Where has this year gone? June is over! Six months down, six to go. It felt like we tip-toed into January and were uncertain but hopeful for the year ahead. It felt like we were on the cusp of a breakthrough, we just had to get through a few more grueling months. Things took a turn for a better in March and April, and by the start of June things, dare I say, started to feel normal.
It is a little surreal after the year we have experienced. It doesn't take much to return to normal, but it is still a shock to the system. We will get reacclimated quickly, but I am not sure we will ever entirely forget what it felt like to live the opposite for so long.
With that said, what has the start of summer brought us?
Likability
IndyCar's young crop of drivers are all likable.
We see drivers join the scene all the time and there are different personalities. Some will rub off the wrong way. They either are too brash or too inconsiderate or just plain dull. That's fine. Not everyone is going to be your cup of tea. It is ok to be different.
However, it feels like every driver to enter IndyCar in the last two years is just a good guy.
I look at Rinus VeeKay, Álex Palou, Patricio O'Ward, Colton Herta, Oliver Askew, Scott McLaughlin and the like and they are all just nice guys.
I don't think I have seen any of these guys in a bad mood, but even if they are, it does not last long. They are all just not those kinds of guys.
Take VeeKay. Over his first two IndyCar seasons, he has had ups and downs. Many thought he was blowing his IndyCar opportunity in his very first IndyCar race weekend when he had an accident in practice and then had an accident in the early stages of the race in Texas. We never saw him clam up and become recluse. He remained cheery and that has carried over into 2021, even after he broke his thumb in testing at Indianapolis.
But I think VeeKay is a genuinely good person. Pit reporter Katie Kiel is expecting her first child and VeeKay surprised her with a gift at the Belle Isle weekend. VeeKay is only 20 years old and that is a mature act of generosity. That shows me he really considers IndyCar his home and the people involved are more than just competitors and colleagues, but as friends and family.
Every time Palou speaks, I hear a guy who is always joyful and finds positivity in the little things. Has anyone heard him angry? This year has been going the Spaniard's way, but even last year when the results didn't necessarily match his pace, Palou would get out of the car and find a positive out a top fifteen finish when he probably should have had a top ten finish.
Then you have Scott McLaughlin, who has not only joined a new series but moved to a completely new continent and has jokingly been learning about the United States. McLaughlin comes off as humble and enthusiastic to learn this new place he is calling home. The most endearing things from McLaughlin this season could be at the preseason Texas test when he got out of the car raving in excitement and Josef Newgarden couldn't understand why he was so happy after a test. If that doesn't speak volumes to McLaughlin's personality, I don't know what else could.
Likability can be found up and down the IndyCar grid. It feels like every driver that is around is in a good mood and is happy to be there. I am not sure if that was always the case. That definitely wasn't the case back in the days of The Split, but I would say especially over the last five or six years, IndyCar has a group that wants to be there, include the new faces. That is a good thing for the series.
Eversley!
Speaking of likability, Ryan Eversley won in IMSA's Michelin Pilot Challenge TC class at Watkins Glen and that comes a week before his announce NASCAR Cup Series debut at Road America with Rick Ware Racing.
Eversley has been a wonderful sports car driver over the last decade and his success on-track, whether it be in Pirelli World Challenge or IMSA, has been accompanied with off-track success in the form of the Dinner with Racers podcast and Amazon Prime show.
It is cool to see Eversley getting this opportunity, even if it is with the worst team on the NASCAR grid. There was a time when a road course ringer could enter a NASCAR race and take a car that was struggling to crack the top 25 on a regular basis and put it in the top ten. That is not going to happen this weekend with Eversley and Rick Ware Racing.
It has been covered before that the true road ringer is dead in the NASCAR Cup Series, as the championship format forces teams to stick with a driver because that driver needs to start all the races to qualify for the playoffs. We also have charters locking teams in, so they don't need to fight in the owners' championship and could use a road course as a boost over a rival team.
Eversley's attempt would be more exciting if he was in a car such as a JTG Daugherty Racing's #37 Chevrolet. Fifteen years ago, the #37 Chevrolet would be a prime seat for a road course ringer. Ryan Preece likely would not be suited for a great finish, he isn't in contention for a great championship finish, but JTG Daugherty Racing has shown good pace and someone like Eversley could carry that car ten spots up the order.
There is not much you can get out of a Rick Ware Racing entry. Even James Davison would be better suited in a car like the #37 Chevrolet. I think Davison has shown he is quite suited to a stock car. Davison has been the best Rick Ware Racing driver, but that is only going to get you 30th on a good day, even on a road course.
Eversley will get his name in the NASCAR record book. He might get another start or two and add to it, but one is enough and hopefully we get to see a few more fun additions to the history book, but in better equipment.
MotoE Negligence
I must admit I completely forget the MotoE season was taking place until a week or two ago, and at that point I had missed three races. I missed including three race winners in the Winners From the Weekend section every Monday. I was able to include Eric Granado's victory at Assen this weekend.
Here is a chance to make that right. Alessandro Zaccone won at Jerez, Eric Granado won at Le Mans and Miguel Pons won at Barcelona.
Zaccone leads the championship with 70 points, seven ahead of Jordi Torres, 17 about of Granado and Dominique Aegerter, 27 points ahead of Mattia Casadei and 28 points ahead of Pons.
There are three races left, one at the Red Bull Ring on August 15 and a doubleheader at the Misano weekend on September 18-19.
Consider yourself caught up.
July Preview
I feel like July will be the month of the summer break.
IndyCar has one race this weekend at Mid-Ohio and then doesn't run again until Nashville on August 8. MotoGP is already on summer break and will race at the Red Bull Ring on August 8.
Not every series has a break. Formula One's summer break doesn't come until August.
It has felt like a busy year. Most weekends have had more races than I can keep track of and it doesn't feel like this is how it normally was. These weekends would happen every now and then, but these weekends are coming at two and three consecutive weeks at a time. Before, it felt like this would happen once a month and the other three were manageable.
The most notable event of July might be the Spa 24 Hours and that doesn't begin until July 31 and ends on August 1. There are a few grand prix and the FIA World Endurance Championship will make its debut at Monza, but July just doesn't have a significant event, one that can't miss. It is rather bland.
Other notable events in July:
Formula One will have races at the Red Bull Ring, Silverstone and the Hungaroring.
NASCAR takes the Cup Series to Road America for the first time since 1956.
Formula E will have races in Brooklyn and London.
World Superbike visits Donington Park and Assen.
Estonia will get to host a World Rally Championship round.
