IndyCar 2024 season

[Carl]

Jun 24, 2024 17:42:43 GMT René said:

It wasn't a bad race Carl, but I didn't watch it live either. Too late for me this time and I had to get up early.

But Alex Palou looked very strong. Finally a good result again for Colton Herta and the same applies to Alexander Rossi and Romain Grosjean.

I enjoyed the remarkable coincidence that occurred.  Separated by almost three decades, late in the race each time, a Team Ganassi driver made a dramatic pass of a Herta at the Corkscrew. 

It was good to see Alexander Rossi and Romain Grosjean do well and no surprise that Nolan Siegel did not.

I noticed the grandstands weren't crowded, and I'm not sure why.  The circuit is less awesome than the original layout, but it's still great, and Indycar is very competitive.  Because venue and series both provide great racing, the stands should be packed.  I've been several times in the past, usually stationed at the bottom of the descent from the corkscrew at Turn 6 (now Turn 9).  I remember George Follmer being launched toward the crowd and landing hard in his beautiful Can-Am Prophet in 1979 or 1980.  Another clear memory is how awesome Hans Stuck Junior was in his BMW 3.0 CSL at both Laguna Seca and Riverside.  Amazingly fast, smooth and precise, he deserved greater success in F1. 

  

                                    

[René]

Jun 24, 2024 18:28:16 GMT Carl said:

Jun 24, 2024 17:42:43 GMT René said:

It wasn't a bad race Carl, but I didn't watch it live either. Too late for me this time and I had to get up early.

But Alex Palou looked very strong. Finally a good result again for Colton Herta and the same applies to Alexander Rossi and Romain Grosjean.

I enjoyed the remarkable coincidence that occurred.  Separated by almost three decades, late in the race each time, a Team Ganassi driver made a dramatic pass of a Herta at the Corkscrew. 

It was good to see Alexander Rossi and Romain Grosjean do well and no surprise that Nolan Siegel did not.

I noticed the grandstands weren't crowded, and I'm not sure why.  The circuit is less awesome than the original layout, but it's still great, and Indycar is very competitive.  Because venue and series both provide great racing, the stands should be packed.  I've been several times in the past, usually stationed at the bottom of the descent from the corkscrew at Turn 6 (now Turn 9).  I remember George Follmer being launched toward the crowd and landing hard in his beautiful Can-Am Prophet in 1979 or 1980.  Another clear memory is how awesome Hans Stuck Junior was in his BMW 3.0 CSL at both Laguna Seca and Riverside.  Amazingly fast, smooth and precise, he deserved greater success in F1. 

  

                              View Attachment   View Attachment   

The pass wasn’t as dramatic as Zanardi’s but it was a remarkable coincidence indeed.

Don’t mention the word corkscrew at a Herta diner!



Great memories about Follmer and Stuck! The second generation Can-Ams looked cool and so did that BMW! And yeah, Stuck jr. was probably better than his F1 record shows. 

[René]

Mid-Ohio 200



The beautiful flowing and short course of Mid-Ohio always makes for great races. 'Old school' racing with grass right next to the track so no room for mistakes.



Alex Palou was fastest in the first practice session.

1. A. Palou CHIP GANASSI RACING
2. A. Rossi ARROW MCLAREN
3. M. Armstrong CHIP GANASSI RACING
4. C. Herta ANDRETTI GLOBAL
5. S. McLaughlin TEAM PENSKE
6. G. Rahal RAHAL LETTERMAN LANIGAN RACING
7. P. O'Ward ARROW MCLAREN
8. F. Rosenqvist MEYER SHANK RACING
9. K. Kirkwood ANDRETTI GLOBAL
10. W. Power TEAM PENSKE

[Carl]

Alex Palou remains the fastest driver this year and David Malukas, fired earlier by McLaren, is back with a vengeance.

1 Alex Palou 01:05.3511 – 124.387

2 Pato O’Ward 01:05.3535 0.0024 124.382                                    

3 David Malukas 01:05.6509 0.2998 123.819

4 Colton Herta 01:05.7653 0.4142 123.603

5 Marcus Armstrong 01:05.9402 0.5891 123.275

6 Marcus Ericsson 01:05.9592 0.6081 123.240

7 Scott McLaughlin 01:05.6178 – 123.881

8 Alexander Rossi 01:05.6427 – 123.834

9 Christian Rasmussen 01:05.6911 – 123.743

10 Christian Lundgaard 01:05.7705 – 123.593

11 Linus Lundqvist 01:05.7805 – 123.575

12 Romain Grosjean 01:05.7822 – 123.571

13 Felix Rosenqvist 01:05.6921 – 123.741

14 Scott Dixon 01:05.8562 – 123.433

15 Kyle Kirkwood 01:05.7147 – 123.698

16 Will Power 01:05.9654 – 123.228

17 Nolan Siegel 01:05.7679 – 123.598

18 Josef Newgarden 01:05.9857 – 123.190

19 Graham Rahal 01:05.8508 – 123.443

20 Rinus VeeKay 01:06.0252 – 123.117

21 Santino Ferrucci 01:05.9414 – 123.273

22 Agustin Canapino 01:06.0550 – 123.061

23 Pietro Fittipaldi 01:06.0973 – 122.982

24 Kyffin Simpson 01:06.1034 – 122.971

25 Toby Sowery 01:08.2499 – 119.103

26 Sting Ray Robb 01:06.6894 – 121.890

27 Jack Harvey 01:06.9614 – 121.395

us.motorsport.com/indycar/news/palou-relishes-maiden-hybrid-pole-indycar-qualifying/10632457/

[René]

Thanks Carl. Nice comeback from David Malukas! Good for him.

[René]

The Racing Gods were kind to us today with another thrilling race! What first looked like a dominant win for Álex Palou turned into a great battle between Palou and Pato O’Ward and eventually the win for O’Ward. Great stuff. 

[Carl]

René,
          Totally agree! Silverstone was earthbound exciting, but the normally placid State of Ohio was propelled into a stratospheric level with great racing in the final stint between Alex Palou and Patricio O'Ward, possibly the best duel this year...

          A pleasant aspect of Indycar recently has been the absence of the obnoxiously hyperbolic Leigh Diffey, on special assignment either for the Olympic Games or a lobotomy. Kevin Lee is three times better as anchor.

         Josef Newgarden made mistake after mistake, penalized for speeding on pit row and speeding again on the penalty drive-through, culminating with a massive spin at Turn 11. Christian Rasmussen did very well compared to teammate Rinus Veekay, maybe to remind Ed Carpenter he has two great drivers.

        There's been a Scandinavian onslaught this year of great drivers into Indycar. At one point the leaderboard had Marcus Ericsson in fifth leading a parade of four others. America would do well to replace a few of its nine drivers with ones at the Scandinavian level.

Cheers, proost, jubel and skål,
Carl

[René]

Iowa Speedway Double Header




After a series of road courses, it is now the turn of an oval again. The double header at the fast Iowa Speedway!



And all eyes will be on Josef Newgarden, the man who has dominated virtually all oval tracks for years. Half of all his career wins have come on ovals, including the last two Indy 500s. But Pato O'Ward is also always strong here and won in Iowa two years ago after Newgarden crashed heavily. For those who like oval racing (I do ) it will certainly be exciting.

[Carl]

Fast laps under 18 seconds at almost 190 mph make for a demanding race!

"The IndyCar Series completed a dual qualifying session on Saturday, with two times laps around the short oval Iowa Speedway determining the order for the two races set for later in the weekend.

Colton Herta set the best time on his first lap, and earned pole for Saturday evening’s race with a lap of 17.1506 seconds that averaged 187.655 MPH.

Herta actually completed his laps without the hybrid boost due to a technical issue, and was offered the chance to make a second run. His Andretti team ultimately chose not to complete another run and kept his times from his initial attempt.

Scott McLaughlin set the fastest time of all drivers on their second lap, earning him pole for Sunday’s event.

McLaughlin’s time was 17.0966 seconds, averaging 188.248 MPH around the 7/8-mile oval, which gives him the new track record as well.

Saturday’s race takes place starting at 7:00 PM central time, and will run through the evening into the night. Sunday’s race begins just before noon, giving drivers and teams little time to recover before the second half of the double-header."

Text and grid positions quoted from motorsportweek.com

Race 1

# Driver Time Avg. Speed (MPH)
1 Colton Herta 00:17.1506 – 187.655
2 Scott McLaughlin 00:17.1624  187.526
3 Alex Palou 00:17.2253  186.841
4 Will Power 00:17.2728 186.328
5 Scott Dixon 00:17.2839  186.208
6 Pato O’Ward 00:17.2963  186.074
7 Alexander Rossi 00:17.2996  186.039
8 Santino Ferrucci 00:17.3588  185.405
9 Marcus Armstrong 00:17.3651  185.337
10 Marcus Ericsson 00:17.3713  185.271
11 Felix Rosenqvist 00:17.3783  185.196
12 Graham Rahal 00:17.4146  184.810
13 Linus Lundqvist 00:17.4289  184.659
14 Rinus VeeKay 00:17.4594  184.336
15 David Malukas 00:17.4770  184.151
16 Nolan Siegel 00:17.5152  183.749
17 Agustin Canapino 00:17.5264  183.632
18 Pietro Fittipaldi 00:17.5272  183.623
19 Jack Harvey 00:17.5336  183.556
20 Kyle Kirkwood 00:17.5386  183.504
21 Romain Grosjean 00:17.5435  183.453
22 Josef Newgarden 00:17.6097  182.763
23 Christian Lundgaard 00:17.7302  181.521
24 Sting Ray Robb 00:18.1288  177.530
25 Ed Carpenter 00:18.1997  176.838
26 Katherine Legge 00:18.2630  176.225
27 Kyffin Simpson 00:18.3003  175.866

Race 2

# Driver Time Avg. Speed (MPH)
1 Scott McLaughlin 00:17.0966 – 188.248
2 Alex Palou 00:17.1582  187.572
3 Scott Dixon 00:17.1958  187.162
4 Colton Herta 00:17.2125  186.980
5 Felix Rosenqvist 00:17.2259  186.835
6 Alexander Rossi 00:17.3005  186.029
7 Pato O’Ward 00:17.3165  185.857
8 Graham Rahal 00:17.3321  185.690
9 David Malukas 00:17.3410  185.595
10 Agustin Canapino 00:17.3768  185.212
11 Nolan Siegel 00:17.3954  185.014
12 Kyle Kirkwood 00:17.4159  184.797
13 Linus Lundqvist 00:17.4283  184.665
14 Josef Newgarden 00:17.4767  184.154
15 Rinus VeeKay 00:17.4784  184.136
16 Romain Grosjean 00:17.5103  183.800
17 Pietro Fittipaldi 00:17.5331  183.561
18 Jack Harvey 00:17.5551  183.331
19 Christian Lundgaard 00:17.6575  182.268
20 Santino Ferrucci 00:17.7412  181.408
21 Sting Ray Robb 00:17.7744  181.069
22 Marcus Ericsson 00:17.7784  181.029
23 Will Power 00:17.9496  179.302
24 Kyffin Simpson 00:17.9827  178.972
25 Katherine Legge 00:18.0949  177.862
26 Marcus Armstrong 00:18.5304  173.682
27 Ed Carpenter 00:19.0203  169.209

[René]

Not a bad race and a first oval win for Scott McLaughlin. An uncharacteristic error from Álex Palou that put him out and a second place finish for Pato O’Ward means the championship points are closing. Good race also from Rinus VeeKay!

[Carl]

Jul 14, 2024 13:31:30 GMT René said:

Not a bad race and a first oval win for Scott McLaughlin. An uncharacteristic error from Álex Palou that put him out and a second place finish for Pato O’Ward means the championship points are closing. Good race also from Rinus VeeKay!

Another unbelievable save by Colton Herta.  If only he had judgment to match his talent!

[René]

Jul 14, 2024 20:01:35 GMT Carl said:

Jul 14, 2024 13:31:30 GMT René said:

Not a bad race and a first oval win for Scott McLaughlin. An uncharacteristic error from Álex Palou that put him out and a second place finish for Pato O’Ward means the championship points are closing. Good race also from Rinus VeeKay!

Another unbelievable save by Colton Herta.  If only he had judgment to match his talent!

Carl, that was a mega save! Colton has Gilles like car control in unexpected or tricky conditions. Was it last year in the rain at the Indianapolis road course? Just amazing. But now, on an oval, incredible. I’m a fan.

[René]

Will Power finally wins on an oval again in race 2 at the Iowa Speedway. He never won here before despite several pole positions, but this time he started from 22nd and won! But the race will be more remembered for the mega crash on the last lap! Thanks to the Aeroscreen/halo, no one was seriously injured.

[Carl]

Jul 15, 2024 15:43:10 GMT René said:

Jul 14, 2024 20:01:35 GMT Carl said:

Another unbelievable save by Colton Herta.  If only he had judgment to match his talent!

Carl, that was a mega save! Colton has Gilles like car control in unexpected or tricky conditions. Was it last year in the rain at the Indianapolis road course? Just amazing. But now, on an oval, incredible. I’m a fan.

[Carl]

Jul 15, 2024 15:49:24 GMT René said:

Will Power finally wins on an oval again in race 2 at the Iowa Speedway. He never won here before despite several pole positions, but this time he started from 22nd and won! But the race will be more remembered for the mega crash on the last lap! Thanks to the Aeroscreen/halo, no one was seriously injured.

I like the one mile ovals at Iowa and Milwaukee far more than the 2 1/2 mile superspeedways like Indianapolis, the only one currently raced by Indycar.  I love small dirt tracks (1/4 mile is best) where USAC Sprint Cars and Midgets still race and where Parnelli Jones, AJ Foyt, Al and Bobby Unser and Mario Andretti all learned car control.  There are still a few dirt mile ovals, awesome high speed spectacles now raced mainly by flat track motorcycles.

Foyt and Andretti at the Sacramento mile (the reigning champ wears #1)     

Foyt leading Andretti and the great Don Branson at the Indiana State Fairgrounds 1966 

The big ovals at Michigan and Pocono are now stock car venues, the extreme banking at Texas nearly too fast for safety and Penske's Auto Club Speedway in Fontana being demolished and converted to a smaller oval.