Event Coverage Are you as boored with the Indy 500 as me

When it was front engine roadsters I followed it faithfully on the radio and tv when it came on. As time goes by I have followed it less and less as the cars become more the same with different paint jobs.

We have the pit stop challenge on now on VS and it is fun to watch.

I'll still try to watch it on Sunday when it's on though.

 

Your right, nothing like being on the track. I can at least say I have been around Indy in a roadster. Okay maybe we didn't exceed 30 mph but what a thrill.

 

My biggest gripe about the INDY race (and NASCAR) is the broadcasting team.....don't those guys ever take a breath?

Yak,yak,yak nonstop!

"it bears repeating....."

No, it doesn't.

"like I said before"

Then why are you saying it again?

STFU and let's watch the race, OK?

 

"All motorsports nowadays are so corporate up the ass that its sucked the excitement and passion of white knuckle gritty racing! "

Try watching the Chili Bowl midgets or the World of Outlaws sprinters...It is still real racing.

 

the race is blacked out on local Indy TV. we can watch it about 3 hours after the race is over

 

I still remember Gordon Johncock and Rick Mears going at it in 1982. It just does not get any better than that even though there have been several good ones since.

This race has lost a lot of romance in recent years for many reasons. The thoughts and ideas you guys have put in this thread are pretty damn good and some funny stuff too.

I also agree that the Media Market and big money have changed the look of Indy and Nascar for the worse. Just go back to the basics and cut all the shit out of it.

The track it self has been changed as well by removing the lower apron and having the surface levigated or grinded. I cannot believe that IMS has not repaved the most famous speedway on the planet ?

Removal of the apron was done for safety reasons which I understand but in doing so eliminated a racing groove. If I am not mistaken there were a couple of bad wrecks with cars snapping loose in the apex then backing hard into the outside wall.

The cars are just too damn fast. Same crap has happend with Nascar as they rely on aero instead of a driver muscling his way around the track. The cars these days have to be near perfect. Back then there were alot more options for the mechanics and drivers.

Maybe something good will happen this weekend.

 

listening to it on the radio was way better than tv and the innovations and the variety of the personalities, the engines, and the cars made it even moreso. It was about that time Joe Leonard had that race in the bag with one of the biggest innovations of the day: turbine engine...when a 50 cent bearing let go with something like 2 laps to go...
those were exciting days to me. Ho hum nowadays. Someone should send this entire thread to the Hulman-George family.

 

I'm with you fellas. I'll watch all three with the wife at my side. Can't wait. My one day at Indy practice this year was great. Qualifying was more interesting, and faster moving than any other time in history. Cutting the Month of May to two weeks makes them really get after it. Before it was more of a waiting game.

Will start off the weekend this evening at the local oval track, for some small time racing.

I'll watch any auto racing, any time, any place I can. Will drag race or LSR my Studebaker as often as possible. Loved the Richard Petty Driving experience, and would do it again in a hot minute.

If this stuff was easy, they'd all be going the same speed, and anyone could win. If it was just engineers or drivers, Tony Kanaan would'nt be in the last row.

Even with a spec engine and chassis, there are plenty of things to play with.

 

Haven't watched since tony george skrewed it up!

 

It was more interesting when there was more variation in the cars.

But why won't announcers please just shut up and let me watch the cars and listen to the engines? Do they really think I need constant drivel to explain every little thing to me? A couple years ago one channel just put a camera and a mic down at track level, let it play, and didn't say a word for 5 minutes. It was the best 5 minutes of Indy 500 racing I've ever watched.

 

When I was a kid back in the 50's, I would listen to the radio broadcasts of the 500 because we didn't have TV. When the old man finally popped for a TV set. I rarely missed a race ... thought guys like A.J., Roger Ward, Lloyd Ruby, the Unsers and the other drivers all walked on water. If a team showed up, passed tech and ran fast enough to qualify, they were in the show. When it became the "Indy Racing League" game, I checked out and have never looked back.

 

This ESPN four part series by Ed Hinton is an absolute MUSTread for any racing enthusiast. The arrogance shown by both Tony George and the owners of the CART teams is just astounding! Even when the ship was sinking faster than a lead weight, neither side would admit defeat and agree to come together to save open wheel racing. NASCAR ate their lunch without having to put up much of a fight to get it. Sad, sad sad!!!

Again, if you do nothing else this weekend, read Ed Hinton's report. It will help you understand how a handful of people effectively ruined an American tradition...

 

The sad part about the indy 500 is Its basicly the only race those cars will get coverage .I like to watch the andretti's but when a news flash on speed channel tells me there are 5 women trying to qualify this year as the big news .Thats it ? sad .Times are changing and not for the better .
wait untill they get the law passed that cars older than lets say 25 years .will be banned from the road .trailor only . yes . its on the way .
time to kiss our freedoms goodbye .
I will still watch the race .go marco

 

When a race is run with one brand of motor and by drivers that in many cases are part time Sara Fisher, Graham Rahal etc then it does not appeal to me.

The appeal in the past was that the race provided a venue for the best drivers in the world, that was Indy. You cannot say that today, these drivers cannot jump into a Formula one car or Nascar race car and be competitive.

Really only Penske and Ganassi will field competitive cars heck roger has has visited the winners circle 15 times. What is the appeal in that.

 

I worked in the indycar series for a couple seasons. It was even boring from the front lines. It is not as much about talent as it is resources(money). There are so many rules that mandate that all of the cars be exactly alike. The system is set up to the point that only the teams with the most money can find the most creative(expensive) ways to cheat in a manner that the car still passes tech. It is boring. I wonder whoe will win this race Ganassi or Penske........same deal every week.

 

.........................

 

Agree 100%. They're trying to put polish on a turd & make it all interesting. It ain't. It's almost like watching a Junior GQ or Danica Victoria's Closet commercial anymore.

Used to was when I was a kid Indy was broadcast only on radio, no TV coverage until it was over. I can take MRN for NASCAR but I can't take digger and boogity boogity. . . Stuff like that belongs on Saturday morning cartoons.

 

Imho, ALL modern 'racing' is boring. Or maybe uninteresting is the correct word. The cars have no relevance, the drivers seem dull, the venues are sterile. Shoot, ecclestone and his minions have even ruined the World Rally Championship - which WAS the last interesting series on the map. The only thing less interesting than indycar stuff is nascar ; maybe. Nhra drag racing comes in a close second too.
And, as pretty as she is, Danica Patrick is just PC marketing . If she had a penis, she couldnt get a ride in a Formula Ford.

 

Indy Car, NHRA, NASCAR, all the same these days............Boring! The only racing I still enjoy watching is AMA motocross, and SCORE desert racing. You never know what can happen in off road racing. Professional racing on pavement these days is too refined, and predictable. With every year that passes, I find myself less into racing, and more into nostalgia. I guess I'm just getting old. I find current drag racing especially boring anymore. However, an old front engine dragster smokin' the tires all the way down the track is still one on the coolest things a person might witness in their life!

 

Yes ,,i agree it's getting boring ,,too say the least ,,but ,,i've been watching or listening to it since the beginning ,,just sumthin' about it ,,wish sumday i could go see qualifying live ,,,not the race ,,it's better to watch on T V ,,
However ,,there might be HOPE ,,,Honda has said they are droping out for next year ,,no more Honda Motors ,,and nobody is stepping up to fill that gap ,,maybe ,,just maybe ,we'll go back to a variaty of engines built or bought by the race teams ,,
i miss the days of Buick V-6's ,,Small Block Chevy's ,,Offys and those great Coswerths ,,not to mention that STP ,Turbo Jet Engine ,,they need to get back to the Best Race on da Planet ,,unlimeted motors & horspower ,,
BUT,,untill then ,,Go Danaka Go ,,hope she wins ,,and gets back to NASCAR and wins there ,,tired of the same ole guys winning those big time races ,,
just my .02 werth ,,i could be wrong ,,,NOT !!!!!

 

I miss the last day of qualifiying. Some grizzled veteran hanging it all out in a 4 year old car. I loved it when those guys made, it, I was heartbroken when they didnt.

 

I had a little gig in the garage at Texas Motor Speedway, for a few years and can tell you that the IRL people are really cool and more lenient towards the fans than NASCAR is.

Been to Indy once for the race in 94. John Andretti did the double there and at Charlotte. Been to the museum a few times. Laid my hands on "Calhoun". I have Lloyd Ruby and AJs autographed pics on my wall.

Ive read this whole thread and agree with all of you but nobody pointed out that ANYBODY with sponsorship money can get a ride there. Go marry a CEOs daughter. Sweet talk the old man out of some dough (sponsorship from his company) and youre in.

 

Seems to me, Bonneville, and the other LSR venues are the last places where the cars haven't homogenized themselves into each other. Doesn't mean Nascar Modifieds, and supers, and Midgets aren't pretty neat though.

 

The Indy 500 was this weekend? Shit I didn't even realize they still had that race hahaha...I grew up watching Mears, Johncock, Foyt, Andretti, Sullivan (Pancho and Danny), Petty, Earnhardt Sr., Elliott, Waltrip, Yarborough etc.. in some of the best recing I will have ever seen. I remember how important it was for me as a lil guy in the early-mid 80's to not miss a single second of Daytona or Indy. Nowadays it's so damn boring I cant turn off the TV fast enough. All Nascar cares about is which driver is the best looking and is groomed the nicest in order to be sold as corporate tender. It really breaks my heart to have lost something I cherished so much as a kid.

Now NHRA isn't as bad and there are still quite a few grease monkeys and characters out there, but then again drag racing in America has always been percieved as a little bit more outlaw than any other form of racing. The cars of the big classes in drag racing have gotten a little boring and have definetely lost their style and showmanship, but door slammers are still fun to watch and occasionally blow up or lauch off the track. One good thing is drag racing still has bottom level up type of structure which none of the others have.

 

Hey! flat bottom race cars, no green cards, no names I can't pronounce, no Danika, no Steven Tyler singin" the National anthem. Or am I just an old redneck?

 

Hey, I remember when for many years it was ALL Offys, and ALL Firestones, and every car looked almost the same (the roadster era), and it was exciting as hell. Of course I was 15-16 years old then and there was hardly ANY other racing on the radio or in the newspapers or even in the movies, so Indy was a BIG deal. Now, there's so much of everything we're all a bit jaded and overloaded.

Just my $0.02

;o)

 

It was much better when you could build cool shit like this in your garage and try to qualify it.

 

..or die trying..

 

So true... as the cars get faster the safety requirments go up for both crews and fans. I suppose that helps the cars all look the same, eh? But even in this year's race, all those very "same" cars were running at a wide variety of speeds and skill levels. Gary

 

The series sucks imo....you can't see much of the track and that sucks....but a 2 day party is a good thing. That's the only reason I go.