Some quick thoughts on a wild day at IMS:

The GMR Grand Prix was a two-hour long endurance race. I felt I was at the Rolex 24 for most of the race. Some quick thoughts. I will follow up with more tomorrow.

Honda finally broke through with a victory.

The race was not the prettiest I’ve ever seen, but gosh it was entertaining. Strategy changed almost every lap, contenders spun, came back, and spun again. Teams gambled, and some won while others lost. The drama and intrigue made for a fascinating event.

As we saw in 2019, this race is helped by rain.

A Good Day for Some Rookies

Four rookies had their best finishes of the year today. Callum Ilott was eighth, Christian Lundgaard ninth, David Malukas 12th, and Tatiana Calderon came home 15th. Calderon led a lap.

I can’t recall a race before today in which Will Power was on the pole and didn’t lead a lap.

Power has finished third or fourth in every race this season.

ECR Figuring Out Road Courses

Ed Carpenter Racing seems to have gotten a handle on road courses. The team has been in three Fast Six rounds and has twqo top five finishes.

Conor Daly’s fifth place today was his first top five in five years. Daly started fourth.

Rinus VeeKay has a pole and a fourth place start and finished third at Barber.

In 2019 Simon Pagenaud showed how good he was on a wet track, winning the GMR Grand Prix with a last lap pass. Today in less than ideal conditions he finished second after starting 20th. Definitely the driver of the day.

Alex Palou worked his way back to 18th after his early spin. He was not able to get his lap back because of the way the yellows fell. This track has been a difficult one for Palou. Last summer he finished last when his engine expired.

Thanks for following along. i will have more tomorrow on this wild race.