Category: Auto Racing

Kanaan Livery Completes Stellar Lineup for McLaren

thepitwindow

Arrow Mclaren revealed the last of their four cars for the 107th running of the Indianapolis 500 this morning. The number 66 car for 2013 winner tony kanaan completes a lstable of what are arguably the four best looking cars in the field./

Kanaan.s car
Kanaan’s car with the rest of Arrow McLaren cars

I really like the orange star around the cockpit. This car will loook great in aerial shots.

The cars for payo O’Ward, Alwxander rossi, and Felix Rosenqvist are commemorative designs representing McLaren cars which won racing’s triple crown- LeMans, monaco, and the Indianapolis 500.

Open Test at IMS

thepitwindow2 Comments

Thursday and Friday the field for the 107th running odf the Indianapolis 500 will get their first chance to run the new aero package at IMS. A portion of Thurdsday is set aside for Rookie orientation and refresher tests.

The final entry, Abel motorsports with R C Enerson hopes to be ready to run. Enerson will need a refresher test. Katherine Legge and Ryan hunter-reay will also run refresher laps.

Three full time rookies- Benjamin Pedersen, Sting Ray Robb, and Augusyin canapino- will take their rookie tests The fourth rookie, Marcus Armstrong, is not running the oval;s in 2023.

Turn 2 viewing mounds will be open for fans. Both test days. will be streamed on Peacock.

Schedule: All times Eastern

Thursday, April 20

11-1 veterans

1-3 Rookie Orientation and rgeresher tests

3-6 All eligible cars

Friday April21

10-4 All cars

A Modern Era Record

Long Beach announced a modern era (since 2008) attendance record of 192,000 fans for the three day weekend. All reserved seats were sold for Sunday’s race.

Long Beach- Quick Thoughts on a Most Satisfying Race

thepitwindow2 Comments

Indycar photo by Joe Skibinski

First, congratulations to Kyle Kirkwood on his first Indycar win. Kirkwood has won at every open wheel level. Once he starts winning, he doen’t seem to be able to srop. Indycar is a tougher place to win constantly, but I look for him to get at least one more win this season.

Kirkwood’s first win came in his 20th Indycar race, but his third in a compoetitive ride. As I wrote yesterday that his pole win was just a matter of time, so is this first victory.

The Start

Long Beach is not known for great starts, but today;’s was a particularly bad one. Perhaps Indycar could start single fileon the front stretch, or they could start on I believe it is Pine Street where the cars have room and time to line up.

Pato O’Ward was accused of jumping the start, but my first impression was he was not the only one.

Pato’s Bad Day

It was not the best day for Pato O’Ward, who started the race as the points leader. He was fortunate to only fall to second place. His incident with Dixon, which I thought was similar to the mclaughlin/Grosjean collision in St. Pete, might have warranted a penalty. O’Ward’s spin later in the race, which effectively ended his day. was an unenforced penalty.

O’Ward showed good sportmanship letting the leaders by when he didn’t have to late in the race.

Strategy Hurts Newgarden

Josrf’s Newgarden’s strategy seemed to pay off as he grabbed the lead on lap 22. The yellow for Scott Dixon on lap 20 hurt his long range plan. He ended up ninth, having to save fuel the last stint.

Kirkwood stayed out one more lap before his last stop, and got enough of an edge to get out front.

Notes

This was a very good race. Contenders fell back for various reasons, different pit strategies had different outcomes, some not expected, the race ended with a three way battle for the win, with jus two seconds separating the top three at the checkered flag.

There were some great duels throughout the pack. Colton Herta and Alex Palou had a terrific battle for position during the race.

The Rahal Letterman lanigan team had a respectable showing today, finishing 12th, 13th, and 14th. Graham Rahal led the team, followed byJack Harvey and Christian Lundgaard.

Andretti Autosport finished 1, 2 and 4 today. The team has won both street course poles, and they had a shot at winning at St.Pete. They have figured out the street circuits.

No one should be questioning Michael Andretti’s move of Bryan Herta as Kirkwood’s strategist. Herta is the perfect person to work with a young driver,. He coached Alexander rossi to the Indianapolis 500 victory in 2016, and helped Colton to several wins. The Herta/Kirkwood combination could be a title contender by next year.

Morning Warmup- Newgarden Fastest

thepitwindow

Joseef Newgarden turned the quickest lap in this morning’s warmupfor this afternoon’s Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. The Penske driver’s lap came near the end of the session. Pole sitter kyle Kirkwood finished fifth.

The sessio was uneventful and ran in somewhat cool conditions. Race time temperature is expcted to be in the mid 60’s.

The top 10 from the warmup:

Sold Out

The Long Beach Grand Prix Association announced this morning that all reserved grandstand seats have been sold for today’s race. General admission is available at the gate.This is great news.

Long Beach Race Day

thepitwindow

Today’s schedule: All times Eastern

There are so many possibilities for the win. I think it will come down to Marcus Ericsson, Romain Grosjean, or Pato O’Ward. As much as I would like to see Kyle Kirkwood win his first race today, I’m not sure he’s ready for that step. I wouldn’t be upset if he proves me wrong, though. The warm up is on Peacock. Race coverage begins at 3 pm Eastern on NBC and Peacock.

I’ll be back after warmup and I hope to have the starting tire choices before the race.

Just a Matter of Time- Kirkwood Takes Long Beach Pole

thepitwindow

Indycar photo by Joe Skibinski

As soon as Kyle Kirkwodd and Andretti Autosport announced their deal for 2023, I knew Kirkwood would win a pole and possibly a race this season. The first two races gave me pause, but so far this weekend has restored my faith.

Kirkwood won the pole for tomorrow’s Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, beating Marcus Ericsson by 0.0375 seconds.he took the lead on his final lap. Kirkwood led the first qualifying group and was third in Round 2. . .

Kirkwood has now won at least one pole on every level of American open wheel racing., beginning with F1600. He is also the first driver to win championships on each level of the Road to Indy. Is his first Indycar victory in the cards for tomorrow? He has stiff competition just in the fast Six, let alone Josef Newgarden and Scott McLaughlin who didn’t advance.

Notes

Why did Pato O’Ward not save his tires as his crew requestedon the final hot lap of Round 2? he was secure in the Fast Six. O’Ward was the fastest a;; weeken, but will start sixth.

Andretti Autosport has won the pole at both street races in 2023.

Do not dismiss the chances of the Chip Ganassi racing cars tomorrow. They were in the top 10 all weekend, and Scott Dixon, Marcus ericsson, and Alex palou all made the Fast Six. Ericsson starts second.

If today and esterday are precursors of how the race will go, we could see another yellow filled race.

Results:

O’Ward Stays on Top

thepitwindow

Pato O’Ward retained first place in practice two at long Beach this morning. O’Ward turned the only lap under1:06 of the the weekend with a 1;05.9982 late in the session.

Three minutes into todays practice Callum Ilott hit a new curb and sailed into the tires. Three minutes after practice resumed, Rinus Veekay had the same thing happen to him. The extra curb was not in place during prctice yesterday. It was removed for the IMSA practice and qualifying. The curb was in place for Indycars in 2022. Drivers were not informed of the curb’s placement before the session began.

Andretti Autosport continues to show speed, with Kyle Kirkwood second, Romain Grosjean third, and Colton Herta fourth.

TScott Dixon led the Ganassi cars in seventh, followed by Marcus Ericsson in eightth and Alex Palou in tenth.

There were several wall brushes and some traffic issues during the practice round, which is not surprising with n27 cars on track. The best moment was Kyle kirkwood giving David malukas the tumbs up for ruining his lap.

“Thank you, Malukas,” Kirkwood said on the radio.

Results:

Abel Motorsports Enters Indianapolis 500- Field Set at 34 Entries

thepitwindow

As first reported by mny friends at trackside Online yesterday and confirmed by notgher sources, Abel motorsports, currently running an Indy NXT team with driver Jacob Abel, will enter the 107th running of the Indianapolis 500 with driver R C Enerson.

The car will likely have Chevrolet power, giving each manufacturer 17 entries.

Enerson is a veteran of five Indycar races with a best finish of ninth at Watkins Glen driving for Dale Coyne.

Enerson failed to qualify for the 2019 Indianapolis 500 with Top Gun Racing.

Abel Motorsports is rumored to be looking to field a full time Indycar effort, possibly as early as next year.

The 34th entry sets up the possibility of bumping to set the grid for the 2023 race. I will have some thoughts on that next week.