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Spring Training at COTA- The Season Begins

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Greetings from Austin. The crazy, turbulent  off season is over.  We have seen a huge change in ownership of the NTT Indycar Series and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, champion drivers summarily dropped from their rides, new associations formed. But we are now past that and we are, I hope just one day away from cars running on track at Circuit of the Americas.

The weather may have something to say about that. The forecast from Indycar Weatherman Sunday night around 6 pm:

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Wednesday looks more favorable, especially temperature wise. It is a wait and see game. Today is media day and a lot of stories and some livery reveals are on tap.  Losing an entire day of running will be frustrating. There are several things teams were looking to find out in the two day test.

First Aeroscreen Test for Some Teams

Some teams have not tested with the aeroscreen as of yet. They were hoping to use these two days to gather a lot of information and get feedback from their drivers. I don’t know if lack of track time will be a huge setback for a team as far as the aeroscreen goes. Most drivers and teams who have tested with seemed to adapt quickly.

Aeroscreen in Traffic

COTA was to be the first time cars ran in traffic with the aeroscreen. Everyone wants to see how the new device affects passing and how air comes off the cars with the screen. Until the green flag at St. Pete, we won’t have an idea of how a closely bunched field will affect turbulence.

New COTA Track Limits

Drivers will get a chance to test the new turn 19 track limits this week. In last year’s race cars could go outside the track in turn 19, creating a wider arc. The new limits involve a timing loop which the cars must pass over, staying on the intended track surface. The result will probably be slower lap speeds. How will the racing be affected by the track limit?

In Car Cameras

Indycar plans to check locations of the in- car cockpit cameras during the test days. A place for a camera was built in to the top center of the aeroscreen frame. I don’t think it would be hard to change or add locations in the frame.

Rookies

The rookies, Rinus VeeKay, Oliver Askew, Alex Palou, and  Scott McLaughlin will get some on track experience against the series veterans. I will watch their times, keeping in mind this is still a test.

 

Rolex Indycar driver Update

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As of 6:24 Eastern Time, with seven hours and 16 minutes to go, here is where the card Indycar drivers are involved with are, by driver name.

Scott Dixon.  1

Sebastien Bourdais. 2

Ryan Hunter-Reay  5

Simon Pagenaud.   6

Alexander Rossi.  10

Ben Hanley.   9 ( 2nd in class)

Colton Herta. 29 (6th in class)

Rolex 24 Begins Today

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The 58th Rolex 24 gets underway today with three practice sessions and qualifying. The Thursday night practice is one of my favorite sessions of the entire year of racing. There is nothing on the line,just cars driving through the darkness.

Tomorrow has the final practice round before Saturday’s race. Most of Friday features the  four hour Michelin Pilot race.

Saturday the 24 hour race begins an hour earlier than it has the past few years. The start Saturday and finish Sunday are on NBC.

I will have the television schedule up later. I’m leaving for the track and will provide updates periodically, including my famous well read mid race report. Thanks to both of you who read that one.

Has Daly Found a Home?

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Today’s announcement of Conor Daly getting the road/street course seat in the number 20 car was the most positive driver news of the past seven weeks. It has been an off season of seismic changes in the NTT Indycar Series paddock. What a great feeling to see the news and smile instead of thinking “What?” Here are some of my thoughts about what this could mean for Daly and the series.

I can’t think of a better fit at ECR than Conor Daly. Both he and Ed have very strong ties to IMS and the series. The move strengthens ECR as Indycar’s ambassador team.

2020 will be the first year since 2017 that Daly will drive for just one team. He drove for multiple teams in 2015, 2018, and 2019.

I’m very happy the Air Force continues with Daly. They could not have picked a better representative.

We can call car 20 the Indiana car.

I hope Ed Carpenter will allow Daly to drive in other series as his schedule allows.  He had success in the Super Trofeo Series last year. Daly is willing to drive anything; I hope gets the opportunity.

I could see Daly at ECR for a few years. Next season may be a getting acquainted period, but it will be interesting to track Daly’s performance compared to Ed Jones’s and Jordan King’s in comparable events.

Daly should be a huge help to Rinus VeeKay in his rookie year in Indycar.

I have seen Daly drive in several series. It seems as the car he is in always improves when he drives it. The road/street course help he can give this team will be invaluable.

Daly may have an even better chance at the 500 in 2020 than he had last season at Andretti. He will get more attention at ECR since it’s a smaller team. Also, the team is really good at IMS.

Wild conjecture on my part: Is this hire a part of Carpenter’s succession plan? Is Ed contemplating giving up the ovals other than Indy in a year or two and letting Conor drive full time?

 

If nothing else breaks, I will be back Thursday with annual (okay first annual) podcast edition.

 

 

Daly Completes ECR Lineup

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Photo: Daly’s US Air Force livery from last year

From Ed Carpenter Racing:

CONOR DALY COMPLETES ED CARPENTER RACING’S 2020 DRIVER LINEUP

This is a great spot for Daly. I’m glad the Air Force is still on board. I hope they keep the same livery he had last year. ECR should give him a decent shot at contending at the 500.  More thoughts later.