By David G. Firestone

I was ready to present a behind the scenes video this week, but I’m gonna put that on the back burner until next week. Last Saturday was the inaugural Grand Prix of Indianapolis, an IndyCar race on the road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The race as a whole was fun, but it did have some issues. There was a huge wreck on the standing start, fortunately all were Ok. The same cannot be said for James Hinchcliffe.

The 2011 Rookie of The Year suffered a concussion when he was hit by a piece of flying debris. Watching it live, it looked like after he had gotten hit, he pulled off the track and he was stunned by what had happened. The report was, at the time, that he had hurt his hand. The race went on, no caution flag flew because the safety crew was able to get the car out of harms way quickly. It looked like everything was normal, then suddenly the camera shows Hinchcliffe on a stretcher being led away seemingly in distress. He was loaded onto an ambulance, and was taken to the hospital. He was diagnosed with a concussion and his future status for the season is yet to be determined.

This incident reminded me of something Tony Schumacher said last year. I was in his hospitality tent listening to him make a speech, and he took a number of questions. One of them concerned the canopy he has over his cockpit. He stated that it took some time to convince the NHRA to allow a cockpit canopy. He stated that he is really scared of hitting a bird with his helmet, stating that “I’ve taken a few out with my tail, and if you catch one of those with your helmet, you’re getting coloring books for Christmas for the rest of your life.”

I’m wondering if in the near future canopies will come to IndyCar. With the current safety culture in racing, I’m kind of shocked it hasn’t yet. Racing fans will complain that it breaks tradition, but at the same time, nobody wants another Dan Wheldon. Fans do not want to watch a driver to die. I think that canopies will come to IndyCar, I want them to come to IndyCar, and I think that safety should take precedence over tradition.

The other factor that needs to be discussed is that there is a parallel to the recent concussion lawsuit filed with the NFL. The information that was gained from that suit was that no helmet can definitely prevent all head injuries. As such, a canopy could very well prevent a fatality in that respect. Give the driver an extra layer of protection so that he could walk away. These canopies are not plexiglass, they are the same exact material used to make F-16 bulletproof canopies. It is a very durable material that could have prevented what happened to Hinchcliffe.

Shifting gears now, I want to discuss something else. Starting in a couple of weeks, I will be restarting Wheel Reviews. I started with Rush, an amazing F1 movie by Ron Howard about James Hunt and Niki Lauda in the 1976 F1 season. So what I am going to do is to alternate the paint scheme reviews and Wheel Reviews. I’ve got 13 movies in total to review so far, and I hope to find some more. With that, we move on to…

PAINT SCHEME REVIEWS!

Jamie McMurray #1 Bass Pro Shops/National Wild Turkey Federation Chevy SS As Bass Pro Shops schemes go this year, this one is really good. Good color scheme, good design scheme, no camo, A

Danica Patrick #10 GoDaddy Cares Chevy SS Same scheme but with a bunch of logos on the hood, instead of just one. F

Casey Mears #13 Geico Chevy SS Once again, it needs to be said…CAMO DOES NOT WORK ON RACE CARS! I’l give this an F!

Tony Stewart #14 Mobil 1/Bass Pro Shops Chevy SS Some patriotic schemes go too far, but this works. The stripe across the front and door takes an A grade down to a B-

Clint Bowyer #15 Charter Toyota Camry Clint’s already bad paint scheme with an even worse color scheme…F

Joey Logano #22 Pennzoil Platnum Ford Fusion much too overdesigned, the blue stripes look awful, and the yellow door number is hideous…F

Ryan Newman #31 Cat/Quicken Loans Chevy SS What in the blue hell is going on here? I’ve liked Ryan’s schemes this year but this is an F scheme, even though I like the color scheme.

Landon Cassill #40 Cars For Sale Chevy SS I like the design, but to be honest, I don’t know where I stand on the color scheme. The red is good, but the when it comes to yellow/green I’m not sure if I like it or hate it. I’ll give it a C

Aric Almirola #43 US Air Force Ford Fusion I’ve been tough on military schemes this year, but this is the best one! The dark blue sky theme, with two small fighters with light clouds works perfectly, and earns an A+. See, military schemes CAN be done well without camo.

AJ Allmendinger #47 Freightliner/Sullivan Palatek Chevy SS Classic look, good color scheme, A+

Jimmie Johnson #48 Lowes Patriotic Chevy SS Only one word can sum up this scheme…overdesigned. F

Martin Truex Jr. #78 Furniture Row/Colorado Freedom Memorial Chevy SS Nothing wrong with this scheme! A+

Ryan Truex #83 Burger King Toyota Camry Great simple design, and I love the Borla Exhaust design adds a unique look. A+