Speculation of MMP Dirt Track Revival/ Special Hoosier Hundred Coverage/ Grass Roots Open Wheelers Make their Mark/ TSO Pins it Down/ Indy does NYC
Speculation of MMP Dirt Track Revival
Mid-South Racing.com webmaster and local radio host Ben Shelton has been dropping hints about Shelby County (Memphis), Tennessee having its own dirt track again.
The dirt track at Memphis Motorsports Park closed at the end of the 2005 season to make way for parking, hospitality and vendors for the paved oval that hosts NASCAR events.
Now the speculation on the street has someone purchasing a piece of land on or near the MMP property with the intention of rebuilding the dirt track. Following the announcement of the closing of the track, a spokesperson for MMP told me that the track would not be rebuilt. I asked "never?" and he said well you can never say never but not at least for a while. I did NOT make any attempts to get updated comments from MMP on this subject. Remember, nothing has been officially announced; it is speculation at this point.
Special Hoosier Hundred Coverage
This Friday night we will be at the Indiana State Fairgrounds for the Hoosier Hundred.
We will have updates as well as images from the event. The website, http://www.retechracing.com/ will have results as they happen in the Live Trackside portion of their website. If you physically can make it to the Indiana State Fairgrounds Friday night, I highly encourage you to do so to prove those that fought to save the Hoosier Hundred were right. If you some reason you cannot make it, we will have updates and images from the track.
Grass Roots Open Wheelers Make their Mark
This has been a pretty good month for grass roots Open Wheelers at Indy. Former World of Outlaws Sprints star P.J. Chesson qualified 20th for his first 500. While his time wasn’t as fast as Marco Andretti’s, Chesson is adapting well to this style of racing. The guy with the Indy 500 logo tattoo on his arm began his Indy Car style career winning three races in a row as a rookie in the Indy Pro Series. His brother James Chesson backed it up with win at California Speedway in 2004. P.J.’s little brother will compete in the Indy Pro Series Freedom 100 this Friday. James Chesson will drive for Part Sourcing International in the same car that took Aaron Fike to two Pro Series wins. Veteran Indy Pro Series crew chief, Matt Dove will oversee the car. As T.J. Slideways.com reported in their article last week www.tjslideways.com Knoxville Nationals Fast Track to Indy Rookie of the Year Geoff Dodge will also make his first appearance at Indy. Knoxville Raceway officials have scheduled a news conference at IMS for Thursday. Tom Eakins from Ticket Director is scheduled to attend the news conference. Ticket Director reciently became Knoxville’s official ticketing partner. Could a sponsorship for Dodge also be in the works? USAC’s Silver Crown division has two represenitives in the Indy 500. P.J. Jones will start 32nd and Thiago Medeiros will start 33rd. Both drivers participated in the Silver Crown race at Homestead this past March with Jones finishing fourth after leading several laps.
TSO Pins it Down
That is probably the worst pun I have ever written. Sorry about that. Anywho, our friends at TrackSide Online have the dirt on PJ Chesson’s new tattoo.
The website http://www.tracksideonline.com/ reports that the inking left both team owner Ron Hemelgarn and IMS President Tony George were left shaking their heads. The site also shot down rumors of Chesson having to pay for the use of an official Indianapolis Motor Speedway trademark. By the way, if you haven’t subscribed to TSO, you should. They are the only media that cover every race and every test session of the IRL year round. They also deliver news and photos that you will not see anywhere else. I have my subscription. Do you have yours?
Indy does NYC
The marketing department of the IRL coming off the success of their last New York visit, flew into NYC this morning to drum up attention for this weekend’s Indy 500. Select drivers rang in the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange. All 33 drivers then headed to a photo shoot on the U.S.S. Intrepid.
Indy 500 Lineup By Rows
Row 1
1. (6) Sam Hornish Jr., Dallara-Honda, 228.985
2. (3T) Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Honda, 228.008
3. (10) Dan Wheldon, Dallara-Honda, 227.338
Row 2
4. (9) Scott Dixon, Dallara-Honda, 226.921
5. (11) Tony Kanaan, Dallara-Honda, 226.776
6. (4T) Vitor Meira, Dallara-Honda, 226.156
Row 3
7. (55) Kosuke Matsuura, Dallara-Honda, 225.503
8. (8) Scott Sharp, Dallara-Honda, 225.321
9. (26) Marco Andretti, Dallara-Honda, 224.918
Row 4
10. (16T) Danica Patrick, Panoz-Honda, 224.674
11. (2) Tomas Scheckter, Dallara-Honda, 224.659
12. (20) Ed Carpenter, Dallara-Honda, 224.548
Row 5
13. (1) Michael Andretti, Dallara-Honda, 224.508
14. (15T) Buddy Rice, Panoz-Honda, 224.393
15. (90) Townsend Bell, Dallara-Honda, 224.374
Row 6
16. (7) Bryan Herta, Dallara-Honda, 224.179
17. (27) Dario Franchitti, Dallara-Honda, 223.345
18. (52) Max Papis, Dallara-Honda, 222.058
Row 7
19. (51) Eddie Cheever Jr., Dallara-Honda, 222.028
20. (91) P.J. Chesson, Dallara-Honda, 221.576
21. (14) Felipe Giaffone, Dallara-Honda, 221.542
Row 8
22. (92) Jeff Bucknum, Dallara-Honda, 221.461
23. (41) Larry Foyt, Dallara-Honda, 221.332
24. (21) Jaques Lazier, Panoz-Honda, 221.151
Row 9
25. (5) Buddy Lazier, Dallara-Honda, 220.922
26. (17T) Jeff Simmons, Panoz-Honda, 220.347
27. (31) Al Unser Jr., Dallara-Honda, 219.388
Row 10
28. (12) Roger Yasukawa, Panoz-Honda, 218.793
29. (88) Airton Dare, Panoz-Honda, 218.170
30. (97) Stephan Gregoire, Panoz-Honda, 217.428
Row 11
31. (61) Arie Luyendyk Jr., Panoz-Honda, 216.352
32. (98) PJ Jones, Panoz-Honda, 215.816
33. (18) Thiago Medeiros, Panoz-Honda, 215.729
Kasey Kahne’s Brickyard Bonus
According to an article in today’s edition of the Sports Business Journal, Allstate will run a sweepstakes involving Open Wheeler Kasey Kahne. The winner will receive a trip to the Brickyard 400 and a chance to win $400,000 Allstate’s spokesman, Kasey Kahne, wins the race. Kahne will have an advantage that other Cup drivers will not have. The Scene Daily.com is reporting that Kasey Kahne, Tony Stewart and Elliott Sadler will return to IMS on May 30th for another Goodyear tire test.
SBJ
As racing’s biggest weekend of the year heads for turn four, this week’s edition of the Sports Business Journal takes a look at the sport.
Dale Earnhardt Film
The Intimidator was never an Open Wheeler. However his sprit lives on in Open Wheelers across the US. Next year, just in time for the Daytona 500, CMT Films (yes from the country cable folks) will release an authorized documentary on Dale Earnhardt, this according to a story in today’s edition of the Sports Business Journal. The 90-minute film, “Dale: The True Story” will debut in markets two weeks before a Cup event. According to the SBJ, the film will be tailored to each market showing the link between Earnhardt and that track. CMT is scheduled to broadcast the film in September of 2007. Open Wheeler and racing icon Paul Newman will narrate the film.
Open Wheel’s Highs and Lows in SBJ Polls
Today’s edition of the Sports Business Journal, http://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/ is filled with surveys on how people perceive auto racing. There is some good news and bad new for Open Wheelers. Turnkey Sports asked folks about their feelings on NASCAR and Open Wheel. Fans responded and said that they prefer racing on Saturday night under the lights. They also asked if Open Wheel has enough fans to support the two separate main series, IRL and CCWS.
Seventy four percent said a loud NO! All the more reason for reunification. Another poll conducted by E-Poll Market Research asked folks how they felt about the following drivers: Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart and Danica Patrick. Seventy percent of those polled recognized Earnhardt’s name but Gordon won out on face recognition.
Danica Patrick won out in the likeable category with ninety six percent. Tony Stewart was the most disliked of the four. Jeff Gordon was voted most overexposed but Danica Patrick won out in the trendsetter category and the attractive category with fifty five percent. Results from all of the polls can be found exclusively at http://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/.
One Week Left to Vote in Race Babe Poll
While the results are in on the SBJ poll, there is still one more week left to vote in the Race Babe poll.
Erin Crocker is still has a sizable lead in the poll coming in at thirty three percent.
(Like the retro Crocker photos? )
Speed’s Connie LeGrand and Krista Voda along with Champ Car World Series hostess, Michelle Biesner and Kevin Harvick’s wife DeLana Harvick are all tied for second with nine percent each. The poll will close and we will post the results on Monday May 29th. This is your last week to vote. You can still vote by going to http://openwheeler.blogspot.com/ and scrolling to the bottom of the page. Click on this link http://openwheeler.blogspot.com/2006/04/who-is-your-favorite-race-babe.html to view all of the candidates.
That’s not Ms. Handcock!
Apparently I am incorrect. While the Turner Sports division owns NASCAR.com and its now defunct WCW discovered Stacy Kiebler that is not the wrestler in the TV ad. The wrestling fans have spoken. If you know who she is, drop me a line at johnsonbjv@aol.com.
Images appearing in this blog courtesy of FOX, FX, NASCAR Images, Indy Racing League, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, IMS Productions, ABC, SPEED, R.E. Technologies and Ron McQueeney of the IRL that provided the photo onboard the U.S.S. Intrepid.
Mid-South Racing.com webmaster and local radio host Ben Shelton has been dropping hints about Shelby County (Memphis), Tennessee having its own dirt track again.
The dirt track at Memphis Motorsports Park closed at the end of the 2005 season to make way for parking, hospitality and vendors for the paved oval that hosts NASCAR events.
Now the speculation on the street has someone purchasing a piece of land on or near the MMP property with the intention of rebuilding the dirt track. Following the announcement of the closing of the track, a spokesperson for MMP told me that the track would not be rebuilt. I asked "never?" and he said well you can never say never but not at least for a while. I did NOT make any attempts to get updated comments from MMP on this subject. Remember, nothing has been officially announced; it is speculation at this point.
Special Hoosier Hundred Coverage
This Friday night we will be at the Indiana State Fairgrounds for the Hoosier Hundred.
We will have updates as well as images from the event. The website, http://www.retechracing.com/ will have results as they happen in the Live Trackside portion of their website. If you physically can make it to the Indiana State Fairgrounds Friday night, I highly encourage you to do so to prove those that fought to save the Hoosier Hundred were right. If you some reason you cannot make it, we will have updates and images from the track.
Grass Roots Open Wheelers Make their Mark
This has been a pretty good month for grass roots Open Wheelers at Indy. Former World of Outlaws Sprints star P.J. Chesson qualified 20th for his first 500. While his time wasn’t as fast as Marco Andretti’s, Chesson is adapting well to this style of racing. The guy with the Indy 500 logo tattoo on his arm began his Indy Car style career winning three races in a row as a rookie in the Indy Pro Series. His brother James Chesson backed it up with win at California Speedway in 2004. P.J.’s little brother will compete in the Indy Pro Series Freedom 100 this Friday. James Chesson will drive for Part Sourcing International in the same car that took Aaron Fike to two Pro Series wins. Veteran Indy Pro Series crew chief, Matt Dove will oversee the car. As T.J. Slideways.com reported in their article last week www.tjslideways.com Knoxville Nationals Fast Track to Indy Rookie of the Year Geoff Dodge will also make his first appearance at Indy. Knoxville Raceway officials have scheduled a news conference at IMS for Thursday. Tom Eakins from Ticket Director is scheduled to attend the news conference. Ticket Director reciently became Knoxville’s official ticketing partner. Could a sponsorship for Dodge also be in the works? USAC’s Silver Crown division has two represenitives in the Indy 500. P.J. Jones will start 32nd and Thiago Medeiros will start 33rd. Both drivers participated in the Silver Crown race at Homestead this past March with Jones finishing fourth after leading several laps.
TSO Pins it Down
That is probably the worst pun I have ever written. Sorry about that. Anywho, our friends at TrackSide Online have the dirt on PJ Chesson’s new tattoo.
The website http://www.tracksideonline.com/ reports that the inking left both team owner Ron Hemelgarn and IMS President Tony George were left shaking their heads. The site also shot down rumors of Chesson having to pay for the use of an official Indianapolis Motor Speedway trademark. By the way, if you haven’t subscribed to TSO, you should. They are the only media that cover every race and every test session of the IRL year round. They also deliver news and photos that you will not see anywhere else. I have my subscription. Do you have yours?
Indy does NYC
The marketing department of the IRL coming off the success of their last New York visit, flew into NYC this morning to drum up attention for this weekend’s Indy 500. Select drivers rang in the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange. All 33 drivers then headed to a photo shoot on the U.S.S. Intrepid.
Indy 500 Lineup By Rows
Row 1
1. (6) Sam Hornish Jr., Dallara-Honda, 228.985
2. (3T) Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Honda, 228.008
3. (10) Dan Wheldon, Dallara-Honda, 227.338
Row 2
4. (9) Scott Dixon, Dallara-Honda, 226.921
5. (11) Tony Kanaan, Dallara-Honda, 226.776
6. (4T) Vitor Meira, Dallara-Honda, 226.156
Row 3
7. (55) Kosuke Matsuura, Dallara-Honda, 225.503
8. (8) Scott Sharp, Dallara-Honda, 225.321
9. (26) Marco Andretti, Dallara-Honda, 224.918
Row 4
10. (16T) Danica Patrick, Panoz-Honda, 224.674
11. (2) Tomas Scheckter, Dallara-Honda, 224.659
12. (20) Ed Carpenter, Dallara-Honda, 224.548
Row 5
13. (1) Michael Andretti, Dallara-Honda, 224.508
14. (15T) Buddy Rice, Panoz-Honda, 224.393
15. (90) Townsend Bell, Dallara-Honda, 224.374
Row 6
16. (7) Bryan Herta, Dallara-Honda, 224.179
17. (27) Dario Franchitti, Dallara-Honda, 223.345
18. (52) Max Papis, Dallara-Honda, 222.058
Row 7
19. (51) Eddie Cheever Jr., Dallara-Honda, 222.028
20. (91) P.J. Chesson, Dallara-Honda, 221.576
21. (14) Felipe Giaffone, Dallara-Honda, 221.542
Row 8
22. (92) Jeff Bucknum, Dallara-Honda, 221.461
23. (41) Larry Foyt, Dallara-Honda, 221.332
24. (21) Jaques Lazier, Panoz-Honda, 221.151
Row 9
25. (5) Buddy Lazier, Dallara-Honda, 220.922
26. (17T) Jeff Simmons, Panoz-Honda, 220.347
27. (31) Al Unser Jr., Dallara-Honda, 219.388
Row 10
28. (12) Roger Yasukawa, Panoz-Honda, 218.793
29. (88) Airton Dare, Panoz-Honda, 218.170
30. (97) Stephan Gregoire, Panoz-Honda, 217.428
Row 11
31. (61) Arie Luyendyk Jr., Panoz-Honda, 216.352
32. (98) PJ Jones, Panoz-Honda, 215.816
33. (18) Thiago Medeiros, Panoz-Honda, 215.729
Kasey Kahne’s Brickyard Bonus
According to an article in today’s edition of the Sports Business Journal, Allstate will run a sweepstakes involving Open Wheeler Kasey Kahne. The winner will receive a trip to the Brickyard 400 and a chance to win $400,000 Allstate’s spokesman, Kasey Kahne, wins the race. Kahne will have an advantage that other Cup drivers will not have. The Scene Daily.com is reporting that Kasey Kahne, Tony Stewart and Elliott Sadler will return to IMS on May 30th for another Goodyear tire test.
SBJ
As racing’s biggest weekend of the year heads for turn four, this week’s edition of the Sports Business Journal takes a look at the sport.
Dale Earnhardt Film
The Intimidator was never an Open Wheeler. However his sprit lives on in Open Wheelers across the US. Next year, just in time for the Daytona 500, CMT Films (yes from the country cable folks) will release an authorized documentary on Dale Earnhardt, this according to a story in today’s edition of the Sports Business Journal. The 90-minute film, “Dale: The True Story” will debut in markets two weeks before a Cup event. According to the SBJ, the film will be tailored to each market showing the link between Earnhardt and that track. CMT is scheduled to broadcast the film in September of 2007. Open Wheeler and racing icon Paul Newman will narrate the film.
Open Wheel’s Highs and Lows in SBJ Polls
Today’s edition of the Sports Business Journal, http://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/ is filled with surveys on how people perceive auto racing. There is some good news and bad new for Open Wheelers. Turnkey Sports asked folks about their feelings on NASCAR and Open Wheel. Fans responded and said that they prefer racing on Saturday night under the lights. They also asked if Open Wheel has enough fans to support the two separate main series, IRL and CCWS.
Seventy four percent said a loud NO! All the more reason for reunification. Another poll conducted by E-Poll Market Research asked folks how they felt about the following drivers: Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart and Danica Patrick. Seventy percent of those polled recognized Earnhardt’s name but Gordon won out on face recognition.
Danica Patrick won out in the likeable category with ninety six percent. Tony Stewart was the most disliked of the four. Jeff Gordon was voted most overexposed but Danica Patrick won out in the trendsetter category and the attractive category with fifty five percent. Results from all of the polls can be found exclusively at http://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/.
One Week Left to Vote in Race Babe Poll
While the results are in on the SBJ poll, there is still one more week left to vote in the Race Babe poll.
Erin Crocker is still has a sizable lead in the poll coming in at thirty three percent.
(Like the retro Crocker photos? )
Speed’s Connie LeGrand and Krista Voda along with Champ Car World Series hostess, Michelle Biesner and Kevin Harvick’s wife DeLana Harvick are all tied for second with nine percent each. The poll will close and we will post the results on Monday May 29th. This is your last week to vote. You can still vote by going to http://openwheeler.blogspot.com/ and scrolling to the bottom of the page. Click on this link http://openwheeler.blogspot.com/2006/04/who-is-your-favorite-race-babe.html to view all of the candidates.
That’s not Ms. Handcock!
Apparently I am incorrect. While the Turner Sports division owns NASCAR.com and its now defunct WCW discovered Stacy Kiebler that is not the wrestler in the TV ad. The wrestling fans have spoken. If you know who she is, drop me a line at johnsonbjv@aol.com.
Images appearing in this blog courtesy of FOX, FX, NASCAR Images, Indy Racing League, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, IMS Productions, ABC, SPEED, R.E. Technologies and Ron McQueeney of the IRL that provided the photo onboard the U.S.S. Intrepid.
posted by Blake Johnson at 5:13 PM
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