pressdog.com

Trackside Tonight on The Call

"Trackside with Curt Cavin and Kevin Lee" goes LIVE tonight at 7 p.m. Eastern as the boys go face-first into The Call controversy.

Kev just tweeted (@kevinlee23) that he's trying to get the Vice IHJ, Tony Cottman, on the program along with some drivers.  BAM. Hope that works out. Listener service right there.

Tune in to 1070 AM radio in central Indiana or 1070thefan.com WORLDwide tonight. Email questions are welcome at Kevin@1070TheFan.com and look for updates on Twitter @KevinLee23.

Ticket Price Cutting, Brainstorming in NASCAR

OK, good for NASCAR. A couple of stories in the Mighty Indy Star today show that NASCAR is approaching their attendance and ratings (relative) slide in a businesslike fashion.

First, IMS has announced they will reduce some ticket prices for next year's NASCAR race there. Why? Because customers aren't buying them because they can't afford them. Recall that here in America a ticket (or anything else) is only too expensive if nobody will buy it. Clearly some of the seats at IMS are too expensive. Read about it here.

Second, the owners -- THE OWNERS -- are getting together to brainstorm ideas for the success of the entire league. Manly tears. Could be the owners realize that the 1) need each other and 2) need the league to survive, so at some point self interest becomes the common good. Maybe it is worth owners' while to get together and come up with some ideas that will help everyone. Huh. Go figure. Maybe IndyCar teams do this. But I doubt it. If they do, it's either DOUBLE SECRET or unreported. Or I just missed it. Read about NASCAR's owners brainstorming here.  

Props to the Indy Star for reporting these things. Reader service makes me breathe into a bag.

Team REDLINE Xtreme Aims at Indy 2010

Energy Drinks R Us. IndyCar has another potential team. Here's the official news release ..

REDLINE Energy and Newly Formed SH RACING Plan Early Attack on 2011 Indianapolis 500

Weston, FL. (July 27, 2010) - VPX Sports and its popular REDLINE Xtreme Energy brand announced today a partnership with newly formed SH Racing for entry of “Team REDLINE Xtreme” into the 2011 Indianapolis 500.

I like the Rule -- Just Say No to "Defending"

What to say about the Edmonton Block Party that hasn't been said ...

How about: I like the rule, and I hope the league keeps it. Insert flame response here.

Here's why: I want overtaking. The rule encourages overtaking. I understand and appreciate the arguments that this rule artificially stimulates overtaking. To me, the rule fits in with push-to-pass and red/black sidewall tires -- a change that is worth it due to the end result: more passing.

Oreo Set to Get Monster Air on Don Kay Show

Buckle up for ESPN IndyCar writer John "Oreo" Oreovicz to dominate on the Don Kay Festival of Glad IndyCar tidings streamed LIVE on the Internets Tuesday at 7 p.m. Also on the program, Bill Simpson, owner Impact Racing safety equipment who will talk about some brewing litigation with the SFI Foundation.

It's all Tuesday (July 27) from 7 to 8 p.m. Eastern. You can catch the show in person at McGilvery's, 3009 N High School Rd in Speedway, IN, (directions/map here) or Click HERE to watch the streaming video live.

If you miss the show live, click HERE to view the archives.

Helio Apologizes for Losing His Shit After Edmonton

Penske PR has kicked out this apology from Helio Castroneves for his post-race freak out ...

Clearly upset with the penalty that cost him a victory, Castroneves, who was scored in 10th place, confronted series officials after the race. He later apologized for his actions.

“Obviously, I disagree with the decisions made by the race officials on the last restart in today’s race, but there is no excuse for my actions after the checkered flag,” Castroneves said. “I apologize to my team, our sponsors, the fans and the entire IZOD IndyCar Series community for my behavior. My actions were totally wrong and I acted inappropriately to some people who are my friends and people I respect very much. Obviously, I am a very emotional person and today I let my emotions get the better of me and I’m very sorry for that.”

Some have called for fines for Helio, specifically for pushing and grabbing league personnel, including Security Chief Charles. This isn't minature golf, so I have no problem with the tirdade right up to the point Helio starts pushing or grabbing people.

League officials can't really crack him upside the head if he wants to get all physical because they'd get fired and probably sued (rightly or wrongly), so going there really should be out of bounds. If he wanted to get into a brawl with another driver, that would be a little different, since another driver is not constrained from defending him/herself or pushing back as a league official is.

Props to Patrick of Trackside Online for making me and all his other subscribers aware earlier in the day. Just one more reason you should SUBSCRIBE to TSO.

Randy Bernard Wants to Make a Deal with the Milwaukee Mile and the State of Wisconsin

Randy Bernard is moving and shaking in Milwaukee. He wants the state to kick in a $400,000 to get IndyCar back to the Mile.

Check it out HERE.

IndyCar Releases Video of Driver's Meeting, Telestrated Explanation of Ruling

IndyCar may feel this is FANS' BUSINESS. Here's a video put out by the league Monday explaining their stance on the whole deal ...

IndyCar Needs to Explain Penalties after EVERY Race

If I were running the league, we would have the following policies ...

1) Whoever is the Iron Hand of Justice (chief steward) for the race would make himself or herself available to the media immediately after the race to explain all calls and non-calls in the race.

2) The regular, pre-race driver's meetings would either be open to the media OR video/transcript thereof would be available to the media. In that way we could all know what the instructions were. Currently, the media (except for the occasional chosen few) are kicked out of the drivers' meetings.

3) I would put the rule book online.

This practice of rules and rule enforcement being NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS has to go.

Helio Loses His Shit After Edmonton Verdict

Wow. Props to Security Chief Charles for not backhanding Helio Castroneves when he made a pretty aggressive grab. Scott Dixon and Will Power -- two of the most stand-up guys in the paddock -- are pretty unequivocal calling it a block party. Helio says he got screwed like 2008 in Detroit. Not his best argument, since most everyone thought 2008 was a double block party.