Comments on: Another Last Lap Thriller

By: Doug

Doug — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 20:58:07 +0000

I was there ans thought that Dario didn’t leave Sato enough room….when I got home, I watched the replay….and saw something even worse. Dario moved twice….he moved over to block the inside line (fair), then he moved up the track to block the outside (this is called blocking), this forced Sato to try the inside line again…later than he would have liked, but it was his last chance to pass (turn 4 would have not given him enough track to tow and pass before start finish). Then as Sato pulled alongside him (he got about a foot away from being completely even) Franchitti moved back to the left…more than he had to to make the turn (we watched him up high in turn 1 all day) and forced Sato onto the white line. I like Dario….don’t have a problem with him winning or what he says off the track….but this was dirty racing on his part. Not cool at all….and should not be ignored by the stewards. Sato’s car was strongest at the end….the amazing pass he pulled on Dixon the lap earlier proved it. He would have won…he should have won….and again the Stewards are showing their bias and lack of control of these races (just like last years win…which was clearly a mistake on their part to allow lapped cars to be released from the pits on the final lap).

By: John S.

John S. — Wed, 30 May 2012 10:29:51 +0000

I agree wholeheartedly on the wife comments. Geez, how I dislike that woman and her attitude!

My gripe with Dario is that he seems to lead a charmed life. He rarely seems to be the innocent victim. Compare him to Power. Again, Power is driving around the track in 6th position or so, and Conway bounces off the wall and takes him out. Or, the race last year where Ana pulled out of her pit and slammed into the side of his car. Or, the race where Dario cut inside and spun Will, and continued on his merry way. Why don’t these things happen to Dario? How can a guy be that lucky???

By: John S.

John S. — Wed, 30 May 2012 10:18:40 +0000

That’s my response at every race…ABF (Anybody but Franchitti).

By: RunGirl

RunGirl — Wed, 30 May 2012 04:41:31 +0000

When I think of a “dirty” driver, I think of someone who intentionally causes incidents or tries to take out fellow competitors. I have not seen either one of those behaviors from Dario. He may be overly ambitious in some of his pass attempts or a bit aggressive in his driving…but I have never witnessed anything during a race that would suggest he made any of those moves with malice.
I think it is interesting to note that prior to Toronto last year, Will Power praised Dario for “always racing him clean…aggressively but fair”. It was not until the contact at Toronto when Will, right out of the med ctr and pretty upset, claimed Dario always raced him dirty. It is also worth noting that it was a claim that Will never made again.
As for the whining claim, I have not seen a single driver who has not whined at one time or another during the season. I do not think Dario whines any more frequently than anyone else. He is passionate about what he does and last season had a lot of ups and down….that can be very stressful and cause people to not always express themselves in the best way. I choose to give him the benefit of the doubt and chalk it up to a bad day or a stressful moment.
I think it should be pointed out that Dario has had a lot of moments where you would expect someone to whine/complain and he does not. When his 2012 season started so badly, he never whined about it or blamed his crew, he said “we” have to make improvements and stayed positive. Unfortunately people only want to focus on the things they perceive as negative…and not give him credit for the positive things he does.

By: Brian

Brian — Wed, 30 May 2012 00:33:07 +0000

If there was anything to boo it was the fact that we were going to be subjected to Dario’s insufferable wife once again. I could go the rest of my life without laying eyes on that woman or hearing another word from her mouth and it would be fine with me. There’s that insufferable car owner of his too. I suppose one could be excused for booing Chippy as well.

Sure, maybe he ran Sato down low, but it’s the last lap of the Indy 500 and ANY ONE OF US would have done the same thing. Very hard to blame him for that, even if he did it on purpose. And give Sato credit for having guts.

By: Phillip

Phillip — Tue, 29 May 2012 23:15:31 +0000

Great comments! I also thought that I heard boos after Dario crossed the finish line. I would have loved to see Sato and Dario come down to the last turn and straightaway and see a drag race to the finish! I feel that he didnt race Sato clean but that is my opinion and I could be totally wrong. His wining and his wife have been a pain to listen to for years!

By: Tom G.

Tom G. — Tue, 29 May 2012 13:06:14 +0000

Yes, I confess, in the heat of the moment, when he crossed the line I booed. However, once the emotion of the moment passed, I felt remorse for doing it. And I never, ever considered booing during the victory lane celebration, or the pace car parade lap. I guess the passions that the race elicited probably made a lot of us boo as he crossed the line to take the checkered flag. I felt the same way I feel when I see Tom Brady pull of another victory with a 2 minute drill. Am I happy he won? No. Do I curse the TV? Yes. Do I “hate” Brady. No, not in any real sense of the word “hate”.

I think the same goes for Dario. He is disliked by many for his success since he drives for a dominant team. He is disliked because Ashley rubs a lot of people the wrong way. He is disliked because, even though he may not be a jack@ss, he has recently developed a reputation as a racer who races “dirty”. (Long Beach, Toronto last year, and then the turn 4 incident.). He is disliked because to many of us, his post race comments over the years have taken on the tone of a whiner who places blame on anyone but himself. (hence the nickname “Princess Dario”)

So while I may not “like” Dario, or have wanted him to win, I still tip my hat to his drive. It was a hell of a charge to the front after getting spun in the pits early on by Viso. He deserved the win, and yes I admit, he did not deserve the boo’s. For that I am sorry.

I’m sure a lot of us who booed feel this way. I know, it doesn’t make our actions right, but I just wanted to explain why we did it in the heat of the moment.

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[...]Another Last Lap Thriller « Oilpressure[...]…

By: E.M.H.

E.M.H. — Tue, 29 May 2012 03:37:09 +0000

I’m utterly flabbergasted by the booing. Utterly. Dario’s an excellent driver, he’s been completely appreciative and respectful of the Indianapolis 500 traditions, he doesn’t act like a jerk in interviews, he doesn’t march down pit lane to lecture other drivers, let alone *shove* them, he doesn’t beclown himself with off-track behaviors, he doesn’t come off as arrogant, he speaks respectfully of other drivers… and he’s hated? For real? He gets booed for **winning**??

Flabbergasted.

Kurt Busch acts like a jacknut in NASCAR and gets defenders coming out of the woodwork. Paul Tracey intentionally crowded other drivers, famously wrecked Bobby Rahal in a race that Rahal was on the way to winning, *INTENTIONALLY* took out Alex Tagliani in another race, has gotten into multiple physical confrontations with Tags, Bourdais, etc, and acted so disrespectfully to Roger Penske that people felt The Captain, of all people, was the abused one in the relationship. But PT, too, will have defenders rise up and go to bat for him. As well as say that Indycar is better with him than without (heck, even *I’ve* said this. I’ve said it because he’s not devoid of good qualities, he wins, and he draws fans, but certainly NOT because I think he’s the model of how an Indycar driver should act… and no, I haven’t thought about booing him either).

So what’s the secret to Dario becoming liked? Act like a jacka**?

I’ve never seen Dario conduct himself in anything other than a completely, totally 100% laudable manner, showing near hero-worship respect for Jim Clark’s car that one year, never being confrontational with other drivers, and sure as hell never getting into a shoving match or other sort of altercation. He should be the epitome of how a driver comports himself in Indycar.

I just don’t understand the hate. And I’m so terribly disappointed in the booing. I know people are thinking that it’s showing disapproval at a top team being so domineering – heck, that was said *here*, in these comments – but to me, it’s self indulgence at the expense of being respectful to not just an Indianapolis 500 winner, but to the race that driver represents, and the traditions behind the race.

Yes, I don’t get the booing. Nor do I understand the dislike. I just wish that judgement would follow cause. To me, it all just feels irrational.

By: RaceClean

RaceClean — Tue, 29 May 2012 02:13:02 +0000

Last time I read you George!
Dirty Dario was booed by the crowd because he pushed Taco too low, just like he stuffed Josef into the wall. If you can’t win fair, then you don’t deserve to win. Jim Clark never raced like that. Dario doesn’t deserve to compare himself to his hero.