Power VS. Franchitti

Power/Frachitti incident at Toronto.

There is still way too much time left for Power to come back and take the lead in the championship. With seven races left, and if Power can finish in the Top 5 in nearly every race left on the schedule, he can win the IndyCar Series Championship.

With that said, I feel that Power and Franchitti will continue to make needless remarks about each other at some point before the season is over. My reasoning is that I think Dario will make some dirty moves on Power, and next time Power will actually do something back to him on the race track instead through Twitter.

Although Power, and Franchitti said that they are no longer enemies a couple weeks ago. To me it seemed like a sarcastic agreement when I was watching both of them talking about how they made up, and how they are not mad at each other anymore. One of these races one of the two will make a mistake on the track and a driver will blame the other, and the drama will start up again. Like I said, I think Franchitti will be the one to make that mistake, just because of all the dirty driving I've seen from him this season. Also with Franchitti complaining on how everything isn't not going his way on and off the track. Just wait a couple races and we'll see the fire start up again.

Toronto Recap

In my eyes Toronto was a crash-fest, but overall it really wasn't that bad of a race. The whole thing consisted of drivers actually being able to race for once, and tons of drama occurred among the championship contenders. Race control had some tough calls to deal with to.

KV Racing had a tough day. Tony Kanaan crashed and was out of the race by lap 2. Then Takuma Sato crashed on lap 79, and was put out of the race. The big improvement from E.J. Viso has to be noted, finishing 9th. Impressive for him, especially on a road course.

Newman/Haas Racing was having an excellent race until both James Hinchcliffe(R), and Oriol Servia were taken out in a huge crash on lap 85.

Other notable finishes are HVM Racing's Simona de Silvestro finishing in 10th, Dale Coyne Racing's Sebastien Bourdais finishing in 6th, and A.J. Foyt Racing's Vitor Meira finished in 5th.

Power VS. Franchitti.  
 What I wanted to really talk about is the supposed drive-through penalty that Dario Franchitti was supposedly received for knocking Will Power into the wall. That was avoidable contact to me. According to IndyCar it wasn't though. Although Franchitti didn't have enough room nor speed going into the corner to pass Power. All I know is that most fans, and Power himself are tired of Franchitti's dirty driving, and the fact that he is not not receiving penalties for any of it.

After the race in an interview with Versus, Will Power had this to say, "I left the inside open on the brakes. I'm really disappointed with Dario. I always race him clean, and he always races me dirty. He did the same at St. Pete, though I didn't say anything, and he did the same today. Disappointed in Dario. The guy who mouths off about everyone and whinges about everyone, and he's the guy who races the most dirty, never gets a penalty from IndyCar. It's just not right."

Power had every right to say this, and I agree with him. Dario is a dirty driver, and Will Power is generally a very well represented clean driver on the track. I disagree with Race Control's actions on that call. All the other crashes show that the driver's are actually being able to race for once.

Here are the final results from the Honda Indy Toronto.
1. (3) Dario Franchitti, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
2. (2) Scott Dixon, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
3. (8) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
4. (20) Marco Andretti, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
5. (14) Vitor Meira, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
6. (7) Sebastien Bourdais, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
7. (10) Ryan Briscoe, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
8. (22) JR Hildebrand, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
9. (18) EJ Viso, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
10. (17) Simona de Silvestro, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
11. (26) Ana Beatriz, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
12. (6) Oriol Servia, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
13. (5) Graham Rahal, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
14. (13) James Hinchcliffe, Dallara-Honda, 84, Running
15. (11) Justin Wilson, Dallara-Honda, 83, Running
16. (24) Paul Tracy, Dallara-Honda, 82, Running
17. (12) Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Honda, 81, Running
18. (23) James Jakes, Dallara-Honda, 81, Running
19. (21) Danica Patrick, Dallara-Honda, 79, Running
20. (19) Takuma Sato, Dallara-Honda, 79, Running
21. (25) Charlie Kimball, Dallara-Honda, 77, Contact
22. (4) Mike Conway, Dallara-Honda, 76, Contact
23. (9) Alex Tagliani, Dallara-Honda, 71, Contact
24. (1) Will Power, Dallara-Honda, 66, Contact
25. (15) Sebastian Saavedra, Dallara-Honda, 43, Contact
26. (16) Tony Kanaan, Dallara-Honda, 2, Contact "

Politics in Racing

The partisan bickering that we have come to know as politics has become the means of much ridicule by the American people. Many are extremely dissatisfied with the efforts of these lawmakers, as they often seem to disregard public opinion, opting instead to tiptoe around bills that may ruin their chances for reelection. The Indycar Series, like many other sports, has also fallen prey to political calls, the most dramatic of which ripped the series into two separate entities. While these differences have since been reconciled, politics still has a home in racing, albeit an unwelcome one.

One of the biggest goals that every fan would like to see is increased popularity of the series. Randy Bernard has implemented several measures to boost the fan’s experience, including doublewide restarts and the World Championship in Las Vegas. He has been quoted as saying that he will immediately vacate the series if the broadcast ratings are not at least a 1.0 in a perhaps valiant or perhaps foolish effort to prove his dedication to the increased popularity goal. Another of Bernard’s strengths is that he tends to listen to the demands of the fans. Following the conclusion of the Toronto race, I think the fans may have a large complaint to take up with Randy Bernard and Brian Barnhart.

The Streets of Toronto is one of the most popular road courses appearing on the Indycar schedule. Overnight ratings revealed it to be the most viewed race aired on the Versus network. While the series and the fans should both rejoice over this newest record, it has been somewhat overshadowed by controversy surrounding race control’s seeming unwillingness to issue penalties. Numerous incidents appeared to viewers as avoidable contact, which is means for a drive through penalty. The most controversial of these mishaps involved championship points leader, Dario Franchitti, and Penske rival, Will Power. Versus commentators stated that Franchitti had been issued a drive through penalty, which would require him to relinquish his front running position. Viewers were later informed that the commentators had mistakenly interpreted the call for a review as a penalty. They apparently pulled this punishment out of thin air, further igniting controversy on pit lane.

Following an incident with Alex Tagliani that completely removed Power from the race, Power openly vented his frustrations with the outcome of his day and the spineless presence of race control. “The guy [Dario] that mouths off about everyone, and whinges about everyone, and he’s the guy that races the most dirty, and never gets a penalty from Indycar. It’s just not right.”

Really though, it just isn’t right. For a series that prides itself on having the “best drivers in the world,” it seemed to be amateur hour in Toronto. Following an early exit from the race, Tony Kanaan tweeted, “Did we all need to go back to driving school or something?” It sure seemed like it, Tony. He also commented on race control’s presence, “And race control is starting with their excuses. WHAT A JOKE.” A joke indeed. I, myself, felt that these calls were inconsistent and should probably render more attention from the Versus crew so as to avoid confusion of the viewers.

During a post race interview, Scott Dixon admitted that he had been notified over his radio that teammate Dario Franchitti had been issued a penalty for avoidable contact, but that it had later been dismissed. Listeners of race control’s frequency stated that they had heard no such punishment issued, but are we really supposed to believe that Dixon’s crew was passing on information from the race broadcast? I find that theory somewhat fishy. Recent race control verdicts have seemed to protect “Princess” Dario (Power’s words, not mine) after blatant wrongdoings, the most outrageous of which was the Milwaukee pit stop when Dario ran over Power’s pit equipment. Many are beginning to believe that the series is simply turning a blind eye to Target Chip Ganassi Racing, myself included.

Michael Andretti expressed exasperation when the frontrunning Ganassi cars refused to line up for the restart, extending the caution in a period. This, Michael theorized, was their efforts to save enough fuel to make it to the finish line. I don’t know about you, but as a fan I am fed up with Ganassi’s stunts. I don’t want Chip’s politicking for short-term benefits to ruin the credibility of the Indycar Series.

We must let Randy Bernard and Brian Barnhart know that we won’t stand for any more pathetic and cowardly calls from race control. The world’s best drivers know what they are doing out there. Now race control must decide whether they will allow their credibility to be trampled or hold drivers accountable for their errors. I’d hate to have these petty politics ruin my love for this sport.

Dario Just Continues to Whine.

I just don't understand it, Dario is now tied with Will Power in the IZOD IndyCar Series Championship Points Standings for first and he just won the race, but he continued to complain after the race while being interviewed. All the stuff he was complaining about was uncalled for especially by saying that Penske needs to watch out next time he is pulling into the pits. In my opinion he should have been penalized for hitting Will Power's right front tire changer. Dario has made sure that his whining after each race has been consistent to. It is unsportsmanlike, and not everybody gets their way all the time. Dario please stop acting like the world revolves around you, because it doesn't! Your also not making a good example for the IndyCar Series either, so just please stop.

Texas Twin 275's Recap.

The Texas Twin 275's race format was interesting to say the least. For the most part I liked it, but there needs to be some tweaking to do if this format comes back next year. Many things happened before and after the Texas race lets see what happened.

Dario celebrating his race win. From:speedtv.com

In race 1 Alex Tagliani started out on the pole, but Dario Franchitti dominated by leading virtually every lap and winning the race. The only crash that happened during this race and all of Saturday night was when Wade Cunningham(R), and Charlie Kimball(R) hit each other and were knocked out of race 1. Overall race 1 was a flop, Tagliani didn't fight for the lead for long at all, and Franchitti led for most of the race. Both of the Target cars finished well with Franchitti first and Dixon second.

Will Power doing his signature move. From:speedtv.com

Race number 2 had some more action to it with Tony Kanaan on the pole. For the first 40 laps Tony Kanaan and Will Power battled for the lead, until on lap 41 when Will Power took over for the rest of the race and won race 2. Once again Scott Dixon finished second, and Kanaan ended up finishing 5th. The problem everyone is pointing out about this race is that Dario Franchitti started 28th, and moved up to 7th by the end of the race. Franchitti has complained that if he didn't have to start in the back of the field, that he would have been a contender for first position.


Dario Franchitti definitely didn't hold back voicing his opinion on the random draw that caused him to start in the very back of the field. He has said that if they continue to have the two race set up at Texas that the plans need to be redrawn. Even Randy Bernard has said that he agrees with Franchitti on tweaking the two race setup. Although I kinda enjoyed the whole thing, I think they need to take the 70 minute break in between and cut that in half. Also for the whole setup I kinda like Dan Wheldon's idea he he gave the next day on twitter "My idea. Twin 275's - first race regular points, 2nd race, random draw, no points, $1,000,000 for winner!!! That's what is should be!!!"

Dan Wheldon as a race commentator?
I liked Dan Wheldon's position as a commentator during the race he added some much needed personality, and we need someone that's new and fresh.

Did the new Texas Twin 275s setup spark up better TV ratings? 
Well kinda. The overnight Versus overnight TV ratings were at a .38, which is up 12% from last year. I think if they would cut down on the amount of time between the races the ratings would be so much better.