Crash-fest at Richmond sends most teams to shop

HANK KURZ Jr.

The Associated Press

Wednesday, Jul. 02, 2008

RICHMOND, Va. - Danica Patrick described it as a "carnage-fest," and it fit.

When IndyCar Series teams packed up their cars last weekend, many shared a common destination - the repair shop.

The series' seventh visit to Richmond International Raceway - its shortest track - was also its most destructive, raising questions about whether unified open-wheel racing can afford to put on demolition derbies.

Of the event-record 26 cars that started the race, only 12 were still running at the finish. And at least 17 sustained damage that required attention during the race. At about $350,000 per car chassis, that's a hefty repair bill.

"Clearly, it's not something we can make a habit of, tearing up that much equipment," Brian Barnhart, Indy Racing League president of competition and operations, said Tuesday.

So, what turned a little superspeedway into a show more fitting for the county fair?

Barnhart said blaming the venue isn't fair, pointing out that last year's race went so smoothly it was over in less than 90 minutes. In response, the track and IRL added 50 laps to this year's event to make it last longer for the fans.

Having 14 drivers who had never raced an open-wheel car on the 0.75-mile, D-shaped oval contributed to the mayhem, Barnhart said, and so did drivers ignoring his prerace message.

Be aggressive and patient, he advised during the drivers' meeting. Know where in the race you are before attempting something daring. Always weigh the risk against the reward.

"Obviously, Saturday they paid no attention," Barnhart said.

Many drivers insisted before the race that there wouldn't be any problems with the largest Indy car field at Richmond. But once the green flag dropped, chaos reigned.

"It was a carnagefest out there tonight with all the wrecks and cautions," Patrick said after 102 of the 300 laps were run under yellow, the second-most in IRL history.

All the cars going sideways kept drivers on edge.

"We just had the mind-set of wanting to make it to the end," said Townsend Bell, who finished eighth. "This race was sketchy, which is what I expected. It was a total dogfight."

RIR president Doug Fritz said fan reaction for the weekend was largely positive - four-lap qualifying, the extra 50 laps, the mandatory autograph session for all drivers and the bigger field were all hits. Fans were disappointed, however, about the number of laps under caution.

Like Fritz, Barnhart said the caution-filled event was likely an anomaly brought on in part by the inexperience of more than half the drivers on the track, and some silliness.

He plans to address that before the next race at Watkins Glen, a road course.

"It's not a coincidence," he said he plans to tell drivers "that seven of the top 10 finishers from Richmond are also in the top 10 in our points race."

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