The present in almost everything related to the IndyCar Series It doesn’t seem to give much respite, both on and off the track. What seemed like a ‘silly season’ all but resolved by Andretti Autosport’s moves has shattered into a thousand pieces on several fronts over the last month, and all of it has come amid a frantic run of four straight weeks of racing. The third of them takes place this Saturday in a familiar setting for all those involved, the Indianapolis Motor Speedwayon a weekend in which the series plays host at ‘home’ for the NASCAR Cup Series.
The mixed, road or Grand Prix circuit, also known colloquially as Indy GP, was created in Indianapolis in 2000 on the occasion of the arrival of the Formula 1 World Championship, later hosting the Motorcycle World Championship, but it was not until 2014 when IndyCar opted to organize a race in a slightly modified version, which has served since then as an appetizer each May before the Indianapolis 500. However, this Brickyard Grand Prix is a second event at this track, and its history dates back to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
Like any other competition, IndyCar struggled to put together a full schedule between multiple cancellations. Taking advantage of a unique synergy opportunity that was facilitated by a common television partner, IndyCar staged the Indianapolis Grand Prix over the July 4 weekend in which NASCAR hosted its event on the oval, that being the first time that the two main American competitions shared a venue on the same days. Previously, it had been decided to do the same for the month of October, taking advantage of the visit of the Intercontinental GT Challenge for the 8 hours of Indianapolis.
That event, called the Harvest Grand Prix, ended up becoming a double event to compensate for other cancellations, so three of the 14 races in 2020 ended up being played at the Indy GP. Looking ahead to 2021, in which the Indianapolis GP returned to its pre-Indy 500 status, it was decided to keep the second date, this time accompanying the debut of the NASCAR Cup Series on the mixed track after years of lousy attendance at the oval appointment. By acting as ‘opener’ in the event of the ‘stock cars’, the IndyCar race has always taken place in these cases on a Saturdayeven preceding the NASCAR Xfinity Series high school test, which used the GP circuit a year before its older sister.
Thus, this ‘Brickyard Grand Prix’ (unofficial name that combines the Grand Prix name used by IndyCar with the name ‘Brickyard’ used by NASCAR since its debut in Indianapolis in 1994) takes place over just two days in a compressed program in the style of oval racing, with a single free practice session on the Friday before the qualifying session. To compensate for this fact, the duration of free practice is extended to 90 minutesinstead of the 75 that have recently covered the first session of each weekend or the mere 45 that occupy the second sessions.
The championship comes to Indianapolis in the middle of one of the most interesting and compact title battles in recent years, with six drivers separated by just 44 points. Two of them, however, face this weekend with dark clouds. On the one hand, Joseph Newgarden he is still recovering from the effects of his crash in Iowa, and at the time of this writing a medical determination as to his availability for the event has yet to be made public. In the event that he was unable to compete, Team Penske has procured the services of Santino Ferucci as a possible substitute, a role he has already played twice this year for other teams.
On the other hand, there is the situation of Alex Palouwhich has had a new twist this week when it was confirmed that Chip Ganassi Racing has taken legal action against him to assert their current contractual relationship with respect to the announced agreement with McLaren Racing. For now, the team has reiterated its intention to continue counting on the Spaniard for the rest of the season and for the future (at least publicly), and with this scenario the current champion will have to face a key event for his title aspirations on a track where he has always performed well, having qualified first in the May event.
The only one who could deprive him of that pole position was Will Power, on whom many spotlights will be placed. Just eight points behind leader Marcus Ericsson after his double podium finish in Iowa, the Australian reaches one of his fetish circuits, where he has won five times. Should Power take his seventh pole at the Indy GP circuit, he would equal Mario Andretti’s all-time record of 67 poles. In the rainy May event he was ‘only’ able to be third behind Colton Herta (Andretti Autosport’s only victory in 2022) and Simon Pagenaud, who is also endorsed by his three victories on this track, and we must not lose sight of other contenders such as Scott Dixon or Pato O’Ward, reinvigorated after their recent good results.
2022 Brickyard Grand Prix Sessions and Schedules
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Photos: IndyCar Media