Round 6: The 99th Indianapolis 500

[jimclark]

Originally Posted by Bob Baldwin

Wife was mentioning on some of the TV shots that there still looked like a lot of empty seats .

Nothing new since CART was out...what's your point?

[Bob Baldwin]

My point being the first Indy 500 I Attended many many Moons ago I thought was just about a sell out . With all the Drama the past few weeks that was going on I thought that would have attracted a few more fans .

one of the better races to me in the past few years Never a Dull moment the whole race drivers literally on the ragged edge . at all times

interesting to me was watching the race within the race for those not in the top 10 .

[NaBUru38]

¡Juampa!

Sad to see no Spanish interview by ESPN.

Originally Posted by icemachine

JPM lucky to be back in the top 10

Ha, there was much more than luck there

Originally Posted by rwintle

What is race control doing? Not allowing Montoya to pit to fix an obviously dangerous issue that caused them to wave off the restart... and then the piece falls off on the track causing an extended yellow. Nice job.

I thought exactly the same. Race officials should never let damaged cars run on the track.

Originally Posted by J Jay

That was a nasty swipe from behind for the pit crew member, and a dangerous release if ever I saw one.

I'm very concerned with mechanics that let drivers leave the box when there's cars in the pitlane. It's far from unusual in IndyCar.

[Akrapovic]

I'm not comparing IndyCar to other series, but honestly, it didn't have my attention for the first 3/4. I don't know why, but it just wasn't interesting until near the end.

But when the end came, the racing was utterly amazing. Loved the racing. Shame we couldn't have more of that throughout the race.

[Knowlesy]

[Akrapovic]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x32eV3Vi4n0

Didn't notice this pass at the time. 2 wheels off the road and still passes into turn 2. Incredible car control.

[Steevp]

Sky have cut the last 6 laps off of that last 2 Indycar races I've recorded.

I'm so glad I don't pay for this cra.. ...oh.

[FIRE]

The last 15 laps were great to watch.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by jasonjessica09

First of all it is awesome that JPM won! I wonder what the NASCAR folks think of it?

Secondly, I used to be a big of a Indycar fan as anybody. But I lost interest baring watching the end of the 500. My racing passions is now just with sportscars. I hope none of you wasted the whole day watching the 500. I turned on the ESPN3 replay a few minutes ago (without looking at the results) and skipped to the last 6 laps to see everything. I think that is all you really needed to see.

It certainly wasn't a waste of a day. Any big sporting event can take a while to get going and equally it can start with a bang but by limiting oneself to watching the last few laps of a race or the last few minutes of any sporting event, you miss out on how the event unfolded up until the point you started to watch it.

So if I had only watched the last 6 laps, I wouldn't have necessarily known Montoya had come from 30th to win the race, or he had run over the air hose, or any of the other things that make up the race.

What would be a waste would have been to watch the last 6 laps, only to have the race end under a yellow.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Interesting comments from Montoya regarding his win, particularly about the aero-kits.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/119167

[bjohnsonsmith]

Result

1 Juan-Pablo Montoya, Team Penske, Dallara/Chevrolet. 200, 3h05m56.5286s
2 Will Power, Team Penske, Dallara/Chevrolet. 200, 0.1046s
3 Charlie Kimball, Chip Ganassi Racing, Dallara/Chevrolet. 200, 0.7950s
4 Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing, Dallara/Chevrolet. 200, 1.0292s
5 Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan, Dallara/Honda. 200, 2.3122s
6 Marco Andretti, Andretti Autosport, Dallara/Honda. 200, 2.5388s
7 Helio Castroneves, Team Penske, Dallara/Chevrolet. 200, 2.7821s
8 J.R. Hildebrand, CFH Racing, Dallara/Chevrolet. 200, 3.5631s
9 Josef Newgarden, CFH Racing, Dallara/Chevrolet. 200, 4.0281s
10 Simon Pagenaud, Team Penske, Dallara/Chevrolet. 200, 4.2148s
11 Sebastien Bourdais, KVSH Racing, Dallara/Chevrolet. 200, 5.3067s
12 Ryan Briscoe, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, Dallara/Honda. 200, 5.6687s
13 Takuma Sato, AJ Foyt Enterprises, Dallara/Honda. 200 6.1678s
14 Townsend Bell, Dreyer and Reinbold, Dallara/Chevrolet. 200, 8.5005s
15 Ryan Hunter-Reay, Andretti Autosport, Dallara/Honda. 200, 9.6481s
16 Gabby Chaves, Bryan Herta Autosport, Dallara/Honda. 200, 10.1016s
17 Alex Tagliani, AJ Foyt Enterprises, Dallara/Honda. 200, 11.2151s
18 James Jakes, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, Dallara/Honda. 200, 12.0431s
19 Simona de Silvestro, Andretti Autosport, Dallara/Honda. 200, 12.7328s
20 Carlos Munoz, Andretti Autosport, Dallara/Honda. 200, 39.8346s
21 Justin Wilson, Andretti Autosport, Dallara/Honda. 199, 1 Lap
22 Pippa Mann, Dale Coyne Racing, Dallara/Honda. 197, 3 Laps
23 Sebastian Saavedra, Chip Ganassi Racing, Dallara/Chevrolet. 175, Contact
24 Jack Hawksworth, AJ Foyt Enterprises Dallara/Honda. 175, Contact
25 Stefano Coletti, KV Racing Technology, Dallara/Chevrolet. 175, Contact
26 Tony Kanaan, Chip Ganassi Racing, Dallara/Chevrolet. 151, Contact
27 James Davison, Dale Coyne Racing, Dallara/Honda. 116 Mechanical
28 Tristan Vautier, Dale Coyne Racing, Dallara/Honda. 116, Mechanical
29 Oriol Servia, Rahal Letterman Lanigan, Dallara/Honda. 112, Contact
30 Ed Carpenter, CFH Racing, Dallara/Chevrolet. 112, Contact
31 Bryan Clauson, KVSH Racing, Dallara/Chevrolet. 61, Contact
32 Sage Karam, Chip Ganassi Racing, Dallara/Chevrolet. 0, Contact
33 Conor Daly, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, Dallara/Honda. 0, Mechanical

[Knowlesy]

Originally Posted by Akrapovic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x32eV3Vi4n0

Didn't notice this pass at the time. 2 wheels off the road and still passes into turn 2. Incredible car control.

I noticed it at the time, let me tell you! Only just stopped sweating.

He did a mid-corner save as well not long after. Really lairy stuff, but the risk was rewarded. This is the Montoya we all know and (sometimes) love and it's wonderful to watch.

[NaBUru38]

Originally Posted by Akrapovic

honestly, it didn't have my attention for the first 3/4. I don't know why, but it just wasn't interesting until near the end.

Well, cars were pretty close to each other, and driving very fast. I was watching to see if any of the leaders had any issues, or if their fuel consumption or tyre wear was too good or bad.

Yes they weren't overtaking each lap as in the Handford device era, but no they weren't just cruising five seconds apart each.

[Lanky Turtle]

I thought the race was great, start to finish. Last year was exciting also with RHR and Helio dicing in the final laps. I mostly watch sportscar racing but the Indy 500 is usually the most exciting race viewing experience of the year for me. Real edge of the seat action!

I was hoping my man Will Power was going to pull it off but I was happy for Montoya also and it's always good to see a driver come back and be successful again. I can't wait to attend next year for the 100th!

[Peat]

I thought the race as a was brilliant. It had a real ebb and flow as different people came to the fore.

I could swear Dixon had it totally covered, he just seemed to be able to surge to the front whenever he chose. But crucially didn't have the car at the last.

That's Indy for ya! Gotta love it!

[JacobP]

So is Indy racing officially cool again?

[fieldodreams79]

Originally Posted by JacobP

So is Indy racing officially cool again?

Yes, minus the cars.

[rwintle]

I'm just glad there was little discussion of (a) fuel strategy, and (b) tire wear. Obviously both were concerns at times but neither seemed to dominate the racing.

Wowsers drive from Simon Pagenaud, particularly in the first half of the race. I thought Power had it at the end but Montoya was absolutely undeniable.

Waste of a day? I think not. Enjoyed the whole thing.

[MoMedic9019]

As much as I said I wouldn't be enjoying it. I did.

[Adam43]

Originally Posted by Woolley

Same here. Annoying isn't the word.

6 laps for me Recorded another showing, but I had a big gap between watching the first 194 and the last 6!

Montoya Bloody brilliant.

[Burp]

Loved the race but then I always do. Montoya was a contender last year until his pit stop speeding so we could be sat here discussing him going 3 for 3. Wish id put real money on him for the win.

[NaBUru38]

Back to the Indianapolis blackout, ...

Originally Posted by Siports Media Watch

The IndyCar Series Indianapolis 500 earned a 4.3 overnight rating on ABC Sunday afternoon

Indianapolis was the top market for Sunday’s telecast, earning a 12.7 rating for tape-delayed coverage.

[racer69]

Great race, was well worth staying up all night for it again as ever.

Montoya fully deserved it

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by NaBUru38

Back to the Indianapolis blackout, ...

Quote:
Originally Posted by Siports Media Watch
The IndyCar Series Indianapolis 500 earned a 4.3 overnight rating on ABC Sunday afternoon

Indianapolis was the top market for Sunday’s telecast, earning a 12.7 rating for tape-delayed coverage.

According to IndyCar, Sunday's race had highest audience since its 2011 broadcast of "The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.", with nearly 6.4 million viewers.

http://www.indycar.com/News/2015/05/...ABC-since-2011

[bjohnsonsmith]

I'm planning on going to the 100th 500 next year. Who else is doing the same?