Re: Indianapolis 500
 

I'll be at the Real 500, The Little 500 and at least a dozen of them guys should be at Indy and aren't.

I'm going to Carb Day to root on Chris Windom in the Indy Lites race, which is normally the best race of all of them at at the speedway. Glad there is another dirt guy, like BC did in previous years, to keep me interested in going to SPEEDWAY. Good luck Big Daddy! Also going to check out Daredevil Brewery which should be a worth while stop.

Everyone wants to be in the Indy 500, but it seems only a couple want to do what it takes to get there. Did Jeff Gordon or Tony Stewart go from USAC to Cup? Or did they spend time in the feeder series first? You know the answer.

Bryan Clauson, Jay Drake and now Windom are doing what it takes to get there- racing in Indy Lites. Wanna see more of them? Get them in Indy Lites. Even though KTj is (possibly) the best open-wheel dirt track driver right now, there's no way I'd put him in an IndyCar.

Wanna see one of these guys have a chance to WIN the 500? Well, that's gonna take a full time ride, and with that predicate, road racing experience. Again, get in Indy Lites (for more than the Freedom 100). They might even need a season in Pro Mazda before Lites (Oh, the horror =:O ).

I'd like to see it happen, but at this point no one seems to want to put in the work required. So, I'll be cheering on "Team America", Andretti Autosports, and their 4 full time American drivers.

P.S. We do have Davey Hamilton Jr. and Chad Boat trying to break in to Lites, so there IS hope.

One more thing! The bashing of Roger Penske grinds my gears- the guy is the epitome of a racer! Anyone who doesn't see that is missing the obvious. Who gave Jason Leffler a ride in the 500? Yep, Penske. Who kicked Juan Montoya out of his ride to hand it over to "The Great White Hope", American Josef Newgarden? Yep, Penske again. I could go on, but that'll suffice.

Re: Indianapolis 500
 

Originally Posted by chrismattlin:
So, I'll be cheering on "Team America", Andretti Autosports, and their 4 full time American drivers.

Team America: Powered by... Honda.

Re: Indianapolis 500
 

Originally Posted by chrismattlin:
Everyone wants to be in the Indy 500, but it seems only a couple want to do what it takes to get there. Did Jeff Gordon or Tony Stewart go from USAC to Cup? Or did they spend time in the feeder series first? You know the answer.

Bryan Clauson, Jay Drake and now Windom are doing what it takes to get there- racing in Indy Lites. Wanna see more of them? Get them in Indy Lites. Even though KTj is (possibly) the best open-wheel dirt track driver right now, there's no way I'd put him in an IndyCar.

Wanna see one of these guys have a chance to WIN the 500? Well, that's gonna take a full time ride, and with that predicate, road racing experience. Again, get in Indy Lites (for more than the Freedom 100). They might even need a season in Pro Mazda before Lites (Oh, the horror =:O ).

I'd like to see it happen, but at this point no one seems to want to put in the work required. So, I'll be cheering on "Team America", Andretti Autosports, and their 4 full time American drivers.

P.S. We do have Davey Hamilton Jr. and Chad Boat trying to break in to Lites, so there IS hope.

Work, or money? It costs a boat load of money to fund a ride in those series, money which may be wasted when you win the championship, only to find out that you you need to bring twice as much to take the next step on the ladder.

I'm sure that if those guys could get a ride on merit they would take the shot. But when the car owner says, "Sure I got a seat, you got a million bucks?", I think it's really hard to see that path as viable.

It is what it is, but making it in Indycar is as much about your marketing savvy as it is about your ability to wheel a race car. To me that makes about as much sense as giving guys NHL roster spots based on their calculus scores.

Re: Indianapolis 500
 

Originally Posted by hoosier race fan:
Team America: Powered by... Honda.

You mean the Honda Indycar engines built in America as opposed to the Chevrolet Indycar engines built by Ilmor Engineering in England?

.

Or like most of the winning midgets using Toyota’s??

Re: Indianapolis 500
 

Originally Posted by BrentTFunk:
I went to 3 sprint car races this weekend and the stands were far from full. In fact 2 of the shows the crowds were weak, and these guys are going to fill IMS? I saw Jack Hewitt and Steve Kinser run the 500. I bought a ticket for $20 and sat anywhere I wanted. I will be rooting for Chris Windom on Carb Day.

I too saw Steve & Jack race the 500 way back in '97 & '98. In '97 anyone could have walked in for free and watched Steve finish 14th from most any stand in the place, including the Penthouse sections, on the Tuesday after Memorial Day due to the rainout's on Sunday and Monday. If you paid $20.00 you got ripped off.

Not sure where "anywhere I wanted" seats actually are but an Andrew Jackson wouldn't have bought you an , E, B or A-Stand Penthouse seat to watch ol' Jack finish 12th back in '98, that's for sure. Security checks those tickets pretty closely before you ever get near the Penthouse seating areas. Unless of course it's a 3 day rainout circumstance like in '97, in which case it was possible to set most anywhere as long as no one shows up with a ticket for the seat you're setting in.

Originally Posted by chrismattlin:
One more thing! The bashing of Roger Penske grinds my gears- the guy is the epitome of a racer! Anyone who doesn't see that is missing the obvious. Who gave Jason Leffler a ride in the 500? Yep, Penske. Who kicked Juan Montoya out of his ride to hand it over to "The Great White Hope", American Josef Newgarden? Yep, Penske again. I could go on, but that'll suffice.

Yes RP has done alot for
his self. And 80% were for
his self and built a powerful business. Much were thru connections evolved thru using small teams sponsors ect. Then the small team struggles
for dollars. Using other people has a reason. How many people on here remember Dirt cars were in the points for Indy Cars. The glory days. Then drivers from other countries came and ran the
Indy 500 and within a week went back home. Some came next year, but alot did not. Any idea who got the dirt cars thrown out. There are so many true storys like this that possible your thoughts would be different. The great thing is he never went away and always were dress great. Don't tuck your shirt in. Bye, bye. There 2 different lists.

Lynn