Author: thepitwindow

I'm a retired educator and lifelong racing fan. I hope to return to fostering greyhounds in the near future. Living mainly in Indy and wintering in Florida. I attend about 10 Indycar races a year as well as some sports car events

Test Day 2 at IMS-Rain Will Reign

thepitwindow

Photo of Kyle Larson by Kyle McInnes

Good morning from rain soaked Indianapolis. Rain through most of the night continues currently, and the forecast calls for constant rain with chances above 55% all day.

I will venture to IMS and try to gather some information this morning, then see where the day goes from there.

Friday could be a makeup day, but that is doubtful since teams need to start preparing for Long Beach.

I’m disappointed we may not see any on track action today, but I would [refer getting all the rainy weather done in April and have a totally dry May.

I will keep you updated through Xwitter and The Pit Window Facebook page.

Newgarden Tops Morning Session

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@023 500 winner Josef Newgarden lead the morning session of the open test at IMS on a cool day interrupted by raindrops several times. Rookie orientation had a brief weather dely. ALl rookies have completed the program, and Katherine Legge needed some time in the afternoon session to complete her refresher. All 34 cars are cleared to participate the rest of the day and tomorrow, weather permitting.

Biggest surprise of the morning was Kyle Larson posting the second fastest time., ).42 seconds behind Newgarden.

Notes

David Malukas will not drive at Long Beach. Arrow McLaren has not announced his replacement, but many believe it will be theo Pourchaire.

Rain is falling at the moment and no track drying is taking place. We may be done for the day.

Results:

PREMA Enters Indycar with Eyes Wide Open

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Photo: From left-Piers Phillips, Rene Rosin, Jay Frye

“Everything is on the table,” according to PREMA principal Rene Rosin at a media conference this morning. The European team will enter a two car team in the NTT Indycar Series in 2025 powered by Chevrolet engines.,

PREMA has won80m championships in various European series in their 40 y=ears . Marcus Ericsson, Felix Rosenqvist, and Callum Ilott all drove for PRFEMA.

“Piers Phillips, who has worked in Indycar before, will the CEO of the Indycar operation. He looks forward to combining his Indycar and European experiences to create a new team. Phillipos has worked for Rahal and Schmidt.

“Oh, the first thing that excited me is obviously working with Rene and his team preeminently what a wonderful opportunity to be part of such a fabulous organization with such an amazing history. The challenge is something we all live for, you know. Anybody that’s a race that gets out of bed to go win and you know, the challenge of LeMans or the challenge that’s associated with that. But, you know, for me, starting from what is effectively a blank pitch Yeah. And being able to incorporate what I know from my time here in the US and this amazing championship, and my previous experience, and obviously the premier experience from Europe, being able to blend that and really produce a, you know, a different sort of culture and a really progressive thinking organization along with, you know, our partners at Chevrolet really excites me by putting a consistently competitive team together.”

Jay Frye commented that a 29 car grid is a problem Indycar needs to solve as some tracks may not be able to accommodate that many cars. Frye sais, “That’s a good problem to have.”

PREMA is open to all possibilities and has not made decisions about drivers, personnel, or whether to form a technical partnership with an established team.

I think PREMA will be a great addition to Indycar. The team adds international prestige to the series and enhances IndyCar’s credibility. The team is entering the series with a realistic approach, and with a CEO who has Indycar experience.

500 News: Livery, Sponsor, and Driver Announcements

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Karherine Legge r4turns for4 the 108th running of the indianqapolis 500 with Dale Coyne Racing. Legge will drive car 51 with sponsorship from e.l.f.., a cosmetics company. Legge drive for Coyne in 2007.

The livery for Conor Daly’s car was revealed yesterday. Sponsored by Polkadot, a blockchain company.

According to the press release, “Polkadot is positioned to serve as the powerful, secure core of Web3. (Its) decentralized governance places the community at the center of decision-making processes; every holder of the Polkadot token (DOT) has a voice towards shaping the platform’s future direction.”

My technological illiteracy is such that I’ll just say I’m happy that they are sponsoring Conor and leave it at thtat.

Marco Andretti’s livery also occurred yesterday. The 98 car has sponsorship from Mapei.

Coming up- a practice update at the end of the veterans session and a story on PREMA joining Indycar.

IMS Testing, Day 1

thepitwindow

The schedule with revised times:

Today and tomorrow are the only days teams have to prepare for the 108th running of the Indianapolis 500 before practice officially begins May 14.

Rookie Orientation: Simpson, Rasmussen, Siegel (Larson, Blomqvist, Lundqvist, Armstrong completed in Oct)

Phase 1: 10 laps between 205-210 mph

Phase 2: 15 laps at 210-215

Phase 3: 15 laps 215 mph+

Veteran Refresher: Andretti, Fittipaldi, Legge

Have to do Phases 2 and 3

I assume the gates will open early as well, but I have no confirmation of that.

The weather looks sketchy today and tomorrow, so keep an eye on the skies as you head out to IMS.

Parking and seating information Note- Check gate opening time for today. Perhaps Doug Boles will demonstrate the proper way to scale a fence on a video should you arrive early.

I am interested in seeing how Kyle Larson does in traffic with the veterans. Should the three remaining rookies pass their tests in the allotted time, there will be seven rookies running in the afternoon.

Honda has had a Speedway power advantage the past few years. Has Chevy finally caught them? I’m not sure if these two days will tell us everything, but we may get a hint.

I will be at the track and provide updates all day. I also have several bits f news to catch up on.

Wednesday Test Schedule Revised

thepitwindow

Due to approaching inclement weather, Indycar has made a slight adjustment to tomorrow’s test times. Thursday’s schedule remains the same for now.

Arrow McLaren has confirmed that Callum Ilott will fill in for David Malukas for the test.

From earlier:

Dark Skies, Bright Hearts

From Indycar:

NTT INDYCAR SERIES drivers and teams will participate from 9 a.m.-6:30 p.m. ET Wednesday, April 10 and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Thursday, April 11 on the famed 2.5-mile oval at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The Open Test is being conducted in advance of the 108th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge on Sunday, May 26.

After an install lap for all cars from 9-9:05 a.m., veterans will take to the oval from 9:05-11 a.m. Wednesday, with the Rookie Orientation Program and refresher tests from 11 a.m-1 p.m. All eligible participants will be permitted on track from 1-6:30 p.m. Thursday’s testing is open to all drivers eligible for participation.

NTT INDYCAR SERIES teams, drivers scheduled to participate:

AJ Foyt Racing: Santino Ferrucci, Sting Ray Robb

Andretti Global: Marco Andretti, Marcus Ericsson, Colton Herta, Kyle Kirkwood

Arrow McLaren: Kyle Larson, Pato O’Ward, Alexander Rossi, TBA

Chip Ganassi Racing: Marcus Armstrong, Scott Dixon, Linus Lundqvist, Alex Palou, Kyffin Simpson

Dale Coyne Racing: Katherine Legge, Nolan Siegel

Dreyer & Reinbold Racing/Cusick Motorsports: Conor Daly, Ryan Hunter-Reay

Ed Carpenter Racing: Ed Carpenter, Christian Rasmussen, Rinus VeeKay

Juncos Hollinger Racing: Agustin Canapino, Romain Grosjean

Meyer Shank Racing: Tom Blomqvist, Helio Castroneves, Felix Rosenqvist

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing: Pietro Fittipaldi, Christian Lundgaard, Graham Rahal, Takuma Sato

Team Penske: Scott McLaughlin, Josef Newgarden, Will Power

The sessions will be streamed live on Peacock

Dark Skies, Bright Hearts

thepitwindow

Putting an experience like yesterday’s total solar eclipse into words is difficult. Please indulge this poor attempt at expressing my thoughts. I’ll get to the facts in a bit.

First, IMS did a stellar (no pun intended…well, maybe) job putting together the program yesterday. There were plenty of activities for all ages as we waited for the celestial event to begin. The crowd looked and felt as if it were Grand Prix race day.

At the moment of totality, I felt humble at being at the mercy of a natural force that I could not control. Humans have conquered much of nature, but an eclipse is totally out of mankind’s grasp.

I have had several thrilling encounters with raw nature- a female elk running straight toward me, close enough that I could get a whiff of her scent; a whale rising up in front of my tour boat, creating a wall that blocked the view beyond it; a moose so close that I could pet it if I chose to- but yesterday they all became mere trivial occasions to what I witnessed in the sky above the speedway.

I had a sense of gratitude at being able to witness one of the natural events on my bucket list. I had lost hope of ever getting to witness a total eclipse. The partial one in 2017 was neat, but unsatisfying. I am thankful that I could watch at my happy place, and share it with so many people. At my spot in Pagoda Plaza, strangers smiled at each other. We became a brotherhood as we shared the experience.

Parts of the eclipse took me by surprise, and other parts i expected. I enjoyed watching the moon creep across the sun, the ebony disc growing larger and large, covering the yellow orb.

The sudden darkness at totality shocked me. It was like turning off the light in a windowless room. The flash of light as total coverage ended was strangely a relief that the sun had returned. As we walked back to our car, we stopped every few feet to watch as the inched out of the sun’s path.

If I never get a chance to see another solar eclipse, I’ll be fine. The frustrating thing is, I now really want to see another one.

Showmen Extraordinaire

Credit the Speedway, Doug Boles, and Allison Melangton, with the help of NASA and Purdue University, for putting together an amazing pre eclipse program.

When the event was first announced, I thought, “This is cute. They will probably have 20,000 people there.” I had no idea how this would work.

I find this photo a bit Gothic. Very cool

There was an aggressive marketing campaign, as more than 50,000 people attended. Viewers came from all 50 states and more than 30 countries. While other sites may have had more open views and probably saw more stars (We saw one at the track), I would not have wanted to be anywhere else for the eclipse.

I will have some more photos u on The Pit Window Facebook page later today.

Eclipse Day at IMS

thepitwindow

Today is arguably the second most anticipated day in Indianapolis Motor Speedway history. A total solar eclipse, which last made a path across Indiana 89 years ago, will darken the sky just a bit after 3 pm this afternoon.

IMS has a full day of activity planned. The track has teamed up with Purdue and NASA to provide information and educational activities.

Today’s schedule at the track:

Schedule (all times ET)
9 a.m.: Gates open; Gates 2, 3 and 6
10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.: Educational programming
1 p.m.: NASA broadcast begins
1:10 p.m.: Opening ceremonies
1:35 p.m.: INDYCAR SERIES demo laps
1:50:34 p.m.: Solar eclipse begins with partial
2:15 p.m.: Frontstretch of oval track opens for guest viewing
3:06:04 p.m.: Totality begins
3:07:59 p.m.: Max totality
3:09:54 p.m.: Totality ends
3:25 p.m.: Closing ceremonies
3:30 p.m.: Astronaut and driver autograph session
4 p.m.: Gates close
4:23:13 p.m.: Partial ends
4:30 p.m.: NASA broadcast concludes

Drivers and astronauts at the autograph session:

Tickets have been sold in all 50 states and several international locations.

If I know the Speedway, renewal notices will go out tomorrow for the next eclipse in the year 2153.