As much as I hate winter, the long break went fairly quickly and now it's time to get back to business. The 2010 Izod IndyCar Series opens it's season on the streets of Sao Paulo,  Brazil this Sunday. 

The booth announcers, Jon Beekhuis, Robbie Buhl and myself, will not be going.  We're doing our part of the telecast from the studios of IMS Productions across from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.  Jack Arute is the only on-air announcer who will be going.  This isn't unusual for a race far away.  We have never gone to Japan and did not go to Edmonton last year.  Our job remains the same though.  We never (or rarely) look at the track when we're at a venue.  Our job is to watch the monitor and talk about what's on screen.  So it's just as easy to do that in studio.

The entry list has been released and I'm pleasantly surprised by the number of cars entered.  There are 24 cars and 22 drivers on the list.  KV Racing Technology has three cars entered but only two drivers.  And the Dale Coyne car sponsored by the Boy Scouts of America has no driver listed.  I hear that Alex Lloyd will get that ride, although Graham Rahal and J.R. Hildebrand, last year's Firestone Indy Lights Champion, have also been mentioned.

Newcomers include Takuma Sato, previously of Formula One racing, who will drive one of the KV cars, Ana Beatriz is in a third Dreyer & Reinbold entry, Simona DeSilvestro has the HVM ride, and Mario Romancini moves from the Lights series to IndyCars.

The track looks to be very racy.  It has two long straightaways which should create some great passing opportunities.

Team Penske drivers led the open test at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama.  Will Power was fastest during the two days of testing followed by Helio Castroneves and Ryan Briscoe.

We'll be on the air with a qualifying show at 1:30 Eastern Time on Saturday afternoon. And then have live coverage of the Brazil Formula Indy GP at 11:30 AM Eastern Time on Sunday.  Most of the country moves to Eastern Daylight Time early Sunday morning, so don't forget to set your clocks ahead one hour.

I hope those of you who have Direct TV took steps over the winter to make sure you saw our races on Versus.  The dispute continues, and although I hear that progress is being make, there is going to be no quick solution to the problem.  If you can't get us at home, go to your nearest sports bar and ask them to turn us on.

I'll try to update this page as quickly as possible after a weekend race.

I'm looking forward to a great racing season...hope you are too!!