IndyCars - Laguna Seca: The season ends as usual, with a BANG!

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Every year for decades now, the IndyCar season comes to the finale with the championship as yet unresolved. Such is the case again this season, as five drivers arrived at Laguna Seca with the hope that in a few days they will come away as the 2022 Champion, as we do…

The Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey

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The venue for the race is one of North America’s most famous tracks, WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, nestled in the hills near the site of old Fort Ord Army base on California’s Monterey Peninsula. Built in 1957, the 2.238 mile track has 11 turns and an elevation difference from start to finish of 300 feet. One of those turns may be the most famous turn in American racing - The " Corkscrew" at Turns 8 and 8a, where the bottom drops out as cars lose altitude on their way back to the front straight and the start / stop line and pit-in entrance. (The Corkscrew is circled in red in the pic above, at the top). Laguna Seca, which sees lots of SportsCar and motorcycle races as well as open wheel, is a difficult track to master, but mostly because it hasn’t been repaved in a long time, making the level of grip very, very low. It’s scheduled for a new surface sealing in the off-season, but that won’t help the IndyCar drivers who will be on it, this weekend.

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The 2022 championship chase is down to five drivers, in order of points:

1 - Will Power, Team Penske, 523
2 - Josef Newgarden, Team Penske, 503
3 - Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing, 503
4 - Marcus Ericsson, Chip Ganassi Racing, 484
5 - Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske, 482

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In addition to crowning the 2022 IndyCar Champion, the Road to Indy will also crown the 2022 Indy Lights Champion, this weekend. The current points leader is Sweden’s sophomore Linus Lundqvist for HMD Motorsports, who is 103 points ahead of veteran Matthew Brabham for Andretti Autosport. Linus needs only to score points in the 1st race of the series double-header, this weekend, to WIN the title.

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Linus Lundqvist - on his way to the title
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Fans in attendance will get to see the Indy Lights race on Saturday and Sunday while the IndyCars will race on Sunday. In between now and then will be practice and qualifying for both series. Let’s GET THIS GOING!!!

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

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The Lights were the first guys on the track this weekend and enjoyed a mostly good session in beautiful weather.

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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 - Linus Lundqvist, HMD Motorsports - time of 01:16.2159s for a speed of 105.710mph
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2 - Nolan Siegel [R], HMD Motorsports - time of 01:16.9746s for a speed of 104.668mph
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3 - Matthew Brabham, Andretti Autosport - time of 01:17.5963s for a speed of 103.830mph
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4 - Danial Frost, HMD Motorsports - time of 01:17.6377s for a speed of 103.774mph
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5 - Benjamin Pedersen, GRG w/HMD Motorsports - time of 01:17.6575s for a speed of 103.748mph
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6 - Hunter McElrea [R], Andretti Autosport
7 - Sting Ray Robb, Andretti Autosport
8 - Christian Rasmussen [R], Andretti Steinbrenner Racing
9 - Jacob Abel [R], Abel Motorsports
10 - Ernie Francis, Jr. [R], Force Indy

11 - Kyffin Simpson [R], HMD Motorsports
12 - Christian Bogle, HMD Motorsports
13 - Flinn Lazier [R], Abel Motorsports

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Notable:

  • Fans of the Off-Season thread will recognize that Indy Pro 2000 driver Nolan Siegel is making his Indy Lights debut, this weekend, driving for HMD Motorsports. Nolan had a great 1-day test at Autobahn Country Club in Illinois, prior to this. This weekend is like a pressure test for the 17-year-old to see if he might make the jump to Indy Lights in 2023, instead of taking a sophomore season of IP2K, where he came in 4th in the title hunt in his rookie season, driving for DEForce Racing.

  • Nolan immediately impressed with his P2 here, besting all the drivers except the series Championship points leader. Nolan may have no experience in the car, but he knows Laguna Seca from USF2000 races here, and he has experience in high-powered race cars, with a few drives in the IMSA WeatherTech series and the Michelin Pilot Challenge series.

  • The session was red flagged twice, with Christian Bogle going off in Turn 6 and Sting Ray Robb with a gearbox problem causing the last red flag, making it impossible for anyone but Lundqvist and Siegel to do their final high-speed runs on good tires at the end of the session.

  • Matty Brabham led most of the session but was eclipsed late in the going, before the last red flag prematurely ended the session.

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Nolan Siegel on his upcoming weekend:

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Linus Lundqvist
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The Lights will be back on the track Saturday morning to hold two qualifying sessions for their two weekend races. They will then hold Race 1 of the weekend mid-day. Next, the IndyCars come out for their first practice session…

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Friday at Laguna Seca - The IndyCars do their P-1 practice session…

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This was the long session that included the alternate red tires and the requisite qualifying simulations they engender.

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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 01:11.4103s for a speed of 112.824mph
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2 - Colton Herta, Andretti Autosport - time of 01:11.8266s for a speed of 112.170mph
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3 - Romain Grosjean, Andretti Autosport - time of 01:11.8697s for a speed of 112.103mph
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4 - Alexander Rossi, Andretti Autosport - time of 01:11.9034s for a speed of 112.050mph
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5 - Callum Ilott [R], Juncos Hollinger Racing - time of 01:11.9490s for a speed of 111.979mph
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6 - Simon Pagenaud, Meyer Shank Racing
7 - Will Power, Team Penske
8 - Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren SP
9 - David Malukas [R], Dale Coyne Racing w/ HMD Motorsports
10 - Marcus Ericsson, Chip Ganassi Racing

11 - Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske
12 - Felix Rosenqvist, Arrow McLaren SP
13 - Devlin DeFrancesco [R], Andretti Steinbrenner
14 - Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing
15 - Christian Lundegaard [R], Rahal Letterman Lanigan
16 - Helio Castroneves, Meyer Shank Racing
17 - Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing
18 - Takuma Sato, Dale Coyne Racing w/ Rick Ware Racing
19 - Jack Harvey, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
20 - Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan

21 - Rinus VeeKay, Ed Carpenter Racing
22 - Conor Daly, Ed Carpenter Racing
23 - Kyle Kirkwood [R], AJ Foyt Enterprises
24 - Dalton Kellett, AJ Foyt Enterprises
25 - Jimmie Johnson, Chip Ganassi Racing
26 - Simona De Silvestro, Paretta Autosport

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Notable:

  • Title-contender Newgarden takes the TOP SPOT. Josef will need to WIN and have Will Power finish worse that P7 in order to take the title. Will Power reckons both of them will HAVE TO go for the pole on Saturday.

  • Best team has to be Andretti which has its three veterans in P2, P3 and P4, with Simon Pagenaud for Meyer Shank (an Andretti-engineered car), in P6.

  • Despite a very recent test here, Chip Ganassi is not doing as well, with their best performer being contender Marcus Ericsson in P10 while Alex Palou is in P14 and contender Scott Dixon is in P17.

  • All five of the title contenders spent time sliding off the track during the session but none hit anything.

  • Best rookie is Callum Ilott, who was recently re-signed to Juncos Hollinger for 2023 and given the good news that he will have a teammate to help.

  • Falling on their faces are both Ed Carpenter Racing cars in P21 and P22 and they are of no help to Simona de Silvestro in P26, with her Paretta Autosport car engineered by ECR. The good news for Simona is that Beth Paretta believes the team will get more than 4 races for 2023 - maybe even a full season.

  • The general consensus was that the alternate tires will degrade rapidly, making for a tough day whenever the cars are on them. Tire strategy will therefore be KEY to the WIN.

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The title contenders and their prize goal, the Astor Cup, at Pebble Beach. Left to right, Marcus Ericsson, Scott Dixon, Will Power, Josef Newgarden and Scott McLaughlin:

Contenders

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The IndyCars will come out mid-morning on Saturday for a 2nd practice and then qualify for the Sunday race on Saturday afternoon. This was the last on-track activity of the day.

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Saturday at Laguna Seca - the Indy Lights come out to qualify…

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The qualifying was split into two distinct sessions, one for each weekend race, but there was little time between sessions to make any necessary car adjustments. However, this is what these mechanics are used to doing and capable of doing well.

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Here is the way the Indy Lights will grid for Season Round 13: [R] denotes rookie

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Row 1

Pole - Sting Ray Robb, Andretti Autosport
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P2 - Christian Rasmussen [R], Andretti Steinbrenner Racing
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Row 2

P3 - Benjamin Pedersen, GRG w/HMD Motorsports
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P4 - Hunter McElrea [R], Andretti Autosport
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Row 3

P5 - Linus Lundqvist, HMD Motorsports
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P6 - Danial Frost, HMD Motorsports
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Row 4

P7 - Jacob Abel [R], Abel Motorsports
P8 - Kyffin Simpson [R], HMD Motorsports

Row 5

P9 - Nolan Siegel [R], HMD Motorsports
P10 - Ernie Francis, Jr. [R], Force Indy

Row 6

P11 - Flinn Lazier [R], Abel Motorsports
P12 - Christian Bogle, HMD Motorsports

Row 7

P13 - Matthew Brabham, Andretti Autosport
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Notable:

  • Due to a malfunction of Timing and Scoring the times for this session were unavailable.

  • The Andretti cars all waited to go out, and thus saved their tires a bit more and it clearly helped the team.

  • Matty Brabham failed post-qually tech with a weight issue and lost his P6 grid spot. He will start Race 1 last.

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This race is scheduled to be run later today, followng the IndyCars’ second practice session. The Lights’ second qually session was next on the schedule…

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Saturday at Laguna Seca - the Indy Lights come out for their second qually…

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The Lights second qualifying session was held almost immediately after the first one was completed, and another Andretti driver took the pole…
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Here is the way the Indy Lights will grid for Season Round 14, with times for the TOP SIX: [R] denotes rookie

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Row 1

Pole - Christian Rasmussen [R], Andretti Steinbrenner Racing - time of 01:15.3618s for a speed of 106.908mph
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P2 - Linus Lundqvist, HMD Motorsports - time of 01:15.3788s for a speed of 106.884mph
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Row 2

P3 - Sting Ray Robb, Andretti Autosport - time of 01:15.5028s for a speed of 106.709mph
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P4 - Benjamin Pedersen, GRG w/HMD Motorsports - time of 01:15.6120s for a speed of 106.555mph
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Row 3

P5 - Matthew Brabham, Andretti Autosport - time of 01:15.6536s for a speed of 106.496mph
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P6 - Danial Frost, HMD Motorsports - time of 01:15.7075s for a speed of 106.420mph
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Row 4

P7 - Ernie Francis, Jr. [R], Force Indy
P8 - Jacob Abel [R], Abel Motorsports

Row 5

P9 - Hunter McElrea [R], Andretti Autosport
P10 - Kyffin Simpson [R], HMD Motorsports

Row 6

P11 - Nolan Siegel [R], HMD Motorsports
P12 - Christian Bogle, HMD Motorsports

Row 7

P13 - Flinn Lazier [R], Abel Motorsports

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Notable:

  • This is Christian’s first pole of 2022 and he got in on the final few corners of the final lap of the session, as everyone else was pitted.

  • Sting Ray Robb lost his two fastest laps due to a weight penalty, which makes his P3 on the grid even more remarkable.

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This race is scheduled for midday on Sunday. Next, the IndyCars hold their final practice before qualifying…

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Saturday afternoon at Laguna Seca - the IndyCars go for their P-2 practice…

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This session will be the final practice before qualifying, later today, but it was run on primaries only, so no qualifying set-ups were likely tried.

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

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1 - Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing - time of 01:11.3847s for a speed of 112.865mph
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2 - Alexander Rossi, Andretti Autosport - time of 01:11.6920s for a speed of 112.381mph
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3 - Will Power, Team Penske - time of 01:11.7183s for a speed of 112.340mph
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4 - Josef Newgarden, Team Penske - time of 01:11.7973s for a speed of 112.216mph
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5 - Colton Herta, Andretti Autosport - time of 01:11.8497s for a speed of 112.134mph
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6 - Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing
7 - Christian Lundegaard [R], Rahal Letterman Lanigan
8 - Simon Pagenaud, Meyer Shank Racing
9 - Callum Ilott [R], Juncos Hollinger Racing
10 - David Malukas [R], Dale Coyne Racing w/ HMD Motorsports

11 - Romain Grosjean, Andretti Autosport
12 - Jack Harvey, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
13 - Devlin DeFrancesco [R], Andretti Steinbrenner
14 - Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
15 - Helio Castroneves, Meyer Shank Racing
16 - Kyle Kirkwood [R], AJ Foyt Enterprises
17 - Rinus VeeKay, Ed Carpenter Racing
18 - Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske
19 - Felix Rosenqvist, Arrow McLaren SP
20 - Marcus Ericsson, Chip Ganassi Racing

21 - Takuma Sato, Dale Coyne Racing w/ Rick Ware Racing
22 - Conor Daly, Ed Carpenter Racing
23 - Dalton Kellett, AJ Foyt Enterprises
24 - Jimmie Johnson, Chip Ganassi Racing
25 - Simona De Silvestro, Paretta Autosport
26 - Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren SP

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Notable:

  • Pato O’Ward went off course in Turn 10 and tapped the tire wall lightly, but he collected enough gravel to start a paving business. He spent the rest of the session just getting cleaned up for qualifying.

  • Alex Palou just put in the best time of any Ganassi driver all weekend. This race may very well be the last time he drives in anger for the team, and he wants to make it count.

  • Colton Herta is sneaking up on this one. He WON the last two races here and his dad Bryan Herta WON three times here. Laguna Seca is the House of Herta.

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Alex Palou
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The IndyCars will come out for knock-out qualifying later this afternoon. Next up, the Indy Lights hold Race 1 of the weekend. The grid for this is in post # 4…

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Saturday at Laguna Seca - The Indy Lights Race 1 …

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…saw sophomore Sting Ray Robb for Andretti Autosport dominate to WIN his first-ever Indy Lights race, from pole, and also saw Swedish sophomore Linus Lundqvist secure the 2022 Indy Lights championship, driving for HMD Motorsports to a P6 finish. It was an all-Andretti podium, with Christian Rasmussen taking P2 from his P2 start and Hunter McElrea taking P3 from his P4 start.

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Sting Ray Robb for his first WIN
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The race started with P15 Flinn Lazier for Abel Motorsports breaking a half-shaft as he tried to leave the pits for the warm-up laps. He was returned to the pits for repairs as the rest of the field took off. On the opening lap as the cars funneled into Turns 1 and 2 Benjamin Pedersen for Global Racing Group w/ HMD dropped off the course briefly, going from P3 to P5, allowing Hunter and Jacob Abel for Abel Motorsports to occupy P3 and P4, respectively. Danial Frost for HMD dropped from P6 to P8 as teammate Nolan Siegel went from P9 to P7. Kyffin Simpson for HMD dropped from P8 to P12. Biggest mover was Matty Brabham for Andretti who went from P12 to P9. By lap 5 Danial was able to take P7 from Nolan as Sting Ray began to gap the field, setting the race Fastest Lap in the process.

For a number of laps Matty was all over Nolan, trying to find a way past him. On lap 9 Flinn was able to rejoin, to get in hot laps before Race 2. Finally, on lap 10 Matty pulled a classic over/under maneuver in Turns 1 and 2 to take P8 from Nolan. He then began to get away. At that point Nolan in P9, Christian Bogle for HMD, Kyffin Simpson for HMD and Ernie Francis for Force Indy were running nearly nose-to-tail for several laps. On lap 15 Kyffin spun in the corkscrew, allowing Ernie Francis to get by for P11. By lap 17 Sting Ray had a 5-second lead on Rasmussen. On lap 20 Christian Bogle was finally able to take P9 from Nolan, using up the last of his Push-to-Pass to do so.

For the rest of the 35-lap race Sting Ray extended his lead, Matty chased down Danial Frost and Nolan battled to keep Earnie Francis behind him. Points-leader Linus Lundqvist remained in P6 between Benjamin Pedersen and Danial Frost, content not to push too hard. Siegel was able to stay ahead of Francis and Frost was able to stay ahead of Brabham. Sting Ray finally crossed the line a solid 10 seconds ahead of Christian, who was 8 seconds ahead of Hunter.

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Notable

  • By simply starting the race Linus had enough points to take the 2022 title. He ended the race with 543 points. Going for Vice-Champion is now Sting Ray with 443 points and teammates Hunter McElrea and Matthew Brabham with 436 points each. Race 2 will crown one of those 3 as the series Vice-Champion.

  • Linus now holds 4 Junior Formula car titles but this one is easily his most important one and he was very emotional about it in the pits.

  • While this is Sting Ray’s first series WIN he has 6 previous podiums, and so was delighted to finally get the monkey off his back with this special 7th.

  • Hunter McElrea also now has 7 podiums on this rookie year for him. Two of them are WINS.

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Your 2022 Indy Lights Champion Linus Lundqvist for HMD Motorsports
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The Indy Lights will hold their final 2022 race on Sunday, just before the IndyCar race. Next up, the IndyCars qualify…

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Saturday at Laguna Seca - The IndyCars are qualified!..

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…for the final time in 2022 and racing history was made in the process as Team Penske’s Will Power took his 68th pole in 221 starts, eclipsing the decades-old record of the legendary Mario Andretti, who was there to congratulate the Australian.

But this wasn’t the only reason this was a significant qualifying session.

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

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Row 1

Pole - Will Power, Team Penske - time of 01:11.6127s for a speed of 112.505mph
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P2 - Callum Ilott [R], Juncos Hollinger Racing - time of 01:11.6320s for a speed of 112.475mph
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Row 2

P3 - Alexander Rossi, Andretti Autosport - time of 01:11.7698s for a speed of 112.259mph
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P4 - Romain Grosjean, Andretti Autosport - time of 01:11.7858s for a speed of 112.234mph
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Row 3

P5 - Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing - time of 01:12.1625s for a speed of 111.648mph
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P6 - Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren SP - time of 01:12.4542s for a speed of 111.199mph
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Row 4

P7 - David Malukas [R], Dale Coyne Racing w/ HMD Motorsports
P8 - Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske

Row 5

P9 - Felix Rosenqvist, Arrow McLaren SP
P10 - Marcus Ericsson, Chip Ganassi Racing

Row 6

P11 - Simon Pagenaud, Meyer Shank Racing
P12 - Helio Castroneves, Meyer Shank Racing

Row 7

P13 - Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing
P14 - Rinus VeeKay, Ed Carpenter Racing

Row 8

P15 - Conor Daly, Ed Carpenter Racing
P16 - Christian Lundegaard [R], Rahal Letterman Lanigan

Row 9

P17 - Kyle Kirkwood [R], AJ Foyt Enterprises
P18 - Colton Herta, Andretti Autosport

Row 10

P19 - Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
P20 - Devlin DeFrancesco [R], Andretti Steinbrenner

Row 11

P21 - Jack Harvey, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
P22 - Takuma Sato, Dale Coyne Racing w/ Rick Ware Racing

Row 12

P23 - Jimmie Johnson, Chip Ganassi Racing
P24 - Dalton Kellett, AJ Foyt Enterprises

Row 13

P25 - Josef Newgarden, Team Penske
P26 - Simona De Silvestro, Paretta Autosport

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Notable:

  • Not only does Will now own the record outright, but he did it in approximately 100 fewer races than Mario. Power has now started on pole in just over 30% of his career starts - that is incredible!

  • Power was the only championship contender to make the Firestone Fast Six. Longshots Scott Mclaughlin and Marcus Ericsson both made the Fast 12, but Scott Dixon and Josef Newgarden didn’t even make it out of the Q1 session, with Newgarden the worst off, starting in P25 after a spin in the corkscrew. Power added 1 extra point to his lead.

  • This is rookie Callum Ilott’s best-ever start and he missed pole by only .019 seconds.

  • Rookie David Malukas TOPPED the Q1 Group 1 session and missed the Fast Six by getting bumped by Alex Palou’s P5 in the final seconds of the Q2 session.

  • This was Will Power’s 9th Firestone Fast Six of the year, of which he converted 4 to pole. Scott McLaughlin has been in 11 Fast Sixes on the year and converted 3 to pole, though he did neither today. Pato O’Ward has been in 10 Firestone Fast Sixes and converted 1 to pole.

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Will Power comments and meets up with Mario Andretti:

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Sunday morning will start with the morning Warm-Up - aka the P-3 practice session. That will be followed by the final race of the Indy Lights season and then the IndyCar finale. This was the last on-track activity of the day.

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Sunday morning at Laguna Seca - the IndyCars hold their P-3 practice…

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…known as the “Warm-Up”, this post-qualifying session is the last chance for teams to check whatever is most pressing on their agendas before the race. Is it tire wear and tire strategy? Is it fuel mileage or full-fuel handling? Is it handling adjustments for a changing track? All we know is no one is checking out their qualifying set-up. That’s over and done. Since we don’t know each car’s agenda, the Warm-Up only tells you which guys are looking for confirmation of outright speed from their race set-up and the fast guys in Warm-Up will be fast in the race. We just know they will not be the only fast guys in the race.

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

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1 - Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing - time of 01:12.9318s for a speed of 110.470mph
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2 - Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske - time of 01:13.4435s for a speed of 109.701mph
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3 - Alexander Rossi, Andretti Autosport - time of 01:13.5703s for a speed of 109.512mph
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4 - David Malukas [R], Dale Coyne Racing w/ HMD Motorsports - time of 01:13.6474s for a speed of 109.397mph
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5 - Devlin DeFrancesco [R], Andretti Steinbrenner - time of 01:13.7738s for a speed of 109.210mph
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6 - Rinus VeeKay, Ed Carpenter Racing
7 - Felix Rosenqvist, Arrow McLaren SP
8 - Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing
9 - Colton Herta, Andretti Autosport
10 - Romain Grosjean, Andretti Autosport

11 - Simon Pagenaud, Meyer Shank Racing
12 - Marcus Ericsson, Chip Ganassi Racing
13 - Callum Ilott [R], Juncos Hollinger Racing
14 - Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren SP
15 - Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
16 - Jack Harvey, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
17 - Christian Lundegaard [R], Rahal Letterman Lanigan
18 - Will Power, Team Penske
19 - Josef Newgarden, Team Penske
20 - Conor Daly, Ed Carpenter Racing

21 - Takuma Sato, Dale Coyne Racing w/ Rick Ware Racing
22 - Kyle Kirkwood [R], AJ Foyt Enterprises
23 - Simona De Silvestro, Paretta Autosport
24 - Helio Castroneves, Meyer Shank Racing
25 - Jimmie Johnson, Chip Ganassi Racing
26 - Dalton Kellett, AJ Foyt Enterprises

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Notable:

  • There is a secondary championship at play as the five rookies are all going for Rookie of the Year. It’s down to Christian Lundgaard and David Malukas. Malukas was fast this morning, but Lundgaard was obviously working with his teammates on something other than outright speed. It was rookie Devlin DeFrancesco who was matching Malukas.

  • By watching the Warm-Up it was obvious that the red alternate tires are going to fall off quickly and continue to fall off incrementally as long as they are on the car, so that will be a significant part of every car’s strategy.

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Alex Palou takes his last race as the series defending Champion
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The IndyCar race is scheduled for LIVE broadcast on NBC, starting at 2:30pm EASTERN time and 11:30am PACIFIC time, with concurrent broadcast on Peacock Premium. Next up, the Indy Lights close out their season. The grid for this is in post # 5…

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Sunday at Laguna Seca - the Indy Lights close out their season with Race 2…

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…and sweeping the podium again was Andretti Autosport, with Christian Rasmussen grabbing his 2nd WIN of the season, this one from pole. P2 went to Race 1 WINNER Sting Ray Robb from his P3 start while P3 went to Matthew Brabham from his P5 start.

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Lap 1 saw a lot of action as Christian led the field from pole. Jacob Abel for Abel Motorsports made bold moves to go past Ernie Francis for Force Indy and Danial Frost for HMD Motorsports to end up in P6. Newbie Nolan Siegel for HMD took P10 away from teammate Kyffin Simpson. On lap 2 Hunter McElrea for Andretti took P8 from Ernie. Sting Ray then attacked 2022 Champion Linus Lundqvist for HMD in the Corkscrew and took P2 from him, as Matty Brabham passed Benjamin Pedersen for HMD at the end of the Rahal Straight to take over P4. On lap 4 Matty also used the Corkscrew to take P3 away from Linus.

On lap 5 Nolan passed Ernie for the P9 spot and Kyffin followed through to take over P10. Flinn Lazier for Abel Motorsports took over the P12 spot from Christian Bogle for HMD. On lap 6 Sting Ray set Fastest Lap trying to chase down Rasmussen, up front. By lap 8 a battle had developed for the P9 spot between Nolan and Kyffin and they began to run a car-length apart. On lap 10 Christian Bogle reclaimed P12 from Flinn Lazier. By lap 14 Ernie Francis caught up to Nolan and Kyffin and joined their battle, while the three race leaders settled into their own positions, neither gaining nor losing ground.

On lap 20 Benjamin Pedersen went off in Turn 6 and got back on, but not before Jacob Abel was past him into P5. By lap 28 the battle for P9 became a four-car scrum, as Christian Bogle caught up to Nolan, Kyffin and Ernie. On the final lap, lap 35, Ernie stuck his nose inside Kyffin in Turns 1 and 2, and both went off, allowing Bogle to slip into P10 and Flinn Lazier to take P11. Ernie and Kyffin recovered to take P12 and P13 respectively, but Race Control gave the P12 spot to Kyffin due to Ernie causing their shunt.

Christain crossed the line 0.9 seconds ahead of Sting Ray, who was 3 seconds ahead of Matty.

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Notable:

  • Rasmussen’s other WIN in 2022 was at Road America. He intends to return to Indy Lights in 2023, though he is not yet confirmed. Christian was a champion of both USF2000 and Indy Pro 2000 and wants to have a Lights title to complete the Road to Indy set.

  • With his P1 yesterday and P2 today, Sting Ray Robb becomes Vice-Champion in his sophomore year, with Matty Brabham settling into 3rd in the points. Expect Robb to re-sign with Andretti for another season in 2023. Matty is undecided where to go in 2023. It may be back in the Lights or it may be to Super Formula in Japan, where Alex Palou came from.

  • Linus Lundqvist’s P4 today gives him 575 points total for the season, besting Sting Ray by a healthy 92 points. He is expected to move on to IndyCars, but the question is where can he slot in? His scholarship will net him a guaranteed three races in IndyCars in 2023, with one of them being the Indy 500. A lot has to happen with other drivers before anyone can say where the talented and friendly Swede might land.

  • Rookie of the Year honors went to Andretti’s Hunter McElrea with his P8, despite problems with the Push-to-Pass system in his # 27 Andretti Autosport entry that made it impossible to get past Danial Frost. McElrea ended up fourth in the standings with 460 points, 20 ahead of fellow rookie Rasmussen.

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Hunter McElrea - RotY for 2022
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Race WINNER Christian Rasmussen
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…and P2 Sting Ray Robb (left) and P3 Matthew Brabham
C9Ju1INXgAEx84B_zpsqg39siiumatt_brabham_zpsmtm7nkxz

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That’s it for the Indy Lights for 2022. The next time we see the cars will be in pre-season testing for 2023, and we expect the field to be the largest in many years. next up, the IndyCar race. The grid for this is in post # 8…

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M

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Sunday at Laguna Seca - The IndyCar race…

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The IndyCar season finale was a nail-biter for 3/4ths of the race, with a huge possibility for a mega-upset to the Championship, but ultimately Alex Palou for Chip Ganassi Racing was like a freight train, going to his first and only WIN of the season, and Will Power for Team Penske was Steady Eddie in 3rd place, so despite an Herculean effort, Josef Newgarden for Team Penske came up 1 position short on both the race WIN and the season title, as Power secured his 2nd IndyCar career Championship by 16 points.

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Will Power - 2022 IndyCar Champion
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Alex Palou - race WINNER, with Chip Ganassi watching
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The race was hugely entertaining, especially while watching Josef Newgarden go from a P25 start to the lead at one point, all on legitimate on-track passes. He made many of those passes (including his pass on Power), in the Corkscrew, tempting the same fate that saw him ruin his qualifying by clipping the yellow metal diamond on the inside of Turn 8. He was both fearless and aggressive for the whole race, but his title dream was undone by Palou, who was just a tiny bit faster, and by Power’s other pursuers, who were unable to throw him out of 3rd place.

Once Palou took the lead he spent the rest of the race steadily opening up a 30-second lead over Newgarden by the end. In the meantime, Power knew that he didn’t have to beat Josef. He just couldn’t afford to lose more positions to others and he didn’t, though others pursued him.

As the laps wound down it was clear that Newgarden couldn’t catch Palou and Power wouldn’t lose anymore positions and that was the ball game. Another great race with action all through the field to cap off another great season of IndyCar!

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Some of the race highlights:

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Notable:

  • Fellow title contenders Scott Mclaughlin, Marcus Ericsson and Scott Dixon came home P6, P9 and P12 respectively.

  • Palou was the 9th different WINNER in this remarkable year. His 30+ second WIN was the largest margin of victory all season.

  • Rookie of the Year will be Christian Lundgaard with his run to P5 while his closest pursuer David Malukas had some trouble early but recovered and finished P13. Rookie Callum Ilott had a great race going until he dropped out with a mechanical on lap 38, bringing out the only caution of the race.

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LundWINNER

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The 2022 Champion on his weekend:

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The race WINNER on his dominating run up front:

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2nd in the race and in the title hunt, Josef on his next season:

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Officially, here are the TOP SIX in points leaving Laguna Seca:

1 - Will Power, 560
2 - Josef Newgarden, 544
3 - Scott Dixon, 521
4 - Alex Palou, 510
5 - Scott McLaughlin, 510
6 - Marcus Ericsson, 506

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Well, that’s it for 2022. It was another great season of racing with SO MANY different race WINNERS and a tight title hunt, coming down to the final race weekend. Add in so many great battles in the Road to Indy and it is hard for a race fan to ask for anything more.

Most of the current drivers will return to the series in 2023 and we will have a few new names, as well. We will keep abreast of the musical chairs of the Silly Season in the “Off-Season” thread, as well as stay up with the IndyCar and Road to Indy drivers who will be present in other forms of racing and in testing until the 2023 season begins.
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Thank you, Laguna Seca, for another wonderful outing and we will see you next year!!

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M.

I heard today that the TV viewership was the best since 2008. I wondered if the cancellation of the NBCSports Network would hurt. But it does not seem so. I personally like watching the Peacock Network coverage. I also heard today that Kyle Busch’s new contract with Richard Childress Racing includes where he could run the Indy 500. If you remember his brother Kurt finished 6th in his one Indy 500. And it will be interesting to see if Fernando Alonso tries another Indy race. He said that he had a lot of fun there and was looking forward to returning.