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

That's great.

The next race is in Montreal in two weeks. It's a great track and usually a fairly entertaining race. (If you ever hit the point where you want to take him to a race, that's a good one -- the atmosphere is awesome, access to the track is super easy, and you have a terrific view from the grandstands.)

 

Good advice there, and thanks for it. Montreal is very doable coming from New England.

 

This is a good example of what this site offers beyond mindless banter. I'm a sports fanatic and have been since I was a kid. I've had a passing interest in open wheel racing since around 1997, but now that I'm starting to share it with my kid, my interest has definitely been reignited and intensified. And, boom, I have an instant resource for people who enjoy the same thing and can give me great advice on how to foster my kid's interest in the sport. I truly appreciate the site and you all for your insight and input.

 

Hamilton vs. Verstappen in Monaco was probably the most action F1 has had at the front of the pack all season and even that was tainted with Max's five-second penalty. Some strong features on the Sky Sports pre-race show: the one on the first race (at Monaco) after the deaths of Senna and Ratzenberger at Imola and the tribute to Niki Lauda.

The 500 was crazy after they got the wreck cleared. Rossi, who I thought was done after that disastrous pit stop, drove that thing like he'd stolen it. Great work by Pagenaud, coming off a masterful drive to win the Indy GP, in the final laps.

As for NBC, it seemed for great stretches of the race that Bell and Tracy were the only guys in the booth. I found the running order on the left hand side of the screen confusing as hell sometimes. As mentioned above, great work on showing the mess in the pits. And maybe it was my TV but there was one point in the race where they went to Tirico, Danica and Dale Jr. and they were being overwhelmed by the noise on the track and/or in the pits, couldn't hear a word Tirico was saying. Reminded me of the days when Chris Economaki would be yelling in the ear of some guy he is trying to interview in the pits.

 

The left-hand running order works great for F1, but was in the way at Indy, where the cars are always going right to left in almost every shot.

I thought NBC's placement of microphones, particularly during the 21-gun salute and Taps, was amazing. But yes, the booth at the exit of pit lane needed some sound protection (clear windows) or the talent needed unidirectional mics. It was really evident on Carb Day when the jet dryers drowned out Tirico's intro.

And so glad your child is just getting into racing, bigpern23. You're so much more invested when you pick a favorite driver to watch. My wife couldn't figure out my fascination with cars that "go round and round" until she found herself cheering for Al Unser Jr. against Emerson Fittipaldi in 1989. Then she understood.

I got hooked for life while we lived in Houston -- chose to root for some local yokel named Foyt -- and cemented my love for open-wheel cars when we moved near Riverside and got to see USAC and Can-Am races in 1967. Dan Gurney won the Rex Mays 300 while A.J. won the championship. Then was amazed by the exotic sports cars piloted by Jim Hall, Bruce McLaren, Dennis Hulme and some backmarker named Penske.

I drove 1,000 miles out of my way moving from Florida to California just so I could see the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in person for the first time on a cold, rainy day in October of 1987. Until then, I had only imagined it from the voices coming from my radio and the ABC broadcasts. I've been lucky to be soaked (and frozen) at the race many times since then (and get paid to sit in the media center for the tin tops from 2002-2012).

Odd note from the NBC broadcast: I don't remember them interviewing or even showing A.J. at any point during the race, which would be a first since the race has been on television.

 

Go to a race. Like hockey, television doesn't come close to doing racing justice. The speed, the sound, the sights, the smells. Even a Saturday night at the local bullring is a cool experience.

AND WEAR HEARING PROTECTION EVERY SINGLE TIME. Particularly important for your children.

Have a good set of earplugs (or better yet, rent headphones at the track so you can listen to the team communications). Stick them in before the engines start and leave them in until it's over.

I haven't traveled to a race without earplugs in my pants pocket since the Hulman Hundred in 1991, when the roar of Silver Crown cars combined with the metal overhang left me with my ears ringing for several days. When I covered NASCAR, I'd always have one set on my dresser drawer at home (so I'd remember to stick them in my pocket before leaving for the airport), two in my computer bag and two more in my travel luggage.

 

Pet peeve of mine, but that wasn't and isn't a 21-gun salute, which is very different from the three-volley salute used yesterday and seen at most military funerals.

I did think NBC did a phenomenal job with the pre-race show - at least the 25 to 30 minutes of it I caught.

I didn't get a chance to watch the post-race as my little one had gotten up from his nap with about 10 laps to go. He thoroughly enjoyed the "yellow" car, but once the on track action was over t.v. had to go off.

 

I caught that segment too. I was surprised NBC didn't dump out of it faster and fix the sound issue. They had it right later in the race, so I chalked it up to just not quite being able to predict what the sound settings needed to be without having done Indy before.

 

Duty noted on the salute. And there was an odd audio issue somewhere during the ceremonies where the Spanish language broadcast bled over into the NBC feed for several seconds before they could figure out the problem.

 

Used to be American-born IndyCar drivers had first names like Al, Bobby, Danny, Gary, Jerry, Michael, Steve and Tom. Plus Jan, Gordy, Sheldon and Eldon.

Now they're Alexander, Colton, Conor, Graham, Josef, Marco, Santino and Spencer. And Ed.

Honestly, this generation of Americans are awesome drivers and deserve to connect with today's fans just as much as the first group did. Rossi is amazingly talented and channeled his inner A.J. in the pits when the fuel nozzle malfunctioned. Ferrucci drove his butt off yesterday and his lawn mower escape from the big wreck was nothing short of incredible.