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IndyCar
INDYCAR: Elkhart Lake Possible China Replacement
Could IndyCar’s 16th race be at Elkhart Lake?
IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard talks to the media. (Photo: LAT Photographic)
If it’s up to the fans and most of the drivers who were at Wisconsin State Fair Park over the weekend, IndyCar’s 16th race will be up the road at Elkhart Lake.
``I got stopped every 10 feet on Friday and Saturday by people wanting to know if I knew where Road America was or if we were going to be there in August,’’ related IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard on Sunday afternoon.
``I told them I knew exactly where it was and that it was high on our list.’’
With China’s scheduled race on Aug. 17-19 being cancelled last week, Bernard is seeking a replacement and it would appear the picturesque road course in Wisconsin would be perfect.
There is already an ALMS race scheduled for Aug. 18 (Saturday) at Road America and that would leave Sunday open for Indy cars.
``It’s pretty late and we’ve already started selling tickets but we’re looking at it and I’ll be talking to Randy this week to see if we can work something out,’’ said George Bruggenthies, president and general manager of Road America.
``If we could do it, we would run Indy cars on Sunday.’’
Elkhart Lake, regarded as the best test of road racing in North America, hosted an ALMS/Champ Car doubleheader in 2007 and Bruggenthies has a twin bill with NASCAR Nationwide stock cars and Grand Am sports cars this weekend.
``I think it’s a longshot at the moment but if we could work it out I think it would pump up everything,’’ said Bruggenthies. ``Randy and I were looking towards 2013 but this popped up so we’ll sit down and talk it over.’’
Most of the drivers in the IZOD IndyCar series shared the feelings of James Hinchliffe. ``I wouldn’t care if we had to run on Friday, that’s a fabulous race track for Indy cars,’’ said the GO DADDY driver who sits No. 2 in the point standings following his third place at Milwaukee on Saturday.
Bernard said Michigan International Speedway and Pocono were possibilities, although the latter is more of a hope for 2013. Portland has also expressed interest in bringing Indy cars back to its road course in August.
BARFIELD APOLOGIZES
IndyCar chief steward Beaux Barfield said he made a big mistake in penalizing Scott Dixon for jumping a re-start that turned out to be a false start.
Because of a 10-spot penalty of an unauthorized engine change, Dixon started 21st but had charged all the way to third by Lap 123 before being victimized.
There was an aborted restart when leader Helio Castroneves jumped the gun and Dixon overtook a slow-starting E.J. Viso at the same time. The two-time IndyCar champion never improved his place on the successful restart by Race Control made the call because it was looking at the wrong replay.
``The clock was 36 seconds off but synched up perfectly for the aborted restart and that’s what we saw,’’ said Barfield. ``It was more technical than human error but it was my fault, I’ll take the blame.’’
Barfield met with owner Chip Ganassi, team manager Mike Hull and Dixon following the race and explained what happened.
``Scott, Chip and Mike were incredibly understanding in our 10-minute talk and I would have totally understood if they beat me up,’’ said Barfield, whose changes in procedure have made the starts and restarts extra exciting this season.
``It doesn’t help what happened but I promised them it would never happen again.’’
Dixon, who entered Milwaukee in second place 36 points behind leader Will Power, rallied to finish 11th and gain one point on Power (in 12th) but dropped to third behind Hinchcliffe.
Robin Miller brings 40 years of experience to his role as SPEED.com's senior open-wheel reporter, and serves as a frequent contributor to SPEED Center and Wind Tunnel with Dave Despain.
``I got stopped every 10 feet on Friday and Saturday by people wanting to know if I knew where Road America was or if we were going to be there in August,’’ related IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard on Sunday afternoon.
``I told them I knew exactly where it was and that it was high on our list.’’
With China’s scheduled race on Aug. 17-19 being cancelled last week, Bernard is seeking a replacement and it would appear the picturesque road course in Wisconsin would be perfect.
There is already an ALMS race scheduled for Aug. 18 (Saturday) at Road America and that would leave Sunday open for Indy cars.
``It’s pretty late and we’ve already started selling tickets but we’re looking at it and I’ll be talking to Randy this week to see if we can work something out,’’ said George Bruggenthies, president and general manager of Road America.
``If we could do it, we would run Indy cars on Sunday.’’
Elkhart Lake, regarded as the best test of road racing in North America, hosted an ALMS/Champ Car doubleheader in 2007 and Bruggenthies has a twin bill with NASCAR Nationwide stock cars and Grand Am sports cars this weekend.
``I think it’s a longshot at the moment but if we could work it out I think it would pump up everything,’’ said Bruggenthies. ``Randy and I were looking towards 2013 but this popped up so we’ll sit down and talk it over.’’
Most of the drivers in the IZOD IndyCar series shared the feelings of James Hinchliffe. ``I wouldn’t care if we had to run on Friday, that’s a fabulous race track for Indy cars,’’ said the GO DADDY driver who sits No. 2 in the point standings following his third place at Milwaukee on Saturday.
Bernard said Michigan International Speedway and Pocono were possibilities, although the latter is more of a hope for 2013. Portland has also expressed interest in bringing Indy cars back to its road course in August.
BARFIELD APOLOGIZES
IndyCar chief steward Beaux Barfield said he made a big mistake in penalizing Scott Dixon for jumping a re-start that turned out to be a false start.
Because of a 10-spot penalty of an unauthorized engine change, Dixon started 21st but had charged all the way to third by Lap 123 before being victimized.
There was an aborted restart when leader Helio Castroneves jumped the gun and Dixon overtook a slow-starting E.J. Viso at the same time. The two-time IndyCar champion never improved his place on the successful restart by Race Control made the call because it was looking at the wrong replay.
``The clock was 36 seconds off but synched up perfectly for the aborted restart and that’s what we saw,’’ said Barfield. ``It was more technical than human error but it was my fault, I’ll take the blame.’’
Barfield met with owner Chip Ganassi, team manager Mike Hull and Dixon following the race and explained what happened.
``Scott, Chip and Mike were incredibly understanding in our 10-minute talk and I would have totally understood if they beat me up,’’ said Barfield, whose changes in procedure have made the starts and restarts extra exciting this season.
``It doesn’t help what happened but I promised them it would never happen again.’’
Dixon, who entered Milwaukee in second place 36 points behind leader Will Power, rallied to finish 11th and gain one point on Power (in 12th) but dropped to third behind Hinchcliffe.
Robin Miller brings 40 years of experience to his role as SPEED.com's senior open-wheel reporter, and serves as a frequent contributor to SPEED Center and Wind Tunnel with Dave Despain.
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