St. Petersburg Streets Race Weekend Thread

[mp356a]

Boy there's a ton of talent in this series now.

[Stefvh]

One race, one win. Impressive.

[NAC]

Dam again, missed the finish. Well done to Graham

[Stefvh]

Originally Posted by cos

Castroneves by the looks of it.... also, since when was Viso known as "EJ"??

edit: with that yellow Rahal may be able to stick it out, if the race is cut to 2 hours!

Ernesto José. But never heard that EJ before.

[indycool]

Congrats to Graham......spun early, climbed back into the chase, good pit and fuel strategy and strong at the end....excellent win.

[gttouring]

well i must say Graham is awesome, and great to see he did this earning a ride not on his dad's team.
a rahal andretti battle will go on again for decades it seems!

but 1 AJ Foyt IV has no business in a race car- he is worse or as bad as Milka Duno, 2) ed Carpenter should go back to sprints and stay there, he is another road hazard...
3) Danica- go to skip barber so a season and learn road racing, she was a disaster all day.

MP356A- you are right Indy car is only going to rise again..

[JohnSSC]

Congrats to Graham on an excellent race!!

While much had been made of the possibility of "carnage" in the first oval race, the possibility for "carnage" in a street race in the wet was very real. When you consider most of the IRL guys had little recent road course experience and even less experience in the wet, they did a terrific job today up and down the grid.

I was thinking back to the Mont Tremblant race last season when they were dropping like flies - this group kept their heads down and for the most part kept the bonehead moves to a minimum.

And while I would agree that Danica was not at her best she still recovered to tenth. Aj IV, well, not much I can say but he is no way as bad as Milka and Ed Carpenter did a terrific job for someone who likely has NEVER raced in the wet before today.

So before you start pointing fingers at "bad" drivers, try to keep some perspective as to relative experience under the conditions.

[JackDaMaster]

Well done to Graham for an outstanding win.

I just hope it doesn't turn into something like NASCAR where people like Graham and other CCWS refugees are only competitive on road courses.

[Pro Racer]

never seen that comming on his IndyCar debut, well done Graham. Tony's St Pete duck continues.

[lnin0]

Originally Posted by JackDaMaster

Well done to Graham for an outstanding win.

I just hope it doesn't turn into something like NASCAR where people like Graham and other CCWS refugees are only competitive on road courses.

The oval experience will come. Give the teams a chance to learn the car as setups have a much to do with ovals as the driving. The drivers will be up to speed on the ovals before the year is out.

For now the street/roads are what they know best. Like the broadcast said, IndyCar has run 11 non-oval races ever. These teams did 14 last year alone.

I think the people you need to worry about are all the young IndyCar drivers with near exclusive oval experience. If the schedule expands like they are saying and is more of a balance between ovals and non-ovals then the ones in trouble are your Patricks, Foytes and Capenters. Those 'refugees' will only be competitive on ovals.

[djb]

this was my first time watchng a irl race, interesting enuf, vry nice to see the "rookies" doing well...

I have to say though, the front end shape of these cars are not up there with the prettiest cars ever imo. This is a judgement onmy part, but the pointy needle look doesnt doit for me...not a valid comment vis-a-vis my watching my first irl race? Anyway, just a commment and I would have to say that Castro Neves's comments post race were nice, that he expected good teams to do well no matter what and that it will be a "cool" year with the new competition.

I do admit that the politics of the irl and the turnleftthing of it never had me interested before, but I am probably a good example of a regular fan appreciating the influx of talent that hopefully make races and teh seasons as interesting as before the split, with the unique balance of ovals and road courses that demand a unique blend of team and driver talents.

heres to a good season and beyond

[fieldodreams79]

congrats to Graham
that kid can wheel 'em!
nice to see a "former" CCWS driver win the first road/street course race of the year right ahead of the 2 time defending winner.

hmmmmmmmm......

[foreversideways]

Stayed up to watch it over here in the UK and really enjoyed it. The weather certainly mixed the pack up and Rahal's strategy certainly helped him take the flag first. I am no expert but i could not see the sense in TK HC coming in for a splash of fuel early on. It appeared to put them both at a disadvantage. I think the unification looks promising and the Champcar guys are clearly going to be competitive on the road course.

[nickyf1]

yay, I dindt expect a CCWS 'refugee' to win so early. I'm gonna go watch the highlights video on the website.

[tanalised]

a good race and results in the youngest ever winner

[D.R.T.]

How old was Phillipe when he won at Surfers

[Blitzer]

20 years, two months and 29 days

[gomick]

been outback oz for the last week so this post is a bit late, but, great to see 26 cars on the grid

congrats to graham rahal on his race win - ryan briscoe