http://gplb.com/gplbblog/1 Information concerning the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, provided by Gordie Morris, former sports writer, updated frequently to highlight the activities and events before, after and during the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach <p>Tony Kanaan finally caught some breaks, steering his Dallara/Honda around and through a variety of crashes to win the SunTrust Indy Challenge at Richmond International Raceway last weekend.</p><p>It was Kanaan's first win since Detroit last September, and his first oval win since Kentucky last August. But it wasn't easy.</p><p>The 300-lap race was hampered by a near-record 106 caution laps under nine yellow flags. The IndyCar record is 116 caution laps at Nazareth Speedway in 2002.</p><p>Helio Castroneves finished second behind Kanaan, followed by series points leader Scott Dixon, Dan Wheldon and ex-Champ Car driver Oriol Servia, who notched his career-best finish on an oval. </p><p>Justin Wilson, Graham Rahal, Will Power and the rest of the ex-Champ Car drivers have to be looking forward to better results this weekend: the IndyCar Series heads to Watkins Glen, NY, for a more-comfortable road course!</p><p>The 60-lap Camping World Grand Prix will be televised live by ABC at 3:30 p.m. E. T. Sunday, July 4.</p><p /><br/> http://gplb.com/gplbblog/post/1/76 <p>Dan Wheldon led the last 60 laps en route to winning last Sunday's Iowa Corn Indy 250 Presented by Pioneer at Iowa Speedway. </p><p>It was his second victory of 2008 and, after the race, he made a lot of friends in the state of Iowa by graciously agreeing to donate his share of the race winnings to a fund to help the many thousands of Iowans suffering through the onslaught of Spring flooding. </p><p>Wheldon finished .1430 seconds ahead of Hideki Muto, with Marco Andretti third. Scott Dixon was fourth, but managed to increase his lead in points to 48 over Helio Castroneves, who finished 14th at Iowa. </p><p>Next up for the IndyCar Series is the Sun Trust Indy Challenge on the .75-mile oval of Richmond International Raceway. The race will be televised live at 8 p.m. E.T. on ESPN.</p><br/> http://gplb.com/gplbblog/post/1/75 <p>The IndyCar Series heads for Iowa Speedway this weekend...hoping to get a break from the rainy weather that has caused such catastrophic losses throughout the state.</p><p>It's the second appearance for the series on the .875-mile oval. Dario Franchitti won there in 2007, leading for 96 of 250 laps in a race that had 13 lead changes and eight race leaders. </p><p>Scott Dixon continues to lead the IndyCart points chase with 284, 35 more than runnerup Helio Castroneves (249). Dan Wheldon, Tony Kanaan and Ryan Briscoe round out the points top five. </p><p>The Iowa Corn Indy 250 will be shown at 1 p.m. this Sunday on ABC.</p><p /><br/> http://gplb.com/gplbblog/post/1/74 <p>Polesitter Scott Dixon won the Bombardier LearJet 550 at Texas last Saturday...with some help from Marco Andretti.</p><p>For the second straight race, Marco Andretti was part of a multi-car crash with less than 10 laps remaining and, for the second straight race, the winner cruised home under caution.</p><p>Andretti collided with Ryan Hunter-Reay on lap 223 of 228 while both were duelling for second place. That honor fell to Helio Castroneves, with Ryan Briscoe - the beneficiary of Andretti's crash last weekend - finishing third.</p><p>The IndyCar Series will take a week off before heading to Iowa Speedway for the Iowa Corn 250, which will be televised live on ABC at 1 p.m. E.T. Sun., June 22. </p><p /><br/> http://gplb.com/gplbblog/post/1/73 <p>Ryan Briscoe's favorite color has to be yellow...at least this week!</p><p>Briscoe was leading with barely two laps to go in Sunday's ABC Supply/A. J. Foyt Indy 225 at the Milwaukee Mile, with Indy 500 winner Scott Dixon right on his wing and setting him up for a last-lap pass before....yellow flag!</p><p>A multi-car accident - highlighted by Vitor Meira's unscheduled flight! - brought out the yellow, and Briscoe cruised under caution to his first 2008 win. Dixon led a whopping 147 laps to Briscoe's 36, but Dixon came out of Milwaukee with 234 points, 28 ahead of Helio Castroneves in the season standings. The win moved Briscoe into 8th place. </p><p>The series heads to Texas Motor Speedway for Saturday's Bombardier Learjet 550, which will be televised by ESPN2 at 10 a.m. E.T. </p><p /><br/> http://gplb.com/gplbblog/post/1/72 <p>Indianapolis 500 winner Scott Dixon leads the IndyCar Series to Milwaukee this weekend for the Milwaukee Mile. It's on ABC Sunday at 4 p.m. E.T.</p><p>Dixon ran a steady race from the pole to wrap up a lucrative month at Indy for the New Zealand driver, who now leads the points chase. Vitor Meira was second to Dixon, with Marco Andretti third. </p><p>Oriol Servia was best of the ex-Champ Car pilots, finishing 11th. Will Power was 13th. Justin Wilson, who ran a strong third mid-race, whacked the wall at lap 132 and finished 27th. Graham Rahal finished 33rd and last after an uncordial meeting with the wall on lap 36.</p><p>All in all, the Champ Car veterans -- with the exception of Wilson -- never really threatened, which was not entirely unexpected on an unfamiliar oval that just happens to host the biggest race of the year.</p><p>And was it just me, or did we get just a wee bit too much Danica? Yeah, I know she's the media darling, etc., etc., but keeping the cameras on her when she was purposefully trudging down pit lane to get at Ryan Briscoe was overload. She's far from being the first driver to be, shall we say, &quot;disenchanted&quot; with another.</p><p>And, for that matter, what was she going to do when she got to Briscoe? Whack him upside the head? And what could Briscoe do...whack her back?</p><p>Where are you, Cale Yarborough and Donnie Allison, when we need you?</p><br/> http://gplb.com/gplbblog/post/1/71 <p>Hell, yes.</p><p>OK...OK...it might take a combination of weird circumstances. Like maybe the fuel economy run that was Montegi. But, I can see Graham Rahal, for example, timing his pit stops right, building up a sizeable lead, then holding off the thundering herd over the last couple of laps to score the upset.</p><p>Or maybe it's Will Power inheriting the lead just prior to one of those famous drenching, Back-Home-Again-In-Indiana downpours. Worked for Buddy Rice in 2004!</p><p>Either way, the eight ex-Champ Car guys, all of whom qualified in the rear two-thirds of the field, will have some serious catching up to do right from the get-go, with Rahal starting highest at 13th. </p><p>Bruno Junqueira - an authentic dark horse who sat on the pole in 2002 and has led a buncha laps at Indy - starts 15th, with Justin Wilson right behind in 16th. After that, it's Will Power (23rd), Oriol Servia (25th), E. J. Viso (26th), Mario Moraes (28th) and Enrique Bernoldi (29th).</p><p>Whatever happens, it'll be most interesting TV fare right from the green flag at 1 p.m. E.T. Sunday on ABC.</p><br/> http://gplb.com/gplbblog/post/1/70 <p>...with 22 starting spots - 12 thru 33 - available for 26 entrants. ESPN2 will be there live from 4 p.m.-6:30 p.m. E.T. </p><p>Sunday will be equally busy with &quot;Bump Day,&quot; that annual fingernail-biting, gnashing-of-teeth day that makes for some dramatic TV viewing. ABC will be live from noon-3 p.m. E.T., then hand it over to ESPN2 for the last 1-1/2 hours, from 5 p.m. 'til the gun goes off at 6:30 p.m. E.T.</p><p>And, as always, a handful of drivers will be hanging around Gasoline Alley looking for a last-minute ride, including Alex Barron (5 Indy 500 stars, best-finish 4th in 2002) and Jaques Lazier, with 6 career starts. </p><p>By 6:30 p.m. E.T. Sunday, we'll know who's starting in the 92nd edition of the Indianapolis 500. </p><br/> http://gplb.com/gplbblog/post/1/69 <p>Scott Dixon and Dan Wheldon -- Target Chip Ganaassi Racing teammates -- will start 1-2 at the 92nd Indy 500 thanks to some old-fashioned riverboat gambling.</p><p>Sitting second on the grid after an early qualifying run, Dixon's team dumped his first time and sent him out again at 3:39 in the afternoon...and the New Zealander scorched the track with a 226.366 mph average to grab the pole. Then, he sat and waited to see if anybody could knock him out.</p><p>Nobody could. Wheldon, sitting third, came closest, tossing out his initial run and notching a 226.110 to move into second. Penske Racing's Ryan Briscoe took a second run and filled out the front row with a 226.080.</p><p>The second row stands with Helio Castroneves (225.733), Danica Patrick (225.197) and Tony Kanaan (224.794), while the third row will be Marco Andretti (224.417), Vitor Meira (224.346) and Hideki Mutoh (223.887).</p><p>Ed Carpenter (223.835) and Tomas Scheckter (223.496) also made the field in slots 10-11.</p><p>Graham Rahal, with a qualifying speed of 223.355, was sitting 11th until he was bumped by Schekter. With rain cancelling yesterday's session to determine slots 12-22, Rahal and the rest of the ex-Champ Car drivers will chase down starting slots 12-33 next Saturday --..then survive Sunday's &quot;Bump Day&quot; -- to take the green flag on May 25.</p><p /><br/> http://gplb.com/gplbblog/post/1/68 <p>Saturday is pole day for the Indy 500, which means one driver will end up getting his picture taken a lot, bank some extra cash, make a ton of personal appearances, kiss a lot of pretty girls and - hopefully - end race day in the same spot he started!</p><p>In the race's 91-year history, only 18 drivers (roughly 20%) have won from the pole. For some, winning the pole for the 500 is one of the highlights of their racing careers. For others, like Billy Boat, polesitter in 1998, it has to be THE highlight!</p><p>Positions 1-11 will be decided Saturday and TV will have it covered: ESPN2 from noon-2 p.m., ABC from 3-6 p.m. and then back to The Deuce from 6-7 p.m.</p><p>Sunday's action will fill slots 12-22 and next Saturday they'll be duelling to fill out the field with positions 23-33. </p><p>Monday, May 18 is fingernail-biting day at Indy....otherwise known as &quot;Bump Day,&quot; and it's a good bet that the drivers sitting in positions 30-33 will be visiting the church of their choice on Sun., May 17!</p><p /><br/> http://gplb.com/gplbblog/post/1/67