Yeah, TG is a tool to be sure and the other 2 are definitely noteworthy but as a single race, Indy is still the one.
Danny is a cool dude! We ran him thru time trials , and were set for him to qualify the car (Lola/Menard) in 1996 and John Menard signed him to replace the recently lost Scott Brayton , mostly due to the fact the car owner did NO contract with Danny , was hoping a renter would show up with a pile of cash on bump day . Instead Tyce Carlson who got very little time in the car was 1/1000 of a second from getting that car into the show.
It really IS the greatest . Afterall it is STILL in use , has many potential configuration's , many have wished to conquer it , and few have .... even shumacher hasn't done the oval (perhaps to scared? Hard to believe is explaination it would be too boring .... let's see him do 4 qualifying laps)And most current FIA tracks are more geared to slow handling tracks than balls out racing with little runoff. Then again even local short tracks have basically ZERO runoff.... and the little guys pull it off , mostly on saturday nights!
It may be the 'greatest spectacle in sports'(or whatever the saying is), but having recently watched F1 at Monaco, I get a bigger kick outa that than Indy. In person, I'd imagine Indy blows away just about everything, but one just doesn't get that kind of rush over TV.
Ther eis no doubt being there is a mind blowing experience , just watch the prerace stuff , when they pan down the front straight , even more so if you are a crewmember looking up! Biggest racing difference is the cars & driver's are virtually on the edge the entire race , if far enough off the pace , either fix it or park it and state "handling" as the issue as you cannot be a rolling chicane in a 205- 225 mph world.With NO runoff area , but then again Monaco can claim that somewhat too!
We've been going for years. Just walking up to the stands on race day, the buzz of the crowd, the excitement in the air and that's NOTHING compared to when the parade laps start and then the pace of the cars picks up to take the green flag. The entire place is standing on its feet and cheering as the cars take those first laps. The fear and pit-of-the-stomach feeling of watching the Conway/RHR crash in front of us was nothing like watching it on TV. Standing there, waiting and waiting for any news as the ambulances rolled up and the safety crews worked was unnerving. Emotions of watching that while trying to keep up with th eexcitement of watching Dario win #2 was quite the rush. So order up your tickets and go next year! Indy is a heck of a nice town and you will never forget your first time watching the Indy 500 LIVE!
An employee of mine is a big 500 fan, as is his girlfriend, so we got him access to a team to coordinate his master plan of proposing at the track. Good thing she said yes! Full report: http://firstturnspin.com/?p=114 Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
It must have been, because he says he did not even notice the croud of onlookers or photographers that assembled at the scene. It's cool to see all the IMS and press photographers shooting the event. I hope it shows up on some of their media outlets.
Reading the posts here and in other Indy threads, it's clear that the Indy 500 still has many fans. Maybe that's good, maybe there's hope the series can be rebuilt. I remember following the 500 on an old radio before I was 12; I haven't even watched the race or cared about the results in several years. I watched the entire Turkish GP2 race, and not a second of the 500. I think of the IRL as a gimmicky, second tier, spec series founded by the guy who killed US open wheel racing - but maybe I'm one of few who feel that way, I don't know. It's nostalgic for me, seing the excitement that some here feel about Indy. USF1, and now the Austin farce, make me feel like the US is the court jester of international open wheel racing - which I find sad, because I'm certain an American team/driver could succeed in F1, if properly staffed/funded.
It probably was exciting to listen to on the radio... Valeria printed the Starting Grid for me off the Internet, then perused it and asked: "They are ALL powered by HONDA!!???" Yea, well........ Later I told her: "Dario Franchitti and Ashley Judd won it....."
It appears those cars have mufflers on them in the shots of the engines. Pathetic. People wonder why no one cares about this race anymore...2nd tier drivers, spec chassis, spec motors, MUFFLERS?! BORING! Franchitti won? That has-been from cart in the 1990s? They REALLY need to re-evaluate the overall health of this series. I went to the Kansas Speedway race this past May that used to be packed and now hard roughtly 1/2 a crowd. You can easily go without ear plugs, the cars aren't even loud anymore. They just managed to kill off everything interesting about indy cars.
Danica was pouty, even in a top 5 finish, that was amazing to watch too......that poor girl REALLY needs 'Smile School" as well as remembering to thank ALL of her sponsors..heck if she could name them all on camera just once I'd be in slack jawed amazement!! Maybe her massuese therapy husband has mislaid his 'touch"???? Image Unavailable, Please Login
I'd bet more people than you think agree with you. My first car race was the 1979 Indy 500, and I've been to a dozen or so up until 1997. I have a strong fondness for the Speedway and the 500, and an even stronger resentment to what they've done to the event. So they just hired the PR whiz who prior to being hired by the IRL had never been to a car race but brought bull riding "into the mainstream". Perfect! Point 1--Mainstream sports reside on network television week in and week out. And I'm sorry all you bull riding fans, it's not mainstream. Yesterday NBC ran a promo for Collegiate Rugby. Again, no knock on rugby--it's a badass sport. But NBC is running amateur rugby, but the IRL couldn't get qualifying for the Indy 500 on a network channel on a weekend when very little else sports-wise was going on. AFTER they pared it down from two weekends to one. Just so we're clear--not good, boys. Point 2--Stop trying to be NASCAR. You don't learn to dance by clumsily watching and mimicking a professional. You can't "Rock and Roll" or "Izod" your way back to popularity--you need to build the foundation with drivers people know and care about and cars that make our hearts jump. The machinery they've been using looks and sounds like junk--think about those photos of the legendary winning cars and ask yourself who will care about the 2010 Target car in 20-30 years? Oh God, here I go. Somebody stop me... Point 3--Stop trying to block out the 10-15 year period prior to the CART/IRL split. The IRL has very subtley whitewashed a lot of that era from much of their historical montages. As if honoring that period would undermine the future of the series, they extracted some very interesting teeth. A lot of exciting things happened at the Brickyard during this period, but the George-ians are too afraid that if they show images or video from this time, it will expose the IRL as lame. I like Dario Franchitti, but he might as well change his last name to Judd. Helio Castroneves will most likely join the hallowed ranks of 4-time Indy winners, but if he hadn't been on Dancing With The Stars, hardly anyone would know who he is. The Andretti name is dying on the vine with Marco's career. Bobby Rahal's kid has turned into a screwup. Danica Patrick can't carry an entire series on her back, and even for her the bloom is fading from the rose as she struggles to find winning form and more women pop up in the series. And those are the BIG names. TAG--someone else's turn...
Point 4) Foyt could only get one car into the show, and history proves they need about three, maybe four!!! ....and put some Royal Purple into the motor for goodness sakes! How is it Penske brings 228MPH motors and AJ only gets 224MPH???? He needs to get some ceramic coating on the bearings, or something........
You & me both!! The kid may have been right , next one in the seat to attempt to qualify it , also spent sunday afternoon watching it on TV .....
2 weeks and you would be calling me. "Mike, what am I going to do with her, I swear I'm ready to kill her".
