[VRR][B-SPEC] 2017 Straight Talk IndyCar Series Season

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There is a certain uniqueness to "Straight Talk" IndyCar Series. So if I had a say in this, I'd stay with Straight Talk for uniqueness. None of the other options roll off the tongue too well for me.
 
Sakura Ishibashi had a decent day near the top of the time clocks, with Audi across the board on the pace. Despite being near the top, Sakura is holding firm to her stance. "I can't be convinced by the pace today. We are in quite a unique and underwhelming situation where we aren't practicing with the group we'll be racing with during the season. It's going to be a cluster****, nothing else to it."
 
I was poking around YouTube, and look what I found- coverage of the 2017 VRR Monster Energy Shootout! I am about 1/3 of the way seeing this video. Can't make any comments since I haven't seen the full video.

Just to state a little more on my previous post... I am okay with "Straight Talk IndyCar Series." If you want to call it such, it can be "STICS." It just has that unique twang to it. Yes- I said "twang."
 
So Ray isn't dead or at least forced into early retirement? Interesting.

CL: We've talked to Ray after he got to the care centre. He says he's pretty sore all over after that crash but no huge pains, we're going to get him fully x-rayed to make sure nothing is broken because anything could have cracked or snapped in a huge impact like that. He also said he blacked out on the big hit so that may have saved him from serious injury but he'll need to go through concussion checks before getting back in the car.

We're happy he's okay but that wreck just shouldn't have been like this. This isn't ARCA you know, the brakes work pretty darn well if you use them and there was all the time in the world to slow down. I really hope this isn't a sign of things to come this season or else we're pretty much guaranteed another Henna Venalainen.
 
Out-of-Character Comments: Just saw the race vid come up, so I'll hold off on commenting on it until I've watched it.

Practice for the 2017 Monster Shootout @ Las Vegas Motor Speedway:

"With everything that's been going on in my private life recently, it's nice to just get back in the car, meet back up with the Black Rose Racing Team and drive fast. And on an oval too!"

"First practice went really smooth for me. I know Las Vegas Motor Speedway has a bit of a reputation as being kind of a hairy place to race an Indycar, but I'm liking it a lot with this new package. This is also the first time that we've run the Ferrari on an Oval and I feel like it's just as good as on the road course; Really smooth power delivery, so you can throttle it in the corners if you have to and not worry about the rear tires stepping out on you.

"I kind of felt like Chevrolet were holding back a little bit at the Hidden Valley test, so I'm not that surprised to see the best of their best teams battling up at the front with us, and the time sheets in both sessions reflect that. For the gap to be as close as it has been so far is a real boost and speaks volumes about how good the Ferrari package is right out of the box and the depth of BRRT."

"What I am surprised with is how the rest of the Ferrari drivers dropped off in the second practice session, Alan (Herrera) especially. But overall, we're still right there in the top 10 and the race should be fun for somebody that came from short-tracks like me."

His lack of Pre-Season Interviews: "Well, the short answer is I'm kind of busy, what with testing down in Austraila, then taking the red-eye flight back to Canada to test the VRR Sportscar ride with Gabe (Jean-Claude Gabriel) up at
Calabogie Motorsports Park with Phantom Motorsports, then back to the states to do a couple of interviews in Indianapolis, IN before flying back out here to Las Vegas... And that's not even touching how hectic my personal life has gotten lately and the legal stuff surrounding my dearly departed grandmother's estate.

"So for me coming here, seeing everybody on the team again and get some time working around Indycars is pretty relaxing, you know?"

Phantom Motors Indy Lights Team: "I'm happy for Jean, because Indycar is a dream he's wanted to achieve for a while, just not until his 30's or so. I don't think he's dumb enough to actually drive full-time, but if he ever gets into VRR Indycar I wouldn't mind him sharing the track with me at Indianapolis during the 500 or something.

"He's got a good eye for talent too, and I know for a fact that Kat (Katherine Hart) is almost as good on ovals as I am and Dave (David Wessel) would be in F1 right now if he had any money."
 
VRR Reporter: Standing outside of the in field care center with Nicole Liechti, who was involved with the Ray Taylor accident. What was your perspective on the crash?
Nicole Liechti: I've already been penalized 10 grid positions for the start of Calder Park, so I think my opinion doesn't matter. Ray moved down on me and we spun, and when I started rolling again, I didn't realize that the steering column had been disengaged, so I ended up hitting Ray and I got penalized for that. How Ritter didn't get penalized for nearly killing the guy is beyond me.
VRR Reporter: How are you feeling otherwise?
Nicole Liechti: I feel fine. I was able to finish. VRR just wanted everyone involved in accidents to visit the care center for safety measures. If VRR is that concerned with the safety here, then we shouldn't have come here.
 
Sakura Ishibashi had her day go from bad to worse on Saturday. Following the crash involving Nicole Liechti, Ray Taylor, and Kevin Ritter , she would be involved with an accident involving several others under caution, that accident taking out Adrian Ragus and Diego Jaramillo. Ishibashi, who was penalized ten places on the grid for the season opener in Calder Park, had very choice words for VRR. "Pick a pace car driver that doesn't push the competitors out of the way." Ishibashi stated to the press after the race. "Diego, Adrian and myself were in the midst of figuring out who lined up where when the pace car pushed us up the track. Because the ****ing pace car hit me, I'm the one sitting with a misguided ****ing grid penalty. If this is what the season will be with Angel in the race director's chair, I might as well not even compete I'll be penalized for breathing...I am sorry for wrecking Diego and Adrian's cars. Being in Adrian's position, these cars aren't cheap. A pointless crash."
 
" I am just stunned at what I'm hearing. Two drivers given penalties for incidents that weren't intentional, one of which involved the safety car. I'd thought we got over the yellow flag shenanigans after what happened in Austrailia last year, but so far its not looking too great. I'm hoping they do something about those penalties, no way a driver should be penalized because whoever was in the safety car at the time decided to join the track at a terrible time."
 
In honor of late GTPlanet member Steve Travis, one of the bravest human beings I've ever encountered, the 2017 VRR Straight Talk IndyCar Series race at Kentucky Speedway will no longer be the Coca-Cola Indy 600, but instead now the American Heart Association 600.
 
Mixed day for the Impulse Racing team. Unfortunately, Sakura got caught up in the lap 40 shenanigans with the pace car and Jerome finishing in 12th and not advancing. I my self almost got caught up in the lap 40 crash on the front stretch. I'm just glad to have a good consistent run and finish 2nd and to rep Impulse Racing/Eli Lilly in the shootout.

Side note if VRR is looking for a new pace car driver I'm available for all but 5 rounds.
 
Looking at the #17 from the back makes me feel that I'm seeing one of those old Can-Am Shadow cars, haha. :lol:

But well, regarding what I've seen so far in the video and the results;
From 1st to 7th... Well, not exactly what I'd call a good ending, but given the crash I nearly got caught in, guess I should be a bit happier with that outcome. Especially since my teammate got wrecked early in the race... Time for an uphill battle!
 
"This race definitely went better for us than last year's one. We're glad we survived this one despite running very deep in the pack for most of the race. We're satisfied with how our new car ran and hopefully we can work on improving from our 11th tonight. I hope those who were involved in those huge wrecks are okay, especially Descotau since he's still being evaluated under the new concussion protocol. Congratulations to Jamie on 2 in a row for the Shootout."
 
That 2017 Monster Energy Showdown was honestly the first video of VRR I've seen from start to finish. Actually today, I continued where I left off after trying to see it yesterday. I was mostly pleased at how composed the action was going two wide and even three wide in the straights. Good event nonetheless.
 
Wow, I'm still shaking a bit at the moment! Super happy with how everything went this race. Super happy to have gotten 2 in a row. Hope the entire Polaris Motorsport team can keep the momentum up for the rest of the season! Yeah!
 
Alex Rivera : "We had a really good car today, We a vibration after that 2nd big crash and I had to pit and that pretty much ended the day for us.
 
Things were going ok, then pit stops happened and everything was ruined forever. Dammit. Congrats to JNJ...here we go again.
 
NBCSN: "Here with Jackson after a big wreck in the Tri-Oval. First of all, are you alright?
Jackson: "I'm fine, got the wind knocked out of me but I'm in good shape."

NBCSN: "Were you able to see where to go? Was there anyway in avoiding it?"
Jackson: "For a brief moment I thought so, but that quickly got ugly. Just another race being me as usual"

NBCSN: "How was the race for you up to that point?"
Jackson: "We started very off, just impossible to keep up with everyone. First crash I was really lucky to get on the brakes as quick as I did. We were still off but the second incident happened, made slight contact and weirdly, we were suddenly quicker and constantly floating around the top 10."

NBCSN: "What will you take away from today going into the season?"
Jackson: "Well, that we have much more pace around this kind of track when we actually get it to work. Unfortunately though, it also looks like it'll be another typical season for me: A little bit of promise, but a lot of wrecks and disappointment."
 
Still needing race logos for most the races excluding Calder Park, Kentucky, and Charlotte.
 
"Not as good of a day as I hoped it would be to be honest. Qualifying was weird because the car that felt amazing in both practice sessions turned into a pumpkin overnight and I couldn't get any speed out of it, which just mystified me and the rest of the #77 Coca-Cola Cherry Special's crew.

"The car was a lot better in the race and I felt like I was hauling the mail up until the red flag on lap 10. That accident was pretty scary and honestly, it kind of amazes me that the drivers in VRR Indycar just don't seem to have any respect for one another out there because with the insanity from the Monster Showdown the day before fresh in everybody's mind, only going a few laps before a caution kind of makes everybody out there look bad, you know?

"The #77 just wasn't the same car on the restart and I was just trying to hang on until the first pitstop when somebody clipped my left rear and I got bodyslammed by 4 other cars. The #77 was just awful again after that and I just tried to bring it home and get some laps under my belt... Overall, it was a tough day for the Black Rose Racing Team and hopefully we'll be able turn it around when we head down under to race at "The Thunderdome"."
 
In response to the name change of the race at Kentucky as well as inspired by an actual donation I made, I will be running this livery:

#19 American Heart Association Honda.png


Anyone that would like a similar livery feel free to contact me.
 
Ray Taylor was released from health tests early this afternoon and found to have no broken bones or any concussion symptoms and has been cleared to race the rest of the season.

"I'm still a little bit sore from the crash, there were a lot of g-forces in that. I have a pair of sprained wrists though from holding onto the wheel when Nicole ran into me the second time because I was ready to get going again and then that happened.

I've seen footage of the crash now too and I don't know what people are saying that I came down the track for. If you watch from my on board I'm getting closer to the cars on the ouside if anything and then our wheels touched which made it look like I cut down but I didn't do that. You can even see that Nicole came up the track through the corner, just because she's Angel's replacement at BRRT doesn't mean she is an angel.

That was bad form but not as bad as Ritter's, this guy could have killed me, and for what? He would have gained my spot anyway, the engine was wrecked after the second impact and then he comes along with his ARCA brakes and just drills me. I barely know the guy because we're both new this season and I'm worried about how much of a hazard he's going to be if this continues. I feel it's absolutely unacceptable, nearly criminal even, that he's receiving a pass on this incident.
 
ATTENTION ALL INTERESTED COMMENTATORS! Me and @nascarfan1400 are open to having a third commentator in the booth for the Royal Crown events this year. The way we're recording the commentary for the videos is different than what it was last year. This year, we're recording the commentary over a common video using the PS4's party chat system. So if you have a PS4, and feel like jumping in the booth, feel free to message me either on GTP or Discord. (Note: PS+ not required for the use of party chat)
 

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