It was a good race this year! Lots of passing, lots of lead changes, and nobody knew who was going to win until the last lap. In all, a very exciting race.
Smaller Crowds: The Civil War continues
Attendance was almost certainly down again, as it has been every year since
the Civil War started in 1996. Indianapolis Motor Speedway does not release
attendance figures, but:
Now, I hate the Indycar Civil War as much as the next guy, but there are SOME advantages to the smaller crowds:
We were able to trade up for some REALLY good Paddock seats. Front straight, on the outside, just short of the start/finish line. The scalpers were really desparate this year. We could see everything from Turn 4 to Turn 1. The only problem was that there was a roof over us, so we couldn't see the scoring pylon, so it was tough to tell who was where. We also couldn't see the B-2 or the F-14s in the pre-race flyover. OTOH, our view of the race itself was superb.
The crowds weren't so bad, so it was less trouble getting in and out, and less trouble moving around.
Parking was cheaper. Of course, we didn't need it, since we walked......
The stands looked full on TV, but that's because they tore down a large number of seats for the new Formula 1 track, and of course, Bernie Ecclestone's (evil Formula 1 dictator) throne room. :-(
Speaking of which, we actually did a "track walk" of the new Formula 1 section of the track. It's an INTERESTING course! The Formula 1 guys are going to have to get used to some passing, because even in the new section, there's a long, wide straight. This isn't going to be a very fast parade like most F-1 races. The twisty bits are quite nice too. Larry & I both want to take the RS-2600 out on the twisty part! I doubt that Tony George will let us in, though.
Gordon's Gamble
For those who didn't see it, most of the leaders pitted on the yellow flag
when Mark Dismore lost a wheel on lap 168. Robby Gordon stayed out, having
pitted on 161. We knew Gordon was going to have fuel problems. His fuel ran
out while he was leading lap 199. He had to pull into the pits on 199 for
a "splash & go".
Still, it was a worthwhile gamble. Before he took the gamble,
he was running 7th. Even though he ran out of fuel, he finished 4th.
BTW: Gordon should also get some points for running Indy even though he's a regular on the CART circuit. Another blow against the Civil War....
A good day for AJ
It was clearly a good day for ol' A.J. Foyt: his cars took first, third, and
sixth. Kenny Brack came out on top. Brack ran a good race, and he was in the
hunt from the beginning. Luyendyk and Ray may have had better cars, but they
made mistakes. Brack didn't.
It's kind of odd seeing a guy like Brack driving for A.J. Foyt. They're about as opposite personalities as you could imagine. Brack is a quiet, low-key ex-Formula 1 driver, (and a SWEDE no less!) and Foyt is the legendary hotheaded, demanding, all-American USAC-sort of guy, who never was impressed with those "foreign" forms of racing. (He drove LeMans once, won it, and never went back!!) I guess the combination worked somehow. It shouldn't be a real surprise, since Brack won the IRL series last year. The guy's good....
Billy Boat finished third in the Compaq-sponsored car. I should have worn my compaq T-shirt, maybe I could have gotten into the garage!
Good marks also for A.J.'s third driver, Robbie Buhl. He started 32nd, and finished sixth. Impressive.
Also a good show for Jeff Ward! He had a solid second place finish, and he too was in the hunt for most of the later stages of the race. It was also an impressive finish since his car was "loose" for the whole race. Last-minute sponsor Yahoo! must be quite happy. I'll bet they keep sponsoring these cars....
Arie's Last Ride
Poor old Arie Luyendyk. I'd really hoped he'd win one more before
retiring. He clearly had the best car on the track, but he screwed up trying
to pass Tyce Carlson on lap 117, and went tail first into the wall. No
injuries, other than a severely bruised ego.
Safety
There weren't many crashes. So much the better, in my book. Luyendyk,
(lap 117) Salazar, (lap 7) Schmidt (lap 62) and Dismore (lap 168) were the
only real accidents. Greg Ray's race-ending pit accident almost doesn't count.
Despite the crashes, none of the drivers were hurt. It shows that they really do take safety seriously. Arie hit the wall the hardest, but he walked away with only his ego hurt. Sadly, the same could not be said of the pit crews. Robby McGehee's crew chief, Steve Fried, got hit by Jimmy Kite. It happened right in front of us. There wasn't much Kite could have done. He pulled out of his pit, and Johnny Unser was coming in with no brakes, and bounced him into McGehee's pit, hitting Fried when he wasn't looking. It wasn't the impact with the car that hurt him, but apparently he went face first into the concrete. It was a very ugly situation, but the hospital seems to have saved his life. Unser could hardly be blamed either. He was coming in because his brakes were cooked. (they actually caught fire when he finally got to his pit! You didn't see THAT on TV. Carbon fiber rotors will burn.)
Bad day for Infiniti
It was not a good day for Infiniti. All three Infiniti powered cars in the
race blew their engines. Guerrero's engine blew up on 105, before he
could crash it. (Yeah that was a cheap shot....) 1998 '500 winner Eddie Cheever
was doing pretty well
for a while, even leading laps 121-124, but his Infiniti blew up on lap
141. Rookie (and New Jersey resident) Jeret Schroeder got his to to run the
longest, but his engine blew out on lap 171. I guess the Oldsmobile guys are
still smiling.....
Bad day for MCI & Sprint
As an AT&T employee, I have to point out that both MCI's and Sprint's cars,
(Dismore & Luyendyk respectively) hit the wall. Since there were no
injuries, I feel justified in saying to their sponsors: "HA HA!!!
LOSERS!!!" Now, if I could just convince upper management to sponsor
an AT&T car......
Wait 'til next year.....
And for next year, once again there are peace rumors in the Civil War.
Supposedly, both Al Unser Jr. and Michael Andretti have sworn that they
won't sit out Indy for another year. Seeing how badly Unser and his boss
Roger Penske are doing this year in CART, maybe they don't have as much
interest in the Civil War as they used to. Also, supposedly, the CART guys are
talking to the IRL guys, so it's THEORETICALLY possible that they might
realize that the Civil War is hurting everyone's bank account, and they might
just do something sensible. Let's hope so.
Click here for the IRL report on the race.
Click here for the track-sponsored official reports on the race.
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