IndyCar: Preparing for the Bommarito Automotive Group 500
The Bommarito Automotive Group 500 is scheduled for tonight on Fox at 7:00 pm, which was changed from the original time of early afternoon. The NTT INDYCAR Series drivers are excited about being on prime time on Sunday night under the lights.
The race will not run entirely in the dark. The green flag will fly at 7:20 pm, while it is still daylight and transition to dark after the sun sets at 8:26 pm.
Autoracing1 asked several drivers how they like the later race start time.
Conor Daly, driver of the No. 76 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet, was adamant with his answer to the transition. “Last year, the sunset was awful here, so it’s like you’re completely blind in Turns Three and Four. So, I think most of us are just excited for the sun actually to go down, and then we’ll be alright.”
Louis Foster, the 2024 INDY NXT champion and rookie with Rahal Letterman Lanigan, is happy to be racing here. “This is my favorite oval by far. I love this track. I love this place. I think it produces great racing.”
“I think it’s gonna be a great weekend, especially under the lights. That’s gonna be awesome for the race. So I’m looking forward to getting going and getting into the car.”
Felix Rosenqvist got caught up with Foster’s No. 45 car in the race in Detroit two weeks ago but did not suffer any injuries except a broken ego. The Swede was able to rest during the break, more than he would have otherwise, due to the incident, and is now fully prepared for the 260-lap race on Sunday.
“I think it’s good that they made this a night race. The window for TV is probably way better. Like, I’m not a big sports guy, but if I were, I would probably want to watch it in the evening. Personally, I wouldn’t sit in the middle of the day and watch sports. But I guess if you have a family, it could be different.”
“I think it’s good. From a driving standpoint, I don’t have a preference for the day or night races. Maybe it’s a bit cooler at night, which is nice. It’s cooler for the fans, because I remember I felt bad one of the years we were here. The fans were like baking on those grandstands.”
Some drivers will use a darker tear-off on their visor, and when the light changes, they will remove it from their clear visor. It sounds like everyone is looking forward to the race under the lights.
Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin commented on the differences between this oval track and others, as well as how the night race will impact some drivers.
“This track kind of replicates a road course in some ways. Just fast, sweeping corners, turns three and four. One and two is tight and twisty. Down a couple gears using the brakes a little bit.”
“That’s another thing, it’s very unusual to use a brake pedal on an oval in INDYCAR. We do that every lap here. I just really enjoy that. I enjoy that style of racing.”
“I anticipate there’s going to be, like, a breakout in the first half of the race. You have some great guys up there; the cars are really good. The sun goes down, lights come on, you’ll have guys that had their car set up for that moment, and hopefully we’re on the back end of that and make it work.”
There is no other NTT INDYCAR Series on track activity today until the cars move to the grid at 6 pm tonight and line up for the Bommarito Automotive Group 500.
Lucille Dust reporting live from WWTR