Can one of you guys explain to me how getting laps back works in Indycar? There were 3 cars on the lead lap. The yellow came out for a wreck. Then when they went back green there were 8 cars on the lead lap. How does that work? I know IndyCar doesn't have a NASCAR-style "lucky dog" (and that would only get one car a lap back). I didn't appear as though those 5 cars had skipped pitting to take a "wave around" either as they seemed to start right at the front and didn't need to save fuel. So, what happened?
The lead lap cars pit first, and the pace car picks up the race leader when he comes out of the pits, so the one lap down guys are then at the back of the lead lap. They catch up to the pack behind the pace car, then pit.
*SPOILER*
I really wish they would have finished under green.
What a race!! I was on the edge of my seat for almost all of it. I'm a HUGE O'Ward fan, which has a direct correlation to my interest in IndyCar these past few years. Was gutted for him because I think he was setting up for an exciting finish.
If you're not watching IndyCar, you're missing some great racing.
-Rob
JimS
Reader
4/3/23 5:47 p.m.
I agree. Other than the cars being ugly the racing is good. I've become a fan again.
Tom_Spangler (Forum Supporter) said:
The last 50 laps of that race was some of the best racing you're going to see anywhere, in any series.
Totally agree but how does Indycar get that out to the masses so that people watch and go to the races? It was sad to see the stands so empty at Texas after watching three days of 130,000+ at the F1 race in Australia.
Region_Rat said:
Tom_Spangler (Forum Supporter) said:
The last 50 laps of that race was some of the best racing you're going to see anywhere, in any series.
Totally agree but how does Indycar get that out to the masses so that people watch and go to the races? It was sad to see the stands so empty at Texas after watching three days of 130,000+ at the F1 race in Australia.
I don't know, but if you figure it out, give Roger Penske a call. 
Invent a time machine, go back and smack Tony George in the nuts, and Indycar is the most popular series in North America, just like it already was then.
There is some sort of Kardashian show coming out like "Drive To Survive" soon. Lets see if manufactured drama solves the popularity issue.
In reply to Streetwiseguy :
He's getting some award or trophy - I was surprised to see that.
Datsun310Guy said:
In reply to Streetwiseguy :
He's getting some award or trophy - I was surprised to see that.
I think he's getting inducted into the IMS hall of fame or something. Which, I guess... He did own the place for a number of years, and made a lot of changes, both good and bad. Mostly bad, but hey, that new pagoda is sure nice, isn't it? Almost makes you forget about the 25-8 rule, right?
In reply to Region_Rat :
TMS 'moving in the right direction' after IndyCar crowd boost It's something but indycar is probably never going to become the giants like Nascar and F1. To be honest after watching the NASCAR COTA race, it was not entertaining and it didn't look like there much fans at all. However I understand making the race a party really helps bring the fans and that might be something indycar can do. I had a great time bringing my young family to a race. If you read the responses alot of people complaining that pack races is going to kill people...it's hard to please the fans that are paying attention and are not partying.
Streetwiseguy said:
Invent a time machine, go back and smack Tony George in the nuts, and Indycar is the most popular series in North America, just like it already was then.
There is some sort of Kardashian show coming out like "Drive To Survive" soon. Lets see if manufactured drama solves the popularity issue.
You mean 100 days to Indy?
https://www.cwtv.com/shows/100-days-to-indy/sxsw-first-look/?play=14b780f5-34a9-4daa-b16e-ee213671fe74
It "looks" like more of a straight documentary, but I am sure they will drama it up a bit, hopefully not creating anything false though.
aircooled said:
Streetwiseguy said:
Invent a time machine, go back and smack Tony George in the nuts, and Indycar is the most popular series in North America, just like it already was then.
There is some sort of Kardashian show coming out like "Drive To Survive" soon. Lets see if manufactured drama solves the popularity issue.
You mean 100 days to Indy?
https://www.cwtv.com/shows/100-days-to-indy/sxsw-first-look/?play=14b780f5-34a9-4daa-b16e-ee213671fe74
It "looks" like more of a straight documentary, but I am sure they will drama it up a bit, hopefully not creating anything false though.
Fake drama has worked like a charm for F1. I see no reason why Indycar wouldn't follow the same playbook.
What's up with Graham Rahal?
A lot of it is his team. He historically qualifies poorly then works his way up in the race, but so far this season all the RLL drivers have been pretty uncompetitive.
Barber was a great race. Top three drivers, from 3 different teams, within about 3.5 seconds at the checkers.
Fuel strategy, tire strategy, a French guy on the pole, push to pass strategy, it was all good.
Find it to watch if you can.
Poor Grosjean. How many times has he had the best car and led the most laps, only to end up second? I have no idea how he used up so much P2P so early in the race, but it sure cost him at the end. All he had to do was make one mistake and Scotty Mac was there to pounce.
I did watch the first episode of 100 days to Indy. It does not seem to have, or seems like it will have any false drama. It is very driver focused though. The first episode at least focused on profiling the drivers they focus on a bit. It did show racing (only testing and the first race), but they were just highlights and concentrated on the highlighted drivers of course.
Seems like a decent series to me.
In reply to Tom_Spangler (Forum Supporter) :
He got "screwed" by a really clean race. Which made the 3 stop actually work. And that was kind of amazing with some of those super close passes that stayed clean.
IndyCar refutes Liberty Media sale rumor After watching Barber race and F1 race, there was a ton passing at Barber and F1 was a real snooze. As much as I respect Penske, and I know they have some things in the pipeline, but if Liberty Media could put them as a top 3 premier series it would be worth it to sell out.
trigun7469 said:
IndyCar refutes Liberty Media sale rumor After watching Barber race and F1 race, there was a ton passing at Barber and F1 was a real snooze. As much as I respect Penske, and I know they have some things in the pipeline, but if Liberty Media could put them as a top 3 premier series it would be worth it to sell out.
A lot of why the F1 race was a snoozer has to do with how Liberty manages that series and its teams. So why would you put them in charge of ruining another series?
In reply to Andy Hollis :
I think Indycar does well with the product but doesn't have the effective marketing campaign that F1 and the media behind it to hype it up. I feel the same way about Nascar not a fan of the race format and playoffs, but they can still hype it up and they saved IMSA.
trigun7469 said:
In reply to Andy Hollis :
I think Indycar does well with the product but doesn't have the effective marketing campaign that F1 and the media behind it to hype it up. I feel the same way about Nascar not a fan of the race format and playoffs, but they can still hype it up and they saved IMSA.
The single biggest thing going for F1's recent rise in popularity across a broad demographic has been Drive to Survive. And that was Netflix's doing, not Liberty....though the latter obviously had to be involved to make it work.
Liberty doesn't do all that much marketing besides that in the US...at least I'm not seeing it. And I live in a town with a race. It's actually pretty pathetic how little marketing happens here...yet they still sell out in minutes.
In reply to Andy Hollis :
Many of the reasons that F1 is so boring isn't really an issue in Indycar- While power teams like Penske and Ganassi can figure out how to be faster, there's not a real chance one team will make a massively dominant car. And the aero package isn't quite as bad at making it impossible to follow- hard, for sure, but not as bad.
But what Indy really needs more than anything else is what trigun points out- marketing. Having the races on a non sports system in a kind of random way really sucks. F1 is on ESPN, done. And the marketing is so bad that the odd ball times for races are lost for Indycar, but F1 can deal with it reasonably well. Lastly, Indycar just ends in a very sudden manner in the early fall.
So given the balance, Indcar can very much use Liberty Media to do better. Bless Penske for keeping it going, but this last weekend was the first indycar race I've watched for a really long time because it's just not regular enough.
In reply to Andy Hollis :
Liberty markets everything. So DtS is because of them. Netflix may do it, but I don't see Bernie having that happen vs. making US viewers pay to watch racing.
Then again, the F1 interest in the US is constantly underestimated. Non US F1 fans can't seem to fathom that the most live eyes on a race has happened in the US for the handful of years the race was at the Speedway. Even with it half full, it's almost double the next best live race. So it's not really required to appeal locally- it's better to get imports anyway.
One thing Liberty has done in the US is to appeal to the high roller. Which really sucks for the normal viewer. But it brings interest and money to the series. And Indycar can really use that.
