What a race the IndyCar drivers put on Sunday  in Toronto. I was glued to my TV watching. I definitely think street courses are where it is at. There aren’t too many places where fans would boo Helio Castroneves and cheer Paul Tracy. Helio and PT got tangled up and crashed out of the race with about 18 laps left.

It was a fun race to watch with Dario Franchitti taking the checkered flag. I was routing for Will Power, who finished third right behind Ryan Briscoe.

Tamika Catchings and Marlin Jackson are two athletes Indiana should be proud of.

Catch is not only one of the best players in the WNBA but she’s also one of the kindest people you’d ever meet. She came in on the 4th of July, not to talk about basketball, but to talk about her foundation Catch the Stars.

She’s held a fundraiser after Sunday’s game and still needs your help! Go to her website to help out catchin24.com. She spends countless hours on the court perfecting her game but any free time she has, she gives back to the community.

Marlin Jackson from the Colts is just as involved.  During the season I do a segment called Colts in the Community and most of the press releases we get are Marlin’s events.

He is ALWAYS doing things to help kids — and it’s not just his name, it’s him. Marlin is truly involved with his foundation and wants to make a difference. He just recently held a football game for underpriviledged kids. It was free and he spent all day there

Tamika and Marlin are role models and I’m proud to call both of them friends.

A quick congratulations to Justin Wilson and Dale Coyne for today’s win at the Glen.

It was Coyne’s first win in his 25 year career as a driver and owner in the various American Open Wheel racing series.

For Wilson, it was redemption, despite winning last year at Detroit, he found himself out of a job when Newman Haas Lanigan racing added Robert Doornbos to the fold.

For Coyne, it was also redemption. After years of toiling around the back of the grid with a driver lineup that at times was less than stellar, Coyne’s outfit has really stepped up their game in 2009.

If a few years ago I would have told you, that the team that stopped the dominance of Target Chip Ganassi Racing and Team Penske would be Dale Coyne Racing, you might have laughed at me.

I know it’s only one win, but it’s a big one for Dale Coyne. It’s a victory, and redemption.

Ok, over the past few weeks, there’s been plenty of discussion about what’s WRONG in IndyCar racing.

And that topic deserves discussion. There’s no question the oval racing has regressed this year.

But the series is taking the heat and doing something about it, starting at Kentucky. We’ll see if it works or not.

But in the meantime, lets talk about some of the things that are RIGHT with the series.

First off, for road course fans, there’s great permanent circuits,  such as this weekend’s stop, Watkins Glen.

I always look forward to any race at this historic venue.

In a few weeks, I’ll be heading to Mid-Ohio.

I simply love Mid-Ohio. I know, it’s tough to pass there, you’re not going to see 10 lead changes. But it’s always a competitive event in a beautiful setting in my home state.

In the meantime,  there’s Toronto. I’m not always the biggest street racing fan in the world. But the IndyCar Series has some quality street races. Long Beach, St. Pete, Toronto.

The Canadian fans are passionate, and hopefully a year away from big time racing won’t hurt the crowd.

What else is right about the IndyCar Series? Here’s just a FEW examples.

The jovial Tony Kanaan. You’re never going to find a nicer, more genuine guy, in ANY series.

The razor-sharp Target Twins, Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon. They’re simply two of the greatest drivers in the world, but also, two of the most approachable on race weekends.

The exuberance of Helio Castroneves. When you meet Helio, he always makes you feel like you’re his long-lost friend.

Lionheart Dan Wheldon. No driver born outside of the United States cares more about the Indianapolis Motor Speedway than Wheldon. Dan doesn’t put on an act for anyone, he’s simply an outstanding  driver and an even better person.

The champion in waiting, Graham Rahal. Graham’s dad was one of the nicest drivers at the track during his days in CART. Rahal 2.0 learned from him well.  I saw him signing autographs for a group of people in Gasoline Alley at the Speedway in May. I stopped counting at 75, and Graham thanked each one for their support.

That’s right. The biggest thing that’s RIGHT with the IndyCar Series, are the fan-friendly drivers. Watch the crowds around Sarah Fisher and Milka Duno, I don’t think Milka’s turned down an autograph seeker in her life.

NASCAR always likes to suggest they’re the most fan-friendly, but compared to the ICS, it’s really not even close.

At IndyCar Series races, you can usually buy a pit or garage pass, and meet your favorite driver, while he or she is on the way to doing their job.

Imagine being able to buy a ticket to the St. Louis Cardinals dugout, and being able to score Albert Pujols’ autograph as he walks to the clubhouse.

That’s obviously not going to happen.

But you CAN buy a pass at the IndyCar Series races to be able to meet Danica, or Helio, or Dario Franchitti if you want.

And while you’re in the garage, you will see A.J. Foyt, or Roger Penske, or Rick Mears, or Johnny Rutherford, among others!

That’s 26 Indianapolis 500 wins just walking around the garage area. Have a Sharpie ready.

But if you don’t want to buy a pass, the IndyCar Series still has you covered. Because at EACH of their events, they have all of their drivers sign autographs for the fans in a specially scheduled session.

You don’t need a pass, just a little patience to wait in line.

It’s frankly an incredible opportunity. For the price of a general admission ticket, you can meet any driver of your choice.

THAT’S what I call fan friendly.

That’s the IndyCar Series.

Yes, the series is facing turmoil in the leadership department.

Yes, the racing on ovals needs some improvement.

But there are plenty of positives in this series, look around, it’s too easy to lose sight of that sometimes.

It’s been a few days since I last posted a blog, and plenty has happened.

Let’s start with last weekend’s race at Richmond. All I can say about that race, is that Dario Franchitti was right.

It was frankly not up to the series’ usual standards.

But the Richmond parade was quickly forgotten about when the big announcement came down on Tuesday.

Tony George is out as Indianapolis Motor Speedway CEO, as well as CEO of the IndyCar Series.

It’s not a “surprise” by any stretch of the imagination. Rumblings of discontent on the Hulman & Company board have grown louder and louder recently.

But it comes at a very unfortunate time for the series, because of the sour economy, uncertainty over the future of the sport’s biggest star, and questions about the television package.

Everyone knows IndyCar racing went through a painful, and frankly, unnecessary war from the mid-1990’s until last year.

Now when there’s finally a “winner”, (or at least, someone in charge of a single series, because there were no winners in the open wheel war), the “winning” team is thrown into chaos.

He’s seen as a villain by many, and a hero to some, but there’s no question Tony George loves racing. I’m sure, like all of us, he’d like to have some of his decisions back. I know one in particular I wish he hadn’t made.

Tony George’s legacy is complex, and at the end of his era, there are more questions than answers tonight about the future of the IndyCar Series.

FIA President Max Mosley told his teams,  “If you want to draw up your own rules, then you can organise your own championship. ”

So that’s what they apparently did.

If you haven’t heard, the majority of Formula 1’s top teams are going to take their cars and go home, or at least, take their cars and start their own series.

It’s a move that could shake racing’s foundation, and have far-reaching implications here in the U.S.

Mosley wanted to introduce a $60 million budget cap on teams. The teams that refused to agree to that rule, would have extra technical restrictions put on them.

The teams, who are used to throwing as much money as they want at the championship, naturally balked.

So as of now, McLaren, Renault, Toyota, BMW Sauber, Red Bull Racing and Scuderia Toro Rosso are heading off to their own series, leaving Williams, Force India and several newcomers to contest the “F1 World Championship”.

If you’re a racing fan, especially an IndyCar fan, you know how splits work.

This apparent F1 split is much more similar to the 1978-79 USAC-CART split, than the 1994-1995 CART-IRL split.

It could have MAJOR implications on Indianapolis and IndyCar racing.

For example, you’d have to think that the breakaway FOTA series would be very interested in North American venues, such as the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Could Ferraris and McLarens be back at IMS as early as next year?

In addition, just as the CART-IRL split opened up additional jobs, this F1-FOTA split would of course do the same, perhaps doubling the number of  seats.

Would one of the new “F1″ teams be interested in a current IndyCar driver? It’s certainly possible, especially one with F1 experience, such as Robert Doornbos.

This story, which has dominated the F1 season so far, is just getting started.

The IndyCar Series was off this week, but that doesn’t mean that there wasn’t any news coming out of the series.

Ryan Hunter-Reay is on the move again. RHR keeps getting passed around the ICS like a bad penny, which frankly makes no sense, because as I’ve mentioned in this space on several occasions, he’s EVERYTHING the IndyCar Series needs.

Hunter-Reay moves to A.J. Foyt’s #14 car, from Vision Racing’s #21. The #21 team ceases to exist, so the car count drops by one, plus an outstanding American driver moves to his third different team in the last year.

It’s somehow being billed as a “win-win”. It’s certainly a win that RHR is still in the series, but losing a car from the grid is never a win in my mind.

I hope RHR can get the Foyt car back to the front. The #14 has been racy at times in the past couple of years, RHR is going to get everything out of the car there is.

In addition, Alex Lloyd has left Ganassi Racing. The talented Brit raced for Ganassi “satellite” teams in the past two Indianapolis 500’s, but as he mentioned when he joined us on SportsLocker Saturday, he didn’t want to be seen as an Indianapolis-only driver.

Lloyd now joins the racing unemployment line, which is frankly way too stocked with talented shoes who should have full-time rides in the ICS. I hope Alex finds a ride quickly, but unfortunately there are more drivers available than there are seats right now. Think about it, Paul Tracy doesn’t have a full-time gig, neither does Townsend Bell, and now add Alex Lloyd to the mix.

Lloyd was a great sport this past May when he donned a shocking pink firesuit to drive the “rose” colored HER ride for Sam Schmidt, here’s hoping he gets a deal done soon.

I have to give a shout-out to David Brabham. The son of the great World Champion Jack Brabham finally got his long-awaited win in the 24 Hours of Le Mans this weekend for Peugeot.

Brabham races with Highcroft Racing in the American LeMans Series. The last two years Brabham came on the late, great TrackTime program at my former station. He was a great guest, and is a great guy. Congrats David!

By the way, the 24 Hours of Le Mans is always a fun event, I caught some of it on television and the internet.

It’s a special race.

Of course, any race where there’s a giant Bibendum standing next to the track is worth my time.

While I’m on the subject, Bibendum, better known in the U.S. as the “Michelin Man”, has to be the best corporate mascot ever. Well done Bibendum.

This Thursday I will play host along with my colleague Debby Knox to a golf outing benefitting inner city kids here in Indianapolis. The golf outing is called the Horizons Classic. The money raised goes to Horizons which is a student enrichment program geared to help kids excel in academics. This is the 12th year of the golf outing, which will generate a lot of money for these kids.

It has been such an honor to help raise money for these students, because there’s nothing like seeing these kids get a great education. Thursday it will be nice watching men and women come out and play a round of golf at the prestigious Broadmoor Country Club.  But the biggest reward for me on Thursday will be knowing that we just helped 120 kids get one step closer to living out their dream.

Anyone who knows me, knows I am a big IndyCar Series fan, IndyCar racing has been my favorite sport since I was a kid.

Of course, my favorite sporting event is the Indianapolis 500, but my second-favorite IndyCar race is the annual shootout in Texas.

I enjoy the race at Texas so much, it actually caused a breakup with a woman I was dating a few years back. It seemed she really wanted me to take her to a specific restaurant for a date on the night of the Texas race. I told her I’d be happy to take her to dinner, but we had to either go to a restaurant with a big screen TV, or be finished with dinner before the green flag.

When she decided that wasn’t for her, that was the end of that. If you’re wondering, I really wasn’t that broken up over this particular breakup, because she was actually fairly annoying, but I tell you that story, to illustrate how much I enjoy the Texas race.

Fast forward four years, and it was time for another Texas tussle.

Except this year’s race was a little like that former relationship, i couldn’t wait for it to end.

The side-by-side, nail-biting battles we’re used to seeing, were really nowhere to be found on this particular night. Ryan Briscoe ran off and hid, until a mysterious caution flag.

Any racing fan knows about the so-called “NASCAR cautions”. These are supposedly “engineered” cautions to bunch up the field if a driver gets too big of a lead. A writer I used to know in Toledo called these flags “Pierre DeBris”.  I don’t think the ICS threw a “NASCAR caution”, but unfortunately, there are going to be questions, because of the timing of the yellow.

Even after the caution flag, there really wasn’t too much side-by-side action until teammates Danica Patrick and Marco Andretti went at it late.  Helio Castroneves won the race, and celebrated on the fence, but something was missing.

After the race, the people looking for the old Texas started getting louder. The well-respected champion Scott Dixon sounded off, saying there needed to be some kind of rules change to make the racing better.

Ed Carpenter came out for change after the race. “I’m disappointed for the fans in particular because Texas is supposed to be exciting racing and unfortunately the cars are too similar now and it weakened the product. I’ve never seen this race turn into a one groove track before. We want to put on a good show and I’m afraid this was not it. You couldn’t pass and you couldn’t pass guys that were a lap down. It turned into a fuel strategy, track position, no passing race and no one wants that. Texas is usually the place you shouldn’t have to be playing fuel strategy gambles. This is a place you should be able to drive from the back to the front and unfortunately it is just not that way right now.”

Carpenter is of course, the stepson of IndyCar boss Tony George, so he’s in a unique position when he makes a statement like this one. But Carpenter’s right, the racing wasn’t as good as it had been in the past.

I am not an engineer, so I can’t solve the problem in this blog, but I hope this is just a blip on the radar for the IndyCar Series.  The IndyCar Series has a lot going for it, it’s easily the most fan friendly series in motorsports, and for years, it’s had the best on-track product.

Except for last Saturday.

I spent a wonderful afternoon down in Bloomington for the boys high school track and field. It was a lot of fun. It’s such a great event. You get running, jumping, shot putting, pole vaulting…a good mixture of events.

Ben Davis won the team event for the second straight year with Matt Terrell leading the way. Congrats to BD and to all the competitors.

Made me want to bust out the track shoes … or not.