Well, one week from today, the ontrack orientation takes place for all drivers. The 2006 season will officially begin in one week. If reading that line doesn’t give you mild goosebumps, well, why are you reading this blog??

DaMatta at Dale Coyne! That shocked a lot of people when that announcement came out. Like many, the most shocking part for me was that we didn’t have to wait until Friday’s practice session to see who is driving! You have to respect someone like Cristiano, willing to go to DCR after his stints in F1 and with Newman/Haas. He’s gone from the biggest to the smallest. But that’s what is going to make this season even better! Remember how Ronnie handled the #19 last year? Now add DaMatta’s experience to that and you have a car that can hover around the top 5 any given race weekend. Also, like most people, I want to see Dale win a race. His team is such a staple in the ChampCar World Series and, whether its obvious or not, Mr. Coyne has probably saved the series on a number of occasions over the last few years. He continues to field teams in the series, even when it was at its most struggling, around 2003, you could count on DCR having 2 cars, despite their tiny budget. Let’s just say that Coyne has earned his first win and I hope it happens this year.

The rest of the field is filling up nicely. Should be some good competition this year. Lots of attention will be given to Mrs. Legge, who I’m sure will handle herself fabulously. I suspect though, that in the end, we will see something similar to what we saw in the Atlantics in 2005. She’ll get all the attention, but I think Mr. Chuck Swolsman will win the ROY. I know his outfit is small, but he’s a very quick learner and has a virtue that few drivers have: patience. He’ll go under the radar until the end of the race and suddenly he’ll be top 5 or better. Qualifying will be his biggest hurdle. If he can qualify well, I look for him to be fighting for a podium. If he qualifies back of the pack or midpack, I look for him to pull a Jourdain and steadily climb the ladder as the race goes on and finish much higher than he probably should have.

Miss Legge is a lot more aggressive, a lot more of a run and gun. We saw it last year, so why should it be any different this year? Somehow I doubt she’s intimidated by the chromehorn. In fact, I bet she dishes out pretty good herself. Its what’s going to make her the most fun to watch, her daredevil-like instincts combined with her little experience. She’s likely going to take chances this year that shouldn’t be taken. For the most part, it worked last year(Long Beach, Edmonton). But sometimes, it certainly didn’t (Cleveland anyone?).

Dan Clarke is an interesting case, because he came out of nowhere (seemingly) to get that spot on CTE racing. Evidently he didn’t do particularly well during his test. The diehard fans will give him a hard time unless he earns his seat. A couple of good results early would silence the critics and show everybody he belongs. HVM is a good, quality seat. It’s a great opportunity for the young Brit. But he’s got to be cautious out of the gates. He can’t do a run and gun offence off the bat. Along with the fans, he’s also got to earn the other driver’s respect and bumping into everybody, making banzai moves lap 5 into the Grand Prix of Long Beach is not the way to do it. He needs to hang out with his crew, his teammate, his bosses, keep a low profile and do his job and go home happy.

As for Mr. Antonio Pizzonia, I’ll say this. That car (#8) has the potential. It’s a proven machine. However, the team is whom I question. I hope they got their act together in the off-season and will perform better as a unit. I hope Paul Gentilozzi laid down the law and the team can blossom together. If they do, watch out for Pizzonia!

one more thing: don't be surprised if Danica 'wins' on Sunday in St. Petes. the IRL needs any sort of good publicity right now and they are fully aware that Legge is starting the week after in ChampCar. They need to have the first woman win, so Danicamania can continue and not be ovwershadowed by Katherine's army. you heard it here first.

ChampCar baby! ChampCar for life!

Well, as we continue to mourn the death of our friend and as time continues to pass, the inevitable questions arise and have been making their way through the talk show and sport show circuit. Was he ready? Was there anything that could have been done to prevent it? Should the race have been cancelled?

Its easy to disassociate ourselves with the death itself by asking questions about its surroundings. We always look back and try and figure out what could have been done or should have been done. Regardless of all the hindsight’s, it changes very little in the nature of our sport.

Well, to a certain extent. Sometimes changes are done after these incidents. NASCAR made a lot of rule changes following the death of #3. I think its safe to say that IRL won’t do anything here. They haven’t before, why would they now? The safest thing the IRL could do is park its cars permanently. Indy Cars aren’t meant to go on those tracks at those speeds. And yes, you can say that Champ Cars used to run on those tracks at well. But there is a difference between running 5 ovals a year as opposed to 15. With all your races on ovals, you just continue to tempt fate. With only 5, at least you decrease the odds of horrific accidents. Decrease them, but, unfortunately we all know they happen.

Which leads me to the question that has marked me the most since the death. The question of “should the race have gone on”. This is when the debate gets heated because you can make a case for both sides. Yes, the race should have gone on. It’s a once a year event for the spectators, its what Paul would have wanted, it’s a dangerous sport, they know the risk and the show must go on.

Personally, I think the race should have been cancelled. I think its wrong to run a race so soon after one of the drivers passes on. Had his ultimate state not been determined by race time, I would have been okay with the race running. But everybody knew he had passed away. And despite it being part of the sport, the fact is, it happens so rarely that we should put things on hold when such a tragedy happens. The excuse that it’s a dangerous sport doesn’t cut it with me. Yes, it is a dangerous sport and death has been part of it since the beginning. But death is also part of life and we stop and mourn and put things on hold when someone close to us passes away. Postponing the race until Monday or a later day would certainly complicated things for the IRL, for the fans and for the teams. But guess what? Deal with it. A tragic, and fortunately, a rare occurrence happened on Sunday and the show did NOT need to go on.
It’s the fact that these deaths don’t happen so often anymore which makes them all the more significant.

ABC's IRL coverage is the devil....

I have never seen anything like this in my life. I am talking about post race comments from the ABC crew. I am currently watching it, they just went to commercial after talking to Dan. Thank god Dan Wheldon has the class and the integrity to point out that this day in IndyCar is a tragedy and not an exciting race that Jamie Little or whatever the hell her name is, is intent on asking him about. Is it really important at this point to point out that this is the 9th closest IRL finish ever? Does Jamie really think that Dan is going to be excited about it? that he's going to want to celebrate and be excited about winning the first race of the 2006 season?

I know very little details right now about the tragedy that happened to Paul Dana. I don't want to get into it right now because I am shocked, hurt, and mostly angry. I will write more about it down the road. I can't bring myself to writing anything right now because I am too angry.
What I do know is that running this race today demonstrates what the IRL is all about:

hang on: quote "Castroneves must be heart broken about finishing 2nd in his adopted home race" is what the announcner just said before going to him for an interview. unbelievable. Must be heartbroken????

back to what I was saying: running the race today is what the IRL is all about, hypocrisy. the bottom line continues to be the most important thing right now for Tony and his minions. And while the bottom line is the nature of any business, ethics should also be a priority and today, the IRL demonstrated they have absolutely no ethics.
This isn't about IRL bashing. This isn't about a guy who works for champcar trying to point out the competitions mistakes and faults. This is about a race fan who sees the racers behind the helmets. Who sees the families behind the teams.
At least Rahal had the decency of pulling out. At least Wheldon had the classiness to downplay his achievements today and point out what is important.
I don't know that I will soon forget Jamie Little's face and wide smile and excitement as Dan stepped out of the car and she was so gunho on talking to Dan about that last lap! I have lost all respect for her and if its her bosse's fault, she should have had the courage to at least open the 'interview' asking about Dana.
yes, Dana was a rookie and a nobody in this sport. Yes, its not something that happens too often (fortunately) these days in any racing league in America. But that doesn't change a thing. he was a member, a family member of the IRL and Team Rahal.
RIP Paul Dana