Well, the IndyCar season is now effectively more than halfway
over, thanks to the China race going down the toilet. Frankly I had my doubts about that one ever coming
to fruition. It’s not like many people
were gonna watch it anyway. Well, I’m
sure I would have stayed up until 3 am to watch it, but I don’t really think
the demise of the Qingdao race is going to matter much in the long run. What is going to matter is the admirable way
in which the series has overcome innumerable and seemingly insurmountable
challenges over the past year to create a product well worth consuming. In the wake of last year’s season ending
tragedy, this year’s IndyCar season has been something truly remarkable. The new car seemed to be the source of much
pre-season angst, with many referring to it as the “son of the crapwagon”. To be honest, I always thought it was a
pretty cool looking car. Not as cool as
the Delta Wing, but pretty neat nonetheless.
All things considered, it was a sheer miracle that 25 of the new cars have been
able to show up week after week so far this season. Apart from the new cars, all the races this
year have been entertaining and worth watching.
Some will argue that Belle Isle was a disaster. No, I say!
It was chock full of drama. Who
cares if it didn’t go the full distance or wasn’t terribly competitive. It got people talking, even if it was about
flying concrete. Hey, any press is good press when it comes to
IndyCar. The worst thing that could
happen now would be for people to ignore it. Some might disagree, but I’d
rather have the media bashing it for one reason or another than ignoring it
altogether. But back to the races. They have been very fun to watch. I know the drivers don’t like them much, but
the straightaway starts have been breathtaking. IndyCar’s Crown Jewel, the 500 was legendary
in every sense of the word. Milwaukee was back in a big way (Congrats
Michael Andretti for resurrecting it from the dead) and who can forget Justin
Wilson’s late race heroics at Texas?
Chalk one up for the little guy…well the 6’2” Wilson isn’t exactly a little
guy, but his team would not often be mentioned in the same sentence with Penske
or Ganassi. In the end though, it will still
be a Penske or Ganassi driver winning the championship. My money is still on
Will Power. He’s been in hiding as of
yore, but his immense talents on the road and street courses will soon
re-emerge. That is not so say he can’t
drive on ovals. He certainly can, but I think
we all know on what side his bread is really buttered. Dario and Dixie will be in the hunt too and
let’s not count out Hinchcliffe. And
Wilson is not likely to go quietly into that good night. I still expect him to win again somewhere
between now and the end of the season. So
where does that leave us? With one
interesting second half of the season ahead of us. As for
the first half, I give it an A minus.
I would like to thank Mr. Bernard and all the drivers for keeping it compelling and
interesting. And most importantly, safe! These guys and gals have
been fun to watch so far this year! Keep
up the great work.
IndyCar Philosopher
Friday, June 22, 2012
Friday, June 8, 2012
Cardboard Cutouts
Since the 500, there’s certainly been no shortage of IndyCar
subject matter to expound upon. The
Detroit Debacle, the owner’s revolt, fence fears at Texas. But what I wanna talk about is something
REALLY important and that is Cardboard Cutouts. You see, not long ago—well it was probably a
year or so--I was in the local grocery store.
As I was meandering through the snack section, I was greeted by a full
size cardboard cutout of Marcos Ambrose hawking Little Debbie’s snack
cakes. There he was in fully race regalia
enticing me to buy a sumptuous box of Boston Crème Rolls. For whatever reason, the image of that
cardboard cutout has stuck in my craw ever since. Not because I have anything against Marcos
Ambrose or Little Debbie’s. Heck, I like
both. I suppose what really got me was
that a second string NASCAR driver—ok so maybe he’s not a second string driver,
but he’s no Jimmie Johnson either—got his own cutout while Indy Car’s best were
nowhere to be found on any product in the store. I mean, practically every other commercial I
hear on the radio these days consists of embarrassingly lame dialog between Dale Jr. and some sop
bargaining over who gets the last “Diet Dew”.
I suppose at some point, I’ve even wiped my butt with toilet paper
hawked by one NASCAR driver or another.
And yet when it comes to IndyCar drivers and advertising, it’s
practically nada. Ok, there are a few
commercials running these days, certainly a vast improvement over years past. But that’s not good enough for me. Seriously, two of the best IndyCar drivers of
all time are sponsored by one of the biggest retail stores in the world, and
yet as a frequent shopper there, I have yet to see the likeness of Dario of
Dixie anywhere to be found. Come on
now! I mean, their cars are virtual
billboards for the products they carry.
Can’t we get at least one cardboard cutout of Dario extolling the
virtues of using Suave Shampoo? Who wouldn’t buy shampoo from a guy with
Hollywood hair like that? So while the
rest of the IndyCar blogdom wants owners to stop acting like spoiled brats,
more ovals, and aero kits, I just wanna
see a cardboard cutout of an Indy Driver at my local Kroger every once in a
while.
Thursday, May 31, 2012
A Masterful 500, a Fitting Tribute
Well, it’s
the last day of the month of May. The 96th
edition of the greatest race is in the books. I decided to let the race sink in
a little bit before I wrote about it. Of
course, now that I’ve read all the accounts and commentary from the race,
surely my interpretation will be undoubtedly biased. There were so many great storylines, so much
excitement but what struck me the most, of all things was how quiet the engines
sounded! I mean, I was preparing to put
in my earplugs on the first lap but wanted to hear the unfiltered roar just
once and as the field whizzed by the North Chute that first time I could not
believe the reduction in volume from years past. I mean the old cars pushed the pain threshold
in terms of sound, but I could actually carry on a conversation over these
cars! So what does that have to do with
anything? Hell, I don’t know. It’s just my observation. Of course there is so much more about
Sunday’s race to be remarked upon.
First, I guess my career as a race prognosticator is certainly in
question. My pick to win, Will Power,
didn’t even see the the second half of the race, although I nailed 2nd place with Scott Dixon. The rest of my top 5 picks were a total bust. But I take solace in the fact that while I didn't predict his final position correctly, I did pick Rubens for Rookie of the Year. Not bad for his first oval race.
In terms of the race experience itself, well, it was as it always is for me, an almost spiritual experience. No matter how many times I venture to the Brickyard for the 500--and this was my 24th time--it casts an ineffable spell over me. From the very moment I turn off of 30th Street and first catch site of the mighty grandstands to the time I traipse back to my car exhausted, sweaty, and suburned. Each year, the Indy Experience looms so large in my mind and soul that quite often the end result is but an afterthought to me. Oh sure, I would have liked to see Takuma Sato complete that pass or TK to finally get his chance in Victory Lane, but such are the vagaries of the Brickyard. Though I’m not a huge Dario fan, he earned my unending respect not only by winning a highly competitive race, but for his tearful, heartfelt Victory Lane tribute to his fallen friend Dan Wheldon. Dario now rightfully joins his place among the masters of the 500 alongside Wilbur Shaw, Johnny Rutherford, Bobby Unser and others who have won it three times. The question becomes now, will he become the next four time winner…or perhaps the first five time victor? I wouldn’t be at all surprised. One thing is for sure, I will be there next year to find out!
In terms of the race experience itself, well, it was as it always is for me, an almost spiritual experience. No matter how many times I venture to the Brickyard for the 500--and this was my 24th time--it casts an ineffable spell over me. From the very moment I turn off of 30th Street and first catch site of the mighty grandstands to the time I traipse back to my car exhausted, sweaty, and suburned. Each year, the Indy Experience looms so large in my mind and soul that quite often the end result is but an afterthought to me. Oh sure, I would have liked to see Takuma Sato complete that pass or TK to finally get his chance in Victory Lane, but such are the vagaries of the Brickyard. Though I’m not a huge Dario fan, he earned my unending respect not only by winning a highly competitive race, but for his tearful, heartfelt Victory Lane tribute to his fallen friend Dan Wheldon. Dario now rightfully joins his place among the masters of the 500 alongside Wilbur Shaw, Johnny Rutherford, Bobby Unser and others who have won it three times. The question becomes now, will he become the next four time winner…or perhaps the first five time victor? I wouldn’t be at all surprised. One thing is for sure, I will be there next year to find out!
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Ryan's Hope
I fully expected a Penske car to be on the pole for this
year’s 500. Of the three Penske drivers
however, Ryan Briscoe was the last one I expected to be on the pole. It’s been a rough couple of seasons for the
affable Australian and like others, I wondered whether his days were numbered
at Indy racing’s version of the dream team.
After all, he’s the only one from that stable who hasn’t won anything
this year. And although he had a
somewhat respectable season last year, he didn’t notch any victories either. Dwelling in the shadows of Will Power’s
dominance and Helio’s helioness, Ryan somehow appeared to have slipped into the
role of persona non grata, or at the
very least, third on Roger’s depth chart.
He even had to endure the indignity of getting punted by the “other”
Ryan, (you know, the one with the hyphenated last name) at Alabama last
year. So, Ryan has a mediocre season
last year, and appears to be on his way to another one this year. Then, bam!
He hangs on to win the pole at Indy, Penske’s raison d’être. If making your boss happy is the key to job
security, then Ryan sure earned a lot of brownie points this last
Saturday. Now, can he win Sunday’s race? Normally, I wouldn’t be pulling for a Penske
driver, but in this case, I’d have to say it’d be nice to see another nice guy
in Victory Lane. Do I think he will do
it? ‘Fraid not. I’ve heard over and over that there are at
least 15 drivers in this year’s 500 who have a shot at winning. That may be so, but in the end, it’s gonna be
a Penske Driver in Victory Lane. It just ain’t
gonna be Ryan Briscoe…It’s gonna be Will Power.
Frankly, I think the guy is unstoppable.
He’s proven he doesn’t need to be on the pole to win a race. Barring another disaster in the pits, Power’s
gonna win this one. The place owes him
one.
So for the record, my picks for the top five are:
1. Will
Power (I predict he’ll lead at least 120 laps)
2. Scott
Dixon (I don’t think he’ll stay mid-pack for long)
3. James
Hinchcliffe (fast car, wins only if Power botches a pit stop)
4. Ryan
Hunter-Reay (fast car, wins if running second behind Hinch, and Hinch smacks
the wall on the last lap)
5. Rubens
Barrichello (He’ll drop back early, then will quietly work his way back into
the top 5 earning him rookie of the year honors. Sao Paulo will go bananas.)
Saturday, May 19, 2012
Pole Day at Indy!
Pole day at Indy. What will it bring? Well, if the speed
charts are any indication, it should be an interesting if not surprising day. It’s really no surprise to me that Helio
leads the last practice with Briscoe and Franchitti not far behind but who’d have expected to see Ana Beatriz
(really?!?) second fastest going into the time trials? I love it!
Marco topped the charts yesterday; will he have what it takes to capture
the pole? What about Newgarden? Wouldn’t that be great if the 21 year old kid
from Nashville can steal the pole away from the big boys? I can’t
think of a time when I was more excited about pole day. So with 42 minutes to go, here’s my picks for
the front row:
1.
Helio Castroneves
2.
Marco Andretti
3.
Ryan Hunter-Reay
I don’t think many would be surprised if this were the front
row at 6 pm today, but just for fun, here’s my “long shot” picks for the front
row. In other words, this would be who I’d
love to see up front.
1.
Josef Newgarden
2.
Ana Beatriz
3.
Marco Andretti
I guess we’ll see how it all turns out, won’t we?
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Sebastian who??
Sebastian Saavedra atop the leader board at the end of
the first weekend of practice at Indy?
I didn’t see that one coming! He was followed by Brian Clauson and Josef
Newgarden??? Seems the big boys have
got a little catching up to do. Should
make for an interesting week shouldn’t it? Pole Day and the race may still yet end the
way I expect them to (i.e. the red cars up front), but to me, Indy is much better
when it is unpredictable. We all love
underdogs at Indy, right? Remember what happened
last year….
The ratings battle
Last Friday, I was running on the treadmill at the gym over
my lunch hour. The TV set in front of my
treadmill was tuned to one of the ESPN networks which happened to be covering
the practice sessions NASCAR Nationwide Series race in Talladega. It wasn’t particularly exciting but hey, at
least it was better than watching the news channel while struggling to plod 3 miles
before scurrying back to my office. During
the commercial break, they mentioned that coverage for the NNS race was
beginning at 11 am the next day leading up to the race which began at…3
pm! That’s four hours of pre-race
coverage for the junior varsity race! I
thought that seemed a bit excessive. Fast forward one week, airwaves are utterly
bereft of any coverage of opening day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Instead, those of us who cared had to settle for streaming video courtesy of
the IndyCar website. Don’t get me
wrong, I’m not complaining. I was happy
to have it. I guess it was another reminder of where
IndyCar stands on the motor sports food chain, as if I really needed another
reminder. But does it really matter? I’m
pretty much a die-hard IndyCar fanatic.
One who will get up at 1 AM to watch a race in Japan (I still remember
Danica’s first win at Twin Rings Motegi…actually, I slept through most of it
and woke up just in time to see the last few laps). But back to my original question, does it
really matter that IndyCar racing barely registers on the collective
consciousness of America? As much as I’d
love to see IndyCar races regularly thrashing NASCAR in ratings, on principle
if nothing else, I know it doesn’t really impact my love of the sport. I’m not naïve however. I know low ratings impacts the IndyCar’s
ability to draw sponsors which in turn probably impacts everything else. So I suppose I should care. There are times I do wonder what would happen
if IndyCar racing went away due to lack of interest. Would I migrate to NASCAR or F1? Not likely.
I’ve tried them both and while I can tolerate them, they just aren’t the
same as IndyCar. It’s what I grew up
with. With all its imperfections it’s
still in my mind the best racing product out there. I only wish others realized that. And maybe that’s why it sometimes does hurt
to see NASCAR’s second stringers getting more airtime than IndyCar’s starting
lineup. No matter, I will still be glued
to my computer screen this week, watching as much of the Indy practice sessions
as I can.
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