While the stock car kings of NASCAR are parading around Daytona and California this month, the other two prominent racing leagues in the world are gearing up for another exciting series. The Indy Racing League (IRL) and Formula 1 Racing (F1) seasons both kick off at the beginning of March, and if last season is any barometer of excitement, then this season should prove to be a great one in the racing world.
For the first time in recent memory, last year’s F1 champ was not Michael Schumacher and Ferrari. The reigning F1 champ is Fernando Alonso, driving for the Renault team. Both Schumacher and Alonso look to have strong seasons again in ’06.
Some other teams and drivers to look out for are McLaren-Mercedes’ Kimi Raikkonen and Juan Pablo Montoya. Toyota should have championship dreams dancing in their heads with their ace driver Ralf Schumacher.
If you are not familiar with F1, here are a few tips. The big buck factories of Europe can spend upwards of $500 million on an F1 budget. This creates huge egos and huge rivalries. Passing isn’t very common in F1, as they race mostly road courses. You would be more likely to see a streaker in Turn Three than a clean pass.
The IRL came back from the brink of extinction last year, thanks in no small part to one media darling, Danica Patrick. The young female driver narrowly missed out on winning the world’s most popular race, the Indianapolis 500.
While Danica gets all the attention, few remember that it was Dan Wheldon and Tony Kanaan who slugged it out for the series championship last year, with Wheldon coming out on top. Helio Castroneves, Victor Meira, and Dario Franchitti should be watched as the contenders to take Wheldon’s title from him.
The big question is whether Danica Patrick can live up to the hype and win a few races and contend for the IRL title. That answer will come soon enough at the Toyota Indy 300 in Miami.
Sit up and take notice race fans, while NASCAR is the king of America, IRL and F1 are making race fans realize there is more to racing than guys named Dale, restrictor plates, and left hand turns.