Autoblog

Click above for high-res gallery of the 2008 Indy 500

New Zealand's Scott Dixon led the field at this year's 92nd Indianapolis 500 going into turn 1 of Lap 1 and, after surviving 200 laps of open wheel mayhem at the Brickyard, crossed the finish line first, 1.75 seconds ahead of second-place finisher Vitor Meira. Unfortunately, no one on the Autoblog team witnessed the win, the allure of barbecues and time spent with family this past Memorial Day weekend being too strong to resist. Perhaps that says something about the popularity of open-wheel racing in the U.S., though we suspect the 250,000 in attendance and larger television audience of the Indy 500 this year would disagree.

While Dixon and Chip Ganassi Racing took the win, all eyes were still on Danica Patrick to see if she could pull out the first win for a woman at the Brickyard coming off her victory in Japan last month. Unfortunately, a win for Danica was not meant to be, as her left-rear tire was tagged by Team Penske's Ryan Briscoe coming out of the pits. The contact spun out Patrick and did mortal damage to her rear axle. She was more than a bit miffed (wouldn't you?) and began a determined walk down pit row towards Briscoe's pit box, but a track security officer stopped her and prevented what could've been the race's biggest spectacle.

So the IndyCar Series' most famous race is in the bag, and it was the first since the IRL and Champ Car series reunited. Things are looking up for open-wheel racing in the U.S. despite our own disinterest, and the 92nd running of this year's Indianapolis 500 sounds like it was enjoyable to watch. Maybe we'll sit down for it next year.

If like us you didn't catch the race on TV, check out SpeedTV's recap video after the jump.


[Source: IndyStar.com]

Scott Dixon, racing for the Target Chip Ganassi IRL team, is your pole sitter for the upcoming Indy 500. Scott took the front spot with a 4-lap average of 226.366 MPH, about 0.5 MPH faster than last year's pole sitter. Slotting in behind Dixon is his teammate, Dan Wheldon, just a fraction slower at 226.110 MPH.

The first 22 slots in the 32-car field have been decided. Dixon and Wheldon will be followed by Ryan Briscoe, Helio Castroneves, Danica Patrick, Tony Kanann and Marco Andretti as the top six. The final 11 slots will be decided this Saturday and Sunday. The 92nd Indy 500 takes place on Sunday, May 25.

[Source: AP]

Follow the jump for video if the incident

We are soooo glad Danica Patrick hearts Autoblog, because during practice at Indy yesterday, she struck a pit crew member of a competing team. Dale Coyne Racing's Charles Buckman, the chief mechanic for Mario Moraes, suffered a concussion as well as scalp and facial cuts after being hit and then sailing over Danica's car in pit row.

According to several trackside eyewitnesses, the incident was completely not Danica's fault. Apparently, Indy's pit area was busier and more congested than usual due to a weather delay, and Buckman took one step too many to the right just as Danica was pitting. He was taken to Methodist Hospital and is expected to recover fully from his injuries. For his part, Buckman says he doesn't remember many details about the incident.

People at the track said Danica and her teammates were visibly shaken by the accident. Marco Andretti saw the accident happen, and told Sports Illustrated, "It's a dangerous situation; a crowded pit lane, a lot going on. You don't like to see that kind of thing but it's not Danica's fault. Stuff happens. Racing is dangerous. We're very concerned and hopefully it will turn out good." Thanks for the tip, Joe!

[Source: Sports Illustrated]

Things are looking solid for this year's Indianapolis 500 after race officials released the entry list for the first running of this iconic open-wheel race since this country's two warring open-wheel racing series merged back together in February. 39 entries have been placed, putting the complete roster within spitting distance of the record 42-car grid set in 1933. Of those 39, a solid 32 have confirmed the drivers who will race the cars, putting the list just one short of a full grid over a month ahead of the race, which will take place on May 25.

Along with such stoic racing names as Foyt, Scheckter, Andretti and Rahal, former Indy 500 winners Helio Castroneves (2001 & 2002), Buddy Rice (2004) and Dan Wheldon (2005) will return in pursuit of a repeat performance. Jason Priestly's Rubicon team is not on the list, however all three female drivers who competed last year will be back again. Twelve rookies will race for the checkered flag at the reunited event this year – including former Indy Lights champions Jay Howard and Alex Lloyd – marking an eleven-year record since 1997, the year after open-wheel racing split.

[Source: Autosport, Photo by Robert Laberge/Getty]

Jason Priestley, best known for his deft portrayal of Brandon Walsh on "Beverly Hills, 90210", has entered into a partnership with Jim Freudenberg, the former general manager of Kelley Racing, to start a new IRL team called Rubicon Race Team. So far, the team has only one race in which it plans to compete: the Indianapolis 500. Priestley is known as an avid racer, though he hasn't been behind the wheel much since he hit the wall at Kentucky Speedway going 180 mph in August of 2002. He broke his back and both his feet, but not his fondness for speed.

The Rubicon Race Team advisory board also includes two pro football players: Indianapolis Colts tight end Dallas Clark and Carolina Panthers punter Jason Baker. Plans are to seat a high-profile veteran driver in Rubicon's open-wheel Indy car for the big race at the Brickyard in May, though no one's been signed yet.

We don't know what Priestley's been up to since his days in California's most famous zip code, but are astonished at how long the 90210 money has lasted him. He's done other acting work since his stint on the show, including a new series called "Side Order of Life" that debuted on the Lifetime network last July, but nothing that's come close to garnering the attention or compensation of his glory days standing next to Luke Perry.

[Source: AP, Photo by David Livingston/Getty]

We're saddened to announce the passing of Louis A. Perunko, Jr., known to racing fans as Lou Palmer, who passed away this past Saturday, January 19, 2008 at the age of 75.

Palmer was born in Wheeling, West Virginia, and was raised in Syracuse, New York. He moved to Indianapolis in 1953 and began announcing for WIBC radio in 1958. He became famous for his regular interviews of each year's winner of the Indy 500 from Victory Lane at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and served as a reporter and anchor for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network reporter from 1953 to 1989, as well as being its chief in 1988 and 1989. Palmer was also an announcer on the CART radio network in the mid-90s before retiring some 10 years ago.

A memorial service will be held this coming Saturday, January 26 beginning at 1:30pm at the Camby Community Church in Indianapolis. Our condolences to the family of the dearly departed.

[Source: AutoWeek]

The Jalopy Journal has done the blogosphere a great service today by pointing us to a fabulous video showing 30 minutes of color footage taken during the 1941 Indy 500 festivities. Normally, we bitch about music tracks being laid over car videos, but the jaunty, period-correct soundtrack applied to this one is just right. We also included a second video featuring a pair of newsreels on the race itself. You'll see the massive garage fire and a fair amount of on-track action in those as well. As the narrator says, this was the last Indy 500 before the attack on Pearl Harbor brought us into World War II. Absolutely great stuff all around, and the color footage is a real treasure. Follow the jump to watch both.

UPDATE: Great companion site to go with the videos here. Includes many still photos and transcriptions/summaries of news articles covering the race.

[Source: The Jalopy Journal]

click above image for more pics of this year's Indy 500

Usually we have little trouble covering the big auto events of the year. Bloggers line up to go to auto shows and even for those events we don't attend in person, which are often motorsport events, there's always one or two of us who care enough to watch on TV and whip up a quick recap post.

Then there's the Indy 500, which took place at the famous Brickyard last Sunday. Not one of us watch CART Champ Car IRL, instead favoring the American LeMans Series as our motorsport of choice, with NASCAR's Nextel Cup coming in a distant second perhaps. Knowing this about Team Autoblog, I set aside some time on Sunday to watch the Indianapolis 500.

Read more after the jump.

[Source: Indy500.com]

NOTE: I know jack about the IRL and CART, so excuse my egregious errors above, but in my adult lifetime this form of racing in the U.S. has never been interesting enough to watch. I'll catch the Indy 500 out of respect for an historic race with a lot of history, and it's holds my attention because most of the racers are readily identifiable, unless it rains, in which case I'll obviously tune out.

Linux is pretty good at harnessing processor speed, and Chastain Motorsports is hoping to snare some of that effect to propel their Panoz/Honda to victory. The distinctive Penguin logo, "Tux," has been affixed to the nose of the 200+ MPH car in anticipation of meeting a donation goal. The famously open-source OS is applying that philosophy to sponsorship. The Tux 500 is an effort to raise $350,000 in exchange for those high-speed chilled fowl on the race car. There are perks for large donation amounts, but there is no shame in collecting lots of $1 gifts, either. It is an interesting concept, and we will be looking for the distinctive blue car when the checkered flag drops at the Indy 500. As long as the effort secures $25,000, the decals will stay on the car. Currently, donations total $7,600, and the organizers are confident that they'll at least make it to that $25K figure.

[Source: Wired]

click image above or images below to view new live shots of these exclusive Corvettes

General Motors unveiled a pair of special edition Corvettes at the Chicago Auto Show yesterday, both of which commemorate the Vette's involvement in motorsports. The Ron Fellows ALMS GT1 Champion Corvette Z06 and Corvette Indy 500 Pace Car edition are both only trim packages with stock mechanicals, yet the visual impact of any Vette in Atomic Orange or the ultra exclusive Arctic White is breathtaking.

The Ron Fellows ALMS GT1 Champion Corvette Z06 was developed to celebrate the first man to win an ALMS race in the C5.R back in 2000. The Fellows Z06 is even more exclusive than the Indy 500 Pace Car replica, with only 399 cars being built. In our eyes, it's the better looking of the two (that's why we took more pics of it), with an exclusive coating of Arctic White paint accented by subtle red and silver fender badging. The Z06 wheels are coated in chrome and the windshield's adorned with a full-width Corvette banner, just like the C5.R.

The Indy 500 Pace Car edition is a capable vehicle already by virtue of being a Corvette Convertible with the Z51 performance package. As such, the car will need hardly any modfications to pace the Indy 500 in May. Chevy will be offering 500 of these replica cars to the public, which, along with the radioactive color, includes many Indy 500 logos on the car's exterior and interior, new aluminum split-spoke wheels, and a rear spoiler from the Z06. To be honest, we'd be way more into this car without all the Indy 500 badging, but we're sure Chevy will find 500 people (collectors?) who won't mind it.

GM hasn't made a big deal about these cars at the show, and it's true they're just trim packages for a car we're already very familiar with. Nevertheless, there always seems to be a crowd of journalists hanging around these jewels.