Yesterday's Indy race

JackB1 · Post by **JackB1** » Mon Jul 05, 2004 12:52 pm

wow, what a finnish! Buddy Rice and the #2 car going side by side for the last 5 laps was incredible. First INdy car race I watched in a long time. Thanks for getting me into it PK!

Granatofan · Post by **Granatofan** » Mon Jul 05, 2004 1:16 pm

I know Rahall told teammates Rice and Meira that "best man wins", but I think that they also raced side by side to keep Kanaan from having any chance to pass and get to the front. That was some great racing for the final 15 laps!

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Mon Jul 05, 2004 1:25 pm

Indeed, fellas. Great finish. Decent race up until that point, but the lack of cautions really strung out the field, with only the top three or four cars staying tight. No question Kanaan had no chance as long as Buddy and Vitor stayed two-wide.

I thought it was pretty poignant how Rice's spotter said over the final two laps, "Outside, outside, teammate outside," reminding Buddy that wasn't just another driver alongside. It was a subtle reminder to race hard but race clean. No sense wasting a 1-2 finish, although there's no question that Meira and Rice both were racing for the win. No team orders.

How stoked are Rahal's sponsors this morning? Argent sponsors the race and the car of Buddy Rice. (Stop the conspiracy theories now -- Rice is the real deal and started from the pole.) And Centrix's CEO was in the Rahal pits, watching his driver finish second by 4 inches.

I feel bad for Jeff Simmons. The Patrick Racing car is a crate, and it was obvious he was understeering in corners. When he was three-wide with Matsuura and I can't remember who, you knew an accident was in the making. I wonder if Pat Patrick will keep Simmons now that he wadded up an unsponsored car. I hope so, but we'll see. Simmons is a very good race driver.

Finally, what's wrong with Marlboro Team Penske? Hornish and Helio never were much of a factor in this race. The 1.5-mile, cookie-cutter ovals have been an albatross for Penske since it joined the IRL in 2002. With Kentucky and Chicago left among the cookie-cutters, Penske better find an answer or it will have no chance to win the title.

Glad you cats enjoyed the race. The next race is Saturday night, July 17 at Nashville. All-concrete oval, fun race. 7 p.m. (EDT), ESPN.

Now, each of you guys who watched the race yesterday should kick ass at Kansas in IndyCar Series 2005. You spent two hours seeing drivers take all sorts of different lines, so you should be blazing at Kansas!

Take care,
PK

James_E · Post by **James_E** » Mon Jul 05, 2004 1:42 pm

You blame Simmons for that wreck? Wasn't it the guys around him that squeezed him? Specifically the driver on the outside of him didn't leave him much room. Didn't look to me like Simmons pushed out into him, but rather the guy on the outside came down.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Mon Jul 05, 2004 1:59 pm

James:

Matsuura is no angel, but I think he came down because he had to, or he would have hit the wall. But yeah, he was the guy on the outside, so I think he shares some blame.

The only reason I singled out Simmons is that Simmons was suffering from what appeared to be pretty bad understeer while running two-abreast with Matsuura for two or three laps before they went three-wide and crashed. Simmons nearly took out Matsuura when they were two-wide due to his understeer pushing both cars up the track.

In fact, Simmons banged wheels with Matsuura just seconds before they wrecked due to what appeared to be understeer.

It was a "racing accident," with culpability to be placed on both drivers. But I think Simmons freaked a bit when it got three-wide, so combine that with his understeer, and that was an accident.

Just my version of what I saw ...

Take care,
PK

James_E · Post by **James_E** » Mon Jul 05, 2004 2:05 pm

No question, I saw that earlier bump Simmons did, and he was understeering.

Like you, I considered it a "racing incident" not blatantly poor or wreckless driving by anyone. I was just surprised to see this in your post:

"I wonder if Pat Patrick will keep Simmons now that he wadded up an unsponsored car. "

This made me think you put 100% blame on Simmons and that you considered it a bad mistake or somewhat wreckless move, of which I considered it neither.

FYI, that was the first Indy race I watched in it's entirety in a VERY long time. I really enjoyed it. My day worked out yesterday such that I saw the entire F1 race and the entire Indy race. Not a normal occurrence for me. I love my DVR!

Neckthai · Post by **Neckthai** » Mon Jul 05, 2004 2:41 pm

The driver to blame for the shunt was Darren Manning, who took a hole that was there, but he didn't realize that it was space the Simmons and Kosuke needed.

Dan Wheldon did similar things last year. You can do it in road racing, you just can't do it on a oval. Darren will learn that.

Just my $.02 worth.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Mon Jul 05, 2004 3:01 pm

Neck was there, fellas, watching the race more closely than anyone due to the demands of his job. If Neck says Manning was at fault, then I'll take that as a matter of fact.

Take care,
PK

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Mon Jul 05, 2004 3:03 pm

Jamie:

I mentioned Simmons' tenuous job status because this was a one-race deal for him. And I read a story in which Patrick told Jeff before the race that if he wadded up two cars at Kansas, his tenure with the team would be very short.

Not sure where one car plays in, but I hope Simmons keeps the ride. He can drive.

P.S.: Glad you enjoyed the race!

Take care,
PK

mixdj1 · Post by **mixdj1** » Mon Jul 05, 2004 4:25 pm

pk500 wrote:The next race is Saturday night, July 17 at Nashville. All-concrete oval, fun race. 7 p.m. (EDT), ESPN.

Definitely looking forward to that one. I'm going to be there in person to see it.

This will be only my third in-person race.

1) Indy @ Gateway (rained off and on)

2) NASCAR @ Talladega
3) and now Indy @ Nashville

This will be my first race under the lights. Should be an awesome trip.

mixdj1