Best of Both Worlds: An IndyCar Timeline
- Thread starter Chocolate Raines
- Start date
This is pretty accurate. Driven was unnecessary and we can get a third Papyrus PC game. Console wise is still up in the air on who would do that. It still could be Codemasters but the question is would they do it sooner and would they be consistent?
1996 IROC Round One
IROC XX ROUND ONE: DAYTONA
Before we get into the race, here is the competitors for the 1996 tournament:Jeff Gordon: NASCAR Winston Cup Champion
Dale Earnhardt: NASCAR Winston Cup Runner-Up
Sterling Marlin: NASCAR Winston Cup Third Place
Mark Martin: NASCAR Winston Cup Fourth Place
Rusty Wallace: NASCAR Winston Cup Fifth Place
Ayrton Senna: INDYCART Champion
Robby Gordon: INDYCART
Scott Pruett: INDYCART
Tony Stewart: USAC Silver Crown Champion
Tommy Kendall: SCCA Trans-Am Champion
Steve Kinser: World of Outlaws Champion
John Force: NHRA Funny Car Champion
- IMSA champions will no longer compete. They usually haven't been very competitive anyways and always seem to bring up the rear in points. IROC decided to finally drop them. In their place, they allocated a spot for one more INDYCART driver, and the USAC Silver Crown champion. They were going to go with NASCAR's Busch Series champion, but decided they already had enough representation from them.
- Since Jacques Villeneuve moved to F1, third place points finisher Michael Andretti was invited instead but declined. Bobby Rahal was still recovering from his crash in last year's finale so Robby Gordon was chosen. Scott Pruett volunteered before IROC had the chance to ask anyone else.
Senna in the gold #7 battles alongside Mark Martin with Pruett following (pretend they're in Porsches').
Force did lead the most laps thus giving him the points lead; something for him to look forward to when the next round takes place in May at Indianapolis. He had quite the margin over second place Kendall with his nine points. Earnhardt is third with three. Here's the results:
| POS | ST | # | DRIVER | SPONSOR / OWNER | CAR | LAPS | STATUS | LED |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 6 | 6 |
| NASCAR | Porsche | 40 | running | 3 |
2 | 10 | 10 |
| INDYCART | Porsche | 40 | running | 0 |
3 | 2 | 2 |
| SCCA | Porsche | 40 | running | 9 |
4 | 5 | 5 |
| NASCAR | Porsche | 40 | running | 0 |
5 | 7 | 7 |
| INDYCART | Porsche | 40 | running | 0 |
6 | 12 | 12 |
| NASCAR | Porsche | 40 | running | 0 |
7 | 4 | 4 |
| NHRA | Porsche | 40 | running | 27 |
8 | 3 | 3 |
| NASCAR | Porsche | 40 | running | 0 |
9 | 11 | 11 |
| USAC | Porsche | 40 | running | 0 |
10 | 9 | 9 |
| INDYCART | Porsche | 40 | running | 0 |
11 | 1 | 1 |
| WoO | Porsche | 30 | crash | 1 |
12 | 8 | 8 |
| NASCAR | Porsche | 21 | engine | 0 |
Stay tuned: Senna's Speedweeks up next!
So about this...I was writing a draft for this and now it's gone. Should've kept my test thread. I really don't feel like rewriting up to the point where I was at, so I might just skip this. What I'll probably do instead is have a summary of it that also includes other INDYCART drivers that also made some NASCAR starts during preseason as part of the first race report of the year. I also wasn't really liking what I was writing about it, and pictures weren't loading so I think it's best to just do this instead. Sorry about that.
1996 Round 1
ROUND ONE: HOMESTEAD MIAMI
The off-season is finally over and the drivers of the PPG INDYCART Series are set to kick off what should be a great season at Homestead Miami Speedway for the Marlboro Grand Prix of Miami presented by Toyota.
Before we get into the race, some drivers got to gain a new experience running in NASCAR. Ayrton Senna participated in the Daytona speedweeks including the ARCA race and the Daytona 500. He didn't get off to the best start during the week as he blew a tire in ARCA practice and hit the wall. The Penske team fixed his #27 Pennzoil Ford in time for the race, only for the passenger window to fall out during the pace laps. He got a new one, but was out of any chance to compete and finished 28th, eight laps down. He and teammate Rusty Wallace were in the second duel. Wallace was bumped down pit road after another driver got into him and faded into obscurity. Senna tried to catch the lead pack of drivers but never could and ended up ninth. He would line up in 18th for the 500 while Wallace found himself all the way in last. The Daytona 500 was another uneventful race for Senna. He fell as low as 35th but fortunately due to others dropping out and wrecking managed 25th. Rusty would jump all the way to 16th at the end of the race. Dale Jarrett won his second 500 over Earnhardt just like he did in 93'. Senna doesn't know currently if he will be making any more Cup starts this year, but agreed to run the Truck race at Phoenix.
A week later Paul Tracy ran the car at Rockingham. He qualified in last and didn't move up a whole lot. It should be noted this car is an R&D car for Penske so they're obviously going to put a lot more focus on Wallace. Anyway, he cut a tire about halfway through the race and his day was done. Bobby Labonte spun out at the same time and it was believed that they had gotten together but the replay showed he was dumped by Jeff Burton. Tracy, unlike Senna, wasn't upset about not being competitive in the race and hopes to run again soon.
Yesterday was the Craftsman Truck Series opener for their sophomore season here at Homestead. Jimmy Vasser and Robby Gordon participated in it in Geoff Bodine's #07 Ford and Ernie Irvan's #44 Ford respectively. Vasser won pole and was upfront battling defending champion Mike Skinner for the lead when a lapped truck squeezed into them forcing Vasser onto the apron. He got loose and spun up into Skinner and the other truck taking all three of them out. Gordon on the other hand started way down in 26th but rallied to an amazing fifth place finish. Both actually have run in NASCAR before. Vasser in a Cup race back in 1994 (which I never wrote about) and Gordon made two starts at the beginning of 1991 before he ever drove in INDYCART. More INDYCART drivers like John Andretti and Adrian Fernandez have expressed interest in running some NASCAR races in the near future. As for NASCAR drivers running in open wheel...that'll be a discussion in a future post.
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This race didn't seem like it wanted to start. It took four attempts for it to go. Willy T Ribbs wrecked coming to the green flag. Then a start was waived off for polesitter Tracy jumping it. The Andretti brothers made contact on the backstretch causing debris to fly. Then finally after a rain delay they were off. Tracy led over John Andretti, Scott Pruett, and Al Unser Jr. He was the dominant car in the race leading a total of 83 laps. Sadly he would not win as a transmission failure took him out. Right when he dropped out, Alex Zanardi had a bizarre wreck in turn two. His left rear tire fell off causing him to smash into the wall. He walked away unhurt. "I was doing really well and easing my way into the top ten, it's disappointing, but this is only the beginning of what I hope is are the best moments of my career" he told ABC's Gary Gerould.
It was now Andretti vs Unser Jr. Al gunned it past John and never looked back as he broke his winless drought that dated back to Toronto two years ago. The real battle was for third. Pruett, Gordon, and Bobby Rahal (fully recovered from his wreck last Fall). Pruett looked to have it: he even was catching Andretti for second. Just as he was about to cross the finish line, Gordon darted out from behind him and snatched it from him. Rahal rounded out the top five. Greg Moore finished seventh in his first INDYCART start and Senna rallied back from damaging his front wing to finish eighth and Michael Andretti was ninth after his incident with Jeff. Here's the results:
Little Al en-route to his win.
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Parker Johnstone crashed in qualifying and suffered a minor concussion prompting the Comptech team to withdrawal. Buzz Calkins was the only one to DNQ. Toyota had a poor debut with Buzz not making it and Matsushita loosing an engine. Dick Simon's team looks to be regressing further. Treadway Racing had a great debut with Luyendyk. They ran in the top ten for a bit before falling back to 13th.
In two weeks the series heads down to Australia for the race at Surfer's Paradise. Can Zanardi rebound from his wreck at a circuit he's more accustomed to? Can Little Al go two for two? Is this the start of a possible new era of dominance in INDYCART? Find out soon.
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1996 Round 2
ROUND TWO: SURFER'S PARADISE
The INDYCART drivers returned for their annual Australian race. Al Unser Jr picked up right where he left off at Homestead and won the pole. Little Al dominated the race and made it two for two on the season and his second Surfer's Paradise win. The only time he didn't lead was when he pitted unexpectedly and took tires and only a small amount of fuel. Right after, there was a caution. He came back onto pit road with everyone else and took only fuel. It was a brilliant strategy that set him up for the win.
The attrition rate in this race was very high. 13 of 25 cars did not finish. After Arie Luyendyk dropped out, cars started dropping like flies for multiple reasons. Some were in crashes like Adrian Fernandez. Others had engines die like Bobby Rahal. His teammate Bryan Herta had his car catch fire during a pit stop. Both Paul Tracy and Alex Zanardi suffered consecutive DNF's. Zanardi had a transmission failure and Tracy crashed out after battling for position with Michael Andretti, who also dnf'd later on.
Scott Pruett stayed in second all race save for a few laps he led during Unser's pit stop. Greg Moore got his first ever podium. Jeff Andretti and last year's winner Jimmy Vasser round out the top five. Here's the full results and points:
| POS | ST | # | DRIVER | SPONSOR / OWNER | CHASS./ENG. | LAPS | STATUS | LED | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | 9 |
| Target/STP (Chip Ganassi) | Reynard / Ford | 65 | running | 60 | 20 |
2 | 2 | 20 |
| Motorola (Pat Patrick) | Lola / Aurora | 65 | running | 5 | 16 |
3 | 8 | 99 |
| Player's (TheMann Racing) | Reynard / Porsche | 65 | running | 0 | 14 |
4 | 11 | 17 | Jeff Andretti | Bank of America (Bruce McCaw) | Lola / Ford | 65 | running | 0 | 12 |
5 | 6 | 6 | Jimmy Vasser | Kmart / Texaco-Havoline (Newman Haas Racing) | Lola / Ford | 65 | running | 0 | 10 |
6 | 20 | 16 |
| Alumax Aluminum (Tony Bettenhausen, Jr.) | Reynard / Honda | 65 | running | 0 | 8 |
7 | 22 | 7 |
| Delco Electronics (Rick Galles) | Reynard / Aurora | 65 | running | 0 | 6 |
8 | 9 | 28 | Olivier Grouillard | LCI International (Sal Incadela) | Lola / Aurora | 65 | running | 0 | 5 |
9 | 16 | 1 | Ayrton Senna | Marlboro (Roger Penske) | Reynard / Honda | 64 | running | 0 | 4 |
10 | 25 | 18 | Wally Dallenbach Jr | VISA (Bruce McCaw) | Lola / Ford | 64 | running | 0 | 3 |
11 | 12 | 8 | John Andretti | Labatt Blue (Derrick Walker) | Reynard / Porsche | 63 | fuel | 0 | 2 |
12 | 19 | 34 | Willy T Ribbs | Data Control / Mi-Jack (Dale Coyne) | Reynard / Porsche | 61 | running | 0 | 1 |
13 | 15 | 26 | Roberto Guererro | Kool (Team Andretti) | Lola / Ford | 60 | fuel | 0 | |
14 | 21 | 22 | Gil de Ferran | Mobil 1 (Dick Simon Racing) | Lola / Aurora | 48 | crash | 0 | |
15 | 23 | 14 | Scott Sharp | Conseco (AJ Foyt) | Lola/ Ford | 46 | fuel | 0 | |
16 | 14 | 11 |
| Valvoline / Cummins (Derrick Walker) | Reynard / Porsche | 45 | electrical | 0 | |
17 | 17 | 12 |
| Shell (Bobby Rahal) | Lola / Aurora | 40 | pit fire | 0 | |
18 | 24 | 15 | Scott Goodyear | Canadian Tire (Derrick Walker) | Reynard / Porsche | 38 | crash | 0 | |
19 | 5 | 5 |
| Kmart / Texaco-Havoline (Newman Haas Racing) | Lola / Ford | 36 | electrical | 0 | |
20 | 13 | 4 |
| Miller (Bobby Rahal) | Lola / Aurora | 33 | transmission | 0 | |
21 | 3 | 10 |
| Target /Barilla (Chip Ganassi) | Reynard / Ford | 31 | transmission | 0 | |
22 | 4 | 3 |
| Pennzoil (Roger Penske) | Reynard / Honda | 16 | crash | 0 | |
23 | 10 | 29 |
| Tecate Beer / LCI (Sal Incadela) | Lola / Aurora | 14 | crash | 0 | |
24 | 7 | 49 |
| Acura (Comptech Racing) | Reynard / Honda | 10 | crash | 0 | |
25 | 18 | 55 | Arie Luyendyk | Bryant (Treadway Racing) | Reynard / Ford | 8 | engine | 0 |
Dick Simon's fortunes go from bad to worse with Raul Boesel missing a race for the first time since early 1992 when he was a free agent. Toyota's are even worse as both of their teams failed to make it in. Australian Touring Car Series driver Craig Lowndes was the third driver not to make it in Dale Coyne's #19.
| RANK | DRIVER | POINTS | DIFF |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | Al Unser Jr | 40 | |
2 | Scott Pruett | 28 | -12 |
3 | Greg Moore | 20 | -20 |
4 | John Andretti | 18 | -22 |
4 | Jimmy Vasser | 18 | -22 |
6 | Robby Gordon | 14 | -26 |
7 | Jeff Andretti | 12 | -28 |
8 | Bobby Rahal | 10 | -30 |
9 | Ayrton Senna | 9 | -31 |
10 | Stefan Johansson | 8 | -32 |
11 | Jeff Ward | 6 | -34 |
12 | Olivier Grouillard | 5 | -35 |
It's very early in the year so there's still time for drivers to get good finished and get points. Ward's first ever top ten in a race puts him top twelve in points. We'll see how long that lasts. Moore is off to a fantastic rookie season with two points finishes. You'd think it was still Villeneuve in the car. Speaking of Jacques, his F1 debut a week earlier in Melbourne went well: he started on pole and looked to win is his maiden start until he had a minor issue with his car and gave the win to teammate Damon Hill.
Phoenix is in two weeks. Can Little Al go three in a row? Will someone like Pruett or Moore be able to stop him? Find out next time.
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1996 Round 3
ROUND THREE: PHOENIX
Phoenix was the next stop on the calendar. After being the first to drop out in Surfer's Paradise, Arie Luyendyk turned his bad luck around and qualified on pole with Roberto Guererro giving Mario Andretti his first front row start as an owner. The two would be 1-2 in the opening laps until Scott Pruett powered by both of them. Pruett and the Patrick team could've easily won this race had some pit stop mishaps not happened as well as a front right tire going down.
Gil de Ferran spun out and crashed. Guererro was coming up on the wreck with Jeff Ward ahead of him. Ward brake checked him causing Guererro to spin out onto the grass. Fortunately, this didn't take him out (he would drop out for another reason later on). Bobby Rahal assumed the lead coming back to the green, but he managed to spin himself out embarrassingly. Robby Gordon would be the one to lead the field back to green. He would lead until the next caution. Senna was running sixth when he lost control of his car and backed into the turn four wall hard. He was unharmed. Arie would reassume the lead.
Michael Andretti had started 11th and by halfway had worked himself up to second. He caught up Luyendyk in traffic and passed him. He and Arie would then make their final pit stops giving the lead back to Gordon. Suddenly on the backstretch, Greg Moore slammed into the turn two wall and spun down the backstretch. He too was fine and claimed the car got loose on him. Luyendyk would win the race off pit road with Gordon second.
Luyendyk would lead the rest of the way scoring his first win since 1991 ending Unser Jr's chance at a threepeat. Gordon was the only other driver to finish on the lead lap. Michael sadly dropped out with about 25 laps to go. Both Rahal and teammate Bryan Herta rebounded from spins to finish 4th and 6th respectively. Raul Boesel finally was able to get a good result for Dick Simon coming home 8th and Alex Zanardi finally finished a race. Buzz Calkins finally qualified but finished well down the order. Here's the top twelve finishers (as those are the points paying positions and how I'll be posting results for races that were Indy Racing League IOTL) and standings:
| POS | ST | # | DRIVER | SPONSOR / OWNER | Chassis | LAPS | STATUS | LED | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | 55 |
| Jonathan Byrd's Cafeteria / Bryant (Treadway Racing) | Reynard / Ford | 200 | running | 122 | 20 |
2 | 6 | 11 |
| Valvoline / Cummins (Derrick Walker) | Reynard / Porsche | 200 | running | 40 | 16 |
3 | 7 | 6 |
| Kmart / Texaco-Havoline (Newman-Haas Racing) | Lola / Ford | 199 | running | 0 | 14 |
4 | 3 | 4 |
| Miller (Rahal-Letterman Racing) | Lola / Aurora | 198 | running | 7 | 12 |
5 | 4 | 20 |
| Motorola (Pat Patrick) | Lola / Aurora | 197 | running | 11 | 10 |
6 | 8 | 12 |
| Shell (Rahal-Letterman Racing) | Lola / Aurora | 195 | running | 0 | 8 |
7 | 12 | 9 | Al Unser Jr | Target / STP (Chip Ganassi) | Reynard / Ford | 194 | running | 0 | 6 |
8 | 21 | 23 | Raul Boesel | Duracell / Mobil 1 (Dick Simon) | Lola / Aurora | 190 | running | 0 | 5 |
9 | 19 | 10 | Alex Zanardi | Target / Barilla (Chip Ganassi) | Reynard / Ford | 185 | running | 0 | 4 |
10 | 20 | 15 | Scott Goodyear | Canadian Tire (Derrick Walker) | Reynard / Porsche | 184 | out of fuel | 0 | 3 |
11 | 10 | 17 | Jeff Andretti | VISA (PacWest Racing) | Lola / Ford | 181 | running | 0 | 2 |
12 | 17 | 16 | Stefan Johansson | Alumax (Bettenhausen Motorsports) | Reynard / Honda | 179 | running | 0 | 1 |
| RANK | DRIVER | POINTS | DIFF |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Al Unser Jr | 46 | |
| 2 | Scott Pruett | 38 | -8 |
| 3 | Jimmy Vasser | 32 | -14 |
| 4 | Robby Gordon | 30 | -16 |
| 5 | Bobby Rahal | 22 | -24 |
| 6 | Arie Luyendyk | 20 | -24 |
| 6 | Greg Moore | 20 | -26 |
| 8 | John Andretti | 18 | -28 |
| 9 | Jeff Andretti | 14 | -32 |
| 10 | Bryan Herta | 11 | -35 |
| 11 | Ayrton Senna | 9 | -37 |
| 11 | Stefan Johansson | 9 | -37 |
| 13 | Jeff Ward | 6 | -40 |
| 14 | Olivier Grouillard | 5 | -41 |
Boesel's eighth place ties him for 14th with Grouillard. Pruett cuts into Little Al's lead after Unser didn't have his best run of the season so far. Herta gains a huge leap into the top ten after his strong finish. John Andretti falls after being well off the pace all day. Team Penske is having their worst start to a season in all their INDYCART history. Senna is fighting for a top ten position and Tracy has gone 3 for 3 in DNF'ing.
After Easter, the series heads west to the coast for Long Beach. Will Pruett be able to overtake Unser Jr for the points lead or will Little Al fight back? It is his best track after all. We'll see what happens.
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1996 Round 4
ROUND FOUR: LONG BEACH
Long Beach is a favorite among INDYCART drivers and fans. This year's race looked to be another entertaining and competitive and entertaining race.
Two silly season stories have hit very early this season. The first has to do with next year's schedule. The first six races have been unveiled. For the first time in seventeen years, the series will return to Ontario Motor Speedway as their new season opener. It will take place one week after the Daytona 500 so drivers who wish to participate in that can still do so. It will also be the start of a west coast swing that will also see Long Beach get moved up to the second race followed by Phoenix. Homestead will become the fourth round followed by the two international races in Australia and Brazil respectively. Ontario isn't the only oval expected to be added to the calendar next year as the return to Texas World looks likely as well as new tracks in St. Louis and Las Vegas. New ovals continue to pop up across the country much to the delight of those like Tony George.
John Andretti won pole and Alex Zanardi would start alongside. It finally looked like he could have great day and get a good finish. Unfortunately Bobby Rahal ended his chances by punting him into the turn 1 wall. As ABC was interviewing him about the wreck, Greg Moore and Jimmy Vasser got together. Moore was on the inside of Vasser and was running out of room between him and the wall before a left hand turn came up. Instead of backing off, Moore kept his line and shunted into Jimmy taking both of them out. Arie Luyendyk ran over some of their debris and badly damaged his car forcing him to drop out. After nearly having a fire break out during a pit stop, Robby Gordon's day become a struggle as he was well off the pace and spun a few times. He still managed to finish 13th albeit eight laps down.
The start of the race.
John Andretti dominated. He looked to be cruising to his first win of the year and get back into the points battle. Then, the car started to slow. Unser Jr sped by as did others. John thought it was completely over. Derrick Walker and the Porsche crew stood in disbelief. Thankfully, the engine didn't give out and he was able to bring it home fifth. Meanwhile, Little Al went 3 out of 4 on the season and wins another one. Parker Johnstone finished a career best second and Ayrton Senna had a great podium finish. Willy T pulled off another random top ten and Richie Hearn gets one in his debut A minor success for Toyota Here's the top twelve (which I think I'm going to do from now on for for less work/ easier to work on points this way):
| POS | ST | # | DRIVER | SPONSOR / OWNER | CHASS./ENG. | LAPS | MONEY | STATUS | LED | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 3 | 9 |
| Target (Chip Ganassi) | Reynard / Ford | 105 | | running | 4 | 20 |
2 | 6 | 49 |
| Acura (Comptech Racing) | Reynard / Honda | 105 | | running | 0 | 16 |
3 | 9 | 1 | Marlboro (Roger Penske) | Reynard / Honda | 105 | | running | 0 | 14 | |
4 | 4 | 3 |
| Pennzoil (Roger Penske) | Reynard / Honda | 105 | | running | 0 | 12 |
5 | 1 | 8 | Labatt Blue (Derrick Walker) | Reynard / Porsche | 105 | | running | 100 | 12 | |
6 | 13 | 29 |
| Tecate Beer / LCI (Sal Incandela) | Lola / Aurora | 105 | | running | 0 | 8 |
7 | 12 | 5 |
| Kmart / Texaco-Havoline (Newman Haas Racing) | Lola / Ford | 104 | | running | 0 | 6 |
8 | 18 | 34 | Data Control / Mi-Jack (Dale Coyne) | Reynard / Porsche | 104 | | running | 0 | 5 | |
9 | 24 | 7 |
| Delco Electronics (Rick Galles) | Reynard / Aurora | 104 | | running | 0 | 4 |
10 | 22 | 44 |
| Ralph's / Food 4 Less (Della Penna Racing) | Reynard / Toyota | 103 | | running | 0 | 3 |
11 | 5 | 20 |
| Motorola (Pat Patrick) | Lola / Aurora | 103 | | running | 0 | 2 |
12 | 17 | 12 |
| Shell (Bobby Rahal) | Lola / Aurora | 100 | | running | 0 | 1 |
Gil de Ferran and Jeff Krosnoff in Dale Coyne's #19 were the two to go home. Buzz Calkins made this race and finished 17th out of 28. He was actually the last car to drop out.
| RANK | DRIVER | POINTS | DIFF |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Al Unser Jr | 66 | |
| 2 | Scott Pruett | 40 | -26 |
| 3 | Jimmy Vasser | 32 | -34 |
| 4 | Robby Gordon | 30 | -36 |
| 4 | John Andretti | 30 | -36 |
| 6 | Ayrton Senna | 23 | -43 |
| 7 | Bobby Rahal | 22 | -44 |
| 8 | Arie Luyendyk | 20 | -46 |
| 9 | Greg Moore | 20 | -46 |
| 10 | Parker Johnstone | 16 | -50 |
| 11 | Jeff Andretti | 14 | -52 |
| 12 | Bryan Herta | 12 | -54 |
| 12 | Paul Tracy | 12 | -54 |
Jeff Ward is 14th with ten points. Pruett had a chance to cut into Unser's lead today but a minor engine issue plus Al winning ended any chance of that happening. John's fifth was enough to get him back in the top five and tie him with teammate Gordon. Johnstone's run sees him crack the top ten. Hopefully Moore can get back on track real soon.
The series visits Brazil for the first time in two weeks. Senna, Boesel, and de Ferran all look forward to racing in their home country. Senna has the best chance of the three to win it. Will he? Or will Unser Jr continue to win races and pull away in points like Ayrton did two years prior. Find out next time.
Happy thanksgiving and two year anniversary of this TL! This will be back next week with Beazil!
Awesome to see Ontario (and maybe Texas World) coming back. Don't know what this means for Fontana but I'm excited.
Or it might not. Y'know I've enjoyed the storyline of there being a unified INDYCAR and we're right at the beginning of a great future for the series, but I'm slowly losing interest in the writing aspect of it (and maybe being on this site in general). Trying to get at least one post out a week is starting to feel a little repetitive and like a chore. Before you say I should take some time off from it, at month's end I'm going full-time at work and I'll be in from 4 AM to Noon so I don't know how tired I'll be to want to watch races and write this. Weekends will be occupied by NASCAR when that starts back up and I'll want to focus on watching that. I also feel like the hype for this has died down massively from when I first started it two years ago.
I'd put some future spoilers here but there's a slim chance I may return so I don't want to post them here just yet. I really want to continue this someday, but I'm just not feeling it right now. I'd like to thank you for following along if you have and keep an eye out for it returning possibly.
This is officially dead. I was going to post a look into the future around 2001 as a final post to wrap this up, but I don't have the will or time to. That being said, this will probably be my final post on AH. It was a good almost 4 years here. I may still be around in threads to like and maybe comment on some things, but overall, I'm going dark. Thank you for reading my TL's and maybe someday I'll return. Goodbye all.