Sacramento, California – Watching the last practice, on May 28, before Sunday’s 94th Indianapolis 500, it dawned on me that I had it all wrong.
And after 50 years, you’d think I’d know better. But then again, the best and the brightest in the IZOD IndyCar Series apparently were in the same boat with me.
Indy has always been a tale of two races, both highly publicized.
There’s the race for the pole position, what the bravest of drivers have called the most challenging four laps in motor sports. And then there’s the race itself.
It’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of the pole competition … drivers lapping the track at speeds of more than 230 miles per hour, seemingly on the edge of disaster every second. And when a pole winner finally is determined – Helio Castroneves for the fourth time in his career this year, with a sparkling average of nearly 228 mph – it’s easy to assume that car/driver combination is the favorite for the race.
Big mistake.
Pole positions are nice, but 500 miles of excellence tell the tale.
Watching practice last Friday, I watched Target-Chip Ganassi driver Dario Franchitti immediately top the speed chart and stay there. He was lapping at 223, 224, 225 with seemingly no strain whatsoever. Castroneves and the other competitors looked badly overmatched by comparison.
Even more telling, Franchitti was turning quick laps on a hot, humid day. Those are typically tough conditions for making a car stick in the turns, but Franchitti was ripping around the 2.5-mile oval like he was on a rail.
Sure enough, on an even hotter race day on Sunday, Franchitti jumped out front right away and was obviously the class of the field. The dominant car does not always win – ask Dan Wheldon about his 2006 fourth-place Indy finish after dominating all day – but fortune smiled on Franchitti on race day.
It would have been interesting to see if Franchitti would have made it across the line first if the caution had not flown on the last lap. But that’s a moot point. Franchitti was driving the best car, and he was masterful behind the wheel.
Lesson learned: Don’t place your bets based on pole day. The right race day set-up is what counts, and Franchitti’s crew did it right. In golf, they say you drive for show and putt for dough. At Indy, you qualify for show, but you race for the serious dough.
For what it’s worth, I think the last 10 laps of this year’s race were arguably the most sensational in the long, storied history of the 500. It wasn’t just two people battling it out. Five or six drivers were looking to either win or run out of gas trying, and the frightening crash on the last lap only served to make the finish even more of a mind-blower.
Here’s wishing driver Mike Conway well as he spends months recovering from his injuries.
And hats off to Dario and Target-Chip Ganassi for a game plan executed to near perfection.
And after 50 years, you’d think I’d know better. But then again, the best and the brightest in the IZOD IndyCar Series apparently were in the same boat with me.
Indy has always been a tale of two races, both highly publicized.
There’s the race for the pole position, what the bravest of drivers have called the most challenging four laps in motor sports. And then there’s the race itself.
It’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of the pole competition … drivers lapping the track at speeds of more than 230 miles per hour, seemingly on the edge of disaster every second. And when a pole winner finally is determined – Helio Castroneves for the fourth time in his career this year, with a sparkling average of nearly 228 mph – it’s easy to assume that car/driver combination is the favorite for the race.
Big mistake.
Pole positions are nice, but 500 miles of excellence tell the tale.
Watching practice last Friday, I watched Target-Chip Ganassi driver Dario Franchitti immediately top the speed chart and stay there. He was lapping at 223, 224, 225 with seemingly no strain whatsoever. Castroneves and the other competitors looked badly overmatched by comparison.
Even more telling, Franchitti was turning quick laps on a hot, humid day. Those are typically tough conditions for making a car stick in the turns, but Franchitti was ripping around the 2.5-mile oval like he was on a rail.
Sure enough, on an even hotter race day on Sunday, Franchitti jumped out front right away and was obviously the class of the field. The dominant car does not always win – ask Dan Wheldon about his 2006 fourth-place Indy finish after dominating all day – but fortune smiled on Franchitti on race day.
It would have been interesting to see if Franchitti would have made it across the line first if the caution had not flown on the last lap. But that’s a moot point. Franchitti was driving the best car, and he was masterful behind the wheel.
Lesson learned: Don’t place your bets based on pole day. The right race day set-up is what counts, and Franchitti’s crew did it right. In golf, they say you drive for show and putt for dough. At Indy, you qualify for show, but you race for the serious dough.
For what it’s worth, I think the last 10 laps of this year’s race were arguably the most sensational in the long, storied history of the 500. It wasn’t just two people battling it out. Five or six drivers were looking to either win or run out of gas trying, and the frightening crash on the last lap only served to make the finish even more of a mind-blower.
Here’s wishing driver Mike Conway well as he spends months recovering from his injuries.
And hats off to Dario and Target-Chip Ganassi for a game plan executed to near perfection.
I was one of those foolish people believing that since Castroneves took the pole, then he was surely going to take the win. But there is definitely a difference between 4 laps and 200. One of the major differences is pitting, which seemed to be a weak point for Castroneves who had stalled the car in the pits, a very rookie mistake. I agree that the last 10 laps were the best I have seen. So many dropping off like flies, and then there was the Mike Conway crash (I too wish Conway well on his road to recovery). Drama to the end indeed.I was happy to see Franchitti win, because there is really no way not to like the guy, and he was the man to beat all day.
ReplyDelete