IndyCar Side-by-side Racing now history (Update)

Jay Frye thinks the single-file racing is just great, perhaps forgetting not all drivers have the ability of Alexander Rossi

UPDATE IndyCar president Jay Frye thinks the racing is just great apparently. Speaking to the Indy Star newspaper, Frye said, to remember that Alexander Rossi, along with a couple others, delivered some sensational moments during the 500 with their bold passes on the outside. If Rossi and company figured out a way to make those passes possible this May — in Year 1 of the new kit– he has little doubt more teams and drivers can do the same next year.

"Going back next year, even if we did nothing, we’ll be better," Frye said. "Just because these race teams are so good. They’re the best in the business. They’ll make the car even better. I think if we went and re-ran that race tomorrow, there would me more things like what (Rossi did) than what happened (race day) just because we’ve all learned something.

"All in all, we’re always very critical of ourselves. We’ve worked extremely hard with the paddock on this car for the past couple of years, and we’re very encouraged. It was a pretty extreme test with the heat (at Texas) and it performed well. It passed its test."

Frye seems more open to minor tweaks to minimum wing angles on the ovals.

They were side-by-side on the restarts only.

06/10/18 With the new Indycar aero package we have a common theme on the ovals:

• Phoenix- One groove parade racing
• Indy 500 – one groove parade racing
• Texas – one groove parade racing

Sure there was passing, but for fans it is much more exciting when drivers can sometimes run side-by-side. That is out the door now, except for Alexander Rossi who seems to be superhuman at times.

But even he struggled to pass Saturday night at Texas and lapped traffic was a real problem. This on a track that used to be two and three wide pack racing.

Because you can’t pass anymore unless the driver in front moves over, Rossi hopes that IndyCar will take a look at its protocols regarding lapped traffic at the end of the season after spending Saturday evening in Texas trapped among cars that were not fighting him for position. “We went into it with the strategy of, we need to go later than everyone else, that will pay benefits," he told racer.com.

Alexander Rossi

“I’ll tell you what, lapped cars is a big issue. I know the rule book states what it states. I don’t know if that’s the right thing or the wrong thing. “When you have cars that are a lap down, you’re racing for position, they do nothing to help you, even if they’re a lap down to the whole field. It’s something that we talk about in drivers meetings all the time. It’s probably an off-season topic that we all need to discuss.

“I don’t think that cars that are a lap down… I don’t think there’s any other series that allows them to still race. It’s frustrating. I think that’s what hurt us by going long. We caught the tail end of the field. Despite the fact we still had great tire life, plenty of fuel, a good pace, I couldn’t get around cars that were a lap down."

“That’s the way it goes," he said. “We finished on the podium, so I don’t think it was a make-or-break. It was confusing, put it that way.