I had to do something different during this down time. We are getting some racing back, but we are still in a bit of a lull. IndyCar has one race in the bag and there is another month until round two.
There are only so many hypotheticals and iRacing reviews you can write before you drain all that is happening in this less active world. There has been a lot of down time in the last three months and this has been a chance to look back and today marks the nine-year anniversary of the Firestone Twin 275s.
Under the leadership of Randy Bernard, IndyCar was in the middle of trying new things. One year away from a new chassis and new engine formula, IndyCar made the most of its lame duck year. It saw not only the 100th anniversary of the Indianapolis 500 but included a return to Milwaukee, a plan for a mega season finale at Las Vegas and a doubleheader at Texas. IndyCar had not run a doubleheader in 30 years when CART ran a twin 150 at Atlanta. A new television contract with ABC and Versus (soon to be renamed NBC Sports Network) was about to start and IndyCar hoped to head into a new era on an upward swing.
Thirty cars entered this event. A significant crowd was on hand for something none of the drivers had experienced. The first race was set via qualifying with a draw determining the grid for the second race. Each race was worth half points but each counted as a victory in the history books.
Race One
A reminder of the times, 2011 Indianapolis 500 winner Dan Wheldon did not have a ride for this race and it bothered me at the time that the Indianapolis 500 winner couldn't get a ride for the following race, especially when the grid was up to 30 cars. While not in the car, Wheldon had a presence at the track, as he joined Bob Jenkins and Jon Beekhuis in the broadcast booth.
With Wheldon in the booth and this being the race after Indianapolis, there was a summary to the Indianapolis 500 and that finish was chaotic. Between everyone having different strategy on fuel and then the final lap, that finish was breathtaking. Nine years later and how it all played out, it was a perfect storm. I feel for J.R. Hildebrand because he made the aggressive choice, and not an overaggressive choice, to lap Charlie Kimball in turn four. He just got in the marbles.
I know Kimball took some flack in the aftermath of that race but I don't think Kimball did anything wrong. He held his line and it just happened to be the wrong place at the wrong time for Hildebrand. Kimball wasn't malicious and he didn't block Hildebrand into the marbles. Kimball did all he could not to be in the way.
I can't help but think how different everything would be if Kimball was a second slower or a second quicker or wasn't there at all. In either of the three scenarios, Hildebrand probably wins the race and Wheldon finishes second and who knows how the events over the next six months play out. If Wheldon finishes second, does he make any more starts in 2011? How does Las Vegas play out? Does Izod exit after 2012? Where would we be today?
While Wheldon was not on the grid, his Indianapolis 500 car was in the race and Wade Cunningham was behind the wheel in what was his first IndyCar start.
Alex Tagliani and Dario Franchitti started on the front row. The two drivers swapped the lead over the first two laps but on lap three Franchitti grabbed the top spot. Franchitti and Tagliani opened a sizable gap to the rest of the field but every other position was contested. Hildebrand and Kimball made slight contact entering turn three. Both cars continued but that was the limit in terms of contact.
This was a completely different Texas from the DW12-era. It was a wide-open race, no lifting into the corner, cars jockeying from the low line to the high line lap after lap. We don't see cars exit turn two at Texas and then immediately go to the white line on the back straightaway now. The only track we see that at Indianapolis now. The cars are stable all around the track in this race, almost on rails. They never lose much speed compared to today it looks like a video game.
After about 20 laps, the field spread out some. Franchitti continued to lead but only the top five were covered by a second with Hélio Castroneves a half-second back with another second back to Cunningham. This wasn't a pack race where everyone was within two seconds of each other. On lap 28, the gap from Franchitti to Tony Kanaan in tenth was four seconds and Rahal was 1.6 seconds behind Kanaan. Marco Andretti was 9.8 seconds back in 20th.
Despite the gaps, a car could catch another when in traffic or if that car had to lift. Will Power moved up to second with Scott Dixon closing on Tagliani. Cunningham lost a spot to E.J. Viso leading Wheldon to say, "Now I am getting nervous with my car."At lap 40, Franchitti and Power broke away and opened a two-second gap to Tagliani in third.
Because of the length of the race, it could be done on one-stop with some caution help. A full tank lasted 55 laps.
Drivers started making pit stops around lap 50 and Power came before Franchitti, with the Scotsman following a lap later. Franchitti retook the lead once the pit cycle was over and his lead jumped to 3.7 seconds over Power. Power would have to battle Dixon for second but they had a two-second gap to Tagliani.
On lap 75, Franchitti had a 4.6-second lead over Dixon and he had lapped up to Kanaan in 13th. Compared to what we think of Texas being a pack race with cars three-wide and side-by-side for laps at a time, this wasn't it.
It is hard to compare because it was a half-race in terms of half of what we were used to in terms of distance from green to checkers, but we have seen similar gaps in recent IndyCar races at Texas. The difference has been it is not full throttle for every lap today, the cars don't punch as large of a hole and we don't have clusters of cars. We don't have a pair of cars that run side-by-side for five or six laps with another car within two car lengths right behind them.
For there being a second race after this, it didn't feel like anyone was conserving much. It was pretty tight and cars made moves to the outside or dove to the inside if there was an opening for a pass. There was not much tiptoeing.
With the second pit window opening, the leaders caught a break that unfortunately came at the expense of Cunningham and Kimball. In turn three, Kimball pushed up and got into the inside of Cunningham, taking both out of the race on lap 94. Franchitti was hard on the brakes to avoid both disabled cars sliding off the circuit.
Wheldon and Jon Beekhuis debated whether the cars should just take fuel on this stop or take tires as well. The debate was moot in the end with every car taking tires before the final sprint to the finish.
Franchitti took the green with ten laps to go ahead of Dixon, Power, Tagliani, Castroneves, Sato and Ryan Briscoe and I forgot this was a time of double-file restarts. Dixon slotted into second behind Franchitti but it was chaotic behind them with cars going three-wide, using all three lanes in the turns and down the straightaways.
Dixon sat on Franchitti's rear wing but with Power closing on the two. Tagliani made it a four-car race with five laps to go but with a second between those four and Sato in fifth. Despite being within touching distance, the top four held their spots over the closing laps and Franchitti took the victory with Dixon, Power and Tagliani in that order and Sato holding off Briscoe for fifth.
Other Notes:
During the broadcast, Wheldon said his son Sebastian would be a future Indianapolis 500 champion.
Davey Hamilton returned to Texas ten years after his career halting accident.
Each car got 20 pushes-to-pass between both races. If a driver used all 20 in race one, he or she was out for race two. That is kind of nuts when you think about it.
Danica Patrick extended her most consecutive finishes streak to 38 races. She broke Dixon's record at Sonoma in 2010.
After the race, Power said he hopes for a long green flag run in race two because his car was better over the long run.
Draw
The most infamous thing from this night was the draw for the second race grid. Franchitti hated it. He thought it was gimmickier than it should have been. Immediately after the first race, Chip Ganassi was uncertain how the car would run if it was dropped into traffic and the teams had only one hour to work on the car but teams could not start work until Franchitti was done with victory lane festivities.
Wheldon said that Franchitti would have preferred the entire field be inverted that way it was equal to all the finishers. All the front runners in race one would start at the back and you would not have what happened... more on that in a moment.
The full field inversion sounds good and using nine years of hindsight I think NASCAR hit on something with how it has been drawing grids over the last month. I think the field could have been segmented into three and the top ten finishers draw for the top ten spots in race two with 11th through 20th drawing for 11th through 20th with the bottom ten cars drawing for the bottom ten positions.
As for the draw itself, it was the famous spinning of tires to choose you starting position and the draw started in reverse order of the race one results. Kimball selected first while Franchitti would be the final driver on stage.
Kimball picked eighth with Cunningham up next and drew second for a car that was in Milwaukee setup. It was mostly uneventful. James Hinchcliffe played with the crowd before drawing ninth. Justin Wilson drew a large sigh when he got 30th position. Kanaan was the 17th draw and he pointed between four tires and took the tire in the middle, which ended up being pole position.
Entering the final three cars, three numbers were left on the board: third, 18th and 28th. Power drew first and took third with an emphatic celebration to follow. Dixon took 18th, leaving Franchitti with 28th.
Race Two
With a shook-up field, Wheldon picked Power, noting Kanaan had two overtakes left. Beekhuis took Castroneves with Bob Jenkins selecting Briscoe after a long pause. All Penske drivers, smart move by all three.
Kanaan had no issue leading from pole position but Cunningham dropped pretty quickly in a car without any practice and quickly swapped over to a high-banked, high speed set-up from a short oval configuration.
Franchitti's progression through the field was slow. He was only up to 27th after six laps but lost that spot to Mike Conway on the next lap.
Kanaan, Power and Ryan Hunter-Reay had a three-car breakaway early. Castroneves sat alone in fourth but Paul Tracy was fifth after starting 14th on lap nine. Behind Tracy was a tight pack of cars with Graham Rahal breathing down his neck.
Rahal moved up to fifth and Tracy battled with Jay Howard for sixth while Briscoe, Hinchcliffe, Meira and Dixon rounded out the top ten. The action was intense enough that Briscoe dropped his left side tires in the grass exiting the quad-oval while running in the top ten and he didn't lose a position.
On lap 20, the top four were covered by a half-second while there was two seconds to Rahal in fifth. Franchitti had worked up to 21st. Marco Andretti was the biggest mover, up 15 spots to that point after starting 27th. Cunningham had dropped to 26th from second.
On lap 39, Franchitti was up to 18th while Power went to the outside of Kanaan for the lead. Power held the high line and the two drivers ran side-by-side for a few laps before Power completed the pass on lap 42.
Power led while Kanaan, Castroneves and Briscoe were within a second. Hunter-Reay dropped behind Dixon with the New Zealander 1.3 seconds behind Power in fifth. Franchitti sat nine seconds behind in 18th on lap 47, just before the pit window opened. Andretti kept his climb and was up to ninth.
Power was the first of the leaders to stop on lap 51 with Kanaan following on the next lap and Castroneves and Dixon following the lap after that. Franchitti came in on lap 53.
Things shook out with Power back in the lead and Briscoe up to second, over a second back. Castroneves and Kanaan were in third and fourth. Dixon was 2.3 seconds back in fifth while Hunter-Reay 6.6 seconds back in sixth. Franchitti was up to 15th, 11.5 seconds back.
Dixon found his legs over his second stint and would work his way up to second. Kanaan remained just over two seconds back in third while Hunter-Reay slipped to over nine seconds off the lead. On lap 77, Franchitti had climbed to 12th. Over the next seven laps, Power battled traffic and it allowed Dixon to close to within a quarter second of the lead. Meanwhile, on lap 87, Franchitti entered the top ten, passing E.J. Viso on the high side of turns one and two and he was 15.7 seconds behind Power.
Power held off Dixon and the two opened a four-second gap over Briscoe and Castroneves. With 13 laps to go, Power's lead was up to eight-tenths while negotiating traffic.
Because of the pace of this race, a splash of fuel was going to be necessary for all the drivers. Some drivers started coming around lap 97 and most of those drivers took tires on their stop. Andretti took a splash of fuel on his final stop. Power held off until lap 105 for his final stop but made a tenacious move to the inside of Rahal entering the pit lane. Rahal had suffered a fuel pump failure.
Power took fuel and tires on his final stop. Dixon followed on lap 106 and took tires as well while Briscoe inherited the lead. Briscoe would stay out for three laps but the lead would cycle back to Power with six laps to go. Briscoe was a fuel-only stop.
The gap remained about the same after the final pit cycle, Power 1.3 seconds ahead of Dixon with Briscoe in third ahead of Castroneves and Kanaan. Andretti's fuel only stop got him to sixth while Franchitti was seventh after pit stops.
Though the Indianapolis 500 finish remained fresh in everyone's mind, this race had no such plot twist. At 206.693 MPH, Power took the victory with Dixon and Briscoe rounding out the podium. Castroneves and Kanaan rounded out the top five. Andretti and Franchitti went from 27th and 28th respectively to sixth and seventh at the checkered flag of a caution-free race.
It remains the second-fastest race in IndyCar history.
Other Notes:
Pit reporter Lindy Thackston pointed out during the broadcast all three Penske drivers drew one of their teammates' numbers. Power drew third, Castroneves drew sixth and Briscoe drew 12th. What are the odds of that happening?
Tony Kanaan ran the Prelude to the Dream earlier in the week. It was his second time in the event.
Jay Howard started 13th in this race. It was the best starting position in Howard's career. The best starting position of your career and it was because of a draw.
The first guy Power mentions as being tough to beat this year for the championship in his victory lane interview was Dixon, not Franchitti. Interesting.
I have to note Dan Wheldon as a commentator because he did a strong job and he brought something only a recently retired driver can bring to a broadcast. Wheldon knew exactly what was going on behind the wheel of the car. He explained what each driver was doing with each dial on the car. He went over how specific drivers race and their patterns. He explained how Marco Andretti used the top line and he was not hesitant to say drivers to be careful around were Takuma Sato and E.J. Viso. This was his first taste of the broadcast booth and Wheldon was outstanding.
Could This Be Done Again?
Anything could be done again and though it was a one-and-done, on second viewing it was captivating.
You had two action filled races. There were pit stops and strategy and cars passing one another at each end of the track. The second race was caution-free. Andretti and Franchitti might have each grabbed a few positions through pit cycles but you do not go from 27th to sixth and 28th to seventh in 114 green flag laps just through pit cycles. They were passing cars. Dixon was passing cars. Briscoe was passing cars.
Was the random draw slightly unfair? Yes. That is the one part that could not be done again unless it was staggered where the top ten were all starting in the final ten positions and so on.
I do think Texas was the best place for the Twin 275 format. It could work at a short track but I think you got the most out of a mile-and-a-half track. I think this would work at Kentucky or Kansas if either were to return to the IndyCar calendar. It is a good way to fill a night.
The only problem is there is at least an hour between races and it is probably closer to 90 minutes when you factor the one-hour to work on the cars did not start until Franchitti was done with victory lane photos. That easily takes up 15 minutes. Then there was another ten minutes to lineup all the cars after the field was set for race two.
If you are not doing a draw you have to fill that time with something for both the fans at the track and fans watching at home. An Indy Lights race could fill that time or something on the quarter-mile tracks if they have it. You could do some charity race in Legends cars between retired drivers or invited drivers or you could run Stadium Super Trucks in the break. The problem is the crews were working on the cars on pit lane and I am not sure it would be wise to have crews adjusting race cars when an event is on track. A lot of people could be put at risk.
With doubleheaders coming up, and Iowa being one of them, I think a full field inversion could be the way to set the field for the second race. I would hate for teams to have to run two full days of practice, qualifying and a race. You can do all of that for the Friday race but on Saturday, lineup the field via an inversion, even if it was just the top half of the field, have a warm-up session to make sure every car is still running properly and then race.
On paper, it would appear something that was a one-and-done was a complete failure, but this wasn't. It didn't stick but it was not a waste of time. It was a pretty good night and of all the things IndyCar tried last decade this was far from the worst thing. There are things that can be taken from this night nine years ago and applied to today.
Covering All Motorsports. From Indianapolis to Le Mans, Daytona to Monaco.
