89th Indianapolis 500 Race Thread * SPOILERS *

[GP Racer]

Wow, what a great race!

So much action from start to finish. I think Sam had everyone's number today, making some unbelievable moves up high, but as usual, his bad luck at Indy continues.

Buddy Lazier was the driver of the race though IMO. Great run today.

Congrats to Dan Wheldon, who is a real true believer in IndyCar racing. He's the first to win this race from 16th position, and the first Brit since 66! Well done mate!

[rahalteamdad]

I am really proud of the 17 car pit crew and Miera's driving. His pit gave him 1, 2, or 3 positions each time he pitted. It won't be long now.

[Silk Cut Jaguar]

I was gutted when Bourdais slammed into the wall a few laps from the end, being a Champ Car fan I'd have gotten a lot of satisfication of Seb beating the other guys on 'home' turf. Sigh, just think how great the 500 would be without the split...

That said, utterly fantastic race today barring the few brainfarts from the backmarkers which destroyed the race for some... but hey, a Brit won! Huzzah!

[Fiorentina 1]

Originally Posted by GP Racer

Buddy Lazier was the driver of the race though IMO. Great run today.

Too bad, we never got to see him all race. All they showed was Danica and whom ever was leading. But, mostly Danica. It's a shame, but if Buddy Lazier's sponsor wanted some TV exposure out of this deal, they didn't get. Next year, they better just pay to put a small patch on Danica's mom's shirt.....

[Knowlesy]

Well done Dan Wheldon!

Was unsure whether to root for Danica or Dan, but it was always clear that Danica was going to be more marginal on fuel. But good on Danica! She has talent in so many ways!

[GP Racer]

Originally Posted by Fiorentina 1

But, mostly Danica. It's a shame, but if Buddy Lazier's sponsor wanted some TV exposure out of this deal, they didn't get. Next year, they better just pay to put a small patch on Danica's mom's shirt.....

Yeah, the Danica show was getting alittle tedious, no doubt, I just hope they can honestly look at her yellow flag accident, where she took out 4 good cars, incuding the hapless, luckless Scheckter, objectively...

[Kicking-back]

Very harsh assessment of Danica, that, I feel.

[Bob Riebe]

Originally Posted by Kicking-back

Very harsh assessment of Danica, that, I feel.

Sometimes truth hurts.

This is just one race, time will tell how good she is or is not.

Bob

[GP Racer]

Not being to harsh, she ran a great race and brought alot of excitement and drama to the event. But there are alot of backmarkers that were stuck in lousy cars that are taking heat for doing alot less. Those were 4 cars that were in the top 10 that she took out, and all I'm saying is that I hope they don't gloss over the incident because she is Danica...

[rustyfan]

Originally Posted by GP Racer

Not being to harsh, she ran a great race and brought alot of excitement and drama to the event. But there are alot of backmarkers that were stuck in lousy cars that are taking heat for doing alot less. Those were 4 cars that were in the top 10 that she took out, and all I'm saying is that I hope they don't gloss over the incident because she is Danica...

IMO the Foyt/Junqueira incident should - and probably will - get a lot more attention.

[GP Racer]

Originally Posted by rustyfan

IMO the Foyt/Junqueira incident should - and probably will - get a lot more attention.

I'm sure your right. AJ will once again come under severe scrutiny, everyone calling for his head, while Danica goes on the late night and daytime talk show circuit for the next two weeks, her accident completely glossed over and forgotten.

Oprah is going to love her!

[Down F0rce]

I don't think Danica was to blame - we saw a replay of Wheldon coming very close to the pace car, seemed to catch him off guard a bit and bunched the field back up, leaving Danica (who was maybe coming up a bit hot on Sharp I think it was) with a choice of going into the back of Sharp or taking evasive action...

AJ on the other hand, was definitaly to blame for his accident. He's simply not cut out for racing on this level.

[dcp2685]

That was a great race. While I agree the Danica media was in excess, kudos to her. A hell of a talent. Overcoming a stall, a wiggle, touching tyres and a wreak, to come out leading for what (20 laps?) and having a go at the end with bad luck on fuel. Hitting 4th place as a rookie, the team and herself should be VERY proud. You...

Congrats to Dan Wheldon for this 4th in a row. And to the Andretti Green team for their first 500 win.

[Rennen]

Originally Posted by TomS

Well done Dan...time for some F1 maybe?! Fantastic race from both him and Patrick, great to see a woman doing well in motorsport

Doesn't seem that long ago that a 10 year old boy called Daniel Wheldon was playing with toy racing cars with my lad on the lounge carpet, after 60cc Go Kart practice.

I wouldn't be surprised if Honda let DW have a test in a BAR towards the end of the season...hopefully he'll find it all very boring after the Indy 500!

[GP Racer]

Originally Posted by Rennen

I wouldn't be surprised if Honda let DW have a test in a BAR towards the end of the season...hopefully he'll find it all very boring after the Indy 500!

Seem's as though you enjoyed our roundy-round racing Rennen! Glad to hear it. Dan is well on his way to the IRL championship now, so I would think BAR would owe Dan at least a shot at F1, although I would hate to lose him.

Stick around, Texas Motor Speedway is coming, and that is nothing but excitement!

[Kicking-back]

I don't think Danica "took out" four cars.

Circumstances took out four cars.

[Tim Northcutt]

Originally Posted by dcp2685

That was a great race. While I agree the Danica media was in excess, kudos to her. A hell of a talent. Overcoming a stall, a wiggle, touching tyres and a wreak, to come out leading for what (20 laps?) and having a go at the end with bad luck on fuel. Hitting 4th place as a rookie, the team and herself should be VERY proud. You...

Congrats to Dan Wheldon for this 4th in a row. And to the Andretti Green team for their first 500 win.

Danica drove a great race, and she is definitely the real deal...no doubt about it...

but the fact that she HAD to pit to replace the nose because of a wreck she caused that took out 3 cars, and thus could stretch the fuel if she got a couple of yellows (which she did get) put her back into the mix....it just so happened that those breaks came her way, or she would have been 9th or 10th

It was obvious that in the final 40 laps of the race the two fastest cars on the track were Wheldon and Meira, followed closely by Herta.

Franchitti was fast in the middle stages, but just didn't have the speed at the end...

and as I said when I started the "Dark Horse" thread, Buddy Lazier was absolutely stellar!!!! He was definitely a master on restarts today and stayed in the hunt all afternoon....

Sharp raced strongly as well, but became a victim of one of Buddy's restarts late in the race (the one with about 25 laps to go)

[Tim Northcutt]

Originally Posted by Kicking-back

I don't think Danica "took out" four cars.

Circumstances took out four cars.

Danica jumped on cold tires and spun it...she took out those cars, IMO....I could see it from my seat....those cars had nowhere else to go...it was her spin and contact that caused it...thus she was the "Circumstance"

Rahla tried to spin it by saying people were gassing and then backing off, but she started her jump too soon...the car in front of her had nowhere to go so she stepped outside and it got loose

[luke]

I still can't get over how good a race Danica drove, a really solid drive and with not that much experience, Bobby Rahal is a great asset to her early showing.
She also showed maturity by how she recoved from her fall back, and stratergy certainly payed off.
Yes she made mastakes but in the end it is a 500 mile race.

[dcp2685]

Originally Posted by Tim Northcutt

Danica jumped on cold tires and spun it...she took out those cars, IMO....I could see it from my seat....those cars had nowhere else to go...it was her spin and contact that caused it...thus she was the "Circumstance"

Rahla tried to spin it by saying people were gassing and then backing off, but she started her jump too soon...the car in front of her had nowhere to go so she stepped outside and it got loose

Tim she made mistakes. Nobody is discrediting that. She even said it herself during the post race interview in saying "She showed she was a rookie."

The bottom line is there is a lot of luck that is needed to win and she had it throughout the race. Yes while she did make mistakes, she also showed the will, patience and the guts needed to claw back what she had lost...twice She showed that she has what it takes to play with the boys including and that bout in going wheel to wheel shows her will to win.

Yes she made mistakes, but in the end we should be glad she helped provide us with some great racing.

[GP Racer]

Originally Posted by dcp2685

Tim she made mistakes. Nobody is discrediting that. She even said it herself during the post race interview in saying "She showed she was a rookie."

The bottom line is there is a lot of luck that is needed to win and she had it throughout the race. Yes while she did make mistakes, she also showed the will, patience and the guts needed to claw back what she had lost...twice She showed that she has what it takes to play with the boys including and that bout in going wheel to wheel shows her will to win.

Yes she made mistakes, but in the end we should be glad she helped provide us with some great racing.

I don't think anyone is doubting her abilities, or what a great race she ran yesterday. She is no doubt, the real deal, and she may well be the spark this sport needs.

But the fact that she took out 3? or 4 cars that all had a good shot of going top 5 at the finish, while she goes on to almost win at their expense, can't be glossed over that easily. I mean, where's the sympathy for Scheckter, who's got to be the unluckiest driver to ever race a car? He ran a good quiet race, and could have been there at the end. Matsurra also was running a good, race and had a fast car, but he to was taken out.

Right or wrong, there is a thread calling for AJ's head on a platter for his accident, so I don't think that discussing Danicas incident is so out of bounds, thats all...

[jhansen]

I have a question. Maybe I'm fuzzy on how the closing laps played out, but why didn't Rahal tell Danica to move over and let Meira by? He did not have the fuel trouble I believe and clearly had a quicker car than Danica in the closing stages. He would have at least had a shot at Wheldon. Any thoughts?

[Kicking-back]

Because they have different sponsors on their cars it is more difficult to do team orders than if it had been Danica and Brack, or the two Penskes for example.

[Tim Northcutt]

I can tell you from being there that in the last 30-40 laps of the race, that Wheldon and Meira were the fastest cars on the track....

I don't think Danica was given orders...Meira got a good run on her and didn't have to woory about running out of fuel...

and Herta passed here, even though he might have had a fuel issue as well...


It was a superb race...I loved every gren flag minute of it...because throughout the field, therre was great action on every lap...It was fun to watch Lazier on restarts...he would pick up at least a spot every time he went for it...

He still made passes late in the race, even though he had some wing damage from the incident with Sharp, when Scott ran him down to the grass and got penalized for blocking....Buddy also had to replace a nose cone from an earlier incident...but wouldn't do that twice due to possibly losing so much track position for it...

[GP Racer]

Originally Posted by Tim Northcutt

He still made passes late in the race, even though he had some wing damage from the incident with Sharp, when Scott ran him down to the grass and got penalized for blocking....Buddy also had to replace a nose cone from an earlier incident...but wouldn't do that twice due to possibly losing so much track position for it...

So thats what happened to Scott! And we never knew why Lazier needed that wing change! I couldn't figure out what went wrong for Sharp, because one minute he's up in third, and the next time I look, he's down in 11th! I couldn't believe it.

That just show's you how much ABC - Always Bad Coverage as RM put it - missed yesterday....