IRL Season Ends, Dixon Champ

Yesterday's IRL season-ender at Chicagoland Speedway was a good race. It was a contest of strategy and a contest of racing ability at various points during the contest.

I won't comment on Castroneves' penalty that resulted in his start from the tail end of the field, because I didn't see what caused it (the side effect of not having coverage of practice and qualifying that NASCAR is given) but it was a blast to watch him streak the through field to put himself back in the hunt at the beginning of the race.

At this point, strategy took over as Dixon played a fuel game, balancing mileage with staying in the position he needed to clinch the championship and Castroneves' teammate Briscoe played wingman, covering Castroneves on the outside while he ticked off laps in the lead to take points for most laps led.

Caution flags turned the end of the race into a sprint without the need for fuel conservation, ending in a Castroneves v. Dixon contest that led to victory by a nose and .001 of a second! Victory was initially given to Dixon because the timing and scoring system showed him first. The photo finish imagery, however, clearly showed Castroneves' car ahead by a nose at the stripe.

Victory aside, Dixon's second place was plenty enough to give him the championship; a championship that was well deserved even if you think that Castroneves' Detroit penalty was wrong (which I do not).

On a final note, I would like to comment on something that seems to have become a staple of NASCAR and IRL coverage in recent years: video of driver's wives during tense times: While cars were wheel to wheel, nose to tail at the front of the race, they kept on showing Scott Dixon's wife Emma in the pits. Emma Dixon is clearly easy on the eyes, and I understand the human interest in seeing how she is reacting to the situation on the track, but I tuned in to watch the action on the track. Show us the human interest when there is no track action or after the race. When there is close racing on the track, that should be shown full screen.

Mac
kf4lmt@comcast.net