IndyCars - Laguna Seca: Into the California wine country

[MarkyS]

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The 2nd of 3 races in the Western swing of the IndyCar season takes on an air of sophistication and class as the series invades the Monterey Penninsula for

The Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey

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The venue is WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, one of the most iconic tracks on the schedule. IndyCar has a long and storied history here, but hadn’t been present on the track since 2004 when it was decided to return to the course in 2019. The 2020 race was lost to COVID-19 but we are happily back this year.

Laguna Seca is a 2.238-mile natural road course with a huge 300 feet of elevation changes over 11 turns, the most famous of which is the legendary “Corkscrew”, at Turn 8 and 8a, where the bottom drops out and the cars plummet down hill. (It is faintly circled in red in the pic above, at the top).

Colton Herta WON here in 2019, but one has to go back to Canadian Patrick Carpentier for the next closest WINNER, in 2004. Patrick also WON in 2003. Other former WINNERS are team owners Bobby Rahal, Michael Andretti and Bryan Herta, when they were young lions themselves. Also famous for their WINS here are broadcaster Paul Tracy and Alex Zanardi, who stole one on the final lap from Bryan Herta in the corkscrew - so famous that it is simply known as “the pass”.

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The weekend will be short and sweet with only three races to concern ourselves over, as the Indy Lights will support the IndyCars with a double-header weekend, as they too wind down their championship. The Lights will race on Saturday and Sunday and the IndyCars will race on Sunday.

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Let’s take a look at that support racing:

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(continued)

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M

[MarkyS]

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Support racing…(continued)…

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The Road to Indy is the ladder system that trains drivers to be ready to drive IndyCars. It is made up of three series - USF2000, Indy Pro 2000 and Indy Lights. It will be only the Indy Lights present this weekend.

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Indy Lights is the top rung of the ladder and a fitting series to prepare to drive an IndyCar in battle.The car is the all-carbon composite Dallara IL-15. It has a 2.0 liter 4 cylinder engine, like the other 2 cars, but it is turbo-charged, like the big cars, and produces 450 hp with additional power available with Push-to-Pass, again, just like the big cars. It has more wing and tires than the other two cars and so more downforce, braking and grip. It also has much more downloadable information available for engineers to use, and as such is an important training tool for them, too.

The drivers come from all over the world to compete and are usually among the highest level of junior formula drivers anywhere. The value of Indy Lights is evident when looking at the roster in IndyCars, where so many of the drivers are former Lights pilots, including many former champions.

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After 16 rounds of racing, the points leader is David Malukas for HMD Motorsports, with 13 podiums, including 7 WINS. His rival is rookie Kyle Kirkwood for Andretti Autosport, with 11 podiums, including 7 WINS. Each guy just earned a P1 and a P2 at the last races at Portland. They are separated by only 5 points with 4 races to go - two of them, this weekend.

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David Malukas

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Friday will be a day of practice for both the Lights and the IndyCars and the Lights will also qualify for Race 1 of their weekend. Let’s get this GOING!!

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M

[MarkyS]

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Friday morning at Laguna Seca - The Indy Lights come out for their prqacitce session…

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There will only be this one practice session before the Lights qualify for Race 1 later today.

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

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1 - Devlin DeFrancesco [R], Andretti Steinbrenner Racing - time of 01:16.3604s for a speed of 105.510mph

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2 - Kyle Kirkwood [R], Andretti Autosport - time of 01:16.3702s for a speed of 105.497mph

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3 - Rasmus Lindh [R], Juncos Hollinger Racing - time of 01:16.6349s for a speed of 105.132mph

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4 - David Malukas, HMD Motorsports - time of 01:16.7028s for a speed of 105.039mph

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5 - Linus Lundqvist [R], GRG w/HMD Motorsports - time of 01:16.7132s for a speed of 105.025mph

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6 - Danial Frost [R], Andretti Autosport
7 - Benjamin Pedersen [R], GRG w/HMD Motorsports
8 - Robert Megennis, Andretti Autosport
9 - Sting Ray Robb [R], Juncos Hollinger Racing
10 - Manuel Sulaiman [R], HMD Motorsports
11 - Christian Bogle [R], Carlin / Jay Howard Driver Development

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Notable:

• Only David Malukas and Rob Megennis have ever driven a Lights car at Laguna before, both in the 2019 season. Rasmus Lindh, Kyle Kirkwood, Danial Frost and Sting Ray Robb also know the track from their 2019 Indy Pro 2000 season.

• The TOP SEVEN guys were covered by 0.50 seconds - a tight group.

• Devlin DeFrancesco has not had as good a year as we expected and he hoped. Nevertheless, the rumor is he will be driving a big car for Andretti Steinbrenner in 2022. This speed should look good to his bosses.

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Devlin DeFrancesco

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Next up, the Lights qualify for Race 1 of the weekend…

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M

[MarkyS]

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Friday at Laguna Seca - The Indy Lights hold their first qually session…

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In the Road to Indy each race of a double-header weekend gets its own qualification session. It takes a little more time, but it allows teams to adjust their cars to each particular race and day, rather than try an all-inclusive set-up.

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Here is the way the Indy Lights will grid for Season Round 17, with times for the TOP SIX: [R] denotes rookie

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Row 1

Pole - Kyle Kirkwood [R], Andretti Autosport - time of 01:15.0235s for a speed of 107.390mph

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P2 - Linus Lundqvist [R], GRG w/HMD Motorsports - time of 01:15.4015s for a speed of 106.852mph

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Row 2

P3 - David Malukas, HMD Motorsports - time of 01:15.4821s for a speed of 106.738mph

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P4 - Benjamin Pedersen [R], GRG w/HMD Motorsports - time of 01:15.5815s for a speed of 106.598mph

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Row 3

P5 - Danial Frost [R], Andretti Autosport - time of 01:15.5953s for a speed of 106.578mph

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P6 - Rasmus Lindh [R], Juncos Hollinger Racing - time of 01:15.9109s for a speed of 106.135mph

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Row 4

P7 - Devlin DeFrancesco [R], Andretti Steinbrenner Racing
P8 - Robert Megennis, Andretti Autosport

Row 5

P9 - Manuel Sulaiman [R], HMD Motorsports
P10 - Sting Ray Robb [R], Juncos Hollinger Racing

Row 6

P11 - Christian Bogle [R], Carlin / Jay Howard Driver Development

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Notable:

• Title contender Kyle Kirkwood did what was necessary and collected the 1 valuable series point for pole, as well as set himself up to get away at the start, but he will be surrounded by HMD guys at the start, and they will try to steal the P1 spot immediately. Linus is still mathematically in contention, but really, it’s only David he will worry about.

• We are truly impressed with Rasmus Lindh who is so fast in only his 2nd Lights weekend. He is trying to get used to the very particular speed characterstics of a turbo-charged engine, as this is the first one in his career.

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Kyle Kirkwood on the pole

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The race is scheduled for 1:45pm PACIFIC time on Saturday. Next up, the IndyCars hold first practice…

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M

[MarkyS]

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

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…and it was one of the TOP THREE title contenders who lead the field, but the points-leader was right there with him.

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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 - Josef Newgarden, Team Penske - time of 01:11.7125s for a speed of 112.349mph

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2 - Colton Herta, Andretti Autosport - time of 01:11.7927s for a speed of 112.223mph

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3 - Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing - time of 01:11.9750s for a speed of 111.939mph

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4 - Ed Jones, Dale Coyne Racing w/ Vasser Sullivan - time of 01:12.0166s for a speed of 111.874mph

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5 - Alexander Rossi, Andretti Autosport - time of 01:12.0625s for a speed of 111.803mph

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6 - Oliver Askew, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
7 - James Hinchcliffe, Andretti Autosport
8 - Jack Harvey, Meyer Shank Racing
9 - Romain Grosjean [R], Dale Coyne Racing w/ Rick Ware Racing
10 - Marcus Ericsson, Chip Ganassi Racing

11 - Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing
12 - Scott McLaughlin [R], Team Penske
13 - Helio Castroneves, Meyer Shank Racing
14 - Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren SP
15 - Will Power, Team Penske
16 - Felix Rosenqvist, Arrow McLaren SP
17 - Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
18 - Sebastien Bourdais, AJ Foyt Enterprises
19 - Takuma Sato, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
20 - Simon Pagenaud, Team Penske

21 - Rinus VeeKay, Ed Carpenter Racing
22 - Ryan Hunter-Reay, Andretti Autosport
23 - Conor Daly, Ed Carpenter Racing
24 - Jimmie Johnson [R], Chip Ganassi Racing
25 - Max Chilton, Carlin
26 - Dalton Kellett, AJ Foyt Enterprises
27 - Callum Illott [R], Juncos Hollinger Racing

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Notable:

• Newgarden sits 3rd in the points to Alex Palou, 34 points back. Both are looking good at this moment. Not so good for 2nd-in-the-points Pato O’Ward, stuck back in P14.

• Ed Jones has been on fire lately. Too bad his first half of the season wasn’t so. He is rumored to be on the chopping block for 2022, looking for a ride.

• Oliver Askew. WOW! The kid has been making Arrow McLaren look very foolish for firing him at the end of 2020. Someone give this guy a full-time ride again in 2022.

• James Hinchcliffe has also been turning up the wick at the end of the season. He too is too late, as his seat is likely gone at Andretti for 2022. James may be in the broadcaster’s booth if he can’t work up something else.

• We expected a little better from Max Chilton, as he owns both the race and qualifying Indy Lights records at Laguna Seca. But it’s hard to make a single car team competitive in this field.

• A number of guys went off track today, exploring the limits, including Colton Herta, Helio Castroneves and Alexander Rossi, but none of them damaged the cars.

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Josef Newgarden - TOP DAWG for P-1

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The IndyCars will hold a second practice session on Saturday morning, before they qualify. This was the last on-track activity of the day.

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M

[MarkyS]

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Satuday at Laguna Seca - The Indy Lights qualify for Race 2…

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The Lights guys were the first guys on the track today, and they held the qually session for Race 2, to be run on Sunday.

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Here is the way Indy Lights will grid for Season Round 18, with times for the TOP SIX: [R] denotes rookie

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Row 1

Pole - Kyle Kirkwood [R], Andretti Autosport - time of 1:14.6939s for a speed of 107.864mph

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P2 - David Malukas, HMD Motorsports - time of 1:14.6939s for a speed of 107.504mph

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Row 2

P3 - Linus Lundqvist [R], GRG w/HMD Motorsports - time of 1:14.6939s for a speed of 107.365mph

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P4 - Danial Frost [R], Andretti Autosport - time of 1:14.6939s for a speed of 107.064mph

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Row 3

P5 - Benjamin Pedersen [R], GRG w/HMD Motorsports - time of 1:17.0139s for a speed of 106.881mph

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P6 - Robert Megennis, Andretti Autosport - time of 1:15.8889s for a speed of 106.611mph

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Row 4

P7 - Sting Ray Robb [R], Juncos Hollinger Racing
P8 - Rasmus Lindh [R], Juncos Hollinger Racing

Row 5

P9 - Devlin DeFrancesco [R], Andretti Steinbrenner Racing
P10 - Manuel Sulaiman [R], HMD Motorsports

Row 6

P11 - Christian Bogle [R], Carlin / Jay Howard Driver Development

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Notable:

• Kirkwood grabs his second pole of the weekend and that valuable series point that goes with it. He is now back to 3 points behind David Malukas - just where he was before they went to Portland, last week.

• Malukas did everything he could to get pole, but Kyle held it for most of the session and David’s last lap flyer came up 0.25 seconds short. Stll, Kyle is once again surrounded by adversaries at the start, with Danial the only guy to help. The start of the races will be everything, this weekend.

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Kyle Kirkwood - 2nd pole of the weekend

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The Lights will hold Race 1 of the weekend in the afternoon, following the IndyCar P-2 practice, which is next up…

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M

[MarkyS]

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Saturday Afternoon at Laguna Seca - The IndyCars hold a second practice session…

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The P-2 session is extremely important, this weekend, because it’s the last chance to check a qualifying set-up.

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

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1 - Scott McLaughlin [R], Team Penske - time of 01:10.8755s for a speed of 113.675mph

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2 - Colton Herta, Andretti Autosport - time of 01:11.0224s for a speed of 113.440mph

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3 - Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing - time of 01:11.0312s for a speed of 113.426mph

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4 - Simon Pagenaud, Team Penske - time of 01:11.3381s for a speed of 112.938mph

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5 - Will Power, Team Penske - time of 01:11.3936s for a speed of 112.850mph

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6 - Felix Rosenqvist, Arrow McLaren SP
7 - Alexander Rossi, Andretti Autosport
8 - Ryan Hunter-Reay, Andretti Autosport
9 - Ed Jones, Dale Coyne Racing w/ Vasser Sullivan
10 - Josef Newgarden, Team Penske

11 - Jack Harvey, Meyer Shank Racing
12 - Marcus Ericsson, Chip Ganassi Racing
13 - James Hinchcliffe, Andretti Autosport
14 - Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
15 - Oliver Askew, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
16 - Romain Grosjean [R], Dale Coyne Racing w/ Rick Ware Racing
17 - Max Chilton, Carlin
18 - Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing
19 - Callum Illott [R], Juncos Hollinger Racing
20 - Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren SP

21 - Helio Castroneves, Meyer Shank Racing
22 - Sebastien Bourdais, AJ Foyt Enterprises
23 - Conor Daly, Ed Carpenter Racing
24 - Jimmie Johnson [R], Chip Ganassi Racing
25 - Rinus VeeKay, Ed Carpenter Racing
26 - Takuma Sato, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
27 - Dalton Kellett, AJ Foyt Enterprises

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Notable:

• A big step up for McLaughlin from 1st practice and Team Penske gets 3 cars in the TOP FIVE and all four in the TOP TEN, but strangly, it’s Newgarden in P10, when he was so fast yesterday.

• Alex Palou remains TOP FIVE while Pato O’Ward continues to struggle. He will need to pull out something for qualifying, but then he can do that.

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Scott McLaughlin

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The IndyCars will qualify later today. Next up, the Indy Lights hold Race 1 of the weekend. The grid for this is in post # 4…

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M

[MarkyS]

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Saturday after noon at Laguna Seca - The Indy Lights hold Race 1 of the weekend…

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…and Kyle Kirkwood dominates from pole to earn his 8th WIN of the season, for Andretti Autosport. Coming in P2 was 3rd-in-the-points Linus Lundqvist for Global Racing Group w/ HMD Motorsports from his P2 start while P3 went to teammate Benjamin Pedersen from his P4 start.

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Kyle led the field around Turn 2 on the start and then Manuel Sulaiman for HMD Motorsports got around Rob Megennis for Andretti Autosport for the P8 spot. Manuel then tried to force his way past Devlin DeFrancesco for Andretti but he ran out of racing room and ended up off track instead and well into the dirt, falling to P11. On lap 2 Rasmus Lindh for Juncos Hollinger took Danial Frost for Andretti Autosport in Turn 2, securing the P5 spot. Kyle began to gap the field in order to get out of Push-to-Pass range from Linus. By lap 4 he had the 1.5 second lead he needed to do that, and he just kept gapping.

On lap 4 Manuel took P10 from Christian Bogle for Carlin. On lap 7 Rob Megennis pitted for what looked like a bent tow link in his left front suspension. How he got it was unknown, but he was repaired in 3 laps and rejoined in P11. On lap 9 points-leader David Malukas for HMD Motorsports overcooked it in Turn 4 and went off track, long enough for Benjamin to take P3 from him. On lap 17 Christian lost it in Turn 2 - the victim of an apparent fluid leak of some kind from his car. He brought out a full-course caution to retrieve him.

That cost Kirkwood a 7+ second lead on the rest of the field, but on the lap 21 restart he again got a great jump and was already a second ahead by Turn 1. Devlin battled with Danial on the way to the green flag, and in the doing pushed the Singapore native off the track sufficient for him to drop from P6 to P9. DeFrancesco was deemed by Race Control to have jumped the green flag and was assesed a five-second post-race penalty. Kirkwood again made a comfortable gap to the rest of the field and WON the race on lap 30, some 6.6 seconds ahead of Linus.

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Notable:

• The WIN for Kyle and David’s P4 change the lead in the points as Kirkwood is now 8 points ahead of David. Linus is 75 points back from the lead.

• Tomorrow David will start from P2 - right next to Kyle, who is again on pole.

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Your happy podium - That’s Linus in P2 on the left, Kyle in P1 in the middle and Bejamin in P3 on the right:

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The Lights are schedule to do Race 2 at 10:15am PACIFIC time. The race will be broadcast on Youtube. Next up, the IndyCars qualify…

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M

[MarkyS]

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Saturday at Laguna Seca - The IndyCars are qualified for the Firestone Grand Prix…

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…and taking pole this year was the same guy who took pole in the last race in 2019 - Colton Herta for Andretti Autosport, on a post-time flyer that stole it from Will Power for Team Penske. This one was full of drama.

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Here is the way the IndyCar will grid for Season Round 15, with times for the TOP SIX: [R] denotes rookie

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Row 1

Pole - Colton Herta, Andretti Autosport - time of 1:10.7994s for a speed of 113.798mph

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P2 - Alexander Rossi, Andretti Autosport - time of 1:10.9951s for a speed of 113.484mph

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Row 2

P3 - Will Power, Team Penske - time of 1:11.3317s for a speed of 113.266mph

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P4 - Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing - time of 1:11.3317s for a speed of 112.948mph

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Row 3

P5 - Oliver Askew, Rahal Letterman Lanigan - time of 1:11.8937s for a speed of 112.065mph

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P6 - Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren SP - time of 1:24.2715s for a speed of 95.605mph

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Row 4

P7 - Marcus Ericsson, Chip Ganassi Racing
P8 - Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing

Row 5

P9 - Simon Pagenaud, Team Penske
P10 - Max Chilton, Carlin

Row 6

P11 - James Hinchcliffe, Andretti Autosport
P12 - Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan

Row 7

P13 - Romain Grosjean [R], Dale Coyne Racing w/ Rick Ware Racing
P14 - Ed Jones, Dale Coyne Racing w/ Vasser Sullivan

Row 8

P15 - Felix Rosenqvist, Arrow McLaren SP
P16 - Scott McLaughlin [R], Team Penske

Row 9

P17 - Josef Newgarden, Team Penske
P18 - Conor Daly, Ed Carpenter Racing

Row 10

P19 - Ryan Hunter-Reay, Andretti Autosport
P20 - Jack Harvey, Meyer Shank Racing

Row 11

P21 - Sebastien Bourdais, AJ Foyt Enterprises
P22 - Helio Castroneves, Meyer Shank Racing

Row 12

P23 - Takuma Sato, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
P24 - Rinus VeeKay, Ed Carpenter Racing

Row 13

P25 - Jimmie Johnson [R], Chip Ganassi Racing
P26 - Callum Illott [R], Juncos Hollinger Racing

Row 14

P27 - Dalton Kellett, AJ Foyt Enterprises

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Notable:

• During the Fast Six Pato O’Ward spun late in the going in the Corkscrew and Will Power, following him, ran through his local yellow, so he would have lost a grid position anyway, but then Colton stole the pole at the last second, after the checkers. That is why WIll is in 3rd and not P2.

• O’Ward’s time reflects the loss of his fastest lap, for causing the yellow.

• Oliver Askew made the Fast Six and topped the Q1, Group 1 session, but title contender Josef Newgarden could not get out of Q1. He was speechless. It will take a great strategy to recover from P17.

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The race is schedule for broadcast on NBC starting at 3:00pm EASTERN time, or 12:00 Noon PACIFIC time, but first there will be a morning warm-up, followed by the Indy Lights Race 2.

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This was the last on-track activity of the day.
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[MarkyS]

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Sunday morning at Laguna Seca - The IndyCars hold final practice…

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It’s known as a “warm-up” and like all post-qualifying practices, one never knows exactly what each team amd each car within the team is trying to accomplish. Certainly, they are NOT trying to nail a qualifying set-up. That’s all done. Many teams use the warm-up to search for race pace on their race set-up. Others use it to calculate tire wear on each type of tire. Others simply confirm what they already knew: They have the goods in the car. Still, the fast guys in warm-up are likely to be fast in the race, but they are not the ONLY fast guys in the race.

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

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1 - Alexander Rossi, Andretti Autosport - time of 01:10.7994s for a speed of 113.798mph

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2 - Colton Herta, Andretti Autosport - time of 01:10.9951s for a speed of 113.484mph

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3 - Takuma Sato, Rahal Letterman Lanigan - time of 01:11.1317s for a speed of 113.266mph

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4 - Ryan Hunter-Reay, Andretti Autosport - time of 01:11.3317s for a speed of 112.948mph

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5 - Marcus Ericsson, Chip Ganassi Racing - time of 01:11.8937s for a speed of 112.065mph

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6 - Josef Newgarden, Team Penske
7 - Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
8 - Ed Jones, Dale Coyne Racing w/ Vasser Sullivan
9 - Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing
10 - Romain Grosjean [R], Dale Coyne Racing w/ Rick Ware Racing

11 - Will Power, Team Penske
12 - Helio Castroneves, Meyer Shank Racing
13 - Sebastien Bourdais, AJ Foyt Enterprises
14 - Rinus VeeKay, Ed Carpenter Racing
15 - Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing
16 - Max Chilton, Carlin
17 - Jimmie Johnson [R], Chip Ganassi Racing
18 - Scott McLaughlin [R], Team Penske
19 - Oliver Askew, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
20 - James Hinchcliffe, Andretti Autosport

21 - Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren SP
22 - Felix Rosenqvist, Arrow McLaren SP
23 - Jack Harvey, Meyer Shank Racing
24 - Simon Pagenaud, Team Penske
25 - Dalton Kellett, AJ Foyt Enterprises
26 - Conor Daly, Ed Carpenter Racing
27 - Callum Illott [R], Juncos Hollinger Racing

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Notable:

• Takuma Sato hasn’t been fast in either his race set-up or qualifying set-up, until now. They must have found something overnight at RLL. Unfortunately, he is starting from P23 today.

• It is clear now that title contender Josef Newgarden has a wicked fast race set-up, but the team muffed his qually set-up, yesterday. He will start from P17 - disaster.

• Title contender Pato O’Ward is the opposite. His guys gave him a good qually set-up yesterday, but STILL haven’t found a way to get him comfortable in race trim. Both Newgarden and O’Ward are chasing Alex Palou, who has been great all weekend, in any trim.

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Josef Newgarden (left) and Pato O’Ward - hurting for the race

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Alexander Rossi

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The race is scheduled for broadcast on NBC starting at 3:00pm EASTERN time, or 12:00 Noon PACIFIC time. Next up, the Indy Lights hold Race 2 of their weekend. The grid for this is in post # 6…

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M

[MarkyS]

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Sunday at Laguna Seca - The Indy Lights close out their weekend with Race 2…

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…and let’s be clear: This was a BEAT-DOWN, as points-leader Kyle Kirkwood for Andretti Autosport WON handily from pole. P2 went to P2 starter and fellow title contender David Malukas for HMD Motorsports and P3 went to P3 starter Linus Lundqvist for Global Racing Group w/ HMD Motorsports.

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The race started as yesterday, with Kirkwood getting a clean start, unassailed, as he began to open up his gap, to be free from Push-to-Pass assaults from behind. On lap 1 Devlin DeFrancesco for Andretti Steinbrenner took P7 from Sting Ray Robb for Juncos Hollinger. Shortly after that, Sting Ray’s new teammate, Rasmus Lindh, also got by the 2020 Indy Pro 2000 champ to take over P8. Meanwhile Kyle was already clear of David Malukas by more than the 1.5 seconds necessary for safety from P-to-P.

On lap 10 Rasmus did one better and took P7 away from Devlin. As the field stretched out, and as no one made any mistakes in front of rivals from then on, that was the last pass of the race. On lap 29, Christian Bogle for Carlin, running last in P11, made an error in the corkscrew and got deep into the off-track kitty litter, with the possibility of causing a full-course caution, but he was able to rejoin and head to the pits to clean the gravel out of the radiators. There was to be no caution.

Kirkwood just kept adding up the seconds ahead of David and he crossed the finish line on lap 35 some 26 seconds ahead of Malukas, who was himself 13.3 seconds ahead of Linus, showing us he was truly trying to catch Kyle. For Kyle, it was a beatdown and a statement.

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Notable:

• The circus came to town with the expectation that the HMD guys were super-prepared to steal all the thunder and increase David’s hold on the points lead - 5 points over Kyle at the start of the weekend. And indeed Malukas, Lundqvist and even Benjamin Pedersen were fast and almost flawless, from the start. But Kirkwood was faster, taking pole for both races and leading handily, with nary a single error.

• This was Kyle’s 9th WIN of the season and the 29th WIN of his Road to Indy career - resetting his own RTI WIN record, once again. There is a reason we call him “the Monster”.

• Kirkwood now has a solid 15 point lead over David Malukas with just 2 races left to run. He will need some very bad luck to lose the title at this point and the 2 season finales are at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course - the track Kirkwood is best at, with an astonishing 7 WINS in 7 previous RTI starts. We’re not calling it yet, but JEEZ!

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Your happy podium - That’s David Malukas on the left in P2, Kyle Kirkwood in the middle in P1 and Linus Lundqvist on the right in P3:

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With these results, here are the TOP TWO in points leaving Laguna Seca - the only guys still in contention for the Championship:

1 - Kyle Kirkwood, 488
2 - David Malukas, 473

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The double-header season finales will be at Mid-Ohio Sports Car course, in a stand-alone appearance, October 1-3, where the 2021 Champion will be crowned.

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Next up, the IndyCar race. The grid for that is in post # 9…

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M

[MarkyS]

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Sunday at Laguna Seca - The IndyCar race!..

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…will be remembered as one of the most exciting races of the 2021 season, with Colton Herta for Andretti Autosport controlling the race from pole to the end, to take his 2nd WIN in a row at the famous venue, and with points leader Alex Palou for Chip Ganassi Racing coming in P2 from a P4 start while Romain Grosjean for Dale Coyne Racing w/ Rick Ware Racing put on the best racing show of the year to finish in P3 from his P13 start.

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For a track that is notorious for being hard to pass on, there were 27 passes made during the race, with 15 of them being for position - and that was just the passes of Grosjean! Truly, it was action all over the track and all through the field. The manufacturer of that great racing was Firestone, who brought tires to the event with initial good grip followed by quick degradation, making tire wear a very significant part of the race and the strategies of each contender.

All through, Herta was never way far out in front, but he was certainly in control of the pace and the lead. He led for 91 of the 95 laps, only giving it up to Romain for a few laps in the pit exchange. Alex Palou tried hard to catch him but ultimately decided that his main job was to finish ahead of fellow title contenders Pato O’Ward for Arrow McLaren SP and Josef Newgarden for Team Penske, which he did. Pato struggled all day and still eked out a P5, but lost ground to Alex, as did Newgarden who was hot one minute and cold the next all day, finishing in a respectable P7 from a P17 start.

Despite the very fast pace and tons of hip-checks, there was only one short full-course caution near the start, as P2 starter Alexander Rossi for Andretti saw a chance to pass Colton when Herta put a wheel off, but Rossi ended up off course himself when the two cars touched. He would go a lap down and never recover.

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These highlights can hardly do this one justice:

2021 RACE HIGHLIGHTS // FIRESTONE GRAND PRIX OF MONTEREY

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Notable:

• Herta now has 5 career WINS. That’s one more than his father, Bryan Herta. Both Hertas now have two WINS at Laguna Seca each, but they are still short of Bobby Rahal’s 4 WINS here.

• With the P2 finish Alex Palou now has 517 points, which are 35 more than Pato and 48 more than Newgarden. Everyone else is now eliminated from the points chase.

• O’Ward’s only strategy at this point is to WIN the season finale at Long Beach and hope for bad luck for Alex Palou. Newgarden would need a miracle to WIN a third title, this year, but maybe Alex and Pato will be hit by a tour bus. Hey, it could happen!

• Grosjean was ecstatic after the race and the crowd roared their approval. Herta may have WON, but the best and most exciting driver in the race was the Freanch Formula One ex-pat and contender for Rookie of the Year, taking his 3rd podium on the season.

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

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The IndyCars now head to Long Beach to decide the championship - the 16th year in a row that the title goes down to the season finale. The Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach will be on September 26th.

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