The first order of business is to mention the dreadful parade that was Mid-Ohio and how Indycar should burn the place on the way out and never return. Oh, wait, that would be overreacting. Last weekend's race may not have been the most exciting of the season, but it wasn't all that bad. At least there were some lead changes, some bold moves, and a championship contender winding up where he didn't expect to. I'll admit that Mid-Ohio is a sentimental favorite of mine, and would end up being the closest thing I have to a "home track" if I hadn't moved several years back. In fact, that might explain the race's continuing popularity despite the utter lack of passing opportunities. About a decade ago, the open-wheel racing fan who lived in, say, the Detroit area, could attend the following races if he or she were willing to drive three hours or less:
Belle Isle
Michigan International Speedway
Mid-Ohio
Cleveland
A little more commitment could take that same fan to:
Toronto
Kentucky
Indianapolis
Chicago (Cicero or Joliet)
Milwaukee
Road America
In 2011, that same fan has fewer than half the choices. Perhaps the reasons for Mid-Ohio's good attendance is that it's one of few options left for the Michigan/Ohio race fan. With that area being a hotbed of racing interest and enthusiasm, it would be a shame to cut them off and leave a well-attended, popular track that happens to mean a lot to one of the series' main sponsors. Plus I just like it.
In related news, Dan Wheldon took the 2012 Dallara chassis out for its first race track shakedown. I, for one, am excited about the new car. I like the way it looks, including the fairings on the rear wheels and the shark fins (which don't appear to have made it to the running prototype stage).
The wheel fairings seem to be one point of contention with the new car. The argument seems to be that, without them, it is no longer an "open wheel" car. First, that's not true. The tops of the tires are exposed. Second, they are a safety item that has been a long time coming. One of the dangers of "open wheel" cars has always been the potential to lock wheels and send a car airborne-out of control amongst other cars, walls, fences, corner workers, and spectators. This is bad. Completely exposed wheels should go the way of armco barriers and leather helmets.
The other big complaint is the "air box" integrated with the roll bar. (Actually, in the 2012 car, it's more a turbo inlet duct, but that's kind of playing semantics.) Apparently the preference is for a CART-style clear roll bar. Why that is preferable, I haven't heard, other than people seem to think it's holding on to a Tony George-era Indy car design. It's not like Formula 1 cars have run air boxes/engine air inlets in that location for decades... To me, it seems like a logical use of space and a neat integration of the powertrain with the chassis. I like it, and I'll go on record as saying I'm no fan of the '97-and up Indy car chassis. If anyone has any insight, I'd love to hear it.
Racing Opinions and Commentary!
Showing posts with label nostagia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label nostagia. Show all posts
Monday, August 8, 2011
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Nostalgia and Sentimentality and my History with the 500
I was going to expand on the last post and complain about the lack of comprehension or understanding of the role money has played in racing since, oh, about the beginning of time. But I've decided I'm tired of the whole thing and am not really interested in rehashing or explaining it further.
I'm preparing my picks for the race, but I don't think I'm ready to share those, either. So I'll go with something a little more positive.
I love the 500. I was 17 when I first visited the track, went to the museum, stayed at the Brickyard Crossing Motel, and took the bus tour. The receipt from that tour "Certified that the bearer of this ticket has completed one lap of the '500' mile race course," or words to that effect. Awkward grammar aside, I thought it was so cool that they still referred to it as the "Indianapolis 500 Mile Race"-it sounds so old-school. That ticket went on the wall of my bedroom where it reminded me of what was really the most prestigious race in the world was.
I can't pretend to have watched every race since I became a race fan (a preoccupation with NASCAR, allowing real life to interrupt, etc kind of kept me from it), but the seeds were really planted when I found myself among a group of die-hard race fans. Unfortunately, this was at the Split's beginning and I had never heard of the vast majority of the race's entrants. In those first years of the Split, I gravitated towards the CART side of the room and ignored most of the IRL races. Save, of course, for the 500. By 1999 or so, I had tired of NASCAR and had become a huge CART fan. In 2000, Chip Gannassi became the first CART owner to cross the picket line and enter the 500 with phenom Juan Montoya and veteran Jimmy Vasser. It was a week before the race when a good friend offered me a ticket. This moment, I realized later, had a big impact on, well, the rest of my life. I was excited. Even though the field wasn't what it had been in the CART years, I was still going to the Indianapolis 500!!! That weekend, not only did I take in the race, but I met up with old friends and kindled an enthusiasm for attending actual, live, professional car races. No longer was watching on TV good enough. I returned in 2001 (Tony Stewart doing the double! Helio climbing the wall!), 2002 (I am absolutely certain that Paul Tracy did NOT win that race), and 2003. Personal life intervened, and I stayed home for the 2004 race. It was not fun, and the rain delay kept me from watching the whole thing. I missed the races in '05, '06,'07, and '08 for various reasons.
In the midst of some great personal difficulty, I found myself able to attend once again in 2009. I had forgotten how good, how right, how at-home I felt in the stands with a good friend and a stopwatch. The race seemed to have waned a bit more, even since 2003, but there was a little spark-something that, despite the lack of passing and the spec car and a red-and-white-clad winner, said that the 500 was on its way back.
At home, things were improving as the 2010 race approached and I found myself able to attend again. As good as 2009 was, 2010 was better. My friends and I took part in a "fan forum" as part of the series' leadership sought to improve the sport we loved. I met bloggers and fellow fantasy racers and good friends, and even saw midgets race at IRP the night before the 500. Race day saw the most electric atmosphere I had yet seen at the track. The race didn't disappoint, as my favorite driver showed the world just how good he is, then won in a thrilling conclusion.
This year promises even more. I've listened to every one of the daily episodes of Trackside, The Talk of Gasoline Alley, the Centennial Celebration, and MoreFrontWing's Centennial Interview Series. Somehow, I'm not burned out. I'm looking forward to Sunday's race more than ever-the marching bands, taps, box lunches, flyovers, Jim Nabors, Gentlemen Start Your Engines, the Coke Lot, Union Jack's, vintage race cars, friends new and old, and all the other pieces that make up the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race. Hope to see you there!
I'm preparing my picks for the race, but I don't think I'm ready to share those, either. So I'll go with something a little more positive.
I love the 500. I was 17 when I first visited the track, went to the museum, stayed at the Brickyard Crossing Motel, and took the bus tour. The receipt from that tour "Certified that the bearer of this ticket has completed one lap of the '500' mile race course," or words to that effect. Awkward grammar aside, I thought it was so cool that they still referred to it as the "Indianapolis 500 Mile Race"-it sounds so old-school. That ticket went on the wall of my bedroom where it reminded me of what was really the most prestigious race in the world was.
I can't pretend to have watched every race since I became a race fan (a preoccupation with NASCAR, allowing real life to interrupt, etc kind of kept me from it), but the seeds were really planted when I found myself among a group of die-hard race fans. Unfortunately, this was at the Split's beginning and I had never heard of the vast majority of the race's entrants. In those first years of the Split, I gravitated towards the CART side of the room and ignored most of the IRL races. Save, of course, for the 500. By 1999 or so, I had tired of NASCAR and had become a huge CART fan. In 2000, Chip Gannassi became the first CART owner to cross the picket line and enter the 500 with phenom Juan Montoya and veteran Jimmy Vasser. It was a week before the race when a good friend offered me a ticket. This moment, I realized later, had a big impact on, well, the rest of my life. I was excited. Even though the field wasn't what it had been in the CART years, I was still going to the Indianapolis 500!!! That weekend, not only did I take in the race, but I met up with old friends and kindled an enthusiasm for attending actual, live, professional car races. No longer was watching on TV good enough. I returned in 2001 (Tony Stewart doing the double! Helio climbing the wall!), 2002 (I am absolutely certain that Paul Tracy did NOT win that race), and 2003. Personal life intervened, and I stayed home for the 2004 race. It was not fun, and the rain delay kept me from watching the whole thing. I missed the races in '05, '06,'07, and '08 for various reasons.
In the midst of some great personal difficulty, I found myself able to attend once again in 2009. I had forgotten how good, how right, how at-home I felt in the stands with a good friend and a stopwatch. The race seemed to have waned a bit more, even since 2003, but there was a little spark-something that, despite the lack of passing and the spec car and a red-and-white-clad winner, said that the 500 was on its way back.
At home, things were improving as the 2010 race approached and I found myself able to attend again. As good as 2009 was, 2010 was better. My friends and I took part in a "fan forum" as part of the series' leadership sought to improve the sport we loved. I met bloggers and fellow fantasy racers and good friends, and even saw midgets race at IRP the night before the 500. Race day saw the most electric atmosphere I had yet seen at the track. The race didn't disappoint, as my favorite driver showed the world just how good he is, then won in a thrilling conclusion.
This year promises even more. I've listened to every one of the daily episodes of Trackside, The Talk of Gasoline Alley, the Centennial Celebration, and MoreFrontWing's Centennial Interview Series. Somehow, I'm not burned out. I'm looking forward to Sunday's race more than ever-the marching bands, taps, box lunches, flyovers, Jim Nabors, Gentlemen Start Your Engines, the Coke Lot, Union Jack's, vintage race cars, friends new and old, and all the other pieces that make up the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race. Hope to see you there!
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