Things haven't changed but the push for events to return grows stronger. This push comes despite increased bans of large public gatherings in places such as Germany, Belgium and France. In the virtual world, Simon Pagenaud made it consecutive iRacing victories, seven classes took to the track at Long Beach, NASCAR continues to get in its own way, past McLaren drivers were outstanding at Lime Rock Park and IMSA returned to competition. Sadly, Bob Lazier passed away aged 81. Here is a run down of what got me thinking.
Life is but a Dream
Two scheduled weekends remain in IndyCar's iRacing calendar and the final weekend has left the door open for a "dream" non-IndyCar track.
Many venues meet the requirement of having never hosted an IndyCar race. Places from all around the globe have never seen North America's top open-wheel series circle their circuits with championship points, money and a trophy on the line. Some are not practical in terms of safety. Some are not practical logistically. Some could be done but the stars have never aligned. In a fortnight, all those reasons will not withhold the unseen from taking place in the simulated world.
There is a problem with dreams. In the right mind they are boundless. There is no impossible in the subconscious. Opposites collide and form the unthinkable, a creation the real world could never fathom. In two weeks, only one IndyCar dream will come true and there are many competing interests.
Through four weeks of IndyCar iRacing competition we saw an eight-track bracket with fan votes decide the first race and Watkins Glen came out on top. Barber took place the second weekend on its originally scheduled date. The "drivers" chose Michigan, the runner-up in the fan choice bracket for week one and the "random" track was Motegi, which also happened to be in the eight-track bracket back in week one.
All four contested tracks had IndyCar history but that didn't need to be the case. The "drivers" could have selected something unknown. Randomness could have been slightly more random. After two road course events, we took to two ovals and Austin fills out its scheduled date this upcoming Sunday. The "dream" to close this affair can go in many different directions and this will not be without outside influence if the last few weeks tell us anything.
Michigan's announcement came after Dale Earnhardt, Jr.'s expressed interest to compete in one of IndyCar's events if it was an oval. When Earnhardt, Jr. said he would return if there was another oval, Motegi randomly fell into the schedule. Earnhardt, Jr. couldn't make the second date.
With Earnhardt, Jr. likely not running at Austin, his final chance to make good on his word is if IndyCar has an oval on the first Saturday in May. Leading nominees for that spot are Daytona and Talladega, two tracks where he had tremendous success in his NASCAR career, two tracks where IndyCar is not practical in real life.
Early in this foray, a place like Bathurst appeared the front-runner for the dream. The exhilarating road course in Australia forces a driver to run on the edge even in the most hair-rising corners. The only place to breathe is the front straightaway and after the left-handed turn one, Hell Corner, the trapeze act on the razor blade begins all over again.
Bathurst leads the international possibilities but many other spectacular circuits exists where IndyCar has never ventured, from Spa-Francorchamps to Circuit de la Sarthe, Zandvoort to Suzuka, Nürburgring to Interlagos.
Besides the high-speed American super speedways and the international motorsports landmarks, there are the sheer preposterous locations, the places IndyCar could never run, the dirt tracks. We will never see IndyCar take to Eldora, Knoxville, Williams Grove or Kokomo in the physical world but the simulated work makes it possible.
The law of physics no longer apply in iRacing and if this competition is for fun then let's have fun with it. Let's leave the door open for something we could never see in person but only in our dreams.
Many of these major iRacing events taking place during this period of quarantine have been grounded in reality for the most part. Every IndyCar event has been at a venue with IndyCar history. NASCAR follows its original calendar. IMSA is running GTLM cars at IMSA tracks, outside of a few Ford GTs on the grid it is up to 2020 standards. The Race has been the most creative, running Indy Pro 2000 cars at Silverstone and having used the Brabham BT44 and McLaren M23 in the Legend Trophy races and running at NOLA Motorsports Park, Sebring and Lime Rock Park. Outside of that we have not seen any series do anything wild raising a few eyebrows.
The final IndyCar weekend is scheduled as a dream weekend but whose dream is it?
IndyCar's bracket competition for the first track allowed fans to participate in the process during what has been a time of separation. We have lost four races, four chances for fans to get autographs, take photos and watch cars whiz around city streets or undulating ribbons of asphalt purposely laid for race cars. After going through scheduled races and pre-determined plans, bringing it full circle and letting the fans decide would be a fitting way to close this competition.
Shouldn't this dream race be the dreams of fans coming true?
Everything IndyCar has done in this process has been organized. I have been cheeky with how drivers' choice and the random choice played out but IndyCar has done a stellar job through all this. We have seen good races almost every week. Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Kyle Busch and Hélio Castroneves all made cameo appearances. IndyCar provides entry lists, spotter guides and even promotes second-screen options for each race. The races have been broadcasted on television. All things considered IndyCar has done its best.
With this dream race, a return to the bracketed format would be a great way to fill a week or then some for the fans. Eight tracks is the simplest but when it comes to this dream we could probably scrape together 16 venues for a bracket.
I am not sure if it is best to split the field putting ovals all on one side and road courses on the other or mixing the disciplines together from the start. Between Bathurst, Talladega, Bristol, Le Mans, Kokomo, Darlington, Nürburgring and Suzuka there is no clear winner.
Whatever is decided it is IndyCar's last chance to do something memorable and hopefully it will be the last iRacing event for IndyCar before competition can resume in June. I feel a few additional events will be added to the docket for the month of May but as of today May 2 is the finish line and it is one final chance to leave an impression.
My only fear is this dream will be hijacked. Instead of letting a grand conjuring form from collective minds those with power will manipulate it for their own interests, as unimaginative as those interests are.
Winners From the Weekend
You know about Simon Pagenaud but did you know...
Jan Magnussen and Juan Pablo Montoya split the Legends Trophy races from Lime Rock Park.
Bruno Spengler won the IMSA iRacing event from Laguna Seca.
Matt Wishart won Thursday Night Blunder from Long Beach.
William Byron won the NASCAR race from Richmond. Josh Berry won the non-Cup driver race.
Charles Leclerc won Formula One's video game race at Shanghai
Coming Up This Weekend
IndyCar has a race from Austin.
Thursday Night Blunder will be at Talladega with the 2009 NASCAR Cup car, LMP1 cars and legend cars.
NASCAR will be the undercard event from Talladega.
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