Told you I'd be back with one of these! Unfortunately, I've have spent the past weeks back and forth between the North and the South, so not a lot of time to sit down a write anything proper. Still, this is a pretty exciting time in most racing series, since the seasons are beginning to wind down and points chases are at their climax.
We're starting the week in Europe as ChampCar ran a second straight week on the continent. Last week they were at the Zolder Circuit in Belgium where Sebastian Bourdais, the series three time defending champion winning his fifth race of the season, and trying to make sure he leaves ChampCar with a fourth straight title (Seabass is heading for Formula One next year). This week though saw them at Assen in the Netherlands. This week, the series nearly saw an upset that made Appalachian St.-Michigan look like a pick-em.
Late into the race, Bruno Junqueira led at Assen. Junqueira races for Dale Coyne Racing. Despite being around for 20 years (making it the second oldest team in the series, behind the Newman-Hass-Lanigan team), Coyne had never won a race. It is a testament to Coyne that he has lasted this long, although many of his drivers do pay for their seats. After a late pitstop Bruno lost some speed and ended up finished third, with Brit Justin Wilson taking the checkered flag.
Bourdais is in complete command of the series title after the two weeks in Europe, 60+ points ahead of second place Robert Doornbos with two races to go: one at Surfers Paradise in Australia, the second at Mexico City.
Back to America for the other American open-wheel series. Racing Roundup stays in Michigan with the IndyCars at the street course on Belle Isle. While I was not too excited about this race when the season opened, it turned out to be pretty exciting for a street course. There was a decent amount of passing, although quite a few instances where drivers tried to when they shouldn't have.
The first came on lap 31, when Sam Hornish Jr. tried to pass a lap down Sarah Fisher in turn 2. He didn't make it as Fisher held her line, getting knocked by Sam. Caught up in the crash were Vitor Meira and Danica Patrick. Only Patrick did not suffer major damage, and was able to remain on the lead lap. The commentators shared the blame between Hornish being too aggressive and Fisher not moving out of the way, but I lean more towards blaming Sam. Being aggressive on road courses can be fatal, and he should also realize that trying to pass someone like Fisher with zero road course experience (and whose sole goal is to finish the race) prior to this season should be more tentatively, like in straightaways.
Back to racing. Danica was involved again, this time as the aggressor, knocking Scott Sharp into the tires. Again, the car was undamaged. Later, Helio Castroneves took out Tomas Scheckter on lap 67 trying to pass. Tomas was clearly pissed at Helio for the very bad pass (which it was). Too bad ABC thought it more important too focus on Helio limping out of the car and if it would effect his chances on Dancing With the Stars (Big coverage gripe - how often they talked about that show on the telecast - yes, I know a driver is participating but I'm sure we got it after the first 20 times you said it).
Okay, fast forward to lap 87. The race had a time limit kicking in, so there were only two laps to go. The order stood Tony Kanaan first, Buddy Rice second due to pit strategy but uncertain about fuel, Scott Dixon third, Dario Franchitti fourth, and Danica Patrick fifth. If the race ended that way, Scott would have a slim three point lead going into the final race over Dario. Dario kept trying to pass Scott, but couldn't get by. Instead Scott tried to get by Buddy Rice to get some insurance points on Dario. The following was the result:
For those who didn't watch, Scott knocked into Buddy, then came across and collect Dario as well. Michael Andretti (Dario's car owner) was livid, believing Dixon purposely left himself there to take out Franchitti, and probably made the first ever auto race protest by an owner in which his cars finished first and second. As a result of the crash, Tony Kanaan won, with Danica lucking into her best ever finish of second. Dario was able to get around one more time to actually get ahead of Dixon in the points standings.
Top 10
Tony Kanaan
Danica Patrick
Dan Wheldon
Darren Manning
Kosuke Matsuura
Dario Franchitti
Buddy Rice
Scott Dixon
A.J. Foyt IV
Ed Carpenter
IndyCar only has one race remaining on their schedule: this Sunday at Chicagoland Speedway. This is the best oval track in the series for finishes, and for the second year in a row it will likely be close. The Top 3 is like so:
Dario Franchitti 587 pts.
Scott Dixon 584 pts.
Tony Kanaan 548 pts.
There could be another tie this season in points, say if Dixon finishes third and Franchitti fourth. The tiebreaker is wins, which Dixon would win (4 wins to Franchitti's 3). That would also be the second time Dario lost a series title on a wins tiebreaker, beaten in the '99 CART championship by Juan Pablo Montoya in such a fashion.
Still, there's a shot for Kanaan to sneak in and win, should Dixon and Franchitti crash out early and Kanaan win. There will be extra cars at the upcoming race, meaning the points floor will be at a minimum of 10 rather than the 12 they usually have.
So if the NFL game you're watching turns is a blowout, here's some good alternate programming.
NASCAR is last up, driving at California Speedway last night. Jimmie Johnson won his fifth race of the season, but his first since May. With his win, he will at least be tied for first when the Chase begins in two weeks. For this year's format, drivers are given extra points based on the number of race wins they had going into the Chase.
There's only one race left before the series begins their playoffs, and only one driver remains eligible who is not currently in the Chase. Unfortunately for those who dislike repetition in sports coverage, it's Dale Jr., NASCAR's golden boy who with his father has a grand total of 7 series titles (FYI: Dad won seven).
I don't really have anything against Dale Jr., however the way the were trying to cover his chances was insufferable. First, they want to treat it like some massive upset. True, gaining 128 on one driver would be a feat, but it's not like the Miracle on Ice. Let's focus on the guys who are succeeding a little more though - since it's not like he's the only famous NASCAR driver.
According to IndyCar, Kanaan can only win if he wins and leads the most laps in the race. Even then, only if Franchitti finishes 16th or worse (if he leads the most laps at all, Tony would lose) and Dixon is 13th or worse not leading the most laps (16th if he does - Kanaan would win on tiebreaker.
How come IndyCar has England and Scotland, whereas ChampCar is Great Britain? And shouldn't it be Great Britain? I've noticed this on wikipedia too, and it confuses me.
I work like this: if the organization uses the UK nations individually, so do I. ChampCar used to do this fully, but if you go to there website it's a mess of confusion: Wilson has a British flag, while Clarke and Legge have English and Dalziel a Scottish one. I chose to make them all British in ChampCar. However, I do not do this with IndyCar, since they are very explicit with England/Scotland for Franchitti, Wheldon, and Manning.
