IndyCar New Orleans Postscript

The Pro Mazda Series raced in heavier rain than the Indy Cars and put on a far more professional race

Suffice to say, the Verizon IndyCar Series made a less than glorious debut in The Big Easy this weekend. Sure, the inaugural Indy Grand Prix of Louisiana was hampered by less-than-optimal weather, and some of the teething problems you might expect with a first-time event. But at the end of the day the display we saw from INDYCAR at NOLA Motorsports Park was about as embarrassing and unprofessional as it gets for a series that fancies itself a top-level racing category.

Of course, not everyone will make this claim. Already, many of the cheerleading ‘see no evil, hear no evil’ media-types have professed IndyCar’s debut race at NOLA, which saw cars parading behind the pace car for more than 2/3 of the 105-minute race, as a function of unique circumstances such as rain, a new track, a new event, young drivers, etc. Although such thinking does conveniently ignore that numerous professional (and amateur for that matter) racing series throughout the world race successfully in wet conditions every weekend. Heck, IndyCar’s own junior-level Pro Mazda Series, featuring numerous teenaged drivers put on a successful race this weekend right before the IndyCar race in the wet.

Such thinking also glosses over the fact there has been rain at numerous Indy car races over the last 20-30 years, many of which the cars had more horsepower, less downforce, and the track surface was much damper than what we saw this weekend at NOLA. And while many are derisively referring to NOLA as a ‘club track’ the reality is the NOLA circuit is arguably as suited to host an Indy car race as any road or street circuit the series visits. Further, the well-documented changes that were made to the track’s original layout in preparation for the race were made at the request of INDYCAR, and it was known in advance of the event that the operation staff at NOLA was very cooperative with the requests of the series.

And Yes, NOLA is a flat track built on swampland so does not have ideal drainage. But this was again, something the series knew. So, chalking up the failed weekend to a ‘club track’ is intellectually lazy.

[adinserter name="GOOGLE AD"]Ditto for citing criteria such as ‘inexperienced drivers’. Sure, there were young drivers like Sage Karam, who had a rather forgettable weekend. But Karam wasn’t the only one who veered off course. So did Tony Kanaan, Simon Pagenaud, Ryan Hunter-Reay, and James Jakes, who finished on the podium. Yes, experienced and inexperienced drivers made errors.

I’ll tell you another thing both experienced and inexperienced drivers did this weekend: passed up opportunities to practice in wet weather conditions. For example, Friday’s second practice session was a wet-weather one, and numerous drivers passed on the opportunity to turn laps, citing a desire to save tires. Of course, teams were allocated three sets of rain tires for the weekend, and understandably didn’t want to burn them up, which leads us to INDYCAR.

Obviously, there is cost involved in transporting tires to an event. However, there is also a cost in attending an event, and damage to the sport’s brand if the paying customer does not believe they received adequate value for their entertainment dollar. In the case of this even, it was known well in advance what the weather forecast was, so this not Monday Morning Quarterbacking so to speak. If anything, the weekend turned out to be better weather-wise than what was forecast. Yet, INDYCAR did not have an adequate supply of tires for the teams to test in the wet ahead of the race. Having only three sets of rain tires would seem inadequate preparation given the advance forecast.

As an aside, why are teams in this era of limited testing simply allowed to sit out a race weekend practice session, with fans in attendance? Why does the series abdicate to the teams on this matter? Wouldn’t it behoove the series to have a minimum requirement of competitive laps in that must be turned in a race-weekend practice session with paying customers in the stands? What about assessing teams that fail to meet that minimum a 10-grid spot penalty, or fining those teams their Leader Circle money? Why is INDYCAR allowing decisions that greatly hamper the event’s entertainment value to be dictated to them by entrants or a tire supplier?

These might be difficult questions without concrete answers. But let the record show that after a weekend in which the paying customer was not only deprived of on-track activity, but one in which the teams were woefully unprepared to put on a professional show come race day, they are more than fair questions.

Ultimately, INDYCAR needs to decide whether it’s serious about racing in the rain. And if the series decides it is not economically or practically viable to make the improvements to have adequate wet-weather races so be it.

Granted I’m of the firm belief that few things are as breathtaking as a proper automobile race in the rain. So, my hope is the series asks the hard questions, and attempts to get at the root of the problem and take the steps that will allow it to not only put on professional, entertaining races in the wet, but earn the acclaim that comes with it.

But what must change most of all is the current approach that produced amateurishness we saw Sunday and last year at Toronto. Because right now, this amateur act is doing a lot more harm than good.

The Mayor

The Mayor

People will say James Hinchcliffe lucked into a win, and from a certain perspective they are right. But given the circumstances, and the fact numerous drivers would throwing it off the track, credit Hinch and SPM for essentially reading the tea leaves correctly. By pitting out of sequence, Hinch got to the front, and managed to stay there by not throwing his car off the track. And Sunday, that was essentially what was required to win.

Simona de Silvestro

Simona

After her fourth-place finish at NOLA, Simona de Silvestro sits sixth in the Verizon IndyCar Series standings. The popular Swiss driver sits fourth in the standings, and is the top-placed Andretti Autosport driver, and it was confirmed today that she would not be competing at this weekend’s Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.

While fans understandably want to see de Silvestro race the full season, keep in mind the #25 Andretti entry is not part of the Leaders’ Circle program. This is in contrast to the #8 Chip Ganassi Racing entry, in which a ride share Sebastian Saavedra and Sage Karam was announced today for the remainder of the season. The fact Andretti did not take out a Leader’s Circle spot was an indication the #25 would be part-time.

Still, in my opinion, de Silvestro running part time for Andretti is better than full-time a lot of places. The fact she has her foot in the door so to speak of an organization with such an extensive involvement in racing is the best thing that could have happened to her career.

If not’s a matter of if…

Only when the s*** hits the fan with Brian Barnhart in Race Control. While it turned out to be inconsequential after qualifying was cancelled, Barnhart made an atrocious call on Sebastien Bourdais for blocking Tony Kanaan. The call apparently resulted in KV Racing Technology co-owner Jimmy Vasser sprinting to take up the matter with Race Control. Later, Vasser referred to the call as chicken s*** when interviewed by NBC Sports Network.

While I agree with Vasser, that is not the point. Because when it comes to Barnhart the situation is not about right or wrong. As I have said repeatedly, the issues with Barnhart is not his competence or lack thereof but the fact he has been wrong so many times before, no one expects him to ever be right. Thus, any call Barnhart makes, whether right or wrong will inevitably be questioned, and greeted with flippancy in the form of the double-bird or as Vasser said, chicken s***.

This isn’t going to end well, people, and you can read more about my thoughts on Barnhart in Race Control here. For now, with a notoriously tight course in Long Beach that has seen some short fuses and controversial calls in recent years, I’m thinking the situation with Barnhart begins to approach critical mass this weekend.

Keep an eye on…

Brazilian Cooper Tires U.S. F2000 Championship Powered by Mazda driver Victor Franzoni. The 18-year-old Brazilian dazzled during Cooper Tires Winterfest with his ability to gain positions on starts and restarts. And while he struggled in the opening round at St. Petersburg, Franzoni scored the win for Afterburner Autosport in race 2 this weekend at NOLA.

Brian Carroccio is a columnist for AutoRacing1. He can be contacted at BrianC@AutoRacing1.com.

[adinserter name="GOOGLE AD"]