Indy 500 trims schedule by week

I do have a concern regarding the reduction by one week of practice and qualifying at Indy for the "500." While I've never driven the "Brickyard" I do know people who have. It isn't simply a "BIG OVAL" as you might think. There are, and can be changes in wind direction as well as wind speed that will make your approach and line through the Turns differ. My fear then would be for the "Rookies" who aren't used to these subtle changes, and who won't experience them in a shortened practice and qualifying schedule. They, in turn, may well end up causing accidents that will involve some of the more experienced drivers.

Jeff Belskus is a '' bean counter '' nothing more. What separates the Indianapols 500 from all the other race tracks in the world is tradition. He seems to have forgotten that. Can't wait till Penske buys the track and returns it to the '' Greatest Spectacle in Racing .''

end of the day . the goal is to get into the field. Sometimes the second week really drags out . The weather is notorously bad anyway so 1 session is going to get rained out till next week. otherwise there are plenty of chances for people to get into the field.

. Condensed schedule will make it more fun to watch as its possible pole and bump day can happend in the same weekend. person racing for the pole on saturday could crash and not recover in time for bump day.and be out of the race,,

Danica might want to be a professional race car driver but why does she spend time being a stripper for the cameras????????

to post 266, although I agree totally, the correct quotation is 'Bullfighting, motor racing, mountain climbing.", Boxing, hardly.

How boring is that. How many top 15 cars are going to try to bump on the 2nd day. The bumping for top 11 spots can be interesting, when it's not rained out.

Helio was falsely accused by the IRS. They couldn't get the jury to believe their lies.

Hemingway said that there are only three sports, boxing, bullfighting and car racing, the rest are games. (I would add rugby) Actual playing time in an NFL game is about 12-13 minutes, whoo hoo! There's a sport for you. Now assume that half that time is spent on offense, that means the QB and the offensive line, the people likely to play every down, are playing 6.5 minutes. Are those athletes? Skilled, yes but so are chess players, golfers and all the rest of the people who play games.

The most successful drivers spend hours working out in the gym. They need endurance and they need strength to hold the car (no power steering in Indy cars) in a corner at 218 MPH. Hand eye coordination, that has something to do with steering between another car and the wall as well as coordinating the use of the throttle.

All motor racing is good. Indy, F1, NASCAR, motorcycles, drags etc...

Let me see ya'll FIT YOUR LARD ARSES into a IRL race car without a TON OF LARD... and the 2 pit crews working to wedge ya'll 's behind with shovels, let alone drive one... "shaking my head and rolling my eyes" as always armchair race car drivers bashing a real race car driver ( danica) on how better they are ( or how they can score at her... dream on dudes, she ain't gonna give you time) ... ya'll are so funny and entertaining just listen to yourselves... degenerates... stick to the article on hand racing... 3rd place is nothing to sneeze at finishing at INDY500.... that track is car killer --- just claimed 10 cars again this past sunday... What a great race SUNDAY GO DANICA GO!
most of you probably doesn't even know how to drive a 5 speed let alone know how to use paddle shifters... without stalling or crashing... hah!

Hey Jesus from post 152 talk may be cheap But facts are facts and the numbers dont lie she SUCKS !!!!!!!

Love to give Danica some long hard back shots!!!

anything that does the work for the "athlete" should not be a sport. athletics take physical and athletic skill. not sitting on something while it moves for you, when all you have to do is press a pedal or whip something. anyone can press a pedal or whip something. and yeah anyone can play baseball or football or basketball, but you have to be good at the sport to make it big. pressing a pedal and driving around in circles should not be worthy of making money.

I love Danica. I bet she is a lttle firecracker in the sack. YUM!!!!

he's a tax evader and got away with it because of celebrity! now he wins a race he should not be in. Wheldon should be in 1st and Patrick in 2nd.

Is the reason that there were so many wrecks this year due to the fact that the Firestone tires were made based on a slightly longer projected wheelbase (148") than the final (144") wheelbase for the cars that ran this years Indy. Penske's cars/drivers, as well as well as the Target cars/drivers seemed to have the race all to themselves. The only real passing, for the most part, seemed to take place in leaving the Pits. What with the number of laps remaining as well as seemingly enough fuel on board neither Dan Wheldon, nor Danica Patrick showed any effort whatsoever to try to make it a three car race for the Checkered Flag. From all the races I watched both in person, and on TV I don't recall anything like that happening, and suspect that there was more going on than met the eye. IF there was something going on with the Tires, and Track Conditions that we aren't savy to then I know both Car Owner, and Driver would be HAPPY with a Top 10 Finish!

Kudo's to Helio for a job well done. I felt really bad for Marco Andretti. 2 Weeks of training and it ends in less than 30 secs. Good job for Danica, although she was never a factor in this race. A thing that ticks me off about Danica is that she gets so much exposure yet she has only won 1 race. I think it would be a different story if the other female drivers like fisher and Duno who as equally talented if not better than Danica. If they have the same exposure and sponsorship, it would be a different story.

Considering all of the crashes that happen during each of the annual races, the name should be changed from The Indianapolis 500 to the Indianapolis 5 Hours. What a bore!

But to those who say that the drivers are not athletes, I say try it yourselves (as if you guys are capable of even controlling a car at 100 mph, no less 200mph for 500 miles).

wasn't Danica 3rd. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

hey cheri_1958 imagine if they gave the most talented lady a chance and not one whos' career is based on her looks....did you know there was another female at the series below indy who won several races while danica won zero...........would not today be a proud day for women if the most talented lady got the shot instead of danica being chosen for her looks...3rd probably would have been 1st but the choice was not made on talent it was made on marketing and by supporting danica you are setting the female gender back........turn off danica and demand the most talented ladies in racing to be givin a chance not the better looking and then you will get what you want a true lady champion not one who is making a buck any way she can while taking the place of a female that might actually win...........dont let the media tell you what to think, find the truth.....

once again danica ends up as part of the headline.........edges danica ,make it sound like it was close......she was never a contender ran around the track mid pack and finished closer to 4th than second yet she was edged,cmon media stop with the danica train she has won one race and that was because of pit strategy not talent..........if it was about talent then the lady that was winning in the series below indy would have gotten a shot at indy, not the winless danica who got the call.....females need to unite and say hey we want the best of our gender to have a chance at history not someone whos' only where they are is because of her looks.... imagine if danica could get 3rd at indy what the other lady could have done probably repeating by now but instead there is still no indy 500 female winner....and the truth about racing is sponsorship,the teams with the most money win races no matter if its nascar, indy or the local dirt track.and danica has plenty of sponsorship behind her, to the point a monkey could drive her car to a top 5 at indy....another pathetic attempt to get danicas' name in the headline as it has no use to truly be there.....

I have been going to this race for over 15 years. It is a magical place and a wonderful event. If you ever get the chance, come to Indiana, come to the race. It is an experience you will never forget. Congrads Helio, fine job. God's speed Vitor.

wow .. i never knew this went on.. to the ones that think they are not athletes...boy you have a lot to learn (jog with htem some day)... to the racists (where do you come from?)...to the 'one is better than the other'.. try it, i will be here to listen...and to the lucky ones that can go there.. my hat is off
lets love each other.. that way we dont spend 10 billion a month in wars that could be free race tickets for everyone...then we could all compare and buy each other beer or sweet tea or horchata or.....

I understand your feeling about racing not being a sport. It isn't if you compare it to say football or track and field, where the physicality is more obvious. But these men and women are athletes. Their size isn't the point. Jockeys are small, but anyone who knows anything about horse racing knows they are athletes. There are many different kinds of sporting competitions. Is basketball really a sport? It's just a bunch of tall guys dunking the ball. Is baseball really a sport? If you watch, most of the time they are just standing around doing nothing. Of course basketball and baseball are sports; it's the physicality that makes it so. Darts and billiards are sports. Sure they seem like bar games to those who don't understand, but the skills involved are very physical (not just hand-eye coordination). It's not a video game though. How often over the years have you seen fat, out of shape pitchers in baseball. Is pitching a sport? They just stand there and throw a ball. That isn't hard. What about a left fielder? They spend most of their time doing nothing, and every once in a while they have to catch a fly ball. Hardly a physical challenge, right? If you paint something as NOT a sport, be prepared to defend another. And if you do want to go that route, really the only true "sports" are those of the original Olympics, which were all about speed, strength and stamina. Racing at Indy isn't a video game, and it isn't just about hand-eye coordination. And it isn't just size (have you ever met AJ Foyt?). These guys are controlling extremely powerful machines, making constant adjustments while going 225 mph (can you even change the radio channel while going 70 as smoothly). Oh, and the whole time the G forces are pulling on their bodies at levels you or I couldn't handle for 500 miles. Again, I understand the "it isn't a sport" argument (I've thought it before, too), but by the same standard -- Tom Brady isn't an athlete (throwing a football is all hand-eye coordination), LeBron James isn't an athlete (making a dunk or jump shot is just hand-eye coordination), Derek Jeter isn't an athlete (hitting a baseball is just hand-eye coordination). If you start down that road of thinking, the only "true" sports are physical racing (running and swimming). Anything else, by default, would just be a "past time".

Nice to see Danica have some positive comments about somebody or something following a major race!

It was an awesome race. Really enjoyed watching it, and was so happy to see Helio win! BRAVO and so well done. Danica Patrick coming in 3rd was no small thing either. And I LOVE NASCAR~ I have all my life. You don't like it.... don't watch it!