Race got off to an ugly start today but it ended being an exciting contest. I love when they run the street circuits, always feels like proper racing.
I usually prefer streets or road courses (including rovals). Ovals don't excite me too much. I like Indy, though. But I forgot that was coming up so quickly. I'm watching qualifying on Versus right now.
I'll watch the race next week, the Indy 500 is about the only IndyCar race I can handle. The series for the most part is garbage. Hopefully the new cars they are supposed to have next year will make things a bit more exciting. Dallara unveiled some concepts the other day, check out the link for photos and commentary. http://americangrandprix.blogspot.com/search/label/2012 chassis
I noticed that it's (still?) one tire mfr, one chassis, and one engine mfr. Not quite a spec class, because you can adjust certain things on it, but still, I crave variety. And this year, these cars are just plain fugly. Not to drift off topic; I'll be watching Indy, but my auto racing tour of choice is Rolex Series.
I'll watch it. This will probably be the best 500 in quite awhile. Hopefully next year it will be even better with new cars. We shall see.
I'll definitely be watching. I slacked off last year in keeping up with the series, but I hope to do better this season.
I wish I could see this replayed. I let myself get distracted with the web, but I had it on, and tried to watch and post all morning. Great to see Rahal lead. His father Bobby was my childhood favorite. Great to see Danica lead. Horrible to see the last lap accident, and frustrating to see fuel consumption be such an issue, but that's how Indy rolls sometimes. Also, most of the accidents were of the same nature, IIRC. Cars getting into marbles trying to go high and thereby getting sucked into the wall. Kind of boring, but again, it's a known hazard that it is your responsibility to avoid. Part of the track's personality. Part of the car's personality. Very good race to watch, even with no personal favorite. Next year, I'll shut down the computer during it.
The Viso incident, Sato incident, Howard incident, Briscoe/Bell, and Hildebrand incidents were none alike. Sato got high in the marbles. Viso went 3 wide and it didnt work colliding with the drivers below him. Briscoe and Bell made wheel to wheel contact when Bell hit the wall before the turn, then turned down on Briscoe. Howard lost a wheel which caused his wreck. And Hildebrand was trying to pass a lapped car when he shouldn't (and got high in the marbles on the last turn). None was much like the other. A weird race...a weird ending, but very happy for Wheldon. Wheldon led 1 lap, the least ever for an Indy 500 winner. Previous lowest was 2 in 1912 (2nd Indy 500 race ever). In fact, wheldon led all of about 1000 feet
There is controversy though. Did Wheldon pass Hildebrand under yellow? If he did then Hildebrand should be the winner and Wheldon in 2nd. The controversy is when does the caution take affect? Is it when the accident occurs or is it when the yellow flag flies? If the answer is "when he accident occurs" then Hildebrand won. If the answer is "when the yellow flag flies" then Wheldon won. Such drama.
It's way over. The caution and the yellow flag came out after Dan passed J.R. Panther racing (J.R.'s team) even stated they would not protest the finish. Here is a clear picture of dan past J.R. when BOTH the green lights and green flag are out. No controversy at all. Dan wins hands down. It's already official. http://yfrog.com/h8ms0myj (note dan is the guy in front of the wrecked car while lights and flag are green) If you are trying to say there is still controversy, you are making it up. By the way. Dale Jr. ran out of fuel on the last turn of the last lap in the NASCAR race tonight. Also in the National Guard car just like J.R. Hildebrand ... (Both National Guard sponsored, one J.R. one Jr., both lose on turn four of last lap...just a bit eerie...)
Not making it up, there were plenty of questions being asked about the ruling on the finish. And I know Panther didn't protest but it was reported that they did ask Barnhart "to make sure IndyCar looked at everything." I have no problem with Wheldon winning, I just have a problem with the way Barnhart handled things because basically he caused the controvery himself with what he said shortly after the race. It was reported he said it was ok to pass Hildebrand "under yellow" because he was a wounded car. The controversy was if Hildebrand was passed under yellow but still shows in the final standing as a car that finished the race then the final finishing order should be adjusted since you cannot improve your position under yellow which is what Wheldon would have done. Barnhart caused the controversy himself. It finally came out though that the yellow wasn't called until well after Wheldon had passed Hildebrand. So basically everything was checked out and that was the final ruling, which is fine with me. When all is said and done it looks bad on Barnhart and everyone else in Race Control because they took so long to call the yellow. Almost a full 5 or 6 seconds after Hildebrand crashed. Had they called the caution and thrown the yellow only a second or two after the crash which is more common, then Hildebrand would have drank the milk and not Wheldon. But what does it matter? It is still IndyCar racing which isn't high on people's priority lists anymore anyway.
Well, maybe Hildebrand shouldn't have hit the wall. In the last turn. On the final lap. It's sad he didn't get it -- I think it would have been pretty awesome to see him win the 100th running of the race. I'm not a huge Dan Weldon fan by no means. I don't know all the ins and outs of IndyCar rules. But if they had thrown the yellow earlier, wouldn't that have felt a little wrong, considering he's the one who caused the caution? 'Hey, I'm a dumbass and I got into the marbles, but I'm still going, driving crippled, and you can't pass me for the win. Neener, neener.' Does that happen a lot in this series? Or was this one of those rare cases where the wrecked lead car actually finished at a decent pace?
A rare case. I've actually NEVER seen it happen in indycar/champ car/CART. However, suppose wheldon had been another 3-4 seconds back. Hildebrand would have beat him across the line on a wrecked car. I say give the win to J.R. in that case because shouldn't it be the first to finish, no matter what state your car is in? But because wheldon was where he was, and since wheldon crossed the line first thanks to the delayed yellow, he should win, and did. A yellow thrown sooner would have felt dirty, because we know J.R. wouldn't have the car to finish first.
I don't think I've ever seen a race where the winning car comes across the finish line while it is crashing, although the finish to the Daytona 500 a few years ago had some cars coming across the line during a crash but they were further back in the field. One actually slid across the line on it's roof while on fire. I'm ok with Wheldon winning. I would have also been ok with Hildebrand winning, it would have been quite unique to take the win while sliding across the line during a crash. Which brings up another issue however. I know in F1 you have to pass post race inspection. I'm not sure what they do in IndyCar, whether they have post race inspection or not. In a post race interview with Wheldon he mentioned you have to cross the line with all four wheels and under your own power. I almost wonder if Hildebrand should even be shown in 2nd place because it is obvious he wouldn't pass post race inspection if IndyCar does actually have that. If that were the case then Rahal would be given 2nd place. So many questions.
I've seen winners in both NASCAR and open wheel fail post race inspection. Usually the worst they do is dock you points and fine you, but I've never seen a win stripped for failing post race inspection. However, if you fail post race inspection from a crash, that's a different story. There's no fine or penalty most times (see Clint Boywer flipping across the finish line a few years ago in NASCAR and now J.R. this year in Indycar). Sure it wasn't for the win, but the rules should be applied equally, so I have to assume failing post race because of a wreck is different, and not a penalty.