Dan Wheldon.....???

[ChicagocrewIRL]

Does this guy not give a rat's a** anymore ? Qualified 16th at Belle Isle. Dan Wheldon .... backmarker ??? YIKES

[Komahawk]

No, he's just a bad road racer, that's all. I expect him to be in the first two rows in Chicago. Poor Scott, nobody there to help him out. He's surrounded by the AGR team, plus the Penskes.

[CCFanatic]

He is thinking about Nascar in 2009. Kind of like Hornish this year on some tracks. Nascar is getting to them.

[call_me_andrew]

How is a guy from Europe a bad road racer? Seriously, how does that happen?

[ChicagocrewIRL]

Podium For Dan W

Ok Ol' Dan has me eating my words.... top 5 finish today. Way to go Dan. I guess you DO give a rat's a**.

[ChicagocrewIRL]

How is a guy from Europe a bad road racer? Seriously, how does that happen?

Too many OVALS ??? Do ovals ruin road racers ?

[mark123]

Now at least Scott will have a wing man for next weekend!!

[ZzZzZz]

He's not a bad road racer, it's just there's some really good ones in the series.

What's funny to me is since his spouting off to Danica, it seems she's been passing him for position every race.

[Komahawk]

He's no match for most others in the IRL, on the road anyway. Rice cut him to size, and towards the end, Danica was literrally flying away from him. Even Hornish is far better than him, maybe even Foyt. He only got to the front by pitting way outta sequence and most of the top dogs crashing out.

Best move of the race: Rice's pass against Wheldon.
Worst move of the race: Helio's failed pass against Scheckter. Funny comments afterwards by Scheckter (who had a great race going) as well as Mike King and Bryan Herta, hehe.

And once again Michael Andretti making a fool of himself verbally, accusing Dixon of intentionally collecting Dario. Yea right! And Rice intentionally ran out of fuel, just to somehow collect Dario.

Nice drive by Danica, but taking out Sharp ain't that nice a move.

General question: Would Milka be better than Sarah on a road corse in the same car? I doubt she'd be worse...


It's going to be a KILLER season finale!

[eliostar]

This was not a race of skill but fortune. When the leaders can't even pass a lame duck like Wheldon, that does not bode well for this track.

[wedge]

How is a guy from Europe a bad road racer? Seriously, how does that happen?

He wasn't regarded highly in England, even though he never had enough money. He was racing in junior categories around the same time as Manning - who was regarded as a better prospect.

Kinda shows you how strange how the motorsport ladder of opportunity can throws things at you.

DW pretty much owes his career to AGR, else he'll be stuck in A1GP by now....

[Komahawk]

This was not a race of skill but fortune. When the leaders can't even pass a lame duck like Wheldon, that does not bode well for this track.

Rice passed Wheldon, no sweat. Dario couldn't get by because he just had pitted, and maybe he just didn't want to risk a crash. He was ahead of Dixon at that point.

Wheldon is exceptionally good on ovals. That's odd, considering he was never on one before he came to the IRL. Manning was with Ganassi just in the wrong years I guess. He'd be just as good as Dixon on the road, however I doubt he'd be as strong on ovals.

[eliostar]

What was Helio's excuse for not passing Wheldon, on an empty tank no less. I must have missed Rice passing Wheldon with no sweat.

[LotusElise]

He wasn't regarded highly in England, even though he never had enough money. He was racing in junior categories around the same time as Manning - who was regarded as a better prospect.

Kinda shows you how strange how the motorsport ladder of opportunity can throws things at you.

DW pretty much owes his career to AGR, else he'll be stuck in A1GP by now....

Darrens Manning and Turner, plus some others, were regarded as much better prospects than Dan, whose career was quite scrappy before he went to the States. Still, I don't begrudge him anything and he's obviously found a bit of a place for himself.

[wedge]

Darrens Manning and Turner, plus some others, were regarded as much better prospects than Dan, whose career was quite scrappy before he went to the States. Still, I don't begrudge him anything and he's obviously found a bit of a place for himself.

I still think he made a mistake in not taking up the BMW test drive offer, it was quite obvious at the time that 2006 was going to be JV's last year in F1, let alone the last 6 months. Dan must be still kicking his teeth because he would be making a name of himself in F1 by now.

But hey, as I mentioned earlier, that's motor-racing for you - ifs and buts.

I hope he has the hunger and form next year else I can see him NASCAR where he's well suited to ovals.

[Mark in Oshawa]

Wheldon is overratted. I don't think he is that much better than most on ovals, and as we have said, his ability on road/street courses doesn't stand out. I think he is just finding his own level now......he caught lightning in a bottle a few years ago....

[Komahawk]

Up until this year he has had no crashes for almost 4 years. And exactly this ability to stay out of trouble is what he's missing this season. There was the Milwaukee incident, the Texas incident, and of course Michigan. In '05 he would've avoided those. And he got collected in Kentucky (and I think in Indy as well). It's just not his best year, still he's 4th in the standings. So what turned out to be a disappointing year for him would be the career highlight season for most others.
BTW, I don't see anyone criticising Hornish or Castroneves for their underachievements this year. Helio crashes every third race or so, often by his own mistakes. And Hornish never looked as if he had anything to do with this year's title. The championship would be alot more exciting with Penske being involved, and this year the only reason they're out of the championship race is because of the drivers.

[Komahawk]

What was Helio's excuse for not passing Wheldon, on an empty tank no less. I must have missed Rice passing Wheldon with no sweat.

That was during the first half of the race, I think shortly after Wheldon made his first stop or so. It was good to see on the IMS broadcast.