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Post by René on Aug 16, 2024 13:00:49 GMT
Madison 500 - World Wide Technology Raceway Summer break is over for the IndyCar teams and racing will resume on the interesting and fast oval at Madison, Illinois, located just outside of St. Louis, Missouri. The oval track has a unique shape and varying degrees of banking in each corner. 
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Post by chrisb on Aug 16, 2024 14:06:42 GMT
I was fortunate enough to go to Rockingham Speedway in 2001 to see Indycars on an oval circuit and despite the delay it was well worth the dreadful journey, Corby not being the easiest of places to visit.
What struck me more than anything else was the sheer speed these cars reached on such a small circuit and if the Madison is interesting and fast then it is going to be some spectacle.
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Post by Carl on Aug 16, 2024 18:32:53 GMT
I was fortunate enough to go to Rockingham Speedway in 2001 to see Indycars on an oval circuit and despite the delay it was well worth the dreadful journey, Corby not being the easiest of places to visit. What struck me more than anything else was the sheer speed these cars reached on such a small circuit and if the Madison is interesting and fast then it is going to be some spectacle. Chris, Indycar speeds on small ovals are mind-boggling. Scott McLaughlin's pole position speed last year over Gateway's 1.250 miles was 183 mph! |
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Post by Carl on Aug 16, 2024 21:13:56 GMT
With hedge fund managers celebrating the corporate takeover of motorsport, the challenge is to ignore the muddled balderdash and enjoy the racing. The Bommarito Automotive Group 500 at World Wide Technology Raceway? When will Gateway, Illinois rename itself World Wide Technology City? Weathertech Raceway Laguna Seca? Laguna Seca (literally "dry lake") needs no weather protection... Canadian Tire Motorsports Park? Rest in peace Mosport Formula One Crypto.com Miami Grand Prix? Encryption is confuscation. So is Miami... The F1 Rolex Belgian Grand Prix? If the giant Rolex clock stops running, could a Grand Prix proceed? -------------
The Bommarito family may be the automobile (16 dealerships and counting) equivalent of the Corleones. Their flagship Toyota dealership is so massive that several customers have gotten lost and are still listed as missing... |
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Post by Carl on Aug 16, 2024 22:48:31 GMT
The track is slower (about 3 mph) than last year with Scott McLaughlin again on pole.
1st - Scott McLaughlin - No. 3 Team Penske Chevrolet - 179.972 2nd - David Malukas - No. 66 Meyer Shank Racing Honda - 179.503 3rd - Josef Newgarden - No. 2 Team Penske Chevrolet - 179.424 4th - Will Power - No. 12 Team Penske Chevrolet - 179.262 5th - Kyle Kirkwood - No. 27 Andretti Global Honda - 178.417 6th - Romain Grosjean - No. 77 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet - 178.321 7th - Marcus Ericsson - No. 28 Andretti Global Honda - 178.114 8th - Pato O'Ward - No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet - 177.16 9th - Conor Daly - No. 78 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet - 177.126 10th - Marcus Armstrong - No. 11 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda - 176.696 11th - Felix Rosenqvist* - No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Honda - 179.796 12th - Rinus VeeKay - No. 21 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet - 176.661 13th - Alexander Rossi - No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet - 175.865 14th - Graham Rahal - No. 15 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda - 175.782 15th - Pietro Fittipaldi - No. 30 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda - 175.656 16th - Alex Palou* - No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda - 178.363 17th - Santino Ferrucci - No. 14 A.J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet - 175.514 18th - Linus Lundqvist - No. 8 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda - 175.51 19th - Scott Dixon* - No. 9 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda - 177.905 20th - Nolan Siegel - No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet - 174.854 21st - Ed Carpenter - No. 20 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet - 174.752 22nd - Kyffin Simpson - No. 4 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda - 173.9 23rd - Christian Lundgaard - No. 45 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda - 173.722 24th - Sting Ray Robb - No. 41 A.J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet - 172.782 25th - Colton Herta - No. 26 Andretti Global with Curb-Agajanian Honda - 110.461 *nine-position grid penalties due to unapproved engine changes (all Honda) |
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Post by René on Aug 17, 2024 18:09:18 GMT
With hedge fund managers celebrating the corporate takeover of motorsport, the challenge is to ignore the muddled balderdash and enjoy the racing. The Bommarito Automotive Group 500 at World Wide Technology Raceway? When will Gateway, Illinois rename itself World Wide Technology City? Weathertech Raceway Laguna Seca? Laguna Seca (literally "dry lake") needs no weather protection... Canadian Tire Motorsports Park? Rest in peace Mosport Formula One Crypto.com Miami Grand Prix? Encryption is confuscation. So is Miami... The F1 Rolex Belgian Grand Prix? If the giant Rolex clock stops running, could a Grand Prix proceed? -------------
The Bommarito family may be the automobile (16 dealerships and counting) equivalent of the Corleones. Their flagship Toyota dealership is so massive that several customers have gotten lost and are still listed as missing... Definitely Carl, you’re so right. I try to avoid these sponsor names as much as possible, but sometimes one still slips through...  |
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Post by René on Aug 17, 2024 18:19:53 GMT
The track is slower (about 3 mph) than last year with Scott McLaughlin again on pole.
Why is it slower? No push-to-pass for the Penske cars?  |
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Post by Carl on Aug 17, 2024 18:52:07 GMT
The track is slower (about 3 mph) than last year with Scott McLaughlin again on pole.
Why is it slower? No push-to-pass for the Penske cars? A service crew from Bommarito Automotive polished and waxed the track  |
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Post by René on Aug 17, 2024 20:37:32 GMT
Why is it slower? No push-to-pass for the Penske cars? A service crew from Bommarito Automotive polished and waxed the track Clean and shiny. |
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Post by Carl on Aug 18, 2024 20:05:49 GMT
A contest of pitstop strategy (two stops or three) is not racing, but I admire the effort of the announcers to pretend otherwise. Kevin Lee, Townsend Bell and James Hinchcliffe constantly adjusted their analyses to speculate whether someone would save fuel by slowing down, or come in early to confuse other teams. Chess is nearly as exciting...
What kept me awake were the missteps of Josef Newgarden and Will Power compared with the flawless performance of teammate Scott McLaughlin  Will Power deserved a penalty for avoidable contact when he came down low in Turn 1 and bumped David Malukas out of the race. Incredibly, Power later confronted Malukas in the paddock and screamed about the incident that was his own fault. Malukas had driven brilliantly, made no mistakes, and offered the only real challenge to Team Penske.
At the next-to-last restart, Newgarden claims he paced the field according to the rules, but drivers close behind insist he alternated his speed to create confusion, leading to an Apache dance between Power and Rossi. Those who complain about Newgarden must resent his success... In any endeavor, fraudulence can be denied and image protected by assertive delusion and pretense, the best example being Roger Penske's candidate for president. Josef should submit to the Montreal Cognitive Assessment color recognition test. He could be colorblind... 
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Post by René on Aug 19, 2024 17:23:32 GMT
All top class racing is about strategy nowadays Carl... it wish it was not. It was a strange race and some weird mistakes. I agree about McLaughlin and Malukas who both drove very well. Josef Newgarden is always a force on ovals and recovering from a spin to win eventually was quite a feat but his restart antics were weird (that word again ) to say the least. I was always a Newgarden fan and he is a great driver but ever since the push-to-pass scandal, I find myself more rooting for Colton Herta and Pato O'Ward... |
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Post by Carl on Aug 19, 2024 20:08:32 GMT
All top class racing is about strategy nowadays Carl... it wish it was not. It was a strange race and some weird mistakes. I agree about McLaughlin and Malukas who both drove very well. Josef Newgarden is always a force on ovals and recovering from a spin to win eventually was quite a feat but his restart antics were weird (that word again ) to say the least. I was always a Newgarden fan and he is a great driver but ever since the push-to-pass scandal, I find myself more rooting for Colton Herta and Pato O'Ward... I totally agree... This is an algorithmic transfer of control from drivers to team principals, by way of engineers at banks of computers, on site and remote. With every possible dynamic assayed and (the now crucial) pitstops determined for maximum gain by computer algorithm, why shouldn't team principals stand on the podium as the primary winner?
The drivers understand what's happened, but contracts discourage honest complaint. In the past, strategy was discussed beforehand, but during a race was primarily a driver's challenge. The entire alphabet of plans were the driver's province. As the intellectual challenge of driving has been eroded, so must the satisfaction of winning for the driver.
As you say, this affects all top class racing nowadays. I also agree about Newgarden. I was a fan until his implausible response to the push-to-pass scandal, but in the aftermath of St. Petersburg, Roger Penske should have accepted responsibility and done more than blame subordinates. There are signs of discord at Team Penske as the ship of state founders. Will Power has always been mercurial, but he completely lost control at Gateway, as though his anger is more deep-seated. |
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Post by René on Aug 20, 2024 18:06:07 GMT
All top class racing is about strategy nowadays Carl... it wish it was not. It was a strange race and some weird mistakes. I agree about McLaughlin and Malukas who both drove very well. Josef Newgarden is always a force on ovals and recovering from a spin to win eventually was quite a feat but his restart antics were weird (that word again ) to say the least. I was always a Newgarden fan and he is a great driver but ever since the push-to-pass scandal, I find myself more rooting for Colton Herta and Pato O'Ward... I totally agree... This is an algorithmic transfer of control from drivers to team principals, by way of engineers at banks of computers, on site and remote. With every possible dynamic assayed and (the now crucial) pitstops determined for maximum gain by computer algorithm, why shouldn't team principals stand on the podium as the primary winner? The drivers understand what's happened, but contracts discourage honest complaint. In the past, strategy was discussed beforehand, but during a race was primarily a driver's challenge. The entire alphabet of plans were the driver's province. As the intellectual challenge of driving has been eroded, so must the satisfaction of winning for the driver. As you say, this affects all top class racing nowadays. I also agree about Newgarden. I was a fan until his implausible response to the push-to-pass scandal, but in the aftermath of St. Petersburg, Roger Penske should have accepted responsibility and done more than blame subordinates. There are signs of discord at Team Penske as the ship of state founders. Will Power has always been mercurial, but he completely lost control at Gateway, as though his anger is more deep-seated. Yes, something has changed since the scandal. In- and outside the Penske team. |
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Post by René on Aug 23, 2024 18:19:23 GMT
Grand Prix of Portland, Oregon The last road course of the season on the beautiful circuit of Portland.  After that only oval races in Milwaukee and Nashville. And that is important, especially for championship leader Álex Palou. Palou is excellent on road courses, but not so much on ovals. He is not bad, rarely makes mistakes, but he has never won on an oval. Remarkable for a two-time IndyCar champion! So for Álex, to secure his third title, it is important to win this weekend in Oregon. 
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Post by Carl on Aug 24, 2024 17:17:28 GMT
Portland is a beautiful and challenging road course but, similar to the road course at Indianapolis, suffers from the gordian knot of Turns 1 and 2. Both series say the nod to Mickey Mouse is for safety, but these turns guarantee chaos whenever the field is bunched. Otherwise, Portland would be perfect!
Scott Dixon has a great record here and is always hard to beat.
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