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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!

The Drive for Five is very much alive.

Is it a winner's trophy from Dover or Carl Edwards in a rage?

Jimmie Johnson is giving new meaning to the words embossed on the passenger-side mirrors on vehicles: OBJECTS IN MIRROR ARE CLOSER THAN THEY APPEAR. Johnson climbed to second place in the NASCAR Chase for the Sprint Cup, just 35 points behind leader Denny Hamlin, after his victory from the pole in the AAA 400 last Sunday at Dover.

But does anyone think Johnson isn’t the favorite to win his fifth straight title after this victory? Raise your hand. I think I see one or two brave palms in the back of the room.

One of those hands belongs to Dustin Long, who thinks the Chase starts this weekend at Kansas. Sorry, Dustin, I disagree, because last weekend at Dover was a microcosm of why Johnson and the entire No. 48 team are the best and won’t be topped.

Johnson won from the pole and led the most laps in the race. Meanwhile, points leader Hamlin engaged in a war of words with fellow Chaser Clint Bowyer over NASCAR’s penalties for Bowyer’s illegal car that he drove to victory lane Sept. 19 in the Chase opener at New Hampshire.

Then Bowyer’s teammate, Kevin Harvick, defended the honor of Richard Childress Racing by bumping and sideswiping Hamlin in practice, which led to a shouting match in the garage between Harvick and Hamlin.

It was good theater and the kind of soap opera that NASCAR breeds every other week. Call it what you want, but it’s entertaining.

But the end result was that three Chase contenders — Hamlin, Bowyer and Harvick — were more concerned with Hatfield and McCoy shenanigans than 400 laps on the Monster Mile. Hamlin denied any distractions, but that’s bunk.

So the list of focused Chase drivers was down to nine before the race even started Sunday. Not a great strategy for trying to topple Johnson and Co. And a few of the Chasers had lousy races. Matt Kenseth finished 18th, Greg Biffle 19th and Tony Stewart 21st. Biffle is 140 points behind Hamlin, Stewart 162 and Kenseth 165.

Those three can kiss the Cup goodbye.

Hamlin showed Friday that he doesn’t have the focus or maturity yet to lead a championship team when he spouted off about Bowyer’s penalties, which led to Harvick’s road rage during practice. Kyle Busch is third in points, just 45 behind Hamlin. But Rowdy’s mind is more erratic than Hamlin’s. Plus he still insists on running Nationwide and Truck races on event weekends, and I don’t care what anyone says: That distracts from and dilutes a Chase-winning effort.

Don’t believe me? How many Nationwide or Truck races has Johnson run down the Chase stretch in the last four seasons? You can probably count them on one hand.

Focus will deliver Johnson the Cup just as much as skill.

The countdown is on for the Cafes do Brasil Indy 300 this Saturday night at Homestead-Miami Speedway, after which either points leader Will Power or Dario Franchitti will be crowned the 2010 IZOD IndyCar Series champion. Power leads Franchitti by just 12 points.

It’s pretty safe to say these cats are ready for Saturday night at Homestead. It should be a hell of a duel to the finish, but dramatic title races decided at the season finale are nothing new for the IZOD IndyCar Series.

The Firestone Indy Lights season ends Saturday at Homestead, with the name of rookie J.K. Vernay all but engraved on the championship trophy. Vernay leads second place James Hinchcliffe by 48 points and only needs to start the 100-mile race to win the title.

While there’s not much air in the title chase balloon for Lights this Saturday in South Florida, it will be nice to see Lights veterans Ana Beatriz and Sebastian Saavedra step up to the IZOD IndyCar Series in the big show Saturday night for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing and Conquest Racing, respectively.

It was all quiet on the MotoGP front last weekend, as the series is heading to Motegi for the Grand Prix of Japan this weekend. That race was postponed earlier this season when the Icelandic volcano forced the disruption of travel throughout Europe. Thanks to old Smoky Top, MotoGP now has three races in three consecutive weeks. Hell for the riders and teams, heaven for us MotoGP fans!

World Superbikes had a big weekend, though, as Max Biaggi clinched the 2010 championship at Imola. Meanwhile, Suzuki thanked Leon Haslam for chasing Biaggi all season by releasing him because the Alstare Suzuki team lacks sponsorship for 2011. Haslam, second in points this year, is expected to move to BMW.

This move also could have ramifications on MotoGP, as the fate of Suzuki’s MotoGP team apparently is under discussion at the home base in Japan. Suzuki has put a bucket of bolts on track in MotoGP for the last three seasons, but the championship still needs major manufacturers. Kawasaki left after 2008, and Suzuki could be gone soon. That would leave only Honda, Yamaha and Ducati in MotoGP, which is not good.

One thing that is very good right now is the Formula One championship race. Fernando Alonso won the night race Sunday at Singapore, pulling to within just 11 points of leader Mark Webber with his fourth victory of the season.

Webber and fellow title protagonist Lewis Hamilton made contact while fighting for third, and Hamilton was forced to the garage early for the second straight race. Webber survived to finish third behind Alonso and Sebastian Vettel.

Parking early for the second straight race put a dent into Lew’s title hopes, as he’s 20 points behind Webber. Vettel is 21 points back in fourth, and reigning World Champ Jenson Button is 25 points behind in fifth. It’s a hell of a struggle among superstars with just four races remaining.

Or are there just three races left?

The debut Korean Grand Prix looks to be on shaky ground as the final layer of asphalt hasn’t been laid on the circuit, and the race is scheduled for Oct. 24! Yeah, Oct. 24 of this year. Even F1 head honcho Bernie Ecclestone, who shrugs off criticism of the lunacy of putting F1 races in countries with no motorsports heritage or infrastructure, is a bit worried about whether the Korean race can be pulled off.

Uh-oh.

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.

Despite having 25 races in the books this season, much of the talk surrounding the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series remains focused on nearly everything but racing. Voices in the media, blogosphere and fan universe continue to debate, bleat and wring hands about the perceived “problems” of the sport, which still remains the most popular form of motorsport in America.

One of the topics of discussion has been the stagnant TV ratings for the Sprint Cup Series. Two interesting solutions have been floated by bloggers this week. Bob Margolis at Sledgehammer proposes NFL-style blackouts in local markets where races aren’t sold out, while Patrick Reynolds at All Left Turns thinks weeknight races — similar to “Monday Night Football” or “Thursday Night Football” — can revive ratings.

I’m not sold on the blackout concept. TV coverage fueled NASCAR’s explosive growth in the 90s and 00s. Races were sold out coast-to-coast seven or eight years ago despite network coverage. And fans have to come to expect wall-to-wall TV coverage of every Sprint Cup race, so I don’t think taking from the customer would be a positive.

Home-market blackouts have been a fact of life in the NFL for a long time, well before saturation coverage became the norm on TV. But it’s different with NASCAR. I think it would go over like flatulence at Mass.

Weeknight races? Another mixed bag. One, it would be tough to attract fans to a weeknight show, especially those who must work the next day. Many fans travel hundreds of miles to attend a Cup show, and it would be tough to ask them to drive home all night to ensure they clock in on time for work the next morning.

Plus there’s also the issue of race lengths. If a weeknight show started at 8 p.m. Eastern time, it probably wouldn’t end until close to midnight. That would cut into “SportsCenter” if the race was on ESPN or local news — which generates beaucoup advertising bucks for local affiliates — if the race was on FOX.

Maybe it would work if Sprint Cup races were shorter, which I think is long overdue. But it’s a tricky proposition.

Another NASCAR issue that has spurred plenty of conversation this year is the sanctioning body’s edict of “Boys, have at it” in regards to aggressive, full-contact racing. Some drivers who are active users of social media, such as Denny Hamlin, also interpreted that maxim to apply to Twitter. And that belief bit Hamlin in the posterior earlier this season when he was fined for posting comments on his Twitter feed that NASCAR didn’t like.

Blogger Bill Daly believes that decision by NASCAR has placed a veil of silence on Twitter among drivers. I can see both sides of this issue. Drivers are independent contractors working for race teams and feel like they should be able to speak their minds. But NASCAR also is the sanctioning body that provides the sandbox in which they play every week, so it also should have some control.

A tricky situation. Wasn’t life simpler when all we had were newspapers, TV, radio and static websites? You know, the old days of five years ago?

That Rowdy Busch kid

Bruce Martin at SI.com also has a panacea for what supposedly ails NASCAR, and it isn’t a clever TV scheduling tactic or a social media policy. It actually deals with a live human being named Kyle Busch. Bruce thinks NASCAR would get a huge shot in the arm if Rowdy won the Sprint Cup this season.

I agree. Love him or hate him, Shrub evokes emotion unlike any other Cup driver. And emotion is what fuels all of our passions.

And the Gluckometer shows that no one in NASCAR stirred more passion during driver introductions last Sunday night in Atlanta than young Kyle Busch, even if it was 89.3 decibels of boos.

By the way, do you really think Jeff Gluck carries a decibel meter to Cup shows? Man, that’s dedication. Or is there an iPhone app for that?

Emotion continues to fill the MotoGP paddock after the deaths of Peter Lenz and Shoya Tomizawa on consecutive weekends. And few riders are dealing with more emotion now than Moto2 rookie standout Scott Redding, who was involved in the fatal accident with Tomizawa. Redding is trying to cope with the loss of Tomi before remounting his bike for the Grand Prix of Aragon on Sept. 19.

Not an easy task. Best wishes to both Redding and Alex De Angelis, the other rider involved in the accident.

In IZOD IndyCar land, the announcement of the 2011 schedule Friday in Milwaukee continues to be the main topic of conversation. More Front Wing takes its best guess at the 2011 schedule in a post that also includes its latest podcast. The podcast is a solid listen, if a touch long at 68 minutes. I’m a firm believer that no podcast without guests should be more than 45 minutes, but probably that’s just me. Good work, as always, from Paul and Steph.

Nearly all of this blog, like seemingly more and more of the news from the racing world these days, deals with business and off-track incidents and episodes. So it’s time to finish up today’s “Splash And Go” with a reminder of why we love racing, why we still have the FEE-VAH.

Motor Sport Magazine recently ran two pieces about two iconic European circuits, Monza and Donington Park. Rob Widdows’ blog about Monza describes why it’s a must-visit for any racing fan, like Indianapolis one of the true temples of worldwide motorsport. And Andrew Frankel wrote about how Donington — one of my favorite tracks in the world – is being resurrected after it was emasculated in the intent of staging the British Grand Prix before Bernie Ecclestone pulled the race back to Silverstone.

Both circuits have a soul, a petrol-fueled pulse, that no Tilkedrome can replicate. If you’ve been at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on a quiet day around sunset, you know what I mean. You look at the Turn 1 grandstands in the shadows of twilight, and you can just feel and hear the ghosts.

It’s a goosebump-bulging feeling from a spine-tingling place.

On the surface, it would have appeared that two of the three major worldwide motor races last weekend were compelling as hell, and one was not.

The Le Mans 24 Hours featured its usual overload of drama and strategy, most of it coming when three of the four dominant Peugeot prototypes were forced from the second half of the 24-hour race with apparently the same engine problem. This let archrivals Audi claim a sweep of the podium positions in the premier P1 class and in the overall race.

Formula One put on its best dry-weather race of the year, with ease, at the Canadian Grand Prix. Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button finished 1-2 for McLaren in a race packed with action, passing and fascinating strategy.

Meanwhile, Denny Hamlin dominated the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Michigan, leading 126 of 200 laps and pulling to 10-second lead late in the race before a late caution bunched the field.

There’s no doubt that Le Mans and Montreal were thrill shows. But I found Michigan to be quite interesting, too, because it was a rare sight of a team and driver in NASCAR simply crushing the competition.

Nobody wants to see races in any series decided by double-digit margins of victory every Sunday. Nobody wants to see winning drivers lead more than half the race every Sunday.

But what’s wrong with seeing it every once in a while? People appreciated the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls, who won 72 of 82 regular-season games en route to the NBA title. People appreciated the 1972 Miami Dolphins, who won the Super Bowl as an unbeaten team. People appreciated the 1927 Yankees.

And I appreciate that Hamlin and Joe Gibbs Racing are on an incredible roll right now, winning two in a row and five races together since the end of March.

So one question must be asked: Why was there a debris caution with less than 20 laps to go, when Hamlin led by 10 seconds? Did that make the end result of the race, Hamlin pulling away to a comfortable victory over Kasey Kahne after the final restart, any more thrilling for the fans?

Sorry, but I don’t think a team or driver should be penalized for brilliance. If Hamlin won by 10 seconds without a debris caution that Hamlin even admitted was dubious during Victory Lane interviews, it’s because he and JGR kicked everyone’s ass, fair and square. There’s nothing wrong with that.

Speaking of brilliance, Audi must be commended for its 1-2-3 finish at Le Mans. The German marque’s top two finishers ran like diesel-powered metronomes for 24 hours at the La Sarthe circuit in France, and the crew working on its third finisher showed fantastic resolve to keep the car running after an early accident while trying to lap a crippled BMW GT car.

It took a special kind of discipline for Audi to stay calm while rivals Peugeot ran ahead into the distance with its fleet of bubble-top diesel prototypes, seemingly headed for another victory. But Audi and steely team boss Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich know the ebbs and flows of Le Mans better than any team. Ullrich is one of motor racing’s great tacticians and hard men. He rules that team with an iron fist. I know I wouldn’t cross him.

Peugeot lacks that tactical nous. There was no need for it to push its prototypes to the limit on every lap, gaining three or four seconds per lap over the Audis. An advantage of one second per lap is more than enough over the span of a 24-hour race, but Peugeot boss Olivier Quesnel doesn’t seem to get that. Even after flames belched from the right side of the first Peugeot to fall out of the race, the team’s other cars continued to blister around the French countryside.

It made no sense. Neither did the racecraft of Peugeot driver Anthony Davidson.

Davidson was on a tear in a Peugeot 908 late in the race, trying to catch the leading Audis after losing four laps due to an electrical problem. He approached the GT2 class-leading Corvette in the Porsche Curves and ran it off the road, forcing the Corvette to spin and back heavily into the wall. The American-based Corvette team did a remarkable job to replace the back half of the car in just 31 minutes, but an engine problem later in the race sidelined the car for good.

The incident was so unnecessary. And the diminutive Davidson couldn’t help show a Napoleon complex and a lot of “I’m a former F1 driver” attitude when he took absolutely no blame for the accident and even had the gall to say “I don’t care” about Corvette losing the GT2 lead during an live, in-race interview with SPEED.

Get over yourself, Ant. Yes, you were in a faster car. Yes, you were driving it like you stole it in an effort to catch the Audis. But you also were trying to overtake a much less nimble car with much less downforce at a part of the circuit where passing is tough even for two high-downforce prototypes.

You screwed up, Ant. Man up and at least share some blame.

Speaking of blame, it would be hard to blame Michael Schumacher if he hung up his helmet for good after this season. His comeback tour has been a disaster, with the Canadian Grand Prix last Sunday in Montreal a new low point.

Seven-time World Champion Schumacher never has been the most ethical driver in F1 history, mastering the chop block to hold rivals at bay, famously ramming Jacques Villeneuve off the road in 1997 at Jerez and parking his crippled Ferrari on the circuit in qualifying in 2006 at Monaco to prevent Fernando Alonso from winning pole.

But Schumacher’s weaving and blocking last Sunday at Montreal were different. They were the signs of a desperate driver with no answers for the speed of his younger rivals, starting with teammate Nico Rosberg. Mercedes changed the wheelbase of its car to better suit Schumacher, whose driving style is different than Rosberg’s. But Nico still is beating him.

It’s a sad sight, much like watching Willie Mays fall down in the outfield while fielding a routine fly ball during his final year with the New York Mets. Hang it up, Michael, before you become the butt of too many jokes that cause people to forget your brilliance.

•This weekend: All three series that compete at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway are in action this Sunday. So put down your World Cup vuvuzela and check out MotoGP at Silverstone (9:30 a.m. ET, SPEED), the IZOD IndyCar Series at Iowa (1:30 p.m. ET, VERSUS) and the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at Sonoma (3 p.m. ET, TNT).

•Song of the Week: Here’s a song I would love to see Peugeot’s Anthony Davidson sing karaoke-style in a tune-o-gram sent to Corvette Racing manager Doug Fehan and the entire team – the blistering “I Was Wrong” by the great Social Distortion. I don’t think Doug and his incredibly talented crew should hold their breath for a rendition by Ant, though.

Until next time, keep your eyes on the road and your hands upon the wheel … and don’t forget to visit IMS on Facebook at www.facebook.com/IndianapolisMotorSpeedway and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/IndyTalk.

A funny idea swept through my brain over a light beer – YUCK, but buddies brought a ton of it to my house May 1 for the Mayweather-Mosley fight, and you never turn down free beer – while watching the Showtime Southern 500 on Saturday from Darlington.

Why the hell didn’t ISC, SMI and any other groups who have built racetracks in the last 20 years build an odd-shaped oval like Darlington?

Of all the ovals built in the last 20 years, I can only think of four that didn’t feature symmetrical turns – Gateway, Motegi (Japan), Lausitzring (Germany) and Rockingham (UK). Three of those four tracks are in Asia and Europe, where oval racing is about as popular as cricket in the U.S. Every other oval built since 1990 is the answer to a geometry exam – perfect symmetry between Turns 1 and 2 and 3 and 4.

Why?

Darlington is a fantastic racetrack. It’s a man’s track. A place that separates those who can drive from those who can’t. It has character. It has the “Darlington stripe.” It has large, large incisors that can bite at any time. If racetracks were Animal Planet programs, Darlington would be the one about piranhas in the Amazon or killer hippos on acid in Kenya.

Sure, Jeff Gordon, Jamie McMurray and Kyle Busch were the dominant drivers in the Southern 500 Saturday night before Denny Hamlin – who lingered near the front all night – drove away for victory, completing the weekend sweep of the Nationwide and Sprint Cup races. But this still was a fascinating race – one of the best all season.

Sorry, but I’ll take a race at Darlington over a race at Talladega. Any. Day. Of. The. Week.

Talladega is an aerodynamic lottery. Success there is based on drafting and luck. It’s not really based on the workings of a driver’s right and left feet.

At Darlington, drivers need to pedal the living cow manure out of the car. If I closed my eyes a few times during in-car shots Saturday night from drivers exiting corners, I would have thought I was watching an NHRA Funny Car driver pedal a car losing traction at the 60-foot mark. These dudes were pedaling the hell out of their COT’s, as DW and Larry Mac reminded us numerous times.

Plus it was fascinating to see the speed differential between drivers on fresh and worn tires. It’s probably the most dramatic of any track in NASCAR.

Darlington is a superspeedway that races like a short track, as DW said. How perfect is that? And why didn’t anyone else come up with the obvious idea to build an odd-shaped oval?

•Formula One: Thankfully Darlington was a good show, as the Formula One race at Barcelona was a race made for DVR or TiVo. Thank God for fast-forward, otherwise that race would have been a waste of two hours.

It says everything about the quality of a race when the best overtaking zone was the exit of pit lane. Seriously – that was the only place I saw any action, and one of the only places where you heard SPEED commentator Steve Matchett spurt his customary spasm, “GO ON, SON … (gurgle) … COME ON, SON … (gurgle) … YESSSSSSSS!”

Mark Webber ran away from the front for a victory, as Adrian Newey has built another uber-car that is becoming less brittle by the week. At this rate, the biggest question regarding F1 will be which Red Bull driver wins the World Championship.

The only remaining question is when – or if – Michael Schumacher will step on the podium. The European F1 press hailed Schumacher’s fourth-place finish Sunday at Barcelona as his “comeback race.” Funny, a fourth place would have been considered a failure during the Weltmeister era of Schumi. And Michael was a minute behind Webber at the finish Sunday.

Expect more tedium this weekend at Monaco. It’s the most overrated motor race on planet Earth, hands down. The first driver into the Ste. Devote corner on Lap 1 probably will win, as it’s damn near impossible to pass at Monaco. Sure, it’s a visual spectacle, with the large yachts, mega babes and Robin Leach “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous” set everywhere.

But it’s a crap motor race. The idea of modern F1 cars running on a street circuit tighter than two coats of paint isn’t charming. It isn’t nostalgic. It’s ridiculous.

Still, there’s cause for huge hope and optimism for race fans worldwide, as Indianapolis Star Opening Day for the 2010 Indianapolis 500 is this Saturday, May 15. Indy is just about here, and I can’t wait.

•Song of the Week: With Opening Day for the Indianapolis 500 just five days away, there’s only one song bouncing around my rocky brain this week. The theme to “Delta Force.” To me, that means INDY! Here’s a classic opening to the ABC broadcast of the 1992 Indianapolis 500, with “Delta Force” pulsating throughout.

Until next time, keep your eyes on the road and your hands upon the wheel … and don’t forget to visit IMS on Twitter and IMS on Facebook.

This week’s blog is all about deception: What you saw last weekend in racing may not be reality.

First, let’s start with the exciting IZOD IndyCar Series race at St. Petersburg. There were a few fans commenting on Facebook, Twitter and various Internet forums that the race should have been run Sunday despite the rain in the Tampa Bay area. These cars have rain tires – run! Stop being such wimps and weasels – run!

Get a grip, please. I was in St. Petersburg for the race, and there was no way in heaven or hell that the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg could have taken place Sunday afternoon. St. Petersburg received 4 inches of rain that afternoon and evening, and there were 6 inches of standing water on the exit of Turn 9. Last time I checked, Miss Budweiser and Chip Hanauer weren’t on the entry list.

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