Your Indy observations?

I'm not Kevin Mc or Greg C, but here's my Indy observations:

I watched Indy...  Boy did I watch it...  Greg C had gotten me wired in to watching ALL of the practice, qualifying, carb day, pitstop challenge.... and I watched it all thanks to it being on Peacock and available whenever I had time to watch. 

On raceday, I watched the pre-race and all of this year's race, although I have to admit that I fast forwarded whenever Danica was being featured (I can't explain it... I just don't like listening to her and I can think of 100 former Indycar racers that I'd rather listen to.)

I really enjoyed watching the race.  I thought the coverage was great, but two things I didn't like:

The first is the wheel and possibly part of an axle that through an absolute miracle, missed going into the crowd by what looked like less than 20'.  You can't protect against everything, but hopefully the current tether system they have can be improved (?) or the height of the catch fence (?) increased.  Like I said, you can't protect against every situation, but I'm sure there is something that can be learned from reviewing the incident, and hopefully some improvement will be made.  (I've sat in the section that was just missed (Southwest Vista I think it's called.)  I was sitting there when Sullivan did his spin and later went on to win.)

The other thing that I didn't like was the last red flag.  Nobody was on their roof... The track was not blocked... And in the probably 20+ hours of TV coverage starting a few weeks ago, that I have been a student of, the commentators (Lee Diffy, James Hinchcliffe, Townsend Bell, Marty Snider, Kevin Lee, Dave Burns, Dillon Welch...and you can add Mike Terico, Dale Jr and Steve DeHart, discussed almost every scenario of cars/drivers/track rules, etc., some numerous times... but you know what was never mentioned?  Nobody every mentioned that if a yellow flag situation occurred late in the race (or more specifically, as late as lap 196, meaning that as the leaders came back around and drove slowly through the area of the accident, and then crossed the starter's stand under yellow, (which would then be "3 to go"), that they would then go around, only to then be directed to the pits... where a red flag would be given..., and then more surprising (or more ridiculous depending on your outlook) is the cars would actually then would roll off pit lane, getting the two to go sign as they were rolling through the pits... and would then get the green and white the next time around.  My question is, when was that decided?

Sure it made for a more dramatic finish for those who don't give a rat's ass about tradition, and maybe it provided enough excitement for those who do consider themselves as traditionalists to look the other way just this once, but for me, it was a definite Jump the Shark moment, which is something I hoped I'd never see when it comes to the Indianapolis 500.

It was a cheap, desperate, over the top Nascar influenced move.  Most of all, it was disappointing.

I would be less disappointed if the scenario had been discussed any time before it happened as even a possibility (unnecessary red, followed by taking the two to go from pit lane, followed by the white and green next time around), regardless of how unlikely the scenario may have seemed.  I would also be less disappointed if it was something that was in writing, and had been shared with the competitors, the raceteams, and the media prior to the start of the event.  From where I sit, and from all the TV coverage I absorbed throughout the entire month of May... and from the way the commentators reacted, I don't think it did exist in writing/was shared in advance with anyone.

An amazing month of May at Indy... With the tradition, the respect to history, and the integrity that I've always felt that the Indianapolis 500 deserves...  Until lap 197.

Lucky Dog?....  An Indycar "Chase?"....  What's next?....

Maybe they can book Cypress Hill to sing Back Home Again in Indiana in 2024 in Nascar hasn't booked them already for Charlotte.

Pre-race traditions still put a lump in my throat, playing of taps always leaves me misty-eyed. I do miss Jim Nabors' rendition of Back Home Again in Indiana. Was thankful for a clean start, was concerned that bonzai moves throughout the field would cause problems. I'm a long-time Foyt Racing fan so was excited all day as Ferrucci ran with the lead group. Had Kirkwood's tire impacted in the stands . . . thankfully it did not. Had to feel for Felix, I believe he would have been there in the end. O'Ward is a super talent but still needs to learn patience. Neat that TK ran the full 500 miles, on that last lap dash he and Helio were battling for position, just like they've battled each other since their karting days. And, although it was extremely exciting racing following each of the three red flags, I agree with Kevin. Yes, ideally I want green flag running through to an exciting checkered flag finish, but don't want this to turn into a manufactured, NASCAR type deal. It's the Indy 500, not the 505 or the 510 or 515. As for the one-lap of green after coming immediately out of the pits, thankfully that didn't turn into a crashfest. Newgarden was on the move during the race, placed himself in a strong position in the latter stages, congrats to him. 

Less than 365 days until the 108th running. I'm ready.

Whoever was restarting first for that final green lap was a sitting duck . . . And whoever was restarting second was gonna draft by down the backstretch for the win. 

Thanks.   The red flags at Indy, creating a green/checkered, are pretty dangerous, but it played out. The last two reds were absolutely not necessary, put it in the rules other than at the discretion of the race director making the call...from channel three in Rogers radio.

2013 Thompson Speedway, for the Ice Breaker,  in the club house with Lenny Sammons and a young kid, very nice and very confident,  introduces himself and tells us how he is doing in racing and where he wants to be. We had no idea who he was and kind of said to him good luck and work hard, Santino Ferrucci.  So at the end of the race, was rooting for him, but was afraid he was going to be the guy to mess things up at the end, luckily fell asleep on the last restart and rode it out.  

They "rigged" it to be only 500 miles though.  Could you imagine if Nascar threw reds at the end of each race instead of green white checkers? The race would end on Monday morning!

I actually lucked out by what happened on a selfish level.  We were returning from a week in Orlandp and I got to the house and turned on the TV just to see if the 500 was still on and it was.  Got to see the last lap.

With the way the leader heads right for the end of the pit road wall leading the "snake" out of turn 4, I wonder how long it will be before someone hits it!

Also lucked out that the 600 got rained out.  If it had run Sunday night there was NO WAY that I could have stayed awake for the whole thing!