Indy 500

RyanB

RyanB

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Anybody at the race or watching at home?
 
Ryanb said:
Anybody at the race or watching at home?
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Been working on the wives car, forgot about the race thanks. I'll catch the end of the race than take a test drive and go put my plane back together..:)
 
Great race.

Too bad for Danica, although I think we all knew it was going to happen.

After the Indy it was F1, and now I am watching the 600 in Charlotte. A great day of racing.
 
With mostly single car wall hits a safe, fast and exciting race. Only one driver taken to hospital for "expericing" headache and neck pain, and that after he and all the others walked away from the crashes.
 
RalphInCA said:
Great race.

Too bad for Danica, although I think we all knew it was going to happen.
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Did you see the in-car video for Danica before the crash? Lots of little steering corrections mid-corner = loose race car. No fun whatsoever at 220 mph.
 
This weekend was the 50th anniversary of my first trip to Indy. I was 11 and in the 6th grade, came home from school a week before the race and my dad announced he was going to the Indy 500, and I was going with him. I had a sister and two brothers, and to this day don't know why I was chosen to go. It got better, too.

My dad was a 200 hour pilot, he had gone through lessons with a friend and they both had around the same amount of hours. They rented a one year old 182, and we flew from the now closed Coronado airport to an airport in Cleremont, IN that no longer exists. It was close to the present Eagle Creek airport.

What an adventure! We left Albuquerque at dawn, and landed in Cleremont that afternoon. His friend had a brother that lived close to the Speedway, so it was a short drive on race day. I was amazed by the crowd, had never seen anything like it.

It happened through circumstance that I became involved in IndyCar racing, and between 1997 and 2007 worked on a couple of teams as a 'weekend warrior', flying to races on weekends. I also spent most of May in Indianapolis those years, prepping the car and racing in the 500. It was a great experience, and I owe my dad for taking me to my first race so many years ago.
 
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SoCal RV Flyer said:
Did you see the in-car video for Danica before the crash? Lots of little steering corrections mid-corner = loose race car. No fun whatsoever at 220 mph.
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Before today, Danica had completed over 1,400 laps and 3,500 miles of racing at Indy without a crash. She finished in the top ten in six out of seven races, including a 3rd and two 4ths. She was really good at Indy, evidenced by her ninth place qualifying effort for today's race after seven years in NASCAR.
 
I completely forgot, even forgot to DVR it. Hoping they have a replay. I haven't missed one since the early 60s except when Unc Sam had other things for me to do.
 
SoCal RV Flyer said:
Did you see the in-car video for Danica before the crash? Lots of little steering corrections mid-corner = loose race car. No fun whatsoever at 220 mph.
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Yes, I did, and interpreted it as her style of driving. I reminded me of how I have to make quick but small rudder movements when landing my tailwheel Fly Baby.
 
I’m good with Will winning it. He’s run several good races there over the years.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
. . . and the one vehicle accidents reminded me of tail wheel ground loops.
 
SoCal RV Flyer said:
Did you see the in-car video for Danica before the crash? Lots of little steering corrections mid-corner = loose race car. No fun whatsoever at 220 mph.
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I'm on vacation and didn't see the race. My observation on Danica over the years is that if someone gives her a well set up car on a fast oval, she qualifies well, but struggles with making the needed changes during the race, and that's what's needed to win.

Gratz to Will for the win, he's developed into quite the oval racer.
 
tinerj said:
Yes, I did, and interpreted it as her style of driving. I reminded me of how I have to make quick but small rudder movements when landing my tailwheel Fly Baby.
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That's not a normal driving style. An in car shot of Scott Dixon showed him doing the same thing. The cars had almost 1,000 pounds less downforce this year due to changes in the aero package. Dixon and Patrick were taking small 'nibbles' at the wheel because the car was loose, just a tiny bit too much input would bring the rear end around.
 
3393RP said:
Before today, Danica had completed over 1,400 laps and 3,500 miles of racing at Indy without a crash. She finished in the top ten in six out of seven races, including a 3rd and two 4ths. She was really good at Indy, evidenced by her ninth place qualifying effort for today's race after seven years in NASCAR.
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No dig on Danica. Just noting that her car was a handful.

The best of the best analyze what the car needs and convey it to the crew, so aero/tire pressure changes can be done at pitstops to fine-tune the balance. There's only so much the driver can do in-car with anti-roll bar adjustments.
 
Pretty surprising to see some of the drivers who crashed out. Not just Danica Patrick, but also both Helio Castroneves and Tony Kanaan.
I met Danica, long ago, when she was racing Toyota Atlantic for Bobby Rahal.

Not sure what to say about the Grand Prix of Monaco. Was it a great race, or a parade of semi-broken cars?
 
FormerHangie said:
My observation on Danica over the years is that if someone gives her a well set up car on a fast oval, she qualifies well, but struggles with making the needed changes during the race, and that's what's needed to win.
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Danica is a good driver, no doubt.

Unfortunately for her and others, being a good driver is not good enough to win. Adding to what you said, knowing what is needed to do to set up the car for the changing race conditions seems to be a lost art in the new crop of drivers.

A lot of folks chastised Richard Petty when he said Danica is just a mediocre driver, but Richard knows a thing or two about what makes a driver good.

However, she does appeal to sponsors....and money talks.
 
Monaco was a typical follow the leader F-1 race. Heck, even the Coke 600 got boring.
 
As a kid, every year we always listened to the Indy 500 on the radio. Always wanted to see it live, never did. Haven't watched an entire Indy race for many many years, and yesterday I decided it was time to leave the hangar, go home, and sit down to watch a whole race.

The race had just started when I turned it on, and I only recognized a few of the drivers names, but couldn't wait for Danica's final crash. I fell asleep for the first time during one of the dozens of commercial breaks, then woke up during another commercial break. I thought I'd probably missed the end of the race. Then I fell asleep during another commercial break, and woke up right after the race had ended. What a disappointment. I guess I should have recorded it so I could skip the commercials?

It's almost as bad as Nascar has come to be, commercialized to beyond stupidity. The announcers always saying the same old crap about the same old crap, the fake sounds of air ratchets, tire squeals, engine noises, on and on. Billion dollar race teams always dominating everything. B.S. drivers spewing the same old crap about the same old crap. Reminds me of NASA. The luster is gone. I doubt I'll ever try to watch another one.
 
Art Rose said:
It's almost as bad as Nascar has come to be, commercialized to beyond stupidity. The announcers always saying the same old crap about the same old crap, the fake sounds of air ratchets, tire squeals, engine noises, on and on. Billion dollar race teams always dominating everything. B.S. drivers spewing the same old crap about the same old crap. Reminds me of NASA. The luster is gone. I doubt I'll ever try to watch another one.
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All racing has become very corporate. That means the little guy is out-spent to the point of never being competitive and the fan access that was available years ago is gone. Some time back, I was reading an story by Peter Egan where he attended an F1 race in Europe in the early 70's. As a 20 year old nobody, he was able to walk out onto the grid during practice and qualifying, see and touch the vehicles, and rub shoulders with the drivers. That's all gone for NASCAR, F1, Indycar, and the like. Once the sport is that removed from the public, well, it ain't the same.
 
Yes, I did record the 500. I did watch enough of the pre-race to get caught up and enjoyed the spectacle. I watch the first 25 laps, the ran ahead to laps 50, 75 etc to the last 25 laps and watched that. Also, my recorder shows the skip ahead as a series of still images. I also stopped it to see the reason for cautions.

I didn't notice that many commercials that interrupted the action.
 
kyleb said:
All racing has become very corporate.
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Well, not ALL racing.

There is still a lot of local cheap racing going on, but you will not see that on TV or covered by any major news service.

You have to go to the local tracks.

Those tracks won’t be as clean and shiny, but they are a lot of fun.
 
RalphInCA said:
Well, not ALL racing.
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True, but the idea of Joe Schmoe from nowhere being competitive in NASCAR or IndyCar is a relic of the past. Used to be, the really skilled folks who built a car in their garage had a chance. Not so much these days.
 
In the early 90's, I used to live in Indy, and worked at a company owned by GM. A friend of mine's father owned some Goodyear tire stores and got tickets every year, so one year some of us went and sat in the paddock area. But what was even more fun than the race itself was, as GM employees we got passes to go into Gasoline Alley. That was cool!

But after living in Indy for two years, and capping it off with seeing an Indy 500 race, I decided "Okay, that's all there is to do here" and moved to Colorado :)
 
That is very true now. If your not bringing a big checkbook or major sponsor, you don’t have a chance. Sad because there is and always has been some very talented drivers that never got a chance to play with the big boys.
 
tinerj said:
. . . and the one vehicle accidents reminded me of tail wheel ground loops.
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Yeah, especially those when the front or back of the car starts to fish tail just before they lose control and slam the barrier. You know there’s little chance of recovery at those speeds.

I do feel bad for Danica Patrick...last race and she ended it early. Sure is a nice looking lady though, I will say..
 
AKBill said:
Been working on the wives car, forgot about the race thanks. I'll catch the end of the race than take a test drive and go put my plane back together..:)
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How many wives do you have? And do they share a car?
You're a better man than I am, Gunga Din!
 
G-Man said:
Pretty surprising to see some of the drivers who crashed out. Not just Danica Patrick, but also both Helio Castroneves and Tony Kanaan.
I met Danica, long ago, when she was racing Toyota Atlantic for Bobby Rahal.

Not sure what to say about the Grand Prix of Monaco. Was it a great race, or a parade of semi-broken cars?
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Sure other drivers crashed as well but it's more fun to point out that Danica crashed because, ya know, she's a chick. Racing's for dudes.
 
SkyDog58 said:
Sure other drivers crashed as well but it's more fun to point out that Danica crashed because, ya know, she's a chick. Racing's for dudes.
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The thing that makes Danica so polarizing is the amount of media attention she gets is so disproportionate to her racing record. I'm not sure why the media found her so interesting, while they pretty much ignore Courtney Force, despite Courtney having 11 wins to Danica's 1.
 
FormerHangie said:
The thing that makes Danica so polarizing is the amount of media attention she gets is so disproportionate to her racing record. I'm not sure why the media found her so interesting, while they pretty much ignore Courtney Force, despite Courtney having 11 wins to Danica's 1.
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Probably because most folks find Indy Car and NASCAR to be more interesting than NHRA which is sort of a drag.

But being both the daughter of John Force and the daughter-in-law of Bobby Rahal, Courtney is definitely racing royalty. I guess you could say she's the Drag Queen.

But Danica did nearly win the biggest race in the world when she led late in the 2005 Indy 500 which she might have won if her crew didn't tell her to dial it back. She is still the only woman to win an Indy Car race.

Danica was also the first and still the only woman to win a pole position in NASCAR and did that at Daytona. She is also one of only 14 drivers to have led both the Indy 500 and Daytona 500.

But yeah, her total win total isn't what one would expect from someone who gets so much attention and gender definitely has had a lot to do with it. Still, she can run circles around a lot of the male drivers.

But back to Courtney. My awful drag puns aside, I think she is awesome. Not only as a driver but she is pretty darn hot as well. And she has flaunted her hotness as much as Danica and even more so.

But the cars she drives are sorta funny.
 
FormerHangie said:
The thing that makes Danica so polarizing is the amount of media attention she gets is so disproportionate to her racing record. I'm not sure why the media found her so interesting, while they pretty much ignore Courtney Force, despite Courtney having 11 wins to Danica's 1.
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The general public pays virtually no attention whatsoever to NHRA. Unfortunately.
 
SkyDog58 said:
Probably because most folks find Indy Car and NASCAR to be more interesting than NHRA which is sort of a drag.

But being both the daughter of John Force and the daughter-in-law of Bobby Rahal, Courtney is definitely racing royalty. I guess you could say she's the Drag Queen.

But Danica did nearly win the biggest race in the world when she led late in the 2005 Indy 500 which she might have won if her crew didn't tell her to dial it back. She is still the only woman to win an Indy Car race.

Danica was also the first and still the only woman to win a pole position in NASCAR and did that at Daytona. She is also one of only 14 drivers to have led both the Indy 500 and Daytona 500.

But yeah, her total win total isn't what one would expect from someone who gets so much attention and gender definitely has had a lot to do with it. Still, she can run circles around a lot of the male drivers.

But back to Courtney. My awful drag puns aside, I think she is awesome. Not only as a driver but she is pretty darn hot as well. And she has flaunted her hotness as much as Danica and even more so.

But the cars she drives are sorta funny.
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Drag, drag queen, funny...you funny man.

Her win in Japan was against IRL drivers, while CART (more established series) raced in Long Beach that same weekend. Not to take anything from her, but the "established" drivers were mostly in Long Beach.


Regardless, she was good for both Indy and NASCAR as she no doubt attracted a lot of fans, and new fans, to both genres of racing.
 
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NASCAR needs to dump the truck series, it is virtually dead. The Infinity series is not doing much better. My wife and went to the first seven Brickyard 400 races. You had to order your tickets for the next year the week after the race. They ran the trucks and the Busch series out at IRP as well as the Sprint cars. You could go up Wednesday and go to the brickyard for Cup practice then out to IRP for Sprints cars. Thursday was practice and first round qualifying and then out to IRP for the trucks. Friday was second round qualifying and also IROC for a few years and then back to IRP for the Busch race and Saturday was the 400. We'd arrive early and park inside the track. Our seats were on the front straight behind the start/finish line. After the race we headed downtown to St. Elmo's for dinner and then back to the hotel room to watch the tape delayed broadcast on local TV. Monday morning we'd head back home.

A few years ago we planned a trip up to Air Venture. The 400 was now on Sunday and it was the same week as Air Venture. We planned it kind of late yet were able to score seats behind the start/finish line. Tickets for the Xfinity race were general admission, sit where you please and on Friday they had the IMSA folks in town running on the road course. Quite a change over the years.

Not much difference between the Xfinity cars and Cup cars now. Too much technology with the shaker plates, wind tunnels,etc. I suppose that would be hard to outlaw, but it would make the teams have to work on aerodynamics without all those high tech tools.

I watched the F1 Monaco race SUnday morning and it was a follow the leader affair. Super high dollar cars where the computer handles everything. Drive chooses 2nd gear and the computer decides when to down shift.

Indy car, I miss the old roadsters with the Offenhauser engines.
 
I wish Indy could go back to the days of build it, bring it, run it rather than the single chassis and two engine choices they have now. Multiple chassis, multiple engine types and sizes. Those were the days.
 
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