IndyCar drivers want Pocono Raceway removed? Fake news

Supposedly IndyCar drivers are all in agreement that Pocono Raceway does not belong on the schedule. That is fake news at its finest.

Following Sunday’s first-lap wreck in the IndyCar race at Pocono Raceway, there have been all kinds of cries on social media for the series to never to return to the “Tricky Triangle” after this season.

A deal is not in place for IndyCar to return to the three-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) oval in Long Pond, Pennsylvania for next year and it very well may not happen, but negotiations are reportedly ongoing.

This wreck follows last year’s opening green flag lap wreck that left Robert Wickens paralyzed from the waist down, and just three years before that, Justin Wilson was killed at the track when a piece of debris from a wrecked car struck his helmet.

Fortunately, nobody was seriously injured in this year’s wreck, and for that reason, it would be smart to count our blessings, be thankful that IndyCar is as safe as it is and move on to the next race on the schedule at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway.

Unfortunately, there are those who are unwilling to do that.

Social media wants you to believe that IndyCar drivers are in agreement that the series should not return to the track.

Putting it mildly, that simply is not true. Putting it bluntly, it’s nothing but fake news.

Sure, there have been several drivers who have justifiably expressed their disapproval of IndyCar racing there, the most notable of whom being Wickens.

For what it’s worth, Wickens speaking out about this is commendable considering the fact that he had to have known the criticism that he was opening himself up to even after one year of receiving basically nothing but support as he recovers from his injuries.

No matter how much people love you, they won’t hesitate to turn on you when you say something they don’t like.

Personally, I disagree with him.

With all due respect, his race experience at the track is tragically limited to about 26 seconds and one and a half miles, and in a car that nobody had any experience with at the track at the time due to the new UAK18 aero kit and limited practice time.

This is obviously a very deep subject with him in particular, but to blame the track when there were so many other factors at play simply isn’t accurate. However, coming from Wickens, it should certainly be taken with more than a grain of salt.

Then there is Sage Karam.

Again, I respectfully disagree with him, but consider what he has gone through to be in a position to say this and, like Wickens, risk backlash.

Karam had to deal with unwarranted criticism from fools who actually believe that he caused Wilson’s death, as if he had any control whatsoever of where the debris from his car bounced several seconds after he spun out and hit the wall. In reality, he didn’t even know that Wilson had been struck at first.

This low-life and uncalled for criticism toward Karam from these outsiders came in addition to him inevitably blaming himself and trying to get himself through that situation, which would have been difficult for anybody in itself.

Christian Sports Journal did a great interview with Karam last year about this situation. You can read it here.

Finally, there is Max Chilton.

Chilton has a right to his opinion, but for a driver who gave up competing at all oval tracks, including short ovals such as Iowa Speedway and World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway, to just flat-out say “They shouldn’t be there anyway” as if to blame Pocono Raceway for this incident is somewhat ironic.

These drivers all made the decision that Chilton didn’t, and that was to compete in this race. Of course, Chilton had to deal with backlash stemming from unwarranted criticism for making this decision, which was by all means a respectable decision, including people calling him a coward or worse whilst sitting at home on their living room couch — and not competing on ovals themselves.

But his decision was his decision and his decision alone, not anybody else’s, and it shouldn’t be forced on anybody else because of what he thinks.

In summation, these three drivers all have angles from which their viewpoints as to why Pocono Raceway and IndyCar don’t mix make sense on many levels.

But contrary to what the loud minority of social media wants you to think, this is not the whole story — not even close.

Just ask Scott Dixon, Will Power, Simon Pagenaud, Sebastien Bourdais and Ryan Hunter-Reay, who have all competed in each of the seven races that Pocono Raceway has hosted since ending its 24-year hiatus from the IndyCar schedule back in 2013 (aside of Bourdais, who missed the race in 2017).

All driver quotes come from Motorsport, aside of Hunter-Reay’s, which comes from RACER.

Said Dixon:

"“Honestly, I feel bad for Pocono. The group of people here that work, they work extremely hard. I felt the crowd today at the start of the race was fantastic. It was gaining some really good momentum. Hopefully it does continue.“But down to weather, some mistakes that have happened on track…honestly they could happen anywhere. If you look at Justin [Wilson, who was killed by flying debris at Pocono in 2015] or Robbie [Wickens], those can happen anywhere. I feel bad that it gets a bit of a bad taste in that scenario. I think the drivers in a lot of situations can do a better job to help that situation.“Honestly, I hope we come back. I just want to say a big thank you to everybody here at Pocono, the fans and everybody that come out, because it’s definitely a tough place. Will can tell you how rewarding it is to win here just because it is so difficult to get it right.”"

Not only could terrible accidents such as these happen anywhere, but they have done so. Just look at Dixon’s crash at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2017 that originated with nothing more than a car simply tapping the wall. That is arguably the worst looking crash in IndyCar history.

Said Power:

"“The crowd is up 15 percent every year we come back. It’s getting better. Like Scott said, the crowd was great today. It’s a good racetrack, man, a good track for racing. I really hope we come back. I think the guys do a great job. It’s a cool track for us…It’s hard for us to find good ovals these days that suit our cars.”"

Power has won three of the last four races at Pocono Raceway and hasn’t finished lower than second place since 2015 or lower than fourth since 2014. The track isn’t the problem.

And on a side note, I can vouch for his claim about attendance rising having been at the track every year since it returned to the schedule. Solely looking at attendance, there is zero need for consideration of removing the track from the schedule.

Zero.

Said Pagenaud:

"“Tough to add to that. I think they said it all. It is a fun track to drive on. Real unfortunate, close to New York, a great market for IndyCar. It’s an opportunity to bring people from New York to IndyCar races. Personally, I love superspeedways…Obviously when you’re traveling at such high speed, you know a crash is going to be a big crash.“Hopefully we can come back and hopefully we can keep working with the people at Pocono because it’s been a lot of fun. I’ve been racing here since 2013 in the series. I’ve enjoyed it more and more every year. So we’ll see what happens next. As a driver, I really enjoy coming here.”"

Tweeted Bourdais, in response to an assessment from Dario Franchitti, who competed at the track in 2013:

This is a point that is being continuously ignored. This wreck happened on a straightaway. Perhaps we should just stop racing altogether if Pocono Raceway is to be judged by contact that occurs with cars jostling for positions in straight lines.

Knitting scarves and watching golf sounds like a viable alternative.

Let’s also not forget the nasty wreck that Bourdais was involved in at Poc — no, sorry, Indianapolis Motor Speedway — two years ago. It was just a single-car wreck, but it sidelined him from competing in nine of the 17 races that were contested throughout the season.

Bourdais was also extra critical of the fence repairs at the track last year and again this year, but he reiterated that this criticism is restricted to just that: fence repair.

Said Hunter-Reay:

"“It is so important to gain positions at the start, because it is a track position race. It’s not like it used to be here, where if you had a good car you could knife through it. I came from the back three times one here and went all the way to the front. You can’t do that right now, so I think a lot of guys felt the pressure to gain some spots at the beginning…and it all hand-grenaded.”"

Hunter-Reay didn’t specifically denounce the anti-Pocono talk, but he did bring up another factor that is consistently being ignored, and that is the fact that these massive accidents weren’t happening prior to the introduction of the UAK18 aero kit last year. The racing is so much different now, and with limited practice time, it is tough to get a handle on.

Pocono Raceway is not to blame for that.

So for anybody spreading the fake news that IndyCar drivers are in agreement that Pocono Raceway needs to be removed from the calendar for being “too dangerous”, especially those doing so for no other reason than to further their personal anti-Pocono agendas, perhaps it would be better to actually read what more than one or two IndyCar drivers have to say not only about Sunday’s accident but about the track in general.

Because despite calls to abandon the track completely from drivers whose opinions should definitely be considered, numerous active drivers with a boatload of experience in the series clearly want to return, and there are most assuredly more just like them who simply haven’t been as vocal about it.