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photo: Chris Jones

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

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 the IndyCar 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 the IndyCar 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 of Target Chip Ganassi Racing.  The IndyCar Series gives us a wonderful opportunity to educate consumers about how Air Wick gives them 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.

Today was another interesting day at Homestead Miami Speedway.  Panther Racing’s rookie driver Pippa Mann remained the fastest Firestone Indy Lights driver in today’s final practice session with her teammate Martin Plowman who is also a rookie finishing in P4.  Today the media was present for the Versus network photoshoots as well as private sessions with various IndyCar Series drivers.   Milka Duno drove for Newman Haas Lanigan Racing but it has been reported by IndyCar.com that her deal has not yet been finalized for the season.  Her car is sporting the Citgo logo with a new paint scheme.  Don’t get too excited, its not totally different. Justin Wilson also tested with Dale Coyne Racing and does not yet have a finalized deal with them.  As I was strolling through the garage area I spotted Ryan Hunter-Reay talking to various teams and crew members.  Sarah Fisher made an appearance as well strolling around and speaking with old crew members and owners.  Robert Doornbos surpised everyone with his push to P4 with a speed of 209.584 mph.  The biggest issue of the evening seemed to be all the yellows that were drawn out due to tires suffering punctures on the track.  The test session ended with Scott Dixon at the top of the charts with a speed of 211.372.  He was then followed by Ryan Briscoe, Dario Franchitti, Mario Moraes, and Will Power.  The night wrapped up with video shoot of the Versus livery car driving around the 1.5 mile oval with other IndyCar Series cars for the new Versus network promotions.  IndyCar Series testing resumes tomorrow at 4 p.m.  and you can catch all the timing and scoring by checking out IndyCar.com

Due to tough economic times for both teams, Chip Ganassi Racing and Dale Earnhardt Incorporated have decided to merge for the upcoming 2009 season. Both are having sponsorship troubles.

What came to much surprise was that Dodge Motorsports was a key supporter for the merge. Many thought since there are two years left on Ganassi’s deal with Dodge that problems would most likely surface since both teams would have to come to a common ground on several different things when it comes to contract issues. I personally thought this would lead to much speculation since the economic times have come around to affect everyone and anyone in some sort of way. However, rare support has come from Mike Delahanty, the senior manager of Dodge Motorsports.

“Number one, we want all of our business partners to be healthy like we want to be healthy,” said Delahanty. “Under these unprecedented times there are business solutions that no one ever thought possible.” (ESPN.com)

I believe that sponsorship trouble with Ganassi might have to do with Dario Franchitti’s NASCAR meltdown last year. As race fans, we know that performance and sponsorship come hand-in-hand. With that said, I think the problems they had last year with Franchitti’s performance caused them financial problems that are starting to linger outside of last season.

I think this is something we are going to see more of due to the economic crisis in this country. This is because the number one goal of all these different sports leagues, NASCAR, IRL, NFL, NBA and etc is to make money. It accounts for all those involved from the executives to the athletes themselves.

With racing being a small market compared to other sports, I believe finanacial trouble is going to merge racing from a Florida freeway to a narrow dirt road somewhere on the North Carolina countryside. Hopefully it’s later rather than sooner.

No more power steering and less elbow room is in Dario Franchitti’s future. When Franchitti left the IndyCar Series at the end of the 2007 season, most thought that he would not come back. Well, we are not even into the 2009 season yet and he is back in an IndyCar driving for the same team he drove for in the Nascar Nationwide Series, Target Chip Ganassi Racing. It might not be a points race or count towards anything other than a win for one team and driver. Surfers Paradise should be a nice refresher course for Franchitti to get reacquainted with the car along with his new crew, and should also give him an opportunity to get used to working with his new teammate and reigning Indy 500 and IndyCar Series champion, Scott Dixon. Franchitti showed that he had a difficult time transitioning into stock cars being a back marker most of the season in the Nationwide Series. The addition of Franchitti alongside Dixon will definitely make TCGR an even stronger powerhouse team in 2009.