The Memorial Day weekend auto-racing triple is back (Monaco, Indy 500, Coke 600) (2 Viewers)

[superchuck500]

Yeah, I agree. Felt a bit "sour grapes" to me. They either had to throw a red there or finish under yellow. They had to count that one pass through as a lap, so the 2 laps remaining was really the only option race control had.

Tony K's going through the grass at 200+ mph without wrecking was nuts.

Well the more traditional option is to finish yellow. Indy analysts on twitter agree that was unconventional how they handled it.

I think Nascar has shown the way here. If you care about the fans, give them a race.

 

[DaveXA]

Well the more traditional option is to finish yellow. Indy analysts on twitter agree that was unconventional how they handled it.

I think Nascar has shown the way here. If you care about the fans, give them a race.

Right, the announcers were surprised when they threw the red flag. Hopefully they just make it a GWC like Nascar, maybe before the 2024 season.

 

[efil4stnias]

I get Ericsson’s point but it’s a race - you’re supposed to race. If race-control says you’re gonna race to the checkers, you have to race to the checkers. Saying you should have won because race-control shouldn’t have tried to have a competitive finish is pretty much contrary to the whole thing. Those 300k fans paid a lot of money - you’re there to race.

Again, he’s not wrong that it was unusual and to feel he kinda screwed but can’t feel that bad for him. Nascar is the one premier series that has this issue solved in the rule book.

Like I said, he decided to break up draft by swerving high and low, but when you do that, you lose speed. Allowed Newgarden to close gap (which was big at start) and then "slingshot engage".

I also think Hondas got acceleration, but Chevy has just a bit more top end.

 

[superchuck500]

600 postponed

 

[superchuck500]

 

[BayouSAINTJoe]

What is the fastest you have ever been in a car?

I did NOLA motorsports with driver in passenger seat and on straight I got to 160mph in Lambroghini. It was exhilarating and insanely scary at same time.

These guys are doing 225 ...I don't think I have the gumption to go 225 with my arse 3 inches off ground.

163 somewhere between El Paso and Alamogordo

 

[superchuck500]

Here’s a post from a guy who was there in the section with his dad.




Y’all know I watch a lot of racing, like an obsessive amount since the mid-90s and when I saw that wheel break the tether it’s all I could see, it was like slow motion as I watched it on the corner of the screen as it cleared the fence, and I’m thinking “oh no!!!!!!” And then the camera shot cut away and made it hard to tell what happened.

I was watching the CART race when the wheel cleared the fence and killed three fans at Michigan - which led to the modern tethers that we now use. I was also watching the race that took Greg Moore and I saw Dale Earnhardt die. A race car driver’s death is tragic and alters the arc of the sport forever - but that risk is integral to their choice to drive race cars, everyone knows it’s part of the deal. But fans dying at the race track is just beyond tragic and presents existential crisis. Fans make the sport and it’s simply unacceptable that they would die at the track.

We were very lucky today. Good God that was so close to being so bad. And the engineers will study this incident and build in additional redundancy on the tether - so to get a chance to improve without having to suffer the loss is another blessing.

I’m still seeing it my mind as clear as day.

 

[efil4stnias]

Here’s a post from a guy who was there in the section with his dad.




Y’all know I watch a lot of racing, like an obsessive amount since the mid-90s and when I saw that wheel break the tether it’s all I could see, it was like slow motion as I watched it on the corner of the screen as it cleared the fence, and I’m thinking “oh no!!!!!!” And then the camera shot cut away and made it hard to tell what happened.

I was watching the CART race when the wheel cleared the fence and killed three fans at Michigan - which led to the modern tethers that we now use. I was also watching the race that took Greg Moore and I saw Dale Earnhardt die. A race car driver’s death is tragic and alters the arc of the sport forever - but that risk is integral to their choice to drive race cars, everyone knows it’s part of the deal. But fans dying at the race track is just beyond tragic and presents existential crisis. Fans make the sport and it’s simply unacceptable that they would die at the track.

We were very lucky today. Good God that was so close to being so bad. And the engineers will study this incident and build in additional redundancy on the tether - so to get a chance to improve without having to suffer the loss is another blessing.

I’m still seeing it my mind as clear as day.

I totally get what you are saying, but I don't know how much more engineering can happen, that doesn't affect the car. (Speed, handling etc).

We tend to forget these cars are doing in excess of 200mph, when there is a failure, it's anyone's guess what happens next. Yes l, engineering has done a masterful job up to this point. Protecting the drivers paramount.

They only real option is to raise safety fence and move grandstands further back...possibly a second set of fencing ?

But doing so will draw anger from some race fans who will ultimately claim it ruins their experience. That they "understand" the risk they take when attending race. Until they don't.

 

[DaveXA]

I totally get what you are saying, but I don't know how much more engineering can happen, that doesn't affect the car. (Speed, handling etc).

We tend to forget these cars are doing in excess of 200mph, when there is a failure, it's anyone's guess what happens next. Yes l, engineering has done a masterful job up to this point. Protecting the drivers paramount.

They only real option is to raise safety fence and move grandstands further back...possibly a second set of fencing ?

But doing so will draw anger from some race fans who will ultimately claim it ruins their experience. That they "understand" the risk they take when attending race. Until they don't.

I somewhat agree there will always be some minimal risks to fans from flying debris. I understand a fan actually was hit by other smaller pieces of debris and was treated for minor injuries.

That said, I do think there should be a way to tether the tires in such a way that they stay with the chassis. Maybe some sort of cable that still could snap, but slow the momentum of the tire that it poses a lower threat of getting high enough to go over the catch fence. Maybe it could be routed through the lug nut area, idk. It would take some clever engineering to get it done, but it would be worth the effort imo.

 

[superchuck500]

I totally get what you are saying, but I don't know how much more engineering can happen, that doesn't affect the car. (Speed, handling etc).

We tend to forget these cars are doing in excess of 200mph, when there is a failure, it's anyone's guess what happens next. Yes l, engineering has done a masterful job up to this point. Protecting the drivers paramount.

They only real option is to raise safety fence and move grandstands further back...possibly a second set of fencing ?

But doing so will draw anger from some race fans who will ultimately claim it ruins their experience. That they "understand" the risk they take when attending race. Until they don't.

The wheels are tethered to chassis to keep them connected and from flying into the audience. Tethering was a direct response to two incidents that killed a total of five fans. After those incidents, engineers developed the tethers and they became required equipment in US open wheel (this was during the CART/IRL split). That was 1999, which is fairly recent in the history of the sport.

Yesterday, the particular geometry of the accident sheered the tether and released the wheel over the fence. It was pure luck that fans weren't hit - and with that weight and velocity of the wheel assembly, death (potentially of multiple people) would have been almost certain.

The engineers are definitely going to look at the incident (re: how the tether was compromised) and they're going to look to build additional redundancy to account for such a situation in the future. I don't think any of us knows enough about how that system is setup and where it can be improved - certainly not enough to declare that we don't know how much more they can do. These are very smart, professional racing engineers, they're highly capable and very creative.

My point was simply that race-safety innovations almost always result from a tragedy. Here, a near miss still gives us the same opportunity to improve . . . and to not have lost anyone as a cost is a blessing.

 

[DaveXA]

The wheels are tethered to chassis to keep them connected and from flying into the audience. Tethering was a direct response to two incidents that killed a total of five fans. After those incidents, engineers developed the tethers and they became required equipment in US open wheel (this was during the CART/IRL split). That was 1999, which is fairly recent in the history of the sport.

Yesterday, the particular geometry of the accident sheered the tether and released the wheel over the fence. It was pure luck that fans weren't hit - and with that weight and velocity of the wheel assembly, death (potentially of multiple people) would have been almost certain.

The engineers are definitely going to look at the incident (re: how the tether was compromised) and they're going to look to build additional redundancy to account for such a situation in the future. I don't think any of us knows enough about how that system is setup and where it can be improved - certainly not enough to declare that we don't know how much more they can do. These are very smart, professional racing engineers, they're highly capable and very creative.

My point was simply that race-safety innovations almost always result from a tragedy. Here, a near miss still gives us the same opportunity to improve . . . and to not have lost anyone as a cost is a blessing.

Didn't realize tethers were a thing. But yeah, the way the cars made contact, not surprising it sheared the tether. When I saw it live, I thought to myself, there are some dead fans in the stands, not realizing it cleared the stands. I was feeling sick for a few minutes for sure.

 

[DaveXA]

Oh, and the Xfinity race is getting underway as scheduled. Nice. Hope the rain stays away.

 

[Merl]

Oh, and the Xfinity race is getting underway as scheduled. Nice. Hope the rain stays away.

For how long though. Seems like a heavy mist coming down.

 

[Merl]

And here's the rain delay.

 

[DaveXA]

For how long though. Seems like a heavy mist coming down.

Yeah, they made it to the competition caution. Red flag now. No telling how long they'll have to wait.