George, who raced extensively in his younger days, said he hasn't driven a race car since 2001. He doesn't think he's been in a road race since 1993. The car George crashed was purchased from Eddie Cheever's sports car team. George, who owns Vision Racing, has entered the Rolex 24 with his stepson, Ed Carpenter, A.J. Foyt IV and Tomas Scheckter as co-drivers.(Indy Star)

MISC.

Mario Andretti To Test F-1 Car
Racing legend Mario Andretti wants to make a return to Formula One, 29 years after winning the world title in a Lotus, and 38 years after winning the Indy 500. "I would like to try out a modern F-1 car myself," Andretti told Gazzetta dello Sport. "Yes, the cockpits are tighter nowadays, but I haven't become too wide..."

It is understood that Honda Racing F-1 will make an RA106 available for half a days running, allowing the veteran to spend some time in the car and learn about the changes to the sport since leaving F-1 in 1982. Andretti then raced in the Indy Car championship, finishing his career in 1994.

While testing an Indy Car in 2004, Mario suffered a massive accident, flipping his car end over end at over 200 mph, yet walked away relatively unscathed. Mario's grandson, Marco Andretti, tested a Honda Racing F-1 car in December, ending the test less than three seconds off the pace of the fastest driver of the week.

IRL

A.J. Foyt IV In Third Vision Car
Tony George is expanding his Indy Racing League team to three cars for the 2007 season. A.J. Foyt IV, the 22 year old grandson of four-time Indy 500 winner A.J. Foyt, is expected to join George's Vision Racing team, which will field cars for Tomas Scheckter and Ed Carpenter, George's stepson.

"I've kind of been hounding him (about a ride) for quite awhile," Foyt tells the Indianapolis Star. "At this point, I don't even know who the sponsor is or what the car number is."

Foyt IV has 48 career Indy races under his belt, including three top-10 finishes while driving for his grandfather. He left the IRL last year to try and pursue NASCAR opportunities but returned to compete in one race for Andretti-Green Racing, replacing the injured Dario Franchitti.(TSN)

World of Outlaw

Schatz Wins First World of Outlaw Race
The year 2007 opened for Donny Schatz the same way that 2006 ended, in the winner's circle at Parramatta City Raceway in Australia. For the third straight race at PCR in Sydney, Australia, Schatz driving the Pick N Payless J&J for Gary Rush Racing, found himself on top of the podium, when the checkered flag flew on the 30-lap Kasey Kahne International Sprintcar event. The reigning World of Outlaws Champions and native of Fargo, North Dakota has now won 12 of the last 13 events at PCR, including three in a row this season.

With a stout field of 59 cars in attendance on Monday night, Schatz set fast time for the third event in a row, stopping the clocks at 14.504 seconds. Steve Kinser qualified fifth, Joey Saldana was eight, with his team owner and NASCAR star Kasey Kahne 20th quick. In preliminary action, Schatz finished fourth in a tough first heat with Saldana just behind him. Chad Hillier, who will be competing for the Kevin Gobrecht Rookie of the Year Award with the World of Outlaws this season, finished fourth in the second heat. In the fourth and final heat, Kahne took the win over Kinser, who started fifth before charging to the front.

Saldana had the best starting spot of the World of Outlaws drivers in attendance for the 30-lap Main event, as he rolled off third. Kinser and Schatz started next to each other in the third row, with Kahne starting 14th and Hillier rolling off 20th. Schatz quickly worked his way into the Top-Three and took the lead from Mark Richards who led from the pole position before 10 laps were on the board. From there, Schatz, the 1997 World of Outlaws Rookie of the Year, masterfully negotiated heavy traffic building a very comfortable lead, which was negated a couple of times by cautions. Schatz used strong restarts each time to maintain his advantage over Saldana, the 1996 World of Outlaws Rookie of the Year. When the final checkers waved, it was Schatz taking the win over Saldana. (motorsport.com)

Champ Cars

Champ Cars Deliver Record Return On TV Investment
After a new television package delivered record-setting exposure for its commercial partners in 2005, the Champ Car World Series spent much of its preseason planning for ways to increase its return on investment for its ever-growing list of corporate partners and sponsors.

The 2006 year-end Joyce Julius Sponsor Report showed that the efforts paid large dividends for North America’s top open-wheel series, with exposure value, sponsor mentions and exposure time all setting new records for the Champ Car World Series.

Overall exposure value for series and team sponsors totaled $120,677,985 in 2006, an increase of nearly 22 percent over last year’s record-setting numbers. The exposure value calculated by the Joyce Julius reports is based on exposure time and mentions multiplied by an estimated cost per 30-second commercial rate. The rates were also calculated to reflect the network airing the broadcast, which in 2006 included live broadcasts on NBC, CBS Sports and SPEED as well as race replays on SPEED.
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IRL

Franchitti Returns To AGR
Andretti Green Racing, the winningest team in Indy Racing League history, has announced that Dario Franchitti will return for the 2007 season. Franchitti will return to the IndyCar Series with major sponsor Canadian Club® Canadian whisky in the #27 entry. Canadian Club, in its second season of partnership with AGR, will also be an associate sponsor on AGR's IndyCar Series entries driven by Tony Kanaan and Danica Patrick. Franchitti will be one of the team's four full-time drivers in the IndyCar Series.

He will also team with Bryan Herta and his brother, Marino Franchitti, in the XM Satellite Radio-sponsored Acura-powered Courage as AGR ventures into the American Le Mans Series LMP2 class in 2007.

Franchitti, who owns four IndyCar Series victories and three poles, is the winningest British driver in American open-wheel history. He has 14 victories and 14 pole positions in his open- wheel career.

This will be Franchitti's 10th season involved with the Andretti Green family. He spent five seasons with Team Green before joining Andretti Green Racing in 2003. This will be the second season for Canadian Club's involvement in the IndyCar Series after the brand joined AGR at the 2006 Indianapolis 500 and for the remaining races of the 2006 schedule.

The season-opening race on the IndyCar Series schedule is Saturday, March 24, from Homestead-Miami Speedway. Franchitti can also expect to see some time in the #26 XM Satellite Radio ALMS car at the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, the first event on the 2007 ALMS schedule. Canadian Club will also be an associate sponsor of the #26 XM Satellite Radio ALMS car. (paddocktalk.com)