Eagle Eye.... Dario hits powers tire in pitbox?

[Hoop-98]

From M. Pruitt, the most reasonable explanation I have heard.

"BAD ETIQUETTE?

Controversies were kept to a minimum at Milwaukee, but the one item that did flare up—and keeps going—is Dario Franchitti’s pit lane tire contact incident.

The Target driver struck the new right front tire that awaited Will Power as he pulled into his pit stall, sending Penske’s Billy Vincent, who was standing on top of the tire, for a bit of a ride.

Vincent, Power’s chief mechanic, was uninjured, but some fans continue to question why IndyCar Race Director Brian Barnhart failed to penalize the Scot for striking a piece of equipment on pit lane.

The answer lies not in the formal rule book, but in the informal set of rules teams normally abide by in the pits. Teams make a habit of pulling in the left or right front tire (depending on which direction pit lane faces) to allow the car in the forward stall to pull in without any dramas. The team in the forward stall, in kind, pulls the rear tire out of the way to let the car in the stall behind exit without any dramas.

It’s the neighborly thing to do.

The only scenario where teams won’t pull that front tire out of the way is if two cars are pitting nose-to-tail. Had Power been right on Franchitti’s gearbox heading down pit lane towards their respective stalls, Team Penske would not have been expected to lose time by pulling its tire out of Franchitti’s way while Power followed right behind.

The non-call by Barnhart, in this case, was due to the fact that Power was nowhere near Franchitti at the time of the pit stop. The Penske team had plenty of time to pull the tire and step out of Franchitti’s way, but they chose to leave the tire in place…and to stand on top of it…

As one Ganassi team member told SPEED.com on Tuesday, “I hope this isn’t a view of what’s to come. It can get dangerous and pretty nasty if that’s how we want to start treating each other, and in my opinion, there’s just no need for it.”

I’d like to believe it was an innocent mistake by Team Penske; they aren't known for boorish behavior on pit lane, and I’m sure the two teams and the series will make sure everyone plays nicely this weekend."

rh

[NickFalzone]

From M. Pruitt, the most reasonable explanation I have heard.

"BAD ETIQUETTE?

Controversies were kept to a minimum at Milwaukee, but the one item that did flare up—and keeps going—is Dario Franchitti’s pit lane tire contact incident.

The Target driver struck the new right front tire that awaited Will Power as he pulled into his pit stall, sending Penske’s Billy Vincent, who was standing on top of the tire, for a bit of a ride.

Vincent, Power’s chief mechanic, was uninjured, but some fans continue to question why IndyCar Race Director Brian Barnhart failed to penalize the Scot for striking a piece of equipment on pit lane.

The answer lies not in the formal rule book, but in the informal set of rules teams normally abide by in the pits. Teams make a habit of pulling in the left or right front tire (depending on which direction pit lane faces) to allow the car in the forward stall to pull in without any dramas. The team in the forward stall, in kind, pulls the rear tire out of the way to let the car in the stall behind exit without any dramas.

It’s the neighborly thing to do.

The only scenario where teams won’t pull that front tire out of the way is if two cars are pitting nose-to-tail. Had Power been right on Franchitti’s gearbox heading down pit lane towards their respective stalls, Team Penske would not have been expected to lose time by pulling its tire out of Franchitti’s way while Power followed right behind.

The non-call by Barnhart, in this case, was due to the fact that Power was nowhere near Franchitti at the time of the pit stop. The Penske team had plenty of time to pull the tire and step out of Franchitti’s way, but they chose to leave the tire in place…and to stand on top of it…

As one Ganassi team member told SPEED.com on Tuesday, “I hope this isn’t a view of what’s to come. It can get dangerous and pretty nasty if that’s how we want to start treating each other, and in my opinion, there’s just no need for it.”

I’d like to believe it was an innocent mistake by Team Penske; they aren't known for boorish behavior on pit lane, and I’m sure the two teams and the series will make sure everyone plays nicely this weekend."

rh

Hm, in retrospect, I guess that's what I thought at the time as well. I thought that A.) Dario intended to send a message to the Penske pit crew, and that B.) the Penske pit crew was not being particularly "neighbourly" by getting in his way on a narrow pit entry. So this goes back to the previous comment by Barnhart that the ruling was about "intent". Well, I think it's pretty clear that Dario meant to give the tire guy a nudge, but since the tire guy was basically standing in Dario's way for no good reason at the moment, it was fair not to penalize Dario. Unfortunately, playing these games on the track is one thing, but playing them in the pits could have real and dangerous consequences..

[chuck34]

From M. Pruitt, the most reasonable explanation I have heard.

"BAD ETIQUETTE?

Controversies were kept to a minimum at Milwaukee, but the one item that did flare up—and keeps going—is Dario Franchitti’s pit lane tire contact incident.

The Target driver struck the new right front tire that awaited Will Power as he pulled into his pit stall, sending Penske’s Billy Vincent, who was standing on top of the tire, for a bit of a ride.

Vincent, Power’s chief mechanic, was uninjured, but some fans continue to question why IndyCar Race Director Brian Barnhart failed to penalize the Scot for striking a piece of equipment on pit lane.

The answer lies not in the formal rule book, but in the informal set of rules teams normally abide by in the pits. Teams make a habit of pulling in the left or right front tire (depending on which direction pit lane faces) to allow the car in the forward stall to pull in without any dramas. The team in the forward stall, in kind, pulls the rear tire out of the way to let the car in the stall behind exit without any dramas.

It’s the neighborly thing to do.

The only scenario where teams won’t pull that front tire out of the way is if two cars are pitting nose-to-tail. Had Power been right on Franchitti’s gearbox heading down pit lane towards their respective stalls, Team Penske would not have been expected to lose time by pulling its tire out of Franchitti’s way while Power followed right behind.

The non-call by Barnhart, in this case, was due to the fact that Power was nowhere near Franchitti at the time of the pit stop. The Penske team had plenty of time to pull the tire and step out of Franchitti’s way, but they chose to leave the tire in place…and to stand on top of it…

As one Ganassi team member told SPEED.com on Tuesday, “I hope this isn’t a view of what’s to come. It can get dangerous and pretty nasty if that’s how we want to start treating each other, and in my opinion, there’s just no need for it.”

I’d like to believe it was an innocent mistake by Team Penske; they aren't known for boorish behavior on pit lane, and I’m sure the two teams and the series will make sure everyone plays nicely this weekend."

rh

In my mind, if that is true, then that makes Brian's no call even worse. There clearly was intent to hit the tire. And the whole point of the rule is for safety. Hitting a tire, even if it is just to "send a message", can go horribly wrong. Someone could easily have been killed. This is just plain stupid.

[RJL25]

You can't help but think this is a square up from Texas, Dario got screwed there, and so the officials thought this was a way to square up the ledger. Doesn't matter which way you paint the fence though, its still playing fravorites.

Rules need to be clear cut so things like this don't happen. In V8 Supercar in Australia they take the view that pit crew safety has to be the most important thing, so ANY violations, doesn't matter if its running over an air hose, letting a centre nut roll into the fast lane, or running over a crew member, doesn't matter, ANY indiscretion and your given an automatic drive through. Takes away any possibility of fravorites being played.

[chuck34]

You can't help but think this is a square up from Texas, Dario got screwed there, and so the officials thought this was a way to square up the ledger. Doesn't matter which way you paint the fence though, its still playing fravorites.

Rules are rules, fair or not. The rules as everyone knew them at Texas was that it was going to be a blind draw. Pretty much by definition someone was going to be "screwed".

Rules need to be clear cut so things like this don't happen. In V8 Supercar in Australia they take the view that pit crew safety has to be the most important thing, so ANY violations, doesn't matter if its running over an air hose, letting a centre nut roll into the fast lane, or running over a crew member, doesn't matter, ANY indiscretion and your given an automatic drive through. Takes away any possibility of fravorites being played.

The rule has always been clear cut in Indycar just as it is in V8 Supercars. Hit a piece of pit equipment, get a drive through. That is until this last Sunday.