An American Tradition Restored

Ryan-Hunter Reay won the 98th Indianapolis 500 in dramatic fashion by passing 3-time winner Helio Castroneves on the final lap on Memorial Day weekend. Hunter-Reay beat Castroneves in the second-closest finish in race history, scoring his first win at IndyCar’s crown jewel. It really was a tremendously enjoyable race to watch on a beautiful Sunday afternoon when American horsepower is celebrated and we pay homage to those who have given their lives for our freedom.

As a huge open wheel racing fan growing up, the Indianapolis 500 was the biggest sporting event in my entire year besides the Super Bowl. When Tony George decided he was going to ruin “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing,” and the Indy Racing League and CART split, my world was crushed. I tried watching both CART and the IRL and both lacked excitement. I gravitated towards NASCAR and started attending several stock car races a year. The Indy 500 just did not give me the same feeling as it did before. Until last Sunday. From the pagentry of Jim Nabors’ final time singing “Back Home Again in Indiana,” to the reaction shots of the wives and girlfriends, I truly was entertained all afternoon. I thought ABC did a tremendous job covering all angles of the race.

The split shot of the final laps and the respective significant others of the drivers involved in the fight for the win, did not bother me at all. That is what we have come to expect from ABC’s coverage over the years. I immediately recalled the closing laps of the 1989 race when it seemed like we saw more of Shelley Unser and Theresa Fittipaldi than we did of their respective husbands Al Unser Jr. and Emerson Fittipaldi. Fittipaldi would make contact with Unser and send him careening into the wall as his wife watched in anguish. Emerson’s wife Theresa shook her first in celebration. It all about the drama of the Indy 500, hence “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.” It was one of the most memorable 500 finishes for me and you can now add the 2014 finish to that list as well.

The win was a monumental one for Ryan Hunter-Reay, who despite winning the 2012 IndyCar championship still seems overlooked when it comes to the more famous Castroneves, Will Power, Scott Dixon, and Marco Andretti in the series. Hunter-Reay has worked his way up through the open-wheel ranks and put in his time. He gets great equipment from Michael Andretti and he put it to good use during the 500, never losing the more experience Helio in crunch time.

At the 2005 Grand Prix of Cleveland, Hunter-Reay pulled up on a moped the morning of the race with his then girlfriend Beccy Gordon. He shook my hand and asked it I was ready. I said of couse. He proceeded to show me the thrill of a lifetime in an IndyCar two-seater along the shores of the Lake Erie. Nothing I ever did could prepare me for an IndyCar ride along. I will never forget that morning for the rest of my life as I’ve been trying to duplicate that form of excitement ever since. Nothing compares to a ride in an IndyCar that goes from 190 mph to 45 in less than a second. I was happy for Ryan Hunter-Reay and for his wife Beccy and that they truly enjoyed every moment of winning the Indianapolis 500 with their son Ryden.

As he said in victory lane, “I’m a proud American boy, that’s for sure.” And after that race American open-wheel racing fans have a reason to be proud again.

McMurray Takes All-Star Payday

     The NASCAR Sprint Cup All-Star Race can be very entertaining, but can also be a bit of a snoozefest that is more about the musical act and pre-race introductions than it is about the actual race. But Jamie McMurray stole the show in the final 10-lap segment after pulling off a great pass of Carl Edwards on the outside line coming off turn two. Like most drivers in the non-points exhibition, McMurray went all-out and decided his car was good enough to take the spot and the million dollar payday.

     “It’s ultimately what a race car driver wakes up every single day to be put in that position,” McMurray told the Charlotte Observer in victory lane Saturday night.

    “We drove off into Turn 1 and I felt like I was 300 feet deeper than I’ve ever driven into that corner in qualifying trim and I could hear his exhaust and he hadn’t let off yet,” McMurray said. “And I’m like, ‘I don’t care.’

     The care-free attitude is what makes the All-Star race great. It is what led to Rusty Wallace tagging Darrell Waltrip in the first All-Star race. A fight in the pits between their crew members ensued. That win-at-all-cost mentality led to one of the greatest All-Star race finishes when Kyle Petty took out Dale Earnhardt in the final turn and then wrecked into Davey Allison as they crossed the finish line in 1992. Allison celebrated the win in the hospital after the hard hit.

     The All-Star race serves its purpose. It allows the drivers and teams to get a little rest and have some fun without the crazy pressure of a race that counts towards the points and Chase standings. It also is a big showcase event for NASCAR in Charlotte that kicks off 10 days of festivities leading up to the Memorial Day tradition of the Coca-Cola 600. The race has provided some great memories over the years and always seems to be the perfect event for the fans at what it is my favorite track, Charlotte Motor Speedway. The racing isn’t always intense, but it doesn’t have to be. Sometimes NASCAR just has to be fun and everyone’s gotta let loose. Just like Jamie McMurray did on that winning pass.

(Above image courtesy of Jeff Zelevansky / Stringer, Getty Images Sport)

Indy 500 Grid

It was a busy weekend in racing as the Indy 500 field is now set and Jamie McMurray pulled in a big payday by winning the
NASCAR All-Star race in Charlotte. Here is how the grid will line up when they take the green flag this Sunday at Noon
Eastern Time with Indianapolis native Ed Carpenter on the pole for the second straight year.

Indy 500 Starting Lineup

P1 20-Ed Carpenter 231.067mph
P2 27-James Hinchcliffe 230.839
P3 12-Will Power 230.697

P4  3-Helio Castroneves 230.649
P5 77-Simon Pagenaud 230.614
P6 25-Marco Andretti 230.544

P7 34-Carlos Munoz 230.146
P8 67-Josef Newgarden 229.893
P9 21-J.R. Hildebrand  228.726

P10 2-Juan Pablo Montoya 231.007
P11 9-Scott Dixon 230.928
P12 26-Kurt Busch 230.782

P13 98-Jack Hawksworth 230.506
P14 19-Justin Wilson 230.256
P15  7-Mikhail Aleshin 230.049

P16 10-Tony Kanaan 229.922
P17 11-Sebastien Bourdais 229.847
P18 16-Oriol Servia 229.752

P19 28-Ryan Hunter-Reay 229.719
P20 15-Graham Rahal 229.628
P21 18-Carlos Huertas 229.251

P22 63-Pippa Mann 229.223
P23 14-Takuma Sato 229.201
P24 68-Alex Tagliani 229.148

P25  6-Townsend Bell 229.009
P26 83-Charlie Kimball 228.954
P27  5-Jacques Villeneuve 228.949

P28 33-James Davidson 228.865
P29 41-Martin Plowman 228.815
P30  8-Ryan Briscoe 228.713

P31 22-Sage Karam 228.436
P32 17-Sebastian Saavedra 228.088
P33 91-Buddy Lazier 227.920

(Above image courtesy of Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images Sport)

A New Indy Tradition

Everyone was a bit skeptical about a new IndyCar race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway during the month of May not called the Indianapolis 500. But the Grand Prix of Indianapolis actually was quite entertaining and enjoyable on a perfect Saturday afternoon in Speedway, Indiana. The race also served as a fine appetizer to the traditional 500-mile race that will take place on May 25th, with Simon Pagenaud conserving fuel in the stretch run to take the checkered flag for Sam Schmidt Motorsports.

All this despite a huge crash on the standing start that sprayed debris everywhere and marred the beginning of a new IndyCar tradition that utilized
the massive IMS infield road course. Sebastian Saavedra started on the inside pole position, but his car did not move on the formula one style start and several cars moved evasively to get around and head into turn one. But Carlos Munoz could not avoid Saavedra’s car and clipped him. Debris flew up in the air as Mikhail Aleshin plowed into Saavedra in a violent accident. All drivers involved were uninjured, but Saavedra’s promising weekend came to end before he even was able to step on the gas pedal.

Courtesy of USA Today

Courtesy rgj.com

With 30 laps to go, Juan Pablo Montoya put Graham Rahal in the wall on a restart further proving that Montoya’s move back to IndyCar may have
been ill advised. Montoya may be better served to head out to a local fairground and try demolition derby considering he rarely brings his
car back in one piece. Montoya would be penalized for aggressive driving and finished 16th. The incident brought light to a bigger problem: the new restart rules in which IndyCar wants the leader to wait until a certain point on the track to begin accelerating. Rahal was not pleased with being wrecked and said something must be done to avoid cars being taken out in the future. Will Power caused a similiar accident in St. Petersburg by bringing the field to a very bunched up slow restart.

In the final 20 laps, cars took turns making their final pit stops for a splash of fuel and it was Pagenaud who stretched his tank the furthest while
watching others fail. Pagenaud held off Ryan Hunter-Reay and 2-time Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves who placed P3. Sebastien Bourdais, a driver with a real shot to be a surprised 500 winner, finished 4th with Charlie Kimball 5th.

I am not ready to say that the Grand Prix of Indianapolis will bring back the mystique of “the month of May” at Indianapolis, but at this point
the Verizon IndyCar Series has to try whatever it can to generate interest in a race that used to be the penultimate competition of the year in auto
racing.

I really cannot wait for this year’s 98th running of the Indianapolis 500. It is the most excited I have been for the race in quite some time. It will never be like it was in the 1980’s and 90’s, but it should still be an entertaining show. Keep checking Speed For Thought for more updates from activity at the speedway including next weekend’s qualifying.

(Above image courtesty of Andy Lyons/Getty Images Sport)

 

Talladega Lives Up to the Hype

I absolutely love Talladega Superspeedway. It is my second favorite racetrack of all that I have visited, right behind Charlotte Motor Speedway. In 2009, I took a one-way flight to Birmingham and then hailed a $110 cab from Birmingham directly to the track to meet my NASCAR crew who were camping outside turn one. What ensued was one of the greatest NASCAR weekends of my life as we not only had a blast partying and hanging with other passionate racing fans, but we also saw Brad Keselowski win his first Sprint Cup race and Carl Edwards’ car nearly go into the stands at the finish. I will never forget Edwards running across the finish line ala Ricky Bobby right in front of me. Talladega is so big that I got lost trying to find my way back to our RV back in ’09. It is just a monster of a complex. It truly is what NASCAR in the deep South is all about.

The racing at Talladega is just so nerve wrecking. I found myself on the edge on my seat Sunday as Denny Hamlin won the Aaron’s 499 on NASCAR’s biggest superspeedway. Hamlin earned his 24^th career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory in his 300^th start. He is now the 8^th different winner in 2014 and has completed his comeback from a back injury that took him out of Chase contention in 2013. Hamlin passed Kevin Harvick as the cars took the white flag. The race ended when NASCAR threw the caution flag for debris from an accident on the front stretch involving Alex Bowman.

Hamlin now essentially becomes the 8^th driver to earn a spot in the Chase for the Sprint Cup. It remains to be seen whether he is a legitimate contender like he was two seasons ago, but Joe Gibbs has to be pleased with his comeback from what could have been a career-ending injury.   Greg Biffle and Dale Earnhardt Jr. both had good cars and led portions of the race, but Earnhardt got stuck in the back in the final segment of the race and Biffle may have had a run in him had the yellow flag not came out on the backstretch of the final lap. Danica Patrick led six laps in the early going and finished 22^nd.

The first big crash happened on lap 137 when Brad Keselowski spun and collected 11 other cars. The second occurred when Jimmie Johnson lost control in turn four on lap 175. Seven cars suffered damage including Joey Logano and Austin Dillon. The true “big one” never really transpired but several contenders had their day ruined by damage done in what I would certainly call minor incidents by Dega standards.

(Image courtesy of Chris Graythen/Getty Images Sport)