NTT Indycar Series – Page 202 – The Pit Window by Mike Silver

Toronto Cancelled

May 14, 2021 thepitwindow

Not a surprise, but good t6 know early. I look fo r a double header at either Mid Ohio or Portland. The official announcement from Indycar:

2021 Schedule Update

INDIANAPOLIS (Friday, May 14, 2021) – Due to ongoing restrictions in Ontario focusing on COVID-19 health-and-safety measures, organizers for the Honda Indy Toronto and the NTT INDYCAR SERIES jointly announce that this year’s event, July 9-11, will no longer be a part of the 2021 schedule.“The NTT INDYCAR SERIES race around Exhibition Place and Princes’ Gates is a hallmark of our summer schedule,” Penske Entertainment Corp. President and CEO Mark Miles said. “To have that void for a second straight year is heartbreaking. We deeply miss our fans there and urge them to remain safe during these unprecedented times. INDYCAR looks forward to a high-powered return in 2022 and for years to come.”The festival atmosphere on the Streets of Toronto has been a staple of the INDYCAR SERIES since 1986. The list of champions includes legendary names such as Bobby Rahal, Emerson Fittipaldi, Al Unser Jr., Michael Andretti, Alex Zanardi, Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon.INDYCAR is considering various scenarios for the remainder of the 2021 NTT INDYCAR SERIES calendar as it relates to the cancellation of the event on the Streets of Toronto.The current mid-summer portion of the schedule will resume Sunday, Aug. 8 for the inaugural Big Machine Music City Grand Prix on the streets of Nashville, with live coverage on NBCSN. That event is the first of three races on consecutive weekends for the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, with the Nashville race followed by another historic NASCAR-INDYCAR weekend Saturday, Aug. 14 on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course and then the exciting oval at World Wide Technology Raceway on Saturday, Aug. 21.

GMR Grand Prix- Time For a Penske Bounce Back?

May 13, 2021 thepitwindow

It is time. Tomorrow (Friday) the gates to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway open to fans in May for the first time since 2019. Has it only been two years? It seems like a lifetime ago. The eighth GMR Grand Prix takes place this weekend, followed next week by practice for the 105th running of the Indianapolis 500.

The Grand Prix began in 2014 as a way to add content to a shrinking May agenda. Attendance at the first event exceeded expectations, and the race has settled in at nice crowd of around 35,000 or so.The 2021 race is the fifth round of the NTT Indycar Series championship. Last year this race took place July 4 in conjunction with the Brickyard 400 NASCAR race. In 2021 it returns to its traditional spot n the calendar.

Several teams and drivers come into this weekend needing a successful run.

Can Penske Continue Its Domination?

The GMR Grand Prix has been practically owned by Team Penske since 2015. Until Scott Dixon won last year in July, Will ,Power and Simon Pagenaud were the only two drivers to have won this race. Pagenaud also won the inaugural event driving for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports.Josef Newgarden and Will Power each won a race in the Harvest Classic last October at IMS
.Team Penske uncharacteristically has not won a race this season. As a team their statistics for the first four races show no poles or wins, five of the 12 podium spots, and a total of 31 laps led. Josef Newgarden has two of the podiums. I think this is the weekend the team breaks through with a pole and a victory, not necessarily the same individual.

Will Power has won the pole four times for this race, including the July running last year. he also won the pole for Race 2 at the Harvest Classic. If the team is to begin a run at the championship, this is the race where they can get going.

O’Ward Looks to Build on Momentum

Pato O’Ward jumped to second place in the standings with his win the second race at Texas Motor Speedway two weeks ago. He won the pole at Barber, but strategy cost him the victory there. O’Ward could be the one to break the Penske May spell of this race. O’Ward will have a strong weekend.

Arrow Mclaren SP adds Juan Pablo Montoya to their lineup for May. his experience will be helpful to O’Ward and possibly help Felix Rosenqvist, who has struggled in the quarter of the season.

Andretti Drivers Need a Boost

Except for Colton Herta, Andretti Autosport has underperformed this season. James Hinchcliffe has has been involved in race ruining contact three times this season. Ryan Hunter-Reay eked out a 10th place in Texas race 2 for his best finish to date, and Alexander Rossi languishes in 15th place with one top 10 finish.

The team needs top 10s from all its drivers, and a top 5 from at least one of them. The Andretti armada should be strong for the 500, but they need to get something rolling this weekend.

Rookies

The three series rookies, Scott McLaughlin, Romain Grosjean, and Jimmie Johnson, make their IMS debut this weekend. Only McLaughlin will also run the 500. McLaughlin has one podium with a second place in Texas Race 1. I look for McLaughlin and Grosjean to have strong showings on this track. Grosjean did very well at Barber, earning a top 10, and mcLaughlin has the backing of Team Penske, which should help at this track.

Will Dixon Keep Rolling?

Scott Dixon is in his familiar.number one position in the standings with a victory under his belt and no finish lower than fifth. So far Dixon is giving one of his stronger title defenses. He is actually the defending race winner of this event as well. A win Saturday would tie Dixon with Mario Andretti for second place on the career win list with 52 victories. He would also be only the third winner of this race in the month of May.

As I have said on a couple of other occasions this year, don’t count out his teammate Alex Palou,. Palou held off Power to win at Barber, and he is third in the standings.

The GMR Grand Prix is shaping up to be a very competitive race. Qualifying is key to a good result. No matter the outcome the winner will be the fans, who once again get to enter this sacred ground in the month that Indianapolis lives for. It will be great to back at IMS.

Entry List for 500 Shows 35 Cars

May 12, 2021May 12, 2021 thepitwindow

Just released from Indycar:

Nine Winners among Deep Field for 105th Indianapolis 500 Presented by Gainbridge

35 Cars Entered To Compete in ‘The Greatest Spectacle in Racing’ May 30
Entry List link:
http://www.imscdn.com/indycar_media/documents/2021-05-12/indycar-entrylist-indianapolis%20500.pdf

INDIANAPOLIS (Wednesday, May 12, 2021) – Nine winners – just one shy of the event record – are among the field of drivers assigned to 35 cars entered for the 105th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge on Sunday, May 30 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Three-time winner Helio Castroneves (2001, 2002, 2009), two-time winners Juan Pablo Montoya (2000, 2015) and Takuma Sato (2017, 2020), plus single winners Scott Dixon (2008), Tony Kanaan (2013), Ryan Hunter-Reay (2014), Alexander Rossi (2016), Will Power (2018) and Simon Pagenaud (2019) are the past winners aiming for another victory this year in “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.” The record for winners in one field is 10, set in 1992. Castroneves will bid to become the fourth member of the elite four-time winner’s club featuring A.J. Foyt, Al Unser and Rick Mears. Sato, 44, will try to become the first repeat winner since Castroneves in 2001-02 and the first driver ever to win the world’s most prestigious auto race three times after age 40. The field includes eight past INDYCAR SERIES champions: Sebastien Bourdais, Dixon, Hunter-Reay, Kanaan, Montoya, Josef Newgarden, Pagenaud and Power. Dixon is the reigning and six-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion. A talented trio will compete for Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge Rookie of the Year honors: RC Enerson, Pietro Fittipaldi and Scott McLaughlin. Fittipaldi is the grandson of two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Emerson Fittipaldi. 2010 Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year Simona De Silvestro returns to the race for the first time since 2015, attempting to make her sixth start in “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.” Andretti Autosport has entered six cars, the most of any team. Practice opens Tuesday, May 18 and runs through Friday, May 21. Crown Royal Armed Forces Qualifying is scheduled for Saturday, May 22 and Sunday, May 23. The traditional final practice, two hours again this year on Miller Lite Carb Day, will be held Friday, May 28. Live Race Day coverage begins on NBC and the INDYCAR Radio Network at 11 a.m. (ET), with the green flag set for 12:30 p.m. 2021 ENTRY BREAKDOWN: Winners (9): Helio Castroneves, Scott Dixon, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Tony Kanaan, Juan Pablo Montoya, Simon Pagenaud, Will Power, Alexander Rossi, Takuma Sato
Rookies (3): RC Enerson, Pietro Fittipaldi, Scott McLaughlin
U.S. drivers (13): Marco Andretti, Ed Carpenter, Conor Daly, RC Enerson, Santino Ferrucci, Colton Herta, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Sage Karam, Charlie Kimball, JR Hildebrand, Josef Newgarden, Graham Rahal, Alexander Rossi
International drivers (22): Sebastien Bourdais, Helio Castroneves, Max Chilton, Simona De Silvestro, Scott Dixon, Marcus Ericsson, Pietro Fittipaldi, Jack Harvey, James Hinchcliffe, Ed Jones, Tony Kanaan, Dalton Kellett, Scott McLaughlin, Juan Pablo Montoya, Pato O’Ward, Simon Pagenaud, Alex Palou, Will Power, Felix Rosenqvist, Takuma Sato, Rinus VeeKay, Stefan Wilson
Engines (35): Chevrolet 18, Honda 17 (all cars use Dallara chassis and Firestone tires)

GMR Grand Prix Fast Facts

May 12, 2021 thepitwindow

From Indycar:

Detroit Returns – Limited Fans; Ticket Sales begin May 20

May 11, 2021 thepitwindow

2021 CHEVROLET DETROIT GRAND PRIX PRESENTED BY LEAR TO FOLLOW
HEALTH AND SAFETY GUIDELINES WITH REDUCED FAN ATTENDANCE AT JUNE 11-13 EVENT
Ticket Renewal Process to Begin this Week with Tickets to go On Sale May 20

DETROIT, Mich. (May 11, 2021) – The 2021 Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear will follow current health and safety guidelines in the State of Michigan as it makes its return to Detroit and Belle Isle Park, June 11-13.

Bringing one of the most popular annual summertime events back to the Motor City, the Grand Prix will continue its giveback to Belle Isle by safely welcoming fans to the 31^st running of the Grand Prix in Detroit. This year’s Grand Prix will feature spacing between groups of attendees in reserved grandstand seating, limited general admission viewing areas and reduced capacity in hospitality areas. General admission tickets will also be available for purchase, while displays and fan activities away from the track will be reduced or removed this year to adhere to current protocols. Including race participants, workers, partners, vendors, media and fans, the Grand Prix is expected to host between 6,000-9,000 people each day on Belle Isle.

All attendees will be required to wear a face covering at the Grand Prix, except when actively eating or drinking. Hand sanitizing stations will be present around the venue and there will be cleaning and sanitizing services employed throughout each day, especially in high-contact areas. Each entry gate will include contactless ticket scanning and contactless security/bag screening for attendees.

For fans attending the Grand Prix, the free shuttles to and from Belle Isle will be available and riders will be required to wear a face covering and seating will include spacing between groups in each shuttle. The Grand Prix encourages anyone that plans to attend the event to fully vaccinated before visiting Belle Isle.

“We look forward to bringing world-class racing back to the Motor City next month,” said Bud Denker, Chairman of the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear. “We are excited to welcome race fans to Belle Isle Park for three days of excitement in a safe and healthy manner. We will showcase the Park, our City and it’s beautiful waterfront to the nation and the world as NBC will provide over six hours of network TV coverage. And, once again, the biggest benefactor will be Belle Isle.”

Following the cancelation of the 2020 Grand Prix due to the pandemic, some fans elected to transfer their tickets from last year’s event to the 2021 Grand Prix. As the Grand Prix honors those commitments from its loyal fans, the event is reaching out to those ticket buyers this week to review their options for the 2021 Grand Prix. Ticket purchasers that opted for a refund as a result of the cancelation in 2020, along with fans that registered for a pre-sale period in 2021, will also have the opportunity in the coming days to buy tickets for this year’s race. The remaining available tickets for June 12-13 will then be placed on sale on Thursday, May 20.

The Grand Prix will continue its long-standing tradition of Comerica Bank Free Prix Day on Friday, June 11 with a limited number of free passes available upon request. Fans will be able to visit DetroitGP.com to reserve their free passes for Comerica Bank Free Prix Day beginning on Monday, May 17.

ABOUT THE DETROIT GRAND PRIX
The Detroit Grand Prix is a 501(c)3 organization and a subsidiary of the Downtown Detroit Partnership. Scheduled for June 11-13, 2021 at Belle Isle Park, the event will include the Chevy Dual in Detroit featuring the cars of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, the Chevrolet Sports Car Classic with the exotic sports cars of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and the rising stars of the Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires. For more information, visit www.DetroitGP.com and follow our social media pages at www.facebook.com/detroitgp, www.twitter.com/detroitgp and www.instagram.com/detroitgp

GMR Grand Prix Schedule and Networks

May 11, 2021 thepitwindow

All Times Eastern

Friday

7:30am 6:00pm- Gates Open

8:00am 8:20am- Indy Pro 2000 Quals

8:35am 9:05am INDY LIGHTS Q1

9:30am 10:15am INDYCAR Series Practice 1 Peacock

10:40am 11:20am USF2000 Race 1

11:45am 12:35pm Indy Pro 2000 Race 1

1:00pm 1:45pm NTT INDYCAR Series Practice 2 Peacock

2:10pm 3:10pm INDY LIGHTS Race 1 Peacock

3:25pm 4:05pm USF2000 Race 2

4:30pm 5:45pm NTT INDYCAR SERIES Qual. / Firestone Fast 6 Peacock (live)

NBCSN– 6 pm ET (Delayed)

Saturday

7:30am 5:00pm Gates Open

7:50am 8:40am Indy Pro 2000 Race 2

8:55am 9:25am Indy Lights Qualifying 2

9:40am 10:20am USF2000 Race 3

10:45am 11:15am NTT INDYCAR SERIES Warm-Up Peacock

11:40am 12:30pm Indy Pro 2000 Race 3

12:45pm 1:45pmINDY LIGHTS Race 2 Peacock

2:39pm ‘Drivers Start Your Engines’ NBC

2:45pm GMR Grand Prix – Green Flag NBC

35 Entries for the 500; Notes

May 6, 2021 thepitwindow

The entry list for the 105th running of the Indianapolis 500 stands at 35 after the announcement of Stefan Wilson to the number 25 car at Andretti Autosport. I think that is where it will stay. Top Gun Racing has no engine lease at the moment, and it is getting late. The entry which Spencer Pigot drove in 2020, would need to get a Chevy engine. I’m not sure that will happen.

Thirty-five entries after a tumultouous year like 2020 is a very healthy number. There will be bumping, and two cars will go home on May 23. Here is the entry list as of this morning:

Chevrolet-17

Team Penske (4)-Josef Newgarden, Will Power, Simon Pagenaud, Scott McLaughlin

A. J. Foyt Racing (4)- Sebastien Bourdais, Dalton Kellett, Charlie Kimball, J. R. Hildebrand

Carlin Racing (1)- Max Chilton

Arrow McLaren SP (3)- Pato O’Ward, Felix Rosenqvist, Juan Pablo Montoya

Ed Carpenter Racing (3) – Ed Carpenter, Rinus VeeKay, Conor Daly

Dreyer and Reinbold (1)- Sage Karam

Paretta (1)- Simona De Silvestro

Honda– 18

Andretti Autosport (6)-Colton Herta, Alexander Rossi, Ryan Hunter-Reay, James Hinchcliffe, Marco Andretti, AStefan Wilson

Chip Ganassi Racing (4)- Scott Dixon, Marcus Ericsson, Alex Palou, Tony Kanaan

Dale Coyne Racing (3)- Ed Jones, Pietro Fittipaldi, Cody Ware

Meyer Shank Racing (2)- Jack Harvey, Helio Castroneves

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (3)- Takuma Sato, Graham Rahal, Santino Ferrucci

Notes

Amazon Prime has a documentary about Alex Zanardi playing. I thought it was available last night, but it was not. I hope to watch it this weekend.

Several people received emails last night that their tickets for the 500 have been mailed. It was a welcome sight in the Inbox.

Not Indycar related, but Penske and Porsche have entered into a partnership to develop the Porsche LMDh prototype which will begin competition in 2023. The car is eligible to compete at both the Rolex 24 and Le Mans. I doubt this alliance will lead to Indycar’s third OEM.

Coming attractions

Some posts on The Pit Window leading up to May 30 that are in the planning stages:

Daily track reports

Indianapolis 500 program retrospectives- I will take a nostalgic look at 1968, 1975, and 1981 as a tribute to Bobby Unser.

A couple of the always popular 9in my mind) Bump Tales.

My annual post on how to fix Indy 500 qualifying.

A report on the new Rick Mears exhibit at the IMS Museum.

Pato EXPELS His Frustrations- Quick Thoughts on the EXPEL 375

May 2, 2021 thepitwindow

Photo: Pato O’Ward celebrates his first Indycar win. Photo by Chris Jones, Indycar

Finally. Pato O’Ward knew he could win Indycar races before he even raced in the series. I remember his first press conference at Sonoma in 2018 before his first Indycar start. There was a quiet confidence about him. I felt then that I was looking at a future Indycar Series star. Today the road to stardom in the Indycar Series officially began.

O’Ward’s first series win came tonight with a series of strong passes, including moving past two cars on the second restart. His car was one of the strongest the entire race and the pit strategy on the final stop put him in a position to go for the win. he showed the patience he has sometimes lacked in waiting until the right moment to overtake Josef Newgarden with 23 laps to go. This won’t be his last win of 2021. We have a new contender for the championship.

Slow Start

Scott Dixon brought the field to the green flag at a slower than normal pace. The resulting six car pile up at the back of the pack caused the first 18 laps to be run under caution. I was surprised there was no red flag, but I assume the television window played a part in keeping the lap count going.

Alexander Rossi is off to another frustrating start to his year. He is more irritated this year about it because he feels his car is more competitive than it was in 2020. Rossi felt Indycar should have held qualifying for today’s race. That may not have prevented the accident, but I see his point, that some of the drivers involved in the wreck would have started further toward the front.

One of the problems with double header weekends is it is hard to deviate from the schedule. A last minute call to qualify today would have caused teams to scramble for an extra session. Indycar might want to look at building some flexibility into their double header schedule for a situation like this weekend in the future.

Tough Weekend for Bourdais, Daly

The early promise shown by Sebastien Bourdais and A. J. Foyt racing fell apart, literally theses last two days. Bourdais was involved in two of the three crashes the past two days. Neither was his fault.

Conor Daly struggled to a 21st place finish Saturday and ended up upside down today. Again the aeroscreen prevented an unpleasant outcome.

Both Dale Coyne cars and both Foyt cars suffered damage in the incident.

It is a good thing that the next race is in two weeks. Some of these cars were the teams’ cars for the Indianapolis 500, so there is plenty of time for repairs.

A Better Race

After Saturday’s race, I was not expecting an improvement in the racing tonight, although I though it would play out differently. Sunday’s race turned out to be a darned good one. I don’t know if it was the earlier start time in warmer temperatures than Saturday, or the teams learned some things in the first race, but there was passing for position, including at least three passes for the lead.

The oval package still needs a lot of work to make the cars race better. Texas Motor Speedway has to somehow eliminate the PJ1 compound for Indycar. I would not mind future races to be like what we witnessed tonight.

Kids!

Indycar is four races into the 2021 season. Drivers under the age of 25 have won three races and have been on the pole three times. One of the poles was awarded by rule due to rain. Both Alex Palou and Pato O’Ward have won their first Indycar race. Colton Herta the “veteran” among the under 25 crowd, has won four races and four poles in his career. Palou led the point standings until the end of Saturday’s race. O’Ward is now second to Dixon in points, while Palou is third.

The future of Indycar is looking very bright.

Notes

It is hard to believe that Josef Newgarden led his first laps of 2021 in the fourth race of the year tonight.

In four races Indycar has seen four different winners from three different teams. two different drivers have won the two earned poles.

The Top 5 finishers tonight represent five different teams.

Alex Palou is the only driver to have led laps in every race this year.

This is the deepest into a season I can remember going without a win by a Team Penske driver. I will be shocked if I can still say that by the end of this month. Penske’s record at IMS on both the road course and in the 500 is second to none.

EXPEL 375- Another Dixon Runaway?

May 2, 2021 thepitwindow

Tonight’s EXPEL 375 at Texas Motor Speedway could possibly be a repeat of lat night’s race. There are a couple of factors that may change the outcome. The race is 36 laps longer, 248 laps, which will require an extra pit stop. The temperatures will be warmer, which will increase tire wear. Whether these things are enough to make a better race I’m not sure. It will be just be different.

The starting lineup- Entrant points once again determine the lineup. The points used for today’s race reflect the standings following last night’s race. Setting the lineup when qualifying is washed out is a no win situation for the series. There is no way to make everyone happy. Some fans have said there is plenty of time to qualify today. That may be true, but there is no broadcast window for it, and the rules for this situation are in the rule book.

Here is how the grid looks. Green flag is at 5:15 pm Eastern on NBCSN. Coverage begins at 5 pm Eastern.

I will be back with my thoughts on Race 2 later tonight.