Tag: Bommarito Automotive Group

Ferrucci Quickest in First Practice

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Photo: Kyle McInnes

Santino Ferrucci added to the outstanding resume of the 2019 rookie class as he led the pre qualification practice for the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 at World Wide Technology Raceway.

Ferrucci’ s best lap was  184.804 miles per hour. Rookie Marcus Ericsson was second quick at 184.527. Scott Dixon finished third.

The session began with all three Team Penske cars, led by Josef Newgarden, occupying the top three spots. Colton Herta briefly took the lead. Newgarden reclaimed first place a few minutes later.

The Penskes stopped getting faster and Hondas took over. Newgarden finished fourth, Will Power seventh, and Simon Pagenaud 14th. Newgarden and Power were the only Chevy’s in the top ten.

Next up is qualifying at 6:15 ET. Back with my Quick Thoughts afterwards.

Indycar’s Last Oval Weekend of the Year Begins

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Good morning . Today begins a bittersweet weekend. Practice and qualifying for the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 is today.  The event produces mixed feelings. It’s exciting because this race is a great event and it is an oval race. It’s sad because it is the final oval of the year and one of the final three races of the season.

Today’s schedule- All times CDT:

1-2 Practice. NBC Gold

5:15 Qualifying NBCSN

8:15-9:15 Final Practice NBC Gold

Last night at Busch Stadium Josef Newgarden started the Indycar weekend by throwing out the first pitch before the St. Louis Cardinals- Colorado Rockies game.IMG_20190822_190713

Watch for session up dates here throughout the day.

 

Bommarito Automotive Group 500 Preview- Trio Chasing Newgarden Needs to Gain More Ground

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Photo: The first two rows on the pace lap at last year’s Bommarito Automotive Group 500

The clock is ticking. Alexander Rossi, Simon Pagenaud, and Scott Dixon are running out of time to catch Josef Newgarden. They are closing, but Newgarden has done well enough, other than his misstep at Mid Ohio, to keep the group at slightly more than arm’s length. Dixon has been gaining ground steadily. He has won once and finished second three times over the last four races. He needs to maintain that level of performance to have a chance of catching Newgarden

Rossi has crept close and then fallen back. His first lap incident Sunday could have hurt worse than it did. His last four races showed a fifth, a third, a sixth, and the 18th at Pocono. He needs another win to close the gap. Pagenaud has been steady

also. He has a win in the last four races to go along with  third,  sixth, and  fourth place finishes.

Saturday’s Bommarito Automotive Group 500 is the third NTT Indycar Series race at World Wide Technology Raceway just outside St. Louis since Indycar returned in 2017. The racing has been fun and attendance has been the best at an oval outside of Indianapolis.  Chris Blair, executive vice president and general manager and track president Curtis Francois, understand how to promote a race. Saturday night’s crowd should again be in the 30,000-40,000 range.

The first race involving Indycar machines was in 1997 under CART sanction during the split. The first three races were the day before the Indianapolis 500. They were scheduled to prevent the CART drivers from participating in the 500. The race moved to September in 2000. In 2001-2003 the IRL held races at the track. Indycar returned in 2017.

Team Penske has dominated the past two years. Will Power won the pole in 2017 and Newgarden and Pagenaud battled for the win. Newgarden won with a pass going into turn one late in the race. There may have been some contact between them.

In 2018 the grid was set by entrant points after rain washed out qualifying.  Will Power won the race, taking the lead for good with eight laps left. What will this year bring? No driver has won this event more than once. Who has the best finishing average of the two races? Scott Dixon.

Dixon finished second in 2017 and third last year. If his trend of the last four races continues, he has to be a favorite for at least a podium spot.  Power, comes into the weekend not only as the defending winner at this track, but also with the momentum of his first victory of the season last Sunday at Pocono. can Power get on one his patented winning streaks?

Rossi and Newgarden I think are under the most pressure. Newgarden has seen his lead over fourth place Dixon dwindle to 52 points. He leads Dixon by 98 going into Mid Ohio. Newgarden is 35 ahead of Rossi and 43 in front of Pagenaud. I think the winner will come from the top four in the points or Power.

Rossi is unde pressure because he can’t afford another bad race. He has two wins this year while Newgarden has four. he need to win two of the last three races to possibly take the title to the second tie breaker. Rossi holds that edge.

Breaking the First Lap Curse

Both races this track have had a first lap, second turn incident. This is a tradition that needs to end in 2019. In 2017 Tony Kanaan spun and Ed Carpenter hit the wall. Last year Sebastien Bourdais hit the turn 2 wall just after the green flag. We’ll see if Sunday’s accident has any influence on how the field drives on the first lap.

A Closer Points Battle

i think the points battle gets even closer after Saturday night.  My prediction is Dixon will win, and Rossi and Pagenaud also close their gaps to Newgarden. I’m not wishing or predicting anything bad for Newgarden. All four drivers should finish in the top ten.

The race  coverage begins at 8 pm Eastern on NBCSN with the green flag around 8:30.

Friday look for my Quick Thoughts after qualifying as well as practice session reports. Saturday morning I will have a pre race post followed by  post race Quick thoughts Saturday night.

 

 

 

 

Rosenqvist Cleared to Drive; Reveals New Livery for Saturday

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Felix Rosenqvist has been cleared to drive in the Bommariot Automotive Group 500 Saturday night at World Wide Technology Raceway. Rosenqvist was involved inn the first lap crash Sunday at Pocono. The nose of this car lifted into the fence, but returned to the track. he was taken to a local hospital for further evaluation and released later Sunday evening. Yesterday he received the final okay from NTT Indycar Series doctors to drive in this weekend’s event.

Today Chip Ganasssi Racing revealed Rosenqvist’s car for Saturday with Monster Energy sponsorship.

This livery should look great in a night race. I’m wondering if this is the start of Monster Energy’s interest in sponsoring a car on a more regular basis. I hope so.

World Wide Technology Raceway Adds Fan Enhancements

The track  will have three large video boards at the race Saturday.  It will sure be an improvement over the tiny screens from the past two years.

The Stanley Cup, the NHL’s trophy won by the St. louis Blues in June, will be on display at some point Saturday on the fan midway stage. Colton Parayko of the Blues will be the Grand  Marshal  for the race. Blues team captain Alex Pietrangelo will also be at the track.  I am very excited to at last get to see the Cup in person. After the Borg-Warner trophy, I think the Stanley Cup is the coolest trophy in North America.

Back later with some more on the race Saturday.  Look for my race preview tomorrow.

Quick Thoughts on the Bommarito 500

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Thoughts still with Robert Wickens. Thanks to everyone at the track who wore Wickens gear or red today.

Much was improved as far as fan experience. Leaving the track for my group was fast and easy. We were on the highway 12 minutes after getting into the car. There were more food vendors, at least double the number from last year. Water was readily available. I assume even more improvements will come next year.

The second part of the race after the lap 183 restart was fun. Cars could finally pass and fuel strategy came into play.

Another great run for Zach Veach. He moved up steadily all night and led at one point.

Spencer Pigot also had a good race.

Passing in the  first half of the race was due to mistakes by the drivers ahead. Quite a few in one race.

Power gained some points on Dixon, but not as many as he needed to. He will have to win out and hope Dixon finishes out of the top ten.

For a while Ed Jones was doing what Dixon’s teammate should do. He got between Dixon and the driver chasing him for the title. Too bad he couldn’t hold on to the end. He hasn’t done that much this year.

I still like Rossi’s chances to win the championship. If he can gain points on a night when his car was not that strong, I think he’s in good shape.

Did Dixon overthink his fuel strategy? Finishing third instead of second left seven points on the table.

Look for a full race recap on Wildfire Sports on Monday.

 

Endings and Beginnings- Thoughts on Sonoma

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The last race of the season creates a conundrum. There is a race to watch and people want to see a race winner. But there is a season title on the line which creates another layer of watching.  Point scenarios are discussed for a week. Very little attention is on the race itself.

Sonoma itself has unique issues a site for the finale. It’s a beautiful venue in a beautiful setting. Track management does a great job presenting the event as the finale. Yet the race is usually not the type of race a series needs for the one that decides its champion. Passing is at a premium. The cars get strung out. Pit strategy is the way to get by someone. An oval in prime time would make for a better ending to the season and add more drama to the title fight.

The 2017 edition of Sonoma was better than most races thanks to Simon Pagenaud’s four stop strategy. It was clear this was the plan from the start when his first pit stop came two laps before the pit window opened. He continued to build his gap after the other drivers pitted each time by staying on reds until his last stop. Pagenaud’s gap was big enough by the time he made his last stop to beat Josef Newgarden out of the pits. Newgarden tried to pass a couple times, but decided, or actually Tim Cindric did, that second place meant the title.

Newgarden is one of the youngest drivers to win the series championship. He took the lead at Mid Ohio and never looked back. The only hiccup the last two months was his problem leaving the pits at Watkins Glen.  The rest of his final stretch showed first or second place finishes. Newgarden is destined to add a couple more titles to his resume.

While we’re possibly seeing the beginning of a new Indycar star, we may have seen the last of another one full time. Indications are even stronger now that Helio Castroneves will not be a full time driver next year in Indycar. He will run the 500 and possibly the Grand Prix of Indianapolis, but he will be driving for Penske in the IMSA sports car series. I’ve never been a fan of Castroneves, but the last two years he has done the best driving of his career . The paddock will seem empty without him.

The race was the final outing for the manufacturer aerokits. New bodywork for next season should make for better racing since most of the downforce will be on the underside. I will not miss the rear bumpers. I thought they made Indycars look too much like sportscars.

Scott Dixon fought hard for fourth in the race and finished third in the points. The bar Newgarden is shooting for as a career? Dixion has finished in the top 3 in points 11 of the 12 years he’s been in the series.  I hope everyone appreciates that we are watching a legend drive.

Thoughts

I thought the crowd was the biggest I’ve seen at Sonoma in the four years I’ve been there. It was definitely the best Saturday crowd I’ve seen.

Zachary Calaman de Melo did a good job during the weekend. His main job was to get laps and he accomplished that.

I watched Friday’s second practice from the turn 2 and 3 area. It is a great spot to see most of the track. Cars tended to have a bit a back end slide through 3.

Word came yesterday that Ganassi will be a two car team next year. This should not come as a surprise as signs have been there for awhile. I have a couple friends on the 8 and 83 crews. I hope they can land another spot soon.  Brendon Hartley is expected to drive the 10 car.  Nothing against Hartley, a great driver in sports cars, but I’d rather see the opening go to someone who has gone through the Road to Indy.

Will Carlin be full time in Indycar in 2018 with Max Chilton and possibly Charlie Kimball?

Conor Daly ended the season with a couple of top tens and led some laps at Sonoma. Is it enough to save his job? Many of his early season issues were team related.

Silly Season is looking to be very short. Most of the regular seats are filled. We are waiting to see what some possible new teams are planning. I think it’s possible there may be several teams who make select appearances during the year rather than go full time.  The car count may look stable at every race, but some teams will be different.

Thanks to all of you for reading my posts this year. I’ll be back next week with a season review and then I will be posting stories of races past throughout the off season.

 

Teammates Become Arch Rivals- Gateway Recap

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First, congratulations to Curtis Francois and Bommarito Automotive Group for bringing Indycar back to Gateway Motorsports Park and for drawing the biggest oval crowd outside of Indianapolis in many years.  As with any new event, there were issues. My group encountered a couple of issues, but I heard from other fans and media members of significant issues that need to be improved.

Parking was poorly marked and there seemed to be no overall plan for entry or exit. It looks like the track could use a second entry.  Exiting the track we didn’t see anyone directing traffic until we got the exit drive. cars were pointed both east and west waiting to leave.

The track seemed understaffed. On Friday only one person was handling pit/paddock pass redemption. The line wasn’t too long, but it took a while. Two of my friends in the media told me only one person was distributing credentials and it took them nearly an hour to get their cards. Much of the staff didn’t seem to know where things were or what areas fans were or were not allowed into.

I also heard concession stands ran out of bottled water Saturday early evening.  A friend told me she couldn’t find any water Friday afternoon. She was told it wouldn’t be available until 4 pm, two hours after the gates opened, and only certain stands had water available.

These issues can all be fixed with planning, training, and additional staffing. I know the track will be hearing from fans about these and other problems.  I plan to be back next year. I just hope many who came decide not to because of their experience this time.

My first impression of the track was it reminded me of the Milwaukee Mile. It has the look and feel of a traditional short track. I liked it immediately.  This is the type of track Indycar needs to race on a couple more times a year. Two more ovals like this, for a total of five short tracks and the three larger ovals of Indy, Pocono, and Texas would be great.

On my pace car ride Saturday, I noticed turn one is downhill on the approach and the track sweeps uphill into turn two, making the track more like a road course. After riding around the track, the downhill became very noticeable from the stands. Oh yes. There was a race Saturday night. Let’s talk about it.

A rather ordinary race got very interesting the last 50 laps Saturday night at Gateway Motorsports Park. Helio Castroneves had an extended pit stop, dropping him to fourth place after leading with a car good enough to win. Josef Newgarden lost the last pit stop round to teammate Simon Pagenaud, setting up The Pass.

With 30 laps to go Newgarden saw an opening low in turn one and squeezed into it. The slight contact with Pagenaud caused the defending champion to slide up the track, allowing Scott Dixon to grab second place.  Pagenaud was not happy with the move, talking after the race about losing trust and respect for Newgarden. My seat was in turn one, and Ihadve no problem with the move or the pass. It wasn’t a nascar-like move as some have suggested. He didn’t bump him from behind to push him out of the way.  It was a clean move from my vantage point.

The race got off to an awkward start with Tony Kanaan spinning on the pace lap then Will Power spinning on the first attempt to go green following another great pass by Newgarden.  It was his second great pass of Power in three weeks. Ed Carpenter and Takuma Sato also spun, with Carpenter’s landing on top of Power’s.

The race officially went green on lap 18. As I feared, it was a Phoenix type affair for the most part, with passing extremely difficult. The leaders had a tough time getting past the end of the field. Friday’s night practice had given me hope that passing would be easier, but we didn’t see that in the race.

Conor Daly had the best drive of the night, finishing fifth after starting 11th. He challenged Castroneves for fourth but could not get past him. The Foyt team was encouraged after testing here, and their optimism held to a great result.   Carlos Munoz finished tenth giving ABC Supply cars their best finish as a team this year.

Notes

The three wide fan salute on the parade lap was a great gesture for the fans.

Newgarden solidified his lead in the points with two races to go, but Scott Dixon continues to lurk in the shadows. Dixon though this would be a throw  away race with a poor result, but his runner-up finish keeps him within striking distance of the lead with the series finishing on two of his best tracks.

It appears Sato is headed for Rahal Letterman Lanigan racing next year as graham Rahal’s teammate. If true, it likely means Andretti Autosport is switching to Chevy.

What is happening at Ganassi? Saturday was the second consecutive race they parked a car that was capable of continuing. Could Ganassi be a one car team next year?