Round 6: The 100th Indianapolis 500, 16th-29th May.

[fieldodreams79]

Originally Posted by gert

Has Dixon been in the top 5 before? He is now...

Not sure.He's been in the top 10 for most of the day, and we know he's saving fuel.

[J Jay]

Near enough everyone at the sharp end needs a splash, so yellow or not it's going to come down to the pit crews at the last stop.

Edit - Dixon pits!

ROSSI WINS!!!!!!!!!!!!

[fieldodreams79]

Strange. America!

[PascaLM]

Nice for a rookie.

[gert]

I'm surprised nobody else tried to go to the end.

Someone like Dixon maybe.

EDIT: OK there are a few like Kimball and Power

[Salamus]

I have no idea what happened.

Congrats to Rossi. Even after Andretti's top 2 cars took each other out, the other 2 got 1st and 2nd.

Sucks for Hinch but he had a great day too.

[Paradise City]

Rossi? Who'd have thunk it?

The man is delighted. As well he might!

[J Jay]

Bourdais is the guy who should really be kicking himself/his strategist, he pitted 2 laps after Rossi and was with him in the closing laps but had to splash with two laps left.

[fieldodreams79]

Originally Posted by Salamus

I have no idea what happened.

I couldn't follow the last dozen laps.

[J Jay]

Originally Posted by Salamus

I have no idea what happened.

Cliff Notes - Everyone runs hard and pits for a splash. Rossi is the fastest/best placed of the few who didn't.

RHR would probably have helped Rossi to fuel save in the later laps as well.

[skycafe]

Originally Posted by J Jay

Misfire on Pagenaud's car apparently (NBC comms). Would explain his utter lack of top end even in double drafts.

How long did it take them to report that! Seriously, it was becoming this big, weird mystery why he was not surging back toward the front, and it took them that long to find out and report it?

[skycafe]

Originally Posted by Salamus

I have no idea what happened.

You ain't in that club alone!!!

[J Jay]

Originally Posted by skycafe

How long did it take them to report that! Seriously, it was becoming this big, weird mystery why he was not surging back toward the front, and it took them that long to find out and report it?

I assume with everything else going on the ball was dropped with regards to Pagenaud's problems. It didn't help that because he dropped back so quickly he didn't get much onboard time which would have helped the commentators/audience discern the problem. Eventually NBC (I think) actually spoke to his crew and found out what was going on.

[canamman]

Originally Posted by fieldodreams79

I couldn't follow the last dozen laps.

That's the beauty of a fuel mileage finish, you don't know who has
what till they start pealing off to the pits. Then low and behold , here
comes a rookie American to present himself and grab the spoils.
That is Bryan Herta and crew coaching Rossi to the win. Absolutely
brilliant.

After the race Eddie Cheever made the comment that Rossi just wrote
his ticket back into F1. I thought about Jacques Villeneuve winning the
1995 Indy 500 then was F1 champion by 1997. Hmmmm. Not exactly
apples to apples, just the same ball park.

Great race for the 100th!

[fieldodreams79]

Originally Posted by canamman

That's the beauty of a fuel mileage finish, you don't know who has
what till they start pealing off to the pits. Then low and behold , here
comes a rookie American to present himself and grab the spoils.
That is Bryan Herta and crew coaching Rossi to the win. Absolutely
brilliant.

After the race Eddie Cheever made the comment that Rossi just wrote
his ticket back into F1. I thought about Jacques Villeneuve winning the
1995 Indy 500 then was F1 champion by 1997. Hmmmm. Not exactly
apples to apples, just the same ball park.

Great race for the 100th!

It was mad crazy at the end and I found myself starring at timing to see who had pitted and where everyone was. And Rossi on top! I'll take it. We'll see about the future but it should certianly be bright.

Originally Posted by J Jay

I assume with everything else going on the ball was dropped with regards to Pagenaud's problems. It didn't help that because he dropped back so quickly he didn't get much onboard time which would have helped the commentators/audience discern the problem. Eventually NBC (I think) actually spoke to his crew and found out what was going on.

Originally Posted by skycafe

How long did it take them to report that! Seriously, it was becoming this big, weird mystery why he was not surging back toward the front, and it took them that long to find out and report it?

I thought Doctor Punch was alone in the pits until I heard Jan at the end. Instead of three talking heads in the booth, ALL broadcasts could use some more boots in the pits. A front runner with a big name should be covered when he falls back and that takes knocking on pits doors or scanning the radio. Instead, we got constant criticism and preaching of driving standards from Cheever and Goodyear. I generally enjoy their nuggets and Alan B's play by play, but NBC's coverage, like many others these days, seem to concentrate on the sharp end and general topics of the event, rather than some of the finer details that us racing nerds like.

[skycafe]

Originally Posted by fieldodreams79

I thought Doctor Punch was alone in the pits until I heard Jan at the end. Instead of three talking heads in the booth, ALL broadcasts could use some more boots in the pits. A front runner with a big name should be covered when he falls back and that takes knocking on pits doors or scanning the radio. Instead, we got constant criticism and preaching of driving standards from Cheever and Goodyear... but NBC's coverage, like many others these days, seem to concentrate on the sharp end and general topics of the event, rather than some of the finer details that us racing nerds like.

I think it all was ABC, but.... I am with you all the way. They need more pit people, they don't even have to have cameras, just communication with a central director who gathers the information and also sends them out to collect specifics.

I wish I could see the last couple of laps again, along with the bubble head's commentary, because I think if Rossi had a bit more fuel and wasn't so far off the power, they would not even have noticed him crossing the finish line. Sure, I am exaggerating a bit there, but...

[FIRE]

Great finish.

[bjohnsonsmith]

That's pretty much the fairy tale result. An American, rookie driver, wins the 100th running of the Indy 500 in a merged team.

[Paradise City]

It was ABC/ESPN. They just seemed to be looking at the pictures without any other information and were generally none the wiser than the audience. I don't think they interviewed any team boss during the racing? They seemed to be more chaotic this year than they usually are. Mind you, I did like the pre-race stuff particularly the conversation Bestwick had with Foyt, Mears and Unser. They did that well.

Not saying NBCSN are master broadcasters by any stretch - but you are guaranteed to get some entertainment with Paul Tracy on the rota.

I enjoyed it in any event. Second half in particular. It really seems to be the year in sport where rank outsiders noone thought of are winning the big titles/events.

[fieldodreams79]

My bad. ABC. They all seem interchangeable these days.

[tweeteretc]

Originally Posted by tweeteretc

I'm very excited for the race...so much so that I decided to make a little "Delta Force" video for fun. Hope it's alright if I share it...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEogW2V39DI

Anyway, hard to pick a favorite for tomorrow. I figure Hunter-Reay and Muñoz have good chances for Honda. Hinchcliffe and Schmidt would be a great story, but a 500-mile race is such a hard thing to win, and you're always going to trust bigger teams in them. Hard to count out Dixon, Montoya, and Castroneves. Pagenaud's been on fire this year, too.

I will say I'll be watching row four closely. ServiÃ*, Rossi, and Sato all have a good shot to finish much better than where they start. Maybe not face-on-the-trophy better, but I think they'll be factors.

And if there's one I'm cheering for, well, it's Stefan Wilson. I'm not sure what a realistic good day is for the team, so I just hope they exceed whatever expectations they have.

Going to be a great one, I suspect.

Dang. I shouldn't have hedged with, "Maybe not face-on-the-trophy better," and outright said winner would come from that row!

Great, great race. I love when they let the green run play out—all the strategies, the different approaches, the different emotions. No "race management" to throw a yellow and set up a "close finish." Just let it happen naturally, and boy, am I happy for Alexander Rossi. A very cool winner.

You know, Rossi dominated Formula BMW USA. He was so fast, so aggressive, so ruthless—a Montoya/Schumacher hybrid. He then took it to the world in the World Final. His potential seemed endless.

But he disappointed a lot on the ladder. He'd pace pre-season tests. He'd win the opening race of the season. He'd be the favored driver in the favored teams, and somehow, he'd always come up short of titles. Soon, he'd had so much experience in the FR3.5/GP2 level that he was bound to take the crown, but he just couldn't. He was lucky enough to be in F1, and to his credit, was the best of the three to drive a Manor last year. Still, when he was getting a seat fit at Dale Coyne Racing back in 2014, ahead of the 2015 season, I think it was easy to give up on a prospect who once seemed to be a bright spot in a long run of disappointments for American hopes in F1.

Instead, the failures, I think, have made Rossi better. He's humbler now than he ever was. He's grateful for opportunities. He's listening. He's playing the team game. He was fast all month, masterful in the execution today, and gracious in victory. The path his climb took has left him 24, still so, so, so young, and yet 24 with some six or seven years experience in proper formula cars. You won't find many his age with as many miles logged.

I don't know where Rossi's career goes from here. I doubt he does, either.

But I wouldn't dare make a prediction. The route he's taken has gone a little bit of everywhere, from BMW's good graces to replacing Chilton only to be replaced by Chilton after free practice to a last-minute IndyCar run to winning the most important Indy 500 of most of our lifetimes.

I'm excited to see the next stop of someone who, at least for today, is unstoppable.

[skycafe]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

That's pretty much the fairy tale result. An American, rookie driver, wins the 100th running of the Indy 500 in a merged team.

Add in that he had to make a huge effort to compose himself to get out of the car, and gather together something to say for what will be a really long line of microphones, he done really good! He executed their strategy perfectly, a strategy that was constantly evolving, in front of the biggest crowd he has ever driven in front of, in the biggest race he has ever run. He done better then really good! Full congratulations to his team too, because that was not just Rossi, but the entire team.

Amazing, fairy tale sort of territory!

[canamman]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

That's pretty much the fairy tale result. An American, rookie driver, wins the 100th running of the Indy 500 in a merged team.

Did you make it to it?

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by canamman

Did you make it to it?

I did and the atmosphere was amazing, especially the start, with all the cars in formation and then as you wait for the cars to scream by, as they complete not just the first lap but the next two or three.

The only thing that detracted was where I was sitting. I wasn't up high enough to really get a good look at the pit action and the view of that section of track wasn't brilliant. The cars suddenly come upon that section and then they are gone, so you don't see a driver start to set themselves up to make a move on another driver, before they approach Turn 1. However, just being there and seeing history being made was enough.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Result:

Despite some Honda teams complaining about the domed-skids, it was a Honda powered 1-2 and it was Honda powered cars that dominated much of the race. Looks like all bodes well, especially for future super speedway races.

1 Alexander Rossi, Andretti Herta. Dallara/Honda. 3h00m02.0872s
2 Carlos Munoz, Andretti Autosport. Dallara/Honda. 4.4975s
3 Josef Newgarden, Ed Carpenter Racing. Dallara/Chevrolet. 4.9304s
4 Tony Kanaan, Chip Ganassi Racing. Dallara/Chevrolet. 10.4963s
5 Charlie Kimball, Chip Ganassi Racing. Dallara/Chevrolet. 10.5218s
6 J.R. Hildebrand, Ed Carpenter Racing Dallara/Chevrolet. 11.3459s
7 James Hinchcliffe, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports. Dallara/Honda. 12.7744s
8 Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing. Dallara/Chevrolet. 15.1607s
9 Sebastien Bourdais, KVSH Racing. Dallara/Chevrolet. 21.0613s
10 Will Power, Team Penske. Dallara/Chevrolet. 21.5171s
11 Helio Castroneves, Team Penske. Dallara/Chevrolet. 22.1015s
12 Oriol Servia Schmidt, Peterson Motorsports. Dallara/Honda. 23.8140s
13 Marco Andretti, Andretti Autosport. Dallara/Honda. 24.9700s
14 Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan. Dallara/Honda. 28.2494s
15 Max Chilton, Chip Ganassi Racing. Dallara/Chevrolet. 28.7589s
16 Jack Hawksworth, AJ Foyt Enterprises. Dallara/Honda. 32.1748s
17 Alex Tagliani, AJ Foyt Enterprises. Dallara/Honda. 32.1993s
18 Pippa Mann, Dale Coyne Racing. Dallara/Honda. 1 Lap
19 Simon Pagenaud, Team Penske. Dallara/Chevrolet. 1 Lap
20 Gabby Chaves, Dale Coyne Racing. Dallara/Honda. 1 Lap
21 Townsend Bell, Andretti Autosport. Dallara/Honda. 1 Lap
22 Matthew Brabham, Team Murray. Dallara/Chevrolet. 1 Lap
23 Bryan Clauson, Jonathan Byrd's Racing. Dallara/Honda. 2 Laps
24 Ryan Hunter-Reay, Andretti Autosport. Dallara/Honda. 2 Laps
25 Spencer Pigot, Rahal Letterman Lanigan. Dallara/Honda. 5 Laps
26 Takuma Sato, AJ Foyt Enterprises. Dallara/Honda. Contact
27 Mikhail Aleshin, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports. Dallara/Honda. Contact
28 Stefan Wilson, KVSH Racing. Dallara/Chevrolet. Electrical
29 Conor Daly, Dale Coyne Racing. Dallara/Honda. Contact
30 Buddy Lazier, Lazier Burns Racing. Dallara/Chevrolet. Mechanical
31 Ed Carpenter, Ed Carpenter Racing. Dallara/Chevrolet. Mechanical
32 Sage Karam, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing. Dallara/Chevrolet. Contact
33 Juan Pablo Montoya, Team Penske. Dallara/Chevrolet. Contact