Dan Wheldon recorded Target’s second win of the season through four rounds, becoming the first repeat winner at Kansas Speedway in the process. Wheldon opened up a 2.1778 second gap over Tony Kanaan and notched his 14th career victory. Wheldon’s last victory came at Kansas Speedway last season. The win is the 18th for Target Chip Ganassi Racing in the IndyCar Series, and 58th overall in open wheel racing.
Wheldon moves up from fifth to third in the Indy racing League points standings with 135 points. Next up for the team is the Indianapolis 500, May 25th at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (NOON ET on ABC).
Apparently Chip Ganassi stays on Wheldon pretty hard. First there is a fuel mileage issue.
I told a few people in interviews already about this" Wheldon says, "Chip gets on my #### so much about not saving fuel. He's on me all the time. Apparently he says that I just like to lead from the front and that's lost me a lot of races. So every possible opportunity, I was saving."
Then there is the whining thing.
"Last year there were situations where I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. I'm not allowed to say too much because Chip says I sound like a spoiled brat when I complain about stuff like that."
Too bad the Englishman has a bit in his mouth. You would think a former IRL champion would be free to speak as he sees fit. I guess not. It's disappointing that a young veteran of Wheldon's stature, just hitting his stride, feels like his owner is acting like his daddy.
As last Sunday's race South of the border in Mexico City, Mexico began to wind down, Mike Wallace found himself outside of the Top 10, but still at the front of the field in the #7 GEICO Camry. On the final laps, Wallace and the Gecko would withstand a series of taps to the rear bumper by Max Papis’s heavily battered race car and go on to record a 12th place finish in the first of three road course races of the season.
“We were able to go out and run really well today and get a decent finish down here,” Wallace said. “It was a fun race and it was nice to be able to have the #7 GEICO Camry running up front and competing with the best road course racers in the business. Max Papis and I battled hard during the final laps and I appreciate him not turning me around when he probably could have.”
This week, the Germain Racing team heads to Talladega, Alabama, for their second restrictor plate race of the 2008 season. Mike Wallace is well known as a restrictor plate specialist and he looks forward to arriving at the 2.66-mile high-banked race track.
“I’ve always experienced great success at restrictor plate tracks and I look forward to getting to Talladega and putting the #7 GEICO Camry up front all weekend,” Wallace said. “We’ve worked really hard on our cars and I am sure it will pay off and we’ll have a good chance of putting GEICO, Sport Clips and Smith Transport in Victory Lane. Talladega is always a fun atmosphere, so we’re going with the notion of having fun and running up front.”
The Aaron’s 312 is on Saturday, April 26th, and it will be televised live on ABC beginning at 2:30 PM (ET), while the Motor Racing Network (MRN) will carry the live radio broadcast.
Last year Tennesse put a big whooping on Cal that was much worse than the final score indicated as Cal managed late meaningless scores. Unfortunately, this years Cal team probably has revenge on its mind.
From: UTSPORTS.COM
Tennessee and California have met three times previously on the gridiron, with all meetings taking place in Knoxville. The Bears posted a 27-17 win in 1977, and the Vols triumphed over Cal by a score of 38-12 in 1987. Most recently, in last year’s season-opener, UT defeated California 35-18 in Neyland Stadium.
One of Tennessee’s biggest special teams challenges heading into the 2007 season is the effort to replace departed placekicker James Wilhoit. A four-year starter for the Vols from 2003-06, Wilhoit ranks second on the school’s all-time scoring chart with 325 career points.
Junior punter Britton Colquitt earned first-team All-SEC honors a year ago and enters 2007 as the SEC's top punter according to the league's head coaches.
Following Tennessee’s practice on Friday, Aug. 24, head coach Phillip Fulmer announced that seniors Erik Ainge, Jonathan Hefney, Xavier Mitchell and Eric Young would serve as the Vols’ captains for the California game.
Quarterback Erik Ainge enjoyed a tremendously productive junior year in 2006 that saw him rank among the national leaders in numerous passing categories and climb in the UT records book.
Tennessee’s defense has allowed just six opposing ballcarriers to rush for at least 100 yards in the last 37 games. During that span, the opponents’ top rusher has averaged 77.2 yards per game.
Senior free safety Jonathan Hefney has a chance to stand atop Tennessee’s all-time list for starts by a position player,* as he enters 2007 with a streak of 36 consecutive starts.
Cornerback Eric Berry is one of the top three cornerbacks on the Vols’ defensive depth chart coming out of summer camp and could join select company if he is given the start at California. Berry would be the first defensive player and only the third player overall in the Philip Fulmer era to start a season-opener as a true freshman.
It always scares me when our pre-season press is talking about our kickers. Sure General Neyland made it plain that football is a game that consists of controlling territory . And the kicking game is a huge part of that. But is that all we have?
We couldn't stop Penn State's running game back on January 1st. Have we gotten that figured out now?
Is Berry that good at cornerback? Or are our other cornerback's that bad?
Tune in Saturday night and we will see if any of these questions are answered.
You just might get embarassed. Ask Bobby Hamilton Jr. Hamilton bet Liz Allison that Juan Pablo Montoya would not win a Nextel Cup race this year. The price for losing the bet? He has to wear a dress.
Liz Allison is a family friend of the Hamilton's and co-hosted a radio show with Bobby Hamilton Sr. She is the widow of the late Davey Allison. Liz hosts her radio show in Nashville, Tennessee on 104.5 The Zone. She has worked as a pit reporter for TNT and as a race analyst for ESPN and ESPN2.
This is the inaugural event for the IndyCar Series at the newly-constructed Iowa Speedway.
What: Iowa Corn Indy 250, Round 8 of the 2007 IndyCar® Series Where: Iowa Speedway, Newton, Iowa When: Sunday, June 24, 2007 Television: ABC, 1 p.m. (EDT)
Who: #27 Canadian Club Dallara/Honda/Firestone driver Dario Franchitti
"After the weekend off, I am looking forward to heading to Iowa. I always enjoy going to new tracks. Iowa is a track similar to Pikes Peak and Richmond, which are both tracks that I enjoy, so it should be an exciting weekend. We are heading into a stretch of five consecutive races so it will be important to get off to a good start in order for us to fight for the championship."
Who wants to go with me damn it? And oh yeah, by the way, I need a ride. I'll tell you about the Jasper County Jail in Newton on the way. You do not want the tour I got.
Warning! Do not act up at the track! The jail is right next to it. They will put you in it. And the judge is a hanging judge.
Most Interesting Blog, June 16, 2008 (unofficially ) and six other occasions (probably if they still did this). Lisa awarded him Best "breaking news" blogger March 31, 2008. Blog of The Day, Christmas Day, 2007. edhardiman wrote, "Falco's tribute to Rocket Richard reminds us all the stars of today stand on the shoulders of giants..." October 23, 2007. Three Golden Swirrly p00p Awards (Hockey, NASCAR and Use of Graphics), FlyingPig, July 18, 2007. 2007 Memorial Day Weekend Trifecta sponsored by williamwilman . Featured on WFORacingFans April, 2007. "Stylin'" award, Dusty, February 07. "One of ten new bloggers to watch" Dudski, January 2007.
