Saturday, June 5, 2010

Texas 550K Observations

First, let me say, "Can everyone please get off the ass of Danica Patrick?"

The Texas race tonight was a masterpiece of fuel strategy, speed, and an occasional pass or two.
While Danica finished second, she was in the top 5 throughout the freaking race and she deserved the high finish. Seems like Andretti Autosport finally got it right, since both she and Marco had their best finishes of the year.

To be sure, when it mattered, Penske and Ryan Briscoe had everyone covered, but Danica (a/k/a Whanica or whatever,) had everything everyone could ask for this evening. When she overtook Briscoe coming out of the pits, I thought she would win, but the Penske car just was too much. Still, an outstanding effort for Andretti Autosport.

I'll say no more than this until I look at the DVR in the morning, but while the lead changes night not have been everything that the fanbase would like, it was a magnificent effort.

And, in addition, kudos to the ICONIC crowd for bringing back turbocharging. In their new rules package for 2012, they have announced that the engine formula will be 2.5 liters, a maximum of 6 cylinders, TURBOCHARGED. Let's see if Honda can do a 6 cylinder model with a turbo that can compete with the old Buick V-6. The door is open for multiple engine formulas. Let us hope that they leave the same door open for mutiple chassis configurations. That might bring back the innovation part of the equation.