

-The power assist button did its job perfectly as intended. It only assisted. Unlike Champ Car & A1GP where the power boost generally equates to causing the pass or non-pass; the power assist for IndyCar last night was not the ultimate decider, as we saw with Briscoe winning without anymore more boost for the final lap while Carpenter did. We saw many guys using the button to help catch up, but it didn;t always equal a automatic pass, and that's when it stops being a gimmick, and that's why I liked it.
-I’ll also contend that because the power is only a slight boost that keeping it off the screen is the way to handle the coverage. It’s like knowing a pitcher has a curveball, fastball, splitter, changeup; but I don’t need any monitor to know when it’s being used. Not all drivers even thought it was worth much, while others thought it was a big help; that alone tells me its not enough to really need to know; whether its significant or simply placebo for the drivers, it certainly got a few guys to be more racy.
-The VERSUS crew was on fire. I have not a bad thing to say about them, they were informative, funny, critical, interesting and excited in all the right proportions, it was like night and day to Edmonton, when they CLEARLY were not at the track and working with limited info and coverage.



All in all, an amazing race!
Now on to the schedule…
-First the good; (discounting the original schedule having Detroit) 2010 will have the same number of races as 2009. How good we have it now that many fans forget it was 4 short years ago (’05 to ’06) we dropped from a 17-race to 14-race schedule. Remember people, things could be better, sure, but they could be much, much worse; start by being thankful we have a decently large and diverse schedule.


-Also good: No Detroit. Many people forget it was still looming out there with its narrowness. I love the state, but that was a crappy race and no one is sad to see it stay off.
-Now the bad: We’ve lost 2 very good ovals and missed 1 potential good oval. Richmond, I understand from a league perspective; that’s ISC’s prerogative to be lazy-asses and not try and replace SunTrust as a sponsor; nothing you can do there and Milwaukee is a mess of a situation trying to figure itself out, but Angstat’s statements were the peculiar part there as the Mile situation seems to be working itself out when Terry said they won’t be added this year.
Its odd because the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is reporting there’s still a chance, so we have no idea if Terry’s talk was a negotiation tactic regarding money they are owed. We all sure hope there is a shot we get Milwaukee back; but to close the door on any and all tracks before the current season is over would be downright stupidity, and I can only hope Terry was exaggerating.

This isn’t Las Vegas that doesn’t want in; so let that one be as it is, same as Michigan, Phoenix, Fontana, Road America, Richmond etc. This is different this is a track begging for a date and willing to pay what it takes, check in hand, and you turn it down?
Lets look at the excuses in a more discerning eye: New Hampshire attendance is not IRL’s concern so long as NHMS is paying sanction fee and there is no kind of revenue sharing going on. The IRL didn’t seem to mind racing at a half full Richmond for 9 years, so we know this half-full fear is total BS.
This decision HAS to revolve around the talk with the Gillette people for a race in the stadium parking lot, and that is, in reality, not very smart. Fans have clearly taken issue with Road/Street courses now outnumbering Ovals, but more importantly so have numerous drivers including to date: Sarah Fisher, Ed Carpenter, and MOST importantly, Danica Patrick, who is currently thinking about the possibility of leaving the series. She brings an f’n check like no other to the league, so lets go ahead and do what we can to motivate her to leave…? WTF?
Again this would all be a whole other issue if tracks were looking away, but this is the second year in a row that New Hampshire Motor Speedway has begged, with check in hand, for a date and league turned them away. Its sad, when teams wouldn’t mind more races, fans wouldn’t mind more, the league could use more money, and they turn it down.
In this young of a rebuilding state, the IRL is in no position to turn money, fans and drivers away, based on estimated fears, and the possibility of a street festival 2-3 years down the road. Many people, myself included, are waiting money in hand to buy tickets for that race, buy merchandise and talk greatly about it, and now, again, we can’t, we’re forced to talk about how stupid it was to not add the race.
pictures by indycar.com
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