What I learned at Mid-Ohio today.

[gaines]

The Mid-Ohio race today was great. The Barber Dodge race was fantastic and it was great to be there as they gave the trophy to Allmendinger. He drove a pretty good race. We didn't get to see him win but he drove a smart race and won the title. In the meantime, here's what I learned about CART afterwards.

1.) Team KOOL Green is the most loved team in Central Ohio.
-Rahal is King in Ohio or is he? I saw more Team Green hats/shirts/signage than any other team. PT also got the biggest response from the crowd(He was also announced as the "REAL INDY 500 CHAMPION!" Christiano was booed at introductions(player haters) and then the crowd cheered when he spun out. Hmmm, maybe Renaldo hair cuts haven't caught on in Ohio yet. Dario also got a big ovation by the way. Unfortunately they finished in the last two positions. That sucked for me sitting there at the chicane with my Team Kool Green hat and Paul Tracy shirt on but the Miller was good. The Franchitti fan sitting beside us was equally bothered until said Miller caught his eye as well.

2.) CART is very popular in Central Ohio.
-Okay, that's kind of obvious with the crowd that shows up for the race every year but it goes beyond that this year. Last year there were alot of people wearing Earnhardt and other NASCAR driver stuff, this year nearly everybody wearing a hat was wearing either A.) Their favorite driver's hat. B.) A FED EX CART Championship Series hat or C.) A Bridgestone Racing hat. I also talked to several different people at the race that talked about CART with actual knowledge of what is going on. I mean they actually knew that CART was going to Ford Cosworth next year, that M. Andretti was probably going to the IRL next year and that with the cheaper costs that CART would be on the rise again.

3.) Toyota engines sound best.
-You can hear the difference in the engines. I mean the Honda and Ford engines are loud but the Toyota engine is really loud. You know when a Toyota is coming long before you can see it. The same can't be said for the Ford or Honda.

4.) Paul Tracy's car.
-Paul's car was the fastest on the track today going into the chicane but slow coming out. He had the fastest car coming out of the straightaway and he was outbreaking Capt. Mikey through the corners but coming out of the curves his car wouldn't excellerate. It was obvious something was wrong. I just thought maybe he chose too high of gears for the race but after the engine gave out early it made sense.

5.) Danica Patrick is going to be big.
-All anybody wanted to talk about this weekend was Danica Patrick. How good she is going to be. How adorable she is (and she is very attractive, most women drivers look like they took a Bridgestone Patenza to the face. Danica is attractive. It's about time us male fans had something to oggle at. Liz gets to eyeball the 60+ male drivers in CART and it's feeder systems, us men get to look at Danica.) How much talent she has on the race track. She is a big find for Rahal and as long as she delivers on the track she is going to be a big deal when she reaches CART.

6.) Patrick Carpentier is lighting a cigar?
-Something on the front of Patrick's helmet looked like a lighter flame from where we were sitting. Everytime he went by he looked like he was lighting a smoke. It was pretty humorous actually.

7.) Patrick Carpentier is fast in Ohio.
-Feel free to give up Patrick, Canada. He is now officially King of Ohio and we're going to keep him. Two races in Ohio, two wins. I'm pretty sure he's asking for the Grand Prix in downtown Columbus to be brought back along with a new race in Cincinnati or Toledo. I'd say any plan of a three car Team Players team without Carpentier in it is a bad plan. The guy is solid and he deserves to be in that car next year.

That's about it. Great race, great finish and I was right there when Christiano went off the course. He had the pass setup and lost it. He could have won that race but he was a little impatient on that lap. Carpentier had the smoothest car and he was going through the corners smoother than everybody else. Also, Andretti lucked his way into that podium finish. Tracy had his number and blew up, Christiano went off the course and Bruno was smoking through much of the race and couldn't put enough together to pass him. But then again a podium is a podium and sometimes it's better to be luckier than good.

[Jay]

The Mid-Ohio course looks like an excellent place to watch a race. If I can get to it, I'll definately go to this one...

As for Danica Patrick, she is talented and could likely make it to Cart, but I hope she doesn't get any further because she's a girl or from her looks. As far as I'm concerned she's just another rising driver who received a great deal from Bobby...

[Liz]

Good summary! I was at this track for the ALMS race earlier this year, and I agree it's a great place to watch a race. Not a great place to take pictures unless you can get out on the grid, though. Too many fences.

If Danicia Patrick is a good driver, she should do well in Champ Cars. And feel free to ogle her. As long as SHE doesn't mind!

[macdaddy]

Danicia's pretty? Sorry... I didn't even notice she had a head!

[Liz]

I have that problem with Tony Kanaan. To put it delicately, I think I could pick his car seat out of a lineup without too much trouble.

[theracegypsy]

It does have a great parkland atmosphere, for my compartriots, a bit like Oulton in lovely parkland with hills. Worker party was good too. I know what Liz means about fences though, afraid that's the result of American insurance requirements.

I must admit when i'm working I tend to recognise by car colour/decals rather than helmets (drivers have a habit of getting re-paints mid season), so didn't notice Patrick's artwork. Was he not smooth tho, a difference from Vancouver when he looked as though he was trying to make turns7/8 into a kink, not one continuos corner.

[Evilsenna]

Now I just can't wait to see that race in montreal!!

[DNQ]

Yeah, I reckon EvilSenna....
should be fantastic