RACE DAY !!!!!

was hoping Carpenter would get his first but damn good for Power, rounds out his resume pretty well

in before this thread reallly goes downhill

In reply to dean1484 :

It's international, like we are supposed to be. Not all americans are ignorant rednecks. But it seems that's what we are viewed as. Even by us. 

In reply to fasted58 :

I was hoping he could drive the car better in traffic, that's for sure.  In clear air, Carpenter really had the speed.  Then again, I wonder if they really understood the car- look at how Danica was flummoxed by the set up- started as an understeering car, ended going backwards into the wall.  Hardly the only one who did that- but I think it was illustrative of how Carpenter's team could find a fast set up, but not a good racing one.

i'm ambivalent about Power winning- not a fan at all of his.  But he was incredibly happy about it, that's for sure.

Mark- you need your snickers bar.

I'm kinda sad that I didn't watch any racing today. Maybe for the first time in my lifetime. However the garage is cleaner than it's been in at least six months and the bike is at least as clean as the day I bought off the dealers floor. 

markwemple said:

In reply to T.J. :

Or go buy an electric car and do some composing. Or teach a kid how to turn right. After all, americans suck at driving.  Not kidding about any of it. 

Shouldn't you be complaining about Vettel in the F1 thread? 

In reply to alfadriver :

It seemed like almost everyone had trouble with the cars getting loose. They may need to go back to a larger rear wing for next year.  I’m not a big Will Power fan either but It was nice to see he and his wife so happy to win instead of acting like it was just another day.   

Tonights biggest problem looks to be tires going down and that no one seems to have much for Kyle Busch.

When I was a kid, Indy 500 day was a day I looked forward to all year. It might even have rivaled Christmas for “Most Anticipated Day.” I haven’t watched it for the past few years because I’ve been at Watkins Glen doing Chump/Champcar stuff, which is pretty cool too.

This thread is making me feel all nostalgic and stuff. I remember a  year when, for some reason, we had to borrow my aunt’s TV for a day, just so I could watch the race. That was a memorable year. The pace car was a Dodge Viper and Buddy Lazier won. I remember that because I had picked his car as my favorite at the beginning of the race, probably because I liked the colors.

(googles) So, 1996, I would have been 5 years old.

Back in the dark ages (early 80s) Charlotte wasn’t on TV, Indy was tape delayed and Monaco was a newspaper article. We would go camping that weekend in upstate NY. My dad and his friends would race their stock car at White Lake and then we’d watch the Indy 500 that night back at the campground. There was something about watching a race on TV next to a campfire still seems like the best way to see one if you can’t be there. 

Before Indy started today Manica was standing on the track in the sun and a guy with a black beard was holding an umbrella over her so my first thought is she gave Hinchcliffe something to do.    

Then I saw it was Rodgers.  

BlueInGreen - Jon said:

This thread is making me feel all nostalgic and stuff. I remember a  year when, for some reason, we had to borrow my aunt’s TV for a day, just so I could watch the race. That was a memorable year. The pace car was a Dodge Viper and Buddy Lazier won. I remember that because I had picked his car as my favorite at the beginning of the race, probably because I liked the colors.

(googles) So, 1996, I would have been 5 years old.

Ah, the first 500 of the "split" era. I remember that day, too. I was at MIS watching the real stars of open wheel. It was bloody cold, and they wrecked on the warmup lap.

Wally said:

Back in the dark ages (early 80s) Charlotte wasn’t on TV, Indy was tape delayed and Monaco was a newspaper article. We would go camping that weekend in upstate NY. My dad and his friends would race their stock car at White Lake and then we’d watch the Indy 500 that night back at the campground. There was something about watching a race on TV next to a campfire still seems like the best way to see one if you can’t be there. 

I remember everyone gathered around the radio listening towards the end of the race to see who won while at the campground. Rick Mears won the first year I saw it televised. I'm guessing 1985 or so?

A shout out for Rossi for some of the best passes in a long time - drive of the race for me (500).  Also kudos to Daniel, a masterful drive despite serious power and gearbox troubles.

In reply to Nick Comstock :

In the late 70’s we went to the 500 and tried to get home back in Chicago to catch part of the delay cause my dad was a fireman in the pits and we thought we might see him.  Of course we didn’t own a VCR yet.  

Most Americans don’t give a crap about F1.  Well guess what.  When I spent two years working in Italy a few years back I discovered that most Italians (at least around Florence) don’t either.

they are ravenous MotoGP fans though.

Jim Pettengill said:

A shout out for Rossi for some of the best passes in a long time - drive of the race for me (500).  Also kudos to Daniel, a masterful drive despite serious power and gearbox troubles.

Agree on both counts. 

This is a very special weekend for me. Many many memories of watching the 500 and the 600 with friends.  Some have passed on others just moved away. But great memories. It is kind of sad now as I have got older I find that I end up watching it alone more often than not over the last ten years.