HoneyBadger
Big Amber Glenn Fan
Cars are on track and testing at Indianapolis. May is almost here.
The 110th Running of the Indianapolis 500
- Thread starter HoneyBadger
- Start date
Doc Austin
Back From The Dead
Rut Row..............Pita mad......
Romain Grosjean hits bird at 230 mph during Indy 500 test, PETA isn’t happy about it
Greg
2014 RF YAHOO CHAMP Your leader
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I am opposed to animal cruelty but I don't think the bird was offended by his comments.
I like birds but they have never apologized to my windshield
Speaking as RF's resident birder, PETA should get over itself. There's nothing positive or actionable in its respose. There are plenty of more constructive ways it could have leveraged this. For one, it could have been used to address the problem of bird strikes occurring at dusk or dawn when owls hunt along road shoulders. How about bringing up ways to reduce road kills in general?
But no, it has to post a negative take on Grosjean's flippant remarks, leaving its overreaction open to ridicule. Another case of someone with twisted knickers bringing far more attention to what upset them than the offending action would have otherwise received.
Began Indy 500 rewatches this evening with one of the all-time classics, from the Kevin Cogan (‘Coogin’) start crash to AJ Foyt’s final laps ever led at the Speedway to the OG wheel-to-wheel duel to the finish between Gordon Johncock and Rick Mears. As good as it gets.
At that race, remember Rutherford dropping him off right in front of me (gave him ride back to pits). Had 1st row seats behind pit.
Another one I was at, remember Mears running into the back of Dennis Firestone on last pit stop. Great race for sure, fans were louder than the cars at finish.
Reminds me of the Tony Renna crash in 2003 during a tire test for Ganassi. Speculation was he might hit a large bird at the end of the back straight going into 3rd turn. There were reports they found a dead bird in that area.
Johncock also blew right past Jim Hickman in the pit lane during the final pit sequence. Just insane what they did back then, and they didn’t have any sort of pit road speed limit for another decade afterward.
Greg
2014 RF YAHOO CHAMP Your leader
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That last pit stop by Johncock was like a work of art, worthy of a Zapruder-type study (at 2h 05 seconds on the video). I have been following racing for 56-plus years, or at least I have watched all the racing I could during that time. I have never seen a better stop in my life; nothing comes close.
(Refer to note at the end of this post).
It looks like they optimized every point. They just got enough fuel to finish, plus a wing adjustment, and Johncock exited the pits with concerns about whether or not he got enough fuel to finish the race. Passing Hickman and the quick entrance and exit were my favorite moments. It was jaw-dropping, good enough to never forget after all these years.
I think it was Johncock at his best.
last pit stop at about the 2:05:00
Follow-up note: As an aside, the 1992 Atlanta season-ending or final pit stop by Alan Kulwicki and his team was great too. The strategy or timing was brilliant by allowing him to get the bonus for leading the most laps; it was the difference and secured the Winston Cup Title or Championship for him. It was maybe the greatest strategy call I ever saw and one of the greatest moments ever. But I still would give the nod to Johncock's stop in terms of at least being my favorite based on the speed and execution.
Greg
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It was Herm Johnson not Firestone. How could I forget a name like that.
Nitro Dude
Hauler Driver and Cylinder Head Maintenance
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The race is only a couple of weeks away now and the excitement is really building. The whole month of May atmosphere at Indianapolis is always special.
Looks like there will be plenty happening off-track too with fan zones, live entertainment and Carb Day events. Anyone heading there this year can get a good overview of what’s on through this guide to the Indy 500 fan zones and events.
Looks like there will be plenty happening off-track too with fan zones, live entertainment and Carb Day events. Anyone heading there this year can get a good overview of what’s on through this guide to the Indy 500 fan zones and events.
Doc Austin
Back From The Dead
I have family in Indianapolis, so I flew up a few times. The whole town is race decorated, including my family's mortuary! Burger Chef was giving away Indianapolis 500 frisbees. Virtually every business there had some sort of 500 special going on. It was insane. If we only could get the rest of the country to love it that much ......
Tuesday, May 12
There’s a 3-hour TV window for Pole Day that currently reflects a Last Chance Qualifying session in between the Top 12 and Fast 6 sessions, but there’s no bumping to be done with only 33 entries this year.
- NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice (12:00-4:00 PM ET, FS2)
- NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice (4:00-6:00 PM ET, FS1)
- NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice (12:00-4:00 PM ET, FS2)
- NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice (4:00-6:00 PM ET, FS1)
- NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice (12:00-4:00 PM ET, FS2)
- NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice (4:00-6:00 PM ET, FS1)
- NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice (12:00-3:00 PM ET, FS2)
- NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice (3:00-5:00 PM ET, FS1)
- NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice (5:00-6:00 PM ET, FS2)
- NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice (8:30-9:30 AM ET, FS2)
- NTT INDYCAR SERIES qualifying (11:00 AM-2:00 PM ET, FS2)
- NTT INDYCAR SERIES qualifying (2:00-4:00 PM ET, FS1)
- NTT INDYCAR SERIES qualifying (4:00-6:00 PM ET, FOX)
- NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice (1:00-3:00 PM ET, FS2)
- NTT INDYCAR SERIES qualifying (4:00-7:00 PM ET, FOX)
- NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice (1:00-3:00 PM ET, FS1)
- NTT INDYCAR SERIES final practice (11:00 AM-2:00 PM ET, FS1)
- Oscar Mayer Wienie 500 (2:00-2:30 PM ET, FOX)
- NTT INDYCAR SERIES Pit Stop Contest (2:30-4:00 PM ET, FOX)
- FOX INDIANAPOLIS 500 PRERACE (10:00 AM-12:30 PM ET, FOX)
- INDIANAPOLIS 500 (12:30-3:30 PM ET, FOX)
- FOX INDIANAPOLIS POSTRACE (3:30-4:00 PM ET, FOX)
- Indianapolis 500 Victory Celebration (8:00-11:00 PM ET, FS1, delayed)
There’s a 3-hour TV window for Pole Day that currently reflects a Last Chance Qualifying session in between the Top 12 and Fast 6 sessions, but there’s no bumping to be done with only 33 entries this year.
Nitro Dude
Hauler Driver and Cylinder Head Maintenance
I was raised 15 miles west of the track and even though a lot of my life I made my living in drag racing, the Indy 500 has always been and will always be my favorite race hands down. That will never change.
Doc Austin
Back From The Dead
Looks like Grosjean wanted to fight someone in Ganassi's pit.
Practice is a nice background to sorting through today's bird photos.
Well, it looks like breaking 230 will be a given. Will they break the record 232 and change from ... 2023?
LewTheShoe
Seeking Skill-based Meritocracy... More HP Less DF
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A question for those who follow IndyCar a lot closer than I do:
Does IndyCar still have the procedural sleight-of-hand whereby every car that's a lap down gets a free lap on every yellow flag? In Nascar parlance, does every lap-down dog get a lucky dog from every caution period?
When NBC had the IndyCar TV contract, they would usually go to great lengths to conceal from viewers what was happening... with lap-down cars getting both a wave-around and a pit stop. Does Fox do the same? Shame on Fox if they do.
Does IndyCar still have the procedural sleight-of-hand whereby every car that's a lap down gets a free lap on every yellow flag? In Nascar parlance, does every lap-down dog get a lucky dog from every caution period?
When NBC had the IndyCar TV contract, they would usually go to great lengths to conceal from viewers what was happening... with lap-down cars getting both a wave-around and a pit stop. Does Fox do the same? Shame on Fox if they do.