Gorgeous Indy Roadsters

 

 

 

 

Any excuse to look at the gorgeous Indy Roadsters!!

Tradition or Show

Regular readers will know how much I love the Indy 500. From the pre-race ceremonies to the winners photo shoot, the Month of May is a highlight of the racing year for me.

I find it hard to describe my feelings on the morning of the race. Only the Daytona 500 creates the same level of tension, apprehension and excitement.

A huge part of what makes the Indy 500 so special is the tradition. The tradition of the venue, the Month of May, the show, the race.

The track may change, new road course, updated facilities but as a venue Indy holds on to its traditions, the Pagoda, the bricks.

The event may not take the whole of May any more but again the traditions are there, Carb Day, Bump Day and so on...

On race day, "Drivers to your cars", the baloons, Jim Nabors, great to see him back by the way, GSYE, all of the pre-race build up, the 3 by 3 rolling start, through to the winners milk...

The Indy 500 is steeped in tradition while also looking forward to who will become the next driver to win the great race.

It is with this appreciation for and love of the traditions that I internally debate the merits of finishing the race under yellow.

On one side you have the argument that 250, 000 fans at the track and millions more on TV have watched the most important and prestigious open wheel motor race in America only to see it end behind the pace car. The DW12 is so good at drafting and overtaking that a last lap move for the win is inevitable, and what a finish it would be. Who wouldn't like to see the 500 end with a photo finish to match this years Indy Lights race? If the race was run by NASCAR we would have three attempts at ending the race under green, three G-W-C's, so why doesn't the Indy 500 do something similar? More chance of a dramatic finish for the headlines and news bulletins.

The answer is simple... tradition!

This is not Daytona, this is Indianapolis and that's not how its done here.

The same traditions that dictate the winner drinks milk of all things also prevents such gimmicks from infecting the 500. What is so right for NASCAR is so wrong for the Indy 500. Note I said the Indy 500 not the Indycar Series, as you could argue G-W-C are a good idea at other Indycar oval races, but not at the 500, tradition says so!

I am genuinely split. Doing everything you can to end the race at racing speed would be good for TV and attract fans who watch NASCAR week in, week out. For a sport trying to reassert its place in the American imagination a dramatic finish to the most important race of the year would be just what the doctor ordered. Fans would love it, TV would love it, therefore sponsors would love it. However Indy is a place of tradition, and tradition says the race is 500 miles long regardless of what happens. Is it time for tradition to take a back seat to the show or do the traditions continue?

Having watched the last two Indy 500's end under yellow and having seen the excitement the Indy Lights race created maybe it is time for a new tradition.

However it is with the traditions of the Month of May in mind I congratulate the winner of the 2013 Indianapolis 500, Tony Kanaan!

"Simply Stunning" Indy Lights Finish

2012 INDY 500 - THERE WE GO!!!

Congratulations to Dario Franchitti... now three time... INDY 500 Winner!!

Excited?

Two days...

Three events...

Three BIG events...

1 - Indy 500!

2 - Monaco GP!

3 - Coke Cola 600!

All on the same weekend...

The Indy 500 is one of my all time favourite events! A great event and a usually a great race. The venue, the prestige... This year I am especially interested to see how good the racing is with the new cars and engines... Excited... You bet!

The Monaco GP is the F1 race to watch. Not always the greatest race but always the best show. The venue, the prestige... This is Formula 1's big one! I am not the worlds greatest F1 fan but even I will admit Monaco is special. Excited... Yep!

The Coke 600 may not be the Daytona 500 or the Brickyard 400 but it  it is the longest NASCAR Sprint Cup race of the year and this makes it special!

Three big races...

One weekend...

Excited?

You should be!

Indy Roadsters!!

Regular readers will know how much I love Indy Roadsters, so I couldn't resist showing you these old shots courtesy of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.com Flickr photostream!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/indianapolismotorspeedway/

Old Car New Car

NASCAR New Car Blues

What a disappointment.

I had hoped Charlotte was going to be the race where the Chase drivers got it together and gave us the race, the show, this years Chase needs and wants, but it was not to be.

The highlight of the race was Jimmie Johnsons hard hit into the outside wall. That was not the highlight because it involved the 48 hitting the wall, honest, but because good racing was severely lacking.

After Kansas I found myself pondering the riddle of the edgy setups but Charlotte was a different story. This was the aero push story. The drivers could not run close together without loosing the air off the front splitter and could not run side by side without loosing the air off the rear spoiler.

For the first time since the current Cup car was introduced I am wondering if something about the COT is hurting the racing. Maybe the answer is to run the current front with the unloved rear wing out back. The whole point of the wing was that it allowed air to pass under it and on to the following car, unlike the spoiler. I know this is not going to happen but something not only needs to be done to redress the aero balance, when the cars are facelifted for the 2013 season, but also to limit the aero push, which is hurting the racing.

On paper the Championship looks really close and competetive but on track the racing is not living up to the top billing.

RIP Dan Wheldon

I am still in shock over the loss of Dan Wheldon at last weekends Indycar race.

Now is not the time to debate the decision to allow so many cars in the race or whether it was a good idea to dangle such a large carrot in front of any driver who won the race after starting from the back of the grid.

Now is about Daniel Wheldon.

Many experts with a lot more exprience and authority than me have said all there is to say about his life and career. However I will say this. When I was younger I was fortunate enough to race Cadet and then Junior TKM karts. When I raced three names mattered, Jenson Button, Anthony Davidson and Daniel Wheldon... and Wheldon was the best.

As someone who has more of a passion for American motor racing than F1, I was so pleased when Wheldon won the Indy 500, once and then twice.

As has been pointed out there is an unfortunate irony in the fact that Wheldon, who has spent this year developing the new Indycar race car, a car which should be safer and less likely to hit wheels, was killed in the last race for the old spec car which his efforts were working to replace.

Dan Wheldons death is a great loss and my thoughts go out to his family and friends.

BTCC Champ Crowned

Congratulations three time British Touring Car Champion, Matt Neal!

We can now look forward to next season, which I hope will see all the top runners in NGTC spec turbo cars.

My only comments about the next gen. car...

As always make them all rear wheel drive like this years Audi, and make them less liable to rear suspension damage when making contact, sorry racing, side by side.

Neals car this year had a bumper sticker... "Does my Turbo look big in this?"... No and the trophies don't look bad either!

Indycars Oval Dilema

I read with dispare of the lack of attendance at the Indycar Series oval events.

Unfortunately I am not in a position to help these figures, living as I do on the other side of pond. Neither am I able to watch the races on TV as I cannot afford the TV station the races are on over here. If anybody wants to help with either of these issues please let me know...

Anyway...

The IRL was established as a series for American drivers, racing American cars with American V8's on American ovals. Today the Indycar Series looks much more like a direct replacement for the now defunct CART series with more road courses than ovals and less of an "American" feel.

In its day I loved CART. I used to enjoy the mix of oval races and some of the best open wheel road racing on the planet. But the IRL put on a better oval show.

The American open wheel world has always looked a bit disjointed to me. Over here if a kid wants to be the next Button or Hamilton they can start off at a young age in karts, move up to single seaters, say Formula Ford, in time progress through Formula 3 to the lower international classes and then if all goes to plan maybe become a Formula 1 driver. A nice progressive ladder from start to finish. I do not pretend to be an expert on the American open wheel ladder but going from short oval USAC Midgets and Sprints to the Indy 500 is a big leap. I understand there are single seater classes filling in the gap but the ladder still doesn't flow to me.

The greatest shame of the current situation is that in the early days of the IRL the oval racing was fantastic. Good drivers, good cars, wonderfully close racing and nail biting finishes. The last few years have seen the standards fall with close finishes a thing of the past. However the finish of the last race was very tight, just like the days of Sam Hornish at Texas.

The huge success of NASCAR over the past two decades has not helped either. The big crowds, TV and big money has made it hard for other series to generate the interest from drivers and fans, and with the majority of the three NASCAR series races taking place on ovals, the market for oval racing is pretty full.

The answer to this lies in the succes of the new generation of Indycar.

We all know the Indycar Series has been treading water, waiting for the new car to be signed off. If the series officials and Dan Wheldon can develop an oval package that enables the drivers to run side by side at any oval with minimal aero push, like the good old days of the IRL, then the crowds will come back. Good racing will always bring crowds.

I hope, if not for the sake of the series but for the sake of the Indy 500, that the new car brings life to open wheel oval racing in America.

The Indycar Series needs ovals to ensure the future, and the future importance, of the great Indianapolis 500.

Indiana Jones and the Yard of Bricks

Star Wars... two sets of three.

 

Three Spiderman films, and by the end of next year there will have been three Batman movies...

Pirates of the Caribbean originally came in three parts...

Raiders of the Lost Ark originally had two follow ups...

What does any of this have to do with racing?

Hollywood loves a twist. And the movie of the Brickyard 400 always throws up a surprise.

Juan Pablo Montoya should have won the last two races at the Brickyard but let both races slip through his fingers. Will this weekend’s race be part three of the trilogy or the much needed franchise reboot? Montoya needs to hold on to this one, or "Indy, no more parachutes!"

Another cast member hoping to turn a great weekend at the box office into a successful follow up has to be Stewart Haas Racing. After starting and finishing in first and second at New Hampshire, (how many times do the front row of the grid finish in that order in a Cup race) the sequel needs feature another set of strong performances but, for the sake of their championship chances, with the “leading man” getting the spoils this time, not his “sidekick”.

The Brickyard is a wonderful setting for a NASCAR rollercoaster storyline...

I can’t wait to see who’s name is on top of the list come the credits!