Sorry about the lack of activity in the last few days. I needed to go off the grid, so to speak. This coming Saturday will mark the end of my first year in the real world and since I still don’t have a job that has any connection to my journalism degree, I’ve been a little edgy with people lately. Apparently, my “thoughtful” face and my “angry” face have become one and the same, and so I took my co-worker’s advice and just chilled out this weekend at home.
Anyway, here’s a few IndyCar-related thoughts to ease ourselves into the run-up to Saturday afternoon’s Road Runner Turbo Indy 300 at Kansas Speedway, which I think could be the last Indy Racing League event at the 1.5-mile oval in Kansas City, Kansas. I don’t have anything concrete to back up my hunch, so take this as what it is. But I’m getting the same vibe that I had with Richmond International Raceway last year — a vibe that proved correct when the bullring left the schedule after the IndyCars put on a horrible show there last summer (one I attended in person).
First off, the IndyCars got moved to the Saturday afternoon slot, which is gonna be seen as “support” to the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race on Sunday. So there’s a pride hit if you look at it that way. Then I noticed a big stink amongst the faithful over at TrackForum about whether or not Kansas was closing the track to fans for Friday’s qualifying action. The truth: Friday practice/quals will be open — to people with a ticket for either the IndyCar race on Saturday or the NASCAR truck race on Sunday. From what I’m seeing, the track isn’t selling a Friday-only ticket, so any curious types that decide to go to the track on that day will be out of luck.
Qualifying at IRL oval events usually draws flies, so I can’t fully blame the track. However, you’d assume that an advertised practice/qualifying day ticket at $10 or $15 would be part of a ticket package simply for convenience’s sake. It just seems unfriendly to the fans, and considering that most of them have been ripping Kansas for not promoting their IRL races enough, the track’s reputation may degrade even further in the eyes of IndyCar followers.
I’m hoping that I get proven wrong on this hunch, though. The oval element of the IZOD IndyCar Series continues to get smaller and smaller, and in my mind, that’s not a good thing.
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You can scratch one of the TBAs off the Indianapolis 500 entry list. Tomas Scheckter, a guy that always seems to inject excitement into every race he competes in, will hook back up with Dreyer and Reinbold Racing to drive the No. 23 machine for the Greatest Spectacle in Racing. He competed in ten IZOD IndyCar Series events for the team last season.
Scheckter tends to get overshadowed when it comes to talking about drivers that deserve full-time rides in this sport. Yes, he hasn’t won as much as he probably should have by now, but he’s one of those competitors that can make the price of admission worthwhile for the folks in the grandstands. Yet we always seem to forget about him and give our laments for Graham Rahal, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Paul Tracy, or somebody else.
He’s certainly no slouch on the speedways, and if DRR’s upgraded performances on the road and street courses show up on ovals too, he could be a primo darkhorse on May 30 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway alongside Dan Wheldon, the Andretti Autosport armada, and others.
Count me as somebody that wouldn’t mind seeing him back in full-time capacity.
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Former IRL champion and current NASCAR star Tony Stewart has offered a ride to this year’s Indianapolis 500 champion for his Prelude to the Dream dirt late model event on June 9 at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio. The man they call “Smoke” made the announcement last week at IMS while he was there for a tire/spoiler test in advance of July’s Brickyard 400.
The event will be televised on pay-per-view, with proceeds going to four children’s hospitals (Riley Hospital for Children, Indianapolis, Ind.; Cincinnati (Ohio) Children’s; Levine Children’s Hospital, Charlotte, N.C.; St. Jude Children’s Research Hospitals, Memphis, Tenn.). The Indy 500 winner’s machine would feature IMS “Centennial Era” imagery according to a press release.
Suffice to say, somebody’s stock amongst the IndyCar fan base would rise pretty high if he (or she) won the “500” and then dueled with NASCAR’s finest on one of America’s most beloved dirt tracks — all for the benefit of some very brave kids. Plus, the race comes before an off-weekend between events at Texas (June 5) and Iowa (June 20).
Hopefully, someone will take Stewart up on his offer.
