Nothing on Indy 500?

quadrunner500 · May 27, 2002

Well, it was pretty dull...

Helio Castroneves is the luckiest guy in the world. The yellow came out with 1 1/4 laps remaining just as he was being passed by Paul Tracy, sealing his win.

Had that been Nascar, they would have raced back to the line, and then red flagged it while Sterling works on his car.

Lucky, inherited wins are not unusual at Indy. Little Al picked one up in '94 when Emmo hit the turn 4 wall. A.J. Foyt picked one up when Parnelli Jones STP turbine car broke a $6 bearing in 1967. Al Unser Sr. inherited one in 1987 when Mario's engine quit, and Roberto Guerrero stalled in the pits. Bobby Unser inherited a win in '75 when rains washed over the track. Then again, all those guys were where they had to be at the end, no denying that.

Controversy is certainly not unusual at Indy either. Bobby Unser was penalized for passing cars under the yellow exiting the pits in 1981, but not until after celebrating in Victory Lane. The race was awarded to Mario, who had no such celebration. Unser appealed, and 4 1/2 months later, was given back the race win after footage was shown of Mario ahem...also passing cars under yellow exiting the pits. Scott Goodyear was denied the win in 1995 for passing the pace car and ignoring the black flag, awarding the win to Jacques Villenueve, who came from 1 lap down to take the win.

This years field, included 8 stars from the rival Cart series, and overall was the most talent since 1995. Still, race leaders Tony Kanaan, Tomas Sheckter, and a cast of others managed to smack the new energy absorbing walls hard. If these guys are so talented, why are they always crashing? Go back to 1971, 1972, 1973 and look up the names of Salt Walther, Swede Savage, Art Pollard, Mike Mosely for a reminder of what the fire peril of hitting the wall meant in a slower era.

Indy cars have come a long way since then...safer, faster, more evenly matched talent, although no better than when the best in the world raced at Indy, Hill, Clark, Jones, Foyt, Unsers, Rutherford, Andretti, Mears, Johncock, Mansell, Fittipaldi.

Well, it was pretty dull...