The Starting Grid for the 93rd Indianapolis 500 (Race Thread)

[FIRE]

Disappointing race.

[RichardRenes]

2 broken vertebrae, no leasions. He'll be ok

[foreversideways]

Great race, really pleased for Helio

[foreversideways]

Originally Posted by JagtechOhio

Maybe I got it wrong, I thought the pit strategy by Briscoe's crew was intended to get him back on track to run with Helio as wingman/ drafting partner.That's the way it worked out.

Dario's miscue was his fault: the RF man didn't wave him out, nor did he get cleared on the radio, and the fuel man had not started to pull out when DF did.

"Hanging on in quiet desperation..." is a line from the song "Time", by the English band Pink Floyd. If it's veiwed as an insult, it applies to me as well: English racing and road cars are the only thing this American has made a living on for the last 30 years. Still hanging on here, thank you.

My hope for the next Indy 500? How about Mr. Hamilton dropping in for, say, a drive in a third Ganassi car? Having the boys build him a McLaren Indy car would be asking too much, but an even bigger treat.

One more time, thanks to Mr. George, Dalara, and the SAFER barrier designers. This great month of May would have been a disaster otherwise.

Sorry, I didn't know that about Pink Floyd, thanks for pointing it out, I am happy for Lewis to stay where he is so that Alex Lloyd (good strong race yesterday) can get in a third Ganassi car if they ever get the money. Enjoyed the race and pleased for Helio

[lnin0]

First let me say the coverage was crap. Why is it IndyCar is the only motorsport with "side by side" coverage? What a joke - like it is some benefit to the fan. It just means the network can shove an extra hour of commercials into a broadcast while the viewers gets to watch a thumb nail of the race with no audio. I could get better coverage on YouTube.

And how many time did the announcers screw up drivers names or stumble over their spotters guide to spit out a name. Sad they couldn't learn something so simple considering there are only 33 drivers. I'd hate to see these guys trying to do an NFL game.

On to the race. I started out a fan of Andretti and Rahal but can those kids not just suck it up and take some of the responsibility for their actions? What is with all the pouting, name calling and always blaming someone else. Granted, Marco had more of an excuse than Rahal but how many times was Marco that idiot riding someone off the track? Like the pot calling the kettle black, so to speak. A mature driver is always thinking about everyone - not just himself. Rahal....who was even near that you are blaming someone for that? Come on kids, you have the namesake and everyone is looking for you to be successful, but when you are not, at least be graceful about it.

While I am talking about young drivers, how about a big huge fine for Mario. Standing out on the track and pulling that tired stunt no matter who was at fault. Then going to chase down Marco after he is released from medical. That reporter should have point blank called him out. The WORLD saw the replay over and over and YOU clearly did not hold your line...put these drivers in check although I am sure it would have made better 'news' if he did go down and confront Marco.

All these kids should talk to Danica because I think she is finally learning what racing is about. Aside from just being fast it is about cool nerves. I also think she was realizing all the pouting and bs was hurting her reputation on top of not helping her driving. Kudos to Danica for a cool drive and third place. And how about Danica giving PT a shout out in her VS interview...was that a dig or does she really like the guy?

Power was another one that impressed. Stayed calm and collected and took a top 10 in the end. It is a shame that he does not have a full time ride because I think Power and Servia are two former CC drivers that are head and shoulders above. Sad break for Servia in the Rahal/Letterman car. I think he would have been top 10 easily. It had such a hot retro livery as well.

PT can obviously still drive but, man, was that car he had a clunker. Hopefully they get him a few upgrades when he comes out for Canada. Still not sure why a dude with all sorts of oval and road experience is doing reality TV shows over a full time ride. Outside of the big three teams you could throw a dart and hit a drive less skilled than PT.

Can't say I was surprised about much else. Dario's miscue was a bit surprising because he basically lost the race right there. Disappointed Briscoe had all the issues and never got back on the right page.

Finally, Helio creates the perfect "Hollywood" story for the IRL and the first thing they do is try to stop him from the most iconic PR they can get - him climbing the wall. WTF are you thinking IRL? ...I won't even get into the fact Helio is 'coming back' from criminal accusations and not an injury / illness. So in my eyes his Hollywood story is more akin to Micheal Vick returning to the NFL more than the likes of Lance Armstrong returning after cancer.

[foreversideways]

I thought that for racing guys the commentating was poor, it was so bad i was calling the incidents and plays before they were. I always think commentators should remember the old maxim."Put Brain in Gear before Mouth"

[Hazard]

Meira will be out for 4-6 months after his collision with Matos.

Expected to be replaced by his temporary team mate AJ Foyt IV for Milwaukee.

After surviving that fire...damn unlucky.

[cos]

Originally Posted by Hazard

Meira will be out for 4-6 months after his collision with Matos.

Expected to be replaced by his temporary team mate AJ Foyt IV for Milwaukee.

After surviving that fire...damn unlucky.

Robin Miller says Foyt was in talks with Tracy for Milwaukee...

[gomick]

Why dont Foyt talk to Will Power...

[mac]

That is a Memorial Day weekend that Vitor Meira will hope to forget in a hurry. Firstly his team tries to barbecue him - then he leaves the track with broken bones in his back...

I hope he makes a speedy recovery.

As for a replacement, the only guys I think any team owner could seriously consider are Power, Servia and Tracy.

[gomick]

Really was a nasty incident the way his car snapped right & went straight into the wall at such a speed - very lucky young man!

[drdisque]

Will Power is signed with Penske.

The downside of getting to drive a Penske car is that you don't get to drive other people's cars.

Apparently they are already talking to Tracy and if it were up to me, Servia would be on the short list as well.

[gomick]

I dont think Roger would hold Will back if a drive became available...

[foreversideways]

Looks like Penske is going to continue running Will after the next race. How about Chip loaning Alex Lloyd to them.

[Alwaysfirst]

Well Lloyd's supposed to be getting a few more drives this year as well, supposedly on the same kind of basis as Will, especially if Her sponsors a few more races as they were mighty impressed with the coverage that they got at the 500

[foreversideways]

Well i hope they do as they got the sort of publicity marketing guys can only dream of. If they are serious they need to keep the momentum up as i understand from they are getting their product into Target, so there is a nice tie in there.

[Hazard]

Paul Tracy will fill in for Meira at Milwaukee!

[marcus]

I enjoyed the race , some good dicing going on , great pit stratergy and some bone crunching shunts (not that I want to see guys get hurt) I thought for sure Kanaan was not gonna get out of his crash too well but thankfully he looks ok.

is there any follow up on what went wrong with TK's car ? something definately broke.

well done Helio on a great win , can anyone else hear Hollywood calling for a movie deal ???

[BootsOntheSide]

As Five's planned 50-minute coverage was truncated to 20 minutes due to 'overrun' in pre-recorded basketball coveage, I haven't seen much of the race, so I can't comment on Kanaan's crash. Fantastic for Helio to come back so impressively, and a strong result for Danica.