TBK-Light.com

http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/ ... ing-fines/

Here's a link to a breakdown of all the qualifying fines. When it was all said and done, IndyCar actually MADE money on pole day!

You're never going to fix the main problem if you continue to allow the designers to build cars that are shaped like giant great wings and so aerodynamically efficient that spitting on them will loose 30% of their downforce.

The reason those older cars worked so well (pre-2003) was because they were as effective as a brick aerodynamically (I mean above the floor), and relied, iirc, on ground effects to give them the downforce, so you could sit under someones wing safe in the knowledge you'd get round the corner no problem, unlike today where they can't even run close in the corners because of the aero. Back then they had more power which made up for the terrible drag coefficient values on the straights.

I agree with you in principle, had they really thought about this new car properly, they could have designed it so it was so aerodynamically inefficient in a straight line that they'd have to double the horsepower just to get it going, throw a bit of ground effects in so it can maintain that speed round the corners (instead of relying on downforce) and imho, you're onto a winning combination. But alas, someone somewhere still thinks making the cars aerodynamically efficient is the route to go.

Sorry guys but the party's stopping here.

Bob Jenkins is stepping away from broadcasting at the end of May because his wife was diagnosed with brain cancer.

_________________
If you screw up while skydiving, you have the rest of your life to figure out how to fix it.

Well that's certainly a shame. I hope they enjoy the rest of their time together.

The TV ratings from the IRL pack racing era say otherwise. The dismal attendance at IRL-era ovals say otherwise.

Not quite as simple as you make it out to be though. IRL had to fight for ratings against CART/Champ Car. And that had bigger names, more varied tracks, great racing, and a bigger variety in cars. Couple that with the pretty extreme IRL hatrid that a lot of open wheel fans had (and some still do) throughout that era and it doesn't matter what IRL would have done, they'd have struggled on pure numbers.

Using numbers like that without taking into account the situation that surrounded it to somehow claim my point of that video (to show that this formula can work if done right) isn't right is just silly. Sorry, but think about it.

Something you can look at is that Texas & Chicagoland which were the 2 tracks that featured the most pack racing & several of the closest finishes were the 2 best attended oval's outside of Indy. Think im also right in saying that when the pack racing seen on those tracks decreased from about 2007 the attendance dropped although was still higher than on most others.

It was oddly the oval's that produced what many saw as the better racing (Milwaukee, Pheonix, New Hampshire etc....) that saw the biggest drop in attendance & ended up been dropped from the schedule.

Sad news

Oh man that's terrible

_________________
Dan Wheldon | 1978 - 2011

sad to hear, always enjoyed his commentary since his "comeback" in 09...

wonder who could replace him...Paul Page? One can dream, right?

In 2003 CART didn't have much of anything you just said. Open wheel racing doesn't hold much appeal for the average American(or Aussie, or Brazilian, or Japanese, or anywhere else other than Europe for that matter) further than an event every year. It's hard for most people to wrap their heads around because of the success of F1. But on a national stage people generally like tin tops more except for Europe.

_________________

Just because CART/CCWS had died down by that point, doesn't actually make a difference. Open Wheel Racing in the states was plenty popular until the split. CART stayed popular until the time when the big names were leaving, but whilst CCWS declined, IRL never capitalised on it. My point was that IRL could have been the greatest series in the world at the time, but the ratings and attendance would have still sucked for various reasons. Just because CCWS had declined, doesn't make my point less valid.

Once again, my point is that this formula of lowish power and high downforce can produce great racing. We've seen it before in various series. I fail to see what the popularity of tin tops around the world has to do with it however.

Groud effect is the answer to all problems in racing, I feel!

Only if Bobby Unser comes with him so he can correct the 9000000004 mistakes Paul made each broadcast.

They might bump Marty Snyder up to the top slot.

Really sad. I've always liked Bob and the NBC crew has really come together quite well I think the last year or so. Easily some of the best commentary available on American TV.

From indycar.com - No extra boost help for Lotus for the 500. All teams will run the same low boost levels practiced at.

That'll be 31 cars and 2 chicanes on the grid, then.

_________________
Dan Wheldon ¦ 1978-2011
Marco Simoncelli ¦ 1987-2011
Jules Bianchi ¦ 1989-2015
Justin Wilson ¦ 1978-2015

Yeah, I know he's mad and I don't care. I do not care. I did not care then. I do not care now. I'm here to race him.

Lotus is soo screwed.

We've been over the supply restraints earlier in the thread, but is Wiggins even trying to link up with Chevy or Honda once they have enough engines?

_________________
Dan Wheldon ¦ 1978-2011
Marco Simoncelli ¦ 1987-2011
Jules Bianchi ¦ 1989-2015
Justin Wilson ¦ 1978-2015

Yeah, I know he's mad and I don't care. I do not care. I did not care then. I do not care now. I'm here to race him.

sad to hear about Bob Jenkins's wife... terrible news.

I hope he comes back one day.

Honda and Chevrolet is almost at capacity, if they had engines Shank would be on the grid.

Er, what? The first couple years were ok, but Chicagoland attendance dropped like a *stone*, and TV ratings were very dismal, from what I remember. Put it this way: Chicagoland is gone. Texas, granted, has always had very good attendance.



No, it's "exciting" by the fact that is an artificially constrained closeness. The low horsepower lacks high tech appeal; the pack racing does not showcase a lot of driving and team skill, other than avoiding contact and some skill in drafting, maybe. I think you're overestimating the appeal of how close finishes attract people to racing. I liked the Hanford CART races too, but they really didn't draw well in the end, either. The NASCAR crowd likes the restrictor plate stuff, but I'm not sure the Indy crowd is into the same sort of stuff. The banter on the Internet, for better or for worse, seems to not like the pack racing.