The Proof is in the Power

Are you serious Roger Penske.... You are not going to run Power at Kansas? We are talking about a guy that is currently second in points and has a real shot at the championship. I know he has benefited from starting on 2 street courses, but he is the definitely the real deal. With Rick Mears and the rest of Team Penske, you can't tell me that he will not be competive on the ovals. I know it is your money and if I really wanted him to run then I should put up my own cash, but are you really prepared to make this kind of decision at this point in the season? You are a loyal guy and need to stay loyal to this guy. Step up to the plate and pony up to put Will in the show for Kansas and then see what he does there and Indy before deciding to pull the plug on this potentially historic season.

One Down... 18 to Go

Some random thoughts from round 1 of the IRL IndyCar Series.

This season is Dixon's to loose. Yes he got lucky tonight, but that plays a roll in every championship. Dixon is known more for his road racing and getting an early win on an oval is huge for his championship run.

Dixon beat Wheldon at the alter as well. It's not just that Emma is gorgeous, it is also that Dan's wife if not attractive. She has a pie face and her butt is big. The 'M' in MILF seems to stand for Mum instead of Mom based on the fact that I think Dan married Mrs. Doubtfire.

Huge props to the Champ Car guys. They may not have been "racey" tonight, but they did not really cause many problems. They got through the initial green flag without an incident and ran pretty well all night. I know Viso took out Tony when he probably would have won the race, but that is just part of racing. Tony has had some back luck the last couple of years and this just adds to it.

The crowd tonight was pathetic. There could not have been more than 30k people there. Maybe the only people that are excited about the merger are the people that were already fans. This causes problems when you are trying to add to your fan base.

Vision is for real! I know they cheated (that is actually kind of awesome), but they looked good all night. I know I said no one outside of the Big 3 had a shot at winning, but if someone does it will be a Vision car. Big props to AJ and Ed for a great weekend. Here's to a sponsor on the side of the #2 at St. Pete.

The podium celebration was uncomfortable. No one knew what the hell was going on. It seemed extremely forced and they should probably can this idea and only do it on road courses.

Altogether it was an awesome weekend. When the first green flag dropped, AJ was already 3/4 of a lap down. I think that is why they waved it off. It was incredible to see 25 cars come roaring down the front stretch. I honestly believe the IRL is heading in the right direction and will be making up ground on NASCAR soon.

Park It!

I have it on the record from a reliable source that Graham Rahal could have run tonight, but did not feel comfortable. Ganassi and Penske offered up parts to help repair the car Graham crashed on Tuesday, but the team declined. If you remember a year ago, his dad Bobby was asked if he was going to have Graham run the 500. Bobby's response was that he did not want his son running on ovals because "they are too dangerous".

Don't get me wrong, I think he is a talented driver, but to compete in the IRL he is going to have to be able to run at all kinds of different tracks. It will be interesting to see how this plays out the rest of this year.

And the Winner Is...

The more things change, the more they stay the same. This year's IRL is going to look a lot different then it has the last couple of years with addition of nine new drivers, but that is not going to change the out come of the season championship.

It has been three years since anyone outside of the big three (Ganassi, Penske and AGR) and this is not going to be the year for that to change. And I will go even further than that. I don't think anyone outside of Dixon, Wheldon, Kanaan, Castroneves and Briscoe will win this year.

Dixon and Kanaan are going to battle it out all season much like Dixon and Franchitti did last year. The other guys will win and be in the mix, but will never really challenge for the tittle.

Series Champ:
Scott Dixon wins this going away. It won't be decided until Chicago, but it won't be as close as it was last year. Dixon is by far the most consistent driver and just does not make many mistakes.

Indy 500 Winner:
Tony Kanaan will finally win Indy. He should have won last year, but his team could not read the doppler. 250k other people at the Speedway that day new what was coming, but for some reason his crew could not figure it out.

Rookie of the Year:
Justin Wilson is one of the most talented open-wheel drivers in the world. He will compete at all of the non-oval tracks this year and should also do well at Indy. I don't think he will win a race this year, but he should be in the mix. It is tough to call him a rookie based on his past experience, but that is the way he is listed and he will take home the honor.

Top 10:
1. Dixon
2. Kanaan
3. Wheldon
4. Castroneves
5. Briscoe
6. Patrick
7. Miera
8. Andretti
9. Foyt
10. Wilson

I am sure none of my predictions will come true, but that is the fun of making those calls. It is going to be a great season.

A Whole New Vision

Wow - How about Vision Racing tonight! Qualifying second and third is pretty awesome for what is supposed to be a middle of the pack team. I do think they had some help with the track cooling off by the time they took the track. Ed was the last one on the track and after the first three laps he was actually on the pole.

Speaking of Ed... His Menard's car is absolutely awesome. I would say it was the best looking car on the track today. It is good to get John Medard and his money back in IndyCar racing. Ed's car is covered in sponsors this year. This looks kind of odd for a Vision car.

I did have a chance to talk to Anthony this afternoon. He sounded really upbeat about the team and said they should be much improved from last year. Anthony had a good run at the end of last year. He had a career best third at Kentucky and ran in the lead pack at Chicago for most of the day. He is only 24 and remember, he took a year off to run the "tin-tops".

Welcome to In the Marbles

If you actually found this page I am shocked. I am not sure what I am trying to prove here, but I thought it might be fun to document the 2008 IRL season and what better way to do it than to set up a blog. I am fortunate enough have been offered a "Hard Card" by the IRL, so my intent is to go to as many races as possible. I will be heading down to Miami to attend the season opener at Homestead this weekend.

I have my IRL Fantasy League draft this evening. That should be pretty interesting with ex-Champ Car guys adding to this years field. Each of the last 2 years I have gotten crushed for over a grand in our league so I am looking to make some better draft decisions this year. If anyone is interested in how we set up our league let me know and I can forward you our rules.

I will be posting my season preview tonight and have updates from Homestead throughout the weekend. I should have pretty good access to the drivers and teams so hopefully I will be able to dig up some juicy details.