The Official Blog of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Watching Martinsville today and thinking of July’s Brickyard 400? We’re just as excited for racing action here in Indy and have a deal for fans to come out and catch it!

The first 25 customers on Monday, April 4 2011, to buy a Brickyard 400 reserved seat race day ticket will receive one (1) complimentary Practice Day Ticket for Friday, July 29 2011.

Current Brickyard 400 reserved seat ticket holders also are eligible to become one of the 25 participants in this special offer if they purchase a practice or qualification day ticket for race weekend.

To qualify as one of the 25 recipients of this special benefit, purchase Brickyard 400 tickets at IMSTix.com and enter the promotional code 400Prac.  Customers also can call the IMS ticket office at (317) 492-6700, or (800) 822-INDY outside the Indianapolis area, or visit the ticket office at the IMS Administration Building at the corner of Georgetown Road and and 16th Street between 8 a.m. – 5 p.m./ET on Monday.

IMS will notify by e-mail the 25 customers who receive this special benefit. We’ll see you this summer out at the Brickyard!

Catch the 2011 Brickyard 400 on Sunday, July 31st

How many NASCAR fantasy leagues can Brickyard 400 fans play in that will allow them to receive live scoring updates along with points based on how their driver performs during the race?

NASCAR has launched the first, known as NASCAR Fantasy Live. Fans can now register for the 2011 Sprint Cup Series season, set a roster of five drivers (with a $100 salary cap) and then buy a driver low and sell them high based on how their driver performs.

The scoring system for NASCAR Fantasy Live is made to allow fans to easily understand. Drivers earn points by their finishing position, place differential from the start, pass differential, laps led and fastest laps. The scoring is broken down over five different categories. Using Jimmie Johnson as an example:

• If Johnson were to win a race he would score 43 points
• If he started the race in the 14th position and finished third he would earn 11 points
• If he passed 18 cars under green and was passed four times he would score 14 points
• If he were to lead 72 laps, his score would be divided by two and he would earn 36 points
• If he ran 15 fastest laps during the race he would score 7.5 points

NASCAR Fantasy Live is free to register for all participants over 21 years old. There is a grand prize for a three day, two person trip to 2011 NASCAR Year-End Awards Banquet in Las Vegas. The three Segment winners will receive $100 for NASCAR.com’s Superstore.

Through the 2011 season Sprint Cup Series season, I will be posting updates and tips on who could be considered a favorite and a potential buy for an upcoming race in the IMS Blog. Fellow Brickyard fans can comment with their tips and recommended buys as well. All along we’ll be counting down to the 2011 Brickyard 400 race this July.

Lined up on the yard of bricks for the start of the 2010 Brickyard 400 race

Join us this July for the 2011 Brickyard 400

This is INDYCAR.

Welcome to 2011. No, Splash And Go is not working on the Roman or Julian calendar. It’s just getting quite busy around here at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, as preparations for this season — especially the 100th Anniversary Indianapolis 500 on May 29 — are pedal to the metal.

Everything is just as hectic in the world of INDYCAR, where good news continues to be generated at a breakneck pace. The first big change is the elimination of the old Indy Racing League name and the creation of a new logo. INDYCAR CEO Randy Bernard is right — the old name conjures too much bad mojo, too many memories of the split.

So INDYCAR it shall be. You won’t see any mention of Irrelevant Racing Lingo (IRL) around here anymore. Big-time open-wheel racing in North America is INDYCAR, baby.

That was just the start of the news surrounding INDYCAR during a major summit with teams, drivers and sponsors Tuesday, Jan. 11 in Indianapolis. Among other IZOD IndyCar Series nuggets, Edmonton is back on the 2011 schedule, engine displacement is being reduced from the planned 2.4 liters to 2.2 liters in 2012, double-wide restarts on ovals in 2011 will start at Indy, restarts will take place closer to the start-finish line and more.

The dramatic buzz created by these changes and other positive developments is catching the eyes of the INDYCAR blogosphere and media. Robin Miller at SPEEDTV.com pays tribute to Bernard’s role in INDYCAR’s resurgence, while Tony Johns at Pop Off Valve talks about the vital, smart decisions Bernard has made in the last 10 months. Mike Knapp at 15 Days in May mirrors the optimism of nearly every INDYCAR fan, while Christopher Leone at Open Wheel America looks at the importance the strengthened Mazda Road To Indy ladder system will play in INDYCAR’s future.

These are Timbuk3 times for INDYCAR. (Remember the classic one-hit wonder, “The Future’s So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades?” Yeah, they sang it.)

The good news could keep on rolling on the television front, as a proposed merger between NBC and Comcast could signal a significant change for the IZOD IndyCar Series TV package.

NASCAR also is on the verge of a major change, as NASCAR.com reported Jan. 11 that drivers will be forced to choose one of the three major series in which they want to earn championship points in 2011. This could reduce the number of Sprint Cup drivers dipping into the Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series, as they won’t be eligible for championships.

This proposed move is going to take some digesting, just like the big Christmas meal I enjoyed. The ramifications are huge.

Will it reduce the marquee value of the Nationwide and Truck series if fewer Cup drivers participate? How can a driver who performs regular double or triple duty, such as Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick, lure or keep a sponsor for the two lower series if he’s not running for a championship? How will that effect race teams in Nationwide and Busch owned by Cup drivers?

In another change, California Speedway is reducing its spring race distance from 500 to 400 miles. Halle-freaking-lujah. Here’s to hoping other tracks follow suit. Forcing fans to sit in front of a TV for a 500-mile race is just too much in the ADD world in which we live, especially when prominent drivers such as Dale Earnhardt Jr. even admit the middle stages of those long races are nothing but parades to cut down laps to get to the final fuel stint. Five-hundred milers should be saved for a few special places and special races.

Dustin Long remains one of the top writers on the NASCAR beat, and he came up with this interpretive gem: It seems more and more Cup teams are hiring younger drivers, but the average age of participants in the Chase for the Sprint Cup continues to rise. Age and experience always can overcome youthful exuberance, I guess.

INDYCAR and NASCAR weren’t the only series with big news this week. MotoGP seismographs jiggled Tuesday when Valentino Rossi made his official debut as a Ducati rider at the annual VROOM winter media gathering in the Italian Alps. Former American MotoGP standout John Hopkins may resurface this season in British Superbikes after an injury-ravaged spell in World Superbikes, and 2007 Formula One World Champion Kimi Raikkonen looks set to stay in the World Rally Championship for another year.

Finally, CNN reported Tuesday that 49 of the 50 U.S. states were under snow. That’s not exactly a race fan’s dream. So unless you’re into ice racing or snowmobile racing, watch this incredible high-def video of Richie Tobias in a big-block modified last October at Syracuse to keep your racing fires stoked until the snow melts.

Enough. Please. Stop.

Make it stop!

NASCAR is in the midst of its most exciting Chase for the Sprint Cup since the inaugural year of the format, 2004, when just 16 points separated champion Kurt Busch, second place Jimmie Johnson and third place Jeff Gordon at the end of the season. Yet the endless bleating, soul-searching and head-scratching continues about NASCAR in reverse gear.

Make no mistake: NASCAR has problems. Declining TV ratings and race attendance. Top teams struggling for sponsorship. Yet it’s still the most popular form of motorsports in America, by far. Every other series in the U.S. would love to have NASCAR’s “problems.”

But can we just focus on the racing for the next three weeks? There are three races remaining in what has been a compelling Chase for the Sprint Cup. Four-time reigning champion Jimmie Johnson leads Denny Hamlin by just 14 points and Kevin Harvick by 38.

It’s high-octane drama, yet from Tuesday through Thursday of every race week during the Chase — after the race reports and analysis are out of the way by Monday and before the race previews and coverage start Friday — all I read about on NASCAR blogs and websites are theories and speculation about the root cause of the great withering of NASCAR. Dustin Long, who I read daily and whose work I admire greatly, even wrote that the close Chase could be hurting NASCAR.

Say what?

Isn’t there a two-month offseason during which endless column inches and online bytes can be devoted to the Great NASCAR Decession? You know, when no actual racing is taking place?

[More]

Time for a quick merry-go-round to see what’s shaking and baking in the motorsports world today, with tasty links to full stories elsewhere on the Interwebs about these topics, to boot. We’ll focus on the three series that compete annually at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway — IZOD IndyCar Series, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and MotoGP — but anything with wheels and an engine is fair game.

The 2011 IZOD IndyCar Series schedule will be announced Friday, Sept. 10, and the announcement is taking place in Milwaukee. Hmm. Think there’s any coincidence there? Is series CEO Randy Bernard going to unveil the sked in Packerland just because he loves a good beer and a brat as much as the next guy?

You can connect the dots.

While the biggest story this week in the IZOD IndyCar Series is what tracks will and won’t appear on the 2011 schedule,  there’s still a crazy 2010 championship chase going on. Will Power leads Dario Franchitti by just 17 points, and — start the foreboding music of doom — the last two races take place on the equivalent of kryptonite to Superman Will, ovals.

Still, Power thinks he will conquer ovals sooner than later. It better be sooner, Little Dingo (yeah, I love those Verizon commercials, too!), or the not-so-wee Scot will become just the second driver to hoist the IZOD IndyCar Series championship trophy three times.

This has nothing to do with the schedule or the championship chase, but much like E.F. Hutton, when A.J. Foyt speaks, you listen. Paul Dalbey at More Front Wing offers a podcast with Super Tex this week. I don’t know what’s more refreshing, an interview that actually features questions instead of statements with responses or that the hard-drivin’, two-fisted Texan actually is doing a podcast. Either way, it’s a good listen.

Taking stock in NASCAR, the final race before the Chase this Saturday at Richmond has all the suspense of a deflated balloon, as Clint Bowyer has a 117-point lead over Ryan Newman for the 12th and final spot in the Chase for the Sprint Cup.  Still, SBNation’s Jeff Gluck and NASCAR.com’s David Caraviello both warn that the lack of drama this Saturday shouldn’t force NASCAR into a knee-jerk reaction of expanding the Chase to 15 drivers, as has been rumored.

I couldn’t agree more. Sometimes even the best plan doesn’t work out. This year is an aberration, as the fall Richmond night race usually features at least a couple of drivers fighting with every drop of sweat for the last spot or two.

Michael Waltrip Racing vice president and GM Ty Norris urges Corporate America to take a chance on a young fresh face as the leading man for its stock car sponsorship program. While Ty’s piece is a compelling story, perhaps the best part is the pictures of current NASCAR superstars as young turks. Tony Stewart without two chins and a gut! Jeff Gordon with a trucker hat, Gargoyles shades and a porn ‘stache! Junior with the Clorox look in his locks! Epic.

Formula One continues to be the most melodramatic soap opera on wheels, as the FIA ruled today that Ferrari will face no more punishment despite issuing team orders to its drivers, Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa, to fix the finish of the German Grand Prix. That decision only plays into the cynics’ belief — and I’m one of them — that FIA stands for Ferrari International Aid.

The decision also led to cries that FIA President Jean Todt, the former sporting director of Ferrari, cannot judge a case against his old team without bias. It’s a case that veteran F1 journalist Joe Saward lays out convincingly, as usual, in his blog.

Colin Edwards

The MotoGP world understandably continues to reel with sadness following the deaths in consecutive weekends of USGPRU rider Peter Lenz at the Red Bull Indianapolis GP and Moto2 rider Shoya Tomizawa at the San Marino Grand Prix.

MotoGP officials and American riders Colin Edwards and Ben Spies paid tribute to Lenz with a minute of silence before the 125cc race at San Marino. The always-excellent superbikeplanet.com also re-published an excellent feature from earlier this season about the bright light of Tomizawa by longtime MotoGP journalist and TV commentator Julian Ryder.

Godspeed, Peter and Tomi.

Brett Bodine, 2009

He and his brothers came out of upstate New York in the rough-and-tumble modified series to tackle the Good Ol’ Boys of NASCAR and, as Yankees, made their mark at a time when the Sprint Cup Series was largely regionalized to the Southeast.

And although he’s now retired as a driver, the fire still burns, and he’s still in the sport at a different level.

Brett Bodine competed in eight Brickyard 400s and chased Jeff Gordon to the checkered flag in the 1994 inaugural.

Brett knew about the Speedway.

“Early in my career when I made the decision to go stock car racing instead of Indy car, I gave up my chance to be there,” he said. “In 1985, I got a chance to run the old Busch Series at what is now O’Reilly Raceway Park. While I was there for the event, I went over to the Speedway and went through the Museum, took the bus ride.

“I didn’t think in ‘94 we’d be running there. It was an awesome event in our sport. It was a big day for me to run second by three carlengths chasing down the leader, pretty awesome.”

He led 10 laps of that race after starting seventh, and it was his best effort in eight Brickyard starts.

“I was in the NASCAR Modified group and even as late as the late ‘90s I had somewhat of an opportunity run the “500,” he said. “Basically, I turned it down because I had made my commitment to stock cars. To be able to go to Indy with a stock car was a great day in our sport.”

Bodine is nor unlike other retired drivers who have stayed in the sport through becoming officials. The late Elmo Langley, Ramo Stott and Chad Little were some who went on to officiate. Jerry Cook, once the star of the Northeast, is also a competition director for NASCAR.

Brett has the title of Director of Competition for Research and Development at NASCAR’s research center in Concord, N.C., a facility that employs about 60 people. In addition, he has driven the pace car for NASCAR events since 2004. The fire still burns, though, for the competition.

“Every single day,” Brett said, “and I hope I never lose that urge. When you make your living at something since you were 16, it stays with you. But I’m retired. I’m very fortunate to be working with NASCAR and proud to be working for the company. Actually, I worked for them as a driver and now in this job.”

He recalled how much emphasis was on the Brickyard for the inaugural.

“We did a bit of testing,” Brett said. “At that time, it was our biggest event. We built a brand-new car. Kenny Bernstein had a history there with his Indy car. We had Quaker State as a sponsor and it was a great market for them. I qualified seventh and was chasing down the leader when the checkered fell.”

The Bodines have left their mark on the Speedway.

“In 2000, we set the track record in qualifying when I owned my own team, it lasted for a couple years and that was quite an accomplishment. Geoffrey, Todd and I are the only three brothers ever to lead the same race at the Speedway, and that was the inaugural. It’s the only time it’s ever happened.”

That moment in history was preceded by a special moment.

“It was just an awesome sight, standing there when we grid the cars before the start,” Brett said. “I still have the picture of all of us and Mrs. Hulman.”

He will lead the field this year on Race Day, but as the pace car driver, it won’t really count.

“I’d rather be following the pace car than driving it, for sure,” he said. “But we have to make sure we stay focused on our job, keep in touch with the tower.

“But you’re not a race fan if you’re not excited about the start of that race.”