Quite a day for unexpected finishes, what with the red flag giving Vettel a new life at Monaco, Hildebrandt trying an outside pass in turn 4 with predictable results, and half the field running dry on the last lap at Charlotte.
Quite a day for unexpected finishes, what with the red flag giving Vettel a new life at Monaco, Hildebrandt trying an outside pass in turn 4 with predictable results, and half the field running dry on the last lap at Charlotte.
Ironically, it was the National Guard sponsored cars that crashed/ran out of fuel on the last lap of both Indy and Charlotte. On Memorial Day Weekend,too.
The commercials were much better controlled by Fox for the Coke 600.
alfadriver wrote: Hey, at least we now have all heard of JR Hildebrand. FInishing second is pretty impressive for a Rookie. Just not quite as impressive when he had a pretty big lead going into the last corner of the last lap.... oop. Oh, so nice to see a non- Penske or Ganassi win the race. Stunning how bad Penske did, though.
At first I thought he might slide past the finish line and win anyway. That would have been pretty cool.
Hey, it was a good race, much better than some in the past, so that's a good sign. I do agree with some others that there were way too many commericals. And in general the coverage was poor.
Fortunately for me I didn't get to watch it until this morning, so I fast forwarded through all the commercials that didn't have danica in skimpy clothes. 
Just a reminder, Grand Am Rolex at Lime Rock is on Speed @ 2 pm EST
Graefin10 wrote: The retirement of Foyt, the Unsers, the Andrettis, Mears, Sullivan, as well as Dan Gurney, who I always pulled for made a huge difference in how I saw Indy car racing. All the foreign names showing up and dominating for so long also quelled my excitment. However, in the days of the IRL I watched a few oval races and found that these guys were at least as fearless as any of their predessors and in general quite skilled. My interest slowly returned. I wasn't able to watch all of this years race, but I saw enough of it to know it was worth seeing. What an amazing finish. I'm just glad Hildebrand wasn't hurt badly. For several seconds it looked like he was going to 3 wheel it to first place but it wasn't to be.
Let me clear up that misconception. Tony George spent a lot of time and money spreading it.
The last year before the split, six of the top eight drivers in the series were American. The other two were Canadian.
JR was on NPR's "All Things Considered" today..he says he decided to go around Kimball because Charlie was running dry, and was off the pace.
http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=136800369&m=136800565
friedgreencorrado wrote: JR was on NPR's "All Things Considered" today..he says he decided to go around Kimball because Charlie was running dry, and was off the pace. http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=136800369&m=136800565
Thanks, FGC!
JR was very honest and humble in that interview; two characteristic more than a few of his peers could adopt.
I'll also suggest that if his spotter had been more alert and relayed better informaiton, he'd be celebrating a stunning victory instead of finishing second in the worst imagineable way.
Just got back from Indy last night. Great race, a seemingly very good crowd and overall a great day. When JR hit the wall the collective gasp from the crowd was like nothing I've ever heard. He seems to have handled things with quite a bit of class and maturity. Though it's got to be a low point in his young life the bright side is that he's gained a new level of fame and has come off looking like a class act. He's got plenty of wins in his future and I have a feeling he's destined to become a huge fan favorite at Indy. I'm very happy for Wheldon, Herta, Curb/Agajanian and Justin Timberlake (lol).
Yep, I was at Indy once again this year, and plan on being there every year until I die. This is one of those rare events that is bigger than any driver, series or manufacturer. As someone posted earlier, seeing IMS full on raceday is something every car person should experience. It is awe-inspiring.
Poor JR must have thrown-up all day yesterday. Good to see the kid has been conducting himself with class though.
The crowd was larger than in recent years (maybe because it was the 100th running?) and hopefully some of the luster of the race will be reborn with engine and chassis choices for next year. Regardless, it is a thrilling spectacle!
I also like the fact that so many female drivers are competing at Indy. You see more and more girls in the stands these days. (usually wearing Danica merchandise)
Joe Gearin wrote: I also like the fact that so many female drivers are competing at Indy. You see more and more girls in the stands these days. (usually wearing Danica merchandise)
Yep. Got my girlfriend to go, now she wants to do it herself! While that is obviously completely out of the question, I am looking into other forms of racing that she might be interested in. I think she wants something higher speed than autocross, unfortunately.
I was at a race track all weekend (mon included) so missed F1, Indy, NASCAR... we did ok.... sorta.... did great Sat, hurt all 4 cars ... from mild to not so mild and one we don't know yet on Sun.... a-x on Mon... I finished 2nd in class.... that'll teach me to let someone co-drive my car 
mtn wrote:Joe Gearin wrote: I also like the fact that so many female drivers are competing at Indy. You see more and more girls in the stands these days. (usually wearing Danica merchandise)Yep. Got my girlfriend to go, now she wants to do it herself! While that is obviously completely out of the question, I am looking into other forms of racing that she might be interested in. I think she wants something higher speed than autocross, unfortunately.
PDX, bro. I was planning on going that way m'self before my layoff. The latest issue of SCCA's "Sportscar" is right..it's easier for autoXers to slow down their hand speed than it is for an ex-road racer like me to speed it up. There's an almost primal instinct that tells you not to move the wheel that fast, so that you don't flip the damn thing in a gravel trap.
And yes..this is why I suck at autocross. Even with good coaching, it would take me another season to get over that instinct.
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