Title contenders have up-and-down start to '08
by CHRIS ESTRADA, Special to FOXSports.com
The trip will culminate on Saturday, April 19, with the Indy Japan 300, the first part of a unique weekend that will also see the end of the Champ Car World Series with Sunday's Long Beach Grand Prix.
 |
| Tony Kanaan erased a frustrating finish at Homestead by running third in St. Petersburg, Fla., last Sunday. (Gavin Lawrence / Getty Images) |
Considering that this will be the last true off-weekend until mid-June (remember that preparation for the Indy 500 goes throughout May), it's a good time to take a look at who's off to a strong start and who's desperate for a big finish in the Land of the Rising Sun next Saturday.
The first thing that jumps out in the aftermath of Homestead and St. Petersburg is that aside from championship leader Helio Castroneves, the bulk of the early title contenders have strong championship positions despite running into problems at either one of the Florida events.
Castroneves has been consistent so far with two top-five runs. If he wants to win the elusive series title that has dodged him during his career, he needs to continue the solid work.
But after that, everyone's had their share of troubles. After winning at Homestead, Scott Dixon finished 22nd at St. Pete thanks to a late mechanical failure, which helped put him 10 points behind Castroneves. Third-place man Tony Kanaan was robbed of a Homestead win after a run-in with E.J. Viso in the final 10 laps; lucky for him, his third-place finish at St. Pete put him back in the fight, 13 points behind.
Graham Rahal could be higher than his fourth-place standing in the title hunt had he managed to keep his car in one piece during testing before the Homestead race — a crash that kept him from even taking the green flag at the season-opener. Meanwhile, his American compatriot Marco Andretti followed up a strong second-place run at Homestead with a woeful 25th after busting his halfshaft in a pit stop. And a late-race spin knocked Dan Wheldon down three spots to sixth in points after last week.
So save for two-time Indy 500 winner Castroneves, everyone's been a little uneven. Fortunately for some of these drivers, their past results at Motegi (or in Rahal's case, Long Beach) can give them confidence heading into Round 3. Castroneves, Kanaan and Wheldon boast victories at the Japanese facility, and Danica Patrick has also run strong at Motegi in the past. The 1.5-mile oval is a tricky track to set up a car, but Patrick has shown that she and her car can perform strong here.
We also need to keep an eye on Hideki Mutoh, who will be in a media crush next week as he attempts to succeed in front of his home fans. The Andretti Green Racing rookie rang up a sixth-place result last week, but how will he respond to having the eyes of an entire nation on him?
Also, Rahal has a prime opportunity to rack up more points on the Long Beach street course, where he finished eighth last season in Champ Car. Remember, although the Long Beach Grand Prix will be using the old Champ Car Chassis and is considered the finale for that series, it will be paying out IRL points.
Meanwhile, there are other drivers that aren't as well off following the first two races. At the top of the list has to be Ryan Briscoe, who has seen two potentially good finishes end up in the wall. But unlike Homestead where he was collected by a spinning Milka Duno, he got himself in trouble in St. Petersburg by tagging the inside wall of Turn 9, then crashing into the outside wall. Going 0-for-2 in his first races for Team Penske obviously puts him in a major hole. It's not time to start hitting the panic button, but if there's a little more urgency in Briscoe's driving at Japan, there'll be a reason for it.
Dixon is also entering a potentially bad situation at Motegi as well. Although he's second in the points, he's been up-and-down at this track. He garnered his best finish ever there last season with a fourth-place run, but he's also crashed out of two of his five career IRL starts in Japan. If he can perform well here, it can go a long way for him when it's time to decide the championship.
You could also make a case to put Vitor Meira and Darren Manning in this category. Meira's run-in with Franck Perera late in last week's event knocked him down nine spots to 19th in points. Manning also saw a decent run go awry for the second year in a row at St. Pete; this time, it was a bad gearbox that ended his chances for a top-10. Will they be able to bring their A-game to Motegi?
After this race comes a 300-miler at Kansas Speedway on April 27, followed by the month-long odyssey that leads to "The Greatest Spectacle in Racing" — The Indianapolis 500. The pressure will be on to perform in Japan and even more so to keep the cars in one piece. The last thing teams need is to fly back from Motegi with a busted race car, then have to fix it quickly for Kansas while fighting a bad case of jet lag.
With race coverage, breaking news and a splash of opinion for good measure, Indy Racing Revolution on Most Valuable Network tells you what's up in the IndyCar Series and Firestone Indy Lights. Join the Revolution at www.mvn.com/irl.
advertisement
