IndyCar Debacle

            Oh IndyCar, you make it so hard to be a fan of your league. Just when you think IndyCar is taking a step forward, it takes two back, literally. On Sunday, it was announced that the new cars planned to debut in 2012 will have to wait until 2013. Then on the same day, the race at New Hampshire Speedway ended in complete chaos.

                
             IndyCar President Randy Bernard said the reason for the delay of the cars is money. Numerous team owners have said that they will not be able to afford enough cars to run next season. In a recent vote to decide if the cars should be used next season, owners voted 15-0 against using them. Bernard said “…we don't want to go from 27 or 28 cars (in the racing field) to 16 cars because it's cost-prohibitive. If we'd have had 16 cars, (the kits, or cars) would have been the excuse. It could have been the demise of our sport." I understand the move but it’s disappointing to have to wait another year to see the new cars in action.

                
            The part I don’t understand is how Indianapolis Star writer Curt Cavin says “Every team will have new cars; the Dallara prototype debuted last week at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course…” Every team will have new cars? Will they be new cars but with the current body? Chevrolet and Lotus will also be a part of the series next year, but again, I’m not sure how.

                
            Now, to get to the actual on track action. The race at New Hampshire was dominated by points leader Dario Franchitti until about halfway through the race. Franchitti and Takuma Sato made contact after a restart and caused Dario to crash. After that it was a three-way battle for the lead between Servia, Ryan Hunter-Reay, and Scott Dixon.

                
            With 10 laps (Lap 218) to go the cars were preparing for a restart.  Several of the drivers were pleading with their spotters and crew chiefs to let IndyCar officials know the track was had moisture on it and was too slippery to drive on. The chief official, Brian Barnhart, said he never knew about the drivers wanting a red flag thrown. So the green flag was waved and cars went everywhere. Danica Patrick immediately lost control and slid into Will Power, and then Takuma Sato and Ed Carpenter crashed into Will Power. After Will Power got out of the car he flipped the double bird, on live TV, in the direction of where Barnhart was stationed at above the track. After the crash IndyCar decided that the track was in fact too wet and the race was red flagged.

Will Power in all his glory

               
            After the damage had been done, IndyCar decided they would revert back to the results before the caution came out. That meant the winner was Ryan Hunter-Reay but Oriol Servia took issue with that because on the restart on Lap 218 he had gotten by Hunter-Reay before the caution was thrown for all the spun-out cars. Scott Dixon said after the race “I was thinking Oriol won the race, Ryan Hunter-Reay deserved to win the race, but if you go by how we normally race he didn’t win. I’m not racing USAC or racing on the dirt… the caution laps count”.

               

                
            It’s safe to say that Sunday was the worst day for the IndyCar series this season. Dedicated fans to casual racing fans to newcomers had to be disappointed by the delay of the new cars. Then those fans had to be even more disappointed to see their league act like it doesn’t know its own rule book and doesn’t respect the opinion of its drivers. There have been several instances this year that have brought into questioning of how the officials of IndyCar handle situations and penalties. After this season rules need to be created, eradicated, or be made clearer so the drivers, teams, and fans can all understand what is allowed and what isn’t.

This picture taken during the race at New Hampshire was symbolic of the weekend IndyCar had. IndyCar race cars crashing in front of a NASCAR banner.

Construction of the Dallara Plant

            Construction is under way to build the new $7 million Dallara factory just across the street from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.  The building will be home to Dallara, who has built the race cars used by IndyCar since 1997. The building will also house the Indy Racing Experience. This offers visitors the chance to ride in a two-seater IndyCar on the streets around IMS.

                                                                             

            The building is part of re-vitalization of the area around IMS. South of the track is mostly concrete parking lots with a couple of strip malls and old stores that have seen better days. The building of the Dallara plant should lure companies involved with racing to build their shops around the track as well.

The front of the Dallara Building

Side view

Side view looking a little farther left

IndyCar on the rise?

            Could IndyCar be on the rise? If you judge it off the series’ biggest race, the Indianapolis 500, then the answer would be a resounding “Yes!”

But before we talk too much about the future, how about a history lesson?

            

            During the 1990’s, CART, the Championship Auto Racing Team, was the premier open-wheel racing league in America. CART was run by several legends of racing, including Roger Penske, Bobby Rahal, and Paul Newman. Tony George, owner of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, was also on the board of owners, but played a minor role.

            

            George became fed up with “political differences” between himself and the sanctioning body. George said the differences were driving the sport away from its “American-bred oval roots”; others say it had more to do with money and power. I believe the former, and still believe that IndyCar needs to get back to those roots.

            

            In 1995, Tony George created his own racing league; a league that was more affordable, and that centered on the Indy 500.

            

            The result nearly destroyed both leagues. CART took the big names, while IRL held onto the biggest race. For the following years the two leagues battled to try and destroy each other, striving to find the best drivers and best teams. Eventually, Penske, Ganassi, Michael Andretti, and Rahal all returned to Indy, and the Indy Racing League.

            

            In 2008, CART had nearly reached bankruptcy so they agreed to merge with the Indy Racing League. That resulted in what we know today as IndyCar.

           

            

            The 100^th anniversary of the Indianapolis 500 was a near sellout, bringing more people since the 1995 race, which was the year before the IRL/CART split. The race also produced a higher television rating than last years, rising from a 3.6 to 4.0. Tickets are being sold at tracks across America at a faster rate than previous years, showing that people are taking interest in the league and its drivers.

            

            Next season, IndyCar will introduce all new cars. There will be an oval car and a road/ street course car. These cars have customizable parts that will allow the car makers to create different looking cars than their opponents.

            

            Along with these new cars will be Chevrolet and Lotus, along with Honda, all making cars for specific teams. This means that there could be three different looking race cars on the track all on once, reminiscing to the early days of the Indy 500 where car companies pushed for innovation and speed.

            

          These new cars will also attempt to get rid of the “spec” racing that has become synonymous with all racing leagues. The term refers to how all the cars are made exactly the same, and look exactly the same, i.e. NASCAR and Formula 1. This was also a problem for IndyCar, as the cars have been the same since 2003.

           

A model of the new cars for 2012. The top is the road course car. The bottom is the oval car.

            The biggest change coming to IndyCar is the loss of its most popular driver, Danica Patrick. Patrick will be moving to NASCAR after this season to compete in the Nationwide Series. To me, this is a positive; it is time for IndyCar to forge its own identity, one that isn’t based on just one driver. You watch Sportscenter, and the only thing that would be covered in the highlights is Danica Patrick and the winner of the race. That’s not a good thing.

-There has been no formal announcement made on this issue, but everybody is expecting Danica to leave IndyCar.

            
            The time is right for open-wheel racing to re-emerge on the sports scene. The series has been dormant far too long, and the men running IndyCar want it to be a premier racing league. NASCAR has shown a decline in popularity, some NFL teams are struggling to sell tickets, and that league may not even have a 2011 season. Plus the economy, which drives racing, is improving, and large corporations are crucial as they sponsor cars, drivers, and tracks.

2011 Indy 500: Post-race

Start of the 2011 Indianapolis 500

 The 100^th anniversary of the Indianapolis 500 may have produced the best finish of any 500 ever. It may have been one of the best finishes of a race ever. It was definitely the best Indy 500 I have ever watched.

                

            Besides the first double-file restarts in the 500, there was little to be desired during the first 100 laps. Ganassi teammates Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon traded the lead back and forth the entire time. Pole sitter Alex Tagliani led some laps too, but later hit the wall coming out of Turn 4 and ruined his race.

                

           The excitement began when Ryan Briscoe crashed on lap 168 and brought out the yellow flag. All cars would have to pit just once more, but just Dario Franchitti and J.R. Hildebrand came in and pitted.

-This was something that I didn’t understand. Why not pit now? I knew at this point that it would either be Franchitti or Hildebrand that would win.

                

            With 20 laps left, Scott Dixon came into pit road and surrendered the lead to Danica Patrick, with Tomas Sheckter in 2^nd, Ed Carpenter 3^rd, Bertrand Baguette in 4^th, Marco Andretti in 5^th, Franchitti 6^th, and Hildebrand 7^th.

                

            15 laps left and Danica still lead, but was being caught by Bertrand Baguette. Baguette took the lead over with 12 laps left. At this point, Sheckter had made his pit stop, so Andretti moved up to 3^rd; Franchitti was 4^th, and Hildebrand 5^th.

                

             10 laps left and Baguette still lead the race. Patrick and Andretti came in for their pits stops, which meant Franchitti was in 2^nd and Hildebrand was 3^rd.

-At this point you could actually hear that Franchitti was running about half throttle. I told my brother that Hildebrand was catching up and running full out, which you could see and hear. I knew that all Hildebrand had to do was pass Franchitti and he would win. We were both ecstatic.

                

             5 to go and Baguette still lead, with Franchitti in 2^nd, but Hildebrand was right behind him.  Hildebrand got around Franchitti right as Baguette came into pit.

                

             4 to go, 3 to go, 2 to go, and finally the white flag. The 300,000 thousand fans in attendance were about to see history be made. JR Hildebrand drove his car around Turn 1, then Turn 2, then onto the backstretch, with the crowd going crazy. He dove into Turn 3 and came into Turn 4 on the high line to pass a slower car. Then WHAM!

                

             Hildebrand was in the wall. Hildebrand was had crashed in Turn 4. For just those few seconds as the thousands watched, there was a humongous “gasp” and silence. Then Dan Wheldon, who had come from nowhere, crossed the finish in 1^st place. He had won the 2011 Indianapolis 500.

                

            Hildebrand’s car slid across the finish line in 2^nd place. He climbed out of his wrecked car and just sat on the ground. It’s impossible for me to imagine what was going through his mind. He could see the checkered flag, he could see the $2.5 million paycheck, and then he saw it all disappear.

               

For two hours after the race, race officials met and talked about the finish of the race. They finally declared Wheldon the official winner, but it would have been kinda awkward to take the victory away after he celebrated. The controversy was that Hildebrand’s crash could have, and maybe should have, brought out a caution immediately. Instead, Wheldon passed Hildebrand, and then the caution flew.

In my opinion, the IndyCar officials let the finish play out, and threw the yellow flag when Wheldon passed Hildebrand. I’m not sure what would have happened had the yellow been thrown immediately when Hildebrand crashed. He still would have crossed the finish line, but not much besides that. I think the right decision was made though, Hildebrand made a mistake, and Wheldon capitalized.

                

           The victory was Wheldon’s second Indy 500 victory and the first for team owner Brian Herta.  Wheldon said after the race, "It's obviously unfortunate, but that's Indianapolis”. Truer words have never been said. It is Indianapolis, where the unexpected always happens.

Dan Wheldon passes JR Hildebrand

Teams Penske and Ganassi had complete opposites of days. Ganassi drivers Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon, finished 12^th and 5^th, respectively, and lead for a combined 124 laps. Ganassi-affiliated drivers Graham Rahal finished 3^rd, and lead six laps. Charlie Kimball finished 13^th.

                

            No Penske driver finished in the top 10, and led no laps. This had to be the worst 500 for Penske ever, except the year none of his drivers made it into the race.

It turned out to be a decent day for Andretti Autosports, which only had four of its five drivers in the race, one of which was in a car owned by another team. Marco Andretti and Danica Patrick finished 9^th and 10^th, respectively. John Andretti finished 22^rd, and Ryan Hunter-Reay 23^rd.

          Tony Kanaan was the sole bright spot for his KV Racing Technology team. Kanaan finished 4^th, but his teammates finished 32^nd and 33^rd.

Now, I’m sure you are all wondering how my predictions went.

I had picked Dario Franchitti, Scott Dixon, and Alex Tagliani to win. Well obviously that was a bit off. But those three combined to lead 144 laps and were running 1-2-3 for awhile.

I guaranteed no Penske driver would finish in the top 5, and that was right.

In my list of 8 drivers (excluding Ganassi or Penske) that had the best chance of winning, I failed to mention: JR Hildebrand, Graham Rahal, Tony Kanaan, Bertrand Baguette, Tomas Sheckter, all finished in the Top 10.