2013 Shell/Pennzoil Grand Prix of Houston - IndyCar

This is the final twinbill of the 2013 season. The drivers and teams are back after a one-month layoff from Baltimore, in which Simon Pagenaud won last time out.

Helio Castroneves is looking good for his first IndyCar championship after decent finishes at Sonoma and Baltimore and his closest rival Scott Dixon getting the ugly ends of the deals. He can certainly clinch the championship this weekend if things go his way on Saturday and Sunday before the finale at Fontana, unless Dixon has something to say about it. And this is the first time since 2007 that open-wheels have raced in Houston, with Sebastian Bourdais winning the race. He also won it in 2006.

Mike Conway will be the only driver change this weekend in the No. 18 as he looks to repeat his Detroit performance.

Well, that was a frightening start, and probably takes Hinch out of the championship hunt.

>Hinch
>"I Have to pee"
lightens the mood a bit, reminds me of Pocono in a way.

There's always tomorrow.

Kanaan not doing a good job trying to impress his future boss.

Great pass by Filippi on Pagenaud for third there.

And Simona's made some great moves today. Simona...*sigh*.

No, YOU shut up!

Well Sato just binned it in the tyre wall.

Good win Dixon, SIMONA 2ND.

Simona and Wilson were catching Dixon until the yellow was thrown...

Oh no no no. Is Dixon going to become the next Johnson/Vettel? And IndyCar had been doing so well in varied winners...

Filippi had a great race, I missed why he dropped from 2nd to 13th though. Was it a stop under yellow?

And Simona 2nd...

Good podium Simona!

I can't wait to see what she'll do tomorrow!

Milan655 wrote:Filippi had a great race, I missed why he dropped from 2nd to 13th though. Was it a stop under yellow?

And Simona 2nd...

Yes, he stopped with Power

Well, Dixon made the battle for the lead kind of meh, but Wilson and Simona were catching him at the end of that race. And the championship battle just got really interesting.

The first race of the Shell/Pennzoil Grand Prix of Houston gets a 7.0/10.

SIMONA FIRST PODIUM YAYZORZ!!!11!1  

Way to go, SIMONA!!!

SSSSSSIIIIIIMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA


Also Conway you're terrible.

Gotta give it to Simona. Great drive by her. And the title race just got real interesting.

Hell of a drive by Simona de Silvestro and Luca Filippi... got a feeling F1 missed a big talent with Luca.

Part of me wants Helio to win the title, part of me doesn't because of how he would win it (not through speed, but through mediocrity, Beaux Barfield, and Will Power).

Cynon wrote:Hell of a drive by Simona de Silvestro and Luca Filippi... got a feeling F1 missed a big talent with Luca.

Part of me wants Helio to win the title, part of me doesn't because of how he would win it (not through speed, but through mediocrity, Beaux Barfield, and Will Power).  

On the same foot. Dixon winning it with whining and crying turns me off from him

Helio's been at it for almost 15 year and has been for the most part consistent. If he wants to win it though he needs to pick it up in these last two races.

Helio will lead the field to green since qualifying was rained out for the first time since 2009. The lineup is set by the points standings. Should be interesting...

JMac525 wrote:Helio will lead the field to green since qualifying was rained out for the first time since 2009. The lineup is set by the points standings. Should be interesting...

Not Driver Points; Entrant Points. Dixon is on pole.

Helio's title chances just took a big hit after the gearbox again.

If anyone other than Helio must win the title, PLEASE let it be Pagenaud.

That was a horrible accident 

That was extremely scary. Hope Dario's okay.

Really hope Dario's okay, that was scary. Takuma took a hit from Viso too.

HINCH GETS P3!

but that wreck, Dario is probably going to be out for California, I hope the fans are fine.

Hoping that everyone is alright.

Dario is apparently awake and alert, although almost certainly injured. No word on anyone hurt in the crowd. Geez, that was gruesome.

That was quite horrific, catch fencing and IndyCar don't get along to well. I hope everyone is ok, but I've said it before and I'll say it again. Catch fencing/debris fencing needs to be redesigned, because it's beginning to become a big problem.

Metro 6r4 wrote:That was quite horrific, catch fencing and IndyCar don't get along to well. I hope everyone is ok, but I've said it before and I'll say it again. Catch fencing/debris fencing needs to be redesigned, because it's beginning to become a big problem.

This is one of the few situations that I don't think can be improved in any way. Fencing is the only thing strong enough to contain a race car while still allowing spectators maximum visibility. Currently I can't think of any clear surface that is strong enough to contain an automobile, and even if it could it would likely be scratched to oblivion after each race and would need replacing constantly.

Alright, Dallara, you useless sacks of dogshit, please get out and bring back cars that look more like this:



If it wasn't the fact that the nose wasn't so damn high, Dario wouldn't have gone flying over Sato's car, he would have jacked up Sato's rear end and both would have gone into the wall.

Then, the only problem would be people who didn't see the wreck in time to avoid it.

Those rear attenuator pods are as useless as week-old dog shit, Marco got launched last year at Long Beach after a very similar crash... just replace Sato getting loose with Graham Rahal being Graham Rahal. The way the Lola I posted above was made, even at high speeds, if a car would drive squarely into the back of the car in front of it, the car would NOT go flying over the top like they do today. On the DW12, the nose is higher than the gearbox, on the Champ Cars, the nose was far lower. I cite Bourdais' collision with Paul Tracy at Vegas 05 and Scott Sharp's flip at New Hampshire 1994 as evidence.

That being said, I will still back Scott Dixon as the most deserving champion this season because he hasn't resorted to the dirty tricks Penske have been playing. I think his interview after the race said enough, and Dixie is a smart enough driver to let Power go by and just finish 2nd rather than have Power take him out. I'd be upset with those tactics as well.

Cynon wrote:That being said, I will still back Scott Dixon as the most deserving champion this season because he hasn't resorted to the dirty tricks Penske have been playing. I think his interview after the race said enough, and Dixie is a smart enough driver to let Power go by and just finish 2nd rather than have Power take him out. I'd be upset with those tactics as well.

I would agree with this statement if it weren't for the fact that Dixon has been a whiny bitch (AKA a Kyle Busch impersonator) this season.

Well Dario's dead.

Who cares, WWOOOOLLLLLLLL POOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWW

According to ESPN, at least 13 fans injured, including two that were taken to the hospital. No word on injuries.

Looked like there was a fair bit of space between grandstand and the track, hopefully nothing serious.

PackerMan71 wrote:

Cynon wrote:That being said, I will still back Scott Dixon as the most deserving champion this season because he hasn't resorted to the dirty tricks Penske have been playing. I think his interview after the race said enough, and Dixie is a smart enough driver to let Power go by and just finish 2nd rather than have Power take him out. I'd be upset with those tactics as well.

I would agree with this statement if it weren't for the fact that Dixon has been a whiny bitch (AKA a Kyle Busch impersonator) this season.

I'd be pissed too if there was one rule for cars that wrecked me and one rule for cars that wrecked anyone else. I can totally sympathize with Dixon. Nothing he has said in any interview has been incorrect... he's just told it like it is.

Cynon wrote:

PackerMan71 wrote:

Cynon wrote:That being said, I will still back Scott Dixon as the most deserving champion this season because he hasn't resorted to the dirty tricks Penske have been playing. I think his interview after the race said enough, and Dixie is a smart enough driver to let Power go by and just finish 2nd rather than have Power take him out. I'd be upset with those tactics as well.

I would agree with this statement if it weren't for the fact that Dixon has been a whiny bitch (AKA a Kyle Busch impersonator) this season.

I'd be pissed too if there was one rule for cars that wrecked me and one rule for cars that wrecked anyone else. I can totally sympathize with Dixon. Nothing he has said in any interview has been incorrect... he's just told it like it is.

Still no excuse to act like a tool.

PackerMan71 wrote:

Cynon wrote:

PackerMan71 wrote:

Cynon wrote:That being said, I will still back Scott Dixon as the most deserving champion this season because he hasn't resorted to the dirty tricks Penske have been playing. I think his interview after the race said enough, and Dixie is a smart enough driver to let Power go by and just finish 2nd rather than have Power take him out. I'd be upset with those tactics as well.

I would agree with this statement if it weren't for the fact that Dixon has been a whiny bitch (AKA a Kyle Busch impersonator) this season.

I'd be pissed too if there was one rule for cars that wrecked me and one rule for cars that wrecked anyone else. I can totally sympathize with Dixon. Nothing he has said in any interview has been incorrect... he's just told it like it is.

Still no excuse to act like a tool.

Ask Jeff Gordon how he felt about Michael Waltrip Racing at Richmond. See what kind of response you get from that.

Cynon wrote:

PackerMan71 wrote:

Cynon wrote:

PackerMan71 wrote:

Cynon wrote:That being said, I will still back Scott Dixon as the most deserving champion this season because he hasn't resorted to the dirty tricks Penske have been playing. I think his interview after the race said enough, and Dixie is a smart enough driver to let Power go by and just finish 2nd rather than have Power take him out. I'd be upset with those tactics as well.

I would agree with this statement if it weren't for the fact that Dixon has been a whiny bitch (AKA a Kyle Busch impersonator) this season.

I'd be pissed too if there was one rule for cars that wrecked me and one rule for cars that wrecked anyone else. I can totally sympathize with Dixon. Nothing he has said in any interview has been incorrect... he's just told it like it is.

Still no excuse to act like a tool.

Ask Jeff Gordon how he felt about Michael Waltrip Racing at Richmond. See what kind of response you get from that.

Dixon might be in the right, but I just don't agree with how he's went about it. He's come across as being whiny, and quite frankly, it's really irritating.

If you want to sympathize with Dixon, that's fine, to each his own. But, IMO, based on his attitude this season, I just can't and won't feel the same way.

Cynon wrote:

PackerMan71 wrote:

Cynon wrote:That being said, I will still back Scott Dixon as the most deserving champion this season because he hasn't resorted to the dirty tricks Penske have been playing. I think his interview after the race said enough, and Dixie is a smart enough driver to let Power go by and just finish 2nd rather than have Power take him out. I'd be upset with those tactics as well.

I would agree with this statement if it weren't for the fact that Dixon has been a whiny bitch (AKA a Kyle Busch impersonator) this season.

I'd be pissed too if there was one rule for cars that wrecked me and one rule for cars that wrecked anyone else. I can totally sympathize with Dixon. Nothing he has said in any interview has been incorrect... he's just told it like it is.

I haven't seen his interview from today but from what i hear it was scummy as hell.

13 people are injured. Cannot believe this is Daytona all over again.  

Apparently Dario has 2 fractured vertebra and he will require surgery.

Dario Franchitti has a concussion, along with a spinal fracture and a fractured right ankle. No surgery needed, but he will be kept overnight at least.

Man, that was a scary wreck... shame on Dallara. If they'd done their jobs properly that would not have been nearly as bad.

As for the championship, well, I'm really glad to see Dixon back in it. Regardless of how you feel he acts off the track, he's been nothing short of astounding on it, especially given how badly he was screwed over at Sonoma and Baltimore. Still, I would be happy for Castroneves to win, partly because I feel the fact that he doesn't have an IndyCar title is a terrible injustice to his talent, and partly because I feel he's in the same position Martin Truex Jr was in at Richmond.

I've seen two people on Twitter blame Sato. These two people are assholes.

I never saw the race today but when I found out about the wreck, I saw some of the replays on YouTube. Man, I hope everyone involved in the wreck are okay, especially the fans. The way the catch fence flew over into the stands makes me wonder how secured and tightened the fence was. Maybe I'm being a little too hard on the guys building the track but I hope Indy Car and Dallara can learn something from this and improve the safety for everyone. I think with Derrick Walker working for the ICS now, I think there will be more say into what's going on.

Last lap racing gone horribly wrong. Glad to see no one got killed in that crash.

Indycar dodged a huge bullet today, almost as big as the wreck at Daytona in the Nationwide race.


Honestly, this weekend was very strange.

Yikes:

Turns out Dario did have surgery on his right ankle, which is fractured. Currently his back does not need surgery though.