IndyCar Drama In Toronto

Toronto winner Dario Franchitti takes out Will Power.

Who says there are no rivalries and not enough drama “off-the-track” in the IZOD IndyCar Series?

If you still think that, then you clearly missed the IndyCar race Sunday afternoon in Toronto.  You might have thought that last year’s race ticked off drivers…well, the anger wasn’t even close to the level it was this year.  It especially took off once Dario Franchitti crossed the line for his fourth win of the year.

For starters, the reason for all this anger…there seemed to be cautions with cars hitting each other almost every lap.  The drivers because frustrated at how much room they gave each other, whether a move was too opportunistic, etc.  It is typical stuff we see at Toronto.

Then when cars were knocked out, the name-calling began.  Will Power, the usually quiet fellow, went OFF on Dario Franchitti and Alex Tagliani, even calling his championship rival a dirty driver.

I think the name-calling is great because it is starting to form rivalries in the sport; so that the league can advertise them to gain higher attendance at races.  But the name-calling is also good because some drivers have legitimate gripes against the league (Tony Kanaan and Power especially).

Now, I want to preface this by saying I don’t think Dario deserved a penalty on the incident on lap 57.  But, what Will was mainly upset about was the fact that Chip Ganassi almost always gets the calls that benefit him.  When was the last time a call went against Chip?  Good luck coming up with one.

The underlying problem what Will said is that the IndyCar Series is inconsistent at its rulings.  There are clearly “favorites” in the eyes of Brian Barnhart.  Just look at Helio Castroneves at the first few races.  He did not receive penalties for taking out people, because he’s Helio.  Danica Patrick has blocked numerous times over her tenure in the league and has never been called for penalties.

Until the IZOD IndyCar Series becomes more consistent at calling penalties, more drivers will complain.

But, the good part with the complaining is that we get to talk about it.  (And it’s fun to hear what even friends off the track begin to call each other.)