COOL HAND EVERYBODY

Just as IndyCar has mandated the use of the aeroscreen at every event, it’s time to take the same approach to cool suits. While every driver does not need to wear one; some drivers run cool, while others run hot, it’s no longer something to be left as an option for teams to try and develop on their own.
Andretti Autosport was first to successfully create and deploy their own cooling system that Colton Herta wore on the way to victory at St. Petersburg, and we’ve seen Chip Ganassi Racing follow suit recently.

We can expect Team Penske to have the resources to come up with something fantastic, but as Sebastien Bourdais and Conor Daly have made clear, the risk of overheating in the cockpit is just as big of a threat to some driver’s safety as a result of having to work behind the aeroscreen. Not every team is built the same in terms of engineering and R&D resources, and budgets are widely varied. This is where a standardized driver cooling system makes sense.

Raising the minimum weight a negligible amount so that no team would look to skip the cooling system to gain a performance advantage is a no-brainer.

IndyCar wanted to protect its drivers from cockpit strikes to the highest degree possible, so it went and brought Red Bull Advanced Technologies, Pankl, PPG, and Dallara together to form a solution. With all the time between the end of Road America and the six weeks or so until the Nashville street race, I have to believe the series can follow the same routine as the aeroscreen and pull together some of the vendors currently working on an independent basis with its teams to fast-track a cooling solution for all.

O-FER TEAMS

At the halfway point of the season, we have an equal split of happiness and dissatisfaction among full-time entrants. The winning teams so far are:

1. Andretti Autosport
2. Arrow McLaren SP
3. Chip Ganassi Racing
4. Ed Carpenter Racing
5. Meyer Shank Racing

Those on the outside looking in are:

1. A.J. Foyt Racing
2. Carlin Racing
3. Dale Coyne Racing
4. Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
5. Team Penske

Penske’s wait for a win continues. Barry Cantrell/Motorsport Images

LEADERS CIRCLE WATCH

It’s never too early to check in on how IndyCar’s Leaders Circle competition is going among full-time teams looking to land in the top 22 and earn a $1 million prize money payout for the following season.

The most interesting wrinkle here is how Santino Ferrucci’s stellar finishes for Rahal Letterman Lanigan – sixth at the double-points Indy 500, coupled with sixth on Saturday and 10th on Sunday – have the No. 45 Honda holding 21st in Entrants’ points (105). Depending on how many additional races the No. 45 completes this year, it’s not unreasonable to think this part-time car could do enough to earn a Leaders Circle for 2022 if Ferrucci or another talented driver can continue banking points.

On a related Indy 500 boost, Meyer Shank Racing’s No. 06 Honda is 22nd at the moment (103) thanks to Helio Castroneves’ big win, but he won’t be back until August, so it would take a strong rally to close the year to get back into the Leaders Circle mix.

In a worrisome 23rd, first below the cutoff line, is the No. 29 Andretti Autosport Honda driven by James Hinchcliffe (103, tied with the No. 06). The No. 29 will move ahead of the MSR car this weekend, so that’s good for them. Next in 24th is Arrow McLaren SP’s No. 7 Chevy (92), which was having a troublesome year before Felix Rosenqvist’s crash, and worsened when Askew’s engine left the entry last in Round 2.

After that, it’s the No. 4 A.J. Foyt entry for Dalton Kellett in 25th (81) and a distant No. 59 Carlin Racing Chevy in 26th (59). If the part-timers with the Nos. 45 and 06 drop behind the full-timers, the odds of earning a Leaders Circle improve for those hovering around the P22 bubble. Decent Road America finishes for the Nos. 29 and 7 would go a long way to ease those $1 million fears.

MR. INVISIBLE

That crash minutes into the only practice session of the weekend ruined Scott McLaughlin’s chances of making an impact. As a result, he was at the races, but not really in the races. Rough slide for the quick Kiwi, who heads to Road America with finishes of 20th, 19th, and 20th to resolve.

THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT

Big Indy Lights weekend for Andretti Autosport’s Kyle Kirkwood, who dominated the event with back-to-back wins. That brought his season tally to three victories, and brought him closer to the formidable HMD/GRG duo of Linus Lundqvist and David Malukas.

It wasn’t the best weekend for Malukas, who went from first to second in the standings, but things are close at the top. Lundqvist shadowed Kirkwood in Detroit with a pair of seconds and took the championship lead (191 points) as teammate Malukas (190) and the revived Kirkwood (187) have turned this into a proper three-way fight. Juncos Racing’s Toby Sowery was solid as well, and holds fourth (146), but will need a stellar run through Road America and Mid-Ohio to keep the leading trio from breaking away.

A couple of these kids will be in IndyCar by 2022 and 2023, and they will continue the tradition of using the Road to Indy to do big things in IndyCar. Of the eight IndyCar winners this year, six earned championships of multiple wins in Indy Lights; why would the current and future RTI stars be any different?

Whatever non-alcoholic sparkling beverage is in that bottle probably tastes pretty sweet, but for Kirkwood, getting into the Lights title mix tasted even sweeter. Image via Road to Indy

MISC

• How big of a hit did Rinus VeeKay’s title aspirations take after he broke a clavicle in a cycling crash?

• Chip Ganassi Racing had a magical Saturday with Ericsson’s win and a follow-up first IMSA victory by the Cadillac Chip Ganassi Racing team.

• Odd weekend for Romain Grosjean who, while having a bit of a reputation as a wild card behind the wheel during stretches of his Formula 1 career, had been rock solid during his opening IndyCar races with Dale Coyne. The fateful crash on Saturday that brought about the red flag that sent Will Power’s blood pressure through the roof was part of Grosjean’s dramas; a spin was also part of his event and then, through no fault of his own, fires broke out with the front brakes – likely caused by leaking brake fluid from the calipers – and he was forced to stop on course during Sunday’s race. Teammate Ed Jones had a better weekend, scoring his best result of the year with ninth on Saturday, but a broken shock early in Sunday’s race ruined his chances to repeat or improve. Altogether, DCR left Detroit with a 23rd and 24th for Grosjean and a ninth and 17th for Jones, all while showing exceptional speed that went largely unrewarded.

• If I had to make an informal count of pro-NBC social media posts from IndyCar to anti-NBC missives, the ratio would be uncomplimentary towards the Peacock. Between Lacrosse running long on Saturday and tennis running really long on Sunday, and general confusion on where to find the broadcasts on alternate channels and streaming, and a promise of added coverage after Race 1 that many said never materialized, some form of standardized communication method linking the network, the series, and its fans to disseminate news of changes might be a worthy consideration.

• Since Will Power is one of the 60,000 people who works for Roger Penske, and all of the people in race control work for Penske, did he get a call from Penske’s HR department after Saturday’s outburst? Am I the only one who wonders about this stuff?

• Thanks for playing along – time for Road America.