Well, it's Little 500 weekend here in Bloomington, (if you don't know what that is, rent the movie "Breaking Away") so I really was not able to write coherently yesterday and do a good preview.
Fear not, my friends, because I have recovered my senses, woken myself up, and cranked up my DVR to start a massive day of sports goodness: F1 from Bahrain, Capitals vs. Rangers Game 6 (Let's Go Caps!), and the IRL's first oval event of the year. I must say, that last one excites me to no end because it feels like the IndyCar season really has officially started. We're ditching the street carnivals and unleashing 22 cars in anger on a 1.5-mile bullring.
The IRL made one really fantastic decision for oval events like Kansas: they condensed the event into two days, saving smaller teams like Sarah Fisher Racing untold amounts of money and making the weekend feel much more succinct.
Now, when things picked up yesterday, the practice sessions seemed pretty straightforward; all the right people were making noise at the top of the charts and the established order seemed to be in place once again and all was right with the world. Then qualifying came and...Graham Rahal won pole?! It almost seemed like an afterthought when he came out to make the last run of the day, then he slammed down the accelerator and put in a fantastic four-lap run. Rahal will certainly be set up for a good run at a track where you might not expect him to: a big, banked super speedway.
On to my picks for the race. Race winner: Scott Dixon. Dixon has had more bad luck than I did when I tried to ford rivers in Oregon Trail. In St. Pete, Will Power's brain freeze put Dixon in the back of the field, where he ended up locked in a battle he didn't need to be in which put him into the wall. In Long Beach, he punted E.J. Viso off the track, then got nailed under caution by Ryan Briscoe. He's back in his element on a big track with aero, drafting, and slamming your right foot down being the important things and he should thrive.
Dark Horse: Graham Rahal. That qualifying run couldn't have been pure luck. There is speed in gigantic gobs in that McDonald's car and, with a top-ten time in morning warm-up, I'm guessing Graham will be able to hang with the lead pack for much of the race. At a track like Kansas, if you're anywhere near the leader, you've got a chance to find your way into the lead.
Ninja Dark Horse: Robert Doornbos. I almost neglected to mention the fact that Bobby D is starting second, locking off the front row for Newman/Haas/Lanigan. He's back in 12th on the time sheets for morning warm-up, but things may change when he and his teammate lead the field to the green. It'll be very interesting to see how Doornbos does with his very first oval race, but I think a driver of his caliber can get used to it fast and make some noise by the end.
Danica Watch: The outlook is very good for Danica today, with a starting spot on the second row of the grid. If she can just stay out of trouble and play the fuel game correctly, she could easily be in the top five at the end...perhaps even in the top spot overall.
SARAH Watch: Sarah Fisher is back on the track, and what a great thing that is! It's going to be fantastic just to see her take laps and make her presence known on the speedways. If she can just finish the race and get a little camera time for sponsor Dollar General, it will be fantastic. I trust her to get her car to the end of the race, but I don't trust the drivers around her; she is starting next to Milka Duno, after all.
Should be a fun time. (weather permitting, I should point out) It's great to have an oval race once again, and it's great to know that we are but four weeks away from the greatest of them all. May is coming, folks; let's finish off April with a bang!
No comments:
Post a Comment