Race thread: 104th Indy 500

Wild racing for this early. Very fortunate there hasn't been a big one already.
 
I do truly appreciate the suspense of a genuine 500 mile race. No planned stoppages, nobody's goal is to win the first quarter or half and then hit reset. I do hope it plays out with different strategies in play, but no fluke caution that throws the running order into chaos.
 
I can’t for the life of me figure out why they changed the drafting package for this race.
 
gnomesayin said:
I do truly appreciate the suspense of a genuine 500 mile race. No planned stoppages, nobody's goal is to win the first quarter or half and then hit reset. I do hope it plays out with different strategies in play, but no fluke caution that throws the running order into chaos.
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Except when the lead pack plays the I dont want to actually lead so I'll slow down to a crawl.

Dixon and Rossi are playing the fuel mileage game. Leads goes from a tenth to 1-2 seconds every given lap.
 
gnomesayin said:
I do truly appreciate the suspense of a genuine 500 mile race. No planned stoppages, nobody's goal is to win the first quarter or half and then hit reset. I do hope it plays out with different strategies in play, but no fluke caution that throws the running order into chaos.
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That and this series focuses on high horsepower and removes downforce. Guess who doesn’t have an issue being in Indy? Honda. So the argument of NASCAR attracting other manufacturers like Honda by lowering HP is just total BS.
 
JBone88 said:
I can’t for the life of me figure out why they changed the drafting package for this race.
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When they went back to spec aero kits two years ago they got rid of the rear wheel guards which didn't really do much safety-wise as they were supposed to and really just made for more debris. They did help clean the air coming off of the rear tires though, and that made for more of the slingshot-style racing we saw from 2012-2017. The tires make for a ton of turbulent air now and the tiny rear wing on the rear doesn't really help clean any of that up.

Not sure if they'll change any of that when they make a new aero kit in the coming years but it might be worth revisiting. Especially since the aeroscreen changed a lot of things too.
 
FLRacingFan said:
When they went back to spec aero kits two years ago they got rid of the rear wheel guards which didn't really do much safety-wise as they were supposed to and really just made for more debris. They did help clean the air coming off of the rear tires though, and that made for more of the slingshot-style racing we saw from 2012-2017. The tires make for a ton of turbulent air now and the tiny rear wing on the rear doesn't really help clean any of that up.

Not sure if they'll change any of that when they make a new aero kit in the coming years but it might be worth revisiting. Especially since the aeroscreen changed a lot of things too.
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Yeah I remember seeing they removed the bumper pods for safety reasons. They need to find a supplement though, cause that racing was amazing here. Lots of passing zones guys could close up and pass.

The last 3 years has turned into whichever Penske/Ganassi car starts on the front row dominates. And rides around conserving fuel for 3/4 of the race.
 
ChexOrWrex said:
That and this series focuses on high horsepower and removes downforce. Guess who doesn’t have an issue being in Indy? Honda. So the argument of NASCAR attracting other manufacturers like Honda by lowering HP is just total BS.
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Honda said last month they already have a prototype of the next-gen Indy engine (~900 HP at max) running and are waiting on final rules approval to start building. I don't get who NASCAR was trying to bring in with the 550. I think the Honda guys just got the invite for Phoenix or wherever they met NASCAR and thought an opportunity for free food was nice.
 
JBone88 said:
Yeah I remember seeing they removed the bumper pods for safety reasons. They need to find a supplement though, cause that racing was amazing here. Lots of passing zones guys could close up and pass.

The last 3 years has turned into whichever Penske/Ganassi car starts on the front row dominates. And rides around conserving fuel for 3/4 of the race.
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It was fun to watch but I wasn’t much a fan of the leader being at such a disadvantage.
 
10 second lead. At Indy.

Didn’t realize I was watching Kevin Harvick in the Cup race at Michigan.
 
FLRacingFan said:
Honda said last month they already have a prototype of the next-gen Indy engine (~900 HP at max) running and are waiting on final rules approval to start building. I don't get who NASCAR was trying to bring in with the 550. I think the Honda guys just got the invite for Phoenix or wherever they met NASCAR and thought an opportunity for free food was nice.
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Kia, apparently? Definitely worth reworking the series for that.
 
ChexOrWrex said:
It was fun to watch but I wasn’t much a fan of the leader being at such a disadvantage.
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Thats fair. I didn’t mind that as much cause the leader couldn’t just drive away. Actually had to use the mirror and protect the lead. Break the draft, anticipate where the pass would come from.

This is boring as ****.
 
Rossi is lucky to not have lost more than he did. Being third and only 11 seconds off the lead is not so bad when you missed the pits entirely and had to do an entire lap from scratch.
 
FLRacingFan said:
Honda said last month they already have a prototype of the next-gen Indy engine (~900 HP at max) running and are waiting on final rules approval to start building. I don't get who NASCAR was trying to bring in with the 550. I think the Honda guys just got the invite for Phoenix or wherever they met NASCAR and thought an opportunity for free food was nice.
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NASCAR and being gaslighted. Name a more epic duo.
 
JBone88 said:
Thats fair. I didn’t mind that as much cause the leader couldn’t just drive away. Actually had to use the mirror and protect the lead. Break the draft, anticipate where the pass would come from.

This is boring as ****.
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Guess its just a matter of opinion. I’m fine with the leader pulling away because they’re faster.
 
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