IndyCar Reintroduces Push-To-Pass: Good For Action Or Folly?

IndyCar reintroduced push-to-pass last weekend at Toronto.  Was this a good move or not?  Well, I was skeptical about reintroducing a somewhat contrived way of promoting overtaking.  After all, during the Grand Prix of Alabama at Barber Motorsports Park, there was plenty of passing at a course where historically it has been difficult to overtake.  At Toronto, since there was no indicator on the broadcast of when push-to-pass was being used, it was difficult to determine the overall effect.  We did hear toward the end of the race that Ryan Hunter-Reay had enough of his 100 seconds of push-to-pass time allotment remaining to use it on the main straight for the remainder of the race, effectively making it push-to-defend in his case.  Unfortunately the race ended under caution with Hunter-Reay at the front, so we never saw what was to happen in his case.  I’d say the final verdict is out for now, but my opinion is that it’s not needed and its reintroduction was a mistake.  We’ll see what happens next week at Edmonton.  I’d rather see at least 25% more horsepower which would make the race outcomes more dependent upon driver skill.

I’m eager to hear what Robin Miller or a couple of top drivers have to say…

ESPN3 Broadcast of ALMS Northeast Grand Prix (Lime Rock Park)

After a week long trip to Eastern Europe and a self imposed media blackout so I could watch it fresh on ESPN3 rebroadcast, I really enjoyed the ALMS Northeast Grand Prix upon my return to sunny SoCal.  Especially enjoyable is the enthusiast oriented broadcast by the Radio Le Mans team of John Hindhaugh and Jeremy Shaw.  These guys are real pros, and their broadcast is fabulous, and a clear step up from the ESPN2 highlight show.  If you are an ALMS fan, you MUST watch ESPN3 and the Radio Le Mans team.  If you are a race fan, you really owe it to yourself to check out the Radio Le Mans podcast.