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

Plus he had a botched pit stop along the way.

Unless there's a massive change in fortunes coming, Vettel walks away with the championship this year.

 

Botched stops appeared par for the course today. There was Webber's right after Vettel's, then Hamilton's not long after, where they didn't even have the tires out. (IIRC)

 

Hildebrand might have been able to survive that move at the end with fresher rubber, but he not only was low on fuel, but also tread. Plus, drivers were struggling all day passing high, especially if they got on the marbles.

Wheldon led for what, one-eighth of a lap? Amazing. Amazing, too, that this was Wheldon's first race of the year, and last, with no gig in hand. I suspect that might change.

 

This isn't a 40-something Al Unser Sr. on a last hurrah. It's a 32-year-old still in his prime. Wheldon comes across as being a bit high-maintenance, but the guy can flat-out drive on ovals, especially Indy. He lurked in the top five all day, and was in the right spot to pounce when Hildebrand made a mistake.

In his last eight Indy starts, Wheldon has been in the top four six times. In his last three, he's gone 2nd, 2nd and 1st -- and has only led one lap in those three races.

 

I'm far from an expert, but my guess is there are a few reasons Wheldon was out of a full-time ride. One is he hadn't won a race in two years at Panther and had only a handful of top-fives. He's not American (which I can't imagine meshed well with being in the National Guard car). Also, if what I read was correct, he's got a reputation as being a jerk.

Another thing about the call that crossed my mind was that with all the cars that were borderline on fuel, there's no way Marty or anyone in the booth could have easily known who was actually second. That's on whoever's spotting for them for not screaming "WHELDON, WHELDON, WHELDON!" in someone's IFB. Also, this one couldn't have possibly been botched worse than ABC botched the Goodyear/Unser showdown, by cutting to an overhead camera that was being directly blocked by someone holding a board in the starter's stand. Also, I think that may have been the last time since today in which ABC didn't use the 'most famous shot in motorsports,' the Indy pan-and-zoom at the finish line (which I love). I did like the reaction from Eddie Cheever after the fact.

As an aside, I'd love to hear Paul Page's radio call.

One thing I haven't seen asked yet, and maybe it wasn't a good idea because he was out of gas or maybe it's just a NASCAR thing, but shouldn't Diabetes Guy (because that was the only interesting thing ABC seemed to have on him) have pulled out of the racing line in a situation like that?

Still, today's race is why I always plop down in front of the TV on Memorial Day weekend. Indy is magic.

So, what have we learned today?

Lewis Hamilton: FAIL, with a side of

http://s3.amazonaws.com/kym-assets/entries/icons/original/000/002/135/sw50sw8sw578.gif?1293729577

Dale, Jr: FAYYYY-UHL.

JR Hildebrand: CENTENNIAL EPIC FAIL.

EDIT: Found the radio call, and they did even worse:

 

Radio or TV?

Haven't been impressed with the ABC crew since Paul Page and Bob Jenkins left the booth (both of whom have been available for some time ... Page is now working with the radio network, Jenkins is with Versus but was helping with the track PA today).

Heard the radio call, and Mike King was going "Hildebrand crashes. Who's going to win?" Seemed thoroughly confused. Paul Page was in the booth and jumped in to help him out. It was a really weird time -- everyone is fixated on Hildebrand, and then all of a sudden, he's got a wadded-up racecar and now you suddenly have to pick out which of the cars coming around the turn is the next one on the lead lap. At Indy, the announcers are blind to 3/4 of the track, so it's not easy to figure out. It was mass confusion.

 

Did any of the TV commentators blurt out "this is the greatest Daytona 500 I've ever seen?" at the end of the race?

 

As do Marco Andretti and Rick Mears.

Goodyear is not just memorable for the '92 finish (enhanced by the Bob Lamey/Bob Jenkins radio call that was played as a Valvoline commercial for the next year), but also the '95 finish where he jumped the pace car and handed a win to Villeneuve.

 

Except Graham Rahal, Tomas Scheckter or whoever that was passed four cars on the outside in the second-to-last restart in Turn 1 and then again in Turn 2. Damnest thing I've ever seen, especially considering how much clag (thanks David Hobbs!) there was on the track at the time.

 

They were scrubbing the track during the yellows to get rid of the marbles and facilitate the 2-wide restarts, but a lot of marbles built up by the end of the long runs (and worn tires to begin with).

 

I'm not even sure who said that, but I'm going to blame Todd Harris anyway.

 

The thing I don't get about whether or not Wheldon passed under yellow is the car he passed is the one that brought out the yellow. Surely even with Indy's hosed up positioning rules not passing under yellow can't apply to the crash can it?

As for Paul Page, I'd take Marty Reid back to ESPN2's NHRA broadcast and give you Page back in a heartbeat. He's terrible. They swapped them several years ago and Page still doesn't know what the heck is going on.