IndyCars - Alabama: Southern belle of a track hosts in the green grass

[MarkyS]

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It’s time for the IndyCars to invade the gorgeous hills near Birmingham, Alabama to do…

The Children's of Alabama Indy Grand Prix

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The venue is the fabulous Barber Motorsports Park natural road course. Barber was designed as a race venue for motorcycles, and the facility is the home of the best racing motorcycle museum in the world. When IndyCars first explored racing there it was feared the track would be too narrow for such cars, and truthfully it is, but that hasn’t stopped the IndyCar contingent from finding a way to make passes there, nevertheless, and every year Barber produces some of the best racing of the season. This weekend, we have the added element of rain threatening to hugely alter the proceedings.

The 2.38-mile permanent road course has 17 turns and features 80 feet of elevation change that make it feel to the drivers like a roller coaster. In fact, the first few corners are known as the Carousel but also as the “Alabama Roller Coaster.” The race fan has a wonderful experience, with hillside race viewing all over the place, in sight of giant sculptures that dot the track. And with any lull in the action over the weekend the superb museum is just across the way, loaded with historic racing motorcycles but also with a number of race cars.

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The Barber track map…

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…and the elevation graphic

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Fans won’t find much of a lull in the action, however, as there are no less than 11 races scheduled over the weekend, with a combination of open wheelers, GT cars and prototype SportsCars. It shakes out this way:

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• Porsche Sprint Challenge North America GT3 Cup - 2 races on Saturday and Sunday
• Porsche Sprint Challenge North America Cayman - 2 races on Saturday and Sunday
• Blue Marble Radical Cup North America - 3 races on Friday and Saturday
• USF Juniors - 2 races on Friday
• Indy NXT - 1 race on Sunday

…and, of course, the IndyCars race on Sunday

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Let’s look at all those support racing series:

Porsche Sprint Challenge North America GT3 Cup & Cayman - Both these series are a step below the Porsche Carrera Cup North America series, allowing teams and drivers to compete at a level that is less expensive and less intensive, and yet still learn the ins and outs of one-make racing series. As no IndyCar drivers will be participating, we will wish both series safe and happy raciong and concentrate elsewhere.

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(continued)

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M

[Impenitent]

I think they are televising the Indy car race this Sunday @ 3:00

[MarkyS]

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Support Racing…

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The USF Pro Championships are what used to be called “The Road to Indy” and still are, informally. It is the ladder system that helps to train drivers to be ready to drive IndyCars, one day. It is made up of 3 series in increasing complexity, performance and cost, each when conquered becoming a step towards entering the IndyCar series. The rungs are USF Juniors, USF2000 and USF Pro 2000. USF Juniors will be at Barber, this weekend.

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USF Juniors - is a new series (now it its 2nd season), developed to give the uninitiated a place to develop both the technical skills of driving open wheel cars but also the career and interpersonal skills to keep advancing to higher rungs. The cars are the new Tatuus JR-23, which is a similar chassis as used on the next two ladder rungs in USF2000 and USF Pro 2000, but with less aerodynamics and smaller wheels (and thus less grip and less braking). The Elite Engines 2.0 liter engine has about 150 hp. The drivers will be coming out of karting or possibly F1600 and will have very little open wheel experience for the most part. The age range is 14 years old to whatever, though a driver can start at 13 as long as he or she turns 14 before season’s end.

The first three races of the Junior’s season were at Sebring, in March and after those events the series was led by Joey Brienza for Exclusive Autosport, with two P2s and a WIN.

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Joey Brienza

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Indy NXT - After going through the USF Pro Championships, the last step before getting into the big cars is Indy NXT (say, “Indy next”) - which used to be known as “Indy Lights”. The car is the Dallara IL-15 and is substantially bigger and better than the Tatuus Pro Championships chassis. It is much closer to an IndyCar in performance and feel - a great training ground to step up to the big cars. The Dallara uses a 450 hp turbo-charged engine from AER. The adjustable brakes are by PFC and are the biggest in the entire ladder system The cars have much bigger wheels, as well, providing much more grip. The IL-15 has one more thing - Push-to-Pass, just like on the big cars. That is, an additional burst of 50 horsepower is available to the driver under certain conditions, with the push of a button on the steering wheel.

The drivers are typically graduates of USF2000 and Indy Pro 2000, but can often come from F3 or F2 in Europe. These drivers are ready to make the move to the big cars by season’s end and many of the drivers in IndyCars are recent graduates of Indy NXT and Indy Lights. Indy NXT held their first season race at St. Pete and it was WON by Danial Frost for HMD Motorsports, making Danial the series points leader coming to Barber.

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Danial Frost

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The Blue Marble Radical Cup - utilizes the purpose-built Radical SR3 series of prototypes - small but powerful SportsCars with high-end motorcycle powerplants that propel them very quickly on the cheap. The series was designed to make racing possible for amateur participants who cannot afford to go IMSA or SRO GT racing. Radical classes are not limited to the SR3 anymore as more and more classes keep getting added to the series. This weekend, the Platinum class, the 1340 class and the top 1500 class will all be racing on the same track at the same time, and there may be two or more IndyCar drivers participating, so we will try to keep an eye on them. The BMRC will be at 3 other IndyCar race events this season.

BMRC SR3 Radicals

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Thursday will be a day of practice for the BMRC and the USF Juniors. The Juniors will also qualify for their 1st race of the weekend…

Let’s GET THIS GOING!!!

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M

[MarkyS]

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Thursday at Barber - USF Juniors hit the track for testing and practice and qualifying…

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The Juniors were given two full test sessions to acclimate to the track and then given their 1 full practice session for the weekend. The difference between a test session and a practice session is who pays for the track time. Tests cost the series extra money whereas the practice is included with the race weekend package the track sells to the series. The series is willing to pay for extra test time in order for these neophyte drivers to learn the most, be their very best and put on a great show - as they will.

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We have COMBINED the three sessions to give you the TOP TEN for the day in testing and practice, in order of speed:

1 - Nicolas Giaffone [R], DEForce Racing
2 - Quinn Armstrong [R], DEForce Racing
3 - Lucas Fecury [R], DEForce Racing
4 - Jack Jeffers [R], Exclusive Autosport
5 - Jimmie Lockhart [R], VRD Racing
6 - Joey Brienza [R], Exclusive Autosport
7 - Max Taylor [R], VRD Racing
8 - Ethan Ho [R], DC Autosport
9 - Erick Schotten [R], Exclusive Autosport
10 - Hudson Schwartz [R], VRD Racing

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Following the practice session the series adjusted their cars and then went out for the first qually session of the weekend. The series will have a separate qually session for Race 2 in order to give teams a chance to adjust their cars for the changing track conditions.

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Here is the way USF Juniors will grid for Season Round 4, with times for the TOP SIX: [R] denotes rookie

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Row 1

Pole - Nicolas Giaffone [R], DEForce Racing - time of 01:25.8s for a speed of 96.501mph

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P2 - Lucas Fecury, DEForce Racing - time of 01:26.4s for a speed of 95.857mph

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Row 2

P3 - Quinn Armstrong, DEForce Racing - time of 01:26.4s for a speed of 95.838mph

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P4 - Jack Jeffers [R], Exclusive Autosport - time of 01:26.5s for a speed of 95.718mph

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Row 3

P5 - Ethan Ho, DC Autosport - time of 01:26.6s for a speed of 95.599mph

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P6 - Joey Brienza [R], Exclusive Autosport - time of 01:26.6s for a speed of 95.590mph

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Row 4

P7 - Jimmie Lockhart [R], VRD Racing
P8 - Max Taylor [R], VRD Racing

Row 5

P9 - Erick Schotten [R], Exclusive Autosport
P10 - Brady Golan [R], DEForce Racing

Row 6

P11 - Hudson Schwartz [R], VRD Racing
P12 - Ethan Barker, VRD Racing

Row 7

P13 - Juan Felipe Pedraza [R], Ram Racing
P14 - Carson Etter [R], DC Autosport

Row 8

P15 - Giovanni Cabrera [R], Exclusive Autosport

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Notable:

• Brazilian Nicolas Giaffone, son of former IndyCar race WINNER Felipe Giaffone, broke the track record set by Mac Clark in 2022 at Barber. He was the only guy to climb into the 1:25s on time and 96 miles per hour on speed. He was 0.577 seconds ahead of Lucas Fecury.

• Fellow Brazilian Fecury completed the front row and Aussie Quinn Armstrong completed the DEForce Racing sweep of the TOP THREE spots.

• While the two tests and the practice were on a damp track the qually session was on a dry track.

• Max Taylor for VRD Racing spun in Turn 1, bringing out a red flag and ending the session a few minutes early.

• New to the Juniors this weekend are Juan Felipe Pedraza for Ram Racing and Hudson Schwartz for VRD Racing. 18-year-old Pedraza from Bogata, Colombia is the 2022 NACAM Formula 4 champion and 14-year-old Schwartz WON four out of the six Lucas Oil Formula Car Winter Series races at Homestead-Miami Speedway and Sebring International Raceway over the Winter.

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Hudson Schwartz (left) and Juan Felipe Pedraza

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Nicolas Giaffone

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Race 1 of the weekend will be on Friday in the mid-morning but the Juniors will be out on track first thing in the morning to qualify for Race 2, to be held late in the day.

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M

[MarkyS]

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Thursday at Barber - Blue Marble Radical Cup holds two practice sessions…

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Session 1 was in the wet but session 2 was on a drying track. The information is a bit shallow but this is what we have for TOP THREE in each class, after combining both sessions:

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.Platinum class:

1 - Alan Miller
2 - Steve Jenks
3 - Jon Field

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Pro 1500 class

1 - Robert Sorka
2 - Nick Persing
3 - Reid Stewart

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Pro 1340 class

1 - Bijoy Garg
2 - Jack Cowden
3 - Ken Savage

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The two IndyCar drivers in the fields are Bijoy Garg for Team Stradale in the Pro 1340 class, new to Radical racing this weekend, and Danny Dyszelski for WISKO Racing in the Pro 1500 class, who is leading the class points after sweeping the three first races of the year in mid-March.

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Bijoy Garg - Pro 1340

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Danny Dyszelski - Pro 1500

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Notable:

• 20-year-old Bijoy Garg drives for DEForce Racing in USF Pro 2000 but has also driven in the opening round of the new IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge at Daytona International Raceway, starting on pole and coming home in P3. He CLEARLY isn’t afraid to try new things. He was TOPS in both the P-1 and P-2 sessions, today.

• Danny Dyszelski drives for VRD Racing in the USF2000 series but as mentioned, started the BMRC series at NOLA Motorsports Park and swept the weekend for WISKO Racing in the TOP Pro 1500 class. Today, Danny was P3 in the first practice and P7 in the second practice. He’s 15-years old.

• As the BMRC will be a part of four IndyCar race weekends this season, the opportunity to race and show your stuff to the IndyCar team owners is a smart move to take. We expect other Road to Indy guys to take advantage, before the year is over.

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BMRC runs with the big dawgs in 2023

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The BMRC will qualify early on Friday morning and then hold Race 1 of 3 this weekend, on Friday afternoon.

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This was the last on-track activity of the day.

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M

[MarkyS]

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Friday morning at Barber - USF Juniors holds their qually for race 2…

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…and the outcome is not too different from their Race 1 qually session. This session will grid the 2nd race of the weekend, to be held late this afternoon.

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Here is the way USF Juniors will grid for Season Round 5, with times for the TOP SIX: [R] denotes rookie

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Row 1

Pole - Nicolas Giaffone [R], DEForce Racing - time of 1:25.738s for a speed of 96.573mph

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P2 - Lucas Fecury, DEForce Racing - time of 1:26.253s for a speed of 95.997mph

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Row 2

P3 - Quinn Armstrong, DEForce Racing - time of 1:26.272s for a speed of 95.976mph

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P4 - Jack Jeffers [R], Exclusive Autosport - time of 1:26.400s for a speed of 95.833mph

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Row 3

P5 - Joey Brienza [R], Exclusive Autosport - time of 1:26.477s for a speed of 95.748mph

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P6 - Jimmie Lockhart [R], VRD Racing - time of 1:26.482s for a speed of 95.742mph

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Row 4

P7 - Ethan Ho, DC Autosport
P8 - Erick Schotten [R], Exclusive Autosport

Row 5

P9 - Max Taylor [R], VRD Racing
P10 - Brady Golan [R], DEForce Racing

Row 6

P11 - Hudson Schwartz [R], VRD Racing
P12 - Ethan Barker, VRD Racing

Row 7

P13 - Juan Felipe Pedraza [R], Ram Racing
P14 - Carson Etter [R], DC Autosport

Row 8

P15 - Giovanni Cabrera [R], Exclusive Autosport

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Notable:

• Really, the only difference between this grid and the grid for Race 1 is that Ethan Ho slipped out of his P5 start, putting Jimmie Lockhart in the TOP SIX. Nicolas Giaffone was AGAIN the only guy in the 1:25s on time and the 96s on speed, and DEForce once again sweeps the TOP THREE.

• Nicolas beat his own new track record and was once again more than a half second faster than P2 Lucas Fecury.

• Max Taylor for VRD Racing spun in Turn 1, bringing out a red flag, just as he had done yesterday, but there was time enough to allow the track to go green again before the end of the session.

• The track was cold but dry for this session.

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Nicolas Giaffone on pit lane - dominating the proceedings, thus far.

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This grid will be used for the 2nd of two races the Juniors will run today. The first race of the weekend for the Juniors will be coming up shortly. Next up, the Blue Marble Radical Cup gang qualify…
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[MarkyS]

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Friday morning at Barber - The Blue Marble Radical Cup gang qualify…

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…for Race 1 of their three-race schedule at Barber, this weekend. Race 1 will be held later today just at midday. The three classes running are the top Platinum class, the Pro 1500 class and the Pro 1340 class. We have the TOP THREE qualifiers from each class:

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Platinum class

P1 - Steve Jenks - time of 1:23.451s
P2 - Alan Miller - time of 1:23.456s
P3 - Jon Field - time of 1:23.596s
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Pro 1500 class

P1 - Danny Dyszelski - time of 1:25.827s
P2 - Nick Persing - time of 1:26.161s
P3 - Robert Soroka - time of 1:26.274s
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Pro 1340 class

P1 - Bijoy Garg - time of 1:27.762s
P2 - Jake Cowden - time of 1:27.792s
P3 - Jace Bacon - time of 1:29.413s

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Notable:

• The two IndyCar drivers, Danny Dyszelski and Bijoy Garg, take pole for each of their respective classes. Bijoy has led the Pro 1340 class since unloading but Danny had to pull it out after a P3 and a P7 in practices.

• We’re not surprised about Danny. The USF2000 driver for VRD Racing is in the cockpit for WISKO Racing this weekend, as he was at NOLA Motorsports Park in March, where he swept all three races to come to Barber in the Pro 1500 points lead.

• This is Bijoy’s first race weekend in BMRC but he has excellent prototype racing experience in IMSA racing.

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Bijoy Garg (left) and Danny Dyszelski

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Race 1 for the BMRC will be right after the first race of the weekend, the USF Juniors Race 1, which is next up. The grid for that is in post # 4…

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M

[MarkyS]

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Friday morning at Barber - USF Juniors hold Race 1 of their weekend…

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…and taking his 2nd WIN of the season in a dominating fashion was Niocolas Giaffone for DEForce racing from his pole position. P2 went to teammate Quinn Armstrong from his P3 start while Lucas Fecury helped DEForce sweep the podium with his P3 result from a P2 start.

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As Nicolas led the field away on lap 1 Quinn Armstrong was able to take P2 from Lucas Fecury while Max Taylor for VRD Racing passed teammate Jimmie Lockhart to take P7. At the tail of the line of cars Hudson Schwartz for VRD Racing was either helped off course or spun on his own in Turn 1, bringing out a full-course caution to retrieve him from the gravel. As the cars circulated, Jack Jeffers for Exclusive Autosport somehow ended up off track in Turn 5 and also had to be retrieved. Hudson would rejoin 2 laps down but Jack had to pit with damage that took him out of the race.

On the lap 5 restart Jimmie Lockhart passed Eric Schotten for Exclusive Autosport to take P6 in Turn 5 while Nicolas set Fastest Lap up front. On lap 6 Ethan Ho for DC Autosport in P4 battled with Joey Brienza in P5 for Exclusive Autosport through several turns. Starting in Turn 5 the pair ran side-by side down the track until Brienza was finally able to complete the pass and take over P4. He then went after Fecury, a second down the road. On lap 7 Quinn Armstrong set his own fastest Lap while Eric Schotten reclaimed P6 from Jimmie Lockhart and Max Taylor followed him through to P7. On lap 9 Jimmie took P7 back from Max Taylor.

On lap 10 Nicolas reset Fastest Lap and then did it again in lap 11. On lap 12 Jimmie Lockhart passed Eric Schotten for the P6 spot. Joey Brienza closed the gap between himself and Lucas Fecury down to a half a second. On lap 14 Nicolas again reset Fastest Lap. On lap 16 Jimmie passed Ethan Ho to take P5 while Max Taylor took P7 from Erik Schotten. For the last four laps no one was able to take a position away but Joey Brienza was able to close to within 0.2 seconds of Lucas Fecury. He ran out of time, however, as Nicolas WON by 4.7 seconds over Quinn, who was 5.8 seconds ahead of Lucas.

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Notable:

• Nicolas Giaffone now holds the qualifying track record and the race track record. As he will start on pole again for Race 2, it will be tough to beat him, unless he makes an uncharacteristic mistake.

• A great result for DEForce Racing, with a podium sweep. It may happen again, this afternoon.

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Your happy podium - That’s Quinn Armstrong in P2 on the left, Nicolas Giaffone in ZP1 in the middle and Lucas Fecury in P3 on the right:

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Race 2 for USF Juniors is scheduled for late this afternoon. Next up, the Blue Marble Radical Cup Race 1…

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M

[MarkyS]

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Friday at Barber - the Blue Marble Radical Cup hold Race 1 of the weekend…

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…and taking the WIN overall and in Platinum class was Jon Field for One Motorsports from his P2 start. P2 went to teammate Alan Miller from his pole start while P3 went to Steven Jenks for Group-A Racing from his P3 start.

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Jon Field in his Platinum class Radical SR10

Jon Field

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Taking the WIN in Pro 1500 class (P6 overall), was USF2000 pilot Danny Dyszelski for WISKO Racing from his pole position. This is Danny’s 4th series WIN in a row. P2 went to Nick Persing for Cameron Racing from his P2 start and P3 went to Gregg Gorski for One Motorsports from a P4 start.

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Danny Dyszelski

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Finally, taking the WIN in Pro 1340 class (and taking P14 overall), was Jake Cowden for RySpec Racing from his P2 start. P2 went to USF Pro 2000 driver Bijoy Garg from his pole start while P3 went to Bijoy’s Team Stradale teammate Ben Blander from his P4 start.

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Jake Cowden

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Notable:

• Based on times from Race 1, for Race 2 we expect Lou Schriber to be on pole for Platinum class, Danny Dyszelski on pole for Pro 1500 class and Jake Cowden on pole for Pro 1340 class, but nothing is reported yet.

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BMRC will hold Race 2 first thing on Saturday morning.

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UPDATE!

Post-race technical inspection saw Jake Cowden in 1340 class be disqualified, as was Ben Blander. The result was that P2 Bijoy Garg was awarded the WIN in class.

Bijoy Garg

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M

[MarkyS]

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Friday afternoon at Barber - Indy NXT takes to the track for practice…

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This was the first of two practice sessions the Lghts will have over the weekend.

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Here was the order of speed for the Indy NXT P-1 practice session, with times for the TOP FIVE: [R] denotes rookie

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1 - Christian Rasmussen, HMD Motorsports - time of 1:11.4618s for a speed of 115.866mph

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2 - Nolan Siegel [R], HMD Motorsports - time of 1:11.5705s for a speed of 115.690mph

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3 - Kyffin Simpson, HMD Motorsports - time of 1:11.6148s for a speed of 115.619mph

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4 - James Roe, Andretti Autosport - time of 1:11.7539s for a speed of 115.394mph

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5 - Hunter McElrea, Andretti Autosport - time of 1:11.7897s for a speed of 115.337mph

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6 - Reece Gold [R], Juncos Hollinger Racing
7 - Ernie Francis, Jr., HMD Motorsports / Force Indy
8 - Toby Sowery, HMD Motorsports
9 - Danial Frost, HMD Motorsports
10 - Louis Foster [R], Andretti Autosport

11 - Jacob Abel, Abel Motorsports
12 - Christian Bogle, HMD Motorsports
13 - Matteo Nannini [R], Juncos Hollinger Racing
14 - Colin Kaminsky [R], Abel Motorsports
15 - Josh Green [R], HMD Motorsports
16 - Jamie Chadwick [R], Andretti Autosport
17 - Jagger Jones [R], Cape Motorsports
18 - Enaam Ahmed, [R], Cape Motorsports

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Notable:

• The outlier in the TOP FIVE is James Roe. He is usually in the bottom half of the field, so this is great for the Irishman. Let’s see if he can sustain this exuberance.

• Josh Pierson has a limited schedule this year and Barber was not one of the races on it. In those races Englishman Toby Sowery will be in his car, as he is here today.

• Also not here is Rasmus Lindh for HMD Motorsports and unfortunately this is due to budget problems. We can only hope the quick Swede hasn’t driven his last Indu\y NXT race.

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Toby Sowery (left) in for Josh Pierson…

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…and Rasmus Lindh on the sidelines

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Christian Rasmussen - TOPS in P-1

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The Lights will next practice on Saturday morning in anticipation of qualifying later in the day. Next up is first practice for the IndyCars…

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[MarkyS]

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Friday afternoon at Barber - the IndyCars hold their first practice session…

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…and it had a number of incidents, though none were dangerous. This session had the option of testing the alternate tires and everyone that could, did.

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Here was the order of speed for the IndyCars P-1 practice, with times for the TOP FIVE:
[R] denotes rookie

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1 - Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske - time of 01:06.6610s for a speed of 124.211mph

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2 - Colton Herta, Andretti Autosport - time of 01:06.8193s for a speed of 123.916mph

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3 - Will Power, Team Penske - time of 01:06.8985s for a speed of 123.770mph

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4 - Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing - time of 01:06.9345s for a speed of 123.703mph

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5 - Marcus Ericsson, Chip Ganassi Racing - time of 01:06.9994s for a speed of 123.583mph

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6 - Christian Lundgaard, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
7 - Josef Newgarden, Team Penske
8 - Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren
9 - Simon Pagenaud, Meyer Shank Racing
10 - Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing

11 - Alexander Rossi, Arrow McLaren
12 - Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
13 - Rinus VeeKay, Ed Carpenter Racing
14 - Callum Ilott, Juncos Hollinger Racing
15 - David Malukas, Dale Coyne Racing w/ HMD Motorsports
16 - Devlin DeFrancesco, Andretti Steinbrenner
17 - Marcus Armstrong [R], Chip Ganassi Racing
18 - Conor Daly, Ed Carpenter Racing
19 - Romain Grosjean, Andretti Autosport
20 - Jack Harvey, Rahal Letterman Lanigan

21 - Felix Rosenqvist, Arrow McLaren
22 - Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti Autosport
23 - Helio Castroneves, Meyer Shank Racing
24 - Agustin Canapino [R], Juncos Hollinger Racing
25 - Sting Ray Robb [R], Dale Coyne Racing w/ Rick Ware Racing
26 - Santino Ferrucci, AJ Foyt Enterprises
27 - Benjamin Pedersen [R], AJ Foyt Enterprises

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Notable:

• There were 3 red flags during the session. The first was for Helio Castroneves when he found the new curbing in Turn 9 that had him completely airborne and into the gravel beyond, but with minimal damage. The second was for Romain Grosjean who blew his Honda engine on the back stretch. That meant he was unable to run the alternate tires while they garaged him. The third was for Will Power who lost it in the Alabama Rollercoaster and went off in Turn 3, with no damage, apparently.

• The most dramatic “off” was when Pato O’Ward lost it in Turn 13 and went into the dirty grass to the left, almost losing complete control, but he was able to gather it up and drive back on, with no damage, though they changed his front wing just for grins. Two signs on the grass made the ultimate sacrifice.

• Great session for Christian Lundgaard who led most of the early part of the session and then came out on alternates and was again TOP FIVE until the very end.

• There were three Team Penske cars in the TOP SEVEN, so best team, there. Ganassi had three cars in the TOP TEN. Andretti seemed snake bit, but they did get Colton Herta to P2. Great effort by Rahal Letterman Lanigan with two cars in the TOP TWELVE and Arrow McLaren with two cars in the TOP ELEVEN. Simon Pagenaud actually led for a short time for Meyer Shank Racing and that has to be a welcome relief, after their shaky start to the season.

• 3 Hondas and 7 Chevys in the TOP TEN. Grosjean was easily TOP FIVE right up until his engine let go.
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  Scott McLaughlin - TOPS in the P-1 session
  

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Mr. O’Ward’s Wild Ride:

NTT INDYCAR SERIES

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The IndyCars will next be on track for the P-2 practice on Saturday, late morning, in anticipation of qualifying in the afternoon. Next up, USF Juniors closes out their weekend with Race 2. The grid for this is in post # 6…

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M

[Impenitent]

Good thing there were no other cars

[MarkyS]

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Friday afternoon at Barber - USF Juniors closes out the weekend with Race 2…

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…and having a PERFECT weekend was Nicolas Giaffone for DEForce Racing who went from pole to the WIN. Taking P2 for the 2nd time this weekend was teammate Quinn Armstrong from his P3 start, while P3 went to Jimmie Lockhart in a great drive for VRD Racing from a P6 start.

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As Nicolas led the field into Turn 1, Quinn Armstrong pulled virtually the same maneuver on teammate Lucas Fecury as he had in Race 1 and swiftly took over the P2 spot from him. Jack Jeffers for Exclusive Autosport dropped from P4 to P7 and teammate Erick Schotten dropped from P8 to P10 while Max Taylor for VRD Racing went from P9 to P6 and teammate Ethan Barker went from P12 to P9. On lap 2 Jimmie Lockhart passed Joey Brienza for Exclusive to take P4 as Nicolas Giaffone set Fastest Lap out front. On lap 3 Max Taylor was by Brienza to take over P5 in Turns 7 and 8 while Quinn Armstrong set a new Fastest Lap. Nicolas replied with yet another Fastest Lap in lap 4.

By lap 5 a battle was developing from P6 to P9 as the four cars ran nose to tail and even beside each other, at times. Ethan Ho for DC Autosport took P7 from Jack Jeffers in Turn 14. Then in lap 6 Ethan Barker took P8 from Jeffers in a battle that lasted from Turn 1 to Turn 5. Nicolas reset Fastest Lap. On lap 7 Jimmie Lockhart broke up the DEForce trio up front by taking P3 from Lucas Fecury. On lap 10 Nicolas again reset Fastest Lap, and then he did it once again in lap 14. Lap 15 saw Ethan Ho and Joey Brienza battle for the P6 spot Joey held. At times, they were beside each other, but Brienza held on. Jack Jeffers passed Ethan Barker for P8.

The race ended on lap 20 with Niocolas a full 6.5 seconds ahead of Quinn who was a full 5.5 seconds ahead of Jimmie at the line.

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Notable:

• Nicolas Giaffone took pole for both races, set Fastest Lap in both races, led the most laps in both races and WON both races. That is maximum points available. He also set the race lap record and the qualifying lap record. You simply CANNOT do any better than that. This was his third WIN of the season and he comes away from Barber as the points leader. The test will be to see if he can maintain this dominance over another weekend.

• Young Aussie Quinn Armstrong also had a great weekend, with two P2s. Quinn had a WIN at Sebring, but the other two races were a P5 and a P10.

• Most improved from Sebring is Jimmie Lockhart who had a P7, a P10 and a P3, there. This weekend he collected a P5 and another P3. If he can stay in the TOP FIVE he will be a title contender.

• With his P6 and P4 Joey Brienza drops out of the points lead but is clinging to 2nd.

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Your happy podium - That’s Quinn Armstrong in P2 on the left, Nicolas Giaffone in P1 in the middle and Jimmie Lockhart in P3 on the right:

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With these results, here are the TOP FIVE in points leaving Barber:

1 - Nicolas Giaffone, 141
2 - Joey Brienza, 120
3 - Quinn Armstrong, 109
4 - Jimmie Lockhart, 87
5 - Lucas Fecury, 85

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The next outings for USF Juniors will be at VIRginia International Raceway for a triple-header weekend, June 2-4. This was the last on-track activity of the day.

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M

[MarkyS]

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Saturday morning at Barber - The Blue Marble radical Cup holds Race 2…

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…and taking the WIN overall and in Platinum class was Jon Field for One Motorsports from his P2 start. P2 went to teammate Alan Miller from his P3 start while P3 went to Steven Jenks for Group-A Racing. This is Jon’s 2nd WIN of the weekend.

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Jon Field in his Platinum class Radical SR10

Jon Field

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Taking the WIN in Pro 1500 class was Nick Persing for Cameron Racing from his P3 start - his first class WIN. P2 went to USF2000 pilot Danny Dyszelski for WISKO Racing from his pole start while P3 went to Robert Soroka for RySpec Racing.

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Nick Persing takes the WIN in Pro 1500

Nick Persing

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Finally, taking the WIN in Pro 1340 class was Jake Cowden for RySpec Racing from his P3 start while USF Pro 2000 driver Bijoy Garg came home P2 for Team Stradale from pole and Ben Blander took P3 for Team Stradale.

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The WIN for Jake Cowden and RySpec

Jake Cowden

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The BMRC will hold Race 3 late this afternoon. next up, the Indy NXT gang holds their 2nd practice…

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M

[MarkyS]

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Saturday morning at Barber - Indy NXT holds their 2nd practice session…

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…of the weekend, in anticipation of qualifying, later today for Sunday’s race. The session was really without incident.

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Here was the order of speed for the Indy NXT P-2 practice session, with times for the TOP FIVE: [R] denotes rookie

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1 - Nolan Siegel [R], HMD Motorsports - time of 1:10.6303s for a speed of 117.230mph

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2 - Christian Rasmussen, HMD Motorsports - time of 1:10.7030s for a speed of 117.110mph

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3 - Danial Frost, HMD Motorsports - time of 1:10.8493s for a speed of 116.868mph

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4 - Kyffin Simpson, HMD Motorsports - time of 1:10.8569s for a speed of 116.855mph

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5 - Hunter McElrea, Andretti Autosport - time of 1:10.9006s for a speed of 116.783mph

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6 - Louis Foster [R], Andretti Autosport
7 - Toby Sowery, HMD Motorsports
8 - Jacob Abel, Abel Motorsports
9 - James Roe, Andretti Autosport
10 - Josh Green [R], HMD Motorsports

11 - Colin Kaminsky [R], Abel Motorsports
12 - Enaam Ahmed, [R], Cape Motorsports
13 - Jagger Jones [R], Cape Motorsports
14 - Christian Bogle, HMD Motorsports
15 - Reece Gold [R], Juncos Hollinger Racing
16 - Ernie Francis, Jr., HMD Motorsports / Force Indy
17 - Jamie Chadwick [R], Andretti Autosport
18 - Matteo Nannini [R], Juncos Hollinger Racing

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Notable:

• In our estimation, Nolan Siegel is the best of this year’s rookie crop and he got that way by doing a lot of racing OTHER than open wheel - principally in SportsCars. That is also why Kyffin Simpson has gone from a perennial back marker last year to a TOP FIVE driver this year. Nothing beats DRIVING a car for improvement - even if it’s a different car.

• Whatever kept Enamm Ahmed from running more than a few laps yesterday must have been resolved. He was in the thick of it today but still catching up.

• We’re gratified to see Toby Sowery quickly getting up to speed, despite his long absense from the grid.

Enaam Ahmed (left) and Toby Sowery

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Nolan Siegel

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The Lights will hold qualifying later today. Next up, the IndyCars hold their own P-2 practice session…

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M

[MarkyS]

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Saturday midday at Barber - the IndyCars come out for their second practice session…

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…in anticipation of qualifying later today for Sunday’s race. It was a fairly uneventful session, with nothing too startling.

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Here was the order of speed for the IndyCars P-2 practice session, with times for the TOP FIVE: [R] denotes rookie

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1 - Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing - time of 01:06.2781s for a speed of 124.928mph

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2 - Josef Newgarden, Team Penske - time of 01:06.2781s for a speed of 124.928mph

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3 - Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske - time of 01:06.5386s for a speed of 124.439mph

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4 - Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing - time of 01:06.6090s for a speed of 124.308mph

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5 - Colton Herta, Andretti Autosport - time of 01:06.6788s for a speed of 124.177mph

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6 - Romain Grosjean, Andretti Autosport
7 - Christian Lundgaard, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
8 - Alexander Rossi, Arrow McLaren
9 - Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren
10 - Marcus Ericsson, Chip Ganassi Racing

11 - Devlin DeFrancesco, Andretti Steinbrenner
12 - Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti Autosport
13 - Felix Rosenqvist, Arrow McLaren
14 - Callum Ilott, Juncos Hollinger Racing
15 - Marcus Armstrong [R], Chip Ganassi Racing
16 - Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
17 - Will Power, Team Penske
18 - David Malukas, Dale Coyne Racing w/ HMD Motorsports
19 - Simon Pagenaud, Meyer Shank Racing
20 - Rinus VeeKay, Ed Carpenter Racing

21 - Jack Harvey, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
22 - Helio Castroneves, Meyer Shank Racing
23 - Conor Daly, Ed Carpenter Racing
24 - Sting Ray Robb [R], Dale Coyne Racing w/ Rick Ware Racing
25 - Santino Ferrucci, AJ Foyt Enterprises
26 - Benjamin Pedersen [R], AJ Foyt Enterprises
27 - Agustin Canapino [R], Juncos Hollinger Racing

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Notable:

• Best team? Maybe Chip Ganassi, which has three cars in the TOP TEN, including Palou at the top, but Andretti Autosport has ALL FOUR cars in the TOP TWELVE - a hell of an accomplishment. Arrow McLaren has all three cars in the TOP THIRTEEN. Will Power isn’t helping Scotty Mac and JoNew at Team Penske, but he is a former WINNER here and he should qualify well. (When does he not?)

• Everyone was pushing hard as evident by all the quick hands sawing the steering wheels on camera, trying successfully to save a lurid slide, of which there were many. The only guy to go off track was Benjamin Pedersen, but all he killed was a foam-core sign and then he got back on.

• Helio Castroneves spun in Turn 9 - the bane of his existence, this weekend - but didn’t hit anything. He brought out the only red flag, near the very end of the session.

• Christian Lundgaard was very confident of a good qually and with good reason. He was in the TOP TEN all day and the TOP FIVE for much of the session.

Christian Lundgaard

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Alex Palou

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Qualifying will be at 3:00pm EASTERN time today and will be broadcast on Peacock Premium. It will be hugely important to the race, as the record of TOP SIX starters coming to a WIN here is high. Next up, the Indy NXT gang come out for their own qually session…

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M

[MarkyS]

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Saturday afternoon at Barber - Indy NXT are qualified!..

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…and setting a new track record for the venue is Christian Rasmussen for HMD Motrorsports.

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Here is the way the Indy NXT will grid for Season Round 2, with times for the TOP SIX: [R] denotes rookie

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Row 1

Pole - Christian Rasmussen, HMD Motorsports - time of 1:10.7371s for a speed of 117.053mph

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P2 - Nolan Siegel [R], HMD Motorsports - time of 1:10.8682s for a speed of 116.837mph

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Row 2

P3 - Louis Foster [R], Andretti Autosport - time of 1:10.9247s for a speed of 116.744mph

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P4 - Hunter McElrea, Andretti Autosport - time of 1:11.0690s for a speed of 116.506mph

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Row 3

P5 - Toby Sowery, HMD Motorsports - time of 1:11.0836s for a speed of 116.483mph

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P6 - Kyffin Simpson, HMD Motorsports - time of 1:11.1578s for a speed of 116.361mph

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Row 4

P7 - Reece Gold [R], Juncos Hollinger Racing
P8 - Danial Frost, HMD Motorsports

Row 5

P9 - Enaam Ahmed, [R], Cape Motorsports
P10 - James Roe, Andretti Autosport

Row 6

P11 - Josh Green [R], HMD Motorsports
P12 - Matteo Nannini [R], Juncos Hollinger Racing

Row 7

P13 - Jagger Jones [R], Cape Motorsports
P14 - Colin Kaminsky [R], Abel Motorsports

Row 8

P15 - Jacob Abel, Abel Motorsports
P16 - Christian Bogle, HMD Motorsports

Row 9

P17 - Jamie Chadwick [R], Andretti Autosport
P18 - Ernie Francis, Jr., HMD Motorsports / Force Indy

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Notable:

• Nolan Siegel was the first guy to break the track record, but less than a minute later Christian stole pole from Nolan. The weather and the new Firestone tires made a new record almost inevitable.

• The weather was noticeably cooler, with cloud cover, compared to the morning practice session. The qualifying format is new, with only about 8 minutes for the entire field to qualify. It makes for a frantic, get-it-right-the-first-time session.

• The Lights have appeared at Barber 17 times over the years and of those, 14 races were WON from pole, so pole is critical, here.

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Christian Rasmussen

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The Indy NXT race is scheduled for Sunday at 1:00pm EASTERN time and will be broadcast on Peacock Premium, starting at 12:55pm. Next up, the IndyCars qualify!..

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M

[MarkyS]

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Saturday at barber - the IndyCars are qualified!..

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…and taking his 2nd pole of the season is Andretti Autosport’s Romain Grosjean, just beating out Alex Palou for Chip Ganassi.

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Here is the way the IndyCars will grid for Season Round 4, with times for the TOP SIX: [R] denotes rookie

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Row 1

Pole - Romain Grosjean, Andretti Autosport - time of 01:05.8396s for a speed of 125.760mph

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P2 - Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing - time of 01:05.9130s for a speed of 125.620mph

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Row 2

P3 - Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren - time of 01:05.9382s for a speed of 125.572mph

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P4 - Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske - time of 01:05.9515s for a speed of 125.547mph

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Row 3

P5 - Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing - time of 01:06.0723s for a speed of 125.317mph

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P6 - Christian Lundgaard, Rahal Letterman Lanigan - time of 01:06.1601s for a speed of 125.151mph

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Row 4

P7 - Josef Newgarden, Team Penske
P8 - Felix Rosenqvist, Arrow McLaren

Row 5

P9 - Rinus VeeKay, Ed Carpenter Racing
P10 - Alexander Rossi, Arrow McLaren

Row 6

P11 - Will Power, Team Penske
P12 - Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti Autosport

Row 7

P13 - Marcus Ericsson, Chip Ganassi Racing
P14 - Colton Herta, Andretti Autosport

Row 8

P15 - Callum Ilott, Juncos Hollinger Racing
P16 - Simon Pagenaud, Meyer Shank Racing

Row 9

P17 - David Malukas, Dale Coyne Racing w/ HMD Motorsports
P18 - Devlin DeFrancesco, Andretti Steinbrenner

Row 10

P19 - Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
P20 - Conor Daly, Ed Carpenter Racing

Row 11

P21 - Helio Castroneves, Meyer Shank Racing
P22 - Agustin Canapino [R], Juncos Hollinger Racing

Row 12

P23 - Sting Ray Robb [R], Dale Coyne Racing w/ Rick Ware Racing
P24 - Jack Harvey, Rahal Letterman Lanigan

Row 13

P25 - Benjamin Pedersen [R], AJ Foyt Enterprises
P26 - Marcus Armstrong [R], Chip Ganassi Racing

Row 14

P27 - Santino Ferrucci, AJ Foyt Enterprises

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Notable:

• The fastest time of the entire qually was Alex Palou’s Round 1, Group 1 time of 1:05.5871 seconds. Alex was 0.07 seconds too slow to beat Romain in the Fast Six.

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Romain Grosjean on his pole:

INDYCAR on NBC

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The IndyCars will have a morning Warm-Up on Sunday that may be in the rain, though the race later in the day is at this time expected to be in the dry. Next up, Blue Marble Radical Cup holds Race 3 of the weekend…

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M

[MarkyS]

+++

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Saturday afternoon at Barber - The Blue Marble Radical Cup closes out their weekend…

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…with Season Round 6. The WINNER overall and in Platinum Class was Jon Field for One Motorsports from a pole position - Jon thus SWEEPS the weekend, with three WINS. P2 went to Steve Jenks for Group-A Racing from a P3 start while P3 went to Louis Schriber for RYNO Racing from a P4 start.

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Jon Field SWEEPS the weekend in Platinum class

Jon Field

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In Pro 1500 class the WINNER was Nick Persing for Cameron Racing from his pole position - his 2nd WIN in a row. P2 went to Robert Soroka for RySpec Racing from a P3 start while P3 went to Gregg Gorski for One Motorsports from his P2 start.

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Nick Persing for the 2nd WIN in a row

Nick Persing

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In Pro 1340 class the WIN went to Canadian F1600 Champ Jake Cowden for RySpec Racing - his 2nd WIN in a row in this, his debut weekend in Radical Cup. P2 went to USF Pro 2000 driver Bijoy Garg for Team Stradale - his 3rd podium (a WIN and two P2s) on this, his debut weekend in Radical Cup racing. P3 went to Jace Bacon for CROWN with Apex.

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Jake Cowden takes another WIN in his debut

Jake Cowden

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Notable:

• A BIG congrats to USF2000 driver Danny Dyszelski for his P1 in Race 1, P2 in Race 2 and P4 in Race 3.

• Another BIG congrats to USF Pro 2000 driver Bijoy Garg for his P1 in Race 1, and P2 in both Race 2 and Race 3 on this, his debut weekend in Radical Cup.

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Danny Dyszelski (left) and Bijoy Garg

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Points have yet to be awarded, but we will update this post, if possible, when they are.

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The next three outings for Blue Marble Radical Cup will be at Road America, June 15-18, in support of the IndyCar race weekend. This was the last on-track activity of the day

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M

[MarkyS]

+++

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Sunday morning at Barber - The IndyCars hold Warm-Up…

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The P-3 practice, also known as the “Warm-Up” is a post-qualifying session that allows the teams to test last-minute agendas. Are they looking for race-pace? Are they checking tire wear under full-fuel conditions? Are they checking fuel milage for the latest track conditions? One never knows what each team or each driver is looking for, so one never knows why their favorite driver is where they are in the Warm-Up. All we know is they are NOT testing for a qually set-up. That drama is DONE. So, the fast guys in Warm-Up will be fast in the race. They just won’t be the ONLY fast guys in the race.

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Here was the order of speed for the IndyCars P-3 practice, with times for the TOP FIVE:
[R] denotes rookie

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1 - Alexander Rossi, Arrow McLaren - time of 01:06.6677s for a speed of 124.198mph

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2 - Colton Herta, Andretti Autosport - time of 01:06.7922s for a speed of 123.967mph

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3 - Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing - time of 01:06.8538s for a speed of 123.852mph

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4 - Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti Autosport - time of 01:06.9723s for a speed of 123.633mph

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5 - Josef Newgarden, Team Penske - time of 01:07.0124s for a speed of 123.559mph

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6 - Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
7 - Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske
8 - Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing
9 - Will Power, Team Penske
10 - Simon Pagenaud, Meyer Shank Racing

11 - Callum Ilott, Juncos Hollinger Racing
12 - Jack Harvey, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
13 - Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren
14 - Sting Ray Robb [R], Dale Coyne Racing w/ Rick Ware Racing
15 - Rinus VeeKay, Ed Carpenter Racing
16 - Marcus Ericsson, Chip Ganassi Racing
17 - David Malukas, Dale Coyne Racing w/ HMD Motorsports
18 - Helio Castroneves, Meyer Shank Racing
19 - Christian Lundgaard, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
20 - Marcus Armstrong [R], Chip Ganassi Racing

21 - Devlin DeFrancesco, Andretti Steinbrenner
22 - Agustin Canapino [R], Juncos Hollinger Racing
23 - Romain Grosjean, Andretti Autosport
24 - Conor Daly, Ed Carpenter Racing
25 - Benjamin Pedersen [R], AJ Foyt Enterprises
26 - Felix Rosenqvist, Arrow McLaren
27 - Santino Ferrucci, AJ Foyt Enterprises

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Notable:

• Alexander Rossi doesn’t really like Barber as a race track. it’s one of his least favorite tracks on the schedule, but it doesn’t prevent him from being fast here.

• One of the decisions that the Warm-Up helps to cement for the teams is whether or not to run a two-stop or a three-stop strategy. A three-stopper makes for a busy day, as it requires passing cars to work.

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Alexander Rossi

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The race is scheduled for broadcast on NBC and Peacock Premium starting 3:00pm EASTERN time. Next up, the Indy NXT hold their race. The grid for this is in post # 17…

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