Tag: Iowa Corn 300

The Greatest 33 Non-Winners Finalists

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Note: Photo from the dust jacket of Hard Luck Lloyd, by John Lingle.  This is a great biography of Lloyd Ruby.

 

I have cut the field to 50 drivers who had great careers at the Speedway but never won the race.  I eliminated 8 nominees because their records were just not as strong as the top 50.  Some of them had great careers in other forms of motorsports, but didn’t do that well at IMS.  Surprisingly, 3 current drivers made the list: Marco Andretti, Carlos Munoz, and Will Power.  Of the drivers in this field, Marco is 5th in laps led.  Michael Andretti is the runaway leader in laps led among non-winners with 431. Second place Rex Mays led 266 laps.  This list spans a lot of the history of the race, from Ted Horn and Harry Hartz to Roberto Guerrero, Danny Ongais, and Robby Gordon. The complete list with stats is at the end of the post.  Names were selected from nominations submitted by readers of this blog.

The IMS website has a chart of these stats, my source, if you would like to analyze the driver further. Go to this link:

http://www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com/events/indy500/history/historical-stats/driver-stats

Now the fun begins.  From this list of nominees, grid who you think are top 33 in 11 rows of 3.  You may send your grid to me by commenting on this blog, direct twitter message, or reply or message on Facebook. If you have my email, you could send it there also. I will share your grids, with your permission, on this site. I will publish mine last, so that no one thinks I am pushing my list.

Have fun. Take your time.  Remember, there are no wrong answers. I would like to have all grids by the end of April so I can present a final grid, based on everyone’s  choices,  before the Indy Grand Prix.

I have compiled statistics in 6 categories for each driver for each driver:  Number of races, poles, front rows, laps led, top 5’s and top 10’s . The front row total includes poles, and the top 10 total includes top 5’s.

If the link doesn’t work, let me know, and I’ll email it to you.  Enjoy!

nwfinalcut

ICYMI: St. Pete Preview- Penske Party on the Beach

Opening Race Weekend is finally here. Gosh, it seems like it’s been a long time.  The Firestone Indy Grand Prix of St. Petersburg – green flag Sunday at 12:30 on ABC -again begins the season. This is my fifth time at this race.  I have seen this event grow a lot since my first trip […]

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Opening Race Weekend is finally here. Gosh, it seems like it’s been a long time.  The Firestone Indy Grand Prix of St. Petersburg – green flag Sunday at 12:30 on ABC -again begins the season. This is my fifth time at this race.  I have seen this event grow a lot since my first trip here, especially the last two years.

Friday’s practices may tell us how much the Hondas have improved. We will also get to see how Ganassi and Foyt cars are adjusting to their new engines and aero packages. Honda believes they will be better since the same package as last year is mandated for this year. Of course, Chevy has likely made some gains as well. Qualifying will be the main indicator of where Honda stands.

As far as the race, Penske dominates this race. The team has won eight of the twelve races here, including the last two and three of the last four.  I don’t see a change in this trend. One Penske driver is particularly motivated to win this race.  Will Power won the pole last year but missed the race due to what was believed to be a concussion.  Sitting out probably cost him the season title. Look for Will in Victory Lane Sunday. He easily could be joined by two teammates on the podium, though I would not rule out a Honda driver sneaking in there.

I am eager to see how the new push to pass format plays out.  Drivers have 150 seconds total to use as they wish. each push can last up to 15 seconds if they wish. It cannot be used at the start of the race or on restarts except for a restart with 2 laps or fewer left. I hope there isn’t ever a restart that late.  Will starts be more bunched up? I’m glad I’m sitting in Turn 1.

Things that may take a while to adjust to:

Scott Dixon in a blue car

J R Hildebrand in the 21

Josef Newgarden in the 2

A number 4 Foyt car

Bourdais in the 18

 

Great Idea:

Just before I began writing this piece on Wednesday, I saw a tweet from Schmidt-Peterson Motorsports called “Our Starting Lineup”.  It listed the race pit crew by position, their faces placed around a car outline. These guys work hard and it’s great that their team is recognizing them in this way. I hope other teams follow this example.

I will send out reports from the track Friday and Saturday. Let me know if there is any information you’d like me to get and I’ll do my best to get it to you. If you’re going to the race, I hope to meet you if I haven’t yet.

 

ICYMI: St. Pete Preview- Penske Party on the Beach

thepitwindow1 Comment

Opening Race Weekend is finally here. Gosh, it seems like it’s been a long time.  The Firestone Indy Grand Prix of St. Petersburg – green flag Sunday at 12:30 on ABC -again begins the season. This is my fifth time at this race.  I have seen this event grow a lot since my first trip here, especially the last two years.

Friday’s practices may tell us how much the Hondas have improved. We will also get to see how Ganassi and Foyt cars are adjusting to their new engines and aero packages. Honda believes they will be better since the same package as last year is mandated for this year. Of course, Chevy has likely made some gains as well. Qualifying will be the main indicator of where Honda stands.

As far as the race, Penske dominates this race. The team has won eight of the twelve races here, including the last two and three of the last four.  I don’t see a change in this trend. One Penske driver is particularly motivated to win this race.  Will Power won the pole last year but missed the race due to what was believed to be a concussion.  Sitting out probably cost him the season title. Look for Will in Victory Lane Sunday. He easily could be joined by two teammates on the podium, though I would not rule out a Honda driver sneaking in there.

I am eager to see how the new push to pass format plays out.  Drivers have 150 seconds total to use as they wish. each push can last up to 15 seconds if they wish. It cannot be used at the start of the race or on restarts except for a restart with 2 laps or fewer left. I hope there isn’t ever a restart that late.  Will starts be more bunched up? I’m glad I’m sitting in Turn 1.

Things that may take a while to adjust to:

Scott Dixon in a blue car

J R Hildebrand in the 21

Josef Newgarden in the 2

A number 4 Foyt car

Bourdais in the 18

 

Great Idea:

Just before I began writing this piece on Wednesday, I saw a tweet from Schmidt-Peterson Motorsports called “Our Starting Lineup”.  It listed the race pit crew by position, their faces placed around a car outline. These guys work hard and it’s great that their team is recognizing them in this way. I hope other teams follow this example.

I will send out reports from the track Friday and Saturday. Let me know if there is any information you’d like me to get and I’ll do my best to get it to you. If you’re going to the race, I hope to meet you if I haven’t yet.

 

Indycar Season Review- A Penske Walk in the Park

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Dominance returned to Indycar this season. Chevrolet dominated the engine battle. Drivers dominated races. Penske cars dominated the standings. Simon Pagenaud dominated the championship. Pagenaud had an early run of three straight wins and a couple second places. Will Power had a mid-season run of four wins and two second places. The difference? Power had to sit out the first race of the year due to medical issues.

While Chevrolet won more races and fourteen poles, Honda did show slight gains with two poles and more Fast Six qualifying rounds this year than last.Their two victories were well short of the six wins of 2015. With the aero-kit freeze in place for next year, Honda will focus on engine development to offset the aero disadvantage. It would be nice if the teams could work on the aerokits themselves next year.

There were several dominating drives this year. Pagenaud was clearly the class of the field at Long Beach, the Indy Grand Prix, and Sonoma. Josef Newgarden beat up on the field at Iowa. It appeared James Hinchcliffe had everyone covered at Texas, but he was nosed out at the line by Graham Rahal.  Will Powqer led virtually the entire way at road America.

Team Penske won ten of the sixteen races.  Pagenaud won half of those. His late season wins at Mid-Ohio and Sonoma were something we hadn’t seen from a series champion in a while. The last few years, the points leader won races early then hung on desperately to either win the title in the last race or lose it there.

Three classic venues returned to the schedule this year- Phoenix, Road America, and Watkins Glen. Watkins Glen was a mid-season replacement for the cancelled Boston race. It was a great upgrade from a street race. I was fortunate to be at all three. It was very exciting to have these three tracks back.

Opinion section

The best races this year, always subjective were Barber, the Indianapolis 500, Pocono, and Texas.  There is also something beautiful in the way Newgarden crushed Iowa.

The worst races- Phoenix and Sonoma.

Worst luck driver- Helio Castroneves.  He “earns” this honor with the following resume:

Indianapolis- Hit exiting the pits by Townsend Bell, then rear-ended by JR Hildebrand while he had the strongest contending car. Detroit- leading  Race 2 but waited too long to pit and was caught by a yellow. Twice at Iowa a yellow came out while he was in the pits for his scheduled stop.  At Pocono he was an innocent bystander in the Rossi/Kimball pit incident.  In spite of all this, Castroneves still managed to finish third in the standings, but not without a fight from Newgarden.

Runner-up for this category- Scott Dixon.

What broken clavicle? Josef Newgarden somehow escaped a horrific crash at Texas in the first attempt to race, ending up with a hand and clavicle fracture. He was expected to miss at least one race. Amazingly, he was back int he car at the next event at Road America. Two weeks after that came his perfect game at Iowa. The points he lost by crashing at Texas probably cost him third place. He finished two points behind in fourth.

On Wednesday, I hope to have some silly season updates and more thoughts on next year. Overall, it was a great year for Indycar’s image.

 

Watkins Glen Day Two-More Exploring, Messy Qualifying, and a Hot Lap Ride

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A. chilly foggy morning slowly became a warm sunny day. I arrived at the track in time for Indy Lights qualifying.  I watched from the Jackie Stewart stand, which is becoming my viewing spot of choice. When IndyCar practice began, I ventured to some other spots. I started at the bus stop then walked to the Carousel, turn 5. This is a very fast corner. The cars scream around it and head to the descent to turn 6.  I decided to watch the Indy Lights race from the Argestener stand outside the track at the beginning of the esses. It gives a view of turn 1 and turns 2 and 3, but that is all. Very limited viewing. I went back to the Stewart stand for IndyCar qualifying.

What a messy situation. There were four penalties called, changing those who advanced.  The penalty on Mikhail Aleshin seemed a bit marginal to be generous. Both Schmidt cars were penalized. Schmidt’s Indy Lights entry was also penalized in qualifying earlier in the day.  Scott Di x on won the pole, obliterating the track record.

Then it was time for my hot lap ride. My two favorite rides to date have been Sonoma and Road America. Add this one to that list. The elevation changes were steeper and deeper than I expected.  I felt a pull in my stomach climbing the hill in the esses. I felt the car write the letter S.  The drop from turn 5 to 6 was a huge descent. The corners of the boot had us straining our seat belts. It was a great ride.

Tomorrow I think the winner comes from the first row. I see the field getting strung out quickly. I think there will w two full course cautions that will make things interesting.

As an added service, I’ll be tweeting out points as they run every lap and a half.  I’m kidding of course. Tuesday morning will be my weekend wrap up. Have a great evening.

 

 

A New Garden Grows in Iowa

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We have seen the future of Indycar, and it is called Josef. His win in Sunday’s Iowa Corn 300 was the most dominant drive I have seen in a very long time. It was the equivalent of a perfect game in baseball. He was lightning fast, lapping almost the entire field several times. In fact, at one point he had lapped everyone except 2nd place Simon Pagenaud.  How often has that occurred since the DW12 came on board? I can’t think of when either.

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The last time Josef Newgarden was behind on Sunday

In 2014 and 2015,  Josef finished second here. Last year a botched final stop cost him the win. Before the race we were talking about how Andretti Autosport has dominated this race.  The last three years for Newgarden- 2nd, 2nd, 1st. Who’s dominating now?

Before the race I felt Newgarden and Tony Kanaan were the favorites. Kanaan has come close a lot this year, but is still looking for his first win this season. This year for him reminds me of 2014, when he came very close to winning several times before taking the finale at Fontana. For Newgarden, there were questions before the race. Could his broken hand withstand this type of racing? Would his pit stops go smoothly? He dealt with the pain.  Other than a small glitch on his first stop, There were no pit issues.

While Josef was running away and hiding from the rest of the field, there was a great race going on behind him. There seemed to be a constant battle for second place, as well as fights for other positions. Good close racing happened all over the track. I saw some incredible passes, but a pass that didn’t happen stood out. In one of his first romps through the field, Newgarden came up behind two cars side by side fighting for position in turn 3. He stuck his nose between them, then backed off and waited until they sorted out the battle. Aside from the start, I thought that was the best move he made all day.

The series moves to Toronto next weekend. By the way, Josef Newgarden is the defending champion there.

Thoughts on Iowa:

As great an event as this weekend was, I think this works better as a night race. The crowd was disappointing. The Friday night ARCA race, which usually draws a fair amount of fans, was smaller as well.  I hope having date equity for the next two years will help build the attendance back near what it once was.

This was my third time at Iowa. There seems to be a blown engine tradition here.  The 4th of July worthy display when Ryan Hunter-Reay’s engine let go was spectacular. Imagine how cool that would have looked at night.

After a weekend in the vastness of Road America, it was nice to spend time in a more compact venue. Everything at Iowa is easy and quick to get to, with shuttles and golf cart rides to parking lots, campgrounds, and the paddock.

I appreciated the extended paddock hours this year. last year the paddock was only open for passholders for about two hours. This year the paddock was open all day on Saturday.

Alexander Rossi had another solid finish. His average finish on ovals this year is 7th.  Rossi is having an incredible rookie year. People need to start paying more attention to him.

Newgarden jumped to second in points with the win Sunday. He needs to gain  as many points as possible on Pagenaud in the next three races since he will lose ground at the Texas race resumption.