Action is always tight and exciting at Watkins Glen. [Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images]

by Dan Margetta and John Wiedemann

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series turns left and right this weekend as the series heads to the road course at Watkins Glen International for the Cheez-It 355 at the Glen on Sunday afternoon.

This is the second and final road course event on the schedule but unlike the circuit in Sonoma where the first road course event was held, Watkins Glen is a less technical and faster course.

NASCAR Sprint Cup road course races have been difficult to predict lately as well and with the number of races left to qualify for the Chase for the championship dwindling, the opportunity arises for a surprise winner. Some drivers are better road racers than others and this weekend represents their chance to shine and grab one of the Chase spots left. Pit strategy also comes into play more than ever on the road courses and it should provide for an intriguing race on Sunday.

Here are some drivers to watch…

Jeff Gordon (Dan Margetta)
A few weeks ago no one would have believed Jeff Gordon would be racing at Watkins Glen this weekend, but with Dale Earnhardt Jr. still sidelined, Gordon finds himself back behind the wheel this weekend at a place he owns four victories. However, lately Jeff Gordon has not had much success at the Glen as he has not had a top five finish since his last victory here in 2001. That could change Sunday as Gordon is still one of the better road racers and he enters this race in a fill-in role with little pressure. Jeff Gordon is listed at 25-1 odds this weekend and he makes his 800th NASCAR Sprint Cup start on Sunday. Gordon leads all other active drivers in road course victories with nine total and if Tony Stewart could pull off the win at the first road course race in Sonoma, why can’t Jeff Gordon repeat the feat this weekend at Watkins Glen? His road racing skills should come to the forefront this weekend and I think Jeff Gordon could be a driver to watch on Sunday.

Tony Stewart (John Wiedemann)
Tony Stewart captured the win in Sonoma, setting himself up for a spot in the Chase. Now, ready to run his final Sprint Cup Series road course event, Stewart is considered among the top contenders. Stewart statistics include 5 wins at Watkins Glen, an average finish of 11.44, ten top ten and seven top five finishes. His average running position is a series best 7.4 and he has the series best average green flag speed. So you know that Stewart knows the best way around the track, and his series leading driver rating seals the deal. Watch Stewart this weekend, he should be at the front of the pack. I’m picking Stewart to sweep the road courses and get his second win of the season.

Brad Keselowski (DM)
Brad Keselowski has yet to win at Watkins Glen as well but does have three second place finishes and has become one of the better road racers on the circuit. Keselowski comes into this weekend at 10-1 odds and his Penske teammate Joey Logano won this race a year ago. A few weeks ago Keselowski crashed hard here in a testing run and he was critical of the challenges the road racing circuits present to the drivers. Brad Keselowski is pretty good at answering adversity with victories and I think there may be some extra motivation to conquer Watkins Glen this weekend from the #2 team. The team is solidly in the Chase and they don’t need to worry too much about points so look for Brad Keselowski to be in the mix on Sunday.

Kurt Busch (JW)
Kurt Busch is having a excellent season and quietly might just be the top driver running on the Stewart-Haas Racing Team. Kurt has always been a good road racer, but he has yet to find victory lane at Watkins Glen. Kurt is third in points scored this season, although that really doesn’t matter since he is set for the Chase with one victory. He just has been running consistently good this season. Busch has struggled a little over the last five races with two top ten finishes, but he had a streak of ten in a row prior to that. In Sonoma Busch finished 10th and I think you can expect another top ten this weekend.

A.J. Allmendinger (DM)
A.J. Allmendinger is one of the most accomplished road racing drivers in the garage and his only NASCAR Sprint Cup victory came here at Watkins Glen a few years ago. Allmendinger has struggled recently with results and has to have this date circled on his calendar as a prime opportunity to swipe a Chase slot. He is listed at 8-1 odds this weekend and also has an Xfinity Series road course victory at Road America. This is A.J. Allmendinger’s best shot at making the Chase and the team expectations have to be high coming into this weekend. It’s time for A.J. Allmendinger and the #47 team to step up and erase the bad luck that has plagued them the past month. Judging by road racing skill alone, A.J. Allmendinger should be one of the drivers to watch on Sunday.

Kyle Busch (JW)
Always a threat at a road course, Kyle Busch comes into this weekend with one mission – add to the win column. A two time winner at Watkins Glen, Busch is just looking for bonus points with just a few races left until the start of the Chase. Tied with Brad Keselowski with four victories and ahead of three drivers with two victories, those bonus points are going to be huge for the first round of the Chase. If anything goes wrong in those three races, it could be bonus points that allow a driver to continue to compete in the next round. Busch could very well get the victory this weekend and probably will be exciting as he works to accomplish that goal. The #18 will be a car to watch.

Paul Menard (DM)
If a 1000-1 long shot could win last weekend, Paul Menard, who is a pretty good road racer, sure could pull off a win from 60-1. Menard is my long shot pick this weekend as he is a very good road course driver that often flies under everyone’s radar. Menard won the Xfinity Series road course race at Road America last season and performance is on the team’s fore front lately as both driver and sponsor are in contract years with deadlines approaching. Menard’s new crew chief Danny Stockman guided him to that Road America win last year and he is back atop the box this weekend at Watkins Glen. The #27 team has performed better the last two weeks and they shouldn’t be forgotten at the road course at Watkins Glen this weekend.

Kyle Larson (JW)
With a fifth and sixth place finish in the last two races, Kyle Larson is making a late charge up the standings to try to make the Chase. Without a win though, the opportunities are becoming limited. Chris Buescher got the victory to get in the Chase and if he can climb in the top 30 in the point standings there will only be four wild card spots left. The road course race this weekend opens the possibility that another first time winner could drop the wildcards down to three. Larson is just out of the Chase picture by nine points behind Jamie McMurray. Larson finished twelfth at Sonoma and has a fourth and a twelfth place finish in two career races at Watkins Glen. If he can match those finishes, he could bump into the Chase at the end of this weekend.

Alex Palou on his way to winning the 2023 Grand Prix of Indianapolis. [Media Credit – Penske Entertainment: Dana Garrett]

Indianapolis, IN – In a dominating performance, Alex Palou kicked off the month of may with a win in the GMR Grand Prix holding off the entire Arrow McLaren team and the polesitter at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.

It didn’t seem to matter which tires were on Palou’s Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, the 2021 series champion was heads up faster than the rest of the field, including finishing the last half of the race on sets of used then new Firestone Primary black walled tires when others were trying to catch him on the alternate “red’s”.

Palou cruised through the final stint of the race to take the checkers 16.8 seconds ahead of McLaren pilot Pato O’Ward.

Palou took the lead at the start of the race, getting ahead of NTT P1 Award winner Christian Lundgaard on the opening lap and took control of the race strategy from that point on.

“We knew starting on the alternates we needed to go hard and try and get the lead as fast as possible. I think the alternates had two, three laps that they were a lot better. Afterwards, you kind of got stuck behind”, explained Palou. “I tried in turn one. He went really aggressive. It was right, it was perfect what he did, but yeah, I wanted it to be something easier (smiling). We were able to get it on the last corner. That was good.”

The victory was the first for Palou at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the first this season and the fifth of the year. It seemed like a perfect win for the young Spaniard. “Everything came perfectly, the strategy, the tires, the speed of the car, myself obviously.”

For the third time this season, O’Ward finished in second place, but while a win is desired he had a bigger picture focus. “I mean, honestly, if we’re second for the rest of the season, we’re chilling. Yeah,
they will fall. Is it going to fall the next one, in two, three, four, five? Who knows. Is it going to fall until next year? You never know. I sure know that what we’ve been doing, we’ve been knocking on the door every single weekend. Like, there hasn’t been one weekend where we’re lost, no. There’s been some weekends where we haven’t started off that strong. We make changes and we’re right there.”

With his best race since joining Arrow McLaren in the off-season, Alexander Rossi took the last step on the podium after driving up to third on the final stint of the race.

“Really proud to get the first podium for the team, the first one as part of Team Chevy. It was a good day. We’ve had a really strong pace on Sundays, we just haven’t gotten the results that we feel like we deserve. We’re missing a little bit on Saturdays”, said Rossi. “The pieces are coming together. I’ve got an awesome team, awesome teammates around me.”

Lundgaard finished in fouth place, his best career result and Felix Rosenqvist gave the Arrow McLaren team all three cars in the top five.

The next NTT INDYCAR SERIES race is the 107th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge on Sunday, May 27 on the 2.5-mile IMS oval. Practice for “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” starts Tuesday, May 16, with PPG Presents Armed Forces Qualifying on Saturday, May 20 and Sunday, May 21.

GMR Grand Prix Race Results
INDIANAPOLIS – Results Saturday of the GMR Grand Prix NTT INDYCAR SERIES event on the 2.439-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, with order of finish, starting position in parentheses, driver, engine, laps completed and reason out (if any):

1. (3) Alex Palou, Honda, 85, Running 2. (5) Pato O’Ward, Chevrolet, 85, Running 3. (10) Alexander Rossi, Chevrolet, 85, Running 4. (1) Christian Lundgaard, Honda, 85, Running 5. (2) Felix Rosenqvist, Chevrolet, 85, Running 6. (9) Scott Dixon, Honda, 85, Running 7. (13) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 85, Running 8. (7) Marcus Ericsson, Honda, 85, Running 9. (14) Colton Herta, Honda, 85, Running 10. (8) Graham Rahal, Honda, 85, Running 11. (18) Romain Grosjean, Honda, 85, Running 12. (12) Will Power, Chevrolet, 85, Running 13. (17) Rinus VeeKay, Chevrolet, 85, Running 14. (6) Kyle Kirkwood, Honda, 85, Running 15. (11) Marcus Armstrong, Honda, 85, Running 16. (16) Scott McLaughlin, Chevrolet, 85, Running 17. (15) Devlin DeFrancesco, Honda, 84, Running 18. (24) Callum Ilott, Chevrolet, 84, Running 19. (21) Conor Daly, Chevrolet, 84, Running 20. (4) Jack Harvey, Honda, 84, Running 21. (25) Agustin Canapino, Chevrolet, 84, Running 22. (26) Helio Castroneves, Honda, 84, Running 23. (27) Santino Ferrucci, Chevrolet, 80, Running 24. (23) Benjamin Pedersen, Chevrolet, 79, Running 25. (19) Simon Pagenaud, Honda, 58, Mechanical 26. (20) David Malukas, Honda, 2, Contact

27. (22) Sting Ray Robb, Honda, 1, Contact

Race Statistics Winner’s average speed: 115.234 mph Time of Race: 01:47:56.7003 Margin of victory: 16.8006 seconds Cautions: 1 for 3 laps

Lead changes: 12 among 8 drivers

Lap Leaders: Palou, Alex 1 – 17 Lundgaard, Christian 18 – 19 Rosenqvist, Felix 20 – 22 Ericsson, Marcus 23 Rahal, Graham 24 – 30 Lundgaard, Christian 31 – 41 Palou, Alex 42 – 43 Ericsson, Marcus 44 Dixon, Scott 45 – 47 Palou, Alex 48 – 59 O’Ward, Pato 60 – 61 Rossi, Alexander 62 – 64

Palou, Alex 65 – 85

NTT INDYCAR SERIES Point Standings: Palou 174, O’Ward 168, Ericsson 155, Grosjean 134, McLaughlin 133, Newgarden 131, Dixon 127, Power 122, Lundgaard 111, Rossi 108, Kirkwood 108, Herta 107, Rosenqvist 97, Ilott 92, Rahal 86, Malukas 79, Armstrong 77, VeeKay 64, Canapino 56, Castroneves 53, Harvey 53, Ferrucci 51, Pagenaud 50, Daly 49, DeFrancesco 46, Robb 42, Pedersen 40, Ed Carpenter 17, Takuma Sato 5

WAYNE CITY, Ill. (Aug. 28, 2013)-Zach Duam started from pole and was never seriously challenged for the lead in winning the Jason Leffler Memorial in a POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget Series feature before an overflow crowd

Wednesday at Wayne County Speedway.

Daum’s green-to-checkered flag triumph in the 30-lap race on the one-eighth mile track was his third of the season in POWRi and opened up his lead in the championship to 190 points, 3,100-2,910, over Andrew Felker. Daum earned $5,000 against an outstanding 34-car field that raced to honor Leffler, a three-time USAC National Midget champion who went on to success in NASCAR’ s Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series and also drove in the Indianapolis 500 1999. Leffler, 37, died in a sprint car crash on June 12 and proceeds from the event, sponsored by Great Clips, will go to a fund

for his five-year-old son, Charlie Dean.

“What I liked the most about Jason was he was a gasser, a true racer,” Daum said. “I didn’t know him that well, raced against him a couple of times, but I watched him growing up winning three straight (USAC) midget national championships. I’m honored to win this race in his honor. It means a lot. The amount of people who came out showed that he was as good as it gets as

a father and a driver.”

The 22-year-old Daum of Pocahontas, Ill., drove his Toyota-powered Eagle to wins in his heat and qualifying races to start on the pole. He was the

class of the field in the 22-car feature, which was slowed by three cautions.

The final 10 laps were run under green and Daum finished with a healthy advantage over runner-up Shane Cottle of Kokomo, Ind. Dave Darland of

Lincoln, Ind., was third.

Bryan Clauson of Noblesville, Ind., started on the outside of the front row and had a flat running second on the second lap. It caused an eight-car traffic jam in turn four and sent Clauson, a three-time National Midget

Driver of the Year, to the back of the field.

“Once Clauson got that flat, I knew it would be a little easier,” Daum said. “I never really felt threatened in the middle of the race. Once I got into lapped traffic, I thought maybe I would lose some ground, but I started passing lapped cars and kept passing lapped cars so I could keep one of

them between me and second if there was a caution.

“I ran the middle until the last few laps when I moved up a little, where
the track was still tacky.”

Darren Hagen of Riverside, Calif., ran second from the second lap to the 28th, but had to pull off with a broken u-joint. Cottle, driving A.J. Felker’ s FSC-Esslinger, had run in the top five from the start and he moved into

second with Hagen’s retirement.

“We had a real good car, but it was way too tight early and it allowed him (Daum) to get a lead and we couldn’t catch him,” Cottle said. “I liked racing with Jason Leffler and money that was raised for his son is a good

thing. It shows how the racing community comes together when it’s needed.”

Darland had started 16th and restarted near the back after the initial caution on the second lap. He earned $250 for the Hard Charger Award, for

improving the most positions in the feature.

“I’m proud to be here in his honor,” Darland said. “Jason was a great driver and a great guy. We had some luck. We had a great race car (a Spike-Esslinger co-owned by Ebby Bergfield and Justin Allgaier). It was hard to pass for sure. We found some things that worked and the race track was really good. It has a good size and shape and just needs a better surface. It’s

too sandy.”

Shane Cockrum of nearby Benton, Ill., was fourth and Clauson finished fifth. Chett Gehrke of Broken Arrow, Okla., drove from 20th starting position to sixth, Dereck King of Vienna, Ill., was seventh, Felker of Carl Junction, Mo., eighth, Hud Cone of Oakland City, Ind., ninth and Daniel Robinson of

Mount Vernon, Ill., 10th.

The next events for POWRi’s National Midgets are the 32nd annual Pepsi Nationals at Angell Park Speedway in Sun Prairie, Wis., on Saturday and Sunday. They’re co-sanctioned by the Stark Automotive Group/Mid-State Equipment

Badger Midget Series.

POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget Series feature results (30 laps): 1. Zach Daum, 2. Shane Cottle, 3. Dave Darland, 4. Shane Cockrum, 5. Bryan Clauson, 6. Chett Gehrke, 7. Dereck King, 8, Andrew Felker, 9. Hud Cone, 10. Daniel Robinson, 11. Bobby East, 12. Parker Price-Miller, 13. Tyler Robbins, 14. Justin Grant, 15. Jake Blackhurst, 16. Austin Brown, 17. Chris Bell, 18. Darren Hagen, 19. Tim Siner, 20. Colten Cottle, 21.Tyler Robbins, 22. Seth

Motsinger.

For more information, go to _www.POWRi.com_ (http://www.powri.com/) .

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A young rookie named Chip Ganassi drove this ex-Mario Andretti 1981 Wildcat XVIII-Cosworth at Indianapolis in 1982. The young rookie started the race in the fourth row and ended up 15th due to losing an engine after 147-laps. Photo courtesy of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway

They say variety is the spice of life.  Today’s racing fans bemoan the lack of variety of race cars in many of main racing series. Spec cars at Daytona, spec cars at Indianapolis. Sure, there are some slight differences, different engines, front valences, etc. Go back to Indianapolis in May of 1982, and you’ll see arguably the last gasp of great diversity seen in open wheel racing on a national level.

Gordon Johncock’s STP-Patrick Racing Wildcat XIIIB-Cosworth (notice the difference in noses compared to the Ganassi car) and Rick Mears Gould Charge Penske PC10-Cosworth will be forever remembered for their epic battle for the lead in the latter stages of the 1982 Indianapolis 500. Photo courtesy of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Over eight chassis types made the Greatest Spectacle in Racing (Wildcat, Penske, March, Longhorn, Chaparral, Eagle, Lightning and Interscope).  From those eight chassis types there were also subsets which included  Wildcat (Mk VIII, Mk VIII-B) March (82C, 82x and 81C) and Penske (PC-10, PC-9B).  The All-American Racers built 1981 Eagles in which six qualified had three different power plants, a two stock-block based (Chevrolet and Milodon) and the more conventional Cosworth-powered. The amount of variety of cars that did not qualify are spectacular. Over two dozen ground-effect and older flat-bottom styled cars made it to the track but failed to qualify or did not make a qualifying run. Close to a dozen older Penske PC7-Cosworths failed to achieve the necessary speed as did several March-Cosworths.  Also missing the race included several 1981 Eagles and a lone 1980 Eagle. Several one off chassis such as the unique stock block-powered Eagle Aircraft DW-2 and the Jackie Howerton-built Swingler cars generated considerable buzz from the railbirds but lacked the necessary speed to make the highly competitive field.  A few relics from the past such as an original flat-bottom Lightning chassis, a McLaren M24 and Grant King built PC7 copy also missed the race. 1982 saw the one of the last Offenhauser-powered cars to make an appearance when Rusty Schmidt practiced in the Vollstedt-Offy flat bottom car.

The race is remembered for the fantastic battle over the last ten laps between wily veteran and eventual winner Gordon Johncock in his Wildcat VIII-Cossworth and a young Rick Mears in his Penske Racing needle-nosed Penske PC10-Cosworth.  Two drivers from very different backgrounds.  Just as the cars were different and varied, so were the drivers.  A dozen came from what was considered the traditional way, via the dirt tracks of America and eventually through the United States Auto Club (USAC).   About 17 came from a road racing background in which many also drove in the old Super-Vee series which was a major stepping stone to Indy Cars in the late-1970’s-early 1980’s. The rest, such as brothers Rick and Roger Mears came from non-traditional routes such as off-road racing.

Sadly, those fans who are in their early forties and older are the only ones that may remember this memorable time in Indy Car racing.

Indianapolis 500-Mile Race
Indianapolis Motor Speedway 2.5 Mile Paved Oval 200 Laps/500 Miles

May 29, 1982

Box score courtesy of ChampCarStats.com

Steve Zautke, a Milwaukee, WI native, was raised in the sport of auto racing. His father, Bill, was a movie photographer that shot racing footage at tracks such as the Milwaukee Mile and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the 1960’s and 1970’s Steve’s first professional job in racing was as an Emergency Medical Technician at tracks such as Angell Park and Hales Corners Speedway (1988-1991). Steve has also worked for the Milwaukee Mile as videographer, in media relations and historian (1993-2011). Steve also has worked as a reporter for Racing Information Systems (RIS) and has written features for ‘Vintage Oval Racing’ and ‘Victory Lane’ magazines. Most recently, Steve has written a book on Road America for Arcadia Publishing. ( http://www.amazon.com/Road-America-Nascar-Library-Collection/dp/1467111457 ) Steve co-hosts “Sparky’s Final Inspection” a motorsports-based radio show with hosts, Steve “Sparky” Fifer and “NASCAR Girl” Summer Santana on Sports Radio 1250AM in Milwaukee and is also available on the internet at www.Sportradio1250.com. A member of the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame Induction Committee, Steve follows all types of racing from the dirt tracks to Formula One.

Charlotte, NC – It’s hard to believe this Sunday’s Brickyard 400 will be the 15th edition of the now famous NASCAR race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It seems like just yesterday that NASCAR made its debut at the most famous raceway in the world in 1994.

With all due respect to places like Daytona and LeMans, Indianapolis is king when it comes to being associated with auto racing. Mention the word ‘Indy’ to anybody, and they immediately think of racing – nothing else.

It’s been that way since 1909 when the track was built and opened by Indianapolis businessmen Carl G. Fischer, James Allison, Arthur Newby and Frank Wheeler. Ironically, the first event wasn’t a car race, but rather balloon ascension.

The original 2.5-mile racing layout remains unchanged today and was initially constructed of crushed stone, a surface that quickly proved to be unsuitable for racing. Undaunted, Fischer had the track resurfaced with 3.2 million paving bricks in late 1909 and the legend of the ‘Brickyard’ was born.

The Indianapolis track roared into history two years later when on May 30, 1911, Ray Haroun won the first-ever 500-mile event. From 1911 through 1941 and again from 1946 through 1993, Indy was the solely reserved for open wheel racing. That all changed when NASCAR came to town in 1994.
By the middle of the 1992 season, NASCAR and officials at the speedway were in negotiations to bring stock cars to the famed raceway. The buzz about the race hit full throttle in 1993 when testing at the track drew thousands of curious fans. When the race was announced as part of the 1994 schedule, tickets sold out in just 12 hours.

More than 70 cars showed up for the inaugural 1994 Brickyard 400 with top Indy Car stars like A.J. Foyt, Danny Sullivan, Wally Dallenbach and Geoff Brabham all posting entries for the event. In qualifying, Rick Mast took advantage of a Goodyear versus Hoosier Tire war that raged throughout the 1994 season winning the pole on the softer compound Hoosier tires with a lap of 172.414 miles per hour. Dale Earnhardt was second followed by Jeff Gordon, Geoff Bodine and Bobby Labonte. Mast won $50,000 and a $40,000 conversion van just for capturing the pole.

The pre-event festivities were unlike anything ever seen in NASCAR with more than 300,000 fans turning the front stretch into a cavern of humanity. To say the atmosphere was electric is an understatement as Mary Hulman gave the command to start engines.

Earnhardt was the first contender to fall by the wayside smacking the Turn 4 wall in an effort to lead the first lap. Mast and Gordon, along with five other drivers, led during the first 90 circuits before the real fireworks started with brothers Geoff and Brett Bodine tangling as they raced off Turn four on a Lap 100 restart. Later, the two exchanged barbs during their television interviews showing that the pressure of winning the first-ever Brickyard 400 could even alienate brothers.

In the end, it was Indiana favorite son Gordon taking the win over Brett Bodine, Bill Elliott and Rusty Wallace. Earnhardt recovered from his first-lap miscue to finish fifth with Darrell Waltrip, Ken Schrader, Michael Waltrip, Todd Bodine and Morgan Shepherd completing the Top-10 finishers.
For Gordon, it was just the second of his current total of 81 NASCAR Sprint Cup wins and earned him a staggering $613,000 in prize money. To give you a reference as to just how much that was in 1994 NASCAR earnings, Sterling Marlin earned $258,215 for winning the Daytona 500 earlier that year.

Since that first 1994 Brickyard 400 event, NASCAR has come back to Indy 13 times with Earnhardt, Dale Jarrett, Ricky Rudd, Labonte, Elliott, Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson and Tony Stewart all adding their names to the list of winners of the event. Gordon has won the race a record four times with Jarrett and Stewart (the defending champion) each capturing it twice.

This year, it’s anybody’s guess who will take the checkered flag first. At the very least, the race will be different than the 14 Brickyard 400’s that have preceded it as it will be the first time NASCAR’s Car of Tomorrow competes at the famed track.

There can be no doubt, however, that the race will be one of the most watched events of the season because, after all, it’s Indy and the 15th running of the Brickyard 400. What else do you need to say?

What Weekend Off?
This was supposed to be a weekend off for drivers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, but you would never know it looking at some of the race rundowns from around the country.

At Gateway International Raceway near St. Louis, Carl Edwards, Clint Bowyer, David Reutimann, Reed Sorenson and Jamie McMurray all competed in the NASCAR Nationwide Series event Saturday while down the river in Kentucky, Kyle Busch strapped on a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series entry. Busch, along with Matt Kenseth, also competed in an American Speed Association race at Iowa Speedway while Kevin Harvick was all set to go in a late model stock car race at Oxford Plains Speedway in Maine before rain washed out the program Sunday.

So much for a little down time between races.

All Indy All The Time Fans looking for a racing fix from Indy won’t have to search far this week as ESPN will flood it’s networks with practice, qualifying and racing action.

The network will provide live coverage of both practice sessions on ESPN2. ESPN360.com and ESPN MobileTV, the company’s 24/7 mobile video network. Qualifying will also be telecast live on Saturday beginning at 10 a.m. Eastern Time. Flag-to-flag coverage of the Brickyard 400 on ESPN is set for Sunday, July 27, at 1 p.m. Eastern Time. The Brickyard is the first of 17 Sprint Cup events ESPN networks will carry this season with the first six on ESPN and the final 11 on ABC.

Stock the fridge and saddle up the couch.

More Indy Fun
If the Brickyard 400 wasn’t enough, there’s also a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race and a Nationwide event at O’Reilly Raceway Park (IRP for the purists) in Clemont, IN – just outside Indianapolis – this weekend.

The trucks will do battle in a 200-lap ORP oval (right) Friday night before the Nationwide cars belt up for a 250-lapper Saturday. These are usually two of the best races on each circuit each year thanks in large part to the unique ORP half-mile oval.

Final Thoughts – After covering the Indy 500 several times in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s as a sports editor for a daily Wisconsin newspaper, this writer got his first taste of Indy as an insider serving as the public relations rep for Bobby Labonte and the No. 22 Maxwell House Pontiac at the first Brickyard 400.

Standing on the front stretch and being a part of the race photo taken before the inaugural 1994 Brickyard 400 is still one of this writer’s most memorable moments in nearly 25 years of being professionally active in the sport.

In recent years, I’ve spent most of my time during Indy week at ORP spotting several different Truck and Nationwide Series drivers including Rich Bickle, Lonnie Rush, Jimmie Spencer and Terry Cook. This too has been a career highlight as a chance writing assignment covering the 1993 Busch Series race at the then named IRP provided a big boost to my career and opened the door for the 1994 Maxwell House gig. To compete in any NASCAR race as a spotter is an unbelievable experience – but to do it at places that moved your career along is even more special.

That said, I can’t wait to get to ORP this week and spot Donny Lia and the No. 71 TRG Motorsports Chevy in Friday’s Truck Series race We’re coming off a 20th-place fiish at Kentucky this weekend and will be hoping to find the short-track magic that put us in Victory Lane at Mansfield earlier this year.

Hope you enjoy all the events – the Trucks, Nationwide and Cup races – from Indy this week. It doesn’t get any better than this.

John Close covered his first NASCAR race in 1986 at Bristol. Since then, Close – a former Associated Press newspaper sports editor – has written countless articles for numerous motorsports magazines, trade publications and Internet sites.

His Close Calls column appears each week on www.CloseFinishes.com, www.MotorsportsAmerica.com and www.RacingNation.com.

Close has also authored two books – Tony Stewart – From Indy Phenom To NASCAR Superstar and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series – From Desert Dust To Superspeedways.

Close is a weekly guest every Thursday at 1 p.m. Eastern on Tradin’ Paint on NASCAR SIRIUS Channel 90.

You can follow John Close on Twitter @CloseFinishes and on Facebook at John Close.

Be sure to visit John’s website – www.closefinishes.com

Close CallsJohn CloseNASCAR

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Nikita Mazepin, Uralkali Haas F1 Team, Sunday at the Dutch Grand Prix. (Photo by Zak Mauger / LAT Images)

#FWD2022 – Q&A with Uralkali Haas F1 Team Technical Director, Simone Resta

KANNAPOLIS, North Carolina (September 8, 2021) – Following last week’s launch of #FWD2022 – a series of content and updates on the creation of the VF-22 and the group behind a new era of racing for the American F1 team – we reconvene with Simone Resta, Technical Director at Uralkali Haas F1 Team for part two of an exclusive Q&A.

You’ve introduced the names behind Uralkali Haas F1 Team’s future challenger, can you now provide an insight into how to build a Formula 1 car from scratch and how the team is looking forward to 2022…

“Building a Formula 1 car from scratch has been a very big challenge for the new technical group as the project started in parallel with the group’s creation, as well as to all the new processes and reviews we’ve put in place.

“To explain clearly, after receiving the new set of regulations, the group identified the objectives for the new car, then defined the project plan and the required resources. At the concept stage we then investigated development directions aimed to find answers to the above-mentioned points.

“From the concept phase, the project gradually transitions to the engineering phase, involving the project of readying components – their procurement, assembly, indoor testing and FIA homologation before running trackside. Within the legal boundaries defined by the FIA, Uralkali Haas F1 Team has a collaboration with Ferrari, purchasing not only the powertrain but also a series of parts of the TRQ transferable components family.”

You mention indoor testing. What can you tell us about the facilities and our wind tunnel model?

“Since the beginning of our collaboration with Ferrari, we have been using their wind tunnel. The 2022 wind tunnel model has been prepared at the start of the year in order to start as early as possible on the 2022 car development, following final legalization work on the current car.

“The new wind tunnel model, 60% scale as its predecessors, looks quite different if compared to the previous ones due to the combination of several factors.”

Was that the model from the previous car or a brand-new model?

“It is a brand-new model, we started from scratch. The model features new front and rear tire and rim dimensions and a complete review of the bodywork regulations and dimensions.

“This will include a completely new design for front and rear wings, bodywork, floor and diffuser, brakes ducts, wheel fairing and suspension too. The amount of freedom to develop aerodynamic surfaces has been reduced, but still allows teams to develop different geometries and extract performance, and as always, the devil is in the details.

“A very important tool to develop the performance of the car is the CFD, Computational Fluid Dynamics, that allows the team of aerodynamicists to perform virtual simulations before testing the model scale parts into the wind tunnel. The maximum number of CFD runs is specified by the regulations as well as the maximum number of wind tunnel tests.”

What exactly is being worked on in the wind tunnel? It’s obviously aerodynamics, but is it one day the front wing, the next day the rear bodywork? How does the program come together?

“Almost every week we develop the new model in the wind tunnel according to our testing calendar. The team of aerodynamicists, following the agreed development directions and testing plans, prepares the set of components to be tested looking to extract performance.

“Depending on the testing plan, in a normal day we can test a family of front wings, then switch on new chassis geometries, then develop new bodywork shapes, then restart the next day with floors, rear wings, brake ducts etc. – basically everything is in development.

“In simple terms, the development team prepare the new components, follow the test in the wind tunnel and gathers the results, study the data, and make sure the findings will be considered for the next component iteration in the tunnel, and the next iteration can happen the next day, the next week or in a longer time depending on the complexity of the changes.

“A close collaboration between the aero group and the design office is key to maximizing the development efficiency.”

Where is the team right now in the design process?

“The team is in the advanced concept phase. There’s still full freedom to develop each component but we are getting close to the first components geometry freeze.

“I shouldn’t be sharing this, but in the spirit of bringing our fans on the journey with us, one of the first definitions is the fuel cell one. The first information released to the supplier is the fuel cell shape. Once you define that, it means that this part of the chassis is defined. That becomes a constraint, and you keep working on the remaining parts of the car. So that is the first component freeze.

“But of course, it’s not a fully sequential job, it’s concurrent engineering. We created specific working groups to manage the project on certain parts of the car. We involve every member of the team, trying to empower them so there are not just two or three superstars in the team. Instead, it’s the person doing the aerodynamic work on the front wing working with the designer of the front wing and the structural engineer and they’re all around the table and discussing. Of course, it’s a combination of bottom-up processes together with top-down processes, but overall, we firmly believe in individual engineering empowerment to contribute to the team performance. That’s a key aspect.”

How do you then incorporate into that the physical components?

“Everything runs in parallel, 100 percent, with a concurrent engineering process. The group of aerodynamicists, the designers, the performance engineers, the program managers and all the engineers across the team work simultaneously developing the vehicle components according to the defined plan. The plan features release dates by which certain geometry will have to be frozen, from this point onwards the scope of development is partially reduced transitioning from the concept phase on to the engineering phase.”

When does race engineering come into this process because there’s a group of people designing the product and then there’s the people who are running it…

“The race engineering group is a key asset for each team. It’s the group of engineers that has the duty to run the track program supporting the drivers to extract the full potential from the car and give feedback to the development group at the factory to improve the car performance. The race engineering members are kept updated about the 2022 project evolution whilst running the 2021 car trackside. At the end of this year, once the 2021 car is pensioned, it will be the time for the race engineers to adopt our new baby, the 2022 car. This will involve studying all the data needed to prepare the new car assembly, indoor preparation and testing activities and finally the trackside launch.”

By not developing the current car and looking forward to 2022, what can fans expect from the VF-22 and what are the realistic aims for the team next year?

“You have kept the most difficult question at the end! As a team, we have decided to stop the development of the 2021 car at the beginning of the year, trying to focus most of our energies on to the 2022 car.

“We started a bit on the back-foot as we needed to complete the structure while developing processes and tools as well, but we believe that this investment will pay off and we’ll have a competitive car, and we’ll have lots of fun again in 2022.”