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Well, as I'm still trying to catch my breath from a very exciting 90th Indianapolis 500, here are some observations to chew on......

1}1 for 54.........in 1969, Mario Andretti won the Indianapolis 500, and in 37 years, neither he nor son Michael and brothers Jeff and John have been able to win another one. Add little ole' Marco to the list, with a 2nd-place finish, losing on the very last lap(literally, the last couple of hundred yards! ) and by the third-closest margin in series history(.064 secs.). In all seriousness, though, he drove one h--- of a race, and absolutely deserves to get the 2006 Indy 500 rookie of the year award. He may be 19, but he has the blood of a racer in him, and he proved it today.

2}14 for the Captain.........With Sam Hornish, Jr.'s win today, Roger Penske has 14 victories at Indy as a team owner, with drivers from Al Unser, Sr., Rick Mears, Emerson Fittipaldi, and Al Unser, Jr. having won their. When asked about Sam's win, the Captain noted,

When we got Sam, we knew we had the best oval racer of his time. Everyone kept comparing him to Rick Mears, but we kept wondering when we were to give him his chance. This was (his chance).

3}The present and the future. When all's said and done, here's what the finish of the 500 showed: The best oval specialist in NA motorsports won the day, edging out a future champion who, despite being only 19 years old, proved today that the Andretti name still has power in it.

4}Is that who I think it is..........back in April, several of the IRL's top owners and officials were in Long Beach, visiting the Champ Car paddock and various series officials there. They returned the favor, as several top ChampCar officials and teams saw the 500 today from the famous pagoda, including series co-owners Kevin Kalkhoven, Gerry Forsythe, along with officials from both Ford Racing and Cosworth. Although there wasn't a merger announcement, as a lot of people(myself included! ) thought might happen, the reciprocation seen today could go a long way towards reunification.


With that, it's time to pack up the IRL paddock and travel to the Finger Lakes of New York, as the IRL IndyCar Series makes its' way to Watkins Glen International Raceway for round 5, the Watkins Glen Indy Grand Prix presented by Tissot, set for the weekend of June 2-4.

WOW!!!


What a race, I dont think anyone expected that......you didnt even have it in your poll!!!

Would have been quite a spectacle if Marco had taken it.....
I dont know where Hornish got all that speed from around the last couple turns...he was light years behind Andretti (jnr, jnr)

Tough break for Castroneves...i had my money on him to win...

All in all, A great great race...

<T-K> wrote:WOW!!!


What a race, I dont think anyone expected that......you didnt even have it in your poll!!!

Would have been quite a spectacle if Marco had taken it.....
I dont know where Hornish got all that speed from around the last couple turns...he was light years behind Andretti (jnr, jnr)

Tough break for Castroneves...i had my money on him to win...

All in all, A great great race...

Multi-part posting, T-K.....

1}Now you know why, at the very beginning of this thread, I referred to Indy as "The Magic Track", because you never quite know what's going to happen.....considering Hornish's history at the Brickyard prior to this year(3 crashes, 2 engine BBQ's, top finish of 14th[2001]), it was very good to see him slay the demons, so to speak.

2}I'd like to know where he got that speed, too...........when he made that move on Marco entering turn 3 a lap earlier and it failed, everyone thought Marco would end the "Andretti Curse".....but Hornish, Jr. timed his entry into turn 4 on the last lap, T-K, so that when he started down the frontstraight towards the yard of bricks, he would have enough momentum(plus the benefits of the slipstream off of Marco's car...i.e, the draft) to "slingshot" past Marco, and it worked.....I'd also give Marco his props; he could've easily moved over to block 'em, but he held his line to the end.

3}As to who I was hoping would win, T-K..........let's just say that part of me wanted Hornish to win, and part of me was hoping Patrick would win.

4}Oh, I forgot....T-K, you're right, it was one h--- of a race!!

The Indy 500 is still the greatest race in motorsports period. As much as I like the Daytona 500, only LeMans comes close for sheer drama! The Monaco Grand Prix comes close for spectacle value, but the Indy 500 still is the only race in the world that can change your whole life if you win it. Whenever I watch it, I'm a little kid again.

Congrats to Sam Hornish for being the 'Rick Mears of his era.'

Marco Andretti! What can I say? I've been saying for a while that this kid was a racer. His 2nd place will be far more important and popular than Danica Patrick's 4th last year. If I were Michael, I would've barely been able to drive with my kid in front of me nearly winning the Indy 500 for my team in his first attempt!!! Way to go, Marco!!

Sheer brilliance!!

RE30B#16 wrote:The Indy 500 is still the greatest race in motorsports period. As much as I like the Daytona 500, only LeMans comes close for sheer drama! The Monaco Grand Prix comes close for spectacle value, but the Indy 500 still is the only race in the world that can change your whole life if you win it. Whenever I watch it, I'm a little kid again.

Congrats to Sam Hornish for being the 'Rick Mears of his era.'

Marco Andretti! What can I say? I've been saying for a while that this kid was a racer. His 2nd place will be far more important and popular than Danica Patrick's 4th last year. If I were Michael, I would've barely been able to drive with my kid in front of me nearly winning the Indy 500 for my team in his first attempt!!! Way to go, Marco!!

Sheer brilliance!!

Multi-part posting, RE......

1}If it hasn't yet sunk in for Hornish that he won, it will.....winning Indy is one of THE crowning acheivements that a driver can accomplish in OWR, especially when you consider all of the previous winners; adding to his win is that he gave Penske his 14th win as a team owner(if I'm not mistaken, that's a better pct. than that of, say, the Montreal Canadians in the NHL or the New York Yankees in professional baseball)....

2}Going into this year, everyone(myself included!!) wondered, what is Michael thinking?? signing Marco to an IndyCar contract for 2006; if his 2nd-place finish didn't erase any doubts about the kid's skill as a racer, one wonders what would.

3}For all the hoopla over the finish, here's something else that's interesting......when was the last time, RE, you saw two Americans finishing P1-P2 at the Brickyard the past couple of years?(BTW, it was 1998, when Eddie Cheever won and Buddy Lazier finished 2nd)

mlittle wrote:

Multi-part posting, T-K.....

1}Now you know why, at the very beginning of this thread, I referred to Indy as "The Magic Track", because you never quite know what's going to happen.....considering Hornish's history at the Brickyard prior to this year(3 crashes, 2 engine BBQ's, top finish of 14th[2001]), it was very good to see him slay the demons, so to speak.

2}I'd like to know where he got that speed, too...........when he made that move on Marco entering turn 3 a lap earlier and it failed, everyone thought Marco would end the "Andretti Curse".....but Hornish, Jr. timed his entry into turn 4 on the last lap, T-K, so that when he started down the frontstraight towards the yard of bricks, he would have enough momentum(plus the benefits of the slipstream off of Marco's car...i.e, the draft) to "slingshot" past Marco, and it worked.....I'd also give Marco his props; he could've easily moved over to block 'em, but he held his line to the end.

3}As to who I was hoping would win, T-K..........let's just say that part of me wanted Hornish to win, and part of me was hoping Patrick would win.

4}Oh, I forgot....T-K, you're right, it was one h--- of a race!!

As much as I am delighted to see Hornish finally get a win (I did really feel sorry for his bad luck at Indy), I am equally gutted that Marco missed out(Although I wasnt really rooting for him until the halfway stage)....Upset about Shekter(although I dont think he was ever really in the hunt), and really upset about Castroneves......

Unfortunately i think that this was the best shot Marco had at winning the race...He wont have such a easy time of it in the next few years....but who knows, he may prove me wrong next year