***Texas Spoiler Alert***

[harvick#1]

It was Marcos fault, Marco even was pushing Ryan to the inside wall on the back stretch.

that incident has been made so many times, people will say its Ryans fault because he got just below the line, but Marco put him there, Marco was running the top groove just about the whole race, but decided to pinch Ryan, and Ryan lost it.

it was ashame because Ryan had such a good race, only to be pinched and then taken out at the end of the race by an Andretti

[ACTF_ZETT]

Wow I thought Marco might finish a race tonight, LOL. His post-race interviews are HILARIOUS.

Anyways, down to business. Texas is easily the 2nd most exciting race of the year, incredible racing. Great crowd on hand again, every event every year I see more and more people in the seats.

First question, why did that last caution come out? (I guess the 2nd to last caution, the one before the RHR Marco wreck). If they said why it came out, I missed it....

I would also like to personally thank Scheckter for another good laugh.

[FormerFF]

Marco had been taking a higher line through that turn all evening long. On that lap, RHR was racing him hard and was going to try to go side by side through the turn and pass Marco on the straight. Marco altered his line and RHR did not or was not able to react quickly enough. That's the risk when a driver does something unexpected.

[NickFalzone]

Maybe Marco altered his line, but watching this from the in-car cam I think RHR needed to back off. He pushed it way too far into the turn, much like what Marco did to Kanaan at Indy. And it also looks like Dixon moved to an exceptionally low line that Marco was trying to follow in the draft. If Dixon had stayed a bit higher Marco would not have taken such a low line.

http://www.indy500.com/videos/watch/...tact_at_Texas_

[Old3Fan]

Andretti seems to get involved in a whole bunch of these questionable crashes - granted he is an Andretti and brings a certain amount of bad luck with him, but I have to wonder if he is the common element - perhaps he is the "problem". I cannot escape the conclusion that, if Marco did not drive for the family team, his ride would be in jeopardy.....

You have to remember that in the IRL Rule Book their is the Andretti Rule. Applied to Mario, Michael and now Marko. Rule is if you hit me its YOUR fault. If I hit you its YOUR fault. Art. 9, Sec. 7, page 69.

[CARTDM15]

Andretti seems to get involved in a whole bunch of these questionable crashes - granted he is an Andretti and brings a certain amount of bad luck with him, but I have to wonder if he is the common element - perhaps he is the "problem". I cannot escape the conclusion that, if Marco did not drive for the family team, his ride would be in jeopardy.....

Not bad luck.Bad driving

[guysky]

I had never been an Andretti fan, but do like Marco. I'm rooting for him, for he will be the face of the sport. However, especially in light of recent wrecks, the blame for this one is his. Leave a little more room. Marco is not afraid of driving on the edge, which makes him fun to watch. But he better find control of that edge soon.

Has anyone noted? - RHR had been twitching all afternoon. Clearly the space Marco left him was tight, but either RHR's car was tough to work with all day, or "there are some people you just can't race close with". (which was hilarious, btw, such bravado gives the competition more flavor)

[bravefish]

it was a racing incident - no blame on either - they just came together and stacked - simple

[jimispeed]

On an oval, you're supposed to be able to trust the one that's beside you.

Marco can't be trusted!!

[beachbum]

it was a racing incident - no blame on either - they just came together and stacked - simple

I was wondering how long it would take before someone would write it off as a racing incident. IMHO, that is basically what it was. Both drivers placed themselves in situations will a low percentage of success. But racing is about taking risk and weighing the risk vs reward. In this case, there was no reward. But if RHR had made the pass.....

What is do find disturbing are the internet experts claiming it was all RHR because he had room - at least 6 inches. Or he could back off. Maybe, but this was happening on a very windy track at over 200 mph in the last few laps of the race. If he used all of the 6 inches, maybe he could have squeezed in. But the in-car doesn't give any indication that Marko was going to leave that much as he moved down. He did, but making the instant judgment Marco might go all the way to the line was a reasonable assumption. Cars were also moving around a lot in the wind, so it looked like almost everyone was giving more room that usual when running around each other. From the in-car, when they started into the turn, it looked like there would be enough room. To suggest he could jump on the brakes with his front wheel inside the wheelbase of Marko was not realistic. The result may very well have been the same.

In one way I agree with Davey Hamilton as RHR could have braked before the turn and not stuck his nose in there. After being pushed down on the straight, he should have expected to be pinched. Marko wasn't giving anyone much room, so that was a clue. Like many others, Marko gave every indication he was going to chop or block RHR. By now, Marko should recognize that one of the potential penalties of throwing the block, or even appearing to block, is that some drivers will stick their nose in, with inevitable results. He left enough room - barely, but if RHR didn't trust Marko to stop coming down, his move was the only one he had.

IMHO, both need a little to sit back and think about the incident. To me, it was 2 drivers who were willing to take big chances to stay in front or make the pass. Racing can be a big chess game and Marko's move down looked like a pretty desperate intimidation move. RHR took a big chance trying to get around a driver not known as one who will give any room. Both showed poor judgment, but for different reasons.

If any blame must be assigned, I would put it the majority on Marko. He seems to find himself in these situations far too often and doesn't seem to have learned the give and take of racing. He is far too prone to make low percentage moves and place other drivers in high risk situations. IMHO, RHR made an error in judgment about how much room he was going to have, but I suspect he didn't trust Marko to give him enough room.

But it was still mainly a racing incident. A racing incident is the result of 2 (or more) racers making decisions at the same that put them at risk. If either driver did something just a bit different or with different timing, no problem. But the collision of circumstances resulted in a collision of vehicles.