Helio wins - CART domination - INDY 500

[domaza]

Helio has just won INDY 500 - race that was dominated by CART drivers and Tony. First 6 places to CART drivers and Tony. 1st IRL guy in 7th place. This was a good race for CART - CART drivers showed where the real guys are driving - old known truth actually Helio 1st, Gil 2nd, Micheal 3rd. 1-2 to Penske - oh my GOD! So your opinions!?

[TimD]

Way to go, Helio.

That was excellent - once they got down to doing some real racing. And I am delighted for Roger Penske.

[SL]

Thanks for the updates Domaza. You were quicker than ESPN website

Well done to the cart guy's, I bet Montoya was wishes he was at Indy today rather than Monaco where he crashed out early.

Simon

[R]

I'm sad Robbie Buhl didn't finish. He ran second there for a while - he could have won!

Apart from that, this of course goes to show CART is stronger, but we knew that already, didn't we?

Anyway, congratulations to Helio and mr. Penske on this result!

Soon Liz will be in to tell us how many times Mikey was mentioned!

[domaza]

I'm just hearing the news from YAHOO! Sports and everyone is talking about CART guys no word about IRL drivers... It makes me happy. Helio is just giving his interview... This guy looks to be happy He is celebrating! This thing is wonderful... Will Helio do his climbing what he loves to do when he wins in CART!?

[wodonnell]

Not only was the top IRL guy in 7th, he didn't even do the distance!
(Who was 7th BTW?)

Have been trying to follow this on Yahoo!
The commentary was a bit dodgy and for the last hour the only pictures I got were of Gasoline Alley

On top of that, the online timing on the indy500 site seemed to stop at the delay and not resume.

I switched off during the delay and when I reconnected I heard the guy say that Bruno was in the top 4. He was in about 15th the last time I had seen! I thought he must have been talking about one of the IRL drivers.

It sounded like Michael put in a big charge towards the end before dropping back.

I was impressed by Tony. Has he done a lot of open wheel races before?

[Jay]

A rather boring race, (unless you like long delays), but a great result for Cart!

He stopped the car at the start/finish line and the entire team climbed the catch fence! Way to go Helio!

Once again the Cart drivers whiped the floor with the IRL drivers, reaffirming which series has the better drivers, and teams for that matter.

I am also very happy for Bruno Junquiera for finishing ahead of Tony Stewart in 5th. And this guy wasn't even going to get a ride! I just wished we could have heard from him after the race.

And if they call it "motorracing's greatest spectacle" again I am going to puke! Watching a guy puke in public could be considered a spectacle too. If this race is motorracing's greatest, then that doesn't say much for motorsport.

Forget Indy, Michigan and Fontana are better.

[jb]

Liz sure called it right: Helio spin or win!!!!
YAYYYYYYYYYYY!

Eddie Cheever, shut up!

[Crash Test]

A big there there, there there, there there is in order for the IRL.... I really do feel sorry for them....

I tink Salazar came 7th.

Tony Stewart used to race in the IRL for Menard before he picked up the Nascar drive.

Jay Jay Jay..... do you have no sense of history? The race dates back to 1911, and I wont start on how many fantastic races there have been over the years etc etc...

Kudos to Helio and Penske

[Crash Test]

Anotehr thing, I love the way that Helio gave the TV people the irrates by stopping out on the track. Fantastic stuff! How far were the veins on the Officail popping out of his head as he screamed the Penske team to hurry up?? And what's better, he then takes the next lap around r-e-a-l-l-y s-l-o-w-l-y. And top it all off it pours the milk all over himself.

Helio- your a legend!

[Liz]

HURRAH! I was at the casino and we stopped by the sports bar just in time to see Helio come across the line and go up the fence, followed by everyone but Roger Penske himself!

I hope that settles the question of whether the Champ Car boys or the Brand X Racers are the best. And if one more Brand Xer tells me that "of course the CART boys are faster, THEY HAVE MORE MONEY," I will scream. What are they saying, the Champ Car boys offer the Brand Xers $50 to move over and let them by? That'd be a season's sponsorship for some of them.

Extra carload of crying towels for A.J. Foyt and Tony George. Buy Kleenex stock - with the top guys being Brazilians and a NASCAR driver, I daresay there will be a damp pillow in the George household tonight. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I LOVE IT!

P.S. Mikey continues to hold the record for most races at Indy WITHOUT EVER WINNING EVEN ONCE.

[MaxSport]

Liz, I think you are wrong. Tony and Bob Reif are probably pretty happy tonight. The Indy 500 is back. Teams like Penske and guys like Andretti were there, and on Tony G's terms.

It was a good day for INDYCAR racing. The CART debacle in Texas was not a good day. The IRL will make up for that in a couple of weeks.

I would advise anyone to short CART stock. Based on things I have heard, Indycar will in one way or another be one big happy family again soon. Today was a big step toward seeing that happen.

[domaza]

Car Driver C/E/T Lap Laps Down Time Down Lap Time Lap Speed Result
68 Castroneves, Helio D/O/F 200 0 0.0000 43.5878 206.480 Running
66 de Ferran, Gil D/O/F 200 0 1.7373 44.8413 200.708 Running
39 Andretti, Michael D/O/F 200 0 5.7359 43.5228 206.788 Running
44 Vasser, Jimmy G/O/F 200 0 13.9848 43.3954 207.395 Running
50 Junqueira, Bruno G/O/F 200 0 27.2561 43.2532 208.077 Running
33 Stewart, Tony G/O/F 200 0 37.5611 43.1950 208.357 Running
14 Salazar, Eliseo D/O/F 199 1 8.8401 42.9062 209.760 Running
88 Dare, Airton G/O/F 199 1 24.8155 44.8345 200.738 Running
98 Boat, Billy D/O/F 199 1 26.6136 43.3682 207.525 Running
21 Giaffone, Felipe G/O/F 199 1 36.9417 43.6969 205.964 Running
10 McGehee, Robby D/O/F 199 1 38.7579 43.6978 205.960 Running
12 Calkins, Buzz D/O/F 198 2 10.9006 43.7822 205.563 Running
5 Luyendyk, Arie G/O/F 198 2 29.7747 41.8191 215.213 Running
4 Hornish Jr, Sam D/O/F 196 4 7.2070 42.4784 211.872 Running
24 Buhl, Robbie G/I/F 196 4 17.3881 44.1580 203.814 Running
28 Dismore, Mark D/O/F 195 5 3.4611 45.8144 196.445 Running
2 Ray, Greg D/O/F 192 8 4.2968 47.9925 187.529 Running
91 Lazier, Buddy D/O/F 192 8 34.4610 44.2197 203.529 Running
16 Witherill, Cory G/O/F 187 13 3.4286 47.3649 190.014 Running
9 Schroeder, Jeret D/O/F 187 13 35.2629 44.2138 203.556 Running
41 Gordon, Robby D/O/F 184 16 - - - Running
77 Lazier, Jaques G/O/F 183 17 13.4727 43.2501 208.092 Running
99 Hamilton, Davey D/O/F 182 18 - - - Engine
35 Ward, Jeff G/O/F 168 32 4.2478 43.4401 207.182 Running
84 Beechler, Donnie D/O/F 160 40 - - - Running
51 Cheever Jr, Eddie D/I/F 108 92 - - - Electrical
6 Herb, Jon D/O/F 104 96 - - - Accident
36 Gregoire, Stephan G/O/F 86 114 - - - Oil Leak
49 Minassian, Nicolas G/O/F 74 126 - - - Gearbox
3 Unser Jr, Al G/O/F 16 184 - - - Accident
15 Fisher, Sarah D/O/F 7 193 - - - Accident
52 Goodyear, Scott D/I/F 7 193 - - - Accident
8 Sharp, Scott D/O/F 0 200 - - - Accident

[Nuvolari]

Heard a clip of Buddy Lazier declare that "they've got some great teams over there but we've got some great teams over here, too."

Yawn.

[bella]

we mustn't forget bruno. what a drive.

was i the only one who had to avoid all the pre-race pants because it made me feel sick? it was really cringey.

but YAAAY! HELIO!!

[Liz]

It is well to note that not only were the top six guys not Brand X Racing guys, but THEY WERE THE ONLY ONES ON THE LEAD LAP. We not only beat them, we skunked them! AND - not one of our guys crashed.

No doubt The Man That Ruined Indy and his minions will try to put the best spin on the outcome that they can. But the fact remains that our guys came out of this looking like winners, and their guys came out looking like ... well, like Brand X.

Way to go, guys!

[Nuvolari]

It's almost painful, isn't it?

[Liz]

It does hurt to have your illusions shattered in front of a world wide audience, at that.

Any doubt that The Man That Ruined Indy has created a league of kiddie cars pretending to be racers is now a little hard to sustain.

[jb]

I've still got a huge smile going, inside and out. Yay Yay Yay!

One credit to those guys: AJ managed to remain composed during the Star Spangled Banner

[Liz]

And considering that this was the worst rendition of the SSB since Roseanne Barr tried it, that was a masterful effort. (Why does the USA insist on picking the worst people it can find to murder their anthem? Don't they like their anthem?)

[MaxSport]

"We" skunked them ? Liz, you really are foolish. You had nothing to do with it.

Team Penske, and the people who count, don't see it the way you do.
They know that they need Indy. Tony knows that he needs them.

Kurt Maxwell
MaxSport
Carmel,IN.

[Liz]

Agree that "Tony" aka The Man That Ruined Indy, needs us.

Disagree that "We need THEM". [Note: This is the editorial "we" and if you have ever had any loyalty to any sports team anywhere, you understand that this use of the word "we" is not to be taken literally. It is an expression of solidarity only.]

Yes, the former Indy 500 was, once upon a time, mainly before satellite television and cable, the biggest motor sport event in AMERICAN racing. And I say WAS, because I believe that it IS no longer the case. Any Formula One race anywhere draws more viewers and attendees than the Indy 500 Brand X Racing League does now. In fact, any NASCAR race outdraws it, including the one that ran immediately after it concluded. We in Champ Cars need a better television package, more races outside the United States, and a marketing crew who understands the international scene and does not intend to try to turn Champ Cars into NASCAR (or try). We don't need to cave in to The Man That Ruined Indy and all race kiddie cars together under his less than able, somewhat narrowly focused baton. Once a year we can come in and kick their butts good for them, if they want us to, and then go on about our business and let them go about theirs.

We don't need Brand X Racing.

And when I see Roger Penske this summer, I will be sure to ask him what he thinks about the subject and report it truthfully on this very age.

[mac]

The CART cars are so much faster and more technical than the IRL cars, that I can't help but feel the CART teams find their transition to Indy (dare I say it) quite easy.

This was my first time watching the Indy500. I've been following CART in depth since '96. Indy's usually on at terrible hours in Australia and features drivers I have never heard much about (IRL isn't televised in Australia). I decided I would stay up and watch it this year and barrack for the CART guys. I found the actual race reasonably interesting. However, I can't help but feel it would have been a whole heap more exciting with Zanardi, Tracy, Brack, DaMatta, Kanaan and the rest of the CART guys dicing on that awesome track.

[Liz]

It would be - if we could have got the IRL people out of the way.

That is the reason for the split, isn't it? The fact that the IRL uses spec cars that are technologically simple, to keep the cost down, and Champ Cars uses sophisticated cars that are just better all round for racing but cost accordingly? Not to mention that The Man That Ruined Indy wants to run only ovals (because it's American) and does not like foreigners in his races ...

Which begs the question of why he has invited Formula One into his Inner Sanctum - a road race using the most technologically sophisticated cars in racing, and totally made up of foreigners....

[Neil C]

I have never seen such a bunch of sore winners. Liz, you can scream if you want, but money does matter!

I for one, have come to appreciate the IRL more over the past two seasons. I am glad they are running against CART head to head because I will cheer the day when a "no name" driver beats the spoiled brats in CART.

Congratulations to Helio, a deserving champion. But he is lucky he wasnt penalized for blocking at the restart.

Congratulations to Robbie Buhl, too. An excellent show in spite of the fact that his name was barely mentioned until he was in second place.