Indianapolis, May 2013

That's a good one. Without looking, I'd think possibly someone from Sam Schmidt's stable.

Any chance Marco Andretti did this when he first came to Indy?

 

Clauson didn't.

Marco didn't.

Arie Jr. tried in 05 but didn't qualify for the 500.

I'm cheating Firestone Freedom 100 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

Look up Ed Capenter. He did it a few times if I recall, 2003ish. He also drove Indycars for several different teams, maybe up to 6 different ones.

 

you are correct, Ed did both races in 2005, and oddly enough finished 11th in both.

 

Great. I'll take what's behind door 3, by Carrol Merril.


Actually I remembered there was a time "the family" was trying everything to fill the fields, so I figured that Ed was the guy. Back now to my Friday's Shrimp before it gets cold.

 

But its only Thursday. Shrimp?? Ever tried the B-B-Que???

And you can only have the box that Jay is bringing down here? Now do want the box or do you want to keep the shrimp?

 

Here's a few fun questions, try to go Wikiless and see how you fare...

A Chevrolet, a Ford, a Goodyear and a Firestone have driven in the 500. T or F ?

The last all American grid occurred in the.. 50's , 60's, 70's or 80's ?

What manufacturer provided the most pace cars; Chevy, Ford, Chrysler, Pontiac or Cadillac ?

What is the Diahann Carroll connection to the 500 ?

 

"It's a neeeew track record....." Hope to hear that again someday soon.






By indycar.com staff
Published: May 23, 2013
INDYCAR will explore increased technical innovation in its cars and continue its longstanding effort to enhance safety in open-wheel racing, Hulman & Co. CEO Mark Miles and incoming INDYCAR President of Operations and Competition Derrick Walker announced May 23.

Walker, who joins the sanctioning body after conclusion of the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race on May 26, will be responsible for identifying specific technology improvements and guiding their implementation, with the goal of managed increases in speed.

"In the short term, we'll look for incremental changes to our cars through components such as aerodynamics, horsepower and tires," Walker said. "In a way, we're going back to the future. Indy cars have always been about innovation and speed, and our goal is to open the door for that again. We'll start with our current car platform and give our teams and suppliers more ability to affect how they race. We always have to be mindful of costs, but that doesn't mean we can't manage improvements to create more exciting racing and at the same time do it safely."

Walker said the technical staff at INDYCAR, teams and suppliers -- with support from members of the newly formed Competition Committee -- will be engaged. Walker said the first substantive announcement, likely about aero kits, will be made soon.

"We've achieved a great car platform, so now we can move forward to explore what's next," Miles said. "By managing improvements in certain components, speeds will gradually increase, and we could break the Indianapolis Motor Speedway track record (237.498 mph by Arie Luyendyk in qualifications in 1996) by our 100th running in 2016."

Potential safety innovations could include new types of track fencing to protect drivers and fans, more precautionary steps on pit lane and continued cockpit safety enhancements.

"We already race the fastest closed-circuit cars in the world, and we continue to strive for further innovation that ultimately results in increased speed and safety," said 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series champion Ryan Hunter-Reay, who will start seventh in the Indy 500 in the No. 1 DHL car for Andretti Autosport. "This is an opportunity for us to go back to our roots.

"Indy car is all about the progression of speed and pushing the performance barrier, and I strongly feel that this needs to be a big part of the future of our sport."

In March, INDYCAR announced the formation of an advisory Competition Committee to formalize communications among industry stakeholders on competition and technical matters. The committee, which met earlier in the day, will advise INDYCAR on competition-related matters such as rules, technical specifications and safety initiatives.

Members include:
• Derrick Walker (chair), incoming INDYCAR President, Operations and Competition
• Roger Griffiths, Honda Performance Development Technical Division Director
• Chris Berube, Chevrolet Program Manager, IZOD IndyCar Series
• Andrea Toso, Dallara Head of R&D and U.S. Racing Business Leader
• Dale Harrigle, Firestone Senior Project Engineer, Race Tire Development
• Dario Franchitti, Target Chip Ganassi Racing driver (Honda)
• Ryan Hunter-Reay, Andretti Autosport driver (Chevrolet)
• Tim Cindric, Penske Racing President (Chevrolet team)
• Bryan Herta, Bryan Herta Autosport co-owner (Honda team)
• Brian Barnhart, INDYCAR Senior Vice President of Operations
• Will Phillips, INDYCAR Vice President of Technology

 

You better or the seats will remain empty and my money will stay neatly in my wallet.

 

What does this mean? Great in terms of speed? Safety? Looks?

The Dallara is L-A-M-E. It's a big reason I don't like watching it - the car is FUGLY. Credit where credit it due, I love the return to turbos and the sounds they make, but this platform has GOT TO GO.

 

the platform is good...drivers and engineers seem to love it, once they figured it out.

it's just a) underpowered and b) ugly.

more boost and the long-promised aero kits would solve those problems.

 

Can I interest you in a Panoz or Lola or Reynard or March or Penske or Wildcat or anything BUT this turkey?

Turbopanzer..........Used Race Car Salesmen to those that have a real taste for racing!

 

Agreed. I want a lot more boost and a lot less aero. Drop the proboscis too.

If the core platform is ok - so be it...but the car looks ridiculously stupid and they are way too underpowered. Driving flat out on super speedways is a recipe for disaster, you need major horsepower and limited aero so the driver actually drives the car.

So if I look at the "platform" - and I'm taking it as a whole (engine, chassis, aero) - it's not great. Maybe it has "promise", but we're far, far off from great.

Here's great - 1998. Reynard 98I, Swift 009c, Penske PC27, and the Lola T98/00. Engines included the Cosworth XB, Honda, Toyota, and Mercedes-Ilmor. 750+ HP with sequential shift transmission.
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those Champ Cars were freakin' gorgeous.

 

I'm lost as to why they couldn't come closer to that look - they are amazing. My wife thinks I am nuts, but I want to buy one, even if I couldn't drive it.

One F-Chatter I know of owns a Reynard with Tecate livery...beautiful. And I'm jealous!!!

 

DO IT!! Race-cars.com

Indy cars starting at $15,000


This one is $80K Still has a Cosworth.
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Uh...y'all see this? 4-wide at the finish of the Indy Lights Firestone Freedom 100:

 

Wow. Closest finish in IMS' oval racing history at .0026. Indycar tweet said specifically "oval". Makes me wonder what the margin was when Rubens won over Schumacher at the USGP. Was that closer?
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Little bit 'more' of a gap, but 0.083 was the difference between Dyson and Muscle Milk at Road America last year. We were down in T5 and the announcers were going nuts calling the last 2 laps.

We're heading down to Indy tomorrow night

 

Great move to settle the Freedom 1000 today.

rtsp://v1.cache6.c.youtube.com/CjYLENy73wIaLQkAWWxrlmSdWhMYJCAkFEIJbXYtZ29vZ2xlSARSBXdhdGNoYMXnvZSSuonxTww=/0/0/0/video.3gp

Lnk not working via cell phone I guess. Anyway, it's on YT already and worth a look.

 

God that is sweet!

 

I received a call from the track to tell me what I was missing...

Stellar racing ...I wish Goodyear could have timed it that well...

 

Do you realize that at one time this car would still be allowed to compete if all safety regs & rules were met? We once had a thing called "Bump Day" and this would be one that a smaller owner would have purchased, and on a slim budget would try to make the field. Lots of fun to watch these older cars make the show and some real good drivers in them. That is how many great drivers got their start. A guy in 1977 tried to make the show in a pink 1971 Eagle but got bumped. Went on to win 4 Indy 500's.

 

Can I put these Houston pictures in here???

AJ Foyt team appearance at the Astrodome..."where the action is", per the old song, but we were the ONLY things moving out there, on South Main, last Monday...
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Miss Penzoil Grand Prix....I'm taking care of you guys!!!

(I actually thought the tall one was much nicer...whatEVER!!)
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