Auto Racing 2025

[dfergie]

Watching this, it will run through the weekend...

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqyFWxVoTm8

 

[Yespage]

Indycar at Thermal this weekend. First practice tonight... and on FS1. YES! Everything is FS1 except the race.

Palou looks to win... again, both to repeat at Thermal as well as win back to back with St. Petersburg. Thermal was a bit of a cluster last year, both in execution and design with a two stage set up. This year it is a race proper.

 

[Yespage]

Overall, Fox is doing good. They are a bit odd on commercial breaks though, with going to a commercial during Qualifying sessions instead of between and near the end of a practice session when laps will be the fastest.

I'm uncertain the source of the timing thing. NBC/Peacock showed where drivers stood within a qualifying lap either regarding their PR, top 6 or top overall. This helped provide a lot of context and drama during qualifying, where as in the first two qualifications at St. Pete and Thermal, it is just lap time after the car crosses the line. Indycar and/or Fox needs to bring this back.

On the track... McClaren own the front row, with O'Ward getting his first pole since Mid-Ohio in 2022... which hopefully isn't an omen as the two McClarens died off in that race (Rosenquist very early / O'Ward around mid-race). Prema are struggling with the fuel cell. Their car caught fire on the track, and luckily the driver was able to get out uninjured. Rossi got ECR onto the first three rows. In general, ECR did pretty well. Veekay just barely missed the fast 12 and starts along side Ferruci in row 7. Veekay and Dale Coyne kept finding more speed as the weekend progressed. Penske had a bad weekend so far. So bad, someone left a blower on one of the wheels when McLaughlin headed out of the pit! You never see that happen, forget with a Penske team.

Herta, Palou are row two (of course) and Ericson and Rossi round out the fastest six.

The race should be interesting. They did a gimmick race last year that they thankfully abandoned for a non-gimmick race. The track is hard as the dust can mess with the tires. Additionally, the track is quite a bit abrasive. The red tire seems more competitive this week, generally taking the third lap as the speed lap. We'll quickly see if this is a big tire race or whether it becomes one about efficiency (more so than average for Palou and Dixon who drive a distance more efficient than any other racer alive).

 

[Yespage]

Frustrating coding experience while watching Indycar at Thermal... and now I'm watching NASCAR because Fox has no clue what they are doing. They lost TV or Audio, fine. Indycar didn't lose everything because I am streaming Veekay's radio as well as watching all the tracked cars on the track. So figure something out and provide some form of data!

Subbing NASCAR for Indycar to me is even more annoying than just losing the race at Thermal.

 

[harshness]

Question for F1® followers:

What use is it for Cadillac to get involved in F1® if they're going to be running Ferrari engines? Do they have that much money burning a hole in their pockets?

 

[Yespage]

Fox fixed their problems and Veekay was dropping the f bomb on the car radio as his car fell to crap.

Meanwhile Palou raced like Palou does and with a sticker set of reds for the final stint, O'Ward who led most of the way was toast. Palou wins and McClaren settle for second and third. Will Power made most of a tough day for Penske.

 

[Foxbat]

What use is it for Cadillac to get involved in F1® if they're going to be running Ferrari engines? Do they have that much money burning a hole in their pockets?

GM is supposed to be developing an Engine for the new powertrain rules starting next year, but that engine won't be available for several years. By running Ferrari engines Cadillac can field a car a year sooner than if they waited for their engine to be ready.

But, GM is paying Formula 1 $450 million to the ten other teams to accept the Cadillac team entry.

https://gmauthority.com/blog/2025/03/gm-paid-competitors-450-million-to-get-cadillac-f1-team-approved/

 

[meStevo]

Thanks for that. A lot of those technical things I have no idea about, the tech behind the cars is something I've only really just started being more interested in as a relatively newer fan.

The one conference I go to a year is coming up, Atlassian TEAM 25 in Anaheim. Looking forward to some F1 stuff there now that they're the Williams title sponsor.

 

[harshness]

But, GM is paying Formula 1 $450 million to the ten other teams to accept the Cadillac team entry.

This seems like Cadillac has money to burn. I'm not sure how much prestige that brings to the marque.

 

[Yespage]

https://www.motorsport.com/indycar/news/Network-explains-why-the-IndyCar-race-at-Thermal-switched-to-NASCAR-Cup-at-Homestead/10706604/

 

[Yespage]

This seems like Cadillac has money to burn. I'm not sure how much prestige that brings to the marque.

Show Me the Money: The Finances Behind Indycar, NASCAR, and Formula 1

This is how money is made, or lost, in the racing world.

www.thedrive.com

Funding and car racing is an odd bird.

 

[harshness]

Funding and car racing is an odd bird.

It is a dance with a hideously costly dance card.

 

[Yespage]

I was stunned to see how much the payouts for IMSA events were. $25k to the winner of the Rolex 24, $10k for the Endurance Cup and sprints?! Prize money isn't driving these teams, that's for certain.

 

[harshness]

Prize money isn't driving these teams, that's for certain.

That doesn't cover the transportation costs.

 

[meStevo]

Ferrari had both their cars disqualified after the race in China this weekend... different offenses for each car - missed certain limits by 1kg and 0.5mm. Dang.

 

[Foxbat]

Ironic, Lewis Hamilton was DQ'd for the same reason after the 2023 U.S. Grand Prix in Austin, also after a Sprint Race weekend. And one of Lewis's wins in 2024 was because George Russell had decided to take his Hards to the end, also resulting in his car being underweight, similar to what befell Charles Leclerc in China. Lewis was promoted to the top step on Russell's disqualification.

Leclerc had enough of a time gap to Ocon that Ferrari should have brought him into the Pits to replace the damaged wing and fit fresh Soft tires in the closing laps to ensure Charles would finish in the points.

 

[Foxbat]

Frustrating coding experience while watching Indycar at Thermal... and now I'm watching NASCAR because Fox has no clue what they are doing. They lost TV or Audio, fine. Indycar didn't lose everything because I am streaming Veekay's radio as well as watching all the tracked cars on the track.

Evidently Fox Sports had bought new trucks to cover the IndyCar races and they popped a breaker, leading to the dead air and Fox switching to NASCAR.

'It's disappointing': Fox broadcast interruption of IndyCar's Thermal race is latest issue

IndyCar fans missed the middle laps of Sunday's race at The Thermal Club because Fox's broadcast cut out. Sources explain why another hiccup in the partnership happened.

www.desertsun.com

I guess it got whacked by the Thermal Club…

 

[Yespage]

Anyone here been to Road America? I'm trying to figure out ingress/egress at that track.

 

[Yespage]

Man it is hot! Too hot! My hybrid is too hot!

link

The lead-up to the Thermal Club IndyCar Grand Prix was busy for some teams that were forced to replace energy recovery systems (ERS) due to internal wiring issues, while on Sunday, a handful of drivers had to manage overheating ERS units with temperatures surpassing their safety thresholds.

Ed Carpenter Racing's Alexander Rossi and his No. 20 Chevy (main image) was the first lightning rod for ERS problems as he was one of a number of drivers on Friday to experience wiring malfunctions inside their spec bellhousings serviced and deployed by Ilmor Engineering.

In general, Chevy appeared to be having the most issues, and generally at that, the teams weren't allowing enough airflow to get to the system.