Indy 500 Race Thread.

Kiante said:
Graham is going to win one soon, he continues to improve.

Bourdais came down... Holy moly.
Click to expand...

Graham seems cool driver to root for.

I hope Bourdais can see the flaw in his logic of "not wanting to eat the consequences of going side by side on the outside"... they certainly ate the consequences. Cutting down on someone hoping to force them to back out, when they have clear position halfway up your car, doesn't seem like a long-term +EV move imo.
 
Does this victory allow Pagenaud to keep his ride? I'm guessing "Yes."

It was a great race, the best Indy 500 in years IMO, but truly awful NBC coverage. I was rooting for Pagenaud... plus Carpenter, Bourdais, and Hildebrand... but regardless of that, it was a tremendously hard fought race. A surprising amount of pit problems and incidents, which indicates how fierce the competition is.

NBC was awful. Way too many Tiricos, Earnhardts, Danicas, Rutledges. Way too many commercials (and I'm not one to normally gripe about ad breaks). And what race coverage they had was way too lazy. For example, they talked incessantly about the importance of pit stop out laps, but never put a stop watch to any out laps. And I couldn't even tell if Pagenaud's fuel mileage problem was real or trumped up by the chattering gerbils in the booth. He only needed to go 32 laps for the final stint. Why was that a problem? (NBC did have some fine camera work, and also did well with some timely clips from team radio communications.)
 
I like NBC's broadcast team of Diffy, Bell and Tracy but the rest of the race coverage was terrible. Constant commercials and going off showing Rutledge Wood talking somewhere and missing the on track action, among other problems.

NBC apparently had the same people in charge of the race coverage that they do for their NASCAR coverage.
 
I like Diffey and the booth. He straddles the line of overselling and being too boisterous at times, but IMO stays just on the right side of it. The pit reporters are excellent and almost underused.

I also will give Danica credit. She was the sole source of genuine information outside of the regulars, and she spoke well and was at ease.

Aside from that, I agree with all of the observations about how bad this was. NBC's objective seemed to be turn the Indy 500 into an Olympics / Kentucky Derby show, a crossover event that is a big deal first and an auto race second. That may appear to pay off for them with viewership, as they put a lot of promotional oomph behind this.

Whoever was directing the telecast was clueless as far as serving the racing fans' interest. They failed to cover on-track developments and only paid attention to obvious miscues, broke to commercial at inopportune times for absurd lengths, and bizarrely only used split-screen early in the race and not late.

Tirico is a highly competent host who can anchor almost any type of sports broadcast. We found out today one that he can't, unless he wants to immerse himself in motorsports and treat this as more than a two-week assignment. He was almost comically ill prepared.

Dale Jr...whatever. He'd be fine if they were throwing to him occasionally on an otherwise skilled production.

NBC brought the goods technically and promotionally, but on a human level their approach was lacking. To me it appears there were way too many cooks in the kitchen, pulling in different directions.
 
Last edited:
rd45usa said:
Seen an article earlier when some reporter asked Roger that same question if he would keep his ride for next year and Roger responded absolutely.
Click to expand...
Thanks for posting that. I Googled it. I'm strongly inclined to take The Captain at his word. He could easily have deflected the question about Pagenaud, but chose to give a clear answer. And meanwhile, he declined to answer the question about Helio. So his intent about Pagenaud seems pretty clear, based on these two articles...

Roger Penske says Simon Pagenaud ‘absolutely’ back with team next year

https://motorsports.nbcsports.com/2...pagenaud-absolutely-back-with-team-next-year/
Speculating on Simon Pagenaud’s future has been an enticing parlor game in the NTT IndyCar series this season, but an Indianapolis 500 win finally might have quashed the conjecture.

Sunday’s victory was the record 18th in the Indy 500 for team owner Roger Penske, who tends to keep around drivers who deliver a checkered flag at the Brickyard.

So did it ensure that Pagenaud would return to Team Penske next season?

“What do you think?” Penske said with a broad smile. “Absolutely!”

Pagenaud cemented his dominant May at Indianapolis Motor Speedway by leading a race-high 116 of 200 laps and outdueling runner-up Alexander Rossi in a thrilling finish.

It came on the heels of the No. 22 Dallara-Chevrolet driver capturing the pole position at the Brickyard last weekend and making a furious charge through the rain to beat Scott Dixon in the IndyCar Grand Prix on IMS’ road course two weeks ago.

Pagenaud has been coy about his contract beyond 2019. When asked after his win Sunday by NBC Sports’ Marty Snider about if the questions about his job security had motivated him, he said, “It didn’t. I’m just focused on the job, man. When you a car like this, a team like this, you just work your way.”

After a winless 2018, Pagenaud has two consecutive victories and the series points lead. Penske was asked whether the 2016 series champion’s ride had been jeopardy without raising his performance this season.

“I don’t think that I said anything to the media about Simon,” Penske said. “He’s on our team. He’s one of our drivers. You’ve seen that. That was scuttlebutt. I think that’s a good word for it....
Click to expand...

Penske won’t discuss if Castroneves returns to Indy in 2020

https://motorsports.nbcsports.com/2...scuss-if-castroneves-returns-to-indy-in-2020/
NBC Sports.com asked Indianapolis 500 winning team owner Roger Penske if three-time Indy winner Helio Castroneves would return to the team in 2020?

Penske immediately brushed off the question.

“We’re not going to talk about that right now,” Penske told NBC Sports.com. “I’m just not going to talk about it. We’re going to have a meeting about it before we decide, but I’m not going to talk about that right now.

“Simon won the race and that is what I’m focused on right now....”
Click to expand...
 
The race broadcast itself was definitely not good. Obviously NBC put all of their might into marketing and promotion instead, and it looks like it panned out. But as a race broadcast I don't see how that was better than anything ABC did during the past few years. I honestly only remember one of Pagenaud's pit stops being shown full-screen. I really don't see why they need to cut to the Peacock Box or whatever it is during green flag racing. Paul Tracy still makes routine mistakes in the analyst booth, where he and Bell often end up contradicting each other. To pour salt in the wound it sounds like the Brits got the entire race commercial-free on Sky Sports F1.

I can't argue with the ratings but hopefully they come back stronger next year now that they've got one under their belt.
 
LewTheShoe said:
Thanks for posting that. I Googled it. I'm strongly inclined to take The Captain at his word. He could easily have deflected the question about Pagenaud, but chose to give a clear answer. And meanwhile, he declined to answer the question about Helio. So his intent about Pagenaud seems pretty clear, based on these two articles...

Roger Penske says Simon Pagenaud ‘absolutely’ back with team next year

https://motorsports.nbcsports.com/2...pagenaud-absolutely-back-with-team-next-year/


Penske won’t discuss if Castroneves returns to Indy in 2020

https://motorsports.nbcsports.com/2...scuss-if-castroneves-returns-to-indy-in-2020/
Click to expand...
Helio still got screwed on the penalty call IMO but he hasn't really been a factor here as a part-time driver. There was a clear distinction between him and the other three Penskes. He'll be 45 next year, I just don't see it in the cards.
 
FLRacingFan said:
The race broadcast itself was definitely not good. Obviously NBC put all of their might into marketing and promotion instead, and it looks like it panned out. But as a race broadcast I don't see how that was better than anything ABC did during the past few years. I honestly only remember one of Pagenaud's pit stops being shown full-screen. I really don't see why they need to cut to the Peacock Box or whatever it is during green flag racing. Paul Tracy still makes routine mistakes in the analyst booth, where he and Bell often end up contradicting each other. To pour salt in the wound it sounds like the Brits got the entire race commercial-free on Sky Sports F1.

I can't argue with the ratings but hopefully they come back stronger next year now that they've got one under their belt.
Click to expand...
I coulda/woulda/shoulda watched the Sky Sports broadcast, but I didn't know it existed, so I watched on NBC.:rolleyes: (Could've watched it on DAZN too, but I wanted the original commentary)
Unfortunately, I missed most of the pre-race ceremonies as the Internet was poor once again, but it was fine during the race.
It felt like two thirds of the broadcast during the first 150 laps were commericals and I never really got a feeling for the race during the first three quarters of it.
During the Ericsson caution NBC showed a graphic that said there had been 420 on-track-passes so far. I think I got to see less than 10 of them.
Was a calm race at the front for most of the time, but a thrilling end.
 
On the way back from Indy. Was a great time for my first one, will go more into more detail in the race experiences thread tonight or tomorrow, but for now rating the races I saw
1. Indy 500
2. Indy Lights
3. Silver Crown at IRP
T-4 USF2000 and pro Mazda at IRP (both equally bad)
 
gnomesayin said:
Dale Jr...whatever. He'd be fine if they were throwing to him occasionally on an otherwise skilled production.
Click to expand...

Dale was incredible on the Rolex broadcast, but he has also been in that race and has some knowledge. I think he will be much better at Indy next year. This was a completely different deal for him, so give him a telecast to find his feet. He just needs to learn a little more about Indycar and he will be fine.
 
FLRacingFan said:
I can't argue with the ratings but hopefully they come back stronger next year now that they've got one under their belt.
Click to expand...

I think it might come back as a stronger racing focused broadcast simply because NBC found out the ceiling for the event isn't as high as they perhaps hoped. A 15% increase is positive, but they promoted the hell out of it across mainstream NBC programming. The viewership is strong for an auto race in 2019, but minor compared to other major sports properties. There is a restored prestige and it seems to have performed well on an advertising level, but I'm not sure those numbers will convince NBC execs to send all their network star power back in the future.
 
gnomesayin said:
I think it might come back as a stronger racing focused broadcast simply because NBC found out the ceiling for the event isn't as high as they perhaps hoped. A 15% increase is positive, but they promoted the hell out of it across mainstream NBC programming. The viewership is strong for an auto race in 2019, but minor compared to other major sports properties. There is a restored prestige and it seems to have performed well on an advertising level, but I'm not sure those numbers will convince NBC execs to send all their network star power back in the future.
Click to expand...
The Triple Crown - Preakness and Belmont in particular - were in bad shape when they took over from ABC. I don't think the 500 can grow like those did, but I think Tirico will be back because they trot him around the pretty much everything now. I think some of the rest of it will be scaled down for sure. Bringing in Rutledge so we could see him in the Snake Pit during pre-race and then showing on the golf course during the race probably wasn't necessary.
 
Imagine being 19, running like three or four laps total. You still get $350k... I knew I should have gotten deeper into racing professionally...:(
 
Kiante said:
Imagine being 19, running like three or four laps total. You still get $350k... I knew I should have gotten deeper into racing professionally...:(
Click to expand...
Sorry bro, faulty analysis. Do you know the driver's share specified in his contract? I don't, but it could be quite low for a young driver, such as 10%. It could be higher, like 25% or 30%, which would not be uncommon for a veteran driver. I can assure you that no driver there collects 100% of purse money. (And as you know, some drivers have to pay the team to even get in the car, although I'm not saying Herta is one of those.)
 
Watched yesterday (was at a race Sunday). Incredible race. And NBC did a great job with their first Indy 500, though they were a bit heavy on the commercials. Leigh Diffey, Townsend Bell, and Paul Tracy are way better than the ABC commentary crew.
 
FLRacingFan said:
The Triple Crown - Preakness and Belmont in particular - were in bad shape when they took over from ABC. I don't think the 500 can grow like those did, but I think Tirico will be back because they trot him around the pretty much everything now. I think some of the rest of it will be scaled down for sure. Bringing in Rutledge so we could see him in the Snake Pit during pre-race and then showing on the golf course during the race probably wasn't necessary.
Click to expand...

Mike Tirico is one of my favorites, especially in football. Only "stick and ball" announcer I favor over Tirico is Joe Tessitore.

That said, I would personally like to see NBC bring Brian Williams in and have him host broadcasts for major motorsports events. Brian Williams is still the best overall broadcaster NBC has, and it's well documented that he's a hardcore racing fan.
 
LewTheShoe said:
Does this victory allow Pagenaud to keep his ride? I'm guessing "Yes."

It was a great race, the best Indy 500 in years IMO, but truly awful NBC coverage. I was rooting for Pagenaud... plus Carpenter, Bourdais, and Hildebrand... but regardless of that, it was a tremendously hard fought race. A surprising amount of pit problems and incidents, which indicates how fierce the competition is.

NBC was awful. Way too many Tiricos, Earnhardts, Danicas, Rutledges. Way too many commercials (and I'm not one to normally gripe about ad breaks). And what race coverage they had was way too lazy. For example, they talked incessantly about the importance of pit stop out laps, but never put a stop watch to any out laps. And I couldn't even tell if Pagenaud's fuel mileage problem was real or trumped up by the chattering gerbils in the booth. He only needed to go 32 laps for the final stint. Why was that a problem? (NBC did have some fine camera work, and also did well with some timely clips from team radio communications.)
Click to expand...



Our fast forward button quickly removed the undesirables from the race, I cannot imagine watching in real time, it had to be painful
 
LewTheShoe said:
Sorry bro, faulty analysis. Do you know the driver's share specified in his contract? I don't, but it could be quite low for a young driver, such as 10%. It could be higher, like 25% or 30%, which would not be uncommon for a veteran driver. I can assure you that no driver there collects 100% of purse money. (And as you know, some drivers have to pay the team to even get in the car, although I'm not saying Herta is one of those.)
Click to expand...

Hey thanks! Always wondered about that stuff.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom