Franchitti's Abrupt Retirement Similar to Mears

Photo credit: Shawn Gritzmacher/Indianapolis Motor Speedway

I can’t say I was overly surprised that Dario Franchitti announced his retirement from racing earlier this week. His crash at Houston was frightening, worrisome and far too reminiscent of what transpired at Las Vegas two years ago.

Given Franchitti’s considerable achievements – three Indianapolis 500 victories and four series championships chief among them – and his age (40, comparatively old for an IndyCar driver), I wondered if he would at least think about hanging up the driving gloves.

As it turned out, the injuries suffered in the crash, particularly the concussion, left him no reasonable alternative.

“Medically, he has been told he'll make a 100 percent recovery,” said his car owner, Chip Ganassi, during a conference call this week. “He's been told by his doctors to not race again, basically.”

The abrupt nature of Franchitti’s retirement has some similarities to Rick Mears. In 1992, Mears, the defending Indianapolis 500 champion and going for a record fifth Indy win, had a malfunction coming out of Turn 1, spun and smacked the concrete wall (no SAFER barriers back then), his car scattering debris down the backstretch.

I remember being in the media center watching this transpire. The reporter from the Reading Eagle newspaper (Penske’s team was based in Reading, Pa., at the time) immediately picked up his phone and called back to (presumably) his editor, saying, “Rick just got upside down.”

Mears suffered injuries to his right wrist and left ankle in the mishap, then was involved in a wreck during the race, further injuring his tender wrist. This affected him the rest of the season, as he made only four starts in the last 12 races. Mears stepped out of the car for the last time when he withdrew during the Michigan 500 and he retired in December of that year – at age 41.

As with Mears, Franchitti’s retirement leaves open what more he could have achieved. He’s tied for eighth with Paul Tracy and Sebastien Bourdais on the all-time wins list with 31 (two behind Scott Dixon and two ahead of Mears) and sixth in poles with 33 (one more than Michael Andretti and Will Power).

Perhaps the best indication of Franchitti’s consistency is he is tied for sixth with Bobby Rahal for top five finishes with 119.

The question now turns to who will take over the No. 10 Target car for Ganassi. The logical conclusion is that new addition Tony Kanaan slides into the seat, leaving a spot open on the team for someone else. Alex Tagliani’s name has surfaced, which is reasonable, given that he subbed for Franchitti in the season finale at California.

Another possibility is J.R. Hildebrand, fired by Panther after his disastrous Indianapolis 500. Based on absolutely nothing other than a guy sitting at a keyboard with access to the Internet, let’s throw in the name of Danica Patrick. Maybe she can duplicate Franchitti’s career arc of going from IndyCar to NASCAR back to IndyCar.

Good to see IndyCar back at Pocono

I’m stoked about IndyCar finally – after 24 years (!) – returning to Pocono.

Rebooting the Triple Crown – even with the Pocono race only 400 miles – can differentiate IndyCar and perhaps give it a boost.

One key point of the original Triple Crown – Indianapolis, Pocono and long-gone Ontario – was that each race was anchored around a national holiday. Indianapolis was tied to Memorial Day, of course; Pocono was held around Independence Day and Ontario had Labor Day.

The Pocono date quickly shifted to middle or late June (sort of close to July 4, I suppose), then mid-August to off the calendar completely after the 1989 event.

Pocono – like Indianapolis – also was caught in the crossfire of the original CART-USAC split from 1979-81, resulting in lawsuits, confusion, disgruntled competitors and angry fans. (Sound familiar?)

The 1981 race is notable for being A.J. Foyt’s last IndyCar win and because it included eight dirt cars to round out the field.

Ontario Motor Speedway was dogged by financial troubles almost from the start and could not maintain the momentum from a promising debut in 1970 (Pocono’s first race was in 1971).

For two years (1974 and ’75) the California 500 was run in March, but for the most part the race date was consistently in late August/early September.

Both Pocono and Ontario borrowed some key Indianapolis traditions – 33-car lineups, separate qualifying weekends, queens.

Pocono in particular mirrored many of the Indianapolis non-racing activities with a mayor’s breakfast, festival queen’s ball and victory dinner (or bruncheon, as noted in the 1971 program).

My earliest memory of Pocono was the 1973 race. I remember our family listening to the race on the radio (probably on WIBC) and groaning when Roger McCluskey ran out of fuel on the last lap, handing the win to Foyt.

Twenty-four years is a long time to be away, but the early indications are promising. Let’s hope Sunday’s race opens a new chapter at this one-of-a-kind triangular track.

 

Time for Andretti Jinx to End

INDIANAPOLIS - One-for-67. Or .015.

That’s the batting average, if you will, for anyone named Andretti in the Indianapolis 500. That’s Mario (1-for-29), sons Michael (0-for-16) and Jeff (0-for-3), nephew John (0-for-12) and grandson and current hope Marco (0-for-7).

It’s a slump for the record books. It’s even far below the so-called “Mendoza Line,” named for former shortstop Mario (!) Mendoza, who gained fame as a notoriously poor hitter – lifetime average of .215, with a few seasons quite a bit below that mark.

That’s not to say the Andretti family hasn’t knocked it at least to the warning track or had a few home runs taken away. For example:

·         Michael led the most laps at Indianapolis with never winning (431); by comparison, Rick Mears led 429 laps in racking up an unsurpassed four victories

·         Mario started from the pole and led 170 of the first 177 laps in 1987 before being sidelined by – what else? – mechanical failure

·         Michael led late in both the 1991 and 1992 races before being passed (1991) and having his car break down (1992)

·         Marco, depending on how you view the finish of the 2011 race, is the only person to be passed for the lead coming to the checkered flag

In the face of all these facts, it would seem prudent to pick someone other than an Andretti to win Sunday’s 97^th Indianapolis 500.

Sunday’s race appears to be the most wide open in years. The fact that Ed Carpenter, with his own one-car team, won the pole underscores that.

Still, Andretti, who has his best Indy start at third, is the pick. He usually runs well at the Brickyard – he led the most laps in last year’s race (59) – and appears to have added a larger dose of maturity and a more professional approach to his craft this season.

“Indy has always been an ultimate goal of mine,” Andretti said earlier this month. “I think it's always been a realistic goal. So we just need to capitalize on it.

“Unfortunately I already have a similar record to dad, which is the most laps led for a non-winner. That part of it's frustrating.”

Other favorites

·         James Hinchcliffe: Winner of two races this season will use disappointing qualifying result as extra motivation

·         Ryan Hunter-Reay: Reigning series champion starting to figure out Indianapolis

·         Helio Castroneves: Three-time winner knows time is running out to get record-tying fourth Borg-Warner Trophy

·         Scott Dixon: The modern Al Unser: Consistent, smart and runs all day

Wouldn’t be a huge surprise

·         Ed Carpenter: Not satisfied with pole; wants victory, too

·         Dario Franchitti: Can’t discount him, but has been off since Indy triumph a year ago

·         Will Power: Fast in practice, has had bad luck on race day

·         Takuma Sato: A.J. Foyt’s best chance since Kenny Brack more than a decade ago

·         Tony Kanaan: Along with Carpenter is the people’s choice to win

Could happen, but would need some breaks

·         AJ Allmendinger: Fast car, but rookie at Indy

·         Graham Rahal: Miserable month but experienced team will help him race day

·         Justin Wilson: Good driver, but are team resources stretched too far?

·         Josef Newgarden: Has star potential, needs to show patience

·         J.R. Hildebrand: Is he the new Scott Goodyear/Roberto Guerrero/Kevin Cogan destined to be haunted by the one that got away?

·         Alex Tagliani: Solid driver and team

·         Ryan Briscoe: Has something to prove after losing IndyCar ride - again

·         E.J. Viso: Fast, but reputation of a crasher

Best of the rest

·         Oriol Servia: Solid veteran whose team likely to fold after the 500

·         Sebastien Bourdais: Former CART star hasn’t done much since split ended

·         Simona de Silvestro: Much expected of popular driver

·         Carlos Munoz: Rookie has been big surprise this month with No. 2 starting spot

·         Buddy Lazier: 1996 winner remains a fan favorite

·         Townsend Bell: Steady competitor

·         Simon Pagenaud: Going through sophomore slump after fine rookie season

Rounding out the field

·         James Jakes: Steadily improving driver

·         Conor Daly: Son of former IndyCar and Formula One driver Derek Daly

·         Charlie Kimball: Had some good runs last season

·         Sebastian Saavedra: Finished 20^th and 26^th in two previous starts

·         Katherine Legge: Nice job to get last-minute ride into field

·         Tristan Vautier: Rookie has shown promise

·         Ana Beatriz: Average finish of 22^nd in three previous starts

·         Pippa Mann: Finished 20^th in only other Indy start three years ago

Photo credit: Forrest Mellott/Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Carpenter Surprise Indy Pole Winner

INDIANAPOLIS – Ed Carpenter beat both the most successful team in Indianapolis 500 history and the one that dominated practice this week to take the pole for the 97^th Indianapolis 500 on Saturday.

Carpenter, an Indianapolis resident, Butler grad, stepson of former track president Tony George and who formed his own team, watched a couple of furious challenges fall short in the final moments of time trials to claim the top spot with a four-lap average of 228.762 mph in his No. 20 Fuzzy’s Vodka Dallara-Chevrolet.

“It’s an honor to win this pole – this is such a competitive field,” Carpenter said. “I hope this is a part one of a magical month. This is awesome, bigger than our wins and huge for our team. It’s definitely a landmark day.”

Carpenter’s best previous Indianapolis start was eighth in 2010 and 2011.

In a day delayed by rain that pushed qualifying past the usual 6 p.m. EST close, the full roster of drivers for Team Penske and Andretti Autosport – plus Carpenter – made up the Fast Nine shootout that concluded Saturday’s first day of qualifying.

Team Penske’s Will Power had the fastest speed in the first segment of qualifying. The order is inverted for the Fast Nine shootout; therefore Power had the last chance to oust Carpenter from the top spot.  After opening with a promising lap of 229.119 mph, Power faded to a four-lap average of 228.087 to settle for sixth starting position.

Team Penske was looking to add to its record of 17 poles at Indianapolis to go along with a record 15 race victories.

Rookie Carlos Munoz continued his amazing week to claim the second starting position at 228.342 mph. Andretti Autosport teammate Marco Andretti claimed the other front-row starting spot with an average of 228.261 mph.

One of IndyCar’s perennial powerhouses, Target Chip Ganassi, had a less-than-stellar qualifying effort.

Former Indy 500 and series champions Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti will start next to each other in the sixth row – spots 16^th and 17^th, respectively. Franchitti won last year’s 500 from 16^th.

Six cars were bumped out of the top 24 after the first round of qualifying, including Ryan Briscoe, last year’s pole-sitter.  Briscoe, now with a Ganassi satellite team, bumped his way back in and will start 23^rd.

Rain cut into the morning practice period, then delayed the start of qualifying until just before 1:30 p.m. EST.

The final nine positions of the 33-car field need to be filled in today’s final day of qualifying. The slowest qualifier then is bumped. Each car is allowed three attempts per day.

Among those vying for the final nine spots will be Katherine Legge, who will drive one of the Dallara-Hondas affiliated with Sam Schmidt Motorsports. It will be renumbered No. 81.

Legge, 22^nd in her Indianapolis 500 debut last year, could get a shot at redemption today. She was bounced out of her ride with Dragon Racing after last season in favor of Sebastian Saavedra, who also needs to qualify today.

Others looking to secure a spot are Graham Rahal, Pippa Mann, Ana Beatriz, Michel Jourdain, 1996 champ Buddy Lazier, Tristan Vautier, Conor Daly and Josef Newgarden, the last driver bumped on Saturday.

 

Photo credit: Jim Haines/Indianapolis Motor Speedway

 

Quick Thoughts After First Part of Qualifying

INDIANAPOLIS - Some observations after the first round of qualifying for the 97^th Indianapolis 500:

·         Rookie Carlos Munoz may be the least-known driver and biggest surprise in the field. Added to the Andretti Autosport team for Indianapolis after finishing fifth in the Indy Lights series for Andretti last year, Munoz was third after the first round of qualifying with a four-lap average of 228.171 mph.

·         All five Andretti Autosport drivers made the provisional Fast Nine

·         All three Team Penske drivers made the provisional Fast Nine, led by Will Power

·         James Jakes had his run disallowed after his car flunked tech inspection. His average of 225.397 mph would’ve been good enough for 23^rd after the first round of qualifying.

·         The Fast Nine qualifiers will get one attempt when the session begins at 6:30 p.m.

 Photo credit: Forrest Mellott/Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Hinchcliffe Fails to Dislodge Allmendinger

Seven qualifiers so far – track has gone yellow after Conor Daly waved off. AJ Allmendinger still fastest at 227.761 mph. James Hinchcliffe started his run at 228.131 mph, then dropped about a half mile an hour on each succeeding lap to finish at 227.493 mph, second to Allmendinger.

Allmendinger Sets Early Pace

INDIANAPOLIS - Rookie AJ Allmendinger of Team Penske is the fastest of five qualifiers so far with a four-lap average of 227.761 mph. Called “Junior” by his Penske teammates, Allmendinger  won five races when he competed in CART before heading to NASCAR.

About to Get Started

INDIANAPOLIS – Looks like we’re about to get started. The rain-condensed schedule makes it likely that each car will get one shot only before the nine-car shootout is established at 4 p.m.

Scott Dixon is first in line.

Photo credit: Forrest Mellott/Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Legge Reportedly Gets Ride

Katherine Legge, who was bounced out of her ride with Dragon Racing after last season in favor of Sebastian Saavedra, reportedly will drive one of the Dallara-Hondas affiliated with Sam Schmidt Motorsports. Curt Cavin of the Indianapolis Star tweeted that Legge has been confirmed for the ride.

Legge finished 22^nd in her Indianapolis 500 debut last year.

Photo credit: Chris Owens/Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Quick Thoughts About Practice

INDIANAPOLIS – A few observations about morning practice:

·         In addition to his 229.808 mph lap, Will Power earlier put together four laps consistently at above 226 mph, all alone

·         After struggling all week, Graham Rahal found some speed

·         Townsend Bell turned just five laps, topping out at 226.553 mph

·         Pretty light crowd in the stands; overcast skies a likely deterrent

·         Car No. 40 – as yet unassigned – drew the No. 1 spot in the qualifying order

·         Scott Dixon is second, followed by Takuma Sato and Graham Rahal

Photo credit: Forrest Mellott/Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Back Green at Indianapolis

INDIANAPOLIS - Rain interrupted practice, but the green flag is back out.

The top five this morning are:

Will Power, 229.808 mph

AJ Allmendinger, 229.086 mph

Josef Newgarden, 228.609 mph

Graham Rahal, 228.318 mph

Simon Pagenaud, 228.029 mph

None of the Andretti Autosport cars have practiced yet.

Power Nears 230 mph

Welcome back, Team Penske.

Will Power and AJ Allmendinger led practice Saturday morning ahead of qualifying for the 97^th Indianapolis 500.

Power pushed his No. 12 Verizon Dallara-Chevrolet to 229.808, just short of the first 230 mph lap at the Speedway in 10 years. Allmendinger, in the No. 2 Izod Dallara-Chevrolet, was just behind at 229.086 mph.  Allmendinger benefited greatly from a tow from Buddy Lazier on his lap.

None of the Andretti Autosport cars have practiced yet. Andretti dominated practice during the week.

Photo credit: Forrest Mellott/Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Andretti Team Continues To Show Muscle

INDIANAPOLIS – Rain or shine, Andretti Autosport emphatically stamped itself as the favorite to win the pole during qualifying today for the 97^th Indianapolis 500.

A fierce mid-afternoon storm cut short Friday’s practice session by about three hours. Just about an hour after the track opened, E.J. Viso cut a tow-aided lap of 229.537 mph, fastest of the month.

The Venezuelan, seeking his sixth 500 start, became the fourth member of the five-driver Andretti Autosport team to be the fastest in a session.

Viso joined Marco Andretti, James Hinchcliffe and rookie Carlos Munoz – who turned the trick twice this week – in heading the daily speed charts.  Andretti drivers have topped five of the seven practice days.

The turbocharger boost was increased for Friday and today, adding about 40 horsepower to the Chevrolet twin-turbocharged V6 and Honda single-turbo V6 engines.

In terms of speed, this change translated into an increase of about four mph - Munoz had the previous top lap at 225.163 mph on Thursday.

“We went little by little, step by step, trimming the car one step at a time,” said Viso, whose best Indy start was ninth last year. “Every day we’ve been on the track and testing a number of pieces on the car.”

Andretti was second fast on Friday at 228.754 mph, followed by Munoz at 228.520 mph.

“I think as a team we’re quite comfortable with our speeds,” said Andretti, who indicated that a 230-mph lap – the first in a decade - was possible had not rain halted practice. “I think there are five of us in the running for the pole, but as far as favorite – there are going to be a lot of factors (today).”

The “slow poke” on the Andretti team is reigning IndyCar series champion Ryan Hunter-Reay, who started third in last year’s 500 and has a best lap of 226.919 mph.

Last year’s pole speed was 226.484 mph by Ryan Briscoe, then driving for Penske, in the first year of the new equipment package for the IndyCar series.

Perennial favorites Team Penske and Target Chip Ganassi continue to lag, which has been a theme this season.

Penske’s Will Power, runner-up in the series championship the past couple of season, has the best lap of the bunch at 228.401 mph. Teammate Helio Castroneves, a four-time pole winner and three-time champion, had a best lap of 226.988 mph on Friday.

Defending 500 champion Dario Franchitti led the Ganassi team at 227.080 mph, with Scott Dixon, the 2008 pole-sitter and race winner, at 226.162 mph.

Qualifying begins at 11 a.m. EST today with the first 24 positions of the 33-car field available. The top nine qualifiers as of 4 p.m. will participate in a 90-minute shootout to determine the pole position winner and the rest of the first nine spots.

 

Photo credit: Chris Jones/Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Sunoco Rides Again at Indianapolis

INDIANAPOLIS – It’s nice to see a Sunoco car on the track again.

Townsend Bell, who has had some solid performances in recent years at Indianapolis as a one-off participant, made steady progress this week in his No. 60 Chevrolet-powered machine, which also carries sponsorship for the movie “Turbo.”

Bell, who finished fourth in 2009, had a lap of 227.160 mph on Friday, eight-best of the day.

Sunoco was the primary sponsor of Roger Penske’s cars when the most successful Indianapolis 500 owner in history started entering cars in 1969. The last year of Penske’s association with Sunoco as a major sponsor at Indianapolis was in 1973 when he entered cars for defending winner Mark Donohue, Gary Bettenhausen and stock car star Bobby Allison.

Bell’s car is mainly yellow with blue trim. The Penske Sunoco machines were predominantly blue with orange or yellow trim.

Penske, Ganassi still quiet: The 2013 IndyCar season has been disappointing so far for perennial powerhouses Penske and Chip Ganassi Racing. That trend has continued this week as Helio Castroneves, Will Power, Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon have been out of the headlines for the most part.

It seems inconceivable that these two teams, which have combined to win five of the last seven Indianapolis 500s, will remain out of the picture during qualifying for the pole today. Power has the fourth-best lap of the month at 228.401 mph.

Hey, Buddy: Buddy Lazier started on his refresher test on Friday morning before the track opened. The 1996 champion last competed in 2008, finishing 17^th. He failed to qualify in 2009, so this is Lazier’s debut in the new equipment package, which debuted last year.

“The car feels incredibly good,” Lazier said. “I like this package.”

Daly game: The rain prevented rookie Conor Daly, who crashed heavily on Thursday, from shaking down his repaired A.J. Foyt Racing car.

“A.J. just had us fix the car straight up,” said Larry Curry, the team’s race strategist. “We did not go out and take apart the backup car that is out in the truck to put parts on this one.”

Daly was the only one of the 33 drivers assigned to cars not on track Friday.

 

Photo credit: Chris Jones/Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Predicting This Year's Indianapolis 500 Field

INDIANAPOLIS – I’ve always marveled at the college basketball writers who take a stab at picking the field for the 68-team NCAA Tournament.

 In that spirit, here’s my attempt at picking this year’s Indianapolis 500 field:

 

Row 1	James Hinchcliffe	Helio Castroneves	Dario Franchitti
Row 2	Marco Andretti	Scott Dixon	Ryan Hunter-Reay
Row 3	Ed Carpenter	Will Power	Ryan Briscoe
Row 4	E.J. Viso	Townsend Bell	J.R. Hildebrand
Row 5	Carlos Munoz	Josef Newgarden	Takuma Sato
Row 6	Alex Tagliani	Justin Wilson	A.J. Allmendinger
Row 7	Simon Pagenaud	Oriol Servia	Tony Kanaan
Row 8	Graham Rahal	Conor Daly	Charlie Kimball
Row 9	Sebastien Bourdais	James Jakes	Simona de Silvestro
Row 10	Sebastian Saavedra	Michel Jourdain Jr.	Tristan Vautier
Row 11	Ana Beatriz	Buddy Lazier	Pippa Mann

 

This is basically a quick, from-the-gut prediction based on what’s happened this week.

As always, expect some surprises on Saturday, especially in light of Fast Friday’s “Happy Hour” getting washed out. Should make for an interesting practice session on Saturday morning.

 

Photo credit: Walter Kuhn/Indianapolis Motor Speedway