Exciting (Indy 500 race this year

mscard88

mscard88

Touchdown! Greaser!
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My driver Dixon) unfortunately, but happy for Sato winning it. Also was pulling for F1 driver Alonso who had a great race til his engine went. Amazing the safety built into these cars. Check out this crash:

 
Really happy Scott walked away. When you know the guys driving the cars, those crashes are heart stopping.
 
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Saw the accident missed the race, I was flying...:) Glad everyone was OK, the way that car hit the barrier was violent.
 
I remember the time when if one of these cars went upside down it was never a good outcome for the driver. If not fatal, then lifetime injuries.

That was a violent accident. Safety has come a long way, and for the good.
 
I watched Dixon win it a few years back, with Kanaan on his tail, and Sato plowing himself into a wall with only 2-3 laps left when he got impatient. I was pulling for Hunter-Reay myself until he joined the other Honda guys with blown engines.


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I grew up in central Indiana when the 500 was really a big deal. It is so much less now than it once was. I went to pole day more times than I can recall and six or seven races. My favorite race I attended was when Mears won his fourth coming from behind to beat Michael Andretti. Watching Mears, the Unsers, AJ Foyt, Mario Andretti, Parnell Jones and many other legends drive was great.
 
Zeldman said:
I remember the time when if one of these cars went upside down it was never a good outcome for the driver. If not fatal, then lifetime injuries.

That was a violent accident. Safety has come a long way, and for the good.
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You are not kidding. There is no way I thought someone could survive that accident. I think he was fortunate the way the car landed on the wall semi upright. If it would have still been inverted - it would have been a different outcome.
 
Mario was the man. Always rooted him on. So damn talented. Met him once when he boarded a flight I was flying from Allentown to Atlanta. It was an honor.
 
SkyDog58 said:
I grew up in central Indiana when the 500 was really a big deal. It is so much less now than it once was. I went to pole day more times than I can recall and six or seven races. My favorite race I attended was when Mears won his fourth coming from behind to beat Michael Andretti. Watching Mears, the Unsers, AJ Foyt, Mario Andretti, Parnell Jones and many other legends drive was great.
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I also grew up when all those legends were still driving. I watched about an hour of it today. I am remembering correctly - in the early 70's - you had to wait for the replay to see it on TV?
 
Jim_CAK said:
You are not kidding. There is no way I thought someone could survive that accident. I think he was fortunate the way the car landed on the wall semi upright. If it would have still been inverted - it would have been a different outcome.
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Not really in most crashes. They're in a "pod" strapped in and the rest of the car is designed to 'come from together' (miss that so I wanted to use it again) and protect them. Not that they can't be seriously hurt or killed but that's the way it's designed.
 
Jim_CAK said:
I also grew up when all those legends were still driving. I watched about an hour of it today. I am remembering correctly - in the early 70's - you had to wait for the replay to see it on TV?
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The 500 was always live I think. I started watching I guess in the mid 60s.
 
mscard88 said:
Mario was the man. Always rooted him on. So damn talented. Met him once when he boarded a flight I was flying from Allentown to Atlanta. It was an honor.
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Mario was class, I met him many times when I worked at KABE, back then, his airplane was a Piper PA-31.
 
SoonerAviator said:
I watched Dixon win it a few years back, with Kanaan on his tail, and Sato plowing himself into a wall with only 2-3 laps left when he got impatient. I was pulling for Hunter-Reay myself until he joined the other Honda guys with blown engines.


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Tough deal for Ryan Hunter Reay, the 2012 IndyCar series champion and 2014 Indy 500 winner. He has had some terrible luck the last couple of years.

Regarding Sato's late race Indy crash, I think you are confusing 2009, when Scott won, and 2012. That year Kanaan had the lead going into Lap 200 (last lap), and Sato tried to go under him entering Turn 1. Sato spun, somehow missed Kanaan who was right beside him, and hit the outside wall.

Taku is a former Formula 1 driver, and he is known for being fearless (and sometimes crashing as a result). He's a super nice guy, and I'm really happy for him.

Honda's 2017 engine design has a flaw that was suspected when they suffered a few blown engines earlier in the year. Between early May when the teams began practice for the Indy 500 and Friday, the last day of practice, they lost nine engines. It had become obvious the engine had a problem, but they didn't have time to do anything about it. Honda Performance Development isn't saying, of course, but it appears there is an oiling issue. It really reared its head at Indy because of the extended runs at speeds around 220 MPH.

If anyone was watching the race and the failures, you might have heard the engine blow when replays were run. It wasn't a deal where the engine "tightens up" or starts to lose power, just a good ol' "Kaboom" and the sound of a broken rotating assembly. Nothing subtle about it.

Two time Formula 1 World Champion Fernando Alonso also suffered a blown engine. He is having a terrible season in F1, the result of an uncompetitive car. In an unprecedented move, and with team principal McLaren's blessings, he pulled out of this year's Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix to run the 500. Alonso has already won the Monaco Grand Prix twice. An active F1 driver has never taken a midseason break to race in another series. Fernando has also expressed a desire to race in the 24 Hours of LeMans while he is still in the prime of his career, saying that winning Monaco, Indy, and LeMans would be the ultimate cap to an already brilliant career. No other driver has accomplished this.

Alonso is considered one of the all time best F1 drivers, and it showed today at Indy. He has never raced on an oval before, and he's never driven the IndyCar Series Dallara DW12. After going through rookie orientation and practicing for two weeks, he qualified fifth. By lap 75 or so he was in the lead, and ran in the top ten until his Honda engine let go with just 21 laps remaining. Fernando received a huge well deserved ovation as he climbed from the car.

As I said earlier, whenever there's a big hit like Dixon took, it really shakes me up because I know most of the drivers that have raced in the series before 2007. That's the year I retired from my job as a race weekend only mechanic. I used to fly to each race on Thursday and back home on Sunday night. I did this for five years. In May, I would use vacation time to spend three weeks at Indy.
 
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Jim_CAK said:
I also grew up when all those legends were still driving. I watched about an hour of it today. I am remembering correctly - in the early 70's - you had to wait for the replay to see it on TV?
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I believe the delay broadcast was for the Indy area only. It was broadcast live around the country. That's if I recall correctly.
 
3393RP said:
2007, which is the year I retired from my job as a race weekend only mechanic. I used to fly to each race on Thursday and back home on Sunday night. I did this for five years. In May I would use vacation time to spend three weeks at Indy.

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I flew a bit for Bill Elliot racing out of his airport in N. Georgia. I was flying an EMB-120 Brasilia at the airline and Bill bought one. So thru a connection I flew 4-5 races, like you said, drop the crew off on Thurs and pick them up on Sun. It was fun. Got credentials for the race and could go anywhere, pits during the race, garage, etc.
 
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Mario wasn't the only driver with a fuel burning monster. In the 90s, Aj Foyt had a HS 125-600 with the Viper mod. I got a ride in it from Indy back to Houston once. It was God awful noisy, cramped, and had a brown, gold, and green 70s interior...but it was a lot nicer than my jet. ;) ;)

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Bobby Unser owned and piloted a Aerostar 601P.

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mscard88 said:
I flew a bit for Bill Elliot racing out of airport in N. Georgia. I was flying an EMB-120 Brasilia at the airline and Bill bought one. So thru a connection I flew 4-5 races, like you said, drop the crew off on Thurs and pick them up on Sun. It was fun. Got credentials for the race and could go anywhere, pits during the race, garage, etc.
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Bill Elliot is a heckuva nice guy. He was voted NASCAR's Most Popular Driver for fourteen years straight.

AJ's pilot and copilot worked over the weekends, getting tires from the Firestone guys, picking up refilled nitrogen cylinders (244 CF cylinders are used to inflate tires and power wheel nut guns) from that vendor, and other miscellaneous tasks. It sorta killed the image of being a super cool corporate pilot. :D

After the race they would go to the airport looking like the the rest of the crew, dirty and sweaty. Obviously the 125 could only carry AJ, the crew chief, and a few others. The rest of the guys flew commercial.

Some of the NASCAR teams have an Embraer or Bombardier regional jet for their crews. Hendrick Motorsports has three Saab 2000s, an Embraer ERJ145, and a Bell 430. As of 2015, Rick Hendrick used a G5 (I'm pretty sure it's been upgraded), and each of their four drivers has his own aircraft.
 
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3393RP said:
..winning Monaco, Indy, and LeMans would be the ultimate cap to an already brilliant career. No other driver has accomplished this.
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Actually, the only man to do it is the late Graham Hill (who died when he crashed his PA-23)...

Monaco 1963–65, 1968, 1969
Indy 500 1966
Le Mans 1972
 
Yeah Bobby Allison did some modifications to Aerostars I think. Seems I recall him having a hangar/shop at the Talledega airport.
 
It used to be on a stick at the Talladega Motorsports Museum, but I couldn't find a photo of it.
 
3393RP said:
It used to be on a stick at the Talladega Motorsports Museum, but I couldn't find a photo of it.
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No kidding. I'm an hour away and I still haven't been to the museum. Hell Barbers is 30 minutes away and I haven't been to Mr Barber's fine museum there either. Races at both places, yes, many times. Go figure.
 
mscard88 said:
Yeah Bobby Allison did some modifications to Aerostars I think. Seems I recall him having a hangar/shop at the Talledega airport.
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Bobby Allison put Allison 250's on his Aerostar.
 
biplanebob said:
Bobby Allison put Allison 250's o his Aerostar.
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I knew he had done something to it. Thanks.

I flew one for a company that had a conversion w/ 300 a side. Fun plane. Loved the electric NW steering, done by a rocker switch.
 
I worked at KABE in the early days of the Pocono Racetrack , all of the vintage racing greats landed at Allentown, PA.
 
When I'd fly into ABE landing to the south I'd fly right over the track, well, if that was it. NE of ABE maybe 10 miles?

edit: oops, no way that was Pocono, nevermind lol
 
mscard88 said:
When I'd fly into ABE landing to the south I'd fly right over the track, well, if that was it. NE of ABE maybe 10 miles?

edit: oops, no way that was Pocono, nevermind lol
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Pocono was about 30 miles or more north of KABE. But KABE was the largest airport close to the track with airline connections
 
biplanebob said:
Pocono was about 30 miles or more north of KABE. But KABE was the largest airport close to the track with airline connections
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This track is WNW of the airport, red and white checkerboard painted seats or walls I think. Looks to be a paved 1/2 mile or maybe a mile oval?
 
mscard88 said:
This track is WNW of the airport, red and white checkerboard painted seats or walls I think. Looks to be a paved 1/2 mile or maybe a mile oval?
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There was a track about 5 miles East: Nazareth, a few Indy car type races ran there and some Nascar Busch series there, was owned by Roger Penske before it closed a few yeas ago.
 
biplanebob said:
There was a track about 5 miles East: Nazareth, a few Indy car type races ran there and some Nascar Busch series there, was owned by Roger Penske before it closed a few yeas ago.
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If you're on a right downwind to land to the south, it's over there to the WNW a little bit. Forget the town adjacent to Allentown but maybe west of that town.
 
mscard88 said:
If you're on a right downwind to land to the south, it's over there to the WNW a little bit. Forget the town adjacent to Allentown but maybe west of that town.
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west of Allentown there was a small track at Dorney Park
 
3393RP said:
Tough deal for Ryan Hunter Reay, the 2012 IndyCar series champion and 2014 Indy 500 winner. He has had some terrible luck the last couple of years.

Regarding Sato's late race Indy crash, I think you are confusing 2009, when Scott won, and 2012. That year Kanaan had the lead going into Lap 200 (last lap), and Sato tried to go under him entering Turn 1. Sato spun, somehow missed Kanaan who was right beside him, and hit the outside wall.
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Yeah, I had put Dixon in top in 2012, but meant Franchitti. Dixon/Kanaan came in right behind him. We were right on the finish line for it, and had a blast. Lotus was the red-headed stepchild that year, Honda took the crown this year. Like the commentators mentioned, that extra power they eeked out over Chevrolet might have come at the expense of a bit of durability on a track like Indy.




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Alonso must really hate the day he decided to go to Honda engined Mclauren.

It was a good race. Too much yellow though. Glad Sato won. F1 drivers do pretty well at Indy....
 
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mscard88 said:
The 500 was always live I think. I started watching I guess in the mid 60s.
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Zeldman said:
I remember the time when if one of these cars went upside down it was never a good outcome for the driver. If not fatal, then lifetime injuries.

That was a violent accident. Safety has come a long way, and for the good.
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Very true. I have a lot of family in Indy still. We at one point lived pretty much next to the north end of the track right off Georgetown road.
I remember what happened in the video below when I was 8.

horrid.

 
mscard88 said:
No kidding. I'm an hour away and I still haven't been to the museum. Hell Barbers is 30 minutes away and I haven't been to Mr Barber's fine museum there either. Races at both places, yes, many times. Go figure.
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Have you attended the IndyCar race at Barber? It's a beautiful layout and there is always passing through the field. Unfortunately IndyCar has several temporary street courses and they pretty much suck, so Barber is one of the best races of the year.

I've heard the motorcycle collection in the museum is one of the best in the world.
 
3393RP said:
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Have you attended the IndyCar race at Barber? It's a beautiful layout and there is always passing through the field. Unfortunately IndyCar has several temporary street courses and they pretty much suck, so Barber is one of the best races of the year.

I've heard the motorcycle collection in the museum is one of the best in the world.
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Yes I have. Wonderful fun track. Mr Barber has a great facility. When they tested here before starting racing there, Mr Barber told the drivers to let him know of their concerns and complaints, and he would fix them. He has and everything I hear is the driver's love the track.

Yes about the museum. But Mr Barber always has the largest Lotus car collection in the world there. A guy who works there told me years ago everything but one or two bikes and cars runs, and is regularly driven out on the track.
 
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I watched it last night. I live in Indy and the race was blacked out and replayed at night. I have been the race a few times and it is quite an experience. Now I go into media blackout so I can watch the replay without knowing the result.
 
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