Tag: Indy500

Episode 189 – OpenPaddock.net Podcast

Doug Patterson

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadThe whole gang preview the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race as Doug gets sauced on Fuzzy’s Vodka, Mr. Shaw goes on a rant about the epic failure of Global Rallycross to deal with a bit of rain, Mr. Patterson finally has Mazda Road to Indy news as we look forward to the Firestone Freedom 100 and the Night Before the 500, and Mr. Whitesell and Mr. Neely preview the Monaco Grand Prix. Show Notes for Episode 189 – May 20th, 2013 Preview Indy qualifying, 500…

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IndyCar – Pole Day Photos

Doug Patterson

Talk about a place of legend! The Indianapolis Motor Speedway, steeped in legend it self, was crawling with living legends all day long! Parnelli Jones graced us with two parade laps in the roadster in which he broke the 150 mph speed barrier. …ah, the days when we actually pursued speed! And what a fantastic sound! Deep, throaty, rumbly, magnificent! He didn’t really get on it, but it was still cool to see the old machine motoring it’s way around the speedway. One of the things most people fail to…

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IndyCar – Fast Friday Fotos

Doug Patterson

I’d love to have many more photos to, show you than just these, but unfortunately it appears that I’ve experienced one of those dreaded catastrophes that strike every photographer at some point. Memory car failure! I lost all of my wide-angle shots from Fast Friday today. 🙁 CARP! Fortunately, it’s early in the week, and there’s plenty of time to retake those lost shots. At least it didn’t happen on Race Day!

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INDYCAR – TCGR Will Keep Honda

Shaun

It was announced this weekend that Target Chip Ganassi racing will be supplied by Honda next season once engine competition is aloud. There was heavy speculation that perhaps given Ganassi’s efforts in NASCAR, he would switch to Chevrolet power next year. The announcement is huge for Honda and seems as yet another hit to Andretti Autosport who was thought to be Honda’s ‘anchor’ team in 2012. Ganassi has been supplied by Honda dating back to the team’s days in the ChampCar World Series. The manufacturer backed the team to four…

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IndyCar – Back to the Short Schedule

Doug Patterson

Curt Cavin reported this morning in the Indianapolis Star that the Month of May would be shortened to the Two Weeks of May. The track will open on May 15th for practice and rookie tests, but qualifying will be condensed to a single weekend. Pole Day will be on Saturday, May 22, and Bump Day will be on Sunday, May 23. The reasoning behind the change is to reduce the operating costs for all parties associated with the event. The teams will spend less money on room and board, the…

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Gran Turismo 5 Indy500 Contest

Doug Patterson

For those of you with a Playstation 3, get ready to download the Gran Turismo 5 trial when it hits the Playstation Network Store on December 17th. This trial will include only two cars, the Nissan 370-Z in stock configuration, and the Nissan 370-Z in tuned configuration, and only one playable track. Ordinarily, my first reaction to this would be to rant about how lame and how this is not even worth being called a tease. However, Polyphony Digital has significantly sweetened the pot with an offer that will have…

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OP-Ed – Rebuilding the 500 – Part 5 of 5 – Money

Doug Patterson

Rebuilding the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race Show Me The Money! During the 1950’s and 60’s, the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race saw tremendous growth. There are multiple reasons for this, of course, but one part of this was the continuing increase in prize money offered for the event. From 1950 to 1970, the total event purse experiences a five-fold increase! Even accounting for inflation, the purse increased three-fold. Say what you will about teams and drivers competing for the “love of the sport”, if the money isn’t there, the top talent…

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OP-Ed – Rebuilding the 500 – Part 4 of 5 – Speed

Doug Patterson

Rebuilding the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race Getting Up To Speed One thing that drew people not only to the track on race day, but on pole day and every qualifying day thereafter was the thrill of seeing those incredible speeds! People came to see blazingly fast cars, the brave superhuman drivers that piloted them, and to hear track announcers like Tom Carnegie announce, “And it’s a NEEEEWWWW TRAAAACK RECOOORD!” Some of you know what I’m talking about! For those that don’t, please check out this video from IndyCar’s YouTube page:…

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OP-Ed – Rebuilding the 500 – Part 3 of 5 – Creative Engineering

Doug Patterson

Rebuilding the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race The Engines Now what can you allow and not allow beyond the standardized tub and safety features? For one, I think you can open up the engine design. Put a cap on the output power of the engine, but allow teams to achieve that power however they wish. Want to run a four-cylinder twin-turbo engine? Great. Twelve-cylinder normally aspirated? Fantastic. Heck, throw one of those super cool Wankel engines in there! Just make all teams bring their engine to a league-operated dyno to check…

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