The Official Blog of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway

My racing weekend could be summed up by one sentence: I didn’t see that coming.

Denny Hamlin surrendering a padded lead in the Chase for the Sprint Cup in the final laps at Phoenix due to bad fuel mileage? I didn’t see that coming. Sebastian Vettel becoming just the second driver in Formula One history to rally from third in the standings to the World Championship in the final race of the season? I didn’t see that coming.

It was one of those weekends why we dig this sport. The unexpected happened, which is one of the most appealing aspects of motor racing.

Here are the facts after the Kobalt Tools 500 Sunday at Phoenix: Hamlin leads four-time reigning champion Jimmie Johnson by 15 points entering the season finale this Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway. 2003 Brickyard 400 winner Kevin Harvick is third, 46 points behind. It’s the closest three-way Chase with one race remaining.

Muzzle the mouth or walk the walk, Mike.

Now to the opinions. It might be a good idea for Hamlin’s crew chief, Mike Ford, to keep a low profile heading into South Florida this week. Ford crowed after the Texas race Nov. 7 that crew chief Chad Knaus may have lost a fifth consecutive title for Johnson by essentially firing Johnson’s crew mid-race and replacing it with the crew of Hendrick teammate Jeff Gordon.

Karma bites, Mike. Johnson finished fifth at Phoenix after he went the distance on fuel. Hamlin scrambled to finish 12th, despite leading most of the race, after pitting for a splash of fuel late in the race. Knaus calculated the gas gamble correctly; Ford didn’t gamble and lost.

The end result was that Hamlin is rattled. He ripped his team after the race by saying, “Like I said, I did my job.” Not exactly a rousing vote of confidence or rallying of the beleaguered troops by a wise veteran. More of the impetuous Denny we thought had grown up. And at just the wrong time.

Johnson has Hamlin on the ropes, and he’s talking a bit of the smack of a man who knows it.

Hamlin pledges a pedal-to-the-metal approach at Homestead. He’s going to need it, as there are only two guaranteed routes to the championship for him, either winning the race or finishing second and leading the most laps.

My money still remains on Johnson to hoist the Cup for the fifth straight year. Who is your pick, and why?

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There might be only three guys in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series racing who have it better right now than Jamie McMurray — Jimmie Johnson, Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick — even though McMurray isn’t one of the 12 drivers this year in the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

You'd be stoked if you won at Daytona, Indy and Charlotte in the same season, too. Even if you weren't in the Chase.

McMurray continued his banner season with a victory last Saturday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Jamie Mac’s three victories this season came at the three most prestigious tracks in NASCAR – Daytona, Indianapolis and Charlotte.

I wrote this before, but McMurray’s primary sponsors, Bass Pro Shops and McDonald’s, must be pretty stoked these days. I know I’d rather benefit from the exposure of winning the Daytona 500, Brickyard 400 and a race at Charlotte and miss the Chase than make the Chase and go winless, as Carl Edwards, Jeff Burton and Matt Kenseth have done so far this season.

Only Johnson, Hamlin and Harvick should be happier than Jamie Mac these days because they’re the only three drivers with a chance to lift the Sprint Cup on Nov. 21 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Johnson finished third at Charlotte, with Hamlin fourth, stretching JJ’s lead to 41 points over Hamlin in the standings. Harvick is third, 77 points back.

Everyone else from fourth-place Jeff Gordon to 12th-place Clint Bowyer are at least 156 points behind Johnson. They can turn out the lights on 2010, Irene. With just five races remaining, they’re toast.

While most media members and fans think Johnson is easing away from Hamlin heading into Martinsville this weekend, Dustin Long begs to differ. He believes this could be Hamlin’s Chase to lose and presents an interesting statistical case.

Kasey Kahne’s lost season continued with illness and a third brake failure Saturday night at Charlotte, and the relations between Kahne and Richard Petty Motorsports plunged to an even deeper malaise. Kahne claimed illness for his reason for leaving the team after his early accident, yet he was healthy enough to run a 5K race for charity the next morning. Granted, RPM has provided Kahne with cars barely worthy of Fred Sanford’s junkyard this season.

It’s an ugly example of how a lame-duck driver and team should not end a partnership.

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Don't Hassel The Hoff

Television ratings and attendance for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series continue to drop, and the series heads this weekend to one of its few flops as a new race market, Los Angeles. Then again, Tinseltown is the worst pro sports market in America, so is anyone surprised?

But never fear, a solution to NASCAR’s woes is here, courtesy of Auto Club Speedway: THE HOFF.

David Hasselhoff, famous from “Knight Rider” and “Baywatch,” being booted after the first round of “Dancing With The Stars” and one of the most legendary videos ever on YouTube, is singing the national anthem before the Nationwide Series race Saturday at the track.

BOOM goes the dynamite! NASCAR’s problems are solved thanks to The Hoff. Remember, he’s huge in Germany.

The Nationwide race at California also will be significant because it will the first of six consecutive Nationwide races for Danica Patrick, with no IZOD IndyCar Series race commitments. The stretch will mark her first back-to-back races in the series since February and March.

Aftershocks from the off-track soap operas so far during the Chase still will be felt this weekend in Southern California. Jim Pedley of RacinToday.com thinks the affair over Clint Bowyer’s car and NASCAR’s subsequent double-denial of Richard Childress Racing’s appeal have put a damper on the Chase.

Gentleman Jim has a point: Is anyone talking about the racing during this Chase? Well, maybe if the racing involves wrecking.

The racing Richter scale continues to chatter over the Carmageddon bump-and-runs between Chaser Kyle Busch and non-Chaser David Reutimann last weekend at Kansas. Rootie is unrepentant, and Kyle’s brother, Kurt Busch, has entered the fray by saying non-Chasers should keep their heads when racing around drivers participating in NASCAR’s postseason.

That’s fine, Kurt. But Chasers also should treat non-Chasers as more than speed bumps or bumper car crash-test dummies. Your little bro Rowdy never has received that message and probably never will.

Meanwhile, that Bearded Man of Mystery is back in the points lead heading to his home track, a place where he normally puts the boot into the behind of his rivals. Then again, if Jimmie wins this weekend at California and extends his points lead, fans will yelp that the Chase is boring, needs changing and is responsible for their shrinking 401K despite eight of the 12 Chase drivers being within 85 points of the lead entering this weekend.

NASCAR can’t win. Yet the racing has been pretty good.

It usually takes awhile for Silly Season to crank up in the IZOD IndyCar Series. But this year is different. Announcements and rumors — good and bad — are flying like Justin Bieber dolls will off shelves this Christmas shopping season.

First, the good. Simona De Silvestro may not have won the Rookie of Year title this year — Alex Lloyd did — but she easily was the most pleasant and talented surprise in the series in 2010. She’ll stay at HVM Racing for the 2011 season.

KV Racing Technology is helping a new team, SH Racing, field a one-car entry for the 2011 Indianapolis 500. No driver has been named, but a sponsor, REDLINE Extreme energy drink, is lined up.

Is it just me, or are energy drinks the new dot.com’s of the racing sponsorship world? Let’s hope the long-term viability of those fizzy, yellow drinks to pay the bills is better than the Internet firms that sprouted and disappeared like crabgrass about 10 years ago.

Two-time American Le Mans Series champions Highcroft Racing aim to run a limited IZOD IndyCar Series schedule in 2011, with an eye on a full-season ride for 2012. Highcroft and team owner Duncan Dayton are the real deal, so this team looks like a solid prospect for IndyCar in the future.

Now for the bad news, and it continues to swirl around one team – Andretti Autosport.

Just a few days after AA announced Tony Kanaan was free to look for a ride with another team because primary sponsor 7-Eleven wasn’t returning in 2011, Michael Andretti’s team announced it needs a primary sponsor for Ryan Hunter-Reay. Series sponsor IZOD picked up RHR’s tab in 2010. AA officials have indicated one company already has made an offer as a primary sponsor, so that’s a proverbial silver lining.

It should be one of the more active Silly Seasons in recent IndyCar memory. VERSUS IndyCar announcer Jack Arute offers his opinions on what might happen.

And speaking of silly, ’tis the season for a good highlight reel of IZOD IndyCar Series bloopers.

MotoGP continues its Asian tour this weekend with the Grand Prix of Malaysia. 2010 Red Bull Indianapolis GP winner Dani Pedrosa will miss his second consecutive race with a broken collarbone suffered last weekend in practice at Motegi, so Jorge Lorenzo only needs to finish ninth or better to clinch his first World Championship.

Put the mortgage on it. Jorge’s worst finish this season is fourth, twice. He’s been on the podium at every other race.

One of those fourth-place finishes for Lorenzo came after an epic battle with Fiat Yamaha teammate Valentino Rossi last weekend at Motegi. The Doctor and Jorge aren’t on each others’ Christmas card lists, and Rossi has no regrets about racing Lorenzo hammer and tongs over the final laps.

And why should he? Rossi may be a happy-go-lucky guy off the bike, but he’s an assassin on it. Plus that battle sent a clear message to Lorenzo: You don’t own me, kid.

Beating Lorenzo must have done wonders for Rossi’s ailing shoulder, as he’s leaning toward finishing the entire season with Yamaha instead of skipping the last two rounds, at Estoril, Portugal and Valencia, Spain, for shoulder surgery.

Then again, Rossi is a master of mind games. Maybe he’s just trying to butter up Yamaha to let him test his new Ducati ride for 2011 the day after the season finale at Valencia.

Rossi’s replacement for 2011 at Yamaha, American rookie phenom Ben Spies, did an interesting video interview with OnTheThrottle. Check it out in two parts here.

Formula One and its raging championship battle are back in action this weekend at the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka, one of the world’s greatest tracks. But all eyes in F1 remain on Japan’s neighbor to the west, Korea, where the inaugural Korean Grand Prix remains in doubt for Oct. 22-24.

The final layer of asphalt is being paved for the race, and the FIA’s Charlie Whiting is supposed to inspect the circuit Monday. But even if the track passes muster, this race is a disaster in waiting. Come on: Just two weeks for the asphalt to cure?

Yet despite this joke of a race, F1 continues to look east to banana republics as proper spots for races while ignoring places with history, tradition and completed infrastructure like Imola, Magny-Cours and … Indianapolis. Thailand is the next target. At this rate, more than half of the races in the World Championship will take place in the Middle East or Asia, where dictators, despots and oil barons are more than willing to play Bernie Ecclestone’s financial parlor games.

Syracuse, N.Y., is a far distance from Thailand or Suzuka, and the Syracuse Mile doesn’t have the infrastructure of any of Bernie’s speed palaces. It doesn’t have a pavement problem, either, because there is no pavement.

But the Moody Mile is playing host again to one of the most balls-out racing events anywhere on Earth, Super DIRT Week. The SEF Small Engine Fuels 200 this Sunday is the showcase event, the Super Bowl for dirt modifieds. Much like the Knoxville Nationals for sprint cars, it’s roots racing at its hardest, purest and finest.

“Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.” — The Who’s “Won’t Get Fooled Again”

Dario drives like Daltrey sang in his glory days with The Who - cerebral but with pure power.

That lyric from one of my favorite bands bounced around my head tonight as I thought about Dario Franchitti winning his third IZOD IndyCar Series championship Oct. 2 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. It was his third title on the trot if you figure he skipped the 2008 season to race NASCAR. And he’s also won two Indianapolis 500′s in the last four years.

Make no doubt about it: This guy is the boss of IndyCar racing over the last 15 years. Robin Miller, who knows a thing or 100,000 about great drivers, thinks so. I don’t need as large of an abacus to count my racing knowledge as Robin, but I think so, too.

It also was a good night in South Florida for one Danica Patrick, who tied a season best by finishing second in the Cafes do Brasil Indy 300. It was a solid salvage job by America’s Princess of Speed, who ended the season in the top 10 with the strong result after an intense duel with Andretti Autosport teammate Tony Kanaan down the stretch laps of the race.

But there’s no rest for weary Danica, who probably would give some of her sizable endorsement income to approach a single-digit finish in her Grand NASCAR Nationwide Experiment of 2010, which continues full-bore now that the IndyCar season is done.

You had to feel for Will Power after the Homestead race. The laid-back Aussie dude was visibly oozing the pressure of the title chase last weekend at Homestead. I was there, and Will was uncharacteristically tense and even borderline snippy in a press conference Friday night after Franchitti won the pole, trimming one point from Power’s 12-point lead entering the event.

And the coil spring of Will’s psyche finally snapped when he brushed the wall trying to avoid lapped traffic in the race, ending his race and his championship hopes. Contrast that with Dario’s chilly nerves when avoiding the spinning, crashing car of rolling chicane Milka Duno later in the race.

Power lost the title by five points, but he gained a ton of respect and injected a heavy dose of fear into his rivals this season. As Danica said of Power in the post-race press conference: “He did a hell of a job this year. He kicked ass on the road courses, for sure.” That he did, winning the inaugural Mario Andretti Road Course Championship Trophy. And Power also improved quite a bit on ovals, even though that first win on roundy-rounds eludes him.

Will, a tremendously likable guy, is going to be right there again for the championship next season with Team Penske.

Prospects for a strong year also are looking up for Graham Rahal. He announced a big sponsorship deal for 2011-12 with TBC Retail Group, a major American tire and automotive retail company, on Saturday afternoon at Homestead. Whispers are getting louder than Graham is heading to a third Ganassi team in 2011. Was it any coincidence that a Ganassi executive was in the deadline room when the press conference took place Saturday at Homestead? Hmm …

IndyCar’s favorite bad boy, Paul Tracy, also is aiming for a strong full-season ride in 2011. PT is beating the bushes and says he’s close to having enough funding for next year. Let’s hope so. You never can get too much of The Thrill from West Hill.

While Graham is set and things are looking up for PT, there was a bit of bad news for Tony Kanaan and Andretti Autosport. 7-Eleven, TK’s longtime primary sponsor in the IZOD IndyCar Series, is returning only as an associate on Danica’s car next year. AA has given TK permission to look around the series for another ride.

Sorry, but I just can’t imagine TK at another team besides Andretti. He has been the one fixture — the pillar — of that outfit since it came to the series in 2003 as Andretti Green Racing. No one has worked harder, no one has driven harder and no one has kept the team more focused and unified than TK. To lapse into American sportscaster-speak, TK is the glue guy at Andretti. The team simply cannot afford to lose Kanaan, who immediately becomes the most coveted free agent in IndyCar.

The rousing battle between TK and Danica over the last 30 laps at Homestead wasn’t the only compelling bout last weekend between teammates who aren’t exactly best buddies. The heated rivalry between seven-time MotoGP World Champion Valentino Rossi and 2010 champion-elect Jorge Lorenzo finally boiled over at Motegi in a phenomenal, elbow-rubbing duel Sunday.

Seriously, the only difference between the scrap between Fiat Yamaha teammates Rossi and Lorenzo over the last three laps of the race and the classic old video game “Road Rash” was the lack of spiked balls and chains. This was as close to 180-mph two-wheeled combat as you’re going to see.

And Jorge was not happy with The Doctor after the race. As if Rossi cares. He knows Lorenzo and another rival, 2007 World Champion Casey Stoner, hate him, and he doesn’t give a rat’s posterior. Ah, the beauty of psychological warfare. Vale is a master of it. Just ask Sete Gibernau and Max Biaggi. The brilliant Julian Ryder offers his always spot-on analysis of the Battle of Motegi at Superbike Planet.

Lorenzo, who just signed a two-year contract renewal with Yamaha, will get a bit of revenge this weekend at Malaysia: He’ll likely clinch his first MotoGP World Championship. Lorenzo’s closest pursuer in the standings, 2010 Red Bull Indianapolis GP winner Dani Pedrosa, almost certainly will miss his second consecutive race after suffering a broken collarbone in a crash during practice at Motegi.

Three-time Brickyard 400 winner Jimmie Johnson took the lead from Denny Hamlin in the NASCAR Chase for the Sprint Cup after finishing second behind Greg Biffle on Sunday at Kansas. But unlike MotoGP, it’s going to be awhile until this year’s champion is decided, as just 85 points separate eighth-place Biffle from points leader Johnson.

The tight points race should be a major topic of conversation heading into Tinseltown for the race this Sunday at Auto Club Speedway in Southern California, but instead a typical NASCAR soap opera is devouring the headlines. Kyle Busch and David Reutimann traded sheet metal and post-race barbs after they clashed twice on track at Kansas. The intent of Busch’s contact was debatable; Reutimann’s was not. He wanted to take out Busch and succeeded, helping to drop Rowdy to a 21st-place finish.

And thus the filmy residue of NASCAR’s “boys, have at it” policy was left on this race like soap scum around the base of the bathtub. Is it really in NASCAR’s best interests to have a non-Chase driver intentionally trash the race of a Chase driver? Jeff Gluck plays attorney, judge and jury in this blog, and his point is solid: NASCAR’s hands-off policy only will encourage more Chase-altering melees like Sunday at Kansas.

Maybe that’s what NASCAR fans want. But don’t you think NASCAR Nation would react a bit differently, with fewer “That puke got what was coming to him” comments spewed toward Busch, if the object of Reutimann’s bumper was Dale Earnhardt Jr.? Yeah, so do I.

Finally, Franchitti wasn’t the only world-class driver to lock up a title last weekend. Sebastien Loeb clinched his seventh consecutive World Rally Championship crown by winning his home Rally of France. Sorry, Herr Schumacher and Signore Rossi, but Loeb is the most dominant driver in the world over the last two decades. Hands down.

Vous êtes le roi, Seb.

Tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick. Where’s that iconic stopwatch from the opening of “60 Minutes” when I need it? Time is short — very short — before the IZOD IndyCar Series title showdown Saturday night here in South Florida, and there is a lot going on in IndyCarland.

First, the obvious. Points leader Will Power and second place Dario Franchitti are gearing up for the Cafes do Brasil Indy 300 on Saturday night, and Will is keeping it simple as he clings to his 12-point lead. Keep Dario in his mirrors, and the title is his. Problem is, that task isn’t so simple. Power has no career victories on ovals, and Franchitti is the inaugural A.J. Foyt Oval Championship Trophy winner this season for being the best performer on roundy-rounds.

So, is Power the underdog despite entering this race as the points leader? VERSUS.com suggests so in this promo.

I don’t know what to make of it. I still think Dario is too tough on ovals to top. But then again, staying ahead of Franchitti might not be such a tough order for an hombre who returned to racing this year after suffering a broken back in a crash midway through last season. Both of these cats have a ton of commitment and very large attachments, as David Hobbs likes to say on SPEED’s F1 telecasts.

He finished the Thursday Night Bowling League with a 217 average.

The lovely Cameron freezes another dude in his tracks.

Either Power or Franchitti will hoist an interesting-looking new IZOD IndyCar Series championship trophy that was unveiled Tuesday in Miami. What do you think? It’s not your typical bowling trophy. It’s certainly … different.

You must admit, the trophy does look nice next to IZOD Trophy Girl Cameron. Then again, Cameron makes everything look nice.

While watching the IndyCar finale Saturday, it won’t be hard to notice Sarah Fisher’s Dallara on the 1.5-mile oval at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Sarah is driving an all-pink car for the second consecutive year at Homestead to increase awareness of breast cancer and help Susan G. Komen for the Cure. Another great gesture from one of the finest people in the series. Way to go, Sarah.

There appears to be some off-track news cooking for the IZOD IndyCar Series, according to Indianapolis Business Journal reporter Anthony Schoettle. He is reporting that the series is close to landing another big fish in the sponsorship pond.

It seems like off-track news is about all that NASCAR can generate these days. How to change the Chase, how to lift flagging TV ratings, the Great Clint Bowyer Controversy, etc. It sort of reminds me of the scene from the classic Led Zeppelin concert movie, “The Song Remains The Same,” in which Robert Plant shrieks the lyric, “Does anybody remember laughter?” during “Stairway to Heaven.”

With all apologies to Plant, does anybody remember the racing in NASCAR? There still is paint-trading going on every weekend as 12 drivers try to beat each others’ brains out to win the Sprint Cup. Yet fans are still bitching. A lot. And Ed Hinton at ESPN.com is getting damn sick of it.

Still, it’s pretty hard to avoid the stock car soap opera du jour, NASCAR’s denial of the appeal filed by Richard Childress Racing of the penalties imposed on Clint Bowyer and his crew chief, Shane Wilson, after Bowyer’s car was found a hair-width out of spec after winning the opening race of the Chase, in New Hampshire.

Childress is steamed and said he will take the appeal to the Chief Appellate Officer (whomever that is). The accident reconstruction expert Childress hired to testify for the team in the hearing Tuesday also thinks he was smeared like mayo on a BLT by NASCAR.

It’s getting fugly, folks. Despite this imbroglio and the pending second appeal, Childress insists it won’t affect the team’s three-car assault on the Cup with Bowyer, Kevin Harvick and Jeff Burton. Let’s see: Bowyer’s chances of regaining 150 points lost from the NASCAR penalties and jumping back into the thick of the Chase hang on more off-track proceedings, and Bowyer and RC are not supposed to be distracted?

Yeah, OK.

Hey, there is good news in this melodrama. Harvick and Denny Hamlin have kissed and made up after Harvick played Smash-Up Derby with Hamlin in practice last weekend at Dover, angry at a verbal swipe Hamlin took at Harvick’s RCR teammate Bowyer over the New Hampshire penalties.

Will Volkswagen go NASCAR racing soon? I snuck that in there quietly because I know so many NASCAR fans went apocalyptically berserk when Toyota joined the Cup series even though Toyotas are built by workers who earn real George Washington dollars in Alabama, Kentucky, Indiana, Texas and West Virginia, strongholds of God-fearing, Lee Greenwood-singing American patriots.

So, shhhhh on VW. Sorry I even mentioned it.

Off to MotoGP, where the series starts a three-race-in-three-weekend stretch this Sunday at Twin Ring Motegi.

Points leader Jorge Lorenzo isn’t exactly in cruise control despite leading 2010 Red Bull Indianapolis GP winner Dani Pedrosa by 56 points with five races to go. Seven-time and reigning MotoGP World Champion Valentino Rossi will be on the grid, but fans might see 2011 Monster Yamaha Tech 3 signing Cal Crutchlow on a Fiat Yamaha for the last two races of the season if Rossi follows through with surgery on his nagging shoulder injury. Welcome to the big time, Cal. No pressure, matey!

One thing Rossi claims he won’t do this offseason, new surgical scar on his shoulder or not, is form and manage a Moto2 team for 2011. He’ll probably be too busy, anyways, talking about his new red ride for 2011 with longtime crew chief Jeremy Burgess, whom it looks increasingly likely will follow The Doctor from Yamaha to Ducati.

A provisional 2011 MotoGP schedule finally is out. While David Emmett at Motomatters.com does his usual excellent analysis of all things Grand Prix motorcycle racing, there’s really only one fact you need to know: The fourth annual Red Bull Indianapolis GP is Aug. 26-28, 2011 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and you better damn well be there!

Finally, the coolest car in the World Rally Championship in 2011 was unveiled Wednesday. Mini is returning to top-flight rallying with its Countryman model. Simply bad-ass!

NASCAR has the controversy it wanted for the 2010 Chase for the Sprint Cup: The Curious Case of Clint Bowyer.

Bowyer was penalized 150 points, and his crew chief, Shane Wilson, was suspended for six weeks due to Bowyer’s car not meeting specifications after it won the Chase-opening Sylvania 300 on Sept. 19 at New Hampshire. Team owner Richard Childress appealed the penalties because he said either taps from drivers congratulating Bowyer on his victory lap or the wrecker that pushed his car into Victory Lane knocked the back end 60-thousandths of an inch out of whack. RC said he’ll take the case all the way to the NASCAR commissioner, whomever that is.

That all came down Wednesday. Fast-forward two days, and this soap opera is getting sudsier by the hour.

Drivers met the press today at Dover, site this Sunday of the second race of the Chase. (Loudon, N.H., and Dover, Del. — two chic media capitals to start a big-time postseason, eh? But that’s the topic for another blog entry.) Bowyer lobbed the opening grenade by making an impassioned defense of himself and his team. Here’s the full transcript.

Safe to say, Clint is pissed. He thinks NASCAR put his entire team into the hardware department — it’s getting screwed.

Hamlin: You're so full of crap, Clint, that your eyes are turning brown.

But that was just the beginning. Points leader Denny Hamlin countered by saying NASCAR had warned Bowyer and his team earlier this season about tip-toeing much too closely to the edge of the rulebook. While Hamlin was convinced Bowyer’s claims of innocence were bunk, four-time reigning Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson proclaimed apathy.

Once he learned of Hamlin’s barrage, Childress counter-punched with a jab instead of a one-two series of hooks.

Ah, this is getting juicy. But remember, there is a race this Sunday at the Monster Mile. What’s that? Oh, yeah, the race! All Left Turns handicaps the AAA 400, making a good point that Johnson is on thin ice after just one race in the Chase as he attempts to complete his drive for five.

The build-up to the IZOD IndyCar Series finale Oct. 2 at Homestead-Miami continues, without the melodrama of the Chase for the Sprint Cup. Paul Dalbey and Steph Wallcraft at More Front Wing take an interesting point-counterpoint approach to the Clash of the Titans for the title between points leader Will Power and Dario Franchitti.

I have two wishes for the race at Homestead: One, Will and Dario battle for the title down to the last lap, just like Scott Dixon and Franchitti did in 2007 and 2009, with Dario becoming champion both years. Two, KV Racing Technology puts all of its chassis back on the truck in one piece.

It’s been a rough season for KV, which must have platinum card status with Dallara. You also hope the team has accident forgiveness insurance with Allstate. Some cruel or clever dude — take your pick — has put together this compilation of the team’s troubles this year on YouTube:

Ouch. You really have to feel for team owners Kevin Kalkhoven and Jimmy Vasser and for drivers Takuma Sato, E.J. Viso and Mario Moraes. And for sections of concrete wall all over North America.

While there’s still a superb current championship race in the IZOD IndyCar Series, there’s also a lot of attention on the future in that series. The new schedule for 2011, the new chassis and engine package in 2012 and future sources of talent behind the wheel.

Robin Miller of SPEED writes that USAC drivers, who got a foot back into the Indy door during the early years of the IRL, might have a smoother path back to the Brickyard in an open-wheel car if series boss Randy Bernard has his way. One of those potential USAC drivers to jump into the Road to Indy system could be Shannon McIntosh, who continues her driver diary at Pop Off Valve.

But the always interesting Tony Johns at Pop Off Valve insists that everyone in IndyCar needs to let go of the past if the series is to progress. No, he’s not talking about the ebbing acrimony of The Split. He’s talking about everyone’s insistence that it’s vital that progeny of the great names of the past are in cars and the persistent belief that IndyCar keeps a firm grasp on its past glory days.

MotoGP is off this weekend, but its feuds are brewing almost like those in NASCAR Sprint Cup. There’s already a cold front coming through the Repsol Honda organization, whipping up a storm between those who support incumbent Dani Pedrosa and those who back the incoming Casey Stoner. Hate to say I told you so, but I predicted this coming snit fit a week ago. Dani and Casey certainly aren’t the Captain & Tennille or Peaches and Herb.

With new 1000cc bikes coming to MotoGP in 2012, many suspected that Aprilia was using its Superbike World Championship program as a warm-up act for a return to the premier class of worldwide motorcycle racing. Balderdash, says Aprilia.

It’s not like the Italian marque set the world on fire when it was in MotoGP in 2003. Oh, wait, it did: Just ask American Colin Edwards. His Aprilia mysteriously burst into flame while he was riding it at 125 mph at the German Grand Prix in one of the indelible images of the 2003 season.

That was Colin’s first MotoGP season. It’s amazing he even wanted to return in 2004 after riding that flaming piece of turd.

Formula One is taking its nightclub on wheels under the lights this weekend at Singapore, where the Red Bulls of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber ruled the first practice. Like IndyCar, F1 is another series that doesn’t need a postseason to create a good title race. Just 24 points separate leader Webber from fifth-place Vettel, with Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button forming a triple burger with cheese between them.

Hmm. Anyone ever wonder that maybe the points system in NASCAR is broken and needs fixing? Just sayin’, as people in the Midwest are wont to say.

The controversy over which team will use the famed Lotus name next season is over: Lotus will remain Lotus. God, I feel better now. Don’t you? As I said before, it’s a moot point. The current F1 car is not a Lotus. This is a real Lotus.

Amen.

Sorry for the late-evening version of Splash And Go, but I had to wait for the first practice results from Motegi. They’re in, and Will Power is on top of the time chart. His closest pursuer in the points, Dario Franchitti, was sixth.

It’s a strong statement of intent by Power, but it’s not like the guy has looked shabby at recent oval races at Chicagoland and Kentucky. Still, John Oreovicz of ESPN.com makes a really good point about Will: He’s never raced on the asphalt egg at Twin Ring Motegi.

Still, I think it’s only a matter of time until he earns his first oval victory in the IZOD IndyCar Series for Team Penske. Dario just hopes that time is next year.

I was stunned when I first saw the time sheet and noticed Takuma Sato was at the bottom, even beneath Milka Duno. Say it ain’t so at your home motor dojo, Taku-san. But then I read where Taku crashed after an oil line failure splurted oil on the tires, causing Sato to spin.

Good thing Taku is OK. It’s pretty safe to say that normal order will be restored, with Milka in the caboose. But you have to feel for Sato in front of his home crowd. And do you think KV Racing Technology has gold card credit status with Dallara for chassis repair yet this season?

While practice is underway at Motegi, it’s not too late to check out this humorous preview of the race at Pop Off Valve.

She's still an elite race driver, ladies and gents

Tony Johns of Pop Off Valve also takes on the white elephant in the room with the IZOD IndyCar Series, the future racing intent of 5-2, 100-pound Danica Patrick. Tony thinks IndyCar doesn’t need Danica anymore.

Sorry, Tony, but I beg to differ. Danica is the most popular driver in the series, has attracted countless fans of both genders to IndyCar and is a magnet for attention, good and bad. No one can force her to stay in the series if she wants to run NASCAR full time after her contract expires with Andretti Autosport, but to say the series doesn’t need her? That’s a big step off a very narrow ledge.

Johns brings up Danica’s relative lack of success — one victory in nearly six full seasons of IZOD IndyCar Series racing — and says her results don’t match her hype. Well, the stats don’t match the buzz for Dale Earnhardt Jr. in NASCAR Sprint Cup, either, but he remains the most popular driver in that series by about six ZIP codes.

Sports is a personality-driven entertainment business now. People follow personalities more than results. But results are still a factor, and Danica gets it done at the biggest race in the world, the Indianapolis 500. Five top-eight finishes in six career starts at the Brickyard. ‘Nuff said. She’s a plus for the series. Period.

On a final IndyCar note, it’s really heartening to see that Mike Conway is almost ready to climb back into the cockpit. This boggles my mind considering the ferocity of Mike’s wreck at Indy, but he’s trying to beat the clock to return to his Dreyer & Reinbold seat for the season finale Oct. 2 at Homestead. Dude’s a racer – what else can you say?

Hey, did you know the Chase starts this Sunday? THE CHASE! THE CHASE! I’m starting to sound like Herve Villechaize calling for the plane on “Fantasy Island.”

The always excellent Dustin Long analyzes what each of the 12 Chase drivers needs to do to hoist the big silver mug at Homestead. Mike Mulhern also takes a really interesting look at how a strong, candid relationship between drivers and crew chiefs, especially when the driver is a bubbling young volcano like Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin, is vital during the Chase.

Mike Hembree at SPEEDtv.com wrote an interesting piece stating that sleepy, small Loudon is an odd place to conduct the first race of NASCAR’s postseason.

New England is a stronger racing bastion than one might think, and Nor’easter fans go especially nuts for the superb NASCAR Modified Tour, the most exciting division in NASCAR, in my opinion. But New England also is a pro stick-and-ball haven, with the Patriots, Celtics and Red Sox Nation inhaling most of the available media oxygen.

Still, that’s not stopping track president Jerry Gappens from beating the drum. Jerry is an Indiana native, so racing is in his veins. He also worked for the legendary promoter Humpy Wheeler at Charlotte Motor Speedway, so the guy clearly knows how to sell and connect with fans.

The new Grand Prix of Aragon is underway in MotoGP, and the Motorland Aragon is one trippy racetrack, as this photo feature at motomatters.com shows. There are so many blind entrances to corners that I think Ray Charles and Jose Feliciano designed the circuit.

Dani Pedrosa was quickest overall as MotoGP returned to two Friday practice sessions. Pedrosa has been en fuego since Indianapolis and was rewarded with a new two-year deal with Honda. It will be very interesting to see how the notoriously fickle Pedrosa and his attack-dog manager, Alberto Puig, get along with Australian hard-ass and sometimes chronic complainer Casey Stoner next season in the Repsol Honda garage. Expect little love lost between the two.

James Toseland: Don't hate me because I'm beautiful, baby

Speaking of unloved men in motorcycle racing, it seems like James Toseland has alienated another teammate. American Colin Edwards couldn’t stand Toseland after Toseland orchestrated a swap of his crew chief with Edwards’ before the start of the 2009 MotoGP season. The Texas Tornado got the last laugh, as he clicked better with his new crew chief, Guy Coulon, and kicked Toseland’s ass so thoroughly that the Brit lost his ride and dropped back to World Superbike.

Well, it appears that Toseland’s WSBK teammate, fellow Brit Cal Crutchlow, also doesn’t have Toseland on his Christmas card list this year, either. Crutchlow was asked if he sought Toseland’s advice on MotoGP in advance of jumping to MotoGP in 2011 with Toseland’s old team, Monster Yamaha Tech 3. Crutchlow dropped a hammer on Toseland with his answer!

I sure hope Edwards remains at Monster Yamaha Tech 3 next season. The verbal volleys coming from that garage will look like Volkswagen Beetle-sized shells being fired from the USS Missouri.

In a very classy move Thursday, Moto2 points leader Toni Elias suggested in the pre-event press conference at Aragon that the Michel Metraux Trophy, presented to the best privateer rider of the season in the Moto2 class, should be presented to Shoya Tomizawa, who was killed in a Moto2 racing crash Sept. 5 at Misano.

The trophy is awarded based on a vote of the Moto2 riders, and they unanimously agreed to posthumously award the Metraux Trophy to Tomi.  A very proper gesture from a solid, tight community of racers.

Formula One is off this weekend, but the news and rumors never stop in the “pinnacle of motorsport,” as Nigel Mansell used to call it.

Joe Saward writes that it makes little sense for Renault to dance with Kimi Raikkonen despite reports that the Kimster and the French team are courting for 2011. Joe also throws cold water on the rumors that Lotus will switch to Toyota engines, instead writing that the shadow of the once-colossus fronted by Colin Chapman and Jim Clark will switch to Renault engines in 2011.

Sorry, but if a Cosworth DFV isn’t in the back, it’s not a real Lotus regardless of the paint job or team name.

Finally, Michael Schumacher is excited about the first night race of his career at Singapore on Sept. 26. Be careful what you wish for, Weltmeister: The spotlights of Singapore only will more brightly illuminate both the decline of your career and a possibly ham-fisted, lethal attempt by you to stuff a faster driver into the numerous concrete barriers of the street circuit.

Only the best win at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Just look at the winners of the Indy 500 since 2005: Wheldon, Hornish, Franchitti, Dixon, Castroneves. All IZOD IndyCar Series champions except Helio, and he’s won Indy three times. Same with the Brickyard 400: Stewart, Johnson and McMurray. All Sprint Cup champions except Jamie Mac, and he has won the Daytona 500.

MotoGP is no different. Seven-time MotoGP World Champion Valentino Rossi won the inaugural Red Bull Indianapolis GP in 2008, and Jorge Lorenzo — who is almost a shoo-in to win the title this year barring disaster or injury — won last year.

But there’s also an interesting trend that has developed over the first two years of the MotoGP race at IMS: Dark horses emerge.

There has been at least one surprise among the riders standing on the famous circular podium at Indy in 2008 and 2009, and there’s no reason why it can’t happen again this year.

Nicky Hayden on the IMS podium in 2009

In 2008, American Nicky Hayden finished second. What’s so surprising about that, you say? After all, the Kentucky Kid has been America’s best rider in the World Championship for the last eight seasons. He beat Rossi to the world title in 2006.

Yeah, yeah: I get it. But Nicky’s runner-up finish during the “hurricane race” in September 2008 still could be classified as a surprise. He had been struggling in what was his final season with Repsol Honda leading into Indy, with no podiums and just three top-five finishes in the first 13 races of the season.

But buoyed by his home crowd, Nicky led 12 laps before finishing second for his first podium finish since August 2007. It also didn’t hurt that the wind and driving rain delivered to the track by the remnants of Hurricane Ike caused the bikes to slip and slide all over the IMS course, which favored Nicky’s sublime bike-handling skills cultivated by years of power-sliding flat-track racing on dirt tracks across America.

Last year, it’s arguable that winner Lorenzo was the only one of the top three finishers who was expected to be on the podium. Alex De Angelis finished second, and let’s face it: Only diehard motorcycle racing fans knew of Alex De Angelis before the red lights turned off to start this race.

Hayden finished third for his second consecutive Red Bull Indianapolis GP podium finish, a feat matched only by Lorenzo in the race’s two-year history. Nicky was struggling mightily in his first season with Ducati entering Indy, with a fifth-place finish his best effort in the first 11 races.

Yet once again, Hayden enjoyed the taste of home cookin’ and came through for his throngs of fans at IMS.

So if this trend continues, who are the candidates to make a surprise appearance spraying champagne in the shadow of the IMS Pagoda around 4 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 29?

First, let’s eliminate the four “aliens,” as MotoGP rider Marco Melandri coined them last year. It will be no surprise if Lorenzo, Rossi, Dani Pedrosa or Casey Stoner finish in the top three. They’re clearly the four best riders in the world, all on factory bikes. So scratch them from the list.

Honestly, would it be a massive surprise if Ben Spies finished in the top three? I don’t think so. Elbowz qualified second and finished fourth at the Czech Grand Prix on Aug. 15 at Brno. He already has a podium finish this season as the top rookie in MotoGP and is challenging Hayden as the top American rider in the standings.

I also don’t think it would qualify as a shock if Nicky finished on the podium for a third straight year. Look at his track record at Indy. ‘Nuff said. Plus he has four fourth-place finishes in 2010 during a resurgent season on his Ducati.

Colin Edwards in 2009 at IMS

But the third American on the MotoGP grid, Colin Edwards, would qualify as a surprise if he stood on the podium. It has not been the best of seasons for the Texas Tornado on his satellite Monster Yamaha Tech 3 machine. He has has finished seventh in the last two races, his best efforts of the season.

Yet Colin has a solid chance at a strong finish at Indy. I talked with him this week for the upcoming installment of “Tornado Warning” at this blog, and he was pumped for Indy — and not just because it’s his home race. Colin said the team made a big breakthrough in setup during the test Aug. 16 in the Czech Republic.

Another dark horse — well, let’s call him a gray horse — is Andrea Dovizioso of the Repsol Honda Team. Dovi isn’t exactly a dark horse, as he is on a factory bike and has four podium finishes this season. But he always seems to be eclipsed in results and recognition by his teammate, Pedrosa.

Remember, though, that Dovi ran with the front-runners on a satellite Honda during the inaugural Red Bull Indianapolis GP before finishing fifth. He also showed superb bike-handling skills in the wet last year at Donington Park when he earned his only MotoGP win so far in a deluge. The long-range forecast doesn’t show rain on Race Day this year in Indy, but the ability to adjust to the different types of asphalt on the Indy road course definitely helps. Dovi can do that.

So keep an eye on the Texas Tornado and Dovi. It’s a safe bet they’re the leading candidates to be the surprise men on the podium this year at the Red Bull Indianapolis GP.

If you’re a MotoGP fan and want to know even more about the sport or if you’re a curious fan wanting to dip your toes into this wild two-wheeled world, this blog post is a fine place to start. Below are links to websites and social media for MotoGP, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and 2010 MotoGP teams and riders.

We hope this helps you learn even more about the exciting premier level of worldwide motorcycle racing as the MotoGP circus brings its exotic, 215-mph prototype motorcycles and charismatic, CRAZY riders to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway next week for the Red Bull Indianapolis GP on Aug. 27-29.

So ladies and gentlemen, start clicking your mouse or tapping your touchscreen and dive into the cool world of MotoGP!

MotoGP

•Official site: www.motogp.com

•Facebook: www.facebook.com/MotoGP

•Twitter: @officialmotogp

INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY

•Official site: www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com

•Facebook: www.facebook.com/indianapolismotorspeedway

•Twitter: @IndyTalk

TEAMS

Ducati Team (Casey Stoner, Nicky Hayden)

•Official site: www.ducati.com

•Facebook: www.facebook.com/Ducati

•Twitter: @ducatimotor

Fiat Yamaha Team (Valentino Rossi, Jorge Lorenzo)

•Official site: www.fiatyamahateam.it

•Facebook: www.facebook.com/fiatyamahateam

•Twitter: @fiatyamahateam

Interwetten Honda MotoGP (Hiroshi Aoyama)

•Official site: www.interwettenracing.com

•Facebook: www.facebook.com/hondaproracing

•Twitter: @hondaproracing

LCR Honda MotoGP (Randy De Puniet)

•Official site: www.lcr.mc

•Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/Monte-Carlo-Monaco/LCR-Honda-MotoGP-Team/65683534043

•Twitter: @LCRHondaMotoGP

Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (Colin Edwards, Ben Spies)

•Official site: www.teamtech3.fr/2009

•Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/Monster-Yamaha-Tech-3/114621875218067

Paginas Amarillas Aspar (Hector Barbera)

•Official site: www.teamaspar.net

•Twitter: @TeamAspar

Pramac Racing Team (Mika Kallio, Aleix Espargaro)

•Official site: www.pramacracing.com

•Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/PRAMAC-RACING-TEAM-THE-GREEN-ENERGY-TEAM/377638343303

Repsol Honda Team (Dani Pedrosa, Andrea Dovizioso)

•Official site: world.honda.com/MotoGP

•Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/Repsol-Honda-Team/21356130089

•Twitter: @hondaproracing

Rizla Suzuki MotoGP (Loris Capirossi, Alvaro Bautista)

•Official site: www.rizla-suzuki-motogp.co.uk

•Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/Suzuki-MotoGP/108230575865489

San Carlo Honda Gresini (Marco Melandri, Marco Simoncelli)

•Official site: www.gresiniracing.com

•Facebook: www.facebook.com/hondaproracing

•Twitter: @hondaproracing

[More]

Colin Edwards at Mugello

Colin Edwards, a Houston native nicknamed “The Texas Tornado,” will offer candid insight about his performance, competitors and life in the exciting world of MotoGP motorcycle racing before every event in 2010 in “Tornado Warning.” It’s the third consecutive season in which Edwards will offer this exclusive insight for www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com.

Two-time World Superbike champion Edwards, 36, is in his eighth year of MotoGP competition, riding this season for Monster Yamaha Tech 3. Edwards and the rest of the MotoGP riders will continue the season June 20 at the Grand Prix of Great Britain (8 a.m. ET, June 20, SPEED).

The colorful Edwards will compete in the third annual Red Bull Indianapolis GP on Aug. 27-29 at IMS along with fellow American MotoGP stars Nicky Hayden and Ben Spies, and MotoGP superstars Casey Stoner, Dani Pedrosa and Jorge Lorenzo. This interview was conducted June 10.

Weird weekend at Mugello for you. You started strong Friday and Saturday, and Sunday was rough. What happened Sunday?

Well, I wouldn’t say I started out strong. I would say we actually fixed the bike. We got the bike back to last year’s spec. Seating position, foot pegs, handlebars, you know, all that kind of stuff. Felt really comfortable. When I say I felt really comfortable, I had good front-end feeling, good confidence. The only problem was I did about four laps on Friday, four flying laps. I came in and my arm was locked up. My right arm was like steel. It was just fricking so pumped up. Problems grabbing the front brake. I come in, and I don’t know what the hell is going on, but man, this is crazy. So the bike just feels like it weighs a ton. It feels like you’re driving a train with damn bicycle handlebars just trying to steer the thing. Mugello is typical to be a little more physically demanding. You’ve got chicane after chicane, fast, and your gyro effect counts for a lot. So we didn’t really mess with the bike too much. It felt really good. The qualifying was good. The bike was really good … for about three or four laps. I was just kind of holding in the back of my mind that: “Ah, in the race, it will be different. Get out there, get the adrenaline flowing, and it will be fine. It would all be good.” Well, it didn’t work out that way.

Have you ever had arm pump before?

I’ve only had arm pump whenever I was climbing a lot, like in 2000, 2001. When we were doing a lot of rock climbing, then I started getting some arm pump. And naturally, I stopped climbing. I don’t need that. I don’t know. I never get arm pump on a road-racing bike. Even on a motocross bike, I don’t get arm pump. It’s a bit strange. Man, once we got into the race, it always happens: You get in the race, and you start losing a bit of your mojo. You dig deep, you bring it back up, you push for another few more laps, you start feeling a little drained, you dig deeper. You always find that little bit extra. Whereas there was just nothing there. I dug deep. I was feeling like I was about to pass out on the bike. I just couldn’t get any air. That was the main thing: I wasn’t getting any oxygen.

Was that because of the arm pump? It was killing you so bad?

Once, I had some injections, some anti-inflammatories. They call it mezotheraphy. It’s little pinpricks into your arm that kind of inject some anti-inflammatories. The arm wasn’t that much of a problem in the race. It was just lack of oxygen. I couldn’t dig down. I couldn’t grab anything. I went to grab some more and get going, and it was just going slower and slower. Come out of the last chicane, and I’ve passed out before in a MiG (jeft) flight before, and I knew what it feels like. Coming out of that last chicane after about seven or eight laps, and everything kind of tunneled up and it got kind of a little gray on the outside, and I thought, “Nuh-uh.” I ran it a little bit wide, and after that I was like: “Y’all just go on. I don’t really need to pass out while I’m doing 200 mile an hour.”

What’s going on?

Not to leave you hanging, but the doctor said “Well, you might be going into an adult form of mild asthma, which obviously would explain the lack of oxygen and not getting any air. Do you cough when you get in the cold air? Yeah. Do you cough if you overexert yourself? Yeah. But I think everybody kind of does that. He’s thinking it might be a mild form of asthma, and I’m not getting enough oxygen into my blood. But then he kind of got thinking again, and he goes, “Maybe you fly so much that you might have a blood clot up around your lung,” which is not good to have a blood clot for anything. So he immediately sent me over to the CAT scan. Did a full CAT scan on my chest. They injected the dye into me to make sure that the blood was flowing right, no major blood clots. I still don’t know the results of any of it, but they wouldn’t have released me if I had a blood clot. They did come back and say: “You’re free to go. The doctor will get back with you.” It’s weird. I feel good; I just feel short of breath. I don’t know what the hell is going on.

You look at Valentino’s situation. He knows what’s wrong with him – a bone was sticking through his leg. With you, it’s a mystery of “What the hell is going on here?”

Dude, there’s nobody more curious than me. Hell, it’s something I’ve never had to deal with. I’ve always been fit. I got blessed with some good genes and never really had to work too hard to keep weight down. I’ve always been in good shape. I don’t know. Roles have kind of reversed a little bit. When I’m home, I’m working. You got the kids, running around, getting the boat ready, bringing the kids to school, taking my boy out to ride, getting gas. I’m always doing something. Then when I come to the race, I get to the track, and it’s like, “Whew.” I lay on the couch in the motorhome for 16 hours per day. It’s just kind of download and relax. It’s weird. It’s just kind of like role reversal.

What was the buzz around the paddock at Mugello when everyone learned Valentino was seriously hurt?

Definitely a lot of people talking about it. What is this going to the championship? What is this going to do to the attendance? Immediately, the first thing you heard is ticket sales are down already for Silverstone, camping sites for Germany, whatever. I don’t know if people make sh*t up or if they’ve got real physical proof of what’s going on. Obviously, Valentino is the biggest draw for our championship. Can the championship survive without him? Sure. Of course it can. It always has. It’s gone on for eons and eons, and somebody has got hurt. In Valentino’s case, racing a motorcycle is ticking time bomb. It really is. Sooner or later, you’re going to get hurt. We all know that. We all put up with the risk. Valentino, fortunately, through his entire career seems to have had really amazing luck with that. He hasn’t spent any down time hurt. He’s had to ride through some aches and pains and bruises and all that stuff. Hell, what did he have 200-something starts …

Yeah, I don’t think he’s ever missed a race, has he?

I don’t think he has since (his) 125 (career) started, or something ridiculous. You look at everybody on the grid: We’ve all been there. I had to sit out pretty much all of ’97, being broke up. Everybody’s been there at one point or another, except him. I’m not saying he was due or not due. But this is the sh*t that happens. This is motorcycle racing.

Now that Vale isn’t going to be on the grid for a few races, do you think Dani Pedrosa can catch Jorge Lorenzo, or is Jorge too far gone?

It will be interesting. I think Jorge, he feeds and thrives a lot off having a rivalry in his own team. Hell, at Jerez and Le Mans, he pretty much showed how dominant he was, chasing Valentino down and passing him both races, pulling away. The more interesting thing will be how’s Jorge going to be. Pedrosa, he wants to beat Jorge worse than anything. It doesn’t matter if Valentino is there or not. But I think it will be curious to see how Jorge reacts.

The $1 million question: Who’s going to get that factory ride of Valentino’s?

They can run these next two races, Silverstone and Assen. The contract the teams have with Dorna and all that, they can leave that spot vacant for two races. Since he actually entered and rode at Mugello, that doesn’t count as one. He actually was an entry. So then you’ve got these next two races, they can leave that spot vacant. But then at Barcelona, they’re going to have to have somebody on the bike. Through my team, with Herve (Poncharal), he came to talk to me about it. There’s a lot of buzz going around that if somebody was to replace Valentino, they’d want me to come over and ride on that team. At the same time, my thoughts are kind of, “Why would I want to do that?” I’ve got a good team. I like my crew chief. I like the Team Texas thing we have going on. We have a good relationship, all our sponsors, DeWalt, Monster, all of those guys we have a good relationship with. I don’t really want to feel like I’m turning my back on them to go ride this factory bike for a few races. Because at the end of the day, when Valentino is ready, it’s probably not even a thank you. It’s like, “OK, f*ck off and get back on the other team.”

Do you have a choice in the situation?

At the moment, Herve, myself and everybody involved in the team, we do as much as we can for Yamaha. We always have. Even though at the moment, I’m paid by Herve. I’m not paid by Yamaha anymore, we always do what we can to help out Yamaha. If it’s explained at the end of the day, “Hey, this is what we REALLY got to have you, there’s no other option, we can’t do it,” well, then we’re going to have to do something. Until then, I’m just going with my first instinct is I like where I’m at. I’m having a good time doing what I do. First and foremost, I need to figure out that I’m good, that it was just maybe a Mugello fluke, a little virus or dehydration or whatever the hell it was. We need to make sure that it was just a Mugello thing and nothing else.

Did you ever race at Silverstone in World Superbike?

Yeah. I think I’m the only guy that’s ever raced there.

But the track has changed.

Yeah, it’s changed. Over half of it is what it used to be. That last little part they’ve obviously changed. I definitely feel like I’m going in there knowing a little bit more where I’m going than the next guy.