Blogginisracin

Greetings from the Neon Garage

It's Friday, 2 p.m. Pacific time and we're taking a break for lunch in the Neon Garage at LVMS. First practice is finished and I'm not sure who was fast but I do know Montoya scrapped the wall and went to a back-up car. The crowds around the Johnson, J. Gordon and Dale Jr. garage stalls are nuts, as expected.

The glare on the windows looking into where the crews and drivers are working is real bad so snapping a clear pic is a challenge. The Nationwide cars are on track right now. Next up is Sprint Cup qualifying.
Thursday afternoon's car hauler parade was fun.

They closed down Las Vegas Blvd. to through traffic and the police escorted trucks down the street past thousands of fans and lookiloos. After the parade we hustled over to The Orleans Hotel and Casino to check in and then get in line for a Clint Bowyer autograph session. Clint was late, but worth the wait.

-- Michele Vincze

Pro Mods set for Texas

Texas' two National Hot Rod Association national event venues will play host to the popular JEGS ProMod Challenge exhibition series this season as part of a 10-race schedule.

ProMods have been added to the lineup for the O'Reilly NHRA Spring Nationals at Houston Raceway Park in Baytown March 28-30. And the wild-child machines also will compete during the O'Reilly NHRA Fall Nationals at Billy Meyer's Texas Motorplex in Ennis Sept. 18-21.

-- John Sturbin

Speed sets NCTS debut

Former Formula One regular Scott Speed will step up his NASCAR developmental program next weekend, when he is scheduled to make his Craftsman Truck Series debut at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Speed will drive the No. 46 Morgan-Dollar Motorsports entry with backing from primary sponsor Red Bull at AMS, and follow that with a second NCTS start at Martinsville Speedway on March 28.

"The reason we went this route," Speed said, "is because the truck is the most similar to the COT (NASCAR's Car of Today). It's very sensitive to the other cars around you, where they are and what they're doing to your car. This is kind of the method behind our madness here."

Speed, of Manteca, Calif., is in his first full season as driver of the No. 2 Red Bull Toyota Camry in the ARCA RE/MAX Series under the guidance of Eddie Sharp Racing.

-- John Sturbin

Danica tops charts

Apparently inspired by her appearance via videoconference during the annual Texas Motor Speedway Media Day, Danica Patrick clocked the fastest speed during the final session of the IndyCar Series Open Test on Thursday.

Patrick, who has been battling flu-like symptoms all week, toured the 1.5-mile Homestead-Miami Speedway in 25.0772 seconds/213.182 mph in her Dallara/Honda. She was the quickest of 16 drivers recording hot laps.

"I was sicker than I've ever been before on a day when I had to do something," said Patrick, who is in her second season at Andretti Green Racing. "I was dizzy and my head was full of pressure. It's kind of nice to go out there, skip a day, go out and be quickest."

Team Penske newcomer Ryan Briscoe _ who also chatted with the Dallas/Fort Worth media at the Gaylord Texan resort _ was second fast at 213.056 mph. Meanwhile, Target Chip Ganassi Racing ace Dan Wheldon _ winner of the past three IndyCar events at HMS _ was third-fastest at 212.980 mph. Wheldon, fastest on Day One of testing at 213.312 mph, will aim for his fourth consecutive victory at HMS when the season opens on March 29.

-- John Sturbin

Taking stock

First day in Vegas and what do we find at the fine South Point hotel and casino? Why, a sport near and dear to Fort Worth -- cutting horses! My friend from Southern Cali had never seen cutting, so I tried to explain the sport the best I could and we had a great time. I liked the horses and she liked the handsome cowboys.
Next up: Sprint Cup hauler parade down the Strip...
-- Michele Vincze

Dancing with the ''media''

Funny times going on at the Texas Motor Speedway Media Day at the great Glass Cactus nightclub in Grapevine.

   TMS had IRL driver Helio Castroneves linked via satallite for questions from the media. First question came from Sprint Cup star Kevin Harvick, also attending the media day. Harvick identified himself as being a reporter with the Dallas Morning Star, as he luckily combined both local papers into one. Harvick asked Helio about his outfits he chose for Dancing With the Stars.

   Helio answered seriously and had no idea it was Harvick.

   Helio was also miked up before while the video link was seen at the Glass Cactus. Little did he know, the media could hear everything he was talking about with fellow driver Ryan Briscoe. Helio was getting feedback in his earpiece and kept hearing himself. It prompted him to enjoy hearing himself talk.

  ``Helio is the master,'' he said, making himself enjoy hearing it twice.

_ Rick Herrin

United we be

Homestead-Miami Speedway was the setting for the official announcement of unification of domestic open-wheel racing Wednesday after 12 years of "The Split."

Tony George, founder of the Indy Racing League, and Kevin Kalkhoven, co-owner of the Champ Car World Series, shared the dais and each spoke longingly of "looking forward."

"I felt like this was perhaps going to be the best year of my 48 to have a chance to do something that's very important to me and very close to me," George said, "and that is to help bring about the unification of open-wheel racing."

Kalkhoven, who said he and George actually began informal talks four years ago, added, "I think that the winners today are the fans, the teams, the drivers, and indeed the potential that we have to be able to grow the sport over the next few years. Unification isn't some sort of magic bullet to be abe to get us forward. It's going to take an awful lot of hard work."

Here are the key elements: Champ Car teams committing to the IndyCar Series and demonstrating the ability to fund operating budgets will be provided (1) a one-year Honda basic engine lease (2) two Dallara chassis from a pool of new and used cars to the extent of the pool available for up to two seasons and (3) $1.2 million per car from the new IndyCar TEAM program.

In addition, at least two venues from the Champ Car schedule will be added to the IndyCar lineup this season, with the events in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada and Surfers Paradise in Australia the leading candidates. Meanwhile, Champ Car's crown jewel _ the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach street race _ will join the 2009 schedule. This year's LBGP will be run in mid-April as the "Finale" of the Champ Car World Series.

Nine Champ Car teams are ready to make the jump. We'll see how many make it through the month of May at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway en route to Texas Motor Speedway for the Bombardier Learjet 550 night race in early June.

-- John Sturbin

Brave new world

Technology is a wonderful thing and this weekend, this blogger is going to put it to the test...or allow it to test my patience. I'll be at the NASCAR races in Las Vegas as a fan and I'm going to try, emphasis on try, to do a little blogging from the track with my newly purchased iPhone. That little miracle of Apple technology will be my only "computer" so it may defeat me before I can make any valuable contributions to this blog. Stay tuned, though. I'll also try to include some pics, but I'm not guaranteeing anything.

-- Michele Vincze (that's me above)