Santa Fe Banquet 1969 (Illinois Vintage Racing Photo)by Stan Kalwasinski (Originally Posted on IllinoisVintageRacing.com)

The voice was distinctive, the delivery was unique and anyone who ever heard Jan Gabriel announce a race program at Santa Fe Speedway near Willow Springs will always remember the style and entertaining manner of the longtime Chicago area announcer. Gabriel, 69, passed away on January 10, 2010 suffering from polycystic kidney disease.

Art “Fireball” Fehrman of St. Charles, Ill. had known Gabriel since the late 1960’s when Fehrman was a rookie in the stock car action at Santa Fe and Gabriel was the new announcer at the “Track of Clay.” Fehrman was a front-running competitor in Santa Fe’s sportsman division before moving into the faster late model ranks in 1973. Fehrman drove his last late model race and won it in 1992 and came back to run a modified stocker for a bit in 2004 before calling it “quits.” More recently, Fehrman has been guiding his successful Illinois Vintage Racing stock car organization with his “back in the day” stock car tour visiting numerous race tracks in the Midwest.

With Gabriel’s passing, Fehrman reminisced about his friend.

“We became friends when I started racing at Santa Fe,” commented Fehrman about his 30-plus year friendship with Gabriel. “My dad (Art Sr.) use to have a racing party every year in the middle of January and Jan would always make it. He never let my dad down, driving through snow and ice storms just to get to my dad’s party. He’d fly in from California just to make it.

SÃO PAULO, Brazil - Will Power overtook Ryan Hunter-Reay in Turn 11 on Lap 58 of 61 to win the rain-shortened IZOD IndyCar Series season opener, the inaugural Sao Paulo Indy 300 on the Streets of Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Power, driving the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske car, won by 1.8581 seconds. Vitor Meira was third, followed by Raphael Matos, Dan Wheldon and Scott Dixon. PEAK Pole Award winner Dario Franchitti, who claimed the pole earlier in the day, finished seventh.

Power and Meira suffered 2009 season-ending injuries (Power in August, Meira in May), and both wound up on the podium in their first race back in the series.

The race was red-flagged for 36 minutes after a thunderstorm swept over the Anhembi section of the city, and it became a timed race. It was also the first time that an IZOD IndyCar Series event held qualifying and race on the same day.
SAO PAULO INDY 300 POST-RACE QUOTES:

WILL POWER (No. 12 Verizon Team Penske, winner Sao Paulo Indy 300): "It was probably the most mixed up race that I have ever been in, but it created an opportunity for me to come back through the field and end up winning the race. The improvements that they did to the track last night, were like night and day. Not a problem at all going down the frontstraight. I think it is just a really good day for racing. If you were fast you could pass, because there is such a good track layout here. I'm pretty sure it was an exciting race for the fans.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Tony Schumacher raced to his first victory of the season and in the process moved into the NHRA Full Throttle Series points lead Sunday at the Tire Kingdom NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway.

Tim Wilkerson, Jason Line and Eddie Krawiec also were winners in their respective categories at the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series event.
Schumacher earned his fourth Gatornationals win and 62nd of his career by powering his U.S. Army dragster to a performance of 3.797 seconds at 322.04 mph while teammate Antron Brown’s Matco Tools dragster lost traction in the runner-up effort.

The seven-time Top Fuel world champ beat Terry McMillen, Doug Foley and rival Larry Dixon to advance to the final round.

“It was a perfect win for this team,” said Schumacher, who posted the national speed record at 324.98 mph in a thrilling side-by-side win over Dixon in the semifinals. “This is something we needed to do. Now we’re in the points lead and that’s important as we go to Charlotte for the four-wide race.”

Wilkerson scored his 14th career victory by holding off defending race winner and teammate Bob Tasca in the Funny Car final. Wilkerson’s Levi, Ray & Shoup Ford Mustang finished in 4.097 at 303.78, while Tasca’s Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Shelby Mustang trailed with a 4.192 at 287.17.

Wilkerson beat Jeff Arend, top qualifier Matt Hagan and two-time world champ Tony Pedregon to advance to the final round, his first at the Gatornationals.
“When you run well and you run consistent, people will show you enough respect to try pretty hard against you,” Wilkerson said. “We did have a good day today. I’m not going to say we were world-beaters, but we made some pretty darn good runs to keep them on their toes.”

Travis Sauter and Team in Victory Lane at the 2009 Oktoberfest Race Weekend. (Credit: Doug Hornickel Photo fastlapphoto.com)By: Kari Shear-Carlson (ASAMT Media)
Photos By Doug Hornickel (fastlapphoto.com)

Travis Sauter finished in the top five three times in only four starts with the ASA Midwest Tour in 2009. One of those top five finishes was in victory lane where he captured the biggest victory of his career and first ASAMT win. Sauter claimed the victory in the 40th Annual Oktoberfest 100 at Lacrosse Fairgrounds Speedway after a hard-fought battle with 2010 ASAMT Champion, Steve Carlson. Not a bad way to end the season. In 2010 Sauter will have even more opportunities to make it to victory lane. Travis is set to run the full season with the American Speed Association® Kwik Trip Midwest Tour presented by ECHO Outdoor Power Equipment and Grandstay® Residential Suites Hotels.

Chances are if you are from the Midwest, you have heard of a Sauter. The family of racers hails from Necedah, WI and several have made the move to one or more of the NASCAR racing series. Travis is the son of Tim Sauter, 1999 ASA National Champion and a competitor in all three NASCAR series throughout his career. Travis has already proven that he has what it takes to follow in his grandfather, uncles’, and father’s footsteps.

The driver of the #5 Hamke chassis is looking forward to racing the full season in 2010. When asked what he was most looking forward to, Sauter’s matter-of-fact response was, “Just racing more in the top touring series in the country!” Travis would not be able to race the entire season without the support of his sponsors. Along with long-time sponsor Cranberry Creek Cranberries, Sauter is happy to announce that Habelman Bros. Company, the world's largest fresh cranberry grower and packer, has teamed up with Travis for 2010.

Indycar.com Media PhotoFisher invites Ellen to Indianapolis 500

By IndyCar Media (IndyCar.com)
Sarah Fisher wants day-time talk show host Ellen DeGeneres to be her guest at the Indianapolis 500 and is taking a unique approach to invite her, via the social networking site Twitter.

Fisher, the only female owner/driver in the IZOD IndyCar Series, has started a twitter account, @ellen2Indy500, and invited race fans to support her grassroots campaign to get DeGeneres to come to the 2010 Indianapolis 500.

"1 of my resolutions is 2have @TheEllenShow (DeGeneres) n my book & n return give her tix 2 the Indy500 this May. Follow how we reach her @ellen2indy500," Fisher wrote on her own twitter account, @sarahfisher67.

Fisher also hopes to include a quote from DeGeneres in her book, 99 Things Women Wish They Knew Before You Got Behind The Wheel Of Your Dream Job, which will be published in May. In the book, Fisher includes quotes from pioneering women who have made a name for themselves in their chosen field.

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Franchitti expects another close fight for 2010 title

Through 17 events in 2009, on the most diverse set of racetracks in motorsports, four IZOD IndyCar Series drivers swapped the points lead a record 15 times. Dario Franchitti earned the driver championship by outdueling Target Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Scott Dixon and Team Penske's Ryan Briscoe in a season-finale shootout at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

That the title was determined in the closing stages of the race was fitting - the three competitors entered the 200-lap race on the 1.5-mile oval separated by eight points. The final margin was 11 points (the third-closest in series history and the fourth consecutive year it's been less than 20 points). No more than 33 points separated first to third in the standings over the course of the season.