IndyCar bringing Grand Prix racing to Boston in 2016 and beyond

Spacemans Bong

chapeau rose
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That's a pretty solid track for Indycar. Some quick corners (the Massport Haul Road curve is probably the fastest single corner any street track has in Indycar), two long straights and by my count, at least four places to pass. Indy sometimes races on street tracks where the cars feel like lions in a cage the size of a bathroom, so to see a course where the cars will be able to stretch their legs a bit and hit corners in 4th or 5th gear is pretty good. 
 
I love Indycar (it's the 500 this weekend, by the way) but I would hope all the region's racing fans turn out for this.
 

Lose Remerswaal

Experiencing Furry Panic
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We usually go away Labor Day weekend, but have friends who live on D Street right on the course.  Too bad their place faces East.  I'll have to find out if they have roof access.  And a place for me to park. And a party that day!
 

Deathofthebambino

Drive Carefully
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Apr 12, 2005
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If it happens, I will no doubt make an appearance there if I can.  Not only is seeing Indy cars live an incredible experience in itself, seeing them on streets we all know and have driven would be fucking amazing.  
 
Bonger, not sure I see the amount of leg stretching you do, but I hope you're right.  I think the stretch (at the top of the map on this page) from the Haul Road back down to the corner of Congress and Boston Wharf would be the fastest "straight" on the course.  I'm not sure any of the others are quite long enough to get them to 5th gear, at least not for a significant length of time. They get up to speed so fast that they will just chew up those city blocks so quickly, that they'll have to be downshifting so fast to make the next corner, particularly on the straight going up D Street across the finish line.  
 
Either way, it would be fucking awesome.  I'm giddy about it.  No matter how hard I try to avoid the city for just about every major event, this is one that I would make plans to figure out a way to have front row seats, somewhere on the course. 
 

The Napkin

wise ass al kaprielian
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Aren't you looking at the track the wrong way death? Wouldn't they go clockwise?

I have basically no knowledge of Indy car and even I was excited when I heard this. Seems like its one of those events that a sports fan should see in their life even if they don't know anything about the sport. Just being there seems like it would be awesome.
 

OCST

Sunny von Bulow
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Jan 10, 2004
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Another Indy fan here. My dad worked for a parts supplier, so he would take me and my brother with him to Michigan, Pocono, Indy. Spent time in the pits, met the drivers (AJ Foyt said "fuck off, kid" when I asked for his autograph - I was 11). The racing action is incredibly exciting - watching and feeling something going that fast is a visceral thrill, TV does not do it justice at all.

This is fantastic.
 

OCST

Sunny von Bulow
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Jan 10, 2004
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Napkin, everyone should go to Indy once. Again, TV doesn't do it justice. It's HUGE - 300,000+ people around a 2 1/2 mile track (you could probably fit Fenway into the infield 8-10 times over). It's beyond words.

It's a shame that it was the worst-run sport in the country for the past 20 years. I've seen NASCAR in person too, and Indy is much more exciting.
 

Deathofthebambino

Drive Carefully
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The Napkin said:
Aren't you looking at the track the wrong way death? Wouldn't they go clockwise?

I have basically no knowledge of Indy car and even I was excited when I heard this. Seems like its one of those events that a sports fan should see in their life even if they don't know anything about the sport. Just being there seems like it would be awesome.
 
I assumed they go counter clockwise, like they do on a normal oval course (hence, the whole "left turn only" jokes), but not sure it would change much if they flipped it around.  Still wouldn't be too many long straights that would allow them to open these cars up, although, wouldn't matter to me either way.  It would still be incredible. 
 

The Napkin

wise ass al kaprielian
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OilCanShotTupac said:
Napkin, everyone should go to Indy once. Again, TV doesn't do it justice. It's HUGE - 300,000+ people around a 2 1/2 mile track (you could probably fit Fenway into the infield 8-10 times over). It's beyond words.

It's a shame that it was the worst-run sport in the country for the past 20 years. I've seen NASCAR in person too, and Indy is much more exciting.
I was idly watching something and they showed the track and then inlaid things that would fit inside. First couple were like huh. That's big (think one was Yankee stadium) and they they put in the Vatican. And all 3 or 4 fit with plenty of room to spare. Impressive.

Haven't a clue death, I was going by the turn numbers but you're right, wouldn't change much...
 

The Napkin

wise ass al kaprielian
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In any case, my feelings about this as an event and a "happening" in boston couldn't be more opposite of how i feel about the Olympics.
 

Spacemans Bong

chapeau rose
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The track will be clockwise. Besides the turn numbers, it's very rare for a street/road course to go clockwise - no current Indycar course goes counter-clockwise.
 
The reason I say cars will be able to stretch their legs a bit is there's two decent-sized straights for a street course - D Street's about 1/3rd of a mile, while Congress Street is over half a mile. You should see cars hitting 5th in the first and 6th in the second, probably going about 170-175 into Turn 4. That's pretty good for an Indycar in road course trim.
 
The 500 is this afternoon and I'm watching old ones on YouTube. Currently watching 1992, where Michael dominated the field (which included: Mario, AJ Foyt, Al Unser, Little Al, Emerson Fittipaldi, Bobby Rahal, Rick Mears, Gordon Johncock, Danny Sullivan and rookies Jimmy Vasser and Paul Tracy - what a field!). How did it never work for that guy?
 

Toe Nash

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The Napkin said:
In any case, my feelings about this as an event and a "happening" in boston couldn't be more opposite of how i feel about the Olympics.
Ask Baltimore how their grand prix went for the city, they may still be chasing down the money they're owed: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Prix_of_Baltimore
 
This will probably be better -- at least it will be held in an area that is out of the way for most residents rather than the Baltimore event which blocked off the whole downtown. But the concerns about the Olympics re: disruption to infrastructure, benefits being overstated, etc., are present here, admittedly to a much smaller degree.
 
My main concern is about traffic -- hundreds of thousands of college students move in that weekend and adding a huge event could clog up 90 and 93 a great deal. Coordination with the universities will be vital. I also have zero personal interest in car racing as a spectator, so I'm biased.
 

The Napkin

wise ass al kaprielian
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or maybe not...

Promoters of an Indycar race in the Seaport this fall are peeling out of Boston and will not race here, said John Casey, president of the Grand Prix of Boston.
“The relationship between us and the city is not working,” Casey said in a Globe interview. “The relationship is untenable.”
...
Casey said city officials made relentless and unrealistic demands on the promoters that eventually just became too much to bear.
“I’m writing a book about this whole process,” he said. “It’s so ridiculous, it’s hysterical.”
 

Luis Taint

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Apr 7, 2012
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Thanks Marty. Thank god the Olympics didn't come here, could you imagine all the "unrealistic demands" the city would make?