If you want to talk about dangerous conditions try racing next to Michael Waltrip, Juan Pablo or several others. Racing next to these guys makes the tire issue look pretty benign.

Everyone had the same tires. I say as long as it’s fair for all drivers it’s “game on” no matter what the conditions. I say the tire issue was just another variable to deal with on raceday and the team that manages all the variables the best will probably be in “Victory Lane.”

As for the fans, all anyone will talk about on Monday morning is the carnage. And I think they got thier monies worth.

Mike “The cry baby hater”

What are the odds that NASCAR and Goodyear will do the same for stock car fans who witnessed just as silly a spectacle?

Here’s the problem – NASCAR decided to take away 50% of the down force of the old car with the COT but is trying to make the COT “more racy” by telling Goodyear to ship tires to Indy that are a soft as a Magic Rub eraser.

Bad combination!

They should freeze the field during mandatory competition cautions so no driver gains or loses position before of after the pit stops. When you saw drivers moving up 10 or more positions during those stops, you can be sure that the safety officials were too busy staring at the cords coming through the tires than noticing if any short cuts were being taken by the teams. I bet the team engineer with the FedEx team regrets trying to catch the runaway tire that got knocked out of the tire carrier’s hands by Reed Sorenson’s car as it was charging out of pit road too close to Hamlin’s car on the exit.

NASCAR is too worried about putting on the show and the heck with the consequences. Driver safety? The Car of Today shows you how feeble their attempt is to fob that concept on to us the fans.

Knowing the history of past races at Indy and how it takes practice and the beginning of the race to lay down enough rubber to keep the tires lasting a full fuel run. And knowing that this would be the first race for the COT at the famed Indy Speedway. You would think NASCAR would see this and would have mandated test date for Indy.

This is not the first time GoodYear has not brought an adaquit tire to a race this year. Each time the end result has been NASCAR and GoodYear saying that the tire issues are a product of the new COT car. GoodYear is still learning what the COT needs and NASCAR is aware of this.

Well if they are aware of this then why do they continue to let it happen. Bottom line is GoodYear made a bad tire for this race and several others this year. But they can only build what NASCAR is asking them for. If NASCAR does not let GoodYear get enough test info from the teams then they can only build a tire on assumptions.

GoodYear assumed the tire compound they had last year would be good for this year. GoodYear knows the track and track preparation has not changed. So all they can do is build what they know. And that was a tire that worked on the COY. Not the COT.

The pit strategy was also interesting to watch, where drivers who were in the Top 5 all of a sudden fell 9-10 spots because they went with 4 tires, then had to work their way back towards the front of the race on the next several laps (Jeff Gordon, for example).

The final comment I will make…I was at Chicagoland Speedway two weeks ago and at Indy for this event; I personally enjoyed this recent race a bit more than seeing whoever the lead driver was jump out to a huge advantage after each restart (usually Kyle Busch) and then watch everyone else go in circles for 30 laps until the next caution.

They should’ve tried spraying some VHT in the corners to at least try to get the track to rubber up.

Just imagine what would have happened if a team that usually isn’t a contender had won the race! If the running order at the end had been something like #66, #28, #45, #00, #5 (just picking random teams here that haven’t won) there would have been a huge outcry from everybody. “Russian Roulette! Terrible and unfair racing conditions!” With Johnson winning, NASCAR is spared from that.