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

Marco is 31... I remember when he was the next young fucking stud. How much longer does daddy serve as his racing patron?

 

My buddy who has an uncanny knack for picking the winner says Rossi this year, at least at this point.

 

Got a big tow early in the session. Really hard to guess where Andretti/Penske/Ganassi teams are for the weekend, because they've mostly been in packs, working on race trim.

 

Oladipo to drive the pace car. Nice pick.

 

James Hinchcliffe out!

 

It's happened to Penske. It's happened to Bobby Rahal. Indy is cruel.

What a head-scratcher for Sam Schmidt. You've got a car that should be solidly in the field, but you don't put him back into line immediately after Carpenter completes the guaranteed qualifiers? There was almost a full hour to go at that point, no reason to play the waiting game there.

They never should have gotten to the point where a bad set of tires cost them a spot on the grid. And kudos to J. Byrd and James Davison. That car was trashed 24 hours ago.

 

Is he loving it?

 

To the very casual observer (I'm looking at you, @TigerVols!), there really are only two names/faces in Indycar at the moment -- Honda's Hinchcliffe and The Amazing Race's Alex Rossi. It would be ridiculous for the former to not find a way into the race.

 

Yeah, they can’t let it happen. But from now on, the top 10-15 in the series need guaranteed spots. There’s drama enough on Saturday with the fast nine. The idea that a big name could miss the field is exciting - until it actually happens.

 

Boy, does that start to go down the primrose path of Tony George's "25-8" which was the whole reason for the split in the first place. NASCAR sold its soul when it made a 43rd "promoter's option" to keep Richard Petty (and then Darrell Waltrip) from going home every week.

And Ed Carpenter just laid down four blistering laps. Unbelievable. Can't wait for next Sunday.

 

He'll roll off in the middle of the last row, which will be one hell of a story if it happens. He'll need a Mario-like charge.