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
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
posted by Blake Johnson at 1:57 PM
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