IRLblog.com

photo: Bret Kelley

The weather could not have been better for Carb day.  The sun was shining.  Light clouds rolled in here and there but most important of all, NO RAIN!  If you remember last year, Carb day was a wash.  The IndyCar Series were on the track for about 15 minutes before the rain came ending practice, canceling the pit stop competition, and postponing the Firestone Indy Lights race to Saturday.  This was not the case this year.

The Firestone Freedom 100 proved to be an eventful one.  Martin Plowman of Panther Racing lost control of his car in turn one causing team mate Pippa Mann to head up into the wall.  Their appeared to be no damage to her car other than the the two right side tires being flat.  She limped the car to the pits and the crew found other probems with the car.  This was definitely an upset for Panther Racing and Mann’s and Plowman’s first Firestone Freedom 100. 

Ana Beatriz went into the wall hard missing the safer barrier on lap 16.  She sustained minor injuries and was later released.

Wade Cunningham went on to win the race after passing JR Hildebrand with a lap and a half left.  Wade Cunningham did start from pole position and despite the many lead changes stayed up front.  

The whole race was to and fro. I got to the front early and knew I couldn’t lead all 40 laps, so I fell back because I didn’t want to be leading at the end. I knew I had a fast car, and it was a matter of being at the right place at the right time.  The last lap I was yelling at my car to keep going like a jockey on his horse

JR Hildebrand’s P2 finish placed him first in the points standings.  Andretti Green has shown that they have a good oval and road/street course setup this year.

It was great that we were able to have the pit stop competition this year.  Helio Castroneves and Team Penske won this year showing that they are having and excellent month of May.  I believe he was also the fastest at the final practice.  If they win the race, they will be the first since Buddy Rice driving for Rahal Letterman Racing in 2004 to get the pole win the pit stop competition and the race.  A task that does not happen often.

But wait… It gets better for Helio.  News reports also stated that the IRS has dropped the last charge pending against him. 

Coverage of the 93rd running of the Indianapolis 500 begins tomorrow at noon on ABC.

photo: Shawn Payne

Conditions are currently notlooking good.  The IndyCar Series was able to fit qualifying.  Kansas is currently being pounded by rain and heavy winds.  The truck race has been canceled until Monday morning at 10 a.m.  I as well as everyone else hopes that the weather will clear over night so the IndyCar Series and Firestone Indy Lights can run tomorrow. 

The big story of the day has to be Newman Haas Lanigan Racing taking the front row.  Graham Rahal had the fastest qualifying speed at 211.311.  Doornbos had the 4th fastest but was bumped up to row 1 after Dario Franchitti and Helio Castroneves qualifying times were disqualified due to them dipping below the white line.  Danica who was 5th fastest at 210.470 will now start in P3. 

Wade Cunningham will start on pole tomorrow for the Firestone Indy Lights.  He had a best speed of 187.458.  Roudning out the top 5 are Sebastian Saavedra, Ana Beatriz, J.R. Hildebrand, and Pippa Mann.  Junior Strous who is the current points leader will start P17.

You an watch the IndyCar Series in the Kansas Speedway Road Runner Turbo Indy 300 tomorrow at 4 p.m. on VERSUS and VERSUS HD

photo: Ron McQueeny

When I was at Homestead Miami Speedway, I had the opportunity to catch up with Pippa Mann of Panther Racing after the Firestone Indy Lights open test session had ended and ask her a few questions.

IRLblog: How did the opportunity for you drive in the Firestone Indy Lights come about and how does it compare to driving in the World Series by Renault?

Pippa:  I have been looking over to coming over to the states since I ran in the World Series by Renault.  That is pretty much as high as you can go in Europe unless you have money behind you.  In Europe it is still pretty closed off for woman drivers as well.  My manager was speaking to a few people to see if there was anything out there.  The opportunity came up to meet with Panther Racing.  Panther was encrusted on having another European driver over and actually wound up with two of us.  They had me over to Sonoma and I met John Barnes as well as other members of Panther Racing.  They called me up and offered me a contract and here I am.

IRLblog: How does it feel to be one of the higher anticipated rookies in a Firestone Indy Lights with this seasons rookie class as large as it is?

Pippa: I just hope that I can do a really good job for these guys.  They have a great oval car.  It’s a fantastic car.  I hope to do really well on the ovals.  I am still very new at it.  Riding in traffic is still something that I have to get used to.  Last year these guys had a slightly tougher time with road courses, so we have been working really hard over the winter and we now feel we have a much better road course car for this year.  Everyone is really looking forward to this season.

IRLblog: Since Homestead is your first time driving on an oval, how does it compare to road courses in the sense of ease to learn?  Is it harder to learn road course driving or oval driving?

Pippa: Back in Europe when you drive road courses, you have these very big 180 degree turns on tracks such as Monza called parabolics which are very fast fifth and sixth gear, pretty much flat out corners, and so for a road course driver it is easier to learn ovals because it is really two parabolics put together.  It’s actually flat out and the way the car reacts and behaves is very similar.

IRLblog: How does it feel to be picked up by a team such as Panther Racing?

Pippa: It is an incredible oppurtunity for me and you have to look at their past success and how many races they won on ovals last season.  I am looking forward to the first oval race as well as the first race in St. Petersburg.

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

Good Morning from Homestead Miami Speedway where we are on day 2 of open testing.  The rookies and veterans of the Firestone Indy Lights took to the track at 9 a.m. and are scheduled to run up until 3:45 p.m.  Then it will be time for the IndyCars to take to the 1.5 mile oval.  Rookie Pippa Mann is continuing to show she has what it takes to run in the Firestone Indy Lights She is currently running the second fastest speed of the day behind Ali Jackson  of Guthrie Mayer Racing.  Bruno Junqueira might make a surprise visit at Dale Coyne driving at tonights IndyCar open test.  Members of Dale Coyne Racing could not confirm at this time.  The IndyCar teams are hard at work preparing the cars to run at tonights test.  They will join Robert Doornbos, Mike Conway, Raphael Matos, and Stanton Barrett who tested late into the evening last night.  Check back to IRLblog.com during the course of the day for more updates from Homestead.