Round 5: The 98th Indianapolis 500, 23 - 25 May, 2014

[canamman]

Originally Posted by Paradise City

Easy for you to say. That's on until 5 or 6 am into Monday morning for us Europeans.

Then make that 2 Red Bulls.

[bjohnsonsmith]

It was that adjustment to reduce downforce on the rear wing that put Dixon into the wall.

A little more horse power will be needed if they are going to surpass the speeds of the mid 1990s, otherwise they getting ther. Ed Carpenter got pole with a speed of 231.067 mph and in 1996 Tony Stewart got pole with a speed of 233.718 mph.

It will be interesting to see how the aero-kits affect the overall performance.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Here's a list of records from this year's race.

http://www.indycar.com/News/2014/05/...00-field-notes

[Teretonga]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

It was that adjustment to reduce downforce on the rear wing that put Dixon into the wall.

A little more horse power will be needed if they are going to surpass the speeds of the mid 1990s, otherwise they getting ther. Ed Carpenter got pole with a speed of 231.067 mph and in 1996 Tony Stewart got pole with a speed of 233.718 mph.

It will be interesting to see how the aero-kits affect the overall performance.

That's an interesting comment about Dixons accident. Mike Hull said it the wing adjustment they made wasn't as severe as Dixon had requested and was not the cause of the accident.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Teretonga

That's an interesting comment about Dixons accident. Mike Hull said it the wing adjustment they made wasn't as severe as Dixon had requested and was not the cause of the accident.

He did say that but the commentary team thought it was downforce related and that's what it looked like to me. I'd like to see the replay again.

[Nikki Katz]

I quite enjoyed Monaco actually. I think this was better though. Really good day for racing. Feel a bit sorry for Carpenter though.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Nikki Katz

I quite enjoyed Monaco actually. I think this was better though. Really good day for racing. Feel a bit sorry for Carpenter though.

I enjoyed Monaco as well. It's shame both races fall on the same day, as I would like to see F1 drivers given the opportunity to compete in the 500, like they did decades ago but maybe that's just a pipe dream?

[D.R.T.]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

He did say that but the commentary team thought it was downforce related and that's what it looked like to me. I'd like to see the replay again.

Im probably putting more weight in Mike Hull's comments than Eddie Cheever and Scott Goodyear.

[Teretonga]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

He did say that but the commentary team thought it was downforce related and that's what it looked like to me. I'd like to see the replay again.

I did consider it was aero related but wondered after Hull's comment if something didn't break simply because where it happened and the way it happened didn't seem to connect with what I'd have expected from low down force.

[Peat]

Great win for RHR. His pass with 4 to go..... Wowzers!

Annoyed with my man, Hinch. That was all on him. He was the only guy in that threesome that could see the other 2 with his own eyes. Carpenter rightly disgusted. He was someone with a car that could have taken it to the Andretti's & Penskes.

KuBu did very well, and also good to see Montoya looking strong.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by D.R.T.

Im probably putting more weight in Mike Hull's comments than Eddie Cheever and Scott Goodyear.

It wouldn't be the first time a team owner/princpal has played down a decision that went wrong.

[bjohnsonsmith]

I found this clip, from Russian sports channel Sport1, of Dixon's crash showing it from several angles. Apart from the shot from Castroneves car, all the others show the car already in mid spin, with the back of the car having stepped out in what looks like a classic case of oversteer, due to lack of downforce. At no time does the car appear to want to take off either.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XoBmLu9wEe0

[MagVanisher]

Wow, thank goodness that there's some highlights posted on Youtube. It was a great race in Indianapolis.

Kudos for RHR for the win!

[IndyMeister]

Originally Posted by MagVanisher

Wow, thank goodness that there's some highlights posted on Youtube. It was a great race in Indianapolis.

All the way through! Great racing under green and a spectacular finish.

Originally Posted by MagVanisher

Kudos for RHR for the win!

He deserved it. But I have to admit I was touched by Helio's post race interview: a degree of sportsmanship that is rarely found. I hope fate has something in stake for him in the future.

[TRspitfirefan]

Great to see Ryan Hunter-Reay get the victory!
I was really hoping to see the race go caution free, but overall it was a great event.
What a drive by Townsend Bell! It was a shame that he was unable to finish.
Bummed that Carpenter and Hinchcliffe were taken out of contention. It looked like Carpenter had one of the best cars in the field. Hinchcliffes three wide pass was just a bit overoptimistic.

Does anyone know what happened to the Pippa Mann entry?
She was running about 23rd and then suddenly dropped several laps.

[TRspitfirefan]

Not much of a Nascar fan these days, but I have to say Kurt Busch was darned impressive.
Fantastic drive for somebody not used to driving these cars.

[fasteric]

Originally Posted by Jacste07

When the indy cars come off of turn 2 or 4, how come they just don't stay on the high side while on the straight away? I notice that they come off on the high side, come down the track towards the middle of the straight away and then go back on the high side when they go into turn 1 and 3.

Indy Cars run with tire stagger (difference in tire diameter between the left side and right side ) and carry a left side weight bias so they naturally move to the left on the straights. Drivers don't want to scrub off speed so they don't counter steer till the next corner comes up
Great win for RHR and Andretti Autosport and a great race for all the fans.

[D.R.T.]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

It wouldn't be the first time a team owner/princpal has played down a decision that went wrong.

It also wouldnt be the first time a casual observer got it wrong from looking solely from the television.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by D.R.T.

It also wouldnt be the first time a casual observer got it wrong from looking solely from the television.

I wouldn't say Eddie Cheever or Scott Goodyear are casual observers.

[codename_47]

Great race, I hope some of the names debuting or returning to the field led to extra attention on Indy this year as the racing was fantastic.
While not quite an Indy500 for the ages, it was solid entertainment, particularly after the first yellow seemed to take things up a gear after the race had settled into a bit of a lull.

But there was no way this thing was going 500 miles without a yellow. Sorry, this is the Indy 500, no prisoners would be taken in the final few laps so even if we'd got to lap 180 or so of green flag racing, then things would've started to happen

Happy that Castroneves didn't get another win to add to his previous 2 (yep, 2002 doesn't count )
RHR was the car to beat in that last segment and it was great he could bring it home.

Classless comments from Ed Carpenter though, I know he thinks because of his privileged upbringing he is the "voice of Indy" and can get away with anything (never really forgiven him for his "Sorry we made the race so boring" after the first DW12 Superspeedway race...idiot) but for him to bring up Hinch's concussion and threaten another one was just poor.
Run on back to stepdaddy ask him to buy you some bigger wingmirrors please. Maybe next time when you can see a crash coming, back out of it, not expect everyone else but you to give way.

Gutted for JPM though, he has this place tamed in whatever he races it seems, its just the pit lane that is hard for him to master!
He's either going through it too fast or incorrectly forced there by the stewards runing either blue riband races or entire championship runs *sigh*
It all falls apart after looking so good at Indy!

Disappointing to hear Bestwick's shrill, nasal whiny tones all over such a great race. Never been a fan.

Aside from all that, hoping this marks the start of a bit of renaissance for the 500.
From the rumours about an increase in horsepower and maybe even a return of the apron that have been bubbling around, it could well be on the up and up

[D.R.T.]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

I wouldn't say Eddie Cheever or Scott Goodyear are casual observers.

Not all. Their suggestion was provided prior to Mike Hull information. They didnt provide any objection from there on.

[Peat]

Originally Posted by codename_47

Maybe next time when you (Carpenter) can see a crash coming, back out of it, not expect everyone else but you to give way.

It never ceases to amaze me how differently people can view the same thing.

I honestly don't know how one could view Carpenter as the one at fault there.

[rustyfan]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

But it didn't take off because it's not flat bottomed like its predecessor.

A bit late, but the reason it didn't take off was because it had scrubbed off enough speed from the spin itself and by scraping along the wall.

I'm surprised it got as much air as it did at all, seeing as it was sliding backwards. Very rare for open-wheel cars to even show airborne tendencies sliding that way; historically it's usually been the side or front that goes up in the air first (for various reasons such as being pushed, hitting debris, wheel-to-wheel contact, uneven surface and so on).

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by rustyfan

A bit late, but the reason it didn't take off was because it had scrubbed off enough speed from the spin itself and by scraping along the wall.

I'm surprised it got as much air as it did at all, seeing as it was sliding backwards. Very rare for open-wheel cars to even show airborne tendencies sliding that way; historically it's usually been the side or front that goes up in the air first (for various reasons such as being pushed, hitting debris, wheel-to-wheel contact, uneven surface and so on).

Having seen the replay of the crash a number of times, I can't really make out where the car's supposed to have left the ground. I posted the clip of the crash here #112 .

[HJJ]

The dynamic finish to yesterday's Indianapolis 500 won by Ryan Hunter-Reay was watched by a bigger audience this year, according to ABC/ESPN. The network reported a national overnight rating of 4.0 for its telecast, up from 3.8 last year.
The Indianapolis Star reports that in Indianapolis, the overnight rating jumped from 9.3 last year to 12.9.

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