Tag: Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Kirkwood- Homework and Calculated Moves for a Successful Race

thepitwindow

A relaxed Kyle Kirkwood talks about the 500

Kyle Kirkwood.studies past5 races to watch what other drivers did and how situations developed. He watches past 500s just from the aeoscreen era since those are the nones relevant to him.

Races before the aeroscreen ‘”…takes up a little too much of your time…,” he said during today’s media availability.

Kirkwood, inhis first year with Andretti Autosport, thinks the amount of passing on Sunday will depend on the weathe rather than the downforce.

“”This place is more weather dependent than downforce dependent. if the weather is cool and it’s crisp, and it’s cl;oudy and thentrack temperaturestays down the racing will be great. But if it gets hot you’re not going to seea lot of passing regardles of the downforce,” he said.

Kirkwood said The 500 is a”very calculated race.”

“I feel like if you push too hard to try and get something done.. it ususally doesn’t work out for you.”

“Four, five, six cars ahead, and you’re planning your passes off that, rather than just the guythat’s directly in front of you.”

Kirkwood feels he has a good race car and was disappointed in not making the Fast 12. He is stilloptimistic starting from 14th.

107th Running of the Indianapolis 500presented by Gainbridge Fast Facts  

thepitwindow

Photo and Information from Indycar/IMS

Race weekend: Friday, May 26 – Sunday, May 28
Track: Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a 2.5-mile oval
Race distance: 200 laps / 500 miles
Firestone tire allotment: Thirty-four sets for use throughout the event. Twitter: @IMS @IndyCar, #Indy500 #ThisIsMay, #IndyCar
Event website:www.ims.com
INDYCAR website: www.indycar.com
2022 race winner: Marcus Ericsson (No. 8 Huski Chocolate Chip Ganassi Racing Honda)
2023 NTT P1 Award winner: Alex Palou (No. 10 The American Legion Honda), 2:33.7037, 234.217 mph (four laps)

NBC race broadcast: Sunday, May 28 (11 a.m. ET) Mike Tirico serves as host for NBC’s telecast of the 107th Indianapolis 500 alongside Danica Patrick. Leigh Diffey will be the play-by-play announcer with analysts Townsend Bell and James Hinchcliffe. The pit reporters are Marty Snider, Kevin Lee, Dave Burns and Dillon Welch. Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Steve Letarte will provide commentary and reports from around IMS throughout pre-race and race coverage. Universo will provide a Spanish-language telecast with Frederik Oldenburg and Sergio Rodriguez providing commentary on Universo and streaming on TelemundoDeportes.com and the Telemundo Deportes app. Veronica Rodriguez will provide on-site reports from IMS.

Peacock Live Streaming: The NTT INDYCAR SERIES Carb Day practice session, Indy 500 Pit Stop Challenge, AES Indiana 500 Festival Parade, Indianapolis 500 race broadcast and Indy 500 Victory Celebration will stream live on Peacock, NBC’s direct-to-consumer livestreaming product.

INDYCAR Radio Network broadcasts: Miller Lite Carb Day: 11 a.m. ET Friday; Race Day: 10 a.m. Sunday. Mark Jaynes is the chief announcer alongside analyst Davey Hamilton. Paul Page will provide commentary. Nick Yeoman (Turn 1), Michael Young (Turn 2), Jake Query (Turn 3) and Chris Denari (Turn 4) are the turn announcers with Ryan Myrehn, Alex Wollf, Rob Blackman and Scott Sander on pit road.

At-track schedule (all times local):
FRIDAY, MAY 26 11 a.m.-1 p.m. NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice (120 minutes), Peacock 2:30-4 p.m. Indy 500 Pit Stop Challenge, Peacock

SATURDAY, MAY 27 10:30-11 a.m. Indianapolis 500 Public Drivers’ Meeting, INDYCAR.com Noon – AES 500 Festival Parade, Peacock

SUNDAY, MAY 28 10:30 a.m. – Cars to the Grid 11:47 a.m. – Driver Introductions 12:14 p.m. – Indy 500 Pre-Race Ceremonies 12:29 p.m. – “Drivers to Your Cars” 12:38 p.m. – Command to Start Engines 12:45 p.m. – 107th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge (200 laps/500 miles), NBC/Peacock

RACE NOTES
* The Indianapolis 500 will be the 107th 500-mile INDYCAR SERIES race conducted on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s oval. 
Ray Harroun won the inaugural race in 1911. 
Marcus Ericsson won the race in 2022.

* Nine drivers entered have won the Indianapolis 500. Helio Castroneves has won the race four times (2001, 2002, 2009 and 2021) while Takuma Sato (2017 and 2020) has won twice. Scott Dixon (2008), Tony Kanaan (2013), Ryan Hunter-Reay (2014), Alexander Rossi (2016), Will Power (2018), Simon Pagenaud (2019) and Marcus Ericsson (2022) are the other former winners in the field.

* There have been five different winners in the first five NTT INDYCAR SERIES races this season. Marcus Ericsson (Streets of St. Petersburg), Josef Newgarden (Texas Motor Speedway), Kyle Kirkwood (Streets of Long Beach), Scott McLaughlin (Barber Motorsports Park) and Alex Palou (IMS road course) have won races in 2023. The record for most different winners in a season is 11 in 2000, 2001 and 2014

. * Four Indianapolis 500 rookie drivers qualified for the race: Agustin Canapino, RC Enerson, Benjamin Pedersen and Sting Ray Robb.

* Alex Palou won the NTT P1 Award with the fastest four-lap average for a pole winner at 234.217 mph. Twenty-one drivers have won the race from the pole – most recently Simon Pagenaud in 2019.

* Team Penske has 18 wins at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the most of any team. Andretti and Chip Ganassi Racing have won five times while A.J. Foyt Enterprises and Rahal Letterman Racing have won twice. Meyer Shank Racing has one win.

* Alex Palou has a chance to join Will Power and Simon Pagenaud as a winner on both the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course and the famed 2.5-mile oval in the same season. Power accomplished the feat in 2018, while Pagenaud did it in 2019 – both sweeping the Month of May.

Boles: Come Early Sunday, Be Patient

thepitwindow2 Comments

Speedway president Doug Boles encourages fans to get to IMS early Sunday for the 107th running of the Indiamnpolis 500. A crowd of 325,000 is expected. Boles said less than 5,000 reserved seats remain unsold and that infield parking is sold out. He believes by race day there could vbe just thousand seats left.

“If you don’t already have a parking pass, find another place to park,” Boles said.

Uber and Lyft riders will be dropped off and and poicked up at 10th and Polco.

Attendance will be the largest since the 100th running in 2016, it willbe the best attended race in 25 years, excepting 2016.

” I can tell you that this year’s crowd is going to be the best crowd that we’ve had in the last 25 years with the exception of 2016. And last year, you heard that same story. The crowd that we had last year, we are going to be significantly more dense in terms of our population ,” Boles explaine

Entry is expectred to be easier on race day with the use of new walk throiugh gates. Fans will not have to empty their pockets of items. if the detectoers sense something unusual, the fan will undergo a secondary screening.

Boles and the security personnel present emphasized the ban on drones at the speedway.

NTT Data will provide real time updates on the Indycar app to show fans which gates are the least busy, and fans are encouraged to go to those gates for faster entry. The technolgy will also informspectators which cioncession stands have the shortest lines a swell. The system displays red, yellow, or green dots to indicate the staus of the gates and concesion stands.

Chief Upchurch of the Speedway Police Department said that there will be 1,100 security personnel present on Sunday.

More than 28 local, stae, and federal agencies coordinate to ensure fan safety for the race.

After the race, Boles emphasized that fans need patience when leaving. The first priority is pedestrians. He expects it will take two and a half hours to get everyone out of the track.

“When everybody at the exact same time wants to get out there’s only so many roads. So it does take a little while. We just ask peopleto have patience with coming in. But especially getting out. We’ll hear 15 inutes after the race has stopped why aren’t we moving? Well, first of all, we have to give 325,000 pedestrians out before we allow the roads immediately near the Speedway, especially north of 16th Street to have cars on them.”

INDYCAR To Hold Special Session Thursday for Two Indy 500 Entries 

thepitwindow

From Inycar:

I think this a fair decision.

 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing/Cusick Motorsports, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing To Participate

INDIANAPOLIS (Wednesday, May 24, 2023) – INDYCAR has announced a special session Thursday, May 25 for the No. 24 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Chevrolet and the No. 44 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda after an Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge practice incident Monday involving both teams.

The 15-minute session will take place from 4:30-4:45 p.m. ET in preparation for final practice from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Friday on Miller Lite Carb Day. Graham Rahal is driving the No. 24 DRR Cusick Carekeepers Chevrolet, while Katherine Legge is behind the wheel of the No. 44 Hendrickson Honda fielded by RLL.

Each team will be allowed unlimited install laps (out and in) within the time frame. They will not be allowed to stay on the track to cross the start-finish line and the Yard of Bricks.

The 107th Indianapolis 500 is scheduled for Sunday, May 28 (11 a.m. ET, NBC, Peacock, Universo, INDYCAR Radio Network).

Rahal to Replace Wilson

thepitwindow

Graham Rahal is back in the Indianapolis 500. Rahal, bumped out of the field on Sunday by teammate Jack Harvey, will drive the number 24 Chevy on Sunday in place of Stefan Wilson

Wilson was imjured in a crash during practice yesterday. He fractured the 12th thoracic vertebra and will not be able to drive.

Stefan Wilson

“I don’t feel good filling in for an injured driver…Unfortunately in racing, things happen. But (given his relationship with the Wilsons) I felt like it was my calling to come help,” Rahal said.

Wilson (right) was injured Monday in this crash

Rahal has been a long time family friend of the Wilson family. he owes his Indycar career to Stefan’s late other Justin, who advised him to not pursue a Formula 1 career.

Wilson qualified 25th, but the driver change means the car will start 33rd, ironically next to Harvey.

Rahal said had it been another team and driver, he is not sure he would have taken advantage of the opportunity.

On driving a Chevy powered car instead of a Honda, Rahal said, “There’s a lot to learn.”

Car owner Dennis Reinbold said that he is grateful that Honda, Chevy, and all the sponsors involved were able to work things out.

Rahal drove for Reinbold at Iowa in 2010

The 24 car will have a different look when it rolls ono the track for Carb Day Friday.

The Indycar community always comes together to hep each other out when a team or driveris in a difficult situation.The 500 is bigger than any one individual, and once again we see the community come together to for the good orf the race and the series.

Power Fastest in Crash Marred Practice

thepitwindow

Will Power nipped Scott Dixon near the end of today’s post qualifying practice. Power turned a lap at 229,222 mph. Early in the session Dixon set the fast time of 229.184.Pokle sitter Alex Palou was fourth fastest.

Power said that he thinks he has a car that can win the 500.

The first crash since the track opened for the 500 involved Katherine Legge and Stefan Wilson. Legge made contact with back of Wilson’s car in turn 1 and both cars made contact with the wall. Wilson hit head on. He was assisted from the car by the AMR safety team and was sent to Methodist Hospital for further evaluation.

As we learned about an hour ago, Wilson suffered a fracture of the 12th thoracic vertebra and has been ruled out of driving in the 107th running of the Indianapolis 500. No replacement driver has been named, and probably won’t be until tomorrow. I will not speculate about whom might replace him.

This result is devastating for a driver who has worked so hard to enter the 00. He finally got together with a good organization for this year, only to be sidelined.

Results

Legge and Wilson Crash Halts Practice

thepitwindow2 Comments

With about 45 minutes left in today’s two hour practice session, Katherine Legge ran into the back of Stefan Wilson, sending both cars into the wall. Legge made right rear contact with the SAFER barrier. Wilson did a three quarter spin nand contacted the SAFER barrier head on. Legge continued down the ntrack and made wall contact in turn 2.

Stefan Wilson

Legge got out ofmthe carb without assistance. Wilson was assisted out of the car by the AMR safety team and placed on a stretcher. he was taken to Methodist Hospital for further evaluation.

Katherine Legge

The accident was the first incident of the Indianapolis 500 preparation weeks. Indycar reset the clock to 30 minutes as practice resumed.

I will have a report on practice later today.