[VRR][B-SPEC] 2016 Straight Talk IndyCar Series Season

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"Media reports seem to have misquoted us when we said we were going to sell our second seat for 2017. We intend to forfeit our second seat and look to return to a single car operation in 2017 if we can settle the sponsorship rows. We will not be resuming talks with other parties." - Steven McTavish
 
I think my plea still stands on someone coming in to replace the team we have now, even if we don't have commentary. I'd rather see races up in video so that the following actually means something. The sooner the better...
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Also, something I heavily want to point out. As of right now, there are currently 3 open full time racing seats available. It would be easy to just hand them to teams to promote part time drivers, but I want to be fair about this. So, those interested in taking one of those entries may send me a private message once you have lined up a driver. Priority will be given to those that manage to pull in drivers that have not been a part of the series before. Do not reach out before you have lined up that.
 
As always, I'll hold my in-character tongue about how the race went until I get a chance to watch it play out.

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Announcing that unfortunately due to issues behind the scenes, video production has halted. Race results will still be posted in real time, and we will begin working on a replacement immediately. No questions will be answered at this time.
 
"I would like to announce some things revolving TKU.

First off: a long time back, I announced that once we get to Laguna Seca, I would announce if I would continue racing the #20 car for next season. However, I'm an impatient person, and I figured I'd give the news now. I WILL return to drive the #20 car. However Red Bull has been dropped as a sponsor. Currently I have secured a deal with two sponsors, but they will be announced towards the end of the season (probably around Laguna Seca).

One other announcement is that we have recently acquired some more drivers for the 2017 season. The names of these drivers are classified for now. But once the off season hits, we will inform you of their identities and sponsors.

Thank you for your time.
 
It's been well enough documented that there have been issues going on behind the scenes, and I want to thank everyone involved or in the loop for not going and spilling the beans. However, there is one person who, through the whole thing, has worked hard on securing back up options and a game plan for 2017. This one person I think has more than enough reason to let his voice be heard publicly but has been genuinely kind enough to not do so. From the start, he's been enthusiastic, and has shouldered the criticism and blame like a man and has always presented a straight forward answer to everyone here regarding issues and has seldomly been recognized for what he's put in. Effective immediately, I am happy to place my trust in Clayton Hardy to keep the wheels turning and I am happy to work with him to make how this series is presented better. With that said, the fixes needed still need a little time and there is no estimation on when the next video will be out. I will continue with my plan to release the race reports as they are due in real time while this happens. I also am excited to share more news about the series in the coming days.
 
I'm not going to go into a lot of detail as to what's caused what's happened specifically. However, the pressure is on, as it has been. Quietly, I've held my problems to myself regarding what's going on, but I think I have to put something out there so people understand why things are suddenly changing. For eight months, "we" put our faith in someone who has shown unreliability and lack of prioritization in many key times. And those times add up especially when we missed our very first deadline. That should have been an indication that we were on a sinking ship. We jumped ahead with the 2015 Indy 500, and we stayed ahead for the most part up until Homestead. Mexico was an out of our hands issue because of the audio, and we missed Motegi by a day because we failed to schedule based on it being Sunday in Japan and not for us. Things derailed massively after Homestead. No straight answers for what happened there. I had asked at several different occasions for both Barber and Kentucky on when we could record, and because I was left unanswered, we missed several crucial times that we could have jumped back ahead and should have. We recorded Kentucky the weekend of, and were really late with when that race came out, and we really had no excuse. Mid-Ohio we did the weekend of, but we really didn't have much editing to do. Nothing happened in that race. Angel had even made life easier by deliberately clearing out a weekend for us to record Indy and Michigan and possibly Belle Isle. That was the intended purpose, and asides from Indy, we had nothing to show for it. We focused on the GTPFS Daytona race, which crashed and left that series with nothing to show when in the same amount of time we could have recorded Michigan as first planned and not have been in a crunch after Indy. Indy came out, and for some reason, we didn't record when we should have. And we never restarted. Now, I hate to be that guy, but I have to draw the line and say that you can't just skip out on a job you started mid way. But that's exactly what he did. Tuesday I was informed that he had quit. And for the next day, I was rushing my ass off trying to find people that could possibly jump in. I know how important this is to Angel first off. When she says that this is "the only thing [she's] ever been truly proud of", and she has a lot to be proud of, I know what is expected, and so did he. I also know how much people look forward to the broadcasts and watching the entertainment we provide. I enjoy doing it. It's always been the highlight of my weekend. And because of that, I feel extremely horrible for knowing that because of someone else, I have let down a lot of people and caused disappointment. Now that I have more say, I hope that it won't be so common any more. We will be back this year, either with the same crew or with new crew. We will be back by Road America if not sooner. If I do not hear anything from him by June 7th, I move on and I personally close that door myself. For the longest time, we had no plan B, so we had to settle. Now that I have a plan B and C lined up, I do not have to use the patience Angel has been blessing him with for over 8 months. And I won't. You all deserve entertainment. You deserve answers, and you deserve the respect to know that there's someone on the team that simply doesn't care anymore and it isn't me. I've already secured a nice future for the Trucks and I have a good option as backup if things don't fix themselves soon.

I urge everyone to be a little more patient until June 7th. At midnight, I'll have the answers I need or lack there of to go accordingly. I want to thank Angel for giving me the ability to put more of my care and effort into the things I love the most; racing, and commentating. We'll see where we go.

Another thing I should address. I have been notified that there are people interested in commentating. Because of the precarious situation we have going on, I will not be considering guest commentators this year until we have the situation figured out better. Next year will be different because of the FICA 1,000km of Daytona (spoiler, get ready m80s), VRR IndyCar and Trucks, and stuff. But I have no intention of jumping to the 2017 prep train until I know what I want to see next year as far as the base crew goes. If I had my way, Trucks would have 1 crew of a recorder/commentator, a sole commentator, and an editor, while IndyCar would have two crews. And that's what I want to set up if the best possible outcome happens. Hopefully we get that, because as I said before, you as fans and participants deserve it, and Angel deserves it because let's face it, she's done a damn great job building this empire on her own and deserves the ability to sit back and relax for a bit.

Talk to you all soon,
Clayton​
 
I'm glad that I thought before replying with an inappropriate, over-the-top smart-*** comment.

Unfortunately, once I talked to Angel and knew nothing physically had happened to anyone, I assumed that either patience had reached it's end or he'd up and quit before it was taken away from him. As bad as that is, through the little it's communicated it seems the @Clayton Hardy is serious about doing this, so while I'm as useful as an abscessed tooth I do all I can to help and support his effort.
 
Points have been updated to include Michigan and Belle Isle.

If what I'm reading is correct, then...?

I got dead last at Belle Isle. Not too surprising really; Draco's skills really only shine on ovals at the moment.
 
Full results from the Audi Indy Grand Prix of Bowmanville.
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And because I am so productive this morning, points in the OP have already been updated.
 
Top 10 at home isn't too shabby, if only qualifying went better something more impressive could have been achieved probably.
 
All three Canadian drives scored a top 10. Mighty well done surviving the implosion of talent.
 
"Yes, yes, yes!!! We did it guys!!! Awesome work today!! I can't believe it!!! Way to go, you guys were a big part in this one today. Oh man, this is not gonna get old, at all! Can't thank you all enough. Hell yes!"
 
Excerpts from Press Conference at Mosport

"...I wish to apologise to those personnel who may have been offended by those comments a couple of weeks ago. I've also given a formal apology to VRR as well. I simply want this mess over with."


"...We've cleared the air with the sponsors and we'll see out the terms through to the end of the 2018 season. We'll continue to run a single car as expansion at this stage is financially unsustainable. We'll re-evaluate our options during 2018."

Gary Slater,
Mosport 2016​
 
I can pretty much guarantee the implosion/explosion/demolition of the fastest drivers is because of aggression. As my very good friend Dave says, there are two things you must do at Mosport: commit and be careful.
 
Going to kind of repeat myself by saying that the current broadcast crew will resume work beginning with Road America according to Angel. This is still a bit disappointing because we will unfortunately be missing races I think a lot have circled on the calendar like Phoenix and Las Vegas, and hopefully those will have the chance to be recorded as raw archive footage sometime in the future by either myself or someone else within VRR staff. I also want to reiterate that I am heavily into mapping out what 2017 for VRR will look like in the broadcast booth. I stand by my initial statement to have two different commentary crews working on the Straight Talk IndyCar Series, and I will be engaging into discussions with those necessary to step those plans forward this weekend. So while the series begins its preparations for Trois-Rivieres this weekend, rest assured that this "blackout" of terms will not be for too much longer.
 
"We were lost on the set-up all weekend, but the team had a good plan for how to run the race and if everything went right, we maybe could've made 1 less stop than everybody else. Problem was I got caught up in somebody else's accident and had nowhere to go.

"It's always frustrating to end a weekend like that, but everybody at PerlSpeed GP is just going to put it behind us and get ready for Trois-Rivieres. I'm still trying to wrap my head around how to go fast while approaching the arch..."
 
Happy Monday everyone. Race report for the Toshiba Indy Grand Prix of the Three Rivers is here.
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Points have been updated in the OP.
 
Michael Hayes: Second multi race winner, Stephanie Porter-Kelley with us this morning. Crazy weekend for you in so many different ways, with winning Trois-Rivieres yesterday and obviously the horrific attack that hit your city on Saturday night. Take us through your waves of emotions right now.
Stephanie Porter-Kelley: We had an amazing car all weekend. Honda definitely was the engine to beat and we were in the best position to win. Motivation definitely stepped up Sunday morning. I remember my publicist called me at like 4 in the morning about it and the rush of terrible news definitely made me more determined to take something home to them.
MH: Your drive was stellar. Started fourth, led after the first round of pit stops, and never looked back en route to your second win of the season. Both of your wins have been landslides and it leads me to believe that when you guys have it, you really have it.
SPK: *laughs* Yeah. We love the races where strategy is what gives you track position. Mid-Ohio was great for us. We already had the track position, which made holding it easier. And Trois-Rivieres was all about the TKU guys trying to outrun each other and letting it fall in our lap. And I can't go without mentioning what a stellar job Sakura did yesterday. First time I've actually had the ability to race against her and she knows what she's doing. Well done by her to get podium.
MH: That's actually where my next question was going. Five women in the field, and three of them in the top 10, including your future teammate.
SPK: It's always good to see that the barriers are more and more being dismantled. Jamie did a great job as well securing a top ten. It's been good all around for the Polaris Motorsports group.
 
"Getting an Indycar to go fast around this tight street circuit to me is kind of like staging a boxing match in a phone booth. Not my forte at all... But, qualifying was decent enough considering were just a little over half a second off the pole position.

"I felt like the team at Perl Speed GP gave me an OK car at the start of the race, but it's so hard to pass around Trois-Rivieres that I couldn't really get any momentum going as the car got progressively worse. Then our fuel strategy didn't pan out like we had hoped, so to walk away in one piece with 21st... Well, it isn't ideal, but I can't complain."

"I'm looking forward to the next few races though."
 
Finally able to catch a bit of a break. We just needed to be careful how we ran and we secured our best finish since Barber. We're just hoping to get some breaks like this so that this season isn't a total waste.
 
KYOTO, JAPAN--Following the transfer of Sakura Ishibashi to Cherokee Motorsports, as well as the transfer of Black Rose Racing's fourth seat to us, we can confirm most of our 2017 roster. Driving full time for us will be the Italian Kaylee Zappa in the #15 with sponsorship coming from Blu Electronic Cigarettes and Go Pro, Kunimitsu Kino****a will drive the #17 sponsored by Sony and Mountain Dew, the #18 will be driven by newcoming Filipino Jerome Torres with sponsorship from Dragon War and Samsung, and Camyron Jackson will return to the #19 with sponsorship from GameStop and Hewlitt Packard. Nii Aryeetey will drive in select races for us throughout the season with Pepsi sponsorship. We remain tediously looking for someone who can fill our final part time spot but hope to have a solution soon.

Livery Summary (Car: Driver (Nation)/Primary Livery/Secondary Livery)
#14: TBD (TBD)/TBD
#15: Nii Aryeetey (USA) (R)/Pepsi
#16: Kaylee Zappa (ITA) (R)/Blu Electronic Cigarettes/Go Pro
#17: Kunimitsu Kino****a (JPN)/Sony/Mountain Dew
#18: Jerome Torres (PHI) (R)/Dragon War/Samsung
#19: Camyron Jackson (USA)/GameStop/Hewlitt Packard
 
For those who may not be a part of the livery conversation, but are looking forward to 2017, the thread for that will go up on July 4th. Among the things revealed will be:
-2017 VRR Straight Talk IndyCar Series Calendar
-2017 VRR Straight Talk IndyCar Series Roster
-All Currently Ratified Changes For 2017 as determined by the VRR General Assembly.
 
Reporter: Jerome, obviously with the announcement, you're now confirmed to drive for Cat Devil Racing next season, how do you feel?
JPT: Quite relieved, to be honest, cause everytime I get asked a question about the seat, I just couldn't say anything. *laughs* Obviously, it's good news, things were finalized for quite a while so the announcement itself really doesn't come as a surprise.
Reporter: Another point mentioned in the announcement was Sakura Ishibashi's move to Cherokee Motorsports, having been together with her in the young driver program, what are your thoughts on this?
JPT: I wish her all the best with the move, cause she seems really excited to drive for them, and while it's quite sad that I won't get to race with her as a teammate next year, it's interesting to see how it'll be with her as a rival on-track.
Reporter: You've been doing a lot of touring car racing this year, do you think it's going to affect your upcoming Indycar debut?
JPT: If anything it's only helped me gain more experience. I'm just going to take it one step at a time, try to learn things quickly so I can start contributing more to the team a lot quicker as well.
Reporter: Thanks, Jerome, looking forward to seeing you on the grid next season.
JPT: No problem, my pleasure.
 
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