The biggest racing feast of the year is upon us! Sunday, May 24th, we have the Monaco Grand Prix for breakfast, the Indianapolis 500 for lunch, and the Coca-Cola 600 for dinner. Sadly, the big news for all three will be how will they find the money to survive?

Formula 1 travels to Monaco with the May 29th deadline for 2010 entries looming. Ferrari and Renault have said they will not participate if the FIA sticks with its new voluntary budget cap plus technical freedom rules. On the other hand, some prospective teams have said they will enter F1 under those rules. It wouldn’t be surprising if some of the other marginal teams choose to drop out if there is no budget cap. Ferrari has gone so far as to sue the FIA in a French court. A ruling is expected on Wednesday, May 20th. I guarantee that won’t be the end of the story.

Monaco is old school motor racing. It’s dangerous. If it weren’t Monaco, they wouldn’t dream about racing on this track. Every year they talk about why it isn’t safe to race here and then go do it anyway. It still inspires video games, with its tunnel, casino and fountain, impossibly tight corners, and the run along the gigantic yachts in the harbour. Drivers want to win this race, maybe even more than winning the World Championship itself.

Fergie Would Be Proud

It’s glamorous, as no other race ever could be or ever will be. Monaco is about spectacle, about seeing and being seen. Celebrities that don’t seem to care much about racing miraculously appear for this race. Lots of them. Local hotels that are outrageously expensive the rest of the year become obscene for the week of the Grand Prix. In 2004, the Jaguar cars carried Steinmetz diamonds as part of a promotion for the soon-to-be released Ocean’s Twelve movie. One diamond was lost after a crash and I don’t believe it was ever recovered. This year, Steinmetz will once again put diamonds safely (?) in the helmets of McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen, instead of in the nose cones of the cars. The yachts in the harbour are unbelievable. Several rival the technical sophistication and operating budgets of even the biggest teams.

Formula 1 is known as the series with little passing and Monaco is the prime example. You have to qualify at the front if you want to win. Yet it is far from boring! It’s a brutally difficult track to drive around, even without other cars. There are a few overtaking opportunities, if you’re willing to risk your life, and every year a few drivers do.

The big story, on track at least, will again be whether anyone can compete with Brawn. Red Bull seems oh-so-close and Toyota has shown signs now and then. The subplot will be whether Brawn can compete with itself. After years playing a supporting role to Michael Schumacher, Reubens Barrichello is adamant that he will not be Jenson Button’s understudy. The sub-subplot will be how much longer Brawn can go without a major sponsor.

Indianapolis 500

Tony George has threatened to pull the plug on the Indy Racing League (IRL) if it doesn’t improve its financial performance soon. Finally beating competitor Champ Car (aka CART) out of business hasn’t been enough to make IRL a success. As it is, George’s dream of an American, open-wheel, oval racing series is a long way from being realized. The only engine manufacturer is Honda (though one must admit they have a huge American manufacturing presence), the chassis is made by Dallara, an Italian company, and only 10 of the 33 drivers in the 500 are American.

Indianapolis remains a great track. 100-years-old, it is a unique 2-mile square oval, with four distinct 90-degree corners. There are two long straights and two “short chutes” between the corners at each end. Indy Cars are scary fast, with qualifying speeds between 220 and 225 mph. Passing in the corners is next to impossible because all the grip is in a single lane. Getting off line in the corners results in hitting the wall – hard! While tires are the problem for F1 and NASCAR at Indy, for the Indy Cars, the 500 is all about saving fuel for the final run to the checkers. The winner has to have great control of the accelerator to stay in front without running dry.

Another interesting feature of the 500 is a rolling start with 11 rows of three-wide cars. This year’s field includes four former winners. Starting on pole is Helio Castroneves, fresh off his acquittal on US tax evasion charges. On the outside of Row 1 is Dario Franchitti (a Scotsman, not an Italian). Behind them in Row 2 is Scott Dixon, and back in Row 6 is Dan Wheldon.

There are three women in the field: Danica Patrick, Milka Duno, and Sarah Fisher. Perhaps one of them can prove to the Indy crowd what Shirley Muldowney and Angelle Sampey showed the drag racers. There are also two Andrettis, Marco and John (who is working for Richard Petty), and two Canadians, Paul Tracy and Alex Tagliani. Tracy is mainly known for his aggressive bump and run style on street circuits, but he can get around Indy pretty quick. Tag was bumped from the field, but then his team owner pulled Bruno Junqueira out because Tag is a regular series driver (not just running the 500 like Bruno). Sounds like a tag team. Two former Minardi F1 drivers made the field: Justin Wilson and Robert Doornbos.

Left, Rinse, Repeat.

NASCAR, too, is hurting. Sponsorship was harder to find this year due to the economic downturn. Then Chrysler declared bankruptcy and now General Motors is on the verge. Car and Driver’s April Fool’s joke may not turn out to be a joke after all.

Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Charlotte is a 1.5-mile quad oval. The back straight is a straight, but the front straight is broken up by two corners. Tri ovals like Daytona and Talladega have a single corner in the middle of the front straight.

At 600 miles, the Coca-Cola 600 is the longest race on the NASCAR circuit. If they didn’t already know it intimately from last weekend’s Sprint Showdown and Sprint All-Star Race, they’re going to have another 400 laps to learn about it on Sunday. Some of the Sprint Cup drivers are also going to run in the Nationwide Series race on Saturday, which is another 300 miles.

Practice speeds reached 183 mph for the Sprint All-Star Race. 2006 Indy 500 winner Sam Hornish won the Showdown, which qualified him for the All-Star Race. He won the Rookie of the Race Award at last year’s 600. Look for him at the front on Sunday! Tony Stewart (aka Smoke) won the All-Star Race, which paid $1-million. He’ll be a favourite for the 600, but the All-Star Race has a bizarre format, so it’s not much like running the 600. Just for trivia, Smoke ran in the Indy 500 five times. He was on pole for his first race in 1996. He qualified 2nd in 1997 and finished fifth, his best result. Unfortunately, nobody’s doing the double this year – running the Indy 500 followed by the Coca-Cola 600. It’s never been great for results on track, but I admire watching them try.

How many Cheezy Poofs can a person eat in one sitting? We’ll get another chance to find out this Sunday.

Tags:formula 1, indy 500, IRL, lowes motor speedway, monaco grand prix, nascar