It’s May, it must mean Indianapolis

May 13, 2019

 

Mario Andretti

Helio Castroneves

It’s May, it must mean Indianapolis

I arrived in Indianapolis just in time to attend the practice/ qualifying day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the annual kick-off of the month of May, The Grand Prix of Indianapolis. This race which has opened activities at the Speedway each year since its inception in 2014. The race takes place on the combined road course at the Speedway.

The race is run on a newer, modified layout of the circuit previously used for the Formula One United States Grand Prix, and later the Moto GP motorcycle event. The Grand Prix serves as a lead-in to the Indianapolis 500. Support races are also held over the weekend, including a pair of Indy Lights races, Pro Mazda and U.S. F2000. This year it was chilly and overcast for the practice and qualifying with a threat of rain that never materialized.









Since its inception, the IndyCar Grand Prix has been scheduled for the Saturday two weeks before the Indianapolis 500 with the practice and qualifying held on Friday. The race effectively serves as an "opening weekend" for the month of May activities at the Speedway.





Saturday was selected for the race due to the fact that the Sunday two weeks before the Indy 500 is usually Mother's Day (a day usually avoided by motorsports). In addition, the track is closed on Sunday to allow crews to convert the track back to the oval layout, and to allow teams to convert their cars from road course to oval configuration.







Attending on Friday allowed me time to check out the newest exhibit at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway museum, “Mario Andretti: ICON” presented by Shell V-Power NiTRO+ Premium Gasoline. The incredible exhibit is part of a comprehensive celebration at IMS recognizing the 50^th anniversary of Andretti’s popular victory at the 1969 Indianapolis 500-Mile Race.





The exhibit features a full retrospective of Andretti’s incredible career, from Sprint Car racing in the early 1960s, to four career IndyCar championships and Formula 1 World Championship glory, and his busy life today as an ambassador for the NTT IndyCar Series. It is anchored by 23 cars representing significant milestones in the history of auto racing, let alone personal success and global fame for Andretti, who emigrated from Italy to Nazareth, Pa., with his family in 1955 when he was age 15.

Jack Harvey



Jake Query

Santino Ferrucci and James Davison

The collection of cars from Andretti’s history is truly astonishing and includes his F1 world champion John Player Special Lotus, his first ever sprint car and numerous cars that he entered in his storied Indianapolis 500 career. It is one of the best exhibits ever at the IMS museum and that is saying something as they have had some terrific installations in the past few years.

Scott Dixon

Tony Kanaan

Colton Herta

Pato O'Ward

On the track, the Ganassi team dominated qualifying, claiming the front row for the Grand Prix with rookie Felix Rosenqvist capturing his first pole position of huis career and Scott Dixon grabbing the number two starting position. It is critical to qualify up front as this race has been dominated by drivers who started on the pole in previous years and it seemed like a good position for Rosenqvist to be in.

Robert Wickens and James Hinchcliffe

Helio