Like haven't we already had two mundane Season
Openers?
First off, NBC has announced their TV
Schedule for the following five races, beginning with this Saturday's Indy GP
live on Big NBC - thru to the July 17-18 Iowa Double Header, with the remainder
to be announced later.
As you can catch the Indy GP Qualifying on NBC
Sports this Friday at 1:30PM Pacific. But as Always, Check Your local listings!
So I'm not gonna lament the Texas IndyCar
race too much, since i Don't think it really did a whole lot to move Thee
Needle, Eh? As I found myself far more intrigued by the Dale Earnhardt Jr. 1hr
Download Special with Darrell Wallace Jr. immediately following the race
instead! Which that in itself speaks volumes to Mwah 'bout how much of a Dud
the Texas race was...
And Kudos to All of the Pit Crews and other
Supporting Cast members for managing to stay on their feet for 24 straight Hours
in the Baking 97deg-f Heat! Whilst I'll let Racer's Marshall Pruett do the
Heavy lifting regarding the travails of this Texas IndyCar One Day experiment.
And speaking 'O experiments, IndyCar's brand
new Aeroscreen certainly got plenty 'O testing at Texas Motor Speedway. (TMS)
And although I've yet to hear anything about Driver Cooling issues, along with
Glare issues. I'd say that the Aeroscreen performed Far Better than that
Slippery liquids PJ1 Sealant did! As Shame On You TMS and Eddie Gossage!
Whilst the Field
of 33's Paul Dalbey has an interesting take upon what the real Problema with
IndyCar Oval racing is right now. Noting how he thinks the Universal Aero Kit
(UAK) of the current Dallara IR-18 chassis is the culprit...
And I'll further agree with Messer Dalbey,
which Pains me to do so! But the secondary Drive-thru penalties for Alexander
Rossi, Ryan Hunter-Reay and Graham Rahal for their Hondre' lumps' refusing to
start on the grid was indeed overly Harsh!
As they'd already been sent to the back of
the field and further penalizing them for fidgety E-E-E-lectrics' in the
Blistering Heat of Texas coupled with the Honda Engineers Not being Allowed to
be alongside the vehicles due to mandated Social Distancing seems well You Know!
As I'm totally 100% in favour of taking All
the necessary Safety Precautions possible, and everybody Staying Safe! But some
common sense needs to be allowed. As will IndyCar do the same thing again this
weekend during it's "signature" Indy GP Road Race alongside NASCAR's
Xfinity series competitors on National TV? since I'll Arse-sume it'll be
Hot-Hot-Hot Once Again at Mother Speedway.
Meanwhile, I'd expect the IndyCar starting
Grid to look exactly the same as TMS with All 25 entries present, since I Don't
think Taku-san', nee Takuma Sato will Clout the Wall again! Ditto for Rinus
VeeKay, Eddie!
With the only Wildcard being who'll be in the #31 Carlin entry? Since I'd
Arse-sume' they'll need to begin running two cars at Indianapolis if they want
to keep Thar Leaders Circle "Prize" Money, Righto?
And we know that Conor Daly who did Yeoman's
work for Carlin at TMS bringing the lone #59 Carlin entry home in sixth place
will be at his "Day Job" of piloting Fast Eddies' No. 20 Ed Carpenter
Racing (ECR) mount, since the Boss is only driving on Ovals per Tipicali.
Thus Max Chilton will be making his season's
Debut at Carlin aboard his #59 chariot, whilst I've got Zero Clue who'll be in
the No. 31?
Since although I'd really like to see Felipe
Nasr get to make his IndyCar Debut,
I'm pretty certain that Ain't gonna happen this
weekend since he'll be busy at his Day Job in Florida chauffeuring the #31 Whelen
Engineering Caddy' at Daytona International Speedway. As
Nasr is the 2018 IMSA Weathertech SportsCar Championship Prototypes Champion,
along with Defending 12 Hours of Sebring winner.
Thus I can only speculate if Carlin does run
it's No. 31 entry, Thars plenty 'O Drivers to choose from. As I'm sure either
Spencer Pigot or Stefan Stork' Wilson's available, along with Oriel
"Suitcase" Servia for starters. Or either RC Enerson or Sage Karam,
as both have driven for them previously. But Heavens Forbid for Carlin to let
us know in advance...
OOPSADAISY! Scratch That, since after I'd finished
typing that, I learned that Dreyer & Reinbold Racing (DRR) have entered
Sage Karam in their #24 Dallara Chevy for this year's Indy GP. Thar first Road
Race in some Gory seven years; Aye Karumba!
INDYCAR: 2020 Season Set to Begin in Earnest, Again...
Update
You probably already know that Spencer
Pigot's running a third Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing entry, (RLLR) the #45
Honder' this weekend at Indianapolis, which I've mentioned in the following No
Fenders Blurb.
Also, Unfortunately Felipe Nasr who was
indeed set to race the No. 31 Caddy' Prototype
(DPi) at DayToner' in the Weathertech 240 July 4th, has tested Positive
for COVID 19 and former Harding Steinbrenner Racing IndyCar Driver Gabby Chaves
will substitute for Nasr instead.