***Texas Spoiler Alert***

[Chamoo]

So, what is everyones opinion on the Andretti/Hunter-Reay accident with 5 laps to go in the Texas 550? Either Andretti didn't leave him enough room, or Hunter-Reay can't drive a car.

I'm of the opinion that Marco pushed Ryan past the white line, the car lost grip and shot up the race track. Marco could had easily given him an extra foot or so and he could had taken 3rd place, or maybe compete for 2nd or 1st.

I didn't catch the comments after the race, but I bet Michael didn't think Marco did anything wrong.

[johnny shell]

looks like marco should/ve given him some more room to me.

just like with TK at indy, marco thinks that leaving exactly one car with is OK.... but you need to leave at least a LITTLE room between the cars!

[NickFalzone]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't RHR need to pit anyway? As in, he only got tires on the last stop. Yes, Marco didn't cut him any slack, but Ryan was also pushing too hard to maintain position. Sometimes you have to give up position, that's smart racing.

So I guess it's both their faults. Anyway, it sucks to have another finish under yellow. And man even under tape delay the middle of that race felt long. Some great moments in the first and last third though.

[NickFalzone]

Also, was I the only one stumped on the lead-lap driver changes? I was following timing and scoring and pits as well as I could on espn and it just seemed random the way especially Briscoe and Castroneves went from lap or 2 down to lead lap. Then to finish in 2nd and 3rd, wow.

[Chris R]

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.....

[FIAT1]

Andretti is not a good racer and with all honda help he managed to f..t up.

[Yankee Racer]

I think RHR is a good driver, but he looked like an idiot to me. I saw a whole hell of a lot of room down there, and as one of the radio announcers said, RHR has two pedals in his car and he needs to learn to use both of them. When there's 8 laps to go, of course Marco's gunna race him hard, but it looked like he left a decent amount of room (I'm also not the brightest one, so maybe not), and if RHR was a better driver, he would've backed off if he thought there wasn't enough room. I know it's easier said than done, but it was just a dumb move for RHR to continue going in there. Maybe Marco ran him too hard, and making decisions that fast is hard, but I wouldn't solely place the blame on Marco.

It really sucks, because we were going to have a hell of a finish. I'm still impressed with Marco and Graham. I know a lot of people are fed up with them, but I would much rather have two young drivers who have moments of brilliance with a few kinks to get worked out than have a bunch of Marty Roths.

[Easy Drifter]

Once RHR was down onto the white line he was in trouble. No grip on the paint and an unbanked track below it. Braking abrubtly or even backing off suddenly in a corner at those speeds when you are near the limit of adhesion will almost certainly result in a spin or at the very least sliding up the track.
I am not saying RHR was blameless but most of the fault goes to Marco.
We all yap about Danica blaming everyone within sight when she has an incident but Marco is having even more and it is never his fault either.

[Yankee Racer]

Once RHR was down onto the white line he was in trouble. No grip on the paint and an unbanked track below it. Braking abrubtly or even backing off suddenly in a corner at those speeds when you are near the limit of adhesion will almost certainly result in a spin or at the very least sliding up the track.
I am not saying RHR was blameless but most of the fault goes to Marco.
We all yap about Danica blaming everyone within sight when she has an incident but Marco is having even more and it is never his fault either.

Yeah, it might be unrealistic to say RHR could've backed off. Marco gave him the inside line on the straight, so I guess it was normal to assume he'd have it in the corner.

As for Marco, he did say St. Pete was his fault, but in the end, everyone at AGR besides Mutoh is never wrong, it's always someone else's fault for those guys. And Mutoh has yet to be in an incident, so God knows what will happen then...(I secretly am becoming a Mutoh fan, actually).

[markabilly]

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.....

these things happen in split second and at that speed, it is over before anyone knows it happenned.

But when the name is andretti, it gets more attention, and perhaps if andretti had just given a bit more room, then no accident. After all, just the name is not enough to give him absolute ROW.

Besides when he went high, Dixon was around. When Hunter went low, then Adretti decides he is not going so high, well that is just a little too late. Keep it low and the car behind you, if u do not want to be passed. He was too late with Dixon and too late with with Hunter

Andretti seemed to have taken as much wing out as possible, and did not seem to be capable enough of keeping it low and not being subjected to a draft pass. That was a problem he should have lived with, rather than crash in a futlie attempt to keep someone who is already beside and below you..............