Jack Harvey has not been cleared to drive as a result of his incident in practice yesterday afternoon. The impact was likely more than 50 Gs.
Former Rahal Letterman Lanigan driver Santino Ferrrucci will replace Harvey. Indycar will allow Ferrucci to have a 15 minute session on track at 10:15 local time.
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Last night a friend invited me to ride around Texas Motor Speedway as part of a charity event. Groups of cars were led by a pace truck. My understanding is that a speed limit was not set. We lagged behind and probably went faster than we should have.
TMS is a unique track. The banking in the turns is quite steep. It may seem steeper because of the length of the track. I felt I was riding around inside a bowl.
Here is a five minute video of the ride.
Today’s Schedule: All times Eastern
10:00 AM Gates Open
12:00 PM Driver Introductions
12:45 PM Green Flag for the Expel 375 NBC coverage begins at 12:30 PM
Post race show on Peacock after NBC coverage ends
Race time temperature should be around 69 degrees and sunny, rising to the mid 70s by the end of the race.
The race should be very competitive. I think any one of the first seven starters could win. Pole sitter Felix Rosenqvist is confident of his chances. Josef Newgarden was very quick in the practice sessions. Many Texas races have come down to a late yellow and cars diving into the pits for new tires. The leader is a sitting duck in this situation.
From yesterday-
https://thepitwindow.blog/2022/03/19/rosenqvist-takes-pole-at-texas/
Nathan Brown of the Indianapolis Star posted a story last night in which he reported that the efforts to reduce the effect of the JP 1 compound have not changed much. We are likely to see a single file race again. That would be a shame. Some of Indycar’s best races have been at Texas Motor Speedway.
This is possibly the last Indycar race at TMS for a while. there has been no talk about renewing the relationship this weekend. Attendance yesterday extremely low. I am not anticipating a large turnout today.
Let’s hope for a safe, competitive race.
Josef Newgarden led a final practice interrupted by a heavy crash involving Jack Harvey. Following the cleanup Indycar extended the session time to make up for the lost time.
Before the final practice, seven cars ran high downforce setups in an attempt to make the second lane drivable for tomorrow’s race. Firestone measurements indicate that there is more grip in that lane. How that translates to the racing line remains to be seen.
About 20 minutes into the practice Jack Harvey brushed the outside wall at the exit of turn 2. The HyVee machine darted to the inside of the track and made heavy contact with the inside wall, destroying the front of the car and the left rear side. Harvey was able to walk away from the car.
None of the on track sessions today were during the time that the race will take place tomorrow. I do think Newgarden has a very fast car. His seventh starting spot is not an obstacle to his winning the race. Any of the first seven starters has a good chance to win.
Practice results:
Thanks for following along today. Look for my pre race story in the morning and a post about my ride around the track this evening.
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The pole the Expel 375 came down to two drivers going for their second career pole. Scott Mclaughlin, who won the pole at St. Pete last month, had a target set by Felix Rosenqvist, who is fighting to keep his seat in the AMSP Chevy. Rosenqvist prevailed by 14 thousandths of a second.
Rosenqvist was the eleventh qualifier. He set the mark of 221.110 mph. Several drivers came close. Takuma Sato’s first lap was faster, but he slowed enough on his second circuit to end up second. He stayed there until McLaughlin’s run.
“It couldn’t be a better time to win the pole,” said Rosenqvist, who is rumored to be on the hot seat in the number 7 McLaren entry.
“I’m confident we have a good package for the race,” he added.
Rosenqvist thinks winning the pole is just the beginning of a great weekend for the Arrow McLaren SP crew.
“:I think we’re gonna be even stronger in the race. I mean, I can’t promise that but we have every reason to think that we have a good package overall. And I think this strength in our car air is very, you know, confidence inspiring. It never really feels edgy, and it’s just really good setup. So yeah, we’re happy going into the race.
“I remember the first time I came here, then then it was definitely not fun. I was really scared. First time I was here, and it was actually the first superspeedway I ever did. But yeah, I think from 2020 onwards, it’s been a track where I feel really calm and confident that I kind of know how to attack the race. And how to work with a driving line and how the car needs to be set up and I think it suits me pretty well. Naturally, and yeah, I definitely feel like it’s an unfinished business that motivates us.”
Rosenqvist won his first pole in 2019 on the road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
McLaughlin will start on the front row for the second consecutive race.
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s three cars will start 24th, 25th, and 27th tomorrow. Graham Rahal finished mid pack in the morning practice but had the slowest qualifying time. Jack Harvey was slow in practice as well. Christian Lundgaard was 17th this morning.
If you want to pick a dark horse to win Sunday, go with Takuma Sato. Sato is off to a good start this season with a 10th at St. Pete. He rolls off third tomorrow.
Will Power had another strong qualifying today. He could win from fourth.
Simon Pagenaud led the morning practice but only qualified 15th. Teammate helio Castroneves will start 6th.
Andretti Autosport- Colton Herta is the only Andretti driver ibn the top ten. Alexander Rossi was 12th, Romain Grosjean was 13th, and Devlin DeFrancesco will be 17th on the grid for the race.
Rinus VeeKay once again carried the day for Ed Carpenter Racing, qualifying eighth. VeeKay has qualified in the top ten for both of the 2022 races. After his bicycle accident mid -season last year, VeeKay had a significant drop off in results. The first two race weekends of 2022 have seen him regain his form from early 2021.
Results
Next up at 4 PM Central time is the rubber in session, followed at 4:30 by a one hour final practice where the cars will be set up in race trim. We will see what the drivers learn from that session.
Order set by points standings in reverse order
The only practice session before qualifying for tomorrow’s Expel 375 began under sunny skies and cool temperatures. The air temperature was 57 degrees when the session started.
Simon Pagenaud led the se3ssion with a best lap of 223.087 miles per hour. Felix Rosenqvist was 0.0218 mph behind. Colton Herta finished third, 0,0314 mph back.
The surprise of the session was Callum Ilott. The rookie driver for Juncos Hollinger Racing had the fourth fastest time with a speed of 222,257 mph. Texas is Ilott’s first career oval race.
Cars mostly avoided the higher groove where the PJ-1 compound had been applied. TMS has run graters over the surface in an attempt to grind the compound off and this afternoon seven cars will run their cars with a lot of down force to try to put more Firestone rubber down in those areas. We may not know if the efforts truly worked until the race tomorrow.
Some track action during practice:
Practice got off to a disjointed start with two yellow flags for seven minutes and 11 seconds within the first fifteen minutes. The remainder of the round was green.
The winners of the two races in 2021, Scott Dixon and Pato O’Ward, finished sixth and seventh, respectively.
The top 14:
Qualifying begins at 2 pm Eastern time on Peacock.
Good morning from Texas Motor Speedway
Today’s Schedule All Times Central:
9:45 AM-9:50 AM- Two Stage Pit Limiter Practice
| 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM | NTT INDYCAR SERIES PRACTICE 1-Peacock | |
| 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM | NTT INDYCAR SERIES QUALIFYING-Peacock | |
| 2:45 PM – 3:15 PM | DRIVER AUTOGRAPH SESSION (INDYCAR Display on Fan Zone) | |
| 4:00 PM – 4:30 PM 4:45 PM-5:45 PM | NTT INDYCAR SERIES PRACTICE to Rubber in high groove (7 cars)-Rahal, Power, Sato, O’Ward, Rosenqvist, Castroneves, Carpenter NTT INDYCAR SERIES PRACTICE 2- Peacock |
Temperature is predicted to be 55 degrees for the first practice, 69 degrees for qualifying and 75 degrees for the final practice.
The added practice is a last ditch effort to make the track racier and possibly kept Texas on the schedule. The slippery upper groove in the turns has limited passing opportunities the last two years. Will any one even try the top side in the final practice, or will no one want to risk possibly missing Sunday’s race?
Qualifying well could be important to success in the race if the passing lane isn’t there. Watch where cars go in Practice 1 and see if their lines change in the afternoon practice.
Yesterday wqas my first time at Texas motor Speedway. This track has a massive footprint. The track is pretty much enclosed. there are two ten story buildings in each oif the first two turns. The grandstands which run the length of the front stretch look to be at least seven stories tall. Advertising billboards and a very large video board surround the rest of the outer walls.
The scoring pylon is unusual for a track this size with positions 1-20.
This photo of the backstretch video board was taken from the pits.
Several cars were out in the paddock area as I walked through.
I hope to explore the track more today. It will be an interesting day.
I’ll be back with reports after each session, including the added session.
The Pit Window by Mike Silver 