Indy 500 notes.

Non-stop Danica talk. It’s too much. It’s ridiculous. 20 minutes into the broadcast, I have NO idea who is sitting on the pole.

3 doors down, playing their only hit “kryptonite”. Meanwhile Tony George having to use the porta-potty, choses the one that’s 3 doors down.

I’m fairly certain the announcer said Kenny Brack was 1999’s indian winner.

They announce her as Rookie sensation Danica Patrick during the driver intro!! Wow it must be nice to be a rookie or a young driver in that league, knowing that for as long as she’s there, you can win every race in a year, it won’t matter. Its all about Danica. Just ask Dan Wheldon.

Stealth fighter= freakin’ cool!

Love the cialis ads! “If the special moment turns into the right moment, will you be ready?” All the parents watching with their kids quickly mute the commercial and tell their kids it’s an ad for double mint gum.

I do like the Sin City parody of “Speed City”. Not sure I like all the horrific accidents shots, but that will draw people in, for better or worse.

I think that Bev is hotter than her daughter. Maybe it’s because she actually smiles.

Props to the ABC hype machine. They did a great job hyping the ‘importance’ of this race.

Colin Powell driving the pacecar is cool. Plain and simple.

Is it possible to suffer effects from watching 1100 miles of racing in one day? I’m about to find out!

(quote) “the buzz is back at the brickyard!!” What???

Russell Crow wearing a Toronto Maple Leafs hat??? That’s aaiight.

You are kidding me???? A dancing reality show with B-celebrities coming to ABC??

Open-wheel cars have no place on a 2.5 mile track anymore. Sorry. Its just not a viable option anymore. Cars are too sophisticated, too fast and too ‘open’ to have safe races. Yes, crashes are part of the sport, but they don’t have to be ‘serious’ crashes with life-threatening consequences. Unless they seriously restrict the speeds, get the cars out of there. Your heart shouldn’t skip a beat every time there’s a yellow. That’s what racing on these big tracks with these cars does. Short ovals are better. But definitely not 2 and a half mile tracks.

Are there spotters in the IRL?

We can only hope that Bruno heals as quickly as possible and that Newman/Haas rethink about entering the race next year. Is it worth losing a chance at the championship for a one-off at Indy? Good luck in your recovery and rehabilitation my friend.

Dan Wheldon wins the Indy 500. good race on his part. He started 16th, kept his nose clean and was there when it counted.

I understand that ABC and the IRL needed to hype Danica as much as possible. It’s the only race of their season that casual viewers may actually watch, so they need to hype hype hype! But at one point, it can be too much and that could end up working against her. I like Danica, I think she’s a fine driver. I liked her answer at the end of the race where she said she made a lot of rookie mistakes. But at one point in the race, I started rooting against her, simply because I wondered what ABC would talk about if she had retired. Everything was about her. You can have too much of a good thing and I think ABC blew her up too much, focused on her too much. At the end of the day, she drove a decent race, but had INCREDIBLE fortune. She took out four drivers during her yellow incident and she stalled during her pit stops. I am not sure what happened with Bourdais at the end. she's the real deal, no question. but now that puts her in the same category as the top drivers in that series. let's talk about the other guys too.
I only hope that David Letterman and Bobby Rahal remember that they had a guy on the PODIUM!!!!!!

The main problem with the Indy 500 these days is the entry field. In the old days, you could be assured of 33 quality drivers. If both Champ Car and IRL drivers bid for those 33 spots, you would have a quality field. But with the exclusion of Champ cars and NASCAR notables, the IRL can’t fill the grid with quality driver. Therefore the risk factor is increased tenfold. Watching Hornish and Kanaan battle side by side during the race, coming within a whisker of each other’s car was exciting. They are experienced drivers who have the ability to keep their mind focused at those speeds under those conditions. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the rest of the field and most of the incidents today were the cause of bad driving. Or dangerous driving. Or mental-lapse driving. Whatever you want to call it, that league doesn’t have 33 drivers good enough to make it a safe field.
Now to settle back and watch another 600 miles of racing.