Indy Zombie

I will watch Monaco, and likely most of the 500, but last year I fell asleep halfway through.

Fernando FTW in Monte Carlo, and I'd like to see Mr. Ashley Judd win again...

In reply to Maroon92:

I'm no Ferrari fan and Alonso-mania never infected me. I'd like to see Britney win at Monaco so we get to see two princesses on display.

If Dario wins at Indy, I hope it occurs because it rains again and the missus forgets what happened before. But, I'd love to see Tags and his rag-tag team win; seeing him swill some cow extract in the winner's circle would be awesome for him and the race.

I'll be watching both for sure.

I'll be rooting for Lewis at Monaco, the mrs will be rooting for Fernando.

For Indy, Anyone but Ganassi or Penske will make me happy. But I'll be hoping Tags can take it. RHR isn't driving... And I'll hope that some of the non-regulars do really well- put Indy back on the radar for one timers.

What I don't want out of both- a crash fest.

I'll be working during the race, but I should be able to catch the radio broadcast while in the car and may be able to talk the boss into putting it on in the store too. The one thing I miss about not having cable is the ability to watch F1 and Indy. I don't miss NASCAR much, but I did watch it when I had cable. I do love the fact that I can watch ALMS on demand on my Xbox. ESPN3 just needs to carry more racing. Though there is SpeedcastTV.com for the Runoffs and World-challengetv.com for World Challenge.

AW had an interesting article in th latest issue.

Then we have the "musical chairs". Not fast enough to qualify ? Your sponsors will buy you a ride.

I attended my first Indy 500 in 1977 and went on to attend around 20 years worth. One year I attended in the infield and spent the entire time drinking and really never saw the race.

I watch some of it on TV. It is cool to see in person, "okay" to watch on TV. I am not a big fan like I once was but I do respect the speeds and coolness of the entire race.

griffin729 wrote: World-challengetv.com for World Challenge.

They still have not posted the most recent THREE rounds of the series. The first three rounds were posted almost instantaneously. WTF is up with SCCA? Get it posted, i want to watch it!

iceracer wrote: Then we have the "musical chairs". Not fast enough to qualify ? Your sponsors will buy you a ride.

that's new, how? How many drivers bought cars from leading teams once they qualified so that they can get it?

Janet Guthrie used AJ Foyt's spare car to get through rookie orientation in '76.

Had qualifying been two weeks, the spare cars not being used could have been sold to minor teams who may have been able to qualify their way in- it's a long tradition at Indy. Sponsors do that.

(and it's nice to see AW has upgraded their journalism since I dropped it....)

@ Maroon92-

The recent rounds are supposed to have the web broadcast after back-to-back TV coverage on June 18th (Or so I'm told.)

I don't know if it's the SCCA that should take the heat, though. TV scheduling sounds like a real PITA.

The first few were broadcast streaming with it available immediately afterward. Why is that not the case with Miller and Mosport?

I LOVED the indy 500.

The 500 mile spec honda race this weekend? Not so much.

Old school Indy ruled... but I also preferred factory bodied NASCAR back in the day.

While it's not what it once was that's just the way the world works. There's been tough times at Indy before. The return of multiple manufacturers (Honda, Chevy, Lotus) for 2012 will hopefully continue the recent upward swing in Indycar. It's a great place with an unrivaled history. I'll be in the south vista enjoying the race. GRM meetup anyone?

alfadriver wrote:

iceracer wrote: Then we have the "musical chairs". Not fast enough to qualify ? Your sponsors will buy you a ride.

that's new, how? How many drivers bought cars from leading teams once they qualified so that they can get it? Janet Guthrie used AJ Foyt's spare car to get through rookie orientation in '76. Had qualifying been two weeks, the spare cars not being used could have been sold to minor teams who may have been able to qualify their way in- it's a long tradition at Indy. Sponsors do that. (and it's nice to see AW has upgraded their journalism since I dropped it....)

I think the difference this time is that Andretti didn't buy a car from Foyt to qualify. RHR DIDN'T qualify, and then Andretti bought the Foyt ride. So a driver that didn't qualify is now in the show and a driver (Bruno-not-going-to-try-and -spell-his-last-name) that did is out. That's alittle different than not qualifying, then buying a car from a competitor and then qualifying with that car. It was done to appease a sponsor, and the fact that RHR is a regular on the circuit and Bruno is not likely also had something to do with it. I think it's a load of crap, myself.

In reply to bravenrace:

At the Indy500, the car qualifies, not the driver. It's been that way for decades and drivers getting ousted after qualifying has plenty of precedents.

In fact, one year Mario Andretti never got to the track until qualifying was over; he was competing in F1 in Europe. Another driver qualified and was replaced when Mario showed up to claim the ride. Bruno's case is different only because he wasn't contracted to qualify for someone else, but I suspect there were caveats in his contract that addressed the issue.

And, I'll wager Bruno received more than a few dinieros for his efforts.

I understand that. If it wasn't that way, they wouldn't allow it. I was just pointing out the difference between what alfadriver said and what actually happened. But if you can spell Bruno's last name without looking, then you'll have me.

In reply to bravenrace:

What I'm saying is that this "revelation" is nothing new.

Not that I knew that RHR replaced Junqueira (looked it up).

But buying rides, whether a spare car, or getting the seat from a qualified driver, isn't new.

Ironic that Foyt gets mentioned in two different versions, though, isn't it?

Maroon92 wrote: Fernando FTW in Monte Carlo, and I'd like to see Mr. Ashley Judd win again...

Who cares if he wins, lets just hope for some more rain.

In reply to alfadriver:

Yeah, although not really, as I, and I think you, know he's been doing that stuff for years. But that's part of it all, like it or not. And actually, now that a re-read your post, I have to say I misread it to mean that a driver would buy or get another car so that he could qualify that car when he couldn't qualify his. My mistake, and I am so very sorry for it.

In reply to keethrax:

I agree, but for the most part, that isn't a very flattering picture of her.

In reply to bravenrace:

Yea, but I still couldn't spell Junqueira without looking it up.

I didn't ask you.

Okay, here comes a long one..

I'll be watching. I loved Indy as a kid, and started following the whole series after CART was founded. USAC kicked them out of a lot of the ovals, and CART started running at road courses. It was a perfect match..a National Championship without tracks to run, and twisty tracks looking for additional Pro (spectator) weekends. To finally see those big monsters I loved so much start running on my kind of racetrack was a thrill. By the early 90s, it looked like the series was about to reach NASCAR levels of popularity. I still recall folks who only watched Indy every year (like the "casual fans" that just watch the Daytona 500 or Super Bowl because it's a "great American event") nowdays asking me, "..wait, these folks have more races?"

Yeah, bud. All year long. You should check them out. They're on ESPN every other weekend or so..you really think Mario Andretti only races once a year?

And then Tony George threw his hissy fit. I'll admit that I was on the losing side of the US open-wheeled "Civil War". I kept watching CART, and ignored Indy after Tony's little toy cars replaced the CART-spec cars at Indy. To this day, after years of development, they're still slower than the real Indycars were more than a decade ago. years ago. 2011 pole speed? 227.472. Fastest ever? 236.986 by a CART-spec car in 1996. That's after the formation of the IRL, but before the IRL toys became the spec. There's your loss of "prestige" right there, folks..take the fast cars out, put the slow cars in, and then wonder why the bloom is off the rose?

But still, I'll be watching. The damage done by The Split has finally ruined both sides. CART's dead, and nobody watched the IRL. The 500 just kind of coasted along on its former glory, with decreasing attendence at the track and decreasing ratings on the tube. Once the egos on both sides realized they were both was bleeding to death (still pisses me off that it took so long for that to happen), there was finally a reconciliation. IRL's cars, but CART's tracks (other than Indy). I hated that the real Indycars had to die, but all of the ovals were off the CART (by then, "Champ Car") schedule, and they would have been dangerous on the ovals, since nobody had done any development for oval aero packages in so long.

Then something happened. Tony George either left, or was ousted, and replaced by a guy named Randy Bernard. This guy's not a racer, but he's pretty successful at turning other "sports businesses" around. His research had led him to understand why the Indycars were on the cusp of greatness in the early 1990s. He realizes that the economy's different now..but he's trying to "split the difference" between modern needs, and the "glory days" of the past. The 2012 rules package brings back turbocharging, and allows different aerodynamic packages, even though the mechanical parts of the chassis will still be a "spec class". IMO, not a bad decision. Gotta repair the previous damage, before you can shoot for the top.

So, yeah. I'll be watching the 500. It's actually kind of like the other half of a pair of bookends for me. I remember watching the last Indy before Tony's toys were mandated there, and feeling sort of depressed when realizing I might be watching the last time a lap record would ever be broken. This year, I'm enjoying that we've all made peace, and hopeful that Indianapolis will be returning to greatness in the next 4-5yrs.

BTW: Go Tags!! I can't believe Schmidt's cars outqualified Penske and Ganassi! Let's hear it for the little guys!

Full throttle for 4 hours...

I'm watching carb day (what an anachronism) and I'll have to give them credit for some very nice looking cars. Especially from the very front.

I like the rearview mirror supports and containment.

They appear to have a lot of gear in the very wide side pods. What's usually in there?