The IndyCar Series and Firestone Indy Lights were on the streets of Long Beach this previous weekend. The Long Beach race was not the most eventful one, being that there is not much passing room on the course. The streets of Long Beach are very narrow yet very quick. This was evident with the on track incidents that took place over the course of the weekend.
Will Power took the pole on Saturday after being pushed into a third Penske car after Helio Castroneves was aquitted of charges of tax evasion. Roger Penske was more than prepared for Helio’s aquittal having brought the #12 car to Long Beach. Verizon Wireless who wasn’t a main sponsor for Penske Racing stepped up to sponsor Will Power for the Grand Prix of Long Beach. Will, along with the rest of his crew already had firesuits that were stitched with the Verizon branding. This was definitely a plan B that Roger Penske had thought completely through. The only mistake that Power’s crew (Penske’s ALMS crew) seemed to have made was forgetting to reattach a wire under the sidepod for the radio. Power ran without a radio the whole race and was able to place second.
We had no radio and no telemetry, so I was doing it off the steering wheel and off the pit board. I’m very happy; second is very good. I feel happy for all the guys. They put a lot of effort in. I really want to thank Roger Penske and Tim Cindric for bringing this car here for me. They’ve given me a fantastic ride and I can’t thank them enough.”
Danica Patrick turned the weekend around after starting from P22 Sunday due to an on track incident during the IndyCar qualifying session. She finished 4th right behind teammate Tony Kanaan.
It was a much better result, obviously, for us and I’m real proud of how we all kept our heads down and made a result out of it instead of getting down. The Motorola guys did a great job and got me out quickly.”
The talk of the weekend however had to be Helio Castroneves. Helio was aquitted Friday and arrived in Long Beach early Saturday morning. He was very happy to be there and almost broke down in the press conference that was held by Penske racing that day. After going into the wall attenuator first on Saturday, there was a possibility that Helio might have had a concussion and might not be cleared to drive on Sunday. Helio was cleared Sunday morning and started 8th He finished 7th.
Team 3G had to be happy with their performance. Stanton Barrett started 21st and stayed out of trouble the whole race to finish P17. This is Team 3G’s first year in the IndyCar Series and Stanton Barrett’s 2nd IndyCar Series race start. His first time ever in an IndyCar was at the Homestead Miami Speedway test this previous February and his first time on a road course was in late March at Palm Beach International Raceway where his team elected to have a private test instead of testing with the rest of the series at Barber Motorsports Park.
Next Sunday the IndyCar Series is off to Kansas Speedway for the Road Runner Turbo Indy 300. You can watch the qualifying show Saturday at 6 p.m. ET and the race Sunday at 4 p.m. ET on VERSUS and VERSUS HD
Well, not exactly punted. Helio landed this morning after being aquitted of federal tax evasion charges yesterday in Miami. He retook the cockpit of the #3 Team Penske car pushing Will Power into the #12. Penske will be running three cars this weekend.
Will Power showed his skill on the streets of Long Beach after transfering into the new Dallara. Sponsorship did not seem like it was an issue with the car having Verizon livery on it. This does not come as a surprise from Roger Penske. While some are a step ahead of things he has always proved to be several.
Helio had a rough day after putting the car attenuator first into the turn 1 wall during qualifying. He missed the tire barrier by a few feet causing him to hit hard. Today was his first day in the car since October.
Will Power started 4th in Long Beach last season and led all but two of the 83 laps to finish P1. He stated that starting from pole is especially important since Long Beach has very few places to pass.
You can join us on our reader interactive blog tomorrow during the race.
You can watch the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach tomorrow on VERSUS and VERSUS HD at 3:30 ET.
…jurors acquitted him on all charges except for a single charge of conspiracy. The judge declared a mistrial on the count of conspiracy after jurors were unable to return a verdict… CBS4
Helio Castroneves has been acquitted after five days of deliberations. Helio’s sister, Katiucia was also acquitted on all charges except the conspiracy charge. His lawyer, Alan Miller, was acquitted on all charges since he had not been charged with conspiracy. The government has not declared if it would re-file a new trial for the count of conspiracy.
“I love this country, and I love racing. I’m glad I’ll be able to do it,” he said.
“Instead of going to Disneyland, I want to go to Long Beach and race,” he said after thanking his racing sponsors for continuing to support him.
“Let’s go race,”
According to 16th and Georgetown , Curt Cavin has reported that Team Penske would have the #12 car ready for Will Power to ride in if Helio was cleared today.
Here’s a sneak peek at the upcoming Danica Patrick / IndyCar Series promo to be aired on the Versus Network. I think they’ve made the folks at Andretti Green Racing proud with this one. Check it out online in case you miss its debut during the Versus Network’s coverage of the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach this weekend. Don’t get the Versus Network? Call your cable/satellite provider and request that they add it to your current programming. Those of you who would like to spread some IRL joy to those who are specifically on Dish Network, click HERE.
Paul Tracy might have landed a part time ride this year for the 93rd running of the Indianapolis 500 with KV Racing technology. This team which is owned by ex Champ Car owner Kevin Kalkhoven and Jimmy Vasser could field Tracy in a few other races as well. I would think that they would be the Edmonton and Toronto races.
The last time that Paul Tracy ran in Indy was at the 86th running of the Indy 500 in 2002 where he finished second behind Helio Castroneves after a controversial call was made stating that Paul Tracy made the pass after the yellow flag had flew in turn 3 of lap 199.
Paul Tracy showed that he still has what it takes last year when he ran at the Rexall Edmonton Indy for Vision Racing with Subway sponsoring him. He just missed the podium finishing in P4. This was Vision Racing’s best finish up until this years Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg where Ryan Hunter-Reay finished in P2.
