With the 2011 season quickly approaching and the silly season starting to solidify I think its important that we take a second and look back at the 2009 and 2010 season and the struggle between the two great forces of the sport. Where they came from, where they are at today and how they are looking going into the 2011 season.
In 2009 we saw a brilliant battle for the championship between Ryan Brisco and Scott Dixon which a beautiful steal from Dario at the end in a brilliant show down. However both championships where the Penske's teams to lose, and lose they did.
As I watched Will slide up into the wall at Miami in 2010 I could not help but think of Brisco tapping the wall in Japan in 2009 exiting the pits one year prior. This pit stop was a amazing break for the team, sneaking in right before a yellow that would have allowed them a great margin and a very likely podium or victory even that day solidifying their chance at the championship.
Will Power made his contact with the wall on lap 137 of 200 that would eventually put him out of the race. His massive lead coming into the last three oval races had been slowly erased by a fueling error and then a very costly DNF. All Dario had to do new was finish 10th or better, which he did at 8th.
Twice Penske has thrown away the season to a simple mistake that his main rivals where there to capitalize on. We all know the Captain (Roger) to focused and disciplined, so how do you let your drivers make two season deciding mistakes that cost you the title?
Chip Ganassi has shown amazing prowess in the last two years, working with Dario in 2009 knowing the possible out come of the race up front between Scott Dixon and Ryan Brisco allowing him to save enough fuel to steal the championship from the two fast front runners, led by Penske's Ryan Brisco. In 2010 we saw a beautiful deception as Ganassi gambled on doing a double stint on tiers that put them ahead panicked team Penske who failed to fuel their car costing them a lot more then just a win.
Dario lead a majority of the race in Miami in 2010 which put pressure on Will, but Dario would not be up at the front in the end. Due to some off rotation pit stops a large portion of the field would be out ahead of Dario who would eventually finish 8th. Will would only have had to finish 11th or better if he could have held in there.
In 2009 if Brisco had gone on to win in Japan all he would of had to do is place in Miami to become the 2009 champion. Even if he had not won he still would have likely had a lead going into the last race.
Two years, two very costly and unnecessary mistakes. Very un-Penske like. While Ganassi took two titles that looked like a long shot and did so with cunning and amazing strategy. Currently Target Chip Ganassi Racing is looking a lot more like the Penske racing I watched growing up back in the day then the Penske racing of 2009 or 2010.
Showing posts with label Indy Car. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Indy Car. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
[Indy Car] Graham Rahal 2011, he has the money now where to?
Graham has driven for four different teams over the course of the 2010 season after losing his ride with Newman/Haas due to a lack of funding over the winter. He started in only 12 of the 17 races but placed in the top ten seven times with a season high of fifth in Toronto. But in my eye's his most impressive drive came at the second race of the season at St Pete when he managed to place the Sarah Fisher Racing Dollar General car ninth.
I have been following this for several weeks now since a few random tweets (rumors only) from the paddock suggested Graham to Ganassi in 2011. Also on Graham's twitter page he seemed very light hearted about the end of the year coming up and it was no surprise when he announced at Homestead Miami that he had already secured funds for the 2011 season, which great for him, but now we all have to wonder what team and are the rumors true.
"TBC Corp.’s Retail Group will back racer Graham Rahal for the next two years in the Izod IndyCar Series with its ServiceCentral, Tire Kingdom, NTB, Merchant’s Tire and Big O brands, although Mr. Rahal has not committed yet to a team for next year."
-TireBuisness.com
With the rumors of Ganassi floating around I did manage to find an interview with his agent John Caponigro who said “You’re darn right, we are talking to Ganassi. We want to get Graham on one of the top teams in the series and that team is certainly at the top of the list.”
Bob Crostarosa, senior vice president of marketing and advertising for TBC Retail Group commetned that they were "still interviewing teams and having discussions with teams. We have narrowed it down to a couple and we have a couple that we prefer but we are continuing to discuss that. We will jointly decide that team."
One of the other teams that was directly mentioned was Rahal Letterman Racing (RLR) which has been out of Indy Car racing since 2008 due to lack of sponsorship with the exception of running the 2009 Indy 500 with Oriol Servia and 2010 Indy 500 with Graham Rahal. They have however been competing in the ALMS series winning the 2010 ALMS Manufacturer and Team Championships with BMW. It would be interesting to see this team attempt to make a comeback into the sport with a strong young talent like Graham Rahal but I don't know if it would be the best decision for him as far as progressing his career.
Graham Rahal commented “Again, we are talking to a lot of teams. Dad’s team did a good job for me at Indy but the best thing for me to do is not be in my father’s shadow. I need to do it on my own. We have not canceled anything out but we have a lot of teams in play.”
Big thanks to inRacing news for the interview comments above.
I have been following this for several weeks now since a few random tweets (rumors only) from the paddock suggested Graham to Ganassi in 2011. Also on Graham's twitter page he seemed very light hearted about the end of the year coming up and it was no surprise when he announced at Homestead Miami that he had already secured funds for the 2011 season, which great for him, but now we all have to wonder what team and are the rumors true.
"TBC Corp.’s Retail Group will back racer Graham Rahal for the next two years in the Izod IndyCar Series with its ServiceCentral, Tire Kingdom, NTB, Merchant’s Tire and Big O brands, although Mr. Rahal has not committed yet to a team for next year."
-TireBuisness.com
With the rumors of Ganassi floating around I did manage to find an interview with his agent John Caponigro who said “You’re darn right, we are talking to Ganassi. We want to get Graham on one of the top teams in the series and that team is certainly at the top of the list.”
Bob Crostarosa, senior vice president of marketing and advertising for TBC Retail Group commetned that they were "still interviewing teams and having discussions with teams. We have narrowed it down to a couple and we have a couple that we prefer but we are continuing to discuss that. We will jointly decide that team."
One of the other teams that was directly mentioned was Rahal Letterman Racing (RLR) which has been out of Indy Car racing since 2008 due to lack of sponsorship with the exception of running the 2009 Indy 500 with Oriol Servia and 2010 Indy 500 with Graham Rahal. They have however been competing in the ALMS series winning the 2010 ALMS Manufacturer and Team Championships with BMW. It would be interesting to see this team attempt to make a comeback into the sport with a strong young talent like Graham Rahal but I don't know if it would be the best decision for him as far as progressing his career.
Graham Rahal commented “Again, we are talking to a lot of teams. Dad’s team did a good job for me at Indy but the best thing for me to do is not be in my father’s shadow. I need to do it on my own. We have not canceled anything out but we have a lot of teams in play.”
Big thanks to inRacing news for the interview comments above.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
[Indy Car] Finally at Homestead
It was an interesting race that started off simple enough. Dario with his impressive qualifying run took off with his teammate and Will and Brisco in pursuit with TK sneaking up to throw a little bit of a curve ball but then it all went south very fast.
But in truth it started to go south much sooner then the start of the race... from the second Will was interviewed after qualifying it was vary obvious to me and the rest of the world that this was not the same Aussie that we had gotten to know this season, he seemed unsure, shaken even... You could see it in his body language and even before the start of the race that he was not himself and did not have his normal feeling of confidence and as the race continued on he started off well but made mistake after mistake falling further back until finally he found his way up in the wall.
The press surrounded Will as he came in as his team tried desperately to make the repairs needed to get the car back out, and I for one am not entirely sure that there was something crippling wrong with it the second time he brought it in, more that he just wanted out of the car, that he was done. It make me think of Days of Thunder, when a racing car driver has lost it you can't make him race.
If Will would have played it cool and hung in there and Dario ended the race where he did, the championship would have come to him and he could have just driven it home to the championship.
I for one think Dario's cool bravado and hard hits to Will's overwhelming lead in the championship whittled away at the Aussie's lead and confidence till he had nothing left.
To 2011 and a two car Lotus team, and 2012 with new lighter cars and a more powerful engine. This chapter is closed and Dario may very well have proved that he may be the best of this generation...
But in truth it started to go south much sooner then the start of the race... from the second Will was interviewed after qualifying it was vary obvious to me and the rest of the world that this was not the same Aussie that we had gotten to know this season, he seemed unsure, shaken even... You could see it in his body language and even before the start of the race that he was not himself and did not have his normal feeling of confidence and as the race continued on he started off well but made mistake after mistake falling further back until finally he found his way up in the wall.
The press surrounded Will as he came in as his team tried desperately to make the repairs needed to get the car back out, and I for one am not entirely sure that there was something crippling wrong with it the second time he brought it in, more that he just wanted out of the car, that he was done. It make me think of Days of Thunder, when a racing car driver has lost it you can't make him race.
If Will would have played it cool and hung in there and Dario ended the race where he did, the championship would have come to him and he could have just driven it home to the championship.
I for one think Dario's cool bravado and hard hits to Will's overwhelming lead in the championship whittled away at the Aussie's lead and confidence till he had nothing left.
To 2011 and a two car Lotus team, and 2012 with new lighter cars and a more powerful engine. This chapter is closed and Dario may very well have proved that he may be the best of this generation...
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
[Indy Car] What lies ahead this weekend at Homestead-Miami
Going into the last race of the season we have a very interesting situation, not just how close the championship is but the two men who are racing for it and the situation they are in. I will begin by outlining the situations below.
If Dario gets pole, wins, and leads the most laps no matter where Will finishes, Dario wins the series championship.
If Dario wins and Will finish second without Dario winning pole AND leading the most laps Will wins the series championship.
If Dario comes in second without leading the most laps or winning the pole Will must finish 6th or higher to to win the series championship. However if Dario finishes second and leads the most laps OR wins pole will must finish 5th or better.
If Dario finishes 3rd Will must place 8th or better unless Dario for some reason leads the most laps, then he must place 7th or better regardless of pole...
...and from there it gets less significant, but the real interesting thing comes down to these two men. Will Power is a master on the street and road courses taking all of his wins there this season and only finishing a career best 3rd on a oval last race. Dario is a seasoned veteran of Indy Car clinching the AJ Foyt Trophy for oval racing this year and still being quite formidable on the street and road courses as well. He has finished 1st 5th and 2nd on the past three ovals while Will has struggled and cut Will's massive lead going into these ovals down to almost nothing.
The technical advantage goes to Will Power with a slight points lead that puts the pressure on Dario however experience advantage goes to Dario with his two prior championships and his mastery of the ovals. The way its stacked up I am actually inclined to say the advantage goes to Dario with one exception, team mates.
I would not dream of dogging the Iceman (Dixon) however he has not been nearly as much help to Dario as Heilo and Ryan have been to Powers. If Heilo and Ryan can continue to perform as they have and keep Dario from the front of the field its going to make Wills job a LOT easier. In the past 3 Races Ryan has held one pole and was able to yield a position to Powers in a race allowing him to finish third to reduce damage. Heilo has finished ahead of Dario twice denying him at least 12 points. Dixon has only placed above Powers once denying him only 2 points.
Bottom line, its going to be interesting this weekend. Will has to perform enough to put the pressure on Dario, so its anyone call who has the advantage.
If Dario gets pole, wins, and leads the most laps no matter where Will finishes, Dario wins the series championship.
If Dario wins and Will finish second without Dario winning pole AND leading the most laps Will wins the series championship.
If Dario comes in second without leading the most laps or winning the pole Will must finish 6th or higher to to win the series championship. However if Dario finishes second and leads the most laps OR wins pole will must finish 5th or better.
If Dario finishes 3rd Will must place 8th or better unless Dario for some reason leads the most laps, then he must place 7th or better regardless of pole...
...and from there it gets less significant, but the real interesting thing comes down to these two men. Will Power is a master on the street and road courses taking all of his wins there this season and only finishing a career best 3rd on a oval last race. Dario is a seasoned veteran of Indy Car clinching the AJ Foyt Trophy for oval racing this year and still being quite formidable on the street and road courses as well. He has finished 1st 5th and 2nd on the past three ovals while Will has struggled and cut Will's massive lead going into these ovals down to almost nothing.
The technical advantage goes to Will Power with a slight points lead that puts the pressure on Dario however experience advantage goes to Dario with his two prior championships and his mastery of the ovals. The way its stacked up I am actually inclined to say the advantage goes to Dario with one exception, team mates.
I would not dream of dogging the Iceman (Dixon) however he has not been nearly as much help to Dario as Heilo and Ryan have been to Powers. If Heilo and Ryan can continue to perform as they have and keep Dario from the front of the field its going to make Wills job a LOT easier. In the past 3 Races Ryan has held one pole and was able to yield a position to Powers in a race allowing him to finish third to reduce damage. Heilo has finished ahead of Dario twice denying him at least 12 points. Dixon has only placed above Powers once denying him only 2 points.
Bottom line, its going to be interesting this weekend. Will has to perform enough to put the pressure on Dario, so its anyone call who has the advantage.
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