IndyCars - Indianapolis: NASCAR and IndyCar share the track at the Brickyard

[MarkyS]

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This weekend is the only event of the year that will feature both NASCAR and IndyCar racing at the same venue and on the same track, as we do…

The Big Machine Spiked Coolers Grand Prix

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The track is the Road Course at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and this Sunday NASCAR’s Cup cars will for the first time be on it for the Verizon 200 at the Brickyard, while on Saturday their Xfinity cars will be on it for the Pennzoil 150 at the Brickyard.

Right before the Xfinity race on Saturday, the IndyCars will do the Big Machine Spiked Coolers Grand Prix - 85 laps on the Road Course and clearly the fastest race of the weekend. There will be no less than 28 cars in the race - the biggest IndyCar field, besides Indy 500s, for over a decade.

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The 2.439-mile, 14-turn Road Course incorporates portions of Turns 1 and 2 and the front straight of the IMS oval and the remainder of the circuit is within the infield. Originally designed for the Formula One US Grand Prix, the circuit has great passing opportunities at the ends of both straights, but a heart-breaking Turn 1 that has challenged the skills of every driver in the race, trying to make the corner amid a gaggle of cars, all believing they can make up spots there.

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With these three races making up the entire event, our task is easy. All we have to do is cover the IndyCars’ practices and qualifying and then the race. Friday afternoon will be the IndyCar P-1 session, followed by an evening Firestone Fast 12 qualifying, while Saturday will have a P-2 warm-up session, followed by the race.

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Let’s GO!!!

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M

[MarkyS]

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Friday afternoon at Indianapolis - the IndyCars hold their P-1 session…

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This is the first practice of the weekend and really the only practice the teams will have before qualifying, later tonight. Luckily, most of them have data from the Indianapolis GMR Grand Prix in early May that should still largely translate.

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

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1 - Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing - time of 01:10.8839s for a speed of 123.870mph

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2 - Rinus VeeKay, Ed Carpenter Racing - time of 01:10.9062s for a speed of 123.831mph

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3 - Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren SP - time of 01:10.9267s for a speed of 123.795mph

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4 - Jack Harvey, Meyer Shank Racing - time of 01:10.9397s for a speed of 123.773mph

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5 - Josef Newgarden, Team Penske - time of 01:11.0850s for a speed of 123.520mph

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6 - Will Power, Team Penske
7 - Christian Lundgaard [R], Rahal Letterman Lanigan
8 - Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
9 - Marcus Ericsson, Chip Ganassi Racing
10 - Ryan Hunter-Reay, Andretti Autosport

11 - Alexander Rossi, Andretti Autosport
12 - Simon Pagenaud, Team Penske
13 - Romain Grosjean [R], Dale Coyne Racing w/ Rick Ware Racing
14 - Conor Daly, Ed Carpenter Racing
15 - Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing
16 - Helio Castroneves, Meyer Shank Racing
17 - James Hinchcliffe, Andretti Autosport
18 - Sebastien Bourdais, AJ Foyt Enterprises
19 - Felix Rosenqvist, Arrow McLaren SP
20 - Scott McLaughlin [R], Team Penske

21 - Ed Jones, Dale Coyne Racing w/ Vasser Sullivan
22 - RC Enerson [R], Top Gun Racing
23 - Takuma Sato, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
24 - Max Chilton, Carlin
25 - Dalton Kellett, AJ Foyt Enterprises
26 - Colton Herta, Andretti Autosport
27 - Jimmie Johnson [R], Chip Ganassi Racing
28 - Cody Ware [R], Dale Coyne Racing w/ Rick Ware Racing

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Notable:

• Rinus VeeKay WON the GMR Grand Prix in May and he wants to repeat, but will have to take on points-leader Alex Palou.

• The oldest guy in the TOP FIVE is Josef Newgarden at 30 years old. The youth movement is fully engaged in 2021 and it’s a battle between the youngsters and the veterans. What a hoot!

• Colton Herta had an oil pressure and clutch problem that kept him from putting in decent laps. He will have to qualify based on GMR Grand Prix data from early May.

• Two guys are doing their first races of 2021, this weekend. RC Enerson tried to make it in the Indy 500 but got bumped. Can’t get bumped, here, so RC will race. Also new to the series is Formula 2 racer Christian Lundgaard from Denmark. Christian is auditioning for Rahal Letterman Lanigan’s alleged 3rd seat in 2022. He may also do Laguna Seca, as that doesn’t conflict with his F2 season, where he already has 2 WINS.

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RC Enerson (left) and Christian Lundgaard

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IndyCar qualifying will be broadcast on NBC-SN starting at 7:00pm EASTERN time tonight.

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M

[MarkyS]

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Friday evening at Indianapolis - The IndyCars are qualified…

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…for tomorrow’s Big Machine Spiked Coolers Grand Prix. Instead of a regular Firestone Fast Six qualifying, with three sessions, this was a Firestone Fast Twelve, with just two sessions, but it was just as fun to watch everything happen in the last few seconds.

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Here is the way the IndyCars qualified for Season Round 12, with times for the TOP SIX: [R] denotes rookie

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Row 1

Pole - Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren SP - time of 1:10.7147s for a speed of 124.167mph

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P2 - Will Power, Team Penske - time of 1:10.7214s for a speed of 124.155mph

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Row 2

P3 - Romain Grosjean [R], Dale Coyne Racing w/ Rick Ware Racing - time of 1:10.7418s for a speed of 124.119mph

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P4 - Christian Lundgaard [R], Rahal Letterman Lanigan - time of 1:10.7433s for a speed of 124.116mph

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Row 3

P5 - Colton Herta, Andretti Autosport - time of 1:10.7631s for a speed of 124.082mph

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P6 - Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing - time of 1:10.9996s for a speed of 123.996mph

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Row 4

P7 - Jack Harvey, Meyer Shank Racing
P8 - Conor Daly, Ed Carpenter Racing

Row 5

P9 - Rinus VeeKay, Ed Carpenter Racing
P10 - Alexander Rossi, Andretti Autosport

Row 6

P11 - Marcus Ericsson, Chip Ganassi Racing
P12 - Simon Pagenaud, Team Penske

Row 7

P13 - Ryan Hunter-Reay, Andretti Autosport
P14 - Josef Newgarden, Team Penske

Row 8

P15 - Sebastien Bourdais, AJ Foyt Enterprises
P16 - Takuma Sato, Rahal Letterman Lanigan

Row 9

P17 - Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
P18 - Ed Jones, Dale Coyne Racing w/ Vasser Sullivan

Row 10

P19 - Max Chilton, Carlin
P20 - Felix Rosenqvist, Arrow McLaren SP

Row 11

P21 - Scott McLaughlin [R], Team Penske
P22 - Jimmie Johnson [R], Chip Ganassi Racing

Row 12

P23 - Helio Castroneves, Meyer Shank Racing
P24 - James Hinchcliffe, Andretti Autosport

Row 13

P25 - RC Enerson [R], Top Gun Racing
P26 - Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing

Row 14

P27 - Cody Ware [R], Dale Coyne Racing w/ Rick Ware Racing
P28 - Dalton Kellett, AJ Foyt Enterprises

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Notable:

• In the final minutes of qualifying we saw rookie Romain Grosjean fly to the top, ready to repeat his feat of his pole here last May. Right with him was fellow rookie Christian Lundgaard. They both looked like they have been doing this for years, and were only separated by 0.0015 seconds. Then, in the final 5 seconds, Pato O’Ward and Will Power popped on top, separated by 0.0067 seconds. IN-CRED-IBLE !!..and so much fun to watch.

• Will Power thought that Pato slowed him down on his first of three laps in the session and lodged a complaint, but Race Control said, “Sorry, no” and the results stood. This is Pato’s 3rd pole of the season - the most of any driver in the series, so far this year.

• Great qualifying for Conor Daly who barely bested his lightning-fast teammate, Rinus VeeKay - the WINNER of the last race on the Road Course.

• In the Q-1 session Scott Dixon made an unforced error and spun, putting himself far away from his championship rivals Alex Palou, Marcus Ericsson and Pato O’Ward. He will have to dig hard and have some luck on Saturday to get anywhere near them.

• Felix Rosenqvist was poised to transfer, but sped through Scott Dixon’s yellow flag area and incurred a penalty of his best lap. He will now start P20 instead of in the TOP 12.

• Not only did former Road Course WINNER Josef Newgarden not transfer out of the Q-1 session, but he will also have to start the race 6 grid position WORSE than this qualifying, as he is being penalized for an unapproved engine change, following Nashville. He, like Dixon, will need to dig, tomorrow.

• The was Jimmie Johnson’s best qually yet, as he was in the TOP SIX for much of the Q-1 session, but ultimately he failed to transfer. He was still very happy with his own performance, and should be. He beat out 6 guys, including Helio Castroneves, James Hinchcliffe, RC Enerson and Scott Dixon.

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Conor Daly (left) and Jimmie Johnson swapped helmets today - a sign of mutual respect.

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The race is scheduled for broadcast on NBC-SN on Saturday, starting at 12:30pm EASTERN time. Prior to that, there will be a short early-morning warm-up, featured on Peacock at 8:45am EASTERN time.

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[MarkyS]

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Saturday morning at Indianapolis - the IndyCars hold their P-2 practice session…

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A post-qualifying practice is known as a “warm-up” and it is always difficult to gauge its worth, as a fan. One never knows what the team and driver were trying to accomplish, out there. The program could be to find more speed that was lacking in qualifying, or possibly to verify a great race trim set-up - entirely different from qualifying trim. Maybe they were checking tire wear for the different types of tires, or fuel mileage.

That’s why the fastest qualifiers are often slow in a warm-up. Outright speed is not what they are going for. They already know they are fast. Still, the fastest guys in the session are certainly capable of speeds in the race.

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

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1 - Marcus Ericsson, Chip Ganassi Racing - time of 01:11.3705s for a speed of 123.026mph

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2 - Alexander Rossi, Andretti Autosport - time of 01:11.3895s for a speed of 122.993mph

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3 - Josef Newgarden, Team Penske - time of 01:11.4639s for a speed of 122.865mph

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4 - Jack Harvey, Meyer Shank Racing - time of 01:11.4951s for a speed of 122.811mph

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5 - Max Chilton, Carlin - time of 01:11.5760s for a speed of 122.672mph

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6 - Takuma Sato, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
7 - Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
8 - Conor Daly, Ed Carpenter Racing
9 - Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing
10 - Romain Grosjean [R], Dale Coyne Racing w/ Rick Ware Racing

11 - Ryan Hunter-Reay, Andretti Autosport
12 - Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing
13 - Scott McLaughlin [R], Team Penske
14 - Dalton Kellett, AJ Foyt Enterprises
15 - Helio Castroneves, Meyer Shank Racing
16 - Colton Herta, Andretti Autosport
17 - Rinus VeeKay, Ed Carpenter Racing
18 - Ed Jones, Dale Coyne Racing w/ Vasser Sullivan
19 - Simon Pagenaud, Team Penske
20 - Sebastien Bourdais, AJ Foyt Enterprises

21 - Felix Rosenqvist, Arrow McLaren SP
22 - Christian Lundgaard [R], Rahal Letterman Lanigan
23 - Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren SP
24 - Will Power, Team Penske
25 - Jimmie Johnson [R], Chip Ganassi Racing
26 - James Hinchcliffe, Andretti Autosport
27 - RC Enerson [R], Top Gun Racing
28 - Cody Ware [R], Dale Coyne Racing w/ Rick Ware Racing

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Notable:

• The only guy in the TOP FIVE who had a great qualifying was Jack Harvey, so it looks like what you are seeing is the difference between qually trim and race trim. Marcus Ericsson was P11 in qualifying and is ready to race, so he doesn’t have too much to make up, but Jack is in an even better position, coming today from P7.

• Max Chilton has a habit of having a lousy qually followed by good warm-ups. It’s as if his engineer can give him a great race trim but cannot find the sweet spot in qualifying. He was fast this morning but will start from P-19 and will need great luck to use the speed.

• Rookie Christian Lundgaard was super quick in P-1 and in qualifying, so this showing was likely the team spending time getting him used to refueling, as well as rolling starts - things they don’t do in Formula 2, where he comes from.

• The warm-up followed last night’s IndyCar qualifying, so there was plenty of Firestone rubber still on the track. The IndyCar race will follow a NASCAR qually and a practice, so there will be lots of Goodyear rubber on the track for the IndyCar race, making the first few race laps a bit perilous.

• It is rare to see Dalton Kellett make a P-14 and even rarer to see him top his teammate, Sebastien Bourdais, but again, we do not know what program each driver was on.

• The difference in the TOP 25 cars was only 1 second. This is a tight group of drivers.

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Dalton Kellett - good warm-up

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Marcus Ericsson - on a roll

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The race is scheduled for broadcast on NBC-SN on Saturday, starting at 12:30pm EASTERN time.

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[MarkyS]

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Saturday afternoon at Indianapolis - Will Power remains the King of the Road Course…

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The driver of the # 12 Chevrolet for Team Penske finally collected his 40th WIN of his career today with his first WIN of 2021, as he dominated the Big Machine Spiked Coolers Grand Prix, from his P2 start. P2 from his P3 start went to rookie Romain Grosjean for Dale Coyne Racing w/ Rick Ware Racing - his 2nd P2 of the season, the first being here as well in early May at the GMR Grand Prix. Coming in P3 from a P5 start was Andretti Autosport’s Colton Herta, redeeming himself for his late-race errors at Nashville, last weekend.

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Pole-sitter Pato O’Ward for Arrow McLaren SP ran in front for the first stint of the race but after the first round of pit stops it was Power all the way and only a matter of how well he would win, with the ebb and flow of traffic in front of him. After the Nashville wreck-fest, it looked downright civilized out there with very tight and contentious racing and even a bunch of rubbing, but the only yellow caused by contact was the last one, when Scott McLaughlin for Team Penske hit Rinus VeeKay for Ed Carpenter Racing in the rear and spun him around.

The only other caution was for Alex Palou for Chip Ganassi Racing as the points-leader ended the day with a rare blown engine, cutting his points lead in half back to Pato O’Ward, whose P5 finish vaulted him back into 2nd place in the points over Scott Dixon for Chip Ganassi, who ended the day in an unspectacular P17.

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Race highlights:

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2021 RACE HIGHLIGHTS // BIG MACHINE SPIKED COOLERS GRAND PRIX

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Notable:

• This was Will Power’s 5th WIN on the Road Course, going back to the 2nd ever running of the track by IndyCar in 2015.

• Josef Newgarden had a good race, given his P20 start. The Team Penske driver finished in P8 - the biggest mover in the race. It helped him stay in 4th place in the points.

• Marcus Ericsson had a fairly static race, starting in P11 and finishing in P9 and thus stays 5th in the points.

• Rookie Christian Lundegaard started well for Rahal Letterman Lanigan but faded eventually from his P4 start back to P12. Lundegaard had suffered from food poinsoning the night before and the physical toll on him by the end was apparent. If he returns to do Laguna Seca, as is rumored, he should be better able to cope with the physical needs to drive one of these beasts for two hours.

• Great racing out there, with 269 on-track passes during the race - a new track record - and 190 of those were for position. That’s heavy-duty racing! Fans at the track don’t know where to watch with such an embarrassment of riches.

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Your happy podium - That’s Romain Grosjean on the left in P2, Will Power in the middle in P1 and Colton Herta on the right in P3:

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With this result here are the TOP FIVE in points leaving Indianapolis:

1 - Alex Palou, 415
2 - Pato O’Ward, 394
3 - Scott Dixon, 381
4 - Josef Newgarden, 360
5 - Marcus Ericsson, 353

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Next up for the IndyCars will be the last oval of the season as they do the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 at World Wide Technology Raceway - akak Gateway - next weekend.

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