Serious Question About Long Beach

How many drivers are we going to see at the race? Will it contain just those drivers that are now in the IRL, which is only nine drivers? Or are those teams that didn't join the IRL going to show up? I hope it's the latter, because I don't know if I could watch a nine car race. And if there are teams that show up, who will show? Could we see PT at Forsythe at Long Beach, or am I just dreaming?

maybe the teams with a champ car will show- so PT might do a farewell but i have not heard anything...
at least the ALMS and Speed GT will rock the house- maybe speed TC will show one day.

According to reports, the bankruptcy deal calls for a minimum of 17 cars. Vasser is probably going to put in a one-off, and there's also talk of da Matta.

Right now it is 10 confirmed, but maybe more with eventuate.

It seems like the race worth calling the Long Beach GP will be the ALMS ...

The more I think about it, the more I am optimistic about a good showing.

The cars are there, the teams will want the points and/or prize money - so anyone who wants a last hurrah should be a shoe in.

Sharp, Johansson, Fernandez, Herta, Christian Fittipaldi, Magnussen, Salo will all be there anyway with the ALMS.

Allmendinger, Franchitti, Villeneuve, Carpentier, Montoya are all Sprint cup free that weekend.

Tracy, Vasser, Da Matta, Moreno, Domingues & countless others are twiddling their thumbs at the moment.

Not for one minute suggesting we would see even half of those names, but food for thought?

The more I think about it, the more I am optimistic about a good showing.

Might I suggest stop thinking about it, if pain still persists consult your doctor :p


I do know where your coming from though. Whats the money on offer???

I think there will be a full grid, including PT.
Wouldn't it be great to see JPM in the line up? - just a pipe dream I think :)
JV is Sprint Cup free all the time.

I still haven't decided on whether to go or not, but if I do it will be more for the ALMS. Honestly I'd rather save the money for my own racing and forget about it.

There may be a lot of money payouts to get the drivers to race, IMHO.

As mountainstar said, currently there are 10 confirmed. The renegotiated contract between GPLB and the city calls for a minimum of 14.

The 10 confirmed are:

NHL x2 (Wilson / Rahal)
KV x3 (Servia / Power / Vasser)
Coyne x2 (Junquiera / Moraes)
Conquest x2 (Perera / Bernoldi)
HVM x1 (Viso)

It's been rumoured that there will be two Minardi entries (since Minardi was 50% owned by CC, this is likely, I guess). Forsythe has not announced anything, but Paul Tracy is on the outside looking in right now, and David Martinez has taken the initiative and confirmed himself for Forsythe to a Mexican website.

Now, the way the agreement is rewritten, it's possible that the ALMS would be considered the headliner of record, with their national TV on ABC and their 30ish cars... Who knows?

I'm pretty sure I did read somewhere that Forsythe was going to put Tracy in the race as well as one other car. Also Minardi will be entering two cars..probably with Doornbos and Clarke again.

That information is old, drewdawg. I've seen the stories that suggested PT would be at Long Beach, but the latest info I've got paints a much darker picture for him.

I've heard that Robin Miller is going to have something interesting to say today on this matter.

Robin Miller said today that PT has obtained his release and has told Forsythe that he's willing to race for them at Long Beach but is no longer obligated to do so. He is currently looking for an IndyCar ride, but the only teams that I'm fairly certain have the equipment to run him are RLR and Panther.

I'll be staggered if this race goes ahead. Why would it? Unless someone puts up a huge prize fund (and who is gonna do that - Champcar certainly won't be allowed to if it is gonna file for bankrupcy the very next day) then why would the teams and drivers show up? For fun?

Robin Miller said today that PT has obtained his release and has told Forsythe that he's willing to race for them at Long Beach but is no longer obligated to do so. He is currently looking for an IndyCar ride, but the only teams that I'm fairly certain have the equipment to run him are RLR and Panther.

Man thats messy. Shame they could not release him sooner to alow him to find a ride. There is also part time Alex Lloyd equipment if Chip could find something else to to please Alex

I'll be staggered if this race goes ahead. Why would it? Unless someone puts up a huge prize fund (and who is gonna do that - Champcar certainly won't be allowed to if it is gonna file for bankrupcy the very next day) then why would the teams and drivers show up? For fun?

I reckon the prize money, it being a full points paying round in the IndyCar Champion, it being ChampCars send off and it being fun

this years big draw:

-- Drew Lachey (7-1) Young, athletic and possesses major celebrity-
challenge chops, having won the second Dancing With the Stars. Plus,
the street says he's been hanging out with NASCAR's Jimmie Johnson
(consecutive winner of the last two NEXTEL - now Sprint - Cup
championships). Drew's the fave among the celebrity drivers.
-- Jamie Little (8-1) A serious racing pedigree that only starts with her
day job as ESPN/ABC pit reporter for the NASCAR Nationwide and Sprint
Cup Series (lots of racing connections here). And she's had glowing
training reviews. Jamie's a serious threat.
-- Brad Lewis (12-1) "Antz"? "Ratatouille"? As a producer/director of
family fare, this guy looks safe, right? No way! Word is he has
motorcycle racing experience and burned it up in training. Brad's
right up there with Drew and Jamie in my book.
-- William Fichtner (18-1) Prison Break's FBI special agent Alexander
Mahone has raced in this event before and his experience is big.
Track-moles report that William has skeeelz.
-- Raymond Cruz (22-1) Unknown and difficult to rate. Judging by his
roles as Det. Sanchez on TNT's The Closer and as Tuco in the critically
acclaimed AMC series Breaking Bad, he seems tough enough on TV...but
that's not the track. Good reports coming in from spies, though. Give
him a puncher's chance.
-- Daniel Goddard (23-1) He's got the soap-star good looks as leading man
Cane Ashby on The Young and the Restless and plenty of enthusiasm - but
maybe too much of the latter. Rumor has it that he'll be a contender
if he can keep his adrenaline in check.
-- Nancy Lieberman (24-1) As an Olympic Medalist, collegiate and WNBA
professional basketball player and coach; here's that tall thing again
(see John Salley). But this Basketball Hall of Famer has earned her
relatively short odds among the celebs.
-- John Salley (35-1) A world-class athlete with real racing chops (he
raced in the Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race last year) - but this dude's 7-
feet tall. There's not much in auto racing's history to support a big-
man advantage, let alone NBA-sized big.
-- Eric Dickerson (45-1) He's famous for wearing his racer-like visor on
the field, but that's as close as this Pro Football Hall of Famer will
get to being comfortable behind the wheel. NFL superstars are more
used to being driven than driving - and mostly in longer vehicles (like
buses and limos).
-- Wilmer Valderrama (60-1) That '70s Show? Fez? Scion driver?
Despite good training reports and hard work, meet this year's long
shot!


and next year !!!!

http://www.tampabay.com/multimedia/archive/00017/c4s_newpatrick040308_17182c.jpg

IndyCar will pay the prize fund and it will pay IndyCar points. They have to show up for IndyCar to retain the contract, thus IndyCar will make the teams go there instead of Motegi. In addition, it's a great opportunity for them to earn money and points and if they tear up equipment it doesn't really cost them anything because the cars are just show-pieces or future rich guys' USBOSS or EUROBOSS toys anyway.

Who will they force to go there? The half dozen or so cars that moved across? Okay, I can see that they will be able to pick up some easy points, so it'll be attractive to them. But how are they going to get the other guys out?

It's gonne be entertaining either way though.

Either the event will be a nice farewell. Which would be good.

Or it will be a catrastrophic failure. Which would not be good, but would at least raise a chuckle. And then we'd reflect on how it used to be...:(

PCM should have Alex Figge and another for Long Beach; Juho Annala is still claiming on his website that he'll be with Rocketsports for LB and the remainder of the IndyCar season.

If I was an IndyCar team owner, I might think about buying a points-paying LB ride for a driver that might run an extra car at Indy. I'm thinking of Raphael Matos and Alex Lloyd in particular. It'd be nice to see Matos in a DP-01, but then again, he basically told all the ChampCar teams where to go...

Entry list:

No|Driver|Team
02|Rahal|N/H/L
3|Tracy|Forsythe/Pettit
4|Phllippe|Minardi/HVM
5|Servia|KV
06|Wilson|N/H/L
7|Montagny|Forsythe/Pettit
8|Power|KV
9|Pizzonia|Rocketsports
10|Annala|Rocketsports
12|Vasser|KV
14|TBD|Minardi/HVM
18|Junquiera|DCR
19|Moraes|DCR
29|Figge|PCM
33|Viso|Minardi/HVM
34|Perera|Conquest
36|Bernoldi|Conquest
37|Martinez|Forsythe/Pettit

Get in!!!!! go on Franck, get the job done here and get a drive in Indy Cars for the rest of the year, well i can hope cant i. :)

Is this the actual entry (e.g. there is/was a major question about Tracy), what the organizers hope to see, or what we hope to see?

Is this the actual entry (e.g. there is/was a major question about Tracy), what the organizers hope to see, or what we hope to see?

It's what's been published on the Long Beach website.

20 cars on latest entry list:

No|Driver|Team
02|Rahal|N/H/L
3|Tracy|Forsythe/Pettit
4|Phllippe|Minardi/HVM
5|Servia|KV
06|Wilson|N/H/L
7|Montagny|Forsythe/Pettit
8|Power|KV
9|Pizzonia|Rocketsports
10|Annala|Rocketsports
12|Vasser|KV
14|Moreno|Minardi/HVM
15|Tagliani|Walker
18|Junquiera|DCR
19|Moraes|DCR
29|Figge|PCM
33|Viso|Minardi/HVM
34|Perera|Conquest
36|Bernoldi|Conquest
37|Martinez|Forsythe/Pettit
96|Dominguez|PCM

The event will run. It will be a blast.
Easy points on offer for the coverts so if they do well it will be better (and cheaper) than a trip to a Japanese oval...

If I could be there I would be...

I am preparing to eat my hat. I hope that it goes ahead and is a success. I'm sure it'll be a very odd atmosphere in the paddock though as Champcar is expected to file for bankrupcy the next morning... if there is anyone left still employed by Champcar then it'll be very bitter/sweet for them. Poor buggers.

Craig what sort of hat have you chosen and have you thought about a strategy for it to be consumed? :cool:

On a serious note, do you think they will have enought officials etc turn up to run the event as should be expected

I am not sure there will be easy points on offer, there are a number of one off drivers who will do anything to win the final race, this may include bending or breaking rules to ensure that there name is the last ever champ car winner

On a serious note, do you think they will have enough officials etc turn up to run the event as should be expected

Well, there's no change in how many volunteer F&C workers will be there, and I understand we will have a full complement of stewards etc in race control (there better be -- I don't want to be up there by myself). Tech has always mostly been volunteer as well. They may need volunteers as pit officials. I don't know about safety crew but I can't see them missing this, just like the rest of us.

keke

Thanks keke

Nobody seems to be showing the race in the UK - which sucks.

Don't suppose they'll have a web feed?

Tracksideonline reports that there will be a web feed on IndyCar.com, however, it might be in-car only like their normal race coverage.

IndyCar.com confirm that you can watch both races online. you can watch all IndyCar races from there anyway. At St Pete the whole converage was from the helicopter cam, which was pretty interesting.

You know, I reckon there is a good chance that Montagny might win it...

Should be a fantastic race with guys like Perera, Wilson, Power, Servia, Rahal all capable of winning.

Montagny did look pretty fast in the CC spring training.

This race could be a good audition for those wanting to get into the series, or even the Indy 500.

Tracy confirmed:beer:
http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/tracy-confirmed-for-long-beach/