Motor car race
The 2015 MAVTV 500 IndyCar race was an open-wheel motorsport event held on June 27, 2015, at the 2.000-mile (3.219 km) oval course at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California. It marked the 11th round of the 2015 Verizon IndyCar Series season and unlike the previous season, was not the championship's final race of the season.
The race featured an IndyCar Series record 80 lead changes. The race was the first race since the 2011 IZOD IndyCar World Championship to feature pack-style racing, although race-winner Graham Rahal disputed that it should be considered a pack race because the cars were able to run in different lanes.[1] While many observers applauded the race as being the most exciting race in IndyCar history (Jan Wagner of the Del Mar Times called it "one of the best IndyCar races ever"),[2] others questioned the racing as being too dangerous.[3][4][5][6] The race ended with a spectacular airborne crash from Ryan Briscoe, who was uninjured.[7]
Aftermath
Reaction to the race was divided, with some calling it exciting and others critical.[8] To some, it invoked memories of the 2011 race at Las Vegas that saw a 15 car crash and claimed the life of Dan Wheldon.
Will Power said, "As exciting as it is, it's insane. You just cannot get away and have to take massive risks to gain track position. That's crazy racing. We just don't need another incident like we had at Vegas, and running like this it's just a matter of time."[9]
Tony Kanaan said, "We can't forget that I lost my best friend in exactly the same way in 2011. I understand what the fans want, and if you say we're going to have 100,000 people here and this is what we're going to do, I agree with you that we need to put it out there. To have 5000 people out there and do this, it's stupid."[10]
Juan Pablo Montoya said, "Honestly, I was not a fan of the racing we put on today. What I told IndyCar yesterday was that we shouldn't be racing like this. This is full pack racing and, sooner or later, somebody is going to get hurt. We don't need to be doing this."[11]
Race-winner Graham Rahal disputed that it was a pack race because the cars were able to run in different lanes. "I don't think it was purely pack racing. What made this good today was there's four different lanes to run. It's not that there's too much downforce and whatever... And I thought today the tires went off just enough to make it intriguing, make it interesting at the end... That's the sort of thing that today brought out, whereas the old pack racing wasn't... the tires were good, you know, you were stuck all the time. Today, there was variation in line and that's what made it good."[12]
"At the end of the day," Rahal added, "it was the most exciting race we had in years."[13] "We have taken ourselves to a place over the last few years to where we've reduced the downforce so far that we couldn't even race."[14]
Despite his flip with two laps remaining, Ryan Briscoe praised the style of racing, tweeting, "I thought today’s IndyCar race was awesome. A few drivers need to show more respect out there, but the racing was fierce & exciting,"[15] adding, "'Twas a fun race" before his flip.[16]
Ed Carpenter tweeted, "I love close IndyCar racing. Hate to see drivers bad-mouthing a series. If you want to race, race. If not, retire."[17]
Journalist Robin Miller said it was "one of the five best races I've ever seen" but added "it was disgraceful today to see 3,000 people to watch one of the greatest IndyCar races of all time." He further criticized IndyCar CEO Mark Miles for scheduling the race in California on "the worst date in the history of auto racing, 1:30 on a Saturday afternoon in late June."[18]
Less than two months after the race, it was confirmed that IndyCar would not return to Auto Club Speedway in 2016.[19]
In 2018, Auto Club Speedway track president reaffirmed that the track was open to bringing back IndyCar racing should the right circumstances arise.[20] However, in 2020, it was confirmed that NASCAR would sell the Auto Club Speedway property and demolish the 2 mile oval.[21]
Broadcasting
In the United States, the race was televised by NBCSN. Leigh Diffey called the race on television with Steve Matchett and Paul Tracy providing analysis. Pit reporters were Jon Beekhuis, Kevin Lee, and Robin Miller. The race earned a 0.37 TV rating.[22] During the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020, NBCSN reaired the race on April 6, 2020.
A 90-minute broadcast of the qualifying session was aired on NBCSN at midnight on June 27.[23]
Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network provided coverage of the event on radio. Paul Page headed the IMS booth with analyst Davey Hamilton, with Mark Jaynes and Jake Query reporting from the track.
