GP of Houston

So today I’m trying something different and am writing as I watch for both qualifying and race one. We will see how it goes. Currently, Will Power did not advance in qualifying. That is just fine with me. Sato, Wilson and Newgarten are among those in the top 12. That is great.

After a couple weeks off I’m excited to be watching a race but the family is not too happy. We have a birthday party tomorrow and a neighbor needing help moving and just regular weekend stuff and I’m camped out in front of the TV. Double headers are hard and not just for the drivers. I understand my problems with double headers are nothing compared to the teams and drivers but I’m not necessarily a fan. Giving up a whole weekend to watch racing does not make me the most popular member of the family.

While watching top 12 and seeing Luca Fillipi and Mikhail Aleshin. That is impressive.

Oh man Helio just knocked Justin Wilson out of the top 6. Wish Josef had made the top 6.

Sato, Hinch, Helio, Dixon, Fillipi, Pagenaud
Wow Luca. Also love seeing Sato do well, especially in Texas.

Ryan Hunter-Reay- sustained heart rate in 170s or 180s. Don’t tell me they are not athletes. That is quite a workout.

Seriously, Paul Tracy, can you learn to say Helio. That drives me nuts.

Simon Pagenaud on the pole. Woo Hoo way to go. Luca Fillipi starting 4th- pay attention Graham. Sato starting 6th- well wish it was better but still can’t complain- well AJ might disagree.

It’s always scary watching Dario’s crash. Praying that today is a safe race. Tomorrow too.

Ooh it’s raining again. That will make this standing start very interesting.

Changes made on the track from last year and giving the drivers extra laps before going green are both smart decisions. So thankful Indycar is continuous in their quest to make racing safe.

I’m excited for this standing start in the rain.

Oh I hate timed races.

Well once the race started I stopped trying to keep up on the blog. The race was just way too entertaining. I couldn’t take my eyes off the screen. Watching the car slide around in the rain and watching Takuma Sato do his thing was awesome. I started thinking that maybe Sato could win. Then came Marco.

Marco could not have been in a worse place. I honestly don’t think Marco was trying to hold up Sato. I think he was praying for yellow so he could get back in the game. He was desperate to stay on the lead lap. I don’t necessarily agree with Indycar blue flagging him but I also did feel that if Sato could get around Marco he would continue to pull away from the field. Then when Marco didn’t comply he was black flagged. Again tough decision. Black flag seems harsh when Marco was just doing all he could to stay on the lead lap but I think the black flag was more about Marco not doing as told and Indycar putting their foot down.

Then in the end it didn’t matter because Taku mixed it up with Mikhail Aleshin and both their days were over. Honestly I’m sure this was a race where you closely watched the car in front of you as they could go sliding any second and Sato never realized how close Aleshin was. So unfortunate for both. Then we got to see the AJ we all know and love. I loved the interview with AJ. As I said in a tweet- AJ is why I love Indycar which is kinda funny since I’m the exact opposite. I love how he tells it as he sees it.

So then everyone was on slicks but there was still lots of water on the track and no where to pass without getting into some water. It made for an interesting race. Graham was up and down. Had me rolling my eyes as he got in trouble and also made a great pass working his way up the field. Then he hit Tony Kanaan. Are you kidding me. Both he and Tony are looking to have a good finish something they both need and Graham takes Tony out. So very disappointing. Tony was pissed but he handled his interview so well and that is one of the many things that make him my favorite driver. Sure hope tomorrow is better.

Justin Wilson had a great day but he needed some yellow he never got. He pitted for a splash of gas giving up his first place position to his teammate Carlos Huertas. Then amazingly and thanks to the yellow caused by Graham, Carlos Huertas won round one in Houston. Wow, I’m guessing very few saw that coming. I love seeing the smaller teams win. I wish it had been Justin but still happy for Huertas and the Dale Coyne team.

I’m sure I missed so much. This race was so action packed. It is one I will watch again for sure. Hope you all enjoyed as much as I did and if you missed it make sure you don’t miss tomorrows. Should be another great race.

Better late than never- my Indy 500 post

Sorry I took my sweet time getting this written. I won’t go into too much detail as most things have been thoroughly discussed by now but I want to give my thoughts on a couple things.

First- a personal issue. We just finished our basement and spent way too much money on the sound system. The 500 was to be the first race I watched in the basement. The HD channel did not work and neither did my sound system. That was frustrating so it wasn’t the picture or sound I was hoping for. Still need to get it fixed.

My family watched the start with me. Thankfully it was only my son Matthew in the room when Jim Nabors sang. I was crying- my husband would not understand that.

Steve and Zach made it for the green flag and we all watched the start. That was special for me. Hubby left first and the boys around lap 10. They would check in and Steve actually sat with me for a good half hour. He was reading the paper but…

Wow! Can’t believe how long the race went without a yellow. My poor nephew, Ryan, can’t wait for a yellow. Don’t worry it’s not because he loves the crashes but he loves Dario Franchitti. I heard that Franchitti only led the beginning laps and not those under yellow but there was no way I was letting my nephew know. He waved at the TV when the pace car was on.

Hate that Tony Kanaan ran out of gas and couldn’t get the car started. Seems like a huge mistake for Ganassi. Would not have expected that.

I don’t always understand the race lines and sometimes it looks like a driver is cutting off another driver but he is just racing his line other times I feel he is racing his line and then they get a penalty. So again I admit I’m not an expert on this but when Townsend Bell, Ed Carpenter and James Hinchcliffe went three wide I was placing blame on TBell. Hinch had plenty of room to stick his nose in the inside. Townsend was up high and needed to come down- well don’t go high if you can’t stay there. It was Bell that touched Ed causing Ed to hit Hinch. Ok I get it, Hinch was last on the scene and had he not been there the touch between Bell and Ed probably would have been nothing more than just that bit I still watch and see that it was Bell that started the incident. He could have backed off. I had also just met Ed and Hinch at Milwaukee so I hated that they were out. All that said, I don’t place much blame on Bell, I see it as a racing incident.

I hate gimmicks and I would prefer a race to run its natural course. In a perfect world that is green at the end of the race. However, when Indycar threw the red flag I was ok with that. Yellow would have most likely stayed yellow to the end and especially after ending under yellow so many times in the last few years we needed a green flag finish. I think it was the right decision.

Ryan Hunter-Reay wins. Nothing against Ryan, he is a great guy, he is just not on of my favorites. I wanted Helio to get his fourth win or Marco to get his first. I won’t complain too much I’m still thrilled TK won last year. I can’t complain.

In our family pool it was my nephew that won the $33. He actually had asked to have Ed Carpenter as his driver but my husband chose him so he asked for Will Power but Grandma chose him so he took Ryan Hunter-Reay. I think he was pretty happy he didn’t get his first choices.

Dual in Detroit

I’m not sure about the rest of you but the thought of two races less than a week after Indy felt way to soon. I could have used another week to “recover” from the 500. I have no clue how the drivers did it. They must be exhausted.

Lets get started. Roger Penske works hard to make the race in Detroit a good one. While I like to see other teams win, it was nice for Penske to win both races. I’m done with Will Power though, he doesn’t need to win again this year. Helio- I would like to see him win the championship so he can win one but I rather just see him on the podium and have more winners from other teams.

Race 1- Helio on pole. Yeah

Race 2- Sato on pole- woo Hoo. I always like to see AJ’s team doing well.

Race 1- I could not even begin to figure out the fuel strategy and who was where.

Race2- a bit easier to understand the strategy.

Race 1- Rahal finally having a good day. Just when you are wondering if he will ever catch a break he finishes second and might have won if Power had not blocked on the restart.

Race 2- Rahal has a horrible day. This is getting old. Graham showed lots of promise a couple years ago but seems to be moving in the wrong direction.

Race 1- Power takes out Pagenaud. Man these two keep getting together on the track. And Power gets away clean.

Race 2- Power takes out Josef Newgarten. Power does get a penalty but his car was still working and Josef was out. Josef can’t catch a break. Looked very similar to when RHR took out Josef earlier in the year.
Kevin Lee on trackside said he wondered if the penalty was a response to people tweeting he always gets away with it. Cumulative penalty. Regardless, I think he deserved it and am glad he was penalized. Leave Newgarten alone!
Then even with the penalty Power finishes second. How does that happen? I swear he has the best luck.

Race 1- Power wins. Okay when he was having his dry spell last year he moved up on my likability chart. Now that he is winning again he is sliding back down.

Race 2- Helio wins. Yeah! After coming so close at Indy I’m glad to see Helio up front. As I tweeted, I don’t care if you like Helio or not its always fun to watch him climb the fence. When he stopped the car he took a second to “thank” his car. Then he made his way to the fence, not only him but the team too. I love it! Great interview after too. Everyone loves to win but Helio shows it.

I enjoyed both races. I’m kinda thankful they were on ABC so there was not a qualifying show- there just isn’t enough time to watch two races and enjoy the beautiful weekend with your family. I will be listening to Texas on the radio (if I’m lucky) so I will have a bit of a break. I think my family will appreciate that.