Uncategorized – Page 21 – The Pit Window by Mike Silver

Andretti F1 Could Shake Up Indycar Grid- in 2023

October 11, 2021 thepitwindow2 Comments

Photo: On which side of the Atlantic will Colton Herta drive in 2022?

Marti Update: I am happy to report that Marti will be coming home Wednesday. She is strong enough that she will be safe at home. It has been a long road, and I thank everyone for their support these past four months. It has meant a lot to us.

Just my opinion:

Michael Andretti is about to take control of the Alfa Romeo Formula 1 team. The news, first reported by my good friends at Pit Lane Parley, gained momentum this weekend with reports from several news outlets. Immediately fans w began hand wringing over Indycar losing Colton Herta and Pato O’Ward for 2022. Relax. I think both will still be around next year, and both drivers should contend for the championship. 2023 might be a different story.

First, O’Ward is only getting n F1 test as a reward for his first Indycar win. I don’t believe McLaren has an opening. There is an open seat at Alfa Romeo for next year, and thus we have the panic about Herta jumping into it.

My first thought is Herta does not have enough points toward the FIA Superlicense needed to drive in F1. While that is technically correct, he can still obtain one.

A Superlicense requires 40 points, obtained through winning series championship and and winning races. Herta currently has 32 points. Driver who have more than 30 points can receive a special dispensation to drive in F1 next year.

The one good thing that could come of Herta jumping to F1 is that the 26 car would be open for 2021 Indy Lights champion Kyle Kirkwood. Kirkwood’s spot on the grid is uncertain at the moment, though I have heard some vague talk about a possible partnership coming together for him. Kirkwood is every bit as good as Herta, and it would be a shame if he were not on the 2022 grid.

I still don’t think either Herta or O’Ward will be in F1 next season. 2023 is more realistic. Whenever they leave, it will be a blow to Indycar to take out two of the best young drivers in a year which could also see retirements among some the older veterans. Will Power will be ending his two year contract with Team Penske in 2023, Scott Dixon will be 42 years old, and Simon Pagenaud will be 39. Helio Castroneves will be 48 after 2023, assuming he is still driving full time after next year.

Rain Cuts ROP Short; Grosjean and Johnson Have Long Wait to Finish

October 6, 2021 thepitwindow

The on again, off again rain finally cut short Rookie Orientation at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway around 4 pm this afternoon, leaving Romain Grosjean and Jimmie Johnson short of completing their rookie tests. The drivers, who just completed their first season in Indycar, will have to wait until the open test in April to finish the final laps of phase three of the 40 lap test. The afternoon stoppage was the second one of the day, and there was not enough time to get the track dry for more running.

These photos by Joe Skibinski of Indycar sum up the day. Race cars and dark clouds

Grosjean needs two more laps at 215 mph or better, while Johnson needs about five laps.

Johnson had a bit of an advantage as he remains with his Chip Ganassi Racing team. Grosjean not only had the stress of his first time driving on the IMS oval, but also the concerns of his first day with a new team. It was his first day as a driver for Andretti Autosport.

Romain Grosjean photo by Chris Owens, Indycar

Asked about the stress, Grosjean said,

“I think really the most stressful part was to know what my first lap speed was going to be. You grow up or move from there. I had no idea what to expect to get to 205. Then it went pretty smoothly, enjoyed
it. When you have to go above 215, that’s where the fun starts. ”

Grosjean felt at ease with the support he received

“I got some good explanation, some good tip from the guys, from the engineers also, James Hinchcliffe came in the morning, which I appreciated a lot. Michael was there, as well. When you’ve got those guys, they know what they’re talking about, so that was great to
be with them and to know what to do.”

Jimmie Johnson photo by Chris Owens Indycar

Johnson fuflilled a childhood dream by running the oval in an Indycar.

“… just a special day to drive an INDYCAR at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. I have truly, truly enjoyed it. It was a childhood dream come true. The experience is more than expected and something that I really, really enjoyed.”

He said today has heightened his interest in driving in the 500.

“(My interest) Definitely, definitely increased. I think
the look I had at Texas increased it and brought me here.
A little short on laps for what I wanted to experience today.
As comfortable as I felt my interest is at the highest it’s
been, certainly my comfort is at the highest it’s been. All
that said, there’s still a lot of work between now and really
pulling through with this opportunity.”

In an interview just after the day ended, Johnson’s face lit up when he was asked if today made him want to run the 500. While he admitted there is “still a lot of work to do” for him to be able to run in May, he seems determined to make it happen.

It was an exciting day to see two veteran drivers turn their first Indycar laps on an oval. For Grosjean, it was just the second time he had seen open wheel cars on the oval. Johnson, who has won at IMS four times in NASCAR on the oval, I enjoyed watching him run in a different type of car.

The rookie class for the 106th running of the Indianapolis 500 could be very deep in talent and numbers. In addition to Grosjean and Johnson, there could be up to four drivers from this year’s Indy Lights Series, plus maybe a current NASCAR driver.

Race Day-A Glorious Season Ends with a Bit of Drama

September 26, 2021 thepitwindow

Today’s schedule: Times Eastern

Indycar’s last race day of the season is always bittersweet. We celebrate the season champion while a touch of sadness comes to our hearts as the cars go silent for five months. I take consolation in knowing the off season is shorter than usual.

Yesterday’s qualifying created a little drama for the race. Josef Newgarden, a distant third in the standings, will lead the field to the green flag at 3:45 Eastern. He has the opportunity to lead the most laps and win the race. points leader Alex Palou can still win the championship by finishing 11th or better to cover second place Pato O’Ward. To cover Newgarden, Palou just has to finish the race.

After qualifying, Palou said,

“Yeah, I think we are in a good position. We have a really fast car. Obviously we didn’t get through because of that yellow flag, as others. We are fast. I think we have lots of chances, but we still need to finish the job tomorrow. It’s not going to be easy. There’s a lot of fast drivers here, lots of good cars. There’s some drivers starting up the back as well.

We’ll try to have a good run and overtake some cars before that.”

Newgarden is thrilled for the chance to win, but concedes,

“I don’t know what’s going to happen. I really don’t. Alex has been extremely strong. I think if he sticks to his program, he should be in good shape. He’s been very resilient this year and done a tremendous job. Really the same with Pato. I don’t see him making a lot of mistakes, he’s always a charger.

If they have a normal day, I don’t expect too much craziness to happen. But like I said, it’s unpredictable. You just don’t know in these events. We’ll see what we get tomorrow.”

O’Ward has had an up and down weekend. He wasn’t happy with his car on Friday, but yesterday he just missed the Fast Six. He feels good about today’s race.

“We definitely have a better car than what we’ve had, at least last weekend. Yeah, happy about that. I think the guys have done a great job in being efficient with changes, just working together to make everything just go a little bit better.

But, yeah, I mean, it’s hard to say. There’s a lot of really quick cars out there. We’ve got champions in the front, people that know how to win races, people that know how to win championships.

Yeah, it won’t be easy. But we’re definitely going to send it tomorrow. ”

Enjoy the race. I’ll be back after the race with a wrap up.

Qualifying Groups

September 25, 2021 thepitwindow

The title contenders all in group 1. I think one of them gets squeezed out.

Tire Choices

September 12, 2021 thepitwindow

Saturday at Portland

September 11, 2021September 11, 2021 thepitwindow

Good morning from the great northwest- side of Indianapolis, that is. Marti was transferred to rehab yesterday afternoon, so i will be covering the final three from races from home. I will miss dinner at Homegrown Smokers in Portland tonight.

Indycar has a hectic schedule today with a 75 minute early practice, qualifying an hour and 45 minutes later, then a 30 minute race prep session. Qualifying will be key for the title contenders. The closer to the front you are, the better chance you have of avoiding a turn 1 catastrophe.

Today’s schedule: All times Pacific. All of today’s sessions are live on Peacock. Qualifying will re air on NBCSN at 11:30 pm Eastern.

https://thepitwindow.blog/2021/09/10/portland-grand-prix-preview-return-to-the-west/

Notes

Callum Ilott will drive in the final three races of the season for Juncos-Hollinger Racing. Last year’s T2 runner up has to be considere3d a strong candidate for this seat full time in 2022. He was originally slated just for this weekend, but Ilott was able to clear his schedule to run all three Indycar races. The continuity will be helpful to the team as they prepare to go fulltime next season.

Today and tomorrow there will be ceremonies to commemorate the 20th anniversary of 9/11. The details can be found here:

INDYCAR To Commemorate 9/11 Through Charitable Activations, Special Race Weekend Ceremonies

Indy Lights points leader David Malukas won the pole for Race 1, which runs immediately after Indycar qualifying. The race airs on Peacock. Kyle Kirkwood, who trails Malukas by 3 points, starts fifth.

Marshall Pruett of Racer magazine confirmed today what I had been thinking. The IMS road course will serve as a backup if one or both of the California races cannot go on as planned. Get ready for Harvest Classic 2.0. I hope it doesn’t come to that.

Quick Thoughts on the Race That Changed the Season

August 22, 2021 thepitwindow

The first quarter of the race looked like a high speed version of Nashville- poor judgment, messy restarts, and yellows breeding yellows.

I have never seen the championship battle change as quickly as it did last night. While Alexx Palou is still second, it looks like the title is between Josef Newgarden and Pato O’Ward. They both have momentum while Palou has two consecutive DNFs. Neither of the DNFs were Palou’s fault.

Romain Grosjean had a nice oval debut. He ran in the top 10 for awhile and made some good passes. He also had some moments drifting high as he exited turn 3.

Scott McLaughlin had his second oval top 5 of the season.

Rings VeeKay continues his downward trend. After his win in May on the IMS road course, he has gone backwards jn the standings.

I dknow what it will take for an Andretti car to win another race. Alexander Rossi and Colton Herta both had cars capable of winning, and neither saw the end of the race. Rossi’s car was not good after his last pit stop, and Herta had the race in control until his drive shift broke.

Palou’ s challenge-Get back to racing hard. His once comfortable lead allowed him tobe a little conservative on track, but now he needs to regain his early season form. He had moved up quite a bit before he was taken out of the race.

A one day show at this point I f the season in yesterday’s heat semed to take its toll on the paddock.

I miss the Friday night practice.

I will have a more detailed article tonight. I will be driving home in a bit, and I just wanted to get some thoughts out.

The point standings:

Bob Jenkins Memorial Streamed at 10 AM Today

August 16, 2021 thepitwindow2 Comments

From the Indianapolis Motor Speedway:

Robert F. Jenkins
September 4, 1947 – August 9, 2021
A memorial service will be held virtually at 10:00am EST, Monday, August 16^th. The service will be streamed globally at https://bobjenkinsmemorial.com
Memorial contributions may be made in Bob’s name to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum, a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization. Bob was a true friend of the IMS Museum and he will be missed.
Click here to donate now or via mail to:
Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum’
4750 West 16th Street
Indianapolis, Indiana 46222
In his own humble words: “A race fan that got lucky” ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

Warm up Results

August 14, 2021 thepitwindow

RANK	CAR NO.	DRIVER	TEAM	ENGINE	QUICK LAP	DIFFERENCE	TOTAL LAPS
1	8	Marcus Ericsson	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda	1:11.3705	——	22
2	27	Alexander Rossi	Andretti Autosport	Honda	1:11.3895	0.0190	18
3	2	Josef Newgarden	Team Penske	Chevy	1:11.4639	0.0934	22
4	60	Jack Harvey	Meyer Shank Racing	Honda	1:11.4951	0.1246	16
5	59	Max Chilton	Carlin	Chevy	1:11.5760	0.2055	18
6	30	Takuma Sato	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	Honda	1:11.6697	0.2992	20
7	15	Graham Rahal	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	Honda	1:11.6743	0.3038	22
8	20	Conor Daly	Ed Carpenter Racing	Chevy	1:11.6818	0.3113	20
9	9	Scott Dixon	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda	1:11.7051	0.3346	18
10	51	Romain Grosjean	Dale Coyne Racing w/Rick Ware Racing	Honda	1:11.7573	0.3868	21
11	28	Ryan Hunter-Reay	Andretti Autosport	Honda	1:11.9089	0.5384	11
12	10	Alex Palou	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda	1:11.9822	0.6117	15
13	3	Scott McLaughlin	Team Penske	Chevy	1:12.0939	0.7234	21
14	4	Dalton Kellett	AJ Foyt Enterprises	Chevy	1:12.0952	0.7247	20
15	6	Helio Castroneves	Meyer Shank Racing	Honda	1:12.1239	0.7534	19
16	26	Colton Herta	Andretti Autosport	Honda	1:12.1262	0.7557	16
17	21	Rinus VeeKay	Ed Carpenter Racing	Chevy	1:12.1341	0.7636	19
18	45	Christian Lundgaard	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	Honda	1:12.1840	0.8135	23
19	18	Ed Jones	Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser Sullivan	Honda	1:12.2053	0.8348	18
20	22	Simon Pagenaud	Team Penske	Chevy	1:12.2407	0.8702	18
21	14	Sebastien Bourdais	AJ Foyt Enterprises	Chevy	1:12.2719	0.9014	22
22	7	Felix Rosenqvist	Arrow McLaren SP	Chevy	1:12.2981	0.9276	22
23	5	Pato O’Ward	Arrow McLaren SP	Chevy	1:12.4092	1.0387	23
24	12	Will Power	Team Penske	Chevy	1:12.4183	1.0478	20
25	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda	1:12.5416	1.1711	20
26	29	James Hinchcliffe	Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport	Honda	1:12.8564	1.4859	18
27	75	RC Enerson	Top Gun Racing	Chevy	1:12.9689	1.5984	15
28	52	Cody Ware	Dale Coyne Racing w/Rick