Las Vegas finish thoughts *spoilers*

[devilmaster]

good race, it wasn't pack racing.

Cotman saw the tracy/seabass deal the way most in chat saw it....

All in all, a good race

good finish for people like lavin, vasser, wirdheim....

bremer hit his crew and the wall on the 1st stop... still don't know what happened to fabio

[SteveH]

fabio hit the wall in the pits - small fire

I think :gomer:

[Methanolic]

Sea_ass needs to give his head a shake (or hit a wall like Tracy did) and smarten the @#&* up!!

PT HAD HIS NUMBER!!.I really don't think Bored Day hit PT intentionaly,But He knew how close He was to PT and He decided to move up the bank anyway!! What a freakin IDIOT this guy has turned out to be!!.Then He moves up on his own team mate just after the PT incident went green.

Bottom line: Sebastian does not have much (if any) respect for the other guys that he shares the track with.Thank God he's on a very well run team that seems to have a really good handle on giving this jerk the best car in the field.I can only imagine the havoc this little puke would cause if he was stuck in the middle of the field as opposed to being at the front where he can't hurt anyone.

You've got a hell of alot of growing up to do Sebastian.Do it soon, before somebody gets hurt!!


PS: You might want to consider hormone therapy,Yer lookin a little too much like a LADY!!

[Ed_Severson]

Phillippe pulled out of his pit spot while Lavin and Wirdheim were occupying the two through lanes. Nelson hit whichever of them was on the inside lane (I don't recall which was which) and got bounced into the wall.

Not really his fault, probably ... his guys should have had him wait, but that's racin'.

Good race overall ... push-to-pass was used pretty predictably. Enormous start for Tracy and Tagliani on the button, and a pretty nice drive by Bourdais, playing it smart letting Tracy pull him around, and also doing a nice job hanging onto the car without the front cowling for most of the night. Surprised to see da Matta fall so far back, but otherwise it was the usual suspects up front and in the back for most of the night ... not too many surprises in this one. Good day for HVM, too ... 5th and 6th give them their best weekend of the season, if I remember correctly.

[spinner26]

THANK GOD this was this the last oval of the year! I can now get back to watching real racing. I used to be one of the fanatics who thought it was great to see road , street and oval racing but I want TOTAL seperation and NO ovals. If this is achieved then there is no confusion as to what the best racing in the world is, no more "are those the same cars that run at Indy" questions.

NO we run on street and road courses ONLY.

[trish]

So, what about when you are asked if they are the same cars that run at Watkins Glen or St. Pete? Maybe Champ Car should never turn another wheel. Won't be any confusion then.

[spinner26]

So, what about when you are asked if they are the same cars that run at Watkins Glen or St. Pete? Maybe Champ Car should never turn another wheel. Won't be any confusion then.


No confusion, they won't be running these "events" long enough for people to notice them there. ;)

[Shadow]

No confusion, they won't be running these "events" long enough for people to notice them there. ;)

And one might ask just who would ever ask that question anyway?

[L1P1]

I'm just glad that Forsythe didn't hit Haas on TV. PT taking a swing at Bourdays (PT's pronunciation) might've been dramatic or controversial, but the thought of two old rich guys potentially rolling around in the dirt seemed pathetic. Still, kudos to whoever got that shot and the audio and to whoever allowed it to be aired.

Kudos also to Tony Cottman who, after one of the owners of the series guaranteed a sanction against Bourdais, said no. KK and PG may need to come to his defense.

An interesting thing was brought up by Paul. The fact that they're constantly monitoring each other's radio traffic. He said he's knows that Bourdais should have known that they were going to pit - because they monitor each other's radio traffic. In that case, Forsythe's team would know for a fact whether Bourdais knew, because they were listening in.

[jonovision_man]

He said he's knows that Bourdais should have known that they were going to pit - because they monitor each other's radio traffic.

That comment was weird... so because he assumed Bourdais knew, he didn't have to commit to the pit lane like they were told? And I'm sure they never try to through the other guys off with a fake, right? :rolleyes:

jono

[DaveL]

Tracy gave a bush league loser excuse. He didn't follow the proper pit procedure but he still wants to blame N-H. :rolleyes:

That's where he loses me.

[Dirty Sanchez]

would've preferred a champ car race.

[L1P1]

Another thing that struck me was that Mario said that he wished it was harder because they never had to lift. At that point the purist and the realist within me started to argue. I originally saw a driver, seemingly arbitrarily, saying that they alone should make the difference - purposely make the cars hard to drive just so they have something to do.

Then Jeemy agreed by saying that they should be running 15 MPH faster. The Realist and the Purist within me turned to each other and said "Cool!" Leave that IRL crap for the IRL.

[Hard Driver]

Exactly L1P1. I personally was not that impressed with the race. Then afterwards when they said they could have had a brick on the gas pedal, I was even less impressed. Give me road and decent street courses. If I want drafting contests, I'll watch NASCAR.

[Gary]

Another thing that struck me was that Mario said that he wished it was harder because they never had to lift. At that point the purist and the realist within me started to argue. I originally saw a driver, seemingly arbitrarily, saying that they alone should make the difference - purposely make the cars hard to drive just so they have something to do.

Then Jeemy agreed by saying that they should be running 15 MPH faster. The Realist and the Purist within me turned to each other and said "Cool!" Leave that IRL crap for the IRL.

PT and many of the other drivers seem to agree, and have been speaking out on the subject of late. "Keep the ovals, but bring back the Speedway wings." Re-educate the world as to what REAL American oval racing is all about.

[Jervis Tetch 1]

I enjoyed it, but as of late it's getting hard to defend PT. :shakehead

[rabbit]

I enjoyed it, but as of late it's getting hard to defend PT. :shakehead
of late?? When has it ever been easy to defend PT? :laugh:

[mueber]

That comment was weird... so because he assumed Bourdais knew, he didn't have to commit to the pit lane like they were told? And I'm sure they never try to through the other guys off with a fake, right? :rolleyes:

jono

Even if the Newman/Haas team knew that Tracy was coming in, that does not guarantee they told Bourdais that Tracy was coming in. Tracy was grasping at straws.

[Napoleon]

That was a good race.

[CART T. Katz]

could someone explain to me how paul was supposed to swing down below the line and slow down when there is the nose of the second place car right in the gearbox? paul is trying to come into the pits but bordais is going LOWER than him at the pit-in point. he doesn't have any choice in this situation other than to wait until he's right at turn 3 so that bordais moves back up the track and he goes in. except sebastian wasn't watching where he was going and followed him at speed into the cool-down lane.

it is the responsibility of the trailing driver to avoid the accident. sebastian is not helping his case by not even acknowledging the barest sliver of responsibility.

ps. the only way this race resembled a crapwagon race was constant foot to the floor racing. this was a pretty good race because drivers could pull out and the largest pack for more than 3 laps was 2 cars. bring back the vegas oval next year but at a better time.

[Napoleon]

could someone explain to me how paul was supposed to swing down below the line and slow down when there is the nose of the second place car right in the gearbox?

Watch the playback. I think in fact PT did have 2 wheels under the line when SB hit him.

[Tifosi24]

From the replay, it looked to me like Tracy ran a little wide exiting T2 which gave Seb the chance to get a run on him. Tracy being a meathead doesn't think for a second of letting off for a split second to let Bourdais through and then going into the pits. Like Tracy said in his interview after the incident that Newman-Haas had nothing for them, which I thought was the case. So, why not take the slower pit in and just wait until after the pit stops cycle through and take the position back?

[KLang]

I thought it was a good race. Would have been better if I'd been watching it from my seats rather then on TV. :(

I do think Cotman probably made the right call based on the rules but I also think SB shares a big chunk of blame here. It didn't seem to me Tracy slowed down that much when SB ran into the back of him. As to the rule about dipping two wheels below the line to signal the intent to pit, I read elsewhere someone saying that PT and SB where going around lapped traffic at the place he should have signaled his intention to pit. Any one else see that?

[jonovision_man]

The Tracy vs. Bourdais thing has all the earmarks of a great rivalry... just too bad they can't keep both cars on track long enough to see it through. :D

jono

[cameraman]

could someone explain to me how paul was supposed to swing down below the line and slow down when there is the nose of the second place car right in the gearbox? Every other driver on the track managed to do it. They were supposed to drop the tires below the line on the straight before they ever got to the corner before the pit entrance.

[CART T. Katz]

Every other driver on the track managed to do it. They were supposed to drop the tires below the line on the straight before they ever got to the corner before the pit entrance.


paul is trying to come into the pits but bordais is going LOWER than him at the pit-in point. he doesn't have any choice in this situation other than to wait until he's right at turn 3 so that bordais moves back up the track and he goes in.

even with a slight wash up the track, bordais is STILL RIGHT BEHIND HIM IN THE GEARBOX and LOWER than tracy. question still stands, could someone explain to me how paul was supposed to swing down below the line and slow down when there is the nose of the second place car right in the gearbox?

[rabbit]

question still stands, could someone explain to me how paul was supposed to swing down below the line and slow down when there is the nose of the second place car right in the gearbox?Turn the wheel slightly to the left.

At least that's how I'd do it.

[oddlycalm]

I thought it was a good race. Would have been better if I'd been watching it from my seats rather then on TV. :(

I do think Cotman probably made the right call based on the rules but I also think SB shares a big chunk of blame here. It didn't seem to me Tracy slowed down that much when SB ran into the back of him. As to the rule about dipping two wheels below the line to signal the intent to pit, I read elsewhere someone saying that PT and SB where going around lapped traffic at the place he should have signaled his intention to pit. Any one else see that? Sorry the storm goofed up your race weekend, :( but glad you're around to complain about it. :thumbup:

I gotta agree, Cotman made the proper call but I think both drivers were definitely afflicted by the red mist. I didn't see what was happening on the previous straight where Tracy was supposed to drop his wheels below the line but Cotman said he didn't. Cotman is turning out to be the real deal. Standing up to a pissed off Forsythe and sticking by his call, then going on TV to explain it, was about as objective and transparent as any race series is ever going to get. I think we have finally got a replacement for Wally Dallenbach.

I'd like to see the Speedway front wings return if they are going to run ovals, otherwise leave them to the EARL.

oc

[Anteater]

Surprised to see da Matta fall so far back

I was listening to da Matta on the scanner, and can report that he was surprised, too. :( "The car is undrivable...we had a pretty decent car in the warm-up, but not now", he said. Very disappointing after the good show in qualifying.

[coolhand]

da matta's rear end was loose big time, the car was tigh in traffic during warm-up so they chased a loose car and it was too much