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    Detroit's 2008 Belle Isle Grand Prix: IRL Race Result Tainted By Controversy, Prickish Fans

    Last weekend saw the second iteration of the reborn Belle Isle Grand Prix and we were right there, enjoying the spectacle played out in weather so perfect Roger Penske couldn't have paid for better. Aside from a couple spin outs, Sunday's Indy Racing League run was largely unremarkable until lap 72, when things got very interesting. Helio Castroneves had been leading Justin Wilson and Tony Kanaan for the bulk of the race, but officials ordered Castroneves to yield to Wilson after aggressive blocking across the entire track. Helio gave way and Wilson eventually pulled away, opening up a lead and taking the checkered flag. Normally this would be a non-issue, as Helio was clearly blocking, but that he was issued no warning first, as is customary, has many of his fans rubbed the wrong way — as you can tell from the video.

    Indy Racing League At Belle Isle


    Indeed, on the victory lap, Wilson decided he'd do a victory donut right in front of the Corvette Racing chalet, but humorously stalled it. We missed the stall, but we caught tail end of the resulting drunken tirade from a nameless Castroneves fan as Wilson was pushed to the corner for a start. We have no idea why she was screaming about transvestites and McDonalds — she's probably got a problem with their refusal to discriminate against them, but whatever.

    In any case, the sentiment was shared as there were strong boos on the awards stand from the crowd in one of the saddest displays of fan assholery we've seen in a long time. We're fine with the sentiment that it was a questionable call, but Helio had 17 laps to get ahead of Wilson and couldn't manage. Too bad, that's racing. Booing the winner is just bad form.

    In any case, here are the full results, and we'd like you to chime in on this controversy: Tell us what you think about the blocking, the penalty, and the fans' reaction.

    [IndyCar] Partial photo credit to Alex Conley


    Send an email to Ben, the author of this post, at ben@jalopnik.com.