IndyCar: Saturday Morning Report from Road America

Good morning from the beautiful Kettle Moraine, where Road America is located. The weather is predicted to be a little wet this morning, but the rain should stop before qualifying time.

Last weekend, the NTT INDYCAR SERIES raced on a 1.6-mile short, tight track.  The drivers are on the longest circuit we run on this weekend, the 4-mile flowing road course.

When we raced here a year ago, the surface at Road American was newly repaved. In Practice One yesterday, the lap times were actually slower than last year’s.

Santino Ferrucci, driver of the No 14 Sexton Properties AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet, was asked by the media what he thought the issue was that caused the slower times.

“ Yeah, I think with the repave last year, the track had this peak of grip, which was phenomenal for our cars. I mean, it was incredibly fast.”

“Obviously you guys have tough winters up here, to say the least. I’m from Connecticut. When we’re in the middle of summer, and I have a hoodie on, I can’t imagine what it’s like here in December and January.”

“When we saw the practice with the Indy Lights, the Pro 2000 Series, the USF Pro, we saw they were about a second off. We figured we’d be a little bit slower.”

Schedule for today in Central time:

9:00 – 9:45 am          INDY NXT by Firestone Practice 2

10:10 – 11:10 am    IndyCar Practice 2

1:30 – 2 pm               INDY NXT Qualifying

2:25 – 3:55 pm        IndyCar Firestone Fast Six Qualifying

Lucille Dust reporting live from Road America