Late dashes were the theme of the weekend, from under the lights at Texas, north of the border and in the lush forests of Eastern Pennsylvania. Here is a run down of what got me thinking.
One-Day Shows
Why doesn't IndyCar run the non-triple crown oval races as one day shows? IndyCar ran a 75-minute practice session Friday morning followed by qualifying and a half hour final practice in the evening before the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race. Couldn't they have done that all Saturday? The green flag for the Firestone 600 was at 8:50 p.m. ET. In theory, couldn't there have been a two hour practice session at 3:00 p.m. with qualifying at 6:00 p.m.? The downside to a one-day show is a team having an accident and needing to scramble before the race. Ovals struggle filling dead time. Road and street course races have it made. Look at St. Petersburg or Barber where IndyCar, the Road to Indy and Pirelli World Challenge all had practice sessions, qualifying sessions and races over three days. Once one practice ended, the next begin five minutes later.
What can ovals do? None of the Road to Indy series run at Texas. There were Legend car races prior to the IndyCar race but that isn't enough to get fans to show up early and stay all day. Time is more precious and going to a track to sit and wait when there is no action for multiple hours is no longer acceptable and what ever undercard is selected must be worth while. Cover bands won't get it done, a packed schedule with at most ten minutes of dead time between sessions will. Of course, as with most things in life, easier said than done.
Too Easy to Drive or Talented Field?
The first 149 laps of the Indianapolis 500 went caution-free and Texas featured green flag runs of 110 and 109 laps. Giving where credit is more than deserved, More Front Wing co-editor and Toronto Star contributor Stephanie Wallcraft tweeted wondering if the DW12 chassis was too easy to drive. A fair question to ask. I think the field is just that talented considering the drivers are no longer flat out at Texas and have to lift in the corners with tires falling off more than ever before in the recent IndyCar history.
I threw out turning about the turbo boost levels, which is currently set at 130 kPa on ovals, 140 kPa for Indianapolis 500 qualifying and 150 kPa on road and street courses. Maybe the boost level should be at 150 kPa for all races and qualifying sessions. Most drivers seem to want more power. The fans certainly wouldn't mind more power. The manufactures and teams may have to spend a little more money but it could be worth the expense.
Montreal Madness
Daniel Ricciardo took down the mighty Mercedes AMG Formula One Team with a thrilling first career victory in Montreal passing Nico Rosberg with three laps to go to end the German sides unbeaten record in 2014 and putting Red Bull Racing on the scoreboard. Sebastian Vettel bookended the podium for Red Bull with a last lap accident between Sergio Pérez and Felipe Massa while battling for fourth drop both drivers out of the points and nearly collected the four-time world champion.
Just when it appeared Bahrain was going to be the best race of 2014, Canada took the honor by leaps and bounds over the Persian Gulf night race. If you were to tell the average person that attendance of motorsports events across the globe has been on a steady decline in recent years and shown them today's crowd, they would have called you a liar. The Canadian faithful came out in droves like they always do. When things appear negative, a race like Montreal makes you realize things are much better than is what is being led on.
Why couldn't IndyCar join Formula One at Montreal and race on Saturday afternoon? This isn't the first time I have suggested an IndyCar-Formula One doubleheader weekend and I will continue suggesting them. Why? Because they make sense for the North American rounds. Put aside historical bad blood, superiority complexes, inferiority complexes, my fans, your fans, lap times and television times. The two series running together would support one another. What fan would turn down that ticket because one is on the card with the other? IndyCar back at Montreal and heading to Austin would be nothing but a good thing for the series as it would get the series on world class tracks and in front of bigger crowds than some current races draw. Bernie Ecclestone, FOM and the FIA should realize the positivity of sharing the weekend as they already have more money than God. Doing something for the greater good of motorsports over hogging the pie to themselves would be a change highly welcomed by many.
Paddock Space
Can it get any tighter than the paddock at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve? Somehow they managed to get 43-plus stock cars in there when the NASCAR Nationwide Series raced there. The only paddocks that I can think of that compare are Monaco and the old Interlagos paddock which is being replaced as the pits and start/finish move from before the Senna 'S' to after the famed corners at the bottom of the hill.
By the way, has anyone checked on how construction is going on that new paddock in Interlagos? Brazilians aren't the most diligent when it comes to construction. We're days away from the World Cup and three stadiums aren't finish (though they are in the final, final, final, final stages of construction). I don't want the teams to show up in November only to find the garages aren't even close to finish.
Le Mans
Middle of June means Le Mans. When IndyCar announced their schedule and we found out the series would be idle for the weekend of the 24-hour endurance race around the Circuit de la Sarthe, I thought, "Great! Now some of these drivers will get a chance to compete on sports car racing's grandest stage." Fast forward and is Sébastien Bourdais returning to compete in the race around his childhood home? No. Is Simon Pagenaud going? No. Is Mike Conway there? No because Millennium Racing withdraws more than an teenage boy. Is Ryan Hunter-Reay a third driver for Viper? No because Viper isn't even going.
It's a little disappointing their aren't the one-offs that I thought would happen as well as the lack of American teams but the field is still full of talented teams and drivers regardless. I would've have loved to see Viper go to Le Mans to take on the likes of Ferrari, Porsche and Aston Martin because it is one of the few opportunities for the GTE teams going for the world title get to take on the American-based Corvette and Viper teams. It would have been tremendous racing. If only Corvette and Viper ran the WEC and we'd get to see it eight times a year.
There are still plenty of great teams and qualified drivers at Le Mans. LMP1 is LMP1. Audi vs. Toyota vs. Porsche. No complaints. LMP2 is a garden salad of veterans and youthful drivers. For the Chris Dysons, Marc Genés, Tom Kimber-Smiths, Karun Chandhoks, Mika Salos, Christian Kleins and Nicolas Minassians there are the Alex Brundles, Jann Mardenboroughs, Harry Tincknells, Ricky Taylors, Oliver Webbs and Alessandro Latifs.
GTE-Pro should be a nine-car brawl for 24 hours. The Corvette tag-team takes on the factory efforts from Ferrari, Aston Martin and Porsche. GTE-Pro also sees an influx of young talent as a few drivers recently racing in GP2 have found valuable rides while struggle to break into Formula One. Álvaro Parente, James Calado and Davide Rigon all make their Le Mans debuts this year and all do it driving Ferrari 458 Italia.
Then there is the Star Wars cantina that is GTE-Am. It has a little bit of everything and every time you turn around you say, "you're here too!?" Previous Le Mans winners and workhorse GT drivers are joined by a World Cup champion, actor and royalty.
Let's not forget the most recent Ben Bowlby brainchild supported by Nissan the hybrid-electric of the DeltaWing. The Garage 56 entry is a preamble to Nissan's dive into the deep end that is LMP1 in 2015.
By the way, Rebellion Racing does not count as a Le Mans winner for winning LMP1-L, which they are guaranteed to do since they are the only two cars in the "subclass." You aren't a Le Mans winner for winning a subclass. If that's the case, we'd be celebrating top finishing flat-6 entry, top finishing turbo-charged entry, top finishing natural-aspirated entry and so on to the point that every one gets a Rolex. That's not how it works. Win your class, not a subclass by de facto.
Look for more in the Le Mans preview, which will be posted midweek.
Winners From the Weekend
You know about Ed Carpenter, Daniel Ricciardo and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. but did you know...
Sébastien Ogier won Rally d'Italia Sardegna, his fourth victory of the 2014 World Rally Championship and he extended his championship lead to 33 points ahead of Volkswagen teammate Jari-Matti Latvala who finished third. Mads Østberg finished second to Ogier.
Marco Melandri swept the World Superbike weekend in Sepang. Michael van der Mark won in Supersport.
José María López and Ma Qing Hua split the WTCC weekend in Moscow.
There was a NASCAR Truck Series race and it wasn't won by Kyle Busch. Matt Crafton took the victory at Texas.
Coming up this weekend:
24 Hours of Le Mans.
MotoGP at Barcelona.
NASCAR at Michigan.
Covering All Motorsports. From Indianapolis to Le Mans, Daytona to Monaco.
