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

The First Signs of Spring

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The 2024 Indycar season takes another step forward this week. On Thursday the track build officially begins in St. Pete for the March 10 season opener. I continue to be amazed at how quickly the track is built and then torn down after the race. I will be on site to cover the event.

Another good sign last week was the Arrow McLaren livery presentations of their three 2024 cars.

The cars of Alexander Rossi, David Malukas, and Pato O’Ward

I like Rossi’s car the best. It has the throwback feel of the Marlboro McLaren F1 car. The white trim gives it a clean look.

Malukas’s car is too similar to Scott Dixon’s machine. It seems like all Indycar teams have to employ a certain combination each year, and we see a field full of nearly identical themes.

Pato’s car does not look different from the car he has run the last couple of years. i assume this a brand mandate, I don’t dislike it, I was just hoping for something a bit bolder.

Bumping At the 500

The entry list for the 108th running of the Indianapolis 500 could end up at 35 or 36.

In addition to the 27 full time teams, Andretti will field a car for Marco Andretti, and Arrow Mclaren is adding Kyle Larson. Ed Carpenter Racing brings in a third car for Christian Rasmussen. Abel Motorsports should return with R C Enerson. Dreyer and Reinbold with Don Cusick has announced Ryan Hunter-Reay and Conor Daly.

There is talk that Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing will have an entry for two-time 500 winner Takuma Sato.

A. J. Foyt Racing will decide by the end of February if they will run a third car for the 500, which would put the field at 35. There may be one other entry.

We won’t have to worry about guaranteed spots in 2024.

Parkside Collectibles Accelerates INDYCAR Fan Experience with Groundbreaking Sports Trading Card Partnership

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From Indycar:

Inaugural Collection Launching March 1

INDIANAPOLIS (Thursday, Feb. 8, 2024) – Parkside Collectibles Inc., a trailblazing trading card company, announced a collaboration with INDYCAR to bring the adrenaline-fueled world of North America’s premier open-wheel racing series closer to fans and collectors worldwide.
Launching March 1, the inaugural INDYCAR trading card collection will redefine the fan experience while celebrating the athleticism, skill and captivating narratives throughout INDYCAR. This exclusive set, which includes special redemption opportunities for signed memorabilia and a one-of-a-kind 2024 Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge autographed helmet, will be available for fans to purchase on site at races, in retail card stores and online at Parksidecards.com. Additionally, each set offers the chance to win a 4-pack Indy 500 racing experience, complete with tickets, allowing fans to immerse themselves in the exhilarating world of racing.
Parkside Collectibles, renowned for its dedication to crafting engaging collectibles, pledges to encapsulate the thrill and intensity of INDYCAR through meticulously designed cards. The collection promises to feature iconic drivers, breathtaking race moments and historic milestones that have etched into motorsport history.
“We’re beyond thrilled to partner with INDYCAR to launch these new INDYCAR trading cards and excited to see fans’ reactions to these memorialized moments,” said Eric Christensen, CEO of Parkside Collectibles Inc.
The Parkside Collectibles and INDYCAR partnership will elevate the fan experience, fostering an unparalleled connection between racing enthusiasts and the sport.
“We are pleased to begin this new partnership with Parkside, which will reintroduce an INDYCAR sports card collection and give fans a dynamic way to interact with the ascending stars of our sport,” Penske Entertainment Corp. President and CEO Mark Miles said. “Sports cards have always been an engaging way to connect with athletes, and it is satisfying to know the elite, bold and brash personalities of INDYCAR are once again represented through Parkside’s quality collectibles.”
Throughout the season, fans can expect a plethora of both online and in-person activations that will ignite their passion for INDYCAR racing. Fans should be on the lookout during race weekends, where attendees can look forward to exclusive in-person experiences and chances to win limited-edition trading card sets. Simultaneously, their online communities will buzz with exciting social media contests and giveaways that offer fans a chance to win Parkside and INDYCAR prizes. This partnership is a testament to their commitment to bringing the thrill of INDYCAR racing directly into the hands of fans, both on and off the track.

Presale of the Parkside INDYCAR trading card collection is available here

.Founded with the vision to rekindle and nurture the passion for trading cards, Parkside Collectibles is a pioneer in offering affordable, captivating trading card products. With a dedication to engaging both young fans and veteran collectors, Parkside brings the excitement of various sports leagues, including NWSL, INDYCAR, US Women’s Soccer, Big 3 Basketball, Fan Controlled Football, Major League Lacrosse, and more, into the hands of enthusiasts. Embodying the nostalgic charm of discovering collectible trading cards at your local corner store, Parkside is committed to creating products that resonate with fans of traditional and new sports and entertainment brands, all while maintaining a price point reminiscent of simpler times. Parkside’s commitment lies in crafting memorable collecting experiences that connect fans with their favorite sports moments and icons, ensuring that the joy of collecting thrives across generations.
The 2024 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season begins Sunday, March 10 at the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg presented by RP Funding. Coverage will be available on NBC and Peacock with a Spanish language broadcast available on Universo. Audio coverage will be available via the INDYCAR Radio Network on SiriusXM channel 218 and the INDYCAR APP powered by NTT DATA. 
 
 

IMS Solar Eclipse Event Features Astronauts and Racers

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Indianapolis Motor Speedway will be one of three official NASA sites for the April 8, 2024 total solar eclipse. The Speedway has an extensive program planned,

STEM education, simulations, and an accommodation for the visually impaired are all part of the day’s activities. There will be two locations for people to set up their telescopes.

In a press briefing this afternoon, IMS president Doug Boles outlined the program, which will be supervised by Purdue University.

Ed Carpenter will run a few laps at 1 pm, just before the eclipse begins.

There will be an autograph session featuring astronauts and race drivers.

Boles said that more than 10,000 tickets have been sold, and that he expects about 25,000 to be in attendance. Tickets are $15, and kids 18 and under are free.

The eclipse begins at 1:50 pm EDT, and totality occurs from 3:06-3:09 pm. IMS will hand out special viewing glasses to all attendees.

The full schedule can be found at ims.com.

Season One of ‘100 Days To Indy’ To Be Available on Paramount+

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From Indycar

Docuseries Premiers Globally Friday, Feb. 16

INDIANAPOLIS (Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024) – Paramount+ announced Feb. 7 that all six episodes of the first season of the docuseries “100 Days To Indy” will be made available on the service globally for the first time Friday, Feb. 16, with the exception of Japan, which will follow Tuesday, April 19.
Produced by Penske Entertainment and VICE Media Group, “100 Days To Indy” charts the adrenaline-fueled journeys of NTT INDYCAR SERIES’ best drivers in their pursuit of victory at the iconic Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge, the world’s largest single-day sporting event.
Following bold, brash personalities in their on-and off-track lives, the 100-day buildup to the final showdown begins on the starting grid of the 2023 season’s first race at St. Petersburg, Florida. From there comes high-octane drama, fearless driving and fiery competition stretching from St. Petersburg across the country until the winner crosses the finish line at the Indy 500, securing their position in motorsport’s history books in front of more than 300,000 fans.
The global field of 33 drivers racing toward the prestigious Borg-Warner Trophy hails from 15 nations and includes four-time winner Helio Castroneves, who is chasing a record-breaking fifth win, and 2022 winner Marcus Ericsson. But earning racing’s most coveted prize means they’ll first have to see off two-time series champion Josef Newgarden, plus a whole new generation of young drivers vying for their slice of the multimillion-dollar purse, including Pato O’Ward, Colton Herta and Christian Lundgaard.
“100 Days To Indy” is directed by Emmy Award-winner Patrick Dimon, and the executive producer is Bryan Terry for VICE. Adam Marinelli and Dimon are co-executive producers.
Paramount+ is a global digital subscription video streaming service from Paramount that features a mountain of premium entertainment for audiences of all ages. Internationally, the streaming service features an expansive library of original series, hit shows and popular movies across every genre from world-renowned brands and production studios, including SHOWTIME, BET, CBS, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, Paramount Pictures and the Smithsonian Channel, in addition to a robust offering of premier local content. The service is currently live in the U.S., the United Kingdom, Canada, Latin America, the Caribbean, Australia, Italy, France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Japan and South Korea.
For more information about Paramount+, please visit www.paramountplus.com and follow @ParamountPlus on social platforms. 
 

Return of Indy’s Loch Ness Monster

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It’s back. The guaranteed Indianapolis 500 starting spot monster has arisen from the depths of what I thought was a deep, deep grave. In a story by Nathan Brown of the IndyStar this morning, the idea is included with talk of a franchise system for Indycar.

In 2019, I wrote a piece called “The Soul of the Race,” in which I argued against the concept of guaranteed spots. Indulge me as I quote my own brilliant statement from that article-

“…guaranteed spots in my opinion does not fall in the category of tradition. It’s called qualifying. It means you have to meet a standard which in this case means being one of the fastest 33 drivers. That is one tradition that must stay. A chance to win the greatest race in the world should not just be handed to someone.”

I still stand by this statement.

Guaranteed spots would reduce qualifying days to a rather dull affair. If you don’t have speed for the pole, why go all out? Just post a time. How many one-offs will want to enter knowing there are only so many spots for them?

Brown’s article quotes team owners talking about how devastating missing the race has been for their teams sponsor wise. Brown points out that just six teams of the 16 that have been bumped in the last 15 years are still in Indycar.

Near the end of the article, Mark Miles said that there will still be bumping.

“I do believe that whatever happens in that regard, we’ll want to make sure there’s bumping. I think there’s a number of considerations on how that might end up, but at the end of the day, the tradition of bumping is important (at the 500), and we need to find a way to continue it,” Miles said.

I have a suggestion. If one of the teams that has a membership gets bumped, pay them what 33rd place finishing full time team would earn, and have a team in the race add the sponsor of the bumped car.

As far the franchise or membership concept, i have mixed feelings about it, which I will talk about later this week.

Second Season of ‘100 Days to Indy’ Coming to The CW Network

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 Six-Episode Unscripted Series from Penske Entertainment Chronicles 
This Year’s NTT INDYCAR SERIES Road to the Indianapolis 500

INDIANAPOLIS (Monday, Feb. 5, 2024) – The CW Network announced Feb. 5 the motorsports documentary series “100 Days To Indy” will return for a second season this spring.
The six-part unscripted series from Penske Entertainment takes viewers behind the scenes and onto the track with NTT INDYCAR SERIES drivers as they prepare to compete for racing’s greatest prize: the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge on Sunday, May 26 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
“We are thrilled to bring another season of ‘100 Days To Indy’ to The CW and continue to grow our portfolio of quality sports programming,” said Brad Schwartz, president of entertainment, The CW Network. “Last season gave fans an unprecedented look into the lives and preparation of these incredible drivers, which made it even more exciting when one of the series’ stars, Josef Newgarden, crossed the finish line first to become last year’s Indy 500 winner. We look forward to another season of intense competition between these talented drivers and plenty of high-speed racing action.”
This season, reigning Indianapolis 500 champion Josef Newgarden returns to defend his epic Race Day triumph, with an abundance of generational talent hot on his heels. This includes rising star Pato O’Ward, whose dynamic and energetic personality continues to earn him a legion of enthusiastic supporters across the globe. Former Indy 500 champion Marcus Ericsson, who placed second after a dramatic last-lap pass by Newgarden in 2023, and two-time and reigning NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Alex Palou, who led for 36 laps in last year’s “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing,” also return with unfinished business to settle. The 2024 edition of the famed competition will also see one of racing’s greatest champions, Kyle Larson, make a special bid for motorsports glory in his first attempt at the Indy 500
.“Nothing matches the show-stopping, high-octane intensity of the Indy 500,” Penske Entertainment President & CEO Mark Miles said. “The CW will once again give viewers a front row seat as the charismatic stars of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES chase racing glory. It should be a thrilling ride and an extremely compelling watch for viewers around the country.”
The 2024 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season kicks off Sunday, March 10 with the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg presented by RP Funding on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida, before arriving in the Southern California desert for the series’ brand-new $1 Million Challenge on Sunday, March 24 at the scenic The Thermal Club. “100 Days to Indy” will chronicle every step of the journey to the Indy 500, totaling six NTT INDYCAR SERIES races and the entire epic Month of May at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
“100 Days To Indy” is produced by Penske Entertainment. Emmy Award-winning Patrick Dimon and Adam Marinelli serve as co-executive producers.
The CW Network, LLC is one of America’s major broadcast networks and reaches 100% of US television households. The CW delivers 15 hours of primetime entertainment programming per week in addition to over 300 hours of sports per year as the broadcast home to LIV Golf, ACC football and basketball games, “Inside the NFL,” WWE NXT beginning in 2024 and NASCAR Xfinity Series beginning in 2025. The fully ad-supported CW App, with more than 96 million downloads to date, is available for free to consumers on all major platforms and is home to the latest episodes and seasons of The CW’s primetime programming, live streaming of LIV Golf tournaments and a library of entertaining film and television content for on-demand viewing. The CW is 75%-owned by Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: NXST), a leading diversified media company and largest CW affiliate group with 42 CW and CW Plus affiliates, covering 39% of the population. For more information about The CW, please visit www.cwtv.com.

DRR/Cusick Sign Hunter-Reay and Daly for 500

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Dreyer and Reinbold will again team with Don Cusick for the 108th running of the Indianapolis 500. Conor Daly will team with 2014 winner Ryan Hunter-Reay in the two car effort.

In 2023 Stefan Wilson qualified one of the cars which was entered by Cusick. In the Monday practice after qualifying, Wilson broke his back in a crash. Many were expecting Wilson to return for 2024.

Cusick decided to distribute his money to both DRR cars, which I believe led to Wilson not having enough funding. \About Wilson, Cusick said in a video call yesterday:

“As far as Stefan goes, unfortunately he had the injury, I
think it set him back a little bit. I’m not sure that he’s done
trying to be a part of the Indy 500. Look, we’ll always
support him. He’s a good guy and a good friend. He is the
reason that we ended up in the Indy 500.
That said, he’s given us his full support and blessing.
Depending on what happens this year, hopefully he’s
around in May and able to say hi to everybody.”

Hunter=Reay and Daly are both eager to work together, and they appear to be on the same page about race strategy. Hunter_r reay talked about the craziness which occurred near the end of last year’s race, which ended in a red flag fiasco.

“There needs to be a higher level of respect amongst the
drivers in superspeedway racing. We are out there doing
230, 240, whatever you want to call it,” Hunter-Reay said.
“There was a lot of moves last year that were very road
course like, street course like. Especially on restarts,
things like that.
I think as a group, it needs to be brought up and we need
to be conscious of it. Yeah, then you have the unknowns,
some new drivers coming in again. We’ve always had that.
We’ve always had an influx of some new drivers to the
Speedway, the 500. You kind of deal with that as it goes.
Definitely there were some questionable points in the race
that we need to address that as a group.”

Daly believes that there will be changes coming based on a drivers’ meeting in December.

“After attending the drivers meeting in
December, there’s definitely going to be some, I think,
adjustments to how things are called, right? Josef
Newgarden snaking down the straight below the pit lane
entry, I think that’s probably going to go away. I think the
drivers are always pretty unified in what we want to see on
how many moves you can make down the back straight if
you’re trying to snake down the back straight, stuff like that.”

I have heard that the dreaded dragon move will be pretty much banned.

The DRR/Cusick situation reflects the best and the worst of the racing business. Three capable drivers, all good guys, and only two seats available. I feel for Stefan Wilson. On the other hand, DRR has its strongest driver lineup in several years, and the team always has competitive cars at the 500.

F1’s Greed and Tone Deafness Foils Andretti Bid

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In a move that may cost F1 some of the popularity they have built in the USA, Formula 1 yesterday rejected Andretti/Cadillac’s bid to join the globetrotting circuit. The outrage among fans worldwide spread through the social media world.

The reason, couched in PR speak, is nothing but pure greed. The current teams don’t want to split their revenue another way. F1 doesn’t think the Andretti name will help them as a series. What?

From their statement:

“While the Andretti name carries some recognition for F1 fans, our research indicates that F1 would bring value to the Andretti brand rather than the other way around,”

Arguably one of the most recognizable names in racing around the world won’t add to the prestige of their series? 

The announcement also mentioned concerns about how competitive the team would be. Obviously, they don’t remember Minardi or Caterham or currently Haas and Williams.

It was so kind of F1 to invite Andretti to try again in four years.

Andretti’s response:

“Andretti Cadillac has reviewed the information Formula One Management Limited has shared and strongly disagree with its contents,” the statement read.

Andretti and Cadillac are two successful global motorsports organizations committed to placing a genuine American works team in F1, competing alongside the world’s best. We are proud of the significant progress we have already made on developing a highly competitive car and power unit with an experienced team behind it, and our work continues at pace.

“Andretti Cadillac would also like to acknowledge and thank the fans who have expressed their support.”

Meanwhile, the FIA, who wants Andretti in the series, implies that this is not over,

I see a lot of turmoil this F1 season. I probably will not go out of my way to watch a race this season. F1 is tone deaf, but they are not completely clueless.

I think this morning’s announcement of Lewis Hamilton going to Ferrari in 2025 was intentionally done as a distraction to the Andretti decision.

Busy Week for Indycar Drivers- Testing, Rolex24

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More than half of the full time Indycar will complete a busy week Sunday aer the Rolex 24 at Daytona. The drivers began the week in Homestead testing a team car in the spec for the first part of the Indycar Series season without the hybrid component. The car is lighter and should produce quicker times. +

Andretti Global was the quickest at the 10-car test with Colton Herta and Kyle Kirkwood leading sessions. Felix Rosenquist of MSR, a team allied with AG, also lead a half day round.

Jack Harvey returned to the series, driving for Dale Coyne Racing for two of the three days. Indy NXT Rookie of the Year Nan Seigel also got some time in a Coyne car.

Rolex 24 Features Indycar Drivers Throughout the Field

Fourteen drivers from the Indycar Series will participate in tomorrow’s Rolex 24 at Daytona. James Hinchcliffe will also drive in the GTD Pro class.

The GTP Cadillacs have been strong in practice. Can they put it together for 24 hours?

Full Race on Peacock; Start/Finish on NBC; USA Segments

The Pit Window News

The Pit Window will begin the move to Winter Headquarters on Monday. I hate not being at Daytona this weekend, but I will be on site for St. Pete and Sebring. The good news, I will be attending a 24 hour race this summer.

December and the first part of January has been brutal health wise for us, but we will finally get to Florida by mid week.

Here’s hoping for a safe, fun Rolex 24, and at least one Indycar driver in Victory Lane.