2016 Verizon IndyCar SeriesOpen Wheel 

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ukfan758
Greg Moore in 1999?
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I was about to say. CART had a fatality or a career ending crash every year up until 2002.
 
Ovals like Texas, Vegas' and then Cali' (yes...I know Cali' is different completely) are meant for big stock cars because they slow down through the corners and they are in a tank...they shouldn't have Formula cars on them.

The reason that Indy and Pocono are...less troublesome...is that everyone knows what to do...run no downforce. And so it is a self fixing situation. Are they dangerous? Yes. But they are designed for Indycars.

1.5 and 2.0 mile tracks are designed for stockcars...not Indycars.
 
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ukfan758
Greg Moore in 1999?
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Don't even think that was due to pack racing. In fact, that race didn't even look like the kind of racing we had today.

It does bring up a rather unsettling coincidence that just occurred to me: Guess who was in the field leading the championship when that happened?
 
Vegas was fine until NASCAR had it reconfigured to be banked more. That being said, if an Indycar can run flat out around an oval that isn't Indianapolis, then they shouldn't be racing there.
 
RACECAR
Don't even think that was due to pack racing. In fact, that race didn't even look like the kind of racing we had today.

It does bring up a rather unsettling coincidence that occurred to me: Guess who was in the field leading the championship when that happened?
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We didn't have pack racing when Greg Moore died. He lost his car out of 2 and jus went to the infield wall. Back in the day we had grass instead of asphalt, so he just slided until we all know what happened.
 
GTPorsche
Vegas was fine until NASCAR had it reconfigured to be banked more. That being said, if an Indycar can run flat out around an oval that isn't Indianapolis, then they shouldn't be racing there.
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Weird thing is, nothing even happened at Texas. All the cautions were engine related and the racing...well, not even close.
 
Why do some of you people overreact every time we have a crash on an oval? This wasn't a repeat of the 2011 IndyCar World Championship pack race Las Vegas. Drivers could still actually pull off slingshot passes today and get some separation. And most importantly, no one was seriously hurt today. No one except Briscoe went airborne, and the only reason he went airborne was because his car caught grass.

I don't see the same overreaction when we have crashes on road or street courses. I don't recall anyone calling for IndyCar or F1 to abandon certain road/street courses after drivers suffered serious injuries on those.

There are multiple ways to reduce pack racing without abandoning California Speedway which hosted a great race today and has hosted great races in the past. IndyCar can mandate lower or even negative wing angles next year to reduce downforce forcing drivers to slow down in the corners. Chevrolet and Honda have improved their engines every single year since 2012. Increased horsepower will also force the drivers to slow down in the corners. I personally think what IndyCar had during 2012 - 2014 at California Speedway was the best aero package. All they need to do is find that balance again.

Racing will never ever be 100% safe. And oval racing has always been a part of IndyCar racing. An IndyCar champion must master oval, road, and street racing. That's what makes this series unique and the true open wheel driver's championship.

With that said, I'm glad every one is alright after this race. Thanks to the drivers for putting a great exciting race. And congratulations to Graham Rahal and Honda today!
 
You have to be absolutely chill to walk away from a incident like that and then come back later to take it all in comedic stride. Then again, he's suffered far worse so I suppose that kinda comes with that experience.
 
It's not overreacting when the series had previously stated that they didn't want pack racing to happen again after October 2011...

Add to that the fact that they can't get mediocre attendance numbers for that track with that series, is even more reason not to return. Pocono got threatened with removal from the calendar, and so has Milwaukee now.. why should California be exempt from that...
 
The good news is that Americans placed 1st, 3rd and 5th in the race.

That will bring more track spectators and more TV audience; better days are ahead! :)
 
GTPorsche
It's not overreacting when the series had previously stated that they didn't want pack racing to happen again after October 2011...

Add to that the fact that they can't get mediocre attendance numbers for that track with that series, is even more reason not to return. Pocono got threatened with removal from the calendar, and so has Milwaukee now.. why should California be exempt from that...
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Because Roger Penske?
 
GTPorsche
It's not overreacting when the series had previously stated that they didn't want pack racing to happen again after October 2011...

Add to that the fact that they can't get mediocre attendance numbers for that track with that series, is even more reason not to return. Pocono got threatened with removal from the calendar, and so has Milwaukee now.. why should California be exempt from that...
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Except the drivers could still pull off slingshot passes and get some separation today. Today's race was also on a much wider 2.0 mile oval with 23 cars. The 2011 IndyCar World Championship race took place on a narrower 1.5 mile oval with 34 cars. We didn't have 34 cars locked in a giant pack today.

If you want to remove California Speedway for attendance problems, then say so. Don't cry wolf about safety issues that can be easily fixed with additional experience with the new aero kits.

Anyone who has followed IndyCar closely over the past few years knows that IndyCar's management has been incredibly stupid when it comes to scheduling races. Mark Miles has been especially stupid with his idiotic insistence on ending the season by Labor Day weekend. Several major sponsors including have already told IndyCar that a short season doesn't offer them a good value. Several teams and drivers also lost potential sponsors due to the short season.

For decades, the Milwaukee Mile race followed the Indy 500. For years, California Speedway hosted the IndyCar season finale in late October - early November. Back then, both tracks had sell-out crowds. Giving fans a longer traditional racing season, not shuffling race dates, making the oval races (aside from Indy) 1 day shows, lowering ticket prices, and increasing promotion of the series and drivers would definitely help IndyCar regain lost attendance.
 
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VNAF Ace
It's time to unite and reform CART. Miles will be forced to listen if the teams, drivers, sponsors, and track owners unite.
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I hope you're not serious. We saw how that turned out post '96 with the IRL and CART/Champ Car, it destroyed american open wheel racing as a whole and left us with what the merged Indycar is today; absolutely discraceful TV ratings, poor attendance (to the point that IMS had to demolish stands in T3), loss of well known drivers and some manufacturers, loss of venues, loss of sponsors and financial backers, and much more. Indycar is lucky to still exist right now, splitting the series in two again would kill it.
 
I'm not advocating another split. I'm talking about uniting everyone involved in the IndyCar Series to send a message to Mark Miles and the rest of the management board. CART was originally formed in 1978 as an advocacy group to promote the USAC national championship which is exactly what we need today. What IndyCar needs is the equivalent of a players union that other major professional sports have. The teams, drivers, sponsors, and track owners actually deal directly with the paying customer. I have yet to see Mark Miles pay any attention to what they have said let alone what my fellow IndyCar fans have said about the negative effects of the short schedule and shuffling race dates.
 
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Because if the team owners alone got Randy Bernard fired for failing to listen to them, then all of them along with the drivers, sponsors, and track owners can certainly get Mark Miles fired for destroying IndyCar racing with this ridiculous shortened schedule.
 
Who's the 2nd brain dead clown?

Randy Bernard was fired awhile ago. While I admit he should've listened to the team owners' valid complaints about Dallara's price gouging of parts, he was one of the few IndyCar CEOs who actually talked to, listened to, and fought for the fans. Bernard improved race control, implemented double file restarts, and came up with the idea of aero kits which gave us different cars without forcing the teams to spend more money on multiple chassis.
 
VNAF Ace
Who's the 2nd brain dead clown?

Randy Bernard was fired awhile ago. While I admit he should've listened to the team owners' valid complaints about Dallara's price gouging of parts, he was one of the few IndyCar CEOs who actually talked to, listened to, and fought for the fans. Bernard improved race control, implemented double file restarts, and came up with the idea of aero kits which gave us different cars without forcing the teams to spend more money on multiple chassis.
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I can only guess Brian Barnhardt otherwise, I'm not sure who else either.
 
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