OPINION: Penalizing Power in Detroit was the wrong call
IndyCar, IndyCar commentary — By Steph Wallcraft on June 5, 2014 11:26 amI’ve had a chance to take a closer look at the highlights from race 2 at the Chevrolet Indy Dual in Detroit, and I’ve reached the following conclusions: my original stance was incorrect, Will Power should never have been penalized, and if we as fans and observers of the sport are going to climb onto social media and squeal at every little thing then we need to make darned sure that we’re sending IndyCar consistent messages about the type of racing we want to see.
Here’s the highlights package from IndyCar:
Coverage of the incident involving Power starts roughly 20 seconds in.
Having taken a step back and looked at it again, here’s what I see: Power jumps into a massive gap, and by the time he gets up next to Newgarden he’s not only fully beside him but slightly ahead of him. Yes, Power claimed a lot of track for himself on exit of the corner, but it looks as though he was on a trajectory to leave room for Newgarden — albeit while making life difficult for him — and it was reasonable of Power to expect that Newgarden knew he was there. Clearly, though, Newgarden didn’t — he maintained his line as if nothing had happened, and he was the one who turned into Power, taking himself and Rahal out in the process.
I understand why people want to see Power penalized, and I understand the collective sigh of relief when it happened on Sunday. He does seem to have gotten away with a fair bit this season, and the fact that the series title sponsor is on his sidepod has created a wave of conspiracy theories.
But in this specific case, it looks as though Power did nothing wrong except capitalize on an opportunity and flat-out race hard. I fear, though I sincerely hope this is not the case, that those in Race Control, in the backs of their minds, saw an opportunity to quell the rumors of conflict of interest by doling out a penalty that was going to be popular and jumped on it.
(And here’s what leads my mind in that direction: check out the same video above at 1:35. See how Briscoe wedged his nose in there and tried to make it three-wide? That move had absolutely zero hope of working, and Briscoe still didn’t cop a penalty. Curious how that move didn’t pull a black flag but the one from Power did. Makes you think, doesn’t it?)
So, those of us sitting on the outside need to think hard about the messages we’re sending to IndyCar about what we want racing in the series to look like — especially now since the series seems more concerned than ever about making sure its product appeals to the fans watching in the stands and at home. And it wasn’t all that long ago that we felt unheard when we were screaming from the rooftops about the insane blocking rules that essentially meant that a leading car was obligated to move over for the car behind it or face a penalty. Now, we’re back to a culture where the racers are able to race again largely without fear of recourse, and we’re telling IndyCar we’re not happy with that, either? It makes no sense.
The great drivers in history didn’t make their names by quietly turning laps — it was their ability to hang it all out and take brave chances that made them heroes. We’re starting to see glimpses of that kind of racing in IndyCar again, most notably lately from Will Power. We would all be well-advised to let Race Control continue on their current course of keeping penalties to a minimum if we want to see more of it in the future.
Tags: Detroit, Team Penske, Verizon IndyCar Series - Administration, Will Power
Very first time I have seen the video. From the overhead it looks like one of them racing deals to me, so I can support your no pentalty theory here, Steph. I agree that Power is along side or even slightly in front of Newgarden who then biffs into him. The problem with having a IndyCar version of “boys have at it” is with every incident not called, either the level of banging ratchets up or the fan outrage gets louder or both. We all want the refs to “let ’em play” … until our driver gets biffed. Then someone ought pay! That’s always the problem with the “let ’em play” mentality. It usually leads to chaos and then a re-assertion of the rule of the ref and that leads to yelling about inconsistency. So, I agree with you again, Steph, FANS need some consistency of messaging when it comes to what they want as well. LET ‘EM PLAY one week and THROW THE FLAG the next is not cool.
I agree, but much like you, I was totally blaming Slick Willy P until i just saw the aerial view video here…damn it, I live in detroit and was meaning to contact and meet you but totally forgot–next year!
Sorry to have missed you, Doug — next year for sure!
The overhead shows where every car is, but I don’t think you can use that as the sole reason why he shouldn’t be penalized. I was sitting in turn 3 and you see Power with the run on Pagenaud and he should have stopped there. He got greedy and dovebomb into the pack.
It’s the beginning of the race and he’s mid-pack. He knows that it’s going to bottle-neck down at turn 3. And if you’re Newgarden you see Pagenaud in your right rear-view, Rahal in your left. As you break it’s Pagenaud, Pagenaud, WTF I’m in the tires.
If you watch the replays, you see that there wasn’t enough room for Power, which is why he had to go over the curbs, which sent his car straight into Newgarden. Power proved throughout the race he had the best car in breaking. The beginning of the race is not the time to be forcing the issue. Because he did, he ruined Newgarden’s race. That’s why he deserves the penalty.
If you’re a driver in the series, is that how you want to be raced? You’re mid-pack and you have cars from the back flying into a turn that doesn’t have the space with everyone breaking into it? I don’t think so.
Thanks for your well-reasoned response, John. Bear with me while I issue a rebuttal.
Power was mid-pack because he didn’t qualify well, but we all new he had a fast race car and was going to quickly work his way toward the front. (Heck, dude copped a penalty and STILL finished second, and strategy hardly played into Sunday’s race. That’s proof enough.) He was on a mission to get to the front — as he should have been because he’s a race car driver and that’s his job — and even with your on-the-ground description I still don’t think he was reaching by thinking he could pull that move off.
If putting a wheel into the grass is penalty-worthy, then bring the entire field in. Curbs are well-known to be more of a suggestion. I do see your point about his back end being upset as he was coming off them, but again, if you look at the replay there was still room for Newgy to work with had he known Power was there, and I don’t see “I’m busy on the left so I’m going to ignore the right” as being much of an excuse for missing a car that’s not only alongside you but ahead of you.
If you’re a driver in the series, no, that’s not how you want to be raced — you want everyone to fall into line nicely behind you because that makes it easier for you to win. But this isn’t a parade, and the fans are better off if drivers aren’t discouraged from making attempts like Power’s by being worried that penalties will result.
Steph, I disagree but welcome the counterpoint. I feel if Power had hit Simon it would have been a racing incident since he was only taking one car into that turn. When he went for the second car, he committed to a line that wouldn’t work if he didn’t have the full track to on exit. It turns out that he didn’t.
Maybe I still cling to the belief that it’s the responsibility of the passing driver to execute a safe pass. I suppose it could be argued that Power was even or almost in front of Newgarden, but the fact he came from so far back still meant (to me) that he was the passing driver.
Thank you, Colin. We love civil discourse, contrary or otherwise.
But I still think Power was right to go for it. The opening was there — why wouldn’t he? Personally, I’d rather see rules that encourage these kinds of risks. Think back to 2011, and then think of it as advocating for the fan.
I guess my point is just as much that if Power hadn’t been called then people would have absolutely howled without giving it critical thought, which is even more damaging.
Colin did a great job basically supporting what I’m thinking. Just to challenge you one more time though Steph, if you look at the aerial view screenshot that you have at the top of the page, when Power is alongside Newgarden, how is he going to make that corner? He stuck his car in a no-win situation. He
Looking at the aerial, Newgarden has the line for the apex of the corner. Just as much as we don’t want to see a parade, we don’t want someone moving over and letting someone by as a nice guy.
I don’t want to see parades, and i want to see passes too. I’d rather officiating NOT play such a huge part in racing, if I wanted to argue about referees, I’d watch ‘stick and ball’ sports. However, for a championship caliber driver, Power has been involved in too many contact incidents this year.
I’m not kidding, when I was watching it live as Power went into the corner, I was yelling “whoa whoa WHOA!” My wife looked up and I said “He couldn’t make that turn” Is this is simply a matter of Power trying to intimidate the field, is he showing that he’s willing to crash if they don’t move over? Early in their careers Michael Andretti and Paul Tracy showed a willingness to use the ‘chrome horn’ to good advantage. Curiously, they (like Power) piled up wins but only one championship for each. “Boring” drivers like Mears and Rahal won championships.
I hadn’t seen the second race on video yet, only via radio, so these are my first blushes:
Power was in too deep with no advantage or line out of the corner, jumps the tub going over the curbing, hits Newgarden. Penalty.
Briscoe, no business being in the middle with nowhere to exit, Penalty.
Andretti, tough to call, was looking faster than Sato, had primary line in corner although wasn’t anywhere near even with Sato. Sato turns into corner gets hit from left rear by Marco. Agree, penalty.
Kimball-Hinchcliffe: another tough one, both even w each other into a right-hander, but Hinch turning in, left less than a car width, forcing Kimball over curb, catching some air, bouncing left into Hinch. Racing deal. No Penalty.
Power had absolutely no chance of making the corner without the cars on the outside to bounce off of. He was too late braking and way to early apexing. If no one was there to hit he would have hit the outside barrier with the left front on exit. The penalty should have been a good whoopin’ behind the garage but IndyCar would never tolerate such ungentlemanly conduct.
Agree with Bill. Power’s line in that situation was not good judgement and was going to result in contact after he went that far over the curb.
I mostly side with Step and PDog on this one: Power did get his nose ahead of Josef in the turn. True, he had a horrific line into the turn and was going to force Newgarden wide (perhaps *that* was the reason for the penalty?), but he *was* ahead. And was really not braking any later than Rahal was (although Rahal had the outside line, so maybe he could justify braking later… man, so many variables to account for…).
But there’s that “mostly” adverb in there. I admit, I can still find problems in the act. After reflection, though, I do wonder if that should’ve been written off as a racing incident rather than be penalized. Yes, he went wide, but yes, he also managed to get ahead… man, reflection doesn’t always lead to clarity, does it?
And therein lies the problem with internet spectatorship: Comments are made in the spirit of the immediate and have absolutely no reflection or deep consideration. When the contact first happened, yeah, I was among the ones barking about it. Totally. But on replay, I backed off. So yes, I wasn’t consistent about what I’ve posted. And worse yet, was contributing to the problem of the knee-jerk hue and cry.
But at the same time, when the replay happened, I took a lot of it back. I still think that was a miserable line through the corner, but would that really be enough to push the whole incident over into a penalized one? I keep going back and forth over that. I agree with Steph and PDog in that I want to see drivers hang it all out and go for great passes, and I further agree with the problem of mixed messages about approval one day and complaint the next. But at the same time, how do I untangle the messy details in the reality of this specific incident? The “bad line through the corner” argument is still stopping me cold.
I don’t know… I just know that the problem is being exacerbated by heat and irrational emotion online rather than rational, reasoned response. Not here in these comments (I need to stop by more often), but elsewhere online. I don’t aim this following statement at anyone here, all of whom have been reasonable and given good reasons for their stances, but in places elsewhere I can’t help but think the hue and cry for Power’s penalty is because he’s Will Power, and less due to the merits of the incident itself. I further can’t help but think that had that been someone else – say, PT back when he was still racing – it would’ve been lauded for its aggressiveness, and excuses would’ve been made for how it worked out. Had it been Montoya some would’ve been pissed, but most would’ve laughed it off as JPM being JPM. But because it’s Will, he’s getting excoriated.
I definitely am not saying that his reputation isn’t deserved; I’ll note that you never see, for example, TK or Dixon doing this. Or Dario back when he was still racing. Will can be a bear about clawing his way into position when he’s not on pole. It’s just that I’m merely pointing out that *this* incident was, in hindsight, probably not the best one to spank him for, regardless of the two other cars that were put out. And I say that as a fan of both Josef and Graham over Will.
I don’t know if this was the best incident to penalize, but there’s a messy reality out there that’s not getting untangled by online participation. Even if everyone disagrees on the incident, I think everyone might be able to agree that Jekyl-and-Hyde posting habits is not helping Indycar management understand what fans want. And that possibly it’s a good idea to reflect before hitting “enter”. It’s definitely something I myself need to start practicing.
I think you are wrong in your analysis. The overtaking driver is responsible for a clean pass. With that said, it is a fact when you go over the curbing, it throws your car to the outside. Power never had a chance to go through there without taking someone out considering how much of the curb he ran over. The outside was Newgarden’s and he had a right to turn where he did. Power’s line has to be one lane wide only on the inside without crossing into Newgarden’s line. He failed. He never had a chance because of the curb. Power’s bad, not Newgarden. Reason why? All the drivers know that the curb throws you outside. They are pro’s and they know it. Power knew going into the corner that he was going to push out and not stay in his lane. Race control knows that he knows better. His bad, penalty called. What really irks me though is he has had at least two other incidents that were more egregious this season..
I think Power was penalized partly due to his recent rough driving, including running Pagenaud into the tires during race 1. At some point, the officials have to act just to prevent being seen as preferential to Will.
COULDNT AGREE MORE EVEN THOUGH IM VERY BIASED ABOUT THIS CALL CAUSE WILLIAM IS MY #1 fav driver but i saw at least 15 other drivers complete the same pass the same way without incident!!! And Marino Franchitti needs to keep his opinions on twitter about William to himself. He has no idea what hes talking about