Oilpressure

Greetings from I-64 East, in southern Illinois. Susan is reluctantly driving, while I type away. Such is the case with a race that ends at 5:00 pm on a Sunday.

The 2023 edition of the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 is now in the books. Weather played a big role, even before the weekend began. For the first time since this race resumed in 2017, it was run on a Sunday afternoon. I have been dreading the heat for this race ever since I saw it appear as a Sunday race last fall.

Friday’s weather in Nashville and St. Louis did nothing to make me feel better, as temperatures in Nashville hit 102°, and in St. Louis it was 104°. Then Saturday, rain delayed practice by nine hours and shoved Qualifying to Sunday morning. The clear blue skies that were predicted never materialized, that was just as well because Sunday at race time was one of the most pleasant days in August I’ve ever experienced.

As for the race itself, it was enjoyable. Then again, I can’t think of any time I’ve attended an IndyCar race and not enjoyed it. Those of you that watched yesterday’s race on television probably know a lot more about what all went on than I do. But I got to be there to see cars at speed, hear the sounds of those engines whizzing by and smell the aromatic scent of ethanol fuel and smoking tires.

But from what I saw, I think there was enough intrigue and strategy to entertain anyone who tuned in to watch.

I feel fortunate that for the second straight race, I was able to be present to witness the mastery of Scott Dixon at his best. In case you were wondering, Scott Dixon won Sunday’s race. He led 123 laps and kept his slim championship hopes alive with two races remaininig. The championship is now down to two drivers – Alex Palou and Scott Dixon – both Ganassi drivers. Dixon now trails Palou by 74 points.

Dixon stretched his career IndyCar win total to fifty-five races. He trails AJ Foyt by twelve wins for all-time wins (67). He most likely won’t get there, but he is only forty-three and still winning races.

The big loser yesterday was Josef Newgarden. He had a chance to make history by becoming the first IndyCar driver to win all of the oval race s in a season. Instead he smacked the wall on Lap 208, after starting on the pole – a position vacated by pole-winner Scott McLaughlin when he got a nine grid-spot penalty for an unapproved engine change. Newgarden finished twenty-fifth and officially eliminated from championship contention.

TV Coverage: I caught very little TV coverage this weekend, except when I came back into the media center after some track activity – although I did see the high-line practice on TV Saturday night, while I did my wrap-up after practice. As usual, I thought Kevin Lee did a phenomenal job filling in for Leigh Diffey.

One thing I did notice was that NBC was using Georgia Henneberry as a pit reporter. Some of you may not be familiar with her, but she has been on the IndyCar Radio Network, and also was very visible on the IMS video boards all through the Month of May, doing interviews for the PA. She is highly qualified and knows her stuff. I would love to see NBC use her full time, instead of Marty Snider.

I did not hear any of her reporting during the race on Sunday, but I’m pretty sure she did an excellent job. I’d be surprised to hear otherwise.

Malukas Again: David Malukas qualified tenth on Sunday morning, which kind of surprised me. I thought he would do better than that, even thought his Dale Coyne Racing team has struggled for most of this season. But knowing he would be starting sixth die to others ahead of him being penalized, I had an idea he might do OK. I should say so.

After the cleanup from Benjamin Pedersen’s opening lap crash, I watched Malukas move up to third in a matter of laps. He never led, but I think I saw him run as high as second. Malukas finished third, for his second podium finish at World Wide Technology Raceway in as many years. It’s funny how some drivers just gel with certain tracks. Malukas and Gateway may be one of those matches.

He is still coy about where he might be headed next season. Jake Query was clever on the IndyCar Radio Network, asking him what his car number would be next year. Malukas didn’t bite.

All Spiffed Up: If you’ve been to World Wide Technology Raceway in the past few years, you know that it had a comfortable, but well-worn feel about it. Since the NTT IndyCar Series visited there a year ago, there have been some improvements – mostly cosmetic. I notice the suites at the end of the main straightaway have been given a new paint job, with a striking new design on it.

The media center has been painted almost a charcoal color, with the same design incorporated into its paint job. The tunnel going under Turn Four has also been cleaned up and given the same paint treatment as the other structures.

Aside from that, I noticed a lot of areas where old concrete had been replaced. Overall, the place felt as if it had been given a much-needed makeover. The place looked better than it has in the time we started going to it in 2017.

The Crowd: Although yesterday’s crowd wasn’t as large as the first couple of years, when it was a true night race – I thought yesterday’s crowd looked healthy. From where I was (in the pits), yesterday’s crowd looked bigger than last year’s crowd that was threatened by rain, which did eventually show up.

The Future: Although nothing has been confirmed, we keep hearing rumors that this race will be a double-header next year. I hope so, because I’d like to see it keep growing. How would it look? I still think this event needs to host at least one night race. What I’d really like is for both races to be run at night. I’m not sure a Friday night/Saturday night double-header would work. Maybe Saturday night and then Sunday afternoon. But that puts Sunday at risk of hosting a scorcher. We got lucky with a Sunday afternoon race this year. I don’t think you can count on that again. I guess we’ll find out in the next few weeks, when the 2024 schedule is released.

Drive of the Day: This is one of those times when I am going to give the Drive of the Day to the race winner. Scott Dixon incurred a nine-grid penalty, and started sixteenth. He methodically worked his way up through the field and took the lead before the halfway point in the race. Once he got there, he received challenges from several drivers that are some of the best in the business – Josef Newgarden, Will Power and Pato O’Ward. None made Dixon sweat. As O’Ward said after the race – he decided to be Scott Dixon.

All in All: I thought yesterday’s race was entertaining, but as I said earlier – I’m not sure I’ve ever been to a race track when I wasn’t entertained – especially an oval. Most of you know, I am an oval fan at heart. I have learned to enjoy and appreciate road and street courses, but ovals are my first love.

The weather on Sunday could not have been better – especially in August.

This was our last in-person race to attend this season. I haven’t counted yet, but I believe that makes nine for the season, plus April’s Open Test for the Indianapolis 500. We will watch the remaining two on television, and then settle into the dreaded offseason. I am looking forward to the release of the 2024 schedule, so we can start making our plans for next year.

But we still have two more races and a champion to crown – one of which will be this weekend. Thanks to everyone who followed along with us at the races Susan and I attended this season. It’s been a blast.

George Phillips

This entry was posted on August 28, 2023 at 4:03 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.