Indy 500 picks

JackB1 · Post by **JackB1** » Sun May 29, 2005 3:59 pm

Go Danica!!!!

bdoughty · Post by **bdoughty** » Sun May 29, 2005 4:19 pm

Great race. 4th place is pretty damn impressive.

Atxj · Post by **Atxj** » Sun May 29, 2005 4:30 pm

Hell of a race, 4th ain't too shabby for a rookie that was in 16th at one time.

What is the Foyt team thingking? If I remember correctly they screwed two top five drivers at the time in Hornish Jr. and Junqueira.

JackB1 · Post by **JackB1** » Sun May 29, 2005 4:35 pm

wow....what a race! one of the most memorable Indy 500's in recent memory. Danica's strategy almost worked. If she doesn't stall out early in the race, she might have won. Good win by Wheldon.

Dave · Post by **Dave** » Sun May 29, 2005 5:27 pm

Damn fun race, today. One of the most exciting dicing at the front of the pack in recent Indy memory.

Danica stood the old Speedplant on it's feet today. The crowd's reaction when she got the lead and then re-took it from Wheldon was something I have not seen in any of my years at the track. Maybe when Gordon won the first Brickyard, but the place went absolutely nuts. Great for the sport, really.

Glad to see a former PacWest-er, and the nicest of the group of drivers I was around win the race. Wheldon is a good, likeable kid. But he might as well had a Darth Vader outfit on today passing Patrick!

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Sun May 29, 2005 5:44 pm

27 lead changes, second-most in 89-year history of the race.

Hell of a race.

Take care,
PK

DChaps · Post by **DChaps** » Sun May 29, 2005 6:36 pm

dbdynsty25 wrote:Geeze...get the woman off the track. Takin' out three cars cuz her throttle control is suspect. Nice...

Funny that Rahal just said, no harm no foul...yeah, not to his car, but I doubt the three cars she took out will say the same.

True, but she is certainly not the first driver to blow it on cold tires and an itchy throttle. Kevin Cogan, Roberto Guerrero, Scott Sharp, and Scott Dixon all come to mind. Of course outside of Cogan, those guys spinning did not take so many others with them.

It was interesting how much that was glossed over and not talked about either by the commentators or in the post race interviews. Wonder if there will be any repurcussions? While she did a good job overall, that was a pretty big error. I am sure Scheckter is none too happy. He seemed like he could have been in the mix at the end.

Overall a pretty interesting race from start to finish. A few things that I could not tell from the coverage though.

1) What happened to Dario and Tony? They were so strong all day long then nowhere to be found on those last couple stints? Was it difference in fuel strategy?

2) What happened to Bourdais? I mean I know he crashed, but what exactly happened?

3) Hornish was strong all day until he was forced into the marbles. Why was Helio so off? Was he fighting a problem all day long?

4) At the next to last yellow, when Wheldon passed Danica right at the S/F line, Goodyear was talking about that as if it would be the deciding factor in the race if it did not go back to green. Then they were showing a replay of Wheldon well passed Danica when the track lights finally went from green to yellow. What are the Indycar rules these days with regards to determining the leader at the time of yellow?

5) Did anyone actually hear the interview with Robby Gordon that is being made such a big deal about by the press? I heard the audio of the interview and it appears to me that it is completely being taken out of context. In fact he complimented Danica and Sarah Fisher among others. He even mentioned the weight difference as it pertained to himself and Paul Tracy vs. someone like Helio. He was just basically stating the difference between Nascar, Champcars, and Indycars in that in Nascar weight is measured as a total of car and driver, not separate. Like Tony Stewart, the press is always just waiting to jump on anything Robby says. After hearing the actual interview I think he is getting the screw job on this one. As a Michael Andretti fan I do not really even care for Robby ever since the "Michael Andretti Driving School" T-Shirt incident, but in this case he is being thrown under the bus to further fuel the Danica/Women in Racing hype.

Wheldon is the man. He came into the series fast but a little over agressive and impatient. Now he seems to be fast, aggressive, but patient and knowing just when to make those aggressive moves. He also did a great job with the fans in the post interview. He paid respects to the Speedway, the history, the fans, the spectacle, and the milk. Nice job mate.

PS - Props to Buddy Lazier, the guy just hung in all day long. Oh yeah and Vitor too. Always the bridesmaid, never the bride. This guy deserves a win sometime soon.

Dave · Post by **Dave** » Sun May 29, 2005 6:56 pm

Wonder if there will be any repurcussions? While she did a good job overall, that was a pretty big error. I am sure Scheckter is none too happy. He seemed like he could have been in the mix at the end.

I don't think so. Hell, if NASCAR didn't penalize the bush league punt by Vickers last weekend, then this was nothing. Sh*t happens in racing, she got lucky and took advantage of it. Unlike my boy Dixon in '03, at least she wasn't on the front stretch

1) What happened to Dario and Tony?

There appeared to be a big difference between running in the top 3 and being back in the pack. Could have been more turbulence further back, or the collective tow from drafting equalized the speeds.

Helio just didn't have it today, he must have had one of the Foyt Toyotas!

I think the yellow rule is still when it comes out, not at the line, so another great job by ABC.

I'm no help on the Bourdais incident.

Buddy Lazier deserves a ride, he's a tough SOB out on the track.

Wheldon was humbled in 2003 when he went upside down. He really seems to be sincere when talking about how much Indy means to him. He came over here sensing better opportunities, starting with F2000. Damn good kid and should be a GREAT Indy champion.

CrazyPsycho · Post by **CrazyPsycho** » Sun May 29, 2005 7:12 pm

The worst thing that happened was AJ taking out Bruno. I'm trying to find the link, but it looks like he has a concussion and also will have back surgery tomorrow.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Sun May 29, 2005 7:48 pm

DChaps wrote:1) What happened to Dario and Tony? They were so strong all day long then nowhere to be found on those last couple stints? Was it difference in fuel strategy?

Kim Green made a strategy call on one of TK's late stops that backfired. I think Dario's car just went off. Loose handling, I believe.

DChaps wrote:2) What happened to Bourdais? I mean I know he crashed, but what exactly happened?

Good question. Not sure. We didn't talk with him since his crash happened at the very end.

DChaps wrote:3) Hornish was strong all day until he was forced into the marbles. Why was Helio so off? Was he fighting a problem all day long?

Helio's car was loose the entire race. The team kept adding and removing wing each stop but couldn't get the car balanced.

DChaps wrote:4) At the next to last yellow, when Wheldon passed Danica right at the S/F line, Goodyear was talking about that as if it would be the deciding factor in the race if it did not go back to green. Then they were showing a replay of Wheldon well passed Danica when the track lights finally went from green to yellow. What are the Indycar rules these days with regards to determining the leader at the time of yellow?

The leader is the car in front the instant when the yellow is activated.

DChaps wrote:Wheldon is the man. He came into the series fast but a little over agressive and impatient. Now he seems to be fast, aggressive, but patient and knowing just when to make those aggressive moves. He also did a great job with the fans in the post interview. He paid respects to the Speedway, the history, the fans, the spectacle, and the milk. Nice job mate.

PS - Props to Buddy Lazier, the guy just hung in all day long. Oh yeah and Vitor too. Always the bridesmaid, never the bride. This guy deserves a win sometime soon.

Agreed on all. Well said, Don.

Back to work here at Indy.

Take care,
PK

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Sun May 29, 2005 7:49 pm

CrazyPsycho wrote:The worst thing that happened was AJ taking out Bruno. I'm trying to find the link, but it looks like he has a concussion and also will have back surgery tomorrow.

Complete race notes, quotes, transcripts, audio files, photos, etc., here:

www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com
www.indy500.com

Take care,
PK

DChaps · Post by **DChaps** » Sun May 29, 2005 8:45 pm

Thanks for all the extra info Paul. Congratulations to IMS and the Indycar Series for a great month of May. Keep up the good work!

pk500 wrote:Complete race notes, quotes, transcripts, audio files, photos, etc., here:

www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com
www.indy500.com

Take care,
PK

AHHHH!!!

When clicking on links above for reports or notes I get this:

Service Unavailable - DNS failure
The server is temporarily unable to service your request. Please try again later.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Sun May 29, 2005 9:13 pm

Don:

Should be working fine now. Our servers got absolutely blasted today. The numbers were pretty staggering.

Take care,
PK

Gangrel · Post by **Gangrel** » Sun May 29, 2005 9:47 pm

Yes, what a race. For the first time in a long time, I watched most of the Indy 500, and cheering for Danica. I have always liked the underdogs (Oilers, Expos, even the Bears nowadays!)

I was hoping she could pull it off, but once she lost the lead, her worn tires started to show, and I'm sure running on fumes has to subtract a few HP.......

Good to see her throwing off the whole "woman driver" thing. I think she really is in it for the love of racing, and not some sort of "horspower women's lib".

mixdj1 · Post by **mixdj1** » Sun May 29, 2005 11:26 pm

pk500 wrote:Complete race notes, quotes, transcripts, audio files, photos, etc., here:

www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com
www.indy500.com

Take care,
PK

Damn! Why do you guys have F1 results headlines on the Indy 500 news page? I hadn't had a chance to watch the F1 race yet.

Oh well.

JackB1 · Post by **JackB1** » Mon May 30, 2005 12:45 am

I just wish Danica would stop those comments where she keeps talking about how good looking she is. She's different cause she's a WOMAN driver.....not because of how she looks.

sfz_T-car · Post by **sfz_T-car** » Mon May 30, 2005 1:36 am

Very entertaining race on what looked to be a beautiful day in Indy. First off, I wish a speedy recovery for Junqueira and Larry Foyt. Bruno's hit was hard and at a bad angle. Thank God for carbon fiber, SAFER and the HANS device.

Danica filled the spotlight, that's for sure. It was a good call from Rahal & Co. to keep her out and run a fuel strategy. It gave the people what they wanted and was her best chance for a good finish. It probably played out as well as it was going to--without the two late race yellows, she'd be like her new best friend Robby Gordon in 1999. It sucks for the other three cars taken out by Danica's spin, but that's racing. Scheckter and Enge would have probably finished in the 5-10 range.

Wheldon ran a great race from mid-pack. He was patient, fast and consistent when he needed to be. It was almost Mears-like how he let the race come to him. His enthusiasm is great for the IRL. It's important to develop stars who have both a past and a future in the series. Of course, he'll probably end up testing for BAR now.

The ABC broadcast was pretty bad unless all you cared about was Danica, Danica, Danica and Evander Holyfield's dance lessons. They never said what happened to Helio, Franchitti, Kanaan, Manning, etc. Todd Harris was too busy gushing about Danica and Amelia Earhart to mention which cars were taken out in her spin. The last 100 miles were hectic, but it was never explained who was on which fuel strategy and whether the cars not taking tires would be at a disadvantage. I think ABC missed 2-3 green flags. To top it off, the live T&S at indy500.com was hosed up all afternoon.

Nice runs for Meira, both Laziers and Ryan Briscoe. I've been critical of Ed Carpenter and Vision, but finishing only one lap down after their struggles this month is the nicest surprise of the day. Carpenter would have scored points under the old CART scoring system

Can hardly wait til next year.

Atxj · Post by **Atxj** » Mon May 30, 2005 2:09 am

sfz_T-car wrote:Very entertaining race on what looked to be a beautiful day in Indy. First off, I wish a speedy recovery for Junqueira and Larry Foyt. Bruno's hit was hard and at a bad angle. Thank God for carbon fiber, SAFER and the HANS device.

Danica filled the spotlight, that's for sure. It was a good call from Rahal & Co. to keep her out and run a fuel strategy. It gave the people what they wanted and was her best chance for a good finish. It probably played out as well as it was going to--without the two late race yellows, she'd be like her new best friend Robby Gordon in 1999. It sucks for the other three cars taken out by Danica's spin, but that's racing. Scheckter and Enge would have probably finished in the 5-10 range.

Wheldon ran a great race from mid-pack. He was patient, fast and consistent when he needed to be. It was almost Mears-like how he let the race come to him. His enthusiasm is great for the IRL. It's important to develop stars who have both a past and a future in the series. Of course, he'll probably end up testing for BAR now.

The ABC broadcast was pretty bad unless all you cared about was Danica, Danica, Danica and Evander Holyfield's dance lessons. They never said what happened to Helio, Franchitti, Kanaan, Manning, etc. Todd Harris was too busy gushing about Danica and Amelia Earhart to mention which cars were taken out in her spin. The last 100 miles were hectic, but it was never explained who was on which fuel strategy and whether the cars not taking tires would be at a disadvantage. I think ABC missed 2-3 green flags. To top it off, the live T&S at indy500.com was hosed up all afternoon.

Nice runs for Meira, both Laziers and Ryan Briscoe. I've been critical of Ed Carpenter and Vision, but finishing only one lap down after their struggles this month is the nicest surprise of the day. Carpenter would have scored points under the old CART scoring system

Can hardly wait til next year.

Unfortunately for Bruno ESPN said that he broke two vertebrae and will be having surgery on Monday.

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Mon May 30, 2005 2:22 am

What was really bad about the telecast...freakin' ABC didn't show it in HD...at least on DirecTV they didn't. Did anyone actually get a HD telecast? That is just the dumbest thing I've ever heard of if no one got one, which is what I suspect.

bkrich83 · Post by **bkrich83** » Mon May 30, 2005 3:41 am

dbdynsty25 wrote:What was really bad about the telecast...freakin' ABC didn't show it in HD...at least on DirecTV they didn't. Did anyone actually get a HD telecast? That is just the dumbest thing I've ever heard of if no one got one, which is what I suspect.

It was in HD here. I watched it on my cable which is how I get local channels in HD.

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Mon May 30, 2005 4:40 am

I get my locals in HD as well BK, but the race was not for some reason. Obviously all shows and sporting events aren't, but it's obviously different accross different providers. I'm pissed DirecTV didn't get the HD telecast, especially if it was available elsewhere.

EDiddy · Post by **EDiddy** » Mon May 30, 2005 1:10 pm

With the NBA playoffs having some life this year and The Race returning to its proper prominent standing in US sports, it feels like the mid 80's! YESSSS!

This race was proably the best case scenario for CART (<-- Yes i know

I think the Pre Race buzz was the loudest since Manselll crossed the pond. And then on top of that a great great race, with all sorts of excitement. This even puts more pressure on CART to keep the momentum going, thats a problem they would like to have.

Was anyone else disappointed with the ABC coverage? I really cant quantify my disappointment to well. It did not feel the coverage match the grander of the event, if that makes any sense. For me, this was one of the top 7 sporting events that has happened since the turn of the century, and they covered it like the Preakness!

Dave · Post by **Dave** » Tue May 31, 2005 8:39 am

First off, this is my first post-race sunburn in YEARS, so that should tell you it was the best race-day weather in a long time.

I thought ABC's coverage absolutely stunk, which is nothing new. Does everyone else get the same washed out colors and general fuzziness when watching their racing coverage? The difference between the 500 and the Charlotte NASCAR race, from an eye-popping color perspective was insane! ABC needs to get cameras that were at least made in the 90s or find out what is wrong somewhere in the line. When they brough Lingner back, I thought it would help, but it is still the same ol' deal--too many wide-angle shots (that don't show the raw speed as well) and poor colors. Hell, the crowd almost looked black & white from the footage I saw.

Otherwise, if you're out of the top 3 or 5, ABC rarely gives you your due. Where did Wheldon come from? He had to be passing cars somewhere.

But hey, you should have been there