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Scott Dixon described the IndyCar Series race at Richmond International Raceway as “a bit of a procession, unfortunately,” and said the 300-lap event was frustrating because the lack of passing made it more closely resemble a parade.
And he made those comments Saturday night after ending up in Victory Lane.
Teammate and runner-up Dario Franchitti apologized to fans for an “awful, awful race,” while Graham Rahal said he only passed two cars all night while finishing third.
One year after a 26-car field produced what Danica Patrick described as a “carnagefest” on the shortest track on the series, with 103 laps of caution and a dozen accidents, the latest visit was quite the opposite. Twenty cars spent the night speeding single file around the D-shaped oval, with none of the drama fans are accustomed to seeing in NASCAR country.
“I wish we had seen more passing and more lead changes and more side by side racing,” Track president Doug Fritz said. “We’d love to see better shows and from our perspective as it relates to the fans, we’re as disappointed as the fans are and as the drivers are, as well.” ESPN Sports
There may be some reading this who think I’m exaggerating to describe Richmond’s event as the worst oval race I have ever seen. But yes, it was even worse than Champ Cars at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. What those dormant events had, that Richmond lacked, was lapping maneuvers. Even as I type this, I can’t quite believe I’m referring to a situation where some of the bravest and most talented racecar drivers on the planet are unwilling to lap backmarkers. In the closing laps at Richmond, Dixon didn’t want to go off-line to lap Ed Carpenter’s Vision Racing entry…And he didn’t need to because his teammate Dario Franchitti wouldn’t have dared to try a pass on him as one of the Ganassi cars would have ended up on the marbles and therefore, very likely, eaten concrete. On a day when both Penske cars had crashed out, the Ganassi boys needed to take full advantage.
I’m not lashing out at the series on the strength of one race. It has to be said, this has been coming for a while. Kansas was dull, the Indy 500 was poor by its own standards and Texas was a drone, save for Marco Andretti. Sure, Iowa was fun, thanks largely to Tomas Scheckter and Dan Wheldon, and a nice bit of wheel-to-wheel running between Briscoe and Franchitti for the lead, but I’m afraid that’s not a good hit rate. I’m worried that the less than committed fan who happened to tune in to Versus for Richmond will choose to give the ABC-broadcast events from Watkins Glen and Toronto a miss. “Ovals are the tracks where it’s most easy to pass, right? And the next two races are a road course and a street course? Hmmm, okay, I’m off to do something more interesting, like picking fleas off the dog.” Racer.com
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