PRUETT: Triple Stint, 5.10

IndyCar

PRUETT: Triple Stint, 5.10

Randy Bernard goes back to school, Crusher brings an early V8 Christmas, Pagenaud is ready for another shot at open-wheel, Ganassi's Bermuda Triangle podium, and more.

Marshall Pruett | Posted May 10, 2010 Hayward, CA

Scott Pruett hopes he can repeat his 1997 win at Surfer's Paradise when he returns to race in the Gold Coast 600 V8 Supercar event this October. (LAT)

With a packed calendar of racing over the past month, let’s catch up on a variety of topics that takes us from Alabama to Australia.

Back to School for Bernard

I couldn’t help but smile when new IZOD IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard mentioned he was getting the fastest education in the world. At first, I thought he was referring to the on-the-job training that comes with jumping in at the deep end to run the IndyCar Series, but he was actually talking about the extracurricular activities that have occupied his evenings over the past six weeks.

Welcome to the School of Indy, taught by its Dean, IMS historian Donald Davidson.

Thanks to Donald Davidson, Randy Bernard is becoming an authority on the history of IndyCar racing. (LAT)

“Everyone kept telling me about the incredible history of the Speedway and all the different forms of IndyCar racing we’ve had since it was created, and I realized there was no way I’d learn everything I needed to know on my own, or at least in a reasonable amount of time. I wanted to spend at least an hour, two hours a week at the museum on my own, but my staff told me about [Davidson’s] class and I said, ‘That sounds really interesting!’ So I signed up for it and it’s every Tuesday night at seven o'clock. I found I hadn't taken that many notes since I was in ninth grade! I mean, wow, that guy is a walking encyclopedia.”

Bernard says his last stint of higher education ended with college in 1989, but the lessons Donaldson has for the Indy classes are a lot more fun than anything he remembers from his youth.

“It’s a blast. It typically ends up being 2 ½, 3 hours, and there's probably 90 to 100 people in it. I would have never guessed. I don’t mind putting in the time to learn it all; with so many people signing up that tells you right there how important it is to everyone.”

Davidson’s highest-profile student says he makes sure not to disrupt the good professor’s class. Apparently, it isn’t a common occurrence to have the current IndyCar CEO on the class roster…

“I kind of wait, walk in about five minutes after the start and sit in the back. Not that I care if anybody knows I'm there, and I don’t think anyone there cares I’m there, but I just want to be respectful to his class.”

Beyond his own desire to learn about a sport that was foreign to him prior to joining the series, the interest shown by his classmates has given Bernard a new appreciation for meaning of IndyCar racing to its fans.

“What amazed me were the people in this class. You could see the passion, the questions they have. These classes help you to understand just how alive the sport is for fans of all ages.”

With the ICONIC panel currently debating the specification of the next generation IndyCar, Bernard said there was one aspect of Davidson’s lessons he’s been zeroing in on.

“Engines! It's really interesting because he can talk a lot about engines and I want to hear everything about them. The different kinds, what worked, what didn’t and all of that; it’s like a separate lesson all by itself.”

Bernard has enjoyed his Indy education so much he says he’ll look to enroll in future classes to take in more of the 100-plus years of history. Davidson, known for retaining the smallest and most obscure historical facts, left Bernard tickled with one particular item.

“Some of the stats he comes up with… did you know there were 3,000 hitching posts at for horses at Indy in 1909? And you didn't know my world of bull riding had anything to do with racing, now did you?...”

Santa’s Superstar Supercar Super Bowl

OK, I’m downright giddy. I’m like a kid who learned Christmas was just moved to October, and not only does the holiday come two months earlier, Santa Claus finally listened to my wishes.

Crusher, left, visits with Team Penske's Ryan Briscoe on the grid prior to the start of the 2009 Indy 500. There are few drivers from Down Under who Crusher hasn't helped or influence in some form. (LAT)

In this case, Santa Claus is none other than Australia's Brett Murray, better known as "Crusher," the PR ace-turned-race promoter.

While Crusher said he didn’t receive my wish list that asked him to find a way for the world’s finest open-wheel and sportscar drivers to participate in the Australian V8 Supercar series, that’s just what he’s gone and done. Enter the Gold Coast 600.

With the void left by IndyCar racing in Australia, the traditional Surfer's Paradise IndyCar event -- one that dated back to 1991 where John Andretti won on his debut for Jim Hall's team -- morphed into something altogether different for 2009.

With the recently deceased A1GP series meant to take IndyCar’s place last year, fans were left without the open-wheel portion of the event once A1GP met its demise, leaving the V8 Supercars to take top billing.

Move the clock forward to last month at the Long Beach Grand Prix, and thanks to Crusher, the Gold Coast 600, scheduled for October 22-24, was announced with the same V8s playing as the headliner once again, only now it will happen with a huge assortment of guest co-drivers from the worlds of open-wheel and sportscar racing.

Thanks again, Santa.

If the Gold Coast 600 sounds a bit like the former International Race of Champions (IROC) series, it does, yet beneath the skin, it’s actually nothing like it. I grew up watching the IROC series in its various iterations, and more often than not, it failed to reward the varied skills of its drivers.

(I'll admit that watching Martin Brundle duke it out with Dale Earnhardt Sr. in the 1990 IROC series was amazing, as was seeing SPEED's Dorsey Schroeder endure his wild flip at Talladega in 1991, but the IROC was usually overloaded with NASCAR drivers...and run on ovals...where to no one's surprise...the NASCAR drivers tended to win... Watching IndyCar and prototype drivers go around in a circle with the throttle pinned was a horrible waste of their potential. IROC's earliest form, where road courses served as the proving ground for talent, seems to be where the Gold Coast 600 has drawn its inspiration. Good on them. And if you get the chance to meet Dorsey, ask him to share his account the IROC flip. It's one of the funniest stories I've ever heard.)

Like IROC, the more recent Race of Champions has failed to capture my imagination for the similar reasons: great concept; interesting venues, but a heavily flawed format.

I've never had an ounce of interest to fly to the UK or to Beijing to watch Michael Schumacher battle Tom Kristensen with dune buggies inside of a stadium. True, it's amusing to watch Jenson Button try and adapt to a rally car, or to see how Mirko Hirvonen gets on in a KTM X-Bow, but that's more of a circus environment than serious racing.

Give me the world's best going at it in proper cars on a challenging circuit, and it doesn't need to be any more complicated than that. Put them in my favorite cars on the planet (which Crusher has done), and it's almost too much to handle. I'll need to keep a paddles and a defibrillator nearby.

The list of drivers is stout -- Sebastien Bourdais, Ryan Briscoe, Scott Dixon, Dario Franchitti, Will Power and Alex Tagliani represent ChampCar and IndyCar. The ALMS will have David Brabham, Patrick Long and Mika Salo, while GRAND-AM has Scott Pruett. F1 and the European sportscar community are also well represented with Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Jacques Villeneuve, Fabrizio Giovanardi, Alain Menu, Tiago Monteiro, Gianni Morbidelli, Yvan Muller and Andy Priaulx heading Down Under.

Of Scott Pruett's many fond memories of racing at Surfer's Paradise, winning the 1997 event ranks as number one. A chance to race there again behind the wheel of a V8 Supercar was too much for the 50-year-old to resist. (LAT)

And the only obvious omission from the inaugural driver's list? Paul Tracy.

(Think about it. Bourdais...Tracy... and both with nothing to lose... They'd need to fit SeaBass' car with parachutes…by the time Tracy got done with him the Frenchman would be splashing down in the Pacific Ocean like Apollo 11.)

Crusher said the list of drivers who wanted to participate this October was far greater than he could accommodate -- a good problem to have -- and some will have the first shot at the 2011 event.

“We could have had 40 guest drivers in the field if it was possible – one of the biggest problems I had in Long Beach was trying to accommodate everybody who wanted to be involved. Helio Castroneves, Tony Kanaan, Dan Wheldon, Marino Franchitti, Simon Pagenaud, Adrian Fernandez, Ryan Hunter-Reay… Guys like Tom Kristensen and Allan McNish have also been linked to the event – and are also possible starters for 2011. The demand outweighs our ability to supply cars at the moment, and that’s a great sign.”

I spoke with three of the drivers headed for the 600 – Dario Franchitti, Ryan Briscoe and Scott Pruett – and all three had the same ‘Christmas in October’ feeling about the event.

“Well, anyway to get down to Australia is something I’d jump at in a heartbeat,” said Pruett, winner of the 1997 Surfer’s Paradise CART race. “I love that track, and have had a lot of success down there, and then to be part of the event they’re putting together this year, I think it's going to be incredible. Absolutely incredible. Crusher started talking to me quite a while ago about it – maybe just after the Rolex 24 – and I cut him off in mid-sentence…‘I’m in…I’m in!’”

Briscoe said he’s not only looking forward to this year’s race on his home soil, he’s also hoping it becomes a tradition in the same vein as the IndyCar event that spanned nearly two decades.

“It's going to be the first one of its kind and I really hope it develops into something like the open-wheel events we had. But you know, it's kind of just come out of the blue. All of the sudden we have all these drivers going down there and it's just an amazing line up. The track, the event, is huge. You couldn't do it at a better place. And the cars and the series down there is very strong. I think it's going to be absolutely spectacular.”

For Franchitti, an early inquiry from Crusher was met with a did you really think I was going to turn this down? response.

“I guess a couple of days before they were going in to talk with the Queensland government Crusher said, ‘Look, if we came up with this concept would you be interested?’ And I was like, ‘Uh, yeah…I’d be mental if I didn’t.’ When you get offered these things, the first thing you got to do is check with your team. Obviously Scott Dixon and I are driving for Target Chip Ganassi Racing and Scott Pruett is driving as well, so we had to check with the team if it was going to be okay, and they were cool with that. But my initial reaction was just: absolutely. Okay, it's a modified track, a slightly shorter street course than what we’ve had before, but it’s a track that I love, a place that I love. And I get to drive a V8 Supercar, which is something I've wanted to do a long, long time. The fact that I get to team up with my buddy James Courtney too, it’s just mega…”

Courtney, the former F1 test driver, current V8 Supercar star, winner of both of the most recent V8 races, and close friend to the Franchitti brothers, says he expects the guest drivers to help grow the event.

“I think the entire concept is great. We certainly have encouraged some great names to join us on the Gold Coast and there were plenty of others who were keen for a ride, but missed out. I think this year’s event will provide a fantastic foundation for some great events in the future. I know Dario is jumping out of his skin to get down here and drive a V8 Supercar with our Jim Beam team and I cannot wait to see him behind the wheel.
We have been friends for a long time and to be able to head to Surfers Paradise as part of the same V8 Supercar team is going to be one of the personal highlights of our careers.”

Ryan Briscoe spent more time wearing team clothes than his firesuit on his first crack at racing a V8 Supercar. The Aussie expects to log some proper miles at the Bathurst 1000 before competing in the Gold Coast 600. (LAT)

Part of the brilliance behind most of Crusher’s picks comes from the multi-dimensional skills of each driver. Whether it’s Monteiro’s experience in F1, ChampCar and WTCC, or Pruett’s mile-long list of series – Trans-Am, IMSA GTO and GTP, CART, NASCAR and GRAND-AM – every one of the guest drivers has a diverse driving background to draw from.

While Pruett is by far the most experienced when it comes to driving big V8-powered GT cars (he’s even raced in the V8 Supercar series once before), he says mastering the Ford or Holden mounts on such short notice won’t be an easy task for any of his fellow invitees.

“I went down and did Bathurst and really didn't get a very good shot because I just showed up for the race and here you are trying to learn track, trying to learn a car, sitting on the opposite side, shifting with the opposite hand. And it made it incredibly tough. Everyone will get down to business quickly, but they aren’t the kind of cars that just anybody can drive quickly. They demand your respect.”

Although Briscoe is plenty familiar with sitting and shifting from the right side of the car, he’s going to get ahead of the learning curve by taking in the V8 race held two weeks before Gold Coast.

“My experience in those cars is I did basically one race. I went to the Bathurst 1000 in ’06 but only got in a handful of laps in practice. For Australia, that’s the biggest event. My co-driver did most of it in qualifying the car and then got into an accident during the first stint of the race. I never actually took part in the race! But I'll be hopefully going to Bathurst this year which is two weeks before the Gold Coast race. I think it's going to be difficult to get down there and test beforehand. Besides, with our IndyCar calendar and their test ban rules throughout the summer here, it's almost impossible to get down and do anything but I'm hoping that at Bathurst I’ll certainly get a lot of track time there. Hopefully I'll be feeling pretty comfortable in the car by the time we get to Surfers.”

Even with limited time in the cars, Briscoe says he was amazed at how much of his open-wheel experience he had to ignore in order to get the V8s to produce a fast lap time.

“They're not easy to drive, that's for sure. Especially for guys coming from open-wheel racing, like most of us will be, the braking I’ve always found is the hardest because you really have just got to brake a lot earlier. And you really have got to work with weight transfer in a touring car because if you just start to pick up the throttle too early in the corner then you’re just off-balance the whole time and you end up understeering off and getting a ton of wheel spin and it's just a mess!

“So the biggest thing I found just to go fast in the V8 Supercars was to drive it with a lot of patience. And you got to re-set your mind-set. It might not be as big a deal for the sportscar guys, but coming from an open-wheel, you really just have to jump in that thing and be ready to learn everything from scratch.”

Franchitti says Crusher has mentioned a special test for the guest drivers to be held just prior to the event, but like Pruett, he doesn’t expect to be at one with the car when practice starts for the Gold Coast 600.

“I think there's a test they’re going to organize at Queensland Raceway, where I've been before for a Honda function years ago. So that will be our chance to get acclimatized to it. It would be lovely to have some more laps but I don't see how that's going to be possible.”

The Scot also said he’ll be leaning on his mate Courtney for all of the tips and tricks he’ll need to have their Ford Falcon FG dancing throughout Surfer’s street circuit.

“I haven't really spoken to J.C. about it just yet, but when it gets closer to the time I'll be definitely picking his brain on it. It's going to be a lot different than anything I've driven recently. It's probably somewhere between a DTM car and a Nationwide car, I guess. That’s probably I guess the closest thing. It’s right-hand drive, as well, which is fine for me because I grew up driving on that side of the car so that will hopefully be an advantage when it comes to skimming the walls at Surfers.”

For Pruett, he plans to use one of his secret weapons to prepare for the event – sim racing.

“I’ll be spending time on the simulator racing system at Pabst Racing at Sears Point and we’re going to put the shifter on the other side. Tom [Pabst] has that track modeled and I’ll definitely be logging a lot of miles driving the car.”

Adapting to driving on the right and shifting with one's left hand will be a challenge for some of the guest drivers. Pruett will spend time on a simulator to shorten the learning curve. (LAT)

Like every racing series, the V8’s have their share of dominant teams, a mix of mid-pack efforts, and those who tend to prop of the rear of the grid. For a fierce competitor like Pruett – someone who is on a three-race winning streak in GRAND-AM at the age of 50 – he wants to be sure the team he’s assigned to for the Gold Coast 600 has a chance of winning.

Partnered with the new Lucas Dumbrell Racing team – one that uses Holden Racing Team-sourced Holden Commodore VEs, the veteran American driver will certainly be envious of the factory teams many of the other drivers will be joining.

“The challenge that I’ve talked with Crusher about is how do you decide where you put the drivers with which team? Because obviously if you did that same thing in the GRAND-AM series, guys would want to be with our TELMEX Ganassi team and GAINSCO team first and then you got your second group and your third group and your fourth group. So I think that's going to be one of the most difficult challenges for the Australian group because, right or wrong, some guys are going to end up with the absolute best teams and some guys aren’t.

There is some risk involved with drafting in a host of guest drivers for a round of the 2010 V8 championship. For those drivers in the thick of a battle for the title, one mistake by one of the open-wheel or sportscar drivers could have major ramifications.

“That's going to be a big piece of it as well, and I know this might look like a fun weekend of ‘vacation racing’ to some, but let me tell you, every one of us is treating this like an extra round in our respective championships where you have to earn maximum points. We all want to win, and no one will give up easily. That’s just what you’d expect, right? That’s what the fans will expect, too.”

Franchitti agreed, and said that just because they will be racing against many of their most bitter rivals outside of their normal setting, he expects all of the guest drivers to hold themselves in check.

Hopefully.

“Dixie’s already made his list of people he wants to get! All kidding aside, if it was just a one-off and it was just me and the car, I'd be like, yeah, I would definitely want to be introducing some people to the Australian concrete there. But the fact that I'll be in there with J.C., I wouldn't want to; you don't want to jeopardize what he's doing. And hopefully he's still in contention for the championship at that point. So, yeah, it's going to be fun but it's serious too.”

James Courtney, receiving a kiss from his wife after winning both rounds of the most recent V8 event, will welcome his close pal Dario Franchitti to his Jim Beam Ford Falcon for the Gold Coast weekend. (LAT)

Once the checkered flag falls on the Gold Coast 600 event, everyone acknowledged they can’t wait to indulge in the other draw to the weekend: The nightlife.

“We’ll definitely need a lot of aspirin for the morning after the race,” Briscoe said with a laugh.

“Well, we've had a few legendary nights down there at Surfers going all the way back to 1998 when Greg Moore and I and a bunch of us went out and made a lot of ‘friends’ there,” said Franchitti. “I’m looking forward to catching up with a lot of the guys. That's going to be good fun as well. Yeah, we definitely had a few legendary nights and I expect we’ll add a few more this year.”

With the race still almost half a year away, Pruett, Briscoe and Franchitti are already predicting big things for the inaugural Gold Coast 600.

“I think it's going to be a huge event,” said Briscoe. “It's just got so much tradition, it's been the ‘Indy weekend’ forever. I mean, in Australia, when everyone talks about Indy, they’re not thinking Indy 500, they’re talking about the Gold Coast. And it's probably still called Indy to most people that go there. Hopefully, without IndyCars it's still going to be a huge event and I'm sure with all the IndyCar drivers going it's really going to help make it such a big event like the one we grew up with.”

Franchitti says he’s confident the race will succeed, thanks to Santa Claus.

“It’s typical Crusher, he comes up with these great ideas. You know what I mean? He's really good at that. And any time we've ever been down there he’s really, really looked after us and we've become good friends over the years. He’ll make sure the event explodes. It's going to be a lot of fun.”

For Pruett, being a first-year invitee ranks right up with some of the greatest honors he’s received in the sport.

“When you get all these drivers together from the different major series and this whole collection of international guys, I think it's just going to be the ‘Who's who’ of racing. It's going to be incredible. And if you're on that list you’re going to be one of those special people. And if you're not on the list you want to be on the list!”

Primetime Pagenaud

I've barked a lot about the IZOD IndyCar Series needing more American drivers, but I don't mind making an exception when it comes to touting the need for Simon Pagenaud to land a quality ride. He’s been left to tear up tracks from Le Mans to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca behind the wheel of a sportscar, but I’m not sure how much longer it will be before he gets a second shot at open-wheel stardom.

At 25 years old, Simon Pagenaud's rise to the top of the sportscar ranks has the Frenchman ready to rejoin the open-wheel community where he showed so much promise as a rookie in 2007. (LAT)

Despite claiming the 2006 Atlantic title and joining Derrick Walker’s Team Australia outfit for his maiden ChampCar season 2007, the Frenchman looked as if he needed a second year on the ChampCar trail to fully mature as a top-tier driver. Compared to Will Power, his teammate at Team Australia who was in his third year of ChampCar racing, the likeable Pagenaud wasn't quite as polished as his Aussie counterpart.

With Power hitting his stride, taking pole and the win in the first race of 2007, as well as another win and four more poles on his way to fourth in the championship, Pagenaud's run to eighth looked less impressive than it actually was. Just one retirement from 14 races and eight top-6 finishes would make any Atlantic graduate happy, but with Graham Rahal (also a ChampCar rookie) taking fifth in the championship, it marked Pagenaud as a pilot who was a little bit more of a work-in-progress than was expected.

With ChampCar's unfortunate end, IndyCar opportunities for drivers like Pagenaud, Paul Tracy, Alex Tagliani and a host of other open-wheel stars dried up as the 2008 season got under way, but for Pagenaud, it was the best possible outcome.

With his open-wheel career stalled after just one season, he was thrown a lifeline by Gil de Ferran, who was starting his own American Le Mans team with Acura and wanted a fast and impressionable young teammate to cast in his own image. For Pagenaud, he gained the driver/mentor he'd always lacked. For de Ferran, he gained a smart, well-mannered young star on the rise who shared his love for the technical aspects of racing.

It's fair to say de Ferran saw a lot of himself in Pagenaud. Just as Jim Hall, Derrick Walker and Roger Penske had done for him, the Brazilian invested all of his wisdom and experience into his ChampCar refugee. After eighteen months of working together in the ALMS, and with a number of staggering drives that netted a collection of poles and wins, Pagenaud had to set off on his own in 2010 when de Ferran Motorsports shut down its sportscar program, and later failed to launch its own IndyCar effort.

For Pagenaud, hired to drive for 2009 ALMS LMP1 champions Highcroft Racing, putting all of the lessons learned from his time with de Ferran has been his primary focus. As if to say, 'See, I'm ready now,' he saved his best drive for Long Beach, right in front of the open-wheel paddock he once belonged to.

If there were any doubts left as to the readiness of the 25-year-old to take his place amongst the best IndyCar racers in North America, Long Beach should have silenced any critics that remain. His former boss agrees.

"In all my releases and interviews in the past, I’ve always said Simon is a guy who went with my team from having a lot of promise to fully-realizing that promise," said de Ferran. "He’s a hot property these days, regardless of the series. If any professional team throughout the world were making a short list of drivers to hire, they’d be foolish not to consider him."

Pagenaud says he realizes a singular performance like the one at Long Beach won’t land him a ride in open-wheel, but hopes IndyCar team owners might take notice of how far he’s come since ChampCar.

“Well, it was certainly one of my best drives, that's for sure. Why is it one of my best drives? Because I've been working so hard to get here. It's the accumulation of experiences I’ve had in the last few years. Every year I work to grow like this. In the mean time, I grew up especially in sportscars. Sportscars helped me to grow up as a driver and constantly developing my skills again and again, so I think it's a good thing for the future. Things went very quickly for me in open-wheel here. One year Atlantics and the next ChampCar. This is now my third year with a top sportscar program, so I have come so much farther as a professional driver.”

Looking at how ex-teammate Will Power has been doing in 2010, Pagenaud says he’s happy to see his friend achieving the results he deserves. And if the opportunity presents itself, he wouldn’t mind showing Power what the 2010 version of Simon Pagenaud is capable of.

Eight top-6 finishes in his lone season of ChampCar racing gave a glimpse as to what Pagenaud was capable of. (LAT)

“First, I want to say Will is impressive but, again, he's working really hard. He's such a hard worker. He deserves where he is and I'm glad he got the chance with Penske. Will is not lucky. Everything he gets is because of his talent and his work ethic. On my side, I'd like to join him some day and be able to battle with him for the wins; that would be fantastic. I think the two of us have come very far since our days at Team Australia. IndyCar has really been one of my dreams forever since I'm a kid. And I just need the right opportunity at the right time. I'm with a great team now and I certainly want to carry on with them and see what happens in the future. Wherever I am driving, I will give everything I have.”

The ChampCar-turned-sportscar ace says he’s kept his eye on the 2012 IndyCar discussions and debates, and hopes that whatever the series comes up with will have more technical freedom. Since his year driving the Panoz DP01 ChampCar, Pagenaud has gone on to build a set of development skills set that most IndyCar drivers have long forgotten about.

With so many of the current IZOD IndyCar pilots hailing from spec series – Atlantics, Indy Lights, GP2, etc – the art of developing different engines, suspensions, aerodynamics, electronics, and all other aspects of a racing car has all but died. But for the older generation of IndyCar drivers who raced during CART’s heyday in the 1990s, few still have the technical chops to hone and refine a racing car that doesn’t come pre-assembled.

Now in his third year with the highly innovative Acura/HPD ALMS program, Pagenaud has spent his time away from open-wheel helping to craft and perfect some of the most advanced racing machines on the planet. And as a factory Peugeot diesel driver, he’s also familiar with the full might of a manufacturer program and the outer limits of raw speed their Le Mans-winning machine has to offer.

Provided the 2012 IndyCar has a number of performance variables to exploit, the young Frenchman’s services could be in high demand.

“That is what I am hoping for. I think, in a way for me, ChampCar stopped and I couldn't go to IndyCar at the time with a good opportunity, so it was a great thing for my career because then I looked at sportscars and had a fantastic chance with Gil de Ferran and Acura. It was for me the time to polish my driving, but also to work with everybody as a team to improve the car, improve the tires, improve traction control, improve the engine; I got to work on pretty much every part of the car. So I grew up very much as a technical driver. I wouldn’t have been able to develop myself as well if I would have been in spec series.

“I think I was really lucky. Maybe this sounds crazy to an IndyCar driver, but for me, the education with a fast prototype is a lot more than what a driver can get with a spec car in open-wheel. For the future, if IndyCar is looking to go away from spec cars, indeed it could be really, really interesting for me because I've got all these tools with me now and would be a good asset for any team.”

"I certainly agree with Simon’s view on this," said de Ferran. "Even in lower formulas these days, everything is single-make. Even in my time in Formula Ford, we were doing chassis development work! Frankly, you only learn these things by trial and error and a high degree of awareness. Simon is right: these days many young drivers have not had an opportunity to develop those skills. I think those skills are always an asset, regardless. In general, I think it’s an important skill for a driver to be successful. That’s why you see these older IndyCar drivers doing so well!"

Pagenaud had a reputation in open-wheel for trying to drive around setup problems – something a lot of rookie drivers do. Immense self-belief is usually at play – they believe talent can overcome handling deficiencies, but it only takes a few meetings with the walls before a new strategy is adopted.

While Pagenaud was never known as a crasher – he finished 93 percent of his ChampCar races – his setup skills needed refining. Thanks to his 2008-2009 ALMS team boss and co-driver, that part of Pagenaud’s game was shored up immediately.

“Having Gil as a teammate, I realized you can develop the car do whatever you wanted to do. Before in ChampCar, maybe I tried too hard to force the car to do what I want. Gil helped me to learn how to tune the car -- the setup – to make it easier to perform better. This has been huge. Now it is easier to find a good setup quickly for me, and so then I can push like crazy without having to take a lot of risks. So this and the technical development side are my main focus now today, and I think it's a big part of my success at the moment.”

Pagenaud helped to send his mentor into retirement with a thrilling victory. Gil de Ferran, left, passed on all of the driving, technical and professional skills he had to his apprentice. Is Pagenaud ready to take those skills back to IndyCars? (LAT)

Pagenaud shared his Peugeot 908 this weekend with countryman (and 4-time ChampCar titlist) Sebastien Bourdais, where the younger Frenchman kept pace with his more famous teammate, helping to deliver the win for Peugeot at the 1000km Le Mans Series race at Spa. Pagenaud does not mind comparisons to Bourdais, but other than the two being French and fast, they could not be more different outside of the car.

It’s hard to pinpoint the exact reason why Bourdais has been ignored by the IndyCar community, but his prickly demeanor is likely a contributing factor. With equal amounts of speed and talent to offer, Pagenaud’s warm personality and easy going ways outside the car could make a transition back to open-wheel much easier for him.

It’s like he’s trying to debunk the old adage of “Nice guys finish last” singlehandedly, as Pagenaud continues to trounce his rivals while wearing a large smile. This approach was rewarded in the off-season when Pagenaud was a free agent for just a matter of days.

"In terms of his personality, Simon is a very intelligent guy and very mature for his age," said de Ferran. "He displays that maturity not only when he drives, but also with how he works with the personnel within a team and has a positive influence that way. He was important to us to help to form our team and to build the culture within the team. For all the time he was with us, he grew a tremendous amount in all those accounts."

With Pagenaud torching the LMP2 field quite often in 2008, and putting on scary-fast displays of dominance in LMP1 last year, his stock began to rise steadily as 2010 approached. After serving as the main thorn in the side of the eventual 2009 LMP1 champions, Patron Highcroft Racing, Pagenaud was the team’s first choice to replace the departing Scott Sharp. Partnered with David Brabham – also known for his devastating speed and highly developed technical skills – the two have elevated the team to new heights.

After being nominated to drive for a Peugeot 908 for the privateer Pescarolo Sport team at Le Mans in 2009, Pagenaud's career momentum continued as he was quickly snapped up by the factory squad for 2010. If his education in the light and nimble Acuras and the Panoz ChampCar helped him to develop his finesse, according to Pagenaud, piloting the Peugeot on the edge for hours on end is harder than anything he was asked to do in open-wheel.

“The first thing that comes to my mind is: bloody hell! The 908 it's so fast. It’s the same with the Acura. Last year with LMP1 Acura we had so much downforce you could just push into the corners as late as you wanted and just know it will make it, to be honest. It would always stick to the ground. The ChampCar you had to work differently. We had more mechanical grip but less downforce. But the 908, the Acura last year and also this year, are just very sophisticated on the aero and as a driver it's very enjoyable when you can go to through fast corners at such a high speed. The Peugeot, particularly, is always on edge.”

Topping the scales at approximately 400 pounds more than an IndyCar, but with more power and almost 1100 ft-lb of torque on tap, keeping the beastly twin-turbo diesel V12-powered machine dancing on its tip-toes is as scary as it gets, as Pagenaud continued.

Having mastered Peugeot's lethally fast twin-turbo diesel 908 and both of Acura's prototypes, Pagenaud has built a solid resume as one of the best development drivers in the business. (LAT)

“When I got to drive the Peugeot in [testing at] Sebring it gave some memories of ChampCar, but the cornering speeds was even higher with the 908, so it was just unbelievable! I just couldn't believe it. It pushes you to work on your physical condition because you really have to hold on to the steering wheel so hard. It is so severe. You are straining every muscle to keep pushing and turning and bracing yourself.

“It’s like a ChampCar in some ways, but with more weight and so much more engine and aero, the level of commitment in each corner is just crazy. More than I’ve ever experienced. I always smile when I get out of the car because to find the limit and stay there is very special. Le Mans with Peugeot will be like that. I say to people that driving Le Mans in the 908 is like the 24 Hours of IndyCar, really. You push every lap like qualifying and can make no mistakes. This is my favorite thing in the world.”

From Servia to Junqueira to Rice to Tracy, a lot of open-wheel veterans are without full-time drives in 2010. I’d love to see them land rides that are worthy of their skill and tenure in the sport, but I’m just as interested to see what a driver like Simon Pagenaud – an open-wheel rookie who never got the chance to mature and demonstrate his true potential – is capable of.

de Ferran says he'd also like to see what Pagenaud can do in the IZOD IndyCar Series.

"He’s clever. He’s only getting better. One of the key things he has is that he’s very self analytical. He’s also intelligent enough to know how to deal with the entire program – all of the stuff outside of driving the car. He’s very methodical. I can tell you from the time he was with us; he only progressed, up, up, up. He certianly has the tools, and if he continues with this attitude, the sky’s the limit. He will continue to become a better and better driver. That’s very unique for a driver of his caliber."

With some of IndyCar’s older generation nearing the end of their open-wheel careers, it might be worth taking a look at some of the promising young stars who were lost in the margins when ChampCar folded as their potential replacements.

Deafened by Dario

The life of an auto racing journalist is filled with an endless stream of memorable experiences. Not only do you get to travel and watch amazing cars, drivers and teams perform incredible feats, but from time to time, you experience things that are personal, private, and that get tucked into the mental 'I'll have to put this in a book one day' file.

Franchitti left lots of Firestone rubber (and my hearing) behind in Long Beach. !$@&*%... (Marshall Pruett)

My most recent episode came at Long Beach, thanks to one D. Franchitti. Both Target Chip Ganassi Racing cars locked up their brakes into Turn 9 within a few laps of each other during the Saturday morning practice session, forcing them to go straight, weave through the tire barriers, and spin their cars around behind the barriers before driving back out and returning to the track.

I was particularly impressed with Dario's adventure down the escape road. (Sorry, Dixie…yours only rated an 8. Dario earned a 10). I was standing at the back of the road capturing radar data and watched as the Scot locked up while coming straight at me...not only did he have the presence of mind to cut through the barriers with one hand, he took the time to flip his visor open and to throw me a quick wave while negotiating the tire bales...

He didn't have quite enough room to flick his Target car around on his own, so he threw his Dallara-Honda into reverse, backed up and turned right in the tight confines while using his mirrors, stopped, engaged first gear, matted the throttle, lit up his rear tires, blew my eardrums out as I stood about three feet away, but then had to stop and wait for the IndyCar safety team to come running with a jack to swing the back of his car around the last little bit before he took off in a hurry.

Between the one-handed weaving, the display of good manners to wave, being able to reverse his car without any help, and the near-perfect flick of the Target-mobile, it was an impressive sight to see. And it all took place in under a minute.

I’m proud to report that almost a month later, I can almost hear out of my right ear.

Are You SUUURE You Want to Step on the Podium?

Maybe we’ve been too spoiled with just how good the Rolex Daytona Prototype championship rivalries have been over the past few years.

Pruett and Rojas, middle, celebrate their Miami-Homestead win. The other guys on the podium have been lost to Ganassi's Bermuda Triangle podium. (LAT)

Looking back at the fierce, race-by-race battles between the TELMEX Ganassi entry of Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas, and the GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing “Red Dragon,” driven by Alex Gurney and Jon Fogarty, the DP category has been a two-horse contest since 2007.

Before that it was Ganassi and Wayne Taylor’s SunTrust effort locked in a championship duel, but something has felt strange about the 2010 championship: Where’s the Joe Frazier to slug it out with Ganassi’s Muhammad Ali?

The season opened at Daytona International Speedway with an amazing “you couldn’t script this even if you tried” win by the new Action Express Racing team. Pruett and Rojas had a fruitful points haul with a second-place finish, and the SunTrust team took sixth, but the rest of usual suspects had a Rolex 24 to forget.

The GAINSCO boys suffered and engine failure, leaving them 21st. Brumos Racing suffered a similar fate, finishing 26th. With the exception of part-time entrant Level 5 taking third and Krohn Racing having an impressive run to fourth, the only other championship hopeful, Michael Shank Racing, had to settle for fifth and seventh with its entries.

Round Two at Homestead-Miami race got our hopes up with a familiar-looking podium as Ganassi won, followed by Brumos Racing’s Darren Law and David Donohue and GAINSCO’s usual pairing. If the podium looked normal, Homestead-Miami set in motion an odd dynamic that has carried through each subsequent round.

Simply put, if you are a Daytona Prototype driver, you might want to re-think standing on the podium with Pruett and Rojas, as you are almost guaranteed to suffer a poor finish at the next race. It’s like the Bermuda Triangle for sportscar pilots.

While Action Express won Round One and Level 5 finished third, they fell off the map at Round Two, with AER finishing 33rd and Level 5 taking 11th and 19th.

At Round Three, held at Barber Motorsports Park, the Ganassi team won again. And where did their podium pals from Miami-Homestead finish? Brumos Racing didn’t suffer too badly, finishing fifth. They were lucky compared to the Red Dragon drivers who popped another motor, leaving them 29th out of 30 cars.

Pruett and Rojas were visited by MSR’s Ozz Negri and John Pew and Starworks’ Ryan Dalziel and Mike Forest on the Barber podium. How did they fare at the next (and most recent) round at Virginia International Raceway?

Dalziel and Forest, like Brumos at Barber, didn’t fall far from the podium, but their sixth was a far cry from their third in Alabama. And what about Negri and Pew? They had a GAINSCO-like race, taking 30th…dead last.

If my Bermuda Triangle podium theory works, VIR’s second- and third-place finishers, AIM Autosport’s Burt Frisselle and Mark Wilkins, and SunTrust’s Max Angelelli and Ricky Taylor, may as well skip Round Five at Lime Rock on May 31st.

It’s interesting to note that of all the drivers to stand on a podium with Pruett and Rojas in the Daytona Prototype category since the Rolex 24, only Rolex 24 winner Ryan Dalziel has made a return appearance. Everyone else has disappeared into the Triangle…

And what about the points table? It also looks nothing like the tight two-horse points battle we’re used to seeing. Pruett and Rojas lead AER/Starworks driver Dalziel, followed by the AIM Autosport’s Frisselle and Wilkins.

How about the Red Dragon drivers? 13th (Fogarty) and 25th (Gurney).

SunTrust Racing? T9 (Angelelli) and 13th (Taylor). Brumos’ Law and Donohue are tied for sixth.

What we’re left with is an altogether different DP title hunt than what we’ve come to expect. While Ganassi has been rock solid, few have been able to wage a consistent battle, and in the void left by GAINSCO and SunTrust, AIM, Brumos and Starworks have positioned themselves nicely as the championship moves into its second of three phases. But can those last three teams step up and box with Ganassi at every round? So far, they’ve only played the role of sparring partners for Pruett and Rojas.

I’m sure all of them would love to move up the ranks to become title contenders, and Scott Pruett thinks one team in particular might provide that challenge.

Pruett thinks the AIM Autosport team, using his former Riley chassis, could become their main protagonist in the remaining eight rounds. (LAT)

“I think the AIM car is probably one that I can see in the next few races really stepping up to the plate to be that contender. I really thought they did a great job at VIR. They did not race at Daytona but they came back at Round Two so they’re a little behind. I think they've had some good races and if they can get a little momentum going I can see those guys actually being a surprise contender. I wouldn’t even say surprise contender because I think they've run strong in the past but I don't think anyone is expecting them to be ahead of the teams they are beating.”

Pruett says he doesn’t plan of letting anyone push them off the top step of the podium, but if a team is going to give them a run for their money, he doesn’t mind seeing AIM’s Pacific Mobile-sponsored car in his mirrors.

“They bought that car from us, Riley chassis 001. I remember spending time with the AIM guys and talking to them about it before they made the purchase. Yeah, I'm acutely aware of these guys, how good their car is, and how effective they are. I think they do a tremendous job.”

With three Daytona Prototype championships under his belt, Pruett is no stranger to success, but says his Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates team has been on the receiving end of some good fortunes so far in 2010. They’ve been hitting all of their marks, and have even surprised themselves a few times, but the constant misfortune of their closest rivals has been unexpected.

“You know, the biggest thing that's been interesting to me is, one, until VIR we hadn't achieved a pole position in a really long time. And two, we hadn't achieved the fastest lap for quite a while as well. Our finishes have been great, but it’s not like we’d dominated all aspects of each event so far. The only thing that we've been doing is really just racing smart. At Daytona and Miami, and even Barber, we just raced smart. We didn't have the quickest car when we won at Barber.

“You look at the SunTrust car and they were incredible. And they had the fastest lap by three quarters of a second or something like that. The GAINSCO car and blew an engine. And at VIR they car ran into the back of somebody coming to a restart. Just strange circumstances for those guys. You just don't see them making those mistakes very often, but it has helped us out in the points.”

The secret to their success, according to Pruett, stems from a slight change in focus for 2010. Rather than try to out-race everyone on pure speed and aggression, a more conservative approach has been adopted. That likely translates into only toning things down by a fraction of a percent, but with three wins from four races so far, it’s clearly working.

“That's exactly what we're doing. We have a pre-race meeting and that's exactly what we talk about: let's be smart about our calls, let’s be safe. Nobody make a mistake going over the wall. Drivers, when you hit pit lane don’t get caught with a speeding penalty. Let's not leave a wheel nut loose. Let’s not miss our mark with getting the fuel in the car. Just focusing on maybe giving up a second during the pit stop, but not making mistakes. And that's the focus we have right now. We had some unfortunate issues last year that cost us some points and we just don't want to make any more mistakes. Instead of going and only thinking about winning by leading, we’re thinking about not giving away wins by making mistakes, and it’s paying off.”

A Fatal Flaw

As I heard from almost everyone I spoke with at Barber Motorsports Park, and as I saw myself, the facility is simply gorgeous and the flowing circuit is a joy to drive. But when it comes to what the circuit was designed for...a competition between a group of vehicles...it falls short in delivering what fans pay to see.

In the days leading up to the inaugural IndyCar event, we heard plenty of conjecture about how passing would be nearly impossible -- something that had afflicted the previous GRAND-AM races at the track -- but not everyone was convinced the same problem would manifest itself with the IndyCar event.

A train of cars get stuck behind Danica Patrick at Barber Motorsports Park -- a familiar sight -- thanks to the 'slow them down to the same speed' corners that lead onto most straights. (LAT)

If anything has come to light, it's that Barber, just like Miller Motorsports Park, two circuits designed by Alan Wilson, feature the same competition stifling attributes: An equalization of speeds before major straightaways.

It makes sense that if you install corners that slow a group of identical IndyCars to roughly the same speed, they will accelerate at the same rate and will achieve their maximum speed at roughly the same time at the end of a straight...lap after monotonous lap.

I watched as Marco Andretti followed Graham Rahal in the race for what seemed to be an eternity; Rahal was ready to go a lap down, but because of the equalization traits used on the Barber track, it proved overly challenging to get by.

Miller has the same issues with tons of beautiful corners that flow throughout the valley basin in Tooele, UT., but passing is a rarity, and like Barber, entry onto the front straight comes after slowing all of the cars down to an equalized speed.

For a spec series like we currently have with IndyCars, and even with the GRAND-AM series, albeit to a lesser degree, a layout like Barber's is an instant buzzkill. Maybe if the corners leading onto straights were less like the starting line at a drag strip, the quality of the racing would match the quality of the facility.

Spec open-wheel cars make it hard enough to pass without a track layout that exaggerates the problem. I can’t wait to return to Barber – it’s a lovely place – but IndyCar racing will have trouble planting roots in Alabama once the novelty wears off unless the equalizing corners are modified.

In the Best Interest of the Teams?

If you follow IndyCar racing, you've likely read about the fight that has been going on between the entrants and the series regarding the allowance of ride control systems, and based on recent paddock talk, it isn't going to die down anytime soon.

The item at the center of the controversy – the ‘third spring’ mechanism that dates back a few decades and is used to control a car’s ride height – has a number of teams extremely upset at the Indy Racing League sanctioning body.

A traditional 'third spring' on the front of a Lola ChampCar from 2003. (Marshall Pruett)

The current Dallara chassis – what has become the defacto spec IndyCar chassis – was delivered without third spring arrangements at the front and rear of the chassis. Third springs were standard equipment in CART and ChampCar, but with the IRL rules limiting a team to using only two spring/damper combos at each end of the car, Dallara had no reason to produce third springs.

Of late, some teams have skirted the issue in an ingenious manner by using the anti-roll bar in a manner which produces third spring-like effects, and the controversy went from simmer to boil. (If you aren’t interested in the technical aspects of the third spring, you might want to skip the next two paragraphs.)

With a high downforce car like an IndyCar, stiff springs are needed to maintain the team’s desired ride height with a traditional twin damper and anti-roll bar system. IndyCars are run incredibly low to the ground, and as they go faster, more downforce is generated and the floor of the car is pushed closer and closer to the ground. As each car has a certain minimum ride height where it makes the most downforce (if a car goes too low, it can kill all the downforce as well – it’s a very fine line to maintain), heavy springs are used to ensure the car doesn’t go below that magical ride height number.

With a third spring/damper unit installed (which attaches to the two standard shocks/springs), teams no longer have to use heavy springs to limit the car’s ride height. This allows the use of softer springs, which provide greater mechanical grip – just what’s needed while cornering and under braking – while the third spring never allows the car’s minimum ride height to be compromised. With better traction for no penalty in return, now you can see why teams wanted a third spring arrangement so badly.

But wanting a third spring system and each team having to spend the money to design, build and test their own third spring are two different things. Teams with third springs in place were in the minority earlier this year; just four entrants were known to have built and used them, and some were incorrectly designed, giving no tangible improvements.

With a few other teams seeing the writing on the wall, they asked the League to ban the third springs for the betterment of the series. If only a few teams had the systems, and knowing that everyone else would want to make their own to keep up with the Joneses, officially banning them seemed to make sense.

The series apparently felt differently, and approved their use for all competitors. Where I take issue with this is related to the unnecessary costs involved to design/build/test the third spring units. I’ve had teams quote as low as $50,000, and some at over $100,000.

Knowing how cash-strapped many of the teams happen to be at the moment, I’m not sure I agree with permitting teams to waste five- or six-figure sums on a secondary suspension system for cars built in 2003. With the Dallaras soon headed for the cemetery, this is like putting a 10,000-watt sound system in a leased car two months before you turn it in to the dealer.

Not only is it a colossal waste of money, the systems won’t fit whatever new cars come out for 2012. Allowing teams to waste their money here – and part of administering a racing series involves not allowing teams to do things that aren’t in their best interests – defies logic.

Giving in was the easy call to make. Sometimes being the adult in the room is a thankless job, and letting the minority do whatever they want is a surefire way to keep from making hard decisions. In this case, taking the easy way out will end up costing more than a million dollars to all of the teams combined.

The fans don’t care about third springs, nor does it make for better racing. If the fans don’t care, it doesn’t improve safety and it doesn’t improve the show, why would the series allow these precious dollars to be spent? What am I missing here?

It's Official: Nard-Dog

Randy Bernard, meet The Office's Andy Bernard, affectionately known as Nard-Dog. (NBC)

It's official, friends. You've taken my throw away line asking why no one chose 'Nard-Dog' as Randy Bernard's new nickname and moved it to the top of the pile with the most votes.

MISC

• I enjoyed Graham Rahal's most recent column on SPEEDtv.com. His note about possibly changing his first name to 'Danica' to help find sponsorship got me to thinking. Women make up more than half of the population -- who's going to start 'GoMommy.com', a site that targets MILFs and uses male IndyCar drivers to promote their domain registration and hosting business? Maybe Rahal's onto something, although I DO NOT want to see a GoMommy.com commercial with AJ Foyt in the shower. Let's me be clear about that.

• The Mazda ALMS team burned down one of their prototypes in testing at Miller Motorsports Park. The Dyson Racing-led program found a problem with a fuel line, replaced it, but the fitting that the replacement hose connected to appears to have been faulty, causing a massive fire with sporting director Chris Dyson at the wheel. In addition to a new set of bodywork, Mazda's John Doonan said a number of other crispy items had been ordered to get the car ready for the upcoming six-hour race at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.

• Although everyone from Butch Leitzinger to Graham Rahal was tested by Corvette Racing last March, the team says they have no immediate plans to modify the Euro-heavy line-up for a more patriotic driving roster.

• Is the EPA and DoE lovin’ the Delta Wing? I'm hearing the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency have taken an interest in both the Delta Wing IndyCar design and IndyCar's 2012 initiative in general. The EPA and DoE first got involved in motorsports with the American Le Mans Series as a part of their Green Racing endeavor, and if what I'm being told is correct, those agencies are keenly interested in joining forces with the world of American open-wheel racing. Green Racing, as a whole, has yet to deliver a windfall of sponsorship or public interest, but provided the IZOD IndyCar Series can use their 2012 cars to reach a wider audience, the cause could take hold. If it brings more (OK, ANY) cash-happy manufacturers to the table, I'm all for it.

As always, thanks for reading and be sure to send your thoughts or questions to .

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

Marshall Pruett is SPEEDtv.com’s Auto Racing Editor, and also covers IndyCar and sportscar racing for the site. Pruett grew up at ‘Pruett's Olde English Garage,’ his father's shelter for abused foreign cars, and spent his childhood being dragged across the West Coast to help with his dad's amateur racing exploits.

Pruett spent 20 years working in the IRL, CART, IMSA, and most of the known open-wheel feeder series before retiring from active duty in 2001. And in case you were wondering, no, he isn’t related to Scott Pruett.

Marshall lives in Northern California with his wife Shabral.