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Fontucky 500 IndyCar World Championships Finale


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#401 Dolph

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Posted 31 August 2014 - 13:51

Paul Tracy has been excellent in the commentary booth, he's been insightful, calm and balanced with even a little touch of good humour here and there. I never liked the guy and always supported his adversaries but I've changed my opinion. Hornish was a pleasant surprise in the booth also last race but I've always been a fan of his anyway so...

 

I like him as well :) Just that I thought that was a bit funny he said that. I'm all for having Tracy in the booth.



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#402 Ross Stonefeld

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Posted 31 August 2014 - 13:58

Paul Tracy has come on strongly as a commentator, but they need to stop using him for the 'announcer' style pre-race stuff like telling you which row the driver is on. His style doesn't work for that, have him stick to insight and analysis.

 

I really didn't like Hornish as a commentator. Something about his voice/style doesn't work for me. Maybe like Tracy he'd get better with more races, but he co-hosted that Speedvision show for a while and just never did it for me.

Bell is surprisingly strong. Not that I thought he'd be crap, but he just seems naturally good at it.

 

I'd replace Diffey with Varsha. Or anyone really.

 

And Jon Beekhuis needs to be in the pits of every race. Period.



#403 SR388

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Posted 31 August 2014 - 14:26

Congrats to Power. 



#404 HeadFirst

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Posted 31 August 2014 - 14:51

I am not a fan of the 500 milers on the bigger ovals, but this one held my attention. Congrats to Will Power! Finally his hard work has paid off. He's not a fav driver of mine, but he is a deserving winner. Congrats too to Kanaan.

 

IndyCar continues to make progress and I hope this has resulted in better attendance. It is a competitive series, with a logical development program. Young drivers that go through the ladder to the big series seem well prepared, and there is a group of strong veterans as well. Looking forward to 2015 and (hopefully) continued success. 



#405 Red17

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Posted 31 August 2014 - 15:14

Just returned from my field reconnaissance mission.

I am happy to report that all animals ranging from bovines to ducks and insects show no signs of mutations, weather is also normal and traffic is at it' usual sunday levels.

 

So it seems the gods have held back the Power Armagedon. Or maybe the collective alien illusion is working.

 

Doesn't matter! Lets us celebrate!

 

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Congratulations Will!



#406 SKL

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Posted 31 August 2014 - 16:37

Good race and great end to season-  just too soon.  Would like a few more races at least until late October.  LONG off season for Indycar...

 

Bell and Tracy are great in the booth-  I too would love to see Varsha back in F1 and/or Indycar.  Loved Tracy's interview with the Captain before the race!!



#407 HoldenRT

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Posted 31 August 2014 - 16:59

943417-d46d4cd8-30dc-11e4-a639-0fb2d2d71



#408 prommer

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Posted 31 August 2014 - 17:13

Soooo... where's the 2015 Indycar Silly Season thread?  :drunk:  :drunk:  :drunk:

 

ps. Will we have to change our official companion for the new season?

 

Doctor_Who__Jenna_Louise_Coleman.jpg



#409 discover23

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Posted 31 August 2014 - 17:19

Congrats to Power.. He is a fast driver but that is about it..

#410 PayasYouRace

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Posted 31 August 2014 - 17:19

Clara Oswald hasn't got any links (however tenuous) to an Indycar sponsorship deal at the moment, so no.



#411 Peat

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Posted 31 August 2014 - 19:18

943417-d46d4cd8-30dc-11e4-a639-0fb2d2d71

 

I HAD to have that for my avatar!



#412 Option1

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Posted 31 August 2014 - 19:45

Our Ms. Pond is not impressed by the attempted ursurption of her role as Queen of the Indycar Asylum.

 

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Neil



#413 paulb

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Posted 31 August 2014 - 21:32

So here is my report from the race.....

 

Starting with the negative so it can be banished by the positive, it is super freaking hot in Fontana.  There is not much shade and the "oasis areas" (where they have water misters) are helpful but they need many more.  The parking lots opened at noon. Which is good except that the gates did not open until 4pm.  So you could tailgate, which a few folks did, or wander around like I did hoping to find a ticket window. Ticket windows did not open until 3pm.  So I ended up going to the Lazy Dog for a cool lunch and a nice pale ale.  Lunch killed an hour so I waited at the ticket line until getting my seat.  I made the trek (~half mile?) to the garage where there was a little bit to see including a baby T-Rex (more on that later).  Went back out to the autograph session where I chatted in line with a French guy from LA.  His mom was there on vacation so he thought the race would be a fun idea. We were in the Bourdais, Pagenaud, etc, line.  We were too late in line to meet the drivers so the French family bailed. Too bad because they did let the fans go through for the autograph cards.  I picked up a bunch, including Pagenaud's which looked like a painting.  I went over to the WillyP walk of fame induction, but I was late and watched the workers clean up the cement.  My good fan deed of the year was to give most of my driver cards away to some kids who were at the induction.

 

I mucked around a little more before wandering up to my seat which, thank God, was in the shade for a while before sundown.  The race itself was fantastic.  The first few laps were nuts. It was fascinating watching JPM take a squared off line out of 4 to undercut HCN.  There seemed to be action all over, with many, many laps of intense side-by-side action. Sato-Bourdais without an incident, really? Yup.  I will watch the race on NBC because it was impossible to hear why drivers were getting penalties or who was having issues. How did Hinchcliffe lose so much time during pit cycles?  

 

I was thrilled for WillyP. It was nervewracking the watching the last 20 laps or so. I knew he had it in the bag, but he was slowing and with DJWP who knows what might happen next?

 

Every once in a while, this shrill would come over the PA. I am convinced one of the race announcers was a munchkin from the Wizard of Oz.

 

Someone needs to tell the knucklehead from chop, cut, whatever that he does not need to be in a picture with the drivers he just handed a trophy to.  It looked awkward from 1000ft away.

 

As much as the heat and walking sucked, the race weather and race itself made it a slam dunk for a repeat trip.  Now for pics in psuedo chronological order.

 

The sponsor crowd before the driver introductions. It seemed like there was as many of them as there were fans in the stands.

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The baby T-Rex.  Saw it before in the garage area, very impressive. Perhaps someone in the Nostalgia Forum can comment on its realism.

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Sebastian's curse.

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Montoya's car in line for Tech.  Beefy is the best way I can describe the components.  How appropriate for the pounding they were about to take.  And for the first time since the age of this Dallara, I do not ever recall thinking the cars were ugly.

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Daytime panorama.

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Sunset panorama.

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Smog infused sunset.

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Karen Gillian reacting to the end of the 2014 IndyCar season.

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Edited by paulb, 31 August 2014 - 21:44.


#414 jonpollak

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Posted 31 August 2014 - 21:55

Thanks for the beautiful report paulb. Jp

#415 jonpollak

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Posted 31 August 2014 - 22:20

ps. Will we have to change our official companion for the new season?

 

Doctor_Who__Jenna_Louise_Coleman.jpg

I reckon it should change race by race and initiated by the OP... That way we get a little notion of the posters preferences

Edited by jonpollak, 31 August 2014 - 22:21.


#416 Jackman

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Posted 31 August 2014 - 23:38

So, did hell freeze over?



#417 Option1

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Posted 31 August 2014 - 23:44

So, did hell freeze over?

Only in Toowoomba, but it always was as hot as Hades in summer and as cold as a witch's teat in winter.

 

Neil



#418 V8 Fireworks

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Posted 01 September 2014 - 00:32

Soooo... where's the 2015 Indycar Silly Season thread?  :drunk:  :drunk:  :drunk:

 

ps. Will we have to change our official companion for the new season?

 

Doctor_Who__Jenna_Louise_Coleman.jpg

 

NOOOO!

 

Karen Gillan + Arthur Darvill = Pure awesomeness, VERY good actors.

 

Jenna-Louise Coleman = bloody hell.  Terrible, terrible actor.  Should stick to soap operas....  :(

 

 

PS> Congrats to Will Power, Indycar champion finally  :clap:


Edited by V8 Fireworks, 01 September 2014 - 00:33.


#419 Option1

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Posted 01 September 2014 - 00:44

Qualifying coming up, so get your low drag set up perfected.

 

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Because while the NASCAR threads get cats, we get Amy Pond. I think we get a better deal.

I feel that unless the Doctor's "companion" can demonstrate drag coefficients similar to Her Ginger Highess, Queen Amy/Karen the Latex, then no substitutes should be entertained.

 

Neil



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#420 Radoye

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Posted 01 September 2014 - 01:12

Wow. I`m still not sure if i really watched Willy P winning a championship last night or if all this is just some kind of a Bizarro dream and i`m about to wake up any minute now...

Edited by Radoye, 01 September 2014 - 01:13.


#421 slideways

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Posted 01 September 2014 - 01:36

I feel the same way about this thread. I came here for cars but found all these obscure average looking women. That creep based ageism moment where you know everyone is either much younger or much older than you but have no clue as to which.

#422 paulb

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Posted 01 September 2014 - 05:06

Radoye and slideways are obviously already displaying signs of IndyCar 2014 withdrawal.



#423 Peat

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Posted 01 September 2014 - 05:37

At least Will Power's brother was happy: http://instagram.com/p/sWbhNCMVKy/



#424 stewie

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Posted 01 September 2014 - 06:57

My proudest moment yesterday was getting to the end of the race and seeing Castroneves being interviewed, and having Miss Stewie lean over to me and go "I recognise him, he was on Dancing in the Stars!"... Taken her 3 seasons of watching some indycars next to me but we got there in the end! Boom!

#425 Collombin

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Posted 01 September 2014 - 07:52

Congrats. I'm at the stage where after we got chatting briefly to Al Unser at Goodwood, Mrs .B. remarked that he didn't sound very Spanish and that he looked too old to still be driving for Ferrari.

#426 PayasYouRace

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Posted 01 September 2014 - 07:59

So here is my report from the race.....

 

[...]Pond[...]

 

Great stuff. It helps that I imagine you looking like the girl in your avatar. :lol:



#427 jonpollak

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Posted 01 September 2014 - 17:48

Here we go again with the girl in the avatar routine....If y'all only knew.

Oh and Slidways, please post a representation of what you think is NOT 'average looking'

Jp


Edited by jonpollak, 01 September 2014 - 17:49.


#428 Red17

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Posted 01 September 2014 - 20:57

I feel the same way about this thread. I came here for cars but found all these obscure average looking women. That creep based ageism moment where you know everyone is either much younger or much older than you but have no clue as to which.

 

No problem.

 

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#429 jonpollak

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Posted 01 September 2014 - 22:23

Well played my good mackerel .
PS.... Furthering the image of a fanboy thread I give you the fans favourite .

http://instagram.com/p/sZK4srmybD/
 
Jp

Edited by jonpollak, 01 September 2014 - 22:26.


#430 Afterburner

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Posted 02 September 2014 - 03:15

Will Power's always been a driver about whom I've felt conflicted.

When I started watching Indycar, I couldn't stand him. Much like how I cringed whenever He Who Induces a Compulsion to Reach for Ear Plugs and/or the Mute Button invoked the name of He Who Rules Hinchtown, hearing the name 'Will Power' made me roll me eyes and wonder where 'Max Speed' and 'Lait Braker' were. He was aggressive, caused a lot of incidents, and always seemed gruff and uncomfortable in front of the camera. How anyone managed to think he was the series best driver was completely beyond me.

As this year's season rolled around, we got right into the thick of General Indycar with some dubious collisions and what was basically a drop-dead stupid move on the season's first restart--the opening pages of 'Power Shenanigans Vol. 2 - 2014 Edition'. Indycar status quo duly maintained, Power continued to make a fool of himself with an indefensible mistake at Barber and more collisions with his would-have-been championship contender Hidden Pagenaud. Apparently he was trying to get the mental game under control. Fine.

At some point--probably close to Houston--I began to realise that a lot of what made Indycar fun for me to watch was whatever utter havoc our resident wildcard 'DJ Willy P' managed to cause during a race. Without him, I realised, the series probably wouldn't be as exciting, simple as that. So gradually, I found that a grudging respect for him began to take hold. Controversy/pass/moment/driver/bonehead move of the race? Will Power--safe bet, as he's probably bound to be involved in at least one of those somehow.

Then the races began to tick down and the championship began to intensify. As all of the Honda-powered guys for whom I was rooting began to fall by the wayside, suffering from the effects of Random Indycar, Will Power mounted a serious challenge for the title. I had heard this story before in the past--apparently, the only person better at losing titles in the last race than Fernando Alonso was Will Power. With the spin in Sonoma, it was clear the pressure was getting to him again, but the first part of that race showed me a side of Power that everyone else but me had managed to see: the dude was bloody quick, mate.

And then, last weekend in Fontana, when he crossed the finish line after a grueling race to pull in the title and his tearful radio transmission came through, my last reserves finally crumbled away, and I finally understood Will Power.

Here was a man who had been to the brink of failure so often that it had come to personify him. Every taste of success and every good effort was always tainted with brain-fades and mistakes almost immediately after. Every time he seemed to have things under control, they'd come undone in the most bizarre of ways--a spin in the pace lap, a collision with a rival. These weren't mistakes that a driver of Power's ability should be making. When things like this happen so often, you start to lose faith in yourself. So when Power started coming to the finale for his fourth try, it's not hard to see how he expected this one to go. It was so easy to fall into the same routine of fighting only to lose, conditioned by failure to expect the fall even after he gave everything. In his own words, two of the worst weeks of his life.

And then he drove the race he needed to, once and for all vanquishing the doubt that had haunted and plagued him his whole career to finally claim the victory he so long desired. All the awkward moments in front of the camera and ill-explained mistakes didn't matter anymore. This year was about him proving to himself that, in spite of all his struggles, he actually was the champion that his flashes of brilliance seemed to show to others. At last, he had conquered the hopelessness and finally accomplished something no-one could take away from him.

I couldn't help but get tears in my eyes when I watched how emotionally drained Will was during his interview, because for the first time, I finally understood and identified with the struggle he had been facing ever since I had been watching him race since early last year--and I was truly overjoyed to see him succeed. Will Power is a confirmation of a quote that's stuck with me ever since I first read it: "Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark. In the hopeless swamps of the not quite, the not yet, and the not at all, do not let the hero in your soul perish and leave only frustration for the life you deserved, but never have been able to reach. The world you desire can be won, it is real, it is possible, it exists--it is yours."

At last, Will Power has claimed the world he desired--and considering the kind of season we've had in Indycar this year, I don't think the series could've crowned a champion more emblematic of everything we love about it.

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Will Power crossing the finish line at Fontana.

On that note, I'd like to thank everyone who bothered to pop in for a race this season to hang out and/or contribute. I hope that any newcomers had a great time and will consider joining us again next year, and I hope that all the regulars have a safe off-season and that we'll see you back here next year--Indycar wouldn't be the same without any one of you guys. I'd also like to extend a special thanks to everyone who's ever contributed to one of the many fantastic opening posts we've had over the course of the year--especially to Risil for writing more than the lion's share of them. You guys make this the best part of the forum for me--and the only place I've found on the internet thus far where we can have a laugh about anything whether we agree or disagree.

I'll see you guys in the myriad other threads around here as I eagerly begin counting down to next season. Here's to Indycar 2015 being even better than this year--thanks everyone. :wave:

Soooo... where's the 2015 Indycar Silly Season thread?  :drunk:  :drunk:  :drunk:
 
ps. Will we have to change our official companion for the new season?
 
Doctor_Who__Jenna_Louise_Coleman.jpg

I reckon it should change race by race and initiated by the OP... That way we get a little notion of the posters preferences

At the very least, she stays on for 2.5 more seasons (too subtle?), and even then, Neil, PaYR and I will probably always consider her the 'true' Queen of Planet Indycar--there's something about that ginger-inspired lunacy that seems to fit in so well with these threads. :p
 

I feel the same way about this thread. I came here for cars but found all these obscure average looking women. That creep based ageism moment where you know everyone is either much younger or much older than you but have no clue as to which.

Lol, the chain reaction which started that was Red17 posting a link to a Pink Floyd song, triggering an impromptu comment from me about what was needed to complete the thread after that, and the ensuing completion of the thread. In my defence, I stuck to the racing theme. :p

kg_rbr.jpg



#431 jcbc3

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Posted 02 September 2014 - 05:59

[/thread]

#432 Peat

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Posted 02 September 2014 - 06:43

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#433 RA2

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Posted 02 September 2014 - 11:21

it is only September and the season is already over..............

 

IRL needs a rethink considering NASCAR runs 34 weekends



#434 Ross Stonefeld

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Posted 02 September 2014 - 12:31

I'm bored, anyone want to design an aero-kit?



#435 Afterburner

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Posted 02 September 2014 - 12:43

I'm bored, anyone want to design an aero-kit?

I have a 3D modelling program in my head but unfortunately its output isn't in a readily-convertible file format. :p I'd be more than happy to participate in an Indycar aero-kit thread, though.

#436 PayasYouRace

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Posted 02 September 2014 - 13:50

I'm bored, anyone want to design an aero-kit?

 

If only I had the time and hadn't just left a job where I had access to CAD software.



#437 Prost1997T

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Posted 02 September 2014 - 16:07

I'm alive...that was strong life lesson in Fontana

 

 

 

Well that's one way of putting it, Mikhail...


Edited by Prost1997T, 02 September 2014 - 16:07.


#438 Disgrace

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Posted 02 September 2014 - 17:09

Not the first time he's escaped from a nasty looking crash this year. Hope he isn't put off by these experiences.



#439 paulb

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Posted 02 September 2014 - 17:21

If only I had the time and hadn't just left a job where I had access to CAD software.

There's always free Google Sketchup.


Edited by paulb, 02 September 2014 - 18:29.


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#440 biercemountain

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Posted 02 September 2014 - 17:46

power.jpg



#441 racinggeek

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Posted 02 September 2014 - 20:03

I'm bored, anyone want to design an aero-kit?

 

I assume we have to follow the rules dictating which Dallara pieces we can or can't re-design? I wanna make mine look like AJ's Coyote from the mid-1970s. Or a Gurney Eagle (see above left).



#442 racinggeek

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Posted 02 September 2014 - 20:07

BTW, agree with Afterburner on the IndyCar threads. Always tremendous, enjoyable reads.  :clap:  :clap:  :clap: to all who OP'ed and contributed. Hopefully we'll be able to have them go past August in the near future.



#443 prommer

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Posted 02 September 2014 - 22:17

In the category of scary Aleshin crashes...

 

 

and

 

 

He's had quite the rookie season.



#444 Prost1997T

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Posted 02 September 2014 - 23:56

He crashed out at Barber Motorsports Park too. No wonder he was only 15th in points going into Fontana...