Mid-Ohio GP thread

[Komahawk]

2 hours before the race, about time to make a Mid-Ohio GP thread.

Castroneves on pole again, I hope that's not a bad sign for him. He's still the only driver with multiple poles this season but nevertheless way behind the leader. Despite starting first 7 times already he was only able to carry that position home once. Especially WG was hugely dissapointing, where he literally was humiliated by Dixon. But THIS TIME it's all gonna be different! I picked him for victory, he's won here before, he'll be desperate to prove that he's STILL one of the best road racers in the series (if not THE best), and when push comes to shove Helio Castroneves can win anywhere! Move over Franchitti, back off Dixon, it's HELIO TIME!!
Danica starts from #2, I guess she's finally arrived on the road circuits. Considering that the AGR-boys are probably the overall best road racing team in the series her qualifying performance must be rated as outstanding.
Hornish did OK, solid by his road course standards. Top#8 should be within reach.
Wheldon won't have nothing to do with the win.
Hunter-Reay with a good performance, clearly left Sharp behind. Still I smell a race incident involving him coming up.
Nice to see Manning and Rice do well here.

[gm99]

Not a terribly exciting race IMO. Only really exciting point was whether Dario would come out ahead of Dixon after his final stop.

Kanaan made a good job of destroying AGR's chances in the first corner when he first hit Danica's rear wheel and then cut across the track to flip Marco upside down. Both he and Danica did make a good job to recover in fourth and fifth position, though.

Good debut by Ryan Hunter-Reay, who was inside the top ten throughout the afternoon and equalled Simmons' best road course finish (7th). Heck, if he keeps up that kind of performance, he might just beat Milka to the rookie of the year title...

[Jonesi]

He's 43 points behind her, he should pass her in about three races.

[gm99]

Come to think about it, does he qualify for ROTY status at all? After all, he is a two-times race winner in Champ Car and I don't think Kanaan, Franchitti, Dixon, Castroneves, De Ferran et al. were considered rookies when they switched over. It would be a shame though if the rookie title went to Milka without contest...

[ChicagocrewIRL]

Booooooo for ABC and the British Open . I wonder if ESPN will re-air the race in its entirety at some point. I would hope so. We missed Marco's crash.

The race was OK. Nothing too exciting although I was hoping Dario would catch Scott at the end.

But, the crowd looked phenomenal !!! Every TV shot had full stands and crowds in every frame. THANK YOU OHIO FOLKS !!! for the great turnout .

[mark123]

I think the 1st corner crash had more to do with Danica getting out of shape and everyone behind her getting Squeezed up. Not Tony's fault as i saw it.

[pdalbey]

If you have cable, and you still managed to miss the start of the race, you have nobody but yourself to blame. ABC and ESPN made it very clear that the race was being moved to ESPN and then back to ABC when the Open was wrpaped up. They announced it several times, it ran on the scroller, and they announced it again. They did not hide it. I'm sorry for the folks that don't have cable or sat but at least not everyone missed the start of teh race.

[NightRider]

I replayed in slow motion several times...Danica was dead on the inside of the turn behind Helio, and slid to the outside. Her post race comments were consistent with that (cold tires etc). TK was right on her corner, and I suspect she lifted a bit while TK was getting on it...the rest is history. Marco seems to think it was DP's fault for not getting on it at the start, but I think in the end it was one of those "racing things". Happens in F1 all the time. I think TK and DP did well to recover as well as they did. Appears DP is making steady gains under Kim Greens mentoring. Good to see a tight race for the points lead.

[mark123]

I agree with NightRider - just one of those things. its just a pity that they were all team mates. On the positive side - I believe that it gave Dixon the win.

[underpowered]

I agree with NightRider - just one of those things. its just a pity that they were all team mates. On the positive side - I believe that it gave Dixon the win.

I agree....... those other AGM cars could have helped Dario alot. As it turned out Scott was in second place immediatly after the start. It was worst case for Dario.

[Civic]

RHR isn't a rookie. I'll try to find and post the rules regarding rookie status.

[bravefish]

Not a bad race - the cream rose to the top again - Kanaan should have been there but in typical style he blew it again. Another professional drive from Scott - showed great race pace to come out ahead of Dario after he ran all those light fuel load laps at the end. This is going down to the wire !

[Civic]

I'm surprised that the pole time and race's fastest lap were faster than the 2003 pole and race's fastest lap. I wonder if the 2003 Champ Cars and 2007 IndyCars handled the course in a similar manner or if one was faster in the straights while the other was faster in the corners.

[Rogelio]

I will be honest and sincere, I am not a Danica fan. I was somewhat happy to see her lose her 2nd position at the start of the race. On the other hand, I would have loved to see her in that position to see what she would have accomplished during the race.

As a driver, what has she accomplished? She has not even won a race. She is with one of the best teams (AGR) and is clearly outclassed by her teamates, with the exception of Marco. Then again, Marco did finish 2nd at Indy, while Danica finished 4th.

The Danica hype is old. I feel for the other drivers who are clearly and blatantly ignored. Remember, it was only a few years ago that the drivers were complaining about her. She is nothing but a spoiled brat, who excepts everything to go her way.

[luvracin]

If you have cable, and you still managed to miss the start of the race, you have nobody but yourself to blame. ABC and ESPN made it very clear that the race was being moved to ESPN and then back to ABC when the Open was wrpaped up. They announced it several times, it ran on the scroller, and they announced it again. They did not hide it. I'm sorry for the folks that don't have cable or sat but at least not everyone missed the start of teh race.

Yeah well I guess you're right. I TiVo'ed the race so that I could be outside in the real world. So the fact that I missed 1/2 the race because of the golf is my fault for actually having a life. :p :

[mark123]

Re the lap times, i think the faster times (then the 2003 race) have something to do with the new service that they laid last year. It is impressive pace though. I am surprised that the 2007 Indy car and get close to the 2003 champ car.

Re Danica, don't forget that Dario and TK have been around many more years then DP. She is doing ok. she wont win a race this year, but next year? shes doing ok and easy on the eye too which helps.

[champcar72]

I was there friday-sunday and the crowd was HUGE! I camped and the camping was insane with people. There where alot of Nascar fans but i guees thats a good thing. It seemed to me that the IRL cars where a bit slower on the long straight than the champ cars but overall they put on a good show. I just wish they could update the design of the car a little........

[DavePI2]

A previous comment was made those with cable have no excusee for missing the beginning. I am afraid I have to disagree. What about those who were away and doing other things, like actually going to the race. I set my recorder to tape the race as advertised and only found out after 900 when I returned home of the foulup. It would be nice if the entire race could be rerun for those who were not home. Some might say what am I complaining about , I was there. Well I love souveniers of every sporting event I go too, and I always try to keep the tape broadcast of every race. I also like to watch again and hear the comments of the announcers.


David

[Civic]

I agree. I work Sundays. I always impose an info embargo when I work (no peeking on the 'net) so when I get home from work I can relax and watch the races I taped while I eat dinner.

[Cass]

All these damm road course specialists and rookies racing in the GP......I thought IRL was the Indy league....why is the term GP being used now....another way to confuse the casual fan perhaps?

[Komahawk]

Hm? The term "Grand Prix" has been in common use for open wheel non-oval events since I don't know when. I'm not sure why, but I guess it was/is done in order to distinct the road/street races from the oval races. I must admit though that the Mid Ohio race wasn't labeled "GP", but "Mid Ohio 200" or so. What's the big deal?
And were there really that many rookies? RHR was the only guy new to the IRL.
And what's wrong with road course specialists? Some do better on the road, so do better on ovals. I think it's great to have a certain mix of both kind of racetracks on the schedule so in order to win the title you must be skillful on both.

I don't see how this can confuse a casual fan.