What? There's a race this weekend? 2019

[TravelGal]

I decided to start this year's thread since no one else commented.

I watched St. Pete. It was good. I stayed awake. That's my barometer. Seriously. Some darn fine racing. I only wish I knew what happened between Townsend Bell and PT last year. It continues. I'm not sure the announcing booth could get more frigid.

[opinionated ow]

I decided to start this year's thread since no one else commented.

I watched St. Pete. It was good. I stayed awake. That's my barometer. Seriously. Some darn fine racing. I only wish I knew what happened between Townsend Bell and PT last year. It continues. I'm not sure the announcing booth could get more frigid.

Might have had something to do with the alleged comments by PT on social media last year?

Indycar screwed the pooch with this television deal. Impossible to watch in Canada. 1 hour highlights several days later on (expensive) pay TV in Australia. And they killed off the youtube replays

[TravelGal]

Might have had something to do with the alleged comments by PT on social media last year?

Indycar screwed the pooch with this television deal. Impossible to watch in Canada. 1 hour highlights several days later on (expensive) pay TV in Australia. And they killed off the youtube replays

It started before that but I'm sure it didn't help.

Really sorry to hear about that TV stuff. No way to stream it? I wasn't overwhelmed with MSNBC either. They dropped the "hat," the crawl across the top (or bottom) in favor of a long list on the left. Same as Formula E. Thing is, to make any sense of that, you have to take your eyes off the race. Maybe I'll get used to it but for now, I just ignore it. Fortunately, the race held my interest enough not to care that much about how much push to pass drive 13 (of whomever) had left. I also noticed not enough replays but that might change.

I really liked the deliberate lack of yellows. If a car's on a runoff somewhere, no need to affect the outcome of the race by throwing a yellow. That hulking piece of banner on the track that eventually got caught on one of the cars should have been removed though. I'll bet that decision is being reviewed.

[Hard Driver]

Somehow Power is harder on his equipment. Colten Herta was on fire. Sure he jumped a couple spots on strategy, but he also pulled away from the pack to nail the win. COTA was a good track for Indycars. Although they need to add some of those "sausages" to the outside of turn 19.

[TravelGal]

How perfectly perfect that the first person to comment on the race was Hard Driver.

It's pretty obvious Colton is the real deal. I haven't decided yet whether I like him a ton (Paddy O'Ward is da bomb for personality) but I did jot this down from the Pre-race show. When asked what his rookie strategy was for the first turn, whether to hang back and see what develops or go for it, Colton said, "You can't sit on your butt out there." I loved it.

[opinionated ow]

It started before that but I'm sure it didn't help.

Really sorry to hear about that TV stuff. No way to stream it? I wasn't overwhelmed with MSNBC either. They dropped the "hat," the crawl across the top (or bottom) in favor of a long list on the left. Same as Formula E. Thing is, to make any sense of that, you have to take your eyes off the race. Maybe I'll get used to it but for now, I just ignore it. Fortunately, the race held my interest enough not to care that much about how much push to pass drive 13 (of whomever) had left. I also noticed not enough replays but that might change.

I really liked the deliberate lack of yellows. If a car's on a runoff somewhere, no need to affect the outcome of the race by throwing a yellow. That hulking piece of banner on the track that eventually got caught on one of the cars should have been removed though. I'll bet that decision is being reviewed.

Relying on people illegally uploading to youtube at the moment. The daft deal they did with NBC precludes the official youtube replays. Opposite to NASCAR and IMSA.

Started watching said slightly dodgy copy of Austin. Best race I've ever seen at COTA. Haven't been able to take my eyes off the screen. Those cars are totally on the edge. They're about 10% slower than an F1 car-despite DRS which I think given the price point isn't all that bad. It's also pretty consistent I reckon with the CART/F1 comparisons around Montreal.

[rabbit]

I've been able to find Spanish-language (or is it Portuguese?) broadcasts on YouTube, so if you hablo espanol, or don't mind not knowing what the announcers are saying, they're out there. Heck, not knowing what the announcers are saying is an improvement over the Scott Goodyear days.

[opinionated ow]

I've been able to find Spanish-language (or is it Portuguese?) broadcasts on YouTube, so if you hablo espanol, or don't mind not knowing what the announcers are saying, they're out there. Heck, not knowing what the announcers are saying is an improvement over the Scott Goodyear days.

I've managed to find English ones so far for each. Barber was a cracker of a race. Sato was on fire.

[chop456]

I'll never hear Sato's name without thinking of this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AE0qnbrFKuE

[TravelGal]

I have to give the new LB leadership credit. The local papers (not just the LA Times) have been flooded with articles and pictures and op eds for the last week. Free coupons for Friday. Half and full-page ads. The works. :thumbup:

[opinionated ow]

I have to give the new LB leadership credit. The local papers (not just the LA Times) have been flooded with articles and pictures and op eds for the last week. Free coupons for Friday. Half and full-page ads. The works. :thumbup:

If they could just work out why the attendance sucks at ovals they'd be halfway back to where they were. Insufficient on track action is my theory. For all small ovals they need 2 of the 3 USAC national series, one of the road to indy series and something full bodied...late models, ARCA, NASCAR-whatever

[rabbit]

I'll never hear Sato's name without thinking of this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AE0qnbrFKuE

I wanna see Montoya's on-board on that one! :eek:

[Hard Driver]

Just got to say, Rahal was robbed. You are allowed to make one move. He did. That was not an illegal block.

[TravelGal]

For what it's worth Manic Mechanic agrees with you. As do many others including PT and Townsend Bell. I loved PT's comment, "The interview with Rahal is going to be the most exciting thing about this race." Nailed that part although Rahal turned out to be not that upset because he was "going to lose the position anyway" due to the fuel panic. I rather thought Rahal got a pass (no pun intended) on the first move but after they straightened out, he wandered to his left. Dixon did note his objections were to being blocked "twice." Crummy way to end the race though.

[rabbit]

Interesting that Dixon benefited from controversial calls two years in a row at LB. Remember all the ruckus about Bourdais pass on him last year?

[TravelGal]

Interesting that Dixon benefited from controversial calls two years in a row at LB. Remember all the ruckus about Bourdais pass on him last year?

Oh yeah! Bourdais is STILL hot about that!

[Ed_Severson]

For what it's worth Manic Mechanic agrees with you. As do many others including PT and Townsend Bell. I loved PT's comment, "The interview with Rahal is going to be the most exciting thing about this race." Nailed that part although Rahal turned out to be not that upset because he was "going to lose the position anyway" due to the fuel panic. I rather thought Rahal got a pass (no pun intended) on the first move but after they straightened out, he wandered to his left. Dixon did note his objections were to being blocked "twice." Crummy way to end the race though.

To be fair, as an RLL employee, I think they got that one right. I don't believe Graham moved right out of T8 in an attempt to block Dixon, but he moved into Dixon and initiated contact. I think Dixon was going to hold his line out of the corner until Graham came at him and forced him right. Just my view (and not necessarily a popular one at work).

At any rate, Barber was definitely more fun than Long Beach!