IndyCar: Saturday Morning Report from Bommarito Automotive Group 500 ** Update on Race Start Time **
UPDATE – The start time of today’s NTT INDYCAR Series has just been revised to 5 pm local time. The storms that were predicted to start around 4 pm have now been pushed back to start at 8 pm.
We did just have a quick downpour so the safety trucks are out on the track drying things up.
Moving the time up should allow the race to be completed in dry conditions and allow the teams to pack up their equipment before the storms move in.
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Good morning from St Louis, Missouri near the world’s tallest arch, the Gateway Arch. Clad in stainless steel, it is considered the tallest man-made monument in the Western Hemisphere. One can see the arch gleaming in the sunshine from the back of the main grandstands at WWT Raceway.
The garages for the NTT INDYCAR Series do not open today until noon due to the schedule which is only three races, the Indy Pro 2000 at 2:15 pm, the Indy Lights race at 3:15 pm, and the IndyCar race scheduled for 5:30 pm.
The biggest factor today is the weather. Rain was predicted for early this morning, but it did not occur. It was cloudy with no sunshine at 9 am this morning. Now we have blue skies and temperatures in the high 70s. Scattered and isolated thunderstorms are in the forecast for 4 pm through 10 pm tonight. Time will tell if we get to race tonight.
The final practice last night was held from 6:52 to 7:51 pm. It was dark at the end of the session, but traditionally this has been a night race, so the track is equipped with lights and they were on and the track was pretty lit up. The IndyCar race is scheduled to start an hour earlier today so we should not need the lights unless we have a rain delay.
The front three rows have all the top title contenders in them, all of the Team Penske drivers and three of the Chip Ganassi drivers. The highest qualifying Ganassi driver is Marcus Ericsson, who drives the number 8 Bryant entry, earning his best qualifying position. The Swede has the championship points lead up until the Brickyard weekend in July, when today’s polesitter took over the lead.
“Front row start; my best ever qualifying in INDYCAR with P2. I’m really happy and proud of the No. 8 Bryant Honda and the whole crew. I think we did a really good job and delivered strong cars and tuned things up for qualifying. Of course, you want that first pole when you’re that close, but I’m still happy with our effort and our performance. It’s a really good spot to start the race tomorrow.”
Ericsson’s teammate, Jimmie Johnson, driver of the number 48 Carvana entry, has been running quite well on the ovals this season, which he did not run in his rookie year. The seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion will be starting 21st today.
Johnson explained some of his frustration with starting further back than his teammates.
“Practice was not real comfortable. Qualifying was a good step more comfortable and knowing what to expect at this track. But I only had 60 minutes of practice before qualifying.”
“There was something weird with the tire that we started practice on. It was not the tire we are going to race on. That whole first 40 minutes we ran on set one tires. The car drove nothing like it was going to on set two.”
“I am not the only car that had it. It was equal for everyone. But as a guy trying to learn it, for me trying to connect the dots, it was not easy.”
AR1 asked what was the issue with the set one tires. Johnson replied, “I guess it was last year’s tire so it had a year of sitting in the warehouse curing. Then the size of the left rear tire versus the right rear tire was out of the window for what we have for this year’s tires. So, it was a significant difference.”
Johnson told us that he is still working on his deal to stay in the series next year.
Keep checking back for further updates on today’s schedule.
Lucille Dust reporting live from World Wide Technology Raceway