2023 IndyCar News / Misc.

virtualbalboa said:
Norris is the question mark in the McLaren F1 equation in so much as depending on who you ask or what rumor hits the fan, he might be a free agent right now.

Generally speaking I'd rather see Palou in a race car than becoming Luca Badoer. I'm guessing Palou is similarly minded.
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I was assuming no changes until ‘26 because the most frequent Norris chatter I hear is that he’s locked down through ‘25 without any real out clauses. Of course, it wouldn’t be the first time contract details turned out to be BS, or a driver with a hefty buyout had a bag dropped for their services.

virtualbalboa said:
Conor Daly is replacing Jack Harvey at Gateway, who is just in "career over" mode at RLL:

www.indycar.com

RLL Shuffles Driver Lineup; Daly To Drive No. 30 at WWTR

Veteran Conor Daly has four top-10 finishes in his last six NTT INDYCAR SERIES starts on the World Wide Technology Raceway oval.
www.indycar.com www.indycar.com

I'd expect to see Juri Vips show up and take laps at somewhere like Portland or Laguna Seca.
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Conor Daly will wind up driving for the whole damn grid, bar Penske and CGR, by the time his career is over.

Vips and Sowery splitting Portland and Laguna is the rumor I heard on MP’s podcast last night. I don’t really rate Sowery, but maybe he has money. I’m pretty interested in Vips myself.

Maybe more importantly is that he mentioned Lundqvist might be headed to CGR to replace Ericsson, Swede for Swede. That would be huge.
 
Doc Austin said:
Harvey showed a lot of promise with Shank, but it all seemed to fall apart when he joined RLR.
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Someone else online once made the suggestion that perhaps the issue is literally his brain having been scrambled in a wreck at Texas. At the end of the day, I know a lot of people will say "RLL was a bad move" but you know what? It wasn't Harvey who got bumped from the Indy 500. It also wasn't Harvey who won a race this year or started on pole this year. He's had teammates who have shown flashes and unfortunately he never has.
 
Both Harvey and MSR were better together. It’s been pretty rough to see what’s happened to both these past two seasons. I’d say both RLL and MSR expanding has contributed a lot of growing pains, but the ones holding the wheel haven’t lived up to expectations either.
 
FLRacingFan said:
Both Harvey and MSR were better together. It’s been pretty rough to see what’s happened to both these past two seasons. I’d say both RLL and MSR expanding has contributed a lot of growing pains, but the ones holding the wheel haven’t lived up to expectations either.
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Shank and Rahal are having good seasons in IMSA. Rahal's BMW team is in contention for the championship and Shank has a chance too. Where they differ is Shank's Indycar operation is not very good and Rahal's has (recently) vastly improved.
 
virtualbalboa said:
Someone else online once made the suggestion that perhaps the issue is literally his brain having been scrambled in a wreck at Texas.
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He's had two years, but brain injuries are odd. Remember it was concussions that put Dale jr and Franchitti out of the sport. Toward the end of his career, Rutherford was so prone to concussion all he had to do was scrape the wall and he'de get another one.

Notice the difference in attitude in how people are reacting here to Harvey's sacking, and how "the fans" are reacting at the other place?
virtualbalboa said:
It also wasn't Harvey who won a race this year or started on pole this year. He's had teammates who have shown flashes and unfortunately he never has.
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No, Jack has not been very good. I guess Rahal hung on as long as he could for Jack to live up to his promise, but in the end he needs to think about next year and audition a few drivers.

Jack probably needs to talk to a few P2 teams about next year. He's going to be a hard sell in Indycar after this flameout.

Speaking of auditions, I'm really hoping Daly can deliver at Gateway. There's another guy who needs to either be in a good ride or move to sportscars.
 
Jorge De Guzman said:
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Really cool deal.

IMG_1721.jpeg
 
Doc Austin said:
Notice the difference in attitude in how people are reacting here to Harvey's sacking, and how "the fans" are reacting at the other place?
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The 'Open Wheel' forum here has always been a classy joint. For the most part it's more respectful of the sport's participants than other round tables, and vastly more respectful of differing opinions.

People forget that while some of these guys and gals trail the field every week, they could make us armchair pilots wet ourselves in a ride-along.
 
Charlie Spencer said:
The 'Open Wheel' forum here has always been a classy joint. For the most part it's more respectful of the sport's participants than other round tables, and vastly more respectful of differing opinions.
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Our Nascar forum gets a little spicey from time to time, but it's not nearly as rowdy as other places. It also helps we have a lot of good dudes here.
 
The supercapacitor-based hybrid system was paired with the 2.2L engine for its first real reliability test at Sebring last week. 150 HP is 50 more than I was expecting. It’ll be pretty interesting to see how this plays out depending on what the regen/deployment method looks like.

Deployment of extra horsepower, which simulates the current INDYCAR overtake (“push-to-pass”) system, came after the hybrid units were regenerated under braking elsewhere on the track. Manual and automatic regeneration techniques were tested.
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“A lot of things to be decided, but ultimately you can have more power all of the time, which would be good,” Power said. “We all love more horsepower. I think you want the most regen that you can have and use the engine to its max. It’s exciting.”

Said Dixon: “It will change the strategy, especially if you have to regen and you’re being attacked and it’s going to be hard to regen. It’s going to add a different dynamic. Not only from a strategy but for the person in the seat. You have to be thinking pretty quickly and making the right decision at the right time, which will make the racing even more spicy, which will be pretty cool.”
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I wonder how they'll limit total regen, assuming they want to replicate the current limit on P2P. Maybe they won't limit it, and leave it up to the drivers' ability to brake? What will they do with the system on ovals, disable it entirely?
 
Charlie Spencer said:
I wonder how they'll limit total regen, assuming they want to replicate the current limit on P2P. Maybe they won't limit it, and leave it up to the drivers' ability to brake? What will they do with the system on ovals, disable it entirely?
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I’m pretty curious myself about your first point. As far as ovals are concerned, Honda tested an earlier-spec version of the system last year with the canned 2.4L and utilized a paddle on the steering wheel to brush the brakes for smaller amounts of regen. That’s probably the way it’ll be utilized at the superspeedways while in the tow.

With the MAHLE system capable of harvesting and deploying an estimated 100hp it gathers from the rear wheels under braking, Honda’s Dallara DW12 also had the steering wheel-mounted energy regeneration paddle — the “fiddle brake” as it’s been called in other series — installed for testing.

Although the majority of supercapacitor charging comes from hard braking when the motor generator unit is engaged, drivers have another method to perform energy harvesting between big braking events by using their fingers to pull on the regeneration paddle affixed to the back of the steering wheel.
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racer.com

Honda hybrid IndyCar engine tests at IMS

The NTT IndyCar Series broke new ground this week with the successful completion of its first 2024 hybrid engine package track test. The Wednesday-Thursday session was conducted on the Indianapolis…
racer.com racer.com

us.motorsport.com

IndyCar’s 2024 hybrid system could be “most effective” on ovals

us.motorsport.com us.motorsport.com
 
Tony_K said:
Nobody mentioned this so thought I would. Bill Vukovich II died a couple of days ago at age 79. Was a big fan of the whole family and now all 3 generations of racers are gone.
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racer.com

Bill Vukovich II, 1944-2023

Bill Vukovich II, the 1968 Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year and a member of one of the race’s most prominent families, died on August 20. He was 79. Vukovich was the son of two-time Indianapolis…
racer.com racer.com
 
FLRacingFan said:
Pretty big deal for Foyt as they enter into an alliance with Penske, starting with dampers/technical support in the closing stretch this season and expanding to include the placement of young developing Penske crew/engineers/drivers (i.e.: Myles Rowe) at the team in the future.

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So has team Foyt conceded it's independence and will become a farm team for Penske?
 
I'm glad we're keeping Marcus in the series, and in a good team too. It was ridiculous he had to pay for his drive, even after winning the 500.
 
West said:
So has team Foyt conceded it's independence and will become a farm team for Penske?
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Sort of, they’ll be more independent than the Wood Brothers are, where the 21 entry is housed out of Penske’s shop. This sounds like Foyt will still run their stuff out of the Texas and Indy shops but have the ability to land some key personnel from Penske, in addition to the parts and technical support. I think the positive sign is the statement that quality drivers have shown an increased interest in talking with the team since the alliance became paddock knowledge. The equipment should theoretically be much better, so it makes it that much easier to land sponsors and drivers.
 
FLRacingFan said:
Sort of, they’ll be more independent than the Wood Brothers are, where the 21 entry is housed out of Penske’s shop. This sounds like Foyt will still run their stuff out of the Texas and Indy shops but have the ability to land some key personnel from Penske, in addition to the parts and technical support. I think the positive sign is the statement that quality drivers have shown an increased interest in talking with the team since the alliance became paddock knowledge. The equipment should theoretically be much better, so it makes it that much easier to land sponsors and drivers.
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I see it the same way, also a great survival move by Foyt as now his team is a legitimate gateway to a quality full time ride.
 
Doc Austin said:
I'm glad we're keeping Marcus in the series, and in a good team too. It was ridiculous he had to pay for his drive, even after winning the 500.
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I can’t fault Chip for his business model since it works for his team, but yeah, Marcus was overdue to be paid a big salary.

In an interesting twist, IndyStar is saying DHL might be headed over to CGR. I think that would probably cover whatever huge salary Palou landed. The clock is ticking on Grosjean.
 
FLRacingFan said:
Pretty big deal for Foyt as they enter into an alliance with Penske, starting with dampers/technical support in the closing stretch this season and expanding to include the placement of young developing Penske crew/engineers/drivers (i.e.: Myles Rowe) at the team in the future.

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Would love to see Foyt be somewhat competitive again. Santino is definitely better than he's running this season.
 
donthaveanickname said:
Hopefully not Kurt Busch 2.0
www.motorsport.com

Pagenaud ruled out for rest of IndyCar season, Blomqvist in at MSR

www.motorsport.com www.motorsport.com
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Good to see Tom get a couple more warmup appearances (and, importantly, still preserve his 2024 rookie status) ahead of his full-time debut. Hate it for Simon though. Even if he gets cleared eventually I don’t think there will be a IndyCar team with a paying seat that would take a chance on him next year given his age and how the last couple of seasons went. Hopefully he fully recovers and there’s a place for him at the 500 and maybe a sports car team. This isn’t how anyone should be forced to go out.
 
FLRacingFan said:
Hopefully he fully recovers and there’s a place for him at the 500 and maybe a sports car team. This isn’t how anyone should be forced to go out.
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Simon has been really quiet about his future, but he's got until March to recover. It's more important he recovers and comes back healthy than rushing it in car that has not been competitive. Simon is a smart guy and will probably do what the doctors tell him.
 
Estonian Jüri Vips will drive RLL’s #30 the final two races.

Vips was formerly a member of the Red Bull Junior Team before having a couple of heated gamer moments during a Twitch stream last year. This is his first big shot at redemption.

 
Will be interesting to see a new face in Indycar.

Simon Pagenaud can spend more quality time with his dog Norman and that has to speed up his return to 100% health. :)
 
FLRacingFan said:
Estonian Jüri Vips will drive RLL’s #30 the final two races.

Vips was formerly a member of the Red Bull Junior Team before having a couple of heated gamer moments during a Twitch stream last year. This is his first big shot at redemption.

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Oh pulled a Larson
 
FLRacingFan said:
Estonian Jüri Vips will drive RLL’s #30 the final two races.

Vips was formerly a member of the Red Bull Junior Team before having a couple of heated gamer moments during a Twitch stream last year. This is his first big shot at redemption.

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Make him wear a pink firesuit.
 
FLRacingFan said:
Estonian Jüri Vips will drive RLL’s #30 the final two races.

Vips was formerly a member of the Red Bull Junior Team before having a couple of heated gamer moments during a Twitch stream last year. This is his first big shot at redemption.

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Great to see some more young talent from Europe in IndyCar along with some young drivers climbing the Road to Indy ladder. The older drivers are slowly stepping down from full-time rides (except Dixon who I'm sure will be doing this for another 15 years) but the new generation will be exciting as well.
 
Kiante said:
Make him wear a pink firesuit.
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Keep him away from Kirkwood and the MSR cars.

In all seriousness, it seems like he’s learned a lot in the past year or so and is sincere about it. He has solid talent so I’m looking forward to seeing him back in a race car.
 
CGR officially announce a multi-year deal with Linus. What a rollercoaster year for the young man, from being unable to secure any ride after the Lights title last year to landing one of the best seats imaginable. Big potential with this partnership.

 
I'm a big fan of Rosenqvist so glad to see him stay in the series. Also a fan of Pagenaud and hope he gets well soon.
 
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