A Masterful 500, a Fitting Tribute

Well, it’s the last day of the month of May.  The 96^th 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!

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.)

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?

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.     

To be 33 or not to be 33?

Well, the good news is, it’s May!  We all know what that means.  The Greatest Spectacle In Racing is just around the corner.   And what better time to start another blog about IndyCar than on May 1^st ?  Of course, the traditional month of May has now been reduced to the last two weeks in May, but hey the Indy 500 is STILL the  Indy 500.  Or is it?   To be sure, the 500 is steeped in tradition.  Some of which have been somewhat attenuated with the passage of time.  The traditional crowds of pole day have long since receded as has the drama of bump day for the most part.   Many a scribe (or blogger) have lamented that Indy now lacks the innovation that spawned such legends as the Turbine, the Chaparral, heck, even the rear view mirror. To some, the passage of time has not been kind to the venerable race.  And now it seems that another tradition is in danger…the starting field of 33 cars.  There has been much navel gazing and gnashing of teeth about the possibility of having one fewer car in the 11^th row this year.  An Indy 500 with 32 cars?!?  Say it isn’t so!   At this point it certainly seems to be a possibility if not a probability.   But let’s be honest here folks.  No offense, but does anyone really think that Jay Howard’s presence in this year’s 500 is going to boost the TV ratings or put more butts in seats?  I didn’t think so.  Sure, Michael Shank appears to be getting the shaft, but I guess that’s just life, isn’t it?   Nevertheless, I was still sad to hear that the field might not actually be full this year.   I’m a die hard 500 fan and I love my traditions.    That vacancy in the last row will certainly seem conspicuous and will no doubt be remarked upon by some as an embarrassment to IndyCar.   I think I’ve already read the headline that said “Indy 500 struggles to fill field” or something like that.  The irony is that for much of the race’s history, a relatively small number of cars in any given field of 33 had any real shot at winning.  I’m sure the same can be said of this year’s race.  Sure, the field is going to be deep.  They seem to say that every year.  And as much as I’d love to see Simona De Silvestro in Victory Lane this year,  the reality is that only about 10-12 drivers (if that) have a real shot at winning.   So, does only having 32 cars in the field alter that calculus?  Not in the slightest.  But I’m still gonna be ticked off at those in the chattering classes who will disparage a race I hold so dear because they couldn’t find an extra backmarker to fill out the last row.   After all, last row backmarkers are as much a tradition at the 500 as the milk!