posted March 28, 2008 at 19:44 in Other Articles

It’s been kind of a Cold War in the sport of open wheel racing over the past decade, with Champ Car and the Indy Racing League pulling in opposite directions and battling for territory that they should be sharing. But the problems are in the past now as the new merger and new IndyCar league begins this Saturday.

26 cars are set to for the track at the Gainsco Auto Insurance Indy 300 with 16 cars coming for the IRL and 10 deriving from Champ Car.

But all eyes will be on Danica Patrick as usual as the racing hottie will find her first win as a pro driver. She is winless in her 47 career starts.

The track will host the 200-mile, 300 lap race. The oval is 1.5 long and is variably banked between 18 – 20 degrees.

Although the last time there was a united open-wheel race, there was a Rahal involved, this one won’t. Graham Rahal crashed his car and will have to delay his debut in the new league. But the Rahal-Andretti rivalry will probably be renewed next week.

Dan Wheldon has won three straight times at the Homestead-Miami Speedway and will look to make history with his fourth win. Wheldon has had a solid pre-season and the newlywed will be racing fresh off his honeymoon.

Last year, Wheldon overcame an ugly pit stop and fought off Sam Hornish Jr. to become the first driver in 12 years to win three straight times on one track.

Helio Castroneves, who has had a big offseason with Dancing With The Stars, will look to extend his streak of seasons with a win to eight. He and Scott Sharp currently hold the streak, winning at least one race in the last seven seasons. Castroneves nearly won at this track in 2006, getting edged out by Wheldon by – quite literally – a hair. The time difference was 0.0147 of a second – the closest race in track history

Dixon has qualified in the top 10 in 24 straight races has finished in the top-10 in each of his last 10 races, so you can expect him to be in the mix as well.

Management will be hoping for a good, competitive race since the newly merged league will get a ton of attention this Saturday, even with March Madness slated to be in the Elite Eight. As we know, first impressions go a long way and considering how popular NASCAR is getting, IndyCar needs to run with any momentum it can get to re-establish itself as a premier racing league.

Additional sports and entertainment odds can be found in the BetUS.com Sportsbook, in Futures/props, under Entertainment Props.