Showing posts with label 2009 Milwaukee IRL. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2009 Milwaukee IRL. Show all posts

June 5, 2009

IRL: Texas' last five races

After posting three consecutive top-fives from St. Petersburg through Kansas Speedway, Tony Kanaan has had two horrible weekends in the Indy Racing League with finishes in the 20s in the Indy 500 and at the Milwaukee Mile. Last week, he entered the flat one-mile oval with a near perfect record on that track during the last five years before crashing barely 12 races into the event. Now, he has another chance to rebound. At Texas Motor Speedway, he's finished seventh or better in his last five tries.

Helio Castroneves has actually been stronger in recent seasons. Except for a crash in 2007, he would have swept the top five since the fall 2004 race, having won twice and posting a second-place finish.

Dan Wheldon posted the fastest time in Friday's session and he too has to be considered a serious contender this week. Like Castroneves, he had a bad 2007 race, but has finished sixth or better four of his last five attempts.

Average finish, last five races
DriverAvg. Fin20082007200620052004.2
Tony Kanaan3.852732
Helio Castroneves 5.0216151
Adrian Fernandez5.0



5
Hideki Mutoh6.06



Sam Hornish Jr6.0
14217
Scott Sharp 6.0
7548
Dan Wheldon6.2415363
Vitor Meira6.275694
Scott Dixon6.41122116
Mark Taylor7.0



7
Ryan Briscoe7.53

12
Townsend Bell9.0



9
Danica Patrick9.51031213
Dario Franchitti10.0
413815
Sarah Fisher10.0
10


Jeff Simmons10.5
615

Kosuke Matsuura10.8
98719
Graham Rahal11.011



Tora Takagi12.0



12
Bryan Herta12.3

111016
Will Power13.013



Felipe Giaffone 13.5

16
11
Tomas Scheckter 13.6251410118
E J Viso14.014



Milka Duno14.01711


Alex Barron14.0


1414
Anthony Foyt IV14.31217
1810
Buddy Rice15.088182120
Bruno Junqueira15.015



Roger Yasukawa15.0


15
Ed Carpenter15.491892021
John Andretti16.016



Patrick Carpentier16.0


16
Tomas Enge16.0


1913
Eddie Cheever Jr17.0

17

Marco Andretti17.3191914

Mario Moraes18.018



Buddy Lazier 19.0

19

Darren Manning19.32813
17
Ryan Hunter-Reay20.020



Jon Herb20.0
20


Mario Dominguez21.021



Marty Roth22.022



Jimmy Kite22.0


22
Enrique Bernoldi23.023



Jaime Camara24.024



Oriol Servia26.026



Justin Wilson27.027



June 4, 2009

IRL: Scheckter in for eight more

Tomas Scheckter will compete with Dreyer & Reinbold Racing for eight more races, including this week at Texas Motor Speedway, according to IndyCar.com.

Our View: In two races this year, Scheckter has been consistent but not overly strong. He finished 12th in the Indy 500 and was 13th last week at Milwaukee. Fantasy owners can expect similar results at Texas.

May 31, 2009

IRL: Milwaukee Results

Scott Dixon improved last year's Milwaukee result by only one position, but it was the one that counted. In this race last year, he finished second, but he was not going to be denied in 2009. He took the lead from Ryan Briscoe on lap 201 and then scooted out to a 2.13 second lead; Briscoe held on for second.

If you chose to do this one by the number, it was an uneven day. Tony Kanaan entered the weekend with the best average finish during the last five Milwaukee races, but he crashed early on lap 12 and finished 20th. On the other hand, Dario Franchitti had the second best average finish during that span and he managed to finish third.

Graham Rahal and Danica Patrick rounded out the top five.

Results, with career avg. finish

FinishStartDriverLapsStatusAvg Fin
14Scott Dixon225Running6.00
21Ryan Briscoe225Running7.00
38Dario Franchitti225Running2.80
42Graham Rahal225Running14.50
57Danica Patrick225Running9.00
69Raphael Matos225Running6.00
713Marco Andretti225Running12.00
86Hideki Mutoh224Running10.00
95Mario Moraes224Running16.00
1014Dan Wheldon224Running8.00
1120Helio Castroneves222Running12.33
1218Ryan Hunter-Reay222Running13.50
1310Tomas Scheckter222Running11.40
1412Robert Doornbos220Running14.00
1515Justin Wilson219Running11.00
1619Ed Carpenter219Running13.67
1716Paul Tracy219Running17.00
1817E J Viso175Mechanical13.00
1911Mike Conway55Mechanical20.00
203Tony Kanaan12Accident5.50
2121Stanton Barrett0DNQ

IRL: Dixon wins Milwaukee

Scott Dixon scooted past Ryan Briscoe on lap 201 and then stretched his advantage to 2.13 seconds before the end of the ABC Supply 225, according to IndyCar.com.

Our View: Briscoe held onto second, while Dario Franchitti and Graham Rahal finished third and fourth respectively.

May 30, 2009

IRL: Milwaukee Lineup

The lineup is set for Sunday's ABC Supply Co. 225 and Ryan Briscoe is picking up where he left off last year—at the front of the pack. This track has not always been kind to him with a 22nd in 2005 and an 18th in 2006, but after taking 2007 off, he won last year.

Graham Rahal will start to his outside, which is the same position he started last year. Unfortunately, he ran into trouble in that race and finished 25th.

The driver with the best five-year average finish will start in third. Tony Kanaan has won twice and finished fourth or better at Milwaukee since 2004, so he has to be considered a favorite for your fantasy roster.

Lineup

StartDriverAvg. FinAvg. StartAttempts
1Ryan Briscoe9.5014.002
2Graham Rahal25.002.001
3Tony Kanaan2.604.805
4Scott Dixon7.258.004
5Mario Moraes23.0023.001
6Hideki Mutoh12.0014.001
7Danica Patrick10.0012.504
8Dario Franchitti2.759.254
9Raphael Matos


10Tomas Scheckter11.008.004
11Mike Conway


12Robert Doornbos


13Marco Andretti13.676.003
14Dan Wheldon7.609.405
15Justin Wilson7.0022.001
16Paul Tracy


17E J Viso8.0010.001
18Ryan Hunter-Reay15.0012.001
19Ed Carpenter13.2012.405
20Helio Castroneves12.602.805
DNQStanton Barrett


IRL: Briscoe on Milwaukee pole

Ryan Briscoe will lead the field to green at the Milwaukee Mile after posting a four-lap average speed of 168.394.

Our View: In three previous starts, Briscoe has an average finish of only 13.7, but fantasy owners should be more concerned with the fact that he's the defending winner of this race.

Complete Lineup

Indy Lights: Romancini on Milwaukee pole

Mario Romancini won the pole for the Husar's House of Fine Diamonds 100, according to a tweet from @IndyCarPR. He broke Pablo Donoso's qualifying record set last year.

Our View: The advancement from Indy Lights to IRL (and the crossover) is a little slower than Nationwide to Cup, but this is still the most likely road to the major leagues.

IRL: Barrett going home

According to a tweet from @IndyCarPR, Stanton Barrett has loaded up and is going home from Milwaukee after crashing in practice.

Our View: That certainly won't help his campaign to win rookie honors, but the team says they will be ready for the next race at Texas Motor Speedway

May 29, 2009

IRL: Scheckter to run at Milwaukee

Tomas Scheckter will race for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing this week, according to IndyCar.com.

Our View: Scheckter has some strong runs there with third-place finishes in 2005 and 2006, but his last attempt was a little more what fantasy owners can expect this week. In his most recent outing in 2007, he finished 17th.

Last Five Races Average Finish

May 27, 2009

IRL: New tire for Milwaukee

Firestone will bring a new tire to the Milwaukee Mile in an attempt to get rid of the tight condition that plagued teams last year, according to a press release from the company.

Our View: All cars will be on the same tire, which levels the playing field, but veterans usually adjust to new circumstances faster than Young Guns.

May 26, 2009

IRL: Tracy to drive for Foyt

According to IndyCar PR, Paul Tracy will drive AJ Foyt's No. 14 at the Milwaukee Mile. Last week, Vitor Meira took a hard hit to the wall in the Indy 500.

Our View: The combination of these two fiery personalities could either be explosive on the track, or one of the biggest train wrecks in auto racing history, but one way or another—something exciting is going to happen.

May 25, 2009

IRL: Milwaukee, Last five races

Tony Kanaan had another terrible Indy 500 when he crashed before the halfway mark and finished 27th in a 33-car field. If the past is any indication though, he should rebound nicely this week. The Indy Racing League has been going to the Milwaukee Mile for five years and Kanaan has never finished outside the top-five there. In fact, he took top honors in back-to-back season in 2006 and 2007, which makes him one of the favorites to win again this week.

Nearly as stout, Dario Franchitti is back from his NASCAR sojourn and he's never finished worse than sixth in four starts on this track. He won the inaugural race in 2004 and then posted runner-up results in 2005 and 2007. Last week, he was in contention for the 500 victory until trouble in the pits relegated him to seventh, so he will be looking for redemption.

Dan Wheldon does not have the overall numbers of Kanaan and Franchitti, but he's certainly come on strong lately. He struggled to an 18th-place finish in 2004 and was a modest eighth in 2006, but every other result has been a top-five—and that is enough to recommend him for this week's Milwaukee race.

Results, Last five years

DriverAvg Finish20082007200620052004
Tony Kanaan2.6031144
Dario Franchitti2.75
2621
Sam Hornish Jr3.75
9213
Oriol Servia6.006



Justin Wilson7.007



Patrick Carpentier7.00


7
Bryan Herta7.33

769
Alex Barron7.50


87
Dan Wheldon7.60438518
E J Viso8.008



Adrian Fernandez8.00



8
Townsend Bell8.5011


6
Jeff Simmons9.50
109

Danica Patrick10.0098419
Scott Dixon10.2024101322
Scott Sharp 10.75
6121015
Tomas Scheckter 11.00
173321
Vitor Meira11.202251595
Buddy Rice11.60101811172
Hideki Mutoh12.0012



Kosuke Matsuura12.50
12171110
Helio Castroneves 12.60516141612
Felipe Giaffone 13.00



13
Jeff Bucknam13.00

13

Ed Carpenter13.20207161211
Ryan Briscoe13.671
1822
Marco Andretti13.6721155

Mark Taylor14.00



14
Jimmy Kite14.00


14
Will Power14.0014



Sarah Fisher14.00
14


Anthony Foyt IV16.751713
2116
Roger Yasukawa15.00


15
Ryan Hunter-Reay15.0015



Darren Manning15.751311
2019
Enrique Bernoldi16.0016



Jaques Lazier17.00



17
Bruno Junqueira18.0018



Buddy Lazier 18.00


18
A J Foyt IV16.751713
2116
John Andretti19.0019



Tora Takagi20.00



20
Mario Moraes23.0023



Jaime Camara24.0024



Graham Rahal25.0025



Mario Dominguez26.0026



Marty Roth27.0027