2023 IndyCar Races/Results

[GT3Twenty10]

I’m taking the opposite road here F1 vs indy…. Indy is way to dangerous imo…

[blueline]

I’m taking the opposite road here F1 vs indy…. Indy is way to dangerous imo…

Racing is, of course, an inherently dangerous sport. However, the incredible advances over the past 30, 40 years have resulted in quantum leaps in the safety of drivers, crews, officials and fans.

Much has changed since the days of racing along tree-lined courses with no barriers, courses with no run-offs, cars with exposed deadly cockpits, few personal driver safeguards, track facilities lacking proper safety equipment to handle accidents, questionable track layouts and design - the list goes on and on. Those days are gone.

As race cars became ever faster, drivers, officials, doctors, fans, track operators and others quickly realized that something had to be done - the death rate was horrid and the sport was possibly not going to survive without massive changes. The changes started to become a reality as more of those involved became aware of improvements that could be made and of what could be done with the technological and design innovations that were coming to the fore. Everyone was beginning to learn how to make the sport safer and survivable. It's been a fantastic turnaround over the last 3 or 4 decades.

Regarding the danger of IndyCar vs F1, there have been five (5) F1 driver deaths since 2000 and four (4 ) IndyCar deaths in the same time period. Prior to 2000, IndyCar had 91 deaths from the 1910's to the end of the century. F1 with it's shorter history (not officially F1 until the 50's) had 47 driver deaths from the 50's through 1999. The per-decade average losses were and remain roughly the same for both.

But the takeaway needs to be what has happened since 2000 regarding deaths.

The last IndyCar death was in 2015. The British driver Justin Wilson was an F1 and IndyCar driver who was hit in the head and rendered unconscious by nose cone debris from a car that crashed in front of him in an IndyCar race. He died the next day, never regaining consciousness. The halos we saw introduced in 2017 in F1 and IndyCar very well might have prevented that fatality. Before that tragic loss, it was Dan Wheldon who was killed in 2011 on the Las Vegas circuit.

For F1, the last death was David Ferrer in 2017 at Zandvoort. Before that it was Jules Bianchi at the Japanese Grand Prix in Suzuka and Denis Welch at Silverstone, both in 2014.

The risks and safety issues are, for all intents and purposes, the same for both F1 and IndyCar.

Moving to my earlier comments where I mentioned usually preferring IndyCar over F1, it's because F1 has become too predictable and too self-absorbed. The F1 aura is sometimes one of arrogance, whether intentional or not. In addition, some of the courses are boring, with Monaco the prime offender in that respect. Pole position generally wins the race there and at other F1 tracks, although some venues are better than others. There isn't much passing to speak of and that also translates to boring. It is a spectator sport after all and if the winner is known in advance, what fun is there?

I will readily admit that street courses for both IndyCar and F1 are not the same nor as good (for me, that is) as are dedicated road or (great) oval-type courses such as Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The Brickyard is pretty awesome.

Another issue with F1 is that it is skewed to the high-dollar teams, Red Bull and Mercedes being prime examples. It's too much glitz and too little passion. I don't know if you saw the post-race celebrations for today's races but it was night and day between the two! The IndyCar drivers and fans and crews are so much more engaged and animated. For me, F1 has turned into a sanitized, cold, detached version of the greatness it once was.

I still like F1, at least some of the racing, but it has become too sterile. Plus, IndyCars look so much cooler - awesome race cars!

I posted the graphic below on another Carpokes thread regarding the abysmal F1 overtaking metrics. It's quite telling and is a focal point for many regarding the predictability and lack of intrigue with F1. Compare the numbers with those of IndyCar or, better yet, the incomparable racing of IMSA, WEC and the like.

Can't wait for Le Mans!!

F1 overtakes by circuit 2017 - 2022 from Keberz Engineering.jpg (152.18 KiB) Viewed 1122 times

[Bill in Bama]

Yeah, what he said. F1= arrogance IMO. But safety? I couldn't help but notice the close proximity of cars to fans at Monaco in a few places, recipe for disaster.

[blueline]

Yeah, what he said. F1= arrogance IMO. But safety? I couldn't help but notice the close proximity of cars to fans at Monaco in a few places, recipe for disaster.

I did a double-take when I saw how close some fans/officials/whatever were at a couple of places at the Monaco race today (I only watched parts of the race.) Even some of the photographers who were behind what looked like plain old chain link fencing at track's edge looked extraordinarily shaky to me. There were solid barriers too but only 3 or 4 feet high. Not going to do much good if disaster strikes. Then I thought, what do I know?

Glad I wasn't alone in seeing some of that.

[Bill in Bama]

I would need to watch it again but it looked to me like on the pit exit that the cars were negotiating an obstacle course of parked vehicles and people standing around. If a wheel had come off like at Indy there would have been carnage. Maybe I just wasn't paying close enough attention though. I have to believe that the monaco course doesn't meet current F1 standards as it is so narrow it almost appeared in places like two abreast was the maximum width available. In any event, this year's Indy 500 was definitely more interesting and fun to watch than Monaco.

[blueline]

Indy Car Grand Prix street course in Detroit this weekend. No longer held on the Belle Isle course, this one is the first on the new downtown (temporary?) layout. Front straight is a long .8-mile followed by a 180 hairpin. There will be speed in the 200 mph range on the straight. Intense braking zone.

Course layout, broadcast schedules, & entry list:
https://us.motorsport.com/indycar/news/ ... /10476837/

Autoweek: Josef Newgarden ready for Detroit but he does not like heights!
https://www.autoweek.com/racing/indycar ... d568259d8a

[blueline]

Pole sitter Alex Palau wins today's IndyCar race in Detroit. A short 1.7 miles, there were still 188 on-track passes which was good for such a tight and short street track.

https://www.motorsportweek.com/2023/06/ ... e-results/

https://www.autoweek.com/racing/indycar ... d568259d8a

Screenshot 2023-06-04 at 22-50-03 IndyCar Detroit GP – Race Results.png (52.45 KiB) Viewed 1057 times

[blueline]

From Autoweek:

"Alex Palou extended his IndyCar points Lead with today's Road America Win. Josef Newgarden, who won at Road America last year, finished second, followed by Pato O’Ward, Scott Dixon and pole-sitter Colton Herta. Sixth through 10th were Marcus Ericsson, Christian Lundgaard, Scott McLaughlin, Kyle Kirkwood and Alexander Rossi."


https://www.autoweek.com/racing/indycar ... d568259d8a


I love the road course races and Road America at Elkhart Lake track is one of the best. What a fantastic track!

IndyCar Road America results 2023-06-18 screenshot.png (186.23 KiB) Viewed 973 times

[blueline]

From Autoweek (Ye olde' Competition Press):

Competition Press-Autoweek casque (helmet) logo (cropped).jpeg (9.65 KiB) Viewed 830 times

"Josef Newgarden's Weekend IndyCar Sweep at Iowa Puts New Spin on Championship"


https://www.autoweek.com/racing/indycar ... d568259d8a


Results Sunday of the Hy-Vee One Step 250 presented by Gatorade NTT IndyCar Series event on the 0.894 mile Iowa Speedway, with order of finish, starting position in parentheses, driver, engine, laps completed and reason out (if any):

1. (7) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 250, Running

2. (1) Will Power, Chevrolet, 250, Running

3. (12) Alex Palou, Honda, 250, Running

4. (16) Felix Rosenqvist, Chevrolet, 250, Running

5. (2) Scott McLaughlin, Chevrolet, 250, Running

6. (9) Scott Dixon, Honda, 249, Running

7. (5) Colton Herta, Honda, 249, Running

8. (3) David Malukas, Honda, 249, Running

9. (10) Marcus Ericsson, Honda, 249, Running

10. (11) Pato O'Ward, Chevrolet, 249, Running

11. (17) Kyle Kirkwood, Honda, 249, Running

12. (20) Romain Grosjean, Honda, 249, Running

13. (21) Christian Lundgaard, Honda, 249, Running

14. (24) Callum Ilott, Chevrolet, 248, Running

15. (18) Alexander Rossi, Chevrolet, 248, Running

16. (8) Helio Castroneves, Honda, 248, Running

17. (15) Conor Daly, Honda, 248, Running

18. (14) Rinus VeeKay, Chevrolet, 248, Running

19. (22) Jack Harvey, Honda, 247, Running

20. (6) Graham Rahal, Honda, 247, Running

21. (19) Devlin DeFrancesco, Honda, 246, Running

22. (27) Santino Ferrucci, Chevrolet, 245, Running

23. (4) Ed Carpenter, Chevrolet, 244, Running

24. (25) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Chevrolet, 237, Contact

25. (13) Takuma Sato, Honda, 237, Running

26. (23) Agustin Canapino, Chevrolet, 236, Running

27. (28) Benjamin Pedersen, Chevrolet, 193, DQ

28. (26) Sting Ray Robb, Honda, 152, DQ


Race Statistics

Winner's average speed: 133.527

Time of race: 01:40:25.7356

Margin of victory: 0.7050

Cautions: 3 for 37 laps

Lead changes: 8 among 6 drivers


Lap Leaders:

Power, Will 1 - 30

Newgarden, Josef 31 - 55

Rosenqvist, Felix 56 - 57

Newgarden, Josef 58 - 147

Dixon, Scott 148

Ericsson, Marcus 149 - 151

Newgarden, Josef 152 - 195

McLaughlin, Scott 196 - 197

Newgarden, Josef 198 - 250


Updated Point Standings

Palou 477, Newgarden 397, Dixon 357, Ericsson 330, O'Ward 329, McLaughlin 329, Power 316, Herta 276, Lundgaard 275, Rossi 265, Kirkwood 237, Rosenqvist 233, Grosjean 212, Ilott 185, VeeKay 183, Rahal 182, Malukas 176, Armstrong 156, Ferrucci 151, Castroneves 143, Canapino 132, DeFrancesco 128, Harvey 124, Daly 120, Robb 92, Pedersen 90, Pagenaud 88, Sato 65, Hunter-Reay 62, Carpenter 40, Kanaan 18, Andretti 13, Blomqvist 5, Enerson 5, Legge 5

[blueline]

Big Machine Music City Grand Prix on the streets of Nashville for the next three days. There's going to be a lot of racing and music from morning until night Fri, Sat & Sun.

Big Machine Music City GP 2023 Race & Music Schedule.pdf

(5.81 MiB) Downloaded 121 times

In addition to the IndyCar 80-lap main race, there will be the Indy NXT Race, two Stadium Super Truck races, two Toyota GR Cup races, a Trans Am race, and two SRO GT America races. The rest of the time will be filled with practices and qualifying. It'll be a busy weekend!

SRO GT America entry list: https://www.gtamerica.us/entry-list/202 ... grand-prix

IndyCar: https://www.indycar.com/Schedule/2023/I ... /Nashville
IndyCar drivers: https://www.indycar.com/Drivers

I'll be there!