Category: Auto Racing

The Schedule:

It isn’t opening day, but the first time Indycar takes to the IMS oval each spring is a day to celebrate.

Testing on the oval begins today as the 32 confirmed entries for the 106th running of the Indianapolis 500 take to the track. All sessions on both days will be broadcast live on Peacock.

The field includes the 26 car full time grid plus the Dreyer and Reinbold team of Sage Karam and Santino Ferrucci, Ed Carpenter in car 33, Juan Pablo Montoya in car 6 for Arrow McLaren SP, Tony Kanaan in a fifth Chip Ganassi car, and Marco Andretti in car 98 for Andretti Autosport.

Jimmie Johnson and Romain Grosjean are cleared to practice with the veterans, but they still have to complete the final phase of their rookie tests. Weather last fall prevented the drivers from finishing the required number of laps.

Taking refreshers tests will be Karam, Ferrucci, Montoya, Kanaan, and Andretti.

Beginning their rookie tests are Kyle Kirkwood, Christian Lundgaard, Devlin De Francesco, Callum Ilott, and David Malukas.

Things to Watch For

In the first three races of the season, Chevrolet seems to be the better engine. Honda has been better at IMS the last two years. I’m not sure if either manufacturer wants to tip its hand before May officially begins, but I will be looking for trap speeds and the no tow sheets.

Among the Chevy teams, many eyes will be on Team Penske. The team that has won the most 500s has struggled the past two Mays. They have won the first three races of the season, and there are big expectations for Penske at IMS. Many have already installed Josef Newgarden as the favorite for the 500, but I’m not sure about that yet.

Rookies in Traffic

I like that the rookies get their own session in the middle of the day. They used to have to take their test within the regular practice periods.

When they are allowed to practice with the veterans, how will they handle the traffic? The pure rookies have very little oval experience. Did they learn enough at Texas to help them at IMS?

Weather

Wednesday looks to start off cool and may cause a delay in the start, but Thursday looks like a great day with warm temperatures in the afternoon.

Then track is open to spectators on the turn 2 viewing mounds near the museum. No grandstands are open.

I will be on site most of the day and I will have updates throughout the day.

I’m hearing reports from several sources that the elusive 33rd entry for 106th running of the Indianapolis 500 will be announced soon, maybe later today. I will update this post should the announcement come later today. The entrant will not participate in the open test at IMS next week. It will be through Juncos Hollinger Racing, perhaps in an indirect way. I understand that Paretta Racing will be the entrant with Simona De Silvestro driving again.

I had no doubt that there would be 33 entries. Some traditions need to remain and the look of the 11 rows of three charging to the green flag is one that has to stay. The whole world is watching, and a row with a missing car would not be a good look.

There is some talk of a 34th entry as well. As much as I would like to see a large number of entries, 34 doesn’t excite me. Under the current qualifying format, Saturday’s qualifiers 31, 32, and 33 and any cars that didn’t make the top 33 need to requalify on Sunday. The fastest three of this group on Sunday make the race. Having four cars going for three spots is silly.

I think the Speedway would like an extra entry so they can l\have a more or less legitimate last chance session. If you have read this column for a while, you know my feelings on this segment of Sunday’s program. I do not think it fair for the last row to have to qualify again. This would especially be true if there are just 33 cars. Is starting 31st really better than starting 33rd?

I hope IMS and Indycar can show some flexibility if there are no more than 33 cars. Move the Fast Nine up to the first part of the day then open the track for practice in race trim.

There have been years in the past when no qualifier was bumped. 2022 should be one of those years. If a 34th entry shows up, just let it in the race. To make Sunday dramatic, the entry list needs to be at least 35 cars.

Qualifying on Saturday is exciting as drivers use the multiple attempts tor try to move into the first three rows or try to be one the fastest 33. There has been some great drama on Sunday with a lkarger entry list. In 2019 Kyle Kaiser bumped two time world champion Fernando Alonso on the day’s final attempt. Kaiser suffered a huge crash earlier in the week. The underfunded Juncos team rebuilt the car with a round the clock effort.

Last year the tension revolved around 2018 500 winner Will Power’s struggles to make the field, and veteran Charlie Kimball’s failure to qualify.

One extra car is simply not enough to make a show. I hope the entry list will be complete when the 33rd car is official. If another entry happens to materialize, just let them in. There have been several years when more than 33 cars started the race. We need at least 33 starters. One more won’t hurt.