Race Day

[eyer]

The 4 ladies driving in today's Indianapolis 500 can only hope to do as well as the iconic race's first female host is doing now...

...ABC's pre-race show for the 97th running of the world's most famous automobile race is now underway and Lindsay Czarniak is doing an outstanding job following in the footsteps of her legendary predecessors Chris Shenkel, Jim McKay and Al Michaels.

Switzerland's Simona de Silvestro, Brazilian Ana Beatriz and Britons Pippa Mann and Katherine Legge take racing's most famous stage in less than 45 minutes...

 

[eyer]

If anyone is interested in understanding what fly-over Americana is all about...

...one only needs to rewatch this last hour's pre-race show to begin to get a clue.

An outstanding job by ABC/ESPN.

San Francisco 49ers head coach and former Indy car team owner Jim Harbaugh is strapping into the pace car as I type, preparing to lead the field of 33 to the green in less than 15 minutes...

 

[LiFeNdEaTh]

sweeeeet...

 

[Colonel Hogan]

Indy car racing seems all but dead. I'm seeing a lot of empty seats. What happened to sell-out crowds every year?

Did anyone actually get bumped from the field this year? Once upon a time, the competition just to get into the race was fierce. A half-dozen or more teams would come up just a bit short on qualifying day. You don't hear much about that any more.

 

[eyer]

With one last pit stop facing the leaders and 20 laps (50 miles to go)...

...this finish to the 2013 Indianapolis 500 could be the most entertaining in its 97-year history.

 

[quietlylooking]

One of the more fun Indy races I've seen. Even if my guy didn't win!

 

[Wrong Element]

Indy car racing seems all but dead. I'm seeing a lot of empty seats. What happened to sell-out crowds every year?

Did anyone actually get bumped from the field this year? Once upon a time, the competition just to get into the race was fierce. A half-dozen or more teams would come up just a bit short on qualifying day. You don't hear much about that any more.

I don't think anyone got bumped, no. Indy Car is in poor shape. What it really needs is several American stars, and beginning when Tony Stewart left, Indy hasn't been able to keep them. Guys like Sam Hornish would rather finish 23rd at Talledega than win Indy.

One thing you can say about the current state of Indy is that the main cars all seem pretty competitive with each other. Even before the yellow flag tightened the field at the end, there were something like 16-18 cars within a half-lap of the leader. It wasn't that long ago where you'd usually finish the race with no more than 3 or 4 cars on the lead lap.