As Bon Jovi once sang, woah we're half way there.
Part three of our end of season look back at 2014 in the Indycar series covers K to N. Jason and Adrian find the facts, the news, top opinion and pretty much discard them! (at times)
Part three of our end of season look back at 2014 in the Indycar series covers K to N. Jason and Adrian find the facts, the news, top opinion and pretty much discard them! (at times)
K is for Kissing the Bricks
Family and team unite at the yard of bricks (W.Kuhn)
A stunning final few laps of the most important Car race in the world finished with an American driver in victory lane drinking the milk. The first U.S. Born driver to win the race since Sam Hornish Jr, Ryan Hunter-Reay added his name and likeness to the Borg Warner trophy with a brilliant and relentless charge to the finish of the Indianapolis 500. Once again, nobody does tradition like Indycar and to see a talented driver who many people gave up on 5 or 6 years ago, bending down to kiss the yard of bricks is just about as inspiring as it gets and don't think for a second the meaningfulness was lost on RHR, his post race comment? "I'm a proud American boy"
L is for Liveries
Once again the designers were hard at work and produced some beauties, here are just a few of my favourites from the year, with the obligatory SFHR Strike livery to fawn over... again...
Which were your favourites? (All pictures via Indycar.com)
Which were your favourites? (All pictures via Indycar.com)
M is for 'Mine's a Double'
For the first time since 2004 (Robby Gordon), a driver attempted the double in one day of the Indianapolis 500 and the Coke 600. After a few tests in an Andretti Autosport car we finally had confirmation that Kurt Busch was to attempt the 1100 mile feat on the 25th May. Having run well during the practice, dampened by one crash which he described as the result of "starting to feel comfortable". He ran clean all race, taking home a very solid 6th place and the Rookie of the Year award. In the other race his car broke with only 200 miles left to run. Back to Indy it was and the awards banquet, for those who do not follow NASCAR or maybe understand the history with Kurt and, say his attitude, we heard from a very humble man, hopefully the face fits and he will be back, maybe...
N is for New Kids on the Block
The six rookies at this years Indy 500 (C.Owens)
There are rookie classes and then there is the 2014 rookie class, a group of young men who with their performances might have cemented their status as one of the best rookie fields in Indycar history. Prior to the start of the season, the usual naysayers and critics lambasted the newcomers as just another crop of talentless ride-buyers. What followed silenced a lot of those people; 6 Podium finishes, numerous strong performances and even 1 Victory earned Munoz, Huertas, Hawksworth and Aleshin the respect they deserve and in my humble opinion, did enough to warrant all of them a 2nd Year in the series. Let's also not forget about the strong performances in May of Indy 500 rookies Sage Karam and Kurt Busch. Truly a banner year for the guys who stepped into an Indycar for the first time.
O is for Ovaries
Pippa Mann was the only female driver on track this season (E.McCombs)
No, not ovals, ovaries and this year's Indycar season saw a distinct lack of them. While it was great to see Pippa Mann rocking the Pink Susan G. Koman car at Indianapolis, the fact that there was no full time female racer this past season was a bit of a disappointment. In addition to Pippa, over the past decade we've been spoiled with the likes of Sarah Fisher, Danica Patrick, Ana Beatriz, Katherine Legge and Simona De Silvestro, ladies that could go all out and show just as much heart and guts as any of their male competitors. Here's hoping that this year was a temporary blip and womankind finds a good representative for future Indycar seasons.
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