The "I'm Cheering For Graham" thread

[TURN3]

Totally agree on the warning but the actual block penalty was bogus. Townsend got hosed on a call also. He was black flagged for blocking RHR even though RHR made the pass! Now how can it be blocking if you fail?

Good to see Graham finish today...would've had a little higher result if not for that final pit foul up and the yellow with Conway. Hopefully they'll be back on track to finish out the season.

[bblocker68]

I always thought 2 moves was considered as blocking...............

[Mark in Oshawa]

Just another example of Barnhart stifling the competition....

[Marbles]

I always thought 2 moves was considered as blocking...............

The line (2 moves) that Rahal took is not an uncommon line at Indy whether or not your being chased. Drivers exit 4 or 2 against the wall and come down towards the inside and then move back out toward the wall as they enter turn 1 or 3.

Was Rahal weaving to break the draft? Is there actually a rule against this? Hamilton did it this year in F1 and they were split on the call although he got off with a warning. They did it in CART at Michigan when they had the Hanford device. In NASCAR it's known as the "Alabama Shuffle."

I certainly don't condone driving like Eliseo Salazar. It's a judgment call and I judged it differently. Would Barnhart had the balls to make the same call on Helio if he had done similar to Franchitti late in the race to defend his fourth Indy win? And would anyone wanted a call like that. That's the problem when you get whistle happy.

Most of all, I hate penalty box racing. It almost puts me off racing altogether.

[NickFalzone]

I find it interesting that the one driver that has consistently gotten post-race complaints for blocking has, in my memory, never gotten penalized for blocking. Not saying the Iron Hand of Justice is partial to that particular driver, but I would be interested in tracking that car through this years 500. I would be stunned if that driver did not make the kinds of moves that Rahal did.

[Mark in Oshawa]

I find it interesting that the one driver that has consistently gotten post-race complaints for blocking has, in my memory, never gotten penalized for blocking. Not saying the Iron Hand of Justice is partial to that particular driver, but I would be interested in tracking that car through this years 500. I would be stunned if that driver did not make the kinds of moves that Rahal did.

I watched it, and I kept waiting for how it was worse than any of the other guys swerving. I saw one block, not two, and I thought two was the standard.

At some point, if you are going to have the big eye in the sky judging this stuff, it would be nice if it was an ex driver. Let a Johnny Rutherford make the call...