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IndyCar
INDYCAR: Voices Of SPEED
Read the latest columns from 2009 IndyCar champion Dario Franchitti, Ryan Briscoe, Indy Lights champion JR Hildebrand, Ganassi's Mike Hull and Justin Wilson.
SPEED Staff  |  Posted October 24, 2009   Charlotte, NC
SPEEDtv.com's Voices of SPEED columnists had an amazing year in both the IndyCar and Indy Light Series. Franchitti, Briscoe and Wilson accounted for 9 wins, with the title going to Franchitti, while Hildebrand took the Lights honors. (LAT)
Enjoy the latest columns from 2009 IndyCar Series champion Dario Franchitti, title contender Ryan Briscoe, Indy Lights champion JR Hildebrand, Ganassi's Mike Hull and Watkins Glen winner Justin Wilson.

FRANCHITTI: An Amazing Year

It’s amazing to think how much can change in one year. I've come back to IndyCar, I’m racing in a unified series and I’m racing with the best team in the paddock and this is what I really enjoy doing. If I had become successful in stock cars that would have been great but I still get a lot more thrill from driving an IndyCar than anything else that I've driven. There’s not a lot to be upset about, is there?

We got to the last pit stop and we knew we could make it to the end. We knew we could make it while Ryan and Dixie needed at least one more stop. I did use the overtake button once on the final stint and got yelled at for it! My engineers gave me a bit of a hard time about that. I heard “Don't touch the overtake again!” on the radio and I said, “Okay. 10-4. Sorry…”

After the race, Scott and Ryan and I were at the podium marveling that there weren’t any yellows, because our cars were obviously handling better than the majority and I know that I caught about four or five massive moments during the day...the thing was just snapping on me. So I can't speak for anybody else, but every car I came near all day was dancing and sliding around the track so it was a great job by everybody not to stick it in the fence!

http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/franchitti-an-amazing-year

HILDEBRAND: No Rest For The Weary

This can often be sort of a strange time of year as a driver, because the stress and tension that builds up during a season is suddenly relieved, but a whole new sense of stress and tension starts to set in about what’s going to happen for the next year. It’s funny to think about, but, especially when you’re on your way up the ladder, it’s basically like losing your job at the end of every year no matter how well you performed!

There is one very key element involved in making the way up the auto-racing ladder, especially to the proverbial major leagues. It rhymes with “funny” and “honey,” can be represented in a single character by pressing Shift-4 on your keyboard, and is the name of Track Six on Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon album. Yes that’s right, Money.

It adds a whole new aspect to the dilemma of making plans down the road because, especially at this step on the ladder – trying to make that jump from Triple-A to “The Bigs” – it’s more important and a bigger factor than ever before! It’s a part of racing that is impossible to do without, and in some ways, the cost of racing is partially responsible for why it’s such an interesting and exciting sport.

http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/hildebrand-no-rest-for-the-weary

WILSON: Looking Back At 2009; Roll On 2010!

If you’d asked me at the start of the year what my expectations honestly were I’d have struggled to give a clear answer. Inevitably when you join a new team you’re finding your feet. I knew that in joining Dale Coyne Racing I was coming to one of the one car teams in the paddock, and a one car team, so it’s fair to say that I had realistic goals. The big attraction for me at the start of the year was Dale and Gail’s infectious enthusiasm and the fact that they are true racers at heart.

Knowing that Bill Pappas was on board was also a big attraction and as the year has gone on Dale has grown the team carefully by bringing across key people like Mitch Davis and Glen Knabenshue who have worked with the guys at the track and the shop to make a visible difference to our performance.

After the good test at Homestead we had high hopes for the last race, but got caught out by the change in temperature between the test and race weekend. After a few false starts we finally found a set-up close to what was needed in time for the race, but it was a very powerful change and we needed to make some adjustments during the race to get the balance right. By the final stint I felt I was able to move forward and it was good to get a top-10 result in the race and take 9th in the championship.

http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/wilson-looking-back-at-2009-roll-on-2010

HULL: Delivering A Championship

I don’t know how you rationally explain total exhilaration with massive disappointment on the same day within the same team!

If we had a two-seater IndyCar for Scott and Dario, maybe the stress levels would have been lower. But there’s one thing that can’t be denied: As one, they have elevated us to a higher performance level.

Dixon and Briscoe waged a gladiator’s race that set a pace without yellows that may not happen again on an oval, while Dario maintained a quick pace while on an alternative fuel strategy that through his three stops, gained him twelve additional on-track laps. That’s incredible. The fuel numbers were that he was at least three-tenths of a mile per gallon better per lap for two hundred laps. It was textbook.

A friend asked me how we’re going to top the season we just had when 2010 rolls around, and I don't know the answer to that yet, because the definition of improvement would be to improve your record. Ten wins and a championship is definitely a milestone for Target Chip Ganassi Racing when you have the likes of Penske, Newman/Haas/Lanigan, AGR and other top teams that are trying to stop you. No one here thinks it will get any easier to match the same record next year.

http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/hull-delivering-a-championship

BRISCOE: Almost There

As you know, the Championship battle came down to me, Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti – I came into the weekend eight points behind Dixon and his teammate, Dario, was just five points behind. We all knew it would be a “winner take all” scenario out there – I knew if I didn’t win the race, one of the Ganassi guys would. So we headed to Homestead with the goal of winning the race for sure – there was no playing it safe at that point.

As the race came to a close, I was happy with where I was. I had led the most laps and definitely outdueled Dixon. I had accomplished my goal and put myself in a position to win it at the end.

Unfortunately, as it turned out, I had to come in late in the race for a splash of fuel.
Scott had to come in as well – however, Dario did not need to come in. He’d been saving fuel and could make it to the end. His strategy played out for him as he sat back and watched Scott and I battle to lead the most laps and he ended up taking the win and the Championship.

It was definitely a bit frustrating to lose it at the end that way after I’d run such a strong race. I wish the race was a bit longer so that we could all have fought it out until the end and not have fuel strategy come into play.

http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/briscoe-almost-there
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