Quick Notes from the IndyCar weekend at Sonoma/Infenion/Sears Point

I've been a little busy these days developing a new site for launch but really wanted to get some notes out since I've been neglecting the day-to-day racing news. So I present to you, random thoughts about racing, each in 50 words or less:

-Firstly, get well wishes for both Will Power and Nelson Philippe. Good to see Philippe is already well enough to be posting Internet videos & going on Curt Cavin & Kevin Lee’s Trackside radio show tonight.

-Huge props to APEX Brasil for bustin out their third different commercial on us for the ICS race. You hear that IZOD! You can make more than a single commercial, and it’ll likely make people not hate you for said constant repetitiveness.

-Nice run by J.R. “Captain America” Hildebrand, winning the Indy Lights race by what felt like a 2-hour margin. Hildebrand should have had enough time on the white flag lap to stop on the front straight, bust out a phone, register himself on twitter, & tweet “crossing finish line @InfineonRaceway”

-No offense to anyone at the great organization of Panther Racing, but Vision/BHA Racing clearly seems to have taken their place as the newest member of the Indy Lights Big Three alongside Sam Schmidt Motorsports and AFS/AGR.

-Props to VS/Lindy Thackston and the rest for the good pre-race pieces about the wineries and the snakes. Continue to make the people of the series more personable.

-To your right is a picture of Hideki Mutoh giving the Firestone Firehawk a hand-bump. No further comment necessary.

-I spent the ICS race joining a group of IndyCar newbies from “across the pond,” here’s what I learned. IRL fans don’t have it so bad. Most of the time was spent raving about all the features and extras they got from IRL for free when F1 gives nothing.

-Can someone go more unnoticed during a broadcast than Mike Conway? Punctured tire on lap 1, then on-track passing almost the entire field to finish 3rd!Even booth/owner Robbie Buhl had a “oh wow Conway is in 3rd” on-screen moment. He’s clearly got the speed, just needs consistency.

-Here’s about all the new info we could learn about Franck Montagny from his IndyCar Series tryout: Does not have super powers that allow him to take his car over a giant pileup.

-Exactly how many different pieces/parts is a car allowed to litter on the track before they get black-flagged? I only ask because I saw Helio dropped roughly 72 different things before the car finally tapped out.

-If a pit reporter says "the car is in for the stop, getting 4 new tires, and fuel... and he/she's away" should incur an automatic penalty of some sort...

-Speaking of commentary; if Paul Tracy isn't going to be in a car for a race, he should be part of the commentation in some form; his tweets are some of the best color-commentating since Bobby Unser.

-Major un-props to the VERSUS crew. I know its not easy, and there were a lot of things out there, but never pull away from on-track action for a pitstop. Hell at least start using a plit screen for pit stops.

-I will pay good money to anyone who can provide proof that Scott Dixon exhibits the ability to get angry at anyone in his life, especially people who take him out of races.

-The Torch and The Dancer are angry at each other again (if that even accurately describes it). This is good, we need some kind of rivalry, and whether real or staged, those 2 would be perfect for some banter through public media.

-What if the race didn’t subtract 5 laps from the previous years totals? Conway made 2 passes in the final laps and was fastest on track, would 5 more laps have been enough to get around Briscoe & Dario (as Versus TV would say) Fran-shitty?

Pictures via indycar.com