5-29-22 Race Day
I look forward to this day all year, though there have
been horrible disappointments (a couple of
times I missed Indy because of broadcasting issues). However, I felt really busy all day. I made little to no effort at recapping
anything. (I barely watched some of the
races.) I feel like I’m gradually phasing
out the blogging compared to my more maniacal blogging of all sporting events I
was watching in previous years.
Indy
500
It was such a relief tuning into this years’ Indy 500 and
seeing blue skies. Weather can
definitely ruin your racing. There was
an enormous crowd having a good time at IMS,
which was great to see. I was over at
dad’s apartment to watch. I saw the
opening ceremonies at my apartment and the first lap before going to see him. I noticed Steve Aoki briefly doing the music while the drivers were
introduced. I think he was also doing a
show at the Snake Pit on the infield during the race.
For lunch, I talked to some guy in India to order a Papa John’s pizza. I thought I heard him say $17 for a large
pepperoni, but thankfully it was only $10 at the shop. Regardless, it was really good.
I’ll just cut to the chase in describing the race. Scott
Dixon was leading late and looked like the driver to beat, but got caught
for speeding on final pit stop. (I
thought they had pit lane limiters on Indy cars so you couldn’t speed.) Jimmie
Johnson, an Indy 500 rookie, led a lap with his fuel strategy. Unfortunately, he crashed a few laps later
with six to go. This messed up his teammate,
Marcus Ericsson, who was cruising to
the win. The race was red flagged. The crowd approved of the decision.
The restart began with two laps left. The announcers were the most excited they had
been for the entire race. The crowd roared
as Mexican, Pato O’Ward, made a
serious challenge on the final lap. Ericsson
weaved all over the width of the track to break up the draft behind him. A crash late behind them froze the field and
Ericsson held on for the win. Ericsson’s
extremely hot girlfriend got look on as one of the Indy princesses impulsively
planted a giant lipstick mark on his cheek as he drank the milk.
F1
Monaco
Gone are the days of me waking up at 6:30am to watch this live. This race started just before Indy finished. (The red flag caused Indy to run late.) Since this race was on delay, they cut right
to the race without a prerace. (Thanks
to the NBC Indy people for not
spoiling the results.) However, it was
raining in Monaco. At other F1 tracks,
these conditions can lead to a great race.
At Monaco, it’s still a slot car track.
The cars had on their grooved rain tires, err . . . I mean, tyres. They did a rolling start under caution to
begin the race.
I went ahead and went home. Dad could probably take a nap without the F1
race on (though he might get to sleep faster).
After I got home and put the leftover pizza in the fridge, I went to Paleta Bar next door for a delayed
dessert. I hadn’t been there in a while,
because it’s expensive and has upset my stomach the last few times. (Also, a weed shop opened next door. The addicts are lined up outside all of the
time.)
I picked the “New Mexico United” ice cream bar (named
after Albuquerque’s soccer team). It was
flavored with cookies and cream with bananas, then dipped in chocolate and
covered in almonds. It was delicious,
but afterward, I was full for the rest of the day (with a slight bellyache).
I called my friend, Ron, to see how he was doing with his
cold. We ended up on the phone most of
the afternoon. The MLB.TV free game was the Padres
and the Pirates. The video wasn’t blocked, so we were able to
watch, which we appreciated. MacKenzie Gore pitched seven scoreless
innings for the Padres, but bullpen coughed up the lead. Trent
Grisham won it in the tenth, 4-2,
with a two-run homer after two bunt attempts.
I missed the homer.
My computer and the TV where I had the F1 race on aren’t in the same
room. I kept shuttling back-and-forth,
while chatting with Ron on the phone.
(Not to mention, I had a couple of Twitch streams up with girls, ahem.)
I did see the end of the race.
The track had dried and the top four cars on each other’s bumpers. Since it was F1 at Monaco, nobody could
pass. Sergio “Checo” Perez won. No
doubt Mexico was happy. They came close
to also taking Indy on the same day.
From seeing the start, I knew the two Ferraris were in front of Checo, but didn’t see how he’d gotten in
front (since I was getting ice cream and watching baseball). From reading up later, Ferrari had messed up
their pitstops and called both cars in at the same time to change to slick
tires, err . . . tyres. The race was
going to run long because of the rain, but instead, they switched to making it
a timed race. I have seen timed car
races before, and ones that even changed from laps to timed during the
race. But, I’ve never seen F1 do
that. One of the best races I ever saw
was Jenson Button winning the 2011 Canadian GP in the rain, a race
that went way over time.
Coca-Cola
600
The early end to F1 allowed everyone to see the start of
NASCAR’s Charlotte race. (Nice coordination between the three networks
today.) This event was the usual cluster-f
it is every year. I told Ron the best
betting on this race is over/under 10 cars on the lead lap by the end.
Play-by-play on a race this long is problematical. I’ll just hit a few highlights. Chase
Elliot was doing well and won Stage 1.
Late in Stage 2, he spun through the infield. It was too early for a victory celebration,
Chase. This accident happened in
side-by-side commercial. This happened at
least four or five times today between this race and Indy. They never broke from commercial, though. The Big One happened right after. Ryan
Blaney spun in front of the field and took out 12 cars. By halfway, 10 cars were out (including three
of my favorites, Chase, Ryan, and William
Byron), but only one car off the lead lap.
Meanwhile, the Chihuahuas
were playing the Space Cowboys on
the radio. (I can’t believe I just wrote
that sentence.) The pups were down by 10
in the sixth, but had a 6-run inning later to make a game of it. They got within 2 runs late, but finally fell
17-14.
Late in the race, Chris
Buescher had a rolling crash through the infield and ended up on his
lid. He met the same fate of nearly every
front runner or challenger for the lead in this race—a crash. By the end, there were 17 cars left on the
lead lap. (I should have taken the
over.)
Kyle
Larson, who seemed poised for the win, though he’d had a race
full of setbacks, got taken out with other frontrunner, Ross Chastain, after Austin
Dillon spun, when the leaders all tried going four-wide. In the second Overtime, Denny Hamlin won it. Hours
ago, he’d actually been the pole-sitter and hadn’t been anywhere near the front
since. I think everyone, especially the
drivers, were good and tired of this race by the time it was over.
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