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The NTT IndyCar Series hit the midway point of the season on Sunday, and here’s the thing after the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course:
There is more heat under hulls than under engine covers.
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Roman Grosjean regretted hitting his Andretti Autosport teammate Colton Herta in the keyhole corner.
But Grosjean is really, Really angry at a future former team-mate, Alexander Rossi (who is moving to Arrow McLaren SP after this season), after some aggressive moments with elbows to the ribcage, one that sent Grosjean’s car into a tire barrier . If there was a thought bubble above Grosjean’s head, “keyhole” wouldn’t be the word he would have used.
Going back to Herta, he wasn’t too happy with his team after they didn’t call him in for a pit stop like other drivers just before a yellow flag flew as he was running amongst the leaders. When he pitted, he came back near the back of the pack.
As if Grosjean’s earlier frustration wasn’t enough, he seemed to hit the rev limit of his patience during a late-race request to “protect his teammates”. His response: “I’m not going to protect Rossi.” – was followed by a response from the pit box that “Rossi doesn’t have a lap back. You are.”
Even after the cool-down laps, it hadn’t cooled down much in Andretti’s camp.
Reporters near the Rossi pit after the race saw team owner Michael Andretti get on a scooter and say, “Where is he?” before walking away.
Grosjean spoke fairly calmly after the race, apologizing for the crash with Herta but taken aback by all the contact with Rossi. The word “idiot” appeared. (Flashback: Earlier in the season at Barber Motorsports Park, Grosjean was the bowling ball and Graham Rahal was the pin, twice in the same corner. Rahal used some pretty descriptive words about Grosjean after that.)
After racing around and around the track, an Andretti Autosport PR rep made perhaps the save of the day. Just as someone asked about the appearance of tension within the Andretti camp, she pulled Grosjean away from the reporters and said, “He has to go.”
ooooooh. Things are getting juicy! Is there any chance that the documentary series that IndyCar wants to put together can start now?
This is all on top of Scott McLaughlin’s impressive victory on Sunday, and his Team Penske teammate Will Power’s recovery to finish third after a first-lap spin that landed him at the back of the field, and a tight battle for the championship of the season that Marcus Ericsson narrowly leads. Power, Josef Newgarden and Alex Palou.
But that is something that will play out over the remaining eight races. What we have now is a run with anger, bitterness, and hopefully stories worth following for the rest of the season.
IndyCar needs this.
As close, competitive and entertaining as the races have become (six different winners and nine different pole winners in nine races this season), the series still comes across as vanilla in the minds of sports fans in general. . The enhanced TV ratings are great to see, and show that more people are taking notice.
But at least once a week, when I mention IndyCar to someone who isn’t a regular fan of the series, the usual response is, “You mean NASCAR?” No, those are stock cars; This is single-seater racing. “Oh, so Formula 1” is what I usually get in response.
The average Abe knows about the Indy 500, but probably can’t name five, if any, drivers who were in it. Try this: Next time at work, school, or church, ask who won this year’s Indianapolis 500.
I love taking rookies to an IndyCar race because when they feel the speed, the sounds, the smells and the machinery in a way that’s impossible to translate on TV, they’re hooked. There is nothing like being there, but there is a larger audience that needs to be captured. Somehow, some way, the passion and personality that I know exists within the sport needs to come out.
Die-hard fans may love the alternate racing strategies: does a team start on primary or alternate tires, two pit stops or three, overcut or short their stops? – but if that’s all the intrigue there is to a race, it’s not going to grab the average sports fan.
The drama, the excitement, and the fights are what the hoarding does.
With more than half of Andretti’s team upset with each other and the anger clearly manifested on NBC’s broadcast on Sunday, it was a perfect side story to the main plot.
It may not happen every week, but the potential is enough to make a person look.
What happened in Mid-Ohio was great theater. And kudos to IndyCar officials for keeping penalty flags in their pockets for all but the most egregious incidents.
It was more than a race, and I can’t wait to see what unfolds at the next race in Toronto on July 17.
Sure, some of the main directors may be teammates, but it’s pretty clear that from now on, it’s every man for himself.