I had to chuckle when Paul Tracy made the same comment on the broadcast considering how many cars he wrote off in his early years with Penske.
If racing is so good, why was the Road America 2018 race a parade? Will it be again? Circumstances changed, so I've been/will be there...but.... Unless it's a nasty day, I don't watch afternoon TV. I record it, but never watch it......
Good show? We shall see. With the recent articles pertaining to one driver and the speed of ovals, I am expecting a posted speed limit of 60 mph as to avoid any injuries to man or machine.
Probably the race I look forward to the most honestly. It really shows how fast these cars on with this short oval. Gives viewers a real good sensation of speed like a video game. Sato is flying...
Herta was fun to watch with the passes he was making. Ultimately paid for it and not surprising the risks caught up with him.
Those of us who watched it on NBCSP missed it, too. The critical move of the race -- Newgarden's lead-to-lead pit stop -- was without even side-by-side coverage. TV blanked out for commercials. Sure, they replayed the stationary time in the box, but nothing on pit-in or pit-out. Poor Sato. The pit boxes are a bit tight, he had to maneuver around an occupied pit right behind him, and he came in hot, with not enough grip to turn tight and stop at that pace. I wonder if he was trying to get into his box before they released the car from the box behind him -- which also could have been a disaster waiting to happen.
Remembering back to when Champ Car ran at Texas and the drivers were reporting being dizzy from the high speeds and they eventually had to cancel the race to today where they run there seemingly with no problem. What is the difference today? Was it the downforce Champ Cars were allowed to run? Entertaining race, amazing no one seriously hurt (or worse) in the Sato pit incident. It was funny, when they put the camera on him as he entered the pits, I was thinking "He looks way too fast". They judged him to be 20MPH over the pit lane speed limit and brought him back in for stop & go. Lucky that wasn't IMSA that would have been like a 5 minute stop in the penalty box. Indy Car definitely on the up with great races and unpredictable results which is more than may be said about F1 lately. BHW
Ooof. That has been my biggest gripe with IndyCar right now. The racing product itself is great, but the commercial interruptions greatly downgrade the experience. They really need to attract viewers/fans and the racing is good enough to do that. I wish it were feasible to absorb a short-term profit loss (no commercials) to really draw in viewers, help grow the fanbase, would be good for motorsports overall...take advantage of the quality racing in the midst of the large US market....but then again perhaps the PC-green world just can't stomach those non-hybrid non-EV cars.
If NBCS can get a single sponsor to step up and cover the costs of a full race a-la Mother's does for the ESPN F1 broadcasts, then maybe. Not sure about the nature of NBCS' arrangement with Indy Car but when they have 500 mile races which may take upward of three to four hours to complete, then that becomes a pretty heavy burden vs. F1 where races are done in an hour and a half to two hours max which is a bit more manageable. Given the financial shellacking NBC takes on broadcasting the Olympics for example, going commercial free during Indy Car broadcasts may not be a workable model for them. But, yes, the timing of their commercials always seems to be off which is the only real complaint in otherwise good shows. Notice how Bell and Tracy keep fan-boy Diffey from venturing off into story telling land as he's prone to do, they manage him a lot better than Hobbs and Matchett did. BHW
They should try and save the commercial breaks for the yellow-flag periods, but after the initial flurry of pit stops that occur under yellow. There are usually several more laps run under yellow before they resume green-flag racing; that would be the ideal time for commercials.
Sato won the pole this weekend at 220mph. race pace was 215-217. when Champ Car ran there in 2001, pole (before they cancelled the race) was 233, and Tracy ran a draft lap in practice at 236. that's a pretty big gap-almost the same gap between the current IndyCar and Monster Energy Cup cars.
Thanks... At the time, Patrick Carpentier told me that he was so dizzy he threw up in his helmet. BHW
I've heard that complaint about the "Iowa Soup Bowl" race on the short oval. But that's my complaint about the coverage: With such a short lap, how did Newgarden manage a full tires and fuel pit stop without losing the lead? Especially as that pit exit is pretty long. How hot did Newgarden hit his pit box? But there seems to be a concerted effort to drive people away from "cable" channels and onto "streaming media" (pay-per-channel).