The 89th Indy 500; Pros And Cons
Written by George Katinger · May 30, 2005
Much ado about the 89th running of the Indy 500. The usual ballyhoo about the winners and losers. Here’s a slightly different take on this years event.
PROS:
1. An exciting race finish, made close by the unfortunate late race wreck of Sebastian Bourdais. Thanks, Danica. Allthough probably a racing “incident”, young Danica was involved in SeaBass’s wreck while getting passed by Veitor Meira.
2. The end of the “Andretti Curse”. I have taken to facetiously calling the IRL the ARL (Andretti Racing League) in tribute to the teams total domination this year. Finishing 1st and 3rd is symbolic of that continuing run of excellence, not to mention the demise of the curse.
3. TV ratings, reportedly up by 50% over last years race. Thank you again, Danica. Was it the racing? The history and tradition of the event? The expectation of another Foyt winning the 500? Sorry Josh, I had to throw that one in! None of the above, thank you, it was all Danica all day. And deservedly so based on her leading laps and finish.
4. Jim Nabors returning to sing “Back Home In Indiana” live. At least it was rumored he was alive! That guys older than Methusala! But for some reason it struck some kind of sentimental chord, at least for me!
5. Danica, Danica, Danica and still more Danica. The TV coverage and media in general put so much pressure on the young racer it’s a miracle she didn’t crack like a walnut. Thankfully she managed to deliver a stellar performance and won’t have to listen to the negative stories that would have poured out if she crashed out early.
6. Dan Wheldon’s great drive and sterling personality. I was hoping he’d ask for a Jamie Little interview one more time!
CONS:
1. Danica, Danica, Danica, and still MORE Danica. I guess it’s to be expected when it’s a record setting performance. But you’d have to ask the two Tomas’s (Schekter and Enge) what they think about her drive and in particular her boneheaded crash during a caution no less. Not good. And the fact that her check-up late in the race took out SeaBass, as previously pointed out. If not for the “Danica Factor” I believe she would have been universally scorned for all the bad moves she made. I would love to know what she said to Rahal while getting out of the car, it appeared she was apologizing, rightly so, for messing things up. I believe she stood a good chance of winning if not for the stall and spin under caution.
2. Fifteen cars finishing the race, eighteen sidelined, yielding a less than 50% completion rate. Six cars lost to mechanical or handling problems, two black flagged for lack of speed, and ten KO’d in wrecks. The track looked closed late in the race, there was so little traffic.
3. TV coverage: Danica, Danica, blah blah blah. They overhyped the possibilities so much I had to turn off the coverage it was so nauseating. Did I miss any bikini shots?
4. TV coverage part II: The breathless announcing of the broadcast reporter still leaves me ill. And did the CC drivers get any mention at all other than when they wrecked? Great unbiased reporting ABC, keep up the good work!
5. The Foyts: A.J., The 4th, and Larry. The three stooges. ’nuff said, Josh covered this already.
6. Maybe it’s my still innate hostility, but when Dan Wheldon went out of his way to verbally ass-smooch Tony George in victory lane, I thought I was going to toss my cookies. When his racing career is over he has a future in politics!
WHAT’S IT ALL MEAN?
All in all a very entertaining race in spite of, or because of, the “Danica Factor.” You decide. No doubt the IRL top brass will look at this years event as a turning point in their survival struggle with Champ Cars and further harden their resolve to avoid any reconciliation of any kind. And maybe they are right. But with the consolidation of the LBGP, CC has staved off one potential threat, and with the upcoming meat of their schedule will recieve vital exposure and marketing opportunities (Network broadcasts, just like ABC). I think it’s up to Honda, Toyota, GM, and any other national sponsor group (Ford, Bridgestone-Firestone) to sieze the day and threaten BOTH sides with simultaneous extinction if unable to resolve their differences.
It’s our only hope as open wheel racing plummets off the radar screen of Amercan conciousness, in spite of Sunday’s fine race. I hope I’m wrong, but I don’t think so.
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23 Responses to “The 89th Indy 500; Pros And Cons”
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The winner is a”CLASS”act!A Real neet guy.
Not what it used to be. Just like every other major American professional sport.
Thank God there is F1 and European soccer- or there would be nothing interesting to watch on TV when it comes to sports.
I’m guessing all the attention given to Danica will be looked upon by NASCAR.
Expect somewhere, somehow more sponsorship will fall into Erin Crocker’s lap.
At present she’s scheduled to run about 4 Busch races and 3-4 ARCA Re-Max races.
…geez, who was that horrendous announcer (wasn’t ScottGoodyear). With his voice, I though I was listening to a real long informercial on some 4th rate local cable channel with his inflections…he needs to take some voice and public speaking lessons.
Learn to use spellcheck, George.
what race were you watching.. Danica had absolutely nothing to do with Bourdais incident…
wrong right from the start
Is that you Wilke???
Danica had EVERYTHING to do with Bourdais’s shunt…right down to where you heard her spotter tell her (and I quote) “Do not let him get by you!” That all but sealed his fate when he had to lift for an obvious slowing Miss Patrick!
These are the facts and they cannot be denied…but what’s stopped you before?
Well done America for recognising this special English talent. When can we have him back as he’s needed in F1.
Hey “world champ”. . it was Buddy Lazier who Rahal instructed Patrick to block, not Bourdais. Bourdais wrecked Hornish and nearly wrecked Franchitti because tried to go two wide on the bottom with a tight condition and washed up into the second and third lines. Finally, he washed all the way up into the wall. Patrick was nowhere around.
I assume you’re discussing Weldon, “guy wrench”?
You could if you could get rid of the rent-a-rides in F1 and actually put some talent in the cars. Talent is more fun to watch than wallet.
Hey, we forgot to give IMS and George some respect for grinding the track. I don’t think we’ve seen a track as drivable in decades.
Jenson Button has been campaigning for Wheldon to come to the IRL for two years now. I would be surpised if both he and Bourdais weren’t with decent teams next year. There should be several decent seats available, most notably at BAR and Sauber (if BMW buys the team).
. . .whoops, should have said Button has been campaigning for Wheldon to come to F1.
I think you better go back and check the coverage again “Miss Kelly”…methinks you’re a tad wrong on who was ordered to block whom…but I digress, Hornish tried to pinch Bourdais below the white line but he wouldn’t give…that is why Sam inevitably put himself into the marbles on the exit of the turn and into the wall.
As for Dario…racing incident…the problem with him is he spent too much time in CART as the factory backed car and feels he can do no wrong…exactly what has he accomplished so far in the IRL…I thought so!
Btw…name one (anyone for that matter) who has grduated from the “Ovalcentric” IRL to F1??? Certainly hasn’t been former series champ Dixon…what about last years champ Kanaan…I know how, about two time (cough, cough) Indy winner Castro-Neves!
Do you see a pattern? I think Wheldon is a good driver, but seriously…an IRL driver going to F1…OK, maybe as a friday tester.
I think you have to be a native Hoosier to understand the 500 magic. As for blocking or forcing someone into a shunt m.a. was the absolute KING when he ran champ cars and I’m sure he taught his drivers his devine wind moves. Montoya is the only recent oval boy I can think of who has gone to F1, but I doubt that many of them would care to put his car 10 inches off a wall at 300+kph.
As far as Bourdais getting below Sam and Dario, I have only one observation to make; don’t either of these guys have spotters, or listen to them? SeaBass was well under and passing each car when contact was made. The other car’s spotters should have been calling out the move to the drivers involved, Sam and Dario. ‘Nuff said.
I believe Bourdais is quoted as saying that his spotter didn’t tell him about one of the drivers (can”t remember which one)
As for Montoya Patrick, he moved on to F1 via CART (not the IRL). I believe he had also tested and run in europe as well prior to his days with Ganassi.
uh. . it’s “Mr. Kelly”. . . but you can call me Judy.
I was watching the race when the accident happened. The position scroller listed Lazier as running 5th when Rahal told Patrick to keep the next car behind her. If I’m wrong, it’s either because the Bourdais passed Lazier for position, or the positions were wrong on the scroller.
As for the Bourdais incident(s). . .turn 1 is one groove, and the drivers chose to take it 2-wide. I’m sure they weren’t shocked when Bourdais washed up into them.
I never watched the CrapYard 497.5, so could anyone tell me who won the darn race? All I see on TV is some skinny, talentless, skank that was the 3rd loser….err, I mean 4th place finisher. And, what’s this about Mikey the Least Anndruddy taking a swig of the winner’s milk… Wtalk about destroying another tradition…What a complete Whanker!! I have looked everywhere and can find no references to a team owner doing such a LowClass, Scum Sucking stunt like that. Mikey the Whiner…YOU SUCK! I guess this may prove to be the SWirl’s swan song…I sure do hope so! Champ Cars forever!!
Yo “Cheats”, you wouldn’t happen to be a Foyt would you?
That skank used to be pretty competitive in the CART ladder system until Mr. Rahal decided to go play with the smaller fish.
And anyone who saw Sebastian and Hornish know that they didn’t touch. Sebastian wiggled, Hornish blinked. I’m glad he didn’t get hurt. And I assume Sebastian was ok after his little problem.
On Sunday, I watched the Danica Patrick Circus, and it was revolting. If there was any doubt, it might have been laid to rest when she was in 17th place and they were shooting from her car cam. Did anyone else in 17th place get coverage from their car cams? I don’t think so. Obviously, Patrick’s comment that being a “good looking woman” has opened up doors for her is true. You must need to be a good looking woman to have car cam coverage at the Indy 500 when you’re running in 17th place. And one more thing, Tomas Scheckter and Tomas Enge were knocked out of the race by Patrick, and Rahal’s comment was “no harm, no foul”. Seriously, Rahal, would it have been no harm, no foul had Enge or Scheckter knocked Patrick out of the race? They both raced impressively and patiently, and were just making their moves when Patrick knocked them out. Errors like Patrick’s do have consequences to everyone involved, including the driver, his manager, his race team, and the wallet that foots the bills. Arrogance was the word of the day for Rahal and Patrick, in my book. While the race itself was exciting, the race coverage was drippy. And while I do believe that Patrick is a skilled driver, I think the coverage made more of the fact that she’s a 5′1″ 105 pound woman than a skilled driver. This type of sexist coverage does nothing for the status of women, and it does nothing for Danica Patrick. My impression of the coverage was that Danica Patrick was certainly not given respect as one of 33 top notch drivers. Far more was made of Patarick’s size, her face, her shape, her being a woman, than was made of her driving skill. The ABC coverage of the Danica Patrick Circus was highly insulting to me, as a woman. And the non-coverage of twenty or so drivers who didn’t merit a mention during the race (until they crashed out or left the race) was insulting to all race fans. There were 33 drivers, all with stories running that race, not one driver, one story. Wake up, ABC! One dimensional coverage is pretty boring.
I never thought I’d be saying “bring back Paul Page”. If ABC won’t do that broadcast the race no anouncer
FAO WhollyMindless
With a name like that you must be an F1 rule maker! I agree, rent-a-ride kills F1 as does the dreadful re-distribution of wealth. If the smaller teams got a fairer slice, they could afford better drivers, the competition would be instantly better, the TV audiences would be bigger, the sponsors would pay more and the overall revenues would grow to acommodate. If you can, try tuning into MotoGP, it’s what F1 should be - fast, furious and fun! If I was DW I would stay in the States. The weather is better, the girls are prettier and the people are more courteous. See ya.