Road America Wrap Up

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Indycar photo by Joe Skibinski

A couple of days late with this, but sometimes life gets in the way. Road America never disappoints for atmosphere, beauty, or racing. The trip there always seems like going to another Indianapolis 500 just a few weeks later. One visit a year doesn’t seem like enough. One day I will have to work the Road America IMSA race into my schedule.

A few more thoughts on the 2022 Sonsio Grand Prix:

Veekay’s Summer Fade 2.0?

In 2021, Rinus Veekay was involved in a bicycle accident which kept him out of the Road America event. When he returned, he didn’t seem to have quite the form he showed earlier in the season. This year, he is again on a downward trend which started with the GMR Grand Prix.

The first four races this season- finishes of 6th, 10th, 13th, and 3rd with one pole. Average finish 8th. 7th in points after Barber.

Races 5-8- finishes of 23rd, 33rd, 16th, and 17th. Average finish 22.2. Currently 14th in points.

I hope VeeKay can turn it around in the second half of the season.

AMSP’s RA Power Shortage

When Pato O’Ward’s car lost power on lap 46 Sunday, it was the second time in two years at Road America that the team had a power failure. In 2021 Kevin Magnussen’s car stopped on lap 33. Their second car finished ninth last year and sixth this year. I’m just pointing out an odd coincidence here.

Indycar Feuds?

Will Power was extremely angry with Devlin DeFrancesco after Sunday’s race. DeFrancesco bumped Power going into turn 5, spinning the then points leader and ruining his chance to extend his lead. Power retaliated after the race by running into DeFrancesco on the cool down lap.

I hope this disagreement is settled off track. Indycar is heading to some tracks where retaliation is dangerous/

Conor Daly also mentioned being angry with certain unnamed drivers. His anger is usually directed toward Santino Ferrucci, who wasn’t driving Sunday.

Indycar feuds don’t usually last too long. The long break between race may cool things off on its own.

Indycar racing has been really good this season. At Mid ohio the series has a chance to tie a 190 mark with nine different pole winners to begin a season. Marcus Ericsson and Alex Palou are still looking for their first pole this year. Just saying.

Stay cool and hydrated during this very hot weather.

Quick Thoughts-Sonsio Grand Prix at Road America

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Andretti Autosport is back. With finishes of third, fourth, and fifth today, the team is beginning to regain its form at the front. Alexander Rossi now has two straight podiums and a pole.

Josef Newgarden got rid of a lot of frustrastion today. Newgarden wasn’t happy at Detroit not winning the race after winning the pole. His frustration mounted when rossi edged him yesterday for the pole.

Is Rossi making a lateral move for 2023? Once again today, slow fueling cost him the lead on the first pit stop. He never regained the lead. His new team, Arrow McLaren SP continued their pit stop issues today with some slow fueling.

Rhahal Letterman Lanigan racing had their best day in quite some time. Graham Rahal finished eighth, Christian Lundgaard was 10th, and Jack Harvey was 13th.

Newgarden is the only driver with multiple wins in 2022.

Simona DeSilvestro finished 21st in her season debut, and on the lead lap. It was a fine start for Paretta Autosport.

Marcus Ericsson is beginning to do championship things. He had a third secured, bit got to second and now leads the title fight by 27 points. It is at least the sixth time the leader has changed after a race this year.

Callum Ilott finally had a decent race and fiished 11th. It was nice to see him run without issues today.

The hill in turn 5
Bottom of turn 5

Today’s crowd had to be one of the biggest I’ve seen since Indycar returned in 2016.

Turn 5 saw lots of passing action and a couple of mishaps today, including Alex Palou going off track and Will Power’s spin.

Palou gets out of his car

I will have a full wrap up tomorrow. Thanks for following along this weekend. The next race isn’t for three weeks. Enjoy the break.

Race Day at Road America

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Today’s schedule: All Times Central

June 12, 2022
7:00 a.m. Gates Open
8:25 a.m. Indy Pro 2000 R#2
9:40 a.m. GF INDY LIGHTS Race Peacock
10:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m. Family Fun Zone Hours
11:45 a.m. NTT INDYCAR SERIES RACE NBC; Peacock
2:15 p.m. RADICAL CUP R#3
3:20 p.m. Vintage Indy Registry

Tire choices:

Colton Herta will serve a six place grid penalty for an unapproved engine change.

It appears Will Power wil try to use the same strategy he used in Detroit last week. I’m not sure that will work on a longer track without a yellow period.

Race time temperature is expected to be 64 degrees and only moving up to 65 by race end.

Alex Palou was fastest in the final warmup yesterday afternoon.

We could see the points leader change again today. Power has a lkead of just three over Marcus Ericsson and just 14 over Alex Palou in fourth.

Alexander Rossi hopes to convert his pole spot into his first win in three years today. His last win came at Road America in 2019.

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Rossi’s Black Strategy Pays off with Road America Pole

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It worked for Josef Newgarden last year at Road America, and it worked again for Alexander Rossi in 2022. Rossi ran the entire eight minbutes of the The Fast Six on sticker primary tires, and he becomes the eighth pole sitter in eight races this season.

Rossi’s pole winning lap of 1:44.8656 edged Newgarden by0.0715 seconds.

Rossi explained the tire choice in the post qualifying press conference.

“I think the Firestone blacks, the
primaries, were a pretty easy decision based on what Josef
did last year. I think you saw quite a few guys besides
myself on them as well.
It’s just with the nature of the track, it being so long, a new
black is usually a little bit better than a used red. That
being said it was still a lot of work to get it done. Happy we
were able to achieve it.”

Rossi backed up his second place finish at Detroit last weekend with two strong days in practice and qualifying. The last time Rossi started on the front row at road America, in 2019, he led flag to flag and won by 28 seconds. I’m not expecting that kind of blowout tomorrow, but Rossi does know how to control a race.

Josef Newgarden

Josef Newgarden looked to have the strongest car going into qualifying, but he chose to run used red s. It was an odd choice considering he used the black tires to win the pole last year.

Will Power, who won Detroit from 16th on the grid, will have to nearly duplicate that feat Sunday as he starts 15th.

The only incident came at the start of Round 2 when Callum Ilott locked up the reartires in turn 14 and slid off track. Ilott made the second round after sitting out last week with a hand injury.

Notes

The Fast Six had cars from what we can now call the Big Four- Team Penske, Arrow McLaren SP, and two cars each from Chip Ganassi Racing and Andretti Autosport.

The last time eight different pole winners began the season? 1961. That year the first nine races had a different pole winner. No, I cannot name them.

Colton Herta had the fastest lap of the entire session, 1:44.4038 in Round 2.

A final 30 minute practice is scheduled for 4:20 pm. Rain is expected around 4:15.

O’Ward Fastest in Morning Practice

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Pato O’Ward led the pre qualifying practice with a time of 1:45.268. Will Power held the lead before O’Ward’s hot lap and he finished just behind the leader with a 1:45.3849 lap. Alex Palou was third and Alexander Rossi fourth.

Qualifying for the Sonsio Grand Prix at Road America begins at 12:45 Central time.

I arrived at the track about 10 minutes into the practice session and immediately headed to turn 5. New this year at Road America are placards with the turn number and a QR code to bring upo a track map.

Simona DeSilvestro turned her first laps in an Indycar since rthe 2021 Indianapolis 500 yesterday. As expected the team is till seeking some speed.

Qualifying Groups

Group 1

Will Power

Alexander Rossi

Colton Herta

Romain Grosjean

Scott Dixon

Christian Lundgaard

Simon Pagenaud

Callum Ilott

Devlin DeFrancesco

Rinus VeeKay

\akuma Sato

Dalton Kellett

Tatiana Calderon

Group 2

Pato O’Ward

Alex Palou

Josef Newgarden

Marcus Ericsson

Scott McLaughlin

Felix Rosenqvist

Helio Castroneves

David Malukas

Conor Daly

Graham Rahal

Jack Harvey

Jimmie Johnson

Kyle Kirkwood

Simona DeSilvestro

Rossi Leads Practice 1

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Alexander Rossi and Colton Herta led an Andretti 1-2 in the openeing round of practice yesterday afternoon at road America. The teammates exchanged the top spot a couple of times in the last few minutes of the extended session.

Much of the session saw few cars on track as teams tried to save their tires for the race. In the end there was about the same amount of activity as in a 45 minute practice round. The 75 minutes was an experiment, and I would rather see two shorter sessions on Friday than one long one.

Results:

Today’s Schedule:

Saturday, June 11, 2022 All Times Central
7:00 a.m. Gates Open
8:00 a.m. Indy Pro 2000 Q2
8:45 a.m. INDY LIGHTS P2
9:45 a.m. INDYCAR SERIES Practice 2 Peacock
11:00 a.m. USF2000 R#1
12:00 p.m. INDY LIGHTS Qualifying

12:45 p.m. NTT INDYCAR SERIES Qualifying/Firestone Fast 6 Peacock
2:15 p.m. Indy Pro 2000 R#1
3:20 p.m. USF2000 R#2
4:20 p.m. NTT INDYCAR SERIES Final Practice Peacock
5:05 p.m. RADICAL CUP R#2
6:10 p.m. Vintage Indy Registry

I will probably get to the track in the middle of the morning practice,and I will have a more detailed report.

Road America Preview

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Today’s Schedule All Times Central

Friday, June 10, 2022
7:00 a.m. Gates Open
8:00 a.m. USF2000 P1
8:45 a.m. Indy Pro 2000 P1
9:30 a.m. RADICAL CUP P2
10:30 a.m. USF2000 Q1
11:15 a.m. Indy Pro 2000 Q1
12:00 p.m. Vintage Indy Registry
12:45 p.m. RADICAL CUP Quals
1:00 p.m. INDY LIGHTS Autograph Session Fan Village
1:30 p.m. USF2000 Q2
2:00 p.m. NTT INDYCAR SERIES Autograph Session Fan Village
2:15 p.m. INDY LIGHTS P1
3:30 p.m. INDYCAR SERIES Practice 1 Peacock
4:45 p.m. RADICAL CUP R#1
5:50 p.m. Vintage Indy Registry

Note: I will be leaving this evening and be at Road America tomorrow morning. I believe I have recovered well enough to make the trip, but it will be a game time decision.

And just like that the season reaches the halfway mark. Road America and the Sonsio Grand Prix at Road America, the eighth race of the NTT Indycar Series season, also marks the end of an intense stretch of six weeks of activity. A three week run at the end of July is the only other long group of weekends remaining. The way the schedule is stacked is one of the things I don’t like about the series. I would rather see races spread out from March through October. ( Don’t say football. I don’t watch it so I don’t care.

This weekend’s event features two women in the field outside the Indianapolis 500 for the first time in almost nine years. Simona DeSilvestro and Paretta Autosport open their three race season, and join Tatiana Calderon of A. J Foyt Racing on the grid. Paretta Autosport will also enter Mid Ohio and Nashvlle.

Points Battle Continues

No clear favorite has emerged yet for the championship. The top our are separated by just 14 points. The lead has shifted between five drivers over the first seven races. Will Power is ahead of Marcus Ericsson. at the moment by just three points . The lead could shift again Sunday, though I think we are close to establishing the top four or five for the stretch run.

Andretti Resurgence?

Can Colton Herta turn his outstanding Road America qualifying into a win?

If Andretti Autosport is going to et back into the game, Road America is the track to do it. The team gained some momentum in Detroit last week with Alexander Rossi finishing second and Colton Herta coming home eighth. Rossi dominate in winning here in 2019. Herta has one pole and three other front row starts. This pair could start a charge to the front of the pack this weekend. Rossi has moved up to seventh in points with a fifth at Indianapolis and and a second place finish last week. Herta has fallen back to 11th in points, but I think he still has at least one more win left in him for 2022.

AMSP Now Part of Big 4?

O’Ward after winning at Barber

Arrow McLaren SP is close to joining the Big three of Andretti, Penske, and Ganassi. Both of their full time cars, wit Pato O’Ward and Felix Rosenqvist have finished in the top 10 the last two races. In race 2 at Road America in 2020 O’Ward and Rosenqvist put on a great battle for the lead. Rosenqvist, driving for Ganassi at the time, took the lead with two laps to go or the win. I look for another strong performance from these two.

For the race, Alexander Rossi will break his 44 race winless streak Sunday. This is the time of year when the top teams begin to assert themselves. There are now four teams strong enough to win any weekend, and Andretti is ready to rejoin the fight.

Ilott Cleared to Drive; Another Tweak to Practice Time

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Just a couple of news items as we head toward the season’s halfway point

Callum Ilott has been cleared to drive this weekend. The Juncos Hollinger racing driver injured his hand in a crash during the Indianapolis 500, and missed last week’s race at Detroit. Ilott will be in the car at road America. Natural road courses seem to be the rookie’s strength. he was on his way to his best finish at barber until a spin put him at the back of the field.

Practice Session Time

Indycar will make another change to its practice session this weekend. Earlier this season Indycar allotted an hour to complete the 45 minutes of on track time. The intent was to get the full 45 minutes of track in despite stoppages for tow ins or accidents. It hasn’t quite worked with multiple incidents which have not allowed for a full session.

Tomorrow’s first practice will be 75 minutes, going from 3:330-4:445 pm Central time. Teams will be allowed to use the red tires tomorrow instead of Saturday, a move that Indycar hopes will encourage more cars to take advantage of the time.

Some teams have complained of the lack of practice time. Let’s see if they use the extra time they are given. I appreciate Indycar’s willingness to adjust to find a good solution.