Tag: Tim Cindric

News and Notes- Cindric Steps Back; Museum Sells Cars

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Tim Cindric will remain as President of Team Penske’s IndyCar operations, but he is relinquishing his duties overseeing the other Penske racing efforts.

In a statement released a couple days ago, Cindric said,

“I have lived my dream job for the past 25 years as the overall leader of the Penske Racing organization. I’ve had the opportunity to work with some of the best people in the business while achieving many milestones together. I’ve decided I need to make a change that provides me with the flexibility I need at this stage of my career. I appreciate the understanding Roger has provided throughout our conversations and I’m confident this team will continue to succeed as we have a proven leadership team in all areas.”

Managing a racing team in one category is hard work. I can’t imagine being responsible for several different motorsports entities. It’s nice to see someone realize what their needs are and make those needs a priority. I also couldn’t imagine Penske IndyCar without Cindric. I’m glad it is what he chose to stay with.

IMS Museum Auction

The IMS Museum is auctioning cars not related to the Speedway or the Indianapolis 500. Their goal is to raise $100 million for their endowment fund. The Museum will use the funds to buy more Indy related cars and restore their current collection.

The cars going to auction throught R M Sotheby Auctioin House:

  • 1954 Mercedes-Benz W196 R Streamliner Formula 1 car
  • 1964 Le Mans-winning Ferrari 250 LM
  • 1966 Ford GT40 Mk II
  • 1957 Chevrolet Corvette SS Project XP-64
  • 1908 Mercedes 17.3-Liter 150 HP ‘Brookland’ Semmering Rennwagen
  • 1907 Itala 120 HP Works Racing Car
  • 1930 Bugatti Type 35B Grand Prix
  • 1991 Benetton B191 Formula 1
  • 1965 Spirit of America Sonic I
  • 1911 Mercedes 22/40 HP ‘Colonial’ Double Phaeton
  • 1911 Laurin & Klement Type S2 Sportswagen

The 1954 Mercedes is the star of the lot expected to go for more than $52 million.

UPDATE– The 1954 Mercedes has sold for $ 51.15 million

The cars made rare appearances on the display floor. I was fortunate enough to see them all when I took the basement tours which was offered a few years ago.

I understand the Museum’s reasons for selling these cars, but I didn’t think it hurt to have a car or two in their collection that wasn’t an Indy car.

Getting Closer

The Firestone Grand prix of St, Petersburg is just 28 days away. This Thursday, February 6, the event will hold its “First Block ceremony, where the first section of wall is put in place on the back stretch. Andretti driver Kyle Kirkwood is expected to attend along with drivers from he other series who will race that weekend.

Quick Thoughts- DXC Technology 600k

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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.