ANATOMY OF A NAP

Time to own up to a stinker of a race.

As Formula 1 has put the world to sleep during its two opening races of 2024 with its new-for-2022 car regulations that were supposed to create closer racing (and has done the exact opposite), we’ve laughed at their snoozefests while telling everyone who’ll listen that the real racing is about to start when the IndyCar season gets underway in St. Petersburg.

And then we put people to sleep as Josef Newgarden and Team Penske did their best Max Verstappen and Red Bull impression by grabbing pole, leading practically the entire race, and storming off into the distance in a processional contest that mirrored F1 in all the wrong ways.

Newgarden led 92 of 100 laps, with Christian Lundgaard — on an alternate strategy after pitting to replace a deflated tire on the first lap — taking six laps, so if you adjust for that anomaly, Newgarden essentially led 99 of the 100.

So what happened to cause the Boredom Grand Prix? Two items stand out more than anything else, starting with Firestone’s tires.

HARDER HYBRID

There’s no blame to point in Firestone’s direction here. It did as it was asked in developing harder tires to deal with the big increase in vehicle weight with IndyCar going hybrid to open the season. With the heavier full-hybrid cars due to race at St. Petersburg and all of the races on the 2024 calendar, Firestone made harder tires that would survive while being punished by that extra mass. And then IndyCar pulled the plug on going hybrid for the first half of the season, but it was too late for Firestone to help.

That decision was made after Firestone produced its tires, meaning teams spent the weekend with lighter cars — about 31 pounds below last year’s specifications, due to new lightweight components that are meant to offset some of the energy recovery system’s bulk — on tires that weren’t designed for the lighter machines.

The mismatch of lighter cars on harder tires made it more difficult to get those tires to ‘turn on’ during the start and restarts, and that made passing a serious challenge for those who were on the hardest tire, Firestone’s primary. At the most opportune point where firing down the inside of Turn 1 or Turn 3 to make a pass was presented, drivers often found there wasn’t enough grip to get aggressive.

“Definitely the tires are stiffer, and you feel that,” Colton Herta told RACER. “And they do take longer to come in than normal, which is why I think you saw me and Felix [Rosenqvist] and a couple of other guys get eaten up on those restarts by drivers on the (slightly softer) alternates.

“I think of 2021 where I was leading, and Josef [Newgarden] was behind me, and I was on primaries and he was on alternates, but I was able to hold him off because they came in quicker. It was tough, but I was able to hold him off. But once these got up to their operating window, they can be somewhat similar. It’s obviously not ideal to have tires that aren’t meant for this package because I think it dulls the racing a little bit. Firestone got stuck between a rock and a hard place.”

CONCERNS AND CONTEXT

The real concern for me is the amazing crowd that showed up to watch a truly uninspiring contest. You hope those new and curious fans weren’t driven away from returning next year, because this was a anomaly for IndyCar.

We all wanted IndyCar to put on a thriller to launch the season into the stratosphere, especially after Penske Entertainment spent most of the off-season pooping the bed or being hammered for its shortcomings. A great palate cleanser is what we hoped for, but we didn’t get it. And that’s fine.

There’s a reason why they hold 17 or 18 races per year, because they can’t all be masterpieces of drama and thrills.

RESPECT

Colin Braun’s introduction to IndyCar was a genuine baptism by fire after his Dale Coyne Racing team managed to set themselves and his No. 51 Honda aflame during a midrace pit stop.

Undeterred, Braun powered away from his pit box with the left-rear of the car – spinning tire as well – engulfed in flames. The Texan reported feeling the heat over his shoulder, but that was nothing compared to his young refueler, Gavin Nielsen, who was set alight in the incident.

Catching fire would be the point where most human beings tap out and walk away, but Nielsen isn’t like most people. After he was extinguished and determined to be unharmed, Nielsen was approached by IndyCar technical director Kevin Blanch, who informed him that in order to continue refueling Braun’s car, a fresh and unburned firesuit would be needed.

With those instructions delivered, Nielsen sprinted — with his refueling helmet on — down the full length of pit lane, to the Coyne transporter, ripped his old firesuit off, jumped into its replacement, and sprinted back to the No. 51’s pit stall near pit-in and was ready to resume his duties.

If you see Nielsen at an upcoming race, bring him some ice cream or something cool to drink. He deserves it.

YEAH NO ON FP1

IndyCar’s attempt to keep more cars on track and give drivers more uncluttered time during Friday’s 75-minute opening practice session was an experiment. Based on the feedback from drivers, engineers, and team owners, it was almost universally panned. If IndyCar bases its decision on continuing to trial the 10-minutes-on-10-minutes-off format using what the paddock has to say, I don’t think we’ll see it return at Long Beach.

QUIET TITLE DEFENSE FOR PALOU

Reigning IndyCar champion Alex Palou, along with his five-car Chip Ganassi Racing team, had a quiet start to the season with Marcus Armstrong posting its best qualifying performance in 10th. Armstrong also led the team in the race until he crashed on his own, and from there, it was Palou who came to life and motored from 13th to sixth. Granted, the Spaniard was 11.8 second behind Newgarden at the checkered flag, which is an eternity on a small 1.8-mile track.

As much as it felt like Palou got off to a slow defense of his championship, I was reminded he crossed the line eighth at St. Pete in 2023 and went on to do just fine in the Drivers’ standings.

SOLID FOUNDATIONS AND HEAD SCRATCHERS

After Penske, there was a raft filled with teams who left Florida wondering what went wrong in their attempt to flex at Race 1. Arrow McLaren was closest to the Penske drivers, but Pato O’Ward ran second with Newgarden 7.9 second up the road — also an eternity.

Andretti Global, one of the street course darlings of 2023, were in good shape with Marcus Ericsson until his engine’s air intake swallowed some debris and starved the Honda motor of oxygen, and Colton Herta did well to place fifth, first Honda home, but there was a deficit of 10.2 seconds to the winner. We’ve already touched on Ganassi, and then there were some nice surprises like Meyer Shank Racing vying for pole with Felix Rosenqvist and finishing seventh after being slowed by a pit stop and some technical issues. Juncos Hollinger Racing was stronger than ever throughout the weekend and had a solid finish in sight until Romain Grosjean nerfed Linus Lundqvist into the wall and then had his gearbox fail.

Rinus VeeKay and Ed Carpenter Racing also made their presence felt and established a good foundation to build upon after placing 10th.

The one mystery of the weekend which, unfortunately, has become an annual mystery at St. Pete, was Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. Who had rookie Pietro Fittipaldi, who started 26th, as the first RLL driver to cross the finish line in 15th? Possibly the most surprising aspect of RLL’s event was Christian Lundgaard limping into the Fast 12 on Saturday and earning 12th.

Graham Rahal, who must have angered the God of Braking in a former life, was beset with stopping issues, and as a whole, RLL’s lack of competitiveness was as shocking as Penske’s dominance.

In terms of the 10 teams competing at the opening race, RLL was eighth in the pecking order regarding where their top driver finished. With the series reconvening the weekend after next at The Thermal Club, and then Long Beach and Barber in April, it’s going to be a lot of late nights and early mornings for them and the other nine teams who were nowhere close to matching Penske.