A MISTAKE BY THE LAKE

That's what it will be if IndyCar returns to Cleveland in 2010 AS AN OVAL!

Cleveland could return...as an oval? (LAT)

From 1982-2007, CART staged some of the best open wheel racing ever at Burke Lakefront Airport's road course. It was wide, bumpy and fast -- which made for mistakes and overtaking on almost every lap. It had some oval-track characteristics and the paying customers could see the whole track.

The scuttlebutt is that IndyCar has told Cleveland promoter Mike Lanigan he could have a race again next year but maybe it needed to be an oval. Lanigan declined to discuss it last weekend at Kansas City.

Maybe some IndyCar brass never saw a race at Cleveland so here's a little tip: DON'T BE IDIOTIC. This was one of the most entertaining tracks Indy cars ever ran on. It worked. You shut down the airport, put up a few barriers and turned 'em loose. There were big crowds and they would come back with unification, the right prices and promotion.

Turning Cleveland into an oval would be as dumb as opening practice for the Indianapolis 500 on say, a Wednesday.

ONE MORE THOUGHT

Ryan Briscoe got hosed Sunday because Dario Franchitti crashed just as he was heading for the pits. He'd already committed but supposedly missed the official entrance line by about a second when the yellow flag waved.

Leading at that time, Briscoe motors back out, loses three spots and the race win in the process. Now, unlike the old days when you could dive into the pits as soon as the caution light flashed on, the pits are always closed so when somebody gets a bad break like Briscoe did, why not simply let him rejoin the field at the front? It's all bunched up so he's got no advantage.

Either that or whenever a driver slows and pulls down on the backstretch and clearly is committed to pitting, then he or she is allowed to make the stop.

~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.

The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEED.com, FOX, NewsCorp, or SPEED