Wednesday, July 27, 2022

Etrick Art Captures 90th Commemoration Of Auto Union AG/AUDI In Stunning Sculpture

Forward looking front end of the debut release of the first Auto Union AG 1936 Auto Union Type C grand prix racer sculpted in aluminum by Michael Etrick with Raul Cenan and finished by Etrick Art. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2022)

Etrick Art Captures 90th Commemoration Of Auto Union AG/AUDI In Stunning Sculpture

The automotive innovator and Germany based design stalwart that began life as Auto Union, and the world knows by the name AUDI, celebrates 90 years of continued motor culture participation. Through the merging of resources of, Audi, DKW, Horch, and Wanderer in 1932, Auto Union was able to bring together highly talented and determined individuals to develop outstanding race cars. 

The unveiling at Eric Nobel's CarLab design studio in Orange California. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2022)

In the sculpture series REFLECTS, Michael Etrick and Raul Cenan, aided by Devin Etrick and Mike Tellez - that is Etrick Art - debut its lead sculpture of the 1936 Auto Union Type C. The debut of these brilliant aluminum art pieces is coinciding with the 90th anniversary of the formation of Auto Union AG on June 29, 2022.

Lead sculpture in the REFLECTS Series depicting the race car designs of the early 1930's (1936 Auto Union Type C) that formed the Auto Union AG design language for speed Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2022)

In his artist development career arch, Michael Etrick was contracted in Germany as an automotive design clay sculptor. He worked at AUDI and was impressed through his tours of the facilities at seeing some of the original race cars produced through the formation of Auto Union throughout the early 1930's. The historic nature of these racers, along with the bold designs, caught his attention. The formation of Etrick Art and his current artworks are a direct result of this preliminary and formative encounter.

The perfectly polished reflection off of the metal has the stationary 302 pound sculptor piece feel that is moving very quickly. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2022)

Etrick Art's 1936 Auto Union Type C going away. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2022)

 "I was working at Audi, and I’ve seen all the classic race cars and models in person. If you’re going to start with Auto Union and the coolest thing the company did including Ferdinand Porsche’s involvement - the whole build-up of it, and if you are going to do an iconic vehicle related to Audi, the 1936 Auto Union Type C would be the one!" - reflects Michael Etrick on the choice of this debut, 302 pound billet aluminum racer, that preceded the Mercedes Benz versions and became known as the "Silver Arrows" race cars, a Benz icon term used to this day.

The full display consists of six separate pieces. The display stand with placement impressions, four sculpted wheel elements, and the main racecar body with driver. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2022)

Driver takes the wheel! Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2022)

The solid, polished aluminum Auto Union Tribute sculptures are idealized, organic forms inspired by the Type C race cars from a bygone era add beauty and excitement to any décor. Yet, being an auto enthusiast isn’t necessary to fully appreciate the Etrick Art pieces. 

The REFLECTS sculpture series is produced in two distinct sizes - this being an example of the smaller one of the 1936 Auto Union Type C. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2022) 

Additionally, the mirror-finish of the material coupled with flowing forms masterfully reflect light, hence the name of this series. The sculptures are currently available in two sizes, the impressively larger piece, again, weighs in at over 300-pounds.

Side-by-side of the initial release from REFLECTS Series from Etrick Art. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2022) 

REFLECTS Series produced by Etrick Art is a tribute commemoration that honors the formation of four brands - Audi, DKW, Horch, and Wanderer - who agreed to join together on June 29, 1932 to survive the vast challenges encountered by the global depression. The four interlocking rings of the logo symbolized the merger creating Auto Union. Today, Audi’s logo proudly displays the same interlocking rings on its products, as a reminder of this exquisite motor culture heritage.

Along with the unveiling of these new sculptures, the Etrick Art web site comes alive at https://etrickart.com. The site covers all aspects of the development process, history, products, images, and availability. Beyond the featured sculptures and prints, bespoke artwork can be commissioned, as well. 

Motor culture visionaries and artists Michael Etrick and Raul Cenan of Etrick Art present their debut REFLECTS Series sculpture at Eric Nobel's CarLab in Orange to select small groups of communicators. Most all in attendance were pleasingly stunned when this piece is revealed. Image Credit: Chris Erickson - Secret Car Club Events (2022) 

This excerpted and edited from LinkedIn -

Exceptionally crafted, solid metal, limited-production sculptures for a fortunate few—Michael Etrick
Published By John Dinkel - LinkedIn - July 26, 2022 

What you are looking at here is an incredible piece of automotive art. More than a decade in the making, the idea for this sculpture came about when Michael Etrick, an American automotive design sculptor, was working for Audi. 

He became fascinated with the prospect of bringing the 1930s Auto Union era to life in the form of fine art. Along with Raul Cenan, who has a long history of automotive design with VW/Audi and Ford, the two capture the essence of the 1936 Type C racer in this sculpture.

From concept, the idea evolved into hand renderings, then to a clay model. Molds were made, and a hard copy was reproduced out of fiberglass/ epoxy, which allowed Etrick to further refine the design.  



Then the model was scanned using the latest digital software and this data was sent to a six-axis milling machine, which milled out the basic shape from a block of TC 6061 aluminum.

Typically, the automotive design studios’ internal projects, along with those that are developed outside of their facilities, are indeed a team effort. However, this recent endeavor is personal to Mr. Etrick. Michael combines his traditional clay modeling capabilities along with modern technologies, where the end result does not have a designed-by-committee look or feel. The initial sculptures in the REFLECTS Series pose a hint of concept car-like vision while also being race car relatable. Practicality and performance have a place in the real world, but those definitely take a backseat to refined, styling brilliance found through the processes at Etrick Art. 

Public showings are being planned and it is understood that AUDI dealerships throughout the county would love to have this sculpture be the centerpiece of their own recognition of Auto Union/AUDI celebrating 90 years strong through parties held at their dealerships for special customers and business affiliates.

... notes from The EDJE



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1936 Auto Union Type C rolling free at Goodwood Festival Of Speed





TAGS: Michael Etrick, Raul Cernan, Devin Etrick, Mike Tellez, Etrick Art, REFLECTS, Auto Union AG, AUDI, CarLab, The EDJE

Sunday, July 17, 2022

Scott Dixon Slays As Will Power Survives Commonwealth Based Race At Honda Indy Toronto

Chip Ganassi Racing's lead driver, Scott Dixon sails through Turn 1 with the Prince's Gate (erected 1927 for the Prince of Wales) as a backdrop. The Princes' Gates is a triumphal arch and a monumental gateway at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The structure was named Princes' Gates, after Edward, Prince of Wales and Prince George, Duke of Kent who officially opened these gates on August 30, 1927. Image Credit: Chris Jones via Penske Entertainment (2022)


Scott Dixon Slays As Will Power Survives Commonwealth Based Race At Honda Indy Toronto

Canada, New Zealand, and Australia are all still active members of the Commonwealth Of Nations ... Britain and its dominions agreed they were "equal in status, in no way subordinate one to another in any aspect of their domestic or external affairs, though united by common allegiance to the Crown, and freely associated as members of the British Commonwealth of Nations". The term "Commonwealth" was officially adopted to describe the community.
[ht: Wikipedia]

There are as many active (full season) Commonwealth origin racecar drivers in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES as American racecar drivers - 7 drivers versus 8 drivers respectively) Image Credit: WorldPopulationReview.com (2022)

The reason that this point-of-order came to light in conjunction with this Honda Indy Toronto race is that Scott Dixon, upon winning at this venue a fourth time in his career, stated that he considers Toronto to be his "home" track since New Zealand, Dixon's birthplace, is a Commonwealth member nation - so is Australia, Will Power's birthplace.

After the three round Knock-Out Qualifications format, the following 25 car field for the 10th race of the 2022 season was set up as follows:

Four rookies in the top 12 of the field. Season points leader Marcus Ericsson starting down at P9 - number two in the season points, Will Power starts way down at P16 (but has two sets of fresh REDS), and third in the points, Josef Newgarden starts at P3.

Biggest possible season points winner in this deal may just be sixth in the season points starting at P2 Scott Dixon if he has nothing but Green Flag racing ahead of him - he is set to begin a season ending run.

Race Stare Tire Strategy - Image Credit: Facebook (2022)

For Will Power to survive the battle for season points out of the shortest street course on the NTT INDYCAR SERIES schedule, he will need another drive of the year as he had in Mid-Ohio where he started at P21 due to a Quals. Penalty - slid to last place at P27 due to a non-contact spin on the first lap - to finish at P3 on the podium!!!


This excerpted and edited from Motorport.com - 

Toronto IndyCar: Dixon scores 52nd win, matches Mario Andretti
By: David Malsher-Lopez - Jul 17, 2022, 2:16 PM

Chip Ganassi Racing-Honda’s legend Scott Dixon held off Colton Herta and Felix Rosenqvist to score his 52nd IndyCar triumph and his fourth in Toronto, and match the legendary Mario Andretti in second on the all-time IndyCar winners list.

From the start, polesitter Herta was unthreatened, while Dixon swept across from the outside to ensure Newgarden couldn’t sneak up from third to claim second. Newgarden checked his momentum and that allowed Alexander Rossi around his outside to try and claim third, but Newgarden had put the matter beyond dispute by the end of the lap. Scott McLaughlin, his teammate, passed David Malukas for fifth, but there was even worse luck for the other Dale Coyne Racing-Honda, that of Takuma Sato who was shoved into the wall at the Turn 1 kerfuffle, and limped his very broken car back to the pits. The debris left behind obliged Race Control to throw the full-course caution.

Following the Lap 4 restart Felix Rosenqvist demoted Malukas down to seventh, while Power had already taken advantage of his alternate tires to move into 12th, from 16th on the grid, but rather than burn up all his push to pass trying to stay ahead of Romain Grosjean who he’d passed on the opening lap, he let the Frenchman back past on Lap 11 and pitted next time by to grab primaries. Defending champion Alex Palou, who had started 22nd, had pitted a couple of laps earlier to take on primaries and such had been his pace, the undercut ensured Power emerged behind him. To avoid the risk of getting jumped should a yellow fall, the leaders rapidly started pulling in, Newgarden remaining ahead of Rossi but now split by rookie Malukas. Herta and McLaughlin stopped on Lap 19, a lap after Dixon and found himself being outbraked by the six-time champion into Turn 1, to effectively take the lead. Behind them, Newgarden and now Rossi were ahead of Malukas, while Rosenqvist had turned in fast enough laps at the end of his stint to emerge ahead of McLaughlin and hold off the Penske driver.

However, Dixon wasn’t yet in the lead, for Graham Rahal, Rinus VeeKay, Pato O’Ward, Jimmie Johnson and Conor Daly had risked running a long first stint on their primaries to try and make a net gain.

Rahal finally pitted from the lead on Lap 25, emerging in 14th which would become 10th once his fellow long runners stopped. Further back, Power was only 19th, and not even threatening the Andretti cars of DeFrancesco and Grosjean ahead.

On Lap 30, Rosenqvist moved ahead of Malukas and onto the tail of future Arrow McLaren SP driver, Rossi, who was applying the pressure to Newgarden while the Penske driver stayed bottled up behind the yet-to-stop Daly.

Trackside performance artist Bill Patterson posted this tribute to Scott Dixon tying Mario Andretti on 52 career wins - the second most wins behind A.J. Foyt's 67 wins. CAPTION: Congratulations on #52 to Scott Dixon! Making it look easy today in Toronto, now tied for 2nd (with Mario Andretti) in IndyCar history, Scott still has "it"!!! His 1st in 20021, his latest in 2022. Wow, just wow! Both originals available at http://ow.ly/CjI150JXHm2 - Image Credit: Bill Patterson via FB/META (2022)

O’Ward finally stopped on Lap 32, leaving Dixon out front with a 2.5sec lead over Herta, the pair of them in a race of their own as 14sec behind them, Daly continued to hold up a train of cars led by Newgarden, Rossi and Rosenqvist. Finally Daly uncorked the bottle on Lap 36 and pitted.

Not that Newgarden then made any notable progress thereafter because he was in fuel-save mode having been one of the early stoppers. On Lap 43, just past half distance in this 85-lap race, Dixon was 2.3sec ahead of Herta, with Newgarden still 14sec back, with Rossi and Rosenqvist 2sec further back disputing fourth.

That dispute ended in tears on Lap 45, just as Rosenqvist was encouraged by his strategist to make the pass. At Turn 3, the AMSP driver flicked to the inside of the future AMSP driver, and he was fully alongside as they exited the turn but as Rosenqvist floored the throttle his car slid sideways and the contact sent the Andretti car hard into the wall. Race Control would say the attempt was legit and so there was no penalty for the AMSP driver.

The drivers wended their way into the tortuous pitlane, and Newgarden suffered a horrible stop as he stopped too far from his crew, and the refueler struggled to get the nozzle engaged nad Newgarden was down to 11th.. With VeeKay and Daly having stayed out front after their late stops, Ed Carpenter Racing-Chevrolet had a 1-2 – VeeKay on reds, Daly on blacks – ahead of Dixon, Herta, Rosenqvist, McLaughlin, Rahal, Pagenaud, Ericsson and Palou. Following the restart, Newgarden lost out further to Christian Lundgaard and O’Ward.

Up (almost) at the front, Herta was now fully able to stay in Dixon’s wake, but then the yellow flew for debris at Turn 1 – concrete debris, caused by the track breaking up – compressed the field once more.

Following the Lap 59 restart, Ericsson had a couple of wheel banging moments with teammate Ericsson over eighth place but failed to make a move stick. He only had to wait a few seconds to gain eighth anyway, because the yellow had to be thrown once more due to Kirkwood and Johnson coming together at the back of the field and stalling. That yellow saw VeeKay duck into the pits, but because the field had to go so slow through the incident scene, the Dutch driver was able to emerge in 13th despite the field being bunched together.

The next restart came at the end of Lap 66, with 19 laps to go, and into Turn 1, Rahal muscled down the inside of McLaughlin to snatch fourth and the Penske driver got out on the marbles through Turn 2 and lost places to Ericsson, Palou, Lundgaard and Pagenaud. On Lap 69, Pagenaud passed Lundgaard for seventh. Another Penske driver, however, moved forward, getting ahead of O’Ward and Malukas to grab 10th.

Up front, Dixon pulled away from Herta who was having to watch his mirrors for Rosenqvist. Some 1.7sec back, Rahal was fending off the Ericsson vs Palou battle.

In the final 10 laps, Palou eased off from the back of Ericsson, allowing the championship leader to focus on trying to find a way past Rahal. Three seconds further up the road, Rosenqvist’s efforts to get around Herta redoubled, but he couldn’t quite get it done, and he fell half a second short. Ahead of them Dixon scored his first win of the year, after leading 40 of the 85 laps, and ensuring he has now scored at least one win in 18 seasons.

Rahal was great fourth ahead of Ericsson, while Palou can be proud of his charge from 22nd to sixth place, the highest finishing driver of those who had never seen Toronto before this weekend.

Lundgaard was a fine eighth ahead of Penske drivers McLaughlin and Newgarden who completed the Top 10.
ENDS

A great day for points movement for Chip Ganassi Racing drivers with a win by Dixon, the maintaining in the season points lead by Ericsson (tacking on a few points to the margin between him and Penske's Will Power), and a couple of leap frog position moves - Alex Palou moves Newgarden to P4 and takes over P3 with Scott Dixon winning, he moves from P6 over Pato O'Ward to P5. 

NTT INDYCAR SERIES Point Standings:
Ericsson 351, Power 316, Palou 314, Newgarden 307, Dixon 307, 

O'Ward 276, McLaughlin 274, Herta 254, Rosenqvist 244, Pagenaud 243, 

Rossi 236, VeeKay 211, Rahal 210, Daly 198, Grosjean 197, 

Lundgaard 183, Castroneves 173, Malukas 163, Sato 154, Harvey 126, 

Ilott 113, DeFrancesco 111, Johnson 108, Kirkwood 106, Tony Kanaan 78, 

Kellett 76, Santino Ferrucci 71, Tatiana Calderon 58, JR Hildebrand 53, Ed Carpenter 49, 

Juan Pablo Montoya 44, Simona De Silvestro 21, Marco Andretti 17, Sage Karam 14, Stefan Wilson 10

CGR drivers are now sitting at P1, P3, and P5 in the season points tally with seven races remaining.

Next up? Two races - HY-VEEDEALS.COM 250 PRESENTED BY DOORDASH & HY-VEE SALUTE TO FARMERS 300 PRESENTED BY GOOGLE - Iowa Speedway - July 22-23 - Official Schedule

... notes from The EDJE


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TAGS: NTT INDYCAR SERIES, Honda Indy Toronto, Chip Ganassi Racing, HY-VEE, Iowa Speedway, The EDJE

Wednesday, July 13, 2022

Team Penske's Will Power Gives Preview Impressions On Honda Indy Toronto After Two Year Absence

Will Power immerses himself during the winning tradition splash in the Belle Isle Scott Fountain waters at the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix .  Image Credit: James Black via Penske Entertainment (2022)

Team Penske's Will Power Gives Preview Impressions On Honda Indy Toronto After Two Year Absence

While Team Penske has had all three of its drivers - Scott McLaughlin, Josef Newgarden, Will Power - score wins this 2022 season (the first season in the post COVID-19 protocol era of protocols and shut downs), it is Will Power that has risen above the deepest challenges to score enough points to be sitting P2 in the season championship points race. 

Chip Ganassi Racing's (CGR) INDY 500 winner Marcus Ericsson sits at P1 just 20 points ahead of Will with 321 points and Penske teammate Josef Newgarden is a mere 14 points behind Will in P3. What is further enlightening as to how competitive this season has been, Chip Ganassi Racing's Alex Palou (recently signed under contest by CGR to McLaren Racing's Formula 1 team for 2023) trails Newgarden by one (1) point with the P5 points driver, Arrow McLaren SP's Pato O'Ward chases at another 30 points behind Palou.


OTHER Pre-Toronto Race Factoids:

Race weekend: Friday, July 15 - Sunday, July 17

Track: Streets of Toronto’s Exhibition Place, an 11-turn, 1.786-mile temporary street course

Race distance: 85 laps / 151.81 miles

Push-to-pass parameters: 200 seconds of total time with a maximum time of 20 seconds per activation.

Firestone tire allotment: Seven sets primary, four sets alternate. Teams must use one set of primary and one new set of alternate tires in the race.

Twitter: @HondaIndy, @IndyCar, #IndyTO, #IndyCar

Event website: www.HondaIndy.com

INDYCAR website: www.INDYCAR.com

2019 race winner (most recent event): Simon Pagenaud (No. 22 DXC Technology Team Penske Chevrolet)

2019 NTT P1 Award winner (most recent event): Simon Pagenaud (No. 22 DXC Technology Team Penske Chevrolet), 58.4293 seconds, 110.041 mph

Qualifying record: Gil de Ferran, 57.143 seconds, 110.565 mph, July 17, 1999 (Note: Josef Newgarden set a qualifying mark of 58.4129 seconds, 110.072 mph, for the current layout in 2019.)

There have been six different winners in nine NTT INDYCAR SERIES races in the 2022 season. Scott McLaughlin (Streets of St. Petersburg, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course), Josef Newgarden (Texas Motor Speedway, Streets of Long Beach and Road America), Pato O’Ward (Barber Motorsports Park), Colton Herta (Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course-1), Marcus Ericsson (Indianapolis 500) and Will Power (Raceway at Belle Isle Park) have all won in 2022. The record for most different winners in a season is 11 in 2000, 2001 and 2014.

There have been six different winners in the last 10 NTT INDYCAR SERIES races (Colton Herta, Scott McLaughlin, Josef Newgarden, Pato O’Ward, Marcus Ericsson and Will Power). The only repeat winners in that stretch are Newgarden (Texas 2022, Long Beach 2022 and Road America 2022) and McLaughlin (St. Petersburg 2022 and Mid-Ohio 2022).

There have been nine different NTT P1 Award winners in 2022. Scott McLaughlin (Streets of St. Petersburg), Felix Rosenqvist (Texas Motor Speedway), Colton Herta (Streets of Long Beach), Rinus VeeKay (Barber Motorsports Park), Will Power (Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course-1), Scott Dixon (Indianapolis 500), Josef Newgarden (Raceway at Belle Isle Park), Alexander Rossi (Road America) and Pato O’Ward (Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course) have won pole positions in 2022. The modern-day record for most different pole winners to start a season is 10 set in 1952. The record for most pole winners in a season is 12 set in the 1999 CART season.

The Honda Indy Toronto will be the 36th INDYCAR SERIES race held on the streets of Toronto’s Exhibition Place. The race returns after a two-year absence due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Simon Pagenaud won the last time the race was held, in 2019.

Scott Dixon and Will Power are tied as winningest active INDYCAR SERIES drivers at Toronto with three victories apiece (Power won in 2007, 2010 and 2016, and Dixon won both races in 2013 and the 2018 race). Michael Andretti has the most wins at the track with seven. Dixon and Power, along with previous race winners Josef Newgarden (2015 and 2017) and Simon Pagenaud (2019), are entered this year.

Will Power, No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, met with the media via Zoom conference to preview the NTT INDYCAR SERIES race July 17 in Toronto. Power, who advanced 18 spots from his starting position (P21 - 24 spots if one counts from the position he was left in - P27 - after his first lap spin) to finish third July 3 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, is a three-time winner and two-time pole sitter on the 1.78-mile, 11-turn Toronto street circuit.

CHEVROLET Racing/NTT INDYCAR SERIES ZOOM Call

Full transcript:

HOW MUCH ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO GOING BACK TO TORONTO?

“Yeah, very much so. I love the city there, and the track is very unique. Really isn't a track that we go to that's like that. It's near impossible to get a good balance in the car, so it's a lot of compromise. Feel like it's a real driver's track. It's pretty hard.”

LOOKING BACK AT YOUR MID-OHIO DRIVE – A CHAMPIOSHIP-SAVING DRIVE MAYBE. HOW BIG WAS THAT WEEKEND FOR YOU?

“It was a very good recovery. I would say we had a car that, I feel like, could definitely challenge for pole. It was unfortunate what happened. Our fault. We weren't on top of that. We should have been. Obviously, the strategy and the car was great in the race. Yep, did not expect to make it all the way back to third, but I knew our car was strong. With yellows and restarts, good pit stop sequence, we were able to make our way all the way up to a podium. I was hoping at the beginning of that day for a top 10. I said that a few times this year, like at Detroit, like at Barber, but we've made it much further. Definitely showing my race craft ability with all these bad qualifyings, which I haven't been able to do for most of my career because I've always qualified right up at the front. Plus, you learn when you're back there, as well, when you're in the mix of stuff.”

YOUR TEAMMATES HAVE WON MULTIPLE RACES. WHAT DO YOU SEE THE REASON FOR WHY THE ENTIRE TEAM IS BETTER?

“The tire changed a little bit. Basically, the Firestone tires that we were running last year had sat around a lot, so the tire was obviously hardening over time. I think the tire's simply better this year, which brought our cars into a better place for where we live. We also did a lot of development in the off-season. I actually feel like last year we had bad luck. I wouldn't call it luck, but just strange things happened when we had cars in position to win and such. Yeah, last year wasn't as bad as it looked on performance. It was just one of those years that was just a little bit messy and things didn't flow our way. Newgarden should have won Road America. I should have won in Detroit. We should have challenging for the win in Laguna. It's just races like that that kind of made it look worse. Yes, we're certainly firing on all cylinders this year.”

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE ALEX PALOU, MCLAREN, CHIP GANASSI SITUATION?

“I've heard rumors around the paddock of exactly what's transpiring right now. Yeah, it's kind of good for the series really to have a bit of action in the paddock. Yeah, obviously I don't know the details of everything that has gone on there. Yeah, it's going to be interesting to see how that whole things plays out.”

DOESN’T IT ALSO CREATE A HUGE DISTRACTION ON THAT TEAM AS THEY’RE TRYING TO BATTLE FOR A CHAMPIONSHIP?

“Well, I think that's been a distraction all year for those guys because this whole thing has been going on behind the scenes. Yeah, not ideal if you're fighting for a championship within a team. Definitely not ideal.”

HAVE YOU EVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE THIS BEFORE IN YOUR CAREER IN INDYCAR?

“I have not seen this in INDYCAR. I mean, this sort of thing goes on obviously all the time, various businesses. It's just one of those things where it's going to come down to the wording in the contract simply.”

HOW DISTRACTING CAN CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS BE FOR A DRIVER MID-SEASON?

“It can make some drivers perform better and some perform worse. Yeah, some need that sort of pressure to bring the best out of them, and some don't do well under those situations. Ideally, I think you want everything settled and you want pretty good vibes in the team. But it totally depends on the individual.”

THERE’S BEEN NINE DIFFERENT POLE SITTERS SO FAR. WHY DO YOU THINK QUALIFYING HAS BEEN SO UP IN THE AIR THIS SEASON?

“Simply because it's so competitive. There is no one that is dominating, no one stands out. You can try to pick the polesitter for this weekend. You simply couldn't. Even the drivers, you couldn't pick who might be on pole, which to me is a great thing.”

WHICH DRIVE WAS MORE IMPRESSIVE FOR YOU – MID-OHIO OR DETROIT?

“I think Mid-Ohio, coming from the very back, having spun, to get to the podium was definitely, yep. Tires weren't a big deal there. Like reds and blacks were pretty similar over a stint. Yeah, that's a great job from the team overall with strategy and staying in the game, and also for me to keep my head, slowly chip away at it.”

YOUR TEAM HAS WON SIX OF THE NINE RACES. CAN YOU DESCRIBE THE CONFIDENCE YOU GUYS ARE WALKING IN WITH EVERY WEEK?

“I've always had that confidence being in that team, that you will turn up to a weekend with a chance to win. That's always kind of been my feeling. Like, I never walked into a weekend thinking, Man, we've got no chance. When you start having good runs on the board, you're right there in the points, it does give you confidence. You're obviously feeling good about the situation. You're not feeling like you have to do anything desperate, you're just having to execute. You're sitting in that sweet spot of performance.”

YOU SAID AFTER MID-OHIO THAT YOUR PARENTS HAVE NEVER BEEN HERE FOR A WIN. IS THAT LEGITIMATE OTHER THAN THE TIME YOU WON THE CHAMPIONSHIP IN ’14?

“Yeah, my mother was at the championship when I won in '14. But, yes, my parents haven't been to a race for years. I can't remember the last time my dad came. Might be 2009 or something. No? '11 was the last time my dad came to a race. Yeah, they haven't really seen much of on-track action. My brother has come twice. '18 when I won the 500, then on to Detroit when I won Detroit. I have two other brothers as well that have never been to a race.”

Current pre-race Honda Indy Toronto race season championship top six driver points. Image Credit: Penske Entertainment - indycar.com (2022)

YOU’RE IN THE TITLE FIGHT WITH EIGHT RACES LEFT. ANY DISCUSSIONS OF THEM COMING OVER HERE, BEING HERE BY MONTERREY?

“No, they won't come. I don't know that for sure. My wife might surprise me. I doubt it. I doubt I'll see my parents. I doubt it, yeah. I don't think they'll come.”

A LOT OF ROOKIES AT TORONTO THIS WEEKEND. THIS WILL BE YOUR 14TH START. IS THAT AN ADVANTAGE OR DOES THE AEROSCREEN KIND OF NEGATE EVERYTHING?

“I think it will be different. The tire's probably a little different. It's so tight these years. The little tiny things do make a big difference. Yeah, the field is so good now, there's so many good drivers, it really doesn't matter if someone has been there or not because they seem to get up to speed so quickly. Yeah, you can't feel like you ever have an advantage in this game.”

THERE’S A GOOD SHOT WE COULD BE COMING TO INDY IN A COUPLE WEEKS AND YOU THREE PENSKE GUYS ARE FIGHTHING FOR A TITLE. IS IT A TOUGH ACT TO BALANCE WORKING WITH A TEAMMATE, FIGHTING THAT SAME TEAMMATE FOR A CHAMPIONSHIP?

“It is a very tough balance. To me, the most awkward thing about motorsport is that you have a teammate, and you're absolutely compared off your teammates, you have the same equipment. Very tough balance. But Penske, I don't think Penske would ever allow it to get to the point where we're having big issues with each other on track. We understand that. We understand that it's about the team and not about the drivers. You never put yourself first. You work hard, you work together off the track. Obviously we're kind of separate teams on the track. I have to say with both Scott and Josef, it's been very good as far as the information that we share. Like, they are both super quick. It has helped me a lot. That's to me an advantage.”

IT SEEMS LIKE STREET COURSES COULD GO EITHER WAY AS FAR AS QUALIFYING POSITION. TORONTO SEEMS TO FAVOR STARTING POSITION MORE. IS STARTING POSITION GOING TO MEAN A LOT THIS WEEKEND?

“It looks like that way just reviewing the race. I've thought that a few times this year. Obviously tracks I feel like are tough to pass. We've actually made some hay. Like who knows, it could be a straightforward race, it can be pretty green, not much chance to make passes. But INDYCAR at the moment is so competitive that who knows. Like, at the end of the day you can never give up. Don't be too down in the mouth if you don't qualify well. But it matters, though. Qualifying up front, if you execute well, you're certainly going to finish up front.”

WHAT MAKES TORONTO SO DIFFICULT, AND WHY IS THAT THAT THE GUYS THAT ARE CHAMPIONS OF THE SPORT ALWAYS SEEM TO PERFORM WELL THERE?

“The track is just difficult because there's so many different levels of grip. Like, you never feel in the track, on top of the track, it's sliding. The car never handles well. It's kind of difficult to tell your engineer what to do because there's so much compromise. Maybe it's a track that it's easy to make a mistake on. That's why maybe veterans or people being around a bit longer don't end up making mistakes. That might be the reason that you've seen champions win.”

YOU TALKED ABOUT HOW YOUNG GUYS CAN SHOW UP AT TRACKS AND BE ON THEIR A GAME. IS PART OF THAT BECAUSE OF SIM WORK – THEY’RE MORE PREPARED?

“Definitely simulator work. You know the braking points, you know the gears, you know the track. You don't know the track condition. But, yeah, that's a pretty big chunk of time you cut off trying to understand where a track goes by being on a sim the week before. That is a big, big help. Obviously video these days, so much on-board footage, there's so much information to take in before you get there. You turn up, you're going out first session knowing the track.”

MID-OHIO 2022 RACE 09 HIGHLIGHTS - Will Power's Drive Of The Year

A LOT OF DRIVERS PERFORM WORSE AFTER A MISTAKE, BUT YOU SHOWED THE OPPOSITE AT MID-OHIO. DO YOU THINK MISTAKES CAN MAKE YOU MORE POWERFUL ON TRACK?

“Yeah, honestly after I spun, I just gathered it up and didn't really reflect on it, and just started passing people. Obviously it's not even on your mind when you get to that point. Then you just start progressing, doing your job. I think that's the only mentality you can have. I think the mistake people might make, I've made in the past, you get desperate. Oh, my God, I'm at the back, I made a mistake. That is right there, the mindset, that will make you have a worse race. I wasn't even upset or mad. It's like, OK, how do I keep going? Don't stall the car. Got right back into it. Didn't even think about it. The sooner you can get over that stuff, the better. You can't be thinking about it three laps later. You have to keep chipping away. Still at that point in your mind every single point matters, so every position does matter. Maybe that's your bad day that you spun. It's your bad day. But every point matters here. That's kind of the mentality I had at Indy when I went back to pretty much last in the first stint. I was like, This is double points, every position I get matters at the end of the year. That was the mentality. You're not going to win every race, so it's just getting the most out of every situation. That's really what I have been doing this year.”

WERE YOU SATISFIED ABOUT THAT PERFORMANCE? YOU WERE FRUSTRATED ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED?

“I was extremely happy about the finish. I was very, very happy with third. I couldn't honestly believe that I made it to third. I was really, really happy. Just felt great for the team. It was a weekend that we had a lot of potential to win. But, like I said, you can't win them all. You do have bad races. If you can come back from a mistake, that's even better. Yeah, I was very, very happy with that day. Very happy.”

DO YOU SEE AUSTRALIA FOSTERING NEW TALENT TOWARD SINGLE-SEATER RACING, PARTICULARLY IN NORTH AMERICA?

“Yeah, I was really happy to see Hunter McElrea doing so good. I think he's a super fast driver. Has definitely, definitely the potential to get to INDYCAR and do well. But, yeah, I don't know what's going on down in Australia so much these days. I haven't been back there for a long time. I have to say, though, I'm sure Drive to Survive is helping just open-wheel motorsports in general. Like, I think go-karting is more popular now. I think all those series. I think it's great. It's giving open-wheel racing relevance. People understand the cars now. When they see an INDYCAR, they can identify, Oh, yeah, that's just like a Formula 1 car. I think having Scott (McLaughlin) come over and do really well from Supercars, I think kids would see that and go, Maybe I want to go that route. If you do some Supercar driving, doesn't mean you can't come and race open-wheels. You've seen how well Scott adapted pretty quickly. Yeah, I would love to see more Australians over here. I think now Roger has taken the series over, the ladder system will get stronger. You already see there's more Indy Lights cars. Hopefully more again next year. That's what it needs, is a very good ladder system with three categories before INDYCAR. If you start doing more than that, it starts watering the three down. I hope that we can get three strong series together, massive fields. Yeah, it helps that ladder system.”

THERE’S A LOT OF NEW ZEALANDERS AND AUSTRALIANS THAT GO ON TO DEVELOPMENT SERIES WITH SUPERCARS. WHAT MCLAUGHLIN HAS DONE HELPS.

“What you have to look at, too, look at the past champions of Indy Lights. Not even champions, but guys that have competed first and second. Look at Pato O'Ward and Colton Herta. Those guys are testing Formula 1 right now. Who was last year's champion? Kirkwood. I mean, if you go through that ladder system, you win on each rung of those ladders, you get money to go to the next series. There's nothing like that anywhere else in the world. It's a good place to go, it really is. It's not as expensive as Europe. You are guaranteed to continue if you win. I think that's a pretty good deal.”

THE CANADIAN FAN BASE LOKING FORWARD TO A RACE THERE. I’M SURE THAT WILLMAKE THE RAE THAT MUCH MORE EXCITING FOR YOU AS A DRIVER.

“Yeah, I think speaking to Kevin Savoree, he said ticket sales are really good. I think we'll get a massive crowd. Always do. I think the Canadian fans are some of the best in the world. They love their sport. A real party atmosphere. Nothing better than racing in front of a big crowd. I expect it to be a pretty good event.”

ZOOM Call - Edmund Jenks

HAVE YOU EVER THOUGHT ABOUT TEAMING UP WITH YOUR BROTHER AND HAVING HIM GIVE HIS SHOWS SURROUNDING INDYCAR VENUES?

“No, obviously really enjoy him coming over because we share a similar sense of humor. Obviously enjoy his company massively. No, I've often thought about what we could do together after INDYCAR, on the comedy side of stuff because obviously he has a lot of contacts in Australia. Maybe we can do some sort of TV show or something. Yeah, haven't ever really thought about him. He has talked about coming to the U.S. and doing gigs. I think he'd just have to follow what his management puts in place for him. Yeah, no, I would love him to live over here. That would be cool. I think he's going to at some point pretty soon.”

Damien Power With Will Power - Comedy Promo

TORONTO HAS VARYING GRIPS AND IT’S HARD TO PASS. IS THAT TROUBLE IF YOU DON’T START IN THE FIRST THIRD OF THE FIELD?

“Yeah, these days if you get in the top six, you're pretty happy. You know you can do a lot from there. God, man, it's so hard to predict the races. Like, it could go green. It could be a very straightforward race. I don't think Toronto is all that difficult to pass. There are places to pass. You can pass. What's happened is the field is so tough now, everyone is about the same speed in the race. That's what makes it hard to pass. It's not necessarily the track. I think Firestone has done a good job of making a big difference between blacks and reds. There's another way that you can just switch up strategy and just be on a different tire than everyone else, different to the conventional strategies. Yeah, based on the three races I've had this year where I've come from way back, you would stress less about qualifying badly, just knowing if you keep your head you can definitely make hay. The points situation also changes the way you race a bit. You're not in this 'I have nothing to lose' sort of mentality, so you do race a little differently because of that, as well.”

SEEING YOU ON TRACK THIS YEAR – VERY MATURE, A LOT OF FUN. YOURE’ JUST MAKING IT ROUGHER FOR EVERYONE ELSE.

“Everyone makes it tougher on each other. It's a great group, great series. There's nothing like it in the world, honestly. The disciplines you have to do, the competition, the different nationalities, it's a pretty unique series.”

ANY CONCERN ON YOUR PART OR THE TEAM’S PART ON CHEVY RELIABILITY GOING FORWARD?

“Yeah, obviously always concerned when you see that. I will say that all the Chevys are switching out engines because they're all up on mileage for this race. They are all on new engines. (Indiscernible) Indy 500 race engines. Chevy obviously does a big investigation into what happened. Usually a failure creates -- it doesn't happen twice, put it that way. I don't know the findings of their investigation. I know one of them was not a Chevy issue.”

THE TEAM COMFORTABLE WITH THE SWAP-PUT, JUST FEELING NO ISSUES?

“No. No. I think we're all pretty comfortable. We've had this engine for a long time. It's been pretty reliable. Sometimes oddball things happen. They take care of it.”

HOW MUCH DO YOU SEE THE AEROSCREEN AFFECTING THE RACING IN TORONTO?

“Yeah, it definitely changed the car a lot because it moves the weight further forward. But I've actually found at Toronto, as the weight has gone forward, it's really helped. On those really slippery cement patches, the actual weight downforce matters, so you get more weight force on the front tires, and it actually helps turn the car. That was a big problem when the car had really rearward weight, that the front tires would not work over that cement. Obviously at some point, when you have high grip, that weight matters laterally. But the grip is so low that the lateral -- the actual weight downforce is more than the actual lateral force. So, yeah, it's interesting. To me it actually helped at that specific track, at Toronto.”

YOU’VE BEEN STRONG THIS YEAR. WHAT DO YOU FEEL YOU AND TEAM PENSKE NEED TO DO TO BE EVEN STRONGER?

“For me personally is to qualify better. It's not always been about pace. Last week it was just strategy and the lack of communication that got us. I actually feel like we would have definitely made it through to the Fast Six and potentially had a pole. Yeah, the last couple, Road America being P2 in practice, then not converting that in qualifying, that's the sort of thing we've got to be on top of. I've just had a messy year of qualifying as far as being in the wrong place on track or not getting a big enough gap to the car in front, or simply not performing, not being fast enough. I've had all those situations. That's the area I need to improve on for the next half of this season. I think that will put me in a really good position, if I do.”

DO YOU FEEL THE COMPETITION LEVEL IS AT AN ALL-TIME HIGH?

“Yeah, definitely the all-time high as far as driver talent, the quality of teams. Yeah, it hasn't been this tough ever. Yeah, three big teams now, four big teams: Penske, McLaren, Andretti, Ganassi. You add Shank into that. I don't think there's a series more competitive around the world than this.”

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE WHOLE TEST SITUATION WITH COLTON HERTA AND FORMULA 1?

“Yeah, man, I wish there was Zak Brown around when I was that age, when I first got to INDYCAR, because I know I would have got a chance in Formula 1. It's cool to see that because I know how that feels. I know how awesome that would be for Colton. I really hope, if he goes there, he does really well. But, yeah, I mean, a great opportunity. I think it's just so fantastic to have a team like McLaren and Zak Brown in INDYCAR. I think it's great for the series. It's good for the young guys here obviously. I think it's great what Zak Brown is doing, I do. Cool to see.”

DO YOU THINK MCLAREN, ARROW MCLAREN SP HAS AN ADVANTAGE CORNERING YOUNG TALENT BECUASE HE CAN DANGLE THIS F1 RIDE TO JOINING THE TEAM?

“Yes, absolutely. That would be 100% why Palou would want to go there. I don't blame him honestly. I mean, I would be the same. If you had a chance to go and race in F1, as big as F1 is now, yeah, you would want to go there. It's pretty cool. You think about the reach that McLaren has, Formula E, Formula 1, sports car. Man, it's a pretty good place, pretty good organization to be involved with.”

HOW FAR OFF DO YOU THINK ARROW MCLAREN SP IS TO JOINING THE PENSKES AND GANASSIS AT THE VERY ELITE LEVEL OF INDYCAR?

“They're right there. They're right there. It will be interesting. Obviously they've had young drivers, so it takes a while for the young guys to understand exactly what you need as far as development goes. But adding Rossi to the team, there's a guy with a lot of experience. I think that's kind of what it needed. Yeah, they're there, man. They're very, very strong. They're a very good team.”

WITH HALF THE FIELD NEVER BEING IN TORONTO, DOES THAT GIVE YOU A CONFIDENCE BOOST BECAUSE YOU HAVE BEEN THERE BEFORE AND DONE WELL?

“No, no. Basically with simulators and video and everything, it doesn't really give you an advantage any more. I think people turn up, they pretty much know the track. Yeah, it's anyone's guess who will be the quickest there and what the top 10 would be, honestly.”
ENDS

Honda INDY Toronto Exhibition race track front straight looking toward right-handed Turn 1 with downtown Toronto's iconic CN Tower, the world’s tallest free standing structure for 32 years from 1975–2007, and The Princes' Gates, designed by the architectural firm of Chapman and Oxley and were officially opened by H.R.H. Edward, Prince of Wales on 30 August 1927, on the occasion of his visit to Canada to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee (60th) anniversary of Confederation, in the background. Image Credit: Toronto Grand Prix Tourist - A Toronto Blog (2022)

At-track schedule (all times local - ET):

Friday, July 15

2:30-3:45 p.m. - NTT INDYCAR SERIES Practice 1, Peacock Premium/INDYCAR Live!

Saturday, July 16

10-11 a.m. - NTT INDYCAR SERIES Practice 2 (45 minutes limited guarantee), Peacock Premium/INDYCAR Live!

2-3:15 p.m. - Qualifying for NTT P1 Award (Three rounds of knockout qualifying), Peacock Premium/INDYCAR Live!

Sunday, July 17

10:55-11:25 a.m. - NTT INDYCAR SERIES Final Practice, Peacock Premium/INDYCAR Live!

3 p.m. - Peacock Premium/SportsNet 360 on air

3:23 p.m. - The Honda Indy Toronto "Drivers, start your engines"

3:30 p.m. - The Honda Indy Toronto (85 laps, 151.81 miles), Peacock Premium/SportsNet 360 (Live)

... notes from The EDJE


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TAGS: Chevrolet Racing, Team Penske, Will Power, Damien Power, Hondy Indy Toronto, The EDJE