Indianapolis "News" & Notes



--After a badly-needed off-week (well, for everybody except Kasey Kahne, apparently), the Nascar Sprint Cup Series returns with all the exciting* on-track action** of the Brickyard*** 400.
(*excitement not guaranteed)
(**most "action" will be teams passing via pit stops)
(***now known as the Some Guy 400 Presented by King Cobra, part of the Indy Super Weekend)
"WHY did I ever go to Petty?"

--Bobby Labonte continues his "Hey--remember when I was a championship driver?" tour by running for a third Tommy Baldwin Racing team.  If he qualifies, he'll join Jeff Gordon as the only drivers to compete in every Nascar Cup race at Indianapolis.  Well, Jeff's still the only one to COMPETE in every race, Bobby's simply participated in about half of them.

--I love how Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s Wednesday basically consisted of blowing stuff up.

--Juan Pablo Montoya and the Penske #12 team return this weekend.  Don't scoff--JPM is probably the part-time racer with the best shot to win at a non-plate track this year.  He'll also set a record for difference in on-track attendance from last week (about a dozen Canadians) to this week.

--On Saturday, be sure to check out the Nationwide Series race.  Then, check online for the hundreds of "recaps", 99% of which will deal with how the race should be at IRP, ORP, LORP, or whatever they hell they call that place now.

--Oh, and a reminder--Cup races will be on the ESPN family of networks for the rest of the season.  That means ESPN for Sunday races, ABC for Saturday Night races, and ESPN9 for rain-delayed races.