Auto Racing

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — IndyCar is hoping a turbo-charged snail can finish No. 1 at the box office and help draw younger fans to the Indianapolis 500.

IndyCar is teaming up with DreamWorks Animation to make "Turbo," which is slated to hit theaters in the summer of 2013.

The animated movie features an ordinary garden snail that dreams of winning the Indianapolis 500, and gets a chance to do just that after a freak accident leaves it with extraordinary speed.

The film is scheduled for release July 19, 2013, and is the biggest deal yet for IndyCar's Entertainment division. Filmmakers hope the racing snail can become as big a hit as the "Cars" series that featured a talking, NASCAR-style race car.

James Hinchcliffe seems to be on the quick path to stardom in the racing world.  This time last year, he was testing with Newman/Haas Racing at Sebring on the outside looking in hoping to land a sponsor for the 2011 campaign.  Fast forward one-year and he’s the reigning IndyCar Rookie of the Year and now drives for not only the well-respected Andretti Autosport team, but the most recognizable sponsors in IndyCar – GoDaddy.com.

Entering his sophomore season, Hinchcliffe has literally some small shoes to fill in taking over for Danica Patrick, but figuratively some large shoes that comes with a lot media attention, commercials, and on-track expectations. 

The new IndyCar season brings about many unknowns for every driver with a new DW12 car for all teams, as well as an engine battle between three manufacturers: Honda, Chevrolet, and Lotus.  We had a chance to sit down and speak with the 25-year-old sophomore at the 1st Hinchtown Go-Karting Media Challenge.  We spoke about the challenges that come with being on a new team, his relationship with Michael Andretti, his off-the-track commitments with Go Daddy, and his expectations for the upcoming season. 

The Driver: Coming off an impressive year that culminated with winning the Rookie of the Year– how are you settling in with the Andretti Autosport group?

James Hinchcliffe: It’s been a match made in heaven, right from the first day the chemistry of the team has been fantastic.  I’ve raced against Marco [Andretti] when we were 12 years old in go-karts and I’ve also raced with him in Star Mazda series some years back.  I’ve also gotten to know Ryan [Hunter-Reay] over the past season, as well as in Indy Lights. 

Michael [Andretti] has provided lots of help and support.  I’m now getting to know the engineering staff – they are a super experienced group of guys and are very successful at what they do.  Andretti Autosport is a big organization and I’ve been taking my time in getting to know the entire crew. 

TD: I wanted to talk to you about Michael Andretti, a living legend in IndyCar.   What advice has he provided you so far and what do you expect to learn from him throughout the year and the foreseeable future?

JH: The big thing for us as a team with having Michael around is the accomplishments and achievements that come with him.  Not many teams have that nor do they have recent racing experience.  His last race was only in 2007.  His knowledge and data base of experience is very recent and relevant.  For us it’s that extra mind, that extra successful driver on the team that allows us to pull all of those extra resources together and I feel it’s an advantage.

TD: There’s been lots of talk about the new DW12 car, what are your thoughts on the look and the safety aspects of it?  How has testing gone so far?

JH: The looks are growing on me.  To be honest, I wasn’t a big fan at first, but once you start testing and seeing the different teams’ cars – you see it as an IndyCar again. 

In terms of the testing, when you have a new car and especially a new engine there are so many things to get through.  It’s the first time in my life I have had to develop a new car.  In the past, testing was immediately focused on set-ups and the next track.  Now we are on the basics, such as checking reliability on certain components, and properly testing new development pieces which is a big task.  It’s been a lot of fun taking part in something new like that and it’s pretty cool that my feedback is having a direct effect on which direction this car will be developed.


TD: It’s a brand new year with new manufacturing battles.  Will this help improve the sport? And what are your thoughts on your partnership with Chevy thus far?

JH: Absolutely this will help IndyCar!  I love how competitive it was when we were all with the same engine, but now it brings us back to an era where different technology and engines makes for a race within a race.  As a driver, you now have another tool to play with.  We are going to see races potentially being determined by reliability and that’s exciting to me.  That’s what racing is all about!

The relationship with Chevy is a new one and we’ve enjoyed working with them and building that partnership up.  I’m excited to see what we can achieve.  However, it’s too close to call whether Chevy has the upper hand as of now. 

The open-test at Sebring will paint a closer picture, but it won’t be until qualifying at St. Petersburg when you will notice the differences between the engines.  You might not see who is better until the first oval, as St. Petes is not a huge motor track.  It will be a battle all year long, as different tracks will favour different manufacturers. 

TD: Coming off your rookie year, you’ve already landed yourself with Andretti Autosport and a big sponsor in Go Daddy, which is a massive jump.  Are you ready for the racing and marketing challenge with these two giants?  Is this the best role for you?

JH: First of all, joining the Andretti Autosport team is just a natural progression, so I feel that it’s the right spot for me.  As for Go Daddy, it’s a tech company and I’m a bit of a nerd, so that works for me.  They are also edgy, which go hand-in-hand with the off-the-wall things I’ve done with Hinchtown.  So I think my personality and the company ethos fit very well together and the more time spent working the more prevalent that becomes.  We’re really excited about some of the opportunities we’ve had and for them it’s the first time they have worked with a guy.  We won’t be seeing any bikinis, but it brings about a whole new list of opportunities for what they can do with a guy. 

We’ve done some photo shoots so far and we’re doing the creative for the TV commercials, so we’ll be shooting those towards the end of March.

TD: You are coming into the always-tricky sophomore year.  What are your expectations coming into this year?

JH: There are just so many question marks coming into this season.  Nobody knows which team will get a handle on this new car the quickest; nobody knows which driver style will suit the new car the best; nobody knows which engine is the fastest and most reliable.  It’s just too tough to make predictions at this point in time.  It’s totally up in the air what can happen.  The big goal however is not to have that sophomore slump that seems to happen often especially in motorsports. 

We just need to work harder than everybody else.  In a year with so many unknowns, so many new factors, it will end up being the team and the drivers that put in the most work who will get rewarded in the end. 

I could be competing with the Wills [Power], Darios [Franchitti], and Scotts [Dixon], but on the other hand I could be in the 15-20 position range – you just don’t know as it’s so open and that’s what makes this upcoming season so exciting.

SAO PAULO (AP) — Rubens Barrichello is bringing his Formula One experience to IndyCar in 2012, and the veteran Brazilian driver can't wait to start his rookie season in the series.

After 19 years and a record 325 races in F1, the 39-year-old Barrichello announced Thursday he has joined KV Racing Technology on a one-year contract. He will make his IndyCar debut at the season opener on March 25 in St. Petersburg, Fla.

"I'm loving the idea I'm going to be a rookie," he said. "That makes me young, and I'm loving that."

Barrichello will participate in all 16 IndyCar races on the calendar, including the Indy 500 in May and the other four races on ovals.

"I am thrilled, it is something very new to me," he said. "I'm very competitive and I'm not doing this just for fun, but I'll keep my feet on the ground in the beginning because I'll be a rookie despite of all my previous racing experience."

Barrichello is the biggest name to move to an American-based open-wheel series since F1 champion Nigel Mansell joined CART in 1993. Mansell won five races and the series title that season. Barrichello finished second in the F1 drivers' championship in 2002 and 2004, both times behind seven-time champion Michael Schumacher of Ferrari.

"This wasn't expected at all at first," Barrichello said. "But it kind of evolved after the first test, and now I'm really happy to be starting this new phase in my life."

KV Racing co-owners Kevin Kalkhoven and Jimmy Vasser also were at Thursday's news conference to announce the deal, along with new teammate and old friend Tony Kanaan. E.J. Viso of Venezuela will be the team's other driver this season.

"We are kind of pinching ourselves, it's a dream to be bringing Rubens to our team," Vasser said. "We raised our level when we brought Kanaan, and now with Rubens even more. The sky is the limit for our team."

KV Racing announced that Kanaan's contract was extended for another two years. He had been signed by KV Racing just before last season on a one-year deal.

The arrival of a well-recognized name in racing is welcomed by IndyCar, which is trying to revamp its image after ending last season on a low following the death of Dan Wheldon in Las Vegas.

"The entire series will get a boost with Rubinho's presence, it's another great name added to our grid," said three-time Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves, a fellow Brazilian. "He will be fighting for the title and the championship will only gain from that."

Izod IndyCar Series CEO Randy Bernard went to one of Barrichello's test sessions to meet the Brazilian. He said Thursday it was an exciting day for the series "and a positive step to start" the year.

"There's not a person in the world who knows racing that wouldn't tell you that Rubens Barrichello is one of the greatest drivers of all time," he said in a statement. "That will create great competition and expands our international platform."

Barrichello brings with him an ardent fan base — his 1.47 million followers on Twitter is one million more than Kanaan's, who leads all IndyCar drivers with 448,000 followers.

His move to IndyCar had been widely expected after Kanaan invited him to test for KV Racing following the announcement that Barrichello lost his F1 drive with Williams.

The Brazilian drove well again in a later test session and got the invitation to join the team, but the deal wasn't finalized until Barrichello was able to find a few Brazilian sponsors to help pay for his season.

And there was another problem he had to overcome: Barrichello's wife, Silvana, didn't want him racing on ovals. The family plan was to have him race 25 years in Formula 1 and then retire.

"What happened is we were watching an oval race and there was a crash and she looked at me and said 'You are never going to do that, right?'" Barrichello said. "And I told her at the time, 'Of course not, don't worry.'"

He said it took a while to get her on board, but in the end she understood how passionate he was about the idea of continuing his racing career.

Initially, Barrichello thought about racing only at the Indy 500, but realized it wouldn't make sense to skip the other four races on ovals.

"I wouldn't feel comfortable sitting at home and watching someone else driving my car," said Barrichello, who acknowledged he has "no idea" how to set up a car on an oval.

Former driver and team owner Michael Andretti expects the ovals to be a challenge to Barrichello, but is confident the Brazilian will enjoy his move to IndyCar.

"He's done it all in Formula One but he's going to have new challenges for himself and I think he's really going to enjoy that with these ovals," Andretti said. "Because he's going to find out that it's not that easy."

___

AP Auto Racing Writer Jenna Fryer contributed to this report from Charlotte, North Carolina, and AP Sports Writer Chris Jenkins contributed from Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Well, NASCAR certainly knows how to make a prime-time impression.

Rain, fire and Tide laundry detergent all factored into a Daytona 500 that will go down as the most bizarre in NASCAR history.

And Brad Keselowski tweeted most of it live. From his race car. Then he provided another update minutes after crashing at 190 mph.

And oh, yeah, Matt Kenseth picked up his second Daytona 500 title.

"You would think after 65 years and running all the races that NASCAR has run ... that you've seen about everything," NASCAR President Mike Helton said. "You do think about, 'Oh, my gosh, if that can happen, what else can happen?'"

The first Daytona 500 to be postponed took more than 36 hours to complete after rain pushed it from its scheduled Sunday afternoon start to Monday at lunch, and ultimately turned it into the first ever NASCAR race run in prime-time television.

Then Juan Pablo Montoya crashed under caution into a safety truck filled with about 200 gallons of jet fuel, and the collision caused a massive fireball that scorched the track and will be the most indelible image of the 54th running of the "Great American Race."

What did they use to clean it up? Tide laundry detergent, of course.

Seriously.

The two-plus hour stoppage turned into a tweet-up of sorts, as the drivers climbed from their cars and crowded around Keselowski, who had pulled out his phone to provide real-time updates to his fans by posting photos and answering questions. His number of followers ballooned from about 65,000 at the start of the race to almost 200,000 by the time the fire was extinguished and racing could resume.

"I thought it was pretty funny," said Dale Earnhardt Jr., who had his losing streak hit 130 races when he came up short in his bid to chase down Kenseth in a two-lap overtime sprint.

"That was kind of fun actually, standing around on the back straightaway. We did take the phone and put it to some use and looked up the weather."

When the 500 finally ended in the early morning hours Tuesday, the two-week SpeedWeeks odyssey wasn't over: Fog closed the North Carolina airports, stranding drivers and teams at Daytona for yet another night.

"Now believe it or not I can't go home," fourth-place finisher Denny Hamlin posted on Twitter. "Fogged in. Yet another night in Daytona."

The endurance race will be long over by the time the television ratings come in later Tuesday. No one was sure what to expect as Fox made the unprecedented decision to show the race in prime time — the best case scenario once rain washed it out on Sunday. NASCAR originally rescheduled for Monday afternoon but scrapped those plans in the morning based on more rain.

With a 4.5 overnight rating on Fox's coverage of Sunday's rain delay, vice chairman of Fox Sports Media Group Ed Goren wasn't sure what to expect Monday night.

"We are in the middle of February ratings sweeps, and there are significant successful shows on other networks," Goren said. "The question becomes, 'Will the loyal NASCAR audience find us?' The casual fan seems to have caught on Sunday for the storylines and the season, but the casual fan who was with us yesterday, now in prime time, has other options.

"So, let them race, and let's find out what happens."

What happened was a show like no other, beginning from the second lap of the race, when five-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson was caught in an accident that also collected Danica Patrick, ruining her Daytona 500 debut.

From there it was 25 lead changes among 13 drivers, 10 cautions, and that really big fire.

"The thing that comes into my mind is NASCAR just can't catch a break," Earnhardt said. "We're trying to deliver, and we just have some unfortunate things happen such as the rain delay, potholes in the track a couple of years ago. We're a good sport, and we're trying to give a good product."

Kenseth and Roush Fenway Racing teammate Greg Biffle took over the lead following the fire stoppage with 40 laps to go.

Montoya was driving alone under caution when something broke on his car. He spun hard into a safety truck, and the collision caused an instant explosion.

Montoya, who said his helmet was singed in the fire and his foot ached, said he felt a vibration in his car before the accident.

"I've hit a lot of things — but a jet dryer?" he said. "It just felt really strange, and as I was talking on the radio, the car just turned right."

Jet fuel — the safety truck held 200 gallons of kerosene — poured down the surface of Turn 3 at Daytona International Speedway after the accident, creating a fiery lasting image of NASCAR's biggest race of the year.

Journeyman driver Dave Blaney was leading at that time because he had not pitted, and all the drivers surrounded him and Keselowski as they lingered outside their parked cars during the cleanup.

Blaney's lead was short-lived, however, as he pitted for gas as soon as racing resumed. Kenseth took over the lead, with Biffle behind him, and the race went green with 34 laps remaining.

It became clear immediately that nobody could catch the Fords. Earnhardt tried several different strategies, same for Hamlin, but neither could get between Kenseth and Biffle.

Until the final lap, Biffle dutifully stayed in line behind his teammate, and when Earnhardt finally tried to make his move around him, neither driver could catch Kenseth.

Earnhardt held off Biffle at the line, while Kenseth grabbed his second Daytona 500 win in four years. He won the 2009 race by passing Elliott Sadler on the backstretch moments before the caution came out for rain, and he was declared the winner while waiting on pit road.

"We had a really fast car and have fast cars in the past, and I figured out a way to mess it up," Kenseth said. "I am glad it all worked out."