Bombardier Learjet 550

[drdisque]

It's all relative with Viso and HVM. Newman/Haas and KV have done all their development on their big oval package and have drastically improved it, meaning that HVM is now behind them. Sarah Fisher only runs the ovals, so they focus only on those and are pretty good at them, so that's another car HVM is behind. Luczo Dragon ran all of them last year and are well funded, so they have good setups for them as well.

That means that HVM is forced to run back with Foyt, Coyne, and Conquest - the 3 teams that haven't been able to invest considerably in their intermediate oval packages.

[DanicaFan]

Congrats to Helio Castroneves for the win.

[DanicaFan]

Here are the final results...

1. #3 Helio Castroneves
2. #6 Ryan Briscoe
3. #9 Scott Dixon
4. #26 Marco Andretti
5. #10 Dario Franchitti
6. #7 Danica Patrick
7. #4 Dan Wheldon
8. #11 Tony Kanaan
9. #20 Ed Carpenter
10. #5 Mario Moraes
11. #06 Robert Doornbos
12. #2 Raphael Matos
13. #43 Tomas Scheckter
14. #34 Alex Tagliani
15. #18 Justin Wilson
16. #21 Ryan Hunter-Reay
17. #67 Sarah Fisher
18. #98 Jaques Lazier
19. #24 Mike Conway
20. #14 AJ Foyt IV
21. #27 Hideki Mutoh
22. #02 Graham Rahal
23. #23 Milka Duno
24. #13 EJ Viso

[drdisque]

Very much an "old school" race. Big stretch of green-flag racing in the middle where the leaders were able to lap up to the 9th place car.

I enjoyed the race and I'm glad it was broken up towards the end to give the other drivers a chance to see if they had anything. Evidently Helio did.

[racer69]

Originally Posted by drdisque

I enjoyed the race and I'm glad it was broken up towards the end to give the other drivers a chance to see if they had anything. Evidently Helio did.

Without sounding like an Aussie with sour grapes, doesn't the fact Briscoe pulled out an 8s lead show what the others had??

I'm still wondering the reason they threw a yellow on lap 150, and why it stayed yellow for 10 laps?? Seemed pretty convenient....

And Scott Dixon was right on the money at the end in his interview, we are seeing the consequences of a spec series....

[JagtechOhio]

racer69... I couldn't agree more. Both you and Dixon are stating the obvious for some of us more skeptical fans.

I'm all for sweeping off marbles at some point in the race to improve safety, but that is a step that could be predetermined if it is necessary. A scheduled competition yellow at lap XXX eliminates any question about the reason or the timing for racers and watchers. I didn't hear a reason for the caution period announced either, and presumed it was because of a fast car on the track.

Maybe it was to pick up wrappers from all the hotdogs Shaq ate during the first 100 laps ?

One other thought while I'm here...I had high hopes for Marco when he started his IRL career, and thought he could be one of the bright new faces of American racing. He's beginning to come off to me as an underperforming whiner.

[Tim Northcutt]

Originally Posted by drdisque

Very much an "old school" race. Big stretch of green-flag racing in the middle where the leaders were able to lap up to the 9th place car.

I enjoyed the race and I'm glad it was broken up towards the end to give the other drivers a chance to see if they had anything. Evidently Helio did.

Helio won it in the pits, not on the track...He had the first pit stall, which gave him an excellent "out' following his last two stops, and his crew is the fastest in the Series (They've proven it in the annual Pit Stop Competition in recent years).

Both Helio and Briscoe said basically what i just typed in their post-race comments...it wasn't that Briscoe had slow stops, but he had to go around Dixon to get out of his stall...Helio had a clean shot and could shoot straight out...in a close stop, advantage Helio...

On the racetrack, everyone admitted that Briscoe had everyone covered, because he was as good in traffic as he was in clean air, but his car and Helio's are pretty evenly matched, so he couldn't get by him in those last laps...

[Tim Northcutt]

Originally Posted by JagtechOhio

racer69... I couldn't agree more. Both you and Dixon are stating the obvious for some of us more skeptical fans.

I'm all for sweeping off marbles at some point in the race to improve safety, but that is a step that could be predetermined if it is necessary. A scheduled competition yellow at lap XXX eliminates any question about the reason or the timing for racers and watchers. I didn't hear a reason for the caution period announced either, and presumed it was because of a fast car on the track.

Maybe it was to pick up wrappers from all the hotdogs Shaq ate during the first 100 laps ?

One other thought while I'm here...I had high hopes for Marco when he started his IRL career, and thought he could be one of the bright new faces of American racing. He's beginning to come off to me as an underperforming whiner.

They did state on the telecast that it was a "debris" caution....I don't think the IRL "rigged" it to make the race closer...FWIW...

I do concur on your take on Marco, especially after his post-race comments about going wheel-to-wheel with Danica in those final laps....They were racing for position, for cryin' out loud!!! He raced kanaan hard in the 2008 Indy 500 that caused kanaan to loop his car and crash out at about lap 100, and his take was the opposite of last nights comments...At indy in 2008, he is a "racer" regardless of whether or not it is his teammate being passed...last night, Danica wasn't a "team player" because she wouldn't let him pass for the position....

Grow up, Marco...You're a whiney little brat...

[drdisque]

Helio may have gotten the lead in the pits, but his car was good enough in the last stint that Briscoe couldn't even mount a challenge.

[NAC]

Originally Posted by Tim Northcutt

They did state on the telecast that it was a "debris" caution....I don't think the IRL "rigged" it to make the race closer...FWIW.

This is what I dont like about IRL. That caution should not have come out and Briscoe should have walked away with it (he deserved it). Where the hell was the debris? We never saw anyone clean up anything. To me it was a bad call.

[Tim Northcutt]

Originally Posted by drdisque

Helio may have gotten the lead in the pits, but his car was good enough in the last stint that Briscoe couldn't even mount a challenge.

I agree, drdisque...Briscoe said that their cars were pretty evenly matched...Briscoe built his lead because he was better in traffic than anyone else and could pass high or low all night long...

To quote Helio, "I drove it like I stole it" and he did the same thing at Indy in the final 20-30 laps...Briscoe just didn't have any answers for Helio in those final laps.

[DanicaFan]

I would also have to say that is the best Ive seen Marco drive in a long time. I was glad to see him get a top 5. Let's hope he can carry this momentum into the rest of the season.

As for getting upset with Danica, that wasnt right. She did nothing wrong. It was clean racing. Like she said, she isnt going to just give up a spot. No driver would.

[Andy77]

Originally Posted by NAC

This is what I dont like about IRL. That caution should not have come out and Briscoe should have walked away with it (he deserved it). Where the hell was the debris? We never saw anyone clean up anything. To me it was a bad call.

German comentator called it "marshals break". Seriously, there was no debris and no safety crew rolling around somewhere to collect it either.

[drdisque]

Originally Posted by Andy77

German comentator called it "marshals break". Seriously, there was no debris and no safety crew rolling around somewhere to collect it either.

You have awfully strong binoculars if you can see everything that's going on during a caution period all the way from Germany.

[D.R.T.]

Originally Posted by Tim Northcutt

They did state on the telecast that it was a "debris" caution....I don't think the IRL "rigged" it to make the race closer...FWIW...

It did seem all a little convenient in the end. We all understand the danger of debris on ovals but no camera or commentator was able to pick up the offending item.

For Briscoe to lose the race in the fashion that he did would be a concern for the IRL, Dixon touched on some of the issues facing the IRL in the short term.

[JagtechOhio]

"Marshals' Break", I like that. Is that written into the contract, or did somebody have to take a whiz? Briscoe got ripped off.

In NASCAR, the trick was to tear off a piece of roll bar padding and throw it out of the car. Debris my ass.

[racer69]

Its not the first dubious debris caution, nor will it be the last...

but

Why was the caution out for 10+ laps???


drdisque & Tim - I don't think anyone is arguing Helio did his bit at the end, its more about the fact

a) the guy who built up an 8s lead was never passed on the track
b) it was another race won in the pits as these days passing seemingly can't often be done on the track

[F3L]

Originally Posted by Tim Northcutt

Grow up, Marco...You're a whiney little brat...

Mario is the greatest. Michael was a great driver but one wonders about everything else while Marco well..he is a whiney little brat.

[Yannick]

Dubious caution periods for nothing at all do kind of ring like what is troubling soccer regularly: manipulation of sports bets.

I'm not saying that there wasn't a real reason for this caution period, but somehow, it remains obvious that by the time the yellow hit the track, all suspense on the outcome of the race had gone.

As for Marco VS Danica: it's obvious that Mrs Patrick is the leading contender of Team AGR in the points standings so she surely got the right to defend her position against her team mate.

[Tim Northcutt]

Originally Posted by NAC

This is what I dont like about IRL. That caution should not have come out and Briscoe should have walked away with it (he deserved it). Where the hell was the debris? We never saw anyone clean up anything. To me it was a bad call.

Here is the IRL's account of the "Debris Caution."

Link:

http://www.indycar.com/news/?story_id=14285