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If you read my Friday Preview post here, you probably gathered that I was not too excited about attending the Gallagher Grand Prix on the IMS road course. After missing last year’s race last summer, all I had to draw from was the 2021 race that was not heavily attended due to COVID restrictions still in place. The media center was also at 30% capacity, so things had an odd feel to them. I’ve already mentioned several times how I was shocked to see IndyCar banished to the Museum parking lot for a makeshift paddock. All in all, the 2021 race had something of a surreal feel to it. That probably explains why we were not all that excited about going this year.

I am happy to say, we were wrong. We turned this into a very relaxing weekend for us, which meant not breaking our necks to get to the track as early as possible, as we do all throughout May. Both days, we arrived at the track around the noon hour.

While some complained about the heat and humidity this weekend, we laughed. It was nothing compared to Nashville the weekend before. The NTT IndyCar Series was very fortunate that they were spared any wet weather or weather delays. They were not impacted at all, for practice, qualifying or the race. I can’t say the same thing for NASCAR.

As I said in my post-race wrap-up, it was a very good race. There was only one caution period for six laps, due to a small pile-up that involved Scott Dixon, Josef Newgarden, Marcus Armstrong, Colton Herta and Romain Grosjean. Armstrong and Newgarden caught the worst of it, both having to come into the pits for quick repairs and both were eventually two laps down. The contact virtually assured points leader Alex Palou the championship, as he now owns a 101-point lead over Scott Dixon, with three races to go. Newgarden fell to third in the standings and is now 104-points behind Palou.

There were also several pit and tire strategies on Saturday. Winning driver Scott Dixon started his race on the black primary tire, but quickly came off of them on Lap 5. He spent the rest of the day on the red alternate tires. Pole-sitter and second-place finisher Graham Rahal started on reds and ran them to Lap 25, when he pitted under green. He then ran two sets of scuffed black tires, before getting back on scuffed reds on his third and final stop on Lap 64.

Most drivers who finished in the lower half of the field ran a long opening stint on blacks. The only driver this strategy seemed to work out for was Pato O’Ward. He started on blacks and ran them for the first sixteen laps. He ultimately finished third, eight seconds back.

The battle at the end of the race was memorable. Dixon re-took the lead on Lap 64, when Rahal made his final stop. Once the other stops cycled through and Rahal found himself in second behind Dixon, the battle was on. The lead kept dwindling until it was only a .77-second lead for Dixon over Rahal, with two laps to go. Rahal caught up to Dixon, but couldn’t pass him. Dixon won by less than half a second over Rahal.

TV Coverage: I started writing this shortly after we got home. I have not had a chance to see any of the broadcasts from this weekend.

Another Personal Tradition: After a very enjoyable weekend at IMS, we arrived back in Nashville around 6:00 pm (local time) Sunday evening. We went to Susan’s Cake Bake Shop, but decided to forego Long’s Donuts and Mug-n-Bun. I didn’t want to get in all of that race traffic for the Cup race, since we weren’t attending.

We did include another one of our May traditions, however. We stopped by the Edinburgh Diner in Edinburgh, Indiana, about thirty miles south of Indianapolis. They are famous for their huge and delicious breaded pork tenderloins. The breading is crisp, but not greasy. The meat is perfectly cooked inside, and they are perfectly seasoned. If you are ever near Exit 80 on I-65, take a quick diversion off the interstate. You’ll thank me later.

Having not eaten any breakfast on Sunday morning, for the first time in several visits to the Edinburgh Diner, I was able to polish off the entire thing. I was a little sleepy on the drive home, and I had no desire for dinner last night; but it did not make me miserable. It sure was tasty, but Susan was not amused. She was convinced I would make myself sick. I didn’t.

Frustrated: On one hand, Graham Rahal was very happy leaving IMS late Saturday afternoon. All three team cars had qualified for Saturday’s race in the Top-Eight, two of them on the front row and Rahal himself was on the pole to start the race.

On the other hand, no team car finished the race as high as they started. Jack Harvey qualified eighth and finished fourteenth. Christian Lundgaard started second and finished fourth. Graham Rahal finished second in the race, after starting on pole.

Rahal was visibly disappointed after the race, and that’s a good sign. If you are disappointed that two team cars finished in the Top-Four of an IndyCar race – I’d say you’ve got your goals and priorities figured out. Still he seemed very frustrated to not come away with his first IndyCar win since he swept the double-header at Belle Isle in 2017.

But Rahal needs to put everything in perspective. In May, Rahal failed to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 – suffering the added embarrassment of being bumped out by teammate Jack Harvey. Only because Stefan Wilson fractured his back in a practice crash after qualifying, Rahal was able to start in place of the injured Wilson.

So while he did not win, and the team cars slid back from their starting positions – it was still a day that all of those involved with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing should be proud of.

The Cream Rises: After qualifying, the big question was what happened to the Penske and Ganassi cars. The Firestone Fast Six was made up of two cars each from Rahal, Arrow McLaren and Andretti Autosport. The highest qualified Penske car was Scott McLaughlin in tenth. Will Power qualified sixteenth, while Josef Newgarden qualified nineteenth and received a six-spot grid penalty for an unapproved engine change after qualifying – pushing him back to start twenty-fifth.

The Ganassi drivers weren’t much better. Marcus Armstrong qualified seventh, while Alex Palou started eighth. Scott Dixon qualified fifteenth and Marcus Ericsson rolled off in the seventeenth starting position.

Obviously, you don’t need a good starting position to do well in this race if you are a savvy veteran. Scott Dixon won after starting fifteenth. Will Power finished sixth, after starting sixteenth and Marcus Ericsson finished tenth after starting seventeenth.

After getting caught up in the first ;lap accident, Newgarden finished twenty-fifth after starting twenty-fifth. Marcus Armstrong finished twenty-fourth after starting seventh.

Drive of the Day: Normally, I give the Drive of the Day to someone who did not win, but drove an exceptional race. But this week, I think getting caught up in the first lap accident after starting fifteenth, and then you end up leading thirty-four laps on your way to winning the race – that, to me, is the definition of Drive of the Day, and why I am giving it to Scott Dixon.

All in All: This was an excellent race that featured strategy, some luck, few crashes and some excellent driving. We didn’t venture out much into the grounds, except to check out the gift shops to see what we couldn’t live without, although we ended up buying nothing. When we did venture out, we saw mostly IndyCar fans and few NASCAR fans, which suited me fine.

Rumor has it that this is the final year for the double-header concept at IMS, for a while anyway. NASCAR is rumored to be getting back on the oval, while IndyCar will be headed elsewhere on this date – possibly Milwaukee. It suites me fine for NASCAR to go back to the oval next year. Their cars look way too clumsy on this tight circuit.

But I’m glad we made it to this year’s edition of the Gallagher Grand Prix. It provided a lot of entertainment and it was well worth the drive and the hotel bill. Next up for us is World Wide Technology Raceway (Gateway) in two weeks. After that, Susan and I will be done with our in-person racing season. I’m looking forward to a weekend off and then one more race – on an oval.

George Phillips

This entry was posted on August 14, 2023 at 4:02 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.