Oilpressure

So, I promised that Susan would have a post up here early this afternoon. I’d like to say it was her fault for not finishing it up, but we never came back into the Media Center after the IndyCar practice at 11:00. As soon as it was done, we went to one of my favorite concession stands – the one that overlooks Hurry Downs – and got a beer and a brat for lunch and sat there watching the US F2000 race going on at the bottom of the hill.

After we ate, we went over to outside Turn Five and met up with longtime reader and commenter Brandon Wright and his dad Steve. This was their first trip to Road America, and I was wanting to make sure they had the lay of the land. They already did. But we shared an adult beverage and watched the Indy Lights race with them. Susan took a picture of me surrounded by the both of them.

While we were up there, Susan realized what a good spot that was for taking pictures. After the race, Brandon and Steve went to go explore and Susan took some photos during qualifying from where we were sitting and then a little further down.

I also wanted to get into the act, so I pulled out my phone and did a makeshift video. Bear with the random panning back from the Corvette Bridge back to Turn Five.

So basically, we got too wrapped up in everything going on here today. In short, we were having too much fun to go back into the Media Center. I promise that it will be up first thing in the morning for our morning post here…and this time, I mean it.

Speaking of qualifying; after running strong in every practice session, Colton Herta put his Harding Steinbrenner Honda on the pole In doing so, he becomes the youngest pole-winner in IndyCar history – taking the record away from Graham Rahal. Herta edged Alexander Rossi just enough to force the Indianapolis 500 winner and championship contender to start second. Will Power will start third, while championship leader Josef Newgarden will start fourth. Rahal Letterman Lanigan teammates Takuma Sato and Graham Rahal rounded out the Firestone Fast Six.

It was not a clean sweep for Team Penske. Simon Pagenaud has struggled all weekend and it continued in qualifying. He will start sixteenth on Sunday. Other than Rossi, it was not a great qualifying effort for Anretti Autosport either. Marco Andretti will start a respectable tenth, but Zach Veach will start fourteenth and Ryan Hunter-Reay will start fifteenth.

Scott Dixon advanced into Round Two, but when the first session was over, smoke was coming out of the rear of the car. He climbed out, signifying that his day was done. He will start twelfth. Felix Rosenqvist will start eighteenth, so it was not a successful day for Chip Ganassi Racing either.

James Hinchcliffe had a quiet but respectable session. He will roll off ninth on the grid, while teammate Marcus Ericsson will start seventeenth. Santino Ferrucci got a taste of reality this weekend. After a string a eye-catching runs, he has struggled all weekend and will start twenty-first on Sunday.

The nightmare at AJ Foyt Enterprises has continued. Matheus Leist will start twentieth, while Tony Kanaan will roll off dead last on Sunday. History tells us that something bad is going to happen there. I’m not sure what, but someone’s head is probably going to roll. The question is, whose?

That will do it for today. We are going to one of my favorite restaurant up here – PJ Campbell’s at the Depot. It’s an old train station in nearby Plymouth that has been converted to an outstanding restaurant. Someone recommended it to us in 2017, and we’ve made it an annual stop ever since.

As usual, I will close with a few of Susan’s photos, including pole-sitter Colton Herta. Please check back here tomorrow for her post about our Track Walk on Thursday. Fingers crossed for good weather on Sunday.

George Phillips

This entry was posted on June 22, 2019 at 6:18 pm and is filed under IndyCar. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.