Friday

well, the testing is (finally) done. 6 hours and only two incidents, that's not too bad. At this point, I don't know the status of Nelson. I know he was fine, but was taken to hospital. I heard maybe something like a broken collar bone, but that is nothing more than paddock talk, so I won't believe anything until I hear it straight from the horse's mouth. Nelson was running well too, which is a shame.
But, these times from today mean nothing. Yes, Bourdais was fastest, but it means nothing come race time, especially for 225 laps. the Pole is one thing, but its a marathon, not a sprint. Nevertheless, it would be good for Bourdais' confidence to capture the pole. it seems odd to say that he needs a confidence, but this is a track that he has never finished in the top 5, the only track on the ChampCar circuit where this has happened.
I still like AJ for this race. I think he's got this track figured out (go left!), but seriously, has had success here in his short career. A lot of people want AJ to capture his first win and capture it soon. this could be the weekend...
I interviewed Jimmy Vasser today, a quasi-serious 5 minute with the legend. I will be posting it any time now, probably later tonight on youtube, so check it out. If your reading this from myspace, I tried to put my videos on myspace, but it didn't work, so I gave up. go to youtube.com and do a search for EricGag. My vids should pop up, including OHATT from Houston and the others.
I have seen Kevin Kalkoven battle some powerful people and come out on top. I have never seen this man lose a battle. Now, it appears he's fighting the 800 pound gorilla that is NASCAR and their attempt to put a kibosh on a proposed street race in Phoenix. Its tough to determine the outcome when you battle NASCAR and their limitless budget and their powerful allies. Having said that, the merit for their attempted blockage doesn't seem to have much pull to it and even if they spend billions, it still seems that what they are proposing (noise reduction) is weak. I suspect that ChampCar and the city of Phoenix will get what they want and we shall be racing in Phoenix real soon.
speaking of KK, are they going to announce a merger any time soon? I ask this as a fan, as someone who reads the papers and the internet websites. I heard, like you probably did, that something was to be announced during the Indy 500 weekend. Nothing was. So, does that mean that nothing is going to be announced? or are they waiting for another date to make it official? or is nothing going on at all? Frankly, here's what I think they should do: If they are as close to an agreement as we all suspect they are, they should both publicly sign a letter of intent, together during a press conference. Then, they go in the back and iron out the details. By going public, you would create a deadline, a date where decisions would have to be met. If you plan on ironing everything out before going public, you risk taking too long. If, on the other hand, nothing is going to merge and all these rumors are fruitless, then that should also be announced. Then both sides would go back to focusing on their own series. Still, I suspect something will be announced soon. Now that May is over and the Indy 500 hype has faded, I think something will be announced soon.
Now, with this possibility, one of the questions that must be addressed is where do they race next year. What gets left out of the schedule? both have contracts with certain venues and whatnot. Here's what I propose: run 'em all. That's right, for 2007 (or the first year of merger) run as many races as humanly possible. Flood the market. Now, if you are thinking that its too many races or that too many dates would conflict, I argue that it wouldn't be that bad. Sure, SOME dates would be switched around and some venues would be dropped (Montreal, for example), but not that many. In fact, with only one series, cities wouldn't necessarily mind changing the dates of their events (especially the ovals) knowing the product would be that much more popular anyway. What a unified series would need is to be in USA Today at absolutely every opportunity and the best way to accomplish this is by running as many races as possible! If you look at both schedules, you'll quickly find that one 28-30 race schedule for 2007 would be feasible. You can wean some out in 08 and so forth, but you need to hit it huge your first year!
what about teams? who is in? who is out? well, one thing: a team must have a minimum of two cars and a maximum of two cars. None of this 8 car teams, none of this 1 car-one-offs. steady would be the key. Sure, some drivers would be left out. but that's the nature of the game and always has.
what I am going to propose next is likely to stir up the most controversy and be the least popular. the Engine manufacturer. for the 2007 (or whenever we first merge) season, give it to Honda. With KK and Forsythe owning Cosworth, it wouldn't be a huge loss for them. Honda wants competition and would get it, the following year when other manufacturers are invited to play.
Here's the biggest reason why Honda should be the manufacturer: competition. For 10 years now, the series have been split into two. For 10 years they have had some great drivers and ChampCar has had some great drivers. For 10 years both series have tackled some of the best road, street and oval circuits in the world. Now its time to crown a champion, once and for all! that would be your tagline, your promotional tool, your marketing campaign. One open-wheel Champion in America for the first time in 10 years! Same Engines, same Chassis, same tires, one champion!
having said all that about Honda, if they didn't want to play, then have Cosworth supply the engines and run the same campaign with Ford. The following year they could invite others...
just my two cents.

Can you believe Carpentier turned down the Rocketsports ride for Montreal? Is this true? oh Patrick! Need we remind you that this team was on the podium last year in Montreal?? Like PT told me tonight, maybe he just doesn't feel like racing anymore.

fixed it

Okay, I have figured out the problems with my recent videos and am I in the process of fixing it, i.e. making them clear. Now OHATT might actually make a little more sense with some visuals (but probably not) :)


they should be up by the time you read this!

I understand that Andrew Ranger will be driving in Milwaukee, which is great news for the series. The kid needs to find a full time ride and continue to progress as a driver without having to worry about all that other stuff.
On friday in Milwaukee, it will be an open test day. there will be two three hour sessions for the ChampCar drivers. it should be a very relaxing day at the track. Come down, I believe the gates are open to everybody. I don't even know or think they will have a PA set up, so come by and we'll hang out. :)

I have completed the latest installments of my two Houston videos and they should be posted on the champcar website shortly. However, I will probably post them on youtube too. I was encouraged to do so, to help create a more diverse audience.
they are coming soon....actually, check myspace.com right now, I think they are there!

I committed a sin in the racing world I think. I was unable to watch the Indy 500 this year and caught maybe two laps of the Coca-Cola 600. I didn’t see a second of the Monaco GP either. What kind of race face am I?? I assure the reasons for my sins were reasons beyond my control. I was busy with other projects and couldn’t find a television anywhere. Now, I did see the highlights on ESPN in my hotel room. I did see the second closest finish in Indy 500 history. I did hear Hornish commended the kid who finished 2nd and I did hear the kid be extremely upset with himself and ask the question out loud “where did that come from?”. How did Hornish get that jump? They all have Honda engines! Is there a push to pass button that I don’t know about? Either way, it was a great finish, no question about it and there is no point in bitching and complaining about the event because it was well done. (from what I eventually would see and hear).

I was expecting some sort of announcement though and that never came through. Oh well, maybe by the time you read this, an announcement will have been made. Or maybe not and we will just have to settle for another excellent ChampCar season in 2007 with a brand new formula that will rock!!

I spent some time in Milwaukee last week on other business and naturally was curious to see what kind of promotion there was. What I did see was a couple of bus ads and an print ad in the Onion, of all papers. Granted, I didn’t spend my entire days looking for promotion, so I am sure there was more I didn’t see. I did speak to some locals and some new of the event, other didn’t. I was there on Sunday (during the 500) and there certainly wasn’t much buzz for that either. What kind of crowd can we expect on Sunday? I don’t know, but it will be a race enthusiastic crowd, that’s for sure!

Oh, and I get my laptop back tomorrow, so I will have a couple of days to work on OHATT (I know, I know, but it was beyond my control!!). If you are going to the Milwaukee race and read this, please stop by and say hello.

You know, with Wilson only 25 points behind Bourdais and 31 points up for grabs this weekend, is there any doubt that we can have a new points leader by the time Sunday night hits?