concentrate on ChampCar and get another title next year. They know it’s not going to be easy, so they had better use their resources wisely. ChampCar is where it's at for them.

I have to say, I am a little surprised that Toyota didn’t honor their word and stick with the IRL for one more season. I know they have very little incentive to stay. But they made a commitment until 2007 and I expected them to follow through. At the very least they could have kept a few underfunded teams afloat. Now it’s a one engine series with Honda controlling everything. Talk about power. I know that Honda wants to work with the IRL to make the series work and possibly grow and eventually prosper. But man oh man, talk about running the show. Having said that, we have seen what one engine manufacturer can do to a series. It will definitely make things competitive over there. Giving all the teams a chance at the checkered flag. The usual suspects will have fun next year over there.

Someone in ChampCar give Thomas Sheckter a ride! Please, I am begging you! The guy is great!

Tracy eyeing a partial nascar schedule in 06 is just fine with me. If he can handle it physically, he’ll be just fine. I think this will actually benefit him in ChampCar. Tracy’s a guy that needs to be racing all the time in order to maintain his skills. A long time off inbetween races is poison for a guy like him. If he can fill his time racing in an extremely competitive series like the Nextel cup (is it Sprint Cup yet?), he’ll keep his skills in tone and look even better in ChampCar. Not to mention the exposure this would give ChampCar should he do well in the Cup.

Congratulations Katherine on your recent F1 test. By the looks of it, you did very well, generated some great press for yourself and appear closer than ever to jumping to the big leagues. Although she has just one year in Atlantic, let’s not forget that she isn’t an 18 year old either. She’s a mature mid-twenty intelligent woman. Is she ready for ChampCar? It may be sooner than we all thought.

Gees, I am already looking forward to the Atlantic driver intro in 2006. We’d better skip the invocation, pole award, honorary starter presentation and all the morning practices if we want to get through the entry list! I love it!