Homestead Notebook – Tuesday
02/25/09 Tuesday was a perfect day to go racing in Homestead, a balmy 72 degrees. Contrast and compare that to the +1 F the teams left behind in Indianapolis. Nice paint job on the #23 car, done by the guys at Haas Automotive. The original tub came from Vision Racing, this one was in excellent condition, unlike most of the stuff the ex-Champ Car teams received last year. Rob from RuSPORT is the acting chief mechanic on the #23 car, hoping that the CITGO deal will go through so he can have a job for 2009………..Noticed some former Forsythe guys with AGR today. Phil LePan is not one of them but he was there, walking around, probably looking for employment……We were told that only 2 guys are left at Forsythe. Kenny Siwieck is not one of them. We do not know what he is up to, but just last year he was looking forward to the challenge of working with Tracy…… sad…….Milka comes with her own entourage, reminds us of the Brazilian drivers in CART in the '90s, camera crews, etc. Much was said about her signing with NHLR, most of it was negative, but the time sheets show that she is not last. We heard the NHLR guys did not have to take a pay cut like the guys at
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| The car of "Bobby D" Robert Doornbos |
Target [10%] and they won Indy and the Championship………Bobby D appears to have embraced his American nickname – it is on his helmet design. Notice the sponsorship logos on his #06 car!!! The back of his overalls are sponsored by a racing version of the great all-American fix-all tool – duct tape ;). We hope that ING money arrives soon so he can get some new threads. The crew was impressed with his effort and feedback. Apparently he did not ask for any changes in the setup that would have produced thrilling moments on the track and a lot of hours in the shop……Arie Luyendyk was with the team and on the radio with Milka, we assume he is there as a driver coach.
Looks like Al Jr. is working with IRL, have no idea what his job is though. Perhaps he is the poster boy for the 'don't drink and beat your girlfriend' campaign. Bobby D was pretty quick right away…….Briscoe drove car #3 and #6. Power did not get in the car until 1.25 hours after the start of the session. Then repeated yellow flags came out and he did not get much track time…….The new mufflers do change the engine sound but not by much. It is no longer painful but still annoying. The result of the reworked exhaust are two big 'bumps' on the bodywork that do not improve the challenged looks of the Dallara…..We now hear that the IRL will have a road course test at Sebring in the middle of March [12,13,14 we think or around those dates]. That info is not posted on their website.