Andretti Green Racing

Indycar needs you. 

Hard to argue that with floundering viewers of NASCAR races of late, and the momentum of the Indycar series, fans are being drawn back to "those cars with the funny little wings on 'em."  

Prior to the reunification of the IRL and CART, open-wheel racing was playing second fiddle to the NASCAR monolith.  Open wheel drivers were lining up to get in on the action in NASCAR.  And as a fan, I was interested in seeing how these drivers might fare.

Their results weren't exactly what I expected. 

Former Indy 500 winners Dario Franchitti (who has returned to Indycar) and Juan Pablo Montoya have never quite grasped the handle.  Paul Tracy tested but ultimately couldn't find a ride. 

Former F1 Champ Jacques Villneuve tested but never got off the ground.  Indy 500 winner Sam Hornish's transition made sense financially for Penske, and after a long learning curve is finally beginning to show some promise.  Whats disappointing for all of these drivers is that they could be legitimate championship contenders in Indycar.

The conclusion drawn from this is that the transition to NASCAR from open wheel is extremely tough.  It might be like asking a pilot for the Blue Angels to trade in his supersonic extreme-G F-18 Hornet, and join an air demonstration team made up of Boeing 737's.

Where does that leave Danica?

STAY WITH WHAT WORKS!  Danica Patrick has become one of the most popular drivers in all of  motor sports.  Whether its for her firecracker attitude, her off track photo shoots, or simply because she's a woman in a male dominated sport, people love her. 

She's become part of a fraternity (or is it sorority?) of extremely talented drivers including Helio Castroneves, Tony Kanaan, Ryan Briscoe, Marco Andretti, Scott Dixon, Dario Franchitti and Dan Wheldon just to name a few.  

Rumor has it (or perhaps its been confirmed) that we're going to see manufacturer's return to the sport to contest Honda.  There is young talent emerging in Will Power and Graham Rahal.  There were THREE women that qualified for Indianapolis this year!

If Danica had nothing left to prove, or simply had become disenchanted with the sport, then by all means seek new challenges.  However, there is plenty left on her plate to accomplish, and the racing this year has been phenomenal.

Don't go anywhere, Danica.  Indycar needs you!

"If you could take a performance-enhancing drug and not get caught, would you do it if it allowed you to win Indy?" Danica Patrick, arguably the face of the IndyCar Series, was asked during a radio interview last week.

"Well, then it's not cheating, is it? If nobody finds out? Yeah, it would be like finding a gray area," Patrick answered.

Those comments are now coming under fire by the U.S. Anti Doping Agency, who said Patrick's answer was "totally irresponsible."

"In one interview, she undercut what millions of parents try their best to teach their kids everyday in this country, that winners never cheat and cheaters never win,'' Travis Tygart, the CEO of the USADA, said.

Five-time Olympic gold medalist and mother, Dara Torres, also spoke out on Danica's comments.

"As an athlete that has been tested a thousand times whether through blood or urine samples—I've even offered DNA samples to prove that I'm clean—I really can't ever imagine saying if you don't get caught that it's not cheating."

Torres also added that, after Patrick's third place finish in the historic Indianapolis 500, "it just kind of spoils it a little bit."

The controversy comes amidst rumors that Patrick, 26, will be leaving Andretti Green Racing and the IndyCar Series for a NASCAR career.

NASCAR is in the middle of its own drug controversy, pending a lawsuit from owner-driver Jeremy Mayfield, who was suspended May 9 after failing a drug test.

Patrick has since backed away from her comments.

"It was a bad joke,'' she said in an interview published on the USA Today Web site. "There is a lot of sensitivity in our culture about (performance-enhancing drugs). With all the baseball stuff, I've followed it and this is a real problem. It's a shame kids think they have to do this to get ahead. It's very dangerous.''

"We're glad she apologized, admitting that she made a terrible mistake, and we accept that," Tygart said. 

"But it's clear that cheating, whether you get caught or not, is wrong. And if left unchecked, the temptations to do it are high, which is why you need to have the most effective policies in place to stop the threat of cheating."

The next time Patrick and the IndyCar Series takes the track will be this Saturday night, as the series heads to Texas Motor Speedway.

Thanks to People Magazine, FanHouse, Kansas City Star, and Sports Illustrated for the quotes and information used this piece.

Modern-day NASCAR is far from the old, non-public, unpopular drivers like it used to be.

We see drivers on commercials promoting their sponsors, and appearing on sitcoms that make them stars, and people that everyone know.

But with most of these drivers have the ability to do this, and how many drivers appear on commercials, anyway.

I can only think of very few drivers that appear on commercials, on a regular basis. Jimmy Johnson, has been seen on Kobalt Tools commercials,

Joey Logano has only done one Home Depot commercial, that is getting very old, very quickly, and that was shot out of season.

Carl Edwards has done commercials, ranging from Aflac, to Subway, to Claritin.

Kevin Harvick has done many Shell commercials.

Tony Stewart has done two or three Old Spice adds.

David Ragan, has done a couple of very stupid, UPS commercials. (Sorry but its true.)

But the two drivers that do more adds than anyone, are drivers who need to.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. does ads for sponsors that don't even comply with his race team. Wrangler Jeans, and Nationwide Insurance, most notably. He does this in order to keep his fans happy, and to make himself a celebrity.

And the more commercials that he does, the fewer wins that Dale Earnhardt Jr. has calculated in his career.

And the other driver, is possibly the worst this sport has ever seen. That is Michael Waltrip.

Mickey was loved by NASCAR fans, until, he became a car owner.

Since his cheating scandal, and his divorce, he's done nothing but irritate fans, and the commercials are getting as old as the Geico caveman commercials.

Aaron's and NAPA, and I think Michael focuses more on this than his performance in his racecar.

But with all of these adds, I very seldom see them outside of the race.

But this fact does not apply to Danica Patrick.

Godaddy.com, Peak Antifreeze, and multiple others, Danica has quickly become the face of the Indy Car series.

But her driving skills just aren't there in Indy cars. Many open wheel drivers who were good in their respected open wheel series, have been terrible in NASCAR.

And the fact that the 36-race schedule in NASCAR is very grueling, and all of the commercials she does, I don't know how Danica will even focus on enough to drive in NASCAR.

The fact that she struts her stuff, and uses her gender as a positive to make more money for herself, in a sport that is dominated by men, makes all other drivers despise her.

And me too. The way she stormed through the pits when she had trouble did me in.

She was complaining about her team, and the other competitors on the track.

Danica is racing's version of Alex Rodriguez, except with no talent.

She's won one race in her career. She gets more publicity than anyone, and then she says all that she wants is to be equal with the guys, but then she shows off her large breasts, and tight body in multiple adds.

I would love to have a female driver in the sport, but please, lets get one with talent, and one that is just not trying to be a movie star. This is auto racing, not Hollywood.

If Danica does come to NASCAR, she will stick around forever, because this sport is run by the sponsors, and they will stay because of her popularity. But whatever car she gets into she will drive out of the top-35 and miss races.

What owner will give her a ride? You ask. Who else? Michael Waltrip, Mr. Notalentsponsorspokeperson/racecar driver himself.

When Michael finally does realize that he cannot drive, he will step aside and put Danica in the No. 55 car to promote NAPA.

This will be a real shame if Danica does come to NASCAR, because it will show us that it is no longer about driver talent, but about their face, and in this case, their gender.

I did not write this article, to bash women. I happen to really like women, and it just drives me crazy when someone will use their difference to promote his/herself, and then yell and cry when things go the other way.

Danica, stay in Indy racing, and when you're done with that, go star on some sitcom, or in SI's swimsuit edition, and stay out of NASCAR, and revoke your seat to Chrissy Wallace, someone who won't abuse her gender as you do, and who has cut her teeth in dirt tracks, and short tracks for many years.

Danica, you've already ruined Indy racing, don't ruin two racing series, and stay out of NASCAR, please!

There was a time when the Indianapolis 500 meant everything in racing. Sadly, those days are gone.

Stock car racing was that thing that those southern boys did in the Carolinas. Open wheel racing was for the rest of us.

Open wheel or Indy Car racing is true racing, in my opinion. It is racing where the best car and the best driver can speed past an entire field. NASCAR with the tight rules of restrictor plate racing has to have drafting, and the racing while close, gets kind of compromised. 

The names were as big as you would find in any sport. There were the Unsers, Papa Al and little Al, along with Emerson Fittipaldi, Danny Sullivan, Bobby Rahal, Johnny Rutherford, all champions of the great race. 

Then there is the Andretti family, legendary father Mario, and his son Michael whose bad luck at Indy is as legendary as any other curse in sports.

These guys were superstars. They were on all the late night talk shows; even guest appeared on sitcoms, soap operas, commercials, etc.

You knew the Indy 500 Champions like you knew who won all of the Super Bowls. A.J. Foyt, the first to win four Indy 500 races. Then Al Unser did it, and finally Rick Mears joined in with their face to appear four times on the Borg-Warner Trophy.

But, something happened that would change the popularity of top-level open wheel racing in America. The main governing body of Indy Car racing was split up. CART (Championship Auto Racing Teams) was the undeniable league in open wheel racing. CART was split due to mainly the work of one person.

Tony George is the grandson of Tony Hulman who purchased the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the 1940s.

Tony George had an idea to start the Indy Racing League (IRL).  The IRL was created to level the playing field and challenge CART. George wanted an all-oval racing schedule, which he felt would give American drivers a better chance at success.  He demanded that 25 of the 33 cars in the 1996 Indy 500 come from the IRL. CART could not use the Indy 500 as a point-scoring race.

If you think that was confusing, get a load of this. In 1996, CART ran the U.S. 500 at Michigan International Speedway on the same day at the same time!  The U.S. 500 was run three more times, but did not run on the same day as the Indy 500.

The 1996 Indy 500 had a roster that looked something like what you would see at a local USAC track on a Saturday night. There were 17 rookies in the field. One of those rookies, is a man by the name of Tony Stewart. That was another loss for Indy Racing. Stewart went to NASCAR a couple years later and won two Sprint Cups and is one of the most popular drivers in America. 

As the next few Indy 500 races were run, the main CART owners like Chip Ganassi and Roger Penske found their way back to Indianapolis. In 2003, those teams defected CART for the IRL.

Coincidently in that year, CART filed for bankruptcy.  CART re-opened and changed its name to Champ Car in 2004. Champ Car folded in 2008 after filing for bankruptcy.

There is finally one only Indy Car league, but the damage has been nearly catastrophic.

The Indy 500 is a mere shell of what it used to be. The sponsors are few and far between. The rough part for the Indy Racing League is that they had a tough time finding sponsors for all of their drivers when the economy was doing well. The drivers who used to know by heart are now seen in other places besides their cars. 

Most people know Helio Castroneves for his Dancing With the Stars Championship than his back-to-back Indy 500 titles.

Dario Franchitti is know as the beau of Ashley Judd more than he is know as the 2007 Indy 500 Champion. 

Most men know Danica Patrick for her provocative spreads in magazines, TV, Internet, etc. She has one career IRL victory. I will gladly give you a dollar if you know which race it was without looking it up. It was not even a race run in the United States.

I have a proposal to make the Indy 500 truly find itself again. It is radical and it still may not save the IRL, but it could put it back on the racing map.

Let one of the name drivers win. By name drivers, I mean Danica Patrick, Marco Andretti or Graham Rahal. If Patrick were to win the media attention would be on open wheel racing like it has never seen.

No offense to former Indy 500 Champions like Scott Dixon, Dan Wheldon, or to top IRL drivers like Tony Kanaan, Ryan Briscoe, etc. On Monday, no one will really care too much if any of the other 30 drivers win on Sunday. There may be an exception if either the two other female drivers not named Danica (Sarah Fisher or Milka Duno) cross over the bricks first.

While you may miss out on some temporary glory, the IRL making its way back to relevancy could all the more enrich your sport. Bigger sports have “fixed” games in order to get the optimal financial result. Sometimes, they use the officials as a decoy to get this desired result.

Auto racing is not cheap. These six figure cars need sponsors, major ones.

What I am proposing may seem disingenuous, but I just do not want to see the great spectacle that is open wheel racing disappear. I fear that if some of these no-name drivers keep winning the race, ratings will continue to fall, and sponsors will leave and that may lead to the IRL following Champ Car into bankruptcy.

The legend that is the one and only Jim “Gomer Pyle” Nabors will be singing “Back Home Again In Indiana” on Sunday.  

I wish that the Indy 500 would be the start of getting Indy Car racing back home again into the media spotlight. 

Pit and garage passes. Autograph sessions. Driver meet and greets. Team websites. All of these are traditional methods by which any avid IndyCar fan can meet their favorite driver and follow their progress.

However, many IndyCar series drivers have taken to the 21st century and started their own Twitter accounts, allowing race fans to know where drivers are at any moment and get a glimpse into the private lives of their favorite racer.

I personally follow many of IndyCar's top drivers, including Tony Kanaan (my personal favorite Twitter-er), Marco Andretti, Danica Patrick, Dan Wheldon, Mario Moraes, Alex Lloyd, and Sarah Fischer, not to mention teams such as Vision Racing and Conquest Racing. Most drivers update frequently, and with sometimes humorous updates

Where else could you learn that Mario Moraes is sometimes known as the fourth Jonas Brother, Mario Jonas? Or that Tony Kanaan has his "own" Chia Pet?

Only Twitter can show Tony Kanaan and his Chia head side by side, or Kanaan and Marco Andretti bagging groceries for a local promotion, or even EJ Viso standing on his helmet in Times Square to be seen in a photo shoot.

Twitter lets you in on the lives of drivers as never before possible. Vision Racing, for example, has used Twitter to give away IZOD and William Rast team merchandise by Tweeting the answer to a trivia question.

Pictures aren't the only way by which the fan can learn more about the driver. For example, by reading Dan Wheldon's Tweet, you could learn that he recently dined at a certain Indianapolis restaurant, or that the bus driver for the NYC photo shoot nearly made Tony Kanaan vomit on Scott Dixon.

The question is, however, where does Twitter cross the line between letting the race fan into the life of a driver, and letting them know TOO much? Does a fan really need to know where Wheldon is eating dinner? Or that Danica Patrick's car is loose with 20 minutes left in final practice?

Shouldn't the driver be focusing more on the race than on their Blackberry? Granted, nobody knows exactly who is making these Tweets, however, I would suspect that a number of drivers, rather than PR personnel, make those updates.

Create your own Twitter account, Tweet from the track like I do, and join us for another episode in the saga of As the Tweet Turns...

It’s that time of year again as "The Greatest Spectacle in Racing" and NASCAR’s 600-mile endurance race kicks off the summer on Memorial Day weekend. This is every race fans favorite day as families cook out and enjoy a full day of racing action.

The Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 are two of the biggest gems in auto racing. Every driver wants to win at Indy since it’s the biggest race of the year for the IRL and on the NASCAR side, drivers want to win at Charlotte because the Coca-Cola 600 ranks among the top four most important races of the year.

Sunday will begin with the start of the Indianapolis 500 and conclude with the finish of the Coca-Cola 600 later that evening. This year will mark the 100th year of racing at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway so the incentive to win the Indy 500 is even greater.

The starting grid for the Indy 500 was set last weekend and was filled with drama as time was running out for drivers which included the likes of John Andretti and former Indy 500 winner trying to bump their way into the field.

Bump Day was filled with drama as veteran driver John Andretti made his third and final qualifying attempt of the day with just under ten minutes remaining in the session. Andretti finally put together four solid laps well over 221 mph, which was more than enough needed to make it into the field.

After it was announced that Andretti had made it into the field the crowd went wild with cheers and applause. John Andretti is an Indianapolis native so he has plenty of support from the fans and he is the nephew of former Indy 500 winner Mario Andretti who won the race in 1969.

After Andretti bumped his way into the field it unfortunately left one driver out of the field in Ryan Hunter Reay who finished sixth in last years Indy 500.

Fortunately for Hunter Reay there was just over two minutes remaining in the qualifying session so he quickly made his way back onto the track in a final attempt to qualify his way back into the starting grid.

It all came down to the final lap on the front stretch as Hunter Reay bumped Alex Tagliani from the starting field by three one hundredths of a second.

The Starting Grid for the Indianapolis 500:

Row One: Helio Castroneves, Ryan Briscoe, Dario Franchitti

Row Two: Graham Rahal, Scott Dixon, Tony Kanaan

Row Three: Mario Moraes, Marco Andretti, Will Power

Row Four: Danica Patrick, Alex Lloyd, Raphael Matos

Row Five: Paul Tracy, Vitor Meira, Justin Wilson

Row Six: Hideki Mutoh, Ed Carpenter, Dan Wheldon

Row Seven: AJ Foyt IV, Scott Sharp, Sarah Fisher

Row Eight: Davey Hamilton, Robert Doornbos, Townsend Bell

Row Nine: Oriol Servia, Tomas Scheckter, Mike Conway

Row 10: John Andretti, EJ Viso, Bruno Junqueira

Row 11: Milka Duno, Nelson Philippe, Ryan Hunter Reay

The starting field consists of four former winners of the Indy 500 which include Dan Wheldon, Dario Franchitti, Scott Dixon, and Helio Castroneves who is the only two-time winner of the 500.

One of the victories by Castroneves was not without controversy though as Paul Tracy believed he passed Castroneves before a caution flag waved over the field after a late race crash with under five laps remaining.

This year will be the first time since that particular race that Paul Tracy has competed in an Indianapolis 500 so you can bet that Tracy will give it his all to win at Indy.

The field is also made up of some pretty famous names from the ranks of Foyt, Andretti, and Rahal. AJ Foyt IV will be representing his famous grandfather AJ Foyt who is a four-time winner of the Indy 500, which ranks among the most of all-time along with Rick Mears and Al Unser.

Marco Andretti will be representing his famous grandfather Mario who is a former winner at Indianapolis as well as his father Michael who has done everything at Indy but win the 500.

Finally we have Graham Rahal who is the son of Bobby Rahal who won the 500 in 1986. All of these young drivers have big shoes to fill before they can join the ranks of their fathers and grandfathers but this year could be the year for one of these famous families.

Another possible story could be surrounding the women who are competing in the race. The three women in this years Indy 500 are Danica Patrick, Sarah Fisher, and Milka Duno.

Sarah Fisher has been in many Indy 500’s with her best finish being an 18th place. Danica Patrick on the other hand has been a contender in all of her Indy 500 starts and hopes to make history this year by being the first women driver to win the Indy 500.

Danica finally broke through and won her first race last season at Japan, which essentially lifted a huge burden off her back. Who knows, maybe this year will finally be the year for Danica. After the performance put on by Rachael Alexandra last week at the Preakness, this could be the year that a woman outlasts the boys.

After this battle of titans finishes up, another battle will begin as the boys of the Sprint Cup Series suit up for a 600-mile endurance race that would tests the likes of any man. This race can be even harder when you have already run at the Indy 500 like three drivers have done in the past.

The first driver to accomplish this feat was John Andretti in 1994. Andretti pulled double duty and wound up finishing 10th at Indy and 36th at Charlotte after losing an engine. Tony Stewart and Robby Gordon have also accomplished this feat with Stewart having faired the best of the three by finishing in the top five in both races in 2001.

This is a thing of the past now since the starting times of the Indy 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 have changed allowing no time for the drivers to fly back to Charlotte in time for the start of the race.

Tony Stewart is already off to a great start for this weekends 600 miler as he won his first career race as an owner-driver last weekend in the Sprint All-Star Race. Six drivers have won the All-Star Race and went on to win the Coca-Cola 600 the following week.

These drivers included Kasey Kahne, Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt, Davey Allison, and Darrell Waltrip.

There is also a select group of drivers who have been luck enough to win the Coca-Cola 600 back to back. These drivers included the likes of Buddy Baker, Darrell Waltrip, Neil Bonnett, Dale Earnhardt, Jeff Gordon, and Jimmie Johnson who is the only driver to win three straight.

My predictions for the races this weekend are for Tony Kanaan to win the Indy 500. I also believe that Danica Patrick could pull the upset but I believe that Kanaan will pull it off after being denied victory so many times. My dark horse for the race is Mario Moraes who has been fast in all the practice sessions leading up to this weekends race.

Lastly, my surprise for the Indy 500 is John Andretti who proved that he has what it takes to race at Indianapolis even though he is 46 years of age.

Andretti can still get around Indy with the rest of those younger drivers and I believe he will have a fast car and stay out of trouble all day long. What is that famous quote, "In order to finish first, one must first finish."

My predictions for the Coca-Cola 600 are for Tony Stewart to win his first career points paying race as an owner-driver. For my dark horse I believe that Dale Earnhardt Jr. will finally put it all together and finish strong.

My surprise pick for the Coke 600 is Casey Mears who is a former winner of the 600-mile race and has pretty good equipment behind him at Richard Childress Racing.

Lastly, I just want to wish everyone a happy Memorial Day weekend and enjoy the cookouts and parties as well as spending time with family and friends.

Four years ago, "Danica Mania" started when Danica Patrick became the first woman to ever lead a lap in the Indianapolis 500.

Patrick ended up leading 19 laps before surrendering the lead to eventual winner Dan Wheldon with seven laps to go. Patrick finished fourth.

But what about 2009? Is this the year Patrick finally completes her trophy collection by adding the Borg-Warner Trophy?

The answer is a big maybe. Patrick has all the power she needs in her Andretti-Green Racing machine and she's currently on track for the best season of her career, but AGR has struggled all month at Indianapolis.

With exception of Tony Kanaan, Patrick, and AGR's other drivers Marco Andretti and Hideki Mutoh, have been quiet all month.

Kanaan was frustrated with his car, the team turned to its backup car before Pole Day and Patrick said she could have done better than her 10th-place qualification.

Andretti will start eighth, while Mutoh was bumped from the field on Pole Day and had to qualify on day two. He'll start 16th Sunday.

But Patrick can win the 93rd Indianapolis 500; she has the horsepower and team to do it.

Patrick is currently tied for fifth in the IndyCar Series with Ryan Hunter-Reay and has two top five finishes in the first three races of the season, with a best finish of fourth at Long Beach.

She has a great track record in Indianapolis, finishing in the top-10 in three of her four starts in the 500. The only blemish being last year's 22nd place finish after Ryan Briscoe clipped her on pit road.

Patrick also seems a little more relaxed this season. She said before the season opener at St. Petersburg that she wasn't going to get mad anymore, and she's no longer the top story at Indy.

Stories such as Helio Castroneves winning the pole after being acquitted from tax evasion charges, Dario Franchitti, the 2007 winner and IndyCar Champion, returning to the 500 after a season in NASCAR and Alex Lloyd putting Sam Schmidt's entry in the field on Pole Day have all overshadowed Patrick heading into the race.

But she's not being avoided.

She does have a new orange and black paint scheme on the car (Boost Mobile is on the car instead of her traditional sponsor Motorola), and she was just featured in a new milk advertisement.

However, Patrick has had to dodge questions of whether or not she will return to AGR next season. Her contract expires at season's end, but co-owner Michael Andretti hopes to keep Patrick.

According to the Associated Press, Andretti said he has been in discussions with Patrick about an extension.

But don’t expect to see Patrick drinking the goat’s milk in Victory Lane Sunday.

Team Penske has been the class of the field all month with Castroneves and Briscoe taking the first two spots on Pole Day and Will Power's strong performances for Penske all month, as well. Power will start ninth Sunday.

The only team that has been able to keep up with Penske is Target/Chip Ganassi Racing, who will have Franchitti starting third with defending Indy 500 winner and IndyCar Champion Scott Dixon starting fifth.

Target/Chip Ganassi also comes into Sunday winning the last two IndyCar events. Franchitti won at Long Beach, while Dixon was victorious at Kansas.

If Patrick is to win Sunday, she and the whole AGR organization must improve by race time. AGR will need to do a lot of work Friday on Carb Day to catch up to Penske and Ganassi and be race ready.

After much criticism from fans and reporters, Marco Andretti's Venom/Andretti-Green Racing Dallara-Honda topped the charts with a blistering lap of 225.478 mph.

Andretti's fast time came due to a multi-car tow, where a car coming from behind gets caught in the draft (or slipstream) and gets sucked like a vacuum, causing him to go faster.

The checkered flag waved at 6 p.m. ET after 31 drivers and 32 cars combined for a total of 2199 laps. Team Penske driver Ryan Briscoe was the only one to run his spare car.

Speaking of Team Penske, the three car team proved they are more than ready to win another Indy 500 title, posting the second and third fastest times. Helio Castroneves took second with a speed of 225.237 mph and Ryan Briscoe was third with a speed of 224.904.

The next two spots were occupied by Chip Ganassi Racing drivers. Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti finished fourth and fifth respectively on the leaderboard, as Dixon defends his Indy 500 win of 2008. It's Franchitti's first visit to the speedway since he won in 2007, missing the race because he decided to give NASCAR a try.

Dan Wheldon came back to his old self, posting the sixth fastest time in his National Guard/Panther Racing Dallara-Honda.

The self-proclaimed winner of the 2002 Indy 500 Paul Tracy made his return to the speedway in fine fashion, posting a time good enough for 12th. That's good considering his Geico/KV Racing Technologies entry is a new team with not much experience. This is also only Tracy's second start in the Dallara-Honda in nearly a year.

The fastest rookie of the day was Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing driver Robert Doornbos, ending the day in seventh.

The ever-so-popular Danica Patrick finished the day in 8th place in her Boost Mobile/Andretti-Green Racing entry.

Nearly seven-and-a-half hours of practice was run today, with only one stoppage after Ryan Hunter-Reay brushed the wall in his Vision Racing car.

Many teams today had race setups on their cars and will probably start to focus their setups toward qualifying on Friday's open practice. Although the capturing the pole position is attractive, teams seem to be focusing much more on the race.

Leaderboard for Thursday's open practice:

1 Marco Andretti 39.9152, 225.478
2 Helio Castroneves 39.9579, 225.237
3 Ryan Briscoe 40.0171, 224.904
4 Scott Dixon 40.0983, 224.448
5 Dario Franchitti 40.1499, 224.16
6 Dan Wheldon 40.1747, 224.022
7 Robert Doornbos 40.2518, 223.592
8 Danica Patrick 40.313, 223.253
9 Graham Rahal 40.3594, 222.996
10 Will Power 40.3776, 222.896
11 Hideki Mutoh 40.4049, 222.745
12 Paul Tracy 40.4184, 222.671
13 Tony Kanaan 40.4321, 222.595
14 Ed Carpenter 40.4364, 222.572
15 Scott Sharp 40.4609, 222.437
16 Mario Moraes 40.5132, 222.15
17 John Andretti 40.5569, 221.91
18 Sarah Fisher 40.6037, 221.655
19 Davey Hamilton 40.6094, 221.624
20 Alex Lloyd 40.6833, 221.221
21 Justin Wilson 40.6872, 221.2
22 Vitor Meira 40.6979, 221.142
23 AJ Foyt IV 40.7165, 221.041
24 EJ Viso 40.7347, 220.942
25 Mike Conway 40.7894, 220.646
26 Raphael Matos 40.8669, 220.227
27 Ryan Briscoe 40.8943, 220.08
28 Milka Duno 40.9566, 219.745
29 Alex Tagliani 41.0051, 219.485
30 Nelson Philippe 41.011, 219.453
31 Ryan Hunter-Reay 41.2221, 218.329
32 Stanton Barrett 41.2676, 218.089

The same old Danica Patrick will be present at Indy; I'm talking about the intense and absolutely hates to lose attitude of the female driver.

But the look of her car will not be familiar however, as she will trade in her black and blue Motorola-sponsored car for a black and orange car, sponsored by Boost Mobile.

The Andretti-Green Racing team introduced the new livery to the media Friday at the Indianapolis International Airport, taking it out for a small test run.

"I keep thinking (Dario) Franchitti won (2007) in an orange and black car," Patrick said after unveiling the new livery for the month of May and remainder of the IndyCar Series season. "I think the colors are really sporty and very cool. It sort of reflects how I am. Edgy and fun."

"Solid and generous support from sponsors like Boost Mobile and Motorola keep me on the fast track to victory," said Danica Patrick. "Boost Mobile's signature live-on-the-edge spirit is definitely in tune with my competitive fire, and it will help take Andretti Green Racing up a few notches with a new attitude."

Boost Mobile is a prepaid division of Sprint Nextel, in partnership with Motorola.

"At Motorola, partners like Boost Mobile and sponsorships such as Danica Patrick/Andretti Green Racing are key to our brand success," said Jean-Pierre Le Cannellier, senior director of North America marketing, Motorola Mobile Devices.

"We are thrilled to kick off this joint sponsorship as Danica prepares to race in the Indianapolis 500 and as we introduce our latest Push-To-Talk device."

The company is celebrating by announcing the "Pop Your Clutch" sweepstakes at www.popyourclutch.com. Fans can enter to win the grand prize of a free trip to the Sonoma, Calif., Indycar race on Aug. 23.

Additional prizes include one of 10 Motorola Clutch i465 handsets, plus $150 of Boost Mobile service, which will be given away after each of the 14 IndyCar Series events, starting with the Indianapolis 500.

If Patrick wins the Indianapolis 500, five-hundred Motorola Clutch i465 handsets will be given away with $300 of Boost Mobile service.

Once again Danica Patrick has managed to steal the spotlight from the rest of the IndyCar Series field. Since her arrival to Indycars Ms. Patrick has been a media lighting rod. Her actions off the track have, in many ways, overshadowed her on-track accomplishments.

Temper tantrums, physical altercations, and bikini modeling has helped secure her place as the IRL’s most recognizable face.  Hardly a day goes by where her name does not create a polarizing effect among racing fans and racing drivers alike.

For some, she is the face and future of the series as she brings attention to their favorite sport that otherwise would be ignored by the non-racing media.  They look at her as a ground-breaking athlete who has not only crossed the gender barrier but tore it down. 

For others she is a spoiled, media darling who has used her gender to blur the fact she is not that good.

Whichever side of the debate you land on there is no denying she brings much needed attention to the sport.

This brings us to the latest Danica incident.

Forget the IndyCar Series started their season in St Petersburg with Ryan Briscoe earning a victory for Penske or the amazing podium finishes of Ryan Hunter-Reay and Justin Wilson. 

What is all abuzz on the Internet was the latest Danica Patrick incident.  This time it involves IndyCar Series rookie Raphael Matos.

Notice I have been saying “incident” not accident.  With Ms. Patrick it is never only what happens on the track but her actions afterward, which combine into an “incident.”

The latest Danica incident happened mid-race on the streets of St. Petersburg. 
Matos attempted a pass after Patrick had been slowed up while passing a back-marker on the tight course. 

Using his momentum, “Rapha” dove inside the Andretti Green Racing Dallara of Ms. Patrick but she maintained her racing line, which caused them to come together sending them both hard into the barriers. 

At first view it appears that Matos was at fault as Ms. Patrick had maintained her line. The VERSUS Network did an excellent job of following the incident, with various camera angles of the incident including an in-car shot from Danica’s car.

This is when what should have been just another racing accident turned into a “Danica Incident.” 

Once they extricated themselves from the battered wreckage, Patrick tapped Matos on the helmet as if to say "Use your head."  Then the two had what could best be called a lively discussion while they waited for their ride back to pits.

Danica has a history of being “physical" with other drivers who dare to be involved in a wreck with her. 

Jaques Lazier in the 2005 Fontana race and Dan Wheldon at Milwaukee in 2007 have both felt her well publicized wrath. 

Some see Patrick as a “feisty" woman who won’t allow herself to be pushed around by anyone.  Many see her as a girl who hides behind her gender, knowing no one will dares to respond physically with a female.

Having spent numerous times conversing with Matos, I can assure you if Danica had been a man he would have sternly if not physically, communicated his displeasure with the “tap.”

Afterwards VERSUS showed an apparently incredulous Matos explain his side of the story to the obviously incensed Ms. Patrick, and most were quick to side with the Andretti Green Racing driver.

After further review, I would have to differ. 

Danica was plodding along in ninth place and was not in contention for a podium. Matos was closing fast and saw a chance to move up when Danica was slowed trying to lap a much slower Stan Barrett.  Entering the turn, Rapha dove to the inside while Ms. Patrick maintained her line, which led to both ending up in tire barriers.

Raphael Matos attempt at a pass was the kind of ambitious and a hasty move for the rookie to make.  The corner is a difficult, but not an impossible place to make a pass.  Being a street course, drivers have to jump at any opening that presents itself so they can move up the leader board.

Danica is entering her fifth season as an IndyCar Series driver and made a questionable decision that a racer with her experience should not have made. 

Realizing the car didn’t have the speed of the leaders that day, an experienced driver would have used pit strategy to move up and kept clear of trouble to bring home the car and most importantly, earn valuable points. 

Instead Danica, who admits seeing Matos in her mirrors and yet refused to give an inch, received far fewer points and close to $100,000 in damage to her Motorola sponsored Dallara

So there you go.  Another incident involving Danica Patrick that has drawn much more fan and media interest than it would have if it had happen to other drivers.

Don’t believe me? 

On that very same lap Vitor Meira ran into the back of Alex Tagliani giving the Conquest car a puncture and Mario Moraes was punted out by Hideki Mutoh. 

Are you talking about those on-track accidents?  Do you even remember?