Where Are We Now?
I originally meant this to be about IndyCar's windscreen and how a year after its initial test at Phoenix we have not seen much progress in public. Scott Dixon was the driver who took the maiden voyage and Josef Newgarden gave it a run at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in May and it hasn't been seen since.
The good news is we got an update on what has been IndyCar's most notable safety innovation. Jon Beekhuis was a guest on last week's Trackside with Curt Cavin and Kevin Lee and everyone's favorite and most informative pit reporter caught us up on the windscreen.
The material used on the prototype had passed the visual test and passed low- and medium-impact tests but it did not pass at an adequate level on the high-impact tests and the series will look to use a polycarbonate material for the windscreen, something similar to what is used on F15s.
There we are. IndyCar had something that was good but not good enough and IndyCar will work with this new material in hopes it passes the high-impact tests.
It is a bit of back to square one and it feels like regression but the series is still working on it and instead of putting out something that had flaws and was not up to standards, IndyCar will work on a solution that is more foolproof. Hopefully there will be more tests over the season and we will get closer to this thing becoming a reality, whether that is in 2020 or 2021.
The good news is we got an update on what has been IndyCar's most notable safety innovation. Jon Beekhuis was a guest on last week's Trackside with Curt Cavin and Kevin Lee and everyone's favorite and most informative pit reporter caught us up on the windscreen.
The material used on the prototype had passed the visual test and passed low- and medium-impact tests but it did not pass at an adequate level on the high-impact tests and the series will look to use a polycarbonate material for the windscreen, something similar to what is used on F15s.
There we are. IndyCar had something that was good but not good enough and IndyCar will work with this new material in hopes it passes the high-impact tests.
It is a bit of back to square one and it feels like regression but the series is still working on it and instead of putting out something that had flaws and was not up to standards, IndyCar will work on a solution that is more foolproof. Hopefully there will be more tests over the season and we will get closer to this thing becoming a reality, whether that is in 2020 or 2021.
Great.
But more happened in IndyCar over the last week and, while I do not want to make these observations a state of the series, I do think it is important to take stock of where IndyCar is and keep our expectations in line.
The unexpected divorce between Patricio O'Ward and Harding Steinbrenner Racing on the eve of the first test session of the season unsettled many and understandably a lot of people were upset at the news. Part of the reason was the reigning Indy Lights champion had a promotion to a full-time IndyCar season disappear in a snap but another part was everything was wrapped up and presented with a bow back in September.
On the final day of summer, O'Ward and Colton Herta were presented as Harding Steinbrenner Racing's two drivers for the 2019 IndyCar season. It was not presented with a disclaimer, "if the funding is found." There was no qualifying language. It came off as a certainty and it was refreshing to hear such news days after one season had ended.
Everything seemed signed, sealed and delivered and when preparations for the 2019 season were on the precipice of getting underway it became public that O'Ward did not have a ride underneath him and his only option was to request a release and seeking another option for a full-time ride.
It is similar to when we thought Tony Kanaan was going to drive for de Ferran Dragon Racing for the 2011 season. It was announced late in 2010 and we went throughout the winter expecting Kanaan to be in a blue and silver Air Force-sponsored car at St. Petersburg. Then the pieces fell a part. Kanaan was fortunate and KV Racing stepped up with Lotus money and got the Brazilian a ride and that was during the less optimistic times of pre-DW12-era. O'Ward doesn't appear he will be as fortunate.
Many bemoaned when O'Ward lost his ride that nothing is better in IndyCar. The series does not have a mammoth fan base, the television ratings are puny and sponsors do not have a lot of reasons to enter and stay long.
The truth is things can be better but not perfect and that is where IndyCar is at and has been for quite sometime.
We are always going to have sponsorship struggles and we are always going to have to be on our toes. Gone are the days of just expecting another sponsor to step up and fill a void when one decides to move on. Nerviness is the constant state of IndyCar and it may suck but we know it is going to be this way. We know teams need sponsors and when one is announcing its end we know it will take a lot of work for another to arise.
It is likely we will never have never-ending calmness again in IndyCar. It is always going to be tough. There is always going to be a concern over sponsors, whether it is a race car or a race or the title sponsor. We know the ice is thin and no one is safe. It doesn't matter how many races or championships you win. Everyone has the same perilous road ahead.
None of that sounds good but IndyCar is in a better place even if it seems like things are no better than at any point over the last decade.
IndyCar was able to find another title sponsor in NTT and Firestone extended its deal with the series for seven years. The series has returned to Road America, Portland and Laguna Seca. The series has two engine manufactures, both of which seem happy in the series and provide equal resources and in turn allows for great competition. Though not great, television ratings have been creeping up and the series has a new television deal with NBC Sports, which will show eight of 17 races on network television, the most for the series since reunification.
While Harding Steinbrenner Racing might not have two full-time cars, IndyCar has Michael Shank Racing increasing its participation in the series while DragonSpeed will join the series and McLaren of all names has been dabbling in the series and could increase its participation in the near future.
When it comes to drivers, the grid is deep with talent from familiar faces of Scott Dixon, Sébastien Bourdais, Tony Kanaan, Will Power, Ryan Hunter-Reay and Graham Rahal to the next wave of IndyCar drivers in Alexander Rossi, Josef Newgarden, Zach Veach, Felix Rosenqvist and Colton Herta. While O'Ward will likely not be full-time and that in of itself is a shame, he still has his scholarship money, which will get him at least three races, including the Indianapolis 500.
Speaking of the Indianapolis 500, after spending over a decade being an event that was a shell of its previous glory, it has returned to the biggest race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and in the last ten years we have seen Carb Day – Carb Day people of all days – rise to the second-biggest racing day at the Speedway! The schedule has other successful events. Long Beach is still going strong and has a new title sponsor. IndyCar has found a home in Barber Motorsports Park. Road America returned to the schedule and people have filled that place. The crowd at Mid-Ohio is staggering. Gateway returned almost out of nowhere and has been an encouraging sight. There was a line to get into Portland last year for its first race in 11 years! And now IndyCar will go to Austin. There is no guarantee that race will be a success but it is a new place for IndyCar and it is worth the shot.
Yes, there are going to be tough times. There are going to be good drivers that can't get a shot and there will be sponsors that come and go and there will be races that can't seem to draw a crowd regardless of what the racing is like. There are going to be the bad stories, the ones that can ruin a day and make you worry and IndyCar fans have experienced a lot of those since 1996. I can understand why it is difficult not to be cynical.
We have to remember that things are looking up. Just because things are looking up does not mean it will be easy and turmoil will never enter the series again. It might be better but it isn't linear. Just because Kanaan found a ride in the days leading up to St. Petersburg in 2011 and Ryan Hunter-Reay had a similar situations in 2009 and 2010 doesn't mean if O'Ward doesn't get a full-time ride in the next three weeks before St. Petersburg then things are worse. They are different times and things can be better even if the positive events of the past do not repeat in the present. We have to take the bad with the good and this is one of those times.
But more happened in IndyCar over the last week and, while I do not want to make these observations a state of the series, I do think it is important to take stock of where IndyCar is and keep our expectations in line.
The unexpected divorce between Patricio O'Ward and Harding Steinbrenner Racing on the eve of the first test session of the season unsettled many and understandably a lot of people were upset at the news. Part of the reason was the reigning Indy Lights champion had a promotion to a full-time IndyCar season disappear in a snap but another part was everything was wrapped up and presented with a bow back in September.
On the final day of summer, O'Ward and Colton Herta were presented as Harding Steinbrenner Racing's two drivers for the 2019 IndyCar season. It was not presented with a disclaimer, "if the funding is found." There was no qualifying language. It came off as a certainty and it was refreshing to hear such news days after one season had ended.
Everything seemed signed, sealed and delivered and when preparations for the 2019 season were on the precipice of getting underway it became public that O'Ward did not have a ride underneath him and his only option was to request a release and seeking another option for a full-time ride.
It is similar to when we thought Tony Kanaan was going to drive for de Ferran Dragon Racing for the 2011 season. It was announced late in 2010 and we went throughout the winter expecting Kanaan to be in a blue and silver Air Force-sponsored car at St. Petersburg. Then the pieces fell a part. Kanaan was fortunate and KV Racing stepped up with Lotus money and got the Brazilian a ride and that was during the less optimistic times of pre-DW12-era. O'Ward doesn't appear he will be as fortunate.
Many bemoaned when O'Ward lost his ride that nothing is better in IndyCar. The series does not have a mammoth fan base, the television ratings are puny and sponsors do not have a lot of reasons to enter and stay long.
The truth is things can be better but not perfect and that is where IndyCar is at and has been for quite sometime.
We are always going to have sponsorship struggles and we are always going to have to be on our toes. Gone are the days of just expecting another sponsor to step up and fill a void when one decides to move on. Nerviness is the constant state of IndyCar and it may suck but we know it is going to be this way. We know teams need sponsors and when one is announcing its end we know it will take a lot of work for another to arise.
It is likely we will never have never-ending calmness again in IndyCar. It is always going to be tough. There is always going to be a concern over sponsors, whether it is a race car or a race or the title sponsor. We know the ice is thin and no one is safe. It doesn't matter how many races or championships you win. Everyone has the same perilous road ahead.
None of that sounds good but IndyCar is in a better place even if it seems like things are no better than at any point over the last decade.
IndyCar was able to find another title sponsor in NTT and Firestone extended its deal with the series for seven years. The series has returned to Road America, Portland and Laguna Seca. The series has two engine manufactures, both of which seem happy in the series and provide equal resources and in turn allows for great competition. Though not great, television ratings have been creeping up and the series has a new television deal with NBC Sports, which will show eight of 17 races on network television, the most for the series since reunification.
While Harding Steinbrenner Racing might not have two full-time cars, IndyCar has Michael Shank Racing increasing its participation in the series while DragonSpeed will join the series and McLaren of all names has been dabbling in the series and could increase its participation in the near future.
When it comes to drivers, the grid is deep with talent from familiar faces of Scott Dixon, Sébastien Bourdais, Tony Kanaan, Will Power, Ryan Hunter-Reay and Graham Rahal to the next wave of IndyCar drivers in Alexander Rossi, Josef Newgarden, Zach Veach, Felix Rosenqvist and Colton Herta. While O'Ward will likely not be full-time and that in of itself is a shame, he still has his scholarship money, which will get him at least three races, including the Indianapolis 500.
Speaking of the Indianapolis 500, after spending over a decade being an event that was a shell of its previous glory, it has returned to the biggest race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and in the last ten years we have seen Carb Day – Carb Day people of all days – rise to the second-biggest racing day at the Speedway! The schedule has other successful events. Long Beach is still going strong and has a new title sponsor. IndyCar has found a home in Barber Motorsports Park. Road America returned to the schedule and people have filled that place. The crowd at Mid-Ohio is staggering. Gateway returned almost out of nowhere and has been an encouraging sight. There was a line to get into Portland last year for its first race in 11 years! And now IndyCar will go to Austin. There is no guarantee that race will be a success but it is a new place for IndyCar and it is worth the shot.
Yes, there are going to be tough times. There are going to be good drivers that can't get a shot and there will be sponsors that come and go and there will be races that can't seem to draw a crowd regardless of what the racing is like. There are going to be the bad stories, the ones that can ruin a day and make you worry and IndyCar fans have experienced a lot of those since 1996. I can understand why it is difficult not to be cynical.
We have to remember that things are looking up. Just because things are looking up does not mean it will be easy and turmoil will never enter the series again. It might be better but it isn't linear. Just because Kanaan found a ride in the days leading up to St. Petersburg in 2011 and Ryan Hunter-Reay had a similar situations in 2009 and 2010 doesn't mean if O'Ward doesn't get a full-time ride in the next three weeks before St. Petersburg then things are worse. They are different times and things can be better even if the positive events of the past do not repeat in the present. We have to take the bad with the good and this is one of those times.
So... where are we now?
For all the crap IndyCar has gone through and those days where it seemed the only way everyone could communicate was through bickering and there was only anger we have come far, farther than many thought. It wasn't that long ago many expected IndyCar to die. It seemed to be the only path the series was on.
After all those years of uncertainty and fluid identity IndyCar is still alive. It has found its legs. It has gotten out of bed and entered the world, full of its pitfalls but also full of extraordinary people that the series brings together into a community and it has taken a role where something simple and otherwise small in the grand scheme of life can provide happiness in the lives of many.
It may be tough and at times we may get down but IndyCar is in a good place.
After all those years of uncertainty and fluid identity IndyCar is still alive. It has found its legs. It has gotten out of bed and entered the world, full of its pitfalls but also full of extraordinary people that the series brings together into a community and it has taken a role where something simple and otherwise small in the grand scheme of life can provide happiness in the lives of many.
It may be tough and at times we may get down but IndyCar is in a good place.
Winners From the Weekend
You know about Denny Hamlin but did you know...
Michael Annett won the NASCAR Grand National Series from Daytona, his first career victory in the series. Austin Hill won the Truck race, his first career victory in the series.
Lucas di Grassi won the Mexico City ePrix.
Ott Tänak won Rally Sweden.
Cooper Webb won the Supercross race from Arlington by 0.02 seconds over Ken Roczen, the closest finish in Supercross history.
Coming Up This Weekend
NASCAR moves north to Atlanta
The Asian Le Mans Series concludes its 2018-19 season in Sepang.
Jonathan Rea's inevitable fifth consecutive Superbike championship season begins from Phillip Island.
Supercross has its first race in the Eastern Time Zone at Ford Field in Detroit.
