Notes taken during the VERSUS broadcast of the Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma, Infineon Raceway, Sears Point, California, on August 22, 2010.
Welcome to the gorgeous facility! pressdog™ Beer of the Race is Drifter Pale Ale from Widmer Brothers Brewing Co., Portland, Oregon.
Lindy Thackston in the Sky Lair. Is it me, or have these broadcasts had more sky lair lately? Seems like LindyCar is a Musbergerian anchor for the pre-race show. She's looking good in her dark ensemble and pulled-back hair. So is Dario Franchitti, the right-sexy wee bastard with his lionish dark mane rippling majestically in the breeze. Striking.
LindyCar claims the street races are exciting. Insert me staring blankly here. Yeah, Edmonton, Mid-Ohio and Infineon are the trifecta of electrified racing, for sure. I'm immediately knocked out of my seat by a monkey flying out of my ass.
To the grid. Command given. We're hot. Danica Patrick gets air for the first time in 40 minutes. There's her car. Danica is in there somewhere. THAT'S ENOUGH AIR FOR YOU! We're down to Stanley Hontz, who won the contest to ride in the back of the two seater with Mario Andretti to start the race. Now Bob Jenkins GOES TO STANLEY, who is wired, and does a little in-car interview with him. Stanley is geeked AND destined to get more speaking time than Danica Patrick (!!). Is Versus mad at Danica? She's gotten zero air the last few races. Sure seems so to me. Danica has monsterous numbers of fans, but no air. So if her legions of fans stop watching that would be a good thing? Todd Harris must be most displeased! Hmmmm. Discuss.
Someone mentions that of all the races at Sonoma, IndyCar is the only one that has shown a ticket sales increase. Looks like on www.infineonraceway.com they were selling an all-access Danica Special for $99 which included a garage tour and a Q&A with Danistar. Checking the schedule and IndyCar seems to be about all that's big at Infineon (unless the entire schedule is no longer up there).
Although I am not a fan of this race, I would be excited to hear ticket sales are up, so at least there's some good reason for the parade. Mid-Ohio is lethal on TV but at least the place is full by all accounts. Same with Barber, at least in the first year.
Let's be real clear up front: the reason IndyCar goes to Sonoma is NOT because of fans. It's because sponsors LOVE the place. It's the second-most attended race by sponsors next to Indy. That, my friends, is why Sonoma isn't going anywhere. Fans, schmans. This race is about the corporate tents. Just like Snoretegi and to some extent Mid-Ohio are about keeping Honda happy. Hey, why would you stage ALL your races primarily for fans? We're just being greedy if we expect that.
No, that's too harsh. It's a business decision. If racing at Sonoma draws 192 people on TV but generates $10 million in sponsor cash for various teams, hard to argue for ditching the race.Target was fully deployed at Sonoma, for example. And keeping Target happy has to at least figure into your business plan. I argue drawing a 4.3 TV rating will keep every sponsor giddy, but IndyCar is a ways from doing that (if ever) so I guess you throw them a twisty bone. It's a complex situation; I realize that.
Trackside Online starting lineup. Patrick was at Sonoma and soldiered on, emailing subscribers like me juicy tidbits and behind-the-scenes info. Seriously on par or BETTER than the public mass media coverage. Patrick is fully into it. $22 for a calendar year of delish coverage is an insane bargain. Be like the pdog and subscribe today.
Yo yo yo to my homeslices in the graphics-generating B-Unit. My first stop when I roll to Chicagoland next weekend to say hi to you insane people. I may crash the unit-wide AA meeting. Kidding. There's no drinking in the B-Unit during the broadcast because spilled beer could short everything out.
Will Power won his record eighth pole, Helio Castroneves, Dario Franchitti, Alex Tagliani, Ryan Briscoe, Scott Dixon, Justin Wilson, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Tony Kanaan, Raphael Matos, Simona De Silvestro, Dan Wheldon, Bertrand Baguette, Hideki Muto, EJ Viso, Graham Rahal, Takuma Sato, Marco Andretti, JR Hildrebrand, Mario Moraes, Vitor Meira, Alex Lloyd, Danica Patrick, Milka Duno, Franchesco Dracone. Dracone's time was second faster than Milka's but he starts last. Not sure why. Not sure if they said why on TV. It may be NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS.
A pause here to give a shout out to the Young Prince (Marco Andretti) whose driver shirt was the ONLY IndyCar anything I saw at last weekend's Knoxville Nationals (aside from my Indy 500 polo). See clandestine photo at left. I should also note I saw very very few NASCAR shirts. Nationals is die-hard dirt people, 75% of whom are wearing some dirt driver's shirt at all times.
Enough dirt track, let's light this twisty candle. We're GREEN.
Holy shitty fugly start. OMG. Single file across the line. Putrid. If that doesn't get waved off ... wait up, yellow yellow yellow. Wheldon is on his lid.
Replays. World's FUGLIEST start. Wheldon gets smacked from behind by an Unknown Assailant and goes over on his lid, then spins like a top down the track. Seriously. Did about 10 revolutions, I'd guess. Crazy-ass! The safety posse had to flop the car back over so Wheldon could get out. He's OK. Word to the roll hoop makers. (Reviewed the video, it was Baguette who got into the back of Wheldon.)
Danica pits. She started almost-last, so topping off here costs her zero. She'll have to pass the speed-of-smell duo of Milka and Dracone, but shouldn't be a big deal.
Lap 4 we are GREEN.
Lap 6 -- we are onboard with Will Power and you can see the bitchslap trailing off the back of his car as he becomes a dot to Helio.
Lap 7 -- Replay. Mutoh passes Viso. Televised pass. Viewing enhanced. Viso pits, so he may not have been fighting Mutoh too hard, though.
Onboard with Simona. Simona getting an onboard camera was a big cheering point among the Twitters earlier this week. Simona certainly has become the darling of the media (I'm not saying that darlingness isn't justified. Simmer down.) She's cranking down similar air to Danica these days on the open-wheel side, and a lot of it is much more enthusiastic and complimentary, in my opinion.
Robin Miller said on Trackside last week (check the replay on iTunes or at www.1070thefan.com/trackside) wept openly at Simona's skills and said (at the 43:15 mark) that Bernie Ecclestone, F1 Ringmaster, texted Derrick Walker six weeks ago and asked if any women in IndyCar could drive.
Robin said Derrick put Bernie on to Simona and F1 teams Sauber and Renault then made inquiries soon thereafter. Robin recent story on Simona HERE. Insert dramatic music here! That tells me Bernie no longer thinks women are like appliances (he once compared Danica to a refrigerator in a bizarre outburst even for Bernie) but it tells me way more that Bernie thinks there is cash to be made with a female driver in F1. 'Cause Bernie don't take a dump unless he thinks there is cash to be made. Simona has always said her ultimate goal is F1, but that she's focused on success in IndyCar for now. (See pressdog Simona interview here.)
Down to LindyCar, who has made her wardrobe change into a fire suit, (I think it was LindyCar) with Dan Wheldon. Dan says it's never good to be upside down but he's OK. Thanks the safety posse and Dallara for the roll hoop. Disappointed for the Pantha National Guard car. Good car this weekend and then got inverted.
Lap 8 -- Power is up by .65 seconds. Graphic that shows the drivers' heart rates in real time is cool.
Insert lock-stepathon here.
Lap 11 -- Danica gets a bit of air. Milka is three laps down by lap 11. Not so good. I strongly suspect the 107% rule is being overlooked.
Lap 12 -- Robbie "Incredi" Buhl of the Booth says it's a fantastic race track, incredibly physical.
Lap 13 -- Power may be in fuel saving mode here. More lock step.
Lap 15 -- Power, Helio, Dario, Tags, Briscoe, Dixon, Wilson, RHR, TK, Matos.
Lap 16 -- Tag inhaled by Briscoe and Dixon. Wilson looking. Tag have issues. Robbie says "momentum." DRINK, ye BASTARDS.
Wilson inhales Tag on the inside. Tag's tires may be crap. Bob Jenkins says this overtake brought to you by the No Defending Rule. It also may be brought to you by the super-duper soft Firestone red sidewall tires which are designed to be super grippy for 20-ish laps and then have the durability of wedding cake. Dramatic fall off.
Apparently the drivers all wanted way more difference between tires. (Newby note: there are two types of tires, the "black" sidewalls which are harder with less grip but last longer andt he "red" sidewall tires which are softer, more grip initially but don't last as long. All teams have to use at least one set of each.) I would say that's 'cause we need reds and blacks and the no blocking rule to have any overtaking a'tall here at Sonoma. What do purists think of the red-sidewalled-enabled overtaking? I am for it, but then again I like the No Defending Rule too. Discuss.
We go to RHR's heart rate monitor which is more interesting than this race at this point.
Tag is in the dirt. Holly Gorgeous Facility Tour. Tag is toast with a right rear flat. He's hobbling back to the pit.Turns out he may have gotten his tired cut by Simona "The Blade" De Silvestro. She'll cut ya, maaaaaan.
Lap 20 -- Meanwhile, Jenkins tells us Dario passed Helio for P2. Replay? Anyone? Anyone? Buhl(er)? Must not have it. DREADED ATTACK OF THE DECAYING RED SIDEWALLS, I'd guess. Can we nominate Firestone itself for the Firestone Tire-rific Move of the Race for bringing the Nerf Fires? They are (seriously) enhancing my viewing right now.
Lap 21 -- Power is three seconds up on Dario. Dixon inhales Briscoe for P4. The Penske Twins are experiencing the power of the magic red rings because they are subject to a festival of inhalation. (Again, not a diss. I thank God for the interest generated by the decaying-by-design tires.) Versus has the Firestone guy, Al Speyers, on repeatedly to emphasize that these tires are SUPPOSED to drop off, and it is not a reflection on the quality of Firestone street tires. You gotta be a rock not to understand that, but I guess it's better safe than sorry.
Lap 22 -- Replay of Wilson overtaking Briscoe who does not "defend" the inside line, 'cause that's illegal, and the IRON HAND OF JUSTICE is watching. Another overtake assisted by The Rule Book.
Lap 23 -- Dixon passes Helio for P3. I hope the Penske cars are equipped with parachutes because it's a FREE FALL. I'd say, ah, pit now pit now pit now and get rid of the reds. Briscoe takes my advice and pits. Helio stays out.
Robbie says "get the power down" -- DRINK -- in context of the Penske cars can't get the Power Down due to the tires being GONE, so they get overtaken. Helio gets inhaled by Wilson.
Lap 25 -- Helio pits. Bleeding stopped.
Simona dives under Matos. SPEARSVILLE. She punted him out of the way. That metallic yodeling you hear is Simona's Swiss Chrome Horn. Right here I wonder what the definition of "avoidable contact" is, a rule that's even more murky to me and everyone else I know than the blocking rule. I can't say if Simona committed "avoidable contact" there because I have no idea what the rule is. It is NONE OF MY BUSINESS, apparently. But I seriously doubt Simona will get penalized given the whole "rising star"thing. We'll see if I'm wrong.
(Checking the box score etc. after I find no penalties for this race. I guess let 'em play! As long as we are consistent.)
Lap 26 and 27 -- Festival of Pitting. Robbie Floyd says Simona "looks like Kyle Busch out there." Beer spew! HAR. Audible chuckle from me, Floydster. I'm sure he was talking about the driving style, not the Ky-Ky whiny attitude. It may be IndyCar Prison Rules (that is, no rules) Racing time.
Lap 28 -- Simona spins. Out on cold tires and spun it. Back underway with no caution. Props to The Swiss Army Knife for keeping it running and not bringing out the yellow. Power, Dixon and Dario all pit together. Power out in P1. Dixon chases Dario out and may have a shot at him on the out-lap.
Replay. Wait a second. Simona got chrome horned from behind and spun. Huh. Not sure who punted her. Either I didn't write it down or it was NONE OF MY BUSINESS. I guess the chrome horn honks both ways on this race. As it should. What's good for the horner is good for the hornee. (Beevis laugh. I said "hornee.")
Lap 30 -- Marco is in P2, Hildebrand P3 as the pit cycling continues. Power, Marco, Briscoe, Hildebrand, Dario, Dixon, Helio, Wilson, RHR, Rahal.
Lap 32 -- Now JR is getting violently inhaled and he pits. 21 laps since his first stop. Could be a festival of tire disintegration again.
Power is now 7 seconds ahead of Marco in P2.
Lap 33 -- Yellow yellow yellow. Milka is toast. Ass-around and stalled. First full-course yellow of the day. OK, technically the second since we were yellow on lap 1.
Lap 36 -- GREEN. Danica inhales Mutoh. Bam. Legit inhale on the restart.
In-lap and out-lap time graphic. Booth giant Jon Beekhuis does some telestrating and talks about importance thereof. Very Speed F1 coverage-ish. Nice job explaining the value of in- and out-laps. Viewing enhanced.
Lap 38 -- Yellow yellow yellow. Marco and JR tangle. Replay. JR gives Marco the inside overtaking line but Marco cooks it and power slides right out into JR. Hip Check City! Hildebrand is toast. Marco keeps it running and continues on. Apparently this was unavoidable contact 'cause there's no penalty.
Lap 40 GREEN. Power, Briscoe, Dario, Dixon, Helio, Wilson, RHR, Rahal, TK, Matos.
Lap 41 -- Will Briscoe be Power's Blocking Back? Make himself wide in a Kanaan-Helping-Dario from a few years ago fashion? Briscoe and Helio are slightly off sequence so they'll have to pit a few laps ahead of the rest of the leaders if we stay green.
JR with someone (not sure who, sorry). Said it was rough out there. Got into it with Viso. Tried to give Marco room. Not sure what happened. Wants to see a replay before he says anything.
Lap 43 -- Power is up by 2 seconds. Gets the wings back at will. Jon says "momentum." DRINK, bitches.
Lap 49 -- Power is now up by 5.1. Going from 2 seconds ahead to 5.1 ahead in six laps is laying down the bitchslap.
Lap 52 -- Last stops are starting. TK and RHR pit in here.
Lap 54 -- Dario pits.
Lap 55 -- Power pits. Dixon stays out. Needs to get supersonic and GAP Power if he has any shot at overtaking him for P1.
Jack Arute says "this is where it gets interesting." FINALLY, we're to the point where it gets interesting. On lap 56, it's getting interesting. I kid Jack, but his point is the whole deal about staying out as long as you can, putting up flying in- and out-laps, and trying to pass someone in the pits. You gotta be interested/entertained/intrigued by that stuff to be a huge fan of road races. Not judging, just saying.
Lap 56 -- Dixon pits. Sorry. Power is only 4 seconds behind Dixon when he pits so he flashes by pit out, retakes the lead. But will Dixon get out in front of Dario? .... NO. But he's right on Dario's ass coming out of the pits in P3.
Simona inhales Moraes by diving inside him going into the corner. Another pass brought to you by the No Defending Rule.
Power pitted from the lead and was 8 seconds up on Dixon, who stayed out. Power got back out, closed to within 4 seconds of Dixon when he pitted, so Dixon could not get in and out in P1. A blistering 7.2-second pit stop for Power helped a bunch.
Power now has 4.2 seconds on Dario in P2. Power has reds on, Dario blacks and P3 Dixon reds. Jon says Chippy is splitting his strategy and sending one car out on reds and the other out on blacks. That way if Power's reds go to crap, at least one of his cars will have a chance to overtake. Good strategy and nicely explained by Jon.
Lap 60 -- Robbie says something "shows how competitive this series is." The problem I have with this statement is you need to say "how competitive this series is among five guys." Not sure how you can say a series where two teams and five drivers dominate and win virtually all races is "very competitive."
Maybe based on qualification times -- 15 drivers within a second or whatever -- but not based on the opportunity to win. If it was so incredibly competitive, wouldn't we have more than five guys winning everything with precious few exceptions? And, as I've whined continuously for several years, that's turns fans off.
I heard more of it on Twitter about the very predictable qualifying order this time than ever with people openly questioning "why bother." Note to Randy Bernard: this is a lethal cancer you need to address, and not by simply insisting it's "competitive." In my opinion, IndyCar is paying a heavy price for sticking with one formula and car for five or whatever years. We'll see who's left by the time a new car comes out, finally, in 2012. Here ends the whine.
Dixon is pushing Dario. Pushing pushing. Dixon has grippy reds and Dario is on the blacks. I wonder if he will be allowed to overtake Dario since Dario has the legit shot at beating Power for the championship. Team orders, maybe? Single-points win championships here, so I wonder. May be kind of a dice roll to let Dixon by. (See, I found some nuggets of interest in this race. Insert smugness here.)
Dixon is all up in Dario's business while Jack is opining on something. I missed what Jack said because I was too busy focusing on the battle on the track. Go figure! Dixon is under Dario and CLEAR. Pretty easy. Dario may have moved over for him. That surprises me, frankly.
Lap 60 -- Power, Dario, Dixon, Briscoe, Helio, Wilson, TK, RHR, Rahal, Matos.
Lap 62 -- Dixon has the wings back and is chasing Power who may be managing tires or he may have the wings back too. Not sure here. Hoping for a battle for knife fight the lead.
Lap 64 -- Power is 3.5 seconds ahead of Dixon who needs a yellow.
Baggy is mashed while Floyd is talking heart rate with the Pit Fit guy. We wisely cut away from that to go to the track where it's yellow yellow yellow. Full course. Merry Christmas Scott and Chippy!
Replay. Viso inside Baggy. Robbie says someone had momentum. DRINK, YE BASTARDS. Bag gets out and gives someone the stink eye. Not real sure what happened here. Replays Baguette sandwich between Viso and Matos. Looks like Bag made room for someone inside and then a third-man-in went outside and it all came to tears for Bags. Not sure who was inside and outside. Baguette walks to the pit. Not waiting for no stinkin' safety truck.
Lindy with Mike Hull who usually offers zero info in a pit box interview. Says their strategy is to pass Power on the restart. Viewing enhanced! Robbie with Clive, Power's guy, gives the same level of keen insight. Good to go until the end. Up to Power to stay out front. Everything is awesome.
Lap 69 -- GREEN. It's a festival of Push To Pass button push. Robbie tells us it is, anyway, but I don't see any graphics. My homeys in the B Unit should come up with a readable, viewer-friendly graphic to show us who is on the button in these situations. Since Swift Lights on the cars to indicate who is on the button are NONE OF OUR BUSINESS. (Insert lingering rage over Swift not being selected to build the next IndyCar here.)
Power remains ahead. Is not a "sitting duck" on the restart, oddly. Mutoh spins! Safety car is out there. Local yellow. I grip my heart in shock that it's not a full-course yellow since they are on the track in a corner. I've seen IndyCar go full course for much much less. Mutoh back underway but Jon is freaking out that the safety truck is still on the track as the pack comes through the corner.
I kind of agree with Jon on this one. Looks pretty dangerous. Just need one driver with his or her head up her ass and that's an ESPN highlight, and not for a good reason. I continue to not understand the IndyCar full-course/local yellow criteria. It may be determined by a lotto ball machine in race conrol. More locals in this race, thankfully, than in the Festival of Full-Course at Mid-Ohio. Kind of surprised Chip doesn't lob his body out on the track to try and cause the FCY to get another restart.
Lap 70 -- Power, Dixon, Dario, Briscoe, Helio, Wilson, TK, RHR, Rahal, Sato.
Lap 73 -- Power will win barring air strike. Dixon can close in, but not in key spots. I get the feeling Power is driving just hard enough to stay ahead.
Holy Enraged Tiara -- Danica and Sato collide. Danica is damaged but stays out. Replay. Sato speared her. Spear city. WTF? That was a big time punt. Danica and Sato had issues during a practice session too. Too bad, because Sato and Danica were P5 and P6 at the time, and Danica had climbed from a P23 start to P6, which doesn't suck in anyone's book.
So maybe Danica needs to go Jet Li on his ass in the pit! Let's hustle a camera crew right down there. Or give us some Danica-to-pit radio deliciousness. Security Chief Charles Cam may be deployed. Sadly, this festival of rage is NONE OF OUR BUSINESS.
White flag (insert purists being pissed that IndyCar uses the white flag on road courses here). Turn 11 Dracone is toast. We stay green. Power wins. Dixon cannot inhale. Finishes just .7 back from Power. Pretty close for a road race.
Second straight road race with zero passes for the lead on the track. Dixon technically led briefly late when Power made his last stop.
Trackside online finishing order: Power, Dixon, Dario, Briscoe, Helio, Wilson, TK, RHR, Rahal, Lloyd, Moraes, Marco, Simona, Tagliani, Meira, Danica, Mutoh, Sato, Viso, Dracone, Matos, Milka, Bagutte, Hildebrand, Wheldon.
J.R. Hildebrand is your pressdog™ Purple Wings Back Award winner for fastest lap of the race at 104.739 mph (79.1564 sec) on lap 13.
No camera in Danica's pit. Frowny face. Don't know if she marched down to Sato's pit to ask WTF? No twitter fight breaks out either. Huh. Disappointing. Danica is oddly radioactive on Versus lately. Perplexing.
After the race someone tweeted the wild rumor was that Sato speared Danica on purpose. (Note: Like everything on Twitter it could be entirely made up.) Insert dramatic music here! That's so NASCAR! (Hey, it works for Kyle Bush, who admitted on national cable TV that he wrecked Brad Keselowski on purpose at Bristol. Said it TWICE. No penalty, though. Prison Rules Racing!)
Championship Points Summary -- Power leads, Dario -59, Dixon -95, Briscoe -130, Helio -144. Dario has the only realistic shot to beat Power, IMO. Power is in a Penske car headed for the ovals, so it's gonna take some DNFs for Power and wins for Dario for Dario to come back. We'll see what happens at Chicagoland.
Power locked up the Mario Andretti Twisty Trophy last week and gets presented with it (by Mario himself) after the Sonoma race, complete with a huge check for $50,000. Dixon leads the Foyt Oval Trophy race by three over Dario. RHR maintains his 30 point lead over TK for the pressdog™ Jedi Knight Award (a pair of athletic socks in an obscure Caddyshack homage) for highest non-big-two finishing driver.
Down to LindyCar with Power. He's out. Unreal to come back here after having a big injury last year here and win the thing. Cameron the IZOD Trophy Girl gets air! There she is over Power's right shoulder. She's blocking my homey Bash Beard though! I wonder if Bash will THROW DOWN? No. Cameron switches position. Smiles knowingly. Now over Power's left shoulder. Keeps looking behind her. May be getting shit from the photogs? Rancor? Discord in the winner's circle?
Wait a second, I just found out that you can see MUCH more of Cameron in her Trophy Girl Playboy feature here. Hmmmm. Pretty soft core for Playboy (the online version at least). No more skin than a swimsuit layout, I'd say. Still very interesting. Not just from a prurient aspect either. IZOD is obviously very down with this trophy girl unzipping thing. Very interesting brand move and one I'm sure was the subject of many meetings inside IZOD. Let's see how the reaction goes. Here's one unimpressed voice already.
Power was surprised at the pace of Dixon.
Dario -- did what we could. Weren't quick enough. Saw Dixon closing and let him go since he had reds and hopped he could chase down Power. Dixon said he did everything he could on the restarts. "Tried to stick my nose in there." No go. Dixon thinks Power saved his reds while Dixon had to roach his to catch him.
That's it from Infineon. Tune in for Chicagoland. Saturday, Aug. 28. 7 p.m. Eastern on VERSUS. Better yet, GO to the race. It may be the last IndyCar race for a while at Chicagoland. Read more and get ticket info here.
I will be at Chicagoland in person from about noon Friday on. My favorite track. Working on lining some things up. Probably be a Tweet Up. Stayed tuned for Tweet Up details. Giddy up. Hope to see you there.
Myabe I'll see you in Joliet, dog!
Posted by: Racewknd | August 23, 2010 at 01:10 PM
Tasty Notes Bill. Agreed. Race surprisingly not bad. Playboy "uproar" boring & predictable. Ferris wheel looked fun and Sato needs a mic in his car like that dude had in the 2-seater the end.
That's all I have. The Chat last night ruined my central nervous system to some degree. I have left-sided facial droop & the shakes. Very not good. Must regroup goodbye.
Posted by: Roy Hobbson | August 23, 2010 at 01:53 PM
1. It was (surprise) Viso who punted Simona. The radio crew was all over it and the TV crew missed it (as usual).
2. Sato and Danica were actually 10th and 11th when they took each other out.
Posted by: Chad Paff | August 23, 2010 at 03:20 PM
Great notes P-dog. Not the greatest race, but plenty of craziness back in the pack. I think the lack of opportunities to pass made the kids get a little desperate at times.
Not their best work to be sure, but folks seem to be jumping all over Versus today.
http://sports.yahoo.com/nascar/blog/from_the_marbles/post/The-IndyCar-Series-needs-to-divorce-Versus?urn=nascar-264306
Posted by: Tom G. | August 23, 2010 at 03:57 PM
Dull race, Infineyawn lived up to it's nickname. The SMI owned Charlotte Motor Speedway has nice sponsor suites, and I think it's like that at Vegas too, maybe run there instead, or do more at Long Beach for the sponsors...
Compare with the ALMS race, in one, Red Cars all finish up front, in the other, a team that's never won a race before pits late and charges up, making a last lap pass and beating teams running a fuel miliage stratagey...
Posted by: Dylan | August 23, 2010 at 04:03 PM
Could we talk more about the start? And every freakin' ugly restart? I can put up with pit strategy, fuel saving, ganassi-penske domination, guys wreckin' both my girls, heart rates, arute weights and no-passing lanes--just give me a normal-- everyone lined up in rows of two and actually accelerating at the green flag-- start. That's all I want.
Nice job again on the notes, Pressdog.
Posted by: redd | August 23, 2010 at 04:23 PM
The starts are restarts are pure amatuer hour.
How hard is it to properly start a race? The country bumpkins in USAC, WoO and short tracks all over the country seem to be able to do it. Why can't the supposed "top rung" of talent in Indy Cars do it?
If some are so concerned about wrecking on starts/restarts (which they seem to do half the time anyway) then maybe we have the wrong drivers in these cars (which we do in many cases).
Posted by: Jim Bob | August 23, 2010 at 04:29 PM
Absolute Proof that Ganassi, Dixon, and Franchitti have no Imagination.....
Ganassi at the end of the race ' Scott, this is Chip, you know what you have to do. '
What kind of lame instructions was that?????
Me, first as Chip, then as Scott Dixon.
Me: HEY SCOTT!!!!
Scott: Yes?
Me: OK, first thing. As soon as the green flag drops, wave to all the guys in Weldon's pit, we need to let them know that taking the green flag is a prerequsite, not an option; then I want you to get right beside Will Power for as long as you can so we can get a blocking penalty and if that doesn't work just bump him off the track like he's an Andretti.
Now, me as Dixon.
Chip: Scott, this is Chip; you know what you need to do.
Me: No boss, I don't. What to I need to do?
Should I block for Castroneves so he can duke it out with Power?????
(IN THE BACKGROUND)
Franchitti (in Scottish accent) Aye Captain, we giving er all we got, Warp factor 6 Mr. Sulu.
Posted by: wmoseley | August 23, 2010 at 07:06 PM
Fun read and I really like the Cameron Haven link (how did you find this)!
I was able to use a few of your "Tweets" in the play by play post I did as LA Motor Culture Examiner - Thanks for the input.
I'm in Los Angeles for the Chicagoland race #14 but look forward to any fallout from your Tweet-Up.
Posted by: TheEDJE | August 23, 2010 at 10:27 PM
did anybody else notice that Dario seemed a bit peeved afterwards? Like perhaps there were team orders that he didn't agree with?
Posted by: Tylerbduke | August 24, 2010 at 08:35 AM
I think the idea must have been that if Power won (50 points) and Dario finished 2nd (40 points), then Dario would lose 10 points to Will, but if Dixon managed to catch and pass Will (a huge, huge "if"), then Dario would only lose 5 points to Will (it's 35 points for 2nd). That's weird thinking, given the "hard to pass" nature of Sears Point, but it's the only reasoning I can think of for Dixon to be allowed by by Dario and the team. Given that it was a move that didn't work out and Dario then wound up losing 15 points to Power, I can understand his being ticked off.
Posted by: The Speedgeek | August 24, 2010 at 11:39 AM
That was my point about the blocking penalty. Under the [rule?] your allowed 1/2 of the track width; this can work to the passers advantage on narrow tracks.
Posted by: wmoseley | August 24, 2010 at 07:15 PM
Good call, Tylerbduke. I thought Dario seemed a little pissed after. Wrote it off to Dario being pissed with anything less than P1. BUT, you may be onto something with the whole team orders thing.
Posted by: pressdog | August 25, 2010 at 06:57 AM