I'm a little late on this, but have to say that I'm going through Indy withdrawl this week. Thanks to Greg's reminders about the great coverage Peacock has had (streaming) including many practice sessions, all of the qualifying sessions, and even some somewhat interesting interviews hosted by James Hinchcliff with some of the top drivers, I've been more engaged with Indy this year than I have been since my days of getting the Indianapolis Star mailed to the house for the month of May just so I could keep up on stuff back in the 70's and 80's, when radio and then eventually TV coverage really didn't exist until raceday. With everything being cataloged on Peacock, I was able to watch the different practice sessions/other at night, when convenient. Marcus Ericsson was under the radar for most of the month, but he had a quiet confidence (and a very fast Ganassi racecar) that for those paying attention had to consider as a potential winner. His winning may not have been the storyline that the press was banking on, but as a fan who enjoys watching a solid race, and seeing a good driver with a good car actually earn the win, I thought it all made sense. I thought the race played out kind of differently than in years past as for the majority of this years race, there only seemed to be 3 or 4 guys that looked like they would have a shot a winning.... The way the yellows fell, fuel strategy didn't play a roll for the last 10 laps as it has in years before. It was really Scott Dixon's race to win or lose, and the later became the case when he had a slight brake lock up entering pit road, which resulted in a speeding penalty... and with it being so late in the race, his chances of winning were gone. Nobody on the planet would have thought Dixon would have an unforced error on the biggest stage of the year, but it just shows how these guys are on the edge all the time. The toughest deal of the day had to have been for Alex Palou who had a very smart entire month of May... was fast all month.... was driving a very smart race, and then had his chance of winning go away as the "Pit Close" light came on as he had already committed to entering, so the result ended up with him having to make the extra stop, putting him at the back of the pack. It wasn't his fault, but the yellow happened to come out just at the wrong time. (For those following Indy over the years, each year there always seems to be a new way discovered for how to lose the 500... but how to win just gets tougher and tougher each year. ) As mentioned above, and I'm probably in the minority with today's racefans, but it should be the Indy 500.... and throwing a red flag in an attempt to have the race not finish is a going with the times... ala Nascar. Finishing at the 500 mile mark, even if under caution, is a tradition that I hate to see go away, but there doesn't seem to be much love out there for traditions anymore. I still say run it out as it should be (500 miles) and if it finishes under the yellow, so be it.... and that's coming from somebody who over the almost 2 decades of attending in person, did witness a few that finished under the yellow... and I was ok with it back then, and would be ok with it if I took the 750 mile ride out there to see it in person again. As mentioned above, I watched more Indy this year than ever before, and enjoyed it all. Glad it turned out to be pretty much an injury free month for all competitors (I read that Sage Karem was being evaluated after the race but sounded like a pretty positive report.) The qualifying was exciting, including the way they got the top 12, and then the Fast 6 fighting it out for the pole. My only hope for next year is that they get 40 or so entries so the "bump" can be be put back into "bump day." Now that's a tradition that I don't think any real Indy 500 fan wants to see go away!
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