Robin Miller: They Should Have Raced

KevinWI

KevinWI

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http://www.racer.com/more/viewpoints/item/105695-miller-they-should-have-raced

New column from Robin Miller, basically saying they should have raced on Saturday.

I'm really mixed on the whole thing. I don't know what the right decision was. I wasn't there and there seems to be conflicting information on how bad it was.

I think they would have run it in those conditions on a natural terrain road course. Everybody is edgy about the lack of runoffs after Dario's accident and obviously you don't have any-to-very little on a street course.
 
As mentioned in the article:

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That guy won this race (see 1:00):
 
I think it would have been a circus to run in those conditions. Drivers should race the track and one another - not the weather.
 
I think it got political when they started interviewing drivers and they were saying that they couldn't see a car if it was sideways on the back stretch. If someone would have got hurt or killed, race control didn't want to make that decision.
 
StandOnIt said:
I think it got political when they started interviewing drivers and they were saying that they couldn't see a car if it was sideways on the back stretch. If someone would have got hurt or killed, race control didn't want to make that decision.
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Most of the active drivers who had been around for a while seemed to be glad the race was stopped (Helio, Kanaan, even Marco, etc.)

But, according to RM's article, the old guys Mario and AJ were shocked they weren't racing.

But the young young guys like Hawksworth and Aleshin wanted to race in the rain.

Kind of a weird split decision. I guess the old guys remember the old days fondly and the young guys are too stupid to know any better.

I think Power spinning out immediately as they tried to start the race the first time played a big role in it. It seemed to set the attitude for the whole day.
 
I remember looking at the rain tire and thinking the same thing that Robin thought. The grooves weren't deep enough. I'm from the same era as Robin Miller and racing was closer to bull fighting than a video game. Tracks and cars are so much safer and much of the thrill and danger that drew many to the race track isn't there anymore. Because of public and driver outcry, racing has continually fixed itself towards safety after almost every death or serious injury. they were sticking mikes in front of the owners and most of them didn't want to race, and then the drivers when they got out of the cars had their opinions. Drivers who thought they were rain drivers wanted to go for it. Some like Power didn't care either way. Michael Andretti when interviewed didn't want to race, he had cars to consider and a lot to lose.
 
KevinWI said:
Most of the active drivers who had been around for a while seemed to be glad the race was stopped (Helio, Kanaan, even Marco, etc.)
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StandOnIt said:
Michael Andretti when interviewed didn't want to race, he had cars to consider and a lot to lose.
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Some of these guys were around for Surfers Paradise 2002 so I'm not surprised.
 
StandOnIt said:
I remember looking at the rain tire and thinking the same thing that Robin thought. The grooves weren't deep enough.
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Yeah, that Firestone rain tire is crap. The tire on my bicycle has deeper grooves. It's more like the intermediate tire they run in F1. They need what F1 used to call the "extreme weather tire" which I think is now just the regular "wet" tire after Pirelli took over.

I know the drivers trust Firestone and Walker didn't want to risk a new tire manufacturer with all these safety concerns but I have really been unimpressed with Firestone. I don't think their red slicks are that much faster than the blacks (again, unlike F1 and their option tires), and I usually have the timing & scoring up if I am watching at home, and sometimes you see drivers on the blacks outrun guys on the reds. Firestone has been very loyal to IndyCar with all its faults, but I wouldn't mind seeing a change eventually.
 
I respect Robin Miller's opinion, almost always spot on. But when it comes to weather, there's never a right call.
 
F1 drive in the rain, there is no reason Indycar shouldn't. I suspect the Indycar drivers don't have a lot of experience in the wet and are reluctant to run in the wet. I don't like street courses and they could be more problematic in the wet. On a road course if you make a mistake there is a chance you go off course and not damage the car; if a mistake is made on a street course the car hits a barrier and most likely will involve more than one car for a more expensive repair bill.
 
Zerkfitting said:
F1 drive in the rain, there is no reason Indycar shouldn't. I suspect the Indycar drivers don't have a lot of experience in the wet and are reluctant to run in the wet. I don't like street courses and they could be more problematic in the wet. On a road course if you make a mistake there is a chance you go off course and not damage the car; if a mistake is made on a street course the car hits a barrier and most likely will involve more than one car for a more expensive repair bill.
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a lot depends on which side of the fence you are on. Robin Miller is trying to sell subscriptions. If they ran the race he would probably be up in arms over all the wrecks and how some drivers were screwed up on the points.
 
I've seen F1 with cars hydroplaning off the track because they don't react very quickly to make decisions like red flagging the race. I don't know what their rules are abut it takes them awhile to stop a race. Their use of the safety car is a better than it was when they first started to use it.
 
Not all rain races are great, too much rain and you have problems, yesterday was a good one. I like it when the track dries and then the gambling begins on when to switch or to stay on wets back and forth, adds a lot to the race and the drama to me. I think if it would have been at a racetrack it would have been better less follow the leader. Some guys have a real talent for rain driving, but the narrow track didn't let them show it. Newgarden was a charger in the wet yesterday.
 
Yogisd1 said:
I think this is a perfect example of why they need to get rid of street courses.
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That will start to happen as soon as oval races and road courses races become more successful financially and more of those circuits are willing to pay the sanctioning fee and promote the event. Road America's president said IndyCar needs to shape up their TV package and take a strong look at their sanctioning fee.
 
FLRacingFan said:
That will start to happen as soon as oval races and road courses races become more successful financially and more of those circuits are willing to pay the sanctioning fee and promote the event. Road America's president said IndyCar needs to shape up their TV package and take a strong look at their sanctioning fee.
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The TV package takes care of itself next year when NBC picks up NASCAR. However, NBC will not re-up with IndyCar if ABC is still allowed to dictate what other networks do. If ABC's in the picture in 2019 airing all of five races, they'll be lucky if they can get the rest on MAVTV.
 
Robin Millers ass wasnt on the line, racing when you cant see is not even an option IMO
 
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