Caution on the race track...

Caution was the name of the game for the past two IRL races. Unfortunately, for all involved, except for winners Ryan Briscoe and Scott Dixon, both races ended under caution. Both race ending cautions involved Marco Andretti, who now has DNFs in all but 3 of the 7 races this season. This is not very good news for Marco nor the team as a whole, especially with tension between he and Tony Kanaan. Kanaan, frustrated after the close racing incident at Indy, commented to the team over the radio that he would put the Blockbuster car (Marco’s car sponsor) into the wall, as Kanaan was being raced hard by his teammate Marco. Kanaan, is in his last year of his contract at Andretti Green Racing, and many are doubting that he will be back with the team next year. Kanaan, who already has one IRL championship and many wins with AGR, would be a valuable asset to any team, especially the transition teams from CART. With the right sponsorship and money, Kanaan maybe looking elsewhere for next year, if nothing more than to be considered and treated as the number 1 driver on the team. Teams with deep pockets like Newman Haas Lanigan Racing and Vision Racing or others who have reputations of being a strong, Panther Racing, could lure Kanaan away. One thing is for sure, Marco isn’t going anywhere. Even Danica is going to get a test with Honda’s F1 team in the Fall, to evaluate her pace, according to Nick Fry. I honestly don’t believe she is deserving of anything more than a test, yet anyway. She may be talented enough, but at this point, it’s no more than a marketing / PR presentation. If she does prove to be fast, then allow her to finish logging laps in the IRL for one more season or support her in GP2 and as a test driver for at least a year. If I were Honda, or any other F1 team considering an American driver, I would look to Graham Rahal first. He is talented, mature, and young enough to still start a driver development program. Honda is going to need new talent in at least one of their cars in a couple of years or so to replace Rubens Barrichello, who will possibly practice his craft in IRL or at least the Indy 500 with Honda’s backing. Well, the silly season is just beginning, so there is a lot more speculation to be had, so stay tuned. Oh yea, and as for the ending the race under caution, absolutely not. IRL needs to come up with their own version of a “green-white-checker” finish to late race cautions, preferably implemented before season’s end. They owe that much to the fans and the teams.

Until next time, enjoy all your motorsports viewing and participation!!!