At Texas however the range of expectations may be at their most disparate. That's how the postrace Twitter discussion seemed split evenly on who liked this year's version of the Firestone 600 and who hated it. In recent years Texas has been the most polarizing track on the circuit. It represents a lot of hot button topics: ovals, the lack of ovals, the crowd at ovals, pack racing, what actually is pack racing, and Eddie Gossage, just to name a few. Everyone remembers the so-called hey day of IndyCar racing at this track, and it's safe to say what we saw last night was not that. For some, that's fine, for others, it's not, and there's nothing wrong with that.
Personally, I enjoyed last night's race. I wish the tires didn't fall off quite as quickly as they do, but otherwise I don't have any real complaints. I understand (or at least I think I understand) that it's hard to get the sweet spot on downforce and tires to create good racing, but not pack racing. It sure seemed like they hit that spot better this year than they had the previous two. Each stint was different, with different cars working better than previous stints. Look no further than Power and Pagenaud. Those two led early. As night fell, they didn't have the handle than they had at the start and consequently fell back.
The one team that was able to consistently manage the situation was Ganassi, specifically the big two of Scott Dixon and Tony Kanaan, and they were rewarded with the 1-2 finish. The second half of the race belonged to these cars, with only Helio seemingly in the ballpark. The last bit of drama came when Marco Andretti and Carlos Munoz attempted to make one less pit stop. They succeeded, but the combination of saving fuel and the tires degrading meant they were sitting ducks for the leaders. Dixon even came out ahead of Marco when he made his final pit stop. Still, the strategy got Marco a top 5 and Munoz a 6th, which is about as good as it's going to get for Honda right now.
Overall, I found it to be a fascinating race. Even with the concerns about tires, we had plenty of side-by-side action (Kimball and Briscoe seemingly spent half the race like that). Despite the difficulty of the cars to drive, there were no accidents and just one debris caution. Yes, only five cars finished on the lead lap, but look at oval races from the 80s and 90s. That happened all the time. It was for different reasons, but at oval races then, if you missed the setup, you were just riding around, just like it was last night for guys like Rahal and Hunter-Reay. It gave things a bit of an old school feel. Some liked it, some didn't. That more than anything else is the new norm at Texas.
Other Thoughts
The best part of the night was easily James Hinchcliffe's command. Briscoe and Daly have been doing fine jobs subbing, but it's not the same without the Mayor. #GetWellSoonHinch
The other part of the pre-race I enjoyed was Kimball's WTF look during the national anthem, which was well, interesting to say the least.
Scott Dixon last won this race in 2008, and that was clearly the last time he had ever shot a gun.
CFH's issues seem obvious: Their two primary cars were both upside down and destroyed. This weekend was about as disastrous as it could be without filling Dallara's coffers further. The fact that both cars essentially retired at the same time piqued the suspicions of many that it was a mercy killing. Newgarden may have given the game away when he admitted on camera to having no idea why he was parked.
Another quiet top ten for Gabby Chaves, more impressive considering the track, Honda, his small team, and the fact that most of the other young guns of the series were nowhere last night.
If only Robin Miller awkwardly asking AJ why he won't die was the worst part of Foyt's night. Then Hawksworth was the first retirement, and Sato was invisible and finished 16th. Not great for what is now the home race for that team.
This may be more a complaint regarding watching any sports programming these days, but those Draft Kings commercials need to die in a fire.
I thought the crowd was pretty good. Not at its peak of course, but I didn't expect that. As usual, my rule of thumb is add 10-15K to whatever Robin estimates and that's probably close to correct.
Points Update: On the strength of his 4th, Montoya increased his lead to 35 points over Power. Dixon got himself back into the mix, 43 back. Helio is 4th, but at 62 back needs to make a move soon.
Up Next
Toronto. The theme song of which is below.
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