real growth. Negative growth, but growth nonetheless. Mark C.

Following the uproarious reaction to Bernie Ecclestone's claim that incidents involving blacked out faces at Barcelona were a joke, F1 drivers David Coulthard and Mark Webber defended the sport's chief executive.

And even though the instances of anti-Hamilton racism were serious and not one-offs, Irvine has joined the calls for calm.

"The world is full of people who are racists and we are never going to change that," the 43-year-old Ulsterman said in his column for Virgin Media.

"The world is full of people who like black people and people who like white people. Who cares?

Indy Speedway has big expansion plansUPDATE #7 Indianapolis Motor Speedway officials are in talks to move their Hall of Fame Museum from the interior of the oval toa spot just outside the south end of the track, an area that could also house a new Speedway hotel. An announcement could come as soon as early next year.

That move could fuel a flurry of commercial developments that Speedway town officials hope to start unveiling in the first quarter of 2009.

The museum move would be done in conjunction with the Speedway Redevelopment Commission’s plans to revitalize the areas immediately south and west of the track and along Main Street in the town on the west edge of Indianapolis.

Planned expansion area

Speedway redevelopment officials want the museum and hotel to anchor an entertainment and retail district at the southwest corner of the track. The Redevelopment Commission’s plans call for vacating parts of 16th Street and Georgetown Road to make