Texas Reflections

I guess you had to be there.

That's how I feel after the Texas race this past weekend, and after reading copious amounts of comments once again calling the race "boring" or "uninteresting." I attended the race and watched the telecast the next day, and I have to say the live event was about 300% better than what was shown on TV. It made a good case for why you should buy a ticket to a race instead of sitting on your couch watching one. I also brought someone to his first-ever race and he was in awe. As I watched him look upon the cars with virgin eyes, mesmerized by their speeds and size, I was reminded of my first experience watching an IndyCar race. I felt like I was able to experience it through him all over again, which was immensely gratifying.

As for the race itself, I was highly entertained. Did I like watching Will Power immediately pull away from the field and start lapping cars 40 laps into the race? No, certainly not. But the race did not lack drama or passing, and it was overall much better than last year. It was obvious that Power's car did not handle well in traffic, as Tony Kanaan was able to close the gap rather quickly once Power came up on those lapped cars. And Ed Carpenter certainly took advantage late in the race, passing Power for good and proving his oval prowess once again. That gave me something to watch. I really thought TK would catch Power, but Power just had more speed than the Ganassi cars. With two cars on the podium and a win last year, I would say Team Penske has figured out Texas pretty well.

Watching the race in person, the impact of fresh tires was even more obvious than watching it on TV. "Tire degradation" was an oft-used phrase during the telecast, but they were absolutely right. James Hinchcliffe set a record number of pit stops I think because his car (or the driver) could not handle the tires very well. After Ryan Hunter-Reay made a pit stop midway through the race, I watched him charge through the field like they were slow-moving turtles. And the strategy to put fresh tires on Will Power's car for that final restart looked genius as he flew past cars in those final laps. One more lap and he surely would have caught and passed Carpenter. Tire wear put the race in the drivers' hands, as the one who could best handle the degradation would emerge victorious. That may not be what the fans like to see, but that's what the drivers wanted. Power seemed to be one of the few drivers to take the high line, so maybe that was the secret to protecting your tires.

We actually were setting up for a great battle between Power and Carpenter in the closing laps until Will got that penalty for speeding on pit lane. Will's penalty seemed to emphasize his over-eagerness this season. He's definitely going for it during every race, points be damned. Winner take all, and take no prisoners. But his eagerness and desire to come out ahead of Carpenter on what was supposed to be the last pit stop backfired in this race. He was about to be lapped by Carpenter until Takuma Sato brought out that final caution. (The third Honda engine failure of the race, and the second one to catch fire. Clearly they have some work to do before Houston.)

When Sato's engine failure yielded a caution, the crowd in my section literally cheered. I cannot fathom ever cheering for a caution, but this is a NASCAR-dominated track and probably a NASCAR-dominated crowd. They wanted a caution to generate some drama. And I understood it. Carpenter had a 15-second lead at that point, and was in cruise control. He had a half-lap advantage over the next competitor, and the field was so strung out that there were no mysteries as to who would finish on the podium. To me, that's probably where the comments about the race being "boring" stemmed from. As a reminder, though, the race was pretty good up until Will's penalty, and his penalty essentially cost the fans a chance at witnessing a close contest in the final laps. As it was, we more or less got a green-white-checkered finish so I suppose some fans left happy with that. Carpenter won by less than a second, which will make the race seem a lot more exciting than it probably was.

The Texas race really makes one think. What do we want, as IndyCar fans and as racing fans? Do we want to be awestruck by high speeds, daredevils, and skilled drivers? If so, then prepare for a spread-out field because some cars are faster than others, and some drivers are better than others. Do we want to be entertained, no matter the cost? Do we want to see technological breakthroughs that may one day make their way into our own personal vehicles? Do we want to play mental chess with the teams and try to figure out which strategy will work best? The answer, perhaps, is all of the above. But it also varies from person to person. I for one like entertainment, but I value safety more. I do not want to see risky pack racing, I'm sorry, and I know the drivers don't either. And they're the ones putting their lives on the line for our entertainment. Those who argue for a return to the "old IRL-style" on 1.5-mile ovals need a reality check I think. It's kind of like saying I want to see big hits in football, but not if it gives my favorite player a concussion or ends his career. Well what do you want then?

While this race was better than last year's, I think IndyCar still has some work to do on this track to put forth the best, most appealing product. Will Power claimed the downforce levels were "perfect." The problem seems to be the tire wear. There's nothing wrong with the tires per se, but if Firestone were to create a compound that would degrade more slowly, we might see some better battles on the track. Then again, is that making the cars too easy to drive? What if we were to move the race to a time of year when it's not so warm in Texas? What impact would that have on the engines and tires? It's funny how we went into the Texas race with so many questions, and I think we're leaving with even more. To me that's exciting. If only other fans could see it that way too.