In part one, we covered the first two Indy Racing League events at the 1.333-mile concrete oval held in 2001 and 2002. This was just prior to a turning point during The Split, and the grid was not at its highest quality.
In part two, we will look at the three races held over 2003 to 2005. During this time, Team Penske, Chip Ganassi Racing, Andretti Green Racing and Rahal Letterman Racing had moved fully to the IRL, bringing along a few notable drivers.
2003
It was known that passing would be hard entering year three. Scott Dixon led from pole position. Hélio Castroneves dropped from second to fourth after Gil de Ferran got under him into turn three, which allowed Tora Takagi to carry momentum through as well.
Robbie Buhl and Scott Sharp got together on lap three as Buhl attempted to make a move to the outside, but pinched down on Sharp. Buhl's day was over. Sharp was able to continue.
De Ferran was able to squeeze through on the inside of Dixon in turn one on lap 14 to take the lead. De Ferran stuck to the bottom down the front straightaway and carried speed through the turn while Dixon had to run a little wide.
The second caution was nearly identical as the first. Vitor Meira was high in turn three and tried to come down but clipped Buddy Rice, spinning Meira out but both cars were able to continue. Most of the cars came to pit lane under that caution. Tony Kanaan came out ahead of de Ferran, Takagi, Castroneves and Dixon.
Scott Sharp stayed out to lead the race. Sharp would soon lose the lead to Kanaan and quickly fall down the order. Kanaan led ahead of Takagi and Alex Barron had good speed that took him up to third.
Rice was running fifth before he ran a little wide in turn two. He lost two positions to Dixon and Castroneves even before he made it through turn three, and Rice continued to drop back. De Ferran used the outside line to pass Tomas Scheckter and Al Unser, Jr. into turn one and then pass Rice entering turn three later that lap. Rice slipped back to to 12th in two laps after only one moment in turn two. About 15 laps later, Rice entered the pit lane with a mechanical issue.
Sam Hornish, Jr. carried more pace as the second stint wore on. Hornish, Jr. drove down Barron and took third with a move to the inside of turn three. A few laps later, Hornish, Jr. took second from Takagi and first from Kanaan in the same lap. Both passes came with Hornish, Jr. taking the inside line as Kanaan also was caught in a bit of traffic.
Tire wear was not overly a concern, and Bryan Herta ran a 73-lap stint, which was notable as the race entered its second half. Not long after Herta's stop, Meira was in the wall in turn two after Meira got caught in the marbles as the leaders flew through.
Dixon and the Penske cars of Castroneves and de Ferran had to make a pit stop under that caution, but the likes of Hornish, Jr., Kanaan, Takagi and Barron had been shuffled back after stopping prior to the caution. Al Unser, Jr. inherited the lead, and Dixon was expressing concerns he lost fifth gear.
There was a quick caution for debris after Greg Ray and Roger Yasukawa made contact. Ray had a fire while on the pit lane to check for repairs. Herta clipped the debris and suffered a cut tire. This caution put the teams in the window where they could likely make it to the finish. A number of teams made fuel-only stops. Unser, Jr., Buddy Lazier, Dan Wheldon and Takagi remained on the track.
Takagi moved up to second and remained close to Unser, Jr. The leaders all were going to be 15-20 laps short on fuel while de Ferran was the first car relatively comfortable on fuel in fourth. Takagi took the lead after Unser, Jr. was caught behind the lapped car of A.J. Foyt IV entering turn three.
A caution came out with 32 laps remaining for debris, which brought Takagi, Unser, Jr., and Lazier to pit lane, and basically assured those that stopped under the previous caution could make it to the finish. Wheldon did stay out, though he had last stopped 17 laps prior to those that stopped under the caution for the Ray debris.
This put de Ferran back in the lead ahead of Dixon, Wheldon and Castroneves. The order remained unchanged after the restart on lap 178. With seven laps remaining, Buddy Lazier brought out a caution for a spin in turn four. Lazier hit nothing and kept running. This set up a restart with five laps to go.
De Ferran was told don't worry about fuel as they had a quick caution. The Brazilian had a great jump and Dixon was not close. Castroneves moved up to third. On the penultimate lap, Lazier knocked down the wall in turn two and that sealed the victory for de Ferran.
Signs of the times:
Chevrolet was changing its engine design midseason and IndyCar approved it for the next race at Michigan, however, it would only be allowed with the top Chevrolet team in the championship. After Michigan, the top two Chevrolet teams would be allowed to run the new engine. Sam Hornish, Jr. and Panther Racing was the top Chevrolet team after this race.
Scott Sharp had been called for a block and it took away what would have been a top ten finish.
Broadcasting Gems :
Kanaan noted in an "Ask the Drivers" segment that racing on concrete made the non-racing line very dusty and made it difficult for passing.
Felipe Giaffone called into the race as he was missing Nashville due to a broken pelvis suffered at Kansas.
This race ran long again and it meant they were not able to interview de Ferran post-race as ESPN2 had to get to Baseball Tonight.
2004
Buddy Rice's sensational 2004 season continued with Rice on pole position at Nashville, but his Rahal Letterman Racing teammate Vitor Meira shot to the lead on the opening lap in turns three and four. Dan Wheldon also made a move on Rice for second on the second lap.
The opening quarter of the race was rather uneventful. There were a pair of cautions for debris. Under the lap 35 caution, the second one for debris, everyone came in for pit stops and Meira maintained the lead while Sam Hornish, Jr. jumped up from fifth to second with Team Penske. However, Hornish, Jr. would lose two spots at the restart to Rice and Tony Kanaan. Tomas Scheckter and Hélio Castroneves got hung out on the outside in turn two on the restart and both lost significant ground.
Ed Carpenter's accident in turn four brought the field back to pit lane and Meira maintained the lead ahead of Rice but Adrián Fernández moved up to fourth in the pit cycle.
At the halfway point, Meira led Rice, Wheldon, Fernández, Hornish, Jr., Tony Kanaan and Darren Manning. Castroneves was down in 11th, and Scott Dixon was running 12th. The field remained mostly in line. The RLR cars pulled away but Meira opened up a three-second lead over Rice. Wheldon and Fernández were rather on their own. Hornish, Jr. had Kanaan, Manning and Townsend Bell backed up behind him.
Scheckter ran slightly high in the marbles as Mark Taylor made a pass on the inside and Scheckter collided with the turn two barrier on lap 110.
Another caution meant another round of pit stops. Meira nearly left with the vent hose connected. He stopped but stalled. This gifted the lead to Rice ahead of Wheldon, Hornish, Jr., Kanaan and Bell.
The top five remained unchanged on the restart, but it was scattered in the middle portion of the field. Meira went on a run passing eight cars in the first four laps after the restart, including a three-wide move on the outside into turn one. Traffic backed up Wheldon as Hornish, Jr. and Kanaan each passed him.
Rice and Meira had more pace in the middle of the stint than the others on track. Rice was six seconds clear of Hornish, Jr., who had the rest of the top five directly behind him. Meira caught and passed Castroneves for sixth before catching the top five group and moved ahead of Bell. Behind the other three cars in the top five, Meira stalled out in fifth.
Bryan Herta was caught wide in turn two and brought out another caution with 48 laps remaining. This brought everyone to pit lane for the final round of stops. Wheldon jumped to the lead ahead of Rice, Hornish, Jr. and Kanaan as Wheldon did not change tires. The belief was track position was more important than tires. Meira also lost four spots on that stop.
Rice made a move to the inside of Wheldon in turn one, but the two made contact, damaging both cars. The caution came out though neither car had an accident. Kanaan went to the outside and passed Hornish, Jr. and Rice in the process. Rice made a pit stop to change the front wing. Wheldon remained on track despite the contact.
Kanaan went immediately to the outside of Wheldon on the ensuing restart and took the lead. Hornish, Jr. followed and immediately went up to second. Wheldon ended up losing the right rear tire three laps after the restart, proving the gamble was not worth it.
Kanaan led Hornish, Jr. and Castroneves on the restart with 12 laps remaining. Hornish, Jr. was in Kanaan's tracks with Castroneves not far behind. Manning was only about a half-second back in fourth. Despite all four running close together, no one could make a run or step out of line to attempt a pass. Hornish, Jr. made one look to the inside of turn three on the final lap, but it was not all that threatening. Kanaan held on for victory ahead of the Penske drivers with Manning taking fourth. Bell rounded out the top five, about a second back.
Signs of the times:
For a second consecutive year, no post-race interview with the race winner. No, IndyCar didn't have to hurry off for Baseball Tonight. It was for the Great Outdoor Games. Remember the Great Outdoor Games? A relic of a bygone ESPN-era.
Broadcasting Gems :
We got the quintessential cheese grater demonstration during the broadcast with Jack Arute about what the track surface does to the tires.
Apparently, one of Scott Dixon's hobbies is snooker. Do we believe that is still true 20 years later?
I don't know what it was about the 2000s, but they loved doing mid-race features. One early in this race was about what teams were most impressive up to that point in the season and who were struggling. It wasn't a double box feature. It was a fullscreen feature.
Panther Racing car owner Doug Boles! Look at him in a firesuit!
2005
Thunderstorms were threatening the race and the lead story for this race was... Danica Patrick! The rookie started second next to Tomas Scheckter on pole position for Panther Racing. Buddy Rice had not won yet after winning three times in 2004, and Vitor Meira was still looking for his first career victory.
Passing was difficult and track position would be key.
Scheckter led the opening three laps but Franchitti would take the lead after starting fourth on lap four while Patrick dropped to fifth. Buddy Lazier was settled in third in a part-time third Panther Racing entry. Tony Kanaan had a great start and was up into the top five early from seventh. Hornish, Jr. was up to seventh in the opening eight laps after starting 13th.
It was the second Panther Racing entry that got everyone's attention as Tomáš Enge had an accident in turn two on lap 28.
This caution brought the entire field to pit lane except for Bryan Herta. Kanaan came out ahead of Franchitti and the Andretti Green Racing cars were 1-2-3. Kanaan and Franchitti quickly swept ahead of Herta as Herta quickly fell down the order on worn tires. However, Herta would settle into fifth despite the older tires.
Twenty-four laps into the stint, Kanaan caught the end of the field and started lapping cars. Herta came in on lap 64. Tten laps later, Herta pulled into the pit lane after a suspension failure that took him out of the race. The lapped car of Jimmy Kite shook up the middle of the top ten, balking Dan Wheldon and allowing Scheckter and Ryan Briscoe through.
Green flag pit stops began around lap 90. Before they stopped, Kanaan and Franchitti were side-by-side for the lead. Kanaan held the lead into the pit lane. Franchitti came in the next lap. Kanaan maintained the lead after the pit cycle. Wheldon dropped out of the race during this pit cycle with a suspension failure like Herta.
Andretti Green's day took a turn for the worse on lap 117 when Kanaan's right front suspension failed entering turn one and Kanaan slid into Darren Manning, who was collateral damage in the incident. Kanaan had led 75 of the first 116 laps. Franchitti inherited the lead after Kanaan's retirement, and he was the final Andretti car running, but he felt he had a tire puncture under this caution.
Everyone but Patrick stopped under this caution. She had last stopped on lap 91. On the restart, Franchitti took the lead on the inside of turn three. A caution quickly came out after Franchitti took the lead for debris after Ryan Briscoe brushed the wall exiting turn four and cutting down a tire.
Alex Barron, Patrick Carpentier and Buddy Rice came in under this caution with 66 laps remaining and put these drivers on the cusp of making it to the finish. Rice dropped out after his half shaft broke on the pit stop.
Franchitti maintained the lead and Hornish, Jr. would take a few laps to get pass Patrick for second. Hornish, Jr. slowly closed in on Franchitti with Patrick remaining close behind. Franchitti was saving fuel with rain closing in on the circuit.
With 40 laps to go, Scheckter lost an engine and pulled off the circuit, bringing out a caution. It allowed the leaders to pit for their final stops. Franchitti got out ahead of Meira, Hélio Castroneves and Hornish, Jr., who had a slow stop getting the fuel hose removed. Patrick lost many spots on this stop as she took tires while the rest did not stopped.
Barron and Carpentier were first and second as they stayed out. Each had stopped on lap 134, and both were hoping to stretch their fuel to the finish. The race restarted with 32 laps to go and Carpentier took the lead into turn one. Hornish, Jr. lost a number of spots on the restart. Franchitti closed in on the Cheever Racing drivers in third. Franchitti made a look to the outside of Barron in turn one but had to settle into line. Patrick was on fresh tires but she had to pick through lapped cars and was not making up many positions.
On lap 176, Franchitti got ahead of Barron on the outside of turn one. Later that lap, in the middle of turn three, Meira made a look to the inside of Barron but Meira clipped Barron and both cars were taken out of the race. Under the caution, Kosuke Matsuura had an accident end his night. This extended the caution.
The race restarted with nine laps to go and Carpentier ahead of Franchitti, Scott Sharp, Castroneves, Scott Dixon, Lazier, Hornish, Jr. and Patrick. Franchitti made the run to the outside of Carpentier in turn one. The two cars ran side-by-side through the first two turns and into turn one, but Carpentier held on. Franchitti was able to keep Sharp behind him.
Two laps later, Franchitti made a move to the inside of Carpentier into turn three and took the lead coming to six laps to go. Hornish, Jr. went on a run from seventh to third in the first three laps after the restart. Franchitti was able to pull away and take the victory while Hornish, Jr. would pass Carpentier for second into turn three on the penultimate lap with the Canadian settling for third.
Signs of the times:
More Doug Boles, Panther Racing co-owner! Look at him in that firesuit. M'm! M'm! No wonder Beth married him.
This was the buzzcut Dario Franchitti-era. Good look.
All three retired Andretti Green drivers were cheering Franchitti on from the pit area. The broadcast even tried to sneak in a shot of them cheering as Franchitti took the lead. It was a bit much. Andretti Green from 2003 to 2007 might be the best team atmosphere in motorsports history.
Broadcasting Gems :
Those pit stops under the Kanaan caution were not shown live! Not even in a two-box break.
They were able to get interviews for the top three finishers into the broadcast before getting to the Great Outdoor Games.
The firework show post-race was rather impressive.
Thoughts After These Three Races?
In these three races, it was pretty processional. Even fresh tires were not some great advantage.
It was an edge on restarts, and could get you two or three spots quickly, but it wasn't something where you could go from eighth to first in 15 laps. The 2005 race was the best example of that. Herta stayed out and only fell to fifth. The Cheever cars held off Franchitti mostly, but no one else was pressuring them. Simultaneously, Patrick was the one car in the top nine on fresh tires at one point and made no ground.
Track position is most crucial.
All the action happened around the start and restarts. In those first ten laps, there could be some moves, but it mostly petered out after that. There might be a move if a driver ran slightly wide or caught lapped traffic at the wrong time, but there was barely any circumstances of 35 laps into a run someone getting a draft on someone into turn one or turn three and making a slingshot move.
There were a few occasions where drivers were side-by-side through the turns but that was rare. Nashville didn't race like Texas, Kansas or Chicagoland. Cars wouldn't by two abreast for five laps consecutively. Someone would back out at corner entry because the high lane was not dependable. There was no certainty a driver would have the grip to make it through. About 90% of the time, if a car was running high, they had to baby it to avoid getting caught in the marbles.
Considering the concerns with tire wear, and with reports from testing that there were tire failures, I don't think the outside lane will be there because of marbles. Concrete does not rubber up like asphalt. As we see when NASCAR runs at Dover, Bristol and Nashville, rubber gets picked up under caution. The line disappears. NASCAR is able to re-develop a high lane, but IndyCar can barely establish a second lane at most asphalt tracks. It hasn't run on a concrete oval since Nashville 2008.
There are many unanswered questions ahead of this race and those are only increasing with the introduction of the hybrid system. This Nashville visit will be a difficult weekend for everyone, and it doesn't help that it will also be the season finale.
