All-purpose open-wheel (F1, IRL) racing thread

As much as Alonso winning would be a huge story, that's asking a lot from a guy who has never experienced the chaos of a 500-mile race. Seven pit stops with basically a one-off operation? With some notable exceptions (Mears, Unser, Montoya), the team that has a perfect day is the one drinking the milk and kissing the bricks (ugh, hate that with a passion). Dixon looked like he was on rails Sunday. Hunter-Reay could surprise. And don't count out the Captain's crew. He's shrewd enough to pull off a alternative strategy that could get Power or Castroneves the victory.

The front row advantage isn't what it used to be, but I'll go with Dixon.

 

The technique you described, isn't that what Scott Brayton did, letting it swap ends like that? Not criticizing, just going to the old memory banks. That said, at those speeds, it's a small miracle anyone survives the wrecks.

 

#FalseFlag

 

Yes. Brayton died when his helmet hit the wall when his car hit the wall side-on, causing severe cranial injuries. The cars of that era had almost no sidepod integrity and that was pre-HANS, pre-SAFER. Thankfully, technology has progressed to where an accident like Brayton's should now have a significant percentage of survivability.

It's scary to watch old footage and wonder how anyone lived past 30 during the boardtrack days, and many didn't. Guys drove with metal-capped leather helmets and T-shirts into the 1950s. NASCAR didn't mandate seat belts and guys would tie themselves into a regular front car seat with a piece of rope. Mandatory fuel cells and methanol were the result of the Eddie Sachs-Dave MacDonald crash in 1964.

Fireproof suits? Six-point harnesses? Balaclavas? Deformable steering wheels? Molded seats? Carbon fiber chassis? All came as the result of a tragedy, which led to safer racing. Even traveling safety teams and surgeons have saved lives. Alex Zanardi and James Hinchcliffe are here today because of lessons learned. And still, some guys amazingly walk away from huge hits, and then Jovy Marcelo dies on a warmup lap. Luck plays a major factor sometimes.

Racing will never be totally "safe," whether that's in open-cockpit cars at 230 mph or a four-cylinder street stock at 65. But because of the improvements in safety, fewer drivers wind up in the hospital and fewer still in the morgue. It may be only incremental improvements, but when you look back at a time when it seemed a driver a year would be killed at Indianapolis or in F1, drivers have never been in better hands. Ultimately, that's the real legacy Brayton, Senna and Earnhardt left.

I never wrote a driver's obit during my time in NASCAR, although there were a couple of close calls. I interviewed Michael MacDonald 10 minutes before he destroyed a car at Texas. I think that's what made racing different than most other sports beats -- you don't show up at a game believing Ray Chapman or Hank Gathers could happen at any moment.

 

It's pretty shocking to me that the public used to accept it as part of the price of admission.

 

Ah, I never realized Brayton's head actually hit the wall. I always thought that the impact caused a Earnhardt-like skull fracture or something.

Also, I just noticed the Ernie avatar. My hero.

 

Mine, too. I wanted to either replace Ernie or Sid Collins, the voice of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network. Neither happened but I can't complain.

 

You should try to replace Dave Callabro at the track. They need someone way more understated for the event. Drives me nuts every year.

 

Enduring image of 1964 is guy holding the Indy Star News front page in Victory Lane that says "Foyt wins; Sachs, MacDonald die." If I had been sitting in the J Stands that day, I'm not sure I'd ever want to see another race.