Showing posts with label Dale Coyne Racing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dale Coyne Racing. Show all posts

Thursday, January 28, 2021

Ed Jones Comes Back Home To Dale Coyne Racing With Vasser Sullivan & SealMaster

Ed Jones discusses the finer points of tackling the oval track at IMS during the INDY500 session activity in 2018. Ed qualified his Ganassi Racing No. 10 NTT Data Honda at P29 and ended his run on Lap 57 when he lost control in Turn 2 having him listed as finishing P30. Image Credit: EJR Facebook Page (2018)


Ed Jones Comes Back Home To Dale Coyne Racing With Vasser Sullivan & SealMaster

People love to speculate, "What would it have been like if ..." when looking over the arch of a driving career and the relationships garnered along the way.

Well, with British/UAE driver Ed Jones back on the Dale Coyne Racing paddock with Jimmy Vasser calling signals in the box, in 2021 fans may see the culmination of experiences in the side trips to Ganassi Racing with Dario Franchitti in the team coaching role, and Ed Carpenter and his long association with the history of Indianapolis Motor Speedway. One can not wait for what the second chapter in this Coyne/Jones union, sponsored through SealMaster, will garner to this 17 race season.

All on the team believe that Podiums are the intended goal and all believe they have the experience to deliver on this goal.


NTT IndyCar Series News Conference - Wednesday, January 27, 2021
Indianapolis, Indiana, USA

Dale Coyne - Dale Coyne Racing
Jimmy Vasser - Vasser Sullivan Racing
Ed Jones - Driver, Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser Sullivan, No. 18 SealMaster Honda

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Good morning to everyone, first and foremost. Certainly glad you could join us for a huge announcement from Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser Sullivan. We'll begin with some introductions.

Dale Coyne is set to begin, we did the math, his 38th year in INDYCAR competition. The former driver, now long time owner of Dale Coyne Racing. Jimmy Vasser is on the phone, former INDYCAR Series champ, turned team owner, winner of the 2013 Indianapolis with than Tony Kanaan as a driver. Fourth season in his partnership with Dale Coyne. Great to see Ed Jones returning to the NTT INDYCAR Series, announcing earlier this morning that Ed will be the driver of the No. 18 Team SealMaster Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser Sullivan Honda during the 2021 season. Ed, of course, 2017 Rookie of the Year in the series, 2016 Indy Lights champion, a total of 47 starts in the NTT INDYCAR Series with 14 top-10 finishes.

We'll begin with Dale. Congratulations. A reunion of sorts. How good is it to have Ed back?

DALE COYNE: We're very happy to have Ed back. We were happy with him a couple years ago when he drove for us. He didn't put an asterisk by that third at Indy. He had a hole in the nose of his car. He touched somebody's gearbox, put a hole in the nose of his car. We couldn't figure out why he was so quick in the corners and slow in the straights. It turned out it was a drag penalty for that hole, otherwise he might have been two positions higher, which really would have been something.

But, no, Ed is a great friend of the team. My wife, myself, we all get along really well. So we're very happy to have him back. As I told Ed when we were talking about all this, we both have unfinished business. We're very much looking forward to a competitive year.

THE MODERATOR: That might be the theme for you in 2021 for sure.

We'll move to Ed right now. 2020, as you know, was different for all of us in so many ways. Different for you, too, without a ride. How did you pass the time last year and how excited are you to be back in the NTT INDYCAR Series?

ED JONES: First of all, it's great to be back. As you said, 2020 was different for everyone. Unfortunately the ride that I had fell through with COVID there. So it was a different year for me a year where I didn't do very much driving.

One side of that was a negative, on the other it was a good time to reflect on things, get recharged. I actually did a lot of sim racing.

I've been back not in the INDYCAR but in some other cars the last few weeks. Feel as good as ever. It's really been fantastic to join up with Dale again, with Vasser Sullivan this time. As Dale said, we have unfinished business. Had a really strong rookie year. Just really looking forward to hitting the floor running, getting back to the standard that we were at.

THE MODERATOR: Do you care to get into how all this came about?

ED JONES: I've always kept in contact with Dale. I've been fortunate where I have a good relationship with pretty much everyone in the paddock, and I'm able to talk to people quite often.

After the year out, I knew I really wanted to be back in INDYCAR. I was talking to Dale, seeing what we could figure out. Things took quite a bit of time. It all came through in the end. That's what's important.

As Dale said, we've had a great relationship. I know a lot of the guys at the team already. Having that extra partnership of Vasser Sullivan, continuing their success, is something I'm really excited to get going with.

THE MODERATOR: Jimmy, what could Ed do for your race team during 2021?

JIMMY VASSER: He's going to jump back where he left off with his consistency. You look at his numbers, 30% of his INDYCAR starts have been in the top 10. So he's a finisher, and he's consistent.

I think also he gives us a chance to fight for the Indy 500. Three starts, third and a sixth. In my opinion, should have been Rookie of the Year at the 500, but that's a whole 'nother story.

DALE COYNE: Co-rookie.

JIMMY VASSER: Right.

We're excited and energized for the 500, what he can bring. Again, just echo what I said about his consistency. I can tell you all our stakeholders and partners are really stoked to have Ed coming onboard. This is going to be good.

Dale, you might have mentioned there's some unfinished business there. The cars particularly on the ovals have proven to be very quick, so we're excited.


THE MODERATOR: Let's open it up for questions.

Q. Ed, they talked about your experience, your expertise, your engineering background. Also returning to this team there's got to be the comfort level. You've worked with these guys before. How important is that comfort level coming back to the team?

ED JONES: Yeah, for sure. Although I had two full seasons in INDYCAR, it was with different teams every year. It's always hard to keep some consistency there. So it's really nice to go back to Dale. As I said, I'm familiar with the team and all the guys there. It should help a lot getting back into things. I've already been in contact with everyone. I'm just really looking forward to that.

It's a different dynamic to what I've had in the past, as I said. Changing teams every year hasn't been ideal, something which I think should be positive going forward.

Q. According to the release today, it said that last year there were issues with traveling because of the COVID situation. Was that from the Dubai standpoint or in Europe?

ED JONES: Well, last year I was meant to race in DTM. Every series in the world, everything in the world, got delayed. The partners I had there weren't so keen after what was going on, so that was the reason why I didn't participate in that last year.

That was the time when I started thinking about INDYCAR, how we could get back into that. Yeah, it was frustrating. As I said, it was frustrating for everyone. You had to deal with it, work on yourself, see how you can make yourself better to be racing again in INDYCAR.

Q. Dale, I'll spin the comfort level question around from your end. How comforting is it to get a guy back like Ed that you've worked with before because you already have an idea what he can do, how he interacts with the team?

DALE COYNE: We're very happy about him. He has a new engineer this year, Ross Bunnell, who has been with us, worked with him before. They like each other, know each other from the past.

Ross was actually ready to move up as an engineer last year. We held him for one more year. He's really ready for the challenge. He is a diamond in the rough. He's going to be a great engineer.

What Ed is really going to enjoy is having Jimmy Vasser in his ear on the radio. Jimmy keeps you pretty pumped up there, so it will be good.

Q. What can you tell us about the status of the 19?

DALE COYNE: We hope to announce our other driver next week.

Q. Ed, after the DTM ride fell through, what did you do all year?

ED JONES: Yeah, I didn't race. I did a few different things. Actually went back to studying, did some MIT courses, which was a bit different for me (smiling).

Otherwise, the only racing I did last year was at Goodwood, racing in the Goodwood Revival, in an AC Cobra. Very different to an INDYCAR. What I also was doing was a lot of sim racing. Although it's not the same, a lot of the drivers are very competitive on there. It was good to keep sharp.

As I said, once I got back in the car finally, I felt like I was right back there. I didn't feel like I'd been away. Although it wasn't ideal, I did the most I could to keep ready and keep fit. I think it will put me in good stead for when I get back in the INDYCAR next month.

Q. Can you tell me more about the studying you did.

ED JONES: Yeah, so I did artificial intelligence, digital business management. It was different. I hadn't studied for 10 years, so it was just something I wanted to do to keep myself busy and learn something new. Probably not what other drivers did, but yeah.

Q. Did you say you did this through MIT?

ED JONES: Yeah, I did. It was online courses.

Q. What did you learn?

ED JONES: Artificial intelligence, about how businesses and companies use it to take advantage of big data. Yeah, very different to what I need for racing, but something I was always interested in, how things are evolving.

On one thing with the data, it's something you can use into motorsport, maybe not from a driver perspective, but with data on handling how you use testing the car and things like that. Through simulation, as well.

It's something which can be beneficial in the future, and something which maybe isn't really important for me now, but something I could use in times to come.

Q. Ed, you mentioned from being almost out of the car entirely, in any car entirely in 2020, to going to kind of a leadership role or presumed leadership role with Dale Coyne Racing this year. Do you feel there are any adjustments or a learning curve you'll have to make specifically with a little bit new car with the Aeroscreen that we have, just a somewhat new role, similar to what you had been doing earlier in your career, hopping from team to team previously?

ED JONES: Yeah, it is different. But I'm fortunate that I have the team around me which is going to allow me to make everything work. I don't feel fazed at all by what is going to happen. I feel confident we're going to be strong from the get-go.

Although it's different circumstances in '17 when Seb had his injury, I had to kind of take lead of the team for a while then. Obviously it's different now, but not something which I haven't done in the past. Even in junior categories, I had to take the lead role quite often.

No, I'm looking forward to it. A new challenge. As I said, I'm happy that I have the Dale Coyne guys. Jimmy Vasser there will be a great addition. The experience from him will help me fast track everything I need to do. Yeah, hope that we can get it done.

Q. Beyond the familiarity you have with this team, with Dale specifically, what excites you the most or what helped push you toward saying yes to this? Obviously a racing driver wants to be in the car as much as possible, and this was an opportunity to do that. Beyond the ability to get back to the INDYCAR Series, the familiarity you already have, what is the biggest excitement for you?

ED JONES: Yeah, so for me there was many options in different categories to race in this year. The way 2019 went for me was really disappointing, my last year in INDYCAR at the moment. It bugged me. I knew it didn't reflect what level I could compete at. There's a lot of young guys in there doing well, and I beat most of them in junior categories, things like that. I know what level I'm at. I know it didn't reflect that. I knew I needed to get back to INDYCAR, prove what I can do.

That's exactly the reason why I pursued this so hard. In a way I was very frustrated about it. For that reason I'm extremely grateful for this opportunity to get back and really give it everything.

As you said in 2017 we had a good run going, but you can't just think of it like that, that it's going to be all great again. You've got to put in the work. I'm going to make sure I get the team around me and do everything we can to make that happen.

Q. Dale, after the 2017 season you left the season finale feeling like you were going to be returning and working with Ed for at least another year, had a handshake agreement that fell apart. You said you always stayed in touch. Doesn't sound like there was necessarily any bad blood or anything you had to work out in order to make this deal possible for this year.

DALE COYNE: No, I mean, we lost Ed to Ganassi. Last year we lost Alex to Ganassi. That's not a bad thing. That's a good thing. People come to our team and want to prove themselves. Obviously everybody wants to drive for Penske or Ganassi. If they can do a nice job with us and move up, that's good for us. That's not bad for us. That's good for us.

We understood what he did, why he did it. It's business. Like I say, we did remain friends through all that. Here we are back together again.

Q. Dale, obviously the guy who Ed is replacing, Santino, one of his strengths was ovals, probably his main strength. Ed has not raced ovals other than the 500 since 2018. Are you confident that you can get Ed performing as well as you did Santino?

DALE COYNE: Yes. I think Santino was a very good racer on the ovals, maybe not as good a qualifier. I think Ed is the same way. I think Ed is a very good racer on the ovals.

We have worked very hard on our 500 cars every year. We've arguably been the fastest Honda the last four years, given a couple situations here or there. I think we've got a good car for Indy. Ed showed he can qualify well with Carpenter there and race well. I think Indy, very much looking forward to Indianapolis.

Q. Ed, are you confident about getting back into the swing of it, especially now that this is your first time with the Aeroscreen on an oval?

ED JONES: Yeah. I feel like I've always been strong on ovals, short ovals especially. To be honest, if I could race INDYCAR ovals every weekend, that would be my dream thing (smiling). It's something which I love to do.

Although the windscreen is different, it's just one of the things you've got to get used to. I changed from old aero kits to the new aero kit. It's not a problem. Just something you have to adapt to and it won't be an issue.

Q. Lack of testing available isn't a worry for you?

ED JONES: Well, I'm pretty sure everyone else gets the same amount. I should be fine. Although I didn't drive last year, I still feel sharp. People came out from longer breaks in the past and get back on it. Yeah, I have no worries about that.

The most important thing is we work well together as a team. I'm confident we can do that. As long as we have that sorted, two days, three days, it will be enough.

DALE COYNE: The other teams went out to Barber for a day and Sebring for a day. I think we've got our three days. INDYCAR moved the window a little later so we're able to do those three days now with the drivers that drive for us. We'll get our second driver done, then we'll get out testing three days February and get our testing done in a hurry.

Wheels up across the rumble strips that define the inside of Turn 5 of the Toyota Grand Prix Of Long Beach. Here in his first year in IndyCar, he is driving the Dale Coyne No. 19 Boy Scouts Of America sponsored Dallara Honda where he qualified 13th and finished the race at P6. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2017)

Q. Ed, you came in 2017 as a 20-year-old. How have you grown since that point and how do you think that will help you this year?

ED JONES: Yeah, I think, as you said, when I came in in 2017, I was still very new to everything in America. I had two years in Indy Lights which went well. But, yeah, you learn so much through the early years in INDYCAR.

As I was saying, yeah, as a rookie in the first two years you can always put in some very good results, but it's very hard to be consistently at the front. That comes with experience.

Yeah, I had seasons where maybe the success/reward didn't go so well and it didn't work out. Now I've learned from that. I feel like that although the year out isn't ideal, I feel I've also progressed in many ways. I think that I can come back stronger and have a better shot at racing.

Q. Jimmy, this is your third or fourth season now with Dale. What is it about partnering up with him that you guys enjoy?

JIMMY VASSER: We're like minded. This will be our fourth year, by the way. Dale has been in for 38 years I guess is the number, right? We like that Dale is always going to be here.

I think we really complement each other as two organizations. It takes a village. It's so difficult to try to fight the Penskes and Ganassis and Andrettis of the world, all the way down through the paddock these days, it's so hard. We're able to pool all of our resources and pull against the rope together.

I think we've shown going into our fourth season that it has given success.

British race team Carlin's United Arab Emirates driver Ed Jones negotiates Turn 4 at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. Jones was currently sitting at P3 in the IndyLights season points championship where he ended the 2015 season - he did lead the most laps and won the 2015 TGPLB IndyLights race ahead of the Pole Award winner, Jack Harvey. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2015)

Q. Ed, obviously you know the team from the past. I guess you kind of know INDYCAR well enough now. What kind of expectations do you go in with this year specifically? Have you set specific goals for yourself in terms of wins, podiums, top 10s or anything like that? What would you be happy with at the end of 2021?

ED JONES: We haven't set targets exactly. But you always go out there because you want to win. The competition is very tough. I think the driver level is the toughest it's ever been. The level of the teams is extremely high. I'm really confident that we'll put things together, we can finish on the podium. Ultimately we want to win the Indy 500.

Again, INDYCAR is so tough now that to get a win, you've got to have everything right. It's all about pulling up all those different aspects. The team has had some great success in the SealMaster car.

I remember the first year they ran that livery in 2018, I had just left the team, Seb was running at St. Pete, they won the race. I thought that is the (indiscernible) car and something I want to drive in the future.

The addition of the guys with Jimmy there, the experience he brings, I really want to target to get back up to speed immediately. As I said, it's very tough. Top 10s from the beginning would be great, but then you want to progress up to the podium again, ultimately fight for wins.

I know it's a tough path, a tough ask, but I really believe that as a team, together we can challenge for that.

Q. Dale, I've got to be the unpopular guy and ask the difficult question. There's a lot of talk about Romain Grosjean being linked to your team for next season. You said you're hoping to announce your driver next week. Can you say if there's any mutual interest there or if you're speaking to Romain, if you're interested in him for this season?

DALE COYNE: You all could make a list of a hundred drivers, we've talked to probably every one of them this winter. Employed, unemployed, America, Europe, every country. It's been kind of amazing.

Obviously Romain is a good driver. We'd love to have him. We're working on a few other ones as well. Hopefully we get all that buttoned up and make an announcement next week and then get out to testing in February.

Q. Ed, it's been sort of talked about briefly within this chat, but your relationship with Jimmy Vasser, how far back does that go? How did it kind of come about? How do you two work together so well?

ED JONES: Yeah, so I haven't worked with Jimmy in the past. Ever since my rookie year, Jimmy was always there. We would have a chat here and there.

It's great when you have a lot of respect for the past champions and guys that have done amazing in INDYCAR before. So I've always respected him, always tried to learn little things here and there, what I can.

I'm really excited to take it to the next level, really draw from that experience. He will be a great addition to have on the stand for me.

Q. Jimmy, Ed had kind of mentioned getting up to speed. What are you going to have to do to help Ed get back up to the speed, especially on ovals?

JIMMY VASSER: I don't expect any real delay. Watching Ed while we were around a bit in '17, then competing against him the following two years, just being a driver and knowing he hasn't been out of the car not that long for a young man like that. I fully expect him to jump in and find his pace pretty much immediately. There's no concerns on my end it's going to take him any time to get back up to speed.

As far as the ovals go, we're going to have a doubleheader at Texas. Some of these tracks, Indianapolis, we're going to be there for so long. Looking at St. Louis. It's really not an oval-centric series like it used to be.

I don't have any concerns either on the ovals or the road, street circuits, there's not going to be any more learning curves.


@29:11
Q. Ed, you're coming into a whole new series, new ownership, new ownership of the IMS track, new car. You've been through an interesting road. What do you think you've learned over the past couple years at INDYCAR, the types of people that you've met, that you can bring forward to 2021?

ED JONES: Yeah, as you said, it's been an interesting ride so far. Probably not the most ideal. Because of that I've learned a huge amount. I've had some great experiences with teams and some not-so-great.

What I learned the most is it's all about who you have around you in the team. That is the most critical part. The most important part I've learned so far is having people around you which you can really trust, people that are there trying to back you. If you don't have that in a team, it's going to be really hard for you to succeed.

Yeah, I feel really comfortable with the guys that we have on the 18 car, which gives you confidence. The experience I learned. Also it's key to find the right people. The engineers we have, Ross, a great addition to the team, somebody I'm really confident in. All those people around you, it's going to make this work. That's probably the biggest thing I've taken from the few years I've had.

Again, you learn so many things in the racing. Everyone keeps on bringing up the oval aspect, getting up to speed. For me, it's not about that this year. I'm not here to try and take time to get up to speed, I've not come back for that reason, or have any excuse like that. I want to be there and be straight on it from the get-go and back like I've never left. That's really important for me. That's my target. I'm looking forward to getting after it.

Q. Jimmy Vasser, he's good at ovals, so on. Is there anything specific you see in Ed that you can bring forward talking to him from the box?

JIMMY VASSER: We're going to find out, right? As I mentioned earlier, Ed has shown consistency. He's a finisher. That's the most important thing. From there, hopefully working with Ross and Michael Cox as a junior engineer that was on the team last year, who is a very bright kid, with Isaac Townsend being promoted in the team up to crew chief working real close with Todd, we got to put together a nice, tight little group, keep it in the box, give Ed a good car that he has shown what he can do good.

He's a pretty methodical driver. If we can be there and then put ourselves in a position to take opportunities, try to make the right calls strategically, then I think we can, like Ed said, just find ourself in the top 10, then let's kind of put ourselves to get in a position to get on the podium, then who knows. From there, things can happen and you can win a race.

So I hate to be cliché about it, but you got to take it one race at a time, one session at a time, really just hone in on keeping it as simple as you can really, not make mistakes.

I'm going to say it again, Ed said it, I don't anticipate any getting used to the new car, the Aeroscreen. We've seen with the other drivers just jumping in. Ed is going to be right on the pace, at least match the pace of the car, what it's capable of, in my mind the first days.

Q. Dale Coyne, it seems like you almost have a potential tiger by the tail with Jones and Vasser together. How do you see it? Where do you involve yourself?

DALE COYNE: Jimmy and Sulli, Sulli is in the air right now or he'd been on here, he's flying from Texas to Daytona. We talked about drivers. Santino has gone off in the NASCAR or Xfinity. Ed was a natural choice for both of us. We looked at who was out there, who was available. My relationship with Ed, we knew his background, what he could do.

I think Ed is going to have a really nice environment there, with the people around him, chief mechanic, Jimmy in his ear. I think it's all going to gel very nicely.

This is all about making that team work. It's not just the driver. The driver is the most important cog for sure. But giving him a good car, having a good team around him, trying to get podiums. Wins are hard to get, but we can get them. That's the goal.

Q. Jimmy, the Rolex is this weekend. How do you feel going into the Rolex? You and Sulli have sort of branched out, doing your own thing this year. What are Lexus' expectations for you? If you can talk about Zach Veach, the enjoyment he's had so far.

JIMMY VASSER: Expectations are we're here to win the 24. Sorry to say, that, Ed. We're competing against Ed in the GTD class. We're going to kick your butt, Ed.

We have branched out, but the team very much looks and feels the same as it had last year with our past partners. But we've stepped it up in our minds with some personnel, engineering, and the driver lineup.

Having said that, it leads me to Zach Veach. He's done three test days in the car. He's really embraced working on the simulator and kind of trying to adapt to the ABS system in the car. I haven't driven it, but it seems to be something that is tough to get used to for drivers.

On the radio, on the in-lap from the qualifier race, he came on the radio and said that was the most fun he's ever had. He's really looking forward to the series. He seems really enlightened and extremely happy. That kind of energy, you know, it trickles down through the whole team. It's infectious. Hopefully that will help keep things light around here and we can deliver not only for the team but Lexus and all the stakeholders in the team.

Q. Jimmy, do you think both your entries are championship contenders?

JIMMY VASSER: Yeah, I do. I do. Although the 14 is very, very strong. We're going to see how Zach, leading the full season as the professional in the 12 car. With Frankie I think he's shown that he's able to win races and get podiums.

We expect between the two cars they should vie for the championship and more importantly we're well positioned with the two cars to get the manufacturers championship for Lexus.

Q. Just wanted to ask about SealMaster. Everyone who watches the races on TV appreciate having such an eye-catching design amongst all the red, whites and blues out there. How do you feel they have kept faith in terms of what they get out of it? You started a relationship with a huge bang with the win at St. Pete. What have they seen has been the value for INDYCAR racing over subsequent seasons?

JIMMY VASSER: First of all, they're a great partner, a very successful program for them. It's based around the franchisees. They get a tremendous amount of value from our media partners in Spectrum. They also activate, although they couldn't, they a few of the franchisees were able to come at Road America.

They understood while last year was the pandemic and they weren't able to do as much, but they're looking forward to things lightening up a bit this year and resuming what they did in prior years.

I think Dale will remember and a lot of people would, there were 110 franchisees that came to St. Pete when we won that first race. When you can give that kind of an experience for them, it's in their blood, you could probably ask anyone, when you bring somebody to an INDYCAR race, you can smell it and feel it and hear it, you get hooked.

They are a great partner, but they're very, very happy with how things are going. Their leadership ironically, too, a bit of an Ed Jones fan. We were really happy about that. Double thumbs up when we let them know who our new driver was going to be. We're really, really looking forward to getting this thing rolling and getting back to business, as usual.

DALE COYNE: There's a lot of nice parking lots and Sonny's Barbecue in Florida (laughter).

THE MODERATOR: Our buddy Asher has chimed in. He has one question for Ed. Go ahead, Asher.

Q. Ed, you were champion in the SealMaster car after some great drivers including Sebastien Bourdais and Santino Ferrucci. How excited are you to be driving that car after all those good drivers?

ED JONES: Yeah, well. First of all, thanks for the question.

It's fantastic to be driving that car. As I said, the first time I saw it was the year after I left Dale the first time. Sebastien had won that race at St. Petersburg. The car looked awesome then. It's looked amazing ever since.

It's always one of the cars when you're on track, you see it. You're like, That looks good. I'm really excited to be there. They've had some great success over four years. Really hoping I can add to that.

THE MODERATOR: Congratulations to everyone. Good to see good people return to the NTT INDYCAR Series. Dale, Jimmy, Ed. Our congratulations to Sulli, as well. Looking forward to seeing the No. 18 team's SealMaster Honda at the opener April 18th, Barber Motorsports Park.

Thanks to everyone. Have a great day.
[ht - FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports]

... notes from The EDJE




TAGS: SealMaster, No.18 SealMaster Honda, Ed Jones, Dale Coyne Racing, Vasser Sullivan Racing, 2021, NTT INDYCAR SERIES, Dale Coyne, Jimmy Vasser, Ed Jones, The EDJE

Wednesday, May 29, 2019

Not So 'Simple Simon' Throws A 'Simon Says' Curve Into The Finale Of The 103rd INDY500

Team Penske's Simon Pagenaud looks skyward, with an empty milk bottle in each hand, as he completes a sweep of the NTT IndyCar Series (NICS) activity at Indianapolis Motor Speedway during the "Month-Of-May." After having a lackluster year without wins in all of 2018, and having a dismal start through the first four races in 2019, Simon re-establishes his rightful place in the list of top accomplished drivers in the NICS. He did this by qualifying with a NTT P1 Pole Award followed by a victory in the IMS road course event the INDYCAR Grand Prix, then capturing the NTT P1 Pole Award followed by a victory in the IMS oval race known as "The Greatest Spectacle in Racing" - 103rd Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge. He started May at P11 in the driver championship points standings, and ended May by leading in the 2019 championship points race by one point over teammate Josef Newgarden. Image Credit: Tristan Vautier (2019)

Not So 'Simple Simon' Throws A 'Simon Says' Curve Into The Finale Of The 103rd INDY500

This edition of the 103rd Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge did not succumb to the dire predictions (as high as an 80% chance) of a rain influenced contest. The INDY500 did not come down to a precisely managed fuel consumption strategy session, thanks to accident miscues on the track late in the race, much to the chagrin of Spencer Pigot and Scott Dixon, as well as the joy  who were beginning to reel in the leaders if this test continued its long Green Flag stints.

No, this sixth race of a seventeen race NTT IndyCar Series season came down to an ample number of laps at the end to provide a real racers shootout which ended up in a ratings increase win with an online survey result at IndyCar.com insta-poll in the very high 9's on a 10 point scale.

Simply stated, Simon Pagenaud was able to cap off a Month-Of-May at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway that only one other competitor dreamed of and completed - the 2018 season of Team Penske teammate Will Power.

Front straightaway opening ceremonies included a very patriotic display with all of the trappings - Troops standing at attention, a couple of flyovers, the National Anthem sung by Kelly Clarkson, and the President of the Hulman & Company, Tony George announcing the call to start engines. Image Credit: Jason Porter via NICS (2019)

The following race notation was performed in real time using audio to text from cellphone into an email message. Images folded in are from the ample staff at IndyCar.com with a potential contribution from Social Media timelines.

Matt Damon and Christian Bale (L to R). Image Credit: Walter Khun via NICS (2019)

GREEN, GREEN, GREEN from Matt - GREEN, GREEN, GREEN from Christian ...

Matt Damon and Christian Bale as honorary flag starters of the 103rd Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge get this party started as the 10 rows of 33 cars come to the yard of bricks Start/Finish line. This marks the first time NBC has ever broadcast the INDY500 in it's 103 years of running "The Greatest Spectacle Of Racing."

Right at the drop of the Green Flags from Damon and Bale, the Honda and Chevrolet powered Dallara IndyCars begin to track at 220mph average laps for 500 miles in "The Greatest Spectacle Of Racing." Image Credit: Jason Porter via NICS (2019)

First lap is in the books without incident and Ed Carpenter is pushing Simon Pagenaud - Will Power gets a tremendous start and ends up at P3 - up from his second row outside P6 position. The racing between Will Power, Spencer Pigot and Josef Newgarden in these opening laps is superb - just excellent.

Lap 5 Colton Herta is coming into the pits and he's coming in slowly. It looks like an electronic problem.

Colton Herta did not make it all the way back into the pits so FCY - Full Course Yellow to tow the car into the pits on Lap 6.

Top 10 on restart will be Pagenaud, Carpenter, Power, Pigot, Newgarden, Jones, Bourdais, Rossi, Daly, and Castroneves.

GREEN, GREEN, GREEN - Lap 11

Marco Andretti Sage Karam and Felix Rosenqvist are first to pit.

Colton Herta out - DNF

 Lap 20 of 200 - Top 10  are Pagenaud, Power, Carpenter, Pigot, Newgarden, Rossi, Bourdais , Jones, Davidson, & Daly.

29 laps in and already 100 passes for position on track. No passes for lead, however.

Pagenaud and other leaders begin pit stops at lap 34. Will Power assumes lead for two laps. The rest of the field will soon follow.

Marco Andretti, U.S. Concrete and Andretti Autosport showed of the No. 98 U.S. Concrete / Curb machine that the third-generation driver piloted during the 103rd Running of the Indianapolis 500. The day-glow red car closely resembles the 1969 race-winning livery of Mario Andretti, celebrating the 50th anniversary of his memorable Indianapolis 500 victory. Sadly, Marco finished the race as the last car running at the end - P26 - five laps behind the leader. Image Credit: Mike Harding via NICS (2019)

Marco Andretti comes in for second Pitstop - already.

Davidson comes into pits and enters pit sideways. Castroneves messes up on his Pit Stop by rear-ending Davidson and damages front wing.

Sato doing back-to-back pit stops because of a messed up tire installation.

Castroneves is penalized a drive-through penalty for tapping the back end of Davidson's car.

50 laps in the books - 125 miles of 500. Top 10 are Pagenaud, Power, Carpenter, Newgarden, Rossi, Bourdais, Pigot, Jones, Daly, & Erickson.

Lap 56 Ben Hanley comes in coasting. Tire change and mechanical issue discovered. Drive shaft disconnected.

Dale Coyne Racing's American Santino Ferrucci gained INDY500 Rookie Of The Year by being the hard charger through starting at P23 and finishing in the Top 10 at P7. In the post race press conference, Ferrucci said, "I got to battle it out almost the entire race with Hunter-Reay, who's a champion here, and I can't thank him enough because the experience that you get racing someone like that and the enjoyment and excitement of racing around other competitors like him, it was just a blast." Image Credit: Joe Skibinski via NICS (2019)

Lap 60 Rookie Santino Ferrucci started at P23 and is now up to P14.

Lap 65 and race leader Pagenaud is coming in for his second Pit Stop. Other leader pit stops to follow.

Power squirrely coming into pit box - taps Fueler with left rear of car.

The Chevy-powered Indy cars may be fast but they are pitting a little earlier than the Honda-powered cars.

Alexander Rossi squirrely coming to the blend line into pit stop - coming in a little fast.

Scott Dixon is last of top drivers to pit. He went 37 Laps on his first Pit Stop stent it is now Lap 73 and he comes in.

Lap 74 - Full Course Yellow brought on by Kyle Kaiser of Juncos Racing.

Big impact on pit lane because a car comes in sideways hitting tires by Jordan King.

Before FCY, Will Power did not do well in Pitstop exchanges coming in from P2 and entering to the field P6.  Power is penalized for hitting crew member in pit box with slide, penalized to the back of the field.

GREEN, GREEN, GREEN - Lap 79. Top 10 our Pagenaud, Carpenter, Newgarden, Rossi, Bourdais, Piggott, Dixon, Erickson, Daly, & Rahal.

Will Power, after penalty, now settles in at P21. Speaks on radio, to the pits, saying that his day may be over.

Lap 90 has Ed Carpenter at P2 taking advantage of Simon Pagenaud cutting a hole in the air.

Halfway point Lap100 - Simon Pagenaud pits from the lead leaving Ed Carpenter, Josef Newgarden, Alexander Rossi, Sebastian Bourdais, Conor Daly, Simon Pigot, Scott Dixon, Marcus Ericsson, Graham Rahal, & Santino Ferrucci behind.

Those pitting at the end of sequence are Alexander Rossi and Scott Dixon. Lap 112 Dixon comes into pits.

Things are getting racy as Felix Rosenqvist pits. Alexander Rossi is now at P2 challenging Simon Pagenaud for the lead.

Lap 125 of 200 - Simon Pagenaud, Alexander Rossi, Ed Carpenter, Josef Newgarden, Sebastien Bourdais, Conor Daly, Scott Dixon, Marcus Ericsson, Santino Ferrucci, & Ryan Hunter-Reay.

Lap 131 - Simon Pagenaud comes in to pits.

Marcus Ericsson spins in Pit Road and there's a problem with Alexander Rossi with the Buckeye fueling nozzle - it's not going in cleanly - super delay on pit stop for a Rossi of 23 seconds.

Full Course Yellow Lap 139? -  Marcus Ericsson spins as he comes into the pits and hits the wall. This Yellow may mess up Scott Dixon's race, he has not pitted yet.

Dixon, Rosenqvist, and Ferrucci come into the pits after achieving good pit strategy with fuel mileage.

19 cars on the lead lap and Alexander Rossi gets clobbered with a terrible Pit Stop placing him at P6.

GREEN, GREEN, GREEN - Lap 149 - top 10 are Simon Pagenaud, Ed Carpenter, Josef Newgarden, Sebastien Bourdais, Alexander Rossi (up to five), Conor Daly, Ryan Hunter Reay, Charlie Kimball, Graham Rahal, and Scott Dixon.

Incredible action all around Alexander Rossi he was passed by many cars & he passed many cars back - one of them in the mix is lap down Oriol Servia.

2019 Championship points leader Josef Newgarden passes Simon Pagenaud for the lead on lap 151. First time Simon Pagenaud has been passed on-the-track for the lead all race.

For those who identify themselves as charter members of the "Short Attention Span Theater" ... the rave environment of the Snake Pit may be the best place to pass the time of a 500 mile race once the first GREEN Flag flies until the last laps before the CHECKERED Flag and the milk shower in Victory Lane takes place. Image Credit: Stephen King via NICS (2019)

Conor Daly Lap 156 moves up to P4 as the action behind him with Rossi and Oriol Servia gets crazy.

Racing becomes a little more stable but they are all tracking within a half a second of each other in the top five or six places.

Rossi is driving like a man possessed - he just now passed Conor Daly for P4.

With Josef Newgarden leading, Simon Pagenaud is able to save fuel for the first time in this race.

Simon Pagenaud comes into the pits at lap 169.

Lap 173 Pagenaud reassumes the lead in Pit Stop sequences.

The top Racers who have pitted are now nose-to-tail on Lap 177 with Pagenaud, Rossi, Carpenter, Newgarden, Bourdais, & Rahal all running together.

Big crash on Lap 178 YELLOW Flag - Crash caused when Sebastian Bourdais came down on Graham Rahal as he was attempting a pass going into Turn 3 - Rahal's right-front wheel touched Bourdais' left-rear wheel - Rahal had a bent right suspension arm, Bourdais was sent spinning - collected cars as they drove into crash.

Zach Veach and Felix Rosenqvist are also taken out. Santino Ferrucci slides pass the accidents by cutting left through the grass onto the inner circular pit-in/pit-out lane (designed by Rick Mears), misses all of the collected traffic, and gains positions.

Image Credit: Walter Khun via NICS (2019)

Race is under RED Flag stop - all cars to pit lane (no work allowed) in order to clean up the track.

Felix Rosenqvist, Graham Rahal, Sebastien Bourdais, Charlie Kimball, & Zach Veach all out. Scott Dixon gets through but has front wing damage and continues further back in the grid after service.

GREEN, GREEN, GREEN - Lap 189 of 200 -

This excerpted and edited from IndyCar.com -

Engines have re-fired and the Indianapolis 500 has resumed after a RED FLAG delay of 18 minutes.

Lap 181: Leader 21-Pigot enters closed pit for fuel only. LEAD CHANGE (26): New leader is 27-Rossi.

Lap 182: Pits are open. 21-Pigot, 9-Dixon and 5-Hinchcliffe on pit road for four tires and fuel. 9-Dixon also made repairs for damage sustained in the Lap 178 incident.

 Race Control: These cars need to drive through pit lane, as they are lapped cars: 24, 60, 77, 48, 3, 7, 42, 23, 98.


GREEN, GREEN, GREEN - Lap 187 of 200 - 27-Rossi leads the field out of Turn 4 to start-finish. 22-Pagenaud makes pass for the lead on the frontstretch

Lap 188; 27-Rossi makes pass for the lead in Turn 1.

Lap 189: 22-Pagenaud takes the lead with a pass on the frontstretch.

Lap 190: 22_Pagenaud leads 27-Rossi by 0.1617 of a second.

Lap 195: 22-Pagenaud leads 27-Rossi by 0.1264 of a second. As Pagenaud enters each of the long straightaways of this unique rectangle style oval track, he shows that he is leading by diving to the inside track wall doing his best to throw a curve to Rossi in his attempts to catch by owning Pagenaud's draft (the hole the leading car creates which allows the car behind to gain speed through the reduced friction of no-air).

Lap 196: 22-Pagenaud leads 27-Rossi by 0.1177 of a second.

Lap 197: 22-Pagenaud leads 27-Rossi by 0.0077 of a second.  Further, Simon plays a driving game of Simon Says, by diving to the inside wall, as soon Alexander follows suit to maintain the draft, Simon pops toward the outside wall, then as Rossi begins to make his adjustment, pops back to the inside - the very opposite of blocking ... cutting the draft.

Lap 198: 27-Rossi makes pass for lead around outside of Turn 1 - Simon Says to Alexander, go on by, see you in half a lap.

Lap 199: 22-Pagenaud passes 27-Rossi for the lead in Turn 3. WHITE Flag: Pagenaud leads 27-Rossi at the line by .3439 of a second.

Lap 200: CHECKERED Flag: Simon Pagenaud wins the 103rd Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge by 0.2086 of a second over Alexander Rossi.

The 2016 NTT IndyCar Series champion, Team Penske driver, & due to his performance in The-Month-Of-May - 2019 Championship points leader - Simon Says - I Win!

Image Credit: Walter Khun via NICS (2019)

INDIANAPOLIS 500 POST-RACE QUICK NOTES:

Simon Pagenaud is fifth French-born driver to win the Indianapolis 500. The last French-born driver to win was Gil de Ferran in 2003. De Ferran is Brazilian citizen but was born in Paris. Pagenaud is the first Frenchman to win since Gaston Chevrolet in 1920.

Today’s win is Simon Pagenaud’s second win of 2019 and his 13th career Indy car victory.

Pagenaud became the second consecutive driver to win both the INDYCAR Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course and Indianapolis 500 in the same season. Will Power accomplished the feat

It is the 18th Indianapolis 500 win for Team Penske, which is the most among all entrants. The team’s last Indianapolis 500 win was 2018 when Will Power won the race.

Alexander Rossi finished second, his third top-five finish in four Indianapolis 500 starts. Rossi has not finished outside the top 10 at Indianapolis

Takuma Sato finished third, his second podium finish at the Indianapolis 500. His only other podium was when he won in 2017.

103rd INDIANAPOLIS 500 presented by Gainbridge TOP THREE QUICK QUOTES:


Simple! Simon covers himself in White Gold, better, White Privilege ... the traditional bottle of milk bath of an INDY500 win in Victory Lane. Image Credit: Shawn Gritzmacher via NICS (2019)

SIMON PAGENAUD (No. 22 Menards Team Penske Chevrolet, winner): “It’s hard to believe right now, to be honest with you. It’s been such an intense race. I believe we led most of the race. The car was just on rails. The yellows came out perfectly. The stars are aligned. Man, wow, I’m seeing myself on TV with this. It’s pretty amazing. It’s a dream come true, a lifetime of trying to achieve this. So I’m just speechless. It’s just incredible. I never expected to be in this position, but I certainly was trying to make it as hard as I could. I want to thank the fans. The fans are amazing. It was awesome to share that with you guys on the Yard of Bricks. You’re the best, Indianapolis.” (Did questions about your job security motivate you?): “It didn’t. I’m just focused on the job, man. When you have a car like this, a team like this, you just work your way. It’s all about achieving and executing at the end, and we did execute perfectly today. No mistakes. Here we are, Victory Lane, man. We did it!”

Post race Alex taking a moment - It is always hard when one does everything that can to overtake, maintain a margin, and win when your competitor happens to have just one more tool in his box. Image Credit: Shawn Gritzmacher via NICS (2019)

ALEXANDER ROSSI (No. 27 NAPA AUTO PARTS Honda, second): (What was the difference at the end?): “Horsepower. That’s unfortunately the way it is. They did a great job. Obviously, he was on pole and led the most laps, but I think we had the superior car. We just didn’t have enough there at the end. Huge hat’s off to the entire No. 27 NAPA Andretti Autosport team. They’ve been fantastic all month, and I’m happy to get them a result. But unfortunately, nothing else matters here but winning. This one will be hard to get over, but at the end of the day, it was a great showing for the team and good for the points overall. But today will suck for a while.”

Rahal Letterman Lanigan driver and 2017 INDY500 Champion Takuma Sato. Sato finished in P3 Podium position only 0.3413 seconds behind winner Pagenaud. Image Credit: Richard Dowdy via NICS (2019)

TAKUMA SATO (No. 30 Mi-Jack/Panasonic Honda, third): “We had some issue on the second pace lap, and we got down. It was lucky that we got back. And the last 15 laps were great excitement. Huge congratulations to Simon (Pagenaud). A big win. We tried to get Alex (Rossi), but we were not quite there yet.” (Did you think you could run this well?): “It’s always challenging. It’s always difficult. We just kept our heads down, did our job and made the most of it.”

In the end, 35 year-old Simon Pagenaud had to fight a not so simple drive from beginning to end by leading the field in a "follow me" - "catch me if you can" - "Simon Says" snake-like lead curving drive at the end, to win against all comers by 0.2080 seconds, so as to soak in the ultimate white privilege of a bottle (or two) of milk splash tradition in Victory Lane.

He enters next weekend's two-race Detroit Grand Prix closed street course challenge leading by one point in the season championship - here's to keeping the charge alive, The EDJE says.

... notes from The EDJE




TAGS: 103rd Indianapolis 500, IMS, Pagenaud, Simon says, Rossi, Sato, Team Penske, Andretti Autosport, Rahal Letterman Lanigan, Santino Ferrucci, Dale Coyne Racing, Snake Pit, The EDJE

Monday, June 30, 2014

Two race weekend at Grand Prix of Houston delivers high octane fan results

Target Chip Ganassi Racing's Tony Kanaan, driving the No. 10 DW12 car that Dario Franchitti drove to injury last year, leads a large group of cars at the beginning of Race 2/Round 10 of the Shell and Pennzoil Grand Prix of Houston. Image Credit: Richard Dowdy via IndyCar.com (2014)

Two race weekend at Grand Prix of Houston delivers high octane fan results

The assumption in most high-level professional exotic open-wheel automobile racing is that one has to qualify their car faster than anyone in order to achieve a good result. The well funded multiple car super teams always are able to out perform and dominate because once the favorable top order starting positions are filled, the race can feature great control with little passing and the wins and points all go to the best qualifiers.

At the 2014 Shell and Pennzoil Grand Prix of Houston this template was thrown out of the window save the points garnered for the season's championship race.

The two race weekend highlighted everything that is great about American open-wheel racing and did this under all weather conditions. Rookies, relatives, and relocation drivers were the stars while drivers of the so-called super teams of Penske, Ganassi, and Andretti were pushed aside (figuratively and literally) of the limelight at race's end of Race 1/Round 9 on Saturday and Race 2/Round 10 on Sunday to deliver the most entertaining weekend of any racing series in this world in recent memory.

Penske Racing's Juan Pablo Montoya - P2, Dale Coyne Racing's Carlos Huertas - P1, and Andretti Autosport's Carlos Munoz - P3 celebrate a first time all Colombian driver IndyCar podium achieved on Race 1/Round 9at the Grand Prix of Houston. Image Credit: Andretti Autosport (2014)

Race 1/Round 9 - Three Drivers From Colombia On Podium

At the halfway point in the Verizon IndyCar Season, one would like a bit of clarity from season points leaders after the strength of the last three races shown by Penske Racing, but none was coming at the 2014 Shell and Pennzoil Grand Prix of Houston [Twitter idents: @MtrsprtsJournal @TheEDJE #IndyCar #GPHOU].

Through the previous practice sessions, Will Power showed that he had the stuff to tame the track. He ended up with the second fastest lap time just behind Schmidt Peterson Motorsports standout Simon Pagenaud.

When it came to the three dry weather knock-out qualification sessions for the Firestone Fast 6, however, season points leader Power could not advance out of Group 2 to the top 12. As for Simon Pagenaud, he was able to grab his first ever pole award in the Verizon IndyCar Series.

Power, starting from deep in the field at P18 of 23 cars, stated the blame was his fault on the dictated set up of the car ... “Definitely not starting where we would like to be but we just have to go out there and see what happens and hope the Chevy can make its way to the front,” Power said. "It's a much more difficult track to come from the back, but in IndyCar races anything can happen."

When it came to race time, rain had Race Control declare a Wet Start ... and soon after the Dallara DW12's roll out on the improved temporary parking lot/street track to warm-up for the planned standing start, the race was further declared a timed event at one-hour and fifty minutes (1:50.000).

Temporary street course (mostly parking lot and run counter-clockwise) layout for the 2014 Shell and Pennzoil Grand Prix of Houston. Image Credit: Pensky Racing (2014)

This excerpted and edited from For The Love Of Indy -

First Impressions: Houston 2014 Race One
Saturday, June 28, 2014

1. I thought I was more likely to win an IndyCar race this season than Carlos Huertas. Nine races and he is an IndyCar winner. A guy who's lone victory in Formula Renault 3.5 came in a monsoon. A guy who was rumored to be the sugar daddy savior for Panther Racing over the winter and now he was more wins this season than the four Ganassi drivers combined. It may takes me six months to wrap my head around this victory.

2. And Colombians finished 1-2-3 with Juan Pablo Montoya and Carlos Muñoz rounding out the podium. They used strategy to perfection in this timed race. They stopped at the right time when they knew they could make it to the end while the leaders stayed out. Not to mention Colombia advancing to the quarterfinals in the World Cup with a 2-0 victory over Uruguay. They will play Brazil on the 4th of July while these three go at it again tomorrow.

3. Graham Rahal had a day that started out from hell, appeared to made it out alive, only to be dragged right back down after getting into the back of Tony Kanaan before going green. What else could go wrong for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing? Luca Filippi was running well before slapping the wall on a restart due to cold tires. They can make it all up tomorrow but it will be difficult to recover from the way today ended.

4. Any other day and Sébastien Bourdais, James Hinchcliffe, Jack Hawksworth, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Marco Andretti and Hélio Castroneves are the top six. Andretti of all people probably had the race of the day. From being spun by his teammate Muñoz to being black flagged for running competitive laps to then leader Takuma Sato and the Japanese driver failing to get by the American to recovering and being one of the half dozen caught out on pit strategy. Keep your eyes on all six tomorrow.

5. Justin Wilson finished tenth (at least I think he will after Graham Rahal and Ryan Briscoe are assessed their penalties) and did 46 laps on one stint. Huertas did 39 laps to make it to the checkered flag. I don't know what Dale Coyne Racing did to their cars over the break but it appears to have worked. Great job by the whole team.

6. This was a day that appeared to be one where Castroneves, Hunter-Reay and Simon Pagenaud could catch up on Will Power as he started eighteenth and was a non-factor all day before sliding into the tires, ending his run of completing every lap in 2014. But, with the likes of Pagenaud, Mike Conway, Charlie Kimball, Scott Dixon, Luca Filippi and Takuma Sato having problems, Power finished fourteenth and only lost six points over Castroneves in the standings. Things are falling Power's way in 2014.

7. I hate to think that this race could have ended better. It was a timed race and I enjoyed it. They did the hour and fifty minutes like they said and I should take that. But after being so close to a green flag finish and having the Rahal-Kanaan contact deflate the balloon stinks. Who knows? Maybe Huertas would have won anyway but what could have been?

8. Tomorrow's race will be nothing like today's but what a race it was. My jaw is still on the floor. Everyone get some rest, rehydrate and we will dance again tomorrow. By the way, there are no Dutch, Mexican, Costa Rican or Greek drivers in the race, so no IndyCar/World Cup double like today.
[Reference Here]

Factoid:
Caution flag is out due to a spin and stall after catching a puddle by Will Power - Time Remaining in Race: 27:080. Power was the only driver to complete every lap in 8 races but with this spin, no more drivers will have "perfect attendance" in 2014.

Best Television Broadcast Quote:
With 11 minutes remaining, an Englishman (Justin Wilson) was being chased by four angry Colombians - Huertas, JPM, Kanaan and Munoz!

Note - Justin Wilson had to pit on Lap 74 for fuel ... so much for anger.

Commentary:
Car 8 - Ganassi's Ryan Briscoe and 15 - Rahal Letterman Lanigan's Graham Rahal received 30-second penalties for avoidable contact with Josef Newgarden and Tony Kanaan respectively.

Season Points leader Will Power escapes two very poor qualification sessions and two poor race finishes by leaving Races 9 and 10 of an 18 race season with the same points lead as he entered the weekend. Image Credit: Steve Swope via Penske Racing (2014)

Race 2/Round 10 - Non-Super Teams Sweep Podium (rookies secure 2 of 3 positions)

On Sunday, in a two session of Group A and Group B qualifications process where the drivers go out on track and pray for at least one clear lap in a few short minutes - about enough time for three laps after one out-lap - times posted are fanned into each other, every other position, starting from the fastest time from the group that this time was posted.

Example: Say Group B had the fastest overall time, so, P1=B, P2=A, P3=next fastest B, P4=next fastest A ... and so on, and so on.

Penske Racing's Helio Castroneves gained a point by winning the pole for today's race (3:45 p.m., NBCSN). Castroneves gained only six points on Power on Saturday when he finished ninth as Power finished 14th.

The pole is the 40th of the Brazilian's career, tying him with Penske Racing's team manager Rick Mears as being only five drivers to achieve or surpass this mark on IndyCar's all-time list.

Penske Racing team-mate Will Power, again qualified poorly and ended up with the same starting position as Race 1 - P18. His lead over Castroneves at the season's halfway point is 32 points.



 This excerpted and edited from Miami Hearld -

Pagenaud wins Race 2 in Houston
By SportsNetwork.com via Miami Hearld Open Wheel


In this 90-lap race, run in hot and humid conditions at Houston's NRG Park, Helio Castroneves from Team Penske started on the pole and led 47 of the first 48 laps, but Pagenaud overtook Castroneves for the top spot on lap 49. Pagenaud had led one circuit earlier during a round of green-flag pit stops.

Later on that same lap, Castroneves tried to catch Pagenaud but bumped into Sebastien Bourdais and then made contact with the wall near turn 6, ending his race.
----
Castroneves wound up finishing 21st, as he lost an opportunity to narrow the points gap between him and leader Will Power, his teammate.

"When I lost the lead with Pagenaud, I was trying to pass him, but I had no idea [Bourdais] was there," Castroneves said. "When I'm attacking, I can't have eyes in the back of my head. It's absolutely ridiculous when the guy has to put the car over there. But anyway it's the rules of traffic...I'm upset because we had a great car. There were [42] laps to go, and I wasn't panicking. It is what it is, and I'll move on and see what happens."

Power started 18th for the second day in a row but had moved up to third before he sustained a broken rear suspension in the closing laps. He limped across the line in 11th. Power's point advantage over Castroneves is now 39, the same margin between the two entering the Houston doubleheader.

"We were in position for a good day, considering where we had qualified," Power said. "We were going to maximize our points, but we had a parts malfunction with two laps to go. We fought really hard all day with nothing to show for it."

Ryan Hunter-Reay, Juan Pablo Montoya, Ryan Briscoe, Marco Andretti and Tony Kanaan finished sixth through 10th, respectively.

One day after scoring his first career victory in IndyCar, rookie Carlos Huertas completed just two laps before he experienced an electrical issue, as he stalled on the track. Huertas finished last.
----
Pagenaud went on to lead the final 42 laps and crossed the finish line 7.2622 seconds ahead of Aleshin. The Frenchman scored his first win of the season in the May 10 inaugural Grand Prix of Indianapolis, held on Indianapolis Motor Speedway's road course.

In Saturday's rain-soaked Race 1 in Houston, Pagenaud started on the pole but ended up finishing six laps behind in 16th after he struggled with brake issues in the early going and then was involved in a multi-car crash during the mid-stages.

Simon Pagenaud owns the curb as he tracks around the parking lot temporary circuit during Race 2/Round 10 at the Grand Prix of Houston. Image Credit: GPUPDATE.net (2014)

"Awesome race," said Pagenaud, who won for the fourth time in his IndyCar career. "The car was just beautiful. Awesome braking. Awesome traction. Awesome grip. What else could you expect as a driver. That's why I was so disappointed yesterday."

Aleshin's race on Saturday ended on lap 33 when he made contact with Takuma Sato and crashed into the turn 6 barrier. The Russian finished last in the 23- car field.

"I can't really explain my feeling. I just have so much emotion," Aleshin said after his runner-up finish in Race 2. "I had a flat tire on my car in the last few laps. I was really lucky to finish, actually. I'm very happy. The team did am amazing job. I don't have enough English words to thank the team for that."
----
Schmidt Peterson Hamilton Motorsports claimed its first ever 1-2 finish in the IndyCar Series in Sunday's Race 2 of the Shell and Pennzoil Grand Prix of Houston weekend doubleheader.

Simon Pagenaud captured his second win of the season, while his rookie teammate, Mikhail Aleshin, finished a career-best second.
----
Rookie Jack Hawksworth earned his first career podium finish in IndyCar with a third-place run, while Charlie Kimball took the fourth spot. Bourdais suffered a broken front wing during his incident with Castroneves but rebounded for a fifth-place result.

[Reference Here]


Fan reaction to the weekend's action was over the top (sample tweets):







As stated before ... probably the best and most entertaining weekend of any racing series, in this world, in recent memory.

... notes from The EDJE

Thursday, October 24, 2013

IndyCar driver Justin Wilson is released to recover from home

Justin Wilson in the pits. Image Credit: Ken Manfred (2013)

Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013)

Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013)

Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013)

Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013)

Justin Wilson being attended to out on Turn 2 at Auto Club Speedway. Image Credit: Ken Manfred (2013)

IndyCar driver Justin Wilson is released to recover from home

IndyCar pilot Justin Wilson returned home to Colorado this week to begin his recovery process after suffering injuries in a lap 111 accident in the 2013 IndyCar season finale at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California last weekend.

Wilson suffered a pulmonary contusion as well as three fractures to his pelvis from the impact, which saw the front of a competitor’s car make lateral (t-bone) contact with the right side of Wilson’s DW12. The recovery process will require several weeks of inactivity for Wilson.

The order to keep off his feet is a big adjustment for Wilson, who in addition to his duties as a doting dad to his two young daughters, stays extremely active with a comprehensive training program that integrates long-distance cycling, mountain biking, and weight training.

“They said it will be six weeks before I can put weight on my right side,” said Wilson, who has already become adroit with his new crutches he will use to get around. “I am hoping for a lot less (time) of course, but you have to do what they say. It will be hard because I am already thinking about getting back in the car and training to be ready for that, but it will just take some time.”

Wilson has a recent precedent for this process after suffering a back injury in practice at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in August, 2011. But after sitting out the final six races of the IndyCar season, Wilson returned to 2012 race duty in fine form, winning in his first race back with a breakthrough victory for Michael Shank Racing in the 50th Anniversary Rolex 24 At Daytona.

While obeying doctors orders and keeping off his feet will be key to his healing, the affable Briton has already also benefited from an outpouring of support from a wide range of sources.

“It has been amazing, several of the drivers came and visited me in the hospital and everyone has called, tweeted, or texted me just saying ‘get well fast’.  It has been a little overwhelming,” said Wilson. “I’d like to respond to everyone, but I think it would be impossible!  I am grateful for the support, and it is  really encouraging for me.”

The primary partner on Wilson’s No. 19 Dale Coyne Racing Honda-powered machine was the Boy Scouts of America, and the group was another outlet of support as the national council organized a section of the website for Scouts from across the country to wish Wilson a speedy recovery  (http://blog.scoutingmagazine.org/2013/10/21/justin/).

... notes from The EDJE