Alex Palou takes over the points lead of the NTT IndyCar Series to the Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey at the WeatherTech Raceway-Laguna Seca. [John Wiedemann Photo]
by Paul Gohde
Alex Palou overtook Pato O’Ward with his win in Portland last week to take the NTT IndyCar Series lead by 25 points as the series heads south to California this week for the Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey at WeatherTech Raceway-Laguna Seca .
With only two races left on schedule, the list of possible challengers for the 2021 NTT Championship has narrowed with Josef Newgarden (-34), Scott Dixon (-49) and Marcus Ericsson (-75), each hoping for something magical the former dry lake, site of the penultimate chance on Sunday, to take a serious step to overtake Palou for the crown.
Race facts: This week’s race will be the 24th Indy Car appearance on the 2,239-mile, 11-corner circuit that opened as a sports car / motorcycle venue on the US Army Fort Ord in 1957. Sunday’s IndyCar Pursuit will include 90 laps (212.61 miles). The track near Monterey has a 300-foot stretch. Elevation gain with the famous “Corkscrew” in turns 8 and 8A waiting for the daring to try a pass there (think of Alex Zanardi’s now famous Bryan Herta pass on the inside of the Corkscrew for a final lap win in 1996) . CART opened the open wheel racing chapter of the track in 1983 when Teo Fabi held back Mario Andretti and (of all people) Chip Ganassi for their first victory. CART drove there 21 times (1983-2003), followed by Champ Car (2004) and the first race of the IndyCar Series (2019), which was won by Colton Herta. The 2020 race was canceled due to the pandemic. Herta holds the IndyCar qualifying mark (114.867 mph) and the IndyCar racing record of 1: 53: 56.984 (105,057 mph), both records set at the 2019 event.
Current racing history: In IndyCar’s first race here in 2019, Colon Herta won for Harding Steinbrenner (his second of the season). Point front runner Newgarden wrestled to eighth place and his second NTT championship with a poorly driving car; the 16th for Team Penske. Herta Will Power led ten remaining laps by less than a second. Within a few laps, Scott Dixon, Power and Simon Pagenaud were battling to overtake Herta, who had the most push-to-passes left. Pagenaud made the final attack but missed Herta to win, followed by Power, Dixon and Pagenaud. Alexander Rossi finished sixth and was named Rookie of the Year. As already mentioned, the 2020 run was canceled due to Covid 19.
Previous season 2021: Score after 14/16 races: 1) Alex Palou, 477 points, 3 wins… 2) O’Ward, 452, 2… 3) Newgarden, 443, 2… 4) Dixon, 428, 1… 5) Marcus Ericsson, 402, 2… Other individual race winners: Herta, Power, Rinus VeeKay and Helio Castroneves …Manufacturer’s rating: Honda, 1210 points / 8 wins … Chevrolet, 1115/6.
Entries: 27 car-driver combinations will attack the “corkscrew” and other challenges in Monterey. Basically the same field that ran in Portland will be in Monterey, including Callum Ilott and Meyer Shanks Helio Castroneves.
Remarks: TV: Qualifying, Saturday, NBCSN, 11:30 PM ET, (Delay) … Race, Sunday, NBC Network, 3:00 PM ET, (Live) … After the first Portland Indy Car race (25), Scuderia Ferrari F1 test driver Callum Ilott will finish the final two races of the season for Juncos Hollinger’s newly formed team as they continue to prepare for 2022. Dale Coyne is said to be looking for Grosjean’s replacement, despite no official announcement from AA. Maybe in Long Beach …
Our opinion: IndyCar must be happy to see full fields and a tightly packed group of five pushing and pulling together for the championship with two races remaining. As we said last week, we believe the final two or three races should include at least an oval, a road race, and a dirt road course. Monterey and Long Beach fulfill this hope, but an oval would make the “Final Three” a true championship run. And as if we knew beforehand, the first lap incident that lost part of the field and stole ten racing laps from fans needs to be resolved before IndyCar returns to Portland next season. Too often in the past a fall in the first corner has led to delays and eliminations of some competitors. A plan has to be drawn up to make the drive to the first corner exciting and worthy of an IndyCar route.
Next race: Acura Long Beach Grand Prix… Sunday September 26th
Paul Gohde heard the sound of racing cars early in his life.
Growing up in the suburbs of Milwaukee, north of Wisconsin State Fair Park in the 1950s, Paul had no idea what “that noise” he heard several times a year was. Finally, at the suggestion of friends of his parents, he was taken to several modified stock car races on Thursday evening on the old quarter-mile field track that was in the infield of the 1-mile oval – and he was thrilled.
The first Milwaukee Mile event he attended was the 1959 Rex Mays Classic, won by Johnny Thomson in the pink Racing Associates lay-down offy built by the legendary Lujie Lesovsky. After getting the winner’s autograph in the box, the 100-mile Gohde couldn’t when he saw Hank Aaron hit a home run at County Stadium, and he was hooked again.
Paul began competing in the Indianapolis 500 in 1961 and saw AJ Foyt’s first Indy win. He began covering races as a reporter / photographer for Racing Wheels newspaper in Vancouver, WA in 1965, and his first race was Jim Clark’s historic Indy win. The 1967 Hoosier 100 was his first major race entered for them.
He is a retired middle class teacher, avid collector of vintage racing memorabilia, and a tour guide at Miller Park. Paul loves touring abandoned racetracks both here and in Europe, with the Brooklands circuit in Weybridge England being his favorite. You are married to Paula and have three grown children and two cats.
Paul loves the diversity of all racing sports, “a factor that primarily captivated me”.
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