IndyCar 2015

[BikeWhisperer]

This series is slowly crawling back from near extinction. I'm [censored] they still haven't come to Portland yet as I attended the Champ Car races there at least ten times. For a while there the cars were all the same, though the racing was tight and competitive. Then they went to two (three but the Lotus was a joke and quickly went away) engines but all the same chassis and aero kits. Now they have two aero kits so it is yet to be seen how it will affect the racing.

The cars are ugly and some of the rules are a bit strange, but I will have to admit the racing is usually very tight and quite entertaining. I'd like to see the series get back to the Champ Car glory days where it was a premier open wheel championship and drivers were household names (Andretti, Unser, Fittipaldi, Vasser, Zinardi).

Each year I'm getting sucked back in, partially due to F1 being a dumpster fire right now. I'm not much of an oval fan (can't stand Nascar except on road courses) but I do enjoy the road courses and a few of the street courses.

Check out this video from testing, pretty cool. The steering wheel looks like F1 from a decade ago!


Looking forward to how the season goes.

 

[Mr Nice]

I stopped watching when Unser Jr, Fittipaldi, Danny Sullivan, Bobby Rahal, etc stopped racing and retired.

 

[HerrStig]

It's too easy to die in those things. I like sedan racing.

 

[bdcardinal]

I am so excited for IndyCar!! I usually go to Long Beach and the Fontana race every year. We usually get garage passes to Fontana and sometimes Long Beach.

I have been a fan of US Open wheel since I was little. Did not care for the IRL after the split, I was a staunch supporter of Champ Car and still think they had a better product. I was a Paul Tracy fan, now a Charlie Kimball fan.

The only thing hurting IndyCar right now are the people running it. The product is there, it is being wasted on venues that have no interest while other venues, like Portland, that need a race. They have a good TV package, and will have a better one when they can get rid of ABC and let NBC broadcast all the races.

 

[BikeWhisperer]

Yea IRL sucked (and sucked the life out of open wheel racing in the US)...I will hate Tony George forever.

I did actually see two IRL races down in Vegas on the tri-oval, mainly because I got free tickets.

Those races at Portland International were great. It was usually either 90 degrees or raining, both made for exciting racing. I really hope IndyCar comes back to Portland some day. I remember 60k plus at those races!

 

[Indydriver]

I went to my first Indy 500 in 1966 and have attended every year since the late 70's, so I've seen the whole deal.

The old roadsters were fun to watch but all your heroes ended up dead.

The days of an open formula with independent constructors and innovation were fun but often ended up in a single team dominating the entire month (sound familiar F1?)

Love it or hate it, the current "spec" formula has resulted in the closest racing in history.

The new aero kits will result in a field of 'haves' and 'have-nots'. You either have the best kit or you don't.

The new TV reality show called "qualifying" is going to get somebody killed. Mark my words. The stated objective of new management is to set new speed records at the Speedway where the current record is a lap of 236 mph set by Arie Luyendyk (I watched him practice in person at 237 and it was a frightful thing). These records were created by very brave men holding their breath (and throttles down) for 10 miles on the ragged edge. To ask them to do this over and over again invites disaster.

 

[gofast182]

If you're a Honda fan, give this a read:
What to Watch for During the Indycar Opener at St. Pete

 

[A_Harman]

Originally Posted By: Indydriver
I went to my first Indy 500 in 1966 and have attended every year since the late 70's, so I've seen the whole deal.

The old roadsters were fun to watch but all your heroes ended up dead.

The days of an open formula with independent constructors and innovation were fun but often ended up in a single team dominating the entire month (sound familiar F1?)

Love it or hate it, the current "spec" formula has resulted in the closest racing in history.

The new aero kits will result in a field of 'haves' and 'have-nots'. You either have the best kit or you don't.

The new TV reality show called "qualifying" is going to get somebody killed. Mark my words. The stated objective of new management is to set new speed records at the Speedway where the current record is a lap of 236 mph set by Arie Luyendyk (I watched him practice in person at 237 and it was a frightful thing). These records were created by very brave men holding their breath (and throttles down) for 10 miles on the ragged edge. To ask them to do this over and over again invites disaster.


The interview of Derrick Walker that I read about letting the cars go faster at Indy sounded as though they were going to approach it in a very measured way. If they let them have enough downforce to hold the speeds required in the turns, 240+ is definitely achievable. As long as the aero package doesn't suffer much decrease of downforce in traffic, it could still be safe. This is where Indycar has to step up their officiating and mandate minimum levels of downforce in race setups. It is fairly typical for cars to be set up with low levels of downforce to get high speeds in single-car qualifying, but more wing is added for the race to make the cars secure in traffic. Some crewchiefs like to toss the dice on low-downforce configurations for the race, then their drivers end up crashing because the car momentarily lost downforce because they got too close to another car on track.

 

[BikeWhisperer]

Since the last death in F1 (Senna), there have been SEVEN deaths in Champ Car/IRL/Indy Car...five have been on Ovals (you can add a sixth death if you go back to 1992).

Increasing the speeds on ovals is insane (so is open wheel racing on ovals but that is a different debate). No doubt someone will get killed.

 

[bdcardinal]

The opening race I thought was good. I got a chuckle from the broken wing chart between Chevy and Honda. I will be happy when NBC can finally take over all the IndyCar broadcasts. I cannot stand Eddie Cheever.

 

[John_Diggle]

Something worst than Senna`s death couldn`t happen in F1. Or Schumacher`s weird accident ...

 

[billt460]

Originally Posted By: BikeWhisperer
Since the last death in F1 (Senna), there have been SEVEN deaths in Champ Car/IRL/Indy Car...five have been on Ovals (you can add a sixth death if you go back to 1992).

Increasing the speeds on ovals is insane (so is open wheel racing on ovals but that is a different debate). No doubt someone will get killed.


If you look at most F-1 circuits since Senna's death, they have become masterpieces of safety. Especially when you compare them to the death traps of the 70's that took so many F-1 drivers lives. Most all are designed with large gravel traps and runoff areas in corners. Even if a driver were to reach a tire barrier, they have bled off so much speed it is an almost guaranteed walk away accident. The best American circle track racing can do are safer barriers, and big catch fences that are risks themselves, depending on how lucky or unlucky you are when you hit them. Add 230 MPH speeds to that, and it's a disaster waiting to happen.

 

[Indydriver]

You do realize that Indycar turns up the boost on the Friday before quals begins? So, the drivers are facing an entirely new power equation when they qualify. Nuts. Simply nuts.

BTW, I thought Long Beach was a good race and I don't like street racing. Let's hope they leave the standing starts to F1 when they get to Indy.

 

[bdcardinal]

Originally Posted By: Indydriver
You do realize that Indycar turns up the boost on the Friday before quals begins? So, the drivers are facing an entirely new power equation when they qualify. Nuts. Simply nuts.

BTW, I thought Long Beach was a good race and I don't like street racing. Let's hope they leave the standing starts to F1 when they get to Indy.


IndyCar has dropped standing starts this season. My major gripe with IMS is the lack of catchfencing on the pitwall inbetween the pitlane and track. They don't use boards anymore, there is no need to have people in that area, especially during a standing start.

As far as the boost thing for qualifying, if the drivers are uncomfortable with it, they will back off. Gil de Ferran's car that set the closed course record at Fontana was rumored to have over 1000hp, the current cars are no close to that.

I think IndyCar misses the 90s when it was ChampCar and they had more money than they knew what to do with. I do miss the days with multiple chassis and engine manufacturers. And the best part was you could pick out a Lola vs. a Reynard vs. a Swift vs. a Gurney chassis.

 

[fredfactory]

Originally Posted By: Indydriver
You do realize that Indycar turns up the boost on the Friday before quals begins? So, the drivers are facing an entirely new power equation when they qualify. Nuts. Simply nuts.

BTW, I thought Long Beach was a good race and I don't like street racing. Let's hope they leave the standing starts to F1 when they get to Indy.


Any reason ever stated for allowing boost to go up in qualifying? Why not qualify just like you race?

 

[bdcardinal]

The race at Texas Motor Speedway tonight was incredible. The side-by-side racing with Charlie Kimball and Ryan Briscoe was breathtaking.

 

[billt460]

And NOT ONE ACCIDENT in 600 miles!

 

[Indydriver]

Unfortunately, the poor attendance tells you their days in TX are numbered.

 

[billt460]

I'm not seeing full stands at very many of the races this year. I can remember when it was wall to wall. Not any more. Too expensive, and not that many who can afford it.

 

[bdcardinal]

Originally Posted By: billt460
I'm not seeing full stands at very many of the races this year. I can remember when it was wall to wall. Not any more. Too expensive, and not that many who can afford it.


I am going to the race in Fontana in a couple weeks. I got tickets in the Speedway Club, look at the stands and it is the area at the very top in the middle in shade. The tickets were $80 each plus $25 for pit/garage passes and then @20 for GA tickets for Friday qualifying. The most expensive part of the weekend is the hotel room and the inevitable trip to Bass Pro Shop.

I have sat in the same section for the Sprint Cup race and the face value of the seats were over $250. Thankfully I have a couple wholesale customers who appreciate what I do for them and hook it up.

What is interesting at going to a Sptint Cup and and IndyCar race at the same track is the different crowds. Sprint Cup is 100k+ where IndyCar is around 30k people. The IndyCar crowd does less tailgating and the parking is a lot easier. No waiting an hour to get into the lot and waiting 3 hours to get out of the lot.