Well, I think just about every motorsport is running full throttle now that the IndyCars fired up this weekend… and well, let’s just say everyone survived with mere minor abrasions from Homestead. Yes, the Champ Car teams were a bit behind the eight ball, as they were in a league of their own somewhat in the back of the pack, but can you blame them? They are all still getting pieces and parts for their cars… one person told me that when a part comes in, they need to contact a current team to make sure they are installing it correctly… just strange, but hey, that’s the state of the series right now.

In IndyCar, the merged Champ Car teams have only had a few days to construct their new cars and even fewer days on the track learning how they run. From now through Indy, that is about all it is going to be… a learning process for the Champ Car teams until they get up to speed… which I honestly do believe will be Indy.

But with that said, it just makes the Graham Rahal victory this weekend even more impressive. The second generation driver, who laughs about the faulty USA Today report last week that claimed Ed Carpenter was the largest/heaviest driver in the League, was so far ahead of the field that he watched other cars cross the finish line from the spotter tower.

Graham remarked, “I was most impressed with Milka Duno, not only for earning her first podium finish, but for the way she passed Dan Wheldon on the high side of Turn 4. I’ve quickly come to notice how poor Dan just can’t drive this track. He may still have wedding bliss on his mind, but the other veteran drivers claim he has been awful at Homestead for years.”

Fortunately Milka knew Dan’s driving ability was sub-par, especially in the high groove, which enabled her to make the bold move in the closing laps of the race to secure her 3rd place position. Dan then proceeded to slow to a pace that had him withdrawn from the race. Post race comments proved that Dan felt guilty missing Marco Andretti’s 21st birthday party in Las Vegas last weekend due to his Honeymoon, so all in all his driving was distracted with each and every pass by the 21-yr-old Marco. Milka was just the icing on the cake.

Little known driver Marcello Andretti was impressive in his debut race in southern Florida. Many of the cameras were focused on the newly turned 21-year-old Andretti, but my how the action was missed with young Marcello (Aldo Andretti’s grandson) as he battled Danica Patrick for 5th. With visions of a tiny brunette in a white bikini on the beach, Marcello fought through his teenage hormones and focused that energy into extremely clean side by side racing. What a spectacular display of maturity for the 14 year old pilot.

On to the stories from the pits, Champ Car owner Gerry Forsythe will indeed finally release former champion driver Paul Tracy from his contract so Paul can sign with Roger Penske’s outfit once and for all. Gerry was forced into the release when his former Champ Car intentions (or lack thereof) were revealed to fellow series co-owner Kevin Kalkhoven and it was proven that Kalkhoven was being taken advantage of… hmmm, Gerry, did you really think you would get away with it? So IndyCar fans, never fear… PT is back and will be ready for Indy.

One driver thrilled with Tracy’s return date being Indy, is twinkle-toes Helio Castroneves. First of all, that nickname needs to go. Second of all, they are completely OK with being teammates… just like Helio and Tony Kanaan are best buddies again. Come on now, friendships never go away due to incidents on the track. Helio welcomed Tracy back to Team Penske saying, “The guy in the grandstands who was wearing a yellow shirt at the 1972 Indy 500 was pretty cool, but the other guy in Turn 3 during the ’02 race was just distracted while eating his popsicle. It’s not his fault, and I’ll gladly share my Borg Warner with PT now that we are teammates. Crap happens and we are both good with it.”

In other news, Helio’s former dancing partner Julianne Hough is the season favorite to win Dancing with the Stars once again, alongside radio DJ Adam Carolla. This prediction came after hearing news that Kristi Yamaguchi may fall ill, while Jason Taylor and Mario are expected to quit. Oh yeah, and Monica Seles will make a grand return, too.

Other racing news on the weekend… what a spectacular top 3 finish in the Martinsville Sprint Cup race by Aric Almirola, Sam Hornish Jr. and Mike Skinner. Definitely a race for the record books… and in MotoGP, Dani Pedrosa was DQ'd, meaning Max Biaggi's comeback resulted in a fiery win… Travis Pastrana won his first World Rally Event, this one in Argentina over the weekend… and in NHRA it was a full female field of winners: Hillary Will, Ashley Force, Erica Enders and Karen Stoffer. You go girls!

In the bizarre event you believe any of the above information, well, then you must have forgotten today is April Fool’s Day. Hey, just enjoy… and maybe ponder if there is any truth behind any of the ‘Fools’ listed above, too… ah, the beauty of it all!

No foolin, though – some funny freakin' interviews we did Sunday night – Scott Dixon and Antron Brown are humorous, others are just plain good, so click the links to have a listen:

Get Behind the Wheel – Scott Dixon & Justin Wilson

Step up to the Mic – Moto X Championships Contender Mat Rebeaud

Winner of the Week – Antron Brown

Questions/Comments – do so on my ESPN Fan Page: myespn.go.com/TheDJCrash or MySpace Page: www.MySpace.com/CrashGladys

… or email: CrashG@SpeedFreaks.TV