We are now officially less than a week from the start of the F1 season. It has been a long time since last October at Brazil. So how is 2005 going to shake out and how will any team be able to unseat Ferrari and Michael Schumacher for the championship?

Like every season, hope springs eternal. Unfortunately the past few have had that hope dashed almost as soon as the cars are unloaded at Albert Park. Will this year be any different? Only time will tell.

What’s new?

Driver changes were in vogue during the off season. In fact, eight of the teams are featuring new lineups going into the first round of the season. Probably the most notable is the arrival of Juan Montoya at McLaren. Yes, the contract was signed before last season, but now JPM gets his chance with Mercedes power. JPM’s departure from Williams was a golden opportunity for Mark Webber. The Aussie will be in seat 1. Ralfie also left Williams and has been replaced by Nick Heidfeld.

Ralfie has moved on to the Toyota team for a huge amount of money that he will never earn. David Coulthard has moved from the McLaren team to the Red Bull team which was formerly the Jaguar team.

Other notables are the introduction of the first Indian driver. Narain Karthikeyan will drive the Jordan/Midland car. And speaking of Jordan, Eddie has sold part of his team to Russian investors Midland. There has been talk of a race in Moscow for years, but this is the first real foray into the sport by the Russians. Tiago Montiero will take the other seat.

As mentioned, Ralfie is over at Toyota and will be alongside Jarno ‘Top Knot’ Trulli. Trulli won the Monaco GP last year, but fell out of favor for stroking it at France. By the end of the season last year, 1998 World Champion Jacques Villeneuve had taken the seat. This season, Villeneuve will test the F1 waters again in the Sauber. The only other significant change is the Giancarlo Fisichella will take Trulli’s seat at Renault.

Jordan/Midland has also announced it will run Toyota engines this season.

The two weekend rule is now in effect as well. That means that engines will have to last two full race weekends or penalties will be assessed. This is just the first step towards sweeping rules changes that have been proposed by FIA president Max Mosley.

Finally, the season has been stretched to 19 races with Turkey joining this years lineup.

What’s not?

BAR and Ferrari were the only two teams to stand pat on their driver combos, although Jensen Buttons wanted out at BAR. After a court battle, Buttons will stay. Most of the teams are using the same engine and tyre manufacturers this season. Sauber has signed a deal with BMW, but that will not go into effect until next season.

Of course Michael Schumacher and Ferrari will be the odds on favorites for this years championship. In fact, things will probably look similar to last season at the top of the grid. Williams, McLaren, BAR and Renault should be the haves while Jordan/Midland, Red Bull, Sauber, Toyota and Minardi will make up the second division.

With that all in mind how do I think the season will shake out? Here are my predictions:

Constructors:

1. Ferrari
2. McLaren
3. BAR
4. Williams
5. Renault
6. Sauber
7. Toyota
8. Red Bull
9. Jordan
10. Minardi

Drivers:

1. M. Schumacher
2. Montoya
3. Barrichello
4. Sato
5. Raikkonen
6. Buttons
7. Heidfeld
8. Webber
9. Alonso
10. Massa

The Daytona 500 is a scant 4 days away and I just can’t generate much enthusiasm for it. The Super Bowl of Stock Car Racing just doesn’t seem to carry the cache with me like it did in the past. And in case those of you who think it is just because it appears as though perennial Daytona favorite, Dale Earnhardt Jr. won’t be very competitive this time around, I assure you it is not.

No, my interest in NASCAR has waned tremendously over the past couple of seasons. I have become much more interested in F1 racing and have continued to follow the IRL very closely. In that shuffle, NASCAR has pretty much had to take a back seat. Oh sure, I will watch the 500 on Sunday, just not with the same thrill I used to get.

Anyway, things do appear to be a little different going into the race. DEI who has been so dominant at the restrictor plate races looks like they are middle of the pack at best. It could be because of a renewed effort on the other tracks in the series, or it could be because of the team swap between the 8 and the 15 cars. Whatever the reason, neither Jr. nor Mikey qualified well Sunday.

Jimmy Johnson and Jeff Gordon were both strong and it stands to reason that they will be favorites come Sunday. Johnson won the Shootout last Saturday night and I am picking him to come home with the win Sunday.

The start of the season also marks the start of two of NASCAR’s veterans final season. Mark Martin and Rusty Wallace are both entering their final seasons on the circuit. From the sound of it Rusty maybe having second thoughts, while Martin seems perfectly content with his decision. Both have been stars for a long time at the top of the NASCAR food chain. I always liked Mark and wish him the best. Both have sons who are just starting their careers.

Anyway, that’s about all I have for now for NASCAR. I think Jr. will win the Cup this season, but it is such a grind. Wake me up before the Brickyard so I can catch the part of the season that matters.

It’s official, FTRG is now a car owner in the IRL. His Vision Racing team was announced yesterday, about a week after rumors had circulated that he would indeed enter into an arrangement that would put Ed Carpenter in a ride for the season. Larry Curry has been signed on as team manager for the effort.

Where do I begin? Let’s start with the name. Vision Racing. Vision as in FTRG’s vision of the IRL. The IRL as an all oval track series that would afford the American midget and sprint car drivers who were escaping to NASCAR an opportunity to shine on motorsports biggest stage, the Indianapolis 500 at a reasonable price. That lasted about two years. Then the foreign element started creeping in and the vision was changed and it was no longer an American only deal. Then came the evil Roger Penske and the vision further changed. Next came the engine leases from Honda and Toyota and the idea of anyone being able to get any equipment started to get fuzzy. Then we get road courses, then street parades. Finally the vision that the car owners were not the best to run the series has been completely tossed out and guess what you have, CART circa 1995.

George is such a fucking mallet head that he just mumbles his way through with no regard for what he says and what ramifications it will have on people. Vision my ass. Lack of vision if you ask me.

I already talked about the hypocrisy of his running a team while also running the series. Conflict of interest? Yes. Does he care? Obviously not.

So he forms a team to make sure Ed Carpenter gets in. Ed is FTRG’s step son. Now I don’t have a problem with him spending money to make sure his step son gets a ride. Then again, I am not convinced that Ed should be in an Indy car. I haven’t seen it and with the IRL powers that be involved with his effort I hope there is no controversy.

Then we come to Larry Curry. Yes, that same walrus looking piece of crap that spent 33 months in a federal pen for embezzling more than $1 million from John Menard. Nice guy! Oh sure Curry has since paid nearly all of it back and he did his time, but is this really the guy you want around you? Besides, other than getting Tony Stewart to the pole at Indy, what has he really done? And God knows, he has been around long enough that he should have a pretty impressive resume.

This whole thing sounds like a bad idea to me. The IRL needs the cars, but it is obvious that no one over at 16^th and Georgetown has any real clues as to how to run a racing league.

Recently I have read some opinions regarding the Greatest Spectacle in Racing and why it is on the downslide after being the top dog for 80+ years. I’ve read differing ideas on what it will take to bring its status back up to where it was. Well kids, there ain’t no secret to what the problem with Indy is and it has nothing to do with cars, engines or drivers. Simply put, the split in open wheel racing has left it with two bitter camps who refuse to capitulate and embrace the other. Add to that the fact that the purses are ridiculously low for the costs and you have a recipe for disaster.

One of my recent favorites is from the Indystar.com message boards. We have the posters Watson Roadster and sprintman who have basically the same message with the difference being that sprintman is at least human while Watson is a venom spewing asshole.

Their idea is to bring back the front engine car, add some safety devices and let them race. They claim this will lower costs thereby allowing their beloved spridget drivers to get in the game. They claim all of them are going to NASCAR instead of Indy and this would stem that tide.

They also claim that the reduction of speed is no big deal, after all NASCAR doesn’t run 225 mph and look at the crowds it draws. In one breath they say kick Honda and Toyota out and in the next they say bring in more manufacturers. Finally they claim that these spridget drivers are household names and that losing them to NASCAR is killing open wheel racing in general and the IRL in particular.

Well folks they are wrong. First of all, the IRL is being killed by its leader Tony George. That mushmouth POC has changed his vision of what open wheel racing has been a dozen times and has missed each and every time. I have said it a million times, THERE WAS NOTHING WRONG WITH THE INDIANAPOLIS 500 IN 1995. Why he had to change is beyond me.

Now to top it off, his bullshit about the owners shouldn’t run the series comes full circle as he has gone into team ownership so his stepson can drive. What fucking hypocrisy will he perpetrate next?

Okay, enough about FTRG. What of the ridiculous assumptions made by Watson and sprintman?

Number one, they want a front engine car. Why in God’s name would we want to take a step back in technology? They claim the cars are all about the engineers now. That is true, but so what? Indy has always been a place for innovation. From Ray Harroun’s rear view mirror to the advent of the rear engine car to the aerodynamic changes to the SAFER barriers, the Speedway has always been about innovation and progress. Some of these boobs now say they want to roll back the clock and bring back what amounts to sprint cars. Look I have nothing against sprint cars. Winged or non-winged I find it to be an exciting brand of racing. But folks, if I want to see cars going around the track at 170 mph I will watch NASCAR.

As for lowering costs, how long do you think that will last? It will just be a matter of time before someone figures out a way to go faster and spend more money. Sure you can cap the amount spent. FTRG tried that and it failed. People want speed and speed costs. Get over it.

As for NASCAR taking all of the open wheelers well lets just take a look see. The only real “star” I see that has slipped away in the last year is J.J. Yeley. Sure it would have been nice to have him come to Indy and eschew Busch racing. But let’s be realistic. There are more seats in NASCAR. Add to that there is more money. The problem with the IRL is that there is no money. That is not and should not ever be the problem with the Indianapolis 500. Raise the purse to a realistic $30 million and make it worthwhile to run. If you can get them at Indy, they might run the rest of the IRL. Can’t afford to raise the purse at Indy and keep the IRL. Fine, lose the IRL.

And don’t give me this shit about all these drivers going NASCAR. Only the pussies and really, are they established? How many of you really had heard of Kasey Kahne before he hit the pavement of NASCAR? Yeah he’s a great driver, but he wasn’t exactly a household name. Face it spridget fans, the days of the Foyts, Unsers, Rutherfords, Andretti’s, Joneses and Ruby’s are gone. There will never be another generation like that. Who is out there now? Dave Steele? Steve Kinser? Steve is a great sprint car driver, but he never made it at Indy and he didn’t make it in NASCAR.

Then we have engine manufacturers. Chevrolet announced this is their final shot. Do you honestly believe they would run if there were purses in the IRL and at Indianapolis worthy of what it takes to develop a real racing engine? Fuck no. Why not go low tech and go NASCAR. The money is there. It is a sin, but Indy just doesn’t pay enough. Something has to be done to keep Honda and Toyota. Not run them off as some suggest.

The bottom line is this: The purse for the Indianapolis 500 has to be raised. It is the only way to attract new sponsors and owners and drivers. With the higher purses you will have the sponsors that help fund the complete series. Not the other way around. The IRL exists because of the Indianapolis 500. The 500 is not just a race on the IRL schedule. And one other thing, don't count on there ever being just one series. The CCWS seems poised to keep going and regardless, their fans will never be back.

I may knock NASCAR a lot. I think it is slow and boring, but they sure as hell know how to market themselves. No one over at 16th and Georgetown seems to have a clue about that word.