How To Start a Tomas Scheckter To NASCAR Rumor

Tomas Scheckter to NASCAR? Naw, not to my knowledge -- but if you're looking to start a rumor, here's how you can back it up:

Scheckter is tweeting about how much he loves the new Palm Pre. The Pre, mind you has gotten lukewarm reviews, so why would Tomas like it so much?

Recall Scheckter's post-race interview after at Kentucky in 2003, when he impetuously exclaimed that Sam Hornish, running the Chevy Gen IV engine, won the race with "that Ford Cosworth". Now fast-forward a few short months, when Hornish had moved up to Penske and Scheckter suddenly found himself in Hornish's old ride at Panther -- which Scheckter suddenly felt was powered by a Chevy once again.

It was an amazing change of opinion, was it not? There he was in his Chevy hat, making sure his Chevy bowtie lapel was on-camera, complementing the Chevy power when he won at Texas. Not so much a Ford anymore, was it Tomas?

As much as he may cringe at the memory, Tomas has always been able to adapt to the cards he's delt. Which brings us back to the Schecker's much-praised Pre. The Pre, carried exclusively by the Sprint network. The Sprint network, series sponsor for NASCAR. Exclusive wireless carrier of NASCAR. You see where I'm going with this.

Of course, any hypothetical rumor arising from this can be easily debunked: Perhaps he just likes the Pre.

Some Clues About Indy 500 TBA's

The two Conquest Racing Indy 500 entries are still listed as TBA (driver To Be Announced), but there's some signs of activity.

First, the team twitter (twitter.com/ConquestRacing) sent out a teaser pic of a black-and-yellow bit of body work with this caption: "Our car will have a new paint scheme for Indy. We can't show what the car will look like just yet but you can try and guess!"

And guess I shall. The use of "our car" suggests they are planning to run just one car, not two. And the paint scheme looks vaguely like the Symantec car from last year:

(Photo Credit: daylife.com)

Now the word is that Symantec is not in a good financial position to be sponsoring Indycars, but it begs the obvious question: could this be a car for Tomas Scheckter?

...Or could it be for Alex Tagliani, Conquest's driver at Long Beach? Curt Cavin listed Tagliani as one of the Indy 500 rookies, even though Tagliani does not appear on the Indy 500 entry list.

Conquest has schedule an announcement for Tuesday, and I expect we will hear about either the sponsor or the driver -- hopefully both.

Luczo-Dragon Crew Member Should Be Banned

The story coming out of yesterday's Kansas Indy 300 was not Danica Patrick -- who retired early with a wheel mount problem -- but rather an ugly incident involving a member of Tomas Scheckter's pit crew, resulting in a helmet-smacking incident by a member of Scheckter's crew on another driver during competition.

Trackforum has lit up about this one, with some indignant anger at Scheckter's crew, but oddly there's some saying the ol' bitchslap was "justified" (posts #2, #4). Did Roth have it coming? Let's take a look.

As Marty Roth approached his pit stall, he lost the back end of his car and slid into Scheckter's right front tire changer, Simon Morley, in the pit box behind Roth's. An unfortunate racing incident, but it happens to many drivers. Morley appears unhurt.


Pit workers roll Roth back, and Scheckter's right-rear tire changer steps in front of Roth to ensure that Tomas can exit the pit stall. Morley is standing to the left, apparently ok.


With Tomas gone, the right-rear changer remains in front of Roth to jaw at him, as Brickyard1911 pointed out -- and in the video he appears to give Roth a hand gesture. Warm guy. Note his right foot in front of the tire while Roth's crew is pushing the stalled car.


The car rolls over his foot, sparking his "I've had it!" outburst. For those thinking this was a little tap to the head, notice that he winds up here with his right...


... and connects with Roth's helmet. Notice the angle of Roth's head now, tilted noticeably to the right from the blow. Morley, right, watches the incident.


Look, I like Luczo Dragon and Tomas Scheckter, but I know a hothead when I see one and this guy looks like the type that goes home and kicks the dog. The folks that defend him seem to be Scheckter fans, so their loyalty is understandable; but I can't help but wonder how they would feel about Tomas getting punched the next time he makes a mistake?

Yep, this is what the kids are into now -- headshots to a driver strapped into his car during competition. This thusfar-unnamed crew member *should* be fired immediately and banned from Indycar pits.

Brian Barnhart, the ball's in your court.