2016 Verizon IndyCar SeriesOpen Wheel 

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GTPorsche
The NBA pre-game will just have to wait. :rolleyes:
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My DVR had an almost 5-hour window set aside for the race. Then I couldn't just delete the stupid fools running around playing with ONE ball.....

Oh, well. It really was a MUCH better race than last year's crash-fest!
 
I enjoyed St. Pete this year a lot more than years past. And I"m really happy that Aleshin got a top 5 to start out the season. Not to mention RHR's pass on Helio near the end. Now I get to look forward to Phoenix which should be good.
 
Sadly Phoenix will be rubbish. So much aero grip that it will be flat to floor with occasional divebomb overtake.
 
I don't think they have quite enough aero grip to eliminate the need to slow for the corners. It's bigger than Iowa, but it has less banking and tighter radius corners.
 
If the racing is anything like Iowa it will be epic, the short/Midsize ovals that require slight lifting tend to be the best Indy Ovals.

Edit: it's easily flat:
 
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The only time they could possibly go flat out at Phoenix is during qualifying. Other than that, it'll be like Iowa on steroids.
 
Angel
The only time they could possibly go flat out at Phoenix is during qualifying. Other than that, it'll be like Iowa on steroids.
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The only time it wouldn't be flat would be half way through their stints imo, in testing they where easily flat, once they have the cars setup for the race it will be even easier to stay flat for longer.

Should cut a bit a downforce for this one imo
 
A solid 2nd place to the Atlantic 10 championship game on CBS (1.11) and the NHL on NBC (.89) which were all on at 12:30PM ET
 
ukfan758
Excellent news, that's around 1.5 million viewers correct?
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I have no idea how the ratings number translates to viewer numbers.

That being said, Indycar is showing a steady increase year to year where NASCAR is continuing to drop, even though NASCAR is still getting 3x the ratings as Indycar is currently.
 
Looking around at ratings, at least prime time since those are easily found, 1.1 is anywhere from 2.6 million to 5 million. Not sure how that works when it's the same market share...
 
That's good news despite the coverage being almost unwatchable, if only ESPN had a good team.
 
Would be nice to have Dario in the booth, but I'd prefer it if he was doing NBCSN coverage and not ABC. With him being a Ganassi driver coach and doing Formula E commentary, it's unlikely to happen. He'd be perfect though. He's driven within the last 5 years, he knows what he'd be talking about.

ABC also has Jon Beekhuis, but they waste him since they don't put him in the booth either. I can deal with Scott Goodyear, but Cheever needs to stop.
 
My problem with ABC is just the focus on Indy. Points wise, Sonoma is just as important, and every race is some of the best racing in the United States and definitely the best top tier open wheel racing as far as competition and action is concerned. That and Cheever is about as good at commentary as I am at getting solid sleep (which never ever happens). I would replace Cheever with just about anyone at this point. Hell, put Sage in the booth for every ABC race that isn't Indy and I would probably be happier.
 
I quite like Jon as pit reporter, I would probably say he's one of if not the best pit reporters, and always has been. He's very much about getting to the point and almost never asks stupid questions. I didn't get to watch St. Pete this year so I'm not entirely certain who the whole broadcast team is, but if Alan Bestwick is not part of it then ABC/ESPN are completely wasting his talent.

If they could find someone, I think they should try to get a recently retired CC/Pit Engineer because having 2 drivers on a 3 person team seems silly. I quite like how NBC has Steve Letarte and Jeff Burton as the colour commentators because you see both sides of the coin, not just 2 drivers basically going on about the same thing. At this point though from what was described yesterday, anyone would be better in the booth than Goodyear and Cheever, hell I'm sure Paul Tracy could do a better job than both of them combined.
 
GTracerEHTeam
I quite like Jon as pit reporter, I would probably say he's one of if not the best pit reporters, and always has been. He's very much about getting to the point and almost never asks stupid questions. I didn't get to watch St. Pete this year so I'm not entirely certain who the whole broadcast team is, but if Alan Bestwick is not part of it then ABC/ESPN are completely wasting his talent.

If they could find someone, I think they should try to get a recently retired CC/Pit Engineer because having 2 drivers on a 3 person team seems silly. I quite like how NBC has Steve Letarte and Jeff Burton as the colour commentators because you see both sides of the coin, not just 2 drivers basically going on about the same thing. At this point though from what was described yesterday, anyone would be better in the booth than Goodyear and Cheever, hell I'm sure Paul Tracy could do a better job than both of them combined.
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Allen Bestwick, Cheever, Goodyear on commentary, Beekhuis and Dr. Jerry Punch in the pits.
 
So, as a casual IndyCar fan who may be covering the Pocono race later this year, here's my take aways-

-I was a little bullish on Montoya coming back to IndyCar but he seems to have really found himself the past couple of years. Why be Ryan Newman when you can be Jimmie Johnson?

-ESPN's new graphics are great but one of my biggest pet peeves as said before in this thread is the focus on just the Indy 500. The only real part of the broadcast I heard any reference to this year's championship was when they mentioned how two drivers have won it without running the full season like Power. That's the real reason why NASCAR has gained so many viewers in the past 30 years over IndyCar, because nobody ever talks about the championship. So now to the average viewer you have one big race and 20 pointless races. Unlike with NASCAR where the championship means so much more than the Daytona 500.

-I feel bad for Bestwick. He had to carry the NASCAR ESPN team and now he's carrying the IndyCar ESPN team. Cheever and Goodyear are both better than DW, I'll at least give them that. They'd be fine in a panel like in pre-race but get them out of the booth.

-Racing was good but poor Hinchcliffe. Not even a turn into his comeback and he runs afoul of Too Soon Sato.
 
GTracerEHTeam
I quite like Jon as pit reporter, I would probably say he's one of if not the best pit reporters, and always has been. He's very much about getting to the point and almost never asks stupid questions. I didn't get to watch St. Pete this year so I'm not entirely certain who the whole broadcast team is, but if Alan Bestwick is not part of it then ABC/ESPN are completely wasting his talent.
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Allen Bestwick is over there so the coverage isn't completely unbearable.

GTracerEHTeam
If they could find someone, I think they should try to get a recently retired CC/Pit Engineer because having 2 drivers on a 3 person team seems silly. I quite like how NBC has Steve Letarte and Jeff Burton as the colour commentators because you see both sides of the coin, not just 2 drivers basically going on about the same thing. At this point though from what was described yesterday, anyone would be better in the booth than Goodyear and Cheever, hell I'm sure Paul Tracy could do a better job than both of them combined.
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Its not so much Goodyear that's bad as it is Cheever, who is just grinding everyone's gears with his obsession for Indy.
 
Cheever pretty much kicked off the coverage yesterday with "Today's race here at St. Pete is practice for the Indy 500."

Way to completely direct the focus to something happening 2.5 months from now.
 
And ABC didn't help repeatidly slapping the screen with "Upcoming schedule" (Which in actuality is their broadcasting schedule, literally consisting only of Indy 500 coverage).
 
They won't shut the hell up about indy yet they don't mention they also have Detroit
 
GTFan24
They won't shut the hell up about indy yet they don't mention they also have Detroit
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Funny thing is, they didn't show that AT ALL on their "Upcoming Schedule". Starting to think they are more or less forcing PR for a event that doesn't need forced PR, especially since its, oh you know, the 100th anniversary.
 
Yes, that race was missing from their upcoming schedule because INDIANAPOLIS X3. :rolleyes:
 
Does anyone think that some teams will do some throwback liveries for indy? Penske's an obvious one but other teams would be nice as well
 
It's possible, but probably too soon for most teams.

Castroneves is running the "yellow submarine" livery.

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There's also Scott Dixon with that Lightning bolt.

I imagine that's gonna be a bizarre site for Montoya.
 
RACECAR
Funny thing is, they didn't show that AT ALL on their "Upcoming Schedule". Starting to think they are more or less forcing PR for a event that doesn't need forced PR, especially since its, oh you know, the 100th anniversary.
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It's not the 100th anniversary, just the 100th race.
Still, though, you're right. Why not promote the races that actually need promoting like Detroit or Alabama? You didn't see CBS mentioning Super Bowl 50 every other minute in their coverage of Week 3 of the NFL last year.
 
RACECAR
There's also Scott Dixon with that Lightning bolt.

I imagine that's gonna be a bizarre site for Montoya.
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It didn't seem to worry him being infront of it...
 
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