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.
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