Indy 500 leader crashes on last lap (PIC)

JEDI

Lifer
Sep 25, 2001
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http://www.cnn.com/2011/SPORT/motorsport/05/29/indy.500.winner/index.html?hpt=C1

t1larg.weldon.wins.gi.jpg



Sucks to be him.
(He finished 2nd by sliding in on 3 wheels :eek: )
 

IndyColtsFan

Lifer
Sep 22, 2007
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He didn't just crash on the last lap -- he crashed on the very last turn on the last lap, with the finish line in sight.
 

Kaervak

Diamond Member
Jul 18, 2001
8,460
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Yeah, I was watching the race live. Rookie mistake, didn't come off the power coming out of the racing line to pass the lapped traffic.
 
Feb 6, 2007
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Took the last turn too high to try and pass someone who was a lap back. If he had cut the throttle a hair and raced his line, he would have cruised to victory. The fact that he only lost by 2 seconds after the crash is testament to the fact that his lead was basically insurmountable barring a catastrophe; he just happened to deliver that catastrophe at the worst possible time.
 

mugs

Lifer
Apr 29, 2003
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In the post-race interview he explained what happened. He was nearly out of fuel and didn't think he could back off the throttle and then accelerate into the straightaway. He basically chose one risk over the other. In retrospect he chose poorly. Were it not for that car that was not on the lead lap, he would have won.
 

ThatsABigOne

Diamond Member
Nov 8, 2010
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Indy car racing is very boring to watch. Everyone is everywhere on the lap, unlike nascar, formula 1, WTCC, BTCC, etc.
 

Mike Gayner

Diamond Member
Jan 5, 2007
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Are Americans aware that there's some type of motor racing that don't involved driving in a circle for hours at a time? *yawn*
 

MegaVovaN

Diamond Member
May 20, 2005
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Gotta love the commenters complaining that cars waste fuel.

Few posts later, pwnage is delivered:
CART (Indy) cars run on methanol, not fossil fuels. They have since 1964. But hey, don't let facts get in the way of a good rant.
 

IndyColtsFan

Lifer
Sep 22, 2007
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Indy car racing is very boring to watch. Everyone is everywhere on the lap, unlike nascar, formula 1, WTCC, BTCC, etc.

On the contrary, I personally think Nascar is extremely boring to watch. IndyCar has much more excitement IMO and definitely more speed.
 
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IndyColtsFan

Lifer
Sep 22, 2007
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NASCAR has a road course or 2 as well :p

IMO all of it is boring, the only one i find watchable is the WRC

I used to watch the Indy 500 on TV -- or at least, the first 10 or 20 laps and then the last 10 or 20 laps. Once CART and IRL split, I lost interest and never really gained it back despite them reuniting. Believe it or not, I've lived my entire 40 years in Indiana and have never been to the actual race (though I've been to the track several times). It isn't my idea of fun to sit in 90+ degree heat where you can barely hear yourself think and on top of that, have to battle 350,000 to 400,000 people in traffic.
 

bruceb

Diamond Member
Aug 20, 2004
8,874
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I saw that as I watched the race. Typical rookie mistake, letting his adrenaline take over. He had a big enough lead to just slow down a tad and not try to overtake the slower car coming out of turn #4 .. He will likely be back in 2012 and he may yet win at Indy in the future. He shows some driving promise. As to the Monaco race, yes, there were no lead changes. But a whole bunch of screw ups and minor crashes, but there was one where they needed an ambulance with about 6 laps to go, 2 incidents going down into the hairpin with some damage and drive through penalties and 1 major wreck coming through the tunnel. But it was a good race overall.
 
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BUTCH1

Lifer
Jul 15, 2000
20,433
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I used to watch the Indy 500 on TV -- or at least, the first 10 or 20 laps and then the last 10 or 20 laps. Once CART and IRL split, I lost interest and never really gained it back despite them reuniting. Believe it or not, I've lived my entire 40 years in Indiana and have never been to the actual race (though I've been to the track several times). It isn't my idea of fun to sit in 90+ degree heat where you can barely hear yourself think and on top of that, have to battle 350,000 to 400,000 people in traffic.

LOL, I understand, I live 3-4 miles from Daytona and have only been to one 500. The real race starts when the one on the track is over, 150K+ people all trying to leave at once (and most of 'em full of beer)...