Overheard in St. Petersburg

On another perfect day to go racing in the beautiful west coast Florida town on St. Petersburg, the general feeling in the paddock is that although the Delta Wing concept car has some merit, it is too high a risk to take. It's such a radical departure from the evolution that open wheel race cars have taken since they switched from front engine to rear engine in the mid-60's that if they build it and it does not work, then what? Two years will have been lost. Some do not think that the Delta Wing

Rumors say that Mutoh (above) will have Graham Rahal as a teammate starting in Long Beach

car can be built to meet the weight and performance criteria that have been projected. Many do like the open source design concept that they proposed however…….We hear that the rumors of Graham Rahal going to Newman Haas Lanigan Racing are true. We are told it is a multi-year contract with a high-tech firm that plans to activate their sponsorship at all the events……We hear that four-time Champ Car champion Sebastien Bourdais is interested in returning to IndyCar Racing but a sponsor deal is needed. He and his wife had built a house here in St. Petersburg but sold it when they moved back to Europe when Bourdais landed a ride with the Toro Rosso F1 team…….The fans were laughing hysterically when Milka Duno spun for the 4th or 5th time in Turn one. She is significantly off the pace of the rest of the IndyCar drivers and some wonder if CITGO would not be better off sponsoring another driver who can compete for wins……..Justin Wilson's performance for Dreyer Reinbold this weekend has the team smiling. Not known for their road course prowess, Wilson has raised D&R's game on street and road circuits. We spotted CDW's Bruce Delahorne in the Wilson pitbox. Although CDW no longer sponsors Wilson, Delahorne remains a big fan and a close friend. We hear that Dalahorne's daughter has turned into a big race fan as well……..Helio Castroneves cracked a joke in the post-qualifying press conference saying that Will

Rookie Simona de Silvestro

Power broke his back at Sonoma last year and is still too quick for him, so he's just going to have to break his legs this year to slow him down…….IndyCar rookie Simona de Silvestro (right ) was delighted to have outqualified Danica Patrick in just her 2nd IndyCar start. Talk in the paddock is that she is the real deal given that Danica is with a much better team and has huge dollars behind her………..Mario Andretti is coaching Marco Andretti this year while Michael Andretti has moved over to the No. 11 car of Tony Kanaan. Kanaan wanted to switch to the softer red alternate tires for his final qualifying run but Michael Andretti overruled him and later Kanaan, who qualified 2nd, admitted that was the right call…..A report on Fox Race Day radio show stated that Danica Patrick's people are going to work to get out of her contract with Andretti Autosport after this IndyCar season and make the full

Ryan Hunter-Reay talks to Andretti teammate Tony Kanaan after qualifying

time move to NASCAR. Danica, who is not competitive on road and street circuits, has been talking down those type of circuits saying the IRL should run more ovals (100% throttle where she has a better chance). Is she setting up the excuses now so that when she does leave she can say she does not believe in the direction IndyCar racing is going as her reason for the move?…….There are a fair number of media here in St. Pete with every seat in the media center occupied……..Although they have yet to set an exact date, we hear that Ryan Hunter-Reay might finally marry Beccy Gordon in December after the race season. Our condolences to Ryan who recently lost a loved one to cancer. Mark Cipolloni reporting from St. Petersburg, Florida.