Testing SpeedwayMedia.com

Author: Tucker White

  • Haley: ‘Big confidence boost for me’

    Haley: ‘Big confidence boost for me’

    The call came from the Tower. The race ends on Lap 75.

    When Alex Bowman’s engine expired on Lap 45, NASCAR did the math and realized with the pace of the race and the remaining daylight, the Grant Park 220 wasn’t going the advertised 100 laps.

    Eleven cars stayed out under the caution, and Justin Haley inherited the lead.

    Now, he’s in the unfamiliar territory of holding off winners and champions of NASCAR in the waning laps.

    “Obviously, I have in the Truck and XFINITY Series,” he said, “but the level of talent — I had Chase Elliott behind me and Kyle Larson and Shane (van Gisbergen) and Austin Dillon for a little bit, all champions and multi-race winners.”

    In the midst of contract talks and a rotten weekend, his drive to a runner-up finish gave him a “big confidence boost.”

    And it didn’t come easy.

    For the final 26 laps, he thwarted charges from Dillon and Elliott.

    The former clipped the wall entering Turn 12 and plowed into the tire barrier with 14 laps to go.

    The latter lost second to Gisbergen in Turn 2 with eight to go.

    As Haley sped along South Shore Line Drive, the reigning Supercars champion closed the gap from half a second to his bumper.

    They turned onto East Balbo Drive and crossed the bridge over the Metra Electric District. Gisbergen set him up for an overtake, but Martin Truex Jr. plowed into the Turn 1 tire barrier and brought out a caution.

    Similar to his maiden Cup Series victory at Daytona International Speedway, four years earlier, Haley, on older tires, sat in the catbird seat of a race that could end at a moment’s notice. All he needed to do was hold off Gisbergen, a street racing veteran, and his fresher tires.

    “It wasn’t much of a battle,” he said. “You’re just trying to do everything you can.”

    Gisbergen overtook him into Turn 2.

    Haley drag-raced him down Shore Line Drive and retook the lead in Turn 3, but his struggles with Turn 4 caught up to him with five to go.

    “That’s where I wrecked, yesterday, and our car was just so rough in the braking zone and I was really struggling there, trying to adjust my brake bias to be better there, and I just couldn’t,” he said.

    Gisbergen out-braked him into Turn 4, and that was game over. Even with a second chance in overtime, Gisbergen left Haley in his wake and scored his maiden victory in his first start.

    “Yeah, Shane was just better,” he said. “He had 16 or something lap better tires. Just a world-class racer. He was very calculated, very precise, and very smooth. He wasn’t overdriving it. He was very calculated.

    “For someone to come in and race like that was just incredible. Very clean, as well. Our race for the lead was clean, and he gave a lot of room and very respectful.”

    For Haley, however, he didn’t feel it was “a complete loss.” Given his and Kaulig Racing’s season, to this point, this was a much needed run for a team “just trying to get better.”

    “This is my and the team’s second full-time season, and unfortunately I haven’t been in a position like that legitimately to try to hold off championship-caliber drivers,” he said. “I’ve just never found myself in that position early in my career.”

    Mathematically, Haley could still point his way into the playoffs. His performance over the season, however, means his best chance is to win at either Atlanta Motor Speedway, Sunday, or Daytona in August.

  • The White Zone: NASCAR, SAFER barrier all the walls

    The White Zone: NASCAR, SAFER barrier all the walls

    Ryan Blaney summed it up, Sunday, outside the care center at Nashville Superspeedway.

    “It sucks that things like that have to happen, someone hit the wall head-on like that, and then you’re like, ‘Oh, we’ll put a SAFER barrier on it now,’” he said.

    There’s no excuse, NASCAR.

    OK, I’m no engineer. I type words onto digital paper for a living. With that said, however, I’ve followed this sports league long enough to know this isn’t the first time something like this happened.

    Ten years ago, Denny Hamlin broke his back in a head-on collision with an unprotected inside wall at Auto Club Speedway.

    The injury sidelined him for five races.

    2015, Kyle Busch suffered a compound fracture, after he hit an unprotected inside wall at Daytona International Speedway.

    He missed 11 races.

    The very next week, Jeff Gordon hit the inside wall head-on at Atlanta Motor Speedway, just after where the SAFER barrier ended.

    Lucky for him, he didn’t miss a race, because of it.

    And those are just the incidents after the use of SAFER barriers. That doesn’t include Jerry Nadaeu’s career-ending wreck at Richmond Raceway in 2003, either of Ernie Irvan’s near-fatal wrecks at Michigan International Speedway in the 1990s or that four NASCAR drivers died in the span of a few months in 2000 and 2001, due to hits on unprotected walls.

    Yes, I know the walls weren’t the only factor in the deaths of Adam Petty, Kenny Irwin Jr., Tony Roper and Dale Earnhardt (and if we’re including ARCA, Blaise Alexander), but unprotected walls compounded the matter.

    We shouldn’t even need to talk about this. This should be a thing of the past. Alas, NASCAR dropped the ball and didn’t line the inside walls at Nashville with SAFER barriers.

    The best time to do this was years ago. The second best time to rectify this is now!

    Yes, I know I’m spending other people’s money with this, but human life is more important than the number in a bank account.

    Come 2024, no oval should have a single unprotected wall. And if there is, well…we’ll cross that bridge, if we get there.

    That’s my view, for what it’s worth.

  • Three Big Stories: Gateway (2023)

    Three Big Stories: Gateway (2023)

    MADISON, Ill. — Well that was a race.

    Kyle Busch slowly turns into a fan favorite. Richard Childress Racing’s a force to reckon with, again, and blown brake rotors.

    So without further adieu, let’s dive into the three big stories of the NASCAR Cup Series’ second race at World Wide Technology Raceway.

    1. Kyle Busch turning into a fan favorite?

    MADISON, Ill. – JUNE 4: Kyle Busch, driver of the #8 3CHI Chevrolet, celebrates victory in the NASCAR Cup Series Enjoy Illinois 300 at World Wide Technology Raceway on June 4, 2023, in Madison, Illinois. Photo: Simon Scoggins/SpeedwayMedia.com

    Busch climbed over the metal stairs to walk to the media center, as throngs of fans huddled around him. While security cleared the way, he signed diecasts and posed for pictures.

    Even his son, Brexton, signed autographs.

    Which begs the question: Is Kyle Busch turning into a fan favorite?

    Yes, he always had a hardcore fanbase, “Rowdy Nation,” but the reaction he receives from fans at driver introductions is no longer universal jeering. Now there’s still a noticeable amount of boos, but Sunday, I heard a lot more cheers mixed in.

    Could you imagine this kind of response a decade ago? After all, this same driver needed police escorts into and out of tracks, after wrecking Dale Earnhardt Jr. at Richmond Raceway in 2008, and dealt with months upon months of death threats.

    Busch wore the metaphorical black hat with pride for years, while he gestured to those who booed him to cry about it.

    That guy might now be a fan favorite.

    2. RCR is a force, again

    MADISON, Ill. – JUNE 4: Richard Childress sprays champagne over the #8 3CHI Chevrolet team, after Kyle Busch won the NASCAR Cup Series Enjoy Illinois 300 at World Wide Technology Raceway on June 4, 2023, in Madison, Illinois. Photo: Simon Scoggins/SpeedwayMedia.com

    Richard Childress came into the deadline room with a bottle of “Victory Cuvée.” It’s his third victory of the season. All of which came with Busch.

    “Well, he’s helped us all around,” he said. “Number one, he’s winning races, showing we can win races.”

    For almost a decade, Childress lacked wins.

    From 2014 to 2021, RCR won a grand total of four Cup Series races. Never had a multi-win driver in that time. That changed with Tyler Reddick in 2022, until he left for greener pastures, like Kevin Harvick in 2014.

    Hell, at this point, last season, Reddick was zero in the win column. After 15 races, he’s won three.

    “You know, we won a lot with Harvick, won a lot with Earnhardt,” he said. “Our plan is to win a lot with Kyle, and not only be a contender for that championship. If we make the Final Four, we’ll have a shot at winning it for sure.”

    From a shadow of its former glory to a championship contender, and with Busch at the head.

    The irony of which is that this win fell on the 12th anniversary of Childress punching Busch after a Truck Series race at Kansas Speedway. According to Childress, that’s water under the bridge.

    “We talked about it,” he said. “That was one of the first things we talked about. That’s history. We’ve both grown a lot. I know I’ve grown up. I’ve grown older, but I’ve grown up, too. There’s an old song out there, I’m still growing up but I’m getting older.”

    3. Blown brake rotors

    Four.

    That’s how many cars blew brake rotors, Sunday, at Gateway.

    So what’s the reason?

    Well according to Busch’s crew chief, Randall Burnett, a combination of a lack of track data and the choice of rotors.

    “I think people probably came back — I think teams last year came here a little more conservative last year not knowing, and I think we all took data from that and went home and looked,” he said. “We get options on heavy-duty rotors or light-duty rotors, so we can choose that, and we can obviously choose how much cooling we run to them.”

    Last season at Gateway, we had a number of cut tires leading to wrecks. Sunday, you can’t blame Goodyear. Rather, it’s a confluence of factors.

    “It’s kind of a tough place because the straightaways are so long and you’re off the brakes for such a long time, and then you apply them really hard at the end of the straightaway, so the cycles of getting really cool down the straightaways and then really spiking up the heat, it takes a toll on the rotors,” Burnett said.

    Is the answer more practice so we don’t see scary wrecks like we saw with Noah Gragson?

    I don’t know.

    That’s for NASCAR and various factions to decide.

    “I’m sure everybody will take a look at that and try to understand what happened with those cars,” he said.

  • Dominant trucks hand Enfinger Gateway victory in late wreck

    Dominant trucks hand Enfinger Gateway victory in late wreck

    MADISON, Ill. — It was Zane Smith’s race to lose.

    He stayed out to take the lead in the final 30 laps of the Toyota 200 at World Wide Technology Raceway. Even with four new tires, Grant Enfinger wasn’t eating into his lead. Smith’s car was just too strong on medium to long runs.

    But then Lawless Alan threw a monkey wrench into the runaway operation with a spin with 10 laps to go.

    Now it’s anyone’s race.

    With six to go, Ty Majeski powers off Turn 2 and pulls inside of Smith.

    Even down the backstretch.

    Even entering Turn 3.

    Disaster.

    “Low air pressures and we had the splitter bent, got into Turn 3 obviously trying to get ahead of the No. 38, hit the splitter, had to check up, and went up the racetrack,” Majeski said. “Obviously when you go up the racetrack, his side took the air from mine, and I went around and wrecked us both.”

    As a result, Enfinger passed underneath the wreck to retake the lead and drove onto victory.

    “I don’t know if we were just on the limit right there on the end, but I think Ty just did what I did last year to Zane,” Enfinger said.

    Smith spoke to Majeski after the race, both to see if someone got into him and just what his plan was.

    “I saw an interview earlier where at this track he has more experience here than any others,” he said. “He still races like it’s his first time here. We see time and time again that the guy on the bottom has to be a little conservative, and that’s why the leaders always choose the top.”

    Ultimately, it doesn’t hurt either Smith or Majeski, points-wise. Majeski leaves Gateway second, one point behind Corey Heim (who missed Saturday’s race with an illness). Meanwhile, Smith remains fourth, with two wins to book his ticket to the playoffs.

    It doesn’t ease the heartbreaking loss for Smith, however.

    “I mean, I kind of did it to myself staying in this series,” he said. “It is pretty unbelievable how scary some of these guys are. We’ve just had, now, four bad weeks – some self-inflicted, but our day obviously snowballed once we get around some of these guys. It’s just frustrating.”

  • The White Zone: Waivers in NASCAR are a joke

    The White Zone: Waivers in NASCAR are a joke

    MADISON, Ill. — NASCAR, how does this make sense?

    If you slept under a rock, this week, NASCAR parked Chase Elliott, after he intentionally wrecked Denny Hamlin, Monday, at Charlotte Motor Speedway. It was nakedly blatant and the SMT data of the wreck reinforced that.

    NASCAR handled it, correctly. After it suspended Bubba Wallace, last season, for doing the same thing to Kyle Larson at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, it couldn’t not give Elliott the same penalty, without inciting a mutiny in the garage.

    But then NASCAR shot itself in the foot by giving him a waiver.

    So let me get this straight: Elliott’s actions in the Coca-Cola 600 (correctly) warranted a one race suspension, but he’s still playoff-eligible?

    How?!

    The only real penalty, effectively, is he gets one less race to make the playoffs.

    And he’s not the first.

    Johnny Sauter got a waiver, after NASCAR parked him for wrecking Austin Hill under caution at Iowa Speedway in 2019. And while not a wreck, NASCAR suspended Josh Williams for parking his car on track at Atlanta Motor Speedway in March.

    Both received waivers.

    OK, I get that there’s more to a race team than the driver. The pit crew, the crew chief and spotter didn’t put Hamlin in the wall. Furthermore, it’s probably not good for sponsorship, if you penalize the whole team for the actions of one individual.

    And if NASCAR approved all waiver requests, I’d respect that point more.

    With that said, however, the league’s denied waiver requests.

    In fact, at press time, the league’s denied just three request for a playoff waiver.

    Spencer Gallagher’s denial makes sense, but Kaz Grala and Grant Enfinger’s don’t. They were circumstances beyond their control.

    Yet according to the heads in Daytona, substance abuse and missing a race for lack of sponsorship are stronger grounds for a waiver denial than intentionally wrecking another driver.

    So I ask again, NASCAR, how does this make sense?

    For as much flak as NASCAR (rightfully) gets for inconsistent officiating, granting playoff waivers to drivers suspended for intentionally wrecking others is one precedent NASCAR should break.

    And if this isn’t grounds for a waiver denial, then waivers are a joke.

    But at the end of the day, as the late Ed Coombs told me, “It’s their show to **** up.”

    That’s my view, for what it’s worth.

  • Newgarden steals Indy 500 victory

    Newgarden steals Indy 500 victory

    INDIANAPOLIS — Josef Newgarden walked into the DEX Imaging Media Center at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, talking about stocks.

    No, I didn’t make that up.

    “I am into finance,” he said. “I think it’s a great career path. It’s probably something I would be doing if I wasn’t driving cars. It’s kind of as simple as that. I won’t bore everybody, but I love that world. I think it’s super fun.”

    As Newgarden says this, the video screens both in the deadline room and around the track play a highlight package of his Indianapolis 500 victory.

    With one lap to go, Newgarden overtook Marcus Ericsson on the backstretch, using the same move Ericsson used to win in 2022.

    And Newgarden knew exactly how he wanted to celebrate.

    Go up in the stands.

    INDIANAPOLIS – MAY 28: Josef Newgarden, driver of the #2 Shell Chevrolet, celebrates with the fans in the stands, after winning the NTT IndyCar Series Indianapolis 500 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on May 28, 2023, in Indianapolis. Photo: Karl Zemlin/Penske Entertainment

    He parked his car on the yard of bricks, exited his Team Penske Chevrolet and hopped through a crossover gate to celebrate with the fans.

    “Yeah, I knew exactly where the gap was,” he said. “I’d been over there many, many years. I’ve seen that photo, whole spot, and really it’s just like an access point that you can crawl under. It looks like it’s closed but there’s a way to get through. I knew exactly where I was going at the end of this race.”

    He wanted to go higher up, but thought better of it. So he hugged a couple of people and crawled back through the gap.

    “But it was really cool,” he said. “You just can’t beat the Hoosier hospitality, the energy that people bring here. It is second to none when it comes to a sporting event.”

    Meanwhile, his crew channels Helio Castroneves and hangs from the catch fence.

    Visibly crying as his crew wheeled his car to victory lane, he climbed out and followed through the traditional victory lane celebrations, from the wreath to drinking the milk.

    “The milk, I felt good about it,” he said. “It tasted so good. I love milk. I drink a lot of milk. So for me, the Indy 500 is kind of the greatest thing ever. Other people might not like to get milk after. That’s the choice I would have made, too. I love Louis Meyer. I love that he threw that up as a tradition. I’m a big milk guy.”

    Compare this to his 2016 post-race interview, after he finished third. He was dejected, frustrated, and in despair.

    Now, the newest Indianapolis 500 champion talked about how fascinated he is with finances.

    FULL DISCLOSURE: I asked him what fascinates him about finances.

    When Newgarden’s press conference wrapped up, he put the wreath back on and turned his focus to the rest of the season. As well as getting Roger Penske his 20th Indy 500 victory, next season.

    “I put my hand on his shoulder in Victory Lane and said, ‘Now we got to get 20,’” he said. “He was the first one to go, ‘Absolutely.’ He didn’t even take a breath. He was ahead of me in the thought process, as you know.

    “He’s eyes forward. It will be important. We need to come back. There’s still areas we can be better, so we’ll go and analyze after this weekend and see where we can improve. But we’ll come back ready to fight and get No. 20 for him.”

  • Graham Rahal: ‘It’s certainly very very different’

    Graham Rahal: ‘It’s certainly very very different’

    INDIANAPOLIS — Graham Rahal entered the North Chataeu Pavillion at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He sat at the interview table in the back of the room and kicked out his feet until the toes of his shoes poked out of the cloth.

    Virtually every reporter gathered around and craned their necks to hear every word he’d say. And why wouldn’t they? After all, just four days earlier, teammate Jack Harvey bumped him out of the Indianapolis 500.

    But then Rahal received a call.

    “I will say that there was a part of me that thought it wasn’t right, and that I was just going to accept that I wasn’t racing and I was going to move forward and move into kind of a different phase and my mental process and the way the rest of my week was going to be,” he said.

    One day after Harvey bumped out Rahal, Stefan Wilson pounded the wall in Turn 1 and injured his back. And Rahal was the first choice of Dreyer and Reinbold Racing team owner, Dennie Reinbold.

    Instead of watching at home, Rahal finds himself in a “very very different” situation.

    Those differences range from a different manufacturer to the fit of gloves.

    “Obviously, the engine is different,” he said. “The brakes feel different, like the way the button, everything feels different. The way the end, the buttons feel, too, thumbs to the gloves is different. There’s a lot that goes into that.”

    He asked questions about input to the car but felt it wasn’t his place to push the issue. He feels he’s here to “fill out a big void for the weekend.”

    Moreover, for one race, he transitions from helping his Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing teammates to racing against them. He is, however, excited for the opportunity.

    “I know they’ve had very strong cars. But the mentality is different. My job is turned from maybe a team leader to a guy that wants to go win this thing again. Not that it ever went away, but clearly, I have a chance now that I didn’t, Monday afternoon.”

    If Sunday’s his day, the final practice Friday didn’t reflect it. He clocked in 30th, over half a second back of Takuma Sato.

  • Palou drives away from field at Indy

    Palou drives away from field at Indy

    INDIANAPOLIS — With eight laps to go, it was Alex Palou’s race to lose.

    The 2021 NTT IndyCar Series champion led 52 of the 85 laps to win the GMR Indy Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

    “We knew we had a fast car honestly since practice, since we were all off the trailers,” he said. “The car was really, really good. I was comfortable. We missed a little bit on pole, yesterday, but we knew we had a fast car.”

    It’s his fifth career IndyCar victory and first since the season-finale at Laguna Seca in 2022.

    “Yeah, every win is special, honestly,” he said. “We’ve been close here. We had little bit of bad luck. I know in ’21 we had a failure when we were going for the fight for the win at the end. It was the first race that everything came perfectly, the strategy, the tires, the speed of the car, myself obviously.

    “Super proud. It’s a special place. You can feel that in the car just with the fans that we had already since practice one. There’s something about this place obviously. Even if it’s not the big one, it’s still special.

    “So super proud of the first win of the season, first win with the American Legion, as well, and first win at the IMS. Couldn’t be better.”

    Pato O’Ward had fresh red tires, but couldn’t overcome a 10-second gap before he reached his tires’ crossover lap and finished runner-up, 16 seconds behind.

    “Super stoked for the team,” he said. “We put three cars in the top-five. Fricking hard to do in this series with how competitive it is. Just stoked for everybody in the organization, for our 5 crew.

    “We made our strategy really work, right? I just think today Palou and Ganassi were very, very strong, so we couldn’t quite get them there in the end.

    “Historically this hasn’t been the best of tracks for us. So this is awesome to see just the massive step forward we’ve taken here in race pace. Super happy to see that.

    “Rolling with some great momentum into our Super Bowl.”

    Alexander Rossi rounded out the podium, after he overtook Christian Lundgaard into Turn 7 with 10 to go.

    “Like Pato said, to get three cars in the top-five is near on impossible these days,” he said. “Arrow McLaren has done a phenomenal job all year. You can’t talk about how challenging it is to add a car in the off-season. They’ve done it with relative apparent ease. There’s a lot of work behind the scenes.

    “Really proud to get the first podium for the team, the first one as part of Team Chevy. It was a good day. We’ve had a really strong pace on Sundays, we just haven’t gotten the results that we feel like we deserve. We’re missing a little bit on Saturdays.

    “The pieces are coming together. I’ve got an awesome team, awesome teammates around me.”

    Pole sitter Christian Lundgaard and Felix Rosenqvist rounded out the top-five.

    Scott Dixon, Josef Newgarden, Marcus Ericsson, Colton Herta and Graham Rahal rounded out the top-10.

    Race summary

    INDIANAPOLIS – MAY 13: Alex Palou races Felix Rosenqvist, during the NTT IndyCar Series GMR Indy Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on May 13, 2023, in Indianapolis. Photo: Simon Scoggins/SpeedwayMedia.com

    Lundgaard led the field to green at 3:46 p.m. ET. He and Palou touched in Turn 1, but Palou overtook him in Turn 13 to lead the first lap.

    “We knew starting on the alternates we needed to go hard and try and get the lead as fast as possible,” Palou said. “I think the alternates had two, three laps that they were a lot better. Afterwards, you kind of got stuck behind.

    “I tried in Turn 1. He went really aggressive. It was right, it was perfect what he did, but yeah, I wanted it to be something easier (smiling). We were able to get it on the last corner. That was good.”

    Rahal contacted someone also, and dropped through the field. On Lap 7, Will Power drove Kyle Kirkwood wide into Turn 1. Entering Turn 2, Kirkwood turned him. IndyCar gave him an avoidable contact penalty and he dropped seven spots, behind Power.

    By Lap 15, Palou hit the crossover point on his red tires and Lundgaard cut the gap by over a second in three laps. Palou pitted from the lead on Lap 18. Lundgaard stayed out for two laps, before changing over to reds on Lap 20. Palou cycled ahead, but Lundgaard ran him down and overtook him down Hulman Boulevard on Lap 24.

    Meanwhile, Rahal inherited the lead, thanks to multiple stops from his Lap 1 hit. By Lap 30, however, Lundgaard chewed half a second a lap into his lead, and Rahal pitted from the lead on Lap 31.

    Lundgaard’s reds hit their crossover lap on Lap 37. After that, Palou on blacks ate into his lead and overtook him into Turn 1 for the lead on Lap 42. Before he crossed the start/finish line, Lundgaard pitted from second for used reds. Meanwhile, Palou followed suit on Lap 43, but took sticker blacks.

    Lundgaard pitted from third on Lap 60 for sticker blacks. Palou responded a lap later, but took used blacks. He cycled out ahead of Lundgaard, on new blacks, and O’Ward, on fresh reds.

    This set up the run to the finish.

    What else happened

    Entering Turn 7 on Lap 2, Romain Grosjean clipped David Malukas, who spun into Sting Ray Robb.

    That was the only caution of the race.

    Nuts and bolts

    The race lasted one hour, 47 minutes and 57 seconds, at an average speed of 115.234 mph. There were 12 lead changes among eight different drivers, and one caution for three laps.

    Palou kicks off the Month of May with a six-point lead over O’Ward.

  • Why IndyCar and IMS continue Indy 500 blackout

    Why IndyCar and IMS continue Indy 500 blackout

    INDIANAPOLIS — It’s that time of year, again. The IndyCar teams leave their shops on Main Street and pull into the racing capital of the world for the centerpiece of the NTT IndyCar Series calendar, the Indianapolis 500. Penske Entertainment Corp. president and CEO, Mark Miles, and Indianapolis Motor Speedway track president, Doug Boles, kicked off the Month of May at the Brickyard, Saturday, by unveiling an environmental initiative to make the 2023 edition “the most sustainable on record.”

    For all that IndyCar and IMS changed for 2023, however, one tradition lingers: The Indy 500 local blackout.

    Why the blackout?

    INDIANAPOLIS – MAY 13: (l to r) Mark Miles, Doug Boles and Glenn Johnson speak to the media during the NTT IndyCar Series GMR Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on May 13, 2023, in Indianapolis. Photo: Tucker White/SpeedwayMedia.com

    While the rest of the United States sees the Indianapolis 500 live, the NBC affiliate blacks it out for its namesake city and airs it later that day, in primetime, to incentivize locals to pack the grandstands. This practice started in 1986 and continues to this day, except for 2016 (sellout for 100th Indy 500), 2020 and 2021 (COVID restrictions). Meanwhile, NASCAR doesn’t blackout races for the local markets. Not even for its crown jewel race, the Daytona 500.

    So why does IndyCar and IMS continue this tradition? It’s a question Miles has had many times over many years.

    “We have to get people here as they have been here in growing numbers for many, many years,” he said. “We’re really clear-minded about the fact that for us, attendance is first, and this spectacle emanates from the vibe here on race day with 300,000 plus people here. I think that’s unique.”

    Unlike NASCAR, where tracks get 65% of its $6.6 billion TV deal, IndyCar doesn’t make those numbers public. How much IndyCar and the track rely on ticket sales, vs. the league’s TV deal, is unknown. And that doesn’t include how much the teams and drivers get from the TV deal the league signed in 2021.

    So there might be a financial rationale to continue the practice.

    “We think this is a unique event,” he said. “With all due respect, and I mean with complete respect to our friends at NASCAR, at Indianapolis for the 500, we sell as many tickets in the 500 hours after this race, renewals, as they have at the Daytona 500 in total by the time they run the race. And that is in no way meant to be — like I said, we have complete respect for them. It is meant to emphasize how important attendance is to us, to the success of this event.”

    Of course, NASCAR doesn’t disclose how many tickets its tracks, Speedway Motorsports Inc., Indianapolis, Pocono Raceway or World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway sold, unless it’s a sellout. So I can’t verify the veracity of Miles’ statement on ticket renewals, compared to Daytona.

    Bottom line

    At the end of the day, IndyCar and IMS see a financial incentive to continue the local media blackout. Unlike NASCAR, however, IndyCar hasn’t struggled to pack the stands for its events.

    “We also, I think, have demonstrated over the last few years that when getting people here is not an issue,” Miles said, “either because it’s COVID and we can’t bring anybody here, or because the number of people that could come were limited and we were definitely going to have that total here, then we do open it up. We like the idea that people can take it in, whether it’s linear or streaming.

    “But for now, that’s our rationale, and it’s important to us.”

  • Chastain and Gragson trade blows on pit road

    Chastain and Gragson trade blows on pit road

    What started as a heated discussion devolved into a punching match.

    As Denny Hamlin celebrated his victory, Sunday, in the Advent Health 400, Noah Gragson approached Ross Chastain to chew him out. He grabbed him and the talk continued, until Chastain connected with his left cheek.

    “There’s no talking to the guy,” Gragson told Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports, after the scuffle.

    It ceased just as quickly as it started, after multiple officials swarmed them both to break up the fight.

    “Sucks that they all get involved,” he said. “Just let us two work it out and finish it off.”

    This stems from an incident during the race, in which Chastain put Gragson into the wall off Turn 4. Based on Gragson’s comments, post-race, it happened somewhere between Lap 200 and 210.

    “Yeah, definitely crowded him up off of (Turn) 4, and he took a swipe at us in 3, and then he came down and grabbed a hold of me, and a very big man once told me we have a no-push policy here at Trackhouse,” Chastain said.

    Gragson adds his name to the growing list of drivers displeased with Chastain’s aggressive style of racing. Most famous of which is Hamlin, who spent several laps, last season, at Gateway to put on some fun-dumb racing with him. Then again at The Clash and climaxed a few weeks later at Phoenix.

    As for Gragson, it wasn’t the first time, either.

    “He did the same thing after Talladega on the plane and nothing happened,” Chastain told Jeff Gluck of The Athletic.

    Only this time, Gragson was tired of nobody confronting Chastain.

    “The guy just runs into everyone,” he said. “When you’ve got guys like Chase Elliott saying, ‘Go beat his ass,’ everyone is sick and tired of him and nobody has the balls to go up and get him.”

    What repercussions this leads to for Chastain, down the road, only time will tell. For now, however, he leaves Kansas with a 27-point lead over Christopher Bell.