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

Daly Takes First Career Pole; Newgarden Wins Pole for Race 2

thepitwindow

Old photo. Someone must have thought these guys would be pretty good drivers

Conor Daly joined the ranks of Indycar pole winners this afternoon as he had the fastest first lap in qualifying for the Iowa 250s. Daly’s first lap of 175.188 beat Josef Newgarden by 0.0085 seconds. Newgarden turned the fastest second lap of 175.333 nipped teammate Will Power for tomorrow night’s pole. Daly starts third Saturday.

Simon Pagenaud had a fuel pressure problem as he started out of the pits for his qualifying run. Pagenaud will start last in both races. Qualifying has been difficult for Pagenaud this season.

It will be fun watching him work his way to the front.

Daly’s first pole follows last Sunday’s first pole for Pato O’Ward.  Four drivers have won pokes so far this year.

This is big achievement for Carlin Racing, the only single car team in the field.

Tonight’s green flag is at 9:15 pm Eastern Time.

Herta Leads Iowa Practice

thepitwindow

Colton Herta was quickest in the practice session for the first Iowa 250. Herta’s best lap of 171.990 mph beat Conor Daly, who held the top spot for most of the final 30 minutes. Daly’s time of 171.488 was the first of the day above 171 mph.  Five drivers topped the 171 mark.

The top 5:

wp-15950143669618721572630828220585.png

One interesting note- Daly, driving for Carlin this weekend, is pitted next to his other car, the 20 of Ed Carpenter.

I am all set up in the Grinnell annex of the Iowa media center. I will be heading to the track for qualifying and the race in a few minutes. I will try to post a quick qualifying summary. Look for my race summary tomorrow morning.

Iowa- Race Day 1

thepitwindow

Good morning from somewhere in the wilds of I-74. As you read this i am on my way to Iowa for Rounds 5 and 6 of the Indycar season.

Today’s schedule: (Times are Central)

wp-15946845127371256326842750687973.png

The qualifying sets the grid for tonight and tomorrow night. Both races are on NBCSN. Sunset tonight is 8:43 pm Central time, so this race will be run mostly after dark. Saturday’s race begins 30 minutes earlier.

I will try to post after qualifying, but definitely look for my race quick thoughts about two hours after the finish of the race. I will also have a feature tomorrow morning on some news of the week.

Enjoy the races.

Zanardi Update

yesterday doctors began the process of bringing Alex Zanardi out his medically induced coma. the process is expected to take three days. When he is awake, the doctors will do a neurological evaluation.

Iowa Preview: A Different Format for Different Times

thepitwindow

Photo: Last year’s race ended early Sunday morning after a 4 hour rain delay. Photo: USAToday.

The 2019 Iowa race began on Saturday and ended on Sunday. The reason was a violent rainstorm that hit the track about two hours before the scheduled start. This year the event begins on Friday and and ends on Saturday. It is by design. The strange times we live in and schedule postponements have made this event a doubleheader, with two night night races.  The fourteenth race at Iowa Speedway will feature the first doubleheader at the track and the third different qualifying format in the race’s history. Here are some things to look for this weekend.

TK’s Last Lap

Tony Kanaan, who won this race in 2010, will be driving his final race at Iowa as his oval only season continues. After this weekend, Kanaan will have just two races remaining, the 104th running of the Indianapolis 500, and the race at Gateway.  His number 14 car for A. J. Racing will feature a classic livery of Bryant Heating and Cooling, a long time sponsor in the series.

tklastlap

Photo from @AJFoytRacing Twitter account

Kanaan will be the Grand Marshall for Friday’s race, giving the command from the cockpit of his car. In addition to winning in 2010, Kanaan has a second place in 2011, and three third place finishes in 2012, 2013, and 2014.  Ryan Hunter-Reay is the only other driver to have as many top three finishes at Iowa.

Qualifying

Iowa has become the place to experiment with qualifying. In 2012 and 2013, grid positions were set by three heat races. The heats were determined by practice times.  This was not a popular format with the drivers or fans. In the heats drivers drove cautiously so they didn’t damage their cars before the race. A crash in one of the 2013 heat races put an end to this experiment. I doubt we will ever see qualifying races again in Indycar.

This year, in the interest of time and to take a bit of workload off of the crews, There will be one qualifying session on Friday afternoon. The qualifying run will still be two laps. rather than average the laps, the first lap will set the grid for Race 1 on Friday, and the second lap will set Saturday’s grid.

Race 1’s lineup should look much as we would expect, with the usual suspects up front. Traditionally, the second qualifying  laps at Iowa see a significant drop from the first lap. Race 2’s lineup could look very interesting. Someone might steal a pole for that race.

Veterans vs. The Kids

At road America the younger drivers, those with less than three years of experience, shined. At Iowa, I think we’ll see the veterans dominating. At least three of the younger drivers have never raced here. This weekend is just the second oval race for Alex Palou. His race at Texas ended early as he was collected by Rinus VeeKay, who hit the wall and slid down the track.

VeeKay hopes to make up for his poor showing at Texas, where team owner Ed Carpenter was frustrated with his driving. I think we will see a much better result from VeeKay this time around.

Will Scott Dixon start a new winning streak? This is one of the tracks where Dixon has never won. He showed a lot of strength at Texas, and I look for another good weekend for the five time champion as Chip Ganassi Racing looks to stay undefeated in 2020.

I think Team Penske will finally break through to win at least one of the races. Josef Newgarden has won twice at Iowa and is the defending winner. he nearly won a third time in 2018, when James Hinchcliffe got by for the victory. He should have a strong two races.

Will Power has just two poles hereand has not won. he has been s pressing a bit this season. This may be the weekend thta gets his season back on track.

Aeroscreen and Cockpit Heat

The weather at Road America was cooler than expected. Iowa will be the first real test of the new modifications to the aeroscreen as Indycar tries to mitigate the heat in the cockpits. Teams are allowed to use a second cooling duct. the water bottles have been moved to a position so that the fluid does not get warm, and a crew member can give the driver a water bottle during a pit stop.

Racing at night should help as well. the aeroscreen will continue to be a work in progress this season and next. When the new chassis comes on line in 2022 and the screen is fully integrated into the bodywork, i think a lot of these problems will take car of themselves.

The Iowa COVID Plan

Iowa Speedway is going to great lengths to ensure the safety of the fans this weekend. They have limited ticket sales. A xcheck of their their seating chart shows large patches of seats not for sale. It appears that they are leaving two rows empty between where fans may sit.

Saturday is general admission and they are not selling any more tickets for that race. fans are encouraged to bring a blanket to sit on as no lawn chairs are allowed.

All cars must drive through a health screening station before entering the the track. I spoke with a representative of the track  yesterday who told me there will be five lanes open at that point for temperature checks. All cars will funnel into the health checkpoint. Masks are recommended but not required. I expect like Road America that we will see about 50% of the fans wearing masks.

enteriowa

Legge Injured, More Pics from Road America, and Other News

thepitwindow

Photo above: Scott Dixon celebrates career win number 49 Saturday

Former Indycar driver Katherine Legge suffered a broken left leg and and sprained right wrist in a testing accident at Paul Ricard circuit in France today. Legge was testing for th eupcoming European leMans Series race for the Richard Mille racing Teamin an Oreca 07-Gibson. She made contact with the guardrail.  Legge never lost consciousness and was flown to a nearby hospital.  The leg will require surgery.

Legge has many fans in the Indycar community. We wish her a speedy recovery.

Chuck Hulse 1927-2020

On Monday Chuck Hulse, the oldest living driver to have driven both front engine and rear engine cars, died at age 93. he first race in the Indianpolis 500 in 1962, finishing 21st. the following year he finisghed 6th. In 1964 he suffered an eye injury in a sprint car accident at New Bremen and missed the rest of that year and 1965.

he was slated to drive the Dean Van Lines Special with chief mechanic Clint Brawner. Because of his injury Hulse was replaced by Mario Andretti, who turned to be pretty good.

Hulse returned in 1966, finishing 20th in the 500. In the 1967 race he finished 7th despite crashing on the last lap. he then retired from racing.

In 60 Indycar starts Hulse with a best finish of second at Phoenix and Sacramento.

A Note from Road America

Dave Kallman of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel noted today that Road America turned no one away last weekend during the REV Group Indycar Grand Prix because their temperature was too high.

A few More Pics from Last Weekend

RA 20 611
Pato O’Ward on his pole winning run Sunday morning
RA 20 574
Josef Newgarden (1) and Ryan Hunter-Reay fight for the lead on lap1 Saturday
RA 20 637
Jack Harvey leads Simon Pagenaud through turn 7
RA 20 587
Sunday morning qualifying

Tomorrow my Iowa preview including some tips for going to the track.

Iowa Schedule

thepitwindow

Iowa Speedway has posted its schedule for this weekends double header. The Friday practice will not be open to fans. Saturdy’s race starts 30 minutes earlier than Friday’s race. Sunset is around 8:44 pm this coming weekend. Both races are on NBCSN.

Thursday, July 16

12:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.   Iowa Speedway Credentials Open

12:00 p.m.                          Campgrounds Open

Friday, July 17

7:30 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.      Iowa Speedway Credentials Open

1:00 p.m.                             NTT INDYCAR SERIES Practice (Rookies and First Time Participants only)

1:30 p.m.                             NTT INDYCAR SERIES Practice

3:00 p.m.                             Parking Lots Open

3:30 p.m.                             Spectator Gates Open

4:30 p.m.                             NTT INDYCAR SERIES Qualifying

7:55 p.m.                             NTT INDYCAR SERIES Driver Introductions

8:15 p.m.                             NTT INDYCAR SERIES Iowa INDYCAR 250 (Race 1 – 250 Laps)

Saturday, July 18

10:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.   Iowa Speedway Credentials Open

11:30 p.m.                          Parking Lots Open

12:00 p.m.                          Spectator Gates Open

1:00 p.m.                             ARCA Menards Series Practice

2:30 p.m.                             NTT INDYCAR SERIES Practice

4:00 p.m.                             ARCA Menards Series Driver Introductions

4:30 p.m.                             ARCA Menards Series Shore Lunch 150 (150 Laps)

7:25 p.m.                             NTT INDYCAR SERIES Driver Introductions

7:45 p.m.                             NTT INDYCAR SERIES Iowa INDYCAR 250 (Race 2 – 250 Laps)

 

*Schedule Subject to Change 

Quick Thoughts- GMR Race 2

thepitwindow2 Comments

First, I want to send best wishes to George and Susan Phillips as Susan begins her journey to recover from cancer. This issue hits me hard. I know they will be fine in the end. I’m glad I got to spend some time with them this weekend. they are such great people.

I though history might be made today. There was, but not the history I expected. The youngest front row in history. I’m sure someone has stats on this, but it may have been the youngest top 3 starters in history.

This was a day for the younger generation to shine. Pato O’Ward and Colton Herta on the front row  had less than two full years of experience between them, and third place starter Alex Palou is a rookie. The duel at the end between O’Ward and seconds year driver Felix Rosenqvist was compelling. Rosenqvist has been close to winning before. he nearly nipped Dixon at mid Ohio last year. This is probably the most patient race I’ve sen Rosenqvist drive.

It was an exciting finish to what was mostly a processional race. Two younger drivers, one Honda, one Chevy, battling in the closing laps, made for great drama..  I happened to be in the right spot at the right time at the end to catch the photos in this piece. The main photo is after.

Before:

RA 20 644

Scott Dixon didn’t go four for four on the season, but the Ganassi team did. The pit bobble bug hit Dixon today. His car didn’t seem to have the pace it had Saturday.

Colton Herta missed the pole, but he had his fourth top 10 and third top 5 of the season. Herta is now second in the point standings. Maybe the television crew could talk about him more than they talk about Ferrucci now?

I watched the replay of yesterday’s start. It seemed O’Ward brought the field to the line a little slow. that  usually leads to the cahos that occurred after the green flag. The restarts looked to be at the correct pace.

Alexander rossi finally got the result that everyone had expected to see all season. A series of unfortunate events has seen Rossi finishing at the bottom of the field. Third place must feel like a victory to him.

Charlie Kimball had a good weekend for A. J. Foyt Racing with an 11th on saturday and a 10th yesterday. Kimball could have a decent season. The team is showing more consistency this year.

I’m not sure what Will Power was doing at the start. It’s too bad NTT Indycar Series officials could only issue one penalty.  I think the penalty of going to the rear of the field is too light, especially when it is assessed that early in the race. It allowed Power to go off strategy and take the lead at one point. I think a drive through at least would be more appropriate.

All in all, it was great to be back at a race.

Safety Protocols

I saw a lot of social media concerns about what was seen on television and posts from the track about lack of social distancing and people not wearing masks. From what I observed, masks were not as prevalent as I expected. Some track personnel weren’t even wearing one. I had mine on when i was walking about, but took it off when I was with people I knew to safe. Some people I saw never wore one all weekend.

As for distancing, there were some large groups of people who seemed to be together both days. The track signage said family groups could be together. I assumed that meant living in the same household. Groups were bigger than that. the top of hill in utrn 5, the most popular viewing spot, was pretty packed on Saturday. yesterday the crowd was lighter and more spread out there. I watche d yesterday from turn 7. A decent amount of people, not a huge group by any means, spread out in their groups. Groups gave each other plenty of space.

The track did everything it could as far as signage and PA announcements. track personnel could not police the entire area. What Road America could have done is sell fewer tickets to this event. Compliance was left up to each individual. Sadly, many chose to not follow the protocols. I don’t believe the track is at fault. their efforts were commendable, but as i said, they couldn’t force anyone to follow their guidelines.

I’m interested to see how Iowa handles distancing in their grandstands next weekend. From what i saw, I just don’t see how IMS can hold the 500 next month. There will be more than three times as many people as there were at Road America. I don’t expect to see better compliance than I saw this weekend.