Rafael Matos to race full time with Luczo Dragon In '09

As reported on Curt Cavin's Blog this morning and speedtv.com this afternoon, Rafael Matos will be racing full time next year in the Indy Car series. Matos the Atlantic champ in 2007 and the Firestone Indy Lights 2008 champ make the natural progression into the big cars with Luczo Dragon . Matos was excellent on the ovals this season in Firestone Indy Lights, and is a wonderfully talented road course race. He should be a force this for many seasons in the IRL.

I would not be surprised at all if he wins a race, as a rookie.

Canadian Grand Prix Dropped from Schedule!!!

In a shocking and utterly disappointing move, ESPN.COM is reporting that The Canadian Grand Prix has been dropped from the 2009 F1 Calendar. I cannot believe this move, and this will leave the North American Continent with out an F1 Race. I hope Tony George hears this and works to add F1 back on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway schedule for next season.

http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/racing/f1/news/story?id=3630361

Best Names in Racing

Today I am going to feature some of the sports truly great names. Some are fun names to say, and some names will have you wondering what the hell were thier parents thinking. Some had great success with these name,s and some had no success at all.

Indy Car/Indy 500 Drivers

Guido Daccò
Racin Gardner
Fabrizio Barbazza
Billy Boat
Buzz Calkins
Franck Fréon
Salt Walther
Willy T. Ribbs
Teo Fabi
Vincenzo Sospiri
Jules Goux
Baconin Borzacchini
Gaston Chevrolet
Wim Eyckmans
Dario Franchitti
Philippe Gache
Marco Greco
Ronney Householder
Hurley Haywood
Roger Rager
Laurent Redon
Gordon Smiley
Stubby Stubblefield
Didier Theys
Fermín Vélez
Spider Webb
Pancho Carter
Stevie Reeves

Formula 1

Alberto Ascari
Zsolt Baumgartner
Jenson Button
Heinz-Harald Frentzen
Beppe Gabbiani
Timo Glock
Pedro Lamy
Herbert MacKay-Fraser
Pierluigi Martini
Gastón Mazzacane
Alessandro Nannini
Stéphane Sarrazin
Domenico Schiattarella
Scott Speed
Otto Stuppacher
Wolfgang von Trips
Markus Winkelhock


NASCAR/Nationwide/Trucks

Dick Trickle
Elmo Langley
Cale Gale
Auggie Vidovich II
Buckshot Jones
Lyndon Amick
Buck Baker
Fireball Roberts
Cotton Owens
Ramo Stott
Coo Coo Marlin
Banjo Roberts
Sterling Marlin
Boris Said

HCN wont be racing at Surfers.

Well it looks like Helio Castroneves wont be making the trip to Surfers Paradise due to the terms of his Bail Agreement. Who will Penske use to fill his seat? Will it be a Penske Driver, Like Sam Hornish Jr. or Patrick Long? Why not Paul Tracy? Or will we see Penske pull a total shocker and place Rafa Matos in the car for a one off? Time will tell.

NASCAR has some serious problems!!

NASCAR has some serious issues. First, did anybody else see the large gaps in the grandstand that were empty seats for this weekend's race at Talladega? At times I thought I was watching a Nationwide race. I know times are tough, but to have seats empty at one of NASCAR's most prestigious tracks, during the Chase, needs to be examined.

The magic exploding tires have not killed anybody yet, but they did manage to send Denny Hamlin to the hospital after his scary tire failure while leading the race. Goodyear should be embarrassed, NASCAR should be very concerned, and the Drivers need to unite speak out against this. Let's not mince words here the tires are FAILING!!, and it is out of the drivers and teams control to fix the issue. Goodyear needs to be taken to task on this issue, before something really terrible happens.


If things were not bad enough NASCAR is now in the business of "awarding" wins to the driver that crosses the line second. Regan Smith is the rightful winner of yesterday's race, in my humble opinion. Smith, a rookie, who's team DEI, has a cloudy future due to the current economic situation, needed a win more than anything else. A win for Smith and DEI could have boosted the struggling team's fortunes and possibly brought much needed sponsorship money to the team. I firmly believe that Smith was pushed below the "out of bounds line" by eventual race winner Tony Stewart over aggressive blocking in the Tri-Oval, and his choices were go below the line, or wreck Stewart. Does anybody remember that one of the most famous passes, by NASCAR most Famous drivers, Dale Earnhardt occurred in the grass?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uo4y7MJfeIs


It was an interesting day at Talladega, in a race that could have long lasting effect on this years Chase, Goodyear's future in the sport and quite possibly Regan Smith's future.

Penske Racing Response on Castroneves' Legal Issues

This is the first article I have seen that has Penske supporting Castroneves.


http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081003/SPORTS16/81003053/1048/SPORTS

Bertrand Gachot

The second driver with legal troubles that I am profiling is Bertrand Gachot. Gachot, a Belgian driver with the Jordan F1 Team was arrested for spraying a London taxi cab driver with CS Gas, aka tear gas. Which apparently is a big No No in England. He served a two month prison term and upon his release the Jordan team had no interest in having him back. His arrest and prison term did however open the door for a young and unknown Michael Schumacher to take his seat and make his Formula One debut. Gachot was primarily a back marker for the rest of his F1 career, however Gauchot did have some success after F1 winning the 1991 24 Hours of Le Mans, for Mazda.

Tomas Scheckter

Before he started his topsy-turvy Indy Car career Tomas Scheckter was destined to be a Formula 1 driver. Son of the1979 World Driving Champion Jody Scheckter, Tomas was a test driver for the Jaguar F1 team when in 2001 Tomas was arrested for solicitation of a prostitute, and promptly fired. His F1 dream was destroyed.

Castroneves Indicted!!

I simply cannot believe that Helio Castroneves was indicted yesterday on Federal Tax Evasion and Fraud. These charges are very serious and it could jeopardize his driving career. There have been a few drivers in the past that have faced legal troubles while they were still active in racing and very few of them ever recovered. Over the course of the next few days I will highlight a few driver that have had legal troubles during there careers.

And you thought your wife Drove you nuts in the car!!

This video posted on You Tube this week show what happens when former F1 driver Riccardo Patrese takes his wife for a drive around the Jerez circuit.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIhGJyLR6TI