WAKE ME WHEN IT'S OVER

Saturday night's green flag for the Peak Indy 300 didn't fly until 9:06 local time, which is 10:06 in the eastern time zone.

The silly-late start to the race and cold temperatures meant the grandstands were at most 1/3rd full. (LAT)

Which is moronic on every level.

It's inconvenient for the teams, impossible for newspaper deadlines and inexcusable for the fans.

VERSUS told IRL officials it wanted to use that time slot because World Extreme Cage fighting was a good lead-in. Somebody else suggested it was a good idea because the race would actually begin and end with the lights on.

Well, the lights were certainly OFF for whomever gave this ridiculous idea the green light.

First off, the thinking about IndyCar scheduling needs a total overhaul.

Instead of starting races at whatever time suits television, it's way past time to put the paying customers' first. Cater to the folks who take the time and spend the money to drive to your event. They should count a helluva lot more than your paltry TV audience on VERSUS.

Indy car races need to start between 1-2 pm because that's when it makes the most sense. It gives people a chance to come to the race and still get home at a reasonable time.

Starting races at 4 p.m. in Milwaukee two years ago pretty much guaranteed nobody from Chicago would be making the trip. And even most fans in Chicago took a pass on a 9:06 p.m. start in Joliet because by the time you got out of the parking lot it was going on 1 a.m. Edmonton didn't start until almost 4 o'clock local time but thankfully it's not hockey season so the locals had no place to go.

The fact the grandstand at ChicagoLand was a third full is a tribute to the grit of those since it was almost as chilly (50 degrees) as it was late.

But I'm sure those TV ratings will justify everything.

MORE NOTES & QUOTES

Andrew Ranger's NASCAR debut in Sunday's Nationwide enduro at Montreal was nothing short of spectacular. Starting fifth, he grabbed the lead before finishing third (although ESPN's announcing team hardly mentioned him). Ranger drove Champ Cars in 2005 and 2006 (on the podium at age 19) before being abandoned. If IndyCar is going to keep racing in Canada, it needs this kid. Alex Tagliani, who was running seventh at Montreal before getting spun out late, has officially announced his new IndyCar effort -- FAZZT Racing. Rob Edwards, who spent 16 years with Derrick Walker, will be team manager, Andre Azzi is chief executive officer and Jim Freudenberg of the Rubicon Sports Agency is chief operating officer. They are purchasing the assets of Roth Racing with the help of Alexandre Dufresne, owner of Spiegel Sohmer Inc.

"It's unbelievable. It feels great. Actually, it feels just like winning as a driver." So said ex-CART/IRL shoe Bryan Herta, following his Indy Lights team's first victory on Saturday. "I'm so excited about Daniel (Herrington) getting his first win and getting him in victory lane. The way it worked, it was exactly how our program is set up between Vision Racing and BHA (Bryan Herta Autosport), a technical partnership working together."

J.R. Hildebrand became the first American to win the Lights title since Anthony Foyt IV in 2002. The talented Californian is appropriately nicknamed Captain America and is hopeful there could be a place for him on Michael Andretti's IRL team.

Finally, what's worse than three hours of Rusty Wallace talking about stock car racing? Four hours.

~Robin

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.