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lewisthegreat2

Greatest Spectacle In Auto Racing

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This made me smile on Pole Day, and I'm glad it's on YouTube. Most of the Delta Force intros were before my time, but the use of that song with the Indy 500 for so many years was genius. Dated as it is, I'm glad it came back, even if it's not Paul Page.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iF-Z2GKKouY

The use of Tom Carnegie in there was a wonderful touch, too.

Here's the precedent (one of many, actually...1988-1996 used them):

Prior to the Pole Day intro, the only time Delta Force was used without Paul Page was in 2001, with Al Michaels. They also used the theme for the 1994 Brickyard 400; Paul Page did that one, too. And 1988 Pole Day marked the other "special" use.

It all means nothing, I'm sure, but it's a big deal to Indy fans, and I'm sick of these cheesy cinematic intros ABC do for the race that have nothing to do with the race itself.

VERSUS gets it. I really hope the 500 goes to NBC (VERSUS' parent) so we can get their great coverage...

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Cool, Eric. See, that's what FOM just doesn't get. TV is about entertainment, and those sorts of intro's get you jonesied up for the race to come. American motorsport TV production is miles and miles ahead of F1. Take for instance this weekend just gone in Spain. Constant showing of cars doing nothing, whilst stuff was actually going on...lets watch five re-runs of the start...and miss Jenson overtake Massa...f'ing dumb. And they are yet to figure out this split screen technology that everything from the home shopping network to WWE to NASCAR know about and use to show different things going on at the same time (pits and track, track and track, pits and pits etc etc). The coverage is boring graphically, and I started feeling irritated too at DC and Brundle this past weekend actually dumbing it down too much, and becasue FOM still think everyone has a 4:3 TV, they put the ticker tape down the screen vertically 1/3rd in from the left, so cover up most of the track. Idiots. IDIOTS.

And I was also thinking last night, about F1 guys being prima donnas coming to NASCAR and Indy etc....and how F1 is the pinnacle of motorsport...perhaps it is, engineering wise with all the aero work, but perhaps the drivers are not. Watching the so called world's best flounder in other series, apart from a very select few, leads me to believe the drivers are not all that, even with a bag of chips.

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Cool, Eric. See, that's what FOM just doesn't get. TV is about entertainment, and those sorts of intro's get you jonesied up for the race to come. American motorsport TV production is miles and miles ahead of F1. Take for instance this weekend just gone in Spain. Constant showing of cars doing nothing, whilst stuff was actually going on...lets watch five re-runs of the start...and miss Jenson overtake Massa...f'ing dumb. And they are yet to figure out this split screen technology that everything from the home shopping network to WWE to NASCAR know about and use to show different things going on at the same time (pits and track, track and track, pits and pits etc etc). The coverage is boring graphically, and I started feeling irritated too at DC and Brundle this past weekend actually dumbing it down too much, and becasue FOM still think everyone has a 4:3 TV, they put the ticker tape down the screen vertically 1/3rd in from the left, so cover up most of the track. Idiots. IDIOTS.

What really helps in NASCAR and Indy, I think, is that the races are produced by the networks themselves. Quite simply, the networks are paying to air the races, so they need to have good coverage to get the viewership to get the return in advertising. So they're very responsive to the fans; NASCAR has just now adopted the split screen for advertisements (if they need to go to a commercial break while the race is still green, they show the race on one half and the ad on the other, as they've done with Indy for a while now), for example. I know a lot of ideas that they scrapped, and a lot of ideas they came up with, just because of viewer feedback, so it really helps. They have to; the NASCAR TV contract is a little bit more expensive in terms of dollars per viewer than BBC's F1 deal. It's their cameras, their producers, etc. I think the problem with F1 is partially that every single broadcasting partner can't bring their own staff to show the race, so they need something universal, and FOM are just detached from the audience.

And I was also thinking last night, about F1 guys being prima donnas coming to NASCAR and Indy etc....and how F1 is the pinnacle of motorsport...perhaps it is, engineering wise with all the aero work, but perhaps the drivers are not. Watching the so called world's best flounder in other series, apart from a very select few, leads me to believe the drivers are not all that, even with a bag of chips.

There's no doubt that from the car standpoint, it is. But I don't really see one series' drivers being much better than the other. It's not so much that F1 drivers aren't the best, it's that no one is. All the cars are so different and they just keep evolving further and further apart. Everyone is so specially trained to do what they do; every series they start racing when they're 5-10, so you're not going to learn something when you come over at age 30. Jimmie Johnson would flop in F1 in the same way Sebastian Vettel couldn't drive a stock car. Every series is going to overrate their drivers for marketing purposes. I think the transition from F1 to NASCAR, for example, would be comparable to association football to ice hockey. There are similar elements, but you can't compare the athletes to the ones in the other sports, and you can't expect a forward or a goaltender to be good in the same position in the other sport, even if the concept is pretty similar.

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After being fired at Andretti Autosport, Tom Anderson has found a new home. Sam Schmidt Motorsports, who made use of another ex-Andretti engineer in Allen McDonald to propel Alex Tagliani to pole. Anderson will work with Townsend Bell, who starts fourth in the Greatest Spectacle in Auto Racing.

Speaking of Sam Schmidt, here's a good article: http://www.indystar.com/article/20110526/SPORTS0107/105260424/Despite-limitations-Schmidt-one-busiest-people-IMS

Other notes:

Pippa Mann has a primary sponsor, so now every car is fully sponsored. Yet to be announced, but I believe it will be Henkel through the Loctite brand. The logo was already on the car.

Buddy Rice's car will be nearly identical to the Speed/Carpentier #20 as Fuzzy's Vodka join the team, but will obviously be the Panther 44.

Firestone Freedom 100 tomorrow at 12:30 (my time) live on VERSUS. I'll bet you can find a stream of it, too. Tony Stewart Racing sprint/midget short-tracker (dirt and pavement) Bryan Clauson starts from pole as qualifying was rained out. Interesting coincidence that Sam Schmidt Motorsports #77s grid first for both races in Speedway, Indiana this weekend.

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Media week for Indy saw the front row at ESPN on two shows. Servià is a great personality. They need to change his name to something the American public can remember. Loved Scott Dixon's sauciness on the first question on SportsCenter about Danica; it was the dumbest question I've heard asked in a long time and the presenter got served as fit. What a moron. They aren't there to promote Nationwide on ESPN.

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=6584352 - SportsCenter

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=6593476 - First Take

Glad to see Randy getting his drivers out there. Dixon was less boring than normal, too. :P

Another note: there will be over 100 drivers who have participated in at least one Indy 500 at an autograph session Saturday. Alex Tagliani will be among them, of course, but he'll also be among the fans looking for autographs. His goal is to have every driver there sign the helmet he'll wear in the race on Sunday.

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Josef Newgarden of Henderson, Tennessee won the Firestone Freedom 100 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway today, leading home Sam Schmidt Motorsports teammate Esteban Guerrieri. Schmidt had another car in the top five, with Bryan Clauson fifth on debut.

Newgarden led the most laps, but swapped the lead with Guerrieri, Víctor García, and Anders Krohn at various points in the race, running right along the inside wall on the front stretch early on to claim the point.

Racing was wild all afternoon, and cool track temperatures made it very difficult for the inexperienced drivers (15 of the 18 competitors were rookies). A lot of accidents in the race, which ultimately ended under caution. When they were green, though, the action was superb.

Krohn impressed on the high side, working his way to the lead, only to spin warming his tires under caution. He'd fight back with more bold moves to run sixth, only to wreck. His teammate, Jorge Goncalvez, had an accident at the same time...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMY2od5R7kA

Vicious hit, but fortunately, no serious injuries that we know of. Gustavo Yacamán was also taken to the hospital for a separate incident.

Chase Austin, the first African-American driver in Indy Lights history, finished eighth, though only ten cars were left running in the end. Still, a respectable debut for a driver who has never raced anything other than stock cars to keep his nose clean on cold tires, make a few passes, and do a great job avoiding some incidents.

EDIT: Just want to mention some of the commentary mistakes in the video; it was not on a restart, and Goncalvez hit right into the concrete barrier, not the SAFER (Mike King and Willy T. Ribbs later correct this...Dan Wheldon is the other commentator, for the record).

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Carb Day/final practice from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Keep in mind it will be 25-30°F warmer on Sunday, so these times should be taken lightly.

1. d#cko

2. Le Tags

3. Frank

4. Vitor

5. Smilin' Dan

6. Buddy

7. Bryan Junquer-Reay

8. T.K.

9. Sunshine

10. Andretti the Quicker

11. Captain America

12. Bell

13. Dubya

14. Rahal, voted IndyCar's least sexy driver

15. Briscoe

16. Ed

17. P.T.

18. Bad a## Wilson

19. Howard

20. Danica

21. Pink Lloyd

22. Swiss Missile (she gave herself this name when a Boston reporter referred to her as the Swiss Miss)

23. Bert

24. Ana

25. The Mayor

26. Chuck

27. Davey

28. Oriol

29. Andretti the Slower

30. Pippa

31. T. Scheck, voted IndyCar's sexiest driver

32. Ernest

33. Super Sato

RHR in seventh tells me Andretti was fielding total junk this year.

John Andretti in tenth tells me maturity, experience, and the right attitude go a long way in making total junk look good. But Andretti will always be massively underrated and sold completely short. Which is a shame. He was never great at any discipline, but he was good in all of them. If you only followed one series, you'd find him competent; if you consider he's been competent everywhere, he's better than most. Consider:

  • Won at Surfers' Paradise in CART's heyday; top ten in points 1990-1992, the only three years he ran the full schedule
  • Won a pair of Sprint Cup races and was top ten in points there a few times
  • Won the Rolex 24 in a Porsche 962, back when Daytona was a legit sports car race running Group C prototypes
  • Won the 6 Hours at Watkins Glen in a Porsche 911 GT car
  • Had a respectable career in Top Fuel drag racing, the highest level of drag racing there is
  • Good midget/sprint racer
  • Class act

Far from the best ever, but one of the few modern-day drivers who can really do it all. No wonder he stands out on the Andretti team. Worth noting his son, Jarrett, is winning some USAC midget races these days. Perhaps the good side of the Andretti family will produce another talent soon.

Should be a fun race.

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I'm reading down your list think where is Dixon, and who does Eric hate enough to call a d#ck....then I worked it out :P

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I'm reading down your list think where is Dixon, and who does Eric hate enough to call a d#ck....then I worked it out :P

:lol: Hey, hey, it was just a play on his name. :P

Nah, you got me. And that note about the temperature? It's true, but it's more just me denying the fact Ganassi are still the favorites. I gotta stay convinced that Tag will wrestle them to the ground like he did with Paul Tracy and that the Oriol will fly...

...though whoever wins, it's the ****ing Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, so I'll still enjoy this Sunday more than any other...until graduation parties start. ;)

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is there a chance to watch kimi today online,any link,of course for free

Wrong thread, boy. :P

Tomorrow at 2:00 PM GMT -5 is Kimi's race. You can watch it at that time for free, without download, here: justin.tv/freddy49_fut

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Wrong thread, boy. :P

Tomorrow at 2:00 PM GMT -5 is Kimi's race. You can watch it at that time for free, without download, here: justin.tv/freddy49_fut

:P thank you Mr.

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Full highlights of the Freedom 100 from IMS yesterday. A good 18 minutes in length.

If Anders Krohn can just calm it down a little bit, he has some real potential. He was making that car run a line that didn't even exist. Great stuff; with the temperature so much lower than it was in practice, and 15 of these guys being rookies, it was pretty difficult out there, so I'll let the spins under caution by Krohn and Peter Dempsey slide. They weren't prepared at all to be running in 60°F.

Another note: Chase Austin had only done six laps in an open-wheel car prior to this race. Took eighth. Not bad...

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International television listings for tomorrow's 95th Running of the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race. In areas where the U.S. feed is utilized, driver analysts Scott Goodyear and Eddie Cheever join play-by-play commentator Marty Reid in the booth. Rick DeBruhl, Jamie Little, Dr. Jerry Punch, and Vince Welch are on pit road. Broadcasting icon Brent Musburger hosts.

http://www.indycar.com:8080/var/assets/indy500listings.pdf

If you are unable to watch the race on TV, radio commentary from the IMS Radio Network will be available for stream at any of the IMS Radio Network affiliates websites, including wgclradio.com (you may be able to listen live at IndyCar's own website, indycar.com/multimedia/content/34100-radio/), along with live timing and scoring at racecontrol.indycar.com. Mike King serves as the voice of the Indianapolis 500 and is joined by his predecessor, Paul Page, Speedway historian Donald Davidson, in-car reporter Davey Hamilton, Turn 1 announcer Jerry Baker, Turn 2 announcer Jake Query, Turn 3 announcer Mark Jaynes, Turn 4 announcer Chris Denari, and pit reporters Kevin Lee, Nick Yeoman, Michael Young, and Dave Wilson.

For video streaming of the race, consult the usual website (Wilson's forename; and no, it isn't Woodrow). If you are to view this race online, I would recommend having the streaming video on mute with the IMS Radio Network stream for audio, though I will caution you that there will be time differences in the audio and video (the audio will be a step ahead). You can even play the Delta Force theme on a constant loop in the background of whichever commentary you have for added enjoyment. ;)

Race coverage on both TV and radio begin at 11:00 AM ET (that's GMT -5 for conversion purposes). The race itself is scheduled for 12:12 PM ET (that's still GMT -5). Pre-race coverage will include the many festivities of automobile racing in America, including driver introductions at 11:30 AM ET (GMT -5), military tributes, the singing of the National Anthem, and Mari Hulman-George's command to start engines. Radio and TV coverage will differ in what pre-race content is broadcast.

A.J. Foyt will drive the Chevrolet Camaro convertible pace car in front of eleven rows of three cars.

Rain is not in the forecast for tomorrow's 500-mile spectacular. Temperature should be in the high 80s to low 90s (°F) with winds around 20 mph from SSW.

Drop the flag!

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They don't call it the Greatest Spectacle in Racing without cause.

I have never seen anything like that. That's exactly the kind of race I'd expect from Indy, and expect from the Centennial, and yet I never could have predicted anything close to what happened.

All the compliments in the world to Dan Wheldon. You can never count him out at Indy. He won the way you have to win a 500-mile race, a great test of endurance on an oval track. It took patience, it took being right there always from start to finish, and it took the experience not to outpace but to outlast. Been a while since I've exclaimed as someone took the checkers, but it was fitting. Dan's a great guy, great with fans, great with his family, just a great guy in general, and a team like Bryan Herta Autosport, so small they can only run one race even as they align with CURB-Agajanian and Sam Schmidt Motorsports...it's just such a story. That famous 98 in the winners' circle again and true, genuine emotions from the winners. Classy group of guys be it driver, owner, or their partners, and I loved seeing Tagliani the first one there to congratulate him among his competitors.

I would have loved a Hildebrand win, for sure...young, articulate American wearing the colors of the National Guard on Memorial Day weekend, but it's classic Indianapolis. It'll bite you all the way until you cross that stripe, and he took it well, still smiling in his interview. Second again for Panther, four in a row, and he couldn't have lost to a better racer and a better man today.

Tony Kanaan is a fighter. They show the driver introductions at pre-race, and he, along with Simona de Silvestro beside him, got the most applause of anyone, even the homegrown Hoosiers. There's a reason for that. These fans and this track respect those who never give up and fight relentlessly. Talented and tenacious, T.K. earned his finish. He must have passed well over 50 cars throughout the race. I could easily watch the 500 over again just from one camera angle: Kanaan's on-board.

The man behind him deserves some praise, too. Oriol Servià is one of the good guys in this sport, and always underrated. After a year away and periods of uncertain on-and-off fill-in drives, fifth at Indy with a real shot has to taste sweet. I hope his new sponsor, CDW, will pick up a few more races. Perhaps we'll see a red #2 in a few weeks at Texas. Another top five for a guy who really, really earns them and a team you can't help but root for.

Charlie Kimball, of course, drove through a lot today. He always does, but 500 miles makes it even harder. He did it. He made it to the checkers. Great guy, too, and 100% respectable run today. Attaboy Chuck.

Chip, Roger...hey, no one's immune at the Speedway.

The drama of overtakes, of double-file restarts, of dreams and heartbreak, of fuel strategy, of a rookie yards from the finish, of a forgotten champion racing for a cause and for a family with a team of longshots returning to glory after an off-season of obstacles. A well-spent afternoon it was.

I love the Indianapolis 500.

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