Indy Hump Day Report: Do they want another Pace Car crash 40 years later? Plus when are aero-kits coming?

How much of a “buzz” is a bad thing?:


While having a buzz generating for the Indianapolis 500 could be a good thing. The current situation with Donald Trump has quickly become a “bad buzz” not seen in the series since the days of Scott Harrington.

Even Harrington’s three DUI arrests in eight months did not cause as much outrage as the current choice for driving the pace car. Trump, since being named has quickly become a highly polarizing figure.

I honestly found it in poor choice to pick a reality TV star/political candidate. Seriously on the 100th Anniversary of the Indianapolis 500, Donald Trump and not 4-Time winner A.J. Foyt is driving the pace car? Is Trump even able to drive?

Having grown up in the Poconos; we are two hours west of New York City and two and a half north of Philadelphia. My parents being from New York, they always watched the TV news from the Big Apple when I was a kid. My father took the Martz bus from Mt. Pocono to Manhattan for two decades. Every day he would come home with both the New York Daily News, and the New York Post.

Sadly I have heard and viewed the massive ego-maniac proclaimed “The Donald” for well over two decades. I could talk about his very public affair with Marla Maples, but I really don’t care to say much about this joker.

What I can tell you is since 1990 the one thing I have always seen, Trump does not drive himself. No matter if he is  flying around in his private helicopter or jet with his last name on the side of it, or in the back of a limo. All as a passenger.

So in keeping with the true spirit of satire I present the next section of this Op-Ed.

I don’t believe Trump has a Drivers License; you can call me a “Driver”. But I feel this man has no business driving any car at the Brickyard, until he can produce a copy of his New York driver’s license. I currently have a team of Private Investigators working on it; I can’t tell you the crazy things they are reporting to me. Everyone will be shocked.

I am also calling for the series and IMS to #ParkTrump and replace him with A.J. Foyt. This will happen because I am so huge. Donald Trump will not drive the pace car because I am the most important man on earth. So what I say, goes!

If he does produce a drivers license it is because I forced the issue, and am just the most spectacular blogger in the world! What has this guy really ever done? I mean have you heard of Taj Mahal, Atlantic City? Honestly the tackiest casino ever and that is not an easy feat.

Back to all seriousness

So aside from the reality I question if this guy can drive, there is the issue of training. Has he even done the required training in the pace car yet? As far as I have read and heard, he has not. Considering he is running for higher ratings, I mean possibly President, he seems to always be someplace other than IMS.

Eldon Palmer crashing in the 1971 Pace Car. Photo via IndyStar.com

The training for driving the pace car is there for a darn good reason. 2011 is the 40th anniversary of the debacle of a Pace Car accident to start the 1971 race with Eldon Palmer. Mr. Palmer was the owner of Palmer Dodge in Indianapolis, he wrecked the pace car to start the 1971 race. How he did not kill the huge number of photographers he crashed into is one of the greatest miracles in race history. (Video of the 1971 Pace Car crash)

Now can someone tell me the idea of a driver who probably is two decades removed from driving, mixed with no training will work? I doubt that. Think of an elderly driver mistaking their pedals. Trump is a “Rickshaw rider” he needs someone to do the driving. I doubt a limo driver operating the pace car will be all that great.

Plus, isn’t there a rumor the Governor of Indiana wants to run for President? Do you think IMS needs to put itself in the middle of a Political race? I think not. People complain when I talk about news items that relate to the series. (Like National Guard sponsorship in racing as an example) Well then don’t complain to me, complain to IMS and Randy Bernard how you do not want U.S. Politics using the Indy 500 for their own press.

The race already was torn apart over politics for years. It was called CART versus IRL. We don’t need a Trump vs Daniels controversy taking away from the race! I think A.J. Foyt would be a far wiser choice for Pace Car driver.

Sato, Brazil, and water:

So while Will Power won the pole and race, we saw Takuma Sato amazed fans with the 23 laps he led. While Power was the only other leader with 32 laps in front, Sato showed KV and Sato are for real in 2011.

KV was the only team that during the red flag set up for wet, while all others seemed to go a 50/50 wet/dry set up. Well, KV had the right set up. Sadly the race had become a timed event so Sato was the victim of fuel strategy. Had the race gone the advertised distance, I suspect Japan would have their first winner in the INDYCAR Series.

Oh and all the talk earlier in the weekend about this being Sato’s first INDYCAR race in the wet, it rains in Japan, very often. It is the number one reason why most of the NPB Baseball teams in Japan play in a dome. So we now see; on road and street courses, if it is raining look out for Sato.

Indecision 2012:

No this is not a segment from the Daily Show, it is the current aero-kit policy for the IZOD INDYCAR Series. Why in the world would fans want these same tired bodies for yet another season?

It is time Randy Bernard puts his foot down, and tells the powers that be, have new aero-kits for 2012. The idea of new engines in tired old bodies sounds less like INDYCAR of the past, and more like ARCA. When I was in ARCA our short track car used a body that was from seven years earlier. In 1999 we were using a 1992 Pontiac Grand Prix body. That is not big time, and the INDY CAR Series needs to act big time if they want to compete with NASCAR.

There was a Facebook poll from INDYCAR asking fans what they wanted. Overwhelmingly the fans were voting for new kits in 2012. Suddenly this afternoon in a matter of minutes several fans noticed a massive change in the figures. Somehow 600 votes rapidly appeared  in the choice for a delay. Now as of this moment as I write this, the choices are no longer visible on the series Facebook page. (Was there a PR effort to alter the results?)

If you want people to watch in 2012, then there must be new aero-kits. PERIOD! Otherwise rename the series the IZOD IROC Series.

 

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2 Thoughts to “Indy Hump Day Report: Do they want another Pace Car crash 40 years later? Plus when are aero-kits coming?

  1. There will be new aero kits, but they will all be Dallara’s aero kit. (If the owners get their way)

    I think Randy should tell them to pound sand.

    Further, I think INDYCAR shouldn’t force each team to buy the dallara aero kit as part of their new chassis. They said they wanted different aero kits…. well prove it. Don’t force the teams to buy the dallara kit, even if they are planning on running a chevy body kit.

  2. My bad. Mis-read the INDYCAR.com article. So it will be new but only Dallara. Still lame. It is like “Spec Racer Ford” in SCCA just minus the spec sealed engine.

    A bit swamped this is finals week for my writing courses. I have 100 pages left to write and edit before 11:59PM Sunday.

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