The car owners of the Indy Racing League are united in their belief that Tony George needs to remain in charge at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
In the wake of SPEEDtv.com's story that Tony George was removed as the head of IMS by his sisters, the IndyCar paddock has signed a statement of solidarity in support of the IRL founder. (LAT) ยป More Photos
Four days after a story broke on SPEEDtv.com that George's three sisters had successfully led a vote in a board of directors meeting to take away the 20-year CEO's power, the owners responded by signing statement of solidarity Saturday that's also expected to be presented to Mari Hulman George, chairman of the board at IMS and Tony's mother.
Statement from IndyCar Series Team Owners: During the past week there have been many rumors and innuendos about our CEO Tony George. We, the IndyCar team owners, want to express our full support to Tony. As an innovator and leader of our sport, he continually strives to help and improve IndyCar racing, and for that we are exceptionally grateful.
AJ Foyt Racing
Andretti Green Racing
Dale Coyne Racing
Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
HVM Racing
KV Racing Technology
Luczo Dragon Racing
Newman Haas Lanigan
Panther Racing
Target Chip Ganassi Racing
Team 3G
Team Penske
"We feel for Tony, it's been a tough week for him, and he's our ambassador and we need him in there," said one owner. George has used the Speedway to finance the Indy Racing League since its inception in 1996. "This is a scary time for everybody right now with this economy," declared another owner. "We all need to stick together on this deal."
KANAAN HURTING
It only hurts when he laughs, or breathes, or moves or turns left. That's the injury status of Tony Kanaan, who survived a 175G impact during last weekend's 93rd Indianapolis 500 but came away with a bruised and battered right side of his body.
"Everything is bothering me and it feels like somebody is kicking me in the side every time I go into the corner and I've only got to do it for 225 laps," he said with a chuckle after qualifying third fastest in the 20-car field. "It turns out I didn't break any ribs but I have broken seven ribs before and it feels pretty similar."
The Milwaukee Miles is a flat, one-mile oval that puts a lot of pressure on the driver's rightside when negotiating a corner. "A road course would be better for me because there's some time to rest the right side but the best case scenario would be a super speedway," he continued.
Running third, something broke on the right rear and his 7-Eleven Special made a hard right turn into the backstretch wall at 225 mph. With the rightside sheared off and no brakes, T.K. sailed into Turn 3 at 195 mph and pounded the safer barrier at a wicked angle.
"That's the hardest crash I've ever been in," he said. "My car is in so many pieces the crew can't figure out what broke."
But nobody in motorsports is in better physical condition than the 33-year-old Brazilian and that may be the only reason he's running Sunday.
"I wouldn't do anything to jeopardize my team or myself but if you look at me, you think I'm not going to make it," he said. My mom called me today and told me to "suck it up and go' so that's what I intend to do.
"The pain isn't going to go away but I can deal with it."
CASTRONEVES CRASHES
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The fairytale he's been living for the past five weeks came to a crashing for Helio Castroneves. Exiting Turn 2 on his first qualifying lap, the three-time Indy 500 winner slapped the outside wall, knocked off the rear wing and flattened his right rear tire. So a week after starting from the pole at Indianapolis, he'll line up last in the 20-car field Sunday at State Fair Park.
"Sometimes you just have to go for it and that's what I was doing," he admitted. "It just snapped a little bit and I thought I had it saved but it got away.
"The car doesn't seem to be too badly damaged and we know we have good cars because Ryan (Briscoe) is on the pole."
Despite missing the season opener while he battled the IRS in federal court and Miami, Castroneves ranks second in the point standings -- only five behind Dario Franchitti.
"It's going to be tough coming from the back at this place but if we have good pit stops and strategy, which we always do, we can still have a good day. We're in a good spot in the championship and we can't be giving anything away."
TRACY STRUGGLES
Paul Tracy's debut with A.J. Foyt was exciting, just not very fast. Subbing for the injured Vitor Meira in the ABC Supply Special, Tracy wound up four seconds off the pole pace in 16th spot for the four-time Indy winner.
"We're a lot better than when we unloaded," said the 40-year-old veteran. "We changed the car from front to back after practice so I went into the first lap of qualifying a little blind but it felt a bunch better.
"I kinda took it easy because I didn't want to crash. We've got our work cut out for us tomorrow but we're going the right direction."
NOTES & QUOTES
Graham Rahal is on the outside of the front row for the second straight year here but 2008 pole sitter Marco Andretti starts way back in 13th position. "It's always good to start up front but it doesn't do you any good if you don't have a strong enough car to keep you up there," said Andretti. "I couldn't stay on the lead lap last year so we focused on our race setup.".......Mario Moraes, who qualified seventh at Indy, continued to be quick on ovals as he posted the fifth fastest time in his Votorantim Special for KV Racing......Mario Romancini captured his first ever Indy Lights pole -- edging Americans J.R. Hildebrand and Jonathan Summerton.
The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEEDtv.com, SPEED, FOX, or NewsCorp.
Robin Miller became an Indy-car junkie in late 1950s and stooged for his hero, Jim Hurtubise, at the 1968 Indy 500. He went on to work as a vent man and board man on Indy pit crews from 1971-77. Miller bought a Formula Ford from Andy Granatelli in 1972 and raced it in SCCA until 1974 when he purchased a midget from Gary Bettenhausen, competing in the USAC midget series from 1975-82.
Robin flunked out of Ball State College in 1968 and began working at The Indianapolis Star sports department in 1969, covered motorsports there from 1969-2000.
In addition to his broadcast work. Miller's also covered IndyCar racing for Autoweek, Autosport, Car & Driver and On Track magazines over the past 35 years.
