Going Forward, Part I

This will be part one of a two (or maybe three) part blog on going forward. I've made it perfectly clear, I am no journalist, just a fan who loves to write, particularly about INDYCAR racing. Good thing, because as a journalist, I missed an information avenue (or at least the first half of it,) by missing part of "Trackside" this evening. I'll probably listen to the podcast tomorrow morning to catch the first hour.


I'm going to, over the next two or three posts, cover a lot of areas in brief. Much of it will be opinion, and some will be things that will work themselves out over the next few months. Some of it will be fact based and some will be purely speculative "wishful thinking."


First, I'm going to climb on my soapbox for a minute. I have made it no secret in postings to OPB's (other people's blogs) that INDYCAR needs to do some serious, mutli-car, multi-venue testing before the upcoming season. Let's face it: what Dan Wheldon told us from stage one testing of the new chassis is that the new car is stable, but do we know how they'll handle in packs? Engine performance will offer a potential variable in speeds, but, particualrly as it pertains to ovals, everyone is going to be a proverbial "rookie" in this chassis.


When you consider that a number of the drivers in this series are limited in their oval experience, their next "shot" at an oval will be at Indianapolis, and you add in the usual number of one-offs, let's just say, the more experience, the merrier. These guys need to be as comfortable as possible with all the characteristics of the new cars. Anyone who has followed the Indianapolis 500 for any length of time knows the propensity for things to go wrong at the start.

2012 is one year that that simply must not happen, especially since that will be the first exposure to a large number of potential fans subsequent to Las Vegas.

Speaking of that new car, I have found it amazing how a lot of the controversy about the wheel enclosures and the rear "bumpers" has quieted since the accident. Before, there were many who felt that these features were an unwelcome addition to the car; Now, I suspect almost everyone gets that they are there for a reason.

One thing about which I heard Curt and Kevin speculating tonight on the tail end of "Trackside" was who will end up in the #7 GoDaddy ride. Obviously, GoDaddy is an important stack of sponsor dollars, dollars which this series needs to keep involved. With that ride goes a lot of marketing responsibility, so it's not for just anyone. A listener had suggested that it might be Conor Daly, but both Kevin and Curt think young Mr. Daly is a year away, at least. I'm not entirely certain that Conor doesn't have more F-1 leanings than INDYCAR, but maybe next summer, if he runs a full season of Lights, we'll know more.

If Michael Andretti does NOT go outside the "family," maybe either Ryan Hunter Reay or Marco wind up in the ride; More likely, in my opinion, is that Michael holds off until Penske makes a move as to his stable. If Penske should cut a driver loose, (presumably Ryan Briscoe,) then you have a whole "domino effect" to look at. That's all speculation for a few months down the road. And there's lots of time for "Silly Season."

The one part of this off season that is not going to be silly is the investigation of the accident at LVMS. As that investigation continues, my hope is that it will be thorough and open. While I, for one, have no desire to see all the gruesome photos, it is important that this investigation not be in any way "swept under the rug." The more we, and more importantly IICS officials know about what happened, the more steps that can be taken to avoid a recurrence.

And finally, I ask that everyone consider this: INDYCAR has come a long way in the pursuit of safety. Some of the "old guard" of fans, (of whom I consider myself one,) remember when this sport was much less safe than it is now, and the lessons learned under tragic circumstances, often serve to bring about more innovations in the area of safety. Whether that innovation comes in the form of improved catch fencing, changes in the cars, or in some other area, this is racing and it will never be 100% safe.

We as fans and followers have become complaisant, lulled to "sleep" by watching seemingly horrific crashes from which our heroes walked away or recovered. This has been a wake-up call for all of us. I have used the analogy of Indianapolis after the ill-fated 1973 race. Two driver deaths and one critical injury in one month of May (that everyone except Gordon Johncock would like to forget,) led to some innovations that, while bringing the speeds down significantly, led to one of the safest months of May in Speedway history the following year.

Let's hope that we can write a similar story this time next year.