((HT: IndyCar Series/IMS Radio Network))
This is flat out scary from Friday night's practice at the Fontana Speedway in the concluding race of the 2014 IndyCar season involving Mikhail Aleshin and the low groove.
Aleshin was listed in serious but stable condition with a with a concussion, fractured ribs, a broken right clavicle and chest injuries. Qualifying had been frozen at the time of the wreck and Aleshin, actually, had the 8th fastest time on the grid for the season finale.
Sadly, Fontana has had a lot of wrecks in the track's IndyCar history including racers like Will Power, AJ Allmendinger, Scott Dixon, Tony Kanaan, and Takuma Sato. Greg Moore passed during the 1999 race at Fontana from injuries he received in his crash.
Showing posts with label Indy Car. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Indy Car. Show all posts
Saturday, August 30, 2014
Thursday, November 14, 2013
DEVELOPING: Dario Is Done, Doctors Say He Can't Race...
The four-time IZOD IndyCar Series champion and three-time Indianapolis 500 winner has been told by doctors that he has to hang up his steering wheel...
The accident he had in Houston, pretty much wrapped it for him...
Here's part of the statement released from his own website:
One month removed from the crash and based upon the expert advice of the doctors who have treated and assessed my head and spinal injuries post accident, it is their best medical opinion that I must stop racing. They have made it very clear that the risks involved in further racing are too great and could be detrimental to my long term well-being. Based on this medical advice, I have no choice but to stop.
Here's the wreck...
((HT: IndyCar/NBCSN))
Team owner Chip Ganassi followed:
His contributions to the sport of motor racing are too many to list but I can tell you that they go way beyond what he has done on the track. What’s both impressive and unique about Dario is that he has always been a student of racing, someone who not only appreciates the actual science of the sport but also the rich heritage of those racers that have gone before him.
Ganassi anticipates the next chapter of Franchitti's life to be in his shop...
Franchitti is also tied with Sebastien Bourdais and Paul Tracy for seventh on the Indy car career victory list with 31.
The accident he had in Houston, pretty much wrapped it for him...
Here's part of the statement released from his own website:
One month removed from the crash and based upon the expert advice of the doctors who have treated and assessed my head and spinal injuries post accident, it is their best medical opinion that I must stop racing. They have made it very clear that the risks involved in further racing are too great and could be detrimental to my long term well-being. Based on this medical advice, I have no choice but to stop.
Here's the wreck...
((HT: IndyCar/NBCSN))
Team owner Chip Ganassi followed:
His contributions to the sport of motor racing are too many to list but I can tell you that they go way beyond what he has done on the track. What’s both impressive and unique about Dario is that he has always been a student of racing, someone who not only appreciates the actual science of the sport but also the rich heritage of those racers that have gone before him.
Ganassi anticipates the next chapter of Franchitti's life to be in his shop...
Franchitti is also tied with Sebastien Bourdais and Paul Tracy for seventh on the Indy car career victory list with 31.
Sunday, October 6, 2013
DEVELOPING: Dario Franchitti's Car Disintegrates In Houston, Fans Injured By Debris (UPDATE)
((HT: NBCSN))
This, really, was not the way that people wanted the race to have any highlights in Houston with the IndyCars...
Two angles... Dario Franchitti and Takuma Sato got mixed up...
And here...
IndyCar reports that Franchitti is alert and being transported to the hospital. Team owner Chip Ganassi is saying that his driver is okay with some soreness, bumps, and bruises... unconfirmed reports have the number of injured spectators at 15...
“I asked how he was doing, and he said, ‘Eh.’ His ankle is sore, and his back is sore, and he will be taken to the hospital. But he’s OK,” Ganassi told NBCSN's Kevin Lee...
More when we know more...
1730 UPDATE: According to the Houston Fire Department, at least 13 people were injured. Two of the 13 spectators injured were sent to local hospitals while the rest were treated at the scene by EMS, according to Senior Captain Ruy Lozano.
This, really, was not the way that people wanted the race to have any highlights in Houston with the IndyCars...
Two angles... Dario Franchitti and Takuma Sato got mixed up...
And here...
IndyCar reports that Franchitti is alert and being transported to the hospital. Team owner Chip Ganassi is saying that his driver is okay with some soreness, bumps, and bruises... unconfirmed reports have the number of injured spectators at 15...
“I asked how he was doing, and he said, ‘Eh.’ His ankle is sore, and his back is sore, and he will be taken to the hospital. But he’s OK,” Ganassi told NBCSN's Kevin Lee...
More when we know more...
1730 UPDATE: According to the Houston Fire Department, at least 13 people were injured. Two of the 13 spectators injured were sent to local hospitals while the rest were treated at the scene by EMS, according to Senior Captain Ruy Lozano.
Sunday, August 25, 2013
Dixon Calls Crew Accident A "Dick Move..."
((HT: NBCSN))
Scott Dixon had a bit of an issue during the last round of pitstops at the IndyCar race at Sonoma...
He kinda ran over (or ran into) some of Will Power's pit crew...
Dixon alleged that Power’s crew had moved into Dixon’s pit space and in fact jumped in front of the New Zealander on exit.
((If you looked at the video, the HQ agrees that it was more like the on-air diagnosis where someone was carrying groceries off their hip down the street...))
After the restart, Dixon was assessed a drive-through penalty for what was deemed a "pit lane violation" and was at the back of the field after he rejoined.
Dixon finished 15th.
Here's Dixon talking about it post race...
The HQ always enjoys candor...
And the three crew members that were injured all told NBCSN's Marty Snider that they were okay...
Scott Dixon had a bit of an issue during the last round of pitstops at the IndyCar race at Sonoma...
He kinda ran over (or ran into) some of Will Power's pit crew...
Dixon alleged that Power’s crew had moved into Dixon’s pit space and in fact jumped in front of the New Zealander on exit.
((If you looked at the video, the HQ agrees that it was more like the on-air diagnosis where someone was carrying groceries off their hip down the street...))
After the restart, Dixon was assessed a drive-through penalty for what was deemed a "pit lane violation" and was at the back of the field after he rejoined.
Dixon finished 15th.
Here's Dixon talking about it post race...
The HQ always enjoys candor...
And the three crew members that were injured all told NBCSN's Marty Snider that they were okay...
Sunday, May 26, 2013
Tony Kanaan is Your Indy 500 Champ
It took 12 tries, but perhaps for new Indianapolis 500 champ Tony Kanaan, 12 is his lucky number.
The Brazilian racer cruised to a relatively easy win after taking the lead with 3-laps to go from Ryan Hunter-Reay. He locked it up when a Dario Frachetti crashed, making it a lock Kanaan would get the win.
Kanaan is an Indy Car veteran, who's got 16 wins and a Series title under his belt.
But he'd never won "The Big One".
Rookie Carlos Munoz gets 2nd place, Hunter-Reay finished 3rd and Marco Andretti ended up 4th.
Here are the early highlights of the finish--subject to change later:
The Brazilian racer cruised to a relatively easy win after taking the lead with 3-laps to go from Ryan Hunter-Reay. He locked it up when a Dario Frachetti crashed, making it a lock Kanaan would get the win.
Kanaan is an Indy Car veteran, who's got 16 wins and a Series title under his belt.
But he'd never won "The Big One".
Rookie Carlos Munoz gets 2nd place, Hunter-Reay finished 3rd and Marco Andretti ended up 4th.
Here are the early highlights of the finish--subject to change later:
Friday, May 24, 2013
4-Wide Finish For Freedom 100
((HT: IMS/NBCSN))
Anything we say can't do this justice...
Here's the last two laps of the Freedom 100 race at Indianapolis this afternoon...
26-ten thousandths of a second is the end result for Peter Dempsey's win in the Indy Lights series...
"Beers are on me tonight," said Dempsey, who earned his first Firestone Indy Lights race in his 20th start.
Gabby Chavez was second and pole sitter Sage Karam was .0290 of a second behind the winner in third. Carlos Munoz, who led Laps 14-39, was .0443 of a second off the winner.
Now, the HQ would like to see if the 500-miler will be anywhere close to this race in the level of excitement...
Doubt it...
Anything we say can't do this justice...
Here's the last two laps of the Freedom 100 race at Indianapolis this afternoon...
26-ten thousandths of a second is the end result for Peter Dempsey's win in the Indy Lights series...
"Beers are on me tonight," said Dempsey, who earned his first Firestone Indy Lights race in his 20th start.
Gabby Chavez was second and pole sitter Sage Karam was .0290 of a second behind the winner in third. Carlos Munoz, who led Laps 14-39, was .0443 of a second off the winner.
Now, the HQ would like to see if the 500-miler will be anywhere close to this race in the level of excitement...
Doubt it...
Greg Moore Visits Hinch Town
((HT: Sportsnet))
The folks over at Sportsnet, valued by those of us at HQ, have put together a 30-minute special on Canadian race car driver Greg Moore and his impact on the series- 14 years after his passing at Fontana...
Lap 10, Halloween, the race was the CART series finale for 1999...
Moore was an up and comer in the Indy Series and he meant so much to Canadians that current IndyCar driver James Hinchcliffe grew up wanting to be like him...
They have put together a half-hour with interviews including Dario Franchitti, Greg's dad, his mechanic, and Hinch...
Required viewing for race fans and Part 3 has a special moment from this year's Indy qualifying...
Class act, Hinch...
Class act...
The folks over at Sportsnet, valued by those of us at HQ, have put together a 30-minute special on Canadian race car driver Greg Moore and his impact on the series- 14 years after his passing at Fontana...
Lap 10, Halloween, the race was the CART series finale for 1999...
Moore was an up and comer in the Indy Series and he meant so much to Canadians that current IndyCar driver James Hinchcliffe grew up wanting to be like him...
They have put together a half-hour with interviews including Dario Franchitti, Greg's dad, his mechanic, and Hinch...
Required viewing for race fans and Part 3 has a special moment from this year's Indy qualifying...
Class act, Hinch...
Class act...
Saturday, September 22, 2012
Edmonton Indy Is Toast For Now... Will It Stay Or Will It Go...??? Austin, Are You Listening...???
((HT: NBCSN/youtube))
The Edmonton Indy Car race is done until further notice after the current promoter, Octane, pulled out and the city says they won't find a replacement- and they'll eat the costs they fronted to make the race happen in the first place.
The last Indy, probably, left a sour taste in the mouth of everyone in Alberta province as relayed by the Edmonton Sun's Terry Jones:
"Colin Livingston pointed out, on the record, all the warning signs to your correspondent a week before the race in July.
"Livingston, owner of CanTorque, a business based in Edmonton, said what he was seeing bothered him greatly.
“There has been a great neglect in the marketing, promotion of the race is even worse than Northlands,” he said. “This year, specifically, it looks like they are trying to run the race for free. There appears to be next to no budget for promotion or marketing of this thing. They just operate the race. And they do a great job running the race. But my concern is there’s not going to be a race left here to operate.”
The big beef being that an outfit in eastern Canada was in no shape to run something in the west... and everyone in town seems to be right... There didn't seem to be any promotion, any signage, any advertising, or anything else that would make a race (a very popular race at that...) available to the city.
Jones seems to think Michael Andretti could step in like he did in Baltimore or Kevin Savoree who ran the Toronto Indy.
The HQ thinks that another city might have a stake in the future of that time slot... if they look at it hard enough... Austin, Texas and the Circuit of the Americas...
It would give the city another reason to claim a motorsports foothold in a series that is more North American than the overt corruption that seems to permeate the F1. And the HQ shudders at the thought of just how much money has gone F1's way to get a race to a college football town on a college football weekend the weekend before Thanksgiving. It reminds us of the IOC...
Who said that...???
The US Grand Prix will, no doubt, look pretty. Texans will make sure of it. But they really need to look to book the building for other clients and not just Bernie Ecclestone.
It just lends to too many questions in the long term instead of too many solutions to pay for the track...
Here's the last race from Edmonton- for now... until it ends up some place else...
The Edmonton Indy Car race is done until further notice after the current promoter, Octane, pulled out and the city says they won't find a replacement- and they'll eat the costs they fronted to make the race happen in the first place.
The last Indy, probably, left a sour taste in the mouth of everyone in Alberta province as relayed by the Edmonton Sun's Terry Jones:
"Colin Livingston pointed out, on the record, all the warning signs to your correspondent a week before the race in July.
"Livingston, owner of CanTorque, a business based in Edmonton, said what he was seeing bothered him greatly.
“There has been a great neglect in the marketing, promotion of the race is even worse than Northlands,” he said. “This year, specifically, it looks like they are trying to run the race for free. There appears to be next to no budget for promotion or marketing of this thing. They just operate the race. And they do a great job running the race. But my concern is there’s not going to be a race left here to operate.”
The big beef being that an outfit in eastern Canada was in no shape to run something in the west... and everyone in town seems to be right... There didn't seem to be any promotion, any signage, any advertising, or anything else that would make a race (a very popular race at that...) available to the city.
Jones seems to think Michael Andretti could step in like he did in Baltimore or Kevin Savoree who ran the Toronto Indy.
The HQ thinks that another city might have a stake in the future of that time slot... if they look at it hard enough... Austin, Texas and the Circuit of the Americas...
It would give the city another reason to claim a motorsports foothold in a series that is more North American than the overt corruption that seems to permeate the F1. And the HQ shudders at the thought of just how much money has gone F1's way to get a race to a college football town on a college football weekend the weekend before Thanksgiving. It reminds us of the IOC...
Who said that...???
The US Grand Prix will, no doubt, look pretty. Texans will make sure of it. But they really need to look to book the building for other clients and not just Bernie Ecclestone.
It just lends to too many questions in the long term instead of too many solutions to pay for the track...
Here's the last race from Edmonton- for now... until it ends up some place else...
Sunday, June 3, 2012
James Hinchcliffe F-Bombs Belle Isle During Indy Race
((HT: IndyCar/ESPN/youtube))
The IndyCar circuit hasn't run on the Belle Isle circuit since 2008, and this might be one of the reasons why...
Today's race had to go all red flag on us at Lap 45
Will Power's car also received damage to his nose cone just before the red as well and Takuma Sato looks like his wreck was caused by hitting the chunks in the road...
Nothing like a homecoming...
More when we know more...
The IndyCar circuit hasn't run on the Belle Isle circuit since 2008, and this might be one of the reasons why...
Today's race had to go all red flag on us at Lap 45
Will Power's car also received damage to his nose cone just before the red as well and Takuma Sato looks like his wreck was caused by hitting the chunks in the road...
Nothing like a homecoming...
More when we know more...
Friday, November 4, 2011
Dancia Patrick to race in Daytona 500
 |
| Your newest Sprint Cup racer |
Well, that didn't take long. Shortly after the end of this years troubled Indy Car season, the circuits most popular...or at least best known driver has all but made her jump to NASCAR permanent.
Stewart-Haas racing announced today that Danica Patrick will pilot their #10 car in the Super Bowl of Auto Racing in February...the Daytona 500. She will compete in at least 8 more Sprint Cup races along with a full 33 race season on the Nationwide circuit.
Read the entire story from NASCAR.com RIGHT HERE
This isn't much of a surprise. Everyone knew it would just be a matter of time before Patrick made the full jump to Stock-Car racing. She had a somewhat difficult season this past year racing for Andretti Motorsports Indy Car team and expressed a lot of anxiety over the recent fatal crash involving Dan Wheldon.
We don't know if...or how successful Patrick will be running with the bigger cars. She had a modest amount of success in early 2011 running a few Nationwide events. She didn't win any, but showed according to observers, the ability to handle it.
Undoubtedly, this will be a big, big story leading into next years NASCAR season and considering the egos involved, it should be really, really interesting to watch and see how it plays out.
Here's some video of your newest Sprint Cup contender:
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