Yahoo Autos The Crazy IndyCar Race at Texas Wasn't About Rivalry, It Was About Respect
IndyCar racing brings something to the world no other form of top-tier motorsport can boast: Legitimate-pants-shitting-while-flipping-the-bird-at-death action on the high banks at Texas.
America's 105-year-old open-wheel series delivers its fair share of excitement each year, but the annual visit to Texas Motor Speedway is different; it's the Molotov cocktail dropped into IndyCar's narrative.
The resumption of the Firestone 600, which was completed last Saturday night after rain forced the conclusion of the June 11 event to be postponed, produced countless near-hits, showers of blinding sparks, relentless probing and jousting, and a hair-raising run to the finish where cars went four-wide at breakneck speeds before sanity prevailed. The final heart-stopping act came from Graham Rahal who made a last lap, final corner pass to record a photo-finish win by 0.0080 seconds over James Hinchcliffe.
Presented with a hundred chances for everything to end in catastrophe, 20 drivers defied the odds and finished the 600 kilometer sprint healthy and intact. After catching their collective breaths, drivers dispatched any notion that they were rivals; together, as a brother and sisterhood, they helped each other survive.
"Everyone's talking about how dangerous it was, but nobody's talking about how great the drivers were," Graham's father Bobby Rahal told RoadandTrack.com. "For them to race that close and respect each other that much. . . it says a lot. They got out of their cars and were thanking each other for racing clean. That's what it takes. They know their lives are in someone else's hands a lot of the time. It's intense. And as a parent, you're definitely watching your kid out there through your fingers because it can be frightening."
Championship leader Simon Pagenaud was briefly part of that four-wide pack in the dash to the finish line. With his first title within reach, and four wins to his credit in 2016, driving into Victory Lane at Texas was not a requirement. And with a desperate pack of racers surrounding his car-all in search of their first win of the season-the Frenchman let Rahal, Hinchcliffe, and Tony Kanaan rage towards the checkered flag.
"I was in the present; I was really 'in the moment' at the end of the race, I thought I had a great shot all day, and I felt like it was my time to go to the front," Pagenaud told R&T.com. "The thing is, I've already replayed [going four-wide] in my head many many times, and if I didn't back off, we would have crashed. There was no room for us to make it, no room at all; we would have crashed, so I didn't have a choice. I think it was the right choice and there was no other alternative. It was a really easy decision to make."
Faced with racing's version of a Mexican Standoff, Pagenaud-the driver with the most to lose-chose to diffuse the situation by easing off the throttle, and despite surrendering any chance of winning, he managed to finish fourth and extend his lead in the championship over Team Penske teammate Will Power, who came home eighth.
If he holds on to win the championship, he'll be able to look back at Texas and realize making the rarest of decisions-to intentionally not win-was key to capturing the title. Echoing Rahal's comments, he also praised the IndyCar field-well, most of them-for using an appropriate level of self-preservation throughout the night.
"I think people respected each other, respected staying in their lane for the most part, and there was that risk-versus-reward factor that was there for all of us," he continued. "As I keep saying, we drive our own cars. We turn left, turn right, we brake, we steer. IndyCar is not in control of how we race, and it takes the drivers to be responsible for their actions. I though Saturday night was pretty good. There were some that were out of control; there's always one or two, but the shootout at the end was great. I don't think we should have that every week, but it's great every once in a while."
"Every time I raced on an oval, I felt it was like Russian Roulette and one day there was going to be a round in the chamber."
After witnessing a thriller like Texas, Rahal, 1986 Indy 500 winner and a three-time IndyCar champion, would be expected to express his longing for a return to the cockpit. Most racing legends have an open desire to strap in and relive their glory days, but 600 prayers later, Bob says he's just fine standing on the sidelines.
"It's a much younger man's sport; I sure as hell wouldn't have been doing that when I was 45, and especially not today," the 63-year-old confirmed. "It was a hell of an exciting race, but it's nerve wracking, to say the least. Even as a driver, if CART had been an all-road course series, I probably would have stuck around a few more years. But it wasn't, so I didn't. Every time I raced on an oval, I felt it was like Russian Roulette and one day there was going to be a round in the chamber. The risk factor on the ovals is that much greater, even without the close racing. But it's part of the series."
Fear and peril go hand in hand with 220 mph IndyCar racing on an oval like Texas, and with umpteen laps of perpetual motion to follow across a field of 20-plus cars, there are times when it can feel like you're watching something you know you shouldn't. Just 53 weeks after Justin Wilson was killed on the Pocono oval, and almost five years after Dan Wheldon was killed on the Las Vegas oval, it's impossible to forget how the ultimate payment can be extracted from the smallest errors.
"There's a fascination when things are super risky," Rahal admitted. "But then you walk away after a race like we just had and think how lucky you are that there weren't any big shunts. I hate to say it, but everybody seems to like it, and if it helps draw attention to IndyCar, maybe it's a good thing. There's a kind of love/hate relationships with those big oval tracks."
It's an uneasy agreement-at least for me-in knowing the thrills taking place in person or on the TV screen could result in grave injuries. Danger is part of the allure, and the attraction to it is a source of great inner conflict.
Would it be the same if IndyCar drivers could produce the same thrills without risking their lives? I'd like to believe so and would welcome a chance to find out if and when safety improvements make it possible.
Until then, I'll be there with Rahal, watching through my fingers.
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