My only thought after reading your recap was “Why wasn’t I there to see it in person?” Oh well, maybe next year!!!!!

I hope someone finally admits to issuing the order to keep Helio in the car and off the fence. And at that point, their employment should be terminated — for lack of judgement or just plain stupidity. With the IRL needing every bit of positive publicity it can get, they nearly botched a bonanza. I’m not sure how many photos and videos I’ve seen of Helio scaling the fence but there have been hundreds.

Thanks again for such a great article. To a relatively new IRL fan, your posts are quickly becoming my required history lesson!

As far as the cars, I cringed when I heard that the IRL would likely keep with the current package through 2011. Given that, what do you think should be done in the meantime? Should the focus be on the cars or on the tracks?

Excellent job on your article and comments. You should be writing for one of the major newspapers.

Mike Davis

If/when he wins a FOURTH Indy 500, I don’t care if he wants to climb the Pagoda, they gotta let him go. It’s not just a photo op, it’s what the fans expect to see.

The parity of the IRL was painfully apparent as ABC repeatedly went to the onboard camera in Danica’s car. She drove a good, steady race (other than over-running her pit) but when she was trying to pass Ed Carpenter she had to try several times, before she could get around him.

As you have mentioned before, the engines are so reliable now that engine failure is nearly unheard of. As I recall, only Oriol Servia went out with an engine problem (fuel pump). The only other mechanical related failure was Tony Kanaan, and I never did understand exactly what broke, but it was obvious that something gave way in his right rear suspension or drive train to throw him into the wall like that.