Toronto and Edmonton
marked Races 10 and 11 in this year’s INDYCAR season. Because I’m lazy and
never got around to giving each race my undivided attention (but I did watch
both), I decided to combine the two.
Toronto
Pre-Race: I’m going to be short, sweet,
and to-the-point when it comes to the Toronto
pre-race – I have no comment. I didn’t get to see it! I continue to become more
irritated with my local ABC as time goes on.
The Race Broadcast: I’m not going to bother with ABC. I’ve had enough
both with my local affiliate and with the pair of commentators in the TV booth.
I’m to a point where I barely listen to Marty and Scott anymore. The pit
reporting, though, is good. Vince Welch and Rick DeBruhl are excellent but the
biggest bright spot of any ABC INDYCAR broadcast is the lovely Jamie Little.
She is simply fantastic. She shows so much enthusiasm every race and really
knows who and what she’s talking about. Sending my well wishes to Jamie and her
husband as they await the arrival of their first child, a son, next month.
The Race: The Toronto
race was not too bad. It wasn’t the best twisty of the year but it was good.
And the lack of carnage this year compared to seasons past was nice. Of course
then they had that final restart (see below). But, all in all, it was good.
Final Restart Mayhem: Remember all the praise the drivers had been given
most of the year for having pretty clean and non-eventful double-file restarts.
Well, that came to an end at Toronto
after what turned out to be the final restart of the race produced several
incidents involving multiple cars. I really don’t have a full take on it. I
don’t know what caused them to restart and drive like a bunch of crazy drivers.
They’re better than the restart indicated.
Charlie Kimball Scores Best Career Finish: While Kimball is on the Ganassi “B Team”, he has had
some respectable runs and has outrun both Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti on
several occasions this season (yes, most of them have been due to their
mechanical failures or crashes but you gotta give the boy credit). When the
dust settled after the final restart, Kimball finished 2nd, his best career
finish.
I was pleased to see Charlie
score his first podium. I met at TMS last year (simply because we walked by the
Novo Nordisk display and he was signing autographs at the time). Nice guy. Now
I don’t expect him to be the next in line to take over the 9 or 10 anytime soon
(I anticipate the ride going to Graham Rahal or Simon Pagenaud depending on
when the ride is vacated) but you gotta give him props. With some more track
time, he can be another American in contention to win every week.
Conway and Foyt Are On the Podium too: I’ll admit it – I was raised with the idea that A.J.
Foyt was the best open wheel racer ever (now that I’m a young adult I agree
with the statement). I always find myself rooting for the Foyt team. This first
season with Mike Conway behind the wheel has not gone too well. While he’s had
two previous top 10’s this season (7th at Barber and 9th at Belle Isle), Conway’s season can be
summed up in two words – bad luck. The team has fallen victim to mechanical
gremlins this year and who can forget the accident with Will Power at Indianapolis.
I was pleased to see the 14
car finish 3rd. As I said before, I like A.J. He’s a legend. I also like Mike
Conway. He typically causes little drama and seems to be a nice guy but he’s
had crazy things happen to him mostly not of his own doing. Hopefully, we will
see more positive finish from this team and driver at the final races.
Other Notables: Push-to-Pass returned at Toronto and will be in
use in the final road/street course events this season… The top 10 was
represented by 10 different teams… Ryan Hunter-Reay led the most laps… Helio
Castroneves scored only his second top 10 at Toronto (he finished 10th in 1998)… Simon
Pagenaud was penalized 30 seconds post-race for blocking Josef Newgarden… Scott
Dixon had an engine failure and has gone to a sixth engine (the limit is 5 with
penalties for each additional change regardless of reason).
After the Checkers –
Hunter-Reay Makes It Three-In-A-Row: I’m starting to sound like a broken record here.
Ryan Hunter-Reay won at Toronto
and snatched the points lead from Will Power. I can’t think of much more to say
than that. It was a Hunter-Reay win which meant my brother (who claims to be a
fan but owns a Marco Andretti shirt) suddenly expresses interest in INDYCAR.
That’s the only thing new to say.
INDYCAR 36: The episode shown during the
Toronto weekend featured the series’ only
owner-driver, Ed Carpenter, at Iowa.
I actually missed the first run but DVR’d it late one evening and recently
watched it. Another good show. It was nice not only to see the at-track action
but also see Ed, his wife Heather, and their two children (she’s expecting
their third in December) at a local amusement park.
Edmonton
Pre-Race: I saw the Edmonton pre-race in its entirety. The Scott
and Emma Dixon segment was the highlight for me. I love this INDYCAR couple.
Robin Miller’s grid run was again poorly timed. Come on NBC. Time it as well as
you did at Texas.
That was the best one! Thank goodness none of the drivers who were interviewed
were hard to understand with their helmets on!
The Race Broadcast: As for NBC Sports, they aren’t perfect but they are
excellent at calling races. The “push-to-pass” talk was a little excessive but
after hearing so little about it at Toronto, it
was nice to see how it played into the race strategy at Edmonton (and it did). I look forward to
listening to this group even as they cover next Sunday’s race at Mid-Ohio on
ABC (thank you NASCAR for having your Cup and Nationwide races in two different
locations next weekend).
The Race: This Edmonton race
ranks (for me at least) as one of the best non-oval races of the year, right up
there with Barber and Long Beach.
While the race lacked cautions, the racing was excellent with quite a bit of
passing and strategy mixed together. And it was fun to see two of the smaller
teams run very strong though the race ultimately ended with a Penske victory.
No Cautions; None; Nada: Just weeks after Bruton Smith mentioned that he wanted
to see more cautions in NASCAR to make the racing more exciting, INDYCAR went
and had none at Edmonton
and the result was a great race. While the drivers were drawn out, the racing
was still excellent and push-to-pass plus the talent of this year’s field
created some fantastic passes and entertained the fans. Take that Bruton!
One of Sato’s Best Races to Date: Any minute I was expecting one of Takuma Sato’s many
risky passes that could’ve potentially his and/or the leader’s race. I was
proven wrong and was impressed with the way the Rahal-Letterman-Lanigan driver
performed at Toronto.
This was his best race of the year. He raced clean, did not make any (stupid)
mistakes, and finished 2nd. This is a far cry from the Sato we saw early in his
INDYCAR career where he (and/or E.J. Viso and/or Mario Moraes) were crashing
race after race. He should be proud (as should RLL). If Sato can continue to
race like this, that first victory should be coming his way soon.
A Local Boy Runs Strong but Fades Late: I loved the roar of the crowd when Quebec native Alex Tagliani took the lead
from Dario Franchitti on lap 1 and was glad to see him led 49 of the 75 laps.
At a single-car team in its first full-time season, the casual fan wouldn’t
expect to see the Bryan Herta Autosport car up front much but since dumping
Lotus before Indianapolis, they’ve only finished outside the top 10 twice (12th
at Indy and a mechanical failure at Iowa).
Though the final pit stop caused Tagliani to lose the lead and tires
caused him to fade to 5th by the end, the 98 team should be proud. They could
easily score a win before this season is over.
Other Notables: Will Power came back from a 17th place starting spot
following an engine change to finish 3rd… Ryan Hunter-Reay finished 7th but
retains the points lead… Simon Pagenauad’s streak of 0 DNF’s came to an end
after being turned by Charlie Kimball on the final lap, causing the rookie to
finish 20th, his worst finish of the year… The only remaining drivers who have
finished every race this season are Ed Carpenter and Helio Castroneves.
After the Checkers –
Redemption is Sweet for Castroneves: I don’t think I have to talk about 2010 here. Most
of the readers here know what happen (if you don’t know, search “Helio
Castroneves Edmonton 2010” on YouTube; very entertaining deal). Most Helio fans
(including myself) still feel that he won that race. Now, two years after
making the ESPN highlight reel for several days, Helio finally won at Edmonton fair and square
with no issues. The win was the 27th win of his career (28 to those who count
Edmonton 2010). This win also showed that Castroneves is a title contender as
he’s moved up from 3rd to 2nd in the points standings only 23 behind
Hunter-Reay.
INDYCAR 36: As for the episode shown
during Sunday’s action from Edmonton, one of the
series Canadian guys, James Hinchcliffe, at his hometown race in Toronto. I really think
this was the best episode and not just because I’m a resident of Hinchtown. The
episode really showed Hinch’s true personality and it’s an entertaining one.
This guy really can be a big star both on and off the track (look for him to be
the recognizable face in the series after Helio hangs up his helmet).
Next Race: August 5
Honda Indy 200 at Mid Ohio
Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course
Lexington, OH
1 PM ET (12 PM CT) – ABC
(but broadcast by NBC Sports Crew)
Defending Winner: Scott
Dixon
