The Associated Press
The Indy Racing League's IndyCar Series is expanding, and more growth could occur soon.
The IRL will make its debut in Long Beach and Toronto next season.
The Grand Prix of Long Beach will be run on April 19. The 35-year-old event has hosted F1, CART and Champ Car races. This season, Champ Car ran its final event there after its merger with the IRL, but awarded the drivers IRL points. Next year, it becomes a full-fledged IRL event. The agreement is for through 2015.
The IRL will hold the Streets of Toronto race on July 12. It will make up for the loss of the Nashville event, which was dropped after efforts to negotiate an agreement for a 2009 race there failed.
2 new venues added to 2009 IndyCar schedule....
Sporting News staff reports
NASCAR will not return to Mexico next season, The Charlotte Observer reports.
For four years, the Nationwide Series has run a race at the Hermanos Rodriguez Autodrome road course in Mexico City. Officials confirmed Sunday that the series will not be back there in 2009, but they have not announced where the replacement race will be. However, sources told the Observer the likely replacement venue is the new Iowa Speedway in Newton, Iowa.
Several factors, including a growing and stable touring series in Mexico and lower attendance at the Nationwide event, contributed to the decision not to return to Mexico City in 2009, the Observer reports.
NASCAR won't visit Mexico City in 2009....
By JENNA FRYER
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Yes, the race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway was a debacle. No point in denying it. But don't be so quick to castigate NASCAR, which was faced with the unenviable task of trying to salvage a race that was destined to look like stalled, rush-hour traffic.
When it became obvious in Saturday's practice sessions that the tires Goodyear brought to Indy had a serious durability issue, there was only one option for NASCAR a day ahead of the green flag: figure out how to stage a safe race. Option No. 2? There wasn't one.
Formula One and Michelin learned that at Indy in 2005, when three-fourths of the field refused to compete in the United States Grand Prix because of tire concerns. Indy took a hit, the race never recovered and F1 isn't currently racing in this country.
"The difference between NASCAR and Formula One is Formula One thinks of it as a business — they don't think about the fans, they don't think about the show," said Juan Pablo Montoya, the only driver to participate in both tire fiascos.
"Here they do. NASCAR will do whatever is possible to put the show on in the best way possible."
NASCAR not to blame for tire fiasco at Brickyard....
By JENNA FRYER
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Jimmie Johnson celebrated his second victory at Indianapolis Motor Speedway with a burnout.
Appropriately, one of his tires exploded.
Johnson survived horrendous tire troubles that made Sunday's race a caution-filled debacle because the Goodyear product was not durable enough to withstand the lack of downforce on NASCAR's new car and the speeds and surface of Indy.
"We came with the best tire we had for the conditions and we fell short. We'll try to get it right," said Greg Stucker, director of race tire sales for Goodyear.
"I don't think anybody likes to race like this, us included. We'll do what we can to make it better."
Johnson survives tire debacle at Indianapolis....
EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Scott Dixon took another big step toward a second IndyCar championship Saturday, holding off Helio Castroneves, his closest pursuer, for a victory in the Rexall Edmonton Indy.
Castroneves, still looking for his first win of the season, kept the pressure on Dixon lap after lap on the temporary airport circuit. But Castroneves nearly slid off course on worn out tires six laps from the end, allowing the New Zealander to cruise to his fifth victory of the season.
Dixon gets fifth win....
By JOHN F. BURNS
LONDON — A High Court judge ruled on Thursday that a British tabloid newspaper breached the privacy of Max Mosley, the overseer of grand prix motor racing, when it published a story in March claiming he had participated in a sadomasochistic “orgy” with a Nazi theme.
The judge, Sir David Eady, sitting without a jury, awarded Mr. Mosley damages equivalent to about $120,000 as well as legal costs in his suit against The News of the World. His legal fees have been estimated at more than $1.7-million. But the judge did not award the “punitive damages” sought by Mr. Mosley, which could have run into millions of dollars, saying that this was not appropriate in a privacy case.
The judge upheld the central argument made by Mr. Mosley and his lawyers in court and in the battle to save his job as president of the Paris-based Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile, or F.I.A. that there had been no Nazi theme to the five-hour sex session in a Chelsea flat that was secretly filmed by the newspaper, and no issue of public interest in its decision to splash the story on its front page and to run video footage of the session on its Web site.
Mosley Wins Suit Against Tabloid....
By JENNA FRYER
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — If Ryan Newman is indeed in line to join Tony Stewart's new team next season, neither driver is saying.
Stewart said Tuesday he's still trying to fill the two-car lineup at Stewart-Haas Racing, while Newman joked the only new offer he's received was to drive for one of Stewart's sprint car teams.
All kidding aside, Newman is believed to be the top candidate to drive for Stewart next year. The Daytona 500 winner announced last week he'll leave Penske Racing at the end of the season, a decision that makes him the top current free agent.
Newman, Stewart play coy on potential partnership....
