(Note to readers: This post was written last Saturday, but software troubles kept me from uploading it until now. Sorry...)
The 2013 season opens tomorrow at St Petersburg. It's about time. The 6-month off-season gave plenty of time for us to forget about the greatness that was 2012's on-track action while simmering over questionable Indycar management decisions.
It's really a topic for another blog post, but the environment exposed by randy bernard's firing went a long way towards disinteresting me in the remainder of the off-season. That's not something the sport's leadership should allow to happen, but I'll get into that at another time. For now, there's a racing season to get started!
Some hopes and predictions for the months ahead:
1. Ryan Hunter-Reay will continue to be the threat he was in his championship 2012 season. I'm not sure he'd my pick to repeat with Will Power in the field, but he'll be a factor.
2. Alex Tagliani was a guy I always liked and someone who was fun to pull for, but I was beginning to lose faith. Until Bryan Herta Autosport got Honda engines several races into 2012. Tag ran up front consistently and was the car to beat in at least two races. I hope he continues to prove me wrong in 2013.
3. The guy with the quietest best results in 2011 and 2012 was Oriol Servia. I'm a fan of his for several reasons, but his ability to make the Lotus look fast early last year and his habit of sneaking into the top 5 mid-season and later are two of them. I'll be really, really happy if he wins a race or two in 2013.
4. 500-mile races. Even if Indy isn't always the best race of the year, it's usually the most interesting, simply because 500 miles is long enough to watch multiple strategies develop and play out. Now there are two, plus a 400-miler. Include a car as racy as the dw12 and we have race geek nirvana.
5. Double headers. I'm skeptical of this idea for several reasons, but it's an attempt at doing something different and stoking interest. The guy who implemented it certainly has a long career ahead of him in the series... Er, never mind...
It's really a topic for another blog post, but the environment exposed by randy bernard's firing went a long way towards disinteresting me in the remainder of the off-season. That's not something the sport's leadership should allow to happen, but I'll get into that at another time. For now, there's a racing season to get started!
Some hopes and predictions for the months ahead:
1. Ryan Hunter-Reay will continue to be the threat he was in his championship 2012 season. I'm not sure he'd my pick to repeat with Will Power in the field, but he'll be a factor.
2. Alex Tagliani was a guy I always liked and someone who was fun to pull for, but I was beginning to lose faith. Until Bryan Herta Autosport got Honda engines several races into 2012. Tag ran up front consistently and was the car to beat in at least two races. I hope he continues to prove me wrong in 2013.
3. The guy with the quietest best results in 2011 and 2012 was Oriol Servia. I'm a fan of his for several reasons, but his ability to make the Lotus look fast early last year and his habit of sneaking into the top 5 mid-season and later are two of them. I'll be really, really happy if he wins a race or two in 2013.
4. 500-mile races. Even if Indy isn't always the best race of the year, it's usually the most interesting, simply because 500 miles is long enough to watch multiple strategies develop and play out. Now there are two, plus a 400-miler. Include a car as racy as the dw12 and we have race geek nirvana.
5. Double headers. I'm skeptical of this idea for several reasons, but it's an attempt at doing something different and stoking interest. The guy who implemented it certainly has a long career ahead of him in the series... Er, never mind...
