589 replies to this topic

[red stick]

Wisconsin.

America's Dairyland.

 

Home to herds.

 

  

Curds.

 

 

And racing nerds . . .

 

 

 

That's right folks, following the thrilling fortnight at Indianapolis, and the bittersweet farewell to racing at Detroit's Belle Isle, the IndyCar caravan takes it's 2022 NTT Mid-West tour to the bustling metropolis of Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.

 

 

Look, a water feature!!!

 

Yes, Elkhart Lake, a quiet vacation community, dedicated to morning fishing, paddleboats, ice cream socials, and home to Siebken's, one of America's great racing bars, forever immortalized by artist Roger Warrick in this grand homage to the Golden Age of racing, whenever that was.

 

 

 

Note the Villeneuves and Paul Tracy in the upper right corner.  Canada Corner, perhaps?  

 

 

The Race:

 

This weekend is the Sonsio Grand Prix at Road America.  What's Sonsio?  Well, you can find out here.  Or watch the helpful You Tube version.

 

https://www.youtube....h?v=vBQeSHI-Dj0

 

Sponsor obligations out of the way, know that Road America is a flowing, 4.044 mile Natural Terrain Road Course, carved out of 640 acres of the glacier-scraped topographical feature known as the Kettle Moraine.  For our purposes, just know that it's beautiful, and should be on your racing Bucket List, but if you walk the area, expect some changes in elevation.

 

 

 

 

The Track:

 

One of the most beloved road courses in North America, Road America is adored by drivers and fans alike.

 

https://www.carthrot...st-race-tracks/

 

The camping.  The bratwurst!  The ability to hike all over during the weekend and catch the cars from a variety of vantage points.

 

 

You may pause here and genuflect.  (Cue choir of angels, hosannas, etc.).  We'll wait.

 

 

The Schedule:

 

All times U.S. Eastern Time

 

June 10

Practice 1  4:25-5:40 PM  Yes, this is 75 minutes.  Explanation here.

 

June 11

Practice 2  10:45-11:45 AM

Qualifying  1:45-3:00 PM

Final Practice  5:20-5:50 PM

 

June 12

Indy Lights  10:35-11:35 AM

Race  12:30-3:00 PM

 

 

 

Who's here:

 

All the usual participants, including last year's race winner Alex Palou, who may or may not be a subject of Silly Season interest, as the title race moves into it's post-Indy, back to single points battle to the finish.  

 

Callum Ilott is back at JHR, his right wrist apparently sufficiently mended to stave off another drive by RACER Mailbag favorite and super-sub-in-the-making Santino Ferrucci.

 

 

And Paretta Autosport, assisted by Ed Carpenter Racing, returns for the first time since the 2021 Indy 500 to field a car for Simona De Silvestro.  Although not with this sponsor, as Paretta is too busy fielding its race car to update its web page.

 

 

 

And a brief view of the points, to remind ourselves what's at stake:

 

1.  Power, 255.  No, don't check your calendar.  It's not 2014.   

2.  Ericsson (-3)  Top CGR driver.  Who'da thunk it in March?   

3.  O'Ward (-12)  Got his contract before it turned out eveeeeerybody wanted to join him.   

4.  Palou (-14)  Won last year at Road America.  

5.  Newgarden (-47)  Mechanical gremlins should be elsewhere this year.  Like lightning, it surely can't strike twice.  

6.  Dixon (-53)  Always lurking, and another recent RA winner (2020, race 1).  

7.  Rossi (-74)  2019.  2019.  

8.  Pagenaud (-76)  MSR always a threat.  Sometimes to themselves . . .  

9.  Rosenqvist (-81)  Won his first Indycar race at RA (2020, race 2).

10.  McLaughlin (-82)  Looking for a good weekend.  #fingerscrossed

 

 

Questions, we have questions:

 

Will Penske continue its domination at courses Roger doesn't own not located in Indiana?

Will Newgarden's gearbox last an entire race this year?

Will the Rossi Renaissance^TM continue, at the scene of his 2019 Dominating Drive^TM?

Will Rosenqvist shine at the scene of his first IndyCar win, a mere two years but seemingly a lifetime ago?

Will Herta be a factor this weekend, after being oddly invisible in Detroit?

Will Palou remember he races for CGR, and not spend the weekend in the AMSP motorhome?

Will Ericsson continue his stealthy march (Indy aside, of course) towards championship glory?

Will Will Power continue his mastery of his teeming id long enough to achieve one more grab at racing immortality? 

 

 

Stay tuned . . .

Edited by red stick, 09 June 2022 - 14:36.

[BRG]

OK, silly question, but what's the little twiddly bit of tarmac on the inside of turn 3 for?

[red stick]

OK, silly question, but what's the little twiddly bit of tarmac on the inside of turn 3 for?

Not sure.  Ross?

[Ross Stonefeld]

I don't know, but it's a tiny little bit of concrete. When I did racing school we were practicing..uhhhh(trying to remember 25 years ago)..some shifting drill down in turn 3 on the first day and we'd use that little bit to turn around and come back up the track. 

 

Some good pictures and other track data in this super nerdy pdf https://badgerbimmer...urn-by-Turn.pdf

 

For randomness, we used to race on the 'short' course. Our start/finish was the escape road connecting T5 and the exit of 13. So we'd hug to the inside under the(now gone) bridge, get on the brakes for a temporary apex and hard right, then a sweeping "Turn 1" right to rejoin the course and head up the hill to Turn 6. It was really weird because it was off camber, the exit kerb was to your inside, there wasn't much protection on corner exit, etc. We cut out the two main straights and did laptimes in the 1:30s. Which we all groaned about because everyone wanted to do the full course, but once you did and realized you were suddenly doing 2:30s and it was just an extra minute of cramping your throttle foot, the short course was suddenly a lot more logical and fun. 

 

If I ever get around to digitizing my onboard camera footage(lol onboard cameras in club racing in 97?) I'll put up a clip. It's a funny little layout which isn't possible anymore because our pitlane was demolished by an access tunnel. But I wish it was available in sims or something. 

[Ross Stonefeld]

Old Man Rant: They're repaving this fall apparently to which I say boooooooo-urns.

[BRG]

I don't know, but it's a tiny little bit of concrete. When I did racing school we were practicing..uhhhh(trying to remember 25 years ago)..some shifting drill down in turn 3 on the first day and we'd use that little bit to turn around and come back up the track. 

 

Some good pictures and other track data in this super nerdy pdf https://badgerbimmer...urn-by-Turn.pdf

Looking at that PDF, it looks like if you turn off onto the twiddly bit, you end up rejoining the track heading in the same direction as before.  So still 

 

Old Man Rant: They're repaving this fall apparently to which I say boooooooo-urns.

It gets pretty chilly up that way (as I do not need to tell you!) so maybe it is just needed because of frost damage?  

[Ross Stonefeld]

Northern Wisconsin-er rolls his eyes at temperate south. I mean yeah it gets cold down there but I don't think the track is really falling apart. If they keep racing NASCAR there they might.

 

I genuinely don't have any theories what that inside bit of T3 was. We were going into the turn, doing our whatever(cone slalom maybe?) at 15mph, taking a right and using that to snake back to the end of the line and going again. What you'd use it for in the real world I can't imagine. You don't need to turn around because you wouldn't drive a safety vehicle upstream. It's too small to do any sort of autocrossing on. Maybe it really is just an ancient little racing school or gokart thing? It's been there for as long as I've been going to the track and it looked pretty weathered at the time. 

[PayasYouRace]

I don't know, but it's a tiny little bit of concrete. When I did racing school we were practicing..uhhhh(trying to remember 25 years ago)..some shifting drill down in turn 3 on the first day and we'd use that little bit to turn around and come back up the track. 

 

Some good pictures and other track data in this super nerdy pdf https://badgerbimmer...urn-by-Turn.pdf

 

For randomness, we used to race on the 'short' course. Our start/finish was the escape road connecting T5 and the exit of 13. So we'd hug to the inside under the(now gone) bridge, get on the brakes for a temporary apex and hard right, then a sweeping "Turn 1" right to rejoin the course and head up the hill to Turn 6. It was really weird because it was off camber, the exit kerb was to your inside, there wasn't much protection on corner exit, etc. We cut out the two main straights and did laptimes in the 1:30s. Which we all groaned about because everyone wanted to do the full course, but once you did and realized you were suddenly doing 2:30s and it was just an extra minute of cramping your throttle foot, the short course was suddenly a lot more logical and fun. 

 

If I ever get around to digitizing my onboard camera footage(lol onboard cameras in club racing in 97?) I'll put up a clip. It's a funny little layout which isn't possible anymore because our pitlane was demolished by an access tunnel. But I wish it was available in sims or something. 

 

I've played that short course in racing games. I always wondered if it was actually used for anything. 

[prommer]

Thank you 'stick!  I was gonna update the Paretta sponsor side of things by bringing up their partnership with Winnebago, posted an hour ago, but actually the announcement just says they're getting a trackside RV to hang out in; no word as to whether the logo will adorn either car or driver.

 

Looking forward to the Winnebago people backing their Class A in tight to the McLaren Condor...

 

[Muppetmad]

I love seeing the racing here each year. Easily one of the best circuits on earth.

[amerikalei]

Had to change my avatar, think this was taken at RA 1965.  Hope old Ringo doesn't scare the IndyCats.

[prommer]

Had to change my avatar, think this was taken at RA 1965.  Hope old Ringo doesn't scare the IndyCats.

 

The cats at Road America are made of stronger stuff!

 

[prommer]

Amerikalei, any good stories to tell from the old days?

 

Oh, and speaking of 1960s Road America, no reason not to repost that lap of RA narrated by Roger Penske in 1964 that NBC uncovered last year:

 

 

 

[SKL]

Best track in North America. 

 

BTW, did a couple Skip Barber courses back in the day and they used the "short" course as well mainly to save time as those FF's weren't that fast on the long straights to 1 and 5.(and yes, the Billy Mitchell Bridge was still there.) 

But we still couldn't avoid the kink, my all time least favourite turn at any track I ever drove!

Edited by SKL, 10 June 2022 - 02:23.

[jonpollak]

Pethke Perfect !!!

Jp

[red stick]

Ah, shucks . . .  

Edited by red stick, 10 June 2022 - 12:19.

[red stick]

Key to Siebkin's poster.

 

 

Palumbo and Baumstein are fictional, but well-known to fans of Burt Levy's Last Open Road series of "historical" motorsports novels.

[paulb]

Glorious stuff absolutely, with angels, Indycar, and Road America.

 

If I had a mancave, The Last Open Bar would be in it. Too big for the office cubicle.

 

The feel good story for the race would be a strong Simona finish.

[red stick]

My poster is still rolled in the tube, but it's a classic. It wasn't until I was piecing together the OP that it dawned on me all the Canadians are in a corner.

That Warrick has some subtle wit.

[loki]

We Indycar nao…

[prommer]

I feel like I need a beer or two for this extra-long session.

[Disgrace]

Nice to see Simona back, nicer still that they reduced the size of the number so as to prevent it spilling over the edges of the bulkhead.

[loki]

Sounds like strategic mistake by lengthening practice but only allowing another set of reds.  The extra time is a bust.

[LolaB0860]

I think Simona can beat Johnson and Calderone, and being with ECR family helps too, but the long absence probably means that's all she can hope for. These road course races rarely have high attritions or other swingabouts either.

Edited by LolaB0860, 10 June 2022 - 20:52.

[loki]

The Sturgeon! 

[rghojai]

Sturgeon?!

 

[jonpollak]

I feel like I need a beer or two for this extra-long session.

I had 3 !!
Mind you it was 10pm.
Jp

[red stick]

Qualifying starts in 55 minutes.

[paulb]

Working at Daytona for a 14hr WRL race. In the middle of a 30 min minimum weather delay.

Go whoever I picked and Ernie Francis Jr in Lights.

Edited by paulb, 11 June 2022 - 17:16.

[red stick]

If you have some version of the storms we had late yesterday, good luck!

[paulb]

All bark and no bite so far. And reset the 30 min clock.

[red stick]

And we are live.

[Disgrace]

Rain on the way!

[loki]

The Terre Haute of Wisconsin…

[red stick]

Wake me up when Terre Haute has anything as cool as the EAA Fly-in.

[Muppetmad]

For us Brits, Sky has chosen to stay with an F1 qualifying debrief...

[Anja]

For us Brits, Sky has chosen to stay with an F1 qualifying debrief...

 

It's on Sky Sports Mix

[Disgrace]

Power's onboard was rather terrifying, so much oversteer.

[red stick]

Power caught out by dampening track.

[ArchieTech]

For us Brits, Sky has chosen to stay with an F1 qualifying debrief...

Just found it on Sky Sports Mix, channel 416.

Edited by ArchieTech, 11 June 2022 - 18:00.

[TomNokoe]

Good save from Dixon. Great job Ilott.

[paulb]

Power out of Group 1. Ilott makes it.

[Muppetmad]

It's on Sky Sports Mix

 

Just found it on Sky Sports Mix, channel 416.

Thanks 

[Jim Thurman]

Wake me up when Terre Haute has anything as cool as the EAA Fly-in.

 

Well, there is the Clabber Girl Factory 

[red stick]

Well, there is the Clabber Girl Factory 

There's a tour for the Bucket List . . .

[H0R]

Power was actually quite chilled.

[TomNokoe]

Qualifying is live streamed for free fyi at Indycar.com

[red stick]

Good crowd!

[PayasYouRace]

Love watching cars round this place.

[loki]

Bucket list?