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

REJOICE! F1's most exciting race is back!

(Or not)

 

I'm a little late responding since we were camping Memorial Day weekend and I just watched the DVR of the race last night.
ABC's coverage was bad. They basically kept you up to date on the top three or so all day, the Penske team and Danica (with some Marco/John Andretti thrown in). I believe it was during the first pit stop they did a triple screen of cars pitting. The top three at that time? Nah, it was Dixon plus two Penske cars. The good thing is they were right on top of Power losing his wheel. The amount of stuff ABC/ESPN missed or didn't bother covering was unreal.
I have never cared much for Cheever, but I actually thought he was the bright point of the broadcast. Goodyear wasn't bad either, but Reid is still awful. I liked him on NHRA, but they badly need to bring Jenkins back.
I feel bad for JR, but for the life of me I can't figure out why Kimball was pulling a Duno in the middle of the track. I believe the Indy Star had a story last week mentioning Kimball was going 103 mph. WTF? Why the hell wasn't race control or at least Kimball's team telling him to get into the warm-up lane? Especially after last year's last lap screw-up, you'd think race control would be forcing drivers out of gas to get off the track.
What's really too bad about JR losing is this may have been his best chance ever to win. Last year for these cars, Penske having an off day, fuel mileage taking most everyone else out of contention, etc. He may never get such a chance again. As slow as Kimball was going in the middle of the groove, JR's choices were pretty limited. He would have to had to go through the grass to pass low (assured crash), slow down to 100 mph to stay behind (almost assured loss to Wheldon) or try going high and hoping for the best. Kimball screwed the pooch. I just hope it was a brain fade on his part and no a diabetic episode.
Wheldon is the real deal at Indy. Yes he may have lucked into this one, but two wins and two seconds doesn't come simply from luck and/or good cars. Plus he should have won in 2006 (dominant run slowed by a tire problem in the closing miles). What a great story for an underdog team to pull out the win.
TK is also great at Indy, though the results aren't there. Driving up to the top five twice was maybe even more impressive than his run last year.
One last note: has Team Penske ever been so uncompetitive in the 500? Helio never did poop, Power was junk after his three-wheel experiment and Briscoe was going for 10th mainly just due to attrition when he was taken out. It's not like the team was learning brand new cars or anything.

 

Well, Penske was uncompetitive in 1995, in that no one qualified. But, yeah, counting a year he had a car in the race, this was pretty bad.

With Kimball -- and I say this not knowing when the tank ran dry -- he was in a tough spot because he couldn't quickly dive down or go up, particularly not knowing who was coming up behind him, and how fast. The last lap was crazy with tanks running dry. Anyway, the reason Hildebrand's team didn't flay him after the race was because clearly the spotters didn't help at all.

Hildebrand made a quick move because he was worried someone (particularly Dixon) was coming up on him fast, and it turned out he wasn't. That, in fact, Hildebrand could have slowed down and cruised to a finish. Of course, Hildebrand -- driving on bald tires -- couldn't have braked hard without spinning, and in defense of his spotters, Dixon's fade was happening right as Hildebrand was pulling up to Kimball. There were so many weird things going on that there is some excuse for what everyone on that team did, or didn't, do. In most cases, Hildebrand could have made that move up high, but once his bald tires hit the marbles, he had no grip whatsoever.

As for Wheldon, whether his second Indy win gets him back full-time depends a lot on whether he's still an asshole. Being an asshole probably makes him a great driver, but not anyone sponsors want to deal with.

 

Holy smokes, I agree exactly with Dick on something. That must be the power of Indy.
I watched the race growing up in the Northwest and thought I "got" it. When I got married and moved to Iowa in 2006, I really wanted to go to Indy. My wife and I went that year. A friend from Indy to us to the race and he explained some of the traditions. To see them in the flesh brought a new level of appreciation and understanding. I finally got it. Nabors singing was no longer some hokey tradition; it became something that brought tears to my eyes and I've never lived in Indiana.
If you go for the first time, I strongly recommend going with someone who's been before. If nothing else, that will help you figure how to get there. My friend in 2006 knew a shortcut, but when that road was closed he knew a good back-up route. We parked in a neighborhood near the track, paid the family and walked a few blocks.
One of the coolest things about Indy is the proud display of the history. In addition to the incredible museum, there were the large pictures around the outside of the grandstands of famous moments like Sullivan's spin-and-win from 1985, the race that got me hooked. I don't know if those pictures are still up or if that was just in 2006.
My favorite part of covering the race in 2007 and 2008 was getting there about 5 a.m. on race day in 2008. I got pictures of the pagoda with its blue lighting against the dark sky, some of my favorite pictures. At 6 a.m. the cannon went off and the gates opened, followed by a series of rebel yells.
Another great thing about Indy is how friendly people are. It's hard to describe, but it doesn't feel like a modern event. To me, that's a good thing. It's obviously huge with 250,000 or so people, but the atmosphere is throwback with how friendly and knowledgeable everyone is. As a media member, I haven't been treated better anywhere else and I wasn't a big name at all. Every media member seems to be treated with royalty, something plenty of other venues could learn from.
There are parts of the Midwest I have missed since moving back to the Northwest the fall of 2008. The Indy 500 is right at the top of the list. It was and forever will be my journalism career highlight.

 

The 30 minutes leading up to the start of the race are unduplicated anywhere in sports. And the venue is unique in motorsports, just as Augusta National and the Rose Bowl stand alone in theirs. I'll be nowhere else on the last Sunday in May until I'm buried.

 

Not.

http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/06/08/bernie-ecclestone-formula-one-boss-says-bahrain-g-p-is-not-on/?hpw

 

Ecclestone is such a transparent cockbag. He couldn't see past his $30 million to realize that going back to Bahrain was a massive mistake.

I'm fully behind the Bahrain protestors. I think the U.S. should start a bombing campaign ... start it and end it with that piece of ass circuit.

 

J.R. Hildebrand can't reach the final stretch of ANY race without cracking up.

http://www.indystar.com/article/20110610/SPORTS0107/106100330/Pit-Pass-Hildebrand-injures-knee-Texas-promotion

Hildebrand is believed to have a torn ligament, but all he would confirm is a significant amount of swelling that will make some aspects of this weekend's Izod IndyCar Series race at Texas Motor Speedway difficult. ...

The injury occurred during a promotional event at Texas known as "Driven by Fitness." Hildebrand was competing against fellow IndyCar driver Ryan Briscoe on an obstacle course. Hildebrand struck his knee on the final hurdle, breaking the board.

 

Hildebrand, of course, refuses to be checked out, qualified the car tonight. I know they have Buddy Rice at the ready in case JR can't go or needs relief, but if I were the IRL, I'd require Hildebrand to be cleared by a physician before climbing in a car to race. A guy driving with a torn ACL is not going to be safe for other drivers. The ankle is probably more important than the knee, but the legs control the throttle/brake, and it's somewhat important that they be fully functioning.

 

I know it's not open wheel, but you should see the horrible shunt that Allan McNish took in the Audi in the first hour of the 24 Hours of Le Mans just minutes after like a two-minute commercial featuring only him. It's amazing no one appears to be hurt - fans or driver.

 

Just interviewed the GT driver that McNish ran over, he has the most outrrrrrageous accent.

"Did you see him in your mirrors?"

"Neveairrrrre."