 |
| Popular Indy 500 Winner Tony Kanaan |
For the second year in a row, the Indianapolis 500 was clearly a better race than the Charlotte 600 – and it wasn’t even close. The 500 featured repeated “wow” moments, the type of excitement on the race track NASCAR’s Brain France openly lusts after. Not a single “big one,” the multi-car accident France’s series seems to have mistaken for wow, marred the 500.
Indy featured a record 14 leaders, a record 68 lead changes (doubling last year’s previous mark) and the racing was close throughout. There were only five cautions for 21 laps and it took just 2:40 to run the race at a record 187 mph. In contrast, Charlotte saw 12 leaders and 24 lead changes and took 4 hours and 35 minutes to run, plus two red flags pushing the elapsed time to more than five hours. There were 11 cautions for 61 laps.
It’s been five years since open wheel racing stepped back from the brink of destruction and signed a truce ending its civil war. It was the second 500 featuring the new spec Indy race car and while I’m still not a fan of the car, it sure puts on a good race. The 500 followed on the heels of the IndyCar street race in Brazil, considered by many to have been one of the best road races in history and perhaps the best street race ever.
IndyCar was openly hoping for an American driver to win the race, but it got someone even better, Tony Kanaan. While more than half the fans had long since fled Charlotte Motor Speedway when Kevin Harvick took the checkered flag approaching midnight, many of the 200,000 or so fans at Indianapolis stayed long after the finish, alternately chanting “TK! TK! TK!” and “Tony! Tony! Tony!” Kanaan’s victory had elements of Dale Earnhardt’s victory in the Daytona 500, with crew members and driver’s from other teams lining up to congratulate him. Even though the race ended under caution for the second straight year, nary a sole was calling for a green-white-checker, not even the second and third place finishers.
AJ Allmendinger, a NASCAR exile, led 14 laps on the way to a seventh place finish. He is the first driver to move from stock cars to Indy cars in many years, although it wasn’t entirely his idea. But he may not be the last. Kurt Bursch tested at Indy in one of Michael Andretti’s cars and defending NASCAR championship Brad Keselowski was obviously impressed with the 500 from his perch on Roger Penske’s War Wagon. Both have said they’d be interested in running a future 500.
The big question now; can IndyCar keep it going? Of course not everything is hunky dory. Only 33 cars attempted to qualify for the 500 – for the 33 starting positions. One of those teams has already announced it will be shutting its doors.
Up next is the Detroit Grand Prix. Last year the race on Belle Isle staged by Penske turned into an embarrassment, with the race being stopped after the track was ripped up by the cars and several drivers openly questioned if the race should continue. Penske can be expected to have corrected that problem. The series also is trying something different, breaking up the race into two shorter sprint events, one on Saturday and one on Sunday.
Longer term, Derrick Walker, who is taking over as head of operations and competition at IndyCar, says one of his goals is to re-introduce more opportunities for technological innovation. That’s music to the ears of many Indy fans, who believe innovation is what the sport has been missing.
For the sake of IndyCar – and NASCAR – let’s hope it happens.
I'll push that advantage to three years, as JR Hildebrand's last-lap-4th turn crash was certainly an unexpected turn. All the more special as it was Dan Wheldon who took the win.
ReplyDeleteOne of the things that makes Indy special is that the leader with ten laps to go is rarely the winner. As it happens, I believe TK led lap 190 but they swapped at least once afterward. Had the race not finished under yellow, the finish would have been three times as exciting but possibly not as fulfilling.
Indycar has its troubles, but I think it has been the better series for at least two years. All it needs is a better TV contract. I don't have high hopes for Detroit maintaining the momentum. Street races are a necessary evil that rarely make for good racing.
Best of all, Indycar doesn't have Darrell Waltrip.
Oh, and the four-across finish to Friday's Firestone Indy Lights race was possibly the best of the decade!
ReplyDeletePeople either forget or just don't remember that in the 50's the majority of cars all looked the same and had the same engines, the offy. Grnated there was always something interesting from Novi but generally they all looked alike. Today they would be reffered to as cookie cutter cars. But they gave people some great racing.
ReplyDeleteI thought the Indy was the best of the 3 races. If the racing I've seen from this new car continues the Indy series could definitely give Nascar a run for it's money and as soon as the revenue increases I wouldn't be suprised to see more Nascar drivers desert a sinking ship, so to speak.
You're absolutely right Sue. In 1960 every car in the Indy 500 was an Offy-powered roadster, a third of them built by A. J. Watson and most of the others were copies. Of course the next year Jack Brabham showed up with his rear engine car...
DeleteSpot on...again.
ReplyDeleteI'm a Nascar die-hard but I appreciate good racing in any series. The 500 and Brazil have literally been off the hook for a racing fan. Not one race this year in Nascar has even approached either of those two races. In fact the last great Nascar race was run in Atlanta several years ago with Johnson and Gordon dueling for the last 20 laps. Sadly, nobody even saw it because a rainout had pushed the race to Tuesday.
3 things...sponsor dollars, Network dollars and an abundance of American drivers are all that is keeping Indy from surpassing Nascar. Any of us who have been around for awhile all remember a time when Nascar was the "other" racing series. All it would take is a name driver or two to switch series...then, who knows what might follow.
As they say, those that don't learn from the past are doomed to repeat it. And it appears Nascar hasn't learned what happened to their competitor years ago that vaulted themselves to the top American racing sport. Attendance continues to drop, ratings continue to fall. Eventually someone is going to say..."uh, maybe we need to rethink this".
Thought this year's California race was pretty good too. The one thing those two tracks have in common is that neither one has been repaved recently. They put a premium on the driving.
DeleteDale Jarrett won the 1996 Coke 600 by 12 seconds. TWELVE. Darrell Waltrip, Cale Yarborough and Richard Petty would lap the field multiple times en-route to victory. Why all of a sudden do people see NASCAR as so boring? I totally agree about the new pavement on a host of tracks (Kentucky and Atlanta will have awesome races this year, I guarantee it) and it's another indication that a lot of disgruntled fans just don't know what they're talking about. It's really irritating to hear all the complaining. Jeff Burton got it right this weekend, fans remember the "good old days" as they imagine them to be, not as they actually were. I'm so sick of NASCAR's online fan demographic. Brian France should not look at Twitter when he wants to look over how to make the sport better. He needs to talk to fans who actually go to the races. No offense to may noble and well-meaning fans on the Net, but I wonder what percentage of them actually go to races.
ReplyDeleteI'm not as informed on quality TV coverage of sporting events but I don't mind FOX. To me they've enhance the sport in ways we take for granted too often today, and do a much better job promoting the sport than its competing broadcasters TNT and ESPN.
For me Jeremy it's the cumulative effect with Nascar over the last 8 years. I'm not one that needs 900 lead changes for excitement. I just want good hard racing. Frankly I'm more of a Nascar purist in many ways.
DeleteI hate The Chase format, never understood why they got rid of the old system. I do not like double file restarts. Cautions breed cautions...insert the double file restart. Not to mention it completely negates a driver/team that has worked hard to be the dominant guy of the day i.e Jarrett winning by 12 secs. Besides I see no talent in dive bombing the corner and taking out the front row. And I hate the GWC. I never had a problem with a race ending under caution even if it screwed my drivers chances at a win. The 500 ended exactly as it should. There wasn't 3 more chances to determine a winner nor should there be. "Manufacturing" a finish would not have added any more drama or excitement into that race.
As for Brian...Nascar isn't a stick and ball sport. You can't create "playoff" moments unless you completely change the sport to short sprints or heat races. Frankly Brian and the powers that be catered to each and every whim of the "casual" fans (who are long gone)and changed anything and everything at their whim. The product wasn't broke before Brian took over and tried to fix it. The product was strong. Sure there was bound to be some fall off...all sports go through peaks and valleys but this magnitude of fall off? And the scary thing is, there appears to be no recognition of the mistakes made in order to correct them. Just more of the dog chasing it's tail. Change number one being, lets make this thing affordable again for the fans.
I love Nascar...42 years watching this sport. And unlike Jeff Burton thinks I have no "oh those were the good old days" coloring my view of the sport today.
I find Fox race coverage disgusting and degrading to the NASCAR and the drivers. The ABC Indy coverage was all about the race and the drivers, the Fox NASCAR coverage was all about Fox. The two races couldn't have been covered much differently. ABC showed the flyover, Fox missed it. Fox was even bragging about their sky cam. Indy had one too, but it stayed up in the air where it belonged. I never thought I would say this, not in a million years, but I'm tempted to start watching Indy cars and stop watching NASCAR. I already stopped going to the races.
ReplyDeleteI didn't watch the NA$CRAP staged show but I did watch Indy, only my second this year, Brazil the first. I'm still pissed at Indy management over what they did in the off season, but if they can continue the momentum the rest of the year maybe they have a fighting chance. Brazil was really good for a street course and The 500 was really good. Belle Isle should be a disaster, usually is. Glade to AJ do well and hope Kurt shows up next year. Haven't seen any follow up on ole D.Dub so I'm thinking the only way you will be able go force him to read your articles is to tie him down and hold his eye lids open with tooth picks, I've got an extra box of those if you need them.
ReplyDeleteI want to see more of the Australian V8 super cars.
ReplyDeleteRoad racing is so more exciting than round and round, unless it's a short track. I have been a NASCAR fan since the 60's and I see no reason to keep watching.
Goodbye then; NASCAR's better off with one less whiner. Also if you've watched since the 60s then you clearly don't value road racing as much as round and round. Nice knowing you and you are welcome back to the racetrack anytime.
DeleteNow, if we can just get "Indy Cars" to take Danica back, and Tony "Whiney" Stewart with her, all will be right with the world again.
ReplyDeleteLol, Indy was more than happy to get her out of that series. And they're laughing every week at the hype given to her, one they know all to well. Here..."take Danica, please". Lol.
DeleteYou are incorrect Mr. Garner, 34 cars attempted to qualify for the Indy 500.
ReplyDeleteWell 34 cars started qualifying attempts, but Michel Jourdain Jr. never completed an attempt.
DeleteMonaco was great. The Indy 500 was fantastic. What Faux served up was an infomercial for the usual dozen or so advertisers buying commercial time. Normally I would've been at Charlotte but medical issues precluded me attending. One of my friends who was there said it was the best 600's she'd seen in a long time despite the red flags and phony debris cautions. Only one more week of Faux infomercials to go. Thank God.
ReplyDeleteUp until the mid-60's, all the open wheel cars did look alike. Smokey Yunick tried a weird looking car one year without success. Then came a strange looking rear engined machine called Lotus. Andy Granatelli showed up with his Pratt & Whitney PT-6 aircraft engine powered cars and rocked conventional thinking. Dan Gurney would eventually introduce his All American Eagles. And then we sort of hit a major lull in engine & body designs until a couple of years ago when IndyCar was looking for a replacement for the antique Dallara design. A little bit of a Renaissance in body designs came about and a couple of new engine designs. So there is hope for IndyCar. More so than NASCAR which seems to enjoy being a glorified spec car series that's reeking of being the wheeled version of the WWE with rigged fan votes and phony debris cautions "to make for a more exciting finish".
Having been a racing fan since 1963, I see IndyCar on the rise, F-1 maintaining the status quo, and NASCAR continuing its 10 year decline which is directly attributable to its poor management & leadership.
Smokey Yunick had several unique Indy entries. Curtis Turner had a big crash in one in 1963. The car you're probably thinking of is the sidecar design that ran in 1964. Bobby Johns of NASCAR fame ran practice laps fast enough to make the race and eventually made a qualifying attempt, only to crash on the warm-up lap. Johns, by the way, came back in '65 as a teammate to Jimmy Clark in a Lotus (thanks to his Firestone connections) and finished 7th as Clark won.
ReplyDelete