Panther Racing driver Vitor Meira and the #4 Delphi National Guard car
Photo courtesy of Panther Racing

Panther Racing has announced that the Army National Guard will join Delphi as a co-primary sponsor of the team’s #4 car driven by Vitor Meira for the 2008 IndyCar Series season. I think this is great news for a whole variety of reasons.   read more »

Champ Car, Indy Racing League Work Together To Form Unified IndyCar Series

[IRL IndyCar Series press release and transcript. Photo by Shawn Payne/IRL]

The future of open wheel racing is bright, according to the owners of Champ Car and the Indy Racing League who stood together publicly Wednesday for the first time since signing an historic agreement in principle to unify the sport.   read more »

I thought I’d wake up this morning and find out it was all a dream. But there it was in today’s Indianapolis Star. And if it’s in the Indy Star, it must be true… right?

It’s hard to believe, but after 12 racing seasons, several failed unification attempts, and an agonizing final few days, the principals of the Indy Racing League and the Champ Car World Series were finally able to “git r’ done”. American open wheel racing will be operated as a unified series for 2008 and beyond known as… the IndyCar Series! Though the details are still being finalized, there is no question that this is an historic moment in racing history. Congratulations to all who have worked so hard to make this happen. As fans our job will be to leave some of the past behind, and work hard to support the series and help it grow. Let’s go racing! Woo hoo!

Congratulations to Indiana native Ryan Newman for scoring the biggest victory of his NASCAR career by winning the 2008 Daytona 500. Ryan is from South Bend, IN, graduated from Purdue University in West Lafayette, and made his way through the USAC sprint car and midget ranks before moving to NASCAR. Ryan is also a former Rich Vogler Memorial Scholarship winner.

Of the many thousands of photos taken after Newman’s victory, the one pictured here has got to be one of the most amazing. Taken by Jamie Squire of Getty Images and published by USA Today, the shot captured at least 17 flashes firing at once as Ryan swung his open water bottle through the air. The photo was made using a remote camera with a wide angle lens and available light underexposed by one stop to capture the lights of the flashes. Very cool! Follow this link to Getty Images to see the full photo and the rest of Jamie’s images from the event.