Grand Prix of Sonoma

[lkjohnson1950]

Sunday's Indycar race was ultimately decided by a pit stop incident involving Scott Dixon and the crew of Penske's Will Power:

http://www.autoweek.com/article/20130825/INDYCAR/130829864

[lkjohnson1950]

Ganassi's Managing Director now says it was partly the Penske crew's fault, because they are the only team that clears equipment from the rear of the car during the stop. He also says Beaux Barfield has worn out his welcome, and needs to follow Brian Barnhart out the door.

http://www.autoweek.com/article/20130827/INDYCAR/130829832?utm_source=DailyRacing20130827&utm_medium=enewsletter&utm_term=article1&utm_content=20130827-Ganassi-Racing-official-critical-of-Team-Penske-percent27s-IndyCar-pit-practices&utm_campaign=awDailyRacing

"Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends"

[Scott]

Penske's tire guy was being a moron trying to obstruct Dixon's exit with the tire.  Hope it hurt 

Clearly by where the ads are placed, Dixon had overshot his pit box (the permanent lines were for NASCAR not Indycar), but the point is, the incident didn't have to happen if the tire guy had just paid a bit of attention, or just hold position until Dixon was gone.

[cosworth151]

It does look like it was an intentional move on the part of the Penske crewman to block Dixon. Beaux Barfield was way out of line to ding Dixon for the incident.

[Jericoke]

Doesn't matter if the pit guy was being an ass, or just clueless:  if you're driving a car, you don't hit people, period.

F1 teams get a penalty for hitting their own crew, much less someone else.  Indycar should have no less (any racing series).

Now, if they feel the crew was acting unsporting, they should be penalised too, but to accuse someone of purposely stepping in front of a 700 horsepower racecar is a pretty big deal.

[cosworth151]

Will didn't hit anybody. his back tire brushed the tire the Penske man had stuck out to the side.

As they said on the video, that trick has been around for many, many years. I'll bet that particular crewman will think twice before trying it again. 

IndyCar is now looking into having lines that designate each pit box.

[Scott]

Jeri, you should look at the incident.  Dixon had no idea his back wheel would hit the tire, the Penske guy swung it way out to his side as Dixon made his pit exit. 

On the road courses in CART they had the entire box painted in. A bit surprised they can't do it here too. 

[John S]

There's no way a mechanic working in the pit lane is trained to act so casually by their team and not watch out for cars moving around them. These guys practice a whole lot as well as actually doing it during races - precision is what they aim for in a disciplined way.

By the very fact the guy carrying the tyre is trying to act casual suggests to me that he is up to something. They all know motor racing is very dangerous and no proper team would allow members to act like that unless there is an ulterior motive.

Sure Dixon had to take a penalty as his car actually caused the other team's members to get knocked over, but Barfield needs to suspend that mechanic from the Penske pit crew as he's obviously an accident waiting to happen with his lackadaisical approach to what's going on around him.

I'm with Scott, I hope it hurt like hell - without permanent injury of course. 


 

   

[Jericoke]

Jeri, you should look at the incident.  Dixon had no idea his back wheel would hit the tire, the Penske guy swung it way out to his side as Dixon made his pit exit. 

On the road courses in CART they had the entire box painted in. A bit surprised they can't do it here too.

I'm not saying that the mechanic wasn't at fault, just saying that anytime a car hits something in the pits, the driver has to be responsible. 

[lkjohnson1950]

I agree with Jeri. The mechanic was out of line, and apparently Penske is the only team that removes the old tires before the car leaves, but the driver has to be responsible for anything the car strikes.

[Scott]

As I said before, Dixon DID actually overshoot his pit box.  He could have taken a much sharper angle on his way out.  Doing that would have prevented the incident from happening. For that bad choice, yes, the driver was responsible.

But to say he is actually responsible for hitting a tire carried by a guy who wasn't even beside Dixon's car until he was halfway past, and was pushing the limits on the space he is supposed to be in - that isn't really fair.

[Jericoke]

As I said before, Dixon DID actually overshoot his pit box.  He could have taken a much sharper angle on his way out.  Doing that would have prevented the incident from happening. For that bad choice, yes, the driver was responsible.

But to say he is actually responsible for hitting a tire carried by a guy who wasn't even beside Dixon's car until he was halfway past, and was pushing the limits on the space he is supposed to be in - that isn't really fair.

Maybe it's the mom in me, but people don't deserve to die no matter how stupid they are.  Indycar is lucky no one was seriously hurt. 

Sometimes penalties are unfair, but this was the right call:  there has to be zero tolerance for cars hitting equipment and people in the pits.  They can't just apply the penalty if someone is killed.

Of course, the sport reserves the right to call the pit crew on the carpet if they're suspected of doing something dangerous.  This guy needs to explain what was going on.  It seems unlikely Penske would hire someone so particularly careless, but then it seems equally unlikely they'd hire someone who has no idea what kind of forces are involved in an accelating race car and thinks getting in front of one is a good idea. 

[cosworth151]

I don't think that there was any carelessness involved. The tire carrier very carefully tried to block Dixon.

it seems equally unlikely they'd hire someone who has no idea what kind of forces are involved in an accelerating race car and thinks getting in front of one is a good idea.

 

It's the same way they hire someone who understands what kind of forces are involved in an accelerating race car and thinks getting in one is a good idea.     Seriously, it's the mind set that the bad stuff always happens to the other guy.

[lkjohnson1950]

My thought exactly! 

[Jericoke]

I don't think that there was any carelessness involved. The tire carrier very carefully tried to block Dixon.

it seems equally unlikely they'd hire someone who has no idea what kind of forces are involved in an accelerating race car and thinks getting in front of one is a good idea.

 

It's the same way they hire someone who understands what kind of forces are involved in an accelerating race car and thinks getting in one is a good idea.     Seriously, it's the mind set that the bad stuff always happens to the other guy.

So they hired this guy to lean into a pitch? 

(For those who don't follow baseball... a batter hit by a pitch gets a free pass to first base.  There are some batters who specialise in turning their bodies to ensure they get hit by pitches.  Considering a major league fastball is 100 mph, with enough force to break bone mind you, finding people skilled at 'leaning into a pitch' is difficult, though it does happen)