Tag: NBC Gold

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.

 

Kanaan Leads Practice Session; ECR Struggles

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Photo: Kyle McInnes

Tony Kanaan led this afternoon’s only track practice for tomorrow’s ABC Supply 500. Kanaan’s top lap of 216.354 was the only lap in the 216 range. Scott Dixon had the second best time with a 215. 761. Dixon’s lap came late  in the session. Simon Pagenaud in 5th and Charlie Kimball in eighth were the other Chevys  in the top ten. Alexander Rossi was fourth.

Rookie Santino Ferrucci led the session for a few minutes before settling for third quickest. Ferrucci was one of the few drivers who seemed to be able to pass cars  at will.

Ed Carpenter Racing struggled during the session. Spencer Pigot was 21st and Ed Carpenter was last. ECR usually does very well on super speedways. Points leader Josef Newgarden also had trouble finding speed, finishing 17th. Teammate Will Power ended 20th.

The Top Ten:

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Notes:

NBCSN did a nice job pointing out the different wickers teams were using. I’m glad the teams have options. Even thought the wickers configurations are difficult to see, it does give the cars some differentiation.

Rossi seemed to have the setup to be able to pull away from cars behind him.

Passing will be difficult tomorrow. Some of the attempted passes looked like what you see on a road course when a driver can get his nose up to the car but has to drop back. It looks like track position, fuel mileage, and good restarts will be keys to success Sunday.

I’ll be back to morrow with a quick morning preview and then post race coverage.

Race coverage begins at 2 pm on NBCSN. green flag around 2:45. Thanks for following along on this crazy, jumbled day.

 

Qualifying Cancelled

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Qualifying for the ABC Supply 500 has been cancelled. The field will line up according to entrant  points. There will be a two hour practice once the helicopter arrives.  Time of the practice is TBA at the moment.

Josef Newgarden will start on the pole with Alexander Rossi beside him.

I will keep you updated as to when the practice session is scheduled. .

Title Chase Heats Up at Pocono

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Good morning. It’s practice and qualifying day at Pocono Raceway for the ABC Supply 500.

Today’s schedule: All Times Eastern

Practice 1- 9:30-10:30

Qualifying   12:30-1:45

Practice 2   4:00-5:00

All sessions are streamed on NBC Gold. Qualifying will be shown delayed on NBCSN at 2:30.  My Quick Thoughts will post after the television broadcast.

The race is the first of the last four races of the season and the first of three consecutive weekends of racing. After all the wild nes of the past ten days, it will be great to re-focus on the championship. After tomorrow we should have a clearer picture of how many drivers will still be in contention. I still thin k going into Portland we will be down to a two man battle between Alexander Rossi and Josef Newgarden.

I will be back after the first practice with a summary and some thoughts on the latest news.