pressdog.com

Sarah O'Gara Racing?

Sarah Fisher and her hub, Andy O'Gara, are apparently ripping it up on the go-kart track this season. According to the Always Vigilant Indy Star, Sarah and Andy teamed up to win a 100-lap kart race at a track next door to Chicagoland Speedway "this season."

In a December 29 Star article, sleuthed out by Christopher Estrada over at MVN.com, Andy and his dad (Sarah's father-in-law) Johnny O'Gara are now working for Sarah Fisher Racing where they are trying to slap together sponsorship for all of 2008. (Free idea: Change your team name to Flying Fish Racing. No charge.)

pressdog's 2008 Wish List

Heading into 2008, I thought I'd be generous and kick out wish list that contains a little something-something for all my Indy Racing League homeys:

Sarah Fisher: Everyone knows Sarah's my girl, so first up we need to get her a de-pigged Dallara in 2008. I mean, seriously. Sarah didn't finish on the lead lap in all of 2007. Attrition was the bestest friend for the Dreyer & Reinbold cars.

Johnny and Duke's F1 Immersion

Johnny and The Duke get jiggy with some hard-core F1 and other racing talk on the latest Live Fast Racing podcast. Tune to hear Johnny use the word "cachet" in a sentence, The Duke diss the banning tire warmers and then Johnny one-upping himself by saying, "histrionic." Represent!

Link to the podcast HERE.

Schumacher May be Mulling NASCAR Bid

Note to the gullible: Mike did drive a taxi cab as described below, but the NASCAR part is made up.

A Formula One legend's turn behind the wheel of a Bavarian taxi cab is fueling rumors that he may be in training for a NASCAR cup ride.

Seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher reportedly took the wheel of a taxi in order to make a 30 kilometer dash from the Bavarian town of Gehuelz to an airport in Coburg last weekend. Schumacher, his wife and two children hailed the cab in order to catch a flight out of Coburg.

Gordon Decries Castroneves Dancing Size Advantage

This newsflash just in from Trackforum's SportscarBruce  (Note -- that means that SportscarBruce wrote this, not me. I'd like to take credit for it, but I didn't write it. Please don't get confused.):

CONCORD, N.C. – Robby Gordon accused Helio Castroneves of having an unfair advantage in Dancing With The Stars and said Saturday he will not compete in the contest unless the competition is equalized.

IndyCar Considering Allowing Fan Voting

Taking a page out of Dancing With the Stars -- the Official Fixation of the Indy Racing League -- officials are considering allowing fans and viewers to vote on the winner of each race.

"Incredibly innovative," said one Dancing with the Stars executive producer. "It's an excellent way to give fans a real sense of having an impact on the outcome."

Under the proposal, fans would vote for their favorite driver after each race. Those vote totals would determine how much of a head start each driver gets at the next race.

"I think under this format a win for Danica would be a done deal by race number two," said a league official who asked not to be named. "Sarah Fisher, also, may go consistently top five." ABC executives said they would "add some sizzle" to the program by having each driver make a three-to-five-minute video asking viewers for their votes.

Champ Car Lauches Push Toward Single-Team Series

The Champ Car World Series recently launched an innovative efficiency campaign that they hope will result in a single-team series.

They concurrently announced that the hyphen was "the official grammatical symbol of Champ Car."

"We see it as a natural evolution in the open-wheel racing world," said a Champ Car official who asked not to be named. "Obviously, with only about $54,302 in sponsorship money in the entire series, the best plan is for everyone to share resources.

Champ Car said the single-team series would solve a lot of problems:

• less fighting over sparse sponsorship resources
• less competition for people willing to work for $14.50 per hour
• fewer rides for sale in a buyer's market
• less increased costs caused by people who haven't given up on all hope of winning
• less duplication in the areas of PR, HR, facilities, etc.