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It was a long trip for IndyCar Series teams for a non-points race in beautiful Surfer’s Paradise Australia. The teams and drivers did not hold back at all on the 2.795 mile street circuit. Ryan Briscoe pulled off a first place victory followed by Scott Dixon and Ryan Hunter-Reay rounding up the top 3. The question is, will the IRL return to Surfers Paradise next season. The racing proves to be fast and the teams love being there. The only negative side to this would be the cost. The IRL already travels overseas to race at Twin Ring Motegi in Japan. Having two overseas races might sway teams from trying to start an IndyCar program. If these smaller teams were to not attend these races they would lose out in the IRL’s TEAMS program. Many have even called the race at Twin Ring Motegi, Honda’s corporate picnic. If the IRL does decide to keep an overseas venue, then perhaps they should go with Surfers Paradise and scrap Japan. Let’s not forget Motegi almost did not happen this year due to rain. The fact that it is an oval only allows for racing in dry conditions. Australia, which is a street circuit, can be run rain or shine.

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.