Alex Zanardi's Heroic Tribute Laps (2003 CART Lausitz)

I remember seeing this on television back in 2003 and shedding a bunch of tears at the sight; never let it be said that there aren't heroes in the sport of motor racing....Alex Zanardi is definitely one of them.

The Barbaric Nature of the Early IRL Years (1996-01 IRL Crashes Due to M...

The first half of the CART-IRL Split was an interesting period for American Championship Car (a/k/a Indycar) racing in that, while the racing was at times very good - case in point: 1997, Charlotte; there was a 20-25 lap period of back-and-forth racing btwn. Tony Stewart and Buddy Lazier that is still considered one of the best duels in motor racing of the past 30 years or so.

On the other hand, it was also a sign of the ego's of both CART president Andrew Craig, who refused to listen to IMS owner Tony George in 1994-1995....and IMS boss Tony George, who refused to understand/accept that, for all the glitz and glitter that the Indianapolis 500 has, it is still but one race on the calendar. Because of their respective egos, the sport had to endure a divisive split that benefitted no one but NASCAR.

HUGE - Fox Buys Stake in IndyCar and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway

To borrow Joe Biden's words, "this is a big fucking deal."

How? Say whatever you want about some of Fox Sports' shortcomings w/regards to graphics and all but they've been a solid hit for IndyCar this year, especially given Fox broadcasting all seventeen races on Fox Sports and not FS1 or FS2 the way ABC would foist events onto ESPN et.al. (or NBC Universal and its' networks later on). Granted it was at the expense of having the earliest finish to a schedule in modern series history but you take the good with the bad.

Zak Brown Speaks on the State of IndyCar

Excellent interview by Indycar journalist David Land with Arrow/McLaren's Zak Brown on the state of IndyCar at present. Lot of good points all around, especially with regards to McLaren's intentions, not just in IndyCar but in other racing series.

Top 10 Paul Tracy Angry Moments

Say whatever you want about "the Thrill from West Hill" but there was never a dull moment whenever Paul Tracy was racing in the IndyCar Series (well, at that time CART/ChampCar)....

Penske Fires Cindric

Kudos for David Land for covering this; its' no understatement to say this is a bombshell decision by Roger Penske to fire arguably one of the biggest players in motorsports in Tim Cindric (along w/two additional members from Team Penske) over the attenuator scandal roiling this year's Indy 500.

(TL/DR on that: Prior to Sunday's Fast 12 qualifying session, Tech inspectors - at the behest of rival Chip Ganassi and others, spotted an illegal modification to the attenuators' on both the #12 of Will Power and the #2 of Josef Newgarden. Both cars were pulled from the qualifying line and will start on Row 11 this Sunday. The attenuator, located at the back of the cars, is a safety device intended to reduce the shock/g-forces from a rearward-facing crash and is thus considered a non-modifiable part of the car.)

Bold move by IndyCar and one that will have reverberations throughout not just the IndyCar Series but likely through part of NASCAR as well (because Tim's son, Austin Cindric, drives for Penske in the NASCAR Cup Series). Definitely something worth following as time moves on.

Penske Caught + Rookie on Pole - Indy 500 Qualifying Day 2 Report

It was a busy day at the Brickyard for Pole Day & Last Row Shootout action at IMS; assuming nothing else bad happens this week, I should be able to do a live-blog of the 109th running of the Indianapolis 500.

12 Laps Around the Indy 500 Using Decades Worth of Onboard Footage

The best two weeks of the motor racing calendar are once more upon us as IndyCar's greats - well, Alex Palou and everyone else - head to the 2.5 miles of central Indiana blacktop for another running of the Greatest Spectacle in Racing, the 109th running of the Indianapolis 500.

IndyCar's Back

...and I couldn't be happier!

America's oldest form of motor racing (sorry, NASCAR!) returned today with the first practice session of the year at St. Pete and the Alfred Whitted Circuit. For the first time since the early 2000's IndyCar is on FOX - all seventeen races! - with FOX's cable networks, FS1 and FS2, joining in. (Practice sessions and Indy NXT competition on FS1/FS2, IndyC races on FOX).

Judging by today's practice, FOX did pretty good; still, it is only one practice in the season to come.