IndyCar Iowa Postscript
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| Action at Iowa |
Granted, it doesn't happen often. But as they did in Saturday's Iowa Corn 300, when Americans drivers swept the top-4 positions and 6 of the top-7, the Verizon IndyCar Series will every now and again, and often when you least expect it, make the spine tingle with absolute delight.
But it's never exactly long lasting. As we saw with yesterday's bungled, poorly-worded and ill-timed announcement that the series was cracking down on disparaging remarks, we were reminded there is perhaps no entity with such an uncanny ability to piss on its own parade as INDYCAR. We'll get to yesterday's ham-fisted announcement and the equally ham-fisted retraction/clarification/whatever from Hulman & Co. CEO Mark Miles later.
For now, allow me to take you back to a heartwarming Saturday evening, at the fabulous Iowa Speedway.
'Merica
[adinserter name="GOOGLE AD"]While I am on record as saying that IndyCar racing needs multiple American race winning drivers to succeed, I want to reiterate I am not forwarding some sort of ignorant provincialism. However, so long as IndyCar remains fundamentally an American sport, it must in my opinion have some mechanism to re-engage grassroots America. In an ideal world, drivers such as Graham Rahal, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Sage Karam, and Josef Newgarden will battle Simon Pagenaud, Will Power, and others for wins and championships. And people in places Nazareth, PA and Hendersonville, TN will live and die with whether their hometown heroes can defeat great drivers from elsewhere.
While the project is more comprehensive than the best American IndyCar driver of this era leading an American top-4 and Karam ruffling Carpenter's feathers in the nation's heartland, let's also make clear: the best American IndyCar driver of this era leading an American top-4 and Karam ruffling Carpenter's feathers in the nation's heartland is a pretty darn good start.
RHR
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| Ryan Hunter-Reay |
Clearly, Hunter-Reay and Andretti Autosport have been strong at Iowa. But with no finish better than 8th in the previous 8 races this season, there was very little coming into the weekend that would have forecast a Hunter-Reay win. And other than a third-place effort in opening practice, there was nothing in particular during the weekend that would have indicated a Hunter-Reay win.
However, off nights from Team Penske and Ganassi, seemed to be like throwing a porterhouse to a hungry lion. And the incredibly opportunistic RHR essentially found himself in a position where he had one guy to beat in order to cash in…
2nd Place
When Tony Kanaan dropped out, Josef Newgarden found himself in the lead with the best car on the track. Hunter-Reay, however, made the call to stop early in the final stint, placing a premium on track position over fresh rubber. Of course, the irony here is last year it was fresh rubber, not track position that determined the outcome for RHR. But with the track position, Hunter-Reay held on for his third win at Iowa Speedway.
For the first time I can remember, I sensed a bit of frustration from Newgarden after Saturday's second-place finish. While he didn't exactly say this, on a night when Kanaan and Scott Dixon had failures, and Team Penske was by their standards out to lunch, Newgarden perhaps thought he should have cashed in with a victory. And at the very least, I doubt he would have expected to be beaten by a Honda.
3rd Place
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| Sage Karam |
Completing the podium was the 20-year-old American rookie Sage Karam. The clearly not lacking in self-confidence Karam, of course, drew the ire of Ed Carpenter and Graham Rahal, for what the veterans deemed to be reckless driving. Carpenter approached Karam post-race and gave the driver of the #8 Comfort Revolution Chevrolet a piece of his mind.
Now, I'm not a race car driver and thus not sure what exactly the etiquette is. It seemed Karam moved up pretty hard on Carpenter during the closing laps, but that was no different than other moves what I saw standing trackside for the first 120 laps from others who were not penalized. Anyway, my point is I don't feel I'm in any position to take sides on the matter.
What I will say is that when Karam was approached by a hot Carpenter, I was impressed with the calm he showed. He didn't respond in an aggressive manner just said he was there to race and that it was "tough luck" for Carpenter. While there are times Karam appears to be not one day more than 20 years old, in this case he seemed every bit of the grizzled vet, managing walk the fine line between standing his ground yet maintaining his calm and poise.
Also, for a series and sport that needs young blood and the status quo altered some, Karam's irreverence and willingness to stand firm against the established stars was rather refreshing. Again, I'm not piling on Carpenter, as I have no issue with the manner in which he aired his grievance. I'm also not holding a coronation for Karam after one podium finish. I'm simply saying the way Karam drove and handled everything in the aftermath Saturday, was a breath of fresh air for a series that desperately needs one.
4th Place
[adinserter name="GOOGLE AD"]Perhaps, an even better story than Karam's maiden podium, is Rahal's season-long. While I've said this numerous times, I think it bears repeating. If you're grading on a curve, pound-for-pound so to speak, Rahal has been the series' best driver. A single-car Honda team in a year in which Honda has clearly struggled, and a year in which multi-car team should theoretically have an edge in terms of development, hasn't impeded the #15 team.
Saturday, on a night when he had mechanical issues and problems on pit road, Rahal still managed to grind out a fourth-place finish, on a bad day. Don't look now, but the son of three-time CART champion Bobby is a mere 42 points behind Juan Pablo Montoya. And if you want to know who the hot driver is between the two, there's no question: it's Rahal, who has finished in the top-5 in 10 of the last 13 races.
Make no mistake: with the confidence Rahal is currently displaying, the notion of him winning the series title, is not at all farfetched.
Not championship level
It would have been nice to merely focus on the above. But the series just had to make the announcement Tuesday of Rule 9.3.8. (Full-text here).
To begin, I believe that sanctions should be levied against entrants who publicly denigrate the series or product. This is not an IndyCar issue, rather standard operating procedure for any sports entertainment entity or well, any organization. And yes, there is a difference between saying "the series sucks," or "in my opinion, the series missed the technical package for this race." The former in my opinion would warrant sanctions, whereas the latter is simply an opinion, and one that doesn't denigrate the series to permanent suckness, for lack of a better term.
I'm also for motorsports sanctioning bodies acting as benevolent dictatorships. NASCAR's "this is our sandbox boy, and you best be behavin' yo'self," is in my opinion a proper way of running a racing organization.
Perhaps, a more formalized clarification of the series' intent to discourage such denigration would have sufficed.
However, for whatever the series felt compelled to issue a broad-reaching rule that includes amongst other items a provision against, get this: denigrating the series' schedule. Yes, ending by Labor Day and having 9-person teams work 10 straight weeks is actually really good; if only people would say so.
In any case, Mark Miles attempted to clarify the rule yesterday with a statement (same link as above). While Miles' statement in and of itself was fine, the problem was it didn't entirely line up with the actual text of the rule. For example, Miles cited the Carpenter/Karam dispute as something that wouldn't incur sanctions. Again, I agree Carpenter should not have been punished for airing his grievance with Karam in the manner in which he did.
However, according to the rule, competitors who are not "courteous to others," warrant sanctions. Carpenter may have kept the exchange to a heated verbal one, but let's be clear: he was not courteous to Karam.
The point here is that, once again, it seems the right hand has no idea what the left hand is doing at 16th and Georgetown. The series composes a rule that reads like a police-state directive, yet the CEO issues a statement saying the rule is "not a gag order." Which are we supposed to believe? Or has the series created a situation where it can bend the rule to fit its interests at a given time, further playing into the perception that it has different rules for different people?
And the timing
With the marketable Karam appearing on a media teleconference Wednesday, INDYCAR deflected attention from his performance and dispute with Carpenter. Plus, with three races of measurable TV ratings gains albeit gains relative to rather minuscule numbers, the series had a quantitative measure indicating forward momentum. At the very least, after years of ratings decline, there was the notion that the bleeding had at least gotten itself under control so to speak.
Of course, then there was the bazooka-to-foot measure outlined above. And oh, the Mid-Ohio race in two weeks is on CNBC…
Big Picture
I'll spare everyone mushy childhood memories of waiting for the Indianapolis 500 like it was Christmas Day. And I know IMS/INDYCAR have done worse things and made greater missteps than Rule 9.8.3. For example, IMS nearly two decades ago decided to well, ruin Christmas.
I say that not to open an old wound. It also would be unreasonable to hold current management accountable for something that happened twenty years ago. However, I believe it is fair to hold them accountable for not learning from their organization's prior mistakes, and the current missive reeks of such arrogance. Just as it was arrogant to think the Indy 500 could survive 1996 unharmed, it is arrogant to think people pointing out shortcomings, is the reason shortcomings exist. The appearance here is that IMS/INDYCAR is looking to overcome those who question their competence by force, rather than say, greater competence. Insulting, if you ask me.
Going forward
My hope is the series reconsiders Rule 9.8.3. As stated earlier, participants should be penalized for publicly disparaging comments about the series or product. But a carte blanche rule sends a disparaging message to the people who have long supported the series. While Miles says it wasn't a gag order, that's not how the rule reads. Further, the way the message was delivered showed an incredible disconnect from what public opinion would in fact be.
I'll finish by saying: INDYCAR, you have a lot going for you right now. You have a young charismatic, second-generation American driving with supreme confidence and the chance to win a championship. You have a wholesome young American enjoying a breakout season, and an edgy, talented, young American with the bravado to ruffle feathers and mix it up with the big boys. You also have chance to show your fan base and stakeholders you are willing to correct a wrong and amend Rule 9.8.3. The rule can be rewritten in a way in which the series doesn't lose face. You would have the support of at least this credentialed media member.
I hope you do the right thing. I'm just not exactly holding my breath.
Brian Carroccio is a senior columnist for AutoRacing1. He can be contacted at BrianC@AutoRacing1.com
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