Perhaps it's a touch heavy on crashes, but otherwise I'll defer to the immortal words of Helio Castroneves: "Now that is what I am talking about!"
Now all we have to do is wait another month and we'll be set.
(Thanks to Vision Racing for posting this 30 seconds of AWESOMENESS.)
Two Ways of Looking at Things
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There is a new hazard that goes along with being a driver in the NTT
IndyCar Series that drivers just a generation ago would have never dreamed
of – social...
3 days ago
pumped up!
noticed there was no love given to any street/road course highlights though.
Cool. I can't wait for this season to start!
VERY VERY COOL!!! Just enough Danica to sooth the fanatics and intrigue the casual viewer, but not so much to be annoying to the rest of us.
Yeah, I'm good with that.
good music. exciting. cool.
interesting point about street/road courses.
Not surprising though. We all know that street/road courses aren't exciting. But...they draw good crowds, are good for sponsors, and can make for a good party atmosphere. Which is why we have a good mix of ovals and road/streets, and of course, why the ICS is the greatest racing series in the world! A co-worker of mine knows Scott Dixon.
I don't mind the mix of ovals and road/streets. What I really dislike---scratch that---I hate that we are starting the season with two street circuits.
I don't understand why it seems most on here dislike road courses, I prefer them personally (except Detroit). I've been an Indycar fan my whole life but was always bigger into F1, but in the last few years I've become MUCH more interested in Indycar because I can get in close and meet drivers, etc. Love it or hate it there is a whole different level of complexity to road courses and the IRL kind of reminds me now of what F1 USED to feel like and I love it! It seems to me that the IRL has achieved the right balance now in that: They can appeal to F1 fans and REAL motorsport fans that are looking for the complexity that Nascar lacks while still appealing to the traditional oval fan. I had A BLAST at the IRL , ALMS St. Pete GP last year! The changing weather and qualifying conditions along with the race going dry/wet and teams gambling on tires and battling it out was exciting to me, But on the same token I love the Kentucky oval race as well.
BP,
Well said, and a point often overlooked. Not by me personally, but by some. The main problem with roads/streets is that they generally don't make for good tv, but that has more to do with the dallara not initially being designed to do them. It is a slow pig on the twisties.
I'm of a mind that a decent mix of tracks is ideal, but they have to be the right mix. For instance people bemoan the loss of Nashville, but don't seem interested in Cleveland. Having been to the Nashville race last year, I can say in all honesty that I won't miss it, and wouldn't have gone back. The only thing more boring than a parade on a street course is a parade on an oval. At least the street offers better scenery.
In an ideal world we'd have michigan instead of Motegi, and Cleveland instead of any other road/street race. Cleveland used to be my second favorite course pre-split, and was the only Champ race I made it a point to try and watch.
Long Story short, take the most exciting of both style of venues, and make your schedule out of that. People will watch a street course if it's a good race.
They're off to a good start if they're using Radio Birdman's "New Race" as the music!
BP,
The main dislike for road/street courses stems from the lack of passing. As Mutt noted, part of the cause is the current car, but it's largely related to the circuits themselves. Narrow races down streets with excessive amounts of drastic turns don't lend themselves to the kind of racing many Americans expect to witness.
Besides, people usually want to see race cars go fast, not decelerate to 20 mph just to take a hairpin turn. I'm not speaking for everyone, mind you, just the folks who groan at these types of courses.
Jeff and BP,
Another problem often overlooked is the fact that indy cars have simply outgrown most road/street cars. They're too fast on too narrow of roads. An ALMS event works, and is interesting because the cars can pass.
OH, and I prefer drivers that can succeed on both types of venues. As much as people bemoan the loss of Hornish, I tend to think he'd be a non factor in the championship now due simply to his inability to turn right without spinning at least once a race. His best finish on a road course was 2nd, and he really only got that by making a dirty pass and then having luck work his way. His average finish on roads is, what, seventh I think.
All good points, especially Mutt's comment about drivers who are good in different venues, You have to be VERY well rounded to be a championship contender now.
I think it's worth noting that many fans of 'road racing' don't like street races either, so it's not just the oval guys..
I'll take St. Pete over Sonoma any day. Just sayin'.
But again, my point is, regardless of the style of venue, street, road, or oval, it should be an exciting one. Barring that, a well attended one. Sonoma, is neither.
The promo is pretty cool, but I'll echo Jeff's thoughts on the promo being heavy on the crashes. At .04-05 in is a quick clip of the start of the Dave MacDonald - Eddie Sachs crash (Dave's car whacking the wall and lighting up like a blowtorch) from the 1964 Indy 500. Ugly fatal crash, definitely not cool. There's plenty of close racing (say, Vitor's "Now how in the h@#* did he do THAT?!?!?" pass for the lead from last year's 500, or some in car from Chicagoland last year) to show without that.
Just my $.02,
mmack
The MacDonald crash was an error and has been removed.