2014 MAVTV 500 - IndyCar

Well, this is it. The season will close at the Auto Club Speedway for the final 500 miles of the 2014 IndyCar season.

Scott Dixon, who won the championship here last year, won last time out at Sonoma in a race mixed with various strategies. Will Power, who won this race last year, maintains the points lead with 51 points. He, Helio Castroneves and Simon Pagenaud are the only 3 drivers in contention for the championship. No matter what happens, we'll see a first-time champion.

The race is this Saturday night at 9pm.

I don't think Pagenaud is out of this at all, just on the fact that he's facing the Bridesmaid tag team.

Alta wrote:I don't think Pagenaud is out of this at all, just on the fact that he's facing the Bridesmaid tag team.

Pagenaud HAS to win though, and he needs Power to be one of the first two cars to retire. Pagenaud has been decent on the ovals, but he's never looked like a winner on them to me. I really hope he proves me wrong, though.

If Will doesn't win the title this weekend, he never will. He can't be afraid to win the championship anymore. He especially can't screw up at Fontana, since Helio loves superspeedways so much.

RetrogradeRenegade wrote:

Alta wrote:I don't think Pagenaud is out of this at all, just on the fact that he's facing the Bridesmaid tag team.

Pagenaud HAS to win though, and he needs Power to be one of the first two cars to retire. Pagenaud has been decent on the ovals, but he's never looked like a winner on them to me. I really hope he proves me wrong, though.

Yeah it's really slim for Pagenaud in reality, I was kind of joking at the fact that both Power and Castroneves find ways to lose the title.

So, Power and Castroneves wrecking on lap 1?

GamerAzuzu wrote:So, Power and Castroneves wrecking on lap 1?

Correct.

I fully believe that Will Power maybe has now learnt the mistakes of choking away a championship. As much as Castroneves has been trying to win a championship longer than Power has, Power just needs to keep his cool and the title is his.

By the way if IndyCar used F1 points, Power would have almost locked up the title.

1. Will Power 173
2. Scott Dixon 149
3. Simon Pagenaud 145
4. Ryan Hunter-Reay 144
5. Hélio Castroneves 129
6. Juan Pablo Montoya 114
7. Tony Kanaan 100
8. Sébastien Bourdais 87
9. Carlos Muñoz* 89
10. Charlie Kimball 66
11. James Hinchcliffe 62
12. Marco Andretti 54
13. Mikhail Aleshin* 54
14. Mike Conway 50
15. Josef Newgarden 46
16. Graham Rahal 42
17. Ryan Briscoe 42
18. Jack Hawksworth* 38
19. Ed Carpenter 37
20. Carlos Huertas* 30
21. Takuma Sato 30
22. Justin Wilson 27
23. Kurt Busch* 8
24. Oriol Servià 6
25. Sebastian Saavedra 2
26. Sage Karam* 2
27. JR Hildebrand 1

To win the title Scott Dixon has to win and Power has to finish 11th or worse.

Really hoping Kanaan can pull something out of this he does well on ovals most of the time and was up front here last year iirc.

Hoping Power wins the title.

Anyone think Helio retires on the spot if he wins the title, or would the possibility of a fourth Indy 500 win be too tempting to give it up just yet?

Helio Castroneves is on the pole for the race, Montoya P2, and Newgarden, Sato and Dixon round out the Top 5.

The kicker? Will Power is starting second to last.

Massive crash in final practice. Mikhail Aleshin hit the catch fence and collected Kimball and Andretti...Aleshin has been taken straight to the hospital.

This is a very bad situation. Hoping for the best for Aleshin.

Might not the best time to be asking this, but there wouldn't happen to be footage of this, is there? I'd just like to know what happened.

Stay strong Aleshin.

https://twitter.com/IndyCar/status/505552725757526016

Pretty good news.

kensethfan wrote:Probably not the best time to be asking this, but there wouldn't happen to be footage of this, is there? I'd just like to know what happened.

Stay strong Aleshin.

Apparently, Aleshin went below the apron in turn 3, spun out, and backed into Kimball's car, which sent him into the catch fence.

kensethfan wrote:Might not the best time to be asking this, but there wouldn't happen to be footage of this, is there? I'd just like to know what happened.

Stay strong Aleshin.

http://instagram.com/p/sTornECxfJ/

Here is video.

Not as bad as I thought, but it's still bad.

Damn, both Kimball and Aleshin were lucky.

That wreck looked like something between Zanardi's crash and Brack's crash in these kind of cars, but the injuries weren't nearly as grim. Which is good, of course. Says something about how far we've come with safety.

That could have been a lot worse. Aleshin's lucky. Glad to hear he's alright though.

Better quality video.

Good Lord, Marco almost backed into the path of one of the rescue vehicles.

crl wrote:Good Lord, Marco almost backed into the path of one of the rescue vehicles.

Marco was backing up like he saw a ghost.

I do hope Aleshin is ok, that was one hell of a ride he took. It does mean that he probably won't be racing though.

BWardboy88 wrote:I do hope Aleshin is ok, that was one hell of a ride he took. It does mean that he probably won't be racing though.

He wasn't injured that badly from what I've heard. As long as his team brought a backup car, he should be good to go.

kensethfan wrote:

BWardboy88 wrote:I do hope Aleshin is ok, that was one hell of a ride he took. It does mean that he probably won't be racing though.

He wasn't injured that badly from what I've heard. As long as his team brought a backup car, he should be good to go.

Jenna Fryer ‏@JennaFryer 46m
#IndyCar driver @mikhailaleshin has fractured ribs & broken collarbone, concussion and chest injuries. Serious but stable condition.

He won't be running...

Ben Atkins wrote:

kensethfan wrote:

BWardboy88 wrote:I do hope Aleshin is ok, that was one hell of a ride he took. It does mean that he probably won't be racing though.

He wasn't injured that badly from what I've heard. As long as his team brought a backup car, he should be good to go.

Jenna Fryer ‏@JennaFryer  46m
#IndyCar driver @mikhailaleshin has fractured ribs & broken collarbone, concussion and chest injuries. Serious but stable condition.

He won't be running...

Okay then. My bad.

I would imagine they have a backup car, but I'm not sure if they'll have a substitute. Hope Aleshin recovers soon.

Hinch has zero luck this year :/

You do realise you can't say that on live TV, right PT?

Well, my shot at the IndyCar Pick 'Em title just got ruined.

HELL HAS FROZEN OVER! WILL POWER HAS WON THE CHAMPIONSHIP!

GW Kannan

Power won the title..... GG

navycook75 wrote:HELL HAS FROZEN OVER! WILL POWER HAS WON THE CHAMPIONSHIP!

Well, he can finally rip off that bridesmaid's dress. Good championship, Will Power.

PackerMan71 wrote:

navycook75 wrote:HELL HAS FROZEN OVER! WILL POWER HAS WON THE CHAMPIONSHIP!

Well, he can finally rip off that bridesmaid's dress. Good championship, Will Power.

I don't think this picture is relevant anymore either.

FINALLY!!! Will Power is a champion. I'm so thrilled, but I'm also saying it's about damn time. And great win for Tony Kanaan. Though it was a lackluster of a race. 5.0/10.

navycook75 wrote:

PackerMan71 wrote:

navycook75 wrote:HELL HAS FROZEN OVER! WILL POWER HAS WON THE CHAMPIONSHIP!

Well, he can finally rip off that bridesmaid's dress. Good championship, Will Power.

I don't think this picture is relevant anymore either.

It was fun while it lasted. Although it can be used universally for any driver, or Lebron James


Meanwhile, that glare from Will Power when he was signing the camera reminded me of this.

Good race. Pretty clean throughout...Glad to see TK win again.

Power has broken the shackles of chokedom and has finally won the title. Congrats to Power on finally breaking the streak.

If the Dubai rumor is true i'm hyped for Speedweeks return.

It needs to be noted that Hawksworth and Aleshin both missed double points races:

https://twitter.com/IndyCarChad/status/505945918869622784

Also, while it wasn't the pass-fest that Indy was, it was a lot better than Pocono. I counted about seven guys who could've won this race tonight (JPM, RHR, Hinch, Helio, Ed, Dixon, and TK).

Will Power didn't choke? Honestly, I'm surprised. But he for once deserved the title after throwing it away the past few years.

TONY YES YES YES

crl wrote:Also, while it wasn't the pass-fest that Indy was, it was a lot better than Pocono. I counted about seven guys who could've won this race tonight (JPM, RHR, Hinch, Helio, Ed, Dixon, and TK).

Hell, Power might've won it had his pit crew not choked on the final stop.

I'm so happy Kanaan won, been a fan of his since I was in 1st grade. Saw his 2004 Championship car at a car show in Austin, Texas and I've been hooked ever since

Nothing compares to the 2013 Indy 500 though.

Very entertaining race with a lot at stake and a lot of competitors vying for the win. Although I can't say I'm a big fan of Helio being screwed by a technicality, ol' Willy really earned it this year.

Pretty solid 2014 for IndyCar. Can't wait for 2015 and maybe the aero kits!

Mikhail Aleshin is in stable condition following surgery for an undisclosed chest injury he suffered in the practice crash.

flyingturns89 wrote:Mikhail Aleshin is in stable condition following surgery for an undisclosed chest injury he suffered in the practice crash.

Good to hear. I really hope this crash doesn't severely affect his career. The guy has talent and a long road ahead of him; it would be a shame to see it end here.

Sparkz47 wrote:

flyingturns89 wrote:Mikhail Aleshin is in stable condition following surgery for an undisclosed chest injury he suffered in the practice crash.

Good to hear. I really hope this crash doesn't severely affect his career. The guy has talent and a long road ahead of him; it would be a shame to see it end here.

I think he'll be fine.

Casey Lester wrote:

Sparkz47 wrote:

flyingturns89 wrote:Mikhail Aleshin is in stable condition following surgery for an undisclosed chest injury he suffered in the practice crash.

Good to hear. I really hope this crash doesn't severely affect his career. The guy has talent and a long road ahead of him; it would be a shame to see it end here.

I think he'll be fine.

His prognosis is good. It's just scary; this is the same type of crash that ended Dario's career, with many of the same injuries. Fortunately, it seems Aleshin dodged a bullet in this case, relatively speaking.