What a disaster! Only 6 of the 20 cars raced on Sunday and this was the only USGP at Indy that I missed. Boy, did I pick the right one to miss. Here's how it unfolded.

In April of 2005, Tony George (owner of the Indianaplis Motor Speedway) decided to repave the oval that the Indy Car and NASCAR races run on. F1 used 2 turns and 2 straighr-away sections of the oval, along with an infield course that was built especially for them. Paving the oval was a great idea; Not telling the FIA was another of his arrogant moves that eventually led to disaster for the F1 racing community.

After paving the course, the ran an Indy car around the oval and found that it was pretty bumpy. So, they used these large diamond grinder machines that went around the course and scraped the surface flat. They then ran a NASAR car around the oval and found it was still too bumpy for them. Back come the grinders, only this time they made the surface flatter and smoother than it had ever been before.

Here's where you need a scorecard. The lone tire sponsor for the Indy 500 is Firestone. Firestone is the American company owned by the international company, Bridgestone. In 2005, Bridgestone was one of 2 tire suppliers for Formula One; the other was the French tire manufacturer, Michellin.

Along comes May and with it, the Indy 500. This includes almost a month of Indy cars testing, qualifying and racing. This gives Firestone loads of data they needed for the 500. After the 500 (which is run on Memorial Day weekend), the Firestone engineers did what was expected of them-they packed up all their data and emailed it off to the Bridgestone engineers. Armed with this data, Bridgestone designed tires just for the USGP. However, nobody told Michellin that the couse had been modified!

So, when the USGP hits town, they begin practice as usual on Thursday. On Friday there were two tire blow-outs on (you guessed it) Michellin-clad cars. Why? Because these turns were so sticky that there was excessive verticle forces on the tires, like none they've seen before. Also keep in mind that in 2005, no other Formula One course has any banked turns. The Michellin engineers were caught with no way of making tires that could handle the race course - certainly not with just a couple days notice!

After spending all weekend analyzing the problem, they determined that the tires were not safe to run in the race. So, on Sunday morning they invoked a clause in their contract with 7 of the 10 F1 teams. They declared the tires unsafe and unusable. After hours of attempting to come up with some sort of work-around, the teams found themselves unable to compete. The details of all this were unknow to the fans at the race.

Keep in mind that Fomula One differs from American racing in a few key areas. First off, they run most of their races (including the USGP) clockwise, while American races (NASCAR and Indy Car) run counterclockwise. Second, they run in the rain, while US races don't. Most importantly, F1 races begin with a standing start, unlike US races, which begin with the cars in motion.

So, when race time comes on Sunday afternoon, all of the cars begin at their starting positions, lined up in the order they finished in qualifying the day before. They then take what is called a Parade Lap, where the cars go around the course at a relatively slow speed, often turning their wheels back and forth to build up heat and friction in them. However, instead of returning to their starting positions on the grid, all 14 of the Michellin cars end their parade lap by turning into the pit area and parking! The 6 Bridgestone cars go to their starting positions, as they should, and when the starting lights go out, they race just like they're supposed to.

The fans were livid! They just about tore down the stadium. Many walked around with signs making derogatory remarks about everyone involved. I remember watching on TV as the Ferrari team removed from Rubens Barrichello's tire a Fosters Lager beer can that was thrown from the stands. It was a dark day for F1. If only I could have been there...

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