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

The Derby pre-race show is 4.5 hours long. NBC needs a dozen-plus features to fill the time (plus showing the undercard races). The 500 pre-race show needs about a half hour of features before the ceremonies that carry up to the start. I think it's fine. Some local Indianapolis stations do a pre-race show of their own that comes on hours before NBC does.

 

Lot of food for thought here. One thing that I remember reading several years ago that might explain a lot of this is that there are three major sporting events that draw a larger audience of women than men: the Summer Olympics, the Winter Olympics and the Kentucky Derby. Though I'm loathe to blindly follow the "you have to tell female viewers a story" narrative because it's sexist, I think that probably explains a lot as to the styles they take. I also suspect that the Derby post time being so late in the day means they have a very long ramp (by choice). Gotta have all those pockets for the ads for bourbon, suits and financial services products. Whereas the green flag dropped at Indy at, I think 11:45 a.m. Central. I'm guessing Meet the Press and the usual Sunday morning stuff ran as scheduled. Now that Breakfast at Wimbledon isn't a thing on the Peacock anymore, I'm not sure how many events actually pre-empt Sunday morning stuff there anymore other than the final day of the Premier League season.

Speaking specifically to the Indy coverage, I'm not quite sure why NBC has been trying to NASCAR-ify it quite as much as they have unless they just want to get extra mileage out of the likes of Rutledge Wood (kind of like Mary Carillo at the Olympics, he's kind of a big flashing sign that the next segment is not serious) and Dale Jr. I heard a lot of people panning Danica too, but I thought she at least had some first-hand experience to add. Maybe the execs think Indiana hicks play just like North Carolina hicks, but ABC wasn't doing that in the Paul Page and Bob Jenkins eras. Given how many international drivers there are, I'd lean into a presentation that tells their stories better, but I'm guessing they think Leigh Diffey fills that role, whether he does or not.

 

NBC had the French Open on Sunday morning, I think. To be fair, the long long Derby pregame does echo the actual experience of being at Churchill Downs the day of the race, or tries to, anyway. It's a Day at the Races, multiple events, while Indy is just the one event.

 

Yes, Dick Enberg's "Cafe et Croissants" was always kind of the sister to that, but I don't know if NBC still has Roland Garros or not. Given how poorly Americans tend to do on the dirt, that seems to be a losing proposition for them.

 

'500 minutes of commercials': Indy 500 fans frustrated with NBC's TV coverage

 

Just finished watching Indy. Kudos to Ericsson on the win. He was kind of lurking in the shadows until it counted, then pulled the pin. Must have felt extra satisfying given that he held off the team that kicked him to the curb. Showed his inner Pagenaud on that last restart. Bummer for O'Ward, who has definitely adapted to Indy well. Biggest bummer was for Dixon. Guy to beat for the third straight year, no one to blame but himself this time. Props to Ganassi for having so many competitive cars. When their top two had trouble, two more were right there.
Surprising how uncompetitive the Penske (minus the Yellow Submarine to some degree), Andretti (minus Rossi) and Rahal teams were. Not sure Herta would have been much better if he hadn't had the Carb Day crash, given how the team looked overall on Sunday.
NBC coverage was underwhelming. Nothing But Commercials indeed. I agree with many of the points playthrough made. Big emphasis of the coverage was on Castroneves and the Ganassi stars as expected, but so many more stories could have been explored. Why Indy is capturing the attention of F1 drivers tired of the midpack, how long Carpenter will keep coming back as a driver and his history with the track, just so many feature stories that were ignored. Instead we learned about swan boats and the caper involving Daly's pool. Diffey is definitely no Bob Jenkins. I wasn't a huge Paul Page fan, but he was miles better than Diffey. Bell and Hinch were good (especially the latter), but they seem to be limited in what they're allowed to talk about. When the red came out, that was a perfect opportunity to talk about how that broke with Indy tradition, especially just two years ago.
Biggest sham was Jimmie Johnson being named ROTY. Was that decided before the race even began? He did nothing, led a lap via fuel mileage, then clouted the wall. No way he was top rookie. Ganassi had 5 great cars, and only one driver (Johnson) did absolutely nothing with it.

 

I was at Indy. First time since 2018. It was fun, the usual long day if you're working it. Might have been the best weather I've ever experienced at the track on race day. So much so that my dumb ass walked the grid for too long and got a very solid sunburn.

Note to Roger Penske ... I know you're not going to be rotating on this mortal coil for too much longer, but we don't need to turn "the command" into a high school valedictorian speech. Say the words and fuck off the stage. On the other hand? Do more fly-bys where the jets fly perpendicular to the track. That was bad ass.

It also occurs to me that for the majority of my time watching the 500? There's been a septuagenarian or older doing the command. Looking back, I can't believe they rolled out poor Mary Hulman deep into the 90s, way, way, WAY beyond when it was advisable. It was sad when she literally drooling while doing it once. Strangely, though, I still hear those words in her voice. Props.

Race was OK. Ericsson was playing possum, as I suspect most drivers were, with his fuel mileage, running on fuel-save mode. Indy needs to figure out how to address the single-file racing. It was a fun strategic race to watch, but not very easy on the eyes, apart from the usual mad restarts,with few on-track passes that weren't contrived fuel saving moves at the front.

Jimmie Johnson was about as limp dick as expected, but I will say this ... whom else should have been Rookie Of The Year? The rest of the crop was anonymity defined. At least Johnson made it into the Fast 12, or whatever the fuck it's called, in qualifying. The only other rookie I can even remember is David Malukas, and that's only because he sounds like a guest star on Kojak. (A reference for the kids.)

NBC isn't brilliant, but it's still better than the mail-in fests ABC shit out there in the last 15 years or so they broadcast the race. Diffey is OK, no Paul Page, but who is? Diffey is still better than the bottom of the barrel dreck ABC called on to call the race, Allen Bestwick excepted. Remember Todd Harris? If you don't, count your blessings.

Glad Paul Tracy is gone. He's a knob who very often couldn't even accurately convey what was in front of him on a monitor. Townsend Bell and James Hinchcliffe are fine.

I'm cool with Dale Jr. because Dale Jr. is cool. He approaches the race with the right amount of respect and intellectual curiosity.

They do need to put Rutledge Wood into a Space X rocket and sent it directly at the heart of the sun. Failing that? Program it to catch up with Voyager II. Failing that? Program to fly above or below the Earth in celestial space that no one ever seems to talk about. I don't care, just rocket him away. He is abysmal. Of all of the efforts over the years by broadcast companies to help casual viewers "relate" to an event? He's the worst ever.

"Hey look how chill and quirky Rutledge is? Aren't you jealous you don't get to hang out with him?" No. No, I'm not. Please fuck off.

There was a time, not long ago, in the Snake Pit that wasn't a contrived creation, where his twee bullshit would get some shit-kicking, meth-addled, drunk-since-Carb Day Hoosier to throw the very human excrement at him that they just literally shit on the ground. They used to burn a van in the north short chute and if his goofy ass came strolling around? We might have a Joan Of Arc situation on our hands.

 

Bubbler, please post more often.

 

Bravo

 

I remember on Sunday watching The Captain and thinking to myself that in the past there was literally suspense over whether Mari Hulman George would get to the word "engines" before keeling over, and now with Penske we get a five-minute speech.