rahal grabs at "ethanol" cash

[mac miller]

The indystar says this morning that rahal is making a grab for the ethanol cash. Unfortunately, he will not be able to put a front line star driver in the the car as, it seems, paul dana is part of the package deal........ I guess, getting his hands on the extra money is the most important thing to bob.....


I suppose this means the hemelgarn is gone again. I doubt that he is willing to spend several million of his own dollars to borrow engines from honda for the year........ although, TG may have to do a quantity discount deal with honda to get some of these parked cars on the track, at least, for INDY.

[damilt]

I saw that too, mac. I was trying to figure out how RLR could be ahead by taking the Ethanol money that barely kept Helelgarn in last year and keeping a guy like Miera with some money and a boat load of talent.

Go figure.

[OWNUT]

I saw that too, mac. I was trying to figure out how RLR could be ahead by taking the Ethanol money that barely kept Helelgarn in last year and keeping a guy like Miera with some money and a boat load of talent.

Go figure.

Easy just like in Nascar. The more cars you have the cheaper it is to have more.

[Mack Too]

As long as the effort produced a 3rd team I wouldn't be all that worried. I think Rahal could give give the Ethanol folks a lot more bang for their money. That said, no one knows the value of the Hemelgarn sponsorship. Perhaps the team did the best they could with the funding available.

[speed up]

Well, at least Danica won't be the least talented driver at RLR anymore

[LorenzoBandini]

Well, at least Danica won't be the least talented driver at RLR anymore

You could fool me by the stats from last season, where she pretty much handed to her Indy 500 winning team mate all year long.

[Frank Capua]

You could fool me by the stats from last season, where she pretty much handed to her Indy 500 winning team mate all year long.

Yeah well I think most figured that Buddy had some issues from his Indy injury last season that nobody was talking about... hope he's past that now and can bounce back this season.

Of course I hope Danica gets over her green flag issues as well.

[dog-ring]

You could fool me by the stats from last season, where she pretty much handed to her Indy 500 winning team mate all year long.

but she didn't hand anything to Vitor. Vitor was obviously the best driver on that team last year.................

[Powercat]

Not a good move by Bob, IMHO. Unless he can pull an AJ, where AJ was able to strike a deal with ABC that allowed him to put whomever he wanted in the car instead of ABC's guy - Scott Mayer. The reason I think this is a bad deal for RLR, is that they couldn't make Vitor's ride work financially, despite finishing 2nd at Indy and having a top-ten points finish and only tearing up two cars. I don't think either accident (Richmond, Nashville) were his fault. If they're losing money with a good driver like Vitor, why does Bob think that running a third car for Dana is going to be any different? If they can put together a big-time sponsorship deal, I'd say go for it. But without a deal like that, I think they are better off focusing all of their efforts on Buddy & Danica.

[speed up]

You could fool me by the stats from last season, where she pretty much handed to her Indy 500 winning team mate all year long.

I don't think you want to compare resumes between the two.

[homeslice]

but she didn't hand anything to Vitor. Vitor was obviously the best driver on that team last year.................

Agreed. Vitor was the top dog on that team, talent-wise, but since when does the top talent automatically bring you anything in racing? Check out Fernandez in 2005. Won a few, top 5 all over the place -- poof. No sponsorship. Sponsorship is like stardom -- take it while you got it because it could be gone tomorrow.

[Frank Capua]

I heard that Vitor is looking for a way to get back in before the season starts... but is a bit disheartened because most are advising him to try implants.

[fatlantic]

Paul Dana landed a full time ride with Rahal! You absolutely have to give Paul credit for what he has accomplished in racing, he has done this without rich parents(very rare), just hard work. Pauls only problem is that he is probably too smart to be an IRL driver.

[Benson477]

I don't think you want to compare resumes between the two.

Your Original slur of Danica in this thread was:

Well, at least Danica won't be the least talented driver at RLR anymore

That was not correct either as was readily obvious as the season went on as we watched the banzai boys and some of the totally inept in action.

Her first year resume in professional OW looks pretty good as does the sponsorship she brought for Buddy. Her stats were actually considerably better than Buddy's when participating in the same field. We all realize Buddy was a bit off his feed but your remarks in general were off base.

[Frank Capua]

... Pauls only problem is that he is probably too smart to be an IRL driver.

Dang... I can never find my copy of Little Al's mug shot when I need it.