Indy 500 start issues
 

Let's see, we had a false start, and then a wreck on the first lap. Perhaps they should go single file with a cone on the front stretch.:3:;)

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I"m working, so I can't listen to the audio, but that scoreboard is pretty slick.

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Is it me or do some of these drivers have there heads up there poop shoots today.

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One reason for lousy starts is the minimal amount of racing so many of the drivers do in a year's time , I would think. It certainly is not a lineup of the best race car drivers in the world anymore.

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It depends on how you describe "best race car drivers". These are the best at bringing a check with them. Indy will forever be a shell of what it once was.

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AMEN brother!!! This is the WORST spectal in racing!

It isn't about drivers or cars that can go 500 miles anymore. :7:

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I agree with you both. I just made a mention of that during the race. That the original purpose of the IRL or whatever it is called now has gone by the dino.

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They may need to change the name from the greatest spectical in racing to I suck at driving a race car but I have a dump truck full of money.

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What a bash in the nuts to all the open wheel drivers out there that used to put everything on the line to "win" that race.

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The pre-race show was good...

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Can't remember who said it but it went like this... "half the drivers have bought their way into Indycar" I think I read it on Robin Millers indycar blog but it came from a driver.

It really is remarkable in so many ways. NASCAR has just turned to complete crap from what was once fun to watch. I won't go into all the ways they've screwed it up. Indycar is basically about 6-8 drivers with a bunch of people that bought rides and can't drive and then you have some quality drivers sitting at home every week without a ride. Nobody from USAC gets an opportunity anymore. The cars are all the same. I am so looking forward to different engines that could bring a little variety.

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On the question of "start issues" ...
The 11 rows of three abreast is one of the many time honored traditions.
In actuality , you haven't seen a true 3-abreast start in a decade. The nicely formed rows of 3 will take formation in the backstretch and as the pace car pulls-off going into turn 3 , those rows quickly become staggered as the flying start accelerates toward the green. Fact is , there are 33 drivers who have no desire to run 3 wide and wheel-to-wheel as history has so often proven this to be the recipe for an early end to your day. It is no longer realistic to stay in tight formation as the speed has been increased approaching the start over the last few years. For this reason we are no longer seeing multi-car / major contact incidences prior to the first-turn , first-lap.

Today's original start , while ragged , was recalled for a jumped start , not a formation issue.

On the question of "best race car drivers" ...
The "500" over the years has had most of the best in the world from America and Europe including Jim Clark , Dan Gurney , Jackie Stewart , Graham Hill , Emerson Fittipaldi ... to name some in the modern era.
If today's starting field had included Lewis Hamilton , Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen , all Formula One Champions , would this satisfy having a "500" with the best drivers in the world ? Most U.S. fans would say no , because these are not household names to everyone. If you follow Formula One you may appreciate the greatness of these people. But don't expect to see them in Indy cars as it is simply not their thing. And it shouldn't be.

Anyone who wanted to drive at Indy in May showed-up , money or not. 33 made the show as Bruno Junqueira , Stanton Barrett , Buddy Lazier , Jacques Lazier , Jeff Simmons , Buddy Rice , Phil Geibler , Jimmy Kite and a couple others sat this one out. Fact is , the best Indy Car drivers in the world raced today. Where could more experience and accomplishment be found ( in Indy Car ) than what is represented in those driving today ?

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I'd say those two right there have talent far above people like Duno, Conway, Moraes, Meira, Mutoh, Patrick, Fisher, Andretti (either one), and RHR. The only reason that the Buddy's were not in there in the race is Lazier tried like hel to get Hemelgarn's sled in and the car just isn't competitive anymore and Rice doesn't have a boat load of money with him. Both are former winners (Lazier with Hemelgarn in 1996 and Rice with RLR in 2004).

Indy is now all about who has the money to buy a ride. That is how teams like D&R, HVM, RLR, and KV are on the grid.

New engines won't make a difference unless it gets back to a run what you brung type of format. I'd propose this: run an engine formula comperable to a national midget or a 305 sprintcar engine. This way the teams can take care of their own engines: no manufacturer badging. The original idea of the IRL had this similar engine format and it was a great idea. Sadly it wasn't allowed to continue as greed (TG) let Honda/Toyota in and we see what we have now.

A car that allows people to "play" with them (no windtunnel testing) would also do wonders. The cars are just to d*mn even to produce any good racing. Remove the large front wings and go to much smaller front wings, lower the rear wing end plates to be even with the top of the wing and set the rear wing back 4 inches from present location.

That should help with getting more passing and more side by side racing.

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The same thing happened at The Little 500. They had the double checkers to get the fans support, but someone deemed the crowd did not to a good enough job and kept the double checkers out for 2 more laps.

Guess what? Wreck on lap one.

When the drivers are hyped up and ready to race and they do not, it is a wreck waiting to happen.

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More side by side racing with open wheel cars? Is that what we need for cars that go 225 plus down the straights? You want to talk about a formula for disaster! Think again!

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:32:I think Danica needs to hang up the helment and become a professional stripper!!!She could be part of the prerace program!:8::3:

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EWWWWW EWWWWWWW EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW I don't even want to look at her with clothes on. She may do it for some but she damn sure doesn't do anything for me.

I'l give her money just to make her hang up her helmet and go away. Maybe then Indycars could get a little credibility back.

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What get's me is how many folks complain... if you don't like it, why do you watch? And if its such a lousy field of competitors, why don't you turn off the TV or cahnge the channel and watch some old movie? The drivers in the field were set over a week ago, so its not like that the field was s surprise.

And IRL doesn't really want three abreast at the starting line. on the original start, due to the danger involved, to both the drivers' and the fans....

Vitor Meara's plunge into the wall would have killed a driver ten years ago; so while he has a couple of cracked vertebra, he's alive. Now, how is that? We can always slow the cars doen to 175mph and resort to old technology; would you watch then?

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The best thing about recalling "the good ole' days" (whether we're talking about the Indy 500 or anything), is that we're allowed selective memory. When we complain about drivers today with more money than talent, we can forget about people like Salt Walther. When we talk about trouble on the start, we can forget 1966.
Like about 99% of the people on this board, I really wish the guys we watch at Bloomington or Williams Grove or Ventura had a legitimate shot at the 500. But all the wishing and complaining in the world isn't going to change the reality.
But look at the bright side: We're luckier than the old time NASCAR fans. How do you think they feel about provisionals and lucky dogs and boogity boogitys?:3:

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and digger!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!:15: :15: :15: :15: :29: :29: :29:

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Nicely said, the safety that the IndyCar Series has created is great.:6: TK and Vitor only having minimal injuries after impact with the wall like that is amazing. I also think your right about the fans. They just want to complain about something. I thought it was a good race with the storyline changing multiple times during the race. My take on the issue with best drivers in the world goes like this. All great drivers make mistakes (did anyone see Lewis Hamilton stuff it in the wall during qualifications this weekend?). I sat in turn 4 at Indy and the wrecks during the "500" were very similar to what happened Friday at the Hoosier Hundred. The drivers would try to pass on the outside and get in the grey area and it looked like the car would not turn no matter how much you slowed the car down. This happened to Levi at the Indy mile and it happened to Davey and RHR and other good drivers at the "500". These are all good drivers who made mistakes. As for the rent-a-ride deal it is dumb to put that against the IRL because I would hate to see how much of this is going on in our beloved sprint car racing.:15:

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And the fact that Plymouth, Chrysler, Buick, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, and AMC are gone out of NASCAR and have been replace with the COT and Toyota's.

Indycar has had foreign made engines before (Benz, Mercedes, Mercedes-Benz, Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, Pugeot). We also have had foreign car makes before; those listed above as well as March, Lola, Reynard, McLaren, Lotus, Cooper and Dallara. The huge difference is those makes were accepted alot more than in NASCAR, although rear engine cars are still looked at as being a bad thing.

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Anyone have any photos from Indy in 1997 of # 44 One Call Car of Steve Kinser?

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You probably can still get photos of Kinser and the #44 at the IMS Photo Shop.

REH

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Nope but I still got an autographed hat from that

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Steve, Billy Boat, and Jack Hewitt getting to race in the 500 was the only good thing to come out of the IRL mess...

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You will be hard pressed to find fault with the safety of the IRL but you can find fault in the way that good drivers cant get a ride because they dont have enough money to bring to the deal. So this brings up another problem if I own a car and want to run the 500 but I cant afford it what do I do. Sad to say you take the money and put a driver in it that would not be your first,second, or third choice. The cost of racing top level racing is big time expensive.

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It is sad, but my point is its going on in all forms of motor sports and it doesn't look like its going to change anytime soon. Buddy Lazir in IndyCar Hud Cone in sprint cars and JJ Yeley in nascar all deserve a good ride. But none of these guys have the $$$ to pay for a top of the line ride and I guess we as fans are just going to need to deal with it.

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I had a thought what if the people here on IOW took up a cause to get there favorite driver in a ride. We could take a poll. And for your vote to count you would have to pay 100.00 then the driver that wins the poll gets a ride in a car. I know I as an owner of a pavement SC car I would do it so I am sure you would not have any problems getting a car owner to take the deal. The rules would have to be it would have to be a driver that does not currently have a ride in the Division that is choosen. There are other details that would have to be worked out but it could be done.

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Richie; if you know the photographer; please send me either a link or email so I can get in touch with him !!!

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I don't know who Terry Callahan is. I just found the photo in a Google search. But, I did find a website and email address where you can contact him. Hope this helps.

http://www.theautochannel.com/callahan/

or email: sports@theautochannel.com

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While complaints about ride buying are legit, I wonder how often people really use "ride buying" as code words for
"I don't like foreign drivers, and refuse to give them any credit, but that's not PC, so I'll just say they bought their way into the race." :17:

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To run 500 miles today in these cars is like the old timers running 1000 miles back in the day.

This race is NOTHING to what it used to be, and todays drivers couldn't carry the old timers helmet bag.

Isn't even fair to compare them to each other.:26:

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really tired of reading about good drivers not being able to get good rides. Hell several GOOD drivers can't even get a ride in USAC. I never thought I would see the day when Indy cars would get more cars than usac would get at Anderson for a sprint car race. Yup it sucks we will never get to see hines or darland in a car, but when all of the young guns are takeing there money to Nascar, the irl is doing what it can. Remember back in the day budwiser had a car in both, now it cost so much to sponsor a nascar there is no budget for an indy car. Problem #2 Tobacco put a hell of a lot of race cars on the track, but now that can not be done either. Society thinks that individuals can not think for themselves for some reason. I can not wait for the day when people realize the top dogs today want daytona, not indy.

Indy is always great, one of my favorite races. i enjoyed this years race. Very impressed with the safety team, as they were chasing the wrecked cars down. normally the safter truck was at the car 10-20 seconds after it stopped moving. thats impressive.

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I think we all understand that today's cars are easier to drive than the cars were in, say, Troy Ruttman or Tony Bettenhausen Sr.'s day. But let's not make it out like any average American could just hop in today's cars and turn a 225 mph lap.

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Penske's team is still funded by Phillip Morris. Penske is on the P-M board of directors. It doesn't say Marlboro on his two IndyCars. But look at the color scheme and the paint design. It's still identical to what has been on them for many years.

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yes but where are the kool cars, or camel cars. ever remember kodiac or Skoal on a car? I do not use these products, and have no idea of any mergers, but you have to notice them missing. Trust me seadog i agree with you on these cars. Have you ever noticed how the cars look orange and white at the track, but are red and white on tv?:22:

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I was a HUGE Darrell Waltrip and Harry Gant fan back in the day and their sponsors were Budweiser and Skoal respectively yet I don't smoke or drink. I was also a USAC Skoal National MIdget series fan also. I was also the biggest Winston Cup fan in Peoria, IL when it was called Winston Cup. I agree completely with you 767. People need to make their own choices and be held accountable for their own choices and not blame someone else. I don't care if the tobacco companies claimed that cigarettes would give you perfect health when infact they kill you. If people want to smoke let them and if the tobacco companies want to sponsor racing let them. If we stopped everyone advertising something that is proven to hurt you we would never have ads because cars create green house gases, alcohol is obvious it leads to alot of bad things, hell the new "miracle drugs" either cause you to pee to much, not pee enough, crap to much, not crap enough, grow hair, go bald, deform your unborn baby, get a stiffy for too long and on and on, and Dr. Phil's ads make you wish you never turned on the TV. People must make their own decisions and the government needs to but the hell out.

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Richie; thank you very much for the Link :8::32: