IRLblog.com

Good morning from Homestead Miami Speedway.  Everyone was able to sleep in this morning since the cars do not need to be on track until 2:30 for another Versus network promotional shoot.  It’s another sunny and warm day at the track and is expected to stay that way for the rest of the afternoon and into the evening.  Drivers are scurrying around attending photo shoots for various media outlets while teams are fast at work in the garages prepping the cars for the on track video shoot for Versus.  The video shoot is scheduled to wrap up around 3 giving the teams 1 hour to get everything ready before the start of the test session at 4 p.m.  Dan Wheldon arrived today after doing some promos for the National Guard yesterday.  This should bring our car count to 22 for this evenings open test session.  Keep checking back during the course of the day for updates from Homestead Miami Speedway.<-->

Don’t change that channel. The IndyCar Series championship season might have come to a close, but we still have one more stop on the 2008 schedule. The IndyCar Series is off to Surfers Paradise Australia on October 26, 2008. ESPN Classic will be airing the race live at 10:30 p.m. e.t. Dario Franchitti will be joining the field replacing Dan Wheldon in the #10 Target Chip Ganassi entry. It is rumored that Wheldon has already replaced Vitor Meira at Panther Racing and he will be driving the #4 in Australia. This final race to close out the season comes after a long break since the Chicagoland race. Since this race cost the teams quite a bit since it is on the other side of the globe and their are no points involved, one would think if the drivers and the teams are going to push the cars to the edge of the envelope, or if they are going to be a little more lax about it.  I know what the fans would like to see, the same intense racing they have seen all season.  This final race to close out the season comes after a long break since the Chicagoland race. We look forward to a safe, exciting race and a well deserved off season.

As all of us know by now, Vitor Meira will not be returning to the cockpit of the #4 Panther Racing Machine next season.  Dan Wheldon has shifted over from Target Chip Ganassi Racing to replace Vitor.  Vitor was definitely caught off guard.  Apparently Vitor never received a phone call.  He was released through an e-mail that his manager received from Panther Racing.  Will Vitor have a ride for the 2009 season?  If so, where will he end up and who can possibly pick him up?  My choice would be Rahal Letterman Racing running a 2nd car.  He has driven for Rahal Letterman in the past and has driven well.  They would be a solid team with Ryan Hunter-Reay and Vitor assisting each other.  Ryan Hunter-Reay has already proved that he can run in this league with no problems and with no team mates to back him up.  At this point we can only hope for the best for Vitor in securing a ride for the 2009 season.

from indycar.com

A lot remains at stake for most of the drivers entered in the PEAK Antifreeze & Motor Oil Indy 300.

Only 17 points separate Tony Kanaan and Dan Wheldon for third and fourth in the standings. The higher finisher will earn an extra $50,000 in TEAM (Team Enhancement and Allocation Matrix) bonus money.

Well, easy is a relative term.  If you’re TK or Dan Wheldon your only job is to best the other man at Chicagoland Speedway on September 7th in order to win an additional $50,000 in bonus money.  With the championship all but set between Scott Dixon and Helio Castroneves, there’s still a fair bit of bragging rights, and cash, to go around before we close the record books for this round.  Like Brendon alluded to in this post, look for the PEAK Antifreeze & Motor Oil Indy 300 to feature two main duels being fought out in what we hope will be an exciting, technical race.

from indycar.com

Target Chip Ganassi Racing announced that Franchitti will return to the IndyCar Series, replacing Dan Wheldon in the No. 10 entry when the ’09 season opens at St. Petersburg.

What we’re questioning is why, with one race left in the season, is this announcement being made? Surely this could have been reserved to generate buzz for a team during the off season instead of letting it get lost in noise that’s sure to follow the season finale. Let us also be clear that Dan wanted to leave TCGR. The reason, all we know is that Chip Ganassi gave Wheldon an offer for next season and he respectfully turned it down.  He has already secured a ride with Panther Racing for the 2009 season replacing Vitor Meira in the #4 entry. Vitor’s contract has not been renewed with Panther. Panther did state that if sponsorship and funding became available that they would love to have Vitor back in a second car. What will become of Vitor Meira? Will he have a ride in the 09 season?  we sure hope so.  Meira, although still winless in the IndyCar Series, has shown that he is capable of running in the front with drivers from “The big three”