ROLEX SERIES INDY DATE TO BE ANNOUNCED FRIDAY

 

Well, No It’s Not, Either

Ol’ DC screwed up.

Due to an error of brain synapses having fired when they shouldn’t or, perhaps the “enthusiasm” portion of the brain having improperly overruled the frontal lobe of a guy ordinarily not disposed of such, that which was “thrown up” (appropriate, huh?) late Wednesday herein was just plain wrong. As one person very close to the situation said, “Your posting about an announcement being made today in Indy with regard to a Rolex Series race there is categorically incorrect.”

Lest anyone be confused, those two words - “Categorically incorrect”  - aren’t even remotely related to, say, “Great job!” and aren’t one of things that makes a journalist’s day.

Yet, this journalist isn’t about to take aim at anyone but hisownself.

Me being an official Old Guy who understands the sands of time are winding down, he got fairly fired up over the prospect of being at Indy last year. Yes, one supposes, he could get some invitations from others to attend some sort of race there but deep down inside he’s a sporty car kind of guy who’d really like to see such a thing happen at a place that as a youth he could only view from afar via the magic of closed circuit TV.

As a professional, this hurts. No denying it. From “credibility” to personal karma … well, suffice to say it ain’t fun to err and to have tremendously done so at that. Yet, one supposes if a splash is to be made, one might as well make it a good one.

As a sporty car guy who heard considerable enthusiasm, cited below, over the prospect of a Rolex Series Indy race, I sincerely apologize to those who were misled, even though unintentionally so. There were some folks on a serious high, I’m telling you, and it was the result of yours incorrectly saying (in shorthand), “Indy; Rolex Series; announcement; reaction?”

Now, they’ve crashed. It hurt them and I hurt as a result.

The end result is that a wonderful idea is now returned to limbo, where those with silver tongues (and attorneys) will hammer details about which others have no clue.

Yet, instead of withdrawing the incorrect blog entry (one is sure others have neatly and stealthily withdrawn previous incorrect posts while tucking tail between legs and running) this writer’s detractors can continue to be armed with the right wrong stuff, below.

Ah, the sun will assuredly arise on the morrow. And, however many billions-of-years from today when it doesn’t, no one will be around to give a hoot that Ol’ DC was wrong on this day, anyway.

Now, have some fun reading that which isn’t yet and hurling some darts afterward.

Mea culpa.

Lo siento.

Later,

DC

 

Tim Keene, Mike Hull to sleep in own beds (okay, you, too, Hodgson)

Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Grand-Am Road Racing officials will on Friday announce the date of a forthcoming Rolex Sports Car Series race at the historic venue.

In ground-breaking fashion on Sept. 1, 2009, nine teams from the Rolex Series’ Daytona Prototype and GT classes participated in a reverse-direction test of The Brickyard’s 2.621-mile MotoGP motorcycle racing circuit, which will be next used for that  series’ upcoming Aug. 29 Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix. Additional tests with 2011 Rolex Series tire supplier Continental Tire were conducted earlier this year at the famed facility.

“I was finally able to remove Indy from my bucket list,” SunTrust Racing’s Wayne Taylor said after the 2009 test in which he and son Rick Taylor shared seat time in their familiar No. 10 SunTrust Ford-Dallara Daytona Prototype.

Excited at the prospect of the return is Rolex Series points leader Scott Pruett, who shares the championship lead and the No. 01 TELMEX BMW-Riley DP with co-driver Memo Rojas,

“Indy is a magical place,” Pruett said. “I get goose bumps just thinking about racing there.” Beyond being the Indy 500’s 1989 “co-rookie” of the year, Pruett’s posted top-10 finishes in both open-wheel at NASCAR stock cars at the famed facility.

Pruett’s present-day team owner and former open-wheel and sportscar driver Chip Ganassi was happy to learn a Rolex Series race date had been finalized.

“Simply put Indianapolis is hollowed ground,” Ganassi said when told of the news, “What more can you say?”

Ganassi ought to know as his Target Chip Ganassi Racing team has collected two Indy 500 wins among its stellar racing-trophy collection, which since 1990 in open-wheel racing has compiled seven championship titles and nearly 80 wins.

Drivers Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon, respectively starting tail-to-nose in the field’s third and sixth spots (think about it), look to add to the team’s trophy collection in Sunday’s Centennial Indy 500.

The likewise Indianapolis-based Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates team has had a powerful impact in the Rolex Sports Car Series as well, with Pruett scoring series’ driving championships in 2004, 2006 and 2008. Rojas joined Pruett on the Series’ topmost podium spot in 2008 - the pair failing by just six points to collect the 2009 Rolex Series driving championship to go with it.

Indianapolis Motor Speedway ties run deep in the Rolex Series.

Michael Shank Racing owner Mike Shank spent much of his youth in open-cockpit cars and dreamed of some day competing at IMS. When Shank stepped from driving Formula Atlantic cars and into ownership, he wondered if that dream had escaped him. When provided an opportunity at last year’s Rolex Series test Shank didn’t allow the chance to drive at Indy to elude him, suiting up for a few laps in the No. 60 Crown Royal XR Ford-powered Riley DP.

“This is absolutely the biggest news to come through in this series since I joined it in 2004,” Shank said Thursday.

“For me it’s just awesome to stand on that front straight and think of those who have raced, lost life and have had life renewed while winning at Indy,” he said. “The life-changing moments made at Indy are really beyond what words can express. It’s just awesome to know we’ll be going there.”

“By no means do I want to shortchange the meaning of other race tracks or those who’ve competed on them. It’s just that Indy has had 100 years of it. It’s an incredible place and it’s truly a dream-come-true in knowing we’ll be competing there.”

Indianapolis also touched the life of 2007 and 2009 Rolex Series champion Alex Gurney, who heard “Indianapolis” often spoken at his childhood home. Father Dan Gurney competed at the track as a driver/owner, twice finishing a best of second place in 1968 and 1969.

Gurney’s No. 99 GAINSCO Auto Insurance Chevrolet-Riley co-driver, Jon Fogarty, was a fast-rising open-wheel star when he turned down the seat that Buddy Rice would drive to a pole and victory in the 2004 Indianapolis 500.

With sportscar and open-wheel often sharing kindred spirits, it’s reasonable to presume hundreds of others found in or around the Rolex Series – from crew to scribes – are likewise touched.

And, no, the reader needn’t re-read all of the above to ascertain the “missed” Rolex Series’ Indy date. The writer hasn’t a clue so he didn’t put one in.

Well, to be accurate, he does have a “clue,” but clues differ wildly from established fact.

So, let’s just leave its lack as being a labor of racing, or something like that.

Later,

DC