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Whenever my wife and I can’t agree on what to watch on television, our fallback is always a few random episodes of Two and a Half Men. It’s funny and mindless at the same time. No matter how many times we may have seen an episode, we can always laugh and enjoy it.

The same does not hold true when we watch the NTT IndyCar Series. We hope for something new and different, whether we are onsite or watching on television. For the past several weeks, it seems like we are watching reruns or stuck in the movie Groundhog Day, because it’s the same storyline over and over. Each week, we watch Alex Palou run away with another win.

We are now in July, and since Barber at the end of April, Alex Palou has won four of the past five races. He also won the pole for the Indianapolis 500, which is the only race in that stretch he didn’t win. Rinus VeeKay seemingly took Palou out in a pits mishap near the halfway point. But Palou fought back and finished fourth. That is the only stumble he has had in this two-month stretch, and it wasn’t his fault.

Palou won again this past weekend at the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio, in what was not a very thrilling or entertaining race – not to me, anyway. Palou now finds himself with a 110 point lead at the halfway point in the season. Teammate Scott Dixon is in second, trailing Palou 377 to 267 in the points standings.

I have been following this sport for many decades. I’m not sure I can think of a more dominating performance by a driver. In the post-race interviews yesterday, Scott Dixon referred to Juan Montoya having a similar lead in 2015. I know it was a big lead, but I don’t think it was that big.

Not only has Palou won four of the past five races, they haven’t been close. Palou won the GMR Grand Prix by almost seventeen seconds over second-place finisher Pato O’Ward. Detroit was his closest call, when he won by 1.1 seconds over Will Power. At Road America, Palou coasted over the line 4.5 seconds ahead of Josef Newgarden. Yesterday, Palou bested Scott Dixon by more than five seconds.

To a racing novice, five seconds doesn’t sound like much. To knowledgeable race fans, we know that’s an eternity. Palou’s wins have been beatdowns.

Unlike many in the media who are frothing at the mouth over Palou’s dominance, it brings me no joy to discuss it. Over the past few years, I’ve never hidden the fact that I am not a huge Alex Palou fan. Susan really likes him, but I’ve never really warmed up to him. It’s one of those things that I can’t really put my finger on. There’s just something about his demeanor that has always sort of rubbed me the wrong way (the only adjective he knows is “amazing”). Then when he tried to leave Chip Ganassi Racing a year early last summer, any chance I had of ever becoming a fan of his went flying out the window.

At Road America, I had a lengthy discussion with someone directly connected to one of the big teams (not Ganassi) regarding my lack of enthusiasm for Palou. She assured me how wrong I was and how wonderful he was (“such a sweetheart” was the term she used). Of course, that was on Saturday, before Palou ran away with another win the next day. He has won two more races since then. I think even she might wish that Palou would hit a cold stretch in the next few races.

I’m probably wrong on this, but the only championship season I know of that could top Palou’s dominance was in 1964, when AJ Foyt won ten of thirteen races. Now I’m old enough to remember Foyt’s 1964 win in the Indianapolis 500, but I would be lying if I said I remember any other part of that season. Still, the history books don’t lie. Theoretically, Palou could surpass Foyt’s 1964 win total. There are still eight races to go in the season. Palou can’t win the final eight can he? Can he? That would give him twelve wins in thirteen races. It may not top Foyt’s winning percentage, but it would still be hard to fathom.

That won’t happen, but unless Palou hits a massive cold spell, the races are going to get pretty boring to watch. Reruns of Two and a Half Men might start sounding pretty inviting if Palou’s dominance continues much longer.

TV Coverage: While I’m already in a bad mood over the results of the race, let me get this off of my chest. NBC’s (USA’s) coverage of Mid-Ohio was decent. I am becoming more and more of a fan of Dillon Welch as a pit reporter. He has become a competent veteran right before our eyes.

My beef is mostly with Townsend Bell. He is getting just a little too cute with all of his slang for racing jargon. He no longer refers toi tire degradation; he just refers to the deg. I’m sorry, but no casual fan is going to know what deg is. He has also started getting more comfortable using box, the dreaded F1 term for the pits.

I know he didn’t come up with these nicknames, but he has way overused Little Dave for David Malukas. I realize that Malukas once used that term in an interview referring to himself – but Bell has beaten it into the ground. I’m also growing tired of hearing about The Thirsty Threes.

I like a lighthearted booth that can be both educational and spontaneously funny. Bell’s quips just come off as a little too contrived.

The Crash: Even if you were not watching live on Peacock, by now I’m sure everyone has seen footage of the frightening crash involving Simon Pagenaud. Therefore I see no reason to post it here. If you haven’t seen it for some reason, Pagenaud was seemingly OK, but was not cleared to drive in Sunday’s race. Conor Daly got the call to drive the No. 60 car, while Pagenaud was a bystander in the pits.

The brakes failed as Pagenaud was entering Turn Four, It is estimated that he was doing 180 mph when he left the track. Once he hit the gravel trap, Pagenaud went into a barrel-roll, flipping six and a half times and sustaining over 80-Gs. I’ve seen a lot of racing over the years. Pagenaud’s Saturday morning crash may be one of the the worst crashes I’ve seen where the driver walked away. Thank God for all of the safety devices in these cars.

Time to Grow Up: This will also come off as negative, but when Conor Daly was let go from Ed Carpenter Racing a few weeks ago – I something mentioned that I had been told by those that would know. While fans love Conor Daly and his antics, there is a growing perception in the paddock among car owners that Daly does not take his craft seriously. Daly is now 31, but he sometimes comes off as the class clown – the kid who is always into mischief.

During the broadcast for Sunday’s Morning Warm-Up, Townsend Bell relayed a story that Conor Daly had told him this weekend. He is in some contest with driver Travis Pastrana, where the loser has to run a mile while chugging a beer. Seriously?

You’re currently out of work and there is a feeling among those that can decide your future that you’re not serious enough about being a dedicated race car driver – and you’re still bragging about things like this? If you want to be a media sensation, that’s great! You can make a lot of money doing that. But if you want to get serious about racing, cut this stuff out. I can’t imagine Scott Dixon or Josef Newgarden laughing about such a contest they’ve entered, much less entering one.

I’ve never considered myself a stick-in-the-mud or a buzz-kill, but if I were young again and had an opportunity to drive in IndyCar, I would make that my only goal and do whatever those in the paddock wanted me to do.

Another Kirkwood Mishap: At Detroit and Road America, Kyle Kirkwood suffered setbacks on the first lap of each race. At Detroit, he was completely blameless. At Road America, he may have been the one at fault. Regardless, Kirkwood found himself at the very back of the field in both instances. Both times, he clawed his way back. At Detroit he finished sixth, and at Road America he finished ninth.

Early on in Sunday’s race, Kirkwood was doing his best to fight off Palou for third place. It’s debatable who did what to whom, but they made contact and Kirkwood fell from fourth to ninth. Kirkwood ultimately finished seventeenth, but at one point had worked his way back up to close to Top-Five. He’s already won at Long Beach. If Kirkwood can keep his nose clean in the first half of the races, where he’s not coming from behind all the time – I think he will have much better results.

Tough Day for the Front Row: Colton Herta started on the pole, alongside Graham Rahal, who seems to be on a rebound for the past couple of races. Herta led the first twenty-seven laps, but never led again. Alex Palou took over after a pit stop exchange and that was pretty well that. Still Herta was competing for second-place among several drivers. He was still in the running, until he was penalized for a pit speed violation on Lap 55. He finished eleventh. Herta says the pit speed limiter didn’t engage. TV replays suggested it was possible that Herta got his hands tangled up and he may not have pressed the button hard enough to engage. Regardless, for the second race in a row, Herta had a pole winning car and came up short at the end of the race.

Rahal had his own miscues. On his first pit stop, there was a problem getting the fuel hose engaged, costing him at least two seconds in the pits. On his last stop, there was a problem on the left-rear wheel, throwing the rhythm of the entire stop off. Rahal ended up stalling the car and finished seventh.

Neither of the front-row starters had the pace that Palou did, but both would have finished in the Top-Five without those miscues in the pits.

Uncharacteristic Mistake: When I got a glimpse of Marcus Ericsson and Felix Rosenqvist getting together on the opening lap, for some reason I assumed it was Rosenqvist who had screwed up. Marcus Ericsson rarely makes mistakes these days. But the replays showed that it was clearly Ericsson in the wrong and that Rosenqvist was an innocent bystander. Ericsson broke his front suspension and Rosenqvist had to come into the pits for adjustments once he was re-fired. Ericsson finished dead-last and Rosenqvist finished twenty-fifth.

I can’t help but wonder if the slow negotiations on a new deal with Ganassi are starting to get to him, causing him to press a little too hard. Unfortunately, Sunday’s race will not help Ericsson in talks with Ganassi or any other potential team.

Public Enemy: A new villain arose from the shadows yesterday in the form of Benjamin Pedersen, who up until yesterday had had a relatively decent albeit uneventful rookie campaign. That all ended yesterday. Not only was Pedersen way off the pace (he finished lower than Felix Rosenqvist who had to pit after his mishap with Ericsson), but it seemed he was intent on slowing everyone else up too.

Pato O’Ward, Alexander Rossi, Scott McLaughlin, Romain Grosjean and even Devlin DeFrancesco could not find a way around the much slower Pedersen. Even the crew in the booth, were becoming increasingly exasperated with him by the minute. McLaughlin even told him after the race that he had made a lot of enemies out there today. Drivers don’t usually forget. Pedersen had better watch himself in the coming races.

A Good Day, Finally: Marcus Ericsson and Felix Rosenqvist are not the only drivers unsure of their plans for 2024. David Malukas said on Friday that this year at Coyne has been very frustrating, and he may take his services (and possibly sponsorship) elsewhere next season. That was coming off of a mostly positive weekend at Road America that produced a last-place finish.

By the end of the day yesterday, Malukas was all smiles as he enjoyed his best weekend of the season – qualifying twelfth and finishing sixth. Before Sunday, the best finish for Malukas on a permanent road course this season was nineteenth. No wonder he was smiling. I like Malukas and I like Dale Coyne. I am hoping they can build off of this and maybe continue together in 2024; although it would probably be best for Malukas and his career if he were to move elsewhere.

Drive of the Day: There wasn’t much mental debate for me as I tried to figure out who would get my nod for Drive of the Day. I knew who it was before the race was over, so long as they didn’t crash toward the end.

Pato O’Ward spun early in qualifying and brought out a red flag. Per the rules, he was not allowed to continue. He ended up starting twenty-fifth. O’Ward set out on a three-stop strategy allowing him to run full rich and not have to worry about saving fuel. He quickly carbed his way up through the field and was running with the leaders all day. He ultimately finished eighth, but that was good enough for the Drive of the Day.

All in All: Believe it or not, I was actually in a good mood when the race broadcast started. But as the race dragged on and it became obvious we were staring at another Alex Palou victory, my mood changed. Those that might have presented Palou a challenge faltered, and the podium of Scott Dixon and Will Power seemed resigned to being satisfied with the points that come with their respective finishes.

The only real entertainment I saw was watching Pato O’Ward make his way through the field and the late racing between Romain Grosjean, Josef Newgarden, Devlin DeFrancesco and Rinus VeeKay.

Not every race in a season can be a good one. That’s the way it goes. I’m just hopeful that Mid-Ohio is our only dud for a while. With Toronto and a double-header at Iowa coming up. I think things are going to get pretty racing real quickly.

George Phillips

This entry was posted on July 3, 2023 at 4:04 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.