this AND that

My favorite part of the weekend had to be seeing Paul Newman get a ride from Mario Andretti. I can’t believe the old man could do it! I could barely do it! Paul Newman is without a doubt my favorite human on the planet. He epitomizes cool. He was quite popular in the Gagnon household growing up and now I get to see him every race weekend. Though I admit I am still quite nervous in his presence and haven’t mustered the courage to actually just chat with him. I could and I know I should, but dang it he’s Paul Newman! Oh well, one day…

I have a bit of an issue with the Edmonton track. In my opinion it’s just too fast. I know that sounds weird, but it makes passing so hard because you are running flat out almost the whole time. You need some slower corners to make passing a reality. These drivers are so close, just looking at qualifying, where usually the top 10 are separated by less than 1 second. It’s an unusual problem to have. Although I will admit, after back to back rain races, it was nice to be able to see these champ cars and the drivers really show their muster and I can’t say I’m surprised that Bourdais prevailed under those conditions.

One of the most interesting aspects of the weekend was the start of the race and the positioning of the Pole sitter. Bourdais talked about it when he got provisional pole on Friday. There is a painted 2 on the tarmac right in front of the inside pole line. He wondered, should he get the pole, which line he’d chosen. You want to use the inside line traditionally speaking, but seem genuinely concerned about that painted 2. When Will Power got the pole, we were doing our radio show and I asked him after he won it which line he’d chose given the circumstances. He was surprised and unaware of the possible issue with it. I felt good that I broke the story to him. J But when I found out the next day that he nonetheless chose that line, I figured it was Bourdais being his usual technical self, making a mountain out of a molehill. But wouldn’t you know it, it turned into reality when Bourdais got that great start and Will didn’t.

The buzz around the paddock (with help from Scott Speed’s comments) was that it was all but a done deal for Bourdais over at Toro Rosso. I want to see him over there and I want to see him do as well as possible. He deserves it. I saw him in the hotel lobby on Monday morning and he said an enthusiastic ‘Bonjour Mr. Gagnon” and for the first time, I realized that I will miss him in the Champ Car family if he leaves. But he has to do what needs to be done.

Who will get that coveted seat? That is the big question now and rumors are rampant. Personally, I think that it should go to Justin Wilson. I am basing my argument on the fact that first and foremost, it should be a driver from the series. Its like F1 or NASCAR, where coveted seat are sought by drivers who have paid their dues. This has nothing do to with Rsports or any other team. It’s just that Champ Car drivers want to win and to win it helps being in the best seat. To me, Justin Wilson would be the logical choice if I was Newman/Haas/Lanigan and Justin was available. There are other deserving drivers in the series too, no question. But my choice would be Justin. Then someone else gets that good number 9 seat and so on. Do I want Marco or Speed in the series? Sure, providing they want to be there too. But I do think we should promote within. Although, I did mention this weekend that Matos would look good in that Macdonald’s car too, but NHL racing don’t need another two million dollars to help their cause. J

Oh, and I hope that Ryan Dalziel recovers quickly. You hate to see that happen to a driver who is just starting to find his stride with his new (Champ Car) team.