2009 IndyCar Thread

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Liquid

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Thought I'd get this started for any IndyCar fans on the board. We should have some since it features Honda power!

I caught a bit of the qualifying for the Indy 500 last Saturday and thought the cars were beautiful. Much nicer than the current F1 design (and last years as well, of course), and a big step up from the previous IndyCar design too. I'm not a big fan of ovals (even Indy) but I am looking forward to when they get back to the road courses.
 
Re: 2009 Indy 500

I'm no longer a big fan of US open wheel racing. I drifted away when F-1 and my own racing got interesting and Champ Car racing got unstable.

However, I must say, that over the past weekend they did a pretty good job of packaging the qualifying; some drama, bumping each day; some cool, real personality (not canned) interviews, the maturation/improvement of Jack Arute, lots of variety with the various personalities and pieces, (Helio on pole; que the violins, Paul Tracy getting some sympathy time) and what might be a reasonable talent field.

Of course, that's not to say that I won't be sick of it by the race day, but overall a much better package this year than in the last 13 or so.
 
The series is off to a good start. Versus channel is doing a pretty good job, far better than the ABC/ESPN or Speed hodgepodge. Indy looks interesting this, the first full season of the unified series. The former Champ car teams are not as far behind, and are competetive.

Now if only AJ Almendinger and Sam Hornish would return to open wheel racing.

Miner
 
For me it's an ovals vs. road courses issue. I'd rather watch Nextel Cup cars at Infineon or Watkin's Glen than Indy Cars at Indy or Chicagoland. There is still good open-wheel racing in the states in the Star Mazda series and Formula BMW, sadly, it gets little or no air time and little fan support. As a participant, open wheel cars rock!:biggrin:
 
For whatever reason I'd rather watch the plants grow:eek: than watching any car go round and round:rolleyes: Oval/Roval= sucko.
 
Racing is competition with lots of engineering and thought invovled. I appreciate the effort of going straight (drag racing), going left (Winston Cup, IRL), or going left and right (F1, MotoGP or WRC). There are pluses and minuses to each, but they can all be entertaining.

Lets not forget Unlimited Hydroplanes. They were impressive when powered by Rolls Royce piston engines, and awesome when powered by gas turbines.

Variety is the spice of life.

Miner
 
What's IndyCar? :confused:















:biggrin:
 
And in other F1 related news, Hambone is getting married, and doesn't even know it! :biggrin:

http://www.aceshowbiz.com/news/view/00024369.html

May 19, 2009 07:19:05 GMT

Making no attempt to hide her willingness to settle down with boyfriend Lewis Hamilton, Nicole Scherzinger says she would probably get engaged to the F1 racing driver in late July.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Would I get married? For sure and, yeah ... But I have to get engaged first. Late July is looking good," Nicole Scherzinger says when she is asked to spill the beans on the future of her romance with boyfriend Lewis Hamilton. "Marriage is a seal of love. On my solo album I have sung about how much I love that and what the whole process would mean to me. Who needs a reason to seal their love?" she gushes.

Opening up about what she has in mind regarding her wedding plans, The *****cat Dolls' lead singer expresses her willingness to have her bandmates involved in the process. "The Dolls can be the bridesmaids," she states.

Back in early November last year, Nicole Scherzinger was forced to deny false reports that she already got engaged to Lewis Hamilton, whom she began dating in May the same year. "I want some 'us' time before we do all that!" she insisted.

Most recently, Nicole said she wanted to duet with Lewis, who is an F1 racing driver. "He thinks he can sing - I think that's my fault! We will probably end up in the studio together. That will be great," she was quoted as saying.



I'm sure that Mrs and Mr Scherzinger will settle down and have a wonderful life. :D
Click to expand...
 
"Would I get married? For sure and, yeah ... But I have to get engaged first. Late July is looking good,"

:eek::eek: - RUN LEWIS RUN!!
 
Miner said:
Racing is competition with lots of engineering and thought invovled. I appreciate the effort of going straight (drag racing), going left (Winston Cup, IRL), or going left and right (F1, MotoGP or WRC). There are pluses and minuses to each, but they can all be entertaining.

Lets not forget Unlimited Hydroplanes. They were impressive when powered by Rolls Royce piston engines, and awesome when powered by gas turbines.

Variety is the spice of life.

Miner
Click to expand...

What he said!
 
Re: Just what you wanted to hear

92 white 0650 said:
That's where Hamo (who?) is going next since he's so fed up with F-1. :wink:

Kind of 2 birds with one stone, eh? :smile:
Click to expand...

I thought it was the Nascar Sprint Cup? LoL Lots of talent have moved towards Nascar. Off the top of my head, Juan Montoya, Max Papis, AJ Allmendinger, and I know I'm missing a few more names

Oh and nascar pays damn well apparently
 
Re: Just what you wanted to hear

KooLaid said:
I thought it was the Nascar Sprint Cup? LoL Lots of talent have moved towards Nascar. Off the top of my head, Juan Montoya, Max Papis, AJ Allmendinger, and I know I'm missing a few more names

Oh and nascar pays damn well apparently
Click to expand...

Cup pays as well as F1. J Go is reported to earn ~$20 M per season from Hendrick, not including his personal endorsements. I'm pretty sure JPM makes more with Ganassi than he did with McLaren.
 
Re: DCR: A shoe string triumph

Who's bettin' that FTG is really goin' down as Miller predicts?
Click to expand...
Well, I guess the 2 or 3 of us that actually acknowledge the Earl, don't care enough to give Miller his due on this one.

On an issue that really means something, hats off to Dale Coyne and his shoe string team (organization is prolly an overstatement). I've got a friend who was the DCR fueler about 3 years ago and he left because the budget was so thin, safety was at stake, never mind pace. I have no idea what the team is like now, but I'd like to think they've got something substantial going.

<Sigh> I'd like to think that, but reality tells me it's just their 15 minutes. Nevertheless, good on them.
 
Really enjoyed the race yesterday.... it was great to see Wilson dominate in a real race after the boring ovals which are primarily just an engineering exercise and don't offer a lot of interest from a racing standpoint.

Helio has the most annoying personality, with his awww golly gee shucks over the top good naturedness.

Another thing that is wearing me out is the constant TV attention Danica is getting when she is very consistently average in grid position and is not much of a road course racer (where I think the true talent shows through). I understand why it is being done, and I don't expect it to stop anytime soon regardless of her results because of the marketing angle, but she's been around long enough and it is more than time for her to start showing some podiums. Otherwise get off my TV and let me get some information on some of the other guys in the field.

Last rant is Mario Moraes is a shitty racer, a crybaby, and a danger to other people on the track. I'm really sick of that guy.

Any thoughts on the Red/Black tire setup? Definitely trying to emulate F1 on that point. I think it adds an interesting strategic angle to the race and I am in favor of it.
 
I don't pay too much attention to the personalities in indycar but isn't great to watch pros drive really fast cars on a track you have also driven in your nsx.I always watch the glen and lrp races, even nascar:eek: just for that reason.
 
I enjoyed watching yesterday's race in Toronto. Seemed like old times seeing PT and Helio getting into it...:biggrin:
 
Re: Ain't the same old PT

Seemed like old times seeing PT and Helio getting into it...
Click to expand...
+1. I was chewing over the shunt and PT's response. It was measured and the popular thing to say (in the pit lane, not the grandstands). But it was also correct, as the front tire contact pulled Helio's car to the right. Looks like PT has added some PC to his tool kit. Amazing.

But he's still got it, it was a great drive. :smile: The series needs him.
 
Liquid said:
Another thing that is wearing me out is the constant TV attention Danica is getting when she is very consistently average in grid position and is not much of a road course racer (where I think the true talent shows through). I understand why it is being done, and I don't expect it to stop anytime soon regardless of her results because of the marketing angle, but she's been around long enough and it is more than time for her to start showing some podiums. Otherwise get off my TV and let me get some information on some of the other guys in the field.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I guess having the most top tens, and second most top fives puts her right in the middle of the pack. :rolleyes: Danica is a good driver. But the Ganassi and Penske teams have better drivers and, most importantly, have the best pit crews. And most of us know that alot of these races are won in the pits.
 
Re: Poor SeaBass

NSXrebel said:
What's IndyCar? :confused:
Click to expand...
The only OW series that Bourdais has left to compete in. :frown: NFW he'll stay in F-1. Let's see if reality and his love of racing overcomes his fantasy of staying in F-1. Of course NHL can sure use him again. :wink:

Wouldn't it be hilarious if he ended up driving for Dale Coyne? :biggrin::biggrin::biggrin:
 
Re: Notes to myself and......

maybe the one or 2 Prime members that admit to watching IndyCar.

I find myself looking forward to today's Mid-Ohio race and might actually go watch the Infineon race. Why, I ask?

1. PT is somewhat back and with Jimmy on the radio, I love their candor and smack talking humor, giging each other. Priceless. :tongue:
2. Looks like there's some stability and name recognition, both team and driver. And having Tony, Dario, Helio and others from ChampCar days is great. And not seeing a drain to NASCAR is important.
3. They've added the uncertainity of F-1 qualifying and tire mix to the show.
4. The Push to Pass has been adopted.
5. DCR has a good driver and actually won one finally which is a great underdog senitmentaility card.
6. They are not on network TV, so they don't have to dumb it down and shorten it up: pre-race stuff is longer and they have the freedom to appeal to the real fans.
7. Jan Beekus is cool, explaining some tech stuff that would never fly on network. :smile:
8. And as I said before, Jack Arute is no longer a complete idiot. :rolleyes:
9. Not even a hint of the Gene Simmons ridiculousness and similarly FTG has faded from the spotlight.
10. They have toned down the Danica mania. Probably because they know it would not go down well with the real racing fans watching on Versus.

Now they just need to work on the aesthetics of the car; still fugly. :rolleyes: Do that and this series just might survive. :eek:
 
Re: Notes to myself.......8/24

Wow, what a 3 ring circus. Haven't been to a race in 3-4 years but there was nowhere near the amount of TV based hoopla and foolishness that I saw before and after the race yesterday. Oh well, good for ratings I'm sure. Actually, it was kind of interesting to see the K&V winery piece.

Are they going to fine or discipline Will Power? Seems to me he has no excuse for missing the yellow flag since he hit Phillipe 8 seconds after the spin. 8 seconds; :eek: he was still in Turn 2 when the yellow should have (and presumably) came out !!! Unless the flagger blew it and was real late (like 5 seconds), Power would be thrown out of SCCA license school for a far less serious infraction than that. :mad:
 

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