ESPN RACING

INDIANAPOLIS -- I was born in Pennsylvania, but I moved two states to the west when I was 10 years old and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway became my home track.

I still enjoy returning to the Keystone State to reminisce about my youth and pay respects to my deceased family members. However, I'm particularly excited to head back to PA this summer because I get to go cover the IZOD IndyCar Series at a racetrack I've never visited: Pocono Raceway.

[+] Enlarge
Michael Brennan/Getty ImagesMario Andretti, right, and son Michael discuss strategy at Pocono Raceway in 1988. Indy car racing returns to Long Pond, Pa., July 7 after 24 years.

Indy cars last raced at the 2.5-mile tri-oval in 1989, when defending CART/PPG IndyCar World Series champion Danny Sullivan scored the final oval track victory of his career for Penske Racing. It's hard to believe that nearly a quarter of a century passed before the return of open-wheel cars to Pocono, which happened in the form of a Firestone tire test Wednesday.

"We've been waiting for this moment, and we belong here," commented Indy car legend (and local resident) Mario Andretti, who was on hand to watch his grandson, Marco, in action.

"This place was built for Indy cars. The facility is fabulous, and it was my favorite superspeedway to drive on. It's different from any other superspeedway we run because of the very different radius of every corner and also different banking. That's what I really enjoyed about this place."

Three other drivers (Will Power of Team Penske, Dario Franchitti of Ganassi Racing and Simon Pagenaud of Sam Schmidt Motorsports) ran laps Wednesday, and all four pilots comfortably eclipsed Emerson Fittipaldi's pole-setting track record from 1989 of 211.75 mph. No speeds were announced, but Firestone confirmed that the 215 mph barrier was easily surpassed.

Scheduled for July 7, the Pocono 400 is the second of three rounds in a revived "Triple Crown" of superspeedway races in which Fuzzy's Vodka will pay a $1 million bonus to any driver who sweeps all three events. The other rounds are the Indianapolis 500 and the IndyCar Series finale at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif. From 1971 to 1980, the Triple Crown consisted of 500-milers at Ontario Motor Speedway, Indianapolis and Pocono; Ontario closed in 1980 and was replaced by Michigan Speedway. Al Unser is the only driver in history to have swept the Triple Crown (1978).

As Mario Andretti alluded, the challenge of Pocono is the three distinctive turns, two of which are linked by the longest straight on any oval track Indy cars race on -- 3,740 feet, or more than seven-tenths of a mile.

Because none of the current drivers has raced there -- with the exception of Franchitti, who competed at Pocono in 2008 in a NASCAR stock car during his sabbatical from Indy car racing -- I asked three-time Pocono winner Rick Mears to explain the secret to being successful there.

"It was always one of my favorite tracks, just because it's so challenging," Mears related. "That's down to the layout, and it's tough to set up the car to work everywhere. You've basically got Michigan in Turn 1, with banking kind of similar to that, then Indianapolis in Turn 2 and Milwaukee in Turn 3. There was always a compromise in tuning the car because you could never get all three corners together. If you were good in 3, you usually weren't good in 1 and 2. But if you were good in 1 and 2, you weren't too good in 3.

[+] Enlarge
Robert Laberge/Getty ImagesFour-time IndyCar Series champion Dario Franchitti on his return to Pocono this summer: "It's going to be a very good race."

"Of course, 3 is a critical corner because it leads onto a long straightaway. So there was always a happy balance you tried to find to run well there, whether it was in qualifying or the race. Back then, we had bumps to contend with, but that was part of the challenge. Gearing could be critical for this race, with the narrower power band of smaller engines. Hopefully we won't have an aero package that lets them run wide open because pedaling it was what made it fun."

Remarkably, the modern Indy car drivers reported that they were able to lap the 2.5-mile track flat-out despite using the Indianapolis wing package that produces the lowest amount of downforce available for the Dallara DW12 chassis. It's likely that INDYCAR technical director Will Phillips will come up with a reduced downforce package by the time the series returns to Pennsylvania in July.

"It's a really nice track, very smooth with the resurfacing," Power reported. "It's very fast; I'm already wide-open all the way around. We're maybe a little bit heavy on downforce, but it's nice. It's going to be fun if your car is good. If not, you're not going to want to be out there."

Naturally, Franchitti was asked to compare driving the track in a stock car and an Indy car. It's apples and oranges.

"I had some preconceived ideas, having driven the Cup car," Franchitti said. "The tunnel turn [2] is probably the most similar car to car, but we're still, I think, 20 or 30 mph quicker in the Indy car. Going through 3 wide open right now defies logic, really, when you consider we have Indianapolis spec wings on the car.

"There's always compromise, especially at a track with three such different corners," he added. "You're always going to be better at one corner than another. The trick is to figure out which one you can give away the most in order to still be competitive. You've got to figure out which one is the one you can give away something to be perfect on the one or two other corners.

"It's going to be a very good race."

Just a few years ago, the notion of Indy cars returning to Pocono was unthinkable -- for safety reasons. But in recent times, the track was resurfaced and the old boilerplate wall was replaced by SAFER barrier-protected concrete.

"Needless to say, if you crashed, that could be like a razor blade chopping the car in half," Power observed. "I'm glad things have changed.

"I really hope when we come and race here we get a big crowd. I think these cars around here, with the corner speeds they carry, are pretty impressive. I hope people come and watch."

Courtesy Dallara AutomobiliEye candy for racers: a collection of Dallara cars at company headquarters in Varano, Italy.

VARANO, Italy -- I wasn't surprised when the folks at Dallara Automobili asked me to pay them a visit. After all, I live just three blocks from the Italian company's American assembly facility and interactive exhibit in the shadows of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

"No, Mr. Oreovicz, we would like you to come to Varano, to meet Mr. Dallara and see for yourself what we are all about."

An opportunity like that doesn't come along very often, so a few days later, I found myself boarding an American Airlines Boeing 767 with television analysts Scott Goodyear (ABC) and Jon Beekhuis (NBC Sports) plus a small contingent of INDYCAR officials. Over the course of 48 hours, we received a crash course in the unique culture of the firm Gian Paolo Dallara started more than 40 years ago in the village he was born in.

Mr. Dallara, 76, was an engineering prodigy who found himself stifled by the politics of working with manufacturers such as Ferrari, Maserati, Lamborghini and De Tomaso. So in 1971, he struck out on his own and designed and built his first sports racing car in the garage of his home in Varano de' Melegari, a village of approximately 2,000 residents about 20 miles from the historic city of Parma.

[+] Enlarge
John Oreovicz/ESPNGian Paolo Dallara, 76, crafted his first sports racing car in the garage of his home in Varano in 1971.

Dallara is now the world's leading producer of customer racing cars, and the company has built a lucrative consultancy business working to develop road and racing cars. As a leader in aerodynamics and the use of carbon fiber construction, Dallara has played a key role in the creation of almost every Audi DTM and Le Mans car, not to mention outrageous street machines like the Bugatti Veyron and KTM X-Bow. But Dallara is still solidly rooted in Varano, with a small campus of buildings on the outskirts of town. If a Varano resident doesn't work for Dallara, he or she has a friend or relative who does.

Our group's connection to Dallara was through Indy car racing. When Tony George formed the Indy Racing League (now the Izod IndyCar Series), he needed chassis suppliers not affiliated with the existing CART-sanctioned Indy car championship. Enter Dallara, which battled with G-Force for IRL supremacy for nearly 10 years before the Italians established a monopoly in the chassis market. Dallara was then awarded the contract to produce the spec chassis that entered IndyCar Series competition in 2012. Since 1997, Dallara drivers have won 11 IRL or IndyCar Series championships, and the marque has tasted victory in the Indianapolis 500 no fewer than 12 times.

Dallara says its three core competencies are design (specializing in the use of carbon fiber), aerodynamics and vehicle dynamics. The company's revenues are generated 60 percent from racing and 40 percent from consultancy, three-quarters of which comes from racing-related projects. Dallara also helped design and develop the hand bike that Mr. Dallara's longtime friend Alex Zanardi used to win several medals at the 2012 London Paralympic Games.

The company employs 200 people with an unusually youthful average age of 32. "We are a young company, except for myself and Gian Paolo," jokes Dallara CEO Andrea Pontremoli. "We prefer to grow in knowledge, not size."

A key part of Dallara's measured growth was the construction of the American base on Main Street in Speedway, Ind. The $12 million facility is not a factory; the Dallara DW12 Indy car (known internally as the IR12) was designed in Italy and mostly constructed there. The Speedway plant manufactures suspension and bodywork components and handles the final assembly of cars before they are shipped to customer teams. There is also a permanent exhibition area with interactive displays aimed at introducing kids to Indy car racing. The facility houses a design office for American customer consultancies and the first Lino's Coffee franchise in America.

America is Dallara's only planned area of expansion and accounts for almost a quarter of Dallara's annual turnover.

"We want to produce in dollars what we sell in dollars, the same as in Europe," Pontremini said. "Big spreads in the exchange rate can be a problem for our company. In the last two years alone, it changed 20 percent. We want to replicate our European business model, where we work with about 80 suppliers within a short distance of our headquarters. We have more than 25 suppliers now in the U.S. and our goal is 40.

"We're not interested in mass production. We prefer the design side, but we have the capability to produce small quantities of prototypes for real-world testing. We try to keep ourselves on the edge of developing use of carbon fiber."

[+] Enlarge
John Oreovicz/ESPNA gearhead's dream come true: John Oreovicz at the gates of the Ferrari factory in Maranello, Italy.

At Varano, Dallara has developed high-speed stereography techniques to create the parts needed to build half-scale models for testing in the state-of-the-art wind tunnel the company dedicated in 2008. A more recent innovation is what may be the world's most sophisticated driving simulator; our group watched KV Racing's Simona De Silvestro turn laps at Sebring International Raceway, Sonoma Raceway and the Long Beach street course during our visit.

Dallara plans to install an identical $1 million simulator in its American facility in the next year.

"It's really cool, and it's pretty useful once you adapt to the motions the simulator makes," De Silvestro said. "The simulator can help you understand things about the way the car feels, and you can maybe use it to learn new or unfamiliar tracks.

"But it's an even more important tool for the engineers because they can make changes to the chassis or engine setup in five minutes when it might take hours at the track. We did 400 laps of Sebring in two days, which would be impossible in real life, and the data confirmed our findings from our last real-world test at Sebring a few weeks ago."

Happily, there was a small amount of free time on our whirlwind trip, so we enjoyed a morning of sightseeing in Parma, including the Teatro (Theater) Farnese completed in 1618 that was severely damaged in bombing by the Allies in 1944 and subsequently restored in the post-war period. Other highlights were the Romanesque cathedral, the adjacent Baptistery and the San Giovanni Evangelista, featuring a beautifully painted dome with the first known use of illusionistic perspective. The Emilia Romagna region is also famous for food, including superb prosciutto, Parma ham and Parmigiano Reggiano cheese.

Our group of gearheads then journeyed to Maranello, where we bowed in homage at the gates of the Ferrari factory and toured the new Ferrari Museum in Fiorano. While disappointed that my quest to see a Ferrari 312T went unrewarded (the 1975 Formula 1 world championship winner driven by Niki Lauda is my favorite race car of all time), I was greatly moved by an exhibit dedicated to the memory of the late Gilles Villeneuve. There were a pair of Gilles' F1 cars on display (the 1979 312T4 and the 1981 126C), but what I thought was even cooler was the 308GTS road car with which Villeneuve set an unofficial record of 2 hours, 25 minutes from Monte Carlo to Maranello -- an average speed of 111 mph!

Goodyear related that last year he emceed an event in Canada at which Villeneuve's widow, Joanne, was special guest of honor. He marveled at how she said she simply slept in the passenger seat while her husband drove flat-out all over the roads of Europe in the manner in which he was famous for on the track. The ghost of Gilles -- a favorite son of Enzo Ferrari -- looms large over Ferrari even more than 30 years after his death in a 1982 racing accident.

As a kid who grew up as a passionate fan of F1, and Ferrari drivers in particular, it was a real treat to visit the museum. But it was also a pleasure to make many new friends at Dallara and learn about a company that has made such a significant impact on the world of Indy car racing. The Italians are superb hosts, and I sincerely hope that Mr. Dallara accepts the invitation I extended to visit my home in May when he is in town for the Indianapolis 500 to experience an American backyard barbecue.

Michael Levitt/LAT Parnelli Jones glances at the real Borg-Warner Trophy on the day he was presented his replica.

DETROIT -- They say Parnelli Jones was prepared for any situation he faced as a driver or racing team owner.

But the 79-year-old legend wasn't prepared for what hit him Wednesday night in Detroit.

While in town at the Automotive News World Congress dinner to help present Dario Franchitti with the "Baby Borg" replica of the Borg-Warner Trophy that has been presented to Indianapolis 500 winners since 1988, Jones had the tables turned, as Franchitti presented him with the first Baby Borg created for a past Indy champion from the previous era.

2013 marks the 50th anniversary of Jones' victory in the 1963 Indianapolis 500, a classic duel that saw Parnelli in his traditional front-engine roadster pitted against Franchitti's hero Jim Clark in the revolutionary rear-engine Lotus-Ford.

[+] Enlarge
Michael Levitt/LATParnelli Jones shows off his Baby Borg. Given to Indianapolis 500 winners beginning in 1988, he is the first champion from before that era to be presented with the replica.

Jones' diverse career included success in such events as the Baja 1000 in the desert and Trans-Am road racing, but he is most famous for his achievements at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where he led five of the seven Indianapolis 500s he started. Jones dominated the 1963 and 1967 contests but saw the checkered flag only in '63; a bearing failure in the radical STP Turbine car ended his '67 race four laps short of the finish. Jones never started lower than the second row at Indy, and he was the first driver to achieve the 150 mph milestone in qualifying. He shared Rookie of the Year laurels with Bobby Marshman in 1961 and finished second to Clark in the 1965 race.

The 2,000 industry dignitaries in attendance gave Jones a standing ovation when the surprise was revealed.

"We are extremely pleased to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Parnelli's Indianapolis 500 victory by presenting him with a personal symbol of his achievement -- a Baby Borg," said Timothy Manganello, executive chairman of BorgWarner. "Dario and Parnelli will tell you that the thrill of winning the greatest race in the world is beyond description, and looking at all of the faces and names on the Borg-Warner Trophy, you realize you've joined a very elite group of champions, representing a centurylong tradition of achievement."

Franchitti was in on the Baby Borg caper from the start. The seed was planted in the fall when he sat down for an interview in Los Angeles with Jones and four-time Indy 500 winner Rick Mears. Somehow the point was raised that Mears was the first Indianapolis winner to receive a Baby Borg, a 14-inch replica of the priceless 5½-foot-tall, 110-pound original Borg-Warner Trophy that debuted in 1936.

"I said, 'I need one of those,' and I guess they took it upon themselves to get that rolling with BorgWarner," Jones said.

Franchitti and former INDYCAR PR man Steve Shunck learned that Baby Borgs had been privately commissioned in the past for upward of $25,000.

But realizing the historic significance of 50 years since Jones' Indy victory and a potential way to annually recognize other past champions, BorgWarner helped create a new Indy tradition.

"It was so neat to see our plan for getting him one come together," Franchitti said. "Winning the Indianapolis 500 is a special honor, and I am thrilled to be able to see Parnelli get a retro Baby Borg 50 years later to remember his win in a very special way.

"I am very honored to be receiving my third Baby Borg this year," added the four-time IndyCar Series champion. "My Baby Borgs take front and center among all my trophies, and I know Parnelli is thrilled."

The surprise honoree was suitably humbled by the presentation and the warm reception.

[+] Enlarge
Michael Levitt/LAT 1963 Indianapolis 500 winner Parnelli Jones, right, and 2012 winner Dario Franchitti show off their Baby Borg trophies.

"They shocked me," Jones said. "I had mentioned to those guys that when I won Indy all I got was a plaque. That's not fair! I said I'd even be willing to pay for it. I had no idea they were going to present me with my own Baby Borg.

"It seems like it all happened maybe 20 years ago or something, not 50," he added. "I have a lot of great memories from that time, but you never get over the thrill of winning the Indianapolis 500."

As an aficionado of motorsports history, Franchitti was honored to have Jones present the Baby Borg for his third Indy win. Jones holds Franchitti in high regard as well.

"He's in the same class as Rick Mears and Al Unser in my opinion," Jones said. "They have a lot of finesse, and they know how to win. He's got a lot of confidence in his own ability, but he's not a daredevil-type race driver. He uses common sense, and he knows how to get to the end. There are guys who have a lot of talent and a lot of desire, but he knows how to finish, and that's important."

Although he is approaching 80, Jones remains as busy as ever. He is currently promoting a new biography titled "As a matter of fact, I am Parnelli Jones."

"It was an honor to be here honoring Parnelli tonight," Franchitti said. "Not only is he a man who could drive anything quickly, he's possibly one of the toughest guys ever in racing. He could completely kick the ass of anyone I've ever met. He still looks like he's made out of granite.

"I'm glad I didn't have to race against him, because he would have definitely kicked my ass!"

About 15 years ago, when I worked public relations for PacWest Racing, team owner Bruce McCaw suggested that I carry a point-and-shoot camera with me to capture on film whatever memorable moments might occur.

Of course, these days almost everyone -- myself included -- carries a point-and-shoot camera embedded in their cellphone. The quality of the images these tiny devices produce is sometimes astounding, and the proliferation of websites such as Instagram and Twitter has demonstrated that people love to share what happens in their lives.

ESPN The Mag's Ryan McGee recently posted his favorite pictures from the 2012 NASCAR season, and that inspired me to do the same. Here, therefore, are some of the memorable images I captured on the job throughout 2012:

[+] Enlarge
John Oreovicz/ESPN.com

Waiting game -- The Dallara DW12 was not quite ready for prime time when it made its official debut at an open test at Sebring International Raceway in January. As a result, there was plenty of time for the drivers to wait around, and several of them spent that time watching from a spectator area while their cars were prepared. From left, Graham Rahal, James Hinchcliffe, Marco Andretti, Ryan Hunter-Reay and Tony Kanaan discussed their offseason exploits.

John Oreovicz/ESPN.com

Back to work -- For the first time, INDYCAR held a State of the Sport summit at the Hilbert Circle Theater in Indianapolis in February. It was the first public appearance by the series' drivers and management since Dan Wheldon's death four months earlier, and the mood was still somewhat somber. Here Kevin Lee interviews 2011 IndyCar Series champion Dario Franchitti.

John Oreovicz/ESPN.com

Sign of the times? -- Every now and then you get reminded that the IndyCar Series isn't quite as big and professional as NASCAR and other major sports.

John Oreovicz/ESPN.com

Breathing room -- Photo and video shoots are a major part of media day, and many of the drivers are just trying on their new suits for the first time. OMP's first attempt at Hunter-Reay's 2012 duds came out a bit big, as seen by this overhead shot that reveals the clips in back holding the front taut.

[+] Enlarge
John Oreovicz/ESPN

Pit perspective -- Immediately after a race ends, I tend to make a lap of the pit lane to get quotes from competitors who may have played a notable part in the race but didn't finish on the podium. I like this picture I snapped of engineer Bill Pappas and driver Justin Wilson debriefing after the race at Barber Motorsports Park in April.

Phil Abbott/LAT

Catching up -- Friends and colleagues catch up outside the Long Beach Grand Prix media center in April. From left, John Zimmermann, John Oreovicz, David Phillips, Steve Chassey and Gordon Kirby.

John Oreovicz/ESPN.com

Calm before the storm -- This was the sight that greeted me upon arrival at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway's fourth-floor media center on the opening day of practice for the Indianapolis 500. That lone figure busily typing away is Curt Cavin of the Indianapolis Star.

F. Peirce Williams/LAT

Parnelli and me -- My dad came to visit me during a practice day during the month of May. He arrived before cars were on track, so we decided to visit the IMS Hall of Fame Museum. We ran into my friend (and pro shooter) Peirce Williams, waiting in the Parnelli Jones Collection, who said, "I know why you're here!" Just then, Parnelli himself walked in for a photo shoot with Peirce and Greg Griffo of the Indianapolis Star. When the official shots were done, Peirce insisted on getting a shot of Dad and me with Parnelli. What a souvenir!

John Oreovicz/ESPN.com.

Let the fun begin -- This is the "after" picture of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway media center in full swing on race day. Now the entire row reserved for The Star is filled.

[+] Enlarge
John Oreovicz/ESPN.com

Proud fan -- Carb Day is the new party day during the month of May at Indy, and you see some pretty crazy fans.

[+] Enlarge
John Oreovicz/ESPN.com

Uh, OK -- Apparently I wasn't the only one who thought this jolly group was photo-worthy.

[+] Enlarge
F. Peirce Williams/LAT

Memory of a lifetime -- Dario Franchitti suggested that I bring my 6-year-old son, Patrick, over to the Indy 500 winner's photo shoot the day after the race. This is the result. Thanks, Dario!

John Oreovicz/ESPN.com

A fan's perspective -- ESPN.com assigned Terry Blount to cover his home race at Texas Motor Speedway, but it was an event I wanted to attend anyway. So Patrick and I logged a mighty 2,800-mile road trip that took his tally of states visited up to 22 (not bad for a 6-year-old!) and watched the June 9 race from the grandstands.

John Oreovicz/ESPN.com

Lip-smackin' good -- It was a true pleasure to return to Elkhart Lake, Wisc., to my favorite track in America for the first time in five years. Naturally I celebrated with a bratwurst and an ear of fire-roasted corn.

John Oreovicz/ESPN.com

Did you see that? -- I mixed in a few drag racing events along with IndyCar and Le Mans. I like this image -- three cameras capturing the same shot at the U.S Nationals in September.

John Oreovicz/ESPN.com

Prerace banter -- Scott Dixon wishes Will Power good luck prior to the crucial final race of the IndyCar Series season Sept. 15 at Auto Club Speedway. Apparently it didn't work.

John Oreovicz/ESPN.com

Caught in the middle -- I was right there in Victory Lane when Power arrived to congratulate the new champion, Hunter-Reay. Talk about chaos!

John Oreovicz/ESPN.com

Bring on '13 -- Reflecting on the last year with my son at the Good Guys Hot Rod and Custom show at IMS. Happy New Year, everyone!

INDIANAPOLIS -- Perhaps not surprisingly, Tony Stewart turned down Roger Penske's offer of a ride in the 2013 Indianapolis 500.

Stewart announced his decision at the annual International Motorsport Industry Show, of which he is a founding partner.

"It was kind of heartbreaking here to hear the crowd so upset when we said we weren't going to do it," Stewart said last week at a reception at Lucas Oil Stadium opening the 2012 edition of the racing trade show.

[+] Enlarge
Marcel Thomas/FilmMagic/Getty ImagesTony Stewart on passing on the Indy 500: "... Since I've been a team owner I pretty much ruled out the possibility of ever running Indy again."

"But it's like being at Thanksgiving dinner … my plate is finally full. I don't know that I could add any more to what I've got right now."

At the NASCAR Sprint Cup banquet in Las Vegas on Nov. 30, Penske surprised Stewart and the rest of the racing community with his offer to provide a car so the two-time Sprint Cup Series champion could "do the double" -- compete in the Izod IndyCar Series Indianapolis 500 and the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coca-Cola 600 in the same day.

Stewart, who raced Indy cars under Indy Racing League sanction full-time from 1996 to 1998, performed the double feat in 1999 and 2001. In the latter year, he finished sixth at Indianapolis driving for Chip Ganassi Racing and third at Charlotte in a Joe Gibbs Racing stock car.

Since then, the 41-year-old Indiana native has maintained that an IndyCar non-regular would have little chance of being competitive in a one-off outing, and Stewart repeated that mantra Wednesday in Indianapolis.

"The IRL is so competitive now, probably stronger than it's ever been as far as competition," Stewart said. "You're not going to stroll in there for the month of May and expect to be on the same page as those guys. You'd have to start the season from the beginning to become acclimated to the team you were going to run the month of May with.

"Roger and I never even spoke about it," he added. "It's a great opportunity, but it's very hard when you're running three [NASCAR Sprint] Cup teams right now -- the obligations we have with making sure we're doing the right things for Ryan [Newman] and Danica [Patrick], as well as Donny Schatz and Steve Kinser and Bryan Clauson and Bobby East. We've got a lot of people that depend on us. There's a lot of responsibility there, and since I've been a team owner I pretty much ruled out the possibility of ever running Indy again.

"So as much as I would like to do it, I just don't have the time to do it proper."

If Penske is serious about running a Cup driver in the Indianapolis 500, and if contractual conflicts could be worked out, the legendary car owner wouldn't have to look far for a competitive alternative.

Brad Keselowski, who just clinched Penske's first NASCAR Sprint Cup title (to go along with 12 Indy car championships and 15 victories in the Indianapolis 500), told ESPN.com that he would be interested in "doing the double" in the future.

"Ford doesn't have a presence in Indy car racing, but if they did, I'd be knocking on Roger's door and he'd be knocking on mine," Keselowski said.

"How could it not appeal to you? It would be the pinnacle achievement in motorsport of all time. If you could go out and win one of those races, let alone two, you'd be a legend."

IndyCar Series champion Ryan Hunter-Reay said he was disappointed that Stewart did not accept Penske's challenge.

"I was hoping to see it happen," Hunter-Reay said. "We want the best here and welcome anyone who wants to come drive in the Indy 500, especially with someone like Tony Stewart's qualifications.

"We want to race against the best and we want to win against the best."

Hunter-Reay noted that Stewart -- or any other driver from a series outside of IndyCar -- would have a difficult time adapting to the foreign machinery, even with more than a week of practice time available at Indianapolis.

"We've seen the IndyCar drivers go over and put their toe in the water in NASCAR and more times than not it hasn't looked very good," RHR said. "I really respect what those guys do with those heavy cars, big horsepower, little tires, and I'd love to try it if I had a competitive opportunity.

"On the other hand, they would have a steep learning curve here, too. We haven't seen anybody come over here, but I would welcome seeing a NASCAR driver jump in an Indy car. Somebody like Tony knows how to adapt to different race cars. He's talented, he's been around the block, so he could absolutely do it."

Prior to the establishment of the Brickyard 400 stock car race, NASCAR drivers sporadically competed at Indianapolis through the mid-1970s.

Bobby and Donnie Allison, Cale Yarborough and LeeRoy Yarbrough all made starts in the Indy 500, with Donnie Allison's fourth-place finish in 1970 standing as the best result.

Indy car drivers Mario Andretti (1967) and A.J. Foyt (1972) have claimed victory in NASCAR's biggest race, the Daytona 500.

In 1994, John Andretti was the first driver to complete the Indianapolis-Charlotte double. Stewart, in 2001, was the last.

INDIANAPOLIS -- My lack of enthusiasm for NASCAR racing is well-known. But I think the prospect of stock car star Tony Stewart competing in the 2013 Indianapolis 500 for Team Penske would be great for the Izod IndyCar Series.

This isn't a news story. Yet. The genesis was when Roger Penske, perhaps giddy upon the occasion of celebrating his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship, half-jokingly made Stewart an offer he really shouldn't refuse.

[+] Enlarge
AP Photo/Julie JacobsonIndiana native Tony Stewart has yet to respond publicly to Roger Penske's Indianapolis 500 offer.

"You're a car owner, you're a race driver, you're a track promoter," Penske said, addressing Stewart while accepting the team owner's championship trophy last week in Las Vegas. "How about doing the double at Indy this year? Are you available?"

Penske Racing president Tim Cindric added fuel to the fire, asking via Twitter: "Hey, Tony, can we count on you for Indy? We've got a fast car for you."

Stewart, a Hoosier native, has not publicly responded. But Penske's seemingly throwaway remark at the NASCAR banquet actually turned into a PR lifeline for INDYCAR. Talk of Stewart "doing the double" -- driving in the Indianapolis 500 and NASCAR's Coca-Cola 600 on the same day, something Stewart did in 1999 and 2001 -- quickly developed into a grassroots campaign to actually make it happen.

Indianapolis Motor Speedway quickly established an online "Smoke2Indy" petition that garnered 1,700 signatures within 18 hours.

Many reasons have been given why no one has attempted to do the Indy/Charlotte double since Robby Gordon in 2004, aside from sheer difficulty. The Indianapolis 500's start time was twice pushed back from its traditional 11 a.m. ET start in an effort to increase television viewership in Western time zones, making it physically impossible to finish the 500 and make it to Charlotte in time to start the 600.

And from 2006 to 2011, of course, every car in the Indianapolis 500 was powered by Honda, creating a contractual conflict with every potential driver's relationship with their NASCAR manufacturer.

But Team Penske is now powered by Chevrolet, the same marque that supplies Stewart-Haas Racing in NASCAR. The only possible conflicts would be between Penske oil sponsor Shell/Pennzoil versus SHR's backing from Mobil 1, or possibly Sprint versus Penske's association with competing wireless phone carrier Verizon.

ABC/ESPN, which has broadcast the Indianapolis 500 since 1965, said it was open to discussing a change in the Indianapolis start time to accommodate Stewart or any other driver -- Danica Patrick? -- who wishes to "do the double." Julie Sobieski, ESPN vice president, programming and acquisitions, stated to the Associated Press: "ABC/ESPN would enthusiastically support the opportunity for said driver[s] to participate in both the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600. We have strong partnerships with the league and speedway."

Stewart created a frenzy at Indianapolis a few years ago when he showed up at the speedway to hang out with his buddy A.J. Foyt on a qualifying weekend and teased the media into believing he would give running the 500 another shot.

Remember, Stewart is a proud Indiana native who still resides in Columbus, about 40 miles from Indy. He grew up idolizing the Indianapolis 500 and, beyond Ed Carpenter's recent success, was the most successful Indy car driver of the past 20 years who came up through the traditional path of USAC Sprint and Midget oval-track racing.

Stewart was exactly the kind of Indy car driver Tony George envisioned when he formed the Indy Racing League, and Stewart took advantage of the opportunities that were made available to him. From 1996-98, he won three races, earned eight poles and captured the 1997 league championship.

But success at Indianapolis eluded him (his best Indy 500 finish was fifth in 1997), and no one can argue that TS made the full-time jump from Indy cars to NASCAR at precisely the right moment, prior to the 1999 season. Since then, he has developed into one of America's most popular racers, but you always got the feeling that Stewart feels he has unfinished business at IMS.

He'll never have a better opportunity than he would driving for Penske. Eleven years since he last drove an Indy car, Stewart's rear-engine skills may be a little rusty, and people will inevitably make jokes about his comparative lack of fitness compared to Indy car drivers in general.

But I can think of no driver in the world who has more mental toughness -- or anyone who derives as much sheer joy from driving as many different races and cars as possible.

People are always looking to Roger Penske as the man who can save Indy car racing. But as one of the world's busiest and most respected businessmen, he's never going to take on an active leadership role.

However, by putting one of NASCAR's biggest stars in one of his Indy cars, "The Captain" can certainly generate a lot of positive attention for the Indianapolis 500 and the sport itself. It makes too much sense not to happen.

Your move, Smoke.

INDIANAPOLIS -- Hulman & Co.'s appointment of Mark Miles as its new CEO looks like a smart move on a number of levels.

Miles is a legend in Indianapolis sports and business circles. He was the architect of the 1987 Pan American Games, the ambitious track and field event that put Indianapolis on the map as a great venue for amateur sports.

He then served for 15 years as president of the ATP Tour during a period of strong international growth for men's tennis. More recently, Miles was chairman of the committee that brought Super Bowl XLVI to Indianapolis in 2012, a hugely successful event that caused the National Football League to reassess the possibilities that Super Bowl week offers -- even in cold-weather cities.

[+] Enlarge
AP Photo/Darron CummingsNew Hulman & Co. CEO Mark Miles was instrumental in bringing the 2012 Super Bowl to Indianapolis.

In short, Miles has credibility locally, nationally and internationally. That could be of vital importance moving forward, because even though his mandate is not specifically to fix Indy car racing -- that falls to Jeff Belskus, CEO of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and interim CEO of the INDYCAR organization -- Miles' new role at Hulman & Co. puts him in position to have huge influence on the sport.

"Jeff has a lot on his plate, but I hope and believe that I can make a contribution to his being successful," Miles said at a Tuesday media availability. "I think [the IndyCar Series] is vitally important. It's important as an economic question financially, and for the board, I think we believe that the destinies of IMS and the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race and the IndyCar Series are inextricably welded, woven together. So we are determined to grow the IndyCar Series as a sport, and that will help the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race in the process."

Although Belskus still has "interim" attached to his INDYCAR title, it's clear that he is energized by the opportunity to devote the majority of his attention to the series in the wake of a messy split with former CEO Randy Bernard.

This is Belskus' second stint as interim CEO for INDYCAR, and there are signs that he'd like to shed the temporary tag. Since the series split with Bernard a few weeks ago, Belskus has thrown himself into the task of repairing the broken lines of communication and bruised egos that developed in the second half of Bernard's tenure.

Belskus' familiarity to the Hulman-George family and the Indy car community, combined with Miles' experience and skills, could end up being a winning combination.

"Having Mark tasked with the broader issues of Hulman & Co., the business side, is going to allow me to focus on the race series and the event side of our business, which I'm excited about," said Belskus, who recently celebrated his 25th year with the Hulman family. "I spent a lot of time in the last three weeks engaging and working with team owners, promoters and sponsors, engaging fans and understanding what opportunities we have and what the barriers are to those opportunities.

"We've got a lot of good things ahead of us. The plan for 2013, a lot of it has been launched already with our schedule, and many things are underway. But we have other issues and other things that we need to deal with and provide clarity about in the weeks to come."

Belskus cited the fate of Lotus and the IndyCar Series' long-term plans for engine and tire supply as key issues that require quick resolution. Other topics being tabled include the implementation of aero kits in the IndyCar Series and the selection of chassis and engine suppliers for Indy Lights.

Hulman & Co. management is sometimes criticized for failing to see beyond the I-465 ring road that circles Indianapolis, but Miles' experience with the ATP Tour and the Super Bowl demonstrates that he sees the bigger picture, nationally and abroad.

Much of the tour's growth was fueled by sponsorships and international expansion, and Miles told a story from his tennis days during his introductory news conference that demonstrated that he truly understands the international potential of the IMS and IndyCar brands.

"From 1990 to 2005, it happened that Memorial Day coincided with the French Open championships in Paris," he said. "So I would hurry back from Roland Garros and get to the hotel and turn on the television, never wanting to miss Jim Nabors singing and catching the race on TV. We could follow it wherever we were in the world.

"During those years, living and traveling outside of the United States more than 50 percent of the time, I can tell you that it's absolutely true: You can't go anywhere in this world and have conversations with any people who have any kind of worldview and not have them know about Indy, INDYCAR and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. So I come to this challenge with the perspective that we have a remarkable opportunity with a remarkable, potent, global brand."

Miles may not be the man running Indy car racing, but it sounds like he's a pretty good guy to have supervising and assisting the man who is.

Robert Laberge/Getty ImagesRyan Hunter-Reay is No. 1 after the 2012 IndyCar season, but will his car sport the No. 1 in '13?

INDIANAPOLIS -- Whatever happened to the number "1" in car racing?

The question came up Wednesday when newly crowned Izod IndyCar Series champion Ryan Hunter-Reay was asked whether he would run No. 1 in 2013 as opposed to the No. 28 he's carried for the past two years.

RHR's first number at Andretti Autosport was 37, but he switched to 28 when his ride was confirmed as full time at the start of the 2011 season. No. 28 fit in sequence with AA's traditional 26 and 27, and represents the 28 million people fighting cancer. Hunter-Reay's mother died of colon cancer in 2009.

"I would like to keep it," Hunter-Reay said of his championship-winning number. "But I just don't know yet. I think the sponsors might like the new number (1)."

Most recent Indy car champions have eschewed the use of No. 1, probably because teams believe that consistency with car numbers helps with fan and sponsor recognition. In NASCAR, the No. 1 has nothing to do with the championship driver; since 1975, Donnie Allison, Rick Mast, Dale Jarrett, John Andretti, Steve Park, Martin Truex Jr. and Jamie McMurray have carried the significant numeral, usually with little success.

NASCAR not only solidified the practice of associating numbers with drivers -- Richard Petty with 43, Dale Earnhardt with 3, Dale Jr. with 8 and 88, and on down the line -- but also made famous the fonts that display the digits.

Formula One is the only series where the current series champion carries the prestigious numero uno, but it wasn't always that way. The F1 world champion only began carrying No. 1 on a permanent basis beginning in 1973, when '72 titlist Emerson Fittipaldi proudly took it on.

[+] Enlarge
Robert Laberge/Getty ImagesRyan Hunter-Reay won his title driving the No. 28.

Before that, the defending champion of a given Grand Prix was usually assigned the No. 1 for the same race the next year.

Since 1973, the world champion driver has failed to carry No. 1 on only a few occasions; 1973 constructor's champion Lotus drivers Ronnie Peterson and Jacky Ickx ran 1 and 2 for the 1974 season after Jackie Stewart won the '73 driver's championship for Tyrrell, then retired.

When Nigel Mansell won the F1 title in 1992 and then switched to the CART-sanctioned Indy car series in America, the Williams team chose to campaign his replacement, Damon Hill, in car No. 0. Alain Prost then won the 1993 F1 crown for Williams in car No. 2, but when he retired at the end of the season, the team retained Nos. 0 (Hill) and 2 (Ayrton Senna) for the 1994 season.

On six occasions, the world championship winning driver switched teams immediately after winning the title; Nelson Piquet, Prost, Michael Schumacher, Hill, Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button all took the coveted No. 1 to new teams to defend their championships.

In Indy car racing, Sebastien Bourdais was the last driver to run No. 1 as the defending champion in the Champ Car World Series from 2005-07.

In the IndyCar Series, Scott Dixon followed up his 2003 championship by running No. 1 in 2004, but he had a terrible campaign. That may have contributed to Dixon's decision to maintain No. 9 in 2009, the year after he won his second IndyCar title. Ganassi's Dario Franchitti has kept No. 10 the past couple of years instead of running No. 1, though his car carried the No. 50 at Indianapolis this year honoring the 50th anniversary of sponsor Target Stores.

Ganassi's previous Indy car champions -- Jimmy Vasser, Alex Zanardi and Juan Pablo Montoya -- all carried No. 1 the year after winning the championship. After Zanardi won the 1998 CART title using No. 1, the team reverted to No. 4 for his replacement Montoya in 1999. Montoya chose No. 1 in 2000 after he won the '99 CART championship as a rookie.

At Penske Racing, after winning the championship in 2006, Sam Hornish Jr. continued with car No. 6 in 2007. That marked a change from the last time Penske won an Indy car title, when Gil de Ferran did run No. 1 in 2001 after winning the 2000 CART crown. De Ferran repeated as CART champion in '01, but Penske quit the series and moved to the IRL-sanctioned Indy car series in 2002, with de Ferran adopting No. 6.

For whatever reason, it seems the No. 1 has fallen out of vogue in auto racing. But I get the feeling that Hunter-Reay is going to bring it back.

Professor Sid Watkins, who was instrumental in improving driver rescue and safety during a 26-year tenure as the FIA Formula One safety and medical delegate, died shortly after marking his 84th birthday.

Described as "F1's family physician" by team owner Frank Williams in a 2002 Car and Driver story, Watkins organized a dedicated medical team that traveled to all F1 races around the world, and he is credited with fast-tracking safety advances for drivers, cars and racetracks.

[+] Enlarge
Dave M. Benett/Getty ImagesSid Watkins attended the U.K. premiere of "Senna," a documentary on Brazilian Formula One driver Ayrton Senna, in June 2011. Watkins tended to Senna after his fatal 1994 crash in Imola.

Watkins studied medicine at Oxford University before becoming a professor of neurosurgery at what is now known as SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, N.Y. His first experience working the medical field in racing came at the nearby Watkins Glen circuit, which hosted the U.S. Grand Prix F1 race from 1961 to 1980.

Watkins returned to the U.K. in 1970 to serve as the first professor of neurosurgery at London Hospital. Eight years later, after working for the Royal Auto Club's Motor Racing Medical Board, he was drafted into F1 by Bernie Ecclestone, who was then the leader of the Formula One Constructors Association.

Following Ronnie Peterson's fatal accident at Monza in 1978, Watkins insisted upon having a medical helicopter and mobile hospital at all circuits, as well as a professionally driven "chase" car that would get a doctor to the scene of an accident in as little time as possible. Watkins' trackside response is credited with saving the lives of numerous F1 drivers, including Didier Pironi, Nelson Piquet, Gerhard Berger, Martin Donnelly and Mika Hakkinen.

"We are always looking for ways to improve safety standards," Watkins told Car and Driver. "And although they are higher now than they've ever been, you can never become complacent."

In 2001, I attended a symposium on racing safety at the Autosport International Show in England, where Watkins introduced keynote speaker Niki Lauda. After barely surviving a fiery accident in the 1976 German Grand Prix at the Nurburgring, the three-time F1 world champion had first-hand knowledge of the need for rapid, specialized response and care at the racetrack. This is what Lauda said about Watkins:

"In the '70s, before I came back and raced until '85, the safety in Formula One was so bad that one guy got killed every year. Sometimes two, sometimes one, but for sure, every year one. So if there are 16 drivers, you can work it out for yourself when your time is over. This was a very difficult time for us.

"The biggest problem in those days was the medical care, because really there was no medical care whatsoever. When we raced, we put ourselves in situations where on Sunday, the local hospital was run by the fifth doctor there because the first four were on holiday. And all this was basically really very bad. So then Bernie Ecclestone, I believe it was in 1978, introduced Sid Watkins. It was a very easy introduction. He said, 'This is Professor Watkins, and he will take care of you guys.' We all looked at this certain professor, and he said one sentence: 'Guys, I am a brain surgeon and my one advantage is I can operate on you right in the car if something happens.' We were all really confused. I thought, 'If I hit the guard rail, the helmet comes off and Sid starts cutting.' So it wasn't a great introduction, and we all walked out of the room again thinking, 'Bernie is crazy. First everything else and now this crazy doctor here.'

"He had a lot of things to do. The first thing was to organize the infrastructure around the circuits, which really needed doctors at the right places, to know where the best hospitals are, who's in charge, and to make sure the right guys were there to take care of us at the right time. In the old days, the organization was pretty slow. They thought they could get us out to practice without a medical helicopter there. But I had an agreement with Sid, since I was the first one out of the pits. If the helicopter was there, I would drive out of the pits. But if it wasn't, I would park my car sideways blocking the pit exit until the helicopter was there.

"Slowly, he developed a perfect organization, and now you see medical cars following the cars around, and the drivers are immediately approached by the right doctors after an accident. There is no comparison to my days. Overall, he's done a perfect job, and I want to thank him now, even 15 years after I retired because the safety record in F1 has improved immensely. Unfortunately, [Ayrton] Senna and [Roland] Ratzenberger were the last two to be killed in a racing accident, but that was a number of years ago. From this point of view, the improvement in Formula One has been unbelievable."

Watkins, who retired following the 2004 F1 season, was a lively character who credited his longevity to whiskey and cigars. Every racing driver who has competed in Formula One over the past 30 years owes a debt of gratitude to him and his team of physicians, now headed by American Gary Hartstein.

INDIANAPOLIS -- Though he spent his career behind the scenes, Scott Roembke was one of IndyCar racing's biggest personalities. His death Sunday at age 51 following a lengthy struggle with his health produced an outpouring of affection for a man who devoted his career to his beloved Indianapolis 500 and the overall sport itself.

For beat reporters who knew him well, Roembke was a fantastic go-to source for information and insight, whether on or off the record. We occasionally sparred, such as when I was critical of Rahal Letterman Racing's decision to abruptly jump camps from CART to the Indy Racing League. When I started covering the IRL on a regular basis in 2004, he knew calling me "IRL Johnny" would rankle me. And as usual, he was right.

The stories of how a teenage Roembke would take the bus after school each day from Indianapolis' east side to the speedway on the far west side are legendary. He displayed the kind of passion for Indy car racing that is sadly lacking these days, and it paid off with a successful introduction to the inner workings of the sport with Patrick Racing, followed by a long and successful association with Bobby Rahal that took him from CART to the IRL to the American Le Mans Series and ultimately back to Indy cars. Had his health not taken a turn for the worse, Roembke would no doubt have played a key role in Rahal Letterman Lanigan's return to prominence in the Izod IndyCar Series.

"Scott was truly passionate about motor racing, particularly Indy car racing, and was wealth of knowledge about the sport," Rahal said in a statement. "He was a great leader, a confidant of mine and a dear friend. Scott's passion was directing winning Indy cars, and RLL and many drivers (including Rahal, Bryan Herta, Max Papis, Kenny Brack, Buddy Rice and Danica Patrick) were the beneficiaries of his strategic genius."

Only Roembke could have crafted a strategy that took advantage of full-course cautions and a couple of loopholes in the CART rulebook to produce a victory for Papis at Laguna Seca in 2001 on a day when Papis started on the back row of the grid and passed just one car on the track.

Roembke was very private about his health problems, so his many friends were surprised and delighted to see him able to return to Indianapolis this year to work with RLL and driver Michel Jourdain Jr. following a heart and lung transplant. Sadly, it was his last appearance at a racetrack.

Here is Scott Roembke's story -- in his own words, from our 2005 interview:

"I'm a homegrown Hoosier. I grew up in Indianapolis, on the east side, and when you grow up in Indianapolis you tend to be a race fan. My family would go out to the track during May and I just became kind of passionate about it. I read all the books and the yearbooks and memorized all the winners. It was something I became really, really into. I went into the Air Force after high school and then I was lucky enough that Jim McGee gave me a job, pretty much just as a gopher/logistics guy. I started with Patrick Racing in '86.

"I never wanted to be a driver or fantasized about winning the Indianapolis 500. I just always wanted to be an integral part of a team, whether it was managing or owning or whatever. I was always a huge Mario Andretti fan so obviously I knew a lot about Jim and what he had done. It was a great opportunity to be able to go to work for him. He was a tremendous resource, in terms of what to do and what not to do. He basically invented the position of team manager in this kind of racing.

"Patrick Racing was a very good team with a lot of experience, with Emerson Fittipaldi and Kevin Cogan as drivers. The engineering department of that team was Tony Cicale, Peter Gibbons and Ed Nathman, so there was a lot going on in that team and if you just kept your eyes and your ears open you could learn a lot.

"It's just like anything else ... you get opportunities to increase your responsibility, get more involved in the budget and the management and the hiring and the firing. At the same time, racing has become big with sponsors so you need people on the business side of it. I'm certainly not mechanically inclined enough to be a chief mechanic, but I can assemble a team of what it takes and set a budget and go to dinner with a sponsor and administrate what it takes when it gets to that point. As things got bigger, it created positions for people like me who were not necessarily mechanics.

"Obviously my responsibilities have changed a lot over the years, but I still think it's cool that I can work at something that I'm passionate about and want to do. You can dream of being a pro golfer or a pro basketball player, but chances are you're going to be skill-limited. All I ever wanted to do was have a job to support myself by going racing and I've been able to do that so far."

My condolences to the Roembke family and the Rahal organization.