A Few Little Odds and Ends
It has been a while since I’ve been here. A few odds and ends have happened in the week and a half since I last posted. We will get right into it in the order of importance as I see it.
Jack Harvey: First and foremost, we learned the unsettling news on Tuesday that Jack Harvey has been diagnosed with cancer. It is not every day when we learn that a fit thirty-three year-old driver has been stricken with cancer. We don’t know what type of cancer he is dealing with. Some are more favorable than others, but none of the choices are ideal.
He says he plans on being behind the microphone on pit lane as a pit reporter for FOX at the opening race in St. Petersburg, as well as back in the car for the Indianapolis 500 in May. I think I speak for all racing fans in wishing Jack Harvey nothing but the best in this battle in the coming months.
A Unique Test at Sebring: For the first time in at least a couple of decades, we were able to see two distinctly different IndyCar chassis on the track at Sebring. Firestone was conducting a tire test, with Kyle Kirkwood and Scott McLaughlin driving their respective cars in preparation for the 2027 season. Not only were they testing different tire compounds, they were also both testing the new wheels that the series is switching to in 2027. Gone will be the magnesium O-Z wheels that have been supplying wheel to the series for years. For 2027, the series will be using aluminum wheels supplied exclusively by BBS.
But what made this such a unique test is they were both on track at the same time that Alex Palou was testing the new IR-28, the IndyCar chassis that will begin competing in the 2028 season. At one point on Monday, Palou found himself directly in front of Kirkwood, so he purposely let him by in order to see how well the car performed in traffic – although the air coming off of a DW-12 will behave differently than another IR-28 that the car will face in real competition. Currently that can’t be tested, since there is only one IR-28 in existence.
I saw several videos online of the cars at Sebring. As we all suspected, the engine in the new car sounds different that the current 2.2-liter twin-turbocharged V6. This is not the 2.4-liter engine that will race in 2028, but the 2.4-liter engine formula that was eventually scrapped a couple of years ago. There is a different note to the bigger engine, a slightly throatier sound. That’s not to say that is what the car will sound like in 2028, but the chances are good that it will sound a little meaner than what will run again in 2027.
Unfortunately, Monday’s test of the IR-28 was cut short, after 43 laps with a fuel-pickup issue. But they had the necessary parts on hand to fix it and the car was ready for Alexander Rossi to test it on Tuesday. Rossi had the track to himself on Tuesday, as the Firestone test was for Monday only. He was told to put the car through the paces as if this was his own race car – and see what pops up. Apparently, there were no issues with the car on Tuesday as Rossi was able to pu the car through some long run stints.
The Ford Rumor: Earlier this week, fans got all lathered up from a report that Ford Racing Director Mark Rushbrook said that Ford was evaluating IndyCar’s 2.4-liter hybrid engine formula. Fans immediately translated that as Ford becoming the long sought-after third engine supplier. I was skeptical when I first read the report. It just seemed too vague and mostly a PR move from Ford to avoid saying “We aren’t interested”.
Wednesday, Marshall Pruett of Racer.com ran a report quoting Rushbrook as saying thaty the evaluation is complete and that Ford will not be moving forward with p;lans to rejoin the NTT IndyCar Series.
The search continues.
Josh Pierson Update: If you’ll recall several weeks ago, the NTT IndyCar Series introduced more stringent licensing criteria for allowing Indy NXT graduates to move into the IndyCar Series. No longer would a large checkbook be the driving component for putting an Indy NXT driver in the cockpit of a car. Talent would also need to be a requirement if they did not meet certain criteria. Some behind the scenes were referring to this new policy as the Josh Pierson rule, since Pierson had the ability to bring a huge amount of budget for a team willing to put him in a car.
Many think that AJ Foyt Racing had already signed Pierson for 2027. A good portion of his budget would be used to fund Santino Ferrucci in the No. 14 car. When this new set of rules were introduced, it put that budget in jeopardy., That is what made Larry Foyt change course and hire Dennis Hauger for the No. 14 at the expense of Ferrucci.
As it turns out, Pierson went through the evaluation process at the IMS road course on Tuesday and passed. He has now been officially approved to race in the 2027 IndyCar season. All indications are that he is still headed to Foyt to drive the No. 4 alongside Hauger in the No. 14.
Beach Trip: Last in importance is our beach trip. If you remember my last post – I explained that it would be a while before I posted, because Susan and I were going on a last-minute beach trip to Destin, Florida. Most people in Nashville take their trips to the beach in Destin, located in the Florida panhandle. It’s close (only 6.5 hours from Nashville), the sand is white and pristine, the water is crystal clear and the local seafood is second to none. Hurricanes are “usually” (the operative word) few and far between. Destin had not taken a direct hit from a hurricane since Hurricane Opal back in 1995.
As luck would have it, that changed with our visit. Last Monday night was the first we heard about a disturbance deep within the Gulf. By Tuesday, there were reports it might organize into a Tropical Storm. Tuesday night, those reports changed to developing into a Category One hurricane that might hit the Florida panhandle as Hurricane Isaias; a name I could neither spell or pronounce. Wednesday morning, estimates changed to Isaias developing into a Category Two hurricane and would hit nearby Pensacola. By Wednesday night, we learned that the storm was strengthening and Destin was being evacuated by Noon Thursday. We were paid up through Friday. I figured that this would be like the typical “snowmageddon” predictions back home that never amounted to anything. I still planned to leave Friday.
But Thursday morning, we got a text from the Condo telling us to be out by Noon. They also added that the elevators would be turned off by Noon. Since we were on the tenth floor, that got my attention. We quickly packed and got out of there by 10:30 am. It’s a good thing too. The storm was moving much quicker than expected. By Friday morning, it was already getting bad. By the time the hurricane made landfall early Friday evening, Isaias had developed into a Category Three and the eye was directly over Destin. What are the odds that Destin would get its first direct hit in over 31 years on the weekend we chose to go at the last minute?
We had eaten at a great little seafood place on the water on Monday night. By Friday night, it had sustained severe damage as waves come up from underneath and split the 2×4 flooring into splinters. They have no idea when their rebuild will be complete.
The normal 6.5 hours trip back took us 12.5 hours as the entire northern gulf coast was using I-65 to flee the hurricane. Bumper to bumper, slow-moving traffic lasted all the way past the Tennessee state line, before it thinned out. So much for a relaxing trip to the beach.
The Immediate Future: We are home for the next several months. It’s possible we might go to St. Petersburg or Arlington, but chances are – our first race will be at Barber. I am still working part-time at my old job, so I’ve been pulled out of retirement since July 1. I’ve been told that this could now possibly stretch to the end of November. I am anxious to get back to full retirement, but I’m willing to keep helping out…for a while. My point is, now that we have no more trips planned, I should be posting here with a little more regularity. Please continue to check back here throughout the offseason.
George Phillips
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