Things I learned from the Firestone 550K

[anthonyvop]

Blocking will not be tolerated unless it is Danica.

Fire extinguishers are not readily available on all safety team trucks.

The single most important piece of equipment on the Safety Truck sometimes just doesn't work.

Helio, while a nice guy, thinks that everybody should just get out of his way.

2nd Place is as good as a win if it is Danica.

Every time Jack Arute is on TV I throw up a bit in my mouth.

Indy Car drivers seem to have lost the fine art of pulling into their pits.

[Scotty G.]

I learned again that these drivers in this series don't know how to start or restart a race to save their life.

They truthfully need to go to a local short track somewhere and see how its done. The pole-sitter should not be allowed to take the lead in turn 4.

Here is a simple rule for everyone that should instituted now....Jump the start and go to the back. No warnings. No "redo's".

Send em to the back of the pack, and the starts would get a whole lot better in a hurry.

[markabilly]

i thought he jumped it worse the second time, but they gave it the green....

[SarahFan]

i thought he jumped it worse the second time, but they gave it the green....


he didnt jump it.....dario didnt keep up

[SarahFan]

I learned again that these drivers in this series don't know how to start or restart a race to save their life.

They truthfully need to go to a local short track somewhere and see how its done. The pole-sitter should not be allowed to take the lead in turn 4.

Here is a simple rule for everyone that should instituted now....Jump the start and go to the back. No warnings. No "redo's".

Send em to the back of the pack, and the starts would get a whole lot better in a hurry.



its not a one way street....p2 has a responsobility to keep up....dario clearly didnt

[Scotty G.]

i thought he jumped it worse the second time, but they gave it the green....


That's because everybody knows they won't wave off a 2nd start.

The same thing happens in every oval race. The pole sitter has the lead coming to the green flag at the start-finish line.

That is plain wrong.


Watch the start of the Pocono race tomorrow afternoon and see how its supposed to be done.

[harvick#1]

Blocking will not be tolerated unless it is Danica.

Fire extinguishers are not readily available on all safety team trucks.

The single most important piece of equipment on the Safety Truck sometimes just doesn't work.

Helio, while a nice guy, thinks that everybody should just get out of his way.

2nd Place is as good as a win if it is Danica.

Every time Jack Arute is on TV I throw up a bit in my mouth.

Indy Car drivers seem to have lost the fine art of pulling into their pits.

sadly, I have to agree with you on 100% of this post

this race seemed to be like a AAA type of event, the IRL should seriously be ashamed of themselves for failing to penalize drivers blocking (I guess thats only a Indy 500 rule) and for the safety crews, WTF are you guys thinking.

Poor Ryan outraced everyone and dominated and he gets no props for his well-deserved win. instead Arute and co are going gaga for Danica

[anthonyvop]

And then people get on my case when I say the "PRODUCT IS THE PROBLEM"

[Scotty G.]

BTW, did anyone see a replay of Simona's crash?

With 26 whole cars in the race, you'd think they'd be able to keep track of all of them and have a replay of a crash.


The young pit dude needs some work. His long-winded questions during the race are awful. These team members don't want to wait 1 or 2 minutes for you to spit out your question.

I wish they'd lock Arute in the IZOD tech center and take away the key. Those segments are just plain annoying. Especially during green flag runs. He's always pointing to some screen and I have no clue what he is talking about most of the time. Just go away Jackie. You are just a shill.

I also get a kick out of the IZOD commercials, and I try to count how many drivers are not in the race that I am watching. Tonight, I counted Rahal, Hamilton and Bia. I love promoting drivers that are watching the race with the rest of America.

Not sure if Versus is actually that good or just compared to ABC they look great. Still a lot about the Versus telecasts that are pretty weak, IMO.

[Jag_Warrior]

Poor Ryan outraced everyone and dominated and he gets no props for his well-deserved win. instead Arute and co are going gaga for Danica

I'd pay a subscription fee to hear an (extended ;) ) interview with Tony Kanaan about now (before Mike Andretti tries to give him a Slushie to calm him down).

He had me screaming "preach it, brutha! preach it!!!" with the few seconds of airtime that they gave him.

The IRL doesn't do post race press conferences like F1, or do they?

[Jag_Warrior]

I wish they'd lock Arute in the IZOD tech center and take away the key. Those segments are just plain annoying. Especially during green flag runs. He's always pointing to some screen and I have no clue what he is talking about most of the time. Just go away Jackie. You are just a shill.

He's been an annoying jack-hole for years. It was either him (or one of his lackeys) that had the nerve to send me a nasty PM after I ripped him over on 7th Gear years ago. Now, do you think things got better or worse after
that? :D

You guys were right that the Versus coverage is better overall than ESPN's. But you really need a Varsha/Hobbs/Matchett type lineup in the booth (IMO). You also need some comic relief. Speed's F1 coverage has Hobbs. And NASCAR has Darrell Waltrip (who is often funny even when he doesn't mean to be). If they'd let a fan punch A-root in the face before every race, that would be pretty funny. But short of that, maybe a wise-ass in the booth would help.

[anthonyvop]

The IRL doesn't do post race press conferences like F1, or do they?

They do but it is usually to long after the race to make TV.
In F-1 the drivers are quickly shuffled off to the awards ceremony then to the press conference before a single reporter can get near them.

In the US there are reporters in the winner's circle and the winner is faced with Cameras and Mics before he is even handed the trophy. Typically it is 45mins to an hour before the top 3 press conference.

[Dr. Krogshöj]

A thing I learned from the Firestone 550K:

IndyCar racing is still entertaining.

Apologies for mentioning something positive. I didn't mean to offend other board members.

[anthonyvop]

A thing I learned from the Firestone 550K:

IndyCar racing is still entertaining.

Apologies for mentioning something positive. I didn't mean to offend other board members.


I guess it is if bias rule application, Flat out all the way around racing and a driver almost burning due to incompetence is your thing!

[drewdawg727]

I have learned that no matter how much you people complain about practically every single race this year, you still watch it.

[harvick#1]

because WE are race fans, still better than any "Stick and Ball" sport anyday

[bennybigb]

drewdawg727
I have learned that no matter how much you people complain about practically every single race this year, you still watch it.


No, we don't still watch it. I haven't been to an IndyCar race since 2007 and I've watched maybe 25 laps of IndyCar racing on TV this year and I get VS. The IRL is terrible and it hasn't gotten better. I hope this whole "Vision" finally dies. Then and only then will we maybe get back to real racing with real racing cars.

[beachbum]

Then and only then will we maybe get back to real racing with real racing cars.And what series might that be? Grand-Am, ALMS, NASCAR?

[garyshell]

drewdawg727
I have learned that no matter how much you people complain about practically every single race this year, you still watch it.


No, we don't still watch it. I haven't been to an IndyCar race since 2007 and I've watched maybe 25 laps of IndyCar racing on TV this year and I get VS. The IRL is terrible and it hasn't gotten better. I hope this whole "Vision" finally dies. Then and only then will we maybe get back to real racing with real racing cars.


Which begs the question: why are you here then? Oh wait I see, you are here to take pot shots at somethig you haven't even seen. You know it hasn't gotten any better because you have watched 25 whole laps. Makes PERFECT sense. :rotflmao:

Gary

[Jag_Warrior]

To be fair, I see that Benny has been a member here since 2001. So at one time I'm guessing he was a pretty major fan. Now while it's easy enough to tell him to not let the door hit him on the way out, with the Indy 500 getting it's lowest TV rating in history this year (after earning the same "award" last year), maybe the series (if not the remaining fans) need to ask Benny what can be done to get him back. If you can't keep the old ones, how are you going to get the new ones? That applies to the IRL, as well as me and women.

I don't know. I'm just sayin'.

[garyshell]

To be fair, I see that Benny has been a member here since 2001. So at one time I'm guessing he was a pretty major fan. Now while it's easy enough to tell him to not let the door hit him on the way out, with the Indy 500 getting it's lowest TV rating in history this year (after earning the same "award" last year), maybe the series (if not the remaining fans) need to ask Benny what can be done to get him back. If you can't keep the old ones, how are you going to get the new ones? That applies to the IRL, as well as me and women.

I don't know. I'm just sayin'.

I understand your poiint, but how can someone who has only seen 25 laps all year tell you what needs to be changed? You have to know what exists first before you can criticise it or suggest what needs to be fixed.

Gary

[Jag_Warrior]

I understand your poiint, but how can someone who has only seen 25 laps all year tell you what needs to be changed? You have to know what exists first before you can criticise it or suggest what needs to be fixed.

Gary

You make a good point there. Maybe the question to Benny, and others who have stopped watching (a number that seems to be growing unfortunately), might be, what do they want that they don't believe is there anymore?

I got into a debate with a fellow who claimed to be an F1 fan turned NASCAR fan a few weeks back on another board. He said he stopped watching the races because there's never any passing and Michael Schumacher wins all the races anyway. So I told him that over the past two or three years there have been some epic battles on track, a good deal of (meaningful) passes and that Schumacher fellow just came out of retirement, but he's not doing much so far. If he really was (or had been) an F1 fan, maybe what I said will convince him to check out a race. If not, well, he probably wasn't really going to watch the races anyway. F1 can afford to do without his love though. But the IRL is kinda like me: can't afford to forget any birthdays or insult anybody's mother these days, cause we need all the lovin' we can get. :D

[bennybigb]

Thank you Jag_Warrior. You are correct, I used to be a MAJOR fan. I went to as many races as I could and watched and recorded every race that I could not attend. I am not from Indianapolis and I know nobody in the sport, I was simply a die hard fan. I brought many of my friends to the races and I was constantly trying to sell the sport to anyone who would listen, friends, co-workers, girl friends, family members, it didn’t matter.

I grew up being a fan, Indycar racing was a huge part of my life that is why I still lurk on the forums and still occasionally watch a few laps here and there. I am still waiting for IndyCar to make a comeback, but it won’t under the current rules. The IRL product is bad, this is not an opinion it is a fact. Look at your race attendance, look at your network TV numbers, people don’t care enough about the product to watch anymore.

Almost everything that made Indycar racing great is gone. If Indycar is going to rebuild here is what I think needs to happen, we need to get back to the proven formula that made IndyCar racing great.

The engines need to be turbo charged and they need to scream. Indycars need to sound fast.

The current chassis is terrible, it is ugly and it is slow. An Indycar chassis must be sleek, it must look fast even when it is parked.

We need additional engine choices, even if we don’t have additional manufactures, we need more variety. Be it a Honda, a Cosworth, an Ilmor, a Judd, or a Menard, it doesn’t matter we just need more choices.

We need open chassis rules to allow for competing chassis. Furthermore, we also need new chassis every year. I want to know if it is a Reynard 94 or Reynard 95, it needs to be listed. I want to see a midpack driver push his 2 or 3 year old chassis past a driver with a brand new chassis, even if it’s for 15th place. Even better if that driver can score a top ten finish with an unbadged privateer engine from Judd or Menard.

We need to get ride of pack racing. Pack racing is for Nascar, not Indycar. If you enjoy pack racing you are probably a Nascar fan and wouldn’t bother with an Indycar race anyway.

We need to get back to our traditional race tracks: Michigan, Cleveland, Road America, Laguna Seca, Portland, Milwaukee (the week after Indy!) I am sure I am missing a lot of others.

We need unbiased TV reporting. I hate the IRL cheerleading that goes on in the booth. If the call was bad, then say so. If Danica sucked in qualifying, then say it. If Ed Carpenter is a rent a rider, then say it. Don’t be an IRL cheerleader, I don’t want to watch a 2 hour long infomercial on how great the IRL is, talk about the good things and talk about the bad things. Don’t give Jack Arute or Scott Goodyear a microphone.

Please Please Please include Champ Car and CART and USAC stats in your record book. Why ignore Mario Andretti and Rick Mears and Emerson and Al Unser and Danny Sullivan, these are the guys that made your sport, and now you are going to ignore them????

Finally, please stop using the term IRL. The IRL signifies the complete destruction of the sport that so many people loved. People know what an Indycar is, but they don’t know what an IRL car is, and if they do know what an IRL car is, they are probably not impressed with it.

Feel free to flame away, I am sure many of you don’t agree with me, as you are still fans. But I am speaking for many of the fans that have left your sport. If you want to get some of the old fans back, I’d work on the above shortcomings of the league, otherwise here's to a new Indy 500 ratings record in 2011!

Thank you for your time,

Ben Beckwith
Indy Car fan from 1988 to 2008

[Mark in Oshawa]

And then people get on my case when I say the "PRODUCT IS THE PROBLEM"

Not me. The product on track is the problem for sure..I have been saying it too.

That said, your "Things I leaned" is pretty much universally how I feel too.

God Tony, there are days where your lucid moments are pretty darn good!

[Chris R]

I will fully second the last two posts. Benny makes some real good points as does Mark following up on Anthony's original post... Sometimes we can all get along :p

[Mark in Oshawa]

Thank you Jag_Warrior. You are correct, I used to be a MAJOR fan. I went to as many races as I could and watched and recorded every race that I could not attend. I am not from Indianapolis and I know nobody in the sport, I was simply a die hard fan. I brought many of my friends to the races and I was constantly trying to sell the sport to anyone who would listen, friends, co-workers, girl friends, family members, it didn’t matter.

I grew up being a fan, Indycar racing was a huge part of my life that is why I still lurk on the forums and still occasionally watch a few laps here and there. I am still waiting for IndyCar to make a comeback, but it won’t under the current rules. The IRL product is bad, this is not an opinion it is a fact. Look at your race attendance, look at your network TV numbers, people don’t care enough about the product to watch anymore.

Almost everything that made Indycar racing great is gone. If Indycar is going to rebuild here is what I think needs to happen, we need to get back to the proven formula that made IndyCar racing great.

The engines need to be turbo charged and they need to scream. Indycars need to sound fast.

The current chassis is terrible, it is ugly and it is slow. An Indycar chassis must be sleek, it must look fast even when it is parked.

We need additional engine choices, even if we don’t have additional manufactures, we need more variety. Be it a Honda, a Cosworth, an Ilmor, a Judd, or a Menard, it doesn’t matter we just need more choices.

We need open chassis rules to allow for competing chassis. Furthermore, we also need new chassis every year. I want to know if it is a Reynard 94 or Reynard 95, it needs to be listed. I want to see a midpack driver push his 2 or 3 year old chassis past a driver with a brand new chassis, even if it’s for 15th place. Even better if that driver can score a top ten finish with an unbadged privateer engine from Judd or Menard.

We need to get ride of pack racing. Pack racing is for Nascar, not Indycar. If you enjoy pack racing you are probably a Nascar fan and wouldn’t bother with an Indycar race anyway.

We need to get back to our traditional race tracks: Michigan, Cleveland, Road America, Laguna Seca, Portland, Milwaukee (the week after Indy!) I am sure I am missing a lot of others.

We need unbiased TV reporting. I hate the IRL cheerleading that goes on in the booth. If the call was bad, then say so. If Danica sucked in qualifying, then say it. If Ed Carpenter is a rent a rider, then say it. Don’t be an IRL cheerleader, I don’t want to watch a 2 hour long infomercial on how great the IRL is, talk about the good things and talk about the bad things. Don’t give Jack Arute or Scott Goodyear a microphone.

Please Please Please include Champ Car and CART and USAC stats in your record book. Why ignore Mario Andretti and Rick Mears and Emerson and Al Unser and Danny Sullivan, these are the guys that made your sport, and now you are going to ignore them????

Finally, please stop using the term IRL. The IRL signifies the complete destruction of the sport that so many people loved. People know what an Indycar is, but they don’t know what an IRL car is, and if they do know what an IRL car is, they are probably not impressed with it.

Feel free to flame away, I am sure many of you don’t agree with me, as you are still fans. But I am speaking for many of the fans that have left your sport. If you want to get some of the old fans back, I’d work on the above shortcomings of the league, otherwise here's to a new Indy 500 ratings record in 2011!

Thank you for your time,

Ben Beckwith
Indy Car fan from 1988 to 2008

Preaching to my choir brother AMEN!!!!

Come back ANY TIME....

[00steven]

drewdawg727
I have learned that no matter how much you people complain about practically every single race this year, you still watch it.


No, we don't still watch it. I haven't been to an IndyCar race since 2007 and I've watched maybe 25 laps of IndyCar racing on TV this year and I get VS. The IRL is terrible and it hasn't gotten better. I hope this whole "Vision" finally dies. Then and only then will we maybe get back to real racing with real racing cars.



I have been a casual fan of Indycar for years but, I decided to make the transition from casual to fan this season. And I have to say it has been some of the best racing I have seen. In fact, this past weekend my father and I were changing the channels between the NASCAR Nationwide series and the Indycar race at Texas and my dad (who has never seen a whole Indycar race) said after a while,"I can hardly even watch the Nationwide series after watching that". I was happy with his response. :)

[Mark in Oshawa]

I have been a casual fan of Indycar for years but, I decided to make the transition from casual to fan this season. And I have to say it has been some of the best racing I have seen. In fact, this past weekend my father and I were changing the channels between the NASCAR Nationwide series and the Indycar race at Texas and my dad (who has never seen a whole Indycar race) said after a while,"I can hardly even watch the Nationwide series after watching that". I was happy with his response. :)

Good for your dad I guess. I didn't get to see this race, I was at a family thing with no TV....

[00steven]

Good for your dad I guess. I didn't get to see this race, I was at a family thing with no TV....


I was just trying to make the point that the IRL can still attract new fans.