Tagliani flames out, Hunter-Reay snags IndyCar Series title at Auto Club Speedway

What a bittersweet end to the Izod IndyCar Series for Alex Tagliani and the Barracuda Racing team.

Tagliani led 19 laps and was out front with 23 laps to go in the season finale MAVTV 500 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana.

But what the team described as mechanical problems ended Tagliani’s night prematurely. He withdrew from the race with 21 laps to go and finished 20^th.

Tagliani, driving for the team owned by Valencia’s Bryan Herta, pulled into the pits and relinquished the lead with smoke seeping from the car’s engine. It looked like the engine burned up.

“I think we were the car to beat at the end,” Tagliani said. “I won’t lie, it’s disappointing, but I would race with Honda any given day. I’m very thankful that they allowed us back into their group. I’m a Honda driver and I want to race with them for a long time. These are things that happen. It’s racing, it’s mechanical and it’s out of our control.”

Ed Carpenter won the race taking the lead from Dario Franchitti on the final lap.

Ryan Hunter-Reay won the IndyCar Series championship by the slimmest of margins. He finished fourth in the race and edged out Will Power by three points to win the series title.

Power entered the IndyCar Series season finale with the lead in the standings. But he spun out and crashed early in the race. His team repaired his car and he returned to the race briefly.

Power ended up with a 24^th-place finish and completed only 66 laps.

“It was team effort right there,” said Hunter-Reay, driver of the No. 28 Honda for Andretti Autosport. “We were struggling all weekend. I didn't want to let anyone really know about it. We were really in the woods. This hasn't sunk in yet. I just drove 500 miles for my life.”

Photo: Alex Tagliani was leading the Izod IndyCar Series season finale at Auto Club Speedway when his engine blew with 21 laps remaining in the race. (Credit: Tim Haddock)

Dan Wheldon, Bryan Herta made a good team

During the Long Beach Grand Prix in April, Bryan Herta announced that Dan Wheldon was going to drive one of his cars in the Indianapolis 500.

Bryan Herta Autosport was making its second trip to the Brickyard, but this time with an IndyCar Series champion and Indy 500 winner.

It was an amazing partnership. Herta was running a fledgling Firestone Indy Lights team and entered only one IndyCar Series race prior to the 2011 Indianapolis 500.

Wheldon, who won the Indy 500 and the IndyCar Series championship with Andretti Green Racing in 2005, did not have a full-time ride and was available.

Wheldon and Herta teamed up – they were teammates with Andretti Green for nearly four years – and pulled off one of the most dramatic wins in Indy 500 history.

Wheldon took the lead from J.R. Hildebrand on the last turn of the last lap of the race. Hildebrand, a rookie driver who had a comfortable lead as the Indy 500 winded down, slid into the turn 4 wall. His mangled car crossed the finish line in second place.

Wheldon had enough time to pass Hildebrand and win his second Indy 500.

Wheldon and Herta, a Hart High graduate who lives in Valencia, teamed up once again for the IndyCar Series season finale this weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Wheldon was driving one of two entries from Bryan Herta Autosport in the race.

But the Las Vegas race did not have quite the fairy-tale ending that Indianapolis had. Wheldon died tragically in a fiery crash on lap 12 of the Las Vegas race. He was caught up in a 15-car crash that sent two cars into the track’s catch fence.

Three drivers were hospitalized in the wreck. Wheldon was taken by helicopter to University Medical Center in Las Vegas. Reports were that he was unconscious, but in stable condition, when he left the race track.

IndyCar Series officials announced that Wheldon had died almost two hours after the crash.

“Everyone at Bryan Herta Autosport is reeling from the loss of our friend and teammate Dan Wheldon," Herta said in a release. "Dan was the glue that bound our little team together. It was his spark and belief in us that carried us all to Victory Lane at Indianapolis this year, and his legacy within the sport as a tremendous champion and competitor is unquestioned. But more than that, Dan became my little brother from our time together as teammates at AGR. I watched with pride as he developed from the brash young hotshot on the circuit to a man who was a great husband and father, ambassador, friend, champion and hero."

The remaining 19 drivers in the race, those whose cars were not wrecked in the crash, paid tribute to Wheldon with a five-lap parade around the track.

The drivers, teams and IndyCar Series officials decided not to continue the race.

Wheldon had to start from the back of the 34-car field. He was the only driver taking the IndyCar Series challenge. Any driver who was not full time in the IndyCar Series could enter the race with a chance to win $5 million. The only stipulation was that those drivers had to start from the back.

Wheldon competed in only two IndyCar Series races prior to the Las Vegas race. He won the Indy 500 and was 14^th at Kentucky Speedway two weeks ago.

Much of the blame for the deadly crash is being put on the number of cars in the field, 34, one more than the starting grid for the Indy 500. The large entry field combined with the 1.5-mile track, compared to the 2.5 mile track at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, made for a deadly combination, some are saying.

Wheldon moved up 10 places in the first 10 laps of the race. He was in the middle of a pack of drivers with little experience and little to lose. In the end though, it was Wheldon who paid the ultimate price for other drivers’ mistakes.

A driver hasn’t died in an IndyCar Series race since Paul Dana at Homestead-Miami Speedway crashed in practice in 2006. Even Hildebrand’s crash at this year Indy 500, as scary as it was, was not fatal. Safety at the tracks and in the race cars have improved so much is such a short time.

It will be some time before the cause of Wheldon’s death is determined. Hopefully, the impact of his life will be remembered for a long time to come.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with Susie and the boys, and all of Dan’s family and fans who are trying to make sense of this terrible loss," Herta said in a release. "We are all lucky and blessed to have had Dan Wheldon influence our lives, and his spirit lives on in each one of us. Godspeed my friend.”

Photo: The No. 77 of Dan Wheldon was the only one displayed on the scoring pylon at Las Vegas Motor Speedway after the driver was killed in a crash at the track on Sunday. (Chris Jones)

Bryan Herta feeling Le Bleu

The newly formed Bryan Herta Autosport has landed a primary sponsor for its Firestone Indy Lights team.
Le Bleu water has signed as to fund the team, owned by Herta, a Valencia resident and Hart High graduate, as it prepares for its debut on April 4 in St. Petersburg, Fla.
“We at Bryan Herta Autosport are very proud to have Le Bleu join us as primary sponsor for Daniel Herrington and the No. 28 car for the full 2009 Firestone Indy Lights season,” Herta said. “The car looks fantastic in Le Bleu’s corporate colors, and we can’t wait to make our public debut at St. Pete in two weeks. We will be hosting almost 70 guests from Le Bleu at the race and look forward to kicking off this partnership in style with some great results on the track and off.”
Herrington, a driver from Winston-Salem, N.C., is the driver for Bryan Herta Autosport. The Indy Lights will be racing in the Grand Prix of Long Beach on April 19, their only visit to Southern California.

DeLong, Herta and Hornaday

Rich DeLong III of Santa Clarita has big plans for racing at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale. Valencia's Bryan Herta lands a sponsor for his newly formed Indy Lights team. Ron Hornaday Jr., the winningest driver in NASCAR Camping World Truck Series history, is 0-for-13 at Martinsville Speedway in Virginia, site of Saturday's race.

Read more in The Signal.

Indy Lights testing in Florida

Testing began for the Firestone Indy Lights drivers this week at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Florida.
It wasn’t that stellar of a debut for the newly formed Bryan Herta Autosport team. Herta, a Valencia resident and Hart High graduate, has a one-car team and is making his first venture into race car ownership. Herta spent his racing career in the IndyCar Series, American Le Mans Series, Champ Car and the CART Series. He is also an Indy Lights champion.
Daniel Herrington, the driver for the team, was responsible for the only crash of the day on Tuesday. He crashed in Turn 2 and damaged the rear of his car. It was not seriously damaged, but it ended the day of testing for the new team.
“We had made two pretty big changes to the car and went out hoping it would be better,” Herrington said. “I think we got caught out by the wind. It had picked up quite a bit since we made the changes. In retrospect, maybe we could have been more conservative and not made such a big change, but we got away with not too much problem.”
There were 20 Indy Lights cars at the test session this week. The Indy Lights season opens April 5 with the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg in Florida.

Bryan Herta Autosport formed

Bryan Herta, a two-time winner in the IndyCar Series, has formed Bryan Herta Autosport, which will race in the Firestone Indy Lights of the Indy Racing League in 2009.
Herta, a Hart High graduate, is partnering with motorsports veteran Steve Newey to form the new team. Their driver will be Daniel Herrington, a 22-year old from North Carolina who made 13 starts in the Indy Lights series in the past two years.

“Steve Newey approached me with the concept of starting our own Indy Lights team back in December,” said Herta, who won two IndyCar Series races, at Kansas Speedway and Michigan International Speedway, in 58 starts from 2003-06. “In just six weeks we are almost ready to hit the road for our first test. I’m very excited about the opportunity to take on a new challenge in open-wheel racing as a team owner, and am confident that we have assembled a formidable program.”

Herta's team is expected to test in February at Firebird East in Arizona. The team is working on putting together a second car and driver.
“Daniel has shown great potential in the last couple seasons in sporadic outings,” Herta said. “We are happy to give him his first real home in Firestone Indy Lights with a full winter test program and a team that is 100 percent committed to giving him the tools to succeed.”
Herta's team has formed a technical alliance with Vision Racing of the Indy Racing League IndyCar Series. Herta is also a road course consultant for Vision Racing and will continue in that role in 2009.