The New England Patriots are Super Bowl champions. Cameroon is African champions. Maro Engel lost his cool at Shane van Gisbergen as the defending Supercars champion lost his Mercedes-Benz while fighting for the lead in the final 15 minutes of the Bathurst 12 Hour. Van Gisbergen's accident allowed the #88 Maranello Motorsport Ferrari of Toni Vilander, Craig Lowndes and Jamie Whincup to cruise to victory. Here is a run down of what got me thinking.
This is The Weekend
This is the weekend to start the IndyCar season. Not to hold a test at Phoenix or post videos of drivers doing things completely unrelated to driving a racecar (not that those videos aren't enjoyable). Since Mark Miles became in charge of IndyCar he has harped the season has to end before the NFL season begins. If that is the case then the season should start immediately after the NFL season ends to maximize the available space in the calendar.
For three years we have been waiting on an international series of races to come and fill the winter months before the traditional March date of St. Petersburg and yet has the IndyCar caravan packed up its goodies into a cargo plane and flown to an exotic location to thaw our toes even if we are watching on a television set during a blizzard. Dubai didn't happen. Brasilia didn't happen. The rest won't happen. Forget Australia, India, Argentina, South Africa, Malaysia and Thailand and any other possible location that could host IndyCar during the dead of winter. Three seasons have been completed and the only border crossed has been Canada's since the stated intention of an international series and 2017 marks a fourth consecutive season without said international series. Those races aren't happening but IndyCar can still start the season in February.
It may take some deal making and some pleading and a lot of hard work but the IndyCar season can start in February without leaving the United States. The dream place is Fontana. Media days could be held Tuesday and Wednesday in Los Angeles. Test days could be at the track on Thursday and Friday. The race weekend could begin on Saturday and a 500-mile season opener could be held Sunday afternoon, 3:00 p.m. ET because the Sunday after the Super Bowl is a dead day for sports in the United States.
Of course there are obstacles to every great idea. Fontana isn't interested in hosting a race before its NASCAR Cup race in March. That is understandable but if IndyCar wants to race in February and wants to have a season opener that grabs the attention of those lacking a purpose after football season than it is going to have to lay out something enticing. Offer the race being on ABC and get a large title sponsor. Promote heavily within Southern California. The final race at Fontana didn't look good because it felt like the face of the sun. The 2013 race had a great crowd by IndyCar standards and the weather in February is much milder. People will show up. More importantly IndyCar would need to tell Fontana how important a track it is to IndyCar. Outside of Indianapolis, no other track on the circuit can replicate the excitement of Fontana and while St. Petersburg is a respectable venue it doesn't provide the high that people will want to experience again the way Fontana does.
Fontana provides a race that will wake the masses. The last time IndyCar went to the two-mile oval there were 80 lead changes over 250 laps. There was passing and blocking and a dramatic finish. It had people's attention even if some were spooked but maybe the breathtaking racing Fontana is known for is what IndyCar needs to start the season. IndyCar needs Fontana. It needs races that raise the heart rates of those watching in the stands and at home. IndyCar needs to get everybody's adrenaline pumping because that addiction will bring people back for more.
Starting at Fontana in February creates other issues for the series but issues it should want and issues it knows it can overcome. The season can't start and then take a month off before St. Petersburg in March and that is without mentioning there is already three weeks between St. Petersburg and Long Beach in April but shrugging shoulders and raising hands to the sky isn't going to help IndyCar. Finding another two races to fill the gaps won't be easy but it is what has to be done if IndyCar wants to grow. Head to Austin or Homestead or maybe Puebla, Mexico. Laguna Seca is a headache but that is another option for a race early in the year. Eventually a time has to come for IndyCar to stop coming up with reasons why not to do something and set out and accomplish it at all costs.
If IndyCar can bridge the gap from February to St. Petersburg in March then ending in the middle of September makes sense. It would be roughly a four and a half month offseason but much shorter than what the current fan base has grown accustomed to. After all, the full-time IndyCar grid has been set for a few weeks and it appears to have been cemented last week with Mikhail Aleshin sorting out his deal with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports. If we are all ready to go then this is the weekend to start the season.
Winners From the Weekend
You know about the Super Bowl, Africa Cup of Nations and the Bathurst 12 Hour but did you know...
Other class winners in the Bathurst 12 Hour:
Class A - Pro/AM: #12 Competition Motorsports Porsche of Marc Lieb, Patrick Long, Matt Campbell and David Calvert-Jones.
Class A - AM: #912 Walkinshaw Racing Porsche of Liam Talbot, John Martin and Duvashen Padayachee.
Class B: #21 Steven Richards Motorsport Porsche of Dean Grant, Dylan O'Keefe, Xavier West and David Wall.
Class I: #91 MARC Cars Australia MARC Ford Focus of Will Brown, Keith Kassulke and Rod Salmon.
Class C: #19 PROsport Performance Porsche of Harrison Jones, Max Braams, Jörg Viebahn and Nicolaij Moller-Madsen.
Eli Tomas won the Supercross race from Oakland, his second victory of the season.
Brendon Leitch, Pedro Piquet and Marcus Armstrong split the Toyota Racing Series races from Taupo, New Zealand.
Coming Up This Weekend
The final round of the Toyota Racing Series season from Circuit Chris Amon in Feilding, New Zealand.
Rally Sweden marks the second round of the World Rally Championship season.
Supercross heads to Jerry World in Arlington, Texas.
Covering All Motorsports. From Indianapolis to Le Mans, Daytona to Monaco.
Showing posts with label Fontana. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fontana. Show all posts
Monday, February 6, 2017
Friday, August 14, 2015
The Fontana Gut Punch
IndyCar will not return to Fontana in 2016. Graham Rahal's victory comes ten years after Dario Franchitti won on the 2-mile oval and the Scotsman's victory was the last time IndyCar went to the track before a seven-year hiatus. Now, who knows if IndyCar will ever return to the Southern California oval.
It's a shame because Fontana is the race that will be remembered the most when someone says, "2015 Verizon IndyCar Series season" (unless things go batshit crazy in the final two weeks, which is possible). Record amount of lead changes, controversy and danger. What else could you ask for? Whether the race left you with the hair on the back of your neck standing because of the thrill or because of fear, it is the race that we will not be able to forget. It got people's attention, got IndyCar a very nice TV audience and was the start for an upward swing in IndyCar TV ratings this summer. Attendance was awful but that is what is expected when you hold a race in a desert at the beginning of summer. Satan himself wouldn't have sat in the grandstand for that race because it was so hot.
But Fontana has drawn decent crowds for IndyCar in recent years. Just look back to 2013 when the race was the season finale in October. This looks a lot better than this. Fontana drew a nice crowd in 2013 because it wasn't in heat-stroke inducing conditions. It's not that people weren't interested in seeing IndyCar at Fontana, it's just hard to get people to sit in mid-90º F heat when the race could be watched from a couch in the breeze of air conditioning.
It's disappointing that IndyCar took a race that was growing and was a decent season finale and moved it all around the calendar in hopes that ending the season by Labor Day weekend would be some monumental swing in the right direction for IndyCar's popularity. Fontana wanted to return to autumn in 2016 but the track and IndyCar couldn't come to an agreement.
The 2016 season appeared to be a real chance for IndyCar growth. Road America was added. St. Petersburg will be a little earlier, Phoenix is making a red-zone drive and is right at the goal line of returning and a street race around Boston has been added. But with Road America likely canceling out the inevitable loss of New Orleans and Phoenix substituting for Fontana, it appears to be only a +1 gain instead of a potential +3. Of course, that +1 could be knocked down to zero or worse if Milwaukee and/or Pocono do not return.
It's a little disappointing losing NOLA because we never got to see how the track would have raced in dry conditions and it may have been a good venue and 2016 and 2017 might have seen growth in event and it could have become a nice little market for IndyCar. Losing Fontana is terrible. As said before, it was the race of 2015. It was apart of the Triple Crown. It was promising after it's return in 2012 and now it's gone. While the possible addition of Phoenix tentatively keeps the amount of IndyCar oval races at six, it would have been great for IndyCar to see that number increase to seven. The Triple Crown likely won't return in 2016 but there is always 2017 and hopefully Fontana and/or Michigan could return.
I have to question Mark Miles a little bit. While Road America and Boston have returned and potentially Phoenix could return under his watch, the race of the year is disappearing and a few other venues could also be walking out the door. And the loss of Fontana makes it appear Boston will be the season finale on Labor Day weekend, just like Miles has always wanted. I just can't see Fontana returning or any race happening after Labor Day as long as Miles is in charge. The series has said it is looking to expanding the season passed Labor Day but Miles also said there would be international races at the beginning of the season and guess what has yet to happen?
Miles appears so set in what he wants that he is willing to let a race go. Sure, the series said they couldn't fine the right start time for the race for the East Coast audience but I think that is a hurdle that could have been overcome. Fontana should have been run on a Saturday night with a NASCAR Xfinity Series race as a lead-in in 2016. See how easy that was?
To me, I think Miles saw Fontana as a problem because it wanted to end after Labor Day and the start time excuse is just a way to kill the race, even though it was good for IndyCar. It's like if someone was overweight and decided the best way to lose weight were to have their kidneys, liver, spleen and colon removed. Miles may get to accomplish his goal but at what coast to IndyCar?
While the 2016 IndyCar schedule could still see +1 growth, the potential of losing Milwaukee and/or Pocono still exists and even if Laguna Seca (which I don't think will happen but not because of IndyCar. Laguna Seca has their own problems to work out) or Homestead get added, it would be a net gain of zero, which seems to be all IndyCar can ever manage as IndyCar has yet to retain every race from one season to the next since the 2007 IRL season, which saw all 14 races from 2006 return as well as the additions of Iowa, Mid-Ohio and Belle Isle. Think about that. Not once since reunification has IndyCar been able to keep one calendar together for consecutive years.
And if 2016 sees a net loss from 2015, then I think will join Mr. Ricciardo in looking for some bricks and taking a plunge in the St. Lawrence River. We could jump in holding hands. Doesn't that sound beautiful?
Saturday, June 27, 2015
First Impressions: Fontana 2015
1. Where to begin? I want to be respectful and start with the race winner but I want to start with the race itself. Here it goes. Graham Rahal won and it has been a long time coming. He went 124 starts between victories, breaking the record for most starts between victories, which was 97 and held by Johnny Rutherford. Rahal has been the best Honda this season and he could have won two races this year already. It just seemed it was bound to happen.
1b. With that said, Rahal had a few too many breaks. First, he left the pit lane with the fuel nozzle attached. Not his fault as the fuel man made a mistake but it's something that has to be penalized and penalized on the spot. IndyCar has to start making penalties on the spot. They can't wait for Wednesday at lunchtime to just fine teams and drivers a few thousand dollars and/or a handful of points. It should have been a drive-through penalty and instead it was a warning.
1c. Rahal also blocked a few drivers. Especially on that final run when he blocked Marco Andretti. He just plain blocked him. I know there were only two or three laps to go but it was a block and it has to be called. It can't be allowed.
1d. Rahal drove a great race but he pushed the envelope a few too many times today and the officials didn't do anything about it. He has talent but today wasn't his greatest day despite him winning a 500-mile race.
2. Before I get to the rest of the field, was this pack racing today?
As a whole, which is all 250 laps, I didn't think it was pack racing. The first 135 laps were run caution-free and the field had spread out and it was great racing. Cars didn't pull away from one another but they weren't constantly side-by-side. One car could run the other down, pass them and hold on to the position for a few laps before another driver made a challenge.
However, on the start and restarts, the cars were very close and it took 15-20 laps for the cars to spread out. Unfortunately, in the later stages, those long green flag runs didn't happen and there was an accident between Will Power and Takuma Sato with nine to go and it caused a red flag and then a restart with three to go. Of course it was going to be helter skelter.
And then there was an accident. Ryan Briscoe and Ryan Hunter-Reay got together, they spun into the infield grass and Briscoe got airborne. Thankfully, both walked away. The accident occurred because the cars were packed together like sardines in a can and that could happen at any track with a restart with three to go, oval, road course or street circuit. Briscoe got airborne because of the grass. Grass doesn't scrub off speed. Remember, the first caution occurred when Hélio Castroneves spun off of turn two and slid on the asphalt apron on the back straightaway, which was put to prevent cars from getting airborne. It's why numerous of tracks have paved over the apron. And it's not just a safety improvement for IndyCar but NASCAR as well. Think Rusty Wallace at Talladega.
Had the front straightaway grass been asphalt I don't think Ryan Briscoe gets airborne and I don't think the reactions would be as strong for what we saw today.
2b. The officials have to start listening to the drivers. After the first practice, they came to the officials worried about pack racing. I don't think we saw pack racing but something should be done to allow the cars to spread out a little quicker and restarts. I don't understand why there was an aerodynamic change to the cars considering the last three Fontana races were all really good races. The last three years have seen 29, 28 and 18 lead changes and lots of green flag racing. Last year, only 12 laps were run under caution. Today we saw a record-breaking amount of lead changes. It was fun to see but was it necessary? This is a very deep conversation but I think if the downforce levels stayed the same as last year, the race would have been just as good. There has to be better communication between the teams and drivers.
2c. To wrap this up, a collection of things can be improved.
A. I don't think this was pack racing but if IndyCar can figure out a way so the cars are spread out in 5-8 laps instead of 15-20 laps than that would be great because this was great racing today.
B. IndyCar has to start calling penalties in race. No more waiting for midweek. Jon Beekhuis was mad about it and called out race control on the broadcast. I don't know Jon Beekhuis from Adam but he seems like a very intelligent guy who doesn't lose his cool easily and if he is calling out race control during the broadcast then something has to change. IndyCar needs to get more qualified people in race control and people the drivers respect. And don't say you can't find anybody. They are people out there. Emanuele Pirro is the race steward for Formula Three and he is cracking down on driver. IndyCar needs him. He is a six-time Le Mans winner, he made 37 Formula One starts and he would have every drivers respect and attention. And if they can't get Pirro, get someone like him. Get Allan McNish, get Scott Pruett, get Buddy Rice or Justin Wilson. If Justin Wilson can't be in a car then I would want him in race control because he has driven these cars, driven with these drivers and is respected.
C. If removing the infield grass would decrease the chance of a car, whether it is IndyCar or NASCAR, getting airborne, then it should be done.
3. Back to the drivers. Tony Kanaan had a great race and finished second. He was up front all day and I thought in the closing stages he would find a way to finish first today. He is great on ovals and he didn't disappoint today.
4. Great day for Marco Andretti. He was up at the front at the start, faded but came back and made a smart choice to take tires before the final restart. If it wasn't for Rahal's block, he might have won instead of finishing third.
5. Juan Pablo Montoya came home fourth but to be honest, it didn't seem like he was a threat all day. He hung around in the top ten but was never making runs for the lead. He would get the Triple Crown but he still has a shot for the double and the championship lead.
6. Sage Karam scored his first career top five. This was the race he needed. It could be a confidence booster for him. He had a similar day to Andretti. They both faded at the same time and made their comebacks at the same time and both took tires prior to the final restart. Not to forget mentioning he led his first career laps today.
7. Scott Dixon finished sixth but like Montoya, it didn't seem like he was scraping for the lead much. He was up in the top ten all day though and he got a solid finish.
8. Hats off to James Jakes in seventh. Kept him nose clean and it paid off. He has had some good oval finishes. He isn't a threat on them but he can put together a good finish.
9. Charlie Kimball in eighth makes it perfect attendance for the Ganassi drivers in the top ten.
10. Simon Pagenaud started on pole but finished ninth. He faded from the start and was never a factor. It hasn't been a great first year for Pagenaud at Penske but it hasn't been dreadful. He will likely be back in 2016 and I think he will make big strides.
11. Jack Hawksworth finished tenth mostly because a half a dozen drivers ahead of him retired but you got to take what you can get and he got his second career top-ten on an oval.
12. To wrap up, Stefano Coletti finished 11th despite being a lap down at one point. Carlos Muñoz faded to 12th but after everything that happened I don't remember how. Pippa Mann finished a career-best 13th despite being a lap down at one point. Sébastien Bourdais did nothing and finished 14th.
13. Once again, I am unbelievably happy Ryan Briscoe and Ryan Hunter-Reay walked away. I am unbelievably happy Takuma Sato and Will Power walked away from their accident and the same for Ed Carpenter and Josef Newgarden. All had great day, all could have finished in the top ten.
14. IndyCar needs Fontana. Despite all that happened, all the crappy things that happened and all the things that need to be fixed, this was a great race. IndyCar needs to work with Fontana. Move it back to October so people will actually show up, work with Fontana about paving over the grass and IndyCar should work on an oval package that produce what we saw in the first 135 laps without the helter skelter first 15 laps after going green. IndyCar can't afford to lose this race. The flips, the closeness of the cars that can be fixed. It's going to take time and it's going to take money (everything takes money) but it's worth. Don't leave Fontana again. The track was built for IndyCar. Don't leave. Fix the problem and return. It's a diamond; just keep polishing.
15. After a week off, I am glad there is another off week. I understand we are all passionate about it but I think we need to find common ground and be respectful. It's ok to have differing positions but it's not ok to be rude because someone has a differing opinion. Take some time off and cool down. Happy Canada Day. Happy Independence Day. Enjoy whatever holiday you celebrate and for those of you who don't have a holiday to celebrate, enjoy the start of July and the fact we halfway through another year. Whether IndyCar at Fontana was pack racing or not is so irrelevant to everyday life. It's ok to be passionate about it but it's not the be-all and end-all of life. Take a break. Milwaukee is in a fortnight.
1b. With that said, Rahal had a few too many breaks. First, he left the pit lane with the fuel nozzle attached. Not his fault as the fuel man made a mistake but it's something that has to be penalized and penalized on the spot. IndyCar has to start making penalties on the spot. They can't wait for Wednesday at lunchtime to just fine teams and drivers a few thousand dollars and/or a handful of points. It should have been a drive-through penalty and instead it was a warning.
1c. Rahal also blocked a few drivers. Especially on that final run when he blocked Marco Andretti. He just plain blocked him. I know there were only two or three laps to go but it was a block and it has to be called. It can't be allowed.
1d. Rahal drove a great race but he pushed the envelope a few too many times today and the officials didn't do anything about it. He has talent but today wasn't his greatest day despite him winning a 500-mile race.
2. Before I get to the rest of the field, was this pack racing today?
As a whole, which is all 250 laps, I didn't think it was pack racing. The first 135 laps were run caution-free and the field had spread out and it was great racing. Cars didn't pull away from one another but they weren't constantly side-by-side. One car could run the other down, pass them and hold on to the position for a few laps before another driver made a challenge.
However, on the start and restarts, the cars were very close and it took 15-20 laps for the cars to spread out. Unfortunately, in the later stages, those long green flag runs didn't happen and there was an accident between Will Power and Takuma Sato with nine to go and it caused a red flag and then a restart with three to go. Of course it was going to be helter skelter.
And then there was an accident. Ryan Briscoe and Ryan Hunter-Reay got together, they spun into the infield grass and Briscoe got airborne. Thankfully, both walked away. The accident occurred because the cars were packed together like sardines in a can and that could happen at any track with a restart with three to go, oval, road course or street circuit. Briscoe got airborne because of the grass. Grass doesn't scrub off speed. Remember, the first caution occurred when Hélio Castroneves spun off of turn two and slid on the asphalt apron on the back straightaway, which was put to prevent cars from getting airborne. It's why numerous of tracks have paved over the apron. And it's not just a safety improvement for IndyCar but NASCAR as well. Think Rusty Wallace at Talladega.
Had the front straightaway grass been asphalt I don't think Ryan Briscoe gets airborne and I don't think the reactions would be as strong for what we saw today.
2b. The officials have to start listening to the drivers. After the first practice, they came to the officials worried about pack racing. I don't think we saw pack racing but something should be done to allow the cars to spread out a little quicker and restarts. I don't understand why there was an aerodynamic change to the cars considering the last three Fontana races were all really good races. The last three years have seen 29, 28 and 18 lead changes and lots of green flag racing. Last year, only 12 laps were run under caution. Today we saw a record-breaking amount of lead changes. It was fun to see but was it necessary? This is a very deep conversation but I think if the downforce levels stayed the same as last year, the race would have been just as good. There has to be better communication between the teams and drivers.
2c. To wrap this up, a collection of things can be improved.
A. I don't think this was pack racing but if IndyCar can figure out a way so the cars are spread out in 5-8 laps instead of 15-20 laps than that would be great because this was great racing today.
B. IndyCar has to start calling penalties in race. No more waiting for midweek. Jon Beekhuis was mad about it and called out race control on the broadcast. I don't know Jon Beekhuis from Adam but he seems like a very intelligent guy who doesn't lose his cool easily and if he is calling out race control during the broadcast then something has to change. IndyCar needs to get more qualified people in race control and people the drivers respect. And don't say you can't find anybody. They are people out there. Emanuele Pirro is the race steward for Formula Three and he is cracking down on driver. IndyCar needs him. He is a six-time Le Mans winner, he made 37 Formula One starts and he would have every drivers respect and attention. And if they can't get Pirro, get someone like him. Get Allan McNish, get Scott Pruett, get Buddy Rice or Justin Wilson. If Justin Wilson can't be in a car then I would want him in race control because he has driven these cars, driven with these drivers and is respected.
C. If removing the infield grass would decrease the chance of a car, whether it is IndyCar or NASCAR, getting airborne, then it should be done.
3. Back to the drivers. Tony Kanaan had a great race and finished second. He was up front all day and I thought in the closing stages he would find a way to finish first today. He is great on ovals and he didn't disappoint today.
4. Great day for Marco Andretti. He was up at the front at the start, faded but came back and made a smart choice to take tires before the final restart. If it wasn't for Rahal's block, he might have won instead of finishing third.
5. Juan Pablo Montoya came home fourth but to be honest, it didn't seem like he was a threat all day. He hung around in the top ten but was never making runs for the lead. He would get the Triple Crown but he still has a shot for the double and the championship lead.
6. Sage Karam scored his first career top five. This was the race he needed. It could be a confidence booster for him. He had a similar day to Andretti. They both faded at the same time and made their comebacks at the same time and both took tires prior to the final restart. Not to forget mentioning he led his first career laps today.
7. Scott Dixon finished sixth but like Montoya, it didn't seem like he was scraping for the lead much. He was up in the top ten all day though and he got a solid finish.
8. Hats off to James Jakes in seventh. Kept him nose clean and it paid off. He has had some good oval finishes. He isn't a threat on them but he can put together a good finish.
9. Charlie Kimball in eighth makes it perfect attendance for the Ganassi drivers in the top ten.
10. Simon Pagenaud started on pole but finished ninth. He faded from the start and was never a factor. It hasn't been a great first year for Pagenaud at Penske but it hasn't been dreadful. He will likely be back in 2016 and I think he will make big strides.
11. Jack Hawksworth finished tenth mostly because a half a dozen drivers ahead of him retired but you got to take what you can get and he got his second career top-ten on an oval.
12. To wrap up, Stefano Coletti finished 11th despite being a lap down at one point. Carlos Muñoz faded to 12th but after everything that happened I don't remember how. Pippa Mann finished a career-best 13th despite being a lap down at one point. Sébastien Bourdais did nothing and finished 14th.
13. Once again, I am unbelievably happy Ryan Briscoe and Ryan Hunter-Reay walked away. I am unbelievably happy Takuma Sato and Will Power walked away from their accident and the same for Ed Carpenter and Josef Newgarden. All had great day, all could have finished in the top ten.
14. IndyCar needs Fontana. Despite all that happened, all the crappy things that happened and all the things that need to be fixed, this was a great race. IndyCar needs to work with Fontana. Move it back to October so people will actually show up, work with Fontana about paving over the grass and IndyCar should work on an oval package that produce what we saw in the first 135 laps without the helter skelter first 15 laps after going green. IndyCar can't afford to lose this race. The flips, the closeness of the cars that can be fixed. It's going to take time and it's going to take money (everything takes money) but it's worth. Don't leave Fontana again. The track was built for IndyCar. Don't leave. Fix the problem and return. It's a diamond; just keep polishing.
15. After a week off, I am glad there is another off week. I understand we are all passionate about it but I think we need to find common ground and be respectful. It's ok to have differing positions but it's not ok to be rude because someone has a differing opinion. Take some time off and cool down. Happy Canada Day. Happy Independence Day. Enjoy whatever holiday you celebrate and for those of you who don't have a holiday to celebrate, enjoy the start of July and the fact we halfway through another year. Whether IndyCar at Fontana was pack racing or not is so irrelevant to everyday life. It's ok to be passionate about it but it's not the be-all and end-all of life. Take a break. Milwaukee is in a fortnight.
Morning Warm-Up: Fontana 2015
 |
| Simon Pagenaud and Hélio Castroneves start 1-2 Saturday at Fontana |
Tony Kanaan and Scott Dixon finished 1-2 last year at Fontana and they will start sixth and seventh after running identical times in qualifying. Each posted two-lap averages at 217.184 MPH. Kanaan starts ahead of Dixon as he qualified before Dixon. Chip Ganassi Racing could score their 100th IndyCar victory this weekend. Will Power starts eighth. The defending IndyCar champion won at Fontana in 2013 and he qualified 0.008 seconds behind the Ganassi duo. Takuma Sato will start ninth and Sage Karam will round out the top ten. Sato and Karam were the final two drivers to qualify above 217 MPH at 217.109 MPH and 217.060 MPH respectively. Sato and Karam got together in turn one, lap one of the Indianapolis 500. Karam's day ended while Sato continued and would manage to finish 13th.
Carlos Muñoz will start 11th at 216.878 MPH with IndyCar's most recent winner Josef Newgarden starting 12th at 216.490 MPH. Californian Charlie Kimball will start 13th, which is the furthest back a Fontana winner has started from. Adrián Fernández won from 13th in 1999. Kimball finished third at Indianapolis last month, his best finish in a 500-mile race. Fernández's victory is the only time a Fontana winner has started outside the top ten. Ryan Hunter-Reay will start 14th after posting an average of 215.983 MPH. Hunter-Reay is one of seven drivers on the grid to win a 500-mile race along with Montoya, Castroneves, Kanaan, Carpenter, Dixon and Power. Sébastien Bourdais rounds out the top fifteen at 215.719 MPH.
Ryan Briscoe will start 16th and leads a train of five consecutive Hondas on the grid. Jack Hawksworth will start 17th with his successor at Bryan Herta Autosport Gabby Chaves starting 18th. Hawskworth qualified at 215.346 MPH while Chaves qualified at 213.720 MPH. Graham Rahal starts a season-worst 19th as Tristan Vautier will round out the top twenty. Stefano Coletti will start 21st with Brits Pippa Mann and James Jakes rounding out the grid. Jakes did not make a qualifying attempt after having an engine failure at the end of second practice and not having enough time to change it prior to qualifying.
NBCSN's coverage of the MAVTV 500 will begin at 4:00 p.m. ET with green flag at 4:36 p.m. ET.
Friday, June 26, 2015
The History of 500-Milers
IndyCar and 500-mile races have a long history beyond the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Indianapolis 500.
With this weekend's race from Fontana being the second 500-mile race, I decided to look into the history of 500-milers. I have long been wondering more about the history of 500-mile races in IndyCar. How many have there been? Who has won the most 500-mile races? What other places have hosted 500-milers?
After counting, there have been 162 500-mile races in the history of IndyCar and the track to host the most is unsurprisingly Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The famed 2.5-mile over has hosted 98 500-mile races. And I bet you just did a double take. And I bet you are saying that is wrong. And I bet you are saying Indianapolis Motor Speedway has hosted 99 500-mile races. And you would be wrong. The 1916 running of the race traditionally held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Memorial Day weekend was scheduled for 300 miles. While counted it is an "Indianapolis 500"it wasn't scheduled for 500 miles, therefore it can't be counted as a 500-mile race. The 162 races I have counted do count races that were scheduled for 500 miles but did not reach the full-distance. So it includes the 1950, 1973, 1975, 1976, 2004 and 2007 runnings of the Indianapolis 500, the 1975 and 1981 runnings of the Pocono 500 and the 2001 running of the California 500 from Fontana.
As you know, this weekend's race is the second leg of the Triple Crown. You may have saw the fact sheet Racer.com has posted. It says there has been 21 years of the Triple Crown and the first occurred in 1971. However, 1971 wasn't the first year that featured three 500-mile IndyCar races in one year. In fact, it was 100 years ago. In 1915, there were three 500-mile races. The first was the Indianapolis 500. The next happened 100 years ago today; June 26, 1915 at Speedway Park, a 2-mile board track outside Chicago in Maywood, Illinois. The third 500-miler occurred at Twin City Motor Speedway, a 2-mile concrete oval in Fort Snelling, Minnesota on September 4, 1915. Ralph DePalma won the Indianapolis 500, Dario Resta won at Speedway Park and Earl Cooper and Johnny Aitken won in Minnesota.
It would be 55 years and 2 days before IndyCar ran another 500-mile race at track other than Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Ontario Motor Speedway hosted the inaugural California 500 on September 6, 1970. Jim McElreath won from 18th on the grid and it would be his fifth and final IndyCar victory. If you though McElreath from 18th winning was a surprise, Art Pollard finished 2nd and started 32nd and Dick Simon finished 3rd from 27th! It was Simon's first career podium and his first finish on the lead lap in ten starts. Gordon Johncock and Peter Revson were the only other two drivers to finish on the lead lap.
The following year, Pocono Raceway opened its doors and the Triple Crown was born or at least revived (got to give 1915 some type of recognition). The Triple Crown would be Indianapolis, Pocono and Ontario for ten years. Only once was it accomplished. Al Unser 1978. The same year Affirmed won the American thoroughbred racing Triple Crown. Other came close from 1971-1980. Johnny Rutherford won two of three but the latter two (Indianapolis and Pocono). A.J. Foyt won the bookends the following year (Ontario and Pocono) and Bobby Unser would win the latter two (Pocono and Ontario) in 1980.
Ontario Motor Speedway would host 11 California 500s with the last one coming in 1980. Bobby Unser won the California 500 four times while his brother Al won it twice. Joining McElreath as one-time winners of the California 500 at Ontario were Joe Leonard, Roger McCluskey, Wally Dallenbach and A.J. Foyt.
In 1981, Michigan stepped up and filled the gap for Ontario. Michigan had been on the IndyCar schedule since 1968 but the longest race it held prior to 1981 was 250 miles. Pancho Carter would win the first Michigan 500. It was Carter's only IndyCar victory and it took him 78 starts to get it. Gordon Johncock won the first two legs in 1982 at Indianapolis and Michigan but finished sixth at Pocono after a gearbox failure ended his race after completing only 193 laps. Rick Mears would go on to win.
According to the Racer fact sheet, Johncock is the last driver to win two Triple Crown legs in one year and that after 1989, the Triple Crown would go dormant in IndyCar as the series did not return to Pocono after an 18-year run. However, 1989 would not be the final year to feature multiple 500-mile races in the same year. Indianapolis and Michigan still each hosted a 500-mile race. In 1991, Rick Mears accomplished The Double as he won his fourth Indianapolis 500 and the Marlboro 500 at Michigan. The Marlboro 500 victory would be Mears' 29th and final IndyCar victory. There would be two 500-mile races until 1995. And then things got messy.
We all know about the split. We all know about how dirty 1996 was. We all know there were two 500-mile races held on the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend that year. The Indianapolis 500 vs. the U.S. 500. Buddy Lazier won with a broken back and Jimmy Vasser won his fourth race of the year on his way to a championship. Later that year, CART returned to Michigan for the Marlboro 500 and André Ribeiro scored his third and final IndyCar victory. The following year, the Marlboro 500 moved to the newly opened California Speedway in Fontana, California. From 1996-2001 there were three 500-mile IndyCar races a year, they were just split across two series, making the Triple Crown a near impossible task due to politics.
Politics may have made the Triple Crown a near impossible task but it was still possible and it nearly happened at the turn of the millennium. Chip Ganassi Racing went to Indianapolis for the first time since the split and Juan Montoya won the Indianapolis 500. Two months later at Michigan, Montoya won the Michigan 500. The Colombian headed into his final IndyCar race before heading to Williams F1 with a chance of being the second driver to accomplish the IndyCar Triple Crown. However, just like Johncock in 1982, it wasn't meant to be. Montoya led 33 laps and his engine failed after completing 219 laps. He would finish tenth. Christian Fittipaldi scored his second and final IndyCar victory.
After 2001, Michigan left CART to host the IRL and at that time the IRL was keen on the Indianapolis 500 being the only 500-mile race on the schedule and Michigan was shortened to 400 miles. Fontana still hosted a 500-miler though and in 2002, both the IRL and CART went to Fontana with IRL racing a 400-miler in March and CART running 500 miles in the fall. Sam Hornish, Jr. won one, Jimmy Vasser won the other. It would be the final victory of Vasser's career. CART was scheduled to run another 500-miler at Fontana in 2003 but wildfires in the San Bernardino caused what was suppose to be the CART season finale to be cancelled. The Indianapolis 500 would be the lone 500-mile race for nearly a decade.
The IRL would run 400-milers at Fontana until 2005. IndyCar would return to the track and 500-mile races places other than Indianapolis in 2012. Pocono returned in 2013 and so did the Triple Crown, however that year's race at Pocono was a 400-miler. In 2014, another 100 miles were added to the distance at Pocono. Just when thinks looked to be going up for IndyCar and 500-mile races, it appears everything is falling apart at the seams. After just two years of three 500-mile races, this year could mark the end for Fontana and Pocono. Fontana is on its fourth different date in four years and Pocono is in the final year of its deal and moved to the end of August after racing on July 4th weekend proved to be only good on paper. As someone who attended both Pocono races on July 4th weekend I am sure the mess on I-80 that the track funneled all the traffic to when the race ended turned off a few people from returning. Hopefully late August proves to be a better date and Pocono returns not just for 2016 but for many years in the future and the same goes for Fontana. Hopefully the 2-mile Southern California track is on the IndyCar schedule for a long, long time.
It is no surprise that A.J. Foyt has the most 500-mile race wins with nine (Indianapolis- 4, Pocono 4, Ontario 1). Al Unser, Rick Mears and Bobby Unser all have eight 500-mile race wins. Johnny Rutherford has five; Juan Pablo Montoya and Danny Sullivan each have four. Ninety-three different drivers have won a 500-mile IndyCar race. Nine drivers have won 500-mile races on three different tracks (Foyt, Mears, A. Unser, B. Unser, Rutherford, Montoya, Sullivan, Mario Andretti and Tony Kanaan). If Montoya were to win at Fontana this weekend, he would become the first driver to win 500-mile races at four different tracks. If Montoya doesn't win this weekend and if Tony Kanaan were to win a Pocono later this year, Kanaan would become the first driver to win 500-mile races at four different tracks. Jimmy Vasser has the most 500-mile victories to not win the Indianapolis 500 at three. The only other drivers with multiple 500-mile victories and to not win at Indianapolis are Joe Leonard, Michael Andretti and Scott Goodyear. Leonard won at Pocono and Ontario while Andretti and Goodyear both won two 500-milers at Michigan.
No surprise that the United States has produced the most 500-mile winners with 64. Brazil and the United Kingdom have each had seven drivers win a 500-miler. Four Canadians, three Italians, two Frenchmen, a Mexican, Colombian, Dutchman, Swede, New Zealander and Australian have all won a 500-mile race.
Will a 94th driver add their name to the list of 500-mile race winners? Will Montoya make history and keep his Triple Crown hopes alive? The 163rd 500-mile race in IndyCar history features a lot of interesting storylines.
List of 500-mile Race Winners
A.J. Foyt- 9
Al Unser- 8
Rick Mears- 8
Bobby Unser- 8
Johnny Rutherford- 5
Juan Pablo Montoya- 4
Danny Sullivan- 4
Louis Meyer- 3
Mauri Rose- 3
Wilbur Shaw- 3
Hélio Castroneves- 3
Dario Franchitti- 3
Mario Andretti- 3
Jimmy Vasser- 3
Al Unser, Jr.- 3
Gordon Johncock- 3
Tony Kanaan- 3
Emerson Fittipaldi- 3
Tommy Milton- 2
Bill Vukovich- 2
Rodger Ward- 2
Arie Luyendyk- 2
Dan Wheldon- 2
Mark Donohue- 2
Joe Leonard- 2
Michael Andretti- 2
Scott Goodyear- 2
Bobby Rahal- 2
Tom Sneva- 2
Ray Harroun- 1
Joe Dawson- 1
Jules Goux- 1
René Thomas- 1
Ralph DePalma- 1
Dario Resta- 1
Howdy Wilcox- 1
Gaston Chevrolet- 1
Jimmy Murphy- 1
L.L. Corum- 1
Joe Boyer- 1
Pete DePaolo- 1
Frank Lockhart- 1
George Souders- 1
Ray Keech- 1
Billy Arnold- 1
Louis Schneider- 1
Fred Frame- 1
Bill Cummings- 1
Kelly Petillo- 1
Floyd Roberts- 1
Floyd Davis- 1
George Robson- 1
Bill Holland- 1
Johnnie Parsons- 1
Lee Wallard- 1
Troy Ruttman- 1
Bill Sweikert- 1
Pat Flaherty- 1
Sam Hanks- 1
Jimmy Bryan- 1
Jim Rathmann- 1
Parnelli Jones- 1
Jim Clark- 1
Graham Hill- 1
Jacques Villeneuve- 1
Buddy Lazier- 1
Eddie Cheever- 1
Kenny Bräck- 1
Buddy Rice- 1
Gil de Ferran- 1
Sam Hornish, Jr.- 1
Scott Dixon- 1
Ryan Hunter-Reay- 1
Mark Blundell- 1
Adrián Fernández- 1
Christian Fittipaldi- 1
Cristiano da Matta- 1
Patrick Carpentier- 1
Ed Carpenter- 1
Will Power- 1
Teo Fabi- 1
Pancho Carter- 1
John Paul, Jr.- 1
Nigel Mansell- 1
Scott Pruett- 1
André Ribeiro- 1
Alex Zanardi- 1
Greg Moore- 1
Jim McElreath- 1
Roger McCluskey- 1
Wally Dallenbach- 1
Earl Cooper- 1
Johnny Aitken- 1
With this weekend's race from Fontana being the second 500-mile race, I decided to look into the history of 500-milers. I have long been wondering more about the history of 500-mile races in IndyCar. How many have there been? Who has won the most 500-mile races? What other places have hosted 500-milers?
After counting, there have been 162 500-mile races in the history of IndyCar and the track to host the most is unsurprisingly Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The famed 2.5-mile over has hosted 98 500-mile races. And I bet you just did a double take. And I bet you are saying that is wrong. And I bet you are saying Indianapolis Motor Speedway has hosted 99 500-mile races. And you would be wrong. The 1916 running of the race traditionally held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Memorial Day weekend was scheduled for 300 miles. While counted it is an "Indianapolis 500"it wasn't scheduled for 500 miles, therefore it can't be counted as a 500-mile race. The 162 races I have counted do count races that were scheduled for 500 miles but did not reach the full-distance. So it includes the 1950, 1973, 1975, 1976, 2004 and 2007 runnings of the Indianapolis 500, the 1975 and 1981 runnings of the Pocono 500 and the 2001 running of the California 500 from Fontana.
As you know, this weekend's race is the second leg of the Triple Crown. You may have saw the fact sheet Racer.com has posted. It says there has been 21 years of the Triple Crown and the first occurred in 1971. However, 1971 wasn't the first year that featured three 500-mile IndyCar races in one year. In fact, it was 100 years ago. In 1915, there were three 500-mile races. The first was the Indianapolis 500. The next happened 100 years ago today; June 26, 1915 at Speedway Park, a 2-mile board track outside Chicago in Maywood, Illinois. The third 500-miler occurred at Twin City Motor Speedway, a 2-mile concrete oval in Fort Snelling, Minnesota on September 4, 1915. Ralph DePalma won the Indianapolis 500, Dario Resta won at Speedway Park and Earl Cooper and Johnny Aitken won in Minnesota.
It would be 55 years and 2 days before IndyCar ran another 500-mile race at track other than Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Ontario Motor Speedway hosted the inaugural California 500 on September 6, 1970. Jim McElreath won from 18th on the grid and it would be his fifth and final IndyCar victory. If you though McElreath from 18th winning was a surprise, Art Pollard finished 2nd and started 32nd and Dick Simon finished 3rd from 27th! It was Simon's first career podium and his first finish on the lead lap in ten starts. Gordon Johncock and Peter Revson were the only other two drivers to finish on the lead lap.
The following year, Pocono Raceway opened its doors and the Triple Crown was born or at least revived (got to give 1915 some type of recognition). The Triple Crown would be Indianapolis, Pocono and Ontario for ten years. Only once was it accomplished. Al Unser 1978. The same year Affirmed won the American thoroughbred racing Triple Crown. Other came close from 1971-1980. Johnny Rutherford won two of three but the latter two (Indianapolis and Pocono). A.J. Foyt won the bookends the following year (Ontario and Pocono) and Bobby Unser would win the latter two (Pocono and Ontario) in 1980.
Ontario Motor Speedway would host 11 California 500s with the last one coming in 1980. Bobby Unser won the California 500 four times while his brother Al won it twice. Joining McElreath as one-time winners of the California 500 at Ontario were Joe Leonard, Roger McCluskey, Wally Dallenbach and A.J. Foyt.
In 1981, Michigan stepped up and filled the gap for Ontario. Michigan had been on the IndyCar schedule since 1968 but the longest race it held prior to 1981 was 250 miles. Pancho Carter would win the first Michigan 500. It was Carter's only IndyCar victory and it took him 78 starts to get it. Gordon Johncock won the first two legs in 1982 at Indianapolis and Michigan but finished sixth at Pocono after a gearbox failure ended his race after completing only 193 laps. Rick Mears would go on to win.
According to the Racer fact sheet, Johncock is the last driver to win two Triple Crown legs in one year and that after 1989, the Triple Crown would go dormant in IndyCar as the series did not return to Pocono after an 18-year run. However, 1989 would not be the final year to feature multiple 500-mile races in the same year. Indianapolis and Michigan still each hosted a 500-mile race. In 1991, Rick Mears accomplished The Double as he won his fourth Indianapolis 500 and the Marlboro 500 at Michigan. The Marlboro 500 victory would be Mears' 29th and final IndyCar victory. There would be two 500-mile races until 1995. And then things got messy.
We all know about the split. We all know about how dirty 1996 was. We all know there were two 500-mile races held on the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend that year. The Indianapolis 500 vs. the U.S. 500. Buddy Lazier won with a broken back and Jimmy Vasser won his fourth race of the year on his way to a championship. Later that year, CART returned to Michigan for the Marlboro 500 and André Ribeiro scored his third and final IndyCar victory. The following year, the Marlboro 500 moved to the newly opened California Speedway in Fontana, California. From 1996-2001 there were three 500-mile IndyCar races a year, they were just split across two series, making the Triple Crown a near impossible task due to politics.
Politics may have made the Triple Crown a near impossible task but it was still possible and it nearly happened at the turn of the millennium. Chip Ganassi Racing went to Indianapolis for the first time since the split and Juan Montoya won the Indianapolis 500. Two months later at Michigan, Montoya won the Michigan 500. The Colombian headed into his final IndyCar race before heading to Williams F1 with a chance of being the second driver to accomplish the IndyCar Triple Crown. However, just like Johncock in 1982, it wasn't meant to be. Montoya led 33 laps and his engine failed after completing 219 laps. He would finish tenth. Christian Fittipaldi scored his second and final IndyCar victory.
After 2001, Michigan left CART to host the IRL and at that time the IRL was keen on the Indianapolis 500 being the only 500-mile race on the schedule and Michigan was shortened to 400 miles. Fontana still hosted a 500-miler though and in 2002, both the IRL and CART went to Fontana with IRL racing a 400-miler in March and CART running 500 miles in the fall. Sam Hornish, Jr. won one, Jimmy Vasser won the other. It would be the final victory of Vasser's career. CART was scheduled to run another 500-miler at Fontana in 2003 but wildfires in the San Bernardino caused what was suppose to be the CART season finale to be cancelled. The Indianapolis 500 would be the lone 500-mile race for nearly a decade.
The IRL would run 400-milers at Fontana until 2005. IndyCar would return to the track and 500-mile races places other than Indianapolis in 2012. Pocono returned in 2013 and so did the Triple Crown, however that year's race at Pocono was a 400-miler. In 2014, another 100 miles were added to the distance at Pocono. Just when thinks looked to be going up for IndyCar and 500-mile races, it appears everything is falling apart at the seams. After just two years of three 500-mile races, this year could mark the end for Fontana and Pocono. Fontana is on its fourth different date in four years and Pocono is in the final year of its deal and moved to the end of August after racing on July 4th weekend proved to be only good on paper. As someone who attended both Pocono races on July 4th weekend I am sure the mess on I-80 that the track funneled all the traffic to when the race ended turned off a few people from returning. Hopefully late August proves to be a better date and Pocono returns not just for 2016 but for many years in the future and the same goes for Fontana. Hopefully the 2-mile Southern California track is on the IndyCar schedule for a long, long time.
It is no surprise that A.J. Foyt has the most 500-mile race wins with nine (Indianapolis- 4, Pocono 4, Ontario 1). Al Unser, Rick Mears and Bobby Unser all have eight 500-mile race wins. Johnny Rutherford has five; Juan Pablo Montoya and Danny Sullivan each have four. Ninety-three different drivers have won a 500-mile IndyCar race. Nine drivers have won 500-mile races on three different tracks (Foyt, Mears, A. Unser, B. Unser, Rutherford, Montoya, Sullivan, Mario Andretti and Tony Kanaan). If Montoya were to win at Fontana this weekend, he would become the first driver to win 500-mile races at four different tracks. If Montoya doesn't win this weekend and if Tony Kanaan were to win a Pocono later this year, Kanaan would become the first driver to win 500-mile races at four different tracks. Jimmy Vasser has the most 500-mile victories to not win the Indianapolis 500 at three. The only other drivers with multiple 500-mile victories and to not win at Indianapolis are Joe Leonard, Michael Andretti and Scott Goodyear. Leonard won at Pocono and Ontario while Andretti and Goodyear both won two 500-milers at Michigan.
No surprise that the United States has produced the most 500-mile winners with 64. Brazil and the United Kingdom have each had seven drivers win a 500-miler. Four Canadians, three Italians, two Frenchmen, a Mexican, Colombian, Dutchman, Swede, New Zealander and Australian have all won a 500-mile race.
Will a 94th driver add their name to the list of 500-mile race winners? Will Montoya make history and keep his Triple Crown hopes alive? The 163rd 500-mile race in IndyCar history features a lot of interesting storylines.
List of 500-mile Race Winners
A.J. Foyt- 9
Al Unser- 8
Rick Mears- 8
Bobby Unser- 8
Johnny Rutherford- 5
Juan Pablo Montoya- 4
Danny Sullivan- 4
Louis Meyer- 3
Mauri Rose- 3
Wilbur Shaw- 3
Hélio Castroneves- 3
Dario Franchitti- 3
Mario Andretti- 3
Jimmy Vasser- 3
Al Unser, Jr.- 3
Gordon Johncock- 3
Tony Kanaan- 3
Emerson Fittipaldi- 3
Tommy Milton- 2
Bill Vukovich- 2
Rodger Ward- 2
Arie Luyendyk- 2
Dan Wheldon- 2
Mark Donohue- 2
Joe Leonard- 2
Michael Andretti- 2
Scott Goodyear- 2
Bobby Rahal- 2
Tom Sneva- 2
Ray Harroun- 1
Joe Dawson- 1
Jules Goux- 1
René Thomas- 1
Ralph DePalma- 1
Dario Resta- 1
Howdy Wilcox- 1
Gaston Chevrolet- 1
Jimmy Murphy- 1
L.L. Corum- 1
Joe Boyer- 1
Pete DePaolo- 1
Frank Lockhart- 1
George Souders- 1
Ray Keech- 1
Billy Arnold- 1
Louis Schneider- 1
Fred Frame- 1
Bill Cummings- 1
Kelly Petillo- 1
Floyd Roberts- 1
Floyd Davis- 1
George Robson- 1
Bill Holland- 1
Johnnie Parsons- 1
Lee Wallard- 1
Troy Ruttman- 1
Bill Sweikert- 1
Pat Flaherty- 1
Sam Hanks- 1
Jimmy Bryan- 1
Jim Rathmann- 1
Parnelli Jones- 1
Jim Clark- 1
Graham Hill- 1
Jacques Villeneuve- 1
Buddy Lazier- 1
Eddie Cheever- 1
Kenny Bräck- 1
Buddy Rice- 1
Gil de Ferran- 1
Sam Hornish, Jr.- 1
Scott Dixon- 1
Ryan Hunter-Reay- 1
Mark Blundell- 1
Adrián Fernández- 1
Christian Fittipaldi- 1
Cristiano da Matta- 1
Patrick Carpentier- 1
Ed Carpenter- 1
Will Power- 1
Teo Fabi- 1
Pancho Carter- 1
John Paul, Jr.- 1
Nigel Mansell- 1
Scott Pruett- 1
André Ribeiro- 1
Alex Zanardi- 1
Greg Moore- 1
Jim McElreath- 1
Roger McCluskey- 1
Wally Dallenbach- 1
Earl Cooper- 1
Johnny Aitken- 1
Thursday, June 25, 2015
Track Walk: Fontana 2015
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| IndyCar returns to sunny Southern California |
Coverage:
Time: Coverage begins at 4:00 p.m. ET on Saturday June 26th. Green flag at 4:36 p.m. ET.
TV Channel: NBCSN.
Announcers: Leigh Diffey, Steve Matchett (Townsend Bell is racing at Watkins Glen) and Paul Tracy are in the booth with Kevin Lee, Jon Beekhuis, Kelli Stavast and Robin Miller working the pit lane.
Championship Picture
Juan Pablo Montoya has 374 points and holds a 27 points lead over Will Power. Montoya is one of three drivers with two victories this season. The Australian Power has won five pole positions including the last two. Scott Dixon is 45 points behind Montoya and won the most recent oval race at Texas. Dixon also won pole position for the Indianapolis 500 earlier this season. Hélio Castroneves makes it three Penske drivers in the top four of the championship as he sits 52 points behind Montoya. Graham Rahal is the top Honda driver, fifth in the standings with 283 points.
Sébastien Bourdais is sixth in the championship, nine points behind his former Newman-Haas teammate and 100 points behind Montoya. Marco Andretti trails the Frenchman by two points while the most recent winner in the Verizon IndyCar Series, Josef Newgarden is eighth on 268 points. Tony Kanaan won last year at Fontana and returns with himself ninth in the championship on 244 points. Simon Pagenaud rounds out the top ten, 142 points back of his Penske teammate who is leading the championship.
Charlie Kimball is eight points outside the top ten in the championship. Carlos Muñoz is a further eight points behind Kimball. Takuma Sato is thirteenth with an even 200 points. Ryan Hunter-Reay is six points behind Sato. Gabby Chaves founds out the top fifteen with 168 points. James Jakes is four points behind Chaves.
Driver Changes
There are four driver changes heading to Fontana.
Ed Carpenter steps into the #20 Fuzzy's Ultra Premium Vodka Chevrolet. Carpenter has finished on the podium in the last three Fontana races having won in 2012, finished second in 2013 and finished third last year. Carpenter has had two retirements in his two starts this season. Luca Filippi finished second in the #20 at Toronto, giving CFH Racing their first 1-2 finish.
Ryan Briscoe will be back behind the wheel of the #5 Arrow Honda for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports. Briscoe will be making his third start of 2015. He finished 12th in the Indianapolis 500 from 33rd on the grid and finished 8th at Texas from 19th. The Australian will be making his third start at Fontana. He finished 17th in 2012 and seventh in 2014. Conor Daly drove the car at Toronto and finished 12th.
Sage Karam is back in the #8 Big Machine Records Chevrolet for Chip Ganassi Racing. Karam has made seven starts this season and has finished 12th in his last two starts. This will be Karam's first career start at Fontana. His lone Fontana appearance in Indy Lights came in 2013 where he finished 3rd, good enough for him to clinch the title. Sebastián Saavedra finished 16th at Toronto in the #8.
Pippa Mann will make her third start of 2015 as she will replace Rodolfo González in the #18 Dale Coyne Racing Honda. Mann finished 22nd at Indianapolis and 17th at Texas. This will be her second start at Fontana. She finished 25th in 2013.
Fast Facts
Juan Pablo Montoya has won four of nine 500-mile IndyCar races he has started.
Al Unser is the only drive to win the IndyCar Triple Crown having done it in 1978. That same year, Affirmed won the American Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing. On June 6th, American Pharoah became the first horse since Affirmed to win the Triple Crown.
Chevrolet has won the last 16 pole positions dating back to last year. In that time frame, three races had the starting grid set by owners' points. The last Honda pole position came for Houston 1 where Simon Pagenaud won his first career pole position.
This will be the eight IndyCar race to take place on June 27th. The most recent race to take place on June 27th was in 2009 at Richmond and Scott Dixon won that race. That has been the most recent IndyCar race at Richmond.
Jimmy Vasser, Sam Hornish, Jr. and Adrián Fernandez each have two race victories at Fontana. Ed Carpenter, Will Power and Tony Kanaan are the only active drivers with victories at Fontana.
Chevrolet has won the last three Fontana races and five of the last eight. Honda has three victories at Fontana. Ford also has three victories at Fontana. Mercedes and Toyota each have one Fontana victory.
Only two of the previous 13 Fontana races have been won from pole position. Dario Franchitti (2005) and Will Power (2012) are the two drivers to accomplish that.
Only once has a Fontana winner started outside the top ten. Adrián Fernandez won from 13th in 1999.
Chevrolet has swept the top four positions in the last two Fontana races.
The least amount of lead changes in a Fontana race is 13, which occurred in the inaugural Fontana race in 1997, won by Mark Blundell. The average amount of lead changes in Fontana races is 30.769.
This will be the third IndyCar race of 2015 in which Steve Matchett will be a color commentator. Matchett was in the booth at Barber and Toronto. Josef Newgarden won both of those races.
Possible Milestones:
Should Will Power take the green flag, he will make his 150 IndyCar races.
Tony Kanaan needs to lead 164 laps to reach the 4,000 laps led milestone.
Will Power needs to lead 162 laps to reach the 3,000 laps led milestone.
Ryan Briscoe needs to lead 65 laps to reach the 1,500 laps led club.
Marco Andretti needs to lead 45 laps to join the 1,000 laps led club.
Ed Carpenter needs to lead 97 laps to reach the 400 laps led milestone.
Simon Pagenaud needs to lead 21 laps to reach the 300 laps led milestone.
Graham Rahal needs to lead 24 laps to reach the 200 laps led milestone.
Charlie Kimball needs to lead 5 laps to reach the 100 laps led milestone.
Josef Newgarden needs to lead 3 laps to reach the 100 laps led milestone.
Hélio Castroneves is one second place finish away from passing Bobby Rahal for second all-time in second place finishes. Rahal and Castroneves are tied with 37 runner-up finishes.
Dan Wheldon would have turned 37 years old on Monday. Can you name the drivers who finished runner-up to Dan Wheldon in his 16 IndyCar victories?
Predictions
Juan Pablo Montoya keeps his Triple Crown hopes alive and wins his fifth 500-mile race. Less than three Honda cars qualify in the top ten. One Honda will finish in the top five. There will be at least 22 lead changes. At least one driver will lead their first laps of the season during a pit stop cycle. At least one driver will either gain two positions in the championship standings or lose two positions in the championship standings after this race. Sleeper: Takuma Sato.
Championship Picture
Juan Pablo Montoya has 374 points and holds a 27 points lead over Will Power. Montoya is one of three drivers with two victories this season. The Australian Power has won five pole positions including the last two. Scott Dixon is 45 points behind Montoya and won the most recent oval race at Texas. Dixon also won pole position for the Indianapolis 500 earlier this season. Hélio Castroneves makes it three Penske drivers in the top four of the championship as he sits 52 points behind Montoya. Graham Rahal is the top Honda driver, fifth in the standings with 283 points.
Sébastien Bourdais is sixth in the championship, nine points behind his former Newman-Haas teammate and 100 points behind Montoya. Marco Andretti trails the Frenchman by two points while the most recent winner in the Verizon IndyCar Series, Josef Newgarden is eighth on 268 points. Tony Kanaan won last year at Fontana and returns with himself ninth in the championship on 244 points. Simon Pagenaud rounds out the top ten, 142 points back of his Penske teammate who is leading the championship.
Charlie Kimball is eight points outside the top ten in the championship. Carlos Muñoz is a further eight points behind Kimball. Takuma Sato is thirteenth with an even 200 points. Ryan Hunter-Reay is six points behind Sato. Gabby Chaves founds out the top fifteen with 168 points. James Jakes is four points behind Chaves.
Driver Changes
There are four driver changes heading to Fontana.
Ed Carpenter steps into the #20 Fuzzy's Ultra Premium Vodka Chevrolet. Carpenter has finished on the podium in the last three Fontana races having won in 2012, finished second in 2013 and finished third last year. Carpenter has had two retirements in his two starts this season. Luca Filippi finished second in the #20 at Toronto, giving CFH Racing their first 1-2 finish.
Ryan Briscoe will be back behind the wheel of the #5 Arrow Honda for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports. Briscoe will be making his third start of 2015. He finished 12th in the Indianapolis 500 from 33rd on the grid and finished 8th at Texas from 19th. The Australian will be making his third start at Fontana. He finished 17th in 2012 and seventh in 2014. Conor Daly drove the car at Toronto and finished 12th.
Sage Karam is back in the #8 Big Machine Records Chevrolet for Chip Ganassi Racing. Karam has made seven starts this season and has finished 12th in his last two starts. This will be Karam's first career start at Fontana. His lone Fontana appearance in Indy Lights came in 2013 where he finished 3rd, good enough for him to clinch the title. Sebastián Saavedra finished 16th at Toronto in the #8.
Pippa Mann will make her third start of 2015 as she will replace Rodolfo González in the #18 Dale Coyne Racing Honda. Mann finished 22nd at Indianapolis and 17th at Texas. This will be her second start at Fontana. She finished 25th in 2013.
Fast Facts
Juan Pablo Montoya has won four of nine 500-mile IndyCar races he has started.
Al Unser is the only drive to win the IndyCar Triple Crown having done it in 1978. That same year, Affirmed won the American Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing. On June 6th, American Pharoah became the first horse since Affirmed to win the Triple Crown.
Chevrolet has won the last 16 pole positions dating back to last year. In that time frame, three races had the starting grid set by owners' points. The last Honda pole position came for Houston 1 where Simon Pagenaud won his first career pole position.
This will be the eight IndyCar race to take place on June 27th. The most recent race to take place on June 27th was in 2009 at Richmond and Scott Dixon won that race. That has been the most recent IndyCar race at Richmond.
Jimmy Vasser, Sam Hornish, Jr. and Adrián Fernandez each have two race victories at Fontana. Ed Carpenter, Will Power and Tony Kanaan are the only active drivers with victories at Fontana.
Chevrolet has won the last three Fontana races and five of the last eight. Honda has three victories at Fontana. Ford also has three victories at Fontana. Mercedes and Toyota each have one Fontana victory.
Only two of the previous 13 Fontana races have been won from pole position. Dario Franchitti (2005) and Will Power (2012) are the two drivers to accomplish that.
Only once has a Fontana winner started outside the top ten. Adrián Fernandez won from 13th in 1999.
Chevrolet has swept the top four positions in the last two Fontana races.
The least amount of lead changes in a Fontana race is 13, which occurred in the inaugural Fontana race in 1997, won by Mark Blundell. The average amount of lead changes in Fontana races is 30.769.
This will be the third IndyCar race of 2015 in which Steve Matchett will be a color commentator. Matchett was in the booth at Barber and Toronto. Josef Newgarden won both of those races.
Possible Milestones:
Should Will Power take the green flag, he will make his 150 IndyCar races.
Tony Kanaan needs to lead 164 laps to reach the 4,000 laps led milestone.
Will Power needs to lead 162 laps to reach the 3,000 laps led milestone.
Ryan Briscoe needs to lead 65 laps to reach the 1,500 laps led club.
Marco Andretti needs to lead 45 laps to join the 1,000 laps led club.
Ed Carpenter needs to lead 97 laps to reach the 400 laps led milestone.
Simon Pagenaud needs to lead 21 laps to reach the 300 laps led milestone.
Graham Rahal needs to lead 24 laps to reach the 200 laps led milestone.
Charlie Kimball needs to lead 5 laps to reach the 100 laps led milestone.
Josef Newgarden needs to lead 3 laps to reach the 100 laps led milestone.
Hélio Castroneves is one second place finish away from passing Bobby Rahal for second all-time in second place finishes. Rahal and Castroneves are tied with 37 runner-up finishes.
Dan Wheldon would have turned 37 years old on Monday. Can you name the drivers who finished runner-up to Dan Wheldon in his 16 IndyCar victories?
Predictions
Juan Pablo Montoya keeps his Triple Crown hopes alive and wins his fifth 500-mile race. Less than three Honda cars qualify in the top ten. One Honda will finish in the top five. There will be at least 22 lead changes. At least one driver will lead their first laps of the season during a pit stop cycle. At least one driver will either gain two positions in the championship standings or lose two positions in the championship standings after this race. Sleeper: Takuma Sato.
Sunday, August 31, 2014
Second Impressions: Fontana and the 2014 IndyCar Season
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| The season that was IndyCar in 2014 |
1. I'm not sure you can find any complaints about with Will Power's season. Unlike previous seasons where Power would win five or six races but have three or four costly races, this year Power had three wins, led IndyCar in podiums, top tens, pole positions, races led, laps led and average finish. His one bad weekend was Houston but his worst finish all season was fourteenth. He began the season with eight consecutive top tens and ended it with six consecutive top tens. On the weekends Power struggled, his championship contenders also faltered, which is complete opposite from when Power was battling with Franchitti for the title and Franchitti would always capitalize if Power slipped. Despite a slew of penalties for pit lane violations or blocking, Power was able to recover when times got tough and finally took home a championship.
2. To peg where Hélio Castroneves lost the title, all you have to do is look at the final five races. He finished second in race one at Toronto and held a 28-point lead over Power going into race two. Since that podium, the Brazilian finished twelfth, nineteenth, eleventh, eighteenth and fourteenth. He lost the second-most positions from starting position in 2014, losing 66 positions. Only James Hinchcliffe lost more at -75. Add to the fact Castroneves only picked up one victory for the second consecutive year. Winning one race isn't going to be enough. The last driver to win a championship with one victory or fewer was Tony Stewart in 1997 and the last driver to win the title with two or fewer victories was Gil de Ferran in 2001. If you want to win the title, you are going to need at least three wins, something Castroneves hasn't done since 2006.
3. Nobody was on more of a roll at the end of 2014 than Scott Dixon. Eight consecutive top tens, seven of which were top fives. Even better for Dixon was out of his twelve top tens, he had eleven top fives, most in the 2014 IndyCar season. He had a terrible month of May and a terrible Houston weekend. If he corrects those two weak spots from 2014, he will be in contention for his fourth title in 2015.
4. Fourth is fantastic for Juan Pablo Montoya in his comeback season to IndyCar. He still struggles on street circuits. He entered 2014 with an career average finish of 15.5 on street circuits and his average street circuit finish in 2014 was 11.25 with a second at Houston 1 and fourth at Long Beach being his best finishes. Montoya won the 2014 oval championship. I know they don't hand out the trophy anymore but he scored the most points on ovals. Let's not forget to mention Castroneves and Power scored the second and third most points on ovals. Penske will have that going for them in 2015.
5. Simon Pagenaud rarely put a wheel wrong in 2014, which makes it surprising that he barely finished in the top five of the championship. He finished tied for second in top fives and top tens in 2014. The double points caught him out last night as he struggled with the car's handling all night. He scored the second most points on road/street circuits in 2014 but scored the eleventh most points on ovals, despite averaging a 10th place finish in the six races and scoring three top tens on ovals. He is a free agent and we know Andretti Autosport is reportedly going to try and sign the Frenchman away from Schmidt Peterson Hamilton Motorsports. If he does leave SPHM, will that be enough to get him the championship?
6. Does winning the Indianapolis 500 make sixth in the championship automatically feel like a secondary championship for Ryan Hunter-Reay? He missed out on fifth in the championship by two points after his spin while running third. Ultimately, if I offered fifth in the championship or winning the Indianapolis 500 and finishing sixth, I think we all know what we would take. If he didn't spin, I definitely think Hunter-Reay would have brought the fight to Kanaan for the victory. He won three races, including the Indianapolis 500 but you have to think Hunter-Reay left a lot on the table. He had six top fives but had six finishes of 18th or worse. Some of those poor finishes were of his doing (Long Beach, both Belle Isle race), others were mechanical (Texas, Pocono, Milwaukee) but if he can turn those dismal races that were of his own doing into top ten, he will be a championship contender in 2015.
7. Ending the season with a victory can sometimes erase all the previous let downs in a season and I think Tony Kanaan's victory does that in some sense. Outside of being caught up in an accident not of his doing at Long Beach, a gearbox issue in the "500" and a first turn spin at Mid-Ohio, Kanaan had a really good year. He had a few races get away from, Pocono and Iowa come to mind but overall, it was a really good year for Kanaan. Finishing seventh in the championship isn't that bad in this current era for IndyCar. This isn't 2005 or 2006 where there were 19 full-time cars. The field is full to the brim with talent, both young and old.
8. Rookie of the Year Carlos Muñoz finished eighth in the championship, the second best Andretti Autosport driver. I think the expectations were outstandingly higher for Muñoz entering this season than all the other rookies because of what he did in three cameos in 2013. He showed signs of being a rookie. There were a few races where he was just completely out of it (Texas and both Toronto races) and that will happen when you are 22 years old. Once again, he is 22 years old. I bet you thought he was older than that. Not a bad start for the Colombian. I think he will make a stride in the right direction in 2015.
8b. Ed Carpenter Racing finished eighth in the entrant's championship behind three combined victories from Ed Carpenter and Mike Conway. This is what I expected out of the British-American duo. Carpenter had four top tens in six races, including his victory at Texas while Conway picked up victories at Long Beach and Toronto 2. However, Conway's two victories were his only top tens of the season and his next best finish was thirteenth (Houston 2 and Mid-Ohio). Conway scored the eleventh most points on road courses while Carpenter scored ten more points than Conway in half of the amount of races. I am not sure if Conway could get away with checkers or wreckers but unless Carpenter wanted to go for the entrant's championship, I am sure he is happy with Conway's results. The question is will Conway return? He is a Toyota reserve driver in the FIA World Endurance Championship and with rumors current Toyota drivers Stéphane Sarrazin and Sébastien Buemi have been approached by Nissan for 2015, he might be in position to land a prime seat for a world championship and Le Mans victory. If Conway does leave, can Carpenter find a driver capable of duplicating his results in 2015?
9. I feel bad for Marco Andretti because unless he wins the Indianapolis 500 or the championship each year everyone will say he only has a ride because of his family. Let's ignore the fact he had as many top tens as Ryan Hunter-Reay and Juan Pablo Montoya this season and more than Muñoz, James Hinchcliffe, Sébastien Bourdais, Justin Wilson, Josef Newgarden and Jack Hawksworth. Don't get me wrong, winning races is crucial but let's recognize Andretti for his ability to be able to bring a car home in one piece toward the front of the field. He is 27 years old. When Will Power was 27 years old he had only two victories to his name and his best championship finish was fourth. Andretti has two victories to his name and his best championship finish is fifth. There is plenty of time left in Andretti's career. Plenty of time.
10. It took nearly seven years for Sébastien Bourdais to get his 32nd victory in IndyCar but he finally got it at Toronto 1. Looking at his results, you feel like Bourdais left a lot on table. Five top fives and seven top tens along with two pole positions but he had six finishes between eleventh and fifteenth. Got to give him and KV Racing credit though considering KV lost Kanaan, to bounce back with tenth in the driver's championship is respectable.
11. Ryan Briscoe's can be summed up like this: Good but not great. Ten top tens and the seventh best average finish but only one top five and led five laps. He finished tied with Bourdais for tenth in the championship but loses the tiebreaker on total victories (Bourdais' 1 to Briscoe's 0). Most races I would see Briscoe in the back half of the top ten but make nothing of it because he wasn't making waves and wasn't a threat to make waves. He is a talented driver but can he improve and become a factor in 2015?
12. James Hinchcliffe ended on a much needed high note with his fifth place finish at Fontana. This was a rough season for the Canadian. Third best average starting position but tied for the twelfth best average finish. If he can continue his qualifying success in 2015 and stay up front, he will be in up there with Power, Castroneves, Dixon, Montoya, Pagenaud and Hunter-Reay battling for a championship instead of on the edge of the back half of the field.
13. Josef Newgarden ended strong with three consecutive top tens to close out the 2014 season. The expectations should be to score a victory with the merged Carpenter Fisher Hartman Racing in 2015. He started nine races in the top ten in 2014, seven of those were top five starts. He has the speed, he will be getting at least one, maybe two teammates and possibly will be moving over to Chevrolet, the manufacture that won the final six race in 2014 and twelve of eighteen.
14. This year was a step back for Justin Wilson. After finishing sixth in 2013, the Sheffield-native finished fourteenth this year. Only one top five and seven top tens, which is a respectable amount but he was never in contention for a victory, unlike last year. I am going to write this off as one bad year but if he can't turn it around in 2015, Wilson will officially be on the back nine of his career and the clock will be ticking before a full-time ride will no longer be available. It's a sad thought considering Wilson is one of the nicest and most respected drivers on the grid.
15. For someone who averaged a starting position of 16.411, it is a little surprising Charlie Kimball scored ten top ten finishes. He ended 2014 on a little slump with twelfth place last night at Fontana being his best finish in the final three races. If he can improve on qualifying, he will be in better position in races and should improve on his championship position.
16. Not a bad season for Jack Hawksworth. His highlights were really good runs at St. Petersburg and Long Beach but was taken out in accidents out of his control in each race. He ran really well on the IMS road course and at Houston. He struggled on ovals and that wasn't unexpected. On the bright side he did get a top ten on an oval with a tenth place finish at Milwaukee. I really hope he returns with Bryan Herta Autosport in 2015.
17. Another guy I hope returns in 2015 is Mikhail Aleshin. His massive accident at Fontana aside, Aleshin impressed me the most out of all the rookie. I had seen Muñoz and Hawksworth run Indy Lights and knew what was coming but Aleshin was a little unknown. Other than his 2010 Formula Renault 3.5 title where he beat current Red Bull F1 driver Daniel Ricciardo and current Porsche LMP1 driver Brendon Hartley he really hadn't done much. He was stuck in the European ladder system and was having difficulty replicating the results of that 2010 season on a regular basis. He comes to IndyCar and scores a podium at Houston 2, along with seven top tens, three of which came on ovals, which he had never run before this year. He was immediately labelled a ride buyer or F1 reject but I think we unfairly label those from European backgrounds. There are plenty of talented drivers who don't catch a break. It doesn't mean they aren't good enough, it just means they are overlooked and Aleshin was one that that fell into IndyCar's lap at Formula One's expense.
18. Takuma Sato ended 2014 with consecutive top tens but does it erase the fact he had ten finishes of 18th or worse? He won two pole positions but we know he has the speed, he just lacks the consistency. Will AJ Foyt Racing put up with another year of three or four good finishes in return for a plethora of disappointing races? Honda has been loyal to Sato for years making sure he had a ride somewhere but if I was Foyt, I would want something more in return. Preferably funding for a second car to give a promising driver a shot in decent equipment.
19. After struggling to land the National Guard sponsorship at the start of 2014, Graham Rahal and Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing struggled all season and now will struggle even more as their $12 million budget is gone and the search is on for funding. A second place in Belle Isle 1 and fifth at their home race at Mid-Ohio as all they have to show for in 2014. You have to feel for all involved. You want to believe it can't get any worse but it continues to go downhill. I hate to say it but Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing is the worst team on the IndyCar grid.
20. My jaw is still on the floor that Carlos Huertas won a race this year. Now sure he would have won had Graham Rahal not run over Tony Kanaan at the end of Houston 1 and the race gone green at the end or if Huertas had a legal fuel cell, but we'll never know. Huertas was never a moving chicane and other than this past weekend at Fontana, he never looked out of place on ovals. Three top tens is more than I expected out of him and I would like to see him get a second season to see if he can improve.
21. Sebastián Saavedra's career had so much promise five years ago. Now it will be head scratching if he remains on the grid in 2015. Why Gary Peterson supports Saavedra with his Automatic Fire Sprinklers sponsorship over JR Hildebrand or another young American such as Conor Daly or Sage Karam is beyond me. Saavedra has only 16 lead lap finishes in 56 starts, only one lead lap finish has been on an oval (this year's Indianapolis 500). One top ten is all Saavedra has to show for in 2014 with a pole position on the IMS road course that lasted all of less than a foot as he stalled on the grid and was then run over from behind.
Fun Facts From 2014
Will Power completed all but one of the 2395 laps run in 2014.
Carlos Muñoz and Charlie Kimball are the only full-time drivers who did not lead a lap in 2014.
There were 66 cautions for 323 of 2395 laps in 2014, meaning the pace car led 13.48% of all the laps run in 2014. On average there were 3.666 cautions for 17.94 laps a race in 2014.
There were eleven different winners in 2014, tying the 2000 and 2001 CART seasons for most different winners in a season.
Of the eleven different winners in 2014, three won in either or both 2000 or 2001. Juan Pablo Montoya won three races in 2000 (Milwaukee, Michigan and Gateway). Scott Dixon won one race in 2001, his first career victory his third start at Nazareth. Hélio Castroneves is the only won of the three to win in both 2000 and 2001. He picked up three victories in 2000 including his first career victory at Belle Isle followed by wins at Mid-Ohio and Laguna Seca. He would go on to win three races in 2001 (Long Beach, Belle Isle and Mid-Ohio).
The average starting position for a winner in 2014 was 8.444.
The average amount of lead change for a race in 2014 was 9.777.
The average amount of laps lead for a winner in 2014 was 46.388.
The pole-sitter won three times in 2014 (Juan Pablo Montoya at Pocono, Sébastien Bourdais at Toronto 1 and Will Power at Milwaukee).
The driver who led the most laps won seven times in 2014 (Will Power at St. Petersburg and Milwaukee, Ryan Hunter-Reay at Barber and Indianapolis, Hélio Castroneves at Belle Isle 2, Sébastien Bourdais at Toronto 1 and Scott Dixon at Mid-Ohio).
The driver who set fastest lap in race won twice in 2014 (Power at St. Petersburg and Simon Pagenaud at Houston 2).
A Few Thoughts to End On
Honda has to step up their game. Only six wins out of eighteen races? Not to mention Chevrolet ending on six consecutive victories and a third consecutive manufactures' championship. Let's not forget Honda ran 12 cars at every race while Chevrolet had 10. They are going to figure out a way to take down the Bowtie Brigade.
Time is now ticking for a third engine manufacture to enter for 2016. If it's going to happen it has to been announced a year in advance, so if we don't hear anything by March 2015, it probably won't happen. We've all heard Cosworth is working on something but until it happens it doesn't really matter.
Many rides are unknown. Will Pagenaud head to Andretti, stay with SPHM or leave IndyCar altogether? Will Hinchcliffe have his option picked up? Does Gabby Chaves pick up a ride? What other rookies could be on the 2015 grid? Does Aleshin return? A lot of balls still up in the air.
Aero kits are coming. They should be unveiled this fall. At least we have that to look forward to.
Schedule news for 2015: No Houston, looks like Toronto will take place at Mosport for one year before heading back to Exhibition Place. Another thing to look forward to this autumn.
We also have the new Indy Lights car to look forward to.
I believe we already know the ABC races for 2015: Long Beach, Grand Prix of Indianapolis, Indianapolis 500 and Belle Isle. Not to forget mentioning Indianapolis 500 qualifying will be covered by ABC.
Now on to the offseason. However long that may be.
First Impressions: Fontana 2014
1. Will Power has finally won the IndyCar championship. He did it by playing it smart in the final race. He didn't panic. He didn't try to stand the car on it's bloody ear. He drove an intelligent and safe race and methodically worked his way toward the front. Three victories, seven podiums, eight top fives, fifteen top tens and four pole positions for Power in 2014. After so much heart break, Power finally joins the ranks of Foyt, Andretti, Unser, Mears, Mansell, Zanardi, Hornish, Bourdais, Franchitti, Dixon and Hunter-Reay as IndyCar champion.
2. Tony Kanaan picked up his first victory with Ganassi Racing and his seventeenth career victory. It was an up and down year for Kanaan. He very well could have won three or four races in 2014 but at least he got one. He became the eleventh different winner in 2014 meaning this season ties 2000 and 2001 for most different winners in a season. IndyCar is in one of it's most competitive eras, now if only people can acknowledge that.
3. Second place vaulted Scott Dixon to third in the championship. After winning a title, anything but a repeat is a disappointed. Dixon ended 2014 strong, similar to Power ending 2013 on a very high note. Ganassi won three races in the month of August after not winning any from March through July. Let's see how they carry this momentum to 2015.
4. Ed Carpenter comes home in third and the #20 Fuzzy's Ultra Premium Vodka Chevrolet comes home 8th place in the entrant championship. A very great season for Carpenter and Mike Conway. With the team merging with Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing in 2014, you wonder if they can possibly better three victories and the Indianapolis 500 pole position. We'll have to wait and see.
5. Juan Pablo Montoya ends his return season in IndyCar in fourth place in the race and the championship. This is by far better than I thought Montoya would do. I expected him to be around tenth, a few top fives and that's it but he had a jaw-dropping comeback to open-wheel racing.
6. James Hinchcliffe got the result he needed to end 2014. A fifth-place finish. Hopefully the Canadian can take this result and turn it into momentum for 2015. After three victories last year, one podium is a big disappointment and he will finished twelfth in the championship.
7. At the beginning of the year I though Takuma Sato would be fired before we reached Fontana. He wasn't and finished sixth, a week after finishing fourth at Sonoma. I'm not sure if Sato is ever going to be the guy, especially since he is 37 years old. He ended 2014 with two really good results but come 2015 he could be back to a pair of 17th place finishes despite possibly being one of the fastest five drivers on the track.
8. Ryan Briscoe's season ends with a seventh place finish. Ten top tens for Briscoe but only one top five in 2014. Briscoe is a decent driver but he needs to take that next step, especially when Kanaan and Dixon are finishing first and second.
9. Carlos Muñoz captures the 2014 Verizon IndyCar Series Rookie of the Year by finishing eighth in the championship with a eighth place finish in the race. He didn't win but he held his own with his veteran teammates. This wasn't unexpected considering what he did in one-offs last year and the team he is with.
10. A top ten for Josef Newgarden to round out the year. He will be entering his fourth season in 2015 and with SFHR merging with ECR, the expectations should go up for the Tennessean. He will have full-time teammates, more resources and possibly be driving a Chevrolet, which won the final six races in 2014. All the pieces are in place for him to break into victory lane in 2015, he just has to talk advantage and seize the day.
11. Marco Andretti misses out on a top ten in the race but finishes ninth in the championship. I am sure he expected more after finishing fifth in the championship last year. I think Andretti Autosport and Honda will all be going to the drawing board to figure out what they have to improve on after being outscored 12-6 in the win column.
12. Hélio Castroneves drove an Hélio Castroneves-type season. He's not going to win four or five races. He isn't going to dominant week in and week out. He is going to finish fourth, fifth or sixth and bring the car home in one piece. Will that be enough to ever get Castroneves a championship though? Let's not forget to mention he ended 2014 with five consecutive finishes outside the top ten.
13. It wasn't Simon Pagenaud's night. He dealt with handling issues all night and finished twentieth. It was a great season for Pagenaud, unfortunately he will finish fifth in the final championship standings. He is still a free agent. Will he stay or will he go. He has made Schmidt Peterson Hamitlon a formidable championship contender and if you throw in Ed Carpenter's team, those team each have shown they have what it takes to compete with the big three.
14. Remember last year when nine cars finished and only five were on the lead lap? This year, 20 cars finished and ten were on the lead lap. The lone retirement was Carlos Huertas for driver illness (to be honest, I think he was out of his comfort zone, did 21 laps and ended his season early). Got to give Chevrolet, Honda and the teams credit after the attrition last year. Also note, one caution tonight for a simple spin by Ryan Hunter-Reay who did a great job keeping the car from hitting anything. Only 18 cautions on ovals in 2014
15. Look for a full recap of yesterday and the IndyCar season tomorrow. Look for team-by-team reviews in the days to come. It's nearly 2:00 a.m. ET. Congratulations Will Power. Congratulations Roger Penske. Congratulations IndyCar. It was a great season. I am sad it had to end so soon.
2. Tony Kanaan picked up his first victory with Ganassi Racing and his seventeenth career victory. It was an up and down year for Kanaan. He very well could have won three or four races in 2014 but at least he got one. He became the eleventh different winner in 2014 meaning this season ties 2000 and 2001 for most different winners in a season. IndyCar is in one of it's most competitive eras, now if only people can acknowledge that.
3. Second place vaulted Scott Dixon to third in the championship. After winning a title, anything but a repeat is a disappointed. Dixon ended 2014 strong, similar to Power ending 2013 on a very high note. Ganassi won three races in the month of August after not winning any from March through July. Let's see how they carry this momentum to 2015.
4. Ed Carpenter comes home in third and the #20 Fuzzy's Ultra Premium Vodka Chevrolet comes home 8th place in the entrant championship. A very great season for Carpenter and Mike Conway. With the team merging with Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing in 2014, you wonder if they can possibly better three victories and the Indianapolis 500 pole position. We'll have to wait and see.
5. Juan Pablo Montoya ends his return season in IndyCar in fourth place in the race and the championship. This is by far better than I thought Montoya would do. I expected him to be around tenth, a few top fives and that's it but he had a jaw-dropping comeback to open-wheel racing.
6. James Hinchcliffe got the result he needed to end 2014. A fifth-place finish. Hopefully the Canadian can take this result and turn it into momentum for 2015. After three victories last year, one podium is a big disappointment and he will finished twelfth in the championship.
7. At the beginning of the year I though Takuma Sato would be fired before we reached Fontana. He wasn't and finished sixth, a week after finishing fourth at Sonoma. I'm not sure if Sato is ever going to be the guy, especially since he is 37 years old. He ended 2014 with two really good results but come 2015 he could be back to a pair of 17th place finishes despite possibly being one of the fastest five drivers on the track.
8. Ryan Briscoe's season ends with a seventh place finish. Ten top tens for Briscoe but only one top five in 2014. Briscoe is a decent driver but he needs to take that next step, especially when Kanaan and Dixon are finishing first and second.
9. Carlos Muñoz captures the 2014 Verizon IndyCar Series Rookie of the Year by finishing eighth in the championship with a eighth place finish in the race. He didn't win but he held his own with his veteran teammates. This wasn't unexpected considering what he did in one-offs last year and the team he is with.
10. A top ten for Josef Newgarden to round out the year. He will be entering his fourth season in 2015 and with SFHR merging with ECR, the expectations should go up for the Tennessean. He will have full-time teammates, more resources and possibly be driving a Chevrolet, which won the final six races in 2014. All the pieces are in place for him to break into victory lane in 2015, he just has to talk advantage and seize the day.
11. Marco Andretti misses out on a top ten in the race but finishes ninth in the championship. I am sure he expected more after finishing fifth in the championship last year. I think Andretti Autosport and Honda will all be going to the drawing board to figure out what they have to improve on after being outscored 12-6 in the win column.
12. Hélio Castroneves drove an Hélio Castroneves-type season. He's not going to win four or five races. He isn't going to dominant week in and week out. He is going to finish fourth, fifth or sixth and bring the car home in one piece. Will that be enough to ever get Castroneves a championship though? Let's not forget to mention he ended 2014 with five consecutive finishes outside the top ten.
13. It wasn't Simon Pagenaud's night. He dealt with handling issues all night and finished twentieth. It was a great season for Pagenaud, unfortunately he will finish fifth in the final championship standings. He is still a free agent. Will he stay or will he go. He has made Schmidt Peterson Hamitlon a formidable championship contender and if you throw in Ed Carpenter's team, those team each have shown they have what it takes to compete with the big three.
14. Remember last year when nine cars finished and only five were on the lead lap? This year, 20 cars finished and ten were on the lead lap. The lone retirement was Carlos Huertas for driver illness (to be honest, I think he was out of his comfort zone, did 21 laps and ended his season early). Got to give Chevrolet, Honda and the teams credit after the attrition last year. Also note, one caution tonight for a simple spin by Ryan Hunter-Reay who did a great job keeping the car from hitting anything. Only 18 cautions on ovals in 2014
15. Look for a full recap of yesterday and the IndyCar season tomorrow. Look for team-by-team reviews in the days to come. It's nearly 2:00 a.m. ET. Congratulations Will Power. Congratulations Roger Penske. Congratulations IndyCar. It was a great season. I am sad it had to end so soon.
Saturday, August 30, 2014
Morning Warm-Up: Fontana 2014
When I See Something Horrible, I Put My Foot Down. Hard! Because I Know That Everyone Else Is Lifting His.
Yves Montand as Jean-Pierre Sarti in Grand Prix
This morning warm-up starts differently from all the rest with a personal admission that I am flawed individual and I should have made that known long ago. We start with the good news that Mikhail Aleshin is stable after his accident last night during final practice sustaining a concussion, fractured ribs, broken right clavicle and chest injuries.
My prayers go out to Mikhail Aleshin on a speedy recovery.
The same way my prayers were with him immediately after the accident but I am flawed. The quote at the top perfectly defines how I reacted after seeing an accident such as Aleshin. I saw something horrible, mentally put my foot down hard and immediately thought, who can replace Aleshin tomorrow should he be unable to go? It's just who I am with my show must go on approach. Outside of a quiet prayer, what else can I do? I can't go to the car and try to assist. I wouldn't be much use and I would be more of a obstacle for the qualified IndyCar safety team to work around.
Remember I am flawed. I believe when you get into motorsports and start following on a regular basis you have to realize that if you stay around long enough you are going to watch someone die. There is no way around. All the safety innovations in the world will not make a driver or rider immortal, if it is their time to go, it is their time to go. The safety innovations have protected those men and women who are fortunate enough to compete on a regular basis better than previous generations and that is greatly appreciated but don't hold your breath on the day where it is guaranteed no one will die in a motorsports accident. That day is never going to come.
I am flawed. As much as I want to see the turbo boost turned up and laps closer to the 230 MPH range than 220 MPH, I know that had Aleshin been going faster, it would have been worse, much worse. There is a lot that has to be fixed. Catchfences need to be improved, aprons should be widened and these aren't issues just for IndyCar or just for Auto Club Speedway or just for engineer students at any given university around the country, these are issues for all parties who decide to participate in motorsports. Catchfence improvement is an Auto Club Speedway and IndyCar and NASCAR and Texas Motor Speedway and USAC and Iowa Speedway and Eldora Raceway and Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Daytona International Speedway issue. Catchfences should not be one party taking the baton all by themselves and trying to be a superstar. This should be a collective effort to find a solution for the better of all involved.
This shouldn't be a case where the expense gets in the way of driver and spectator safety. NASCAR is making $8.2 billion over the next 10 years. You'd think they could budget some for further research and development in the safety department. Speedway Motorsports, Inc. made $260.4 million in the first half of 2014. International Speedway Corporation made $131.8 million in the first quarter of 2014 while Indianapolis Motor Speedway just received $100 million loan from the state of Indiana. There is plenty of money that can be used to improvement catchfences, now the individuals who make six-seven figures salaries have to take the initiative and actually do something.
After watching Aleshin's accident I wonder what would have happened had their been no catchfence and in it's places was just a continuation of the concrete wall. The car wouldn't have been shredded to pieces but would he have sustained fewer injuries? I think he would of hit the wall and just continued to slide down, he may have even walked away under his own power but we will never know. As I went to bed last night after hearing Aleshin was awake and stable I thought of what the coverage would have been had he perished. All of sudden everyone would have become a motorsports expert, oval racing for open-wheel cars would get this misconception of reckless endangerment but what bothered me the most is someone who some media outlets never mentioned before and never considered giving him the time of day was now going to give him recognition only after he had passed on. Something about that strikes me the wrong way. It tells me that the only way some media outlets will acknowledge you is if you die. Average people would know how he died and nothing else. They would not know who he was or what he had accomplished and realized this was someone doing what he loved.
Yesterday afternoon I was looking through past Fontana races and came across the 1999 race and Greg Moore's fatal accident. It is approaching 15 years since his death and I wondered, 15 years later, if a driver were to be fatally injured would the race continue? We all remember Las Vegas 2011 but that accident caused extensive damage to the catchfence. Moore's accident didn't cause nearly as much structural damage to the track. Deep down, I always want the race to go on. Why? Cause as I said before what else can I do? If it is a driver's time to go, it is their time to go. I'd like to say the fallen driver would want the race to go on but we never know. Maybe drivers should write down at the start of a season and hand to the race officials a slip saying if they are fatally injured in a race, whether or not they would want the race to continue that way we truly know. I see nothing wrong with that but once again, I am flawed.
There is plenty of things that need to be worked on but the race should go on today because though there is the possibility of death we cannot let it cripple us from enjoying what we love and we should continue to ensure ourselves it is not going to happen, even though we can't guarantee it won't.
Hélio Castroneves starts on pole position as the Brazilian looks to take the championship fight to his Penske teammate Will Power. This is Castroneves' 41st career pole position, good enough for fourth all-time. To have any shot at the title, Castroneves has to finish at least fourth but his best Fontana finish entering today is fifth. Starting second will be Castroneves' Team Penske teammate Juan Pablo Montoya. The Colombian finished fourth and tenth in his previous two IndyCar starts at Fontana. Josef Newgarden rounds out the first row. This is Newgarden's fourth front row start of the 2014 season.
On the inside of row two will be Takuma Sato. His previous best starting position at Fontana was twenty-first. Scott Dixon will be in the middle of row two. Dixon has finished in the top ten in all but one of his previous seven Fontana starts. Charlie Kimball is on the outside of row two. Kimball has finished tenth in each of his two Fontana appearances.
Tony Kanaan will start seventh. Kanaan has never won a season finale in his seventeen year career. Mikhail Aleshin was scheduled to start eighth. He was the highest starting rookie. Ryan Hunter-Reay should move up to eighth position after Aleshin's accident. Hunter-Reay has finished in the top ten in each of his two Fontana starts. This is his best career Fontana start. Moving to the outside of row three will be Graham Rahal. This is the National Guard's final race as an IndyCar sponsor and final chance at victory as they have yet to be on a race winning car since entering the series in 2007.
James Hinchcliffe will start tenth. He is twelfth in the championship and starting eleventh and eleventh in the championship is Ryan Briscoe. Briscoe was fastest in the abbreviated final practice last night and has finished in the top ten in four of five ovals to date in 2014. Simon Pagenaud starts on the outside of row four and is the final driver mathematically eligible for the championship. The Frenchman must win to have any shot at the title and his best Fontana finish entering today is thirteenth.
In thirteenth position will be Ed Carpenter. The furthest back on the grid a Fontana winner has come from is thirteenth when Adrián Fernández won in 1999. Sébastien Bourdais will be in the middle of row five. He started third and finished twelfth last year in his Fontana debut. Outside of his seventh place finish at Indianapolis, Bourdais' best oval finish in 2014 is twelfth at Milwaukee. Justin Wilson will start fifteenth. His average finish on ovals this season is 17.4 after averaging a 10.833 on ovals in 2013.
Jack Hawksworth will be on the inside of row six. He missed the Pocono race after an accident but he scored his first career oval top ten at Milwaukee a fortnight ago when finishing tenth. He finished ninth out of a nine-car field last year in Indy Lights at Fontana. Marco Andretti starts in the middle of row six with his Andretti Autosport teammate Carlos Muñoz to his outside. With Aleshin unable to participate in tonight's race, Muñoz has clinched the 2014 Verizon IndyCar Series Rookie of the Year honor. Marco Andretti was the 2006 IndyCar Rookie of the Year.
The seventh row will feature two Colombians and the championship leader, Australian Will Power. Sebastián Saavedra will start on the inside while Power will start in the middle and rookie Carlos Huertas will be on the outside.
Power entered the weekend with a 51-point lead over Castroneves and an 81-point over Pagenaud. Castroneves took the bonus point for pole position and when the green flag waves, Castroneves will hold a 30-point lead over his teammate with Pagenaud trailing by 95 points.
In the unluckily case the #7 Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda is repaired and the team runs a substitute driver, the car will start twenty-second.
NBCSN's coverage of the 2014 Verizon IndyCar Series season finale, MAVTV 500 from Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California will begin at 9:00 p.m. ET with green flag at 10:20 p.m. ET.
Friday, August 29, 2014
Final Practice of 2014 IndyCar Season Ends Prematurely Due to Aleshin Accident
Ryan Briscoe was fastest in the final practice session for the 2014 Verizon IndyCar Series season after the session end prematurely due to an accident involving Mikhail Aleshin, Charlie Kimball, Sébastien Bourdais, Jack Hawksworth and Marco Andretti.
Indianapolis Star's Curt Cavin providing a description of what happened in the accident.
Replay: Aleshin spun after getting below white line, spun into Kimball's path, massive crash, Aleshin vaults into the fence. HUGE
— Curt Cavin (@curtcavin) August 30, 2014
Aleshin has been put on a stretcher and been taken immediately to the hospital according to IMS Radio's Jake Query.
Holmatro safety team has Mikhail Aleshin on a stretcher. No condition update or communication from Aleshin.
— Jake Query (@jakequery) August 30, 2014
Update: 11:09 p.m. ET
From IndyCar, Mikhail Aleshin is awake and conscious. Complaining about injuries to right shoulder and right foot.
From IndyCar, Mikhail Aleshin is awake and conscious. Complaining about injuries to right shoulder and right foot.
Update on @mikhailaleshin: He is awake and conscious. Complaining about injuries to his right shoulder and right foot. #IndyCar
— IndyCar Series (@IndyCar) August 30, 2014
Briscoe was the fastest after running a lap at 32.9279 seconds (218.660 MPH). His Ganassi teammate Scott Dixon was second. Will Power was third fastest followed by Kimball. James Hinchcliffe was the top Honda in fifth.
The pole-sitter for tomorrow's race Hélio Castroneves was sixth ahead of fellow Brazilian Tony Kanaan. Andretti and Bourdais were eighth and ninth at the time of the accident and Ryan Hunter-Reay rounded out the top ten.
Josef Newgarden was eleventh followed by fellow Honda drivers Graham Rahal and Simon Pagenaud. Aleshin was fourteenth fastest in the abbreviated session, 0.5134 seconds back of Briscoe. Ed Carpenter rounded out the top fifteen.
Sebastián Saavedra was sixteenth with Justin Wilson in seventeenth followed by Takuma Sato, Jack Hawksworth and Juan Pablo Montoya rounding out the top twenty. Colombians Carlos Muñoz and Carlos Huertas rounded out the field. The field was covered by 1.7982 seconds in this session.
NBCSN's coverage of the 2014 Verizon IndyCar Series season finale, the MAVTV 500 from Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California is scheduled for 9:00 p.m. ET with green flag at 10:20 p.m.
Castroneves Takes Crucial Pole Position at Fontana
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| Hélio Castroneves (left) will take the fight to Will Power (right) for the championship from pole position |
When the green flag waves to start the MAVTV 500 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California the championship lead will automatically change.
This was Chevrolet's 13th pole of 2014 and eighth consecutive to close out the season. This is Castroneves' third career Fontana pole position. His first two came in 2003 and 2004. He finished sixth and seventh in those race respectively.
Juan Pablo Montoya qualified second with a two-lap average of 217.621 MPH, a career best starting position for the Colombian at Fontana. Josef Newgarden was the top Honda qualifier as he rounds out the front row. Remember, Triple Crown races feature rows of three. The Tennesseean was 0.021 MPH behind Montoya and this will be Newgarden's second consecutive front row start and fourth of the 2014 season.
Takuma Sato was on pace for pole but like many during the session lost time on his second lap and ended up fourth. Ganassi drivers were the next three on the timesheet with Scott Dixon leading the way. Following Dixon was Charlie Kimball and Tony Kanaan.
Joining Kanaan on row three will be Mikhail Aleshin, the fastest rookie. This year's Indianapolis 500 winner Ryan Hunter-Reay qualified ninth. Graham Rahal rounds out the top ten. James Hinchcliffe ended up qualifying eleventh ahead of Ryan Briscoe. Simon Pagenaud qualified thirteenth. The Frenchman is still mathematically eligible for the title but has to win tomorrow to have any shot of hoisting the Astor Cup. Ed Carpenter was on pace for pole position after his first qualifying lap but lost nearly seven miles per hour on his second lap and ended up fourteenth. Sébastien Bourdais rounded out the top fifteen.
The Brits Justin Wilson and Jack Hawksworth ended sixteenth and seventeenth respectively. Marco Andretti qualified seventeenth, his worst qualifying position at Fontana. His previous worse was eighth. Carlos Muñoz leads the Rookie of the Year standings and qualified nineteenth ahead of fellow Colombian Sebastián Saavedra and the aforementioned Will Power in twenty-first.
Carlos Huertas qualified twenty-second. The rookie Huertas was massively off the pace as he was the only driver to have a warm-up lap below 200 MPH and his two-lap average was 202.319 MPH, more than 10 MPH off Power in twenty-first.
The final practice session of the 2014 Verizon IndyCar Series season will take place at 10:15 p.m. ET and will be 30-minutes long.
NBCSN's coverage of the 2014 Verizon IndyCar Series season finale, the MAVTV 500 will begin at 9:00 p.m. ET tomorrow with green flag at 10:20 p.m. ET
Power and Castroneves 1-2 in Penultimate Practice
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| Will Power was all smiles after first practice |
Will Power and Hélio Castroneves were separated by 0.0051 seconds in first practice as Power ran the fastest lap, 32.5220-second lap at 221.389 MPH. It wasn't just the championship contenders who were fast in first practice. Chevrolet had eighth of their ten entries in the top ten and took the top six times.
Ed Carpenter was third fastest, nearly three-tenths back of Power. He was followed by three Ganassi drivers. Scott Dixon was fourth with Tony Kanaan rounding out the top five and Charlie Kimball in sixth. The three teammates were covered by 0.0137 seconds. Chevrolet enters Fontana having won seven consecutive pole positions and five consecutive races.
The fastest Honda driver and fastest rookie in the session was Mikhail Aleshin. He has three top tens in five oval starts. Juan Pablo Montoya was eighth quickest followed by Josef Newgarden. Ganassi got all four cars in the top ten with Ryan Briscoe ending up tenth in the first session.
Ryan Hunter-Reay leads five consecutive Hondas on the time sheet in eleventh. The last driver mathematically eligible for the IndyCar championship, Simon Pagenaud was twelfth fastest, 0.4593 seconds behind Power. It was tic-tac-toe, three Andretti drivers in a row in thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth. James Hinchcliffe led Carlos Muñoz and Marco Andretti. The gap from Aleshin in seventh and Hinchcliffe in thirteenth was 0.1054 seconds.
Sébastien Bourdais was sixteenth quickest, just ahead of his former teammate Graham Rahal. Takuma Sato was eighteenth with the Brits Justin Wilson and Jack Hawksworth rounding out the top twenty. Colombians Sébastien Saavedra and Carlos Huertas round out the drivers on the timesheet with Huertas the lone driver not within a second of Power. Saavedra was 0.8660 second back while Huertas trailed Power by 1.5203 seconds. Huertas ran a session-high 49 laps while Penske duo of Power and Castroneves each completed only nine laps in the first session.
IndyCar qualifying will take place at 5:15 p.m. ET. Simon Pagenaud is the first of championship contenders to make a qualifying attempt as he is the eleventh driver scheduled to make a run. Will Power is scheduled to be the thirteenth driver on track and Hélio Castroneves is scheduled to be the last driver to make a qualifying attempt.
The final practice session of the 2014 Verizon IndyCar Series season is scheduled for 10:15 p.m. ET and will be a thirty-minute session.
Thursday, August 28, 2014
Track Walk: Fontana 2014
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| Three drivers will fight for the Astor Cup and the IndyCar championship at Fontana |
Five-hundred miles separate us from knowing who will be lifting the Astor Cup as the 2014 Verizon IndyCar Series champion. IndyCar returns to Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California for the thirteenth running of the MAVTV 500. Will Power enters as the championship leader, 51 points clear of his teammate Hélio Castroneves. Third in the championship, trailing Power by 81 points is Simon Pagenaud.
Coverage
Time: Coverage begins Saturday August 30 at 9:00 p.m. ET with green flag at 10:20 p.m. ET.
TV Channel: NBCSN
Announcers: Leigh Diffey, Paul Tracy, Townsend Bell, Kevin Lee, Kelli Stavast, Marty Snider and Robin Miller.
Championship Scenarios
For Will Power to clinch the title, regardless of what anyone else does, the Australian has to finish sixth and if he scores one bonus point, he can finish seventh and clinch the title.
If Hélio Castroneves wins the race and scores maximum points, he needs Power to finish seventh or worse. If Castroneves wins and scores three or fewer bonus points, he needs Power to finish eighth or worse.
If Castroneves finishes second in the race and scores maximum bonus points or three bonus points, he needs Power to finish fourteenth or worse. If he finishes second and scores two or fewer bonus points, he needs Power to finish fifteenth or worse.
If Castroneves finishes third in the race and scores maximum bonus points, he needs Power to finish nineteenth or worse. If he finishes third and scores three or fewer bonus points, he needs Power to finish twentieth or worse.
If Castroneves finishes fourth in the race he must score maximum bonus points and have Power finish twenty-second with no bonus points.
Simon Pagenaud has to win the race to win the championship. If he scores maximum points, he needs Power to finish nineteenth or worse and Castroneves to finish third or worse.
If Pagenaud wins and scores two or three bonus points, he needs Power to finish twentieth or worse and Castroneves to finish third or worse or fourth or worse if Castroneves scores three or four bonus points.
If Pagenaud wins and scores the minimum 101 points for victory, he needs Power to finish twenty-first or worse and Castroneves to finish third or worse or fourth or worst if Castroneves scores more than two bonus points.
Championship Contenders at Fontana
Will Power started from pole positions and led 103 laps on his way to victory last year at Fontana, his second career oval victory. Power's only other start at Fontana was in 2012 where he had an accident take him out of contention for the championship. He qualified third but had to serve a ten grid spot penalty for exceeding the five engine limit and started thirteenth. He completed 66 laps and finished 24th.
Hélio Castroneves has the most experience at Fontana amongst the championship contenders. The Brazilian has ten starts on the 2-mile oval. He has two pole positions, two top fives and eight top tens, however the Brazilians best finish at Fontana is only fifth and he can't finish worst than fourth if he wants to claim his first IndyCar championship.
Like Power, Simon Pagenaud has only made two starts at Fontana. In 2012, he qualified fifteenth but started twentieth after an engine change. He finished fifteenth, four laps down. Last year, the Frenchman started thirteenth and finished thirteenth after retiring due to an engine failure after completing 217 laps.
Last Chance For Victory
Thirteen drivers enter the season finale looking for their first victory in 2014, including four who were victorious in 2013.
James Hinchcliffe won three times in 2013 with two coming on street circuits and one on an oval. The Canadian has only one podium in 2014 as he sits twelfth in the championship, four spots lower than his final position in 2013. Hinchcliffe has qualified well all year but his results in races have been disappointing. While averaging a starting position of 7.75, his average finish is 12.88235 and he loses close to five positions a race from his starting position. He finished fourth last year at Fontana but he has only two top ten finishes in eight superspeedway starts.
Tony Kanaan won last year's Indianapolis 500 and while having the fourth most podiums in 2014 with five, the Brazilian has yet to ascend to the top step. He has finished third at the last two oval races and he led a race-high 79 laps at Pocono before having to pit late for fuel. In ten Fontana starts, Kanaan has four podiums, six top fives and seven top tens along with one pole positions.
Kanaan's Ganassi teammate Charlie Kimball won at Mid-Ohio last year and if James Hinchcliffe has been qualifying well and finishing poorly, Kimball has been doing the reverse. While averaging a starting position of 17.06, Kimball's average finish 12.52 and is tied for the fifth most top tens in 2014. The California-native has finished tenth in his only two visits Fontana and started fourth last year.
Takuma Sato's win at Long Beach last year appeared to be a sign the Japanese driver had finally honed in his recklessness and the speed he has shown in Formula One and IndyCar would finally make him a contender at the front of the field each week. In the 33 races since that victory, Sato has one podium, three top fives, six top tens and twelve finishes outside the top twenty. He currently sits twentieth in the championship. In 2012, Sato was up front, competing for a top five before spinning on the lap but finishing seventh as only six cars finished on the lead lap. He finished seventeenth last year after an engine failure.
After Tony Kanaan, the next driver in the championship standings without a victory is Carlos Muñoz. The Colombian rookie has raced very well on the few superspeedway races he has had the luxury of participating in. Second on debut in the 2013 Indianapolis 500, running up front and lower than anyone else last year at Fontana before pushing the limits a little too far and losing the backend. He finish fourth in this year's Indianapolis 500 and came home in third at Pocono. Despite all these top five finishes, Muñoz has only led 20 laps in his career to date.
Marco Andretti is looking for his first victory since Iowa 2011, 59 races ago. He started from pole at Fontana in 2012 before finishing eight and started sixth last year before coming home in seventh. Andretti has only combined to lead six laps in his two Fontana starts. He is tied for seventh in top ten finishes with nine, including an eighth place finish last week at Sonoma. However, Andretti has only two top fives this year with his last coming at the Indianapolis 500. He has averaged a 13th place finish in the previous five oval races.
Eleventh in the championship, Ryan Briscoe has yet to score a podium, let alone a victory in 2014. His lone top five was a fourth place finish at Pocono. He did not race at Fontana in 2013 and he started second in 2012 but was a non-factor in the race, leading only two laps before finishing seventeenth. Briscoe had completed the second most laps in 2014 behind only Will Power. Briscoe has ran all but 21 of the 2145 laps through the first 17 races of the 2014 Verizon IndyCar Series season. Briscoe and Power are the only two drivers to be running at the finish of every IndyCar race to date in 2014.
Josef Newgarden has four top tens in the second half of 2014 alone including a fifth and sixth in the last two races. The Tennesseean has been knocking on the door for a victory this summer. Had it not been for missing it on fuel at Pocono, running out of laps to challenge Ryan Hunter-Reay at Iowa, a poor pit stop at Mid-Ohio or missing it on fuel again at Milwaukee, Newgarden may have already picked up his first career victory. He recently renewed his contract with Sarah Fisher and Wink Hartman as SFHR merges with Ed Carpenter's team for 2015 and ending 2014 with a victory would give the merged team a great shot in the arm heading into autumn offseason. Newgarden's finishes at Fontana are sixteenth and twentieth.
Graham Rahal is now only looking to set a record for most starts between victories at Fontana but he is looking to give the National Guard their first IndyCar victory in their final race. Rahal has started 113 races since winning at St. Petersburg in 2008. The current record is 97 by Johnny Rutherford between victories at Atlanta in 1965 and Ontario in 1973. He nearly won at Sonoma last week but fell three laps short on fuel. He has only four top tens in 2014 and his best finish at Fontana is sixth.
Other Championship Position Battles
While three battle for the title, many other drivers are battling to get the best position possible in the championship.
While Pagenaud has a shot at the title, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Juan Pablo Montoya and Scott Dixon are all breathing down his neck for third in the championship. Twenty-six points cover the four drivers.
Meanwhile, nineteen points cover seventh through tenth in the championship as Tony Kanaan, Sébastien Bourdais, Carlos Muñoz and Marco Andretti all jostle for position.
Andretti sits tenth, only fifteen points ahead of Ryan Briscoe with James Hinchcliffe 29 points back.
Josef Newgarden and Charlie Kimball are tied for thirteenth with 366 points. Five points cover Newgarden, Kimball, Mikhail Aleshin and Justin Wilson as they battle for positions in the top fifteen.
Jack Hawksworth and Graham Rahal are only thirteen points apart for seventeenth.
Carlos Huertas is only two points ahead of Takuma Sato for nineteenth. Twenty-nine points behind Sato is Sebastián Saavedra as he looks to crack the the top twenty.
And let's not rule out Ed Carpenter. With 191 points he sits 61 points behind Mike Conway and 74 points behind Sebastián Saavedra for twenty-first.
Attrition
Last year, nine cars were running at the finish as the heat and dirty conditions caused four engine failures and many teams dealing with over heating. It should be noted all four engine failures were Hondas and Honda struggled at Texas earlier this year with the heat as three cars retired due to engine issues.
Only five cars finished on the lead lap and the year before that only six completed all 250 circuits. Reliability will be key in the championship battle as a few extra laps in the pits to clean out the air ducts will cost a driver many positions on the track.
Fun Facts
This will be the first race on August 30th since 1992 and the last two races on August 30th have been won by Andrettis. Mario Andretti won at Road America on August 30, 1987 while Michael Andretti won at Vancouver on August 30, 1992.
The pole-sitter has won at Fontana twice, Dario Franchitti in 2005 and Will Power last year.
The furthest back on the grid a winner has come from at Fontana is thirteenth by Adrián Fernández in 1999.
Should Will Power win the IndyCar championship, he would become the first Australian to win the title.
Should Hélio Castroneves win the IndyCar championship, it would be the 7th time a Brazilian has won the IndyCar championship and the first since Tony Kanaan won in 2004.
Should Simon Pagenaud win the IndyCar championship, it would be the 6th time a Frenchman has won the IndyCar championship and the first since Sébastien Bourdais won in 2007.
There have been ten winners this season in IndyCar. Should there be an eleventh winner it would match the record for most different winners in an IndyCar season. There were eleven different winners in 2000 and 2001.
The drivers who won in 2000 weere Max Papis, Paul Tracy, Adrián Fernández, Michael Andretti, Gil de Ferran, Juan Pablo Montoya, Hélio Castroneves, Roberto Moreno, Cristiano da Matta, Jimmy Vasser and Christian Fittipaldi.
The drivers who won in 2001 were da Matta, Castroneves, Scott Dixon, Kenny Bräck, Papis, Dario Franchitti, Andretti, Patrick Carpentier, Bruno Junqueira, Moreno and de Ferran.
In twelve IndyCar races at Fontana, the average amount of lead changes in a race is 31.8333. The most lead changes is 78 in the 2001 race won by Cristiano da Matta. The least amount of lead changes is 13 in the first race at Fontana in 1997, won by Mark Blundell.
The last two IndyCar races at Fontana have featured seven cautions. The average amount of cautions for a Fontana race is 6.083 for an average of 42.5833 laps.
Chevrolet has won five consecutive races and won eight consecutive pole positions this season.
Scott Dixon needs to lead 180 laps to become the eighth driver to reach the 4,500 laps led club.
Juan Pablo Montoya needs to lead 148 laps to become the twenty-third driver to join the 2,000 laps led club.
Ryan Briscoe needs to lead 65 laps to become the twenty-seventh driver to join the 1,500 laps led club.
Carlos Muñoz won the last two Indy Lights races at Fontana.
The three Penske drivers are 1-2-3 in oval points. Juan Pablo Montoya has scored 275 points on ovals while Hélio Castroneves is second with 266 points and Will Power is third with 240 points. Ryan Hunter-Reay and Carlos Muñoz round out the top five in oval points with 221 and 212 respectively. Simon Pagenaud has scored 201 points on ovals while Ed Carpenter has scored 191 points.
More facts can always be found at the Telemetry Center.
Predictions
Will Power does learn from his previous missteps, plays it conservation but doesn't play prevent defense and comes home with a top ten finish and his first IndyCar championship.
We will see the eleventh different winner in the 2014 Verizon IndyCar Series season at Fontana and it will be a first time winner. Josef Newgarden takes the MAVTV 500 with his future teammate/co-owner Ed Carpenter in tow. Andretti Autosport puts three cars in the top ten. Carlos Muñoz wins Rookie of the Year. Simon Pagenaud comes home in the top ten. Fourteen cars are running at the end. Sleeper: Mikhail Aleshin.
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