August 2002 (8/30 - Toyota has held two engine tests this month for its upcoming entry into Indy racing. They are testing with Team Kelley and have tested at Kentucky and Gateway. (8/30) - Greg Ray clarified the situation with his quitting Foyt Racing. He is under contract with them through 2003. He is stepping out of the car to try and build up the team. He says they are trying to stretch their resources too far with a 3-car team. He said "A.J. Foyt made a commitment to me for this year and for next season regardless of the sponsorship situation. A.J. is a man of his word, and in his heart of hearts, he keeps the commitments he makes. But I believe it?s in no one?s best interest for me to run a third car at Chicago and Texas." (8/30) - Have you been wondering "Who is this Vitor Meira who appeared out of nowhere and is driving for Team Menard?" The 25-year-old Meira is no stranger to racing. A native of Brazil, he started racing go-karts in 1990 and has worked his way up through Formula series in Europe and South America. He was the South American F3 champion two years ago, when he won eight races, and was fifth in the European F3 series in 2001. But like fellow Brazilians Helio Castroneves, Gil de Ferran, Felipe Giaffone and Airton Dare, he wanted to race in the United States. And he wanted to race in the IRL. "It's the higher level of everything," he said. "Drivers, teams, investors -- everything is higher level. Everyone is competitive. Even without a big budget, you can be there and win the race." When Jaques Lazier was injured this year, Team Menard had a seat to fill. Vitor got ahold of them and ran a test and they were very impressed. Vitor has since ran in two IRL races. He says "I'm still learning. It's completely different than Europe. You've got the pit-stop rules, the oval courses, the warm-up lanes. But I'm learning." (8/30) - Team Penske says that Helio Castroneves will have an F1 test for Toyota after the IRL season ends. (8/30) - Continuing sagas... Villeneuve and manager Pollock, said they never received any $50 million offer to decline. (That sounded too unbelievable to be true.) Scheckter's manager says Cheever has no control over his contract and that Scheckter will be joining another IRL team. Yeah right. They must do contracts different in Italy (where his manager is from.) I've always said that a driver who doesn't want to return to racing after a crash is not a racer. Jason Priestley ain't returning to open-wheel... (8/30) - Craig Pollock has denied any involvement in the purchase of the Arrows F1 team and believes another party stepped in at the last minute. When Arrows announced it was heading to Belgium this weekend with an American investor on the brink of signing a deal, it was speculated that Pollock, who is backed by Canadians, was involved. "Absolutely not, it's nothing to do with me," Pollock told Reuters at the Belgian Grand Prix. "My interest in Arrows is officially finished. That's it." The former BAR boss said he was close to buying Arrows but: "Obviously not close enough. I'd say just at the very last minute somebody else came in." Dieter Mateschitz, the Red Bull boss who is aiming to set up an American F1 team, was also linked with Arrows but he reportedly has no part in the recent deal. Enrique Bernoldi, Arrows' sole driver as of the moment, was present at the Spa circuit today but said he did not know who his team mate would be. (8/29) - Word is, Heinz-Harald Frentzen has joined Sauber and a mysterious American has coughed up the dough to help the Arrows team get to Belgium for this weekends Grand Prix. (8/28) - Olivier Panis will be leaving BAR next year and joining the Toyota Formula One team. This makes room for BAR's newly acquired Jenson Button who will team with Jacques Villeneuve for 2003. 2002 was the first year for the Toyota team. They are releasing both of their 2002 drivers, Allan McNish and Mika Salo, for 2003. They have not announced who will team with Panis next year. Hmm, how 'bout H-H Frentzen? (8/28) - Greg Ray is again leaving A.J. Foyt's Indycar racing team. He joined the team this year to replace the injured Eliseo Salazar. I think its a mutual arrangement. Greg hasn't liked A.J.'s cars this year and A.J hasn't like Greg's lack of results. (8/28) - Jacques Villeneuve has a contract with BAR for next year and a salary of $20 million. Rumors of him leaving for CART has been ridiculous, or so I thought. Now there's a rumor that his team from his CART days has offered him a 3-year deal for $50 million. Fifty Million?! Where in the world does Gerry Forsythe hope to come up with that from??? Well the rumor says BAT, which own BAR, and evidently Players, was offering it. The deal was that JV go to CART in 2003, then return to BAR for '04-05. Their sponsorship in CART must end soon and they wanted a championship. This mega offer should certainly help current driver Patrick Carpentier re-negotiate. (8/28) - Going down with the ship... Mario Andretti has joined the CART board. (8/25) - In an exciting IRL race at St Louis's oval track, The two Penske cars fought at the front mainly with Sam Hornish, Jr., Vitor Meira (new rookie on Team Menard), Alex Barron, and Felipe Giaffone before bringing them home 1-2. Gil de Ferran was the winner. Buddy Lazier had a miserable car all day. (8/25) - Tomas Scheckter, who won his first race at Michigan last month, decided he didn't want to race at St Louis! He murmored something about race safety. Race Safety?! If anyone should be a poster-child for how safe the IRL cars are, its Tomas! After all, he's crashed in six races this year and has come away relatively unscathed. After Buddy finished in 4th place at Gateway today, team-owner, Eddie Cheever commented, "Buddy did a phenomenal job! I was watching him in the race. He took a car that should have finished eighth and finished fourth. Three races, and three finishes. That is a new record for Red Bull Cheever Racing. We are pleasantly surprised with Buddy." Cheever also stated that any team interested in buying out Scheckter's contract, which runs through 2003, can. (8/24) - Jeff Gordon finally won a race this year - Bristol! (8/23) - In what could be the worst damage a Nascar car could see, Mike Harmon had his car ripped in half when he crashed during practice for a Busch series race at Bristol. The wall that Mike hit was some type of gate that wasnt' locked. It flew open and his car met the edge of concrete. The concrete won. If that wasn't bad enough, along came Johnny Sauter in the blue #2 car and T-boned him! Luckily, Mike was ok and walked away. (8/22) - Finally! A sponsor has stepped up for Sarah Fisher. Swiss watchmaker TAG Heuer has signed to a longterm endorsement contract. Currently a sponsor in Formula One, TAG Heuer's president and CEO stated, "If one woman will ever make it to Formula One, it will be Sarah Fisher. She's so talented, determined and young but still so experienced that, without a doubt, she will grow to become a great champion." Congratulations Sarah! (8/19) - No big surprise considering they've won every race this year except for two - Ferrari clinched the Formula One Constructor's Championship yesterday with their 1-2 finish at the Hungarian Grand Prix. (8/18) - Craig Pollock, who is one of the bidders for the Arrows team: "At the moment there is nothing signed," he said. "We are probably closest (to a deal) but it's getting further away; there's no team here (Hungary) this weekend." (8/16) - People who have purchased four or more tickets to the U.S. Grand Prix can drive a lap around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway's 2.6-mile road course Sunday from 1-4 p.m. The event includes a photo to be taken of the lap between turns eight and nine along with a chance to be photographed with a Formula One car along the front straightaway. (8/15) - Sarah Fisher was fastest yesterday in testing at St Louis. (8/15) - Richie Hearn has had surgery on his ankle. He is out for the remainder of the IRL season. (8/13) - CART has scheduled their Chicago race next year for May 18th which may interfere with those teams wishing to compete in the Indy 500. (8/11) - The new team principal at BAR suggests the 1997 World Drivers Champion leave his team to free up money that the team can spend elsewhere. Of course he doesn't mention taking a pay cut himself, nor does he mention Jacques Villeneuve going on to another F1 team. "The decision is Jacques', but his move to CART would allow us to focus on chassis development," said David Richards. "I would like the move to happen, but Jacques has a contract with us for the 2003 season. I hope to be able to discuss the matter with him in Hungary." I'll bet JV would like Richards to move to CART instead! BAR did sign Jenson Button for next year. Heinz-Harald Frentzen quit Arrows (and maybe F1). (8/11) - Sarah Fisher started on pole at today's IRL race in Kentucky (221.390 mph)! Felipe Giaffone battled off Lazier and Hornish to win. He was the 9th different race winner in a row in the IRL (Sarah was the 9th different pole sitter too.) Kelley Racing took some hits. Earlier in the day, their Infiniti Pro Series driver was seriously injured in a crash. Then during the IRL race, rookie Tony Renna hit some of his pit crew - Bernie Hallisky, Rusty Hurford and Jeff Horton were injured when Renna came down pit road for service, the car striking Hallisky. Hallisky sustained a compound fracture of the right leg and possible hip injuries. He was transported to Indianapolis' Methodist Hospital where surgery was performed to stabilize his injured leg and he was evaluated for further possible injuries. Hurford was transported to a local hospital for precautionary x-rays of the head, neck and back. He suffered a strained neck, was treated and released. Horton suffered a deep bruise to his hip area, was treated in the infield care center and released back to his duties as the fueler for the #78 car. He completed the remaining pit stops of the race. Richie Hearn had to go to the hospital. Hearn broke his ankle in a Turn 2 crash on Lap 24. Tomas Scheckter, who won the last race, lost control of his back end and hit the wall, collecting Airton Dare' and sending him into the wall. (8/6) - Jim Crawford, 54, died today. A Scotsman, he raced briefly in F1 in 1975. He competed in the Indy 500 from 1985-1993, his best finish being 6th. He retired to become a fishing boat captain in Florida. Survivors include his wife, Annie, and son, Geoffrey. (8/6) - NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver Tony Stewart has been fined $10,000 and placed on probation through Dec. 31 as a result of an altercation with a media member following Sunday's Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, NASCAR officials announced today. Stewart, driver of the No. 20 Pontiac, was penalized under Section 12-4-A in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series Rule Book:"Actions detrimental to stock car racing." In addition to the fine and probation, NASCAR will require Stewart to make a formal apology to the media member. The penalties were assessed after NASCAR officials conducted a thorough investigation of the incident. "It is imperative that we protect the integrity of our sport," NASCAR President Mike Helton said."This type of behavior cannot be tolerated and is in no way indicative of the manner in which our drivers, teams, tracks and sponsors interact with the media. We take pride in our accessibility and interaction with the media and we intend to protect that relationship." (8/6) - They say Little Al will be returning to his race car for this weekends IRL race in Kentucky. Tony Renna was filling in for him for the two races he missed in July. Kelley Racing is going to keep Tony on the team and will expand to a 3-car team. At least for the time being. Brickyard 400! (8/4) - Bill Elliott won the 9th Brickyard 400 in his red #9 car! His car was fast and the only other person who looked to have a chance of beating him was Dale Jarrett. But after Jarrett left the pits with a gas can hanging off the back of his car, he was accessed a stop-and-go penalty that dropped him out of contention. Tony Stewart was charging hard once more to try and win his first race at the speedway and while he led for over 40 laps of the 160 lap race, he fell back at the end. Once more his hot temper caused some gossip in the local media as he shoved a photographer who was in his way after the race was over. Kurt Busch made a spectacle of himself as he climbed from his crashed car walked out in the middle of the track and gestured at the Jimmy Spencer who put him in the wall. Jeff Gordon started midpack and worked his way up to second place for awhile. Some stats: Average speed: 125.033 mph Time of race: 3 hours, 11 minutes, 57 seconds Margin of victory: 1.269 seconds Cauton flags: 8 for 36 laps Lead changes: 16 among 10 drivers Top 10 Finishers: 1. Bill Elliott 2. Rusty Wallace 3. Matt Kenseth 4. Ryan Newman 5. Kevin Harvick 6. Jeff Gordon 7. Steve Park 8. Robby Gordon 9. Jimmie Johnson 10. Dale Jarrett INDIANAPOLIS, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2002 -- Bill Elliott finally broke through for his first Brickyard 400 victory, passing Rusty Wallace with 12 laps remaining to take the lead for good Aug. 4 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The victory ended a string of near misses in this event for Elliott, who had five top-eight finishes entering the ninth annual NASCAR Winston Cup Series at the historic 2.5-mile oval, including two third-place finishes. "It's the greatest," Elliott said. "Man, it's the greatest." Elliott, from Dawsonville, Ga., beat Wallace to the finish by 1.269 seconds in his No. 9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge. He averaged 125.033 mph, and it was the first win by a Dodge in this event. Matt Kenseth finished third in the No. 17 DeWalt Power Tools Ford. Indiana native Ryan Newman was fourth and the top-finishing rookie in the No. 12 ALLTEL Ford, and Kevin Harvick rounded out the top five in the No. 29 GM Goodwre! nch Service Chevrolet. Elliott, 46, became the oldest driver to win the Brickyard 400. He dominated most of the race after starting second, leading 93 of 160 laps and holding a lead as large as 4.64 seconds on Lap 121. But it appeared late in the race that Wallace, now a three-time runner-up in this event, might be the driver breaking through for the elusive first win, not Elliott. Mark Martin led a restart on Lap 134 in his No. 6 Pfizer/Viagra Ford, but pole sitter Tony Stewart wasted little time passing Martin for the lead on that lap, easing his No. 20 Home Depot Pontiac in the short chute between Turns 1 and 2. Elliott was fifth on the restart. Wallace took the lead on Lap 137, pushing his No. 2 Miller Lite Ford under Stewart entering Turn 3. Elliott passed Stewart for second entering Turn 3 on Lap 139 and then began stalking Wallace. Elliott trailed Wallace by .749 of a second on Lap 139 but closed the gap to! .215 of a second by Lap 147. Wallace pushed his car too deep into Turn 2 on Lap 149, letting Elliott pull even on the inside on the back straightaway. Elliott nosed under Wallace entering Turn 3 and took the lead for good. "When Bill (Elliott) passed me, I was just getting too loose," Wallace said. "I was tight all day long. The last stop, we took a bunch of wedge out, put a bunch of air in the right-rear tire. We were smoking down the straightaway, big horsepower, and I said, 'Man, I don't think he can catch me.' "Then with 10 laps to go, I got up off of Turn 2, and I got loose. He stuck his nose underneath, and the aero push kicked in, and I couldn't do nothing." Said Elliott: "I kept working on him, working on him, and I felt like if I could ever get to him, I'd be OK. I finally got to him and got him a little loose and was able to power under him." Wallace had one final chance on a restart on Lap 157 after the final caution pe! riod, but Elliott pulled away easily for the win. Stewart ended up 12th. Defending event champion Jeff Gordon finished sixth in the No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet. Points leader Sterling Marlin finished 27th in the No. 40 Coors Light Dodge, one of an event-record 30 cars on the lead lap at the finish. Rookie Jimmie Johnson climbed to second in the Winston Cup point standings with his ninth-place finish in the No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet. Mike Wallace, Brett Bodine, Kurt Busch, Geoffrey Bodine, Casey Atwood and Elliott Sadler were unhurt in accidents. All were separate accidents except for an early crash between Wallace and Brett Bodine. Wallace and Bodine collided in Turn 2 on Lap 11, as Wallace's No. 14 Conseco Pontiac owned by four-time Indianapolis 500 winner A.J. Foyt became the first stock car to hit the SAFER Barrier. "If I did hit the barrier -- I wasn't sure if I hit the barrier or the concrete wall -- I guess I'm glad I h! it that because it hit a ton just then," Wallace said. "So I'm glad it was there."

September 2002 (9/30) - As we all know, Michael Schumacher really won the U.S. Grand Prix. I have heard some people moaning over the situation. The local newspaper referred to these discontented ones as "racing purists". Frankly, if you have been following Formula One all year (or all decade), then you should realize that Herr Schumacher performed a noble act. This action rises above any sporting behavior that I've witnessed in this country in any sport. If you don't understand this, then what kind of purist are you? Probably one who doesn't watch the entire season of racing! In Austria this year, Rubens dominated the race. While Schumi had a good lead in the points battle, Ferrari wanted a larger cushion and asked Rubens to move over. Rubens didn't have to do it. Afterall, they couldn't force him to relinquish the lead, but Rubens is a team player. He swallowed his pride and slowed down and let Michael pass. Afterward, on the winner's podium, Michael obviously felt bad about what had happened. It certainly wasn't his decision. He cheered Rubens and had him join him on the winners block. He gave him the winners trophy. (Both were fined hugely for this days later.) Many in the racing world were wroth. While Rubens was hailed as a decent chap for the act, Ferrari and Schumi were vilified. Now, five months later, when Schumacher, on his own initiative, returned the favor, he is again rebuked and reviled. Rubens had just won the previous race and had a pretty decent lead for 2nd place. Ferrari did not order Michael to slow, but Michael showed he is a man of honor. (Some of you may have heard me gripe about Schumi for Jerez in '97, when he tried to wreck Villeneuve. I recently heard Michael say that that is the one act he most wished he could reverse. That has improved my opinion of him.) While personally, I would have preferred for him to stay on the gas at the end of the U.S. Grand Prix, I can understand that this may remove the asterisk next to his race win total. Did any of you notice that on the McLaren team in 1998, after David Coulthard slowed to give his teammate the win in the first race of the season, that Mika Hakkinen never returned the favor while he went on to capture two world championships? As an aside, I also thought that having a tight side-by-side finish was more exciting and photogenic. Also it was impressive how Michael Schumacher could have orchestrated such a CLOSE finish - just behind Barrichello by 1/100th of a second at over 200 mph! Awesome! You must also realize that this behavior is legal. If you don't like it, then let the FIA know you want a rule change, but don't hammer Michael Schumacher for it. What I'd like to ask you Nascar fans that are upset about teammates cooperating, what exactly do these Winston Cup guys do when they "team-up" with a driver on some other team, to help each other draft? 2002 Formula One U.S. Grand Prix Results Rk.  Driver  Country  Team  Time  1.  Rubens Barrichello  Brazil  Ferrari  1 h., 31 m., 7.934 s   2.  Michael Schumacher  Germany  Ferrari  0.011 second back   3.  David Coulthard  Britain  McLaren  7.799  4.  Juan Pablo Montoya  Colombia  Williams  9.911  5.  Jarno Trulli  Italy  Renault  56.847  6.  Jacques Villeneuve  Canada  BAR  58.211  7.  Giancarlo Fisichella  Italy  Jordan  1 lap  8.  Jenson Button  England  Renault  1 lap  9.  Nick Heidfeld  Germany  Sauber  1 lap  10.  Eddie Irvine  Britain  Jaguar  1 lap  11.  Takuma Sato  Japan  Jordan  1 lap  12.  Olivier Panis  France  BAR  1 lap  13.  Heinz-Harald Frentzen  Germany  Sauber  2 laps  14.  Mika Salo  Finland  Toyota  2 laps  15.  Allan McNish  Britain  Toyota  2 laps  16.  Ralf Schumacher  Germany  Williams  2 laps  Not Classified    Kimi Raikkonen  Finland  McLaren  50 laps completed     Alex Yoong  Malaysia  Minardi  46 laps     Mark Webber  Australia  Minardi  38 laps     Pedro de la Rosa  Spain  Jaguar  27 laps    (9/24) - The Arrows F1 team will not be coming to Indy. They have missed the last several races as they are out of money. So, there will only be 20 cars on the grid this weekend. (9/23) - As announced earlier, Heinz-Harald Frentzen will be driving for the Sauber F1 team next year. Its now been decided that he will join now, replacing Felipe Massa at the U.S. Grand Prix. (9/23) - I found this quote from Chris Pook amusing, "CART is taking a leadership position as it pertains to providing a sports marketing environment that is conducive to the creation of new business opportunities." Perhaps the formation of new IRL teams as they switch over?! (9/23) - While Helio Castroneves had a F1 test with the Toyota team in France this weekend, he stated he was signed with Penske and planned on racing in the IRL next year. Besides, it looks like Toyota will replace McNish with Cristiano Da Matta. In his only session, Helio ran laps nearly 2 seconds faster than team test driver Stephane Sarrazin and 1 second faster than the team's No. 2 driver, Allan McNish. (9/19) - Sarah Fisher, who will be at the U.S. Grand Prix to introduce her new sponsor's (Tag Heuer) F1 watch, will get to test drive a McLaren Mercedes F1 car on Friday (Sept 27). Fisher visited Woking yesterday for a seat fitting. She will be driving the team's spare MP4-17. She will be the first woman to get behind the wheel of a McLaren F1 car. (9/19) - IRL officials are talking to ABC executives about the possibility of televising a Monday night race in 2004. If it happens, Texas Motor Speedway general manager Eddie Gossage said he believes the June IRL race in Fort Worth would be the host for the prime-time event. "I think it would be great for the league, and we would love to have it here," Gossage said. "Some people may think the idea is a little crazy, but a lot of people thought the idea of Monday Night Football was crazy when it first started." IRL and ABC officials believe the prime-time race would expose people who haven't seen an IRL event to the excitement of the IRL races, which could boost the ratings for the Sunday afternoon events. (9/17) - As expected, Michael Andretti will be abandoning CART and bringing his Motorola Team to the IRL next year. In addition, the entire Team Green will also be switching. This means two other CART drivers will be joining - Dario Franchitti and Tony Kanaan. All three will be powered by the new Honda engine. 2002 IRL Season Recap (9/15)- SAM HORNISH, JR. WINS INDY RACING LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP - TWO IN A ROW! Sam really turned up the burners towards the end of the season to capture the championship from the Penske Marlboro team. The IRL this year has certainly backed up their brag as the most exciting racing on the planet. Their formula and great American speedways have provided the fans with thrilling wheel to wheel action inches apart at speeds around 215-225 mph! The closest finish in Indycar history has been broken three times this year! Closest Finishes in IRL History Race Date Margin of Victory Chicago Sept 2002 .0024 seconds Texas Sept 2002 .0096 seconds Texas June 2002 .0111 seconds Texas Oct 2001 .0188 seconds Fontana Mar 2001 .0281 seconds Louden Aug 1997 .064 seconds Pikes Peak June 1999 .120 seconds Its been a crazy and fun year watching the IRL as Sam and Helio, and Panther and Penske, have fought it out, culminating in the side by side race to the finish in today's race that determined the championship and won Hornish a extra cool million dollars. Sarah Fisher was impressive in her third year in the IRL and is still the youngest driver at 21. (I hope she doesn't start following Little Al around to the bars this winter!) Meanwhile her teammate, Robbie Buhl has had few races to smile about. Buddy Lazier's hasn't either, but at least he stayed healthy. His brother Jacques has been coming along great and had landed a ride in a great team this year (Menards), but an accident in the spring sidelined him for the whole season. And his latest stand-in, Vicor Meira, has been looking very impressive. Thats probably worrying the younger Lazier some. Eliseo Salazar again proved his chutzpah by coming back from a serious crash in May to resume racing for A.J. Foyt Enterprises. Driver/owner Eddie Cheever, Jr. expanded his team up to three cars this year and was often extremely quick with their Infiniti engines. Misfortune often befell them though as they wrecked car after car. Before the season could end, the young South African, Tomas Scheckter, finally brought a Red Bull car home in first place. He then promptly quit! Will he be back next year? It was nice to see Jeff Ward finally get a race win this year. He had it coming. The other drivers who won were all worthy champions. List of 2002 IRL Race Winners The IRL raced in Nazareth PA for the first time this year and next year they are going to race over seas for the first time, at Motegi Japan. Toyota and Honda are going to enter the IRL next year as engine suppliers. Chevrolet replaced Oldsmobile this year. The IRL will also have a third chassis manufacturer coming in. The IRL began its own junior series this summer: the Infiniti Pro Series. Infiniti won't be competing in the IRL in 2003, but will concentrate on the IPS. And last and least, the IRL has had two Japanese drivers this year. (for comic relief?) (9/11) - Penske Racing is borrowing a CART driver from Team Rahal to fill in for de Ferran at Texas this week. Max Papis, an Italian, won two CART races last year, but is near the bottom in points this year. I'd like to have seen Penske go with an American IRL driver, such as Dismore, but that's Roger for ya. And can you believe that Rahal is even allowing it? (9/10) - Gil de Ferran who suffered a concussion in Sunday's race also broke his wrist. He will not be allowed to race in the season ending Texas race. He is currently 3rd in points. (9/8) - An exciting IRL race at Chicagoland Speedway yielded the closest finish in Indycar history. During the last dozen laps, the cars were running side-by-side at over 220 mph. The announcers noted it looked like flying pace laps. At the end, Sam Hornish, Jr. just edged out Al Unser, Jr. for the win, beating him by inches. This put Hornish into the points lead as they head for their last race in Texas. Just .9387 of a second separated the top 10 cars at the finish. Gil de Ferran hit the wall after swerving to avoid the car infront of him who had just lost fuel pressure. He was temporarily knocked out as his throttle was stuck open. This powered his car along the wall until it finally bounced out onto the track and the tire got spun off the rim. Track workers ran out to turn off his engine. He was airlifted to the hospital awake and conscious. It was later reported he did suffer a concussion. It will be up to Dr. Henry Bock as to whether he gets to compete for the championship next week. Eliseo Salazar had his rear wing flip backwards. Luckily he was on a straight when it happened and he avoided contact. Foyt's other driver, Airton Dare crashed out. (9/6) - For the last few years, about the only thing CART had to brag about was that they had a whopping 900 horsepower - more than an F1 racer. This changes next year when the spec Ford-Cosworth engines will have a maximum of 700 h.p. This is more in line with the IRL's power range. Formula One teams have around 780-840 h.p. In addition, CART is outlawing the use of traction control next year. (9/6) - The new Indiana quarters that feature an image of an Indycar are out. A armored car full of the quarters, showed up at the Speedway to take a lap! (9/4) - Greg Ray will drive the last two IRL races of the season for Sam Schmidt Motorsports. He will replace Richie Hearn who suffered a foot injury at the Kentucky race. (9/3) - Heinz-Harald Frentzen has signed to drive for Sauber next year. H-HF drove for Sauber in 1994-96. (9/3) - I don't believe any of it, but now they are saying that Forsythe Racing is going to put an offer in writing for Villeneuve. (see last months news for further details.) (9/3) - Open-wheels rule Indianapolis during Memorial Weekend, but during Labor Day weekend, the nitro-burning dragsters rule. NHRA U.S. NATIONALS - Results Top Fuel -- Tony Schumacher, 4.663 seconds, 315.93 mph Funny Car -- John Force, Ford Mustang, 5.028, 280.02 Pro Stock -- Jeg Coughlin, Chevy Cavalier, 6.953, 199.08 Pro Stock Bike -- Angelle Savoie, Suzuki, 7.232, 183.39 Top Alcohol Dragster -- John Haley, 5.474, 257.78 Top Alcohol Funny Car -- Frank Manzo, Dodge Avenger R/T, 5.736, 253.56 Competition Eliminator -- Larry Pritchett, Pontiac Grand Am, 8.060, 166.87 Super Stock -- Michael Beachy, Pontiac Firebird, 9.797, 130.71 Stock Eliminator -- Rusty Hall, Ford Mustang, 10.498, 125.15 Super Comp -- Ray Connolly, Dragster, 8.918, 159.95 Super Gas -- Thomas Stalba Jr, Chevy Corvette, 9.896, 147.97 (9/1) - (Belgium Grand Prix) The two Ferraris were in a class by themselves as they took the lead and pulled away from everyone else. Considering the sophistication of the rest of the field, this display is quite impressive. While Ferrari ran away with the show, we got to witness 1995 Indy 500 Winner, Jacques Villeneuve pull some impressive passing once again. He first passed Giancarlo Fisichellla in the Jordan Honda, and then shortly put the wraps on Toyota's Allan McNish. While the young Kimi Raikonnen started next to Michael, he dropped back to 4th. Near the end, his engine blew. Villeneuve had some good pitstops and finished in 8th having started 12th. JPM finished in 3rd behind the two Ferraris. Eddie Irvine had a decent showing for Jaguar this weekend. Arrows team once again did not show up. This makes the 3rd race they've missed this year. (9/1) - JOLIET, Ill., Dan Wheldon is set to make his Indy Racing League debut in the Delphi Indy 300 on Sept. 8 at Chicagoland Speedway after passing his IRL rookie test Aug. 29 on the 1.5-mile oval. 1999 U.S. F2000 champion, Dan Wheldon, from Emberton, England, will drive the No. 15 Pennzoil Panther Dallara/Chevrolet/Firestone as a teammate to reigning IRL champion Sam Hornish Jr.

October 2002 (10/30) - Here's an interesting twist, remember how the IRL was providing room for underfunded race teams in the past? Now the competition and money pouring into the IRL is squeezing out the little guys. Meanwhile, CART, faced with loss of tracks, tv coverage and loss of teams, is struggling to find enough drivers to field a race. It appears that becoming a spec series will be lowering costs in CART. You may be seeing the smaller underfunded IRL teams moving to CART while the big CART teams switch to the IRL. Take Dr. Jack Miller, the racing dentist as an example. He was injured in an IRL race over a year ago and hasn't raced open-wheeler since. He now says he has a CART car and will be moving in that direction for 2003. (10/29) - BIG CHANGES IN STORE FOR F1 IN 2003! 1) Qualifying has been redesigned. Instead of an hour of qualifying on Saturday, where a bunch of drivers are on the track at once, they will begin the qualifying process on Friday. Each driver will get 1 flying lap with the track all to themselves, as we do it in the IRL. None of these times count towards race day, but instead determine the qualifying order for Saturday. On Saturday, each driver will again get 1 flying lap, alone on the track, to qualify for the race. The slowest cars from Friday will be the first to get to qualify on Saturday. Conversley, the fastest cars from Friday will have to qualify last on Saturday. The only reason I can figure out why they are doing this is that it reduces the chances of a good team qualifying high on the grid, since they only get 1 chance at qualifying and there is a higher probability that they will not get a great lap in one try, as opposed to running around for an hour. However, this same thing applies to the lesser teams... 2) The points system, currently 10,6,4,3,2,1 for the top six, will be changed so that the top eight finishers will benefit. The race winner will still score ten points but from second place on down will be 8,6,5,4,3,2,1 -- they think the new system should keep the championship closer. I have reviewed all the races this year and present for you the difference this point system would have made over what it actually was: Actual 2002 Standings 2003 Point System Pl Driver Pts Pl Driver Pts 1 Schumacher M 144 1 Schumacher M 158 2 Barrichello 77 2 Barrichello 91 3 Montoya 50 3 Montoya 75 4 Schumacher R 42 4 Schumacher R 68 5 Coulthard 41 5 Coulthard 61 6 Raikkonen 24 6 Raikkonen 39 7 Button 14 7 Button 32 8 Trulli 9 8 Fisichella 18 9 Irvine 8 9 Irvine 16 10 Heidfeld 7 10 Trulli 16 11 Fisichella 7 11 Massa 15 12 Villeneuve 4 12 Villeneuve 11 13 Massa 4 13 Sato 10 14 Panis 3 14 Panis 8 15 Sato 2 15 Frentzen 6 15 Webber 2 15 Heidfeld 6 17 Salo 2 17 Sato 5 17 Frentzen 2 17 Webber 5 19 McNish 0 19 McNish 3 20 Yoong 0 20 Yoong 2 21 de la Rosa 0 21 de la Rosa 2 21 Bernoldi 0 21 Bernoldi 0 21 Davidson 0 21 Davidson 0 Not much difference, eh? 3) They say that Team orders will also be banned... as much as they can be. 4) The other decision was that the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps has been removed from the 2003 calendar due to Belgian's new anti-tobacco advertising laws. This will make room for China in 2004 anyway. (10/28) - Did you stay up till midnight Saturday to watch the CART race? I did. What a horrible wet mess it was. Adrian Fernandez broke his neck and Tora Takagi broke his hip in a wild crash on the opening lap. An hour and a half later when they restarted, some drivers in their backup cars, it was raining so hard that they went to caution after 5 laps and just drove around the streets in Australia under the yellow flag for an hour until they stopped the race at the mandatory two hour mark. If CART didn't have bad luck, they'd have no luck at all. Rookie Mario Dominguez took the checkered flag giving his team, Herdez, its first win (in seventeen years!) (10/23) - Target Chip Ganassi Racing announced today their plans to run two cars next year in the IRL. Signed to drive next year for the team are current Team Target pilot Scott Dixon and second-year IRL driver Tomas Scheckter. I think both of these guys are 22. I guess this means that Jeff Ward, who captured his first IRL win this year, will be looking for a new ride. TCGR will be using Toyota engines and G-force chassis in 2003. As for CART, TCGR is leaving it, which frees up two CART drivers. Bruno Junqueira may join Newman-Haas. There is no word yet what will become of Kenny Brack, the 2000 Indy 500 winner. (10/22) Allen McNish, who drove for Toyota in Formula One this year, ran a 350-mile test at Fontana for Penske Racing in an IRL car today. (10/22) - Roberto Guerrero makes his debut in the Busch Series this weekend in the first all Hispanic Nascar team. (10/22) - One of the current 17 Grand Prix tracks will be dropped from the international circuit to make way for Shanghai in 2004, Formula One chief Bernie Ecclestone said today. The $240 million track's construction began this week. China had built a track in Zhuhai for a 1998 F1 date, but it failed to pass inspection. Shanghai's population is 16 million. None the less, the ticket prices will be lowered from normal F1 races to try and attract more Chinese to attend. Meanwhile, the project to bring F1 to Moscow has died out as the Ruskies were not willing to sign over all ticketing, television, and advertising rights to Bernie. Moscow's mayor said that the only thing they were going to be left with was engine smoke! (10/18) - Speaking of Target Team Ganassi, they currently have 4 open-wheel drivers: Jeff Ward (IRL) and Bruno Junqueira, Kenny Brack and Scott Dixon (CART). Yesterday, they were testing Toyota's new engine at IMS and who was driving? Tomas Scheckter! While Ward won his first IRL race this year (out of 51 tries), Scheckter also won his first IRL race (for Team Cheever) this year in his rookie season. However, he also did a whole lot of wrecking. None the less, Chip must be considering running Tomas next year hence the test. (10/16) - I saw an interview with Scott Dixon who drives in CART for Ganassi. Here is an excerpt I found amusing: "I think the ovals probably don't play a big part in CART's future. They need to take the more downtown cities and overseas, I think -- like you go to Australia or even in the other overseas, the Canadian ones, are just huge. They make it more of a carnival; the atmosphere is a lot nicer. And, you know, you go to some circuits, some of the ovals, like Milwaukee, nobody really turns out. They don't really know what is going on. I think Toronto, Vancouver and Australia are pretty similar. They make a big party of it, a lot of action going on. But maybe the enthusiasm could be coming because they probably drink a lot." (10/16) - Next year's 500 Festival Parade will be broadcast live on ESPN. (10/14) - Jaques Lazier got back in a IRL car after sitting out most of the season after breaking his back in April. He ran 77 laps at Kentucky Speedway. His testing went well and he suffered no pain. He should be back for the first race of next year for Team Menard. (10/14) - For months Jacques Villeneuve has been denying stories that he plans to return to race in CART. "The story does not bother me, but what bothers me is how the story started," he said. "It came internally, trying to devalue me, to make me feel bad and eventually to push me out of the team. After all the hard work I put into the team, I found that very annoying. Very difficult. "It doesn't bother me too much, it just lacks respect, that is all. Respect, for me, is important. I'm not angry but it is very annoying and disappointing. It just takes a lot of energy. "You don't want people not to like you. If you feel not wanted somewhere, you don't work well anymore. I think it had a negative effect on a few races during the season because lots of energy was spent where it should not be. We spent it arguing and it affected on the team too. Then they don't work well either." He thinks next year's car will be better and that since his contract will be up, they won't spend any energy trying to get rid of him (due to his high salary), but he did say they wanted the team to be British and that Jenson Button, his new teammate, "will be the little darling of the team." (10/14) - 26 y/o Jamie McMurray, subbing for Sterling Marlin in his 2nd ever Winston Cup race, won in Charlotte! (10/14) - Takuma Sato scored his first points of the year in the last race of the year at his home grand prix in Japan. As every Honda-powered engine in the field blew up, the tension mounted as the race wore on. With a few laps to go, Ralph Schumacher's BMW engine blew, moving Takuma into 5th position where he finished to cheering crowds. Michael Schumacher easily captured his 11th race win of 2002. (10/10) - Everyone in the F1 community is concerned about the advantage that Ferrari has demonstrated the last few seasons. They are afraid that Ferrari's superiority is damaging the sport, afraid fans will go away if they keep on winning nearly every race. There are usually dominant teams in any racing series. I believe this year in Supercross, the same guy won EVERY race. We see many racing series that try to keep competition tight and also slow down the cars. Restictor Plates, grooved tires, boost pressure, ballast, etc. Then there are the spec series, such as IROC, where the cars are equal and it is all up to the driver. Many rule changes have been suggested for F1 recently. What I think they might consider is getting rid of the tire war and go with just one spec tire. Right now, Ferrari has an advantage with their close relationship with Bridgestone. Their closest competitors use Michelins. I would love to see them remove all driver aids (powersteering, traction control, ABS, Automatic transmissions, etc.) This would certainly do more to separate the great drivers from the merely good. It might even make things worse, but as a race fan, I would be more interested in the races if the driver had to do more than floor it and steer. Another idea would be to change the qualifying and make it more like sprint car racing. Make the fastest cars start last and the slowest cars start first! That would make things more intersting. Adding weight penalties or other handicaps to just one team, because they have done such a good job, is simply unfair and unsportsmanlike. (10/10) - Toyota had its first engine test in an Indycar at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Gil de Ferran ran the car for 250 miles. (10/9) - Bernie Hallisky, the Kelley Racing pit-crewman who was seriously injured at the Kentucky IRL race, has returned home to recuperate and is currently in a wheelchair. (10/7) - After capturing his 7th win of the year, Brazilian Cristiano da Matta clinched the CART championship, giving Newman-Haas their fourth CART title as team owners and Toyota its first Champ Car championship. This was the third year in a row that a Brazilian has won the title. Two races remain on the CART schedule. (10/3) - Ex-Formula One driver, Gaston Mazzacane, passed his IRL rookie test along with Infiniti Pro Series driver, Arie Luyendyk, Jr.. But don't look for the young Luyendyk to race in the Indy Racing League next year as he will run one more season in the IPS.

December 2002 (12/28) - Mark Dismore has announced that though it doesn't look like he'll have a job in the Indy Racing League next year, he is not considering any offers from Formula One or Nascar. Ok, maybe he didn't say that. But he did say he's received approval to open an outdoor kart track east of Indy in New Castle! New Castle?! What's up with that? Not only is it 50 miles away from Indy, there's probably only 50 people in that whole town! I wish it was going to be closer! Local karting news in the past year: Indianapolis lost one of its indoor kart tracks this year when Racers closed in downtown Indianapolis. It had been in the Union Station for around 3 years. The indoor track that's been around a long time on the west side of Indianapolis is now called Prodrive Karting Center. (12/26) - As I mentioned earlier, keep an eye out for lower-funded IRL teams to be switching to CART. Mi-Jack Conquest Racing has announced they are switching over this year. They will be running rookie Brazilian driver Mario Haberfeld. (12/24) - Eliseo Salizar is looking for a ride for next year. He certainly deserves one after his brave comeback this year. (12/20) - Sarah Fisher remains popular as ever. She traveled to Italy to receive the Caschi D'Oro (golden helmet) award as Fastest Female Driver on the Planet. Juan Pablo won it for the boys. In October, Sarah won the IRL's most popular driver award for the second time. (12/20) - Robbie McGehee got engaged last weekend to Norma Oteham, who is from Bloomington Indiana. (12/17) - Jacques Villeneuve's contract ends with BAR after next season. Its rather evident that the new management may cut him regardless of his success because of his huge salary. Jacque revealed this week that he will sit out in 2004 before he joins another team that can't compete. Neither cockpit at Ferrari will be available to Villeneuve at the end of 2003. There are possible spots at McLaren and Renault where all four drivers' contracts expire at the same time as Villeneuve's ends with BAR. But the hottest rumour has Villeneuve, 31, returning to Williams where he scored all of his 11 wins and won his world championship. It's no secret that Williams technical director Patrick Head is unhappy with Ralf Schumacher after a number of crashes and costly tangles with teammate Juan Pablo Montoya. Jacque's manager, Craig Pollock, said "He has to get the right drive and he is literally the only driver who has beaten Michael Schumacher in Michael Schumacher's career and he merits good equipment round about him. If he can't find the right team that's a decision he'll have to make. He will be there in 2004 and that's my objective and my job. If he's not, then I've done a bad job." So! That's how they do that! - Ever wonder what is involved with a race car driver's seat fitting? Penske Racing tells us the fitting process for Indy car seats stems from technology borrowed from the NASA space program. The seat is constructed by having the driver sit in a bag of soft plastic beads, which are mixed with a resin. The air is withdrawn from the bag and the beads weld together in the form of the driver in the seated position. The driver's comfort in the car is paramount so it may take several sittings before the right design/mold is constructed into the actual seat. The entire process takes about a day and a half and once completed, the Team will prepare three seats for each driver. (12/12) - Here is a picture of the new 2003 Panoz G-force IRL chassis. (a picture of the new Falcon chassis can be found below in November news.) (12/11) - A month ago, I saw Tomas Scheckter in a Target Chip Ganassi Racing uniform. How was he going to get out of his contract with Cheever? Eddie now says that TWR Group had the contract with Tomas and that they are dropping the matter. So, look forward to watching the young South African see how far he can push Chip. My guess? Not far! (12/11) - CART's Fernandez Racing is starting an IRL team for next season. They are partnering with a Japanese company and will be using Honda engines. The Panasonic-sponsored Dallara will be driven by Toyota Atlantic driver Roger Yasukawa. They have secured the services of John Dick, the race engineer who helped the new Blair Racing team in 2002. Adrian Fernandez, CART's only driver/owner, will remain racing in CART. (12/10) - Good tires are expensive. I have to replace my four tires every few years. Not surprisingly, a race car goes through more tires than my passenger car. In the IRL, everyone races on Firestone tires. The IRL strictly allocate the number of tires that a driver is allowed in a season. This is not only for a cost-cutting purpose, but to help create a level playing ground. None the less, I did a little calculating and was surprised at how many tires that an IRL driver is "restricted" to - seven hundred and ninety-two tires a season! Now that's burning rubber. (12/9) - Ralf Schumacher was ticketed in Austria for driving 80 mph in a 50. This might cost him his license! A bit stricter are they over the pond... (12/9) - The CART series next year is to be called the "2003 Bridgestone Presents the Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford." That would be 2BPTCCWSPBF for short. (12/6) - Bobby Rahal and David Letterman, in addition to their CART team, are going to start an IRL team in 2003. Kenny Brack is returning to the IRL to drive for them in a Honda-powered car with Pioneer and Miller Lite as sponsors! (12/5) - Mo Nunn Racing has filled their 2nd IRL driver slot with Tora Takagi. (12/4) - Tony George and Dr. Dean Sicking won the 2002 SEMA Motorsports Engineering Award in recognition of their leadership in creating the groundbreaking SAFER Barrier energy-absorbing system. Tony George has been instrumental in providing overall leadership for the SAFER Barrier project from initial concept, through the development process and to actual application. Dr. Dean Sicking, director of the Midwest Roadside Safety Facility at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, led the team of researchers and engineers that created the barrier. The SEMA Motorsports Engineering Award is presented only once every two years, and its recipients must represent "the advancement of the state of the art in engineering," according to SEMA's nomination criteria. Previous SEMA Motorsports Engineering Awards were: 2000 - for the HANS Device. 1998 - for the Formula One extractable seat system 1996 - computerized tire monitoring devices 1994 - the creation of NASCAR roof flaps (12/4) - Eddie Cheever Jr. and John Menard have formed a new partnership between their organizations for engineering, strategy and development, called MCT. They expect to test the new Chevrolet engine in early January after the arrival of the 2003 Dallara chassis. Each team will continue to operate as separate entities. "Compared to years past, everything is stepping up in the Indy Racing League," Menard said. "We need to step it up, too. MCT will bring more resources and input to our team to improve our technical abilities for the 2003 championship. MCT will be headed up by Bernard Dudot, who excelled as the technical director of Renault Sport from 1980 to 1997, winning six constructor's titles and four driver's titles in Formula One. Also, Eddie Cheever is saying he is not going to drive the entire IRL season next year. Look for him to retire driving Indy cars after the next Indy 500. (12/3) - CART's English oval race has been dropped from their schedule. The Rockingham 500, run the last two seasons in central England, has drawn small crowds. Ashley Pover, chief operating officer of the track, called the 2003 race "fiscally unviable". I believe this drops the number of oval tracks to three for CART (Chicago, Milwaukee, Fontana). Frankly, I thought they lost 1-mile Chicago oval event but they have it on their 2003 schedule. (12/1) - Sarah Fisher will be grand marshal at the Christmas parade in Richmond VA. Team Penske will have a float in the Christmas parade in Reading PA -- a race car pulling a sled. Sam Hornish will be in the parade in Toledo OH for the Shriners.