IRL at Chicagoland - A Terriffic Race

What can I say about last night's IRL race at Chicagoland? One word can sum it up nicely: WOW! It was the best oval race I've seen in a long time, by far a better show than the IRL oval races prior to the rules changes at Kentucky and by far better than most NASCAR races this season.

At one point Graham Rahal, Mario Moraes, and Marco Andretti were racing 3 wide wheel to wheel to wheel over fourth place. That fight went on for several laps and unlike a NASCAR race, it didn't end in a crash!

The race ended with Ryan Briscoe taking the win over Scott Dixon in a side by side finish with Mario Moraes taking third from Dario Franchitti in a side by side fight that was nose to tail with the fight for the win!

Unfortunately because it was on Versus and most NASCAR fans won't watch the IRL, it is probably one of the best races only a few people ever saw.

Mac McCormick III

Racing on the Brain

ALMS
I blogged awhile ago about rumor that the ALMS would be going to a 2 class structure in 2010. The series will remain with a 4 class structure, but the structure will be different from the current one. Instead of LMP1, LMP2, GT1, and GT2 the structure will be:

1. Le Mans Prototype (LMP)
2. Le Mans Prototype Challenge (LMPC)
3. Grand Touring (GT)
4. Grand Touring Challenge (GTC)

LMP1 and LMP2 will be rolled into 1 class except for Sebring and Petit LeMans. The LMPC class is an entry class prototype car using an ORECA Courage chassis with 450hp engines. This could be an interesting class to watch, offering a relatively low cost prototype platform to both gentleman drivers and up-and-coming drivers. The GT1 class is all but dead, so the new GT class will be what the GT2 cars are now. The GTC class will be Porsche GT3 Cup cars with the class expected to open up to other manufacturers in the future.

NASCAR
I watched very little of the Michigan Sprint Cup race and really didn't miss it, indicating just how much I've lost interest in NASCAR's top level racing. Instead I watched ALMS with it's varied mix of chassis/engine combinations, tires, and classes and enjoyed some good racing. With the exception of a few races (Watkins Glen being one of them), the Sprint Cup racing just isn't that good and the cars are too similar, with no opportunities for engineering or design originality. I don't like the Nationwide series either. It has become essentially an extra practice session for the Sprint Cup drivers; they come down and take prize money and sponsorship from Nationwide teams and drivers.

Mac McCormick III