The 35th edition of the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach started this afternoon with two practice sessions for the IndyCar drivers. One noticeable difference between today’s activities and tomorrows will be the activity surrounding the pit stall of Team Penske, which has reloaded with some additional firepower. Helio Castroneves will be taking back the helm of the #3 machine with Will Power moving to the #12. Will Power had been hired to fill in for HCN while he dealt with his tax evasion case that wrapped up earlier today. Ryan Briscoe maintains the #6 machine and Team Penske beefs up to three drivers for the weekend.

Under beautiful track conditions today the top five drivers overall were:

Will Power at100.424mph / Scott Dixon at 100.255 mph / Raphael Matos(R) at 100.033 mph / Dan Wheldon at 99.922 mph and Mike Conway(R) at 99.789 mph.

For Power, being at the front in Long Beach should come as no surprise. He won the event last year which was the last race ran under the CART (Championship Auto Racing Teams) banner before the merger of the Indy Racing League and CART. In the IndyCar Series (the flagship of the IRL), it was this weekend one year ago where Danica Patrick made history in Japan to become the first woman to win a major open wheel auto race. The race in Japan was at Twin Ring Motegi, an oval, and because of the time it took for drivers to make the trip to the far east, there was no way anyone could compete in both races.

For most of the legacy IndyCar Series drivers this is likely there first time to the famed circuit in Long Beach.

TV times are as follows:

ONLY ON

Qualifying show: Saturday April 18th @ 6pm EDT

LIVE Race: Sunday April 19th @ 3:30pm EDT

Check back Monday for a race recap and a special posting about the 2009 Indy 500.

During the race you can set your twitter radars here for live updates throughout Sundays race.

Dateline: Indianapolis, IN.

“The King”, as most NASCAR fans know him by, Richard Petty, will make history at the 2009 Indianapolis 500. For the first time in his storied career, Petty will make his first step into the IndyCar series. Even though the team owner is a rookie to “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing”, his driver is not. John Andretti will pilot the # 43 machine with the familiar Petty number and colors in the May classic. John Andretti has raced in 9 Indy 500′s with his best finish (5th) coming in 1991.

John Andretti and Richard Petty know each other pretty well, John drove for The King from 1998 to 2003 in the NASCAR Cup circuit.

As an avid IndyCar fan I have to wonder if this truly a turning of the tide. Is the popularity of NASCAR decreasing so much that IndyCars are once again where it’s at? Regardless of the reason, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway has to be pleased with an announcement that can only help ticket sales. One other though to ponder here… Petty’s the first NASCAR owner to declare an entry into this years “500″, but will he be the last? I hope not.

RACE RECAP:

The Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg concluded with a familiar name and team on top. Ryan Briscoe drove the Team Penske #6 machine to victory circle. It’s back to back wins for Briscoe dating back to the season finale in 2008. The momentum carried through the off-season showed that Ryan is going to be a force to be reckoned with. For a driver who was on the hot seat last year, I think Penske has to be comfortable with where things are in 2009.

Ryan Hunter-Reay had a second place finish for Vision Racing. Vision racing is co-owned by Tony George (the ICS founder) and TV star Patrick Dempsey. Reay has been with the vision team for less than two weeks, so the team has to be very impressed with his ability to date. I wouldn’t have expected to ever say this…but, I can see Vision Racing with a Ryan Hunter-Reay victory coming this season. I predict at Mid-Ohio, but it may come sooner.

One other note about yesterdays race: Dario Franchitti showed he is back where he belongs. Racing with Target Chip Ganassi he drove home a 4th place finish. He had left the series for a one year debacle in NASCAR, but we’re glad to have him back in the fast cars. Clearly, he will do well in 2009.

Here are the top 5 in yesterdays Grand Prix:

Ryan Briscoe

Ryan Hunter-Reay

Justin Wilson

Dario Franchitti

Tony Kanaan

The next race in the IndyCar Series is the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach on April 19th at 3:30PM Eastern. Available on VERSUS.

TWITTER: follow me for IndyCar updates and other stuff @ejwassonmsf

Dateline: Indianapolis, IN

The IndyCar Series fires up the 2009 racing season at St. Petersburg this weekend. The Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, the first race of the 2009 campaign, is scheduled for 2pm Eastern on Versus this Sunday. In advance of the chaos, here are a few things to keep in mind for the coming season.

Same Bat Time: Different Bat Channel:

This year marks the start of what ICS officials hope to be a beautiful relationship. The VERSUS network has picked up exclusive rights to most of the IndyCar Series events this year. There are still a handful of events that will be carried on ABC (including the Indianapolis 500), but for the majority of the season the change in scenery could be a wonderful thing for IndyCar fans. In the past, the races had been covered on ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN Classic as well as ABC. If an event that was scheduled before the ICS races ran long…the ICS would get bumped to another channel and race fans everywhere would lunge for the remote to catch up to the action. Now, with a dedicated channel and an impressive broadcast team, the coverage could finally be what the series’ intense racing action deserves.

The broadcast team includes; Bob Jenkins, Jon Beekhuis and Robbie Buhl in the booth. They are joined by Jack Arute, Robbie Floyd and Lindy Thackston in pit lane. This talented and experienced team will provide an out-of-the-box enthusiasm and love for the sport that should translate well to it’s viewers.

Top 5 Drivers to Watch for 2009

With the vacancy of Helio Castroneves who is still out due to tax issues, the window for the next star of the IndyCar Series is wide open. For 2009, here is my list of drivers to watch:

1) Scott Dixon- The 2008 Indy 500 and IndyCar champion. He can never be overlooked as a possible contender for the season championship, and this year is no different.

2) Dario Franchitti- The 2007 Indy 500 and IndyCar champion is back from his year in NASCAR. Dario found the tin-tops to be a bit tougher than he envisioned. Dario belongs in open wheel racing, and he has done well there. I see no reason for that not to continue.

3) Robert Doornbos- The IndyCar “rookie” has a large amount of open wheel experience and is quite good on road courses. Watch for Robert to make an impact early. He carries experience from Formula 1, CART, Formula Ford and A1GP.

4) Dan Wheldon- With a jump to Panther Racing and the focus of a one car effort behind him, look for old Danny boy to be impressive and competitive. He re-joins Panther Racing for the first time since 2002, where he raced the final two races of the season as a teammate of one Sam Hornish Jr.? (Remember Sam? Look at the bottom 10 in NASCAR each week as he is regularly seen there)

5) Will Power- Will joins the mighty Team Penske and fills the vacant seat left by Helio’s off track issues. Will is solid on road courses and has proven he is a winner in each series he has been a part of. Put big time talent in a big time car and watch out. Will Power will be more than just a clever name by the end of the 2009 Campaign.

Even though I won’t put her in here, Danica Patrick is in a contract season and should have a solid year. Will she win any races in 2009? No. Will she be a player? Yes.

Stay tuned to MSF for more on the IndyCar series and my updates on the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.

If you twitter, follow me @ejwassonmsf for late breaking and live alerts during all IndyCar events.

Race organizer Roger Penske cited the deteriorating economic conditions as the main reason. He did not go as far as calling it a cancellation, hoping for a return to his “home race”, but merely referred to it as a postponement. Regardless of what its called, it’s not on the schedule for 2009.

The race, which was to have been run over Labor Day weekend is a prime spot on any racing calendar as the battle for entertainment dollars hits premium levels. Especially during a recession…or worse, the money people are spending on entertainment items has certainly dropped. IndyCar officials are working on a replacing the event.

The Indy Racing League made its debut race in 2007 at the Belle Isle track. From all accounts it was a very successful event and the promises of many future races looked very bright, until the economy woes struck with full force in 2008.

Another contributing factor may be the loss of two marquee teams in the American Le Mans Series. The ALMS and the IndyCar Series made for a full weekend of racing and have been paired together for the past several seasons.

The Audi ALMS team has won each LMP1 championship since 2000 and have said their pullout is due to wanting to focus on European racing. Underneath it all, in the current economic environment, this seems an unlikely reason. Audi, the company that prides it self on selling its cars by winning races, would seem to be putting a big hole in their marketing plan if that were true…at least domestically.

Porsche, the parent company of Audi, is also pulling out of the series. The teams will participate in the 12 hours of Sebring on March 21st.

This weekend the eyes of NASCAR fans are focused on Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina. Qualifying was rained out on Thursday so the lineup has been set based off of owners points. The top ten for the Bank of America 500 is as follows:

For tonight’s race ( 7pm EDT/ ABC ) the forecast calls for a high of 74 degrees with a 20% chance of rain.

The World will be watching the closely contested Formula 1 World Championship as the circus heads to Fuji Speedway in Japan. After Timo Glock and Fernando Alonso dominated the practice sessions the qualifying sessions showed once again what a game of cat and mouse Formula 1 has always been.

The Japanese Grand Prix is shown in the United States on Speed TV and begins at Midnight tonight! So if you’re a die hard F1 fan like myself…buy some Red Bull and stay up, it will be a heckuva show! For those unable to make it through the night, there will be a replay tomorrow afternoon on Speed. Check local listings for the time.

Here is your top ten for tonights (tomorrows) race in JAPAN!

The IndyCar Series is off until 10/26 when the IndyCars take on Surfers Paradise in Australia.