Roger Penske ain’t gonna fuck you dude.

What?

Big motorsports fan are you there, KD?

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Sex isn't dirty, sex isn't a crime. It's a loving act between two or more consenting adults.

-Hank Kingsley

If you want to see something crazy check out the pace car crash in 1971. The driver was a local car dealer and they told him to maintain speed until the line at start of pit road. He thought they meant the start/finish line so he was going down pit road 125 mph thinking he had to stay ahead of the field until the start/finish line. He gets on the brakes at the line and spins the car and takes out a grandstand. Astronaut John Glenn was riding shotgun waving to the crowd. Probably the closest he came to dying...

I saw the pace car at the museum and its been completely restored.

https://youtu.be/0qf8P-Io2kM

I know Indy Car also does road courses. Left AND right turns are tough.

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That was crazy.

Mark Donahue!

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Sex isn't dirty, sex isn't a crime. It's a loving act between two or more consenting adults.

-Hank Kingsley

Yeah and Jackie Stewart commentary trying to make sense of what just happened.

I've seen that pace car in the museum. Its been restored and not a scratch on it. I think a local guy in Indy owns it.

I wish they would let the teams run as much boost as they want in the race to mix things up. Honda and Chevrolet don't want their engines blowing up in front of millions of people but too bad.

Everyone ready for the Indy 500 this weekend?

It would be nice if they could attract a couple more engine manufacturers. Porsche was close to signing on then backed out at the last minute. I'm not even sure Chevrolet is aware they have an Indycar program as much as they let Honda walk all over them.

Oddly enough I watched quite a bit of qualifying last weekend since the Sox were crapping up their beds.

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There are only two examples of infinity: The universe and human stupidity and I'm not sure about the universe.

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Sherman remarked, "Well, Grant, we've had the devil's own day, haven't we?" Grant looked up. "Yes," he replied, followed by a puff. "Yes. Lick 'em tomorrow, though."

I totally forgot that be race still existed.

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"When people want their version of the truth, they go find it, no matter how baseless their beliefs." -- Ken Rosenthal

After watching my first race earlier this year (Daytona 500)....I'd be inclined to watch it, but I'm pretty sure I'll be outside and busy this weekend. This is not the season for TV watching

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It just dawned on me that I have no idea who the drivers even are anymore. Except for the Rahal and Andretti kids.

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There are only two examples of infinity: The universe and human stupidity and I'm not sure about the universe.

There was a time, back in the late 80's/early 90's, long before Honda was involved that Chevrolet/Illmor Indy V8's dominated.

However, Chevrolet pulled their involvement and focused on their dominance in NASCAR as it's closer (I know, I know) to the race on Sunday, sell on Monday mindset. While a Monte Carlo or Lumina we sold in the stealership doesn't have any underpinnings of the Monte/Carlo's/Lumina's of that same time frame out on the track, people could still buy something that looked somewhat similar on the track and not to mention the engine that powered them, was pretty much the same "architecture" you would find in Vette's/Camaro's and GM trucks of the day. So the relationship was strong.

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Certified Dirty Old Man

Sadly the 500 will never be the spectacle it was in the 90s. We used to watch the races from the Miller suite which was over the pits about halfway up compared to the main stands. If you didn't pick the car up just as it was exiting turn 4 you couldn't turn your head fast enough to follow it as it went by. It was unreal. They were doing 255mph on the straights then compared to about 236 or so today (in qual trim). When the engines gave up the ghost it was like a car bomb going off. The only time I go now is when I have friends from Europe come over. They think its great but I tell them you should of seen it in the 90s.

The main issue now is the reliability of the engines is too good (its ridiculous they won't push them harder) and the clumps due to the spec chassis. Its so hard to pass now the packs don't break up until well into the fuel run when the tires finally start to give up. Its a shame Penske isn't 10 years younger because I think he knows what's wrong and will take steps to make it more of the spectacle we saw in the 90s. I just don't know if he has enough time left.

I am sad it isn’t what it once was. Might as well be F1 to me now.

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Agreed. It's all about the tires for both now. And stupid gimmicks

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There are only two examples of infinity: The universe and human stupidity and I'm not sure about the universe.

Agree on the 90's thing for Indy, then pretty much my same feeling on NASCAR in the 00's.

Isn't part of slowing them down (maybe not intentionally) is to promote closer/tighter action. I know that can be dangerous being side by side on open wheels, but then again, does that put butts in the seats?

I actually got heavily in to NHRA in the past few years, even with 1,000 ft racing. But I hate when the engines blow, because that now means a 2 hour delay for them to clean up, which then can push the qualifying rounds in to the evening (if you go on a Friday or Saturday).

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Certified Dirty Old Man

Idk about changes now but one big problem was the IRL and making all the engines and cars the same. The whole Lola/Cosworth different motors and teams was the entire draw. I loved Mears and Andretti’s and routes against others.

I go further back to Rutherford and Foyt. Last I saw the only thing that mattered was pit stops/crews not racing. Single file boredom.

Actually I think in recent years the same thing is causing some NASCAR decline. You get some places where they can still race but it’s mostly pit strategy, single file and draft luck.

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Yup, exactly why I lost interest in it in the 00's.

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Certified Dirty Old Man

Actually the overall lap times aren't that far off. The cars today are a lot slower on the straights but they can carry a lot more speed thru the corners due to the increased downforce. Its kind of impressive since the cars today are making around 400 less horsepower but the visual isn't as impressive. The pack racing is more a product of going to a single chassis and cheaper engines to reduce costs. Now everyone is basically the same and the car has so much downforce you can pretty much mat the thing all the way around the track. Packs make it very difficult to overtake. When you come up on a single car you just close as much as you can on exit then get in the slipstream on the straight and pull out and pass. When you come up on 2 or more cars the car in front of you is getting the slipstream of the car ahead of him so you don't have the advantage of more speed on the straight to pass. I like the see the field spread out more so the better drivers can use their ability to work thru the traffic. If the cars had more power then the drivers would have to lift and be more careful on exit to preserve the tires so you'd see the field break up earlier.

The attendance in the 90s was 400,000+ and today is probably around 250,000. They used to get 100,000+ just in the infield.

Yeah Nascar was great in the 90s to about 2005.

Yep when it split and then went to a spec series that really hurt. You had different engines and different chassis so you had a lot of variation which made the race way more interesting. I can remember very well in 1994 when Penske turned up with the Mercedes.

I think Nascar's big mistake was not consolidating their existing fan base after things started showing signs of getting soft around 2006. They tried to stay in expansion mode and came up with The Chase and Stage Racing which really pissed off a lot of their hardcore fans. I got out when they started throwing the hot dog wrapper yellows with about 10 laps to go every race. What a joke.

This is a horrible broadcast

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There are only two examples of infinity: The universe and human stupidity and I'm not sure about the universe.

This is sort of boring—single file racing as noted above. It seems like it’s all about luck in terms of pitting on yellow versus green.

Not sure why these guys can’t pull into the pits.

Let’s go Helio!

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Lay off that whiskey and let that cocaine be.

I'm watching just because its on but I have no idea who almost every driver is and its incredibly boring. I thought Jimmie Johnson was racing. Either he is terrible and completely off the leaderboard or he isnt there.

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That's my purse! I don't know you!

This is a great race.

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Lay off that whiskey and let that cocaine be.

I need to know who the hell the drivers are for it to be exciting for me....or it has to be a short track where I can see everything unfold each lap. I've been to indy before for time trials and its really weird only seeing a fraction of the track.

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That's my purse! I don't know you!

It was a good race despite the broadcast. I don't think any of the broadcasters brought any feel for open wheel racing. And that includes Danica.

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There are only two examples of infinity: The universe and human stupidity and I'm not sure about the universe.