Latest news with #IndyCarSeries'
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Detroit Grand Prix: Narrow course causing trouble during practice laps
If you've ever gotten stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic downtown, the drivers in the Detroit Grand Prix are feeling your pain. During the first practice session for the IndyCar Series' Detroit Grand Prix on Friday, May 30 — the first time these racers drove on the 2025 course before Sunday's big race — IndyCar veteran Will Power latched onto the back of Kyle Kirkwood's car and pushed him through turns 5 and 6 in front of the Renaissance Center. It was an unconventional move, especially during a practice session, but Kirkwood had a quick explanation for Power's behavior: Advertisement "The track's not big enough to fit all the cars, and he got frustrated." Whether Power agrees with that is debatable — Power said he was just trying to "find a gap" — but it does mirror what many drivers are saying about the Detroit course: There's very little space to maneuver. At just under 1.7 miles in length, the course at the Detroit Grand Prix is the shortest street course on the IndyCar circuit. It's also narrower than many street courses, especially at the turns, giving these drivers very little space and room for error. "What makes it difficult here is it's such a short track. We have 27 cars going on a 1.6-mile track. It doesn't really add up," said Christian Lundgaard, who drives for Arrow McLaren. "It's frustrating, but at the end of the day, it's the same for everyone." Advertisement A.J. Foyt Racing's David Malukas was driving in front of the latch-on moment between Power and Kirkwood (though he initially thought it was Marcus Ericsson that Power had latched onto instead of Kirkwood) and said it was like something out of a film: Team Penske's Will Power enters Turn 2 as NTT IndyCar Series drivers compete during Detroit Grand Prix in downtown Detroit on Sunday, June 2, 2024. THE NEXT GENERATION: Grosse Pointe Indy NXT driver Nolan Allaer coming home for the Detroit Grand Prix "I couldn't believe it. I was very confused at the start. I thought, like, something was wrong with Ericsson, and Power was towing him across, like the 'Cars' movie." Malukas also spoke about how quickly the track can turn from wide to narrow: "I'll be surprised if there's not going to be a yellow (flag) for this race," he said. "Turn 1, it's very wide on entry and it looks inviting. And then all of a sudden it gets very, very tight on exit. And it happens a lot around this track." Advertisement In addition to the encounter between Power and Kirkwood, the practice session saw a collision from Juncos Hollinger racer Sting Ray Robb, whose front tires locked up as he glided softly into the tire barrier at Turn 1. Reigning Indianapolis 500 champion Álex Palou also turned out into a safe area when experiencing difficulties on the track, choosing to preserve his car instead of risking a wreck later on. It's not just the narrowness of the course that these drivers have to navigate. During a luncheon on Thursday, May 29, Detroit Grand Prix chair Bud Denker compared the difficulties of Detroit's track to a similar street course on the IndyCar circuit: "The Long Beach Grand Prix is almost the same distance as our race here. There are seven manhole covers on the Long Beach Grand Prix race track. We have 215." Though Denker says the Grand Prix has worked to try to smooth out the course's roughest edges, including those 215 manhole covers, the track has already played a big part in a dust-up two days before the big race starts. Advertisement Power appeared to smile when he reviewed the footage of his car pushing Kirkwood's during the practice lap. But Kirkwood, who finished with the fastest time among all drivers during the practice session, had the last laugh: "I'm not upset. I don't care," he said. "We had damage from that, too, so maybe we (could have been) a little bit faster." You can reach Christian at cromo@ This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Narrow course causes issue during practice laps at Detroit Grand Prix
Yahoo
19-03-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Thermal Club Race Is Big 'Guesstimate' for IndyCar Drivers
Event in Mojave Desert morphs from exhibition to 'real race'. Alexander Rossi, who was pushing for it to be an official event, is happy to get his wish but fully aware that it won't be easy to perform well there. Alex Palou, last year's $1 Million Challenge winner, hopes to stay on a roll after season-opening victory at St. Petersburg. A year ago, Southern California's Thermal Club was a mysterious enclave, even to knowledgeable racing fans. With the NTT IndyCar Series' $1 Million Challenge exhibition, it emerged into mainstream awareness as an elite automotive playground surrounded by custom villas and homes, luxury fitness opportunities, and fine dining options. This year—this weekend—it's officially on America's premier open-wheel series calendar with the same Twin Palms layout and the same 3.067-mile (4.82-km) track and its 19 challenging turns. But it has a fresh format that will dare drivers to master its demanding sweeps, tight corners, long straights, and elevation changes, while trying to battle each other. And veteran racer Alexander Rossi, whose Long Beach Grand Prix in three weeks will be his 150th career start, said he's '100%' pleased this visit to the Mojave Desert oasis will be a points-paying event. 'There's no reason why it shouldn't be. I was one of the proponents last year to make it a championship race,' the newest Ed Carpenter Racing driver said. 'I would say it makes way more sense for it to be a real race versus what we did last year. It's obviously more open to the fans this year, as well. I think that was one of the big hurdles to overcome in terms of having an IndyCar event, is you obviously don't have an IndyCar event behind closed doors: 2020 is far behind us. We don't want to revisit that. 'It has every aspect that a track would need to have to be a proper event on the calendar,' Rossi said. 'I'm looking forward to seeing the kind of show and racing it can produce.' Reigning series champion Alex Palou, winner at the March 2 street-course season-opener at St. Petersburg, Fla., took the Thermal trophy last season. And Rossi and his other rivals will have to adapt to a list of changes from the last stop here if they are to halt Palou's march toward a third straight title and fourth in five years. Rossi said, 'We had a test there in '23, and we had the Million Dollar Challenge thing, whatever you want to call it, last year, which was obviously a unique format and pretty different to a normal race weekend. You're not going to see people, i.e., myself and Colton [Herta] driving around 15 seconds off the pace to try to save tires. 'It's one of the longer tracks we go to. It's got a huge mix of corners. It doesn't obviously have the history of a Road America, but it's got a lot of the same characteristics in terms of you get a little bit of everything,' he said. 'It's pretty condition-sensitive, as well. It's in the middle of the desert, so dust can play a pretty big role in the overall ultimate lap time you're going to get during the session. Then, in addition to that, last year we were there without the hybrid. We were there with the alternate tires, obviously without pit stops. 'You have an idea of the corners that are the most challenging, the areas of the track where you can win or lose the most amount of lap time. The hybrid [engine] is a big X-factor in terms of it's not necessarily plug-and-play with preexisting setups. That's an unknown. Firestone this year is bringing different tires to all these events to create a bigger separation between the primary and the alternates. That's an unknown. You can take the fundamental concept of the track and apply it to this year. In terms of all the finer details, everyone is going to be kind of experiencing it for the first time,' Rossi said. Although drivers are familiar with the track's basics, 'all of us are going into Sunday kind of with a guesstimate of what the race is going to be like.' And that's perfectly fine with him. 'Those types of events are super-exciting because there's really no preconceived notion who is going to be strong, what's worked before. It's really anyone's ballgame in terms of having success come Sunday afternoon.'
Yahoo
29-01-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Cleanup 'finally' begins at St. Pete's Albert Whitted Airport months after hurricanes
The Brief Cleanup is underway at St. Pete's Albert Whitted Airport months after back-to-back hurricanes. The city approved a $1.1 million contract earlier this month. The cleanup effort comes weeks ahead of the Firestone Grand Prix. ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Four months after Hurricanes Helene and Milton brought catastrophic flooding and wind damage to Florida's Gulf coast, cleanup is now underway at St. Petersburg's public airport. In a Facebook post on Monday, Friends of Albert Whitted Airport shared an image of an excavator removing debris from one of the airport's hangars, captioned, "Today the cleanup of the 32 destroyed hangars on Albert Whitted airport began today …… finally!!" When asked whether the hangars would be rebuilt, longtime flight instructor Jack Tunstill replied, "City (of St. Petersburg) has no money to rebuild them. They are hoping insurance and/or FEMA helps. FAA does not normally fund hangars. The $1.1 million contract with Biltmore Construction is for damage removal and repairs to the hangars that are not a tangled mess." The backstory The contract was approved by the city in early January. At the time, Walt Driggers, executive director of Friends of Albert Whitted Airport, expressed frustration over the delayed response. What they're saying "It has looked the same way for three months," Driggers told FOX 13 News. "We're really frustrated that it took so long to get just the cleanup done so that people can access it here." "There are so many people that use them for their businesses. (The delayed cleanup) has taken a big toll on them, and some people just can't do their business. They're having to drive or whatever because their airplanes have been locked in these hangars for months." Big picture view Friends of Albert Whitted Airport is described as a group with a mission to 'advocate and support the organizations at AWA dedicated to the safety, security, rescue, and recovery of the St. Pete community.' CLICK HERE:>>>Follow FOX 13 on YouTube The most pressing among these concerns is safety. According to the Tampa Bay Times, one pilot based at Albert Whitted reported that unremoved storm debris nearly killed a colleague in late December. 'He noted recent wind gusts blew a twisted steel beam off a damaged hangar that almost struck a person standing next to an aircraft preparing for takeoff,' the newspaper reported. The cleanup efforts are beginning with mere weeks to go before the Firestone Grand Prix takes over downtown St. Pete, with the IndyCar Series' 1.8-mile, 14-turn temporary circuit extending onto the runways at the airport. According to a current profile on the airport, Albert Whitted has a total economic impact of more than $128 million and supports approximately 948 jobs along with more than 100,000 annual aircraft operations. A total of 180 aircraft are based at the site. The Source This story was written with information collected by FOX 13's Matthew McClellan. STAY CONNECTED WITH FOX 13 TAMPA: Download the FOX Local app for your smart TV Download FOX Local mobile app: Apple | Android Download the FOX 13 News app for breaking news alerts, latest headlines Download the SkyTower Radar app Sign up for FOX 13's daily newsletter Follow FOX 13 on YouTube
