I've never been much of an IndyCar fan, other than the 500, but have watched all the races this year. I'll admit, because I know one of the newer drivers. The racing has been pretty amazing. Was on the edge of my seat last weekend for race to a Road America. Last night was Idaho (correction: Iowa, doh!) (small oval) and was expecting it to be a bit boring, but it was almost as exciting as the road courses.
-Rob
IndyCar are really well suited to small ovals. Especially small, flat ovals. It's a shame the Milwaukee Mike and Nazareth are not up to hosting anymore.
rob_lewis said:Last night was Idaho (small oval)
Iowa
I usually watch the Indycar races as they seem to be more competitive than F1. But the sportsbar I usually go to is closed
L5wolvesf said:rob_lewis said:Last night was Idaho (small oval)
Iowa
I usually watch the Indycar races as they seem to be more competitive than F1. But the sportsbar I usually go to is closed
Race was great.
But that reminds me of when I was a kid when we were moving out to Idaho, and everyone mixed it up witi Iowa.
alfadriver (Forum Supporter) said:L5wolvesf said:rob_lewis said:Last night was Idaho (small oval)
Iowa
I usually watch the Indycar races as they seem to be more competitive than F1. But the sportsbar I usually go to is closed
Race was great.
But that reminds me of when I was a kid when we were moving out to Idaho, and everyone mixed it up witi Iowa.
I wish I had seen Iowa and RA.
When I moved from Los Angeles to Cornville my friends all said "why Iowa?" I explained that there is a Cornville in Arizona.
Milwaukee....Cleveland...sad to see them gone!
The racing has been pretty good so far, although there has been a lot of excitement induced by people screwing up when they shouldn't. The finish at Road America #2 was obviously great. Anyway, I chalk the mistakes up to the long layoff, obviously.
The downsides are (1) the awful NBC app/coverage and (2) the cars are slow as snot. The aeroscreen clearly slows down what were already not the fastest cars out there - the next iteration of the cars is desperately needed. You have F1 cars at the Hungarong, basically the slowest or second-slowest track on the schedule - going faster than the Indycars on an oval. I like that Indycars have no power steering and a level-ish playing field but they need another 150 hp.
Youtube suggests highlights, I usually watch if it's a road course.
I've been watching by the series is still a shell of its former self. Not that the races haven't been good.
There's passing, the in car sounds like a race car and you don't know who will win. In an hour or so is the second Iowa race. Laps go by fast there.
In reply to sergio :
By those metrics NASCAR is amazing. And it's not. I'm in agreement with Tom; the racing is fun and the series makes me nostalgic for the 80s in a sad way.
I am. I enjoyed Road America last weekend. As I'm closing in on 60 years old those teenagers look like, well, teenagers.
The lower aero of the current gen cars means slower lap times than previous generations but I'm plenty happy with more passing as a result. They look & sound like racecars and the competition is great.
What's not to like?
Nope
Dashpot said:The lower aero of the current gen cars means slower lap times than previous generations but I'm plenty happy with more passing as a result. They look & sound like racecars and the competition is great.
What's not to like?
I do think it's less competitive than everyone loves to say... It's a Penske/CGR show. You've also got about half the field who are marginal drivers on one or both of ovals or road courses. Plus this season you've had lots of amateur mistakes even from the top teams. So yeah, lots of passing but not necessarily for the win.
Dave M (Forum Supporter) said:Dashpot said:The lower aero of the current gen cars means slower lap times than previous generations but I'm plenty happy with more passing as a result. They look & sound like racecars and the competition is great.
What's not to like?
I do think it's less competitive than everyone loves to say... It's a Penske/CGR show. You've also got about half the field who are marginal drivers on one or both of ovals or road courses. Plus this season you've had lots of amateur mistakes even from the top teams. So yeah, lots of passing but not necessarily for the win.
This year, yes. Andretti doesn't seem to have found their rhythm yet, but they are usually right there mixing it up with Ganassi and Penske.
Dave M (Forum Supporter) said:Dashpot said:The lower aero of the current gen cars means slower lap times than previous generations but I'm plenty happy with more passing as a result. They look & sound like racecars and the competition is great.
What's not to like?
I do think it's less competitive than everyone loves to say... It's a Penske/CGR show. You've also got about half the field who are marginal drivers on one or both of ovals or road courses. Plus this season you've had lots of amateur mistakes even from the top teams. So yeah, lots of passing but not necessarily for the win.
Arrow McLaren has made massive strieds with their cars. Even with two very young drivers, they are more competitive than Andretti. Looks for for Alonso in 5 weeks. Schmit Peterson was not much until Arrow and McLaren were added to it.
In reply to alfadriver (Forum Supporter) :
Schmidt Peterson was quite strong, Hinch won half a dozen races, and Wickens was going to win a whole bunch before he went to Pocono.
They sure lost something last year, though.
Tom_Spangler (Forum Supporter) said:Dave M (Forum Supporter) said:Dashpot said:The lower aero of the current gen cars means slower lap times than previous generations but I'm plenty happy with more passing as a result. They look & sound like racecars and the competition is great.
What's not to like?
I do think it's less competitive than everyone loves to say... It's a Penske/CGR show. You've also got about half the field who are marginal drivers on one or both of ovals or road courses. Plus this season you've had lots of amateur mistakes even from the top teams. So yeah, lots of passing but not necessarily for the win.
This year, yes. Andretti doesn't seem to have found their rhythm yet, but they are usually right there mixing it up with Ganassi and Penske.
SPAM seems good this year, yes. Andretti clearly bit off more than it can chew and is not producing. But then again, it's been 8 years since RHR was champion, so I don't know if they are at the same level as CGR and Penske.
The quality of the young drivers is fun, that's for sure.
Dave M (Forum Supporter) said:SPAM seems good this year, yes. Andretti clearly bit off more than it can chew and is not producing. But then again, it's been 8 years since RHR was champion, so I don't know if they are at the same level as CGR and Penske.
The quality of the young drivers is fun, that's for sure.
Rossi has won quite a few races and come close to the championship in the past couple of years, so I'd say they've been in contention up until this year.
SnowMongoose said:Youtube suggests highlights, I usually watch if it's a road course.
I'll have to look for those. The Formula 1 YT channel is how I keep up with those races. In nice little sub-10 min recaps.
Ian F (Forum Supporter) said:SnowMongoose said:Youtube suggests highlights, I usually watch if it's a road course.
I'll have to look for those. The Formula 1 YT channel is how I keep up with those races. In nice little sub-10 min recaps.
I'm loving the Youtube recaps for Indycar and F1. They are especially nice with the demise of racing highlight shows like RPM2night and Wind Tunnel.
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