No Magic For Power In Round 11 Of 17 At Mid-Ohio

Scott Dixon preparing for warm-up session on race day. Dixon went on to win the Honda 200 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio. Image Credit: Dan Helrigel via IZOD IndyCar Series



No Magic For Power In Round 11 Of 17 At Mid-Ohio



The Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio, Round 11 of 17 delivered a fatal blow to Will Power's chances at getting his first IndyCar Series (ICS) season championship. The Verizon Penske Racing Dallara driver, who was on track to get the ICS championship last year up until the final race of the season when Dario Franchitti was able to eclipse Power's season points total, was looking to climb back into the challenge at 38 points behind and a perfect track for his talents, was caught out twice in pit stop strategy by full course cautions.



"We were making great fuel mileage and we were going to go a lap or two longer than the leaders on the second stop, which would have put us in great position to challenge for the race lead in the last stint," said Power of the Lap 58 incident involving contact between the cars of Graham Rahal and Danica Patrick. "Basically, today we suffered for doing a great job of driving a smart race. We just got caught out by that last yellow flag.”



Will Power as he is being followed by Ryan Hunter-Reay at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio. Image Credit: Chris Jones via IZOD IndyCar Series



This dropped Power to P16 and allowed Target Chip Ganassi team-mates to duke it out for the win with Scott Dixon passing Dario Franchitti on a restart to eventually take the win. It may have been doubtful if Will Power had anything for the Scott Dixon Dallara because of how well the driver and car had been hooked up all weekend long (fastest Lap - 1:09.1271 / 76), but to finish so far down in the order with a competitive car (set 2nd fastest lap late in the race - 1:09.2376 / 85), placed a stake through the heart (a loss of 24 points against Franchitti - at 62 points behind) of Will Power's chances for a ICS season championship. In fact, with the points Scott Dixon gained with his win (he is now just 29 points behind Power with six races left), Will Power may not even become a repeat "bridesmaid" (runner-up) at season's end in 2011.



The Penske Racing fleet of Dallara cars had a terrible outing at Mid-Ohio. After qualifying Ryan Briscoe at P2, Will Power at P4, and Helio Castroneves at P15, the three drivers end up with Power at P14, Briscoe at P16 and Castroneves at P19.



Newman-Haas's Oriol Servia runs nearly side-by-side with replacement driver for Dreyer & Reinbold's Simon Pagenaud. at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio. Image Credit: Chris Jones via IZOD IndyCar Series



KV Racing Technology ended up having a fair showing with two of their three cars placing in the top five. Takuma Sato missed the podium for the second time this year, repeating his finishing position at the street course in St. Petersburg at P4 (qualified P9) followed by Tony Kanaan at P5 (qualified P16) ... a good outing for E.J. Viso who finished the race running, and came in just behind Will Power at P15 after qualifying in P12.



Last note: Justin Wilson had an off in turn one and compressed his back but at this point, it does not look like he will need surgery as Vitor Meira required when he suffered a similar injury. He was replaced by former ChampCar World Series driver and ALMS Champion, Simon Pagenaud, in the Dreyer & Reinbold #22 Roll Coater Dallara and delivered a steady performance coming in ahead of Power at P13 after taking the Green Flag at P18.



Said Pagenaud after the race, “Considering that I was thrown into the car yesterday morning, I think that it was a good weekend. Obviously qualifying was a bit of a roller coaster for me with getting in the car quickly and trying to do my best. We started at the back in 18th position. It’s difficult to pass here, so we finished 13th. We had a really good racecar, but it’s just frustrating because I didn’t have the chance to run by myself and show the pace of the car. I think that the Dreyer & Reinbold Racing / Roll Coater car was one of the fastest out there today. We just needed to qualify up front and we would have been okay. All in all, considering the bad luck that the team had all weekend, the team should be glad about that. Bia did a great job and we should all be proud. We will see what happens next.”



Round 12 of 17 sends the teams off to the oval at New Hampshire Motor Speedway where the race is set to be run August 14, broadcast at 3:30pm ET on Versus.



... notes from The EDJE





[Article first published as No Magic for Power in Round 11 of 17 at Mid-Ohio on Technorati]

Skid Plate Racing ... Irwindale's Toyota Speedway's Latest Motor Culture Craze

Over 20 cars and drivers showed up for a Memorial Day Weekend Saturday night race at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale – the home race track of Skid Plate racing. When the green flag dropped the field charged and slid down the front straight at maximum possible velocity. Perhaps a little too hot. Caption & Image Credit: Clunkbucket.com

Skid Plate Racing ... Irwindale's Toyota Speedway's Latest Motor Culture Craze

When one first hears the words, Skid Plate Racing, one immediately asks "WHAT?" At least that is what this reporter was left with.

There are many forms of automobile competition ... but none are as accessible as a series that is based upon the most available junker car platforms with the most common powerplants. All cars are mandatory STOCK save for one Teensy-Weensy specified modification ... the Skid Plate.

This racing platform and oval racing series is the brainchild of Auto Soccer and Demo Derby Master of Mayhem, Robert Rice. He developed, created, and tested the rear skid plate wheels for use in this unique to Irwindale style of 1/3 mile banked oval motor racing.

Part race car driver, part car owner, and all “mad scientist”, Rice and his intrepid crew of hardworking, hardcore, honest-to-Iaccoca team of car nuts designed, built, tested, and now race the heck out of a division that’s aptly-named “Skid Plate Cars” … because THAT is what they do.

SPARKS - what looks like track destruction is actually not harmful at all to the third-mile racing surface at Toyota Speedway where 30 of 40 of these machine can be seen racing at one time. The beveled lip and the large flat surface allow the plates to glide over the expensive asphalt showering copious sparks, but not damaging the track in the least. Caption & Image Credit: Toyota Speedway/Stokes Communications

The formula is simple: Take one front wheel drive compact or sub-compact car, remove the rear wheels, remove the tires from those wheels, weld a ¾” thick 10” x 20” steel plate to it, weld in some angle iron braces, drill a couple of holes in the inside of the rim and rattle-can the whole thing whatever color you’ve got a can of (oh yes, remember to bevel the front edge of that plate please!).

Take those wheel arrangements and bolt them back on the vehicle (that’s been race-prepped by having all window glass removed and the doors bolted shut on both sides).

Open the trunk and drill a 3/8” hole midway down each wheel arch, do the same thing in the rear seat area. Insert eye-bolts, cinch up and then do the same with both sides (front and rear) of the skid wheel. Attach a suitable length of strong chain on both sides and you are ready (as you’ll ever be) to go Skid Plate Racing.

Driving a Skid Plate Car is like driving on snow or ice with a cafeteria tray under each rear wheel or the park brake on while traversing a patch of glare ice. In other words, control is a sometimes thing, any and all driver inputs: steering, braking, gas pedal down (or up), even swearing at the thing, seem to have a mind of their own as to when something resembling what the driver asked for might actually happen.

A strong sense of pre-deja'vu and very limited imagination are two of the best things to have if one is thinking about any sort of pro career in one of these machines. Think of Skid Plate Racing as go-karting with a roof, a man-sized cockpit, with none of that pesky traction and cornering g-forces to contend with ... you will still spin, really, that's guaranteed!

Any 1980 or newer, four or six-cylinder, front wheel drive car with a 90-inch or longer wheelbase is OK. No secret reinforcements or buttressing is allowed. No added weight. However, hitting the buffet a few times to add weight to the driver before the race is way OK.

A Skid Plate Race car must be stock at its core. If you are going to run a V6, two of its cylinders must be disabled.

The skid plates are available from the House of Irwindale, and cannot be modified.

Big horsepower, a $500 paint job on your GFORCE or BELL brain bucket, neon piping on your fire suit, your race car’s body mounted with50 or 60 thousand out-of-pocket, and/or a $109,000.00 motorhome are all of no help here. On the other hand, a product sponsorship from a supplier Harbor Freight could be a big plus.

Thursday evening, October 7, 2010, fresh from Kansas Speedway, Penske Racing South and Mobil One are going Skid Plate Racing as a fun warm-up to this weekend's fourth NASCAR race for the ten event Sprint Cup Chase at Auto Club Speedway. There are no promises but participants will all be “members of the Penske stock car teams” which have as its drivers Kurt Busch and Ryan Newman. Since all of NASCAR is in town for the Chase ... who really knows just who might show up. This should be a good time for some friendly competition, after-all, it's only Skid Plate Racing!
(ht: Toyota Speedway/Stokes Communications)

... notes from The EDJE