The "I'm Cheering For Graham" thread

[FormerFF]

Lets face it, the odds are about 20 to 1 that the winner will be either one of the Penske or Ganassi cars, but that's not going to stop me from cheering for Graham Rahal.

I was originally going to title this the "Rooting for Graham" thread, but I didn't want to give our friends from downunder the wrong idea.

[garyshell]

+1

Gary

[Hoop-98]

I hope they figure out what was going on at Carb day.

rh

[fyn5000]

I'll be cheering for Graham!

fyn

[e2mtt]

see sig - been there since St. Pete!

[TURN3]

I'll pull for Graham tomorrow amongst a few others. Still hard to believe PT isn't in. Can't get the puke taste out of my mouth from last Sunday over that.

[Dr. Krogshöj]

I will root for Power, Tag, Graham, TK, Sarah, Junky, RHR and Hideki. I wouldn't mind if Danica did well either, just because it would piss off some people.

[Marbles]

Rahal and Wilson for sure.. and Tagliani. With so few wins and so little money in Tags career this would be a perfect fit. Like the downhill skier who's only career win comes at the Olympics.

[TURN3]

Rahal and Wilson for sure.. and Tagliani. With so few wins and so little money in Tags career this would be a perfect fit. Like the downhill skier who's only career win comes at the Olympics.

I generally haven't liked Tag throughout his career for some reason. It isn't that I've disliked him, more like just no care. But, he IS one of the drivers I'd like to see do well or win today. Anytime a small little team performs they way they have this year they deserve credit. I realize they haven't gotten the results to go with their speed so far this year but, winning Indy would go a long way toward putting another little team on solid footing for a long time.

[Marbles]

The warning for the deal with Franchitti was legitimate but how you call a guy for blocking when he makes the initial move towards the inside and is followed by his pursuer, who, to make a drama of it, continues his line right down to the grass, is garbage.

Pops had a legitimate gripe.

[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...