Angry Race Fan » Andretti http://www.angryracefan.com We Blog Motorsports! Wed, 05 May 2010 19:04:37 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 en hourly 1 2010: An IndyCar Odyssey? http://www.angryracefan.com/2010/02/2010-an-indycar-odyssey/ http://www.angryracefan.com/2010/02/2010-an-indycar-odyssey/#comments Tue, 16 Feb 2010 12:00:08 +0000 Scott http://www.angryracefan.com/?p=472

Tony George doesn’t run the IRL anymore, he’s not on the Board of the Hulman-George Companies, and he’s shuddered Vision Racing. Newman-Haas-Lanigan appears to be a ride buying prep shop for 2010 which leaves Graham Rahal in the dirt (A recent Tweet from Graham mentioned that he was still working out regularly in case an opportunity were to arise). Penske and Ganassi are still around with their powerhouse drivers. Penske is actually expanding to a three car effort with Will Power which is excellent news. Danica is staying with AGR as is ever popular Tony Kanaan. So there is some good with the bad.

Overall though I’m having a hard time not just staring straight at the bad. Tony G has been ousted or removed himself from all contacts to the series and The Speedway. This appears to be directly related to his family getting tired of how much money he’s spent propping up the IRL since 1996. So now if he’s gone and the family members left in charge aren’t interested in pumping money into the series any longer what is going to happen? I’m going out on a limb here and saying, Nothing Good!

No one has made any specific statements of course and no public goals have been set for the series but it seems that unification in itself didn’t heal the wounds of open wheel racing in America. Many of us were naive enough to think that two series with more than 10 or so teams would merge to result in a series with 20 teams and 30+ cars for each event. That didn’t happen.

We also thought that merging the two groups together would allow for sponsors to finally see a single series that was more easily recognizable by the American public. That doesn’t really appear to have happened either.

What about new and interested folks wanting to start IndyCar teams? Not so much. Although some new teams pop up hear and there they usually fade into the woodwork pretty quickly.

I love Indy Car and will continue to watch. I’ll go to races and recommend others do as well, but you gotta be concerned at the state of affairs as we await the start of the 2010 Indy Car season.

]]> http://www.angryracefan.com/2010/02/2010-an-indycar-odyssey/feed/ 0 Danica Made the Right Choice http://www.angryracefan.com/2009/10/danica-made-the-right-choice/ http://www.angryracefan.com/2009/10/danica-made-the-right-choice/#comments Thu, 01 Oct 2009 20:47:15 +0000 Scott http://www.angryracefan.com/?p=149
Danica is staying with AGR and It's a Good Thing! Photo Credit: Phot Mojo

Danica is staying with AGR and It's a Good Thing! Photo Credit: Phot Mojo

It is nearly official, word has it that Danica Patrick has signed a 3 year contract with Andretti Green Racing and will hence stay in the Indy Racing League.  This is without question, in my mind, the best decision she could have made. 
There were, of course, many rumors that she would stay in the IRL but would move to a different team.  It would have been better than Christmas to see her land with Ganassi, but alas this in the end was not in the cards.  As Brady, my fellow Angry Race Fan blogger, pointed out tome.  It would be very difficult for The Chipper to part with his current rosters (2008 & 2009 Series Champions) and although adding a third car wold be worth doing I’m sure it’s not worth as much to Chip as keeping her in-house is to Michael Andretti.  She’s not only a media and sponsor magnet she’s now AGR’s top performer.  (Sorry TK, you’re awesome, but da facts is da facts.)  Hence the cards fell in place and a deal was struck.
The other rumors of her defecting to NASCAR were at best self-seeded bargaining chips to bump up her Indy Car value.  Unfortunately my money says she will end up in tin tops some day anyway.  I think at this point it’s just a matter of time.  That’s fine, I’ve accepted it at this point.  But both Dan-Dan (that’s what I like to call her) and I know that now is not the time to fry that chicken.
Why? you say.  Well she is way more than just a swimsuit model.  She is a damn good race car driver.  Those of us who know that understand that she can win races and at least become a championship contender, if not a champion.  The move to AGR appeared to be a a step in the right direction until the team’s performance hit the crapper shortly after her arrival.  What was once a power house going toe to toe with Penske and Ganassi was relegated to fighting for the best positions behind them along with NHLand KV Racing.  An improvement at AGR is bound to show results for her but not as quickly as a move to Penske or Ganassi would have.
She’s still very young and has time to mature, grow, and win.  Once she is consistently finishing at the top and winning races in Indy Car then NASCAR will not only coming knocking but they will probably kick in the door (I bet they don’t ask if she’s decent first either!).  She’ll most likely answer the door in a towel and will cash in big time!
Go get ‘em Dan-Dan!  Since the first time I saw you racing Barber Dodge in Cleveland I had a feeling we’d be watching you for a long time to come.
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