Uprising

March 25, 2019

Muse 

Uprising

One of the coolest things about the race weekend at COTA in Austin was that they put the huge 14,000 capacity Austin360 amphitheater located in the center of the racetrack to good use by hosting a concert by the British rock band Muse the Saturday night after qualifying had concluded and the evening prior to the race itself. The concert topped off a wonderful long and full day of activity at the track that included an Indy Lights race, A Stadium Super Trucks race, sports car race and the Indy Car knock out qualifying session.

There was some question as to what the racing might be like for the Indy Cars at the track but if the first Indy Lights race was any indication, it was going to be pretty damn spectacular. My seat for the race was high in stand 15 which offered a panoramic view which offered me a chance to see a huge portion of the twisty track. It offered a great view of the best passing zone coming down the long back stretch into turn 12 and through all of turns 13 through 17.

 

 

Reading the box score for the Indy Lights race might give the wrong idea of the type of race it was, Polesitter Oliver Askew took off from the green and dominated the race, leading all 20 laps with relative ease, but behind him it was pure mayhem as drivers passed and repassed took turns two and three wide and basically pou on one of the most entertaining races I have seen in ages. 

Rinus Veekay (2^nd),  Robert Megennis (3^rd) and Toby Sowery waged an all-out battle, often changing positions multiple times during a single lap, running wheel to wheel and dive bombing each other with abandon in a thrill show of racing prowess for such a young group of guys. If that race wasn’t exciting enough, the Stadium Supertrucks put on an even more scintillating show. They are always a blast to watch and it is cool to see a couple of former Indy Car drivers in Robby Gordon and Matthew Brabham racing them.

Colton Herta

The Indy Car qualifying was both surprising and not so much as once again Will Power put together yet another perfect lap at just the right time in the final knockout round to snag the pole position, his 56^th pole of his career. He is basically almost unstoppable in qualifying. There were a number of surprises in those making the top twelve. As four rookies broke through to start in the top twelve including Santino Ferrucci (11^th), Pato O’Ward (8^th), Felix Rosenqvist (5^th) and a remarkable effort by Colton Herta (3^rd).  Rossi (2^nd), Hunter-Reay (4^th) and Dixon (6^th) completed the Fast Six.

Alexander Rossi 

Joseph Newgarden

Zach Veach

In spite of how much I love racing, the highlight of the day was the amazing, incredible performance at the amphitheater by Muse.  First it was pretty cool to see them wandering around the pit lane and paddock during the afternoon as they checked out the race teams, cars and met with various drivers including Colton Herta and Conor Daly. They did not really draw all that much attention and seemed to enjoy themselves quite a lot.

Muse lead singer Matt Bellamy with Colton Herta and Conor Daly 

Muse in the Pits

The British band has been around since 1993, consisting of Matt Bellamy (lead vocals, guitar, keyboards), Chris Wolstenholme (bass guitar, backing vocals), and Dominic Howard (drums). I had seen them once previously many years ago at a music festival, but cannot by any stretch be considered a big fan. I am familiar with some of their music, but probably would not have even gone to see them again if it was not included in the race weekend.

That would be a huge mistake going forward as they put on one of the best concerts and most enthusiastic live performances I have seen in years. Their show was fantastic and I would suggest if you get a chance to see it, that you should take the opportunity right away. The stage show was really nothing short of incredible and Bellamy is one of the best rock frontmen working today. The packed crowd at the amphitheater was intense as well and I am sure that many of the fans probably were not even aware that a race was happening over the weekend.

Olivier and Kate

https://www.muse.mu/