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Bball's 2011 Indy500 pics and comments

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  • Re: Bball's 2011 Indy500 pics and comments

    Yes, there has been Indy 500 winners losing their life in the same season. Although none that I can think of in the modern era.

    Dan had a really excellent record at the speedway. His 1st win was overshadowed by DanicaMania and Danica leading some meaningless laps towards the end of the race due to pit strategy. But he easily passed her after a few laps when the track went back to green (as did a couple of other cars... which should tell anybody paying attention she was not really in contention for the win).

    He almost had a win at Indy for Ganassi but had a cut tire ruin his chances late in the race. Once again, his strength that day got lost in the shuffle when Hornish passed Marco at the stripe for the story of the race which obliterated any talk about Wheldon's strong run and bad luck that day.

    Then he had strong finishes there with Panther. And then he won this past May with a headline stealing win of his own with the last lap drama and the his win for the underdog team. That finally got him the recognition and headlines he deserved as one of the historical top tier of Indy 500 drivers that had eluded him.
    Nuntius was right for a while. I was wrong for a while. But ultimately I was right and Frank Vogel has been let go.

    ------

    "A player who makes a team great is more valuable than a great player. Losing yourself in the group, for the good of the group, that’s teamwork."

    -John Wooden

    Comment


    • Re: Bball's 2011 Indy500 pics and comments

      Originally posted by graphic-er View Post
      I wonder if there has ever been an Indy 500 winner in a fatal crash? I hope the speedway does a proper memorial during next years 500.
      Mark Donahue was the last one that I can think of, and he wasn't a reigning champion when he died.

      If we just go through reigning champs who died we have:

      Vuky who of course died while leading in what would probably would have been his third straight Indy win.

      George Robson in 1946.

      Floyd Roberts died in 1939 while attempting to win his second Indy.

      Ray Keech died 16 days after winning Indianapolis in 1929.

      Frank Lockhart was the reigning champ when he was killed in 1928.

      Jimmy Murphy died the September after he won Indy in 1924.

      Gaston Chevrolet in 1920.
      Last edited by Sandman21; 10-16-2011, 09:40 PM.
      "Nobody wants to play against Tyler Hansbrough NO BODY!" ~ Frank Vogel

      "And David put his hand in the bag and took out a stone and slung it. And it struck the Philistine on the head and he fell to the ground. Amen. "

      Comment


      • Re: Bball's 2011 Indy500 pics and comments

        Dan's blog from USA Today yesterday. The info about the car's handling and speed isn't important... What's important is how professionally he responded to the situation. Nobody was thrown under the bus. No bitterness. No "I" in "team".... Just more evidence of what a sportsman and spokesman Indycar lost today.

        So far, things haven't been going very well as we've started our pursuit of the GoDaddy IndyCar Challenge this weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, but I'm confident in the ability of the guys at Sam Schmidt Motorsports to find the problem and get it fixed.

        It's actually been a very difficult weekend for us so far. Basically we carried over our problem from Kentucky Speedway, where we just didn't have the speed and never really found it.

        But I've been watching these guys work their tails off trying to fix this problem, and I believe they'll turn it around before Sunday's race. As you know, the Challenge is a rather unique promotion. I'll start 34th in a 34-car field in Sunday's Izod IndyCar World Championships presented by Honda. If I win the race, I'll split a $5 million prize with Ann Babenco of High Bridge, N.J., who was chosen at random.

        But during Thursday's practice session and Friday's practice and qualifying sessions, we were quite a bit off the pace in the No. 77 Bowers & Wilkins Magnolia/William Rast Dallara/Honda. When I say quite a bit, I mean more than 3 mph off the pace. If we start the race that far off the pace, it's going to be difficult to keep up.

        But I have every confidence in Rob Edwards, our team manager, and his group of engineers. Rob has done a very good job of analyzing the problem. He's eliminating issues one by one. Hopefully by the race, we will have changed things enough that we will have discovered what's slowing us down.

        It is incredibly frustrating, both for me and them. All the boys are working as hard as possible, but so far we haven't pinpointed what it is. Part of the reason it's so frustrating is because we'd created so much momentum around Indy, both with my victory in Bryan Herta's car and with Alex Tagliani's pole position in the car we're driving this weekend.

        But there are a couple of positives. First, this is essentially the same group of people that combined to win the pole and the race at Indy; we've just switched cars. Alex is in the No. 98 car that I drove at Indy, and I'm in the No. 77 he drove to the pole at Indy. Second, and this is key, Alex has been fast in the 98 car so far at Vegas. Very fast. He's got the fourth starting position for Sunday's race, so we know we have the potential for a good car. We just haven't found it yet.

        So everybody in our garage is trying their best, and they're going about it methodically and professionally, step by step, trying to get to the bottom of it. It's obviously something significant, because I'm so far off the pace. Alex did a 221.330 mph for his two-lap qualifying run. I barely got over 218. So whatever the problem is, it's significant.

        That, too, gives me confidence. A difference that large forces you to look at everything. You're that far off, so you need to change everything. You have to be bold in your changes, and that's what Rob is being. When the difference in speed is small, the problem is harder to find. But we're not a little bit off, so it should be easier to define the problem.

        I'm impressed by Rob and his guys and how detailed they're being and how hard they're trying, but it's frustrating for everyone. These guys want to win this challenge just as much as I do, so they're giving it everything they have.

        Another good thing is that we have a full day Saturday to work on the problem. Right now, all they need is time to take the car apart and check everything. I'm confident they'll find it and we'll get out there Sunday with a car that can move through the field.

        This is going to be an amazing show. The two championship contenders, Dario Franchitti and Will Power, are starting right next to each other in the middle of the grid. Honestly, if I can be fast enough early in the race to be able to get up there and latch onto those two, it will be pure entertainment. It's going to be a pack race, and you never know how that's going to turn out.

        We all know what this team can do, and I know what I can do. At the end of the day, I have every confidence I them. We should be good in the race. They've worked hard at this, and they'll figure it out.

        As long as I can find some speed and keep up with the pack, I'll do everything I can to put on a show.
        http://www.usatoday.com/sports/motor...#uslPageReturn
        Nuntius was right for a while. I was wrong for a while. But ultimately I was right and Frank Vogel has been let go.

        ------

        "A player who makes a team great is more valuable than a great player. Losing yourself in the group, for the good of the group, that’s teamwork."

        -John Wooden

        Comment


        • Re: Bball's 2011 Indy500 pics and comments

          ESPN.com learned from team owner Michael Andretti that just hours prior to Sunday's race, Wheldon signed a multiyear deal to replace Danica Patrick in Andretti Autosport's No. 7 car sponsored by GoDaddy.com.

          Wheldon drove for Andretti Autosport from 2003 to 2005, winning the 2005 Indianapolis 500 and series championship. He was part of a powerful, four-car Andretti juggernaut including Dario Franchitti, Tony Kanaan and Bryan Herta that won 11 of 17 races during that magical '05 season.

          "He was a very close friend and we had just literally inked it this morning," Andretti said. "We had great plans to do fun things together. I'm going to miss him. There was a lot of life in that guy. He was part of the glory days here. We had a combination that has never been put together in the sport of auto racing, in my opinion.
          http://espn.go.com/racing/indycar/st...s-racing-world
          Nuntius was right for a while. I was wrong for a while. But ultimately I was right and Frank Vogel has been let go.

          ------

          "A player who makes a team great is more valuable than a great player. Losing yourself in the group, for the good of the group, that’s teamwork."

          -John Wooden

          Comment


          • Re: Bball's 2011 Indy500 pics and comments

            Man, even more depressing now. I don't follow IndyCar hard core like you guys do but I do keep tabs on the race results and point standings. This makes me feeling sad over the lockout and the Colts season seem so insignificant I feel guilty for thinking they were that important. What a terrible day.

            Comment


            • Re: Bball's 2011 Indy500 pics and comments

              Man, I bet Wheldon would have had a great season with Andretti in 2012. He certainly would have had a great chance to win a third Indy. Such a shame.

              Words really can't describe how big of a loss this is for the sport.

              I get so sad when I see the footage of him celebrating with his kid after winning the 500 in May.

              Comment


              • Re: Bball's 2011 Indy500 pics and comments

                Still can't believe Dan is gone this morning


                Comment


                • Re: Bball's 2011 Indy500 pics and comments

                  Originally posted by Trader Joe View Post
                  Still can't believe Dan is gone this morning


                  Man, I know. I've barely been able focus on anything since it happened. I can't stop thinking about it.

                  RIP Champ.

                  Comment


                  • Re: Bball's 2011 Indy500 pics and comments

                    It really feels like we've lost one of our own.


                    Comment


                    • Re: Bball's 2011 Indy500 pics and comments

                      Hard to believe this thread started with talking about Wheldon's incredible and thrilling 2011 Indy 500 win and is now talking about his untimely death.

                      Wheldon was a popular Indy 500 champ and driver. He built on that with his work on Vs this summer when he truly showed he was a fan of the sport and someone who got it. We were all happy for him that he was getting a full time ride at Andretti with the GoDaddy sponsorship. He was poised to be out front and center of the series with his talent and charisma and that type of sponsorship package as well as being part of the Andretti Autosport team. And he would have been there by working his way to that position, not by hype.

                      Then there's his young family that he always seemed to care so much about.

                      It all seems unfair.

                      On Sunday morning it seemed he was on top of the world. And then a few hours later, he was gone.

                      Lost in all the talk about the good things that were happening in his life up until Sunday afternoon, let's not forget the news we learned during May that his mother was diagnosed with Ahlzheimers. That just adds another tragic layer to this story.

                      Dan Wheldon will certainly be missed by many people and I suspect there will be a moment of reflection as Indy ticket holders open that blue envelope next year and see Dan Wheldon's image on their Indy 500 tickets.

                      RIP Dan Wheldon
                      Nuntius was right for a while. I was wrong for a while. But ultimately I was right and Frank Vogel has been let go.

                      ------

                      "A player who makes a team great is more valuable than a great player. Losing yourself in the group, for the good of the group, that’s teamwork."

                      -John Wooden

                      Comment


                      • Re: Bball's 2011 Indy500 pics and comments

                        I was just looking at the still frames of the accidents. The ones where Dan's car is just getting launched in the air are the most powerful to me. I wonder what he was thinking, I just hope his last thoughts were happy.

                        They are just so surreal, to go from being completely in control to being so helpless in a split second.

                        I don't know why this is affecting me so much, but it has really left me shaken.


                        Comment


                        • Re: Bball's 2011 Indy500 pics and comments

                          I also feel cheated that we only got to see him in 3 races this year. How did the top teams ever let him go without a full time ride? What a total failure on their part. We got cheated not getting to see his talent week in and week out, but his fellow drivers probably couldn't have asked for a better test driver for the new cars. Perhaps that was just the role Dan was intended to play. Perhaps that his selfish, but I wish we could have gotten a full final season of Dan's talent.
                          Last edited by Trader Joe; 10-17-2011, 12:50 PM.


                          Comment


                          • Re: Bball's 2011 Indy500 pics and comments

                            Just out of curiosity, how many people need to die at these ovals before IRL realizes they just aren't made for open wheel cars? I mean even IMS is not really a typical high speed oval, it has a lot of road course characteristics.


                            Comment


                            • Re: Bball's 2011 Indy500 pics and comments

                              Originally posted by Trader Joe View Post
                              Just out of curiosity, how many people need to die at these ovals before IRL realizes they just aren't made for open wheel cars? I mean even IMS is not really a typical high speed oval, it has a lot of road course characteristics.
                              I plan on starting a thread about topics like the above later tonight or tomorrow... Just figured this thread and timing wasn't right yet.
                              Nuntius was right for a while. I was wrong for a while. But ultimately I was right and Frank Vogel has been let go.

                              ------

                              "A player who makes a team great is more valuable than a great player. Losing yourself in the group, for the good of the group, that’s teamwork."

                              -John Wooden

                              Comment


                              • Re: Bball's 2011 Indy500 pics and comments

                                I mean Formula 1 NEVER races on ovals. Shouldn't that be a sign? I know it's not necessarily the best place for this, but it is bothering. Injuries can happen and death can happen on road courses, I just feel like when we run at these high speed, high banked ovals, it is just asking for disaster to strike. You have Greg Moore in 99 as another example. Plus Davey Hamiltn's near miss at Texas.


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