The 2015 MAVTV 500 Might Be IndyCar's Best Race Ever

[@KellieLeigh48]

The greatest race nobody saw

[@cito1101]

Black Flags Matter: Exists

[@sammiret4472]

I saw that race live. TK could have won without the last lap yellow.

[@KellieLeigh48]

@@sammiret4472 u know what I meant. Lol

[@akaDOOD]

My dad and I went to Florida to catch the Daytona July race that year (the race where Austin Dillon had his huge catch fence crash) and happened to catch this race on TV. I was so disappointed to find out indycar was leaving there after the 2015 season. What a race

[@STP43FAN1]

The greatest race no one saw yet nobody can forget

[@gregrandolph]

I was one of the few thousand people at this race and, though it was exciting, the decision to move it from the final race of the season (a night race no less) was just the final nail in the coffin. Not enough people gave a damn about Indy Car racing here, which is obvious, not only by the empty grandstands, but moving the date to just about the worst time of year, weather-wise. Trust me, it was HOT! I have a lot of photographs from the weekend, including the Ryan Briscoe crash. There were some great things about this track; the covered paddock set-up with a raised gantry in the middle for fans to observe the teams at work, the access to the top of the suites along pitroad, were a couple of stand outs. It's a shame not enough people who could have made this race work seemingly didn't care enough to make it work. May it rest in pieces, I guess. Great video!

[@covetprice]

Just like the Church. IRL and the Church are always asking for more money.

[@markpimlott2879]

I have to say that although in some ways that you sound superficially like a kid commentator, that actually you are actually an extremely perceptive racing analyst!! You are also an excellent communicator, reflecting your analysis in harmony and symbiosis with the professional live commentators of the day! He's great! I'm hooked! ...and i watched all of these in person, live, or on film since the original Grand Prix of Canada at Mosport Park during late August of 1967 ( Canada's Centennial Year when I rode my Honda S65 Sport bike over 400 km in the rain round trip to attend!) 🇨🇦 🍁 🇨🇦 🍁 🇨🇦 🍁 🇨🇦 🍁 🇨🇦 🍁 🇨🇦 🍁 🇨🇦

[@muhammadwahyuhidayat21498]

Rest in Peace for Auto Club California Speedway

[@johnburton6055]

I’m going to miss Fontana so much it’s my home track and it’s where I saw my first NASCAR race in person I never got to see indycar there in person but man I wish I did this race was spectacular

[@SwineBrothers]

I went to Fontana from 2012 to 2014, but the 15 race clashed with Sonoma. So I went to Sonoma. I did listen to this race on the radio. I don't think it was so great, it reminded me of Vegas and old IRL races. Scary and dangerous.

[@EASTNSIM9454]

that punishment on Will and team for that little shove is insane to me. meanwhile graham wins with a fraction of the fine.

[@Db_SpaceFace]

It was to set a precedent, don't mess with safety workers. No ifs or buts. I'm a Will Power fan but I always thought the penalty should have been harsher.

[@NiftyCar]

Classic example of IndyCar being IndyCar's greatest enemy. Imagine rescheduling this event all over the calendar, landing on a date in the afternoon in the hot summer, and then thinking the problem is the track and leaving. They've done the same thing to Gateway, and are in the nascent stages of this stupidity with Iowa. I love IndyCar racing, but as a business, this series has been so lost for so long.

[@gagemcpherson1956]

Agreed I was pissed when Fontana was dropped off the schedule there heading that direction again with Iowa and Gateway like you said running the races in the hottest part of the day when both tracks have lights come on Indycar

[@DJDouglasWarden]

and it's just not as cool as seeing a race under The lightsbut it's going to be hotI think they said it had something to do with the TV scheduling why it was better to have the race on a Sunday afternoon.the two races I went on a Saturday night were awesome.and it ended under the lights.last year it was supposed to start Saturday afternoon but thankfully there was a rain delayyeah this year at Gateway it'll be on a Sunday afternoon.

[@danielhenderson8316]

NBC vetoed this as a Season Finale like the years previous because they did not want to crown and promote a new IndyCar Champion at 0100 on Sunday morning in addition to no one being awake to watch it. When the race was moved to summer, I think this was the only broadcast time available, but this also could have been done on NBC Sports instead of NBC. No one showed up to those races either and was a money loser from beginning to end. Now Fontana is being butchered to a 0.5 mile track which is a shame as superspeedways seem to be dying to the point that 1.5 mile cookie cutter tracks are now "superspeedways."

[@Rxblows]

I really enjoy your videos! Great editing and commentary

[@MaverickXSE]

It's definitely the greatest race that nobody saw. One of my favorites for sure and a great summary of it 👍. My favorite of all time though is CART's 2001 Michigan 500. Would love to see you do a recap of that! *wink wink

[@mdcpVEVO]

"Everybody looking racy as Helio" is such a great line at 1:57 😂😂

[@TheMuricanMerc]

I remember watching this one live. Rahal's pit was bizarre. Why the fueler pulled out to just go back in as Rahal was starting to leave was weird in itself. On top of that, I've never not seen a drive-through or stop/go penalty applied for that error before. Not a race he should have won. Biggest takeaway was Briscoe's crash and him coming out of it okay. There's been fatal crashes less scary than that.

[@DrakesDomain]

I was there. It was awesome. Too bad it will never happen again.

[@Tommy23269]

2015 is a very underrated season for Indycar. The championship ended in a freaking tie.

[@cito1101]

I remember a couple years ago, Black Flags Matter made a video about this race and you can tell by the commentators voices, they were worried sick to their stomachs, especially Paul Tracy

[@mikulitsi1819]

7:35 This kind of debris is exactly what killed Wilson later in the year and could've killed someone here...

[@Db_SpaceFace]

No, the debris which killed Wilson was part of the nose assembly.

[@mbPxTMcX]

Was there that day. Fantastic racing and concentration by these guys. So sad ovals are a rarity in IndyCar

[@GaryInSoCal]

Will Power is a little 'hot-head' that gets pizzed off way too easily. I see 'anger management' in his future.

[@arthurvillegas5586]

I went to all the IRL/Indycar races at California and Phoenix tracks. Great racing, IRL/Indycar oval racing is the best.

[@sadaba43]

such right racing, honestly props to them keeping it as clean as they did for so long

[@Nathan9197]

I agree with your assessment on the officials decision on the penalty. You would think there would be a specific penalty for a specific rule breakage. Car racing with equal machinery generally creates enough battles and drama but i think it's the same with how Formula 1 was in recent years (albeit with massive car differences), when a series tries to pander to an audience, they seemingly end up creating random and questionable penalties that have nothing to do with the current rules and just done for entertainment

[@arthurvillegas5586]

I saw the race, I was there. It was more fans than they say. It was hot weather should have raced at different time.

[@StevesClone]

I was at this race and it was the most unexpected, nail biting racing I'd ever seen, I knew something special was happening. There was pre-race controversy regarding the aero package Indy car decided on and teams and drivers were concerned but I don't think too many fans knew what insane racing it would produce. My 13 yr old son was with me and like most kids he would watch intermittently, but when Briscoe nose dived into the grass it was so loud and violent in the grandstands, he has been a race fan ever since.

[@jacobaxton6353]

Power's post race interview should've been included in this

[@jocksavard41241]

i mean texas 2023 was pretty good. it’s the best one i’ve ever seen.

[@extragoogleaccount6061]

It was incredible. Sad it ended under caution too, but that race ensured I dont miss any. Watching the extended highlights yt video is a cardio workout

[@michaelflowers5712]

Good job putting this together Demise 90!

[@mikulitsi1819]

Such a shame this race didn't really have any spectators because my god we won't ever see a race like this again

[@robhorsey9906]

Funny to hear Steve Matchett on an IndyCar broadcast. As another user said, he and P.T. sounded really nervous. And that explanation by Derrick Walker for the penalty made no sense at all, surprising considering he was a long time racer and car owner, you'd think he'd be more on top of that situation.

[@michaelflowers5712]

Sometimes when people are lying they are not good at it.

[@danielhenderson8316]

@@michaelflowers5712What happened was almost the same as Iowa 2 this year. While on road/street tracks Race Control has banks of TV screens to look at, on Ovals you're just looking out at the track which was why the caution was late on Sting Ray Robb's loose tire. Iowa had put up more big screens which blocked Race Control seeing the wheel until it cleared the big screen blocking the track. Back then, Race Control didn't even have the broadcast feed and missed that pit lane incident.

[@DiegoOspina86]

RIP Auto Club Speedway and Robin Miller

[@donnymac990]

I was at This race I couldn't sit down the whole time the greatest race I've ever seen in my life

[@kpcart]

Better than any f1 race, that was an ultimate race. 3 lane racing side by side at 200mph for 2 hours is just insane by all drivers involved in the race, and how they learnt to protect each other as racer colleagues at those insane speeds

[@danielhenderson8316]

It was a call back to the Michigan 500 races by CART in the 90's. Those are worth finding on KZbin to rewatch, and unlike Formula One Management, NBC and IndyCar don't take down old races that they don't show on the app they want you to buy.

[@byronmartin9984]

Best indy car race I’ve ever seen

[@kenharris5390]

Indy Car is the best open wheel racing of all, F1 is a procession, fuelled by hype. In F1, the race is mainly decided by the shortest time the pit stop takes. Therefore the race is won whilst the car is standing still. I see more passing in an Indy Car race, by far than in any F1 race. Fontana was extremely dangerous for the drivers, but great for the fans. How Briscoe walked away from that one, I will never know. Thank goodness for Dr Steven Olvey, and all the work he has done for medical assistance on and off the track. His book Rapid Response is a great read about the history of Indy Car safety. Thanks for a great race video, it's been a long time since I've watched it again.

[@IanTheMotorsportsMan_YT]

Amazing race, but they shouldn’t have raced in June in the daytime

[@KellieLeigh48]

Totally agree

[@zlinedavid]

Yeah, whoever made that decision had never seen a weather map.

[@IanTheMotorsportsMan_YT]

@@zlinedavid Mark Miles

[@xSoccerxCorex]

Got moved to June because they were hellbent on finishing the year at Sonoma that year and it wasn’t like the track got good attendance when it was a night race season ended anyway

[@IanTheMotorsportsMan_YT]

@@xSoccerxCorex terrible decision. Sonoma was terribly boring for IndyCar

[@patricktrakzel9657]

Grea race, great video. Only 426 thumbs up! Incredible. Sorry, but I can give only .

[@ginofilippi7961]

Sadly no more California Speedway Fontana - our once great home track.

[@fluffskunk]

Ontario, Riverside, now Fontana. The SoCal real estate market just won't let race tracks be.

[@philipkalin1928]

That nothing bad happend that day, still blows my mind.

[@siobhangear2866]

There's a distinct difference between this and the pack racing of the third gen IRL chassis (2003-2011). The drivers could put their cars where they wanted with this aero setup, similar to the Hanford Device era, or the 2002 IRL race at Michigan. You could barely change lanes with the super-high downforce setups at the end of the Dallara-Honda era-- the racing was miserable, the cars were just close together. They also didn't spend the entire race in one clump; tire wear caused genuine spreading of the field, but they could still make charges. There were only big packs immediately after restarts and green flag stops.

[@danielhenderson8316]

And those old Dallaras like to spend more time in the air than on the ground.

[@simoneburini4036]

I still don't know why so many people love pre-2012 pack racing so much... Yeah Texas was cool but at the other big ovals you couldn't even use the draft to overtake for most of the race... It was like Daytona and Talladega but without the possibility of pushing / being pushed. Last month I watched the 2011 Kentucky race on KZbin and it was sad to watch.

[@simoneburini4036]

In general, I think that before 2012 Indycar (both IRL and Champ Car) was way too obsessed with downforce. Hell, Champ Car used the short oval package at Las Vegas. How can anyone be that stupid?

[@Nick-ji7hb]

@@danielhenderson8316 Crapwagons. :)

[@marcussmith5755]

That was a wild finish, BUT that explanation by DW made no sense.

[@arthurvillegas5586]

It was a Great race. You don't race at California track in the summer day. The ones that run the track should do better.

[@mikea3273]

That Briscoe on-board is one of the greatest shots over the years.

[@brokensmilephoto]

You know, old indy car rules were weird and whatever. Now they are doing a MUCH better job getting the calls right, allowing people to race, and not treating it like F1 does. Keeps the racing honest and hard, which is what has grown the fans and field of competition. Indy car is seriously killing it the last few years. If "drive to survive" would have been covering Indy, Indy would be the hot ticket for the globe right now. But I'm glad they didn't have a drama creation machine to grab fans, because all that show has done is make F1 even worse.

[@danielhenderson8316]

Race Control also has more resources than they had in the past to look at this stuff. It's almost 2 different series from then to today as Hulman and Co gave the series just enough to survive, but no more.

[@FelixUnger-q3k]

Portland has had two of the best races. The Fathers day finish for Mario and Mark Blundell's win were classics!

[@Demise90Racing]

I’ve done videos on both those races 👍

[@davemcmillan8460]

Great video as ever 👍🏼 who is my fellow Englishman on comms? I can’t work it out. He ain’t as good Townsend bell that’s for sure

[@danielhenderson8316]

It was Steve Matchett, former Benneton Mechanic who wrote several books on F1 including a history of Schumacher's 1995 winning season, and for several years was on the US F1 commentary team with Bob Varsha and David Hobbs for Speed Channel before it was shut down. Him and Hobbs moved over to NBC when they bought the F1 rights and occasionally did IndyCar races as well. I'm not sure what he's down since ESPN got the rights as he is most definitely needed in the Sky Sports F1 commentary to explain the technical aspects that Martin Brundle can't.

[@kungfuwitcher7621]

I am, that was a bizarre incident and to levy a penalty post race for the fuel cock up is bizarre. However, Indy car certainly doesn’t have the monopoly on bizarre decisions, that would be F1 lol.

[@mouser485]

I really miss Steve Matchet (sp?) in the booth.

[@dreamteammmathenetherlands8258]

INDY 500 1995 Villeneuve wins after 2 round penalty best race ever...

[@marcosluis201]

This was basically the 2010 Arrons 499 of open wheel racing. Minus the tandem drafting.

[@KilroyNoBrain]

When WP is heated on something on the track?

[@gchampi2]

Watched the first 100-110laps live before switching off, convinced there would be a fatality. I just wasn't willing to see another death, especially with how predictable it would be due to the craziness of the racing. To say I was surprised to hear that nothing too bad had happened would be an understatement...

[@mikulitsi1819]

Shame that some of the interviews for example Power's one isn't included in this one. "I mean... What are we doing?!"

[@diogosilva27]

The comments of the drivers in interviews were not that positive

[@beeemm2578]

Pro tip: probably shouldn't grab a driver who's been driving 200+mph for hours and just crashed...🤷‍♂️

[@axemanracing6222]

I absolutely adore Autoclub Speedway ❤F**k those banksters who'll destroy it

[@fluffskunk]

Fined for not wanting someone else's hands on you. Yeah, Indycar officiating was crap for so, so long.

[@LordGoose-zr6jj]

Which team was the dark green and gold car? I'm not an Indy Car fan so I'm not too knowledgeable with this stuff but that car looked so good. Indy Car seems to have a lot of very nice Paint jobs, wish F1 teams would be a bit more experimental like they are.

[@Ironarmhoss]

Ed Carpenter's Fuzzys Vodka

[@DJDouglasWarden]

I have a different opinion regarding will pushing the safety worker. you never want to push the person who could be the One saving your life.

[@Demise90Racing]

The guy was an Indy official, not someone on the Safety Team.

[@Nebula_Ultra]

Nice. Right on time.

[@joshawott331]

They really danced around not blaming the fuel man for rahals pit stop

[@ScottCrouse]

I just want to forget those bodies styles existed.

[@nhailstone]

I wasn’t really a fan of this race. It was just too alarming. It’s clearly not as bad as vegas looked as larger track and fewer cars, but still don’t like them going 4 wide in the corners and it not really dying down. Seem to recall some of the drivers were pretty vocal about it.

[@FrothingFanboy]

IndyCar feels empty only having 4 ovals on the calendar and one of them being tiny Iowa Speedway. Charlotte, Las Vegas, and Pocono were dropped after major accidents, Michigan dropped due to scheduling conflicts, Milwaukee due to mismanagement, and Fontana due to poor attendance.

[@FrothingFanboy]

Then Richmond almost replaced Pocono, but COVID killed that plan, and nary another word heard since.

[@danielhenderson8316]

I would love if Big Machine Vodka stopped trying to race on the streets of Crashville and move the race to the Speedway. Thankfully, this is the last year of this track and the promoters are looking at other spots in the city.

[@DRUmBEaTTS]

Open wheel oval track racing like this is my absolute favorite because it’s so intense and action packed…..but unfortunately it’s just too dangerous. If Indy car was to race as many ovals as NASCAR during a season I’m afraid the mortality rate for the drivers would become rather high over time.

[@gagemcpherson1956]

The only other driver to be killed during an actual race on an oval other than Dan Wheldon was Greg Moore at Fontana back when they had grass on the backstretch they made it all those years at Texas and Chicago putting 34 cars at Vegas was asking for it but now with the aeroscreen added it's time to get more ovals back on the schedule and let them race

[@Db_SpaceFace]

@@gagemcpherson1956 Justin Wilson died. There were other deaths in practise sessions and two dozen or so drivers were crippled for life in one way or another during oval races in the post-split era.

[@simoneburini4036]

​@@Db_SpaceFaceJustin Wilson died because of something that could have happened at any track

[@gagemcpherson1956]

​@@simoneburini4036exactly I don't know what to tell these people when they eventually will see a bad crash at the 500 let me guess they will want to run the 500 on the road course 🥱🥱🥱🥱 news flash racing has and always will be dangerous guess they never seen Jeff Krosnoff die at Toronto with the track worker Gonzalo Rodriguez at Laguna Seca and Dario Franchitti career was ended on a mickey mouse street course

This track must be back in Indycar calendar

[@chevyman81]

They shut it down and sold the land, man. Not going to happen.

[@danielhenderson8316]

Love to, but ISC has basically killed that by remodeling it into a half mile short track so they could sell off the extra land. I don't think it's long enough for IndyCar now.

[@Ryeblue]

If it wasn't for the last two yellow flags, exactly the last one, I believe this race would've been more remembered better.

[@sithompson74]

How come mericans can't handle round-abouts, but yet racing round in circles is a national past time?

[@danielhenderson8316]

Roundabouts are too short.

[@koyezilla]

i love your video'

[@ginofilippi7961]

We were there.

[@Mysterion157]

Hugely irresponsible aero package. A miracle nobody was killed

[@Lewis-4]

Briscoe: hard right directly into Helio. Diffey: yeah that’s a tough one (to call) Dafuq? Tracy: doesn’t agree with anyone being penalized for taking out Helio. Big surprise.

[@mikulitsi1819]

14:45 Agree with you. Sounded like a bullshit explanation

[@Soggymoggy42]

This race should retu- Oh wait...

[@johnedwards230]

Indycar doesn't race anywhere like this now.

[@brandensimmons653]

The greatest race nobody ever saw because it felt empty as for graham it should be a stop and go penalty

[@Ironarmhoss]

The single greatest race since they ran chariots in Rome

[@noahcoleman5556]

(Heavy breathing intensifies)

[@Nahrain_Nino]

14:06 Tirou o paralama

[@hprees1]

If Rahal was given a penalty during the race it would be the best race of all time. Him winning it kinda of wrecks it.

[@andyhamilton8940]

Was Brian Brainfart still the chief steward then? That would explain the stupid officiating.

[@Demise90Racing]

Yep. He was removed from the role starting in 2012, but reappointed for the 2015 season.

[@danielhenderson8316]

And Race Control didn't have full view of the race or even the broadcast feed available, so if they couldn't see it from the box seats, it didn't happen.

[@RobJaskula]

That's a textbook black flag.

I dunno why, but Power is like Hamilton in F1, nothing going on his way

[@bartsullivan4866]

This Oval race looks awesome I love the wide racing, I don't think they did a good job advertising this race. Shit I would have loved to have seen this live in the stands. Hell I would travel south to see it. Are they going to still have Indy Cars come back to the track when they finish it?

[@danielhenderson8316]

I don't think IndyCar can race on a half mile oval, or at least I've never seen them do it.

[@simoneburini4036]

That's probably because not even Indycar expected the racing to be this way. They absolutely bottled it. The outcome was incredible but it was not the goal.

[@ericmarchesini4883]

I was in San Francisco on vacation when that race happened.

[@christopherwalters3395]

I Remember That Race Quite Well.

[@seekangaroo]

>oval >best race Pick one.

[@SaveFromRoblox]

Didn't black flags matter make a video on the same race?

[@cito1101]

That's right

[@JonDC70]

Too much talking. It's almost like they're all competed to see who can speak the most. As if it's forbidden to let you just listen to the race cars.

[@kmosey4211]

I never got the hype, I don’t wanna watch a race where death is a coin flip

[@KellieLeigh48]

I never get the hype of people like u trying to ruin a nice video with bullshit comments either but here we are

[@markpimlott2879]

'A deeper dive, DEAR, SIR! WERE TOO MUCH like spectators at the Roman COLLESEUM! Thumbs 👍 or 👎

[@kmosey4211]

@@markpimlott2879 strange that this comment popped up after tonight’s Daytona race

[@muhammadwahyuhidayat21498]

My request for Rossi vs Lorenzo in 2009 Moto GP Catalunya Spain

[@DiegoOspina86]

I think that is impossible due Dorna Sports copyright

[@davidtx8777]

Even after Da Wheldon they still wanna pack them up and cause crashes. It shows how the safety of the drivers takes a back seat, Shame on Indycar!

[@KellieLeigh48]

They literally ran half this race without a yellow. Wrecks happen. I hate what happened to Lionheart but racing doesn't end just because things happen. Just saying it's all a part of racing. U can't just cancel everything because of one incident

[@zlinedavid]

The mistake in Vegas was putting that many cars on a 1.5 mile track. Sure, the aero also had an impact, but 34 cars on that small of a track was asking for disaster regardless of the aero package being run. This was a 2.5 mile track with 23 cars. There’s a lot more room for the cars to maneuver not just on the track but onto run-off areas.

[@siobhangear2866]

@@zlinedavid Vegas also had 20 degrees of banking in the turns while California only had 14, with higher banking on the front stretch & back. A massive difference for this type of car.

[@danielhenderson8316]

The other problem Las Vegas had was there wasn't enough downforce they could pull off that car to keep drivers from being full throttle at all time, and it was before the turbo engines so they cut down the horsepower as well. Once you're full throttle at all times and you get bunched up, you get a pack race.

[@koyezilla]

i also want 2009 motogp rossi vs lorenzo

[@Cdjimmyjazznme]

Nope. Pack racing is too risky. I don't want to watch someone die. ESPECIALLY not in front of a crowd of only a thousand or so.

[@gagemcpherson1956]

They don't even pack race anymore hardly and with the aeroscreens they are much safer now I would feel better now then I would then

[@danielhenderson8316]

And this wasn't a pack race. In addition, the Universal Aero Kit took away a lot of downforce from the Manufacturer Kits of that age so they couldn't pull that off today without using the Short Oval kit on a Super Speedway.

[@atheistpeace7579]

im sorry. exactly what was great about this race?

[@KellieLeigh48]

Always gotta be one asshole

[@ericmarchesini4883]

There were 80 lead changes in that race.

[@atheistpeace7579]

@@ericmarchesini4883 ok.. so a typical Nascar race

[@KellieLeigh48]

@@atheistpeace7579 obviously u don't watch much NASCAR 🙄

[@atheistpeace7579]

@@KellieLeigh48 no. I stopped going to their endless circles in 2001