KART/CART/IRL: ILikeRacing.com Karting Challenge week six
pr...@motorsport.com
POINT STANDINGS AFTER 6 OF 10 RACES
TEAM POINTS
1) Indianapolis Motor Speedway 24
2) United States Auto Club 20
3) Team Purex Dreyer & Reinbold Racing 19
4) Herdez Bettenhausen 12
5) Pennzoil Panther Racing 12
6) Mo Nunn Racing 11
7) Bettenhausen Motorsports 8
8) Target Chip Ganassi Racing - IRL 8
9) C & R Racing 7
9) IUPUI / NAMARS Formula Lightning 7
10) AmSpeed 6
11) Hemelgarn Racing 6
12) Herdez Bettenhausen 6
13) Indianapolis Motor Speedway Engineering 6
14) Team Cheever 6
15) Magnum Racing 4
16) Target Chip Ganassi Racing - CART 3
17) WCWO Pro Wrestling 3
18) Delphi 2
TEAM PARTICIPANTS - Feb. 12 AmSPEED - Jeff Leonard, Stephanie Incandela,
Brad Kuhn BETTENHAUSEN MOTORSPORTS - Jimmy Drinan (TC), Robbie Ott, Rick
Vaughn C & R RACING - David Bridges (TC), Chris Condre, Tom Gardner
DELPHI - Mel Hosler (TC), Patrick Dotson, Chuck Lewis HEMELGARN RACING
- Gary Pennison, Andy O'Gara, Brian Hornick HERDEZ BETTENHAUSEN - Jimmy
Drinan, Robbie Ott, Rick Vaughn ILIKERACING - Janie Vogel (TC), Justin
Marvel, Dave Dusick INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY - Josh Laycock (TC),
Marty Hunt, Mel Harder INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY ENGINEERING - Dave
Dusick (TC), Nick Buschmann, Brad Kuhn IUPUI / NAMARS FORMULA LIGHTNING
- Jason Burgess, Thomas Briggs, Bruce "Animal" Adkins MAGNUM RACING -
AJ Codalata (TC), Andrew Prather, Gina Lewis, Nick Ricketts MO NUNN
RACING - Terri Popielarz, Aaron Nelson, Nick Ricketts PENNZOIL PANTHER
RACING - Kevin Blanch (TC), Joe Baird, Chris Hogue TARGET CHIP GANASSI
RACING, CART - Gerami Pennyman (TC), Dan Hammond, Craig Striegle TARGET
CHIP GANASSI RACING, IRL - Gerami Pennyman (TC), Dan Hammond, Craig
Striegle TEAM CHEEVER - Josh Junge, Kevin Blanch, Joe Baird, Chris Hogue
TEAM PUREX DREYER & REINBOLD RACING - Gary Pennison, Andy O'Gara, Brian
Hornick UNITED STATES AUTO CLUB - Justin Marvel, Chris Coers, Jason
Burgess WCWO WRESTLING - Rocky Flash (TC), "Tarantula," Ron Owens,
Harold Newt, Angie Sandoe
RACE #1 RESULTS (team, laps completed, best lap time) - Feb. 12
1) United States Auto Club, 93, 22.60
2) Indianapolis Motor Speedway, 93, 22.99
3) Magnum Racing, 92, 22.92
4) Bettenhausen Motorsports, 92, 22.76
5) Indianapolis Motor Speedway Engineering, 92, 23.04
6) Hemelgarn Racing, 92, 22.56
7) Target Chip Ganassi Racing - CART, 92, 23.17
8) AmSpeed, 91, 23.20
9) Pennzoil Panther Racing, 90
10) WCWO Wrestling, 85, 23.37
FASTEST LAP: Hemelgarn, 22.56 (Brian Hornick)
RACE DURATION: 40 minutes
PIT STOPS: Mandatory 3 stops per team
Notes: Nice to see two IRL teams, once again, working with each other.
The championship Hemelgarn Racing team could not make it to this week's
Karting event, so the three stalwarts from Dreyer & Reinbold racing
gladly filled in, allowing the Hemelgarn team to accumulate one more
championship point for participation. It seems, no matter where I start
them, the three teams that rise to the top of the scoring chart always
include USAC and both teams from IMS, and this race was no different.
The lineups for these races are inverted, which means the teams that did
well the week before start at the back, and the teams that struggled are
usually on the front row. That usually doesn't matter - both IMS teams
and USAC have found some sort of formula that works. Adding into the
interesting mix of teams for this race was, yet again, a newly-entered
team this week, dubbed the "Magnum Racing" team (we are now up to 18
teams). This team blossomed out of some of the participants on the
strong Mo Nunn Racing team - youngin's to boot - who liked the fact
that they knew they were good, and didn't want to hide behind another
team's name anymore. This team, the "Brat Pack" of the ILikeRacing.com
Karting Challenge, had to start 10th out of 10 karts, due to entering
the game so late. But it didn't take them long to make their mark, as
they went straight to the front, qualifying them for a "Shootout" spot.
I had a feeling that this week was going to be a different type of week
(see notes for Race #2 below). Things have been heating up a bit each
week, and we're now into the second half of the "season," which means
that the points title is looming nearer and nearer. This has translated
into increased aggressiveness on - and off - the track. It was only
a matter of time before the pleasantness and fun would cross the fine
line it was walking. We all knew it. So much so that the race director
had a bit of a talk with the participants before the first race about
"playing nice" and just racing to have fun instead of racing to kill
each other. Didn't work. Three-wide into turn one didn't work, either,
which led to the first altercation. In the end, the "Brat Pack" worked
hard, and stayed out of trouble for the most part to earn them a spot in
the "Shootout," along with, of course, the IMS and USAC teams - quite an
accomplishment the first week out. Congrats to all! But - please - be
nice to each other next week?!
RACE #2 RESULTS (team, laps completed, best lap time) - Feb. 12
1) Herdez Bettenhausen Motorsports, 97, 22.57
2) Target Chip Ganassi Racing - IRL, 97, 22.59
3) Team Purex Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, 97, 22.58
4) IUPUI / NAMARS Formula Lightning, 96, 22.43
5) Delphi, 96, 22.58
6) C & R Racing, 95, 22.68
7) ILikeRacing, 95, 22.44
8) Team Cheever, 92, 22.96
9) Mo Nunn Racing, 92, 22.89
FASTEST LAP: IUPUI / NAMARS Formula Lightning, 22.43 (Jason Burgess)
RACE DURATION: 40 minutes
PIT STOPS: Mandatory 3 stops per team
Notes: I [Janie vogel] decided, for the first week since the start of this
league, to actually enter my own team and try to have a little fun. Because
the first race starts pretty quickly and I was still organizing things at
that time, and because this week's first race had 10 teams entered already,
I elected to run in the second race after things "settled down." Because my
team was entered purely for fun, and not necessarily to gain points, I
wanted to be sure to not get in the way of the formally-entered teams who
were wanting a win in this race or were chasing a title. I went out first,
and because I had not driven these karts in probably 8-9 months, I was a
little rusty and quickly got lapped by track record holder Jason Burgess,
running for the IUPUI / NAMARS team - although, I have to say, he's a master
of that track and I think most people who had not practiced in awhile would
have been prey to his driving expertise, too. So I just took it easy and
tried to stay out of everyone's way, all while trying to have a little fun.
However, "staying out of the way" in a very competitive atmosphere is not
all that much fun, as I was more worried about letting people by me that
were running for points than I was in trying to pass the next person in
front of me. Oh well. Although I entered a team for fun, that didn't mean
I wanted to be last, so I picked a few karting connoisseurs for my teammates
- ace USAC driver Justin Marvel, and modified midget driver and IMS engineer
Dave Dusick. They let me run the show, and because I didn't have a lot of
track time, I elected to go out twice to try to get caught up. Before the
end of my first stint, there was a big red flag for an unfortunate injury on
the track. A member of the Ganassi Racing (IRL) team got put him into the
wall a little, then another overzealous karter crashed into him hard,
injuring his back quite badly. He got help off of the track while the
Ganassi team replaced their injured teammate on the track, and after a long
stoppage, we went green again. Under the red, I was told to pit to allow
another member of the team to run, which I did. In the mean time, tempers
and attitudes were escalating on the track, as several people were getting
very aggressive in trying to get to the front, which wasn't really
appreciated by the others on the racetrack. These attitudes spilled over
into off-track "discussions," and before I knew it, I was trying to break up
a shoving match. Not the way I envisioned the night I picked to have a
little fun. While I was attending to off-track activities, my teammates
were erasing any of the debt I had to the lap counter, and getting our
ILikeRacing team into the top 3 or 4. I was supposed to go out again, but I
liked the way my team name was climbing the monitor, so I skipped what I
thought was going to be my last turn. My teammates thought I should go out
one more time, so I took the last slot. I'm pretty short, and always have
to have a little help reaching the gas and brake pedals to be comfortable,
so I usually put two cushions behind my back. Well, in this race, while
hopping into the car during a pit stop, I didn't quite get them behind me
all the way and they fell out during the race, leaving me to
strrrrrreeeeeetttttcccchhhh to get on the gas and, more importantly, brake -
neither of which I could do very well. This was not good at all, and we
ended up 7th out of 9 cars. Not at all what I expected, but it was certainly
my fault we ended up that far back. I'll be back next week to defend my
7th-place standing (?), hopefully a little less rusty. Oh, by the way,
sorry there's not much more commentary on the rest of the race. I was a
little busy during this one. Have to mention that the camaraderie in the
IRL has also transferred to this Karting event - Team Cheever only had one
true Cheever employee show up, so members of rival Panther Racing gladly
filled in (the extra track time is always welcome, no matter who's name you
slap on the finishing order). Congrats to the Herdez, Ganassi and Purex
teams for making into the Shootout, and for the Jimmy Drinan-led Herdez team
which won the overall race on this night!
SHOOTOUT RESULTS ** Top-three teams in each individual race got to
enter one kart for a 10-lap shootout. Karts were lined up by best
lap time, with the exception of the front row which was comprised of
the individual race winners. The way the karts finished was the way
the first-six positions in the combined results were determined, with
7 points being given for a 1st-place finish, 6 for 2nd, 5 for 3rd, 4
for 4th, 3 for 5th and 2 for 6th, allowing any team which made the
"Shootout" at least a bonus point. Every other team which did not make
it into the "Shootout" received one point.
Shootout Lineup (pole is on right because first turn is to the right):
2) United States Auto Club 1) Herdez Bettenhausen Motorsports
4) Team Purex Dreyer & Reinbold Racing 3) Target Chip Ganassi Racing - IRL
6) Indianapolis Motor Speedway 5) Magnum Racing
Shootout Results (team, best laps time - 10 laps, race time =3D =
4:00.95):
1) Herdez Bettenhausen Motorsports, 22.97
2) Team Purex Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, 23.05
3) Indianapolis Motor Speedway, 22.84
4) Target Chip Ganassi Racing - IRL, 23.26
5) Magnum Racing, 23.82
6) United States Auto Club, 23.73
COMBINED RESULTS (points, laps completed in individual race, how many
laps down to leader, best lap time - individual race) - Monday, Feb. 5
(combined final results, after two separate 40-minute races - finishing
order for positions 7-16 determined by number of laps finished in their
particular race first - or more accurately how many laps down to the
leader - then finishing positions, then lap times. The top-three teams
(one kart each) of each individual race faced off in 6-car, 10-lap
"Shootout" to determine finishing positions 1-6) **Top-six finishers are
also the results from the "Shootout"
1) Herdez Bettenhausen Motorsports, 7, 97 (lead lap), 22.57
2) Team Purex Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, 6, 97 (lead lap), 22.58
3) Indianapolis Motor Speedway, 5, 93 (lead lap), 22.99
4) Target Chip Ganassi Racing - IRL, 4, 97 (lead lap), 22.59
5) Magnum Racing, 3, 92 (-1), 22.92
6) United States Auto Club, 2, 93 (lead lap), 22.60
7) IUPUI / NAMARS Formula Lightning, 1, 96 (-1), 22.43
8) Bettenhausen Motorsports, 1, 92 (-1), 22.76
9) Delphi, 1, 96 (-1), 22.58
10) Indianapolis Motor Speedway Engineering, 1, 92 (-1), 23.04
11) Hemelgarn Racing, 1, 92 (-1), 22.56
12) Target Chip Ganassi Racing - CART, 1, 92 (-1), 23.17
13) C & R Racing, 1, 95 (-2), 22.68
14) ILikeRacing, 1, 95 (-2), 22.44
15) AmSpeed, 1, 91 (-2), 23.20
16) Pennzoil Panther Racing, 1, 90 (-3), 23.31
17) Team Cheever, 1, 92 (-4), 22.96
18) Mo Nunn Racing, 1, 92 (-4), 22.89
19) WCWO Wrestling, 1, 85 (-8), 23.37
LINEUPS FOR 2/19 RACES (based on inverted 2/12 finish order, if same =
teams show up 2/19)
RACE #1
1) WCWO Wrestling
2) Team Cheever
3) AmSpeed
4) Target Chip Ganassi Racing - CART
5) Indianapolis Motor Speedway Engineering
6) Bettenhausen Motorsports
7) United States Auto Club
8) Target Chip Ganassi Racing - IRL
9) Team Purex Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
RACE #2
1) Mo Nunn Racing
2) Pennzoil Panther Racing
3) C & R Racing
4) Hemelgarn Racing
5) Delphi
6) IUPUI / NAMARS Formula Lightning
7) Magnum Racing
8) Indianapolis Motor Speedway
9) Herdez Bettenhausen Motorsports
10) ILikeRacing
-Janie Vogel
---
motorsport.com -- your source for motorsport news on the Internet