Robert Wickens riding a stationary bike in New video on his Twitter account.
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
2018- Passing Grade for New Aero; Close Points Battle; Talented Rookies
St.Pete set the tone. The racing was going to be better with the new kit. It was going to be a competitive season. A rookie star emerged and would captivate fans. 2018 was all that. That rookie, Robert Wickens, unfortunately didn’t get to complete the year. Younger stars made a bold statement that they arrived, but the established stars rose to the top at the end, It was one of the most enjoyable seasons. I’ve seen.
The Meteor
Robert Wickens stole the pole at the opening race in St. Pete and dominated the race until a lap 108 collision with Alexander Rossi knocked him out of the race. Indycar fans suddenly had a new star to root for. Wickens followed up with a second place finish at Phoenix after leading the late stages of the race. Five consecutive top tens, including three top fives followed. Then everything came to a horrendous halt in the accident at Pocono. Whether Wickens gets back into a car again is still undetermined. He may miss the entire 2019 season. Despite missing the final three races, Wickens still finished tied for tenth in points and won Rookie of the Year. One of the highlights of last Sunday’s Sonoma finale was seeing a video of Wickens talking to the fans.
The New Aero Package
Two goals of the new aero package were to improve the racing and put the car back in the hands of the drivers. It definitely accomplished the second aim. There was better racing for the most part. Ovals definitely need some more work. Street courses showed the most improvement and road courses had more passing than last year. There is still an aero wash that needs to be tweaked. It’s fun seeing the cars slide through the corners.
A Tight Title Fight
Six different drivers swapped the lead eight times through the Texas race. Scott Dixon took the points lead with his win at Texas and led the rest of the way. His lead ballooned to 62 after Toronto but shrunk to 26 after Gateway. Alexander Rossi was third after Toronto, 70 points behind, but won two in a row at Mid Ohio and Pocono to cut into the lead. Rossi’s last chance to catch Dixon ended in the second turn at Sonoma when he clipped Marco Andretti, cutting a tire and damaging his front wing.
While Dixon’s 57 point final margin seems large, it was not an easy title to win. Dixon, Rossi, Josef Newgarden, and Will Power won three races each, and Ryan Hunter-Reay won twice. This concentration of big points days among a few drivers kept things close.
Dixon’s fifth title puts him into rarefied air. Only A. J. Foyt with seven championships has more than Dixon.
It was a strange route to the championship. Dixon did not win a pole and didn’t lead a lap until the first race in Detroit in June. He had the fewest bonus points of the four main contenders. Dixon dodged two bullets late in the season. He narrowly missed the spinning tub of Wickens’ car at Pocono. At the start of the Portland race, Dixon was involved in a scramble with four other cars, but he suffered no damage and fought back to a fifth place finish.
New teams
Carlin and Harding Racing joined the series full time. Meyer Shank Racing and Juncos Racing had part time entries. All four new teams will return next year with expanded programs. The biggest change for 2019 will be Harding, now Harding Steinbrenner Racing. Carlin is planning on adding a third car. Meyer Shank hopes to participate in ten races next season. Juncos bought a second car but is unsure if it will race during he season.
I will talk about the Harding Steinbrenner team in a post next week.
Rookies Impress
In addition to Wickens, Zach Veach had a string of four consecutive top tens at Toronto, Mid Ohio, Pocono, and Gateway. Veach had run well at times in other races but was plagued by mistakes. He was instrumental in setting up the Andretti cars in testing.
At Sonoma, Indy lights champion Patricio O’Ward got his first Indycar ride with Harding Racing. He got people’s attention with the third quickest lap in Friday’s second practice. He backed that up by qualifying fifth and finishing ninth in the race. O’Ward and Colton Herta will be full time next year for Harding Steinbrenner Racing.
Final Thoughts
Rossi put some spice into several races this year with his charges from the rear. He started 32nd at Indianapolis and finished fourth. At Phoenix he went to the back because of a penalty and came back for a third place finish. At Sonoma he used a timely caution to fight back to seventh and keep second place in the final standings.
Rossi also created some controversy with some moves where contact was involved. the most notorious was was his collision with Wickens at St. Pete. I liked the way he didn’t apologize and just went on driving. Rossi has an old school attitude I really enjoy.
I admire Mike Harding for fielding a team all season on a limited budget. Next year the team should be stronger with added resources.
Thanks to Verizon for their series sponsorship the last five years. I appreciate that unlike other series sponsors, they completed their entire contract length.
Finally, I will continue to send good healing thoughts to Robert Wickens. I hope to see him race again.
Quick Thoughts- Sonoma Grand Prix and Championship
The championship ended before the first lap was over.
Sounded like NBC fumbled the coverage. I hope this isn’t an indication of how next year will be.
Scott Dixon definitely has a place among racing’s legends. Only A. J. Foyt had more championships.
Patricio O’ Ward continued his amazing weekend with a top 10 finish.
Alexander Rossi can pass almost anyone on any track. He might won the title next year.
The race reflected the youth ve. veterans theme of the entire year.Look for my full race recap later this week on Wildfire Sports. I will also have a season review here on Friday. Thanks for following along this year.
From Robert Wickens
Just a few words from Rehab, also good-luck to everyone in Sonoma this weekend! https://t.co/7TD7pHnp4N
Quick Thoughts on Sonoma Qualifying
Hunter- Reay may have won the pole but Pato O’Ward was the star of the show. What a great job in his first Indycar weekend.
A non title contender winning the pole helps Dixon and pretty much knocks Power and Newgarden out of contention.
This was Dixon’s best road course qualifying of the year and only his second Fast Six on a natural road course. He could win the championship without winning a pole.
Power regrets not running another lap.
Wind will be a significant factor in the race tomorrow.
Hunter-Reay, Newgarden Lead Day 1 at Sonoma
Ryan Hunter-Reay had the fastest time of the opening day of practice for the Grand Prix of Sonoma. He lead the first session with a lap of 1:17.5742. Josef Newgarden had the quick time in the afternoon session of 1:17.8156. Seven of the ten fastest times of the day were turned in the morning session. This doesn’t happen often since the red tires are allowed in the afternoon. Newgarden did not turn a lap in the morning session due to a fuel system isdue.
Several drivers talked of high tire degradation, getting just two good laps out of their tires. Shifting winds also factored into the lap times. No one was overly concerned about today’s times.
The biggest surprise of the day was rookie Patricio O’Ward with the third fastest time in session 2 of 1:18.0073. He set the time early in the session on black tires. It was the sixth best time overall.
Besides Newgarden, the other championship contenders ended the day on the combined charts third (Scott Dixon), fourth (Will Power), and eleventh (Alexander Rossi). Rossi was sixth and eighth in the two sessions.
Sonoma’s Final Finale
Indycar’s odd relationship with Sonoma comes to an end Sunday with the Verizon Indycar Series season finale. The 2019 schedule released two weeks ago does not have Sonoma on it. The final race next year will be at Weather Tech Raceway in Monterrey, on the other side of San Francisco.
Since 2015 Sonoma Raceway hosted the season finale and the track has done a great job presenting the new champion. The program has improved each year. The championship presentation is on the track’s front stretch with fans allowed to join the festivities.
Indycar first raced here in 1970 under USAC sanction. Dan Gurney won the 60 lap race. The series did not return to the track until 2005 as an IRL event. It has been on the schedule ever since.
I describe Sonoma as a great track for race cars, but not a great track for racing. The winner is usually determined by who wins the pole or whoever is in a position to take advantage of the pole winner’s misfortune. Attendance has not been great here, but there will be problems improving it at the new venue.
There has been some drama here, however. In 2006 Tony Kanaan held on to second place with a broken wing, taking points away from contenders chasing teammate Dario Franchitti, allowing Franchitti to gain valuable points on his way to the season title. In 2015, Juan Pablo Montoya came into the race with a sizable points lead and had the championship well in hand. A collision with teammate Will Power cost him enough positions to allow Scott Dixon to win the race and the Astor Cup.
I enjoy the track and the surrounding countryside.It’s a beautiful drive to Sonoma and Napa from the track viewing the hills and vineyards. I will miss breakfast at the Fremont Diner and having a drink at Ernie’s Tin Shed. I’m not sure that Weather Tech Raceway will see better racing, but the scenery should be at least as good.
On Wednesday look for my complete race and championship preview on Wildfire Sports.
BC39- IMS Gets Down in the Dirt and Mud- A Fan’s Review
It had been a long time. The last dirt track race I remember attending was the 1970 Hoosier Hundred. It was an event on what was then the USAC Indycar schedule. As for midgets or sprint cars, it had been a much longer time. After watching the BC39 Drive to Save Lives event at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway this week, I have to ask myself, “Why have you waited so long?” This was quite a show and a refreshing change of pace from Indycar.
There is no pit strategy, fuel saving, tire management, or push to pass. All there is is pure, full out hard racing. Cars appear out of control through the turns, but it’s how they need to be driven. The 110 entries provided non- stop action over the two nights.
As usual, IMS did things in a first class way. The track was beautifully done, well prepared, and the surface held up well each night. The grandstands were about 80% full Wednesday and completely full Thursday night. Opening night was great. I loved watching the dirt fly around. But Thursday night the flying mud was even better. The track dried out some as the evening progressed.
The crowd on Thursday was particularly impressive considering it had rained most of the day and the program didn’t start until nearly 9 pm. These are some of the most dedicated fans I’ve seen. Hardly anyone left their seat during the track action and not many got up when there was an extended break in the proceedings.
The race was a great way to honor three time Indy 500 starter Brian Clauson and it also paid homage to the original feeder series that helped prepare drivers for the 500. Sadly, the skills required for midgets and sprints today translate more to stock cars than Indycars.
An Annual Event?
The big question is whether this will become an annual event. There is no answer at the moment. The track will to revert to a parking area for the 500. The infrastructure is in place to reassemble the track, however. I think it can be a staple on the IMS calendar.
Some have suggested the race move to pole night. I think May is a more appropriate time for it and qualifying weekend would be great. I have also seen a suggestion that it become a part of Indiana Sprint/Midget week. It’s a nice idea, but I would hate to see one of the small tracks lose their spot. If it were an addition to the week, that would be fine.
Changes
I have just a couple things the Speedway could improve here. There is no signage on the outside of the grandstands indicating section locations. It would have been nice to know which walkway to enter to be close to where I sat.
The rows were not well marked. There was not a designation for every row. In my section everyone in two rows were one row too high.
Shuttle stops for infield parking were not clearly marked. I ended up walking to turn 3. I didn’t have a problem doing that, but others may need transportation.
My Favorite Car
If you were there and you know me, you can guess which one it was. It is pictured here:
I think that should this event return, more cars should adopt old Indy 500 liveries. A heat race with the cars in tribute liveries would be fantastic.
It was great to be a part of something special. I plan to get to more dirt short track races the rest of this year and next summer. These were two fun nights and helped bridge the two week gap between Indycar races.
Latest Medical Update on Robert Wickens
The Pit Window by Mike Silver 