Saturday night in San Jose. Another gorgeous day/night. Anybody know of any property I can buy here? Anybody know of any money I can get to buy said property?

So, the stage is set for the race and boy is it going to be a dozy. But first, a little about the unveiling…they say the chassis can be purchased at some 250 grand. I would bet it’s what they paid for the whole gala. What a night, with opera singers and Harleys and those two dancers who did all sorts of weird things to each other’s body. Naturally every driver was there. In fact the best part was when they let the drivers go near the car and they were like kids in a candy store. They were genuinely excited. If you read Eric Mauk’s press release of what the owners had to say, everybody seemed very very excited about the DP01. Well, everybody but Carl Haas that is. At least his comments indicated it. They were polite, but obviously quite short. Anyway, the car is a beauty, and it looks like the series is certainly headed in the right direction, especially with Gelles racing announcing their intentions to participate in the 2007 season.

The thing I liked about the new chassis was the fact that it appears to be the safest tub in all of racing. It’s the one element that I naturally hate about the sport, but I also understand it’s the reality of the game. If this panoz is recognized as the safest tub in motor sports, then I truly believe that is the greatest accomplishment of the new chassis. Not to mention that it looks amazing. I had seen the pictures and I knew it was sharp looking, but I could never imagine liking it this much. It will be by far the best looking racecar in the world, there is no doubt in my mind and once we start seeing the team’s paint schemes, its going to be even cooler.

Now, 1 problem I have with it: paddle shift. I’m sorry, but to me this isn’t what American open-wheel racing is all about. When Derek Daly was giving us the rundown of the car last night, he kept referring to Formula One with just about every comparison. The nose, the tub, the paddle shift. I was fine with everything else, but frankly, its one thing that irks me about F1. I want it to be difficult to drive a Champ Car. I want the best drivers in the world to battle it out. I don’t want it to become easy to drive. But hey, the decision was made, we’ll see how it goes and it’ll be interesting to see how the veterans adapt to it. It’s a pretty dramatic change.

All in all though, the car looks spectacular and should provide some incredible racing. It’s cool to see Panoz tackle an open-wheel car considering all their sportscar history. Now maybe they will let us race at Road Atlanta?

Okay, back to Sunday’s race. Hmmm, well, we have Bourdais who has been incredibly fast. You have Tracy who was fast on Friday and so-so today. AJ was fast on Friday but didn’t like the reds today. Da Matta finally gets a good start. But it’s going to be all about the hairpin baby! And while I think the top 6 might escape without incident, it’s the other guys I’m worried about. Will Dan Clarke bonsai a bunch of cars off the start? He’s been known to try. What about Tags? And Jwil? Tags has been quick this weekend and will be looking to climb the ladder. Justin hasn’t been quick, but he knows AJ and Seabass are 1-3 while he’s starting 12th. What about Nelson? He’s been quick all weekend too and finds himself back in 11th? Will he be overzealous? It’s very difficult to hazard any kinds of predictions because I think the hairpin is going to be the toughest corner to get by all season long. Consider that they are coming down the longest straight-away of the season into a hairpin two abreast!

Poor Raphael Matos. Yes, he did capture the pole position, his third of the season and 2nd consecutive. But following last week’s disaster, now he faces even more pressure. Everybody, including himself, knows what happened last week. This is a perfect way to redeem himself…or a perfect way to choke while everybody is watching. HUGE pressure tomorrow. Most notably if he keeps the lead as the laps wind down. It’s a 45 lap shootout, how will Matos face the pressure of leading the race with 10 laps to go? Will he be able to erase the demons from Edmonton? I guess first and foremost, he’ll have to be leading at that point. Rahal, Wirth and oh, 10 other drivers will have something to say about that!

San Jose

Currently on a flight to San Jose where I would very much like to turn to the person behind me and inform her that every time she uses my seat to help prop herself up, its worse than most cases of turbulence. Just because you can’t see my head, doesn’t mean the seat in front of you should be used as your personal balance beam. Oh well, at least she doesn’t have an infant with her. I say this because I live in Toronto and it’s been a full day of traveling, and taking a look at next year’s probable schedule, there appears to be 8 west-coast races! I think its time I move to Denver. The hub!

I noticed that someone on Champ car Fanatics put a link to my beer show on INhd. Guilty. It’s called BeerNutz and I hosted the show with Kirt Kingsett. Basically we got to know a city through its beer culture. We shot 8 episodes over the winter and spring and they are airing right now. Sundays and Wednesdays. Check your local listings, though I warn you, the show is in HiDef, and while beer looks amazing on HD, yours truly leaves a little something to be desired. Right now we are keeping our fingers crossed for a second season and I am also, hoping they bring me back. So if you are keeping count, my three jobs right now involve champ cars, hockey and beer. I know, it’s not fair! Trust me I thank whomever is running this world every day.

Do you know the way to San Jose? Bourdais does. He sure did last year anyway. Leading every session and going home with the max number of points. He very well could do it again this year. He’s very fast on these street courses and while he hasn’t won in 4 races, Newman/Haas remains the class of the field on these tight city street courses. A.J. and Jwil are chasing the number 1 car. While Newman/Haas is the class of these events, it’s also where Seabass is the most vulnerable. One incident with the wall and his day is done. Of course, that goes for everybody else too. But with three drivers with a legitimate shot at the Vanderbilt Cup and one or two still technically in the points, Seabass has the most to lose should his day come to an abrupt end.

I did a radio spot with my friend Dave at the Fan 690 in Calgary on Monday and he asked me what might have surprised me most about the race in Edmonton and I told him two things: we continue to talk about the progress Nelson is making, but honing up a mistake, taking full responsibility of the crash despite numerous reasons not too says a lot about his character and his maturity. Dave wondered if we could see Nelson win this season. I told him that would be a tall feat, mainly because the usual suspects don’t feel like sharing this year, but nonetheless a circuit like the Champ Car World Series plays favorable to guys like Nelson who is proving to be legit, quick and smart (for the most part). This is a series where those attributes can be rewarded. Unlike F1 where you can be the best in the world and literally have no shot because of money, the Champ Car World Series is the real deal.

The other thing I mentioned was Will Power. This kid is quick. He’s naturally fast and continues to impress me with each Champ Car race under his belt. He had a HUGE crash, but bounced back and went home in 6th. He’s the real deal folks. He’s cerebral and a quick learner. Derek Walker made the right choice in choosing this kid. I know he had other options, drivers with stronger (or annoying, depending on how you look at it) personalities from the Land of Oz, but Mr. Walker is a wise man.


Naturally, the focus, for the time being anyway, is the unveiling on Friday night. I will be there, that’s for sure. Not sure what I will be doing there aside from gawking at the car, but it’ll be fun. I hope Roberto Moreno will also be there. I love that guy!

I look forward to seeing the track and how they adjusted it. I keep hearing how they smoothed it out and more importantly, widened it at some spots for passing opportunities. I think we are far away from last year’s event to say that the previous track was a little Mickey Mouse. But, that comes with inaugural events. Kudos the promoters and organizers and to Champ Car for having the testicular fortitude to admit a mistake and fix it.

this one is for Nicole. from the party. two of the hardest working people getting a well deserved night off. but what is with their shirts???

random thoughts

Well, I am sure by now you know that Jwil won the Edmonton Grand Prix, I’m sure you know the attendance was north of 170 thousand for the weekend, I am sure you know that Tag is mad at Bourdais and vice versa (I’m siding with Tag on that one, that corner WAS too tight too pass) and I am sure you know that the whole weekend was great, the race was great, Will Power is AWESOME as a driver and that Nelson celebrated his 20th birthday by planting it in a tire wall. So, what can I tell you that you don’t already know? Hmm, that’s a good question. Maybe I can’t.

Is Graham Rahal going to Newman/Haas next year? Carl Edwards has a bad attitude! It wasn’t Tony Stewart’s fault yesterday. Okay, it probably was. he probably intentionally Clint. but still! I’m glad you got a penalty and blew your chances! Nice to see AGR win a race, but seriously who would you pick as your driver, Danica or Brian Herta? Sure, she’ll bring more money, but she doesn’t have NEAR the skills that he has. Brian, come back to Champ Car. You’re a decent driver wasting your time over there.

Las Vegas??? The street of Freemont! Old Vegas baby! I’m there! I hope anyway. Then the streets of Phoenix as the season ender? Perfect! God this series is on the right track (pardon the pun). If Rahal/Letterman leave the IRL to go to GrandAm and Roger and Chip follow, then does the entire series rename itself the AGR series? Why not!

I went to the driver party and saw some interesting things last night….but I can’t tell you about it. Otherwise they would never let me go to a race ever again! But I did spend time with Michael Canon and Todd Malloy and they were just having a great time. I love seeing that camaraderie amongst competitors. Both great engineers and both had very good days at their respective offices. Oh, and as I was walking by, I overheard one of the champ car girls ask Bobby Rahal whether he was a driver or not! Yeah, those girls are great!

I did see Rusport guys having dinner at a nearby pub yesterday and they looked tired. Lead by my man Jeremy Dale, they were enjoying a nice celebratory meal and looking forward to a good nights sleep.

Watch for Simon Pagenaud. As good as Graham Rahal is, I think Simon is the next…well Bourdais I guess! This kid is really good and it was nice to see him capture that first win of the season. I like Andreas Wirth, I think he’s a great driver, but I question his maturity. I hope I am wrong, but he seems distracted with a lot of things outside of the cockpit. Pagenaud is all business!

oh, and my video camera is still busted, so my this or that's are still in the tape that is currently stuck in the camera. Hopefully i'll be able to rent a camera for San Jose and then get my old one fixed when I have a minute between San Jose and Denver.