A Good Ending to a Tiring Weekend
I have to admit, I’m tired. I can only imagine how the teams and drivers feel. After sitting around most of the afternoon on Saturday, only to be told we’re done was exhausting enough. Nothing tires you out like waiting around waiting for something to happen. Follow that up with an early wakeup call to find out thirty minutes later that what you woke up early for has been postponed by nine hours. That can certainly put you in a bad mood.
But all seemed right with the world, when the sun broke through making for a sunny drive to the track. We got to the track and the buzz and energy suddenly gave us both a second wind. Before we knew it, it was time for the first race of the day, which was actually Race Two – but let’s not confuse things. Yesterday’s cool and cloudy weather was a distant memory, compared to the hot and sunny conditions today.
Once the green flag flew, pole-sitter Alex Palou seemed to take off. He was ultimately passed by Josef Newgarden and they were in a two-way battle for a few laps, before Palou took over again up until Lap 100, when Rinus VeeKay passed Palou on-track. Altogether Alex Palou led 115 laps, but he didn’t lead the last one. That was Pato O’Ward, winning his second race of the season, and continuing Chevy’s streak of winning every IndyCar race at Milwaukee since thie current engine formula was introduced in 2012.
Romain Grosjean and Josef Newgarden made contact with the Turn Four wall during Race Two, but both were ready to go by Race One late in the afternoon.
Chevy’s streak continued in Race One, run in the late afternoon. Pato O’Ward’s streak of two IndyCar race wins in one day. He is the first driver to win two races in one day since Rick Mears did it in 1981 at Atlanta.
When Race One was set to resume at 5:00, I would’ve bet anything that there was no way it would’ve run the distance. It started sprinkling as the cars were being gridded. Drops became more frequent about the time they gave the command to start engines. It continued as they took ten laps behind the pace car. I was afraid that they would follow the pace car until Lap 126, and then call it a race. But they finally turned them loose on Lap 100 and the race was on. The pace was furious because no one knew when the rains would come and end it, so there was a sense of urgency throughout.
Mick Schumacher brought out the first caution, not only of the night but the entire race counting yesterday – after being booted by Romain Grosjean in Turn Four. I happened to be standing at pit-in, as he completed his spin right in front of me and a few others. It’s amazing how much louder the tire-screeching is in-person than what you hear on TV. Fortunately, he did not hit anything and was able to continue. He was able to finish twelfth.
Will Power brought out the second caution, after he got chopped by the lapped car of Nolen Siegel while running third. He got up in the marbles and made the dreaded slow drift to the outside wall, bending his suspension in the process. He was able to make it back into the pits, where I understand he looked none-too-happy when he climbed out of the car.
The final caution of the night came when Caio Collet hit the outside wall on the main straightaway. I could not see the replays very well on the video boards. At first glance, it looked like he came over onto Josef Newgarden and Newgarden knocked him back toward the wall. But the next replay I saw looked like he either got into the back of Dennis Hauger or Hauger clipped him. Either way, Collet got the worst of it and he ended up with another DNF for the season.
Prior to the Collet incident, David Malukas had been leading for twenty-nine laps. On the ensuing restart, Pato O’Ward got a jump on Malukas and passed him on the inside on Lap 226. O’Ward led the rest of the way and won his second race of the day.
While I think everyone’s goal was just to get Race One to 126 laps, so that it would be an official race – by going the distance, I really think it ended up being the better race of the two. The sense of urgency at the first probably added to it, but today’s portion of Race One was really entertaining.
Oh, and by the way…Alex Palou clinched his fifth championship in six years. He needed to finish twentieth or better in order to clinch, after finishing fifth in Race Two, the earlier race today. Tonight he finished tenth in a somewhat forgettable drive, but it was good enough to earn him another championship. He is now behind only AJ Foyt (7) and Scott Dixon (6) in total number of career championships. Although it has made a lot of the competition boring, we are witnessing greatness right before us. Appreciate him for that as he will most likely win next week at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca – his best track.
That’s going to do it for us tonight at the track. This is our last in-person race of the season and we have to say goodbye to a lot of folks that we won’t see until next spring.
I do plan on going back to the hotel tonight after dinner and writing an abbreviated Random Thoughts for Monday. Until then, thanks to those who followed along on this very disjointed weekend. It ended on a very good note. Once again, I will close with the Victory Lane and press conference photos that Susan took from both races.
George Phillips
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