I Miss Pikes Peak/ IRL to Iowa Speedway/ Danica Patrick is Hot/ Hornish Nominated for Two ESPY's/ You Might be a NASCAR Fan If..

I Miss Pikes Peak
For the past several 4th of July weekend, USAC teams and crew have spent their “holiday” in Colorado at Pikes Peak International Raceway.

The stop was of the highlight of the season with a great post race concert by Hootie and the Blowfish last season and a large fireworks display. The track holds the records for top Silver Crown, midget and a blistering 144.980mph sprint car qualifying speeds.

This year the track sets empty. It is still there. It hasn’t been bulldozed just yet. But it will never hear the roar of race engines.

ISC purchased the property last year and then moved its Busch race to Martinsville.

Word is in Colorado that ISC will build a track betweek Denver and Colorado Springs in the next 10 years.

But for now, the mile high one mile oval sits empty and full of memories.

IRL to Iowa Speedway
It appears the at the Indy Racing League will race at Iowa Speedway in 2007. Both the Indianapolis Star and TracksideOnline.com are reporting that the race could take place next summer. The 7/8 mile oval will host an IRL test on August 2nd. In addition to SAFER Barriers, the new track includes video cameras with audio mounted into the tracks surface. USAC opens the track up with the Hooters Pro Cup Series this September.

Danica Patrick is Hot
So says Spin Magazine.

Danica Patrick ranked 15th on the list, which is headed by entertainer Beyonce Knowles and NBA star Lebron James.

Hornish Nominated for Two ESPY's
Sam Hornish Jr. was nominated for two ESPY’s. The first nomination came forhis Indy 500 win in the category of “Best Championship Performance.”

The second was for the “Best Driver” category which he shares with fellow Open Wheelers, Tony Stewart and Dan Wheldon.

IROC Hits the Road
We will see just how good the fendered drivers are compared to the road racers this weekend. Thursday night IROC hits the road course for the first time in 14 years at Daytona. Earlier this year, IndyCar Series drivers Scott Dixon and Dan Wheldon claimed a victory on the 3.56-mile road course at Daytona International Speedway in the Rolex 24. Lets hope they hit the dirt of Eldora soon.



Anyone want to make best if any of the drivers get on their roofs again?

Kentucky Adding SAFER

Kentucky Speedway will add 56 feet of SAFER Barrier along the inside wall of the backstretch after this crash a few weeks ago during the Busch Series race.

The track already has the protective wall around the outside of the track. The construction will be completed before the ARCA RE/MAX Series and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series races July 7-8.

Patrick Carpentier to Busch
Patrick Carpentier told the Toronto Sun’s Dean McNulty http://torontosun.com/Sports/OtherSports/2006/06/27/1655630-sun.html that the former Champ Car World Series star will be behind the wheel of a Busch Series car when NASCAR comes to Montreal's Circuit Gilles Villeneuve next season.

You Might be a NASCAR Fan If..
I am not making this one up, The only legal distillery that makes moonshine in the Carolinas is now a sponsor in, you guessed it, NASCAR. Catdaddy Carolina Moonshine is sponsoring Kirk Shelmerdine at Daytona this weekend. Did you know in east Tennessee (the other side of the state I live in) they are using this stuff in place of gas?

Be Careful, the VP will be at Daytona
Race fans in Florida should be careful this weekend. Vice President Dick Cheney is scheduled to speak to race fans before the start of the Pepsi 400 at Daytona International Speedway. Does he know that there are no shotgun starts in racing? (See this Link) http://www.toonedin.com/cheney.html

Busch Series Entries for Daytona
9 Kasey Kahne
10 John Andretti
11 Paul Menard
12 Tracy Hines
18 J.J. Yeley
33 Tony Stewart
34 Paul Tracy
38 Jason Leffler
43 PJ Jones
60 Carl Edwards
77 Burney Lamar

Images appearing in this blog courtesy of R.E. Technologies, SPEED, ABC, ESPN, FX and NASCAR Images.

Are You Danica Patrick?/ Converting the Tin Toppers/ I’m Two for Two with Bud/ Racing Perfection/ Penske vs Ganassi/ Richmond Images Posted

Are You Danica Patrick?

Race fans are what make our sport run but sometimes you have to wonder what they are thinking. Two different brunettes with long hair in the USAC pits were approached several times this weekend by autograph seekers wanting a John Hancock and photo with Danica Patrick. One of the gals, I can understand because her hair and look does pattern DP. The other doesn’t look like Danica at all. She does wear a fire suit from time to time. She says she gets the mistaken identity all of the time.

Converting the Tin Toppers

The Richmond race typically brings out the NASCAR fans. For many of those fans, the IRL and USAC weekend is their first in person experience with Open Wheel. Most of the fans are wide eyed and very inquisitive. They want to know everything about the cars, drivers and teams. This weekend several of the teams did what they could to make the teams feel more comfortable including letting them sit in the race car before the event. Open Wheelers sharing the joy of their sport with new fans. That is how we grow the sport. The fans at RIR were very vocal. When Peter Shepherd emerged from his wrecked car without a scratch in turn one, there was a standing O. When the final restart produced exciting racing, the fans again were on their feet making noise. When Bud Kaeding lit up the tires, well that brought the house down. Richmond has always been a great to gain new fans and the fans have been eager to learn. This weekend was no different.

I’m Two for Two with Bud

For the past two Silver Crown races Bud Kaeding, has won and smoked the tires and for the last two races I have missed the smoke screen. Last weekend in Kentucky, I thought that the new generation Silver Crown cars were not capable of smoking them. I was wrong. This weekend I was ready to make up for my mistake. With camera in hand I was ready as he approached. He kept on going on his cool down lap and it looked like he would be headed to victory lane so I left pit road and headed to VL. Bud faked me out and lit the tires up again to the delight of the fans who game him a standing O. Oh yea, I would like to thank Marie Buffenbarger of TJ Slideways.com for providing the image above, seeing how I missed it for the second weekend in a row.

Racing Perfection

Richmond International Raceway really stepped up their PR/Marketing efforts for the IRL/ USAC weekend. The buzz in town and in the media was all about the race and it just wasn’t about Danica. Both the IRL and USAC received great coverage. The track also went the extra mile Friday night. When rain cancelled qualifying, the track could have cancelled the USAC Sprint race but instead, they stuck it out, had personnel stay late and got the race in. The teams got paid and were on their way home or to the next race Friday night. RIR first their slogan, “Racing Perfection.”

Penske vs Ganassi
Roger Penske’s and Chip Ganassi’s drivers have won ever IndyCar Series race this season. Saturday night was no different as Penske won this round. It was a little odd that it was Helio’s lost tire gave Sam Hornish the win under caution but that is the way it went. I wonder if Mr. Ganassi thinks the tire problem was a setup by Hornish’s teammate to give the 2006 Indy 500 winner the win?

Richmond Images Posted

Images that I shot at Richmond have been posted at my Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/92448439@N00/sets/72057594134006261/ site.

Yes I downsized the images so if you try to steal them, you will end up with crappy images.

I have the high resolution images on file if you need them.

You can always visit the website by looking on the right side of this website and scrolling down.

I also added images to the RE Tech http://www.retechracing.com/ website.

Images appearing in this blog courtesy of TJ Slideways and RE Technologies.

INDY STAR: CCWS and IRL Reach Ownership Sharing Agreement

INDY STAR: CCWS and IRL Reach Ownership Sharing Agreement
In today’s edition of the Indianapolis Star
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060625/SPORTS01/606250418
Motorsports journalists Curt Cavin and Steve Ballard report that Tony George and Kevin Kalkhoven have reached an ownership-sharing agreement reguarding the impending merger of the Indy Racing League and Champ Car World Series. The IRL CEO and Champ Car World Series co-owner told the Star that details of the agreement have yet to be worked out. This news represents major movement towards mending a fence that caused Open Wheel racing to almost bleed to death while NASCAR grew following the 1996 split. George told the Indianapolis Star that both he and Kalkhoven will share ownership of the new merged series. The Star says the two leaders could appoint a neutral party to work out differences. The issues of chassis, engine and schedule must still be resolved. Calvin and Ballard report that George said he and Kalkhoven have discussed plans to have CCWS team run at the 2007 Indy 500. The Star says George and Kalkhoven are disappointed that the process has not moved quicker but both sides believe the merger will occur.

Kaeding Wins Again, this Time at Richmond

Kaeding Wins Again, this Time at Richmond

RICHMOND, Va. – Bud Kaeding and crew are on a roll. The winner of last weekend’s Kentucky 100 won tonight during the Richmond-Times Dispatch 100 at Richmond International Raceway. The No. 29 BK-Jason Leffler team was one of the stronger teams of the weekend and was there when it counted.

Poles sitter Josh Wise led the first nineteen laps before Dave Steele, winner of three of the last four Silver Crown races at Richmond took the lead. Steele then began to suffer from engine problems and was passed by Brian Tyler.

Tyler led for the next sixteen laps before Bud Kaeding took the lead following a restart. Kaeding held on the final twenty three laps for the win.

With the win, Bud Kaeding took the drivers points lead over Brian Tyler by 21 points. Dave Steele is third in points. The unofficial entrant points, aka Blake did his fuzzy math and this is VERY unofficial. USAC will add the official points on their website.

Unofficial Entrant Points
1) 29 Bud Kaeding BK-Leffler Motorsports 360
2) 21 Brian Tyler Team 6R 339
3) 1 Dave Steele Randy Steenbergen-Team 6R 288
4) 00 Wayne Reutimann Jr. Reutiman Motorsports 287
5) 199 Peter Shepherd Carl Edwards/ R.E. Technologies Racing 273
6) 26 Aaron Pierce Sam Pierce 259
7) 41 Jay Drake Jim Paternoster 243
8) 28 Tim Barber Ken Pierson 236
9) 17 Rich Tobias Jr. RW Motorsports 220
10) 2 Pablo Donoso Racing Team, Inc. 209
11) 8 Bryn Gohn Stauffer-Adams Racing 189

I haven’t had time to add the images from today. I will work on the images on the flight home tomorrow. I hope to add them to the Open Wheeler photo site later this week.

Meanwhile on the IRL side…

Sam Hornish Won the IndyCar Series Race Tonight
Sam Hornish, Jr. lead 212 of the 250 laps to win the Sun Trust Indy Challenge. Vitor Meira finished second. Dario Franchitti grabbed third. Hornish was in the lead when Helio Castroneves lost a tire of his right rear rim. The initial released results were changed. Helio Castroneves is now scored ahead of Scott Dixon because IRL timing and scoring found that Dixon passed under the yellow. The updated results are below.IRL IndyCar Series Results 1 Sam Hornish Jr (6) 2 Vitor Meira (4) 3 Dario Franchitti (27) 4 Scott Sharp (8) 5 Marco Andretti (26)6 Bryan Herta (7) 7 Tomas Scheckter (2)8 Ed Carpenter (20) 9 Dan Wheldon (10) 10 Helio Castroneves (3)
11 Scott Dixon (9) 12 Kosuke Matsuura (55) 13 Buddy Rice (15) 14 Eddie Cheever Jr (51)15 Danica Patrick (16) 16 Buddy Lazier (5)17 Felipe Giaffone (14)18 Tony Kanaan (11) 19 Jeff Simmons (17)

Wise Fastest in Final Practice 3:10pm

Wise Fastest in Final Practice 3:10pm

RICHMOND, Va. – Josh Wise turned the fastest time during the final practice session at Richmond International Raceway today. The polesitter, turned a time of 21.453. Indy 500 starter Tiago Medeiros had the second fastest time. Last week’s winner Bud Kaeding came in third quick and rookie Peter Shepherd timed in fourth quick. Rodney Weesner made his first appearance of the week in the session. Weesner will start from the tail. The race is scheduled to go green at 5:45pm eastern. We will update the website following the race.

Final Practice Times
14 Josh Wise 21.453
18 Tiago Medeiros 21.639
29 Bud Kaeding 21.745
199 Peter Shepherd 21.864
26 Aaron Pierce 22.029
00 Wayne Reutimann Jr. 22.115
41 Jay Drake 22.217
28 Tim Barber 22.245
21 Brian Tyler 22.276
17 Rich Tobias Jr. 22.431
8 Bryn Gohn 22.578
1 Dave Steele 22.739
2 Pablo Donoso 26.003
96 Rodney Weesner 29.333

Good Morning from Richmond 10:20am

Good Morning from Richmond 10:20am

RICHMOND, Va. – Hello today’s from a drying Richmond International Raceway. Josh Wise is on the pole for today’s Richmond Times Dispatch 100. Today’s forecast calls for showers and thunderstorms after noon. The National Weather Service says the storms could produce heavy rain. The chance of rain is 70%. The chance of rain tonight is 50%. As we witnessed here last night RIR is a fast drying track. The track crew was on top of it Friday and I an sure they are ready for anything today. Richmond weather is a little odd. There have been many times storms have split the speedway and we have been dry while everyone around the track was drenched. Right now the radar is clear. Hopefully it will stay that way as we could be in for a good show tonight.

Last night Brian Tyler won the USAC National Sprint Car Series race in a car, he almost didn’t drive. The No. 67k Keith Kunz team came to the track without a driver for the car. They offered the ride to Tyler and he accepted in order to just go out and “have fun.” Brian Tyler had a little more fun than he probably imagined. The Michigan native took the lead from Bobby Santos and led the final ten laps to win. A full story is over at www.usacracing.com.

PS: We updated the photo section of the RE Tech website last night with images from Friday.

Qualifying Rained Out, Wise on the Pole 6:10pm

Qualifying Rained Out, Wise on the Pole 6:10pm

RICHMOND, Va. – Hello from a now wet Richmond International Raceway where Josh Wise earned his second pole of the season by having the fastest practice time. An afternoon thunderstorm rained out the qualifying session forcing USAC to utilize practice times to set the field for tomorrows Richmond Times Dispatch 100. Josh Wise’s practice time of 20.887 at 129.267 gave him the pole. Homestead winner Brian Tyler will start outside the pole. The combined practice times that set the field can be viewed in the live trackside section of our website. We will also have photos posted soon in the photo section of our website.

The USAC National Sprint Car Series field for tonight’s races was also set by times. Dave Steele is on the pole. That race is still scheduled for tonight. Our friends at www.tjslideways.com will have the sprint series coverage.

Join us tomorrow morning for coverage of the Richmond Times Dispatch 100.

Josh Wise Fastest in Second Practice 4:50pm

Josh Wise Fastest in Second Practice 4:50pm

RICHMOND, Va. – Josh Wise turned the fastest time in the second practice today at Richmond International Raceway. In his first time in a new generation Silver Crown car, Wise turned a time of 20.887 at 129.267mph. Bryan Tyler was second with a time of 21.213 and Tim Barber’s changes must have worked. The California native turned a time of 21.275 good for third quick. The combined practice numbers show Wise, Tyler and Barber in the top three with their second session times. Bud Kaeding was fourth with his first session time. Pablo Donoso improved his first time to take the fifth spot. Dave Steele and Peter Shepherd are sixth and seventh respectively with their times from the first session. Combined times are in the Live Trackside section of www.retechracing.com. Below are the times from the second session:

14 Josh Wise 20.887 A.J. Foyt Enterprises
21 Brian Tyler 21.213 Team 6R
28 Tim Barber 21.275 Ken Pierson
2 Pablo Donoso 21.305 Racing Team, Inc.
29 Bud Kaeding 21.359 BK-Leffler Motorsports
41 Jay Drake 21.574 Jim Paternoster
199 Peter Shepherd 21.713 Carl Edwards/ R.E. Technologies Racing
17 Rich Tobias Jr. 21.778 RW Motorsports
00 Wayne Reutimann Jr. 21.713 Reutiman Motorsports
8 Bryn Gohn 22.645 Stauffer-Adams Racing
26 Aaron Pierce 24.641 Sam Pierce
1 Dave Steele Randy NT Steenbergen-Team 6R
18 Tiago Medeiros NT PDM Racing

We are under a brief rain delay in IRL qualifying. If Silver Crown qualifying gets rained out, the grid will be set from the combined practice times that are listed under practice times in the Live Trackside section of www.retechracing.com.

Kaeding and Shepherd Happy but Working on Cars 3:30pm

RICHMOND, Va. – Several of the teams at the top of the USAC Silver Crown Series presented by K&N speed charts are very happy with their cars. They are just fine tuning them to the rigors of short track racing. Bud Kaeding’s team BK-Leffler Motorsports paced the first practice session. The team says they are happy with their times, they are just adjusting the brakes to fit the ¾ Richmond oval better. The same can be said for Carl Edwards/ R.E. Technologies Racing rookie Peter Shepherd. The Ford powered C&R team who is third on the speed chart, is also tweaking the brakes and changing the steering box to fit the short track of RIR. Tim Barber, driver of the No. 28 says they are working on the front end of the car and are also changing gears. They hope the changes will help propel the No. 28 to the front. The next practice session is scheduled for 4:10pm eastern.

First Practice Speeds
29 Bud Kaeding
21.292

1 Dave Steele
21.311

199 Peter Shepherd
21.351

41 Jay Drake
21.507

28 Tim Barber
21.519

21 Brian Tyler
21.556

2 Pablo Donoso
21.589

18 Thiago Medeiros
21.915

00 Wayne Reutiman, Jr.
23.407

8 Bryn Gohn
23.494

17 Rich Tobias Jr.
23.925

14 Josh Wise
37.464

26 Aaron Pierce
39.057

Kaeding Fastest in First Practice 2:40pm

Kaeding Fastest in First Practice 2:40pm

RICHMOND, Va. – Bud Kaeding and his team picked back up where they left off last Friday at Kentucky. The BK-Leffler Motorsports team turned the fastest time of the first practice time session at 21.292 at 126.808mph. Dave Steele, last year’s winner at RIR was second quick at 21.311. Carl Edwards/ R.E. Technologies Racing rookie Peter Shepherd was third quick. For a complete list of the first practice session results, please visit the Live Trackside section of the www.retechracing.com website.

Dave Steele led the second USAC Sprint Car practice session followed by Jay Drake. Our friends over at T.J. Slideways.com have complete coverage of the USAC Sprint session.

Good Morning from Richmond 10:42am

Good Morning from Richmond 10:42am

RICHMOND, Va. – Hello from a warm and muggy Richmond International Raceway. Temperatures are expected to reach into the 90’s today with a 40% chance of scattered showers during the day and 50% in the evening. Rain could be a factor all weekend. USAC has made accommodations for dealing with the potential wet stuff. The Silver Crown division will use the practice times to set the pole of qualifying is rained out. Besides the humidity, the air is filled this morning with the smell of methanol. Thirteen Silver Crown cars are here including Jay Drake and Josh Wise. Drake is driving the No. 41 for Jim Paternoster and Wise is piloting the No. 14 for AJ Foyt. Here is the full entry list:

Kentucky Entry List
1 Dave Steele Randy Steenbergen-Team 6R
2 Pablo Donoso Racing Team, Inc.
8 Bryn Gohn Stauffer-Adams Racing
14 Josh Wise A.J. Foyt Enterprises
17 Rich Tobias Jr. RW Motorsports
18 Tiago Medeiros PDM Racing
21 Brian Tyler Team 6R
26 Aaron Pierce Sam Pierce
28 Tim Barber Ken Pierson
29 Bud Kaeding BK-Leffler Motorsports
41 Jay Drake Jim Paternoster
00 Wayne Reutimann Jr. Reutiman Motorsports
199 Peter Shepherd Carl Edwards/ R.E. Technologies Racing

Dave Steele Leads Sprint Practice 11:45am
RICHMOND, Va. – Dave Steele led the first sprint car practice session of the day. Steele turned a time of 19.916 at 135.569mph. Dave Steele has won three of the last four Silver Crown events at Richmond. Levi Jones was second quick. A full list of times can be viewed at www.tjslideways.com. The Silver Crown cars hit the track at 2pm.

We are currently under caution at RIR as former Richmond winner Buddy Lazier’s car snapped around and hit the wall and came to rest in turn four during IndyCar Series practice. Jeff Simmons did a good job of avoiding the accident. The safety team called in a welder to repair the SAFER barrier.

I would like to expand upon our second story last night. While Chip Ganassi is running colors for a quit smoking campaign this weekend on Dan Weldon’s car, Phillip Morris, the folks behind Marlboro, also have an active campaign to help people quit smoking. More information about the campaign can be found on their website http://www.philipmorrisusa.com/en/home.asp.

We are back to green with IRL practice.

Good Evening from Richmond/ Quit Smoking in the heart of Tobacco Country/ Danica Patrick in SI/ 2007 Schedules/ “I have a Problem with the Management”

Good Evening from Richmond

(file image)
RICHMOND, Va. – Hello everyone from Richmond, Virginia, site of this weekend’s USAC and IRL races at Richmond International Raceway. Today the USAC haulers entered the facility and teams prepared their working areas for this weekend. The IRL also arrived today and conducted an Open Test. Sam Hornish had the fastest test of the day but also hit the wall. The Indianapolis 500 turned a time of 15.7520 seconds, 171.407 mph before the accident. His No. 6 Team Penske car made moderate contact with the turn four wall late in the test ending his day. Fortunately, he was not injured in the accident. The IRL also conducted a rookie session. The extra track time may have helped Marco Andretti to claim the second fastest time of the day. His teammate Tony Kanaan was third quick. Buddy Rice saw his testing time cut short due to a mechanical issue. He returned to the track with about an hour left in the session.

Quit Smoking in the heart of Tobacco Country

Phillip Morris, the folks behind Marlboro have their offices in Richmond. It is only fitting that Chip Ganassi’s boys bring a quit smoking car to RIR. Dan Wheldon will sport a Nicoderm CQ paintscheme this weekend. The paint job may bring the Brit luck as Scott Dixon used a one-off paint scheme to promote Energizer batteries when hew won earlier this month at Watkins Glen.

The SunTrust Indy Challenge presented by XM Satellite Radio goes green a little after 8pm eastern Saturday on ESPN2.

Danica Patrick in SI

Danica Patrick has some new photos at the Sports Illustrated webiste. I said “new, not nude you perverts.

Anyhow the images prominently show her new wedding ring and her in a little black dress and a black workout outfit.

You can see all of the images by clicking on this link. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/0606/gallery.danicaportraits4/content.1.html

New Pavement at the Glen
For the first time in ten years, Watkins Glen will close early.

The track is planning to repave Turn 1, Turn 5 or the ‘carousel’, and Turn 6, the first turn going into the extended 3.4 mile Grand Prix course, or the Boot. Some of the paving will address issues concerning emanate water and drainage along the concrete sections of the racing surface.

2007 Schedules
There is a lot of talk right now about the 2007 schedule for USAC, specifically their Silver Crown division.

Traditionally, the series does not release their schedule until at least the fall. The sanctioning organization has to wait on other sanctioning organizations like NASCAR and the IRL to announce their schedules before announcing their own since the series often races with these other two organizations. Bottom line, hold your horses, it will all be ok, I promise.

“I have a Problem with the Management”

Paul Newman is one of my all time favorite Open Wheelers.

Not just because he was in the best hockey movie ever made, Slap Shot. Since the 1969 film Winning ignited his passion for Motorsports, he has been the champion of the sport. He has never seen eye to eye with Tony George. Since the split, Newman has avoided the Indy 500. In an interview with AJ Perez in the May 24, 2006 edition of USA Today www.motorsports.usatoday.com he said the reason for his absence, “I have a Problem with the Management.”

While Kevin Kalkhoven attended this year’s 500 at the request of George, selling Newman on a reunified series may be a tougher task. In the article by Perez, Paul Newman says that he does not want to abandon road racing, specifically tracks like San Jose and Edmonton.

“My preference is really for road racing, open wheel racing,” Newman told USA Today. Reunification may not happen overnight. For every road racing supporter, there is an oval supporter. I have no problem with a half road, half oval schedule. My wish is that all sides will reconcile and become one again. I think it can happen. I hope that the greatest friend of open wheel racing is there to see it happen.

Images courtesy of R.E. Technologies, ESPN, ABC, Indy Racing League, IMS Productions, SPEED, Cham Car World Series, Sports Illustrated and Slap Shot.

Cup Cars Too Slow/ Drake and Wise Return to Silver Crown Series /Coverage from Richmond /Ganassi Gives Milestones/ TV News/ TV Schedule

Cup Cars Too Slow
One would guess that the IRL’s drivers would turn faster laps this weekend at Richmond than the Cup cars. But 46.261 mph faster is quite a shock.

The much more nimble IndyCars could easily blow by their Cup brethren but they are not the only cars that would be in the passing lane. Both USAC’s National Sprint Series and Silver Crown records are faster than the Cup record of 129.983 mph. The sprint cars are 9.928 mph faster and the Silver Crown record of 136.924 set by Dave Steele is 6.941 faster. Bobby East set the sprint top speed of 139.911. The new generation Silver Crown cars were slower at Phoenix this past January than their predecessors.

I don’t expect a Silver Crown track record to be broken, but three races have allowed teams to experiment with the cars and turn faster times.

Drake and Wise Return to Silver Crown Series
Popular USAC drivers, Jay Drake and Josh Wise are expected to race in the Silver Crown Series this weekend at RIR. Drake has tested a new generation car but Richmond would be his first start. He will drive the No. 41 Jim Paternoster Riley. Cole Carter filled the seat last weekend. Jay Drake is scheduled to drive the car for the remainder of the season on pavement.

Josh Wise will drive the No. 14 for AJ Foyt. Bud “Burnout” Kaeding won the Kentucky race last weekend and is now the point’s leader going into RIR.

Coverage from Richmond

I have attempted to cover the last two Silver Crown events on this website, however my real job has kept me so busy that I have not had time the last two events to post. I will attempt again to post from Richmond. I will post images, updates and results (my real job that pays the $$) throughout the weekend at www.retechracing.com.

I will post here after filing reports for that website so use www.retechracing.com for your primary source of info. Our friends at www.usacracing.com will also have reports.

I will also make myself available for questions periodically over at www.indianaopenwheel.com.

Chris Economaki Grand Marshal
Fresh off of his appearance on Wind Tunnel, Chris Economaki, will be in Richmond this weekend not only covering the race but as the Grand Marshall. Economaki was the first public address announcer for Richmond International Raceway nearly 60 years ago. That open wheel race was won by Ted Horn.

Raphael Matos Fastest, Gram Rahal Fifth Fastest
The IRL’s Indy Pro Series tested today at Indy today on the road course. Raphael Matos recorded the fastest lap at 108.502. Gram Rahal, son of Bobby, was fifth quick at 107.780. James Chesson was last on the speed charts with a speed of 100.862.

Ganassi Gives
Some fans may think Chip Ganassi is a hard nose racer and owner. Well the Open Wheeler who has cars in both the IRL, NASCAR and Grand Am also has a huge heart.

Target Chip Ganassi Racing Target Chip Ganassi Racing has raised more than $380,000 for St. Jude and Target House since 1997. The team donates $5,000 for each victory, $1,000 for each pole position and $25 for each lap led.

The IRL teams of Scott Dixon and Dan Weldon have raised more than $20,000 for the Memphis, Tenn-based children’s hospital so far this season.

Milestones
Jason Leffler will make his 100th NASCAR Busch Series start at The Milwaukee Mile this weekend Carl Edwards/ R.E. Technologies will enter their 100th USAC Silver Crown race this weekend at Richmond. The team first went full time Silver Crown racing in 2000.

Busch Series Entries for Milwaukee
9 Erin Crocker
10 John Andretti
11 Paul Menard
18 J.J. Yeley
34 Mike Bliss
38 Jason Leffler
60 Carl Edwards
77 Burney Lamar

Open Wheeler Truck Entries for Milwaukee
10 Terry Cook
15 Kyle Krisiloff
16 Mike Bliss
21 Bobby East
25 Boston Reid
46 Kraig Kinser
98 Erin Crocker

TV News

Speed on Wind Tunnel
Scott Speed is scheduled to appear on Wind Tunnel this Sunday. Speed is the first American to drive in F1 since 1993. Lets hope this time Speed actually takes the time to appear live on camera rather than a taped telephone interview. If F1 wants folks to care about their racing in America. They need to care enough to show us their driver’s faces on TV with our major media.

TV Listings
June 21
10:30 pm NASCAR Driven to Win - Kasey Kahne BIOG
June 23
7:00 pm NASCAR Nextel Cup Qualifying Sonoma (LIVE) SPEED
9:00 pm NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Milwaukee (LIVE) SPEED
June 24
6:00 pm NASCAR Busch Qualifying Milwaukee (LIVE) SPEED
7:30 pm Speed News SPEED
7:30 pm Nextel Cup Happy Hour Practice - Sonoma (SDD) FX
8:00 pm Champ Car World Series Portland SPEED
8:00 pm IndyCar Richmond ESPN2
8:30 pm Busch Series Race Milwaukee FX
June 25
12:30 pm Formula One Canadian Grand Prix (LIVE) SPEED
3:00 pm Nextel Cup Infineon Raceway - Sonoma CA FOX
7:00 pm Speed News SPEED
9:00 pm Wind Tunnel with Dave Despain (LIVE) SPEED

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