IndyCars - The Indy 500: "Back home again, in Indiana..."

[MarkyS]

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It’s time once again for arguably the greatest motor race of the year, anywhere in the world. It’s the 106th running of …

The Indianapolis 500

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Every May the “greatest spectacle in racing” takes place on the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval. The Memorial Day tradition, now 106 years old, has made the careers of many drivers, putting them in a very storied and exclusive club - WINNERS of the Indy 500. It’s the one that everyone wants.

The oval’s four corners are alike - banked at 9 degrees, 12 minutes - and each end of the track is separated by two straights of 5/8ths of a mile each - long enough to give drivers a breather each lap over the 200 laps they will do. Unlike the Grand Prix of Indianapolis, which is run on the infield road course, the Indy 500 is run in a counter-clockwise direction.

Because of the speeds on the track, the entrance to pit lane has to be all the way back at Turn 3, allowing cars to slow significantly without interfering with the racing. The exit from pit lane runs around the insides of Turn 1 and Turn 2 and blends just past Turn 2, again, allowing cars to get up to speed without interfering with the racing.

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The Indy 500 is scheduled for Sunday at 11:00am EASTERN time, and it looks like the weather will cooperate. IF ALL GOES according to plan, there will actually be three races on the weekend schedule - two of them for the Road to Indy at .688-mile Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park, just a few miles away from IMS. The two races at IRP will be on Carb Day - the Friday before the race weekend:

• The Freedom 75 USF2000 race
• The Freedom 90 Indy Pro 2000 race

The IndyCars have been practicing for the 500 for more than a week and the 33 starting cars are already qualified for the race. The reports on all that practice and qualifying can be found in the Off-Season thread recent posts, though we will repost the starting grid in this thread.

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Let’s look at that support racing:

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(continued…)

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M

[MarkyS]

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Support Racing…

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The Road to Indy is the where prospective IndyCar drivers are trained, through 4 increasingly-difficult series, starting with USF Juniors, followed by USF2000, Indy Pro 2000 and finally Indy Lights. This weekend, USF2000 and Indy Pro 2000 will be featured.

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USF2000 - The series uses the all-carbon Tatuus USF-22 car, powered by a 2.0 liter engine made by Elite Engines, with about 175 hp. The cars have racing slicks and adjustable wings. The transmissions are a six-speed sequential gearbox, with steering-wheel paddle shifters. The brakes are 4-piston monobloc caliper sets, front and rear.

The drivers are often entering formula cars for the first time, often right out of karting. They will range from 14-years-old to any age above, but youth is prevalent. Some will be rookies and some will be returning veterans and / or champions from other series. The fields are usually very large with a wide range in competence - some excellent while others are learning a lot. For most of them, this weekend will be their first oval racing experience. After 7 races, the current points leader in the series is rookie Jagger Jones for Cape Motorsports, with 1 WIN and 4 podiums, so far, but the TOP FOUR in points are only 5 points apart!

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Jagger Jones for Cape Motorsports

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Indy Pro 2000 - “IP2K” uses the PM-22 car from Tatuus, based on the USF-22, but with much bigger tires, much more wing, and a much more powerful engine. The Elite Engines 2.0 liter puts out 275 hp. Transmissions are six-speed sequential transmissions, controlled by paddle-shifters on the steering wheel. With the bigger tires and more wing, the cars have substantially more downforce and more braking that USF2000.

The fields are typically graduates from USF2000 or from European F3 and GP3, all used to cars with more power and grip and with great racecraft in their arsenal. The level of competency and competition across the board is more even, though the fields are smaller than USF2000. Again, for some drivers IRP will be their first oval experience. After 7 races, the current points leader is 17-year-old rookie Nolan Siegel from California, driving for DEForce Racing. Nolan has 2 WINS and 3 podiums, so far, with only 1 finish outside the TOP TEN.

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Nolan Siegel

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Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park is a multi-track racing mecca just a few miles from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Brownsburg, Indiana. It boasts a full road course and a drag strip, along with the tiny paved oval.

LO-IRP

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On Friday - Carb Day for the Indy 500 - The two series will hold a practice followed by the evening races, also known as the “Carb Night Classic”…IF the weather cooperates. Let’s get this going!

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M

[MarkyS]

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Friday at LO-IRP - The kids from USF2000 hold final practice before the Freedom 75…

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On Thursday both USF2000 and Indy Pro 2000 held two test sessions each and then qualified for their Friday races. Those results can be seen in the most recent “Off-Season” thread posts.

Today, the rains returned to IRP but late in the day USF2000 was able to get in their post-qualifying “warm-up” session and we have those results here.

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Here was the order of speed for the USF2000 P-1 session, with times for the TOP FIVE: [R] denotes rookie; time is for 1 lap

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1 - Christian Weir, Turn 3 Motorsports - time of 00:22.5566s for a speed of 109.485mph

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2 - Jagger Jones [R], Cape Motorsports - time of 00:22.6466s for a speed of 109.049mph

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3 - Michael D’Orlando, Cape Motorsports - time of 00:22.6816s for a speed of 108.881mph

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4 - Myles Rowe, Pabst Racing - time of 00:22.7221s for a speed of 108.687mph

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5 - Bijoy Garg, DEForce Racing - time of 00:22.7484s for a speed of 108.561mph

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6 - Jace Denmark, Pabst Racing
7 - Billy Frazer, Exclusive Autosport
8 - Spike Kohlbecker, Turn 3 Motorsports
9 - Danny Dyszelski [R], Jay Howard Driver Development
10 - Nicky Hays [R], Cape Motorsports

11 - Thomas Nepveu, DEForce Racing
12 - Simon Sikes, Legacy Autosport
13 - Dylan Christie, DEForce Racing
14 - Trey Burke, Joe Dooling Autosports
15 - Jacob Douglas [R], Exclusive Autosport
16 - Jackson Lee, Cape Motorsports

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Notable:

• Christian Weir showed speed in both test sessions, with a P5 and a P3, but qualified P11, so this speed shows that the test sessions were more representative of what he’s got for the race. But starting from P11 will make it harder to show it.

• The TOP FIVE in points are in the TOP SEVEN here. In order, Jagger Jones, Billy Frazer, Michael d’Orlando, Myles Rowe and Jace Denmark. These guys have already proven they are good on the twisty circuits, but here they prove they are also capable of learning the ovals. It’s WHY they are the TOP FIVE in points.

• Rookie Jorge Garciarce for Jay Howard Driver Development did not practice, though he did qualify yesterday for a P14 start.

Jorge Garciarce

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Christian Weir - TOPS in warm-up

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Next, Indy Pro 2000 holds final warm-up…
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M

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[MarkyS]

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Friday at LO-IRP - The Indy Pro 2000 gang hold final practice before the Freedom 90…

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Just as with the USF2000 kids, the IP2K gang got in a final warm-up before tonight’s race.

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Here was the order of speed for the Indy Pro 2000 P-1 session, with times for the TOP FIVE: [R] denotes rookie; time is for 1 lap

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1 - Louis Foster [R], Exclusive Autosport - time of 00:21.0498s for a speed of 117.322mph

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2 - Reece Gold, Juncos Hollinger Racing - time of 00:21.0859s for a speed of 117.121mph

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3 - Josh Green [R], Turn 3 Motorsports - time of 00:21.2405s for a speed of 116.268mph

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4 - Nolan Siegel [R], DEForce Racing - time of 00:21.2972s for a speed of 115.959mph

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5 - Enaam Ahmed, Juncos Hollinger Racing - time of 00:21.3042s for a speed of 115.921mph

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6 - Jack William Miller, Miller Vinatieri Motorsports
7 - Salvador de Alba [R], Jay Howard Driver Development
8 - Kiko Porto [R], DEForce Racing
9 - Jonathan Browne [R], Turn 3 Motorsports
10 - Braden Eves, Jay Howard Driver Development

11 - Wyatt Brichacek, Jay Howard Driver Development
12 - Charles Finelli, FatBoy Racing!
13 - Yuven Sundaramoorthy [R], Pabst Racing - no time
14 - Jordan Missig [R], Pabst Racing - no time
15 - Colin Kaminsky, Pabst Racing - no time

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Notable:

• As with USF2000, the TOP FIVE in points are in the TOP FIVE in practice, with the exception of Braden Eves - 4th in the points but only 10th in this practice. Braden qualified P2 last year and finished P4 so we are a bit mystified by his slow speed, relatively.

• The entire Pabst Racing team elected not to practice and are thus last on this chart, but all qualified in the TOP EIGHT.

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Louis Foster - oval rookie impresses

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IP2K is scheduled to do the Freedom 90 right after USF2000 finishes the Freedom 75 - weather permitting for both.

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M

[MarkyS]

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Friday at Indianapolis Raceway Park - The grid for the USF2000 Freedom 75…

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The rain which has plagued IRP all day and made practice hard to get in has STOPPED and the race will hopefully proceed.

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Here is the way USF2000 will grid for Season Round 8, with times for the TOP SIX: [R] denotes rookie; time is for two laps while speed is the average of those two laps.

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Row 1

Pole - Michael D’Orlando, Cape Motorsports - time of 00:44.8229s for a speed of 110.194mph

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P2 - Bijoy Garg, DEForce Racing - time of 00:44.9577s for a speed of 109.863mph

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Row 2

P3 - Myles Rowe, Pabst Racing - time of 00:44.9878s for a speed of 109.790mph

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P4 - Jace Denmark, Pabst Racing - time of 00:44.9901s for a speed of 109.784mph

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Row 3

P5 - Thomas Nepveu, DEForce Racing - time of 00:45.0308s for a speed of 109.685mph

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P6 - Jagger Jones [R], Cape Motorsports - time of 00:45.1598s for a speed of 109.372mph

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Row 4

P7 - Simon Sikes, Legacy Autosport
P8 - Spike Kohlbecker, Turn 3 Motorsports

Row 5

P9 - Billy Frazer, Exclusive Autosport
P10 - Nicky Hays [R], Cape Motorsports

Row 6

P11 - Christian Weir, Turn 3 Motorsports
P12 - Dylan Christie, DEForce Racing

Row 7

P13 - Jackson Lee, Cape Motorsports
P14 - Jorge Garciarce [R], Jay Howard Driver Development

Row 8

P15 - Trey Burke, Joe Dooling Autosports
P16 - Danny Dyszelski [R], Jay Howard Driver Development

Row 9

P17 - Jacob Douglas [R], Exclusive Autosport

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Notable:

• Bijoy Garg held pole until very near the end of qualifying and then Michael took it. Michael started on pole and then WON the race in 2021.

• Billy Frazer is 2nd in the points behind Jagger Jones at the moment. He was expected to qualify well but his car started to stumble and lose power with some sort of mechanical on his warm-up lap. He recovered somewhat but should have been much higher up the grid.

Billy Frazer - Wha’ happened?

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Next, the grid for Indy Pro 2000…

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M

[MarkyS]

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Friday at Indianapolis Raceway Park - The grid for the Indy Pro 2000 Freedom 90…

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As with the Freedom 75, we are hoping that the rain stays away long enough for the Freedom 90 to proceed.

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Here is the way Indy Pro 2000 will grid for season Round 8, with times for the TOP SIX: [R] denotes rookie; time is for two laps while speed is the average of those two laps.

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Row 1

Pole - Reece Gold, Juncos Hollinger Racing - time of 00:41.3426s for a speed of 119.470mph

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P2 - Enaam Ahmed, Juncos Hollinger Racing - time of 00:41.3776s for a speed of 119.369mph

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Row 2

P3 - Louis Foster [R], Exclusive Autosport - time of 00:41.7310s for a speed of 118.358mph

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P4 - Nolan Siegel [R], DEForce Racing - time of 00:41.8315s for a speed of 118.074mph

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Row 3

P5 - Yuven Sundaramoorthy [R], Pabst Racing - time of 00:42.0518s for a speed of 117.455mph

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P6 - Josh Green [R], Turn 3 Motorsports - time of 00:42.0884s for a speed of 117.353mph

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Row 4

P7 - Colin Kaminsky, Pabst Racing
P8 - Jordan Missig [R], Pabst Racing

Row 5

P9 - Kiko Porto [R], DEForce Racing
P10 - Jack William Miller, Miller Vinatieri Motorsports

Row 6

P11 - Wyatt Brichacek, Jay Howard Driver Development
P12 - Salvador de Alba [R], Jay Howard Driver Development

Row 7

P13 - Jonathan Browne [R], Turn 3 Motorsports
P14 - Braden Eves, Jay Howard Driver Development

Row 8

P15 - Charles Finelli, FatBoy Racing!

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Notable:

• Yuven Sundaramoorthy held pole for quite some time but then Louie Foster threw down two great laps and passed him. Eventually, Enaam Ahmed eclipsed Louis and then quickly Reece took pole from Enaam. Reece took pole last year, too, but ended up P2 behind race WINNER Christian Rasmussen.

• Juncos Hollinger Racing gave Reece and Enaam the best two cars, again. There is a reason they are known as the kingmakers of Indy Pro 2000.

• We’re again concerned about Braden Eves. Something is really wrong, here.

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We await the call from the Road to Indy on the Freedom 75 with respect to the weather. The grid for that race is in post # 5, above…

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M

[MarkyS]

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Friday night at LO-IRP - The Freedom 75…
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…was WON from pole by Michael d’Orlando for Cape Motorsports from pole, for the 2nd time in two years. P2 went to Bijoy Garg for DEForce Raxing from his P2 start while P3 went to Myles Rowe for Pabst Racing from his P3 start.

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This was a race of spaces - spaces increasing and decreasing between the 3 leaders who spaced themselves away from everyone else. Michael took off at the start with Bijoy in tow. Those two immediately began to separate from the pack, ever-so-slightly with each lap, with Myles Rowe just a little behind them. Bijoy was never more than a half a second off Michael’s rear for almost the entire race, while Myles stayed close enough to see them both at the same time. Bijoy set the Fastest Lap on lap 3 in pursuit. On lap 5 Jagger Jones for Cape Motorsports took P5 from Thomas Nepveu for DEForce. Billy Frazer for Exclusive Autosport was able to get P8 from Spike Kohlbecker for Turn 3 Motorsports

On lap 25 Billy took P7 from Simon Sikes for Legacy Autosport. In the mean time the three leaders were already weaving their way through back-markers, lapping them. They were also getting closer to each other, or opening gaps to each other, depending on that traffic.

By lap 70 Bijoy was getting very close to Michael, waiting for a pick to take him in traffic, but it never came. Michael took the checkers on lap 75 just 0.2 seconds ahead of Bijoy, who was almost 0.8 seconds ahead of Myles.

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Notable:

• This was Michael’s 2nd Freedom 75 WIN in a row and first WIN of 2022. The 45 points for an oval WIN plus 1 for pole plus 1 for Most Laps Led gave him a 17-point lead over Myles Rowe who moved into 2nd place. Jagger Jones’ 5th place put him back from 1st to 3rd in the points while Billy Frazer’s heroics kept him from falling too far out of 2nd place and just into 4th place. Jace Denmark for Pabst Racing takes over 5th spot.

• This was Bijoy Garg’s best ever Road to Indy finish and if he keeps running this hard he isn’t long for that first WIN.

• This was Myles Rowe’s 4th podium of the year.
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Your happy podium - That’s Bijoy Garg in P2 on the left, Michael d’ Orlando in P1 in the middle and Myles Rowe in P3 on the right:

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

1 - Michael d’ Orlando, 177
2 - Myles Rowe, 160
3 - Jagger Jones, 158
4 - Billy Frazer, 152
5 - Jace Denmark, 145

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The next outings for USF2000 will be Rounds 9 and 10 at Road America, June 9-12, in support of the IndyCars. Next, the Freedom 90 with Indy Pro 2000. the grid for this is in post # 6…

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M

[MarkyS]

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Friday night at LO-IRP - The Freedom 90…

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…was WON under the lights by Exclusive Autosports’ English wizard Louis Foster from his P3 start. P2 went to pole sitter Reece Gold for Juncos Hollinger Racing while P3 went to Josh Green for Turn 3 Motorsports from his P6 start.

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As Reece led the field away with teammate Enaam Ahmed right beside him in P2 there was lots of action behind them. Josh Green moved from P6 to P4 past Nolan Siegel for DEForce Racing while Jordan Missig for Pabst Racing passed teammate Yuven Sundaramoorthy for 6th place. Jack William Miller for Miller Vinatieri took P8 from Pabst Racing’s Colin Kaminsky. On lap 4 Louis set Fastest Lap trying to chase down Enaam. On lap 9 Reece set a new Fastest Lap trying to keep ahead of Enaam. By lap 10 Reece was a full second out front. 10 laps later he had opened that lead up to 2 seconds out.

On lap 27 Jack William took Yuven for 7th place. On lap 28 Colin took P9 from Salvador de Alba for Jay Howard Driver Development. By lap 31 Reece was hitting the back-markers and they were slowing him up, enough so that his lead over Enaam dwindled to just under a second. On lap 37 Colin moved into P7 past Jack William. By lap 39 Reece was now only 0.34 seconds ahead of Enaam, but Louie was moving up too, and was near Enaam. On lap 46 Foster finally passed Ahmed for 2nd place and quickly moved beside Gold for the lead. The two ran side-by-side with Foster on the low side for two laps! Eventually, they came up to Colin who blocked Gold and Foster was by for the lead. After the pass, Louie checked out and by lap 53 he was 2.3 seconds in the lead.

On lap 54 Josh Green took P3 from Enaam Ahmed but then Colin brushed the outside wall, and though he kept moving a full-course caution resulted as Kaminsky went to the pits. On the lap 57 restart Foster took off and on lap 61 he reset Fastest Lap to get away. By lap 62 he was a full second out front. By lap 68 that was 2.3 seconds. On lap 71 Ahmed was back by Green to reclaim P3 but a lap later the Team USA Scholarship WINNER was back by once again to retake P3. By lap 74 Foster was clear by 3.7 seconds, but then Gold began to catch him back. By lap 80 it was down to 2.8 seconds and Foster continued to lose space, but by lap 90 the gap was still 1.4 seconds as Louie crossed the line. Reece came home another 1.4 seconds ahead of Josh.

A great race of back and fourth battling between the leaders!

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Notable:

• Foster has now conquered American road course racing and his first-ever oval race. With the 45 points for the oval WIN and 1 point for Fastest Lap he SWEEPS both Indianapolis May races and moves into 1st place in the points chase as Nolan Siegel with his P5 falls to 3rd.

• This is the 2nd year in a row that Reece Gold finished P2 from a pole start. That has to be getting old. Nevertheless, he retains 2nd in the points.

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Your happy podium - That’s Reece Gold in P2 on the left, Louis Foster in P1 in the middle and (trust us…) Josh Green in P3 on the right:

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

1 - Louis Foster, 183
2 - Reece Gold, 170
3 - Nolan Siegel, 167
4 - Enaam Ahmed, 143
5 - Josh Green, 139

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The next outings for Indy Pro 2000 will be Rounds 9 and 10 at Road America, June 9-12, in support of the IndyCars.

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M

[MarkyS]

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Friday at Indianapolis - The IndyCars hold final practice before the race on Sunday…

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…and two cars found the wall in Turn 1 as Colton Herta for Andretti Autosport spun on his own and overturned, while David Malukas for Dale Coyne Racing w/ HMD Motorsports and Santino Ferrucci for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing made contact in the turn, with Dave hitting the wall. Both Herta and Malukas have extensive damage. Ferrucci was undamaged but judged the cause of the shunt and was held in the pits for 20 minutes as a penalty for avoidable contact. The Herta car is a write-off and will have to be replaced by the back-up car. The Dale Coyne team will have all night Friday and all day Saturday to repair the car for the Sunday race.

This practice, being post-qualifying, is hard to read, as we do not know what each team or each driver was trying to accomplish with it. While some put in many laps, searching for some data or for more speed, others only put in a few laps, just to confirm their race set-up. In other words, a lot of the faster cars were NOT faster today - no need to be.

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Here was the order of speed for the IndyCars P-9 practice, with times for the TOP SIX: [R] denotes series rookie; time is 1 lap

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1 - Tony Kanaan, Chip Ganassi Racing - time of 00:39.6277s for a speed of 227.114mph

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2 - Marcus Ericsson, Chip Ganassi Racing - time of 00:39.6468s for a speed of 227.004mph

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3 - Takuma Sato, Dale Coyne Racing w/ Rick Ware Racing - time of 00:39.6757s for a speed of 226.839mph

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4 - Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing - time of 00:39.7007s for a speed of 226.696mph

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5 - Sage Karam, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing - time of 00:39.7322s for a speed of 226.517mph

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6 - Will Power, Team Penske - time of 00:39.8174s for a speed of 226.032mph

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7 - Jimmie Johnson, Chip Ganassi Racing
8 - Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren SP
9 - Marco Andretti, Andretti Herta Autosport
10 - Felix Rosenqvist, Arrow McLaren SP

11 - Conor Daly, Ed Carpenter Racing
12 - Christian Lundegaard [R], Rahal Letterman Lanigan
13 - Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske
14 - Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing
15 - Stefan Wilson, DragonSpeed / Cusick Motorsports
16 - Juan Pablo Montoya, Arrow McLaren SP
17 - David Malukas [R], Dale Coyne Racing w/ HMD Motorsports
18 - Helio Castroneves, Meyer Shank Racing
19 - Kyle Kirkwood [R], AJ Foyt Enterprises
20 - Colton Herta, Andretti Autosport

21 - Simon Pagenaud, Meyer Shank Racing
22 - JR Hildebrand, AJ Foyt Enterprises
23 - Josef Newgarden, Team Penske
24 - Callum Ilott [R], Juncos Hollinger Racing
25 - Alexander Rossi, Andretti Autosport
26 - Jack Harvey, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
27 - Romain Grosjean, Andretti Autosport
28 - Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
29 - Santino Ferrucci, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
30 - Devlin DeFrancesco [R], Andretti Steinbrenner

31 - Ed Carpenter, Ed Carpenter Racing
32 - Dalton Kellett, AJ Foyt Enterprises
33 - Rinus VeeKay, Ed Carpenter Racing

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Notable:

• Chip Ganassi’s boys continue to dominate the proceedings, with 4 out of 5 in the TOP SIX, including pole-sitter Scott Dixon. Only Alex Palou was outside the TOP SIX with his P14, but he qualified P2, so no worries for him.

• Andretti Autosport, on the other hand, still fails to show speed, with only Marco Andretti, doing only this race, in the TOP TEN.

• Arrow Mclaren SP also shows well, here, but Rahal Letterman Lanigan is still relatively hopeless, with track and series rookie Christian Lundgaard the best for them in P12 while veterans Graham Rahal and Jack Harvey posted P28 and P26, respectively. Let’s hope they were NOT going for speed out there.

• Speeds posted here are race-pace speeds, making the results for both Takuma Sato for Dale Coyne and Sage Karam for Dreyer & Reinbold even more impressive - the littler teams that could.

• Do not believe that either Ed Carpenter or Rinus VeeKay are in trouble. They are actually as good as or better than teammate Conor Daly in P11

• Series points-leader Will Power is the best of the Team Penske boys and it’s for real. Will is in a good place, mentally, and it’s producing results.

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Tony Kanaan - Still got it

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Here is video of the David Malukas / Santino Ferrucci shunt:

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…and Santino’s take on it:

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Here is Colton Herta’s shunt in Turn 1:

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And here is in-car video of Colton Herta’s shunt:

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Lots of work for those two teams…Luckily, everyone is okay. The IndyCars will now be off the track until the start of the race on Sunday. The race is scheduled for broadcast on NBC and Peacock Premium starting at 11:00am EASTERN time. The grid for the race is in the next post.

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M

[MarkyS]

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Here is the way the IndyCars will grid for the 106th Indianapolis 500, with speeds for the top two rows: [R] denotes series rookies; speeds are the average of four laps

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Row 1

P1 - Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing - speed of 234.046mph

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P2 - Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing - speed of 233.499mph

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P3 - Rinus VeeKay, Ed Carpenter Racing - speed of 233.385mph

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Row 2

P4 - Ed Carpenter, Ed Carpenter Racing - speed of 233.080mph

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P5 - Marcus Ericsson, Chip Ganassi Racing - speed of 232.764mph

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P6 - Tony Kanaan, Chip Ganassi Racing - speed of 232.372mph

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Row 3

P7 - Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren SP
P8 - Felix Rosenqvist, Arrow McLaren SP
P9 - Romain Grosjean, Andretti Autosport

Row 4

P10 - Takuma Sato, Dale Coyne Racing w/ Rick Ware Racing
P11 - Will Power, Team Penske
P12 - Jimmie Johnson, Chip Ganassi Racing

Row 5

P13 - David Malukas [R], Dale Coyne Racing w/ HMD Motorsports
P14 - Josef Newgarden, Team Penske
P15 - Santino Ferrucci, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing

Row 6

P16 - Simon Pagenaud, Meyer Shank Racing
P17 - JR Hildebrand, AJ Foyt Enterprises
P18 - Conor Daly, Ed Carpenter Racing

Row 7

P19 - Callum Ilott [R], Juncos Hollinger Racing
P20 - Alexander Rossi, Andretti Autosport
P21 - Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan

Row 8

P22 - Sage Karam, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
P23 - Marco Andretti, Andretti Herta Autosport
P24 - Devlin DeFrancesco [R], Andretti Steinbrenner

Row 9

P25 - Colton Herta, Andretti Autosport
P26 - Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske
P27 - Helio Castroneves, Meyer Shank Racing

Row 10

P28 - Kyle Kirkwood [R], AJ Foyt Enterprises
P29 - Dalton Kellett, AJ Foyt Enterprises
P30 - Juan Pablo Montoya, Arrow McLaren SP

Row 11

P31 - Christian Lundegaard [R], Rahal Letterman Lanigan
P32 - Jack Harvey, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
P33 - Stefan Wilson, DragonSpeed / Cusick Motorsports

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M

[MarkyS]

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Friday at the Indianapolis motor Speedway - the Carb Day Pit Stop competition…

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…was once again WON by Team Penske - as is usually the case - this year by the Josef Newgarden crew for the # 2 Chevrolet. They beat Scott Dixon’s # 9 crew for Chip Ganassi Racing.

Take a look:

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…and we love this one, earlier in the competition:

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Sage maintains he was NOT going after Felix Rosenqvist on purpose. But, he was a champion High School wrestler, so…

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[MarkyS]

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Sunday at Indianapolis - Marcus Ericsson WINS the 106th outing of the Indy 500…

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The 3rd-year Swede for Chip Ganassi Racing hovered in the TOP TEN for most of the race and then emerged as the leader only very late in the contest. He then survived a restart, following a caution that had Race Control Red Flag the race with four laps to go. This is Marcus’ third career WIN and it’s a Deusey!

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The big race leader on the day was Chip Ganassi’s pole-sitter Scott Dixon who was clearly in control and led for 95 laps of the race, relinquishing it at times but only to teammate Alex Palou and / or when Scott was in the pits. But on lap 175 of 200 Scott pitted and failed to get his # 9 PNC Bank Honda slowed to the pit speed limit, incurring a drive through penalty that ended his chances of a 2nd career WIN at the race.

After some fencing in and out of final pit stops for all, Ericsson took the lead of the race with ten laps to go and quickly opened up what looked like a small but insurmountable lead over Pato O’Ward for Arrow McLaren SP. But then on lap 195 Jimmie Johnson for Chip Ganassi dealt his teammate a blow when he hit the Turn 2 wall - one of several cars to do the same, today - and brought out the late-race caution. Race Control almost immediately flagged the race so Johnson’s car could be removed and the field could have a chance to end the race under a three-lap dash of green-flag running.

When the race resumed on lap 197 the leaders were bunched tightly and Ericsson was quickly under attack by O’Ward, while P3 Tony Kanaan for Chip Ganassi was challenged by O’Ward’s teammate Felix Rosenqvist. Ericsson partly survived by luridly weaving down the track front straight, trying to break O’Ward’s draft, but Pato was still able to put the # 5 Chevrolet beside and even slightly ahead of Ericsson’s # 8 Honda in Turn 1. But his outside pass wasn’t possible and Ericsson survived the attempt. As the cars streaked down the back straight Sage Karam for Dreyer & Reinbold hit the wall in Turn 2 - another victim - and that ended the race with the 6th and final caution of the day.

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Here are some of the great race highlights:

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2022 RACE HIGHLIGHTS // 106TH RUNNING OF THE INDIANAPOLIS 500 PRES. BY GAINBRIDGE

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Notable:

• Dixon’s laps led put him on top of the all-time Indy lap leaders. He and Palou were exchanging the lead, allowing both to remain in the TOP TWO for as long as possible before going for a WIN, but both cars had bad late-race luck. Dixon’s penalty had him end the day in P21 while Palou went all the way back to the tail of the field at one point, due to the bad timing of a yellow and the need for emergency fuel service. He was able to recover to a P9 finish.

• O’Ward rolled in P2 and that was his best-ever Indy 500 finish while Kanaan claimed P3 - his 3rd such finish in his career. He was absolutely game for another attempt in 2023, if the cards fall right.

• Finding walls and bringing out cautions were, in order, Rinus VeeKay, Callum Ilott, Romain Grosjean, Scott McLaughlin, Jimmie Johnson and Sage Karam. All walked away though Karam was sent to a local hospital for better evaluation. Colton Herta retired with mechanicals on lap 129.

• Santino Ferrucci ran as high as P4 in the race and ended the day in P10 from his P15 start - his fourth TOP TEN finish in a one-off effort in four attempts.

• Big movers on the day were Helio Castroneves from P27 to P7, Juan Pablo Montoya from P30 to P10, Conor Daly from P18 to P6 and Alexander Rossi from P20 to 5th at the end. Daly even led a few laps on merit.

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With this result - double points - Ericsson goes from 8th to the lead in the points, leaving Indianapolis:

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1 - Marcus Ericsson, 226
2 - Pato O’Ward, 213
3 - Alex Palou, 212
4 - Will Power, 202
5 - Josef Newgarden, 174

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The next race on the schedule is Season Round 7, the Detroit Grand Prix, next weekend, June 5th, with support from IMSA’s WeatherTech SportsCar Championship series and from the Indy Lights. This will be the last one on Belle Isle for now, as the race will move back to the downtown city streets in 2023.

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