2021 IndyCar Miscellaneous Thread

I'd like to see Jimmie Johnson show up in IndyCar and be fully competitive, able to contend for race wins and podium finishes. I'm not really confidant we'll see that. The thought of JJ/48 on a "celebrity tour" is distinctly unpalatable to me, and by that I mean, off the pace of the frontrunners while basking in the glow of what was accomplished years ago in Nascar.

If Jimmie is fully competitive in IndyCar, what would that say about the strength of the IndyCar field? It has been five long years since JJ/48 was consistently competitive in Nascar.
 
LewTheShoe said:
I'd like to see Jimmie Johnson show up in IndyCar and be fully competitive, able to contend for race wins and podium finishes. I'm not really confidant we'll see that. The thought of JJ/48 on a "celebrity tour" is distinctly unpalatable to me, and by that I mean, off the pace of the frontrunners while basking in the glow of what was accomplished years ago in Nascar.

If Jimmie is fully competitive in IndyCar, what would that say about the strength of the IndyCar field? It has been five long years since JJ/48 was consistently competitive in Nascar.
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I generally have the same suppressed expectations that you do. To be fair, Johnson was somewhat more competitive at the NASCAR road course events in his final three seasons, and that's what he'll be running in IndyCar. I'm not sure that anyone could argue with a straight face that the Cup field of drivers isn't deeper than IndyCar's, so it's hard to say how that translates. If he finishes 7th in an IndyCar race, what is the Cup equivalent of that?
 
LewTheShoe said:
The thought of JJ/48 on a "celebrity tour" is distinctly unpalatable to me, and by that I mean, off the pace of the frontrunners while basking in the glow of what was accomplished years ago in Nascar.
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The thought of him running poorly doesn't bother me as much as the broadcast producers focusing on him as much as the front runners even when he's running poorly, expecting IndyCar audiences to be impressed anyway because of his NASCAR titles. I want him to do well in his two remaining scheduled IMSA events; maybe by the time the Glen rolls around, the production crew will be able to stop fawning over him like they did at Sebring.
 
I wouldn’t hold my breath on Jimmie setting the world on fire. There should 24 full-timers this year and up to 26 or 27 cars at some other events...I don’t think it’s crazy to say Top 20 and keeping it clean all weekend would be good outcomes, especially early on. He’s only had five days of testing and has been slowest at all of them, and was the slowest DPi runner at Sebring when he wasn’t spinning or wrecking.

Agreed that hopefully NBC manages a more graceful balance of coverage when he’s running IndyCar than what they’ve done with IMSA so far.
 
rd45usa said:
www.motorsport.com

IndyCar IMS test to simulate hybrid boost with push-to-pass

www.motorsport.com www.motorsport.com
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More interesting details here. This all sounds quite appealing, more the high (and higher with the hybrid element) HP route than push to pass on ovals, but we'll see.

racereviewonline.net

“I think today we’ve got a lot of data off the car in a direction on what approach to go with,” says Jay Frye, a recap from Friday’s INDYCAR test session at IMS in using the push to pass, what the drivers and Frye all said

INDIANAPOLIS — Four current NTT IndyCar Series drivers, using their 2021 cars, were testing at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Friday. But, Friday’s session wasn’t about 2…
racereviewonline.net
 
Despite TMS feverishly trying to brush away the PJ1 recently it seems the track is still too stained to provide enough grip up there. Another oval bites the dust.



 
FLRacingFan said:
Despite TMS feverishly trying to brush away the PJ1 recently it seems the track is still too stained to provide enough grip up there. Another oval bites the dust.



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Tire Dragon, but with Firestone rubber?

Is that possible to even salvage TMS?
 
Kiante said:
Tire Dragon, but with Firestone rubber?

Is that possible to even salvage TMS?
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They tried that last year and it basically left “dead rubber” that made it even worse, like really bad marbling. Maybe it could be different now that they wouldn’t be directly applying it on top of the goo but I wouldn’t bet on it. I’m not sure what there is to do other than wait for the surface to really age. There’s only so much more downforce you can pack on with the spec kits compared to the OEM kits too.

racer.com

PRUETT: Texas reflections

Where does the Genesys 300 rank among the more (or less) exciting races you’ve watched in recent years? Of the two strongest groups to emerge, there’s the ‘just happy to see IndyCars in action’ sid…
racer.com racer.com
 
FLRacingFan said:
I wouldn’t hold my breath on Jimmie setting the world on fire.
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Probably going to take at least a few races. They never get to test the reds and it's completely different. Even Scott McLaughlin struggled in his debut, and he has an extensive road racing background. Jimmy is just now going road racing full time. He's learning quick and will eventually get it, but not for a few races.
FLRacingFan said:
I don’t think it’s crazy to say Top 20 and keeping it clean all weekend would be good outcomes, especially early on. He’s only had five days of testing and has been slowest at all of them, and was the slowest DPi runner at Sebring when he wasn’t spinning or wrecking.
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Jimmy is getting plenty of seat time, for sure, but let's be fair. The rest of the drivers in the Ally are world class savages. He's within a second or so, and that's not bad close when you are comparing to the world champions. in your team.

That and Jimmy is going to tear up some stuff. When you look at the patience Chip showed with guys like Briscoe, we're going to see a lot of that excused. Jimmy is used to running up front and he's going to be impatient to get there. It's gonna cost some money.

FLRacingFan said:
Agreed that hopefully NBC manages a more graceful balance of coverage when he’s running IndyCar than what they’ve done with IMSA so far.
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No. They have to cater to the Nascar crowd now because we need those folks to tune in. If you guys remember the Danica days, they would spend half the race following her around, even when she was running poorly.

The Nascar crowd will lose interest if Jimmy gets thrashed, so we do want him to at least run well. That and another likable guy in the paddock is not a bad thing either.
 
FLRacingFan said:
The way that thing rotated and was headed straight into the wall he’ll consider himself fortunate to walk away with just the broken finger.
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The safety on the current cars is outstanding. Remember Bourdais had what was essentially a Gordon Smiley kind of crash (and it was probably even harder) and while injured, it turned out far better than it would have in an 82 March. I'm betting Renus just didn't get his hands off the wheel in time, and would have other wise not gotten hurt. Pretty remarkable.
 
Kiante said:
Andretti is developing them earlier and earlier:


Amazing to see Dan's little boys grow up so quickly, I hope they take their time with them. This is awesome to see the next generation beginning to take shape already.
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Outstanding. There’s not a more benevolent IndyCar team owner when it comes to bringing young drivers up the ladder.
 
Interesting to hear Homestead may be looking into bringing Indy back, the track itself would probably be the raciest oval for the series if it were to be added for next season. As always, trying to make finances work will be a grind. Hopefully full capacity attendance in 2022 can bring back one of the short ovals that got dropped this year. Iowa has been short on news and rumors since getting dropped from almost everyone’s calendar this year.

 
We got a double header this weekend at the Texas cookie cutter.
This will be double-y crazy.
 
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