Last Sunday's IndyCar season-ending race at Chicagoland Speedway was too close to call. In fact, officials declared Scott Dixon as the race winner, where it had in fact been Helio Castroneves. Timing and Scoring had said Dixon won, but official video showed the Castroneves' Team Penske Dallara-Honda ahead.
It took close to 10 minutes for officials to decide on a victor. Moments after Dixon had climbed from his car in victory lane and already started post-race interviews, officials declared Castroneves the winner - by 0.0033 seconds - the second closest finish in IndyCar history. A mere 12 and 1/8 inches separated Dixon from the win, the he still celebrated as the 2008 champion.
This dramatic finish was my introduction to covering IndyCar racing, as I'd was on assignment in Joliet, IL covering the race for Motorsport.com. I'd been a fan of open-wheel racing my entire life, but writing about it was all relatively new. The atmosphere was definitely different to what I'm used to in sports car racing. I narrowed the differences down primarily to the fact that it was an oval race.
On typical American Le Mans Series race weekends, I usually observe one or two of the practice sessions from a grandstand, as you can analyze a driver's method of attack for certain corners. This obviously is not possible at an oval race, leaving me stuck in the media center watching everything from the tv feeds. This was just one of the new things I'd realized. Overall, though, it was a fresh experience, and I'm sure I'll do it again in the future.
In terms of the race, there were some entertaining moments. One had to be when Milka Duno was out front for five laps because of fuel strategy. Nearly everyone in the media center shared some laughs when ESPN/ABC broadcaster Marty Reid announced that she was leading. But make no jokes about it, because if the race had stayed green, Duno would have most likely been put back in the lead. While it would have been very unlikely for her to pull off a win, a top-10 could have been a possibility. Anyway, I still find it funny that Duno led more laps this season than Danica Patrick. Duno had five laps led to her credit, compared to Patrick's four, despite winning the Motegi round in April.
Twenty-eight cars started the season-finale, making it one of the highest car counts of the season. There could be even more teams joining for 2009, which could fill the field to 33 starters. If more than 33 show up to a race weekend, it would mean bumping for the slowest cars. Wouldn't that be something to see again at a place other than Indy?
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