More about Indy cars 2013

On a Facebook page titled "Indy Car Serious" the question keeps popping up "What's wrong with Indy Cars?" In this edition he claims that since there were 117 entries and 84 actual cars in attendance, the race was somehow better than in 2013.

Well, you know me by now. I wasn't going to let that get by without another dose of reality, was I?

I provided a factual comparison between the two races. After reading the comparison, ask yourself which race was "better?"

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So there were 84 cars at the Speedway in 1984. That's irrelevant because no matter how many cars show up only 33 start. Lots of cars in the garage only increases the drama of time trials, not the race itself.

The most accurate indicator of a race's excitement level is lead changes. So let's compare the 1984 race to the 2013 race. The 1984 500 was won by Rick Mears in a Penske March/Cosworth. There were 16 lead changes between 6 drivers.

2013 had SIXTY-EIGHT between FOURTEEN drivers!

Which race was more exciting to watch?

For the idea of the "spec" car being a huge difference maker - in 1984, twenty-nine of the 33 cars in the field were March chassis, 27 of which had Cosworth engines.

All of the 13 cars still running at the time Mears took the Checkered Flag were March/Cosworth. The first non March/Cosworth in the finishing order was the Primus/Cosworth of Chris Kneifel in 15th. The first non Cosworth was Scott Brayton in 18th but he was driving a March/Buick Chassis. None of the non March/Cosworth cars had any impact on the outcome of the race. So much for the the idea that "spec" cars suck.

The final lead change took place on lap 144 when Mears passed Tom Sneva. Mears led four times for 119 laps.

Kanaan led 15 times for 34 laps.The last lead change in 2013 lap 197 when Kanaan and Carlos Munoz both passed passed Ryan Hunter-Reay going into turn one. There were 16 lead changes in just the last 30 laps in 2013. In 2013 a record 133 consecutive green flag laps were completed from lap 60 to 194.

At the conclusion of the 1984 race there were 13 running. In 2013 there were 26!

In 1984, there were ZERO cars on the lead lap. In 2013 there were NINETEEN!

Most laps completed, entire field: 5,863 - 2013

Pole Position 1984: Tom Sneva 210.029 -- 2013 Ed Carpenter 228.762

Average Speed: 1984 163.612 - 2013 187.433, fastest in history, breaking the record by Arie Luyendyk in 1990 of 185.981.

Here's the lead changes for 1984:

Lap Leaders: Mears 1-24, Sneva 25-25, Ma. Andretti 26-47, Sneva 48-49, Ma. Andretti 50-53, Mears 54-59, Sneva 60-60, Ma. Andretti 61-63, Fabi 64-70, Ongais 71-73, Fabi 74-80, Sneva 81-82, Unser, Jr. 83-86, Sneva 87-109, Mears 110-141, Sneva 142-143, Mears 144-200

Here's the lap leaders for 2013:

Lap Leaders: Carpenter 1-8, Kanaan 9-9, Carpenter 10-12, Kanaan 13-14, Andretti 15-16, Kanaan 17-20, Andretti 21-22, Kanaan 23-23, Andretti 24-26, Kanaan 27-28, Andretti 29-29, Hunter-Reay 30-30, Power 31-32, Jakes 33-37, Carpenter 38-42, Andretti 43-43, Carpenter 44-50, Andretti 51-53, Carpenter 54-58, Hunter-Reay 59-60, Andretti 61-61, Hunter-Reay 62-63, Carpenter 64-72, Kanaan 73-74, Power 75-88, Kanaan 89-89, Viso 90-90, Munoz 91-92, Kanaan 93-97, Allmendinger 98-111, Kanaan 112-112, Andretti 113-114, Kanaan 115-120, Hunter-Reay 121-121, Munoz 122-122, Tagliani 123-123, Bell 124-124, Hinchcliffe 125-125, Andretti 126-130, Hunter-Reay 131-131, Viso 132-135, Hunter-Reay 136-136, Allmendinger 137-142, Hunter-Reay 143-144, Castroneves 145-145, Andretti 146-150, Hunter-Reay 151-151, Munoz 152-154, Dixon 155-155, Hinchcliffe 156-157, Hunter-Reay 158-164, Allmendinger 165-167, Andretti 168-168, Hunter-Reay 169-169, Andretti 170-170, Hunter-Reay 171-171, Andretti 172-173, Kanaan 174-174, Andretti 175-175, Kanaan 176-177, Munoz 178-178, Andretti 179-179, Munoz 180-184, Hinchcliffe 185-188, Kanaan 189-189, Hunter-Reay 190-190, Kanaan 191-192, Hunter-Reay 193-197, Kanaan 198-200.

Do you notice any difference there? - I sure do!

Finally, Mears took the lead on lap 144, that's 56 laps from the checkered flag. Can any of you guess what his margin of victory was? TWO LAPS!

So I will reiterate my point, why do you think the 1984 Indy 500 was so great and seem to ignore the facts about the competitiveness of this year's race being so outstanding? two words RICK MEARS!

Looking at those stats, a blind man can see there is really NOTHING wrong with Indy Car racing today. The problem is too many people THINK there is something that needs to be fixed.

Pull you heads out of the sand and look at the sunshine!

Sure 84 car showed up in 1984, but the 33 that came to race in 2013 sure put on a better show, didn't they?