Simon Pagenaud won pole position for the 103rd Indianapolis 500. Fernando Alonso, Patricio O'Ward and Max Chilton failed to qualify for the 103rd Indianapolis 500. There was rain, there was sunshine and there was wind and we all have to wonder what the future has in store. Elsewhere, NASCAR may have found the race format most suited for 1.5-mile ovals if not every race. It was a brotherly affair at Le Mans on two wheels. Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters visited Belgium for the first time in 14 years. Here is a run down of what got me thinking.
What's Alonso's End Game?
Once it became clear a third World Drivers' Championship was no longer in reach for Fernando Alonso the Spaniard shifted his focus to leaving his mark on the motorsport's world in another way, in a way only one other man has accomplished.
Alonso set his eyes on the Triple Crown of Motorsports in 2017, despite having only spent his career in Formula One and with only the Monaco Grand Prix under his belt. He had been to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway but not to race around the oval. He had been to Circuit de la Sarthe but only to wave the Tricolour and start the race.
It became clear McLaren was not going to provide Alonso with grand prix victories. It was not going to resurrect his career. After an unharmonious first stint with team when Alonso was alone on top of the mountain, the only previous world champion on the grid in 2007 but someone who could not be challenged as a number one driver and was by Lewis Hamilton, this return was not going to achieve what was possible at the end of the 2000s. It was an opportunity missed and in the second stint with McLaren would not recreate what could have been.
Alonso had maxed out his accomplishments in Formula One but he wasn't done. Alonso wasn't going to equal or exceed the number of world championships for Ayrton Senna, Alain Prost, Juan Manuel Fangio and Michael Schumacher but he saw there was more than Formula One and something else to chance.
Indianapolis and Le Mans may not have been what Alonso grew up dreaming of but a student of the sport saw the different avenues to greatness. While many drivers are remembered for their Formula One exploits, the motorsports world is expansive and there is more than the grand prix circuit. It has always been there and was once regularly visited from drivers all around the globe. The world changed, it became more insular, drivers sticking to series mostly because of tight-knit contracts focusing a driver on one avenue instead of spreading that driver to all corners of the globe.
In 2017, Alonso reached the cliff and made a leap of faith into the vast unknown. He decided to chase something only one other man has accomplished and when he embarked on his journey he was only a third of the way to completion, to matching the grand feat of Graham Hill.
At first, it was an audacious and noble challenge. It had been a while since a driver, an active Formula One driver and a past world champion sought Indianapolis 500 glory. There was no guarantee Alonso would succeed. There was no guarantee he would be competitive let alone contending for a victory and in his rookie year Alonso dazzled everyone. He had never raced on an oval, never raced in anything longer than the 305 km length of a grand prix, never ran at those kinds of speeds and he was a front runner. He was in the conversation for the victory, one of many drivers that afternoon. It appeared Alonso was up to the task and an Indianapolis 500 victory would not be unthinkable for the Spaniard.
Two years later, Alonso missed the Indianapolis 500 and with McLaren fully behind him.
Alonso and McLaren both would have had to know it would not go as swimmingly as it did with Andretti in 2017. It was going to be a learning process. Add to it building the car on its own, not having the dearth of Indianapolis experience and on top of it having a different aero package than what Alonso mastered two years ago and it was a greater uphill battle for this team's endeavor.
I doubt either party thought it would miss the race. It didn't have to repeat its 2017 performance. It just had to be adequate and the team couldn't manage that.
How long will this go for Alonso?
He has made it clear that he is chasing the Triple Crown but many drivers have gone after the Indianapolis 500 and it takes years for some to win it. Marco Andretti and Graham Rahal have been at it for more than a decade and neither has won yet. I think many have prepared themselves that neither will win this race if they haven't won it already. Tony Kanaan didn't win it until his 12th attempt. Will Power won it last year in his 11th attempt. Some drivers never win it. George Snider and Gary Bettenhausen made 22 starts and 21 starts respectively and neither won it. Michael Andretti made 16 starts and led 431 laps and never won it. Ted Horn made ten Indianapolis 500 starts, finished in the top four in nine of those starts, completed all 500 miles eight times for a total of 1,944 of a possible 2,000 laps but none of those laps led were the 200th lap; none of those finishes were first place.
We cannot deny Alonso's competitiveness but you have to wonder if he will return to attempt the Indianapolis 500 again in 2020. Things are going to change if he is going to make another attempt. This might have been the last straw with McLaren for Alonso. After four years in a futile Formula One entry and the heartbreaking end to his first Indianapolis 500, cruelly by a Honda engine expiring, the one thing from his Formula One season that he hoped to avoid, missing the race has to see him investigate other endeavor, especially off the back of his success at Le Mans and Daytona where he won with Toyota and Wayne Taylor Racing driving a Cadillac. It is clear there are other places where he can succeed and for Alonso to achieve this great accomplishment it may have to be done with a team other than McLaren.
It is easy to run from failure. Alonso is not going to let it end like this. The man is too proud to let failure be his lasting mark. He already has to live with the dismal end to his Formula One career. He isn't going to let the same happen when it comes to Indianapolis.
Alonso is likely already shopping for a new home. He has to go after Ed Carpenter Racing because that team put three cars in the top four spots on the grid. I think Alonso would feel comfortable re-joining the Andretti organization and I don't think he would turn down an opportunity from Roger Penske or Chip Ganassi if offered but we have to look at this realistically and this could take longer than Alonso and others would like.
Alonso may get the team he desires but how long will he go on chasing this one victory? Is he here until he wins it? Alonso is 37 years old and he could easily come back for another seven or eight years but are we to expect he will be making a tenth Indianapolis 500 start if he hasn't won it yet? Will push come to shove and he reach a breaking point at 40 and decide it is no longer for him if he has yet to win the Indianapolis 500? Will he go until he is 50? Will Alonso open his own wallet to go after the Triple Crown or will it come down to others funding the effort? Will Alonso shift his focus to other interests, such as the Dakar Rally, Daytona 500, Bathurst 1000 or some other event?
One victory is in Alonso's way from greatness, from a seat with Graham Hill. These races are not any easier than they were when Hill conquered them all nearly five decades ago. Alonso is on the back nine of his career, though he still may have a way to go until he reaches the clubhouse, the question is at what point in his pursuit will have to swallow the hardest pill of not completing his challenge?
Nothing lasts forever and neither will Alonso's pursuit of the Triple Crown. It will either end in glory or acceptance of another defeat.
Winners From the Weekend
You know about Simon Pagenaud and Indianapolis 500 qualifying but did you know...
Marc Márquez won MotoGP's French Grand Prix while his brother Álex won the Moto2 race. It was Marc's third victory from five races and it was Álex's first victory in Moto2 since Japan 2017. John McPhee won the Moto3 race, his first victory since the 2016 round at Brno.
Kyle Larson won the NASCAR All-Star Race after advancing from the Open. Kyle Busch won the Truck race, his fifth victory in his five starts.
Philipp Eng and René Rast split Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters races from Zolder. It was Eng's first DTM victory.
Beitske Visser won the W Series race from Zolder.
Yuhi Sekiguchi won the Super Formula race from Autopolis.
Thed Björk won the first and third World Touring Car Cup races from Zandvoort with Esteban Guerrieri taking the second race.
The #61 R.Ferri Motorsports Ferrari of Miguel Molina and Toni Vilander and the #9 K-PAX Racing Bentley of Álvaro Parente and Andy Soucek split the Blancpain World Challenge America races from Mosport.
The #47 Nolasport Porsche of Jason Hart and Matt Travis and the #34 Murillo Racing Mercedes-AMG of Matt Fassnacht and Christian Szymczak split the GT4 America SprintX races.
Nicolai Elghanayan and Spencer Pumpelly split the two GT4 America Sprint races.
Coming Up This Weekend
The 103rd Indianapolis 500.
Monaco Grand Prix.
Coca-Cola 600.
Formula E is back in Berlin.
Supercars has a round at Winton Motor Raceway.
Super GT will be at Suzuka.
Covering All Motorsports. From Indianapolis to Le Mans, Daytona to Monaco.
Monday, May 20, 2019
Sunday, May 19, 2019
First Impressions: 103rd Indianapolis 500 Sunday Qualifying
1. It was Hollywood come to life in Speedway, Indiana.
The small team, overcoming an accident just over 48 hours ago, one that totaled its best race car against the world power, the team with nearly 60 decades of history and can be spouted from every corner of the globe when it comes to racing greatness.
It had to be the final attempt of the day. It had to be for the final spot in the field. It had to come down to the final attempt. The difference had to be 0.019 MPH over four laps, 0.019 MPH will forever be the difference between Kyle Kaiser and Juncos Racing taking the 33rd and final starting spot in the 103rd Indianapolis 500 from Fernando Alonso and McLaren.
Juncos Racing had a lifetime in a week. It lost its two biggest sponsors, it went out and was solidly in the middle of the field during practice, it had an accident on its first flying lap of Friday practice and had to pull an all-nighter to get the only back up car prepared to make the race and it was all hands on deck with the IMSA crew and Road to Indy crews dropping everything to get the only bullet left in the gun prepared for a shootout.
Kaiser didn't turn a practice lap this morning. The team didn't get a chance to dial the car in one final time. It was going to be four laps of make it or break it and living with whatever happens. After all, he was the final car in line. He was going to know what he would have to beat to make the race and at some point in every driver's career they will face a situation where it is all or nothing and there is nothing left to lose, even the race car.
The car was on its freshest legs and it put down its best qualifying run. The car that was white, a billboard begging for sponsors returned to the traditional Juncos Racing green, who said green was unlucky? The team returned to its identity and made the race. It rested on its laurels and it paid off.
2. Fernando Alonso joins a historic list that includes Al Unser, Jr., Emerson Fittipaldi, Gordon Johncock, Johnny Rutherford, Tom Sneva and Bobby Rahal but it is not the list of Indianapolis 500 winners, it is the list of drivers to not qualify for the Indianapolis 500.
It shouldn't have gone this way. McLaren shouldn't miss the Indianapolis 500. It just has to beat three cars out of 36. It just has to be in the top 91.667%. That is all it takes. It just has to beat three cars, teams that have existed in single-seater racing for less than two years. It doesn't have to set the fastest time to make the race. It just had to be average and it couldn't muster that.
We know Alonso can do this. He showed it in 2017. This wasn't a case of a man thinking he was greater than the occasion. This wasn't a case of a team taking Indianapolis for granted. Sometimes the biggest names get it wrong. If Alonso doesn't have an accident on Wednesday, who knows what would have happened. Who knows if he would have not made the top 30 on Saturday. Everything that could have gone wrong did from the start. The car died because of a dead battery on the turn two access road leaving the pit lane for the first time to start the April 24th test, the cruelest bit of foreshadowing but no one could have thought it would lead to this.
There is no shame is failing to make the Indianapolis 500. Many have failed: the six Indianapolis 500 winners above, world champion Nelson Piquet, grand prix winner and Le Mans winner Johnny Herbert, Le Mans winner Geoff Brabham, Le Mans winner Chris Amon, Le Mans winner Masten Gregory, IndyCar champion Paul Tracy, World of Outlaws champions Steve Kinser and Sammy Swindell. That isn't even the complete list.
Great drivers from every discipline have missed the Indianapolis 500. Alonso is just another name added to the list.
3. McLaren can buy its way into the race. It appears it won't be it could. We have to confront that.
Zak Brown could give enough money to Juncos Racing to assure the team could run the next five full seasons in IndyCar. The same is true for Clauson-Marshall Racing and DragonSpeed. Brown could bring Dreyer & Reinbold back as a full-time competitor.
It is a team sport. It is a business. What is best for the team? What is best for business?
Everyone has a price and we have to keep that in mind. It is not against the rules but it could break some of your spirits. It might not happen this year but it could be reality next year.
4. Sage Karam saved his career. If Karam had missed the race it would have been easy to write him off and say he would never drive an IndyCar again. It would be easy to say he was not committed enough and like the idea of being a race car driver but couldn't get down the practice. He would have been easily dismissed as a pretty face.
But Karam put down the qualifying run of his life and when he got out of the car he sounded like a kid that had escaped certain death on the radio interview. He was excited to be alive but he knew he got away with one and he knows he might not be lucky next time.
5. James Hinchcliffe saved his job today and by the skin of his teeth. Thirty-second on the grid never seemed so good. The team got the backup car tuned in and Hinchcliffe put it in the show but I think Schmidt Peterson Motorsports and Honda has to have a long conversation about Hinchcliffe's future. Last year, Robert Wickens handily beat Hinchcliffe in the championship. This year, Marcus Ericsson had no problem qualifying 13th. Hinchcliffe's record in the championship is not great. He can win a race here and there but for every race victory there seems to be two retirements due to accidents.
Hinchcliffe is known for his personality but is this really the guy to throw the support behind?
Honda had two drivers go toe-to-toe for the championship last year in Scott Dixon and Alexander Rossi. It has Colton Herta, a 19-year-old who has already won an IndyCar race and is on row two for the Indianapolis 500 and is in a band. I think it might be time to put Hinchcliffe aside because the guy in the national commercials has to do better than 32nd on the grid for the Indianapolis 500 one year after failing to make the race.
6. This was a rough day for Carlin. It had half of the cars in the Last Row Shootout and none of the six made. It should have got one through, even if it was the McLaren partnership. It went 0-for-3 today.
Max Chilton said this car was the most comfortable he has had in his career at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and it was the 36th out of 36 cars. Patricio O'Ward has gone from Red Bull Junior Team darling to the only rookie not to make the Indianapolis 500 after being impressive in every IndyCar start. O'Ward reportedly had an offer to do about eight races with Andretti Autosport and he gambled on himself. It looked like he made the right choice after his first few starts this season. How does it look now?
The one car that made the race was the least sexy driver of them all, Charlie Kimball but Kimball has always been the right guy for the job. Kimball gets the car in the show. He consistently completes laps. He takes a car that starts 17th and gets it into the top ten. He is the guy you always select to marry in Marry, Fuck, Kill.
Kimball was fine all week and never in danger of miss the race. I don't know if that says more about him or the team. Carlin is going to have difficult decisions looming for the rest of this season and into next season.
7. And now for what we all forgot was taking place: The Fast Nine!
Simon Pagenaud became the first French pole-sitter since René Thomas in 1919! Pagenaud won pole position with a four-lap average of 229.992 MPH. Ed Carpenter was second, 0.003 MPH off Pagenaud with the fastest from Saturday, Spencer Pigot rounding out the front row.
Ed Jones will start on the inside of row two with Colton Herta, the fastest Honda in fifth position, and Will Power will look to defend his Indianapolis 500 victory from sixth.
Sébastien Bourdais, Josef Newgarden and Alexander Rossi will start on row three.
And that is all I have to say about the first three rows of the grid because nobody could focus on the first three rows of the grid, which brings me to my next point...
8. Remember when moving the Fast Nine session to the end of Sunday was meant to have the most climatic moment close qualifying? Yeah, this weekend kind of proves that was bullshit.
Nobody was talking about pole position at the end of Saturday. Nobody was talking about pole position at the start of Sunday. Nobody was talking about pole position when Bourdais first took to the track. Bumping was the story. Pole position was the afterthought. Everyone was focused on Alonso, O'Ward, Karam, Hinchcliffe, Chilton and Kaiser and the bumping battle. No one really cared about the Fast Nine except the nine drivers in the Fast Nine.
I think yesterday showed we could revert to pole position being decided on Saturday evening. The most climatic moment is deciding the final spots and seeing who will not make it. Pole position sounds like it is the most climatic thing of the weekend and it is important and historic but it was overshadowed all weekend and worst of all Pagenaud is not going to get the same type of adoration that others have received.
Television plays apart in the decision making process and all the drama was attempted to be jammed into a three-hour window on network television, I get it but IndyCar was fine with the Fast Nine session get rained out and just setting the first three rows on Saturday's times but it wasn't going to let the Last Row Shootout not take place. It was going to have the thrill of victory and agony of defeat, the go or go home moment play out on television whether it had been at noon on NBC or Monday afternoon or Tuesday evening. The Last Row Shootout was always going to happen. It made a choice over what was more important and it selected bumping over pole position.
We can have both ends of excitement and spread it over two days. When the Fast Nine session was first introduced, Saturday qualifying began at 11:00 a.m. ET and ended at 4:00 p.m. ET with the Fast Nine taking place at 4:30 p.m. ET. I think we could go back to that or maybe even start qualifying at 10:30 a.m. and give everyone six hours and at 4:30 p.m. ET, the Fast Nine is set. There was not linear television coverage until 5:00 p.m. ET on NBCSN anyway and that could be when the Fast Nine session takes place.
As for Sunday, I am not sure we can go back to six hours of bump day but three hours on national television? Sign me up. Don't hold the teams to one attempt, go or go home, don't lock in the top 30 times and have only the final row up for grabs, have it so anyone could be bumped and keep every team at the back on their toes for three hours with teams making multiple attempts.
I think if you give the teams nine hours of qualifying to get into the race that is plenty. The grid could be decided by 3:00 p.m. ET Sunday and then the post-qualifying practice session could take place.
Does this proposal have flaws? Every proposal has flaws and a notable flaw with this one is rain on Sunday. In the past, if bump day was rained out and the field was filled then qualifying was over. That is understandable but that doesn't fly today and that isn't conducive to television. If you say you are going to air a final qualifying session to decide the final qualifying spots you better broadcast it even if it is delayed a day. If that means qualifying on Monday then we will have qualifying on Monday. Of course, maybe a hard deadline is set that if the field is full and qualifying cannot be completed by the end of Monday then the final session will not be held.
I know people hate change but it's evolution and being open to new practices and finding what fits best. A few years ago, it made sense to move the Fast Nine session to Sunday. Now it appears best to move it back to Saturday and let bumping take center stage on Sunday.
9. Another item of note from practice week on my mind is the end of the $10,000 award to the fastest at the end of each practice day. What the hell? Will Power was mad about it, Josef Newgarden was annoyed and Conor Daly could have actually found that money quite useful and he isn't going to get it. It is a shame.
IndyCar drivers aren't struggling to make rent but every dime helps and that money just disappeared, which isn't a good thing. If that $40,000 was taken away and added to the prize for pole position then I could understand it but it appears the series and Indianapolis Motor Speedway aren't awarding it anymore just because. That is not right. I stand with the drivers on this one.
10. I want to touch upon the television side of things now because I want to focus on the race next week and not let the periphery of distractions creep in.
NBC has done a great job promoting this race. Consider that we have been seeing advertisements since the NFL wild card playoff games and that was the weekend of January 7-8th. Previously, the Indianapolis 500 was not getting this level of promotion from ESPN and ABC. The race would get mentioned when ABC showed the season opener but we didn't see dedicated advertisements for the Indianapolis 500 until late-April or the start of May.
NBC has been mentioning the Indianapolis 500 for all of 2019. From the NFL playoff games to NHL games on Wednesday nights to weekly NASCAR America shows and during other properties, NBC gave it maximum effort.
I was skeptical before the year began about the TV rating for the Indianapolis 500 because we have seen events change networks and ratings decline and after more than five decades being on ABC, I thought people would forget the Indianapolis 500 because it is a change and people are terrible with change. I was afraid people in their 50s and 60s who tune into the Indianapolis 500 because it is just something you do on Memorial Day weekend would go to ABC, see whatever else ABC is showing and when they see it is not the race turn the TV off and head outside.
After the last five months, I think NBC has done all it could to get the message out, to remind the American public that the Indianapolis 500 is the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend and it can be seen on NBC. If the rating is down from last year, it is not because of NBC lack of investment.
11. I am spent. Practice is tomorrow. Then a few days off. Then Carb Day. It will fly by. Don't forget to enjoy it.
The small team, overcoming an accident just over 48 hours ago, one that totaled its best race car against the world power, the team with nearly 60 decades of history and can be spouted from every corner of the globe when it comes to racing greatness.
It had to be the final attempt of the day. It had to be for the final spot in the field. It had to come down to the final attempt. The difference had to be 0.019 MPH over four laps, 0.019 MPH will forever be the difference between Kyle Kaiser and Juncos Racing taking the 33rd and final starting spot in the 103rd Indianapolis 500 from Fernando Alonso and McLaren.
Juncos Racing had a lifetime in a week. It lost its two biggest sponsors, it went out and was solidly in the middle of the field during practice, it had an accident on its first flying lap of Friday practice and had to pull an all-nighter to get the only back up car prepared to make the race and it was all hands on deck with the IMSA crew and Road to Indy crews dropping everything to get the only bullet left in the gun prepared for a shootout.
Kaiser didn't turn a practice lap this morning. The team didn't get a chance to dial the car in one final time. It was going to be four laps of make it or break it and living with whatever happens. After all, he was the final car in line. He was going to know what he would have to beat to make the race and at some point in every driver's career they will face a situation where it is all or nothing and there is nothing left to lose, even the race car.
The car was on its freshest legs and it put down its best qualifying run. The car that was white, a billboard begging for sponsors returned to the traditional Juncos Racing green, who said green was unlucky? The team returned to its identity and made the race. It rested on its laurels and it paid off.
2. Fernando Alonso joins a historic list that includes Al Unser, Jr., Emerson Fittipaldi, Gordon Johncock, Johnny Rutherford, Tom Sneva and Bobby Rahal but it is not the list of Indianapolis 500 winners, it is the list of drivers to not qualify for the Indianapolis 500.
It shouldn't have gone this way. McLaren shouldn't miss the Indianapolis 500. It just has to beat three cars out of 36. It just has to be in the top 91.667%. That is all it takes. It just has to beat three cars, teams that have existed in single-seater racing for less than two years. It doesn't have to set the fastest time to make the race. It just had to be average and it couldn't muster that.
We know Alonso can do this. He showed it in 2017. This wasn't a case of a man thinking he was greater than the occasion. This wasn't a case of a team taking Indianapolis for granted. Sometimes the biggest names get it wrong. If Alonso doesn't have an accident on Wednesday, who knows what would have happened. Who knows if he would have not made the top 30 on Saturday. Everything that could have gone wrong did from the start. The car died because of a dead battery on the turn two access road leaving the pit lane for the first time to start the April 24th test, the cruelest bit of foreshadowing but no one could have thought it would lead to this.
There is no shame is failing to make the Indianapolis 500. Many have failed: the six Indianapolis 500 winners above, world champion Nelson Piquet, grand prix winner and Le Mans winner Johnny Herbert, Le Mans winner Geoff Brabham, Le Mans winner Chris Amon, Le Mans winner Masten Gregory, IndyCar champion Paul Tracy, World of Outlaws champions Steve Kinser and Sammy Swindell. That isn't even the complete list.
Great drivers from every discipline have missed the Indianapolis 500. Alonso is just another name added to the list.
3. McLaren can buy its way into the race. It appears it won't be it could. We have to confront that.
Zak Brown could give enough money to Juncos Racing to assure the team could run the next five full seasons in IndyCar. The same is true for Clauson-Marshall Racing and DragonSpeed. Brown could bring Dreyer & Reinbold back as a full-time competitor.
It is a team sport. It is a business. What is best for the team? What is best for business?
Everyone has a price and we have to keep that in mind. It is not against the rules but it could break some of your spirits. It might not happen this year but it could be reality next year.
4. Sage Karam saved his career. If Karam had missed the race it would have been easy to write him off and say he would never drive an IndyCar again. It would be easy to say he was not committed enough and like the idea of being a race car driver but couldn't get down the practice. He would have been easily dismissed as a pretty face.
But Karam put down the qualifying run of his life and when he got out of the car he sounded like a kid that had escaped certain death on the radio interview. He was excited to be alive but he knew he got away with one and he knows he might not be lucky next time.
5. James Hinchcliffe saved his job today and by the skin of his teeth. Thirty-second on the grid never seemed so good. The team got the backup car tuned in and Hinchcliffe put it in the show but I think Schmidt Peterson Motorsports and Honda has to have a long conversation about Hinchcliffe's future. Last year, Robert Wickens handily beat Hinchcliffe in the championship. This year, Marcus Ericsson had no problem qualifying 13th. Hinchcliffe's record in the championship is not great. He can win a race here and there but for every race victory there seems to be two retirements due to accidents.
Hinchcliffe is known for his personality but is this really the guy to throw the support behind?
Honda had two drivers go toe-to-toe for the championship last year in Scott Dixon and Alexander Rossi. It has Colton Herta, a 19-year-old who has already won an IndyCar race and is on row two for the Indianapolis 500 and is in a band. I think it might be time to put Hinchcliffe aside because the guy in the national commercials has to do better than 32nd on the grid for the Indianapolis 500 one year after failing to make the race.
6. This was a rough day for Carlin. It had half of the cars in the Last Row Shootout and none of the six made. It should have got one through, even if it was the McLaren partnership. It went 0-for-3 today.
Max Chilton said this car was the most comfortable he has had in his career at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and it was the 36th out of 36 cars. Patricio O'Ward has gone from Red Bull Junior Team darling to the only rookie not to make the Indianapolis 500 after being impressive in every IndyCar start. O'Ward reportedly had an offer to do about eight races with Andretti Autosport and he gambled on himself. It looked like he made the right choice after his first few starts this season. How does it look now?
The one car that made the race was the least sexy driver of them all, Charlie Kimball but Kimball has always been the right guy for the job. Kimball gets the car in the show. He consistently completes laps. He takes a car that starts 17th and gets it into the top ten. He is the guy you always select to marry in Marry, Fuck, Kill.
Kimball was fine all week and never in danger of miss the race. I don't know if that says more about him or the team. Carlin is going to have difficult decisions looming for the rest of this season and into next season.
7. And now for what we all forgot was taking place: The Fast Nine!
Simon Pagenaud became the first French pole-sitter since René Thomas in 1919! Pagenaud won pole position with a four-lap average of 229.992 MPH. Ed Carpenter was second, 0.003 MPH off Pagenaud with the fastest from Saturday, Spencer Pigot rounding out the front row.
Ed Jones will start on the inside of row two with Colton Herta, the fastest Honda in fifth position, and Will Power will look to defend his Indianapolis 500 victory from sixth.
Sébastien Bourdais, Josef Newgarden and Alexander Rossi will start on row three.
And that is all I have to say about the first three rows of the grid because nobody could focus on the first three rows of the grid, which brings me to my next point...
8. Remember when moving the Fast Nine session to the end of Sunday was meant to have the most climatic moment close qualifying? Yeah, this weekend kind of proves that was bullshit.
Nobody was talking about pole position at the end of Saturday. Nobody was talking about pole position at the start of Sunday. Nobody was talking about pole position when Bourdais first took to the track. Bumping was the story. Pole position was the afterthought. Everyone was focused on Alonso, O'Ward, Karam, Hinchcliffe, Chilton and Kaiser and the bumping battle. No one really cared about the Fast Nine except the nine drivers in the Fast Nine.
I think yesterday showed we could revert to pole position being decided on Saturday evening. The most climatic moment is deciding the final spots and seeing who will not make it. Pole position sounds like it is the most climatic thing of the weekend and it is important and historic but it was overshadowed all weekend and worst of all Pagenaud is not going to get the same type of adoration that others have received.
Television plays apart in the decision making process and all the drama was attempted to be jammed into a three-hour window on network television, I get it but IndyCar was fine with the Fast Nine session get rained out and just setting the first three rows on Saturday's times but it wasn't going to let the Last Row Shootout not take place. It was going to have the thrill of victory and agony of defeat, the go or go home moment play out on television whether it had been at noon on NBC or Monday afternoon or Tuesday evening. The Last Row Shootout was always going to happen. It made a choice over what was more important and it selected bumping over pole position.
We can have both ends of excitement and spread it over two days. When the Fast Nine session was first introduced, Saturday qualifying began at 11:00 a.m. ET and ended at 4:00 p.m. ET with the Fast Nine taking place at 4:30 p.m. ET. I think we could go back to that or maybe even start qualifying at 10:30 a.m. and give everyone six hours and at 4:30 p.m. ET, the Fast Nine is set. There was not linear television coverage until 5:00 p.m. ET on NBCSN anyway and that could be when the Fast Nine session takes place.
As for Sunday, I am not sure we can go back to six hours of bump day but three hours on national television? Sign me up. Don't hold the teams to one attempt, go or go home, don't lock in the top 30 times and have only the final row up for grabs, have it so anyone could be bumped and keep every team at the back on their toes for three hours with teams making multiple attempts.
I think if you give the teams nine hours of qualifying to get into the race that is plenty. The grid could be decided by 3:00 p.m. ET Sunday and then the post-qualifying practice session could take place.
Does this proposal have flaws? Every proposal has flaws and a notable flaw with this one is rain on Sunday. In the past, if bump day was rained out and the field was filled then qualifying was over. That is understandable but that doesn't fly today and that isn't conducive to television. If you say you are going to air a final qualifying session to decide the final qualifying spots you better broadcast it even if it is delayed a day. If that means qualifying on Monday then we will have qualifying on Monday. Of course, maybe a hard deadline is set that if the field is full and qualifying cannot be completed by the end of Monday then the final session will not be held.
I know people hate change but it's evolution and being open to new practices and finding what fits best. A few years ago, it made sense to move the Fast Nine session to Sunday. Now it appears best to move it back to Saturday and let bumping take center stage on Sunday.
IndyCar drivers aren't struggling to make rent but every dime helps and that money just disappeared, which isn't a good thing. If that $40,000 was taken away and added to the prize for pole position then I could understand it but it appears the series and Indianapolis Motor Speedway aren't awarding it anymore just because. That is not right. I stand with the drivers on this one.
10. I want to touch upon the television side of things now because I want to focus on the race next week and not let the periphery of distractions creep in.
NBC has done a great job promoting this race. Consider that we have been seeing advertisements since the NFL wild card playoff games and that was the weekend of January 7-8th. Previously, the Indianapolis 500 was not getting this level of promotion from ESPN and ABC. The race would get mentioned when ABC showed the season opener but we didn't see dedicated advertisements for the Indianapolis 500 until late-April or the start of May.
NBC has been mentioning the Indianapolis 500 for all of 2019. From the NFL playoff games to NHL games on Wednesday nights to weekly NASCAR America shows and during other properties, NBC gave it maximum effort.
I was skeptical before the year began about the TV rating for the Indianapolis 500 because we have seen events change networks and ratings decline and after more than five decades being on ABC, I thought people would forget the Indianapolis 500 because it is a change and people are terrible with change. I was afraid people in their 50s and 60s who tune into the Indianapolis 500 because it is just something you do on Memorial Day weekend would go to ABC, see whatever else ABC is showing and when they see it is not the race turn the TV off and head outside.
After the last five months, I think NBC has done all it could to get the message out, to remind the American public that the Indianapolis 500 is the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend and it can be seen on NBC. If the rating is down from last year, it is not because of NBC lack of investment.
11. I am spent. Practice is tomorrow. Then a few days off. Then Carb Day. It will fly by. Don't forget to enjoy it.
Saturday, May 18, 2019
First Impressions: 103rd Indianapolis 500 Saturday Qualifying
1. I am getting too old for this shit but let's start with the story that Fernando Alonso, Patricio O'Ward, James Hinchcliffe, Sage Karam, Max Chilton and Kyle Kaiser will have to fight to make the Indianapolis 500 tomorrow. Half those teams aren't going to make it.
Alonso is the draw. I think the bright side for him is he is 31st and he will be heading in with some confidence. The team has to put this day behind them and know it just has to repeat what it did today. Alonso made five qualifying attempts today and part of me thinks that is what cost him and McLaren late. One attempt after another and the legs were gone out of that car. It was constantly pushing it. Meanwhile, J.R. Hildebrand gets bumped, hasn't made an attempt for hours and goes out and puts his car 20th. Graham Rahal rolled the dice, had a time that was safe, withdrew it and in a car that had not seen the track for hours, jumped up to 17th.
I don't know if McLaren has run that car so much that it won't have the legs for tomorrow but one night to rest and it just has to beat three cars, it just has to be in the top half and maybe that is Alonso's reasoning for saying he was not stressed. He knows what he has to do tomorrow and feels confident that he can do it.
2. Carlin is likely going to have a car miss the race and it makes you wonder if it bit off more than it could chew in its sophomore attempt in the Indianapolis 500. It had three cars committed back in March with Charlie Kimball, Chilton and the McLaren partnership for Alonso, then it added O'Ward and only Kimball is in the race with three drivers on the outside and only three spots remaining.
Even worse is multiple Carlin cars could miss the race or all three Carlin related cars could miss it. I think at least one will get in but it would be crazy to think Carlin will sweep the final row. It is a rough night when one car is in danger of missing the race, with three cars in danger I think I would be heading to hospital for observation because my heart might call it quits before tomorrow.
3. We have to talk about James Hinchcliffe because Hinchcliffe had an accident and was forced to the back up car. The Canadian has been fighting uphill for speed and for the second consecutive year he might miss the Indianapolis 500. It fitting Hinchcliffe finds himself participating in the session arguably created as a way for IndyCar to cover itself if a big name is outside the top 33 at the end of day one but missing a second consecutive year is a fireable offense and I think Hinchcliffe has to be canned if he is not in the field of 33 after the Last Row Shootout.
Hinchcliffe is a personality but you got to make this race and Schmidt Peterson Motorsports was fortunate Arrow doubled down instead of running away after last year's results. Hinchcliffe cannot survive this if he misses again. If you are SPM and Arrow you buy Hinchcliffe out and find a driver that you do not have to be worried about. Marcus Ericsson qualified 13th and Jack Harvey was 25th and Hinchcliffe may have had an accident but he was flirting with the danger zone all week.
Conor Daly put his car solidly in the field. Carlos Muñoz has completed all 500 miles in all six of his Indianapolis 500 starts and nobody called him this year. Those are two options for SPM if this all goes wrong again. Hinchcliffe may have recovered to win at Iowa last year but sponsors don't live and die on Iowa. Add to it Hinchcliffe's track record of fading late in seasons and never finishing better than eighth in the championship and it may be an easy call to part with the Canadian.
It might be tough to confront it but Hinchcliffe may be the most overrated driver in IndyCar. He might be personable but it might be time for Arrow, Honda and IndyCar to cut its ties and find another driver to market.
4. Sage Karam might be looking at the end of his career and he is only 24 years old. Dreyer & Reinbold Racing has not be spectacular this week but it doesn't take spectacular to make the Indianapolis 500. J.R. Hildebrand was able to find the speed but Karam just doesn't have a handle on it. It would be a shame to see it end like this for Karam. He was brilliant in 2014 as a rookie and his rookie season had strong results mixed with youthful mistakes. Unfortunately, he has not gotten another crack at a full-time ride and he has been doing well with his Indianapolis 500 one-offs, the only problem is he has not been able to complete all 500 miles since that rookie year.
Karam's entire IndyCar career has been adversity but this is another animal, one that might be difficult to stomach and it would be sad to see a career end at such a young an age.
5. The Kyle Kaiser/Juncos Racing story appears to be heading for the disappointing ending. It is not over but Kaiser wasn't really pushing what it took to make the field and we will have to live with wondering what would have happened if Kaiser does not have his accident on Friday? This team was tracking to be in the race. He had been in the middle of the field all week.
The team has one more Hail Mary scheduled for tomorrow afternoon and we have seen teams overcome the same length of long odds but it may not come to fruition.
6. I think we have to cover some of the unlikely names that made the race and that includes Ben Hanley, who ended up 27th when today's session ended. Hanley and DragonSpeed was on the outside for most of the week but the team kept putting up respectable times. Hanley was never miles off and I think Hanley and DragonSpeed played it right. The team didn't make qualifying attempt after qualifying attempt. It made two, was on the outside, waited until the final hour and then put the car in the field.
Bravo to this group. To think Hanley spent nine years out of single-seater racing and in his first Indianapolis 500 attempt with only two road and street courses under his belt he has made this race. DragonSpeed announced it was increasing its focus on IndyCar last night and stepping away from the LMP1 class in the FIA World Endurance Championship after Le Mans in June. I don't know what this team will become but it is making a big first step.
7. Graham Rahal is Pippa Mann's new best friend. Rahal rolled the dice and moved up the starting grid but more importantly he killed the clock and instead of letting Chilton get another qualifying attempt it assured Mann would make the Indianapolis 500.
I am surprised Mann was not one of the teams making multiple qualifying attempts but kudos to Clauson-Marshall Racing because it focused on dialing in the car for qualifying and it paid off.
DragonSpeed and Clauson-Marshall Racing are in the Indianapolis 500. One team comes from sports car racing and the other comes from the dirt tracks of USAC. The Formula One team is still on the outside looking in. This is the Indianapolis 500 for you.
8. Over some of the other drivers that locked themselves into the Indianapolis 500: Jordan King got in and will start 26th, Felix Rosenqvist was close to the bubble but was able to put himself 29th. James Davison put up a solid qualifying run and will start 15th. Charlie Kimball was 20th.
9. It seems wrong to write about the potential pole-sitter in the ninth item but that is just the way the format plays out and Spencer Pigot is on provisional pole position. If it rains tomorrow and prevents the Fast Nine from taking place this will be one of the most overlooked pole-sitters I can recall.
Pigot has been quick all week but teammate Ed Jones has been quicker and Ed Carpenter has won three Indianapolis 500 pole positions including last year. Yes, Pigot had a great car but did we really think he would beat those two? Did we really think he would beat all four Penske entries? I don't think anyone but Pigot thought that would be possible.
And if rain does come and lock up pole position for Pigot he will have done it by the skin of his teeth. The difference between Pigot and Will Power over ten miles was 0.0011 seconds. Not bad.
10. A quick look over the rest of the Fast Nine: Simon Pagenaud was third with Josef Newgarden in fourth. Colton Herta's first qualifying attempt had him eighth. He went out and jumped up to fifth and was the top Honda. Ed Jones and Ed Carpenter followed Herta with Alexander Rossi and Sébastien Bourdais rounding out the Fast Nine.
It definitely appears to be another pole position heading to Chevrolet. Hertra was nearly 6/10ths of a mile per hour off Pigot, Rossi was about 8/10ths of a mile per hour off and Bourdais was nearly 1.2 mile per hour back.
No one would be surprised if a Penske entry jumped up and stole the prize from Pigot, no one would be surprised if Carpenter did it again and if a Honda takes pole position it will turn some heads.
11. Marco Andretti, Conor Daly and Hélio Castroneves will be row four. Andretti has been good all week and I think tenth is a suitable result. Daly should be ecstatic with 11th as this is his first great Indianapolis 500 entry. Castroneves has been the fourth of four Penske cars all week and he really didn't seem to be pushing to Fast Nine all week.
12. Let's see what tomorrow brings. Rain? Clear conditions, the Last Row Shootout and the Fast Nine session? Just the Last Row Shootout? Either way, I am getting a good night of sleep because today was draining.
Alonso is the draw. I think the bright side for him is he is 31st and he will be heading in with some confidence. The team has to put this day behind them and know it just has to repeat what it did today. Alonso made five qualifying attempts today and part of me thinks that is what cost him and McLaren late. One attempt after another and the legs were gone out of that car. It was constantly pushing it. Meanwhile, J.R. Hildebrand gets bumped, hasn't made an attempt for hours and goes out and puts his car 20th. Graham Rahal rolled the dice, had a time that was safe, withdrew it and in a car that had not seen the track for hours, jumped up to 17th.
I don't know if McLaren has run that car so much that it won't have the legs for tomorrow but one night to rest and it just has to beat three cars, it just has to be in the top half and maybe that is Alonso's reasoning for saying he was not stressed. He knows what he has to do tomorrow and feels confident that he can do it.
2. Carlin is likely going to have a car miss the race and it makes you wonder if it bit off more than it could chew in its sophomore attempt in the Indianapolis 500. It had three cars committed back in March with Charlie Kimball, Chilton and the McLaren partnership for Alonso, then it added O'Ward and only Kimball is in the race with three drivers on the outside and only three spots remaining.
Even worse is multiple Carlin cars could miss the race or all three Carlin related cars could miss it. I think at least one will get in but it would be crazy to think Carlin will sweep the final row. It is a rough night when one car is in danger of missing the race, with three cars in danger I think I would be heading to hospital for observation because my heart might call it quits before tomorrow.
3. We have to talk about James Hinchcliffe because Hinchcliffe had an accident and was forced to the back up car. The Canadian has been fighting uphill for speed and for the second consecutive year he might miss the Indianapolis 500. It fitting Hinchcliffe finds himself participating in the session arguably created as a way for IndyCar to cover itself if a big name is outside the top 33 at the end of day one but missing a second consecutive year is a fireable offense and I think Hinchcliffe has to be canned if he is not in the field of 33 after the Last Row Shootout.
Hinchcliffe is a personality but you got to make this race and Schmidt Peterson Motorsports was fortunate Arrow doubled down instead of running away after last year's results. Hinchcliffe cannot survive this if he misses again. If you are SPM and Arrow you buy Hinchcliffe out and find a driver that you do not have to be worried about. Marcus Ericsson qualified 13th and Jack Harvey was 25th and Hinchcliffe may have had an accident but he was flirting with the danger zone all week.
Conor Daly put his car solidly in the field. Carlos Muñoz has completed all 500 miles in all six of his Indianapolis 500 starts and nobody called him this year. Those are two options for SPM if this all goes wrong again. Hinchcliffe may have recovered to win at Iowa last year but sponsors don't live and die on Iowa. Add to it Hinchcliffe's track record of fading late in seasons and never finishing better than eighth in the championship and it may be an easy call to part with the Canadian.
It might be tough to confront it but Hinchcliffe may be the most overrated driver in IndyCar. He might be personable but it might be time for Arrow, Honda and IndyCar to cut its ties and find another driver to market.
4. Sage Karam might be looking at the end of his career and he is only 24 years old. Dreyer & Reinbold Racing has not be spectacular this week but it doesn't take spectacular to make the Indianapolis 500. J.R. Hildebrand was able to find the speed but Karam just doesn't have a handle on it. It would be a shame to see it end like this for Karam. He was brilliant in 2014 as a rookie and his rookie season had strong results mixed with youthful mistakes. Unfortunately, he has not gotten another crack at a full-time ride and he has been doing well with his Indianapolis 500 one-offs, the only problem is he has not been able to complete all 500 miles since that rookie year.
Karam's entire IndyCar career has been adversity but this is another animal, one that might be difficult to stomach and it would be sad to see a career end at such a young an age.
5. The Kyle Kaiser/Juncos Racing story appears to be heading for the disappointing ending. It is not over but Kaiser wasn't really pushing what it took to make the field and we will have to live with wondering what would have happened if Kaiser does not have his accident on Friday? This team was tracking to be in the race. He had been in the middle of the field all week.
The team has one more Hail Mary scheduled for tomorrow afternoon and we have seen teams overcome the same length of long odds but it may not come to fruition.
6. I think we have to cover some of the unlikely names that made the race and that includes Ben Hanley, who ended up 27th when today's session ended. Hanley and DragonSpeed was on the outside for most of the week but the team kept putting up respectable times. Hanley was never miles off and I think Hanley and DragonSpeed played it right. The team didn't make qualifying attempt after qualifying attempt. It made two, was on the outside, waited until the final hour and then put the car in the field.
Bravo to this group. To think Hanley spent nine years out of single-seater racing and in his first Indianapolis 500 attempt with only two road and street courses under his belt he has made this race. DragonSpeed announced it was increasing its focus on IndyCar last night and stepping away from the LMP1 class in the FIA World Endurance Championship after Le Mans in June. I don't know what this team will become but it is making a big first step.
7. Graham Rahal is Pippa Mann's new best friend. Rahal rolled the dice and moved up the starting grid but more importantly he killed the clock and instead of letting Chilton get another qualifying attempt it assured Mann would make the Indianapolis 500.
I am surprised Mann was not one of the teams making multiple qualifying attempts but kudos to Clauson-Marshall Racing because it focused on dialing in the car for qualifying and it paid off.
DragonSpeed and Clauson-Marshall Racing are in the Indianapolis 500. One team comes from sports car racing and the other comes from the dirt tracks of USAC. The Formula One team is still on the outside looking in. This is the Indianapolis 500 for you.
8. Over some of the other drivers that locked themselves into the Indianapolis 500: Jordan King got in and will start 26th, Felix Rosenqvist was close to the bubble but was able to put himself 29th. James Davison put up a solid qualifying run and will start 15th. Charlie Kimball was 20th.
9. It seems wrong to write about the potential pole-sitter in the ninth item but that is just the way the format plays out and Spencer Pigot is on provisional pole position. If it rains tomorrow and prevents the Fast Nine from taking place this will be one of the most overlooked pole-sitters I can recall.
Pigot has been quick all week but teammate Ed Jones has been quicker and Ed Carpenter has won three Indianapolis 500 pole positions including last year. Yes, Pigot had a great car but did we really think he would beat those two? Did we really think he would beat all four Penske entries? I don't think anyone but Pigot thought that would be possible.
And if rain does come and lock up pole position for Pigot he will have done it by the skin of his teeth. The difference between Pigot and Will Power over ten miles was 0.0011 seconds. Not bad.
10. A quick look over the rest of the Fast Nine: Simon Pagenaud was third with Josef Newgarden in fourth. Colton Herta's first qualifying attempt had him eighth. He went out and jumped up to fifth and was the top Honda. Ed Jones and Ed Carpenter followed Herta with Alexander Rossi and Sébastien Bourdais rounding out the Fast Nine.
It definitely appears to be another pole position heading to Chevrolet. Hertra was nearly 6/10ths of a mile per hour off Pigot, Rossi was about 8/10ths of a mile per hour off and Bourdais was nearly 1.2 mile per hour back.
No one would be surprised if a Penske entry jumped up and stole the prize from Pigot, no one would be surprised if Carpenter did it again and if a Honda takes pole position it will turn some heads.
11. Marco Andretti, Conor Daly and Hélio Castroneves will be row four. Andretti has been good all week and I think tenth is a suitable result. Daly should be ecstatic with 11th as this is his first great Indianapolis 500 entry. Castroneves has been the fourth of four Penske cars all week and he really didn't seem to be pushing to Fast Nine all week.
12. Let's see what tomorrow brings. Rain? Clear conditions, the Last Row Shootout and the Fast Nine session? Just the Last Row Shootout? Either way, I am getting a good night of sleep because today was draining.
103rd Indianapolis 500 Qualifying Preview
Four practice days are behind us and ahead of us are a six-hour and 50-minute qualifying session to determine the Fast Nine, tenth through 30th and the six drivers that will be battling for the final row of the 103rd Indianapolis 500 grid on Saturday with the starting grid being finalized on Sunday afternoon.
Through four practice days, four different drivers topped each day but only two different drivers topped the no tow reports with an unlikely name having the fastest no tow lap on three of the four days.
This preview will look at the 36 drivers slated to qualify over these two days and breakdown those fighting for the Fast Nine, those who could be in bumping trouble, those who are going to be happy where they are at and those who haven't been in either conversation when it comes to the Fast Nine or Last Row Shootout.
Who is in Play For the Fast Nine?
All three Ed Carpenter Racing entries. All three have been fast this week and the leader has been Ed Jones. Jones was fastest on the no tow report on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday and he was fastest overall Thursday. Jones was sixth fastest Friday. He was third on the no tow and ninth on Wednesday and he was tenth when practice opened.
Ed Carpenter opened the week third overall, fell to tenth on Wednesday, dropped to 13th but was eighth in the no tow report on Thursday and he was ninth overall on Friday and second on the no tow report. Spencer Pigot was a spot behind Jones on Tuesday but was third on Wednesday, eighth on Thursday and fourth on Friday. The one concern for Pigot is his no tow results are iffy. He was second on the no tow report on Thursday but 30th on Wednesday and 36th on Friday. It should be noted how the no tow report is an imperfect yardstick and it could come down to Pigot not getting in a lap with enough open track to register on the no tow report and the laps he did register as no tow laps were slower laps. I think Pigot will be fine and push for the Fast Nine.
All four Penske entries. This isn't a surprise. The week started with Will Power, Simon Pagenaud and Hélio Castroneves taking three of the top four. Josef Newgarden jumped from 17th on Tuesday to the top spot on Wednesday. Penske closed out practice Friday with Power fourth on the no tow report, Pagenaud fifth and Newgarden in ninth. All three of those drivers were in the top ten of the no tow report on Thursday. Castroneves has not been as high up the no tow report with the Brazilian being 31st, 29th and 14th the last three days.
As for Honda entries, the Honda that has been regularly at the top is Takuma Sato. He opened the week in 14th and 17th but closed the week in second and third and seventh on the no tow report Thursday. The problem is that Thursday was his only day in the top ten of the no tow report.
Marco Andretti closed out practice second fastest overall at 230.851 MPH and he was seventh on the no tow report Friday. Andretti opened the week in ninth but dropped in the overall results the next two days. He did not post a no tow lap on Wednesday but he was sixth on Thursday. Alexander Rossi topped the no tow report on Wednesday despite being 34th overall. He was eighth overall on Tuesday and 11th overall on Friday but he was 11th on the no tow report on Thursday and third on Friday.
Colton Herta was eighth and ninth on the no tow report on Wednesday and Friday and he was fifth overall on Tuesday and Thursday. Graham Rahal jumped up to sixth on the no tow report on Friday but he was not in the top ten in either the overall practice results or no tow reports all week.
I am not sure Sébastien Bourdais can make the Fast Nine but it is definitely not out of the realm of possibility. I could be an uphill climb but, with that said, Bourdais has been sixth, sixth, four and 15th. His no tow report results do not point to a driver that will be in the Fast Nine after he was 19th, 32nd and 12th the last three days.
Tony Kanaan was second in the no tow report from Wednesday but he has not been in the top ten overall or no tow reports all week.
Scott Dixon was second overall on Wednesday and ninth on the no tow report that day but the only other day he was in the top ten was Thursday when he was ninth and he only got up to eighth on the no tow report on Friday.
Who Are Biting Their Finger Nails?
Kyle Kaiser.
Everything was looking good for Kaiser and Juncos Racing. From the start of the week the team was putting up competitive times both overall and on the no tow report, constantly ending up in the middle of the field, which is exactly where a team that lost its two biggest sponsors on the eve of practice beginning and then Indianapolis reminded us it is a cruel mistress and Kaiser spun in the middle of turn three on his first hot lap of Friday practice.
Juncos Racing has a backup car and it has got it put together for qualifying but the primary car was tuned in. Kaiser was set to make this race, not necessarily compete for the top nine but all Kaiser has to do it put the car solidly in 19th and it is mission accomplished for the team.
If this were a Hollywood script, Kaiser and the crew would work all night, get the backup car built, sprint down the pit lane moments before his spot in the qualifying, they would make it in time and Kaiser would got out and qualify but we have also seen the team scrabble to make it back and be a mile and a half off what it is take and continue to push the envelope in desperation of making the race only a little over 24 hours after it pushed it too far.
Three of the four Carlin related entries and those entries are specifically Max Chilton, Patricio O'Ward and McLaren's Fernando Alonso.
I guess we will start with the biggest name and Alonso has been good but closer to the bubble than the 2017 Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year probably expected to be. His practice results over the four days were 31st, 29th after an accident early Wednesday, a day with no laps turned on Thursday and 24th on Friday. He was 17th on the no tow report on Wednesday but 31st on Friday.
This is the hairiest situation in Alonso's career. That seems like hyperbole but I am not sure he has ever faced getting egg on his face like this. He has gone into grand prix with a world championship on the line and come out with nothing. He has survived two unceremonious exits from Formula One teams. He was a public benefactor to team orders when team orders were banned from Formula One and he was an afterthought, a charcuterie in his final seasons with a woeful McLaren but not making the Indianapolis 500, not being faster than three people, three people who likely were never in the same solar system as a Formula One seat with HRT, that will haunt him. That is part of what makes Indianapolis great but this is case where Alonso just has to live up to some of the results on paper.
Moving on to the full-time drivers, Patricio O'Ward had an accident on Thursday and it was already a trying week for him before that accident. O'Ward had electrical issue keep him from completing Rookie Orientation on Tuesday and was 34th overall. He was 22nd on Wednesday and 13th on the no tow report and he was 23rd overall before his accident on Thursday but his no tow time was 33rd. On Friday, O'Ward was 34th overall and 35th on the no tow report.
This week has not been a terrible week for Max Chilton but for the last year and a half we have seen Chilton start a race weekend and look promising and have it all go to hell in a blink of an eye. He was 27th, 30th, 15th and 33rd in the overall results. His no tow times looked good with Chilton 22nd on both Wednesday and Thursday but he dropped to 32nd on Friday. This all is point to at least two Carlin cars being in the bottom six at the end of Saturday.
Ben Hanley has been 36th, 36th, 33rd and 35th over the four days of practice. His last three no tow results were 32nd, 17th and 34th. It is going to be tough for Hanley and DragonSpeed to make the race. It is going to be tough to watch because DragonSpeed is a suitable operation and it is trying to make its way into IndyCar. It has two other races scheduled this season, all on road courses. Those will help the team as it looks to increase its IndyCar participation but making the Indianapolis 500 would certainly help this team out.
Jordan King is making his first attempt at an IndyCar oval race and while his teammate's Sato and Rahal are fighting for one of the top nine spots, King is in position to be one of the bottom six after Saturday. He opened in 32nd, move up to 31st, moved up again to 29th but dropped to 32nd on Friday. The no tow speeds are encouraging with King going 24th, 19th and 27th over the last three days but if King gets a curveball on Saturday and finds himself needing to find speed it could catch King out like many first time runners before him.
Pippa Mann was 33rd, 35th, 27th and 31st on the four practice days. The one bright spot may be she was 12th, 25th and 21st on the no tow reports the last three days. This could be a case of a team focusing everything on putting together one solid qualifying attempt but being outside the top thirty on three of the four days is not an encouraging sign.
Oriol Servià was the last entrant announced and he has been in the bottom third all week. Servià was 27th, 19th, 28th and 28th over the four days. His no tow speeds the last three days were 26th, 30th and 29th. Last year, Servià was fighting to get in late and he did. He might be in the same situation again this year.
After last year, James Hinchcliffe has to be in this discussion; especially after his practice results were 25th, 32nd, 35th and 29th. These results are similar to last year. A lot of things went against Hinchcliffe last year and if the rain delays do not happen and if he doesn't have a loose tire sensors he probably makes the race but he put himself in the position to get bumped and he was bumped. It could happen again this year. His no tow speeds are calming at 27th, 13th and 19th but fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.
Felix Rosenqvist had an accident late on Wednesday and Rosenqvist has been fighting from behind ever since. The week started well with the Swede in 18th and he was 16th before his accident on Wednesday. He returned on Thursday but he was 34th and he was 30th on Friday. The bad news is Rosenqvist's no tow speeds are not much cover for shaky overall results. He was 35th on Wednesday before the accident. He ended the week in 34th and 26th on the no tow report. The results were trending in the right way but I do not think Ganassi is out of the clear heading into Saturday.
Who Should be Happy With Where They Are At?
Conor Daly went to the top late in Friday practice and he closed out practice week in the number one spot at 231.704 MPH. While Daly topped Friday, he was 22nd on the no tow report and his best no tow report result was tenth. He could make the Fast Nine but I think Daly just needs an entry where he can qualify a car and know he will be in the field and have a decent car for 500 miles.
Ryan Hunter-Reay seemed lost all week and none of his no tow report speeds were all that impressive with him going 14th on Wednesday and Thursday and 24th on Friday but after his left rear suspension broke while on a qualifying simulation during Fast Friday, he came back and jumped to fifth late in the session, his first serious showing of speed. The Fast Nine might be out of reach but after his history with bumping in the past I think he will be glad to just put himself in a spot where he will not have to sweat it out all day.
Zach Veach was seventh, seventh, third and 17th on the first four practice days but he didn't break the top ten on the no tow report on any of the days. Veach might find himself on row four or five but I think the top nine is just out of his reach.
Charlie Kimball should be happy because he has solidly been in the middle while his Carlin teammates are gasping for air at the bottom. Kimball was 22nd, eighth, 16th and eighth overall on the four days and his last three no tow speeds had him fourth, fifth and 25th. I know he was in the top five twice on the no tow report but I think it is a stretch for him to make the Fast Nine and if he is 14th after everyone's first qualifying attempt I think Carlin will call it a day because it cannot afford to risk losing its best horse in the stable.
The other Dale Coyne Racing entries have looked good. Santino Ferrucci was 19th on day one, fourth on day two, 35th out of 35 cars on day three but he moved back up to 19th on Friday. Ferrucci's no tow speeds are concerning. He was fourth on Wednesday but 33rd when it came to the no tow results. His best no tow time on Wednesday had him in 31st but he bounced back to 18th on the no tow chart on Friday.
James Davison started out the week in 35th but climbed the chart to 25th on Wednesday, 12th on Thursday and closed the week in 23rd. Similar to Ferrucci, Davison's no tow speeds are a head-scratcher. He was 34th and 35th on the no tow report on Wednesday and Thursday but he got up to 20th on Friday. There is some reason to worry about the other two Coyne entries but I think the team will have these two somewhere in the middle of the field, not in the conversation for the Fast Nine but not in the conversation for bumping either.
Who Has Not Yet Been Mentioned?
Sage Karam, J.R. Hildebrand, Matheus Leist, Marcus Ericsson and Jack Harvey.
Hildebrand has solidly been in the middle of the field all week during practice and Karam has had some promising practice results but neither driver has been putting up impressive no tow speeds. I think each should be somewhere between row five and row eight.
Leist hasn't been bad this week. He hasn't been great. His practice results have been 30th, 12th, 31st and 27th with no tow speeds putting him 11th, 24th and 28th the final three days. I don't get a sense where Leist will be. He could be in the bumping discussion but he has at least been out of the cellar this week while there are three or four entries that have yet to see sunlight.
Ericsson and Harvey have not put a wheel wrong this week. Ericsson has been quicker than Hinchcliffe on all four practice days and Harvey was quicker than Hinchcliffe on two of the four days but the two days Harvey was not quicker he was one spot directly behind Hinchcliffe. Ericsson was seventh, 10th and 13th on the no tow report the last three days while Harvey was sixth, 18th and 23rd in terms of no tow.
All signs point to Ericsson potentially being a Fast Nine surprise. I think that is a stretch but I am not going to rule it out. Harvey may end up 20th and that should be fine for him and Meyer Shank Racing.
What is the Qualifying Order?
Conor Daly will be the first primary car to take the race track with Spencer Pigot being the second primary car in the qualifying order and Alexander Rossi in the third spot. Ed Carpenter will be the fourth qualifier ahead of Sébastien Bourdais, Tony Kanaan, Marco Andretti, Charlie Kimball, Will Power, Ben Hanley, Max Chilton and Jack Harvey will round out the first third of qualifiers.
Santino Ferrucci will be the 13th qualifier with fellow rookie Marcus Ericsson following the American. James Davison is scheduled to drive 15th ahead of Ed Jones, Takuma Sato and Simon Pagenaud will end the first half of the qualifying order.
Pippa Mann is 19th in the qualifying line ahead of Fernando Alonso, Sage Karam, Jordan King, Hélio Castroneves and Josef Newgarden will be the 24th qualifier.
Oriol Servià starts off the final third of qualifiers ahead of Scott Dixon, James Hinchcliffe, Patricio O'Ward, Graham Rahal and Matheus Leist will be the 30th qualifier.
J.R. Hildebrand will follow Leist with Ryan Hunter-Reay scheduled to be the 32nd qualifier. Kyle Kaiser is slated to be the 33rd qualifier amongst the primary cars. Felix Rosenqvist, Colton Herta and Zach Veach round out the qualifying order.
What is the Weather Forecast?
For Saturday, mostly sunny skies are in the forecast with a high of 86º F.
When qualifying starts at 11:00 a.m. ET, the temperature will be around 76º F with winds at 10 MPH from the Southwest. Winds should continue from the Southwest and pick up to as high as 16 MPH with temperatures rising but cloud cover increasing over the afternoon. The chance of precipitation is 10%.
There is an 80% chance of precipitation forecasted for Sunday with thunderstorms starting at 7:00 a.m. ET with the chance of precipitation jumping to 60% at 9:00 a.m. ET and 70% at 10:00 a.m. ET. It remains at 70% until noon when it increases to 75% before dropping to 50% at 1:00 p.m. ET but chances of precipitation remaining likely throughout the afternoon into Sunday evening. Winds are projected to come from the South and Southwest and be about 20 MPH.
What is the Qualifying Weekend Schedule?
There will be three practice sessions on Saturday morning; each will be a half-hour in length. The first session will begin at 8:00 a.m. ET for half the field with the other half of the entries practicing at 8:30 a.m. ET and both halves of the grid will be allowed to practice together at 9:00 a.m. ET.
Qualifying will begin on Saturday at 11:00 a.m. ET and go until 5:50 p.m. ET. The top nine drivers at the end of Saturday's session will take part in the Fast Nine session on Sunday. Positions 10-30 after Saturday's session will be locked into the race. The 31st-36th qualifiers will compete in the Last Row Shootout on Sunday.
The Last Row Shootout will take place at 12:15 p.m. ET on Sunday. Each of the six qualifiers will get one qualifying attempt. The fastest three cars will fill the 11th row of the Indianapolis 500 starting grid. The three slowest cars will not race in the Indianapolis 500.
The Fast Nine session will take place at 1:15 p.m. ET with each entry getting one qualifying attempt for pole position.
After the Fast Nine session, there will be a practice session scheduled for 3:15 p.m. ET and that session will run until 6:00 p.m. ET.
If rain washes out qualifying on Sunday, the Fast Nine session will not take place and the first ten rows will be set for the 103rd Indianapolis 500. The Last Row Shootout could be pushed to Monday and potentially as late as Tuesday if needed to determine the final three starting positions for the Indianapolis 500.
Saturday qualifying will be shown on NBC Sports Gold from 11:00 a.m. ET to 5:00 p.m. ET with NBCSN showing the final hour of Saturday qualifying. NBC's coverage of Sunday qualifying begins at noon ET with NBCSN showing the Sunday practice at 3:00 p.m. ET.
Through four practice days, four different drivers topped each day but only two different drivers topped the no tow reports with an unlikely name having the fastest no tow lap on three of the four days.
This preview will look at the 36 drivers slated to qualify over these two days and breakdown those fighting for the Fast Nine, those who could be in bumping trouble, those who are going to be happy where they are at and those who haven't been in either conversation when it comes to the Fast Nine or Last Row Shootout.
Who is in Play For the Fast Nine?
All three Ed Carpenter Racing entries. All three have been fast this week and the leader has been Ed Jones. Jones was fastest on the no tow report on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday and he was fastest overall Thursday. Jones was sixth fastest Friday. He was third on the no tow and ninth on Wednesday and he was tenth when practice opened.
Ed Carpenter opened the week third overall, fell to tenth on Wednesday, dropped to 13th but was eighth in the no tow report on Thursday and he was ninth overall on Friday and second on the no tow report. Spencer Pigot was a spot behind Jones on Tuesday but was third on Wednesday, eighth on Thursday and fourth on Friday. The one concern for Pigot is his no tow results are iffy. He was second on the no tow report on Thursday but 30th on Wednesday and 36th on Friday. It should be noted how the no tow report is an imperfect yardstick and it could come down to Pigot not getting in a lap with enough open track to register on the no tow report and the laps he did register as no tow laps were slower laps. I think Pigot will be fine and push for the Fast Nine.
All four Penske entries. This isn't a surprise. The week started with Will Power, Simon Pagenaud and Hélio Castroneves taking three of the top four. Josef Newgarden jumped from 17th on Tuesday to the top spot on Wednesday. Penske closed out practice Friday with Power fourth on the no tow report, Pagenaud fifth and Newgarden in ninth. All three of those drivers were in the top ten of the no tow report on Thursday. Castroneves has not been as high up the no tow report with the Brazilian being 31st, 29th and 14th the last three days.
As for Honda entries, the Honda that has been regularly at the top is Takuma Sato. He opened the week in 14th and 17th but closed the week in second and third and seventh on the no tow report Thursday. The problem is that Thursday was his only day in the top ten of the no tow report.
Marco Andretti closed out practice second fastest overall at 230.851 MPH and he was seventh on the no tow report Friday. Andretti opened the week in ninth but dropped in the overall results the next two days. He did not post a no tow lap on Wednesday but he was sixth on Thursday. Alexander Rossi topped the no tow report on Wednesday despite being 34th overall. He was eighth overall on Tuesday and 11th overall on Friday but he was 11th on the no tow report on Thursday and third on Friday.
Colton Herta was eighth and ninth on the no tow report on Wednesday and Friday and he was fifth overall on Tuesday and Thursday. Graham Rahal jumped up to sixth on the no tow report on Friday but he was not in the top ten in either the overall practice results or no tow reports all week.
I am not sure Sébastien Bourdais can make the Fast Nine but it is definitely not out of the realm of possibility. I could be an uphill climb but, with that said, Bourdais has been sixth, sixth, four and 15th. His no tow report results do not point to a driver that will be in the Fast Nine after he was 19th, 32nd and 12th the last three days.
Tony Kanaan was second in the no tow report from Wednesday but he has not been in the top ten overall or no tow reports all week.
Scott Dixon was second overall on Wednesday and ninth on the no tow report that day but the only other day he was in the top ten was Thursday when he was ninth and he only got up to eighth on the no tow report on Friday.
Who Are Biting Their Finger Nails?
Kyle Kaiser.
Everything was looking good for Kaiser and Juncos Racing. From the start of the week the team was putting up competitive times both overall and on the no tow report, constantly ending up in the middle of the field, which is exactly where a team that lost its two biggest sponsors on the eve of practice beginning and then Indianapolis reminded us it is a cruel mistress and Kaiser spun in the middle of turn three on his first hot lap of Friday practice.
Juncos Racing has a backup car and it has got it put together for qualifying but the primary car was tuned in. Kaiser was set to make this race, not necessarily compete for the top nine but all Kaiser has to do it put the car solidly in 19th and it is mission accomplished for the team.
If this were a Hollywood script, Kaiser and the crew would work all night, get the backup car built, sprint down the pit lane moments before his spot in the qualifying, they would make it in time and Kaiser would got out and qualify but we have also seen the team scrabble to make it back and be a mile and a half off what it is take and continue to push the envelope in desperation of making the race only a little over 24 hours after it pushed it too far.
Three of the four Carlin related entries and those entries are specifically Max Chilton, Patricio O'Ward and McLaren's Fernando Alonso.
I guess we will start with the biggest name and Alonso has been good but closer to the bubble than the 2017 Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year probably expected to be. His practice results over the four days were 31st, 29th after an accident early Wednesday, a day with no laps turned on Thursday and 24th on Friday. He was 17th on the no tow report on Wednesday but 31st on Friday.
This is the hairiest situation in Alonso's career. That seems like hyperbole but I am not sure he has ever faced getting egg on his face like this. He has gone into grand prix with a world championship on the line and come out with nothing. He has survived two unceremonious exits from Formula One teams. He was a public benefactor to team orders when team orders were banned from Formula One and he was an afterthought, a charcuterie in his final seasons with a woeful McLaren but not making the Indianapolis 500, not being faster than three people, three people who likely were never in the same solar system as a Formula One seat with HRT, that will haunt him. That is part of what makes Indianapolis great but this is case where Alonso just has to live up to some of the results on paper.
Moving on to the full-time drivers, Patricio O'Ward had an accident on Thursday and it was already a trying week for him before that accident. O'Ward had electrical issue keep him from completing Rookie Orientation on Tuesday and was 34th overall. He was 22nd on Wednesday and 13th on the no tow report and he was 23rd overall before his accident on Thursday but his no tow time was 33rd. On Friday, O'Ward was 34th overall and 35th on the no tow report.
This week has not been a terrible week for Max Chilton but for the last year and a half we have seen Chilton start a race weekend and look promising and have it all go to hell in a blink of an eye. He was 27th, 30th, 15th and 33rd in the overall results. His no tow times looked good with Chilton 22nd on both Wednesday and Thursday but he dropped to 32nd on Friday. This all is point to at least two Carlin cars being in the bottom six at the end of Saturday.
Ben Hanley has been 36th, 36th, 33rd and 35th over the four days of practice. His last three no tow results were 32nd, 17th and 34th. It is going to be tough for Hanley and DragonSpeed to make the race. It is going to be tough to watch because DragonSpeed is a suitable operation and it is trying to make its way into IndyCar. It has two other races scheduled this season, all on road courses. Those will help the team as it looks to increase its IndyCar participation but making the Indianapolis 500 would certainly help this team out.
Jordan King is making his first attempt at an IndyCar oval race and while his teammate's Sato and Rahal are fighting for one of the top nine spots, King is in position to be one of the bottom six after Saturday. He opened in 32nd, move up to 31st, moved up again to 29th but dropped to 32nd on Friday. The no tow speeds are encouraging with King going 24th, 19th and 27th over the last three days but if King gets a curveball on Saturday and finds himself needing to find speed it could catch King out like many first time runners before him.
Pippa Mann was 33rd, 35th, 27th and 31st on the four practice days. The one bright spot may be she was 12th, 25th and 21st on the no tow reports the last three days. This could be a case of a team focusing everything on putting together one solid qualifying attempt but being outside the top thirty on three of the four days is not an encouraging sign.
Oriol Servià was the last entrant announced and he has been in the bottom third all week. Servià was 27th, 19th, 28th and 28th over the four days. His no tow speeds the last three days were 26th, 30th and 29th. Last year, Servià was fighting to get in late and he did. He might be in the same situation again this year.
After last year, James Hinchcliffe has to be in this discussion; especially after his practice results were 25th, 32nd, 35th and 29th. These results are similar to last year. A lot of things went against Hinchcliffe last year and if the rain delays do not happen and if he doesn't have a loose tire sensors he probably makes the race but he put himself in the position to get bumped and he was bumped. It could happen again this year. His no tow speeds are calming at 27th, 13th and 19th but fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.
Felix Rosenqvist had an accident late on Wednesday and Rosenqvist has been fighting from behind ever since. The week started well with the Swede in 18th and he was 16th before his accident on Wednesday. He returned on Thursday but he was 34th and he was 30th on Friday. The bad news is Rosenqvist's no tow speeds are not much cover for shaky overall results. He was 35th on Wednesday before the accident. He ended the week in 34th and 26th on the no tow report. The results were trending in the right way but I do not think Ganassi is out of the clear heading into Saturday.
Who Should be Happy With Where They Are At?
Conor Daly went to the top late in Friday practice and he closed out practice week in the number one spot at 231.704 MPH. While Daly topped Friday, he was 22nd on the no tow report and his best no tow report result was tenth. He could make the Fast Nine but I think Daly just needs an entry where he can qualify a car and know he will be in the field and have a decent car for 500 miles.
Ryan Hunter-Reay seemed lost all week and none of his no tow report speeds were all that impressive with him going 14th on Wednesday and Thursday and 24th on Friday but after his left rear suspension broke while on a qualifying simulation during Fast Friday, he came back and jumped to fifth late in the session, his first serious showing of speed. The Fast Nine might be out of reach but after his history with bumping in the past I think he will be glad to just put himself in a spot where he will not have to sweat it out all day.
Zach Veach was seventh, seventh, third and 17th on the first four practice days but he didn't break the top ten on the no tow report on any of the days. Veach might find himself on row four or five but I think the top nine is just out of his reach.
Charlie Kimball should be happy because he has solidly been in the middle while his Carlin teammates are gasping for air at the bottom. Kimball was 22nd, eighth, 16th and eighth overall on the four days and his last three no tow speeds had him fourth, fifth and 25th. I know he was in the top five twice on the no tow report but I think it is a stretch for him to make the Fast Nine and if he is 14th after everyone's first qualifying attempt I think Carlin will call it a day because it cannot afford to risk losing its best horse in the stable.
The other Dale Coyne Racing entries have looked good. Santino Ferrucci was 19th on day one, fourth on day two, 35th out of 35 cars on day three but he moved back up to 19th on Friday. Ferrucci's no tow speeds are concerning. He was fourth on Wednesday but 33rd when it came to the no tow results. His best no tow time on Wednesday had him in 31st but he bounced back to 18th on the no tow chart on Friday.
James Davison started out the week in 35th but climbed the chart to 25th on Wednesday, 12th on Thursday and closed the week in 23rd. Similar to Ferrucci, Davison's no tow speeds are a head-scratcher. He was 34th and 35th on the no tow report on Wednesday and Thursday but he got up to 20th on Friday. There is some reason to worry about the other two Coyne entries but I think the team will have these two somewhere in the middle of the field, not in the conversation for the Fast Nine but not in the conversation for bumping either.
Who Has Not Yet Been Mentioned?
Sage Karam, J.R. Hildebrand, Matheus Leist, Marcus Ericsson and Jack Harvey.
Hildebrand has solidly been in the middle of the field all week during practice and Karam has had some promising practice results but neither driver has been putting up impressive no tow speeds. I think each should be somewhere between row five and row eight.
Leist hasn't been bad this week. He hasn't been great. His practice results have been 30th, 12th, 31st and 27th with no tow speeds putting him 11th, 24th and 28th the final three days. I don't get a sense where Leist will be. He could be in the bumping discussion but he has at least been out of the cellar this week while there are three or four entries that have yet to see sunlight.
Ericsson and Harvey have not put a wheel wrong this week. Ericsson has been quicker than Hinchcliffe on all four practice days and Harvey was quicker than Hinchcliffe on two of the four days but the two days Harvey was not quicker he was one spot directly behind Hinchcliffe. Ericsson was seventh, 10th and 13th on the no tow report the last three days while Harvey was sixth, 18th and 23rd in terms of no tow.
All signs point to Ericsson potentially being a Fast Nine surprise. I think that is a stretch but I am not going to rule it out. Harvey may end up 20th and that should be fine for him and Meyer Shank Racing.
What is the Qualifying Order?
Conor Daly will be the first primary car to take the race track with Spencer Pigot being the second primary car in the qualifying order and Alexander Rossi in the third spot. Ed Carpenter will be the fourth qualifier ahead of Sébastien Bourdais, Tony Kanaan, Marco Andretti, Charlie Kimball, Will Power, Ben Hanley, Max Chilton and Jack Harvey will round out the first third of qualifiers.
Santino Ferrucci will be the 13th qualifier with fellow rookie Marcus Ericsson following the American. James Davison is scheduled to drive 15th ahead of Ed Jones, Takuma Sato and Simon Pagenaud will end the first half of the qualifying order.
Pippa Mann is 19th in the qualifying line ahead of Fernando Alonso, Sage Karam, Jordan King, Hélio Castroneves and Josef Newgarden will be the 24th qualifier.
Oriol Servià starts off the final third of qualifiers ahead of Scott Dixon, James Hinchcliffe, Patricio O'Ward, Graham Rahal and Matheus Leist will be the 30th qualifier.
J.R. Hildebrand will follow Leist with Ryan Hunter-Reay scheduled to be the 32nd qualifier. Kyle Kaiser is slated to be the 33rd qualifier amongst the primary cars. Felix Rosenqvist, Colton Herta and Zach Veach round out the qualifying order.
What is the Weather Forecast?
For Saturday, mostly sunny skies are in the forecast with a high of 86º F.
When qualifying starts at 11:00 a.m. ET, the temperature will be around 76º F with winds at 10 MPH from the Southwest. Winds should continue from the Southwest and pick up to as high as 16 MPH with temperatures rising but cloud cover increasing over the afternoon. The chance of precipitation is 10%.
There is an 80% chance of precipitation forecasted for Sunday with thunderstorms starting at 7:00 a.m. ET with the chance of precipitation jumping to 60% at 9:00 a.m. ET and 70% at 10:00 a.m. ET. It remains at 70% until noon when it increases to 75% before dropping to 50% at 1:00 p.m. ET but chances of precipitation remaining likely throughout the afternoon into Sunday evening. Winds are projected to come from the South and Southwest and be about 20 MPH.
What is the Qualifying Weekend Schedule?
There will be three practice sessions on Saturday morning; each will be a half-hour in length. The first session will begin at 8:00 a.m. ET for half the field with the other half of the entries practicing at 8:30 a.m. ET and both halves of the grid will be allowed to practice together at 9:00 a.m. ET.
Qualifying will begin on Saturday at 11:00 a.m. ET and go until 5:50 p.m. ET. The top nine drivers at the end of Saturday's session will take part in the Fast Nine session on Sunday. Positions 10-30 after Saturday's session will be locked into the race. The 31st-36th qualifiers will compete in the Last Row Shootout on Sunday.
The Last Row Shootout will take place at 12:15 p.m. ET on Sunday. Each of the six qualifiers will get one qualifying attempt. The fastest three cars will fill the 11th row of the Indianapolis 500 starting grid. The three slowest cars will not race in the Indianapolis 500.
The Fast Nine session will take place at 1:15 p.m. ET with each entry getting one qualifying attempt for pole position.
After the Fast Nine session, there will be a practice session scheduled for 3:15 p.m. ET and that session will run until 6:00 p.m. ET.
If rain washes out qualifying on Sunday, the Fast Nine session will not take place and the first ten rows will be set for the 103rd Indianapolis 500. The Last Row Shootout could be pushed to Monday and potentially as late as Tuesday if needed to determine the final three starting positions for the Indianapolis 500.
Saturday qualifying will be shown on NBC Sports Gold from 11:00 a.m. ET to 5:00 p.m. ET with NBCSN showing the final hour of Saturday qualifying. NBC's coverage of Sunday qualifying begins at noon ET with NBCSN showing the Sunday practice at 3:00 p.m. ET.
Tuesday, May 14, 2019
103rd Indianapolis 500 Practice Preview
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is open for practice in preparation for the 103rd Indianapolis 500. Thirty-six entries have been announced, 18 apiece for Chevrolet and Honda. This year has seven past Indianapolis 500 winners entered and seven rookies, all seven of those rookies will be making their first IndyCar start on an oval and four of the rookies have never raced on an oval.
With four days of practice, the amount of track time should give us some sort of direction into what will happen over the course of the qualifying days and the race. There has to be some sort of trend into how race winners run in practice and where pole-sitters are on the speed chart leading up to the Fast Nine session. On the reverse side, there has to be a trend for the cars that end up not making the race.
This preview looks at the next four days and clears up what will happen during the week as well as look back at the last eight years and see what happened during those practice days leading up to qualifying and the race that we should keep an eye on for this month of May.
Closing Thoughts
With four days of practice, the amount of track time should give us some sort of direction into what will happen over the course of the qualifying days and the race. There has to be some sort of trend into how race winners run in practice and where pole-sitters are on the speed chart leading up to the Fast Nine session. On the reverse side, there has to be a trend for the cars that end up not making the race.
This preview looks at the next four days and clears up what will happen during the week as well as look back at the last eight years and see what happened during those practice days leading up to qualifying and the race that we should keep an eye on for this month of May.
What is the Schedule?
Practice begins today, Tuesday May 14th at 11:00 am. ET with a veteran practice session and that will run until 1:00 p.m. ET. Rookie Orientation will start immediately after the veteran practice session and go until 3:00 p.m. ET. Once we hit 3:00 p.m. ET, practice will be open to all drivers and run until 6:00 p.m. ET.
Practice will continue on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and each day will from 11:00 a.m. ET to 6:00 p.m. ET.
Where Do We Stand on Rookie Orientation and Refresher Programs?
Colton Herta, Felix Rosenqvist, Santino Ferrucci and Marcus Ericsson all completed the Rookie Orientation Program at the open test held at the track on April 24th.
Three rookies will have to complete their ROP and those drivers are Patricio O'Ward with Carlin, Jordan King with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing and Ben Hanley with DragonSpeed.
At the April 24th test, Andretti Autosport's Conor Daly was the only driver to complete the refresher program. Four other veterans took to the track that day but still have to complete laps in excess of 215 MPH to be cleared. The driver with the fewest laps to complete is Dreyer & Reinbold Racing's JR Hildebrand, who needs to complete two laps followed by Team Penske's Hélio Castroneves, who needs to complete three laps. Oriol Servià is eight laps short of completing the refresher and he will be driving for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports. Fernando Alonso has ten more laps to complete after his April 24th test was hampered with a battery failure in his McLaren entry.
Five other veterans will have to go through the refresher program, Carlin's Charlie Kimball, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing's Sage Karam, Juncos Racing's Kyle Kaiser, Dale Coyne Racing's James Davison and Clauson-Marshall Racing's Pippa Mann.
The Juncos Racing entry with Kaiser is up in the air after the team lost its two biggest sponsors on the eve of practice commencing.
The Juncos Racing entry with Kaiser is up in the air after the team lost its two biggest sponsors on the eve of practice commencing.
What Can We Learn From Previous Years?
Indianapolis is a place where it is hard to draw conclusions from practice. It is a time when teams have to mix going for qualifying pace and race pace and with only a week to find both. It is the most nerve-wracking qualifying session of the season and teams will look to trim more and more speed out of the car to guarantee safety to make the race but qualifying pace does not necessarily transfer to speed in the race.
Let's just look at the DW12-era...
There were seven practice days before qualifying in 2012. The fastest drivers on each of those days were Josef Newgarden, Sebastián Saavedra, Josef Newgarden, Marco Andretti, Josef Newgarden, Scott Dixon and Marco Andretti.
Ryan Briscoe won pole position for the 2012 race and his practice results were 16th, 15th, 15th 14th, 27th but only completed six laps, sixth and second. Dario Franchitti won the race and his results were 18th, 14th, seventh, eighth, fifth, eighth and ninth. Briscoe led 15 laps and finished fifth. Franchitti led 23 laps and won from 16th. Scott Dixon topped the Thursday, was in the top five four of the days and was in the top ten in every day but the Wednesday. Dixon started a position ahead of his teammate Franchitti, led 53 laps, the second most in the race, only six fewer than Andretti and finished second.
There were seven practice days again in 2013 but Fast Friday was abbreviated due to rain, ending before 4:00 p.m. ET. Ed Carpenter, Carlos Muñoz, Marco Andretti, James Hinchcliffe, Dario Franchitti, Carlos Muñoz and E.J. Viso were the top drivers on each of the days, meaning Andretti Autosport had the fastest car on five of the seven practice days.
Carpenter, Muñoz, Andretti and Viso were the top four qualifiers and Hinchcliffe started ninth. Franchitti started 17th. Carpenter and Andretti led 37 laps and 31 laps respectively, the most and third most. Muñoz was the runner-up finisher.
Tony Kanaan won the 2013 race from 12th on the grid and led the second most laps, three fewer than Carpenter and his practice day results were seventh, tenth, ninth, 20th, 22nd, 17th and 14th.
The Grand Prix of Indianapolis made its debut in 2014, shorting practice by one day but three days that year saw rain interfere with the proceedings. Practice ended before 2:00 p.m. ET on the Tuesday while practice didn't begin until 5:00 p.m. ET on the Wednesday and that session was extended to 7:00 p.m. ET. Fast Friday was a 19-minute session due to rain.
Each practice day in 2014 had a different driver on top with Will Power leading the first day followed by Ryan Hunter-Reay, E.J. Viso, who was substituting for James Hinchcliffe after debris struck the Canadian in the head during the Grand Prix of Indianapolis and gave him a concussion, Simon Pagenaud, Hélio Castroneves and Ed Carpenter.
Carpenter won pole position for the second consecutive year and he ran the fastest lap of the practice week during the quick Fast Friday session. Four of the six drivers that topped a practice day made the Fast Nine and Hinchcliffe returned and made it five of the six cars in the Fast Nine.
The lone miss was Hunter-Reay, who qualified 11th on the Saturday and was 19th in his Sunday attempt. Hunter-Reay went on to drive from 19th to the lead before the halfway point and Hunter-Reay led 56 laps, the most in the race and won over Castroneves by 0.0600 seconds. Hunter-Reay was in the top five in four of the six sessions and in the two sessions he wasn't in the top five he was eighth fastest. Castroneves was in the top five for five of the six sessions and the one session he wasn't was the rain-shortened Tuesday.
Aero kits were introduced for 2015 and that year was marred with a few cars getting air during accidents. It led to the entire qualifying kerfuffle with teams forced to run the aero package used in qualifying for the race. Practice was also cut to five days with the Sunday after the road course race given to the teams to turn the cars over. Monday had a rain shower cut out track activity from about 1:45 p.m. ET to 4:15 p.m. ET.
Sage Karam topped the Monday with Hélio Castroneves and Carlos Muñoz topping the next two days and Simon Pagenaud topped the Thursday and Friday. Castroneves and Pagenaud topped the no tow report for Tuesday and Thursday as well.
Scott Dixon won pole position and had the fastest no-tow time on three of the five days. The Fast Nine session was not held that year due to a combination of weather and concerns after the accidents but Pagenaud started third with Castroneves in fifth and Muñoz was the third best Honda in 11th.
Dixon would go on to lead 84 laps but finish fourth. Juan Pablo Montoya and Will Power battled for the victory down the stretch with the Colombian coming out on top, however, Montoya was never in the top five on any of the practice days. He opened the week being 28th, running only three laps on Monday, and 20th on Tuesday before moving up to 17th on Wednesday. He was sixth on Thursday and tenth on Friday. Power only got up to fifth in practice and that came on Fast Friday. He ran only an instillation lap on Monday and was sixth, eighth and 13th on the other three days.
There were five days of practice again in 2016 but the Tuesday was completely washed out. Marco Andretti, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Gabby Chaves and Will Power topped the four days of practice while Townsend Bell, Josef Newgarden and Will Power topped the no-tow report each of those days with Bell topping no tow speeds on Monday and Friday.
Hunter-Reay, Power, Bell and Newgarden all made the Fast Nine but James Hinchcliffe won pole position. Hinchcliffe was third on Fast Friday but 29th, 31st and 14th on the first three practice days. Hunter-Reay did led race-high 52 laps and was third, first, 11th and seventh on the practice days only to have his chance of victory taken away after contact exiting pit lane with teammate Bell. Alexander Rossi's victory is remembered because of his fuel saving efforts but he was fourth in the first practice, 15th on the Wednesday and Thursday and tenth on Friday and he was tenth during Saturday qualifying and 11th on Sunday qualifying. Carlos Muñoz was in the top five on every practice day, started fifth and finished second.
In 2017, only Fast Friday saw significant track time lost due to rain but the Wednesday saw winds up to 45 MPH and it led to very little track activity. The fastest on each day were Marco Andretti, Scott Dixon, Ed Carpenter, Jay Howard and Sébastien Bourdais with the fastest no tow times on the respective days belonging to Tony Kanaan, Carpenter, Carpenter, Takuma Sato and Ryan Hunter-Reay.
Carpenter, Sato, Power, Kanaan and Andretti each made the Fast Nine. Scott Dixon won pole position but his practice results yo-yoed all week with results of second, 13th, second, 16th and 12th. Bourdais ran the fastest lap of week that Friday and was on his way to being the top Saturday qualifier before his accident in turn two on his third qualifying lap.
Max Chilton led 50 laps in the race but he mostly got to the lead after a gamble on pit strategy paid off and a caution allowed him to stay at the front instead of make a pit stop under green and take him out of contention. Chilton was sixth fastest on the Wednesday when wind kept most of the cars off the track and on the other four days, Chilton never got higher than 15th, coincidentally where he would start the race.
The two front-runners that led the most laps were Hunter-Reay at 28 laps and Fernando Alonso at 27 laps. Hunter-Reay did not run on the Wednesday but his practice results for the other four days were fifth, fourth, second and second. Alonso started the week in 19th and 24th but he was fourth in the final three practice days and started fifth. Hunter-Reay missed out on the Fast Nine but qualified tenth on the Sunday.
Takuma Sato won the race and he was at the front pretty much the entire month. He opened practice in tenth, moved up to sixth, did two laps on the Wednesday and was 18th and moved up to ninth and third on the final two practice days. Sato was second fastest in the Saturday qualifying session and qualified fourth on Sunday. He was at the front with the rest of the Andretti fleet from the start and led 17 laps in race on his way to victory.
Last year's schedule matches this year's schedule with the teams getting the Sunday and Monday after the road course race off and only four practice days. Simon Pagenaud, Marco Andretti and Graham Rahal topped the four practice days with Andretti topping the Wednesday and Fast Friday. Ed Carpenter and Tony Kanaan topped the no tow report the first two days with Will Power topping the Thursday and Friday.
Pagenaud, Carpenter and Power all made the Fast Nine. Rahal was 30th each day. Kanaan qualified 11th on Saturday and tenth on Sunday and Andretti went from 17th on Saturday to 12th on Sunday. Carpenter took his third Indianapolis 500 pole position with Pagenaud and Power joining him on row one. Carpenter was in the top five in three of the four days and eighth in the other day. Power was 19th, 21st, 13th and fifth on the four practice days.
Carpenter and Power led a combined 124 of 200 laps in the race with Power taking the victory and Carpenter finishing second. While Pagenaud topped the Tuesday, he didn't get back in the top ten in any of the other three days and only led one lap before finishing sixth.
What Does It Mean For Qualifying and the Race?
In the DW12-era, the only time a driver was fastest on a practice day and went on to win the race in the same year was Ryan Hunter-Reay in 2014 when he was fastest on the second practice day.
While topping the charts might not point to a winner, consistently being in the top ten does point to a potential race winner. Outside of Will Power last year, every Indianapolis 500 in the DW12-era had been in the top ten overall for multiple practice days and the one thing against Power is he had fewer scheduled practice days last year than every other year prior in the DW12-era.
The no tow report data is not readily available but based on what we were able to pull it does seem to carry over to qualifying. Since 2015, only twice did a driver that topped a no tow report in practice not make the Fast Nine and that was Ryan Hunter-Reay in 2017 and Tony Kanaan last year and on both instances those drivers ended up starting tenth. Of the 11 drivers that did top a no tow report and make the Fast Nine, six started on the first row and four started on row two. The only one to top a no tow report and start on row three that year was Kanaan in 2017 when he started seventh.
What Can Previous Years Tell Us About Bumping?
Since the start of the DW12-era, only three years have had bumping (2013, 2015 and 2018). The good news is this year's race will seeing bumping return with at least two, if not three cars depending on the fate of the Juncos Racing effort, making a qualifying attempt but not being a part of the field of 33 come May 26th.
Only one car was bounced in 2013 and 2015.
From the start of practice in 2013, Michel Jourdain, Jr. was at the bottom of the timesheet every day. On Fast Friday, he broke 223.266 MPH and was 30th fastest, ahead of Buddy Lazier, who only ran instillation laps on Thursday, and Sebastián Saavedra. Conor Daly had an accident on Thursday and did not participate on Fast Friday or Saturday qualifying. The slowest three qualifying attempts from Saturday qualifying were Tristan Vautier at 224.156 MPH, Lazier at 223.073 MPH and Jourdain, Jr. at 218.329 MPH. Pippa Mann did not make a qualifying attempt on Saturday.
Prior to Sunday qualifying, Katherine Legge was added to the entry list in an additional car with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports. Legge opened up practice at 223.569 MPH while Jourdain, Jr. could not get above 219.843 MPH. During Sunday qualifying, Mann ran a 224.005 MPH over four laps, putting her 30th with Daly 31st at 223.582 MPH and Lazier at 223.442 MPH. Legge put herself on the bubble at 223.176 MPH.
Jourdain, Jr. never completed a qualifying run during the Sunday session with the team unable to get the speed out of the car to come anywhere close to making the field of 33.
Two years later, Bryan Clauson spent the entire week at the bottom of the timesheet. He was 32nd on Tuesday, ahead of only James Davison, who did 15 laps and Alex Tagliani, who ran two instillation laps. The next day, Clauson was 31st, ahead of Sébastien Bourdais, who ran five laps in Clauson's #88 Chevrolet, and Tagliani, who ran ten laps. On the Thursday, Clauson dropped to 33rd and ahead of Buddy Lazier, who made his first laps on track, ten to be specific. Clauson found speed on Fast Friday, moving up to 31st ahead of Tristan Vautier, Pippa Mann and Lazier.
After the headache that was qualifying, the slowest four cars and those that participated in the last row shootout were Jack Hawksworth, Stefano Coletti, Clauson and Lazier, who did not make an attempt in session for pole position. Hawksworth had been in the bottom portion of the practice results, not taking to the track Monday and then following it with 28th, 25th, 23rd and Hawksworth jumped up to 11th on Fast Friday. Coletti was 24th on Monday and rounded out the week with practice results of 27th, 29th, 25th and 18th.
Hawksworth, Coletti and Clauson each picked up speed from their pole session attempt with Hawksworth finding nearly a mile per hour and jumping from 222.787 MPH to 223.738 MPH. Coletti broke the 222 MPH barrier in the final session, moving up to 222.001 MPH from 221.912 MPH and Clauson ran a 221.358 MPH attempt, up from 220.523 MPH. Lazier made two attempts in the 45-minute session but neither would have topped Clauson's first time with the 1996 Indianapolis 500 winner only running 219.438 MPH and 220.153 MPH.
Over the four practice days last year, all 35 entries made a practice run each day and of the eight possible entries that could fill the final two spots, seven different entries occupied those spots. The only entry that was in the bottom two on multiple days was the #17 Honda for Conor Daly. Daly was 34th on the Tuesday, running only nine laps, the fewest on the first day, and he was 34th on Thursday.
The other drivers to occupy the bottom two were Pippa Mann on Tuesday, Graham Rahal and Zachary Claman De Melo on Wednesday, Veach on Thursday and James Davison and Jack Harvey on Fast Friday.
Daly, Mann, Claman De Melo, Rahal and James Hinchcliffe. Daly was 34th, 31st, 34th and 25th over the four practice days. Mann's practice results were 35th, 25th, 32nd and 31st. Claman De Melo and Rahal each had a great Thursday. Rahal topped the day and Claman De Melo was seventh. On the other three days, Rahal was 27th, 34th and 33rd. Claman De Melo was 31st, 35th and 27th.
Come Saturday qualifying, Takuma Sato and Oriol Servià dropped into the bumping battle with fellow RLLR teammate Rahal. Sato had spent the week in fairly comfortable position. He was 14th and third the first two days but dropped to 33rd on Thursday and 24th on Friday. Servià opened practice in 22nd, moved up to ninth, dropped to 16th and wrapped up practice in fourth. James Davison was also struggling for speed on Saturday in a third A.J. Foyt Racing entry. Davison opened practice in 13th but was 33rd, 29th and 34th the next three days.
Many factors played into the outcome of the first qualifying day, multiple rain delays, changing track conditions and a loose tire sensor that Hinchcliffe experienced on the out lap for his second qualifying attempt with less than 15 minutes remaining. Hinchcliffe, Mann and Daly were each bumped on the day with Daly being bumped twice.
After everyone had completed their first attempts, Servià and Daly were on the outside with Mann on the bubble. Servià waved his second attempt and Daly followed onto the track and got back into the field, bumping Mann but only putting himself onto the bubble. Servià returned to the track for his third attempt and went on to bump Daly out, putting himself 31st with Davison in 32nd and Hinchcliffe in 33rd.
Daly started his third attempt with just over 20 minutes remaining in the session and he put himself 32nd, bumping Hinchcliffe and placing Davison on the bubble. Mann took to the track and waved off the attempt after being more than a mile per hour off Davison. Hinchcliffe's tire sensor vibration followed and Alexander Rossi took to the track to attempt to make the Fast Nine. Mann returned for her final attempt with under two minutes to go. She took the green flag with 30 seconds left in the day and Hinchcliffe at the head of the line but out of time to get to the track. Mann's final attempt was her slowest at 223.343 MPH, nearly a mile per hour off Davison.
Can You Sum That Up Like You Did Before?
Sure, if someone is at the bottom every day he or she is probably going to be sweating bullet Saturday evening into Sunday afternoon.
Jourdain, Jr. was in the bottom three every day he participated in practice in 2013. Clauson never broke the top 30 in 2015 and was fortunate that his main competition was Lazier, who didn't show up until Thursday and did not have an abundance of time to find speed. Clauson may have also benefitted from all the delays due to weather and safety concerns on Saturday and Sunday, keeping Lazier from getting additional track time.
Last year, Mann and Daly were in the bumping fight the entire time with Daly finding the speed in the dying moments. Both were outside the top 30 on three of the four practice days. Rahal and Claman De Melo were each outside the top 30 on two of the four practice days but Claman De Melo was never really in danger after his time put him 26th. Rahal made two attempts and qualified 30th but his first attempt would have been good for 30th but his second attempt gave him an extra 0.24-mile per hour cushion.
We have to remember the scenario of a driver having his or her worst possible day and after appearing to be contently in the field falling into a trap and not being able to gain speed. It is kind of what happened to Hinchcliffe last year. Yes, there were signs Hinchcliffe might have been in trouble. His four practice day results were 26th, 29th, 31st and 29th. Add to Hinchcliffe's poor practice results the rain delays and a loose tire sensor keeping Hinchcliffe from making a second qualifying attempt and it was the perfect storm against the Canadian. If the rain doesn't happen, he probably makes the race. If the tire sensor stays intact, he probably makes the race. That wasn't the case last year.
Of course, this year has a built in way of covering everyone's backside. IndyCar is protecting itself with the Last Row Shootout returning and running on Sunday. The three teams that are not fast enough on Saturday will keep one more attempt to make the race the next day. Granted, the teams outside the field and those teams on the final row at the end of Saturday will not feel any less stressed knowing it will have a final attempt on Sunday but it is a sign of hope for a team that couldn't get it right on Saturday especially if it had shown no signs of qualifying difficulty during the week.
Only one car was bounced in 2013 and 2015.
From the start of practice in 2013, Michel Jourdain, Jr. was at the bottom of the timesheet every day. On Fast Friday, he broke 223.266 MPH and was 30th fastest, ahead of Buddy Lazier, who only ran instillation laps on Thursday, and Sebastián Saavedra. Conor Daly had an accident on Thursday and did not participate on Fast Friday or Saturday qualifying. The slowest three qualifying attempts from Saturday qualifying were Tristan Vautier at 224.156 MPH, Lazier at 223.073 MPH and Jourdain, Jr. at 218.329 MPH. Pippa Mann did not make a qualifying attempt on Saturday.
Prior to Sunday qualifying, Katherine Legge was added to the entry list in an additional car with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports. Legge opened up practice at 223.569 MPH while Jourdain, Jr. could not get above 219.843 MPH. During Sunday qualifying, Mann ran a 224.005 MPH over four laps, putting her 30th with Daly 31st at 223.582 MPH and Lazier at 223.442 MPH. Legge put herself on the bubble at 223.176 MPH.
Jourdain, Jr. never completed a qualifying run during the Sunday session with the team unable to get the speed out of the car to come anywhere close to making the field of 33.
Two years later, Bryan Clauson spent the entire week at the bottom of the timesheet. He was 32nd on Tuesday, ahead of only James Davison, who did 15 laps and Alex Tagliani, who ran two instillation laps. The next day, Clauson was 31st, ahead of Sébastien Bourdais, who ran five laps in Clauson's #88 Chevrolet, and Tagliani, who ran ten laps. On the Thursday, Clauson dropped to 33rd and ahead of Buddy Lazier, who made his first laps on track, ten to be specific. Clauson found speed on Fast Friday, moving up to 31st ahead of Tristan Vautier, Pippa Mann and Lazier.
After the headache that was qualifying, the slowest four cars and those that participated in the last row shootout were Jack Hawksworth, Stefano Coletti, Clauson and Lazier, who did not make an attempt in session for pole position. Hawksworth had been in the bottom portion of the practice results, not taking to the track Monday and then following it with 28th, 25th, 23rd and Hawksworth jumped up to 11th on Fast Friday. Coletti was 24th on Monday and rounded out the week with practice results of 27th, 29th, 25th and 18th.
Hawksworth, Coletti and Clauson each picked up speed from their pole session attempt with Hawksworth finding nearly a mile per hour and jumping from 222.787 MPH to 223.738 MPH. Coletti broke the 222 MPH barrier in the final session, moving up to 222.001 MPH from 221.912 MPH and Clauson ran a 221.358 MPH attempt, up from 220.523 MPH. Lazier made two attempts in the 45-minute session but neither would have topped Clauson's first time with the 1996 Indianapolis 500 winner only running 219.438 MPH and 220.153 MPH.
Over the four practice days last year, all 35 entries made a practice run each day and of the eight possible entries that could fill the final two spots, seven different entries occupied those spots. The only entry that was in the bottom two on multiple days was the #17 Honda for Conor Daly. Daly was 34th on the Tuesday, running only nine laps, the fewest on the first day, and he was 34th on Thursday.
The other drivers to occupy the bottom two were Pippa Mann on Tuesday, Graham Rahal and Zachary Claman De Melo on Wednesday, Veach on Thursday and James Davison and Jack Harvey on Fast Friday.
Daly, Mann, Claman De Melo, Rahal and James Hinchcliffe. Daly was 34th, 31st, 34th and 25th over the four practice days. Mann's practice results were 35th, 25th, 32nd and 31st. Claman De Melo and Rahal each had a great Thursday. Rahal topped the day and Claman De Melo was seventh. On the other three days, Rahal was 27th, 34th and 33rd. Claman De Melo was 31st, 35th and 27th.
Come Saturday qualifying, Takuma Sato and Oriol Servià dropped into the bumping battle with fellow RLLR teammate Rahal. Sato had spent the week in fairly comfortable position. He was 14th and third the first two days but dropped to 33rd on Thursday and 24th on Friday. Servià opened practice in 22nd, moved up to ninth, dropped to 16th and wrapped up practice in fourth. James Davison was also struggling for speed on Saturday in a third A.J. Foyt Racing entry. Davison opened practice in 13th but was 33rd, 29th and 34th the next three days.
Many factors played into the outcome of the first qualifying day, multiple rain delays, changing track conditions and a loose tire sensor that Hinchcliffe experienced on the out lap for his second qualifying attempt with less than 15 minutes remaining. Hinchcliffe, Mann and Daly were each bumped on the day with Daly being bumped twice.
After everyone had completed their first attempts, Servià and Daly were on the outside with Mann on the bubble. Servià waved his second attempt and Daly followed onto the track and got back into the field, bumping Mann but only putting himself onto the bubble. Servià returned to the track for his third attempt and went on to bump Daly out, putting himself 31st with Davison in 32nd and Hinchcliffe in 33rd.
Daly started his third attempt with just over 20 minutes remaining in the session and he put himself 32nd, bumping Hinchcliffe and placing Davison on the bubble. Mann took to the track and waved off the attempt after being more than a mile per hour off Davison. Hinchcliffe's tire sensor vibration followed and Alexander Rossi took to the track to attempt to make the Fast Nine. Mann returned for her final attempt with under two minutes to go. She took the green flag with 30 seconds left in the day and Hinchcliffe at the head of the line but out of time to get to the track. Mann's final attempt was her slowest at 223.343 MPH, nearly a mile per hour off Davison.
Can You Sum That Up Like You Did Before?
Sure, if someone is at the bottom every day he or she is probably going to be sweating bullet Saturday evening into Sunday afternoon.
Jourdain, Jr. was in the bottom three every day he participated in practice in 2013. Clauson never broke the top 30 in 2015 and was fortunate that his main competition was Lazier, who didn't show up until Thursday and did not have an abundance of time to find speed. Clauson may have also benefitted from all the delays due to weather and safety concerns on Saturday and Sunday, keeping Lazier from getting additional track time.
Last year, Mann and Daly were in the bumping fight the entire time with Daly finding the speed in the dying moments. Both were outside the top 30 on three of the four practice days. Rahal and Claman De Melo were each outside the top 30 on two of the four practice days but Claman De Melo was never really in danger after his time put him 26th. Rahal made two attempts and qualified 30th but his first attempt would have been good for 30th but his second attempt gave him an extra 0.24-mile per hour cushion.
We have to remember the scenario of a driver having his or her worst possible day and after appearing to be contently in the field falling into a trap and not being able to gain speed. It is kind of what happened to Hinchcliffe last year. Yes, there were signs Hinchcliffe might have been in trouble. His four practice day results were 26th, 29th, 31st and 29th. Add to Hinchcliffe's poor practice results the rain delays and a loose tire sensor keeping Hinchcliffe from making a second qualifying attempt and it was the perfect storm against the Canadian. If the rain doesn't happen, he probably makes the race. If the tire sensor stays intact, he probably makes the race. That wasn't the case last year.
Of course, this year has a built in way of covering everyone's backside. IndyCar is protecting itself with the Last Row Shootout returning and running on Sunday. The three teams that are not fast enough on Saturday will keep one more attempt to make the race the next day. Granted, the teams outside the field and those teams on the final row at the end of Saturday will not feel any less stressed knowing it will have a final attempt on Sunday but it is a sign of hope for a team that couldn't get it right on Saturday especially if it had shown no signs of qualifying difficulty during the week.
Closing Thoughts
It is crazy how four practice days seem much more rushed than five practice days. Add to it the bumping battle that will not see just one but two if not three cars home and the entire week has become a frantic affair. There is no time for an off day. There is no time for sandbagging. Every team has to focus on getting the most out of the car in every session and cannot afford to take a day off.
If it is wrong from the start there isn't a moment of relief that there is plenty of time to correct the issue. While the Indianapolis 500 does have more practice time than every other race in the IndyCar season it feels no different from Pocono, Road America, Toronto or Laguna Seca. The results have to come immediately and there cannot be any hesitation to jump to Plan B if Plan A is not working out.
We will have 28 hours of practice to see who has the pace to be competing at the top and who will need to find pace just to make row 11 and once we get to the weekend it is a different animal. Hopefully, the past seasons in the DW12-era point us in a direction into how qualifying will play out.
If it is wrong from the start there isn't a moment of relief that there is plenty of time to correct the issue. While the Indianapolis 500 does have more practice time than every other race in the IndyCar season it feels no different from Pocono, Road America, Toronto or Laguna Seca. The results have to come immediately and there cannot be any hesitation to jump to Plan B if Plan A is not working out.
We will have 28 hours of practice to see who has the pace to be competing at the top and who will need to find pace just to make row 11 and once we get to the weekend it is a different animal. Hopefully, the past seasons in the DW12-era point us in a direction into how qualifying will play out.
Monday, May 13, 2019
Musings From the Weekend: IndyCar Needs to Embrace Electric
Simon Pagenaud started off Team Penske's Saturday full of highway robbery with a brilliant drive in the wet to win the Grand Prix of Indianapolis. Jack Harvey was the darling of the day with Meyer Shank Racing. Andretti Autosport was lost. Formula E made its biennial trip to Monaco. NASCAR had a good race at Kansas and it was letting you know about it. Formula One possibly made its final trip to Spain and Barcelona for the foreseeable future. The Brits were back on top in Imola and World Superbike had another race cancelled due to weather. There were a pair of endurance races, a touring car weekend and a rally. Here is a run down of what got me thinking.
IndyCar Needs to Embrace Electric
The excitement in IndyCar can be best described as the level of excitement of a soccer team dominating possession, living in the attacking third, constantly having shots whiz toward goal only to be deflect wide off a defender's leg or goalkeeper's finger tips, winning corner kicks and a goal feels imminent though it has not yet come to fruition.
When Porsche is in the discussion, you have to be excited.
Porsche.
This isn't some ho-hum engine manufacture.
This isn't a company with no pedigree and looking to try something new.
When it comes to listing the manufactures of the motorsports' world, Porsche is at the head table with Ferrari. That's the list. The identities of those two companies are motorsports. They make flashy road cars and adore the walls of teenage bedrooms as the quintessential cool automobile and the love for the Ferrari F40 and Porsche 911 comes from motorsports. Without success around the globe on the racetrack, those cars do not have the same panache.
Porsche has a fan base. It doesn't need a driver. It doesn't need a series. It has droves of loyalist who buy the cars, buy the merchandise, hang the flags and go to the races, not necessarily because the series has any cache but because Porsche is there. They come out and support the brand but not because they are brainwashed but because Porsche means something to them.
Not many others manufactures can say that. IndyCar needs that.
Porsche had a fling in IndyCar three decades ago and the cars Teo Fabi and John Andretti drove hold a special place in the hearts of many but it was not a long stay. Three seasons and then Porsche moved on.
When you hear Porsche is interested, you have to listen and while IndyCar may have been talking to the German manufacture, it appears the talks have fizzled out. The hang up? Porsche's interest in hybrid engines.
The second decade of the 21st century is in its final chapter. We are moving into the 2020s and the further we move from the 20th century, the more electricity sparks up in conversations about the future of the automobile industry. Manufactures are already stating its entire fleet will be electric automobiles come 2040. Countries and cities plan on only allow electric automobiles in the next 10-20 years. It is coming.
If the manufactures are going that direction, the motorsports series will have to follow and IndyCar needs to be on the front foot.
IndyCar has been chomping for a third manufacture since Lotus wilted after a short life in 2012. Since 2013, there have been two manufactures. From 2006 to 2011, there was one manufacture. If there is anything the last decade and a half shows is whatever the IndyCar formula has been it has not been attracting manufactures like flies to a Fourth of July picnic. The current regulations kept Honda on board and brought Chevrolet back. Other than the failure of Lotus, not many other brands have been buzzing around this basket.
The next set of engine regulations are in the drafting phase and hope to come to life for the 2021 season but the 2020s decade is going to be a pivotal for the future of IndyCar and the regulations for 2021 could keep IndyCar alive for years to come or be massive blow and set the series back to a point of irrelevance the series fell into during the CART-IRL split.
Attracting manufactures comes down to what the manufactures want and IndyCar needs to stay on top of the interests of the manufactures for the series to survive.
Electric automobiles scare people and electric automobiles creeping into motorsports straight up frightens them. People are afraid of change, especially when it is a complete shock to the system. Electric motorsports has been a change. In Formula E, it is a massive decline in noise, different pit stops, different look and feel and culture. Like all changes, especially when it comes to culture, the established crowd mostly pushed back. It rejected the differences. It discredited it. It belittled it. It demonized it. It made it an other.
Formula E came in as a disruptor, not only because it was doing something never done before in an all-electric series, but it set itself up to be different with only street courses, the car change, fan boost and one-day shows to name some of the differences. It was made to be different and it scared people away from day one.
The problem is all existing motorsports series are bound to face the inevitable electric dilemma. Eventually, every manufacture is going to twist arms and series are either going to have to change or accept a decline in relevance.
IndyCar is no different and if anything it has its toes over the ledge, facing the choice of bringing in electric components or sticking to its guns and waiting and seeing what happens. Either way, IndyCar has to take a leap of faith, it is just a matter of whether the series stays up right or falls to its death.
It is pretty simple, if Porsche is at the table, you have to listen and this might be the time for IndyCar to embrace electric. I am not saying IndyCar has to go full-electric and take on Formula E. Nothing suggests the technology is there yet to make that a wise choice but something in the form of hybrid systems is logical step for the series.
Hybrids are a bit of a sore subject. The systems are rued in Formula One but the hybrid systems of the LMP1 class from Audi, Toyota and Porsche were behemoths and had raw pace that grabbed spectators by the throat and didn't let go. However, costs have broken down the LMP1 class, leaving Toyota as the only one in the sandbox and with the FIA World Endurance Championship at an uncertain intersection with its new regulations for the premier class, due for the 2020-21 season.
Everyone around IndyCar is afraid of hybrids killing the series. We saw how the introduction of the DW12 chassis and 2.2 L twin-turbo engine formula had its negatives for IndyCar. A lot of teams died. It took more than a half a decade to start getting new teams in and the teams are rolling around in money today. Everyone is still living on tight budgets. The fear is hybrids would scare teams away to other series or straight up kill teams. That is understandable but the manufactures have to know what is expected when it comes to IndyCar and it would have to be rolled out in a way to make sure majority of the teams can survive.
There has to be a smart way IndyCar can roll out hybrid systems and there has to be a way for it to be affordable. If IndyCar holds the manufactures to the responsibility to be able to field 60% of the grid then the manufactures will have to make the systems reasonably affordable, otherwise it will not get enough customers to justify the program.
One way IndyCar can attempt to assure the program will not cripple the teams is state that this formula will last for an extended period of time. No one said the DW12 chassis and 2.2 L twin-turbo engine formula was going to last into 2019 and 2020. It kind of just happened and I don't think anyone is ready for it to leave. The previous formula had its flaws with Honda being the lone engine supplier and lackluster racing and we had enough of it after nine years. This combination will go for at least nine seasons.
It would be best if IndyCar off the crack of the bat stated this engine formula would be in place for at least nine, if not ten seasons. For starters, it would give manufactures assurance its investment will get the bang for the buck. Secondly, it would give manufactures a time window for entry. If a make doesn't get involved for year one it knows it will have eight or nine more and it could spend two years in development, come in for year three and not be woefully off to the manufactures that were involved from the start.
My other hope is the IndyCar rulebook would not allow for the development of hybrid systems such as we saw in the LMP1 class. Unlike LMP1, where manufactures run two cars full-time with possibly a third at Le Mans, an engine manufacture would need to be able to supply at least eight to ten full-time entries and increase that to 12-15 entries for the Indianapolis 500. The programs would not be as wild when it comes to cash and instead of focusing on two cars, a manufacture would have to work on a whole armada. Not to mention, IndyCar has done a very good job of controlling in-season engine developments with this formula and one would hope it could do the same with the next system to keep costs in line, whether it had hybrids or not.
I know some say IndyCar should push back and reject the way of the automobile industry, reject electricity and be the loud, petrol-chugging series to standout but being a blockhead doesn't make you a genius. IndyCar could go against the stream but that will only get the series so far. The series needs manufacture support. If manufactures are interested in electric components then it better find of way to make it work. More and more manufactures are looking to expand electric components. The series cannot be a stick in the mud adopting a formula that is going out-of-date because eventually the series will become so obsolete in doing so.
There is a fear in what introducing electric components could do to IndyCar and I get it. Porsche might want it but what about Honda and Chevrolet? This looks like a one step forward, two steps back situation but what if hybrid systems get Nissan interested and Ford and Toyota and BMW and Jaguar? It might be a case where you lose what you have but get more in return.
We are at the point where IndyCar has to take a swing and evolve a little bit. It has to be done with caution to make sure the series does not go from two-dozen entries to 14-16 entries at each race but it has to take the next step forward. The LMP1 regulations show us what a hybrid can be an aggressive machine that yanks the hearts of spectators from their chests into their throats. It can shatter track records and leave everyone in amazement. We can learn from past mistakes and watch the costs to make sure it is feasible for existing teams and the teams of the future.
It is time for IndyCar to embrace electric and be on the front foot instead of falling behind and risk being cast into the shadows.
Winners From the Weekend
You know about Simon Pagenaud but did you know...
Lewis Hamilton won the Spanish Grand Prix, his third victory of the season and his third consecutive Spanish Grand Prix victory.
Nicholas Latifi won the Formula Two feature race from Barcelona with Nyck de Vries winning the sprint race. Robert Shwarzman and Jehan Deruvala split the Formula Three races.
Jean-Éric Vergne won the Monaco ePrix, the first repeat winner of the 2018-19 season.
Robert Megennis and Rinus VeeKay split the Indy Lights races from the IMS road course. Rasmus Lindh swept the Indy Pro 2000 races and Braden Eves swept the U.S. F2000 races, his second sweep of the season.
Brad Keselowski won the NASCAR Cup race from Kansas, his third victory of the season. Ross Chastain won the Truck race, his first career victory.
Jonathan Rea won two World Superbike races from Imola. The third race was cancelled due to rain. Randy Krummenacher won the World Supersport race, his third victory of the season.
#The 26 G-Drive Racing Aurus 01-Gibson of Norman Nato, Romain Rusinov and Job van Uitert won the 4 Hours of Monza. The #11 Eurointernational Ligier-Nissan of Mikkel Jensen, Jens Petersen and Andrea Dromedari won the LMP3 class. The #77 Dempsey-Proton Racing Porsche of Matteo Cairoli, Riccardo Pera and Christian Ried won the GTE class.
The #72 SMP Racing Ferrari of Davide Rigon, Mikhail Aleshin and Miguel Molina won the 3 Hours of Silverstone, Ferrari's first victory in the Blancpain Endurance Series in six years.
Frédéric Vervisch, Néstor Girolami and Ma Qing Hua split the World Touring Car Cup races from Slovakia.
Ott Tänak won Rally Chile, his second victory of the season.
Coming Up This Weekend
Indianapolis 500 qualifying, bumping and all.
MotoGP will be at Le Mans.
NASCAR has an All-Star race.
Mosport host Blancpain World Challenge America.
Deutsche Tournenwagen Masters returns to Zolder for the first time since 2002.
Zolder isn't the only track that starts with the letter "Z" hosting racing. World Touring Car Cup goes to Zandvoort.
Super Formula hopes the weather holds off and allows for a race at Autopolis this year.
IndyCar Needs to Embrace Electric
The excitement in IndyCar can be best described as the level of excitement of a soccer team dominating possession, living in the attacking third, constantly having shots whiz toward goal only to be deflect wide off a defender's leg or goalkeeper's finger tips, winning corner kicks and a goal feels imminent though it has not yet come to fruition.
When Porsche is in the discussion, you have to be excited.
Porsche.
This isn't some ho-hum engine manufacture.
This isn't a company with no pedigree and looking to try something new.
When it comes to listing the manufactures of the motorsports' world, Porsche is at the head table with Ferrari. That's the list. The identities of those two companies are motorsports. They make flashy road cars and adore the walls of teenage bedrooms as the quintessential cool automobile and the love for the Ferrari F40 and Porsche 911 comes from motorsports. Without success around the globe on the racetrack, those cars do not have the same panache.
Porsche has a fan base. It doesn't need a driver. It doesn't need a series. It has droves of loyalist who buy the cars, buy the merchandise, hang the flags and go to the races, not necessarily because the series has any cache but because Porsche is there. They come out and support the brand but not because they are brainwashed but because Porsche means something to them.
Not many others manufactures can say that. IndyCar needs that.
Porsche had a fling in IndyCar three decades ago and the cars Teo Fabi and John Andretti drove hold a special place in the hearts of many but it was not a long stay. Three seasons and then Porsche moved on.
When you hear Porsche is interested, you have to listen and while IndyCar may have been talking to the German manufacture, it appears the talks have fizzled out. The hang up? Porsche's interest in hybrid engines.
The second decade of the 21st century is in its final chapter. We are moving into the 2020s and the further we move from the 20th century, the more electricity sparks up in conversations about the future of the automobile industry. Manufactures are already stating its entire fleet will be electric automobiles come 2040. Countries and cities plan on only allow electric automobiles in the next 10-20 years. It is coming.
If the manufactures are going that direction, the motorsports series will have to follow and IndyCar needs to be on the front foot.
IndyCar has been chomping for a third manufacture since Lotus wilted after a short life in 2012. Since 2013, there have been two manufactures. From 2006 to 2011, there was one manufacture. If there is anything the last decade and a half shows is whatever the IndyCar formula has been it has not been attracting manufactures like flies to a Fourth of July picnic. The current regulations kept Honda on board and brought Chevrolet back. Other than the failure of Lotus, not many other brands have been buzzing around this basket.
The next set of engine regulations are in the drafting phase and hope to come to life for the 2021 season but the 2020s decade is going to be a pivotal for the future of IndyCar and the regulations for 2021 could keep IndyCar alive for years to come or be massive blow and set the series back to a point of irrelevance the series fell into during the CART-IRL split.
Attracting manufactures comes down to what the manufactures want and IndyCar needs to stay on top of the interests of the manufactures for the series to survive.
Electric automobiles scare people and electric automobiles creeping into motorsports straight up frightens them. People are afraid of change, especially when it is a complete shock to the system. Electric motorsports has been a change. In Formula E, it is a massive decline in noise, different pit stops, different look and feel and culture. Like all changes, especially when it comes to culture, the established crowd mostly pushed back. It rejected the differences. It discredited it. It belittled it. It demonized it. It made it an other.
Formula E came in as a disruptor, not only because it was doing something never done before in an all-electric series, but it set itself up to be different with only street courses, the car change, fan boost and one-day shows to name some of the differences. It was made to be different and it scared people away from day one.
The problem is all existing motorsports series are bound to face the inevitable electric dilemma. Eventually, every manufacture is going to twist arms and series are either going to have to change or accept a decline in relevance.
IndyCar is no different and if anything it has its toes over the ledge, facing the choice of bringing in electric components or sticking to its guns and waiting and seeing what happens. Either way, IndyCar has to take a leap of faith, it is just a matter of whether the series stays up right or falls to its death.
It is pretty simple, if Porsche is at the table, you have to listen and this might be the time for IndyCar to embrace electric. I am not saying IndyCar has to go full-electric and take on Formula E. Nothing suggests the technology is there yet to make that a wise choice but something in the form of hybrid systems is logical step for the series.
Hybrids are a bit of a sore subject. The systems are rued in Formula One but the hybrid systems of the LMP1 class from Audi, Toyota and Porsche were behemoths and had raw pace that grabbed spectators by the throat and didn't let go. However, costs have broken down the LMP1 class, leaving Toyota as the only one in the sandbox and with the FIA World Endurance Championship at an uncertain intersection with its new regulations for the premier class, due for the 2020-21 season.
Everyone around IndyCar is afraid of hybrids killing the series. We saw how the introduction of the DW12 chassis and 2.2 L twin-turbo engine formula had its negatives for IndyCar. A lot of teams died. It took more than a half a decade to start getting new teams in and the teams are rolling around in money today. Everyone is still living on tight budgets. The fear is hybrids would scare teams away to other series or straight up kill teams. That is understandable but the manufactures have to know what is expected when it comes to IndyCar and it would have to be rolled out in a way to make sure majority of the teams can survive.
There has to be a smart way IndyCar can roll out hybrid systems and there has to be a way for it to be affordable. If IndyCar holds the manufactures to the responsibility to be able to field 60% of the grid then the manufactures will have to make the systems reasonably affordable, otherwise it will not get enough customers to justify the program.
One way IndyCar can attempt to assure the program will not cripple the teams is state that this formula will last for an extended period of time. No one said the DW12 chassis and 2.2 L twin-turbo engine formula was going to last into 2019 and 2020. It kind of just happened and I don't think anyone is ready for it to leave. The previous formula had its flaws with Honda being the lone engine supplier and lackluster racing and we had enough of it after nine years. This combination will go for at least nine seasons.
It would be best if IndyCar off the crack of the bat stated this engine formula would be in place for at least nine, if not ten seasons. For starters, it would give manufactures assurance its investment will get the bang for the buck. Secondly, it would give manufactures a time window for entry. If a make doesn't get involved for year one it knows it will have eight or nine more and it could spend two years in development, come in for year three and not be woefully off to the manufactures that were involved from the start.
My other hope is the IndyCar rulebook would not allow for the development of hybrid systems such as we saw in the LMP1 class. Unlike LMP1, where manufactures run two cars full-time with possibly a third at Le Mans, an engine manufacture would need to be able to supply at least eight to ten full-time entries and increase that to 12-15 entries for the Indianapolis 500. The programs would not be as wild when it comes to cash and instead of focusing on two cars, a manufacture would have to work on a whole armada. Not to mention, IndyCar has done a very good job of controlling in-season engine developments with this formula and one would hope it could do the same with the next system to keep costs in line, whether it had hybrids or not.
I know some say IndyCar should push back and reject the way of the automobile industry, reject electricity and be the loud, petrol-chugging series to standout but being a blockhead doesn't make you a genius. IndyCar could go against the stream but that will only get the series so far. The series needs manufacture support. If manufactures are interested in electric components then it better find of way to make it work. More and more manufactures are looking to expand electric components. The series cannot be a stick in the mud adopting a formula that is going out-of-date because eventually the series will become so obsolete in doing so.
There is a fear in what introducing electric components could do to IndyCar and I get it. Porsche might want it but what about Honda and Chevrolet? This looks like a one step forward, two steps back situation but what if hybrid systems get Nissan interested and Ford and Toyota and BMW and Jaguar? It might be a case where you lose what you have but get more in return.
We are at the point where IndyCar has to take a swing and evolve a little bit. It has to be done with caution to make sure the series does not go from two-dozen entries to 14-16 entries at each race but it has to take the next step forward. The LMP1 regulations show us what a hybrid can be an aggressive machine that yanks the hearts of spectators from their chests into their throats. It can shatter track records and leave everyone in amazement. We can learn from past mistakes and watch the costs to make sure it is feasible for existing teams and the teams of the future.
It is time for IndyCar to embrace electric and be on the front foot instead of falling behind and risk being cast into the shadows.
Winners From the Weekend
You know about Simon Pagenaud but did you know...
Lewis Hamilton won the Spanish Grand Prix, his third victory of the season and his third consecutive Spanish Grand Prix victory.
Nicholas Latifi won the Formula Two feature race from Barcelona with Nyck de Vries winning the sprint race. Robert Shwarzman and Jehan Deruvala split the Formula Three races.
Jean-Éric Vergne won the Monaco ePrix, the first repeat winner of the 2018-19 season.
Robert Megennis and Rinus VeeKay split the Indy Lights races from the IMS road course. Rasmus Lindh swept the Indy Pro 2000 races and Braden Eves swept the U.S. F2000 races, his second sweep of the season.
Brad Keselowski won the NASCAR Cup race from Kansas, his third victory of the season. Ross Chastain won the Truck race, his first career victory.
Jonathan Rea won two World Superbike races from Imola. The third race was cancelled due to rain. Randy Krummenacher won the World Supersport race, his third victory of the season.
#The 26 G-Drive Racing Aurus 01-Gibson of Norman Nato, Romain Rusinov and Job van Uitert won the 4 Hours of Monza. The #11 Eurointernational Ligier-Nissan of Mikkel Jensen, Jens Petersen and Andrea Dromedari won the LMP3 class. The #77 Dempsey-Proton Racing Porsche of Matteo Cairoli, Riccardo Pera and Christian Ried won the GTE class.
The #72 SMP Racing Ferrari of Davide Rigon, Mikhail Aleshin and Miguel Molina won the 3 Hours of Silverstone, Ferrari's first victory in the Blancpain Endurance Series in six years.
Frédéric Vervisch, Néstor Girolami and Ma Qing Hua split the World Touring Car Cup races from Slovakia.
Ott Tänak won Rally Chile, his second victory of the season.
Coming Up This Weekend
Indianapolis 500 qualifying, bumping and all.
MotoGP will be at Le Mans.
NASCAR has an All-Star race.
Mosport host Blancpain World Challenge America.
Deutsche Tournenwagen Masters returns to Zolder for the first time since 2002.
Zolder isn't the only track that starts with the letter "Z" hosting racing. World Touring Car Cup goes to Zandvoort.
Super Formula hopes the weather holds off and allows for a race at Autopolis this year.
Saturday, May 11, 2019
First Impressions: Sixth Grand Prix of Indianapolis
1. This race felt a lot like the 1997 Portland race, except for the nonstop wet weather. This race started in the dry and I can't even put into words what the first 75% of this race was. It was waiting. We waited for the rain. Everyone's pit stop was made with bated breath because no one wanted to stop and then get caught in the showers and have to stop again. It wasn't clear what was going to happen and then Hélio Castroneves spun and stalled after switching to the wet weather tires with just over 20 laps to go.
At this point the rain broke in and the racetrack was lost. A bunch of drivers had to make that extra start, including Simon Pagenaud. He stayed out despite having a chance to come in when Castroneves spun. He was on slicks and had to come on for wets. He dropped to sixth but it appeared the race was out of his hands. Scott Dixon led and Pagenaud had the likes of Spencer Pigot, Matheus Leist and Ed Jones in front of him.
Dixon pulled away and Pagenaud went to work, picking off one driver at a time. He made quick work of the Ed Carpenter Racing drivers but he had a longer fight with Leist but came on through. He sat on the rear wing of Harvey and was quicker but Harvey drove smart and was keeping second. Pagenaud didn't get second until six laps to go and he was 5.5 seconds behind Dixon. We were just getting started.
Pagenaud clawed away at the gap with no push-to-pass and with two laps to go he was a half-second behind Dixon. It appeared he was waiting until the final lap in turn one, a place where Pagenaud was braking later than everyone by a scary margin. We didn't have to wait that long. The door opened in turn nine! Turn nine of all places on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course and he threw his car up the inside of Dixon and into first place.
Despite having no boost, Pagenaud pulled away and won by 2.0469 seconds over Dixon.
On a day when it appear no Chevrolet let alone a Team Penske car would be competing for a victory, Simon Pagenaud pulled off one of the most dazzling performances in IndyCar history. It was not quite Mark Blundell chasing down Gil de Ferran at Portland in 1997 but it was damn close and it wasn't a photo-finish with the top three but it was still an incredible finish and Pagenaud deserves to take a bow.
2. It is hard to say Scott Dixon blew this race but when you are leading by over five seconds with six laps to go on a road course you close those out 99% of the time. This was the one percent and as angry as Dixon may be, Pagenaud was just that better in the wet. He is kicking himself for leaving the door open in turn nine. If he keeps Pagenaud behind him there the Frenchman was going to make a no guts no glory move into turn one and Dixon may have lost the race there anyway. The good news for Dixon is he took a large chunk out of the championship lead and he heads into Indianapolis 500 practice six points behind Josef Newgarden.
3. Jack Harvey would have been the star of the day had Simon Pagenaud not won this race. The Meyer Shank Racing driver was at the front for the entire race and in the middle section of the race he was stronger than Dixon. We saw the deficit this team is competing at. At one point, Dixon, Harvey and Pagenaud were the top three cars and all stopped on the same lap. Harvey went from second, less than a second behind Dixon to third and over a second behind Pagenaud. This team is behind the giants when it comes to pit stops but the equipment and the driver are there. This was a much deserved third place finish.
4. Like the 1997 Portland race, a Brazilian finished fourth but more like the 2001 Portland race, another wet race, it was a relatively unheralded Brazilian that finished fourth. In 1997, it was Christian Fittipaldi in fourth but Matheus Leist is closer aligned to the 2001 fourth place finisher at Portland, Max Wilson. Leist had never finished in the top ten in an IndyCar race let alone the top five and here he is with a fourth place finish in his 22nd career start. Everything went his way to day. He stopped at the right times. He put wet tires on at the right time and he finished fourth. I think Leist could end up like Max Wilson and never pick up another top ten finish in his IndyCar career but congratulations to Leist, his great day in the sun comes during a rainstorm.
5. Spencer Pigot restarted in second behind Dixon but he did not have it to compete with the big dogs and quickly dropped back. All in all, though, this was a great day for Pigot. At the start, he quickly worked his way from 12th to seventh and he spent most of this day in the top ten.
6. And Pigot passed Ed Jones for fifth late in this race. Jones was another driver that spent much of the day in the top ten. Ed Carpenter Racing has been lost through the first four races and in the fifth it gets a fifth and a sixth place finish. Not bad momentum heading into Indianapolis 500 practice with Ed Carpenter returning to the cockpit and both Pigot and Jones rounding out the ECR lineup.
7. It is not often we get to write that Will Power was just the seventh best car today but Will Power was the seventh best car today. Power was not pushing to be in the front but he wasn't awful. He was seventh. It is odd but Chevrolet took five of the top seven spots and I am not sure anyone could have seen that coming let alone only two of those cars belonging to Team Penske and A.J. Foyt Racing and Ed Carpenter Racing finishing ahead of the second best Penske entry.
8. Felix Rosenqvist's first career pole position ends in an eighth place result. It seems like every race Rosenqvist falls back. In this one, he started at the front and then got snookered when Dixon made a daring move to the lead. From there, Rosenqvist fell back and he wasn't a factor in this one after lap 15. Add to it, he had two pit stops that resulted in fire. Not of his doing but on a day when it seemed like Chip Ganassi Racing was positioned to return to having both cars be contenders, the #10 team stumbled and continued on its rough run of form dating back to the end of the Dario Franchitti-era.
9. Graham Rahal finished ninth and he was good in this one but he was in the same boat as Pagenaud and did not stop for wet tires before the caution came out for Castroneves' spin. After the restart, he lost some spots when he was tussling with the likes of Pigot and Jones only to choose the wrong line, lose momentum and have a car behind pass him for position. This day could have been better but ninth is ok.
10. Somehow Santino Ferrucci finished tenth and he was not shown more than twice all race. At one point he was pressuring Power for position but outside of that he was not in contention. He kept his nose clean and it got him a top ten and he was a position ahead of teammate Sébastien Bourdais. It is a minor victory for the kid.
11. This was the weekend from hell for Andretti Autosport. One car started in the top fifteen. None of its cars were in the top ten at any point. Zach Veach and Marco Andretti were the top two finishers in 12th and 13th and I will praise Andretti because he was good in the wet but it was too little too late but the rest of the team was lost.
It didn't help that Alexander Rossi was drilled from behind before the green flag when Patricio O'Ward was a bit too enthusiastic. This sent Rossi into a tank slapper, the right rear tire slammed the pit lane wall and his race was over. The car got repaired but he was four laps down and the best he could pull off was 22nd. Ryan Hunter-Reay got tapped from behind and lost a lap because of the contact from James Hinchcliffe. Hunter-Reay spent most of this race a lap down and he got the wave around but all he could do was 17th. And this isn't even mentioning Colton Herta spun after side-to-side contact with Harvey while Herta was in the top five. Hunter-Reay spun into Herta thanks to the contact from Hinchcliffe and Herta's day was done right then and there.
The team has to be thinking this is it for misfortune heading into Indianapolis 500 practice. The team can't be thinking all five cars and Herta will have zero issues but it can't have effectively three cars get hosed on the oval, can they? This is
13. Speaking of these incidents, should drivers be penalized more severely if the car that driver affected lost a lap or more? At one point, O'Ward served his penalty and cycled into second place while Rossi was four laps down. Even Hinchcliffe seemed to benefit from his penalty. I have written about this before and I think sometimes a penalty can be beneficial to a driver, not on purpose but it works out that way.
There is no way to legislate a driver that serves a penalty cannot comeback to have a good result but I think when a car is sitting on pit lane and losing a lap or two for repairs or lost a lap because the car stalled and the safety crew could not get restarted fast enough then the driver that committed the crime should lose a lap as well.
Tony Kanaan took out half the field at Texas a few years ago and he lost two laps. Unfortunately, IndyCar threw two competition cautions because of fears over tire failures and he got waved around both times and ended up finishing second but it shouldn't take ruining a race for half the field for a driver to receive a lap penalty. I am not saying O'Ward should have lost four laps but he should have been put one or two laps down and it should have been extremely hard for him to significantly outscore Rossi and the same for Hinchcliffe and Hunter-Reay.
Now, there was a bit of "ball don't lie" in this race because Hinchcliffe only finished a spot ahead of Hunter-Reay in 16th and O'Ward had a problem and finished 19th, three spots ahead of Rossi but for a moment in appeared both cars were going to finish in the top five and O'Ward was in position for a podium finish and it warrants asking the question if a drive through penalty is enough when a driver can basically make a timely pit stop and then have a caution leapfrog them to the front of the field?
14. Takuma Sato was 14th and he had a few trips through the grass. If he had kept it on the road I think he gets a top ten finish.
15. Josef Newgarden cannot get a break in the Grand Prix of Indianapolis. Newgarden put on slicks prior to the caution for Castroneves but under that yellow it became clear wet tires were going to be needed. Newgarden comes back in, puts on wet tires only for a tire to roll away and force a penalty that dropped him to the rear. There was no coming back from that. He is still the championship leader but instead of a top ten finish for Newgarden, he finished 15th and he leads Dixon by only six points. Rossi is fortunate after today because he is only 36 points back. He still leads Pagenaud by 44 points and Sato by 50 points but he left the two drivers with the fewest flaws within striking distance heading into the double points race that is the Indianapolis 500.
16. A round up of the rest of the field: Max Chilton was 18th so he beat his teammate O'Ward but the bad days continue to pile up for Chilton. Tony Kanaan was 20th and this is getting harder to watch. Castroneves came home in 21st after the spin. Marcus Ericsson's first trip to Indianapolis Motor Speedway ended after 11 laps when he spun exiting turn 14 and hit the SAFER Barrier in turn one. You do not see that accident often.
17. I am going to bring you down a bit because you are happy for Jack Harvey after he finished third today but next week he might be one of the cars bumped from the Indianapolis 500. You doubt that now but this place doesn't care what you did last week. It doesn't care you had a great day and are in a good mood. This place can turn the dream job into a nightmare and make you wish you never got involved.
Harvey might be ok but don't think just because he finished third today means he will be set next week in qualifying. Things go wrong. The script gets flipped. You begin to question your sanity and realize no joy is safe, not even your own if such a wonderful result such as today's can be completely forgotten after a few bad hours the following weekend.
It is not only Harvey you should be concerned about. Neither Pagenaud nor Dixon are safe. Leist is not safe. Three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Hélio Castroneves is not safe. It is a scary time and it is the way it should be.
18. We get two days off before Indianapolis 500 practice begins. Who else has goosebumps?
At this point the rain broke in and the racetrack was lost. A bunch of drivers had to make that extra start, including Simon Pagenaud. He stayed out despite having a chance to come in when Castroneves spun. He was on slicks and had to come on for wets. He dropped to sixth but it appeared the race was out of his hands. Scott Dixon led and Pagenaud had the likes of Spencer Pigot, Matheus Leist and Ed Jones in front of him.
Dixon pulled away and Pagenaud went to work, picking off one driver at a time. He made quick work of the Ed Carpenter Racing drivers but he had a longer fight with Leist but came on through. He sat on the rear wing of Harvey and was quicker but Harvey drove smart and was keeping second. Pagenaud didn't get second until six laps to go and he was 5.5 seconds behind Dixon. We were just getting started.
Pagenaud clawed away at the gap with no push-to-pass and with two laps to go he was a half-second behind Dixon. It appeared he was waiting until the final lap in turn one, a place where Pagenaud was braking later than everyone by a scary margin. We didn't have to wait that long. The door opened in turn nine! Turn nine of all places on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course and he threw his car up the inside of Dixon and into first place.
Despite having no boost, Pagenaud pulled away and won by 2.0469 seconds over Dixon.
On a day when it appear no Chevrolet let alone a Team Penske car would be competing for a victory, Simon Pagenaud pulled off one of the most dazzling performances in IndyCar history. It was not quite Mark Blundell chasing down Gil de Ferran at Portland in 1997 but it was damn close and it wasn't a photo-finish with the top three but it was still an incredible finish and Pagenaud deserves to take a bow.
2. It is hard to say Scott Dixon blew this race but when you are leading by over five seconds with six laps to go on a road course you close those out 99% of the time. This was the one percent and as angry as Dixon may be, Pagenaud was just that better in the wet. He is kicking himself for leaving the door open in turn nine. If he keeps Pagenaud behind him there the Frenchman was going to make a no guts no glory move into turn one and Dixon may have lost the race there anyway. The good news for Dixon is he took a large chunk out of the championship lead and he heads into Indianapolis 500 practice six points behind Josef Newgarden.
3. Jack Harvey would have been the star of the day had Simon Pagenaud not won this race. The Meyer Shank Racing driver was at the front for the entire race and in the middle section of the race he was stronger than Dixon. We saw the deficit this team is competing at. At one point, Dixon, Harvey and Pagenaud were the top three cars and all stopped on the same lap. Harvey went from second, less than a second behind Dixon to third and over a second behind Pagenaud. This team is behind the giants when it comes to pit stops but the equipment and the driver are there. This was a much deserved third place finish.
4. Like the 1997 Portland race, a Brazilian finished fourth but more like the 2001 Portland race, another wet race, it was a relatively unheralded Brazilian that finished fourth. In 1997, it was Christian Fittipaldi in fourth but Matheus Leist is closer aligned to the 2001 fourth place finisher at Portland, Max Wilson. Leist had never finished in the top ten in an IndyCar race let alone the top five and here he is with a fourth place finish in his 22nd career start. Everything went his way to day. He stopped at the right times. He put wet tires on at the right time and he finished fourth. I think Leist could end up like Max Wilson and never pick up another top ten finish in his IndyCar career but congratulations to Leist, his great day in the sun comes during a rainstorm.
5. Spencer Pigot restarted in second behind Dixon but he did not have it to compete with the big dogs and quickly dropped back. All in all, though, this was a great day for Pigot. At the start, he quickly worked his way from 12th to seventh and he spent most of this day in the top ten.
6. And Pigot passed Ed Jones for fifth late in this race. Jones was another driver that spent much of the day in the top ten. Ed Carpenter Racing has been lost through the first four races and in the fifth it gets a fifth and a sixth place finish. Not bad momentum heading into Indianapolis 500 practice with Ed Carpenter returning to the cockpit and both Pigot and Jones rounding out the ECR lineup.
7. It is not often we get to write that Will Power was just the seventh best car today but Will Power was the seventh best car today. Power was not pushing to be in the front but he wasn't awful. He was seventh. It is odd but Chevrolet took five of the top seven spots and I am not sure anyone could have seen that coming let alone only two of those cars belonging to Team Penske and A.J. Foyt Racing and Ed Carpenter Racing finishing ahead of the second best Penske entry.
8. Felix Rosenqvist's first career pole position ends in an eighth place result. It seems like every race Rosenqvist falls back. In this one, he started at the front and then got snookered when Dixon made a daring move to the lead. From there, Rosenqvist fell back and he wasn't a factor in this one after lap 15. Add to it, he had two pit stops that resulted in fire. Not of his doing but on a day when it seemed like Chip Ganassi Racing was positioned to return to having both cars be contenders, the #10 team stumbled and continued on its rough run of form dating back to the end of the Dario Franchitti-era.
9. Graham Rahal finished ninth and he was good in this one but he was in the same boat as Pagenaud and did not stop for wet tires before the caution came out for Castroneves' spin. After the restart, he lost some spots when he was tussling with the likes of Pigot and Jones only to choose the wrong line, lose momentum and have a car behind pass him for position. This day could have been better but ninth is ok.
10. Somehow Santino Ferrucci finished tenth and he was not shown more than twice all race. At one point he was pressuring Power for position but outside of that he was not in contention. He kept his nose clean and it got him a top ten and he was a position ahead of teammate Sébastien Bourdais. It is a minor victory for the kid.
11. This was the weekend from hell for Andretti Autosport. One car started in the top fifteen. None of its cars were in the top ten at any point. Zach Veach and Marco Andretti were the top two finishers in 12th and 13th and I will praise Andretti because he was good in the wet but it was too little too late but the rest of the team was lost.
It didn't help that Alexander Rossi was drilled from behind before the green flag when Patricio O'Ward was a bit too enthusiastic. This sent Rossi into a tank slapper, the right rear tire slammed the pit lane wall and his race was over. The car got repaired but he was four laps down and the best he could pull off was 22nd. Ryan Hunter-Reay got tapped from behind and lost a lap because of the contact from James Hinchcliffe. Hunter-Reay spent most of this race a lap down and he got the wave around but all he could do was 17th. And this isn't even mentioning Colton Herta spun after side-to-side contact with Harvey while Herta was in the top five. Hunter-Reay spun into Herta thanks to the contact from Hinchcliffe and Herta's day was done right then and there.
The team has to be thinking this is it for misfortune heading into Indianapolis 500 practice. The team can't be thinking all five cars and Herta will have zero issues but it can't have effectively three cars get hosed on the oval, can they? This is
13. Speaking of these incidents, should drivers be penalized more severely if the car that driver affected lost a lap or more? At one point, O'Ward served his penalty and cycled into second place while Rossi was four laps down. Even Hinchcliffe seemed to benefit from his penalty. I have written about this before and I think sometimes a penalty can be beneficial to a driver, not on purpose but it works out that way.
There is no way to legislate a driver that serves a penalty cannot comeback to have a good result but I think when a car is sitting on pit lane and losing a lap or two for repairs or lost a lap because the car stalled and the safety crew could not get restarted fast enough then the driver that committed the crime should lose a lap as well.
Tony Kanaan took out half the field at Texas a few years ago and he lost two laps. Unfortunately, IndyCar threw two competition cautions because of fears over tire failures and he got waved around both times and ended up finishing second but it shouldn't take ruining a race for half the field for a driver to receive a lap penalty. I am not saying O'Ward should have lost four laps but he should have been put one or two laps down and it should have been extremely hard for him to significantly outscore Rossi and the same for Hinchcliffe and Hunter-Reay.
Now, there was a bit of "ball don't lie" in this race because Hinchcliffe only finished a spot ahead of Hunter-Reay in 16th and O'Ward had a problem and finished 19th, three spots ahead of Rossi but for a moment in appeared both cars were going to finish in the top five and O'Ward was in position for a podium finish and it warrants asking the question if a drive through penalty is enough when a driver can basically make a timely pit stop and then have a caution leapfrog them to the front of the field?
14. Takuma Sato was 14th and he had a few trips through the grass. If he had kept it on the road I think he gets a top ten finish.
15. Josef Newgarden cannot get a break in the Grand Prix of Indianapolis. Newgarden put on slicks prior to the caution for Castroneves but under that yellow it became clear wet tires were going to be needed. Newgarden comes back in, puts on wet tires only for a tire to roll away and force a penalty that dropped him to the rear. There was no coming back from that. He is still the championship leader but instead of a top ten finish for Newgarden, he finished 15th and he leads Dixon by only six points. Rossi is fortunate after today because he is only 36 points back. He still leads Pagenaud by 44 points and Sato by 50 points but he left the two drivers with the fewest flaws within striking distance heading into the double points race that is the Indianapolis 500.
16. A round up of the rest of the field: Max Chilton was 18th so he beat his teammate O'Ward but the bad days continue to pile up for Chilton. Tony Kanaan was 20th and this is getting harder to watch. Castroneves came home in 21st after the spin. Marcus Ericsson's first trip to Indianapolis Motor Speedway ended after 11 laps when he spun exiting turn 14 and hit the SAFER Barrier in turn one. You do not see that accident often.
17. I am going to bring you down a bit because you are happy for Jack Harvey after he finished third today but next week he might be one of the cars bumped from the Indianapolis 500. You doubt that now but this place doesn't care what you did last week. It doesn't care you had a great day and are in a good mood. This place can turn the dream job into a nightmare and make you wish you never got involved.
Harvey might be ok but don't think just because he finished third today means he will be set next week in qualifying. Things go wrong. The script gets flipped. You begin to question your sanity and realize no joy is safe, not even your own if such a wonderful result such as today's can be completely forgotten after a few bad hours the following weekend.
It is not only Harvey you should be concerned about. Neither Pagenaud nor Dixon are safe. Leist is not safe. Three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Hélio Castroneves is not safe. It is a scary time and it is the way it should be.
18. We get two days off before Indianapolis 500 practice begins. Who else has goosebumps?
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