LOS ANGELES, California — The dust has settled on the 94th-running of “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” and I checked some facts. I'll recap the latest Indy 500 and abbreviated two weeks at Indy from various angles. The Indy 500 race broadcast on radio was non-existent this year in Southern California. No local stations carried the IMS Network 500 coverage. So CA radio personality Lee “Hacksaw” Hamilton (1090 AM in San Diego) deserves praise for his annual pre-Indy 500 news-maker telephone calls. His 3 to 7 pm sports talk show welcomes auto racing calls from listeners all year. This year from Monday, May 24 through Friday, May 28 he had nine on-air conversations of seven to ten minutes each about the Indy 500 with the following persons--(including my grade for the caliber of each 500 interviewee): active drivers - Paul Tracy (A+), Alex Tagliani (B+), Ryan Hunter-Reay (A+) and Graham Rahal (A+); retired drivers/TV analysts Scott Goodyear (A+), Sam Posey (C-) and Derek Daly (A+); motor-sports writers Indianapolis Star motor-sports writer Curt Cavin (A+) and retired AP auto racing editor now RacinToday.com motor-sports writer Mike Harris (A+).
The 2010 Indy 500 ran under a blue sky on a hot 88-degree day and attracted about 250,000 spectators according to racing experts. The ABC telecast overnight rating was down a bit at 3.68 from the 3.96 last year despite many interesting story-lines. More than four million households watched the race this year according to a published report. Winner Dario Franchitti dominated the race, leading 155 of the 200 laps. However, he had to conserve fuel during closing laps and slowed from 224+ mph laps to 206. As second place Dan Wheldon closed in with ample fuel to race at full speed, the winner was in doubt. Then the horrific Mike Conway crash occurred as Dario started his final lap. Conway tried to pass Hunter-Reay on the inside, just as H-R's car abruptly ran out of fuel. Conway's No. 24 launched over the 37 car tires into the third turn catch fence and caused the yellow flag. It would've been interesting to see who the winner would've been had the final lap been green all the way to the checkered flag. Both Dario and Dan were trying to win their second Indy 500. Dario did it with a reported 1.6 gallons of fuel left, but he didn't know he had that much. Under caution he was able to slow significantly and save fuel from turn one to the finish line. All cars still on the track were able to cut through the pit lane from the third turn to the front straight as track emergency crews were on the track in turn three at Conway's crash site. That saved more fuel. Dan finished right at the back of Dario's car in the finish line photo. We'll never know who the winner would've been if Conway's crash had not happened. It was Dan's second consecutive runner-up finish in the 500 and the third in a row second place at Indy for John Barnes' Panther Racing No. 4 (Vitor Meira drove it in 2008).
The 2002 Indy 500 two car crash in the second turn just as P. Tracy was passing Helio Castroneves at turn three is a similar last lap crash that determined the 500 winner and resulted in controversy. Conway's launch into the fence reminded me of the 1996 Indy 500 (first under IRL sanction) last lap crash at turn four by cars battling for fourth place. Roberto Guerrero (# 21) spun from the inside up into the outer wall, hitting Alessando Zampedri (# 8) which climbed the wall and got airborne as Conway's car did this year. Eliseo Salazar (# 5) passed under the airborne # 8 and ducked as Hunter-Reay had to do in this year. The upright # 8 and # 5 slid to a stop on the front straight inner wall. Zampedri lost part of a foot. The #21 spun into the inner wall just before the pit entrance. This accident is on You Tube currently. Injuries: Conway received a left ankle injury and a compression fracture in his back that required a brace for up to three months. Hunter-Reay had surgery a day after the race and a doctor installed a carbon fiber splint on his left thumb. It was injured earlier in the race when his car and another tangled leaving the pits.
The 500 this year was more interesting to watch because there were more green flag pit stops than last year when full field pits stops under numerous cautions were the norm. Biggest surprise this year was the mistake-prone three-car Penske Racing team. Castroneves and Will Power each had pit miscues that dropped them deep in the field. Ryan Briscoe hit the wall leaving turn four and stopped with major damage near the starters' stand. It was a very un-Penske-like day for the entire team that is the most successful in Indy history. ... On the flip side, low budget team owner Dale Coyne enjoyed his best 500 result (P. 4 with Alex Lloyd driving). ... Blocking penalty calls: This year officials warned drivers not to block and backed it up when they issued black flag penalties to Graham Rahal and John Andretti. ... This year, for the first time, each driver had 15 push-to-pass 10-horsepower boosts for the Honda V8. Activated by pushing a button on the steering wheel, each boost lasted 18 seconds. There was a 10-second recovery period between button applications. The HP button took away drivers complaints that it was too difficult to pass another car of similar speed and contributed to more passes during the 2010 race. Drivers strategy on how many pushes to save for the closing laps was interesting. Remaining pushes to pass became an informative streaming line at the top of the ABC-TV screen as the race progressed.
Winner Franchitti received $2,752,055 from the $13,592,815 total purse awarded at the Monday night awards ceremony. His actress/wife Ashley Judd received more airtime on ABC as she rushed to victory lane. His car number (10) became at first-time IMS winning car number at the 500. Dario now has two Indy triumphs and he has received the checkered flag both times under the caution flag (rain in 2007 and the last lap crash in 2010). Runner-up Wheldon received $1,007,305 in the Panther Racing No. 4 National Guard car. It would've been fitting for the National Guard-sponsored car to win the 500 on Memorial Day, one of America's two most patriotic days each year. ... Simona de Silvestro was one of a record four females in the 500 (Danica Patrica, Sarah Fisher and rookie Ana Beatriz were the others). Simona (No. 78 HVM Team Stargate) received the rookie of the year trophy and $25,000 bonus after starting 22nd and finishing 14th on the lead lap in her Dallara/Honda/Firestone. Rookie Mario Romancini, an Indy Lights grad, finished 13th with 200 laps and qualified slightly faster than Simona (224.641 to 224.228 mph). However, he ran behind Simona most of the race and highest finishing position is not the only determining factor used in selecting Indy's RotY honoree. SPEED TV's Robin Miller, in his post-500 recap Sunday, said Simona deserved the RotY award.
The 2010 Indy 500 had four past winners (Helio, Dario, Dan W, and Scott Dixon) and six rookies. The 224.974 mph starting field average was the fifth fastest in Indy history. The 33 cars qualifying speeds ranged from 227.970 to 223.634 mph. The spread from fastest to slowest qualifier was only 4.336 mph. The oldest driver (Davey Hamilton) was 47 and the youngest (Sebastian Saavedra) was 19. The 3 hour 5 minute race averaged only 161.623 mph. The race had nine caution flags totaling 44 laps. There were 13 lead changes among eight drivers, including first-time Indy 55 leaders Conway (15 laps) and Justin Wilson (11 laps). Wilson became the 200th different driver to lead a lap in 94 Indy 500 races. Power ran the fastest lap of the race at 225.090 on lap 15. The race had 19 cars RAF (running at finish) and 14 finished all 200 laps. It would have been 22 cars RAF, as in recent years, if the last lap crash had not occurred. That last lap incident also caused Ana Beatriz to spin into the infield wall to avoid Conway's flipping car.
CRASHERS/WALL-CONTACT: Good guy Hamilton crashed on L 1 in turn 2 and blamed Tomas Scheckter, calling him “an idiot”. Bruno Junqueira was next on L 8, Mario Moraes (L 18), John Andretti (L 63), Raphael Matos (L 73) also got up close & personal with the IMS wall. Other “contact” retirees were Vitor Meira, Sarah Fisher, who pitted, E. J. Viso, Briscoe, Saavedra and Beatriz. Of course Conway and Hunter-Reay contacted the T.3 wall spectacularly. That is 13 of the 33 car field (39%) eliminated by contact. Once again this year, the Honda “spec” engine performed flawlessly with no engine failures for the fifth consecutive year. Some persons criticize the lack of engine diversity in current Indy cars. However, Honda's lack of engine competition enables the firm to concentrate on engine reliability and that's a good thing. Blown engines oil the track and take out other cars.
ABC TELECAST: ABC was on air Sunday, May 30 from 9:00 am to 1:45 pm (PT) including pre- and post-race coverage. It went 45-minutes overtime because of so many cautions. On-air talent included returnees host Brent Musberger, announcer Marty Reid, analysts Scott Goodyear and 1998 Indy winner Eddie Cheever, pit reporters Vince Welch, Jamie Little, Dr. Jerry Punch and Rick DeBruhl. ABC had taped features on Danica, Helio, the three four-time 500 winners, A. J. Foyt, A. Unser & Rick Mears, Andretti teammates Tony K and Marco A, the Rahals--Graham and Bobby, the 1960 Jim Rathmann-Rodger Ward P. 1 duel, and the IRL two seater ride for Michael Andretti and actor Mark Wahlberg. What ABC cameras missed was early leader changes on L 1 (Dario passing Helio) and Power passing Dario. It did not show the two-seater trailing the 33-car field and pulling into the pits at the initial green flag. ... Celebrities: ABC anchor Robin Roberts drove the Indy 500 Corvette pace car and credited her instructor, three-time 500 winner Johnny Rutherford, for being “a great instructor and getting me up to 130 mph”. Actor Jack Nicholson (courtesy of IZOD) waved the green flag from the starters' stand to start the race. He enjoyed it so much he did not leave for some time. He waved the green flag to restart racing on lap 5 and lap 12 following wreck-caused cautions. ABC placed on-board cameras on seven cars. From front to back rows cameras were aboard numbers 3, 10, 30, 9, 26, 4, 43, 7 and 11. All gave us great shots. ABC brought us the 11 rows of three driver introductions by track announcer Dave Calabro. Crowd cheers were loudest for Sarah F, Danica P, Marco A, Davey H, Helio and Tony K. Singer Jewel sang the National Anthem well at 9:56 PT and even switched microphones while singing without missing a beat. The 10:02 Memorial Day 21-gun salute and taps were appropriate. At 10:05 (12:05 CT) inimitable actor Jim Nabors, 80, again sang “Back Home Again in Indiana” (true racers favorite song) with feeling for the song and Hoosier state. Retired track announcer Tom Carnegie at 10:06 introduced Mari Hulman George and she gave the “LadieS and gentlemen start your engines” command. Deposed Tony George was not shown this year. The sense of anticipation and danger at the Indianapolis 500 is unique; no other race can match the buzz. Traditions and track history of almost a century, and racing stars waiting to emerge make this race special. It's the race I would watch if I could only see one race a year. The IZOD TV commercial featuring the two-seater Indy Car driven by Mario Andretti with a passenger made its debut. The car is shown at speed on an oval speedway. The commercial was taped in a one-day shoot this year during April at the half-mile Toyota Speedway at Irwindale, near Los Angeles.
The race between crashes was interesting to watch “comers and goers”. Most sensational was 33rd starter Kanaan passing eight cars on the first lap before the yellow light flashed for Hamilton's crash. “I had a bet with my crew that I would pass 12 cars in the first lap,” Kanaan said on SPEED's “Wind Tunnel” program. He probably would have won that $100 bet if the entire lap had remained green. Kanaan was in P. 16 on L 15 after only seven all-green laps. He was 13th at L 44, 12th L 60, 5th from L 72-100, and 2nd from L 114-143. He was in P. 6 on L 170, and P. 2 from L 192-195 when he had to pit for fuel and dropped to 11th in the final order. On L 130 the first five positions were occupied by four different teams—Ganassi, Andretti, Dreyer-Reinbold, Andretti and Penske. ABC cameras caught the frightening Conway crash from several angles and re-showed the sequence. Track doctor Michael Olinger, MD gave a timely update on Conway's injuries and non-emergency transport copter ride (to avoid traffic congestion) to Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis. Pit reporter and fellow physician Dr. Punch questioned his fellow doctor and friend for ABC. Post-race interviews included drivers finishing in P. 1-2-3-4-5-6-9-11. Well done.
VERSUS NETWORK: Versus had a one-hour post-500 live show. Outstanding on-air broadcasters Bob Jenkins, analysts Robbie Buhl and Jon Beekhuis, plus pit reporters Jack Arute, Robbie Floyd and Lindy Thackston gave us many more live updates and interviews to 2:52 (PT). Versus and its on-air crew deserve praise for their outstanding IMS work during May. They brought us Sat. May 22 and Sun. May 23 500 time trials all day live and without interruption except for commercials. The 500 qualifying order draw took place Fri. May 21 at 6:00 pm CT. and 72 numbers were pulled for primary and backup, or T cars. Qualifying commenced Saturday and 29 cars actually qualified before the drawn order list of 72 was completed in two hours and 25 minutes. Then qualifying continued as cars came to the line in any order whenever teams desired to qualify.
NEW QUALIFYING PROCEDURE: The new IMS qualification procedure made opening day qualifiers work harder and placed them at risk more than in prior years. It met with success. Pole Day fan attendance was much more than in recent years as fans anticipated more action and drama. The 24 fastest qualifiers made the field and bumping took place in segment one to settle the 24 quickest qualifiers. Segment two featured the nine fastest qualifiers and they had to re-qualify to set their final 500 starting positions in the first three rows. On TV the nine drivers picked the order they would re-qualify. A better way to do that final pole run segment and build suspense would be to have the nine drivers re-qualify from the segment one slowest driver to the fastest. The final nine 500 positions (25-33) and bumping Sunday proved dramatic as well. The Paul Tracy No. 15 run at 5:51 CT and Jay Howard No. 66 run at 5:58 CT came after their teams withdrew qualification speeds that would have made the 33 car starting field. They believed their earlier speed would be bumped, so they withdrew their posted speeds and re-qualified to go faster. They both failed to do so and missed the race. Talk about drama, the 500 has never had two teams do that on “Bubble Day”. In another bit of irony, rookie Saavedra, the 33rd FQ at the time, went out to practice for a re-qualifying run because he knew his bubble speed was vulnerable. He spun into the wall and badly damaged his only No. 29. He was taken to Methodist Hospital to check his sore back. He thought his 500 debut would have to wait a year. His team called him at the hospital after the 6:00 CT gun ended time trials and told him he was back in the field because two teams had withdrawn their faster times. That was another first for the 500. ... The “white knuckles” drama of Kanaan crashing twice and then re-qualifying Sunday at 5:26 CT in his still balky, rebuilt No. 11 was intense. It shows why he receives the big bucks. As qualifying ended, six of seven rookies made the 500 as did four of five female drivers ((Milka Duno did not). Four drivers missed the race—Tracy, Howard, slowest driver Duno, and Jacques Lazier, who came out of the stands Sunday to replace A. J. Foyt IV, whose Saturday qualifying speed in the Foyt No,. 41 was bumped.
VERSUS also covered the annual 500 Festival Parade on Saturday, May 29 in downtown Indianapolis from 2:00-3:30 pm PT. Versatile Bob Jenkins and local Diana Willis were in the TV booth atop the grandstand. They interviewed Helio C-N. The parade had floats, huge helium balloon characters, high school and Purdue University bands, equestrian units, celebrities, and Shiners mini-Indy cars. An annual parade highlight is having all 33 Indy 500 drivers ride atop the back seat of convertibles. The 11 rows of three drivers progress from row 11 up to row one. During the parade an on-street reporter interviews some of the 500 drivers in their slowly moving cars. Versus also showed an interesting half-hour “500 Preview Show” following the parade. Versus Friday, May 28 TV fare from 8:00 am-1:00 pm PT covered the “Carb Day” one-hour final 500 practice session. All 33 cars were on track. Unlike recent years, when drivers did leak checks and ran few laps at speed on their race engines, this year most drivers ran many laps at speed thanks to the reliable Honda engine. Rookies de Silvestro and Bertrand Baguette tied for most laps run at 60 laps. Franchitti at 225.5 and Dixon at 225.1 were the only drivers with laps above 224 mph. Rahal at 219 was 33rd (slowest). Versus then brought us live coverage of the 16-car, 40-lap Indy Lights “Freedom 100” on the IMS 2.5-mile track. Pippa Mann had pole position as FQ but she got crashed while in P. 5 on L 3. The P. 4 driver tried for P. 3 and spun up the track, collecting Pippa and the first turn wall. She hopes to be an Indy 500 rookie in 2011 or 2012. Wade Cunningham, 25, from New Zealand, won again for paraplegic Sam Schmidt. He traded the lead within the final seven laps with diabetic Charlie Kimball. Saavedra raced in the Indy Lights and two days later the Indy 500. One gets the impression that some of these Indy Lights drivers are Indy Car 500 material if they can find sponsorship. Next Versus telecast live the $100,000 “IZOD Pit Stop Contest” on pit lane from 10:30 am-1:00 pm PT. Helio & his Penske crew set a time of 9.001 seconds to beat Hideki Mutoh's 9.547 seconds time in side-by-side competition to win the $50,000 first place award that goes to the crew. Mutoh received $15,000 as runner-up for his Newman-Haas crew. Versus then ran a one-hour “Danica's Decade” taped program from 1-2 pm PT. The Versus Network commitment to the Indianapolis 500 rates an A+ in concept and delivery. Camera-work was outstanding. Committed, enthusiastic on-air broadcasters deserve praise. Well done Versus. Signing off Sunday afternoon, Bob Jenkins said,“The Indy 500 is over for this year. I can hardly wait for the next one.” Amen.
