The Pit Window by Mike Silver

Breaking: According to Bob Pockrass and other sources, the Markham track has received the FIA approval and is cleared for track activity.

Yesterday’s PR disaster should hopefully turn into an action packed day.

The revised television schedule… maybe:

This schedule does not have the first half hour of qualifying on FOX ONE only. I will update this information as the day goes along on X.

One man’s opinion:

A racing series needs to oversee race preparation at all the venues where they race, and I think attention to Markham lessened when the DC race was announced. If you have noticed over the past few weeks, there have been lots of promos for the DC race, and very little about Markham. I almost forgot that this race was still on the schedule.

The series and their television partner are so focused on the race after Markham that this weekend’s event has been shoved to the side. As a result, IndyCar and Green Savoree ended up in an embarrassing situation.

I hope IndyCar’s relationship with the promoter isn’t damaged by this snafu. Greem Savoree promotes nearly one fourth of the IndyCar schedule. The series needs them. They aren’t going to magically find four new races.

Maybe IndyCar has learned a lesson here, but past open wheel history would suggest otherwise.

I have some other thoughts, which I will save until after next weekend’s race.

So there will be cars on track all day, and that will serve as some balm to yesterday’s sting.

Qualifying will revert to the standard format of a Fast Six rather than the single car street course final round.

Watch for updates on X @tutorindie and The Pit Window on Faqcebook.

I wil have session summaries on this site as the day goes on, but I did have some other plans as well.

After working all day to prepare the track, IndyCar scratched the entire schedule and has isued a new schedule for SWaturday.

Television timesd:

Fans at home will miss the first 30 minutes of qualifying unless they have the FOX One app. I find this inexcusable. For an entity with partial ownership in the series to not find a way tom put all of qualifying over the air is ridiculous.

I really feel for the fans who came to the track today. Even though today was free, they still needed to make arrangements to come, maybe even take a day off of work to get to the track. IndyCar could have announced the postponement earlier.

I understand first year races have issues, but this race was announced more than a year ago. This is a horrible look for IndyCar and an awful start to a five year deal.

Today’s schedule: Eastern time

IndyCar Practice 1 – 3 pm FS2

From what I am hearing, this schedule may be changing. The track walk was postponed from yesterday to 8 am this morning because the track was not finished. Overnight work took place to get the track ready, and it appears the track walk has begun. First year circuits usually have issues at the start of a race weekend, so I am not surprised.

It took several years for St. Pete to figure out how to quickly build and tear down the track. Now they need less than half the time it used to take. Markham will be the home of IndyCar in Canada for five years. This problem should not happen again.

The Markham race replaces the Toronto event at Exhibition Place, a tight circuit which had undergone many changes as more buildings rose on the grounds. IndyCar would have probably had to find a new home eventually. A conflict with the World Cup did not allow the race to take place this year, and Markham, about 30 minutes away, became the new home of IndyCar for the next five years.

Newer and casual fans may be surprised that there is a race this weekend, as this event has been overshadowed promo wise by next week’s race in Washington, D. C. The quest for ratings for that race has buried promotion for this weekend’s race.

While it is a new circuit for everyone, Alex Palou and Kyle Kirkwood enter as the two favorites. They dominated t6he inaugural race at Arlington in March, and there is no reason to believe the top two drivers in the standings won’t do the same here.

The circuit looks interesting with a long backstretch and some elevation change. Turn 6 looks like a good passing zone.

Like Detroit, Markham features a split pit lane. The concept works better than I expected it to as drivers have behaved and stayed on their side of the pits on exit.

With five races left in the season, a seventh victory for Palou would pretty much wrap up his fifth championship and fourth in a row. The only real question is can Kirkwood retain second place rather than switching spots with David Malukas every weekend.

My pick for Sunday is Kyle Kirkwood. I am surprised that he hasn’t won a race since March, and street circuits are his expertise. He still won’t gain much ground on Palou, who will likely be on the podium, but Kirkwood will solidify his hold on second place.

I am anxious to see what the track looks like this afternoon and how the cars w3ill =race on it. I’ll be back this evening with a practice wrap up.