Talk:2007 IndyCar Series

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Updates and Roth[edit]

I updated the driver chart to show all the Indy 500 entries, also I removed Roth's sponsor info and notes since it is no longer relivant.

Franchitti[edit]

Franchitti racing uniform has a Scottish flag on it, not UK so I changed all of the Franchitti flags to reflect this.

That's not the point. I'm reverting it back on the basis that Scotland is a non-sovereign nation, and Britain is the sovereign nation. As a Brit, I'd much rather it be England, Scotland etc. but it isn't... So a British Flag it will have to be. Alex Holowczak 14:47, 16 April 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Just look at the official spotters guide at IndyCar.com for Montegi, Franhcitti's flag is Scottish, so the IRL reconizies his home country as Scotland, not the UK as Wheldon and Mannings are.

IndyCar.com is wrong then. If you're going to put a Scottish Flag for Franchitti, then it would be just as accurate to give Sam Hornish Jr. an Ohio flag. And I'm sure that motor racing only recognises Britain, not England and Scotland etc. In that case, it should be all Britain. Also, if Franchitti is going to be Scotland, then Wheldon etc. should have the England flag. You can't use Scotland and Britain as for the moment at least, they are the same place! So either all Britain (which will universally work), or England and Scotland, which is politically incorrect. Alex Holowczak 19:15, 20 April 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Listen Alex, IndyCar is not wrong. He says he is Scottish. Deal with it. If you have a problem with it, take it up with Dario and the IndyCar officials. Otherwise, stop calling him a Brit. What about in soccer...oh sorry, football. The English National Team, the Scottish National Team. Wait, is there a British National Football Team?? No there is not. For Canadians you might as well put the British flag up as well...after all, they are another country in the UK just like England, Scotland, etc. Second thought, you need to change Dixon's to the British flag as well. New Zealand is part of the UK. Unbelievable.

Canada or New Zealand are in the United Kingdom? Since when? I think you confuse United Kingdom and Commonwealth.

And talking about soccer is not relevant. Soccer is exeption in sport. Is Scotland member of the International Olympic Committee? In don't think so. And when David Coulthard (who has a scottish flag on his uniform), Jackie Stewart or Jim Clark won a F1 race, which flag did we see? The Union Jack. Woodcote 21:26, 1 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Coulthard has a scottish flag on his helmet

Whoopee doo about Stewart or Clark or Coulthard. We are talking about Franchitti who says he is Scottish. Confusion about the UK and the Commonwealth...hey it still owned and governed by old Mrs. Windsor last time I checked. If Dario says to use the Scot flag, then USE IT. If you even look on Wiki under the Scotland page, it states that: "Scotland (Scottish Gaelic: Alba) is a nation in northwest Europe and one of the four constituent countries[1] of the United Kingdom." Seems to me that Scotland is a country/nation, etc. within a greater Commonwealth, just like Canada, Australia, et al.

Your comparison is quite strange...Canada and Australia are members of Commonwealth (which is not a country but just an "association"), they recognize Mrs Windsor as their Queen, but are independant-sovereign nations. Scotland isn't directly member of Commonwealth. Scotland is a non-sovereign nation part of the United Kingdom which is a country and sovereign state Woodcote 04:05, 2 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]

He's the first SCOT since 1965 to win Indy, not Briton, Welsh, Irishman, or Englishman.

Please see this discussion in the WikiProject Motorsport talk page about British nationality. --Pc13 00:20, 2 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Driver Chart[edit]

I started the team/driver chart. I based it off of the one over at the Champ Car season page. I added a column for "Sponsor" and a column for "Notes," as every year there are always "Indy-only" entries, and they should be in the table, but noted as not a full-season entry. The chart has a lot more teams and drivers to add, and has some holes here and there for numbers, sponsors, etc. But I got it started. Just everyone make sure that the color rotates from team to team. Doctorindy 15:48, 9 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

A full list that I maintain is at List of Indycar teams. -Drdisque 18:13, 9 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I didn't see that out there. Not bad. Doctorindy 18:54, 9 November 2006

(UTC)

Penske[edit]

I added a third car for Penske because they entered a third car for Indy.

Foyt[edit]

No objection to the listing of Foyt's second car as #41, but Foyt also has entered cars nearly every year at Indy with #48 and #84, and #1 (when allowed) as well. In 2006, the second car was #41, so it does seem that it would be the most likely. Doctorindy 22:03, 4 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Race summaries[edit]

I took a stab at expanding the race summaries section, and I based it loosely on the National Football League playoffs, 2006-07#Wild Card playoffs individual game summaries. I based the race results top ten box on this page- 2006 Toyota Indy 300 with a few minor tweaks/corrections. I should be a nice improvement over the "text only" listings from previous years. Also, once the first one is set, the rest should be a rather simple cut & paste exercise. Doctorindy 15:14, 15 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

XM Satellite Radio Indy 300[edit]

Saturday March 24, 2007
Homestead-Miami Speedway, Homestead, Florida
Race time: 8:00 p.m. EST
Race weather:
TV announcers (ESPN2):
Attendance:
Pole Position winner:
Race Summary:

Top Ten Finishers
Fin. Pos	St. Pos	Car No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time	Laps Led	Points
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

- EDIT--- Added a couple of corrections....added "Round X of 17" to the title, made sure the title is linked to the race page, corrected some spelling/upper-case-lower-case, etc. Doctorindy 15:21, 16 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

- - EDIT2--- I added a few easy tags to align the columns cleanly, as it appears here.... Doctorindy 15:31, 16 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Top Ten Finishers
Fin. Pos	St. Pos	Car No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time	Laps Led	Points
1	5	3	Sam Hornish Jr.	Penske Racing	200	1:23:45.6789	50	50
2	7	6	Helio Castroneves	Penske Racing	200	+1.2345	50	45

Blank box[edit]

Here's a completed "blank" box....should work well as a template. Doctorindy 15:34, 16 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Top Ten Finishers
Fin. Pos	St. Pos	Car No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time	Laps Led	Points
1	0	0			0	0:00:00.0000	0	0
2	0	0			0	+0.000	0	0
3	0	0			0	+0.000	0	0
4	0	0			0	+0.000	0	0
5	0	0			0	+0.000	0	0
6	0	0			0	+0.000	0	0
7	0	0			0	+0.000	0	0
8	0	0			0	+0.000	0	0
9	0	0			0	+0.000	0	0
10	0	0			0	+0.000	0	0
Race average speed: 000.000
Lead changes: 0 between 0 drivers
Cautions: 0 for 0 laps

Another alternative could be to show only "Top 5"...since we don't really need to go too deep into the race results...top five may be sufficient....I think a consensus could be voted on....Top 10? or Top 5?

Top Ten Finishers
Fin. Pos	St. Pos	Car No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time	Laps Led	Points
1	0	0			0	0:00:00.0000	0	0
2	0	0			0	+0.000	0	0
3	0	0			0	+0.000	0	0
4	0	0			0	+0.000	0	0
5	0	0			0	+0.000	0	0
Race average speed: 000.000
Lead changes: 0 between 0 drivers
Cautions: 0 for 0 laps

IndyCar Series vs. IRL[edit]

According to this news link...http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/news/story?series=1&id=2754820

IRL marketing officials are trying to phase out the "Indy Racing League" name because it has little recognition in the general public -- and negative connotations to many longtime American open-wheel racing fans.

Which makes sense for this article. There is a lot of mixing back and forth here between the terms "IndyCar Series," "IRL", etc. I think we should try to utilize the term IndyCar Series throughout. Doctorindy 14:15, 7 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

- At this point, I think the title of the articles (2007 in IRL) can stay the same for now...no need yet to change it to "2007 in IndyCar Series", but we should keep that in mind for the future. Doctorindy 14:17, 7 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Cahill Racing[edit]

Besides on this article, has anyone seen anything on ESPN.com, IndyCar.com, etc. about Cahill racing? I have been looking for Milka Duno's name to pop up on the driver list on IndyCar.com, but that website has not made one notion that Cahill racing is returning from what I have seen. There is no reference or citation after the statement on this article, so I'm just trying to figure out if Cahill racing is coming back. Manningmbd 20:45, 6 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

The main source that has published info on Cahill's return is the Indianapolis Star. However, it appears that various deals have fallen through and if we see Cahill at all this year, it will likely be an Indy-only deal. Duno is currently shopping her money to other teams for an Indy 500+Road courses deal. -Drdisque 06:15, 7 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Right now, you can't count on anything from ESPN.com. They have not even updated the confirmed driver information. For example, Patrick and Rice are still listed as driving for RLR. Also, I'm not sure about the asertion that Michael Andretti will be driving in the Indy 500. I do remember reading about how much he enjoyed competing with Marco. And I know that there was an article about it on ESPN. However, I don't think he confirmed anything. The source for the information leads to aa dead link. I'm considering removing it per Wikipedia is not a cryatal ball, but I'll leave it in for now. I'll try to find the link if possible. --Cyrus Andiron ^t/_c 16:53, 8 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Michael Andretti will race at Indy again (Feb 18, 2007) -Drdisque 03:31, 9 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Today in the Star they reported that Duno is going to sign with SAMAX Motorsports instead, and that the Cahill deal "fell apart last month." I think it's appropriate to delete the references to the Cahill stuff. http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070315/SPORTS01/703150461 Doctorindy 20:56, 15 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I think for completeness, we should include one or two lines about the team being announced and subsequently falling apart. -Drdisque 02:53, 16 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I put a little blurb in the new Duno sentence about the dissolved deal.Doctorindy 13:13, 16 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Official Entry List[edit]

The official entry list (*.pdf) has been released for the Homestead race, and I have added an outside link to it to the itemized list of race information. I think that the official race lineup (*.pdf) and race box score (*.pdf) should be linked in that fashion as well once they are published. Doctorindy 21:21, 14 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Vandalism watch[edit]

Since this weekend is the start of the season, I've noticed a small bit of increased IRL vandalism going around. Best to keep watch on the IRL-related pages, especially the main page Indy Racing League and this one. Doctorindy 13:00, 23 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Looks like the first race of the season went pretty well on this page, no major vandals or nonsense. Looks good. Doctorindy 04:28, 25 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Points chart, etc.[edit]

In previous years, we've had the entire points standings, not just the top 5...so I think that should be addressed. I started the chart with only the "top 5," but that was mainly just to pre-write the chart, it was not intended to force it to be top 5 only. Also, the colors are good, they could/should be added to the race finishing boxes when we get a chance.
We're getting a 31KB message (not yet a size warning), but we should be OK, because data from the references I think is exempt from counting, and the message is only a guideline. Meanwhile, I'm going to re-read some of the lines, and see if some of the info is outdated. Doctorindy 15:33, 26 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I think the testing section needs to be removed or at least revised to give it far less prominence. Jsydave 08:43, 27 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

- Here's an archive of that section, it can be trimmed down quite a bit, but I think it should still remain in some form. Doctorindy 15:39, 27 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Archive of IndyCar Series testing[edit]

Mid-Ohio (September 19, 2006) - Private testing featured Ed Carpenter, Tomas Scheckter, and Jeff Simmons. Testing scheduled for September 18 was rained out.
Daytona (September 26-27, 2006) - A highly anticipated compatibility test took place at Daytona International Speedway. It was the first time since 1959 that Indy cars drove at the track. Panther Racing's Vitor Meira went out first on a 10-turn, 2.73-mile combined road course layout. Also testing were Sam Hornish Jr., Scott Dixon, Dan Wheldon and Tony Kanaan. The only incidents were harmless spins in the grassy areas of the infield. The test was to determine if Daytona could become an IndyCar Series test facility, or even a future race venue. The five drivers completed 1,331 miles.^[1]
Indianapolis (October 2-3, 2006) - A two-day Firestone tire test took place at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Four drivers took part in the test, which primarily focused on new 3.5 liter Honda engines, powered by a 100% ethanol fuel mixture, and a suitable tire compound for Firestone. Tony Kanaan (Andretti-Green Racing) and Jeff Simmons (Rahal-Letterman Racing) tested the new engines and the new fuel blend, to be used in 2007. Dan Wheldon (Target Chip Gannasi Racing) and Helio Castroneves (Marlboro Team Penske), however, tested the 2006 IndyCar Series engine formula, which consisted of 3.0L engines powered by a 90/10 blend of methanol and ethanol. Hand times reported speeds topping out in the 223 mph range. On Tuesday, testing continued at 12:20 PM with the same teams that ran on Monday. The top speed was reported as 224.3 mph by Kannan. One incident was reported. Jeff Simmons crashed exiting turn two on the backstrech. He was uninjured.^[2]
Iowa (October 9-10, 2006) - The first IndyCar Series tire and aerodynamic testing featured drivers Vitor Meira, and Scott Sharp. Sharp was invited to test by for Rahal-Letterman Racing. Testing occurred on an overcast and chilly day.^[3]
Daytona (January 31-February 1, 2007) - Seventeen cars tested nearly 1,700 laps around a 2.72-mile road course at Daytona International Speedway. The course used was a modified version of the Daytona 200 motorcycle layout. Helio Castroneves completed the fastest lap at 1:12.3538.^[4]
Homestead (February 21-22, 2007) - A full open test was run, under the lights. It marked the seventh consecutive season that the IndyCar Series has held official preseason testing at Homestead. Nineteen car and driver combinations participated. On the first day of testing, Dan Wheldon turned the fastest lap, at 214.858 mph. Wheldon, however, later crashed his car. The Indy Pro Series also tested at the track during daylight hours.^[5]
Mid-Ohio (June 13, 2007) - One-day open test
Iowa (June 22, 2007) - Half-day open test^[6]

Archive of the 'Schedule' section[edit]

I trimmed the schedule development section down a little bit to trim out some old news, but here is the original text, in case it should be recovered...

========================================[edit]

On August 2, 2006, it was announced that the series will hold their first event at the new Iowa Speedway on June 24, 2007.^[7]
On August 10, 2006, it was announced that the race at Milwaukee will move from July to the previous traditional race date, the weekend immediately following the Indy 500.^[8]
On August 17, 2006, two race dates were officially announced. The race at Texas Motor Speedway was scheduled for June 9. The race at Kentucky Speedway will switch from a Sunday afternoon race to a Saturday night race, and be held August 11.^[9]
On September 19, 2006, two new race dates were announced. The race at Kansas Speedway will move from July to April, and become the final race before the Indianapolis 500. The change was made after overwhelming request by fans due to hot and humid July temperatures. The race at Watkins Glen will occupy the previous date used by Kansas, Independence Day weekend. The 2007 race will be held July 8.^[10]
On September 20, 2006, it was announced that the event at Richmond International Raceway will be held June 30. It will mark the seventh consecutive year the IRL has held a night race at the facility.^[11]
On September 21, 2006, it was announced that the event at Chicagoland Speedway will be held September 9, and serve as the season finale.^[12]
On September 25, 2006, it was announced that the event at Twin Ring Motegi will be held April 21.^[13]
The race at Homestead-Miami Speedway will switch from a Sunday afternoon race to a Saturday night race, and serve as the season opener on March 24. The official announcement was made September 27.^[14]
The race at Michigan International Speedway will move from the last weekend in July, up one week, or one week later. This is due to the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard moving from the first weekend in August to the last weekend in July. Ticket renewal forms sent out by the speedway incicate the race will be held July 22. However, according to published reports, the IRL is requesting MIS accept the first week of August for the race date. On October 13, MIS confirmed August 5th for their IRL event.^[15]
A rumor on irllive.com suggested a possible race on August 5 in Montreal at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. On September 20, Indy Racing League president Brian Barnhart announced there would be a race on that date, but did not give any details. That date would be a NASCAR Busch Series combination event. However, as of September 27, the event was reported as unlikely.^[16] Instead, the league is expected to fill the slot with a race at Mid-Ohio. If a race at Mid-Ohio is announced, it will be scheduled for July 22.^[17]
A media conference was held September 29 to announce plans for the return of the Detroit Grand Prix at Belle Isle. The race will be held September 2, 2007.^[18]
On October 12, 2006, two races were confirmed. A race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course was confirmed for July 22, 2007.^[19]. The third annual race at Infineon Raceway was also confirmed for August 26, 2007.^[20]
After originally agreeing in principle to a July 22 date, the IRL and Michigan International Speedway rescheduled the 2007 event for August 5 in order to accommodate new venues.^[21] The announcement finalized the 2007 IndyCar schedule
On December 8, 2006, the IRL announced that the June 9, 2007 race at Texas Motor Speedway would be lengthened to 550 kilometers (228 laps/342 miles).^[22]
On December 14, 2006 it was announced that Marquis Sports Marketing, a Dallas-based company, is in coordination to add another race to the 2007 schedule. A non-points, exhibition race in the streets of Biloxi, Mississippi is in the planning stages for September or October 2007 as an effort to revitalize the hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast. The race would be the first step in what are plans to build an oval track in the area by 2009.^[23]

Television Presenting Sponsors[edit]

http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/schedule?seriesId=1 Creating a list here of the apparent "TV presenting names" sponsors, as they are different from some of the actual race names...

Ethanol IndyCar 300 Presented by XM at Miami
Firestone IndyCar 300 at Japan
Kansas IndyCar 300
~~Papa John's IndyCar 550K at Texas~~ (the name was not used)
Honda IndyCar 200 at Mid-Ohio
Firestone IndyCar 400 at Michigan

These are not necessarily the official names of the events, only what they are called on television...as ESPN/ABC has offered presenting names sponsorship. More to be announced later it seems. Doctorindy 18:38, 3 April 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Archive of Driver changes[edit]

July 26, 2006 - Danica Patrick will switch from Rahal Letterman Racing to Andretti Green Racing.
October 27, 2006 - Buddy Rice will leave Rahal Letterman Racing. He raced a one-off event in the Champ Car series at Mexico City on November 12, 2006 for Forsythe Racing.
November 6, 2006 - Kosuke Matsuura will switch from Super Aguri Fernández Racing to Panther Racing.
November 7, 2006 - Rahal Letterman Racing announced that Scott Sharp will join the team bringing Patrón tequila as a sponsor. RLR will operate a two-car team with Sharp and Jeff Simmons. Sharp previously raced at Delphi Fernandez Racing, and had tested with RLR at Iowa in October.
November 14, 2006 - A. J. Foyt Racing hired Darren Manning for a one car operation.^[24] Tomas Enge and Townsend Bell also had been considered for the ride.
January 3, 2007 - Dario Franchitti was confirmed for Andretti Green Racing in both the IndyCar Series and ALMS for 2007.
January 3, 2007 - Vision Racing announced that A. J. Foyt IV will sign a contract to become the team's third driver.^[25].
January 30, 2007 - Buddy Rice and Sarah Fisher were confirmed as full-time drivers for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing in 2007.^[26]
February 13, 2007 - Michael Andretti will compete in the 2007 Indy 500^[27]

Tentative Driver Confirmations

P. J. Chesson was in discussion with Fernandez Racing^[28]. The team nor Chesson raced at Homestead.
CURB/Agajanian/Beck Motorsports raced in the season opener at Homestead with driver Alex Barron. Davey Hamilton has scheduled a refresher test for April 29 at Kansas, and is planning to drive the car at Indianapolis.^[29]
Milka Duno is going to compete in 10 races for SAMAX Motorsport in 2007. A previous deal announced December 14, 2006, with Cahill Racing, dissolved in February 2007.^[30]

^ [1]
^ [2]
^ [3]
^ "IRL remains mum on Daytona future". ndyStar.com. 2007-02-02. Retrieved 2007-02-02. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
^ "Wheldon tops IRL testing". ndyStar.com. 2007-02-21. Retrieved 2007-02-22. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
^ "IndyCar Series schedules three in-season tests". Indycar.com. 2007-01-25. Retrieved 2007-01-26. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
^ [4]
^ [5]
^ [6]
^ [7]
^ [8]
^ [9]
^ [10]
^ [11]
^ [12]
^ [13]
^ [14]
^ [15]
^ [16]
^ [17]
^ [18]
^ [19]
^ www.indystar.com
^ [20]
^ www.indystar.com
^ "Dreyer & Reinbold sign Rice, Fisher". IndyStar.com. 2007-01-30. Retrieved 2007-01-30. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
^ [21]
^ http://www.speedtv.com/articles/auto/autoindustry/34657/?page=2
^ "IRL rides likely for 2". IndyStar.com. 2007-03-15. Retrieved 2007-03-15. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
^ "Duno Will Compete in 10 Races during the 2007 IndyCar Series season". IndyCar.com. 2007-03-23. Retrieved 2007-03-23. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)