2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bull!!

[Timothy A]

Re: 2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bu

I was not a fan of Will Power, but after his excuse of blocking really put a bad taste in my mouth. Getting out of Castroneves' way? Are you joking?!

Great drive by Montoya for sure, and confusing strategy from Target by taking Kannan off the lead strategy- not as if he didn't have the speed to run head to head with Montoya. Oh well.

Fun F1 race, with Alonso showing his real hard driving colors, that was really great to see him hold off vettel. Too bad for Rosberg, but great win for Hamilton!

Botas shows, again, that he is a great driver.

Power has totally lost his composure. Choking away the last 4 championships has destroyed him. As a Penske fan, I say it's time to move on irregardless of how the season finishes.

Great F1 race. Vettel...LOL...Too bad Alonso didn't keep him at bay for the rest of the race, I would have loved to heard what he had to say then! It juts goes further to prove Vettel is the most over-rated driver in the series. I love Ricardo is showing him up. Too bad Webber didn't get that chance this yr.

I can't really see Alonso going anywhere. The Honda engine in the McL could be awesome, or it could suck, that's a big risk for him to take. Williams seems to be on the come, but it's impossible to see if this is a one year wonder or a long term move back to glory. I think Kimi needs to go. They need Hulkenburg or Sutil, 2 guys who many have said that in the right car they will do great things. I think both would be able to stick closer to Alonso than Kimi is.

As a prancing stallion fan who is getting desperate, how about bringing Braun back? If they ****can all the technical guys, who are they going to lure into the fold whose worth a crap? I was hoping Newey would get recruited, but that's off the board.

[Timothy A]

Re: 2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bu

Bianchi tested well in place of Kimi......18" tyres in the future? Just make them hard enough to eliminate klag......I saw some scuttlebutt about front to rear suspensions being outlawed......

[alfablue]

Re: 2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bu

Bianchi tested well in place of Kimi......18" tyres in the future? Just make them hard enough to eliminate klag......I saw some scuttlebutt about front to rear suspensions being outlawed......

FRIC- which is a way that the car is self leveling. Banned from hence forth, even though it's been in place for at least a season and a half. Mercedes has already annouced that they will not have it in Germany.

[Timothy A]

Re: 2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bu

FRIC- which is a way that the car is self leveling. Banned from hence forth, even though it's been in place for at least a season and a half. Mercedes has already announced that they will not have it in Germany.

I thought I had read some teams had been using FRIC for years. Could this be a game changer?

[alfablue]

Re: 2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bu

I thought I had read some teams had been using FRIC for years. Could this be a game changer?

The way that Mercedes has quickly announced that they will comply with the ban for Germany makes me think that it will not. We'll see next week, though.

[solovsfett]

Re: 2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bu

So re: how to fix Indycar people keep yelling "More Americans" "More ovals we're an oval country"

really? No-one showed up at Pocono, 20,000 at Milwaukee 2 consecutive years (we'll see what happens in August, though it's after the fair so the handy walk-up crowd from that won't happen) and since the inception at Texas and Iowa dwindling attendance is the norm. Ryan Hunter-Reay wins the 2012 championship, the 2014 Indy 500 and there's really no awareness of him with the average sports fan...and the papers never talk him up.

Tonight in a ****ing fantastic race in Iowa RHR wins and Josef Newgarden 2nd. Will the papers go nuts tomorrow about that? No.

so I think we can deep six the whole ovals and americans re: making Indycar successful.

but forget that negativity. What a race!!!

Montoya gets screwed by a terrible pit stop, gets back on the lead lap then gets pushed by Carpenter into the wall "I got inside of him, he was running high, all of a sudden he decided to run low," said JPM, who lost fourth in the standings after placing 16th at Iowa. "They all love preaching safe racing, but when you're gonna pass them, they're ****** bags."

I LOVE IT! And since Power and Helio didn't have the best finishes either I hope JPM can tighten the title chase in Toronto.

Too bad for TK, tonight and last week he dominated and lost. He's got a win or two coming this season and I can't wait to see it.

Newgarden, man if that kid could land a Penske, Ganassi or Andretti ride he'd kill. He'd quickly make us forget about Graham and Marco...at least that's my .02 However...I think Andretti would be the only one with a sympathetic ear and he has no available cars for the kid.

Briscoe was great tonight as well...

[Russell Jaslow]

Re: 2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bu

FRIC- which is a way that the car is self leveling. Banned from hence forth, even though it's been in place for at least a season and a half. Mercedes has already annouced that they will not have it in Germany.

Technically, FRIC is not banned. Yet...

Charlie Whiting said he will entertain any protests against the system. Thus, teams are afraid if those protests go against them, they will have a lot of race results thrown out. Ergo, they are being proactive and getting rid of them. But for now, the FIA has not made a definitive ruling on them until those protests come in.

[Timothy A]

Re: 2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bu

So re: how to fix Indycar people keep yelling "More Americans" "More ovals we're an oval country"

really? No-one showed up at Pocono, 20,000 at Milwaukee 2 consecutive years (we'll see what happens in August, though it's after the fair so the handy walk-up crowd from that won't happen) and since the inception at Texas and Iowa dwindling attendance is the norm. Ryan Hunter-Reay wins the 2012 championship, the 2014 Indy 500 and there's really no awareness of him with the average sports fan...and the papers never talk him up.

Tonight in a ****ing fantastic race in Iowa RHR wins and Josef Newgarden 2nd. Will the papers go nuts tomorrow about that? No.

so I think we can deep six the whole ovals and americans re: making Indycar successful.

but forget that negativity. What a race!!!

Montoya gets screwed by a terrible pit stop, gets back on the lead lap then gets pushed by Carpenter into the wall "I got inside of him, he was running high, all of a sudden he decided to run low," said JPM, who lost fourth in the standings after placing 16th at Iowa. "They all love preaching safe racing, but when you're gonna pass them, they're ****** bags."

I LOVE IT! And since Power and Helio didn't have the best finishes either I hope JPM can tighten the title chase in Toronto.

Too bad for TK, tonight and last week he dominated and lost. He's got a win or two coming this season and I can't wait to see it.

Newgarden, man if that kid could land a Penske, Ganassi or Andretti ride he'd kill. He'd quickly make us forget about Graham and Marco...at least that's my .02 However...I think Andretti would be the only one with a sympathetic ear and he has no available cars for the kid.

Briscoe was great tonight as well...

I agree that America has spoken and they really don't want indycars on ovals anymore just based on the attendance alone. It's ironic because an oval (IMHO) is a lot better to see in person than a roadcourse, comparing my experiences @ Milwaukee and Elkhart Lake on race days. Personally I like both.

I missed most of the race, my dvr failed and I only got to see Juan get hit and then the end, which was exciting overall but bitter for this Penske fan. I have yetto read why Power fell so far off the pace at the end. I saw him wash up the track and possibly touch the wall; no verification he bent anything on the car.

[RaceBoarder]

Re: 2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bu

The one's who were crying for "American's and Ovals" are all guys who are in their 50s or older now for the most part...If you are under 30, odds are you have no idea what USAC is or what I'm referring to when I say I saw a "Non-winged 410".... Now on the other hand, I'm sure the under 30 crowd would know who Ken Block is or what RallyCross is... That's where your future race fans are coming from... Indycar needs to realize this...

[MattS]

Re: 2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bu

Even though I do not follow Indycar much anymore I do still read Miller's Mailbag. I do mostly for the entertainment of the whining. Anyway, I read last weeks bag and it in was a letter from three young fans in which they talk about their video blog and getting to attend races. Anyway, I though Miller's response was weak and wrote a response. Today I got a personal response from Robin. He's let me know that they young fans were treated better than what was in his Mailbag response. It's nice to know some media personalities do really care about the fans.

[MattS]

Re: 2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bu

I agree that America has spoken and they really don't want indycars on ovals anymore just based on the attendance alone. It's ironic because an oval (IMHO) is a lot better to see in person than a roadcourse, comparing my experiences @ Milwaukee and Elkhart Lake on race days. Personally I like both.

Agreed. I love road/street racing and don't really care too much for oval racing. It either snooze fests like Pocono or crazy like Iowa. If a nice medium could be found between the two I think people would come back. Personally I like the heat races and making the feature shorter. Maybe race on two nights in a row. Or something like that.

The one's who were crying for "American's and Ovals" are all guys who are in their 50s or older now for the most part...If you are under 30, odds are you have no idea what USAC is or what I'm referring to when I say I saw a "Non-winged 410".... Now on the other hand, I'm sure the under 30 crowd would know who Ken Block is or what RallyCross is... That's where your future race fans are coming from... Indycar needs to realize this...

I'm not, or at least I don't feel, all that old (41) and I don't care where the drivers are from. I care more about accessibility and a genuine personality who is a hard charger but drives smart and fair. When he/she makes a mistake owns up to it and is gracious in defeat. That's is what draws me to a driver not the place of birth.

[MattS]

Re: 2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bu

Read this morning that Alexander Rossi is leaving Caterham GP2 team and as reserve driver for Caterham F1 team immediately. He will not be racing in the GP2 race in Germany. I'm going to of course speculate that this means he will be joining the Haas F1 team. I like Rossi and think he's a decent driver, but I am beginning to think his realistic chances for F1 are dwindling quickly. I thought he would show a lot more in GP2 this season but he's been mostly a non-factor. Now with him leaving and as of yet with no announced future to race, he quickly becoming a has-been or maybe more aptly a never-was. Sad, as I think he was the best chance of an American in F1 for the foreseeable future. (I don't believe Daly will get there although his name helps him)

Yes, I noticed the duplicity of my mentioning an American F1 driver one post after claiming I don't care where drivers come from.

In an update I just read Rossi will be driving for Campos this weekend due to scheduling conflict for K. Sato at the Auto GP.

In obligatory Indycar content....There is a very short article about the tech of an Indycar in September's (I think) Hot Rod magazine in case anyone is interested.

[joecct]

Re: 2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bu

Update (sort of) on Schumi from Mrs. Schumi via ad in German GP program(me).

[alfablue]

Re: 2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bu

Heck of a good day to be an open wheel spectator.

The race in Germany was incredible- who could have imagined an F1 race where three cars competing for the same spot would be going three wide going into a corner??!?! And we saw it more than once (not counting the first corner). That Kimi sandwich didn't look like it was going to be survivable.

Then to see Hamilton move his way through all but one of the field was really great to see. While I would have loved to see rain- as I think that would have gone into his hands, I'm also happy that the race was dry, Nico drove really well, and Bottas once again demonstrating that he's a heck of a driver and Williams has done the best to match Mercedes.

Finally, the last few laps between Alonso and Ricciardo. Epic. Instant classic. One where the guy who got beat mentions how much fun that was. Dan- I'm so relieved that you drive THAT agressively AND THAT cleanly.

Think about that a little- we get to see Bottas and Ricciardo for their entire F1 carreer to come up. We, the fans, are clearly the winner.

One other thing- that close and agressive racing on such a narrow track- one wonders what we will see next week.

I saw a lot of the first race, and it was great to see Bourdais win again. Missed all but a few laps in the wet of the second. Looked to be an interesting one. Just saw the results- Conway? Really? Didn't see him in the mix when I saw it. Missed a good one??

Next week in Hungary.

[joecct]

Re: 2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bu

Formula E(lectric) getting off the ground with a not so bad stable of drivers. Fox Sports will televise all 10 races.

http://www.foxsports.com/speed/formu...tw:fscom:speed