Analyzing the Fontana IndyCar race

Fontana was the best ever

With ten days having passed since the MAVTV 500, the Verizon IndyCar Series’ recent visit to Auto Club Speedway remains a subject of conversation in the racing world.

Today, AR1 senior columnist Brian Carroccio and President Mark Cipolloni give their take on the rather historic race in the latest edition of AR1’s Burning Questions.

Do you agree with their answers?

Question	Brian Carroccio	Mark Cipolloni
Start by giving your general thoughts on the MAVTV 500.	Three things: 1. Although, not exactly the purest form of motorsport I’ve seen, it was as entertaining a race as I can remember. 2. The crowd was a colossal embarrassment for INDYCAR and its leadership. 3. I don’t care how good the race is, if you present yourself to the world in front of that empty a stadium, you’re doing a lot more harm than good.	In my book it was the greatest race of all time, only spoiled by the fact it ended under caution and not green flag racing. The attendance has been horrible for years at Fontana and this year was made worse by the fact they scheduled it in the summer months in the Southern, California desert. The crowds used to be huge at Fontana, but then Tony George’s ‘vision’ for IndyCar Racing set in and we have what we have today – the greatest racing that no one watches.
There was much griping about the level of the danger both during and after the race. Do you think the race presented an excessive level of danger to the drivers?	No. But as I wrote last week, I wasn’t sitting in a Dallara, so I’m not going to sit here and call race car drivers babies. Still, from my vantage point it didn’t look like the dreaded pack racing, which I believe has no place in the sport.	No. Racing is always dangerous, and ovals are especially dangerous. The racing we saw at Fontana was not the type of ‘pack’ racing we see in NASCAR, not like the IRL used to do. It was perfect. The new 2018 car should be designed with a canopy over the cockpit, at least for the superspeedway races, so the chance of a drivers head hitting a catchfence post is greatly reduced and we can have the kind of exciting racing we saw at Fontana on all the superspeedways.
Graham Rahal’s much-awaited second career victory was shall we say clouded in a bit of controversy due to the whole fuel nozzle deal. Does Rahal’s win have an asterisk attached to it, so to speak?	Depends on how you look at it. In any other year, Rahal gets an in-race penalty no questions asked. But in the bizarre universe that is IndyCar 2015, the Indy 500 winner runs an over air hose, has a blatant blend-line violation, and gets fined Wednesday. While I take major exception to this approach, Rahal was treated the exact same way as JPM. And I’m not going to crush Rahal for Race Control’s incompetence	Somewhat yes, but IndyCar is trying to not ruin a driver’s race with a penalty unless the infraction is serious, and they are trying to apply them more post-race. A penalty during the race ruins the race for the fans of that driver, so I get what IndyCar is trying to do. However, they need to publish a clear list of penalties that will be assessed during the race and those types that will be dealt with afterwards.
How good were Leigh Diffey, Steve Matchett and Paul Tracy on the broadcast?	Outstanding, just as they were in Toronto and Houston last year. This threesome seems to have a real unique chemistry in the booth. Matchett especially is outstanding on IndyCar broadcasts.	Excellent. The only person that would make it even better is getting Bob Varsha in the booth.
What effect does the race have, good or bad, on the series going forward?	Zero. Not enough people are watching or taking notice for a thrilling race like Fontana to matter. And the fact various constituents within the sport can’t even decide whether the race was good or not, certainly sends mixed messages.	I agree 100% with Brian on this one. IndyCar put on its greatest race in history and half the paddock is whining. They are their own worst enemy.
What do you think of Mark Miles’ statements that he will assess more penalties going forward to mouthy team personnel	First, let me say I thought Miles handled himself well in last week’s conference call, providing substantive answers to important questions. As for fines, if drivers specifically bring the series or product into disrepute, I think they should be fined. However. at Fontana a few drivers simply said they disagreed with the series’ technical package, and were frustrated that their concerns were not heeded. I see no problem with that.	Drivers should be hammered for badmouthing the series in public. It needs to be done behind closed doors. There should have been statements from the drivers to the TV cameras after the race that “compared to this, NASCAR ‘pack racing’ is like watching paint dry." Instead they cut the series down and bit the spoon that feeds them.