Texas -Firestone 550 Race Thread

[DanicaFan]

Race 7 of 16

Race - Firestone 550

Location - Texas Motor Speedway, Fort Worth, TX

Date - Saturday, June 9th

Time & TV Schedule - Pre-Race Show - 8:00PM Eastern , Green Flag - Approx. 8:15PM Eastern- NBC Sports Network

Course Type - 1.5 Mile Oval

Distance - 228 Laps / 342 Miles (550km)

Practice Sessions -

Friday, June 8th - 1:30-2:45PM & 7:45-8:15PM Eastern
Saturday, June 9th Systems Check - 2:20-2:25PM Eastern

Qualifications - Friday, June 8th -4:30 -6:00PM Eastern


Texas Motor Speedway Track Facts

Length - 1.5 Miles
Banking - 24 degrees in Turns & 5 degrees on straights



2011 Twin 275's Race Information

Race 1 Winner -Dario Franchitti
Race 1 Pole Sitter - Alex Tagliani -215.186mph
Time Of Race - 54 minutes & 47 seconds
Average Speed- 181.649 mph
Cautions - 1 for 10 laps
Margin Of Victory -.053 seconds
Lead Changes - 6

Race 2 Winner - Will Power
Race 2 Pole Sitter - Tony Kanaan (By Draw)
Time Of Race - 48 minutes & 9 seconds
Average Speed - 206.693 mph
Cautions - None
Margin Of Victory - .947 seconds
Lead Changes - 8

[DanicaFan]

[HaydenFan]

Glad to get rid of the 2 race format from last season. It was stupid. Not my favorite race, but I think this race should be close. Never can really tell who will win. But saying that, I think it's Ganassi's game. They went 1-2 in Indy, and the Honda's seem to have the fuel advantage on the ovals.

[NaBUru38]

It seems like I will have to watch the race on Sunday or Monday. That will be tricky, because in late Saturday and early Sunday I want to follow Le Mans, and most websites mix news on both.

[DanicaFan]

[DanicaFan]

Originally Posted by HaydenFan

Glad to get rid of the 2 race format from last season. It was stupid. Not my favorite race, but I think this race should be close. Never can really tell who will win. But saying that, I think it's Ganassi's game. They went 1-2 in Indy, and the Honda's seem to have the fuel advantage on the ovals.

I couldnt agree more. That draw for starting positions on the grid for race 2 was real bad. It was another Bernard gimmick.

[HaydenFan]

Originally Posted by DanicaFan

I couldnt agree more. That draw for starting positions on the grid for race 2 was real bad. It was another Bernard gimmick.

During the draw, the drivers were saying how ridiculous it was.

I have mixed feelings about the television coverage. So outside the opening race, the pre-race has been reduced to a 15 minute introduction? While, I'll admit I am okay with it. The NASCAR pre-race that is almost as long as the race is over kill, I'd like to see some interviews where the driver isn't on the grid with his/her helmet on.

And I feel bad for Simona. If I was HVM Racing. I'd scrap the oval program for the year. Doubt things will chance at the short courses of Milwaukee or Iowa.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/100137

[tux]

Originally Posted by NaBUru38

It seems like I will have to watch the race on Sunday or Monday. That will be tricky, because in late Saturday and early Sunday I want to follow Le Mans, and most websites mix news on both.

Le mans is the week after this race! You can watch both!

[HaydenFan]

Originally Posted by tux

Le mans is the week after this race! You can watch both!

Milwaukee will be his problem.

[nickyf1]

It shouldn't be a problem for Milwaukee, Le Mans will be done by the time it starts.

Texas, however, is a Saturday night race.

[NaBUru38]

Worse even, the Sunday afternoon replay of the IndyCar race at Texas is at the same time as the F1 Motnreal race - and the Uruguay vs Perú 2014 qualifier football match. It seems Monday is the best option to me.

[NaBUru38]

Tags on pole, 2-3-4 for Franchitti-Rahal Dixon, then the usual suspects plus Sato and Pagenaud - except Briscoe in 12th and Hélio in 17th.

[Jonerz]

From what I heard about qualifying Texas may be safe, at least on the schedule. They seem to have the cars loose and the need for the drivers to DRIVE the cars was there over the two lap quali session. Half the drivers are whining, the lower half, and the good qualifiers all but Hinch seem confident the race will go well. Methinks the race tomorrow has a chance to be the first good IndyCar race on a large oval outside Indy since the CART era. (And will out CART's failed weekend here further to shame. If they'd just been proactive... Course you can say that about much of CART in the split era.)

Chris

[barnettracing]

I can't believe after some of the drivers have whinged, they have re-upped the downforce levels by adding 1/8" gurney onto the rear wing. I know it's a complete fallacy that these are the best drivers around but, it takes no skill to drive flat out round an oval. They need to man up.

The changes are mentioned here in this report. It's not gone back up to previous levels but they may be able to run flat now. The article doesn't make it explicit either way.

Why are Indycar pandering to the lower level drivers? If they can't hack it then their sponsors will see them for what they really are and they'll sack off. I suppose people like Legge and Jakes shout loudest. I would've thought everyone else in that field could suck it up. I mean, Castroneves was only 17th in qualifying but he used to drive CART, so surely he wouldn't moan?

[bjohnsonsmith]

14th on the grid for Rubens, that's impressive for his first time at Texas.

[FordCosworthPanoz]

Stage fell on worker towards the end of pre-race, injured and in a neck brace but obviously not life threatening.

Hopefully not an omen for tonight's race.

[NaBUru38]

Wow, what a race!

I woke up at 5 am, travelled 6 hours on bus on a very fast, bumpy road to attend a Wikimeetup. I managed to stake wake (it's 0:30 here) and could watch the race from lap 50 to the finish.

[FordCosworthPanoz]

Best Indycar oval race I've seen in years.

[Purist]

I think that extra little lip on the rear wing may have been just what the doctor ordered. You want the cars to be a handful, and it sounded like they were, but you need them to be stable enough that you can actually race.

I wasn't able to watch live, but I'll track down video of the race soon enough.

Now, on to the Milwaukee Mile, a great, flat 1-miler, and one of the oldest car racing venues still around anywhere. (They started running cars at the Mile in 1903.)

[Paradise City]

I enjoyed it and I was surprised by how much I sorely missed a proper Texas oval OW race. Few had the foggiest clue how to set up their cars. Franchitti was at sea. Andretti thought his backside was on fire. An undertstandable mistake given how often cranky Mike has his boot up there. I felt badly for Rahal but Wilson blossomed. Power got narky. Enjoyed the race and they'd better be back which is far from certain, unfortunately.

[Flavio Galtieri]

Originally Posted by Paradise City

I enjoyed it and I was surprised by how much I sorely missed a proper Texas oval OW race. Few had the foggiest clue how to set up their cars. Franchitti was at sea. Andretti thought his backside was on fire. An undertstandable mistake given how often cranky Mike has his boot up there. I felt badly for Rahal but Wilson blossomed. Power got narky. Enjoyed the race and they'd better be back which is far from certain, unfortunately.

I've only seen the highlights so far but it looked like a great race.

I'm sure the decision to make sure cars couldn't run flat the whole way, which means drivers are important once again on mile and a half ovals, was the right decision.

Well done Justin! Great win.

[Yannick]

I'm glad this race went by as safely as it did. From the outside, it looks like the aero restrictions worked like charm.

Justin Wilson's first oval victory certainly is not what I had expected today but from the highlights video, it looks like he was strong all race despite his low grid position. Dale Coyne Racing really got the ovals figured out now. Congrats to Justin and DCR.

RIP Dan Wheldon. He is still missed whenever a 1 1/2 mile oval comes around because he was best on those.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Congrats to Justin Wilson and Dale Coyne Racing. Graham Rahal will be annoyed with himself for clipping the wall but he managed to keep it together and finish. As for Will Power and that blocking move; he was looking good. Poor Sato, seems to have no luck. A good drive by Dixon, until it all went wrong and into the wall.

I missed the race but what I saw of the highlights it looked pretty good, with some real racing; no more of that pack racing.

I couldn't tell what the attendance was like and I saw quite a lot of empty seats and stands, be interesting to see what the viewing figures are like.

[Jonerz]

It was a fabulous race and Texas has earned it's place on the 2013 schedule. Good crowd, well promoted, and to those who said Texas' critics were anti-oval THIS IS WHAT WE WANTED! The drivers had to drive the cars. Don't make this an oval vs. road course thing, we're all tired of that. A race track is a race track. An IndyCar driver, like Justin Wilson, should be able to win on them all.

Chris

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Jonerz

Don't make this an oval vs. road course thing, we're all tired of that. A race track is a race track.

Totally agree with that. Indy Car racing has always been about the variety of tracks. I'd like too see the ovals interspersed more amongst the other track. Texas is the first of three ovals in a row. I know they are all different but I think it would add something if they weren't bunched together. The exception would be Milwaukee after Indy.