Memorial Day Sunday – Indianapolis 500 Race Day – the one day a year when Indy Car Racing outshines NASCAR. Since there is so much hoopla about the Indy 500, I decided I’d watch it and then provide an unbiased comparison between the Indianapolis 500 and NASCAR’s Coca Cola 600 and by extension, Indy Car and NASCAR.
The Indy 500 was won by some milk-drinking foreign guy. Dario Franchitti – Italian Name, Scottish accent. The Coca Cola 600 was won by a hard working real American – Kurt Busch from Las Vegas, Nevada.
Indy’s thrilling finish was watching the winners roll slowly across the finish line under a yellow caution. Granted, the crash that caused the final caution was nothing short of spectacular to see, it a guilty sort of way, but it made for a non-event of a finish. The finish at Charlotte was more exciting: Busch held off a charging Jamie McMurray to win by 7/10th of a second. NASCAR’s new restart rules might not be perfect, but they do ensure that we get a finish worth watching almost every week.
What’s the deal with Indy Car pit crews? It seems like there were more serious screw ups in this one race than I’ve seen in any given year of NASCAR. Tires falling off, pit row crashes, fuel lines tangled – it looked decidedly like amateur hour out there. You’d think it’d be easier to change tires on an open wheel car. But no, they can just… fall off… ten feet out of the pit.
I watch the Indianapolis 500 every year. It’s something of a tradition. I recommend it to every red blooded NASCAR fan out there. It will not only broaden your horizons, it will make you appreciate what you’ve got in NASCAR.
