1st Week at Indy Thread

[Tim Northcutt]

Practice for everyone begins today....

Expect LOTS of action...Rain is in the forecast for Wednesday and Thursday, with a possibility of showers on Friday....

If the weather is bad for most of the week, teams will have very little time to figure out their set-ups for qualifying...

Also, it is supposed to be much cooler on Friday, if they do get to run, than it will be on Saturday....

So watch the Live Timing & Scoring today....it will be very busy at IMS...

[luke]

Tim would it be that big an issue if they don't have much track time due to rain as most of the drivers test and have driven so many laps there...

[rustyfan]

Practice will get underway in a few minutes. Live timing & scoring is available via the http://www.indycar.com website.

EDIT - And Kosuke Matsuura is the first car out; the first practice session is now officially underway

[luke]

I wonder if they will be showing any more past 500s on ESPN classic this month..

[Tim Northcutt]

Originally Posted by luke

Tim would it be that big an issue if they don't have much track time due to rain as most of the drivers test and have driven so many laps there...

The Brickyard has been described as a virtual living, breathing animal....there are only a few quick ways around the place, and those racing lines are dramatically affected by atmospherics

Track temps, wind, humidity, etc. can make a big difference in set-ups and changes that must be made to make the car go fast...and it can be fast at one point during the day, but slower at a different time based on factors such as those noted above.....

Teams on relatively sunny Pole Days or partly cloudy days hope for some clouds to pass over the track while they are running their four laps, because it will help the go faster...it makes that much of a difference for grip and speed and a few degress cooler track temps do help them....

As an example, teams are already talking about how daylight savings time will impact their qualifying strategies and their practice time strategies, so that they can dial in the set-up data that will make them faster during the hours that the Race itself will be run, as an example.

Also, because the sun will be higher in the sky in the final hour of each session, "Happy Hour" will not be as fast as it has been in the past...so qualifying may not be the "wait and see" game that it has been in the past when the grandstand shadows cover the front straight and Turn 1 and make Indy much faster due to cooler track temps.

Teams try to get as much data as possible here so that they have good notes based on how they will change their set-ups based on weather conditions when they qualify and when they will actually race....

That's a long answer to your question, but "Yes"....it makes a great deal of difference, and the more track time, the better....

[Tim Northcutt]

There is another wrinkle this year that teams have to factor into the equation:

Because Honda is the sole supplier of engines, teams will get one engine for practice and qualifying, and one for Carb Day & the Race...

An engine has about a 1,200 mile life to it before it neds to be re-prepped and worked on....

Thus they will have to use their track time judiciously to get ready for qualifying, then get race set-ups squared away and full fuel runs accomplished, yet not run the engine into the ground because they will lose some power as they get closer to the 1,200 miles on it and thus their data won't be as good....especially on fuel mileage....

This also has to be balanced with what I stated in the previous post about getting data for different conditions and different times of the day....

It adds something to the equation that they didn't have to deal with in the past...at least the bigger teams didn't....

Now they do have to deal with it...

[Tim Northcutt]

Added Note:

Teams that participated in the Open Test in April would have had some track time to sort things out, and that session could give them race set-up info, fuel run data, etc., that would save them some time and some testing issues this month...

IIRC, the weather for those sessions was about like it has been here this week thus far....

so to a degree, Luke, it may not be as big an issue for some as it would be for others...

Guys who can't start running until next week due to budget issues will definitely be behind, and will have to use their miles for both race and quals set-ups

[Team Owner]

I don't have the link but for $1.00 a day US you can watch live streaming video of all track activities this month. This is a new service offered by IndyRacing.com

[marcus]

http://www.indy500.com/video/

Looks interesting

[Tim Northcutt]

Actually, they offered that for free in the past....I would click it on and check in to watch from time to time at work...

[Tim Northcutt]

Today's session just got underway...

A lot of rain is about 60 miles to the south of Indy, so teams should be able to get some laps in before it hits...it is expected to arrive here by 2:30 p.m. or 3 p.m. at the latest

They are expecting a very busy afternoon today, because the weather is supposed to be bad tomorrow, and there are chances of rain through next Monday or Tuesday.

In a radio interview on WIBC-AM here this morning, Buddy Rice said that he expects this session to have lots of cars and lots of action as teams try to get as much under their belts before the rain settles in

[rustyfan]

Dan Wheldon and Kosuke Matsuura are the only drivers over 225mph so far.

Jeff Simmons crashed in turn two early in the session - apparently it was a minor crash and according to the first reports he was able to walk away unhurt.

[Tim Northcutt]

I saw it on TV during the noon newscast when I was at home eating lunch.

A minor tap on the left front wing and left front wheel on the inside wall of turn 2....might have tweaked the left front suspension a little, if any, and damage from the video looked very minor...

[Tim Northcutt]

Hornish has topped 226 mph this afternoon....and the rain is just south of the Indy metro area, but hasn't arrived just yet...

[Tim Northcutt]

The rain has begun here....

The Top Ten today comprises the two Penske cars, two from Ganassi, the Fernandez & Aguri teammates, and four of the five AGR cars (Michael is 14th).

[jhansen]

Well the usual suspects are up at the top at the moment. But I'm interested to see which drivers and teams will surprise us this month.

Originally Posted by Tim Northcutt

The Brickyard has been described as a virtual living, breathing animal....there are only a few quick ways around the place, and those racing lines are dramatically affected by atmospherics

Track temps, wind, humidity, etc. can make a big difference in set-ups and changes that must be made to make the car go fast...and it can be fast at one point during the day, but slower at a different time based on factors such as those noted above.....

That can be said for almost any racing track out there. What makes it different is that this is the Indy 500. Winning the race is huge. And to win the race you have to have a solid set up. Winning pole garners a lot of prestige, so having a quick car is key.

The elements will always affect a given racing surface. And the type of track will always affect the number and variety of available racing lines. The event itself is what magnfies the significance of these variables. It not really unique to The Brickyard.

[Tim Northcutt]

The difference is that Indy requires an accurate and precise line to go fast there...they call it the "Groove," and you have to be in it to turn quick times....you have to hit your marks or you will lose at least 1 mph on a lap...and as the track changes, the car will push or get loose within that 4-lap span....that is the part that makes it tough....

In 2003, Castroneves said the had to play with the weight jackers at each end of the track during each lap to get the car to go fast and end up on the Pole....

BTW...

The Pole at Indy is worth $100,000 to the team, so they want it really badly....it is as much about the $$$ as it is about he prestige...

[jhansen]

Very true. I also forgot to mention time. That is quite different from most race weekends, which consist of three days at the track. The Brickyard can change a lot throughout the month of May.

I'm sure it is a bit more demanding to find that perfect pole set up. But in my opinion, the top drivers will do whatever it takes to get the most out of their race cars. Just like watching Michael Schumacher playing with the break bias during the course of a lap.

But I still stand by my statement. It's the event itself that magnifies everything else. The history. It all adds to the mystique.

[Tim Northcutt]

We have a low pressure system that is stalled over southern Micigan that is spinning waves of showers into central Indiana....it rained throughout the night and is still raining now....

It is expected to be here for the next few days....60% chance of rain today and tomorrow...

It is also chilly...temps in the low 50s F....tomorrow might not reach 50 degrees....

I'm not sure if they will get a window to dry the track today at all....

Tomorrow may be more of the same, but they are saying "periods of showers for Friday....

Saturday is anyone's guess....but the forecast doesn't look promising.

[Tim Northcutt]

The rain has stopped since 11 a.m., and they are out on the track this afteroon after drying the place out...

It is chilly and very windy out today...mid-50s with "High Wind Advisories" posted and forecasts of gusts up to 40 mph.

Hornish has gone 226.7 so far to lead the way again....only a dozen cars have gone out thus far...

[drdisque]

19 cars went out. Several of the AGR cars (marco & herta in particular) turned their fastest laps of the month. Wheldon touched 226 near the end of the session which may mean they have something for the penske guys on pole day. Penske came out when the track opened at about 2PM, each driver did a few mock qualification runs, and then they put the cars away.

Buddy Rice spun and hit the wall, moderate contact and got out of the car by himself, he will be re-evaluated tomorrow.

Marty Roth spun and didn't hit anything.

both of these incidents were in turn 2, where the strong 30+ mph wind was blowing the cars into.

[rustyfan]

It's a shame the weather is making a mess of things again this year.

[Tim Northcutt]

Originally Posted by drdisque

19 cars went out. Several of the AGR cars (marco & herta in particular) turned their fastest laps of the month. Wheldon touched 226 near the end of the session which may mean they have something for the penske guys on pole day. Penske came out when the track opened at about 2PM, each driver did a few mock qualification runs, and then they put the cars away.

Buddy Rice spun and hit the wall, moderate contact and got out of the car by himself, he will be re-evaluated tomorrow.

Marty Roth spun and didn't hit anything.

both of these incidents were in turn 2, where the strong 30+ mph wind was blowing the cars into.

Were you there today, drdisque????

Cool place, isn't it???

[Tim Northcutt]

Originally Posted by rustyfan

It's a shame the weather is making a mess of things again this year.

Welcome to Indiana weather, rustyfan.

In the early 1980s it snowed on "opening day" at the track...literally snowed...

I've sat through rain delays, temperatures in the low 50s, teperatures in the mid-90s, gone out there three days in a row to finally see the race due to wash outs, missed the 1986 race entirely due to rain when they had to move it to the next weekend and I lived in Florida, been pelted with hail within munutes after a race has ended, seen the race only to go home and have a tornado miss my house by about 150 yards (that was 2004).....

We just go with the flow....

But I'd rather have this weather pattern happen now than have it happen Memorial Day weekend...that is when the big show happens...

[drdisque]

yep, I was at the track today, most fun I've ever had at a track and it was only practice. Went to Union Jack for dinner/drinks, great bar, bunch of Roth Racing guys were there. Said that Marty told them "It's not going anywhere" when he got back (his best lap was like a 209). I told one of them "good luck" and he responded "we need it".