Indy Racing League

Dear Brian,

I was at the Mid-Ohio race yesterday, but instead of the usual questions afterwards posed by journalists, I have a suggestion. When you find out who’s in charge of races at the IRL, please let me know.

Watching the start, I had the clear impression that Helio Castroneves ran things at the IRL. Sure, he was the pole starter and earns the right to gas it first. I just didn’t think that included starting a quarter mile ahead of everybody else.

But racers will be racers. Known for his Spider Man moves on wheel fences after victories, in this case the pole man was no super hero, except to those perverts who want to see him finish first no matter what.

Helio might have figured in advance that the odd scenario with the pace vehicle at Mid-Ohio could be worked to his advantage. As you know, Brian, the pace vehicle pulls off midway down the straight prior to the start. And if the pace vehicle driver is slow, it gives the pole starter a jump versus the other front row driver and the line that follows.

So you see there’s a two-part problem here. Whoever’s in charge should be sure the driver of the pace vehicle does the job properly. And, whoever’s in charge should command the respect of the drivers well enough to prevent them from carrying larceny in their hearts on the start.

Actually, it’s a three-part problem. If a driver manages to steal the start, then an ensuing penalty after the fact will send the message that apparently never gets transmitted effectively in the pre-race driver’s meeting. So at least if one race is summarily robbed, the next one does not suffer from attempted burgulary.

I guess we’re only talking about petty larceny here, since race tickets haven’t gotten that far out of hand yet. It’s still a shame that the thousands upon thousands who jammed Mid-Ohio anticipating the return of major league open-wheel racing got a minor league show.

Since this happened to be the 30th anniversary for this writer since I first covered a road race at Mid-Ohio (where David Hobbs in a BMW 320i battled Al Holbert in a Chevy Monza for a Camel GT trophy), I took a stroll through the camping area next to the back straight the night before Sunday’s mayhem took place. In 1977, the family farmers who owned the land next door still had their house and property and were charging 10 bucks to camp in the “back 40″ acres, where I spent the night in a hatchback Honda Accord.

This year, the 100-acre camp ground now owned by the track was jammed with fans in various states of camping pleasure. There were monopoly games by flashlight, home-built full bars, marshmellow roasts and roving dance parties in pick-up trucks. But above all, there was anticipation of teams like Penske Racing, Chip Ganassi Racing, Rahal Letterman Racing and Andretti Green Racing getting together on the track the next day.

It’s a damn shame that get together meant Tony Kanaan hitting teammates Danica Patrick and Marco Andretti because our hero Helio jumped the start and left a ragged party in his wake. Just between us, I doubt Andretti likes being upside down in the first corner.

Speaking of corners, as you know Steam Corners is the little rural intersection fans pass through if they’re headed to the track from the direction of Columbus. On Sunday morning, I wasn’t able to get within a mile of Steam Corners, which is two miles from the front gates of Mid-Ohio, before the traffic backed up. It’s a crying shame all that anticipation and waiting in line in traffic meant so little once the race started (and then the green flag waved).

It would have been cool to see if Patrick could sustain the pace that got her to the front row. I wondered if Andretti would win his second career race due to his blood-bred talents. Above all, I wanted to see if Scott Dixon could make his way from sixth to the top step on the podium on a narrow ribbon through O-hi-o’s hills. Instead, Dixon got a free pass to second place in the first corner — and made it look easy from there.

To be honest, the fans discovered they had made all that effort just to watch a parade. But at least parades have a drum major that’s visible, out front and in charge. I couldn’t locate or even sense anybody who fit that description at Mid-Ohio on Sunday. (On Saturday, in case you missed it, the ALMS penalized two Ferrari drivers a total of seven minutes for their attempts to steal one another’s race.)

So if you ever discover who’s in charge at the IRL, where most of my fellow journalists seem pretty slack when it comes to pressing the point on such things, please let me know.

Regards,

Jonathan