Round 11: Big Machine Music City Grand Prix, August 06--08, Nashville, Tennessee.

[TWRv12]

Suppose it's appropriate that someone who crashed, won.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by TWRv12

Suppose it's appropriate that someone who crashed, won.

The irony.

[rustyfan]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

It's finally over. I'm exhausted after that. IndyCar is really going to have to rethink this one, as it got farcical at one point.

Ericsson is one lucky dog.

Agreed, it's 2:30am here in Sweden - and I have work tomorrow. Totally worth it though.

I'm amazed the car held up after the arial acrobatics early in the race.

[macdaddy]

He won twice in my books. Taking out Bourdais gets a few bonus points. Especially in how Bourdais was using very inappropriate language on live TV for a family audience.

[TWRv12]

Did that equal the record for yellows on a street track

[broadrun96]

Well next week we can watch the undercard be the fastest cars in the track and listen to everyone complain about Indy being sullied. Personally think the road course is dull there but at least they can race.

Yes, let's use the penalty action as the moment of the race. Good job NBC.

Once the guys settled in the last 20ish laps were good but the first half was a waste. Actually started on the dishes to just listen rather than watch it. Track needs some tweeks and start finish needs to be on the bridge or at least the same spot. The blind slowing to hold up the field needs to be changed to minimum speed, especially on the track where from 4 back they can't see the flag stand.

[macdaddy]

Did Oriol Servia actually lead the most laps?

[tux]

I dont know how i feel, after 20 laps i was ready to throw the track in the bin but at the end of the race i kinda dont regret watching. I like the bridge and the bumps but i dont like all the yellow.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by TWRv12

Did that equal the record for yellows on a street track

I tried googling that and I couldn't find the answer.

[fieldodreams79]

Good for Ericsson. Shame for Herta, who seemed to be very quick, but VERY on edge at the end. Obviously.

Boy! That Will Power had a day to forget!!

Some others had some boneheaded moves, too. NBC did their thing. Hate the red flag just to finish under green. This was a bad TV show but hope it was a success at the circuit. Looked like a good crowd. Too bad they had to sit through this cut up, less than stellar affair.

If they go again here next year, light the place up like Singapore and run this Saturday night. Otherwise, move it to spring or fall. July and August are generally miserable in the South, but I'll admit, this year has been VERY mild aside a couple absurd run of days.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Race result:


One's got to feel really sorry for Colton Herta. He did everything right all weekend, except win the race.

Another poor showing for Penske, with hometown boy Josef Newgarden the best finisher in 10th. The team wan't helped by Power's on track antics involving his team mates. Chevrolet didn't fare much better, with the top car finishing 8th.

Dixon moves into 2nd place, 42 points behind championship leader Alex Palou. Pato O'Ward drops to 3rd, 48 points behind, with 5 races to go.


As for the race and the venue, IndyCar really have to do their homework.

[Purist]

It won't be in the fall because of football, and due to the location, particularly the NFL.

If St. Petersburg has it in their contract to have the season-opener (except in cases of force majeur), then spring is already looking quite busy for IndyCar, unless you can get the boys in Florida to push their thing up to early March, or even late February.

As for future events, I'd like to see the Pit Straight widened a few feet, so it's also a full 3 lanes (40 ft). And they should be able to do more in the coming year, now that they know, about the surface on the bridge, at the transitions, and in the 2 big braking zones.

Maybe a slightly more open curb chicane down where Pit Lane rejoins would work better. Then again, even without walls anywhere near, the guys have repeatedly had trouble in the Festival Curves at Portland.

Surfers Paradise had enough room to allow for going behind the curbs to take evasive action at the chicanes there, but, well, we know they still had issues in 8 of the last 9 years CART/CCWS visited. Actually, i think they could have gone straight at Turn 1 (Turn 4) if they needed to, but nobody seemed to remember that.

And how much room was there at Cleveland to avoid messes at Turn 1 there?

The most comprehensive "solution" would be to address driving standards more directly.

[rustyfan]

I thought this was a good take on the race:

https://youtu.be/7AdWfDqsEmY

[S griffin]

Well done Ericsson on another race win. Got a bit fortunate, but hey he's really getting the hang of Indycars. Danny Ric recently put him in his top 5 of underrated drivers. Yes I would definitely say he is underrated

[leothedrummer]

Fun race when it was on, frustrating when it wasn't. I wasn't mad though.

Annoyed at the finish order and winning coming through the luck of the draw that comes with American safety car / pit rules, but it is what it is.

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

I tried googling that and I couldn't find the answer.

I had a quick look back through the Indycar results (only Indycar/IRL to approx 2003, not CART or earlier) on racing-reference and by my count this equals the number of cautions on a street course.

Nashville 2021 - 9 for 33 laps
Houston 2 2013 - 9 for 26 laps
Baltimore 2012 - 9 for 24 laps

St Pete 2018, Belle Isle 1 2015 and Toronto 2011 all had 8 cautions each (Toronto was 8 for 32 laps) and there were a number of others with 7 or less.

[joeb]

Originally Posted by macdaddy

Did Oriol Servia actually lead the most laps?

He led 33, but I think Herta had a few more.

[NaBUru38]

I found an alternative feed minutes before the start, but it stopped mid-race.


Street races are often chaotic. I'm sure the multiple cautions won't be a hurdle to return.


Herta led 32 laps, Serviá led 33.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by rustyfan

I thought this was a good take on the race:

https://youtu.be/7AdWfDqsEmY

I would say that's a balanced analysis of the race and the event in general.

[ptclaus98]

Originally Posted by mstets

Looks like a great crowd on hand for the first practice session. T. Bell just mentioned that the crowd on race day may be the biggest for a sporting event in TN history.

That was a lie.

[The Fat Clerk]

Townsend can' tell his a..e from his elbow.
Glad a stayed up to watch it, superb entertainment.

[TWRv12]

Robin's take on the event

https://racer.com/2021/08/09/miller-...nd-wrong-song/


Great so see him firing on all cyclinders