Rain dampens testing of new Indy-style car at Auto Club Speedway

Two IndyCar drivers came to Auto Club Speedway in Fontana to test the series' new race car Wednesday, only to have the test washed out by rain after it barely had started.

But one driver, Charlie Kimball of Camarillo, said that was enough to get him excited about racing the new car around the two-mile oval where the cars top 200 mph.

"We did a few laps before the rain came," said Kimball, who drives for Chip Ganassi Racing and arrived Wednesday with teammate Graham Rahal. The new car "is going to lend itself to really good racing," Kimball said.

The Izod IndyCar Series is rolling out a newly designed Dallara chassis this season with safety enhancements, and teams have the option to use engines from different manufacturers. Ganassi is using Honda power.

"Everyone is figuring [the new car] out and going in different directions," Kimball said. As a result, "you'll see a bigger disparity" in how well different cars and drivers perform compared with last season, he said.

Auto Club Speedway also is a new venue on the IndyCar calendar this year, with a night race planned Sept. 15, currently the finale on the series schedule.

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Photo: The new IndyCar Dallara race car last September at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Credit: Jim Haines / Izod IndyCar Series

Track operator plans no more broad cuts in NASCAR ticket prices

NASCAR fans should not expect further cuts in ticket prices at many of the sport’s racetracks this year.

International Speedway Corp., which operates 13 tracks including Auto Club Speedway in Fontana and Daytona International Speedway, said Thursday that although the economy “remains fragile,” it’s generally keeping ticket prices at current levels.

ISC and other track operators substantially cut prices in the last two years as NASCAR's popularity flattened and the poor economy helped produce swaths of empty seats at Fontana and other speedways. Currently, a ticket to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Auto Club Speedway on March 25 has dropped to as low as $35.

“The consumer, in our view, believes the economy and their financial situation are improving but remains cautious with their discretionary spending,” ISC President John R. Saunders said on a call with Wall Street analysts after the company released its fiscal 2011 financial results.

Even so, “we do not believe that further broad-based reductions in ticket prices would drive demand,” Saunders said. “We expect to maintain our current ticket-pricing strategies with any adjustments only in targeted areas within our grandstands.”

Saunders also said his company was “seeing solid demand” for the season-opening Daytona 500 on Feb. 26, “as well as Sprint Cup events at Phoenix [on March 4] and Auto Club [Speedway].”

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Photo: Race day at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, which hosts a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event March 25. Credit: Mark J. Rebilas / US Presswire

IndyCar unveils tentative full schedule for 2012

The Izod IndyCar Series finally released its full schedule for 2012 — sort of.

The series listed 15 races starting with a street race in St. Petersburg, Fla., on March 25 and ending with a new night race at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana on Sept. 15.

But IndyCar Chief Executive Randy Bernard said Thursday that "we are exploring adding additional events to the 2012 schedule."

"We're in the process of confirming a 16th event while also considering adding a 17th race to the calendar," he said in a statement without identifying the possible venues.

In the current 15-race schedule, there are races on only four oval tracks — at Fontana, Texas Motor Speedway (June 9), Iowa Speedway (June 23) and the famed Indianapolis 500 (May 27). And all of those races except the Indy 500 will take place at night.

Three of IndyCar's races also are in California: At Fontana, the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach (April 15) and at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma (Aug. 26).

IndyCar' schedule also includes a new street race in China on Aug. 19.

— Jim Peltz

Photo: IndyCar drivers on the first lap of the race at Edmonton City Centre Airport on July 24, 2011, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Credit: Nick Laham / Getty Images

Funny car champion John Force: Car catching on fire not new to him

John Force, one of the top funny car drivers of all time, says he can't recall how many times his car has caught on fire during a race.

"I've been on fire from here to Australia," said Force, a 15-time funny car champion.

Yet the 62-year-old, who jokes that his "office" gets hot from time to time, keeps coming back for more.

The NHRA Finals at Auto Club Raceway in Pomona open Thursday with the first of three days of qualifying rounds, followed by final eliminations Sunday. Force will be among the funny car competitors.

Funny car racing is a sport in which drivers have zero margin for error. Their vehicles reach speeds of more than 300 mph in less than five seconds.

At Force's funny car museum in Yorba Linda, he recently talked about why, after more than 30 years of racing, he continues to risk seeing yet another fire.

"In the early days, I thought I was just pure crazy," he said. "But after you do it, man, the car becomes your office. This car becomes what I call your best friend."

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NASCAR unveils 2012 schedule; Fontana race is March 25

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race in Fontana will be held March 25 as part of the 2012 schedule announced Wednesday.

The 36-race season opens with the sport's crown-jewel Daytona 500 on Feb. 26, followed by races at Phoenix International Raceway (March 4) and Las Vegas Motor Speedway (March 11).

After crossing the country to race at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, the Cup series returns West for its race at the two-mile Auto Club Speedway oval in Fontana on March 25.

NASCAR also noted that the fall race at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, which this year is the sixth race in the series' 10-race Chase for the Cup championship playoff, will be moved up two weeks next year to Oct. 7 as the fourth race in the Chase.

The series finale is Nov. 18 at Homestead-Miami (Fla.) Speedway.

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Photo: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers Juan Pablo Montoya (42) and Mark Martin (5) lead the field on a restart during the Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Credit: Sam Sharpe / US Presswire

Fontana track sets date for IndyCar return in 2012

Auto Club Speedway in Fontana set Saturday Sept. 15, 2012, as the date that IndyCar racing will return to Southern California for a 400-mile night race.

The two-mile speedway had said in July that the Izod IndyCar Series, whose drivers include Dario Franchitti, Marco Andretti and Helio Castroneves, would return to the track next year after a seven-year absence but had not immediately set a date.

Tickets for the 200-lap race go on sale next Monday, and prices range from $30 for general admission to $60 for reserved club seats. Kids 12 and under are free in the general admission area, and camping packages also are available.

Auto Club Speedway also hosts a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock-car race, which next year is scheduled for March 25.

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Photo: Driver Will Power speeds toward winning the Izod IndyCar Series race Sunday on a street course in Baltimore. Credit: Patrick Semansky / Associated Press

IndyCar series to return to Fontana track next year

 
After a seven-year absence, Indy car-style racing will return to Auto Club Speedway in Fontana for a night race on an unspecified date in the fall of next year, the track announced late Sunday night.

"We feel the time is right to bring IndyCar back to Auto Club Speedway," Randy Bernard, chief executive of the Izod IndyCar Series, said in a statement. The series' drivers include Dario Franchitti, Helio Castroneves and Marco Andretti.

Indy-style cars initially raced on the wide, two-mile Fontana oval after the track was built in the mid-1990s, but haven't raced there since 2005.

The return of IndyCar will help the track -- formerly named California Speedway -- make up for the loss of a second NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock-car race, which was removed from the Cup schedule this year. The remaining Cup race was held in March.

"This facility was built to host open-wheel racing and Auto Club Speedway has arguably hosted some of the most exciting races in Indy-car history," track President Gillian Zucker said in a statement. "We look forward to building on the area's history and tradition . . . beginning in 2012."

The speedway said tickets for the race would go on sale this Sept. 12.

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Photo: A restart of the Izod IndyCar Series race June 19 at the Milwaukee Mile in West Allis, Wis. Credit: Robert Laberge / Getty Images

Question of the Day: Who will win the Indy 500? [Updated]

Writers from around the Tribune Co. discuss the topic. Check back throughout the day for more responses and feel free to leave a comment of your own.

George Diaz, Orlando Sentinel

Dario Franchitti.

It’s a safe pick to go with a three-time IndyCar champion who has also won two Indy 500s.
But it’s also the right pick.

He should be the favorite. He drives for Target-Ganassi, the team to beat. And there is a matter of consistency for the man behind the wheel: Franchitti has not finished worse than seventh in the past six races at Indianapolis. He will start ninth on Sunday, but only because Franchitti ran out of fuel on the final qualifying lap, giving away a spot on the front row.

Franchitti, who turned 38 this month, is at the top of his game.

“He's fast, and [he has] a good team,” said open-wheel rival Will Power. ''That's what it takes."

Look for Franchitti to be gulping down some celebratory milk Sunday afternoon.

Kevin Harvick wins NASCAR Auto Club 400 in fantastic finish

The Auto Club Speedway in Fontana has often been criticized for the type of boring racing it promotes. There is just something about the track that causes little passing, meaning little excitement.

Sunday's Auto Club 400 did nothing to dispel that notion -- at least until the last five laps. It was Kyle Busch's day as he dominated from the start. But, after a restart, Jimmie Johnson and Kevin Harvick were right there with him.

Kyle Busch lost the lead with a couple laps to go to Johnson, and then Harvick wouldn't give up and passed Johnson coming down the final homestretch on the white flag lap.

It was an incredible finish to a day that epitomized the axiom "watching cars go around in circles."

The set up to the finish started with 15 laps to go. Bobby Labonte caused only the fourth caution of the day. But because Labonte's car came to rest near the entrance of pit road, the pits could not be opened for several laps. So, when the pits were opened with only 12 laps to go, the top seven drivers stayed out on the track.

The race went green with nine laps to go. Johnson looked for about half-a-lap like he was going to stay with Kyle Busch. But, alas, Busch gained momentum in the turns and held on until Johnson reeled him in with three laps to go.

As for Harvick, he was given credit for leading only one lap -- the final one.

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Photo: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Kevin Harvick enjoys the spoils of victory at Auto Club Speedway on Sunday: a big trophy and a cold beer. Credit: Walt Weis / Associated Press

Kyle Busch leads the NASCAR Auto Club 400 after 300 miles

The second caution of the day came on lap 104 when there was debris on the track, likely from the tire of David Gilliland. They went back to green on lap 108 with Kyle Busch still in front. He's been impressive on the two restarts.

Denny Hamlin pulled his car behind the wall on the 106th lap and within 15 more laps his crew started to disassemble their pit, meaning he was done for the day. The exact problem hadn't been determined, but Hamlin was blaming it on the engine.

The third 100 miles just seemed to drag along without a lot of change. Around lap 139 the green-flag pit stops started. Kyle Busch was among the first to come in, handing over the lead to Tony Stewart for a brief period. Kyle Busch regained the lead on the next lap.

At the conclusion of 300 miles, little had changed at the front. Kyle Busch was the leader followed by Stewart, Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson, Brian Vickers, Ryan Newman, Matt Kenseth, Clint Bowyer, Paul Menard and Greg Biffle. Kyle Busch was leading by 4.697 seconds.

It seems that unless Kyle Busch runs into some kind of trouble he's going to be very difficult to beat.

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Photo: NASCAR driver Ryan Newman in the No. 39 car leads a restart on lap 78 of the Auto Club 400 on Sunday in Fontana. Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea / US Presswire

Kyle Busch leads NASCAR's Auto Club 400 after 200 miles

The second 100 miles started off pretty much as the first 100 ended -- with green-flag racing. In fact, on lap 65 a record was set for the number of consecutive green-flag laps at the start of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Auto Club 400 at Fontana.

Around lap 66, the second set of green-flag pit stops started to unfold. Martin Truex Jr. and Tony Stewart stayed out a bit longer to pick up points for leading a lap. Jeff Burton was penalized for entering pit row too fast, forcing him to re-enter the pits as a penalty.

By lap 70, Kyle Busch was back in front followed by Truex. At the 150-mile point (75 laps) the first caution of the day was called, allegedly for debris in the third turn.  Of course, with TV watching no doubt reaching mind-numbing proportions, the caution allowed NASCAR to gather the field together and promote more competitive racing.

Every driver but one used the caution as an opportunity to pit. Stewart  elected to stay out with only six laps on his tires. That put him in first place when the green flag was dropped on lap 80.

Stewart teammate Ryan Newman was next to him on the restart and quickly took his turn at the front of the field, being chased by Kyle Busch and Stewart.

On lap 83, front-row starter Denny Hamlin was experiencing problems and dropped to the bottom of the track as he and his crew tried to figure out why the car wasn't running right. He elected to stay out on the track.

Stewart moved back into the lead on the 88th lap, followed by Kyle Busch and Newman. Kyle Busch then retook the lead three laps later.

At the halfway mark of the race, 40 of the 43 cars remained on the track, with 26 of them still on the lead lap. Kyle Busch was the leader by less than a second  followed by Stewart, Newman, Brian Vickers, Jimmie Johnson, Truex, Kevin Harvick, Mark Martin, Matt Kenseth and Cint Bowyer.

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Photo: The crew of NASCAR driver Carl Edwards goes to work on changing tires, cleaning the car's grill and refilling the gas tank during a pit stop at the Sprint Cup Auto Club 400 on Sunday in Fontana. Credit: Jared C. Tilton / Getty Images for NASCAR