End of season thoughts...

[1jsfan]

WOW! RHR won rookie of the yr. I could have beat out Milka for the prize blindfolded while riding my bike.

[ChicagocrewIRL]

WOW! RHR won rookie of the yr. I could have beat out Milka for the prize blindfolded while riding my bike.

It's not really a prestige award, but from a "WHEW!" standpoint I am SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO glad Milka Duno didn't get it. What a joke! THANK YOU RYAN !
And thank you Rahal Letterman for saving the Rookie of the Year Award.

[MAX_THRUST]

Didn't see much of the season due to coverage in the UK being on SKy tv. (I aint ever payin for SKY sports), those events I did see were good, very good. The points race is always tight in the IRL, so I kinda expect it to be that way. I think the series looked more proffesional this year and the additional road/street races made a huge difference to the series this year as well.

Is there going to be a season review DVD, (in PAL) so those of us that didn't see the season can enjoy Darios 500 and Championship wins again and again...Change tv stations in the UK and IRL could find them selve a whole load of new viewers enjoying 2008.

26 cars would be sweet too.

As for mergers, would be nice to see LongBeach, Surfers, Toronto, Cleveland, Mexico on the IRL schedule, oh Road America, and Portland but I guess that just makes it a 23 race season......OOOOOOHHHHHH BABY!!!!!

[Chris R]

I agree with the poster who siad that the IRL looked a lot more professional this season.... The addition of a variety of courses made a HUGE difference. I never gave the all-oval IRL a second look - but as the IRL morphs back into CART (not saying that for political reasons - just the variety aspect) it is gaining respectability....

Congrats to Dario. Congrats to the IRL for putting on a great point chase. Congrats to RHR (I agree - it would have been terrible if Duno had won anything...)....

Now lets get a 26 car field, 20+ events and perhaps a little chassis and engine diversity (I'll hold back from the "M" word...). Oh, and lets do away with races live in ESPN Classic - what an insult....

[FerrrariF1]

[quote="mark123"]You would have to be dead to have not enjoyed the last month in the IRL.
quote]

Sorry to burst your bubble but I'm not dead (just checked and still in great health). The last month of the Indycar season resembled NASCAR. Staged wins, staged debris yellows, staged manipulation of the field during yellows, extra long laps under yellow to get everyone setup the way they want, drivers who purposely knock other drivers out and a series owner and president that fails to show up at the champion trophy presentation because the Indy 500 and series champ decided he didn't what to continue to be in a series where cars commonly flip over. Did the IRL resemble a racing series or a soap opera.

Don't forget they continue to promote one driver who has never won a race in the series no matter how hard they use the rules to favor her. Every racing series in the world weighs the driver and chassis so that everyone is on a level playing field yet the IRL doesn't and gives Danica a weight advantage, they provide her with "test" parts and have her and the team sign confidentiality agreements to again swaying the rules in her favor and they let another female runs laps 20 mph slower than anyone else just to prop up the field.

[mark123]

FerrairF1 - of course you would never see Ferrari employ team orders would you!!!

can you please enlighten us all as to what race you saw the staged debris yellow?

can you please enlighten us all as to what race you saw the staged win?

If Danica was the only one to receive the test parts, then what you are saying may be believable, but the reality is that she was one of a number of drivers to receive the assisted steering package. Also, if the weight advantage on the ovals was such a big deal, why is she not winning races? (and before you say it, she is peddling that car bloody well this year - getting on the front row of two road courses this year).

Mate, like i just said to someone else on another thread - you need to get a life. go and watch F1 and post comments on their forums.

[45 Below]

I agree with the poster who siad that the IRL looked a lot more professional this season.... The addition of a variety of courses made a HUGE difference. I never gave the all-oval IRL a second look - but as the IRL morphs back into CART (not saying that for political reasons - just the variety aspect) it is gaining respectability....

I have also enjoyed the addition of more road and street courses although I wish they could have done a bit better than Belle Isle where passing was all but impossible. If they are going to add more they need to be tracks where it is possible to have a real contest.

Unfortunately, the addition of more r&s courses could drive more of the long-time ICS fans away - although having said that I see some of them have gone to their first non-oval races and really enjoyed the picnic in the park feel of road course events like Mid Ohio and the carnival atmosphere of St Pete and Belle Isle.

I have to concede that sometimes it's as much about the occasion as the competition.

[ChicagocrewIRL]

Oh, and lets do away with races live in ESPN Classic - what an insult....

You must have the IRL confused with CCWS. The IRL didn't play on ESPN Classic this year.

oops not scheduled anyway... only when there was a rain delay. Which is understandable right ? right ??

[Jonesi]

You must have the IRL confused with CCWS. The IRL didn't play on ESPN Classic this year.

oops not scheduled anyway... only when there was a rain delay. Which is understandable right ? right ??

The only races that were on ESPN Classic were the ones scheduled or changed after the original deal was made.

[ChicagocrewIRL]

The only races that were on ESPN Classic were the ones scheduled or changed after the original deal was made.

If you look at the ESPN schedule for IndyCar, there were ZERO races scheduled for ESPN Classic. The only ESPN Classic broadcasts were of the rain delayed Michigan Race and Nashville Race.