Caution-Filled Indy 500 Comes Up Short on Suspense

INDIANAPOLIS _ Scott Dixon steered clear of any drama and played it smart and that’s how he won the 92nd Indianapolis 500.

Reflecting on suspense like that, I can safely say they won’t be turning this year’s race into a movie.

Or a featurette.

Or a marketing commercial.

It was more like an overly long “YouTube” clip, with nearly 173 miles of yellow caution flags serving as “buffering” between bursts of action.

Dixon doesn’t care about the event’s aesthetics, obviously. He wasn’t concerned with making the race thrilling, or taking last-second gambles or driving on the edge to better sell the Greatest Spectacle in Racing to the masses.

Dixon came in with the fastest car, and he used it to win the race on Sunday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He’s an Indy 500 champion, deservedly so.

However, this race carried the extra burden of trying to ignite renewed interest in the IndyCar Series by showcasing thrills and chills.

It stalled.

There were too many cautions. There were too many drivers losing it into the wall (Graham Rahal, Marty Roth, Tony Kanaan). There were, inexplicably, several incidents in the pits during caution periods. Why all the recklessness in the name of a couple seconds of traction? Dixon, driving for Target Chip Ganassi Racing, spent most of his time in or near the lead. He started on the pole and rarely seemed to need a rearview mirror.

That’s not to say the race offered no entertainment at all. You had to love Danica Patrick’s emotional reaction after she was knocked out of the race by Ryan Briscoe’s boneheaded pit move. Briscoe clipped her trying to merge coming out of the pits, knocking them both out of the race.

Patrick stalked toward Briscoe’s pit area, taking off her driving gloves forcefully. All that was missing was an instrumental track from a spaghetti western, cueing the impending gunfight.

Alas, Patrick was cut off by IndyCar Series officials before she was able to share her thoughts (or fists?) with Briscoe.

“It’s probably best I didn’t get down there anyway,” Patrick said.

Briscoe later refused to accept the blame.

“We both have a brake pedal in our cars,” Briscoe said.

Meanwhile, the former Champ Car drivers showed their Indy inexperience, starting with Rahal losing it into the wall coming out of Turn 4, completing only 36 laps and finishing last. Others, such as Will Power and Oriol Servia, drove decently and conservatively and blended in. But blending isn’t memorable. Blending doesn’t sell a race or a series.

Even the IndyCar Series veterans had trouble. Kanaan’s annual lead (seven straight races in the lead, a race record) was ruined when teammate Marco Andretti cut under him on a pass. Kanaan steered clear, clipped the wall and veered in front of Sarah Fisher, who took them both out of the race.

Kanaan called Andretti’s move stupid. Andretti thought that description was harsh. They’ll hash it out later.

“As usual, I’m in the lead and something happens,” Kanaan said.

So, Patrick was irritated with Briscoe, Kanaan was irritated with Andretti and, in a back-of-the-pack moment, Buddy Lazier ended Milka Duno’s day with a bad move in a slow car. It was the kind of day where even two-time Indy 500 champ Helio Castroneves was sometimes off of his game, earning a warning from race officials for blocking Andretti late in the race.

Dixon simply kept his race-long cruise in control. He led 115 laps. His team was precise and error-free during pit stops. They were intelligent with fuel usage. He made the key move, beating eventual runner-up Vitor Meira out of the pits to take a final lead with 28 laps to go.

Dixon was never seriously challenged over the race’s last 70 miles.

“It’s nice to be aggressive and have the confidence level and come away with a win like this,” Dixon said.

IndyCar Series racing can be a thrill a minute. It can provide some of the most exciting racing anywhere. Unfortunately, this year’s Indy 500 spent the day searching for traction.

Congratulations to Dixon, but the unified IndyCar Series still has some more selling to do.

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(c) 2008, The News-Sentinel (Fort Wayne, Ind.).

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