It’s Race Day at Road America
Welcome to a warm, but hazy Road America. The haze is reportedly from the Canadian wildfires, but it is more prominent than it had been all weekend.
Once again, I’ve included a post from IndyCar Weatherman on Twitter (@Indycar_Wxman) showing that weather will not be a factor – as has been the case all weekend.
We arrived just at the start of the Morning Warmup, and it is going on as I type. Nathan Brown of the IndyStar tweeted out this morning that the start at Turn One is a point of concern for several drivers, because they don’t know if there is enough grip to go two-by-two. We always go to the inside of Turn One to watch the start of the race, so we will have a good view if anything goes awry. I never want a crash to happen, but if it does – I’d like to witness it.
One of the problems with being at a track instead of watching at home is that you don’t always know the latest thing that everyone is talking about. It wasn’t until we got back to our hotel room that I saw the complete replay of the dust-up between Will Power and Scott Dixon in Canada Corner. After seeing it, I don’t blame Will Power one bit for being as livid as he was.
From a fan standpoint, I welcome the return of the Will Power double-birds that we have not seen since New Hampshire in 2011. Then after his qualifying session ended, in his interview – Power said “Grosjean is a piece of crap. He should be punched in the face” Ouch!
The warm-up session is now complete. My pick to win, Alexander Rossi, set the fastest time of the morning. Scott Dixon and Will Power were second and third quick respectively. Pato O’Ward and Kyle Kirkwood rounded out the Top-Five of the morning.
With the unpredictability of the new pavement, this promises to be an interesting race. I seriously doubt that this race will go caution-free as it has in the past a couple of times. Can Will Power and Scott Dixon play nice today? Probably. They are both seasoned veterans and won’t allow a skirmish affect their driving today.
We are going to go ride around and catch the buzz as fans continue to pour in through the gates. Once again – don’t forget that this race will be on USA Network and Peacock, not NBC. I’ll be back this afternoon with a wrap-up and then will have my Random Thoughts on Monday.
Enjoy the race!
George Phillips
Oilpressure 
June 18, 2023 at 10:22 am
OP , you have mentioned on several occasions while trackside it is sometimes difficult to follow what is going on. May I suggest a small scanner with some earphones which Susan can use tuned to the NBC announcers or various other frequencies to keep up to date on race developments. I know you know about scanners however they are now small ,lightweight and easily used ,,can be on a belt or on a shoulder strap. For as many races as you attend cost factor is low. I use a scanner so as to not drain my phone battery if listening to IndyCar radio track side . Just a thought