Uncle pressdog's Fireside Chat -- Beau Barfield Large Attachments Edition

Welcome, homeys. Pull up a beverage. I'm having Sierra Nevada Pale Ale (or five). American Pale Ale, a category invented by, well, Americans, because we're CRAZY. Unpredictable. WHACKY rule breakers.

Speaking of, check out IndyCar's chief rule maker, Beaux Barfield. O. M. G. Beaux is tweaking the rules. Snapping necks and cashing checks. And then just announcing the new rules, like "What do you think of me now, BITCHES? Standing starts ... DEAL WITH IT."

Beaux, I want to party with you, Cowboy. You go, Beaux. Shake shit up. Change random stuff if you want. You know how you take a shoe that's encrusted with dry mud and smack it up side a tree or something solid to get the mud off? That's what Beaux et al need to do with IndyCar.

Just go upside its head a couple times to scramble things up. I can hear the old-schoolers sputtering now. "But ... but ... but ... a point for leading a race? LUNACY. (Insert 73-year-old driver name here) would NEVER GO FOR THAT" ... then they vow not to watch ever again and stalk away in a huff, only to get ensnared in a heated row over the number of different leaders in the 1966 Indy 500.

Frankly, I'm so in favor shooting a bolt of electricity through IndyCar if Beaux said cars had to start the race with only three wheels attached I'd be like "Damn ... let's give that a try."

So today Beaux shoots out a memo telling us how it's gonna be. Just issues a news release, drops the mic and walks away, like a BOSS.

Beauxford T. Justice offers this preamble to the news release "For 2013, we have adjusted processes and regulations throughout the rulebook to build on last year's successful introduction of a new car and engine package. In addition to enhancing the on-track competition and producing rules consistency, the 2013 rulebook is focused on changes that will make the sport easier to follow for our competitors and fans." I posted the whole news release here. Let me break down some of the changes.

Beaux: 1) The pole sitter must start from the inside front row on the start (7.5.1.1), and the race leader must restart from the inside front row on all double-file restarts (7.6.1.2). Previously, the leading driver had the option of choosing their lane (driver's left or right). 

My take: Shut hour cakehole, pole sitter/race leader, and start from the inside lane like GOD INTENDED. Next.

Beaux: 2) Pit selection for all events outside of the Indianapolis 500 will be based on qualifying results from the previous event (7.4.1). The selection order in 2012 was determined by the qualifying results of the last similar track (i.e. oval qualifying results determined pit selection for next oval event).

My take: Last similar track ... too confusing. Remember last race? There ya go, Jethro.

Beaux: 3) Pit lane speeds have been adjusted to be consistent based on the type of track. All ovals will be 60 mph and all road/street courses will be 50 mph (7.9.11).

My take: Again, 55 at one track, 65 at another. Lots of recalibration of equipment is cutting into our beer time. Magic 8 Ball says ... 60 and 50. BOOM.

Beaux: 4) For all events, each team may determine the quantity of E85 fuel it has in its car for the start of the race, further enhancing strategy (Rule 14.19.4.3). Previously tanks were required to have 18.5 gallons of fuel at the start of the race.

My take: In the old days, the fuel you qualified with in F1 was the fuel you started the race with. This was before F1 went to no refueling, but still. The reason you would "start light" (with less fuel) is so you would go way fast (less fuel, less weight, faster car). As Beaux said, it's a strategy thing. You may elect to start light and try to inhale a bunch of cars before pitting, or go heavy and stay out longer and inhale cars that way. Good change to add interesting strategy wrinkles.

Beaux: 5) To further emphasize on-track sportsmanship, if a car is deemed by the Race Director to have interfered with qualifications during Segment 1 or 2 of road/street course qualifying, the car will not be allowed to advance to the next segment in addition to having its two fastest laps disallowed. If the offense occurs during Segment 3, the Firestone Fast Six, the car shall not be permitted to participate in the remainder of qualifying (8.3.6.1).

My take: Either quit "accidentally" blocking people or get your ass kicked. Your call.

Beaux: 6) Push-to-pass will remain as a strategic competition tool for drivers on all road/street course races. Ten pushes will be available per event, with the duration of each push between 15 and 20 seconds based on the course. There will be no activation delay or reset time (14.18.14).

My take: Good. Get rid of that 5 second delay or whatever they tried before. It was worth a try, but didn't add anything. SURE, everyone will know when everyone else is on the button. And SURE that means P2P can be used defensively. So? The fact remains you only get so many button pushes. How and when you use them is the strategy decision here. If you want to use them defensively, knock yourself out. It will still come down to the end of the race when one car has two pushes left and the other car has 10.

Beaux: 7) Specifications for Texas have been updated to align with other speedways through use of common aerodynamic parts. Cars will have the same amount of downforce at Texas as in 2012 (14.6.5.2).

My take: Most everyone liked Texas in 2012, when the cars were less aero gripped and actually did some dirt tracking. My only issue is I don't like seeing IndyCars going NASCAR speeds on ovals, because that makes me cry inside.

Beaux: 8) Iowa specs will see a slight decrease in downforce to further enhance car control (14.6.5.4). 

My take: More tweaking the aero to "put the race back in the hands of the drivers.'" Fine, just don't dick up Iowa, OK? It's not like it was broken. Don't make me come over there.

Beaux: 9) Aero specs for the new event at Pocono are currently set at Indianapolis regulations (14.6.5.5).

My take: I need to go get another beer. Hang on.

Beaux: 10) Car numbers on rear end fences are increased by inch to a minimum height of 8 inches for improved visibility (4.5.3.7).

My take: Good. Us old curmudgeonly BASTARDS love to bitch that print and numbers are TOO GODDAMN SMALL! This just cuts us off at the pass. Don't worry! There's still The Split and Tony George to bitch bitterly about.

Beaux: 11) All drivers are required to wear helmets that meet or exceed the FIA 8860-2010 specification (1.2.7.1.2). The FIA8860 specification requires the helmet to be certified to the Snell SA standard plus pass an additional single impact and shell hardness test.

My take: No cheater helmets, OK? Because you know if someone could gain 0.00098 seconds wearing a football helmet from 1908 they would, if it was legal, or even if it was illegal and they thought they could get away with it.

Beaux: 12) Any driver/entrant that leads at least one lap in a race will receive one bonus point.  The driver/entrant that leads the most laps of the race will continue to receive two bonus points. Additionally, points awarded to finishing positions 19 through 25 have been adjusted, providing a differential instead of a flat system.  Previously, finishing positions 19 through 24 received 12 points.  Under the new system, there will be a one-point difference between each position 19 through 25. The balance of the points system remains unchanged from 2012. (Full points chart below.)

My take: Awesome. Two benefits here. One, it rewards people for leading a lap and the most laps. Two, it will make people insane. Because I think NASCAR does something similar, and to some that alone renders the idea EVIL. No, make that E-vil. It's from the Dev-il. IT'S SATAN'S RULE.

I say next year we get Beaux liquored up and have him change this to "leading the race will get you one point, unless it's on an even number day, and then it gets you a number equal to 17% of the total number of cars running on lap 19 of the previous event." BOOM. Now we're rule making.

Again, I like the change to reward leaders and to also give P20 more reward than P24.

Beaux: 13)Changes marking the Engine Sporting Regulations include a lengthening of the engine change-out threshold to 2,000 miles, an increase of 150 miles from 2012 (15.5.1). Unapproved engine changes will continue to warrant a 10-spot grid penalty at all events except the Indianapolis 500, where the penalty for a full-season entrant will be served at the following event (15.6.1).

Additionally, engine manufacturer points will only be scored by entrants utilizing their season allotment of five engines (10.6.4). Should a driver win a race utilizing a sixth engine, those points would not be awarded to the manufacturer.

My take: Beaux Barfield is Mr. Large Attachments. I'm OK with the grid penalties staying. They are NOT that hard to understand. Actually they are hard to understand unless you choose to invest upwards of 8 minutes into understanding them. Then they become clear.

They also DISCOURAGE ENGINE MAKERS FROM MAKING FAST-YET-FRAGILE ENGINES. That's exactly why the engine makers themselves wanted this penalty. Increasing the mileage from 1850 to 2000, well that's just ballsy. It's an incentive to develop engines that are both fast and durable, which is the whole idea.

Yeah, yeah, it punishes teams and drivers for something they don't control. Life is HARSH AND UNFAIR. But there's no other way to make it sting for the engine makers. Fines? Whatever. Someone will just cheat and write a check. You think the teams and drivers won't bark at the engine makers if they are on engine seven in the year? Um, yeah, they will. Keep the rule. Discourage emphasizing speed over durability. Deal with it. BOOM.

So there you go! I'm all for it. Comment below. Cue the chagrin. Good to be back. Let's go racin'!

*****

                        IZOD INDYCAR SERIES POINTS STRUCTURE

Position	Points	Position	Points	Position	Points
1	50	12	18	23	7
2	40	13	17	24	6
3	35	14	16	25	5
4	32	15	15	26	5
5	30	16	14	27	5
6	28	17	13	28	5
7	26	18	12	29	5
8	24	19	11	30	5
9	22	20	10	31	5
10	20	21	9	32	5
11	19	22	8	33	5
Leading at Least One Lap: 1 point
Most Laps Led: 2 points
Pole Position: 1 point (except at Indianapolis and Iowa)

Comments

[Mark Wilkinson (@newtrackrecord)]

Nice take, although I still can't get past the I.P.A. Bitter is bad! It's nature's way of saying "spit that shit out!" Anyway, I like the fact that Beaux makes decisions as he sees fit. There doesn't seem to be a shadow government calling the shots behind the scenes. The rules appear to be designed to improve the racing, not protect an unseen status quo. Geaux Beaux.

[madtad1]

Ok, re #5: isn't that going back a little to what everyone was bitching about with Brian Barnhart, were it's totally discretionary to the "iron hand of justice"? Not saying it's a bad idea or unnecessary one, just worried about implimentation.

Re rule #6: honestly I think the best way to handle push to prevent...I mean pass would be "you gots 200 (or any other reasonable number) of seconds of boost for da whole race. Use them wisely" I think that would make the PTP even more strategic because you could give yourself a little squirt to cut through a turn or a big-assed bump on a long straight.

Better yet, there would be no gauge in the car for the driver to know how many seconds of boost were left. [Harry Callahan voice] ”Now I know what you are thinking. Did I use 150 seconds of boost or 180? Well, with all the excitement I kinda lost track, so the question you gotta ask yourself is 'do I feel lucky?' Well, do ya?"

[Patrick Head]

Oh, yeah, about the Split and Tony George (just kidding). Actually, I see the benefit in most of these rules. I slightly interested in seeing how the new points rule works out. On one hand, it will keep the back markers on the track and in competition mode, but on the other, it will keep them on the track and in competition mode. (No that's not a typo).

I think my biggest worry is, especially on ovals, that #22 and #23 may get all racy at the end of a race, and interfere with the front runners, either by holding them up (good for viewers) or by wrecking them out, bad for everybody (except TV).

It's all cool, if they lower placed competitors are not going 1/2 the speed (visually, of course) of the higher placed cars.

It should make things interesting ...

Can't wait for the season to start.

As always, thank you P-Dog!

[craztfbs]

I have a question, re rules 7.5.1.1 and 7.6.1.2. Inside relative to what? The first turn, the track, the race control tower thing, the city limits, the distance from Indy? Does anybody know what?

[Ted Wolfram]

"Push to pass" is pure bull crap...it is a gimmick. Just like "dumbing" up the chassis after paying good money to supposedly produce a better car.

They can make all the rules in the world, but open wheel fans really want "racing", which used to mean...a better car with a better driver...today is means the one who uses "gimmicks" the best....no wonder young people don't even think of IndyCar.

All cars look alike, don't you dare, change a thing, don't touch the engine, don't add or take off a part, and give $1.160,000 to each team (up to what? 20??) and pay $35,000 to win (except at Indy) and make rules that apply everywhere but Indy..How exciting!!!

[pressdog]

craztfbs: inside lane going into turn 1. So that's the left lane going into a left-hander, the right lane going into a right-hander.

[S0CSeven]

Ah yes, amidst the brilliant changes, we're keeping the ONE rule that F'd most of last season's racing. The super-draconian 10 position engine rule.

When will those cheating drivers ever learn? Engine fails in practice? Back of pack you dirty cheating bastard !!!!!!!!

...........took 15minutes to type this correctly on an iPad........just sayin.

[Mike R]

Penalty for an engine change should only affect the manufacturers via their own championship points. Change an engine due to likelihood of a BLOWN UP, SIR! motor, and Chevy or Honda sacrifice the points. It's not like the teams have any ability to extend the life of the motor, and they jeopardize a lot in terms of sponsor appeal if they happen to fall out of a race where the sponsor has a large presence. The engineers from the mfgs can pretty much tell what's what with an engine's longevity before it's done.

[Jeremy from Harrisburg]

The only thing I disagree with Beaux here is the 10 spot penalty. The rest SHOULD give us Viewing Enhanced races.