A Future Lotus Indycar?

1965 Lotus Indycar

There's a buzz going around about Lotus expanding their racing exposure by getting involved in the Indycar series. Would they actually put their name on a Dallara? Or are they gearing up for a chassis bid for 2012?

Indycar Heading to Baltimore's Streets?

It ain't the Streets of Manhattan, but it's probably as close as the Indycar series is going to get: a blogger at The Baltimore Sun is reporting that Indycar may be heading to the streets of the Momument City.

Will it happen? Eh, probably not, but we can add it to the list of events to talk about.

Texting Your Race Needs

This is kinda cool: Fans at the Richmond SunTrust Indy Challenge race will be able to text their needs to the track staff.

Medical emergencies are the obvious use. But how far will this go? "Bring me a beer"? "Neck massage please"? "Pleez telz the bald fatty in front of me to siddown soz I can raxor teh hawt blonde"?

Audi Indycar Engines in 2010?

You heard it here first: The latest information from Germany is that Indycar officials met with Audi racing recently about supplying engines to the Indycar series.

There were similar rumors last June about Audi's interest in the Indycar series. Waiting for supporting information about this one.

UPDATE (1/13): I have info from another source now to corroborate the recent discussions between IMS and Audi.

Wrapping Up 2008

The 2008 Indycar season was probably the most important season since the first IRL race back in 1996. Loaded with firsts -- first Long Beach GP, first win by a female, first win for Graham Rahal in his first race -- this season will always be remembered for The Merge of the Indycar Series and the CCWS series.

My personal feelings are mixed. It was great to see Danica make headlines, although I'd prefer if she won with competitive passing (as I detailed here). And while the races up to Texas set the table for nail-biting competition, the second half of the season was a bit of a yawn -- not unusal when one driver takes an early points lead.

Predictions for 2009? At the moment, I don't have any. The recession is really the only topic of conversation in Indycar garages this winter, and my usual sources of info are giving me little more than a shrug.

We can all hope for another Danica v. Milka showdown, as there's nothing like a catfight to keep the motors running. And I *do* hope for a series return to Australia, if for no other reason than to support the traditions shown in this photo.

So now my attention turns almost exclusively to sportscars as we gear up for the Rolex 24 in February.

Predictions in Review

Last August I jotted down a few predictions for the 2008 Indycar season.

2007 Prediction: "Several CCWS teams move up to Indycars."
2008 Reality: Not since 2002 and the arrival of Ganassi, Penske, and Andretti-Green has the league seen so many CCWS teams, thanks to the beauty of CCWS/ICS unification. Of course, I didn't predict the unification itself, but hey, I'm happy to see open-wheel together again.

2007 Prediction: "Indycar stars depart for NASCAR."
2008 Reality: Hornish, Franchitti... we hardly knew ya. Yeah, I pretty much nailed that one but to be fair, the writing was on the wall.

2007 Prediction: "Foreign drivers cause consternation in NASCAR: As foreign-born drivers begin to win in NASCAR, longtime fans will react with a mixture of confustion, anger and disappointment."
2008 Reality: Hasn't happened yet, and I'm keeping my eye on this one. I guess I'm thinking Montoya at a road course, but one way of the other it's likely to happen.

Racemind Online

Greetings, blogophere!

You've found the blogging home of Racemind, one of the hundreds of colorful personalities you'll find over at Indycar racing uber-mecca TrackForum.com. I've logged well over 4,000 entries at TF, but you know how it is with message boards; today's thoughtful and engaging discussion becomes tomorrow's page 7 birdcage liner.

Enter the blog and it's essential goodies like permalinks -- the perfect compliment to the busy TrackForum social scene.

As I write this, the Indycar World Series is kicking off its 2008 season -- the first after unification with the rival Champcar series. As an Indycar fan, I find more cause for optimism than anytime in the past 10 years. Let's see where this goes.