Richmond

1.5 Rock · 26 Jun 2005, 09:23 (Ref:1340274)

Prety good race all in all I thought, but does anyone here think that this oval is too small for IRL?

Watching the race showed that the potential for carnage is pretty high.
Some of the drivers just should not be out there, when you are 4/5 laps down why the hell dont they just get out of the way.......the answer is maybe they cant cos there is no where to go.

Enge black flagged for blocking, this was a joke. Kite was in his way, was 4 laps(?) down and couldnt or wouldnt give way to Enge who was on a charge.

I suppose the track sorts the men from the boys, but one slip up and you could take half the field out, leaders and backmarkers together.

Thats the beauty of raceing I suppose, but isnt it too small?

infoxicated · 26 Jun 2005, 10:46 (Ref:1340296)

I agree - I don't really enjoy the smaller ovals anyway - Milwaukee might be the only race I don't watch this season, but at least there's Kansas and Nashville beforehand.

I think the hallmarks of the IndyCar series should be wheel to wheel racing around the fastest circuits they can visit, not 22 cars waiting to trip over each other.

The Enge black flag was an absolute disgrace, though - Barnhart is usually quite fair and consistent, but that was a needless penalty - Kite should have been disqualified for some of the idiocy that he was displaying.

GP Racer · 26 Jun 2005, 14:57 (Ref:1340387)

Alot of the manufacturers, teams and drivers don't realistically have a chance to win at the super speedways, where speed is king, but if they set a car up properly, they can win on the short tracks.

Look at the results here. Cheever's team looked strong for the first time all year. They have been relegated to backmarkers on the big tracks. Also Enge had a great race until the questionable black flag. Briscoe looked very competitive for the first time on an oval. Franchitti obviously loves these tracks as he always places well on them.

As for the backmarkers, they have it tough on a track like this. There isn't much room or time to get out of the way when the leaders are coming around much faster than you are. Wheel banging is just a reality of the short tracks, and I enjoy them...

Kicking-back · 26 Jun 2005, 15:04 (Ref:1340390)

I thought that was an excellent race, well done Castroneves, Franchitti and Carpentier.

The black flag for Enge was outrageous - Jimmy Kite should have been penalised, not him.

As for racing on such a short track, it's a good variation to the numerous 1.5 mile ovals which seem to be everywhere these days.

infoxicated · 26 Jun 2005, 16:27 (Ref:1340407)

Fair point... although I set myself up to dislike the short ovals, I did find it quite an exciting race last night, and Dario's win at Milwaukee last year was quite entertaining to watch.

1.5 Rock · 26 Jun 2005, 18:27 (Ref:1340449)

[QUOTE=GP Racer]Alot of the manufacturers, teams and drivers don't realistically have a chance to win at the super speedways, where speed is king, but if they set a car up properly, they can win on the short tracks.

QUOTE]

Fair point.

marcus · 26 Jun 2005, 18:46 (Ref:1340457)

I like the variation of tracks.

Richmond is a great little track but i do agree the backmarkers were not very helpfull today but thats part of racing.

really enjoyed the race (probably alot more than Chip Ganassi anyway

)

Snrub · 27 Jun 2005, 01:42 (Ref:1340659)

I didn't catch a lot of the race, but IMO shorter ovals are a heck of a lot more entertaining than long tracks with mandated 45 degree wing angles and everyone's foot to the floor the whole race. eg. I have zero interest in watching an IRL race at Texas.

infoxicated · 27 Jun 2005, 08:53 (Ref:1340842)

As entertaining as Richmond was, I don't think anything beats all the side by side action at the likes of Texas and Kansas. I guess it's good they have the variety then, or you'd get pretty bored with the rest of the season.

climb · 27 Jun 2005, 08:56 (Ref:1340845)

Data about fans attendance in the raceway?

infoxicated · 27 Jun 2005, 16:31 (Ref:1341230)

Haven't seen anything official, but I read 50,000 on another forum. Not bad at all.

Baritone2400 · 28 Jun 2005, 20:05 (Ref:1342298)

richmond was one of the better races this year period.

jock25 · 29 Jun 2005, 09:49 (Ref:1342637)

IMHO as long as the races are televised with 2/3 full or almost capacity crowds that will bode well and would be considered a success for the championship. Anything more than that is unrealistic when there was very little momentum or mainstream interest pre-Indy.

Good crowds will continue to enhance the profile and make selling the series to partners and sponsors a much easier proposition.

Tim Northcutt · 30 Jun 2005, 21:51 (Ref:1344264)

I like Richmond...a unique short oval that does actually have some racing room....

I'd love to see Memphis added to the lineup....

GP Racer · 30 Jun 2005, 22:00 (Ref:1344273)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tim Northcutt

I'd love to see Memphis added to the lineup....

Along with Staten Island New York?

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