September 19th

So Mario Dominguez has signed on to replace Nicky Pastorelli for the remainder of the year. Dominguez apparently (and this is all hearsay) some discouraging remarks about his ride at Dale Coyne and wanted to be in a more competitive environment when he would face his hometown crowd in Mexico. That was the early reports anyway. In a statement, he thanked Dale Coyne, mentioned how hard they work together. Bottom line is that according to Mario, it just wasn’t a good fit together. Sometimes team don’t mesh, don’t gel and let’s face it, Mario was more or less ‘dumped’ at DCR after being let do by Forsythe. Still, he’s been competitive in that car. Since joining DCR racing he’s got 4 top ten’s, which is pretty decent. Perhaps his gripe with the team was qualifying, where he didn’t fair as consistent and found himself playing catch up come race time. Whatever the reasons behind it, it’s done and now he is with Rocketsports. Paul Gentilozzi had a good idea in bringing him now and giving him time to mature and gel with the team so they are tight come Mexico City. I feel bad for Pastorelli, but let’s not mince words, he struggled this year. He was not putting up the kind of numbers that that car is capable of producing. Whether HE didn’t gel with the team or just never got completely comfortable behind a champcar is anybody’s guess. Hopefully he’ll land on his feet. He’s a good kid. Now, for Mario, the pressure is on. He’s got the backing (as I understand it) of some Mexican sponsors for that race and he’s running with his third team this season. Many factors could determine Mario’s future and the next three races can make or break his future champcar career. Although he has produced decently with DCR, his exit will not sit well with everybody and if somebody steps in that #19 and out performs him (kind of like AJ with that number 7), it’s not going to look good at all! More importantly, if he produces poorly with his third team of the season, does he stand a chance of having a job next season? What this moves does is it continues to put Mario in the spotlight for the wrong reasons. I say continues because he’s been the focus on many topics of discussion this season, little having to do with on-track performance. His run-in with PT, his blown race in Houston, his dismissal from Forsythe, and now his apparent discontent with DCR and his sudden move to Rocketsports. I hope that Mario produces phenomenal results in the final three races and we can get back to talking about SuperMario and not some other adjective that has sometimes preceded his Mario moniker.

Now, who fills the number 19 seat? This whole thing was sort of sudden, but we know there are ample available drivers out there and that seat is no longer a last result seat (in my opinion). Someone can come in, take that seat for the final 3 races and impress owners for employment next season. This is a GOLDEN opportunity for someone, one that wasn’t supposed to be there at all. I have no idea on who it’s going to be. But I know they will be smiling ear to ear at Road America.

Happy birthday Cristiano.

September 18th

Well, first off I suppose I should address the little misunderstanding that occurred with my last post. First off all, I am overwhelmed and touched by all you guys and the kind things you said about me. You guys are the best; there is no question about it. And I’ve always said I’m just a fan like you guys who happens to have a microphone in front of him. With regards to my last post, yes Road America is my last race this season. But, at this point there is no guarantee about next season. I want to come back, I love the series more and more each day, I love the fact that I am part of it and I love the fact that things look really awesome next season. But reality and desire are two different things. There are things that are out of my hands, beyond my control. What’s meant to be is meant to be. Things will work out the way they are destined too.

Now, on to this weekend. Frankly, I just hope I make it through security because my level of excitement has to be at Red. Or at least Orange! Frankly, the Atlantics race is what is getting my mojo going these days! (I even went out and bought a new shirt and tie for the banquet on Sunday). It comes down to the brash American or the cerebral Frenchman. You almost couldn’t have scripted this better. Except in a script, the Frenchman would probably be evil, whereas Simon Pagenaud is a very pleasant and charming young man. This is the real life Ricky Bobby story! On a fast track like Road America, one small minor mistake can cost you big time! One slight run off and you lose precious seconds. Pagenaud is still in command here. The momentum is definitely with Rahal thanks to the wins, but Pagenaud still needs to be dethroned. He’s 12 points ahead, which means he can be conservative, but at the same time he can’t be too conservative. If Graham wins (putting all other points, like qualifying, aside for a moment), Pagenaud has to finish 5th or better. So there is no way he can coast this weekend. A tiebreaker goes to Rahal with all those wins this season. But with a large supporting cast this weekend, with the fact that it’s the last chance for many of these drivers to show off to potential future bosses, it’s the last race of the season, how will they affect the outcome? Every driver has something they want to accomplish this weekend, but only two are battling for 2 million dollars. It’s going to be awesome!

Well things didn’t work out with Franchitti over at RuSport and now they are holding a shootout after the race to see who gets the number 10 car for the remaining two races following Road America?? Well, that is going to be interesting. Hmm, who do you pick? Justin is likely out of contention for the Vanderbilt Cup, so it’s going to be every driver for himself, more or less. Briscoe (as rumored on a variety of website) would certainly help in Australia and he was fast during his test. RHR adds another American to the mix of things and everybody loves Ryan. Ryan also has good experience in Australia. Personally, I would like to see one of the Atlantics grad, someone like Bomarito fill that seat. Its not the way you want to land a ride (a la Servia last year filling in for his friend in that number 2 car), but nonetheless it’s a great opportunity and maybe a chance for an unproven young driver to jump in the bigs and impress enough eyes to land something concrete in 2007. We shall see….

Thanks again for all the kind things and I apologize if my last post brought some confusion. Come to think of it, this post didn’t really clear that much up, but now you are in the same boat as I am.