Indycar 2024

[greglepore]

Tire deg-sorry, racer slang for tire degradation. Bristol was fun to watch because the tires actually had to be managed. Nascar has become a parade where you pretty much run a single line on the track and keep the foot down. At Bristol the tires were good for maybe 40 laps of what is normally an 80 lap fuel stint, so the drivers had to actually drive to conserve tire wear, making the racing more strategic.

[Zeke]

I did see the tire threads hanging off the sides. Amazing they could drive even one lap (the last one) on those.

"They should give them tire deg at every track"

I still don't know what you mean. They did give them 'deg' big time. And a 9th (extra) set of tires as directed by NASCAR.

[greglepore]

They should not have tires that last a full stint without some driver conservation.

[Zeke]

Well, Greg, I like racing. Not holding back. But there was one time that beat me big. Racing enduro karts at Firebird in AZ. It was a pretty abrasive track when I was there as it consisted of some of the drag strip return road and they didn't care much about the surface. Same thing at Orange County Raceway (gone).

I cooked my tires in the hour long race and started losing places like I had burned the piston rings. And I just couldn't slow down so I could giddyup next lap. Really that was the first time I had jelly for tires and I really didn't quite understand what was going on. I probably missed on the pressures and after they heated up tp 200º I was riding on the crown.

But it's no fun to turn laps a second or two off the available pace on purpose. However, I've never had to run for 2 hours or more as the various series do. So I might have found an easier pace to be energy preserving so that you had something for the end. I know I didn't really want to run another lap at the hour point.

They've since pared it down to 45 min.

[rfuerst911sc]

Interesting article on Newgarden and driver salaries .

https://racer.com/2024/03/22/newgarden-set-to-launch-first-salvo-of-indycar-silly-season/

[rfuerst911sc]

Good news for Indycar and all series that race at Laguna Seca .

https://www.motorsport.com/indycar/news/friends-of-laguna-seca-and-monterey-county-reach-settlement-of-lawsuit/10590283/

[Zeke]

The Thermal format ruined the race. After 2 heats of 14 cars and 13 cars respectfully, 12 got to race the main. Well, the main is 2 heats of 10 laps each, same as the qualifying heats, but...
No tire change at the mid mark of 10 laps for a 10 minute break for fuel, wing adjustments. But again, not tires.

So what did they do? Drove at 3/4 speed for the first 10 laps. Herta running 10 second laps slower. He didn't lose a lap because of the 3 mile course length. All were just crawling and spread out not at all like the 2 elimination races. Just to save the tires for the 2nd 10 lap sprint. That was as boring as it gets.

So, Herta thinks with the best saved tires it's all his. Not. Struggled from near last to a very distant 4th, at least 10 seconds behind the winner. So did the rest of the tire savers. It was all in the hands of the guy that drove hard all the time, as it should be.

I bet they come back next year.

[rfuerst911sc]

The thermal wasn't as exciting as I had hoped . Congrats to the run away winner it wasn't much of a contest . Beautiful venue and scenery but meh to the racing . Your opinion may vary .

[astrochex]

I’m glad I did not waste my time watching.

[CurtEgerer]

I watched. But without any points on the line and the goofy format, there wasn't much there. A couple of good passes here and there but that's about it. On to real racing at Long Beach ....

[Zeke]

It was a good track. 3 miles too. I think I heard the announcer say that they were running a shorter course as well. That doesn't seem right, and I don't always hear it correctly. No elevation changes though. Very safe track. The houses backed right up to the fence were awesome. That is definitely a millionaire's paradise.

[URY914]

They spent more camera time talking than they did driving/racing. Reminded me of NASCAR races these days. Not a fan.

[3rd_gear_Ted]

I liked the gators and the colored apex markers

[chapo]

It wasn't hat bad jeez, still better than F1

[Por_sha911]

I am a huge Indy fan. That said, Qualifying was interesting but the race was bad!
The first heat of the race was BORING. All I saw was a very slow, no competition mileage session. All they talked about was 'save the tires for the 2nd heat'. zzzzzzzzzzzzz
The second heat was a little better but for the most part a snooze fest. I am not impressed when someone wins an Indy race by driving to meet a fuel number. Its suppose to be a driving competition and not an economy contest.

If the format is the same next year I will skip it and do something more exciting like vacuum the carpets and check the air pressure in the tires for mine and the wife's car.

[CurtEgerer]

Originally Posted by URY914

They spent more camera time talking than they did driving/racing. Reminded me of NASCAR races these days. Not a fan.

I was working on a house project outside yesterday and the NASCAR race came on the radio channel I was listening to. The radio coverage is unbearable with the hysterical Turn Announcers .... 'they're 3 wide coming into 2!!!!!!!!! Over to you Mike. They're 2-wide coming into 3!!!!!!! What do you see at 4 Kyle? They're 4-wide coming into 4 Dave!!!!!!! Over to you Steve. They're climbing the 300-foot hill!! It's straight up!!!!!!!!!!' This goes on and on and on, lap after lap. I switched it off after 15 minutes.

[CurtEgerer]

Looking to next year's Thermal event -

>>> Herta has an idea which has roots in rallycross.

“Turn 1 to Turn 6, there’s a road that connects it. Joker lap,” he said with a big smile. “If we’re gonna do gimmicks, you might as well go all the way through the whole thing. So if you add more of these things, it might make the racing a lot better. Add more gimmicks and make it an awesome all-star attack race. The last thing would be push-to-pass with no response [from the following driver].” <<<

He's not wrong. If you're making a gimmick race, why not go all in?

[astrochex]

Originally Posted by CurtEgerer

Looking to next year's Thermal event -

I hope that doesn't happen but there is no way Indycar will not call the event a success.

[Deschodt]

Originally Posted by chapo

It wasn't hat bad jeez, still better than F1

not this week end. you missed out if you didn't watch.

[URY914]

I thought it was a time-share sales pitch by the number of times Diffy talked about the homes and condo around the track.

https://jalopnik.com/indycar-s-1-million-exhibition-race-at-a-club-track-wa-1851363223