Overheard at Baltimore – Saturday
09/03/11 Another overcast day in Baltimore and with no rain in the forecast, if of course rained as a line of thunderstorms moved through just before 11:00 AM. The grandstands were full for IndyCar qualifying this afternoon and then for the ALMS race all but one small grandstand was 100% full. And people were lined up along the fence all around the track. Easily 50,000+ fans here today. This race weekend appears to have a big future indeed.
There was another meeting of the engine manufacturers and IndyCar on Thursday but still no finalized engine rules. The process is iterative. However, the rules are far enough along they could be published.
Speaking of engines, remember IndyCar announced the new car would have a 100 HP push-to-pass feature? Think again. The manufacturers never agreed to that. That was an IndyCar wish but no one bothered to ask the manufacturers. 100 more HP as to compared to what? The 550 HP oval engine or the 700 HP road course version. If it is the 700 HP version the manufacturers have to make an 800 HP engine, which is not what they signed up for.
Whether the Motegi race ever comes back on the schedule will depend on the Japan economy. Only one race per year was run on the Motegi oval and it just was not worth it for Honda to fix the earthquake damaged oval. The road course may stay open for business, however. Honda also owns Suzuka so that could be another option someday for IndyCar.
For IndyCar qualifying almost all grandstands were full and the indoor paddock was very busy. Danica Patrick's transporter had the most gawkers with little kids shouting Go Daddy Go. There were thousands of fans milling around the paddock and there was not a driver in sight to sign autographs and become the next Danica Patrick with regard to popularity. Houston (IndyCar), you have a problem when Danica leaves as she is the only household name in the series.
Sarah Fisher is due to have her first child September 22nd and is home doing well and resting comfortably. Speaking of the Dollar General car Ed Carpenter was in the car again this weekend and dead last slowest, totally out to lunch on road and street circuits. Speaking of out to lunch, Carpenter's step father, Tony George the man everyone blames for nearly destroying the sport of IndyCar racing, was in the paddock with Carpenter.
Speaking to former F1 and IndyCar driver Derek Daly we learned that he will be the Driver Steward at the upcoming Italian GP F1 race at Monza. Did you know that FIA F1 Race Director Charlie Whiting was Derek's Chief Mechanic when he drove F1 for the Hesketh F1 team in 1978?
Chip Ganassi and Roger Penske, who are fierce competitors on the track, and friends off, met the media in Baltimore Saturday to talk about the championship battle they are in again this year (like every year) leading up to the season finale in Las Vegas. Both had very kind words to say about each other with Chip saying "Roger sets the bar very high and it allows someone like me to have someone to model ourselves after, and Roger admitting that Chip got one over on him by buying an abandoned PA Turnpike Tunnel to test his cars in, a tunnel kept so secret that even Roger Penske did not know about it until we (AR1.com) first uncovered it years ago. Roger said he's waiting for Chip to offer the Penske Team a chance to test in it.
They say that Honda is a racing company that sells cars, and I asked Roger Penske if Penske follows the same model – a racing company that sells cars (through his many car dealerships). He agreed that all his businesses are woven around his racing interests.
Chip had another good compliment to pay Roger – "Without Roger there would not be an IndyCar Series," said Chip. What we think he meant by that is Roger's leadership and investment in first CART, and now IndyCar has made it possible for the sport to still exist despite the split and despite the economic downturn.
"I was checking and over the last three years Chip's team has won 21 races and we have won 20 races, so tomorrow is our turn," joked Penske. As for the season final both Chip and Roger felt that Las Vegas was the perfect venue to hold the IndyCar finale and Roger was excited that they will close the strip down Thursday night to run the IndyCars down to promote the championship finale.
As for adding more races to the schedule Roger said he prefers quality over quantity because it costs money to run more races. He wants to keep IndyCar a North American series with races in the USA, Canada and Mexico. He was keen on adding a Mexico race. He still feels, as he has for years, that offshore races should be kept to a minimum. Roger said he is very big on these city street races and feels it is a real niche IndyCar can exploit. He made several comments on how big the crowd is here this weekend and how good the venue is from all aspects, including the race track itself, which drivers all say is very good.
Chip echoed the same opinion with regard to keeping IndyCar NAFTA based, but wants to see the series grow to 20 races per year. Both want to see more races on network TV and Roger said he was hopeful that with the Comcast/NBC/Versus merger could lead to more network races on NBC.
Roger was asked how many cars he would run next year and he said he was shooting to run three again. Power is signed but they are still in negotiations with Briscoe and Castroneves. For full transcript of their interview click here.
Rumor has it that the new IndyCar and Honda engine ran 400 miles on the road course at Indy this past week, so if true any previous bugs appear to have been resolved.
Roger Penske said the new Chevy by Ilmor (a Penske company) will hit the track right after the Japan race and they plan to do a lot of testing with it.
Did you know that Simona de Silvestro is sponsored by French company Areva this weekend? Well now you do. Areva is the worldwide leader in the nuclear energy services industry with 55,000 employees worldwide. They are a silent supporter of the message Simona delivers promoting Nuclear Clean Air Energy, so you will not see their name on the car this weekend, but it's so important to them that their North American CEO, Jacques Besnainou, will be here in Baltimore for the race Sunday. They have brought 50 nuclear industry clients to the race this weekend. Mark C. reporting from Baltimore