Anyone Excited about IndyCar?

[BillyBobSenna]

IndyCar starts next weekend at St. Pete. It should be a very exciting year of close and competitive racing.

 

[jgf]

Sadly I am interested but not excited by modern "Indycar".

Since Hulman threw his hissy fit and caused the CART-IRL split, open wheel racing in the US has been in the doldrums. There was not a sufficient sponsor base or fan base for two series so neither flourished, though I hate to admit IRL did somewhat better simply because they had the Indy500. And many of the first IRL "stars" were not true racers, they grabbed the money and ran (note how many had retired within five years); and many of the best CART teams, while not liking IRL, defected to them simply to have a chance at the Indy500. So eventually the two series merged again into modern "Indycar", but it is a pale shadow of the CART years. A near spec series with one chassis, one engine, one tire, and having yet to produce drivers the calibre of the Fittipaldis, Unsers, or Andrettis. They do have some good races, and the cars sound nice, but they are not exciting (to me).

Consider, at the peak of CART many F1 drivers came to the series for a season or two, it was seen as a sideways move (in '93 the reigning F1 champion ran two seasons in CART, and won the championship). For an F1 driver, much less the champion, today coming to "Indycar" would be universally viewed as a step down.

Will the modern series ever achieve the stature of CART at its peak? I hope so, but do not predict it in the foreseeable future. (Getting decent television coverage would certainly help.)

 

[Ruttman98]

I am excited and appreciate the head's up for the season opener!

Look at the rich crop of young driver talent--Herta, O'Ward, Palou, VeeKay, Rosenquist. Former F1 drivers Grosjean and Erickson have carved out wins and both competed for last year's championship. Then there are perennial performers 6-time champion Scott Dixon and Will Power who is close to becoming the series all-time pole-setter. Hard-chargers like Sato and Rossi always make things interesting. And don't count out Helio Castroneves who won both the Daytona 24 AND the Indy 500 in 2021--he just won his third Rolex in a row and he is a contender to bring home his fifth Borg-Warner Trophy in May!

Unlike F1, at every race Meyer Shank, Carpenter, and other small teams have a real chance against the likes of giants Penske, Ganassi, Andretti, and Arrow McLaren SP.

Plus, the Detroit Grand Prix returns to the streets of downtown after a long run on Belle Isle. Hopefully, a vibrant and revived Motown city center will be in the spotlight for positive reasons before a U.S. and international audience.

 

[bi11y]

Heck yeah!
The last few seasons of Indycar have been great entertainment. So many drivers with similar equipment that have a chance to win races.

I like the qualifying format, the offset timing line so drivers can dive to the pits and get off track there is almost never any of the 'traffic paradise' farce we see in F1 where drivers are tooling around to protect tyres with stupidly slow out and in laps.

Different Strategies and races with more than 1 pit stop! Tyres with different performance and real degradation - the driver complain about them but it makes the races strategy difficult for teams - becomes unpredicable and then really interesting to see sometimes a driver skill is demonstrated by their ability to do well on a counter strategy that other driver can not make work.

I'm psyched and can't wait for them to get going again.

 

[Fat-Alfie]

No

 

[Ole Marius Myrvold]

No

 

[4 8 15 16 23 42 108]

Is it time already? Early March?? Wow, my mind tells me they always started in April or May.
Anyway, really excited. For me a must-watch.

 

[BillyBobSenna]

Sadly I am interested but not excited by modern "Indycar".

Since Hulman threw his hissy fit and caused the CART-IRL split, open wheel racing in the US has been in the doldrums. There was not a sufficient sponsor base or fan base for two series so neither flourished, though I hate to admit IRL did somewhat better simply because they had the Indy500. And many of the first IRL "stars" were not true racers, they grabbed the money and ran (note how many had retired within five years); and many of the best CART teams, while not liking IRL, defected to them simply to have a chance at the Indy500. So eventually the two series merged again into modern "Indycar", but it is a pale shadow of the CART years. A near spec series with one chassis, one engine, one tire, and having yet to produce drivers the calibre of the Fittipaldis, Unsers, or Andrettis. They do have some good races, and the cars sound nice, but they are not exciting (to me).

Consider, at the peak of CART many F1 drivers came to the series for a season or two, it was seen as a sideways move (in '93 the reigning F1 champion ran two seasons in CART, and won the championship). For an F1 driver, much less the champion, today coming to "Indycar" would be universally viewed as a step down.

Will the modern series ever achieve the stature of CART at its peak? I hope so, but do not predict it in the foreseeable future. (Getting decent television coverage would certainly help.)

A fellow Ohio guy! Although I have lived in the state up north for over 30 years.

It is sad that current IndyCar is not what it has been during some of the glory years. That said, the current IndyCar still has a lot to offer. Like others have said:

• Many different drivers can win on any race weekend
• Amazing diversity of tracks
• Indy 500 - Many still consider this the biggest single race in all of motorsports
• Affordable races to attend
• Relatively easy for new teams and drivers to enter series

 

[jgf]

"Many different drivers can win on any race weekend"
A sign of spec series; if the cars are identical then race results are dependent on driver ability, if most drivers are equally adept then nearly anyone can be in the top ten at any race. This is good, in my opinion; the best seasons of any series are when the championship is not determined til the last few races (as opposed to series where, barring misfortune, it is obvious mid-season who will win).

"Amazing diversity of tracks"
True of USAC/Champcar/CART/Indycar for decades. But the lack of diversity in cars is a detriment in my opinion (though this seems to be improving).

"Indy 500"
Would be a good race no matter what cars are running.

"Affordable races to attend"
Never paid more than $30 for a CART event, $20 extra would get pit and paddock pass.

I continue to watch.

 

[Durge Driven]

Always

 

[4 8 15 16 23 42 108]

"Affordable races to attend"
Never paid more than $30 for a CART event, $20 extra would get pit and paddock pass.

Unreal. 30 Dollars for Indycar? Wow. I envy you all in the states.
Then again: WEC Spa 2023 now is 50 Euros, which still is alright as it is a six hour race. And paddock is included. Pitlane maybe as well, maybe not for sale, dunno.

I even can't decide which series I rate higher today. Well, the more, the merrier At least for me Indycar is more exciting in relation to "normal" races ex. Le Mans, Indy etc.

 

[BillyBobSenna]

Unreal. 30 Dollars for Indycar? Wow. I envy you all in the states.
Then again: WEC Spa 2023 now is 50 Euros, which still is alright as it is a six hour race. And paddock is included. Pitlane maybe as well, maybe not for sale, dunno.

I even can't decide which series I rate higher today. Well, the more, the merrier At least for me Indycar is more exciting in relation to "normal" races ex. Le Mans, Indy etc.

I am lucky enough to have been to many races around the world. For me, the best racing weekend experience you can get is Road America on an IndyCar weekend. Rent a golf cart and you can quickly go anywhere. All the grandstands and paddocks are open and the track is huge, hilly, and beautiful. In addition, the schedule is packed so there are always cars on the track.

 

[jgf]

I am lucky enough to have been to many races around the world. For me, the best racing weekend experience you can get is Road America on an IndyCar weekend. Rent a golf cart and you can quickly go anywhere. All the grandstands and paddocks are open and the track is huge, hilly, and beautiful. In addition, the schedule is packed so there are always cars on the track.

Mid-Ohio is the same except you don't need a cart since the track is only about half the length of Road America. With the exception of the keyhole you can wander the entire inside perimeter of the track.

 

[jgf]

...

I even can't decide which series I rate higher today. Well, the more, the merrier At least for me Indycar is more exciting in relation to "normal" races ex. Le Mans, Indy etc.

For sheer enjoyment of the weekend I prefer SCCA or vintage events (SVRA, HRS, etc.). Casual atmosphere, full access to everyone (except pits during a race), owners quite willing to talk about their car(s), the history, tech details; races usually 20-30 min length so several per day, and you will see anything from Spitfires to F1 cars (not in the same race, lol). And there are usually many retired professional drivers present (occasionally a few active drivers), either as spectators or competitors.

 

[Eric Rowland]

yes ...

 

[Durge Driven]

 

[Bram Hengeveld]

View attachment 645207

What happened there?

 

[Durge Driven]

What happened there?

Wait till you see the "other" one

 

[Bjorn de Haas]

What happened there?

Ohhh Ferrucci being Ferrucci again haha

 

[Eric Rowland]