St Pete race thread

[deejay]

Surprised there's no thread for this race!

Anyway, I enjoyed the race. A nice setting for a street race and some pretty good racing on the track. Quite a bit of passing and action throughout the field, although Helio and Dixon flawless at the front meant the top 2 were never really in doubt.

It was interesting to see the experience levels of the drivers highlighted, Marco and Sam were fast at times, but couldn't do it without wearing their tyres and dropped off quite considerably in the second half of certain stints.

He's European, so why can't Wheldon get it together on the road courses? Miles off the pace of his teammate (even Hornish put in a better showing). Sure he was in the T car, but the only reason he was in that was because he was pushing too hard in practice to try and bridge the time gap.

IRL still need to work harder to reduce full-course yellow flag time during the road races, but I did find it slightly less intrusive in this race than previous years, considering the amount of off's the drivers had. There wasn't the same sense of pointless pace car laps just to give people time to pit that I've had previously.

I'll be interested to see how the bigger engines this year change things on the faster road tracks like Watkins Glen. The cars did seem a little bit quicker this year at St Pete, although that may have been a false impression...

[Snrub]

It was a decent race.

I don't know what the fuss was about regarding Helio tapping Weldon. Weldon messed up the corner and was having difficulty keeping it together. I'm not sure that Helio had much choice in the matter.

Interesting to see Marco at the start vs. slightly later in the race. Towards the beginnnig he looked quiet good, but then dropped off the pace. It seems like he has a lot to learn regarding the setup of the car, how to make the car work through changing race conditions and how to drive with an ill handling car. I suspect that if he was on the same teams that AJ IV has been on that we'd have a similar opinions of them. I wonder if the race wouldn't have been far more interesting with Kannan and Dario battling with Helio and Dixon.

I was pulling for Manning. I think he's a heck of a driver and it would have been great to see him on the podium. I think if US OW was in better shape he wouldn't be "lucky" to end up at the last minute with Foyt, he'd be with a good team. It's a real shame that he spun. I guess he was driving as someone who had nothing to lose.

I wonder why Hornish/Fisher don't practice their road racing craft? Particularly Fisher given that it was her first road race! There's no shame in that, we've obviously seen it done for Nascar (Montoya in Arca!). Why wouldn't their teams put them in a few lower level road races (even sports cars) to help them improve their craft? Hornish seems to be improving, but he needs to put a concerted effort into it. Obviously the Daytona 24 was a good start, but he needs to keep doing stuff like that.

[Knowlesy]

The race was all about Darren Manning for me. Such a shame he tired late on, that was a great effort for AJ's team.

[deejay]

To be fair, Fisher has been practicing on road courses in pre-season testing. It's probably no point her practicing "race craft" in a lower series while she's still 2 seconds off the pace though - she isn't actually close to racing anyone out there. I think she did okay though, finished the race and kept out of everyones way. With IRL so desperate to fill fields it's not like they should turn her away.

It was a pity about Sam. He seemed to buckle under the pressure in the second to last stint, think he must have flat-spotted a tyre or something cause he dropped well off only to establish a better pace again with new rubber.

Yeah forgot to mention Manning, good effort. He was really unlucky to land his ride with a good team when that team was in terrible shape. Maybe Ganassi should hire him back and run him on the road courses instead of Dan.

[Snrub]

^ Hopefully if Fisher raced in some lesser series the level of competition would be lower and she wouldn't be 2 seconds off the pace. Even if it's FBMW or SCCA level. Enter under the name Scott Fusher or something.

I think a lot of teams should be embarassed by Manning. I strongly suspect that his pace also had a lot to do with his technical abilities. Pretty much everyone other than Helio, Dixon, Kannan, Dario need to look themselves in the mirror and recognize that they have a lot of work to do on road/street courses. I think Manning is one of the most underrated drivers in US OW. He may have crashed a fair bit with Ganassi, but he proved in 2003 with Walker that if crashing=no racing he can be quick and not set a wheel wrong.

What did you guys think of the Vison racing incident? Seemed a little sloppy to me. After their strong debute I was almost pulling for them, almost.

[rustyfan]

I would've started a race thread if I had gotten the race live, but since NEXTEL Cup and IndyCar are shown by the same channel here in Sweden I got it tape delayed.

As for the race, it was pretty decent. It was great to see Manning doing well, and I hope it's a sign of Foyt Racing having caught up at least a little. Should be interesting to see what Manning can do on the other non-ovals later in the year.

[Team Owner]

Manning in a Penske car would have been 15 seconds ahead by the end of the race. Darren seems to be out to prove something to Ganassi. He didn't need to prove anything to me.

[Knowlesy]

No, he was very hard done by there and there was no need to drop him. I have all the respect in the world for Chip Ganassi, he is a racing god, but he can make the oddest decisions occasionally.

[Team Owner]

The reason Chip let him go is the fact that Manning drinks a little too much for Chips taste. Darren and AJ IV are well known for their night life but Darren has lightened up a bit now and is more focused on his racecraft.

[Snrub]

Good commentary on Manning: http://www.speedtv.com/commentary/36427/

I wonder, can Manning challange similarly on the non-foot to the floor through the corner ovals?

I find it odd that he hasn't been offered a nice sports car ride somewhere.

[JohnSSC]

I enjoyed the race actually, but, imho, local yellows could have handled a number of situations that brought out full-course yellows. I realize there are safety issues to consider with cars at that speed, but having done a bit of road-racing, a local yellow is more than sufficient to push a car out of the way.

I think what we are seeing with the road courses is that with these cars being relatively low on road course miles, not everyone (engineers included) have a "book" on their tendencies. Weather, race surface etc all factor in to what the setup should be - and sometimes what the book says it should be ends up not working!

Big winners were Manning/Foyt & Co., Dario (that was not a drive from someone who is "past it") and Castroneves - grumpy gearbox and all. Honorable mention to Sarah for keeping clean and finishing.

[Team Owner]

Vitor meira was without 3rd gear from the 2nd lap. That's the gear that gets you up off most of the corners at St. Pete. If you watch the race replay he stays with whoever is in front of him untill he has a 3rd gear corner then he loses about 2-3 /10ths .

[JohnSSC]

Just for once I would like to see Vitor have a trouble-free run! It seems that he is someone with a great deal of natural talent and the right mind-set. All he lacks is a ride with a top team.

Knowing now he lacked 3rd gear moves him up into my "winners" category. Thanks for the info, Team Owner.

[deejay]

Originally Posted by Knowlesy

No, he was very hard done by there and there was no need to drop him. I have all the respect in the world for Chip Ganassi, he is a racing god, but he can make the oddest decisions occasionally.

I think Darren let his head go down, and combined with his off track behaviour Chip didn't want him in the team anymore. His performance in Milwaukee (where he didn't go out in qualifying and pulled out of the race) seems to have been the final straw. Although Darren perhaps rightly argues that pulling out was preferable to another wreck... supposedly Chip told his drivers before that race that if they wrecked they'd be fired. Darren pulled out rather than wreck and was fired anyway.

Attitude of Chip could be summed up by this quote from Dixon:

"I think the biggest thing with our team (read Chip) is if they don't see commitment they don't want any piece of you.

It's tough but it's like anything: you have to keep driving, you have to work it out even if you are five or six laps down, and it might be something you can carry to the next race. (The lack of progress) had got to all of us and with Darren I think he didn't want to be there at that stage."

I think Wheldon much more fits the mold of what Chip is after.

[Mystery]

Originally Posted by Scott Dixon

"(The lack of progress) had got to all of us and with Darren I think he didn't want to be there at that stage."

That's a very interesting quote I've never seen before and perhaps helps me understand why I've never heard Darren complaining about the Ganassi situation before. Maybe it was a relationship that simply came to the end of its useful life. Both team and driver had come to the end of the road.

[The Saint]

St Petes is a nice area, i have often ate at The Columbian, which is situated on the St Pete pier. I was hoping to attend the race, but work commitments put pay to that.

Never mind, i'll be at the Kansas Motor Speedway at the emd of this month

[D.R.T.]

Originally Posted by deejay

I think Wheldon much more fits the mold of what Chip is after.

Or does it just appear that way considering Wheldon didnt have to drive the boat anchor that was the 05 car.

[cwgn4]

I've posted some race photos at http://s90032576.onlinehome.us/spgp_2007_race/
and practice/qualifying at http://s90032576.onlinehome.us/spgp_2007_pract-qual/

[foreversideways]

Just a small point. Dan Weldon is English. Up to now the Eurpoean Union hasn't abolished individual nationalities, although given half a chance i expect they would. Great weekend though in a great location.

Originally Posted by deejay

Surprised there's no thread for this race!

Anyway, I enjoyed the race. A nice setting for a street race and some pretty good racing on the track. Quite a bit of passing and action throughout the field, although Helio and Dixon flawless at the front meant the top 2 were never really in doubt.

It was interesting to see the experience levels of the drivers highlighted, Marco and Sam were fast at times, but couldn't do it without wearing their tyres and dropped off quite considerably in the second half of certain stints.

He's European, so why can't Wheldon get it together on the road courses? Miles off the pace of his teammate (even Hornish put in a better showing). Sure he was in the T car, but the only reason he was in that was because he was pushing too hard in practice to try and bridge the time gap.

IRL still need to work harder to reduce full-course yellow flag time during the road races, but I did find it slightly less intrusive in this race than previous years, considering the amount of off's the drivers had. There wasn't the same sense of pointless pace car laps just to give people time to pit that I've had previously.

I'll be interested to see how the bigger engines this year change things on the faster road tracks like Watkins Glen. The cars did seem a little bit quicker this year at St Pete, although that may have been a false impression...