BY KEN DE LA BASTIDE
AP sports columnist
April 22, 2008 11:32 pm
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The starts must be in alignment for Indy Racing League founder Tony George.
George has seen a good run of luck in recent months for the unified Indy Racing League with the series biggest event looming in the near future, the Indianapolis 500.
Just two months ago it appeared the IRL and the Champ Car series would be entering another season divided with the result being small fields, a declining fan and sponsor base.
The came the announcement that after a lengthy split had agreed to a unification using the IRL platform, a move that immediately increased the car counts and had even skeptics interested if the marriage would be successful or be shorter than a Hollywood starlet’s walk down the aisle.
Add to this the Dancing with the Stars champion Helio Castroneves and Danica Patrick’s appearance in the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue and there was a buzz among people who were not normally fans of open-wheel racing.
The next stroke of perfect timing when Graham Rahal, the son of a former Indianapolis 500 champion, captured his first win on the street course in St. Petersburg, using the IRL Honda engine and Dallara chassis.
Rahal is a young, good-looking, well-spoken American — someone the media could wrap their collective arms around and make a household name.
Then, when it was least expected, Patrick, an American girl from Wisconsin, captured the IRL race in Japan. She became the first woman to win at the highest level of open-wheel racing.
It was the talk of the sports world on Sunday and Monday. After 50 starts with the IRL Patrick’s Andretti-Green race team used the right fuel management strategy to get her into victory lane.
Although Patrick was not happy with the fact that she shed a few tears, it didn’t hurt the publicity machine for the IRL. It was a show of real emotion from Patrick, who has been observed stamping her feet in frustration in the past.
I for one didn’t expect Patrick to ever win an IRL event. Although she has had strong runs in the past and led laps in the Indy 500, I didn’t think she could seal the deal.
Obviously I was wrong. I expected Sarah Fisher, an Ohio native, to score the first win for a woman in major open wheel racing competition. Fisher climbed the ranks the hard way competing in midgets and sprints on pavement and the dirt.
George and the IRL staff have been dealt a winning hand leading up to the Indianapolis 500 in May. There should be plenty of fan and media interest in the race.
Now it is up to the IRL and IMS staff to hit a home run and put the “500” back in the limelight around the world.
In other racing news
Although I’m not a fan of Kyle Bush, he is undoubtedly the hottest driver in auto racing at the current time. Bush captured his third consecutive Nationwide Series race this past weekend on the road course in Mexico City. He leads the Craftsman Truck Series points chance, is second in the Sprint Cup standings and in the top five in the Nationwide Series. Had it not been for a flat tire and a mechanical problem at two races, he would be the points leader for the Nationwide Series.
• Winchester Speedway will again attempt to start the 2008 season this coming Sunday after last weekends “Rich Vogler Classic” for the United States Auto Club sprint cars and CRA late models Manning 100 fell victim for Mother Nature.
Ken de la Bastide can be reached at (765) 454 -8580 or via e-mail at ken.delabastide@kokomo
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