2005 IRL IndyCar Series Half-Year Awards

[mlittle]

I got the idea for this thread from an F1 magazine, F1 Racing if I'm not mistaken. I was reading the year-end edition from 2004 w/all of its' awards, and I thought to myself recently, what notable items have occured this year? So, here's a couple of awards that seem appropriate for the first half of the season. If anyone has any other suggestions, feel free to comment.

Driver of the Half:Dan Wheldon. He has 4 wins so far(including Indy), has 15 top-10 finishes dating back to mid-2004, and has a 76-pt lead on 2004 champion Tony Kanaan.

Rookie of the Half:Danica Patrick. She's clearly out-classed the other two rookies in the series this year, she's led at Motegi and Indy(first woman to do so at the Brickyard), has one pole(Kansas) and has had 4 top-5 starts in her last five races(w/the exception of Richmond).

Team of the Half:Andretti-Green Racing. Once again, they're the class of the field. All four of their drivers(Wheldon-1st, Kanaan-2nd, Franchitti-4th, and Herta-tied 7th) are in the top 10, and no other team has challenged them for team supremacy yet.

Race of the Half:Indianapolis. With everything that happened there the month of May, including the late-race duel between Patrick and Wheldon, no other race come close, period.

Surprise Race of the Half:St. Petersburg(street race). When the IRL put this race on the '05 calender, the critics were out in force saying it wouldn't succeed, that the cars couldn't handle the stresses of a non-oval race, etc. The race was a resounding success, the cars handled the track w/out problems(one car did retire w/mec. problems) and the crowds loved the event weekend. So much for the critics, hmm?

The Hard-Luck Award of the Half:Panther Racing's Tomas Enge. At Richmond, Enge was fighting for 3rd place w/Patrick Carpentier when he dived to the inside to avoid a backmarker. Race control, however, ruled that Enge had "blocked" Carpentier, forcing Enge to take a drive-through penalty and forcing him to finish in 7th even though had he not avoided the backmarker, there would've been at least two cars into the turn 3 wall, and probably one or two more as well.

Feel-Good Award of the Half:This one's about as easy to pick as the one for rookie of the half. After 14 tries as a driver at the Brickyard, Wheldon's win this year may have lifted the dreaded "Andretti Curse" off of the backs of the Andretti family, particulary Michael Andretti, who got to finally drink the milk at Indy this year, albeit as an owner. His quote said it all--"It's the sweetest milk I've ever drank." Enough said.

Thankfully, there were a few other good things this year, as well. No one's been seriously hurt this year in any of the various crashes this year(including Patrick's at Homestead back in March, a right-side frontal crash that was recorded at 153.4 G's on impact; she only suffered a mild concussion and a left forearm bruise--her wreck would've been a lot worse w/out the SAFER barrier along the outside wall.) The racing's been close, clean, and exciting, and there should be plenty more as the series rounds the corner at Nashville, Milwaukee, and Michigan and heads towards the season finale in Oct. at California. As always, I'll provide race previews, qual. and race summaries, storylines, commentaries, and whatever else comes to find. Thanks, and don't hesitate to comment on whatever comes to mind.

[JayVee]

mlittle, what is the reason behind drinking milk ? that only applies to the Indy 500 right ?

[mlittle]

It dates back to the 1930's, JayVee. One year, the winner of the 1933 Indy 500, Louis Meyer, asked the officials for a cold glass of milk(buttermilk, to be exact) and it simply continued from there. Now, no one knows if that happened, but in 1936, when Meyer won his second 500, a cameraman snapped a photo of him drinking from a glass bottle of milk, and the tradition took off from there. Every year the 500 is run(w/the exception of the years of 1941-1945) when the winner enters victory lane, he(or she someday ) receives a large wreath of roses, a couple of other things, and then in front of all the spectators, team officials, the Speedway and the media, they present them w/a large, glass bottle of milk for the winner to drink from. Its' just one of those traditions that the Brickyard is famous for, along with one other unique tradition--when the winner and his pit crew go to the start/finish line(which is a 3-foot strip of bricks) and they proceed to "kiss the bricks". There's one other thing unique to Indianapolis--the winner gets his(or her's someday ) face on the Borg-Warner Trophy(if you ever see the trophy, you'll see the faces of every 500 winner from Ray Harroun in 1911 to Dan Wheldon this year). It is simply a sight to behold.

[mlittle]

If you've read the half-year awards posting that starts this thread, you no doubt have read who the rookie of the half is. But surface-level reviews of the season that Danica Patrick, driver of the #16 Argent/Pioneer Panoz-Honda, has had up to now to merely scratch the surface. Compared to many of her fellow competitors, past and present, she may be ahead of the curve, so to speak. Case in point, comparison w/past rookie of the year winners.

In an article on indycar.com(here's the link, in case anyone's interested: www.indycar.com/news/story.php?story_id=5010) they listed her preformance so far(through 8 races) with the series' past rookie winners, to start with. In terms of laps led, she already has led more(51 total) than anyone except 96-97' winner Jim Guthrie. Top 5 finishes? Only Dan Wheldon(2003) and Felipe Giaffone(2001) did better. Best start? Her pole at Kansas puts her on top there. As for wins...only Guthrie won in his inaugural season(Phoenix-1997).

What abour other notable drivers in their rookie IndyCar seasons? Her record holds up reasonably well. She's tied for best start w/Tomas Scheckter(2002) and one of the series' early legends, Tony Stewart(1996). Only Scheckter and 1996 driver Buzz Calkins have won in their first season(Calkins' won the series' first-ever race, the Disney Indy 200, back in 1996). Patrick and her teammate Buddy Rice(2002) have the most top-10 finishes among that second group(4 each). And only Scheckter, Calkins and Stewart have led more laps(443-Scheckter, 130-Calkins, and 92-Stewart) than Patrick(51 laps).

Finally, what about her record agst. some of the series' top drivers--racers like Kanaan, Castroneves, Dixon and Franchitti, after their first eight starts? Then her record dims a little bit. Of the four, Castroneves won in two of his first four starts, while Dixon and Kanaan won once(Franchitti won in his 13th start). All but Franchitti captured their first pole in those eight starts(Franchitti's first P1 came in his ninth start), while Patrick ranks 4th among the five in terms of laps led(again, only Franchitti falls to the back).

Verdict:Not only has Patrick out-classed fellow rookies Tomas Enge and Ryan Briscoe, don't be surprised if she wins a race this year, and don't be surprised if, in a couple of yrs., she's challenging for the series championship. Compared to her contemporaries in the IndyCar Series(past and present) she's held her own, and in the end, that's what counts--holding your own in what is arguably the most competitive open-wheel series in the world. And to think...up to her rookie season(2005), Patrick's only had two oval races under her belt(Atlantics races in Milwaukee-2003 and 2004). Who knows what the second half of the season will bring. One can only watch and wonder.

NOTE: If the above link doesn't connect, try entering the series' website address, www.indycar.com , the story about Patrick's season up to now should be the lead story, and will be on the site's main screen.

[Julian Mayo]

You have to factor in the dominance or non-dominance of the teams each was driving for, the capabilities of the team mates, the weather at each and every start for all of them, then you start to get a more realistic comparison, nah for get the weather, those guys call it off if a sparrow pisses on the track.

[mlittle]

I did that, and still came up with the same conclusion as before. For instance, of the teams that each prior rookie award winner drove for, only 2 are still around(AGR, w/Wheldon, and Dreyer & Reinbold, w/Matsuura). Of the series' early stars, only Hornish, Rice and Scheckter are still driving--Fisher and Stewart are driving stock cars now(Stewart in Nextel Cup, Fisher in Winston West[regional support series for NASCAR] and Calkins has been retired since 2001. Of the teams in the series currently, only Andretti-Green has been more dominant(3 of their 4 drivers are in the top 5 in pts) than RLR and even Penske hasn't been as dominant as they normally are(similar to Ferrari's woes this year, only less so). Even accounting for all the different tracks the series has been to, the same conclusion comes to the fore.

As for the weather...a couple of years ago at an IndyCar race at Pikes Peak, they ran in a hail-storm for several laps before anyone realized what was going on. If a sparrow(as you say) p----- on the tracks, they call a caution for fluid on the raceway, clean it up w/oil-dri, and throw the green back out before anyone sees it.

[Julian Mayo]

they don't know what a hailstorm is?????

[mlittle]

At that time, they didn't...apparently they though it was just rain, but...rain doesn't bounce off the drivers' helmets the way hail does. It was, by all accounts, small-sized hail, so no one was injured, but it sure made for an interesting race, that's for sure.

[Julian Mayo]

At that time, they didn't...apparently they though it was just rain, but...rain doesn't bounce off the drivers' helmets the way hail does. It was, by all accounts, small-sized hail, so no one was injured, but it sure made for an interesting race, that's for sure.

Yes, we had one here last year in the V8supercar series. Turned the track white in about 40 seconds, I think about 9 cars finished the lap, they were sliding off at stall speed in 1st gear. Great fun

[mlittle]

You should've seen the Rolex Sports Car Series race up at Watkins Glen last June; everyone went out on slicks thinking there'd be no inclement weather...about two hrs. later, the skies opened up, and all hell broke loose, especially on the last turn before the start-finish line. It was like a bumper-car/demolition derby exhibition; they called the race about halfway through since very few cars actually made it to halfway.

[Julian Mayo]

The one I'm talking about at Sandown, they red flagged, everyone still capable of running, after they got towed out of some very odd places, went to wets, and they restarted.

[JayVee]

...a couple of years ago at an IndyCar race at Pikes Peak...

I know about the Pikes Peak climb and I went up Pikes Peak a long time ago (no not racing )

Where do they race the IndyCars ?

[mlittle]

At Pikes Peak International Raceway, a 1-mile D-shaped oval outside of Colorado Springs, Col. The Pikes Peak hill climb's in the same area, though, so don't worry, a lot of people get the two confused, JayVee.

[JayVee]

At Pikes Peak International Raceway, a 1-mile D-shaped oval outside of Colorado Springs, Col. The Pikes Peak hill climb's in the same area, though, so don't worry, a lot of people get the two confused, JayVee.

So it is really Colorado Springs. I didn't think Indy cars would go up the mountain!!

I actually have some good shots from the top, if I find them I'll scan and display in the Lounge!

[Julian Mayo]

At Pikes Peak International Raceway, a 1-mile D-shaped oval outside of Colorado Springs, Col. The Pikes Peak hill climb's in the same area, though, so don't worry, a lot of people get the two confused, JayVee.

So it is really Colorado Springs. I didn't think Indy cars would go up the mountain!!

I actually have some good shots from the top, if I find them I'll scan and display in the Lounge!

Gee, we will look forward to that.

kids go hide them under the front seat of the gemini, she will never look there.