Max Papis (left) talks with Jimmie Johnson at Watkins Glen International. (Photo Credit: John Harrelson/Getty Images for NASCAR)

Over the last few years, several former open-wheel racers have migrated over to the stockcar world to try their hand at NASCAR. For many of them, the move has resulted in little, if no success, especially for drivers making the move from higher divisions of open-wheel racing — like the IRL or Formula1.

Sure, several drivers have made a successful move from what would be considered lower levels of open-wheel, like sprint cars, etc. — Jeff Gordon is one that comes to mind.

However, it seems like drivers who have found success at a higher level in both open-wheel and stock cars are few and far between. Tony Stewart seems to be more the exception, not the rule.

There are a few drivers that have found a limited amount of success after moving to the NASCAR ranks. Robby Gordon won a few races here and there a few years ago, and Juan Pablo Montoya occasionally finds himself in a NASCAR victory lane, but it’s not consistent success.

Sam Hornish Jr. has never really found significant success in the stock car world, but he does seem to be improving.

Success in one form of racing obviously doesn’t predict success in another.

Photo Credit: ianris

So Danica is considering the move to Nascar.

Interesting timing on her part. Her career and visibility has never been so high. Is she throwing in the towel and saying that she’s reached all that she can in Indy or are the dollars speaking loudly? The lure of money certainly has something to do with it. Danica needs to be careful what she wishes for though or she could be feeding the Nationwide series as a driver for the Camping World Trucks. Nascar has never been the golden seat for any open-wheelers making the transition.

Consistently, drivers come crawling back with that ‘where am I’ state of confusion after attempting the seat in Nascar. Some are sticking it out, but not rocking the stats with their performance. Consider these ex open-wheelers: Montoya, Franchitti, Hornish Jr., Villeneuve, Tracy, Allendinger, Carpentier,... the list goes on. They’ve all tried and none have had much success.

2008 Rexall Edmonton Indy (Photo Credit: Adam Jevne)

The 2009 Rexall Edmonton Indy will be the year that tells all. 2008 end as a year of questions for the organizing committees in Edmonton. The merger left the Edmonton venue as a large question mark on the schedule and as a result, the organizers scrabbling. Hard work, much determination and frequent meetings with IRL finally net a confirmation that Edmonton would be on the schedule for three more years. Good news, except the late round of negotiations left the event in a state of flux because they were now very late in the planning process. 11th hour marketing activities, unconfirmed supporting events and last minute commitments from sponsors left the event in the red by $5.3 million. Local media blasted the organizers over tab left for taxpayers. Now that there are no excuses this year, I know the event will be a huge success.

Tickets
Tickets for the Rexall Edmonton Indy can be purchased at Ticketmaster. This includes: single day passes, three day passes, RV parking passes and pit-lane passes.

I have to admit that this post was much harder than I thought it was going to be. I wanted to pull together some of the best racing wallpapers across the Internet and I was surprised by the lack of well designed desktop wallpapers that were more that just a cropped photo. Motorsport is filled with photos of beautiful tracks, race machines and coordinated backdrops of engineers and pitlanes. These create a great canvas for building beautiful desktop wallpapers that can be downloaded to your audience’s computers.

Here are the ten links to desktop wallpapers that I feel were worth sharing. There were a few other sites that had great ones, but their links to the larger files were broken. If they’re corrected I’ll be sure to update you.

If you know of more or would like to submit some that you’ve designed, post a comment or shoot us an email to inbox@elementofspeed.com.

BMW Sauber F1 Racing Wallpapers

Indianapolis Motor Speedway Wallpapers

Suspended driver Jeremy Mayfield (Photo Credit: Sam Greenwood/Getty Images for NASCAR)

UPDATE
June 9, 2009: Sources to ESPN reveal that the banned substance Jeremy Mayfield tested positive for was Methamphetamine. Yes, meth. Read the full ESPN Story.
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NASCAR’s substance abuse policy has been in the spotlight ever since Jeremy Mayfield was suspended indefinitely following a failed NASCAR-administered drug test several weeks ago.

To make matters worse, the whole situation has turned into what amounts to a “he said/she said” type of disagreement between Mayfield and the powers that be at NASCAR.

Mayfield still contends that the failed drug test was a result of the combination of a prescription medication and an over-the-counter drug that he was taking. He has said that the over-the-counter drug was Claritin, but still hasn’t disclosed to the public the prescription medication he is on.

On the other hand, The doctor who oversees NASCAR’s drug testing procedures contends that there is no way the two drugs Mayfield claims to be on could possibly cause the result that was attained from Mayfield’s test.

This weekend is the 93rd Indianapolis (Indy) 500. The 33 car field and huge prize ($2,988,065 in 2008) for top spot is sure to keep the event entertaining.

The Indy 500 includes 200 laps over a 2.500 mile (4.023 km) circuit for a total race distance of 500 miles (804 km). The fast lap (race) record holder is Eddie Cheever in 1996 with a speed of 236.103 mph (379.971 km/h).

To make the race extra challenging, there are four former Indy 500 winners in the starting field (Castroneves, Dixon, Franchitti, and Wheldon). Franchitti is starting in position three and will be nipping at the heels of Castroneves from the first wave of the green flag. Back from the top three positions are some other drivers to watch, including: Dixon (starting in position 5), Kanaan (starting in position 6), Marco Andretti (starting in position 8), and Tracy (starting in position 13). Also adding to the importance of this race is the fact that over the past four years the Indy 500 winner has gone on to win the IndyCar season.

Photo Credit: PetieJ

OK, here we go. The third and last 2009 itinerary in our series of race vacations gives you plenty of choice (be sure to catch our 1st and 2nd itineraries too). With so many races going on at the beginning of August in the north-eastern USA, there’s plenty of racing and a few double-headers that are sure to satisfy your thirst for racing. If you’re not from the northeast, get over there! August isn’t a bad time to catch some sightseeing while you’re getting your race on.

TRIP ITINERARY #3
Race Leagues to see: IRL, NASCAR Sprint / Nationwide, Grand-Am Koni / Rolex, American Le Mans Series
Trip Locations: Kentucky, Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio
Trip Dates: July 25 – August 9

Stop 1: July 25 – 26 2009: NASCAR Sprint Allstate 400 at the Brickyard in Indianapolis, Indiana (Get NASCAR Brickyard Tickets)
This weekend is a NASCAR double-header. Catch the Nationwide race on Saturday and the Sprint show on Sunday. For your next stop, either head to Kentucky to see IRL or Pennsylvania for more NASCAR.