Boy, oh, boy! Detroit can't get a break no matter what it is. Detroit team-owner, Roger Penske, had been pushing for four years to get the indycar race back in Detroit. Sponsered by Chevrolet, a Detroit auto manufacture and engine builder for many of the cars in the race. They both lose. Certainly it is not anyones fault, but it is just the way it looks. Run on the streets of Belle Isle which have probably not had any repairs in the last four years until this race. Penske, who had three cars in the race didn't win in his hometown even though his cars are more than ready to do so. Chevy, with a multitude of engines in the race didn't win either....Honda 1-2-3. Race winner Scott Dixon, who held on to finish 1.9628 seconds ahead of Target Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Dario Franchitti, also was joined on the stage by Simon Pagenaud as Honda swept the top three in Chevy's home race.
To top it all off, the track started to come apart damaging many cars and possibly causing two accitdents. In order to make repairs they stopped the race at the halfway point for 2 hours. And when they started up again they only went for 15 laps. With the race 66% done they decided to call it a day. Polymer patch used to fill some of the cracks in the concrete and asphalt (because it expands and contracts with the seasons) was being sucked up by the downforce of the 25-car field in the race. Crews used a concrete filler, which dries after about 30 minutes, to fill about 20 feet of cracks that were 5-6 inches wide and 2-4 inches deep in Turn 6, 30 feet and in Turn 7 and about 60 feet in Turn 10.
top photo credit: © 2012 indycar.com
middle photo credit: © 2012 Bob Broadbeck/AP via © 2012 detnews.com
video credit: © 2012 indycar.com via © 2012 youtube.com
