Pre-race - 107th Indianapolis 500

Juncos are making a (very) late chassis change for Ilott, who hasn’t liked his current car at all since the late April open test. Looks like the 77 will be squarely on the bubble this weekend.

 
Kat spent a whole decade away from Indy and outqualified all three of her RLL teammates on return to sneak into the field. Amazing stuff. That team has had major engineering issues the past two years though. So much to resolve.

Team of the day has to be Foyt with double Fast 12 appearances with Santino and Pedersen. No one would’ve expected that a week ago.
 
FLRacingFan said:
Kat spent a whole decade away from Indy and outqualified all three of her RLL teammates on return to sneak into the field. Amazing stuff. That team has had major engineering issues the past two years though. So much to resolve.

Team of the day has to be Foyt with double Fast 12 appearances with Santino and Pedersen. No one would’ve expected that a week ago.
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Hard to believe Kat is THE only RLL car in at the moment.
 
This is an honest observation.

Sato being as successful as he is at Indy, I have a feeling RLL leaned on him a lot for setup feedback. Highest qualifying RLL was Rahal last year in 21st.

It only got worse this year. RLL has too many resources to be this off.
 
The way I see it, is that it's a good family story and not necesserly a great racing one. Bobby putting all his bets on his son Graham, just like Mike kept riding the Andretti name with Marco. Time to move on for RLL
 
Is it 1994? No. But I saw a lot of action and there's big drama tomorrow. A full timer is going home (and it'll probably be Jack Harvey TBH). If you didn't enjoy this, maybe this isn't for you.
 
West said:
The way I see it, is that it's a good family story and not necesserly a great racing one. Bobby putting all his bets on his son Graham, just like Mike kept riding the Andretti name with Marco. Time to move on for RLL
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I agree with this.

Graham is a good race car driver, very consistent. However, I think after the whole deal with needing someone to be closer to his own driving style... Nah man, let's just move on from him. Time for a fresh face to lead the team.
 
Doc Austin said:
As badly has Harvey has run since his concussion, missing this race would be soul crushing.
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It's not something he has total control over. They can always scrap his time, push up the downforce and slow the car down, and send him out to take the 34th spot. I think of the guys out here today, he is the only one in the situation of being actively talked about being replaced. Missing the Indy 500 might even trigger some escape clauses (feel free to post a conspiracy theory based on that).
 
virtualbalboa said:
It's not something he has total control over.
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Apparently the RLL cars are badly set up. His results at Shank were kind of spotty, but he ran a lot better when he was there.
virtualbalboa said:
I think of the guys out here today, he is the only one in the situation of being actively talked about being replaced.
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Like I say, soul crushing. I would hate to see that, but it's all about results.
virtualbalboa said:
Missing the Indy 500 might even trigger some escape clauses (feel free to post a conspiracy theory based on that).
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Where could Jack get another opportunity? Qualifying 34th out of 33 could be a career killer, especially since Jack hasn't done jack for a few years.

He could go all Jack Hawksworth and get an IMSA ride, but I think he's done in Indycar after this contract. Get that IMSA ride, make some money and have some fun.
 
Doc Austin said:
Where could Jack get another opportunity? Qualifying 34th out of 33 could be a career killer, especially since Jack hasn't done jack for a few years.

He could go all Jack Hawksworth and get an IMSA ride, but I think he's done in Indycar after this contract. Get that IMSA ride, make some money and have some fun.
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Honestly, I don't know. I don't even know if he'd be a desirable target for an IMSA ride right now based on his tire management. Maybe in a LMP2/LMP3 situation.
 
virtualbalboa said:
Honestly, I don't know. I don't even know if he'd be a desirable target for an IMSA ride right now based on his tire management. Maybe in a LMP2/LMP3 situation.
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I kind of like Jack (and the wife thinks he's hot), so I sympathize. P2, especially in WEC, would be a good place to start over. P2 has rescued a lot of guys like Danny Kyvatt, JE Vergne, and a lot of other good drivers. At this point Jack has to think about staying in the game in some capacity and keep the paychecks coming in. He may or may not be ok for the rest of the year, but then what's he going to do?

Outside of racing, a lot of drivers are not prepared to take on a regular job. Hooking up with a decent P2 team and mentoring a good bronze driver would not be a bad gig, especially if no one in Indycar is interested. At this point, even though I like the guy, I would not put him in my Indycar. If I had a P2 car I would at least give him a test.

It's hard to say how good or how bad Jack is. He ran so well with Shank that Mike tried all he could to keep him, but since his concussion Jack has not been very good. That was two years ago, though it's not unheard of for the effects to linger. Rosenquist was lost for a whole year after his, and while he's been fast, he's also been spotty. You rattle that brain well enough and it's going to cause problems for a long time. Maybe Jack is ok and it's just the team that sucks, but that doesn't explain why he's slower than the rest of the RLL cars. Today is make or break for Harvey. If he misses the show after two years of bad results, it could be the end for him.
 
Doc Austin said:
I kind of like Jack (and the wife thinks he's hot), so I sympathize. P2, especially in WEC, would be a good place to start over. P2 has rescued a lot of guys like Danny Kyvatt, JE Vergne, and a lot of other good drivers. At this point Jack has to think about staying in the game in some capacity and keep the paychecks coming in. He may or may not be ok for the rest of the year, but then what's he going to do?

Outside of racing, a lot of drivers are not prepared to take on a regular job. Hooking up with a decent P2 team and mentoring a good bronze driver would not be a bad gig, especially if no one in Indycar is interested. At this point, even though I like the guy, I would not put him in my Indycar. If I had a P2 car I would at least give him a test.

It's hard to say how good or how bad Jack is. He ran so well with Shank that Mike tried all he could to keep him, but since his concussion Jack has not been very good. That was two years ago, though it's not unheard of for the effects to linger. Rosenquist was lost for a whole year after his, and while he's been fast, he's also been spotty. You rattle that brain well enough and it's going to cause problems for a long time. Maybe Jack is ok and it's just the team that sucks, but that doesn't explain why he's slower than the rest of the RLL cars. Today is make or break for Harvey. If he misses the show after two years of bad results, it could be the end for him.
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I've genuinely only heard positive things (at least positive to me) about Harvey as a person. I would much prefer he be successful than fail. But I am stuck looking at the results in recent months/years and I don't see a pathway for that. Especially as Lundgaard has managed to be competitive for wins at times this year.

As exciting as having a bump day is, the fact that it consists of only full time teams is also why I understand the lack of desire for it from manufacturers, teams, and drivers alike. Regardless of who goes home today, there are big time losers. That loser might be RLL with sponsorship concerns as they've invested heavily into infrastructure that will take decades to depreciate. That loser could also be Dale Coyne, who's team is likely needing the funding someone like Sting Ray Robb provides. Were Robb's dad to pull said funding, there could be all sorts of negative after effects to the team. If Abel missed, it's a bummer, but if Rahal or Lundgaard misses, we might not have an RLL in 2-3-4 years.
 
virtualbalboa said:
I've genuinely only heard positive things (at least positive to me) about Harvey as a person. I would much prefer he be successful than fail. But I am stuck looking at the results in recent months/years and I don't see a pathway for that.
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It doesn't look good. Two years of no results will blow you out of almost any series.
virtualbalboa said:
Especially as Lundgaard has managed to be competitive for wins at times this year.
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That's the thing. If Lundgard is fast, what's wrong with Jack's car? Or is it Jack?
virtualbalboa said:
If Abel missed, it's a bummer, but if Rahal or Lundgaard misses, we might not have an RLL in 2-3-4 years.
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They still have their BMW deal, and that program is going well. They get better every race and I'm not going to bet against them picking off a race or two.

Rahal is simply in a bad slump, but they have been there before. Eventually they will pull out of it because they always have, but right now it looks like a clown show.
 
What a story with RLL this May… just reported during Sundays practice session that they wanted to do a chassis change for three teams last night, but it was past the deadline to make such a change.
 
Doc Austin said:
It doesn't look good. Two years of no results will blow you out of almost any series.

That's the thing. If Lundgard is fast, what's wrong with Jack's car? Or is it Jack?

They still have their BMW deal, and that program is going well. They get better every race and I'm not going to bet against them picking off a race or two.

Rahal is simply in a bad slump, but they have been there before. Eventually they will pull out of it because they always have, but right now it looks like a clown show.
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They might be in IMSA but depending on the economics of the Indycar side a loss of sponsorship could be critical. We shouldn't entirely downplay it out of convenience.
 
virtualbalboa said:
They might be in IMSA but depending on the economics of the Indycar side a loss of sponsorship could be critical. We shouldn't entirely downplay it out of convenience.
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Rahal has sucked before and survived it, but they had better pull their thumbs out and get some results soon. Lundgard had a good result at the Indy GP, but outside of that they have had an embarrassing year. I don't expect them to be so hopeless for very long. You're right they need to show potential sponsors they will be getting more than 34th.
 
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