97th Indianapolis 500 Mile-Race

[Anubis]

I like the fact Munoz looked dejected because he only came second. Someone needs to give that kid a drive for the season on that showing.

[speedsville]

That was the racing nascar wishes they could put on.
Exciting drafting and slingshoting, most of the field still within the front straight for most of the race.

Great clean start, and restarts!!!

[gm99]

Didn't get to see the race, but from what I read, it seems to have been a good one.
Congrats to Kanaan; the Brickyard has never been kind to him in the past, but now he has put his demons to rest. Jimmy Vasser must be over the moon as well.
Good year for rookies, with Munoz in second and 'Dinger in 7th.

[libra65]

Congrats to TK!! It was a well deserved and long overdue win. They are going to have to use a whole lot of silver to put a mold od his profile on the Borg Warner. ;-D

[call_me_andrew]

And that's exactly how it happened.

There were 5 cautions this year; there were 4 in 1990.

Speaking of NASCAR's cameras, the Coke 600 is currently under a red flag because a camera cable fell on the track.

[beachgirl]

Someone at ABC and/or Indycar should consider watching the Coca-Cola 600 tonight. Even when a NASCAR race is boring, they are able to use the camera MUCH better to create some excitement. It was well past the half way point before ABC even let the viewer know that they had a front straight camera and a helicopter.

Right. The Fox camera cable snapped and came down on the track, damaging several cars and creating an extended red flag. Some excitement alright. No thank you.

[Rex Monaco]

There were 5 cautions this year; there were 4 in 1990.

It's not the number of cautions, it's the number of laps run under a caution. In 1990 there were 28 laps run under caution and in 2013 there were 21 laps run under caution.

Speaking of NASCAR's cameras, the Coke 600 is currently under a red flag because a camera cable fell on the track.

Leaving aside this freak mishap, I've been using the same critical eye while viewing the NASCAR race. Here's my observations.

Obviously the racing is different. Even though NASCAR is also a 'spec series', the engines are not equal. There is no sling shoting to pass. When they pass, they are working for it and it takes 1 or 2 laps to complete it. And other than the first laps after a restart, the car's start to spread out. That makes the racing boring.

But this is where the announcers and the TV coverage help the show. First, the cameras take you down as close to the track as possible to give you a sense of the speed from multiple angles. When there is a race taking place on the track, the camera follows it all around the track. And it doesn't matter where that race is occurring.

The announcers seem much more knowledgeable about the drivers and the racing. More than likely, this is because a producer is feeding them information.

If the ABC had followed the racing taking place all over the track in the Indy 500, if they had brought us down into the action with their cameras and if the announcers had taken uppers instead of downers, the Indy 500 would have been an exciting broadcast.

At the 1/2 way point of the CC 600, I'll lean towards Indycar having the better race. But NASCAR hands down has a much better broadcast.

[Rex Monaco]

Yes, yes it is. What else would you call it?

At this level, there are only a few ways that you're going to see a pass. Drafting is one, having someone's tires go off is another. Having someone make a mistake is a third way, but at this level, that's pretty uncommon.

You're right. At this level, which is spec racing, this is probably as good as it will get. Without differing horsepower or differing aero packages between cars, a single file race with back and forth sling shot passes is probably all we can hope for. The days of 2 or 4 car's breaking away from the pack or 1 car lapping the field before the halfway point are likely gone forever. And we will likely never see side by side racing for position again.

Some people will settle for this. And if they can improve the broadcast, they might make gain a few NASCAR fans.

[Starter]

You're right. At this level, which is spec racing, this is probably as good as it will get. Without differing horsepower or differing aero packages between cars, a single file race with back and forth sling shot passes is probably all we can hope for. The days of 2 or 4 car's breaking away from the pack or 1 car lapping the field before the halfway point are likely gone forever. And we will likely never see side by side racing for position again.

Some people will settle for this. And if they can improve the broadcast, they might make gain a few NASCAR fans.

One car lapping the field before halfway is a guaranteed snoozefest.

[dj_bytedisaster]

One car lapping the field before halfway is a guaranteed snoozefest.

Only if you dislike its driver. A car race usually has more than one participant and a 5-car scuffle for a distant second can be just as entertaining and exciting to watch.