592 replies to this topic

[prommer]

 

WHAT?!

The NTT Indycar Series tackles that proper track, Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. This is the 33rd Indycar running -- 25 years of CART races back in the day (buenos dias to Hector Rebaque, who won the first one in 1982), and the 8th consecutive running since 2016 when the Indycar series returned to its rightful home. The 2021 race was won by Alex Palou, and last year's race by Josef Newgarden; I think both of them would like to win another.

 

 

WHERE?!

The first track in Elkhart Lake went Le Mans-style through the local fields on public roads. The purpose-built natural terrain road course that replaced it, Road America, is possibly the finest road course in the States (The Glen and the Dry Lake would like a word), and the second best roller coaster in the state of Wisconsin.

 

 

WHO!!?

A link to the spotters guide.

 

Everybody who is anybody in the Indycar series will be here for this race, except for Conor Daly, who was unceremoniously dumped this week like a load of Ethereum 1.0 by Ed Carpenter and Bitnile for a more experienced hand in Ryan Hunter-Reay. Also appearing, as ever, will be Brian Redman's cat.

 

 

 

The standings look thusly:

 

1. Alex Palou (273)

2. Marcus Ericsson (222)

3. Josef Newgarden (203)

4. Scott Dixon (194)

5. Pato O'Ward (191)

6. Alexander Rossi (176)

7. Scott McLaughlin (175)

8. Will Power (174)

9. Felix Rosenqvist (149)

10. Colton Herta (148)

 

So, the Top 10 is:

 

Ganassis Three

Penskes Three

McLarens Three

and One Andretti In Tenth, Who is Happy To Be.

 

Two weeks ago, the race in the streets of Detroit both lived up to high expectations of carnage and chaos, and yet also somehow managed to keep the chaos below Nashville-levels. There were no Dallara front wing graveyards, for instance. But through all that craziness, the story that emerged was Inevitable Alex – the Ganassi-cum-McLaren ace who looks to be cruising to yet another championship, even though we are still quite early in the season. Palou at his best gives off the sort of unconcerned confidence that was a trademark of the spotless Scott Dixon up until just recently.  Chaos? What chaos? - spake Palou thusly as he led almost the entire race and took the checkered with seeming ease.

 

Three weeks ago there was a race in Indiana.

 

WHEN?!?!!

Friday, June 16

2:50-3:35pm Indy NXT Practice 1

4:00-5:15pm INDYCAR NTT SERIES Practice 1

 

Saturday, June 17

9:50-10:35am Indy NXT Practice 2

10:55-11:55am INDYCAR NTT SERIES Practice 2

1:15-1:35pm Indy NXT Qualifications

1:55-3:25pm INDYCAR NTT SERIES Qualifications

 

Sunday, June 18

10:15-10:45am INDYCAR NTT SERIES Warmup

11:10am-12:10pm Indy NXT Race

1:00-4:00pm INDYCAR NTT SERIES Race

 

All Times Eastern Daylight (but Wisconsin is on Central Daylight so subtract one for local times; LolaB0860 provided a link to the full schedule which is in local time):

 

This race is on Peacock and USA in the, uh, USA. Practices and Qualy will be on Peacock only.

 

The various tentacles of the NBC peacock (I never studied zoology) are involved with providing unprecedented coverage of the US Open golf tournament, (which is in Los Angeles for the first time since Tony Kanaan invented the sport), so Indycar will take a backseat, err, I mean catbird seat to another sport, thankfully not one as niche as lacrosse this time.

 

WHYYYY?!!!?!

And if that’s not enough, we’re also going head-to-head against Montreal. So, only the hardcores are going to watch this race. Meaning, just us in this thread, or maybe even less than that, based on who’s doing the gatekeeping around here. But, sit back and enjoy, and worry ye not about what your fellow racefan is thinking. It’s Indycar, it’s crack.

 

And as is Wisconsin tradition, open a cold beer (preferably with a naughty-sounding middle-European name), grab a bratwurst, bite down on some squeaky cheese curds and just enjoy the sure-to-be fantastic race.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by prommer, 15 June 2023 - 15:16.

[prommer]

Reposting this from JP. Maybe this makes sense to you Brits! The last time I pressed a red button in the UK, all I got was some weird teletext.

[djparky]

Fab track, lovely part of the US to visit. Highly recommended for Indy Car

[juicy sushi]

Excellent opening post!

 

My least original strong opinion is that Road America is the best circuit on planet Earth to have never hosted a Grand Prix.  Which is why it remains as great as it is.

[Afterburner]

I wouldn't worry too much about Montreal. It's 2023, which means many of us are in possession of multiple screens (if they don't all have racing on them you're not doing it right!), and with any luck NBC will time a commercial break to coincide with the start of the F1 race so you'll safely be able to pay full attention to F1 for two laps, then generally ignore it until the IndyCar race is over, at which point you'll have hopefully (likely) missed nothing.

[GlenWatkins]

Absolute epic intro to this weekend's race!! Well done!

[red stick]

Nice!

Holding my phone sideways recorded my five star vote as . . . One. Everybody upvote.

Also, Father's Day. May have to tape this. Or DVR. Or whatever it's called these days.

[FLB]

Nice!

Holding my phone sideways recorded my five star vote as . . . One. Everybody upvote.

 

 

I think I may have clicked at the side of the fifth star and it registered my vote as zero?!   

[red stick]

At least the photos are back. My policy on voting is to get it out of the way early before I fat-finger it later, but the system is obviously not foolproof.

[prommer]

Holding my phone sideways recorded my five star vote as . . . One. Everybody upvote.
 

 

 

I think I may have clicked at the side of the fifth star and it registered my vote as zero?!   

 

Phew. I was worried that the pedants were coming at me for "dry lake".

[jonpollak]

Two sides to every story.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jp

[jonpollak]

 

And as is Wisconsin tradition, open a cold beer (preferably with a naughty-sounding middle-European name), grab a bratwurst, bite down on some squeaky cheese curds and just enjoy the sure-to-be fantastic race.

 

 

https://youtu.be/t9FDxSm_m78?t=88

 

Song for the thread...Nothing to do with queijo,apreciar.

Jp

Edited by jonpollak, 14 June 2023 - 23:32.

[Ross Stonefeld]

We were having a big chat about the virtues of poutine in the local tavern Sunday evening. 

[jonpollak]

SSF1 has a full replay in HD at 11:30 pm after the Canuck GP

( for those that can stay up and refuse to suffer SD on SSMix)

Jp

[red stick]

We were having a big chat about the virtues of poutine in the local tavern Sunday evening. 

The official thread

nosh? Were naysayers present? 

Did you set them straight?

[Jim Thurman]

Phew. I was worried that the pedants were coming at me for "dry lake".

Did someone say pedant?    Nah, even though technically it should be "dry lagoon", the Spanish blew it as there is nothing remotely lagoon-y about it. I guess it was too small for a "lago." I think it vexed them at the time of their naming. Too bad someone from Portola's party didn't check with the locals, so we could have had an interesting name that out of area announcers would have routinely butchered. Memories of giving out-of-towners directions in eastern San Diego with Kumeyaay named locales.

 

Besides, I was more pedantically concerned about Conor Daly being dumped "this week."  But, close enough and still applicable. Besides, you more than made up for it with a Hector Rebaque reference and proper beer, cheese and brat placement    

[Ross Stonefeld]

The official thread

nosh? Were naysayers present? 

Did you set them straight?

 

Couple other side of the bar had em, me and my bar neighbor discussed with them. How I'd eaten it every day for a week as a teenager in Quebec, bafflement that it hadn't really made it out of Canada and should have seriously taken off in the Midwest.

 

Then the bartender and I discussed the fluid dynamics of the concave ice cubes and resulting spray, different ways to layer the drinks to minimize backsplash, the carbonation levels of Coke in the wild vs a restaurant soda gun; the vendor donated pickle vodka, said usage in Bloody Mary's, surprisingly low alcohol volume of the pickle vodka, and errata.

 

It was a real Racer Mailbag provided by redstick Sunday evening.

[prommer]

Did someone say pedant?    Nah, even though technically it should be "dry lagoon", the Spanish blew it as there is nothing remotely lagoon-y about it. I guess it was too small for a "lago." I think it vexed them at the time of their naming. Too bad someone from Portola's party didn't check with the locals, so we could have had an interesting name that out of area announcers would have routinely butchered. Memories of giving out-of-towners directions in eastern San Diego with Kumeyaay named locales.

 

Besides, I was more pedantically concerned about Conor Daly being dumped "this week."  But, close enough and still applicable. Besides, you more than made up for it with a Hector Rebaque reference and proper beer, cheese and brat placement    

 

LOL, oddly enough you weren't the first pedant I envisioned when I wrote that! Which goes to show just how much competition there is around here as far as pedantry goes...

 

I suppose we could name you as the Official Autosport Bodies-of-Water Nomenclature Ombudsman (OABWNO). Not sure if there's a stipend.

[red stick]

Couple other side of the bar had em, me and my bar neighbor discussed with them. How I'd eaten it every day for a week as a teenager in Quebec, bafflement that it hadn't really made it out of Canada and should have seriously taken off in the Midwest.

 

Then the bartender and I discussed the fluid dynamics of the concave ice cubes and resulting spray, different ways to layer the drinks to minimize backsplash, the carbonation levels of Coke in the wild vs a restaurant soda gun; the vendor donated pickle vodka, said usage in Bloody Mary's, surprisingly low alcohol volume of the pickle vodka, and errata.

 

It was a real Racer Mailbag provided by redstick Sunday evening.

A lot more science and math than I expected.  Wisconsin!

 

For the record, my father grew up in Green Bay and my grandfather in Suring.  When my wife first visited the state she was suitably impressed by the high tavern to church ratio, even in the small towns.  

[red stick]

Stipend?

 

I think we're all volunteers.  

[loki]

Is this Canada Corner where you drop your speed 75% and are exceptionally polite to the other drivers?…

[SKL]

Looking at the track map on the first post-  I'm sorry but is NOT the Toyota Bridge just before turn 6.  It is and always will be the CORVETTE bridge!!!!!

 

 

 

 

(and, every time I come up the hill from Canada Corner, I keep looking for the Billy Mitchell Bridge...)

Edited by SKL, 15 June 2023 - 21:33.

[FLB]

Road America is also a track where two different drivers with the same name won their first IndyCar race: Jacques Villeneuve in 1985 and Jacques Villeneuve in 1994.

[PayasYouRace]

Did the OP get a decent cheque for including NTT in the thread title?

[prommer]

Did the OP get a decent cheque for including NTT in the thread title?

 

Look, I'm just happy to be able to (ab)use pictures again. 

[jonpollak]

Road America is also a track where two different drivers with the same name won their first IndyCar race: Jacques Villeneuve in 1985 and Jacques Villeneuve in 1994.

Be scared.

Jp

[Frood]

"Now eat your greens or you'll have to drive the Vanwall!"

[Myrvold]

Imagine if the kid keeps that design for his life!

[jcbc3]

It's awesome. He absolutely should!

[jonpollak]

Yep… pretty cool.
Think it’s an HV original as well



Jp

[juicy sushi]

Is this Canada Corner where you drop your speed 75% and are exceptionally polite to the other drivers?…

Unless you're Brazilian and in the proximity of Mark Blundell.

 

Which reminds me, I was trying to think about my favourite Road America Indycar moment, and there's so many it's hard to pick one.  Stuff just goes down here.  At an almost street car rate, but in much faster, better scenery.

[eibyyz]

Unless you're Brazilian and in the proximity of Mark Blundell.

 

Which reminds me, I was trying to think about my favourite Road America Indycar moment, and there's so many it's hard to pick one.  Stuff just goes down here.  At an almost street car rate, but in much faster, better scenery.

 

The 1985 podium was one for longshot bettors.

[Disgrace]

Practice gets underway imminently. I hope the new surface doesn't change the circuit's character, it's quite a dramatic difference.

[GlenWatkins]

FP1 starts now.

Yes neww surface shall be interesting

[LolaB0860]

It's just new surface, not any additional asphalt runoffs (/shoulders), right?

[Disgrace]

Looks like they did a much better job here than the butchery committed at Laguna Seca.

[StraightEdge]

Greg Murphy sighting. If you don't know who he is let me refresh you with this video

[Myrvold]

It's awesome. He absolutely should!

 

Oh. I totally agree. It's just a bit child-like. I really like it though. No influence from dad, or the one he has his name from either

[red stick]

Rossi on the repave--the track record may be in sight in cars with 300 fewer horsepower.

[BoDarvelle]

OP didn't include cheese curds. Blasphemy.

Edited by BoDarvelle, 16 June 2023 - 20:29.

[BoDarvelle]

It's just new surface, not any additional asphalt runoffs (/shoulders), right?

 

Correct. No changes as they did not want to ruin the track.

[LolaB0860]

Correct. No changes as they did not want to ruin the track.

 

Thank god

 

Mosport (and now Laguna) butcherings were hard enough to take in

[red stick]

OP didn't include cheese curds. Blasphemy.

Fried? May be double
blasphemy. No squeak, no curd.
Call me a purist.

Edited by red stick, 16 June 2023 - 20:33.

[ezequiel]

I'm liking Lundgaard's new livery

[StraightEdge]

It's very Vivid

[StraightEdge]

Will Power goes off roading at Canada corner

[StraightEdge]

[BoDarvelle]

Fried? May be double
blasphemy. No squeak, no curd.
Call me a purist.

 

I prefer them fresh as well. Day olds are for frying.

 

Figured a lot of people here may not have an idea what they are looking at if I put up a pick of fresh ones.

 

eta-And since I live in WI, getting fresh ones is not a problem. They have them on the checkout counter at all the gas stations around here twice a week.

 

Never put them in the fridge.

Edited by BoDarvelle, 16 June 2023 - 20:41.

[red stick]

I prefer them fresh as well. Day olds are for frying.
 
Figured a lot of people here may not have an idea what they are looking at if I put up a pick of fresh ones.
 
eta-And since I live in WI, getting fresh ones is not a problem. They have them on the checkout counter at all the gas stations around here twice a week.
 
Never put them in the fridge.

My grandparents went straight to the dairy farms. Not an issue, in terms of distance, anywhere north and west of Milwaukee.

[red stick]

Nice of Grosjean to change liveries this weekend so RHR doesn't get confused.