Hondanews Online Newsroom

RacingLine: Honda Racing Line Expands Into Karting

Thu, 04 Nov 2010 11:07:56 -0700

Continuing its mission to meet the needs of grassroots competitors who are racing Honda products, Honda Performance Development, Inc., will begin offering Honda CR125 parts and engine-rebuild kits within the United States for competition in karting's 'Spec Honda' class.

The rebuild kits and service parts will be available through the Honda Racing Line, HPD's parts and service program for licensed amateur and entry-level professional racers. Licensed kart competitors may now register for the Honda Racing Line through HondaRacingLine.com.

The Honda Racing Line provides its members with a direct connection to Honda Performance Development and its unparalleled record of success at the pinnacle levels of motorsport, including the IZOD IndyCar Series and American Le Mans Series. This channel to factory support provides Honda Racing Line members the opportunity to purchase racing-performance parts via convenient web-based ordering, with expedited, door-to-door delivery.

"The Honda Racing Line was founded in 2009 with the goals of supporting existing Honda racers and helping to grow the sport at the 'grassroots' level," said HPD General Manager Marc Sours. "From the start, incorporating a karting component has been an integral part of our plan. Honda's 125cc engine has been very popular in the karting community. Through this program, we hope to make it easier and quicker for the competitor to obtain parts."

'Spec Honda' class competitors will be able to purchase a CR125 engine 'kit', containing all of the required parts to assemble a complete engine. The engine kit will include a six-speed transmission for the appropriate engine model, with 'top end' parts available for 1999-2002 engines, the most popular for karting applications. All parts will be SKUSA, Spec Honda-compliant. HPD will begin taking kit and part orders commencing with the start of the 2011 season.

The Honda Racing Line karting program will be formally launched at the 2010 SKUSA SuperNationals in Las Vegas November 17-21, where Honda/HPD will be a sponsor of the Spec Honda S2 class. Representatives of HPD will attend the event to explain details of the new program and introduce the karting community to the Honda Racing Line. A complete Spec Honda CR125 engine also will be on display.

In addition to its grassroots motorsports business, HPD is the single engine supplier to the IZOD IndyCar Series and spearheaded championship-winning efforts in the 2009-2010 American Le Mans Series, 2010 Le Mans Series and the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

For more information on the Honda Racing Line, interested racers can explore the HPD website, http://hondaracing.com/hpd, or contact the company at:

Honda Performance Development, Inc.
661-702-7777
grmsadmin@hra.com

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RacingLine: Honda Performance Development, Inc. Expands Honda Racing Line Into Canada

Fri, 23 Jul 2010 15:45:55 -0700

Responding to strong demand from Canadian grassroots racers, Honda Performance Development, Inc., is expanding its popular Honda Racing Line program to make HPD parts and services available to amateur and entry-level professional racers north of the U.S. border.

Launched in July 2009, the Honda Racing Line is a program targeted at licensed participants in sanctioned amateur and entry-level professional racing. Licensed Canadian competitors may now register for the Honda Racing Line through HondaRacingLine.com.

"We have been very pleased with the growth of the Honda Racing Line program in the U.S., and with the high level of interest we've received from Canadian racers," said HPD President Erik Berkman. "We're happy to be able to make Racing Line membership available in Canada, and will continue to expand our offerings of products and support to club members."

The Honda Racing Line includes an array of products and services for Honda and Acura customers who compete in sanctioned events. Once registered, racers have access to performance parts for purchase; race engines, including the Honda Fit power plant for SCCA Formula F competition; web-based technical support; 24-hour service publication support through ServiceExpress; and door-to-door delivery of original-equipment parts for their individual race cars.

Contingency-award programs are also available for members of the Honda Racing Line competing in SCCA and NASA racing.

Honda Performance Development (HPD) is the Honda racing company within North America. Founded in 1993, and located in Santa Clarita, Calif., HPD is the technical operations center for American Honda high-performance racing cars and engines. In addition to its grassroots motorsports business, HPD is the single engine supplier to the IZOD IndyCar Series and spearheaded Acura's championship-winning efforts in the 2009 American Le Mans Series.

For more information on the Honda Racing Line, interested racers can explore the HPD website, http://hondaracing.com/hpd, or contact the company at:

Honda Performance Development, Inc.
661-702-7777
grmsadmin@hra.com

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RacingLine: HPD to Sponsor NASA Honda Challenge Series

Tue, 25 May 2010 10:38:00 -0700

Honda Performance Development (HPD) has reached agreement with the National Auto Sport Association (NASA) to become title sponsor of NASA's Honda Challenge Series, a multi-class championship open to Honda racers competing in cars ranging from Civics and CRXs to S2000s and Acura NSXs. In addition, HPD will for the first time be offering Honda Challenge participants $500 to start the 2010 NASA National Championships.

As an additional component of its NASA support, HPD will also be offering contingency awards to top-three finishers in Honda Challenge races at the 2010 NASA National Championships, marking the first time Honda has provided such support for NASA racers.

To qualify for the start payout and contingency awards at the national championships, Honda Challenge racers must merely be members of the Honda Racing Line, HPD's support program for club and entry-level professional racers, and must feature the required HPD/Honda Racing Line graphics on their cars. This year's NASA National Championships will be held Sept. 16-19 at Miller Motorsports Park in Utah.

Founded in 2002 by the Virginia chapter of NASA, the Honda Challenge has been a success from its inception, with fields of 30 or more cars in its first season. It became a national NASA category in 2003 and is currently featured in both east- and west-coast NASA championships.

"Through the Honda Challenge Series, NASA has provided a great opportunity for Honda racers to compete throughout the country. At Honda Performance Development, we're pleased and excited to be able to support those racers and reward their loyalty and performance," said Marc Sours, Production Division Manager for HPD.

The Honda Challenge is divided into five performance-based classes, ranging from H1 to H5, with individual vehicles assigned specific minimum weights to equalize competition among various models. H1 includes the Honda S2000 and Acura NSX; H2 models include the 2006 Honda Civic Si, Integra Type R and Honda Prelude VTEC; the Acura Integra GS-R and other Honda Prelude models are included in H3; while various Civic, CRX and Integra models are included in H4 and H5.

Individual championships are contested for Honda Challenge racers in seven NASA geographic regions; as well as at the NASA National Championships.

HPD's three-year sponsorship of the NASA Honda Challenge, continuing through 2012, will include television coverage of the Honda Challenge events at the NASA National Championships. The contingency awards program will provide cash payments for Honda Challenge Series participants at the National Championships, and prize-money awards for the first-, second- and third-place finishers in each Honda Challenge Series National Championship race.

Launched in July 2009, the Honda Racing Line is a program targeted at licensed participants in sanctioned amateur and entry-level professional racing. The Honda Racing Line was formed to provide its members with a direct connection to Honda Performance Development and its unparalleled record of success at the highest levels of motorsport. Competitors may register for the Honda Racing Line through HondaRacingLine.com.

Honda Performance Development is the Honda racing company within North America. Founded in 1993, and located in Santa Clarita, Calif., HPD is the technical operations center for American Honda's high-performance racing cars and engines. In addition to its grassroots motorsports business, HPD is the single engine supplier to the IZOD IndyCar Series and spearheaded Acura's championship-winning efforts in the 2009 American Le Mans Series.

For more information on the Honda Racing Line, interested racers can explore the HPD website, http://hondaracing.com/hpd, or contact the company at:

Honda Performance Development, Inc.
661-702-7777
grmsadmin@hra.com

###

RacingLine: Honda, Acura Drivers Claim Five Titles At SCCA National Championship Runoffs

Tue, 29 Sep 2009 11:37:00 -0700

In the first SCCA National Championship Runoffs since Honda Racing/Honda Performance Development [HPD] announced the Honda Racing Line program of support for grassroots racers, Honda and Acura drivers won five of a possible seven titles this past weekend at the famed Road America circuit in central Wisconsin.

Bob Boileau highlighted a weekend of outstanding performances by Honda and Acura drivers at the Runoffs, winning the Touring 3 race Saturday in his Team Honda Research-entered Honda S2000. It was Boileau's first SCCA title as the second-generation racer from Colorado builds on the successes of his father, also named Bob, who raced Honda Civics in SCCA competition in the 1970s and ‘80s.

In addition to Boileau's victory in his Honda Racing/HPD-supported S2000, Jim Dentici led a 1-2 Honda finish in the GT Lite race on Friday in his JTM/Ragland Racing Honda CRX, with teammate Chris Bovis finishing second, also piloting a Honda CRX. On Sunday, Dan Meller posted a dominating performance in the H Production race, starting from the pole and leading every lap en route to his first national championship in his Core Consulting Honda CRX.

Acura was well represented with championships in two classes. Joel Lipperini qualified his RaceLabz Acura Integra GS-R on the pole in the Showroom Stock C race and went on to win his third national championship. Mark Carpenter's championship, in F Production, was the first for the North Carolina driver and his GGS Racing team.

Defending Showroom Stock B Champion Lee Niffenegger finished second this year, once again driving his Team Honda Research Honda Civic Si. Heavy rain fell just as the final race of the weekend, E Production, got underway on Sunday afternoon, but John Schmidt managed to move from 12th on the grid to a very close fourth at the finish in his Schmidt Racing Honda Prelude Si.

Each year, racers from across the country compete in 70 SCCA "Nationals", to qualify for one last, winner-take-all event in each of 25 classes: the National Championship "Runoffs". Previous Runoffs champions include Bobby Rahal, Skip Barber, Paul Newman, Doug Peterson and Jimmy Vasser. Other Runoffs competitors through the years have included Michael Andretti, Parker Johnstone, and current Acura America Le Mans Series racer Scott Sharp.

More than 600 drivers participated at this year's Runoffs, the first to be held at the historic, four-mile Road America circuit, located 60 miles northwest of Milwaukee. Thirty seven were Honda and Acura drivers, competing in seven of the 25 classes.

Several Honda Fit engines, as proposed for inclusion in the FF class of open-wheel racers, were displayed outside the Honda Racing/HPD Hospitality Center in the Road America paddock. The display included the prototype Swift DB-1/Honda, an engine installed in a new Citation FF chassis, and a third 1.5-liter Fit FF race engine that has been used for durability testing on HPD's transitional dynamometers at the company's Santa Clarita, California, headquarters.

Through its Honda Racing Line program, Honda Racing/HPD provides support and incentive programs to Honda and Acura racers competing at the SCCA Runoffs and in other forms of grassroots motorsports competition. Additional details on the Honda Racing Line can be found at http://racing.honda.com/hpd.

Honda Performance Development (HPD) is Honda's racing company within North America. Founded in 1993 and located in Santa Clarita, Calif., HPD is the technical operations center for Honda and Acura's high-performance racing cars and engines. In addition to the new Grassroots Motorsports Initiative, HPD is the single engine supplier to the IndyCar Series and competes in prototype sports car racing under the Acura banner in the American Le Mans Series.

2009 Honda and Acura SCCA Runoffs National Champions:
Touring 3: Bob Boileau, Monument, CO, Honda Team Research Honda S2000
GT Light: Jim Dentici, Oconomowoc, WI, JDM/Ragland Racing Honda CRX
Showroom Stock C: Joel Lipperini, Pittston, PA, RaceLabz Acura Integra GS-R
F Production: Mark Carpenter, Charlotte, NC, GGS Racing Acura Integra
H Production: Dan Meller, Milwaukee, WI, Core Consulting Honda CRX

RacingLine: Prodigal Son Returns

Thu, 04 Dec 2008 13:34:00 -0800

From 1998-2007, Dario Franchitti was one of Honda's favorite sons. He won races and pole positions, charmed the media, entertained the corporate clients and schmoozed with his growing legion of fans.

But, after winning the 2007 Indianapolis 500 and IndyCar driving championships, the speedy Scot decided to try stock cars. An uncompetitive ride, an injury and a trip back to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway during May combined to make Franchitti long for a return to IndyCars.

And when team owner Chip Ganassi offered him a chance to come back in 2009, Dario didn't hesitate.

"When I went to NASCAR, I shut out everything and I just focused and said, "This is my new career and I want to be successful at it','' said Franchitti, who also drove for Ganassi in the Sprint Cup. "When I broke my ankle [in a Nationwide Series race in April], I kind of came up for air, and that's right when Indianapolis was happening. I came to the Speedway and watched rookie practice and that's when I
first realized, 'I'm not going to run at Indy this year.' "Then, I got back to focusing on the Cup thing, and while our results were awful, we actually started to run quite well. And then, the team shuts down [due to a lack of sponsorship] and I come back up for air again, and that's right at the point in the season when IRL is doing some of the short tracks, and the road and street tracks, and I'm watching that. Chip started to make noises about, 'Would you come back to IndyCar?' and it got me thinking.

"It all culminated in Detroit. Chip and I went there to discuss the [Number] 41 Target car in [Sprint] Cup. There was a bunch of stuff on the table. But I could see Chip was really excited about the possibility of me coming back to drive in IndyCar, and I was really intrigued by it."

The Detroit weekend sealed the deal.

"I did the track walk, saw a bunch of my old friends - I was walking around with [brother and sports-car racer] Marino and spent some time going around with Danica [Patrick]," he continued. "On Friday morning, I stood at Turn 1 and it was a done deal: 'That's what I want to do.'

"I knew going down the stretch last year [2007], I'd given it everything. I knew I wasn't going to be 100 percent for another year, so I wanted to go do something else. But when I went away, I realized how much I missed it."

Ganassi's team figures to be the most formidable in the IndyCar paddock since it has the last two driving champions and Indy winners in Scott Dixon and Franchitti.

Franchitti, who inherits the No. 10 entry from former Andretti Green Racing teammate Dan Wheldon, doesn't expect a prolonged transition with his Kiwi teammate.

"I've watched and raced alongside Scott for quite a long time and I would say we have very different driving styles," said Franchitti. "Hopefully we'll both learn a lot and push the team forward.

"Everybody has a slightly different way of doing things, and when looking at data over a period of time, you really learn how
certain drivers do certain things. The longer you work with a driver, the more you understand what they do, and certainly at first, you have the 'Oh, my God, he does that?' experience.

"And then you start to understand it more. Looking back on the experience I had with Tony [Kanaan at Andretti Green Racing], for instance, he and I have very different driving styles, and there were a lot of corners - especially on road and street courses - where he would pick what I'd done and translate that, and I would pinch his techniques as well.

"The biggest thing for me to look for is trust. Whether you get on with that person or your personalities are completely different, it's the 'trust' thing. It's something that we're aiming for. I've been lucky that I've had teammates that I get along with and also that I've trusted. I think Scott's a great character. He's going to push me for sure." Dario's domino started a chain of events few saw coming. Wheldon, who had scored six victories during his three years with Ganassi and never finished worse than fourth in the point standings, immediately took a job with Panther Racing.

"John Barnes and Panther gave me my start in IndyCar," said the 2005 Indy 500 winner and IRL champion. "They tested me, and I ran my first race for them, so this is a homecoming for me.

"I think it's the perfect time for a change for me also. We'll have a one car team, and having everything focused on you is what a driver likes. This has always been one of the strongest teams and I'm excited to get 2009 started."

Despite several strong showings the past two years for Panther. Vitor Meira was out. But not for long. A.J. Foyt hired the quick Brazilian for the ABC Supply car.

"I like that boy. He stands on the gas and I think he's going to be real good for my team," Foyt, the Indy 500 legend, said of his new driver.

Meira, winless in 93 starts, is more motivated than ever.

"A.J. has had a lot of his success at Indianapolis and I think this could be very good for my career," said the two-time Indy 500 runner-up. "I know it's a business and I don't have any bad feelings, but there is definitely one team I want to beat next year."

The other driver change came at Luczo/Dragon Racing, where rookie Rafael Matos, the 2008 Firestone Indy Lights Series champion, replaced veteran Tomas Scheckter.

"After winning the Atlantics and Indy Lights championships back-to-back, Rafa has shown he's got a lot of talent and that's why we hired him," said co-owner Jay Penske. "We're a one-car team, but we think we can grow a lot together."

Matos, who came to this country with $400 and big dreams, said this was the culmination of his journey. "My whole goal when I left Brazil was to get a good ride at the top level of American open-wheel racing. This is so good I can't explain it."

RacingLine: Making Friends and Influencing People

Thu, 04 Dec 2008 13:33:00 -0800

As successful as Honda has been in open-wheel racing over the past 14 years, in terms of race wins and season championships, a strong argument could also be made that the company has won many fans off the track because of its popular hospitality programs.

While Honda-powered drivers won six straight CART championships (1996-2001), and have dominated the Indy Racing League from 2004 to the present, the off-track entertainment program for dealers and consumers has also been a big winner.

Led by Kurt Antonius (left), assistant vice president, corporate public relations for American Honda, the dealer/consumer hospitality program has turned thousands of casual observers into staunch fans of the IndyCar Series, because they were given the ultimate backstage pass.

"More than 50 percent, and I'd say it's closer to 60 percent, of our consumer guests have never been to a car race in their life," said Antonius, who helped launch the hospitality program in 1994. "And it's so wonderful to see their eyes opened, and how excited they get.

"It's been a raging success with our dealers, key vendors, VIPs and consumers. We did a survey with each one of our customers after each of our seven 2008 events, and the results validated our initial impressions.

"They were incredibly excited, and they couldn't wait to go to another race."

A Day at the Races with Honda offers nothing short of the star treatment. Each guest receives a gift bag, a tour of the paddock area, a visit from an IndyCar driver and a premium grandstand seat for the race.

Oh, and did we also mention breakfast and lunch?

"It's a really special day for them, and my experience has been that every person who has gone has become an IndyCar fan and they were stoked," continued Antonius, who plays host to 50 to 100 people on any given weekend.

"We send out an invitation and we don't know if the people who receive it are rabid race fans. but most of them wind up being giddy about the whole experience."

As mentioned above, the guest list has always encompassed just about everyone in the Honda family but, this past season, Antonius wanted to concentrate on just one segment: the customer.

"We send out a Dear John Doe letter, thanking them for being a customer and inviting them to be our guest at the race track. We don't expose them to any salesmen or a sales pitch, and we don't show them the latest prices on Accords.

"It's just a day of fun for them, no strings attached, and they can't believe it."

The return on Honda's investment has been well worth it, according to surveys.

"It's a way to build brand loyalty for people who have owned Hondas or Honda products like lawnmowers and four-wheelers," said Antonius. "The post-race survey validates our program, because people tend to feel much better about Honda as a company.

"It's an important way for American Honda to validate the company's investment in racing."

RacingLine: Making IndyCar Racing More Fan Friendly

Thu, 04 Dec 2008 13:32:00 -0800

The best thing about the IndyCar series? Close competition.

The worst? Oftentimes, it's too noisy to tell the person sitting next to you how exciting it is to watch Scott Dixon and Tony Kanaan battle wheel-to-wheel.

Since its inception in 1996, the Indy Racing League has been known for great racing and loud engines. Real loud. So loud, the noise is almost painful.

But Roger Griffiths of Honda Performance Development intends to have the normally-aspirated V-8s that power the entire IndyCar lineup singing a different tune in 2009.

"We're going to put a silencer on the engines next year and give them a much sweeter sound," said Griffiths, the race team technical leader for HPD.

"I have been pushing for it, and IRL management finally said 'Go for it,' so that's what we're doing."

A native of the London suburbs, Griffiths spent five years working with Formula One engines and chassis for Sauber and Minardi, and even designed a Le Mans entry before coming to America in the 1990s, when CART ruled with turbocharged engines.

The IRL engines have always made a piercing noise, and when Honda joined the League in 2003, its power plant was just as ear-splitting as all the others, thanks to the rulebook. Griffiths said he never considered lobbying for a change until the Acura program started in the American Le Mans Series in 2007.

"I never thought about it until we went into the ALMS, and they have a noise restriction," said Griffiths. "Our Acura engine was so loud that we got busted by the Series, and suddenly, we had to put some real effort into fixing this situation.

"So, we came up with our own silencer system."

HPD has now taken that system and applied it to the IndyCar engine.

"We ran the silencer for the first time back in February at Phoenix, and it worked so well, I immediately called [former HPD President] Robert Clarke, who was in Japan. It was 3 a.m. [there] and I woke him up. I held my cell phone out by the track and asked him if he could hear it, and he said he couldn't.

"I hadn't been around Indy Cars since they ran turbos, and this now sounded like they did in the mid-‘90s, you know. It had that pretty whine."

The next test came at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway last May.

"We ran it on Hideki's [Mutoh] car during his rookie test at Indy last May, and it was 12 decibels quieter. You could actually carry on a conversation in pit lane with your headsets on.

"It was so refreshing."

In addition to sounding like an Indy Car should, the 2009 Honda V-8 will have an all-new exhaust system that will bolt on the car, but as far as adding more 150 horsepower on road courses, as had been discussed, Griffiths doesn't think that's feasible.

"It's extremely difficult to make those kinds of power changes to a normally-aspirated engine," he explained.

"Our hope is that the power will be about the same, because using the silencer will likely cause a hit in performance.

"But, I think we can make it quieter and keep the performance."

Talk lately has been centered on Audi, Porsche and Alfa-Romeo possibly joining Honda in the IndyCar Series in 2011. HPD would very much welcome the competition but, until then, it's status quo for good reason.

"We're not going to have any competition for two more years, so there aren't going to be any significant [development] changes [to the engine]," said Griffiths. "I think we'd all like more power, but we're almost on the edge of being too fast at [Indianapolis Motor Speedway], so we'll just concentrate on performance and reliability."

So, even if the engines aren't any faster in '09, at least they'll be much more pleasant to the ear.

RacingLine: Oh! Canada!

Thu, 04 Dec 2008 13:31:00 -0800

Andretti Green Promotions and Honda both know a good thing when they see it, so they agreed to once again become partners in an IndyCar race with lots of history.

The Honda Indy Toronto will be promoted by AGP and held July 10-12, 2009. It is one of the two old/new venues that will be visited by the unified IndyCar Series next year.

With the addition of the Long Beach Grand Prix, the '09 schedule will include 18 races, comprising a diverse mix of road courses, street circuits and ovals.

After North American open-wheel racing was unified early in 2008, a couple of mainstays on the old Champ Car circuit didn't appear on the amended schedule, due to date conflicts or prior contracts. But Toronto had always been a popular venue, and the AGP team set about putting it back in play.

"This has always been a place to race and it's great for everyone that is a fan of IndyCar racing in Toronto," said Michael Andretti, president and CEO of Andretti Green and a seven-time winner of the Toronto event under CART sanctioning. "Honda has been a great partner of ours for years and this will take that partnership deeper into the future.

"Andretti Green and Honda plan to do great things with this event and everyone associated with it is very excited for July, 2009 to get here." AGR signed a multi-year agreement with Honda Canada for the title sponsorship rights to the company's IndyCar Series event.

"We are very pleased to be sponsoring this exciting event, which has been one of the top attractions in Ontario since it first roared to life in 1986," said Jerry Chenkin, executive vice president of Honda Canada Inc. "We salute Andretti Green for its commitment to bring the IndyCar Series to the streets of Toronto."

The Honda Indy Toronto is the most recent addition to Andretti Green's event-promotions business unit. The company began operating the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg in 2005 on the downtown streets of St. Petersburg, Fla. That event recently received the distinction of being named as the 2009 IndyCar Series season-opener.

Honda employs more than 22,000 Canadians, buys $1.1 billion of goods and materials annually from Canadian-based suppliers, and manufactures about 390,000 vehicles per year. Honda Canada began operations in 1969, selling motorcycles and power equipment. Four years later, the Civic was the first car to be sold by Honda in Canada. Today, more than 170,000 Honda cars and trucks are sold in Canada annually.

"The Honda brand is very powerful and is one of the true driving forces behind the growth and success of the IndyCar Series," said Kevin Savoree, co-owner and president of Andretti Green Promotions. "Andretti Green and Honda have a long legacy of successful partnership and the Honda Indy Toronto will benefit immeasurably from the strength of our relationship.

"Not only has Honda Canada lent its name and mark to this event, but they also plan to engage our fans in a big way. The next several months promise to be a very exciting time for IndyCar Series fans in Toronto and Ontario."

After the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg kick starts '09 on April 5, the IndyCar Series heads to Long Beach for the first time. The Long Beach Grand Prix was a CART/Champ Car stronghold from 1984-2008, and Champ Car ran its final race of 2008 on the scenic street course.

The first oval of the year, at Kansas on April 26, will be the precursor to the 93rd Indianapolis 500.

The IndyCar event at Twin Ring Motegi will move from spring to fall (Sept. 19) before the season finale in Homestead, Fla. on Oct. 10.

RacingLine: Year of the Kiwi

Thu, 04 Dec 2008 13:30:00 -0800

It was a runaway. Then, it got interesting. Then, it came down to the final race. Again.

That was a condensed version of the 2008 IndyCar Series season that saw Scott Dixon secure his second championship and first Indianapolis 500 victory in a dominant campaign that included a record-tying six race wins, six poles, 899 laps led and only two finishes out of the top five.

"I don't think you could ask for a better year, but Helio [Castroneves] still made us sweat," said Dixon, whose IndyCar crowns have both come for Target/Ganassi Racing. "It was fun and I had a great race car all season.

"But, it got a little too close at the end."

Following Dixon's victory at Kentucky, he owned a 78-point lead with three races remaining. But, by the time the green flag flew for the finale at Chicago, Castroneves trailed by only 30 points.

And those two staged a great show on the banked, 1.5-mile speedway, taking the checkered flag virtually side-by-side before Castroneves was finally announced as the winner following a review of the race finish.

"We did all we could, and most years, this would have been good enough to be champion," said Castroneves, who compiled two wins and eight second places for Team Penske. "But Scott had one of those unbelievable years."

Besides the unification of open-wheel racing after 12 years, the other major stories of 2008 were Danica Patrick finally getting her initial IndyCar win at Motegi, Japan, and rookie Graham Rahal winning in his IRL debut at St. Petersburg. Rahal's teammate, Justin Wilson, also earned a victory at Detroit, the final triumph for late Newman Haas Lanigan team co-owner Paul Newman, and Ryan Hunter-Reay was victorious at Watkins Glen.

RacingLine: Scott Dixon's Journey

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 18:01:00 -0700

You could have labeled Scott Dixon many things when he began his Indy Car career in 2001: Promising, focused, quick and quiet all come readily to mind.

But nobody would have used the term "oval meister."

When informed of his new moniker, Dixon grinned and said: "Yeah, that would have been hard to imagine even a couple years ago.

"But I guess you could say I'm feeling pretty comfortable on them [oval tracks] anymore."

Think so? Consider this: Through July, there had been 14 races, nine of them on ovals. Four of Dixon's five wins to date have come on the circle circuits: The season opener at Homestead, the 92nd Indianapolis 500, Texas and Nashville.

More impressive, he's been on the pole five times and led an impressive 1,282 laps. Had it not been for a couple of untimely yellow flags, it's real easy to see the 27-year-old Kiwi having as many as seven wins on the allleft- turn tracks this season.

"Since we've been teammates, I've really seen his confidence grow on ovals and he knows what he wants in the car and it shows," said Dan Wheldon, the other half of the formidable two-car lineup at Target Chip Ganassi Racing.

"He's much more comfortable now."

Team manager Mike Hull noticed the difference in 2007.

"It started to happen right after Indy. Scott dedicated himself to making himself a better driver on ovals," said Hull. "He started working on the exit of Turns One and Three instead of Turns Two and Four, and just trying to improve his overall craft.

"He's done a terrific job and he's raised the bar for himself and our team." Even though his initial CART victory came on an oval (Nazareth) as a rookie, the 2000 Indy Lights champ was more of a road racer and that showed during his first few years in the Indy Racing League.

True, he did win three times on ovals during his run to the 2003 IRL title, but he really struggled in 2004 and 2005, at least partially hampered by a down-on-power Toyota engine, winning only once (at Watkins Glen in 2005). He also pounded the wall so hard at Milwaukee during qualifying in 2006 that he missed the race.

"I did OK on ovals when I first started, but it wasn't something I enjoyed all that much," continued Dixon. "Then, I really struggled in 2004 and 2005 before things started getting better last year.

"It's pretty straightforward. On the mile-and-a-half tracks, it's all about having the right package and my guys have given me great cars the past couple years. At places like Milwaukee, a driver can make more of a difference but obviously, you still need a good-handling chassis.

"I think we've found a nice balance."

Which is why Hull rates Dixon so highly.

"There's a fine line between confidence and intimidation on ovals and I think Scott is right in the middle. It's fun to run with him and he's a very bright guy. And I'm real glad he's decided he likes ovals."

Wheldon knows the feeling.

"Scott is having a season like I did in 2005," said the man who won the Indy 500 and IRL crown that year. "He's on top of his game and everything is clicking. Right now, he's a tough guy to beat.

" 'Dixie' is on a roll."

Typical of the soft-spoken New Zealand native, Dixon doesn't get too high or too low despite his success.

"We're running real well and leading the standings, but there are a lot of races left in 2008," he cautioned.

That's probably bad news for his competitors.

RacingLine: Great Driver Dust-Ups Through The Years

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 18:00:00 -0700

When Ryan Briscoe accidentally swerved into Danica Patrick exiting the pits and knocked them both out of this year's Indianapolis 500, it set off a small chain reaction.

Patrick climbed out of her disabled racer and began marching towards Briscoe's pit as the crowd cheered, photographers were poised for the action and Roger Penske radioed his driver to "put [his helmet] shield down."

But IRL security chief Charles Burns intercepted Patrick's beeline to Briscoe and escorted her over the pit wall to defuse the situation and rob ESPN's SportsCenter of a highlight clip.

Of course, watching a 100-pound woman confront a fellow Indy Car driver is nothing new, since Patrick gave Dan Wheldon a little push following their contact at Milwaukee in 2007; and she slapped Jacques Lazier after the pair crashed at Fontana in 2005.

But it's all pretty civilized compared to the good old days - when drivers and mechanics more than occasionally settled things with their fists.

We all know that the 1979 donnybrook between Cale Yarborough and the Allison brothers at Daytona put NASCAR on the national map, but long before that we had a few memorable "disagreements" in IndyCar racing.

Back in the early 1970s at Phoenix, Gordon Johncock took a swing at Johnny Rutherford and connected - but not with the three-time Indy 500 winner.

"I'd spun Gordy out during the race and he was kinda upset," recalled Rutherford with a grin. "So, we were screaming at each other and he took a big swing at me. It just grazed the nip of my nose.

"But it caught Ray Marquette [a sportswriter for The Indianapolis Star] in the side of his head and knocked his glasses off. Ray had stepped in trying to play peacemaker."

Rutherford recalled lots of dust-ups at IMCA [International Motor Contest Association] and USAC sprint car races, where drivers usually swung first and asked questions later.

In the early '60s, a formidable racer named Johnny White made the mistake of getting on the wrong side of A.J. Foyt at a sprint car show in Williams Grove, Pa.

"I'd warned him a couple weeks before about giving slide jobs, so after he did it again, I had to straighten him out," said Foyt, who smacked White. "I didn't have any problem with him after that.

"Back then, guys usually settled things in the pits. I got jumped by a guy's team in IMCA, and they held me down and gave me a black eye. But when I got loose, I got some pretty good shots in."

Fellow four-time Indy winner Al Unser shakes his head and laughs at the thought of crossing Foyt.

"Not many people were dumb enough to get A.J. riled up," he said.

Kevin Cogan did just that, once at Indy in 1982 and again later that summer at Michigan. The handsome, blonde Californian drove into the side of the Tempestuous Texan at the start of Indy, then repeated that maneuver a couple months later.

"That damned Coooogan," became one of A.J.'s most priceless quotes but, fortunately for Kevin, Foyt did not resort to physical violence.

The last driver to incur Foyt's wrath and be physically assaulted was Arie Luyendyk. Following the inaugural IRL IndyCar Series race at Texas in 1997, Billy Boat was scored as the winner in one of A.J.'s cars. Luyendyk, who would be declared the race winner the next morning, walked past the celebration and yelled something about the wrong team being in Victory Lane.

That sent Foyt into action, and he cuffed the two-time Indy winner on the side of the head and threw him into the bushes. "He come in here mouthin', and you don't do that," said four-time Indy 500 king Foyt.

Most of today's drivers tend to do their fighting in the press, but Paul Tracy is certainly a throwback to that old mentality.

He fought with his car owner, Barry Green, in the pits at Houston in 1998 and has had a few shoving matches since, one of the most memorable coming in 2006 at San Jose. After T-boning Alex Tagliani in an ill-advised move from the runoff area, Tracy was walking back to his pit when his Tagliani, understandably upset, confronted him. Tags screamed and pushed until P.T. finally retaliated and slammed his Las Vegas neighbor to the ground.

Thankfully, Tags never took his helmet off.

Most of today's drivers fit the bantamweight category and there's a lot of finger pointing and some shouting, but very little physical contact. Except from Danica.

Asked what he would do if the first female to ever win an IndyCar race tried to confront him, '08 Indy 500 king Scott Dixon replied: "I'll be running, man. I think if you get involved with her, it can only be bad. For you."

RacingLine: Planning For The Future

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 17:58:00 -0700

Honda has dominated Indy Car racing since 2004, when it powered 14 of 16 race winners, swept the Indianapolis 500 and claimed the first three spots in the drivers' championship. It only got worse for the competition and, by 2006, there was no engine manufacturer left to try and challenge the Big H.

So, Honda has been the lone engine competing in the Indy Racing League for the past three seasons, but that's not what Honda Performance Development is all about. It thrives on competition and, judging from the recent engine manufacturers' summit at Indianapolis, somebody might join HPD by 2011.

In a roundtable hosted by IndyCar officials, big hitters like Audi, BMW, Fiat, Volkswagen, Mazda and Chevrolet came to Indy to explore the possibility of joining the IndyCar Series.

Engine builders Cosworth, John Judd, Ilmor, Speedway Engines and AER were also in attendance.

"We want to build open-wheel racing back up and we believe that bringing other manufacturers into the IRL is necessary to strengthen it," said Erik Berkman, president of HPD, who led the Honda contingent attending the event.

"We're competitive, yes, but on the other hand, we want to use our competitive desire to build the series. We welcome competition. We want competition. It's what drives us."

There were manufacturers from Formula One and sports cars and a few familiar faces from open-wheel racing at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on June 24.

And the numbers were equaled by the clout.

"It was a very positive meeting, and we were happy with the quality and quantity," said Brian Barnhart, who co-hosted the summit along with IRL Commercial Division president Terry Angstadt.

"We were very well represented, with a dozen engine manufacturers and race-shop engine builders in the room. It was a very positive meeting from all aspects. It probably exceeded our expectations."

The F1 contingent was led by Fiat, which owns Ferrari, Alfa-Romeo and Maserati, and BMW, recent winners of the Canadian Grand Prix.

Fiat's interest is believed to be in bringing its new Alfa-Romeo sports car to the United States, where Alfas haven't been sold for many years. BMW, of course, has an active passenger-car market in America.

Audi, fresh off its third consecutive victory at Le Mans, currently competes in the American Le Mans Series with its powerful turbo diesel.

The IRL has been a normally-aspirated series since 1997 but prior to that, every Indy 500 winner since 1968 had been powered by a turbocharged engine, which also dominated USAC in the 1970s and CART for three decades.

Barnhart didn't rule out going back to turbos.

"The best positives associated with it are twofold," he said. "One being that, with the diversity of the schedule that we run, it [the turbocharged engine] is a great power control and helps us adjust power levels. If we need a little more power on the street and road courses, we can certainly adjust the boost up. If we need less power, we can turn it down and control the boost level from that standpoint.

"Also, you can't underestimate the second positive, which is simply its sound. It's the natural muffler. With more road and street courses, city streets, and venues of those types on the schedule, it's nice to turn our adjustables down a little bit, and it's got a great sound to it."

Honda dominated CART from 1996-2001 in the turbo era and, as Berkman adds: "I think you'll be seeing turbos in production cars very soon."

Mazda, co-owned by Ford, has long been a regular competitor in lowerlevel sports car racing in this country and supplies the engines used in the Formula Atlantic series.

Volkswagen, a staunch supporter of Super Vees in the early 1970s, has no active motorsports program at this time.

Ilmor, which scored a dominating win in the 1994 Indy 500 with Roger Penske, helped Honda enter the IRL in 2003 and is still involved in engine rebuilds today.

Cosworth, with a storied history in major open-wheel racing, is pretty much in limbo since Champ Car closed its doors last winter.

AER is an English company that builds sports-car engines for the likes of Rob Dyson, among others, while Judd had powerplants in CART during the '80s and '90s, in addition to competing in other forms of motorsport.

The IRL will change engine and car specs for 2011, and Barnhart admitted that the reality of a united series had a lot to do with the interest level.

"I honestly think the participation level was higher than anyone could have imagined or I would have anticipated," he said. "And I would say it was clearly higher than it would have been had it not been for unification. It was so clear that the unification and positive direction of open-wheel racing is what triggered the high level of interest of everybody that was in the room.

"What was most encouraging is that throughout the discussions, there was clearly more agreement than there was disagreement. And a lot of energy for a follow-up meeting, and a lot of common ground."

Toyota and General Motors tucked their tails and ran after Honda spanked them in the IRL, and Ford is on record as saying it prefers not to rejoin Indycar racing as long as Honda is involved.

Berkman says whatever the IRL wants to do in 2011 is fine with HPD.

"We said we're willing to rewrite the rules if anybody thinks we've got an unfair advantage. We told them to write the rules and tell us what we need to do. We'll play with one hand tied behind our back if that's what people want."

The next engine forum should take place by early September. "The encouraging thing is that all of them wanted to come back," noted IRL founder Tony George. "We'll see how many are serious after that."

Honda is hoping for at least a couple of playmates because, as Berkman points out, "the Racing Spirit is part of the culture at Honda and racing is an analogy for everything we do.

"We want competition and the more the merrier."

RacingLine: Mutoh Makes His Moves To Indycars

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 17:52:00 -0700

During Honda's successful 14-year run in American open-wheel racing, the company has given several Japanese drivers an opportunity to shine. And, while there have been some highlights, a real star has yet to emerge.

But that could be changing.

Because Hideki Mutoh looks like the real deal.

This 25-year-old native of Tokyo got everyone's attention last season by winning a pair of Indy Lights Series races (one on the road course at Indianapolis and one on the oval at Kentucky) while finishing second in the championship standings of the Indy Racing League's ladder series.

Then, in the 2007 IRL season finale at Chicagoland, Mutoh made a dazzling debut - running among the leaders, setting the fastest lap of the race and finishing eighth.

"That showed me a lot about Hideki, to be that quick and that aggressive in his first start," praised Michael Andretti, co-owner of the IndyCar Mutoh drives for Andretti Green Racing. "I think he's got huge potential."

Mutoh's reward was taking Dario Franchitti's seat next to Tony Kanaan, Marco Andretti and Danica Patrick in the 2008 AGR driver lineup. He has responded with an outstanding rookie season to date, highlighted by a runner-up finish at Iowa in late June.

As of this writing, Mutoh stood sixth in the IndyCar drivers' championship and was leading a robust field of a dozen drivers in the chase for the Bombardier Learjet Rookie of the Year award.

"Mario Andretti is one of my racing heroes, along with Aguri Suzuki and Satoru Nakajima, and driving for AGR and Michael is more than I could have ever expected," Mutoh says.

"All of my teammates have been very helpful and given me lots of good advice. It's a great team."

A late starter by American standards, Hideki didn't begin racing go-karts until he was 12. He quickly moved through Honda's "Formula Dream" driver development program. He ran Formula Vauxhall and Formula Fords in Europe before heading back to Asia for competition in Formula 2000 and Formula Dream, where he captured the title in 2003.

From there, the natural progression would have seemed to follow the path of Suzuki and Nakajima into Formula One, but Mutoh wanted a career in Indy Cars.

"Obviously, IndyCar is the top open-wheel category in the United States, and I wanted to race in the top category," he said. "I like ovals and road courses, because each have their own difficulty and attractive points.

"I love racing the Indy Cars. I know that."

Asked how a road racer adapted to quickly to turning left, Mutoh replied:

"I really don't know what the key is, but the Panther Team [for whom Mutoh drove in Chicago last season] prepared a great car for me. The car was great, and that race in Chicago [where he set fastest race lap and finished 8th] was the turning point.

"It made me realize how much I wanted to be in the IndyCar Series and how exciting it is."

HIDEKI MUTOH AT A GLANCE:

Nationality: Japanese
Date of Birth: October 6, 1982 (age 25)
Place of Birth: Tokyo

2008 INDYCAR SERIES

Debut season: 2007
Current team: Andretti Green Racing
Car No.: 27
Former teams: Super Aguri Panther
Racing
Starts: 13 (through July)
Wins: 0
Poles: 0
Best finish: 2nd at Iowa

PREVIOUS SERIES

1998-1999: European Formula Vauxhall
2000-2001: British Formula Ford
2002-2003: Japanese Formula Dream
2004-2005: Japanese Formula Three
2006: Japanese Formula Nippon
2006: Japanese Super GT
2007: Indy Racing League Indy Pro Series

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

2001: 3rd, UK Formula Ford Festival
2002: 2nd Japanese Formula Dream
2003: Formula Dream Champion
2005: 3rd Japanese Formula Three
2007: 2nd Indy Pro Series

RacingLine: IRL, Champ Car Unite for 2008 Season

Thu, 01 May 2008 13:45:00 -0700

Robert Clarke, the departing president of Honda Performance Development, spent the summer of 2006 crisscrossing the country, back and forth between Indy Racing League and Champ Car World Series events, preaching the gospel of unification.

He talked to drivers, owners, sponsors, manufacturers and promoters on both sides and tried to find some middle ground so they could co-exist. His efforts were in vain, however, as nothing could be resolved. "It seemed they were both going in opposite directions," he lamented at that time.

When he announced last year that he would be stepping down, Clarke said his only regret in 15 years of open-wheel racing was not being able to help achieve peace.

But he got a pleasant surprise in February when Tony George, Kevin Kalkhoven and Gerald Forsythe agreed to bury the hatchet instead of each other.

"Best retirement present I could have asked for," said Clarke, who will serve as a consultant through June for HPD and will finally get to see Honda engines in a unified Indianapolis 500, as well as a single open-wheel series after 13 years of division.

The long-awaited amalgamation, for lack of a better word, came about because George made a generous offer that the co-owners of Champ Car could not refuse.

The IndyCar founder and Chief Executive Officer pledged free cars and engine leases, plus $1.2 million per car, to any and all Champ Car teams that join the League.

Paul Newman, Carl Haas, Mike Lanigan, Dale Coyne, Jimmy Vasser, Eric Bachelart and Keith Wiggins joined Kalkhoven in accepting TG's offer and suddenly IndyCar racing was looking at 24 or more starters for this weekend's season opener in Homestead, Fla.

Not only did the unification announcemnet make Clarke's day, it gave everybody with a passion for open-wheel a reason to be optimistic about the future.

"I think the winners are the fans, the teams, the drivers, and indeed the potential that we have to be able to grow the sport over the next few years," said Kalkhoven, who, along with Craig Gore and Vasser, will field cars for Will Power and Oriol Servia in 2008.

"I've said many times that in itself, unification isn't some sort of magic bullet to be able to get us forward. It's going to take an awful lot of hard work. This is something that is going to still require a huge amount of work.

"But I think the long-term potential is extremely exciting for everybody associated with this."

After several failed attempts during the past decade, George got everybody back under one roof almost 30 years after the United States Auto Club [USAC] lost its hold on Indy Cars to Championship Auto Racing Teams' [CART] team owners.

"This is all about looking forward," George said. "At the risk of taking a glance back, it was just last fall, on the anniversary of my grandfather's death, that I was thinking to myself that it really had been 30 years since the sport of open-wheel racing had been truly unified. There were periods of years over the last 30 years where we worked more closely together and better together. But by and large, there were periods of years where we weren't so good at that.

"When the calendar turned over to 2008, I was wondering to myself, 'Is it possible this could ever happen?' Lo and behold, I got a call that just made me feel really warm. I felt like this was perhaps going to be the best year of my 48 to have a chance to do something that's very important to me and very close to me, and that is to help bring about the unification of open-wheel racing.

"But it wouldn't have been possible without Kevin and Gerry [Forsythe], in particular, coming to me, expressing a desire to work with me, to do what's right and what's best for all of the drivers and the sponsors and, most importantly, the fans, the suppliers that make open-wheel racing in North America a great sport, something close to all of us.

"They've been a pleasure to work with in helping to bring this about."

Besides bringing depth to the IRL IndyCar Series, the deal also included the addition of Champ Car strongholds Long Beach, Edmonton and Surfer's Paradise to the 2008 IndyCar schedule.

"We have felt good about our direction and the momentum that we have built," said Terry Angstadt, president of the IRL's Commercial Division. "I think if you give us three or four years, you will see dramatic differences. But I think you will also see immediate differences - bigger crowds, better TV ratings. We're very optimistic that this is going to have a pretty quick impact.

"I think there are lots of fans out there that are motorsports fans. And we all embrace them. And we've worked very hard at having very identifiable brand attributes. We're a lot faster. We have a higher technology and innovation platform. We have a more diverse driver lineup and run at more diverse venues."

The drivers on both sides were ecstatic. The Champ Car regulars, except for Paul Tracy, have never competed in the Indianapolis 500, while IndyCar stars like Tony Kanaan, Scott Dixon and Helio Castroneves are anxious to return to Long Beach and Australia.

"The best thing is that there's no more wondering who the best driver is anymore because now we're all together," said Kanaan, the 2004 IRL champ, who started his career in CART in 1999.

"There are a lot of potential rivalries that should bring out the fan interest."

Like Marco Andretti versus Graham Rahal in the "third generation" war.

"It will take a while for the true impact to be apparent, but already, we are seeing a lot more interest," said the 19-year-old Rahal. "You're seeing open-wheel racing on the news more than ever and it's positive.

"The drivers that are truly the best are going to stick around now and the ones that aren't so good are going to have to work harder to keep their jobs."

In the final analysis, the confusion about who races where has been eliminated. And all the loyal fans who stuck with open-wheel racing will be rewarded.

"Like Kevin said, this is really all about the fans, the fans who supported open-wheel racing, who supported Champ Car, who supported IndyCar through the years," said George.

"Their patience has finally been rewarded."

RacingLine: Erik Berkman Takes over at HPD

Thu, 01 May 2008 13:43:00 -0700

Erik Berkman is in his first full season as president of Honda Performance Development, but he could easily be celebrating a decade in the racing business.

"Ten years ago Tom Elliott talked to me about the job [general manager] Robert Clarke eventually accepted, but I had four kids to help raise and it didn't seem like the best time to be traveling all over the world," recalled Berkman.

"The second time around it made more sense and it was the right time. I'm just glad I got the chance."

Much like Clarke, who remains at HPD as an advisor through June, Berkman had no racing background, per se. He joined Honda in 1982 after buying a Honda lawn mower, followed by a Civic.

"You had to pay a little more for the Civic but you also got more for your money and I decided right then I wanted to work for that company," said the native of New Albany, Ind. who graduated from Purdue University with a degree in mechanical engineering.

"I started out in various plants as engineering manager and working on quality control before I moved into the R&D department in 1991. I was a project leader on various cars like the Accord and Acura, and spent a lot of time in L.A. as well as Japan.

"But people here always knew I was interested in racing."

His timing, as they say, is impeccable, as the open-wheel war finally ended in February and Berkman's first Indianapolis 500 will be unified with all Honda engines.

"Not a bad year to start," he mused. "I know Robert worked hard to try and make this happen, so it's great for everyone involved." He sees HPD continuing to evolve as a major player in North American motorsports.

"HPD started out to maintain and service engines and now we're designing and developing them. We've also added cars. We are fledgling, but we're learning rapidly and we're growing and I want to maintain that growth.

"I'm not ready to go public yet on how to define the new era for HPD under my terms, but I've got some ideas." Clarke expects good things from his successor.

"Erik has a lot of experience handling large projects and I think that will really benefit HPD. I think he'll take us to the next level."

For now, the expanded Acura program in ALMS and the revitalized IndyCar series are keeping Berkman busy.

"I guess I'm a little naïve, because I'm surprised how political this stuff can be and how much lobbying goes on. It's very interesting," he observed.

"But we have a unique opportunity to help define where Indy Car racing goes, and it's an exciting opportunity. I can't do it by myself, but I'm happy to be doing this. It's an engineer's dream."

RacingLine: 2008 IndyCar Season Preview

Thu, 01 May 2008 13:40:00 -0700

Every race over the past two seasons has been won by a driver representing one of three teams, but that figures to change in 2008 with a stronger and even more competitive IndyCar Series championship.

Those three teams - Andretti Green Racing, Target Chip Ganassi Racing and Team Penske - have dominated the IndyCar Series since 2005 -- winning the last three championships and 45 out of 47 races.

And while former champions Dario Franchitti and Sam Hornish Jr. are no longer in the series, there's plenty of fresh talent arriving to take their places.

With the long-awaited unification of open-wheel racing, some of Champ Car's best shoes will be stepping into the spotlight alongside returning IndyCar veterans.

Justin Wilson finished second to four-time champ Sebastien Bourdais the past two years in the Champ Car World Series and the 30-year-old Brit has moved into his seat at Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing next to Graham Rahal, son of former Indy 500 winner Bobby.

"It's hard to know what kind of goal to set, but the first few races will be bloody difficult," said Wilson, whose oval-track experience consists of three races. "We can only judge the competition when we get there but we have to be realistic.

"I don't want to overestimate or underestimate our chances. I'll just do my best and I know this is an excellent team."

Only 19, young Rahal turned in an impressive rookie campaign in 2007, with four podiums and a fifth-place finish in the final point standings.

"Obviously, it's exciting for the fans to have the Andrettis, Foyts and Rahals racing against each other again, but I'm just focused on the task at hand," said the son of the three-time CART champion.

"Do I expect to run with them initially? No. I'd love to say 'yes,' but I've got to be realistic about my lack of oval-track experience, which [consists of] one start in [the] Star Mazda [series]."

Will Power, whose sophomore season saw him score a pair of victories and five pole positions, has joined veteran Oriol Servia at KV Technologies.

Those four should provide some formidable competition for former IRL champs Scott Dixon, Tony Kanaan and Dan Wheldon -- on the road courses and street circuits, anyway.

"We've got a lot to learn about ovals and I think we all know it's going to be a pretty big challenge, but I'm hopeful we can be near the front in the road races," said Power, who has only one start on an oval track.

"We don't know these IRL cars or tracks, so it's going to take awhile, but having one series is the best thing for everyone."

Dixon came within two turns of securing his second title but ran out of fuel on the last lap of the '07 finale at Chicago. The '03 IndyCar Series king picked up four wins and led 13 of the 17 races, but lost the crown by 13 points. He returns for another run with Chip Ganassi, along with 2005 champ Wheldon, who won twice in 2007.

Kanaan, the title winner in 2004, made the most trips to victory lane (five) last year and looked like a sure winner at Indy before the rains shortened the race. But two DNFs [did not finish] ended up costing him a chance at his second crown for the AGR team.

"I think we're all happy to have everyone in one series and it should make things more competitive and more interesting," said Kanaan.
Helio Castroneves only made it to the Winner's Circle once in '07 and is still searching for his first championship, but is always a threat as he returns for a ninth year with Roger Penske.

Danica Patrick ran strong all year and notched three podiums, including a second at Detroit's tricky road course. She showed marked improvement on the road circuits to match her already strong oval-track results. Marco Andretti had a so-so sophomore season but is expected to bounce back strong.

With Anthony Foyt IV joining Ed Carpenter again at Vision Racing, the IRL will have an Andretti, Foyt and Rahal to market, along with Ms. Patrick and television's Dancing With The Stars winner, Castroneves.

"I think our series has a good chance to make some noise in 2008," said Castroneves. "We've got more cars and stars and some exciting new venues. I can't wait to get started."

RacingLine: Earth, Wind (But No Fire)

Thu, 01 May 2008 13:27:00 -0700

In today's cost-restricted atmosphere, IndyCars aren't allowed unlimited testing like they were in the old days, but there's a special place on the northwest side of Indianapolis that for the last 10 years been the next best thing to actual on-track testing, and in some ways has become even superior.

The Auto Research Center simulates track testing with both a wind tunnel and a 7-post shaker rig; and it provides IndyCar teams with valuable information regardless of whether it's snowing outside or boiling in the summer heat.

Located close to the shops of KV Racing and Derrick Walker, ARC was built in 1998 by Reynard North America and Honda to help
their Championship Auto Racing Teams [CART] customers combat Lola, Swift and Penske.

"It was a 50 percent-scale wind tunnel with a rolling road, so the model would stand still while the air and road moved around it," explains Bruce Ashmore, longtime designer and engineer of Indy Cars, who worked for British race-car manufacturer Reynard at the time.

"Roughly half the time we did work for our CART customers, and the rest of the time we worked on the Honda BAR project that also included Reynard on the chassis side. The facility almost went away when Reynard went out of business in 2002, but Mike [Camosy]
did a fantastic job of saving it."

A Wisconsin native who worked for Reynard, Camosy has re-built the ARC work force from eight to 40 people and brought in all kinds of customers during the past six years. And the workload continues to grow.

"About 60 percent of what we do now is still racing related, but we've also branched out into production cars, semi tractor-trailer trucks and all kinds of fuel-efficient vehicle research," notes Camosy.

"We just added a 32,000-square-foot, two-story building here in Indianapolis; we've built a second facility in North Carolina, and we're looking at expanding into other countries as well."

One of ARC's main attractions has been the 7-Post Shaker Rig, a platform that includes moveable posts attached to all four wheels as well as the nose, center and rear of the chassis. The posts, which resemble giant pistons, are programmed to move up and down independently, simulating the movement of the car as it moves on the race track. Teams and engineers have found it to be one of the most useful means of simulating suspension, damper, spring and tire movements ever developed.

"You strap the car to it and it shakes, rattles and simulates going around corners," says Ashmore. "It loads the wheels and it tunes the springs and shocks. It helps you balance the car.

"Frank Williams built the first one for his Formula One Team [Williams GP Engineering] in the '90s, and then Reynard built one here. Now every Formula 1 team has one, and so do all the big NASCAR operations.

"It doesn't give you instant answers, and it takes two or three years of gathering information to understand everything the tests tell you," Ashmore notes. "But if Roger Penske uses it religiously, that should tell you something."

Camosy adds: "We had two-thirds of the NASCAR teams using our rig but now many [teams] have their own in-house shaker rigs. The Champ Car and IRL business went down to almost zero a couple of years ago as both series struggled, but now IndyCar testing is starting to ramp up and we've got about 80 days scheduled already.

"We can run 24/7 with both the tunnel and the rig, and right now we're at about 80 percent capacity."

Ashmore says ARC can help deliver results with the right application.

"Some people questioned its effectiveness, but all I can tell you is that all the smart teams in North America use a shaker rig, either ours or their own."

RacingLine: Franchitti’s Championship Crew a Blend of Talent and Experience

Thu, 01 May 2008 10:19:00 -0700

The first major driving championship of Dario Franchitti's career was wellearned, and supported by a group of mechanics and engineers whose chemistry and savvy enabled Andretti Green Racing to claim the IndyCar Series championship.

The 13 men who comprised the crew for car No. 27 represented a melting pot of cultures and personalities that spent 17 races and long hours working on the common goal of beating Target Ganassi and Team Penske.

It was the third IRL crown in the past four seasons for AGR, and it featured the same ringleader as Dan Wheldon's championship run in 2005 - team manager John Anderson.

"Ando" is one of those great characters who balances the intensity of 200 mile-per-hour combat with a marvelous sense of humor and a real understanding of people.

"I don't think you could ask for a better team leader than Ando," praises Franchitti. "He's a racer to the core, but he also knows how to keep the boys loose and have some fun.

"I couldn't have asked for a better person to run my car."

Anderson, a 61-year-old native of Sydney, Australia, is a motorsports "lifer," now in his 36th year of making a living chasing cars around the world.

After a season of F500 in his homeland, Ando headed for the United States in 1973, with countryman Graham McRae driving in the L&M F5000 series. From there, he moved to Can-Am with Patrick Tambay and the late Al Holbert before embarking on his open-wheel career.

Anderson's first Indy car job was with Team VDS and John Paul Jr., and then he helped Bill Alsup, Teo Fabi, Howdy Holmes, Tom Sneva and Robby Gordon.

"Sneva was something else because he always wanted to change everything on the car, but he was always quick and a helluva racer," recalls Anderson. "I reckon I saved Robby Gordon's life when he was driving for A.J. [Foyt].

"Robby smarted off and the Old Man was just getting ready to smack him when I stepped in between them. Probably not real smart, looking back on it."

The new PacWest CART operation hired Ando to run it in 1997 before he went with Barry Green in 2000 and was first united with Franchitti, who teamed with Paul Tracy. Anderson spent two years working for CART on the other side of the pit wall before coming back to AGR and taking over Wheldon's car in 2005.

"I've been lucky to work for some really good people and really good drivers," he says with a chuckle. "This year was a lot of fun, although it got a little too close there at the end [when Franchitti secured the championship by taking the lead on the final turn of the final lap of the season's final race at Chicagoland Speedway].

"I'm an old bugger. My heart can't take much of that." Here's a capsule look at Franchitti's championship crew with analysis and commentary provided by Anderson.

JOHN ANDERSON - Team Manager/Race Strategist: Over 30 years of experience in racing - began working in U.S. motorsports in 1981 after starting his career in Australia...Earned his first IndyCar Series title in 2005 with Dan Wheldon, also at Andretti Green Racing. Married to Leslie and is an avid flyer.

ALLEN McDONALD - Race Engineer: A British native who started his career in racing in 1984 after a two-year stint in the Royal Navy... First job in racing was with the Brabham Formula 1 team, where he designed and built a quarterscale wind tunnel... Franchitti's race engineer since 2002.

Ando's take: "He was nicknamed 'The Squirrel' by Bernie Ecclestone when he first worked at Brabham. They had a squirrel fan that was always placed in front of the car and one of Allen's first jobs was to make sure the fan was in place. Bernie couldn't remember his name so he just started calling him 'Squirrel' and it stuck.

"His strength as an engineer is that he's very dedicated and a smart cookie who is very good mathematically. He never stops asking questions and is good at bringing out the best in his assistants. A quality guy."

DAVE SEYFFERT - Assistant Race Engineer: In his third season with AGR, began his career working as a mechanic and data technician for Scott Dixon and Guy Smith.

Ando's take: "We call him 'SeFe' and he's a very focused guy who is very good with data acquisition. Very good during the race at calculating fuel mileage and management. 'Squirrel' is very high on him because he's always eager to learn and he's ready to step up."

JOSH FULTS - Data Technician: First year in racing...Worked as an electrical and software engineer before joining AGR in 2007.

Ando's take: "He's a 'newbie,' and he comes in and wins the bloody thing in his first year, so how is he going to top that? Josh was our new data acquisition guy and did a nice job all year."

JEFF GRAHN - Chief Mechanic/Air Jack: Began his motorsports career right out of high school in 1992...Has worked with Team Green and AGR since 2001.

Ando's take: "Jeff is the strength of our team and the best I've ever worked with. He's an excellent crew chief, a good leader and pays attention to detail. He's always got a great sense of humor, very dry, and just one of those guys everybody wants on their team."

COREY MCCLISH - Lead Mechanic/Fueler: A mechanic in motorsports for nine years... Joined AGR in 2001 and has spent the entire time at AGR with Dario Franchitti.

Ando's take: "Corey has been with Dario seven years and is one of those dedicated guys who is responsible for the entire car. He's the cockpit man and Dario is very picky, so he understands detail and does a great job with the car's wiring."

DAVE SHARPLEY - Lead Mechanic/Outside Front Tire: Has been involved in top-level open-wheel racing since 1998... Began as a front-end mechanic for Bettenhausen Motorsports.

Ando's take: "Another good man who is always a step ahead of things. He's responsible for one of the cars and Corey for the other, and both are very thorough. Dave's redeeming factor is that he's a pilot."

DOUG BRADLEY - Mechanic/Inside Rear Tire: In his fourth season at AGR... Began his career with Joe Gibbs Racing in 2000 as a cylinder-head specialist for the Top Fuel team.

Ando's take: "Mr. Quiet. Doug doesn't say much unless it's something smart-alecky, but he's very focused and a good lad. He takes care of the front end of Dario's car and the pedals and steering wheel."

IAN SWANGER - Mechanic/Inside Front Tire: This was his second season at AGR after working for Steve Kinser in the World of Outlaws for three seasons.

Ando's take: "A good thinker and a good mechanic. 'The Colgate Kid' because he's got a bloody set of choppers and there's a shine from his front teeth."

DON SKINNER - Outside Rear Tire: Took over the outsiderear- tire position mid-way through the 2007 season... He also serves as a lead mechanic on the #26 NYSE car driven by Marco Andretti.

Ando's take: "We were hard-pressed for an outside tire changer, so halfway through the season we stole him from Marco's team on race weekends because we were contending for the championship and we wanted to strengthen our team. He works on Marco's car during the week and then for us on race day."

ALEX HERING - Lead Gearbox Mechanic: A 25-year veteran who joined Team Green in 1998 as the gearbox mechanic for Dario Franchitti.

Ando's take: "'The Kraut' can be a great pain, but that's why we like him. He acts like he's spending his own money, but he's a master of the gearbox and is very in-tune with all its little idiosyncrasies. He should have 'Gearbox Guy' tattooed on his forehead."

SCOTT LYNCH - Transport Driver: Began his career in motorsports in 2003 as the truck driver for Target Chip Ganassi Racing... Joined AGR in 2007.

Ando's take: "He's the comic relief for this team, but he also does a great job of taking care of the tires."

JOSH DAVIS-BUTTE - Transport Driver: Began his career in racing as the transport driver for Kelley Racing and has worked as a transport driver for nine seasons.

Ando's take: "He's more than a 'truckie;' he's a self-starter and I wish we had six of him. He coordinated everything for our Japan trip and does a very thorough job."

RacingLine: IndyCar Title Chase Comes Down to Final Turn of Final Lap

Thu, 01 May 2008 10:15:00 -0700

After 17 races, 2,933 laps and the usual 200 mile-per-hour madness, the 2007 Indy Racing League title came down to the final lap. It was Dario Franchitti versus Scott Dixon battling for the lead and the IRL crown and, unlike in NASCAR's Nextel Cup Series, there wasn't a contrived playoff system to make the points race closer.

It was perfect. Whoever led that last lap would emerge as champion.

"That was cool. It came down to me and Scott on the last two corners of the last lap, which pretty much summed up the year," said Franchitti, who claimed the championship following the dramatic ending.

Dixon, who trailed Franchitti by three points coming into the season finale at Chicagoland Speedway, held a slim lead as the two championship contenders stormed into Turn 3, but his Target Dallara/Honda suddenly ran out of fuel and Dario swept past to claim the first major championship of his distinguished career.

"I had a good run on him and was alongside in Turns One and Two, and that's where we stayed going down the backstretch," related Franchitti. "When Scott sputtered, he moved up a little and I had to make a hard right turn to miss him, and that sent me a little higher on the track than I wanted.

"I don't know if I could have beaten him to the finish line, but it was going to be close. It turned out to be a lot more exciting than I would have liked."

The 34-year-old Scotsman became the third consecutive driver to capture the IRL title and the Indianapolis 500 in the same season, while giving Andretti Green Racing a third championship to join Tony Kanaan (2004) and Dan Wheldon (2005).

"I'm happier than I thought I would [be]," admitted Franchitti, who scored four victories in 2007. "Winning the Indy 500, that was a great feeling, but this is different.

"I think because it's the whole year rolled into one, it means a hell of a lot. I always wanted to win Indy and a championship, and to accomplish both of those is massive."

As expected, it was a three-team battle between AGR, Target Ganassi and Team Penske in '07, as they combined to win all 17 races.

But down the stretch it was Franchitti and Kanaan against Dixon.

"I appreciate the challenge that Scott and his team gave us all year, and they were tough. They really were tough. And, again, that's another reason, when you beat competition of that nature - when you look at the people, the people that you've had to beat on the way to doing this - that gives me satisfaction knowing I've done a good job, and my team has done a good job.

"We said all year, even with a 65-point lead [in early July], I kept saying it was going to be close and it was."

Franchitti, whose boyhood idol, Jimmy Clark, triumphed at the 1965 Indianapolis 500, put his face on the Borg-Warner Trophy in the rainshortened May classic, and he followed that up with short-track wins at Iowa and Richmond before taking the finale on the Chicagoland Speedway oval outside Joliet, Ill.

"Four wins... all on ovals. That's not what people imagined," said the superb road racer.

Dixon, the 2003 IRL king who wound up 13 points behind Franchitti, ripped off three straight victories at Watkins Glen, Nashville and Mid-Ohio before taking a pivotal win at Sonoma. Calif. in late August, which put him in the point lead.

Kanaan, who led everybody with five wins, at Motegi, Milwaukee, Michigan, Kentucky and Belle Isle, sacrificed a chance to win at Sonoma to run interference for Franchitti and finished third, 61 points behind his teammate and good friend.

Wheldon won two of the first four races (Homestead and Kansas City) but only had four other top-five finishes and had to settle for fourth place.

Helio Castroneves (St. Pete) and three-time IndyCar Series champ Sam Hornish Jr. (Texas) each triumphed once but suffered too many DNFs (Did Not Finish) to contend for the title.

In her initial campaign with Andretti Green Racing, Danica Patrick came through with three podium performances (third at Texas and Nashville and second at Belle Isle) to place a very respectable seventh in the point standings.

Ryan Hunter-Reay, who didn't join Rahal Letterman Racing until there were six races remaining, turned in some strong runs and was Rookie of the Year.

RacingLine: IndyCar Series Revamps Purse Structure in Attempt to Help Stabilize Teams

Thu, 01 May 2008 10:04:00 -0700

In an effort to help its mid-level and smaller teams, plus put more money in everyone's pocket at Indianapolis during May, the IndyCar Series is bolstering and restructuring its earnings distribution.

Beginning next year, a program called IndyCar TEAM: Team Enhancement and Allocation Matrix, will award a minimum of $1.2 million to each car entered to compete in the entire 2008 IRL season, including the Indianapolis 500.

The existing event purse formula will go away, but the Indianapolis 500 purse will increase by 25 percent.

And the IndyCar Series champion will continue to receive a $1 million bonus, as in past seasons, with second through fifth place in the final point standings getting end-of-season bonuses of $250,000, $175,000, $125,000 and $75,000, respectively.

"TEAM is an expansion of the series' Leader's Circle Program and further enhances the value of racing in the IndyCar Series for all of our team entrants," said Brian Barnhart, IRL President of Competition and Operations.

"This is a baseline program designed to increase as the series grows and as we are successful in attracting sponsors and enhancing league revenues."

In conjunction with the announcement of the IndyCar TEAM program, Indianapolis Motor Speedway officials announced that the purse for the 92nd Indianapolis 500 will grow to at least $13.4 million, a 25 percent increase over the record $10.67 million purse paid out in 2007. Any full-time starter will be guaranteed at least $300,000.

"As the Indianapolis 500 and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway approach some historic milestones in 2009 and 2011, it's only appropriate we strengthen the incentive to compete in 'The Greatest Spectacle in Racing,'" said Joie Chitwood, President and Chief Operating Officer of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. "The new purse structure for the Indy 500 will help all entries earn more money than ever during the 'Month of May.'"

The winner of the 92nd Indianapolis 500 could receive at least $2.5 million, a 42 percent increase over the record winner's payout of $1.76 million awarded to Buddy Rice in 2004. The runner-up could earn at least $1.25 million, with the third-place finisher earning at least $750,000. Fourth- and fifth-place finishing cars will be guaranteed bonuses of $475,000 and $375,000, respectively.

It's a simple formula. If you have a two-car team, you're guaranteed $2.4 million for running all 16 races in 2008. According to IRL team managers, that will help give teams a jump start on finding sponsorship.

"I think it's a good thing for the health of the series," said Robbie Buhl, the former IRL driver who co-owns the two-car Dreyer & Reinbold effort with Dennis Reinbold. "We need to have 20-plus cars and we can't be shortsighted - we need to be stronger."

Mike Hull, longtime team manager for Chip Ganassi Racing, echoed Buhl's thoughts.

"Increasing revenue to the teams is vital to the long-term success of the series and it's a big step forward in a series that already pays good prize money," said Hull. "If you know coming in you're guaranteed $1.2 million, then a smaller team can work backwards and go out and find somebody to support the rest of the program.

"It's a positive situation."

Scott Roembke, who calls the shots for Rahal Letterman Racing, also gave the proposal a thumbs-up.

"In basic principal, we'd be for it and I think it's a good move to try and shore up the teams from top to bottom," said Roembke, whose two-car effort with Ryan Hunter-Reay and Scott Sharp sports major sponsorship from Ethanol and Patron tequilla.

"As a team, we don't budget the prize money because obviously, it fluctuates year-to-year and we end up spending it on crash damage or
whatever. Whether you had a bad or good year, you would know what's coming in [under the new plan], so that's a good thing."

For an original IRL member like Greg Beck, who couldn't keep up with the rising costs of competition, this guaranteed revenue could put him back in play.

"It has the potential to get us back full-time, because it provides a financial anchor and it makes it easier to go back to old sponsors when you're already to 'X' point," said Beck, whose last full campaign was 2001 with Billy Boat driving, when they finished fourth in the points on a $1 million budget and three full-time employees.

"It makes it more equitable for a smaller team."

RacingLine: 2008 IndyCar Series Schedule Once Again Features Mix of Roads, Streets and Ovals

Thu, 01 May 2008 10:00:00 -0700

Honda's successful promotion of an old favorite this past summer put the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course back on the map and back on the 2008 IndyCar schedule.

The Honda 200 at Mid-Ohio, along with the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, are two of the staples in the IndyCar Series' 16-race schedule for 2008.

Once a prominent member of the open-wheel family, Mid-Ohio had been abandoned in 2002 before Tony George and Honda resurrected the legendary road course outside Lexington, Ohio.

With Honda's aggressive promotion that included customer and employee participation, the three-day crowd swelled to the size of Mid-Ohio's heyday in the 1990s to watch Scott Dixon score his third straight IndyCar Series victory.

"The best thing about going back to Mid-Ohio was to see all the people on the spectator hills and mounds," said Dixon. "It was a great atmosphere and Honda did a great job of promoting it."

This July winner followed the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, a wellattended street show in April that Honda has supported since 2005.

Headlined by the 92nd Indianapolis 500 on May 25, the 2008 IndyCar series will again sport the most challenging schedule in major motorsports with 11 ovals, three permanent road courses and two temporary street circuits.

"We look ahead to the 2008 season knowing that the IndyCar Series offers the most diverse schedule in all of motorsports," said Brian Barnhart, President of the Competition and Operations Division for the Indy Racing League, the sanctioning body of the IndyCar Series.

"Our schedule demands the abilities of both drivers and teams to master a variety of venues and the challenges each one brings, with the end result being a true champion."

For the seventh consecutive season, Homestead-Miami Speedway will serve as host for the season opener, and it will once again be under the lights on March 29 in prime time.

The season-opening race is one of five prime-time dates, joining night events at Texas Motor Speedway, Richmond International Raceway, Nashville Superspeedway and Kentucky Speedway. Chicagoland Speedway again will host the season finale on Sept. 7. Each IndyCar Series event will be televised nationally by either ESPN, ESPN2 or ABC. The television schedule will be finalized and announced at a later date.

RacingLine: 2008 INDYCAR SERIES SCHEDULE

Thu, 01 May 2008 09:25:00 -0700

MARCH 29	Homestead-Miami Speedway, 1.5-mile oval (Night event)
APRIL 6	Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, 1.8-mile street course
APRIL 19	Twin Ring Motegi, 1.5-mile oval
APRIL 27	Kansas Speedway, 1.5-mile oval
MAY 25	Indianapolis Motor Speedway, 2.5-mile oval
JUNE 1	The Milwaukee Mile, 1-mile oval
JUNE 7	Texas Motor Speedway, 1.5-mile oval (Night event)
JUNE 22	Iowa Speedway, .875-mile oval
JUNE 28	Richmond International Raceway, .75-mile oval (Night event)
JULY 6	Watkins Glen International, 3.37-mile road course
JULY 12	Nashville Superspeedway, 1.33-mile oval (Night event)
JULY 20	Honda 200 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, 2.258-mile road course
AUG. 9	Kentucky Speedway, 1.5-mile oval (Night event)
AUG. 24	Infineon Raceway, 2.4-mile road course
AUG. 31	The Raceway at Belle Isle Park, 2.096-mile street course
SEPT. 7	Chicagoland Speedway, 1.5-mile oval

RacingLine: Honda's Indy Car Engine Evolves Yet Again.

Tue, 27 Mar 2007 11:31:00 -0700

The evolution of Honda's Indy Car engine is state-of-the-art, but it certainly isn't a typical progression in motorsports.

In 2003, Honda Performance Development unveiled its initial 3.5-liter engine for the Indy Racing League - a powerplant that would go on to dominate the Indianapolis 500 and IRL series in 2004 and 2005.

In 2004, engine displacement was dropped from 3.5 to 3.0 liters, in order to help contain accelerating speeds at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Then, in 2006, Honda accepted the daunting task of
supplying every IRL team with engines.

But, last year, when the Indy Racing League announced it would be the first sanctioning body to race with 100 percent ethanol in 2007, it was 'back to the drawing board' again for HPD - and back to a 3.5-liter engine.

"It's been an interesting period," says Roger Griffiths, Race Team Technical Leader for HPD, who joined the company in 2003 after a career in Formula One and sports cars. "When the IRL announced it was going to one hundred percent ethanol and added more road courses, we knew we needed to react.

"We could either increase the RPM limit of the engine or the increase the engine's displacement capacity. We opted for the latter because it offers some additional benefits."

Among those are performance and endurance.

"Straight away, we knew the performance of the engine would be different with ethanol compared to ethanol, but our concern wasn't so much for the ovals, it was the road and street circuits we had to focus
on," said Griffiths.

"This 3.5 liter version of the Honda Indy V8 engine will give us more midrange torque and better driveability. In other words, we'll increase the range of the power band, which makes the engine less peaky and much better suited for road racing.

"It will also be less stressed, so that will be good for reliability, and that's good for the teams. With increased engine life, we should be able to get an additional race out of an engine, and engines that ran two races between rebuilds should now last for at least three.

"That helps reduce costs to the teams."

The layman might think this is an easy fix, to just go back to the old 3.5 liter model.

"It's not the same engine," explains Griffiths, "but we did learn a lot previously going from three and a half to three liters. Therefore, increasing the displacement was easy enough. We just changed the connecting rods and crankshaft and maintained the same bore.

"There were also some minor revisions to the intake system, but in doing so, I think we've improved the overall durability." Roger wants to make sure everyone understands it's a community effort.

"We work in conjunction with Ilmor Engineering in the U.K. and Detroit because we each have specific strengths, whether it's engine mapping, performance or durability."

It's a different challenge nowadays for HPD. Instead of concentrating on defeating manufacturing rivals, there's a different mindset.

"Our primary purpose is not to affect the outcome of the championship with an engine failure, and to keep the playing field for the entire series as level as we possibly can," said Griffiths.

"After last season, we sent out a survey to all the teams and asked them what they thought of the product. And the universal response was that Honda supplied an equal footing and that made us feel good.

"That's what we want to do, and let them fight it out on the track."

RacingLine: Fighting For The Title

Tue, 27 Mar 2007 11:29:00 -0700

It's going to be tough to beat last year's dramatic showdown for the IndyCar series title, since four drivers went into the final race with a chance to be champion.

But what might be even tougher is finding a way to beat Team Penske and Target/Chip Ganassi Racing in 2007.

Sam Hornish Jr. and teammate Helio Castroneves each won four races for Team Penske in '06, while Dan Wheldon and Scott Dixon earned two victories apiece for Target/Ganassi. That quartet also captured 12 of 14 pole positions, led 2,081 laps out of 2,510 and ranked first through fourth in the final point standings.

"We wouldn't be here if we didn't think we could beat those guys but, obviously, it's tough and you have to do everything right," said Vitor Meira, who finished fifth in '06 and returns with Panther Racing.

"You can't leave anything on the table because those guys seldom do."

Coming off his third IndyCar championship and initial win at Indianapolis, Hornish had a dream season for Roger Penske and doesn't see a lot changing in '07.

"From Day One, when everybody found out we would all be running Honda engines, everybody predicted it [the championship] would come down to us and Ganassi and that's exactly what happened," said the 27-year-old, who grew up idolizing Rick Mears.

"I definitely think it could be the same battle as last year and I feel like there's a good opportunity for us to come back and repeat. Although, to be honest, I hope it's a runaway by the Number 6 car [Hornish pilots car Number 6 in IndyCar competition]."

Wheldon, who led a season-high 761 laps in his first stint with Target/Ganassi, echoed Hornish's thoughts.

"I think some of the teams will have caught up a little and I don't know that we'll be so dominant, but I definitely think our two teams will always be at the forefront of the racing," said the 2005 IRL champion.

"The drivers are going to have to take it to a new level, and I'm ready to prove a point."

Castroneves, a two-time Indy 500 winner, has done about everything except take the IRL crown and that's his immediate and ultimate goal.

"It came down to the last race between four drivers last year and, in my case, it just wasn't meant to be, because we had a couple of DNFs ['Did Not Finish' results] that were out of my hands," said the amiable veteran from Brazil. "It didn't happen because it wasn't my time.

"There's a saying that if you try too hard, you're probably not going to get whatever it is you're after, so I'll just focus on winning races and keep knocking on the door. It's got to open sometime."

Dixon can look at a bad final pit stop in Sonoma (when he clearly had the dominant car) as the culprit that prevented him from taking his second championship, but he was happy to be back at the front.

"I think Dan and I had a ton of missed opportunities last year and we could have easily won eight races between us," said the 2003 IRL king, who only had one win in 2004 and 2005 combined. "But it was redeeming to come back with a fair package and be back at the front all year.

"I knew the first time I pulled out of the pits in testing that things were going to be different with the Honda engine."

While Penske and Ganassi held the upper hand in '06, Andretti Green Racing managed two wins, but failed to show the form that made the team dominant in 2004 and 2005.

Tony Kanaan triumphed at Milwaukee and Marco Andretti scored his initial IndyCar win at Sonoma but, overall, it was pretty frustrating for the team that reigned supreme in 2004 and 2005.

"We were definitely caught napping," said Dario Franchitti, who went winless in 2006. "We didn't keep up with development and we paid the price.

"But now the team owners have answered the call and given us the green light for development, and hopefully, given us the tools to come back strong this season."

Added Kanaan: "It's not like the team fell apart and we had to fire everybody. We all knew that Penske and Ganassi would be stronger with the Honda and, with their history, it was basically just back to normal."

The third generation of the driving Andrettis wasted little time in showing his prowess - coming within a few feet of winning his first Indianapolis 500 before becoming the IRL's youngest-ever winner at 19.

"Being on this team really speeded up my learning curve, and I think if it would have been a two-car team instead of four, it would have been a different story and much tougher," said Michael's son.

"And having a month in the car at Indy was also a huge plus because that really helped my confidence. I said at the beginning of the year I thought we could be in Victory Lane and I hope to be there more frequently this season."

The biggest off-season story in the Indy Racing League concerned Andretti Green Racing, as Danica Patrick replaced Bryan Herta in the lineup.

"It's a great opportunity and I can't wait for the season to start," said the first female to ever lead the Indianapolis 500 (in 2005). "Having Tony, Dario and Marco to learn from is going to be so good. I just want to be a sponge.

"I drove better and was more intuitive with my car last year, but we just didn't have the right package. Now, I've got the best of everything."

Meira returns to Panther Racing and will be joined by Kosuke Matsuura.

Scott Sharp moved over to Rahal/Letterman Racing as teammate to Jeff Simmons.

Buddy Rice took a job with Dreyer & Reinbold and the 2004 Indy 500 winner will be paired with Sarah Fisher, making her return to fulltime IRL competition after three years away.

Anthony Foyt IV joins Ed Carpenter and Tomas Scheckter at Vision Racing, while Darren Manning takes over the seat on A.J. Foyt's squad.

Owner/driver Marty Roth also plans to run a partial schedule in 2007.

RacingLine: '07 Season Sees Many Familiar Faces In New Places

Tue, 27 Mar 2007 11:26:00 -0700

Scott Sharp isn't in the Delphi car. Danica Patrick is no longer with Bobby Rahal. Buddy Rice has a new team. Sarah Fisher is back in the series. Anthony Foyt IV isn't driving for his grandfather. Kosuke Matsuura is at a different address.

The Indy Racing League doesn't have many new faces in 2007, but it certainly does sport some new looks in the lineup.

Sharp, the only driver from the IRL's first race in 1996 who is still competing, embarks on his 12th season with new sponsors and a fresh start at Rahal Letterman Racing.

"I think I'm coming to the Rahal Letterman team at a time when they're really hungry to get back to the top and so am I," said the 39-year-old veteran, who shared the initial IRL championship with Buzz Calkins.

"I know that personally, I certainly came off 2006 very unhappy with our results and very hungry to get back to the front. I think I'm moving at the right time."

The man with 121 consecutive starts and nine victories spent a decade with Delphi as his sponsorship partner. Now, he's got Patron tequila backing his effort.

"I thought about starting my own team but I want to concentrate on driving and I think I'm driving as good as I ever have, so running a business and all that stuff can wait," said Sharp.

"I feel like the best is yet to come and I can't wait for '07 to get started."

Sharp stepped in to fill one of the seats left open by Patrick's departure to Andretti Green Racing, where Motorola stepped up to be her primary sponsor.

"I'll always be grateful to Bobby [Rahal] for taking a chance on me and taking me up to this level," said the first female to ever lead the Indianapolis 500. "But he's concentrating on his son's [Graham's] career and that's perfectly understandable. It's just that I had a great opportunity in front of me.

"I think learning from [Andretti Green teammates] Tony [Kanaan] and Dario [Franchitti] will be the best thing that's happened to me in a long time."

The aggressive 25-year-old struggled in 2006 and was constantly bombarded with the same old question about winning her first race, but she handles the press as easily as a 225 mph IndyCar.

"Of course I'm frustrated and of course I want to win and I'm at the point where I just want to get the first one out of the way," she said. "I can't wait and it will be a big relief."

Following his Indy win and run for the title in '04, Rice was injured in 2005 and had a tough time last year. Instead of returning to Rahal Letterman, he moved over to Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, where he
senses a new commitment.

"It starts at the top, and Dennis [Reinbold] and Robbie [Buhl, co-owner] don't run at the back anymore," said Rice. "And I certainly don't want to run back there like I did the last two years. I haven't forgotten how to drive and we both have something to prove.

"They've gone out and ramped up their engineering department and I don't see why this group can't be inside the Top 10 solidly, week-in and week-out."

Rice's teammate for all the oval races will be the IRL's Most Popular Driver from 2000-2003, and Ms. Fisher is thrilled to get a second chance.

"I didn't think my open-wheel career was over because I kept hearing there were some possibilities and then, thankfully, Dennis [Reinbold] asked me if I'd be interested in driving his car. I couldn't say 'yes' fast enough," said the first woman to win an IndyCar pole and the only woman to ever score a podium finish [twice].

"I'm going to come back and show people I'm a first-class driver who belongs here."

Fisher isn't making predictions, but likes what she's seen in testing.

"This is the best package Dreyer & Reinbold have ever put together, the slickest race cars and the most knowledgeable people," she said. "I started in Indy Cars when I was 19 and now I'm 26 and I've grown up a lot and learned a lot.

"I think people are happy to see me back in the IRL and I know I'm thrilled."

After dabbling in stock cars most of 2006, Foyt filled in for the injured Dario Franchitti at Andretti Green Racing in last year's finale, and he impressed Tony George enough to land a ride at Vision Racing.

"Indy Cars are my first love and I'm thankful that Tony gave me a ride," he said. "With Tomas Scheckter] and Ed [Carpenter] for teammates, we should be able to share a lot of information and make each other faster."

Matsuura, meanwhile, took his Panasonic sponsorship to Panther Racing, where he'll be teamed with Vitor Meira.

RacingLine: Indy Racing League Makes Move To 100% Fuel-Grade Ethanol

Tue, 27 Mar 2007 11:22:00 -0700

The Indy Racing League's move to ethanol to power its 225 mile-per-hour cars in 2007 is both logical and historic.

After 40 years of running on methanol, a non-renewable fossil fuel made from natural gas, the IRL began
looking into ethanol with a push from the late Paul Dana.

"It was early December in 2005 when I first met with the Ethanol group led by Paul Dana, Tom Sluenecka, Dave Vander Grind, Jeff Broin and Ron Fagen," recalled Bobby Rahal, the 1986 Indy 500 winner, who coowns the Team Ethanol Indy Car effort with David Letterman. "I was aware of the program they had initiated with the IndyCar Series to run on a 90 percent 10 percent methanol/ethanol mix in 2006, and to make the move to 100 per cent fuel-grade ethanol in 2007.

"As I sat across the table from these men discussing the Team Ethanol program, the wisdom of the concept was clearly visible. What better way to dispel the myths against Ethanol than to demonstrate weekly the high-performance aspects of the fuel?

"It made perfect sense and with a passionate advocate like Paul the basis of a partnership was forged."

Ethanol is a clean-burning, renewable fuel produced from plants that reduces air pollution. Since the 1980s, all major auto manufacturers have approved its use by up to 10 percent.

Like the rear-view mirror, fuel cells or SAFER walls, it's just another innovation from racing that's making life better for the average American.

"Our series is at the forefront of 'The Greening of Racing' as the first in motorsports to embrace a renewable fuel source," said Jeff Simmons, driver of the Ethanol car. "All of us in the IndyCar Series will be demonstrating under harsh automotive conditions that it is possible to have an environmentally-friendly fuel that delivers real performance.

"The message to consumers is clear: if a cutting-edge, 650-horsepower IndyCar Series vehicle can run safely and effectively at 230 miles per hour on 100 percent ethanol, so can a passenger sedan, mini-van or SUV on E10, or a flex-fuel vehicle on E85.

"And it has clear environmental advantages over the other available fuel sources."

Switching from methanol to ethanol presented a new set of challenges for Honda.

"The most important aspect was making sure all the engine components that come into contact with the fuel are ethanol-compatible," said Roger Griffiths, Race Team Technical Leader for Honda Performance Development.

"This includes the fuel injectors, fuel lines and seals. Plus, the ECU [Engine Control Unit] settings also have to be adjusted to meet the burn requirements of ethanol. But I think we've made a smooth transition."

Besides getting better fuel mileage, the drivers have noticed one other thing during pre-season testing.

"My car runs the same, it just smells better," said Scott Dixon.

RacingLine: "Month Of May" Engine Deals Help IRL Fill Indianapolis 500 Grid

Mon, 26 Jun 2006 15:27:29 -0700

The Indy Racing League frowned on engine leases when it started in 1996 but, a decade later, it was thanks to Honda's bargain-basement lease prices that the traditional 33 cars made it to the starting grid for the 90th Indianapolis 500.

Because of today's tough economics, owners and sponsors have become scarce in open-wheel racing and, for the first time in its existence, the size of the average IndyCar field is under 20 cars in 2006.

It had been a struggle to fill the field at Indy the past two years and required some last-minute deals just to get to 33 cars. Yet, because of Honda's helping hand, a full field was guaranteed midway through the month.

In May of 2005, it cost $500,000 to lease the formidable Honda for three weeks. This year, the price was reduced to $250,000. Better still, a team waiting until the second week of practice/qualifying only had to spend $115,000 to have the same motor as the Ganassi, Penske or Andretti Green teams.

"Honda made it so reasonable you couldn't afford not to run a second car," said 1998 Indy winner Eddie Cheever, who ran veteran Max Papis as his teammate. "It was a great gesture by Honda and they deserve a large pat on the back.

"They helped preserve one of Indy's great traditions." In the case of teams like PDM, Luyendyk Racing or Curb
Motorsports, it was a godsend. "Plain and simple, we would not have been able to run this year without Honda's deal," said Arie Luyendyk Jr., whose two-time Indy-winning father put a team together for the IPS graduate.

"I mean, my dad couldn't have afforded a half-million dollar lease, but $100,000 was manageable.

" Paul Diatlovich, an original IRL team owner whose participation had been limited the past few years because of the escalating costs to field a car, echoed Luyendyk.

"No generous deal from Honda, no PDM," said Diatlovich, whose rookie driver Thiago Medeiros wrote off the team"s primary car in a practice accident but came back to make his first Indy start.

"I wasn't a big fan of engine leases when the IRL started but, obviously, times have changed and I know a lot of us little teams couldn't have competed this May without Honda's help."

Jeff Bucknum, whose father drove Honda's initial Formula One car, returned for his second Indy 500 as part of Ron Hemelgarn's team, thanks to the affordability of the Honda.

"I couldn't have put a deal together to run Indy without Honda's great lease price," he said. "There aren't many racing series where you can go out and get the same engine as the biggest teams.

"It was a sweetheart deal."

Honda Performance Development President Robert Clarke says HPD understands today's economics and is working with the IRL to make things more appealing for 2007.

"Our engine lease went from $1.8 million in 2005 to $1.3 this season and it's going to be down to $990,000 next year," said Clarke. "As for our Indy prices, we got very favorable responses and we'll continue it next year.

"It allowed teams that otherwise didn't have the budget a chance to compete and we were happy to help."

RacingLine: HPD, ILMOR Share Herb Porter Award

Mon, 26 Jun 2006 15:27:26 -0700

There is absolutely no resemblance of any kind between Herb Porter and Robert Clarke.

The former was a foul-mouthed, hard-drinking, stubborn, brilliant engine man and car owner, who raised hell at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for 50 years until his death in 2002.

The latter, of course, is the mild-mannered, soft-spoken Honda corporate-type who has led Honda Performance Development to the top of American open-wheel racing.

But, because of their individual talents for creating horsepower and performance in Indy cars, they were brought together in May. Clarke received the Herb Porter Award at the annual Hall of Fame dinner at the Speedway.

Named for "Herbie Horsepower," the award honors individuals who through "motivation, technical advancement or other accomplishments, have enhanced the philosophies and goals of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway."

Since joining the Indy Racing League in 2003 and under Clarke's watch, Honda has captured three consecutive Indianapolis 500s, back-to-back drivers' titles and amassed 28 wins before becoming the sole engine supplier this season.

This past May, Honda powered all 33 starters in the 90th Indy 500, after the IRL was left in the lurch by the departure of Toyota and General Motors.

"Robert and his people really stepped up and performed like the true professionals they are," said IRL president Brian Barnhart, whose series has a deal with Honda through 2009.

"He, Honda and Ilmor are very deserving of this award."

Clarke, who would much rather talk privately with owners and drivers in the garage area than speak at public gatherings, admitted he was less than enthused when he first heard about the honor.

"I was dreading going to that function, but when I got there I was pleasantly surprised and taken aback by the whole thing," he said. "All the 'old timers' and the stories they were telling about Herb Porter, it was quite awe inspiring."

"I was very pleased and very honored at the end of the evening."

RacingLine: Real Time Racing's Kleinubing Shares Speed World Challenge Points Lead

Mon, 26 Jun 2006 15:27:22 -0700

After three of 11 races in the 2006 SPEED World Challenge for Touring Cars, Acura driver Pierre Kleinubing is tied for the points lead and the Acura entry is in a torrid battle with Mazda for the manufacturers' title.

Kleinubing, tied with Randy Pobst, has amassed 90 points on the strength of his consistency, finishing third at Sebring, third at St. Petersburg and second at Mid-Ohio.

The Brazilian is one of five RealTime Racing drivers in 2006. Team founder Peter Cunningham stood third in Touring Car points, as the series headed for Sonoma, Calif. in late June.

Cunningham, a two-time SPEED champion, has finished fifth, second and sixth in his TSX.

Teammate Brandon Davis ranks fifth, Nick Esayian sixth and Eric Curran is 12th.

RacingLine: Honda Powers Entire Indianapolis 500 Field Without Single Engine Failure

Mon, 26 Jun 2006 15:27:00 -0700

There hadn't been a single engine manufacturer covering the entire field at Indianapolis since 1960, when the Offenhauser ruled.

But Honda went one better in May. Not only did it power all 33 starters in the 90th Indianapolis 500, none of them suffered any engine problems or failures.

"That was our objective, but I wasn't overly optimistic because that's such a huge challenge," said Robert Clarke, president of Honda Performance Development. "We had performed well in previous races so we went into Indy with a high degree of confidence but it's still very demanding.

"I mean, 33 cars and 500 miles and completely different weather conditions. Our people and Ilmor did a great job. We pulled it off."

After scoring back-to-back Indy wins with Buddy Rice and Dan Wheldon, along with two consecutive Indy Racing League titles (Tony Kanaan and Wheldon), Honda was poised to score a "threepeat" over its archrival before Toyota shockingly pulled the plug on 2006.

With General Motors already down the road, the IRL had to rely on Honda to save the day and supply engines to everyone. Longtime partner Ilmor Engineering jumped in and agreed to help build them, and there were some new parameters as well.

The IRL mandated that teams had to run two races with the same engine to save money and, more importantly, give Honda and Ilmor some breathing and re-building room. That didn't seem too bad, since there are only 19 full-timers in the IRL this season. But Indy would be a much larger task.

"We wanted a maximum of 1,200 miles on the practice and qualifying engines at Indianapolis. Then we gave the teams a new one to use for Carb Day, Race Day and [the following race at] Watkins Glen," explained Clarke.

"Of course, it rained so much during the month that we weren't able to accumulate the mileage and data we wanted, so I lost a little optimism about Race Day. Then, after it being cool all month, we have one of the hottest race days in history.

"And usually, that just makes things worse for engines." But HPD and Ilmor delivered amazing performance and reliability.

Not only was Sam Hornish's last-lap pass of Marco Andretti one of the most exciting victories in IMS history, not one lap was lost to a caution period for a blown engine.

Hornish Jr. and Team Penske had labored for two years without a Honda and the two-time IRL champion praised his power.

"I knew in our first test last winter what I'd been missing because it was clearly superior to what we'd been driving," said Hornish, whose late charge from fourth to first had the 200,000-plus fans standing and screaming.

"I was running full-rich [fuel mixture] those last few laps and that Honda was s-o-o-o strong." Not to mention potent. The engine Sam used at Indy and Watkins Glen later powered him to the pole position at Texas.

RacingLine: Acura To Debut American Le Mans Series Sports Car Racing Program In 2007

Mon, 26 Jun 2006 15:27:00 -0700

Acura found several enticements about the American Le Mans Series, but one major attraction drew them into the sports car series for 2007.

"We love competition," said Robert Clarke, president of Honda Performance Development.

In particular, HPD loves competing against the big dogs, and the Acura will be going head-to-head with Porsche in the LMP2 class.

"We were already looking at ALMS and obviously Porsche added to the attraction," said Clarke. "But, to be honest, right now we're in a series that doesn't enable us to take advantage of all our expertise as a company.

"We've always had a singular purpose, first in CART and now in the IRL, and that can be a bit dangerous, as we learned from our experience in CART. We thought for a while we might have to shut down HPD after leaving CART.

"So, it makes sense to protect ourselves by participating in another series and it also gives us some equity. Just supporting a spec engine program isn't enough."

Acura will be joining a very prestigious group of automakers already competing in the American Le Mans Series, including Audi, BMW, Aston Martin, Ferrari, and Lexus.

Besides the top-flight competition, the other thing ALMS offers HPD is a chance to be creative -- in many ways.

"More and more series are becoming restricted -- even Formula One -- and the ALMS is one of the few that allows open engine development," continued Clarke. "They allow alternative fuels; Audi won at Sebring this year on diesel fuel, and their attitude is that you build it and we'll find a place for it."

"There's not a lot of contemporary technology in racing today, just a lot of old technology. But not with the ALMS. They encourage creativity."

And that includes cars, as well as engines. "We have interest in developing the car, and in this program
we're going to get very aggressive with chassis development," said Clarke. "We're going to have a Lola and a Courage and we're using two chassis to accelerate our learning.

"We'll be more focused on engine development with the Lola, so we can quickly understand if we're competitive or not. Our focus with the Courage will be chassis stuff and we'll take some risks. That car may not look like a Courage when we get done."

It will also be Acura/Honda's first venture into this particular discipline.

"As Acura marks its 20-year anniversary, I can't think of a better racing series to showcase our technology and performance than the American Le Mans Series," said Senior Vice President of Auto Operations John Mendel. "Our entry as a full-factory team in the American Le Mans Series will accurately reflect Acura's position as a leader in automotive performance and technology, and provide us with an arena in which to compete against other manufacturers in endurance sports car racing."

"This will be a new kind of racing for [the company]." Clarke noted. "We've never really been involved with sports cars or endurance racing."

But, come next March, the Acura will be unveiled at the 12 Hours of Sebring.

"Our teams have been selected and we're working with them on the timing of those announcements," said Clarke.

RacingLine: New Era begins as Honda Supplies Entire IndyCar Field

Wed, 22 Mar 2006 17:05:57 -0800

After dominating IndyCar racing the past two years, Honda agreed to power every car in the 2006 Indy Racing League lineup.

Which really agrees with two-time Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves and past champions Sam Hornish Jr. and Scott Dixon.

That talented trio hasn't had Honda on board the last two seasons and they were smiling wider and longer than anyone in winter testing.

"What can I say? It's great to be back with Honda," said Castroneves, who won six races with Honda in CART from 2000-2001.

"Our team had a lot of success with Honda before and I can't wait to get started. We've been a little down on power the past couple years but now everything is equal."

Team Penske, which won back-to-back CART titles with Gil de Ferran and Honda power in 2000 and 2001, has been shut out of IRL championships but that could change quickly with '06's even playing field.

"We have a tremendous amount of optimism coming into this year now," said Hornish, the IRL's all-time leader with 14 race victories and a two-time series champion. "We have a lot more power with the Hondas. We really think we have the opportunity to show what we're made of this year.

"Helio and I have really been pushing each other and I think as we go through the season, if we use our heads, we're going to be up there fighting for a win in a lot of races."

If pre-season testing is any indicator, Team Penske and Target Chip Ganassi Racing will be challenging reigning IRL kings Andretti Green Racing at every corner.

Castroneves paced the road course tests at Homestead, with Target Ganassi's Dixon second, while defending series champion Dan Wheldon, now teamed with Dixon in Ganassi livery, showed the way on the oval. Hornish Jr. hovered around the top in all three days.

"I'm always impressed with Honda, even though it's a one-make series now," said Wheldon, who collected the Indianapolis 500 and IRL crowns in '05 driving for Andretti Green before signing with Ganassi. "Honda still does everything right and takes care of everything that needs taking care of.

"Our car is obviously fast on ovals but I'm still learning the Panoz chassis and I need to improve our road course setup, but Scott will be a great teammate."

After capturing the 2003 IRL title, Dixon endured a long victory drought before winning last year at Watkins Glen. He fell in love with his Honda engine instantly.

"I could feel it had more power as I left the pits for the first time and it only got better as I got up to speed," said Dixon. "I really like the idea of everyone having the same motor because now you know you're not going into a race at a disadvantage.

"I've been very impressed during winter testing."

Of course the Andretti Green team has been the IRL yardstick in 2004 and 2005. Tony Kanaan took the championship in '04 and, together with Dario Franchitti and Bryan Herta, this group has racked up a dozen race wins.

"If you were to ask Honda, I don't think they would say they really want this one-make series, but it's a situation we had to face," says Kanaan. "I'm not pleased, but I have to say that we did such a good job that we kicked everybody out, basically.

"There's no closer and no tighter racing than what we've had in the IRL and I can't imagine how it's going to be now that everybody has a Honda. We've got a great team, but this year is really going to be tough."

The Rahal/Letterman team didn't score any wins in 2005 but nobody did more for the IRL's profile than Danica Patrick. In her rookie IndyCar season, Danica drove into the national headlines by becoming the first woman to ever lead the Indianapolis 500, and earned three pole positions and a mountain of respect from her rivals in the process.

"Everybody says it's so much better the second time around [the circuit] and I feel like I really learned a lot last year," said Patrick, whose picture graced the cover of Sports Illustrated following the Indy 500. "Everybody keeps asking when we're going to win a race and I keep telling them I'm trying as hard as I can but it's not like you can just walk into this series and begin winning. It's very tough."

Teammate Buddy Rice is eager for '06 after the 2004 Indy winner suffered through a frustrating '05 campaign. "If anything else could have gone wrong I don't know what it would have been," he observed. "It was a character builder."

Scott Sharp, one of only two original IRL starters still behind the wheel, won at Kentucky last year for Fernandez Racing in his initial season with Honda and he returns, along with Kosuke Matsuura.

But the rest of the IRL lineup has been adjusted.

Tomas Scheckter has left Panther Racing to join Ed Carpenter at Vision Racing, while Vitor Meira is now at Panther after leaving the Rahal Letterman team. Anthony Foyt IV headed for NASCAR, so grandpa A.J. replaced him with veteran Felipe Giaffone. Buddy Lazier, the 2000 IRL champion who's been without a full-time ride the past two years, returns to combat with Dreyer & Reinbold. Rookie P.J. Chesson is expected to move to Hemelgarn Racing, while Paul Dana has recovered from last year's Indy injuries and now resides at Rahal Letterman.

And 18-year-old Marco Andretti has moved up to Andretti Green's fourth seat and will be joined by papa Michael for the 90th running of the Indianapolis 500.

RacingLine: HPD President Addresses Challenges of Being IRL's Single Engine Supplier

Wed, 22 Mar 2006 17:04:53 -0800

In its 13 years of open-wheel racing in America, Honda Performance Development has always been driven by competition. But HPD did such a good job during the past two years in the Indy Racing League that it now has the series to itself and can now even further demonstrate its power and durability.

Honda is now the sole supplier of engines to the IndyCar Series and will power every car in the 14-race schedule - including the 90th Indianapolis 500. And while that may not be as satisfying as whipping Toyota or General Motors, it definitely brings new challenges to HPD President Robert Clarke and his staff.

"It's quite different because we've always been driven with developing and demonstrating that our engine was superior," said Clarke, whose teams captured 26 of the last 33 races, back-toback IRL championships and the past two Indy 500s.

"Now, we've got different objectives. We want to make sure all our engines perform at an equal level and that they have exceptional reliability. We'd like to get through the season without an in-race engine failure.

"That's our target."

The fact Honda was willing and able to come to the IRL's rescue is a story in itself and a tribute to HPD's depth. General Motors' exit at the end of '05 was expected, but when Toyota suddenly announced it would also be leaving, IRL officials needed a savior.

"Time was the biggest issue for us because we expected to be the sole supplier by 2007, but Toyota's departure caught us off guard," said Clarke. "Three months after that announcement, we had to supply 15 cars at the Open Test in Phoenix and then 18 at the Homestead test.

"That was the biggest headache, ramping it all up in such a short amount of time."

Naturally, building and maintaining the pool of 100 engines requires a big effort from the HPD employees at Santa Clarita as well as their partners at Ilmor Engineering in Detroit.

"We couldn't have done this by ourselves and both of us will be building engines all season," continued Clarke. "And the only way we can support all of the cars is to extend the life of the engine, or this wouldn't be possible.

"There just weren't enough engines in the system."

Clarke's plan this year is for teams to get two races out of every engine - including Indianapolis.

"Last year at Indianapolis we had a practice engine, a qualifying engine, another engine for the second week of practice and then a race engine. This year, we'll have an engine for practice and qualifying and another one for Carburetion Day and the race.

"If you can extend the engine life it's a direct cost benefit to manufacturer and teams. Cost per mile is the key."

Unlike years past when Honda had key teams, everyone will be treated equally and there won't be any "trick" engines.

"We don't identify the engines to the teams anymore. We just build them and ship them to Ilmor," said Clarke. "Ilmor builds theirs and they all go into a pool where they will be assigned by the IRL.

"This is done to assure parity when you don't have competition, you don't have excuses, so we just have to make our engines equal and reliable."

RacingLine: Rookie Marco Andretti Seeks to Add to Glittering Family Legacy

Wed, 22 Mar 2006 17:03:49 -0800

Most kids have driven their father's car by the time they're 18. Just not at 200 miles per hour.

That's the scenario as teenager Marco Andretti slides into one of the Indy cars owned by his dad, Michael, for the 2006 Indy Racing League season.

Obviously, the Andretti legacy in open-wheel racing is entrenched in success, as grandfather and patriarch Mario and Michael own five championships, 94 wins, 99 pole positions and more than 14,000 laps led during the past five decades.

But both believe the next generation could be the best yet.

"Some people may think we're rushing him but they don't know him," says the proud papa. "I cannot believe how mature Marco is. I wasn't anything like that when I was his age. He's shown the ability to always make the car faster and he's much more mature at his age than I was at 21.

"In each series he would always do something that would surprise us and make us say, 'Wow, he's a little bit farther along than we thought.' He's also the best talent I've seen at his age in a long time. I'm not saying that because he's my son and that's not why he got the ride. The other two owners of this team [Kim Green and Kevin Savoree] wouldn't operate like that.

"He got the ride because he's ready."

The patriarch of this famous family sees a lot of himself in his grandson.

"Marco is like I was in that he has a tremendous passion for driving a race car. He loves it," said Mario Andretti, the only man to ever win the Indianapolis 500, the Daytona 500 and the Formula One championship.

"He's got that fire and that drive that it takes to succeed in this business and he's still a teenager." Marco may not look old enough to drive a passenger car, let alone muscle a 650-horsepower Indy car, yet the precocious 18-year-old is joining the Andretti Green Racing team to take the place of 2006 IRL champ Dan Wheldon.

"We've taken everything one step at a time, starting with go karts," said Marco, who won his Infiniti Pro Series debut last year at St. Petersburg. "Each step I've taken seems to be pretty good.

"I think what opened most people's eyes was just how good it went in the Pro Series races [he won three in 2005]. At St. Pete, we went into it thinking we'd just see how we matched up. Obviously things went well, so we decided we would try some more.

"Originally, Dad thought about running a fifth car for me this year in some selected races but we knew we couldn't do that, and then we considered more Pro Series races, especially on ovals. That's where things stood, but then Dan left and here I am."

Young Andretti has looked smooth in pre-season testing and understands the learning curve will be a steep one, but he's got veterans Bryan Herta, Dario Franchitti and Tony Kanaan to lean on.

"Look at this team's accomplishments over the last couple of years. They've been unbelievable," he noted. "That's going to be the biggest thing, just trying to keep that up. I can't stress enough how much these guys will help my learning curve.

"I need to be realistic about it, but we have to take it slow. It's going to come down to race craft and how I run in traffic and all of that. It's a totally different ballgame."

And it's going to be a real family reunion in May because Michael is coming out of retirement to chase that elusive victory and tutor his son in the 90th Indianapolis 500.

"The closer it gets the more excited I get," said Michael, who's led 400 laps at Indy yet never been in victory lane. "It's going to be such a great experience like it was when I got to race with dad.

"Hopefully it's going to be our best May ever as a family."

RacingLine: RealTime Racing Chasing 10th Championship in SCCA Speed World Challenge Series

Wed, 22 Mar 2006 17:02:33 -0800

It began like most great partnerships.

"I called American Honda in December of 1986 to try and con them out of a Honda to go ice racing," recalled Peter Cunningham. "Amazingly, they said 'OK, but don't call us back.'

"And we've been together ever since."

This cold call from a 24-year-old unknown led to one of the hottest, longest and most successful relationships in North American motorsports during the past 20 years. Cunningham's RealTime Racing team and Honda have become bullies in the Speed World Challenge - earning nine championships in the past 13 years.

Today, as Cunningham begins his 20th season of involvement with Honda and Acura, he can only reflect on his good fortune.

"I've been doing this a long time and I still have to pinch myself. I'm a very lucky guy," said the 43-year-old native of Milwaukee, Wis. "Who would have thought this partnership would have lasted this long?

"Like I said, I've been very fortunate."

Along with being very competent behind the wheel.

Cunningham had no real racing passion until he was 17 and a friend took him to an autocross event, where people drive their passenger cars around pylons in a parking lot.

"That was cool, so by the time I was in college I was racing my personal car in Showroom Stock road racing on the weekends," he said. "Then school started interfering with my racing schedule, so I quit.

"I got some lucky breaks over the next few years so I could keep racing."

His pitch to Honda put him on the ice circuits of Wisconsin and Minnesota and, after he dusted off some of the highdollar competition, Peter embarked on the beginning of a production-based professional road racing career with Honda.

Cunningham's first World Challenge win came in its inaugural 1990 season, and since then he and the RealTime team have racked up 58 victories to go with their nine championships. SPEED Channel began sponsoring the series in 1999, and today it sports one of the largest and most competitive lineups in American racing.

"The series has grown a lot in the past 20 years and so has RealTime Racing," said Cunningham, who also fields Acuras for Pierre Kleinubing, Nick Esayian, Eric Curran and his 20-year-old protégé, Brandon Davis. This year Acura Certified Pre-owned Vehicles will be the featured logos on the RealTime cars.

"When I started I was a small fish in a small pond. Now I'm a bigger fish, but in a pond that's grown along with me, and I wouldn't trade it for anything."

RacingLine: Zemke's Win Caps Successful Bike Week for Red Riders at Daytona

Wed, 22 Mar 2006 17:01:26 -0800

Honda's formidable Motocross and Road Race teams got off to an impressive start in 2006 at Daytona as Team Honda's Jake Zemke scored his first-ever Daytona 200 win in the AMA's Formula Xtreme class, while Davi Millsaps captured the Amp'd Mobile SX Lites Supercross feature.

Millsaps got Bike Week off to a great start for Team Honda by dusting the competition in the SX Lites and giving Honda its first SX Lites triumph in Florida since 1993. The 18-year-old sensation jumped into the lead from the start and had 15 seconds on runnerup Josh Grant, on the Sobe/Samsung Mobile/Honda, at the checkered flag.

With three rounds remaining in the 16-race series, Millsaps holds a hefty 23-point lead (at 97) in the SX Lites East point standings, while Grant sits third with 69 points.

In what is considered the showcase event in American motorcycle road racing, Zemke took advantage of a rare error by teammate Miguel Duhamel to best Erion Honda's Josh Hayes by 1.5 seconds and give the Honda CBR600RRs a 1-2 sweep.

"Everybody knows about the Daytona 200," said Zemke, who has finished second and third at the event in years past. "As a kid, you always look at the Daytona 200 winners names, and it's a 'Who's Who' list. "I'm proud to put my name up there."

It appeared Zemke would play second best to Honda teammate Duhamel, who had built up a 12-second lead only to experience a frightening "high side" crash on Lap 44 of the 68-lap event. "It was a little slippery I guess, just one of those things," said Duhamel, an eight-time AMA national champion who is in his 12th consecutive year with Honda -- a span that is unmatched in modern-day motorcycle racing.

Duhamel, who was seeking a record sixth Daytona 200 victory, then proceeded to put on an incredible display of tenacity and perseverance. With his windscreen ripped away and his face shield detached on one side, Duhamel remounted his CBR600 and finished an amazing fifth, screaming around the Daytona high banks at 170-plus miles per hour with one hand holding his face shield in place.

Duhamel edged Zemke for the Xtreme title in 2005, and they'll be battling each other again during the 19-round Superbike slate.

RacingLine: Penske Racing Returns to Honda Power for 2006 IndyCar Season

Fri, 18 Nov 2005 08:45:26 -0800

Tired of fighting, Roger Penske decided to switch and is coming back to the Honda family.

The all-time winner in Indy Car racing hasn't won a championship since 2001 (his last season with Honda in CART, with Gil de Ferran driving) so he's getting Helio Castroneves and Sam Hornish Jr. some Honda power for '06.

"Honda's long term commitment to the IndyCar Series was an absolute factor in our decision," said Penske, whose drivers won 16 poles, 10 races and a pair of championships with Honda in 2000-2001.

"As it became clear that Toyota was re-allocating its resources we had to look beyond 2006 and make the best decision for our future." The decision was well received by Castroneves.

"It's great because I got my very first win with Honda," said the two-time Indy 500 winner. "And you know that Honda is always looking for an edge. A driver loves that kind of commitment."

RacingLine: Honda's Success Continues During 2005 IndyCar Season

Fri, 11 Nov 2005 16:52:50 -0800

Following 2004's major successes in Indy Car racing, it was hard to imagine Honda's IRL teams repeating the kind of domination that saw them win all but two races, the Indy 500 and both championships.

But, led by Dan Wheldon and his Andretti Green Racing teammates, Honda-powered drivers had another one of those spectacular seasons in 2005.

Wheldon won a record six times, including Honda's second in a row at Indianapolis, on his way to the drivers' title, while Honda captured its second consecutive manufacturers' crown on the strength of 12 wins in 17 starts.

The statistics illustrate Honda Performance Development's muscle as Wheldon, Tony Kanaan, Dario Franchitti and Bryan Herta led 1,823 of the 3,140 laps turned in '05 and claimed first, second, fourth and eighth in the point standings. Led by rookie Danica Patrick and Herta, Honda power also earned eight pole positions.

"It was another dream season for Honda," said Honda Performance Development President Robert Clarke. "We successfully retained the Manufacturers' Championship, the Drivers' Championship and Rookie of the Year Award, with 12 race wins and eight poles. We met all of the objectives we set out for ourselves at the start of the year, including winning the 'key' events of St. Petersburg, Twin Ring Motegi and the Indianapolis 500. Personally, I am extremely proud and thankful for the work that all of our associates at HPD put into the IndyCar program, and of course I have to thank all of our drivers and teams for their fine efforts as well."

On six occasions Honda drivers swept the race's top three spots - including a first-through-fourth performance at Indianapolis, where Patrick nearly stole the show.

But, from the season opener at Homestead to the finale at Fontana, Wheldon was in control as the 27-year-old Brit beat his competition with a combination of speed and savvy -- leading 752 laps and only twice finishing outside the top six.

"It was one of those dream seasons," said Wheldon, who eclipsed Sam Hornish's IRL mark by winning at Homestead, St. Petersburg, Motegi, Indy, Pikes Peak and Chicago. "My team and Honda always gave me a good race car, our pit stops were spot-on and our reliability was excellent.

"To win the championship or the Indy 500 were my two main goals and to do both in the same year is pretty special."

Wheldon took the point with a victory in the season opener at Homestead and came back the next month to complete his sweep of the Florida races by winning the IRL's inaugural road race on the streets of St. Pete.

He returned to Japan as the conquering hero after delivering Honda's first win at Motegi in 2004 and he backed it up with another 'W' on a day that saw Honda drivers finish first through sixth.

Indianapolis held as much intrigue as it did paying customers, as 250,000 fans watched history and a dramatic finish that catapulted one of the stars onto the cover of Sports Illustrated.

Wheldon, who had been battling with Kanaan in the latter stages of the 89th May classic, found himself back in front on a Lap 189 restart when Ms. Patrick swooped around him and into first place to bring out one of the most deafening roars from the grandstands in the IMS history.

In only her fourth IRL start for Rahal/Letterman Racing, Danica had dodged one accident and gained track position on a gamble from her crew. When she stormed past Wheldon, it was the first time a woman had ever led a lap at the famed oval.

But Wheldon maintained his pace and composure and reclaimed the top spot from the fuel-saving Patrick on Lap 194 to beat Vitor Meira, Herta and Patrick to the checkered flag. He got the lion's share of the $10 million purse but Patrick got the cover of SI and more national media attention than any Indy Car driver in decades.

Honda went through a rare two-race drought before Kanaan nipped Wheldon and Meira by 0.0120 of a second to score his first triumph of '05 at Kansas.

Franchitti followed with a close win over Hornish at Nashville before the tables were turned the following week at Milwaukee.

Herta handled the field at Michigan, barely holding off Wheldon, for his initial win of the season and veteran Scott Sharp, in his first year with Honda power, returned to victory lane for the first time in two years at Kentucky.

Wheldon won by 12 seconds over Hornish at Pikes Peak to tie Hornish's IndyCar single-season victory record, then eclipsed it at Chicago by beating Team Penske's drivers for his sixth victory of 2005, all but clinching the drivers' crown.

The Fontana finale was another Honda benefit as Franchitti edged Kanaan, Meira and Sharp.

Patrick, who captured three pole positions, led 63 laps and had some strong showings at Milwaukee and Chicago, earned Rookie-ofthe- Year honors.

"We had a pretty good season but Dan had a great season," said Kanaan, the 2004 IRL titlist who wound up second to his teammate this time around. "And Honda just keeps giving us the tools to make it work."

RacingLine: New HPD Headquarters Officially Christened with Open House

Fri, 11 Nov 2005 16:51:14 -0800

Bryan Herta's senses are arrested immediately as the glass doors at Honda Performance Development open, revealing front and center in the spacious lobby, a race car. Not just any car, but the No. 7 XM Satellite Radio Honda-powered Dallara that rocketed the Valencia, Calif., resident to victory at Michigan International Speedway.

"Wow! It looks like it could race today," the Andretti Green Racing driver says upon initial inspection.

Sorry, Bryan, but there would be a large aerodynamic problem to overcome for the high-speed ovals of the Indy Racing League IndyCar Series, or even the relatively slow-moving traffic on the nearby I-5. It seems someone cut away much of the left side of the chassis to showcase the Honda HI5R Indy V-8.

"Well, it still might be able to win," laughed Herta, who led 159 laps from the pole position and won the Firestone Indy 400 by 0.0374 of a second over teammate Dan Wheldon on July 31.

On a sun-splashed mid-October day, Herta joined the other nine Honda IndyCar Series drivers in touring HPD's new, 123,000-squarefoot technical operations center in Santa Clarita, Calif. - from the colorful lobby with its sampling of automobile racing championship engines on display to the tidy storage area where power plants rest in silver trunks, awaiting deployment.

The day began with an exclusive tour for members of the motorsports and automobile trade media, and later, more than 120 HPD associates led tours of the facility that they've called 'home' since February for families and friends. Each group saw the innerworkings of the high-tech center that spearheads American Honda's participation in the IndyCar Series.

The two-story structure - a widget's throw from Santa Clarita Studios - houses comprehensive engine Research & Development operations, including design, development engineering, prototype and production parts manufacturing, engine preparation, rebuilding, material analysis, quality control inspection, dynamometer/test cells, machining, parts distribution and administrative offices.

For Jeff Lage, vice president of B&B Manufacturing, the tour and subsequent question-and-answer session with HPD president Robert Clarke was both educational and business beneficial. His Valencia-based company of 200 skilled employees supplies cylinder heads to HPD.

"The Indy Racing League is growing in popularity, and we're proud to be a part of a winning program," said Lage, whose company specializes in complex machining, contract manufacturing and assembly line work for the aerospace, semi-conductor and medical industries. "Our employees follow the series, especially the Honda drivers, with a passion."

Feng shui apparently was a consideration in the design of the facility, which fosters communication and creativity with its lack of walls, relaxed shared meeting areas and traffic flow. Essentially, the facility has it all, which is what Clarke envisioned before the two-mile transfer of massive machinery and delicate instruments from the previous shop. HPD recently agreed to supply engines for the IndyCar Series through 2009.

"[Company founder Soichiro Honda] believed in competition at the highest possible levels as a means of improving his company, its people and its products," Clarke told the audience in reviewing the company's founding principles. "Honda has always viewed racing as an ideal training ground for engineers and designers. The pressures of racing challenge them and force them to find new solutions to problems as they arise. It also demands that they be ready on time - for the new season, qualifying, the race.

"If you can't respond quickly, you'll be left behind. You have to be there with your best technology and your best product in order to make sure you're ahead of the competition. The competition is doing the same thing.

"Racing is a group effort, and winning is the only standard by which you are judged."

The day wrapped up with an autograph session for associates and their families and friends with the stars of the IndyCar Series under a tent in the visitors' parking lot. Wheldon initiated a round of applause for HPD associates - "the real stars" - for their dedication and focus in helping him become the first driver in the 10-year history of the IndyCar Series to win the Indianapolis 500 and series championship in the same year. He also won the race at Twin Ring Motegi, Honda's "home" track in Japan, for the second consecutive year.

"It was an amazing season," said Wheldon, who also noted that Honda won its second consecutive IndyCar manufacturers' title. "I have to thank you guys for that. I remember Homestead in 2002, when we put the motor out on the track. I had followed Dario for a long time and he said how special Honda was, and having driven that first test I knew you guys were going to be race-competitive. You even surprised me, because you were just dominant."

With three years under its fan belt in the IndyCar Series, that's only the beginning.

RacingLine: Honda Extends Its Commitment to Indy Racing League Through 2009

Fri, 11 Nov 2005 16:49:39 -0800

With General Motors gone and rival Toyota departing after 2006, Honda Performance Development gave the Indy Racing League some positive news in October when it renewed its commitment to Tony George's series through 2009.

"We are pleased to announce that Honda will continue its role as an engine supplier to teams participating in the IRL IndyCar Series," said Robert Clarke, HPD president. "In the three years that Honda has been a part of the IRL, we've had a great deal of success against strong competition from other auto manufacturers.

"But, with or without that competition in future seasons, we wish to remain in IndyCar racing as it provides both a technical challenge for our engineers and a showcase for Honda products in the premier openwheel racing series in this country."

With Toyota headed to NASCAR, it was assumed by many that Honda would follow suit and withdraw from open-wheel racing following eight championships in the past decade.

"We've got a lot of equity in IndyCar racing and, while we welcome competition and desire competition, it's not the deciding factor in our decision," said Clarke. "If we have to supply the entire field in 2007, we feel that's still a better option than throwing away such a huge investment."

George was obviously delighted with Honda's vote of confidence. "I am very excited about Honda's decision today as it brings stability and continuity to a very competitive racing package," said George, chief executive officer of the Indy Racing League. "We look forward to continuing our partnership with Honda.

"We're encouraged by their multi-year commitment to the IRL, and their willingness to assist us in growing the series both on and off the race track."

In three years of IndyCar competition, Honda's teams have compiled an enviable record of achievement. They include IRL Manufacturers' Championships for Honda in 2004 and 2005; a pair of Indianapolis 500 triumphs (Buddy Rice in 2004 and Dan Wheldon in 2005); two Drivers' Championships (Tony Kanaan in 2004 and Wheldon in 2005); three Rookies of the Year (Wheldon in 2003, Kosuke Matsuura in 2004 and Danica Patrick in 2005); and a total of 28 IndyCar Series race victories.