When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
I actually watched an entire IRL race yesterday (only bc it was finale and series championship) and Montoya must be pissed. To have your own team mate spin you out of what would've been a better finishing position would be too much to bear.
I actually watched an entire IRL race yesterday (only bc it was finale and series championship) and Montoya must be pissed. To have your own team mate spin you out of what would've been a better finishing position would be too much to bear.
Watched part of the race, having three Penske drivers vying for the championship didn't make it easy on them. I was kinda surprised how nonchalant Montoya was after he got out of his car.
Originally Posted by F-C
I hate double points in the last race or at Indy.
BTW watch that Tracey and Bourdias video, Bourdias agrees with you in that he said it's much more difficult now in IndyCar for him now than when he was in ChampCar due to the money and the team.
Wow, that is big news. I think Cheever and Lyundyk were the first drivers in the Target-CG partnership back around 1990. The Target commercials back in the day were awesome, like the Vasser vs. Montoya ones.
IIRC, Target didn't actually "pay" alot for the sponsorship, as most of the money came from the store brands they partnered with through the Target deal.
Chip Ganassi Racing managing director Mike Hull, the architect behind the team's multiple IndyCar championships, Indy 500 wins, and June's 24 Hours of Le Mans victory with the Ford GT, brings us inside his early years, speaks about his move up the racing ladder, shares great stories about Alex Zanardi, Juan Montoya, and adds other memories from three decades spent overseeing Ganassi's open-wheel and sports car programs.
His closing tale about Montoya's ability to drift an Indy car at 200 mph on an oval is worth a listen on its own...
The Verizon IndyCar Series points leader andmost recent winner are high enough on life anyway following Saturday night’s resumption of the rain-delayed Firestone 600 at Texas Motor Speedway.
But Simon Pagenaud and Graham Rahal might be even happier headed into this weekend’s Watkins Glen Grand Prix (Sunday, 2 p.m. ET, NBCSN), a late add to the 2016 calendar to replace what would have been a first-time street race in Boston.
We caught up with both drivers a few weeks ago before Pocono, while IndyCar was in the midst of a couple off weekends (albeit still with a heavy testing slate).
And both drivers have extolled the 3.4-mile permanent road course in Upstate New York, recently repaved, while noting how “unbelievably fast” it is after testing there
“It’s really quick man. It was good fun. I was definitely impressed with what we’re experiencing there,” Rahal, who won Saturday night at Texas, told NBC Sports.
“G-load wise, it might be insane. Mid-Ohio was 4.5 Gs in qualifying in Turn 1. There might be some spots at the Glen where it’s that and then some. It’ll be intense.
“For whoever will go and see it, they should enjoy myself. Watching that on-board, which isn’t even at eye-level, because the camera is a little higher up, you can visibly see a lot more… and people are like holy crap!!
“Everyone is blown away by the speeds. If the fans want to go to any race, go to that place, because it looks like unbelievably fast.”
Pagenaud added similar thoughts from an earlier test this year in June, a Firestone tire test.
“Watkins Glen… oh man, it’s absolutely nuts!!” he told NBC Sports. “The tarmac design they have is really grippy. The tires are very consistent. Not much degradation. There’s very high pace and the commitment level is what impresses me the most. So much downforce but also so much grip, it’s doubly what we get! There’s a video game kinda feel!
“You’ll have to brake as little as possible. It’s hard to feel the car. Push those commitment limits, float with the limits. The reaction is really fast.”
Pagenaud, who tested in the No. 22 Menards Team Penske Chevrolet colors but will have a different primary sponsor this go-around, explained how he thinks the race could play out.
“Passing will be difficult… but you can make it happen before the Bus Stop. Push to Pass is awesome for acceleration. It might be more of an advantage uphill. Should be good device. Honestly… there could be a big game of downforce levels. Some might trim out, or put more on.”
Rahal spent his morning session at the August test watching Ed Jones – the Indy Lights driver, not his actual engineer of his No. 15 Mi-Jack/RLL Honda Eddie Jones – in the car. And he was blown away with what he witnessed.
“It looks crazy from outside. I was telling [Jake] Query – and I went out and watched – Ed Jones was in my car, and I was like, holy crap!! How am I gonna get up to speed that fast?!?
“It looked insane. I watched from Bus Stop, then the Carousel on down. That left-hander before the pit entry and then the last right-hander onto the front straight is ridiculously, crazy fast. You’re flat through the left, and it’s nuts man. From the outside, there’s the grandstand, and your jaw just drops.
“It’s one of the first times you sit and watch… you legitimately will be blown away.”
Way cool Legend! Y'know my wife and I were talking about the Glen Saturday night while watching the tape of qualifying. When we first started (as a couple) going there in the 80's, the place was a train wreck. The bathrooms were glorified porta-potties, the roads were beat up, the grass was overgrown, the grandstands were beat up and on and on. Corning, Inc. had just come on board and saved the track from further ruin and got IMSA to start showing up. Fast forward to 2009 and my brother's administration: he has guided the track through its largest growth period EVER with all new grandstands, re-paving the track; new media center; re-paved service roads; sell-out crowds (NASCAR-every seat was sold this year!); and made a huge economic and personal imprint on the surrounding communities by his intimate involvement in food banks, charities, museums, wine production, and kids' baseball teams! It really is completely amazing to me and makes me hugely proud of his work. It really is a cool thing indeed.
Way cool Legend! Y'know my wife and I were talking about the Glen Saturday night while watching the tape of qualifying. When we first started (as a couple) going there in the 80's, the place was a train wreck. The bathrooms were glorified porta-potties, the roads were beat up, the grass was overgrown, the grandstands were beat up and on and on. Corning, Inc. had just come on board and saved the track from further ruin and got IMSA to start showing up. Fast forward to 2009 and my brother's administration: he has guided the track through its largest growth period EVER with all new grandstands, re-paving the track; new media center; re-paved service roads; sell-out crowds (NASCAR-every seat was sold this year!); and made a huge economic and personal imprint on the surrounding communities by his intimate involvement in food banks, charities, museums, wine production, and kids' baseball teams! It really is completely amazing to me and makes me hugely proud of his work. It really is a cool thing indeed.
, I've never been to the Glen but it's on my list to visit (youngest daughter goes to RIT in Rochester so it's on the way).
Your brother and the rest of WG have done a great job resurrecting the place.
A older friend who grew up in NY, and went to some of the 70's races said the same (he the Bog was a scary place at night).
He races a couple Shelby Mustangs (65 & 66) and his partner and him are considering going up to the Glen vintage race next year, they couldn't make it this weekend.
In the 2 seat Indycar. He was there and I had a chance to chat with him a bit in pit lane after he came in from lapping. What a nice guy (small too!) Here's a video of him piloting the 2 seater around the Glen:
Not the biggest Alonso fan, but this is an awesome thing to do. I haven't watched the race since the split. So this might be the first time I'll watch it in 21 years.