Round 11: MAVTV 500. Auto Club Speedway, Fontana, CA. 26-27 June, 2015

[Paradise City]

Briscoe was very, very lucky that his flip didn't pitch him upside down. It seemed to flip every other angle but upside down.

[Starfish Primer]

Originally Posted by Salamus

Yeah, the pack racing was a result of the restarts. Most of the race was good but the end was too much. The first half of the race went green and it was great.

The yellows bring more yellows is a repetitive problem in the Indycar. Not only in ovals, we have seen neverending races in urban and road courses too.

[Burp]

It wasn't pack racing. More like small groups. Vegas was 3wide with only 1 car leglnght between rows and full throttle. At Fontana they had to lift, shift and draft. Power/Sato and Briscoe/RHR were caused by people being squeezed. Happened quite a few times without contact as the drier in the middle lifted. That's the biggest issue. Imo

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Salamus

Most of the race was going well with 2 wide or single file racing and cars passing each other. The end was ridiculous. I don't want to see pack racing, get rid of it Indycar.

I think that's the problem with restarts on ovals. The field will initially bunch up and will then spread out. However, with a lap or so to go, incidents like RH-R and Briscoe can and will happen.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Starfish Primer

The yellows bring more yellows is a repetitive problem in the Indycar. Not only in ovals, we have seen neverending races in urban and road courses too.

This is something that doesn't seem to happen in F1.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Result:

1 Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan. Dallara/Honda. 2h57m40.6179s
2 Tony Kanaan, Chip Ganassi Racing. Dallara/Chevrolet. 0.3157s
3 Marco Andretti, Andretti Autosport. Dallara/Honda. 1.2490s
4 Juan Pablo Montoya, Team Penske. Dallara/Chevrolet. 2.1182s
5 Sage Karam, Chip Ganassi Racing. Dallara/Chevrolet. 2.9539s
6 Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing. Dallara/Chevrolet. 3.6092s
7 James Jakes, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports. Dallara/Honda. 4.9846s
8 Charlie Kimball, Chip Ganassi Racing. Dallara/Chevrolet. 5.3595s
9 Simon Pagenaud, Team Penske. Dallara/Chevrolet. 7.4054s
10 Jack Hawksworth, AJ Foyt Enterprises. Dallara/Honda. 9.5128s
11 Carlos Munoz, Andretti Autosport. Dallara/Honda. 11.6907s
12 Stefano Coletti, KV Racing Technology. Dallara/Chevrolet. 11.9206s
13 Pippa Mann, Dale Coyne Racing. Dallara/Honda. 24.3450s
14 Sebastien Bourdais, KVSH Racing. Dallara/Chevrolet. 25.1511s
15 Ryan Hunter-Reay, Andretti Autosport. Dallara/Honda. Contact
16 Ryan Briscoe, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports. Dallara/Honda. Contact
17 Tristan Vautier, Dale Coyne Racing. Dallara/Honda. 4 Laps
18 Takuma Sato, AJ Foyt Enterprises. Dallara/Honda. Contact
19 Will Power, Team Penske. Dallara/Chevrolet. Contact
20 Gabby Chaves, Bryan Herta Autosport. Dallara/Honda. 13 Laps
21 Josef Newgarden, CFH Racing. Dallara/Chevrolet. Contact
22 Ed Carpenter, CFH Racing. Dallara/Chevrolet. Contact
23 Helio Castroneves, Team Penske. Dallara/Chevrolet. Contact

Four Honda aero-kits and engines in the top 10 finishers and two of those on the podium, hopefully that will make Honda a little happy.

[Marcus666]

With all the respect to the good racing.
I was scared shitless when they were all bunched up in the pack goin back and forth, waiting for an accident to happen.

[Razzzor]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

This is something that doesn't seem to happen in F1.

That's because in F1 the cars can't get within about 0.7sec of one another, or on a bad day, 1-1.5s. Plus the marshals still seem to be okay running out on a green racetrack to pick debris up.

[BudLightJaguar]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

This is something that doesn't seem to happen in F1.

That's true. In F1, SC phase just begins and ends. In the ICS, it's like a domino effect.

Robin Miller's aftermath https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lM8LFynpu0

I'll buy Mr.Miller a bucket of nachos if we ever meet. Bob and Calvin, the IMSA cheerleading coaches, could never do that.

[Nikki Katz]

I know that the racing wasn't as bad as Vegas, but I was still uncomfortable with the end of it. I really hope that gets fixed soon, despite the positives that it seems to have created for Honda.

The crowd just looked horrible. I spent the first half of the race staring at the stands instead of the track. I don't see how the series can possibly survive at these levels. I bet they ignore the concerns about the calendar though.

[BudLightJaguar]

Originally Posted by Nikki Katz

The crowd just looked horrible. I spent the first half of the race staring at the stands instead of the track.

Not just the stands, but the infield RV hookup site looked terrible. Even the former Grand-Am could sell more.

[Burp]

id rather 2015 Fontana than 2015 Texas.

[bjohnsonsmith]

A very interesting and mixed reaction from the drivers, regarding the race.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/119739

[Paradise City]

I thought it was breathtaking that made extraordinary demands on courage. Some draft passes didn't succeed, others did. It wasn't 'easy' racing nor was it trivial.

But it was extraordinarily dangerous and we don't need to lose drivers. And if Briscoe had of flipped the other way.................

As for the lack of attendees. That's the way it is everywhere except street races. That's the way it's always going to be. It's been like that for plus 10 years, it's nothing new. I'm surprised some of you guys are surprised by that.

[fieldodreams79]

Sounds like I missed a good one. Is there a replay that anyone knows of?

I recall this race always being one to see and seemingly be at. Hearing that the stands and grounds were pretty much empty is a great shame, but this is IndyCar. Excellent on track product, excellent drivers with great racing but terrible promotions and poor scheduling means fewer and fewer people see it.

[Paradise City]

Originally Posted by fieldodreams79

Sounds like I missed a good one. Is there a replay that anyone knows of?

I recall this race always being one to see and seemingly be at. Hearing that the stands and grounds were pretty much empty is a great shame, but this is IndyCar. Excellent on track product, excellent drivers with great racing but terrible promotions and poor scheduling means fewer and fewer people see it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cdAZ4w0TMo

[BudLightJaguar]

Originally Posted by fieldodreams79

Excellent on track product, excellent drivers with great racing but terrible promotions and poor scheduling

Excactly like that. During my Toronto visit, I didn't see any kind of promotion in downton. No prints, billboards. Nothing at all. ALMS (and USCC) has had a pit stop demo at Yonge-Dundas Square for many years, IndyCar had nothing.

[HJJ]

Originally Posted by fieldodreams79

Excellent on track product, excellent drivers with great racing but terrible promotions and poor scheduling means fewer and fewer people see it.

Actually, the folks at Cali Speedway promoted the heck out of the race according to a story on Racer earlier in the week offering all kind of deals.

At 1:30 on a Saturday afternoon in So Cal, the entertainment options are many.

The president of the Speedway told Miller that he would have Indycar back only if it was the season ending race and if it was in October.

[fieldodreams79]

Originally Posted by HJJ

Actually, the folks at Cali Speedway promoted the heck out of the race according to a story on Racer earlier in the week offering all kind of deals.

At 1:30 on a Saturday afternoon in So Cal, the entertainment options are many.

The president of the Speedway told Miller that he would have Indycar back only if it was the season ending race and if it was in October.

I am sure the actual speedway owners did, but I was referring to IndyCar themselves. Not sure how I got to Saturday morning before I found out there was an actual race. Perhaps that was a "me problem". Then again as you say, Saturday in June, waaaaaaay too many options.

----------

Thanks to Paradise City, I watched the whole thing last night after I had seen the Robin Miller rant. This was one of his top 5 races he's every seen?! Come on! It was a good show but he was using this description to further his opinion, which I mostly agreed with.

The big deal with this race is that I actually agree with Will Power for perhaps the first time ever. This "racing" is nonsense and if these guys weren't as good as they are, it would have been an absolute disaster and could be if they run this type of race again.

IndyCar rolled the dice on this track and they came out of it without an on track disaster. Attendance was disastrous and not sure about TV ratings, but am willing to bet, they are "typical" or worse.

And Graham was deserving of a penalty during the race; not tomorrow or mid-week. Silly.

[NaBUru38]

Originally Posted by Salamus

Yeah, the pack racing was a result of the restarts. Most of the race was good but the end was too much. The first half of the race went green and it was great.

Originally Posted by Paradise City

I thought it was breathtaking that made extraordinary demands on courage. Some draft passes didn't succeed, others did. It wasn't 'easy' racing nor was it trivial.

Originally Posted by fieldodreams79

Graham was deserving of a penalty during the race; not tomorrow or mid-week. Silly.

Agree.

Originally Posted by Paradise City

As for the lack of attendees. That's the way it is everywhere except street races. That's the way it's always going to be. It's been like that for plus 10 years, it's nothing new. I'm surprised some of you guys are surprised by that.

Not surprised at all, just very worried. And even more that IndyCar executives don't seem the slightest concerned.

Originally Posted by BudLightJaguar

Robin Miller's aftermath https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lM8LFynpu0

I'll buy Mr.Miller a bucket of nachos if we ever meet. Bob and Calvin, the IMSA cheerleading coaches, could never do that.

Robin Miller is not alone.

[fieldodreams79]

Something that's gotten lost in the convo here:
http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2015/0...ar-during-pit/
Please excuse the source; first hit on Google News search.

Any word on the crewman's condition? It looked pretty ugly.

This is the third race this year (I believe the count is correct) where we've had a injury on pit road. This seems to be more common in IndyCar this year than other forms of motorracing.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Razzzor

That's because in F1 the cars can't get within about 0.7sec of one another, or on a bad day, 1-1.5s. Plus the marshals still seem to be okay running out on a green racetrack to pick debris up.

They should try it out with IndyCar but how affective that would be on an oval, after going back to green flag racing, I don't know.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by HJJ

Actually, the folks at Cali Speedway promoted the heck out of the race according to a story on Racer earlier in the week offering all kind of deals.

At 1:30 on a Saturday afternoon in So Cal, the entertainment options are many.

The president of the Speedway told Miller that he would have Indycar back only if it was the season ending race and if it was in October.

Having the season finale in October's not going to happen with Mark Miles in charge because he thinks the NFL will clash with IndyCar. I don't think it's occurred to him that someone can be an NFL fan and an IndyCar fan.

[Paradise City]

While it certainly could do better -- no argument there -- there's no marketing solution to this. Indycar dropped off the radar for too long.

It finds itself now as a "new series" for all intents and purposes, trying to project all new heroes that the public just aren't interested in and can't compete in a congested market place. Doesn't matter how fancy they get with their marketing; that ain't going change the basic equation here.

Indy 500 will give it enough momentum to keep things ticking over much as it is. There will always be an Indycar. We just have radically readjust our expectations that as to how popular Indycar can be.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Paradise City

While it certainly could do better -- no argument there -- there's no marketing solution to this. Indycar dropped off the radar for too long.

It finds itself now as a "new series" for all intents and purposes, trying to project all new heroes that the public just aren't interested in and can't compete in a congested market place. Doesn't matter how fancy they get with their marketing; that ain't going change the basic equation here.

Indy 500 will give it enough momentum to keep things ticking over much as it is. There will always be an Indycar. We just have radically readjust our expectations that as to how popular Indycar can be.

Not having a marketing solution, isn't going to attract advertisers and sponsors and is something that's plagued the IRL from its inception.