Toyota confirmed Wednesday that the company will shutter its Formula One racing program at the end of 2010. (Photo: LAT Photograph)

5. Toyota has left the F1 building – but only after spending an estimated $2.5 billion dollars without winning a race since 2002.

(And Ferrari’s Luca di Montezemolo says it’s the mismanagement of the F1 series by the FIA that is the problem?)

6. Dale Earnhardt Jr. is likely to sign Danica Patrick to drive a partial schedule in JR Motorsport’s entries in the Nationwide Series next year. On a team that has good equipment, can the diminutive Patrick surprise some people by how well she runs?

(”You don’t carry the car,” said Janet Guthrie, “you drive it.”)

7. The US F1 team was again predicted to be most likely to fail to make the grid in Bahrain for the F1 season opener in 2010 on the strength of rumors about its schedule for crash-testing, which is mandatory for all teams. It seems people who are not afraid of using the rumor mill are lining up to grab the entry that belongs to US F1, a signatory to the Concorde agreement in June.

(How fast the car runs, one would think, is more important than how quickly you build it.)

8. Formula One is headed back to the following: a) Great Britain, b) France and c) the United States.

This information is based on:

a) kind words from Formula One commercial rights holder Bernie Ecclestone about Silverstone after Donington Park’s bid to host the British Grand Prix in 2010 came up short due to financing problems;

b) French Prime Minister Francois Fillon, a native of Le Mans, admittedly does not have much to do in his job under President Nicolas Sarkozy other than push for the return of F1 to France. The recently elected FIA president, Frenchman Jean Todt, would also like to see the return of the French Grand Prix.

c) newly elected FIA Senate President Nick Craw has acknowledged that the FIA is looking to placate its remaining manufacturers by returning to the U.S. on a street circuit.

(As usual in F1, believe it when you see it.)

9. Scott Sharp became the latest driver to win a championship and then get demoted, traded or fired, depending on one’s point of view. In Sharp’s case, after co-driving with David Brabham to the LMP1 championship in the American Le Mans Series for Acura, he has moved on to GT2 competition as an owner/driver on his new two-car Ferrari team. Sharp’s replacement at Patron Highcroft Racing, which is expected to continue running Acuras under a leasing deal, will presumably be a driver with IndyCar or F1 experience.

(It’ll be a soft landing for Sharp: his team retains some of the Patron sponsorship that he brought to Highcroft.)

10. American Ben Spies made his MotoGP debut for Yamaha at Valencia and finished seventh.

(Ride on, bro.)

Quote of the week: This is an excerpt from Ryan Newman’s meeting with the media at the Texas Motor Speedway and refers to his ongoing complaints about the current aerodynamics on the COT when it comes to accidents at Talladega:

“From an engineering standpoint, whatever we can do speed-wise and aerodynamically to keep the cars on the ground, in particular things in the back of the car, when it sees the air first for downforce, keep the lift out of the back of the cars is what we need to focus on. There has been testing done.

“I learned some of that stuff on Wednesday morning talking to Mr. (John) Darby and Mr. (Robin) Pemberton, that they have tested. But I don’t know that they have tested everything. I don’t know that you can test everything. But obviously more testing needs to be done in order to make it safer for everybody. Speed is a part of it. The faster you go, the more likely you are to take lift

“We were talking before, an airplane takes off at 160 miles an hour. We’re 40 miles an hour above that at times. There’s plenty of potential for a car to take lift, whether it’s going forwards, backwards or sideways. We have to take everything into consideration, as drivers, as teams, as a sanctioning body, to control that situation.”

See ya! …At the races.

Jonathan Ingram has been writing full-time about the world’s major motor racing series and events since 1983 for newspapers, magazines and web sites.

John can be reached at jingram@racintoday.com

The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEEDtv.com, FOX, NewsCorp, or Speed Channel