An accelerator pedal will not be floored on the track in NASCAR or the IndyCar Series for more than a month, but what portends to be another historic season has already begun, in race shops and garage bays, and in board rooms, attorneys’ offices and courtrooms.
Racing will look different by the time 2009 is through, and it won’t be dull.
Who can catch Johnson?
Carl Edwards deserved better than a second-place finish in the Sprint Cup chase. The 29-year-old won a series-best nine races, including three of the last four, but he has the misfortune of being very good when Johnson is otherworldly.
How will the flagging auto industry affect racing?
That remains to be seen, but as long as Chrysler, Ford and General Motors are still churning out cars and hoping to sell them to American consumers, they are likely to remain involved. The Big 3 uses NASCAR as a marketing tool and contend they reap a sizable return on the investment.
What does Team Penske do if Helio Castroneves is convicted on federal tax evasion charges?
Penske Performance president Tim Cindric said that the team would not make a hasty decision on the two-time Indianapolis 500 and Grand Prix of St. Petersburg winner. Castroneves could get prison time if convicted, and his scheduled March trial would leave the IndyCar Series team little time to find a viable option to pair with Ryan Briscoe. Serviceable drivers are available (Justin Wilson and Will Power won races this year), but an intriguing option could be former St. Petersburg resident Sebastien Bourdais, who won a record four straight Champ Car titles before signing with the Toro Rosso Formula One team for last season. His F1 return dependent on bringing his own sponsor, Bourdais said that he could consider a return to North America. That would be quite a Plan B.
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