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

This year they'll play Nabors on video. I wouldn't be shocked if the 500 did this until the end of time once Nabors can no longer do it anymore. The roar for him is as great as anyone at the track.

As for Wheldon, I presume during the invocation, Wheldon will be mentioned, and there will an extra moment of silence, at the least. By the way, you know you're in a dangerous sport when, before it begins, there is an organized prayer focused on hoping no one dies.

 

I guess I'm thinking of the U.S. Open after Payne Stewart died and how they handled that. I know that we're talking completely different sports and different circumstances, but I don't know if it's the "right thing" to minimize the acknowledgment of it during the pre-race. You certainly wouldn't want to go over the top with it either. It's a delicate balance and a reminder that we aren't in the 1950s where seemingly a few drivers who raced in the 500 one year didn't make it back the next for the worst possible reason.

And no, you aren't being a jackass - it's a legitimate question.

 

Holy crap, Williams won!

 

Great race.

A year ago I was pretty unimpressed with Pastor Maldonado, but he's a hell of a lot better than I gave him credit for.

 

And an update: about an hour after the race, the Williams garage was gutted by a fire.



A few people treated for burns and smoke inhalation, but no major injuries. There is speculation that the KERS may have been stored too close to the fuel rig.

 

DAMMIT! DAMMIT! DAMMIT! The kids shut off the DVR today. Will watch tomorrow, I guess.

 

Nice to see Bryan Clauson turning some good times in practice so far - he was 10th-quickest on Tuesday.

http://espn.go.com/racing/indycar/story/_/id/7935805/several-american-drivers-post-top-times-indianapolis-500-practice

It's interesting to see the USAC National Driver's Championship pay some dividends - Clauson won it in 2010 and earned a part-time Indy Lights ride. He did well enough there (including a pole at Indy) that he got a shot with Sarah Fisher's team this year.

 

Chevy kicked the crap out of Honda (and Lotus, but that's a given) in Indy 500 pole qualifying today. Of the top 9 cars, 8 were Chevys. Lone Honda was in seventh.
Andretti's team having the opposite month of last May, when getting anyone qualified was nearly impossible. This year, 2-3-4.
Briscoe wins pole, closest margin ever between first and second: 226.484 mph vs. 226.481, over four laps.
I was real surprised how off the Ganassi cars were, especially after Dixon had picked it up nicely in practice middle of the week. Top Ganassi car is Rahal in 12th.
Couple of big wrecks Saturday, I'm hoping they can indeed get to 33 cars.

 

Jean Alesi is in the Indianapolis 500? That's so bizarrely random. It would be like Arie Luyendyk suddenly deciding to run the Daytona 500.

 

He's a "corporate ambassador" for Lotus, or something like that...

 

He's also probably the slowest qualifier in the past 20 years.