Thumbs up, JR Hildebrand. Talk about being caught between a rock and a hard spot. After navigating 799 turns and through strokes of perseverance, strategy, and brilliant fuel conservation, he was seemingly on the way to winning Indy as a 23-year old rookie. Then, entering the final corner with faster cars catching him quickly, he stumbled across a considerably slower car – decision time. In 1989, Al Unser Jr. backed off slightly in Turn Two due to traffic, allowing Emerson Fittipaldi to catch him and ended his race famously in Turn 3. With his foot firmly on the throttle, Hildebrand tried the pass on the high side, caught the grey of the marbles and ended his Cinderella story alongside the Turn Four wall.
In hindsight, not the right move. In the moment, absolutely the right move. Use your bullets and fight going forward. Here’s hoping he overcomes this disappointment and moves forward.
Thumbs up, Dan Wheldon. What can you say about Wheldon? I’m not sure if he knows much; in fact, after countless interviews, I’m certain he doesn’t know much. But I’m convinced that he certainly knows how to get around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He is always fast and always a contender, and Sunday was no exception. He wasn’t the fastest car all day, but he was always very close, and when opportunity knocked, he answered. At midnight, his contract with Bryan Herta racing expired. I wonder what his plans hold for the remainder of the season?
Thumbs down, ABC. While the thumbs might be down, another digit might be raised. ABC managed to deliver a brilliant telecast interspersed very infrequently between a merciless onslaught of commercials. Once, within the final 100 miles, ABC returned to the telecast, whereupon host Brent Musberger encouraged us to come back to them after another commercial break. What? A commercial break as a follow-up to a commercial break? While that was the most egregious example, ABC routinely went to commercial after within 5 minutes of a previous commercial break. “Side by side,” or not, in the age of the DVR, you’re playing with fire. Sponsors beware: frustrated viewers are learning their lessons.
Thumbs down Target Chip Ganassi Racing; Thumbs up Panther Racing. Target Chip Ganassi had the fastest cars off the trailer when the Speedway opened for practice, had the fastest cars most of the entire month, had the fastest cars on race day, and had the fastest cars loaded back onto the trailers last night, all to finish just 5th (Scott Dixon) and 12th (Dario Franchitti). We saw the team conserve fuel early in the race, through most every stint, only to seemingly abandon the strategy for the final stint.
While the seat here is much different than the seat on pit wall, it would appear that the book on fuel strategy has been written by Panther Racing. In each of the last two years, they’ve had their driver conserve fuel early in the final stint, knowing two things: 1) if a yellow flag comes out, they’re right there in it at the end, and 2) if a yellow flag doesn’t come out, they’re one of the very, very few right there at the end. They narrowly missed last year with Wheldon and were even closer this year with Hildebrand.
Thumbs up, IndyCar officials. Still think the double-wide restarts are unnecessary, as we’ve seen loads of action over the years. However, if double-wide you must, having drivers start accelerating in Turn 4 is the right call over the front straight, just 900 feet from the start finish line. That Saturday decision proved to be the right one, and I’m certain the majority of the shops are thankful that their cars came back straight, with all four corners on them.
Interesting thought turns to next year and the reintroduction of turbos and “turbo lag.” Hammering the throttle at low speeds brings an uneven power band and torque path, resulting in peculiar handling characteristics in a car set up to turn left. One need only to ask Kevin Cogan about the 1982 race to learn about the dangers.
Thumbs sideways, the IndyCar season. The Indianapolis 500 is the crown jewel of the IndyCar series and, as such, is a much needed catalyst to build fan interest in the rest of the season. ABC did the sport no favors with the commercial-thon on Sunday. But, maybe the series, its teams and drivers did? Does attention wane toward NASCAR and Formula 1, or, even worse yet, baseball? Time will tell, although this morning I can tell you I’m more interested in the Formula 1 circus returning to Canada in two weeks hence than I am about the IndyCar traditional follow up at the Milwaukee Mile.
Thumbs up, Indianapolis Motor Speedway ticket renewal process. Online ordering made easy. Just hate spending my $600 for 4 Paddock Penthouse seats 364 days in advance. If there’s one thing the Hulman George families know, it’s good cash flow management. Touché.
Throttle down on Twitter @RayHartjen.
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