Off The Wall Racing News

Your 2011 Open Wheel Primer...

Indy Car

IndyCar: Interest shown in $5M gambit

Remember the $5,000,000 IndyCar is prepared to hand to any non-IndyCar driver who might win their season finale race in Las Vegas? Well, according to IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard, the offer has spawned a lot of inquiries from the other circuits' drivers. Without divulging any names, Bernard stated, "Some of the names are fantastic. I think people will be surprised on who wants to drive it."

Included in the overtures were drivers from NASCAR, Formula 1, Supercross and Rally.

"The bottom line is us trying to gain credibility, to say that our drivers are the best drivers in the world," Bernard said. "They're the fastest, most versatile drivers in the world. That's really what this is all about, is putting that out there to say, 'If you don't believe it, come take a look.' "

Last year’s IndyCar finale from Homestead was broadcast on Versus while this year’s Las Vegas finale will be on ABC with Bernard pointing out, "Our whole key to this is last year we did a .3 rating on our championship race. In my opinion, that's the best-kept secret in motorsports. If we can't do a 1.5 or 2 rating on network television, I would consider it a failure."

"Our drivers have not been able to create the credibility they need," he said. "It's not because they don't have the talent; it's because there's been no emotional attachment to our fan base. What we have to do is bring that back."
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IndyCar 2010 Final Point Standings – Top 10 –


1 Dario Franchitti - 602
2 Will Power - 597
3 Scott Dixon - 547
4 Helio Castroneves - 531
5 Ryan Briscoe - 482
6 Tony Kanaan - 453
7 Ryan Hunter-Reay - 445
8 Marco Andretti - 392
9 Dan Wheldon - 388
10 Danica Patrick – 367

To the victor go the spoils... Dario and wife Ashley Judd.
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Here’s a list of the 2011 IndyCar Teams and Drivers

Chip Ganassi Racing – Car #9 – Scott Dixon – Sponsored by Target, #10 – Dario Franchitti – Target, #38 – Graham Rahal - Service Central and #83 Charlie Kimball (R) – Novo Nordisk
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Team Penske - #3 – Helio Castroneves – Shell/AAA, #6 – Ryan Briscoe – IZOD/PPG and #12 – Will Power – Verizon Wireless
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Andretti Autosport - #7 – Danica Patrick – GoDaddy.com, #26 – Marco Andretti – Venom Energy Drink, #27 – Mike Conway – GoDaddy.com, #28 – Ryan Hunter-Reay – DHL/Sun Drop and #43 – John Andretti – Window World
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Panther Racing - #4 – J.R. Hildebrand (R) – U.S. National Guard
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Dreyer & Reinbold Racing - #22 – Justin Wilson – Z-Line Designs/Dad’s Root Beer, #23 – Paul Tracy – Wix Filters and #24 – Ana Beatriz (R) – Petroleo Ipiranga/Lubrizol
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A.J. Foyt Enterprises - #14 – Vitor Meira – ABC Supply Company and #41 TBA – ABC Supply Company
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Sam Schmidt Motorsports - #77 – Alex Tagliani – Bowers & Wilkins, #88 – Jay Howard – Service Central, #99 – Townsend Bell – Herbalife and TBA – Wade Cunningham (R) – Creatherm
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HVM Racing - #78 – Simona de Silvestro – Entergy
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KV Racing Technology – Lotus - #5 – Takuma Sato – Lotus Cars/Panasonic, #8 – E.J. Viso – Lotus Cars/PDVSA and #82 – Tony Kanaan – Lotus Cars/ GEICO/Cerveja Itaipava
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Dale Coyne Racing - #18 – TBA – TBA and #36 – TBA – Boy Scouts of America
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Newman/Hass Racing - #2 – Oriol Servia – TBA and #6 – TBA – TBA
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Conquest Racing - #34 - Sebastian Saavedra (R) – TBA and #36 – TBA – TBA
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AFS Racing - #17 – Raphael Matos – Automatic Fire Sprinklers
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Sarah Fisher Racing - #67 – Ed Carpenter – Dollar General
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Team REDLINE Xtreme – #TBA – TBA – REDLINE Xtreme Energy Drink
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Bryan Herta Autosport - #TBA – TBA – TAB
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So we’ve got 36 potential cars with 29 signed drivers and 30 cars with sponsors…
Where’s IndyCar’s 2003 Rookie of the Year and 2005 Indianapolis 500 Champion Dan Wheldon? He was replaced at Panther Racing by rookie J.R. Hildebrand!
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The 2011 IndyCar season kicks off this weekend in St. Petersburg Florida with the running of the Honda Grand Prix.



ABC TV's coverage: Live Sunday, March 27th @ 12:30pm-3:00pm ET

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And for all you fellow head-scratchers out there when it comes to picking a winner...

From the Las Vegas Hilton Super Book here are the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg odds:

http://robertsnascarnotes.blogspot.com/p/las-vegas-hilton-super-book-auto-racing.html

Will Power 2/1, Dario Franchitti 5/1, Helio Castroneves 5/1, Scott Dixon 6/1, Ryan Briscoe 7/1, Ryan Hunter-Reay 12/1, Justin Wilson 12/1, Graham Rahal 15/1, Sebastien Bourdais 15/1, Marco Andretti 25/1, Alex Tagliani 50/1
Mike Conway 50/1, Tony Kanaan 50/1, Takuma Sato 100/1, Raphael Matos 100/1, Danica Patrick 100/1 and Vitor Meira 100/1

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Formula 1

Bernie Not Going to Melbourne

The President and CEO of Formula One Management and Formula One Administration, Bernie Ecclestone won't be on hand for the Formula One season opener in Melbourne Australia this weekend so he can meet with New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg to discuss plans to put in a Formula One race circuit on New York City's Staten Island. The move (snub) has added fuel to a growing fire that this season will be the last for the Australian Grand Prix. Only time will tell...
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Robert Kubica To Have More Surgery

Since his accident in a rally on February 6th Robert Kubica has gone through three operations (seven hours to save his right hand, one on his shoulder and another on his leg) and now he will have a final procedure on his elbow. The good news is that he has feeling in his hand and can move the fingers. How long his recovery will take is only speculation at this time but I’d be willing to bet he’s anxious to get his Lotus Renault ride back from Nick Heidfeld.
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The 2010 Formula One Final Standings – Top 10


1 Sebastian Vettel - German - RBR-Renault - 256
2 Fernando Alonso - Spanish - Ferrari - 252
3 Mark Webber - Australian - RBR-Renault - 242
4 Lewis Hamilton - British - McLaren-Mercedes - 240
5 Jenson Button - British - McLaren-Mercedes - 214
6 Felipe Massa - Brazilian - Ferrari - 144
7 Nico Rosberg - German - Mercedes GP - 142
8 Robert Kubica - Polish - Renault - 136
9 Michael Schumacher - German - Mercedes GP - 72
10 Rubens Barrichello - Brazilian - Williams-Cosworth - 47
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Here are the 2011 Formula One Teams and Drivers
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Red Bull Racing – Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber
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Vodafone McLaren Mercedes - Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button
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Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro – Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa
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Mercedes GP Petronas F1 Team – Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg
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Lotus Renault GP – Nick Heidfeld and Vitaly Petrov
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AT&T Williams – Rubens Barrichello and Pastor Maldonado
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Force India F1 Team – Adrian Sutil and Paul di Resta
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Sauber F1 Team – Kamui Kobayashi and Sergio Perez
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Scuderia Toro Rosso – Sebastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari
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Team Lotus – Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen
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Hispania Racing F1 Team (HRT) – Narain Karthikeyan and Vitantonio Liuzzi
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Marussia Virgin Racing – Timo Glock and Jerome d’Ambrosio
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The Australian Grand Prix!

SPEED TV’s coverage -

Live 03/27 @ 1:30am ET… Replay 03/28 @ 12:00pm ET

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From The Spread.com

http://www.thespread.com/sports-betting-articles/032311-formula-1-odds-2011-australian-grand-prix-vettel-favored

Here are the Australian Grand Prix winner’s odds:

Sebastian Vettel 11/10, Fernando Alonso 13/10, Mark Webber 7/2, Lewis Hamilton 15/4, Nico Rosberg 6/1, Michael Schumacher 6/1, Jenson Button 7/1, Felipe Massa 10/1, Nick Heidfeld 20/1, Rubens Barrichello 40/1, Kamui Kobayashi 100/1, Adrian Sutil 100/1, Vitaly Petrov 100/1, Paul di Resta 120/1, Pastor Maldonado 200/1, Sebastien Buemi 200/1, Jarno Trulli 250/1, Sergio Perez 250/1, Heikki Kovalainen 250/1, Vitantonio Liuzzi 750/1, Timo Glock 750/1, Narain Karthikeyan 1000/1, Jerome DAmbrosio 1000/1 and Jaime Alguersuari 1500/1
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The Quantas Airlines Australian Grand Prix Grid Girls...

Bernie, if you're not going to miss Australia I know a lot of guys that will!