878 replies to this topic

[Risil]

It’s May, again! This can mean nothing other than one too many races at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway of Indianapolis, Indiana. This very thread, in fact, is for the race that is too many. Still! This time last year we got a thrilling battle between two drivers with zero wins, who by the end of the day became one driver with zero wins and one driver with one win. The competitors in question were Romain Grosjean, then in the Dale Coyne ambition car, and Dutch teenager and Arie Luyendyk protege Rinus Veekay. Veekay won on the day, which ranked as a surprise, though presumably not for him. Scenes with delirious Veekay father were had and Alex Palou, sneaking into third position, continued to assemble his championship challenge.
 
Palou is somehow still flying under the radar this year despite being the reigning champion and current 2022 points leader, the limelight instead illuminating the moony eyes that Colton Herta and Pato O’Ward are making towards … F1? Motorsport.com’s headline writer? Destiny? Still, he has the points. Scott McLaughlin was back up in the respectable points places last time out at Barber, swapping places with his teammate Josef Newgarden who followed up consecutive victories at Texas and Long Beach with a pretty anonymous 14th place in Alabama.

Schedule time! This is one of those two-day schedules so everything is done by Saturday evening. Good thing? What’s not a good thing is that qualifying and practice will happen on Friday the Thirteenth. Expect… bad fortune?? Anyway, here are dates and times. Add on five hours if you’re in the UK. This is going to clash with the Eurovision Song Contest but unless you’re Prommer (?) this probably won’t be much of a hardship. I could be wrong!
 
Friday, 13 May
9.30am: Indycar practice 1
11.45: USF2000 race 1
12.45pm: Indycar practice 2
2: Indy Lights qualifying
2.45: Indy Pro 2000 race 1
4: Indycar qualifying
5.30: Indy Lights race 1
 
Saturday, 14 May
8.05am: USF2000 race 2
9.10: Indy Pro 2000 race 2
10.30: Indycar warm-up
11.15: USF2000 race 3
12.10pm: Indy Pro 2000 race 3
1.15: Indy Lights race 2
3.45: Indycar green flag!

What’s worth looking out for at Indy this weekend? Veteran Indycar driver (I think we can safely call him that now) Juan Pablo Montoya is entering in a third McLaren at the circuit where his F1 career came to an ignominious end. Romain Grosjean, Colton Herta and Alex Rossi (ha!) will continue the very hot battle to be best Andretti driver, with a nonexistent seat at a nonexistent F1 team up for grabs. Rahal’s Christian Lundgaard is back at the track where last summer he debuted with a second-row start. Scott Dixon is in need of some better finishes, having done no better than fifth so far this year. Rain – rain – is in the forecast for Saturday.
 
And then on Sunday, they’ll make like the Chicago River and reverse the direction of the track, and we’ll be ready for big time Indy 500 practice. You won’t want to miss that either! But one thing at a time. Comments and observations below, please!

[GlenWatkins]

It's going to be a big weekend, Im really looking forward to it!

[krapmeister]

Schedule time! This is one of those two-day schedules so everything is done by Saturday evening. Good thing?

Definitely! A sunday morning Indycar race is great for me!

[LolaB0860]

May is exciting for IMS... but not for this configuration... it is pretty much the most boring event of the year, other than the re-run with NASCAR later in the year which is the most pointless one. And I've gotta say I am looking way more to 2 hour warm-up session on May 27th than this. So I was planning on skipping it. However, I had actually forgotten it's a Saturday race. So as it is on so early, I might actually watch it after all. Early Sunday afternoon delayed watching sounds alright... especially if it's wet... and Grosjean was good here last year so you could have first time winner I guess

Edited by LolaB0860, 11 May 2022 - 22:45.

[paulb]

Is it just me, or does the map look like a hillclimb course?

 

I've nothing against a hillclimbs though. Pikes Peak would make a great Indycar round.

Indycar in the clouds! Great idea.

[krapmeister]

JR Hildebrand is running an Indycar at Pikes Peak this year I believe

[jonpollak]

I’ll chime in now and get it over with

FKCU €UROVISION. !!!

gosh, I feel so much better after that.

Jp

Edited by jonpollak, 12 May 2022 - 03:44.

[jonpollak]

Oh my god it’s on Peacock as well.



They had better not steal any INDYCAR bandwidth….

Jp

[Risil]

May is exciting for IMS... but not for this configuration... it is pretty much the most boring event of the year, other than the re-run with NASCAR later in the year which is the most pointless one. And I've gotta say I am looking way more to 2 hour warm-up session on May 27th than this. So I was planning on skipping it. However, I had actually forgotten it's a Saturday race. So as it is on so early, I might actually watch it after all. Early Sunday afternoon delayed watching sounds alright... especially if it's wet... and Grosjean was good here last year so you could have first time winner I guess

I agree on principle as the circuit itself is not inspiring. However we've had some good races when strategy mixes things up, and for whatever reason you often seem to get an unusual name or two up front.

Things I can remember about the IMS road course:

1) Jack Hawksworth leading for Bryan Herta before a yellow wrecked his chances

2) That awful startline crash involving Sebastian Saavedra

3) James Hinchcliffe getting knocked out when someone's front wing came off and hit him on the head

4) Pagenaud chasing down Dixon during a rain shower late in the race

5) Veekay's first win last year

Have I missed anything important?

[jonpollak]

Nope you’re golden.
Jp

[SenorSjon]

Is the road course repaired after NASCAR went full... NASCAR on the chicane?

[ANF]

Have I missed anything important?

Well, in pre-halo Indy Pro 2000 a couple of years ago there was Braden Eves spinning out with a loose wheel and getting airborne before he landed upside down and sustained a fracture above his eye and a couple of fractured vertebrae in his neck: https://youtu.be/y1dUdYd-85M

[jonpollak]

That was harrowing..
Jp

[paulb]

This course might be interesting if one is an Indycar driver, but it puts me to sleep as a fan. Or maybe I still hold a grudge against it after the Pagenaud win over Dixon.

 

Honestly though, Turn 1 on the start or restarts does provide the yucks.

[prommer]

Indycar AND Eurovision? What's not to love!!

 

(btw, who won the American Song Contest?)

[boomn]

This course might be interesting if one is an Indycar driver, but it puts me to sleep as a fan. Or maybe I still hold a grudge against it after the Pagenaud win over Dixon.

 

Honestly though, Turn 1 on the start or restarts does provide the yucks.

when I try to think about this track, the only thing I can picture is turns 1 and 2.  Would be nice if they could rebuild the rest of the track so any part of it could be memorable or interesting. Using the oval banking would be an easy place to start, but it needs even more than that

 

And yet, my memory is also that the racing quality there is decent.  

[red stick]

I don't know about the racing quality, but having Veekay win was different.   Because the most pertinent fact about the IMS road course is that Team Penske drivers have won 8 of the 11 events.

 

Not that it should have any bearing on anybody's fantasy picks . . .

[BRG]

I’ll chime in now and get it over with

FKCU €UROVISION. !!!

gosh, I feel so much better after that.

Jp

Don't always agree with you, but Hell, yes.

 

Eurovision will be a real rollercoaster this year.  Will the UK come last?  Will Ukraine win, or will they be pipped at the post by Ukraine, unless outsiders Ukraine pull off a surprise?

[red stick]

JR Hildebrand is running an Indycar at Pikes Peak this year I believe

That was the plan, but when I tried to find an update the other day I saw nothing useful. Anybody seen anything?

Edited by red stick, 12 May 2022 - 21:29.

[jonpollak]

Jp

[Peat]

Indycar in the clouds! Great idea.

 

PP was a championship round in the late 60's (USAC). Winners were Mario Andretti, Al & Bobby Unser and the one and only Wes Vandervoort!

It was a non-championship round for a time before and after too. Having an Indycar back there is just....right. 

[krapmeister]

That was the plan, but when I tried to find an update the other day I saw nothing useful. Anybody seen anything?

It was mentioned on The Race's indycar podcast (not sure what episode, though it was a recent one) and he is currently listed on the official entry list - running in the open wheel class in a 2022 Dallara IR18 Evo

https://ppihc.org/wp...etitor-List.pdf

[paulb]

PP was a championship round in the late 60's (USAC). Winners were Mario Andretti, Al & Bobby Unser and the one and only Wes Vandervoort!

It was a non-championship round for a time before and after too. Having an Indycar back there is just....right. 

I was thinking the hill/mountain climb actually. 

 

But a 1 mile banked oval sounds like a welcome Indycar challenge.

[red stick]

Practice 1 in about 15 minutes.

[red stick]

Peacock live.

[ANF]

And live on https://www.indycar....to-watch/stream
or https://www.staylive...ivestream/70076

[Collombin]

I was thinking the hill/mountain climb actually.

So was he.

[MKSixer]

And live on https://www.indycar....to-watch/stream
or https://www.staylive...ivestream/70076

 

Up on the office monitor now!  Thanks!!

[milestone 11]

Top 23 covered by 9/10's

[red stick]

RLL quick off the truck. And Ilott continues to impress.

[Dan333SP]

Top 23 covered by 9/10's

 

Damn, there are short oval races with bigger time gaps between the cars. Top 20 half a second apart. Surprised JPM is lagging behind JJ, but early days. 

[FLB]

I know it's just practice, but... Is Ilott arriving?

 

https://racer.com/20...dy-gp-practice/

Edited by FLB, 13 May 2022 - 16:23.

[juicy sushi]

As Grosjean noted last year, it's the most European-feeling place IndyCar goes, so definitely will feel most comfortable to someone in his situation, and his talent has never been in question, so yeah, definitely his time and place to shine.

[Disgrace]

Never underestimate Ilott's capacity to blunder in a winning position.

[red stick]

Damn, there are short oval races with bigger time gaps between the cars. Top 20 half a second apart. Surprised JPM is lagging behind JJ, but early days. 

The commentary team was saying that the Indy road course is one of the most physically demanding on the schedule and that it was not surprising that JPM was working to get back in "race shape."  They told an anecdote that one of the younger drivers had kidded him that he would beat him on the road course and JPM had replied that he probably would, but check back in two weeks.

[Disgrace]

Carvana down and out, like 2500 of their employees and their balance sheet.

[TomNokoe]

Callum the Comeback Kid!

[Dan333SP]

Carvana down and out, like 2500 of their employees and their balance sheet.

 

I work for their biggest competitor and the news for them has been bad news for us as well, although I have a lot more confidence in the decision making and business practices within my organization. They did surge today for some reason. 

[Jim Thurman]

I was thinking the hill/mountain climb actually. 

 

But a 1 mile banked oval sounds like a welcome Indycar challenge.

 

Yep, that's what Peat was referring to. The hillclimb was part of the AAA championship from 1947-55, and came back as part of the USAC Championship from 1965-1969. Since the point system was based on mileage, only 30 points were awarded the hillclimb winner the last couple of years.

 

Pikes Peak Intl. Raceway wasn't built until the mid-1990s.

[Disgrace]

I work for their biggest competitor and the news for them has been bad news for us as well, although I have a lot more confidence in the decision making and business practices within my organization. They did surge today for some reason. 

 

Oh no, sorry about that. With the way the global economy is looking, I think more stories like Suzuki pulling out of MotoGP are just around the corner really.

[juicy sushi]

It's going to be bumpy.  Pre-pandemic plans have not survived unscathed and we're going to see a lot of fallout over the next 24 months.  At the same time, there will be new opportunities emerging as some other businesses surge in the post-pandemic world.  

[Dan333SP]

It's going to be bumpy.  Pre-pandemic plans have not survived unscathed and we're going to see a lot of fallout over the next 24 months.  At the same time, there will be new opportunities emerging as some other businesses surge in the post-pandemic world.  

 

There'll always be a market for used cars, fortunately for my company. Unfortunately, the lower end of the market is being hammered with increased rates hurting those who need financing, and average prices going up a whole hell of a lot year on year. Interestingly, big rental agencies are buying used cars in bulk for the first time to refresh their fleets due to supply chain issues on new cars, and that's also driving up prices and limiting supply on the used side. We'll see where things shake out. 

[LolaB0860]

So I looked at the Indy Lights grid for the event and it is 14 cars again. Suppose that's still better than 9 or 10 it used to be but ehh. And why is there still no Freedom 100 this year? Instead of that multiple races on this snoozy road course? I miss that event, you could excuse the COVID period but now? Also years ago used to attract extra cars too... the other Road to Indy series get their traditional pre-500 oval races at the Lucas oil track but IL has nothing? The series seems still mismanaged despite the operational change...

Edited by LolaB0860, 13 May 2022 - 19:04.

[Risil]

Roger Penske nixed the Freedom 100 as first order of business, iirc. The races tended towards madness. Would be interesting to see them at IRP.

[LolaB0860]

If they raced at LOIRP (lol) too that would be a small improvement too. The problem with USF2000 and Indy Pro is that their TV coverage consists of static trackside cameras so watching them is not fun, unless you are at the track I suppose, whereas Indy Lights has some production value. And even 14 cars would look somewhat sufficient on small oval instead of huge road course

 

Anyway the ideal scenario, even better than bringing the old Freedom 100 back would be to have 250 Mile IL race on Saturday before the 500, on the big circuit. The Indianapolis 250!

Edited by LolaB0860, 13 May 2022 - 19:15.

[juicy sushi]

If they raced at LOIRP (lol) too that would be a small improvement too. The problem with USF2000 and Indy Pro is that their TV coverage consists of static trackside cameras so watching them is not fun, unless you are at the track I suppose, whereas Indy Lights has some production value. And even 14 cars would look somewhat sufficient on small oval instead of huge road course

 

Anyway the ideal scenario, even better than bringing the old Freedom 100 back would be to have 250 Mile IL race on Saturday before the 500, on the big circuit. The Indianapolis 250!

Given the incredibly small audience for Indy Lights, and the safety issues mentioned by Risil that led to Penske killing the idea of Indy Lights on the big oval, that ideal will probably have to remain in the realm of Gran Turismo.  No one wants to watch a bunch of junior cars demonstrate suicidal insanity at the fastest place they could possibly go.

[Disgrace]

Seems a shame that juniors don't get to taste Indy on the way up the ladder.

[juicy sushi]

Seems a shame that juniors don't get to taste Indy on the way up the ladder.

The level of massive wrecks due to stupid moves from young drivers seems to have been a factor in the change.  I think they should run some smaller ovals, like Iowa and Gateway, so that they can learn how to drive on an oval, but I agree with the idea that pack racing at Indy with a field of desperate kids is not a safe idea.

[red stick]

Qualifying live.

[PayasYouRace]

On SSF1 too.