Is Anyone Happy?
This really stems back to two weeks ago after the IndyCar race at Texas, the Formula One race at Montreal, the NASCAR race at Michigan and the lead up to the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Nobody seemed happy.
People were yelling over the Formula One race from Montreal and Sebastian Vettel's penalty. Everyone was looking to point fingers at Scott Dixon or Colton Herta at the end of the Texas IndyCar race and it was another IndyCar oval race. Any IndyCar oval race that isn't the Indianapolis 500 is an existential crisis for the series and fanbase. The FIA and the ACO still had not announced the hypercar regulations and many were angry over the future direction of the top class of prototype racing and then I watched the NASCAR race on Monday and saw every driver give a post-race interview and none of them seemed thrilled to be there and it got me wondering...
Is anyone happy?
I know there is a fine line and life is difficult and it can't all be roses. There are going to be low points and there are going to be things we have to face that are not the most pleasing but when everybody around every series is down you have to stop and wonder what is going on?
Let's tackle these one-by-one:
Formula One had the world up in arms over Vettel's penalty for unsafely rejoining the racetrack. People were jumping down the throats of the stewards, many were throwing in the towel and it doesn't help that Formula One has hit a patch where most races are processional and everyone is making one pit stop about a third of the way through the race and then that is it.
On top of that we had another lackluster race in France, there were very few battles on track for position and Daniel Ricciardo was dropped from seventh in the finishing order to 11th because of two penalties because the Australian went off course on two separate occasions but at least Ricciardo wasn't punted out of the points seconds after taking the checkered flag; his demotion down the order came hours after the race.
People were yelling over the Formula One race from Montreal and Sebastian Vettel's penalty. Everyone was looking to point fingers at Scott Dixon or Colton Herta at the end of the Texas IndyCar race and it was another IndyCar oval race. Any IndyCar oval race that isn't the Indianapolis 500 is an existential crisis for the series and fanbase. The FIA and the ACO still had not announced the hypercar regulations and many were angry over the future direction of the top class of prototype racing and then I watched the NASCAR race on Monday and saw every driver give a post-race interview and none of them seemed thrilled to be there and it got me wondering...
Is anyone happy?
I know there is a fine line and life is difficult and it can't all be roses. There are going to be low points and there are going to be things we have to face that are not the most pleasing but when everybody around every series is down you have to stop and wonder what is going on?
Let's tackle these one-by-one:
Formula One had the world up in arms over Vettel's penalty for unsafely rejoining the racetrack. People were jumping down the throats of the stewards, many were throwing in the towel and it doesn't help that Formula One has hit a patch where most races are processional and everyone is making one pit stop about a third of the way through the race and then that is it.
On top of that we had another lackluster race in France, there were very few battles on track for position and Daniel Ricciardo was dropped from seventh in the finishing order to 11th because of two penalties because the Australian went off course on two separate occasions but at least Ricciardo wasn't punted out of the points seconds after taking the checkered flag; his demotion down the order came hours after the race.
NASCAR had a race rained out and pushed to 5:00 p.m. ET on a Monday and right before a week off. Add to that an aero package that made the Michigan race rather processional and the biggest passing opportunities coming when cars lost momentum making those drivers sitting ducks to cars from behind. On top of that there were drivers disgruntled over Joey Logano jumping the final restart and no satisfaction in the decision making process and no clear angle on whether or not an infraction occurred.
To make things better for NASCAR, when the Cup Series was off, the Truck Series had a race at Iowa, Johnny Sauter ran down Austin Hill under caution and drilled him, leading to a suspension for Sauter and a fracture over whether or not Sauter should have been penalized and if he was penalized enough.
IndyCar had another oval race and every oval race is another sky is falling moment. On top of that IndyCar is trying to plan its next engine regulations and off the back of Porsche flirting with IndyCar and then deciding not to pursue a relationship a few months ago, BMW comes out and says IndyCar provides nothing for the manufacture, leaving IndyCar is a vicarious position over what will attract new manufactures and the series showing an unwillingness to adopt hybrid electric engines even if that is what could attract a few manufactures.
The World Endurance Championship was the one series that kind of turned it around. There was hemming and hawing to the 11th hour over the hypercar regulations and what would be best for the top class of prototype racing. Those regulations were published, Aston Martin and Toyota were the first two committals and we are moving on to the 2020-21 with at least some competition and waiting to see who else decides to come and play.
Of course, the 24 Hours of Le Mans had the traditional Balance of Performance squabbles and there was dissatisfaction over the safety car procedure that overwhelmingly benefitted the GTE-Pro leading Ferrari and for the second consecutive year there was a disqualification of a class winner the day after the race with this time it being the GTE-Am winning Keating Motorsports Ford GT and that led to many inquiries over how fuel was weight and fuel cells were checked.
IndyCar had another oval race and every oval race is another sky is falling moment. On top of that IndyCar is trying to plan its next engine regulations and off the back of Porsche flirting with IndyCar and then deciding not to pursue a relationship a few months ago, BMW comes out and says IndyCar provides nothing for the manufacture, leaving IndyCar is a vicarious position over what will attract new manufactures and the series showing an unwillingness to adopt hybrid electric engines even if that is what could attract a few manufactures.
The World Endurance Championship was the one series that kind of turned it around. There was hemming and hawing to the 11th hour over the hypercar regulations and what would be best for the top class of prototype racing. Those regulations were published, Aston Martin and Toyota were the first two committals and we are moving on to the 2020-21 with at least some competition and waiting to see who else decides to come and play.
Of course, the 24 Hours of Le Mans had the traditional Balance of Performance squabbles and there was dissatisfaction over the safety car procedure that overwhelmingly benefitted the GTE-Pro leading Ferrari and for the second consecutive year there was a disqualification of a class winner the day after the race with this time it being the GTE-Am winning Keating Motorsports Ford GT and that led to many inquiries over how fuel was weight and fuel cells were checked.
I do have to stop and take a moment and point out that everything isn't terrible. There is a difference between the difficulties in the processes of a motorsports series and things being bad in the sense nothing is working. Not everything will be easy when it comes to regulations, penalty decisions and the on-track action. It is kind of like having a home. There is difference between having to do chores, such as mow the lawn, clean the shower and toilet and vacuum the living room, and having a house with a massive hole in the roof, a bug infestation in the basement and electricity that shorts out on a daily basis.
I think most of the things that were getting me down were the procedural nature of motorsport and it doesn't mean it is bad but it is hard and not everyone can be happy all the time.
I think most of the things that were getting me down were the procedural nature of motorsport and it doesn't mean it is bad but it is hard and not everyone can be happy all the time.
There are problems and there are things that have to be fixed. I think Formula One is the best example. It seems like we have been talking about it for five or six years now but Formula One is at a crossroads. We have been saying it can't continue on with the disparity in competition for years but I think we have reached a breaking point. There is a sense of enough but that change will have to wait until 2021 and the teams cannot seem to agree over those regulations.
Once the hypercar regulations were announced it felt like the WEC could move on to the next step. It was almost a case of everyone was waiting for the decision and once it was made people saw the direction of the series and calmed down. On top of that, WEC had a great 2018-19 season and it seems the split calendar season is going to work out. There are still some bugs with BMW and Ford both withdrawing factory efforts from the GTE-Pro class but the series has had this before. It wasn't that long ago that Porsche, Ferrari and Aston Martin were the three GTE-Pro manufactures. It wasn't long ago the LMP2 class had only four or five full-time entries. It is a part of the life of a series. You have great highs but you are going to have to have a few valleys here and there.
IndyCar is doing great and it isn't some bullshit "everything is awesome" feeling. People are genuinely happy. There is a sense people are having fun and enjoying the series. Even after Road America, which would be a race easily to get down on and say the series is in trouble because Alexander Rossi led 54 of 55 laps and won by 28-plus seconds, people seem happy with the race despite Rossi running away with it. It sounds crazy but people saw great battles from second to 13th and were happy. That sounds crazy but there wasn't a lot of anger in the immediate aftermath Road America and that is a change.
Now, it is IndyCar. It was a series that tried to kill itself but only successfully blew its jaw off. There is always going to be a little anxiousness. Things may be improving but it is still rough and the margins are thin. Everyone is happy but knows it can be worse and there is a trepidation that this moment in time will disappear tomorrow and those dark days from 1996 to 2015 will return again. It is hard to feel safe when you were in hell for two decades.
NASCAR is in a similar boat to Formula One. NASCAR is facing an identity crisis and could be up against a breaking point. The series changed the aero package to make the racing closer but closer doesn't necessarily mean better. The schedule was shook up for 2020 but more changes are being promoted for 2021 though there are no real tracks on the periphery that are ready for NASCAR. People want short tracks but those are hard to come by and with all this talk of change there is a little skepticism over how much NASCAR will really do. It is really a case of NASCAR accepting where it is and not where it was.
But there are things that NASCAR should be happy about. The short track racing is a bright spot. It has highly talented drivers in Kyle Busch, Martin Truex, Jr., Kevin Harvick, Joey Logano and Chase Elliott. The series is going to take a chance on a doubleheader at Pocono last year. There are concerns over the number of entries, the cost for teams, sponsorship, crowd size and a lot more. It is a transition and this transition is going to be tough. This is a family that is downsizing from a house with six bedrooms, four bathrooms and ten acres to a townhouse with three bedrooms, two bathrooms and a strip of grass out from and in the back because one of the parents lost a job and had to take a massive pay cut. It is going to take a while to get accustomed to what can and cannot be done.
A few weeks ago it definitely felt like being in a room with 15 people who were all yelling and through the chaos clearly wondering what was going on and how it became this way. I think there was some time to breathe and calm down. There are still procedural items that have to be discussed and analyzed and those will not be the most fun but it has to be done but just because it can be a headache doesn't mean everything is falling apart.
Sometimes when things seem bad you just have to give it time and the hot air passes over and things do not seem that bad after all.
Winners From the Weekend
You know about Alexander Rossi but did you know...
Lewis Hamilton won the French Grand Prix, his fourth consecutive victory and his sixth victory of the season.
The #4 Phoenix Racing Audi of Dries Vanthoor, Pierre Kaffer, Frank Stippler and Frédéric Vervisch won the 24 Hours Nürburgring.
Norbert Michelisz, Johan Kristoffersson and Benjamin Leuchter split the World Touring Car Cup races from the Nürburgring Nordschleife. It was the first career WTCR victories for Kristoffersson and Leuchter.
Ryan Norman and Rinus VeeKay split the Indy Lights races from Road America. Kyle Kirkwood swept the Indy Pro 2000 races, his first two victories in the series. Hunter McElrea and Braden Eves split the U.S. F2000 races. It was McElrea's first U.S. F2000 victory.
Nyck de Vries and Anthoine Hubert split the Formula Two races from Circuit Paul Ricard. Jehan Daruvala and Robert Shwartzman split the Formula Three races.
Martin Truex, Jr. won the NASCAR Cup race from Sonoma, his fourth victory of the season. Ross Chastain won the Truck race from Gateway, his second victory of the season.
Jean-Éric Vergne won the Bern ePrix.
Jonathan Rea won the World Superbike races from Misano with Álvaro Bautista winning the Superpole race. Randy Krummenacher won the World Supersport race, his fourth victory of the season and he has won all four odd-numbered races this season.
Naoki Yamamoto won the Super Formula race from Sportsland SUGO.
Coming Up This Weekend
Formula One heads up the Alps to the Austrian Grand Prix.
The Dutch TT.
The 6 Hours of the Glen.
NASCAR visits Chicagoland Speedway.
Misano has its third different series visit in the last four weeks with Blancpain World Challenge Europe coming to town.
Super GT heads to Buriram.
