2019 Grand Prix of Portland

How did Herta lose so much time during that sequence?
 
How did Herta lose so much time during that sequence?
Killed his tires and lost about seven or eight seconds between the top four passing him and him pitting. Then his stop wasn't great and he struggled to get the tires up to temperature.
 
ABC Supply will no longer be Foyt's primary sponsor after this season. Will be for the Indy 500 though.

Per Robin Miller, still will run two cars next season. If nobody caught what Robin was speaking on.
 
Some shots from around the track.

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How's the attendance look?

Solid. I don't know if they matched last year's numbers. I haven't heard them say so, and so that's probably a no. But it's close enough to prove the viability of the event. Camping and RV attendance is very strong. They have an advantage in that this entire region is otherwise without 'major league' racing, and there are a lot of racing fans from southern Oregon up to BC.

Also, most people are here to enjoy the spectacle and aren't that demanding about the actual race product. Which...any of several elements could improve. But it was a good experience and perfect weather.
 
Pole: +1 point
Lap led: +1 point
Most laps led: +2 points

Max points at Laguna Seca = 104

Not sure what the exact clinch scenarios are but it looks like the 'simplest' way for Rossi or Pagenaud to win would be to win with bonus points and have Newgarden finish 5th or worse with no bonus points. Both would lose on countback to Newgarden should another tie occur.

 
I was glad they behaved on that last restart. I was not in the mood
for any more idiotics. I finished first in my fantasy league. I just new
Power was gonna have a "what do we have to lose?" outlook with
his season basically done. Proud of Herta too.
 
Since when did leafy become such a terrible commentator? Guy won't shut up about how [insert guy leading] is about to win or just starts hypothesizing outcome ahead of the end.

The favoritism by Paul and the other guy is pretty blatant about certain drivers. Makes for a miserable watch.
 
I just read that 8 of next year's 17 races would be on NBC. Richmond, Virginia's 3/4 mile track will be added. 3/4 track?

I thought they were going to stop racing on the short Las Vegas style ovals?
 
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Since when did leafy become such a terrible commentator? Guy won't shut up about how [insert guy leading] is about to win or just starts hypothesizing outcome ahead of the end.

The favoritism by Paul and the other guy is pretty blatant about certain drivers. Makes for a miserable watch.
Motorsports on NBC has become pure cringe in a hurry. The blatant favoritism the IndyCar booth has for some guys is nuts. Same for when their own guys race in IMSA or NASCAR whether it’s Bell, Kligerman, Allmendinger...
 
I just read that 8 of next year's 17 races would be on NBC. Richmond, Virginia's 3/4 mile track will be added. 3/4 track?

I thought they were going to stop racing on the short Las Vegas style ovals?
Richmond should be the slowest oval on the schedule by a fair amount. I think in the IRL days it was 10-15 MPH slower than Iowa.
 
Motorsports on NBC has become pure cringe in a hurry. The blatant favoritism the IndyCar booth has for some guys is nuts. Same for when their own guys race in IMSA or NASCAR whether it’s Bell, Kligerman, Allmendinger...

I am missing the version of Diffey that did F1. He was always a little over-exuberant, but I don't remember him trying to 'sell' every single qualifying session and race as if it were a momentous classic. The race yesterday, frankly, was less than stellar. Yet I watched the replay and recall him bluffing late in the race about how remarkable it had been.

This seems to be the approach that NBC is instilling in their racing broadcasters. It's more like watching infomercial presenters.
 


This is a strong number for a late season IndyCar race, and a positive showing in the Portland market. Often people confuse high local TV ratings as being a negative ("Why didn't they attend?"), when in reality the interest required to spend considerable money and effort to attend an event and the interest needed to flip the channel on a cable box are entirely different. It's good for the viability of an event when locals watch on TV too.
 
Indycar is indeed coming for NASCAR. The crowds at Mid Ohio are getting noticeably bigger and the ratings are up
 
I don't see why improving numbers for IndyCar are necessarily coming at NASCAR's expense.

Agreed. There is little direct competition at this point, certainly less so than when the IRL was aiming to be an intermediate superspeedway oval series. Or before the split when CART races on big ovals beyond IMS were a huge deal. They are each more likely to benefit from cross-promotion in the short term with both being on NBC.
 
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