#99 should have been retired when we merged. Just saying.
Retrie the number(s)
Don't retire number(s)
Alternative to retiring number(s) - Please post your suggestion
#99 should have been retired when we merged. Just saying.
No, it shouldn't have.
"Try some of these before or after your statements if you are not presenting them as facts. Things like - "In my opinion", or "I think that", JHMO, IMHO, IMO, JMO... Your opinions are not (necessarily) fact. That would clear things up some." - Seadog 03/25/2010 11:40am So the above is JMO.
Agreed! A few years ago they were thinking about doing a permanent memorial at the Speedway of the drivers that had been killed there. IIRC, Gil De Ferran said something like, "we shouldn't celebrate death." I agree with this. However, I don't think we should retire any numbers even for the Champions, sooner or later you will have to use 3 digit numbers.
My god - 'NO the #99 should not be retired'![]()
![]()
![]()
And so we came to Road America where we burned up at the lake, but at the speedway of Nazareth I made no mistake
gonzo -- I'm sorry, I don't mean he wasn't special because there is no doubt he was. It's just why is it we should only retire the #99. Why is that special?
There is a Scott Brayton award, so does that mean we retire all of his many numbers? Isn't he just as special by that logic.
I understand the gesture of doing it, but we're going to run out of numbers if we start retiring one for everyone we lose.
No, we shouldn't retire his number.
Greg Moore was special, but so were many, many other drivers who have lost their lives over the year. We don't retire the #98 or #77 because Dan Wheldon passed, any more than we should retire Scott Brayton's #2. It doesn't mean we feel they are less special, but that we choose to honor them in a different manner.
It's an inherent risk each driver takes when they step in, whether they are Greg Moore, Bertrand Baguette, Rick Mears, or Marty Roth. If we start retiring numbers for one, what does that say when we don't for the next fatality?
IndyCar Advocate: A blog about enjoying the best sport in the world! Stop on by!
--
On Twitter as @indycaradvocate
Racing doesn't retire numbers. End of story. Even number 3 in NASCAR isn't 'retired'. Let's please not have this discussion again. Ever.
"Promote what you love instead of bashing what you hate."
2012 Indianapolis 500 Photo Gallery
2011 Indianapolis 500 photo gallery
We just went through this like two weeks ago....
NO number should EVER be retired. Ever. Even #14.
We have number 1-99, you start retiring and we're left with 10 numbers eventually. It's asinine (in my opinion of course).
Greg was awesome, one of my favorites. A threat to win and probably would have been legendary at Penske. PROBABLY. He was also prone to crashing and ended Emmo's career at Michigan through a piece of crappy driving. He had 5 wins and 4 poles against half of the AOWR drivers. Sure, I agree, the better half up until 2002-ish or so, but still....
This isn't a split thing. It's a irrational number retirement thing. Like I stated in the other thread, the #3 will be coming back to NASCAR in a few years with Dillon... numbers are not sacred in racing. They never should be.
Every race I run in is in preparation for the Indianapolis 500. Indy is the most important thing in my life. It is what I live for. - Al Unser Jr.
Everything I ever wanted in my life, I found inside the walls of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. - Eddie Sachs.
No.
It might have been okay for CART or CCWS because death had become rare in CART's period, and they were never the sanctioning bodies of the Indy 500. USAC still claimed its own championship history and the AAA's history, and operated its own national championship for almost 20 years after the founding of CART, including the brief period that USAC was the IRL's full season sanctioning body. It would be the territory of USAC and its successors to commemorate the history of non-CART races.
The IICS clearly merges over 100 years of tradition, including eras when death was relatively frequent at Indianapolis and elsewhere. Honors that distinguish between modern deaths and historic deaths aren't appropriate in the merged series.
The fans should be the absolute last people considered on any decision that could effect a participant. Doc Austin
Lying was a no-brainer for me. Robin Miller
"I thought they booed [Danica] because she was being a complete jerk, but then they applauded for A.J. Foyt. Now I'm just confused."
Here is the thread... http://www.trackforum.com/forums/sho...-2012-Indy-500
My thoughts, and certainly no disrespect to you or especially Greg Moore and/or his family. Greg was one of my favorites. I understand why people want to retire numbers.
1. Cars should only use numbers 1-99 (not 01, 02, etc and NEVER 100, 101...).
2. We've race 100 years.
3. We'll hopefully race 100 more years.
4. You can't retire numbers
It's a stupid idea (imo) and drives me insane. Should we retire #14 if AJ's team ever doesn't race? And if so, what number are you going to retire for Mario, because that would be a slap in Andretti's face. Unser? Mears? Rutherford, where does it end? Also Mario was most recently known as #6 but ran probably 30 different numbers in his entire career. With IndyCar almost more than any other sport - numbers are almost meaningless and more about the TEAM than the driver (we had a thread about this recently).
Examples:
Retire #77 for Dan even though he just ran it once or #26 where he made his name for himself with Jim Beam or #98 for his last 500?
What about retiring #2 for Scott Brayton, even though he is mainly known for running the #37 and #22? He sat on the pole in 1995 in #60. Heck, technically his 1996 Pole car was #32... and he died driving the #23. He ran three different numbers within a week.
NASCAR has it correct, no numbers will be retired... ever. Even the #43 and #3 are not off limits. The #3 will come back soon... "retiring" it for over a decade plus was a gesture enough, time passes - it'll run again.
Just my 2 cents.
I appreciate the sentiment in the OP, but I agree with others that the number shouldn't be retired...for many of the same reasons as above.
...---...
No number should be retired.
The closest thing to it I'm aware of is CART holding the #14 for AJ if he came back.
When CART folded and CCWS took over, the #14 was "Unreserved".
"Duty is the most sublime word in our language. Do your duty in all things. You cannot do more, you should never wish to do less" - R.E.Lee
Bookmarks