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2022 Indy 500

J

Jimmy Higgins

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This year, the lineup is stuffed with awesome old talent, awesome middle aged talent, and awesome young talent. The front row a pair of young ones Veekay, Palou and then Dixon who has been racing since the motors were in the front (okay... that isn't true, but he has been around a while). I do ponder about Dixon and just where he sits in Indy Car legend hood. 6 titles, 5 or 6 poles now, alone in 2nd most poles being the second best racer at Indy ever, Rick Mears (Bill Vukovich gets my vote for best Indy 500 racer, he was likely going to be the only 3 straight time winner and who knows what else).

Last year's finish was one of the best of the best finishes (up there with Johncock and Mears which was going to end with either Johncock winning or whomever was in third, Goodyear/Unser Jr, Hornish over Andretti in the only final stretch pass that I'm aware of), with Castroneves fighting the young up and comer Palou in an attempt at the 4th Indy 500. Palou was great, but Castroneves was older and wiser.

There are just so many racers that one wants to win. Castroneves winning a fifth would be remarkably epic. Veekay and a couple other young riders who aren't as favorited winning one would make them the youngest ever to win the Indy 500. Dixon could really use one more victory. Marco Andretti winning would sooth the Andretti spirit at Indy. Anyone would love Kannan winning or Grosjean whose life was nearly lost in a fireball of a crash or Graham Rahal or Jimmy Johnson (the man who was so good at stock car racing, he killed NASCAR) trying to become the third driver, and the first in a long long time to win Daytona and Indy. But I wouldn't put money on Johnson, he has done well at Indy, but there is no way he could make with the perfection needed to hold someone off.

Of course, to win Indy, you need talent, a great car for enough of the run, no mistakes in the pit, and a mountain amount of luck. Which is what makes the race so utterly unpredictable (see Fitipaldi and why he only has two Indys, not three) or why Tracy doesn't have his one, or the unknown winner of 1981 between Andretti and Unser with the botched refereeing.
 
I'm a fan of Colton Herta. Starting so young yet extremely talented. Leading in many races yet falling back in the last quarter. I don't know if it's the team's pit strategies or tire choices or just blind luck but I want him to get more podiums.
 
Well, that is that, as they say. Palou is another example of how the Indy 500 just doesn't care if you are a great driver, in a great car, and should win the Indy 500. Scott Dixon goofed up terribly in a single moment of goofery that cost him the Indy 500. More crashes this year, turn two was a bother for the drivers.

Marcus Ericcson almost became Palou #2, but pulled off a gutsy, not pulling off in Turn One of the final lap. The race was red flagged because Jimmy Johnson (killer of NASCAR) crashed on lap 194. So instead of yellowing to the end, Indy paused the race to clear the track. Ericcson was going to win, and now he had O'Ward who is crazy and Kanaan who is wise right behind him. The Huski Chocolate team was not pleased.

However, Ericcson would have none of it. Swerving and doing whatever he could to break the draft, he fought his best to remain up front. Pato O'Ward still managed to click in and went for it right after passing the white flag, but Ericcson held his line and wasn't passed. And that would be that. Tony Kanaan was left in third, with no chance of getting to the front.

Alex Palou managed to finish in ninth, despite being deep in the high 20s after being caught going to the pit right before it went yellow. They seriously need to change this rule! You already commit to losing track position to go into the pits, so the Yellow line should be further back. The trouble Palou had is he has to lose time to slow down to get to the pit, stay under the speed limit, he couldn't stop... and then he went around and had to stop anyway because he had to get fuel. So that is a penalty, and then he needed to stop AGAIN for tires. So he went from swapping the lead to dropping down deep in the standings. His final finishing place is a testament to his skill and maturity, despite his young age.
 
It was quite the race. Roundy-rounder racing doesn't usually hold my attention but this one was quite fun to watch.
 
The Indycar 200 at Mid-Ohio. Wow! That was some racing!
 
Definitely enjoyed being there. Before heading to the track, I was Google Earthing things and trying to get the best line of sites. People love the Essess and mainly sit around there, but there is a better spot up track where you get to see the speed the cars are going and then get into the Essess. We got to the track a scootch before opening, so we got there early. The Essess was taken, but my area wasn't. The funny thing is that people were in the immediate area, but not in the best spot to look from, which was odd. Line of sight, line of sight, line of sight.

I forget when I noticed Will Power was up to 8th or something like that and I was wondering how that happened. Got to see Power make several passes into the Essess, but didn't notice he got so far up. I still need to watch the race to see what happened, it seemed like a good deal of position was made up in the pits with Veekay and Palou popping up several spots after a spin. Thought Power had Palou and was waiting for the pass attempt when they got to us, but it seems like he tried it atop the hill in turn 2, and when that didn't work, that was over. Daughter was happy about that, though upset Palou didn't win. I told her a podium is pretty awesome. Didn't seem like anyone would beat McLaughin once he got up front.

Arrow McClaren were pretty good in practice and very good at the qualifying. Sadly Rosenquist was out by lap three I think, and that didn't seem like a good omen for O'Ward. Watched the qualifying on the west mound between Thunder Valley and the carousal. I think you need to camp there to get a good spot on that relative small crested mound, you need to be at the top to get the carousal. Elevation is EVERYTHING! The one trouble out there is no video board or speaker, so you are left blind as to what is happening overall. You can try and follow on a phone, but it was so bright outside.
 
Iowa races were something. The tires just shred apart there, so the race is never in a state of being static, as the drivers are constantly adjusting lines around the track. Two of the better races I've seen. Jimmy Johnson had his two best finishes on that oval over the weekend, I believe 5th and 6th. On Saturday he had a notable spin (forgot he was driving open wheel), but saved the car and was able to continue on. He dueled with teammate/series leader Ericson near the end, and came out on top... though Ericson was likely not willing to risk losing points with a crash. Johnson might have faired better in the "old-school" IRL when it was nearly pure ovals.

The news of the day on Sunday was Josef Newgarden, whose car suffered a catastrophic failure of some sort. His left front tire became airborne and he was thrusted into the wall in with a pretty strong impact. He seemed okay, but then reportedly lost consciousness later and was flown to the hospital.... memories of Mark Donahue come to mind. Hopefully he is alright. 20 years ago, that might have killed him.

The accidents were generally single car events, except when Kyle Kirkwood was left with no where to go, so it was a brilliant pair of races, showing what racing can look like. Kind of pondering getting out there next year.
 
The now annual Roller Derby Grand Prix in Nashville is complete. 8 yellows, over a third of the laps driven under yellow. This course is nuts with a few areas that are just too tight... for cycling! Also, the road seems incredibly bumpy as well. Waiting for a car to just fly off the bridge. I think Johnson was spun out by a bump going down the bridge. Grosjean was taken out by Newgarden (one of many drivers taken out in incidents due to poor traction and tight turns), but... if we are going to be far, Grosjean should take that bump, as he has been pretty aggressive at times. Graham Rahal had one of the most bizarre incidents, driving on the bridge... on his front nose cone. Eventually caused him to slam into the wall. It seemed luck had more to deal with where you finished that talent, except McLaughlin who seemed to be the only guy not impacted by the course at all.

Dixon won the race, putting him within reaching distance of another championship.
 
The Portland Grand Prix was pretty boring. But right after it on my DVR came the IMSA Virginia Is For Racing Lovers Grand Prix.

That one came right down to the end with several top spots including the leader changing several times during the last two laps due to cars running out of fuel. Quite the nail biter with good hard racing throughout.
 
So tires were the story for Laguna Seca... well that and apparently Palou found the cheat code and crushed everyone else, winning by nearly half a lap. Will Power wins his second title, after breaking some American Italians record for something about climbing a pole or something. Andretti's record stood for decades. Foyt's title record remains safe with Dixon not getting his 7th this year. The fact he was in it on the last race, this late in his career speaks volumes to his talent.

Expecting a lot of stuff to happen this winter. So much young talent in Indycar, with some possibly leaving. Palou wants out of Ganassi, but short of McClaren writing a fat check, I'm not certain how that happens. Palou might be heading to F1, which would suck, because F1 is about as exciting as watching NASCAR. I read Herta might be on the F1 bubble too. Looking forward to next season and heading out to Mid-Ohio again.
 
Newgarden made a helluvan effort. He was in the zone making completely unworkable passes work. Palou was just too far ahead of the pack to catch up.

And I like F1.
 
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