The Official Champodcast F1 and Indycar Fantasy Leagues!
Written by Jason, on 12-02-2010 08:41
Well this is it!, Champodcast's First Ever F1 Fantasy League.
To join in the fun, simply log into http://www.fantasyracers.com/ set up an account, and then log into league 40290 with the password popoff
This league is open to all Champodcast listeners, but we ask that you sign up to the boards to join in the fun. And oh yah, there will be a great prize for the winner at the end of the season. What it is yet?, we're not totally sure, but rest assured it's going to be kick-ass!.
BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE!!!! .....
And when you sign up for the F1 fantasy league, simply use the same account details and join us with Champodcast's First Ever Indycar Fantasy League.
Simply log into http://www.fantasyindycar.com/ with the same account as your fantasy racers account and then log into league 60006 with the password popoff.
Looking forward to some fun competition with all of our listeners at Champodcast.com, The World's Fastest Podcast
Big things might have been promised for the Rexall Edmonton Indy, especially after the usually bland Toronto race produced one of the most exciting of the year. Now, with a track that is much wider and very inviting to bold overtaking moves), we just might be in for another thriller (and having Paul Tracy close to the front doesn’t hurt either).
Given the comparisons to Cleveland (which always produced exciting races for CART/Champ Car), it comes as no surprise that Edmonton is expected to give the same. After all, last year’s race was unpredictable and saw new leaders the series wasn’t used to seeing (namely A.J. Foyt IV, who led his first road/street race last year).
So, who is on point this weekend and poised to win?
That little exchange between Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button just about explains it all. In one of most bizarre incidents F1’s has seen recently (at least on the track), the timing and scoring at the track stopped working for the final minute, leaving us all wondering about the qualifying order (drivers included); in fact, Alonso resorted to asking each driver for his time as they pulled into parc ferme, which even got Mr. Ecclestone to chuckle. But, it all proved to a light and humorous to observe, and did well to relax everyone after Felipe Massa’s frightening crash. For the record, Massa is said to be stable, but is in a local hospital and will not race this weekend.
So, now that we have that mess sorted out, what are we left with? A jumbled grid! A Renault is on pole, a KERS Mclaren is in fourth (well within reach of grabbing the lead on the start), and Jenson Button’s Brawn is down in eighth. Oh my, what a day we might have in store!
It’s fun to see a first time winner. Mark Webber now holds the record for running the most races before his first win…though I’m sure that’s not a record he cares about very much. Still, it capped off a perfect weekend for him and the Red Bull team. Plus, it came on a day that was very entertaining to watch, as the race seemed up in the air through the first stint of the race (and could have been even more so, had Lewis Hamilton’s tire not had a puncture from the start). With all the turmoil the sport is seeing off track (it now appears that a split might be back on, after FOTA walked out of a meeting with the FIA), F1 needs some nice on-track stories to counter the political mess going one behind the scenes.
Mark Webber: Finally! Webber’s career has always been defined by a dark cloud that has just hovered of him throughout his time in F1. He showed great speed with Minardi and Jaguar, and put both teams further up the grid than they should have been. It looked like his jump to Williams would make him a title contender, but that change came at a time when Williams was starting their downward spiral. The came a switch to Red Bull, with a car designed by Adrian Newey, the best aerodynamicist F1 has. But, the first few cars were very fragile, and DNF’s were common place. Now, he has a car that can win…and win a lot (as Sebastian Vettel has shown). He might not be a title contender, but his win very well deserved; he didn’t put a wheel wrong all weekend, and upstaged his very fast teammate for the first time. Plus, he now sits third in the championship, having jumped Rubens Barrichello. Vettel may be the real title contender on the team, but Webber could be a dark horse, depending on circumstances in future races.
Leave it to a street race to provide the best race of the year! The streets of Toronto saw the Indycars put on a great show this past weekend. Lots of passing (notably in turn three), varying strategies, new faces in the lead, and a controversial crash all made this weekend the best of the year. While the podium had the familiar feel of Penske and Ganassi, it certainly wasn’t their normal runaway; for a while, it looked like Paul Tracy and Alex Tagliani (with their part-time teams!) might battle for the win…and put the Canadian crown into a frenzy. We may well need this off week to recover and digest all that happen in Toronto…but it sure was fun, wasn’t it?
Dario Franchitti: On paper, it would appear to be an easy win for Dario. Most laps led, pole position, a walk in the park, right? Hardly so; an error on his first stop put him mid-pack, a place he stayed during the middle portion of the race. Quite frankly, if not for a timely yellow during the second sequence of stop, Dario was not going to win. But, you’d rather be lucky than, right? He slipped by Helio Castroneves (who made an error going into turn one) and held the lead from there. All in all, it was tough day for Dario, but one that ended up very nicely for him. He overtook Scott Dixon in the standings, and leads his teammate by two points heading into Edmonton.
Kyle's Korner 
