The NTT IndyCar Series reached mid-season on Sunday, and here’s how things are going after the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course:
There is more heat under the helmets than under the engine covers.
Roman Grosjean was sorry for hitting Andretti Autosport teammate Colton Herta in the keyhole corner.
But Grosjean is really, really ticked off a future ex-teammate, Alexander Rossi (who moves to Arrow McLaren SP after this season), after a few aggressive moments of elbows to the ribcage, which sent Grosjean’s car into a tire barrier. If there was a thought bubble above Grosjean’s head, “keyhole” wouldn’t be the word he would have used.
Back at Herta he wasn’t too happy with his crew after they didn’t call him for a pit stop like the other drivers just before a yellow flag was waved as he raced among The leaders. When he pitted, he came back close to the back of the peloton.
As if Grosjean’s previous frustration wasn’t enough, he seemed to knock the rev limiter out of his patience when requesting an end-of-stroke to “protect your teammates.” His response — “I’m not going to protect Rossi.” – was followed by a response from the pit box that “Rossi isn’t one lap down. You are.”
Even after the recovery laps, little has cooled down in the Andretti camp.
Reporters near the Rossi pit after the race saw team owner Michael Andretti get on a scooter and deliver a terse, “Where is he?” before walking away.
Grosjean spoke fairly calmly after the race, apologizing for the bump with Herta but bewildered by all the contact with Rossi. The word “idiot” came out. (Flashback: At the start of the season at Barber Motorsports Park, Grosjean was the bowling ball and Graham Rahal was the pin, twice in the same corner. Rahal used some rather descriptive words about Grosjean after that one.)
After a run of whoops and loops on the track, a rep from Andretti Autosport PR may have made the stop of the day. Just as someone asked about the appearance of tension in Andretti’s camp, she steered Grosjean away from reporters, saying, “He has to go.”
Ooooooh. Things are getting juicy! Is there any chance that the documentary series IndyCar wants to put together could start now?
All that aside from Scott McLaughlin’s impressive win on Sunday and Team Penske teammate Will Power’s recovery to finish third after a first lap that put him at the back of the pack, and a close battle for the season championship that Marcus Ericsson narrowly leads. Power, Josef Newgarden and Alex Palou.
But it’s something that will play out over the remaining eight races. What we have now is a run with anger, bitterness, and hopefully storylines worth watching for the rest of the season.
IndyCar needs it.
As tight, competitive and entertaining as the race has become – six different winners and nine different pole winners in nine races this season – the series remains like vanilla in the minds of sports fans in general. The improvement in television ratings is nice to see, and it shows that more people are taking notice.
But, at least once a week, when I talk about IndyCar to someone who isn’t a regular fan of the series, the usual response is, “You mean NASCAR?” No, they are stock cars; it’s open-wheel racing. “Oh, so Formula 1,” is what I’m normally met with in response.
The average Abe knows the Indy 500, but he probably can’t name five drivers who competed in it, if any. Try this: Next time at work, school, or church, ask who won this year’s Indy 500.
I love taking newbies to an IndyCar race because when they experience the speed, sounds, smells and machinery in ways impossible to translate on TV, they’re hooked. There’s no such thing as being there, but there’s a larger audience that needs to be captured. Somehow the passion and personality that I know exists in the sport has to come out.
Die-hard fans may like alternate race strategies – does a team start with primary or alternate tyres, two or three pit stops, overrun or cut back pit stops? — but if that’s all the intrigue there is to a race, it’s not going to grab the average sports fan.
The drama, the emotion and the dust are what make the grabbing.
With more than half of Andretti’s team upset with each other and the anger coming through on NBC’s Sunday telecast, it was a perfect side story to the main plot.
It may not happen every week, but the potential is enough to make a person look.
What happened in Mid-Ohio was great theater. And kudos to IndyCar officials for keeping penalty flags in their pockets for all but the most egregious incidents.
It was more than a race, and I can’t wait to see what happens at the next race in Toronto on July 17th.
Sure, some of the main directors may be teammates, but it’s pretty clear that from now on, it’s going to be every man for himself.
