N'Wide: Ambrose wins Watkins Glen

Marcos Ambrose made a bold move on Kyle Busch late in the Zippo 200 and won at Watkins Glen.

Our View Ambrose was clearly the better driver, but Busch was able to hold him at bay for quite a few laps. It was reminiscent of the Infineon Cup race and what Kasey Kahne did to Tony Stewart.

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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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IRL: Iowa's last two races

With only two previous Iowa Speedway races in the Indy Racing League book, there isn't a lot to go on this week, but fantasy players may find some inspiration in who ran well in these few events.

Dario Franchitti took last year off to make an attempt at NASCAR Sprint Cup racing, but before he left, he won his only race at Iowa after starting third. This short track was patterned after Richmond International Raceway and on that course, he's been nearly perfect with finishes of second (2005), third (2006) and first (2007) in four attempts. That speaks volumes about his odds for this week.

Marco Andretti has run both Iowa races and he's been close to perfect. With a second in 2007 and a third in 2008, he's come close to winning twice. Perhaps there is something in short track racing that is appealing to his somewhat aggressive style of competition. By contrast, his teammates Tony Kanaan (with a 16th in 2007 and an 18th last year) and Danica Patrick (13th and sixth respectively) have not been nearly as strong.

Last year's winner Dan Wheldon proved that fantasy players cannot always rely strictly on past records. After a modest showing of 11th in 2007, he stormed into victory lane last year, so don't be afraid to take drivers with momentum on their side.

Average finish, last two races

Driver	Avg Finish	2008	2007
Dario Franchitti	1.00		1
Hideki Mutoh	2.00	2
Marco Andretti	2.50	3	2
Scott Sharp	3.00		3
Dan Wheldon	6.00	1	11
Ryan Briscoe	7.00	7
Scott Dixon	7.00	4	10
Sarah Fisher	7.00		7
Ryan Hunter-Reay	8.00	8
Anthony Foyt IV	8.50	5	12
Will Power	9.00	9
Danica Patrick	9.50	6	13
Graham Rahal	10.00	10
Helio Castroneves	11.00	14	8
John Andretti	11.00	11
Justin Wilson	12.00	12
Vitor Meira	12.00	15	9
E J Viso	13.00	13
Buddy Rice	13.00	22	4
Darren Manning	13.00	21	5
Sam Hornish Jr	14.00		14
Ed Carpenter	14.50	23	6
Kosuke Matsuura	15.00		15
Oriol Servia	16.00	16
Tony Kanaan	17.00	18	16
Jeff Simmons	17.00		17
Enrique Bernoldi	17.00	17
Mario Moraes	19.00	19
Tomas Scheckter	19.00		19
Jaime Camara	20.00	20
Milka Duno	21.00	24	18
Bruno Junqueira	25.00	25
Marty Roth	26.00	26

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IRL: Several tests on tap

Most of the Indy Racing League drivers tested at a variety of locations this week in preparation for the upcoming season. According to OpenWheelWorld.net, they were:

Watkins Glen International: Danica Patrick, Tony Kanaan, Marco Andretti, Mario Moraes, Mike Conway, Milka Duno, Justin Wilson and Richard Antinucci.

Richmond International Raceway: Helio Castroneves, Ryan Briscoe, Dan Wheldon, Raphael Matos and E J Viso.

Chicagoland Speedway: Ed Carpenter (in a Firestone tire test).

Iowa Speedway: Dario Franchitti

Our View: Practice makes perfect, so put a tickle file in your computers for the appropriate week and then watch these drivers closely in open practice sessions when that race rolls around.

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IRL: Texas Results

The off-season trouble is completely behind him. Helio Castroneves won for a third time at Texas Motor Speedway and his 16th overall. He led Ryan Briscoe to the line, but the race was won in the pits when he beat his teammate and rest of the field out on lap 175.

Last year's winner Scott Dixon finished third. In 2008, he started first before winning; this week, he started third, which means he is good at finishing what he starts.

Marco Andretti finished fourth, but was still not pleased. Late in the race, he became unhappy with teammate Danica Patrick for having the effrontery to race with him—guess he's forgotten what sport this is.

Pole sitter Dario Franchitti faded to fifth at the end.

Perhaps the hottest driver on the circuit, however, is Patrick. Her four-race top-five streak came to an end Saturday night, but not by much. She finished sixth, which was her third consecutive top-10 on this track.

Results, with average finish

Finish	Start	Driver	Laps	Status	Avg Fin
1	4	Helio Castroneves	228	Running	5.82
2	2	Ryan Briscoe	228	Running	5.67
3	3	Scott Dixon	228	Running	6.33
4	8	Marco Andretti	228	Running	14.00
5	1	Dario Franchitti	228	Running	7.83
6	5	Danica Patrick	228	Running	8.80
7	7	Dan Wheldon	228	Running	8.90
8	16	Tony Kanaan	228	Running	4.89
9	10	Ed Carpenter	228	Running	16.00
10	6	Mario Moraes	227	Running	14.00
11	9	Robert Doornbos	227	Running	11.00
12	15	Raphael Matos	226	Running	12.00
13	18	Tomas Scheckter	226	Running	15.10
14	13	Alex Tagliani	225	Running	14.00
15	17	Justin Wilson	225	Running	21.00
16	23	Ryan Hunter-Reay	225	Running	18.00
17	14	Sarah Fisher	222	Running	14.56
18	24	Jaques Lazier	210	Running	15.00
19	19	Mike Conway	185	Running	19.00
20	22	Anthony Foyt IV	170	Accident	17.75
21	11	Hideki Mutoh	153	Mechanical	13.50
22	12	Graham Rahal	1	Accident	16.50
23	20	Milka Duno	1	Accident	17.00
24	21	E J Viso	1	Accident	19.00

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IRL: 11 locked in to Indy 500

In the first day of qualification, 11 drivers have been locked into the Indy 500. Led by pole sitter Helio Castroneves, Penske teammate Ryan Briscoe is in the middle of the first row and Chip Ganassi's Dario Franchitti is on the outside of that row.

Graham Rahal, Scott Dixon and Tony Kanaan make up row two.

Mario Moraes, Marco Andretti and Will Power make up row three.

And finally, Danica Patrick and Alex Lloyd will take the inside and middle of row four. The rest of the field will be filled on Sunday and next Saturday.

Our View: Castroneves has bragging rights, but the remainder of the field can rest easier knowing they will start near the front of the field.

IRL: Day 1 practice times

Marco Andretti may have posted the fastest lap (at 225.478 mph) in the first day of practice, but where did everyone else settle in? Check out the full practice grid at Motorsports.com.

Our View: Notably, Robert Doornbos was the fastest rookie with a seventh-best speed of 223.593 mph and Danica Patrick was the fastest female driver at 223.253 mph. She settled into eighth on the grid.

IRL: Andretti currently fastest

Marco Andretti has set the new fastest lap at Indy with a 225.478 in the middle of the afternoon on Thursday.

Our View: Racing is certainly in the Andretti blood.