Race No. 11
Molson Indy Toronto
Toronto, Ontario
July 17-19, 1998
| 1996 Pole Winner: Andre Ribeiro 1997 Pole Winner: Dario Franchitti 1996 Race Winner: Adrian Fernandez 1997 Race Winner: Mark Blundell 1996 SpeedCenter Report 1997 SpeedCenter Report  Robby Gordon's Track Preview in RealAudio |  |
When Cars Go Really Slow...
It is mid-season and Zanardi has an almost unsurmountable points lead that it is hard to get fired up about the next event. He'll probably win thatone as well. And then the next two road courses, with the exception of maybe the 500 miles in Michigan -- or maybe not; he did manage to winthat race last year, too.
But each year, when I am driving to to Toronto, all I can think of is how the race ended in 1996 and how fast the rest of the media has forgotten about Jeff Krosnoff. Actually - they have no method of dealing with an issue that's not "news" anymore. It's uncomfortable, it doesn't sell, and their editor would possibly thing they are nuts to write a race preview like the one I am posting here today.To me, in a very personal way, the track has lost all the attraction I sensed when I first got there in 1995. A great city, a huge crowd who loves their open-wheel racing, and pit lane filled withthe famous stars and cars we are all so fascinated by.
The race in 1996 started out the same way,but it all came to a horrible end. It crackledover the scanner from the CART safety team when I was in turn 5. "Cars airborne..." - and in what seemed to take an eternity, the other cars came past my photo hole in turn 5, really slow. Nowevery time I see cars come around at such a slow speed after something had just happened elsewhere on thetrack I can tell it's bad news. Drivers know when it looks "bad" and they slow down more than they usually do on their inlap.
The last time I felt something wasway wrong was at Milwaukee this year, when I was in turn 4 and the red flagcame out on Friday morning. Cars going at 20 mph into the pitafter passing what had happened in turn 2 out of my sight. I didn't feellike walking over to find out. Then I saw the car pieces being towed in - half a car...
Luckily, this time ChristianFittipaldi was ok, but violent freak accidents can happen even in 1998 - anywhere, anytime.We forget that too often when we ask for more action and thrill to be produced by thesedrivers. And don't forget the track marshalls sticking out their necks to make sure events run safely..
So, while everyone else is writing about how some Canadian wonder-driver possibly may havea mathematical chance to take the title away from Zanardi, I prefer toremember one of the less successful heroes. Each month I still get email to add content to the Krosnoff tribute pages here on SpeedCenter.I created them because I felt somewhat guilty - I felt I had not focused enough on Jeff when he was still around. He was one of those "other cars" that filled the fieldbut didn't have much to do with what would be in the headlines that weekend. Since that dreadful weekend in '96, I now try to make a point out of covering all teams and all drivers - because they all deserve equal respect for the risks they are taking to entertain us. I had no way of creating something like this for Gary Avrin who lost his life in the same incident, and fewer people ever heard his name. However - he and everyone else whotake risks to make the show go on are the people we all too often forget about behind all the talk about championships, points, and sponsors. "The Speedcenter car ran great today" - and three dozen track marshalls stuck their necks out to make it possible.
The Krosnoff tribute pages will stay online long as I run this web site, probably longer. When I saw CART pull all traces that reminded the world of Jeff after only a few weeks after the incident,I knew this #25 button would be on my home page for a long long time. When have you last checked out those pages?If you want a preview for what my mood is going to be like when I go to Toronto this weekend,click through the tribute pages now.If you want to read about points chances and what everyone is hoping they can do for theirsponsors, go to cart.com - I am sure they will have a comprehensive preview with each and every team's outlook.
Soapbox off - let's hope it's a good race without incidents that causethe other drivers to go really slow after passing the scene. I also wouldn't mind not seeing some donuts this time around, they are getting rather stale. And listen to Robby's track preview linked at the top of this page for a much more upbeat view of things. He likes that place a lot because he had his first pole there.