http://www.indycar.com/ is an interesting site, there are many media items and even some streaming videos from the races. Nice for those - like me - living on this side of the Atlantic.
Just sittin' here waiting for 2:30 to roll around. I will actually be around for this round. For now, just some pregame NASCAR stuff.
I used to really like street courses. After watching today, not so much. The rain can make things boring, too. I was happy for Rahal, though, and happy with the increased field. The only annoying thing is that the IRL is, de facto, pretty much a spec class. This is because of IRL's rule about----well, something about submitting applications to be accepted to the IRL as an engine or chassis supplier. I think everybody was Dallara-Honda, no? Oh well, that expires in '09 apparently.
Yes, although this particular setup didn't start out that way. Originally, there were two chassis, the Dallara and the Panoz, and three different engine suppliers, Toyota, Honda, and Chevy. The others just kind have gotten weeded out along the way as this is the combination that dominated.
About 2 to 3 years before my time of races I remember, but if you're an older fan you might like watching this full race, the 1987 Long Beach Grand Prix. Part 1/Pre-race: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WjYWQbDStk Part 2/Grid & start: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXOwaKjqpzs Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gfh2tlm-6ZI&NR=1 Part 4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDolB_1IcCo Part 5: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHXHBnZxLHM Part 6: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axkdkpfslRI Part 7: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNzH7l4Lv1k Part 8: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZn7ylYJask Part 9: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Th78eQvG7X0 Part 10: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPffxsDx774 Part 11: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2MOeJJagIg Part 12/Finish & Post-race: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYz8ZUuydiY
Robin Miller: A Brief History of CART (1979-2008) http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/miller-a-brief-history-of-cart/
Well, now, what do you all think of that one? (Not going to be specific for spoilers, but I think you get what I mean.)
It's about damn time. [result]After all the damn races I saw this year and last year and she has to go and ********ing win it while I was sitting on my ass, playing on BS. (I swear to god, I thought the race was Friday night. Was it rained out or something? I then, of course, forgot to check back on indycar.com for any updates. ********ing-a.[/result]
I watched it with my dad live and we were trying to make heads or tails over who was going to win if it went green to the end, which it did. There were only three of the ten cars on the lead lap that topped off late in the caution, Danica Patrick, Helio Castroneves, and Ed Carpenter, and we figure they're the only 3 that have a chance at making it. As they're going through the last green flag run, and Carpenter was up 6 seconds on Castroneves and 12 seconds on Danica. My dad cheers for Ed Carpenter and AJ Foyt IV, so he was excited at the prospect of Carpenter winning. But we couldn't understand why he was right up on the leaders in 5th and had such a big lead on Castroneves and Danica. 10 laps to go and all the people leading start to pit, and then Carpenter pits and my dad's distraught at this and goes: "All the same people always win!" Castroneves takes over the lead at this point but he was going noticably slower. And then it was like you said, "Oh hey, there's Danica behind Helio. Oh look, she just passed him. Wow, there's only two laps to go!" It's good for Danica to get that monkey off her back, like Marty Reid said last night, no one can call her Anna Kournikova from now on cause she's a winner now. If you watched the post race, did you notice the trophy was as tall as she was?
Long Beach Grand Prix Results: [result]Will Power dominates most of the race in a win for Kevin Kalkhoven. Made a great move at the start of the race from Row 2 to move up front. Justin Wilson falls out early after he loses a valve. Franck Montagny takes 2nd for Forsythe. A fitting one-two owner-wise.[/result]
It wasn't technically rained out. Rather it had been raining most of the week, and some of the water was leaking out of the track, which ended up postponing it.
I guess that they way it goes. How did she win it? Was there a caution, did she play the fuel game? Or was she just the fastest? I can't believe I missed it. At least my coworker will stop comparing her to Anna Kournikova.
The race was a little odd, in that every time everyone was getting low on fuel, it seemed there would be a yellow. What happened was a caution came out on about lap 144 (of 200), and everyone seemed to be getting almost 50 laps out of a tank. She was one of about eight cars on the lead lap, and although for most of the the race the lead was either in Dixon's or Castroneves' hands, pretty much that entire group was staying about the same speed. For that last caution, though, there ended up being a split strategy. She, Helio, and Ed Carpenter went in for a top off on about lap 149, the last lap of the caution. Dixon, Wheldon, Kanaan, Hunter-Reay, and Briscoe stayed out. She came out and dialed it way back, and sat in 8th place or so for most of the last 50 laps. She was still able to stay in touch with the leaders, though. Around lap 195, those five who hadn't came in had to pit, then around lap 197, Carpenter went in, as he wasn't getting as good of fuel mileage. Finally, around 198, Castroneves found out he wasn't going to make it unless he dialed back, and since Danica had been saving fuel for just this opportunity, she blew right by him and wound up winning by 5 or 6 seconds.
Wow. Thanks so very, very much for the description. I saw the highlights on indycar.com and didn't see anyone even remotely around her when she crossed the finish line, but of course, they didn't show how she initially got the lead. I'dve preferred a shootout, but fuel mileage/strategy works. I'm glad she finally got her ch ... er, I'm glad she finally got her first win. I just wish it had been here in the U.S. But after four years, I don't think she gives a crap anymore. I'm sure she's just relieved it's over.
What does everyone think about PCM entering? Supposedly an announcement tomorrow stating they'll be full time starting at Indy, with Mario Dominguez as the driver. That would make 6 of 9 former Champ Car teams making the leap.
The more the merrier, I suppose. Although it's odd they are suddenly coming on board now. Correct me if I'm wrong, but weren't they supposed to join Indy earlier this year?
I think the line was basically, "We'd love to do it, but we don't have any money." The fact that they have a Mexican driver and are doing the press conference in Mexico City leads me to believe that they found some pesos somewhere.
[/QUOTE] Wow that's one name I never thought I'd see in a racing thread . I was happy to see her win, especially since I thought she wasn't driving hard enough and that Helio was going to easily take the win. I'm looking forward to Kansas, Tomas Scheckter's back and he's usually good for a thrill or two.
I watched the KCK race somewhat distractedly, but was sorry that Danica ran into problems with her wheels. Was that a pit crew issue or did she tap the wall? Exciting race, though.
I was disappointed with Scheckter's. He barely made the top 11 despite being fast in practice. Yeah I know they have the "tow" out there when practicing, but I was expecting more from him. Hopefully his race pace is fast. That being said, it looks like Penske may have something for the Ganassi boys, although going against Scott Dixon at this point in time would be foolish. I'm sure AGR will find their race speed.