Acura ARX-05 DPi IMSA Cars Roll Into Detroit With Momentum

Wayne Taylor Racing No. 10 Acura ARX-05 DPi Class car shared by Ricky Taylor and Filipe Albuquerque.
Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2022)

Acura ARX-05 DPi IMSA Cars Roll Into Detroit With Momentum

At the halfway point of the final Daytona Prototype international (DPi) season, Acura has begun to flex some muscle with back-to-back 1-2 finishes. Don’t let that fool you. Recent history and drivers involved remind us there’s a long way to go.

The Acura ARX-05 DPis fielded by Wayne Taylor Racing and Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian are coming off a pair of road courses – WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca and Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course – that favor their design. The No. 10 WTR Acura won both races to take the class lead in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The No. 60 MSR Acura finished second both times and sits second in the DPi standings.

“I feel like in the past few years the parity of the cars has really suited certain places more than others,” said Ricky Taylor, co-driver of the No. 10 with Filipe Albuquerque. “For the Acura, it’s Laguna, Mid-Ohio, Road America – those sorts of places where we really need to do our job and get the most points possible.”

“Once we go to Detroit, we expect it to swing back the other way.”

ZOOM Call Press Conference featuring DPi Class competitor Renger van der Zande, co-driver of the 

No. 01 Cadillac Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R & GTD Class competitor Roman De Angelis, co-driver of the 

No. 27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3

DPi Class competitor Renger van der Zande, co-driver of the No. 01
Cadillac Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R. Image Credit Edmund Jenks (2022)

GTD Class competitor Roman De Angelis, co-driver of the No. 27 

Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3. Image Credit Edmund Jenks (2022)

Therein lies the great equalizer. Bumpy tracks like the Raceway at Belle Isle street circuit favor the design of the Cadillacs. Detroit is up next on the calendar with the Chevrolet Sports Car Classic on June 4.

A glance at the 2022 standings at the midpoint shows all six fulltime entries still in the hunt with only 132 points separating the top five cars. 

The outlier could be the No. 01 Cadillac Racing entry, whose incredible pace has been outshone only by its incredibly bad fortune, leaving it 208 points back. 

As the co-driver of the No. 01 Cadillac Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R, Renger van der Zande points out in the included ZOOM Call Press Conference,  that the key to IMSA's management in competition comes down to the Balance of Power (BoP) weight decisions applied to the racing platforms. 

“The last street track was in Long Beach and we did very well, especially Sebastien had a race that was amazing,” said the 36-year-old van der Zande. “I think we’re going confident into the second street race of the year. I think the Cadillac has always been doing well at Detroit. We, obviously, have a bit of a BoP hit with 15 kilos. The car is really on edge with the weight, so that 15 kilos might not sound like too much, but it is that little extra that has killed us in the past. That was at tracks like Road America. I don’t know how it’s going to hit us in Detroit…" 

The Netherlands based driver went on to point out that through this addition of weight, not only does this weight penalty effect the driving balance of the car, but that tire degradation goes up as well, causing the car to lose grip over a long stint. Hear more from both Renger van der Zande & Roman De Angelis about The Chevrolet Sports Car Classic from Belle Isle (ZOOM Call above) as this will be the last race held at this venue as next year, this Detroit Grand Prix will be moved to the streets within the city of Detroit.

“It’s actually simple,” Taylor explained. “The smoother the track and the higher the speed in the corners, the better it is (for the Acura). It comes down to just how low you can run the car. (With) the Cadillac, you can run it wherever you want (in ride height). The Acura, if it’s not just skimming the ground, it’s losing grip. When we go to a bumpy place like Detroit or Long Beach, which also have slow-speed corners, that’s where we suffer.”

History also shows that, even halfway through the schedule, teams seemingly downtrodden shouldn’t admit defeat. Last year, for instance, the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R was 157 points out of the championship lead after five races. Felipe Nasr and Pipo Derani rallied to win the title by 11 points.

In 2020, Taylor and then-teammate Helio Castroneves were in sixth place at the halfway mark, the equivalent of 100 points out of first. They bounced back to win by the equivalent of 10 points under the current scoring system.

Also worth noting is that Cadillac finished better than Acura last year at three remaining tracks (Detroit, Road America and Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta) on the schedule, with the jury out on the remaining two circuits. Acura outdid Cadillac at the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen in 2021, but Cadillac returned the favor a week later in the sprint race at Watkins Glen International. The WeatherTech Championship returns to Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in July for the first time since 2019, when Acura got the better finish of the two manufacturers. But a year earlier, Cadillac won the race.

 Meyer Shank Racing No. 60 AutoNation / SiriusXM Acura ARX-05 DPi Class car driven by Oliver Jarvis and Tom Blomqvist.
Image Credit: Brandon Day via FB/META (2022)

Which leaves Oliver Jarvis of the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura to echo the sentiment of all DPi drivers.

“It’s important that we capitalize on the tracks that do suit our car, we make the most of it and come away with maximum points,” he said. “We’re getting to halfway of the season and points you score here could be crucial for the championship at the end.”

The Chevrolet Sports Car Classic airs live from Detroit at 3:00 p.m. ET Saturday, June 4 on USA Network, Peacock and IMSA Radio.

[ht: IMSA]

For this last race at Detroit's Belle Isle park street course, IMSA will put on a race that will prove the DPi Class point/counterpoint that this posting seeks to bring to light. 

... notes from The EDJE

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TAGS: The Chevrolet Sports Car Classic, USA Network, Peacock, IMSA Radio, Ricky Taylor, Oliver Jarvis, Filipe Albuquerque, Tom Blomqvist, Renger van der Zande, Roman De Angelis, The EDJE

Chip Ganassi Racing Defines Tour-De-Force At The 106th Running Of The INDY500

Post 3-Round Qualifications at the 106th Running of the Indianapolis 500 NTT INDYCAR SERIES Race for 2022 - from left to right - Defending 2021 NTT INDYCAR SERIES Champion, Alex Palou, 7-Time NASCAR Champion/retiree and INDY500 Rookie Jimmie Johnson, 6-Time NTT INDYCAR SERIES Champion and NTT P1 Pole Award winner for the 106th Running of the INDY500 Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing team owner Chip Ganassi, NTT INDYCAR retiree NTT INDYCAR Champion/INDY500 Winner Tony Kanaan, Formula 1 retiree and second year CGR team driver (and 2022 winner of the INDY500) Marcus Ericsson. Image Credit: Penske Entertainment via FB/META (2022)

Chip Ganassi Racing Defines Tour-De-Force At The 106th Running Of The INDY500

In a motorsports event environment that has recently become the cornerstone in what can be termed "The House Of Penske", the Indianapolis Motor Speedway this Memorial Day weekend, played host to one of the strongest showings in team work and performance to be witnessed during The Greatest Spectacle In Racing.

Swede. former Formula 1 driver, and third year Chip Ganassi Racing's Marcus Ericsson became the second person of Swedish decent to win the Indianapolis 500 in the one-hundred and twelve year history of this 106th 500 mile challenge. 

Chip Ganassi Racing's second year driver from Sweden, Marcus Ericsson, pours the winner's milk over himself in celebration on left ... on right, former Chip Ganassi Racing's driver from Sweden, Kenny Brach, congratulates a student he mentored throughout his career. Image Credit: Foto: TT via FB/META (2022)

Many may remember the name of Kenny Brach from the open wheel days of the IRL (Indianapolis Racing League) and CART (Championship Auto Racing Teams) sanctioning bodies during the late 1990's. While driving for A. J. Foyt during his second year with the team, after capturing an IRL Series Season Championship in 1998, Kenny won the 1999 83rd Running Of The Indianapolis 500.

It turns out that Kenny was also a person of great influence through the early years in the pursuits of Marcus Ericsson as a race car driver through Karting, and later through conversations about driving the oval races in America. Further, it is noted that during his career, he was a driver on a Chip Ganassi Racing team in 2002 along with Bruno Junqueira, Jeff Ward, and amazingly ... Scott Dixon.

In the 2022 106th Running of the Indianapolis 500 Post-Race Press Conference, Marcus was able to field a congratulatory ZOOM Call participation from Kenny where Marcus shared that while he languished racing with the uncompetitive teams in F1, he felt that he would love to race in INDYCAR because it was more competitive and that he was comfortable with the very high-speed corners presented throughout the circuits they raced on in F1, more so than many of the other drivers he competed with. He always imagined to himself that he might be good at oval racing if given a decent chance to grow and learn.

The team work on display from Chip Ganassi Racing (CGR) showed itself all during this month of May from each of the five drivers and teams entered in the 106th Running Of The Indianapolis 500. 

Chip Ganassi Racing Brain Trust Post-Race Press Conference - Mike Hull, Chip Ganassi, & Mike O'Gara

The other members of the CGR Team begins with the other three full-time drivers that include six-time NTT INDYCAR Series Champion and INDY500 winner (2008) Scott Dixon, defending 2021 NTT INDYCAR Series Champion Alex Palou, second-year and seven-time NASCAR Series Champion (coming out of retirement to learn to race in INDYCAR including the INDY500) Jimmie Johnson, then the addition of a one-race specialist entrant - past NTT INDYCAR Series Champion and INDY500 winner Tony Kanaan. 

The style and intention of these professionals ... as a functioning team as opposed to five separate and singular units ... showed itself in how evenly matched the performance of the drivers, as a group, throughout the 6-Practices and the 3-Rounds of qualifications to set the 33 car field. 

No other team, as a group, represented themselves better. After all, CGR captured the NTT P1 Pole Position Award through having Scott Dixon post the fastest four lap qualifications speed to capture the pole starting position (his fifth) recorded in the 106th running history of the INDY500 event at 234.046mph.followed by his teammate Alex Palou at 233.499mph which, in itself, came very close to Scott Brayton's run of 233.718 set in 1996 that had been the fastest four lap qualifications speed for pole position recorded until 2022.

The fastest four-lap qualifying style run of all time at Indy, was set by Arie Luyendyk, also in 1996, although because this run was not set on Pole Day, Luyendyk was only able to post a speed that earned him a 21st position on the grid.

Jimmie Johnson came close to earning the distinction of "Rookie Of The Year" for the 106th Running Of The Indianapolis 500. He led laps and ran high in the order before his late RED Flag crash. Image Credit: Penske Entertainment: Paul Hurley (2022)

Before the race, in practice and through qualifications, all five CGR cars and the group that supported them set performance speeds that had them at the top of the 33 car field as a consistent dominate force to a level that may never be matched. Combined Practice (6 sessions) CGR drivers were Dixon P2, Johnson P3, Palou P4, Ericsson P9, Kanaan P20. Qualifications ended with Dixon P1, Palou P2, Ericsson P5, Kanaan P6, Johnson P12.

During the race, especially throughout the first couple of pitstops, it looked as though the two leading drivers of CGR would just go out and control the race through swapping the lead with each other to save fuel and maintain field pace. First Dixon would be in the lead a few laps, then Palou would pass and tow Dixon for a few laps, then Dixon would tow Palou, and so on, and so on. Nothing is predictable here at this 112 year old motor culture and event center facility, however.

Alex Palou gave up his early race leading performance on an unforced timing error having to do with rules governing Full Course YELLOW Flag pitlane closures. Image Credit: Penske Entertainment: Matt Fraver (2022)

The first chink in this seemingly perfect strategy came on Lap 68 when Callum Illot driving the No. 77 Chevrolet-Powered Juncos Hollinger Racing Dallara hit the wall on an unforced driving error (the second incident at this same corner, Corner 2 - Rinus VeeKay driving the No. 21 Chevrolet-Powered Ed Carpenter Racing Dallara spun on Lap 39) setting up an opportune time to pit for the field leading Alex Palou. The problem here was that Palou was force to drive through since the Full Course YELLOW Flag dropped just feet before the No. 9 of Alex Palou was able to cross the limit line that defines pitlane, having the Pits be closed to all cars during a full course caution period for safety purposes. On the next lap around, the No. 9 car was so low on fuel, Alex had to come in for a splash sending him to the back of the field for restart on Lap 77.

This left Scott Dixon at the front of the field without a team mate to perform this cooperative strategy of swapping the lead. Conor Daly, driving in a competitive Chevrolet-Powered Ed Carpenter Racing prepared car, did step up a couple of times, but realized that, when leading, he was giving a fuel mileage tow advantage to the Honda-Powered GCR prepared car.

The next issue in preventing a Chip Ganassi Racing team victory came on another driver error, this one forced, when Scott Dixon came in for his final pitstop on Lap 175. Scott came in over the limit line too fast and violated the pitlane speed limit that is allowed within the whole of the pitlane and after getting his car serviced, Dixon had to drive around a full lap then come through pitlane again, as a drive-through penalty, forcing Dixon to rejoin the field one-lap down, at or near the back on Lap 177.

Now what? 

After the field performed its pitstops, this left the lead first to Pato O'Ward for two laps, then CGR team mate Tony Kanaan for five laps, then another CGR team mate Alex Palou for three laps, then interrupted by Andretti Autosport's Marco Andretti for three laps, then back to a dual CGR team mate stint run until the end of the race with Jimmie Johnson (the only Rookie to lead laps in this race) for two laps, and finally Marcus Ericsson for the final 11 laps. 

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Marcus Ericsson in champion vanity shoot with hat, wreath, and Borg Warner trophy at the yard of bricks station - well earned. As Mike Hull, Managing Director of Chip Ganassi Racing, observed during the post-race press conference, "It's really difficult to teach somebody to win. There's a lot of race drivers that say if this, if that. This guy doesn't say 'if'. He said, Let's work together and make it happen." Image Credit: Penske Entertainment: Doug Mathews (2022)

Were it not for a late race crash for Jimmie Johnson that brought out a Lap 195 RED Flag and set up the final dash to the end of 200 laps, Jimmie Johnson may have been named "Rookie Of The Year" for finishing high and leading laps. Again, the team work and domination by CGR was "in everyone's senses/face." This was truly a "all hands on deck" team effort.

In the end, the team effort displayed by the personnel in support of five drivers and cars had each of the drivers lead laps and lead the vast majority of laps during the 200 Lap affair at leading a total of 163 Laps in the eventual winning of the 106th Running Of The Indianapolis 500. Scott Dixon walks away as the driver to lead the most laps, at 655, in the overall history in the 106 races run over the 112 years this 500 mile test has been held.

When it comes to Chip Ganassi Racing's Marcus Ericsson P1, Tony Kanaan P3, Alex Palou P9, Scott Dixon P21, and Jimmie Johnson P28 ... Tour-De-Force in team work and effort sums this Memorial Day motor culture tradition quite nicely, n'est-ce pas?

UPDATE From American Legion  (click GETTR image) 

[As Suggested/Almost Predicted Here At The EDJE]

... notes from The EDJE

----

Post Script:

During the 2022 106th Running of the Indianapolis 500 Post-Race Press Conference which was additionally attended by writers on a virtual ZOOM Call, Tony Kanaan also mentioned that his car was also a best of the field at the end, just not enough to pass Arrow McLaren SP driver Pato O'Ward or Tony's CGR team mate Marcus Ericsson, but that he had placed himself in the best possible position to win his second INDY500 ... all it would take would be a bump, a cut tire, a two car accident into the wall and there he sat in P3 with a lead against the field to cross the Start/Finish Line and "Yard Of Bricks" to deliver Chip Ganassi Racing its fifth (5th) Indianapolis 500 victory in it's history of competition. 

TRANSCRIPT:

Q. With two laps to go, restart, the Indy 500 victory is right there in front of you, all you got to do is pass this guy. What is it like in the cockpit, in your head, to have that kind of shot and come up short?

PATO O'WARD: You clinch. You clinch a lot every corner (smiling), yeah (smiling).

Q. That's it?

PATO O'WARD: You go flat and you hope to God the car doesn't snap.

Q. How about you, Tony?

TONY KANAAN: I had the best seat in the house. I'm like, C'mon, Pato, go, go, go.

PATO O'WARD: You liar (laughter).

TONY KANAAN: If you guys crash, I would win (laughter). Go, go. May be my teammate, but I didn't take him out (laughter).

He's smart enough not to do it. I was like, Oh, I guess we're finishing third.

ENDS

Chip Ganassi pointed out during the post-race press conference in an answer to a question on having Tony back for another try at winning the INDY500, "In his retirement we've made him the vice president of entertainment (smiling). And he can drive, too, yeah. He can still win this race. You saw today with his performance. Led a little bit. Kanaan is a veteran. He's a wily veteran. He knows his way around this place, no question. So we're not throwing him out yet."

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TAGS: Chip Ganassi Racing, CGR, Marcus Ericsson, Tony Kanaan, Alex Palou, Scott Dixon, Jimmie Johnson, Tour-De-Force, Team Work, INDY500, The Greatest Spectacle In Racing, The EDJE