Auto Racing Capsules: New car tempers Keselowski's Richmond enthusiasm
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Brad Keselowski is on equal ground, or ahead of the game, with all the other drivers when it comes to the new car being used in NASCAR's Nationwide Series.
He's won one of the two races in the new car, and leads the points race by 332 over Carl Edwards with nine races remaining. Kyle Busch is third in points, 551 out of first.
Still, coming back to Richmond International Raceway is "bittersweet," Keselowski said, because he led 189 of 252 laps on the 0.75-mile oval in the older car here in the spring.
"We really enjoyed last spring," he said.
The race Friday night will be the third of four in which the teams will use the new car that will be used in all races next season. It's the first time it will be raced on a short track, and all the teams were given the chance to test all day at the track on Thursday.
All but three of the 44 teams entered took advantage of the testing opportunity, which Keselowski said was important because "the way the other car changed from Michigan to Richmond might not necessarily be the way this car changes from Michigan to Richmond."
After the morning session, some differences were evident.
"There's definitely a lack of grip compared to the old car," Paul Menard said.
Kevin Harvick thinks the racing will allow more teams to be in contention.
"It's probably going to fall off a substantial amount as we go through the race," he said of the car, "and I think that's always good because you can see cars come and go."
And, he added, you can tell them apart by manufacturers, a huge plus compared to the cars in the Sprint Cup Series, which are hard to tell apart without a manufacturer's sticker.
Now, they will likely be able to tell a Ford Mustang from a Dodge Challenger and a Toyota Camry, although the differences between a Camry and Chevrolet Impala are less obvious.
"I think it helps the manufacturer's justify their spending in the sport and I think when they're happy, everybody's happy," Harvick said. "And when the fans say I can tell that that's a Dodge because it looks just like the Dodge on the showroom, those things help all of us. ... And it goes right back to the same thing: Well, the Ford is faster, or the Dodge is faster or the Chevy's faster, whatever the case may be. Fans like that."
The cars also look better, he said, and that matters, too.
"Nobody wants to drive an ugly car," he said. "When you have something that you like and the fans like and everybody seems to agree that they kind of look cool, it matters for sure, just for the fact that if nobody likes looking at them, it's hard to watch them."
Keselowski was third in practice in the morning, behind Clint Bowyer and Denny Hamlin.
The session also was key looking ahead, Menard said, since Richmond is unlike Daytona and Michigan, site of the first two tests, and Charlotte, the site of the final one next month.
"This is totally different than Michigan, so we're going to learn a lot today and apply that toward ... next year in Phoenix and Bristol and places like that," Menard said.
He was 20th in speed in the morning.
U.S. bobsled on display in N.C.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — The Night Train is in NASCAR country.
The four-man Bo-Dyn bobsled that Steve Holcomb piloted to the gold medal at the Vancouver Winter Olympics is on display until October at the Hendrick Motorsports Museum.
Night Train, built by the Bo-Dyn Bobsled Project, Inc., broke a 62-year gold-medal drought for the U.S. men's team.
Former NASCAR Cup star Geoff Bodine began the project after watching the American teams struggle at the 1992 Albertville Winter Games using second-rate European equipment. Since 2002, Bo-Dyn bobsleds have captured six Olympic medals, including two gold.
Bodine gave Rick Hendrick his first victory as an owner, taking his old No. 5 Chevrolet to victory lane at Martinsville in 1984 when Hendrick Motorsports was called All-Star Racing. That car is on display alongside Night Train.
IndyCar
The Glen dropped from 2011 IndyCar schedule
WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (AP) — The IndyCar Series has ended its six-year run at Watkins Glen International, dropping the race from the 2011 schedule.
"We just finished it up. We've been working with them for a long time, but we've moved down the road," WGI president Michael Printup said Thursday. "They're trying to juggle a schedule, we're trying to juggle our schedule, and it was just a matter of trying to put it all together.
"I don't think it was any one thing in particular, it was everything combined," Printup said. "Unfortunately, we couldn't make it all mesh."
The IndyCar Series also dropped Homestead-Miami Speedway from the 2011 schedule, which will be released Friday.
"IndyCar is entering a new exciting era," IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard said in an email to The Associated Press. "Fortunately, this brings opportunities with new venues and promoters that are fully aligned with our strategy moving forward. We have chosen to move away from a few venues at this time."
Printup said that when evaluating events there are a variety of factors that must be considered, including cost of competition, paid attendance, both sponsor and market support, and future growth potential.
Both Homestead-Miami and Watkins Glen, along with Chicagoland and Kansas, are owned by NASCAR-affiliated International Speedway Corp. The underlying theme under Bernard has been that the business relationship with ISC wasn't working.
"It'll be played that way, but it is truly a business-to-business representation of what we do at the tracks. It was just a matter of coincidence," Printup said. "The four tracks, we all sat down at the beginning of the year and talked about what we wanted to do. Every business has a model. They have their model, we have ours. We've got to make our decisions."
NASCAR began racing each summer at Watkins Glen in 1986, and its August weekend has regularly attracted crowds estimated at around 100,000.
Before the stock car series took hold, The Glen was a mecca for open-wheel racing. It has hosted Formula One's U.S. Grand Prix from 1961-80 and CART IndyCar events from 1979-81.
That exposure helped give the track a stellar reputation, and drivers in every series that has raced around its high-speed curves have raved about the layout. ISC has spent millions to upgrade the facility in the past decade, and many of those changes were made specifically for the return of major open-wheel racing in 2005. The inaugural IRL Indy Grand Prix was the venerable track's first open-wheel event in 24 years.
Printup said he was hopeful the series might return in the future.
"We're not going to stop. We love the IndyCar Series," Printup said. "They belong at this track. We miss a year? That doesn't mean we're going to be off it (forever)."
One of the most visible upgrades ISC made was the installation of a huge bank of grandstands along the front straightaway. Despite picture-perfect weather, those stands were virtually empty when Will Power cruised to victory in the Camping World Grand Prix on Fourth of July weekend.
At a press conference at the track before the race, Bernard said the open-wheel sport had lost 15 to 20 million fans in the 1990s, and it was his job to find a way to get them back. He also said he had asked for increases in sanctioning agreements.
"Attendance is always an issue, but these have been tough economic times, too," Printup said. "It doesn't take a scientist to figure out that there's been some attendance decline. We spent a lot of effort, time, money, everything into promoting those races and we hope that we can get back to them in 2012 and see if maybe we can fit back on. That's the best we'll be able to do. We'll keep on plugging. Hopefully, we can find some common ground."
The 2005 IndyCar Series race was held in September and then moved to June. It had been run on Fourth of July weekend the past four years, and Printup didn't think that was the best fit.
"It works for you and works against you," said Printup, who prefers an event in late June. "This past year, the forecast was beautiful for 10 days straight, never wavered, and people made plans to be on the beach, be on the lake or in a park somewhere. That had an effect on us."
Road racing in America came of age at Watkins Glen in 1948 when Cameron Argetsinger obtained a sanction from the Sports Car Club of America for a race that was run on a 6.6-mile course in and around the village using mostly paved roads with a short dirt and gravel stretch.
WGI officials never forgot their roots. They honored Argetsinger by making him grand marshal for the 2005 race and named the trophy given to each IndyCar Series race winner in his name.
Argetsinger died two years ago. News of the demise of the race was bittersweet for his family.
"I'm sorry to see it go," Michael Argetsinger said. "My father's memory will be maintained, certainly. I'm glad it was done in his lifetime. Racing, unfortunately, also has to be business. If you still lose money, it's not a good deal.
"My father always said business was business and you have to make a profit, and I think the position that WGI was in, they simply were pushed into a position where they had to lose money on it. That's not a good business model."
Formula One
Alonso's F1 title bid on the line at Italian GP
MONZA, Italy (AP) — A day after FIA kept alive Ferrari's Formula One championship bid, Fernando Alonso knows his debut for the team at the Italian Grand Prix could prove just as decisive.
Alonso trails overall F1 leader Lewis Hamilton by 41 points with six races to go after the sport's governing body let Ferrari off without any points penalty on Wednesday for breaking the team orders rule.
Alonso says he'll be aggressive in Sunday's 53-lap race. That race and the upcoming Singapore GP likely will decide Ferrari's season.
"Obviously there are less races to the end of the championship, (so) more problems you have if you have a bad weekend," Alonso said Thursday. "Monza is an important weekend and Singapore as well, and a DNF in the race will be our last chance and a goodbye to the championship."
The FIA upheld the $100,000 fine after Ferrari driver Felipe Massa let Alonso overtake him to win the race. The council could have stripped Alonso of the victory or docked the team points.
"You have to respect it and stay calm," Alonso said. "That's the past for us, we just have to focus on Monza."
Alonso commended the decision to clarify the rule on team orders.
Despite a barrage of questions about the issue, Alonso refused to delve into the subject and instead preferred to focus on the Italian GP, which begins with Friday's double-practice session.
"We should be competitive here," said Alonso, who crashed out in the last race, a wet Belgian GP. "We (have made) some changes, some analysis of what happened in Spa and I think we understood what happened. I think we have a better package."
Having described his first year at Ferrari as the best of his life, Alonso denied it would be a "disaster" if he didn't win the title.
"For sure, (it would be) a disappointment for yourself and the team," the two-time world champion said. "But the word 'disaster' is a little too extreme. It's a very competitive sport."
Hamilton has 182 points to lead second-place Mark Webber of Red Bull by three points. Sebastian Vettel, Jenson Button and Alonso follow and are separated by 10 points.
"There's still six races to go, but it's up to the rest — Fernando, Jenson and myself — to shrink the gap," said Vettel, who has 151 points. "We've already seen different leaders at different stages, so anything can happen. There's no reason to panic."
Button believes McLaren will carry over its Belgian GP form to another low downforce circuit. Hamilton won in Belgium and Button was running second before Vettel crashed into him to end his race.
"I'm positive for the rest of the season. We're not fearing anything at the moment," said Button, who finished second to Brawn GP teammate Rubens Barrichello at Monza last year. "All you need is one race for the leaders to have a bad race. We know there are still a lot of possibilities."
While the contenders battle it out, Michael Schumacher returns to Monza for the first time since coming out of retirement for Mercedes. The seven-time champion won five of his titles with Ferrari. He is a five-time winner here, including in 2006, when he announced his retirement.
"It was a tough moment, but the right moment," said Schumacher, who languishes in 10th place, 138 points behind Hamilton. "There was no regrets then and there are no regrets now to be back again."
-- Paul Logothetis
Schumacher wants to help F1 review team orders
MONZA, Italy (AP) — Michael Schumacher believes he's the perfect person to help Formula One's governing body clarify the sport's disputed rule about team orders.
Schumacher was the beneficiary of the infamous team order Ferrari gave to Rubens Barrichello in 2002, telling him to cede victory to the seven-time champion on the final straight of the Austrian Grand Prix.
That led to a ban on team orders, which Ferrari broke at this season's German GP when Felipe Massa let Fernando Alonso pass him for victory. Governing body FIA decided Wednesday not to dock the Italian team any points, but said it will review the regulation.
Schumacher says being part of the review "would be ideal."
Most drivers at the Italian GP on Thursday agreed the rule needed to be amended.
