View Full Version : Bump Day Blues and ESPN3
For those not aware, IMS has changed the 2014 Indy 500 qualification rules...Bump Day (fill the field day) now is on Saturday, Pole Day is Sunday. 8 laps needed to qualify because Saturday's get wiped out on Sunday....All designed to wring out as much entertainment value as they can for the 2 hour TV window ABC is providing both Saturday and Sunday.
Also new...apparently all other 500 qualy coverage is being provided on ESPN3. LOL.:rofl:
stroker
03-07-14, 03:26 PM
too little, too late...
http://centurylink.net/news/read/category/sports/article/ap-indy_500_qualifying_to_be_3_rounds_over-ap
I am sure ABC/ESPN will be flooded with calls from race fans. Flooded with calls I tell you. Flooded. :rolleyes:
I guess a cricket match or the World Handball championship will be bumped from EPSN3.
I think IMS has the right idea, but they are using the wrong process to decide Pole Position on Sunday. Sure they could race around the track at high speed, but people can (and do!) turn to any number of channels to watch NASCAR do that all day long. No. IMS needs a competitive event that is unique to Indy.
Few people understand what Pole Position at Indy means. It's a privilege, not some prize. "Winning" Pole position shouldn't be about who is the fastest, or the quickest, or the driver with the lowest lap time over four pressure filled 'do it right now or lose it' laps. No one wants to watch that.
Instead, the driver that sits on Pole should be a well rounded individual with the deepest respect for the hollowed out traditions the Indy 500 represents. The selection process should begin months in advance, around the first of April would be good.
I'm just spit balling here, but I would begin with an interview process/medical physical to verify the driver is not a woman. Next, would be the celebrity celebration dance competition, to be held in a high school gym. It would start with all the drivers in a clump on one side of the dance floor and all the celebrities on the other. The driver that leaves with the hottest celebrity at the end of the night wins. Dead Last would be the talent competition: probably a demolition derby in the Indy infield using pizza delivery cars.
That's who people want to cheer for. That's who should be on pole. That's what Indy should mean.
:gomer:
TKGAngel
03-07-14, 10:39 PM
I'm just spit balling here, but I would begin with an interview process/medical physical to verify the driver is not a woman. Next, would be the celebrity celebration dance competition, to be held in a high school gym. It would start with all the drivers in a clump on one side of the dance floor and all the celebrities on the other. The driver that leaves with the hottest celebrity at the end of the night wins. Dead Last would be the talent competition: probably a demolition derby in the Indy infield using pizza delivery cars.
That's who people want to cheer for. That's who should be on pole. That's what Indy should mean.
:gomer:
You're forgetting the tenderloin sammich making competition. :gomer:
Seriously though, my head hurts reading the explanation of the actual qualifying procedure. Why must it be so complicated?
Complicated? Tarnation! 'Course it's complicated. When the steak is made of goat, you sell the sizzle!
Sizzle-mania! = Indy-mania! :tony:
IndyCar has set a target of seeing Arie Luyendyk's 18-year-old track record at Indianapolis Motor Speedway fall by 2016.
Luyendyk's 237.498mph lap speed and 236.986mph four-lap average have remained the benchmark since 1996, but Mark Miles, CEO of IndyCar parent company Hulman & Co, said that he hopes to see that speed beaten by the 100th edition of the famed race.
Source (http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/112819)
Ted
LOL the 'benchmark'. 18 years ago the 'benchmark' was set. Great standards used to set the 'benchmark' and what became of them since. Pathetic. :p
Hoist with their own petard. Again. And again. And again. Ad infinitum.
Mary
pfc_m_drake
03-08-14, 03:18 PM
LOL the 'benchmark'. 18 years ago the 'benchmark' was set. Great standards used to set the 'benchmark' and what became of them since. Pathetic. :pMore importantly (to me) is that the 'benchmark' is NOT going to be broken through technology, innovation, and the test of man and machine. Instead it will be broken through artificially orchestrated micro-management.
But, but, but, it's the second biggest sporting event in the galaxy!!! :tony:
I just finished reading Robin Miller's Q&A over on Racer.com. All these gomers giving ideas of how to promote the earl. My favourite was picking a few teams for a 'barnstorming' tour... :tony:
They never had this problem 20 years ago...
chop456
03-10-14, 02:28 AM
YoU clearLy don'T unDEREStAnd tarditions.
http://mrsunshineblog.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/morans-guy.jpg
What was the over/under on which year the five hunnert becomes a cab race?
Rogue Leader
03-10-14, 07:40 AM
LOL the 'benchmark'. 18 years ago the 'benchmark' was set. Great standards used to set the 'benchmark' and what became of them since. Pathetic. :p
Whats completely ridiculous about that statement is like for someone who doesn't have any clue about racing they may think "eh they go 221 right now 237 isn't that far off" but for anyone who has any sort of racing knowledge, the difference between 221 and 237 is huge. Honestly without giving the cars 150-200 more HP to both give them power and allow them to compensate for the additional downforce they need these cars don't have a prayer of hitting that.
stroker
03-10-14, 08:03 AM
Honestly without giving the cars 150-200 more HP to both give them power and allow them to compensate for the additional downforce they need these cars don't have a prayer of hitting that.
<mental image of Wile E. Coyote and Acme rocket>
Whats completely ridiculous about that statement is like for someone who doesn't have any clue about racing they may think "eh they go 221 right now 237 isn't that far off" but for anyone who has any sort of racing knowledge, the difference between 221 and 237 is huge. Honestly without giving the cars 150-200 more HP to both give them power and allow them to compensate for the additional downforce they need these cars don't have a prayer of hitting that.
but there is every possibility that they will hit something....
http://ims.cdn.racersites.com/prod/photos/353994/STORY.jpg
They should talk to Scott Brayton's family about breaking the record.
And maybe ask the Renna family what they think of the same ole fencing.
May as well ask the Wheldon family what they think of gimmicks designed to get attention while they're at it.
Why anyone would strap themselves into a race car to keep that family from losing their shirts is beyond me.
My internet provider doesn't have a contract for ESPN3, so at least I won't even have a temptation to watch.
Whats completely ridiculous about that statement is like for someone who doesn't have any clue about racing they may think "eh they go 221 right now 237 isn't that far off" but for anyone who has any sort of racing knowledge, the difference between 221 and 237 is huge. Honestly without giving the cars 150-200 more HP to both give them power and allow them to compensate for the additional downforce they need these cars don't have a prayer of hitting that.
I never watch The Earl so I had no idea that they are still qualifying at 221 mph. Are they mad? What makes them think they can get to 237 from there in two years? BTW, wasn't part of the original "vision" to slow 'em down when they first built their own cars with a different spec from CART's? I know it has been a long time, so maybe I forgot.
Mary
Rogue Leader
03-12-14, 07:25 AM
I never watch The Earl so I had no idea that they are still qualifying at 221 mph. Are they mad? What makes them think they can get to 237 from there in two years? BTW, wasn't part of the original "vision" to slow 'em down when they first built their own cars with a different spec from CART's? I know it has been a long time, so maybe I forgot.
Mary
TBH I looked it up and I was wrong/exaggerated a bit, they were qualifying at 228 last year. Still that extra 9 MPH is a big jump when you're already at 228 mph.
Wasn't the IRL talking about slowing the cars just a few years ago?
Slightly OT, I went in search of an article to verify that thought. Instead I found this article from March 1996. I am not sure if it is sad or laughable where we are so many years later.
Slow It Down to Count Indy's Cars (http://www.nytimes.com/1996/03/29/sports/on-auto-racing-slow-it-down-to-count-indy-s-cars.html)
The Speedway's attempt to re-invent Indy-car racing as less expensive and more friendly to American drivers is going to cause spasms that will be felt, not the least forcefully, at the 1996 Indy 500.
Three drivers who started at Disney World -- Eddie Cheever, Buddy Lazier and Stan Wattles -- did not start the Phoenix race. But none of those three drivers finished at Disney World, either.
The reason Cheever, Lazier and Wattles missed the Phoenix race is that each was injured in separate crashes on the Friday before the race.
It should be noted that USAC sent three drivers home early at Disney World when they could not handle Indy-level speeds, even though that guaranteed a short lineup (and the I.R.L. showed class in paying the three as if they had finished in the race in last three positions). The Speedway has a good safety record, but any accident will only thin out an already depleted list of cars.
I am glad things were headed off the right direction from Day 1. :saywhat:
Worst thing Ford did was give them engines. They could have killed the idiot grandson's temper tantrum right then and there. What a sad state of affairs 20 years later.
Wasn't the IRL talking about slowing the cars just a few years ago?
Poppycock! IRL tubs are stout...chassis proven to be stable at any speed. All IRL drivers said so. Catchfencing up to snuff at all tracks, exceeding FIA levels. I say go for the record, what could go wrong? :p
http://cdn29.elitedaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/dario-franchitti-crash-elite-daily.png
TBH I looked it up and I was wrong/exaggerated a bit, they were qualifying at 228 last year. Still that extra 9 MPH is a big jump when you're already at 228 mph.
Still a big jump in speed. I don't see it being done safely.
Mary
chop456
03-13-14, 08:07 AM
Still a big jump in speed. I don't see it being done safely.
Fortunately we know from experience that earl would never cobble together some unsafe, slapdash, half-baked scheme to get their name in the paper.
Rogue Leader
03-13-14, 08:50 AM
Still a big jump in speed. I don't see it being done safely.
Mary
Forget safety, just overall major changes to the formula and the cars to get to that point. And then to be safer hah....
opinionated ow
03-13-14, 09:12 AM
I've wanted to go to Indianapolis for the 500 for as long as I can remember. I want to go to the Hulman Classic, the Little 500, the Hoosier 100, Bump Day, Pole Day, Carb Day and Race Day yet it seems like Indycar has tried to destroy this for almost my entire existence. I really hope I do get there one day but it will have to be after Crapwagon 2.0 has left the track...
Al Czervik
03-13-14, 11:35 AM
I've wanted to go to Indianapolis for the 500 for as long as I can remember. I want to go to the Hulman Classic, the Little 500, the Hoosier 100, Bump Day, Pole Day, Carb Day and Race Day yet it seems like Indycar has tried to destroy this for almost my entire existence. I really hope I do get there one day but it will have to be after the Hulmans have sold the track...
Fixed for reality
Forget safety, just overall major changes to the formula and the cars to get to that point. And then to be safer hah....
As soon as I clicked "submit reply" I realized that I'd inferred "IRL" and "safety" in the same sentence. Oops, my bad.
Mary
Powered by vBulletin® Version 4.2.5 Copyright © 2024 vBulletin Solutions Inc. All rights reserved.