First of all, congratulations to Joey Saldana for his victory in The World of Outlaws sprint car race at Charlotte’s ½ mile dirt track on Friday night. The same to Brad Keselowski for his NASCAR Nationwide victory in Charlotte’s Saturday 300 miler, and Mark Webber scored a win the Formula One’s legendary Monaco Grand Prix.
Now to the meat of the matter.
The Indy 500 and the Coca Cola 600 provided 8 or nine hours of fine racing. For only the third or fourth time in my years of following both races (since 1963), I do believe that Indy was the more exciting race. More battles for the lead, more exciting restarts, and a heart stopping move on the final lap.
INDY: I will reiterate the opinion that I gave after the IRL’s opening race of the season. Aesthetically speaking, the 2012 Indy Car is the ugliest thing on four wheels. It is more of a sports car and an ugly one. When views from the side and above are shown I almost have to close my eyes. Having said that, this wide race care punches a hole in the air that allows drafting at a level I have not seen before in Indy Cars. The machine is so stable at the 200 mph+ Indianapolis Motor Speedway that it allows for great racing. Lose something and gain something I guess.
I believe Takuma Sato’s last lap move was daring but perfectly proper. It made me “swallow my throat” and it turned out well as nobody hit the spinning car. If it had caused a massive wreck I suppose we would all be critical of the move. Chip Ganassi deserves congrats as Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon finished 1st and 2nd. Another strong run without a victory went to Tony Kanaan in third. There were 10 leaders and 35 lead changes in this years Indy 500.
1. Dario Franchitti
2. Scott Dixon
3. Tony Kanaan
4. Oriol Servia
5. Ryan Briscoe
6. James Hinchcliffe
7. Justin Wilson
8. Charlie Kimball
9. Townsend Bell
10. Helio Castroneves
All photos are from IRL or NASCAR websites.
CHARLOTTE: It was only a matter of time before Kasey Kahne got his first victory for car owner Rick Hendricks and Sunday’s Coke 600 was a huge stage for that occurrence. Kahne dominated the late laps of the event leaving teammates Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch to settle for 2nd and 3rd. Jimmy Johnson, Tony Stewart, Matt Kenseth and others had a variety of mishaps befall them, making it just a tad easier for the likable and talented Kahne.
1. Kasey Kahne
2.Denny Hamlin
3. Kyle Busch
4. Greg Biffle
5. Brad Keselowski
6. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
7. Jeff Gordon
8. Kevin Harvick
9. Carl Edwards
10. Matt Kenseth
On to Detroit for the IRL, and Dover for NASCAR.
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