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photo: Dan Helrigel

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.

 
Vision racing says it’s a done deal even though the paperwork has not yet been signed to have Ryan Hunter-Reay drive a second Vision car for the 2009 season.   Ryan took The Indy 500 rookie of the year honors last season as well as winning the race at Watkins Glen.  He spent the past few months talking to teams such as Vision Racing, KV Racing Technologies, HVM, and Dale Coyne Racing for a potential ride.  HVM seemed like the team that he would run with after his private test at Sebring with them.  

Vision Racing is now fielding two American drivers in 2009 with Ryan Hunter-Reay and Ed Carpenter.  

If Ryan remained without a ride for this season, he along with the IndyCar Series would be placed in a bad situation. IZOD had already filmed their commercials for the 2009 season and had already made billboard and magazine advertisment featuring Ryan Hunter-Reay.  Their investment and marketing plans for this year would have been lost. Ryan not finding a ride could have pushed away potential sponsors that were looking into getting involved with the IndyCar Series. Mike Kelly, executive vice president of marketing for Philips-Van Heusen Corporation stated:

It was very important to get him a full-time ride.  I can’t underscore that enough.  Personally, I like Ryan a lot.  He is a winner and he is good for the sport and the brand.  From a business point of view we made him the center of our 2009 campaign.  We wanted to bring the drivers to the forefront and celebrate the drivers and what they represent.  He represented all the right stuff and we connected the brand to him and he is our representative in the campaign, the commercial, print and other areas.

The addition of Ryan Hunter-Reay to Vision Racing brings the car count for the opening race on the Streets of St. Petersburg up to 20 cars.

You can watch the season opener on the streets of St Petersburg Sunday April 5th on Versus Network starting at 2 p.m. ET.

Update:

Ryan Hunter-Reay’s St Petersburg car,

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.