After doing round two for IndyCar earlier this week, NASCAR gets its second go-round on the eve of the Cup season restarting this weekend at Darlington.
This is the same concept as IndyCar, what would be a good combination of driver, team, track and reasoning to give five drivers a Cup debut, give five drivers with minimal Cup experience another shot and give five Cup veterans a comeback. We are looking for variety in tracks and teams. This is not going to be an exercise where nine drivers are getting a shot at the Daytona 500 and they are all driving for Joe Gibbs Racing.
Rules for driver selection are the same as well. You are not going to see the obvious guys getting debuts and this is not going to be filled with Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Carl Edwards and Tony Stewart getting a comeback.
We start with the unexperienced first and will work our way to the more experienced drivers.
Never:
Scott Dixon
What: Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet
Where: Watkins Glen
Why: I was actually thinking when Ganassi terminated Kyle Larson that the safest and most affordable replacement was already in house. Is there any driver Ganassi trusts more than Scott Dixon? Dixon is a proven winner, arguably the best driver Ganassi has ever had and one of the greatest IndyCar drivers of all-time. With five championships, 46 victories and Indianapolis 500 glory already in the bag for Dixon he could walk away from IndyCar and have no regrets.
Of course, none of that has happened, Ganassi opened his wallet and brought in Matt Kenseth, Dixon will get another year to add to his IndyCar accolades and it will be business as usual. With his 40th birthday approaching in July, Dixon has accomplished a lot from IndyCar to sports cars, but he has yet to dip his toe in the NASCAR water and I think Ganassi should arrange a little birthday present for his longest-tenured driver. Dixon has a knack for getting around Watkins Glen and while it would not include "The Boot," I am sure it will not take long for him to get a hang for the NASCAR course.
Jack Hawksworth
What: Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
Where: Sonoma
Why: Last year, Hawksworth made his NASCAR debut at Mid-Ohio in the Grand National Series race and he was doing pretty well before he got knocked off the road. This opportunity came partially due to his Lexus ties and he had won two races in 2019 before this attempt. After helping Kyle Busch acclimate to the Lexus RC F GT3 for this year's 24 Hours of Daytona, I think Hawksworth's bonus should be a Cup outing.
Hawksworth knows the Sonoma layout pretty well and it would be a nice gesture from Joe Gibbs Racing.
Jeroen Bleekemolen
What: Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
Where: Bristol
Why: Bleekemolen made his oval debut last year at South Boston Speedway in a late model race and with that short track experience I think that is enough to get him a race at Bristol. He has put together an impressive sports car career and has found a solid home in IMSA's GTD category. Prior to that he had won races in A1GP, has an LMP2 class victory at Le Mans and won consecutive Porsche SuperCup championships. Let's just see what happens.
Why Stewart-Haas Racing? It is a good team. Bleekemolen drove a Ford GT at Le Mans last year when Ben Keating got his hands on one for the GTE-Am class. That was a bittersweet race, as Keating Motorsports won on the road but were disqualified a day later for exceeding permitted fuel capacity. This should go better than that day.
Doug Coby
What: JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet
Where: Loudon
Why: One of the less recognized names in NASCAR regional racing is Coby, who has won six of the last eight NASCAR Modified championships. In an 18-year career, he has won 28 races, picked up 93 top five finishes and 141 top ten finishes out of 236 starts and he has finished in the top five of the championship for nine consecutive seasons.
Despite Coby's success, he has never gotten an opportunity to compete in a NASCAR national series race. He made one start in the NASCAR East Series at Thompson in 2017 and finished fourth. When you look at Coby's record and then look at the one Cup driver that came from a modified background, Ryan Preece, you wonder what Coby could do at the national level. Let's put Coby on a track he knows in equipment level to Preece and see who comes out on top.
Alex Tagliani
What: Team Penske Ford
Where: Charlotte Roval
Why: While Tagliani has become a road course ringer over the last decade in the lower two national series, he has never made a Cup start and that is kind of surprising. You would have thought one seat would have opened up for a Cup opportunity. That has never come but Tagliani is ready for it.
Team Penske gave Tagliani a lot of road course starts, and the French-Canadian had a few victories slip through his fingers, but he put together some impressive drives. It would be fitting if Penske gave Tagliani his Cup debut and with the other two road course already taken it would have to come at the one track Tagliani has no experience at, the Charlotte roval. I don't think Tagliani would mind.
Rare:
Jeb Burton
What: Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet
Where: Darlington
Why: Burton has had a disoriented NASCAR career. After showing promise in the Truck series in his early 20s, he leaped over the Grand National Series to Cup in a BK Racing seat for the 2015 season. As you can imagine that did not go well and for the last five years his career consists of nothing but part-time rides.
Burton has 33 Cup starts and 33 Grand National Series starts. Last year, he made seven starts with JR Motorsports, picking up two top five finishes and six top ten finishes. It is a small sample size but outside of two seasons in Trucks he has never had lengthy time in good equipment anywhere.
Why Ganassi? He is auditioning drivers. Why Darlington? Family history. His father Ward won twice at the track. His uncle Jeff won twice at the track, both rain-shortened races. It could be the place where something wonderful happens.
Jacques Villeneuve
What: Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet
Where: Daytona
Why: Remember when Villeneuve was going to be a NASCAR driver and that came to a crashing halt when he failed to qualify for the Daytona 500? Villeneuve has added a few NASCAR starts to his resume. He made his Brickyard 400 debut in 2010, his last Cup start was Sonoma in 2013. From 2008 to 2012, he made nine starts in the Grand National Series with four top five finishes, three of which at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, where he also won a pole position.
Villeneuve competed in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series last year and was eighth in that championship. For a driver who has won one race in the last 22 years, it would be kind of nice to see Villeneuve add his name to the list of the drivers with Indianapolis 500 and Daytona 500 starts. Richard Petty Motorsports is the team that likes this kind of partnerships. The team hired an Andretti and a Fittipaldi once upon a time. It is the best option for a such a stunt to take place.
Timothy Peters
What: Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Where: Martinsville
Why: Peters pieced together a respectable Truck career with 11 victories, 59 top five finishes and 128 top ten finishes from 247 starts. He was runner-up to James Buescher in the 2012 championship by only six points. However, Peters has been part-time for the last three seasons. On top of that, he has made a combined nine starts between the other two national series. His lone Cup start was at Talladega in 2018 and his last start in the Grand National Series was 2007.
Martinsville has been the site for eight top five finishes and 18 top ten finishes in Peters' Truck career, by far the best in each category. His first career Truck victory was at the track in 2009. I am sure he could hold his own in a Cup car and seeing at how underwhelming Richard Childress Racing has been for almost 20 years. I bet Peters could inject some life into the team.
Mattias Ekström
What: Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Where: Richmond
Why: I was at Ekström final Cup start at Richmond in September 2010 when Red Bull Racing rotated drivers substituting for the blood-clot ridden Brian Vickers. It was not a spectacular showing. He started 42nd and finished 31st, four laps down but he didn't get in the way. He kept his nose clean and it was respectable oval debut.
Ten years later, how about another round for Ekström at the 3/4-mile oval? He is no longer full-time in DTM. He has dabbled with some rallycross stuff but for the most part is out of racing. He is only 41 years old and turns 42 this July. How about we pair him with fellow Race of Champions alum Jimmie Johnson?
Nelson Piquet, Jr.
What: Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet
Where: Las Vegas
Why: Piquet, Jr.'s career is quizzical. He was second to Lewis Hamilton in GP2 but put up quite a challenge and took the championship to the finale. His Formula One career is largely remembered for his deliberate crash in the inaugural Singapore Grand Prix, which has clouded out his one and only podium finish at Germany the year before and blackballed him from the series. He came to America, entered stock car racing, won in the Truck series and Grand National Series, joined rallycross and won a round before landing in Formula E.
He took the inaugural Formula E championship but failed to score another podium finish in his next three and a half seasons. After scoring 144 points in year one, he scored 93 points over his next 40 starts. Since his Formula E exit, Piquet has been running in the Stock Car Brasil series. He also has the distinction of having run two Indy Lights races but never run in IndyCar despite his Formula One and Formula E experience.
Included on Piquet, Jr.'s perplexing resume is one Cup start at Watkins Glen in 2014 driving for Randy Humphrey Racing. It ended it a 26th place finish from 32nd on the grid. He completed all 90 laps. Similar to Villeneuve, let's make this a stunt and have a Piquet drive for Petty. Piquet, Jr. won at Las Vegas in Trucks in 2012. He mind as well run where he is comfortable.
Comeback:
Bobby Labonte
What: Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
Where: Atlanta
Why: One guy that has stood out during this iRacing period is Labonte. He ran is place of Martin Truex, Jr. and scored respectable results. He competed in Fox Sports' Wednesday night iRacing series and even won a race. The 2000 Cup champion last started a Cup race in 2016 for GoFAS Racing. Though it was probably the right decision to walk away at that point, how about one more race with the team that give him so much at the track he won at more than any other?
Greg Biffle
What: Roush Fenway Racing Ford
Where: Michigan
Why: Biffle made a surprise return to the Truck series last year at Texas and won driving for Kyle Busch Motorsports. Biffle's career ended rather suddenly in 2016 and he has not been one to venture to lower rides and keep adding starts to his stat line. However, with Mat Kenseth coming back and Biffle's Truck victory last year, wouldn't it be nice for one final Cup start with his old team at Michigan, one of his better tracks?
Dave Blaney
What: Team Penske Ford
Where: Talladega
Why: I think it would be cool if Dave Blaney had one Cup start with his son and if they could be teammates that would be even more special.
The Blaneys almost ran a Cup race together for Ryan's debut at Kansas in 2014. Ryan drove an extra car for Team Penske and qualified 21st. Dave was driving for Randy Humphrey Racing and was the slowest of the cars that had to qualify on time. Forty-four cars had entered, meaning Dave was the only car going home despite running a time faster than four cars that were locked in on owner's points.
Dave made his final Cup start at the Bristol night race later that season. They just missed each other but it could happen. I am not going to pretend Dave Blaney lit up the Cup series, but he was a World of Outlaws champion and won the Knoxville Nationals and I have never heard a bad thing about the guy. I think he and his son deserve this moment.
Johnny Sauter
What: Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
Where: Texas
Why: Sauter has been around for a while and had a brief Cup career but I didn't realize he had only 85 Cup starts to his name. Unfortunately, he has failed to qualify at 33 races while amassing one top five finish (a fifth at Richmond in September 2007) and three top ten finishes (a pair of ninth place finishes, both at the spring Phoenix race in 2005 and 2007 respectively).
His Grand National Series career was somewhat encouraging, having won with Richard Childress Racing and Phoenix Racing but he has shined in the Truck series for over a decade, scoring 24 victories, 107 top five finishes and 170 top ten finishes in 268 starts with the 2016 championship topping it all off. In 11 full Truck seasons, Sauter has eight top five championship finishes with his worst championship finish being ninth.
Sauter is another in a line of guys who found a groove in the Truck series but never struck the right note in the other national series. His last Cup start was the 2015 Daytona 500. He is not going to be an ultra-late bloomer but with all his Truck success, one more Cup race at the track he has won the most at in Trucks, with one of the two best Ford teams would be a nice gesture.
Cole Whitt
What: Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Where: Indianapolis
Why: Whitt made 161 Cup starts and never finished in the top ten. Not really the prime contender for someone to get one more Cup shot but Whitt's career never saw him in decent equipment. He made his first two starts with Red Bull Racing in an extra entry at the final two races of 2011. The team shut its doors that December. That was the best equipment Whitt got in his Cup career.
Over the next seven years, Whitt's career consists of starts at Turn One Racing, Circle Sport Racing, Swan Racing, BK Racing, Front Row Motorsports, Premium Motorsports and TriStar Motorsports. That is a lot of lateral moves at the bottom of the pile. He never qualified better than 17th and his only finishes in the top 15 are 11th at Daytona in July 2016, 12th at Indianapolis in 2017, 13th at Talladega in May 2015 and 15th at Talladega in October 2014.
Whitt was a promising USAC Midget driver and was the youngest champion in series history in 2008. Once in stock car racing, his development was hurried. He made his Cup debut while wrapping up his rookie year in Trucks, a good year with two top five finishes and 11 top ten finishes and a pole position at Darlington. His lone full season in the second division was with JR Motorsports in 2012. He had four top five finishes and 14 top ten finishes. Once Red Bull was out of NASCAR, no one was guiding his career and it led to Cup back-marker after Cup back-marker.
His final start was at Phoenix in 2018. Whitt is 28 years old and retired and that is a shame. I would like to see him get one race in good equipment. I am sure his old team owner Dale Earnhardt, Jr. could pull some strings and get him in a Hendrick Motorsports car at Indianapolis.
Similar to IndyCar, this is difficult to piece together, mostly because the options are either too obvious and unoriginal or just bad. Does anyone want to see a Michael Waltrip, Ken Schrader or Scott Speed comeback? Is anyone itching to see David Starr, Justin Marks or Patrick Carpentier get another Cup start? The never category is always the easiest. The other two require years to build and it is getting harder to do because we do not have as many fun one-offs with road course ringers or drivers from other disciplines dabbling in NASCAR, at least not at the Cup level. We might need to take three to five years off before we do this again.
Covering All Motorsports. From Indianapolis to Le Mans, Daytona to Monaco.
Friday, May 15, 2020
Wednesday, May 13, 2020
Who, What, Where, Why: IndyCar Part II
There is not a lot going on in motorsports right now but there has been some progress. NASCAR plans to be back this weekend and it has four races in 11 days scheduled. IndyCar is setting up its season opener at Texas at the start of June. Outside of that, not much is making headway.
With this free time, we are allowed to be imaginative and get lost in thoughts. We got lost in iRacing but that is dialing back. This is a chance to go back and revisit something I had done last year. In April 2019, I put together a little exercise of giving drivers from three categories one IndyCar race with one team and explaining why such combinations make sense. The categories are drivers who have never run an IndyCar race, drivers who have a few IndyCar races and then drivers who would be considered making a comeback, i.e. guys who have at least contested one full season worth of races.
A couple of rules, in the never category, you are not going to see Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel, Max Verstappen, Jimmie Johnson, Joey Logano, Denny Hamlin, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Jordan Taylor. For the rare or comeback drivers, these aren't going to be drivers necessarily hanging around IndyCar who have just lost a ride (Sébastien Bourdais, Spencer Pigot, James Hinchcliffe) or the guys who have been hanging around for some time (J.R. Hildebrand, Gabby Chaves, James Davison, Pippa Mann).
Here is how it is going to work: We are going to name a driver, give what team that driver will compete with, where that driver will race and why that driver is getting the opportunity. The goal is to mix up the team selection and track selection. You are not going to see Indianapolis listed as the track 12 times or ten guys getting a shot with Team Penske. A mixture keeps it fresh. Each category will feature five drivers. We will start with the never class of drivers.
Never:
Colin Braun
What: DragonSpeed Chevrolet
Where: Austin
Why: Braun has one of the most diverse careers for an American driver at the age of 31. Sports car prototype race winner, NASCAR national series race winner, rallycross competitor and he has been itching at an IndyCar opportunity for the last few years.
The good news is we could be close to seeing this happen. Braun drove for DragonSpeed at the 24 Hours of Daytona in January and won the LMP2 class. DragonSpeed had only confirmed Ben Hanley was going to compete the St. Petersburg season opener but the remainder of its season was up in the air. Braun could make his IndyCar debut in his home state of Texas and he has knowledge of the track from his sports car experience.
Joey Hand
What: Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
Where: Laguna Seca
Why: Hand is unemployed, and back in January, that was hard to swallow. Hand had won races in the Ford GT and had a long history of success going back to his days in Daytona Prototypes and with BMW. At the start of last decade, after he won the 2011 24 Hours of Daytona, there was some buzz of Hand getting an IndyCar shot. He was driving for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing's BMW program in the American Le Mans Series. He had this tie to Ganassi. It wasn't crazy to think it could happen, ultimately it hasn't.
However, Hand is not doing much. Laguna Seca is a home track. What is one spin in an IndyCar? It has been over 15 years since Hand has run a single-seater car but let's give him his shot.
Regan Smith
What: Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet
Where: Indianapolis
Why: Let's get a Smith in the Indianapolis 500. One-hundred and three races, 777 drivers and none of them have had the last name Smith. Let's get this out of the way. Regan Smith is wasting away as Fox's eighth guy on the NASCAR broadcasting depth chart, he gets a one-off here and there when a driver is ill, hurt or suspended for something moronic and he is 36 years old.
Go get one Indianapolis 500 start. He has already run at Indianapolis in Cup but to be the first Smith to start the Indianapolis 500 makes him the answer to the most overused trivia question for the next century. Let's just rip this Band-Aid off. Why McLaren? I am sure Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Jimmie Johnson could pull a few strings for a friend.
Gustavo Menezes
What: Carlin Chevrolet
Where: Iowa
Why: Menezes has quietly become one of the best American sports car drivers. He has a Endurance Trophy for LMP2 Drivers' championship, he has won at least one race in the last four WEC seasons, including three overall victories in the last two seasons. He has a Le Mans class victory. That is a pretty good run. Does it help that he drives for Rebellion Racing in a two-manufacture LMP1 class with Toyota being strapped with an anchor? Yep, but after decades of having zero Americans in the top class of sports car racing, Menezes is now the man on the scene, and he is making the most of it.
What people might not realize is Menezes has Road to Indy ties. He started in the Star Mazda championship, competing in 2011 and 2012 before moving to Europe. Though Menezes never won a Star Mazda race, his best finish was third at Iowa and he was ahead of Zach Veach in the 2012 championship. While Menezes ran for Juncos Racing in Star Mazda, he competed for Carlin in European Formula Three, so there is a tie.
Christopher Bell
What: Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet
Where: Richmond
Why: Bell has been lights out at Richmond in his career and while we talk about wanting NASCAR guys running Indianapolis, but I want to see how these guys hold up at Richmond, Iowa, Texas and so on. There is a reason why last time I had Kyle Busch at Iowa. I want to see him fight an IndyCar on worn tires at Iowa, the same is true for Bell. I am not sure how Richmond is going to run when IndyCar returns but I want to see a short track guy at a short track.
Bell is a short track guy, Ed Carpenter was a short track guy, that is a pairing that makes too much sense.
Rare:
Jan Magnussen
What: Team Penske Chevrolet
Where: Mid-Ohio
Why: I had Magnussen on my list after he lost the Corvette gig last year, but this has increased in interest since Magnussen's successful runs in the Legends Trophy simulator events that The Race has hosted during this pandemic. The Dane had a glowing single-seater career, dominating the British Formula Three championship, running the 1995 Pacific Grand Prix with McLaren before spending a season and a half with Stewart Grand Prix and getting a few IndyCar attempts.
However, his final IndyCar start was the 1999 Surfers Paradise race. Twenty years later, Magnussen still has it. He made his IndyCar debut at Mid-Ohio in 1996 with Team Penske. Twenty-four years later, let's do it again.
Franck Perera
What: A.J. Foyt Racing Chevrolet
Where: St. Petersburg
Why: No one else would include Perera but earlier this year Perera wrote an article titled "How to overcome mental burnout after your F1 dream has died" and I felt for the guy. He was a Toyota reserve driver, he was runner-up to Lewis Hamilton in GP2 at Monaco, his only points finish in GP2 and he was runner-up in the 2007 Atlantic Championship, behind Raphael Matos and ahead of Robert Wickens, James Hinchcliffe, Jonathan Bomarito and J.R. Hildebrand.
Perera started the first three IndyCar races in the 2008 season with Conquest Racing and then the recession forced his sponsor into bankruptcy and ended his season there. His didn't light the world on fire in his three starts but he started 13th and finished 14th on debut at Homestead. He qualified tenth at St. Petersburg before an accident in the final ten laps ended his race. He qualified third and finished sixth in his only race in the Panoz DP01 chassis at Long Beach. Foyt brought Perera back for the Chicagoland finale, where he started 24th and finished 15th.
Would Perera still be in IndyCar today if he hadn't lost his sponsor? Would he be an IndyCar race winner? Probably not but I want to see a good guy get a second chance and Perera was out of motorsports for six years before he came back in GT3 racing. He has since won the GTD class at the 24 Hours of Daytona with Grasser Racing Team. He's got something.
Casey Mears
What: A.J. Foyt Racing Chevrolet
Where: Indianapolis
Why: It is often forgotten Mears made five CART starts, including a fourth on debut at Fontana in 2000, drove three Indy Racing League races for Galles Racing at the start of 2001, failed to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 and he substituted for Alex Zanardi at Mo Nunn Racing for the final four races of 2001.
Mears had respectable Indy Lights results before he transitioned to stock car racing in 2002 and went from 21st in the Busch Series to full-time Cup ride with Ganassi in 2003 and thus began the 15-season NASCAR Cup Series career. Mears didn't light up the world in NASCAR, his lone victory was the 2007 Coca-Cola 600 and a fuel gamble gone right. In 489 starts, he had 13 top fives and 51 top ten finishes. His best championship finish was 14th in 2006, his final year with Ganassi, where he was runner-up in the Daytona 500 and, outside of NASCAR, took a surprise 24 Hours of Daytona victory with Scott Dixon and Dan Wheldon.
No one is going to act like Mears was some world-class driver but, with a name like Mears, the fact he never leveraged his name to get another Indianapolis 500 attempt is a missed opportunity. I don't think Mears would be competing for a top ten finish at Indianapolis but if you have a chance to say you ran the Indianapolis 500 and your career is nothing but one fluky NASCAR Cup victory you take it. You fluff your career as much as you can and add your name to the list of drivers to run both the Indianapolis 500 and Daytona 500 and the pairs of fathers and sons to both start the Indianapolis 500. You make yourself an object of motorsports lore.
Mears made one serious attempt at the Indianapolis 500 in 2001 with Galles Racing, a team long past its prime and spread thin with three cars, none of which had much speed. He was 23 years old, had an accident in practice and that was it. He is 42 years old, much more experienced and has frequented Stadium Super Truck in recent years.
Foyt will take money from anyone and you could probably sell a Foyt/Mears combination at Indianapolis even if it is the bottom of the cellar IndyCar team with an average driver.
Giorgio Pantano
What: Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
Where: Barber
Why: Pantano was the epitome of a super-sub for a six-year period, introduced to IndyCar when drafted in for Sonoma and Watkins Glen to fill the #10 Chip Ganassi Racing Toyota. Sonoma was a rough race, but he started second and finished fourth at Watkins Glen. Six years later, Pantano returned to IndyCar, back at Sonoma to fill in at Dreyer & Reinbold Racing for the injured Justin Wilson and he qualified 11th after not being in the car for six years! His next two races at Baltimore and Motegi were not stellar but encouraging. When Charlie Kimball injured his hand in 2012, Ganassi recalled Pantano to run Mid-Ohio. The Italian qualified 24th but drove to 14th.
Pantano's sporadic IndyCar career is not littered with remarkable drives that are stuff of legend, but this is a talent that emerged in the motorsports world either five years too late or five years too early. He lost the 2002 International F3000 championship to Sébastien Bourdais by two points and he was third in the championship the year after that. It got him a seat at Jordan Grand Prix for 2004, which scored five points all season, none of which Pantano was responsible for. Nick Heidfeld scored three and Timo Glock scored two when substituting for Pantano at Montreal and Glock replaced Pantano for the final three races.
For the next four years, Pantano revived his career in the GP2 Series, regularly finishing on the podium and winning a handful of races. He made it back to the top in 2008, taking the GP2 championship over Bruno Senna, Lucas di Grassi, Romain Grosjean, Pastor Maldonado and Sébastien Buemi.
Unfortunately, the GP2 title did not lead to a second Formula One shot. He went to Superleague Formula, one of the handful of open-wheel series that popped up and quickly evaporated due the recession, and outside of his few IndyCar cameos, he ran some GT3 series and has been out of motorsports since 2014.
If Pantano emerges five years earlier, he is in prime position to replace Alex Zanardi at Ganassi when Zanardi joins Williams or he is a candidate for a handful of other CART rides. If he emerges five years later, he has the GP2 career he has without the Jordan baggage, perhaps gets a better Formula One shot and even if that doesn't pan out, he is at least in position to be a top sports car driver or Formula E driver.
I don't know Ganassi but I would like to think he has a soft spot for Pantano and would give him one final thrill around Barber Motorsports Park.
Stefan Wilson
What: Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet
Where: Texas
Why: Stefan Wilson is a nice guy and nice guys deserve nice things. Wilson has been pretty good during this iRacing period. He won Dinner with Racer's Thursday Night Blunder race at Talladega. He was strong in the one IndyCar iRacing event he partook and that was Indianapolis where he had to qualify while Robert Wickens, James Hinchcliffe and Felipe Nasr didn't.
Let's give Wilson an oval opportunity that isn't Indianapolis and with his victory at Talladega I think Texas is perfect for him and Wilson was the 2007 McLaren Autosport BRDC Award winner. His career gets to come full circle in this case.
Comeback:
Mike Conway
What: Dale Coyne Racing Honda
Where: Belle Isle
Why: Since leaving IndyCar, Conway found a lovely home in Toyota's LMP1 program. With a handful of victories and three runner-up finishes at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Conway finds himself leading the 2019-20 World Endurance Drivers' Championship with three rounds remaining, should the season ever resume.
Conway left IndyCar on a high note. After stepping away from ovals, Conway turned that decision into multiple race victories in the series, most famously stepping into Dale Coyne Racing's #18 Honda at Belle Isle and won on debut with the team. The next day he won pole position and finished third. In 2014, Conway filled in for Ed Carpenter on road and street courses, where he won at Long Beach and Toronto.
It is approaching six years since Conway's last IndyCar start and that is a bit of a shame. He would be great as a frequent guest on the grid. If he were to comeback, let's try and recreate that magic Motor City weekend in 2013.
Jack Hawksworth
What: Andretti Autosport Honda
Where: Grand Prix of Indianapolis
Why: After an encouraging rookie season, Hawksworth's IndyCar career took a nosedive at A.J. Foyt Racing, which isn't his fault. Sadly, no IndyCar seat was open for him after the 2016 season, but he landed in Lexus' GTD program and he has turned that into a race-winning seat and even made a NASCAR Grand National Series start at Mid-Ohio.
One of Hawksworth's best days in IndyCar was the inaugural Grand Prix of Indianapolis where he led 31 laps from second on the grid. He faded back to seventh after a couple of cautions, but it was a promising day and later that season he was on the podium at Houston.
That rookie season was with Bryan Herta Autosport, which has since merged with Andretti Autosport. Similar to Conway, let's see if we can recreate the magic.
Timo Glock
What: Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda
Where: Portland
Why: Glock has had an interesting career. Two points on his Formula One debut, went to Champ Car, nearly won a race as a rookie at Montreal but still got rookie of the year honors, returned to Europe, won the GP2 Series championship, returned to Formula One with Toyota, score a fair amount of points, stood on a few podiums, moved to Virgin/Marussia, rode around for the final three years of his Formula One career, moved to Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters and won a handful of races.
It has been a while since Glock got behind the wheel of a single-seater car, but it would be nice to see what he can do today. Through his BMW connection, he could get into a RLLR entry and he has been to Portland before. It has been 15 years, but it could be fun.
A.J. Allmendinger
What: Meyer Shank Racing Honda
Where: Long Beach
Why: We already got the Allmendinger comeback in 2013 when he ran six races with Team Penske. While he had a memorable Indianapolis 500, finishing seventh, the remainder of the results are a little disappointing but do not tell the entire story. Allmendinger started tenth at Barber but the race didn't pan out. He started 14th at Long Beach but had a mechanical issue end his race early. He failed to complete a lap in both Belle Isle races because of accidents despite qualifying 13th and 12th in the two races. He qualified on the front row at Fontana but had an accident after 188 laps.
Allmendinger returned to NASCAR after that, won a Cup race at Watkins Glen and had a good career, scoring a few more top five finishes and top ten finishes. I would like to see him get one more shot in an IndyCar just to put an entire race together. Fortunately, the one race he did finish in 2013 was Indianapolis but the numbers tell a misleading story.
One more shot, at Long Beach, his home race, with Meyer Shank Racing, a team he has a long relationship with, would be a fitting final race for his IndyCar career.
Ryan Briscoe
What: Team Penske
Where: Texas
Why: Briscoe has been underrated but I feel his victory in this year's 24 Hours of Daytona got him a lot of due respect. The Australian has seven IndyCar victories, two 24 Hours of Daytona class victories, two 12 Hours of Sebring class victories, many victories between the Porsche RS Spyder and Ford GT and was a Formula 3 Euro Series champion, Toyota F1 test driver and Supercars podium finisher.
Briscoe is a good guy. He was fun to watch in IndyCar and a title slipped through his fingers in 2009. I don't think he gets his due. I am not saying he is one of the greatest of his generation, but he had a good career and I think people unjustly cast him off as someone whose results stem from his time at Penske. He is clearly more than that.
Back in 2010, Briscoe put together the best performance of his IndyCar career, leading 102 laps from pole position on his way to victory at Texas. Similar to Conway and Hawksworth, this would be another chance at a bright day.
I will admit these are tough to do and keep them from being predictable and bland. The rare category is most difficult because there aren't that many drivers between one and 15 starts that necessarily deserve another shot. There are plenty of drivers that made five or six starts but there is a clear reason why they made five or six starts. Comeback is the second toughest category. There are some drivers we saw enough of and these have to be somewhat plausible. Mario Andretti is not walking through that door.
I might need to take a three or four-year break before doing this again. We got to let some of these categories build up.
With this free time, we are allowed to be imaginative and get lost in thoughts. We got lost in iRacing but that is dialing back. This is a chance to go back and revisit something I had done last year. In April 2019, I put together a little exercise of giving drivers from three categories one IndyCar race with one team and explaining why such combinations make sense. The categories are drivers who have never run an IndyCar race, drivers who have a few IndyCar races and then drivers who would be considered making a comeback, i.e. guys who have at least contested one full season worth of races.
A couple of rules, in the never category, you are not going to see Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel, Max Verstappen, Jimmie Johnson, Joey Logano, Denny Hamlin, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Jordan Taylor. For the rare or comeback drivers, these aren't going to be drivers necessarily hanging around IndyCar who have just lost a ride (Sébastien Bourdais, Spencer Pigot, James Hinchcliffe) or the guys who have been hanging around for some time (J.R. Hildebrand, Gabby Chaves, James Davison, Pippa Mann).
Here is how it is going to work: We are going to name a driver, give what team that driver will compete with, where that driver will race and why that driver is getting the opportunity. The goal is to mix up the team selection and track selection. You are not going to see Indianapolis listed as the track 12 times or ten guys getting a shot with Team Penske. A mixture keeps it fresh. Each category will feature five drivers. We will start with the never class of drivers.
Never:
Colin Braun
What: DragonSpeed Chevrolet
Where: Austin
Why: Braun has one of the most diverse careers for an American driver at the age of 31. Sports car prototype race winner, NASCAR national series race winner, rallycross competitor and he has been itching at an IndyCar opportunity for the last few years.
The good news is we could be close to seeing this happen. Braun drove for DragonSpeed at the 24 Hours of Daytona in January and won the LMP2 class. DragonSpeed had only confirmed Ben Hanley was going to compete the St. Petersburg season opener but the remainder of its season was up in the air. Braun could make his IndyCar debut in his home state of Texas and he has knowledge of the track from his sports car experience.
Joey Hand
What: Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
Where: Laguna Seca
Why: Hand is unemployed, and back in January, that was hard to swallow. Hand had won races in the Ford GT and had a long history of success going back to his days in Daytona Prototypes and with BMW. At the start of last decade, after he won the 2011 24 Hours of Daytona, there was some buzz of Hand getting an IndyCar shot. He was driving for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing's BMW program in the American Le Mans Series. He had this tie to Ganassi. It wasn't crazy to think it could happen, ultimately it hasn't.
However, Hand is not doing much. Laguna Seca is a home track. What is one spin in an IndyCar? It has been over 15 years since Hand has run a single-seater car but let's give him his shot.
Regan Smith
What: Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet
Where: Indianapolis
Why: Let's get a Smith in the Indianapolis 500. One-hundred and three races, 777 drivers and none of them have had the last name Smith. Let's get this out of the way. Regan Smith is wasting away as Fox's eighth guy on the NASCAR broadcasting depth chart, he gets a one-off here and there when a driver is ill, hurt or suspended for something moronic and he is 36 years old.
Go get one Indianapolis 500 start. He has already run at Indianapolis in Cup but to be the first Smith to start the Indianapolis 500 makes him the answer to the most overused trivia question for the next century. Let's just rip this Band-Aid off. Why McLaren? I am sure Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Jimmie Johnson could pull a few strings for a friend.
Gustavo Menezes
What: Carlin Chevrolet
Where: Iowa
Why: Menezes has quietly become one of the best American sports car drivers. He has a Endurance Trophy for LMP2 Drivers' championship, he has won at least one race in the last four WEC seasons, including three overall victories in the last two seasons. He has a Le Mans class victory. That is a pretty good run. Does it help that he drives for Rebellion Racing in a two-manufacture LMP1 class with Toyota being strapped with an anchor? Yep, but after decades of having zero Americans in the top class of sports car racing, Menezes is now the man on the scene, and he is making the most of it.
What people might not realize is Menezes has Road to Indy ties. He started in the Star Mazda championship, competing in 2011 and 2012 before moving to Europe. Though Menezes never won a Star Mazda race, his best finish was third at Iowa and he was ahead of Zach Veach in the 2012 championship. While Menezes ran for Juncos Racing in Star Mazda, he competed for Carlin in European Formula Three, so there is a tie.
Christopher Bell
What: Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet
Where: Richmond
Why: Bell has been lights out at Richmond in his career and while we talk about wanting NASCAR guys running Indianapolis, but I want to see how these guys hold up at Richmond, Iowa, Texas and so on. There is a reason why last time I had Kyle Busch at Iowa. I want to see him fight an IndyCar on worn tires at Iowa, the same is true for Bell. I am not sure how Richmond is going to run when IndyCar returns but I want to see a short track guy at a short track.
Bell is a short track guy, Ed Carpenter was a short track guy, that is a pairing that makes too much sense.
Rare:
Jan Magnussen
What: Team Penske Chevrolet
Where: Mid-Ohio
Why: I had Magnussen on my list after he lost the Corvette gig last year, but this has increased in interest since Magnussen's successful runs in the Legends Trophy simulator events that The Race has hosted during this pandemic. The Dane had a glowing single-seater career, dominating the British Formula Three championship, running the 1995 Pacific Grand Prix with McLaren before spending a season and a half with Stewart Grand Prix and getting a few IndyCar attempts.
However, his final IndyCar start was the 1999 Surfers Paradise race. Twenty years later, Magnussen still has it. He made his IndyCar debut at Mid-Ohio in 1996 with Team Penske. Twenty-four years later, let's do it again.
Franck Perera
What: A.J. Foyt Racing Chevrolet
Where: St. Petersburg
Why: No one else would include Perera but earlier this year Perera wrote an article titled "How to overcome mental burnout after your F1 dream has died" and I felt for the guy. He was a Toyota reserve driver, he was runner-up to Lewis Hamilton in GP2 at Monaco, his only points finish in GP2 and he was runner-up in the 2007 Atlantic Championship, behind Raphael Matos and ahead of Robert Wickens, James Hinchcliffe, Jonathan Bomarito and J.R. Hildebrand.
Perera started the first three IndyCar races in the 2008 season with Conquest Racing and then the recession forced his sponsor into bankruptcy and ended his season there. His didn't light the world on fire in his three starts but he started 13th and finished 14th on debut at Homestead. He qualified tenth at St. Petersburg before an accident in the final ten laps ended his race. He qualified third and finished sixth in his only race in the Panoz DP01 chassis at Long Beach. Foyt brought Perera back for the Chicagoland finale, where he started 24th and finished 15th.
Would Perera still be in IndyCar today if he hadn't lost his sponsor? Would he be an IndyCar race winner? Probably not but I want to see a good guy get a second chance and Perera was out of motorsports for six years before he came back in GT3 racing. He has since won the GTD class at the 24 Hours of Daytona with Grasser Racing Team. He's got something.
Casey Mears
What: A.J. Foyt Racing Chevrolet
Where: Indianapolis
Why: It is often forgotten Mears made five CART starts, including a fourth on debut at Fontana in 2000, drove three Indy Racing League races for Galles Racing at the start of 2001, failed to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 and he substituted for Alex Zanardi at Mo Nunn Racing for the final four races of 2001.
Mears had respectable Indy Lights results before he transitioned to stock car racing in 2002 and went from 21st in the Busch Series to full-time Cup ride with Ganassi in 2003 and thus began the 15-season NASCAR Cup Series career. Mears didn't light up the world in NASCAR, his lone victory was the 2007 Coca-Cola 600 and a fuel gamble gone right. In 489 starts, he had 13 top fives and 51 top ten finishes. His best championship finish was 14th in 2006, his final year with Ganassi, where he was runner-up in the Daytona 500 and, outside of NASCAR, took a surprise 24 Hours of Daytona victory with Scott Dixon and Dan Wheldon.
No one is going to act like Mears was some world-class driver but, with a name like Mears, the fact he never leveraged his name to get another Indianapolis 500 attempt is a missed opportunity. I don't think Mears would be competing for a top ten finish at Indianapolis but if you have a chance to say you ran the Indianapolis 500 and your career is nothing but one fluky NASCAR Cup victory you take it. You fluff your career as much as you can and add your name to the list of drivers to run both the Indianapolis 500 and Daytona 500 and the pairs of fathers and sons to both start the Indianapolis 500. You make yourself an object of motorsports lore.
Mears made one serious attempt at the Indianapolis 500 in 2001 with Galles Racing, a team long past its prime and spread thin with three cars, none of which had much speed. He was 23 years old, had an accident in practice and that was it. He is 42 years old, much more experienced and has frequented Stadium Super Truck in recent years.
Foyt will take money from anyone and you could probably sell a Foyt/Mears combination at Indianapolis even if it is the bottom of the cellar IndyCar team with an average driver.
Giorgio Pantano
What: Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
Where: Barber
Why: Pantano was the epitome of a super-sub for a six-year period, introduced to IndyCar when drafted in for Sonoma and Watkins Glen to fill the #10 Chip Ganassi Racing Toyota. Sonoma was a rough race, but he started second and finished fourth at Watkins Glen. Six years later, Pantano returned to IndyCar, back at Sonoma to fill in at Dreyer & Reinbold Racing for the injured Justin Wilson and he qualified 11th after not being in the car for six years! His next two races at Baltimore and Motegi were not stellar but encouraging. When Charlie Kimball injured his hand in 2012, Ganassi recalled Pantano to run Mid-Ohio. The Italian qualified 24th but drove to 14th.
Pantano's sporadic IndyCar career is not littered with remarkable drives that are stuff of legend, but this is a talent that emerged in the motorsports world either five years too late or five years too early. He lost the 2002 International F3000 championship to Sébastien Bourdais by two points and he was third in the championship the year after that. It got him a seat at Jordan Grand Prix for 2004, which scored five points all season, none of which Pantano was responsible for. Nick Heidfeld scored three and Timo Glock scored two when substituting for Pantano at Montreal and Glock replaced Pantano for the final three races.
For the next four years, Pantano revived his career in the GP2 Series, regularly finishing on the podium and winning a handful of races. He made it back to the top in 2008, taking the GP2 championship over Bruno Senna, Lucas di Grassi, Romain Grosjean, Pastor Maldonado and Sébastien Buemi.
Unfortunately, the GP2 title did not lead to a second Formula One shot. He went to Superleague Formula, one of the handful of open-wheel series that popped up and quickly evaporated due the recession, and outside of his few IndyCar cameos, he ran some GT3 series and has been out of motorsports since 2014.
If Pantano emerges five years earlier, he is in prime position to replace Alex Zanardi at Ganassi when Zanardi joins Williams or he is a candidate for a handful of other CART rides. If he emerges five years later, he has the GP2 career he has without the Jordan baggage, perhaps gets a better Formula One shot and even if that doesn't pan out, he is at least in position to be a top sports car driver or Formula E driver.
I don't know Ganassi but I would like to think he has a soft spot for Pantano and would give him one final thrill around Barber Motorsports Park.
Stefan Wilson
What: Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet
Where: Texas
Why: Stefan Wilson is a nice guy and nice guys deserve nice things. Wilson has been pretty good during this iRacing period. He won Dinner with Racer's Thursday Night Blunder race at Talladega. He was strong in the one IndyCar iRacing event he partook and that was Indianapolis where he had to qualify while Robert Wickens, James Hinchcliffe and Felipe Nasr didn't.
Let's give Wilson an oval opportunity that isn't Indianapolis and with his victory at Talladega I think Texas is perfect for him and Wilson was the 2007 McLaren Autosport BRDC Award winner. His career gets to come full circle in this case.
Comeback:
Mike Conway
What: Dale Coyne Racing Honda
Where: Belle Isle
Why: Since leaving IndyCar, Conway found a lovely home in Toyota's LMP1 program. With a handful of victories and three runner-up finishes at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Conway finds himself leading the 2019-20 World Endurance Drivers' Championship with three rounds remaining, should the season ever resume.
Conway left IndyCar on a high note. After stepping away from ovals, Conway turned that decision into multiple race victories in the series, most famously stepping into Dale Coyne Racing's #18 Honda at Belle Isle and won on debut with the team. The next day he won pole position and finished third. In 2014, Conway filled in for Ed Carpenter on road and street courses, where he won at Long Beach and Toronto.
It is approaching six years since Conway's last IndyCar start and that is a bit of a shame. He would be great as a frequent guest on the grid. If he were to comeback, let's try and recreate that magic Motor City weekend in 2013.
Jack Hawksworth
What: Andretti Autosport Honda
Where: Grand Prix of Indianapolis
Why: After an encouraging rookie season, Hawksworth's IndyCar career took a nosedive at A.J. Foyt Racing, which isn't his fault. Sadly, no IndyCar seat was open for him after the 2016 season, but he landed in Lexus' GTD program and he has turned that into a race-winning seat and even made a NASCAR Grand National Series start at Mid-Ohio.
One of Hawksworth's best days in IndyCar was the inaugural Grand Prix of Indianapolis where he led 31 laps from second on the grid. He faded back to seventh after a couple of cautions, but it was a promising day and later that season he was on the podium at Houston.
That rookie season was with Bryan Herta Autosport, which has since merged with Andretti Autosport. Similar to Conway, let's see if we can recreate the magic.
Timo Glock
What: Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda
Where: Portland
Why: Glock has had an interesting career. Two points on his Formula One debut, went to Champ Car, nearly won a race as a rookie at Montreal but still got rookie of the year honors, returned to Europe, won the GP2 Series championship, returned to Formula One with Toyota, score a fair amount of points, stood on a few podiums, moved to Virgin/Marussia, rode around for the final three years of his Formula One career, moved to Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters and won a handful of races.
It has been a while since Glock got behind the wheel of a single-seater car, but it would be nice to see what he can do today. Through his BMW connection, he could get into a RLLR entry and he has been to Portland before. It has been 15 years, but it could be fun.
A.J. Allmendinger
What: Meyer Shank Racing Honda
Where: Long Beach
Why: We already got the Allmendinger comeback in 2013 when he ran six races with Team Penske. While he had a memorable Indianapolis 500, finishing seventh, the remainder of the results are a little disappointing but do not tell the entire story. Allmendinger started tenth at Barber but the race didn't pan out. He started 14th at Long Beach but had a mechanical issue end his race early. He failed to complete a lap in both Belle Isle races because of accidents despite qualifying 13th and 12th in the two races. He qualified on the front row at Fontana but had an accident after 188 laps.
Allmendinger returned to NASCAR after that, won a Cup race at Watkins Glen and had a good career, scoring a few more top five finishes and top ten finishes. I would like to see him get one more shot in an IndyCar just to put an entire race together. Fortunately, the one race he did finish in 2013 was Indianapolis but the numbers tell a misleading story.
One more shot, at Long Beach, his home race, with Meyer Shank Racing, a team he has a long relationship with, would be a fitting final race for his IndyCar career.
Ryan Briscoe
What: Team Penske
Where: Texas
Why: Briscoe has been underrated but I feel his victory in this year's 24 Hours of Daytona got him a lot of due respect. The Australian has seven IndyCar victories, two 24 Hours of Daytona class victories, two 12 Hours of Sebring class victories, many victories between the Porsche RS Spyder and Ford GT and was a Formula 3 Euro Series champion, Toyota F1 test driver and Supercars podium finisher.
Briscoe is a good guy. He was fun to watch in IndyCar and a title slipped through his fingers in 2009. I don't think he gets his due. I am not saying he is one of the greatest of his generation, but he had a good career and I think people unjustly cast him off as someone whose results stem from his time at Penske. He is clearly more than that.
Back in 2010, Briscoe put together the best performance of his IndyCar career, leading 102 laps from pole position on his way to victory at Texas. Similar to Conway and Hawksworth, this would be another chance at a bright day.
I will admit these are tough to do and keep them from being predictable and bland. The rare category is most difficult because there aren't that many drivers between one and 15 starts that necessarily deserve another shot. There are plenty of drivers that made five or six starts but there is a clear reason why they made five or six starts. Comeback is the second toughest category. There are some drivers we saw enough of and these have to be somewhat plausible. Mario Andretti is not walking through that door.
I might need to take a three or four-year break before doing this again. We got to let some of these categories build up.
Monday, May 11, 2020
Musings From the Weekend: Tis the Year Without a Champion
We took another half-inch forward. It was Mother's Day weekend. Texas is making plans for IndyCar's season opener. IMSA and the ACO have agreed upon LMDh regulations. Porsche is not sending IMSA team to Le Mans. Andy Priaulx and Darren Turner could not keep their hands off of each other. NASCAR went for a nostalgia trip... so it was just another week in the NASCAR world. Here is a rundown of what got me thinking.
Tis the Year Without a Champion
Let's cut to the chase, you would be ok if we had only the Indianapolis 500 this year and then called it until 2021, correct?
I think you would be fine. We always hear in IndyCar circles that the Indianapolis 500 is greater than the championship. It is the only race we single out when discussing who is the greatest driver of all-time. One Indianapolis 500 victory elevates a career significantly. Two victories and that puts that career over the top. Some, including an active IndyCar driver, argue the stature of the Indianapolis 500 should make it a standalone race from the rest of the IndyCar championship. If you were offered the Indianapolis 500 or 14 IndyCar races that are not the Indianapolis 500, you know which one you are taking.
With much uncertainty over the 2020 IndyCar schedule, some states extending bans on large public gatherings, some tracks hesitant to host races behind closed doors and uncertainty a race can be safely held without race personnel contracting the covid-19 virus, I was wondering if all eyes should be on just having the Indianapolis 500 in August and calling it a year. It is not ideal but it would be better than nothing.
Good news is IndyCar and Texas have laid out groundwork for what would be the 2020 season opener on June 6 behind closed doors. With one race setting up precautions, we are likely going to see multiple races in 2020 but the exact number of races remains a mystery.
We have a 15-race schedule but Toronto appears to be on the fritz, Oregon extended its ban on large public gathering through the end of September and NASCAR dropped Sonoma from its schedule, which makes you wonder about Laguna Seca, even though it is on the final weekend of summer. Don't forget St. Petersburg still does not have a scheduled date.
Five races swing in the wind on a calendar that was already two events shorter than initially slated. Losing five more races doesn't kill the championship but a ten-race is far from the accustomed schedule length.
Without any certainty over how many races could be held, how many races is necessary for a valid championship?
Texas might occur at the start of June and we might get through the first four races but if the second wave of this virus causes lockdown measures to increase for a few months then any possibility of completing the full 15-race schedule vanishes. If we get through the first four races and then are shut down until the Indianapolis 500 in August, that is another four races lost and if Portland and Laguna Seca are dropped and St. Petersburg fails to materialize then the only remaining races after Indianapolis in August is Gateway the following week and the Harvest Grand Prix at Indianapolis in October. That would be a seven-race season.
With the possibility the season could end at the drop of a hat, parameters are necessary for the championship. IndyCar has already taken one step and dropped the double points finale. That is one step but a few more steps are necessary.
What if the schedule is disjointed and one race happens as schedule but three are lost before the next one takes place?
What if we get ten races in and then everything shuts down like we have been experiencing since March?
Does IndyCar set a number of necessary races for an "official" champion? We have to reach halfway for an official race, do we need to complete eight races for an official championship? Should we set up such a standard?
Precedence already exists for short championship seasons, lengths that would be unacceptable today. The inaugural Indy Racing League season in 1996 was only three races. The next five IRL seasons had 11 races or fewer. Before that you have to go back to 1982 to find the next season with fewer than a dozen races. Between the start of the Great Depression and the 1941 season, the final season before the United States entry into World War II, every season was under ten races with the most being eight races in 1930 and eight seasons had fewer than five races. The low was two races in 1938.
We could have an official champion with only two races completed but in 2020 that would feel inadequate and likely violate many contractual agreements with sponsors and other partners. Not that it would be the fault of any of the drivers or the series itself but if only five races are completed through the Indianapolis 500, and we are back to a national shutdown with no events taking place for months, crowning a champion in the middle of a lockdown in October, months after the last race was completed would feel underwhelming.
This could be a year without a champion, even if a handful of races are completed, and we should understand that. There were no official IndyCar champions from 1909 through 1915 and then from 1917 to 1919. There was schedule of races for the AAA Championship Car Series those years and it was greater than two or three events. Each season had 14 races or more. Five of those seasons contested more than 20 races. Despite this there was no champion. Championship points were retroactively applied in 1927 and then revised in 1951 but, in the moment, no champions were crowned at the end of those seasons.
IndyCar's iRacing series, which concluded last weekend, did not crown a champion. No official points were kept for the six-race series and each race stood on its own. That is a little different from actual IndyCar but there could have been a points champion for the iRacing events and added to the history book along with the race results but IndyCar choose not to and IndyCar could do the same if an insufficient number are races are run in reality. If only six IndyCar races are completed in 2020 the series could decide that the victories, pole positions, laps led, starts and so on count toward the record book but no championship will be awarded for this season.
We don't need a championship. It would add meaning to all the races that are held but even if there are no official points awarded these races would provide the necessary exhibitions to fill time and give something to the masses who are otherwise at a loss.
With every race potentially being the season finale being proactive and declaring no champion will be crowned for the 2020 season or setting a benchmark necessary for an official champion would be the smart thing to do. With all that said, come hell or high water, the series will likely handover the Astor Cup to a driver at some point this year no matter how many races are completed. Contracts and legalese will force a champion to be crowned. IndyCar needs whatever money it can get from sponsors and television partners and if that means crowning a champion IndyCar will meet that requirement.
We must confront today how the 2020 season will conclude and it could come unexpectedly. A champion could be determined on a Tuesday in September leaving a handful of drivers devastated and one driver begrudgingly etching his name in history with the masses shouting its tainted. We should have learned from the first third of 2020 things will likely not go as planned but we can only accept that this is an unideal time for everyone. Nothing is going to feel right but that doesn't mean it is a grave injustice.
Winners From the Weekend
You know about Mother's Day but did you know...
Brendan Guarascia won the Thursday Night Blunder race from the Nürburgring Müllenbachschleife.
Jenson Button and Petter Solberg split the Legends Trophy races from Estoril. Tom Dillmann and Job van Uitert split the Pro races.
Denny Hamlin won the NASCAR iRacing event from North Wilkesboro. Ty Majeski won the non-Cup drivers race from Martinsville.
Coming Up This Weekend
NASCAR returns to the track with a 400-mile Cup race on Sunday, 200-mile Grand National Series race on Tuesday and a 500-kilometer Cup race on Wednesday.
In the iRacing world, Thursday Night Blunder has an IndyCar vs. GT3 battle at Bathurst at night.
IMSA has a race at Road America.
Tis the Year Without a Champion
Let's cut to the chase, you would be ok if we had only the Indianapolis 500 this year and then called it until 2021, correct?
I think you would be fine. We always hear in IndyCar circles that the Indianapolis 500 is greater than the championship. It is the only race we single out when discussing who is the greatest driver of all-time. One Indianapolis 500 victory elevates a career significantly. Two victories and that puts that career over the top. Some, including an active IndyCar driver, argue the stature of the Indianapolis 500 should make it a standalone race from the rest of the IndyCar championship. If you were offered the Indianapolis 500 or 14 IndyCar races that are not the Indianapolis 500, you know which one you are taking.
With much uncertainty over the 2020 IndyCar schedule, some states extending bans on large public gatherings, some tracks hesitant to host races behind closed doors and uncertainty a race can be safely held without race personnel contracting the covid-19 virus, I was wondering if all eyes should be on just having the Indianapolis 500 in August and calling it a year. It is not ideal but it would be better than nothing.
Good news is IndyCar and Texas have laid out groundwork for what would be the 2020 season opener on June 6 behind closed doors. With one race setting up precautions, we are likely going to see multiple races in 2020 but the exact number of races remains a mystery.
We have a 15-race schedule but Toronto appears to be on the fritz, Oregon extended its ban on large public gathering through the end of September and NASCAR dropped Sonoma from its schedule, which makes you wonder about Laguna Seca, even though it is on the final weekend of summer. Don't forget St. Petersburg still does not have a scheduled date.
Five races swing in the wind on a calendar that was already two events shorter than initially slated. Losing five more races doesn't kill the championship but a ten-race is far from the accustomed schedule length.
Without any certainty over how many races could be held, how many races is necessary for a valid championship?
Texas might occur at the start of June and we might get through the first four races but if the second wave of this virus causes lockdown measures to increase for a few months then any possibility of completing the full 15-race schedule vanishes. If we get through the first four races and then are shut down until the Indianapolis 500 in August, that is another four races lost and if Portland and Laguna Seca are dropped and St. Petersburg fails to materialize then the only remaining races after Indianapolis in August is Gateway the following week and the Harvest Grand Prix at Indianapolis in October. That would be a seven-race season.
With the possibility the season could end at the drop of a hat, parameters are necessary for the championship. IndyCar has already taken one step and dropped the double points finale. That is one step but a few more steps are necessary.
What if the schedule is disjointed and one race happens as schedule but three are lost before the next one takes place?
What if we get ten races in and then everything shuts down like we have been experiencing since March?
Does IndyCar set a number of necessary races for an "official" champion? We have to reach halfway for an official race, do we need to complete eight races for an official championship? Should we set up such a standard?
Precedence already exists for short championship seasons, lengths that would be unacceptable today. The inaugural Indy Racing League season in 1996 was only three races. The next five IRL seasons had 11 races or fewer. Before that you have to go back to 1982 to find the next season with fewer than a dozen races. Between the start of the Great Depression and the 1941 season, the final season before the United States entry into World War II, every season was under ten races with the most being eight races in 1930 and eight seasons had fewer than five races. The low was two races in 1938.
We could have an official champion with only two races completed but in 2020 that would feel inadequate and likely violate many contractual agreements with sponsors and other partners. Not that it would be the fault of any of the drivers or the series itself but if only five races are completed through the Indianapolis 500, and we are back to a national shutdown with no events taking place for months, crowning a champion in the middle of a lockdown in October, months after the last race was completed would feel underwhelming.
This could be a year without a champion, even if a handful of races are completed, and we should understand that. There were no official IndyCar champions from 1909 through 1915 and then from 1917 to 1919. There was schedule of races for the AAA Championship Car Series those years and it was greater than two or three events. Each season had 14 races or more. Five of those seasons contested more than 20 races. Despite this there was no champion. Championship points were retroactively applied in 1927 and then revised in 1951 but, in the moment, no champions were crowned at the end of those seasons.
IndyCar's iRacing series, which concluded last weekend, did not crown a champion. No official points were kept for the six-race series and each race stood on its own. That is a little different from actual IndyCar but there could have been a points champion for the iRacing events and added to the history book along with the race results but IndyCar choose not to and IndyCar could do the same if an insufficient number are races are run in reality. If only six IndyCar races are completed in 2020 the series could decide that the victories, pole positions, laps led, starts and so on count toward the record book but no championship will be awarded for this season.
We don't need a championship. It would add meaning to all the races that are held but even if there are no official points awarded these races would provide the necessary exhibitions to fill time and give something to the masses who are otherwise at a loss.
With every race potentially being the season finale being proactive and declaring no champion will be crowned for the 2020 season or setting a benchmark necessary for an official champion would be the smart thing to do. With all that said, come hell or high water, the series will likely handover the Astor Cup to a driver at some point this year no matter how many races are completed. Contracts and legalese will force a champion to be crowned. IndyCar needs whatever money it can get from sponsors and television partners and if that means crowning a champion IndyCar will meet that requirement.
We must confront today how the 2020 season will conclude and it could come unexpectedly. A champion could be determined on a Tuesday in September leaving a handful of drivers devastated and one driver begrudgingly etching his name in history with the masses shouting its tainted. We should have learned from the first third of 2020 things will likely not go as planned but we can only accept that this is an unideal time for everyone. Nothing is going to feel right but that doesn't mean it is a grave injustice.
Winners From the Weekend
You know about Mother's Day but did you know...
Brendan Guarascia won the Thursday Night Blunder race from the Nürburgring Müllenbachschleife.
Jenson Button and Petter Solberg split the Legends Trophy races from Estoril. Tom Dillmann and Job van Uitert split the Pro races.
Denny Hamlin won the NASCAR iRacing event from North Wilkesboro. Ty Majeski won the non-Cup drivers race from Martinsville.
Coming Up This Weekend
NASCAR returns to the track with a 400-mile Cup race on Sunday, 200-mile Grand National Series race on Tuesday and a 500-kilometer Cup race on Wednesday.
In the iRacing world, Thursday Night Blunder has an IndyCar vs. GT3 battle at Bathurst at night.
IMSA has a race at Road America.
Friday, May 8, 2020
Saving DTM
During the upheaval of the covid-19 pandemic, we have had some motorsports news and some of it isn't helping during this difficult time. Audi announcing its withdrawal from the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters after the 2020 season (if we have a 2020 season) was not what the sinking German series needed.
Audi's announcement comes one year after a dismal one-and-done year from Aston Martin and two years after Mercedes-Benz pulled out of the series. BMW is the lone manufacture left in the series and the series finds itself in a deeper hole than you would wish on your worst enemy.
The identity crisis stems from a very specific set of expensive regulations that have diverted from anything else happening on the planet. DTM positioned itself as a national series but its reach has been greater than the German borders. Six of ten rounds scheduled for the 2020 season take place outside of Germany. The series has been regular trips to the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Italy. The last time every DTM round was held in Germany was 2000, the first season of the revived series.
It is more than a national touring car championship but it is not a world series nor has it entirely embraced its status as a continental championship.
While being the launchpad for the careers of Dario Franchitti, Giancarlo Fisichella, Jan Magnussen, Paul di Resta, Robert Wickens and Pascal Wehrlein, it was a home for the talents of Bernd Schneider, Mattias Ekström, Mike Rockenfeller, Marco Wittmann and René Rast and a sanctuary for the post-Formula One careers of Mika Häkkinen, Jean Alesi, Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Ralf Schumacher and Keke Rosberg.
How can we keep this historic series alive?
There have been plenty of options tossed out in recent days and here are five of them, why they work and what flaws exist.
Privateer-Run DTM/Expansion of Class One Entries
This is the most basic one: Instead of factory run programs, privateer teams could run the Audi cars while the BMW teams continue and to make up for the loss of Mercedes-Benz and now Aston Martin the Class One cars used in Super GT expand to full-time programs in Germany and we see Honda, Toyota and Nissan all eligible for the full-time DTM grid.
The cars already exist and the regulations are already in place. Instead of running the Japanese cars in one-off events, a handful are regulars on the grids and with five eligible manufactures instead of two, the grid could boom and easily have 20-25 entries at each race.
The problem?
None of the Audi teams want to run privateer programs, it is too expensive in general to run privateer cars in DTM and none of the Japanese manufactures are interested in full-time entries in a European-based championship.
Convert to GTE Regulations
Former DTM race winner Altfrid Heger heralded this road in recent days and, funny enough, I suggested this a little over two years ago!
There was a caveat to a GTE idea when I proposed it back in 2018: DTM would need support from the ACO to make this happen and it would mean moving the GTE class out of the European Le Mans Series.
ELMS had nine GTE entries in 2019. ELMS would be fine without GTE. It had 19 full-time LMP2 entries and 15 full-time LMP3 entries last year. The prototype classes carries that series. You can take out GTE and hardly anyone would notice.
Nine entrants would not be enough for a full series but if the DTM became a GTE-only series and if it awarded invitations to the 24 Hours of Le Mans, we could see a boom or at least a strong grid of at least 16-20 entries. It would have to become a pro-am series or have a pro class along with a pro-am class and the race format would have to be altered a bit.
A ten-round series with a pair of 50-minute sprint races would likely not meet the demand of the entrants. At the same time, I am not sure a ten endurance races would be financially optimal either. There would have to be some middle ground, something similar to an IMSA schedule. We could keep sprint races, maybe three or four two-hour races or two-hour and 30-minute races for places like Norisring, Brands Hatch and Lausitz but then have three or four endurance races with a four-hour length at Nürburgring, Hockenheim and Monza.
The issue with GTE is it has taken a big step back in the last two years. BMW and Ford are out of World Endurance Championship. BMW still has an IMSA program and Corvette has one program, the factory IMSA program. That leaves Ferrari, Porsche and Aston Martin. You can fill a grid nicely with customer run Ferraris and Porsches but it will feel a little stale and I question how much factory interest would be in this series, especially with WEC programs and IMSA programs already in existence.
Two years ago, I was hoping for a wave of manufactures to enter GTE with the class at five full-time WEC participants and then Corvette. That is not going to happen and kind of leaves this idea dead in the water.
Convert to GT3 Regulations
Hans-Joachim Stuck promoted this option after Audi announced its plans to leave the championship.
The only issue is Germany already has a strong GT3 series in ADAC GT Masters and I do not see that series losing entrants because DTM now accepts GT3 cars.
However, I do think DTM could be a GT3 sprint series, similar to what Pirelli World Challenge was and that could have some legs. I am not talking about the SRO sprint series format but a single-driver professional series with a pair of 50-minute races each weekend. The cars and teams are out there but I struggle with finding why this series would be more appealing than the handful of GT3 options that already exist in Europe.
The DTM might have the better television deal. That could be a selling point. The only issue is if it is reliant on privateer teams and money that would mean more amateur participants while professionals would struggle for rides. DTM cannot copy what ADAC GT Masters does with co-drivers and a range of all-professional lineups with some pro-am teams.
The GT3 pool is diluted and the one thing DTM could do to stand out has a weak business model.
Convert to TCR Regulations
Similar to the GT3 option, there is already a TCR option in Germany but the TCR class is still in its infancy.
The ADAC TCR German Series does not have the same social capital as ADAC GT Masters does with GT3 racing. ADAC TCR German Series had about 15-17 cars at every race last year but it is a lower level compared to the quality of the DTM grid. I am sure the DTM drivers would take whatever job they can get and if TCR is the option they will be happy but some will move on and you will have some TCR German drivers move into the series and it won't feel like the DTM.
The closest comparison I can think of is the Indy Racing League when you had Billy Boat, Greg Ray, Donnie Beechler, Jeret Schroeder and Rick Treadway on the grid. These guys aren't that great, don't try and convince me they are that great, the only reason they have these seats is because someone had a vision, created a series and lowered the bar so low about 15 C-level driver could become IndyCar drivers while there were 24 drivers in CART that could school all of them. People will see it is an inferior product and more will lose interest.
That is what DTM risks becoming if it adopts TCR regulations, the German IRL.
Evolve into Something Else
This is the most expensive option but it might payoff the most for DTM.
I could get intrigued if DTM became the electric GT series. I think this has been an avenue that has been woefully under-pursued but if BMW, Audi and Mercedes-Benz all have strong interests in electric automobiles this is something DTM should have maybe been on top of five years ago.
If these manufactures are trying to sell more electric cars on the road than perhaps showcasing them on the racetrack will help generate interests. It could become a place not just for the three German manufactures to display this product but it could see Jaguar, Renault and other electric interested manufactures join as well.
There will be challenges, for starters we are in the middle of a pandemic, economies are cratering and I doubt any manufacture can get the millions of dollars necessary to get this off the ground. Current events aside, the audience might not embrace it but if we already have plenty of GT3 series, if GTE isn't that enticing and if TCR isn't that sexy, DTM might have to completely reinvent what it puts on track and be something that does not exist anywhere else on this planet to turn some heads.
It can still be DTM. It can still go to Hockenheim and the Norisring. It can still make trips to Brands Hatch, Monza and Anderstorp. It can be a pair of 50-minute sprint races, with one show on Saturday and the next on Sunday. It should do all of that. It doesn't have to completely shed its history but evolve its present and near future.
It doesn't have to be Formula E smug and condescending. Nobody wants that. It can still be the fun DTM. It can bridge the divide between the existing motorsports culture and the new electric automobile market, which has not always done a great job attracting those who are already in motorsports and drawing in people with no motorsports interest whatsoever.
It is a pipe dream but it could be what the series needs to survive.
There is always a sixth option: Death. Nobody wants that.
Evolving, especially into an electric series, requires a lot of work but the clock is ticking. Something needs to be done otherwise DTM will die and it will not have the pandemic to blame.
Audi's announcement comes one year after a dismal one-and-done year from Aston Martin and two years after Mercedes-Benz pulled out of the series. BMW is the lone manufacture left in the series and the series finds itself in a deeper hole than you would wish on your worst enemy.
The identity crisis stems from a very specific set of expensive regulations that have diverted from anything else happening on the planet. DTM positioned itself as a national series but its reach has been greater than the German borders. Six of ten rounds scheduled for the 2020 season take place outside of Germany. The series has been regular trips to the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Italy. The last time every DTM round was held in Germany was 2000, the first season of the revived series.
It is more than a national touring car championship but it is not a world series nor has it entirely embraced its status as a continental championship.
While being the launchpad for the careers of Dario Franchitti, Giancarlo Fisichella, Jan Magnussen, Paul di Resta, Robert Wickens and Pascal Wehrlein, it was a home for the talents of Bernd Schneider, Mattias Ekström, Mike Rockenfeller, Marco Wittmann and René Rast and a sanctuary for the post-Formula One careers of Mika Häkkinen, Jean Alesi, Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Ralf Schumacher and Keke Rosberg.
How can we keep this historic series alive?
There have been plenty of options tossed out in recent days and here are five of them, why they work and what flaws exist.
Privateer-Run DTM/Expansion of Class One Entries
This is the most basic one: Instead of factory run programs, privateer teams could run the Audi cars while the BMW teams continue and to make up for the loss of Mercedes-Benz and now Aston Martin the Class One cars used in Super GT expand to full-time programs in Germany and we see Honda, Toyota and Nissan all eligible for the full-time DTM grid.
The cars already exist and the regulations are already in place. Instead of running the Japanese cars in one-off events, a handful are regulars on the grids and with five eligible manufactures instead of two, the grid could boom and easily have 20-25 entries at each race.
The problem?
None of the Audi teams want to run privateer programs, it is too expensive in general to run privateer cars in DTM and none of the Japanese manufactures are interested in full-time entries in a European-based championship.
Convert to GTE Regulations
Former DTM race winner Altfrid Heger heralded this road in recent days and, funny enough, I suggested this a little over two years ago!
There was a caveat to a GTE idea when I proposed it back in 2018: DTM would need support from the ACO to make this happen and it would mean moving the GTE class out of the European Le Mans Series.
ELMS had nine GTE entries in 2019. ELMS would be fine without GTE. It had 19 full-time LMP2 entries and 15 full-time LMP3 entries last year. The prototype classes carries that series. You can take out GTE and hardly anyone would notice.
Nine entrants would not be enough for a full series but if the DTM became a GTE-only series and if it awarded invitations to the 24 Hours of Le Mans, we could see a boom or at least a strong grid of at least 16-20 entries. It would have to become a pro-am series or have a pro class along with a pro-am class and the race format would have to be altered a bit.
A ten-round series with a pair of 50-minute sprint races would likely not meet the demand of the entrants. At the same time, I am not sure a ten endurance races would be financially optimal either. There would have to be some middle ground, something similar to an IMSA schedule. We could keep sprint races, maybe three or four two-hour races or two-hour and 30-minute races for places like Norisring, Brands Hatch and Lausitz but then have three or four endurance races with a four-hour length at Nürburgring, Hockenheim and Monza.
The issue with GTE is it has taken a big step back in the last two years. BMW and Ford are out of World Endurance Championship. BMW still has an IMSA program and Corvette has one program, the factory IMSA program. That leaves Ferrari, Porsche and Aston Martin. You can fill a grid nicely with customer run Ferraris and Porsches but it will feel a little stale and I question how much factory interest would be in this series, especially with WEC programs and IMSA programs already in existence.
Two years ago, I was hoping for a wave of manufactures to enter GTE with the class at five full-time WEC participants and then Corvette. That is not going to happen and kind of leaves this idea dead in the water.
Convert to GT3 Regulations
Hans-Joachim Stuck promoted this option after Audi announced its plans to leave the championship.
The only issue is Germany already has a strong GT3 series in ADAC GT Masters and I do not see that series losing entrants because DTM now accepts GT3 cars.
However, I do think DTM could be a GT3 sprint series, similar to what Pirelli World Challenge was and that could have some legs. I am not talking about the SRO sprint series format but a single-driver professional series with a pair of 50-minute races each weekend. The cars and teams are out there but I struggle with finding why this series would be more appealing than the handful of GT3 options that already exist in Europe.
The DTM might have the better television deal. That could be a selling point. The only issue is if it is reliant on privateer teams and money that would mean more amateur participants while professionals would struggle for rides. DTM cannot copy what ADAC GT Masters does with co-drivers and a range of all-professional lineups with some pro-am teams.
The GT3 pool is diluted and the one thing DTM could do to stand out has a weak business model.
Convert to TCR Regulations
Similar to the GT3 option, there is already a TCR option in Germany but the TCR class is still in its infancy.
The ADAC TCR German Series does not have the same social capital as ADAC GT Masters does with GT3 racing. ADAC TCR German Series had about 15-17 cars at every race last year but it is a lower level compared to the quality of the DTM grid. I am sure the DTM drivers would take whatever job they can get and if TCR is the option they will be happy but some will move on and you will have some TCR German drivers move into the series and it won't feel like the DTM.
The closest comparison I can think of is the Indy Racing League when you had Billy Boat, Greg Ray, Donnie Beechler, Jeret Schroeder and Rick Treadway on the grid. These guys aren't that great, don't try and convince me they are that great, the only reason they have these seats is because someone had a vision, created a series and lowered the bar so low about 15 C-level driver could become IndyCar drivers while there were 24 drivers in CART that could school all of them. People will see it is an inferior product and more will lose interest.
That is what DTM risks becoming if it adopts TCR regulations, the German IRL.
Evolve into Something Else
This is the most expensive option but it might payoff the most for DTM.
I could get intrigued if DTM became the electric GT series. I think this has been an avenue that has been woefully under-pursued but if BMW, Audi and Mercedes-Benz all have strong interests in electric automobiles this is something DTM should have maybe been on top of five years ago.
If these manufactures are trying to sell more electric cars on the road than perhaps showcasing them on the racetrack will help generate interests. It could become a place not just for the three German manufactures to display this product but it could see Jaguar, Renault and other electric interested manufactures join as well.
There will be challenges, for starters we are in the middle of a pandemic, economies are cratering and I doubt any manufacture can get the millions of dollars necessary to get this off the ground. Current events aside, the audience might not embrace it but if we already have plenty of GT3 series, if GTE isn't that enticing and if TCR isn't that sexy, DTM might have to completely reinvent what it puts on track and be something that does not exist anywhere else on this planet to turn some heads.
It can still be DTM. It can still go to Hockenheim and the Norisring. It can still make trips to Brands Hatch, Monza and Anderstorp. It can be a pair of 50-minute sprint races, with one show on Saturday and the next on Sunday. It should do all of that. It doesn't have to completely shed its history but evolve its present and near future.
It doesn't have to be Formula E smug and condescending. Nobody wants that. It can still be the fun DTM. It can bridge the divide between the existing motorsports culture and the new electric automobile market, which has not always done a great job attracting those who are already in motorsports and drawing in people with no motorsports interest whatsoever.
It is a pipe dream but it could be what the series needs to survive.
There is always a sixth option: Death. Nobody wants that.
Evolving, especially into an electric series, requires a lot of work but the clock is ticking. Something needs to be done otherwise DTM will die and it will not have the pandemic to blame.
Wednesday, May 6, 2020
2020 Supercross Season Catch-Up
This past Saturday was supposed to be the conclusion of the 2020 Supercross season in Salt Lake City, Utah. Like everything else around the world, the cover-19 pandemic stopped Supercross in the middle of its season and it has not contested a round since the middle of March.
Without a season completed, a review is not possible but I thought this would be a great chance to remind ourselves where we were in the Supercross campaign. Supercross has been forgotten over the last two months with every series in hiatus. NASCAR, IndyCar, Formula One, MotoGP and so on have taken the spotlight.
Today, we give Supercross its moment, answering seven questions on this prolonged 2020 season.
Where were we?
The last race was Daytona on March 7, the tenth of 17 scheduled rounds in the 2020 championship.
Eli Tomac took the victory after a spirited battle with Ken Roczen and the victory gave Tomac a three-point championship lead over Roczen. It was Tomac's fifth victory of the season and he had finished in the top five of nine consecutive races.
Roczen has three victories and prior to Daytona he has been in the top two of the championship since the second round of the season at St. Louis. He has eight podium finishes and has not finished worse than sixth this season.
Entering Daytona, Tomac and Roczen were tied on 200 points with Tomac holding the tiebreaker.
What has been lost?
Seven races have been effectively cancelled, starting with Indianapolis on March 14. Detroit, Seattle, Denver, Foxborough, Las Vegas and Salt Lake City are the six other cancelled rounds.
Las Vegas was scheduled to be the third and final Triple Crown round in the championship. Glendale and Arlington were the first two Triple Crown rounds of the season. Roczen and Tomac split those rounds respectively.
What is the plan?
Like every other sporting entity, Supercross is looking for an alternate to return to competition at some point in 2020.
The most recent plan is a potential return to racing on May 31 and the seven remaining rounds all taking place at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. That plan is not set in stone and the door is open for races occurring at other venues in different states. If Glendale was the only venue multiple track configurations would be considered.
This scheduled resumption would force the 2020 AMA Motocross Championship season to be delayed further into summer with July 4 as a potential start date.
One of the first plans for Supercross was to resume the season in September following the conclusion of the Motocross season.
Who was doing as expected?
Let's move away from scheduling for a moment and look at the results from the first ten races of 2020.
It is no surprise Tomac has five victories and leads the championship. Roczen is doing pretty good. It is not a surprise Roczen has multiple victories and it is a refreshing change after his difficulties with injuries over the last few seasons.
Cooper Webb is third in the championship, 29 points behind Tomac. The 2019 champion's lone victory was at San Diego and Webb has seven podium finishes but he has finished 12th twice.
Jason Anderson returned after missing most of the 2019 season due to injury and Anderson finds himself fifth in the championship. He has three podium finishes, all third-place finishes and two of those were at the Triple Crown rounds.
Who was doing better than expected?
Justin Barcia is fourth in the championship, 31 points off Tomac with Barcia's victory at the season opener at Anaheim being the backbone of his season. He has two runner-up finishes, at St. Louis and Atlanta and behind Roczen on both occasions. He has eight top five finishes in ten races.
Malcolm Stewart entered 2020 having never had a top five finish in 33 Supercross starts. Stewart still does not have that elusive top five finish but he has finished in the top ten of every race this season and he is sixth in the championship on 152 points.
Stewart's Smartop/Bullfrog Spas/Motoconcepts Honda teammate Justin Hill is seventh in the championship, 11 points behind Stewart in the championship. In 2019, Hill's best finish was seventh and in 2020 he has finishes of fifth, sixth and sixth.
Who isn't minding this break?
Adam Cianciarulo and Zach Osborne both had their seasons truncated due to injuries with the two riders missing the last three and two rounds respectively.
Cianciarulo had two runner-up finishes in the first seven races and was fifth in the championship. Osborne was ninth in the championship when his injury occurred. Osborne had picked up his third top five finish of the season at his final start at Arlington but he had finished outside the top ten in seven races this season.
Cianciarulo had been planning a return to competition at the Seattle round scheduled for March 28. Osborne is back to training.
This has also been a tough season for Aaron Plessinger and Blake Baggett. Plessinger has not picked up a top five finish this season and he is 11th in the championship on 125 points. Baggett is 16 points behind Plessinger and while Baggett was third at San Diego, he has finished outside the top 15 in three of the last four races.
What else is there to say?
I think back to Daytona and wonder how bittersweet that race was. Not because it is the last time we have had a Supercross event but because if it had been the scheduled season finale it would have been a brilliant conclusion to a fantastic season.
The Tomac-Roczen battle was terrific. The race started with Roczen taking a commanding lead and Tomac mired in the back half of the top ten. Tomac worked his way forward and caught Roczen but the German did not yield. Both riders were on edge but Tomac slipped on through and took the victory.
When this hiatus began all I could think about how beautiful that race was but how unfortunate it would be if that was the end of the season because we did not get a chance to appreciate it. The top two riders entered Daytona tied, virtually in a winner-take-all situation and in the race they were the top two riders and the battle met expectations.
I felt bad for Roczen because it was a case of losing the battle but looking ahead for possibly winning the war. No one knew with the flip of a switch seven rounds would disappear from the calendar and Roczen's championship hopes would vanish right when it seemed he was very much alive.
That is not Tomac's fault and the Kawasaki rider has been magnificent this season. He has won half the races but he has put on some stirring rides to put himself first in the championship. Daytona was just one of them but at Atlanta, Tomac went from 15th to fourth and had a handful of run-ins along the way. Tomac and Roczen traded the lead at Oakland with Tomac coming out on top late.
If Tomac was crowned champion it would be deserved but Roczen losing seven races to possibly take the title for himself is a cruel loss, especially after a five-year setback to his career.
Every sporting league is hoping to get restarted and soon. Baseball is back in South Korea. The Bundesliga in Germany plans to be back later this month. NASCAR appears set to take the first plunge in North America. Those are encouraging signs but with every bit of encouragement we are reminded of the unknown with the virus, from the contagion level and lack of testing to possible immunity and mutations of the virus. All it takes is one case to unravel two months of work.
Supercross seems prepared for a restart but it may not get it day. If it does return, we could see a championship fight for the ages. If it doesn't, the 2020 season will go down as perhaps the greatest of all the lost seasons of the pandemic.
Without a season completed, a review is not possible but I thought this would be a great chance to remind ourselves where we were in the Supercross campaign. Supercross has been forgotten over the last two months with every series in hiatus. NASCAR, IndyCar, Formula One, MotoGP and so on have taken the spotlight.
Today, we give Supercross its moment, answering seven questions on this prolonged 2020 season.
Where were we?
The last race was Daytona on March 7, the tenth of 17 scheduled rounds in the 2020 championship.
Eli Tomac took the victory after a spirited battle with Ken Roczen and the victory gave Tomac a three-point championship lead over Roczen. It was Tomac's fifth victory of the season and he had finished in the top five of nine consecutive races.
Roczen has three victories and prior to Daytona he has been in the top two of the championship since the second round of the season at St. Louis. He has eight podium finishes and has not finished worse than sixth this season.
Entering Daytona, Tomac and Roczen were tied on 200 points with Tomac holding the tiebreaker.
What has been lost?
Seven races have been effectively cancelled, starting with Indianapolis on March 14. Detroit, Seattle, Denver, Foxborough, Las Vegas and Salt Lake City are the six other cancelled rounds.
Las Vegas was scheduled to be the third and final Triple Crown round in the championship. Glendale and Arlington were the first two Triple Crown rounds of the season. Roczen and Tomac split those rounds respectively.
What is the plan?
Like every other sporting entity, Supercross is looking for an alternate to return to competition at some point in 2020.
The most recent plan is a potential return to racing on May 31 and the seven remaining rounds all taking place at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. That plan is not set in stone and the door is open for races occurring at other venues in different states. If Glendale was the only venue multiple track configurations would be considered.
This scheduled resumption would force the 2020 AMA Motocross Championship season to be delayed further into summer with July 4 as a potential start date.
One of the first plans for Supercross was to resume the season in September following the conclusion of the Motocross season.
Who was doing as expected?
Let's move away from scheduling for a moment and look at the results from the first ten races of 2020.
It is no surprise Tomac has five victories and leads the championship. Roczen is doing pretty good. It is not a surprise Roczen has multiple victories and it is a refreshing change after his difficulties with injuries over the last few seasons.
Cooper Webb is third in the championship, 29 points behind Tomac. The 2019 champion's lone victory was at San Diego and Webb has seven podium finishes but he has finished 12th twice.
Jason Anderson returned after missing most of the 2019 season due to injury and Anderson finds himself fifth in the championship. He has three podium finishes, all third-place finishes and two of those were at the Triple Crown rounds.
Who was doing better than expected?
Justin Barcia is fourth in the championship, 31 points off Tomac with Barcia's victory at the season opener at Anaheim being the backbone of his season. He has two runner-up finishes, at St. Louis and Atlanta and behind Roczen on both occasions. He has eight top five finishes in ten races.
Malcolm Stewart entered 2020 having never had a top five finish in 33 Supercross starts. Stewart still does not have that elusive top five finish but he has finished in the top ten of every race this season and he is sixth in the championship on 152 points.
Stewart's Smartop/Bullfrog Spas/Motoconcepts Honda teammate Justin Hill is seventh in the championship, 11 points behind Stewart in the championship. In 2019, Hill's best finish was seventh and in 2020 he has finishes of fifth, sixth and sixth.
Who isn't minding this break?
Adam Cianciarulo and Zach Osborne both had their seasons truncated due to injuries with the two riders missing the last three and two rounds respectively.
Cianciarulo had two runner-up finishes in the first seven races and was fifth in the championship. Osborne was ninth in the championship when his injury occurred. Osborne had picked up his third top five finish of the season at his final start at Arlington but he had finished outside the top ten in seven races this season.
Cianciarulo had been planning a return to competition at the Seattle round scheduled for March 28. Osborne is back to training.
This has also been a tough season for Aaron Plessinger and Blake Baggett. Plessinger has not picked up a top five finish this season and he is 11th in the championship on 125 points. Baggett is 16 points behind Plessinger and while Baggett was third at San Diego, he has finished outside the top 15 in three of the last four races.
What else is there to say?
I think back to Daytona and wonder how bittersweet that race was. Not because it is the last time we have had a Supercross event but because if it had been the scheduled season finale it would have been a brilliant conclusion to a fantastic season.
The Tomac-Roczen battle was terrific. The race started with Roczen taking a commanding lead and Tomac mired in the back half of the top ten. Tomac worked his way forward and caught Roczen but the German did not yield. Both riders were on edge but Tomac slipped on through and took the victory.
When this hiatus began all I could think about how beautiful that race was but how unfortunate it would be if that was the end of the season because we did not get a chance to appreciate it. The top two riders entered Daytona tied, virtually in a winner-take-all situation and in the race they were the top two riders and the battle met expectations.
I felt bad for Roczen because it was a case of losing the battle but looking ahead for possibly winning the war. No one knew with the flip of a switch seven rounds would disappear from the calendar and Roczen's championship hopes would vanish right when it seemed he was very much alive.
That is not Tomac's fault and the Kawasaki rider has been magnificent this season. He has won half the races but he has put on some stirring rides to put himself first in the championship. Daytona was just one of them but at Atlanta, Tomac went from 15th to fourth and had a handful of run-ins along the way. Tomac and Roczen traded the lead at Oakland with Tomac coming out on top late.
If Tomac was crowned champion it would be deserved but Roczen losing seven races to possibly take the title for himself is a cruel loss, especially after a five-year setback to his career.
Every sporting league is hoping to get restarted and soon. Baseball is back in South Korea. The Bundesliga in Germany plans to be back later this month. NASCAR appears set to take the first plunge in North America. Those are encouraging signs but with every bit of encouragement we are reminded of the unknown with the virus, from the contagion level and lack of testing to possible immunity and mutations of the virus. All it takes is one case to unravel two months of work.
Supercross seems prepared for a restart but it may not get it day. If it does return, we could see a championship fight for the ages. If it doesn't, the 2020 season will go down as perhaps the greatest of all the lost seasons of the pandemic.
Monday, May 4, 2020
Musings From the Weekend: Another Month of Video Games
We are gaining a half-inch at a time. It is May. It hardly felt like April. IndyCar concluded its iRacing series with Scott McLaughlin having a victory fall into his lap thanks to driver-induced chaos. NASCAR announced its schedule for the month of May. Darlington and Charlotte will host races, including a pair of Wednesday night races. Elsewhere, Formula E cancelled its Brooklyn and London rounds. Audi is pulling out the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters. BMW continues its iRacing dominance. Sebastian Vettel came out to play. Here is a rundown of what got me thinking.
Another Month of Video Games
At the end of March, after a few weeks of simulated races, I wrote a few observations because iRacing and all these simulated video games were new to me. A month later and there are a few more observations.
With another month of events and formats under the belt I think it is time to look over what has gone right and what has gone wrong.
What has gone right:
Keeping it simple.
When a series creates format and sticks with it, the events take place seamlessly.
When looking at The Race, it has held pretty much the same event each week... until this week.
The original format was three heat races and an LCQ to determine the main event. Two heat races for professional drivers with the top five advancing to the main event, top five from the simulated racers heat advanced to main event with the remaining professional drivers entering the LCQ and the top five from that race filling out the 20-car field.
Intermingled with the professional race is the Legends Trophy races. The first race has a traditional qualifying format and the second race is a reverse grid from the results of race one. None of the races take longer than ten or 15 minutes. There are no cautions. A driver may receive penalties for infractions, whether it be jumping a start, cutting a corner or tacking out another driver.
This past weekend, The Race altered the weekend to make it more even for the professional and sim drivers. The format matches what is done with the Legends Trophy and each class has one race and then a professional race. It is different but it falls into line with what we have been seeing all along and it gives professional drivers and sim drivers their own spotlights.
IndyCar and IMSA have run pretty straightforward events. The familiar faces gather together. There is practice, qualifying and a race. Those races are not riddle with cautions and they are done within 90 minutes.
These series have also brought together drivers who otherwise would not compete together. The Legends Trophy is pure fantasy. Emerson Fittipaldi vs. Jenson Button? Petter Solberg vs. Dario Franchitti? David Brabham vs. Jacques Villeneuve? They dragged Sebastian Vettel into the party this week at Sepang! Where else can you have world champions from three different decades racing against one another along with three Indianapolis 500 winners and a pair of Le Mans winners? That is a dream come true.
The professional races have seen Stoffel Vandoorne competing against Gabby Chaves, Esteban Gutiérrez, Juan Manuel Correa, Nicki Thiim, James Calado and more.
IndyCar has had guest drivers along the way. First it was Jimmie Johnson, then it was Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Kyle Busch. Lando Norris won an event. Scott McLaughlin competed in the full series. IMSA has brought together WeatherTech Sports Car Championship drivers with Michelin Pilot Challenge and FIA World Endurance Championship drivers.
Supercars has seen Max Verstappen, Will Power, Alexander Rossi and Joey Logano take guest drives.
What has gone wrong:
Complicating the proceedings.
For a few weeks it felt like everyone was having fun with this but NASCAR. Each week it was a butting of heads over who was competing, who was locked in, who was relegated to the Saturday night streaming race and then there was the increased pressure with the races broadcasted and sponsors taking it seriously.
For IndyCar's final event at Indianapolis, the series might have bitten off more than it should have. The first five events were open to everyone. We had 30-plus cars at Michigan, Motegi and Austin. It was the full-time grid with its guests. The final event was limited to 33 cars, à la the grid size of the Indianapolis 500. However, James Hinchcliffe, Robert Wickens, Kyle Busch, Kyle Kaiser and Felipe Nasr did not compete. Hinchcliffe, Wickens, Kasier and Nasr all attempted to run every race prior to this.
There is a limit at some point but it got messy when certain drivers were locked in but other drivers weren't. The series has a right to protect full-time competition and sponsors but when some full-time teams do not get that honor or some drivers dedicated their full-time to the iRacing series only to not have the favor returned at the end and some other drivers who were not full-time were wrapped in a security blanket it bred confusion.
Of course, explanations were rarely given.
What has gone right:
Creativity!
This is a chance to be different. Many restrictions vanish in the simulated world. You can run more cars than you can imagine at some of these tracks. Money no longer handcuffs who can run, nor does chassis or engine leases. We can be different. We see reverse grid races!
Series visit tracks that are otherwise not on the schedule. The Race holds no ties to any track. It has gone to the Nürburgring, the Silverstone national circuit, Sebring, Indianapolis and NOLA Motorsports Park! Sepang added its stamp to the virtual passport this weekend. They have run Indy Pro 2000 cars, LMP3 cars and the Legends Trophy has used the Brabham BT44 and McLaren M23.
IndyCar visited some tracks from the not-so-distant past. While fulfilling trips to Barber and Austin, the series went to Watkins Glen, Michigan and Motegi. These aren't three tracks from long ago but they are tracks fans have affection for and are no longer on the calendar.
International circuits fill Supercars' iRacing schedule. It kept Australian staples, such as Bathurst and Phillip Island, but it has gone to Monza, Watkins Glen, Montreal, Silverstone and will go to Spa-Francorchamps.
Dinner with Racers have done this the best. Every race is something we could never see. IndyCar vs. NASCAR Cup cars vs. LMP1 cars vs. Legends cars at Talladega? And it was fantastic. Last week was Nissan GTP vs. rallycross cars vs. Pro 2 Trucks vs. 410-winged sprint cars at Le Mans without the Mulsanne chicanes.
What has gone wrong:
Taking it too seriously.
And this isn't a dig at sponsors or broadcast partners. People got mad when television partners got involved and when sponsors perked up interest. Motorsports series need both to survive. If neither were interested in broadcasting this you should be concerned and you would probably be crying about the races not being broadcasted. You can't be upset when the races are broadcasted and then complain when they aren't.
When it comes to taking it too seriously I mean putting out a schedule and then allowing drivers to practice for eight hours a day every day until the race. If series want to have fun with this then have fun with this and don't put the pressure on the drivers.
Bubba Wallace cited the amount of practice being the recent he stepped away from the last two NASCAR races. First off, it shouldn't be that serious. If Wallace wanted to do an hour of practice the morning of the race and that was it then great! Take it easy. You should want drivers to roll out of bed and just run for fun.
This issue with keeping a schedule is while it is great to know where you are going you there is nothing stopping anyone from running for 80 hours over six days to practice. With the decreased barrier of entry, a driver could practice for 12 hours a day. There is no worry about weather or light or resources. However, not every driver has the same stamina for such an endeavor.
One way to keep it light is to keep the venues unknown. It could level the playing field.
Each series has about three or five guys who are absurdly talented at iRacing, another ten that are good and another ten that are not remotely competitive. If you give the top echelon drivers more time to practice they will have the track down pat in half a day while some drivers will only get the hang of it after six days.
If the venue was a surprise until about an hour before the race, we could see some different people at the front. A top-level driver could be brought down to Earth but some of these drivers take to these simulated platforms like ducks to water. It doesn't seem to matter what the machinery is or if the surface is asphalt or dirt but this would at least equal the playing field.
Instead of a budget cap it would be an hours cap. No one could get an advantage practicing for days. There would be no benefit practicing for no one would know where they will be racing. The drivers could spend the week relaxing at home, maybe doing iRacing without purpose if they want to but have time for other hobbies and only have to show up on race day.
What has gone right:
Not throwing cautions!
It is a video game. No drivers are in danger. No track marshals are in danger. No spectators are in danger. There is no need for a caution in any of these races.
Unless you are throwing a competition caution for a commercial break it is not worth it.
What has gone wrong:
Throwing cautions!
Looking at you NASCAR!
It has dragged races on. There is no rhythm. Worst of all a race will get a dozen cautions in the first half but then after shooting itself in the foot the race will have no cautions in the second half of the race and you have this inconsistency where single-car spins in the first half of the race brought the race to a halt a four-car accident will occur and everyone will keep going.
NASCAR already had consistency issues with cautions but this is much worse.
What have we learned?
This has been fun but mostly because it has been filling a void. If there was no pandemic, I would not be filling my days with The Race at noon and IndyCar at 2:30 p.m. on a Saturday. My Saturday would be Formula One qualifying in the morning, IndyCar practice and qualifying, perhaps a Michelin Pilot Challenge race or some other sports car series and Supercross at night.
When motorsports return, the simulated racing interest is going to dry up close to immediately. All the drivers will spread to the racetracks of the world. They will not be at their computers. Some of us will be attending those races at said racetracks. We're not going to be watching iRacing events.
We have had our fill and then some. IndyCar competed for six consecutive weeks. When was the last time IndyCar had a race for six consecutive weeks? I am not sure moving this to weeknights and filling the time between races would have any legs. Drivers are going to be at a track for three days, travel home Sunday night, rest on Monday and have to be on a plane Thursday night to do it all over again. I doubt many drivers would sacrifice their Tuesday or Wednesday to compete on iRacing, not on a weekly basis at least.
Simulated races have a place but the appetite for it being a regular companion doesn't seem to be there from either fans or drivers.
It could perhaps be a one-off but I think its life is in the offseason, not every week but a few weeks, perhaps around Christmastime. For IndyCar, the offseason is long enough that a three-week or four-week series in December would fall three months after the last race and three months before the next one. NASCAR has no offseason, even with the early November finale. It could probably do two or three races but no one would want to run all of December and January. Sports cars has time but January is busy with the 24 Hours Dubai, 24 Hours of Daytona and 12 Hours of Bathurst in early February. It could probably do three or four races every other week during the winter.
The one place where I think iRacing could be handy is leading into a season. It could provide a great preseason event to promote the year ahead. It could be a chance to see drivers in new places, meet the rookies, catch up with drivers we haven't heard from since the previous season ended. It could be an affordable promotion for new season and provide a form of competition to get the juices flowing.
Television coverage has been wonderful but streaming online provides a friendlier space. Time constraint is not a problem online. Commercials aren't necessary for the broadcast. It can feel a little freer. If you can get it on television, then terrific, especially if you can sell a sponsor on the event, but streaming is an accommodating place for any future simulated race action.
We could be taking a breather from all these simulated races shortly. It has done its job keeping us engaged during this uncomfortable time. The size of its part when things get back to normal remains unanswered. We will have to check back in a few months.
Winners From the Weekend
You know about Scott McLaughlin but did you know...
Marc Miller won the Thursday Night Blunder event at Le Mans.
Juan Pablo Montoya and Adrian Fernández split the Legends Trophy races from Sepang. Esteban Gutiérrez and Anthony Davidson split the Pro races.
Nicky Catsburg won IMSA's iRacing event at Mid-Ohio.
William Byron won the NASCAR iRacing event from Dover. Anthony Alfredo won the non-Cup drivers' race.
Coming Up This Weekend
Thursday Night Blunder begins May at the Nürburgring Müllenbach layout with seven different German cars.
NASCAR concludes its iRacing series at North Wilkesboro.
Another Month of Video Games
At the end of March, after a few weeks of simulated races, I wrote a few observations because iRacing and all these simulated video games were new to me. A month later and there are a few more observations.
With another month of events and formats under the belt I think it is time to look over what has gone right and what has gone wrong.
What has gone right:
Keeping it simple.
When a series creates format and sticks with it, the events take place seamlessly.
When looking at The Race, it has held pretty much the same event each week... until this week.
The original format was three heat races and an LCQ to determine the main event. Two heat races for professional drivers with the top five advancing to the main event, top five from the simulated racers heat advanced to main event with the remaining professional drivers entering the LCQ and the top five from that race filling out the 20-car field.
Intermingled with the professional race is the Legends Trophy races. The first race has a traditional qualifying format and the second race is a reverse grid from the results of race one. None of the races take longer than ten or 15 minutes. There are no cautions. A driver may receive penalties for infractions, whether it be jumping a start, cutting a corner or tacking out another driver.
This past weekend, The Race altered the weekend to make it more even for the professional and sim drivers. The format matches what is done with the Legends Trophy and each class has one race and then a professional race. It is different but it falls into line with what we have been seeing all along and it gives professional drivers and sim drivers their own spotlights.
IndyCar and IMSA have run pretty straightforward events. The familiar faces gather together. There is practice, qualifying and a race. Those races are not riddle with cautions and they are done within 90 minutes.
These series have also brought together drivers who otherwise would not compete together. The Legends Trophy is pure fantasy. Emerson Fittipaldi vs. Jenson Button? Petter Solberg vs. Dario Franchitti? David Brabham vs. Jacques Villeneuve? They dragged Sebastian Vettel into the party this week at Sepang! Where else can you have world champions from three different decades racing against one another along with three Indianapolis 500 winners and a pair of Le Mans winners? That is a dream come true.
The professional races have seen Stoffel Vandoorne competing against Gabby Chaves, Esteban Gutiérrez, Juan Manuel Correa, Nicki Thiim, James Calado and more.
IndyCar has had guest drivers along the way. First it was Jimmie Johnson, then it was Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Kyle Busch. Lando Norris won an event. Scott McLaughlin competed in the full series. IMSA has brought together WeatherTech Sports Car Championship drivers with Michelin Pilot Challenge and FIA World Endurance Championship drivers.
Supercars has seen Max Verstappen, Will Power, Alexander Rossi and Joey Logano take guest drives.
What has gone wrong:
Complicating the proceedings.
For a few weeks it felt like everyone was having fun with this but NASCAR. Each week it was a butting of heads over who was competing, who was locked in, who was relegated to the Saturday night streaming race and then there was the increased pressure with the races broadcasted and sponsors taking it seriously.
For IndyCar's final event at Indianapolis, the series might have bitten off more than it should have. The first five events were open to everyone. We had 30-plus cars at Michigan, Motegi and Austin. It was the full-time grid with its guests. The final event was limited to 33 cars, à la the grid size of the Indianapolis 500. However, James Hinchcliffe, Robert Wickens, Kyle Busch, Kyle Kaiser and Felipe Nasr did not compete. Hinchcliffe, Wickens, Kasier and Nasr all attempted to run every race prior to this.
There is a limit at some point but it got messy when certain drivers were locked in but other drivers weren't. The series has a right to protect full-time competition and sponsors but when some full-time teams do not get that honor or some drivers dedicated their full-time to the iRacing series only to not have the favor returned at the end and some other drivers who were not full-time were wrapped in a security blanket it bred confusion.
Of course, explanations were rarely given.
What has gone right:
Creativity!
This is a chance to be different. Many restrictions vanish in the simulated world. You can run more cars than you can imagine at some of these tracks. Money no longer handcuffs who can run, nor does chassis or engine leases. We can be different. We see reverse grid races!
Series visit tracks that are otherwise not on the schedule. The Race holds no ties to any track. It has gone to the Nürburgring, the Silverstone national circuit, Sebring, Indianapolis and NOLA Motorsports Park! Sepang added its stamp to the virtual passport this weekend. They have run Indy Pro 2000 cars, LMP3 cars and the Legends Trophy has used the Brabham BT44 and McLaren M23.
IndyCar visited some tracks from the not-so-distant past. While fulfilling trips to Barber and Austin, the series went to Watkins Glen, Michigan and Motegi. These aren't three tracks from long ago but they are tracks fans have affection for and are no longer on the calendar.
International circuits fill Supercars' iRacing schedule. It kept Australian staples, such as Bathurst and Phillip Island, but it has gone to Monza, Watkins Glen, Montreal, Silverstone and will go to Spa-Francorchamps.
Dinner with Racers have done this the best. Every race is something we could never see. IndyCar vs. NASCAR Cup cars vs. LMP1 cars vs. Legends cars at Talladega? And it was fantastic. Last week was Nissan GTP vs. rallycross cars vs. Pro 2 Trucks vs. 410-winged sprint cars at Le Mans without the Mulsanne chicanes.
What has gone wrong:
Taking it too seriously.
And this isn't a dig at sponsors or broadcast partners. People got mad when television partners got involved and when sponsors perked up interest. Motorsports series need both to survive. If neither were interested in broadcasting this you should be concerned and you would probably be crying about the races not being broadcasted. You can't be upset when the races are broadcasted and then complain when they aren't.
When it comes to taking it too seriously I mean putting out a schedule and then allowing drivers to practice for eight hours a day every day until the race. If series want to have fun with this then have fun with this and don't put the pressure on the drivers.
Bubba Wallace cited the amount of practice being the recent he stepped away from the last two NASCAR races. First off, it shouldn't be that serious. If Wallace wanted to do an hour of practice the morning of the race and that was it then great! Take it easy. You should want drivers to roll out of bed and just run for fun.
This issue with keeping a schedule is while it is great to know where you are going you there is nothing stopping anyone from running for 80 hours over six days to practice. With the decreased barrier of entry, a driver could practice for 12 hours a day. There is no worry about weather or light or resources. However, not every driver has the same stamina for such an endeavor.
One way to keep it light is to keep the venues unknown. It could level the playing field.
Each series has about three or five guys who are absurdly talented at iRacing, another ten that are good and another ten that are not remotely competitive. If you give the top echelon drivers more time to practice they will have the track down pat in half a day while some drivers will only get the hang of it after six days.
If the venue was a surprise until about an hour before the race, we could see some different people at the front. A top-level driver could be brought down to Earth but some of these drivers take to these simulated platforms like ducks to water. It doesn't seem to matter what the machinery is or if the surface is asphalt or dirt but this would at least equal the playing field.
Instead of a budget cap it would be an hours cap. No one could get an advantage practicing for days. There would be no benefit practicing for no one would know where they will be racing. The drivers could spend the week relaxing at home, maybe doing iRacing without purpose if they want to but have time for other hobbies and only have to show up on race day.
What has gone right:
Not throwing cautions!
It is a video game. No drivers are in danger. No track marshals are in danger. No spectators are in danger. There is no need for a caution in any of these races.
Unless you are throwing a competition caution for a commercial break it is not worth it.
What has gone wrong:
Throwing cautions!
Looking at you NASCAR!
It has dragged races on. There is no rhythm. Worst of all a race will get a dozen cautions in the first half but then after shooting itself in the foot the race will have no cautions in the second half of the race and you have this inconsistency where single-car spins in the first half of the race brought the race to a halt a four-car accident will occur and everyone will keep going.
NASCAR already had consistency issues with cautions but this is much worse.
What have we learned?
This has been fun but mostly because it has been filling a void. If there was no pandemic, I would not be filling my days with The Race at noon and IndyCar at 2:30 p.m. on a Saturday. My Saturday would be Formula One qualifying in the morning, IndyCar practice and qualifying, perhaps a Michelin Pilot Challenge race or some other sports car series and Supercross at night.
When motorsports return, the simulated racing interest is going to dry up close to immediately. All the drivers will spread to the racetracks of the world. They will not be at their computers. Some of us will be attending those races at said racetracks. We're not going to be watching iRacing events.
We have had our fill and then some. IndyCar competed for six consecutive weeks. When was the last time IndyCar had a race for six consecutive weeks? I am not sure moving this to weeknights and filling the time between races would have any legs. Drivers are going to be at a track for three days, travel home Sunday night, rest on Monday and have to be on a plane Thursday night to do it all over again. I doubt many drivers would sacrifice their Tuesday or Wednesday to compete on iRacing, not on a weekly basis at least.
Simulated races have a place but the appetite for it being a regular companion doesn't seem to be there from either fans or drivers.
It could perhaps be a one-off but I think its life is in the offseason, not every week but a few weeks, perhaps around Christmastime. For IndyCar, the offseason is long enough that a three-week or four-week series in December would fall three months after the last race and three months before the next one. NASCAR has no offseason, even with the early November finale. It could probably do two or three races but no one would want to run all of December and January. Sports cars has time but January is busy with the 24 Hours Dubai, 24 Hours of Daytona and 12 Hours of Bathurst in early February. It could probably do three or four races every other week during the winter.
The one place where I think iRacing could be handy is leading into a season. It could provide a great preseason event to promote the year ahead. It could be a chance to see drivers in new places, meet the rookies, catch up with drivers we haven't heard from since the previous season ended. It could be an affordable promotion for new season and provide a form of competition to get the juices flowing.
Television coverage has been wonderful but streaming online provides a friendlier space. Time constraint is not a problem online. Commercials aren't necessary for the broadcast. It can feel a little freer. If you can get it on television, then terrific, especially if you can sell a sponsor on the event, but streaming is an accommodating place for any future simulated race action.
We could be taking a breather from all these simulated races shortly. It has done its job keeping us engaged during this uncomfortable time. The size of its part when things get back to normal remains unanswered. We will have to check back in a few months.
Winners From the Weekend
You know about Scott McLaughlin but did you know...
Marc Miller won the Thursday Night Blunder event at Le Mans.
Juan Pablo Montoya and Adrian Fernández split the Legends Trophy races from Sepang. Esteban Gutiérrez and Anthony Davidson split the Pro races.
Nicky Catsburg won IMSA's iRacing event at Mid-Ohio.
William Byron won the NASCAR iRacing event from Dover. Anthony Alfredo won the non-Cup drivers' race.
Coming Up This Weekend
Thursday Night Blunder begins May at the Nürburgring Müllenbach layout with seven different German cars.
NASCAR concludes its iRacing series at North Wilkesboro.
Saturday, May 2, 2020
First Impressions: IndyCar iRacing Indianapolis 2020
1. Scott McLaughlin took victory from pole position in IndyCar's First Responders 175 from Indianapolis Motor Speedway, but this victory was unlike that could possibly happen.
There were four different leaders on the final lap of the race. Arrow McLaren SP held the top two positions with Oliver Askew leading Patricio O'Ward after teammate Lando Norris collided with the lapped car of Simon Pagenaud while leading. On the final lap, Askew and O'Ward were side-by-side with Marcus Ericsson making it three-wide entering turn three.
Ericsson came out with the lead but heading into turn four O'Ward rammed into the back of the Swede, taking both cars out of contention.
Askew re-inherited the lead with Santino Ferrucci on his rear, Ferrucci moved out of the slipstream to Askew's right but halfway down the straightaway he turned into the McLaren car, sending both cars tumbling toward the finish line.
With carnage unfolding to his right, McLaughlin buzzed through and took his second victory of this six-race series.
McLaughlin was the best driver in this series and perhaps should have already had a second victory under his belt. He had finishes of fourth, first, second, 24th at Motegi after being taken out while second and fourth prior to this result.
He was not mixing it at the front from the start but he ran a patient race and stayed out of the mess. It paid off.
2. Conor Daly was second! I feel like every iRacing event had two or three drivers that finished about eight to 14 spots better than they should have. Daly wasn't even close to the top five until the end where the leaders kept dropping like flies. However, like all video games, sometimes you just got to keep running. I know there have been plenty of Mario Kart races I have won or finished on the podium where I was fifth or sixth, miles in the distance at the start of the final lap only to have a string of blue shells, timely bananas and mushrooms play into my favor. Pagenaud was the blue shell, O'Ward was a green shell and Ferrucci was the banana.
3. Speaking of Ferrucci, his little stunt still got him third. It is a video game but it was a low-blow move to turn right into Askew in the middle of the straightaway. Call it desperation, call it stupidity, it was a spineless move, one suggesting if Ferrucci wasn't going to win than Askew wasn't going to win either.
4. Askew deserved better. Askew had a few rough races in this series. He has always shown speed but had trouble putting together a complete race outside of Watkins Glen. His mistake cost McLaughlin and Will Power at Motegi so he is not perfect but he had a clear shot at victory only to lose it because of a sucker punch from behind. He still finished fourth, his best result of the series.
5. O'Ward rounded out the top five but his move was marginally better than Ferrucci's. O'Ward barreled into the rear of Ericsson, purely a dump job in turn four. He wasn't even going to wait for the slipstream on the straightaway. He was looking for the easy way out and it cost him because he slid up the track following the path of the pirouetting Ericsson. His clear shot to the finish line gone. Good.
6. Every finisher from sixth on down, outside of Ericsson in 11th, I am not sure how they got there. I am going to do basic notes on them.
Sébastien Bourdais got to the front through strategy after the second caution of the race for Scott Speed turning Stefan Wilson into James Davison. Bourdais made a late stop for tires and through all the ruckus got sixth. Great for him.
Ryan Hunter-Reay and Zach Veach were not in the top ten at all until probably that final lap and were seventh and eighth, respectively. Andretti Autosport needed to end with good results.
Felix Rosenqvist benefitted from the second caution and moved up to second but got shuffled back and I am pretty sure he took tires late as well. It got him a ninth-place finish.
Scott Dixon rounded out the top ten and he wasn't mentioned once today.
Sadly, despite how well Ericsson drove and he made a phenomenal move to take the lead into turn three, he is the worst Ganassi finisher. It is 11th but it was shaping up to be significantly better.
Oh, and Alexander Rossi was 12th.
7. Graham Rahal was 13th and his race went pear-shaped when Lando Norris and Simon Pagenaud got together while battling for the lead. Norris nudged Pagenaud, Pagenaud spun, Rahal was third and had nowhere to go, suffered some damage and slid back. Rahal was competitive from the start in this one and it appeared it was going to be him and Pagenaud down the stretch before the cautions started coming.
8. Now it is time for the Norris-Pagenaud incident. It was a McLaren 1-2-3 with eight laps to go and they seemed to have a firm grasp on the top three. Norris led the way and, while both Askew and O'Ward attempted to wrestle the lead from the guest driver, Norris held on. Norris pulled away after Ericsson entered the battle with Askew and O'Ward and unless the trailing drivers could get organized Norris was set to go 2-for-2 in iRacing events.
However, the attack was not from behind but from ahead and in the middle of turn four, coming to two laps to go, Norris collided with a slow Pagenaud. Pagenaud said he was trying to make it to pit lane and did not mean it.
I don't believe Pagenaud.
After everything I saw today, I don't believe what anyone says their intentions were. There were cowardly moves made all over the place at the end of the race. There was a wide-open apron to get out of the way and make it to pit lane. There were also only two laps to go. No repairs were going to make a difference for Pagenaud at that time. By the time he would have exited pit lane the final lap would have started and he wasn't going to gain any positions. At that point in the race, Pagenaud should have stayed high in turn four and let the leaders through and then remained to the outside when the rest of the pack approached. Just ride it out with two laps to go!
Pagenaud timed it for the least amount of consequences. It wasn't the final lap, which would look downright dirty, but he did it late enough where it couldn't draw a caution and a string of replays. He stabbed Norris in the back in the middle of a crowded train station, a place where he could let the body fall to the floor but vanish into the sea of commuters and get out unseen, leaving Norris to slowly die.
9. After everything I saw today, I am worried bad habits carry over to the real world. That sounds absurd because the consequences are higher and who in their right mind would turn right into somebody in the middle of the front straightaway when going 220 MPH at Indianapolis but after running this event, I am worried the wires will be crossed in some of these guy's brains.
I am worried when the drivers get back on track, they will think back to these days playing this game and not be able to tell the simulation from the real thing. It might be preposterous but through these weeks on iRacing we heard about how much these drivers use it as a tool to learn things and apply it on the track. Who says that doesn't apply to pushing the boundaries of how much contact one can get away with?
IndyCar better be on high alert. The bold and brainless moves may bear little consequence in the simulation but it will not pass in the real world and if we ever get on track for the 2020 season and a driver is being more careless than he should be IndyCar better come down hard and fast on him to send a message.
10. I am going to hit a few other notable names:
Will Power was one of the top drivers at the start and then the pit strategy didn't fall his way. The cautions really took him out of it and somehow he was a lap down in 14th. Power didn't win a race in this series and there were probably five of them where he was one of the three best guys out there.
James Davison was really strong in this one and if it wasn't for Scott Speed, he was looking at a top five finish and potentially battling for the victory.
It was also nice to see Stefan Wilson out there and Wilson was looking at a top ten or top five finish. It is a little sad we didn't get to see more of Davison and Wilson throughout this series.
Sage Karam dominated the first race and then couldn't avoid trouble for basically the remainder of these five events. You have to first finish to finish first. He might be fast, but the speed didn't pay off nearly as much as he would have suggested.
11. We should tackle the entry list decisions because ultimately 29 spots were reserved while four spots were up for grabs. The issue was we had no clue who was locked before Wednesday's qualifying session, nor did we have an entry list of who was attempting to make the race.
IndyCar mostly kept its word that the full-time cars, the race winners (Sage Karam, Scott McLaughlin and Lando Norris) and the only other Indianapolis 500 to compete in this series (Hélio Castroneves) were locked in but there is something fuzzy about a few spots.
Felipe Nasr failed to qualify in the #31 Carlin entry, which is a full-time team. Dalton Kellett, who did contest all five prior iRacing events, drove an additional A.J. Foyt Racing car and Kellet was locked in. That is one discrepancy but Conor Daly was locked in and in real-life Daly would be in a third car for Ed Carpenter Racing. However, after Nasr failed to qualify, Daly took over the #31 Carlin entry.
We can say the #31 Carlin entry "bought" its way in and had Daly take over its car but that would mean Daly's non-full-time entry was locked in while the full-time Carlin car wasn't. This is splitting hairs but we have the time, we are still in lockdown.
Turning this into a Canadian affair for a moment because Kellett was locked in but Robert Wickens and James Hinchcliffe were not and neither Wickens nor Hinchcliffe qualified for this race. Both Wickens and Hinchcliffe attempted to run every race. Wickens missed the first race due to not getting equipment in time and Hinchcliffe had a few connection issues keeping him from starting two races but both drivers have been highly-competitive in IndyCar, both drivers have sponsors with ties to IndyCar, both are larger draws than Kellett but Kellett was locked in over those two.
It would have been nice if IndyCar had released an entry list before the qualifying session on Wednesday and an explanation that went along with it. I know it is a lockdown and IndyCar is operating with fewer hands on deck but let's not sacrifice transparency because of it.
12. Let's talk about the qualifying session itself because IndyCar did not promote it.
I understand not putting the qualifying session on television. It is difficult enough putting on one race a weekend without a full-fledged studio supporting the event but qualifying could have been streamed and the series didn't even have that.
It was also just a qualifying session, one-lap to decide the final spots and that is how it is done in the real world but this isn't the real world. None of it was going to be broadcasted on television but you could have had a ten-car sprint race to decide the final four spots between Scott Speed, Stefan Wilson, James Davison, R.C. Enerson, Robert Wickens, Kyle Busch, Spencer Pigot, Felipe Nasr, James Hinchcliffe and Kyle Kaiser for the final four spots.
The six guys who missed wasted their afternoon for four laps of qualifying. At least make it worth their while. It could have been a 20-lap race, something simple like that.
13. This was the "dream" race. It was supposed to be a non-IndyCar "dream track" but we have a narrow-minded congregation who can't see beyond 16th and Georgetown and think because its May only one track could host this video game race and nothing could have been better.
This was IndyCar's final show before the first race at Texas on June 6. Barring an additional iRacing event or a further delay to racing, IndyCar could have ended with a bang, a 39-car field that included the defending NASCAR Cup champion, Wickens, Hinchcliffe and possibly one or two more drivers who may have decided to pass on attempting to qualify on Wednesday but would have been committed to a guarantee to race on Saturday and IndyCar said no thanks.
This could have been different and brought together a few different faces at a track no one would have IndyCar experience at. Indianapolis will get its moment in August... hopefully, we didn't need this simulation today. Today could have been something we would not see this year or perhaps ever. Instead, we got more of the same.
14. I think it is time for a break. IndyCar had a great six-week period. We have another month until the scheduled season opener. Perhaps IndyCar can squeeze in one more iRacing event, maybe that final weekend of May could be used as a promotion for the start of the season at Texas on the first Saturday in June. That likely will not happen but we should not be concerned IndyCar is not hosting an event next weekend. We need a break. We need something to appreciate when it restarts.
There were four different leaders on the final lap of the race. Arrow McLaren SP held the top two positions with Oliver Askew leading Patricio O'Ward after teammate Lando Norris collided with the lapped car of Simon Pagenaud while leading. On the final lap, Askew and O'Ward were side-by-side with Marcus Ericsson making it three-wide entering turn three.
Ericsson came out with the lead but heading into turn four O'Ward rammed into the back of the Swede, taking both cars out of contention.
Askew re-inherited the lead with Santino Ferrucci on his rear, Ferrucci moved out of the slipstream to Askew's right but halfway down the straightaway he turned into the McLaren car, sending both cars tumbling toward the finish line.
With carnage unfolding to his right, McLaughlin buzzed through and took his second victory of this six-race series.
McLaughlin was the best driver in this series and perhaps should have already had a second victory under his belt. He had finishes of fourth, first, second, 24th at Motegi after being taken out while second and fourth prior to this result.
He was not mixing it at the front from the start but he ran a patient race and stayed out of the mess. It paid off.
2. Conor Daly was second! I feel like every iRacing event had two or three drivers that finished about eight to 14 spots better than they should have. Daly wasn't even close to the top five until the end where the leaders kept dropping like flies. However, like all video games, sometimes you just got to keep running. I know there have been plenty of Mario Kart races I have won or finished on the podium where I was fifth or sixth, miles in the distance at the start of the final lap only to have a string of blue shells, timely bananas and mushrooms play into my favor. Pagenaud was the blue shell, O'Ward was a green shell and Ferrucci was the banana.
3. Speaking of Ferrucci, his little stunt still got him third. It is a video game but it was a low-blow move to turn right into Askew in the middle of the straightaway. Call it desperation, call it stupidity, it was a spineless move, one suggesting if Ferrucci wasn't going to win than Askew wasn't going to win either.
4. Askew deserved better. Askew had a few rough races in this series. He has always shown speed but had trouble putting together a complete race outside of Watkins Glen. His mistake cost McLaughlin and Will Power at Motegi so he is not perfect but he had a clear shot at victory only to lose it because of a sucker punch from behind. He still finished fourth, his best result of the series.
5. O'Ward rounded out the top five but his move was marginally better than Ferrucci's. O'Ward barreled into the rear of Ericsson, purely a dump job in turn four. He wasn't even going to wait for the slipstream on the straightaway. He was looking for the easy way out and it cost him because he slid up the track following the path of the pirouetting Ericsson. His clear shot to the finish line gone. Good.
6. Every finisher from sixth on down, outside of Ericsson in 11th, I am not sure how they got there. I am going to do basic notes on them.
Sébastien Bourdais got to the front through strategy after the second caution of the race for Scott Speed turning Stefan Wilson into James Davison. Bourdais made a late stop for tires and through all the ruckus got sixth. Great for him.
Ryan Hunter-Reay and Zach Veach were not in the top ten at all until probably that final lap and were seventh and eighth, respectively. Andretti Autosport needed to end with good results.
Felix Rosenqvist benefitted from the second caution and moved up to second but got shuffled back and I am pretty sure he took tires late as well. It got him a ninth-place finish.
Scott Dixon rounded out the top ten and he wasn't mentioned once today.
Sadly, despite how well Ericsson drove and he made a phenomenal move to take the lead into turn three, he is the worst Ganassi finisher. It is 11th but it was shaping up to be significantly better.
Oh, and Alexander Rossi was 12th.
7. Graham Rahal was 13th and his race went pear-shaped when Lando Norris and Simon Pagenaud got together while battling for the lead. Norris nudged Pagenaud, Pagenaud spun, Rahal was third and had nowhere to go, suffered some damage and slid back. Rahal was competitive from the start in this one and it appeared it was going to be him and Pagenaud down the stretch before the cautions started coming.
8. Now it is time for the Norris-Pagenaud incident. It was a McLaren 1-2-3 with eight laps to go and they seemed to have a firm grasp on the top three. Norris led the way and, while both Askew and O'Ward attempted to wrestle the lead from the guest driver, Norris held on. Norris pulled away after Ericsson entered the battle with Askew and O'Ward and unless the trailing drivers could get organized Norris was set to go 2-for-2 in iRacing events.
However, the attack was not from behind but from ahead and in the middle of turn four, coming to two laps to go, Norris collided with a slow Pagenaud. Pagenaud said he was trying to make it to pit lane and did not mean it.
I don't believe Pagenaud.
After everything I saw today, I don't believe what anyone says their intentions were. There were cowardly moves made all over the place at the end of the race. There was a wide-open apron to get out of the way and make it to pit lane. There were also only two laps to go. No repairs were going to make a difference for Pagenaud at that time. By the time he would have exited pit lane the final lap would have started and he wasn't going to gain any positions. At that point in the race, Pagenaud should have stayed high in turn four and let the leaders through and then remained to the outside when the rest of the pack approached. Just ride it out with two laps to go!
Pagenaud timed it for the least amount of consequences. It wasn't the final lap, which would look downright dirty, but he did it late enough where it couldn't draw a caution and a string of replays. He stabbed Norris in the back in the middle of a crowded train station, a place where he could let the body fall to the floor but vanish into the sea of commuters and get out unseen, leaving Norris to slowly die.
9. After everything I saw today, I am worried bad habits carry over to the real world. That sounds absurd because the consequences are higher and who in their right mind would turn right into somebody in the middle of the front straightaway when going 220 MPH at Indianapolis but after running this event, I am worried the wires will be crossed in some of these guy's brains.
I am worried when the drivers get back on track, they will think back to these days playing this game and not be able to tell the simulation from the real thing. It might be preposterous but through these weeks on iRacing we heard about how much these drivers use it as a tool to learn things and apply it on the track. Who says that doesn't apply to pushing the boundaries of how much contact one can get away with?
IndyCar better be on high alert. The bold and brainless moves may bear little consequence in the simulation but it will not pass in the real world and if we ever get on track for the 2020 season and a driver is being more careless than he should be IndyCar better come down hard and fast on him to send a message.
10. I am going to hit a few other notable names:
Will Power was one of the top drivers at the start and then the pit strategy didn't fall his way. The cautions really took him out of it and somehow he was a lap down in 14th. Power didn't win a race in this series and there were probably five of them where he was one of the three best guys out there.
James Davison was really strong in this one and if it wasn't for Scott Speed, he was looking at a top five finish and potentially battling for the victory.
It was also nice to see Stefan Wilson out there and Wilson was looking at a top ten or top five finish. It is a little sad we didn't get to see more of Davison and Wilson throughout this series.
Sage Karam dominated the first race and then couldn't avoid trouble for basically the remainder of these five events. You have to first finish to finish first. He might be fast, but the speed didn't pay off nearly as much as he would have suggested.
11. We should tackle the entry list decisions because ultimately 29 spots were reserved while four spots were up for grabs. The issue was we had no clue who was locked before Wednesday's qualifying session, nor did we have an entry list of who was attempting to make the race.
IndyCar mostly kept its word that the full-time cars, the race winners (Sage Karam, Scott McLaughlin and Lando Norris) and the only other Indianapolis 500 to compete in this series (Hélio Castroneves) were locked in but there is something fuzzy about a few spots.
Felipe Nasr failed to qualify in the #31 Carlin entry, which is a full-time team. Dalton Kellett, who did contest all five prior iRacing events, drove an additional A.J. Foyt Racing car and Kellet was locked in. That is one discrepancy but Conor Daly was locked in and in real-life Daly would be in a third car for Ed Carpenter Racing. However, after Nasr failed to qualify, Daly took over the #31 Carlin entry.
We can say the #31 Carlin entry "bought" its way in and had Daly take over its car but that would mean Daly's non-full-time entry was locked in while the full-time Carlin car wasn't. This is splitting hairs but we have the time, we are still in lockdown.
Turning this into a Canadian affair for a moment because Kellett was locked in but Robert Wickens and James Hinchcliffe were not and neither Wickens nor Hinchcliffe qualified for this race. Both Wickens and Hinchcliffe attempted to run every race. Wickens missed the first race due to not getting equipment in time and Hinchcliffe had a few connection issues keeping him from starting two races but both drivers have been highly-competitive in IndyCar, both drivers have sponsors with ties to IndyCar, both are larger draws than Kellett but Kellett was locked in over those two.
It would have been nice if IndyCar had released an entry list before the qualifying session on Wednesday and an explanation that went along with it. I know it is a lockdown and IndyCar is operating with fewer hands on deck but let's not sacrifice transparency because of it.
12. Let's talk about the qualifying session itself because IndyCar did not promote it.
I understand not putting the qualifying session on television. It is difficult enough putting on one race a weekend without a full-fledged studio supporting the event but qualifying could have been streamed and the series didn't even have that.
It was also just a qualifying session, one-lap to decide the final spots and that is how it is done in the real world but this isn't the real world. None of it was going to be broadcasted on television but you could have had a ten-car sprint race to decide the final four spots between Scott Speed, Stefan Wilson, James Davison, R.C. Enerson, Robert Wickens, Kyle Busch, Spencer Pigot, Felipe Nasr, James Hinchcliffe and Kyle Kaiser for the final four spots.
The six guys who missed wasted their afternoon for four laps of qualifying. At least make it worth their while. It could have been a 20-lap race, something simple like that.
13. This was the "dream" race. It was supposed to be a non-IndyCar "dream track" but we have a narrow-minded congregation who can't see beyond 16th and Georgetown and think because its May only one track could host this video game race and nothing could have been better.
This was IndyCar's final show before the first race at Texas on June 6. Barring an additional iRacing event or a further delay to racing, IndyCar could have ended with a bang, a 39-car field that included the defending NASCAR Cup champion, Wickens, Hinchcliffe and possibly one or two more drivers who may have decided to pass on attempting to qualify on Wednesday but would have been committed to a guarantee to race on Saturday and IndyCar said no thanks.
This could have been different and brought together a few different faces at a track no one would have IndyCar experience at. Indianapolis will get its moment in August... hopefully, we didn't need this simulation today. Today could have been something we would not see this year or perhaps ever. Instead, we got more of the same.
14. I think it is time for a break. IndyCar had a great six-week period. We have another month until the scheduled season opener. Perhaps IndyCar can squeeze in one more iRacing event, maybe that final weekend of May could be used as a promotion for the start of the season at Texas on the first Saturday in June. That likely will not happen but we should not be concerned IndyCar is not hosting an event next weekend. We need a break. We need something to appreciate when it restarts.
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