The final race in the 2011 Izod IndyCar Series takes place Sunday afternoon in Las Vegas. There are several interesting storylines heading into the season finale ranging from the championship being decided to Danica Patrick’s last race.
2011 Championship- There are two drivers who enter the weekend with the chance of exiting with the Championship trophy. Dario Franchitti and Will Power have been trading the lead all season, but coming into this race Franchitti has an 18-point lead over Power. Both have multiple wins this season, but only Franchitti has won a championship before.
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| From IndyCar.com, a breakdown of where Power needs to finish in order to win the Championship. |
Dan Wheldon- This may be the biggest news coming into race weekend. If Dan Wheldon is able to win the race, he will win $2.5 million for himself and $2.5 million for a lucky fan. If you remember, Wheldon won the Indianapolis 500, so he’s going for another huge paycheck. Wheldon has only participated in one other race this season, and that was at Kentucky. The 2-time “500” winner from England will be starting at the back of the field, but expect him to be near the front by the final laps of the race.
The $5 million contest was originally supposed to attract drivers from outside the IndyCar Series. It was open to all drivers from around the world that had not raced in more than half of the races in the 2011 season. Originally, there were thoughts that some NASCAR drivers would attempt the challenge, like Kasey Kahne or Robby Gordon. There was also talk that Travis Pastrana or James Stewart (of dirt bike fame) would participate. When no drivers expressed interest in racing besides Wheldon, it was decided that he could be a part of the contest.
Danica Patrick- It will be a bittersweet moment for everybody in the paddock when Danica Patrick completes her final laps in an IndyCar. For almost a decade, Patrick has been the face of the IndyCar Series and created one of the most dedicated fan bases in American auto racing. She brought national media attention to herself and the series when no one else could.
Patrick though has had some controversial moments in her open-wheel career. For starters, she only won one race, and that was partly because she got lucky and won on fuel-mileage. She also started several disputes with opposing drivers, including Wheldon, Milka Duno, and Ryan Briscoe. During last year’s qualifying for the Indianapolis 500, Patrick blamed her pit crew for such a poor qualifying attempt, over the track’s public address system no less. The harsh criticism for her team triggered a chorus of boos from fans in attendance.
It will be very interesting to see how IndyCar does without Danica. Whether or not she was being talked about in a positive note or was the butt of jokes, Danica was a name that was recognized by all racing fans in America. In fact, I know several people who only know her and none of the other drivers in the IndyCar Series.
Final Race for Chassis- The current chassis (or car body) has been the same since 1997. Needless to say, change was definitely needed. Next year there will be brand new bodies and engines in all the cars. These engines and different body parts will be made by Honda, Chevrolet, and Lotus. Maybe we’ll some drivers going all out since this is the last race for the cars, and nobody will have to spend any money on repairs.
-I’ve been confused on this subject for months. In August, there were reports that said that there would not be new bodies for the 2012 season. Then I read that this is the last race for the current body. Eventually I’ll find out, but if anybody knows anything further let me know.
Rookie of the Year- There are two rookies that are competing for this year’s award. American JR Hildebrand and Canadian James Hinchcliffe are separated by just eight points heading into Vegas. Even though “Rookie of the Year” is a somewhat minor award, don’t think these two are gonna treat it that way. This is an award that a driver only gets one chance in his life to win and an award that means a lot to each driver.
34 Cars- There will be 34 cars that take the green flag at Las Vegas, the most of any IndyCar race ever outside of the Indy 500. If this race is anything like the other 1.5 mile oval races has been, it should incredibly thrilling to watch. 34 drivers going over 200 M.P.H. just feet away from each other and the wall, it’s exciting just to type that.
Starting lineup for the IZOD IndyCar World Championship
2) Oriol Servia- #2
3) Ed Carpenter- #67
4) Alex Tagliani- #98
5) Ryan Briscoe- #6
6) Marco Andretti- #26
7) Ryan Hunter-Reay- #28
8) Graham Rahal- #38
9) Danica Patrick- #7
10) Mike Conway- #27
11) Helio Castroneves- #3
12) Wade Cunningham- #17
13) Soctt Dixon- #9
14) James Hinchcliffe- #06
15) JR Hildebrand- #4
16) Takuma Sato- #5
17) Will Power- #12
18) Dario Franchitt- #10
19) Sebastian Saavadri- #34
20) Alex Lloyd- #19
21) Charlie Kimball- #83
22) Townsend Bell- #22
23) Tomas Shecktler- #57
24) Davey Hamilton- #11
25) Vitor Meira- #14
26) Paul Tracy- #8
27) Jay Howard- #15
28) Dan Wheldon- #77
29) Pippa Mann- #30
30) Ana Beatriz- #24
31) Simona de Silvestro- #78
32) EJ Viso- #59
33) James Jakes- #18
34) Buddy Rice- #44
There are plenty of things to watch for in the race, but most important is the championship race between Dario Franchitti and Will Power. If Power wants to take home the hardware he’ll have a lot of work to do, and hope that Dario gets some bad luck. I personally can’t stand Dario Franchitti, so here’s hoping that he gets some bad luck.
Be sure to watch how it all plays out Sunday at 3 p.m. on ABC.
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