NASCAR/Racing Blog

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Category: Motorsports

What Tony George's ouster means to auto racing

The Indy Racing League runs on funding from the Hulman-George family coffers. The IRL never has made a profit and the current economic downturn has only made matters worse.

But, a hopeful sign came from Mari Hulman George's pledge of continued support in the same dramatic statement that announced Tuesday her son Tony George no longer controls the family purse strings.

“These changes underscore our family’s commitment going forward to all of our companies, especially our commitment to the growth of the Indy Racing League and the sport of open-wheel racing,” Mari Hulman George said in the statement released on Tuesday.“We believe the Hulman-George family’s long stewardship of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, beginning in 1945, and our significant investment in the Speedway and in the IRL demonstrates that we have full confidence in all of our companies and that we intend to grow them in the future.”

The IRL was Tony's spawn, born to do combat with CART and make the Hulman George family the France family of American open wheel racing. Problem is, it took more than a decade of expensive warfare to take total control of the sport. It happened only last year, late to advantage from the now long past economic boom that propelled NASCAR and the France family to national popularity, power and riches.

Some are saying there is no way to predict the impact of George's departure on IndyCar and NASCAR racing.

IRL and IMS live or die together

The Hulman family money must continue to flow to the Indy Racing League. Without it, the IRL would fold. But then, so would the Indianapolis 500 without an open-wheel series to provide race cars.

"IMS and the IRL are hooked at the hip," Panther Racing team owner John Barnes told Indianapolis Star writer Curt Cavin. "Only a fool would believe that's not the case, especially after you see how many people show up for the (NASCAR race) compared to how many people were at the Indy 500."

There has been a significant downturn in ticket sales reported for the July 26 Brickyard 400. Every NASCAR track is suffering, but Indy is taking a double hit because last year's race was another tire-problem related farce.

Fans will never forget what happened at the 2005 Formula One race, when just five of the 22 cars took the green due to tire safety problems. Last summer, Goodyear produced a tire for the NASCAR stock cars that wouldn't hold up for more than a handful of laps without exploding.

Angry fans poured out of the historic race course and Goodyear has been back numerous times, testing a new tire it claims will perform well this time.

But the survival of NASCAR doesn't depend on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The Brickyard 400 is just another race. Indy's ownership is supporting the entire IRL series.

This year's Indy 500 was a nationally followed emotional resurrection for open-wheel racing and for the popular Helio Castroneves after being cleared of tax evasion charges. The event claimed a near capacity crowd. Although the IRL says its brand is growing since the unification, the ticket-holders I spoke with described lots of empty spaces in the 250,000 seat facility.

Still, it was a good showing compared with other events in this summer's difficult economy. After all, we here in Detroit saw our IndyCar race on Belle Isle canceled because even the promotional power of Roger Penske couldn't land enough sponsorship.

Tony George apparently had been less and less involved in the daily operations of the IRL and IMS since the founding of his own race team, Vision Racing, in 2005.

"I don't think (George's departure) changes the league much because Brian has been effectively running the league," race team owner Sam Schmidt, told USA Today.

Penske told Cavin he has confidence in the newly appointed management team of Jeff Belskus and Curt Brighton, because they come from within the organization with intimate knowledge about the business, the Speedway and the IRL: "Those are good people and capable people, and they represent the family's interest," Penske said. "They've been involved in the discussions before, so it's not like we've got a brand-new cast of characters that we don't know."

Resurrecting the messenger

SPEED TV's Robin Miller broke the story about the Hulman George family feud in May. He wrote that Tony George's three sisters on the businesses board of directors voted to oust Tony from power, then Miller got castigated for his reporting when the family circled the wagons and denied his reporting's now obvious truth. Other news agencies were quick to follow up with similar reports, confirming and expanding on Miller's original report. Miller has long been a lightening rod for his frequent agitation against Tony George's controversial decisions.

Apparently, it only took Tony George's family 20 years to catch up.

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Category: Motorsports

Tony George is out at Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Tony George, the architect of the civil war that savaged American open wheel racing for a decade, has been ousted as president and CEO of his family's businesses -- including the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The Board of Directors of Hulman & Company and the Speedway announced this afternoon that a new management team of current Speedway executives will head the Hulman-George companies effective tomorrow.

George remains on the board of directors. But the man who for 20 years exercised so much willful authority over auto racing in the United States is virtually left only with his IndyCar racing team. Vision Racing's driver is George's stepson, Ed Carpenter.

Tony got dumped. There's no other way to read even the carefully written statement issued today by his family-dominated business. The question remains whether this should have happened many, many years ago.

He denied the rumors that he was about to be deposed when the board met after the Memorial Day weekend running of the 98th Indianapolis 500.

Today, it was Tony's mother making the announcement:

“Our board had asked Tony to structure our executive staff to create efficiencies in our business structure and to concentrate his leadership efforts in the Indy Racing League,” said Mari Hulman George, chairman of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway board. “He has decided that with the recent unification of open-wheel racing and the experienced management team IMS has cultivated over the years, now would be the time for him to concentrate on his team ownership of Vision Racing with his family and other personal business interests he and his family share."

A lot of race fans hate this guy, but it was the sour economy that caught up with Tony's decades of willful spending on consolidating open-wheel racing under his family's name in the way the France family controls NASCAR's dominance of stock car racing. Tony has long displayed horrible fiscal restraint, with estimates ofhis spending on the Speedway and IRL over the last 13 years in the hundreds of millions.

While today's statement made no admission that the family businesses are in trouble back in Terre Haute, Ind., the speedway and IRL have been cutting back. About 60 staffers have been let go in the last six months. Even Tony's wife Laura lost her job as an adviser. George told the Associated Press that she hasn't been fired.

W. Curtis Brighton becomes president and CEO of Hulman & Company. He's currently executive vice president and chief legal counsel to the family's companies that were founded on Clabber Girl Baking Powder.

Jeffrey G. Belskus will be president and CEO of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Corporation. Belskus is currently executive vice president and chief financial officer of the family companies.

And, according to the statement, Brighton and Belskus have the support of Tony's mom:

“Jeff and Curt have both been with the company for many years in positions of top leadership,” said Mari Hulman George. “Tony, as well as the entire Board of Directors, has the utmost confidence in their capabilities.

In other words, one is an accountant and the other is a lawyer. That's who runs businesses these days with all the passion of undertakers.

George's grandfather, the late Tony Hulman was widely adored by race car fans because he bought the abandoned historic race track, restored and reopened it after World War II. Mari Hulman George continues her father's tradition by issuing the command before each race to, "start your engines."

It was Tony who changed things at a place where change and innovation is constant, but clinging to the traditions of the track's 100-year history is not only a good marketing strategy -- it's religion to many fans.

At age 29, Tony George took over the speedway after the 1989 death of Tony Hulman's trusted manager, Joe Cloutier. Tony ruffled feathers bringing NASCAR's stock cars to the hallowed ground in 1994, but it was a move that has paid off big and helped the Speedway to a piece of NASCAR's popularity. The International Race of Champions was added in 1998 long after its popularity had waned.

And then, Tony made a deal with the devil, bringing Bernie Eccelstone's international Formula One circus and the return of Grand Prix racing to the United States in 2000.

Tony poured money chasing and pleasing the F-1 set, new garages, new suites, a new road course that reconfigured the beloved infield. All for a race in 2005 that fielded just 5 of 22 cars and complete abandonment after 2007 when Tony refused to pay Bernie as much as the treasuries of Asian and Middle Eastern nations competing for the calendar slot.

Add the MotoGP motorcycle grand prix in 2008, and the required infield remodeling turned what was left of the famous turn one "Snake Pit" into a desert of gravel.

All of this turned the historic Speedway into a monster that Tony himself described as "... a place that wakes up every morning and eats money."

Now remember, all of this spending was going on while Tony spent a decade establishing his own sanctioning body, the Indy Racing League in the image of NASCAR. From 1996 to 2008 he poured more money into his opposition of CART and then Champ Car never learning the lessons of Napoleon and Hitler -- never fight a two-front war.

And while the confused crowds dwindled and open-wheel racing missed the American economic boom of the late 1990's and early 2000's, NASCAR blossomed.

Mom tossed her boy some nice words on his way out the door today.

“Our family and the entire racing community are grateful to Tony for the leadership and direction he has provided since 1990," Mari Hulman George said in the press release. "We are pleased that he will continue to be an important part of the Indy Racing League as a team owner and as a member of our Board of Directors, and we wish him every success.”

Other familiar Indy executives remain in place: Joie Chitwood stays as president and chief operating officer of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Terry Angstadt is president of the commercial division of the Indy Racing League. Brian Barnhart is president of the competition division of the Indy Racing League. Charlie Morgan is president and COO of IMS Productions. Gary Morris is president and COO of Clabber Girl.

“These changes underscore our family’s commitment going forward to all of our companies, especially our commitment to the growth of the Indy Racing League and the sport of open-wheel racing,” Mari Hulman George said. "We believe the Hulman-George family’s long stewardship of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, beginning in 1945, and our significant investment in the Speedway and in the IRL demonstrates that we have full confidence in all of our companies and that we intend to grow them in the future.”

Just not with Tony at the helm.

It is going to be intersting to see what that means. Some of it you might not like. For all of his modernization of the Speedway, Tony George never sold the right to name the Indianapolis 500. As a reader of this blog pointed out in our comments section, Allstate has been attached to the Brickyard 400 for years. How long do you expect it will take the lawyer and the accountant to cash in on the millions sponsors will pay to put their names in front of the Indy 500?

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Category: Motorsports

Mark Martin wins at Michigan by surprise

Mark Martin was lamenting in the post race interview about how it's never been his luck to win a race like this, when car owner Rick Hendrick chimed in:

"You're going to have to stop that," Hendrick said.

Jimmie Johnson and Greg Biffle ran out of gas ahead of him. But, Martin saved just enough to make it to victory circle.

The self-described "surprise winner" of NASCAR's Lifelock 400 at Michigan International Speedway this afternoon kept talking about being unlucky, but it was obvious the boss believes the veteran's luck is just fine.

Martin was nursing his car to a comfortable, and respectable third place finish behind Johnson and Biffle, when first Johnson ran out of fuel and then Biffle on the backstretch of the final lap. They had pushed each other to go too fast. But the old man was patient.

"He (Johnson) just came up there and put presure on me, gave Mark Martin the win," Biffle said. "Put peressure on me to run the car hard. He ran his car hard and we both ran out of gas and the 5 won."

Martin and crew chief Alan Gustafson were playing it safe. They had won two prior races this season, but were still outside of the top 12 and the chase positions for the championship due to bad luck at other races.

"If we had been in the position Jimmy and Chad (Knaus) were in, more comfortable in the points, we'd have been pushing it too," Martin said.

To hear Martin talk about it, he has his own personal little rain cloud following him around. The car drove well, but the electrical system glitched early and there were no fans to cool the brakes, the tire beads or the driver.

"Here we go again," Martin said when he started switching off power systems to save voltage early in the race. "I got sick at my stomach."

It really wasn't neccessary for Hendrick in the interview room to reminded everyone how much Martin is respected in this business. He's won 38 times in NASCAR's top level. He's won five times at Michigan. That he's now sitting eighth in points isn't completely by "surprise."

"There's a word in the sport. Respect," Hendrick said of the man he talked out of retirement for another shot at the championship he's never won.

"When he sits down to explain a car, others listen," Hendrick said. He said his other drivers, Johnson, Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. all have benefitted from Martin's presence and wisdom. "Jeff Gordon told me that before he came over (joined the team). Jimmie told me we've got to get him to stay on for a couple more years."

And Martin, he told us it would be an honor to be included again among the 12 drivers headed for The Chase. He's a grateful and lucky man, no matter what he says.

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Category: Motorsports

Kid Rock and The Schwartz got them started at MIS

They were just a couple of regular guys, sitting side-by-side at a NASCAR race. But, Kid Rock and new Detroit Lions' head coach Jim Schwartz are playing special roles today here at Michigan International Speedway.

Rock very enthusiastically made the call for drivers to start their engines. Schwartz was the honorary starter -- dropping the green flag on the field for the initial start.

They both also recognize their roles as missionaries for their beleaguered home town -- Motown. They joked, and got serious about their feelings about hard times.

Schwartz talked about being impressed that Lions fans are like NASCAR fans -- extremely loyal even through hard times.

"I feel it every day," Rock said. "I still live here. I live in Clarkston, Michigan. I see a lot of stuff, a lot of my friends, houses foreclosed, losing their jobs, trying to find work. They’re embarrassed about it. One thing I’ve known about this town, the reason why I stay here -- and I could live any where I want in the world -- is because of the people. Because of who they are. It’s a hard working town. Great people in it. It’s not the first time we’ve been down. We’ll get back up. I’m sure of that. I see hope every day in a lot of people’s eyes. You know, my buddies at the race, they’re talking about Tony starting his own thing now and especially at a time when it’s very difficult to do it. He’s doing very well and I think it’s like anything else, it’s persistence and hard work and doing the right thing when times get tough. That’s what I’ve always seen about Michigan and especially Detroit."

Rock said he's working on a couple of songs about hard times and the Midwest. He said when he was younger, he wrote about wild times and women. Now, he's older, His son is growing and he sees more serious things to sing about.

But Schwartz brought Rock back to his base by declaring the particularly raunchy "Cocky" as his favorite song. He even recited a view lines .

"It’s ain’t bragging if you can back it up," Schwartz said.

Kid Rock laughed, "He even knows the lyrics. He’s my man. He’s the best coach we’ve ever had in Detroit."

"I just hope you’re saying that in about six months," Schwartz said.

"It couldn't get worse," Rock reminded him.

Schwartz earlier talked about hanging out at a quarter-mile dirt track near his home as a kid.

"We would go on Friday and Saturday nights, probably mostly to drink beer more than anything. Obviously it was a lot different racing. Lot of paint swapping and things like that. This is, obviously, a two-mile track. They’re going to get going. It’s a completely different style of racing. I can’t wait to see it."

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Category: Motorsports

NASCAR back in Michigan, but not so close to Detroit anymore

That's not what Detroit needed. Toyotas on the front row at Michigan International Speedway.

While I was covering the Red Wings loss of the Stanley Cup to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday, Brian Vickers was winning the pole for today's NASCAR Sprint Cup race. Kyle Bush is right next to him and David Reutimann is in the second row beside the first Detroit brand, Jimmy Johnson's Chevrolet.

But not all is lost. While the Pittsburgh Pirates were drubbing the Detroit Tigers in baseball Saturday (notice a couple of trends here?) Collin Braun was setting things straight in the NASCAR truck race. Braun put Jack Roush's Ford into victory circle at MIS by passing Kyle Busch's Toyota.

There is still hope this weekend for salvaging some of Detroit's pride. I hope.

A kid who won't graduate from high school until next week won the ARCA race here on Friday.

While I was busy with the Red Wings, the now bankrupt General Motors is cutting funding to NASCAR's Nationwide and Truck teams. What else did I miss?:

Johnny Benson lost his truck ride, then crashed on Saturday night driving in a late model race at his home track, Berlin Raceway near Grand Rapids.

The threat of getting hurt in motor sports is a constant. Even one of the pilots in the Red Bull Air Races over the Detroit River Today, Peter Besenyei, got hurt in an emergency landing in Canada earlier this week. The qualifying rounds were held Saturday and the finals are today in a terrible scheduling conflict for Detroit motor sports fans. The races are beautiful and thrilling over the river.

Kirby Chamblis, the defending champion of the Detroit race, is the top qualifier .

Brian France, head of NASCAR's ruling family, just spoke to us in the media center about the challenges faced by the series in these tough economic times. The surprise was that he said NASCAR has spoken with "other manufacturers" about future participation in the series.

"We have spoken to others, yes," France said. "I'm not going to mention names, but we have companies interested in developing the North American market as robustly as they can. They are manufacturers like Toyota who are building cars in North America and want to develop this market."

I think you can read Honda into that statement. But, he said talks like this can't result in changes overnight. But, when the new companies join, it will be easier because of the generic nature of the "New Car" which basically is the same for every manufacturers, except for the engine block.

France said the goal of the new car was to improve safety and cut costs, but it also is generic enough to help teams through changes in manufacturer no matter what happens to GM and Dodge. Forget the fact that fans are turned off by a car that bears no resemblance to the cars we find in showrooms.

"The new car will solve that particular problem well," said France.

So NASCAR is planning a future without the former Big Three. I guess it only makes sad practical sense.

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Category: Motorsports

Rain washes out ARCA qualifying at MIS

ARCA's stock car drivers are getting used to this.

Steady rain scrubbed today's 3 p.m. qualifying for the ARCA RE/MAX series at Michigan International Speedway.

This is ARCA's fourth race in a row where the starting lineup had to be set by current owner's points due to rain. In what might be a strong argument for the effects of global warming, ARCA's Menard's Pole qualifying washed out at Kentucky, Toledo, and Pocono. This is the first time in the 57-year history of the series that four consecutive qualifying sessions have been cancelled.

The weather report is ideal for Friday's 5 p.m. race which follows the 3 p.m. qualifications for NASCAR's Sprint Cup series.

ARCA's Wildlife 200 will be broadcast live on SPEED TV. Live timing and scoring will be available during the race at ARCA's web site .

NASCAR's Camping World Truck series is set to race at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at Michigan International. The Sprint Cup stars of NASCAR's top series are to practice at 11:30 a.m. Friday and Noon on Saturday. The Sprint Cup race will start at 1:30 p.m. Sunday.

Track and series officials today still were hoping the weather would clear enough over ther 2-mile track near Jackson to allow ARCA and truck practice. Rain showers have plagued the area most of the day.

The National Weather Service predicts the rain will end overnight. The forecast calls for mostly sunny skies and temperatures in the low to mid 70s Friday and Sunday. There is a chance of thunderstorms predicted for Saturday.

Worse than the weather, the effects of the economy also have impacted the racing itself. The truck series' defending champion, Michigan's Johnny Benson, lost his ride on the eve of his home race due to lack of sponsorship. Red Horse Racing announced it was shutting down the team last week, following the race Texas Motor Speedway that ran three trucks short of a full field.

Yesterday, the team announced it would race with a new driver, Timothy Peters, who happened to bring a sponsor along with him.

In racing, nothing goes faster than money.

"It certainly is effecting us," said Ron Drager, president of ARCAs RE/MAX series. "We are sharing the same pain that everyone else is. Anybody who makes it through this will be stronger for it after the recovery."

The ARCA series has 41 race cars on hand to qualify at Michigan, which constitutes a full field for the series. "Previously we've always had more than a full field show up to qualify, so you have to use your own measuring stick to determine how it is impacting you."

Tickets remain available at the Michigan International Speedway box office for all of the weekend's events, including Sunday's normally sold-out Sprint Cup race. Tickets for the ARCA race are just $15, the truck race, $40, and there still are seats available in every grandstand for the Cup race, ranging from $40 to $110.

And once the skies clear, the still available spaces at the campgrounds surrounding the big speedway are going to look very inviting.

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Category: Motorsports

Lions coach to flag start for NASCAR Sunday at MIS

Detroit Lions Head Coach Jim Schwartz’s Honolulu blue collar is showing again.

Schwartz loves NASCAR, and it was announced this afternoon that he will wave the green flag as honorary starter for Sunday’s Sprint Cup LifeLock 400 mile race at Michigan International Speedway.

The man hired to roll up his sleeves on the NFL’s largest rebuilding project ever as head of the league’s first 0-16 team, is not only dedicated to football. He recently surprised Metro Detroiters with his extensive knowledge of head-bangers rock during an extended stay on a local radio show.

Add ovals to his lexicon of Xs and Os.

“I’m a big NASCAR fan,” Schwartz said in a statement released by the speedway. “So to be involved with the race, in the shadow of Detroit, The Motor City, is an absolute thrill. I’ve always been impressed with the incredible loyalty of NASCAR fans. They stick with their teams and drivers thru thick and thin. They have the same type of passion and loyalty Lions’ fans have for our football team.”

The honorary starter’s duties include waving the green flag to start the race. Shortly after another local celebrity, Kid Rock, makes the traditional call at 2 p.m. Sunday as Race Grand Marshall for drivers to start their engines.

Schwartz also will get a ride around the speedway from NASCAR’s official pace car driver Brett Bodine. He also will attend the Sprint Cup drivers’ meeting Sunday morning along with some other members of the Lions football team.

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Category: Motorsports

Open track day is mission of discovery

Clarkston, Mich. -- The odometer on the new car said I'd babied it through 2,000 miles of break-in driving. It was time we got to know each other more intimately.

It looks nice in the driveway, and it's enjoyable cruising back and forth to work. But Open Track Day at Waterford Hills Race Course just north of Detroit Sunday provided the perfect opportunity to discover what I'd paid for.

If you own a race horse, take it to the track.

Check out the video about the adventure made by Detroit News photographer Steve Perez

For every look of stunned disbelief I got from normal folks when I told them I planned to push my new car and myself to our limits on a real race course, I got paid back Sunday with welcoming smiles and nods of approval from real car people at this historic road racing circuit in the rolling hills of Northern Oakland County.

"I tell my friends to come out here. You put all this money and time into your cars and then you do crazy things on the roads," said Oleg Zmiyov, 24. "You come here and you push your car, maybe a little too much, but that's OK because you really get it out of your system. You find your limits and your car's. When it's over, I'm so calm on the road. I have a feeling of respect for my car and want to take care of it for the next time."

Zmiyov, of Center Line, learned high performance driving at the Skip Barber Racing School. He's very fast, but he's not rich. He works in a grocery store. His investment is in his daily driver, a silver 2003 Nissan 350Z.

Oleg loves his Z

And he had a lot of auto-romantic company. There were beautiful new daily drivers finally living up to their potential, old sports cars reliving days gone by, classic Detroit Mustangs and Camaros, real race cars including a few open wheelers, $1,000 track day throw-aways, and home-built inventions that fit no recognized racing category. It truely is a case of run-what-you-brung.

Robert Kroll of Almont brought his 1991 Mazda RX 7 with a 350 Chevrolet truck engine tucked neatly into the former living space of a tiny Wankel rotary. The V8's first spark plugs are even with the new adjustable coil-over shocks, making the car powerful and surprisingly nimble.

Aric Streeter of South Lyon was blazingly fast in his Yamaha R1 superbike engined 1960 Mini Cooper. It was right-hand drive, but this wasn't Mr. Bean's car. It does zero to 60 in 4.5 seconds. Streeter assembled parts for two years. He bought the body from a guy in New Zeeland for $2,000, then paid $2,800 to have it shipped here.

"I built it because I love small lightweight cars," Streeter said. "It is one heck of a driver's car."

Herb Adams, Pontiac's racing engineer from the zenith of the ’60s and ’70s pony car participation in SCCA's Trans Am series, was wheeling around the track in his Passion Motors prototype supercar called a Contessa.

Thrills come cheap or expensive

A few pits spaces away, Joseph Rippolone of Grosse Pointe admired his baby -- a 2005 Ford GT. Oh, and it's not just the 803rd copy of Ford's greatest street car anymore. Not since Walsh Motor Sports of Wixom tweaked the suspension and pushed the supercharged engine over the 700 horsepower mark.

Rippolone isn't the type to be satisfied driving a $200,000 exotic back and forth to the golf course. He had come to Waterford to play with his toy because he too admits to having been seduced by the sirens of the public road.

To keep anyone from thinking they can copycat this act, I won't say which Michigan Interstate provided the unpoliced straightaway where Rippolone and his musclebound beauty topped 200 mph. I suppose that's what we deserve for laying off 100 Michigan State Police troopers.

"This car is a reflection of the love of cars," said Rippolone, whose sense of Ford motor sports history dating back to Barney Oldfield is reflected in his license plate, 999WINS. "This car wasn't built to be in a museum. It was meant to be driven."

If you have the desire, an approved helmet, $150 and a car that can pass a basic safety inspection, you can drive at an open track day. Instruction in your own car from a competition licensed driver is available -- free. Loaned tools, advise and know-how flows from others in the pits as readily as good natured ribbing.

"I hope they don't charge you by the pound for all the gravel you took," a buddy told Aaron Johnston as the West Bloomfield resident jacked up his Mitsubishi Evo to repair its broken bodywork and scoop out mounds of pea-gravel.

Johnston had plunged his daily driver off the end of the track's fastest straightaway without causing any damage. But, trying to get back to the track, he got stuck in a gravel trap designed to slow a true runaway. The session I was in got stopped early to pull Johston's car out of harm's way.

"I feel so stupid," Johnston cursed himself. "I killed the session for the rest of you."

But how did it happen? "I hit 100 on the straight," Johnston said with a well deserved ear-to-ear grin. But, getting the magic number took him too deep into the braking zone and he couldn't slow enough to attempt the sharp right-hander at the end of the straight.

This isn't racing, the track officials kept insisting. You don't pass without the driver ahead of you pointing out his or her window to motion you by, always on the right and only in certain safe zones. You don't compete against anyone but yourself at track days. Unlike a public road, when you make a mistake on a race course there is usually plenty of runoff space.

There is risk

At last October's track day at Waterford a teen-ager in his father's turbocharged SRT Neon lost control on the pit straight ahead of me. I watched him slam head-on into the wall. Although an ambulance took the young man away, he was OK. The car was totaled and uninsured. The insurance loophole that previously kept street cars covered at these events -- that this isn't a race because there is no competitive passing -- has been closed by many insurers, according to the New York Times.

The trick still is restraint, even at 100 miles per hour. I saw 97 miles per hour on my speedometer on that same backstretch. And, I almost spun out on a tight left-hander on the other side of the course because I still have a lot to learn about the appropriate application of my new car's impressive horsepower.

I learned a lot from my new dance partner on Sunday. I have confidence that I am better prepared to maneuver around the madness that happens on Metro Detroit's expressways. But, I'm looking forward to learning more in August at Waterford Hills' next open track day about my car's potential at its impressive and otherwise illegal limits.

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Category: Motorsports

Lapping at Indy for the common man

Indianapolis -- Scratch it off the bucket list. I drove an Indy Car around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway without lifting.

It looked just like a video game playing through the narrow window of a racing helmet Tuesday, when as a guest of the Indy Racing League, I strapped into a retired race car and drove three laps around the 100-year-old race course.

The front stretch opened before me like a long narrow canyon between massive grandstands and the towering infield pagoda. The icon scoring pylon rose beside the pits on the left and on the right, that's the fence Helio Castroneves climbed just two days ago after his emotional third win.

But I also felt the yard of bricks at the finish line rumble beneath the four big Firestone Firehawks on my G-Force chassis. I could hear wind rushing and the hard carbon fiber seat vibrated from the engine behind me. There was an urgent and very real decision rushing toward me. Was I going to lift off the gas pedal as I swung toward the outside wall, setting up to dive low into the first turn?

Hell no!

The car I was driving had finished third in the 2002 Indy 500 in the hands of driver Felipe Giaffone. But even flat-out on Tuesday, the de-tuned machine was carrying me at only half the 230.326 miles per hour Giaffone had turned to qualify fourth on the grid for Mo Nunn's Hollywood Racing. This car led that race four times for a total of 12 laps. It finished right behind the controversial yellow light race between Castroneves and Paul Tracy. I had confidence that it would stick.

Still, my heart raced. I was tightly strapped in a radical position, almost laying on my back, looking down the nose of the car between my hands on the tiny steering wheel. This is a claustrophobic work space with an overwhelming view.

Sense of awe

"I don't think I could have expected what I saw, what I experienced," said Francis Vellutato, 64, of Clarksboro, NJ. "To say I stood on it through the turns, no I can't say I did that. I just have an even deeper respect for the drivers now."

There were 65 of us participating in the Indy Racing Experience Tuesday. For $500 you get instruction in a Gasoline Alley garage on the basics of Indy car operation. You get fitted for a racing suit, helmet, gloves and shoes. You walk through the famous pits and crewmen strap you in.

You can't get buckled into one of these without help, but I was told I would be able to get out real fast all by myself if properly motivated. The waiver you sign mentions risks, including death, and suggested that I should have talked this over with my loved ones first.

You can't see the pedals so you feel for the clutch and the gas, flip the toggle to "on" and push the start button. The crew pushes you away and you actually are circling, alone, on the most famous race track in the world in an amazing car that precisely goes exactly where you point it.

Vellutata's ride was a gift from his daughter, Mary Haverly, 36, of Woodbury, NJ. She bought a ride for herself too.

"I watched the race on TV every year with Dad. I just didn't get it," she explained. "It was turn left all day long. It was awful."

Then, in 2002, her husband Gordon Haverly got tickets, and they all came with Vellutata to the race for their first time.

"As we walked to our seats Dad was in tears," Haverly said. "That was my most special moment with dad. We've been back for every race since. I love it now. I appreciate the traditions, the greatness. I know the words to Back Home Again (in Indiana, sung before every race by Jim Nabors)."

Once in a lifetime

Bob Fisher, 54, of Lafayette, Colorado, grew up a Hosier. He was nine when he saw his first 500, won by Parnelli Jones. He's been back for 40 races.

"I'd live here if they let me," Fisher said. "Driving a race car out there is something I never dreamed I'd be able to do. Now, I want to spend the rest of the day doing it, but I don't think my bank account could stand it."

Randy Hohenadel, 56, of Bluegrass, Iowa, paid a little extra to receive a glass bottle of milk to drink as he stepped out of one of the four retired race cars being used at the session. His wife, four sons and daughter cheered his accomplishment as though he also was being presented the Borg Warner trophy. The drive had been a Christmas gift from the family.

"Driving into turn one that first time is a thrill," Hohenadal said. "The pedal was on the floor and it sticks! We've come to this race 28 years and the track has never looked smaller than it does inside a race car. What a thrill!"

What it was like

When the engine chugs to life and they push you away, well, I found myself wondering, "What did I just get myself into?"

The crews still cleaning up the speedway had just finished painting over the black marks on the white wall where Vitor Meira crashed on Sunday, and broke two bones in his back. Meira had been my chauffeur when I took an Indy Racing Experience two-seater ride last summer on the Belle Isle race course. The two seaters still have the race engines, and nice guy Vitor gave me a spectacular ride.

Here, you get to chase another Indy Car being driven by an Indy Racing Experience staffer. He shows you the correct line. In my case he sped up when I nearly caught him as we reached the blend line from the pit exit road on the back straight.

First impression: These turns aren't flat like they say on TV all the time. They're gently banked. By my third lap I was concentrating on reducing friction by running a free line, apexing late and letting the g-forces take me close to the walls on exits. I got to sight-see on the long straights.

I wanted to do 198 more laps. The average speed of my middle lap was 106 mph. That's everything the engine would give me. The operators of The Indy Racing Experience have swapped the monster racing motors in their cars for more practical 1.8 liter Honda motorcycle engines.

They also sell rides in these same cars on the one mile tri-oval at Disney World in Orlando, Florida.

The four-cylinders provided enough power to push the car to 120 miles per hour on the straights. And they sounded great -- echoing inside the giant speedway like the Offenhausers most teams used when I saw my first race here 32 years ago.

In an era where new is better, there is no more historic sporting arena in the United States than the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. This would have been like stepping to the plate at the old Tiger Stadium to take a few swings. My wife, an avid tennis player, said it was the equivalent of hitting on the grass at Wimbledon's Center Court.

Personal perspective

For me, it was a reminder of encouragement I received when I was a journalism student, working part-time at my hometown newspaper, covering motor sports because it wasn't considered cool back then. I got to drive some race cars on small ovals and I got great advice from people like Johnny Benson Sr. and seven time Indianapolis 500 veteran Sammy Sessions. It was Sessions who took me aside to say I could do this, I could start in midgets and move to sprint cars. The goal would be Indy.

I told him I knew a lot race drivers at that time with trophies and a new engine, but no furniture in their homes. I told Sam I was going to be a writer.

A year later, Allen Dale "Sammy" Sessions died racing snowmobiles.

It was on my second lap at Indy when I felt myself smiling as I passed the pylon. I shouted inside my helmet, "Hey Sam! I made it."

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Category: Motorsports

Reutimann and Childers show smart beats fast

David who?

Actually, the who behind Monday's theft of the Coca-Cola 600 from what looked like the vice-like grip of Kyle Busch was David Reutimann's crew chief Rodney Childers.

Don't leave an apple pie cooling on the window sill with these two in your neighborhood.

Childers is the bright fellow who made the call to gamble when the rain fell again on Lowes Motor Speedway just 22 laps past the halfway point where NASCAR could call the 600 mile race as official and finished.

It doesn't matter how many laps Busch led. It was Childers and his driver who figured out how to be in front when the race ended. That's not cheap. It's smart.

And besides, Mike Bliss probably said it best after snatching a similar victory from Busch on Saturday night during the Nationwide series race at Lowes, "Nobody likes him anyhow."

So who is David Reutimann, besides a bowl-cut wearer who drives for the frequently goofy Michael Waltrip and does goofy commercials with Lucky Dog? Well, he comes from real racing roots. He's the son of former NASCAR modified great Buzzie Reuitimann, but he's also not a kid and he's had to work for a living. He did some time with UPS before making it to NASCAR's top division.

The bigger questions should be, who is this gambling genius Rodney Childers?

He's a former driver, who started in go karts at 12, winning five national-level championships before moving to late model stock cars. He used to race against Reutimann in NASCAR's All Pro late model series. He also raced in the Nationwide series until 2003.

So these two know how to race. And they know you need to be in front to win, even if your car isn't fast enough to stay there without Mother Nature's help.