IndyCar Driver Justin Wilson Is Released To Recover From Home

Justin Wilson in the pits. Image Credit: Ken Manfred (2013)

Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013)

Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013)

Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013)

Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013)

Justin Wilson being attended to out on Turn 2 at Auto Club Speedway. Image Credit: Ken Manfred (2013)

IndyCar Driver Justin Wilson Is Released To Recover From Home

IndyCar pilot Justin Wilson returned home to Colorado this week to begin his recovery process after suffering injuries in a lap 111 accident in the 2013 IndyCar season finale at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California last weekend.

Wilson suffered a pulmonary contusion as well as three fractures to his pelvis from the impact, which saw the front of a competitor’s car make lateral (t-bone) contact with the right side of Wilson’s DW12. The recovery process will require several weeks of inactivity for Wilson.

The order to keep off his feet is a big adjustment for Wilson, who in addition to his duties as a doting dad to his two young daughters, stays extremely active with a comprehensive training program that integrates long-distance cycling, mountain biking, and weight training.

“They said it will be six weeks before I can put weight on my right side,” said Wilson, who has already become adroit with his new crutches he will use to get around. “I am hoping for a lot less (time) of course, but you have to do what they say. It will be hard because I am already thinking about getting back in the car and training to be ready for that, but it will just take some time.”

Wilson has a recent precedent for this process after suffering a back injury in practice at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in August, 2011. But after sitting out the final six races of the IndyCar season, Wilson returned to 2012 race duty in fine form, winning in his first race back with a breakthrough victory for Michael Shank Racing in the 50th Anniversary Rolex 24 At Daytona.

While obeying doctors orders and keeping off his feet will be key to his healing, the affable Briton has already also benefited from an outpouring of support from a wide range of sources.

“It has been amazing, several of the drivers came and visited me in the hospital and everyone has called, tweeted, or texted me just saying ‘get well fast’.  It has been a little overwhelming,” said Wilson. “I’d like to respond to everyone, but I think it would be impossible!  I am grateful for the support, and it is  really encouraging for me.”

The primary partner on Wilson’s No. 19 Dale Coyne Racing Honda-powered machine was the Boy Scouts of America, and the group was another outlet of support as the national council organized a section of the website for Scouts from across the country to wish Wilson a speedy recovery  (http://blog.scoutingmagazine.org/2013/10/21/justin/).

... notes from The EDJE

Scott Dixon Post 2013 IZOD IndyCar Series Season Interview

IZOD IndyCar Series race car driver, and three-time champion, Scott Dixon shares his good emotions about capturing the 2013 IZOD IndyCar Series Championship for Target Chip Ganassi Racing at the MAVTv 500 Auto Club Speedway's press conference. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013)

Scott Dixon Post 2013 IZOD IndyCar Series Season Interview

33 year old Scott Ronald Dixon, is a New Zealand race car driver who became the most successful all-time driver in the Indy Racing League (IRL) championship in the United States when he won the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio in August 2009. This took his total to 20 wins.

Competing for Chip Ganassi Racing since joining IndyCar, Dixon has won the championship three times, in 2003, 2008, and just this weekend in the MAVTv 500 at Auto Club Speedway, and he won the 92nd Indianapolis 500 in 2008 from pole position.

Among notable awards won by Dixon are the Jim Clark Trophy (1999, 2001, 2004) and the Bruce McLaren Trophy (2003, 2008). In 2012 he was appointed Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit.

IndyCar Series Race Director, Beaux Barfield, waves Scott Dixon out to take his qualification run for the MAVTv 500 at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013)

Scott, you are with Edmund Jenks - welcome to Motorsports Unplugged and Race Talk Radio.

 [Scott Dixon Post 2013 IZOD IndyCar Series Season Interview HERE]

1) At the Auto Club Speedway's post race press conference, it was pointed out that the French sports publication L'Equipe wrote that your latest accomplishment would have your legacy move ahead of the likes of Denny Hulme and Bruce McLaren as New Zealand's most successful driver in terms of annual titles. I heard your response to L'Equipe's assertion --- Now that you have had time to digest this assertion for about 36 hours, what do you make of this hearlding that you are New Zealand's most successful race car driver?

2) It was reported that Max Papis put out a 'Tweet' (a 140 character communication message on Twitter) ... Watching yesterday @IndyCar race if they don't change something on those Ovals is just a matter of time before one of my friends will die!! Max seems to be concerned about how long it will be when a driver might pass away due to injuries with the rules package used at a superspeedway like Auto Club Speedway. Do you think open-wheel racing is safe enough running 3-wide at over 200mph?

Scott Dixon takes his #9 Honda-powered Dallara DW12 race car out under a full moon practice run at Auto Club Speedway. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013)

3) This 2013 championship is the first one earned within the merged and integrated field of drivers and racing venues from ChampCar - with the variety of racing venues presented in the present day IndyCar series, which type of track do you enjoy the best? You have shown accomplishment on all types.

4) In the not so distant past, it was obvious who the top 2 or 3 contenders would be for the title by the season's halfway point, but this year a driver would emerge and then have issues - was this part of the learning curve of year two with the new DW12 Dallara car and engine combos?

5) Speaking of engine combinations - how involved with the motor engineers do you become - what is your habit? Working with Japanese racing engineers, first at Toyota, then at Honda for these last dozen or so years ... how do you anticipate working with the engineers at Chevrolet will go - any differences?

6) There has been a lot of background discussion on the introduction of a road race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the timing of the race in the schedule - Do you care if the Indy road course is raced in the same month - the Month of May - as the Indy 500? Does it matter?

A beaming team owner, Chip Ganassi (right) discusses the meaning of being competitive with the support of Target Chip Ganassi Racing's managing director, Mike Hull. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013)

7) For 2014 - What do you think of the new Tudor road racing series? I assume you'll be driving in it ... any idea as to which car Ganassi Racing will go with? The Daytona Prototypes or the ALMS style P2 cars?

8) Do you have an opinion on the Indy Lights series and the troubles they're going through?

9) The last time we talked, just before your going to Valencia to receive some instruction from Olympian Skeet Shooter, Kim Rhodes, we discussed the options for the community service that was going to be asked of you as a driver for the penalty assessed post Baltimore for comments made out of frustration. Now that the season is over and are now a three-time IndyCar champion, do you expect to be awarded a modification taking in the time served over the next few months due to the additional promotional appearances based on this 2013 IndyCar Championship accomplishment?

... notes from The EDJE

Scott Dixon - MAVTv 500 IZOD IndyCar Series Conference Call

IZOD IndyCar Series season points leader (by 25 points over Helio Castroneves) Scott Dixon as he gets instruction from Olympian Kim Rhodes on the finer points of shotgun skeet shooting. Image Credit Albert Wong (2013)

Scott Dixon - MAVTv 500 IZOD IndyCar Series Conference Call

The 2013 season comes down to one race between two drivers for all of the marbles. Only 25 points separate Target Chip Ganassi Racing's Scott Dixon from the driver who held the points lead the longest stint during the season, three-time Indy 500 winner Penske Racing's Helio Castroneves.

Scott agreed to sit down and participate in a pre-finale conference call with IndyCar's Arni Sribhen and a few writers who have been following the IZOD IndyCar Series for 2013. The following call lasts about 30 minutes.

Scott Dixon - MAVTv 500 Pre-Race IZOD IndyCar Series Conference Call >>>

Scott Dixon and Helio Castroneves share a warm handshake just as the  IZOD IndyCar Series pre-race MAVTv 500 media luncheon press conference ends at LA Live's The Conga Room.
Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013)

Practice and qualifications are Oct. 18. Real-time Timing & Scoring augmented by the IMS Radio Network broadcast is available on www.indycar.com and the INDYCAR 13 app for all sessions and the race.

The full schedule (all times Eastern):

Oct. 18 -- 1:45-3:15 p.m. practice
               5:15 p.m. qualifications (7 p.m. on NBC Sports Network)
               9:05-9:35 p.m. practice

Oct. 19 -- 8 p.m. MAVTV 500 on NBC Sports Network

Oct. 20 -- 8:30 p.m. INDYCAR Championship Celebration streamed live on www.indycar.com and INDYCAR 13 app.

... notes from The EDJE

Helio Castroneves - MAVTv 500 IZOD IndyCar Series Conference Call

IZOD IndyCar Series Helio Castroneves as he gives a post testing interview for the gathered media. 
Image Credit Albert Wong(2013)

Helio Castroneves - MAVTv 500 IZOD IndyCar Series Conference Call

The 2013 season comes down to one race between two drivers for all of the marbles. Only 25 points separate Target Chip Ganassi Racing's Scott Dixon from the driver who held the points lead the longest stint during the season, three-time Indy 500 winner Penske Racing's HelioCastroneves.

Helio agreed to sit down and participatein a pre-finale conference call with IndyCar's Arni Sribhen and a fewwriters who have been following the IZOD IndyCar Series for 2013. Thefollowing call lasts about 30 minutes.

Helio Castroneves - MAVTv 500 Pre-Race IZOD IndyCar Series Conference Call >>>

Scott Dixon and Helio Castroneves share a warm handshake just as the  IZOD IndyCar Series pre-race MAVTv 500 media luncheon press conference ends at LA Live's The Conga Room. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013)

Practice and qualifications are Oct. 18. Real-time Timing &Scoring augmented by the IMS Radio Network broadcast is available onwww.indycar.com and the INDYCAR 13 app for all sessions and the race.

The full schedule (all times Eastern):

Oct. 18 -- 1:45-3:15 p.m. practice
               5:15 p.m. qualifications (7 p.m. on NBC Sports Network)

               9:05-9:35 p.m. practice

Oct. 19 -- 8 p.m. MAVTV 500 on NBC Sports Network

Oct. 20 -- 8:30 p.m. INDYCAR Championship Celebration streamed live on www.indycar.com and INDYCAR 13 app.

... notes from The EDJE

13 Questions With Andretti Autosport's James Hinchcliffe

Andretti Autosport's James Hinchcliffe as he leads the IZOD IndyCar Series championship points leader at the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013)

13 Questions With Andretti Autosport's James Hinchcliffe

James Hinchcliffe is the "Mayor of Hinchtown," which is his Internet civilization that welcomes everyone to visit.

I love the short BIO that was sent to me which states - Hinchcliffe likes long walks on the beach, flannel shirts, maple syrup and dog sled racing. "I am also a competitive lumber jack in my spare time," he jokes. As you can tell, Hinchcliffe has quite the personality.

He's also an accomplished race car driver, winning the IZOD IndyCar Series’ Sunoco Rookie of the Year and Tony Renna Rising Star Awards in 2011.

This year, James notched his first win in the IZOD IndyCar Series and had two more wins while gaining just one other top-6 finish in an inconsistent year. 2013 has been a balancing act.

Knowing when to be aggressive and go for the checkered flag, and then, when to coast to the finish line for the points - prompted this quote from the Mayor of Hinchtown:

“It kind of has been like I’m either winning or crashing, we just want to give people something to cheer for.”

And cheering fans is what James Hinchcliffe always ends up bringing to the track ... James, Welcome to Motorsports Unplugged and Race Talk Radio's "At The APEX" program.

IZOD IndyCar Series race winner James Hinchcliffe and sponsor GoDaddy will trade the iconic "GoDaddy green" for a good cause at this weekend's Grand Prix of Houston. The Chevy-powered No. 27 driven by the Canadian racer will, in support of the National Breast Cancer Foundation, take to the track on Friday with a pink paint scheme specially designed for the GoDaddy machine. In addition to the pink paint, the No. 27 will go one step - or wheel - further by displaying the support of Firestone Racing through pink sidewall racing tires. Hinchcliffe's teammates Marco Andretti, E.J. Viso and reigning series champion Ryan Hunter-Reay will also sport the Firestone pink side-walls. Image Credit: Andretti Autosport

James HinchcliffeInterview 10-3-2013

 (click title to launch audio file of interview)

(1) We all have recently heard the announcement that your sponsor, GoDaddy, is going away ... you said recently, that you thought you'd have an offer on the table with Andretti Autosport before Houston ... care to announce something here, right now?

(2) If no agreement can be reached with Andretti, you further stated you were entertaining an offer that had come in from a good team ... could you expand on that concept yet?

(3) What was it like working with GoDaddy? You certainly seemed to have the outgoing personality for, you know, their brand ...

(4) A lot of people are sentimental about racing the road course at Indy ... they seem to want the 500 to be the only indycar race there ... How do you see it?

(5) The F1 races on the Indy Road course were exciting, but very little room to pass, do you think, you and the other drivers, are going to enjoy the new layout?

(6) Last question about INDY - Having both races in the same month, the oval and the road course, do you feel that this might diminish, in some way, the INDY 500 - and its strength and luster?

(7) Do you enjoy the street courses? Do you think IndyCar has arranged the best menu of street courses for you guys this year?

(8) Do you like the change-up of the double-header style format IndyCar has come up with for targeted race weekends during the year?

(9) What is your impression of the standing start format?

(10) With Indy Lights having such small fields this year ... do you think Formula Atlantic should be brought back?

(11) Which did you enjoy more IndyLites or Formula Atlantics? Why?

(12) Who came up with Hinchtown and you being the Mayor of it?

(13) Lastly, and most importantly, how does haggis taste? And do you intend to partake in haggis a second time if Dario Franchitti asks again?

Thank you James, have a good 2-runs, Saturday and Sunday, at Houston and see you at the Auto Club Speedway for the MAVTv 500 finale, with the GREEN Flag set to drop on Saturday October 19 at 8:00 pm Eastern Time.

... notes from The EDJE

Dario Franchitti Enjoys Some Downtime Before Indy's GoPro Sonoma

Dario Franchitti Enjoys Some Downtime Before Indy's GoPro Sonoma

Last week, between races, IndyCar stand out driver for Target Chip Ganassi Racing, Dario Franchitti visited the motor culture event that coincides the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion held at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.

Vintage Motorsports TV's Thomas Stahler had a chance to chat with Dario at the Automobilia (vintage items, posters, books, and etc. for exchange) tent for a few minutes before Dario had to engage into what he does best ... drive.

This next weekend, Dario will be competing in the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma with an incredible field of championship-minded drivers where Dario holds a unique distinction. Dario Franchitti's average finish in competition at Sonoma Raceway is the highest of all of the leading drivers in the IZOD IndyCar Series.

IZOD INDYCAR SERIES TOP 10 AT SONOMA - Image Credit: indycar.com

To look at this information from a stack ranking perspective ... one can say Dario Franchitti has a distinct performance advantage on the track at Sonoma Raceway.

Top 10 In 2013 Championship Points Chase Sonoma Raceway Finishing Record Plus Two Honorable Mentions - Top average finishing position stack ranking:

Dario Franchitti - 3.4

Ryan Briscoe - 6.7

Scott Dixon - 7.1

Will Power - 7.3

Helio Castroneves - 7.5

Justin Wilson - 8.3

Tony Kanaan - 9.0

Simon Pagenaud - 11.0

 Marco Andretti - 15.1

Ryan Hunter-Reay - 15.2

James Hinchcliffe - 16.5

Charlie Kimball - 23.5

Interesting analytical look at the facts ... but let's just run the race, 'cause that's why we race ... OKAY?

 ... notes from The EDJE

It's A Win, Win, Win For IndyCar At Mid-Ohio's Honda Indy 200

With 17 laps left in the 90-lap race, Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing's Charlie Kimball scooted inside of then-race leader Schmidt Hamilton HP Motorsports' Simon Pagenaud between the fourth and fifth turns to regain the race lead at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Kimball earned his first win of the season, and led 46 of the race's Caution free 90 laps on the 2.258-mile road course. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2012)

It's A Win, Win, Win For IndyCar At Mid-Ohio's Honda Indy 200

All of the pre-race speculation for this 14th race in a 19 race IZOD IndyCar Series (IICS) championship season had predicted a race without passing, a race where the race would be won on pitstops and pit strategy and not actual driving ability on the track, a race of fuel saving strategy where the car with the best laps per tank would be at the top of the charts, and lastly, a race where the season championship points leader would definitely loose strength of position at the end of the day due to his poor qualifications performance and a starting position of P14. Sounds kind of depressing, doesn't it?

Charlie Kimball analyzes and discusses the performance of his Chip Gnassi Racing prepared No. 83 NovoLog FlexPen Honda-powered DW12 in the pits at the GoPro Indy Sonoma last year. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2012)

Well, on three major levels, all of these predictions came up a bust and this was all to the benefit to the ardent fan of American open-wheel racing.

To the race winner, himself, Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing's Charlie Kimball, after finding out six years ago the he had diabetes and thinking this would dash his dreams of being a professional race car driver, and after two plus years of showing promise driving in the pinnacle professional racing series in North America, clinches his first-ever series win by just driving flat out and have the chips fall where they may. So much for fuel management.

This 'first-ever' win was the fourth for a driver this season as Southern Californian Charlie Kimball joins the person he passed in the final laps at Mid-Ohio to take the lead, Frenchman Simon Pagenaud (Schmidt Hamilton HP Motorsports) who won the seventh race of the season - Chevrolet Indy Dual in Detroit Race 2, Former F1 driver Takuma Sato (A.J. Foyt Enterprises) for his win at the third race of the season - Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, and Canadian James Hinchcliffe (Andretti Autosport) - who has won three times this season - for his win in the first race of the season - Honda Grand Prix Of St. Petersburg. In the previous five seasons, there were five total first-time winners so this is a great trend.

The Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing No. 83 driven by Charlie Kimball takes Turn 11 at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach where he finished the race at P21 a couple of laps down to the leaders. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013)

This sophomore year of the Dallara DW12 chassis outfitted with either a turbo-charged Chevy or Honda engine has made for very competitive racing ... probably the most competitive in the whole of the 21st century. There have been nine different winners in 14 races,  four different teams are represented in the top five positions in the IZOD IndyCar Series championship points race, and a driver who has won the series' hallmark race three times - The Indy 500 - yet has never won the season championship, leads the points race through 14 of 19 races this season.

Helio Castroneves entered Mid-Ohio's Honda Indy 200 29 points ahead of his chief rival, Scott Dixon, in the IICS season points. He had a terrible time getting his Penske Racing PPG sponsored Dallara DW12 to work well on the track all weekend long and started the race at P14. Scott Dixon, who was second, and Ryan Hunter-Reay who sits at third, qualified for the race at P3 and P1 - 11 and 13 positions ahead respectively.

By race's end, Castroneves clawed his way through the field, passing nine cars for position, to capture P6 ... one position ahead of Scott Dixon at P7 and one position behind Ryan Hunter-Reay at P5 - so much for no passing. Helio Castroneves now leads all competitors by 31 points which is a net gain of two going into the last five races of the season. If Castroneves goes on to capture the season championship for 2013, without an additional win in the season (only the Firestone 550 in Ft. Worth), this would represent another couple of first-time occurrences - wouldn't it?

Charlie Kimball, and his Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing team, raise the first place trophy in victory circle after posting their first-ever win in the IZOD IndyCar Series after winning the Honda Indy 200 auto race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2013. Image Credit: Charlie Kimball via Twitter

Ultimately, the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course echoed the claim expressed on a recent Facebook entry left at The EDJE - Geoff Gray  ## Another good Indycar race ... its the best racing on TV bar none and they proved it again today ... Another first time winner the points are still relatively tight and Charlie Kimball proved that he can pull off a slide job going into Madness!

All of this adds up to a win for Charlie Kimball, win for Helio Castroneves, and most of all, a win for American open-wheel racing fans for a product and effort that is well worth watching in any year, but especially here at Mid-Ohio's Honda Indy 200. 

... notes from The EDJE

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Pocono's Elevated Sprocket Drive Shape Gives IndyCar Traction

Marco Andretti, driving at his family's home track for the first time as an IICS driver hopes to follow in his grandfather's footsteps and notch a win at Pocono Raceway ... something team owner and father has never done. Image Credit: Chris Owens via motorsport.com

Pocono's Elevated Sprocket Drive Shape Gives IndyCar Traction

For the first time since 1989, American open-wheel racing comes back to an area of the United States that has become known as racing's Magic Triangle due to the location of Pocono Raceway to the population centers of New York and Philadelphia.

Pocono Raceway is about 90 miles away from both New York and Philadelphia with New York having the distinction of the #1 largest TV market and Philadelphia, the #4 largest TV market. This also places the super-speedway within 200 miles of 60 million people and when you consider that the average NASCAR Sprint Cup fan (the main fan base that have used Pocono Speedway these last 24 years) travels 300 miles, this race track is in the highest population density of almost any other popular racing destination.

Everyone loves to bring their own analogy to this uniquely shaped racing venue ... being a triangle, people call the 'Tricky Triangle' a tri-oval or 'roval' because of its asymmetric configuration - an oval with three corners that drives like a road course, The Devil's Triangle, and, naturally, the Bermuda Triangle because of the good driving careers that have been dashed here by drivers and teams that can best figure out the set-up for a car that will encounter very fast speeds around three very differently shaped turns.

The concept of an elevated sprocket for driving the track was first introduced in production as far back as 1917 when the Dayton-Dick Company of Quincy Illinois, introduced its Leader Model 25-40 tractor ... as described in the book, Caterpillar Chronicle: The History of the World's Greatest Earthmovers. This approach has become the most successful track design for heavy equipment. Image Credit: chinesewheelloader.net

The best analogy may come from the design of a continuous drive track of a bulldozer known as an elevated sprocket drive found on modern tractor vehicles. The shape delivers superior traction and allows the machine operator great handling performance and control of this earth-moving device.

Pocono Raceway's shape can be described as follows - The front/main straightaway (no-name) leading to turn one is .7083 of a mile or 3,740 feet which enters the Trenton Speedway shaped Turn 1 and catches the cars at 14° banking. The “Long Pond” (the second longest straightaway) stretches for .5786 of a mile or 3,055 feet between Turns One and Two and enters the "Tunnel Turn" (designed to be similar to the high-speed turns at Indianapolis Motor Speedway) at 8° banking. Lastly, the 'no-name' stretch from Turn Two to Turn Three is a mere .3371 of a mile or 1,780 feet and enters the final turn, the Milwaukee Mile Turn 3, at 6° banking.

The unusual triangular configuration is conducive to many lead changes since this track sports the longest and widest straightaway with the longest and widest Pit Road of any on the modern NASCAR circuit. This gives Pocono a uniqueness that will certainly be exploited by the IZOD IndyCar Series open-wheeled DW12s.

During practice and qualifications leading up to this first open-wheel race, the traction of the cars to this unique asymmetrical track layout proved itself. All of the cars that had practiced on Thursday's first day of track activity broke the last open-wheeled race car speed record set by Emerson Fittipaldi at 211.715 mph, with the slowest practice fast lap recorded being Sebastian Saavedra of Dragon Racing at 215.001 mph. Compare this with the fastest speed registered by the other leading racing series to use the track - NASCAR's Joey Logano at 179.598 mph - June 9, 2012. 

Andretti Autosport's Ryan Hunter-Reay and James Hinchcliffe fill out the three-wide start front row to make it an all Andretti Autosport front row for the first time 'home track' race in the 2013 IZOD IndyCar Series season. Image Credit: Bret Kelley via motorsport.com

Qualifications had Andretti Autosport and Marco Andretti blister the track record by nearly 10 miles per hour with a 221.237 mph two lap average. Further, this 'home track' to the Andretti family, since the Nazareth, PA home base is only about a 20 minute drive from the "Tricky Triangle', had the three-wide starting front row filled with Andretti Autosport teammates of Ryan Hunter-Reay at P2 - 220.892 mph, and James Hinchcliffe at P3 - 220.431 mph. The only dark spot that could have had Andretti Autosport from filling the first four positions on the grid was that during his qualification run, EJ Viso's DW12 stepped out and hit the safer barrier wall ending his Lap 1 run at 219.952 mph.

Final Qualifications Results Here >>>

With the IZOD IndyCar Series visiting this Magic Triangle for the first time in 24 years, traction is the order of the day and the elevated sprocket drive shape of Pocono Raceway delivers on its promise of this nation's most unique super-speedway.

The Pocono Indy 400 Fueled by Sunoco race is set to take place at Pocono Raceway on Sunday, July 7, 2013 at Noon ET, televised on ABC, SiriusXM Channel 211 radio, IndyCar Timing & Scoring found at - racecontrol.indycar.com - , and mobile phone app INDYCAR 13.

... notes from The EDJE

Chevrolet Indy Dual In Detroit Race 2 Tweet-By-Tweet

Chevrolet Indy Dual in Detroit presented by Quicken Loans Race 1 Results >>> @TheEDJE – Dale Coyne Racing nets a P1 Conway and a P3 Wilson for a double podium finish after waiting 25 years for first win. Top 10 – 1 Conway, 2 RHR, 3 Wilson, 4 Dixon, 5 Castroneves, 6 Franchitti, 7 Newgarden, 8 Power, 9 Rahal, 10 Jakes!!! Penske Racing’s Helio Castroneves by finishing 5th captures the season points through six of nineteen races. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013)

Chevrolet Indy Dual In Detroit Race 2 Tweet-By-Tweet

The IZOD IndyCar Series experimented with a format of holding two street/road course races at the same venue over the same weekend and by most anyone's standards, the weekend was a great success.

This was be the first time IndyCar had tried this format for this type of racing (not an oval) and going in, people wondered if the physical demands of driver and track could hold up to the pressure and rigors of two 70 lap races in two days ... after all, the drivers were not just turning the car to the left all the time and last year, parts of the track surface came apart with about 25% of the race still to be run.

Another concern was the potential of the typical spring pop-up shower but the weather only became a bit of a factor during the first qualifying session on Friday - the rest of the weekend was fine.

In hosting the inaugural IZOD IndyCar Series doubleheader in the Chevrolet Indy Dual in Detroit presented by Quicken Loans, there are several new features to the street circuit for the race weekend **Extended the circuit to create more overtaking opportunities. A half-mile straightaway between Turns 2 and 3 has been added **More than 100,000 square feet of road surface has been refurbished **Curbing at Turns 3 and 4 has been reworked or removed to create tighter turns and, consequently, more overtaking opportunities. Image Credit: IICS

The first race was an exciting affair that featured passing due to the new, longer and wider configuration and very few YELLOW Flag cautions. The race was won by a first time winner from a smaller team that has two British drivers for street/road course races - Mike Conway driving for Dale Coyne Racing's Sonny's Bar-B-Que sponsored Honda-powered Dallara DW12.

Justin Wilson, Dale Coyne's full-season driver of the Boy Scouts of America sponsored Honda-powered Dallara DW12 had won the only other races for the team with two wins (one street/road course and one oval) came in at P3 giving the team a first-time double podium.

Dale Coyne Racing team-mate Justin bends over to congratulate Mike Conway on his first ever IZOD IndyCar Series win in Race 1. Image Credit: IICS

Before the Dual in Detroit Race 1 was run, in the morning's warm-up and Race 2 qualifications session, Mike Conway had already secured the Pole position for Race 2 so there was a lot of anticipation for Conway to become a double race winner for this first Dual in Detroit and take home a $50,000 prize in doing so.

Winning sportcar and Schmidt Hamilton HP Motorsports driver, Frenchman Simon Pagenaud became the second first-time IZOD IndyCar Series race winner in as many days. Pagenaud started from row 3 in P6 ... six positions better than he finished Race 1 on Saturday at P12. He's the sixth different winner -- from six different countries -- in seven races and the fourth first-time winner this season (Hinchcliffe, Sato, Conway, and Pagenaud). Image Credit: Simon Pagenaud via FB

The following New Media entries are a combination of Tweets from Twitter and comments from the author in observance to the events that transpired during the Dual in Detroit Race 2 … welcome to the 7th race of this 19 race IZOD IndyCar Series 2013 season -

@stephanie_b_89
"@INDYCARPR: FULL COURSE YELLOW: Car No. 2 makes contact with the wall. #DetroitGP #IndyCar" @AJDinger : (

@Joshua_Rogers
Dinger wads up another car. Perhaps he needs to stick with vehicles with fenders. #IndyCar #DetriotGP

@DawnsKiss
@12WillPower Leader #IndyCar #Dual2 #Detroit under caution

@estradawriting
Power apparently got past Conway before the yellow light. Willy P your new leader. #IndyCar #DetroitGP

@DannieAsphall
"@INDYCARPR: Back to green on Lap 4. @Mikeconway26 took the lead entering Turn 1 on Lap 5. #DetroitGP #IndyCar"

@HalfShaftBlues
#IndyCar powerhouses Mike Conway & Dale Coyne Racing continue their dominance, while plucky upstarts like Penske & Ganassi keep hope alive.

@ComingToTheFlag
Simona in the wall. Full course caution. #indycar

@MattEmbury
oh and Simona de Silvestro's dead in the water turn 9. Crash. #indycar #detroitgp

LAP 10 of 70 - 1-Conway 2-Power 3-Pagenaud 4-RHR 5-Jakes 6-Dixon 7-Viso 8-Wilson 9-Hinchcliffe & 10-Castroneves

GREEN Flag Restart - LAP 13

@ScottManifold
Reds should last longer today with more rubber down. #indycar

@MattEmbury
@IAIndyFan Several as I predicted before the race, interesting though that Power and Pagenaud stayed out on reds. #indycar #detroitgp

@WoodsiesGarage
Josef Newgarden slows on the backstretch as the track goes yellow again. Most of this race has been run under caution. #IndyCar #DetroitGP

@AutoweekRacing
Cation out again for crash involving @tagliani. Sheesh. #DetroitGP #IndyCar

@jopijedd
I think it is time for the traditional "Ed Carpenter struggling with the fact that this circuit has corners in BOTH directions"... #indycar

GREEN Flag Restart - LAP 15

@BaronVonClutch
.@EJVISO has damage after contact with @h3lio's car. #IndyCar

@TomcatNASCAR
16 laps of #IndyCar is already more exciting than 375 laps of #NASCAR.

@Pablomg228
Difference between Indy and F1: Indy drivers have the guts to try to pass in places like this #detroitgp #indycar

@BoBarkfield
Detroit...crash city! #indycar #DetroitGP

@MattEmbury
Oh and Hunter Reay has a busted suspension, wall contact likely #indycar #detroitgp

LAP 20 of 70 Top 10 - 1-Conway 2-Power 3-Pagenaud 4-Dixon 5-Jakes 6-Kimball 7-Castroneves 8-Wilson 9-Hinchcliffe & 10-Franchitti

@tonydizinno
Yellow again, wiping out an 8.8 second lead for @Mikeconway26, aka the Stig, aka Conweezy. #IndyCar #DetroitGP

No one is riding on REDS after a round of pitstops on 4th caution - for debris

Top 10 - 1-Conway 2-Dixon 3-Kimball 4-Wilson 5-Franchitti 6-Kanaan 7-Vautier 8-Sato 9-Bourdais & 10-Saavedra Top 4 have not pitted

GREEN Flag Restart - LAP 23

@CarlsonsRaiders
Meanwhile, they're back to green once again in Detroit! #Indycar #DetroitGP

Vautier touches Sato and sends TAKU in the wall

@FormulaThoughts
Takuma no! :( #SuperSato #Indycar

With all of the YELLOW Flags - 5 now - three fuel strategies seem to playing out

Top 10 - 1-Conway 2-Dixon 3-Franchitti 4-Kanaan 5-Vautier 6-Power 7-Pagenaud 8-Bourdais 9-Hinchcliffe & 10-Andretti - Top 2 yet to pit

@RLenziBlade
It's official: At the 26th lap, half of the #DetroitGP has been run under caution. #IndyCar

GREEN Flag Restart - LAP 27

YELLOW Flag - Power gets punted from behind, Wilson, Carpenter, Viso, Tagliani, and Briscoe all involved - Sebastien Bourdais is the culprit on the punt that collected

everyone - Hinchcliffe busts a wing on the way through

@CarlsonsRaiders
Will Power clearly pissed at Bourdais, decides to just throw his gloves rather than the double birds this time. #Indycar #DetroitGP

@npssandy
@indycaradvocate At least it wasn't the track falling apart this year... #IndyCar #DetroitGP

Riiiight ... it's just the drivers that are falling apart

LAP 30 of 70 - Top 10 - 1-Kanaan 2-Dixon 3-Vautier 4-Franchitti 5-Bourdais 6-Conway 7-Pagenaud 8-Andretti 9-Jakes & 10-Kimball

@jimlefko
Crazy amount of crashes/cautions at #indycar race at Belle Isle. Infinitely more entertaining though than seeing MConway drive solo in front

@elmondohummus
You know, this race really DOES represent Detroit: No matter what efforts you bring, it all goes downhill. #indycar

@FilipCleeren
Restart order: 11 55 10 7 25 83 9 18 77 67 4 6 1 16 3 20 #detroitgp #indycar

Top 10 - 1-Kanaan 2-Vautier 3-Franchitti 4-Bourdais 5-Andretti 6-Kimball 7-Dixon 8-Conway 9-Pagenaud & 10-Rahal

GREEN Flag Restart - LAP 37

Conway is just carving up the field and he making it look easy - passes three cars left-right-left

@neilhudson
Conway already up to fourth, will be third when Bourdais serves his penalty if he even waits that long #IndyCar

@4TheLoveOfIndy
Vautier to the lead. #IndyCar #DetroitGP

LAP 40 of 70 - Top 10 - 1-Vautier 2-Conway 3-Kanaan 4-Kimball 5-Dixon 6-Franchitti 7-Pagenaud 8-Saavedra 9-Jakes & 10-Andretti

@WoodsiesGarage
Vautier pits, giving Conway the lead again. >1s lead over Kanaan. Kimball P3, 2.6s behind Conway. #IndyCar #DetroitGP

LAP 42 - Conway already is 2.7 seconds in the lead over Kanaan - WOW!

@racer_27
First Hinch and Will Power is back too! All hail #IndyCar mechanics. #DetriotGP

@spunk72
Man, @Mikeconway26 is driving this race LIKE A BOSS.  #Indycar  #detroitgp

@Deke15
 That replay of Conway passing the Ganassis looked like he DROPPED THE HAMMER and the others were standing still. #IndyCar

Kanaan pits and comes back out in 12th

@4TheLoveOfIndy
This is Ganassi's best shot at a win so far in 2013. Currently occupies 2-3-4. #IndyCar #DetroitGP

@drewallennews
Charlie Kimball gaining on Conway #IndyCar #DetroitGP

@racewithinsulin
No. 83 current lap time: 80.2126 for P2. Conway P1 at 82.4594. #DetroitGP #IndyCar -PLR

First time in two races and Conway gets passed ... Kimball in the lead

@mfriedman_63
Really, almost anyone can win these Indycar street races. Except the expected favorites! #DetroitGP #Indycar

@drewallennews
Pagenaud gets around Conway. Those tires are done. #IndyCar #DetroitGP

Conway in the pits - back on Blacks! - Conway out at P6

LAP 50 of 70 - Top 10 - 1-Pagenaud 2-Jakes 3-Andretti 4-Franchitti 5-Conway 6-Rahal 7-Kimball 8-Dixon 9-Kanaan & 10-Saavedra

@kenspi
This--> “@curtcavin: Great tweet from @BourdaisOnTrack "Seb avoids all the mess." Uh, he helped cause the mess. #IndyCar”

@MADMAUtwotwo
3-wide racing on the streets of Detroit!!!!! @IndyCar #indycar

@miller_j18
once they've figured out how to not hit each other, this is getting good! #IndyCar #DetroitGP

Conway up to P4 - Pagenaud and Jakes will need to pit for sure

The race is between Franchitti and Conway - first four cars are Honda-powered

@carbonconcepts
Why no Conway in-car?  #indycar #detroitgp

Pagenaud in and out and ahead of the Franchitti Conway battle

@IndyCar
Great battle between Conway and Franchitti for 3rd. #IndyCar #DetroitGP

@INDYCARPR
Of note: these are the first laps led on road/street course for @JamesJakes. #DetroitGP #IndyCar

@michaelw2000
Anyone notice that Power is getting closer to Bourdais?!?! LOL!!! I sense a "Duel" coming! About 4 sec difference! #DetroitGP #IndyCar

Conway passes Franchitti on LAP 57 - 28 seconds behind Pagenaud - Jakes in and comes out in P2 ahead of Conway

LAP 60 of 70 - Top 10 - 1-Pagenaud 2-Jakes 3-Conway 4-Franchitti 5-Dixon 6-Andretti 7-Kimball 8-Rahal 9-Kanaan & 10-Castroneves

There is racing all through the top 10

@drewallennews
Pagenaud is one of those drivers who has constantly been knocking on the door. Does he get his first win today? #IndyCar #DetroitGP

@4TheLoveOfIndy
Kanaan pits from ninth. #IndyCar #DetroitGP

@OfficialGinaN
Top two have never won #IndyCar race... Makes it more exciting! #DetroitGP

@99forever
In the top 3, Pagenaud and Jakes both just set fastest laps of the race. Jakes's was faster. #IndyCar #DetroitGP

The top 3 cars are all in sight of each other - what a grand street course race ... real ChampCar racing is back bigtime!

@WoodsiesGarage
Vautier spears the wall during another ad break, now stalled. Bourdais also went off but is still going. Local yellow. #IndyCar #DetroitGP

@julesia18
ABC is picking the WORST times to go to commercial!!!! #indycar

LAP 65 of 70 - Top 5 are 1-Pagenaud 2-Jakes 3-Conway 4-Dixon 5-Franchitti and the field is stable unless something happens

@CarlsonsRaiders
Pagenaud is the fastest guy on track right now, doesn't look like Jakes or Conway have anything for him. #Indycar #DetroitGP

@indycaradvocate
Jakes trying to hold on to P2. Big day for Pags and Jakes both. #IndyCar #DetroitGP

@Jose_Galvan
The lethargic ABC @IndyCar announcers are describing an exciting race as though it were a medical procedure. Come on! #indycar

@IndyCar
. @simonpagenaud out up front with just a couple laps to go! #IndyCar #DetroitGP

Conway closes on Jakes at 2 LAPS to go

@TheoTradeMark
Two laps to go. Conway trying to battle Jakes for the 2nd #DetroitGP #Indycar

WHITE Flag

@therossbynum
At this point the circus clowns just tumble out of the clown car. Exhausted. Clown union preparing strike as we speak.  #IndyCar #DetroitGP

Race 2 Podium drivers congratulate each other during the cool down lap at the Chevrolet Indy Dual in Detroit presented by Quicken Loans. Image Credit: Nicolas Dura via Twitter

@mfriedman_63
A podium of Schmidt/Peterson, RLL, and Coyne??!! Are you kidding??!! :) #Indycar #DetroitGP

@scottaltimaman
Oui Oui! Pagenaud wins! #IndyCar

@CrashGladys
BEST DRIVERS IN THE WORLD! 6 winners in 7 races, from 6 different countries. It doesn't get any better than THAT, race fans! Epic

@AutoweekRacing
Pagenaud wins #DetroitGP ahead of Jakes and Conway, but Conway was the undisputed star of this race and the weekend. #IndyCar

@BaronVonClutch
.@simonpagenaud Wins Race Two at the @detroitgp! Pagenaud also banked the fastest lap of the race. #IndyCar

First win for proven ALMS sportscar series winner Simon Pagenaud.

@ScottManifold
What a wacky year! Someone predicted that right? Nice job podium! Pagenaud, Jakes, Conway #indycar #detroitgp

Honda-power captures the top 5 positions with more horsepower than Chevy-power ... in DETROIT!!!

Overnight television ratings for ABC's live telecast of the second race of the Chevrolet Indy Dual in Detroit on June 2 grew 14 percent over last year's Sunday telecast, which also aired on ABC.

The network earned a 0.8 overnight rating, up from a 0.7 overnight for last year's race at the Raceway at Belle Isle Park. The June 1 race, which was new this year, earned a 0.7 overnight rating on ABC.

... notes from The EDJE


**Article first published as Chevrolet Indy Dual In Detroit Race 2 Tweet-By-Tweet on Technorati**

IndyCar’s Dual In Detroit On ABC Is More Than Just Racing

E.J. Viso was second (1:19.5572) in the No. 5 Team Venezuela/PDVSA/CITGO car for Andretti Autosport to tie his best qualifying effort in Brazil in May. Joining him on the front row will be Mike Conway, driving the No. 18 Dale Coyne Racing car in the two races this weekend. Conway has qualified for the Firestone Fast Six in both of his events this season.. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013)

IndyCar’s Dual In Detroit On ABC Is More Than Just Racing

The IZOD IndyCar Series (IICS), after holding one of the most exciting and flawless INDY 500′s in its record-breaking 97th edition, move into Detroit’s Belle Isle for back-to-back temporary street course races where the points race can be shuffled.

The “Dual” double entendre for two races (one on Saturday, one on Sunday) and a (duel) street fight for championship points will be shown on general broadcast television … a rarity in this modern cable/satellite broadcast feed age. Any modern digital television, or a CRT television with a digital signal converter box can dial up the general broadcast signal for the local ABC Network station and watch Dual in Detroit – American open-wheel racing, with pitstops for fuel and tire changes for changing weather conditions, YELLOW Flag cautions, and push-to-pass at its absolute best.

For the two races in Belle Isle, P2P will allow the driver to utilize Detroit give a power boost for 10 total engagements that last 15 seconds per push for a total of 150 seconds of “up-time” during the running of each race.

In hosting the inaugural IZOD IndyCar Series doubleheader in the Chevrolet Indy Dual in Detroit presented by Quicken Loans, there are several new features to the street circuit for the race weekend **Extended the circuit to create more overtaking opportunities. A half-mile straightaway between Turns 2 and 3 has been added **More than 100,000 square feet of road surface has been refurbished **Curbing at Turns 3 and 4 has been reworked or removed to create tighter turns and, consequently, more overtaking opportunities. Image Credit: IICS

To quote from an article published by IICS -

Push-to-pass, which was introduced to the new engine-chassis package last July on the streets of Toronto, will have parameters for each of the road/street course events, including doubleheader races at Detroit, Toronto and Houston. The option gives drivers a turbocharger boost from 21.7 Psi to 23.2 Psi and additional 200 RPM with the push of a button located on the steering wheel.

There’s no delay in activation or refresh time.

“If the driver chooses to use one, they can’t cancel it. It’s use it or lose it,” INDYCAR vice president of technology Will Phillips said. “That in itself makes it more difficult to choose to use as a defense mechanism rather than as an overtaking opportunity. You’ll have to be careful because there are only 10 opportunities to use it during a race. The length of each push of the button should cover the longest straight, if that’s where they choose to use it, of each circuit.”
(Reference Here)

The “Firestone Fast Six” (FF6) three round format of qualifications became a little dodgy due to weather and a major miscue by Helio Castroneves when he spun off-track and could not get his Chevy-powered Dallara DW12 into reverse which brought out a RED Flag that effectively ended the Round #2 group of twelve transfer effort. This allowed @RyanHunterReay @dariofranchitti @Mikeconway26 @tagliani @EJVISO @JamesJakes to advance to the FF6 leaving behind Rookie Tristan Vautier, P2 in the IICS points – Takuma Sato, Simon Pagenaud, Penske’s Will Power – who is having a terrible year, Sebastian Saavedra, and Helio Castroneves.

Dario posted the fastest time in the FF6 receiving the points – the money – and the sticker, but due to an earlier engine change at the INDY 500, had to give the P1 position to start the race to the second fastest qualifier E.J. Viso, No. 5 Team Venezuela PDVSA CITGO Chevrolet … his first P1 start in American open wheel racing.

“Very excited,” said the ChampCar ex-patriot. “It will be my first pole start in IndyCar. I’ve been on pole in other car races, but being on pole in IndyCar is definitely one of my targets… my aims that I wanted to accomplish. And little by little, working with this group, things are starting to come together. I am very proud of all this hard work that we have been doing as a team, as a crew. I am very excited about this year.”

About being at the front for a street race:

“It is good. I think it has given me some good chances to stay in the front and be sure I’m going to have a competitive car. We have proven that so far. And I’m really looking forward to it.”

Race 2 qualifications in the FF6 three round format are set for 9:15 a.m. June 1: Round 1 – all cars will participate in one of two groups for 12 minutes each, with five minutes of guaranteed green-flag time. Group 1 will consist of even-numbered positions on the practice time sheet, while odd-numbered positions will comprise Group 2. Round 2 – the top fastest 6 cars from each of the 2 groups in Round 1 transfer for a 12 car qualification session where the Firestone Fast Six are taken from the fastest six cars. Round 3 – the “Firestone Fast Six” compete for the top six positions (first three rows, side-by-side) to start the race.

Four-time Champ Car champion Sebastien Bourdais marks his 100th Indy car start this weekend at Detroit, which was acknowledged by the IndyCar Series Friday morning <

Weekend broadcast schedule as communicated by the IZOD IndyCar Series -

ABC will televise both IZOD IndyCar Series races at Belle Isle — the Chevrolet Indy Dual in Detroit presented by Quicken Loans — at 3:30 p.m. (ET) June 1 and 2.

Chief announcer Marty Reid will be joined in the broadcast booth by Scott Goodyear and Eddie Cheever Jr. The network also has coverage of the Firestone 550 on June 8 at Texas Motor Speedway — its first prime time IZOD IndyCar Series race broadcast.

TV broadcast: ABC (3:30 p.m. ET June 1 and 2)
… Chief announcer: Marty Reid

Radio broadcast: IMS Radio Network affiliates, Sirius and XM 211, American Forces Network, INDYCAR 13 app, indycar.com
… Chief announcer: Mike King

Timing & Scoring: INDYCAR 13 app, Race Control on indycar.com

Twitter: @IndyCar (#indycar), @detroitgp (#DetroitGP)

Track layout: 2.346-mile, 13-turn street circuit … Race 1 and 2 length: 70/164.22 miles

Verizon P1 Award winner: Dario Franchitti, No. 10 Target Chip Ganassi Racing car

Championship points: Full points for both races, including bonus points for earn the pole (one for Race 1) and quickest qualifying lap (one for Race 2)

Start: Rolling … Restarts: Double file

Losing positions: The entries for Franchitti, Charlie Kimball, Josef Newgarden and Graham Rahal will incur 10-grid spot penalties for the first race at Belle Isle because of unapproved engine changes at Indianapolis.
(Reference Here)

The Dual in Detroit weekend is more than just racing because having two points-paying races in one weekend, broadcasted on free general broadcast television is a welcomed modern day rarity – one that should be repeated many more times in order to re-kindle the interest in the most competitive top level automotive speed competition that exists in the world today. It’s all about access!

Weekend UPDATES:

Chevrolet Indy Dual in Detroit presented by Quicken Loans Race 1 Winner – Dale Coyne Racing’s Mike Conway driving the Sonny's BBQ No. 18 Dallara-Honda DW12.

Mike Conway at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach as he sits in his Rahal Leterman Lanigan prepared Dallara DW12. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013)

Dual in Detroit Race 1 post race Tweets:

@TheEDJE
Dale Coyne Racing nets a P1 Conway and a P3 Wilson for a double podium finish after waiting 25 years for first win #DetroitGP #IndyCar

@joselomacias
RT @indycaraldiaweb: #IndyCar Carrera 1 (Detroit): 1Conway 2RHR 3Wilson 4Dixon 5Castroneves 6Franchitti 7Newgarden 8Power 9Rahal 10Jakes

Penske Racing's Helio Castroneves by finishing 5th captures the season points through six of nineteen races!

Chevrolet Indy Dual in Detroit presented by Quicken Loans Race 2 Winner – Schmidt Hamilton Racing’s Simon Pagenaud driving the Hewlett-Packard No. 77 Dallara-Honda DW12.

After multiple cautions that jumbled the running order and ruined the weekend for many drivers on Belle Isle. After multiple pit stop and tire strategies seeking to gain an advantage on the 2.346-mile, 13-turn street circuit. After multiple battles and high drama, let alone tempers, stood Simon Pagenaud in Victory Circle. The French driver was as exhausted as the push-to-pass operations available in the No. 77 Schmidt Hamilton HP Motorsports car over the 70-lap race but smiling broadly after earning his first (1st) IZOD IndyCar Series victory. Caption Credit: Dave Lewandowski | Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2012)

Dual in Detroit Race 2 post race Tweets:

@therossbynum
At this point the circus clowns just tumble out of the clown car. Exhausted. Clown union preparing strike as we speak.  #IndyCar #DetroitGP

@mfriedman_63
A podium of Schmidt/Peterson, RLL, and Coyne??!! Are you kidding??!! #Indycar #DetroitGP

@scottaltimaman
Oui Oui! Pagenaud wins! #IndyCar

@CrashGladys
BEST DRIVERS IN THE WORLD! 6 winners in 7 races, from 6 different countries. It doesn’t get any better than THAT, race fans! Epic

@AutoweekRacing
Pagenaud wins #DetroitGP ahead of Jakes and Conway, but Conway was the undisputed star of this race and the weekend. #IndyCar

@BaronVonClutch
.@simonpagenaud Wins Race Two at the @detroitgp! Pagenaud also banked the fastest lap of the race. #IndyCar

@TheEDJE
First win for proven sportscar series winner Simon Pagenaud.

@ScottManifold
What a wacky year! Someone predicted that right? Nice job podium! Pagenaud, Jakes, Conway #indycar #detroitgp

@TheEDJE
Honda-power captures the top 5 positions with more horsepower than Chevy-power … in DETROIT!!!

 … notes from The EDJE


**Article first seen as "IndyCar’s Dual In Detroit On ABC Is More Than Just Racing" at Motorsports Unplugged**

Tony Kanaan Earns Lifetime Achievement Award Through 97th INDY 500 Win

For a decade, Kanaan was IndyCar’s reigning Best-Never, as in “best never to have won the Indy 500.” Sure, he’d won the championship in 2004, but make no mistake: in IndyCar, it’s all about the race that gives the series its very name. More than the Daytona 500 to NASCAR drivers, more than The Masters to golfers, more than Wimbledon to tennis players: This is the race that defines drivers; any second-place challenger isn’t even on the same lap. Caption Credit: Jay Busbee | Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013)

Tony Kanaan Earns Lifetime Achievement Award Through 97th INDY 500 Win

It is understood that we humans are saps for happy endings – and for those who had invested their emotions in the 97th Indianapolis 500 race over the weekend, the payoff was anything but anticlimactic, even with the race ending under a full course YELLOW Flag caution.

Most of the easy money was on any one of five Andretti Autosport drivers taking the Borg-Warner Trophy inscription/sculpture prize and the lifetime of notoriety that comes with being “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” winner. In the final tally, Andretti Autosport had Columbian rookie Carlos Munoz riding P2 (voted Indy 500 Rookie of the Year), 2012 IZOD IndyCar Sreies Champion Ryan Hunter-Reay – P3, and the current 2013 IZOD IndyCar Series championship points leader Marco Andretti rolling along under the YELLOW Flag at P4.

The easy money did not win but the emotional money paid off big time … if the emotional money were on a deserving previous non-winner of the event, driving for a team that had never won either the INDY 500 or a series championship – 38 year old Brazilian Tony “TK” Kanaan.

TK even had an additional emotional story about luck that presented itself just days before the race.

The Handford Device was created as a way to slow the cars down and try and improve overtaking. The strip or plate was placed on the tailing edge of the rear wing and aided in reducing downforce, increasing drag, and generating a larger wake for the drivers of cars behind to use for a slipstream. Image Credit: f1technical.net

This excerpted and edited from NBC Sports -

Kanaan: Oval racing about “playing the game” given power levels
Tony DiZinno May 27, 2013, 2:30 PM EDT

A veteran of open-wheel’s top level since 1998, Indianapolis 500 champion Tony Kanaan is well-versed on the various “styles” of racing that have occurred in ovals in either CART, IRL or IndyCar iterations.

The second year of IndyCar’s new Dallara DW12 chassis at Indianapolis once again featured a plethora of passing thanks to the “slingshot” effect created by a tow. The cars punch such a big hole in the air that drivers catch up to each other fairly easily. Passing was as prevalent on Sunday as crushed beer cans in Indy’s new “Snake pit,” Turn 3.

But for Kanaan, who raced in the CART-era “Hanford device” period, the racing now isn’t as random or affected by the aero slingshots as it was then. The device, created by aerodynamicist Mark Hanford, was used in CART from 1998 through 2002 on high-speed ovals at Michigan and California Speedways.

“I’ve driven all types of IndyCars, I would say,” Kanaan said Monday at IMS. “I drove the Champ Cars with the thousand horsepower, a lot of downforce.  Then we went to the Hanford device, which was worse than this as far as drafting.  This car has a little bit less.”

The Dallara DW12’s powerplants have only 550 horsepower for ovals. What that has done is altered the racing, but away from the scary “pack racing” that plagued the IRL era, and made it about positioning compared to the CART days when cars could come from nearly a second back to pass [at will]  someone in one straightaway.

Kanaan would know, given his first major open-wheel win was a 500-mile CART race at Michigan in 1999, and he barely held off Juan Montoya after the Colombian hauled him in thanks to a monster tow.

“My most fun years were the years that we had the big horsepower cars and you just had to go flat out; it was pure racing speed,” Kanaan admitted. “You had the faster car, you’re going to take off and win this thing because you had a chance to lap the field.

“That’s not going to happen nowadays. Now you play the game we played yesterday.  You feel it out, what kind of car you have during the race, and you position yourself to win.”

Greater horsepower is a near universal desire of the field of drivers, but for now, Kanaan and others are playing with the resources at their disposal.

“So I would rather have more horsepower and do that.  But nowadays with the cost, it’s quite impossible for that to happen.”
[Reference Here]

TK drove the Hydroxycut KV Racing Technology-SH Racing (KVRT) prepared Chevrolet-powered second-year Dallara DW12 co-owned by Jimmy Vasser, Kevin Kalkhoven and Imran Safiulla.

KV Racing Technology team leader/co-owner Jimmy Vasser knows what it is to be a race car driver w/o INDY 500 recognition. He now has it as a team owner and joins a very exclusive group of drivers who turned to being a team owner to have this kind of success. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013)

“I never won this race as a driver and couldn’t seem to do so, so I had to hire a driver to do it,” said on-track team owner Jimmy Vasser in a post race interview. “Tony is the consummate professional and he’s been a long time coming here. Starting a year ago, we decided to focus on Indy by taking a chassis and putting it aside. A lot of credit goes to the boys, who have worked very hard over the winter. Tony was right, ‘the stars started lining up for us,’ and we didn’t really get a race set-up until last Sunday [one week before the race] with two hours to go and within 45 minutes, we hit on it. We knew we had the right guy and the right set-up for the race.”

While the race ended under a full course YELLOW Flag caution, everyone invested in the event were treated to a highly competitive, record-setting run for the first 197 laps.

Tony Kanaan celebrates with winners milk in front of team owner Jimmy Vasser (clinched-fists, arms raised) after winning the Indianapolis 500. The American Dairy Association released a milk preference poll for all 33 drivers in this year’s race. Sixteen of them are opting for 2 percent, eight are going for whole, four of them chose skim milk, and five couldn’t care less … so long as they get to drink it. TK signed up for a quart of 2 percent! Image Credit: IndyCar.com

Some numbers of note following the 97th Indianapolis 500 Mile Race, including the top three positions at 20-lap intervals (ht: IndyCar.com):

Lap 20 — Tony Kanaan, Marco Andretti (-.0077 of a second), Ed Carpenter (-.3487)
Lap 40 — Ed Carpenter (under caution), Marco Andretti, Ryan Hunter-Reay
Lap 60 — Ryan Hunter-Reay (under caution), Marco Andretti, Ed Carpenter
Lap 80 — Will Power, Tony Kanaan (-.3984), Ryan Hunter-Reay (-.6241)
Lap 100 — AJ Allmendinger, Tony Kanaan (-.0473), Ryan Hunter-Reay (-.4544)
Lap 120 — Tony Kanaan, Marco Andretti (-.1399), Ryan Hunter-Reay (-.3720)
Lap 140 — AJ Allmendinger, Ryan Hunter-Reay (-.1390), Marco Andretti (-.3408)
Lap 160 — Ryan Hunter-Reay, Marco Andretti (-.1167), AJ Allmendinger (-.4829)
Lap 180 — Carlos Munoz, Ryan Hunter-Reay (-.2866), Helio Castroneves (-.9251)
Lap 200 –Tony Kanaan (under caution), Carlos Munoz, Ryan Hunter-Reay

68 — Race-record lead changes, breaking 34 in 2012.

14 — Race-record different lap leaders — a third of the field — breaking 12 in 1993.

27 — Race-record cars running at the finish, breaking 26 in 1911.

133 — Consecutive green flag laps (from Lap 61 through Lap 193), the longest green flag period in Indianapolis 500 history since caution flag laps were recorded beginning in 1976.

21 — Caution flag laps, the fewest in an Indianapolis 500 that went the full distance since caution flag laps were recorded beginning in 1976. The 1976 race also had just 21 caution-flag laps, but that race ended after 102 laps because if rain.

187.433 — Average speed in miles per hour, a race record. Arie Luyendyk held the record of 185.981 mph since 1990. It was only the fourth time the race record has been broken.

13 — Positions gained by Simon Pagenaud, who finished P8 from P21, the most in the field.

6 — Drivers who led their first laps in the Indianapolis 500.

9 — Indy 500s led by Tony Kanaan in his 12 starts.

62 — Temperature in Fahrenheit at the green flag, tying the 1930 race for the third-coldest in the race’s history.

226.940 — Fastest overall lap in miles per hour by Justin Wilson (the highest placing Honda-powered DW12 at P5) on Lap 185.

223.651 — Fastest lap in miles per hour by a race leader, Carlos Munoz, on Lap 184.

168 — 2013 series championship points for Marco Andretti after five races. Takuma Sato is 11 points behind.

226.176 — Field qualifying average in miles per hour. It’s the fourth-fastest field in Indianapolis 500 history, exceeded only in 1995, 1996 and 2002. The 2002 field averaged 228.648 mph, the fastest in history.

228.762 — Four-lap average speed by pole winner Ed Carpenter, the fastest since 2006 by Sam Hornish Jr.

Favorite post race Tweet:

E.M.H @elmondohummus
Yes This! No gimmicks in Indycar. RT @TonyJWriter: Oh, and hey, screw green-white-checker finishes. #Indy500orBust #IndyCar #dw12

Longtime American open-wheel writer, SpeedTV’s Marshall Pruett Predicted: He’s come close before and has, in my estimation, another legitimate shot at winning this year. The most popular driver in the field without his likeness on the BorgWarner trophy will likely put on more displays of bravery and miraculous passes—but can his team get his No. 11 car just right for the sprint to the finish? That’s the only thing I see holding TK back from Victory Lane.

Well, they did, Marshall!

Results – 200 laps:

Pos  Driver               Team/Engine        Time/Gap

1.  Tony Kanaan          KVRT/Chevy
2.  Carlos Munoz         Andretti/Chevy     + 0.1159
3.  Ryan Hunter-Reay     Andretti/Chevy     + 0.2480
4.  Marco Andretti       Andretti/Chevy     + 0.3634
5.  Justin Wilson        Coyne/Honda        + 0.8138

6.  Helio Castroneves    Penske/Chevy       + 3.0086
7.  AJ Allmendinger      Penske/Chevy       + 4.0107
8.  Simon Pagenaud       Schmidt/Honda      + 4.2609
9.  Charlie Kimball      Ganassi/Honda      + 5.6864
10.  Ed Carpenter         Carpenter/Chevy    + 6.8425

11.  Oriol Servia         Panther DRR/Chevy  + 7.8633
12.  Ryan Briscoe         Ganassi/Honda      + 8.9216
13.  Takuma Sato          Foyt/Honda         + 10.2602
14.  Scott Dixon          Ganassi/Honda      + 11.3858

15.  Ana Beatriz          Coyne/Honda        + 12.2657

16.  Tristan Vautier      Schmidt/Honda      + 15.3045
17.  Simona De Silvestro  KVRT/Chevy           + 15.7201
18.  EJ Viso              Andretti/Chevy     + 17.8056
19.  Will Power           Penske/Chevy       + 22.5403

20.  James Jakes          Rahal/Honda        + 1 lap

21.  James Hinchcliffe    Andretti/Chevy     + 1 lap
22.  Conor Daly           Foyt/Honda         + 2 laps
23.  Dario Franchitti     Ganassi/Honda      + 3 laps*
24.  Alex Tagliani        Herta/Honda        + 4 laps
25.  Graham Rahal         Rahal/Honda        + 7 laps*

26.  Katherine Legge      Schmidt/Honda      + 7 laps
27.  Townsend Bell        Panther/Chevy      + 8 laps
28.  Josef Newgarden      Fisher/Honda       + 9 laps

* Not running at finish

Retirements

Sebastien Bourdais   Dragon/Chevy       178 laps
Pippa Mann           Coyne/Honda        46 laps
Buddy Lazier         Lazier/Chevy       44 laps
Sebastian Saavedra   Dragon/Chevy       34 laps
JR Hildebrand        Panther/Chevy      3 laps
(ht: autosport.com)

As Tony was overheard to say during the ceremony at race’s end, “This is it … man, I made it. Finally they’re going to put my ugly face on this [Borg-Warner] trophy.” This inscription and facial sculpture will become a well earned award for a lifetime of achievements.

… notes from The EDJE

**Article first posted as "Tony Kanaan Earns Lifetime Achievement Award Through 97th INDY 500 Win" at Motorsports Unplugged**