Mitch Robinson

This morning I hit some ice going around a bend in the parking lot of my school, and I wasn't able to get any traction before the end of the road. The right front of my car made some decent contact with the curbing, but it wasn't a huge shunt. Things seemed alright and there was no damage on the outside of the car, so I didn't think much of it during the day. But on the way home this afternoon, the wheel was very bouncy and shaky, which it hadn't been before. I'd imagine the suspension was bent a little from hitting the curb.

I was wondering what the cost would be of repairs, again it's a 1992 Toyota Camry LE, just over 160K miles. I don't think it's had suspension damage before. I can add info if needed. Thanks in advance

Just wondering what other people are thinking with this proposed trade that will likely go thru. Reports say the Pacers are waiting on Jamal Crawford, who will give the Pacers a yes or no by the end of the day to sign, and if it's no, then Indy will sign the trade.

IMO, I feel like this could be a bit of a downer for Indiana. Rush will be good to get rid of, a lazy, offensive minded (tho not productive) guard. But McRoberts is an electric athlete, at the same time being a big man. I feel like he's on track to be the Blake Griffin of the East, provided he stays in the East. When the Pacers needed a spark from the crowd, a lob pass to the Carmel and Duke grad got it going, and at the same time, Josh would play tough, physical D and hustle after loose balls.

But one thing Indy has needed is a dominant scorer. Danny Granger is no doubt solid, but he seemed to fade in the post season, when leaders are needed. Hopefully Mayo would be able to bring consistent scoring to flank Granger, and if he can prove to be scrappy and hard nosed defensively, we could have a contender on our hands, especially with the addition of David West signing with the Pacers yesterday.

I have mixed feelings about this trade, and would no doubt miss McRoberts, and am still unsure about OJ Mayo, but I hope if he ends up here that he can change that. With a good mix of young guns and veterans, and talents all around, the Pacers could be for real again. And I hope so.

Let me know what you think, Pacers fans, Grizzlies fans (btw congrats on that playoff run, you were fun to watch), and basketball fans in general. Thanks.

Anyone who views this question knows what I'm talking about. After the tragic loss of Dan Wheldon at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, should the open wheel series return to the circuit? Obviously it's a very tough decision, and there are arguments both ways.

As of right now, IndyCar's 2012 schedule visits only 5 ovals, Vegas being one of them. However, Auto Club Speedway (Greg Moore, 1999), and Indianapolis (Tony Renna, 2003), have also seen drivers killed behind the wheel. Jeff Krosnoff was also killed in 1996 in a CART race at Toronto, which IndyCar will visit next season. Add in that the series continued to race, and may possibly race at Homestead Miami Speedway, even after Paul Dana was killed in 2006.

Despite what history has said and how history should tend to be followed in most cases, I feel like IndyCar should not return to Las Vegas Motor Speedway; at least not in 2012.

Maybe the events of 13 days ago are still to fresh on my mind, but I can't even imagine going back to a track where the last time IndyCar drivers turned a lap, they lost a legendary driver and good friend. I personally knew Dan, so that may also have a little effect on my opinion, but it's still my opinion. Out of respect for the Wheldon family, and with the hearts and thoughts of the drivers in mind, I feel like it;d be a bad idea to return to Las Vegas quite yet.

But I'm not asking this question just to ramble on why I think what I think. Let me know your own thoughts.

God bless, and keep the Wheldon family, as well and the Wanser family (six year old Michael) and the Simoncelli family & MotoGP community (23 year old Marco Simoncelli) in your thoughts and prayers, as they also lost a light in their worlds this past weekend.

So another season comes to an end, hopefully on an optimistic note. Will Power trails Dario Franchitti by 18 points coming in, and Dan Wheldon looks to secure himself and a fan $2.5M each by winning from 34th starting spot.

A bigtime surprise came through last time out, as Ed Carpenter finally found victory, winning by less than a hundredth of a second. A David beats Goliath type story.

With so many cars entered, a record 34 for the finale of the Dallara IR3 chassis, it's not out of the question that a surprise winner could be in the cards.

However, I will pick Will Power to win the 300 mile event. He was strong at Kentucky until the hole in his sidepod slowed him more than a mile per hour per lap. And with a little luck in Dario Franchitti finishing outside the top 3, Power would be crowned champion of IndyCar.

So, who ya got, for one last time in Sin City?

Time for one last trip to Japan, the Indy Japan "The Final" is set for Saturday night EST, and is sure to be an interesting weekend. Will Power has done as he's been pushing for, chipping away at Dario Franchitti's points lead, now down to just 5, with three races remaining.

This edition of the IndyCar schedule brings the series to Twin Ring Motegi. Yet, due to the devastating earthquake this spring, the series will run on the road course, as opposed to the traditional egg-shaped oval. This bodes well for top road racers, and being such a new track, I don't see any surprise dark horses making any significant runs.

That said, I'll pick Will Power to win his seventh race this season, setting a new IndyCar Series record. He's been too good on the road and street courses, and since Motegi will be a new venue for everyone (especially in these cars), Power's skill and Team Penske's adaptability will prove too much for any challengers. Power wins from pole.

As for you, who ya got?

Also, Danica mentioned last week she'd rather not go to Japan because of radiation fears. It makes sense why she doesn't want to go, but she doesn't have to lie about it. I mean, I wouldn't want to travel halfway across the globe to finish 25th out of 28 :p

This weekend, IndyCar makes its first appearance in downtown Baltimore, on a beautiful new street circuit. The course is quite challenging to say the least, with several overtaking corners, long straights, chicanes, fast corners, slow corners, concrete, asphalt, and even railroad tracks! This round of the IndyCar schedule is set to be an adventurous one.

Yet, Will Power remains the man to beat on street and road courses after winning at Infineon last week. And with the adaptability of Team Penske, I don't see that changing much. I think this race will have plenty of surprises, and some stunning results - in both good and bad ways - but I predict Will Power will end up on top again this weekend, chipping away more and more at his deficit to Dario Franchitti.

I will say though, that I'm cheering for Kanaan and Servia, and hope one, if not both, will be on the podium tomorrow afternoon.

There's my thoughts, who ya got?

I guess since nascar gets the most views I'll ask here. But I'm not looking at just stock car tracks, this can range from little ovals in rural area to downtown street circuits to Formula One road courses

Yes, I know, Yahoo! Answers isn't the absolute ideal place to look for career advice, but I've been heavily considering going into designing race tracks as a career, and was wondering if anyone would be able to help out.

All I need is just an idea of what college courses would be helpful, obviously what schools would be beneficial to attend, and any professionals today who could provide input as well.

I would more likely go into architecture than engineering in approach of this career (I know both are of great use), so there's a little note to help you out a bit.

Thanks in advance to those who contribute!

A week off from road racing for IndyCar is set to be an interesting one, as the series returns to New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon for the first time since 1997. The track is very similar to Milwaukee, being a very flat, very fast 1 mile oval, making this a race to watch.

At Milwaukee, Dario Franchitti would win from pole, but not without great battles from Helio Castroneves and Tony Kanaan, who both had troubles late in the race, leaving Franchitti to take the win. Yet, it was an excellent and exciting race, even though it was only in front of less than 15,000 people.

Hopefully attendance will be better in Loudon, and the action, I believe, will be at a high, since none of these drivers have ever competed here.

But at the end of the day, I think the teams that are the most quickly adaptable to any situation will rise to the challenge, and I think that it will be another Penske/Ganassi-type day (though I do expect guys like Servia, Kanaan, and others to mix it up). That said, I think Helio Castroneves will find victory lane for the first time in 2011, and hopefully turn around what has been a disastrous year for the 3 team.

So, who do you think will bring home the win? Who ya got?

Also, the spotter guide says that Sebastian Bourdais will drive the 19 car, though I am pretty sure he will only drive the road and street courses this year, and Alex Lloyd will take over on the ovals. If someone knows who will be in the 19, it'd be appreciated.

A week off and IndyCar returns to the States this weekend for the Honda Indy 200 at Mid Ohio. Will Poweris still the main storyline, looking to gain more ground on Dario Franchitti. But the closest battle in points going into Lexington is that only 41 points separate Tony Kanaan in 4th and Helio Castroneves & JR Hildebrand who are tied for 9th. Just for an idea, Franchitti leads Power by only 38, so covering 7 drivers in that span (and a little change, of course), makes a bad race for one driver could easily lead to the loss of several positions.

Despite the close battle for best of the rest, I don't see any of those drivers breaking through to victory lane on Sunday. I predict Will Power to win pole, as he is still dominant in qualifying, and is the defending pole sitter at the course. But Scott Dixon will get his first victory of 2011 this weekend, rather late (for him), but just as sweet. Dixon has made the Firestone Fast Six each of the past four years, and has finished in the top 5 each of those years, with two wins. This is probably his best track, and I believe he will add to his good results this time around.

What about you, who ya got?

Aside from whether players on your team go play in Europe, how does the possibility, if not probability of a lockout into the season affect your team?

For my team, the Indiana Pacers, I feel like it really hurts. After several disappointing seasons, Jim O'Brien was finally fired, and Frank Vogel led the team to the playoffs, and they stood well against a very good Bulls team; hell, they could have, if not should have swept them. Then the front office made the move of instead selecting a questionable rookie in a relatively weak draft class, trading first round pick Kawhi Leonard and a couple other picks to San Antonio for George Hill, an Indiana native who fits perfectly with the hard nosed, all out Pacers team. As a fan, I was geniunely excited about the upcoming season, getting a glimpse of the future in the young but successful team that is being built here in Indianapolis. With the lockout upon us, and no end in near sight, I feel like the momentum the Pacers had has been killed off, especially if this goes on into the season.

That's my team, what about yours?

And please, no trashing other teams or any of that, just answer for your team. Show your support in a positive manner.

Looks like Travis Pastrana is all but locked in as the first driver on the official roster to compete for the $5M at Vegas this October. With that said, who should also make the lineup? Feel free to make fanstasy and/or realistic sets.

As for mine; fantasy first:

Kimi Raikonnen (F1, stock car, rally)

Kyle Busch (stock car)

James Stewart (bikes)

Fernando Alonso (F1)

Pedro Lamy (sports car)

Realistic:

Travis Pastrana (all around)

Kasey Kahne (stock car)

AJ Allmendinger (ChampCar, stock car)

Tanner Foust (drift, stunt)

Bobby East (USAC)

Blink-182 streamed their much anticipated single "Up All Night" less than two hours ago. If you want to hear it: http://kroq.radio.com/2011/07/14/blink-182-world-p...

Like all blink fans, I do miss the days of their Warped Tour, pop-punk, toliet talk style and material, but I'm not saying the whole album will be this way; the band has said numerous times that the new album will have no genre, and will have a little bit of everything. That said, I actually REALLY like the new single. You can definitely hear Angels & Airwaves in the guitar effects, as well as Tom's voice. Mark's tone and the song's style are very alike to +44. And Travis Barker's skills have overlapped from his solo album into blink's new material as well.

In the end, I feel like this was the best song for blink-182 to release first, as it combines what each member has done in music since their hiatus in 2005. They aren't picking up exactly where they left off with their 2003 self-titled album, each of the trio has matured in his own way in music, and it really shows in "Up All Night".

The new album is scheduled to come out, in the words of Tom DeLonge, "smack bang in the middle" of their fall tour, presumably sometime in September.

What are your thoughts on the new single, as well as the new blink-182?

I thought they were allowed to be big boys and were given big boy rules to run over each other. But they go to Kentucky and act like a bunch of little girls. Complaining about bumps? BS!!! You drive tanks over those things with shocks to absorb them for you. Try driving an IndyCar flat out at 40mph faster (IICS 218mph, stock car 178 mph), no shocks, with the downforce of the car gluing you to the track so you have no chance of avoiding them. Even though IndyCar won't race in Sparta until October, turn on Versus tomorrow at 2pm EST and see some real bumps on the streets of Toronto. None of the drivers complain about the difficulty, the praise and embrace the challenge, like REAL race drivers.

I mean seriously, what is up with these nascar wusses? Quit complaining, grow a pair and race.

A week off, and now across the border to Canada, and back to street racing. The fallout from Iowa is still exciting fans around the world, and this run at Toronto should keep it rolling. This race could prove to be a game changer in the championship hunt. Will Power, back to his strengths on the road/street circuits, can tighten the gap once again after a disappointing trip to Iowa. Yet, the unforgiving walls of Exhibition Place could help Dario Franchitti blow it open in his run for a 3rd straight championship, and 4th in his last 4 years in IndyCar. But it is one race at a time, and this one is quite frankly up for grabs. So many teams that didn't have a shot at catching the red cars are here this year to take the fight to them. KV, Newman Haas, Andretti, and several others look to steal a win in Canada. Showing his overall great driving with 4 top 10s in the seven events he's run in this season (missed St. Pete while negotiating contracts), I'll pick James Hinchcliffe to win his home race this weekend. Great guy with tremendous skills is set to be a superstar of this next generation of race drivers, and being paired with veteran driver Oriol Servia, and driving for the legendary Newman/Haas team makes him a solid choice, in my opinion. I'd also put Servia as a dark horse in this one, he's one of the most underrated drivers in open wheel history, and is bound to take one soon. There's my pick, who do you have winning in Toronto?

IndyCar returns to Texas this year, holding the first twin race for American open wheel racing in 30 years. Instead of the usual 550k race, two 275k races will be run Saturday night. Ryan Briscoe returns as defending champion of the race, determined after a disappointing May. Will Power looks to score his first oval win, and Dario Franchitti, Oriol Servia, Tony Kanaan, and Scott Dixon look to tighten up the points battle even more among the top 5. So for BOTH races, who ya got?

It's very tough to make a pick because the field looks to be very competitive this week (30 cars is the most in an event outside Indy since Vegas in '97). However, I'll pick Graham Rahal in the first race. He's been getting stronger every week, getting used to his new team well. As for the second race, I'll let my slight bias win this one with Tony Kanaan pulling this one off. KV Racing hasn't given him the best qualifying car, but they always seem to have a great race setup. The double file restarts and TK's nature of making some of the most daring moves would make it a great fit for the high banks of Texas.

How about you?

The news was made official to the public this morning, IndyCar will run on the road course at Twin Ring Motegi this season instead of the egg shaped oval, which was damaged in the massive earthquake that struck the country this spring. Work has been done to the oval to try to repair it, but the sustained damage was too severe. By the time IICS gets to Japan, the road course will have been repaved. This adjustment to the schedule now favors road courses 10:7 compared to the ovals. What is your reaction?

I have never seen cars running on the road course (outside of Gran Turismo), so I had to look up SuperGT races on YouTube. I have to say it looks GREAT. It'll be cool to see these cars running on the course, which has several places to pass, making it an aggressive drivers dream. Should be a great race, can't wait!

I was watching a show about UFO sightings, and happened to see one of my open tabs was Yahoo Answers. So why not? Have you seen something you think was a UFO?

I do vaguely remember one night (I had to be 8 or 9), I looked out my window and I saw something. It looked like a shooting star, gliding across the sky. But, it was oval shaped, and it seemed to glow in a transitioning rainbow of colors (like when Super Mario gets the Invicibility star, that's as close as I can explain) as it went by. I'm not sure what it was, but I've never seen anything like it. Hmmm...

Sounds like the Australian V8 Supercars are looking into making a trip to the U.S. in 2012 to hold a race. Since its inception, racing has concentrated in AUS and NZ, but the Supercars have also run in the Middle East and Asia. With this expansion and with officials looking to make this happen, where would you want to see them race here in the States?

Some places I'd like to see them run:

Long Beach

Laguna Seca

Road America

Indianapolis road course (I know it's a lousy road course, but the V8s don't run on ridiculous Tilke tracks every week)

Watkins Glen

Sebring

... and definitely NOT the Austin F1 track

This is bigger than the Super Bowl of IndyCar. It is the Indy 500 of IndyCar. Simply the biggest single event of any sport in the world, celebrates its centennial anniversary this Sunday as 33 drivers take on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. So, with the date closing in quickly, who's going to drink the milk?

Alex Tagliani grabbed his first pole in an IndyCar, and first pole since 8 years ago in CART. This very well could be the year for the little guys to overthrow the red cars at the top. Yet, there will be a mad Scotsman behind the wheel of the number 10 car in defending champion Dario Franchitti, and his teammate Scott Dixon has been the most consistently fast driver of the month. Just as well, Briscoe and Castroneves will be driving hard too, and Will Power is poised to get his first oval win. Yet, guys like Ed Carpenter, Buddy Rice, Dan Wheldon, Towsend Bell, and Oriol Servia are looking to stir up some action, trying to get a huge win for the little teams, all making the top 9. I've even left some major players out of the discussion, which leads me to say that this will be the most competitive Indy 500 in decades, and very possibly ever.

My heart says Tony Kanaan. My longtime favorite driver, whose KV-Lotus team has struggled with qualifying setups all year, but have given him great racecars every week, which added with the talent of Kanaan behind the wheel can definitely make him a bigtime contender late (remember, he brought his car from dead last to 2nd and with a couple things going his way, could have won last year).

But my head says differently. Unlike in nascar, more often than not, the best car and best team win the race at the end. That's why the red cars have dominated. With that said, I have to pick Scott Dixon to win his second Indy 500 in four years this weekend. Like I said, he's been the most consistently fast driver of the month, being that he would go out on a practice day, turn 15-20 laps max in the morning, then call it a day, and still end up in the top 3 times for the day. No doubt he will have a bigtime challenge, but the best car and best team will prevail.

Oh, and in respect towards the driver that gave him his first pole since returning to the Indy 500 in 2001 and has since been kicked out of a 500 starting spot TWICE, Chip Ganassi donates the winning earnings to Bruno Junquiera to find sponsorship, in which he later signs Bruno for the remainder of the season as a 3rd car of his Target-Ganassi stable.

If only the world could work like that. Anyway, enough dreaming, Who ya got in victory lane on Sunday?

Who will win the pole for this year's Indy 500?

Also, which part time driver will have the best finish in the race?

Part time drivers (team) are:

John Andretti (Andretti Autosport w/ Petty Enterprises)

Davey Hamilton (D&RR)

Buddy Rice (Panther)

Paul Tracy (D&RR)

Bruno Junquiera (Foyt)

Jay Howard (Schmidt / Rahal Letterman Lanigan)

Townsend Bell (Schmidt)

Alex Lloyd (Dale Coyne)

Pippa Mann (Conquest)

Ed Carpenter (Fisher)

Ho-Pin Tung (Dragon)

Scott Speed (Dragon)

Tomas Sheckter (SH Racing/KV)

Dan Wheldon (Herta)

Bertrand Baguette (Rahal Letterman Lanigan)

*There are 3 additional 500 entries for SFR, China Racing, and an unnamed team with drivers TBA. If/when the announcements are made, I will update the question

**Simon Pagenaud is likely one of the three. He told reporters at Barber that he has a ride for Indy, but will leave it to the team to announce it.