IRL: 1.5 million reasons why Indy won't race Richmond

There are 1.5 million reasons why the Indy Racing League won't return to Richmond International Raceway in 2010, according to the Richmond Times Dispatch. In poor economic times, the sanctioning fee was just too much for International Speedway Corporation.

Our View With a $53 million dollar impact on the local economy, however, one thinks they could have figured something out.

Perhaps the most interesting comment in this article, however, was this: "Fan and industry feedback largely was negative after repeat winner Scott Dixon won the June 27 race by finishing ahead of his Chip Ganassi Racing teammate and pole-sitter Dario Franchitti. During the race, there were long stretches of uninterrupted racing with few lead changes." Isn't that what racing is about?

For years, NASCAR fans have decried the questionable cautions waved by the sanctioning body; be careful what you wish for.

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IRL: Richmond lineup with avg. start/finish

Dario Franchitti continues to prove his prowess on the short tracks of the Indy Racing League. After sweeping both events last year at Iowa and Richmond, he got off to another fast start on Rusty Wallace's track near Des Moines.

Teammate Scott Dixon is to his outside, while Helio Castroneves lines up behind him. Notably, Castroneves' teammate Ryan Briscoe is on the outside of tow two, so all of these drivers should feel comfortable in their surroundings.

Lineup with avg. start/finish

Start	Driver	Avg. Fin	Avg. Start	Attempts
1	Dario Franchitti	4.50	7.00	4
2	Scott Dixon	7.83	7.50	6
3	Helio Castroneves	6.57	5.71	7
4	Ryan Briscoe	18.00	7.00	2
5	Graham Rahal	18.00	3.00	1
6	Raphael Matos
7	E J Viso	10.00	19.00	1
8	Hideki Mutoh	13.00	7.00	1
9	Tomas Scheckter	9.50	12.83	6
10	Danica Patrick	9.25	14.25	4
11	Mike Conway
12	Robert Doornbos
13	Dan Wheldon	5.00	8.67	6
14	Ed Carpenter	11.40	14.20	5
15	Justin Wilson	7.00	23.00	1
16	Marco Andretti	8.33	7.00	3
17	Tony Kanaan	8.67	7.67	6
18	Ryan Hunter-Reay	16.00	25.00	1
19	Mario Moraes	17.00	20.00	1
20	Jaques Lazier	17.50	10.00	2

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IRL: Franchitti on Richmond pole

Dario Franchitti won the pole for Saturday night's SunTrust Indy Challenge at Richmond with a speed of 167.315 mph.

Our View: Franchitti will be gunning for his fourth consecutive IRL short track win—and in his last five attempts at Iowa and Richmond, he's not finished worse than third.

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IRL: Perfection for Franchitti, wins Iowa

Dario Franchitti won the Iowa Corn 200 for his second Iowa victory in two starts as well as his third consecutive IRL short track race.

Our View: Franchitti took last year off to compete in NASCAR, but he swept both short track races in 2007. That makes him an equally good value next week at Richmond.

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Short Trackin' Indy style

For the next two weeks, the Indy Racing League is going short trackin', but don't look for the same beating and banging you've grown accustomed to in NASCAR competition. The sleek open wheel cars are all about precision, even on ovals measuring less than a mile in length. Of course smaller tracks mean that drivers are rarely out of contact with another car, and a different mindset is required to run well on these.

Three drivers have been nearly perfect at Iowa Speedway—a .875-mile course—and Richmond International Raceway—the .750-mile short track that Iowa was patterned after. Foremost among these is Dario Franchitti. He took last year off to race with NASCAR good old boys, but in 2007 he swept both races at Iowa and Richmond. Before 2007, the IRL ran at Richmond only and Franchitti finished second in 2005 and third in 2006. The only time he failed to finish in the top five was in his first effort in Virginia in 2004.

Dan Wheldon has finished in the top 10 seven times in eight starts on IRL's two active short tracks and he also has a pair of victories on these courses. He won at Richmond in 2004 and Iowa last year. With a worst finish of 11th, Wheldon has an average of 5.25 at Richmond and Iowa, which lags well behind Franchitti's 3.80.

Marco Andretti has the third-best average finish among active IndyCar drivers. With a 6.0, he's had higher lows than his three principal rivals. Andretti has failed to win one of his five short track attempts, but he came close at Iowa in 2007 when he finished second to Franchitti. With three top-fives, four top-10s and a worst finish of 12th, he nevertheless makes a great candidate for this week's lineup.

IndyCar short tracks, last five races

Driver	Avg Finish	2008 Richmond	2008 Iowa	2007 Richmond	2007 Iowa	2006 Richmond
Dario Franchitti	1.67			1	1	3
Dan Wheldon	5.60	4	1	3	11	9
Marco Andretti	6.00	9	3	12	2	4
Scott Dixon	6.00	3	4	2	10	11
Hideki Mutoh	7.50	13	2
Helio Castroneves	9.00	2	14	11	8	10
Danica Patrick	9.20	6	6	6	13	15
Justin Wilson	9.50	7	12
Tomas Scheckter	11.00			7	19	7
Ryan Briscoe	11.00	15	7
Tony Kanaan	11.40	1	18	4	16	18
E J Viso	11.50	10	13
Sarah Fisher	11.50			16	7
Ed Carpenter	11.60	11	23	10	6	8
Ryan Hunter-Reay	12.00	16	8
Anthony Foyt IV	13.50	24	5	13	12
Graham Rahal	14.00	18	10
Mario Moraes	18.00	17	19
Milka Duno	20.33		24	19	18

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