Autoblog

Click above for high-res gallery from this weekend's LBGP

American open-wheel racing just had a pretty big weekend, in case you missed it. While one era was beginning in Japan, another was ending at America's Monte Carlo. With reunification finally about to commence, the last Champ Car (nee CART) race ever was held at the street course in downtown Long Beach. While we've already told you the outcome, we also wanted to share some more photos. Although the race should be back on the schedule for '09, this weekend's race was truly the end of an era.

After 25 years of Champ Cars and their predecessors, next year's race will bring us a series that has a female driver who is an honest-to-goodness winner. And not only is she a winner (and a part-time swimsuit model), but she is pretty hardy too. After winning the race at Motegi, she and unfortunate runner-up Helio "Dancing with the Stars" Castroneves hopped on a plane and made it back to LAX and the LBGP by the time things wrapped up on Sunday afternoon.

While we didn't get any pics of Danica or Helio, we did manage to capture a few dozen shots of some of the drivers (mostly ALMS and Champ Car), and a few of the models too. Click below to check out some of the people that made this race weekend a memorable one.

All photos Copyright ©2008 Frank Filipponio / Weblogs, Inc.

Click above to view high-res gallery from Indy Japan 300

The third race of the IRL season and last event before the on set of the merger was history in the making. The Indy Japan 300 was a difficult race to get off the ground though, as rainy conditions cancelled qualifying and caused postponement of the race start.

Twin Ring Motegi will now forever be the site where the first female driver won an Indy Car event. Danica Patrick sealed the deal after passing Helio Castroneves with 2 laps to go in the 200 lap race. The historical event was made possible through excellent planning and strategy on the part of the Andretti Green team. Danica sat in fourth with 4 laps to go, but fuel starvation forced Dan Wheldon and Tony Kanaan into the pits. Fuel level was also an issue with Castroneves, he was in conservation mode in the final laps. Thanks to the efforts of her crew, Patrick had enough fuel to maintain speed throughout the race and take her first, and hopefully not last, win in the big leagues.

[Source: AP]

I'm more of a So You Think You Can Dance man myself, but anytime a big personality from motorsports makes a splash on the small screen's most guilty of pleasures, i.e. reality television, we feel compelled to share. Without further ado, Helio Castroneves has won the fifth season of ABC's Dancing with the Stars, beating out fellow finalists Mel B., the scariest of Spice Girls, and Donny Osmond's way too high strung sister, Marie Osmond. The dancing show's finale aired last night, which we didn't watch but felt like we did after reading TV Squad's comprehensive recap. Our apologies if the finale is sitting at home on your TiVo right now, but we promised ourselves way back in September when Castroneves was announced as a contestant that the only way we'd do a post on this show again is if he won. And that's exactly what the two-time Indy 500 winner did. Congrats go to Helio and his partner, Julianne Hough, who was also paired with last season's winner, Olympic speed skater Apolo Anton Ohno. We're sensing a trend here.

[Source: TV Squad]

Helio Castroneves will trade laps on the track for rounds on the dance floor, having joined the fifth season of ABC's Dancing with the Stars. Having won the Indy 500 twice, what other challenge was left? He'll be paired with Julianne Hough, the professional dancer who won the last season with Olympic speed skater Apolo Anton Ohno.

Castroneves' competition will include "Scary Spice" Mel B., Dallas Maverick's owner Mark Cuban, "Pretty Boy" Floyd Mayweather, Marie Osmond, Wayne Newton, and, um, Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman, Jane Seymour.

[Source: Indy Star]

Roger Penske's Porsche RS Spyders will have three-driver lineups for March's ALMS kickoff, the 12 Hours of Sebring. Car #7's regular duo of Timo Bernhard and Romain Dumas will be joined by a very familiar name from the Penske stable: Helio Castroneves. The IndyCar driver (and two-time Indy 500 champ) will undoubtedly do his best to snag a season-opening win for the #7 car. If that happens, will "Spider-Man" be able to coax Bernhard and Dumas into a little post-race fence-climbing?

Follow the jump for Porsche's press release detailing what their factory drivers will be up to in 2007.

[Source: Porsche]