The Hoosier Hundred is Worth Saving/ Eldora Opener/ Iowa Speedway Update/ Open Wheeler Crew Chief All-Time Best/ FOX Deep Doo Doo Part 2

The Hoosier Hundred is Worth Saving
I didn’t grow up in Indiana and I haven’t been around dirt Silver Crown cars that long, but I do know that there is something magical about the Hoosier Hundred. Back in the day, drivers would run the Hoosier Hundred and then turn around and run the Indianapolis 500.

The barns in turn one and two take you back to those days. Cars thundering down on the large mile oval is something that just cannot be found in other sports. Unfortunately, years have passed and the insurance company says safety improvements need to be made. I am not an Indiana citizen so it would be unfair of me to interfere in their politics but the Hoosier Hundred needs a second look. Folks that remember those days are aging. Soon they will be gone and those of us who are lucky enough to be alive need to make a decision. How important is our past to our future? Are the citizens of Indiana willing to pay more taxes or fees to update the facility or are they willing to let a part of history fall into the record books.

It will take an investment. Fans will have to politely convince the fair folks that they stand behind the HH. The fair folks will have to convince the state of Indiana that they think it is worthwhile cause. Fans will have to politely convince their politicians this is the right thing to do. The promoters and sponsors have already laid it on the line, year after year. Most of all, the fans must be at the next Hoosier Hundred, whenever it is held, there to prove that the promoters, sponsors, politicians, fair folks and the tax payers of Indiana are right. The Hoosier Hundred is worth saving.

Eldora Opener
It must be spring. The USAC National Sprint Series thunders into Eldora this weekend. Josh Wise and his new teammate Levi Jones will be two of the favorites this weekend. Jones teamed with Scott Benic in 2005 to win USAC’s National Sprint Division while Wise took the National Midget Division title driving for Tony Stewart Racing Enterprises. Another favorite this weekend will be Jerry Coons Jr. who is competing for the 2006 championship, driving for Hoffman Auto Racing. With the Busch Series taking the weekend off, Coons will be joined by Tracy Hines. Hot laps Saturday at Eldora are scheduled to begin at 6pm EST, with racing at 7:30pm. If you go, grab some wings for me.

Iowa Speedway Construction Update
Construction crews at Iowa Speedway are hard at work preparing the Newton track for opening this fall. According to a news release, the most visible progress is on the VIP Building as the steel beams are beginning to come up out of ground and seats are getting installed for the suites.

Iowa Speedway has moved 1.1 million cubic yards of dirt to date out of a total of 1.2 million yards that the entire project calls for. The mild weather has allowed dirt crews to re-enter the site and continue the final grading of parking lots, roads and other areas of the facility to prepare for final base and paving. Crews are expected to begin installation of the footings for the grandstands shortly and the perimeter roadwork is getting ready to commence.

Crew Chief of Open Wheeler Named All Time Best
Ray Evernham has been selected as NASCAR’s top all-time crew chief in a vote by a national motorsports media contingent. Evernham won three NASCAR Cup Series championships in the 1990s as crew chief for Jeff Gordon. In other Evernham news, Evernham Motorsports has made changes to their No. 98 Truck Series team. According to a news release, the team will adopt the leadership approach featuring a team director, car director and engineer used by Evernham's Cup teams beginning with this weekend's race at Martinsville Speedway. The goal of the moves is to put driver Erin Crocker and the No. 98 team in the position to compete for top-10 finishes every week.

IRL Notes
TrackSide Online reporter Patrick Stephan is bloging this weekend from St. Pete. See his blogs at http://www.indycar.com/blogs

A.J. Foyt was honored by the city of St. Petersburg Wednesday as the First Annual Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg Legend of Racing Award.

Dreyer & Reinbold Racing filed two entries for past winners Buddy Lazier and Al Unser Jr. for the Indy 500.

IRL Sked
Saturday, April 1
1:45 - 3:15 IndyCar Series Qualifying (Qual order determined - straight up or inverted - by fastest driver from Friday practice)
3:30 - Pro Series Race #1 (40 laps)
Sunday, April 2
11:30 - Pro Series Race #2 40 laps (Line-up determined by finishing order of Race #1 with Top 6 inverted)
3:45 - Grand Prix of St. Petersburg Live on ESPN

FOX Deep Doo Doo Part 2
The (insert word) has hit the fan for FOX. That word uttered last weekend on FOX’s broadcast from Bristol could likely hit FOX stations in the wallet. The Family Policy Network has filed a complaint with the FCC, which will get the ball moving towards the fine. According to FCC rules, the violation is your local over the air broadcasting stations problem, not FOX’s. Local stations are responsible for all content whether the station produces the content or not. The FCC usually fines stations owned by the network. Two problems out FOX stations in this predicament. First, chief Kevin "Bono" Manion who uttered those words shouldn’t have had a potty mouth. But since my mouth has been washed out a time or two, I can’t really totally blame him. Second, FOX just screwed up. The network should have had a delay. On top of that, maybe they need to take a second look at taping two-way conversations between drivers and teams. You could pick out the best moments and play them back with the assurance of what was going to be aired. Team to car transmissions are basically a private transmission. Most everyone understands if they are listening to the communication, they may hear more than they bargained for. The standard is different for over the air broadcasters. The FCC requires that the content broadcasted during certain hours be suitable for all viewers. I think we should expect a clean show from our broadcasters. I think FOX has that responsibility to its viewers.

No Pets In Wal-Mart
I was in an area Super Wal-Mart Thursday and heard this announcement, “Attention shoppers, it is Wal-Mart policy that no pets are allowed into the store.” Really? No pets in Wal-Mart, I couldn’t believe that someone would be goofy enough to bring their animal into WM. Apparently people try to sneak them last the greeters all of the time in their purses and other bags. I asked one of the greeters about it and she said, “Yea, one guy tried to bring in a snake the other day.” Is it obvious I live in Tennessee?

Weekend Coverage
This weekend, we plan to have coverage of the Open Wheelers in Cup, Truck and IRL plus Wind Tunnel throughout the weekend so please check back often.

For images related to these stories, please visit our sister website, http://openwheeler.blogspot.com/

Images appearing in this blog courtesy of R.E. Technologies and Iowa Speedway.

Breaking News Blog: Don’t Stick a Fork in the Hoosier Hundred Yet

Breaking News Blog: Don’t Stick a Fork in the Hoosier Hundred Yet

A news release was sent out by the Indiana State Fairgrounds Thursday saying the Hoosier Hundred would be postponed. That may not totally be the case. Sources close to the organization that sanctions the event told me today that several people are working as hard as they can to make the Hoosier Hundred in May, a reality this year.

I spoke with one of the promoters of the event in Homestead over the weekend and he said the same thing. One possibility is postponing the race until a later date to allow time for the state to put in safety measures that would satisfy concerns. One date potentially being looked at is the F1 weekend. Whatever the case, the Hoosier Hundred needs your support. The folks that run the event haven’t given up.

When the Hoosier Hundred does run, whether it is May or postponed to a later date, race fans need to respond by attending and showing that the promoters, politicians, racers and others that believe in the Hoosier Hundred are right. The Hoosier Hundred matters.

I hope you will join me at the Indiana State Fairgrounds on race day, whenever the race is run.

Images appearing in this blog courtesy of R.E. Technologies.

PRA Seaking Tracks for 2007/ IRL Broadcast Review/ Erin Crocker News/ The Real Slapshot

PRA Seeking Tracks for 2007

While the Premier Racing Association/Big Car Racing Series schedule is set for 2006, the series is already looking ahead to 2007. The organizers of the series are currently looking for tracks to fill out a possible 15 to 20 event schedule. The Big Car Series utilizes the older Silver Crown style pavement cars. The series this season will be contested on Tuesdays & Wednesdays that won’t interfere with USAC events. The season kicks off at Indianapolis Raceway Park in May. The Big Car Series also has opportunities for series sponsors and race sponsors. You can contact the PRA at info@PRARacing.com or visit their website at www.PRARacing.com.

IRL TV Review
Sunday’s ABC IRL IndyCar Series broadcast was a difficult one for the team and crew but for the most part, they did a good job. The broadcast team featured IRL newcomers Marty Reid and Rusty Wallace to the booth. As expected, the team had a little trouble getting their rhythm down but performed well for their first trip out. Reid and Wallace said a few things that didn’t make sense or were incorrect during the broadcast but that can be expected due to their newness to the series. It is the producer’s job to correct them and provide them with the best info to keep the talking heads in line. Overall, Wallace performed much better than I expected. He is not Paul Page but he will be a star for ABC in the future.

Brent Musburger disappointed me. I can’t expect him to be Bob Jenkins but he usually performs better. He performed well under the circumstances, but I expected more of one of the top three sports broadcasters in the country. On that note, having Musburger in the booth is a symbol that ABC/ESPN is committed to the IRL and making the broadcasts first class. BM masterfully handled the breaking news of the day’s events on ESPN’s Sports Center and ESPN News.

The production team built this stage at the beginning of pit lane to give the broadcast a “Hollywood Hotel” feel.

While the broadcast did not employ FOX’s new toy, the “fly cam,”

The broadcast did give us new innovations such as on board telemetry. They allowed the viewers to take a lap with eventual winner Dan Weldon. Weldon never lifted.

The program reached out to audiences that normally would not be interested in racing, by devoting time to Carmello Anthony who was on the pitbox.

This season the IRL has brought back “Side by Side” that allows viewers to never miss a second of racing. This feature will be used at every IRL race in 2006.

Overall, the broadcast crew did a great job under difficult circumstances. The program was well produced and the pit reporters are the best in the business. The only weak link, was the program host and the anchors, but that will improve with time. Overall I give it a B+.

IRL Broadcasts Around the Globe
Sunday’s Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg will be seen in 147 countries and territories on ESPN International’s affiliated networks in Africa, Asia, Australia, Canada, Latin America, New Zealand and the Middle East. The remaining 13 IndyCar Series telecasts through ESPN International will reach 194 million households worldwide. Larry Rice and Gary Lee will be ESPN International’s English-language announcing team; Andres Agulla and Alex Pombo will serve as Spanish-language commentators. A network from Brazil will also televise the races.

Erin Crocker News
Erin Crocker came in fifth in Wednesday ARCA/REMAX Series testing at Nashville Superspeedway. Crocked grabbed the pole and finished third there last August. The Nashville ARCA race will be carried LIVE on SPEED Saturday afternoon, April 15th at 1:30pm eastern. Crocker will compete in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series this weekend at Martinsville. She tested at Caraway Speedway in North Carolina last week to prepare for the race. The former WoO short track driver has never competed in the Truck Series in a short track.

Crocker and Gordon In Diversity Commercial
At the risk of sounding like the Erin Crocker website,

EC is starring in a commercial with Jeff Gordon promoting diversity in NASCAR.

The commercial produced by NASCAR shows,

people and drivers of all walks of life

both sexes and all races climbing out of the same car.

The idea of the commercial is to promote NASCAR and encourage everyone to get involved in the sport. I think the IRL is touching on this by going after Carmello Anthony as a co-owner of a team . The IRL already has Danica Patrick.

Bottom line here is that a car doesn’t care about the sex of the driver behind the wheel. It just wants to go fast.

This Kid has taken a Savage Beating
Finally today, in a scene reminiscent of the movie Slap Shot (staring Open Wheeler Paul Newman), a nasty display for sportsmanship greeted the Brandon Wheat Kings Saturday night in Moose Jaw (Canada). While celebrating the victory on the ice Saturday, the Wheat Kings were showered with water bottles filled with coins by fans. Fisticuffs broke out and fans, according to the Brandon Sun, traded punches with security personnel and Wheat King players. One of the linesman attempting to break up the fight was an off duty Moose Jaw police officer. The Western Hockey League is investigating.

For images related to these stories, please visit our sister website, http://openwheeler.blogspot.com

Images appearing in this blog courtesy of FOX, NASCAR Images, Indy Racing League, ABC and R.E. Technologies.

Paul Dana/ IRL Preview/ Jeff Gordon Fined for Fighting Ricky Bobby/ ESPN to Become Motorsports Mecca/ FOX in Potential Deep Doo Doo for Dirty Word

Teammates Remember Dana
Danica Patrick and Buddy Rice spoke to the media for the first time Tuesday following Paul Dana’s tragic accident.

“This is life,” said Patrick. “We drive race cars, and it's what we love, and it's our job, but we don't walk out there a couple minutes afterwards and say, 'I've forgotten already.' I don't think that anybody can critique the fact that he said don't race. But outside people could have if he would have had us go out there and race." “He (Paul) was a very nice guy. And gosh, did he want it. Let's think about it - race car drivers. In a perfect world, you bring your own sponsor along. He did the hardest thing. He got a sponsor to stand behind and give him a ride. They said, 'all right Paul Dana, we believe in you."

"Well, I think he had a lot of heart,” said Buddy Rice. “That guy put everything he had into becoming a race car driver. I think he had a lot of drive, he had a lot of heart and he put everything he had into becoming a racecar driver. At least, he went out on the top step, where he wanted to be at, in the top level. So he fulfilled his dream, everything he wanted. Obviously, it was short but he got to do what he wanted to do and he made it to the top level."

Dana Memorial
A memorial service - "celebrating the life of Paul Dana" -- for the racing community will be held this Thursday, March 30, at 5:15pm in Mahaffey Theatre in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Dana family has asked that all donations be sent to the Paul Dana Memorial Fund For Renewable Energy, c/o National Bank of Indianapolis, 107 N. Pennsylvania St., Suite 100, Indianapolis, IN, 46204. The No. 17 Team Ethanol Honda team will not race this weekend at the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.

The Show Must Go On
The IRL will take time to morn the passing of Paul Dana one last time Thursday. The series must then continue on. Running this weekend at the 100 lap Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. The race is the first road course of the season for the series. The IndyCar Series race will be televised live in ESPN at 3:30pm eastern Sunday. Qualifying is scheduled for 1:45pm Saturday.The Indy Pro Series will run two races this weekend in the 14-turn, 1.8-mile temporary street course. This weekend will mark the first time the series will run back to back races on consecutive days.

Helio Fastest Again
Coming off a narrow defeat Sunday, Helio Castroneves turned the fastest lap in road course testing at Homestead Tuesday. His teammate, Sam Hornish Jr. turned the second fastest time.

Moreno to Replace Carpenter
Roberto Moreno will most likely replace Ed Carpenter this weekend at St. Petersburg. He tested Carpenter’s car Tuesday at Homestead.

Chesson Looking for Dirt
PJ Chesson says he is looking for some dirt on the track to feel more comfortable with IndyCar Series racing. This will be the former World of Outlaws Sprint drivers first race on a roadcourse.

KISS and Makeup
Columnist Dave Feschuk of the Toronto Star rambles about KISS and the potential Open Wheel merger in his column. http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1143499812077&call_pageid=969907740050&col=970081602428

Gordon Fined for Fighting Ricky Bobby

NASCAR fined Jeff Gordon, $10,000 for his pushing match with Matt Kenseth on Sunday at Bristol.

Matt Kenseth = Ricky Bobby?

Is it me, or does Matt Kenseth look like Ricky Bobby, a fictional NASCAR driver played by Will Farrell. For more, see the movie’s website at www.rickybobby.com.

Open Wheelers Fast in Richmond Testing
Kasey Kahne, Carl Edwards, J.J. Yeley and Ryan Newman timed in second through firth quick in testing at Richmond testing Tuesday.

Stewart Tests in Florida
Tony Stewart prepared for this weeks race at Martinsville by testing at USAC International Speedway on March 21 and 22.

MEDIA NEWS

ESPN To Become Racing Mecca Again
Andy Bernstein reports in this week’s edition of the Sports Business Journal http://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=article.main&articleId=49963 that ESPN is out to become the “Home of Motorsports” again. The article focuses on ESPN adding rally racing to the X Games. The article goes on to quote Ron Semiao, senior vice president, ESPN Original Entertainment as saying that the network is bent on returning motorsports to the network. NASCAR will return in 2007 and the network has extended their contracts with the IRL and NHRA. Quoting Semiao in the article,

“ESPN Networks are clearly going to be known as a home for motorsports.”

Oh Shnike!
NASCAR.com reports that someone at FOX dropped the ball during Sunday’s race at Bristol. The website says “dirty words” hit the broadcast air during a two-way conversation between crew chief Kevin Manion and his driver, Martin Truex., Jr. Some networks record two-way conversations for later broadcast to prevent this type of mishap. If complaints are filed, the FCC could take action against FOX Broadcast stations. NBC runs an eight second delay on their broadcasts after Dale Earnhardt Jr. let a poo poo word slip at Talladega in 2005. Manion will not be fined by NASCAR because the “glitch” was a network mistake and not his mistake. Bottom line, no potty mouth, no problems.

SPEED’s NASCAR Raceday Numbers Up
As we told you in February, SPEED upped the ante with their prerace program, NASCAR Raceday. Now the network is being rewarded with larger numbers of viewers according to this week’s Sports Business Journal.

For images related to these stories, please visit our sister website, http://openwheeler.blogspot.com/

Images appearing in this blog courtesy of FOX, NASCAR Images and Sony Pictures

Paul Dana Memories

Paul Dana Memories
I thought I would take a moment to share with you a few photos of when Paul Dana drive for the Hemelgarn 91 Johnson Motorsports team in what was then called in 2004, the Menards Infiniti Pro Series (now the Indy Pro Series). Paul drove the full season behind the wheel of the No. 91. In his first race for the team at Homestead, he qualified on the pole.

This photo is of Paul Dana in the cockpit of the No. 91 prior to qualifying at Phoenix. He started 10th but finished 5th. Dana was a competitor and gave it his all.

He was also a marketer. He took every opportunity to tell people about his sponsor, Ethanol and what it could do for the country. This was in 2004, before gas prices went out of control. Here, he talks with Cameron Steele and the ESPN2 crew.

Paul Dana brought Ethanol to the IRL. He sold several companies on the idea and they banded together to get their message out about their product. Paul basically sold the unsellable. He did everything in his power to convince Ethanol that this was the place to be.

Paul Dana finished second at Kansas Speedway, second at Nashville, fourth at Michigain, second at Kentucky, second at Pikes Peak and won at the Milwaukee Mile.

Dana speaks here with his team manager. His brain was not limited to marketing. He had ideas of how to make the car go faster.

He personally sought out all of the companies you see on the car. A ten percent Ethanol mix is now in every IndyCar and in 2007, the series will run on one hundred percent Ethanol.

Paul Dana was different from any driver I have ever met. He put together his own PR and handeled the meida personaly during his days in the Pro Series. He only picked up PR help when he moved into the IndyCar Series.

In front of family and friends, Paul started on the front row in Nashville only to finish second to Thiago Medeiros. The Nashville front row was special for Dana. He brought his wife up after this photo was taken so she could enjoy the front row photo session too.

When he was in the cockpit of the car, Paul Dana was all business, much like when he was entertaining sponsors. Dana made sure they got their return on their sponsorship.

I am thankful that I was in victory lane that warm Sunday of July when he tasted victory at the Milwaukee Mile. Dana finished second in driver points in the Menards Infiniti Pro Series in 2004.

Paul Dana most of all was a competitor and passed away doing what he loved.

Crocker Mistaken for Kahne’s Girlfriend/ Kinser Scores Martinsville Sponsorship/ TV Listings

My Memories of Paul Dana
Later today, I will post images and memories of when Paul Dana drove for Hemelgarn 91 Johnson Motorsports. I enjoyed being around him and as I have already mentioned earlier this week, Paul was a very driven man. My memories and images of Paul Dana can be found at http://openwheeler.blogspot.com

Crocker Mistaken for Kahne’s Girlfriend
In her latest journal entry on NASCAR.com, Erin Crocker says she is often mistaken for Kasey Kahne’s PR person or girlfriend. “Sometimes when I'm hanging outside the hauler people think I'm his PR girl and say, "Can you get this signed for me?'' I'm like, "I'm not the person to ask.'' About the girlfriend mistaken identity Crocker tells fans, "No, we're just teammates.''

Crocker Already Up for Driver of the Year
In other EC news race fans voting in the RaceDay News Driver of the Year Poll, for the 2006 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Season have named Erin Crocker the winner in the first nomination period. Crocker won with 47.4% of the vote. Series champ, Ted Musgrave had 19.3%. Nominations are tallied every 30 days. Final votes will come at the end of November.

Kinser Gets Martinsville Sponsorship
Ginn Clubs & Resorts will sponsor Kraig Kinser's No. 29 truck this weekend at Martinsville.

Truck Series Open Wheelers Martinsville Entries
10 Terry Cook
15 Kyle Krisiloff
16 Mike Bliss
21 Bobby East
25 Boston Reid
29 Kraig Kinser
98 Erin Crocker

Busch Testing at Richmond
In only one of four tests allowed by NASCAR this season, the Busch Series is testing this week at Richmond. The tests run Tuesday – Thursday 9am-9pm.

TV Listings
Wednesday
10:30 pm Driven to Win Erin Crocker BIOG
Thursday
10:00 pm Formula One Practice Australian Grand Prix (LIVE) SPEED
Friday
3:30 pm NASCAR Nextel Cup Qualifying Martinsville (LIVE) SPEED
Saturday
12:00 am Formula One Qualifying Australia SPEED
9:30 am Driven to Win Erin Crocker BIOG
3:00 pm NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Martinsville (LIVE) SPEED
10:00 pm Speed News SPEED
10:30 pm Formula One Australian Grand Prix (LIVE) SPEED
Sunday
12:30 pm Formula One Australian Grand Prix SPEED
12:30 pm Pre-Race Martinsville FOX
1:00 pm Nextel Cup Race Martinsville FOX
2:30 pm Indy Car St Petersburg FL ESPN
7:00 pm Speed News SPEED
9:00 pm Wind Tunnel with Dave Despain (LIVE) SPEED
Monday
10:00 am Wind Tunnel with Dave Despain SPEED
8:00 pm 7 Days SPEED
8:30 pm NBS 24/7: The Rookies SPEED

TSO Delivers News on Homestead/ 2005 Champ Wins Tough Opener/ Rahal/ Letterman and Vision to Return/ Busch Wins Bristol/ Later This Week

TSO Delivers News on Homestead
Whether it was the horrifying new of the accident and passing of Paul Dana or the aftermath of a good race, the folks at http://www.trascksideonline.com/ have delivered the information in a timely independent manner. TrackSide Online reports that Ed Carpenter was released from the hospital today. For more on this story, please visit TrackSide Online.

2005 Champ Wins Tough Opener
Dan Weldon won probably won on probably one of the toughest days in IRL history. The 2005 series champion gained his tenth IndyCar Series win, only hours after rookie Paul Dana lost his life. His teammates, Danica Patrick and Dan Weldon would not compete.

The race opened with new IRL marketing guru Gene Simmons dropping the green flag before a good crowd estimated at 30,000.

Buddy Laziers day ended early with an oil fire.

2004 IndyCar Champ Tony Kannan had a brain fart and hit the pit wall while coming into the pits ending his day.

Marco Andretti went out of the race with a mechanical problem. Normally when your team or someone close to you, the last thing you want is to sign an autograph. The guy on the left is the inconsiderate fan. The guy on the right is Mario Andretti who signed the autograph immediately after his grandson was put out of the race.

Mario Andretti is first class. By lap 20, there were only 12 cars in the race. With seventeen laps to go, it was on between Weldon and Castroneves.

Weldon won by a nose in the 7th closest race in IRL history.

The day ended when officials at Homestead-Miami Speedway put Paul Dana’s number,

17, in the first position alone on the scoreboard.

Rahal/ Letterman and Vision to Return
Rahal/ Letterman Racing and Vision Racing will run at St. Petersburg this weekend. Ed Carpenter will be held out. No decision has been made on the No. 17, the car Paul Dana drove.

Wind tunnel
Robin Miller talked about the Paul Dana accident and also talked about what he wrote in his SPEED column. http://www.speedtv.com/commentary/22748

On a little happier note, Texas Motor Speedway promoter Eddie Gossage talked about the slapping session following the first IRL race at his facility.

AJ Foyt’s car won the race that day and Arie Luyendyk came to Foyt’s victory lane celebration.

Super Tex didn’t like the Dutchman in his presence and proceeded to slap him out of his way.

The win was later awarded to Luyendyk. Gossage told Despain that Foyt refused to give back his trophy and the speedway had to make another one for Luyendyk.

Busch Wins Bristol

The snow was not around on Sunday but Bristol was still Bristol.

Kurt Busch proceeded to put the bump and run on Matt Kenseth.

Kenseth then tried the bump and run on Gordon but this time Gordon spun.

The former USAC driver did not appreciate the gesture and went “Super Tex” on him, attacking the 2003 Cup champion.

As far as the Open Wheelers go, Carl Edwards had a great points day, finishing fourth. Ryan Newman and Kasey Kahne rounded out the top ten.

Open Wheelers Cup Results
4. Carl Edwards
9. Ryan Newman
10. Kasey Kahne
12. Tony Stewart
21. Jeff Gordon
23. Dave Blaney
24. Ken Schrader
25. Casey Mears
26. Robby Gordon
33. JJ Yeley

Later This Week
Coming up later this week, I will break down ABC’s broadcast of the race. Plus I will answer you questions on the Homestead Silver Crown race as well as USAC questions in general. To get your take in, email me at johnsonbjv@aol.com.

To see images that go along with this update, please visit out sister site http://openwheeler.blogspot.com/. The website will also have updates throughout the weekend.

Still photo images courtesy of SPEED, FOX, ESPN, ABC, Indy Racing League and NASCAR Digital Entertainment.