The Official Blog of the IZOD IndyCar Series

Dario Franchitti sits down and tells CNN why he’s sticking with IndyCar. View video interview below. Full story available here.

“There are a lot of drivers that talk about wanting to race in INDYCAR. We believe that the skill set it takes and just the toughness and willpower to get behind the wheel of these cars is pretty amazing.” -Randy Bernard (Read more about the $5 Million Dollar Challenge at the IZOD IndyCar World Championships)

It’s your turn: tell us what skills a driver needs to be successful in multiple series. Are you a fan of drivers that compete in multiple series such as Danica Patrick, or do you prefer to see drivers stick to their “roots?” Which drivers do you think have what it takes to compete for the $5 Million Dollar purse at the IZOD IndyCar World Championships this October?

It takes more than a carbon fiber wing and a prayer to maneuver an IndyCar around a track at speeds up to 220 mph. Say for example, strong core muscles. It’s no secret that IndyCar drivers strive to maintain peak physical fitness during race season but what about the rest of the year?

As drivers and teams prepare for the second race of the season in Alabama, I headed over to Pitfit Training on the Northside of Indianapolis to find out how these athletes keep their bodies and minds in tip top shape.

Pitfit is known as an industry leader in the world of motorsports-specific human training. Serving approximately fifteen to twenty Indianapolis-based motorsports athletes on a regular basis, in addition to many more around the world, Pitfit utilizes the benefits of technology to coach clients year round regardless of their location.

PitFit Veterans and Rookies

For drivers who are traveling, or those who don’t live in the Indianapolis area, Pitfit owner Jim Leo and his team of trainers are able to email fitness routines to their clients. During their off-location training sessions, drivers wear a heart rate monitor and log in their workouts online daily. That way, they are held to the same accountability in their remote workouts as they are when training in the Pitfit facility.

There are, however, major benefits to working out at Pitfit. In house, there is a long roster of fitness experts in a wide range of areas from boxing and yoga to rock climbing and swimming that coach the drivers in those areas. Leo strongly believes in providing his clients with a wide range of exercise to keep them in the best possible shape. How does a Pitfit workout compare to a standard gym routine? Leo cites Pitfit client and IndyCar Scott Dixon as an example. “Scott is in the best shape I’ve ever seen him. He is focused and motivated like I’ve never seen him before,” Leo said.

Despite feverishly taking notes and touring the Pitfit facility, I suspected I wasn’t getting the full effect of what it’s like to endure the training session of an IndyCar or IndyLights driver. Leo was kind enough to set me up with a conditioning class to find out. My one and only goal was not to vomit, as Leo had warned me this is not uncommon for first-timers. Brilliant.

The class consisted of Pitfit rookies and veterans, each one of the former paired with one of the latter. I had the pleasure of partnering up with IndyLights driver Pippa Mann who has been a Pitfit client for almost three years. Mann says she’s seen incredible results since joining. “When you train yourself, however hard you work, there is only so much you can do, only so much you can learn, and only so much variety you can add,” she said.

Coming from someone who drove Toronto and Edmonton with a broken hand, I figured Mann must be doing something right. “I had to use muscles I didn’t even know I had to hang onto the car in those circumstances, but thanks to Pifit those muscles were prepared and ready to step in and help me out.”

Mann and I, along with the other members of the group were instructed to complete eight circuit stations listed on a white board. Each set of partners was alternate between two activities for three 60 second intervals. A few of the tasks were familiar (confirmed I still hate the Jacob’s ladder) while others were completely foreign, for example the Dynavision D2™. The Dynavision D2™ is one of the many high-performance training machines that drivers use to enhance their training. Just as a strong core is crucial in conducting the body to maneuver the car, exceptional visual awareness is also imperative in relation to reaction time, peripheral awareness, and concentration.

Working out at PitFit

As I walked out of the class, with my heart rate through the roof and a level of fatigue I haven’t experienced in years, I tried to imagine what it would be like to go return the next day and do it all over again. My conclusion? Not even on a carbon fiber wing and a prayer.

Yesterday, Newman Haas driver Oriol Servia stopped by the new Dali Museum, located in the heart of the St. Petersburg Grand Prix. He was greeted by the museum’s director, Hank Hines. They toured the museum, talked art, engineering, surrealism and racing. It was an unlikely pairing, but the two hit it off immediately.

Oriol reveals his inspiration

[More]

Well, the season is here, congratulations, you made it. It’s time for racing. It’s time for racing updates. It’s time for lots and lots of racing video content.

Back in January, we pitched a new video series to you – something we called 11 in 11. It was a simple premise. We would gather 11 of our favorite fan submitted questions and ask as many drivers during the 2011 season. 11 in 11, get it?

You responded with lots of suggestions, lots of questions. You left comments on our blog. You tweeted at us, you wrote on our Facebook wall. As always, you surprised us with your passion and enthusiasm for the sport.

Today we’re bringing you the first video in this series, featuring Target Chip Ganassi Driver, Scott Dixon.

Scott Dixon posing during an IZOD shoot

What were the questions we ended up with? Here’s the general outline:

•    Which race are you looking forward to this year and why?
•    Talk about circuit layouts— what makes for a challenging course?
•    Talk about the 100th anniversary of the Indy 500 and what it means….
•    From Paige: If you were a cartoon character, who would you want to be?
•    From Ken (possibly in Idaho): What retired Indycar driver do you respect/admire the most, and why?
•    From Gina: which type of track do you prefer- ovals or road courses and why?
•    From Neil: What is your biggest challenge now that you’ve made it to the pinnacle of racing?
•    From Canada: what’s the best prank each driver has played on other drivers/crew members?
•    From Joe: What are you most looking forward to in 2012 with the new car and engine?
•    From Susan: Tell us about the first race that you won (no matter how old you were, what type of race it was) and how it made you feel.
•    Megan wants to know: Everyone wants to win the Indy 500. After that what is the race you would most like to win?

And finally – here is the video. Enjoy. Lots more to follow throughout the season.

To start, I have a confession to make. I test drive cars with no intention of buying them. If it’s a sunny and warm Sunday afternoon and I have nothing better to do, I will haul myself up to a car dealership part of town (yep, you know the areas I’m talking about, where you can hit up six dealerships on the same road) and I will happily park my 2005 Ford Taurus (it’s the ugliest shade of green) and locate a salesperson.

I’ve driven BMW’s, Jeeps, Nissans, Honda Pilots (my secret first choice for when I’m a full-fledged soccer mom), and a variety of Cadillacs (always with the windows rolled down and rap music blasting). Yet for six years now, I’ve driven the very same Ford Taurus and have no immediate intentions of selling my “whip” and to much chagrin, I’m sure, from the many salespersons I’ve encountered on my Sunday drives.

My confession having been made, when I heard that Chip Ganassi drivers Scott Dixon and Jamie McMurray were about to swap rides for the day at Barber Motorsports Park I thought, wow, I get it. (Not sure what I’m talking about, read more on the swap here and check out video of the swap here.)

Scott Dixon gives Jamie McMurray pointers on handling an IndyCar

What do I get? It’s that secret thrill of sliding into the driver’s seat of a car that isn’t yours and attempting to get comfortable in an awkward and different environment. How do the brakes feel? Can I go from zero to sixty (well, okay, in their case a bit faster) in under a minute? How do I shift? Do I need to adjust the mirrors?

Scott Dixon climbs into McMurray's stock car

These questions and more run through your mind when testing a different car but so does the important question, “Is this the kind of car I can see myself in for years to come.” For Dixon and McMurray, it’s no different. The question, which they may joke about after getting out of the cars, still surfaces in a far corner of their mind. In racing, it does happen. Drivers go from open-wheel racing to stock cars and back again. In even some cases, such as Danica Patrick, both.

Jamie McMurrary and Scott Dixon pose together at Barber

Perhaps the drivers emerged the same way I did when I test drove a Subaru. It was great, handled well but I could not picture myself taking on the lifestyle decision that a Subaru driver must make. It’s a stigma. One that says I kayak on the weekends and always have a bag of granola and my Five Finger running shoes in the trunk. Which, scary enough is true, but was I willing to let the world know? I stuck with my Taurus that day and have yet to look back. However, there’s always that thought in my mind saying someday…. someday I’ll be ready for a change.

As members of the media, Brant James and Tony Fabrizio are used to getting interviews from winning race drivers.

On March 8, the reporters were giving interviews after winning the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg  Media Go-Kart Enduro at Andersen Race Park in Palmetto, Fla.

James, who covers motorsports for SI.com, and Fabrizio, the motorsports reporter for the Tampa Tribune, teamed with Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg VP/GM Tim Ramsberger and IZOD IndyCar Series driver Alex Tagliani to win the 50-minute go-kart race.

“I’m not going to say it was fixed, but look at our team,” James joked as he pointed to Ramsberger on the podium following the event.

Hail to the victors.

Media and VIPs were allocated to nine teams of three and joined by professional racing drivers who will compete in the five series that will race on the streets of St. Petersburg, Fla., later this month.

The Mazda Road to Indy was well-represented with Shannon McIntosh, Zach Veach and Spencer Pigot attending for the Cooper Tires presents the USF2000 National Championship Powered by Mazda, Nick Andries and Joao Horto representing the Star Mazda Championship and Martin Plowman and Tagliani representing the IZOD IndyCar Series.

Andries, a St. Petersburg-area native who will race on the streets of St. Petersburg for the first time, topped the field to take the fastest lap award.

“I have a little unfair advantage over the others because I’ve been here so many times,” said Andries, who nearly ran down Veach’s Team Rocket kart for second place. “ I think if Veach or Plowman had more time here, they would have been closer.”

The star of the day, though, may have been Veach, who finished second though Tagliani accused of having an unfair advantage because of his small stature.

“I’m glad Zach is here because I’m not the shortest,” said Tagliani, who carried the teenage racer over his shoulder and lifted him over his head. “But how much weight do we get to add to his kart?”

Veach’s weight advantage, though, helped Tagliani in the race as the pair used a stock car-style bump draft to gain on their competitors.

“You saw the Daytona 500,” Tagliani told Veach. “Some people are pushers, and some get pushed. You my friend are definitely a pusher.”

Turns out Tagliani didn’t need the push.

Alex Tagliani was surprised by the number of Canadians who showed up to watch the Tampa Bay Lightning play host to the Washington Capitals in an NHL game March 7.

“There are a lot of people speaking French here,” said Tagliani, who led the crowd at St. Pete Times Forum in yelling “let’s play hockey” just before the puck dropped.

“Living five minutes from Alex’s hometown, I know who he is,” said Patrick La Fortune. “It’s very nice to get to meet him and get his autograph.”

Another Tagliani fan, Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg Road Show member C.J. Miller, took the opportunity to enlist Tagliani in his planned marriage proposal.

Miller had Tagliani sign a hero card with the message: “Tracy, will you please marry C.J?”

“She told me to come up with an original way to propose,” Miller said. “I thought this was pretty original.”

Simona de Silvestro had the opportunity this week to tour Entergy’s Grand Gulf nuclear energy plant in Port Gibson, Miss., to learn more about nuclear power as a source of carbon-free electricity and the company that is sponsoring the No. 78 Nuclear Clean Air Energy car for HVM Racing in the IZOD IndyCar Series.

“People are amazed at the complexity and safety protections of the redundant, operational and safety systems that are built into a nuclear plant,” Browning said. “Simona had great questions and was quick to tell me that her home country of Switzerland gets 40 percent of its electricity from nuclear energy.”

The HVM Racing group, which also included team owner Keith Wiggins, received an introductory education program about nuclear energy.

“I didn’t realize that the volume of greenhouse gas emissions prevented at the 104 nuclear energy plants in the U.S. is equivalent to taking nearly all passenger cars off America’s roadways. That was an eye-opening statistic,” Wiggins said.

Following the tour, de Silvestro signed autographs for employees at the plant.

“I was so impressed with the amount of security that we went through and the enormity of the electricity produced 24-7 without interruption,” said de Silvestro, who returns to the track Feb. 28 for testing on the 1.5-mile Texas Motor Speedway oval. “It didn’t take long to see how well-managed the plant is by really impressive engineers and other nuclear professionals.

“I really am lucky to get inside and see a nuclear facility making electricity. That is something that most people don’t get to do. But I think that if they did, people would understand more about the process and appreciate getting clean electricity to use any hour of the day. We definitely need to have more clean nuclear electricity in the U.S.”

Mitch Davis traveled to a garage sale in North Carolina to stock his garage in Brownsburg, Ind., aka Chip Ganassi Racing West.

There is a mountain of items to tackle in preparation for the IZOD IndyCar Series season, and the task  been compounded for the start-up teams for Graham Rahal (No. 38 Service Central Chip Ganassi Racing) and Charlie Kimball (No. 83 Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing) that were announced Dec. 16.

Graham Rahal and Charlie Kimball

Fortunately for Davis, the team manager, items from workbenches to a refrigerator were available as a result of the merger of the Ganassi and Earnhart stock car operations. It was like tagging trees to cut in a forest; a shopping spree without being concerned about prices.

“Overnight, we were instantly a race team,” Davis says. “It’s all up and running. We’re crack checking parts and doing body fits on cars. The hardest part really is getting all the pit equipment and transporters painted and decaled and building all the spare wings. You can’t just have one front wing and bump the wall and say, ‘Oh, I need to buy another one,’ because it doesn’t exist. You have to buy all the components, have them painted and decaled and fit.”

Bell housings are lined up in one room. A stark white trailer occupies space near where a team member is assembling red cabinet drawers. Others are working on the electrical loom of Kimball’s Dallara chassis.

“To have gone from truck bays for an old race shop into a full IndyCar team, it all sets the stage for the season to come,” says Kimball, who’s moving up from Firestone Indy Lights. 

Graham Rahal poses by his new sidepods

It’s a work in progress to be sure, but after only two months in existence the group has come a long way to being competitive out of the box in the season-opening Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on March 27.

Davis, who returned to Chip Ganassi Racing “with a smile on my face” after three seasons with other IZOD IndyCar Series teams,  says 25 people are employed full time, with the two chief mechanics and two engineers moving over from the Target Chip Ganassi Racing operation in Indianapolis. Everyone that’s been hired has over-the-wall experience.

Hard at work in the shop

“When I came to work for Chip the last time he was just getting started in IndyCar and wanted me to come over because I had been in (INDYCAR), and this is just the perfect opportunity to come back,” Davis says. “The economy is growing again and Chip is taking advantage of the market with four cars, getting ready for next year with the new car and new engine packages coming.

“You look at what Chip’s done setting this up for the future and it’s a dream come true.”