Six Motorsports Championships…Lots of South Florida Storylines

Ryan Briscoe Congratulates Helio Castroneves as the Miami resident captured the pole en route to his third Indy 500 win (photo: Dana Garrett, IndyCar Media)

Six Motorsports Championships…Lots of South Florida Storylines

IndyCar and Grand-Am Sports Cars Storylines en route to the NextEra Energy Resources SpeedJam Championships  at Homestead-Miami Speedway Oct. 9-10

Miami’s Castroneves on the Pole for Sunday’s Indy 500

When Sunday’s Indianapolis 500 begins, the famed test of endurance and speed will do so with a distinct South Florida feel: Miami’s flamboyant racing-dynamo Helio Castroneves at the head of the class.

Castroneves, a Coral Gables-resident, put together a scintillating four-lap average of 224.864 mph while battling unstable track conditions that netted the pole slot for the 93rd running of the Indianapolis 500. After qualifying, the always emotional driver was moved to tears during an interview: “Just to be here right now is awesome,” he said on pit road.

What makes his pole-qualifying run all the more impressive is that the 500 is just Castroneves’ second race of 2009, despite the IndyCar Series having completed three races on its 17-race schedule en route to Championship Weekend in Miami Oct. 9-10—when both the IndyCar and Firestone Indy Lights Series will crown champions at Homestead-Miami Speedway during the NextEra Energy Resources SpeedJam Championships.

Castroneves starts from the pole with aspirations of capturing his third Indy 500 championship, and the 15th such win for team-owner Roger Penske. He won the Indy 500 back-to-back in 2001 and 2002 becoming the youngest driver to win the race twice, and the youngest driver to win consecutively since Al Unser Sr. in 1970. Castroneves’ sole focus is to get back to Victory Lane.

“I have to say that without this crowd here, without the support of the fans, there was no way I could have gotten through what I did [with the tax case],” Castroneves said after qualifying for Sunday’s pole. “I'm just going to go for it. I'm happy to be able to put things behind me. My results in Long Beach, Kansas and now the pole, this is what I wanted to do and what I was thinking of [while off track].”

This weekend’s Indy 500 could go a long way toward setting the field for the Firestone Indy 300 Championship finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway Oct. 9-10.

South Florida’s Sharp Bumps His Way Into Indy 500 Field

Jupiter resident Scott Sharp is back in Indianapolis for Sunday’s Indy 500, but not without some drama. The 1996 IndyCar Series co-champion was left without a race car after a crash during the first weekend of qualifying.

Sharp, a full-time driver in the sports car racing, wrecked his car on track on Friday, May 8, and found himself racing against the clock to find some new wheels before a scheduled sports car race in Utah the following weekend (May 16). In Indy, Sharp drove a back-up car on Sunday, May 10—the final day of first-weekend qualifying—and put together a four-lap average of 222.162 mph to bump E.J. Viso out of the initial 22-car provisional. Had Sharp not qualified during that first weekend, he would have had to return to Indy for Round 2 of qualifying May 16-17.

“I’m sitting in the tech line thinking: ‘I'm done. I’m coming back [from Utah to Indy the night of my sports car race to try and qualify for the 500],” Sharp said after bumping Viso. “I have to rent a plane from Utah….and come back here on Saturday. I just prayed, and the car was the best it has been all day.”

Sharp is paired at Panther Racing with 2005 IndyCar Series and Indy 500 champion Dan Wheldon. A St. Petersburg resident, Wheldon is among the favorites to contend for the IndyCar title at Homestead-Miami Speedway during the Firestone Indy 300 Championship finale Oct. 10.

If There Can Be a “Sleeper” at 240 mph, Miami’s Matos Could Be It

If you’re looking for a “sleeper,” do not count out Luczo Dragon Racing driver and Miami resident Raphael Matos. Matos has had a strong month at Indy that included being the fastest driver on Qualifying Day 2 (223.429 mph) and earning the Fastest Rookie Award. He keeps that up, and “Rafa” can figure into the title picture when the series heads to Homestead-Miami Speedway to crown its champion during the SpeedJam Championships Oct. 9-10.

 Ex-Miami Heat Shaq Teams with IndyCar’s Luczo Dragon Racing

NBA star and former Miami Heat player Shaquille O’Neal has decided to go racing….sort of. He has partnered with Luczo Dragon Racing to raise money and awareness for charity throughout the 2009 IndyCar Series season, which culminates with the Firestone Indy 300 Championship finale Oct. 10 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Steve Luczo and Jay Penske—co-owners of Luczo Dragon Racing—have established a unique drive that in just two years has delivered more than $1 million to charitable organizations worldwide. Raphael Matos, a Miami resident who also spends time on track at Homestead-Miami Speedway’s karting facility, drives for Luczo Dragon Racing.

“We are proud to have Shaquille O'Neal join our team of champions,” Luczo told reporters in Indianapolis. "Shaq has demonstrated that leadership, competitiveness, winning and compassion can all be achieved at the same time. As one of the most recognized champions in sports—and as a positive role model through his many community and social efforts—Shaq is the ideal individual to help Luczo Dragon Racing further its success.”

Homestead-Miami Elicits a “What the Hell Am I Doing Here?”

Mario Moraes made the transition to the IndyCar Series in 2008 from another open-wheel racing series. As such, oval-track racing was not one of his stronger assets when he showed up to test at Homestead-Miami Speedway during a rookie test at HMS and drove more than 200 mph on the 1.5-mile oval’s straight-aways.
"That first day, I jumped out of my car and asked myself: ‘What the hell am I doing here?’” Moraes told the Indianapolis Star.

And yet, Moraes quickly has adapted to high-speed oval racing, qualifying seventh for Sunday’s 93rd Indy 500.

More Miami Mario: Tweeting from Indy
Miami resident Mario Moraes began this, his second season in the IndyCar Series, with two Top 12 finishes (St. Pete and Long Beach) and is confident that better results are just around the corner—perhaps as soon as Sunday at the Indy 500, where he’ll start in the third row after a strong qualifying run.  Moraes is also quick on the keyboard, expressing in the IndyCar media guide that he “can’t live without his mobile phone.” Indeed, just hours after the solid qualifying effort that will see him line up in the No. 7 spot for Sunday’s Indy 500, Moraes was en route to the airport and updating his fans with a couple of "tweets" via the social networking service Twitter. Moraes' tweets:

► “At the airport going to Houston…Back in Indy on Tuesday maybe.”
► “Just arrived in Houston for dinner with my mom.”
► “In the cab, and the driver is a motorsport maniac. He follows me @ twitter…What a small world.”
► “And he just received this twit on his mobile.”
Still to be seen: Will the Brazilian-turned-Miami resident be tweeting from Victory Lane at Homestead-Miami Speedway after the Firestone Indy 300 Championship finale Oct. 10…?

Miami’s Junquiera In…and Then Out…of Indy 500

Miami resident Bruno Junquiera achieved an amazing feat during qualifying for Sunday’s 93rd running of the Indianapolis 500. After just 10 laps of practice, he qualified his Conquest Racing Dallara with a four-lap average of 221.115 mph.

Unfortunately for Junquiera, his Conquest teammate, Alex Tagliani, was not so lucky and was bumped out of the field by Boca Raton’s Ryan Hunter-Reay. But because Tagliani is Conquest’s primary driver and competing for the entire IndyCar season—while Bruno was hired for just the Indy 500, with the prospect of more races depending on his finish at Indy—Tagliani gets the qualified car, while Junquiera goes to the sidelines. Had both cars qualified, Junquiera also would have driven. So despite the brilliant on-track performance, he finds himself on the outside looking in as the drivers prepare for the Memorial Day classic.

"I knew coming into this that Alex is Conquest's primary driver and that if something happened to the first car that I would likely give him my place, and I completely understand it,” said Junqueira, Junqueira, who has made five Indianapolis 500 starts with two Top 5 finishes, including the pole in 2002. “I really enjoyed working with Conquest Racing. They gave me a really good car and hopefully I can work with them again the future.”

This story bears watching: Who will be at the wheel for Conquest Racing during the Firestone Indy 300 Championship finale Oct. 10 at Homestead-Miami Speedway Oct. 10th?

Championship Preview? Battle on for Grand-Am Title at HMS

The Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series recently competed in wine country, staging the Verizon Festival of Speed at Laguna Seca. The 2007 series co-champions, Alex Gurney and Jon Fogarty, wrestled the lead away from Chip Ganassi Racing with just 34 minutes to go in a hotly contested race in Monterey, Calif.

“On the winning pass, Scott [Pruett] got caught up in traffic in turn six—and your momentum gets killed at that part of the track—so I had a good run and made it three-wide at that point,” Fogarty said post-race. “I got off into the gravel, but I was able to get back on the tarmac and out-braked him. I really almost didn't make it."

By virtue of winning in California and an earlier win at Virginia International Raceway, Bob Stallings Racing is the leader in Grand-Am’s points standings, which culminate with the championship at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Next up on the schedule: Watkins Glen June 4-6.

Kissimmee’s Summerton Gives Back from Indy Lights Car

The Firestone Indy Lights Series will crown its Champion during the NextEra Energy Resources SpeedJam Championships on Oct. 9, and leading the points standings headed into this Sunday’s Indy 500 weekend is rookie driver Jonathan Summerton, who spends his time away from the track volunteering at the “Give Kids The World Village” in his hometown of Kissimmee,.

“Give Kids the World Village” is a 70-acre, non-profit resort that provides meals, cost-free accommodations and free tickets to Orlando.-area attractions to families with children suffering from life-threatening illnesses. With help from generous individuals, corporations and other wish-granting organizations, “Give Kids The World” has welcomed more than 95,000 families from all 50 states and more than 68 countries since opening in 1989.

Summerton, who drives in the Indy Racing League’s developmental series, was familiar with the charitable organization as a Kissimmee resident but recently checked it out first-hand and soon after involved his Palmetto-based RLR Andersen Racing team.
 
“I'm very excited to be a part of Give Kids the World,” Summerton told reporters in Indianapolis. “It is such a great place for the kids and their families to go. I enjoy being a volunteer there and a supporter of their charity. I'm very pleased to be racing for them."
Summerton hopes to do well in the Freedom 100 and be in contention for the Indy Lights title which will be decided at Homestead-Miami Speedway during the NextEra Energy Resources SpeedJam Championships October 9-10.
 
NASCAR Storylines en route to Ford Championship Weekend
at Homestead-Miami Speedway Nov. 20-22

Carl Edwards is Already Thinking “Chase” to Miami

Ford Racing’s Carl Edwards enters this weekend’s Coca-Cola 600 sitting in 12th place—the final spot in the Sprint Cup’s “Chase” playoff format—330 points behind series- leader Jeff Gordon. The goal is to survive the 26 races leading into the final 10-race Chase for the Cup by remaining in the top 12 in the points standings. Edwards realizes that a bad race on Sunday will put him out of the top 12 in points.

“Right now, our mission is simple: get as many points as we can so we can go to Richmond [Sept. 12] and be locked into the Chase,” Edwards recently told Sports Illustrated. “If you have an engine blow up or something happens at Richmond, you're done even if it's out of your control. Right now, its gain as many points as we can. That's it.”

Indeed, the Chevy Rock and Roll 400 at Richmond is the last race before the 10-race dash for the Cup begins—all culminating at Homestead-Miami Speedway during NASCAR’s series-crowning Ford Championship Weekend Nov. 20-22. Edwards runs well at THE Championship Track, sweeping both the Nationwide and Sprint Cup finales at HMS in 2008.

Tony Stewart Grabs His First Win as a Team Owner
 
Two-time NASCAR champion and a former winner at Homestead-Miami Speedway Tony Stewart last week scored his first win as a team owner in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. His No. 14 Office Depot Chevrolet avoided a late race melee involving Jeff Gordon and Kyle Busch during the non-points All-Star race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway and passed Ford Racing’s Matt Kenseth to gain his first win as a team owner in NASCAR’s top division. The Sprint Cup Series will crown its Champion during Ford Championship Weekend Nov. 20-22 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
 
“It's awesome,” Stewart said in Victory Lane at Charlotte. “I mean, I've been very fortunate as a car owner with the USAC cars and winning championships and winning the Knoxville Nationals championship with our World of Outlaws teams. The most fun part about it from the ownership side was getting some of these guys to victory lane who have never been there before.”

Stewart enters this weekend’s Coca-Cola 600 in second place in the Sprint Cup standings, just 29 points behind leader Jeff Gordon. Despite popular media thought that he his on-track success would take a hit with his dual ownership role, “Smoke” has established himself as a strong contender for race wins and is now considered as a title threat come the Championship at Homestead-Miami Nov. 22.

NFL’s Moss Scores Big with Florida Resident Skinner

Florida resident Mike Skinner and former Camping World Truck Series (CWTS) champion recently gave his team owner, NFL star Randy Moss, his first victory as a NASCAR owner. And the good news kept coming for Randy Moss Motorsports as Exide Batteries agreed to sponsor the trucks of Skinner and teammate Taylor Malsam for seven additional races this year, including the CWTS Championship finale on Friday night of Ford Championship Weekend Nov. 20-22.

Skinner, the series’ current points leader while Malsam leads in the Rookie of the Year points battle. Both hope to be in contention for the series championship at Homestead-Miami Speedway, at which all kids ages 12 and under will be admitted free.