Takuma Sato had another historic day. Spencer Pigot is ok. It was a rough day for rookies. It was a tough day for Chevrolet. Fernando Alonso may be leaving Indianapolis Motor Speedway without making a sound. Andretti Autosport had three cars in the top ten, but barely made a sound. Elsewhere in the world of motorsports, more of the same in NASCAR. MotoGP had the best race of the weekend. A record was broken in IMSA, or it might have been broken all along. Team Penske at least had a great weekend in Australia. An American short track star won an American short track race. The main story is we had the Indianapolis 500 in August and that is where we will begin. Here is a rundown of what got me thinking.
An Indianapolis 500 in August
That wasn't so bad, was it?
The Indianapolis 500 delay was announced back in March, very early in the game when you think about, but even with all that time, it was difficult to wrap your head around this race taking place toward the end of summer, away from Memorial Day weekend. It was stunning, but proactive. In March, we were trying to get a handle of the virus. Early lockdowns were recommended into May. The event was not practical on Memorial Day weekend. The hope was August would allow the race to take place without much change.
Of course, things are worse now than in March, spectators were not allowed into the facility, but we are living with the virus and doing all we can to continue while restricted. Events can take place behind closed doors and it can keep the lights on for the teams, though many feel the squeeze and are struggling to get through this period.
This entire period felt strange, and not in a bad way. At the start of the month, the days didn't feel like the days leading up to the Indianapolis 500. When we were a week away from the first practice day, I had to get my head around how close we were to the event. Even a week before practice, the race felt month away. It was approaching, though remained distant.
Practice week was shorter than usual, but the timeline fell into place. Everything synced up. Qualifying was around the corner; the race was near and it felt like May. I know it wasn't, but temperatures dropped here in the Northeast. It was comfortable, the humidity subsided. There were a few un-intimidating overcast days. A shower would pass through and an hour later you wouldn't have known it rained at all. Air conditioners got a few days off with the breeze through an open window doing the job.
It felt familiar, though a completely different time.
Everything feels a little off. It is the end of August, but I feel no melancholy for summer's goodbye. Labor Day doesn't mean anything. It will be another Monday, just like Memorial Day, just like Independence Day felt like a Saturday and nothing more. We haven't had preseason football games to remind you the season is coming. We are approaching the final month of baseball season and we have just reached the halfway point. NASCAR has gotten its schedule back on track and has only 11 races remaining, but even that feels off.
Carb Day had the anxiousness. One final chance to tune a race car and one final chance to shoot yourself in the foot and scramble to put the pieces back together. The importance of the two-hour session seeped into your heart; each beat a little harder. When it ended and no one was left with long nights ahead, it became Friday and only Friday. There was no Freedom 100 to provide another incredible finish. The pit crews did not get their chance to shine. Music was not coming from the other end of the property. It was Friday, 3:00 p.m. and I wasn't sure what to do with myself. The calm was new.
But I liked the calm. The calm was felt throughout the paddock. Media tours did not take place. Drivers hung out and got to be drivers. The Indianapolis 500 got to be another race, and that is fine this year. Instead of running all over creation to see sponsors and other important dignitaries, this week was for the drivers and their families. That was a nice change.
This year shouldn't have felt the same. It was nice to sit back and know the race was coming but not feel the race was coming. There was something natural about this year. We didn't have the amped up buzz. We didn't have distractions. The history was not drummed up in anticipation of the event. When the event is happening 91 days behind schedule and during a pandemic, you take the event as it is. You take it on the most basic level, an automobile race, set for 500 miles.
It is almost a real litmus test for how strong the Indianapolis 500 is in the 21st century. This is the control. How does the race do when away from Memorial Day weekend, with no spectators on the grounds and at a mid-afternoon start? This is where you get a sense of who cares and who views the event like church where you only go for Christmas and Easter.
We might not like what we find. We might be disappointed, or we will be happily surprised and draw confidence from this hopefully once-in-a-lifetime situation.
Despite falling into gear through practice and qualifying, race day morning did not have the anticipation of a typical Indianapolis 500 morning.
It didn't feel like we were set to go race morning, or at least I didn't want to jinx it. The last thing I wanted to do Sunday morning was declare mission accomplished only for something to bring the entire event crumbling down. All it takes is one test. Up to this weekend, IndyCar has done well avoiding problems, whether it be with competitors or crew members. Cruelty would have it that the first positive encounter with the virus would come on the morning of the Indianapolis 500 and cause the entire event to spiral out of control.
I wasn't going to feel comfortable until the cars were running on the pace laps, but even then, I knew we weren't in the clear. The Utah Jazz and Oklahoma City Thunder were moments away from tipping off on March 11 when team doctors declared the game could not take place due to Rudy Gobert's positive test. If it happened once, it could have happened on the pace laps of the Indianapolis 500. The green flag started the race and ended the fear an Indianapolis 500 would not take place in 2020. A little over three hours later, Sato was sipping the milk and hugging David Letterman.
Where are we now? Where are we after this race?
Everything is still different. There is still a season to complete, but uncertainty will linger for the next two and a half months. That uncertainty will carry over into 2021. Is normal possible for next year? We thought normal would have returned this summer and we are further from it than we were in March.
The pressure will be there for the 105th Indianapolis 500 to be normal on Sunday May 30, 2021. That might be too much of a stretch. We might have to have another behind closed doors race. We might have to have a limited capacity race next year. We might have to run this race in August again. We don't know. We have no clue. We all wish we had an answer.
At the start of the month, I wrote about being thankful for what we had and maybe that is all I can continue to be, thankful for what has happened and not look too far into the future. We got an Indianapolis 500 in 2020. Was it the way any of us wanted it to be? No. But we still got it. Was it different? Of course, everything has been different this year. The Indianapolis 500 was not going to be immune from different.
We made the most of it, and it wasn't that bad.
Winners From the Weekend
You know about Takuma Sato but did you know...
Miguel Oliveira won MotoGP's Styrian Grand Prix, his first career MotoGP victory. Marco Bezzecchi won the Moto2 race, his first Moto2 victory and his first grand prix victory since the 2018 Moto3 race at Motegi. Celestino Vietti won the Moto3 race, his first career victory.
Kody Swanson won Indy Pro 2000's Freedom 90 on debut. Christian Rasmussen won U.S. F2000's Freedom 75, his sixth consecutive victory.
Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick split the NASCAR Cup races race Dover. Justin Allgaier and Chase Briscoe split the Grand National Series races. Zane Smith won the Truck race, his second victory of 2020.
The #3 Corvette of Jordan Taylor and Antonio García won the IMSA race at Virginia International Raceway, the #3 Corvette's second consecutive victory and Corvette's fourth consecutive victory. The #96 Turner Motorsport BMW of Bill Auberlen and Robby Foley won in GT Daytona. It was Auberlen's 61st IMSA victory, a series record.
Scott McLaughlin swept the three Supercars races from Hidden Valley Raceway.
René Rast and Lucas Auer split the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters races from Lausitz.
The #23 NISMO Nissan of Tsugio Matsuda and Ronnie Quintarelli won the Super GT race from Suzuka, its first victory since 2018. The #11 Gainer Nissan of Katsuyuki Hiranaka and Hironobu Yasuda
Coming Up This Weekend
IndyCar has a pair of 250-mile races at Gateway.
Formula One returns to Spa-Francorchamps.
NASCAR ends its regular season with Daytona's 400-mile oval race.
GT World Challenge America will be at Road America.
Super Formula begins its 2020 season at Motegi.
Supercars will be in Townsville.
World Superbike heads to Aragón.
