After only a handful of laps it seemed one crash after another maintained much of the Indy race under the caution flag. By all means, it was a thrill to watch when they were racing but after the third crash I felt like these guys either needed to get a better grip on this course or take it down notch.
Dario Franchitti, last years winner in Toronto, one of the best and favorites, managed to navigate through the traffic from 5th up to 1st. I thought for sure he’d maintain the lead from there. He pitted in though, followed by Will Power right on his heels, who’s pit crew you got to hand it to. Will, also a great driver and points leader, was amazingly able to beat Dario out of pit lane….excellent team work. Great time!
I spent most of the race watching from either pit lane or our seats, right behind. The sensation you get when the cars haul#@* out of there, … it just never gets old.
There was an SCCA Pro Racing World Challenge race late Saturday afternoon that was fantastic! I was able to chat with Scott Bove and Bob Wildberger of SCCA Pro Racing (great guys) before the race. They were able to get us a couple seats in the pace car leading the field out which was a great opportunity to see the track from the driver’s perspective.
(lining up for the pace lap!)
So Bob’s behind the wheel and we’re flying down the back straight heading for turn 3. It’s a sharp right that’s a bit deceiving; it appears you’re going to continue straight or even towards the left when all of sudden you dive into a sharp, off camber, decreasing-radius right. With a little brake management, and the pro, Bob is, we successfully negotiated the turn. However, I accurately predicted then, that if there was going to be any rubbing or crashes in the following races, this is where it was going to happen. So…yeah, looks like I’m psychic!
It was a great weekend of racing and we look forward to seeing Indy and hopefully the World Challenge series in Baltimore next season! (full album of weekend pictures on Facebook)
This weekend Indy heads up to Edmonton while the American Le Mans Series goes to Lime Rock for the NorthEast Grand Prix. There’s in the neighborhood of 31 to 34 entries scheduled to take the field at Lime Rock which isn’t as strong as some of the other races but still pretty good with much at stake.
Jason
