Only hours after arriving in this historic — and wonderful — town, it was time to attend the 2008 Auto Racing Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony and Special Recognition Dinner presented by the Indianapolis Motor Speedway HoF Museum and Indy 500 Old Timers. Its focus was on Roger Penske and his incredible record of fielding an Indy 500-winning car 14 times. Roger and his party were seated at table 14, so my question to him was, “Will you be seated at table 15 come 2009?” Thinking back, it was in 1937 that this aspiring teen-aged racing writer attended his first — and forgotten — auto racing dinner. That was 70 years ago, and there have been an endless number of forgettable annual feeds since. On Friday evening the Grand Ballroom of Indy’s downtown Marriott was packed with tables of 10 for the function, which was superbly executed by all involved. Tables were decorated with roses, lilies, snapdragons and other colorful flora; the food was superb and adroitly served and dishes later removed in quiet privacy by the skilled Marriott staff. Those involved with the Old Timers activities and wheelchair-riding Tom Carnegie introduced the HoF inductees and IMS head man Tony George handled his duties with brevity throughout. One speaker referred to Helio Castronelli, which produced a mild chuckle, but there were no major gaffes. The honorees were also brief in their remarks, so much so that even taking time out for a good-night Grand Marnier, I turned out my room night light at 10:50 p.m. Bravo Old Timers.

John Andretti, after posting the best time in Saturday’s pre-qualification practice runs, in a chit-chat with reporters noted he would like to drive a Top Fuel drag racing car again. That led to a question on how much racing he would really like to do. The 45-year-old Andretti replied: “I’d like to be at the Daytona 500, the Indianapolis 500, Le Mans and the Brickyard 400 and the U.S. Nationals and take the rest of the year off,” to much laughter.

One thing a good reporter does is check his facts. In following up on a report that Emerson Fittipaldi blew the engine on the Indy 500 Corvette pace car by pushing it over 140 mph on press day, Ye Ed sought verification. Dozens of pitsiders were privy to the story, but no one from the Speedway could be found to confirm it, and no one from Chevy could be found to quiz on the story before deadline.

Interested in tires? The Firestone Firehawk Tire is the official race rubber for this year’s Indy 500 and each car was issued 5,100 Firestone tires, divided between 0.35-inch stagger and 0.44-inch stagger. Stagger is the practice of fitting a larger diameter tire on the right rear than on the left rear to make turning easier. For the final day of qualifying, a $50,000 Firestone “Bump Day” award was put up for the last driver to gain a starting spot in the 500-mile race. Buddy Lazier claimed the honor and the cash. Then there is the $20,000 “Tire-ific” Move of the Race award, which will go to the driver who best utilizes his or her Firestone tires to make a bold, dramatic move during the event. After the race, Firestone officials will submit the names of the three top candidates for the award to www.indycar.com, where fans will then have one week to cast their votes to determine a winner.
 
Might changes be coming? Sprint Nextel, the current sponsor of NASCAR’s premier racing series, and the third-largest provider of cell phone service in this country, is being sought by Deutsche Telecom, the German telecommunications giant which owns the huge T-Mobile wireless unit. Buyout talks are said to be in progress. Another possible change is a Super Bowl challenge to the Indianapolis 500 as the city’s biggest sports event. Efforts to secure a Super Bowl for Indianapolis are intensifying. Forrest Lucas of Lucas Oil has pledged $1 million to Indy’s 2012 Super Bowl bid committee toward its $25 million target. A year or so ago, Lucas’s Indiana-based company bought the naming rights to the Colts’ $750 million stadium.

Contrasting is the only word to accurately describe the views drivers Kyle Busch and Jeff Gordon have of NASCAR’s new Car of Tomorrow. After the recent Dodge Challenger 500 at Darlington, NASCAR’s very first superspeedway, Busch, who won in a breeze, labeled his Joe Gibbs M&M-sponsored Toyota Camry “A great passing car,” while third-place Gordon, wearing a long face, moaned about his DuPont-backed Chevy Malibu saying “Passing was extremely difficult.” And Busch could not say enough nice things about his winning mount, even noting how much more abuse its front fenders can take compared to previous Sprint Cup cars. Runner-up Carl Edwards, whose first look at the resurfaced Darlington track drew a “They ruined it” comment, citing the addition of thousands of tons of new asphalt piled on the old oval during resurfacing. But Edwards then changed his mind after getting his Roush-Fenway Ford up to speed on the famed “Too Tough to Tame” layout. It now appears some — not all — Cup teams have figured out the COT, while other teams are still figuring.

The current downturn in U.S. auto sales is so severe, reports Automotive News, that at some California Toyota dealerships new Tundra pickups are available at $13,000 below sticker price! Elsewhere, at some Chrysler dealerships, new car buyers are promised three-years, or 36,000 miles worth, of gasoline for $2.99 per gallon.

The June 6-8 Hot Rod Nationals at O’Reilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis is being billed as the largest nostalgia drag race and show in the country. Featuring more than 5,000 hot rods, customs, classics, muscle cars, trick trucks and vintage race cars thru ’72. A special feature is a tribute to oval track race cars and racers. Want more? Call Woody Mitchell at (317) 627-6727.

From The Staff

With the Performance Racing Industry Trade Show having signed a long-term contract with the Orange County Convention Center that will keep auto-racing’s largest trade show in Orlando, Fla., through at least 2016, Indiana officials are hoping to organize a show of their own.
The PRI show grew by leaps and bounds during its years in Indianapolis, eventually outgrowing the facilities there. The Indiana Motorsports Ass’n is hoping to create a summer-time trade show at the Lucas Oil Stadium in Indy that would occur during Brickyard 400 week in late July.

Summer seems like an odd time for a trade show, with so many potential participants in the midst of their busy seasons, but who knows? PRI, which is held in early December, has certainly exceeded everyone’s expectations.

Freddie Stutz, 79 years young and still racing, was seriously injured when he crashed his three-quarter-midget May 10 at Charlotte Motorsports Park in Punta Gorda, Fla. Freddie broke both hips and his pelvis. He’s been racing for 55 years, and cards of cheer will reach him at 11906 Cedarfield Dr., Riverview, Fla. 33569.

Don’t look now, but there’s another Kinser on the way to the top of the sprint-car racing world. Kody Kinser, the 19-year-old son of former Midwest racing star Kelly Kinser and the grandson of Jerry Kinser, is racing 410-winged sprint cars in Ohio and Indiana. We’re betting he’s a chip off the old block.