Rebirth of North American open wheel racing

[togos452]

Inside the Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing team

8 Champ Car titles and one win each for Justin Wilson and Graham Rahal in 2008

Paul Newman's name to be kept after his death in September, 2008

Carl Haas was a team owner in the non-spec Formula 5000 series in the 1970s

Mike Lanigan became a co-owner of the team in the 2007 Champ Car World Series. He previously co-owned Mi-Jack Conquest Racing from 2001 through 2006. He is the president of Mi-Jack Products Inc

1-10-09

AUTO-RACING - INDYCAR: Lanigan's Heavy Lifting - SPEEDtv.com

2008 Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing // Official Site

Cranes - Mi-Jack Products, Inc. Translift and Travelift rubber tire gantry cranes, mobile cranes, straddle cranes, and side loaders for customized container handling worldwide

Graham Rahal confirmed for 2009

The Official Site of Graham Rahal

IndyGPSonoma 0466 on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

[togos452]

Debating the great spec car plague

May 15, 2006

Carl Haas from Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing is shown

Gordon Kirby - The Way It Is:

Fighting the great spec car plague

December 1, 2008

Gordon Kirby - The Way It Is:

[togos452]

Quieter Honda Indy V-8 engine

January 29, 2009

Honda IRL Racing - Editorials - 01/29/2009

[culver]

Debating the great spec car plague

May 15, 2006

Carl Haas from Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing is shown

Gordon Kirby - The Way It Is:

Fighting the great spec car plague

December 1, 2008

Gordon Kirby - The Way It Is:

As a man I know, who knows more than a little about racing... hell has forgotten more about racing than many of us will ever know, said, "All a spec car does is specify the entry cost of racing."

His point was the price of a used spec car is close to that of a new car because you never have new chassis making the old ones obsolete. Sure a racer who is just starting with limited funds can't have the best car. So what? They don't have the skills to win. Why spend the money on front line hardware if you aren't going to win anyway. Spec stuff means the back markers have to spend more to start racing and the top guys will end up spending big bucks anyway.

[togos452]

Future IndyCar engine development talks continue

February 3, 2009

Motorsport.com: News channel

IndyCar.com

key interview

IndyCar.com

I want Panoz and Lola back in indy car racing in 2011.

Elan Motorsports

Lola Heritage

- 4-stroke engines with reciprocating pistons
- Engine capacity not to exceed 2.0 liters
- Dual-overhead cam shaft with 4 valves per cylinder
- Single turbo charger systems will be permitted
- Direct injection systems will be permitted
- Continue the league's leadership position with the use of alternative fuels
- Engine life between rebuilds of 3,750 miles
- Five-year sealed engine homologation process that will define areas with possible annual updates
- Cost containment engine lease ceiling that is applicable to all participants

---

culver, Scott Atherton who is the American Le Mans Series President/CEO, said it well today in Washington, D.C.

February 3, 2009

"Racing has become better known for back flips and soap opera-like drama," said Atherton. "And while there is nothing wrong with entertainment-based motorsport, the role of the automobile in the equation has been reduced to that of an irrelevant appliance of parity."

In other words, racing has lost its way in many series.

American Le Mans Series :: World Class

Scott Atherton to be at SAE International's Government Industry Meeting

article from January 30, 2009

American Le Mans Series :: World Class

SAE International

[culver]

I'm not sure I'm in love with what I'm reading. I'm all for more engine manufactures and I'm plenty OK with the 2L turbos. Indy has a long history of turbo I4s. I'm not as keen on the rules which seem to suggest rather sealed from the factory motors nor the single chassis and tire rules. I can see the single tire but the single chassis isn't high on my list at all.
If we are going to do a single chassis, please give it a better looking nose. The current noses are as ugly as the F1 step nose... maybe even worse!

[forager]

You can Thank, Tony George for the current problems in AOW. And Then, Thank those 2 Idiots Who Owned Champ Car Who could not get it through Their Idiot Skulls that A J Allmindinger, An American Kid, That would've brought Fans back to Ow Racing. They skrewed the Pooch on that One. It will be Years, before AOW recovours. Might not ever.

[forager]

3,750 Miles? That's not a Race Engine. Qualifies as a Tractor Engine! From Van.B.C. to Toronto! Yeah, Both ways, Yeah, Refresh the Engine.

[culver]

You can Thank, Tony George for the current problems in AOW. And Then, Thank those 2 Idiots Who Owned Champ Car Who could not get it through Their Idiot Skulls that A J Allmindinger, An American Kid, That would've brought Fans back to Ow Racing. They skrewed the Pooch on that One. It will be Years, before AOW recovours. Might not ever.

Tony has done a number of things wrong but he wasn't the only problem. Incidentally, he is a nice guy in person.

[togos452]

You can Thank, Tony George for the current problems in AOW. And Then, Thank those 2 Idiots Who Owned Champ Car Who could not get it through Their Idiot Skulls that A J Allmindinger, An American Kid, That would've brought Fans back to Ow Racing. They skrewed the Pooch on that One. It will be Years, before AOW recovours. Might not ever.

That is for another thread.

The Atlantic championship and Firestone Indy Lights are being rebuilt for 2009.

[RacingManiac]

3,750 Miles? That's not a Race Engine. Qualifies as a Tractor Engine! From Van.B.C. to Toronto! Yeah, Both ways, Yeah, Refresh the Engine.

IMO with good work a race engine can last that long(and not be a dog), and without much maintenance. I think back in 2004 when Champion(I think thats who it was) ran the R8 at Le Mans, they used one single motor for the car in all the activities before Le Mans, that includes all the ALMS rounds, including the 12 hours of Sebring, 2 sprint races, and the Le Mans test day, and the pre-race qualifying and practice. They only swapped out the motor the day before the actual 24 hour race......

[fpv_gtho]

DTM uses a single engine per car for the whole year as well. They must get a fair bit of mileage on them. Even F1 engines this year will need to do about 2000km per engine.

Single race engines are long gone..

[togos452]

Preseason Versus TV shows for IndyCar Series and Firestone Indy Lights

2-23-2009

INDIANAPOLIS, Monday, Feb. 23, 2009 - VERSUS, the network that celebrates real competition and the exclusive cable television home of the IndyCar Series, today announced details for extensive additional race programming in 2009, which will accompany the network's live race telecasts. In total, the network will air more than 130 hours of IndyCar Series coverage throughout the season with a minimum of seven hours each week the network airs a race, the most ever during a race week. The programming will include four hour-long specials in March, additional programming in May surrounding the Indianapolis 500 and three-hour programming blocks on Mondays each race week that will feature flag-to-flag coverage of Firestone Indy Lights events and encores of IndyCar Series races. All IndyCar Series telecasts will be produced and available in HD.

Motorsport.com: News channel

IndyCar.com

All Saturdays

March 7 - Danica: Five Years Running

March 14 - Top 10 Closest Finishes

March 21 - Crashes and Conflicts

(March 21 is also the date of the 2009 Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring presented by Fresh from Florida)

March 28 - World Tour 2009

When was the last time North American open wheel racing had this much preseason television coverage?

When did the Firestone Indy Lights Series last have this much television coverage?

Firestone Indy Lights - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia