Indianapolis: Paul’s Saturday thoughts

Today was the proverbial calm before the storm, though if not in the shadow of the Indianapolis 500, today’s activities would have been considered pretty stout on their own.  Kicking off the day’s festivities was the autograph session for all the former winning drivers and the drivers in tomorrow’s starting lineup.  More than 30 minutes prior to the session, lines more than 100 people long were already in place for each of the 11 rows of starters, and just moving around the Pagoda Plaza was a difficult chore.  At the same time, the autograph session for all the living former winners of the race was talking place in the area east of the pagoda plaza near the hospitality pavilions.  As it was set up, one would mostly have to choose one event or the other because it was unlikely that anyone was able to get through more than one line during the allotted autograph time.

Following the autograph session was the photograph of all the living Indianapolis 500 participants that were able to return for this year’s race.  In all, about 150 drivers, including this year’s starting lineup, were in attendance.  It was truly an amazing sight to see drivers from their teens to their 80s in the picture, and it’s one that is unlikely ever to be repeated.

The day at the track concluded with the public drivers’ meeting, held in front of the near-capacity Tower Terrace.  After several presentations and awards, the starting drivers’ rings were handed out to each of the 33 starters.  As they were introduced to the audience, the loudest cheers were for Simona de Silvestro, Helio Castroneves, and Alex Tagliani.  I was actually surprised by the muted response that Ryan Hunter-Reay received.  He didn’t get a substantial cheer, but he didn’t get booed, either.  It was rather subdued in light of the firestorm that took place around him this week.

The message to the drivers was delivered by two-time Indianapolis 500 champion Al Unser, Jr., who took over the duties for Brian Barnhart as he was reportedly under the weather (upon which Little Al received a smattering of playful boos when he promised that Brian would indeed be in Race Control tomorrow).  Much of the speech was identical to speeches Brian has given for the last many years, but one particular portion elicited a substantial ovation from the audience.  When Little Al told the drivers that they were to run the parade and pace laps in the proper alignment of 11 rows of three cars each rather than in single file until the pace lap, the crowd enthusiastically showed its approval.  It has been many years since fans have been treated to a respectable alignment on the parade laps, but to be quite honest, I don’t have my hopes high for much of a change tomorrow.  The drivers will do what the drivers want to do, and nothing I’ve seen of this generation suggests they have the slightest concern for the fans’ wishes on the parade laps.

I was surprised (and disappointed) when Little Al mentioned that the restarts during the race, while being double-file, would commence in the north chute between turns 3 and 4.  In all likelihood, the cars will never see the front straight two-wide, and any chance of added excitement is now significantly diminished.  Restarting the race that early is going to lead to cars going nearly the same speed when they cross the start finish line, and casual fans that don’t pay close attention to the IZOD IndyCar Series will likely not even notice much of a difference.  It’s a shame that these drivers can’t put on their big boy pants and start next to each other without crashing.  Even if the restart zone was at the exit of turn four rather than the entrance, professional racecar drivers should be able to figure out how to get into line before entering a turn that is 5/8 of a mile away.  Don’t tell me that can’t be done!

Following the driver’s meeting and a little shopping at the trackside gift shops, I was off to the Indiana State Fairgrounds to take in the 33rd Annual National Auto Racing Memorabilia show.  This show had dozens of merchants selling historic items and souvenirs.  Books of all ages and topics were to be found, along with autographed pictures of nearly every driver that has participated in the “500” over the past 50 years.  Die-cast models, historic track credentials, pit crew uniforms, and much more was available if you were willing to pay the price, which was quite steep in some instances.  It is a neat show to visit, but at $7 a head plus $3 for parking, many people not interested in the history of the sport would find the trip to be unworthy of their time.

Of course, no Indianapolis 500 race weekend is complete without a visit to Camp and Brew, so that was the final stop on my afternoon rounds.  I apparently just missed crossing paths with Steph but was able to catch up with several friends that I have met there over the years.  Located at the entrance to the Coke Lot off of Georgetown Road, Camp and Brew is an event helps to gather money and awareness of Lou Gehrig’s Disease through voluntary donations.  More Front Wing is a proud sponsor of this wonderful event, so we invite everyone to stop by and visit sometime this weekend and encourage everyone to help out the cause.

With that, I will wrap up early.  The alarm will be ringing very early tomorrow as I hope to be at the track no later than 7:00.  With expected high temperatures approaching 90 degrees, it should be a very interesting race, particularly in the first 100 laps as teams and drivers will be adjusting to conditions not seen all month.  This, of course, is a huge advantage to the bigger teams that have a massive catalogue of data from which to draw.  If some of the smaller teams can hit upon the correct setup, look for them to stay competitive.  And if the Penskes and Ganassis continue to make mistakes as they have the past couple of years, one of those smaller teams just might sneak away with a victory.

My final prediction for the race, and you can book this on the record: Oriol Servia brings home the first Indianapolis 500 victory for Newman/Haas Racing!