524 replies to this topic

[bonneville]

Past decade winners incl. video highlights:

2000 Juan Pablo Montoya G Force Oldsmobile Chip Ganassi Racing (unofficial highlights)
2001 Hélio Castroneves Dallara Oldsmobile Marlboro Team Penske (unofficial highlights)
2002 Hélio Castroneves Dallara Chevrolet Marlboro Team Penske (focus on Tracy's version, last 13 laps live)
2003 Gil de Ferran Panoz G Force Toyota Marlboro Team Penske (unofficial highlights))
2004 Buddy Rice Panoz G Force Honda Rahal Letterman Racing (dull race, best remembered for Schekter's super pass)
2005 Dan Wheldon Dallara Honda Andretti Green Racing (highlight focussing on Danica's raceday)
2006 Sam Hornish, Jr. Dallara Honda Marlboro Team Penske (official 7 min highlights video)
2007 Dario Franchitti Dallara Honda Andretti Green Racing (unofficial highlights)
2008 Scott Dixon Dallara Honda Chip Ganassi Racing (official 7 min highlight video)
2009 Hélio Castroneves Dallara Honda Marlboro Team Penske (official 12 min highlights video)


Multiple winners:

4 wins:
A.J. Foyt 1961, 1964, 1967, 1977
Al Unser 1970, 1971, 1978, 1987
Rick Mears 1979, 1984, 1988, 1991

3 wins:
Louis Meyer 1928, 1933, 1936
Wilbur Shaw 1937, 1939, 1940
Mauri Rose 1941, 1947, 1948
Johnny Rutherford 1974, 1976, 1980
Bobby Unser 1968, 1975, 1981
Hélio Castroneves 2001, 2002, 2009

Rookie winners:

1911 Ray Harroun
1913 Jules Goux
1914 René Thomas
1926 Frank Lockhart
1927 George Souders
1966 Graham Hill
2000 Juan Pablo Montoya
2001 Hélio Castroneves

***

Schedule:

May 15–16 Rookie Orientation & IndyCar Series practice
May 17–21 IndyCar Series practice
May 22 Pole Day Time Trials
May 23 Bump Day Time Trials
May 28 Carb Day – IndyCar Series final practice
May 30 94th Indianapolis 500-Mile Race

32 confirmed entries (past winners in red, rookies in blue ) :
updated 31 March 2010

Scott Dixon # 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing (2008 Indy 500 Winner)
Dario Franchitti # 10 Target Chip Ganassi Racing (2007 Indy 500 Winner)
Hélio Castroneves # 3 Verizon Wireless/Mobil 1 Team Penske (2001, 2002, 2009 Indy 500 Winner)
Ryan Briscoe # 6 Verizon Wireless/Mobil 1 Team Penske
Will Power # 12 Verizon Wireless Team Penske
Danica Patrick # 7 Go Daddy Andretti Autosport
Tony Kanaan # 11 7-Eleven Andretti Autosport
Marco Andretti # 26 Venom Energy Andretti Autosport
Ryan Hunter-Reay # 37 Izod Andretti Autosport
John Andretti # 43 Window World Andretti & Richard Petty Motorsports
Hideki Mutoh # 6 Formula Dream/Panasonic Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing
Milka Duno # 18 CITGO Dale Coyne Racing
Dan Wheldon # 4 National Guard Panther Racing (2005 Indy 500 Winner)
Takuma Sato # 5 KV Racing Technology sponsored by Lotus Cars (Rookie)
E. J. Viso # 8 PDVSA/Herbalife KV Racing Technology
Paul Tracy # 15 GEICO KV Racing Technology
Mario Moraes # 32 Banco Panamericano KV Racing Technology
Raphael Matos # 2 Hewlett-Packard/McAfee de Ferran Luczo Dragon Racing
Davey Hamilton # 21 Hewlett-Packard de Ferran Luczo Dragon Racing
Vitor Meira # 14 ABC Supply Company A. J. Foyt Enterprises
Justin Wilson # 22 Z-Line Designs Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
Mike Conway # 24 Dad's Root Beer/Roll Coater Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
Simona de Silvestro # 78 Stargate Worlds HVM Racing (Rookie)
Mario Romancini # 34 Guaraná Dolly/H2go Conquest Racing (Rookie)
Bertrand Baguette # 36 Royal Automobile Club of Belgium Conquest Racing (Rookie)
Bruno Junqueira # 33 FAZZT Race Team
Alex Tagliani # 77 Bowers & Wilkins FAZZT Race Team
Jay Howard # 66 Tire Kingdom Sarah Fisher Racing (Rookie)
Sarah Fisher # 67 Dollar General Sarah Fisher Racing
Townsend Bell # 99 Herbalife Sam Schmidt & Chip Ganassi Racing
Robby Gordon # TBA Monster Energy Drink Robby Gordon & Chip Ganassi Racing
Sebastian Saavedra # TBA William Rast Bryan Herta Autosport (Rookie)

3 unconfirmed entries:

Alex Lloyd # 19 Boy Scouts of America Dale Coyne Racing (Rookie)
Ana Beatriz # 23 Petroleo Ipiranga/Lubrizol Dreyer & Reinbold Racing (Rookie)
Graham Rahal #TBA Chip Ganassi Racing or Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing (rumoured and reported on IMS Radio Network)

Edited by bonneville, 31 March 2010 - 21:14.

[Henrytheeigth]

Wow already again? Geesh! Times flies! Last one was good, love the smashs lol

[Xpat]

It is an amazing event.

I've had the pleasure of taking a number of people to their first race over the years. It is interesting to see their faces and hear their first impressions. During the years the USGP was held at IMS I would listen to the people sitting near me and their first impressions were much the same. All are, at first, impressed with the size of the track. Seeing it on TV or in pictures doesn't do it justice. Next they are struck by the sheer number of people in the stands, 250,000+.

One year (in the late 90's) there were a couple of good old boys sitting behind me, NASCAR fans at their first 500. They had all the same impressions first timers have but they were sceptical, both were long time residents of Alabama and had been to races at Talladega. They were sure the race couldn't be much different than what they were used to seeing. We chatted and I explained the parade laps and pace lap and how the race would begin. I told them they would need to stand on their seat to see into turn 4 (we were in the Tower Terrace along the inside the main straight) for the start. As the cars went by to begin the pace lap they found I was correct and stood on the seats. The public address announcer, Tom Carnige, would say, "All eyes on turn 4" and everyone would be straining to look into the turn. Then you would see a flash as the pace car came low through the turn and dives off the track. Then 11 rows of 3 come blasting through turn 4, people looking at the cars to see if they are lined up well enough, checking the starter to see if he's given the field the green flag. When the green flies all 33 cars accelerate and head down the straight and into the 1st turn. 220+ mph no lifting, no breaking, 3 wide through the turn. It just doesn't seem like they will make it through the turn. Ariel bombs are going off, something that never fails to startle the newcomer. One of the good old boys turns to the other and says, "F*&k Talladega!"

There is nothing like it.

[B Squared]

love the smashs lol

I've been having an inner debate in whether to respond to this. With all due respect, I've seen many men I've admired over the past 47 years of my life, injured and even die at the wheel of their race car chasing their dream to win the Indianapolis 500. One of them includes my friend, Scott Brayton in 1996. I'm at a loss as how one can "laugh out loud" at their love of the smashes that have the potential for such devastating outcomes.

[Henrytheeigth]

I've been having an inner debate in whether to respond to this. With all due respect, I've seen many men I've admired over the past 47 years of my life, injured and even die at the wheel of their race car chasing their dream to win the Indianapolis 500. One of them includes my friend, Scott Brayton in 1996. I'm at a loss as how one can "laugh out loud" at their love of the smashes that have the potential for such devastating outcomes.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh well I am referring to non lethal crashes like last years you know? Of course lethal crashes are terrible. Give me some credit please...

[B Squared]

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh well I am referring to non lethal crashes like last years you know? Of course lethal crashes are terrible. Give me some credit please...

I'm quite sure that Vitor Meira laughed off the entire period of his lengthy rehabilitation from non-lethal injuries last year.

[Henrytheeigth]

I'm quite sure that Vitor Meira laughed off the entire period of his lengthy rehabilitation from non-lethal injuries last year.

Ook crashs that drivers walk away from. Happy?;)

[B Squared]

I just have never had an affinity to crashes of any type. I want to see green flag racing. When I worked for CART I was able to work a couple of races at Michigan in which there was one yellow in a 500-miler and no cautions in either a 150 or 200-miler. Give me those days anytime.

Thanks for your clarification.

[bonneville]

Autosport confirms John Andretti will drive for Andretti & Richard Petty Motorsports.
http://www.autosport...rt.php/id/82561

OP updated.

Edited by bonneville, 31 March 2010 - 16:16.

[bonneville]

John Andretti will be sponsored by Window World. OP updated.

[Villes Gilleneuve]

It is an amazing event.

It was an amazing event, now replaced with a joke.

[snafu]

It was an amazing event, now replaced with a joke.

Ding Ding , We have a winner, Last real champ was J Villenueve, 1996,

Edited by snafu, 31 March 2010 - 21:45.

[John B]

Has Robby Gordon offically announced that he's skipping the Cup race for Indy? I take it it's still not practical to run both races in the same day as he and others have done in the past?

[Risil]

Anyone running the G-Force this year? They automatically have my support, if they exist.

[nordschleife]

Route 66, Jimi Hendrix, Detroit, A. J. Foyt, innovation, Mario Andretti, The Indy 500

tumbleweeds, Jay-Z, detroit, A. J. Foyt IV, spec series, Marco Andretti, The Indy 500

Edited by nordschleife, 01 April 2010 - 18:13.

[bonneville]

Ding Ding , We have a winner, Last real champ was J Villenueve, 1996,

That was 1995. Check the thrilling finish video with Scott Goodyear blowing it on his own.
Villeneuve from two laps down wins after driving 505 miles !!!

1996 was the year we lost Scott Brayton.

Edited by bonneville, 31 March 2010 - 22:26.

[loki]

32 confirmed entries (past winners in red, rookies in blue ) :
Paul Tracy # 15 GEICO KV Racing Technology

I fixed if for you...

[snafu]

I fixed if for you...

And they wonder why the 497.5 has little to no credibility

[FigJam]

Oh how I yearn for the pre-split days of the Indy 500.

It's just nowhere near the same.

[snafu]

Oh how I yearn for the pre-split days of the Indy 500.

It's just nowhere near the same.

Well with Roping Randy the bull rider as CEO and a General named Looney picking the next chassis it's not going to be the same in our lifetime

[stevewf1]

Real practice doesn't start until May 17?. Wow...

[Atreiu]

That 7 car pass seemed like something straight from Play Syation.

[bonneville]

Awesome !!! Monty and Smoke to join Robby Gordon at Indy !!!

Juan Montoya will drive #42 Target Chip Ganassi Racing entry in this year's indy 500 and Tony Stewart will be fielded in a #41 Office Depot Stewart/Haas/Ganassi racing. This brings the number of past winners to five in this year's entrants lists.

R Gordon, Montoya and Stewart will all attempt the famed 1100 miles in a day.

Nascar.com reports after the break.

[Risil]

Nice try. You'd have had me if you didn't put Montoya in. No way is he coming back.

[whitewaterMkII]

Awesome !!! Monty and Smoke to join Robby Gordon at Indy !!!

Juan Montoya will drive #42 Target Chip Ganassi Racing entry in this year's indy 500 and Tony Stewart will be fielded in a #41 Office Depot Stewart/Haas/Ganassi racing. This brings the number of past winners to five in this year's entrants lists.

R Gordon, Montoya and Stewart will all attempt the famed 1100 miles in a day.

Nascar.com reports after the break.

Niiice, check in at work and get my first jab of the day.
BTW, excellent job on formatting the OP, thanks!

[whitewaterMkII]

Nice try. You'd have had me if you didn't put Montoya in. No way is he coming back.

No, but his grandma may enter

[Xpat]

It was an amazing event, now replaced with a joke.

The event is still amazing (the crowd, the pageantry, the history, the racing). When you sit in the stands on race day does it feel any different to you?

[loki]

The event is still amazing (the crowd, the pageantry, the history, the racing). When you sit in the stands on race day does it feel any different to you?

The last time I went in 2003 it was much different than pre split. The crowd was way down, noticeable. The events surrounding the race and the feel around town was much more low key. Depending on what happens in the next couple of years I might return but a trip to the Canadian GP is likely going to happen before that.

[Xpat]

The last time I went in 2003 it was much different than pre split. The crowd was way down, noticeable. The events surrounding the race and the feel around town was much more low key. Depending on what happens in the next couple of years I might return but a trip to the Canadian GP is likely going to happen before that.

I know IMS never reports crowd size other than to say they sold all available tickets but I have attended all the races since 1971 and I haven't noticed any reduction of the crowd. You will sometimes see seats along the bottom of the stands empty when it is very hot because the seats are aluminum and it's like sitting on a frying pan. It's not that they aren't there, they've just moved up higher in the stand. Permanent seating is about 255,000 and temporary seating brings that total up to about 400,000. Temporary being the ground and your butt cheeks.

The F1 race in Indianapolis, while still very well attended, showed a marked reduction in crowd size over the years. IMS is the only place where a crowd of 120,000 looks sparse.

[Risil]

The event is still amazing (the crowd, the pageantry, the history, the racing). When you sit in the stands on race day does it feel any different to you?

It'd be nice to have teams trying out a few different engine or chassis combinations. It'd be nice knowing that some of the drivers had scratched their way from the short tracks, with Indy as an ever-present goal and not just a career step. It'd be nice if the corners couldn't be taken flat-out, that Indycars weren't what Montoya described as 'like Formula 3 racing'.

You're right that the crowd, pageantry, history, and willingness of the cars to actually pass each other make Indy-style racing worth saving though. But the fact remains that right now, if I went to Indianapolis, it'd be for the bike GP racing. I'd still spend all day at the museum though.

[whitewaterMkII]

I know IMS never reports crowd size other than to say they sold all available tickets but I have attended all the races since 1971 and I haven't noticed any reduction of the crowd.

[Xpat]

What I should have said actually is, "Since I've been to all the races since 1971, I've noticed an increase in the crowd." There is more seating now that there was previously.

[snafu]

What I should have said actually is, "Since I've been to all the races since 1971, I've noticed an increase in the crowd." There is more seating now that there was previously.

soory , not drinking the koolade, you have to fricking kidding, attendence has been down evry year, just look at the qualify crowd it's zip. now get a pair a glasses

[Xpat]

soory , not drinking the koolade, you have to fricking kidding, attendence has been down evry year, just look at the qualify crowd it's zip. now get a pair a glasses

First, spell check and grammar check ftw.

Second, the race day crowd is as good as it has ever been. That is all we have been talking about. The non-race day crowd has been declining since the 1980's.

[B Squared]

Second, the race day crowd is as good as it has ever been. That is all we have been talking about. The non-race day crowd has been declining since the 1980's.

You have a good run of races at the track, as do I. My family has been in the same seats on race day since 1970 - Dad started in 1957, my brother & I, 1965. Possibly the visual is different where you sit, but the race day seats would be packed on every row of every stand on the front straight, turn four and turn one where I can see. Throughout the course of the race. Droves of people would not leave the lower rows in days past. Now they never show up - they are unsold seats. I've got every race recorded since the mid-eighties - it is clear from that footage that this is a true statement, I just watched bits of 1987, 89 and 1993 to view a random sampling before making this claim. That, unfortunately, has not been the case for a while now. Up a bit last year, but not like days of old. You never would see or hear advertisements for race tickets, it was a given that seating was unavailable. Scalpers used to have a field day with inflated prices for premium seats, the number of them hawking their product is way down as you approach the Main Gate on race day morning. Numerous articles have been in the Indianapolis press and the auto racing press about dwindling spectator numbers over the past years. I do not take glee in writing this, for I love this race and it's history like no other, but to rebuild and right this ship - we all must assess the situation with a clear view of the task at hand.

[Xpat]

Jim Neighbors and I will see you there.

[Rob G]

Jim Neighbors and I will see you there.

That's Jim Nabors. Don't rely on your spell check too much.

[whitewaterMkII]

[quote name='Xpat' date='Apr 4 2010, 04:52' post='4267550'
Jim Neighbors and I will see you there.
[/quote]
I would only add one thing here, as a longtime resident, for a vast number of posters here, English is not their first language, so most of us don't worry too much about sPelChheKinG other posters

[whitewaterMkII]

Jim Neighbors and I will see you there.

I would only add one thing here, as a longtime resident, for a vast number of posters here, English is not their first language, so most of us don't worry too much about sPelChheKinG other posters

[dgsg]

I know IMS never reports crowd size other than to say they sold all available tickets but I have attended all the races since 1971 and I haven't noticed any reduction of the crowd. You will sometimes see seats along the bottom of the stands empty when it is very hot because the seats are aluminum and it's like sitting on a frying pan. It's not that they aren't there, they've just moved up higher in the stand.

All tickets sold, people from empty seats moved higher up in the stands? So what do the people in the seats higher up think of people sitting in their laps?

[Xpat]

All tickets sold, people from empty seats moved higher up in the stands? So what do the people in the seats higher up think of people sitting in their laps?

We make them move.

I have to do it when I initially arrive and again after I return to my seat with my Track Dog. Every year. The seats used to be wood, the new aluminum ones get hot as hell.

[Xpat]

http://auto-racing.s...00-pole-format/

As I recall making the 500 the most important race in the schedule (point-wise) was one of TG's goals. I think he'd suggested it to the CART board pre-split.

Pole day/Qualifying changes...meh.

[stevewf1]

http://auto-racing.s...00-pole-format/

As I recall making the 500 the most important race in the schedule (point-wise) was one of TG's goals. I think he'd suggested it to the CART board pre-split.

Someone help me here... I am trying to remember (too lazy to look it up right now) - that in CART's early years, the 500 didn't pay any points towards the CART Championship? Seems like I remember reading that the points distribution started sometime in the mid 80s...

[Xpat]

Someone help me here... I am trying to remember (too lazy to look it up right now) - that in CART's early years, the 500 didn't pay any points towards the CART Championship? Seems like I remember reading that the points distribution started sometime in the mid 80s...

I think that USAC still sanctioned the 500 but it did pay points towards the CART championship.

[snafu]

Needs more Bernie, what a joke

New Indy 500 qualifications rules sign of series' situation
April 12, 2010
Back to Top
CommentsE-mailPrintThere’s a big difference between watching a National Football League and Arena Football League game.

Forget about the size, speed and overall skill of the players. We get that.

The main difference for me is that watching an NFL game gives me the distinct feeling that I’m watching a game that had its rules crafted in a time before mass media, namely television.

The rules of the game were invented to make the game fair, competitive and perhaps fun to play. The same goes for a college or high school game.

The biggest problem I had with AFL games is it felt like the game was invented for purely entertainment purposes. And when things are made up that way, they seldom work in my mind. Given the current status of the AFL, I’d say I’m not alone.

I’m not picking on the AFL. Just about every new league has this feel to me. Be it the XFL or whatever. The rules feel contrived, and in some cases a bit nonsensical.

Now some innovations have substance. The American Basketball Association ushered in the three-point era, and I’d still like to see the red-white-and-blue ball used.

While NASCAR’s Chase for the Cup seemed a little contrived to me at first, I can’t argue that it doesn’t make the series’ final races more exciting. I think it’s less fair than the previous system, which is a problem for me, but fairness doesn’t always sell. Excitement, I suppose, does.

But here’s the rub. A sport needs to be exciting on its own merits to truly be a long-term profit-making business prospect. That’s why the NFL is so successful. Yes, league officials occasionally tweak the rules, but more out of fairness and competitive balance than just as a way to drum up fan fervor.

NFL games are exciting because you get to see some of the biggest men on the face of the planet running at break-neck speeds often on a collision course. That’s the nature of the game and it sells.

That brings us to the IndyCar Series. It’s no secret that the open-wheel series is doing everything it can to catch peoples’ attention. I would say they’re trying to draw fans’ attention, but series officials’ efforts are much broader.

I applaud those efforts, but they’re walking a fine line. IndyCar racing needs more fans to survive long-term. But I’m not sure that inventing new qualifications rules for the Indianapolis 500—or any other race—is the answer.

Not even the drivers know what to make of it, as is evident from Helio Castroneves’ comments at Sunday’s race in Alabama.

The crux of the change is this: The fastest nine cars in traditional pole day qualifying will advance to a 90-minute end-of-day session during which the drivers will take shots at the pole (and special cash and prizes).

It feels a little like Let’s Make a Deal.
Here’s the real deal. Either IndyCar Series officials learn to sell their sport (to fans and sponsors) or they don’t. They learn to promote their drivers or not. Danica Patrick either learns to navigate a road course or becomes as irrelevant in this reincarnated open-wheel series as Milka Duno.

And at the end of the day, the series needs to get itself back to what made it rock and roll in the 1960s through the 1980s—if they can ever put its finger on just exactly what that was.

The series should emphasize speed, handling, pit crew skills and all the things that have made this sport popular with past masses.

Will people come back in the numbers they did when A.J., Mario and Mears made them stand on their feet? I don’t think anyone knows.

But the core product remains racing around a track as fast as possible and the personalities that pilot these four-wheeled rocket ships. Emphasis on cutting-edge cars and other technology might also be a novel idea. That sort of thing really appeals to people interested in watching cars go fast.

Trying to sell people made-for-TV rules and trumped up drama—especially when you’re talking about something with the historical significance of the Indianapolis 500—makes it look like desperation time for the IndyCar Series.

But then again, maybe it is.

Or Maybe this new qualifications format means series officials have their fingers on the pulse of what sports fans want, and this will restore May to what it once was.

Which scenario do you think is more likely?

Edited by snafu, 18 April 2010 - 00:53.

[B Squared]

The Indy Star is a good way to keep track of the daily track activities.

http://www.indystar....S0107/100513005

[snafu]

So much for FAZZT.. Selling equipment to make payroll
No car for Bruno.
Tag is shocked that Jim Freudenberg lied about 3 years of sponsorship,

Fraudy takes down another team, at the expense of Bruno and Alex.

For those keeping score, Fraudy's list of destruction reads like this so far(allegedly):

Kelley Racing
Denver GP
San Jose GP/Phoenix GP-Visa debacle
Molson Indy
FAZZT


, Fraudenberg finally showed his true colors...couldn't say that Tag wasn't warned repeatedly.


scuttlebutt
someone close to RDS tv that RDS tv here in Québec is PISSED off right now. Because they picked up the rights for the irl races this year on the basis that tagliani was gonna run the whole season. They have been notified that tagliani as of now doesnt have funding to run after indy.

[Risil]

I think that USAC still sanctioned the 500 but it did pay points towards the CART championship.

In 1981 and 1982 it was non-Championship. Although given the purse and media exposure on offer, it must've felt bigger than the PPG Cup anyhow.

As far as the qualifying changes go, this sounds like an extension of setting the different parts of the field in separate sessions, which is of course the big feature of Indy qualifying. Whether there's any need for it, I don't know, but it's hardly defaecating on Indy traditions. In fact compared to Formula One it's positively restrained.

[Xpat]

This would add some interest. $20 million is getting close to Schumacher's pocket change.

http://www.indystar....double-worth-it

[jonpollak]

Not wanting to interrupt the sorrow or anything but...
After reading a certain blog... it seems there are quite a few of you posters here going to this event. ...

Jp