IndyCar: 2021 Genesys 300/XPEL 375

With the apron on the low side and the slick black pavement on top, the corners were essentially two car widths and 6 inches wide. I can't believe how Pato and a couple of others could race side by side like that with so little margin.

Damm. What a way to go into the month of May.
 
Pumped Pato finally got a win. RHR and Sato have been my boys for 10 years, but now that they’re approaching the end I’m glad I have Newgarden, Rossi, Herta, and O’Ward to pull for. I’m also starting to like Scott McLaughlin
 
Pumped Pato finally got a win. RHR and Sato have been my boys for 10 years, but now that they’re approaching the end I’m glad I have Newgarden, Rossi, Herta, and O’Ward to pull for. I’m also starting to like Scott McLaughlin
RHR didn't look so great, but maybe he can turn it around in the 500. I think Sato still has a few wins left in him. Remember we all counted him out after the big wreck at Pocono, and then he won the next weekend. And then he won the 500 again. Sato might be getting a bit old for this, but I'm betting if the car stays together he's going to be one of the guys you'll have to watch out for in the last 20 laps. That's how he did it when he almost won, and that's how he did it both times he won. The guy is a master of the speedway. He's figured out how to take care of the car and be in position to win towards the end. Last year was maybe the most brilliant 500 win I have ever seen.

Maybe slightly unnoticed is Rahal's team must have a good engineering staff because both cars were quick. Graham was right in there and it's been awhile since we've seen that, so he could be the dark horse at the speedway. He got third (I believe) last year so he might be the guy to watch. If anyone is due it's Graham, and his race yesterday was a good way to go into Indianapolis. Graham has the experience and Graham has the team, so he could be another one to watch.,

Still, it looks like Pato has finally arrived and this could be the opening of the floodgates. Great to see McLaren back at the top too.

The guy I'm not so sure about any more is Power. It looked like he was trying to go three wide, or at least go around the outside of two cars on a one groove track and it put him in the wall. I don't think he's lost it or anything, but it did look a bit desperate. Of the Penskes, only Newgarden and McLaughlin has good weekends, and at that it was only one race apiece. Still, they will be up front at Indy, or they had better be.

The track with the anti-traction goo was the worst possible scenario. If you touch the apron, you're in the wall, and if you touched the black, you're in the wall. The only useful part of the track was just a little more than two cars wide, at 225 mph, that is. Still, a few guys were able to pass on the high line, but it was sure crazy.

I don't think you could put them down in a worse possible place, but they made it work. Indy car really needs to consider not going back unless they fix the problem. Texas is dangerous enough with the top lane being little better than ice. There is simply zero margin for error, and we were lucky the accidents were not worse, or we didn't have more of them.

About the big crash, I think the aero screen proved itself again. We used to be terrified any time one of these cars got on it's lid, but now it's almost like watching a nascar wreck because we know the cars are so safe. It's still dangerous because it's 225mph, but I think we are all a lot less tense watching these ovals now.

Also unnoticed are the gearboxes. Remembering the old cart days, they were chewing up gearboxes and half shafts all the time, Now though, they are even shifting on ovals, and I can't remember the last gearbox failure. Now the Andretti wheel bearing failures? That's something that needs to be looked into before the 500.

I also can't remember the last engine blow up, so reliability all the way around is a different world from years past.

Paul Tracy has really emerged as a commentator. Now he is just himself and just doesn't give a damm. I almost lost it when he started singing "It's too late, baby, its too late ...... and he's blown up too!

In all, a pretty decent weekend. They tore up a few cars, a few drivers cheesed each other off, Dixon is one away from matching Mario (imagine if he does it in the Indy 500!), and we've had two weekends in a row with first time winners.

Hell of a way to go into the month of may.
 
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RHR didn't look so great, but maybe he can turn it around in the 500. I think Sato still has a few wins left in him. Remember we all counted him out after the big wreck at Pocono, and then he won the next weekend. And then he won the 500 again. Sato might be getting a bit old for this, but I'm betting if the car stays together he's going to be one of the guys you'll have to watch out for in the last 20 laps. That's how he did it when he almost won, and that's how he did it both times he won. The guy is a master of the speedway. He's figured out how to take care of the car and be in position to win towards the end. Last year was maybe the most brilliant 500 win I have ever seen.

Maybe slightly unnoticed is Rahal's team must have a good engineering staff because both cars were quick. Graham was right in there and it's been awhile since we've seen that, so he could be the dark horse at the speedway. He got third (I believe) last year so he might be the guy to watch. If anyone is due it's Graham, and his race yesterday was a good way to go into Indianapolis. Graham has the experience and Graham has the team, so he could be another one to watch.,

Still, it looks like Pato has finally arrived and this could be the opening of the floodgates. Great to see McLaren back at the top too.

The guy I'm not so sure about any more is Power. It looked like he was trying to go three wide, or at least go around the outside of two cars on a one groove track and it put him in the wall. I don't think he's lost it or anything, but it did look a bit desperate. Of the Penskes, only Newgarden and McLaughlin has good weekends, and at that it was only one race apiece. Still, they will be up front at Indy, or they had better be.

The track with the anti-traction goo was the worst possible scenario. If you touch the apron, you're in the wall, and if you touched the black, you're in the wall. The only useful part of the track was just a little more than two cars wide, at 225 mph, that is. Still, a few guys were able to pass on the high line, but it was sure crazy.

I don't think you could put them down in a worse possible place, but they made it work. Indy car really needs to consider not going back unless they fix the problem. Texas is dangerous enough with the top lane being little better than ice. There is simply zero margin for error, and we were lucky the accidents were not worse, or we didn't have more of them.

About the big crash, I think the aero screen proved itself again. We used to be terrified any time one of these cars got on it's lid, but now it's almost like watching a nascar wreck because we know the cars are so safe. It's still dangerous because it's 225mph, but I think we are all a lot less tense watching these ovals now.

Also unnoticed are the gearboxes. Remembering the old cart days, they were chewing up gearboxes and half shafts all the time, Now though, they are even shifting on ovals, and I can't remember the last gearbox failure. Now the Andretti wheel bearing failures? That's something that needs to be looked into before the 500.

I also can't remember the last engine blow up, so reliability all the way around is a different world from years past.

Paul Tracy has really emerged as a commentator. Now he is just himself and just doesn't give a damm. I almost lost it when he started singing "It's too late, baby, its too late ...... and he's blown up too!

In all, a pretty decent weekend. They tore up a few cars, a few drivers cheesed each other off, Dixon is one away from matching Mario (imagine if he does it in the Indy 500!), and we've had two weekends in a row with first time winners.

Hell of a way to go into the month of may.

Speaking of Arrow Mclaren and Indy, JPM might be my favorite. It’s his best track, hell he even dominated there a few times in a 2nd tier Gannassi cup car, and arrow has been great on the ovals the last few years. Of the part timers, he has the best chance
 
Speaking of Arrow Mclaren and Indy, JPM might be my favorite. It’s his best track, hell he even dominated there a few times in a 2nd tier Gannassi cup car, and arrow has been great on the ovals the last few years. Of the part timers, he has the best chance
If McLaren hits the set up they've got a great lineup and JPM still has it.
 
I hope Indycar doesn't go back until Gossage cleans all this up. There is so little room to race we were really lucky the crashing wasn't worse.
 
They both need the race, I doubt that either party is going to pull out. They tried to get the PJ1 off, they will try something else I would think.
 
In a previous tweet he said “traction compound for NASCAR will continue” so they are looking for a way to pull it out for IndyCar races rather than scrubbing it...they’ll search for something, but seems like a tough . Between the importance of having a superspeedway oval before the 500 and the B2B opportunities at Texas it does not sound like anything the series wants off the schedule.



 
I would rather see the PJ1 pulled up entirely and not placed back down.

It works in some situations, but I feel as if it was completely overdone at Texas.
 
I would rather see the PJ1 pulled up entirely and not placed back down.

It works in some situations, but I feel as if it was completely overdone at Texas.
I honestly don’t think it’s made a difference, not a good one at least, for NASCAR there. On the other hand it’s helped New Hampshire a lot. :idunno:
 
They both need the race, I doubt that either party is going to pull out. They tried to get the PJ1 off, they will try something else I would think.
It's absolutely important we save all the ovals we can, but if the PJ1 stays, we could very well have a very nasty accident, as well as poor (comparatively) racing. If you compare this to other Texas races, this weekend was not so great.

So, what's nascar going to do when cup comes back? Do their cars stick on that stuff, will they face the same problem, or will they just goo the place up and wreck it for Indycars again? Probably far better to fix the cup cars than ruin the facility for everyone else.

We can't have this. It's a built-in booby trap and we all knew that going in. No culpable deniability here at all. If someone gets hurt and it goes to court, we will get crucified. I think Texas at 225mph is dangerous enough without greasing up the place and inviting a nasty accident. Just fix it or Indycar should move on to some place like louden, Homestead, or even go back to Iowa because the racing was great there. Why aren't we at Gateway? Michigan? Milwaukee?

Texas isn't the only oval in the country. We don't want to replace it, but if they don't fix it we don't want a car in the stands either. The way it is now we were exceptionally lucky they didn't tear up more stuff and possibly even hurt someone. Yeah, I know racing is supposed to be dangerous,. but it's not supposed to be stupid on top of it.
 
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