News and Notes From The IZOD IndyCar Series From June 2

Plenty of little bits of news to get to, following a dominating performance by Dario Franchitti at the 94th running of the Indianapolis 500.  The first note is not really news to anyone who attended, but this was the hottest race recorded in history.  At 96 degrees, this race reporter was melting into his lawn chair.

But enough of what has happened, you are already likely to have read that elsewhere.  Here are a few items that are making news this week in the IZOD Indycar Series.

-Davey Hamilton, driver of the No. 21 HP car for DeFerran Dragon Motorsports will not be racing at Texas as previously planned.  The fourty-seven year old Hamilton suffered a horrific crash in 2001 at the Texas Motor Speedway that left him with broken legs and an unclear future.  Hamilton has returned for the past 3 Indianapolis 500's, but since both he and teammate Rafa Matoscrashed during Indianapolis, the team will not be able to field a car for the veteran.  This is too bad, as it was expected to be one of the top resurrection stories of the weekend, with Hamilton coming full circle nearly ten years later.

-Mike Conway suffered a compound leg fracture, as well as fracturing his back in his accident with Ryan Hunter-Reay at Indianapolis.  Conway ramped up the back of the No. 37 IZOD car on the final lap, as Hunter-Reay appeared to run out of fuel.  The horrifiic crash saw Conway's Dads Root Beer machine go up into the catch fence and break into several pieces.  Two fans were hurt by debris, but Conway took the worst, and will be out at least 3 months.

-Conway will be replaced in the No. 24 Dad's machine by veteran Tomas Scheckter.  Scheckter also drove for Dreyer and Reinbold racing at the Indianapolis 500, finishing fifteenth after being near the front for most of the second half of the race.  Currently, the assignment is only for the Texas race, but the smart move for Dreyer and Reinbold would be to keep Scheckter in the car full time.

-Ryan Hunter-Reay underwent surgery on his left hand Monday afternoon to repair damage that  occurred in the pits during the Indy 500.  It is not believed that the injury had any impact on the crash with Conway, but was simply the result of Scott Dixon contacting the Andretti driver while pulling out of his pit stall.  Hunter-Reay is expected to race with a brace on his hand after surgery to reattach the torn ligaments.  Texas is the last race that Hunter-Reay is confirmed for, but it would be difficult to imagine his season ending in the lone star state.

-Irish A1GP champion, Adam Carroll will make his debut with Andretti Autosport during the race at Watkins Glen.  Carroll's deal is not expected to impact Hunter-Reay in any way, but is expected in the fifth Andretti car that John Andretti raced during the month of May.  Carroll will feature the primary sponsor of Boost Mobile.  Virgin Mobile has also been added as a secondary sponsor for Ryan Hunter-Reay.

-IZOD Indycar Officials announced Wednesday morning that the series will officially begin a new event in 2011, running the streets of Baltimore.  A temporary street course that is expected to be 2.4 miles long, winding through the downtown harbor and around Camden Yards will feature a race the weekend of August 5th in 2011.  Event organizers signed a five year deal to carry the race, and are expecting 100,000 fans.

-The ICONIC group in charge of guiding the series with its choices for a new car in 2012 has announced the new engine specs for 2012.  The biggest news is that the series is opening the engines and attempting to receive support from multiple engine manufacturers.  Official specs call for either a V6 of in-line four cylinder engine that will be turbocharged.  The engines will have a maximum displacement of 2.4 cubic liters, and will run on ethanol fuel.  They are expected to produce between 550 and 700 horsepower to fit a diverse set of tracks.  This news also seems to signal that the league is more open to several chassis manufacturers.  If a chassis must be able to fit a V6 of in-line four cylinder engine, then many parts must be interchangeable.  A decision on the 2012 chassis is expected sometime this summer.

That wraps up the short news blips for the week.  Be sure and tune into Versus this weekend for all the action from the Texas Motor Speedway.  The Firestone 550K will be held live at 8:00pm ET on Saturday night under the lights.  Qualifications can be seen on tape delay on Friday night at 5:00.  So rest up after the Indy 500 and get ready to go deep into the heart of Texas.