The Futility has ended: Long Beach

[JohnHKart]

Great job Sato, becomes the first Asian to win in a top tier series, such as F1, NASCAR, Indy Car:thumbup: Over ten years of Futility coming to an end. Last Sammich win was 7/7/02 at Kansas. It seemed impossible this would ever happen.

[chop456]

"Top tier series", he says. :laugh:



And for the sake of argument, Haynari Shimoda won an ALMS race in LMP1/LMP900.

[G.]

I miss the Foytility threads. :(



Now, when I remember that there was an earl race, I need to go look elsewhere to find out who sucked. It's a jungle out there...

[SteveH]

I miss the Foytility threads. :(



Now, when I remember that there was an earl race, I need to go look elsewhere to find out who sucked. It's a jungle out there...

I just assume they all suck, saves me a lot of time. :thumbup:

[DagoFast]

If history has taught us nothing else, it's that you know things are really bad in an AOW series when a Foyt car can win.

[NismoZ]

Sure, RECENT history, perhaps...67 TOP TIER victories, 4 Indy wins, 7 championships, midget titles, stock car titles, sprint car titles, Daytona, LeMans...didn't like him all that much but as you said "if history tells us anything..." it's that he was one of the very best...ever. Wish you could have seen him on dirt, especially the miles. Great stuff. As an owner?...I know what you mean.

[DagoFast]

Recent? 36 years ago is recent? How many wins since 1977? And take note, USAC was dead in two more years. Then Team Super Tejas went zero for how many in CART? Accourse they managed to win again in earl V1 as the strongest weakling beating up on dentists and Bronco Brad and other luminaries. But how many wins for team Foytility since earl V2 and the former CART guys moved over?

Look, I'll give A.J. his due from '57-'67, but that's 46 years ago when he drove for other car owners and had guys like George Bignotti turning the wrenches. It was also a far different era where champ dirt car wins added to those totals. When Jabba started believing in his press clippings and started his own team doing things the "AJ way" his results went in the dumper. The only thing that stayed big or got bigger were his mouth, his ego and his waistline.

[Easy]

Also, AJ is no longer running the team like its 1971. Larry Foyt is in charge day to day and has hired good people with contemporary knowledge to put the rubber to the road. Some of Mike Conway's runs last year reflected this.

Sato has always been fast, 12 years on from his BF3 title he may have finally learned how to finish a race with pit stops.

[NismoZ]

Yes Larry and Sato are well on their way to eclipsing ol' AJ's racing accomplishments.:rofl: Geez, fat jokes too? Foyt team wins one, so attack AJ. Nice. Already admitted his performance as an owner was not as good as his driving record. Let's name-call Penske because he's been a more successful owner than a driver? You infer the champcar dirt wins were somehow easy and not to be fully recognized? That different era you mention was not as "good"? Like I said, wish you had seen some of those races. I agree he had a big ego (don't many?) but he had the skills to go with it. Yes, he drove too long, got old and fat (gosh THAT never happens!) but he is CERTAINLY one of the best...ever. And GOOD for Larry and Sato.

[DagoFast]

Perhaps I wasn't clear about the dirt track wins, no disrespect meant. In fact the quite the opposite as I loved seeing them race on dirt as well, AJ included. (Because seeing Mario and the Unser's beat him was certainly a pleasure!) My original comment had to do with how many wins a driver could rack up in a season by also running on dirt in addition to only running the pavement races. Finally, comparing era's is difficult. But IMO, the competition in AOW was never at as high a level as it was during the CART years. And Foyt's record there speaks for itself.

A.J. has no one but himself to blame for his perception today. It is the direct result of his much more recent actions; hammering on his car, screaming at crew members, bulling journalists, throwing laptops, bitch slapping Arie. And he certainly carries a portion of the blame for the split that brought the sport where it is today. If that overshadows his on track accomplishments from many, many decades ago, so be it. It's his legacy.

[Chief]

A.J. has no one but himself to blame for his perception today. It is the direct result of his much more recent actions; hammering on his car, screaming at crew members, bulling journalists, throwing laptops, bitch slapping Arie. And he certainly carries a portion of the blame for the split that brought the sport where it is today. If that overshadows his on track accomplishments from many, many decades ago, so be it. It's his legacy.

Bingo. And, on a far greater level...Mario Andretti still brings home the bacon off his legacy. Ahem,,, and is by FAR the most visible indirect pitchman for the EArL series, which they are extremely lucky to have. RHR is buried, Hinch and Sato are flavor du jour, yada yada. Foyt has been an a**hole and will continue to be treated like one. At least he is honest enough to admit he had nothing to do with Sato's win except hire on the Japanese yen supplying ride-buyer. Yes, hypocrisy AJ Foyt, Jr. style...

[RTKar]

Isn't it a shame when the most identifiable "indy style" driver is someone who won the race in 1969? 44 years ago

[NismoZ]

Here we go ...:rolleyes: NOW I can agree with most that has been said..."recently":D I also was glad to see Mario come along and hand AJ his lunch but I thought Arie getting slapped around was a GOOD thing?:confused: Too much talk about personality. I never knew any of those guys so I just stick to the racing, but I sure hope NOBODY judges Mario's legacy OR skills based on that single win at Indy. That wouldn't be shameful...it'd be ignorance at best. But hey, they can still talk about the Tiger Woods of Racing! Pretty sure HE won't be staging a comeback, though.

[Chief]

The grater shame is Mario's legacy continues to be tied to that drek....the Indy 500, IMS and the pathetic DW12 bumper car/Indycar series. That tainted drek...:shakehead

[NismoZ]

Nah, not at all AFAIC...1969 was a different ballgame and so was his entire career. About 99.9% of ANYbody who hears or thinks about Mario Andretti do not even CARE about :tony: DW12s, catch fences...even HIS flying car at what, age 63? I find it VERY easy to separate my enjoyment of his racing career...the Indy, CART and ChampCar of old...with the product we see today. I don't give it the attention I used to but I still follow what's going on. Sounds like you do too!:D

[Chief]

I don't give it the attention I used to but I still follow what's going on. Sounds like you do too!:D

This is the first year in about 45 years that I have no interest in watching Indy-based racing. Seriously, I can't look at those cars...hideous. And the train wreck of leadership the AOW world has fallen under is a crime. From my web browsing, there appears to only be 350k "ANYbodys" left, with that number dropping each year. So, I too choose to remember Mario Andretti from when the sport had dignity...not driving around some moron in a two seater to gain attention for this sad excuse for a series. Andretti's love money and will sell out to get some. Here's one of my favorites...

Uy66OCILOiY

[JohnHKart]

I have no idea why I'm enjoying it more this season. Maybe cause this was one of the worst off seasons for me- because TV sucks!!! ( Usually watch documentaries.)

[Wheel-Nut]

WOW!! When did the season start?

[DagoFast]

WOW!! When did the season start?

Get with the program! After 8 days this May, the season is over.

[NismoZ]

See, isn't this fun! We have Indy to talk about again!:tony: Who's drivin' the Novi this year? That dang thing hits about 240 on the back straight...just about has to stop in the corners!

[Chief]

Isn't it great! Indy's been all in the news the past few days...every website, TV, radio, social media outlet is ga ga over NASCAR hitting 214 at the speedway. :laugh: