Hello one and all. I got in a little late because I had to return some rented camping gear (the weather was beee-autiful last night...until the wind and rain picked up), but I've cranked up the VERSUS and I just heard a spectacular diatribe from Danica from St. Pete to her car owner, Michael Andretti, about how dumb Rafa Matos' move in Turn 11 was. It's one thing to make fun of her for saying she would be less angry, then going off on Matos like that, but I think if Mahatma Gandhi had been driving the car, he would've been steamed.
I checked the weather for Long Beach -- sunny and 90 degrees -- and I looked out my own window -- cloudy, rainy, 55 degrees -- and I an entirely jealous of the people who are there. Looks like a spectacular day for racing, and I'm looking forward to watching them take to the track
4:09, pre-race
The picks are in from the VERSUS crew. "Roulette" Arute: Will Power, "Action" Thackston: Franchitti, "Full House" Floyd: Franchitti, "Professor" Beekhuis: Franchitti, "Dice" Buhl: Briscoe, "Black Jack" Jenkins: Franchitti. Hell yeah, Jack Arute. Everyone on the VERSUS squad is also saying Will Power has a huge chance to take the win.
4:13, pre-race
Pretty sweet tribute to the awesomeness of Long Beach by VERSUS. Still not as good as the Sam Posey F1 intros, though...
4:15, pre-race
"Drivers, start your engines!" 21 cars hot and ready to go.
4:17, pre-race
Will Power's car kinda..forgot to go from pit lane. Like Helio last year at Indy, he can get restarted and have his spot back. He DID get rolling, so all is good.
4:20, pre-race
Will's having trouble with the radio. Sounds like it's unplugged or something. Pit board man is out to help him out.
4:21, pre-race
Tony Kanaan's maroon Dr. Pepper car weirds me out. It'll be awkward picking him out of the crowd without the familiar green and white.
Lap 1
We're green in Long Beach. Down they come to the first corner and...Will Power beats everyone through by a mile and everyon'e through clean. Awkward side-by-side with Helio and Kanaan in the fountain turn. Matos to second. Everyone through the back stretch and hairpin clean.
Lap 2
Everyone and their mothers impressed with the fact that all of the cars are still running at the moment.
Lap 3
Matos got ahead of Wilson quickly, but Wilson really, REALLY wants that spot back. Jack Arute just said Stirling Moss is dead...did I miss something?!
Lap 6
Franchitti through on Justin Wilson for 3rd. Jenkins seems to have forgotten how the in-car cams go out when the cars go under the convention center.
Lap 8
Ah. A lovely shot of the old R.M.S. Queen Mary. What a spectacular location Long Beach is...
Lap 9
Spectacular overhead shot of the start and how Will Power goosed Franchitti into being asleep on the start. Looks like Franchitti backed off to stay in line, then Power smashed down the accelerator.
Lap 11
Helio holding down a solid 8th right now. Graham Rahal can probably hear the "Jaws" music playing in his head with that red and white car behind him. Jon Beekhuis provides amazing insight, noting how Wilson is backing off early in the tighter turns to save fuel. Nice work, Jon.
Lap 14
Reasons I love street racing: Tony Kanaan is under pressure from Mario Moraes in the KV Racing car.
Lap 15
Dario putting on pressure for second and taking it in Turn 1!
Lap 16
Mike Conway gets tangled up in the tires at Turn 1. No yellow as of yet. Franchitti, assuming there was a yellow forthcoming, is in the pits. Nice ribbing of Conway's owner/VERSUS broadcaster Robbie Buhl in the booth.
Lap 17
Something crazy happened to Will Power, he slowed, and E.J. Viso got punted into the wall, catching a little air. YELLOW!
Lap 18
Dario almost looked like a fool for coming into the pits because the IRL held the yellow flag for Conway's wreck. However, with the Viso wreck, Dario and fellow early-pitter Danica (who just had a silly VERSUS ad. "This isn't Miniature Golf") look to be in the right spots at the right time.
Lap 19
Power slowed for no reason in Turn 5, then on the run to Turn 6, Power cut off Dixon a bit who ran into Viso. Pit stops coming!
Lap 20
Will Power and Helio Castroneves first out of the pits (because they're on the best team). Several cars did NOT pit, led by Kanaan, who is now in 1st.
Lap 21
Jon Beekhuis is explaining what brake bias is and how it works on an IndyCar. Nice explaination. Cars that didn't pit: Kanaan, Briscoe, Hunter-Reay, Doornbos, Andretti, Meira, Dario, Carpenter, and Danica.
Lap 22
Restart. Briscoe thinks about the lead, but doesn't do it. Kanaan now pulling away a bit on Seaside Way.
Lap 23
Hunter-Reay slips out of the hairpin and Doornbos takes advantage in Turn 1. E.J. Viso no happy about Dixon moving into his business and breaking the car. HEY-OOO! HUGE wreck at the hairpin. Domino effect of collisions and five cars ended up stacked on each other in the middle of the track. Not much damage here, though...
Lap 25
Dixon was the first to make contact and has a little gonk on his wing. Moraes hit him, Wilson hit Moraes, road blocked up fast. The track is cleared now, though. It's nice that they decided to wreck in such a slow turn.
Lap 26
Wilson in the pit with an obviously-broken right rear suspension. Tough break for the tall man from England.
Lap 27
Some of the folks who didn't pit before are in now. Notable in their absence from pit lane are Marco Andretti and Ed Carpenter who, I believe, never came in. Maybe they did, though...Cool shot of Wilson's suspension going out as he came around from the wreck...
Lap 29
Marco adds to the long line of Andrettis to lead in Long Beach. Good show for the kid.
Lap 30
Stanton Barrett getting freight-trained because he was too close to the front for everyone's liking.
Lap 31
*Looks at timing and scoring* How long has Hideki Mutoh been parked? I'd like to hear what that's about.
Lap 33
Marco and Carpenter into the pits. Danica was all over Ed for third, but now she moves to second behind Dario.
Lap 34
Danica must've been held up bad by Carpenter, 'cause Dario has faaaaded into the distance.
Lap 36
Danica actually caught up a bit on the last lap. She's got quite a train of cars behind her, though.
Lap 37
Barrett inexplicably parked again for the second straight week. Looks like Dario is conserving fuel since he has a huge gap on Danica. She has to drive a bit harder because of the train behind her.
Lap 39
Highlight of the Toyota Pro/Celebrity race (one of the coolest events ever). Al Jr. took the pro division at his favorite racetrack in the world. Keanu Reeves bored the audience by taking the celeb division.
Lap 40
T&S tells me there's a yellow, and we return from the ad break to see Ed Carpenter's yellow machine parked in the tires.
Lap 41
After seeing an F1 car get broken by a styrofoam number board last night, it's good to see that so many cars are hitting tires and still going today. Nice tribute to Al Unser and his awesome '87 Indy victory there.
Lap 42
Restart! Dario runs off from Danica a bit. Not much action further back -- perhaps Brian Barnhart has gotten on the radio and told people to chill out.
Lap 44
I didn't watch qualifying yesterday, so I hadn't seen Danicas wreck. She's doing great, all things considered.
Lap 46
Lots of overtake action just happened. Looks like Vitor Meira was the big loser in that one. Not sure who else was involved 'cause it was in the little side-by-side commercial break.
Lap 50
We seem to have settled into parade mode. 35 laps to go, though, so the action will start piling on soon to be sure.
Lap 51
According to Indy Downforce commercials, a day with Viso includes him riding around on a unicycle and having a snake...I'd hang with Viso if that was the deal. Danica and Will Power pit for some reason. They nearly had a Michael Andretti 1991 moment, which is the reason we have speed limits on pit lane in IndyCar.
Lap 53
Power passes Danica, putting him in great position. Dario pits too, putting freshly-acquitted Helio into the lead. Mike Conway finds the wall tough in Turn 8. YELLOW!
Lap 56
Pit stops! Graham Rahal nearly burned a few folks leaving early out of the pit box and breaking the fuel hose. Tagliani had a similar deal, but with no drama. Is it me, or do Dario and Danica's crews have some sort of ESP? They've both pitted just before full-course yellows twice, putting them near the front both times.
Lap 58
Replay shows that Conway had put the accelerator on early or something, which is what put him in the wall. Graham Rahal has some junk hanging off the back of his car, but it's nothing important.
Lap 59
Restart! Dario kills Will Power on the jump -- a little payback to Dario's rough start on lap 1. Everyone racing clean so far.
Lap 60
Marco put a pretty nice move on Helio on the last lap. Some of his dad and grandad's LBGP magic working for him. Doonbos forcefully shoved Carpenter out of the way in Turn 9.
Lap 61
Matos racing tough with Ryan Hunter-Reay, which earned him a blocking warning. Replay shows that the contact in Turn 9 was between Helio, Marco, RHR, and Carpenter. Lots of brake-locking and such.
Lap 65
Not much is happening on the track right now. Dario running off from the field right now.
Lap 71
VERSUS gives some love to Dan Wheldon, who is quietly holding down a good 5th position.
Lap 73
Franchitti is so much faster than everyone else, yet he is apparently fine on fuel? Gotta be some funny business there. Mario Moraes decided it would be fun to add a tire barrier to his nose. YELLOW!
Lap 74
Replay shows Moraes getting crazy loose and parking it in the wall. Jon Beekhuis points out the giant rumble strip on the inside of the turn that will send any car that hits it straight into the wall. For one reason or another, Ed Carpenter parked next to the track right by Moraes' car. He seems done for the day.
Lap 75
Well, I was wrong about Carpenter. He's restarted and back on the road. Couldn't tell you why he parked, though...kinda odd.
Lap 77
Ryan Briscoe, for reasons beyond comprehension, ran into Scott Dixon on the main straight under caution. Dixon a lap down now and Briscoe had to get a new nose. I hope to high heaven that Brian Barnhart parks Briscoe for the rest of the race for that one...there NEEDS to be a penalty for that.
Lap 78
Restart! Dario runs awaaaay again. Briscoe called in for a penalty, and rightly so.
Lap 79
Obligatory shot of Ashley Judd in the Ganassi pit box, as her husband is killing the field.
Lap 80
Dario has already pulled out two seconds on Will Power. It looks like Power is holding up the field to me. If Kanaan and Danica were on the prowl, things might be closer.
Lap 81
Marco ran into Dan Wheldon trying to pass (for whatever reason) in the hairpin. Marco got the spot at the end of the front stretch anyway, but that was an exceptionally dumb pass attempt.
Lap 83
There are WAY too many commercials on the VERSUS broadcast this week. Was it this bad at St. Pete?
Lap 85
White flag! Dario can only mess himself up here...he's so far ahead that it's silly.
Checkered Flag!
Dario wins running away! Power, Kanaan, Patrick, and Wheldon make the top five. Vitor Meira is parked in the tires somewhere, so he'll be crammed back in the back in the results. Obligatory Ashley Judd interview from Lindy Thackston.
Dario and his massive hair happy to be back in victory lane after that silly foray into NASCAR. Good deal for Dario.
My picks were...not correct, really. Power was strong, but he never looked well after his weird slowdown that led to Viso's wreck. Helio was...well...seventh -- competent, but not terribly strong. He'll be back in form by the end of May for sure, though. Ninja dark horse Ryan Hunter-Reay was mired back in 11th after being locked in a great battle with Alex Tagliani. My Danica Watch was SO wrong -- a great pit call early in the race put her in prime position for a great top-five finish. Well done, all. We'll be back for Kansas next week!
No comments:
Post a Comment