Notes from the 2005 Firestone 200 in Nashville

Notes taken during the ESPN broadcast of the race in Nashville on 7/16/05

S-a-tur-day-NIGHT, S-a-tur-day-NIGHT. Saturday late afternoon, actually.

Before we fire up the race coverage, let's note that Toyota Atlantic Rookie Sensation Katherine Legge got black flagged for blocking during her race in Toronto on Saturday. Got a drive-through penalty and finished sixth. I'm here to tell ya Danica could put it sideways on the front straight to prevent a pass and Brian wouldn't see a thing.

Late Breaking News added 7/17: Katherine Legge wins again.

Elsewhere around the Female Rookie Sensation League, ARCA-REMAX rookie sensation Erin "World of Outlaws" Crocker got second in the ARCA-REMAX race at Kentucky on 7/8, rookie sensation Allison Duncan won a late model race in Stockton, CA and Sarah Fisher is testing Richard Childress in a Busch car for at Gateway in St. Louis on July 19.

So we've been around the chick racer horn, let's get back to the one that ESPN loves the most -- Sarah Fisher.

Kidding. It's Danica-mania, bay-beeeee.

Private bet made to myself at 2:11 p.m. 7/16: Someone, probably Todd Harris, will make a reference to "Hurricane Danica" during the broadcast today because of the havoc Hurricane Dennis has played on the area.

Welcome to Nashville. Eighth word of the entire broadcast is "Danica."

Someone (perhaps Dr. Punchy) says engine parity is apparently evident since there are two Chevys in the top three and a Toyota up there too. Right. Keep saying it and it might be true.

First shot from Dancia Cam (in-cockpit camera looking back at Danica's head). Yep, there she is. In her helmet. Stirring shot. My viewing experience is enhaned.

Punchy: "Tonight Nashville Superspeedway can also be the place that changes the face of racing for many many years to come if indeed Danica Patrick can pull off the win."

Jamie Little (put her in a car!) talking about Vitor and Buddy. Says this year Buddy "has done nothing." Hard to argue. Vitor gone zero for four years on winning. Jamie says he's always a bridesmaid.

Welsh: Scheckter averaging finish is third since Indy. He's enfuego and keeping it out of the wall. Buddy Lazier in the car tonight. Buddy and Scheckter have led a total of 2500 laps.

Green Flag. Green Flag.

Three wide into turn one. Danica is fifth after two laps. Scheckter says "see ya." Danica is down to 8th. Hornish moving up.

Buddy Lazier is holding his position in the top 5. Goodyear says Lazier is very fit. The booth guys usually point out who is fit. Alex Barron is also very fit. Maybe the IRL should create a beefcake calendar. All the Very Fit people in there in Speedos. Danica too, of course. Sell millions. That's a free idea from me to the IRL.

Hornish up to 7th.

Franchitti leads. Let's go to Punchy. Punchy shows what's left of a fried wheel bearing Franchitti roasted in the last practice. Bullet dodged.

Welsh reports Ray Leto says Danica is just settling in. Don't panic. Just getting the feel for it. Lost those six positions but no worries. Rookie sensation Tomas Enge is now behind Danica.

In-car with Kite. No cars in front of him. Looks like a qualifying run. Probably going about 185 mph.

Todd: Danica really has been the strongest driver for Rahal Letterman.

Aside from that whole second-place at Indy from Vitor. Oh and his third place last week. Someone check the points. Vitor higher than Danica? Ah, yeah. He is. Points, schmoints. Danica is hotter!

Video of Kanaan driving around people high on the start like he's on the the interstate. Goodyear says the lack of marbles let him do that. Back to Danica. Harris: "She's showing a lot of patience." Takes a lot of patience to go from second to eighth in five laps. Other female drivers, not that I'd name names, get dissed for putting it into reverse.

Yellow-yellow-yellow. Enge in the wall. Car crumpled. In the middle of the track like a carcass. He's slow to get out. Checking out the head. Much grimacing.

Let's go to the replay. Maybe the dreaded "dirty air." Hard to tell. Nice video of an IRL official diving for cover on the outside of the turn. Goodyear: "The IRL official on the outside of the turn knowing what's going to happen, the car coming at him at 200 miles per hour, the IRL official does the smart thing -- runs." Going to need a little underwear clean up out there.

Jamie with Boles. Not sure what happened. Jamie says its the fifth DNF in eight races.

Goodyear says hitting the wall is like "having a thousand chiropractor treatments all at once." Major shout out to Scott for that analogy. Scott is adding value. My viewing experience is (seriously) enhanced.

Pit stops. Danica gets an iso box on TV because she's in 9th or so. ESPN loves 8th and 9th, when Number 16 is in there. Franchitti 7.5; Scheckter 8.5; Danica 9.9. Much chatroom talk last time with allegations that Patrick's father screamed at the R-L pit crew about crap pit stops during the last race. Look for more stories this time. Danica pits in 8th and comes out 12th.

ESPY promo and right back to Danica Cam. Yep, there she is. Danica in her car. That's her helmet. I recognize it anywhere.

Vince with Ray Leto. The only way Leto could get more air time is if he'd put on a blazer and sit in the booth with Scott and Todd. ESPN may owe him some money he's on air so much. Leto may get his own side endorsement deal to wear some company's cap during his 21 on-camera comments.

Over to Kim Green. Complains about Scheckter going below the white line (kidding). Talks about the extreme speed in the pits. Green also may have to move up to the booth so we can have constant commentary from him.

Brian Herta is leading. Herta (AG Stepchild) stayed out. He thought maybe it would be nice to lead a race and this was his shot. Nothing to lose.

Todd Harris: "On board with Tomas Scheckter there is Pam Thompson. Now the name Pam Thompson is a program they have where you can have fan support ... there you see Alex Barron coming in for a stop and go." Pam Thompson is what again? Never finishes the sentence because we are green-green-green. Booth guys need to work on finishing thoughs or coming back to them later. I still wonder who the hell Pam Thompson is.

Herta dropping like a Danica. Sorry. Cheap shot. He's fading fast. Gotta be something in the tires. Gotta be. Danica is like 15th.

Rice accused of blocking Dixon, twice. Major news here is the announcing team says "Dixon" in a non-accident setting for the first time in 2005.

Jamie. Report on Enge. The dreaded lower back pain. Having some X-rays. The IRL is rugged on lower backs.

Briscoe gets air. Goodyear is impressed with him. He may actually finish this race.

Danica is 12th or so. Discussion of the pressure on Danica, the expectations (um, maybe like those put on her by ESPN/ABC). Danica just needs experience before she can win. But keep tuning in. When she's in the back she needs experience. When she's in the front, "could this be the day?"

Firestone commercial says four Firestones propelled Danica "into immortality."

Danica is 10th after 73. Herta is toast. Wheel issues. Way off the pace. Coming in. Booth guys wonder why. Herta is talking about it on his radio but we can't hear over the chattering booth guys.

Danica posts the third fastest lap of the race! Todd has a renewed spirit for life. He now has something to go on living for. Video of Danica blowing by Wheldon. Wheldon got some "dirty air" and had to get out of the throttle. Expect Todd to start peeing any second. Goodyear is helping Todd find his glycerine tablets (for heart attack) in the booth.

Todd: "She may be small in stature but here comes the Danica Express." I been waiting for it. I wonder if he has these things numbered on a sheet somewhere and crosses them off as he uses it. At some point the writers have to come up with some more.

Danica back into the top 10 where she belongs. Danica is showing lots of patience.

Scott accuses Helio of blocking. Say it ain't so! Barnhart don't see a thing.

Pit stops. Kanaan 11.3. Dario 11.3. Danica in 11th on lap 109.

ESPN checks the back of the field, perhaps to compensate for the four hours of coverage they've given the 11th place car. Guess who. Even Quatro gets mentioned. Goodyear mentions rumor that Quatro will try a Busch car. AJ Sr. says "anything with a *&*$#@#@ engine in it would be nice."

Yellow-yellow-yellow. Manning and Kanaan get together. Something broke on Kanaan's right front suspension. Wicked snap and he's into Manning twice and then into the wall. Manning's side pod looks like the remains of a gutted whale.

Kim Green, who is seriously challenging Ray Leto for air time now, says Kanaan hit some debris. The AG cars have the durability of Yugos today.

Danger Mouse is out of the car, looks cheesed. Quickly fixes his hair. Dario has a right rear puncture. Waiting to come in

Back to Danica Cam at lap 123. Yep, there she still is. That's her helmet all right. Danica didn't pit. Of course this means DANICA IS LEADING THE RACE. DANICA IS LEADING THE RACE. She's in P1. Shades of Indy when she stayed out to LEAD THE RACE. This is very Sally Ride-ish moment. I'll remember where I was when Danica led at Nashville by not pitting for the rest of my life.

Todd has popped back into the Danica Hype Mode again. "Does Danica Patrick pick up her fist victory at Nashville?" Will she win after all the Andretti Green cars crash out? Will she beat Jimmy Kite in a sprint to the finish? For God's sake stay tuned!

Green-green-green. Franchitti around Danica in one lap.

Yellow-yellow-yellow for debris. ESPN crews are heaving AA batteries onto the track and praying for rain. No, wait, Briscoe has a flat tire. That's what brought out the flag. A Red Bull car got into him.

Rice pits. He's in 12th. Stick a fork in Buddy this year so far. Uh-oh. Snapped a half shaft. Shut er down, Buddy. Post DNF interview with Buddy. He's not happy. Not even having Jamie interview him can make him happy. Been a long season for Buddy since he got injured at Indy practice.

Restart. Danica is holding off two of the best out there. In this one-line track they're having trouble passing a car that's in the one line. Todd "Danica is showing no mercy" to Hornish. He's being brutal on him. Rugged. Right up until he passed her.

First video of Paul Hospenthal. Sorry, guys, Danica is engaged. Mention of the wedding date. I think they should all be dressed in pit fire suits like they used to back in the day. Back when the bling-encrusted racing wives would run stops watches, etc.

Someone wonders out loud who drives to the grocery store in that family. Todd: "I'd let her, are you kidding me?" I have an idea Paul would let Danica do a lot of stuff. He says Danica has "patience beyond her years."

Looks like rain. Many ESPN interns start doing IndyCar rain dances in the truck. They rush to the side of the track with squirtguns to try and get Brian Barnhart to believe it's raining. Vitor behind Danica. Team orders, anyone? Danica has led NINE LAPS UNDER CAUTION. Amazing. I'll remember where I was when she led forever.

Tomas blows up. Yellow-yellow-yellow. Danica's mom cheers the yellow. YEAH! Scheckter blew up! How lucky. If only he had put it into the wall and scattered debris for a longer caution! Todd jumps in and explains she's happy and not wishing anyone ill.

Pits. Danica in in third, out in 10th. Pit crew rushes to tell Jamie they gave Danica four fresh tires, that's why it was a longer stop than the leaders. On a track where it's hard to pass, you need fresh tires.

"Will this be the night that Danica Patrick sets history?" Todd is fully off his meds now.

Alex Barron does not pit and takes the lead. ALEX BARRON LEADS. Oddly there is less frothing for Alex staying out to get the lead on a pit strategy than there was for the Rookie Sensation.

Todd: "Unfortunately, Danica is 10th." Not unfortunate for everyone in first through ninth. Damn those slow pit stops! If only she had a team worthy of her. We're onboard with Danica. See some tape of Quatro about giving Danica a donut on the side pod. Rookie Sensation Carpentier is also up front.

Barron and Vitor get together. Yellow yellow yellow. I think Vitor took him out on purpose to give Danica a better shot. (Kidding!)

Danica up to 8th. Eddie Cheever gets air. He's doing a rain dance. He's praying for rain on the sideline.

Jamie reports Enge had lower back pain and is on his way to the hospital for more tests.

During yellow Kosuke clips a track safety truck. No video of it, though.

Jamie reminds us quickly Carpentier is not really a rookie. Raced in another series. Pay no attention to the (R) behind his name, I guess. Carpentier radioing in to say it's really really slick on the track. Major slickness. Slick as snot. Scott Sharp (Sir Blocks-A-Lot) is third. Spotters eat Rolaids like candy.

Green-green-green-green. Dario around Carpentier in three laps. There's a shocker. A Honda pasing a non-Penske Toyota. Sam comes around Carpentier as well. Shocker number 2, a Penske Toyota passing a non-Penske Toyota. Carpentier will settle for bronze. Dario wins. Does donuts solo on the track. The other three AGRs don't have cars to do donuts with. I expect Wheldon to go out and just spin himself around in circles on the track. Sam is second. Sharp fourth. Helio fifth.

Dixon sixth! Best finish of the season for him. Previous best was somewhere in the teens if I'm not mistaken. No mention on air. Dixon got his mention of the night when Buddy Rice blocked him earlier. Rookie Sensation Ryan Briscoe is eighth.

Few post-race interviews. Video of the fireworks. Dario has the Jackie Stewart accent in full effect. ESPN has places to be. No mention of Danica getting ANOTHER top-10 finish. No mention of Hurricane Danica. Thanks for making me lose that bet, Todd. He did say "turn the trick" again this week. Todd, baby, we talked about that. That means a prostitute having sex for money, OK?

©2005 Bill Zahren