The Firestone Indy Lights double header and IndyCar Series opener were less than uneventful this weekend in St. Petersburg. With the exception of Friday morning the weather was stellar and the race conditions were optimal. Versus did a great job of showcasing downtown St. Petersburg during the race coverage and showing off the location of the course. They really sold the town to the viewers.
The Grand Prix of St. Petersburg was full of surprises. Graham Rahal, who seemed to be one of the favorites amongst the locals won the pole. Unfortunately when the IndyCar Series took the green flag Sunday afternoon, Rahal was involved in a turn one incident as the field of cars, 3 and 4 wide in some places, had to bottle neck to make it from the runway onto the city streets. That incident ended the day for rookie Mike Conway of Dreyer & Reinbold Racing. That is a tough start to the 09 season with Dad’s Root Beer on board as a sponsor.
Danica and Raphael Matos got into each other headed into turn 12 on lap 31. Everyone in the stands waited for the drama to unfold. A what appeared to be calm and collective Danica Patrick emerged from the car. As Matos and Danica waited for the safety vehicle to give them a ride back to pit lane. They CALMLY voiced their point of views of what had just taken place. The fans were waiting to see Danica catch a tantrum or throw a fit, but to everyones surprise it was just the opposite.
One of the big stories of the race had to have been Ryan Hunter-Reay. Here we have a driver who lost his ride last season and was out of the seat up until about a week ago. He recorded Vision Racing’s best finish ever finishing 2nd. That is great for someone who had to jump in and set up a street course car in 3 days. I am for one anxious to see how he does at Vision this season.
Who is Junior Strous? That’s what everyone was asking over the course of the weekend. That was of course until he won both races of the Firestone Indy Lights double-header. Strous is a rookie from the Netherlands that used to run in the Champ car Atlantic Series. He ran a strong and consistant two races. He is proved that himself along with The Winners Circle Group should be a force to be reckoned with on the road and street courses. I would not count him out on the ovals either. Strous was 6th fastest at the Homestead-Miami open test in February. I am excited to see how this Firestone Indy Lights rookie does this season.
You can watch the Firestone Indy Lights highlights tonight on Versus at 6p.m. and a re-air of the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg at 10 p.m.
IRLblog will continue our live coverage of this weekend’s racing events from St. Pete via twitter. You can follow us HERE. Don’t forget to watch the race live on Sunday, April 5 at 2 p.m. on VERSUS.
Don’t have access to a tv? Watch the race on the web HERE.
Graham Rahal, while doing Versus promotions, took some time out to answer some questions on how he felt going into the first race of the season. Graham is very optimistic and feels good going into St. Petersburg. I don’t see why he wouldn’t be being that he won there last year in his IndyCar Series debut. Let’s not forget that he ran really well at the off-season testing at Barber Motorsports Park.
This weekend you might not recognize Dario Franchitti’s car as it goes by. This is because Air Wick will be the primary sponsor for the #10 car this weekend in St. Petersburg Florida. Dario stated:
“Driving the AIR WICK® car to start theIndyCar Series season couldn’t be more fitting for me…their tagline ‘It’s good to be home’ pretty much sums up my thoughts on this race to start the year after racing in NASCAR in 2008. I’ve said many times that part of theIndyCar Series’ allure is in the diversity of its tracks, and I’m a huge fan of the street circuits. What a great way to continue my Indy car career with AIR WICK® on board on the streets of St. Petersburg.
Chip Ganaasi racing will also be making history this season being the only team to put teammates together who have won both its sanctioning body’s Driver Championship and its marquee event the previous two seasons.
Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon should be optimistic going into this season’s opening event. Both drivers did well at the Barber Motorsports test this off-season. Dixon had his only DNF last season at St. Petersburg and finished 22nd. Franchitti last ran there in 2007 and finished 5th driving for Andretti Green Racing.
Donna McGonigal, who is the marketing director for Air Wick also expressed her excitement.
We’re excited to continue into the 2009 racing season as a proud sponsor ofTarget Chip Ganassi Racing. TheIndyCar Series gives us a wonderful opportunity to educate consumers abouthow Air Wick givesthem the assurance that their home always smells good and is something they can have pride in.
You can see Dario’s car on Versus this Sunday April 5th during the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg at 2 p.m.
Although Helio Castroneves is in major trouble, he is getting help from all different sources.
Nascar driver Jimmie Johnson was the first defense witness to testify in the trial that could have Castroneves facing jail time. Johnson testified on behalf of Alan Miller’s character. Miller is Castroneves’s lawyer who is also being charged in the case.
Johnson said, ”Alan’s reputation is about honesty. His character is second to none. He’s given me great advice.”(ESPN.com)
Miller who is a former National League Football player and a former member of the NFL players association is being charged for conspiracy and tax evasion. The main dilemma of the case is that Miller who is well known in Motorsports industry gave advice to Castroneves regarding payments to his father who promoted him for period of time in Brazil. The prosecutors claim the location of the money was switched after Castroneves signed his deal with Penske racing in 1999 . Supposedly, five million dollars ended up in a compensation account after being designated for a Panamanian shell account and that made it tax free.
Castroneves’s defense team says that the money was never taken out of the account. Therefore, he can cannot be charged tax evasion. However, prosecutors claim that there still needs to be a tax on the money because there was nothing barring him from taking it. He also cannot be exempt from the tax because there was nothing preventing Penske Racing from paying him either.
The defense team feels strongly that proper documentation will show that tax deductions were in fact taken out.
Prosecutors rested their case on March 30th.
With the prosecutors presenting evidence for over four weeks. I hope for Helio’s sake and the others being charged along with him that they have a strong argument to present to jurors.
Unfortunately when the IndyCar Series took the green flag Sunday afternoon, Rahal was involved in a turn one incident as the field of cars, 3 and 4 wide in some places, had to bottle neck to make it from the runway onto the city streets. That incident ended the day for rookie Mike Conway of Dreyer & Reinbold Racing. That is a tough start to the 09 season with Dad’s Root Beer on board as a sponsor.
That was of course until he won both races of the Firestone Indy Lights double-header. Strous is a rookie from the Netherlands that used to run in the Champ car Atlantic Series. He ran a strong and consistant two races. He is proved that himself along with The Winners Circle Group should be a force to be reckoned with on the road and street courses. I would not count him out on the ovals either. Strous was 6th fastest at the Homestead-Miami open test in February. I am excited to see how this Firestone Indy Lights rookie does this season.
