After an exciting Indianapolis 500, the Izod IndyCar Series heads to Belle Isle for the first time since 2008. This is the sixth round of the championship and the last road or street course until Toronto on July 8th. Justin Wilson's win at Belle Isle in 2008 turned out to be the final win for Newman-Haas Racing and what would turn out to be the final win before Paul Newman's death 26 days later. Lots of big news after Indianapolis. Let's start at the top.
Randy Bernard
According to Randy Bernard himself and other reports, a few car owners have been trying to remove Randy Bernard from CEO of IndyCar. Robin Miller went on the Indianapolis radio station WFNI 1070 on Tuesday and said that "full-time Chevrolet team owners, except Dennis Reinbold" were the ones trying to remove Bernard. Late Tuesday night Bernard said on Twitter that Roger Penske was not one of the car owners trying to remove him but did confirm other car owners were after his job. On Wednesday, Miller wrote in his column on SPEED's website that the movement was led by Panther Racing owner John Barnes and former CEO Tony George with a "silent endorsement" from Kevin Kalkhoven of KV Racing Technology.
My take: Like Miller said, Reinbold and even Jay Penske have no reason to be angry with Bernard. Roger Penske, with help from Chip Gannasi, was able to get Bernard to issue double-file restarts last season at all races before the drivers asked and were granted getting rid of them on certain tracks. Penske also worked to get Belle Isle back on the schedule. Michael Andretti has been busting his back now promoting now two races (Milwaukee and Baltimore) and I would think he and Bernard should have no problem with one another but I could be wrong. This leaves Barnes, Tony George who has a major role with Ed Carpenter Racing and KVRT. Barnes and Kalkhoven were both fined, one for comments made on Twitter, the other because his cars had a technical infractions found during qualifying at Indianapolis. George has his own gripe as Bernard is his successor, running the series his created. What I fine interesting is Barnes and George were both apart of the original IRL and Kalkhoven was running ChampCar when unification occurred. Flash forward four years to 2012. Neither the man in charge of the IRL or ChampCar at that time are in charge now and it is being handled by someone from outside the sport. But, while many can bring up things Bernard has done wrong, it is hard to argue against the things Bernard has done correctly. He created a committee to oversee the development of the 2012 car after years of getting no where. Remember under Tony George they promised new cars for 2011 and we did not get them. He has been trying to keep historic races such as Milwaukee and has been trying to bring back races that have been historically beloved by the fans (Road America, Phoenix). He respects the heritage of the sport, and has actually sat down to learn the sport by going to Donald Davidson's class held each year in the spring and going to USAC races. After year after year of seeing the IndyLights champion struggle to get to the top level, Bernard created the Road to Indy which gives not only the IndyLights champion a shot at the next level but the Star Mazda, USF2000 and USAC National Drivers champions a shot to move up as well. While only in its third year of existence, all but one champion has raced in the next series in the ladder system. Bernard has also done one other thing, get the series closer to breaking even financially than it has ever before. Hard to get mad at a guy for trying.
Dragon to Split Legge and Bourdais
Moving on, as we all know Dragon Racing got Chevrolet engines at Indianapolis and for the rest of the season. However, as of now, they only have one engine program meaning they will not be able to field two cars each weekend at this time. Sebastien Bourdais will run Belle Isle and the remaining road and street course while Katherine Legge will run the remaining oval races. A 14th engine lease may be possible later in the season but there are no guarantees.
Other Notes
Will Power leads by 36 points over Helio Castroneves and James Hinchcliffe. Dario Franchitti is now 6th in points, 64 points back after his win at Indianapolis
IndyLights and the Grand-Am Rolex SportsCar Series joins IndyCar at Belle Isle.
In the Road to Indy series Jack Hawksworth leads Connor de Phillippi by 12 points after the Night Before The 500. De Phillippi won while Hawksworth ended in seventh. In USF2000, Spencer Pigot has won four consecutive race, including the Night Before the 500. However, he leads Matthew Brabham, grandson of three-time World Champion Jack Brabham and son of one the co-drivers of 1993 24 Hours of Le Mans winning Puegoet, Geoff Brabham, by only 6 points as Brabham has finished second to Pigot in every race but the first, where Brabham won and Pigot finished in third. Last, but not least, Levi Jones leads the USAC National Drivers Championship with 400 points. Tracy Hines is second with 393 with Bobby East, Darren Hagen and Bryan Clauson rounding out the top 5.
Predictions
I fell that Chevrolet comes back and takes their home race, however Honda takes 6 of the top 10. I will pick Will Power for pole but James Hinchcliffe takes his first career victory nearly 15 years to the day that Greg Moore won his first career road/street course race at Belle Isle in 1997*. Ryan Hunter-Reay and Dario Franchitti round out the podium. Sebastien Bourdais gets a top five with Justin Wilson getting a top ten. Sleeper: Tony Kanaan but I wouldn't be surprised if Charlie Kimball has a great day.
*- Greg Moore won at Belle Isle on June 8, 1997. This year's race is June 3rd. It would be pretty cool to see Hinchcliffe pull it off.
Covering All Motorsports. From Indianapolis to Le Mans, Daytona to Monaco.
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Where Does The 2012 Indianapolis 500 Rank? Part 2
In the second part of this series, I look at Indianapolis 500s from 1911-1941. As I said in the first part, this is completely for fun. For the record, I was not alive for any races before the Second World War and therefore did not see or hear any of these races live. However, to the best of my ability from reading books, listening to people who have been around the speedway, especially Donald Davidson, and using box scores I will do my best to explain why these races were great.
Part One
1937 Indianapolis 500: The first of Wilbur Shaw's three Indianapolis 500 victories was probably most dramatic. At one point Shaw had lapped the field and looked to be set to ease to the checkered flag. That would not be the case as his car started to leak oil and his tires were very worn. To finish the race, Shaw slowed down to nurse the car home. Second place Ralph Hepburn notices this, got back on the lead lap and charged to overtake Shaw for the lead. Hepburn was closing the gap to Shaw and may or may have not taken the lead on the back straightaway on the final lap. Shaw gave it all he got and went for broke and held off Hepburn to win by 2.16 seconds, the closest finish in Indianapolis 500 history until 1982. This race is still the hottest temperature recorded for the Indianapolis 500.
1934 Indianapolis 500: Bill Cummings led 57 laps and Mauri Rose led 68 laps with Cummings beating Rose by 27.25 seconds. Cummings came from 10th on the grid while Rose started 4th.
1930 Indianapolis 500: While it wasn't the closest race for it's time, nor was it the fastest 500 miles completed. It was the most dominating performance by an Indianapolis 500 winner. Billy Arnold took the lead on lap 3 and would lead the final 198 laps. He won 7 minute and 17.36 seconds. The top four starters finished in the top four but not all where they started. Arnold won from pole, Shorty Cantlon moved up one position to second, as did Louis Schneider to third, while Louis Meyer started 2nd, led the first two laps and ended the race in 4th.
1928 Indianapolis 500: Leon Duray and Jimmy Gleason led a combined 119 laps but both drivers would fall out of the race with mechanical failures. This gave the win to Louis Meyer his first Indianapolis 500 victory his first start at Indianapolis, however it was not his first race. He drove in relief in 1927. The margin of victory between Meyer and second place Lou Moore was 43.89 seconds.
1925 Indianapolis 500: Peter DePaolo won by 53.69 seconds in the first Indianapolis 500 completed in under five hours. He led 115 laps and held off Dave Lewis who led 50 laps. DePaolo actually had Norman Battem drive laps 106-127 as he had his hands bandaged for blisters. 3rd place Phil Shafer led 13 laps and 4th place Harry Hartz led 3 laps bring the combined total of laps led by the top four drivers to 181 laps.
1924 Indianapolis 500: In the first of two times their have been co-winners of the Indianapolis 500 L.L Corum and Joe Boyer won the race after leading 25 laps and beat second place Earl Cooper, who led a race high 119 laps by 1 minute and 23.57 seconds. 3rd place Jimmy Murphy led the other 56 laps of the race.
1922 Indianapolis 500: Jimmy Murphy becomes the first driver to win the race from pole position as he leads 153 laps and holds off Harry Hartz who led 42 laps by 3 minutes and 13.60 seconds. While not a close race, Murphy and Hartz started 1st and 2nd, were the fastest two qualifiers and finished 1st and 2nd respectively.
I think this a good list of great Indianapolis 500s. Whether or not you agree that this year's race or any of the races listed are great is you opinion and I respect it. Enjoy.
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Where Does The 2012 Indianapolis 500 Rank?
Sunday's race saw a record amount of lead changes, passing all over the place, a late restart that put many drivers in contention, a last lap, balls out, dive bomb for the lead into turn one that failed and a driver win their third Indianapolis 500. Not to mention a new car with new engines. How does this rank among the all-time great Indianapolis 500s? Here is part one of two parts. This will cover races post World War II.
2011 Indianapolis 500: I start with last year's race because it was actually I pretty great race. 23 lead changes among 10 drivers and thrilling closing laps were aided by the double-file restarts. It was a fuel mileage race but the 100th anniversary race saw the lead change five times in th final 30 laps. Scott Dixon led the most laps and took the lead from Graham Rahal on lap 172. Dixon still had to make one more pit stop but it seemed things would cycle back around in favor of him and his teammate Dario Franchitti. Dixon's pitstop gave Danica Patrick the lead with 21 to go. In what was her final Indianapolis 500 as a full-time driver, Patrick was in a position to finally win at Indianapolis and becoming the first women to win the race but she was short on fuel and choose to pit. This gave the lead to one-off Bertrand Baguette. The Belgian was thought to be the worst possible for the storyline for this race. An unknown, driving for the then part-time team Rahal-Letterman Racing was in position where a late-race caution would all but guarantee him victory. However he was stretching his fuel mileage as well and pitted with three laps to go. This handed the lead to JR Hildebrand who seemed confident with fuel. We know the end of this story but what happened to the Ganassi drivers? Franchitti pitted the same lap as Hildebrand but was short and had to conserve and fell out of contention and actually ran out of fuel. Dixon seemed certain he was going to make it but found at late that he was going to be short and had to save. Meanwhile, Hildebrand seemed to have the race won. He ran high in turn four, got in the marbles, hit the wall, was passed by Dan Wheldon, came home second and stopped in turn one. Dixon would soon come to stop a little behind Hildebrand out of fuel. Wheldon and Bryan Herta Autosport were the underdog team that pulled off an amazing upset. Wheldon had been passed over for a full-time ride and he wasn't going to settle for an uncompetitive ride. He got what he felt was a shot with Herta and proved that the little team could.
1995 Indianapolis 500: When Penske's two cars of 1992, 1993 and 1994 winners Emerson Fittipaldi and Al Unser Jr. failed to qualify, the race got very interesting. An early throw a monkey wrench into he race and put Jacques Villeneuve in the lead. He did not know that and passed the pass car, twice. He was then penalized two laps. Michael Andretti had led 45 laps but hit the wall when in second and another potentially great 500 ended too early for Michael. Mauricio Gugelmin led the most laps but wasn't a factor in the end. Both Jimmy Vasser and Scott Pruett ended up hitting the wall while leading and his gave Scott Goodyear the lead. On the final restart, Goodyear blew by the past car and was black flagged. This handed the lead to Jacques Villeneuve who made up both laps and held on to win the Indianapolis 500. Quick note: Hiro Matsushita finished 10th.
1993 Indianapolis 500: The race saw three World Champions battling most of day. Mario Andretti led the most laps but Emerson Fittipaldi would go on to hold off the 1990 Indianapolis 500 winner, Arie Luyendyk and Nigel Mansell for his second victory at Indianapolis. Fittipaldi was able to pass Mansell on a late restart. Raul Boesel came home fourth and Mario ended up in fifth. Only the top ten completed 500 miles with Scott Brayton, Scott Goodyear, Al Unser Jr., Teo Fabi and John Andretti rounded out the top 10. This race, as in 2011, had 23 lead changes.
1992 Indianapolis 500: Not really a great race. It was cold, lots of spins and guys in the wall, lots of caution laps as well. What we all remember is Michael Andretti slowing and losing a race he dominated. This led to a closing battle between Al Unser Jr. and Scott Goodyear that is still the closes finishes in Indianapolis 500 history.
1991 Indianapolis 500: I look at the 91, 92 and 93 races this way. In order, one was a great duel, one was a great finish, and one was a great race. 1991 saw Rick Mears on pole and Michael Andretti lead 97 laps. The final thirty laps saw these two drivers go head-to-head. One for his fourth, the other for his first. Mears made a great pass on the outside and pulled away. He joined Foyt and Unser as four time winners.
1986 Indianapolis 500: The only 500 not held on Memorial Day weekend featured Bobby Rahal, Kevin Cogan and Rick Mears end up in a late dash for he win. Michael Andretti had great day end when he needed a splash for fuel. With two laps to go, Rahal passed Cogan on the final restart and won an emotional race for Jim Trueman. Only seven drivers lead laps, they finish 1st through seventh. In order, Rahal, Cogan, Mears, Roberto Guerrero, Michael Andretti, Al Unser Jr and Emerson Fittipaldi. It was also the first Indianapolis 500 completed in under 3 hours.
1982 Indianapolis 500: A frantic start took out Kevin Cogan, Mario Andretti,damaged AJ Foyt's car and left many pointing fingers. Foyt would go on to led 32 laps but have a transmission failure end his day. Gordon Johncock and Rick Mears fought toe-to-toe and both driver led a combined 134 laps. Johncock won his second Indianapolis 500 and held off Rick Mears in what is still the third closest finish in Indianapolis 500 history.
1972 Indianapolis 500: Gary Bettenhausen was dominating when his day ended on lap 182. Jerry Grant took the lead but had to make a late pit stop. In the pits he overshot his pit, took fuel from his teammate's (Bobby Unser) pit stall. He was disqualified after 188 laps. Mark Donohue won the race after leading only the final thirteen laps and gave Roger Penske his first victory. Al Unser finished second and just missed out on a three-peat.
1963 Indianapolis 500: Parnelli Jones led 167 laps but he had a oil leak late that almost gave Jim Clark and the rear-engine car its first victory. After Eddie Sachs accident in turn three, Colin Chapman and J.C. Agajanian both argued with Harlan Fengler over whether or not Parnelli should have been shown black flagged. On the next lap around the leak had stopped Parnelli was not given the black flag and he gave Agajanian his first first 500 victory since 1952.
1961 Indianapolis 500: In the 50th anniversary of the Indianapolis 500, AJ Foyt and Eddie Sachs' duel saw both drivers going for their first Indianapolis 500 victories. On what was thought to be Foyt's final pit stop, the crew failed to get the car full of fuel and had to come in one more time. This seemed to give Sachs the win but Sachs notice that the cords were showing on his rear tires. He decided not to risk it and pitted for a tire change. AJ Foyt retook the lead and picked up his first of four Indianapolis 500s, Sachs finished second. Rodger Ward finished 3rd and led 7 laps and the top three led a combined 122 laps. Jack Brabham finished ninth in his Cooper-Climax, the first rear-engine car to race the Indianapolis 500.
1960 Indianapolis 500: This race had the most lead changes until Sunday. Jim Rathmann and Rodger Ward started 2nd and 3rd and finished 1st and 2nd after leading a combined 158 laps. Ward had to pit late for new tires. At that time, the 12.67 second margin of victory was the second closest in Indianapolis 500 history, only behind 1937 which was 2.16 seconds.
1959 Indianapolis 500: Rodger Ward beat Jim Rathmann this year and led 130 laps. He beat Jim Rathmann by 23.27 seconds. 3rd place Johnny Thomson finished about 50 seconds after Ward after lead 40 laps. The top three led a combined 189 laps.
Quick note: Most of these races are before my time. While I did not get to see these races live in person, I have gone back and watched as many race as I can and use the knowledge gain through seeing those races, stories heard and box scores. This is just for fun I do not mean to cause a stir if you fell that I am missing something or forgot a race. Please fell free to comment or tweet me (@4theloveofindy) if you have an opinion. Look for part two, pre-World War II tomorrow.
2011 Indianapolis 500: I start with last year's race because it was actually I pretty great race. 23 lead changes among 10 drivers and thrilling closing laps were aided by the double-file restarts. It was a fuel mileage race but the 100th anniversary race saw the lead change five times in th final 30 laps. Scott Dixon led the most laps and took the lead from Graham Rahal on lap 172. Dixon still had to make one more pit stop but it seemed things would cycle back around in favor of him and his teammate Dario Franchitti. Dixon's pitstop gave Danica Patrick the lead with 21 to go. In what was her final Indianapolis 500 as a full-time driver, Patrick was in a position to finally win at Indianapolis and becoming the first women to win the race but she was short on fuel and choose to pit. This gave the lead to one-off Bertrand Baguette. The Belgian was thought to be the worst possible for the storyline for this race. An unknown, driving for the then part-time team Rahal-Letterman Racing was in position where a late-race caution would all but guarantee him victory. However he was stretching his fuel mileage as well and pitted with three laps to go. This handed the lead to JR Hildebrand who seemed confident with fuel. We know the end of this story but what happened to the Ganassi drivers? Franchitti pitted the same lap as Hildebrand but was short and had to conserve and fell out of contention and actually ran out of fuel. Dixon seemed certain he was going to make it but found at late that he was going to be short and had to save. Meanwhile, Hildebrand seemed to have the race won. He ran high in turn four, got in the marbles, hit the wall, was passed by Dan Wheldon, came home second and stopped in turn one. Dixon would soon come to stop a little behind Hildebrand out of fuel. Wheldon and Bryan Herta Autosport were the underdog team that pulled off an amazing upset. Wheldon had been passed over for a full-time ride and he wasn't going to settle for an uncompetitive ride. He got what he felt was a shot with Herta and proved that the little team could.
1995 Indianapolis 500: When Penske's two cars of 1992, 1993 and 1994 winners Emerson Fittipaldi and Al Unser Jr. failed to qualify, the race got very interesting. An early throw a monkey wrench into he race and put Jacques Villeneuve in the lead. He did not know that and passed the pass car, twice. He was then penalized two laps. Michael Andretti had led 45 laps but hit the wall when in second and another potentially great 500 ended too early for Michael. Mauricio Gugelmin led the most laps but wasn't a factor in the end. Both Jimmy Vasser and Scott Pruett ended up hitting the wall while leading and his gave Scott Goodyear the lead. On the final restart, Goodyear blew by the past car and was black flagged. This handed the lead to Jacques Villeneuve who made up both laps and held on to win the Indianapolis 500. Quick note: Hiro Matsushita finished 10th.
1993 Indianapolis 500: The race saw three World Champions battling most of day. Mario Andretti led the most laps but Emerson Fittipaldi would go on to hold off the 1990 Indianapolis 500 winner, Arie Luyendyk and Nigel Mansell for his second victory at Indianapolis. Fittipaldi was able to pass Mansell on a late restart. Raul Boesel came home fourth and Mario ended up in fifth. Only the top ten completed 500 miles with Scott Brayton, Scott Goodyear, Al Unser Jr., Teo Fabi and John Andretti rounded out the top 10. This race, as in 2011, had 23 lead changes.
1992 Indianapolis 500: Not really a great race. It was cold, lots of spins and guys in the wall, lots of caution laps as well. What we all remember is Michael Andretti slowing and losing a race he dominated. This led to a closing battle between Al Unser Jr. and Scott Goodyear that is still the closes finishes in Indianapolis 500 history.
1991 Indianapolis 500: I look at the 91, 92 and 93 races this way. In order, one was a great duel, one was a great finish, and one was a great race. 1991 saw Rick Mears on pole and Michael Andretti lead 97 laps. The final thirty laps saw these two drivers go head-to-head. One for his fourth, the other for his first. Mears made a great pass on the outside and pulled away. He joined Foyt and Unser as four time winners.
1986 Indianapolis 500: The only 500 not held on Memorial Day weekend featured Bobby Rahal, Kevin Cogan and Rick Mears end up in a late dash for he win. Michael Andretti had great day end when he needed a splash for fuel. With two laps to go, Rahal passed Cogan on the final restart and won an emotional race for Jim Trueman. Only seven drivers lead laps, they finish 1st through seventh. In order, Rahal, Cogan, Mears, Roberto Guerrero, Michael Andretti, Al Unser Jr and Emerson Fittipaldi. It was also the first Indianapolis 500 completed in under 3 hours.
1982 Indianapolis 500: A frantic start took out Kevin Cogan, Mario Andretti,damaged AJ Foyt's car and left many pointing fingers. Foyt would go on to led 32 laps but have a transmission failure end his day. Gordon Johncock and Rick Mears fought toe-to-toe and both driver led a combined 134 laps. Johncock won his second Indianapolis 500 and held off Rick Mears in what is still the third closest finish in Indianapolis 500 history.
1972 Indianapolis 500: Gary Bettenhausen was dominating when his day ended on lap 182. Jerry Grant took the lead but had to make a late pit stop. In the pits he overshot his pit, took fuel from his teammate's (Bobby Unser) pit stall. He was disqualified after 188 laps. Mark Donohue won the race after leading only the final thirteen laps and gave Roger Penske his first victory. Al Unser finished second and just missed out on a three-peat.
1963 Indianapolis 500: Parnelli Jones led 167 laps but he had a oil leak late that almost gave Jim Clark and the rear-engine car its first victory. After Eddie Sachs accident in turn three, Colin Chapman and J.C. Agajanian both argued with Harlan Fengler over whether or not Parnelli should have been shown black flagged. On the next lap around the leak had stopped Parnelli was not given the black flag and he gave Agajanian his first first 500 victory since 1952.
1961 Indianapolis 500: In the 50th anniversary of the Indianapolis 500, AJ Foyt and Eddie Sachs' duel saw both drivers going for their first Indianapolis 500 victories. On what was thought to be Foyt's final pit stop, the crew failed to get the car full of fuel and had to come in one more time. This seemed to give Sachs the win but Sachs notice that the cords were showing on his rear tires. He decided not to risk it and pitted for a tire change. AJ Foyt retook the lead and picked up his first of four Indianapolis 500s, Sachs finished second. Rodger Ward finished 3rd and led 7 laps and the top three led a combined 122 laps. Jack Brabham finished ninth in his Cooper-Climax, the first rear-engine car to race the Indianapolis 500.
1960 Indianapolis 500: This race had the most lead changes until Sunday. Jim Rathmann and Rodger Ward started 2nd and 3rd and finished 1st and 2nd after leading a combined 158 laps. Ward had to pit late for new tires. At that time, the 12.67 second margin of victory was the second closest in Indianapolis 500 history, only behind 1937 which was 2.16 seconds.
1959 Indianapolis 500: Rodger Ward beat Jim Rathmann this year and led 130 laps. He beat Jim Rathmann by 23.27 seconds. 3rd place Johnny Thomson finished about 50 seconds after Ward after lead 40 laps. The top three led a combined 189 laps.
Quick note: Most of these races are before my time. While I did not get to see these races live in person, I have gone back and watched as many race as I can and use the knowledge gain through seeing those races, stories heard and box scores. This is just for fun I do not mean to cause a stir if you fell that I am missing something or forgot a race. Please fell free to comment or tweet me (@4theloveofindy) if you have an opinion. Look for part two, pre-World War II tomorrow.
Sunday, May 27, 2012
33 Thoughts After the Indianapolis 500
After having sometime to think about it, here are some thoughts I have:
1. Rest of 2012 is going to be great.
2. Thank God we have four consecutive races after Indianapolis this year.
3. Three of the four are ovals.
4. Two are short tracks.
5. I really hope the following drivers get a break in 2012 (in no particular order): Marco Andretti, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Takuma Sato, Ed Carpenter, Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing, Tony Kanaan.
6. Great to see Susie Wheldon at the track. She has a wonderful group of supporters there for her.
7. Rubinho looks to be the favorite for Rookie of The Year. If they award was for the whole month I would have Rubinho and Josef Newgarden split it. Newgarden had a hell of a month but the race doesn't show it.
8. Does the new car really need push-to-pass at all?
9. How can we make bleacher cooler?
10. Will different aero kits produce racing where driver can pull away from one another?
11. Oriol Servia had a great day and one has to think he will be a factor at other races in 2012.
12. If Servia can do that with a Chevrolet, imagine what Bourdais can do with it especially on a road course.
13. Bryan Clauson had a rough day but it was his first career IndyCar race. Can't write the kid off after one race. I hope he gets a shot at Milwaukee and Iowa, if not the rest of the ovals.
14. The Lotus situation wasn't that big of an issue. They ran, they were black flagged before they became a hazard.
15. Michel Jourdain Jr. held his own. Speaking of Jourdain, what is the latest with Luca Filippi and the second Rahal-Letterman-Lanigan ride?
16. Justin Wilson and Dale Coyne Racing finished 7th. 15 to 20 years ago if I had told you Dale Coyne would have a top 10 car at Indianapolis and be in a position late to win the race, besides the fact they were apart of CART and the series were split, you would have laughed in my face.
17. The start of the race was magnificent.
18. Double-file restarts would have made things interesting considering how thrilling they were this year as single-file.
19. When will somebody give Townsend Bell a full-time ride?
20. ABC actually did a good job for once. I was truly impressed. Marty Reid did well, so did Scott Goodyear and I would like to see Eddie Cheever in the booth for all ABC races.
21. The live in-car cameras from the WatchESPN app gave me a chance to actually walk around the house and not miss the race.
22. New car did a great job with those heavy impacts today.
23. Add Mike Conway and AJ Foyt to those who deserve a break.
24. I am going to miss listening to Donald Davidson every night.
25. Now we have two drivers going for a fourth victory.
26. I think Franchitti is more likely to do it than Castroneves.
27. Will we see Ana Beatriz, Sebastian Saavedra or Wade Cunningham again in 2012? We probably won't but tomorrow never knows.
28. Will be interesting to see what the ratings are.
29. For those who did not watch the race it is their loss.
30. I hope Jim Nabors returns next year.
31. Charlie Kimball had a great month and race and deserves a little more respect.
32. Kind of an off-shoot of #29, if anybody had a problem with today's race or did not enjoy it then I don't know what to tell you. It was exciting. A lot of great racing, record number of lead changes and if that doesn't do it for you I don't know what to say.
33. 364 days until the 97th Indianapolis 500.
1. Rest of 2012 is going to be great.
2. Thank God we have four consecutive races after Indianapolis this year.
3. Three of the four are ovals.
4. Two are short tracks.
5. I really hope the following drivers get a break in 2012 (in no particular order): Marco Andretti, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Takuma Sato, Ed Carpenter, Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing, Tony Kanaan.
6. Great to see Susie Wheldon at the track. She has a wonderful group of supporters there for her.
7. Rubinho looks to be the favorite for Rookie of The Year. If they award was for the whole month I would have Rubinho and Josef Newgarden split it. Newgarden had a hell of a month but the race doesn't show it.
8. Does the new car really need push-to-pass at all?
9. How can we make bleacher cooler?
10. Will different aero kits produce racing where driver can pull away from one another?
11. Oriol Servia had a great day and one has to think he will be a factor at other races in 2012.
12. If Servia can do that with a Chevrolet, imagine what Bourdais can do with it especially on a road course.
13. Bryan Clauson had a rough day but it was his first career IndyCar race. Can't write the kid off after one race. I hope he gets a shot at Milwaukee and Iowa, if not the rest of the ovals.
14. The Lotus situation wasn't that big of an issue. They ran, they were black flagged before they became a hazard.
15. Michel Jourdain Jr. held his own. Speaking of Jourdain, what is the latest with Luca Filippi and the second Rahal-Letterman-Lanigan ride?
16. Justin Wilson and Dale Coyne Racing finished 7th. 15 to 20 years ago if I had told you Dale Coyne would have a top 10 car at Indianapolis and be in a position late to win the race, besides the fact they were apart of CART and the series were split, you would have laughed in my face.
17. The start of the race was magnificent.
18. Double-file restarts would have made things interesting considering how thrilling they were this year as single-file.
19. When will somebody give Townsend Bell a full-time ride?
20. ABC actually did a good job for once. I was truly impressed. Marty Reid did well, so did Scott Goodyear and I would like to see Eddie Cheever in the booth for all ABC races.
21. The live in-car cameras from the WatchESPN app gave me a chance to actually walk around the house and not miss the race.
22. New car did a great job with those heavy impacts today.
23. Add Mike Conway and AJ Foyt to those who deserve a break.
24. I am going to miss listening to Donald Davidson every night.
25. Now we have two drivers going for a fourth victory.
26. I think Franchitti is more likely to do it than Castroneves.
27. Will we see Ana Beatriz, Sebastian Saavedra or Wade Cunningham again in 2012? We probably won't but tomorrow never knows.
28. Will be interesting to see what the ratings are.
29. For those who did not watch the race it is their loss.
30. I hope Jim Nabors returns next year.
31. Charlie Kimball had a great month and race and deserves a little more respect.
32. Kind of an off-shoot of #29, if anybody had a problem with today's race or did not enjoy it then I don't know what to tell you. It was exciting. A lot of great racing, record number of lead changes and if that doesn't do it for you I don't know what to say.
33. 364 days until the 97th Indianapolis 500.
Dario Franchitti wins the Indianapolis 500
Dario Franchitti joins Dan Wheldon as the second driver to win the Indianapolis 500 from the 16th starting position. After a thrilling, action-packed race, Franchitti and Honda turned around the month of May today. Franchitti battled back after an incident on their first pit stop to pass Tony Kanaan on the final restart and hold off a hard charging Takuma Sato and Scott Dixon. Franchitti joins Louis Meyer, Wilbur Shaw, Mauri Rose, Johnny Rutherford, Bobby Unser and Helio Castroneves as three time winners.
With a finish reminiscent of 1989, Franchitti gives Honda their ninth straight victory in the Indianapolis 500. Scott Dixon made it a Ganassi 1-2 and Tony Kanaan managed a 3rd. Oriol Servia had an amazing drive up to 4th and pole-sitter Ryan Briscoe came home in 5th. James Hinchcliffe took 6th with Justin Wilson, Charlie Kimball, Townsend Bell and Helio Castroneves rounding out the top 10. Rubens Barrichello was the highest finishing rookie in 11th with Alex Tagliani, Graham Rahal, JR Hildebrand, James Jakes and Simon Pagenaud rounding out the driver who completed 200 laps. Takuma Sato ended up 17th. Ed Carpenter had a late spin cost him a great finish and Marco Andretti had an accident that took him out of contention while battling with Servia for 8th. Josef Newgarden's first Indianapolis 500 did not go well and ended up 25th. Will Power took a hard hit early in the race and was out before halfway. Bryan Clauson had a early spin and ended up 30th. All results are unofficial.
Stay tuned, more to come.
With a finish reminiscent of 1989, Franchitti gives Honda their ninth straight victory in the Indianapolis 500. Scott Dixon made it a Ganassi 1-2 and Tony Kanaan managed a 3rd. Oriol Servia had an amazing drive up to 4th and pole-sitter Ryan Briscoe came home in 5th. James Hinchcliffe took 6th with Justin Wilson, Charlie Kimball, Townsend Bell and Helio Castroneves rounding out the top 10. Rubens Barrichello was the highest finishing rookie in 11th with Alex Tagliani, Graham Rahal, JR Hildebrand, James Jakes and Simon Pagenaud rounding out the driver who completed 200 laps. Takuma Sato ended up 17th. Ed Carpenter had a late spin cost him a great finish and Marco Andretti had an accident that took him out of contention while battling with Servia for 8th. Josef Newgarden's first Indianapolis 500 did not go well and ended up 25th. Will Power took a hard hit early in the race and was out before halfway. Bryan Clauson had a early spin and ended up 30th. All results are unofficial.
Stay tuned, more to come.
Morning Warm-Up: 96th Indianapolis 500
Here we are. Race day. We have been waiting one year for this day to come again. It is the fifth round of the 2012 Izod IndyCar Season and the first of five oval races this year. This is also the first of a five consecutive race stretch. Today calls for some of the hottest temperatures in the history of the Indianapolis 500 and with the new engines, today may become a true race of attrition. Of the thirty-three drivers, three are past winners of this race and have a combined six Indianapolis 500 wins between them. Helio Castroneves has a chance to become the fourth man to win four Indianapolis 500s, joining AJ Foyt, Al Unser and Rick Mears. Castroneves' win in 2002 is to date the last Indianapolis 500 victory for Chevrolet. Dario Franchitti won in 2007 and 2010 but won both those races were from 3rd on the grid, today he starts 16th. The only driver to win from 16th position, Dan Wheldon in 2005. Today is also May 27th. The last time the Indianapolis 500 was on the 27th of May was 2007. Scott Dixon will start a position ahead of his teammate fom the outside of row 5. Last winner from 15th was Graham Hill back in 1966. This is Dixon's worst starting position in the Indianapolis 500.
Like Castroneves, pole-sitter Ryan Briscoe and points leader Will Power look to give Roger Penske his 16th Indianapolis 500 victory, 40 years after Mark Donohue won Penske his first. Nine Americans are in this year's race with three drivers starting in the top ten. Andretti Autosport teammates Ryan Hunter-Reay and Marco Andretti start 3rd and 4th, with their Canadian teammate of James Hinchcliffe starting in the middle of row 1. Rookie Josef Newgarden was the highest qualifying Honda and will start 7th. Ganassi teammates Graham Rahal and Charlie Kimball start 12th and 14th, both ahead of their veteran Ganassi teammates. Last year's runner-up J.R. Hildebrand starts from the 18th position and Townsend Bell will start from the 20th. Ed Carpenter and rookie Bryan Clauson both had pole day accidents that forced them to be second day qualifiers. Carpenter starts 28th and Clauson 31st after a conservative run just to get the car in the field.
Rubens Barrichello starts 10th for his first career oval race and starts behind his other two KV Racing Technology teammates. Tony Kanaan starts 8th and E.J. Viso 9th. Ana Beatriz was the best of the Indianapolis part-timers and will start 13th for Andretti Autosport.
After a week and a half of practice, many think today will be another great race after a very exciting string of road and street courses to start the season. The new car punches a much larger hole in the air than before making for better drafting and probably more passing during the race. Firestone has done a phenomenal with tire selection in 2012. I hope we see a fantastic race and we all enjoy this Memorial Day weekend.
Like Castroneves, pole-sitter Ryan Briscoe and points leader Will Power look to give Roger Penske his 16th Indianapolis 500 victory, 40 years after Mark Donohue won Penske his first. Nine Americans are in this year's race with three drivers starting in the top ten. Andretti Autosport teammates Ryan Hunter-Reay and Marco Andretti start 3rd and 4th, with their Canadian teammate of James Hinchcliffe starting in the middle of row 1. Rookie Josef Newgarden was the highest qualifying Honda and will start 7th. Ganassi teammates Graham Rahal and Charlie Kimball start 12th and 14th, both ahead of their veteran Ganassi teammates. Last year's runner-up J.R. Hildebrand starts from the 18th position and Townsend Bell will start from the 20th. Ed Carpenter and rookie Bryan Clauson both had pole day accidents that forced them to be second day qualifiers. Carpenter starts 28th and Clauson 31st after a conservative run just to get the car in the field.
Rubens Barrichello starts 10th for his first career oval race and starts behind his other two KV Racing Technology teammates. Tony Kanaan starts 8th and E.J. Viso 9th. Ana Beatriz was the best of the Indianapolis part-timers and will start 13th for Andretti Autosport.
After a week and a half of practice, many think today will be another great race after a very exciting string of road and street courses to start the season. The new car punches a much larger hole in the air than before making for better drafting and probably more passing during the race. Firestone has done a phenomenal with tire selection in 2012. I hope we see a fantastic race and we all enjoy this Memorial Day weekend.
Saturday, May 26, 2012
The Social Media Impact of the Indianapolis 500
After winning The Masters on April 8th, knowledge and popularity of Bubba Watson exploded and his amount of Twitter followers showed. He doubled his total in just one week and is currently sitting at 590,078 followers. The Masters is arguably the biggest golf tournament in the world.
That got me wondering. How many Twitter followers can the Indianapolis 500 winner gain? It is arguably the biggest race in the world. The event has many internationally and nationally known drivers and names but how will winning the race increase a drivers following on Twitter.
Whether a driver gains 250,000 followers or not does not really matter to the diehards and it really does matter to me either. But we live in a social media world. People are on Twitter and Facebook constantly, from sunrise to sunset and one of IndyCar's partners, ABC/ESPN, uses Twitter in almost everyone of their programs today. Many things factor into this massive increase of Twitter followers though. Watson beat Louis Oosthuizen in a playoff after an exciting final round. If the Indianapolis 500 winners walks away with the race by leading 174 laps and laps the field will the impact be positive? Will people praise a dominating performance or think the race was boring? Another factor into Watson's rise on Twitter has to be the fact he is an American. Social media is without a doubt most used by Americans and I am sure Americans want to see an American in victory lane tomorrow. I think a American winner would gain more Twitter followers then most of the non-Americans if they win.
Of the 33 starters tomorrow, 32 have personally Twitter accounts (Sebastien Bourdais is the 1 not on Twitter). Here is a list of how these drivers' Twitter accounts stack up (Americans first, as of Saturday Night May 26).
1. Ryan-Hunter-Reay- 22,130 followers
2. Marco Andretti- 44,491
3. Josef Newgarden- 4,708
4. Graham Rahal- 26,532
5. Charlie Kimball- 6,045
6. J.R. Hildebrand- 13,237
7. Townsend Bell- 4,720
8. Ed Carpenter- 10,586
9. Bryan Clauson- 4,834
10. Ryan Briscoe- 23,688
11. James Hinchcliffe- 17,863
12. Will Power- 28,009
13. Helio Castroneves- 62,210
14. Tony Kanaan- 504,827
15. E.J. Viso- 18,821
16. Rubens Barrichello- 1,663,951
17. Alex Tagliani- 59,778
18. Ana Beatriz-30,713
19. Scott Dixon- 23,962
20. Dario Franchitti- 61,372
21. James Jakes- 3,513
22. Takuma Sato-12,544
23. Justin Wilson- 17,961
24. Michel Jourdain Jr.- 8,187
25. Simon Pagenaud- 5,814
26. Sebastian Saavedra- 7,703
27. Wade Cunningham- 3,371
28. Oriol Servia- 11,715
29. Mike Conway- 10,805
30. Katherine Legge- 7,015
31. Simona de Silvestro- 17,513
32. Jean Alesi- 5,499
That got me wondering. How many Twitter followers can the Indianapolis 500 winner gain? It is arguably the biggest race in the world. The event has many internationally and nationally known drivers and names but how will winning the race increase a drivers following on Twitter.
Whether a driver gains 250,000 followers or not does not really matter to the diehards and it really does matter to me either. But we live in a social media world. People are on Twitter and Facebook constantly, from sunrise to sunset and one of IndyCar's partners, ABC/ESPN, uses Twitter in almost everyone of their programs today. Many things factor into this massive increase of Twitter followers though. Watson beat Louis Oosthuizen in a playoff after an exciting final round. If the Indianapolis 500 winners walks away with the race by leading 174 laps and laps the field will the impact be positive? Will people praise a dominating performance or think the race was boring? Another factor into Watson's rise on Twitter has to be the fact he is an American. Social media is without a doubt most used by Americans and I am sure Americans want to see an American in victory lane tomorrow. I think a American winner would gain more Twitter followers then most of the non-Americans if they win.
Of the 33 starters tomorrow, 32 have personally Twitter accounts (Sebastien Bourdais is the 1 not on Twitter). Here is a list of how these drivers' Twitter accounts stack up (Americans first, as of Saturday Night May 26).
1. Ryan-Hunter-Reay- 22,130 followers
2. Marco Andretti- 44,491
3. Josef Newgarden- 4,708
4. Graham Rahal- 26,532
5. Charlie Kimball- 6,045
6. J.R. Hildebrand- 13,237
7. Townsend Bell- 4,720
8. Ed Carpenter- 10,586
9. Bryan Clauson- 4,834
10. Ryan Briscoe- 23,688
11. James Hinchcliffe- 17,863
12. Will Power- 28,009
13. Helio Castroneves- 62,210
14. Tony Kanaan- 504,827
15. E.J. Viso- 18,821
16. Rubens Barrichello- 1,663,951
17. Alex Tagliani- 59,778
18. Ana Beatriz-30,713
19. Scott Dixon- 23,962
20. Dario Franchitti- 61,372
21. James Jakes- 3,513
22. Takuma Sato-12,544
23. Justin Wilson- 17,961
24. Michel Jourdain Jr.- 8,187
25. Simon Pagenaud- 5,814
26. Sebastian Saavedra- 7,703
27. Wade Cunningham- 3,371
28. Oriol Servia- 11,715
29. Mike Conway- 10,805
30. Katherine Legge- 7,015
31. Simona de Silvestro- 17,513
32. Jean Alesi- 5,499
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