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AUTO RACING: Top 10 IndyCar & Sports Car Stories Of 2011
SPEED.com looks back at the Top 10 news stories from the world of open-wheel and sports car racing that grabbed headlines in 2011.
SPEED Staff  |  Posted December 31, 2011  
There was no shortage of compelling news stories in the world of IndyCar and sports car racing during 2011. (Photos: LAT/Highcroft Racing/Marshall Pruett)
SPEED.com looks back at the Top 10 news stories from the world of open-wheel and sports car racing that grabbed headlines in 2011, a year where death and destruction overshadowed the sport as a whole.

10. GRAND-AM’S NEW GENERATION OF CARS (by John Dagys): GRAND-AM’s transformation from an ugly duckling of sportscar racing into a beautiful swan took center stage in 2011, with an influx of announcements of new GT3-based cars for its GT category, including versions of the highly popular Ferrari F458 Italia and Audi R8. But arguably the biggest change came in the top class, as new sleeker-looking Daytona Prototypes were rolled out, including Chevrolet’s new Corvette DP. The new-look Rolex Series will debut at next month's 50th Rolex 24 at Daytona.

9. DELTAWING TO RACE AT LE MANS (by John Dagys): After not getting approved as a next-generation Indy car, DeltaWing designer Ben Bowlby took his unique concept to sportscar racing, joining forces with Highcroft Racing, Dan Gurney and Don Panoz to enter the revolutionary car in the 2012 running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans as a unclassified 56th participant.

8. FEEL GOOD STUFF FROM FISHER (by Robin Miller): Sarah Fisher came close a couple times but never won an Indy-car race when she was the series most popular driver from 2000-2004 so Ed Carpenter delivered her initial win as a car owner in spectacular style. Pipped by Ryan Briscoe by a foot at the checkered flag in 2009 at Kentucky, Carpenter used the outside line and his push-to-pass to nip Dario Franchitti by.0098 of a second to earn his first victory as well. Quite a sight in victory lane with the small-budget team from Indianapolis celebrating and its American driver standing next to proud momma Sarah.

7. PUT IT BACK IN THE OVEN (by Marshall Pruett): The Dallara IR12 made its public debut in August to a chorus of derisive remarks from open-wheel racers and fans. The entire new-car exercise came about as a result of IndyCar using old, ugly and comparatively slow cars that were never designed for road and street courses. For all of the time and money it took to create, the IR12—which would soon be re-named the DW12 in honor of Dan Wheldon—was an instant hit on road courses, but its bawdy, uninspired looks and poor performance on ovals left team owners wondering if holding on the old Dallara IR07 made more sense. Dallara slightly improved the DW12’s oval deficiencies, but soon faced the reality that bigger fixes would be required. For all of the hype and high expectations surrounding the new Indy car, the IR12 landed with a huge thud and hasn’t gotten much better.

6. CURTAIN CALL FOR NEWMAN/HAAS (by Marshall Pruett): The IZOD IndyCar Series had plenty of fly-by-night teams during its first decade of operation, but with the demise of Champ Car--and the acquisition of most of its entrants--IndyCar had become rock solid. At least until part of open-wheel’s foundation, Newman/Haas Racing, crumbled at the beginning of December. Formed in 1983 when Carl Haas and Paul Newman came together to field a CART entry for Mario Andretti, the Illinois-based team won more than most during its four decades of activity. After hitting a serious low in 2010 with just one full-time entry piloted by a rental driver, NHR was on the rise in 2011 with Oriol Servia and James Hinchcliffe on board, but a lack of sponsorship caused its owners to pull the plug and sell its 2012 Indy cars. Now the team hopes to try its hand at sports car racing.
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