That turned out to be a fun race at the end. It was a pretty tame race for Texas.
Josef Newgarden has three wins already this season. No one had more than three wins in 2018. This puts Newgarden in a great position to win a tiebreaker, although should Alexander Rossi tie him in wins, Rossi has three second places to date.
If Newgarden wins the championship, Tim Cindric should get a big share of the credit. Another brilliant call to pit on the first yellow worked out and brought the car home first. All three of Newgarden’s wins this year can attributed to pit/tire calls by Cindric.
Rossi had a great save to avoid the Herta-Dixon crash. It likely saved his title hopes.
The high line never came in tonight as it usually does. Rossi lost one of his strengths without that second groove.
Graham Rahal had a quiet race, but ends up third. Glad to see him finally have a good result in what has been a frustrating season for his team.
Remember when crew members wore short sleeves and no helmets? A serious injury or worse didn’t happen on pit lane tonight because of the mandated safety equipment for crew members. That was a scary crash in Sato’s pit. Glad to see the crewman was okay.
Dixon has made race ending mistakes two straight weekends.
It’s a shame that James Hinchcliffe crashed. He had the drive of the race going until then.
Colton Herta also had a great run going. He made some incredible moves. A shame his day ended the way it did.
What can we say about Santino Ferrucci? His fourth place tonight at Texas gives him three top tens in the last four races. Ferrucci is now leading the Rookie of the Year standings. He has done this rather quietly. Ferrucci has improved every week.
Zach Veach continues his disappointing season.
Look for my full race report on Wildfire Sports tomorrow. Next week I take a look at the season at the halfway point.
Yesterday’s Detroit Grand Prix front row drivers swap places for Race 2 today.
Josef Newgarden took the pole and Alexander Rossi will start second. Newgarden had the fastest lap of the two qualifying groupos at 1:14. 860. Rossi’s best lap was 1:15.182. Newgarden turned his fast lap in the last minute of the session. Newgarden won yesterday’s rain delayed and shortened race.
The second group was delayed for about 40 minutes to dry the track from water which had spilled from a cover on top the tire barrier in turn 6. The cars had just entered the track for their warm up lap when the red flag was shown.
The clock was reset to the full 12 minutes and the session ran cleanly.
This is Newgarden’s first pole this year and seventh career pole. His last pole was at Toronto in 2018.
Scott Dixon, Colton Herta, and Felix Rosenqvist also start in the first three rows for the second straight day.
Look for Quick Thoughts here after the race and a full report on Wildfire Sports tomorrow.
It is frustrating race to watch a race that runs 50% of the time under yellow. 29 green laps isn’t much of a race.
There were some good battles early, but the race got processional once everyone went to slicks.
Tim Cindric once again made the right strategy call. If the race stayed green it might not have worked out.
Rossi has two straight second place finishes and Sato two straight third places. I said a couple of weeks ago that Sato will be in this fight all season.
I’m sure television influenced the length of the time limit, but 85-90 minutes would have made a better show and guaranteed a second pit stop.
Ryan Hunter-Reay did a great job recovering from missing turn 7 early.
Looking at the tire choices set for today before the rain, it looks like most of the field was planning to start on reds and be done with them for the rest of the race. We might see the same plan tomorrow.
I have had my fill of rainy races this year.
Tomorrow the weather looks good for a dry full length race. It should be a better show.
It’s hard to believe that we are seven races into the season and Will Power hasn’t won a race. I can’t remember the last time that happened.
Watch for my full race report on Wildfire Sports tomorrow morning.
Fernando Alonso crashed in turn 3 just after noon today, the first yellow for an accident in practice. Alonso exited the turn and hit the the outside wall, slid backwards toward the infield. The rear of the car hit the inside wall hard and it rebounded back to the outside wall . There was heavy contact with the left rear. Alonso was uninjured. The team will assess the damage and decide whether to repair this car or prepare the backup machine.
A few minutes before Alosno’s crash Graham Rahal made quite a save exiting turn 2 It looks like understeer is an issue. teams may be experimenting with the different downforce levels and wing settings allowed.
Pato O’Ward completed his rookie test in a special pre practice session this morning. Ben Hanley completed the last phase around 1 pm. All rookies are now eligible to practice and qualify.
Josef Newgarden just had the fastesy lap of the day, 228.856, nipping Scott Dixon’s time by 0.02 miles an hour.
Conor Daly and Dixon did some pit stop practice.
Zach Veach and Colton Herta teamed up to work on drafting.
A typical St. Pete race- action early then strung out the second half. That’s not to say there weren’t some interesting things to watch. There was some good racing throughout the pack. It was fun to track the rookies, who did quite well.
Another huge crowd here. I talked to someone who has been to every St. Pete race who said this was the biggest crowd he’d seen.
What a great move by Rosenqvist to pass Power on the restart. He was a thorn in Power’s side all day.
Pit strategy once again determined the winner. Tim Cindric made the right call by saving the new reds. Early in 2018, he made a couple of good calls on tires as well.
There were fewer cautions than I expected. One more could have changed the results.
Three rookies, Rosenqvist, Colton Herta, and Santino Ferrucci finished in the top 10. Marcus Ericsson ran in the top 10 a while before dropping out with mechanical problems. At COTA, Pato O’Ward joins the rookie crop. The battle for Rookie of the Year could be just as good as the championship fight.
Great drive by Jack Harvey to finish 10th.
Given the engine issues Bourdais and Hunter-Reay had, I hope we’re not seeing the Honda engine of 2017 return.
About a fourth of the cars had non functioning LED panels. I hope this is fixable.
It was great having Robert Wickens at the track. his presence electrified the atmosphere for the paddock and the fans. His absence on the track gives the series one less contender.
Look for my full race wrap-up on Wildfire Sports tomorrow.
Happy New Year and welcome to another year of The Pit Window. Thanks to everyone for making 2018 a record year for this site. Here are are some early predictions for the 2019 Indycar season. I may revise these after the Spring Training sessions at COTA next month.
2019 Champion– Alexander Rossi. Rossi made some mistakes that cost him the title last season. He seems to learn quickly and I don’t expect those errors to be repeated. Dixon has never won consecutive titles, which is why I am not picking him. Look for strong competition from Will Power and Josef Newgarden, as usual. Ryan Hunter-Reay rediscovered his groove and may gave his teammate a challenge as well.
Rookie of the Year- I’m giving a slight edge to Felix Rosenqvist, mainly because of the team he drives for. Patricio O’Ward will present a strong challenge, especially with Harding Steinbrenner Racing receiving some technical support from Andretti, but Rosenqvist will provide strong support to Dixon in his title quest.
Indianapolis 500– Will Power. If any driver is gong to be the next back to back winner of the 500, Power is the one. He has become a master of ovals. Look for his dominance of May to continue. I can imagine the Victory Circle celebration if he returns there. Last year’s will seem tame.
Race Wins- In 2018, four drivers each won three races. I think we will see a similar situation this season, although I look for Rossi to win a fourth race to give him the edge he needs for the title. Dixon will creep ever closer to the 50 win mark, but will need another year to get there and possibly two to pass Mario Andretti’s 52 victories.
A Brief Survey
I would like to hear from you. What stories did you enjoy the most last year? Which type of column did you not like? Anything you would like to see more of, or less of? Please let me know.
The Roar
I will be heading to Daytona Saturday for The Roar Before the 24. Look for my coverage on Wildfire Sports. I may have some news regarding Wildfire soon.
St.Pete set the tone. The racing was going to be better with the new kit. It was going to be a competitive season. A rookie star emerged and would captivate fans. 2018 was all that. That rookie, Robert Wickens, unfortunately didn’t get to complete the year. Younger stars made a bold statement that they arrived, but the established stars rose to the top at the end, It was one of the most enjoyable seasons. I’ve seen.
Robert Wickens at Mid Ohio. He finished second in what would be his last complete race of the year.
The Meteor
Robert Wickens stole the pole at the opening race in St. Pete and dominated the race until a lap 108 collision with Alexander Rossi knocked him out of the race. Indycar fans suddenly had a new star to root for. Wickens followed up with a second place finish at Phoenix after leading the late stages of the race. Five consecutive top tens, including three top fives followed. Then everything came to a horrendous halt in the accident at Pocono. Whether Wickens gets back into a car again is still undetermined. He may miss the entire 2019 season. Despite missing the final three races, Wickens still finished tied for tenth in points and won Rookie of the Year. One of the highlights of last Sunday’s Sonoma finale was seeing a video of Wickens talking to the fans.
The New Aero Package
Two goals of the new aero package were to improve the racing and put the car back in the hands of the drivers. It definitely accomplished the second aim. There was better racing for the most part. Ovals definitely need some more work. Street courses showed the most improvement and road courses had more passing than last year. There is still an aero wash that needs to be tweaked. It’s fun seeing the cars slide through the corners.
A Tight Title Fight
Six different drivers swapped the lead eight times through the Texas race. Scott Dixon took the points lead with his win at Texas and led the rest of the way. His lead ballooned to 62 after Toronto but shrunk to 26 after Gateway. Alexander Rossi was third after Toronto, 70 points behind, but won two in a row at Mid Ohio and Pocono to cut into the lead. Rossi’s last chance to catch Dixon ended in the second turn at Sonoma when he clipped Marco Andretti, cutting a tire and damaging his front wing.
While Dixon’s 57 point final margin seems large, it was not an easy title to win. Dixon, Rossi, Josef Newgarden, and Will Power won three races each, and Ryan Hunter-Reay won twice. This concentration of big points days among a few drivers kept things close.
Dixon’s fifth title puts him into rarefied air. Only A. J. Foyt with seven championships has more than Dixon.
It was a strange route to the championship. Dixon did not win a pole and didn’t lead a lap until the first race in Detroit in June. He had the fewest bonus points of the four main contenders. Dixon dodged two bullets late in the season. He narrowly missed the spinning tub of Wickens’ car at Pocono. At the start of the Portland race, Dixon was involved in a scramble with four other cars, but he suffered no damage and fought back to a fifth place finish.
New teams
Carlin and Harding Racing joined the series full time. Meyer Shank Racing and Juncos Racing had part time entries. All four new teams will return next year with expanded programs. The biggest change for 2019 will be Harding, now Harding Steinbrenner Racing. Carlin is planning on adding a third car. Meyer Shank hopes to participate in ten races next season. Juncos bought a second car but is unsure if it will race during he season.
I will talk about the Harding Steinbrenner team in a post next week.
Rookies Impress
In addition to Wickens, Zach Veach had a string of four consecutive top tens at Toronto, Mid Ohio, Pocono, and Gateway. Veach had run well at times in other races but was plagued by mistakes. He was instrumental in setting up the Andretti cars in testing.
At Sonoma, Indy lights champion Patricio O’Ward got his first Indycar ride with Harding Racing. He got people’s attention with the third quickest lap in Friday’s second practice. He backed that up by qualifying fifth and finishing ninth in the race. O’Ward and Colton Herta will be full time next year for Harding Steinbrenner Racing.
Final Thoughts
Alexander Rossi at St. Pete. He showed amazing ability to pass anywhere and also had some controversial moments.
Rossi put some spice into several races this year with his charges from the rear. He started 32nd at Indianapolis and finished fourth. At Phoenix he went to the back because of a penalty and came back for a third place finish. At Sonoma he used a timely caution to fight back to seventh and keep second place in the final standings.
Rossi also created some controversy with some moves where contact was involved. the most notorious was was his collision with Wickens at St. Pete. I liked the way he didn’t apologize and just went on driving. Rossi has an old school attitude I really enjoy.
I admire Mike Harding for fielding a team all season on a limited budget. Next year the team should be stronger with added resources.
Thanks to Verizon for their series sponsorship the last five years. I appreciate that unlike other series sponsors, they completed their entire contract length.
Finally, I will continue to send good healing thoughts to Robert Wickens. I hope to see him race again.
The championship ended before the first lap was over.
Sounded like NBC fumbled the coverage. I hope this isn’t an indication of how next year will be.
Scott Dixon definitely has a place among racing’s legends. Only A. J. Foyt had more championships.
Patricio O’ Ward continued his amazing weekend with a top 10 finish.
Alexander Rossi can pass almost anyone on any track. He might won the title next year.
The race reflected the youth ve. veterans theme of the entire year.Look for my full race recap later this week on Wildfire Sports. I will also have a season review here on Friday. Thanks for following along this year.
The Pit Window by Mike Silver 