David Phillips is saying that a 2009 Forsythe IndyCar venture is 95 percent done. Forsythe has already announced an IPS effort (and I read somewhere Sierra Sierra, probably the most successful Atlantics team prior to this season will be coming along as well), and shocked everyone but this guy by not coming over.

On an unrelated note, here’s a facinating article from Science@NASA. A certain internet blogger may or may not be its focus.

Well, the story of the day seems to be Danica’s behavior at Mid-Ohio.  Meesh has a rundown (from The Pit Lane), and she rails into Danica.  Personally, I a) wish they would have shown something during qualifying and b) hope they show something tomorrow.  This *HAD* to get on tape.  Cavin has a rundown, as well, which doesn’t contain spittle. 

I hate the modern world of keeping people calm and respectful.  I want an on-track incident tomorrow and a full blown cat fight in front of national television (and preferably after the inevitable delay we will experience tomorrow with The Open Championship…Go Shark!).  I don’t particularly care who wins, but as the old saying goes, "any publicity is good publicity".  People may hate Danica’s attitude and confrontations, but they draw attention.

Lee Spencer at FoxSports.com, of whom I’m basically completely unaware, says that her sources are saying that Vegas will be the 2009 finale. The league itself says no final decision has been made. The article says nothing of New Hampshire, but she’s a NASCAR writer, so who knows what she actually knows about the IRL, let alone the SMI five track proposal.

Chris Estrada’s entry says the aforementioned article was edited.

Mark C. at AR1 had an assessment on the Vegas/Loudon/Phoenix today. Essentially, he groups the three, which isn’t entirely fair since Vegas and Loudon are SMI and Phoenix is ISC, and goes on to say that the three would be doomed to fail. He also rips into Tony Stewart for no apparent reason. While I generally like his site and don’t regret giving him money (which in this world, even post split, is grounds for being bound and gagged), he generally took a cynical, pessimistic tone with this entry. While I’d recommend it, because I think it truly is one of the best all-around racing news sites out there, I wish his editorial rants got their own section because his anti-IRL spin is still prevalent. He does make a point that the league should honestly consider markets where NASCAR is not, but that basically consists of Denver, the Northwest, and Canada. They’re doing Canada, and to be fair, Portland should be an option.

Though it’s not exactly new news, Bryan Herta has been brought in by Vision as a consultant for road courses. Considering they have two drivers with primarily oval experience, it isn’t a bad idea. Then again, parking AJ IV for a road course specialist wouldn’t be either. Ed’s not necessarily any better, but Ed’s been a lot better than The Fourth overall this season. I kind of think that with a more balanced schedule next season, we might see more tag team deals with an oval and road course specialists splitting duty.

At Mid Ohio, Marco, in session 2, and TK, in session 1, were the two quickest drivers today. After the two AGR drivers were the Penskes, with Helio leading the way. The quickest transition driver was Justin Wilson in seventh. Buddy broke the top ten, and Wheldon was the only of the Big 3 to miss the top 10. In the back, Marty was quicker than Milka (I thought this was a Townsend race for some reason).

The PT deal is in fact for one race, and it’ll be sponsored by Subway. Apparently, in his time off, he’s remained health-cautious, as hamburgers and hot dogs have been replaced by cold cut trios and turkey footlongs. They even busted out Jared the ex-fat Subway guy at the end of the press conference. As a note, Jared actually lost all his weight at Indiana University and grew up in Indy. Similar to the last post, eat Subway for lunch (I did last night for dinner) and let them know you appreciate their sponsorship.

After all of the problems she had at Indy, it appears as though Sarah Fisher has landed a good sponsor for her remaining two races of the season.  Dollar General, which at least has a pretty huge presence down here, will sponsor her for Kentucky and Chicagoland.  They’ve sponsored Busch races at Chicagoland and Bobby Labonte in the series, and, I believe, this is their first venture into the IndyCar Series. 

Also, she has apparently sent thank you notes and pieces of wreckage to fans who supported her for Indianapolis.  I initially argued against fans giving her money because there were better causes, but now that they got something in return (wreckage makes cool merchandise), I’ll change my tune on that.  Yes, I can change my mind two months later.

Finally, I’m a big fan of letting sponsors know you appreciate their actions.  You can contact them directly here, and you should stop and buy some stuff cheap from them on the way home from work today.