Comments on: Random Thoughts From Barber

By: The American Mutt

The American Mutt — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 22:38:47 +0000

I was about three glasses of absinthe in when that wreck happened, so while I saw it, I don’t really remember Viso’s response, and will have to defer to you on this one. I don’t like him, and wouldn’t be suprised at all if he handled it poorly.

By: Brian McKay

Brian McKay — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 02:18:04 +0000

~Yeah, a wily veteran and a young gun, both very personable, fan-friendly and sponsor-friendly, pedaling for Newman-Haas … interesting while we have a spec-car series. Of course I also follow Justin Wilson & others…

By: The Speedgeek

The Speedgeek — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 02:10:04 +0000

Second all of that, Brian, especially the part about Servia and Hinch. That’s a potentially excellent driver lineup. The veteran who’s fast but almost always brings the car home in one piece and the incredibly fast rookie who’s still a little bit raw, but also has truckloads of personality. That’s a team I can get behind.

By: Brian McKay

Brian McKay — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 00:46:24 +0000

Right now your poll has 151 respondents! Is that a record? Plenty of votes and plenty of comments after a post that you typed in a moving car. Hope you got back to work okay.
I don’t have anything clever to say, but I’ll say that passing is proven possible at BMP, and I am so sick of wankers like Viso taking out drivers whom I favor!
BTW, I have my eyes on Servia and Hinchcliffe this season.

By: delta3

delta3 — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 00:30:03 +0000

If I’m a team owner and could have my pick of any of the drivers currently in the series, it would be a toss-up between Dario and Tony; but I think I’d go with Kanaan for his hard-charging style and excitement factor.

By: delta3

delta3 — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 00:21:04 +0000

I agree with you about scheduling an oval before the 500 . . . preferably the race before, to allow everyone to be in an oval mindset going into Indy.

By: delta3

delta3 — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 00:12:00 +0000

The spin wasn’t his fault, but the way he handled it was. . . . and I’ll countersign your note to Briscoe.

By: HB Donnelly

HB Donnelly — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 16:35:21 +0000

Not to sound too much like Robin Miller, but this whole deal with drivers acting like morons is creating some animosity and some good pictures and sound for TV. (Hinch giving Viso the business, anyone?)

Versus was pretty solid; the additions of Dallenbach, Jr., and Marty Snider were very good in my opinion. Willy T in the Lights booth needs a little bit of diction work, but he does add some real-life racing experience to balance out Mike King and I’d like to see Willy T on the “500″ qualifying show. Whoever Versus brought in to direct, though, needs to fix his game; there were moments in both races where he cut away mid-pass to show a bunch of nothing. (the moment in the IndyCar race was very noticeable because the cameraman obviously wasn’t expecting to be live…perhaps he knows more about racing than the director does)

You’ve done good work on the ground at Barber, George! Can’t wait to see your column of questions for Randy.

By: SkipinSC

SkipinSC — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 14:31:29 +0000

Props to Danica and AA for trying SOMETHING different to get competitive. Had there been a caution in the right place, it might have worked, but she clearly was toast when the tires started to go off. She also showed that she is starting to get the hang of road/street courses and she seems to bring the equipment home without significant damage, even to the point of getting out of the way as the field was inhaling her. Too bad she’ll be off to NASCAR about the time she gets road racing figured out. Aside from Marco’s nice ride, she provided about the only positive for AA all day.

And can we PLEASE figure out that you CANNOT go driving over curbs with someone next to you? Try it again and again and again, and all you come up with is CONTACT! The Hunter Reay accident was a classic example: Once Ryan got over the curb, he virtually BOUNCED into Briscoe.

In the interest of competition, INDYCAR should attempt to put an oval course somewhere near the beginning of the season. Whether it’s Phoenix, Fontana, Vegas, or some other venue, there needs to be at least one oval before Indy. With the schedule as it is, Wil Power, who is almost unbeatable on the twisties, should establish a pretty significant lead in the points before the oval season even gets going. If the series is going to feature a reasonably equal mix of ovals and road/street, let’s at least balance the agenda.

Ratings for this week might be a bit disappointing. As I pointed out, even as big a fan of INDYCAR as I am, I was watching the Masters live and relegated Barber to the DVR. The truly sad part is, that the DVR shut down 2 laps from the finish.

By: Tom G.

Tom G. — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 14:27:50 +0000

I think Dixon has a shot at contending for the championship, and if Kanaan keeps driving the wheels off of that KV car he could too. Watch out for him when they hit the short ovals in June.