Thank you, INDYCAR and Iowa
IndyCar commentary — By Steph Wallcraft on June 26, 2011 12:12 pmAs important as it sometimes is to voice displeasure when things go wrong, it’s just as important to give due credit when things go right.
This weekend’s events at Iowa Speedway were just the boost that INDYCAR needed after the demoralizing events of the first half of the season. There were no technical glitches, no controversial calls from Race Control, no gimmicks to leave people with a bad taste in their mouths. Instead, we saw grandstands packed with enthusiastic Iowa fans, an excellent broadcast from the Versus team, fantastic racing — with lead changes, no less — from start to finish, and a winner we haven’t seen in five years.
For the first time in what seems like forever, we’re all coming out of this weekend talking about the things that matter: the fascinating state of the championship points race after Will Power saw yet another mistake on pit row bring his race to an early end; the fantastic pass for and subsequent defense of the lead by Marco Andretti that plainly demonstrated his right to be at the top level of auto racing in America; the state of the track, particularly the bump in turn 2, and whether it should be repaired or left as it is; and many more fantastic stories (many of which we’ll touch on in this week’s podcast). This is where the attention on INDYCAR should be focused, and the fact that it is has many of the sport’s observers walking on air today.
INDYCAR, Iowa Speedway, and that region’s fantastic fans all deserve a very large shout-out for a job well done. Let’s keep this newfound wave of momentum flowing right through the upcoming Canadian races and beyond!
Tags: Iowa Speedway, Verizon IndyCar Series - Administration
Couldn’t have said it better! There are lots of things that are going right this season. The race at Iowa just put everything all together. This is what Indycar Racing should be about. This year, though points are still dominated by drivers from Target & Penske, any driver has the potential to win. And that’s the way it should be for every race. I am sure that most of the drivers would feel the same way, wanting legitimate competition from start to finish. I truely hope there are 5-6 drivers fighting for the final season points lead when we get to Las Vegas!
But Steph, don’t you think that we had that in other races too? Mike Conway’s first win at no less than Long Beach? Indianapolis centennial’s dramatic finish? We have had lots of good moments this year, Steph.
I don’t disagree. But Conway’s win at Long Beach was tempered by the controversy around the lack of penalty for Helio. Indianapolis was a great race, but what people talked about most was RHR’s buy-in. This is the first race in a long time where the Negative Nancys are having a really hard time finding something to sink their hooks into. The best attempt I’ve seen is someone getting hung up on Bob Jenkins saying “JR Hinchcliffe.” It’s just nice not to have something to detract from the good vibes for once.