St Pete Race Day Thread

[Hoop-98]

Warmup Times:

http://i28.tinypic.com/28rm6mw.jpg

80 pct chance of rain, kind of bad luck, pray or sun :)

rh

[Alfa Fan]

Whats wrong with rain? Indycar will race in the rain on a street course won't they?

[NickFalzone]

every team was supplied several sets of rain tires by firestone this weekend, so i assume they plan to race in it.

[Hoop-98]

Rain is fine for us on TV but not so hot in person... IMO

[Hoop-98]

Roth parked for today by Race Control.

rh

[Dr. Krogshöj]

Roth parked for today by Race Control.

rh

Before or after they watched the Indy Lights crashfest? :)

[Hoop-98]

Before or after they watched the Indy Lights crashfest? :)

Yes

[Lousada]

It's not looking too well :\

[Hoop-98]

Green Green Green

[e2mtt]

Always fun to watch a rain race, as long as there aren't too many yellows... I'm dissapointed to see Marco spin it out.

[Hoop-98]

Looks like he had contact, no I guess not, just lost it.

[FormerFF]

What happened to the sponsor logos on Will Power's car?

[cos]

No blue flags in IndyCar then?

[Hoop-98]

Action is picking up, interesting mix of wets and drys, slicks seem to be best Miera on slicks passes Wilson on wets.

rh

[e2mtt]

You can see the skill coming in from ChampCar... they know how to run street courses!

[Hoop-98]

Fast Lap:

http://i25.tinypic.com/ay0kyd.jpg

Viso takes the lead from Bernouldi !

rh

[Scheckterfan54]

It doesnt matter how hard the crew works if the driver cant get it done. I dont understand, marco is better than that!

[Hoop-98]

40 or so min to go.

http://i25.tinypic.com/2igbnn9.jpg

rh

[e2mtt]

Wow... that 5 way pass looked like vintage formula 1. This is the best IRL race I've seen since Watkins Glen 2 years ago in the rain.

Bummer, looks like Marco is back to breaking half-shafts like in his rookie year. Graham Rahal looks good, except for a spin.

[Hoop-98]

Fast Lap 2

http://i31.tinypic.com/ibf76f.jpg

rh

[Hoop-98]

8 Minutes to go, might be rahals day.....

http://i26.tinypic.com/2m67bqc.jpg

rh

[e2mtt]

Oh boy... can Rahal hold off Helio on a restart? Will he have to repass Helio later ;-)

[e2mtt]

Way To Go Graham Rahal!

[BobGarage]

Come On Graham!!!!

[Lousada]

Wow :eek:

[Hoop-98]

Congrats GR, and good race !!!!

http://i25.tinypic.com/4rcpjp.jpg

rh

[FormerFF]

That was quite a respectable showing by the ex-Champ car guys. I figured that it would take half the season before any of them would stand on the podium. That just shows you what I know.

I think it bodes well for the series to have a Rahal as a race winner.

[seppefan]

chanp car driver who have driven in previous champ car race got 40 % of the first top ten finishers.Thats good as they are about 30 % of the entry.

[e2mtt]

That was a good race... the IRL cars are still ugly, but it sure is nice to have a full field & plenty of first-rate drivers. A few more races like this & I won't be surprised to see some current NASCAR backmarkers coming looking for a ride...

[jwhite9185]

Never would have though Rahal would win his 1st ever IRL race! Might actually haveto stay up to watch the race now!

[Chris R]

really good race - very entertaining... great drive by Rahal and the NHL team!!!

[mikiec]

Brilliant result for Graham and for the Champ Car teams. Shows that they can compete - makes for an exciting season ahead! :)

Must point out that the weather and pit strategy played a MAJOR part in the race and it was disappointing for JW who was pulling out a big lead at one point.

My only negative point is... does the ICS not have a blue-flag rule? JW was right behind DP, trying to lap for her for quite a while and she wasn't letting him past!? On the ovals, I can understand different rules, but surely you need a blue flag on the road/street courses!!

[Hoop-98]

Brilliant result for Graham and for the Champ Car teams. Shows that they can compete - makes for an exciting season ahead! :)

Must point out that the weather and pit strategy played a MAJOR part in the race and it was disappointing for JW who was pulling out a big lead at one point.

My only negative point is... does the ICS not have a blue-flag rule? JW was right behind DP, trying to lap for her for quite a while and she wasn't letting him past!? On the ovals, I can understand different rules, but surely you need a blue flag on the road/street courses!!

They do but she was on pace at the time.

rh

[Cart750hp]

Very good race. Congrats Graham and NHRL!!

[indycool]

Congrats, Graham....spun early, climbed back into the chase, good pit and fuel strategy and strong at the end.......great race.

[bblocker68]

WTG GRAHAM!!!! Not a bad day for Bobby, huh?

BTW, did they lose the blue flag when Danica came to a corner??

Get the $%^& out of the way!!!!!!!!!!

WOO CC!!!!!

[Phoenixent]

BTW, did they lose the blue flag when Danica came to a corner??

Get the $%^& out of the way!!!!!!!!!!

This is going to be a tough year for DP. The bar has been raised on the game with more quality drivers. :)

[Hoop-98]

I'm no DP fan, but she was faster than P2 and P3 and Wilson wasn't making moves on her.

rh

[Civic]

What about her dry pace? I wasn't paying attention.

I can't believe Briscoe did that. I wasn't sure what he said about it in the interview. What did he say? 2 DNFs isn't a good way to start the season.

[indycool]

He said he was behind Howard and thought he was a lapped car....in fact, it was a battle for position.

[Hoop-98]

Fastest laps Final:

http://i29.tinypic.com/vne8w8.jpg

rh

[Hoop-98]

Section Times:

http://i28.tinypic.com/zim4vb.jpg

http://i25.tinypic.com/2usz7k3.jpg

http://i32.tinypic.com/2h305lg.jpg

http://i27.tinypic.com/2f0ahpg.jpg

http://i32.tinypic.com/20h4h09.jpg

Oops here is the track map

Always interesting to see how the diferent setups work.

rh

[indycool]

Neat stuff, Hoop.....Mutoh and Patrick fast off the last corner, slower elsewhere.....lot of stuff to compare with those numbers......

[Hoop-98]

Might help to have the map. Ok I put it up with the times.



rh

[-Helix-]

To those asking about blue flags: They did indeed wave it for Danica. But only once as Wilson was only really close enough to pass once and it wasn't for very long.

[osg]

Wow. Rahal really dropped from the clouds for the win. Great drive, perserverence and strategy to take home the cookies!

Not a bad drive for Will Power, i was holding hope that it wouldn't rain and Will could have a big go in the dry..... but he finished, so top 10 is good enough.

[mikiec]

What's happened to Bruno? I watched him in the A1GP race on the streets of Durban a few weeks ago and he had a complete nightmare.

Has he lost it or is it just down to set up?

[BobGarage]

What's happened to Bruno? I watched him in the A1GP race on the streets of Durban a few weeks ago and he had a complete nightmare.

Has he lost it or is it just down to set up?

bruno had gearbox problems. Then his radio didn't work so he had to get out of the car in the pits to tell the team what was wrong.

He was fast in qualifying but spun near the end of the session, brought out a full course yellow and lost his quick time.

He just had a very unlucky weekend.

[JTK]

Enjoyable race, looks like being a great series once the Champ Car drivers settle in. With a mixture of ovals, street and road courses the champion will certainly have earnt the title.

Danica will be delighted with a top 10 finish (having started way back), having said that she has not got used to street circuits yet. Great win for Rahal and top 10 finish for Justin.

[electron]

It has been quite some time since I could write about an IndyCar race (about 13 years...)

man, have I missed the Newman-Haas vs. Penske battles... This race was right there, started slow but picked up to be a thriller in the end, lots of passing, action, speed, rain, dry, close action, full field and remarkably few stupid moves. Quality field, graet race, I enjoyed watching it!
The battle old vs. young is right there. the future looks quite bright if this is the trend. and the Dallara raced pretty good in the streets.

congrats GH.

[nigelred5]

Even the drivers that ended up having problems seemed to say how fun the race was and how good it was having so many cars on track.

Even Ms Patrick found a way to run up front! :laugh: ;)

[bblocker68]

I really liked hearing from Dixon and Helio again. Even though Scott DNF'd, he kept saying how much fun he had and they both gave props to the CC guys.

Yestereday was the most satisfying race I've seen in years.

Thanks to everyone who made it happen.

[garyshell]

I really liked hearing from Dixon and Helio again. Even though Scott DNF'd, he kept saying how much fun he had and they both gave props to the CC guys.

Yestereday was the most satisfying race I've seen in years.

Thanks to everyone who made it happen.


Can I get an amen, brothers and sisters? AMEN!

Gary

[indycool]

Amen.

[jarrambide]

Can I get an amen, brothers and sisters? AMEN!

Gary

You either address every religion on the planet or else don´t use religious comments, and please include regional variations.

[garyshell]

You either address every religion on the planet or else don´t use religious comments, and please include regional variations.


Oy vey! :s mokin:

Hebrew (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrew_language) אָמֵן, Standard (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrew_language#Modern_Hebrew) Amen Tiberian (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiberian_vocalization) ’Amen ; Arabic (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabic_language): آمين‎, ’Āmīn ; "So be it; truly"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amen

That oughta' just 'bout cover it. <big ol grin>

Gary

[indycool]

Aw, okay, what Gary said! :) :) :) :)

[jarrambide]

Much better guys, thank you. ;)

[DavePI2]

Ah a great day in columbus , ohio. IRL has returned. IRL received the press here today. Oh there was some mention of that staged race series but IRL received the headlines. Oh did anyone notice what was playing on espn classic this morning. It wasn't some prearanged nascar race. A new era has begun and this is going to be a great year for all who love owr. Way to Grahm.

David

[e2mtt]

Ah a great day in columbus , ohio. IRL has returned. IRL received the press here today. Oh there was some mention of that staged race series but IRL received the headlines. Oh did anyone notice what was playing on espn classic this morning. It wasn't some prearanged nascar race. A new era has begun and this is going to be a great year for all who love owr. Way to Grahm.

David

I agree. What a great start. However, can I ask you a favor? To avoid irritation, hard feelings, & irate comments from some of us, let's refer to it as Indycar, not IRL. :-)

[garyshell]

I agree. What a great start. However, can I ask you a favor? To avoid irritation, hard feelings, & irate comments from some of us, let's refer to it as Indycar, not IRL. :-)


ICS works as well. It is the actual name of the series. Where as IRL is the sanctioning body.

Gary

[nanders]

Oy vey! :s mokin:

Hebrew (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrew_language) אָמֵן, Standard (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrew_language#Modern_Hebrew) Amen Tiberian (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiberian_vocalization) ’Amen ; Arabic (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabic_language): آمين‎, ’Āmīn ; "So be it; truly"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amen

That oughta' just 'bout cover it. <big ol grin>

Gary

Amun - ancient Egyptian

[nanders]

Oy vey! :s mokin:

Hebrew (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrew_language) אָמֵן, Standard (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrew_language#Modern_Hebrew) Amen Tiberian (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiberian_vocalization) ’Amen ; Arabic (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabic_language): آمين‎, ’Āmīn ; "So be it; truly"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amen

That oughta' just 'bout cover it. <big ol grin>

Gary

Amun - ancient Egyptian

[DavePI2]

sorry for the mistake, duely notetd and hopefully won't happen again.

[Marbles]

I enjoyed the race. It was good to see some passing. I think it showed that the drivers, overall, are pretty good match for each other. Congrats to Rahal but I expect closer competition form his team mate in the future.