2011 Indianapolis 500

[gm99]

My understanding of the IndyCar rule bookis that this is actually an unprotestable issue:

Section 12.3

E. Decisions Not Subject to Protest or Appeal -
(5) Whether a Car was properly positioned upon the
declaration of a yellow condition; whether the Safety
Car signaled a Driver to pass during a yellow
condition, whether a proper passing signal was given
during a yellow condition, whether the Safety Car or
another Car was improperly passed during a yellow
condition or whether a Car was properly positioned
as it crossed the point designated as the end of the pit
lanes.

I wonder if this particular rule was introduced after the 2002 Indy 500...

[Leo Krupe]

Color me surprised. I really thought Dario was going to have it in the last 15 laps, and then I was pulling for JR. Things happen though....

I was disappointed with PT though. I've been a fan of his since his Penske days, when he had brown tasselly hair and the glasses. But I have to think it's probably time for him to retire.

Simona gave it a good shot, and was classy with her apology to the team.

Now I understand about Danica...I'd never really paid that much attention to her before, but realized when she had all that downforce put into the wing, it dragged down not only her speed, but fuel mileage. So her performance is really all her--to her credit, she kept it off the wall and finished 10th, but she gets blamed for needing so much downforce that her mileage suffered and needed to pit so late in the race. I say let her go to the cabs full time so someone else will pick up the TV tab. No doubt GoDaddy got their exposure money's worth though. It's a pity they covered her so much though, and not some of the others.

For instance, I only saw Pippa mentioned when she nearly wrecked TK in the pits. And Bia? Maybe one mention of her on the track.

[SoCalPVguy]

Wow, a very entertaining race! Jr, I don't know what to say. I like you and hope you recover from this, but this is one of the biggest chokes in sports history. A couple of big golf chokes come to mind, Greg Norman blowing the Masters with a huge lead and the French guy gagging on the final hole of the British Open with a 3 shot lead. But the final corner of the 100th anniversary of the Indy 500, that has to be maybe the biggest ever.

Last corner or the last lap ...

Inexperience was the root cause for poor JR... an experienced driver would have backed off around lapped traffic in the last corner with a big lead and not push it up the track into the marbles... I hope he recovers but seriously do we ever think he will ever be in the lead at the 500 on the last lap in the last corner again ?

[Anubis]

Huuummmmm, race was on, he was leading yellow on, and he still going when passed and made it over the finish line.

What do you want Wheldon to do, slot in behind the coasting remains of Hildebrand's car to see where he ends up?! What if he'd simply spun without contact and was in the process of gathering it all up when Wheldon arrived, or maybe had run out of fuel and was coasting slowly enough to warrant a yellow? It's a ludicrous line of argument. We surely have to consider a car as inactive as soon as the contact occurs, not on where it finally comes to a halt, otherwise you'd be penalising people all the time. For example, I count nine cars passing Viso under yellow here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzXOn0octTc

I'm as gutted for the kid as anyone, and indeed don't especially like Dan Wheldon, but the protest is just desperate clutching at straws. Anyway, as already posted, the green light was on, so it's a moot point.

[beachgirl]

Last corner or the last lap ...

Inexperience was the root cause for poor JR... an experienced driver would have backed off around lapped traffic in the last corner with a big lead and not push it up the track into the marbles... I hope he recovers but seriously do we ever think he will ever be in the lead at the 500 on the last lap in the last corner again ?

Actually, I think he could very well find himself there again in the future.

[FormerFF]

Apparently Panther Racing are protesting the result as Wheldon passed Hildebrand under yellow.
I doubt the protest will be successfull, though, as it was of course Hildebrand who brought out the yellow in the first place.

That's stupid. You get to pass the crashed car. Otherwise the race would have to come to an IMMEDIATE SCREECHING HALT! What is Panther thinking?

[markabilly]

someone posted this - http://twitpic.com/54bhhc

photoshopped!!!

[FIAT1]

Congrats to Dan Weldon, great job G.Rahal , good race!

[markabilly]

What do you want Wheldon to do, slot in behind the coasting remains of Hildebrand's car to see where he ends up?! What if he'd simply spun without contact and was in the process of gathering it all up when Wheldon arrived, or maybe had run out of fuel and was coasting slowly enough to warrant a yellow? It's a ludicrous line of argument. We surely have to consider a car as inactive as soon as the contact occurs, not on where it finally comes to a halt, otherwise you'd be penalising people all the time. For example, I count nine cars passing Viso under yellow here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzXOn0octTc

I'm as gutted for the kid as anyone, and indeed don't especially like Dan Wheldon, but the protest is just desperate clutching at straws. Anyway, as already posted, the green light was on, so it's a moot point.

All NINE needed drive throughs.........................

Oh rell, the other result would have been more fun.

Now we get Dan dancing cause he passed a crashed out car in the last corner......oh well

worse, though, is the bad news that Danica did not win.....if that streak of being a loser keeps going, nobody is going to be watching, cause all you got to do is listen to all the hype leading up the race, and it was all about Danica, at the "GO DADDY 500" or was it the "500 Sponsored by Go Daddy".

worse than that, having to watch the Go Daddy stuff all over the scoring on TV, and even worse than that, the Danica commericials were stanky, she looked like an old hooker gone gothic

[Anubis]

she looked like an old hooker gone gothic

I shouldn't laugh, but I did

Hopefully she'll be gone next year and we can all get back to arguing about something else equally outside our control.