Off Wing Opinion

According to Roy Johnson, the IRL has implemented a rule change making the minimum weight of the car include the weight of the driver. It's nickname as the Danica Rule refers to the famous Danica Patrick, who weighs in at the bottom of the IRL driver's list at a slight 100 lbs. Johnson notes that "The heaviest driver, according to the IRL guide, is 165

There's been an altercation at IRL race at Watkins Glen. With the race over and the cars all parked in Victory Lane, Sam Hornish, Jr. decided that he wanted a piece of Tony Kannan. Best of all, though ABC was in a commercial at the time, thanks to its "side-by-side" coverage, we got to watch the whole thing develop.

So what did ABC's announcer say when they came back from commercial?

"We're at an auto race where a hockey game has broken out."

Wow, how original. He said this even though it seems like racers on every major North American circuit, be it Champ Car, IRL or NASCAR, get into post-race confrontations like this on a more or less regular basis.

Instead, they ought to call these incidents for what they really are: WWE-style garbage. Hockey fights are real.

Of course, the IRL folks would never stoop so low as to use an incident like this to promote the sport, now would they?

More soon.

UPDATE: As soon as this hits YouTube, be sure to see Sam Hornish, Sr. do his best Don Zimmer imitation, first shoving Kannan, before getting shoved to the ground himself. Later, in a post-race interview, Kannan took a shot at Hornish, Sr., saying that the driver always needs to have his father around to defend him, and that's why "dads belong in the grandstand," and not the pits.

As Marco Andretti saw the fight develop, he pushed his father, Michael, out of the line of fire as he went to defend his driver Kannan. As Hornish, Sr. was shoved to the ground, it seemed as if the younger Andretti said, "See what happened," as the elder covered his eyes in disbelief.

ABC can't get enough of re-playing the incident. Oh, the horror.

42 years between seeing a Scotsman win the Indy 500 was too long.

As the son of a son of Scotland, I teared up a little when Dario took the checkered flag. Way to go.

Word is leaking out all over Europe this morning that 7-time F1 driving champ Michael Schumacher will announce his retirement after the Italian Grand Prix at Monza this weekend.

Though the circuit, like most others, is far safer than it was in the past, I can't help but still feel something of relief when I hear the news that a driver is calling it quits after a long career. I guess I just can't get the stories of Ayrton Senna, Gilles Villeneuve and Pedro Rodriguez out of my head. For more on F1 safety, check out this Mitchell Yelverton post from The Truth About Cars:

While today

I would have had more to share, but my flight didn't get into Dulles until just before Midnight, and it was more than an hour later before I even got to my car after what seemed like an interminable wait in baggage claim. Add it all up, and I wasn't through my front door until after 1:30 a.m.

Total travel time from departure from the race to my front door: 10.5 hours. Not fun. Not fun at all.

In any case, I still have a few items to share. Click here for a gallery of pics of the Newman Wachs racer I was in Denver to see in the first place.

And here's the view from the seats that I had all weekend. That's Invesco Field in the background:

I'm afraid this video doesn't do the experience much justice. After my first full weekend of big time auto racing, I'm hooked. I'll have more later in the week.

Every once in a while, I've come across assignments in my career where the burdens of work become light and sweet. When I was a young corporate PR drone, the company I worked for owned the Denver Nuggets, and got the assignment to write a season preview for the company newsletter, an experience that included watching a solitary Larry Bird take endless foul shots hours before an exhibition game.

Later in my career, I got to slip into the opening of the MCI Center here in Washington while I was working for the telecom company. At another time during my stretch at MCI, I took a tour of the backlot of Paramount Studios where all the Star Trek Series were shot. And when the CEO of PSINet appeared at a press conference with then Baltimore Ravens Owner Art Modell to announce a stadium naming rights deal, I got to play a small, but satisfying role in the day's events.

And now I've gotten lucky again. This weekend, the logo of my employer, the Nuclear Energy Institute, is going to appear on one of the cars from the Newman Wachs Racing Team as it participates in a Champ Car Atlantic Series event in Denver. It's all part of the industry's efforts to communicate the environmental benefits of nuclear energy, in this case the fact that nuclear-generated electricity doesn't pollute the air or contribute to greenhouse gas emissions.

Guess who's been asked to ride shotgun?

In any case, I'll be blogging about it over at my work blog, NEI Nuclear Notes, throughout the weekend, and probably into Monday as well. Anything that isn't work related, I'll be posting here at Off Wing.

I'll be bringing my camera, and the folks at Newman Wachs tell me that I should have more or less unlimited access to all sorts of areas around the track. And even though my official work will end once the Champ Atlantic race finishes up early on Sunday, I'll be sticking around for the Denver Grand Prix later in the day before heading home.

This ought to be fun. Please come back and visit all weekend long.

For those of you who would like to watch on television, the Speed Channel schedule is here.

After several weeks of speculation that he was done with the BMW Sauber Team, Jacques Villeneuve and the team have made it official:

Former world champion Jacques Villeneuve's Formula One career appears over after he parted company with BMW-Sauber.

The Canadian sat out Sunday's Hungarian Grand Prix due to the after effects of a heavy crash in Germany.

BMW-Sauber used the opportunity to give Polish rookie Robert Kubica his debut and suggested he could stay on in the role even when Villeneuve was fit.

That prompted Monday's announcement of a split, with the team blaming uncertainty over Villeneuve's future for the decision.

What's next for the former F1 world champ? Speculation has him grabbing a ride in NASCAR for 2007 -- and some say he might already be there. More here.

POSTSCRIPT: I shouldn't forget to congratulate Jenson Button on his first F1 win ever, in what was perhaps the wildest race on the circuit so far this season in Budapest. I wish every weekend in F1 could have been like the one we just had in Hungary.

For those of you who missed the Paul Tracy-Alex Tagliani confrontation yesterday, here's the video:

A great television moment.

Great television moment out of the San Jose Grand Prix today: After overshooting Turn 6 on the city-street course, Paul Tracy spun his car into a 180 degree spin to rejoin the race, unfortunately, he skipped right out into traffic, and took the nose off of Alex Tagliani's car, knocking both out of the race.

But that's just where the fun began, as Tagliani stalked off the course to find Tracy and give him a piece of his mind -- and with an NBC cameraman in tow to boot. The results were predictable, as Tagliani grabbed Tracy and demanded an explanation. When he didn't get one, an enraged Tagliani screamed that his car was destroyed. He made it clear repeatedly that he had "no cars left,".

It was at that point that Tracy had enough, and asked Tagliani to get his hands off of him. But Tagliani wouldn't let up, which is when he threw a punch at Tracy. He then responded in kind -- which is where NBC cut the feed to the camera.

It's probably the best moment Champ Car has had in a long time. I'm glad I decided to watch. Courtesy of TiVo, I've watched the confrontation at least four times now.

One last note: PJ went to last year's race, so there's always a chance he was nearby with his camera. I sure hope so.

Great television moment out of the San Jose Grand Prix today: After overshooting Turn 6 on the city-street course, Paul Tracy spun his car into a 180 degree spin to rejoin the race, unfortunately, he skipped right out into traffic, and took the nose off of Alex Tagliani's car, knocking both out of the race.

But that's just where the fun began, as Tagliani stalked off the course to find Tracy and give him a piece of his mind -- and with an NBC cameraman in tow to boot. The results were predictable, as Tagliani grabbed Tracy and demanded an explanation. When he didn't get one, an enraged Tagliani screamed that his car was destroyed. He made it clear repeatedly that he had "no cars left,".

It was at that point that Tracy had enough, and asked Tagliani to get his hands off of him. But Tagliani wouldn't let up, which is when he threw a punch at Tracy. He then responded in kind -- which is where NBC cut the feed to the camera.

It's probably the best moment Champ Car has had in a long time. I'm glad I decided to watch. Courtesy of TiVo, I've watched the confrontation at least four times now.

One last note: PJ went to last year's race, so there's always a chance he was nearby with his camera. I sure hope so.

UPDATE: Goon Blog is all riled up.

One of the more interesting public negotiations in professional sports came to an end yesterday when IRL's Danica Patrick announced she was leaving the Rahal Letterman team that brought her to IRL, and will be driving for Andretti Green Racing in 2007.

A couple of thoughts: IRL says that they're relieved, and I don't doubt it. Sponsorships are hard to come by in the IRL these days, and Patrick , though she's currently in 10th place in the series, is still the most recognizable face on the circuit. If she had gone to NASCAR, it may have been a fatal blow to the series.

Don't look now, but Andretti Green now has two of the hottest drivers in IRL in their barn: Patrick, who as I just mentioned is the biggest sponsor draw in open wheeled racing; and Marco Andretti, son of Michael, grandson of Mario, and probably the best driver to arrive in IRL in a number of years.

Why did Patrick join Andretti Green now? As you might suspect, it's all about the Benjamins. If there's one name in American racing that opens doors with sponsors, it's Andretti. It isn't any accident that the primary sponsor on Marco's car is the New York Stock Exchange. Add the Andretti name to Patrick's image as the most prominent female in American motor sports, and the dollars are just going to start rolling in.

Patrick is set for life now, don't doubt it for a second.

And though she has now publically confessed her love for open wheeled racing and her ambition to win the Indy 500, the option of moving to NASCAR, and the potential of even bigger paydays, will remain an option for Patrick for years to come. As for those of you who believe that Patrick could never be competitive in the admittedly grueling NASCAR series, I simply say this: She doesn't have to be competitive in order to be a successful driver. All she really needs are sponsors, and companies will fall all over one another to plaster their names on Patrick's ride if she ever decides to abandon the ovals of IRL.

As for those of you who will trot out the inevitable Anna Kournikova references, it just doesn't wash. Besides, there are plenty of drivers in NASCAR who hardly ever get a sniff of victory lane, and are still big names anyway because the sponsors love them. And there isn't any reason why Patrick can't play that game too. And if her actions of the past few weeks are any indication, in that sphere of competition, she and her handlers are already sitting on top of the the game.

UPDATE: Jason Whitlock engages in some wishful thinking.

Even though McLaren-Mercedes was planning on giving Juan Pablo Montoya his walking papers at the end of this F1 season, I'm guessing that somebody else in the F1 hierarchy passed along the message that having one of their most prominent drivers mentioned in connection with a competing product (NASCAR) was probably a bad idea.

Hence the announcement today of Montoya's early exit from the team -- something that I'm sure came along with a pretty nice golden parachute.

You have to hand it to Montoya and his new (old) boss, Chip Ganassi. A few weeks ago the story was that Montoya was desperate for a ride in F1, now he's returning to North America in triumph and adding a new dash of credibility and international appeal to the NASCAR circuit. What a way to outflank F1.

And speaking of NASCAR, my friends at 850/620 The Buzz had some thoughts about the prospect of Danica Patrick's arrival in NASCAR:

How would Patrick hold up running 36 races instead of 14? What happens when Patrick gets shoved out of the way like Jeff Gordon did to Matt Kenseth at Chicagoland? Maybe it would be great for NASCAR and great for Patrick if she could finally find the checkered flag, or it could be an unmitigated disaster. Either way, it at least gives me a reason to post a totally cheesecake photo on the blog. We

The racing world got a surprise over the weekend when F1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya announced he would be joining Chip Ganassi's NASCAR team next season. Now comes word that Danica Patrick's father is trying to find her a ride with a NASCAR team as well.

Couple of thoughts:

1) After Montoya was told he was no longer wanted at F1's McLaren-Mercedes team, he reportedly offered to drive for free. I'm surprised he didn't get another offer to stay in F1.

2) These reports are a horrible slap in the face to the open-wheeled IRL series. After all, Montoya made his mark with Ganassi, winning the Indy 500 in 2000. As for Patrick, she's simply the only face that gets any recognition for IRL outside of the hardcore fan base (though it looks like Marco Andretti may actually be the most exciting new face on the circuit).

25 years ago, would anyone have ever considered that Indy might prove to become a development circuit for NASCAR?

3) Can it really be that for the world's most talented drivers, NASCAR has become the first choice if you can't get a hop with an F1 team? It's certainly starting to look that way.

If I was F1's Bernie Ecclestone, I'd be getting worried right about now. He's tried for years to penetrate the American marketplace, and enjoyed rather mixed results. If NASCAR decided to establish a circuit in Europe -- or even just one race -- I wouldn't bet against them.

Remember, this is auto racing, not football. I'm guessing that there are loads of international drivers besides Colombia's Montoya who would be happy to join a NASCAR team if they were only asked. NASCAR has made it abundantly clear that they're willing to experiment with races outside the U.S. And don't forget that Toyota, which has already joined the Craftsman Truck Series, makes its NASCAR Nextel Cup debut in 2007.

Maybe Ecclestone ought to be making a call to Charlotte right about now.

The Mighty MJD has noticed. And Can I Have A Ticket For One thinks Danica would be a great addition to the circuit.

UPDATE: Here's John Oreovicz with some more thoughts:

With Montoya already on board, NASCAR's recruitment of Patrick could be the final knockout punch for Indy-style racing in the United States. The mere fact she is considering leaving should be used as a catalyst to accelerate efforts to solve the open-wheel split.

He's got other ideas about Patrick's prospects in NASCAR.

After making Indianapolis Motor Speedway a regular stop on the F1 circuit for the last seven years, both sides are wondering whether or not the 2006 U.S. Grand Prix might not be the last.

Not wanting to see tourist attraction disappear from the local calendar, Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson wants to give the Speedway some sort of financial assistance -- an offer that caught Indy's Tony George unawares:

While admitting surprise at Peterson's offer, George said he is not currently considering asking the city to contribute to his family-owned business. George's grandfather, Tony Hulman, built the company on the foundation it would avoid using public funds. IMS president Joie Chitwood said there has been no deviation from that.

"We have never asked for any assistance; we have never received any assistance," Chitwood said.

While I don't want to be too effusive with the praise, it's a welcome relief to see somebody in the sports business who isn't interested in raiding the public treasury. Thanks to Radley Balko for the pointer.

That's Brian Vickers, just 22 years old, formerly of Hendrick Motor Sports and now the face of Toyota on the NASCAR circuit. Toyota joins the series for the 2007 season with Red Bull Racing, the first Japanese auto maker ever to do so.

When it comes to American drivers who had the chops in F1, the list generally begins and ends with Mario Andretti. Today, Scott Speed is the lone American on the circuit. Now Graham Rahal, son of Indy 500 winner Bobby, is looking for a ride.

Over the past year, plenty of folks didn't hesitate to muse over the damage the NHL might suffered because of the lockout that wiped out the 2004-05 season. Despite this, it's going to be at least a couple of years before everything comes out in the wash.

But that's not the case with open wheeled racing, where the long-term war between the Indy Racing League (IRL) and Champ Car (formerly CART) has left the sport sputtering, while NASCAR has left it in the dust.

Things have gotten so bad in IRL, that for all intents and purposes, the race is open to anybody who can cobble together a ride:

The qualifying procedure for the Indy 500 is very different from that of most big-time sports. For a golfer to tee it up at the Masters, he must have a certain ranking on the money list or have won a major tournament in recent years. At Wimbledon, tennis players make it via their rankings, a few wild card spots and a few precious spots available to those who make it through a difficult circuit of qualifying matches. Even in NASCAR, where money can field a car, there are often more cars than spots available.

But at this year's Indy 500, all 33 drivers who wanted to race will race come Sunday. Nobody got pushed off the bubble. There's a good chance not all are ready to tackle Indianapolis Motor Speedway at 220 mph.

There have been steady reports that IRL head Tony George has been talking to Champ Car, and that a truce and merger are in the works. I hope so. Because while the appeal of the Indy 500 endures, the sport around it is in serious need of a boost.

Remember Mike Greenwell? He was an outfielder with some pop and gap power who played 12 seasons with the Boston Red Sox before retiring after the 1996 season. Well, now he's back, and he's racing trucks:

"I retired very early," Greenwell said. "I hit .297 my final year and I had 20 offers to go back and play the next year.

"But I wanted to go racing. I literally quit baseball so I could go racing."

Greenwell, who hit .303 with 1,400 hits and 130 homers in his dozen years with the Red Sox, wasted no time switching gears. He returned to his home state of Florida and jumped into the Saturday night scene, racing at the grassroots stock car level.

He wasn't bad, either, winning 37 races and the 2000 speedweeks championship at New Smyrna (Fla.) Speedway. But he wanted to test his skills against the best, and his longtime friendship with Truck Series driver Todd Bodine opened the door for him.

Yet another reason why we watch sports. Good luck, Gator.

Back when I was in my early teens, I can remember a couple of business magazines suggesting that students who wanted to find a secure career would find it in petroleum exploration.

I guess they were right. Then again, a combination of courses in geology, engineering and fluid dynamics doesn't appeal to everyone, which is probably why some college kids are studying with the aim of getting a job in auto racing:

Inside Panther Racing's mobile command center at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Mike Sheridan reads reams of data from 75 sensors mounted to the team's race cars.

The 27-year-old junior at IUPUI, who is studying mechanical engineering technology with an emphasis on motorsports, hopes his specialized degree and 50-hour-a-week internship will help him become an engineer for a racing team.

"It helps that I won't have to work for three years taking out trash," he said. "Hopefully, I'll have my foot in the door."

But he'll have competition. Dozens of colleges and universities are responding to the racing industry's growing popularity by creating motorsports programs designed to give students degrees in mechanics, engineering and management.

Wow, that sounds like a fun way to make a living.

It was raining earlier today at Indianapolis, wiping out today's qualifying session, but the troubles of the Indy Racing League and its sister circuit, Champ Car, run far deeper than a day of rain.

ESPN.com's Dan Helyar has more:

[T]he entire open-wheel genre has been drained by the battle in North America, while unified NASCAR has boomed. Consider the flagship races. Since 1995, the Daytona 500's TV viewership has grown 45 percent, to an 11.3 Nielsen rating. From 1995 to 2004, the Indianapolis 500's ratings declined 51 percent, to a 4.1 rating, although the race did get a Danica Patrick bounce in 2005, to a 6.5 rating.

Consider the series' geographic footprints. NASCAR's Nextel Cup series has expanded from 31 to 36 races in the past decade, pushing into new West Coast markets.

The Indy Racing League is down to 13 U.S. races this year after withdrawing from three Western cities.

There's more, including some disturbing details about how skill at recruiting sponsors might be more valuable in landing a ride than actual skill behind the wheel.

If you liked Bullit, Ronin or The Transporter, I'm sure you'll like this:

Thanks to L&N Line for the pointer.

More background, here.

The NBC/NASCAR/Muslims undercover story has seemed to peter out here in the Blogosphere, though I did find two references that mentioned that the FBI was in attendance at Texas Motor Speedway this weekend to make sure there wasn't any trouble. This, after Dateline, the program that had been doing the report for the network, had said it wouldn't be sending anyone to the race this past weekend.

I tried to go to bed early last night, and didn't see that the discussion of NBC's NASCAR sting operation garnered me a link, and set off a more detailed discussion between Glenn Reynolds and a number of his readers who are dedicated NASCAR fans.

Here's Reynolds:

[I]n response to McErlain's question above, it's not so much what the NASCAR people will think, but what potential future sports partners will think.

Meanwhile, does this mean (1) NBC's news is bravely independent of NBC's business interests, because they're willing to stick it to NASCAR; (2) NBC's news is only willing to stick it to NASCAR because NBC no longer has much of a business interest here; or (3) NBC's news is just as clueless as NBC's sports?

But here's another question: Malkin's initial report also said that a pair of Sikh gentlemen were sent to a football game in Arizona in a similar exercise. NBC Sports starts broadcasting Sunday night NFL games this Fall and has a long-standing broadcast contract with Notre Dame football. I wonder, did NBC ever consider sending those undercover operatives sent to either an NFL venue, or perhaps to a Notre Dame home game? I'd love to know if they went to a Cardinals game (they'd actually be happy for the business) or to a college game at Arizona or Arizona State?

And be sure to read Cranky Insomniac's idea on tailing NBC's undercover operatives (and hey, CI is a Mets fan!).

There's more here from Michelle Malkin, who broke the story in the first place.

UPDATE: More NBC hateration from Technochitlins.

FINAL UPDATE: Malkin called NASCAR, and they aren't pleased. Thanks to Glenn for that pointer.

Via Michelle Malkin, we get news that NBC is soliciting Muslim volunteers to participate in a hidden camera sting operation. The idea here is that the camera team would follow two Muslim men to a NASCAR event to see if they trigger any "discriminatory comments or actions while being filmed". The operation would take place 2-3 times this Summer, with a story to be aired later this year.

I'll leave the media bias charges to somebody else, but here's another angle that folks in the sports biz ought to think about: What in the world are the folks who run NASCAR going to think about this when they find out?

Last time I looked NBC was still one of the circuit's broadcast partners, and now NBC News is attempting to provoke a racial confrontation at a NASCAR race, one that is sure to not only paint certain individuals as racists, but paint the entire NASCAR culture as racist too.

If I were at NASCAR HQ, I'd be blowing a gasket about now, and getting on the phone to NBC Sports in New York. After all, this is ocurring against a backdrop of NASCAR's increased efforts to bring minority drivers and owners into the series, and expand its appeal outside of the traditional Southern fan base.

In other words, something like this may very well cost NASCAR some money. And while there are undoubtedly racists at any large sporting event that draws literally hundreds of thousands of people each weekend, I can't help but think that NBC's choice wasn't a coincidence.

UPDATE: Welcome to readers of Instapundit. Here's hoping you kick the tires and stay for a while.

I know, I didn't believe it when I first saw it either, but it's true: The racing circuit has signed an agreement with Harlequin to publish a line of NASCAR-themed bodice rippers.

Thanks to Sports Biz for the link.

I'm a Chevrolet Corvette!

You're a classic - powerful, athletic, and competitive. You're all about winning the race and getting the job done. While you have a practical everyday side, you get wild when anyone pushes your pedal. You hate to lose, but you hardly ever do.

Take the Which Sports Car Are You? quiz.

HT: Instapundit.

After getting drop-kicked by the San Francisco Chronicle for a negative review of the Subaru Tribeca, Robert Farago has earned me as a reader for life:

I believe the media in general, and newspapers in particular, have an obligation to tell the truth about cars. You know all those puff pieces that fill up the odd blank spot in every single automotive section in this great country of ours? Does it ever occur to the propagators of these gutless "reviews" that a car is the average consumer's second most expensive purchase? To operate under the principle that all cars are wonderful in their own special way is to sacrifice readers' direct financial interests for the paper's short term monetary gain. Chicken and egg though it might be-- readers attract advertisers who pay for copy to attract readers-- Bob Dylan was right. You gotta serve somebody. Clearly, the mainstream automotive media has made its choice.

And that

It might come as early as 2008, says PlanetF1.

Thanks to PJ Swenson at Sharkspage for pointing me to his gallery of photos of Danica Patrick. She was at an press event yesterday in San Francisco with teammate Buddy Rice promoting the Argent Mortgage Indy Grand Prix, which will be run this weekend at Infineon Raceway.

It's important to remember that besides being a heck of a blogger, PJ is also a professional photographer. The work, as always, is awesome.

And I'm looking forward to photo coverage of this event as well.