The final part of our end of season look back at all the important and sort of important and sometimes letter fillers brings us to the most awkward part, U to Z... thanks alphabet! On the plus side we are now five weeks closer to the start of the 2016 season! Jason and Adrian round of the year with ...
U - Until Next Time
Juan Pablo Montoya's victory at this years Indy 500 set a new record for the gap in years between Indy 500 wins, 15 years. the previous record was held by AJ Foyt between 1967 and 1977.
V - Vacancy
Another Indycar offseason and another Indycar boss falls by the wayside. Derrick Walker joins Randy Bernard, Tony George and 3 Million other men who tried to right the good ship Indycar for a while only to realise life is too short and that there is probably other things they could be doing. Unlike the others, DW walked rather than being pushed but the writing was probably on the wall for him. In his time as Indycar President, Walker brought a no nonsense approach and respect to the position. Right now, Mark Miles seems content to take on more responsibility regarding the day to day running of Indycar. Maybe he realises that this is one vacancy that could be tough to fill.
W - Wednesday
Why hump day? Well Wednesday this season became the day of the naughty step in the Indycar series. We awaited with baited breathe to see who was penalised, why (running over equipment), how much ($500) and how landed themselves on probation, again... For me, at least race control were consistent on this!
X - X Factor
People say Indycar need that bright young American star, love him or hate him, Sage Karam has definitely brought something new to the table. When people start to say that maybe you're the next Paul Tracy, it implies that you are an aggressive, hard charger without fear and fuelled by a instinctual desire to win... it also implies that you're prone to silly moves, take unnecessary risks and that you piss off just about everyone else on track. So yeah, saying that Sage Karam is maybe the next Paul Tracy sums up his 2015 season perfectly. At times brilliant, at times boneheaded, this past year was one that Sage Karam stamped his name all over, and showed that if given a full time ride for the future, he could do something else Paul Tracy did and that's win a championship.
Y - You've Got a Friend in Me
Tragedy struck this year, we lost a great racer, we lost a great man. But in sadness we have seen the strength, support and community spirit rally around Julia, Jess, Jane, Stefan and their extended family. We have had celebrations of Justin's life on both sides of the Atlantic, tears were shed, laughter was shared. Graham Rahal has once again stepped up and led an auction of memorabilia from across all forms of motorsport, sports and entertainment to raise money to benefit the children to look after their future. The latest auction items can be found here. Just from a personal viewpoint, having attended the funeral and following reception, there can be little doubt that there are some truly awesome people with the Indycar community who have stepped up in a number of ways.
Z - Zeal
Zeal is described as being passionate and enthusiastic about something and nowhere is that more evident than on the NBCSN broadcast Team for their Indycar races. While Alan Bestwick does his best to get Eddie Cheever and Scott Goodyear to show some sort of emotion on ABC, the former racers spend the majority of the races they cover acting like an old maried couple who stopped being excited about anything about 30 years ago. Meanwhile over on NBCSN, Leigh Diffy, Townsend Bell, Paul Tracy, Robin Miller and the rest of the the team crack some jokes, give great insight and generally seem to enjoy covering the races. Believe me, this enthusiasm goes a long way to selling the product to new fans and in an ideal world, the NBCSN crew would cover all races. Here is some of the finest Matchettising of commentary, enjoy the Barber race from earlier this year!
We hope you have enjoyed our look back at some of the irreverent and sometimes key moments of the 2015 Indycar season, earlier posts can be found below -
Part One - A to E
Part Two - F to J
Part Three - K to O
Part Four - P to T
Part One - A to E
Part Two - F to J
Part Three - K to O
Part Four - P to T