Indycar 2014: Formula Juan

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Bentai: Jul 8, 2004; NERF THIS!

I always assumed it was because he came from USAC.

# ? Feb 20, 2014 00:50

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# ? Apr 27, 2024 18:21

Cygni: Nov 12, 2005; raring to post

Bentai posted:

I always assumed it was because he came from USAC.

Basically this. A silver crown car doesn't have a lot in common with an IndyCar and the teams are weary of guys that don't have Formula car / downforce experience because that's a pretty huge leap.

# ? Feb 20, 2014 01:03

FuzzySkinner: May 23, 2012

I wouldn't blame say, a Roger Penske, Carl Haas, or Rick Galles to have said no to the guy. Those three could have at the time have had any driver in the world at time with a snap of their fingers.

It's puzzling that guys like Ron Hemelgarn, John Menard and (ESPECIALLY) AJ Foyt didn't take a crack at him.

# ? Feb 20, 2014 03:11

Dudley: Feb 24, 2003; Tasty

IOwnCalculus posted:

Fine, but I'd argue that relative to the (total lack of) quality of his ride, he did better last year than anyone else in the series. Even the red car drivers agree that he would be on a whole different level if he had an equal ride.

Which of course begs the question why, when those red teams hired 3 new drivers this year between them, neither of them looked at Wilson.

# ? Feb 20, 2014 11:01

IOwnCalculus: Apr 2, 2003

Dudley posted:

Which of course begs the question why, when those red teams hired 3 new drivers this year between them, neither of them looked at Wilson.

I think Ganassi was actually considering him, but his contract at Coyne wasn't up yet - making him a lot more expensive than Briscoe.

# ? Feb 20, 2014 15:13

KingShibby: Jan 30, 2004; Wherever you go, whatever you do, I will be right here waiting for you...; Yams Fan

No longer will we be able to discredit IndyCar Race Control

quote:

More cameras around race circuits, additional monitors, upgraded replay equipment and ability to review car data are among the additions.

Also for anyone attending a race this year keep an eye out for

quote:

A mobile unit to house the technology and personnel will travel to each North American event. Though Race Control is centrally located at each venue, there are logistical issues.

"We have a lot of equipment. We have to cart it upstairs, everywhere you go," Walker said. "The space you have isn't always enough. We're going to put it in a trailer, give it enough room and stability and have it at all of the races. That's a big undertaking and huge investment on the part of the IndyCar.

I'm gonna hunt down certain people during my 4 days in Indy and persuade them to let my dad and I check out the Race Control trailer during the Belle Isle weekend.

KingShibby fucked around with this message at 17:22 on Feb 20, 2014

# ? Feb 20, 2014 17:06

IOwnCalculus: Apr 2, 2003

According to that article the trailer is a next-year thing, though.

# ? Feb 20, 2014 17:19

KingShibby: Jan 30, 2004; Wherever you go, whatever you do, I will be right here waiting for you...; Yams Fan

IOwnCalculus posted:

According to that article the trailer is a next-year thing, though.

Oh yeah, well then I'll have to wait until 2015 for the trailer but I still wanna see Race Control this year :colbert:

Also just ordered my FanVision rental for the Indy 500. Anyone have any experience using one before?

# ? Feb 20, 2014 17:23

FuzzySkinner: May 23, 2012

Dave Malsher did a follow up re: Derrick Walker's comments. This is apparently what Derrick Walker said last year about Kurt and NASCAR.

quote:

"It's a pity that this kind of thing is so unusual," he remarked. "You youngsters won't remember it, but I come from the era when drivers had the opportunity to race any and every kind of car, and that's what people like Jimmy Clark (ABOVE), Dan Gurney, Mario Andretti and A.J. Foyt would do. Like Mario would say, 'If you can drive, you can drive. Period.' That's something I believe should still hold true and I hope that it can be proven true. Maybe this was a step in that direction. It's great what Michael Andretti did with Kurt � and I've got to say I was impressed with what Kurt did in the car, too. What was his lap, 218mph? That's seriously impressive for a first-timer."

....

"For one thing, Chevrolet is common to both IndyCar and NASCAR," he said, "so they would get huge amounts of publicity if they made that kind of thing happen, and so would the sponsors of both the NASCAR and IndyCar teams that this driver raced for that weekend. Everyone's a winner.
"But the other thing I was thinking was this: Who's to say that it necessarily has to be the Indy 500/Coke 600 weekend? I'd love to see Jimmie Johnson or Kasey Kahne race an IndyCar at Texas or Iowa, and you can bet your bottom dollar that the fans would love it, our boys would love it, and so would the NASCAR driver who did it.
"In fact, if you really wanted to push your luck," he said, warming to his theme, "why stop at just ovals? Some of those guys have good road-racing skills, too. Remember that time when Jeff Gordon tried [Juan Pablo] Montoya's Williams F1 car [at Indy's road course]. Jeff was within two seconds of Juan with just one day under his belt!"
Naturally, I asked Walker how much mileage a NASCAR driver would be granted in preparation for his IndyCar debut. It's hardly fair to expect someone to strap into something that laps the Speedway some 45mph faster than his regular ride and expect him to show his true potential.
"I agree," responded Walker immediately, "so trust me: none of us is here to set up anyone for a fall. We could waive the rule about how many days of testing a driver can do, so we'd grant extra test sessions to any NASCAR drivers who were prepared to commit to a race or two in IndyCar. It's only fair to allow an acclimatization period."

.....

"My 45-year career has been based in road racing, open-wheel and sports cars," said Walker, "but you won't catch me among the people who knock NASCAR, either their drivers or their infrastructure. Busch did a great job in that test. Obviously he hasn't tried the car in traffic, or in all those different track conditions that you get through the Month of May or even throughout the race itself, but I bet you he's now opened a few eyes, and that's a good thing.

http://www.racer.com/index.php/comp...howall=&start=1

# ? Feb 20, 2014 22:26

gret: Dec 12, 2005; goggle-eyed freak

I think currently it's a lot harder to jump between different types of cars and be competitive straight away. Just look at Montoya doing all this pre-season testing and still not completely up to speed in an IndyCar, despite having so much previous experience in CART/IndyCars/F1.

# ? Feb 20, 2014 22:35

Cygni: Nov 12, 2005; raring to post

Yeah, racing has really diversified away from each other in all sorts of crazy directions.

It's actually MORE impressive to me when a driver can cross over between series today.

# ? Feb 20, 2014 22:50

Seizure Meat: Jul 23, 2008; by Smythe

Any driver in any series is more impressive now than earlier generations. That's why comparing eras sucks, because every era is generally more difficult than the era before. Competition today is lightyears ahead of what it was when AJ and Mario were winning.

# ? Feb 20, 2014 23:27

FuzzySkinner: May 23, 2012

VikingSkull posted:

Any driver in any series is more impressive now than earlier generations. That's why comparing eras sucks, because every era is generally more difficult than the era before. Competition today is lightyears ahead of what it was when AJ and Mario were winning.

In the era of spec cars, yeah, you're very right.

Still some of the stories from those guys is impressive. Take AJ almost beating people in a Silver Crown car at Milwaukee for example:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okpj28E55U4

That's some serious "WTF"-level awesomeness.

Still I like the romanticized ideal of seeing drivers trying different events in different series.

# ? Feb 20, 2014 23:56

FuzzySkinner: May 23, 2012

Curt Cavin ‏@curtcavin 4m
Of #IndyCar Leaders Circle, 21 participants, no Panther.

uh...so, uh...Panther may not be a thing any more.

# ? Feb 21, 2014 20:54

gret: Dec 12, 2005; goggle-eyed freak

Guess they couldn't afford to run a single car IndyCar team for any less than $17 million.

# ? Feb 21, 2014 21:10

Cygni: Nov 12, 2005; raring to post

Frankly, they should have gone tits up years ago. Barnes is a crook and a lovely team owner. Only downside is losing a single car team.

(PS, Foyt Racing is the only remaining IRL era team left)

# ? Feb 21, 2014 21:21

IOwnCalculus: Apr 2, 2003

With that kind of money and that kind of non-result... yeah, crook is about the right word for it.

I think even Dragon or HVM could have done worlds better than Panther with that kind of budget.

# ? Feb 21, 2014 22:13

FuzzySkinner: May 23, 2012

Cygni posted:

Frankly, they should have gone tits up years ago. Barnes is a crook and a lovely team owner. Only downside is losing a single car team.

(PS, Foyt Racing is the only remaining IRL era team left)

"IRL era" is a stretch.

That team has been around since 1965, and ran in USAC and CART before siding with Tony George in '96.

Technically Hemelgarn is still around. Buddy Lazier ran the 500 with their branding as an associate sponsor, and his own money. There's plans to field another entry for the Indy 500 this year.

You could count Ed Carpenter Racing as well. They used to be "Vision Racing", which was pretty much the assets of "Kelley Racing" Tony George bought up.

# ? Feb 21, 2014 22:53

Cygni: Nov 12, 2005; raring to post

I wasn't implying they were ONLY in the IRL, just that they are the only IRL team left. And they are. They are the only team that ran a full time car any year from 1996-2000 in the IRL to still be on the grid. Schmidt/Walker first ran full-time in 2001, Ganassi/Penske in 2002.

In fact, Foyt Racing was the only team to enter every IRL pre-merger event.

Ed's team is co owned by ol Tony George, but it's actually Walker Racing running the car, in both team and shop. They don't have anybody from Vision on the team or their equipment, etc.

Cygni fucked around with this message at 00:21 on Feb 22, 2014

# ? Feb 22, 2014 00:18

WindyMan: Mar 21, 2002; Respect the power of the wind

Cygni posted:

I wasn't implying they were ONLY in the IRL, just that they are the only IRL team left. And they are. They are the only team that ran a full time car any year from 1996-2000 in the IRL to still be on the grid. Schmidt/Walker first ran full-time in 2001, Ganassi/Penske in 2002.

In fact, Foyt Racing was the only team to enter every IRL pre-merger event.

Ed's team is co owned by ol Tony George, but it's actually Walker Racing running the car, in both team and shop. They don't have anybody from Vision on the team or their equipment, etc.

So what you're trying to say is, the IRL has lost the Open Wheel Wars

# ? Feb 22, 2014 00:56

Human Grand Prix: Jan 24, 2013; by FactsAreUseless

WindyMan posted:

So what you're trying to say is, the IRL has lost the Open Wheel Wars

They lost a long time ago. The split was stupid anyway.

# ? Feb 22, 2014 01:38

Cygni: Nov 12, 2005; raring to post

WindyMan posted:

So what you're trying to say is, the IRL has lost the Open Wheel Wars

we all lost :emo:

# ? Feb 22, 2014 01:47

FuzzySkinner: May 23, 2012

WindyMan posted:

So what you're trying to say is, the IRL has lost the Open Wheel Wars

NASCAR won.

NASCAR got the "dirt track" talent that Indy Racing League yearned to get (Smoke, Jeff Gordon, Kyle Larson) and the CART worked to devolope (Allmendinger, Patrick)

NASCAR got the tracks that used to be Indy staples (Chicagoland, Michigan, Fontana, Miami, Nazareth).

NASCAR most importantly got the sponsorships, and the heart of middle america.

Hell, I'd argue that from 1996 to 2000, the Brickyard 400 was likely a bigger deal than the Indy 500 to the local Indiana resident.

Thankfully, things have changed at least on that front.

# ? Feb 22, 2014 02:11

devmd01: Mar 7, 2006; Elektronik
Supersonik

Target Chip Ganassi is hiring a dude to go around with the team and set up the network at races.

# ? Feb 24, 2014 16:06

dr cum patrol esq: Sep 3, 2003; A C A B

devmd01 posted:

Target Chip Ganassi is hiring a dude to go around with the team and set up the network at races.

Never have I hated my family more.

# ? Feb 24, 2014 16:51

Bentai: Jul 8, 2004; NERF THIS!

drat, where was this job about 4 months ago?

# ? Feb 24, 2014 17:43

KingShibby: Jan 30, 2004; Wherever you go, whatever you do, I will be right here waiting for you...; Yams Fan

If it were a full-time, year round job I could convince my wife to relocate to Indy, I guess that means even more networking in the garage during my 4 days in Indy.

# ? Feb 24, 2014 18:58

dr cum patrol esq: Sep 3, 2003; A C A B

KingShibby posted:

If it were a full-time, year round job I could convince my wife to relocate to Indy, I guess that means even more networking in the garage during my 4 days in Indy.

It sounds full-time, year round.

# ? Feb 24, 2014 19:01

KingShibby: Jan 30, 2004; Wherever you go, whatever you do, I will be right here waiting for you...; Yams Fan

front wing flexing posted:

It sounds full-time, year round.

Yeah I guess it doesn't hurt to send my resume.

# ? Feb 24, 2014 19:09

devmd01: Mar 7, 2006; Elektronik
Supersonik

Don't be surprised when the pay is poo poo! They do offer benefits though, which is more than can be said about most race teams.

# ? Feb 24, 2014 19:36

dr cum patrol esq: Sep 3, 2003; A C A B

Man, when they were looking at designs for the new car, I hated the deltawing. I'm not sure if watching it in sportscar racing endeared me to it or what but an garage 34 entry would be cool in my book.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/112634

# ? Feb 24, 2014 20:54

devmd01: Mar 7, 2006; Elektronik
Supersonik

Also kingshibby pending wife approval if you need a bed for a night to come down and do an interview with ganassi if it gets that far I have one 20 min away from their office.

# ? Feb 24, 2014 21:14

KingShibby: Jan 30, 2004; Wherever you go, whatever you do, I will be right here waiting for you...; Yams Fan

devmd01 posted:

Also kingshibby pending wife approval if you need a bed for a night to come down and do an interview with ganassi if it gets that far I have one 20 min away from their office.

Thanks for the offer, I'll have to see if I even hear anything back. I don't exactly have a degree in what the job is for but I have lots of experience

# ? Feb 24, 2014 21:16

Seizure Meat: Jul 23, 2008; by Smythe

great plan we get you on the inside and then you kill the beast from within

# ? Feb 25, 2014 00:06

FuzzySkinner: May 23, 2012

VikingSkull posted:

great plan we get you on the inside and then you kill the beast from within

Not with Tony Kanaan (and potentially) Kyle Larson on the team you won't!

# ? Feb 25, 2014 00:34

Seizure Meat: Jul 23, 2008; by Smythe

you know what happened to sympathizers during the Red Scare, don't you

# ? Feb 25, 2014 01:32

FuzzySkinner: May 23, 2012

VikingSkull posted:

you know what happened to sympathizers during the Red Scare, don't you

hahaha.

Random note. Was in a waiting room waiting to be interviewed for a job, and I caught a pretty bad rear end interview with Parnelli Jones in Car and Driver.

Holy poo poo that guy owns.

quote:

C/D: With your success in Indy Cars, why didn't you ever drive Formula 1?
PJ: Well, I was offered a ride in Formula 1 with [Colin] Chapman and Lotus when I drove their car at Milwaukee and won, and at Trenton and won. But I felt I was going to be second to Jimmy Clark. And I didn't think I was number two to anyone.

C/D: Was there anybody better than you?
PJ: I didn't think so. That's what made A.J. [Foyt] such a great driver�that will to win and desire. And I think I had that same thing. You can teach somebody how to drive, but you can't teach them that will and desire and kick-butt attitude.

Also, a section for you Viking.

quote:

C/D: There's a theory that American race drivers get their advantage from driving on dirt tracks. Do you agree?
PJ: It's like learning a language. The more languages you know, the better you are in the long run. American racing would be different if they had left dirt in the championships. Then road racers would have had to run on dirt, and it would have made better drivers out of all of them

http://www.caranddriver.com/features/interview-parnelli-jones-legendary-race-driver-feature

# ? Feb 25, 2014 01:39

Seizure Meat: Jul 23, 2008; by Smythe

PJ knows the deal. You look at the Cup champions from the last 20 years, all dirt drivers. The last Cup champion who did not come from dirt of some form or another was Alan Kulwicki. Let that sink in a minute.

Like he said, it would benefit any driver. It teaches elements of car control. In NASCAR it teaches you part of the skillset to let you control a slide, which is terrible in Indycar. However, it also teaches you to recognize the limit between grip and no grip, and that IS a valuable skill in Indy.

Seizure Meat fucked around with this message at 01:46 on Feb 25, 2014

# ? Feb 25, 2014 01:44

drgitlin: Jul 25, 2003; luv 2 get custom titles from a forum that goes into revolt when its told to stop using a bad word.

It's why Finns make good racing drivers too. They spend their formative years going sideways down gravel roads.

# ? Feb 25, 2014 01:51

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# ? Apr 27, 2024 18:21

Pvt. Public: Sep 9, 2004; I am become Death, the Destroyer of Worlds.

drgitlin posted:

It's why Finns make good racing drivers too. They spend their formative years going sideways down gravel roads.

Or racing on ice and snow.

# ? Feb 25, 2014 01:59

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