I stumbled across an interesting article a few days ago. The item, written by IRL driver Ed Carpenter, described a visit by his racing team to the practice field of the Indianapolis Colts. Carpenter and Alex Barron are drivers for Red Bull Cheever Racing.
They, along with owner Eddie Cheever, Jr. and managing director Max Jones had been invited to the Colts' training camp.
Carpenter wrote about the experience for ESPN.com.
He said that, instead of being awed by the football stars, like Peyton Manning or Edgerrin James, he was more fascinated with Head Coach Tony Dungy. He also was surprised to find how much the organization, timing and efficiency of a racing team corresponds to an NFL football squad.
No time is wasted in either sport. Each of the teams is made up of specialized units that come together on game or race day.
Just as football teams review films or tapes of past games, focusing on the aspect of the game, offense, defense or special teams, for which they will be responsible, race teams do the same.
Pit crews study films of their previous efforts, drivers study tendencies of other drivers, effects of track surfaces, and telemetry readings from important points in a race, working with coaches who help them come up with quicker, more efficient ways of performing ... and then practice, practice, practice.
Carpenter says it's the same way the separate segments of a football team meet with their coaches to find tendencies of opponents and more effective ways to perform.
He emphasized that, while football fans most often focus on an individual, quarterback, running back or receiver, it is the successful functioning of all members on the field that brings success.
He said it is the same with a racing team. Actions by the driver often are the result of decisions made by the team manager, based on input from a wide range of sources.
He also noted that the analogy between the two sports also includes the unsung functionaries who work behind the scenes and don't get to enjoy the fame that follows the stars.
One star of the IRL is probably going to be moving on.
John Oreovicz wrotes on ESPN.com that Sarah Fisher has been talking with Richard Childress Racing about moving to NASCAR.
Despite being voted the IRL's Most Popular Driver several times, Fisher's name no longer seems to attract the sponsorship money needed to compete on the open-wheeled circuit.
Oreovicz quotes Fisher as explaining that she met Childress at a Chevrolet corporate function and he invited her to call if she was interested in racing with fenders. After it looked like not much was going to happen for her in IndyCar racing anymore, she called.
She said Childress hooked her up with Bill McAnally and she drove a NASCAR West Series car for him at Phoenix.
Not to worry, though. You may already have noticed the occasional appearance of a young lady named Danica Patrick in a driving suit. We've mentioned her a couple of times in this column over the past year or so.
Oreovicz notes that she is under contract with Rahal-Letterman Racing. She has spent two years in the Toyota Atlantic series with sponsorship from Argent Mortgage. The company apparently finds its racing presence to be profitable, since it now also co-sponsors Buddy Rice's RLR car and is an event sponsor in the IRL and the Champ Car circuit.