Oilpressure

Good morning from a partly sunny, but still cool Road America. It was projected to get down to 49° overnight, but I don’t think it dipped that low. It was 53° when we woke up, and our car said it was 62° driving in. Compared to the steamy temps we left behind in Nashville, I’m loving this.

Weather will be a non-issue this weekend, unless you’re wanting to talk about how nice it is. Our friend, IndyCar Weatherman over on Twitter (@Indycar_Wxman) posted this recently. Follow him if you don’t. He’s the best for up to date weather for every race weekend. Paul Dalbey and I met him at Pocono one year – great guy, and very qualified. Trust me!

Although our hotel is further out this year, it was not a bad drive. It was a little over thirty minutes from the hotel parking lot to Road America’s Gate 3, where we pick up credentials and more importantly – our golf cart. If you ever come here, plan ahead. You need to book them by April for the June IndyCar race.

Like any track, each day is more crowded than the one before. Normally Friday morning is relatively calm here. This morning, the buzz has certainly intensified over what it normally is on Friday. Based on hotel availability (and prices) and what we saw driving through the grounds just now, I’d say they are looking at a record year for attendance at this race. I’d say the secret is out in Road America. What a great place to spend a weekend!

As for the racing part of this weekend, a lot of people on social media have been talking about how they expect Ryan Hunter-Reay to make a big difference this weekend, now that he will be in the No. 20 BITNILE Chevy formerly driven by Conor Daly. I’m not seeing it. I may be proven wrong, but whatever is wrong with this team will not suddenly be made right by a driver that has not turned right in an Indy car since 2021. This is not a quick fix at Ed Carpenter Racing. Things did not get where they are overnight, and it will take a while to resurrect this team.

Silly season is now in high-gear. The futures of Marcus Ericsson, Felix Rosenqvist and Romain Grosjean are up in the air. Technically, you can say the same for Alex Palou – but I’ll be shocked if he’s not driving the No. 6 for Arrow McLaren in 2024. On Trackside the other night, they were speculating that Rosenqvist probably already knows his team for 2024. Their argument makes sense, and I tend to agree with them. Ericsson is still up in the air, but I have a gut-feeling that he is back with Ganassi next year. As for Grosjean, a few weeks ago he seemed to be a lick to re-sign with Andretti. A lackluster May and two crashes in the last two races may have cooled that enthusiasm. Grosjean can go a long way in securing his 2024 season, with a strong weekend at Road America.

As I said earlier this morning, I still think Alexander Rossi will will Sunday’s Sonsio Grand Prix at Road America. He does very well at this track, and won here in 2019. He and his new No. 7 team at McLaren are now putting together some strong finishes as they get more comfortable with each other. I think they will put it all together this weekend to give Rossi his first win with his new team.

That will do it for now. We are going to go out and explore this magnificent facility. Practice will get underway at 3:00 CDT and will air on Peacock. I’ll be back with a Friday wrap-up after the practice session. Susan will have a post up here sometime tomorrow. In the meantime, you can follow us on Twitter for photos and videos. Follow me at @Oilpressureblog or Susan at @MrsOilpressure. Please check back later.

George Phillips

This entry was posted on June 16, 2023 at 10:58 am 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.