Whoa Indy...and ND Woes

Yesterday was a great day at IMS; more lead changes than ever before. The nearly 70 lead changes can be attributed to the parity among teams due to the identical chassis and two engine packages...but the highly-skilled field also had something to do with it.

People can say what they want about the DW12 chassis- it's not sleek enough, it's a bit of an ugly duckling...perhaps.  But, if you like to watch racing as a contest of grit, timing, will and skill, then you probably loved yesterday's 500.

Like everyone else, I want the cars to be faster...and I want more innovation and flexibility within the rules, but yesterday's race was crazy fun to watch. The cars probably have a bit too much downforce right now and not quite enough horsepower, but the end product is close to unbeatable.

All of that said, the strategy and overall approach of race day has drastically changed from mere years ago. With the white flag waving, you no longer want the lead...you want to be in second or third place. No one can really pull away from anyone else; I guess that's alright.

Indy is now officially the antithesis of F1. The mostly-Euro series is almost solely a series based on preparation, homework, outspending the next team and "rolling the ball out" (if you will).  I love the look of those machines and the innovation and trickle down of technology over there.  I don't like the glorified parade that those races are.

With just a few laps left yesterday, 22 cars were separated by about 10 seconds...something I've never seen before. Ed Carpenter's tenth place finish after starting from the pole is viewed by some as a failure of a day.  BUT, had the race finished under green, he would have finished just seconds behind the leader.

The fastest cars, especially in the last 50 laps were clearly better than everyone else...and Chevy had a decided advantage (which needs to be adjusted).  But even the guys who weren't in the top-5 were really right there. It's kinda crazy to think that a guy who is 9 seconds behind after around 170 laps is waaaaaay off the pace, but it kinda felt that way.  Guys like Scott Dixon weren't far behind at the end of the race...but weren't really contenders either.

I've been to 25 Indy 500 races now...and have never seen a crowd as elated for a winner as they were when Tony Kanaan earned the checkered flag.  Like me, I think many in the crowd thought that his last chance of winning went away when he lost his Andretti ride a few years ago...I was very wrong- in two years, he's had a top-3 and a win; not bad for a guy left for dead by many.

TK leads a pair of Andretti Racing machines across the yard of bricks

I had thrown him onto the scrap heap of guys like Raul Boesel and (ironically) Michael Andretti- great drivers who shoulda won it, but never will.  Glad I was wrong.

I've heard that the league will finally allow some new aero packages around the safety tub of the DW 12 chassis in 2014; I hope they do as I think we're only a half-step better than we were a few years ago when just Honda was supplying engines to power the old Dallara Indy chassis.  I'm still no fan of spec racing (in theory).  That said, I love the cars being safer and more consistent. The days of qualifying a four or five year old chassis while panhandling for an engine is gone; that's a good thing.  The fact that the cars aren't going 238 mph is a bad thing.

Days like yesterday are nothing but positive for Indy and the league around it...But if they can double the winner's purse, and get the speeds up in the upper half of the 230s, we might see Indy return closer to her former glory.

Even my BS counterpart, J Money had to admit that yesterday's race was exciting...and he's a pseudo-NASCAR apologist.

Bad news for Gunner Kiel and Brian Kelly
Almost two months ago, Gunner Kiel decided to head to the greenest of football pastures, the University of Cincinnati, of course.  He wasn't pleased with the fact that two QBs were in front of him at UND and another was really neck-and-neck with him at the third spot in the Coach Kelly's rotation.

Things change quickly in college football sometimes- This Spring has been one of those for Notre Dame's offense.

Last year's starter, Everett Golson did something nefarious according to the university's academic police.  We really don't know exactly what it is that he did, but it looks like he cheated in some way. The end result is he's no longer enrolled at UND and no longer on Notre Dame's football team.

The erratic, but adequate Senior QB, Tommy Rees will probably be the starter.  BUT, Kelly hasn't ever given him a vote of confidence...Plus, he had a legit run in with the law last season that might have even caused Kelly to second-guess his leadership.  Sure, it's OK for some on their roster to get arrested, but striking an officer kinda makes you lose your job, even for Coach Kelly.  I guess it's a good thing he wasn't kicked off the team last fall, right UND fan?

UND should still be quite good in the fall, but the loss of Golson to academics, Eiffert to the NFL, Riddick to graduation, Wood to NFL practice squad (two running backs) will make things interesting. UND's offense will have a QB who's prone to mistakes and fumbles, no sure-handed relief valve underneath and no experienced running back behind Rees.

Our Boilers are in the midst of an overhaul as new coaches try to get all the moving parts to move as a unit.  UND's offensive tumult should be a bit of music to our ears as we look ahead to the most difficult schedule in the nation.

96th Indy 500 Review

The Indy 500 is the largest single-day event event in the world...and, in spite of my blood flowing with gold and black hues, it's my favorite one.

My Dad and my Grandpas all served in the military...I wasn't brave enough to make that decision.  But Indy's pre-race Memorial Day activities always remind me how I'm standing on the shoulders of these, and other great men just by living my life in our great country.  If you've never been to IMS for a race, I'm sorry you haven't, but TV doesn't capture the event like being there. From patriotic songs, to taps, to "Back Home Again in Indiana" to when the flag finally drops, it's a day that strikes every chord for me.

Yesterday though, a surprise completely shocked and moved me just prior to the race.

Back Home

As it is each year, taps was played prior to the race.  But, toward the end of simple and moving tune, Dan Wheldon's car that won the race one year ago pulled slowly out of the pits for a lap. I looked around at my family and friends and all were visibly moved.  The car continued slowly around the track as "Back Home Again" played...and I'm sure most in the stands, like me, had no clue that the bright orange and white machine was going to soon pass by.

It was a bit ghastly, but at the same time, it was perfect...the car was the same, but the helmet in the cockpit had a waving British flag to pay tribute to the two-time champ who died in a crash at the end of last season.

Then came the race.

Right away, in our Row 1 seats in the SW Vista, we could tell the new chassis had changed the dynamics of the race. When the green flag dropped, the cars didn't have quite the speed coming into one as they used to.  Granted, they were still fast, but not as fast. I'd estimate the cars were entering one about 10 or 15 MPH slower than before...but the increased downforce coupled withe the slower speeds allowed cars and drivers to come into the turn in tight packs.  This made me nervous as this used to be a formula for a wreck, but time and again, all of the cars in the field would come away unscathed in this formation.

The Lotus machines were, unsurprisingly, notably slower than the rest of the field.  They were so slow in fact, they were both black flagged about ten laps into the race.  While I agree that the more engine manufacturers, the better, or this and any other series, but putting my Mazda3's engine in the field might produce similar results.  At this point, Lotus doesn't belong racing at Indy, or anywhere else on the IndyCar circuit.  They don't compete...and that's what racing is about.

The race had long stretches of green flag action...and the most lead changes ever in the 96 year history of the event.  The new aero package of the cars made it easier to use the draft of the car in front and slingshot by than ever before...so time and again, a driver would take the lead only to see it relinquished about 2.5 miles later.

It was Briscoe v. Hinchcliffe...then Andretti...then Sato and the Ganassi machines; battling back and fourth, and much of the action happened right in front of the seats that I'm blessed to sit in each year.

After getting pushed into a 180 spin in the pits by Viso, Franchitti fell to around 28th position (I believe).  In front of him, was a field that included a ton of Indy vets and machines that were pretty evenly matched.

After a month of domination by Chevy power, Honda and its teams flexed their collective muscle.  As the red Ganassi cars and Japanese darkhorse, Takuma Sato were the story for much of the second half of the 200-lap classic.

A couple stories that I liked watching were these: Mike Conway, who had struggled to find speed at Indy since his catastrophic, back-breaking wreck at the end of the race a few years ago, once again competed.  He rushed up the field into the top-10.  But, he got loose in one and collected the unlucky-at-Indy Will Power in a nasty looking wreck.  Like his last big collision at Indy, this one took him into the air and into the fence, topside first.  But thankfully, he walked way.

Conway and Power narrowly avoiding disaster

The wreck really began a few laps earlier- after Conway's torrent pace, his pit crew had some problems that led to slight damage to the front wing and a rattled English driver. Both of Foyt's machines did not finish.

Another guy I'm a fan of is local driver and Butler alum, Ed Carpenter. He had a pretty lousy month.  But, he did what he does at Indy and climbed the leader board to the top-5.  With about 30 laps remaining, it seemed that Carpenter was ready to win the race...and he got aggressive, in turn one time and began mixing it up with the bluebloods of the field.  I loved what I saw from him- he was selling out in order to win the race; something that became a recurring theme.  But, after pushing a bit too hard, his run at the lead ended in a spin in the short shoot between one and two...after changing tires, and probably his undergarments, he re-entered the race at the back of the active field.

Marco Andretti, who was my pick coming into the race, had the lead often in the early going...but his car went away from him a bit.  And in the closing laps, pushing for a higher position from sixth, he lost the car into the outside wall.

Tony Kanann, the clear fan favorite was in the lead at that point...but relinquished the lead after the wreck. The crowd was visibly excited to see the Brazilian atop the board.  An illegal, but crafty and gritty jump coming off of a yellow thrust TK from fifth to first just laps before.  His car wasn't as fast as the Honda-powered Ganassi rides...but he wanted the win, however possible.

Dixon and Franchitti, their race strategists and their pit crews earned the P1 and P2 positions for much of the closing stanza of the race.  Like Penske usually does, this veteran team was simply dialed in...and it looked like one of them would take the Borg Warner trophy.  But Sato had other ideas.

Franchitti's defining moment of the race

With a few laps left, Sato passed Dixon...putting him in second position; and his sites were set on the (then) two-time champ Scotsman. With one lap left, Sato saw a small sliver of opportunity and he went for the kill in turn one.  He went very low, Franchitti didn't leave him a ton of room, but the end result was Sato nose-first into the wall...and Franchitti claiming his third win; putting him in truly elite company.  But this wasn't just his third win, it was his third in six years.  Astounding.

I used to be more of a fan of Franchitti, but he seems to think he's above the fray of the rest of the drivers and lays blame at everyone else's feet time and again. Atop of that, his wife is simply unbearable for me.  She rode the coat tails of her talented mother and sister to earn fame. She rode the coat tails of Kentucky basketball to generate more buzz, and now she follows the wake of her husband to get more facetime.  She's  a good-looking woman that I don't like looking at because I find her to be so syrupy that it's nauseating.

So I didn't like seeing Mr. Judd winning the race yesterday.  I was rooting for Sato, Dixon, Andretti, Carpenter...hell, even wildman Servia would have been better.  The feeling I had was like when Fittipaldi would win back in the 90s; kinda empty.

But still, the race was great. And even though the cars weren't as fast as I'd like them to have been, and some of my favorite drivers ended up as DNFs and also-rans, I left IMS sunburnt and satisfied in the sweltering 93 degree Indiana heat.

Monday Gumbo; Pre-Indy 500 Edition

Big Jay Gets Screwed...Again
Jay Simpson had surgery on his foot recently following breaking his foot a few weeks ago.  In spite of needing surgery to repair the break, his docs still say he'll be available for the trip to Italy with his Boiler teammates. I'd venture a guess though, with two months out of commission, Jay will exhibit some rust come early August.  He says he's currently about 10 pounds heavier than he'd like to be...so getting in shape for the '12/'13 season, while not impossible, will be difficult for Purdue's 6'9" Freshman PF.

This isn't the first time Simpson has had to have surgery on a foot; a few years ago, he had similar surgery on the other foot.

In November, Simpson joins a youthful, but talented frontcourt with fellow Freshman, Hammons and Hale, along with Sophomore, Jacob Lawson and Juniors, Carroll and Marcius.

Still Champs...But...
The Baseball Boilers dropped their first series of the B1G season in Iowa over last weekend.  The sub-.500 Hawkeyes managed to score at least 6 runs in all three games of Purdue's final series of the regular season.  Now, Purdue heads into the B1G tourney as the #1 seed in the conference...but needs to play well in an effort to host a round in the NCAA tourney.

Back on the Team
OJ Ross practiced all Spring without a schollie for the Hope's team after academic problems and enigmatic behavior put the starting behavior in the doghouse.  Dwayne Beckford had another run-in with the law during the winter that forced him out of Spring practice and off of the team.

Both players have had their scholarships re-instated...but make no mistake, both cases aren't the same.

Ross, while exhibiting some laziness, both on and off the field probably should be given another chance to play in the fall.  Purdue's receiving corps desperately needs stability and experience...especially with Antavian Edison's status still a question mark following his arrest in Florida earlier this month.

But, Beckford, in my opinion, has had more than enough opportunities to stay out of trouble, and simply hasn't been able to do so. I think Hope really wants to see the kid graduate...and I appreciate that idea. But, as we saw at the end of Tiller's time at Purdue, letting guys who repeatedly break the law does no good for the program in the longrun...and really doesn't do much good for that individual either.

While Purdue needs help at LB even more than WR, I'd rather not see #3 playing for my alma mater in the fall...but I'm not the guy who makes the call (obviously).

Edison's weapons charge in Florida still has a ton of ways it can go.  Who knows if Antavian was unaware of the weapon in the car, if it was his or if he tried to deflect some of the attention off of his uncle (who is already a convicted felon)...regardless, this seems like a really dumb situation to be caught in...and if he gets off with misdemeanor charges and a plea (which I think he will), hopefully, he never puts himself in this position again.  Unlike Beckford, Edison has never been in trouble with the law before this incident...but if he's charged/convicted with a felony weapons charge, he'll surely be off the team and kicked out of school.

Spake or Steele? Everyone's a Winner here
I'm a big fan of blonde-haired sports reporters with dimples. Weird, I know.

I think Samantha Steele is one of the best in the business...she's knowledgeable and very good to look at as well.  But racing fans, specifically NASCAR fans know Shannon Spake...and probably like her quite a bit.  IndyCar fans have Jamie Little (I'm not a huge fan).

But in a cage match for on-field (or on track) supremacy, who wins- Spake or Steele? Weigh in on the upper right of the page on this week's poll.

No losers in this competition

No-Bump Bump Day
I spent two afternoons at IMS in the last three days...and gathered some more opinions of my favorite form of racing...here are some nuggets.

Bourdais' new paintjob is badass.

-The extra boost used to help make quals and practice faster and more entertaining did exactly what it was supposed to do.  BUT, I don't think it's a coincidence that there were four crashes in that period.

The new chassis, as it's configured now has a ton of downforce and makes it easier to drive.  The combo of additional horsepower and taking out as much wing as possible led to some pretty dramatic wrecks.

-Before a few teams left Lotus to seek some engines that would actually compete at Indy and everyplace else on the circuit, it was tough to find an extra engine in the IndyCar garages.

After a few of those Chevys went backend-first into the outside walls, the engine shortage became an even bigger deal.  The end result was a Bump Day at IMS that had exactly 33 driver/car combos...and four or five drivers left with their hats in their hands as they sought rides to get into the show.  Next year, with another year of development, and hopefully the loss of Lotus and another manufacturer (i.e. Ford or Mazda?) coming into the league, Bump Day should return to where it was in 2011 and before.

-I'm all for safety of the drivers...but let's look at what racing really is at its core: Go as fast as possible and beat your competition.  That principle is no longer in play in any of the major racing leagues in the world.

NASCAR machines were going 205+ in the 90s...CART had cars that would do close to 250 on a straight-away in the 70s and 80s (sure, they couldn't turn at anywhere near that speed) and F1 continues to take away aero advantages to make driving the car more of a challenge (I'm actually a fan of this as it seems much of F1 racing is out of the drivers' hands)...

The point is IndyCar needs to get back to the days in which teams were encouraged to innovate and press for speed. Sure, that idea led to a Buick that went 236 mph...but couldn't hold up for more than 40 laps of race conditions; but isn't that the point? Everything in racing is about risk/reward.

Allowing the teams to change aero packages next year is a good step forward...and hopefully, with another year of development, the Honda and Chevy engines will be able to get closer to 230 again. But the fact that multiple drivers were over 235 mpg 20 years ago, and can barely crack 225 now makes fans like me long for "the good ole' days".

That said, I still love IndyCar and the month of May at IMS.

Never Disappointing: Another Classic from IMS

Our view from the Southwest Vista

For those of you who have visited here for a while, you know that J and I verbally spar on the merit of Indy Car Racing and MLB. I'm not much of a fan of professional baseball, and he feels the same about open wheel racing.

But the magnitude and spectacle around the Indianapolis 500 is pretty hard to debate...but some of the logistical planners around today's race tried to ruin the day, in my opinion.

The race wasn't very well-attended last year, by Indy's standards, and seemingly, those who made decisions around the track thought this year would be the same...it wasn't. The traffic into the oldest, greatest race venue in the world was slower than I can recall in my 25 years attending the race. A pedestrian was struck and a few more accidents occurred near the track this morning, and that was the excuse we were hearing on the radio, but as we got close, we found out that wasn't the real reason.

At nearly every intersection where applicable, Indianapolis Police Officers and Marion County Sheriffs were doing a very poor, very unprofessional job of directing traffic. Perhaps the reason this was surprising is because we've become pretty used to them doing a good job and moving us to the track with ease...it seemed their job was to make law-abiding citizens frustrated and angry- they were great at that. The real problem with that is there are so many people from outside of the city here just to watch the race- they didn't get to see the best of the city today, in my opinion. But, the drivers made up for the problems outside the track.

The field looked amazingly-sound on paper. There were no under-qualified Milka Duno, no Dr. Jack Miller types. In fact, the rookies seemed solid and the part-time (not full-time on the circuit) drivers were a good-looking group. Solid, but sometimes slow, John Andretti was in, Always-fast in Indy Ed Carpenter was set in Sarah Fisher's ride. Bertrand "The Sandwich" Baguette has a year under his belt. Thomas Schechter and Paul Tracy are madmen at times, but always agressive and fast. Ex-winners, Buddy Rice and Dan Wheldon strengthened the field by their preference. The only guy that really bothered or scared me for the rest of the field's sake really, was E.J. Viso. My best hope was that he would take himself out without sweeping anyone else up in the mess (kinda got my wish).

My family and I discussed recent race winners and couldn't think of a true dark horse winning in the last few decades. In hindsight, names like Lazier and Rice seem that way, but the race was a shell of itself in the CART/IRL split days. Teams were weaker and tons of underqualied drivers were the norm.

Andretti, Ganassi and Penske have pretty-much owned the Borg Warner for the last decade. Turns out, even in a spec series, the best engineers with the greatest resources and the best drivers still dominate.

So, when Ganassi's henchmen dominated for much of the first half, no one was surprised. But, Alex Tagliani (Sam Schmidt Racing) and Dan Wheldon (Bryan Herta Autosport) kept the red cars honest by mixing it up when the opportunity arose. But, Penske machines were no where to be found...and I loved that. Plus, the Andretti machines were seemingly continuing what they had done for the past few weeks in Indy.

I don't dislike Roger Penske. I hold no grudge toward him for ancient history...in fact, I think he's great for the sport because his teams seem to be better-prepared than anyone, usually. This month was not a typical May for Penske though. They struggled finding speed in practice and qualifying. That said, this seems to happen for one reason or another every decade or so for Penske.

The second half of the race was much different much to the chagrin of Chip Ganassi. The dominant 1-2 punch of the Flying Scot (II) and The Iceman was disrupted as long stretches of green racing and green flag pitstops that helped a ton of old favorites get into contention. Danica Patrick and Marco Andretti found their way into the top-10. Tony Kanaan scratched and clawed his way into the lead pack as did Graham Rahal. Oriol Servia raced aggressively and stayed out of trouble, and second-year American racer, J.R. Hillebrand hung around quietly.

The closing third of the race was a great example of why I like to watch this race. Fuel/pit strategy, new leaders coming out of nowhere, drivers putting it all on the line and an unexpected finish were the defining aspects of this period.

Old Indy fans loved watching Rahal revive the family name as he was on top. Then, the large crowd reveled in Danica leading. As she ran out of fuel, the crowd loved being surprised as "The Sandwich" held the lead, but the best was yet to come.

Baguette was forced to get a splash of fuel and relinquish his hard-fought lead, and rising star, J.R. Hildebrand took control. Everyone wondered about his fuel situation around me, but he kept his foot to the floor 7, then 6, then 5 laps remained. The white flag came out and the young American still held the lead as Wheldon, Rahal, Dixon and Kanaan fought behind him and hoped he didn't have the fuel to go the distance...But he did.

He flew around the 2.5 mile track but when he got to turn four, in view of the flag that was prepared to present his checkered flags, he stayed on the gas as he passed lapped traffic and got into the marbles. His National Guard-sponsored Dallara slammed the wall but kept enough speed to clearly get to the finish line...just not with the lead. Dan Wheldon's bright orange and White bullet streaked past the wounded machine of Hillenbrand without the yellow light flashing...and Wheldon claimed the unexpected victory, his second at Indy.

Here are a few more notes from the day:

-The double-file starts worked much better than I thought they would...and were very exciting. That said, I'm not sure if they'll work as well with a less-experienced field, but I think they served their purpose quite well for the most part.

-The Honda/Dallara era is over...and once again, the Honda engines performed amazingly. Be assured that while the two additional engines offered will return the race to what it should be, we'll NEVER see a more consistant engine than what we've watched during this era. I'm pleased that Dallara will be producing the 2012 safety cell (tub) as these cars have been astoundingly-safe.

Now, let's get back to the 230s, Indy Car...the technology can now keep the drivers safe at those speeds.

One "open wheel" concept for '12

-Hopefully the new era of Indy car racing will see a return of pace cars outside of the Chevy family. The Camaro convertible looked really slick today, but I really miss multiple manufacturers being part of the race.

Why not?

How about this for an idea: Tesla Roadsters and Model Ss pacing the field?

-Danica will probably be gone soon as a full-time Indy driver...at least for a few years, and it'll be OK. Sure, Mann, Beatriz and de Sylvestra aren't as easy on the eyes as the Go Daddy girl, but the fact that so many women are competing in the league, is nothing but positive, in my opinion. If they can go fast enough, let 'em race...and while there are great parts to the circus around Patrick, her whining and (more recently) acting like the victim just pisses me off. Her performance in the Nationwide Series has been OK, at best, but we have no reason to believe she'll compete any more in Neckcar. I hope the cashgrab is worth it for the sassy vixen.

-I hope Hildebrand, Rahal, and Bell get upgraded rides in '12. It'd be nice to see a handful of young, talented American drivers give this series a boost and become household names a la Mears, Michael Andretti and Unser (you pick which one).

-In the same way, I'm hoping for greater sponsorship dollars, and in turn, better resources and equipment for teams like Sam Schmidt Motorsports, KV Racing, Panther, Rahal and others as the economy (hopefully) continues to recover in the coming years. I'm also hoping the hayday of Nascar is nearly over and TV advertising dollars can get fed back into the unified open wheel series once again.

-Most importantly, I'm choked up, if not moved to tears, each year before the race as members of the U.S. military are honored for their brave service. I love the fact that so much reverence is shown by the oft rowdy, and sometimes drunk crowd at IMS when the 21 gun salute is fired, taps is played, patriotic songs are sung and the gigantic flag is unfurled.

Thank You.

For those of you who have protected, and continue to protect our country- Thank you. A few days a year isn't enough to let you men and women know how much your sacrifice is appreciated.