No prerace today so let’s jump right into this!
Wow Leigh Diffey that suit is something else.
More RHR… snore. Sorry man but he just bores me. And I just don’t believe he has the killer skill, I think he has taken great advantage of great equipment and great circumstances. Statistically he’s great but I like to dislike him.
With that said, I hope he does well today. I picked him in fantasy.
Lame command. Start those ethanol powered engines. Come on.
The cars look good in short oval trim here.
—GREEN—
1
4 wide out of T2. Ridic.
3
Side by side running for a few laps. Cool. We’ll see how long that lasts.
5
Already making the high line work. That’s super cool. Hopefully we can get a good short oval this year.
7
Crazy action. Passing everywhere. Can we come to Iowa twice? Also, why the hell wasn’t this on Saturday night? Daytona. I know. Still it’s unacceptable to race this race on a Sunday afternoon. Find a way to make it work.
14
Already catching the rear of the field.
30
We miss a ton of laps during the commercial break. New leader is Newgarden.
31
I can’t believe the actions we are seeing today.
37
Holy Moly how is Newgarden up 4 seconds already. I have to imagine there are only like 8 cars left on the lead lap?
Ticker says there are 12 cars still on the lead lap.
41
Hinch marching up to P2. Excellent.
43
Newgarden +8.5. Damn.
Can he lap the entire field?
53
Ok. Now there are 9 cars on the lead lap. However, the action is nonstop. These cars are racing close and loose. Someone is going to end up in the wall before this thing is all said and done.
60
We can see Rossi is having trouble, but Newgarden is amazing today.
63
I have also noticed the LED plates are still not working. That is lame as hell. Put the old ones back on or something. That’s better than nothing.
67
I have no idea where he is in the race but Sato is really mixing it up as well. If it were me I wouldn’t be anywhere near him today.
70
First real stops starting to happen. This could really mix the field up. Hopefully all these guys can keep it together.
75
We’re watching cars on new tires literally drive around the cars that have yet to stop. Unbelievable difference in speed.
77
FIRE IN THE VEACH BOX!! That’s SHOCKING! He likes to be on fire I guess.
81
Leaders in.
82
Rossi stalls it. The Truth isn’t looking very Truthy today.
Aaaaand Newgarden is back to his ass kicking ways.
98
Well this race is flying by.
Pigot in P5. Excellent!
102
Alright. I think the race has calmed down ever so slightly. This has been an unbelievable showing for indycar today.
109
Newgarden fighting lapped traffic. The booth is talking like these lappers have any real chance to stay ahead of Newgarden. He has a real chance of lapping up to 2nd. Hinch is about 3 seconds down with P3 and P4 almost 18 seconds down. This is a crazy showing.
Hinch is close enough to win this race.
123
5 cars on the lead lap.
Also I can’t believe we’ve had a clean race until this point.
The word clinic is often thrown around…
128
No one is driving around like a back of the pack idiot as well. This has truly been a great afternoon of indycar racing.
134
I know we’re losing a ton of speed because of tire degradation but because of the quality of racing it’s not really that noticeable. Thinking back to Texas we were losing a ton of speed AND the cars couldn’t get close enough to race. This is the way this is supposed to happen.
139
—YELLOW—
Veach into the wall. Too bad. I would have like to have seen Newgarden lap the entire field.
Honestly, that wasn’t a huge hit. We could have almost stayed green.
This could be where it all falls apart. How many indycar races have we seen that started clean until the first half only to devolve into a round of demolition derby. I hope that does not happen today.
I agree with the call to sweep the track. Always sweep the track.
Turketarian sighting. I will never buy butterball. I will always opt for non butterball because if this god awful commercial.
—GREEN—
150
Pigot into P2 around Hinch. Of course, as the proceed to battle, Newgarden pulls away.
155
10 cars on the lead lap. Disappointing.
158
I bet Newgarden is enjoying the clear track ahead.
THROUGH THE FIELD??? WHAT THE HELL?? I THOUGHT THIS SEGMENT WAS DEAD? And how are we bringing it back to life today? This is clearly a boring ass race deployment. Maybe an excuse to show other cars because the action has been frantic today. Save for Newgarden and Hinch, we haven’t been able to really focus on anyone else.
165
That was a lengthy rant in terms of lap count.
We have actual racing happening while we are forcing our way through the field. Why are we doing this today? how long are they going to subject us to this insanity?
169
Hinch can get into the same zip code as Newgarden but no closer.
172
Sato literally elbowing his way through. That’s my boy.
Hmm. We haven’t heard the jet fighters in a gymnasium thing today.
Tour de France team time trial advertisement. Super cool. That’s what I’m talking about. Talk about some aerodynamics.
187
Interviewing pit boxes. Just show me some racing.
189
The lead lap is much closer to the leader than previous stints. This is probably an example of unloading the car in a really good spot verse working on your car through the race. Other teams have had 2 stops to pull a little bit closer to Newgarden.
198
Robin Miller noting that this race belongs on Saturday night. I don’t agree with that crusty curmudgeon often but here I do.
207
Usually I’m into the clips packages that they intersperse through the race, but today I’m not into it. I don’t want them to cut away for a second.
212
I’ve updated my feeling that Hinch can win this race. He can’t.
That is all.
213
Newgarden has this crazy exciting race in the bag. On paper this will look like utter domination. Yet another example of needing to be there to fully experience the day.
223
RHR in and shaking the car on pit lane. Interesting. I wonder if that is related to the communication issues?
225
Everyone follows. No one wants to take the chance of getting separated from the leader.
RHR back in. Booth notices. Toe link? He sends himself. This is a pretty boss showing from RHR today.
228
How is Newgarden already back to the lead? What an afternoon he is having.
Kevin Lee closes the loop regarding RHR. Yes, he was having issues.
241
How are we already on lap 241?
Rossi is making life really hard on Hinch. The Truth is really making it hard to be his friend on track. I foresee a stormy interpersonal future for him.
250
The action has really calmed down. Not in a bad way. In a more easy to follow way.
253
ALRIGHT ALRIGHT HINCH AND NEWGARDEN ARE IN THE SAME SHOT!!
He can do this.
HE CAN DO THIS!
HE TOTALLY DID THIS!!
HINCH TO THE LEAD!
256
Hinch clears Newgarden and Power and looks like he can cruise for a while.
Take some breaths…
270
The gap sits at 0.5 seconds. I have not taken many breaths. It’s hard to believe that a SPM car is in the lead at a short oval.
Ahead of a dominating Penske no less.
272
1.5 seconds.
5 cars on the lead lap.
What a race.
276
Damn RHR in again. What a tough day.
280
Wickens into P3 around Pigot!
Wickens is unreal. How long until he heads to Penske? Or Ganassi?
282
Onto Newgarden?
285
Ok. I can’t believe there was only 1 caution. On such a hot day with, what the booth says, is 1000 pounds less downforce. Every single driver earned their money today. This was a day of professionalism.
290
Hinch ahead 8 seconds!
Great momentum heading into Toronto.
294
—YELLOW—
Ed sideways and Sato into his wing.
Booth debating tires. OF COURSE YOU GET TIRES. 5 cars on the lead lap. However, this thing could end under yellow.
Wow. Hinch stays out. Newgarden and Wickens in. Can they even get any green flag running? I just don’t see how there is time.
—WHITE FLAG—
Booth says lights off on the pace car but the lights are CLEARLY on. What the hell man. What are these guys watching. WHAT A GOAT RODEO OF AN ENDING.
—CHECKERS—
Hinch.
Burnouts. Hell yes.
I totally enjoyed that race. One of the best in a long long time. Also great for Hinch. Indy 500 etc. blah blah blah. Seriously we need to go here twice a year. If this race is on Saturday night I am there as well.
Sigh. So many empty promises regarding future race attendance.
Wickens dejected about the inconsistency of indycar. Welcome home kid, I hope it tastes great.
Spigot looks like he belongs in NASCAR. I can’t explain why. There’s just a country bumpkin aura about him.
Sato is just the best.
Scott Dixon always looks sunburnt. He’s talking about his bad day. Sounds like Ganassi is not the team they once were. Tires on the wrong sides? Who’s getting paid for these kind of blunders? If the rumors about him moving to McLaren are true I think he should go. And not look back. No Target as a sponsor feels like the beginning of the end for ol’ Chip Ganassi racing.
Drunk Will Power is always the best Will Power. I have never seen a man change so much after an Indy 500 win as this guy. What a different racer. I can’t wait to see what the 2nd half of his career brings.
Rahal not complaining! An honest recall of his day. That’s a nice change!
Alright. I’ll listen to this RHR interview. Really just another tough day,
Cool. Good race. 14/10. They’re all good races. Final thought, How is Dixon in the points lead when his team installs a set of tires backwards? Sigh. What an odd afternoon.
I’ll see you guys in Toronto!
Thanks for reading.
Eric Hall
anotherindycarblog 