Tag: NBC Sports

Honda Indy Toronto Qualifying- Quick Thoughts

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Photo: Kyle McInnes

The Sato/Bourdais scuffle was an interesting way to start the show. I don’t want a steady diet of that type of thing, but it spices up the action when it occurs.

Rosenqvist loves Toronto.

Ed Carpenter Racing  is making progress on their road course program. Both cars in Round 2 and Ed Jones in the Fast Six.

Power seemed frustrated in the interview after Round one.

Great last lap by Jones to lead Group 2.

Six teams advanced to Round 2 and four teams had cars in the Fast Six. An incredibly competitive qualifying.

Rossi seems to be in the same place he was in St. Pete – just okay but not good enough to contend.

I like the strategy by Jones and Rosenqvist in the Fast Six. It almost worked for Rosenqvist.

Pagenaud took a rather roundabout route to the pole. He didn’t lead a round until the Fast Six.

The two drivers who most need wins to stay in the championship fight are starting on the front row.

Overall, it was a wild and competitive qualifying. Teams used lots of different tire strategies. It seemed like several drivers had a shot at the pole.

I wonder how many slides and wall hits we’ll see tomorrow?

Back tomorrow afternoon with Quick Thoughts on the race,.  My full race report will be on Wildfire Sports Monday.

Pagenaud Fastest in Practice 3; Qualifying Groups Set

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Simon Pagenaud led the final practice before qualifying with a lap of 59. 365 seconds. He will lead Group 2 in Round 1 of qualifying this afternoon.  Pagenaud also led yesterday’s second practice session. Felix Rosenqvist had the next best time at 59. 4 seconds. Rosenqvist has finished each practice period in the top three.

The session was green until Ryan Hunter-Reay slid into the tires just before pit in with 12 minutes left. the session resumed with eight minutes and ten seconds remaining. Graham Rahal slid into the tires in turn 1 with four minutes left. Time expired but Indycar allowed one more flying lap.

Qualifying begins at 2pm EDT on NBCSN.

Tentative Qualifying Groups

Group 1

Rosenqvist

Ferrucci

Andretti

Bourdais

Pigot

Rahal

Power

Chilton

Sato

Leist

Karam

Group 2

Pagenaud

Hunter-Reay

Herta

Rossi

Hinchcliffe

Ericsson

Newgarden

Dixon

Jones

Kanaan

Veach

Back after qualifying with Quick Thoughts. Going to try to write some during qualifying.

 

Pagenaud Fastest In P2; Three Drivers Break 60 Second Mark

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Turn 11 continued to be tricky in the afternoon session as Simon Pagenaud led Practice 2. The winner of the 103rd Indianapolis 500 had the day’s first sub-60 second lap with a best time of 59. 871. Felix Rosenqvist was second quickest 0.06 seconds behind. Sebastien Bourdais ended the period third 0.116 seconds slower than Pagenaud.

Turn 11 again was a busy spot with contact by Takuma Sato,  Marcus Ericsson, and Alexander Rossi.  Ericsson had another contact incident in turn 5.  Rossi hit the turn 9 wall and damaged the left front tire.There was no suspension damage and he returned to the track, but finished 14th.

Pagenaud, Bourdais, and Rosenqvist looked strong in both sessions. Scott Dixon, who led the morning practice, was fifth this afternoon. The Ganassi pair of Dixon and Rosenqvist join Pagenaud as the only three drivers in the top five of both sessions.

Notes

Spencer Pigot was fourth in practice 2 as he continues to seek a breakout race performance.

The cars of Marco Andretti and Colton Herta look a lot alike from a distance. It will be good to know their starting positions to help watching them in the race. I hope they don’t end up in the same row.

Both of Rossi’s wall contacts happened in the first 20 minutes of the session. The car looks like it needs some work overnight.

Tomorrow’s practice session is at 10: 20 am ET. Qualifying begins  at 2 pm ET. The practice is on NBC Gold. Qualifying is live on NBCSN.

Toronto Preview

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Photo from Alexander Rossi’s Twitter feed

Summer break is over. The NTT Indycar series points battle returns this weekend in Toronto. This is the 34th running of the series on the streets of Exhibition Place. The event began in 1986 and except for 2008 has run continuously.  The weekend has the feel of the Indianapolis 500 to it. The course layout has changed over the years  due to construction. It is a narrow track which makes qualifying very important and  perfect pit stops almost mandatory.

We are near the point of the season where a good points finish matters almost as much, if not more, than winning. Josef Newgarden leads Alexander Rossi by just seven points. Simon Pagenaud is 61points behind, and Scott Dixon trails by 94. Of the top four Rossi and Dixon are the two who most need to win Sunday. Rossi needs the victory to tie Newgarden with firsts this season.  Rossi would then hold the tiebreaker with three second place finishes should he and Newgarden end the season tied.

Dixon’s only chance to defend his series title is to win as many of the seven races left as he can. A deficit of nearly 100 points is difficult to make up, but Dixon is known for his second half strength.  Toronto was the last of his three victories last season. Dixon has won at Toronto three times. He swept the double header here in 2013.

Team Penske drivers Newgarden and Will Power have won three of the last four races and three of the last four poles. newgarden has won twice. Power, Newgarden, and Pagenaud have each won a Toronto pole since 2015. Dixon broke up the Penske pole party in 2016.  Since 2009 only Dario Franchitti (2009), Dixon (2013), and Sebastien Bourdais (2014)  have won the race from the pole.

The Honda Indy Toronto race has never been caution free. I don’t think Sunday’s race will break that tradition.  Pit strategy will be a big factor in the race. Newgarden and Tim Cindric have won three times this season playing pit strategy  perfectly. The breaks could fall their way again. In Rossi’s dominant win at Road America, his last pit stop was earlier than the first two. In other races Rossi had seemed to stick to a plan regardless of the situation. That early stop might mean the team is going to be more flexible should the situation warrant.

Qualifying is key at Toronto. The winner will likely come from the Firestone fast Six group.  In 2001 Michael Andretti won from 13th, the farthest back the winner has started. Newgarden started from the pole last year and seemed to be in control of the race. He went wide on a restart and hit the inside wall, allowing Dixon to take the lead and the victory.

Spotlight on the Canadian Duo

A Canadian will triumph before the race begins. Robert Wickens, severely injured in a crash at pocono last August, will drive the parade lap in a modified Acura NSX. Wickens has worked extremely hard on his recovery. He is still a long way from competing again, but his progress has been amazing. This might be the most watched parade lap in series history.

Note to NBC: We’ve seen the crash; we don’t need to see it Sunday. Thanks in advance.

Hometown hero James Hinchcliffe, Wickens teammate,  just missed the podium last year, finishing fourth. He has been on the podium  here, but has had some mixed results. A Hinchcliffe win would cap an amazing day for the two Canadian drivers.

Don’t Bet Against the Front Runners

Newgarden has won two street races on strategy. Rossi has won one in a powerful statement race, although that turned out to be a preview of Road America. Rossi also has finished second on a street course. Toronto is similar to Detroit, where Rossi and Newgarden made up the front row.

I think the race comes down to a battle between these two, but I also wouldn’t count out Pagenaud or Dixon. Last year there were three full course yellows, all in the first half of the race. A late yellow coukld completely change the complexion of the race.

I’m going with Rossi to make it two wins in a row. In 2018 Rossi won back to back races at Mid Ohio and Pocono.

 

 

 

Wickens to Drive Parade Lap at Toronto

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Big news from Robert Wickens this morning.  It will be great to see him behind the wheel. I hope we don’t have to see numerous replays of the crash beforehand on NBCSN.  Back later with some thoughts on other things.

Texas Preview- Tires and Timing Keys to Winning

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The NTT Indycar series reaches the halfway point of the season with Saturday night’s DXC Technology 600k at Texas Motor Speedway.  The race also ends a grueling five week stretch for the teams and drivers that started May 10 with the Indycar Grand Prix. There is a test at Road America next week, and the race there is June 22-24.

Texas over the years has had horrific crashes and controversy.   In 1997, Billy Boat won the race driving for A. J. Foyt. Arie Luyenduyk confronted Foyt in Victory Lane claiming he had won. Foyt slapped Luyendyk. A review showed that Luyendyk had indeed won. Foyt stil has the trophy. It was the last Indycar race that USAC officiated. Simona de Silvestro was involved in a horrible crash in 2010 and her car came to rest on fire. It took several minutes for the rescue team to reach her car. In 2017, a multi-car wreck which caused a red flag resulted in lots of finger pointing among drivers and teams.

The weekend really began last night with a night practice. The practice also served as test to decide which of two tire compounds cars will use in the race.

Last night’s practice was cut short by rain at about 8:50 EDT. The drivers got about 35 minutes actual practice. the first few minutes were spent practicing pit exit with the two stage limiter in effect for this race.

Scott Dixon was fastest in the short practice session with a lap at 219.3 mph. Today’s schedule: All times Eastern

Pit Stop Practice and Practice 2       2:30-4:00  NBC Gold

Qualifying                                               6:45-7:45    NBC Sports and NBC Gold

 

This weekend’s race could either help drivers close in on points leader Josef Newgarden or put someone too far back to contend the rest of the year.

Since 2011, only three drivers who have won this race went on to win the championship the same season. Scott Dixon has done it three times, last year,  2015, and 2008.  Dario Franchitti won the race and the title in 2011. Helio Castroneves has won four times, and Dixon has three victories.

Winning the pole at Texas doesn’t mean race success, either.  In the 30 previous races, only five  drivers won from the pole- Sam Hornish, Jr. in 20001,  Gil de Ferran in 2003, Helio Castroneves in 2004, and Tomas Scheckter in 2005; Scott Dixon is the last driver to win from pole in 2008. Power has won the pole three times in three straight years- 2013-2015.

Daly’s Second Start

Conor Daly makes his second start of the season, driving for Carlin Racing. he replaces Max Chilton, who has decided not to drive on the remaining ovals this year.  Daly finished 10th in the Indianapolis 500 driving for Andretti Autosport. He drove for Carlin ‘s GP 3 program in 2011.

In 2016 at Texas Daly was involved in crash with Josef Newgarden. Newgarden was injured but still was able to race at road America two weeks later. The 2016 race was later halted by rain after 78 laps and finished in August.

Strong Track for Penske

Four of the last six poles at TMS have been won by a Penske Chevrolet.  Newgarden won the pole last year.  Power, as previously stated, won the pole from 2013-15. Race results for Penske have been mixed, with only two wins in the last six years. The most recent win was by Power in 2017.

With all three Penske drivers fighting for the title,and possibly the win,  the drivers will be taking points from each other, leaving an opening for Dixon or Alexander Rossi to gain ground.

How the Yellows Fall

The outcome of the race usually comes down to when the last yellow flag falls and who survives the attrition this track seems to produce.  A caution with less than ten laps to go will result in cars behind the leader going to the pits for fresh tires. The leader is stuck maintaining his position. His only hope is for a yellow with three laps left.

Tires

The rain shortened practice may make tires more of a question mark. this was the only practice that was at the same time of day as the race.  At that, just a few minutes after the green flag time, the rain began.

Firestone brought a different right front in case their first choice blistered.  The hope is that tire wear will be more of a factor this year. it may be another race where the last driver to get fresh tires wins.

Inaccurate Predicitions

At the season’s halfway point, I have a choice. i can get a prediction right or run the table and continue to get them all wrong.  I will try to get at least one right.

Pole: Hunter-Reay

Race: Dixon

Like Detroit last week, this race could be another good day for Dallara. I just hope it is a safe race.

Look for Quick Thoughts after qualifying and the race here and a full race report on Sunday on Wildfire Sports.

 

 

Racing to 101?

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HiGood morning from a windy Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Race Day!  There has been lightning in the area and the video boards are already displaying the warning to exit the grandstands.  The weather forecast leaves very little time to squeeze in the race. If the race begins, 101 laps is an official race,

Knowing the race will be a short one will definitely play into teams’ strategy.

The last rain shortened race was in 2007. Dario Franchitti won a race that was interrupted by rain after 113 laps, restarted about three hours later, then halted after 166 laps. If the race is shortened, I hope we can get in at least 150 laps.  101 seems too short.

I wll keep you posted on weather developments through @PitWindow on Twitter and The Pit Window on Facebook  after 10 am.  Before then, I will post an update to this story.

If you’re coming to the track, be safe. I’m not suree there will,be an official announcement from the track or NTT Indycar Series officials before 9 am.

Update

It’s 7:17 and the skies are clearing. Things look better for an on time start. The weather is moving north.

9:59

Weather appears not to be an issue at all now. Thanks Tony Hulman