IRL Day/ Schatz Goes for a Ride

IRL Day in the Blog
There is a lot of activity surrounding the Indy Racing League today to report. The IndyCar and Indy Pro Series are testing today through this weekend plus, it is time to do an update on what to expect this season.

PJ Chesson Could Run IndyCar Series
TracksideOnline.com is reporting that grass roots Open Wheeler PJ Chesson could be in an IRL IndyCar as soon as Homestead. The website reports that a sponsorship deal is close to being finalized.

New Sponsor, Kind Of
TSO is also reporting that Marco Andretti's car will now carry the NYSE logo. The car carried the ArcaEx logo in 2005. Since Archipelago Exchange merged with the New York Stock Exchange, the NYSE logo is now on the car.

TSO Leading in Coverage
You have heard me reference TracksideOnline many times on this website. TSO is the web leader for independent coverage of the IRL. The website sends reporters to cover all IRL races, tests and other important IRL related events. They also staff the events with photographers to give you an idea of what it feels like to be there. The meat of TSO is for subscribers only. The cost to subscribe is so minimal considering the coverage you can’t get anywhere else.

The Broadcast Team is Here
TSO reports that the IRL’s broadcast team of Scott Goodyear, Jack Arute and Rusty Wallace are at the Homestead test, getting a feel for the 2006 version of the series.

2006 Changes
The 2006 version of the IRL will look a little different from previous seasons. The IndyCar Series will be powered by Honda Racing Indy HI6R V-8 engines exclusively. The engines will run on an ethanol/methanol blend. As we have documented, the IRL’s 2006 marketing theme is "I am INDY." 2005 champ Dan Wheldon will defend his championship with Target Chip Ganassi Racing. Vitor Meira has moved to the No. 4 of Panther Racing. Tomas Scheckter has moved to Vision Racing which now becomes a two-car team. Buddy Lazier returns to the IndyCar Series full-time with Dreyer & Reinbold Racing. Paul Dana moves over to Rahal Letterman Racing. Third-generation driver Marco Andretti moves up to the IndyCar Series. His father and team co-owner, Michael Andretti, is scheduled to run in the Indy 500. Eddie Cheever returns to the IndyCar Series. The 2006 season opens up with the Toyota Indy 300 at 3:30 p.m. (EST) on March 26 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on ABC.

Homestead Test
As we said before, our friends at TrackSide Online are covering the IndyCar Series Open Test at Homestead this week. Here is a list of entrants.

IndyCar Series Car Driver Hometown C/E/T Entrant
2 Tomas Scheckter Cape Town, South Africa D/H/F Vision Racing
3 Helio Castroneves Sao Paulo, Brazil D/H/F Marlboro Team Penske
4 Vitor Meira Brasilia, Brazil D/H/F Panther Racing
5 Buddy Lazier Vail, Colo. D/H/F Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
6 Sam Hornish Jr. Defiance, Ohio D/H/F Marlboro Team Penske
7 Bryan Herta Valencia, Calif. D/H/F Andretti Green Racing
8 Scott Sharp Norwalk, Conn. P/H/F Delphi Fernandez Racing
9 Scott Dixon Auckland, New Zealand D/H/F Target Chip Ganassi Racing
10 Dan Wheldon Emberton, England D/H/F Target Chip Ganassi Racing
11 Tony Kanaan Salvador, Bahia, Brazil D/H/F Andretti Green Racing
14 Felipe Giaffone Sao Paulo, Brazil D/H/F A.J. Foyt Enterprises
15 Buddy Rice Phoenix P/H/F Rahal Letterman Racing
16 Danica Patrick Roscoe, Ill. P/H/F Rahal Letterman Racing
17 Paul Dana (R) St. Louis P/H/F Rahal Letterman Racing
20 Ed Carpenter Indianapolis D/H/F Vision Racing
26 Marco Andretti (R) Nazareth, Pa. D/H/F Andretti Green Racing
27 Dario Franchitti Edinburgh, Scotland D/H/F Andretti Green Racing
55 Kosuke Matsuura Aichi, Japan D/H/F Super Aguri Fernandez Racing
Legend: Chassis: D=Dallara, P=Panoz. Engine: H=Honda. Tire: F=Firestone. (R)=Rookie. Issued: 2/28/06

Schatz Goes for a Ride
Donny Schatz is back on the ground after going for the ride of his life. The WoO star had the honor of flying with the Blue Angles Wednesday. Schatz says he enjoyed the ride in the high performance jet breaking the sound barrier and pulling 7.5 times the force of gravity.

“The things they do with these planes is unbelievable,” he said. “You don’t have time to think. It’s amazing what you do. We rolled straight up in the air and went to 5,500 feet in a matter of four or five seconds. The G-force that sits you back in your seat gets you all woozy. It’s a real scary feeling, but it’s amazing. You can look out to the side and see the ground back here like this, then it’s up here, then it’s here. It’s hard to describe, but the airplanes here are definitely performers, and better than that are the pilots who are able to deal with the environment the way they do and know where they are at all times.”

Lt. Kevin Davis was impressed with how Schatz handled the ride.

“It was great,” he said. “Donny was a real sport about it. He handled himself very well. He was used to the confined space being a race driver. I think he felt pretty comfortable in the jet once we got up there. Flying around upside down did not bother him one bit. He seemed pretty comfortable hanging in the straps there.”

The Blue Angles team is stationed at Forrest Sherman Field, Naval Air Station Pensacola, Fla., during the show season. However, the squadron spends January through March training pilots and new team members at Naval Air Facility El Centro, Calif. The Blue Angels are scheduled to fly nearly 68 air shows at 35 locations in the United States during the 2006 season. Last season brought out more than 17 million spectators. Since its inception in 1946, the Blue Angels have performed for more than 414 million fans. Schatz and the World of Outlaws race in the annual Cactus Classic Friday at Manzanita Speedway in Phoenix and Saturday at USA Race Park in Tucson, Arizona.