godamit!!!!

**bella** · 30 Apr 2000, 18:12 (Ref:5573)

stinkypants! what a anticlimax!!!

could someone tell me what happened bar the last 20 laps? i was asleep, and forgot to set my alarm for the race.

i'm extraordinairily peeved off. christian, luv, get your ass on that podium! i'm not in the slightest bit amused by this pathetic display of pantsness. i shall support the evil michael if you're not good.

hurrah for adrian, coz it's nice for him to win a race that isn't a miserable occasion, but damit, that paul tracy guy's up thee again.

and we weren't even top brazilian.

[This message has been edited by bella (edited 30 April 2000).]

Jay · 30 Apr 2000, 23:51 (Ref:5574)

Christian didn't do as badly as Micheal "Crew Killer" Andretti.

And I am sure that Tags will get it right very soon. I see big things for him in the near future.

Congrats Adrian!

Rachel · 1 May 2000, 01:56 (Ref:5575)

That's just SO frustrating! Michael rams into his own crewmember, and all he gets is a dinky little stop and go? And then proceeds to get 4 points? I agree with Page and Johnstone (oh goodness, never thought that day would come), many crews should get on CART's back for not DQing Michael.

I felt terrible for Tagliani. Even though he did make quite a few mistakes, he admitted to them. I don't think anyone deserved that race more than him.

floid2000 · 1 May 2000, 08:19 (Ref:5576)

Yo Adrian ! He was there at the right time.
Let the guy have his moment of glory.
Tag had problems and lost..maybe next time
Paul Tracy will live on the podium this year. Everything's in place for the Championship. GO PAUL

Liz · 1 May 2000, 09:34 (Ref:5577)

What, somebody criticizing Baby Mikey besides me?

Bella, you are better off than I am. AT LEAST YOUR GUY FINISHED.

**bella** · 1 May 2000, 10:15 (Ref:5578)

i can't handle andretti either.
nor can i handle underacheivers. gil had a mech problem, and that's excusable. lame driving is not. stupid boy.
(excuse for being in foul mood - my parents have gone to the other end of the country, taking both keys for my wheels with them. i'm now stuck here. on a sunday bank holiday. parents. can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em)

**bella** · 1 May 2000, 13:37 (Ref:5579)

damit, i'm bored!
a thought - i've looked everywhere, and nowhere have i found a report of the race that tells me what happened straight.
any more suggestions, bar the obvious - cart.com, champcar.com, seventhgear.com......

where is everyone? it is a bank holiday here...

KC · 1 May 2000, 14:37 (Ref:5580)

I only saw the highlights last night on RPM2Nite as I taped the wrong channel yesterday. The same thing happened to Andretti as last year. The fuel man had trouble pulling out and when he jerked on the hose the front pitman, who tells the driver to go, told him to go. Unfortunately the hose was still attached and the fuel man was nipped by the tire as Andretti pulled away. The same happened last year. The driver cannot see what the fuel and air jack man are doing and must rely on the guy in front of the car to let him know when the coast is clear. In a effort to shave tenths of a second Newman-Haas has injured two fueling men.

In no way am I apologizing for Andretti and his arby-bargy tactics, especially at Long Beach, but he was not at fault this time.

Jared · 1 May 2000, 15:17 (Ref:5581)

I don't agree with the penalty of being DQ'd for hitting a crewman. (Trust me, my uncle was a tire changer for Dale Earnhardt, so I sure don't want to see any of them get hurt.) A stop-and-go yes, but no disqualification.

Personally, I think the crew should not be allowed over the wall until the car comes into the pit box. Did you see Franchitti's spin? He spun right around that crewman. This would have also helped the Penske team when Tracy hit his crewmen at Nazareth a few years ago. (Speaking of whom, Jay, Michael is not the only one to make mistakes. He just gets blasted by you "Ayatollah's Amen Choir" anti-Americans.)

I couldn't believe it. I was sitting there thinking that Tags was going to run away with it, and the next thing I see is a big cloud of tire smoke and several parked race cars. It's just a shame that they couldn't finish the race under green. I was hoping that Jimmy could pull off a win.

And how about Montoya's antics?

Brack has really impressed me. His move on Tracy in Turn 4 (and Tracy's re-pass) and his almost-wheel-banging with Fernandez were great stuff to watch. Who says ovals are all boring races?

Congrats to Adrian! And keep it up, Paul and Jimmy, as well as Memo.

enemy-ace · 1 May 2000, 23:30 (Ref:5582)

Montoya's antics?
I think he has every right to be miffed (understatement), the guy is putting the car in the position for a win and it is letting him down. He's just being passionate about his racing.
Brack is also showing a nice aggressive spirit, I can see why Rahal signed him. To bad he wasted so much time in the IRL.

Liz · 2 May 2000, 00:23 (Ref:5583)

Hey, if you don't start Mikey-worshipping, you won't start the rest of us up again.

Maybe.

Every car My Gil has driven has broken to pieces. I am beginning to wonder if it can possibly be that nobody can build a car he can drive all the way to the end of a race? Is it Gil? Is it the car?

Is it Aliens ....

Rachel · 2 May 2000, 00:29 (Ref:5584)

Perhaps DQing Michael is harsh, perhaps it wasn't his fault that the crewmember broke his ankle and leg, and another one received bruises. But the fact of the matter is that it's a rule in CART; hit a crewmember, be DQed. Obviously the rules were made for a reason, and not enforcing that rule is what I find so frustrating about all of this. Maybe CART should lessen the penalty. At least then they would have a penalty they would actually enforce.

[This message has been edited by Rachel (edited 02 May 2000).]

Nuvolari · 2 May 2000, 09:13 (Ref:5585)

If the ESPN pit lane reporter was correct -- and he claimed to have spoken to a CART official -- then the rule is not iron-clad. There are levels to the infraction, similar to fouls and "flagrant" fouls in other sports. Apparently, the judgment call was that Mikey's wasn't a "flagrant" violation, so no DQ.

Personally, I wouldn't want to be within two or three pit boxes of Mr. Andretti.

[This message has been edited by Nuvolari (edited 04 May 2000).]

Rachel · 3 May 2000, 01:20 (Ref:5586)

I'd like to hear how CART decides which penalty to enforce. To me, breaking a guy's leg seems pretty bad. From what I understand a stop and go is the least harsh penalty. I believe he deserved a bit more than that. It's not like this is a first time incident for Andretti.
I at least hope that the whole Newman/Haas team will re-evaluate their pit stops - surely they can find some way to perform the stops safely and quickly. All of the other teams are able to do it.

**bella** · 3 May 2000, 18:06 (Ref:5587)

well, liz, obviously, it's being too close to my christian. everyone knows he's got a curse (which manifests itself in a little black cloud that you'll see hovering over his head. it occasionally spits out lightning, so watch out).

have you seen a little black cloud round gil recently? well, now you know what it is.

the pit thing - as someone suggests on 7g, there's only one solution. off with his head.

Liz · 3 May 2000, 23:24 (Ref:5588)

New Glasses for Mikey. The man needs NEW GLASSES.

Take it from someone who never knows she's blind until she gets her glasses changed, NEW GLASSES WOULD SOLVE HIS PROBLEMS.

Bella, it's that guy with the pitchfork that keeps jabbing My Gil, making him mash his foot down on the gas and run into walls during safety car laps, spin on formation laps, and cut a little too close to other peoples' cars ... or they are making paint thicker than they used to when he was younger ....

Whatevr it is he needs to find out and get it fixed.