MAVTV 500 - IndyCar

They really need to give Fontana it's finale date back... because that crowd was disappointing. But no, Mark Miles insists on the season ending the last week of August.

I don't care that Rahal won, that was an awesome race.

Glad Briscoe is okay, glad he has a sense of humor about the accident as well.

I was away for the weekend so I couldn't catch the race, but I'll see it on YouTube.

crl wrote:I'm all for "breaking up the pack" - not for safety reasons, mind you, but to keep hacks like Rahal from winning. Seriously, that was like a restrictor plate race: constant battling at the front, and at the end, David Ragan wins. Also, Rahal left the pits with the buckeye from the fuel hose, then lost it on the track, which caused a yellow. How is that not a penalty? Not to mention he swerved all over the place like a madman. Oh, well. At least he won't win in Milwaukee. Fun race, but, Christ, what a joke of an ending. Glad Briscoe's OK, too.

That's how you win plate races though... Drive erratically and block frantically. He even got a warning for driving like a tool. I feel like Rahal should have been given a drive-through, and I'd wager any money that they would have moved him back a few positions as a post-race penalty if he didn't win. Ah, well. At least it was an entertaining race.

Absolutely fantastic race last night. This was one of the best races I have seen in several years. Like many others in the topic have said, this type of pack racing is a lot different than the packed in type we saw at places like Chicagoland and Vegas a few years ago. While Indycar really still needs to fix the getting airborne issue, I would like to see more races like this.

It sucks the attendance was so poor because of how good this race was. Hopefully Indycar sees this and gets Fontana back on the schedule next year back in the finale slot. 10/10

Oh and congrats to Rahal. He's deserved to finally win one after the solid year he's had.

crl wrote:I'm all for "breaking up the pack" - not for safety reasons, mind you, but to keep hacks like Rahal from winning. Seriously, that was like a restrictor plate race: constant battling at the front, and at the end, David Ragan wins. Also, Rahal left the pits with the buckeye from the fuel hose, then lost it on the track, which caused a yellow. How is that not a penalty? Not to mention he swerved all over the place like a madman. Oh, well. At least he won't win in Milwaukee. Fun race, but, Christ, what a joke of an ending. Glad Briscoe's OK, too.

Well to be fair, Rahal was come close to winning a few times already this season. He wouldn't be in the top 5 in points and the highest ranked Honda team if he was being his usual self.

Just a shame Rahal chose this race to regress a bit with his on-track behaviour...

Rahal has shown a lot of speed so far this year (enough to place him 4th in the championship at this point). Perhaps this race was one in which it was easier to contend for the win than others, but I personally think that he can win another race before the year is out. Agreeing with Retrograde, it is still a shame, regardless of his results before this weekend, that he seemingly regressed in terms of on-track behavior towards the end of the race.

Regarding the safety of this combination of cars, tracks, and racing product, I don't think that I am qualified to state an opinion as to if it's acceptable. All I know as a fan watching television coverage of the race at home (again, disregarding whether or not it is too dangerous) is that I loved it. I felt excitement throughout nearly its entire duration, more so than I have in a long time; I can't remember the last time that I've been excited for so long during a single race. I've been wishing that this track would host the season finale since it was announced that it would be moved to Sonoma. Oh well, at least it still returned! I really hope that it will be able to come back again next year.

I didn't have a problem with the racing today. Everybody was fine despite some hard hits, and the design of the cars makes a Las Vegas style crash unlikely. I thought it was exciting, and I hope that they can put Fontana back on the schedule next year, and with a better date, because no matter how well you promote it you aren't going to get many people to come out on a 100+ degree summer day in Southern California to watch one of these races. Graham got a great win, and he's been overdue for a win for a while.

I guess I'd be more comfortable if the cars wern't so prone to flip like pinwheels every time they go backwards. My mind may be slipping, but I don't remember CART cars flipping all that much.

I know I'm doing this late.

I saw the entire race on YouTube last night. It...was....awesome!!! The best IndyCar race I've seen in years. Congrats to Rahal on the win. And yes, reject of the race goes to Will Power. He's really starting to be annoying at this point in terms of his complaining. And mentioning Vegas in 2011 was an overreaction. And I'm a Will Power fan for God's sake.

I'll rate this a perfect 10/10. Best motor race of the year hands down.

http://www.motorsport.com/indycar/news/miles-calls-post-fontana-comments-damaging-to-the-sport

Am I the only one that thinks Mark Miles is an asshat?

PackerMan71 wrote:http://www.motorsport.com/indycar/news/miles-calls-post-fontana-comments-damaging-to-the-sport

Am I the only one that thinks Mark Miles is an asshat?

I think what he's getting is Power's comments about this kind of being like Vegas, and just people who were down on it in general.

PackerMan71 wrote:http://www.motorsport.com/indycar/news/miles-calls-post-fontana-comments-damaging-to-the-sport

Am I the only one that thinks Mark Miles is an asshat?

This is probably the only time that I didn't think Mark Miles was an asshat. If anything, Power deserved to get his ass handed to him by Miles.