Indy 500

[Cito Pelon]

Anybody watching? Does every car in the field have a Honda engine?

Anybody catch the Monaco Grand Prix this morning? Wild race with the rain. One driver pitted to go from rain tires to dry's, then slid into the wall before he completed another lap. He sure f'd that one up.

[spdirty]

yeah dude I was there. Sat at the starting line. Probably 1st and last time Ill ever get this chance. Thought Danica was gonna kick Brisocoes ass for being a dumbass. She had a shot at top 5 today, ran real solid, and he screwed her. Ill put some pics up Tuesday night.

[KipCorrington25]

They all do run Hondas and Dallara chassis so that's kind of lame but everyone else has pulled out over time.

[watermock]

and Toyota is starting to dominate NASCAR, at least they have equalled the field or better.

[Cito Pelon]

Originally Posted by spdirty

yeah dude I was there. Sat at the starting line. Probably 1st and last time Ill ever get this chance. Thought Danica was gonna kick Brisocoes ass for being a dumbass. She had a shot at top 5 today, ran real solid, and he screwed her. Ill put some pics up Tuesday night.

Shoot, Tony Kanaan got took out on a stupid move by his own teammate, Marco Andretti. One of the low-budget drivers that was running strong got took out running into Kanaan as he slid. Freaking Andrettis.

[Cito Pelon]

Originally Posted by KipCorrington25

They all do run Hondas and Dallara chassis so that's kind of lame but everyone else has pulled out over time.

Yeah, I did some research and I see the IRL does a contract for an exclusive engine/chassis supplier. Like you said, that's kind of lame.

[Dutch]

Couple of pretty good races this year. Dixon was pretty much the guy to beat for the last month, so no suprise there. I thought the Formula One race was great. Those cars have no business running at Monico, but they still do it. Take away traction control this year and throw in some on again, off again rainy/mixed conditions and you end up with one of the most entertaining races of the year. Loved it! Anyone else going to Indy for the MotoGP US GP in September?

[Dutch]

Originally Posted by Cito Pelon

Yeah, I did some research and I see the IRL does a contract for an exclusive engine/chassis supplier. Like you said, that's kind of lame.

Cost effective. That is really why they do it.

[Cito Pelon]

Originally Posted by Dutch

Couple of pretty good races this year. Dixon was pretty much the guy to beat for the last month, so no suprise there. I thought the Formula One race was great. Those cars have no business running at Monico, but they still do it. Take away traction control this year and throw in some on again, off again rainy/mixed conditions and you end up with one of the most entertaining races of the year. Loved it! Anyone else going to Indy for the MotoGP US GP in September?

That Monaco race was sure entertaining. Usually F1 is so boring because there's no passing. Unless the top 4 qualifiers wreck, screw up in the pits, get jumped going into the first corner, that's you're top 4 at the end.

Man, but those cars are fast. That was pretty entertaining with no TC, eh? In the rain and no TC. We saw who could drive and who could not. That guy Nelson Piquet pitted to go to dry tires and wrecked before he completed another lap. Kimi Raikonnen was over his head trying to drive when conditions were not perfect. Fernando Alonso, same deal.

[Cito Pelon]

Originally Posted by Dutch

Cost effective. That is really why they do it.

I'd like to see some more competition. But that's the deal. This year was the first year in 12 years there was a "unified" open-wheel racing deal at Indy. Before this race there was two open-wheeled racing Leagues. CART and IRL, right? I think that is correct.

So it's nice to see a unified open-wheel racing league again, but to have an exclusive engine/chassis supplier I don't like.

[Dutch]

Originally Posted by Cito Pelon

I'd like to see some more competition. But that's the deal. This year was the first year in 12 years there was a "unified" open-wheel racing deal at Indy. Before this race there was two open-wheeled racing Leagues. CART and IRL, right? I think that is correct.

So it's nice to see a unified open-wheel racing league again, but to have an exclusive engine/chassis supplier I don't like.

I'm glad the CART guys are back as well. Part of the reason the split occurred in the first place was due to a couple of teams with the big $ behind them were winning everything and it was becoming a two team series (kinda like F1 has become with Ferrari and Mercedes). When Honda was dominant in F1 (80's-90's turbo days, like 12 titles in a row) and the series outlawed turbos to level the playing field, Honda got PO'ed and shifted their focus to CHAMP cars. Which was later split by Tony George's (Indy Owner) decision to go to spec motor/chasis setups (ala NASCAR) to creat more competitive racing. Honda and Dallara stepped up and put together a package that was very economical for the teams that stayed with IRL to afford. The funny thing is that the IRL cars, (which is viewed as a minor league to F1) are actually faster (top Speed) than the F1 cars. Not by much, and has a lot to do with the cookie cutter boring arse tracks that they run at in F1. Give me the old 'Ring, Assen, Monza, Le' Mans road courses any day! Those places were awesome! At the end of the day, they were averaging 220 MPH + the last couple of dozen laps at Indy! I've done 185-190 in short sections at Road Atlanta and Daytona on a bike and it freaked me out! Everything happens REAL quick. 220+ would be like talking to God for 500 miles!

[Cito Pelon]

F1 is still the ultimate. Those F1 cars have 10 gears and redline at 20,000 RPM. Those F1 cars have tremendous braking also. What can you say? F1 is the ultimate in racing.

[Dutch]

I agree completely. Those babies are like fighter planes with upside down to keep them stuck to the ground instead of flying. Did you get to see them at Indy before the debacle of the last year? I didn't get to make it and am bummed I missed out on the chance to see them live.

[NaptownChief]

Originally Posted by Cito Pelon

F1 is still the ultimate. Those F1 cars have 10 gears and redline at 20,000 RPM. Those F1 cars have tremendous braking also. What can you say? F1 is the ultimate in racing.

They are certainly the ultimate in race car technology and the ultimate in collecting a paycheck but I personally struggle to say it is the ultimate in racing.

Any local go kart track provides better racing than F1. F1 isn't much more than a race to the first turn by just a handful of drivers on the elite teams. After that is is pretty much like watching parade.

I would love to see F1 on more tracks were there was some great racing going on with a lot of passing opportunities as I would certainly be a big fan but the current program is a snooze fest. Considering where they make their money is also the same places that live and bleed soccer. So it makes sense because even this F1 parade is fairly exciting by comparison.