Tag: NBC Sports

Quick Thoughts- Sonoma Grand Prix and Championship

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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.

Quick Thoughts on Sonoma Qualifying

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Hunter- Reay may have won the pole but Pato O’Ward was the star of the show. What a great job in his first Indycar weekend.

A non title contender winning the pole helps Dixon and pretty much knocks Power and Newgarden out of contention.

This was Dixon’s best road course qualifying of the year and only his second Fast Six on a natural road course. He could win the championship without winning a pole.

Power regrets not running another lap.

Wind will be a significant factor in the race tomorrow.

 

 

 

Sonoma’s Final Finale

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Indycar’s odd relationship with Sonoma comes to an end Sunday with the Verizon Indycar Series season finale. The 2019 schedule released two weeks ago does not have Sonoma on it. The final race next year will be at Weather Tech Raceway in Monterrey, on the other side of San Francisco.

Since 2015 Sonoma Raceway hosted the season finale and the track has done a great job presenting the new champion. The program has improved each year. The championship presentation is on the track’s front stretch with fans allowed to join the festivities.

Indycar first raced here in 1970 under USAC sanction. Dan Gurney won the 60 lap race. The series did not return to the track until 2005 as an IRL event. It has been on the schedule ever since.

I describe Sonoma as a great track for race cars, but not a great track for racing. The winner is usually determined by who wins the pole or whoever is in a position to take advantage of the pole winner’s misfortune. Attendance has not been great here, but there will be problems improving it at the new venue.

There has been some drama here, however. In 2006 Tony Kanaan held on to second place with a broken wing, taking points away from contenders chasing teammate Dario Franchitti, allowing Franchitti to gain valuable points on his way to the season title. In 2015, Juan Pablo Montoya came into the race with a sizable points lead and had the championship well in hand. A collision with teammate Will Power cost him enough positions to allow Scott Dixon to win the race and the Astor Cup.

I enjoy the track and the surrounding countryside.It’s a beautiful drive to Sonoma and Napa from the track viewing the hills and vineyards. I will miss breakfast at the Fremont Diner and having a drink at Ernie’s Tin Shed. I’m not sure that Weather Tech Raceway will see better racing, but the scenery should be at least as good.

On Wednesday look for my complete race and championship preview on Wildfire Sports.

BC39- IMS Gets Down in the Dirt and Mud- A Fan’s Review

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It had been a long time. The last dirt track race I remember attending was the 1970 Hoosier Hundred. It was an event on what was then the USAC Indycar schedule. As for midgets or sprint cars, it had been a much longer time. After watching the BC39 Drive to Save Lives event at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway this week, I have to ask myself, “Why have you waited so long?” This was quite a show and a refreshing change of pace from Indycar.

There is no pit strategy, fuel saving, tire management, or push to pass. All there is is pure, full out hard racing. Cars appear out of control through the turns, but it’s how they need to be driven. The 110 entries provided  non- stop action over the two nights.

As usual, IMS did things in a first class way. The track was beautifully done, well prepared, and the surface held up well each night. The grandstands were about 80% full Wednesday and completely full Thursday night. Opening night was great. I loved watching the dirt fly around. But Thursday night the flying mud was even better. The track dried out some as the evening progressed.

The crowd on Thursday was particularly impressive considering it had rained most of the day and the program didn’t start until nearly 9 pm. These are some of the most dedicated fans I’ve seen. Hardly anyone left their seat during the track action and not many got up when there was an extended break in the proceedings.

The race was a great way to honor three time Indy 500 starter Brian Clauson and it also paid homage to the original feeder series that helped prepare drivers for the 500. Sadly, the skills required for midgets and sprints today translate more to stock cars than Indycars.

An Annual Event?

The big question is whether this will become an annual event. There is no answer at the moment. The track will to revert to a parking area for the 500. The infrastructure is in place to reassemble the track, however. I think it can be a staple on the IMS calendar.

Some have suggested the race move to pole night. I think May is a more appropriate time for it and qualifying weekend would be great. I have also seen a suggestion that it become a part of Indiana Sprint/Midget week.  It’s a nice idea, but I would hate to see one of the small tracks lose their spot. If it were an addition to the week, that would be fine.

Changes

I have just a couple things the Speedway could improve here. There is no signage on the outside of the grandstands indicating section locations. It would have been nice to know which walkway to enter to be close to where I sat.

The rows were not well marked. There was not a designation for every row. In my section everyone in two rows were one row too high.

Shuttle stops for infield parking were not clearly marked. I ended up walking to turn 3. I didn’t have a problem doing that, but others may need transportation.

My Favorite Car

If you were there and you know me, you can guess which one it was. It is pictured here:

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I think that should this event return, more cars should adopt old Indy 500 liveries. A heat race with the cars in tribute liveries would be fantastic.

It was great to be a part of something special. I plan to get to more dirt short track races the rest of this year and next summer. These were two fun nights and helped bridge the two week gap between Indycar races.

 

The 2019 Indycar Schedule; News and Comments

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Some thoughts on the Indycar schedule released today:

I like that the huge gap between the first and second race is gone. Having three weeks between Long Beach and the Grand Prix of Indianapolis is probably more appropriate. It allows for testing at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway at a time closer to the 500.

I hope the three weeks between Portland and the Laguna Seca final is just a one year arrangement. IMSA races at Laguna Seca September 15.

Team members have two three week stretches of races plus the four week grind of May and the Detroit doubleheader.

Will Barber return to its traditional date next year? Easter falls on the usual Barber weekend necessitating the change.

I’m excited that Indycar is going to Circuit of the Americas. My first though when I went there for the inaugural Formula 1 race was  that it would be a good track for Indycar.  My concern is attendance. COTA is a huge property. Like IMS, what would be a decent crowd at most places will make the track seem empty. F1 is the only series that has had good attendance in Austin.

While I’m sad to see one less oval on the schedule, I’m happy that Iowa will again be a Saturday night race. That track was made for Indycars on Saturday night.

Attendance at Laguna Seca could also be a concern with IMSA holding an event the weekend before. These two series need to work together and hold joint events.

Television Schedule Still to Come

We know all, the races will be on an NBC network. The question is, which race on which network? I will go out on a huge limb here and say the Indianapolis 500 will be on NBC.

Seven other races will appear on the big network. My guessses:

St. Pete- season opener; introduces audience to Indycar

Long Beach- historic track and event

Indycar Grand Prix- prelude to the 500; promotes the 500

The 500

Road America- another classic track; spectatcular scenery

Iowa- Saturday night racing showcases Indycar roots

Pocono- another 500 race; usually one of the best races of the year

Laguna Seca- season finale allows season recap and promotes 2020 season.

I’m sure I have one correct. I left off the Detroit doubleheader. With a limited number of network appearances, putting half of that schedule in a four week span creates a large gap until the next network race.

Harding’s Future?

Last weekend at Portland Harding racing announced that 2018 Indy Lights champion Patricio O’Ward and Lights runner up Colton Herta will drive in the Indycar finale at Sonoma. Herta tested with Harding earlier this season and O’Ward will test with the team Thursday.

We might be seeing the future of Harding Racing begin. Gabby Chaves, who began the year with Harding and has a contract for next year, may be out of a ride.

Talk still is going on about MclAren taking over harding and some uinvolvement with Andretti Autosport. Both O’Ward and Herta drove for Andretti in Indy Lights.

However this situation turns out, I admire Mike Harding for putting a team together, hiring good experienced people, and running the entire season with older equipment. This was a low budget operation. Small teams like this are what the series needs more of.

Fred Watch

On Wednesday, weather permitting, Fernando Alonso is scheduled to test an Indycar at Barber Motorsports Park. He will drive an Andretti Autosport car, the one Carlos Munoz drove in this year’s Indianapolis 500.

Alonso has not announced where he will drive next year. The Indycar schedule has no conflicts with his WEC commitments for 2018. The WEC opener for 2019 is the same weekend as Portland.

Quick Thoughts- Portland Grand Prix

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Scott Dixon must have been an alchemist in another life. He turned what looked to be a disastrous points day into gaining points on his closest rivals.

What can I say about the Dale Coyne with Vasser Sullivan racing team and Sebastien Bourdais? Took P1 in Saturday practice, crashed the next lap, pieced a car together to qualify fourth, then finish third in the race. That team will sleep well tonight. This is the best story of the weekend.

It was a tough ending to what had been a great weekend  for Zach Veach. His top ten streak ended. I still look for great things from him next season.

Another great day for Spencer Pigot. He’s another young driver coming into his own. His fourth place finish today and his second place at Iowa show his late season maturity.

The crowd today was the largest I’ve seen for an Indycar race outside of IMS. I hope attendance figures for the weekend are released. Each day was a crowd other tracks would have been thrilled to have on race day.

For a race where not much passing was anticipated, there was a lot of drama and plot twists. Takuma Sato’s two stop strategy paid off. The yellows fell at the right time for him, while others were caught out by them.

Overall, it was a good race.

I believe Robert Wickens has clinched  Rookie of the Year. It shows what a strong season he was having. Continued hope for recovery for him.

Whos Rossi’s Rival?

At the beginning of the season the talk was of a rivalry between Alexander Rossi and Josef Newgarden. After St. Pete, it was Rossi and Wickens. In mid season it Rossi and everybody. It turns out that the rivalry was Rossi and Scott Dixon. They are the only two realistically with a shot at the title.

The twenty nine point difference between Dixon and Rossi is a good argument to get rid of double points. I don’t think the series needs six drivers eligible to win the championship at the last race unless the points naturally fall that wa

Notes

There is a strong buzz that COTA will be the seventeenth race. The schedule should be announced Tuesday.

After two consecutive  races with huge crowds,  Sonoma will look emptier than usual.

Fernando Alonso will test an Andretti Autosport car at Barber this coming Wednesday.

Look for my full race recap on Wildfire Sports later tonight or tomorrow morning.

 

Hello from Portland

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img_20180830_161324.jpgAfter a very long travel day, I finally made it to Portland International Raceway. The track is rather flat with an interesting set of curves on either end. Turn 1 is a challenge to navigate as it comes at the end of a long, fast front stretch and the track narrows. Several drivers needed the runoff area there yesterday.

A great viewing area I discovered is grandstand K located inside the track in turn 1. From the top row you can see the Festival curves, a series of esses and watch the cars  hear to the back stretch.

Scott Dixon had the fastest time in Thursday’s test, 58. 3593  seconds. Alexander Rossi was ninth quick. Yesterday’s times mean nothing. Today’s first practice begins at 1:45 ET.

Here are a few photos from turn 1 yesterday. I hope to move around to some other spots today.

Remember, my coverage this weekend will be mainly on Wildfire Sports. I will still post my quick thoughts here tomorrow and Sunday.

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Bommarito 500- The Race with Many Faces

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Another successful event at Gateway Motorsports Park ended with a race that had something for everyone. Will Power grabbed his third win of the season, closing some ground on points leader Scott Dixon. There were a couple of passes for the lead, pit strategy, and fuel saving. A driver charged from deep in the pack to earn a top five. The surprise was that it wasn’t Alexander Rossi or Sebastien Bourdais.  As is typical of night races, the complexion changed as the track cooled.

Fortunately, setting the field by points did not affect the results. That is always a concern when the starting grid is set with no regard to speeds on a particular weekend.  It was evident that Power had tje best car from the green flag when he jumped into second place behind Dixon as Rossi had an unusually bad start. Rossi at one point fell all the way back to eighth.

Drive of the Race

While positions remained fixed at the front, Zach Veach charged to tenth from sixteenth. He would remain in the top ten the rest of the evening and lead his first career laps before finishing fifth. Veach has four consecutive top ten finishes. Saturday was his second top five this year. Veach got credit for helping Andretti Autosport set up their cars for Pocono from Rossi in Victory Lane. He should be even stronger next year.

Caution Sets Up Fuel Run

The second caution on lap 173 for Ryan Hunter-Reay’s stalled car caused everyone to re-figure pit stops. The race went back to green with a distance remaining that was a bit too long to make the end on a full tank. Rossi was one of only three cars to not make a fourth stop. He has becoming a fuel saving master on the same level as Dixon and Power. He salvaged second as Dixon was indecisive on whether to save or go wide open. meanwhile, power had stopped with 17 laps left and go full speed.

Great Save

Several cars, including Power, tried to pass on the outside going into turn 1 and ended up getting very close to the wall. Rossi slid in turn 2 and appeared to be heading straight for the wall before getting the car under control. It must have made some dirt car drivers jealous. He lost the race by 1.3 seconds. The margin would have been closer if not for that adventure.

Gateway Hits Another Home Run

Gateway Motorsports park and the Bommarito Group put on a much improved event. They took feedback from 2017 and put more than 1 million dollars into making the fan experience better. There were many more food vendors, including several food trucks with quite a variety of offerings. The widened drive and paved parking made leaving smoother. My group was on the highway in about twelve minutes.

A couple things they might consider for next year- many workers still did not know where to redeem paddock vouchers for wristbands nor which seats were general admission. The track also could establish a number to text if a fan has an issue. There were people smoking in the grandstands in spite of signs prohibiting it.

Overall, this group knows how to promote and put on a race.

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Sebastien Bourdais sits on track after hitting the wall on lap 1.

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The first two rows line up on the backstretch for the start.