I think of the Indy Racing League season as being a thing in three parts. The first few races are sort of a pre-season with everyone getting themselves and their cars figured out. I say "sort of" because all the races count. The next part is Indy itself. The rest of the season is the race for the championship. That started today with the A.J. Foyt 225 at the unforgiving Milwaukee Mile. Here are some random thoughts about the first race of the summer season.
Way To Go TK!
It was a good race indeed for Tony and for the AGR team. Speaking of which . . .
AGR is Back!
This was the second straight win for AGR, the third of six this season. This is shaping up to be a great year, with one exception.
Sophomore Slump?
What's up with Marco Andretti this year? Last year's rookie of the year has finished only one race this season. He had a spectacular crash at Indy and put it into the wall today. Is it bad luck? Does he have a case of the yips? Who knows? My prediction -- look for Marco to get this thing figured out before the end of the season.
Danica Drives
After her team goofed and didn't get her car ready to qualify well, Danica started the race in 17th and worked her way up to contention pretty quickly. Then Dan Weldon drove into her right front tire, throwing her into a spin and messing up her steering. How she managed to avoid a crash I don't know. She's one heck of a driver. And that reminds me . . .
Weldon
I don't usually like to get personal about this, but I have to admit, I don't really like Dan Weldon. All that blather earlier this year about wanting to "dominate" the IRL struck me as childish, and today his driving was, at best, sloppy. At worst it was aggressive to the point of dangerousness.
Penske Perfect?
Speaking of dangerous, what the heck happened to Team Penske? As mechanical failures go suddenly having your rear wing snap is pretty spectacular. Having both cars have the same failure is amazing. For it to happen to Penske is positively stunning.
That's it. I'm all out of thoughts, random or otherwise.
UPDATE 6/4/07: Check out these clips from the race.
2 comments:
Least Dan Wheldon will give his fans time, while Danica and the likes usually hide out. Dan's got one of the cleanest driving records in the IndyCar series. He's only been involved in 3 wall contact incidents(None in race conditions since 2003) and 3 other other on track incidents that didn't result in DNF's. So to say Dan Wheldon's driving is agreesive to the point of dangerous is stupid. 13 wins, 55 top 10's (42 which are top 5 finishes) Indy 500 win and a Championship in 69 starts proves your claim wrong.
Saying that he'd like to dominate the series is just fine, he's showing passion for his job. The mans a racer what do you want him to say "Oh well I'd like to win, and maybe finish high in the points" No you want to hear how much they want it.
Danica drove into Dan's rear tire, Dan took the conventional racing line. Danica overcook the corner, she wanted to be where Dan was and ahead of him, but she was not along side enough to make any atempt to pull of pass, which is what she tried to do, she made her own problem, she's just too much of a whiner to own up to. When she wrecked 4 cars out of the Indy 500 in 2005, she got off with a "No Harm No Foul." except she ruined 4 drivers races, she at least was able to continue on in the race at Milwaukee yesteday.
See? This is why I don't like to get personal. Some fans so identify with their favorite sports hero or team that they lose all perspective. Kind of sad.
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