As one would expect, the fury rages on in the reaction to the stewards’ decision to impose a 25-second time penalty on Lewis Hamilton for an alleged illegal pass on Kimi Raikkonen at the Belgain GP.

What I find most interesting is that a great deal of opinion suggests that the results of the Grand Prix should not have been changed simply because the race was already run. In other words, what’s done is done, and because the spectators have left the building and the lights have gone out, the results are final, end of story.

I must disagree.

As much as we want our sports to be pure, the reality is, they are not. Two other popular sports in Europe, cycling and athletics, are great examples of how results cannot stand immediately after the event is completed. Sure, after a reasonable amount of time has passed, the results should stand unless something extraordinary comes to light. But the specter of doping has changed the interpretation of what “official results” means to event directors, the press, and fans.

Would anyone argue that Floyd Landis should keep his 2006 Tour de France victory simply because he was the one who celebrated on the Champs-Elysees with the maillot jaune and the champagne? Should Marion Jones be allowed to keep her Olympic gold medals and records simply because history recorded her as the winner in all these sprint races at the time they occurred?

Unfortunately, doping controls are seemingly more at the top of people’s minds these days in determining the final outcome of certain sporting contests than the races themselves. And while the various governing bodies now appear to be gaining the upper hand in the clean sport movement, those who follow these sports now automatically pause before accepting that what they saw with their own eyes is indeed the genuine article.

I am not arguing that what happened with Lewis Hamilton at Spa compares to the transgressions that I mentioned in other sports. But what is important to remember is that in order for sporting contests to exist, there must be rules that are followed and punishments applied if those rules are broken. Referees are human and make mistakes. In the case of Hamilton, a careful analysis of the situation reveals that the stewards have some basis in fact for making their decision. Whether it was enough to justify punishment or if the punishment actually fits the crime will be determined by the appeals courts.

Without rules, there is no sport. And the check-and-balance is the appeals process, where the affected party is provided the opportunity to plead their case and judges can carefully examine the evidence in a proper environment. The matter of Lewis Hamilton at the 2008 Belgian GP is not the end of F1 as a sport. Instead, it is a confirmation that to participate in sports is to be human, and the sanctity of our activities is preserved by the necessary and sometimes painful process of examining whether or not the rules were applied properly, fairly, and evenly.

This weekend, Texas Motor Speedway president Eddie Gossage make his feelings known about the future of IndyCar.

“IndyCar officials have to understand that it will take 80 percent ovals to truly succeed,” Gossage procliamed to ESPN.com. “Otherwise, this is nothing more than a niche sport.”

Even as a hardcore road racer myself, I have to agree with what Gossage stated. Mind you, it would be foolish for IndyCar to drop events like Long Beach, Edmonton, or Australia. But for the most part, Gossage is correct. IRL has won the war over CART/Champ Car. And even though it may not have been the fans who have spoken, certainly the best funded team owners and a majority of the sponsors have. And big time auto racing is nothing if not an investment capital-hungry enterprise.

Truth is, road racing is a niche sport in the USA. Yet in Europe, Asia, and South America, it probably amounts to a billion dollar industry. Actually, I have not taken the time to do the number crunching, but there is no doubt that outside of the States, formula car road racing is huge. In fact, huger than huge. Gynormous! OK, you get the picture.

Back to Gossage’s words As his track plays host to the IndyCar series this weekend, we have had a chance to see the effects of the unification so far this season. The fields are larger and fans’ interest seems to have increased. Also, it is clear that the IndyCar technical package and their drivers have developed into specialized oval warriors. I have to admit, the Milwaukee race was fun to watch. These events have the potential to gain a new following and perhaps win back old, previously departed fans.

Road racing offers a much more complicated picture. F1 is larger than IndyCar can ever dream of being. And the development of GP2 in both Europe and Asia, and A1GP in the international scene are likely to soak up any potential markets for IndyCar road racing beyond its “niche” events.

Remember, the new A1GP car is based on the former Ferrari F2004, which was a great racing car. And the series is in the planning stages of A2GP regional series that will also feature Ferrari cars. It is doubtful that a spec series could associate itself with any more prestigious a name than Scuderia Ferrari. The biggest blow to American open wheel road racing would be if A1GP/A2GP were to take over some of the former Champ Car circuits.

IndyCar is not poised to make a successful run at a larger schedule of road racing events. The technical package does not provoke the kind of excitement that the former, short-lived Panoz Champ Car did, or even the older Lola and Reynard packages did. Without the proper tools, the league cannot make a proper 50/50 oval and road racing series. However, it is clear that IndyCar is very capable of putting on oval spectacles, with lots of action and even a healthy dose of wheel bangin’. To thrive, IndyCar must rely on what it does best, and in the real world, that means ovals, ovals, and more ovals.

Over the years, Champ Car finally successfully combined a minimal-gizmo, high-horsepower engine concept with a less aero-driven, well mechanically-adjustable chassis. And the result was a series featuring very entertaining road and street races, with drivers visibly able to “hang it out” with opposite lock and all sorts of braking techniques to get the cars turned into corners. This season, with F1 banning traction control and engine brake assist, fans are treated to a fantastic display of car control by some of the world’s best drivers. There is no doubt that lower open wheeled series, like A1GP and GP2, will evolve to offer road racing at a higher level than IndyCar. After all, IndyCar will always require a compromise technical package to race on both ovals and road/street circuits. That alone means that the cars will not be born as optimal road racing machines.

Many IndyCar drivers have opposed Gossage’s opinion. Even current points leader and reigning Indy 500 champion Scott Dixon said on autosport.com, “Eddie should stick to running his track and let the series run itself … He’s probably a little biased because he’s got an oval. Everybody is going to have different views. I’m biased because I like road courses. He’s just putting that out there because he and his owners (Speedway Motorsports Inc.) have a long list of racetracks, and most of them are ovals.”

Despite Dixon’s words, the truth is Eddie is correct. When it comes to producing road races at the pinnacle of motorpsorts, it is best to leave it to the experts. Unfortunately, for drivers like Dixon, and for the large, loyal road racing fan base in America, we will all be doing the same thing—watching F1 and related lower formulae from the television, grandstands, and/or pits, but most likely never from the cockpit of a proper top-tier open wheeled road racing machine.

So it is late on the night before this year’s Indianapolis 500, and there is something about the race that continues to stick in my mind. I have been following the development of Graham Rahal as a “500″ contender and continue to be impressed.

Yes, he’s young. Yes, he’s inexperienced. And yes, the Ganassi, Penske, and Andretti Green drivers are several MPH ahead in top speed. However, in some ways, there is a similar vibe that was felt when Marco Andretti was a rookie and very nearly won the race on his first try. Rahal is driving with the type of confident exuberance that only comes with inexperience, in similar fashion to the aforementioned Andretti at Indy as well as Lewis Hamilton in F1 last season.

Realistically, Scott Dixon is the big favorite for tomorrow. Sam is gone. Dario is gone. The two thorns in Dixon’s side are now in NASCAR, and Dixon has really been in a class of his own this season–at least on ovals. Not only is he the fastest, but he is also the most consistent. I doubt anyone really considers Rahal’s chances for victory this year. But then again, Indy has a way of turning predictions upside down.

Taking away all the side stories of unification, the Danica factor, and the strange, overwhelming presence of second and third generation drivers, this year’s Indy has so far been pretty predictable. Dixon is on pole and the team cars are set in order: Ganassi, Penske, Andretti Green, then the rest. In the last three years, the eventual series champion has won at Indy. The time is right for an oddball Indy result, an unexpected winner needs to come from further back in the field. If only to keep things interesting for myself, I’ll go out on a limb and predict that the rookie driver from Dublin, Ohio will win the 92nd Indianapolis 500.

Would Anyone Know?
Is it possible that this is the first Indy 500 in which all the cars are of the same configuration (Dallara/Honda/Firestone) and line up in actual order according to qualifying speeds? If this is a sign of the times, I’m not sure it is a good thing.

Another Bold Prediction?
In addition to predicting victory for Graham Rahal, I’m also predicting that Bruno Junqueira will factor in to this year’s race. He was in the prime of his career when a big accident in his last Indy 500 essentially took away two years of his career. For 2008, he has hauled his Coyne Racing-prepared machine from out in the wilderness in terms of setup up to a consistently fast, 2nd tier contender. Indy owes Junqueira, and this cannot truly be said for many drivers. It is time for the Speedway to give back some of what it has taken away from “Junky.”

Although the 2008 Long Beach Grand Prix was not a thriller like many races throughout the history of the event, there was a great deal of excitement in watching these open wheel beasts of cars run in anger for the last time. It is a shame that IndyCar cannot adopt the Panoz DP01 for street and road circuits because this technical package provides tremendous appeal for the fans. The horsepower advantage and lack of gizmos compared to the traditional IndyCar creates an environment where you really get to see the drivers earn their money and show off their skills.

Speaking of which, Will Power had one of the greatest drives seen in the series in recent memory by anyone other than Sebastien Bourdais. It was a commanding performance and a way to close out the history of Champ Car in style. (more…)

There are only two words one can say about Motegi 2008: Danica wins!

I must admit that American lottery-effect open wheel races have less appeal for me personally. But Danica Patrick made a decisive pass for the lead with three laps to go earn her maiden win in the series. It was a job well done.

At the height of the Internet fan movement in support of CART/Champ Car, I wrote a crazy article for the former Champweb fan site. Straight up, I argued that the series should adopt a spec V12 engine to power its still-to-be announced spec formula. By and large, the fan reaction was negative. The overwhelming support was for the V8 turbo that did carry on and prove to be such a valuable asset to the series.

However, there is no denying the visceral appeal of a V12 engine. So I was taken back to great times when I read the article on SpeedTV that chronicled the brief development of the McLaren test mule that carried one of the sweetest sounding engines of all time, the Lamborghini V12. Read and enjoy, The McLambo That Never Was.

Hey, better late than never for my comments on happenings from two weekends ago!

With two events in Florida to start off the season, IndyCar gave us fans a great opportunity to see how the ‘08 season will unfold. Ovals will favor the veteran teams while the circuits with more than just left turns will give the transition teams a fighting chance. (more…)

Ten years prior to the 1987 edition of the Grand Prix of Long Beach, Mario Andretti dazzled the crowd with a dramatic win in the race’s third edition by taking the lead from Jody Scheckter three laps from the finish. Back then, it was a Formula 1 event, but as the race became a CART/IndyCar event starting in 1984, Andretti proved that he still had the magic touch by scoring consecutive victories in 1984 and 1985 while starting from pole in both contests.

The Andretti domination continued in 1986 as Mario’s son, Michael was victorious, making it three-in-a-row for the Andretti family. (more…)

Without getting into the politics of the matter, the public battle that Derrick Walker and Craig Gore are having over the finances of the former Team Australia Champ Car team is just one reminder to the fans about how desperate the times had become for Champ Car. Certainly one of the feel-good stories of 2007, not only did its drivers, Will Power and Simon Pagenaud, impress, but the organization was a jewel of the series with it’s well-presented cars and well-received identity. Now it has all blown up in the weeks leading to the Champ Car finale. A very disappointing situation indeed.

Following two strong seasons in CART, including a second-place finish in the championship in 2001, Kenny Brack moved over to the powerhouse Chip Ganassi Racing team for 2002. The combination appeared to be a favorite to take the title prior to the beginning of the season. However, as the season would unfold, the results were not at the level that the team or the driver expected.

Yet the opportunity remained for Brack to make a lasting impression on the season. For the first time in over 20 years, CART was returning to Mexico City to again race on the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez. But for the 21st century, the track was revitalized and bore little resemblance to the circuit which last hosted a CART event in 1981. Ticket sales were enormous, and race officials were expecting over 300,000 spectators to flow through the gates over the weekend for the 2002 season finale.

First-day qualifying honors went to Brack’s teammate, Bruno Junqueira. His quick pace was attributed, in part, to his enjoyment of racing on the natural terrain road course. “I just love this track,” explained an enthusiastic Junqueira. “The high speed corners are what I like the most. It feels great to be on the pole today and get another point in the championship. On my last lap, I pushed really hard on my last lap and got the pole.”

The second day of qualifying saw Junqueira consolidate his position at the top of the time sheets. Lining up on the grid behind the quick Brazilian were Christian Fittipaldi, Dario Franchitti, and Tony Kanaan, while Jimmy Vasser and Brack filled out row 3.

“Overall, it was a successful session for the [team],” summarized Brack in regards to his and Junqueira’s qualifying efforts. “We improved the car a lot from yesterday and we have a good car now. I’m very happy with the progress that we’ve made so far this weekend. I got one good lap in, but the red came out on one that was even faster. It could have been better for us, but we’re now on the right track.”

A single-day CART attendance record of nearly 175,000 spectators came out to watch on race day. Two crowd favorites were Mexican drivers Mario Dominguez and Michel Jourdain Jr. In his rookie season, Dominguez had already won a race at the rain-soaked event in Australia and clinched the Jim Trueman Rookie-of-the-Year Award. Veteran driver, Jourdain, was enjoying his career best season in CART, setting new personal standards for points, top-five finishes and championship finish.

The first lap of the race was action packed as contact at the first turn brought out the yellow flag. However, it did not prevent pole sitter Junqueira front spinning out of the lead and handing over the reigns to Kanaan. After recovering from his mishap, Junqueira found himself in ninth.

Kanaan led convincingly until a fueling mishap on his second pit stop and subsequent black flag penalty dropped him back in the field. Franchitti assumed the lead which he maintained until he too fell victim to circumstances during pit stops. In Franchitti’s case, his final stop came under a full course yellow and he lost valuable track position to the race’s other contenders.

Jourdain, who was out of pit sequence, took over at the front of the field and the massive crowd roared its approval for nine glorious laps as Jourdain ran out the string in the lead before coming in for his last pit stop.

Brack, who was running a strong and steady pace all day, found himself in the lead with 12 laps remaining. The Swede did not put a wheel wrong in the closing laps and won for the first time in 2002 at the last race of the season.

“It’s been a strange season. It’s nice to finish this way,” said a happy Brack. “It’s really, really fantastic to come here to Mexico and see, first of all, this facility with all the fans. It’s really a track that has very high standards. It’s been a pleasure to run here all weekend.”

Brack spoke about how much the victory meant for his crew. “We’ve been so close so many times this year. We led a lot of laps, but not the last one. Today was finally great to do that. For me, too, I mean, to win on a road course here, I thought I wasn’t going to win on a road course. We’ve been good this year on road courses, but we haven’t won. It’s a fantastic feeling for me and the team.”

Finishing second was new series champion, Cristiano da Matta. Junqueira recovered from his early spin to take the last podium position, and with it, second place in the championship behind his countryman, da Matta.

“Today was a tough race. But in the end I’m quite happy to finish second in the championship. I had a very good car all the weekend,” explained Junqueira. “Our last pit stop for sure my crew did a good job, put me behind Carpentier. I knew the second place in the championship was between me and him. On the restart, I did a very good last turn, outbreak him in Turn One. Then I just follow Cristiano, make sure that I’m going to finish in front of Patrick, guarantee the second place in the championship. That’s quite good because Cristiano drove very well, but I am not ashamed to finish second in the championship.”

With a victory in the last race of the season for Brack and a runner-up championship placing for Junqueira, the Chip Ganassi Racing teammates gave their crews a nice sendoff at the end of the 2002 season as both drivers were already confirmed to go to new teams for 2003.