Most liked posts in thread: Indy 500 - 2015

cct1 · May 20, 2015

Lot's of big bad arteries in the thigh, big time props to everyone who thought quick, you only have 10's of seconds to get that under control before it's too late.

Steve · May 27, 2015

I think I read they came up with a modified part before the race with some sort of anti-penetration flange to try to eliminate the same sort of thing happening again.

Anyway, here's Hinchcliffe already leaving the hospital today. The guy steering the chair is Will Power...might explain the expression.

Crashton · May 28, 2015

Danica has done a wonderful job of self promotion. She is not a terrible race car driver, but not a great one either. Without her sponsorship she'd be racing at a much lower rung of the sport if at all. There are some very good women race car drivers that sadly have not had the opportunities Danica has had. I'm not a Danica hater, but when she moved to NASCARP that said to me she was done.

cct1 · May 28, 2015

I'm not a Danica hater, I'm ambivalent, she's improved significantly this year although the results don't necessarily show it.

I'm so sick of people talking about how great she was going to be after Daytona a couple of years ago. That's like winning a game of Yahtzee and being labeled a math prodigy. You're absolutely right--her talent level isn't in the big series, more like ARCA (where she should have spent more time rather than dabbling in it) or MAYBE Nationwide. If racing was her first priority, she wouldn't be in NASCAR right now.

She's in real danger of being eclipsed by the next group coming up--Dillon, Larson, Elliot, and others. She has one more year of mediocrity before it catches her. If she doesn't show significant improvement by the end of the 2016 season, I'm guessing she's done in the series.

BlimeyCabrio · May 18, 2015

That's a helluva whack. Trying to figure out what gave way like that...

Steve · May 18, 2015

Looks like they suspect (it may be more than suspicion) a suspension rocker arm.

Indycar Racing News | Racer.com - UPDATE 5 - Indy 500: Hinchcliffe takes a hard hit in practice

Crashton · May 18, 2015

I sure hope Hinch can make a complete & speedy recovery. That was a brutal hit. I love racing, but for the life of me can't understand why sane humans aim race cars at walls while doing 200 mph.

Crashton · May 19, 2015

Wow, that is beyond brutal. Hang in there Hinch....

cct1 · May 27, 2015

I thought the whole race was pretty damned good. 37 lead changes, it was a drivers race instead of one car running away. Indy needed a race like this; Indy is finally building on it's success, and doing so without Danica. The 500 is relevant again.

Crashton · May 27, 2015

I enjoyed the race & Montoya coming from dead last to win was amazing.

whaap · May 27, 2015

After watching him flounder around in NASCAR I was happy to see Juan Pablo win the 500.

cct1 · May 27, 2015

Crashton said: ↑

I enjoyed the race & Montoya coming from dead last to win was amazing.
Click to expand...

Coolest race I saw last year--nationwide at Road America. Tagliani had it won, but runs out of gas at the end of the race, and roll into the pits. Gets lucky, there's a crash and a restart on the last lap. Last lap restart, he's sitting in 23rd, and makes it all the way to second. Another turn or two, and he wins. He just carved up the track, that's pretty crazy to pass that many cars on a road course in one lap.

cct1 · May 28, 2015

There was the recent Danica to F1 rumor floating around a couple of weeks ago again. If you think she's done poorly in NASCAR (and she has), if that happens, you ain't seen nothing yet...

cct1 · May 28, 2015

Yeah, but I'm ok with that, she's not the only one who's family has helped. Danica's dad has nothing on Paul Menards dad, now THAT'S rich.

She grew up not too far from here, and she was 100% legit coming up. She absolutely destroyed everyone in Karts, and then in midgets, including adults. But she's the Freddie Adu of racing--a ton of natural talent and attitude moved up way, way too fast throughout her career, mainly because of marketability.

Steve · Jun 1, 2015

There's a great write-up on the emergency/medical crews' response to Hinchcliffe's pre-race crash. It's not graphic but just the thought of some of things going on made me squirm a bit...then again, I'm apparently more squeamish than most.

Deliverance – the amazing rescue of James Hinchcliffe

Steve · Jun 10, 2015

"One of my first questions was: 'When can I drive again?'" Hinchcliffe says (racer.com)

Wednesday, 10 June 2015 | By Robin Miller

James Hinchcliffe doesn't remember his accident or gallant rescue from the May 18th accident at Indianapolis that nearly took his life but the popular Canadian's first recollections sounded like a typical race driver.

"When I was fresh out of surgery, still on a ventilator, communicating by pen and paper, one of my first questions was: 'When can I drive again?'" recalled Hinchcliffe on Wednesday during his national teleconference with the media. "I think some people in the room found it so bizarre and confusing that somebody in the state I was in, hooked up to 10 different machines, recently sewn up would say, 'How can I get back into the machine that did this to me?

"I think that's how racing drivers are wired. I certainly never contemplated it (retiring). If anyone around me was thinking about it, they were smart enough not to say anything. I think everybody close to me knows that wouldn't be something that was on my mind."

That kind of spunk isn't surprising, it's standard operating procedure for many drivers that have been maimed or wounded at speed. But the 28-year-old native of Toronto doesn't have any flashbacks of a savage crash in Turn 3 that produced 125 lateral Gs and sent the car's suspension into his left leg on the day after qualifying. He lost 14 pints of blood, and thankfully, his memory.

"Despite being conscious throughout the whole process, I have mercifully been spared any memory of the accident whatsoever, of the extrication," referring to the Holmatro Safety Team's quick reaction when they discovered the suspension had him trapped in the cockpit. "Even the first couple days at the hospital are a bit of a blur.

"For me, I remember waking up in ICU, knowing that obviously I'd had an accident, that I was somewhere I probably shouldn't be, all the rest of it. But it really wasn't until several days later when I'd been moved out of ICU, was kind of sitting around with some friends and family and some of the doctors, really hearing all of their first-person accounts of how that day was for them, that it really began to sink in just how serious the injuries were and how very close it was to being a different story.

"That was a first time I had an appreciation of the severity of the situation."

Asked if he'd been able to speak with Mike Yates, leader of the safety team or any of Holmatro crew (LEFT, IndyCar photo), Hinchcliffe replied: "I haven't had a chance to connect with Mike specifically yet. Andrew Stevens, who is a member of the team, managed to see me and I'm very anxious to get to the track. Unfortunately, not all these guys live in Indy, so it's not easy to get them all together.

"When I'm able to get back to the track, have a sit-down with them, I still have a lot of questions about the day, to be honest, because I don't remember so much of it. Look forward to chatting with them. I look forward to treating them to a steak dinner, if that's what they want."

From the rapid response at the car, to Stevens & Company's performance in the ambulance and then Dr. Timothy Pohlman at Methodist Hospital, everything was synchronized perfectly and, for the first time since Alex Zanardi in 2001, a driver's life was saved on the track.

"You know, you can have the best surgeon in the world, but if he doesn't have a grasp of what could potentially be wrong, it's going to take him that much longer to really diagnose the problem," he continued. "In a situation like mine, there wasn't any longer to diagnose the problem. So, you know, for us to have a group of guys like we do that have the experience, that have the particular skill set that they do, it's the best insurance policy, in a sense, that you can have. It's tough to put into words how comforting it is as a driver to know that we have that on hand.

"I'm not just saying this because I had an accident. I've said this for years. I know other drivers, every other driver out there, mimics this thought. We are so fortunate in IndyCar to have the safety team. It is no doubt in my mind a contributing factor to me surviving that accident, was not only having a safety team there, but one with the kind of skills and experience these guys have.

"I know myself and my family will never be able to thank them enough."

As for recovery, The Mayor of Hinchtown is making steady progress, walking daily despite a fracture in his pelvis and trying to get back the 12 pounds of muscle he's already lost.

"Honestly, it's going better than expected really. Every doctor that I've seen, every specialist that we've been with has been very, very pleased and in some cases surprised at the level of recovery, which is obviously great news. I guess we're quick in that sense, too, which is good.
"Without going into details, it's another surgery where I have to be opened from the abdomen to undo some things that were done during the emergency surgery, just to keep me healthy and safe.

"Unfortunately it's the kind of surgery that is of the nature that will put me down again for another couple weeks. Anytime you go into the abdomen, there's a lengthy recovery. That's kind of the difficult part to swallow. At the same time it's necessary to be done. The sooner we get that one going, the sooner I can get the rest of the recovery, get back to the gym, think about getting back into the car."

The personable kid who grew up idolizing Greg Moore is easily one of the most well liked drivers by fans, fellow competitors and media. And he says the out-pouring of support has been humbling.

"It's been probably the most surreal element of this whole adventure," said Hinchcliffe, who won the NOLA race in April. "You know, as we talk, I'm sitting here looking at my mantel and bookshelf that is literally covered top to bottom, left to right, with get well cards, messages.

"Seeing the support from absolutely everybody, the giant banner that Firestone had done at the track, the amount of people that came to visit me in hospital, the number of people that have been by to visit since I've gotten out of hospital, the emails, text messages, comments on social media, whatever it is, the sheer volume of support from people has really just been the most overwhelming thing.

"I can't tell everyone how appreciated it is and how much it does help. I mean, part of the reasons all of these cards are sitting on my mantel is because this is where I sit for a big chunk of my day. I get to sit there and see reminders of people that care about you, people that are wishing you well. For me, part of my motivation to get better is for the people that took time to reach out to me as much as anything else. It's just been incredible."
Click to expand...

Nathan · May 18, 2015

ESPN has a bit on the wreck.

James Hinchcliffe taken to hospital after wreck at Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Mechanical failure they are saying. Front suspension broke.

BlimeyCabrio · May 18, 2015

Yeah, you don't really want that to break like that.

Steve · May 18, 2015

Qualifying is already complete. Hinchcliffe qualified 24th. They'll need a replacement, assuming they rebuild the car.

Indianapolis 500 starting lineup:

Column 1 Column 2 Column 3

Position Driver 4-lap Average Speed (mph)

1 Scott Dixon 226.760

2 Will Power 226.350

3 Simon Pagenaud 226.145

4 Tony Kanaan 225.503

5 Helio Castroneves 225.502

6 Justin Wilson 225.279

7 Sebastian Bourdais 225.193

8 Marco Andretti 225.189

9 Josef Newgarden 225.187

10 J.R. Hildebrand 225.099

11 Carlos Munoz 225.042

12 Ed Carpenter 224.883

13 Oriol Servia 224.777

14 Charlie Kimball 224.743

15 Juan Pablo Montoya 224.657

16 Ryan Hunter-Reay 224.573

17 Graham Rahal 224.290

18 Carlos Huertas 224.233

19 Simona de Silvestro 223.838

20 James Jakes 223.790

21 Tristan Vautier 223.747

22 Alex Tagliani 223.722

23 Sage Karam 223.595

24 James Hinchcliffe 223.519

25 Conor Daly 223.482

26 Townsend Bell 223.447

27 Takuma Sato 223.226

28 Pippa Mann 223.104

29 Gabby Chaves 222.916

30 Sebastian Saavedra 222.898

31 Jack Hawksworth 222.787

32 Stefano Coletti 221.912

33 Bryan Clauson 220.523

Steve · May 18, 2015

Crashton said: ↑

I sure hope Hinch can made a complete & speedy recovery. That was a brutal hit. I love racing, but for the life of me can't understand why sane humans aim race cars at walls while doing 200 mph.
Click to expand...

Well, I heard they moved him to the ICU. That's progress. On the other hand it's probably also old news, ICU after surgery, and we likely won't hear much more until tomorrow.

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Column 1	Column 2	Column 3
Position	Driver	4-lap Average Speed (mph)
1	Scott Dixon	226.760
2	Will Power	226.350
3	Simon Pagenaud	226.145
4	Tony Kanaan	225.503
5	Helio Castroneves	225.502
6	Justin Wilson	225.279
7	Sebastian Bourdais	225.193
8	Marco Andretti	225.189
9	Josef Newgarden	225.187
10	J.R. Hildebrand	225.099
11	Carlos Munoz	225.042
12	Ed Carpenter	224.883
13	Oriol Servia	224.777
14	Charlie Kimball	224.743
15	Juan Pablo Montoya	224.657
16	Ryan Hunter-Reay	224.573
17	Graham Rahal	224.290
18	Carlos Huertas	224.233
19	Simona de Silvestro	223.838
20	James Jakes	223.790
21	Tristan Vautier	223.747
22	Alex Tagliani	223.722
23	Sage Karam	223.595
24	James Hinchcliffe	223.519
25	Conor Daly	223.482
26	Townsend Bell	223.447
27	Takuma Sato	223.226
28	Pippa Mann	223.104
29	Gabby Chaves	222.916
30	Sebastian Saavedra	222.898
31	Jack Hawksworth	222.787
32	Stefano Coletti	221.912
33	Bryan Clauson	220.523

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