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She went a bit wide and brushed the wall. At first it seemed she would be ok, but there was some issue with the car and they wound up parking it. She took the entire blame in the interview and apologized profusely to her team. Real standup job.Quote:
Originally Posted by SarahFan
Gary
That's what the mirrors are for.Quote:
Originally Posted by Nem14
See this?
http://www.abflags.com/_flags/sports...ipe-L-anim.gif
It means "get out of the way" not "stay exactly where you are".
Nope. The passing car is required to pick a safe place to pass. Kimball was low and the idea that he was suppose to suddenly change his line at the last moment is silly and dangerous.Quote:
Originally Posted by call_me_andrew
It was? I found it kind of average. The only real excitement being caused by J.R.'s Epic Fail and team Ganaasi once again messing up the fuel measurements.Quote:
Originally Posted by call_me_andrew
It doesn't mean to suddenly swerve out of the way and to screw up your race. It means that a faster car is coming up and to let them by when it can be done safely.Quote:
Originally Posted by call_me_andrew
ABC missed a lot of stories. When Carpenter was leading, they didn't even mention it for a while. They seemed to treat the race as an excuse to show more ads.Quote:
Originally Posted by cos
It is a shame because if you were relatively new to the sport, the coverage was so bad the race seemed pretty dull. But based on who finished where, there were a lot of interesting stories.
Was Bryan Herta Autosport cooperating with another team this month? If so, who???
Sam Schmidt Motorsports owned the Chassis.Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris R
What would it take to make a race beyond average for you? Constant excitement every foot of the way? Not going to happen, regardless of series, type of race, or participants. That's just a pipedream.Quote:
Originally Posted by anthonyvop
Congrats to Weldon.
Possibly the greatest Indy 500 in long, long, while. Possibly up there with the all time great races.
And for once, a race that made me forget about the spec-formula racing debacle.
I was dead wrong about SSM this month. When I saw they didn't go out for Opening Day practice, I was pretty skeptical that they must have been spreading their resources way too thin if they had so many cars they were collaborating with, and then not even doing a full program on any of them. Turned out to be a pretty good month for them, and I have to say, I'm very glad it was. Great team and I found myself supporting many of the cars they were affiliated with on the basis of being underdogs with a real chance and having some great stories within their participation. Glad to see a class act like Wheldon win with some help from another of the paddock's greatest people, Sam Schmidt.Quote:
Originally Posted by Alexamateo
I don't know which boat he's on, but some fans will never be content unless it's the Panoz DP01, some will never be content unless there's massive manufacture spending and dominant diesels, some will never be content unless an American wins, etc, etc. A lot of people just don't like the fact that the current rules package produced one of the greatest races in 500 history. Their loss; most of us, I hope, had a wonderful afternoon. I know I did.Quote:
Originally Posted by beachgirl
Yes, that's the Brian "my reaction time is measured in calender days and no one can protest my race calls" Barnhart rule.Quote:
Originally Posted by gm99
While I'm gutted for JR, he was far from the first car to essentially do the same thing in sunday's race. He just had REALLY lousy timing. How many drivers have said to themself "This is mine, this is mine, just don't crash" ;) Far more exerienced drivers put it into the wall passing a slower car. If anything, I think maybe JR was too cautious passing Conway and gave himeslf a little too much room which got him into the gray. He drove a great race for 799 corners. Yet another arguement for bringing back more of an apron at IMS. An overtaking driver should have the skill to pass a slower car successfully, however in situation where the slow driver really does need to get off the racing line and stay low at Indy, a driver can't just jump down onto the acceleration lanes in the corner with the grass down there. They are able to enforce the inside line at other tracks with a wide apron, there's no reason that can't be enforced at Indy. Well, let me take that back. They SHOULD be able to anyway......It does make for a pretty race track though.
I do agree, Kimball's spotter had plenty of time to radio in when JR was on the backstretch heading into 3 to move to the runoff, Kimball was going extremely slow and should not have compromised the race like that.Quote:
Originally Posted by anthonyvop
Great race...unbelievably crappy coverage. Pulleeese get some new announcers next year...pullleeese!
I guess you never watch F1 or WRC. Every moment in either series is pure excitement.Quote:
Originally Posted by beachgirl
The race was owned by Target Chip Ganassi Racing and the only reason they lost was because of a bad fuel calculations. Not driver skill, Not a better setup and definatly not because of a better car but because somebody who couldn't do basic math.
This race will be remembered of one of the All Time Greatest Chokes in racing History.
That's total BS
Yeah, get a new director, too.Quote:
Originally Posted by booger
I don't want to rant about that because this was such a great race, and the pre-race stuff was good (the intro was lightyears ahead of what they had been doing because they just kept it straight, for example), but...it has to be said.
Having a team of guys where this isn't their dedicated job or their first passion makes for a broadcast team that comes across as lacking knowledge and lacking enthusiasm.
They missed a lot of good racing, too. And I'm not talking about ad breaks...I'm talking about showing nothing when something was happening. Every pass is critical because you never know what it will mean at the end of 500 miles. Hildebrand's on Franchitti's was an example of that, and they even knew it would be as Baguette's strategy was well-documented. Tony, Dan, Tomas, etc. all had some good ones we missed.
The lack of interviews when drivers retired from the race was concerning, too. The lack of information on what happened to certain drivers who had gained/lost positions was also a disappointment. A lot less investigating in the pits and a lot more "four Firestone tires and Sunoco fuel, back to you" kind of stuff. Telling you what's right in front of you.
My biggest letdown, though, was the lack of storylines. Please do some research. Please please please! All 33 drivers/teams had a backstory, and many of us here could have told plenty of them with ease. Most people with an Internet connection could at least come up with something, anything. And yet ABC failed to do this. They had the big ones, the obvious ones...Simona, Alex/Sam, etc., but many good ones were buried unnecessarily. When someone not in their script took the lead (like Baguette or Servià), they gave us a "he's from Belgium, he's from Spain" and ended it there. They didn't know these guys, and to the casual viewer, it makes the humans seem unimportant...and when you get that disconnect, you can say goodbye to those viewers. America will fall back in love with this event and this sport when they can feel the human drama that defines it, and I'm glad the finish allowed for that, because up until then, the broadcast missed many chances (by not doing interviews and not doing research). Every driver and every event can be sold in an appealing way with the right knowledge and the right command of English. Sadly, it wasn't to be in that regard.
Anyone else aware of the grids from the early 90s, where Paul Page would tell a backstory set to music and footage (both on-track stuff and B-roll) on each and every driver? I know there is not enough time devoted to the race to do that, and I understand why, but if they could do the research as if they were going to do that, they would be prepared for any driver making his/her way onto the broadcast, and able to get the viewer involved through that information. It's critical to make sure the fan knows all of them are stars, all of them are important, all of them are human. When you don't do that, you have (as I said) disconnect, and you risk losing viewers when Simona and Tagliani and Danica are out of it and you have no way to persuade them that the other thirty are just as special.
Fortunately, we had a great, safe race. No complaints there.
Different people have different tastes. Luckily, we have an F1 and a rally section here. If that's your thing, well, those are your forums. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by anthonyvop
And there it is! Had just referenced it in my last post. Thanks for sharing; nice to see it again. We were certainly treated with Delta Force on Pole Day and this on race day; much better than the over-produced, over-dramatized, and largely over-the-top treatment recent years' introductions have received. I'm glad they're turning the corner, and now it's time to see how they can address their other inadequacies.Quote:
Originally Posted by NickFalzone
I have slept through many a boring F1 race. Not in the past year or so, I will admit, but in many years previously. Pure excitement? I think not.Quote:
Originally Posted by anthonyvop
As far as WRC is concerned, yes, every moment THAT IS TELEVISED is usually pure excitement. That's because we don't see every car in every section in every rally. We see the highlights, the great bits, and only the exciting parts in the broadcast coverage. Unless you, of course, get a special raw feed of every moment of any given WRC event that the rest of us don't?
Absolute rubbish. We've been lucky with F1 in the last few seasons, but it was tedious for many, may years before that. A great deal of the current excitement is all artificial anyway. Take away the DRS, KERS and short-lived tyres and see what sort of races you get. WRC is so exciting that I had no idea Rally GB even took place last year, as it had zero media coverage. None. I'm guessing Loeb won. As for the Ganassi comment, haven't you complained bitterly about people winning races on fuel mileage in the past? Are you seriously telling me you'd have preferred Dario to win it by cruising round 20mph off the pace for 10 laps? You'd have been the first one moaning about it not being a valid victory.Quote:
Originally Posted by anthonyvop
That's easy. If you've read his post for a while, the only thing that would make it worth his time is if it wasn't held in Indianapolis, wasn't 500 miles, had nothing to do with the Hulman/George family, didn't have Indy in the name, was held on a road course, and it probably shouldn't be held on Memorial Day weekend. That would be anthonyvop's all time favorite Indy 500. Just go back through his posts, I'm not really stretching the truth too much. I honestly have no idea why he posts here.Quote:
Originally Posted by beachgirl
But from an actual fan's perspective. I have to say that was a d@mn good race. Sure parts of it got a bit boring, but I sort of blame the TV guys more than anything for that. I listened to it on radio live (in the car), and it was great. Then I watched the replay at 7 here in the Indy area, and it was only so-so until the last few laps. At this point I'm not sure I can blame the announcers anymore (except that they do suck). But the producers and directors are more to blame. They are the one's choosing the story lines, usually they map some out days before, but it looked like they showed up the morning of the race to me. And the announcers are only supposed to talk about what is being shown. So if the directors don't pick the right cars/stories to follow, the announcers can't talk about the "good" stories. My hope is that NBC takes an even more active roll in VS, sees the potential and then takes over from ABC. Anyone know when that contract is up?
And for those of you who think Kimbal should have somehow moved, as others have said, that's almost rule #1 in driving schools DON'T CHANGE YOUR LINE WHEN BEING PASSED.
Sorry, but no, that is not what it means.Quote:
Originally Posted by call_me_andrew
In Indy Car racing all it means is "Faster Car Approaching". In FIA races, that flag is not even used.
Call_ me Andrew, where exactly would you have had Kimball go? you don't jsut slow down and ride around in a high line at Indy. Slower cars stay low. That accident was not Kimball's fault in any way. Hildebrand simply choked on what should have been an easy pass of a much slower car.
So being forced into the marbles is an easy pass, especially at Indy.Quote:
Originally Posted by nigelred5
I assume then that you are familiar with this in some way first hand?
Now it is possible Kendall had people telling him what to do, which was not what he thought best to do, which meant ended with him simply doning nothing, but he is not totally free of guilt.
Last lap and one is not fighting for position, then get as slow and far out of the way as possible.
I agree that he could have slowed long before the corner to let him use the correct line, but that's racing! Great race by the way! Where was PT???
I hope to see more evidence of what's coming next year now!!!
considering Kimball was 24 seconds back in the final lap, he lost 10 seconds on the white flag lap and was extremely slow, he should've been on the warmup lane in 3 and 4, Kimball prolly felt it was ok to be on the bottom but his team needed to notify him that the leader was coming and to get out of the way, he had plenty of time to get out of the way.Quote:
Originally Posted by nigelred5
Give Kimball a break, he didn't do anything wrong. If you watch the video, Hildebrand had a no problem overtaking Kimball's car when going into the turn. Kimball slowed down and maintained his line, making it easy for Hildebrand to get around him.
Hildebrand had a considerable lead on Wheldon so he didn't need to push his car as fast as he did. Especially since Hildebrand, which he seemed to admit after the race, was told to make sure the car had enough fuel to cross the finish line. Hildebrand simply had so much adrenaline built up from realizing he was gonna win the race that he over-drove his car, and thus crashed it. In hindsight, he should've drove more conservatively, get around Kimball, and exit the turn at a steadier and slower pace and he still would've had no problem holding the lead.
The talking heads on the radio, said had he done that, that, for sure do to location and traffic on the track, Wheldon would have passed him and he would not have been able to regain momentum to re-pass.Quote:
Originally Posted by ICWS
They said he had two bad choices and had he by some miracle survived the marbles there was no other way he could have won.
Kimball's team is probably the one who screwed up as Kimball does not have eyes in the back of his head, or a TV broadcast to tell him what is going on.
Kimball should be glad it was not an Andretti , we would be hearing May whine for months to come had that happened.
What a steaming load of BS. F1 has it's parades, I won't comment on WRC as it holds no interest for me and I don't watch it. As for the rest ot his BS, you have no clue what you are talkimg about. Gannasi gambled and lost, period. No miss-calculation, just a roll of the dice. And they came up snake-eyes.Quote:
Originally Posted by anthonyvop
Gary
I went for the first time this year and it was really amazing, it brought me to tears several times. I was in between two jumbotrons so it was hard for me to follow the order. I basically decided that I would follow Graham the entire race and listen in on his radio. It was such an exciting race. I listened back and forth between the IMS radio and the PA and the TV and grahams car. It was fun to watch Graham make a new record by improving 26 spots!! It was also fun to see other react around me to the leader changes because I felt there were a lot more than normally. After the race the interviewed wheldon and asked him if he is going to try to run FT for the rest of the year. His answer was he wants to take a nice vacation with his wife and child. I thought that was really admirable and beautiful.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EGq_yKp2-AQuote:
Originally Posted by Bob Riebe
Watch the video up to about 45 seconds (before Hildebrand crashes). Wheldon was quite a ways back from him on the last lap. I don't know what those talking heads are smoking, because it looked pretty clear that Hildebrand could've played it safer and not drive as fast as he was into and exiting that corner and still win the race.
Missed the damn race! But very happy with Baguette's performance! Even leading the Indy 500! And 7th place in probably his first race overall this year for him, not bad at all!
What are the regular Indycar fans think of his performance?
I was impressed with Baguette's performance all month. It is a shame the media (particularly TV) seemed to ignore him.Quote:
Originally Posted by mousti
Overall, the media seemed to miss what may be the biggest story of this years Indy. This was the year for the on-off and part time rides, the little "guy", young drivers, and the failure of the "super" teams to figure much into the results.
I wach F-1 plenty, I only see WRC occasionally - if you see pure excitement there and not in Indycar it is only because you WANT to - which is perfectly fine - but be real - F1 has been producing mostly snoozefests for years... granted the cars are more interesting and much more twitchy etc. but the races are generally won in the first corner or on pt strategy..... WRC, what the cars do is cool - but there is no head to head competition - makes it hard to create a ton of immediate excitement....Quote:
Originally Posted by anthonyvop
I am not saying the average Indycar race is pure excitement - just that the things you are holding in higher esteem are not significantly (if any) better in that regard....
To me, the fun of racing is almost as much the analysis of the events after the fact as the event itself.....
As for Ganassi - they gambled and lost - I don't think they made the same mistake as in qualifying.... they also did not stay on top of setup throughout the entire race (I would say) - in the end they finished significantly behind - so they did not have the race "under control" it just looked like they did - has happened many time in Indy history.....
Can't argue about the choke - people can point fingers at Kimball all they want but is was Hildebrand's to lose and he lost....
I do have to admit, I thought for a minute or so that he had actually won in a wrecked car - things changes so quickly in the end I lost track of who was in second and how far behind they were.....
Quote:
Originally Posted by anthonyvop
I don't know what your problem is.Quote:
Originally Posted by SarahFan
There was great racing up and down the field.
Getting your maths right is part of racing; choking and handling pressure is part of the make up of competing in sports.
Why are you including me with anthOny wedge?
Sorry, I should have pointed I agreed with you.
Some one agrees with me :)
The devil must be wearing a parka
where's our Diminutive Friend (DF) ? haven't heard much about the princess's top 10 finish !!!
Well that was an interesting weekend of racing all ways around. Saw lots of bad strategy and lots of mistakes. Always watch til the end kids....
Hildebrand had a brain cramp. Simple as that. He had a few seconds...and if he backed right out of it going into 4 to tip toe around the lapped traffic, he would be the winner today. The lapped car had every right to be there...and it isn't his job to make life easy for the leaders although protocol would dictate he should whenever he can help by being out of the way long before the leader arrives. In this case, he had no place TO go......
AS for a good 500? Yaaah, I don't know. It was an interesting one.....
As for DF, He could point out Danica kept her head and wits about her and stayed out of trouble to get a top 10...but alas, that is what she does at Indy most years. She is good at staying out of trouble, but to win, you must really risk it all...and Danica doesn't risk it all....