Tag: Colton Herta

Fast Friday Lives Up to Its Name

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A day of no rain and fast speeds combined to make Fast Friday the best day of practice week. Attendance was verygood. I heard from several fans about how long it took to get in this morning. There was drama, speed, and worry. In other words, a typical practice day. Josef Newgarden goes into the weekend as the favorite for the pole, while the usually fast Ganassi team is struggling to find speed. Trouble bit a team that could not afford to lose track time.

Nolan Siegel’s crash just past midday has been the only damper on the afternoon. Siegel spun exiting turn 2 and flipped upside down. Siegel was released from the infield care center. The car suffered extensive damage. I just received word that the team will use a spare car.

Josef Newgarden set a blistering 4 lap average of 234.063. Colton Herta set the fastest single lap time of 234.974.

Drivers on the bubble

Nolan Siegel

Marcus Ericsson

Katherine Legge

Team Rahal?

Qualifying is looking like a Team Penske/Arrow McLaren duel with maybe a sleeper from Andretti or Meyer Shank sneaking. Chevrolet has definitely had the upper hand this week.

Where’s Ganassi?

Chip Ganassi Racing cars have not been in the Fast 12 conversation much today. Scott Dixon is the fastest of the team with the 21st fastest single lap.. No cars are in the top 15 in 4 lap runs.

Alex Palou lost an engine, setting his program back. He returned late in the day.

Mechanical woes

It seems as if there have been a lot more mechanical issues this year. Conor Daly had an upright fail yesterday. Kyle Larson’s crew changed engines yesterday. Alex Palou lost an engine today. Pietro Fittipaldi and Takuma Sato have had gremlins interfere with their day today.

The qualifying order is going on right now. Team Penske has drawn three numbers in the top 10. McLaughlin -2 Power- 9, and Newgarden- 10. Kyle Kirkwood just drew the number 1.

Alexander Rossi will be last car in line.

An early look at the weather shows just a slight chance of a late afternoon shower, Sunday looks dry. Temperatures will be in the 80s, hotter than it has been all week. I will have the latest forecast in the morning.

Results

Herta Tops Practice 1

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Photo by Kyle McInnes

Colton Herta grabbed the top spot in the last 10 minutes of practice for the Sonsio Grand Prixs in a session halted by three red flags.

The fast lap swapped hands often in the last 30 minutes with Pato O’Ward, Will Power, and Agustin Canapino taking a turn at the top of the pylon. Canapino finished with the second best lap, just 0.08 seconds behind Herta.

Josef Newgarden led the largest part of the 76 minutes before Rinus VeeKay snatched the lead. Newgarden spun bringing out the first red flag.

Graham Rahal appeared to have lost an engine soon after practice resumed.

Marcus Armstrong stalled on track and the red flew again. AZrmstrong completed just two laps.

All three red flags occurred in the first 45

minutes of the session.

Theo pourchaire stopped on track with about two minutes left, but Indycar allowed the session to finish.

The top six were separated by 0.01922 seconds.

Notes:

The Andretti throwback cars don’t look that much different than their regular liveries. I was hoping they would have put the nose numbers in a circle to give more of throwback feel.

The next practice for Indycar is at 1:10 pm Eastern. I is a one hour window with 45 minutes of practice guaranteed.

Scott McLaughlin is driving the best looking car this weekend.

My photo

Results:

Long Beach Preview

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Indycar photo

Indycar awakens from its long spring nap today as practice begins for the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. The series will be on track for seven of the next eight weeks, ending at Road America June 9.

If I had to limit the number of races I go to in a season, this event is one that would stay on my calendar. The entire city embraces the event, and I enjoy walking around the downtown area.

The Long Beach Grand Prix is the second longest consecutive race on the calendar. Milwaukee has run more races, but there have been several years where there were no races.

The future of Indycar at this venue was secured earlier this spring when Part owner Gerry Forsythe purchased the other half of the event from the estate of Kevin Kalkhoven.

Indycar Needs a Good Show

The first two outings- St. Pete and Thermal- were not great races. The tire compound which was designed for the heavier hybrid system,which is not in the cars yet, hindered the racing at the season opener. Thermal was a format that did not work.

I hope the series has made adjustments to provide a better race. If not, the racing may not improve until Mid-Ohio when the hybrid debuts.

Rosenqvist on the Rise

Can Felix Rosenqvist continue his strong start to the season? Rosenqvist started second at St. Pete, won the pole and his heat race at Thermal, and finished second in the feature at Thermal.

He appears to be enjoying his new home at Meyer Shank Racing, and so far has looked like the driver I felt he could be all along.

Andretti- Will Long Beach Dominance Continue?

Andretti Global has won this crown jewel race four of the last four years. The team excelled at street courses in 2023. At St. Pete in March, they weren’t as solid, but Colton Herta finished fifth.

Herta has won at Long Beach, and teammate Kyle Kirkwood won from the pole in 2023.

I can see Herta winning Sunday.

Can Penske Keep Momentum?

Momentum is hard enough to keep week to week, but after a 6 week gap, can Team Penske, which finished first, third, and fourth at St. Pete, come out with another dominant team showing?

Josef Newgarden is the only driver to break up the Andretti streak here, winning in 2022. He and Scott McLaughlin have to be considered contenders.

Thermal Wrap-up: A Missed Opportunity

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To sum up- Alex Palou dominated both his heat and the feature race to win the $5000,000 prize at The Thermal Club Million Dollar Challenge. Other than a first turn crash involving Romain Grosjean and Rinus VeeKay in Heat 1, there was little passing.

In the second half of the main event, Alexander Rossi was the entire show with a wheel to wheel duel with Josef Newgarden, and Colton Herta had eyes on him as he worked his way to fourth after saving his tires in the first half of the final race.

Overall, today was a missed opportunity for Indycar to gain some fans in what would have been an off week on the schedule. There were some positives, and several negatives. If IndyCar wants to do something like this in 2025, a lot needs to improve.

Some Good Things

I’m glad IndyCar finally decided to try something new. It has been a long time since we have seen any kind of different weekend format. More about this in the next section.

I liked the eight minute qualifying rounds and that Push to Pass was available to the drivers during qualifying. I think these ideas should be explored to possibly become a part of qualifying in the regular season.

This event filled what would have been a six week gap between the St. Pete opener and Long Beach. There is still a four week gap between the first two races.

Felix Rosenqvist now knows he can win a race from the pole. The Swedish driver has never before led the first lap of a race where he started on the pole. He is an excellent qualifier, and I don’t think this will his last pole of the year.

It was wonderful to see the old aggressive Alexander Rossi on track again. His passes were the reason to stay tuned today. If his duel with Newgarden had happened in the Indianapolis 500, Indycar would be sitting pretty.

What Did Not Work

Whenever I hear a sports program is a made for TV event, I cringe. It usually means, as we saw Sunday, that it’s not about the sport, but something that looks like the sport. The aim is ususally to sell something other than the sport. That is what we saw.

What could have been a great opportunity to introduce Indycar to a national audience turned into a two hour infomercial for The Thermal Club, a playground for the wealthy.

Don’t get me wrong, it looks like a fabulous place, and if someone can afford it, good for them.

But I thought this was to be an Indycar showcase, just one race into the season. I didn’t see any promos of upcoming races or the Indianapolis 500. I learned more about The Thermal Club than I will ever need to know.

The racing was dull. Except for the intrigue of Herta’s tire strategy and Rossi’s charge through the field, there was not much to get excited about. This track is too long to provide the close racing action a sprint event like this deserves.

The post race ceremony was too similar to a regular season post race. For this event it should have been bigger. There should have been money cannons or a jar full of dollar bills or something for the second biggest non 500 purse in history.

Far an event with that much money at stake, the post race should have been more significant. Speaking of the money, the $23,000 participation prize probably didn’t cover a team’s expenses in going to this event for four days. It was definitely a losing proposition for the teams that had crash damage.

How to Do Better

These suggestions are just my opinion, but if Indycar decides to do something like this again. and I like the basic concept, just not execution, here are a few ways to make this better.

An event like this needs to be at a venue where fans can affordably attend. There was zero atmosphere at The Thermal Club. Any spectators were on balconies of the homes around the track. The race may have felt more excited if tv viewers could hear fans cheering for their favorite driver.

Hold an exhibition at a shorter track which has some good passing zones. This track was not made for Indycar racing.

If the purse is going to be as large as it was this weekend, pair each driver with a charity and pledge a matching amount of each drivers’ winnings to that charity. For that amount of money in a setting built for people who have had good fortune, I think this is the right thing to do.

The final segment of the main event should be longer. If there is to be a halftime break, put some content in it, perhaps a celebrity tire changing contest.

Allow more Push to Pass. Imagine what Rossi could have done if he hadn’t dun out of extra boost.

I would prefer no halftime break and a required full service pit stop within a designated pit window.

Increase the purse, especially for those who finish 6 -27. They are the teams that could probably benefit the most from winning a half million dollars.

Hold the event at a venue separate from a test and either pre season or post season.

This was a nice try, Indycar, but a missed opportunity to gain some traction.

Sebring Weekend Thoughts

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Life got in the way last week as I sent my 19 year old cat Gracie to the Rainbow Bridge. Two days later I left for Sebring and the 72nd running of the12 hour race. I needed this weekend badly.

Sebring was my first sports car endurance race, and it is my favorite. This feeling may be subject to change after Jaune.

I camped again with my friend George Butz and his crew. We had a great time. Thanks again, George.

Some random thoughts on the weekend:

My first impression upon arrival was that the place seemed rather crowded for Thursday. I had the same thought Friday and Saturday. I have never seen Sebring so packed. Theer was not room for another vehicle inside the track.

The track could use a couple of more video boards on the back side of the track.

9:40 am is awfully early to start a race. Not only does it make the morning rushed, it also deprives the fans of an hour of night racing. The early part of the race is fun, but when the sun goes down things get interesting.

It doesn’t seem to matter if someone is running away from the field, Sebring always seems to come through with a dramatic ending.

Derani Crash

The Pipo Derani crash was frightening. I was not in turn 9 at the time, but I went there later and talked to a couple of my friends who witnessed the accident. Tires were bouncing everywhere. Fortunately no spectators were injured. There is a walking path next to the track which fortunately was not busy at the time.

My friends said that track and IMSA officials appeared quickly and interviewed many fans about what they saw.

My friends are concerned that a catch fence may be erected at this spot, which would spoil a great view of one of the highest speed portions of the track.

My friend Shannon Roe took these photos of some the debris field left by the Cadillac. Thanks, Shannon.

The fan walking path is to the left of the fence on the bottom left.

The rest of the field did not seem to have anything for the 31 Cadillac. The Ganassi Cadillac was the only that could keep pace, and they ended up finishing second.

Another Great Day for Indycar Drivers

Colton Herta was a driver on the winning team from Wayne Taylor/Andretti Racing. Herta drove the penultimate shift, and put the car in position to win. Louis Delatraz finished the race with a brilliant drive.

Scott Dixon drove for the second place Cadillac team with teammate Sebastien Bourdais.

Kyle Kirkwood drove for the GTD Pro winning Vasser/Sullivan Lexus entry,

Romain Grosjean’s Lamborghini finished seventh overall in the team;s first IMSA race. Grosjean had a couple of nice stints for the team, who’s goal to just finish the race.

Romain Grosjean in the Lamborghini GTP.

Tomorrow begins coverage of the Thermal Indycar event. I have a lot of mixed feelings about this, which I will talk about as the week goes on,.

Herta Edges Penske Duo in Saturday Practice

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Ohoto by Kyle McInnes

Colton Herta edged Josef Newgarden and Will Power for the top spot in Saturday morning’s practice. The session sets the stage for Grand prix of St. petersburg qualifying at 2 pm ET this afternoon.

Herta’s time of 1:00.1 nipped Newgarden by 0.245 seconds with Power 0.277 behind. Power led the middle of the session. Newgarden went to P1 as the final third of the round began, then Herta grabbed the lead with about 10 minutes to go.

I t was a very competitive practice. There was constant track action as teams searched for the best setup for qualifying.

Kyle Kirkwood was running in third when he hit the wall in turn 4,causing damaqge to the right side of the car. His time was still strong enough for seventh place.

Santino Ferrucci never got on track due to a mechanical issue. The team brought the car out to the pits but needed to take the number 14 back to the garage to fix it.

Flash Results:

Although a Honda car lede the session, Chevy cars seemed to dominate. Seven different teams had cars in the top 10.

I will have the qualifying groups up in a bit.

Herta Fastest in Fast, Disjointed Practice

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Colton Herta led Friday practice for Indycar’s season finale in a session interrupted five times by red flags. Herta”s time of 1;07.5382 is under the track record set in 2000 by Helio Castroneves. Pato O’Ward was second, and Alexander Rossi finished third. O’Ward also beat the track record.

Times were all on the primary tires. teams were just beginning to run the alternates when red flags near the end of the session prevented any significant runs on the alternate tires. Tire degradation of the primary tires appeared low.

“We didn’t get to do a proper run,” Herta said of the alternate, red-sidewall tires. “I think some of the teammates did, which is a good thing for me at least to understand what they do and how we can make the car a little bit better.

“But it’s really close. I feel really happy with how everything is. It’s a good-looking race car this weekend, and I hope to try to make it to Victory Lane with it.”

The newly paved surface proved quick as expected, but anyone going just a bit offline ended up off track. Romain Grosjean made contact with the tire barrier in turn4, damaging the left front suspension. Will Power had heavy contact and suffered a cut tire and rear end damage.

Scott Mclaughlin’s spin into the gravel with about three minutes left ended practice.

Indycar practices again tomorrow at 1 pm Eastern, then qualifies at 5 pm Eastern.

Results

Herta Livery Stokes the Throwback Flames Again

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Of the many attempts Indycar teams have made at throwback liveries, today’s unveiling of Colton Herta’s livery for Laguna Seca is the best I have seen. The scheme reflects the livery hat his father Bryan used in 1998 when he won one his two races at the historic track. Colton also has won twice at Laguna Seca.

As soon as the video released this morning, talk of a throwback race heated up.

Colton Herta’s livery for the season finale.
Bryan Herta on his way to victory at Laguna Seca

Why does this particular tribute livery strike such a chord with fans? I think it’s the faithfulness of the design. The chevrons in place of the Shell logo, which Andretti terams can’t use, is a nice touch which visually gives the illusion matching the original.

The A. J. Foyt livery in the Indianapolis 500 which J. R. Hildebrand drove a couple of years ago came as close to the original as I had seen before today. It is difficult to put a front engine roadster livery on a rear engine car. Now that there is a large inventory of classic rear engine cars, a throwback race is more possible.

I can think of no track better suited for this race than Milwaukee. A classic track deserves classic liveries. That is assuming the mile track returns to the schedule in 2024 or beyond. This afternoon Gateway offered their venue as host for a race with throwback liveries.

Several pieces would need to come together for such an event to happen. Current sponsors would have to be on board. What if a team used to have a competing brand as sponsor? Of course, a track would have to be willing to host the race, broadcast partners need to be okay with it, and we need 100% buy in from all teams.

I know Team Penske, Chip Ganassi Racing, and Andretti Autosport would have no problem coming up with vintage liveries just from their own past.

It would be great to see a Bowes Seal fast or Noc-Out Hose Clamp car. maybe that’s going a bit too far back.