Monday, July 27, 2015

INDYCAR: Iowa Madness abounds while Montoya keeps points lead...





'Whale, that certainly was another Humdinger of an IndyCar Roundy-round' race, as this time Drivers temperatures mimicked the swelterin' Cornfields heat!

Funny, as I'm a Twisty's Devotee by trade, yet I must confess that the past three Oval-track races have been extremely exciting and Uber enjoyable to watch; Err listen to via thy Telescreen.

Although the Pre-amble was unceasingly L-O-N-G! As we waited for the HEAT to subside,  I'd say that the  Preamble banter was a microcosm of what to come. As I was pretty disappointed with the Tracy-Bourdais Coom-by-Ja, especially with A-L-L of the pre-interview HYPE!

Yet Townsend Bell's Quips afterwards were priceless, asking if Mr. Chrome Horn (Paul Tracy) was gonna make nice to (Alex) Tagliani next? For which I didn't hear 'Ol 'PT utter a word since Leigh Diffey was cracking up while Townsend was guffawing over not buying all of the Kissy-Kissy make nice with le 'Hamburgular, nee SeaBass; Hya!

And in what's shaping up to arguably be Juan Pablo Montoya's year. After uncharacteristically DNF-in' (Did Not Finish) for the first time this season when something on the car broke and shot him straight into the wall. After lead announcer Leigh Diffey wobbled on 'N on 'bout thee big points shake-up; Uhm, gee Wally, look who came out relatively unscathed still with a 43-points lead over an unbelievable second place chasee; Can Y'all say JPM!

And while Ganassi's lead duo of Scott Dixon & Tony Kanaan, not necessarily in that order  looked set to dominate the race - it simply wasn't their night with 'TK Follow-your-Schnoz! (Kanaan) retiring with mystery Gremlins, being heard over his In-car radio asking incredulously: "What's Going On?" Whilst Dixon suffered a mechanical woe, apparently some sort of right rear suspension failure? Which is pretty rare for thee 'Iceman! While Ganassi's third driver Charlie Kimball exited Stage Left after making contact with the wall.

And as much as I wanted Joseph STUD! Newgarden to win, I found myself unexpectedly pullin' for two drivers I rarely cheer for, i.e.; Messer's G. Rahal and RHR; GASP!

Yet with Ryan Hunter-reay  having led a measly 3-laps all season long (all at Fontana) prior to Iowa, and Andretti Autosport being my most disappointing team to date this season. Y'all had to give it up for Hunter-Reay getting A-L-L of those mythical Animals off his back; Hooah!

As Newgarden understandably was disappointed with his runner-up finish while the brash rookie Sage Karam scored his first IndyCar podium much to Ed Carpenter's delight!

While thy younger Rahal continued flexing his new-found Graminator stance with an impressive P4 after becoming stuck in sixth gear for much of the evening, amongst other issues.

As what's wrong with this picture below? Like which 'Juan 'O these is different than the others; Hya!

And what happened to all of the Dancin' Man's Pre-race bluster. Like if I can come from last to second without even qualifying then think how good the Hitachi car will do tonight! Uhm, where'd Yuhs go 'HULIO?

As may be IndyCar put Sebastain Bourdais's missing 3lbs back into his car pre-Qualie? Just Kidding! As now SeaBass would be forced to mimic 'Ol Twinkle-toes drive from the back of the grid after fortunately saving his Mystique' chassis from a B-I-G' TIME Wall-smack during qualifying!

Yet le 'Hamburgular finished the night P9,  two places ahead of Castroneves, who was second best of the Penske Boyz at the Racetrack Rusty Wallace built.

Meanwhile, Will Power seemingly had a very quiet outing - simply staying out of trouble en route to a tenth-place finish, which I'm pretty sure he wasn't overly happy with.

Yet I'd say that Power's about to leapfrog his elder Brazilian team-mate in the points table, while can Power, Castroneves, Dixon or anybody else catch Montoya for the championship with just three races remaining? And will either Newgarden or Rahal add to their win tally on the next two twisty's?

While I won't have any pity for IndyCar if the Double Points follies at Sonoma makes a mockery out of  the title chase...

Lastly, while I enjoyed FAST EDDIE' (Carpenter) giving Sage Karam the universal "You're Number One!" signal whilst going wheel-to-wheel. And understand why Ed was hot under thy collar. After hearing Karam's quip 'bout this AIN'T Go Karts! I immediately flashed back to Takuma Sato giving 'Ol DC the Biz - with an audacious overtake maneuver during his Formula 1 days.

When David Coulthard told Taku-san' afterwards "He'd have never tried that daring pass." Sato coolly replied: "I Know you Wouldn't Have!"

As were we witnessing the eventual Downfall of Carpenter, the driver at Iowa? As the only words I caught Carpenter saying was that Sage needed to grow up!


Then again, may be Ed's got a point and feels like he was unnecessarily squeezed - and may be the shoe will be on the other foot next year at Mother Speedway, eh?

As cannot say I'm a Fan of Karam's, as I've actually started conjuring up images of a Roundy-round driver nicknamed "sliced Bread!!" Although Joey Lagano hasn't panned out that bad, so who knows where Karam fits in...
 

POINTS STANDINGS
(Standings following Round 13-of16: Iowa Oval-race)
1) Juan Pablo Montoya, Penske/Chevrolet: 445
2) Graham Rahal, RLLR/Honda: 403
3) Scott Dixon, Ganassi/Chevrolet: 397
4) Helio Castroneves, Penske/Chevrolet: 391
5) Will Power, Penske/Chevrolet: 390