Indycar wasn’t on track today, but I had an opportunity to go onto the bridges at Barber Motorsports Park while the Porsche series was practicing. The views are amazing. Enjoy the photos.
Category: Auto Racing
Barber Preview: Newgarden’s Playground
The NTT Indycar Series heads to Birmingham for the 10th Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama. The 17 turn, 2.38 mile course features beautifully landscaped hills and border areas with whimsical artwork scattered throughout the grounds. It is worth taking a tram ride around the entire facility to see everything.
Two things can always be expected at Barber- decent racing and rain. It seems as if rain falls at some point during the weekend every year. The forecast for this weekend calls for scattered showers and thunderstorms each day, with some breaks in the weather. The latest Sunday forecast as I write this is for late afternoon showers.
Rain is one of the storylines this weekend. Here are four things to look for.
Can Newgarden Win Three in a Row?
Josef Newgarden has turned what he considers his home track into his personal playground. He has won three of the last four races, including the last two. Will Power won two consecutive races in 2011 and 2012, and Ryan Hunter-Reay won back to back in 2013 and 2014. Newgarden is the first driver to win at Barber three times, and he can become to the first to win three in a row. His chances seem even better since Team Penske has won six of the ten races here.
The other championship contenders probably isn’t happy that Newgarden enters this race with an 18 point lead. He has a chance to significantly distance himself from the rest of the field.
Does Rossi Begin His Challenge for the Title?
Alexander Rossi had a difficult time at St. Pete with a car that wasn’t quite on pace, but he still managed a fifth place finish. At COTA he qualified second and was heading for a runner-up finish behind Will Power when they were both caught out by the late caution. Rossi salvaged ninth place.
Rossi is 40 points behind Newgarden, which is really not that far back at this point in the season, but he needs a podium and to finish ahead of Newgarden. Rossi was masterful at Long Beach in 2018, so he will have a chance to make up a lot of ground next weekend.
Will Indy Lights Wins Help Herta and O’Ward?
Colton Herta, winner of the COTA Indycar Classic, and Patricio O’Ward have won at Barber in Indy Lights. O’Ward won bot Lights races last season. How much will their experience help them this weekend? Both had strong showings at COTA. In addition to winning, Herta made the Fast Six and O’Ward advanced to round 2 of qualifying, starting eighth. I think both rookies will have good weekends again.
We can’t forget about the other rookies, Felix Rosenqvist and Marcus Ericsson. The Swedish pair have done a great job to date, although contact and mechanical issues have seen them drop in the standings. They stiil could contend for a top ten this weekend.
The R Word
This was race day at Barber last year:
The forecast looks as if there might be rain during the race, which would be an improvement. It will make for some interesting strategy. Newgarden won the rain postponed race last year when Tim Cindric called him in for rain tires before the rain began while Sebastien Bourdais tried to finish on the black primary tires.
The former Formula 1 drivers- Bourdais, Rossi, Ericsson, and Takuma Sato- along with Rosenqvist and Ben Hanley-likely have more experience driving in the rain. The weather could help them. At any rate, it should be an interesting Sunday afternoon.
Totally inaccurate predictions:
Pole- Newgarden
Winner-Rosenqvist
Cautions-0 if it doesn’t rain; 3 if it does
I will be on site beginning Thursday. While I will mainly be reporting for Wildfire Sports, I will still post my quick thoughts and possibly a couple other items here. Please check Wildfire Sports beginning Friday for my full Race Weekend reports.
Hoosier Hundred, Once the World’s Richest Dirt Race, to End May 23
Another part of Indycar’s heritage dies at the conclusion of the May 23 Hoosier Hundred. The Indiana State Fairgrounds will convert the famous one mile dirt oval to an all weather track for harness race training year round.
I find sadness in this announcement for many reasons. The Hoosier Hundred was the first major race I attended in 1958. I loved watching the cars slide through turns 1 and 2 with the dirt flying behind them. This race was at one time one of the best paying races on the USAC Championship Trail.
The early September date gave me one more day of racing before winter came to Indiana. It was something to hold onto until the following May. School had started about a week before the race, so it was also one of the last weekends to relax before the homework load got heavy.
Closing this track is another loss of racing heritage as the sport on all levels seems to be divorcing itself from its roots. The dirt tracks are where the eventual stars of the Indianapolis 500 honed their skills. While there used to be many one milt dirt tracks- the Fairgrounds, Langhorne, Sacramento, Springfield, Duquoin, and some others I’m not remembering right now- I believe only Springfield and Duquoin remain. I have always thought removing dirt tracks from the Indycar championship was a mistake. Today’s news reinforces that view.
The link below contains the release from USAC. I have been planning a series on the old dirt tracks. My timeline has just moved up.
Robert Wickens Continues Progress
The Indianapolis 500 Pace Car
Today at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway the pace car for the 103rd running ofm the Indianapolis 500 made its debut. The Corvette Grand Sport will lead the field to the green flag on May 26th.
I really like the color of this car. I thought they might go with a Camaro resembling the pace car from 1969 to continue the Mario Andretti tribute. This Corvette is a nice alternative.
Some Notes and a Drive for Dyslexia
I found out late last week about Driving for Dyslexia, a fund raising event for the Dyslexia Institute of Indiana. The late Justin Wilson worked with the students who received services, once hosting a group for a tour of his transporter at the speedway before practice. I don’t know if the kids or the parents were more impressed. As always, Justin was generous with his time helping kids who had the same issue he did.
The event is April 26 from 6 pm to 9pm at Speedway Indoor Karting. Tickets are $100 to drive and $20 just to watch. Kids 8 and under are free. More information is at this link
https://donate.diin.org/event/2019-driving-for-dyslexia/e224062
I have signed up to drive, so for just $20 you can watch me look foolish. Or you can just read my blog and watch me look foolish for free.
More 500 Entries?
Oriol Servia has said he is close to finalizing a deal to enter the 103rd running of the Indianapolis 500. My guess is this will be the third car at Arrow Schmidt Peterson.
Harding Steinbrenner Racing has begun calling drivers for their second 500 entry.
If these two cars become a reality, I have thirty five entries. A. J. Foyt Racing may have a third, which would be 36. I think that will be the final number of entries.
J. R. and Salesforce?- J. R . Hildebrand and Salesforce sent out a cryptic tweet last week about their exciting plans for May. No car was mentioned, but a photo of the car Hildebrand drove in 2018 was in the photo. I’m not counting this as an entry yet.
Winning Is Good for Business
Following Colton Herta’s win at the Indycar Classic in Austin last week, Team owners Mike Harding and George Michael Steinbrenner IV told Jim Ayello of the Indianapolis Star, that there is interest from possible sponsors. Harding sounded optimistic that they may have an announcement soon.
In 2010 Ryan Hunter-Reay was driving for Michael Andretti on a part time arrangement. After Hunter-Reay won at Long Beach, DHL began a sponsor relationship that kept Hunter-Reay on track the rest of the year and continues to this day. I hope HSR and Herta have the same good fortune.
Game Changers?
Jay Frye mentioned a while ago about two game changing announcements coming in May. Everyone assumes one is the elusive third engine manufacturer. The assumption has led to wild speculation. Cosworth has stated they are not involved. The favorite seems to be a German manufacturer, Which one?
As for the second announcement, I have no idea.
Pruett- Indycar May Return to Watkins Glen
The most exciting news item last week came from Marshall Pruett who said there is a rumor that Indycar may be racing at Watkins Glen again, sooner rather than later. The Glen is a track Indycar needs to run. It is classic and fast. Going to Watkins Glen was one of my favorite race trips.
2020 Schedule
I look for some significant changes in the schedule for 2020. I’m basing this partly on Nascar’s schedule reshuffling and wondering how NBC had a hand in it. I have no knowledge of anything imminent.
This is why a return to Watkins Glen would make sense next season. I’m not sure how long Iowa can remain without a title sponsor, but that is one race I hope never leaves the schedule.
Some COTA Leftovers
Some things from last weekend I didn’t get to:
I understand why the checkered flag has a Speedway logo on it. I am not opposed to having a sponsor logo on the flag, but this one seems larger than most. I found it a bit invasive on the purpose of the flag. Can we make it just a bit smaller?
NBC ran what I suppose was a promo for the Indianapolis 500, but it looked like it was more a promo for the fact Danica Patrick was going to be part of the broadcast. I get that NBC thinks she will help ratings (maybe), but to make her out to be bigger than the race I found distasteful.
I have nothing against her being on the broadcast. I’m neutral on Danica. I just thought that promo could have been done better with more focus on the race and event itself.
Back Thursday with a Barber preview. I will be reporting for Wildfire Sports on site next weekend, but will still have my notes and quick thoughts here.
1955: The Year Racing Almost Ended
Before the year began there was an omen. On October 30, 1954, Speedway president Wilbur Shaw was killed in a plane crash while returning from a meeting and a day at a test track in Detroit. Shaw had single handedly saved the Indianapolis Motor Speedway from demolition in 1946 when he persuaded Tony Hulman to purchase it and revive the Memorial Day race.
This program is another memorabilia show find. It was a bargain price. Tjis is the first program I have purchased at one of these shows that didn’t have a race day scorecrard in it. Given the events of the day, I’m not surprised.
The 1955 program dedicated full page to Shaw:
Tony Hulman assumed the president’s role, which he held until his death in 1977.
The race started at 10 am Central Standard Time. The forty minute pre-race lists Dinah Shore singing “Back Home Again in Indiana.” The Purdue Band played the National Anthem. There was no invocation. To the best of my memory, there was no invocation until the race started running on Sundays rather than May 30. I know a couple of people who may know if that’s correct.
The program has a full page ad for Eastern Airlines with a message. from former track owner Eddie Rickenbacker. Rickenbacker sold the speedway to Hulman.
Another phot I found interesting was in Champion Spark Plug ad:
The speedway record page shows that all track records except one, for the first lap were set in 1954. All but six milestones belonged to either Vukovich or Jack McGrath. I don’t think McGrath gets enough credit for his performances in the 500. The lone record not set in 1954 was set in 1953.
The month of May began with high anticipation. Bill Vukovich, winner of the 1953 and 1954 races, was favored to become the first driver to win three 500s in a row. Shaw and Mauri Rose both had a chance to do this but could not. But Vuky was probably given better odds than either of them were at the hat trick. Vukovich came to Indianapolis with the same crew headed by Jim Travers and Frank Coon. Howard Keck, who owned the winning car from 1953-54, decided not to enter the 1955 race. Vukovich signed to drive for Lindsey Hopkins.
The race began with a furious duel between McGrath and Vukovich which lasted 50 laps. McGrath pulled into the pits with mechanical problems. As he was working on his car, one of the worst accidents in the history of the 500 occurred on the backstretch. Vukovich tried to avoid the car of Rodger Ward and collided with Al Keller, who had gone into the grass and returned to the track. Vukovich’s car launched over the wall, flipped several times, and caught fire. He was killed instantly.
The race went on and Bob Sweikert won.
The 39th Indianapolis 500 was just the beginning of a tragic year in auto racing. Four of the first seven starters in the race would die in racing accidents before the 1956 race- Vukovich, McGrath, Jerry Hoyt, and Walt Faulkner. Bettenhausen was killed in practice in 1961 the day before qualifying began. I June, 83 spectators were killed during the LeMans 24 hour race when a fatigued driver crashed into the crowd. \
There were calls for a total ban on racing. The American Automobile Association decided they would no longer sanction racing. Tony Hulman formed the United States Auto Club to sanction the 500 and other races. The organization was the sanctioning body of the 500 through 1997.
Indycar Classic at COTA- Quick Thoughts
That was an entertaining and dramatic race. Good battles throughout and quite a twist of fate at the end for Will Power.
Congratulations to Colton Herta and the Harding Steinbrenner team. They have had this track figured out since the February test. The win was a great team rebound from a rough Friday.
George Michael Steinbrenner IV looked stunned in the post race interview.
The rookies at fun to watch. What a great move O’Ward put on Rahal.
Great job for Jack Harvey with a second straight top 10. Meyer Shank Racing is doing a steady solid job this year.
Having the blend line right at the entrance to turn 1 made for some interesting moments.
Weird to see Ganassi struggle as a team like they did today. Yet somehow Dixon is third in points. He will be a factor by the halfway mark of the season.
Rahal had his best race in quite a while. This is the most comfortable I’ve seen him in the car since the UAK was introduced last year.
The no track limits call helped the racing and made for some great action. This rule can be COTA’s unique feature.
The caution period seemed to last longer than necessary.
O’Ward and Carlin need to practice pit stops. He lost at least two spots with his slow releases.
Power and Rossi got burned sticking to their strategy. This is not the first time Team Penske has been burned by a caution by not pitting early. Rossi got caught out by this situation at Portland last year as well.
NBC Coverage
Great camera work on a very photogenic facility.
Does every pit stop by every driver need to be shown? A great pass was missed because NBC was showing a backmarker’s stop.
There were too many and too long replays of the start of the race and too many in race recaps. This isn’t F1 where there is nothing happening on track.
I like the side pylon where the whole field is shown at once. I like that the board shows the tire choices and the push to pass time remaining. It’s way better than nothing than the intervals all the time.
Look for my full race report tomorrow on Wildfire Sports. Back here next week with some Indycar news and another Indianapolis 500 program feature.
COTA Qualifying-Quick Thoughts
Will Power is trying to pass Mario Andretti’s pole record this season.
Another first round red flag cost Sebastien Bourdais a chance to advance. Has to be frustrating for him, especially since his teammate, Santino Ferrucci, advanced. The red flag to end group 2 may have cost Marco Andretti. Unlike St. Pete, the reds came with less than a minute left in each session, so no one can complain about not having a shot.
I’m not so sure now that the race will be caution free. Turn 19 could be an action packed spot tomorrow.
This rookie class is good. Four of the six advanced to the second round. Felix Rosenqvist was the only to get through to the Fast Six for the second race in a row. He has out-qualified Scott Dixon twice. Rosenqvist had the fastest qualifying lap, 1:45.5 in round 2.
It’s great to see the rookies contending for starting spots at the front every week.
Look for the Power-Rossi front row a lot this season, though not always in this order.
Cars are sliding a lot, which will make for some exciting racing.
Round 2 was one of the best qualifying rounds I’ve seen.
Thank goodness there are no track limits in turn 19. The series might want to move some Porta Potties around, however.
The cars of Pato O’ Ward and Kyle Kaiser look very similar. Doesn’t help that they are numbers 31 and 32.
The race could be 2 hours long at these speeds.
A full qualifying report will be on Wildfire Sports later this evening.
The Pit Window by Mike Silver 