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Welcome to the Izod Indycar series 2014 season! I sure hope you believe in the phrase "less is more" because that's exactly what you're getting this year. In an effort to bolster ratings the season begins on March 30th and ends August 30th. The hope is that by avoiding football season, they can get better ratings, and run some international races in the "offseason" to help pay the bills. Also new this year is the inagural Grand Prix of Indianapolis, running around the IMS road course. Please use this thread to complain about returning to the glory days of Indycar/CART, make up your dream schedules, and discuss other various and sundry issues with Indycar as a whole! Schedule  IRC #ics on irc.synirc.com Aero Kits CONFIRMED FOR The Road to Indy Indycar has the "Road to Indy" ladder, which provides a path for drivers to move up the open wheel ranks to the Indycar Series proper. Several Indycar teams run teams in the lower series as well. Many of these series race on the same weekend as Indycar as support races. Firestone Indy Lights - Indycar Minor Leagues, many of the current indycar drivers are Indy Lights graduates. Dallara Chassis, 3.5 Liter V8. New chassis/engine next year! Star Mazda - Star Chassis, Mazda Renesis rotary engine U.S. F2000 - Van Diemen Elan Chassis, Mazda MZR 4Cylinder USAC Silver Crown / Midgets - While not officially part of the Road to Indy Ladder, many current and former open wheel drivers got their start in sprint cars. The All American Soap Box Derby - They're open-wheel and have an indycar sticker, they count. News and Blogs: All Indycar "blogs" are terrible. Also fans on twitter. http://www.indystar.com/irl Twitter: Just follow these lists Previous Threads Indiecar Series 2013: You Probably Haven't Heard of It Indycar Series 2012: NASCAR Refugees Welcome! Indycar Series 2011 Team Lineup: TBD Thread Rules Bringing back the F1chat rule. We get it, Indycar is an inferior form of open-wheel compared to F1 and you'd love to tell us about it, but feel free to do that in the Worst Thread. Meanwhile, we'll enjoy some actual competition and close racing over here. RIP Baltimore, Sao Paolo, Dario Franchitti
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Jan 23, 2014 15:12
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I hope Simona gets a decent ride  e: it's also rather telling that there is no mention of Izod anywhere on the Indycar website, I sure hope there's a new title sponsor soon otherwise we may be looking at the Indy 500 one-off oval dash as the series in the not to distant future. devmd01 fucked around with this message at 15:20 on Jan 23, 2014 |
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Jan 23, 2014 15:15
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devmd01 posted:e: it's also rather telling that there is no mention of Izod anywhere on the Indycar website, I sure hope there's a new title sponsor soon otherwise we may be looking at the Indy 500 one-off oval dash as the series in the not to distant future. I thought they had multiple offers for title sponsorship? Edit: Also IndyCar not Indycar 
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Jan 23, 2014 15:22
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Let's go the Hinch.
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Jan 23, 2014 15:28
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It appears that the IndyCar opening race is sharing the weekend with that other bastion of Motorsports, Champ Car. I wonder how many are going to do double duty across both the series...
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Jan 23, 2014 15:31
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ellspurs posted:It appears that the IndyCar opening race is sharing the weekend with that other bastion of Motorsports, Champ Car. 1. I didn't even know Champ Car still existed  2. Champ Car is gonna be at Belle Isle the same time as IndyCar so I guess I'll get to see both in-person...
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Jan 23, 2014 15:35
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ellspurs posted:It appears that the IndyCar opening race is sharing the weekend with that other bastion of Motorsports, Champ Car. somebody ended the Plourde reign of terror? That dude was a bigger shoe-in to win the title than Sebastian Loeb. ----- not enough good tracks, not enough races, series needs more races, we all agree about that, but then the knives come out when it gets down to "where should those races be?"
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Jan 23, 2014 15:42
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Here's a list of tracks where Champ Car runs but not IndyCar:
Now granted Champ Car is all Road/Street courses, but if they can run at these tracks, why can't/won't IndyCar?
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Jan 23, 2014 15:48
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KingShibby posted:Here's a list of tracks where Champ Car runs but not IndyCar: I'm gonna guess "no money", "no sponsors," or "patently unsafe" (loving Pattaya? Really? Do you want all the drivers to die of STDs before they get on the plane back?) [edit] now I'm wondering if you're in on the joke or not.
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Jan 23, 2014 15:52
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harperdc posted:I'm gonna guess "no money", "no sponsors," or "patently unsafe" (loving Pattaya? Really? Do you want all the drivers to die of STDs before they get on the plane back?) I don't think he is.
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Jan 23, 2014 15:59
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I predict within 5 years IndyCar ends up merging with ChampCar.
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Jan 23, 2014 16:01
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Well any joke that goes back further than last year I probably don't get. I literally didn't even know Champ Car still existed until this morning.
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Jan 23, 2014 16:07
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quote:The responses included one from a fun-loving Indy 500 driver who knows something about going fast and enjoying a party. Canadian James Hinchcliffe tweeted: "Hey Biebs, leave racing to the pros. And drinking to the grown ups."  KingShibby posted:Well any joke that goes back further than last year I probably don't get. I literally didn't even know Champ Car still existed until this morning. That's funny I'm going to start up the FedEx Series again this year. On RFactor. Hint. Hint.
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Jan 23, 2014 16:12
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Champ Car is a fantasy league run by a dude named Mark Plourde. edit:  The face of a 4-time champeen. edit2: "Champ Car" news and scheduling has been a long running gag in the indycar thread. Peanut President fucked around with this message at 17:08 on Jan 23, 2014 |
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Jan 23, 2014 17:04
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KingShibby, somehow when ChampCar folded, Mark Plourde bought the name and website assets. I'm pretty sure he has a minor mental illness of some kind, but who knows! I like how he always finishes ahead of his wife, no mechanical dnfs for him!
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Jan 23, 2014 17:22
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devmd01 posted:KingShibby, somehow when ChampCar folded, Mark Plourde bought the name and website assets. I'm pretty sure he has a minor mental illness of some kind, but who knows! I like how he always finishes ahead of his wife, no mechanical dnfs for him! Holy poo poo this is the greatest possible story in terms of comedy gold unless Mark Plourde is a goon. This also means that he'll be in Belle Isle so I'll have to seek him out and apply to Champ Car given my iRacing experience.
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Jan 23, 2014 17:39
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devmd01 posted:KingShibby, somehow when ChampCar folded, Mark Plourde bought the name and website assets. I'm pretty sure he has a minor mental illness of some kind, but who knows! I like how he always finishes ahead of his wife, no mechanical dnfs for him! Mark Plourde does not have a mental illness. He's a robot, created when the crapwagon forums became sentient.
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Jan 23, 2014 17:44
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Cannot Find Server posted:Mark Plourde does not have a mental illness. He's a robot, created when the crapwagon forums became sentient. Speaking of crapwagons, have you seen the website for Champ Car? It looks like something done as a high school assignment. Only thing it's missing is a pageview counter at the bottom of the page
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Jan 23, 2014 17:52
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Cannot Find Server posted:Mark Plourde does not have a mental illness. He's a robot, created when the crapwagon forums became sentient.
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Jan 23, 2014 17:52
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Looks like someone at SI must read this thread:
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Jan 23, 2014 22:21
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They also still use IRL and not ICS or IndyCar.
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Jan 23, 2014 23:06
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I still use IRL and CART and I refuse to call tracks their new sponsored name bitter man etc
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Jan 24, 2014 00:09
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IRL died the day they threw TG out. Praise be.
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Jan 24, 2014 00:22
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Bentai posted:They also still use IRL and not ICS or IndyCar. Just be glad its not under 'Other'.
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Jan 24, 2014 00:46
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Cygni posted:IRL died the day they threw TG out. Praise be. CART died in 2002. Sorry, but there is no "CART" without Roger, Michael, Bobby, and Chip. For as much as we cheer against the Red cars at times, they indeed MAKE a series, and make a series legitimate. (To add the IRL wasn't exactly "legitimate" pre-2001 IMO).
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Jan 24, 2014 01:27
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go3 posted:I refuse to call tracks their new sponsored name bitter man etc I still call Sonoma "Sears Point" as it always will be to me 
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Jan 24, 2014 01:35
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FuzzySkinner posted:CART died in 2002. It wasn't legitimate until at the very least 2003.
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Jan 24, 2014 04:54
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I do tip my hat to the IRL for surviving between 1996-2002.
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Jan 24, 2014 04:55
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animeliker posted:I do tip my hat to the IRL for surviving between 1996-2002. A half billion of Clabber Girl bux helps.
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Jan 24, 2014 05:04
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animeliker posted:It wasn't legitimate until at the very least 2003. 2001 was the real turning point. 2001 you had Andretti, and Penske return to the 500. You had that classic race at TMS (ABSOLUTE LUNACY!), You had Hornish become the next big thin in AOWR, and the cars actually SOUNDED like Indycars.
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Jan 24, 2014 05:06
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Open wheel died when Montoya moonwalked all over IRL regulars in the 500 yet we spent another gazillion years with a split series
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Jan 24, 2014 05:42
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Cygni posted:Plourde being the creation of a single very lonely sentient crapwagon server is my favorite theory yet. That is a good one. I'm pretty sure the guy just fantasy books his own series and makes all the stuff for himself. But he also has the bravery to put it on the Internet, which means that The Internet (full of assholes like us) can find it. I'm pretty sure Marshall Pruett or another of the writers brought it up/made a fun article out of it in 2012 or 2013, asking drivers their opinion too. Not sure how good-natured or understanding Plourde is of it (it all screams aspergers, after all) but at least it's not a huge secret anymore. If his CCWS does do any racing, it's all in rFactor or another game. Sorry, there's no series out there actually running.
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Jan 24, 2014 05:57
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harperdc posted:I'm pretty sure Marshall Pruett or another of the writers brought it up/made a fun article out of it in 2012 or 2013, asking drivers their opinion too. Yeah, Pruett did this in either the '11 or '12 offseason for Speed, and it was quite funny. If memory serves me, Plourde basically runs Tagliani's old black and red Rocketsports car.
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Jan 24, 2014 06:20
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I think I've convinced my NASCAR-lifer dad to spring for a paddock pass at the St Pete race. My folks usually visit here around my birthday in late March, so I'm just gonna ask for this as my gift. How "open" is the access, when should we get there to get the best pic opportunities with drivers and cars, where should we park, etc? I live on the NW edge of St Pete so if the best access is on the south side or something, I'd like to know. We'll probably go to the paddock on Saturday and watch the race at home unless he's wowed by everything and we get race tickets.
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Jan 24, 2014 07:16
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I'm curious what Chip is going to do with Sage Karem. I mean he's running him in the 24 hours this weekend, and I wonder if he's priming him to eventually run for him in Indy. Problem is, there's no way in hell they're running 5 cars. That'd be rather unprecedented. (Andretti Autosport not withstanding). Still, the move would be rather amazing if he could pull it off. Imagine if he finds a way to make his Stock car team actually relevant and able to run up front with Larson? The kid clearly has the talent to be something special. You add in the fact that perhaps he's positioning Karem to run the 10 or 9 in a few years (potentially the 8 sooner), that could be an amazing thing for him.
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Jan 24, 2014 07:43
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skaboomizzy posted:I think I've convinced my NASCAR-lifer dad to spring for a paddock pass at the St Pete race. My folks usually visit here around my birthday in late March, so I'm just gonna ask for this as my gift. IndyCar has one of the most fan-friendly paddocks in all of motorsports, you can walk right up to the cars as they're being prepared. Saturday is probably the better days to go hang out in the paddock actually, as typically drivers have a tight schedule on race day with driver meetings, team planning, sponsor commitments, and getting a quick nap in before the starting ceremonies. Look up the full schedule of events for the day, that will tell you where you need to be. Your best chance of getting pictures with the drivers is when they don't look busy. Really the coolest thing is just walking around and getting up close to the cars and seeing them worked on. There will be plenty of activities on Saturday, usually a couple of support races plus qualifying. Pay attention in the paddock and be ready to jump out of the way at any time, there are always scooters zipping through as well as cars getting rolled to/from the grid. Get twitter, follow the lists in the op, and check it frequently throughout the day, you'll know a lot more about whats going on with the teams and drivers that way. I don't know about the best entrance, there typically are only 2-3 on a street course to make it easier for crowd control/security. When I went I just parked at the Tropicana stadium parking lot and walked the 7 blocks, though I think there was also a shuttle. e: also check the cooler policy, if I recall you can bring in your own food and drink, just no glass or alcohol. devmd01 fucked around with this message at 15:05 on Jan 24, 2014 |
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Jan 24, 2014 12:40
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I was really surprised when I went to Pocono where they would let us go with the pit passes.  
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Jan 24, 2014 15:28
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SFH1989 posted:I was really surprised when I went to Pocono where they would let us go with the pit passes.
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Jan 24, 2014 18:34
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FuzzySkinner posted:and the cars actually SOUNDED like Indycars. Oh god I forgot how awful the original IRL engines sounded until you mentioned that. devmd01 posted:IndyCar has one of the most fan-friendly paddocks in all of motorsports, you can walk right up to the cars as they're being prepared. Seriously, only NHRA is on par with ICS in this regard, but in an ICS paddock there's no need for gas masks. The street circuits are even more accessible than the ovals since they're not really set up to give drivers / crew the ability to get from point A to point B without taking the same path a fan would; I lost track of how many times I was nearly bumped into or run over by drivers at Long Beach. Bonus points if you end up getting all buddy-buddy with a race engineer over tenderloins at the Mug-N-Bun. It's how you get pictures like this.  Yes, that's this car.
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Jan 24, 2014 18:41
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IOwnCalculus posted:Oh god I forgot how awful the original IRL engines sounded until you mentioned that. 
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Jan 24, 2014 19:02
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