The 100th Running of the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race

Racer1930 said:
Yeah Greg...it worked out the way it should have - I suppose. Rossi was nowhere near the best car in the field - but he won off of the fuel thing. I am not a "Rossi" fan - nor will I ever be...he just got lucky in a screwed up race and nursed his car over the line on fuel.
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He definitely had some things fall his way a bit and probably wouldn't have won otherwise but he was still pretty quick, top 10 in four or five practice sessions this month and 10th and 11th on the two qualifying days. Good pace, good fuel management, and good strategy is tough to beat.

I'd be willing to bet his F1 experience with having to manage a maximum fuel flow rate and no refueling contributed to his success today.
 
FLRacingFan said:
He definitely had some things fall his way a bit and probably wouldn't have won otherwise but he was still pretty quick, top 10 in four or five practice sessions this month and 10th and 11th on the two qualifying days. Good pace, good fuel management, and good strategy is tough to beat.

I'd be willing to bet his F1 experience with having to manage a maximum fuel flow rate and no refueling contributed to his success today.
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Good point, could be.
 
Absolutely love to see an American win the 500. He looked shocked in victory lane that he actually won. The best cars don't always win. Congrats to Rossi! Awesome race!
 
I had to say it was one of the most shocking wins I ever witnessed. I think Rossi needs to stay in Indycar though he will never be given a decent opportunity in F1.

Also I hope Townsend Bell never returns to do the 500. That guy drove like a dick all day long. Between squeezing a driver almost into the grass, coming up on Karam causing him to wreck and then taking out his teammate and most dominate car in the race RHR.
 
wilson89 said:
I had to say it was one of the most shocking wins I ever witnessed. I think Rossi needs to stay in Indycar though he will never be given a decent opportunity in F1.

Also I hope Townsend Bell never returns to do the 500. That guy drove like a dick all day long. Between squeezing a driver almost into the grass, coming up on Karam causing him to wreck and then taking out his teammate and most dominate car in the race RHR.
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Unfortunately, as long as he continues to run like he did yesterday prior to the pit road incident, there will be someone willing to give him a ride.
 
I thought Townsend Bell did a pretty good job, it looked like he had a car that could win. He pinched one driver pretty bad early in the race when it wasn't necessary but he did go back & forth with the other leaders with no incidents. I thought the pit road deal was a racing incident.
 
wilson89 said:
I had to say it was one of the most shocking wins I ever witnessed. I think Rossi needs to stay in Indycar though he will never be given a decent opportunity in F1.

Also I hope Townsend Bell never returns to do the 500. That guy drove like a dick all day long. Between squeezing a driver almost into the grass, coming up on Karam causing him to wreck and then taking out his teammate and most dominate car in the race RHR.
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I call that racing
 
wilson89 said:
I had to say it was one of the most shocking wins I ever witnessed. I think Rossi needs to stay in Indycar though he will never be given a decent opportunity in F1.

Also I hope Townsend Bell never returns to do the 500. That guy drove like a dick all day long. Between squeezing a driver almost into the grass, coming up on Karam causing him to wreck and then taking out his teammate and most dominate car in the race RHR.
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Karam wrecked himself.
 
kkfan91 said:
I call that racing
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Townsend has a reputation for racing like a dick. Two years ago, he took out Carpenter and Hinchcliffe battling in the top five on a restart late in the race, trying to go three-wide. At Indy. This isn't Lights - everyone knows you can't do that. He capped that day off by wrecking himself with ten or so to go.

Everyone that's raced against Townsend was going after him on Twitter yesterday. From IndyCar to IMSA to WEC, his competitors were grilling him yesterday. And he deserved it. I can't even count how many breaks other drivers had to cut him because he put them in a ridiculous spot. Two big moments with Newgarden stood out where if Josef didn't back out, even despite having the preferred line in one instance, there probably would've been a car in the turn 1 grandstands. Townsend was all take and no give yesterday, and showed absolutely no respect on the meanest circuit on the schedule.

This isn't to say Karam gets a complete pass for yesterday, because he probably should've backed out at some point. But Bell was a total weapon.
 
FLRacingFan said:
Townsend has a reputation for racing like a dick. Two years ago, he took out Carpenter and Hinchcliffe battling in the top five on a restart late in the race, trying to go three-wide. At Indy. This isn't Lights - everyone knows you can't do that. He capped that day off by wrecking himself with ten or so to go.

Everyone that's raced against Townsend was going after him on Twitter yesterday. From IndyCar to IMSA to WEC, his competitors were grilling him yesterday. And he deserved it. I can't even count how many breaks other drivers had to cut him because he put them in a ridiculous spot. Two big moments with Newgarden stood out where if Josef didn't back out, even despite having the preferred line in one instance, there probably would've been a car in the turn 1 grandstands. Townsend was all take and no give yesterday, and showed absolutely no respect on the meanest circuit on the schedule.

This isn't to say Karam gets a complete pass for yesterday, because he probably should've backed out at some point. But Bell was a total weapon.
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Very Well said

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Pretty much tells the story
 
aunty dive said:
Karam wrecked himself.
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Yep. He had a fast car and should have fallen in line, kept his car in one piece, and made the pass going into 3. He pushed it too hard and put it in the wall. He's young and will learn from his mistake. He's got a bright future ahead of him.
 
An entertaining race for sure, but I can't call it a good Indy 500. And it's not the kind of story Indycar would want, in order to capitalize on the 350,000 crowd to create momentum for the struggling series, IMO. The visceral appeal of Indy comes from the people who live and breathe the 500, 365 days per year. Foyt. Andretti. Al and Bobby Unser. Mears. The Captain. Helio and TK. Chip Ganassi and Sam Schmidt and others.

Instead, we have a rookie who wants to be somewhere else, in a seat he purchased, winning on a fuel mileage deal. He had enough speed to be about 10th place, but only because so many had trouble. I give him and Bryan Herta all the credit in the world for pulling it off, and Rossi had to drive the car, keep his nose clean, and nurse it home. It's a good story, just not a good story for the 100th Indy 500. Just my opinion.

The race strongly reminded me of Daytona, except slightly narrower and easier to slingshot. Mash the pedal to the floor, keep it there, and work the air. The air will give you a run on the car ahead, so you pass. Then he gets the draft, he gets the run, so he passes you back. Rinse and repeat. It's not easy (nor is Daytona), but it's not real automobile racing IMO. It is aero-dominant racing, and that is a different deal.

I'd love to see Indycar slash downforce by 2 tons and boost horsepower a little. Rather than cornering at 220 mph, target maybe 175 or 180. Use brakes and off throttle time. Give it back to the drivers, so the modern versions of Foyt and Andretti could rise to the task. Ahhh, wishful thinking.
 
utvol0427 said:
Yep. He had a fast car and should have fallen in line, kept his car in one piece, and made the pass going into 3. He pushed it too hard and put it in the wall. He's young and will learn from his mistake. He's got a bright future ahead of him.
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Timing is everything.
 
Just watched the race last night. Good race, but it's hard to follow since I don't know any of these drivers.

Also, it seems a little more difficult to tell cars apart from each other in this series.
 
Some pictures will be coming later. But let me tell you, Indy was every bit as awesome as I expected. Went to Carb Day, saw the Freedom 100, experienced opening ceremonies and saw the race from the Tower Terrace, about halfway between the pagoda and turn 4. You couldn't have removed the smile from my face with explosives the entire day. The sea of humanity was a sight to see (but not one I wanted to walk around in, so I stayed in my seat on raceday.) The goosebumps (and even tears of joy) I felt during both opening ceremonies and the race, I will always remember. And the fact that the 100th running was also my first made it that much sweeter.

I classify last week as best week ever.

(oh, and look over in short track racing for another event, the Little 500)
 
http://www.sportsmediawatch.com/2016/06/indy-500-ratings-down-abc-viewership-tops-nascar/

Ratings and viewership fell to a three-year low for IndyCar’s premier event.

The 2016 Indianapolis 500 had a 3.9 final rating and 6.0 million viewers on ABC Sunday afternoon, down 7% in ratings and viewership from last year (4.2, 6.5M) and flat and down 1%, respectively, from 2014 (3.9, 6.1M). The numbers mark an improvement over the previously reported fast-nationals, a 3.8 and 5.8 million.

Alexander Rossi‘s win, which peaked at a 4.4 and 6.8 million from 3-3:30 PM ET, tied the third-lowest Indy 500 rating since the race began airing live in 1986. The 2013 race had a 3.7 rating and the 2010 race earned a record-low 3.6.
.....
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DUN24 said:
Yeah I saw that and was shocked. For all the hype and amazing crowd, dismal tv numbers.


How do people casually watch the 14' and 15' 500's and not watch 16'? The longer they race this car the better the 500's have been.
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Don't know. I think it's something the entire industry has to face and deal with. NASCAR ratings have been down this year with the best racing in years. F1, not good either, and they've also had one of their better starts to a season in recent memory.
 
FLRacingFan said:
Don't know. I think it's something the entire industry has to face and deal with. NASCAR ratings have been down this year with the best racing in years. F1, not good either, and they've also had one of their better starts to a season in recent memory.
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Strange days.
 
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