Standings after Race 2:

There are a number of lessons to be learned from the St Petersburg outcome.

It should not have escaped anyone's notice that the top two team managers

kept their lineups intact after Week One and it has paid off handsomely. Secondly,

Graham Rahal's victory gave only one team manager reason to celebrate.

Maureen O'Neil's 'PT Cruiser' outfit has burst into the league in Week Two with

a record haul of 250 points and sixth spot in the standings. Rahal provided the

first 'Rookie Bonus' points of the season too and this is something worth looking

at with Long Beach coming up.

John & Andrew Harbey again have formed an exclusive club of Team Managers
with five scoring drivers this week. Metaphorical promotional hats of to both of

them for that effort.

All of you tinkering team bosses should take note, the second 'Transfer Window'

will open as soon as the Week Three driver values are published. This is highly
significant as the driver choices for the next round will be spread across the races
at Long Beach & Motegi. The driver values will be significantly different seeing as
both races will run with essentially weakened fields. The latecomers will get the
chance to catch up as they will be able to pick squads for both races, but again, this
will provide a stern test of their selection skills and will not give them any edge
over those who have been in since Week One.

Points Standings

1st
310 - Doug Werner - "Drivers who weigh more than Danica"
[Scott Dixon, Hideki Mutoh, AJ Foyt IV, Marty Roth, Ed Carpenter]

2nd
305 - Michael Gathman - "Weekend Warriors"
[Dan Wheldon, Marco Andretti, Ernesto Viso, Jay Howard, Ed Carpenter]

3rd
295 - "RPH Racing" - Julie Werner
[Helio Castroneves, Hideki Mutoh, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Ed Carpenter, Townsend Bell]

4th
285 - "3.2 Million Bricks" - Michael Rennick
[Scott Dixon, Vitor Meira, Ernesto Viso, Jay Howard, Ryan Hunter Reay]


5th
255 - "I Hate Tony George" - Jim Casey
[Marco Andretti, Ryan Briscoe, Darren Manning, Danica Patrick, Milka Duno]


6th
250 - "PT Cruiser" - Maureen O'Neil
[Dan Wheldon , Ryan Briscoe , Graham Rahal , Ernesto Viso, Mario Moraes ]

7th
245 - "Tony George stole my Series" - Emiliyan Stoykov
[Helio Castro Neves, Dan Wheldon, Jay Howard, Townsend Bell, Franck Perera]

7th
245 - "Gerry Forsythe's 'Play your cars right'" - Declan Brennan
[Helio Castroneves, Hideki Mutoh, Ryan Hunter Reay, Jay Howard, Franck Perera]


9th
240 - "Team IndyCart" - Robert Duffield
[Helio Castroneves, Hideki Mutoh, Ryan Hunter Reay, Mario Moreas, Franck Perera]

10th
230 - "Super Duper Best Friends" - Andy Blackmore
[Tony Kanaan, Marco Andrettti, Franck Perera, Milka Duno, Townsend Bell]


11th
225 - "I am Hindy" - John Hindhaugh
[Marco Andretti, Hideki Mutoh, Bruno Junquiera, Ernesto Viso, Darren Manning]


12th
224 - "Should We Stay or Should We Split Now?" - Andrew Harbey
[Dan Wheldon, Justin Wilson, Darren Manning, Enrique Bernoldi, Buddy Rice]


13th
215 - "Why do we keep turning Left on our way to the merger?" - Nick Daman
[Dan Wheldon, Hideki Mutoh, Danica Patrick, Jay Howard, Franck Perera]

14th
210 - "no Ferrari Influence Apparent" - David Harbey
[Dan Wheldon, Marco Andretti, Darren Manning, Mario Moraes, Franck Perera]


15th
200 - "Team Bigger USA" - Jon Bigger
[Marco Andretti, Ryan Briscoe, Danica Patrick, Milka Duno, Vitor Meira]

16th
195 - "Month of Mayhem" - Adrian Bourne
[Helio Castro Neves, Vitor Meira, Bruno Junquiera, Townsend Bell, Darren Manning]

17th
185 - "Come back to Rockingham" - John Harbey
[Dan Wheldon, Ryan Briscoe, Enrique Bernoldi, Jay Howard, Vitor Meira]


18th
180 - "Indy Pace Car Speed" - Jason Kwok
[Dan Wheldon, Ryan Briscoe, Ryan Hunter Reay, Mario Moraes, Ed Carpenter]
Dan Wheldon

18th
180 - "One Lap Down" - Jeremy Scott
[Helio Castroneves, Justin Wilson, Franck Perera, Ernesto Viso, Townsend Bell]

20th
167 - "Joe Blob & the Spoonerisms" - James Murphy
[Marco Andretti, Ryan Briscoe, Hideki Mutoh, Mario Moraes, Buddy Rice]


21st
145 - "Opposite Lock Motorsports" - Louis Berlan
[Dan Wheldon, Ryan Briscoe, Ryan Hunter Reay, Jay Howard, Franck Perera]

22nd
140 - "Sideways Sam's Sideways Tings" - Sam Collins
[Dan Wheldon, Hideki Mutoh, Danica Patrick, Jay Howard, Franck Perera]

23rd
132 - "Chip, your name doesn't mean you have to eat Chips" - Matthew Hyndman
[Ryan Briscoe, Ryan Hunter Reay, Buddy Rice, Bruno Junquiera, Franck Perera]

24th
115 - "Empty Tank Racing" - Matt Thompson
[Marco Andretti, Will Power, Enrique Bernoldi, Danica Patrick, Marty Roth]


25th
87 - "Danika Wheldon Crash Team" - Chris Vince
[Oriol Servia, Ryan Briscoe, Hideki Mutoh, Marty Roth, Buddy Rice]

26th
80 - "Team IROC - Indignantly Racing Our Crapwagons" - Simon Speichert
[Marco Andretti, Justin Wilson, Mario Moraes, Bruno Junquiera, Franck Perera]

27th
30 - "I am Timgray" - Tim Gray
[Scott Dixon, Ryan Briscoe, Danica Patrick, Townsend Bell, Mario Moraes]

28th
0 - "Team To Be Named Later" - Brett Johnson

28th
0 - "Team To Be Named Later" - Paul Lucas

My Qualifying Report...not brought to you by Firestone

Success!!!

I would suggest that the new road course qualifying system was indeed a success.
Helio Castroneves will be the first member of the fan club seeing as he made the
'Fast Six' on his last lap. Conversley Oriol Servia will be calling for it to be abolished
after he lost sixth position to Helio at the death.

The format really seemed to work correctly and it was exciting from the start of the
opening session. The timing of each session is crucial and it is really hard to get a clean
and clear lap while the tires are at their best.

Champ Car refugees can be delighted with their contributions to the whole affair, as
Wilson and Power took positions two and three. Ryan Hunter Reay was on the pace for
all three sessions and will start on the third row cementing my belief that he is the USA's
finest racing driver. Marco Andretti's failure to make the 'Fast Six' woud not have been
expected based on his pace in unofficial practice and he has to be content with 12th.

The performance of Tony Kanaan in grabbing pole was as about as unsuprising as Scott
Dixon's qualifing effort was shocking, he didn't even make it out of his first qualifying group
and will start one place behind Marco in 13th.

The whole system was highly enetertaining and has produced a grid which will ensure
a fair degree of fireworks come Sunday afternoon.

Enjoy.

1 – Tony Kanaan, 1:02.5322
2 – Will Power, 1:02.6096
3 – Justin Wilson, 1:02.6426
4 – Helio Castroneves, 1:02.6462
5 – Ryan Briscoe, 1:02.7071
6 – Ryan Hunter-Reay, 1:03.0077

-----------------------------

7 – Oriol Servia, 1:02.7427
8 – Dan Wheldon, 1:02.7964
9 – ® Graham Rahal, 1:02.8122
10 – ® Franck Perera, 1:02.8749
11 – Darren Manning, 1:03.0136
12 – Marco Andretti, 1:03.2443

-----------------------------

13 – Scott Dixon, 1:03.2365
14 – Hideki Mutoh, 1:03.2757
15 – Ernesto Viso, 1:03.3067
16 – Buddy Rice, 1:03.3591
17 – Vitor Meira, 1:03.4480
18 – ® Enrique Bernoldi, 1:03.4568
19 – Danica Patrick, 1:03.5766
20 – ® Jay Howard, 1:03.7447
21 – Ed Carpenter, 1:03.8007
22 – ® Mario Moraes, 1:04.1590
23 – Townsend Bell, 1:04.3880
24 – A.J. Foyt IV, 1:04.4996
25 – Marty Roth, 1:07.7041
26 – Bruno Junqueira, 1:09.3851


PS - I got four of the 'Fast Six' right, so I'm rather pleased with myself.

Transfer window Number 1 has been nailed shut!

I must first say well done to all of you for the level of restraint that you have all shown during the first transfer window. I expected a much more corpulent inbox considering the fact that we have moved from an oval to a street circiut. A fact that should provide the road racers and Champ Car refugees with a much needed boost.

Is the first day's practice any sort of diving rod for Saturday qualifying? It is hard to say for certain. What we do know is that Helio Castroneves was on the pace almost immediately he left pit road and clocked the quickest time of the second session in almost half the laps of Tony Kanaan in second place. The time that really leaps out you before poking you in the eye with a tiny promotional samurai sword, is that of AGR's Hideki Mutoh. He topped the charts for much of the session despite an off that restricted him to just 10 laps. He will be well worth watching in final qualifying tomorrow, he may even make the 'Fast 6'.

Will Power shrugged off a problematic opening session to log an impressive fourth best time and Atlantic's graduate Franck Perera continues his eye-catching start to the season with 5th on the time sheets.

It all points towards and intriguing afternoon of qualifying on Saturday,

The second session times were as follows:

1 – Helio Castroneves, 1:03.3068
2 – Tony Kanaan, 1:03.3680
3 – ® Hideki Mutoh, 1:03.4491
4 – Will Power, 1:03.5983
5 – ® Franck Perera, 1:03.6346
6 – Vitor Meira, 1:03.6505
7 – Marco Andretti, 1:03.6576
8 – Scott Dixon, 1:03.7358
9 – Oriol Servia, 1:03.7377
10 – Ryan Hunter-Reay, 1:03.7379
11 – Ryan Briscoe, 1:03.8044
12 – Justin Wilson, 1:03.9599
13 – Darren Manning, 1:03.9905
14 – Bruno Junqueira, 1:04.2090
15 – Dan Wheldon, 1:04.2912
16 – Buddy Rice, 1:04.4419
17 – ® Enrique Bernoldi, 1:04.5261
18 – ® Graham Rahal, 1:04.5618
19 – Danica Patrick, 1:04.7718
20 – Townsend Bell, 1:04.7961
21 – ® Ernesto Viso, 1:05.0462
22 - A.J. Foyt IV, 1:05.3497
23 – Ed Carpenter, 1:05.7426
24 – ® Jay Howard, 1:05.7668
25 – ® Mario Moraes, 1:05.8624
26 – Marty Roth, 1:08.7802

Firestone's Fast Six with Firestone - Presented by Firestone

All you need to know about the contrived new road course qualifying system is, who is going to come out on top. Here are the choices of the Podcast presenters:


Tim Gray

- Marco Andretti (pole)
- Ryan Briscoe
- Scott Dixon
- Tony Kanaan
- Darren Manning
- Dan Wheldon


Declan Brennan

- Justin Wilson (pole)
- Tony Kanaan
- Scott Dixon
- Helio Castroneves
- Ryan Briscoe
- Marco Andretti


Now get your team picks in before 12 midnight GMT.
We will revisit this and much more after qualifying...............

Names to conjure with - Redux

Apologies to our American members as the following entry, from James Murphy, will probably go right over your heads like the Blue Angels on opening day.

Edmonton 'Hatch' Burkefront burst onto the scene as yet another fast bowler from the Caribbean and for a decade Burkefront terrified batsmen the world over. Muscular and tall (6ft 2ins) with a classical action, he presented a fearsome sight. A long, lithe approach ended with a fast and well-aimed delivery. Not a flicker of emotion would be evident save a gunslinger's narrowing of the eyes; while some thought his frequent use of bouncers was intimidating, no-one stood up to the athletic Bajan. He varied its pace, often setting batsmen up with a slower one and then pole-axing them when they were late on the quickie. It took “Hatch” less than two and a half years to reach 100 Test wickets. A compete “ferret” with the bat, he averaged just 1.7 runs in Test cricket, with a top score of 11 against India, in Madras (now Chennai) in 1978/9.


Edmonton 'Hatch' Burkefront,
steaming in from the
Kirkstall Lane end, yesterday in 1977

A Lap of St. Petersburg with the 'I am Hindy' Boss

A little pre-St Petersburg fun

Names to conjure with:

During a conversation with our esteemed League Leader last night we chanced upon a little game that you can all play along with at home.

It is very simple, take the name or part of the name from any of this year's Indy Car venues and last season's ChampCar venues. Then combine any bits of them you want to create as many new characters as you can. They all have to have a biography of some sort to go with them:

I will start with Tremblant Cleveland, the magician of now the defuct ABA. A man who inspired 'Doctor J' to literally new heights. He, along with many in the ABA, was known for the inverse proportions of his shorts and fro/beard combination.

Doug Werner has written to add that Glen Long, is shown opposite Tremblant Cleveland (below) just before his career was cut short when he poked himself in the eye with his elbow while trying to draw a charge on diminutive dribbling legend Fontana Burkefront.


Tremblant Cleveland, in action, in the seventies, earlier today


Michael Rennick has reminded us of that tremendous 'specialist' film star, Laguna Paradise. She started her career as an exotic dancer in Montreal. She then moved into films where she frequently co-stared with Tracy Bourdais. The most notorious of these films, “Chrome Horn”, earned them a Bridgestone Passion for Excellence Award.

Jim Casey clearly has his finger on the pulse of the nations favourite pastime. He has contacted the blog with this Major League Baseball update -

The Washington Nationals expect to compete for the NL East title this season with their revamped pitching rotation. Coming out of nowhere is Edmonton Kansas, featuring a 105 mph fastball, kneebuckling curve, and savage splitfinger. Joining him is Long Beach Motegi, Japanese Gyroball expert, whose father named him after the nearest city to his WW II internment camp for some reason. Following them is spoiled rich boy Watkins Van Couver, whose parents hired Nolan Ryan to be his high school coach. Filling out the rotation are knuckleballer Houston Infineon, and spitballer Sebastian Panoz.