Official 2025 Indy 500 Thread

billt460

billt460

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Today it was announced that the 2 Team Penske cars, (Newgarden and Power), will be moved to the back of the field. (Positions 32, and 33). This because they were messing around with the shape, and the aerodynamic blend of the rear attenuators, after they went through tech inspection. Newgarden's car could have easily captured the pole position.

Now they've got a rookie on the pole. They also said something about the race strategists for Team Penske will somehow not be allowed to participate?? (I'm not sure how that's going to work out). They are also fining Team Penske $100,000.00.

So..... Roger Penske owns both the NTT Indy Car Series, as well as the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. So who gets the fine? Or does he simply shift $100K from his left pocket, to his right? Just when you think it can't get any crazier.
 
The 'Greatest Spectacle in Racing' needs to bring back the Offy roadsters and put thirty-three of these beasts on the track Memorial Day. Who cares if they go 240 or 140?


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The Penske thing stinks. Thankfully, Doug Boles stepped up and called them out. I think the penalty is fair. Some have stated that the slower of the two Penskes should technically be the 34th fastest and ‘bumped’ from the field. But from all available evidence, both cars were legal on Saturday when they set their times. The penalty relegating them to 32nd and 33rd seems fair to me.
 
I have no idea what would have possessed them to start in with disk grinders and body putty AFTER they went through tech inspection?

It's common knowledge you can only alter things like tire pressure and rear wing settings once the car has been approved.
 
Klutch9 said:
The Penske thing stinks. Thankfully, Doug Boles stepped up and called them out. I think the penalty is fair. Some have stated that the slower of the two Penskes should technically be the 34th fastest and ‘bumped’ from the field. But from all available evidence, both cars were legal on Saturday when they set their times. The penalty relegating them to 32nd and 33rd seems fair to me.
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It is only fair if they do this to other teams. Technical violations from tech inspection happen frequently with most, if not all teams. This one is getting blown up because of the big cheating deal last year. Is that fair? I think so. They got busted, red handed last year. So they are under the microscope. But at the same time, any other team failing tech should now get more than just, "Go back and fix it," which is what they usually get.
 
billt460 said:
I wouldn't go as far as to call them "slow". They're only 3 MPH off the all time qualifying record of 236 MPH set by Arie Lyandyke.
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It's Luyendyk

The CART cars could run 245-250 mph. Todays cars are slower, but with all the tech they have such as weight-jackers, etc., to play with to optimize them for different parts of the track during a lap, they gain some of the average speed back. They're just not as exciting to watch, IMO.
 
Here is a fun old story that I got from a pretty good source, so I believe it is true. The year Scott Brayton got the pole....they found out later that they had rigged the popoff valve. Word is that the car sailed through the trap at 252 mph. So USAC gave them a faulty popoff valve for the race and to put it mildly, they were not competitive. LOL!
 
IndyFan said:
Take a ride with McLaughlin or Herta during their crashes and see if that makes you yawn.
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No room in the car for passengers.

I've done the ride in the 2-seater car. That's only up to 180 mph or so. Not a full race pace.

I've ridden a Motorcycle faster than the Indy cars go. Of course that was in a straight line.

There was the time I made some passes in an attempt to get my TF license, but that didn't pan out. However I did run down the track at a touch over 280 mph. So I just stuck to making them run, instead of driving.

Being in Brownsburg, I'm sure you're familiar with LOR.
 
02SE said:
No room in the car for passengers.

I've done the ride in the 2-seater car. That's only up to 180 mph or so. Not a full race pace.

I've ridden a Motorcycle faster than the Indy cars go. Of course that was in a straight line.

There was the time I made some passes in an attempt to get my TF license, but that didn't pan out. However I did run down the track at a touch over 280 mph. So I just stuck to making them run, instead of driving.

Being in Brownsburg, I'm sure you're familiar with LOR.
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Yep! :cool: Actually grew up in Speedway, in spitting distance of turn 4!

I once rode the Mag-lev train in Shanghai. I am pretty sure it hit north of 250mph. It was smooth as butter and pretty quiet. We hit a bird and it went "poof!" Lol.

Funny, though. The top F1 drivers say they are too scared to run Indy. That includes the great Verstappen. I give Alonso props for being brave enough. He's a racer.
 
Before anyone thinks a Motorcycle going that fast isn't possible, here's the bike. It held the record in it's class at a two-way average over 246 mph on the Bonneville Salt Flats for years, with the owner riding. The Salt Flats at their best have a traction coefficient approximately comparable to wet pavement. At their worst it's sort of like cake frosting.

But during shake-down passes on pavement, ( I was a mechanic on the bike) prior to running at the Salt Flats, it went faster. It was geared for 290 mph, and with 615 rwhp on VP Import gas, likely had the power to pull it, as long as the bike could get traction, and room to run. The fastest it went on GPS, on pavement, was a bit over 270 mph, but that wasn't at redline.

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billt460 said:
It has been announced that Team Penske has fired the entire upper management staff of their Indycar team, including Tim Cindric.
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You get caught cheating in a very public way, on the biggest stage for the sport, and there will be consequences.
 
billt460 said:
It has been announced that Team Penske has fired the entire upper management staff of their Indycar team, including Tim Cindric.
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Not surprised at all. From inside...Penske had issued warnings after last year that the integrity of the team will not be compromised and that people would be fired if it happened again. So I don't think any of those guys are surprised, either...unless what Helio says is true. He said he believes this modification was more cosmetic than performance related, which is consistent with Penske's philosophy and history as an owner and how they prep cars. Appearance has always been a priority...such as chromed suspension parts, etc. I'm not going to go into it here, but there is a HUGE part of his vision related to this and how it builds value in the eyes of the sponsors. From what I see of this modification, my personal opinion is that Helio is probably right.

Even so, They messed with something that can easily be seen as performance enhancing and it was illegal, either way. Who knows, maybe it gave them a 0.0001 mph advantage? Lol.
 
I can’t watch a spec chassis series that uses chassis that are more than a decade old. Haven’t watched in years. Time for an upgrade.
 
Vercingetorix said:
I can’t watch a spec chassis series that uses chassis that are more than a decade old. Haven’t watched in years. Time for an upgrade.
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That means you'll be skipping the race on television and checking out pickleball on ESPN 14? In all seriousness, I admire your fortitude at staying away. Probably Formula 1 or MotoGP would be options, definitely no parity there.
 
Bonz said:
That means you'll be skipping the race on television and checking out pickleball on ESPN 14? In all seriousness, I admire your fortitude at staying away. Probably Formula 1 or MotoGP would be options, definitely no parity there.
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So would I rather watch a race that is decided in qualifying or the first turn? I´d rather see better competition.
 
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