Photos by Charlie Leffler and Jim Ridolphi
IndyCar drivers were doing just about anything to promote the SunTrust Indy Challenge at RIR this past weekend. Above: Danica Patrick, left, accepted a model car racing duel with comedian Mark Malkoff, right, on the tarmac at Richmond International Airport. Below: Drivers Mario Moraes, center, and Raphael Matos, right, prepare to serve customers at Texas de Brazil. Bottom: USAC driver Brian Tyler old-schooled the younger competition at RIR.

0 Comments

RIR IndyCar Weekend notes

Getting a taste for driving
  Brazilian IndyCar drivers Mario Moraes and Raphael Matos got a good taste for Richmond on Wednesday evening when they served as Gauchos at Texas de Brazil, a Brazillian restaurant in Regency Square Shopping Center. For anyone who has never eaten at Texas de Brazil, customers are virtually bombarded by an assortment of 15 different grilled meats, ranging from beef, to pork, to chicken to lamb. The selections are continuously served until the patron literally tells the server to stop. Ironically, Moraes and Matos said that the style of service actually got it start in Brazillian roadside restaurants as a means of serving truck drivers.

One race that was a real laugher
  Last week, comedian Mark Malkoff was in the midst of living aboard an AirTran plane for 30 consecutive days. When Malkoff stopped in Richmond he was on Day 25 and perhaps that was what led him to challenge IndyCar driver Danica Patrick to a race. The two faced off on the tarmac of Richmond International Airport, not in IndyCars but in remote controlled replicas. But perhaps the outcome would have been no different in the real thing. Patrick quickly left Malkoff at the starting line then lapped him twice before he made it to the second turn. Patrick said that she figured to face better competition when she reached the RIR track. “The worst news is, the drivers aren’t as bad at driving as Mark is,” she said. “It’s going to be much more difficult this weekend with the real IndyCars and the big ol engines in them.”

IndyCar or NASCAR

  While Patrick remains the media darling of IndyCar for the foreseeable future, speculation continues to rise as to whether she makes the jump to NASCAR next season. While Patrick did not add to the speculation, she admitted that there was a certain attraction to NASCAR racing. “I think that when I watch NASCAR racing there’s a lot of side by side, there’s a lot of passing and you kind of just run all over the track and that’s cool for a driver,” she said. “You can bump a little. The racing looks like it’s a lot of fun. Maybe it’s something I’ll try out one day, maybe it’s not we haven’t made that decision yet.”
  On Sunday, Patrick may have hinted her intentions when she posted a message on Twitter that praised of the work of NASCAR’s Tony Stewart.  Stewart has spoke of adding another car to his team next season.

It’s a young man’s sport
  In defiance of the ‘racing is for the young theme, last year 51-year-old Chit Fillip won the Silver Crown race in Richmond, this year it was 27-year race veteran Brian Tyler who took the checkered flag.  “These cars here, the young ain’t quite figured out how to run them for this long,” Tyler said. “A lot of them do and a lot of them do good jobs, it’s just we’ve been around so long we kind of know when to go and when to whoa, type deal. Everybody says it’s a young man’s sport but I don’t believe that.”

Tired of tires
  Apparently, Tyler is not the only part of USAC racing that has lasted a long time. When asked how much tire he had left after the 100 lap race, he pointed out that they too have been influenced by the young racers on the circuit. “I’d say we’ve got a lot of tire left,” Tyler said. “You know the hockey puck they make us run here it throws sparks off most of the time. You can’t wear it out…and they did that too for the young kids because when we used to run the soft ones the young kids would blister them and wear them out so they went to this thing that you could run two or three races and not hurt it.”

Well, that about sums it up
  For the first 80 of the 100 lap USAC James River Grounds 100 at RIR, Bobby East looked as if he was going to leave everyone in his dust. East started the race on the pole and going into lap 80 the margin of lead had stretched to nearly a lap over the rest of the field. But a caution suddenly flew and 20 laps later, East found himself lucky to claim second. As East entered the media center following the race there were question on everyone’s minds as to what had happened. But the driver quickly quenched everyone’s curiosity. “I had a pretty good car and about lap 80 or so my sway bar fell out, brought out the caution, bunched the field up,” East said. “My car handled like #$#$ after that, we ran second.”

Another win, another cow
  Everyone has their own way of celebrating their wins, but USAC’s Brian Tyler may have the most unique. “Last year I won two races and I bought two cows, named them Springfield and DeMoines,” he said. “I get to go home this weekend and buy a Richmond cow.”