Welcome to Mid Ohio

thepitwindow

Greetings from Mid Ohio. As usual, the track has been busy since 8 am. The entire Road to Indy, Mazda MX5, and Stadium Super Trucks join the NTT Indycar Series this weekend.

MX5 Cup is on track now for practice.  I’m hearing that the campground is unusually full for the first day. I hope that’s a good sign for attendance.  It looks as if Sunday’s race will have the heat that Iowa’s race lost after the storm. The forecast high for race day is 90 degrees.

Today’s Indycar Schedule (All Times EDT):

Indycar Practice  1-  11;20 am

Indycar Practice 2-    3:15 pm

Both practices are on NBC Gold.

Mid Ohio is usually the weekend when some news about the next season begins trickling out. I will see what I can find out.  Back with a summary of Practice 1 sometime around 12:30.

Mid Ohio Preview- Pivotal Weekend for Contenders

thepitwindow

Mid Ohio is arguably the most crucial race of the year for the championship contenders. The top four contenders each need a win to set up their run in the  final four races.  A  Josef Newgarden win can solidify his lead and make it very difficult on Alexander Rossi, Simon Pagenaud, and Scott Dixon to catch him. Rossi by repeating his victory last year can regain much of what he lost last last Saturday/Sunday in Iowa. Dixon and Pagenaud need to win just to stay within shouting distance.

Sunday will be the 35th Indycar race at Mid Ohio. the first race in 1980 was won by Johnny Rutherford under USAC sanction. The race didn’t return until 1983 and ran through 2003 as a CART event. It then fell off the schedule until the IRL brought it back in 2007. The race survived the merger and has become on of the staple events of the series.

While the track doesn’t always produce the best racing,  last year saw lots of action and passing in the esses. There have been fights for the lead in the last several years. Simon Pagenaud passed Will Power in 2016 in turn 13 with just a few laps to go after some wheel banging. Graham Rahal beat Justin Wilson to turn 5 after a restart in 2015 for an extremely popular victory.

Last year Alexander Rossi was firmly in control while there was was some great action behind him.  Sebastien Bourdais finished sixth after starting 24th, and Pagenaud moved to eighth from 17th on the grid. Rossi led 66 laps in 2018.

Good Pit Strategy and Stops Necessary

Last year was unusual in that pit stops or strategy didn’t ruin anyone’s race. Josef Newgarden was heading for his first win in 2014 when a late call to pit caught him and his team off guard. Newgarden got tangled up with the air hose. The penalty dropped him out of contention. In 2015 Mikhail Aleshin had the race firmly in control when a botched pit stop involving a collision with another car put him out of the running.

Team Penske in 2015 left  Juan Pablo Montoya out too long. He was caught out by a yellow flag, lost a chance to strengthen his points lead which eventually cost him the title. While the frequency of yellows has diminished the last couple years, pitting at the start of the pit window is critical at Mid Ohio.

Contenders Will be Strong

We’re at the time of the year when the contenders for the championship usually dominate.  It seems as if this season that has been the case since the Indycar Grand Prix. I don’t think that changes this weekend.   I look for Rossi to repeat as the winner on Sunday.  He won Mid Ohio and the next race at Pocono in 2018.  Rossi needs to repeat that feat to have a chance to win the title. As for Pagenaud and Dixon, they both almost need to win out and hope Newgarden and Rossi have some misfortune.

Others to Watch

R. C. Enerson returns to Indycar for the first time since 2016, driving the number 31 car for Carlin . His Indycar debut was at Mid Ohio for Dale Coyne Racing.  Enerson was impressive in practice that weekend, but struggled in the race.

Colton Herta looks to have a good race and avoid the bad luck that has plagued him too often this season. He should at least get a top 10 finish if the mechanical gremlins don’t get him again.

Can Zach Veach repeat his great showing at Iowa?  He seems to have his best runs in the latter part of the year. This is his home track, so the motivation is there.

Mid Ohio is also the home track for Michael Shank, who returns to the series this weekend with Jack Harvey.  This is the eighth race of the team’s 10 race schedule this season. Harvey did well early in the year when the team ran the first six races. After Mid Ohio, the team will be at Portland and Laguna Seca. There is optimism that they will be full time next season.

Channel Switch

Just a reminder that the race is on NBC Sunday. If you DVR is like mine, the series setting doesn’t carry over from channel to channel. Double check and set it if you need to. Broadcast time is 4 pm EDT.  There is no prerace. Cars will be rolling when the program begins.

Spotter’s Guide

Screenshot_20190724-170332

Mid Ohio Schedule; Emerson Gets Carlin Seat

thepitwindow

Per Carlin Racing on Twitter R C Enerson will drive their second car this weekend at Mid Ohio in the Honda Indy 200. Enerson did well a couple years ago at this track driving for Dale Found Racing. Lucas Race School is the sponsor.

Schedule

screenshot_20190723-112155.png

Reminder – The race is on NBC. You may need to set your DVR.

Iowa 300- Quick Thoughts

thepitwindow2 Comments

Photo: Kyle McInnes

Thoughts written too early in the morning/ late at night.

Newgarden not only increased his lead over Rossi by 25 points, he also put Pagenaud farther behind.

The year of dominating drives continues. Rossi won going away at Long Beach and Road America, Pagenaud was the class of the field at Indianapolis, and Newgarden tonight/this morning all won by huge margins.

It was a much needed second for Dixon and a very welcome podium for Hinchcliffe. Hinchcliffe always does well at Iowa.

Ed Carpenter’s crash ruined what would have been a great team finish for ECR. Pigot finished 5th from his 19th starting spot.

Bourdais’s car really came to life the second half of the race. He went on quite a tear to get a top 10 finish.

Kanaan’s 10th place has to feel like a victory for him and A. J. Four Racing.

Dixon has finished first or second in 28% of his career races.

Veach had his best race of the season moving up 13 spots to 7th.

The late start and changed weather conditions may have affected Pagenaud’s car.

Will Power jumped to the lead but after Newgarden passed him he could not fhight back.  Another pit mistake and penalty pushed him further down the final standings.

The pole sitter still has never won at Iowa.

Lots of credit to Iowa Speedway and the NTT IndyCar Series for their hard work to get the complete race in.

Much appreciation to all the fans who stayed for the entire race.

Rossi will need to repeat last year’s performance at Mid Ohio next weekend to keep Newgarden in sight.

Look for a full race report tomorrow on Wildfire Sports.

Thanks for following this weekend. 

 

 

Iowa Update

thepitwindow

At 7pm CDT the rain is slowing and the western sky is getting lighter. There is still lightning in th east. More rain is west of the track. We are still waiting word from the NTT Indycar Series about the rest of the evening.

Good news is Iowa w ill return next year. I have no details yet, but I’m glad this race will stay on the schedule.

I will pass along more information when it is available.

Was Final Practice a Race Preview?

thepitwindow

In a furious final warm-up for the Iowa 300, Simon Pagenaud set the tone early. The polarizer turned a lap at 174..462. For most of the session no one was within four miles an hour of that speed.As shadows began to cover the front stretch and turn four, other drivers crept closer. Eventually four others= Josef Newgarden, Ed Carpenter, Scott Dixon, and Conor Daly, posted times in the 170 range.

We may have seen a glimpse of what tonight’s race will look like. Pagenaud has a huge advantage in speed and will try to build an early lead. He will need that cushion when his cars handling changes with the creeping shadows.

I watched most of practice from the outside of turn 3. It’s a great view watching the cars exit turn 2 and set up for turn 3. Cars appear to be able to go side by side coming out of the second turn, but one car needs to back off a bit in turn 3. The action on the backstretch is a mad scramble to get Set up for the next corner.

As always at Iowa traffic for the leaders will be challenging. The rear of the field might see the frontrunners after 10 laps.

Notes

In a move to help fans the driver’s autograph session wasps moved to beneath the grandstands. I talked to a fan who dreaded standing in the heat and sun for the session.

Marcus Ericsson backed up his 10th place qualifying by ending the practice session in 7th.

It will be interesting to see how full the grandstands are at the beginning of the race. The stands were nearly all in shadow by the end of hour long final practice.

Back after the race with Quick Thoughts.

Pagenaud Continues Title Quest with Iowa Pole

thepitwindow

Photo: Kyle McInnes

Josef Newgarden and Alexander Rossi can hear the footsteps louder now. They faded for a bit after May, but are now coming faster. Simon Pagenaud won the pole for tomorrow night’s Iowa 300, beating his Penske teammates who will start second and third. It is Pagenaud’s third pole of the season and second consecutive top staring spot.

Pagenaud snatched the pole from teammate Will Power, who posted a two, lap time of 35.8418 seconds. Pagenaud then completed his two laps in 35.7455 seconds. Newgarden was the last driver to attempt to qualify. He appeared to have trouble negotiating turn 4 and will start third Saturday.

The three Penske cars were the only cars in the 35 second range. Takuma Sato in the Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda was the only driver besides the top three to post a single lap less than 18 seconds. Sato had just taken the provisional  pole from James Hinchcliffe before the first Penske car took the track.

Hinchcliffe had claimed the top spot from his Arrow Schmidt Peterson teammate Marcus Ericsson. Seven drivers failed to top Ericsson before Hinchcliffe’s run. Graham Rahal and Ryan Hunter-Reay eventually topped Ericsson’s time ahead of Sato qualified. Hinchcliffe, the defending race winner, starts fifth tomorrow.

Andretti Cars Lack Outright Speed

Alexander Rossi starts sixth and Ryan Hunter-Reay rolls off ninth tomorrow. Andretti Autosport has seven victories at Iowa but trail the Penske cars by half a second. The good news is the Hondas get better fuel mileage than the Chevys, although tire degradation may prevent them from taking advantage of that edge.

The caution periods will need to play out in Rossi’s favor for him to have a shot at his third win of the year.

Notes

Pagenaud said qualifying was “very intense… I’m still shaking, but that’s what Indycar is all about.”

He said he is “living in the moment” this year, focusing on the next task once the last one is finished.

The cars from Ed Carpenter Racing qualified a disappointing 17th ( Ed Carpenter) and 19th ( Spencer Pigot).

Indycar has a final practice session at 7 pm Eastern time tonight.

Qualifying Results

img_20190719_1559312372127085060601343.jpg