Belated congratulations are in order for Indycar for holding a great event at the Milwaukee Mile. There was a lot of advertising (billboards, radio spots, etc) in the months leading up to the race-something that can't be said for past years. Ticket prices are good. My south terrace seat was $35. I'm sure the higher rows in the main grandstand are better, but for someone on a limited budget, I'm 100% happy with my seats. The infield carnival is a great idea. More activities for more fans. I wasted no time getting to my car after Ryan Hunter-Reay's victory donuts, but I was still surprised at how quickly I got onto the highway and got back home.
After their performances at Indianapolis, Milwaukee, and Iowa, I'm concerned how dominant the Andretti cars will be at the season's remaining oval races. The upcoming road course season should be interesting, too. Looking back on the 6 road course races in the book for 2013, three were won by Honda-powered cars. Hopefully that parity will return shortly.
This season has seen wins by the Foyt, KV, Coyne, and Schmidt teams. Think about that for a minute. It wasn't that long ago that the Penske/Ganassi juggernaut dominated absolutely. Those two teams combined for all but one win in 2009, for example.
The next Indycar race will be held July 7th at Pocono. That sounds pretty strange at first blush. Cursory research reveals, however, that I only have my youth to blame. Indy cars ran there from 1971 through 1989, conveniently running the last race right before I became a hardcore race fan. In the intervening years, Pocono has always stuck in my mind as that strange triangle track where the drivers actually shift going down the main straightaway. The fact that it seemed nearly invisible made it more strange-I believe the June Cup race was one of the last to be regularly shown live every season, plus summer months = less time to watch 4 hours of racing every weekend...
It actually makes a lot of sense to run Indy cars at Pocono. It has long straightaways, three dissimilar turns, little banking, and a massively wide front stretch. It's like Indianapolis. If Indianapolis had only 3 turns, had a super-wide straightaway (how wide is it, exactly? Google wasn't forthcoming with an answer for me), and was in the middle of nowhere. Um, Ok, so Pocono is its own animal. Which is good. Its features (like Indianapolis') might not be conducive to great stock car racing, but they should be perfect for Indy cars.
In any event, keep watching this spot! And please check out my Kickstarter for something racing-related!
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