Indycar News & Rumors.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Work starts on Andretti Global's HQ.



https://racer.com/2024/03/01/work-be...-headquarters/

[mstets]

Originally Posted by broadrun96

https://racer.com/2024/03/01/indycar...st-petersburg/
Literally only timing how cars go out, no requirements that they run but I guess if half the cars go out at a time they assume there will be cars on track at some point? It's FP1, you aren't getting new fans cause cars are on track early, get better support series.

The new format doesn't seem like it would really encourage most teams to run many laps early in the session. What would? The only thing I can think of is to give a certain number of cars that first complete a given number of laps something that would give a performance advantage. No idea what would be practical: Choice of pit box at the next event, an extra set of tires or more push to pass?


I guess we'll see if the format makes much difference Friday afternoon.

[el_cat]

So who is the smart money on for the Coyne seats?

I imagine Harvey is the prime contender for one seat given his recent testing, but who is up for the second seat?

Defrancesco was mentioned but gone quite recently; Danial Frost was mooted but is taking a sabbatical; Enzo Fittipaldi tested but recommitted to F2.

Who else does that leave?

[broadrun96]

Originally Posted by mstets

The new format doesn't seem like it would really encourage most teams to run many laps early in the session. What would? The only thing I can think of is to give a certain number of cars that first complete a given number of laps something that would give a performance advantage. No idea what would be practical: Choice of pit box at the next event, an extra set of tires or more push to pass?

I guess we'll see if the format makes much difference Friday afternoon.

I'm thinking an extra set of tires for Top 3/5 runners or even choice of extra set to test and the next event. But you would likely only see one driver for the big teams pushing out the laps to gather data for the team and they'd cycle through them. But still another car per team is not insignificant and could give a AJR or MSR that extra push in race.

Originally Posted by el_cat

So who is the smart money on for the Coyne seats?

I imagine Harvey is the prime contender for one seat given his recent testing, but who is up for the second seat?

Defrancesco was mentioned but gone quite recently; Danial Frost was mooted but is taking a sabbatical; Enzo Fittipaldi tested but recommitted to F2.

Who else does that leave?

You gotta assume it's whoever shows up with the biggest check and can fund Harvey or Braun. Or if one of the other teams throws some money/sponsors their way to run either of them

[Hawkwood]

Originally Posted by broadrun96

You gotta assume it's whoever shows up with the biggest check and can fund Harvey or Braun. Or if one of the other teams throws some money/sponsors their way to run either of them

No offence to Harvey, but got to hope it's Braun (if only one of them)

[broadrun96]

Past success (ok competition within series) would go to Harvey but potential you would have to think Braun but does he bring enough? Get Mikey on the phone with Busch Light or something from SiriusXM to partial fund or support the Coyne effort.

But yes would like to see Braun not get rugs pulled out from under him for more than a single season or 2 season run would be a nice change of pace, but it's Coyne so.....

[mstets]

Originally Posted by broadrun96

I'm thinking an extra set of tires for Top 3/5 runners or even choice of extra set to test and the next event. But you would likely only see one driver for the big teams pushing out the laps to gather data for the team and they'd cycle through them. But still another car per team is not insignificant and could give a AJR or MSR that extra push in race.

While the idea would give a bit more advantage to teams with more than two cars, it might get at least one car from each team out early in the session.

[NaBUru38]

Agustin Canapino could be in trouble, as his sponsor Héctor Martinez Sosa has been accused in a major corruption scandal over government insurances.

https://www.infobae.com/politica/202...rto-fernandez/

[broadrun96]

https://racer.com/2024/03/05/thermal...icketholders/?

It appears 2k might have been a bit too much to charge. Who woulda thunk it

[joeb]

Originally Posted by el_cat

So who is the smart money on for the Coyne seats?

I imagine Harvey is the prime contender for one seat given his recent testing, but who is up for the second seat?

Defrancesco was mentioned but gone quite recently; Danial Frost was mooted but is taking a sabbatical; Enzo Fittipaldi tested but recommitted to F2.

Who else does that leave?

They chose not to narrow it down, they all get a turn!

https://racer.com/2024/03/05/coyne-c...st-petersburg/

[broadrun96]

Well it appears Coyne has made a decision. Harvey and Siegel in 18 and Braun in the 51 w RWR.

https://www.indycar.com/news/2024/03/03-05-dcr-news?

[joeb]

Originally Posted by broadrun96

https://racer.com/2024/03/05/thermal...icketholders/?

It appears 2k might have been a bit too much to charge. Who woulda thunk it

No way, the county let them have more people attend, that is the official line anyways....

[broadrun96]

Originally Posted by joeb

No way, the county let them have more people attend, that is the official line anyways....

Weird, cause the claim for the pricing was Thermal Springs only wanted a certain number of visitors cause they didn't want to build more.

[Adam43]

Originally Posted by broadrun96

https://racer.com/2024/03/01/indycar...st-petersburg/
Literally only timing how cars go out, no requirements that they run but I guess if half the cars go out at a time they assume there will be cars on track at some point? It's FP1, you aren't getting new fans cause cars are on track early, get better support series.

Ten minutes on and off. It’s like a cheapo track day!

Just give them an extra set of tyres and say you can only use them in FP1.

Or tell them if they don’t do twenty laps they’ll be disqualified. Or ridiculed by a Frenchman or something.

[el_cat]

Originally Posted by joeb

They chose not to narrow it down, they all get a turn!

https://racer.com/2024/03/05/coyne-c...st-petersburg/

Sounds like it might be a bit of a revolving door then at Coyne. Which seldom ends well for anyone.

Will be interesting to see how Siegel goes, but I don’t think a part-season will be hugely beneficial.

Any chance of Coyne running a third car at the 500 do we think?

[bjohnsonsmith]

Illot replaces Malukas at St.Pete.


https://www.indycar.com/news/2024/03/03-05-arrow-ilott

[joeb]

Good article about the current state of affairs at Coyne. In addition to the drivers already mentioned, it appears Legge could be in the 51 for Indy and some other ovals

https://racer.com/2024/03/06/2024-in...-coyne-racing/

[bjohnsonsmith]

Dale Coyne;s been around for years and still keeps going. He started in CART as an owner/driver in 1984. He had his own chassis for a while, the DC-1, in which he finished 12th at Sanair in '86. That was his best result, along with 12th at Cleveland that year. He then switched to a March chassis and was also 12th at Miami in '88 and attempted the 500 a couple of times in '88 and '89. He then retired from racing as a driver.

Dale Coyne Racing's first win was with Justin Wilson in 2009, at Watkins Glen. Their last was with Sébastien Bourdais in 2018 at St. Pete. In total they have 6 wins and 2 poles. Their best result recently was with David Malukas, who was 3rd at Gateway.

Dale Coyne DC-1

[mstets]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

Dale Coyne;s been around for years and still keeps going. He started in CART as an owner/driver in 1984. He had his own chassis for a while, the DC-1, in which he finished 12th at Sanair in '86. That was his best result, along with 12th at Cleveland that year. He then switched to a March chassis and was also 12th at Miami in '88 and attempted the 500 a couple of times in '88 and '89. He then retired from racing as a driver.

Dale Coyne Racing's first win was with Justin Wilson in 2009, at Watkins Glen. Their last was with Sébastien Bourdais in 2018 at St. Pete. In total they have 6 wins and 2 poles. Their best result recently was with David Malukas, who was 3rd at Gateway.

Dale Coyne DC-1

Dale came in near the end of the era when a very low budget team could still manage the occasional good result. As an example I remember John Morton's top ten finish in the 1984 LBGP in the Centerline Wheels Eagle. I don't think that team ran more than a handful of races in total, and it may have been a one-off drive in the car for Morton. At that time I would never have expected Dale to still be involved in the sport forty years later, and certainly never expected to see his team win races. I can't think of another Indycar team from that era that still exists other than DCR and Team Penske.


I wish Dale could have retained Malukas for another year. There were a couple of races last season where he looked to have a shot at winning. Seems like switching drivers form race to race is going to make it tougher to get results.

[TheMightyM]

Really interesting answer from Marshall Pruett to a question in the Racer Mailbag about the condition of the Indycar series:

As well, based on all of the problems you cited, someone would need to be insane to make a huge investment in the series right now. We love IndyCar, but what exactly would an investor be investing in while it’s known to be a business that loses an estimated $15-25 million per year if you don’t account for the profits from the Speedway that are used to pay for the series? Tricky times.

Link here: https://racer.com/2024/03/13/the-rac...ag-march-13/3/

[bjohnsonsmith]

Following on from the Racer Mailbag question to MP, this is worth reading.

https://eu.indystar.com/story/sports...h/72900135007/

[broadrun96]

That entire article was Andretti spending others money without any real reasons why anyone would want to spend $100 million. Great, you have ideas but are you putting up any of the cash or just wanting someone else to spend it so YOU get to benefit without any outlay

[bjohnsonsmith]

Illot remains at Arrow McLaren for Thermal race.



https://www.indycar.com/news/2024/03...-ilott-malukas

[bjohnsonsmith]

Ontario Honda Dealers To Sponsor Toronto Race.











https://www.indycar.com/news/2024/03...onto-name-logo

[S griffin]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

Illot remains at Arrow McLaren for Thermal race.



https://www.indycar.com/news/2024/03...-ilott-malukas

Hope he gets a full time ride soon