Notes from 2005 Honda Indy 225 (Pikes Peak)

This week's Female Rookie Sensation Round Up: Rookie sensation Katherine Legge continues to rip it up in the Toyota Atlantics by coming in second at Road America on 8/21. Rookie sensation Sarah Fisher started 7th and finished 9th in her 150-mile Pikes Peak race run right after the IRL race. No word on how Rookie Sensation Erin Crocker did this weekend (or if she even raced).

Toyota front row in Pikes Peak. Much excitement. Penske Toyotas, of course, but still.

Todd Harris calls the Kentucky race a "Bluegrass barnburner." Cut to video of Kim Sharp with the world's largest sunglasses with her quote about racing being brutal. Todd also wheels out "picture perfect day" in the intro. "Turn the trick" can't be far behind.

Todd et al are all excited about eight different winners in the IRL this year, going for a record 9th different winner. Um, too bad the six of those eight winners come from one of two teams. It's the AGR show, with Penske occasionally breaking up the party, Panther sneaking in for one and Scott Sharp winning last week when 3/4 of the AGR team fried something. Doesn't exactly scream parity.

Jerry Punch, M.D. has the Sam and Helio interview. They always stand on the same side -- Helio on the interviewer's right and Sam on the left. Helio is on the pole today. Helio says the secret to this race is to be consistent. Sam says make it to 215 in good shape and then get 'er done from there.

Jack The Root with Dario and Herta. No shout outs for Darren Manning this time (as was the case in the last two races). Dario says it's not about leading one lap but leading at the end of 225. Dario says they had some discussions with the league after the last race. What the? Talking to the league about what? Dario was pissed about something other than his tire coming off? There's a shocker. ABC shows us stunning video of Dario's tire bounding down the back stretch at Kentucky.

Jamie Little (get her in a car!) with Tony Kanaan. Jamie talks about Tony swerving around drivers on the re-start like someone trying to find the shortest lane at a toll booth. Jamie's antenna -- which, given Jamie's height, extends up to about 9 feet off the ground -- casts a wildly waving shadow on TK. Nutty.

Over to Danica. Having her best start of any mile track thus far (5th). The woman can qualify, you gotta give her that. Interviewer (Punch? I can't recall) points out that this is the 8th time Danica has out-qualified her teammates. Danica looks queasy when she hears it. I don't blame her. She out-qualifies them, sure, but then Vitor finishes higher.

AJ Foyt IV (Quatro) gets air for his Duke's of Hazard cameo. In the movie Quatro throws a punch in a bar fight. AJ gets props from the other drivers for the punch. Interviewer asks Patrick Carpentier if he thinks AJ learned that from his grandfather. Carpentier has the line of the broadcast when he says, "If it would have been what he learned from his Grandpa he would have killed the guy." When they interview Quatro about the punch I noticed he's talking more and more like AJ. He's morphing into AJ. Scary. Of course we end the segment by showing the famous "AJ bitch-slapping Arie" clip. I was hoping for the "AJ throws a tool" vidoe as well, but no.

Up close with Scott Sharp. Seems like a regular guy. Video of Jackson (Sharp's son) at flag football practice. He's open, but the QB underthrows him. Jackson asks, "What kind of sickness do race drivers get? -- Indy-gestion." Har. Jackson is funnier than some of the regular ABC guys.

Video of Jacque Lazier going ass-first into the wall during practice with his ultra-well-tuned Target car. Sorry, Jacque, you only get one car from Chip, and if you wreck it, YOU'RE FIRED. Kidding. If you wreck it you get to sit. Target's limit for buying new cars this year is 15 or so, and we've hit that, Hoss.

Let's light this candle.

Green flag. Green flag.

Harris -- "The Indy Racing Series is on a Rocky Mountain High as we go green at Pikes Peak."

Danica watch: Starts 5th. She's 7th after one, stays 7th through lap 6, then goes to 8th and stays there through lap 10. Holding up pretty well. Helio and Sam go 1-2 for the first 10.

Jack reports that Dan Wheldon was not happy qualifying 11th. Dan Wheldon is never happy qualifying lower than P1. It's almost not news any more to note that Wheldon was pissy about where he started. Like it matters to an AGR car.

We're onboard with Danica. Danica just about darts Sharp. Sharp is low and here comes Danica down and almost gets him. I imagine many swear words from Sharp. Danica gets somewhat warned for running multiple lines on the track. The both gives her props for not letting up and "staying aggressive."

Onboard with Scheckter. Major lifting in the turns. Not Tomas's day so far.

Lap 25 -- Hornish, Helio, Herta, Kanaan, Dario, Scheckter, Wheldon, Enge, Danica, Sharp.

Onboard with Danica just in time to see some 4-wide action from the in-car. Many tense spotters.

Herta reports being way loose. Dropping back.

Hornish opens up some space. I think maybe Ed Carpenter is two laps down already.

Roger Yasukawa gets air but it's as he's about to be lapped. Long year for my homeys at DRR.

Enge 6th. ABC is going down the field! They've talked about a 10th-place non-Danica car. Presses are stopped. Minds are blown. Mentioning non-Danica mid-packers!

Lap 50 -- Hornish, Helio, Kanaan, Dario, Wheldon, Enge, Danica, Scheckter, Herta, Meria.

Jack says the pit window is open. Wheldon is staying out until about lap 75.

Danica is reportedly getting good mileage. We go to the Danica Cam for the first time today. That's her head all right. Panzos is testing a new front wing today.

Scheckter pits first. Then Hornish. Punch says the pit was calling for half a turn of front wing but Hornish said leave it be. Roger overruled!

Lap 80 -- yellow, yellow, yellow. Rookie sensation Ryan Briscoe adds to the Chip Car Count. He's in the wall. Got into the marbles, saved it, got back into them, lost it again. He thinks something broke. Chip ain't buying that.

Jamie with Chip. Chip: It's hard to tell drivers not to try to get the most out their car because it kills their spirit, Chip says. Don't want to take the spirit out of the driver. "But, obviously, (Ryan) has to learn a little bit."

green-green-green

Restart during a commercial. Bogus.

Kite and Scheckter touch. Goodyear speculates maybe it was retaliation for something. Jimmy and Scheckter may GO! My money is on Jimmy. He's got the pig Toyota engine, so he's go a lot of rage issues.

Lap 96, Dario makes a sweet move to go under Sam. Many deserved shout outs and replays from the booth. Jack reports Dario got two turns of wing on last pit stop.

Lap 100 --Dario, Sam, Helio, Wheldon, TK, Vitor, Scheckter, Herta, Enge, Danica.

TK and Wheldon put Helio in an AGR sandwich. TK and Helio touch tires. Helio has to slow down.

Punch reports that because of the lack-o-power from Toyota, the Penske twins can't put as much downforce on the back wing so they're way more squirrelly out there.

On the way to commercial, Sam's wife gets very brief air! Danica's mom gets air! Making up for not showing her in KY. Back from commercial they show Danica's dad, TJ. He's so nervous and animated that he has to stand out in turn three or something, away from everyone. Video of TJ spinning around and shaking his head as Danica goes by. Note to sports parents everywhere: do not do this. TJ has to be out away from everyone so he doesn't bother others, get into a fight, something like that.

Danica gets lapped on lap 123. Moment of silence in the booth.

Lap 125 -- Dario, Wheldon, Sam, Kanaan, Helio, Vitor, Scheckter, Enge, Danica, Herta.

This running order is a shock to me. Two AGRs, Sam, another AGR, and then Helio. How often do you see that order, besides about every race? It's a good thing I taped this race, because I stop the tape here to go mow my lawn. True story.

Lawn looks good, let's roll the tape again. Goodyear says Wheldon is known as Mr. Fashion. Harris says he has more shoes than Emelda Marcos. Wheldon about to lap Danica. Will he flip her off? I like to call Wheldon "Captain Hairdo" for the spiked up thing he has working most times. Stylish.

Danica drives under a Target car. Must be Dixon since he's the only one left and going 145 mph in order to be sure and stay out of the wall.

Lap 145 nobody has said "Buddy Rice" this whole race. He's in 14th.

Hold the phone. The sun just froze. There's Jamie Little with Sarah Fisher. Sarah Fisher! Right on TV! She does a 90-second interview with Sarah. I black out for a second here. Have to go back to the tape to see what Sarah says. She's there to race her NASCAR feeder series race after The Danica 225. Jamie gets right to the important stuff, What does Sarah think of Danica? (Cut do Danica Cam as Sarah answers.) Sarah says Danica is doing a good job, putting on a good show and under a lot of pressure and "I know how that is." Claims to be cheering Danica on from afar. Jamie asks if Sarah isn't dying to be out there racing Danica and everyone. Sarah doesn't say yes or no, but says she misses Dreyer & Reinbold Racing. This is the first shout out to DRR in probably two years. The girl is loyal. Props to Sarah for mentioning her sponsors Dominos, NAPA and Office Depot.

Lap 150 --Dario, Wheldon, Sam, Kanaan, Helio, Vitor, Danica, Sharp, Herta, Enge.

Lap 154 -- Wheldon leads. Dixon is going about 125 mph. Dario has to lift to avoid him.

Pitting. Danica in. Herta in. Vitor and Sam almost collide in the pits.

Dario in at 164. Jack talks about how calm Dario is. Calm as an helicopter pilot. And then he stalls his car. Maybe it wasn't him, but the car stalls. They're going to push start it. Not working. Pull it back to to the pit box to start it with the starter. Many shots of Ashley! Ashley is not happy! Ashley is fully chagrined. Look forward to Dario beating someone with an air gun over this one.

Wheldon laps Rice, maybe for the second time. Nobody says nothing. Wheldon working on Danica.

ABC gives Honda a salute for their continuous bitch-slapping of the field in the last couple years. Barring aliens abducting all Hondas on the track, they will win the manufacturer's title again this year. The drama over who would win the manufacturer's title this year was almost palpable. Watch for the HUGE USA Today ad from Honda.

Vitor is 5th. Gets nice air for being an ambassador to the Special Olympics. Is there a nicer guy in the IRL? No.

Lap 175 -- Wheldon, Hornish, TK, Helio, Vitor, Enge, Scheckter, Danica, Dario, Sharp

Dario up to 7th after the big stall.

Discussion of the AGR bearing issue last week. Scott says he checked into it and it might have been a lubricant issue. Scott is the investigative reporter. Shout out to Scott for adding value. Says that AGR changed bearing suppliers anyway.

TK working on Sam. Sam uses Kosuke and other lapped traffic to block off TK. Nice.

Goodyear says there's a big rift between TK and Helio. More insider stuff. Scott has been going undercover. Bringing us the garage dirt. You da man, Scotty!

We have time for this Scott Goodyear Insider Edition since this race was over the second Dario stalled in the pits.

Wheldon, Wheldon, Wheldon, Wheldon wins. Harris says Dan "turned the trick today." Did he get $50 for that trick, Todd, or was it $100?

Lap 225 -- Wheldon, Hornish, Kanaan on the lead lap, then Helio, Vitor, Enge, Dario one lap down, then Danica two laps down, then Sharp and Carpentier.

Post-race interview, Wheldon admits to being cranky because he hasn't won in a while. It has been SEVEN whole races since he won. Yeah, that's gotta be rugged. Let's ask the Red Bull guys how much sympathy they have for the seven-race win drought. I actually teared up when Wheldon said that.

Apparently the one-yellow race is over in record time so ABC has time to interview basically everyone. Even Jimmy Kite gets some air. They show Danica the tape of her Dad going crazy. She says she didn't need to see that. Says T.J. didn't push her into anything but wants her to do well but is smart enough to get away from everyone during the race. Many fewer "you knows" from Danica during her interview. Shout out for that improvement.

Long-distance Video of Dario bitching out his team manager or someone. Dario is pissed. Team manager (or whoever) looks pissed and unimpressed with Dario's rant. Ashley in her jumbo race hat sitting nearby waiting for Dario to get done with the verbal bitch-slapping. Then, on camera, Dario disses and dismisses his team. Says their performance is just not acceptable. Dangerous. Unless Dario can change his own tires, he better calm himself. You can see Ashley in the background with the world's hugest hat on. Goodyear says after the tirade that it's a bit dangerous to slap the hand that fills your car's tank. Stay tuned for drama.

One of ABC's better broadcasts. Too bad the race was a yawner. Which AGR car will win or will God himself put Sam/Helio at the front? Oh, the drama.

©2005 Bill Zahren