MoveThatBlock.com Indy 225

[DanicaFan]

http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee236/DanicaRules/MoveThatBlock20Logo.jpg

Race 13 of 18

Race - Move That Block.com Indy 225

Location - New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Loudon, NH

Date - Sunday, August 14th

Time & TV Schedule - Pre-Race Show-Sunday, August 14th -2:45PM Eastern - Green Flag - 4:00PM Eastern - ABC

Course Type - 1.058 Mile Oval

Distance - 225 Laps / 238.05 Miles

Practice Sessions -
Thursday, August 11th - 9:00-11:30AM Eastern & 1:00PM -4:00PM Eastern
Saturday, August 13th -9:00AM -10:15AM Eastern
12:00PM -12:30PM -Practice 1A / 12:30-1:00PM -Practice 1B
Sunday, August 14th -Warm Up Session - 10:15AM -10:45AM Eastern

Qualifications - Saturday, August 13th - 3:00PM -4:00PM Eastern

[DanicaFan]

http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee236/DanicaRules/newhampshireinternationalspeedway_all.gif

[00steven]

It will be a good day of racing with races at Watkins Glen and New Hampshire.

[SoCalPVguy]

WTF is a "Move That Block.com" ???? Getting sponsorship that somebody has actually heard of might be in order for Randy...

[DanicaFan]

WTF is a "Move That Block.com" ???? Getting sponsorship that somebody has actually heard of might be in order for Randy...

LOL. I had to look it up myself. It appears to be a website that is like a shopping mall site. It has links and lists to numerous things such as jobs, real-estate, vacations, dating, etc. I never heard of it either until this race.

[00steven]

LOL. I had to look it up myself. It appears to be a website that is like a shopping mall site. It has links and lists to numerous things such as jobs, real-estate, vacations, dating, etc. I never heard of it either until this race.

I guess that's why they figured they needed to sponsor something.

[Dr. Krogshöj]

It's nice to have a title sponsor, so let's not criticise it. Outside of series partners Honda, Firestone and IZOD, there are only four companies title sponsoring races this season: Toyota, Itaipava, Iowa Corn and MoveThatBlock.com.

[Alfa Fan]

WTF is a "Move That Block.com" ???? Getting sponsorship that somebody has actually heard of might be in order for Randy...

The entire point of sponsorship is to raise awareness of brands!

[SoCalPVguy]

LOL. I had to look it up myself. It appears to be a website that is like a shopping mall site. It has links and lists to numerous things such as jobs, real-estate, vacations, dating, etc. I never heard of it either until this race.

Its like Craig's List Lite. Could you imagine the "Craig's List Find A Hooker, Beat Up Guitar, Well Used Car, All Commission Job, get a Massage dot com 500" ?

[DanicaFan]

Relax people, we arent criticizing the sponsorship. We just were trying to figure out what it was..Geesh!! LOL

[DanicaFan]

Entry List...

http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee236/DanicaRules/loudonentrylist.jpg

[DanicaFan]

Pit Assignments..

http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee236/DanicaRules/loudonpits.jpg

[Wilf]

Pit Assignments..

http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee236/DanicaRules/loudonpits.jpg


Anyone else notice that two of three Penske cars have empty stalls behind them and the one without the ez pit in has an empty stall in front of him for an ez out . They haven't been lucky on the track, but their luck still holds for the pit assignments.

[SarahFan]

I'm predicting the best race of the season

[Will Rogers]

Can Danica "find some speed" on Move That Block.com? How many laps-worth can she buy?

[SarahFan]

Are cars on track today? Thursday?

[DanicaFan]

Are cars on track today? Thursday?

Yes, they are practicing now.

[DanicaFan]

Can Danica "find some speed" on Move That Block.com? How many laps-worth can she buy?

Yes, she will have speed this weekend. It's an oval. She is pretty quick on them.

[SoCalPVguy]

Yes, she will have speed this weekend. It's an oval. She is pretty quick on them.

Pleaseeeeeze my friend, don't start saying things again with out some facts, wait until the practice times are actually in and then you can either gloat or make excuses... just looking out for you ...

My take is that the princess is 'done' with indycars and is just phoning it in, so where as she might have had speed at loudon in the past, this year its going to be high downforce, stability, tool around about 3-5 mph behind leaders, make a lucky pit stop, block block block, and get a top ten.

[BobbyC]

One more thing: They are on a Monaco-style schedule. Practice Thursday, nothing (for INDYCAR) Friday, qualifying Saturday, and race Sunday.

Friday will be full of America Canadian Tour saloon racing with a New England tradition and will be a fun day -- INDYCAR off, but they have a "New England Format" race:

At 5:30 AM, after registering drivers, each of the entrants will draw a pill -- numbers divisible by three, will be sent to the heat races. The draw for position heat races send ten to the feature Saturday morning. After the three 20-lap races, two more 20-lap heat races take five each to the feature. Provisionals will be awarded based on ACT US or Canada regulars based on Last Chance race.

There's also Modified qualifying.

Good idea -- 100 laps of racing Friday, 175 laps of racing Saturday, 325 laps of racing Sunday. The race fans will see 600 laps of pure racing.

[SoCalPVguy]

Practice 1 Thursday times:

1. #10 Dario Franchitti 169.718mph 21.7419s 21 laps
2. #26 Marco Andretti 168.250mph 21.9316s + 0.1897s 38 laps
3. #82 Tony Kanaan 167.869mph 21.9814s + 0.2395s 16 laps
4. #5 Takuma Sato 166.917mph 22.1068s + 0.3649s 39 laps
5. #9 Scott Dixon 166.269mph 22.1930s + 0.4511s 48 laps
6. #38 Graham Rahal 166.215mph 22.2002s + 0.4583s 43 laps
7. #6 Ryan Briscoe 166.144mph 22.2096s + 0.4677s 85 laps
8. #2 Oriol Servia 165.848mph 22.2493s + 0.5074s 50 laps
9. #3 Helio Castroneves 164.926mph 22.3737s + 0.6318s 84 laps
10. #7 Danica Patrick 164.669mph 22.4086s + 0.6667s 64 laps
11. #06 James Hinchcliffe 164.410mph 22.4439s + 0.7020s 45 laps
12. #12 Will Power 164.324mph 22.4557s + 0.7138s 49 laps
13. #4 JR Hildebrand 163.728mph 22.5374s + 0.7955s 56 laps
14. #28 Ryan Hunter-Reay 163.209mph 22.6090s + 0.8671s 48 laps
15. #83 Charlie Kimball 162.862mph 22.6572s + 0.9153s 65 laps
16. #22 Tomas Scheckter 162.750mph 22.6728s + 0.9309s 65 laps
17. #27 Mike Conway 162.456mph 22.7138s + 0.9719s 61 laps
18. #59 EJ Viso 161.892mph 22.7930s + 1.0511s 69 laps
19. #19 Alex Lloyd 161.758mph 22.8119s + 1.0700s 67 laps
20. #77 Alex Tagliani 160.830mph 22.9435s + 1.2016s 57 laps
21. #18 James Jakes 159.953mph 23.0693s + 1.3274s 84 laps
22. #14 Vitor Meira 159.172mph 23.1825s + 1.4406s 48 laps
23. #30 Pippa Mann 158.749mph 23.2442s + 1.5023s 60 laps
24. #67 Ed Carpenter 157.506mph 23.4277s + 1.6858s 78 laps
25. #24 Ana Beatriz 157.023mph 23.4998s + 1.7579s 60 laps
26. #78 Simona de Silvestro 156.641mph 23.5570s + 1.8151s 78 laps
27. #34 Sebastian Saavedra 148.658mph 24.8220s + 3.0801s 33 laps

[SoCalPVguy]

I called it -- 5-Mph behind leader.

[00steven]

Practice 1 Thursday times:

1. #10 Dario Franchitti 169.718mph 21.7419s 21 laps
2. #26 Marco Andretti 168.250mph 21.9316s + 0.1897s 38 laps
3. #82 Tony Kanaan 167.869mph 21.9814s + 0.2395s 16 laps
4. #5 Takuma Sato 166.917mph 22.1068s + 0.3649s 39 laps
5. #9 Scott Dixon 166.269mph 22.1930s + 0.4511s 48 laps
6. #38 Graham Rahal 166.215mph 22.2002s + 0.4583s 43 laps
7. #6 Ryan Briscoe 166.144mph 22.2096s + 0.4677s 85 laps
8. #2 Oriol Servia 165.848mph 22.2493s + 0.5074s 50 laps
9. #3 Helio Castroneves 164.926mph 22.3737s + 0.6318s 84 laps
10. #7 Danica Patrick 164.669mph 22.4086s + 0.6667s 64 laps
11. #06 James Hinchcliffe 164.410mph 22.4439s + 0.7020s 45 laps
12. #12 Will Power 164.324mph 22.4557s + 0.7138s 49 laps
13. #4 JR Hildebrand 163.728mph 22.5374s + 0.7955s 56 laps
14. #28 Ryan Hunter-Reay 163.209mph 22.6090s + 0.8671s 48 laps
15. #83 Charlie Kimball 162.862mph 22.6572s + 0.9153s 65 laps
16. #22 Tomas Scheckter 162.750mph 22.6728s + 0.9309s 65 laps
17. #27 Mike Conway 162.456mph 22.7138s + 0.9719s 61 laps
18. #59 EJ Viso 161.892mph 22.7930s + 1.0511s 69 laps
19. #19 Alex Lloyd 161.758mph 22.8119s + 1.0700s 67 laps
20. #77 Alex Tagliani 160.830mph 22.9435s + 1.2016s 57 laps
21. #18 James Jakes 159.953mph 23.0693s + 1.3274s 84 laps
22. #14 Vitor Meira 159.172mph 23.1825s + 1.4406s 48 laps
23. #30 Pippa Mann 158.749mph 23.2442s + 1.5023s 60 laps
24. #67 Ed Carpenter 157.506mph 23.4277s + 1.6858s 78 laps
25. #24 Ana Beatriz 157.023mph 23.4998s + 1.7579s 60 laps
26. #78 Simona de Silvestro 156.641mph 23.5570s + 1.8151s 78 laps
27. #34 Sebastian Saavedra 148.658mph 24.8220s + 3.0801s 33 laps


Am I seeing that right? Saavadra is 21 mph of the pace?!

[DanicaFan]

Practice 2 Times...

Rank / Car# & Driver / Lap Time / Speed

1. #10 Dario Franchitti / 00:21.5665 / 171.099
2. #9 Scott Dixon / 00:21.6204 / 170.672
3. #38 Graham Rahal /00:21.6644 / 170.326
4. #82 Tony Kanaan / 00:21.7368 / 169.758
5. #5 Takuma Sato / 00:21.7713 / 169.489
6. #59 EJ Viso / 00:21.7743 / 169.466
7. #06 James Hinchcliffe / 00:21.8161 / 169.141
8. #2 Oriol Servia / 00:21.8200 / 169.111
9. #28 Ryan Hunter-Reay / 00:21.8232 / 169.086
10. #83 Charlie Kimball / 00:21.9191 / 168.346
11. #26 Marco Andretti / 00:21.9689 / 167.965
12. #6 Ryan Briscoe / 00:22.0330 / 167.476
13. #27 Mike Conway / 00:22.0649 / 167.234
14. #22 Simon Pagenaud / 00:22.1047 / 166.933
15. #19 Sebastien Bourdais / 00:22.1133 / 166.868
16. #3 Helio Castroneves / 00:22.1375 / 166.685
17. #7 Danica Patrick / 00:22.1589 / 166.525
18. #4 JR Hildebrand / 00:22.1779 / 166.382
19. #12 Will Power / 00:22.2861 / 165.574
20. #14 Vitor Meira / 00:22.2904 / 165.542
21. #77 Alex Tagliani / 00:22.3055 / 165.430
22. #18 James Jakes / 00:22.4246 / 164.551
23. #67 Ed Carpenter / 00:22.7104 / 162.481
24. #24 Ana Beatriz / 00:22.7242 / 162.382
25. #78 Simona De Silvestro / 00:23.1201 / 159.601
26. #30 Pippa Mann / 00:23.5673 / 156.573
27. #34 Sebastian Saavedra / 00:23.6379 / 156.105

[DanicaFan]

Here is the qualifying order for Saturday..

1. #12 Will Power
2. #27 Mike Conway
3. #82 Tony Kanaan
4. #22 Tomas Scheckter
5. #3 Helio Castroneves
6. #2 Oriol Servia
7. #18 James Jakes
8. #9 Scott Dixon
9. #26 Marco Andretti
10. #5 Takuma Sato
11. #34 Sebastian Saavedra
12. #59 EJ Viso
13. #19 Alex Lloyd
14. #83 Charlie Kimball
15. #06 James Hinchcliffe
16. #38 Graham Rahal
17. #14 Vitor Meira
18. #24 Ana Beatriz
19. #30 Pippa Mann
20. #10 Dario Franchitti
21. #67 Ed Carpenter
22. #6 Ryan Briscoe
23. #7 Danica Patrick
24. #28 Ryan Hunter-Reay
25. #78 Simona De Silvestro
26. #77 Alex Tagliani
27. #4 Jr Hildebrand

[heliocastroneves#3]

Very funny how at the IndyCar.com website the times from Tomas Scheckter and Alex Lloyd are displayed with the names from Simon Pagenaud and Sebastien Bourdais.. ^^

Danica will be slow probably in practice and qualifying like in Milwaukee, but in the race she will drive in the top 5 again! About Helio; I dunno what to say.... Disappointing. Danica just needs this good result to find motivation to stay in IndyCar as NASCAR would be "racing talent suicide"..

I think Michael Andretti was right afer the Iowa race to say that "We are back, at least on the ovals" because Marco is doing a good job so far.

[00steven]

Looks Dario has the dominant car here.

[DanicaFan]

This Morning's Practice Results..

http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee236/DanicaRules/loudonpractice3.jpg

[DBell]

Hinchcliffe has really impressed me this year. Actually the whole Newman/Haas team has impressed and really stepped up their performance this year. One of the biggest surprises for me this year has been the mix of teams that are competitive on ovals. I don't know what changed this year, but it's been great not to see Penske and Ganassi occupy the first 5 spots at every oval.

[DanicaFan]

I agree, Hinchcliff and Servia have done very well and I will throw JR Hildebrand in there for doing good.

[DanicaFan]

Today's final practice results..

http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee236/DanicaRules/loudonpractice4.jpg

[banshee74]

Yes, she will have speed this weekend. It's an oval. She is pretty quick on them.

You mean slightly quicker than she stinks up road courses.....if my figures are correct, she has led a total of 61 laps since 2005...that's 10 LAPS PER YEAR, and a number of those were a result of off cycle pit stops! Remarkable performance.....I wonder if there is any other driver out there NOT in the series now that might be able to really race given the quality of car that she has?

[DanicaFan]

Well, Dario Franchitti gets the pole position for the race. Congrats Dario.

[DanicaFan]

Here is your starting line-up..

Row 1

#10 Dario Franchitti / 170.843
#2 Oriol Servia / 169.831

Row 2

#82 Tony Kanaan / 169.698
#06 James Hinchcliffe / 169.590

Row 3

#28 Ryan Hunter-Reay / 169.570
#6 Ryan Briscoe / 169.451

Row 4

#9 Scott Dixon / 169.114
#5 Takuma Sato / 169.044

Row 5

#3 Helio Castroneves / 168.886
#83 Charlie Kimball / 168.434

Row 6

#4 JR Hildebrand / 168.047
#27 Mike Conway / 167.852

Row 7

#12 Will Power / 167.011
#19 Alex Lloyd / 166.877

Row 8

#7 Danica Patrick / 166.834
#77 Alex Tagliani / 166.809

Row 9

#59 EJ Viso / 166.536
#22 Tomas Scheckter / 166.381

Row 10

#14 Vitor Meira / 166.253
#18 James Jakes / 165.265

Row 11

#24 Ana Beatriz / 164.958
#26 Marco Andretti / 164.722

Row 12

#38 Graham Rahal / 163.816
#34 Sebastian Saavedra / 162.285

Row 13

#67 Ed Carpenter / 161.734
#78 Simona De Silvestro / 157.437

** Pippa Mann did not qualify due to the accident in the last practice.

[maxmach]

What the hell happened to Rahal?

[00steven]

Looks like Will is struggling this week like he did at Milwaukee.

[DanicaFan]

What the hell happened to Rahal?

He almost lost it and had to correct himself to prevent from hitting the wall. It was a great save. If that had not happened, most likely a top 5 run.

[NickFalzone]

I'm not one to put a whole lot of trust into practice times, but I did expect Dixon and particularly Rahal to quality a lot better. I guess Rahal made a mistake during quals? Cause otherwise, his car seemed to be very quick, in fact nearly as good as Dario's.

[Anubis]

Given some of the driving on display this season, maybe they should rename it "BlockThatMove.com"?

[DanicaFan]

Morning Warm-Up Times..

Rank / Car# & Driver / Lap Time / Speed

1. #9 Scott Dixon / 00:22.3638 / 164.999
2. #10 Dario Franchitti / 00:22.5082 / 163.940
3. #38 Graham Rahal / 00:22.5608 / 163.558
4. #28 Ryan Hunter-Reay / 00:22.6612 / 162.833
5. #2 Oriol Servia / 00:22.7217 / 162.400
6. #5 Takuma Sato / 00:22.7629 / 162.106
7. #27 Mike Conway / 00:22.7762 / 162.011
8. #06 James Hinchcliffe / 00:22.8375 / 161.576
9. #59 EJ Viso / 00:22.9758 / 160.604
10. #82 Tony Kanaan / 00:23.0080 / 160.379
11. #77 Alex Tagliani / 00:23.0170 / 160.316
12. #6 Ryan Briscoe / 00:23.0247 / 160.263
13. #22 Tomas Scheckter / 00:23.0826 / 159.861
14. #83 Charlie Kimball / 00:23.0870 / 159.830
15. #4 JR Hildebrand / 00:23.1348 / 159.500
16. #3 Helio Castroneves / 00:23.1427 / 159.446
17. #12 Will Power / 00:23.1809 / 159.183
18. #26 Marco Andretti / 00:23.2322 / 158.831
19. #19 Alex Lloyd / 00:23.2730 / 158.553
20. #7 Danica Patrick / 00:23.2950 / 158.403
21. #14 Vitor Meira / 00:23.2978 / 158.384
22. #18 James Jakes / 00:23.3291 / 158.172
23. #24 Ana Beatriz / 00:23.4094 / 157.629
24. #34 Sebastian Saavedra / 00:23.5474 / 156.705
25. #78 Simona De Silvestro / 00:23.8824 / 154.507
26. #67 Ed Carpenter / 00:23.9914 / 153.805

[dataman1]

Live timing is at least 9 laps behind TV. That's not really live. Taped delayed????

[Chris R]

:( wow, NOBODY there - that is kind of embarrassing.....

[dataman1]

They got the timing fixed around lap 57.

[00steven]

I can't believe some of the stuff today. Dario wrecks, the debacle at the end, and Power flipping off the camera.

[Chris R]

go Will go - calling it like it is on Barnhart.... Hopefully this is the straw that breaks the camel's back and they fire him!! what a debacle - brought on by poor officiating

[DanicaFan]

They should of never re-started that race at the end!

[Andrewmcm]

They should never have started the race? I thought it was a rather good race before the officiating all got a little bit silly. That's what oval racing should be like - drivers forced to brake and handle the cars in the corners properly.

[gm99]

Even by IndyCar's lowly standards, the conclusion of today's race was quite a shambles. First going green on a still wet track, then acting like the restart had never happened in the first place by reverting back to the order they were running under yellow.

[Nikki Katz]

No, that was far too dangerous to restart like that on an oval on slicks. It was clear from the onboard how much moisture was about. Someone could've been seriously hurt with cars facing the wrong way at those speeds, fortunately all that happened was quite a lot of expensive broken machinery.

The Sky pundits completely laid into Barnhardt after that interview in the end for suggesting that he'd not received any feedback from the drivers/teams, while pretty much all the drivers had complained and there had been interviews with team owners already broadcast saying that they pleaded with race control.

I am a little worried for the series at the moment. I've really enjoyed this season, but it's been pretty controversial, and while the current car count is actually very healthy, there doesn't seem to be much new money in the series while there's a lot of added expenses for next year.

[Anubis]

What a shambolic finish. Think the count-back result was the fairest thing to do in the circumstances, but even so it was comedy officiating. We have drivers screaming into their radios that it's too wet to start and we're supposed to believe race control had NO information? Hmm.

[libra65]

Barnhardt really screwed the pooch on this one. He claims he wasn't getting feedback from spotters on the rain situation. Then he said the reports he got were that it wasn't worse than when they went yellow. Well it was NO BETTER EITHER, BRIAN!!!! Both Andretti & Cindric said they were in contact with race control telling them what the drivers were reporting. The teams should be reimbursed by the league for any crash damage on that last restart.

[NickFalzone]

Amateurish ending at best, although I'll say that there may have been some behind-the-scenes stuff going on we were not aware of. My guess is that ABC was pushing for the race to get over as soon as possible, one way or another. It was pretty odd though in the last 15 mins when there was still the possibility of going green, and you saw literally everyone packing up, from the fans to the crews, everyone had had it. Although the first half of this race was decent, the ending is truly one of the lowest points IndyCar has been at in a long time..

[Chris R]

So, let me see if I get Barnhart's interview on ABC right:

1. He threw "Race Control" (his employees/team) under the bus.

2. He called his teams and drivers liars (I didn't hear anything).

He took no responsibility personally.

It was a terrible call, hopefully the last in a long string... The only saving grace might be that there was nobody in the stands and nobody watching TV. The series looked terrible, not the car, not the drivers - the series...

So this weekend we learned: 1. We are stuck with a stupid TV arrangement. 2. We are stuck with cookie cutter cars for at least another year. 3. They cannot go back to a failed track and expect anything like success. 4. They have terrible officiating

ARGUHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

[00steven]

Brian Barnhart should be ashamed of himself. the drivers, the fans, and the Indycar series deserve much better than a bumbling idiot such as him. Will Power spoke nothing but truth.

[Sateryn76]

Wow....just wow...

1. Rahal got screwed...again. He's my favorite or anything, but I feel bad for him.
2. That was Franchitti's fault - and in full Princess mode, he threw it on Sato. Sato took blame, but that may be cultural...
3. Schekter (sp?) had no business moving up so high - shame on him. Penalty-worthy?
3. That race end was dirty and stupid, although I'm happy that RHR's Big Win is clouded. I've never liked him.
4. I heart Will Power. I must have gone back on my Tivo 10 times to see his double-bird, and I laughed like a child

So, here's a question - Conway (who's on probation) takes out Rahal because he hit it too hard on cold tires. Castroneves does the same (someone who spend the first four races taking everyone out). Then, DP hits it too hard on a wet track and carnage ensues.

Now, aren't cold tires and wet tracks something that a good driver can handle? Shouldn't a good, level-headed driver know when NOT to push too hard?

ETA - ABC coverage both blows and sucks....really, really hard...

[call_me_andrew]

I think Brian Barnhart is sleeping with Mari Hulman George. It's the only way to explain why he has a job.


Now, aren't cold tires and wet tracks something that a good driver can handle?

Shouldn't a really tough guy be able to stick his hand in boiling water for 5 minutes and not get hurt?


:( wow, NOBODY there - that is kind of embarrassing.....

Loudon seats 110,000. It looks like the seats in turn 3 were not offered for sale so that would knock down the capacity to about 80,000. The rest of the seats were half full which gives an attendance of 40,000 and that is in line with any IndyCar race shorter than 500 miles.

[Chris R]

I think Brian Barnhart is sleeping with Mari Hulman George. It's the only way to explain why he has a job.



Shouldn't a really tough guy be able to stick his hand in boiling water for 5 minutes and not get hurt?



Loudon seats 110,000. It looks like the seats in turn 3 were not offered for sale so that would knock down the capacity to about 80,000. The rest of the seats were half full which gives an attendance of 40,000 and that is in line with any IndyCar race shorter than 500 miles.

those stands were at best 20% full - and that is being really generous.... Are you sure the place seats 110,000??

[Leo Krupe]

The end of the race made this series a joke in my eyes. This is absolutely inexcusable, and I'm done with it for the rest of this year. TGBB's an idiot.

[call_me_andrew]

those stands were at best 20% full - and that is being really generous.... Are you sure the place seats 110,000??

I am now double checking Jayski and it has 96,000 permanent seats. I must have been thinking of Richmond.

[DBell]

Nothing much to add that hasn't already been said. A new low by race control, BB shows himself a fool again and IndyCar takes yet another credibility hit.

Message to Randy Bernard: Nothing you or series does to improve things will make any difference if you don't fix race control. How many times does race control make the series look bad before you clean house and make changes? It has to be done. Simple as that.

Congrats to RHR. Probably didn't have anything for Dario, but you drove well and deserved the win.

No way was there 40,000 people there. This race gave Miwaukee a contest for worst attended race of the year.

[Leo Krupe]

As for Dario, it seemed to me that although Sato was close to him, I saw Dario move over into Sato's way, so even though Sato took the blame in the interview, I believe it was Dario's fault. Either way, it was incredible that that accident happened on a restart. Things like that make these drivers look like rank amateurs. Feh!

[numanoid]

Jeez, what a race. Just finished it up on my DVR. Not much more can be said, but at least they did the right thing and reset the running order for the checkered. The power flipout was epic.

I absolutely cannot stand the ESPN coverage. They come back from commercial and have another 30-60 seconds of 50% screen graphics telling us about upcoming baseball games? Give me a break. I also love how they show interviews in the side by side with no audio.

The commentators don't know what the hell they are talking about either. My wife, who just got into watching Indycar this season had a better grasp of what was going on than they did.

How did Power get back on the lead lap after he lost it to Dario? I assume it was due to the yellow due to rain (power was in the pits), but nobody said anything! Kind of important, no?

[FIAT1]

Congrats to Oriol Servia for finishing 1st. What a stupid call. Twice!!!

[beachbum]

They should of never re-started that race at the end!For once, I have to agree with you.

I missed it live, but read the race reports and have seen the video at the end. A total mess.

[numanoid]

Does anyone know why Power did the double bird? He was on the big screen at the race, but was something on there to piss him off?

[DBell]

Does anyone know why Power did the double bird? He was on the big screen at the race, but was something on there to piss him off?

He was flipping off BB and Race (out of) Control for restarting the race.

[MD24]

:( wow, NOBODY there - that is kind of embarrassing.....

That was disappointing, I was expecting much better

[numanoid]

He was flipping off BB and Race (out of) Control for restarting the race.

Gotcha. On twitter, the drivers are loving what he did and said. He posted up an apology there. Kanaan and others have some screen caps of it posted up there. Kanaan's has 2 "angry birds" covering his fingers. Good stuff!

[numanoid]

That was disappointing, I was expecting much better

I was too. I thought they had done quite a bit of promoting for it. The weather is always a wild card though. Not a lot of people want to go to a race in the rain.

[SarahFan]

That was nothing short of a complete embaressment!

The competitors deserve so much more


And did someone earlier actually suggest 40k?.... You have got to be kidding! Wasn't even 10k

[nigelred5]

I was dumbfounded when they said they were going ot re-start that race yesterday. They must be courting ABInbev as a title sponsor because that was pure, 100% Bus(c)h league yesterday. New Hampshire fans are used to NASCAR and their G/W/C finishes, so I can inderstand them wanting to give the fans a finish under green, but there is NO excuse for even contemplating a green flag in those conditions. Then just for consistency's sake, lets totally make it a cluster-F and wipe out several cars and THEN revert the finishing order to the pre-green flag order. I think it was the right thing to do, but where's hte precedent for that? I suspect one Mr Servia is quite pissed that he managed a clean restart and had a potential win taken from him.

Anyone wanna bet they wouldn't have done that if it hadn't been the princess that caused the melee to begin with?? Now, question is, is the series also going to pay for the unnecessary damage to all those cars thanks to the BS call to re-start the race?

[Chris R]

Servia might be p'od - but realistically, if they had done it right, he would never have had the chance.... in amongst the very many wrong things they did - the final results were fundamentally correct/ as good as you get given the circumstances.....

I don't think Danica had anything to do with the decision - I am no fan of hers - but if it was not her, it would/could have been someone else and if it wasn't right there it could have would have been much worse if they actually got up to speed......

[numanoid]

Is it normal to have the cars do pace laps for 20+ laps when it is wet out? I can see how that can help dry out the track, but damn it is boring "racing". I was expecting them to throw a red, have them pit, dry the track, then resume racing. Oh, and do the rain tires not work on ovals?

[heliocastroneves#3]

Yay, the team mate of my favorite driver wins and my favorite driver finishes sixth.... What a great race, and what a big fail again from Hélio C. and Mike C. :(

[Anubis]

I don't think Danica had anything to do with the decision - I am no fan of hers - but if it was not her, it would/could have been someone else and if it wasn't right there it could have would have been much worse if they actually got up to speed......

As annoying as Danica is, I don't really see how she can take any blame for that farce. Sure, it was her spin that triggered the final mess, but others were skating around as well, so it was more "when" than "if". Better drivers than her had already binned it in the dry.

[gm99]

Yay, the team mate of my favorite driver wins and my favorite driver finishes sixth....

Really - which Schumacher was in the race? ;)

[DBell]

Here is the race control press conference transcript.

AUTO RACING - INDYCAR: Loudon Race Control Press Conference (http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/indycar-loudon-race-control-press-conference/)

Barnhardt is insisting they heard nothing from the teams or drivers on the conditions.

[EagleEye]

http://www.isitmayyet.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/power-ali-liston.jpg

[gerkebi]

Here is the race control press conference transcript.

AUTO RACING - INDYCAR: Loudon Race Control Press Conference (http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/indycar-loudon-race-control-press-conference/)

Barnhardt is insisting they heard nothing from the teams or drivers on the conditions.
He has to be lying. They were all screaming and he monitors everything.

[DBell]

He has to be lying. They were all screaming and he monitors everything.

I thought from what BB said in the article, that he was trying to setup the pit techs as the scapegoats.


Brian, to that point, when you made that call, had there been any objections over the decision to go green from anybody in the pits?

BRIAN BARNHART: No, we hadn't received anything from pit tech guys. The pit techs are assigned, they get two cars within the pits.

Up in Race Control we never had a single call from a pit tech. Now we also have observers, or we also have spotters and officials up on the roof. And the official up on the roof had called that there was light moisture up there and some of the spotters had said they think it's too wet to continue.

But we had not received any objections from any of the pit techs, from any that were assigned to the cars on the racetrack saying the driver of the 59 or the driver of the 5 or the driver of the 7 vehemently objects and says it's too wet to go.

We didn't have anybody saying that. So combined with a lack of information from people saying we shouldn't go, combined with all of our track safety people saying we should go and all the observers around say the track is still raceable and going, you make the decision based on that information.



I guess Brainfart never heard of the saying "the buck stops here".

[garyshell]

BB is sounding like Michael Andretti, it was always someone else's fault.

Gary

[heliocastroneves#3]

Really - which Schumacher was in the race? ;)

Michael Schumacher is just my favorite driver in F1... I wish he would come to IndyCar when his F1 adventure is finished. But I guess when his F1 adventure is finished he will retire and not go to another racing championship.

Favorite F1 drivers: Michael Schumacher and Jenson Button
Favorite IndyCar drivers: Danica Patrick, Hélio Castroneves and Dan Wheldon

But Hélio is really doing awful, Briscoe isn't doing great as well.... But compared to Hélio he's doing a good job. And the pity is; last year Hélio was battling with Dixie for P3 (finished on P4) in the standings and won 3 races. I see nothing from Helio's performance of last year in 2011.... :(

[slorydn1]

I thought from what BB said in the article, that he was trying to setup the pit techs as the scapegoats.


Brian, to that point, when you made that call, had there been any objections over the decision to go green from anybody in the pits?

BRIAN BARNHART: No, we hadn't received anything from pit tech guys. The pit techs are assigned, they get two cars within the pits.

Up in Race Control we never had a single call from a pit tech. Now we also have observers, or we also have spotters and officials up on the roof. And the official up on the roof had called that there was light moisture up there and some of the spotters had said they think it's too wet to continue.

But we had not received any objections from any of the pit techs, from any that were assigned to the cars on the racetrack saying the driver of the 59 or the driver of the 5 or the driver of the 7 vehemently objects and says it's too wet to go.

We didn't have anybody saying that. So combined with a lack of information from people saying we shouldn't go, combined with all of our track safety people saying we should go and all the observers around say the track is still raceable and going, you make the decision based on that information.



I guess Brainfart never heard of the saying "the buck stops here".

Somewhere in there he mentioned the pace car driver Johnny Rutherford. My only question is, did he even bother to ASK Johnny how the track looked?

Sprint Cup race director David Hoots ALWAYS asks Brett Bodine (the pace car driver) "How's your race track look, Brett?" before giving the one to go. ALWAYS-even during the dreaded "competition caution" that Nascar sometimes has because practice was rained out the day before.

And I agree, I'm sure someone in the control tower is listening to everyone's radio, how could they catch people talking smack about them if they aren't?

I'm thinking they were under pressure to just "get it done" and screwed up.

Just my 2 cents, anyway....

[si_10011]

Unfortunately I missed indy 225.... :(

[si_10011]

What is BB?
BB is sounding like Michael Andretti, it was always someone else's fault.

Gary

[FormerFF]

What is BB?
BB = Brian Barnhart is President of Race Operations for Indycar, and on race day is the guy who makes the final determination on a lot of the rules.

[Dr. Krogshöj]

BB = Brian Barnhart is President of Race Operations for Indycar, and on race day is the guy who makes the final determination on a lot of the rules.

He can also change the past and pretend some events just didn't happen.

[numanoid]

Protests filed by #2 and #9 with hearings scheduled....

Independent panel to hear protests - IndyCar.com (http://www.indycar.com/news/show/55-izod-indycar-series/44681-independent-panel-to-hear-protests/)

[SarahFan]

That's interesting .... If it's just N/H then Indycar ignores it ... But Dixon. And gannasi changes things



The plot thickens

[Marbles]

Barnhardt's inspiration:

Indy 500 1975 - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T95GgQJnOdM)

I never liked Barnhardt and this is just another bad decision by... Barnhardt alone? Either he's an absolute dictator or he's surrounded by idiots. And no driver input? C'mon. The other problem in my view is the, 'green, green, green, go, go ,go' garbage that surrounds racing. God forbid we have a race end under yellow or a red a few laps short.

It was good to see Gary Gerould again, though. Maybe Paul will show up one day.

[libra65]

I don't know how much of a fight N/H & Ganassi can mount in this protest. They may have been calling green, green, green on the radio but the flag stand was waving the yellow again before anybody got to start/finish to start the lap. The flagman saw the accident & immediately went back to yellow.

[Phoenixent]

That's interesting .... If it's just N/H then Indycar ignores it ... But Dixon. And gannasi changes things



The plot thickens

I think they are beating a dead horse on this one. If they stand by the rules used against Paul Tracy at Indy then the field positions reverts back to where they were prior to the yellow. Also I thought there was a rule about not passing until reaching the start/finish line. Oh and one more thing they used against Paul can and will be applied here and the is once a result is made official in can not be changed.

[Mad_Hatter]

I don't know how much of a fight N/H & Ganassi can mount in this protest. They may have been calling green, green, green on the radio but the flag stand was waving the yellow again before anybody got to start/finish to start the lap. The flagman saw the accident & immediately went back to yellow.

Marshall Pruett addresses that here (http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/indycar-loudon-rewind/P1).

[DanicaFan]

Protests filed by #2 and #9 with hearings scheduled....

Independent panel to hear protests - IndyCar.com (http://www.indycar.com/news/show/55-izod-indycar-series/44681-independent-panel-to-hear-protests/)


As much as I like Hunter-Reay and Andretti Autosport, I cant blame Newman Haas for protesting. I agree, Oriol was the winner of this race. He got the lead under a brief stint of green flag racing. You can't just pretend that part of the race didnt happen. But then again, I still think Helio won at Edmonton last year and that decision was never reversed. It will be interesting to see how this turns out.

[Dr. Krogshöj]

I don't know how much of a fight N/H & Ganassi can mount in this protest. They may have been calling green, green, green on the radio but the flag stand was waving the yellow again before anybody got to start/finish to start the lap. The flagman saw the accident & immediately went back to yellow.

Can you overtake before the start/finish line when the green is shown?

[dataman1]

Indycar needs to adopt real time instant messenger service between the teams and race control like Champcar had 3 years before they gave up and currently used in other racing leagues. Relying on radios is old technology. If race control was talking then none of the pit techs would have been heard. The first person that trigger's their radio dominates that frequency. Granted there are different channels for observers, safety, timing, etc. but normally one between pit techs and race control.

Cotman knows how to get it set up.

Problem is that then there is proof of what is said. That may be a problem for Brian.

[Mark in Oshawa]

Indycar needs to adopt real time instant messenger service between the teams and race control like Champcar had 3 years before they gave up and currently used in other racing leagues. Relying on radios is old technology. If race control was talking then none of the pit techs would have been heard. The first person that trigger's their radio dominates that frequency. Granted there are different channels for observers, safety, timing, etc. but normally one between pit techs and race control.

Cotman knows how to get it set up.

Problem is that then there is proof of what is said. That may be a problem for Brian.

It is a problem for Brian. I do not understand how he can keep making mistakes...and then I read his previous experience was as a crew chief. Race stewards and officials in racing have a different mindset and should from those of a competitor. Brian doesn't ever see the big picture and doesn't seem to understand a ton of things that hit him every damn weekend.....

This however just makes the series a laughing stock. IT is as bad as the USAC officials that Tony George fired after they made a mess of a race in Texas a few years back....

[libra65]

Can you overtake before the start/finish line when the green is shown?

That's another question I had too. I didn't think you could but who knows what BB's rules are ;)

[NickFalzone]

Just to be devil's advocate here, I watched the video on IndyCar.com of the race recap, and at no point was the flagman waving a green flag. Maybe for a half second before he went back to the yellow? Did he even have time to "wave" it? I guess "technically" this makes it green, but debatably so.

[numanoid]

Just to be devil's advocate here, I watched the video on IndyCar.com of the race recap, and at no point was the flagman waving a green flag. Maybe for a half second before he went back to the yellow? Did he even have time to "wave" it? I guess "technically" this makes it green, but debatably so.

Wilf posted this in the BB thread. You can see the green before the yellow.

Ryan Hunter-Reay wins rain-shortened IndyCar race in Loudon - ESPN (http://espn.go.com/racing/indycar/story/_/id/6861680/ryan-hunter-reay-wins-rain-shortened-indycar-race-loudon)

[EagleEye]

That's another question I had too. I didn't think you could but who knows what BB's rules are ;)

No at the start.

But, since we are no longer going by the rule book, who knows.

[DanicaFan]

Looks like the review panel upheld the Loudon decision. The standings remain the same. Ryan Hunter-Reay keeps the win.

[Chris R]

Looks like the review panel upheld the Loudon decision. The standings remain the same. Ryan Hunter-Reay keeps the win.

shocking, the panel hand picked buy the guy who made the decision upheld his decision... didn't see that coming... ;)

not busting on you DF - you are just the messenger...

now, to be honest, I am probably in the minority on this - but I think it was the "rightest" call - the race should have ended that way under yellow and there should have been no restart...

The problem is that the whole thing is that it was very amateur....

[DBell]

I don't think the result of the protest has been made. At least I haven't seen it reported.

New Hampshire protest ruling delayed - Racer.com (http://www.racer.com/new-hampshire-protest-ruling-delayed/article/210207/)

[DanicaFan]

I don't think the result of the protest has been made. At least I haven't seen it reported.

New Hampshire protest ruling delayed - Racer.com (http://www.racer.com/new-hampshire-protest-ruling-delayed/article/210207/)

Nope, its over. Should be reports up now.

[DanicaFan]

shocking, the panel hand picked buy the guy who made the decision upheld his decision... didn't see that coming... ;)

not busting on you DF - you are just the messenger...

now, to be honest, I am probably in the minority on this - but I think it was the "rightest" call - the race should have ended that way under yellow and there should have been no restart...

The problem is that the whole thing is that it was very amateur....


Chris R, I agree, they should of never restarted that race at the end and it should of ended the way they were running. However, they DID restart the race, therefore I dont see how you can just pretend that "brief" stint of green flag racing never happened. That's the part that I cant come to terms with. It's terrible all the way around. They should of finished the race under yellow and Oriol Servia should of have won. The other positions will file in accordingly. I know that means Danica would have finished lower, but you have to be fair in these types of decisions.

And to think the review's outcome would only affect the top 3 positions is crazy too. I dont get that part either. This is a big black eye for Indycar for sure.

[anthonyvop]

Via Twitter

@oriolservia
We lost the protest. The panel states that Barnhart does actually have the power to go back in time :0

[anthonyvop]

IndyCar New Hampshire protests denied - Racer.com (http://www.racer.com/indycar-new-hampshire-protests-denied/article/210251/)

[anthonyvop]

Release from NHR


STATEMENT REGARDING NEW HAMPSHIRE PROTEST DENIAL



LINCOLNSHIRE, Ill. (August 24, 2011) --- Newman/Haas Racing released the following quotes today regarding the decision by the IndyCar Series panel to deny the protest filed by the team following the race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on August 14.



Carl Haas, owner of Newman/Haas Racing:

"The IndyCar Series granted us a hearing and has been very cooperative in providing us with requested information enabling us to adequately present our case. We feel that we gave the panel proof that Oriol was the winner of the event when the checkered flag ended the race. Naturally we are very disappointed in the panel's ruling that five laps of the race be struck from the results but we appreciated the opportunity to state our position."



Oriol Servia, driver of the No. 2 Telemundo entry for Newman/Haas Racing

“I am very proud of Newman/Haas Racing and how they proved that the restart procedure was correct and that we were leading when the yellow came out. The panel resolution doesn't deny that. Their resolution states that Brian Barnhart has the power by the rulebook to make certain decisions at his discretion, and that is what happened.”

[Chris R]

They really need to tighten up the rule book - really, as it sits they only need one sentence - "Everything is at the discretion of the Chief Steward".... I wouldn't be putting my money into that set of rules if I were a team owner..... This also might be why the series is having trouble getting sponsors - the rules are too unclear and open to random acts of ineptitude... under those circumstances the security of your investment is always in doubt.....

[Lousada]

If BB says the earth is flat, the earth is flat. What a joke!
Is there any other sport were officials can make decisions against the rulebook and/or cancel the last part of the match, all at his discretion??

[SarahFan]

Not like we haven't seen an exact quote before

[FIAT1]

We know who won the race and we don't need some phony committe to insult our inteligence. This joker needs to go immediately. One more time congrats to Oreol Servia for superb restart and winning the race.

[BobbyC]

Note that two officials on this panel were (a) Jeff Stoops, a dealer of heavy trucks (Freightliner) and a former United States Auto Club car owner and current Chairman of the Board of the said entity, and (b) Rollie Helmling, Director of Automotive Business Development and the Governor's Motorsports Initiative for Indiana Economic Development Corporation, and another former USAC car owner.

In USAC racing, a start or restart can be aborted for just cause if the steward does not believe the start was proper. Also, in Formula One, if a red flag occurs within the first three laps of a race, the entire race is wiped off and restarted on lap one. I wonder if that history is what the officials believed in that the start was aborted by having a crash just before the start.

USAC and F1 both, if a race ends early on a red flag, they revert laps back to the last lap before incident. That seems to be what happened, and if I remember correctly, the 2003 F1 race in Brazil had a case where a pass for the lead was made because of a crash, but with the two-lap rule, Stewards gave Raikkonen the win when it was Fisichella who really won. We have a similar situation here but the restart had been aborted in the eyes of USAC officials.

[Chris R]

Note that two officials on this panel were (a) Jeff Stoops, a dealer of heavy trucks (Freightliner) and a former United States Auto Club car owner and current Chairman of the Board of the said entity, and (b) Rollie Helmling, Director of Automotive Business Development and the Governor's Motorsports Initiative for Indiana Economic Development Corporation, and another former USAC car owner.

In USAC racing, a start or restart can be aborted for just cause if the steward does not believe the start was proper. Also, in Formula One, if a red flag occurs within the first three laps of a race, the entire race is wiped off and restarted on lap one. I wonder if that history is what the officials believed in that the start was aborted by having a crash just before the start.

USAC and F1 both, if a race ends early on a red flag, they revert laps back to the last lap before incident. That seems to be what happened, and if I remember correctly, the 2003 F1 race in Brazil had a case where a pass for the lead was made because of a crash, but with the two-lap rule, Stewards gave Raikkonen the win when it was Fisichella who really won. We have a similar situation here but the restart had been aborted in the eyes of USAC officials.

bobby, I fully agree with your logic - the problem is, it is not what their rules indicate (except for the part where it is all up to the chief steward anyway). I have no issues with the results - but they did not really follow what is stated in the rules (except the part about giving the chief steward lots of latitude)... To have any sort of integrity, their decisions, even if left to the final discretion of the steward, needs to more closely reflect the substantive content of their rulebook....

[garyshell]

Just read this in Curt Cavin's Q&A blog:



Question: I realize I’m a little late to the party in sharing my opinion on the restart controversy. But I guess my thought is that while the green flag was displayed very briefly, the field never actually took the green as the yellow came back out before the leaders crossed the start/finish line. And since passing is not allowed under yellow, then no passes should be counted. As much as I would love to see Servia get a win, I don’t see how an overturn is justified. (Nick, Fishers, Ind.)

Answer: Clarifying, passing isn’t allowed before the start/finish line on the actual start of the race, but there is a restart zone for restarts, and passing is fair game once the green comes out. It was confirmed to me yesterday that Servia passed Hunter-Reay legally; the hearing centered on the chief steward’s authority to set the lineup in any manner he saw fit.


So it was a legal pass and the chief steward can do anything he damn well pleases. Time for a REAL rule book. This is just stupid!

Gary

[SarahFan]

Time for a entire new sanctioning body if ya ask me

[Phoenixent]

Just like I said this was a total waste of time. This was the same way they screwed Paul Tracy out of the Indy 500 and he does it again. Who said lightning does not strike twice in the same place.

[SarahFan]

Who mentioned the scca

[SarahFan]

It's time for am complete over haul..... New owners managent officials etc...

Let's start over

[garyshell]

It's time for am complete over haul..... New owners managent officials etc...

Let's start over

Are you forgetting who still owns Indycar? Fat chance of a do over at this point.

Gary

[SarahFan]

Are you forgetting who still owns Indycar? Fat chance of a do over at this point.

Gary

Doesn't mean I'm not right....

[garyshell]

Doesn't mean I'm not right....

As for the part about "it's time for", you are absolutely right. (Although I would keep Randy. I like what he's done thus far and would like to seem him have a bit of time.) As for the likelihood though, it's somewhere betwixt slim and none.

Gary

[SarahFan]

I wouldn't be so sure Gary..... The sisters waited out a decade long war with serious fallout.... Gave the brother ample
Time to fix things with no results .... And at this point the writing on the wall is not pretty for Randy.....

At some
Point the bean counters will get louder to point they cannot ignore it any longer

[Wilf]

I wouldn't be so sure Gary..... The sisters waited out a decade long war with serious fallout.... Gave the brother ample
Time to fix things with no results .... And at this point the writing on the wall is not pretty for Randy.....

At some
Point the bean counters will get louder to point they cannot ignore it any longer

As I said earlier this year, Randy stuck his neck way out for Milwaukee and Las Vegas. We all know how well Milwaukee went. If Vegas isn't a blockbuster you could be right. Otherwise they have to give him another year.