February 8, 20205 yr Didn’t see one, so here’s one. McLaren Arrow SP revealed their cars today. Man, these look horrible. Not even from the screen but the liveries just suck.
February 8, 20205 yr Author Also, defending two time Supercars champ Scott McLaughlin will race for Penske at the Indy GP, so that will be fun.
February 8, 20205 yr I've been hearing some rumors of Penske trying to put F1 back at Indy ... with V8SC on the same weekend. Been wanting someone besides Oz to do this for a long time. Captain, make it so ... He's really working the cross-promotion angles.
February 10, 20205 yr I don't love F1 at Indy but I'd certainly enjoy seeing the ozzie V8s there. Or, you know, ANYWHERE in the US. But they'll face the same problems at Indy they faced at COTA-- it's a long trip, far remote from all their other stops, logistics including spares were a major problem for them before and they would be again. There were times when it looked more like an exhibition, going through the motions, than actual racing. The weird shortened track layout didn't help. Anyway, to really make it work out well for their series over here, I believe they need to line up SEVERAL dates in North America in sequence.
February 10, 20205 yr 46 minutes ago, utee94 said: I don't love F1 at Indy but I'd certainly enjoy seeing the ozzie V8s there. Or, you know, ANYWHERE in the US. But they'll face the same problems at Indy they faced at COTA-- it's a long trip, far remote from all their other stops, logistics including spares were a major problem for them before and they would be again. There were times when it looked more like an exhibition, going through the motions, than actual racing. The weird shortened track layout didn't help. Anyway, to really make it work out well for their series over here, I believe they need to line up SEVERAL dates in North America in sequence. I believe that may be what they intend to do, or at least multiple dates, like Indy, Mexico City, maybe another U.S. track or two, and maybe S. America. Multiple stops make the trip over here make much more sense. Also, I really believe one of the big factors that led to them cancelling their COTA deal was lack of promotion by the promoter, much like the other series that have left COTA.
February 10, 20205 yr 40 minutes ago, wood said: I believe that may be what they intend to do, or at least multiple dates, like Indy, Mexico City, maybe another U.S. track or two, and maybe S. America. Multiple stops make the trip over here make much more sense. Also, I really believe one of the big factors that led to them cancelling their COTA deal was lack of promotion by the promoter, much like the other series that have left COTA. Maybe so, but I'm talking much less about what COTA did, and much more about how their series just isn't geared toward that type of international travel. Even if COTA had promoted the hell out of it and attendance had been fantastic, it's still just one race, halfway around the world. It doesn't make much financial sense. Unless/until they are able to line up multiple dates in sequence on this quarter of the globe, it will continue not to make financial sense. And even if they do a one-off at Indy, I'd expect similar problems with lack of spares and general lack of automotive maintenance infrastructure for their series, to lead to more exhibition-style racing, which is what I feel like I witnessed when they came here at first. Anyway, probably more a topic for discussion on the general racing thread than the Indycar one, my apologies for the derail.
February 11, 20205 yr Too cold, wet, slippery, so Red Flag & stream will resume later ... so I went back to the beginning. Interesting comments by TK re: COTA not resurfacing the esses...
February 12, 20205 yr being able to see the dash and the helmet cams not being full of smudge 5 laps in is nice. dunno if the former is due more to the overcast than aeroscreen
February 18, 20205 yr Andretti has an announcement coming tomorrow, which I believe will be Hinch in the car Alonso was going to run. I believe Alonso will run the 500 with McLaren, which goes counter to some telling me that Alonso has burned that bridge.
February 25, 20205 yr Not a huge surprise since Honda nixed the Andretti connection. That was just about the only team that could give him a seat. Let's see if they can qualify this time.
February 26, 20205 yr 3 hours ago, Hawndoh said: Not a huge surprise since Honda nixed the Andretti connection. That was just about the only team that could give him a seat. Let's see if they can qualify this time. I think they'll be fine re: qualifying. They've upgraded all around from last year's clown show. They were with Carlin last time, and iirc none of their cars qualified. Now they're with Schmidt Petersen. They immediately replaced Bob Fernley with Gil de Ferran, and they hired on ex-Andretti engineer Craig Hampson, who will run Alonso's effort. It's kinda interesting that most of this deal seems to have been facilitated by Andretti, with Andretti's friend Ruoff sponsoring the Alonso/McLaren ride. Ruoff has had a pretty high success rate in sponsoring 500 rides. It also sounds like they're seriously considering running the Indy GP. Edited February 26, 20205 yr by wood
March 9, 20205 yr Well that's... something... Wondering now if we'll even have the Indycar race at COTA in Austin at the end of April. Lots of time between now and then to see how things shake out, but with SXSW being canceled, and talk of MotoGP in Austin being postponed or canceled, you know this one has to be on the block, as well. I really enjoyed the weekend last year and was planning on enjoying it this year, too. Edited March 9, 20205 yr by utee94
March 12, 20205 yr no GA for St. Pete and the race may be called off https://racer.com/2020/03/12/st-pete-to-close-admission-race-in-jeopardy/
March 12, 20205 yr 2 minutes ago, elfenix said: no GA for St. Pete and the race may be called off https://racer.com/2020/03/12/st-pete-to-close-admission-race-in-jeopardy/ Turns out he actually meant no fans at all. Announcement coming at 3pm.
March 13, 20205 yr St. Petersburg, Birmingham, Long Beach, and COTA all now canceled. I just hope that the world has returned to normalcy before our family has to miss RoadAmerica this summer. Edited March 13, 20205 yr by Prepuce of Doom
March 23, 20205 yr I'm afraid the Indy500 won't happen either. Zach Brown and McLaren have to feel cursed.
March 26, 20205 yr Indy 500 pushed back to Aug 23. Should be interesting to see how much grip they can get when it's hotter than balls. https://apnews.com/2bb54378809377c2f6f790bb9e96615a
March 26, 20205 yr 42 minutes ago, Shoxthemonkey said: Indy 500 pushed back to Aug 23. Should be interesting to see how much grip they can get when it's hotter than balls. https://apnews.com/2bb54378809377c2f6f790bb9e96615a Yeah that's what I was wondering, too.
March 26, 20205 yr IndyCar runs at TMS in the late evening to avoid the heat, right? I'm sure Indiana gets close to that temp if they intend to run noonish. I might buy a ticket just to see the carnage if I survive this nonsense.
March 28, 20205 yr If you go to Twitch and search for Indycar iRacing you can find Scott McLaughlin is already streaming practice sessions.
March 28, 20205 yr That was pretty entertaining. I had Connor Daly, Scott McLoughlin, and Sage Karam up on their individual Twitch streams, as well as the main broadcast. Karam and McLoughlin had full sim setups and were super focuses, Daly had a 60 dollar steering wheel propped up by cardboard boxes and was cutting up and goofing around in a Discord call with Alex Rossi. It was pretty fun.
March 28, 20205 yr Rossi was acting like a bit of a twat the other day and griping about having to play a video game, etc., so I'm not at all surprised that he didn't take it too seriously. Seemed like possibly some pretty transparent defense mechanisms at work. Edited March 28, 20205 yr by Prepuce of Doom
March 29, 20205 yr Rossi can be perceived as a bit of a prickly character, but tbh video game racing is harder than actual driving in some ways imho... The guys that are proper quick in games & sims are badasses.
March 29, 20205 yr BTW, if y'all liked those guys' streams, you might like the stuff Lando has been doing on Twitch as well. He's been on there a ton, even just fucking around with his buddies at Lime Rock in Miatas, or playing COD, Escape from Tarkov, etc ... Edited March 29, 20205 yr by wood
April 2, 20205 yr IndyCar iRacing Challenge Round 2 to air on NBCSN https://racer.com/2020/04/01/indycar-iracing-challenge-round-2-to-air-on-nbcsn/
April 11, 20205 yr Michigan should be interesting. Dale Jr. will be participating, which should also be interesting.
April 15, 20205 yr IndyCar iRacing Challenge audience grows 25% in Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s open-wheel debut - https://goo.gl/alerts/6BTtn
April 18, 20205 yr Oliver Askew is not making many friends in his digital rookie season with Indy. Ruined the end of today's iRacing event, has crashed multiple people in practice races. Watching Twitch streams the other drivers keep ragging on him and how bad he is doing.
April 20, 20205 yr Former CART/Indy racer Bob Lazier died at 81, apparently from Covid-19: https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/motor/2020/04/18/bob-lazier-father-indy-500-winner-buddy-lazier-dies-81/5161283002/
May 15, 20205 yr This is extremely badass. Conor Daly's 500 Air Force ride to pay tribute to Chuck Yeager and the X-1. Edited May 15, 20205 yr by wood
May 15, 20205 yr Toronto City cancellations prompt IndyCar race postponement https://racer.com/2020/05/15/toronto-city-cancellations-prompt-indycar-race-postponement/
May 25, 20205 yr Alonso won the "legends" sim race Indy 500. Which is all older drivers from various disciplines I think.
May 25, 20205 yr Oh ok. I can't get into watching the sim racing. I tried on a couple of the F1 races they did, but just wasn't that interested. I sure missed The Greatest Day in Racing yesterday. Had no idea what to do with myself, first time in probably a decade I didn't get together with my brother and a few friends and watch Monaco and Indy all day long whilst drinking French wine and American beer. I went to the lake instead, which reminded me why I stopped going to the lake on holiday weekends, years ago.
May 25, 20205 yr 8 hours ago, utee94 said: Huh? 7 hours ago, Hawndoh said: Alonso won the "legends" sim race Indy 500. Which is all older drivers from various disciplines I think. He won the 1st race, for which he qualified P4 iirc. He and Jenson checked out and destroyed everyone. Beat JB by about a foot at the end. Then in the reverse-grid race 2, Alonso came from P21 to win . It was impressive considering his relative newness to sim racing. He's incredibly smooth and still has lightning-fast reflexes, despite the folks telling us he's too old. Also, the races were very well-run by everyone afaik. Very professional conduct, unlike some of the others we've seen. I had really liked some of the sim races, and others not so much. The sprint car sims have been really, really good, btw. I'd been a little put off by some of the stupid shenanigans being pulled in some sims. The TheRace Indy races were the most exciting I've seen. Button was also very impressive. His smooth style translates very well to ovals. He's said he has no interest in the danger of ovals, but if he ever decided to take them on in real life, I'm sure he'd do very well. Edited May 25, 20205 yr by wood
May 25, 20205 yr 6 hours ago, utee94 said: Oh ok. I can't get into watching the sim racing. I tried on a couple of the F1 races they did, but just wasn't that interested. I sure missed The Greatest Day in Racing yesterday. Had no idea what to do with myself, first time in probably a decade I didn't get together with my brother and a few friends and watch Monaco and Indy all day long whilst drinking French wine and American beer. I went to the lake instead, which reminded me why I stopped going to the lake on holiday weekends, years ago. I rarely go out on any of the lakes around here anymore. Won't go at all on any weekend. They're basically death traps nowadays. Too crowded with too many drunk/stupid/ignorant/arrogant asswipes. BTW re: the 'greatest day' ... Monaco will be the week before Indy next year.
May 25, 20205 yr 8 minutes ago, wood said: I rarely go out on any of the lakes around here anymore. Won't go at all on any weekend. They're basically death traps nowadays. Too crowded with too many drunk/stupid/ignorant/arrogant asswipes. BTW re: the 'greatest day' ... Monaco will be the week before Indy next year. The Austin area lakes are actually WAY less crowded and stupid than they were 20 years ago. The "Dot Com" crowd was just unbearable, but things are a lot better now than they were then. But holiday weekends are a beating. I guess I must remind myself of that once per decade or so. Also, Monaco and Indy500 being on different weekends sucks! BOO this plan!
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