2004 Long Beach Thoughts
RACE: Not exactly the type of race you wanted to start off the new Champ Car series.
TRACK: Either the push-to-pass was too new for everyone to get a handle on it, or it's not going to do what many thought on a street circuit. Or both.
START: After all that went on this past winter, did you expect anything else but a rocky start?
TRACY: Picked up where he left off -- aggressive and fast.
JUNQUEIRA: Picked up where he left off -- sucking Tracy's exhaust fumes.
BOURDAIS: Hint for next race Sebastian -- use the push-to-pass button on the start.
CARPENTIER: Well, at least this year he has one teammate he can beat...
DOMINGUEZ: Held off his teammate ... this time.
HUNTER-REAY: Looking good with his new team.
TAGLIANI: Very strong weekend.
HABERFELD: Not too shabby for a Reynard.
LAVIN: Well, Rodolfo was a bit of a surprise.
JOURDAIN: Not too surprising that Michel struggled considering he jumped onto a new team at the last moment.
ALLMENDINGER: A strong debut weekend spoiled by the start.
PHILIPPE: "I've earned my spot in the Champ Car World Series." No, you haven't.
GONZALEZ: Does Roberto have compromising photos of the car owners? How else can you explain this total wanker being in Champ Cars? He's horribly slow (couldn't even beat a 17-year-old with barely any racing experience), gets in the leaders' way, and is generally a useless entity on the track.
COYNE: Considering this effort was put together at literally the last minute, we'll cut them some slack for this race. This is definitely Coyne's best team. In a few races, they better be making some noise.
FERNANDEZ: "I could only count 13 confirmed and that's not enough." Hey Adrian, you must feel like a f------ idiot.
RAHAL: "I still think where you go depends on what your sponsors want." Hey Booby Bobby, your sponsor wanted to be in Champ Car and in fact is still there! You must feel like a f------ idiot.
ANDRETTI: Hey Mikey, didn't you say that Champ Car wouldn't have enough cars last year? You must feel like a f------ idiot. Twice over!
WORD OF THE WEEKEND: Whew.
STAT OF THE WEEKEND: 18 -- as in the number of cars that started the race.
HISTORICAL STAT OF THE WEEKEND: Let's not forget that there were runaway races in the past, much worse than this year. In 1987, Mario Andretti lapped the entire field. That was repeated the following year by Al Unser, Jr.
QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND: To Kevin Kalkhoven for stating the facts on Friday, "It's 10 o'clock in the morning. The sun is shining. There's 18 cars on the grid. We're rolling."
QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND RUNNERUP: To Gerry Forsythe for being to the point, "...the doomsayers can now take a rest."
SCHEDULE: Since St. Petersburg never happened in May, we're back to that lousy five week wait between the first and second race.
Copyright © 2004 by Deep Throttle. All Rights Reserved.
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