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Knights of the Oval Table Talk about Danica, try to Recover from a Race-less Weekend

The three amigos of IRL racing blogdom are back and representing on Michigan, the points race and who may become a victim of the 2008 silly season. Plunge in, if you dare.

Notes Taken During the Champ Car World Series San Jose Grand Prix 2007

Notes taken during the ESPN2 broadcast of the Champ Car World Series San Jose Grand Prix at Redback Raceway on July 29, 2007.

Intro montage. Vanderbuilt Cup points championship drama. We're on the warm up laps on the San Jose street course. Jan Beekhuis and Rick Benjamin in the booth. Jan -- Turn 1 is a bastard. Go 150 mph into a 25-mph turn 1. Much circus music potential.

Qualifying recap. Basically everyone qualified at 49.1 seconds. Sebastien Bourdais lit it up on the first day of qualifying, then on the second day he was horrid. So, the pole goes to Justin Wilson who rocked it the second say.

pressdog beer of the race is Miller High Life tall boys (16 oz.). Now you're living the high life! The pdog is "in between jobs" and trying to make it as a freelance writer, so if you gotta a gig for me, let me know! [email protected]. So with the funds a bit stretched, it's Miller heavy track beers for me.

MoneyCJ's Epic Video Hits the Web

Check out MoneyCJ's epic video of his hot laps at Indy. Even now, he's probably being swarmed by a bunch of half-naked groupie chicks.

IRL Officials as Honda, Dallara to "Screw Up More."

Note for the clueless: everything below is made up.

Indy Racing League officials have asked Honda and Dallara Automobili to "look the other way, or hire some really unqualified people" in order to liven up some fairly hum-drum racing.

Stung by accusations that Champ Car World Series races have become more entertaining to watch than the no-passing IRL holding-station fests, league officials recently shot off secret communications to engine maker Honda and chassis builder Dallara.

"We took a look at why the Champ Car races were more exciting than the IRL races," said an IRL insider how asked not to be named. "And the reason was that there crap was always blowing up or breaking off. Will Power is looking good at Edmonton and then suddenly he can't turn right. Steering rack is crap. Katherine Legge is out with some kind of phantom gearbox issues. Sebastien Bourdais is looking good at  Cleveland and his electrical system fries to a crispy golden brown. That's exciting stuff."

Notes from the Champ Car World Series Race at Edmonton 2007

Notes taken during the ESPN broadcast of the Rexall Grand Prix of Edmonton at Rexall Speedway on July 22, 2007.

pressdog's beer of the race is Newcastle Brown Ale brewed at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England, selected in honor of Englishperson Katherine Legge, who sent me a 166 words recently in response to several burning questions.

Video of the Inuit trophy that the winner of the "Canadian Triple Crown" will get after today. CTC is the "championship within a championship" given to the team with the best average finish over the three consecutive Canadian races. Recap. Mont-Tremblant, Robert Doornbos won (Sebastien Bourdais has a snit in the pit after. Allegations of blocking.) Toronto Will Power won after Boudais took the tyres with some help from Mr. Doornbos. Who will win at Edmonton?

Notes Taken During the IndyCar race at Mid-Ohio 2007

Notes taken from the ABC/ESPN broadcast of the Honda IndyCar 200 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course July 22, 2007.

Holy race delay. The British Open golf tournament goes into a playoff on ABC so the race gets moved over to ESPN where it gets a lead in from the Geicko PBA All Star Shoot Out. (I am totally not making that up.) Here I resist the chance to make a joke that features Dan Wheldon an how he sounds similar to the Geiko. And if you put him in green, he bears some slight resemblance. (Confession: Put me in a green fire suit and I look like a fat-ass frog. Jussayin.') But, because I like Dan, and it seems a little gratuitous, even for me, I resist. (I'm going for the most commas in one sentence.) Yet, by even mentioning it here, I get in a little poke at Dan. Sorry, mate.

Simmons Takes the High Road

Jeff Simmons' peeps released a statement from the former ethanol driver Friday in which the Jeffster refused to froth and get pissy with the Rahal Letterman posse.

Life as a driver in the Indy Racing League can be short and brutal. If someone has a bad taco and gets into a mood or your sponsors lose confidence in you, you're gone. I've lost my version of a "ride" for no apparent reason, so I feel for ya, Jeff. Hopefully silly season will be kind to ya.

Give Jeff huge props for stepping into the Paul Dana ride after Paul was killed at Homestead and doing and saying all the right things. Handled it beautifully. That, by itself, was huge.

Jeff represents below:

"I want to thank everyone involved in the Team Ethanol program for all of their support and friendship. I was honored to be a part of the program and to have the opportunity to carry on Paul Dana's vision. 

"I truly believe in ethanol's importance to the world's energy needs and environmental future. The demand for ethanol will continue to grow and prosper through the important work of the dedicated people at the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council. They are tireless in their efforts and I will miss working with them.

"Additionally, I want to thank Bobby Rahal, David Letterman and all of my friends at Rahal Letterman Racing -- not just for "the ride" but for the opportunity to be a part of something so ground-breaking. It was a real honor, and I wish them the very best.

"As for me, I look forward to being back in the IndyCar Series soon."

Notes from the Firestone Indy 200 Block Party at Nashville 2007

Notes taken during the ESPN broadcast of the Firestone Indy 200 at Nashville on Sunday, July 15.

Super props and shout out to my girl Amy Konrath of the Indy Racing League PR posse who is super sidepod worthy for sending me a DVD of the race after I TOTALLY choked taping the race. pressdog owes the Aimster a track beer.

Charles In Charge Raises IRL Threat Alert Level to Puce

Indy Racing League Security Chief Charles today raised the IRL's threat level to puce in reaction to recent unpleasantness on the track.

Charles, who has become a bit of a star around the league for deploying himself in a Jet Li fashion during a pit-lane scuffle at Watkins Glen, said recent post-race pissiness at Nashville caused him to raise the threat indicator.

Puce is just below the top setting, vermilion, and above burnt mauve. A puce rating encourages "competitors, fans and yellow shirts to have increased awareness of threats of brain lock, princess-like behavior or fits of helmet slapping, wrestling on the ground and belly bucking. Spectators should also be on the lookout for tiny security cars to pull up and 29 or more clowns in stylish team entourage ensembles to jump out."

Reports that Charles has been contacted by pro wrestling and movie legend Steven Segal for possible collaboration could not be confirmed. Sources say a clip focusing on Charles by Arni the Indy Insider helped touch off the flood of fame.

MoneyCJ Scheduled for Hot Laps at IMS

Our buddy MoneyCJ is scheduled to jump into a Dallara (OK, a modified one, but still) and do some hot laps at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway today. If you could drive IMS based on how pump you were, Money would set a NEW TRACK RECORD. Look for his update on how it went at irl.fastmachines.com