Tracy Denied

[macdaddy]

Just when things were looking good for PT...

Check out my thread in the IRL forum.

[Jordi]

what a surprise...

[JR27]

Ditto. Like anybody expected Tony George to be impartial and fair.

We know who won. So does Tony George and so does Helio.

That's what counts. Not what cheaters do or say. What's true.

[Liz]

A BEEEEEEG mistake by Mr. George?


Green shocked by decision, reasoning
By Steve Ballard
steve.ballard@indystar.com

July 03, 2002


Team owner Barry Green lost on race day, lost a protest the next day and lost an appeal Wednesday. What he hasn't lost -- and probably never will -- is the belief that his driver won the 86th Indianapolis 500.

"I'm shocked at the decision and shocked at the reasoning," Green said at a hastily called news conference at Team Green's Indianapolis headquarters two hours after Indy Racing League president Tony George upheld Helio Castroneves as winner of the May 26 race.

Earlier, at a news conference at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, IRL officials handed out an 11-page document detailing why George concluded Team Penske's Castroneves was ahead of Team Green's Paul Tracy when a caution on lap 199 effectively ended the race.

But much of that information and George's explanation of it was lost in the hubbub of his pronouncement that by rule the placement of the cars after a caution is a judgment call of the officials and therefore not subject to appeal.

On June 4, the day after Green announced his appeal, Team Penske challenged its validity in a letter to George. A copy of that letter was forwarded to Green.

The appeals hearing June 17 at the IRL offices began with Penske officials making the same argument. By then, George had decided to go ahead with the hearing and consider both issues together.

But the impression left after the announcement Wednesday was that Green had spent considerable time and in his words "many hundreds of thousands of dollars" on an appeal he had no chance of winning.

IRL officials were on the phone through the afternoon doing damage control. Fred Nation, vice president of corporate communications, wanted it made clear that George had the authority to declare Tracy the winner if clear evidence warranted it.

"It's a moot point, but you don't know that until you go through the process," Nation said.

The disappointment showed on Green's face as he addressed the media. He said he was confident of winning the appeal until the time George's written decision arrived by fax.

Although Green had not had time to digest the ruling and decide what, if anything, he'll do next, he vehemently objected to George's basic conclusions. He produced a number of visual aids, some of which formed the basis of his appeal, to support his case.

In Green's mind, the right to appeal was guaranteed by IRL vice president of operations Brian Barnhart in his written statement denying the initial protest.

"Right on the bottom of the protest decision it states we have a right to appeal the decision," Green said, producing an enlarged copy of that document.

"Frankly if, as Tony says, everything comes down to a judgment call and that call is not subject to appeal, then what's the use in even having a rulebook?"

Of George's statement that a judgment call cannot be protested or appealed, Green said, "This was not a judgment call. When racing ceased, per the rulebook, Paul was clearly in front."

Green said he understood that the onus was on him to prove that Tracy won the race. He brought out a large diagram of turn three with mathematical calculations of time and distance that, when applied to the video, Green believes provides ample evidence.

Green was most angry at a passage in George's written decision that said "a yellow caution period begins when race control calls it on the radio." George said that has been a "consistent practice" for safety reasons since the IRL started and is made clear in drivers' meetings.

But Green quoted from the IRL's rule 7.14, which states that the caution period begins "with the display of the yellow flag and/or lights," at which time all racing ceases. If Tracy passed under caution, Green wants to know, why wasn't he penalized?

George said Green made a thoroughly professional presentation but in the end it didn't prove a mistake had been made. George hoped that going through the process would convince all parties that justice had been done, but he knew going in that was unlikely.

Even if George had ruled initially that the result could not be appealed and thus saved Green considerable time and money, the IRL president said, "I doubt if he would accept that any better than he'll accept this decision today."

Although Green isn't ready to concede Roger Penske's 12th Indianapolis 500 victory, he did extend an olive branch of sorts to his rival owner.

"I feel sorry for Mr. Penske," he said. "This race is not going to set well with him."

Tracy was en route to Toronto for this weekend's Championship Auto Racing Teams event, but in a statement issued by Team Green said " in my heart I know I won the race."

Unless Green decides to pursue the matter through the courts and in the unlikely event he succeeds, then victory in the owner's mind and the driver's heart will forever have to be good enough.

===========

In North America, this is going to be bigger than the Ferrari Fiasco, don't you think?

[paul-collins]

Yeah, there will be 80,000+ fans cheering PT this weekend, and probably the whole crowd of 6 booing Penske's cars at the next IRL...

[Jordi]

Has to be bigger than the Ferrari thing

[Liz]

Today when they asked Paul about it he was obviously bitter, but he says he tries not to think about it and just get on with things. But he said that it showed just how wide the gulf is between Them and Us. Obviously he very nearly spat when he said "IRL".

Barry Green said he was not going to say anything for a few days because he was too mad. His eyes glittered as if he wanted to grab somebody by the throat and pummel them. And I can guess who.

[f1manoz]

Tracy was robbed, no doubt about it. And this will have an added effect: no CART team will now venture over I reckon, in particular Team Green.

[fordtc87]

Hello all, new to the forum here, but not to open wheel racing. I have enjoyed everyone's views for the last coupple months and now decided to post. I just wanted everyone here to see the email that I recieved from the IMS Public Relations Dept regarding the email I sent to them following the Indy 500. here it is...sorry so long

My Email:
Shame on the IRL not to realize a pass before it begins. Tracy had
started to pass before the light was on. What line were they racing
to? Is there some mystical point that exist in space? The one that
the leader occupies, I assume, or what? I think that open wheel is
becoming a shame. There is great racing on road courses and Tony
George takes that away. Formula One is a high speed foreign parade
and the IRL is flying to Japan?? What is wrong with this picture?
You have a first class facility and should respect that, however if
you want to have a cost effective series then why fly to Japan? Do
you think that Roger is going to share with you the steps that he
takes to save fuel? 2 races in a row that he gets amazing gaas
mileage and it can't be expland. He will WIN the championship and
**** on Tony George in the process. He can, will, and likes to do
it. In my humble opinion just combine CART and IRL, award an oval
champ, road course champ and then an over-all champ. Enough said?
Brilliant, you are all just the brightest guys on earth. GIVE ME A
BREAK!!!!!!!!

The IMS response:
Thank you for your e-mail regarding the Indianapolis 500. We are
sorry you were not pleased with the outcome of the race. It is our
sincere hope that you continue to study the rules of the leagues so
that you can put together a rule book for a series and a championship
with three champions as you have suggested. We hope you consider the
Indianapolis 500 as one of the races to involve all of the drivers
that you will have in your series being as the Indy Racing League
will no longer be in existance due to your revolutionary idea for a
solution to the open wheel woes. We also appreciate your compliment
on the intelligence of our series leaders. We just hope that once
your series has started, your ingeneous plan doesn't draw all of our
great minds away from this place. It is good to know that there are
still ways to get the two series back together and we are just sorry
that we haven't thought of them.

Thank you,
IMS Public Relations Dept.

[paul-collins]

Snarky snarky! They probably shouldn't be responding at all, now should they?

Granted, ftc87, your original email is pretty inflammatory. They'd be better served to either drop a form letter on you or ignore it. This makes them look smug and petty. (Like they needed help on that.)

[fordtc87]

thanks paul. It was kinda a shame because this was the first time that I decided to attend the 500, and now I don't really want to go again. I also have f-1 tickets and with that attitude, I can find other race tracks to go to near by.

[Liz]

I have written several sarcastic e-mails to them but have not sent them. Since I don't watch their show anyway, it wouldn't be any use saying I will quit watching now, would it?

The only real advantage to this whole fiasco is that now we have Paul Tracy for our champion and they have Al Unser Jr.

[macdaddy]

I emailed them immediately after the race, but didn't get a reply until the day Tony George made his announcement.

My email was short and to the point.

"What, if any, is the time delay between the dash lights turning yellow and the track lights turning yellow?"

Their answer is laughable. It makes no sense.

"It should be nearly instantaneous, however it is dependant on when the track lights go on.

Thank you,
IMS Public Relations Dept."

[Liz]

In other words "Whatever ... "

If it's not instantaneous for every car on the track, there is no earthly use having the lights at all.

[paul-collins]

Originally posted by Liz
Since I don't watch their show anyway, it wouldn't be any use saying I will quit watching now, would it?

On the one hand, if you threatened ABC to stop watching, they'd probably panic ("we're losing 1/6th of our audience!"). On the other hand, they probably know all their Brand X viewers by name...