2020 IndyCar Miscellaneous

**** this season, I guess. Road America replacing Toronto with another race is a net gain but Richmond was probably the event I was looking forward to the most after the 500.


 
**** this season, I guess. Road America replacing Toronto with another race is a net gain but Richmond was probably the event I was looking forward to the most after the 500.


Richmond is going to have a rough FY.
 
I may be alone but I'm okay with Richmond being sacrificed. I'm just not fond of an open-wheeled series on banked ovals. I don't like Texas much; no way I'm fond of a race on a track half that size. Just too much opportunity to screw up.

So I'm okay with RA getting a second date, although I would have preferred the Glen.
 
I may be alone but I'm okay with Richmond being sacrificed. I'm just not fond of an open-wheeled series on banked ovals. I don't like Texas much; no way I'm fond of a race on a track half that size. Just too much opportunity to screw up.

So I'm okay with RA getting a second date, although I would have preferred the Glen.
Richmond would’ve been the slowest oval by a sizable margin. It’d be safer than somewhere like Texas for sure, and from testing it sounds like they had found a good pretty racy package. Not sure how this effects the two-year contract but I hope they get a solid gate next year, really disappointing otherwise.

I’m really not sure they can work another oval in there as a replacement, without a gate they’re almost impossible to pull off. It certainly isn’t the final schedule update we’ll have either way.
 
Richmond would’ve been the slowest oval by a sizable margin. It’d be safer than somewhere like Texas for sure, and from testing it sounds like they had found a good pretty racy package. Not sure how this effects the two-year contract but I hope they get a solid gate next year, really disappointing otherwise.

I’m really not sure they can work another oval in there as a replacement, without a gate they’re almost impossible to pull off. It certainly isn’t the final schedule update we’ll have either way.
The current schedule has five oval races so I don't see another oval race being added. I think this schedule is a good compromise.
 
The current schedule has five oval races so I don't see another oval race being added. I think this schedule is a good compromise.
It's good enough given the circumstances for sure, I wish they would lengthen the Iowa races though. Right now they have them listed as 150-lappers which wouldn't even take an hour. Maybe a couple of 200-lappers.
 

This is setting up for disappointment if/when they don't pull the trigger lol. I do think a WEC program is the most likely as they'd most likely want to build their own chassis.
Okay, dumb question. Why doesn't Ferrari lay people off? Local labor laws and / or union contracts?
Racing is in Ferrari's DNA. I very much doubt they'd kick people out of their 'family' just because a series said they can't spend as much as they like to anymore.
 
This is setting up for disappointment if/when they don't pull the trigger lol. I do think a WEC program is the most likely as they'd most likely want to build their own chassis.

Racing is in Ferrari's DNA. I very much doubt they'd kick people out of their 'family' just because a series said they can't spend as much as they like to anymore.
FCA is missing out on an opportunity for pushing the Alfa brand.

They can afford to do both, especially with the decreasing F1 costs. I say use the Alfa brand on the chassis with "Ferrari" engines, which is a true fact with the Gulia Quadrofolio.
 
FCA is missing out on an opportunity for pushing the Alfa brand.

They can afford to do both, especially with the decreasing F1 costs. I say use the Alfa brand on the chassis with "Ferrari" engines, which is a true fact with the Gulia Quadrofolio.
I think that's actually what they were considering before Marchionne died. Alfa branding makes more sense in the context of racing against Chevy and Honda too.

I'm sure they can actually afford both, it just comes down to 'fit' and ROI. There needs to be some sort of value in IndyCar in addition to being a place to house former F1 employees.
 
Okay, dumb question. Why doesn't Ferrari lay people off? Local labor laws and / or union contracts?
Racing is in Ferrari's DNA. I very much doubt they'd kick people out of their 'family' just because a series said they can't spend as much as they like to anymore.
First - I'm sure this is a factor, particularly right now, as Ferrari's home region struggles to survive the coronavirus devastation. And Ferrari has unparalleled ability to attract sponsorship to cover the costs. Also, the Agnelli clan, which controls both Ferrari and FCA, is in a delicate situation with unions and regulators as they attempt to merge FCA into Peugeot... not a good time to announce redundancies.

Second - A budget cap cynic could also offer another reason for the Scuderia to branch out... expense parking (or more accurately, expense laundering). Deep in the bowels of the R&D center, who is to measure how much is spent on one project versus another project? For example, I wonder how much of Adrian Newey's salary might get allocated to some Aston Martin project rather than to Red Bull F1... ha ha ha.

Third - Ferrari could see future benefits from having a feeder program to develop their technical people... proving who is ready for the big show (F1). Managing technical resources has not been a strong point.

By the way, the pending PSA - FCA merger could have a lot to do with Ferrari's decision on branching out, and whether it's oriented towards Indianapolis or Le Mans, and also how it might be branded... Ferrari or Alfa or even Peugeot. Up to now, Ferrari and Alfa Romeo effectively have been sister companies. Will that continue? Probably not.
 
The Department of Homeland Security says race car drivers aren't athletes.
This would keep Palou and van Kalmthout, who don't live in the US, from participating in the race at Texas.
 
The Department of Homeland Security says race car drivers aren't athletes.
This would keep Palou and van Kalmthout, who don't live in the US, from participating in the race at Texas.
A quarter of a century later, the philosophy behind the IRL finally wins. :sarcasm:

Seriously though, auto racing is largely a niche sport, particularly those series with foreign drivers such as IndyCar and IMSA. It’s more of an out of sight, out of mind type of deal and I imagine they’ll get around to revising it.
 
Firestone weren’t able to produce new tires for Texas due to shutdowns, so they’ll be running right sides from the fall aeroscreen test at TMS last year and IMS-spec left sides, all with 35-lap maximum stints. What would be a three-stop race now becomes at least a five-stop race. Hopefully the tires are able to do their job or it could get ugly.


 
Firestone weren’t able to produce new tires for Texas due to shutdowns, so they’ll be running right sides from the fall aeroscreen test at TMS last year and IMS-spec left sides, all with 35-lap maximum stints. What would be a three-stop race now becomes at least a five-stop race. Hopefully the tires are able to do their job or it could get ugly.


I’d forgotten all about the new halos!
 
Firestone weren’t able to produce new tires for Texas due to shutdowns, so they’ll be running right sides from the fall aeroscreen test at TMS last year and IMS-spec left sides, all with 35-lap maximum stints. What would be a three-stop race now becomes at least a five-stop race. Hopefully the tires are able to do their job or it could get ugly.


This sounds like it could be a disaster. Hopefully I’m wrong
 
Uh, this series was on shaky ground for several years already. I’m not sure it bounces back from taking a whole year off.

 
Uh, this series was on shaky ground for several years already. I’m not sure it bounces back from taking a whole year off.



Terrible news, but Andretti has kept the series on life support for sometime. Sponsorship is hard to come by for them. I'll tell you what, maybe this could lead to more opportunity for guys like Kirkwood and maybe even Santi to get a couple of races in IndyCar itself.

Longshot, but it could work. Taking a step back for them would be useless on the ladder.
 
Terrible news, but Andretti has kept the series on life support for sometime. Sponsorship is hard to come by for them. I'll tell you what, maybe this could lead to more opportunity for guys like Kirkwood and maybe even Santi to get a couple of races in IndyCar itself.

Longshot, but it could work. Taking a step back for them would be useless on the ladder.
I’m hopeful Kyle’s scholarship rolls over to whatever he does next. It’s a really weird spot, a lot of people have suggested dropping a rung of the ladder, but usually Pro 2000 because the gap from F2000 to Pro 2000 isn’t substantial and F2000 really sorts guys out before they get to Lights. And then Lights are a significant step up and a decent representation of what to expect at the IndyCar level.

I guess those guys try to grab some partial rides in the big cars this year? Like you said, there’s no point to taking a step back.
 
Uh, this series was on shaky ground for several years already. I’m not sure it bounces back from taking a whole year off.



I don't pay enough attention to know the answer, but is three rungs on the development ladder beneath IndyCar wise?

If Indy Lights as currently constructed was to dissolve, I would think there would be a consolidation and the Pro 2000 series would effectively become Indy Lights.
 
I don't pay enough attention to know the answer, but is three rungs on the development ladder beneath IndyCar wise?

If Indy Lights as currently constructed was to dissolve, I would think there would be a consolidation and the Pro 2000 series would effectively become Indy Lights.
Probably not, especially factoring in that FIA F3 Americas just started a couple of years ago and Honda are to begin awarding a Lights scholarship to the champ; it's basically about to be parallel with Pro 2000.

Lights has struggled with car count for years, in part because of budget and in part because by then most drivers have already sorted themselves out of the ladder. It's still important because the jump in speed from either F3/Pro 2000 to Lights is much bigger than the jump to either of those from F2000. F2000 and Pro 2000 utilize the same base Tatuus chassis (mostly an F4 car in Europe), with the car easily upgradable which makes it easier on the budget. I'm not sure the car can accommodate an even more significant HP bump safety-wise, the Lights run a Dallara that's incorporated a lot of the safety learned building the Indy cars.

It does sound like they will try hard to bring the series back in 2021, and Penske has discussed ideas with Andersen Promotions to strengthen the series, which is already more attention than the series ever got from the Hulman-George family. In the meantime it sounds like some of those with planned seasons will look towards IMSA and/or SRO America.

“It actually came together very quickly in the last, I'd say 36 hours,” Andersen told Autoweek. “I spent a fair amount of time on a video conference with Roger Penske reviewing a number of things. The challenges that IndyCar faces with the schedule this year, with the coronavirus thing, dates moving and changing and shrinking and everything else, and the Road to Indy being challenged as to where we're going to fit in. We lost our spot at the Indy Grand Prix because it got thrown onto the Brickyard (400 weekend on July 4) and then they added onto the Harvest Grand Prix (Oct. 3), and there was no room for us there either. Then, Road America went from a four-day event to a two-day event.

“IndyCar owns Indy Lights and I went to them with some of the challenges we were faced with. Where were we at with NBC Sports Gold for the Indy Lights teams because that was part of the deal. So in discussing all of this, we talked about challenges getting drivers into the country, challenges with some of the teams losing drivers who had sponsor issues because of dropped dates. I moved their budget into next year and it just all became a big pile of stuff.

“Roger seemed to think that pausing Indy Lights and reconstituting it for a stronger next year would be a better plan given all the challenges that we were faced with. It wouldn't be my first call, but after listening to all that he thought and all the plans that he has to strengthen Indy Lights next year, I agreed to it. And it is their series. It's ultimately their call. I didn't have to agree with it, but they wanted my buy-in to their view. So I appreciate that.”

 
I’m hopeful Kyle’s scholarship rolls over to whatever he does next. It’s a really weird spot, a lot of people have suggested dropping a rung of the ladder, but usually Pro 2000 because the gap from F2000 to Pro 2000 isn’t substantial and F2000 really sorts guys out before they get to Lights. And then Lights are a significant step up and a decent representation of what to expect at the IndyCar level.

I guess those guys try to grab some partial rides in the big cars this year? Like you said, there’s no point to taking a step back.
It could work, some teams could afford it.

The thing is, a lot of teams are at capacity already. Outside of RLL, who can have a third car on a limited basis. Maybe Carlin in the 31 if Sette Camara can't race in an event? The grid is about at capacity now, its just adding another manufacturer to alleviate the stress of Honda and Chevy.

We'll see, I never realized how expensive IndyLights is as well. Especially when most of these guys have no sponsorship backing, I can see why its a massive struggle to get it operational.
 
I’ll take your word for it but I’m guessing it’s why Pockrass had to “clarify” things on Twitter today.....
It was a smart move to make, be safe about it.

You do not want the political backwash to run up in there and go crazy. Not to mention, Indiana is not yet at the "Level 5" to house fans as of yet. Many of the pundits are complaining because "People are protesting, why can't we race, etc.", folks really are crazy man.
 
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