All-purpose open-wheel (F1, IRL) racing thread

Originally Bestwick said it was Servia driving, then quickly switched. I've liked Bestwick over the years fine. Not an over-the-top guy, really reminds me a lot of Fowler. But I swear, he's gotten worse since being teamed up with UnderaCheever. Lot more mistakes and odd comments. Same with Goodyear, seems like he was decent at one point but has gotten worse since being paired with Cheever. I've wondered for years why de Ferran or Emmo weren't brought in to replace Cheever, who has been awful since day 1.
I was a bit surprised ABC did no post-race tribute. My guess is they'll blame it on the delay and that there was no time, but it sure comes across as a Will Power-type double bird to IndyCar. NBCSN has proven it's willing to invest in motorsports coverage in recent years with F1 and IndyCar. Meanwhile, ABC/ESPN simply uses Sky's F1 coverage, and uses an obnoxious guy for IndyCar who only won Indy because the competition was weak.

 

Not sure if I should applaud the Haas F1 PR team, or shake my head at them, for this part of their press release recapping the opening day of F1 practice in Montreal. I'm leaning towards the latter.

 

I saw the on-board of the incident. Suffice it to say... the groundhog did not suffer.

 

So...
Alonso has now won the 24 Hours of LeMans, giving him the second leg of the triple crown with just the Indy 500 left to go.
Alonso came close to winning the Indy 500 as a rookie last year.
Alonso has been in an uncompetitive McLaren F1 car for four years.
McLaren will likely be running an IndyCar team last year.

Adding that all up, I'm going to say the rumors of Alonso coming to IndyCar in 2019 will become reality.

 

I would love to see him make the jump.

 

Bigger than Mansell coming across the ocean? I would think so because CART at the time was more well-known (thanks to Fittipaldi). Certainly a win-win for IndyCar, even if they can't figure out how to monetize it.

 

Yeah, I think he's making the jump too. He's tired of fighting for 8th. Hard to blame him.

At the same time, I struggle to see him getting excited about having a more competitive car for the Iowa Corn 300.

The rumor that fascinates me: Andretti Motorsport may be looking at buying Force India and getting into F1, with Alexander Rossi's dad as a major figure in the move. Would love to see that.

 

See, that’s awesome. Wish they made the track slightly bigger and ran the Busch race or the trucks on it.

 

Too bad Indiana Sprint Week is in July, between the 500 and the 400. When I covered the Brickyard, I'd make it a point every year to try and drive to another track and catch the locals. I've been to Anderson, Bloomington, Gas City and Baer Field. My personal favorites are the three-quarter midgets. I've caught them at the Rush County Fairgrounds and a cool little mini-Pocono shaped asphalt oval called Mount Lawn (where I've won the program giveaway twice). Plus, there's nothing like Figure 8 racing at the Speedrome, where my buddy and I were the only people in attendance not named Tunny and wearing collared shirts.

When I mentioned the TQs to Tony Stewart one time, he offered to sell me one. I'd love to try it once, but the wife would have a fit.