2012 Indy 500 Race Thread

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DanicaFan

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Race 5 of 16

Race - Indianapolis 500

Location - Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Speedway, IN

Date - Sunday, May 27th

Time & TV Schedule - Pre-Race Show - 11:00AM , Green Flag - Approx. 12:12PM - ABC
Course Type - 2.5 Mile Oval

Distance - 200 Laps / 500 Miles

Practice Sessions -

Saturday, May 12th -12:00 -6:00pm Eastern
Sunday, May 13th -12:00 - 6:00pm Eastern
Monday, May 14th - 12:00 -6:00pm Eastern
Tuesday, May 15th - 12:00 - 6:00pm Eastern
Wednesday, May 16th - 12:00 -6:00pm Eastern
Thursday, May 17th - 12:00 - 6:00pm Eastern
Friday, May 18th -Fast Friday - 12:00 - 6:00pm Eastern / Qualification Order Drawing - 6:15pm
Saturday, May 19th - Pole Day - 8:00-8:30am Group 1 & 8:30-9:00am Group 2 / 9:00am - 10:00am All Cars
Sunday, May 20th - 9:00am - 10:00am
Wednesday, May 23rd -Pit Stop Practice - 9:00am -12:00pm
Thursday, May 24th - Pit Stop Practice 12:15pm - 1:00pm & 2:30pm -5:00pm
Friday, May 25th - Miller Lite Carb Day - 11:00am-12:00pm / Pit Stop Competition - 1:30pm -3:30pm

Qualifications

Saturday, May 19th - Pole Day -

10:45am - Qualifying Line Begins
11:00am -4:00pm Segment 1 qualifying- positions 1-24
4:30pm -6:00pm - Segment 2 & 3 - Positions 1-9 (to determine pole)
6:15pm - Qualification Order Drawing for Bump Day

Sunday, May 20th - Bump Day

11:30am -Cars go in qualification line
12:00pm -6:00pm -Qualifying for positions 25-33 / 6:15pm - Race Day Pit Selection

Sunday, May 27th - Race Day

9:30am - 9:55am- Cars moved to pit lane
10:15am -10:40am - Grid
10:50am -11:00am - Engine Warm-up
11:33am - Driver Introductions
12:04 - Pace Laps
12:12 - Approximate Green Flag Start Time


Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Length - 2.5 Miles
Front & Back Straightaways - 5/8 of a mile each
Short Chutes (Straights between turns) - 1/8 of a mile each
Turns 1-4 -1/4 of a mile each
Banking -9 degrees - 12 minutes on Turns - 0 degrees on straights

IMSmap.jpg


2011 Indy 500 Race Information

2011 Winner -Dan Wheldon
2011 Pole Sitter - Alex Tagliani - 227.472 mph
Length Of Race - 2 hours, 56 minutes, 11 seconds
Average Speed - 170.265 mph
Number Of Cautions - 7 for 40 laps
Lead Changes - 23
 
Just some music facts for this year's race..

Unfortunately Jim Nabors wont be at the track singing "Back Home Again In Indiana". He will be undergoing heart surgery later this month. They will play a recording of Jim singing the song. Jim will be filmed singing the song in Hawaii this month and this will be played on race day.

Martina McBride will be singing the national anthem.
Lynyrd Skynyrd will be playing a concert on Miller Lite Carb Day -Friday, May 25th.
 
Matthew2470 said:
Is it right that the pace car has 630HP and the race cars only 560?
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I posted this on another thread, they realy need to open up the engine options for the 500, can you imagine a twin turbo Ecotech 4 banger pushing 800 hp running side by side with a Audi diesil? The engine options could be almost endless.
 
Matthew2470 said:
Is it right that the pace car has 630HP and the race cars only 560?
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Don't forget the race cars are only 2.2L 6 cylinder turbos this year. The Corvette has a 6.2L supercharged v8, and it still won't do 220 down the straights. This formula really puts IndyCar in tune with the more technologically relevant motorsports, and the auto industry trend as a whole, which is more performance from smaller engines.
 
These cars are punching a massive hole in the air. They're saying even from a pretty long distance back, you can get a huge tow and close right up. Evidently, Tuesday practice turned into a pretty intense draft battle.
 
Josef Newgarden has really been impressive. Six days of practice, with times that are 1st, 3rd, 1st, 12th, 1st, and 2nd for the respective days. Actually, both of Sarah Fisher's youngsters have been quick. Clauson has had a couple top five runs as well.

Also both Dragon cars were thankfully able to get on the track today with Chevy engines, but we still don't know if they'll be able to keep using them.
 
Jameswnh said:
Josef Newgarden has really been impressive. Six days of practice, with times that are 1st, 3rd, 1st, 12th, 1st, and 2nd for the respective days. Actually, both of Sarah Fisher's youngsters have been quick. Clauson has had a couple top five runs as well.

Also both Dragon cars were thankfully able to get on the track today with Chevy engines, but we still don't know if they'll be able to keep using them.
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Everyone that has complained about the lack of American drivers in the series should take notice of Newgarden and Clauson. I know there has been a lot of flack about Marco and Graham Rahal under performing, but I would like to see Newgarden or Clauson with a top team like Penske.
 
We see it every year - someone pushes a car too hard or something breaks on it during Indy qualifying. We all hate to see and it and we all hope everyone makes it through this weekend without anyone getting hurt.
That said, I'm a little concerned about these cars staying on the ground if they should spin coming out of a corner with the new body design, particularly with the wheel guard and side ground effects. We've seen them get upside down on this speedway, but mostly from contact with another car or from hitting debris on the racetrack. Maybe I'm making something out of nothing.
Still, makes me wonder.

Looking forward to see who makes the front row and more importantly, a safe day for all.
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
Are all the Indy 500 festivities no longer televised? I don't see anything on the guide for ESPN or NBC Sports Network.
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The only thing I can find is this:

Pole Day Qualification - NBC Sports Network - May 19 (11 AM-2:30 PM ET, 4:30-6:30 PM ET)
96th Running of Indy 500 - ABC - Sunday May 27 (LIVE - 12 PM ET)
Livestream: ESPN3.com, Indycar.com
Radio: IMS Radio Network (local and affiliates)
 
#17D500winner said:
The only thing I can find is this:

Pole Day Qualification - NBC Sports Network - May 19 (11 AM-2:30 PM ET, 4:30-6:30 PM ET)
96th Running of Indy 500 - ABC - Sunday May 27 (LIVE - 12 PM ET)
Livestream: ESPN3.com, Indycar.com
Radio: IMS Radio Network (local and affiliates)
Click to expand...

Yeah, it's on NBC Sports Network now. Can we PLEASE get NBC Sports Network to televise NASCAR???
 
And I'm glad to see the Indianapolis 500 is on ESPN3 since I'll be at Potomac Speedway... that means I can watch the race on my iPhone during tech and pre-race.
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
And I'm glad to see the Indianapolis 500 is on ESPN3 since I'll be at Potomac Speedway... that means I can watch the race on my iPhone during tech and pre-race.
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Andy, you realize that the Indy 500 will be loooong over before the gates even open up at Potomac, right? Hell, it'll be over long before any cars even show up at Potomac.
 
VaDirt said:
Andy, you realize that the Indy 500 will be loooong over before the gates even open up at Potomac, right? Hell, it'll be over long before any cars even show up at Potomac.
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Just looked, glad that's the case. They used to start the Vernon Harris Memorial warmups and heats at 5pm.
 
wilson89 said:
...Apparantly Foyt and many other owners are so disguisted with there lack of speed and with the trouble it caused on Honda and Chevy to take on extra teams, owners are gonna roll out some back up cars to knock the Lotus cars out of the race.
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Haha...yeah...they interviewed A.J. earlier today and all he did was complain about his engines - while wearing a shirt with their name on it :D.
 
Was just watching the early qualifying...either they've changed the rules again or I just can't keep up with the changes anymore. I wouldn't be surprized if they were running the trucks there in 10 years and calling it the Indy500...with Justin Beiber singing "Back Home Again in Indiana"...and drones doing the flyover.
 
I caught Robin Miller saying that Hinchcliffe is wearing Greg Moore's gloves? Not sure what the connection is, but that's pretty cool nonetheless.
 
Bourdais just put up an average that would have been 14th if he did it yesterday. I don't think anyone is happier to be in a Chevy than he is.
 
Speeds are way down with the new cars. Lotus is way behind the 8 ball, I wonder how long they're gonna stick this year out.I'm happy though, I really don't have a favorite driver in Indy anymore since Greg Moore but my favorite manufacturer is showing why Bowties are the preferred victory lane attire!!!
 
Here's the starting grid for the 2012 Indy 500.

1. Ryan Briscoe, 4 Lap Average: 226.484

2. James Hinchcliffe, 4 Lap Average: 226.481

3. Ryan Hunter-Reay, 4 Lap Average: 226.240

4. Marco Andretti, 4 Lap Average: 225.456

5. Will Power, 4 Lap Average: 225.422

6. Helio Castroneves, 4 Lap Average: 225.172

7. Josef Newgarden, 4 Lap Average: 224.037

8. Tony Kanaan, 4 Lap Average: 224.751

9. EJ Viso, 4 Lap Average: 224.422

10. Rubens Barrichello, 4 Lap Average: 224.264

11. Alex Tagliani, 4 Lap Average: 224.000

12. Graham Rahal, 4 Lap Average: 223.959

13. Ana Beatriz, 4 Lap Average: 223.920

14. Charlie Kimball, 4 Lap Average: 223.868

15. Scott Dixon, 4 Lap Average: 223.684

16. Dario Franchitti, 4 Lap Average: 223.582

17. James Jakes, 4 Lap Average: 223.482

18. JR Hildebrand, 4 Lap Average: 223.422

19. Takuma Sato, 4 Lap Average: 223.392

20. Townsend Bell, 4 Lap Average: 223.134

21. Justin Wilson, 4 Lap Average: 222.929

22. Michel Jourdain, 4 Lap Average: 222.893

23. Simon Pagenaud, 4 Lap Average: 222.891

24. Sebastian Saavedra, 4 Lap Average: 222.811

25. Sebastien Bourdais, 4 Lap Average: 223.760

26. Wade Cunningham, 4 Lap Average: 223.258

27. Oriol Servia, 4 Lap Average: 222.393

28. Ed Carpenter, 4 Lap Average: 222.324

29. Mike Conway, 4 Lap Average: 222.319

30. Katherine Legge, 4 Lap Average: 221.624

31. Bryan Clauson, 4 Lap Average: 214.455

32. Simona de Silvestro, 4 Lap Average: 214.393

33. Jean Alesi, 4 Lap Average: 210.094
 
Flash back to 1964

IMS Radio Network anchor Sid Collins drew critical praise for an impromptu on-air eulogy for Eddie Sachs. During the red flag, track public address announcer Tom Carnegie made the official announcement of the death of Sachs (MacDonald had not yet expired, and his death was not announced until later).[8]
“​

"It is with deepest regret that we make this announcement. Driver Eddie Sachs was fatally injured in the accident on the mainstraightaway.
”​
Silence was heard on-air for about five seconds, and at that point, Collins chimed in with a solemn, unprepared eulogy:[8]

"You heard the announcement from the public address system. There's not a sound. Men are taking off their hats. People are weeping, over three hundred thousand fans, here; not moving; disbelieving. Some men try to conquer life in a number of ways. These days of our outer space attempts, some men try to conquer the universe. Race drivers are courageous men who try to conquer life and death, and they calculate their risks. And in our talking with them over the years, I think we know their inner thoughts in regards to racing: they take it as part of living. No one is moving on the race track. They're standing silently. A race driver who leaves this earth mentally, when he straps himself into the ****pit, to try what for to him is the biggest conquest he can make, is aware of the odds; and Eddie Sachs played the odds. He was serious and frivolous. He was fun. He was a wonderful gentleman. He took much needling and he gave much needling. And just as the astronauts do perhaps, these boys on the race track ask no quarter and they give none. If they succeed they're a hero, and if they fail, they tried. And it was Eddie's desire, I'm sure, and will to try with everything he had, which he always did. So the only healthy way perhaps we can approach the tragedy of the loss of a friend like Eddie Sachs is to know that he would have wanted us to face it, as he did: as it has happened, not as we wish it would have happened. It is God's will, I'm sure, and we must accept that. We're all speeding towards death at the rate of sixty minutes every hour. The only difference is that we don't know how to speed faster, and Eddie Sachs did. So as since death has a thousand or more doors, Eddie Sachs exits this earth in a race car. And knowing Eddie, I assume that's the way he would have wanted it...​
...Byron said 'who the gods love, die young.' Eddie was 37. To his widow Nancy we extend our extreme sympathy and regret. And to his two children. This boy won the pole here in 1961 and 1962, and was a proud race driver. Well, as we do at Indianapolis and in racing: as the World Champion Jimmy Clark I'm sure would agree, as he's raced all over the world: the race continues. Unfortunately today, without Eddie Sachs. And we'll be restarting it in just a few moments."​
​
Collins received over 30,000 letters requesting a transcript of the eulogy.[9]


pasted from wikipedia

Foyt won
MacDonald and Sachs are listed as 29th and 30th.
 
The Beat 500 I ever saw was the 1982 event won by Gordon Johncock (all on TV, never been there in person)

from Wikipedia

With less than 20 laps to go, Gordon Johncock led Rick Mears. Most of the balance of the field was eliminated, or running several laps behind. The two cars were running right together, and had developed into a late-race duel. Both drivers needed to make one final pit stop to make it to the finish.
With 18 laps to go Mears ducked into the pits. The car of Herm Johnson slowed in front, and Mears bumped into his back wheel. The incident cost Mears several seconds. In his pit box, Mears Penske crew proceeded to fill his car full with 40 US gallons (150 L) of fuel, more than enough needed to make it to the finish. No tires were changed, and no repairs were necessary from hitting Johnson's car.
Two laps later, Johncock dove into the pits. He precariously diced around a backmarker and slid into his pit box. The Patrick Racing crew conducted a timed pit stop. The team calculated the amount of fuel needed to make it to the finish. When enough fuel had flowed into the car, a pit crew member tapped the fuel man on the back with a stick, and he disengaged. Johncock pulled away, with a pit stop many seconds quicker than Mears'.
Back on the track, Johncock held a lead of more than eleven seconds. It seemed he was cruising to his second Indy victory. However, his car's handling was starting to suffer. The light fuel load he took on was exacerbating a pushing condition.
Meanwhile, Mears' fully fueled car was heavier, and handling much better. He started closing in, more than 1 second per lap. Johncock started driving very low in the turns, trying to alleviate the pushing condition. It became clear in the waning laps that Mears was dramatically closing in on the lead. Such a circumstance was entirely unprecedented in Indy 500 history, with the exception of the 1937 race. With only 6 other cars left running, traffic was not a factor.
Mears closed to under 3 seconds with 3 laps to go. With two laps to go, the margin was less than 1 second. Johncock's car was handling so poorly in turn 3 that he mentioned afterwards that he nearly crashed.
With one lap to go, Mears pulled alongside on the mainstretch. The cars took the white flag side-by-side. Johncock refused to give up the lead. He "chop-blocked" Mears in the first turn, and stayed ahead. Mears lost considerable momentum, but began to reel Johncock back in down the backstretch. As they exited turn four, Mears tried to slingshot pass Johncock for the win. Johncock held off the challenge, and won by 0.16 seconds, the closest-ever in Indy 500 history to date. It would stand as the closest finish in race history for ten years.



The epic battle was great, I think Johncock excuted perfectly with the final pit stop, the entry was perfection. Then he just chop blocked Mears enough to steal one. No small thing Johncock knew the dangers.

The opening laps with Cogan collecting Foyt and Andretti showed us vintage Foyt just being A.J. Afterwards he cussed and even hammered on his car, and then he led a little before finally dropping out.

The Gordon Smiley qualifying wreck was a horrific trajedy.

About 50 drivers failed to qualify, many with excellent resumes.

But the final battle between Johncock and Mears was the classic memory.
 
Indycar decided not to give Lotus more boost. I'd be a little nervous working my way around them especially late in the race. They're way off the pace.
 
Thegroundpounder99 said:
Indycar decided not to give Lotus more boost. I'd be a little nervous working my way around them especially late in the race. They're way off the pace.
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I doubt they will be around late in the race. Indycar has the 105% rule, where a car must be within 5% of the leaders speed or they are blackflaged and told to get off the course.
 
Greg said:
The Beat 500 I ever saw was the 1982 event won by Gordon Johncock (all on TV, never been there in person)

from Wikipedia

With less than 20 laps to go, Gordon Johncock led Rick Mears. Most of the balance of the field was eliminated, or running several laps behind. The two cars were running right together, and had developed into a late-race duel. Both drivers needed to make one final pit stop to make it to the finish.
With 18 laps to go Mears ducked into the pits. The car of Herm Johnson slowed in front, and Mears bumped into his back wheel. The incident cost Mears several seconds. In his pit box, Mears Penske crew proceeded to fill his car full with 40 US gallons (150 L) of fuel, more than enough needed to make it to the finish. No tires were changed, and no repairs were necessary from hitting Johnson's car.
Two laps later, Johncock dove into the pits. He precariously diced around a backmarker and slid into his pit box. The Patrick Racing crew conducted a timed pit stop. The team calculated the amount of fuel needed to make it to the finish. When enough fuel had flowed into the car, a pit crew member tapped the fuel man on the back with a stick, and he disengaged. Johncock pulled away, with a pit stop many seconds quicker than Mears'.
Back on the track, Johncock held a lead of more than eleven seconds. It seemed he was cruising to his second Indy victory. However, his car's handling was starting to suffer. The light fuel load he took on was exacerbating a pushing condition.
Meanwhile, Mears' fully fueled car was heavier, and handling much better. He started closing in, more than 1 second per lap. Johncock started driving very low in the turns, trying to alleviate the pushing condition. It became clear in the waning laps that Mears was dramatically closing in on the lead. Such a circumstance was entirely unprecedented in Indy 500 history, with the exception of the 1937 race. With only 6 other cars left running, traffic was not a factor.
Mears closed to under 3 seconds with 3 laps to go. With two laps to go, the margin was less than 1 second. Johncock's car was handling so poorly in turn 3 that he mentioned afterwards that he nearly crashed.
With one lap to go, Mears pulled alongside on the mainstretch. The cars took the white flag side-by-side. Johncock refused to give up the lead. He "chop-blocked" Mears in the first turn, and stayed ahead. Mears lost considerable momentum, but began to reel Johncock back in down the backstretch. As they exited turn four, Mears tried to slingshot pass Johncock for the win. Johncock held off the challenge, and won by 0.16 seconds, the closest-ever in Indy 500 history to date. It would stand as the closest finish in race history for ten years.



The epic battle was great, I think Johncock excuted perfectly with the final pit stop, the entry was perfection. Then he just chop blocked Mears enough to steal one. No small thing Johncock knew the dangers.

The opening laps with Cogan collecting Foyt and Andretti showed us vintage Foyt just being A.J. Afterwards he cussed and even hammered on his car, and then he led a little before finally dropping out.

The Gordon Smiley qualifying wreck was a horrific trajedy.

About 50 drivers failed to qualify, many with excellent resumes.

But the final battle between Johncock and Mears was the classic memory.
Click to expand...

I watched the finish on youtube and did Mears ever drive that car into turn 3! As for the chop block, the cameras were showing Mrs Mears so you don't see the whole thing.
 
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