It may have been the premier weekend for racing in this country but it was not exactly gripping material. Hours spent on the couch Sunday and Monday were better for catching up on sleep after a trip to California over the weekend.
A good script witnessed Helio Castroneves complete his fantastic month of May, complete with pole, fastest on Carb Day and winning the Pit Stop competition, with his third Indianapolis 500 win. It was really never in doubt after the final couple restarts and the Ganassi boys and Helio's part-time teammate Will Power fell out of contention on pit stops.
He was emotional. Security officials and likely Brian Barnhart giving the command were opposed to his trademark fence climbing post-victory. Common sense won out though and Helio was able to breathe the life back as the notorious yellow shirts were trying to suck it out.
Props to great runs for Wheldon, Danica, Townsend Bell and Power, and a tip of the cap to Alex Tagliani who made something out of Conquest's Bump Day muck-up, who came from 33rd to 11th and secured Rookie-of-the-Year honors.
Not that we saw any of those passes, mind you. Or the fact Bell came from 24th to 4th - twice - because of a bad pit stop that dropped most of the positions early in the race.
The coverage we got was substandard from ABC, as could be expected given there was not much in the way of promotion or any pre-Indy races on ABC. Naturally ABC fixated on the leaders and Danica - their trademark - but failed to show any of the passing that existed.
Instead it was a barrage of ads, car volume louder than the announcers, and a failure to focus on anyone outside the top three. The result? The likely lowest ratings for the 500, ever. That's not good and subpar for the series' premier race. Payouts like over $3 million for Castroneves (what he collected for the win, most of it likely to go to the IRS and his attorneys) ensure the 500 eclipses all else in the series and makes it a one-trick pony in poor health.
Earlier in the day Jenson Button led another 1-2 for Brawn GP in Monaco. It's Monaco and passing was nil. Ferrari looked to be back on track with a 3-4, Kimi apparently deciding to care this week.
The Coke 600 was rain-delayed until Monday and even then had several interruptions before it was called early creating an unlikely first-time winner in David Reutimann.
All told, not the best weekend of racing. Worth noting after Vitor Meira's terrible hit at Indy that the unlucky Brazilian (he was also on fire in the pits), he is out for the season and Paul Tracy will run at Milwaukee for A.J. Foyt in Meira's place. I'll be there to witness one of the most bizarre pairings in racing, if not in sport, ever.
Out for now, cheers.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Monday, May 18, 2009
A sad indictment of modern day IndyCar racing
There were any number of good and bad stories as could be expected from today's Bump Day qualifying at Indianapolis. I ran back and forth between my home computer covering the ALMS race from Salt Lake City and the TV watching qualifying, and the last half hour was when things especially heated up.
A great day quickly turned sour for Alex Tagliani at the final gun, and in the aftermath that followed.
Chief protagonists on the day were both Conquest Racing entries, three of the four from Dreyer & Reinbold and the Vision Racing entry of IZOD poster boy Ryan Hunter-Reay who'd been lacking speed all month. Conditions had improved drastically from Saturday and drivers were able to find at least one if not more mph for four-lap runs - witnessed at their earliest when both Nelson Philippe and Milka Duno (D&R) made drastic improvements.
Shortly thereafter Bruno Junqueira, one of open-wheel's most underappreciated and underrated great drivers of the last decade, hopped in a car for the first time all month and after merely 11 practice laps stuck his Conquest #36 entry in the show at 221.1 mph. He was good to go.
His teammate Tagliani, an Indianapolis rookie though he entered CART in 2000, had a reasonably safe 220.5 average from Saturday that was good for 26th on the grid. It was fourth quick yesterday but as conditions improved, suddenly vulnerable today.
Many drivers withdrew their times from yesterday in an attempt to go faster - Tomas Scheckter and Mike Conway (D&R) were the two fastest of those.
But as the final minutes clicked off, Conquest opted to take Tagliani out of the qualifying line not once but twice. Both Buddy Lazier and Stanton Barrett wasted everyone's time with failed attempts after neither was within reach of the necessary speeds.
John Andretti (D&R with Richard Petty) suddenly found speed he'd been searching for to get one of the most discussed entries, the Richard Petty co-owned #43, into the field of 33. And that suddenly put Tag on the bubble with his Saturday time.
Hunter-Reay was just bumped by Andretti. Needless to say, he had no excuse to be in this position. His final run eclipsed Tag by thismuch, and just like that he was in and Tag was out. Out of nowhere.
Tag looked on the verge of tears and that mental image of him putting his gloves in his eyes will stick for a long time. It hurt. He's been doing this for years and this was his first shot at Indy.
The sick feeling was worsened because everyone knew this wasn't his fault. Conquest made the unfathomable decision - and Eric Bachelart's explanation was suspect at best afterwards - to not secure Tag's place further even though he had ran 221.6 or so in practice and could have easily stuck it in.
And both cars, with sponsorship, would have been in the field and suddenly RHR would have been on the outskirts. And that would have opened another can of worms entirely.
That's Indy. And then money talked, as it always does.
Late word came in that Bachelart had decided to replace Bruno with Tag aboard the #36 car. So not only had Tag experienced the excruciating heartbreak of not qualifying, but now he will make his Indy debut in inglorious circumstances by knocking out a driver who came back from a seven-month layoff to actually get in the show.
Conquest has run on an incredibly tight budget for years. Tag's car has had a lot of Canadian backers for this race and quite honestly the team's further participation in the championship was hingent on Tag being in the field. It's the worst possible outcome for both driver and team. But it was inevitable.
Robin Miller talked to Junqueira after the decision came down and Bruno - who apparently has driven for hamburgers and hot dogs the last two years, not a paycheck - said half the field is paying drivers. That's no shock.
It is a further public indictment of modern IndyCar racing that money dictates not just who runs the whole season - which is almost reduced to a pittance in comparison to Indianapolis (and the payout is worse, too) - but now the Indianapolis 500 as well.
Despite all the changes, and despite everything that has reduced the luster and the longing for what existed in the past, it was still a very compelling Bump Day today and the fastest 33 qualified. It just ended poorly.
Tag has to be sick at making his debut at Indy this way. Junqueira deserves much better. Hunter-Reay should make sure to add Conquest, Lazier, and Barrett to his Christmas card list for their roles in Bump Day, otherwise he'd be the one watching on the couch, and his story is now cleverly overlooked with the Conquest debacle.
This was one of the major stories of what was a busy weekend of racing. Owner-driver Tony Stewart scored a popular win in NASCAR's All-Star race, the de Ferran Acura cruised at Utah in ALMS, GAINSCO scored the win in Rolex at Laguna.
Elsewhere there was Jorge Lorenzo winning the MotoGP round at Le Mans (hey, I'll BE THERE in three weeks!), Tom Kristensen scoring in DTM and Simona De Silvestro winning her second Atlantic race ever at Utah. A weak field yes, but still two more than Danica. Just saying.
Articles from this weekend's coverage at Salt Lake City, UT for ALMS:
http://www.motorsport.com/news/article.asp?ID=328360&FS=ALMS (Sunday Race)
http://www.motorsport.com/news/article.asp?ID=328103&FS=ALMS (Saturday Qualifying)
Racing's weekend in the sun - Memorial Day weekend - is next weekend with Indy, Monaco, and Charlotte. Until then, cheers.
A great day quickly turned sour for Alex Tagliani at the final gun, and in the aftermath that followed.
Chief protagonists on the day were both Conquest Racing entries, three of the four from Dreyer & Reinbold and the Vision Racing entry of IZOD poster boy Ryan Hunter-Reay who'd been lacking speed all month. Conditions had improved drastically from Saturday and drivers were able to find at least one if not more mph for four-lap runs - witnessed at their earliest when both Nelson Philippe and Milka Duno (D&R) made drastic improvements.
Shortly thereafter Bruno Junqueira, one of open-wheel's most underappreciated and underrated great drivers of the last decade, hopped in a car for the first time all month and after merely 11 practice laps stuck his Conquest #36 entry in the show at 221.1 mph. He was good to go.
His teammate Tagliani, an Indianapolis rookie though he entered CART in 2000, had a reasonably safe 220.5 average from Saturday that was good for 26th on the grid. It was fourth quick yesterday but as conditions improved, suddenly vulnerable today.
Many drivers withdrew their times from yesterday in an attempt to go faster - Tomas Scheckter and Mike Conway (D&R) were the two fastest of those.
But as the final minutes clicked off, Conquest opted to take Tagliani out of the qualifying line not once but twice. Both Buddy Lazier and Stanton Barrett wasted everyone's time with failed attempts after neither was within reach of the necessary speeds.
John Andretti (D&R with Richard Petty) suddenly found speed he'd been searching for to get one of the most discussed entries, the Richard Petty co-owned #43, into the field of 33. And that suddenly put Tag on the bubble with his Saturday time.
Hunter-Reay was just bumped by Andretti. Needless to say, he had no excuse to be in this position. His final run eclipsed Tag by thismuch, and just like that he was in and Tag was out. Out of nowhere.
Tag looked on the verge of tears and that mental image of him putting his gloves in his eyes will stick for a long time. It hurt. He's been doing this for years and this was his first shot at Indy.
The sick feeling was worsened because everyone knew this wasn't his fault. Conquest made the unfathomable decision - and Eric Bachelart's explanation was suspect at best afterwards - to not secure Tag's place further even though he had ran 221.6 or so in practice and could have easily stuck it in.
And both cars, with sponsorship, would have been in the field and suddenly RHR would have been on the outskirts. And that would have opened another can of worms entirely.
That's Indy. And then money talked, as it always does.
Late word came in that Bachelart had decided to replace Bruno with Tag aboard the #36 car. So not only had Tag experienced the excruciating heartbreak of not qualifying, but now he will make his Indy debut in inglorious circumstances by knocking out a driver who came back from a seven-month layoff to actually get in the show.
Conquest has run on an incredibly tight budget for years. Tag's car has had a lot of Canadian backers for this race and quite honestly the team's further participation in the championship was hingent on Tag being in the field. It's the worst possible outcome for both driver and team. But it was inevitable.
Robin Miller talked to Junqueira after the decision came down and Bruno - who apparently has driven for hamburgers and hot dogs the last two years, not a paycheck - said half the field is paying drivers. That's no shock.
It is a further public indictment of modern IndyCar racing that money dictates not just who runs the whole season - which is almost reduced to a pittance in comparison to Indianapolis (and the payout is worse, too) - but now the Indianapolis 500 as well.
Despite all the changes, and despite everything that has reduced the luster and the longing for what existed in the past, it was still a very compelling Bump Day today and the fastest 33 qualified. It just ended poorly.
Tag has to be sick at making his debut at Indy this way. Junqueira deserves much better. Hunter-Reay should make sure to add Conquest, Lazier, and Barrett to his Christmas card list for their roles in Bump Day, otherwise he'd be the one watching on the couch, and his story is now cleverly overlooked with the Conquest debacle.
This was one of the major stories of what was a busy weekend of racing. Owner-driver Tony Stewart scored a popular win in NASCAR's All-Star race, the de Ferran Acura cruised at Utah in ALMS, GAINSCO scored the win in Rolex at Laguna.
Elsewhere there was Jorge Lorenzo winning the MotoGP round at Le Mans (hey, I'll BE THERE in three weeks!), Tom Kristensen scoring in DTM and Simona De Silvestro winning her second Atlantic race ever at Utah. A weak field yes, but still two more than Danica. Just saying.
Articles from this weekend's coverage at Salt Lake City, UT for ALMS:
http://www.motorsport.com/news/article.asp?ID=328360&FS=ALMS (Sunday Race)
http://www.motorsport.com/news/article.asp?ID=328103&FS=ALMS (Saturday Qualifying)
Racing's weekend in the sun - Memorial Day weekend - is next weekend with Indy, Monaco, and Charlotte. Until then, cheers.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)