“Start your engines” at 42:41
Green flag at 49:10
Chequered flag at 2:53:27
well hello and welcome to Sky Sports F1 Sky Indie Car Coverage my name is Tom Gore and I’m going to be talking you through all the action here from the Firestone gr PRI of Monteray as The Paddock rolls into Central California this WeatherTech Raceway is a circuit that all the drivers relish an FIA great two listed circuit repaved Midway through 2023 and that has caused all kinds of different challenges and tensions for the engineers and the drivers and if we look back at last year’s race when there were eight caution periods tying a track record set in 2001 and warm up today and some of the spins we’ve seen throughout the weekend it is still tricky offline but lots of grip online and there’s one driver who has found all of that grip and a little bit more this Circuit of course nicknamed The House of hter well could it be Poo’s Palace by the end of today Alex poo dominant in yesterday’s qualifying session he’s been on the podium at all three visits to this Monteray circuit and his record speaks for itself he was very unlucky last year he laed about 51 laps but it was Scott Dixon his teammate in the chip gassie car that sprinkled the Dixie dust on Victory Lane with one of those iconic Scott Dixon drives where he just cruised over the line with fumes in that fuel tank will he be able to do that today and what will the strategy look like we saw five six stops last year but traditionally this is a three stopper and there is lots of talk over the two Tire compounds as there so often is in this NT Indie Car Paddock the primary Tire the black side wall tire and of course the alternate red side wall tire they have to use both those compounds and we’re just not sure what the degradation looks like and whether or not the Reds will go the distance and or be the tire to be on so everything points at a black race at the moment but that can change in an incident or incident I should say as I see someone just playing a bit of American football there in the bottom right hand corner of your screen so a little bit of housekeeping it’s been quite the week in the Indie Car Paddock Silly Season in full swing yet again and it is the number six Arrow McLaren car that everyone has been talking about Teo porcher taking over that seat signed for the rest of the season after calot’s Indie five 100 Venture in that car only to be replaced this weekend for the rest of the season by Nolan seagull who’s freshh from his lmp2 victory in uh Lamont France last weekend but nobody saw that coming apart from Zack Brown and of course Gavin Ward at Arrow McLaren and Teo poror chair himself didn’t see that coming because he’ put on his Instagram that he was looking forward to this weekend only to be sidelined and benched at the last minute so Nolan seagull in those papaya colors for the rest of the season and there he is the youngster who has competed in well listen to this grueling stretch he’s competed in three different race cars in the next NT indie car and lmp2 sports cars for five different race teams uh across four states and two countries recently so that’s Nolan seagull’s schedule quite the uh quite the feat for a youngster a teenager and uh we will keep you updated with his progress and how he gets on and where T po may end up he’s still looking for rides having lost his seat this weekend in this Indie Car Paddock Augie canapino returns in the yunos Hollinger machine of course they go well here camalot was on the front row in 2022 Roman Gran’s gone well had a bit of beef with Santino fuchi in warm up what would an indie car weekend be without beef between Roman groon and Santino fuchi on track and of course Little Dave is back David malucas returns make your debut back after such a long time out of the car well the driver being introduced on screen and the action is heating up here in the Monteray Sunshine there is Santino fuchi who was sidelined in warmup earlier for his misdemeanor with Roman groel we don’t want to see a repeat of that come the [Music] [Music] [Applause] race here’s lenus list and uh that is the chip ganassi rookie he was on pole last time out at Road America had a real incident with Marcus Armstrong down at turn one which took both the chip gassie youngsters out of contention that race eventually won by that man will power and if you look at his record here at this lagona circuit lagona sea circuit you would think that he would have been higher up in qualifying likewise that man Joseph Newen but Pensky with all the pace that they’ve shown on the road Street courses this year they just weren’t at it yesterday and it’s strange to see the team that has won more races than any other team around this circuit not being able to compete with the big Honda hitters as qualifying played out it was Alex poo and the andreti cars Kirkwood Colton hurter Felix rosenquist in there as well that stole the show in terms of the fast six you have to go way back to 2000 for team Pensky last win although they have one here six times more than any other team other team chip ganassi with four wins here there’s the man of the moment David MCAS he’ll be a little bit nervous about how that hand holds out don’t forget no power steering here in Indie cup so you’ve really got to work on your Fitness there’s there’s no there’s no uh substitute for the match Fitness that you get from being in the car there’s limited testing you get no testing and so very very difficult for David MCAS to really prove to himself that he’s got the match Fitness he’ll be mindful as this race goes on don’t forget it is 95 laps around this circuit Scott Dixon last year’s winner in the PNC Bank chip ganassi racing Honda he’ll be looking for a repeat of that this year if you look at the championship very tightly matched Scott Dixon third in the points now P Ward the next to be introduced this is close to his home race as you get I think he’s got his own fan area here for this circuit this lagona safe circuit and there’s Roman gron who qualified very well in his Yos Hollinger car in the end just missing out on the far six eighth in the end always unhappy is Roman gr gral the good ranchers car driven by Scotty Mack talking of beef he had a little bit of a a spat with TK on X this week where there was uh a little bit of tongue and cheek chat between the pair of them and uh a lot of the fans looking on on that thread pretty spicy Christian lard he holds the keys for the rest of the city season alongside Alexander Rossy where will those two end up they’re the last of the two big hitters to fit into to the jigsaw puzzle if you like Zack Brown said that that contract getting closer with Alexander Rossy and if you look at the revolving door in the six car and his pacing qualifying yesterday Rossy of course the top Chevy and the top Arrow McLaren car in qualifying yesterday the only one to make it through to the far six I think you’d be surprised to see Alexander Rossy go anywhere else of course Prema the big team with opportunities and seats to fill at the moment but will lard uh Alexander Rossy look anywhere other than where they are at the moment Felix RH and Quist he’s finding himself a new home at mayor shank this year doing a fabulous job in qualifying certainly he heads up the second row as we look at the R down to turn one Carl Kirkwood he’ll be looking to put Alex poo Under Pressure the andreti global driver on the front row alongside the chip gassi driver poo and if anyone’s going to stop poo today he going to have to come early on that challenge to try and get ahead of poo passing is difficult here so that is one real advantage to anyone trying to win this race they’ve got to try and get past poo and see if they can hold him off in terms of the undercut in the pit stop sequence well the first half of June was busy for all the NT indie car drivers the completion of five consecutive weeks on track followed by a midweek hybrid test at Milwaukee a private test at Nashville Super Speedway and of course poo Dixon groan seagull and others off in uh Lamont last weekend so no rest for them what a season it’s been so far six different winners in the last 10 NT Indie Car Series races six winners in the first seven NT Indie Car Series races in 2024 Alex poo already with a win under his belt at the in the Grand Prix of course on the road circuit there before the 500 pretty dominant at thermal as well but that a non-points race that race the second race of the Year splitting the St Pete race and the Long Beach races after the L of the Texas super speedway quite a lot of the fans making their way to one of the most famous Corners in Motorsport the corkscrew and why do they do that well it’s not just for the breakfast burritos and the pub up there it’s for all that cover the trees I got a text from someone going today earlier and he said I’ll be off at the court screw because it’s the only place where you’ll get some shade and for the fans that have been here all day so far this California Sunshine baking down on this newly paved last year asphalt Circuit of course 2.3 28 miles 180 ft in elevation and that’s right the way up to the peak that the corks grew before they come downhill through rainy curve turn nine and then into turn 10 rainy curve and then the bank turn 10 are really going to test the likes of David malucas and the fitness of that wrist and this the 27th indie car race at the weather tech Raceway lagona sea just the fifth since 2004 it’s wonderful to have this circuit back on the calendar of course Scott Dixon Alex pelo Colton Hur the only former winners entered in this year’s race and they did like to double up here Colton hurter the only one with two so he’s going for the Triple and if you look at where he is in the championship down to seventh after three very difficult weekends okay he was sixth last weekend but it’s a story of what could have been for Colton hter at Road America and then of course his mistake at the Indie 500 and what went wrong at Detroit caught off strategy with the rain and then made that mistake offline and he’s been bitterly disappointed with those three position or those three races and the positions he’s finished highest paid driver on the grid of course now Colton hurter andreetti glob having secured his services for the years to come what else is there to talk about of course this is the last race without the hybrid powert trins so what we’ve seen so far over the years the same engine will now have the addition of the hybrid technology so they’re going to keep the 2.2 L twin turbocharge V6 engine that will be paired with the hybrid unit from Mid Ohio onwards and of course Mid Ohio the next race on this NT Indie Car calendar that’s coming up for you live in a couple of weeks and then we’re back on the ovals for Rounds 10 and 11 of 17 it’ll be Iowa then we head to Toronto Canada for round 12 back to another oval Gateway for round 13 then it’s Portland a double header back at the Milwaukee Mile and then the Nashville Super Speedway to round the calendar off and when you talk of ovals you think of Joseph New Garden when you think of Joseph New Garden and where he is in the championship eighth he needs to cash in he needs to go big when we start getting back on those ovals to make this season count to make his championship campaign come alive of course he lost that win earlier on in the season after the push to pass Saga and that really hurt him and the momentum he had and then a bad weekend at Detroit but bounced back last weekend good result in Road America an even better result for his teammate will power who was back in Victory Lane after a considerable am out of time he now leads the championship ahead of poo and Scott Dixon Pau award in fourth there some big hitters up there it’s incredibly close and it’s going to be very very close here at Laguna sea as well once we go green well we think the command will be in about 25 minutes time and those of you who are watching at home you can get in touch on X for forly known as Twitter @ tomgame or t g y m o using the sky Indie Car hashtag who’s staying awake who’s going to bed early because they’ve got work tomorrow well I don’t blame you it’s going to be a late one here and uh we’ve got plenty of action still to come for the British fans as well Louis Foster going well in Indie next if you’re watching the indie car races make sure you tune in to Indie next as well it’s a fabulous Championship much like Formula 2 and Formula 3 are to Formula 1 in Europe we’ve had Jamie Chadwick in Victory Lane at Road America we’ve had Louis Foster sub sublimely quick here at lagona Sea and there’s lots of action in that Championship still to come could Louis Foster lift the crown [Music] well we’re going to be joined by our NBC colleagues soon and uh they will be talking you through all the pump and ceremony the pre-race buildup and and then steering us through to the green flag of course when that arrives in about 25 minutes time but all the drivers all the teams and all the cars down in pit Lane now we’re just about to begin the pump and ceremony noi Diffy this weekend Kevin Lee taking over he’s joined by T Bell and James Hinchcliffe let’s head State side and join the team California not only is the weather perfect the views are breathtaking Monteray county is home to Pebble Beach Golf Links Carmel By the Sea and so much more and 10 Mi Inland is one of the most historic race courses in the world Weather Tech Raceway Laguna sea home of today’s NT Indie Car Series race the championship is nearing the midpoint and the top contenders include one of the greatest of all time Scott Dixon who is in play to tie AJ FY this year with a seventh Championship the reigning Champion Alex poo starts on poll today and two-time Champion will power who ended a two-year winless streak in the most recent race now leads the title fights welcome to Indie Car live presented by Liberty Mutual only pay for what you need well there has been rain impacting many Motorsports today but it is clean and green it is perfect in Monteray County at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna sea thanks for joining us today we are at the front of the gri and look at the packed crowd they’ve just started to clear the grid of fans but all of the teams are getting set to go 27 Indie Cars ready to get fired up in less than a half hour I’m Kevin Lee along with towns and bell and James Hinchcliffe we love uncertainty and that’s what indie car almost always brings us six winners in seven races this season and then chaos certainly the last two races in here last year Townsen and now we’re at Laguna sea now although this place is beautifully nestled into the Rolling Hills it’s a bit like a bowl this racetrack sits in you might as well Call It The Cauldron of chaos if you look back to last year first lap all kinds of contact pushing and shoving beating and banging about seven cars caught up in this first Corner drama and then you think about like what you’ve mentioned Kevin the last two races this was Detroit first Corner first lap eight cars involved three four wide trying to go where the Sun wasn’t shining and it didn’t work out for many and then rote America the last race on the calendar a rookie on pole a seconde driver his teammate into the back and then for veterans like Joseph nard nowhere to go massive contact if you trust the data and going back to the Indie 500 it’ll be three races in a row that there was contact big time on the first Corner the first lap today I’d expect the same we’ll see if we can get through turn one all right let’s talk Championship now hen at this point almost to the midpoint how many are still realistically in play look with some of the tracks we have coming up I think anyone in the top 10 is still realistically in play for this Championship but I want to focus on the top two will power your Championship leader coming in here he did not have a typical qualifying for the 12 car more polls than anyone in Indie Car history but he goes out in the first phase of qualifying he could to be running rolling off in the mid teenss but then flip to the other side of the coin it was kind of the tale of two fortunes the championship Chaser you’re defending Champion Alex poo all smiles for the number 10 he’s going to roll off from the pole position and look guys we’ve talked about this if you are looking to win a race at Laguna sea you got to start up front 20 of the 26 indie car races held here have been won from the front row this guy here is going to have a lot of work starting from where he is and two weeks ago at Road America willp power tied Michael andred for fourth on the all-time win list and it snapped a two-year winless drought last year was challenging not just on the track for power last year was one of my worst performances over a season didn’t win a race didn’t turn up as prepared just mine’s not on the job it was uh very stressful not should have knowing you know what’s going to happen with Liz it’s been a tough year for will because his wife Liz has had some health challenges what the wow will power and Scott Dixon are off man I have never seen willpower that fired up oh power Ericson big hit just not not not the level I like to be at not a good year man we’ll be back next year fighting hard I know I can still win races I know we got the capability determined to come back and be an absolute Contender one to go for will power and a 2-year drought will be ended here at Road America the expel Grand Prix is all about willpower congrats finally oh man feel great to finally win a race I’m lucky to drive for pensy I’m lucky that my wife got through that last year and got a great family I’m lucky man I’m lucky to do this so last year for will power was rough in many ways he’s got the win he’s running up front towns and how strong of a contender is power this year for another title ah he’s looking great and I’ll tell you why temperament will power’s temperament this season has been on another level he hasn’t let the challenges the issues get to him the same way it has in the past he’s driving like a guy that has been doing this for 20 Seasons now it’s that Championship temperament that matters that’s what guys like Dixon and poo have mastered I think will power is in really good shape I think it’s all about don’t sweat the small stuff and that’s what power’s been so good at the last few seasons if he has a bad practice has a bad qualifying he doesn’t let it get to him he knows that Sunday is what pays the points that’s what pays the bills and I think he’s a contender not just today for the race but all obviously for the championship as well let’s hear now from will power with Dylan Welch it was 34 races in two years between wins for will power so know that that monkey off your back is a is a good thing moving forward but today another challenge starting 15th this race track is so line sensitive tires are still a bit of a question mark what’s going to be the biggest challenge moving forward from the middle of the pack man it’s uh always tough to predict in these races um kind of don’t know whether the reds are going to fall off um and we don’t know how how much de there is because it’s kind of a shortened warm up but uh yeah it’s going to be a strategy call for us I don’t think you can difficult to pass I think you can um so we just kind of have to be on our toes and make the right call when we think it’s uh the time to pit strategists are going to earn their money today a team Pinsky car has not been in Victory Lane at lagona here since 2000 willp power trying to go back to back with NT Indie Car wins he’s got some work to do but the last two winners here have come from 11th you’re wiing watching Indie Car live brought to you by Liberty Mutual insurance only pay for what you need yeah fascinating insight there into willp power’s difficulties last year having won the championship in 2022 and there was lots of talk about will power 2.0 and so forth and then had so many challenges off the track that are well documented with the health of his wife for example and all of the the sort of human elements that we all uh face in our lifetimes and that really affected his ability to focus when he was in the car he’s bounced back this year and I think we’re seeing that willp power 2.0 again he jumped out of the car having not made it through to the fast 12 yesterday and he wasn’t raging he was really cool calm and collected and when you look at the remaining races I talked about Joseph New Garden and the ovals of course Pensky is so strong on the ovals those ovals on the track on the calendar will really Point towards those Pensky cars going well indeed so uh the future’s bright for willp power he’s just got quite a lot of work to do from where he starts at the back back here in Laguna sea what I say the back he’s 15th but by his standards that’s further back than he will have hoped for uh thanks to everyone who’s getting in touch on X using the sky IND the car hashtag and uh of course Max Chilton and Robin esterson who are watching Max is well known to the UK audience and we’ve had him as well as one of our guests on the Indie 500 coverage and uh I’m sure he’ll be watching and staying up he’s a big indie car fan having cut his teeth in America for many years and uh we now turn our attentions to what is to come here in California 95 laps of this iconic circuit the Firestone Grand Prix of Monteray the pump and ceremony in full swing about 50 minutes to the green flag race fans now is your chance to drive away with a new Corvette courtesy of high ve All Season enter for a chance to win one of three Corvettes grab your mobile device and scan the QR code on your screen to enter they’re given one away and two remain what happened to one of the pre-race favorites on man damn it it’s disappointing it’s disappointing you guys are rockars everybody sorry I let you all down no big crash it’s herder who was running in second place and looking great sorry Colton herder black car on the inside of poo and then takes himself out of it oh my goodness that’s frustration boiling over oh no this is the third week in a row whether it was self-inflicted or not I thought we should win and we didn’t I got hit in the rear we have relatively nothing to show for it I don’t know what to say disappointing racing it’s in Jesus name we pray amen here to honor America with the singing of our national anthem please welcome Aaron first class Nina Pacho with the United States States Air Force Band of the Golden West oh say can you see by the dawn’s early light what so proudly we held at the Twilight last gleaming who Brad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight or the ramp parts we watched were so gallantly [Music] streaming and the rockets red glare the bombs bursting in air gave proof through the night that a flag was still there oh say do that star spangled B way or the land of the three and the home of the [Music] bra let’s hear it for Airman First Class D we are moving oh so close next up drivers called to their cars to begin strapping in and this is pretty significant for a couple of young American drivers 22-year-old David MCAS from Chicago is finally making his season debut it’s not the team he expected it to be he had signed and was fact announced here last year in the season finale that he would drive for Errol McLaren this year but he broke his wrist badly in a bike crash before the season started he was released from his contract now he is with Meer shank racing and then 19-year-old Nolan seagull from nearby Pao Alto ultimately becomes the replacement for MCAS they’ve had several drivers in that car he will be making his third Point start with his third team this season and this is all connected between the two of them Hench it really is it’s a bizarre set of circumstances that led to each of these drivers being in each of these cars and a big ass for Nolan seagull drinking out of a fire hose here basically his first weekend with this team third different team this season as you see a lot to learn a lot to get used to and not a very easy track to do it at either and on the other side of that coin you’ve got David MCAS back into an indie car for his first race and look we know he’s recovered he’s done well at the Milwaukee test he’s qualified well well but 95 Laps on a still recovering wrist around Laguna sea is going to be tough yeah I talked to malus’s co-owner race team owner Elio Castroneves this morning there is a lot of concern about just that as you can see that carbon wrist brace on the left wrist of David MCAS there the concern is can he hang on for 10 laps let alone 95 in the California Sun it’s going to be tough he’s got the cool suit on but he’s ready to go ready to fight so far very impressive in his season debut making it into round two of qualifying yesterday so much more to come you’re watching Indie Car live brought to you by Liberty Mutual insurance only pay for what you [Music] need yeah real concern for David MCAS and as I said as we look over turns N9 and 10 there the banked Corners when the compression comes in at rainy curve and then in that bank at turn 10 will he be able to hang on Alex poo his fifth career Paul is second of the Season he’s joined by KL Kirkwood alongside him he needs a good result Carl Kirkwood Felix rosenquist wants to convert he’s been quick in qualifying can he do it on race day in that mayor shank and Colton hter with three races to put behind him he wants to bounce back at the half House of her to Alexander Rossy he’s Mega round here he lines up in fifth just ahead of Christian lard the lead uh Pensky Scotty Mack in seventh Roman groan starting well we know yunos Hollinger go well around here Callum OT was on the front row don’t forget in 2020 P Ward inside the top 10 so is Scott Dixon just ahead of his young teammate Marcus Armstrong who’ll be looking to avoid any first corner woses here at Laguna sea after Road America last time out little dayve MCA starts 12th ahead of aie canapino Joseph Newen will power 14th and 15th then you got to go down to see the lights of Nolan seagull in 23rd Petro faly 24th Stingray Rob had a big crash in warmup earlier on turn six so a J F have been working hard to fix his car jack Harvey Luca gioto and the Dale coin cars 26th and 27th bit of talk about who will be in that Dale coin car Luca gioto can’t do Mid Ohio and of course will Katherine leg jump in that car for the ovals she was out testing for them uh at the Hybrid test at Milwaukee so drivers now being strapped into into their cars we’re moments away from the beginning of this race of course the Firestone Grand Prix and Monteray ticking us over the halfway point in this 2024 Championship who’s going to come out on top we are closing in on go time for the Firestone Grand Prix of Monteray with the NT Indie Car Series round eight of 17 the command is coming up shortly plenty of stories to get to Let’s head back down to the grid we start with Dylan Welch well Kevin Kyle Kirkwood has the best worst finish of anybody in the field with an 11th that’s kept him in the championship fight but his best finish overall in a race is just fourth that hasn’t been good enough for them this year Kirkwood starts second today that’s his best starting spot of this 2024 season but there’s no added pressure to do anything wild today Kyle said to me this morning the strength of this 2017 has just been maximizing their days they keep doing that the winds will come that’s their mentality he’s got maybe his best opportunity of the year at getting that first win today Georgia hurry well thanks Dylan I’m just a few spots behind you in that fifth place starting position I have my eye on Alexander Rossy and that AOL McLaren Chevrolet number seven he told me earlier today he feels like his car is good but this race for him is really going to be about managing those Firestone red tires this is his best starting position on a road course all season season long his second of the year but he feels good and not to mention this is his home state of California so family friends near he’s looking to rebound from Road America and he feels like with minimal yellows and a fifth place starting position he can do it right here at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna sea it just feels guys like there are a lot of contenders in this race and yes we have seen this race dominated by Colton Hera with two wins the gassis the two other wins in recent years but Roman Gran’s the only other one hinch that’s finished on the podium here how’s doing this weekend what are his chances his chances are decent he has been very quick consistently throughout practice throughout qualifying he’s going to line up inside the top 10 starting p8 as you said he’s got a Podium from back in 21 and he had to work for it as well it was all about getting passes done on the racetrack but James he’s got to stay out of the Hornet’s Nest this is Flashback to 2021 he puts a big old shoulder hip into Jimmy Johnson gets through the cork through he got through and survived to get to the Finish but that was low probability at best it was a miracle as car kept together and he just has to stay out of trouble too many times this year Roman groan has been In the Heat of the battle whether it’s in the races or even practice we’re talking practice with this guy Santino fuchi and it started three months ago with all kinds of shade thrown as we look back to April at Barber Motorsports Park groan drivve in frie wide again in practice James what’s going on here and then more it’s it’s just been a back and forth It’s been a tit fortat between these two it continued then into warm up here at the IND GP then again in the race itself these suit is finding each other and once again in warm up this morning a penalty was issued to fuchi for that block on groan it just seems like these two are magnetically attractive there’s got to be some secret trophy Kevin for winning practice or showing the greatest Flex in practice because it just doesn’t make sense it’s not the time to flex your muscles race day is what counts I’m I’m starting to think they’re besties and they’ve talked about this and they’re just doing this for the the entertainment and the uh the fake rivalry well I’ll tell you the messing around though has paid the penalty for fuchi missing practice time you don’t want well here’s my question for today this guy has been on the podium all three times he’s raced here he maybe could have should have won last year yellow came out at the right time did dominate by half a minute two years ago on pole can anybody catch below today I’ll tell you what you got to jam him up early at the line this guy is dominant at racetracks like Laguna sea that demand and reward Precision nobody’s better than poo it’s a huge opportunity for somebody like Kyle Kirkwood or maybe Colton Hera to jam it up on the start throw him off his rhythm try to get some track position early on if you let him get a car length ahead he could be gone for the day the thing about Laguna sea as you know Townson clean air is King if you can have no cars in front of you no dirty air you can look after your tires you can control the pace of this race and we know that that guy is so comfortable up front I like this guy’s chances too starting up near the front he’s finished fifth and sixth here it’s amazing that Christian lard is still just 22 years old he has the temperament of a 40-year-old that’s been doing this for 20 Seasons he’s calm he’s precise he makes high percentage decisions a lot like this guy right here and one of the things I want to note on the Thirsty three of Scott mclaughin here scuffed red TI that tells me he’s thinking this is a red tire race you have to run a set of new Reds as well as a set of primaries so that’s already showing the hand for team Pensky where other drivers I spoke to they think it’s going to be a black tire race and I’ll bet McLaughlin’s banking on some yellow early on to ease that first phase and be able to take the edge off a bit of those used tires how about po aard back here average start of 6.7 on the season but he’s excuse me luga but he’s LED just 15 laps here he’s always fast but it’s always been something to keep him out of Victory Lane fourth in the championship he is one of those very much realistically in play right now this is such a special place for UT town since the first time you drove a race car it was right here at racing school literally 100 ft from where we sit right now and it led to uh you know a career I never could have imagined uh started off racing with this guy Scott Dixon a few years later and he’s still getting it done after all that time but Laguna sea has some wonderful throwback stuff how about that red Armco just to the side of Scott Dixon that’s been here since probably the late 50s that used to be how high the safety barriers were around this place and the corners used to be a lot faster hey they’re still very fast they’re still very physical I was speaking to lingard before this race he said hey look man guys are going to fall out of the seat today it is hot this track is fast warmup was exhausting so physicality is definitely going to play a part late in this race these guys know about it hinch has won here in the junior formulas Townsen has raced here and everything as well and we get to see how it all plays out again today in Indie Car about time to get started let’s go downstairs race fans it’s time to give the command for the Firestone Grand Prix of Monteray please welcome today’s Grand Marshal chief executive officer of Mission Foods Juan Gonzalez drivers start your engin [Applause] 95 laps little over 212 miles around this beautiful historic racetrack the Central Coast of California we are set to go racing next from Laguna SE who’s going to get it done down to to turn one it’s not the longest run down there but it’s a sweeping Leander into that breaking Zone we saw all kinds of challenges down here last year I think Scott Dixon was involved in that and look who’s snuck in the local Wildlife as well everyone wants a seat here for the Firestone Grand Prix of Monteray and that is there the double Apex turns one and two that caused all kinds of chaos last year it was the last day of term of course historically speaking this race is held in September or certainly for the past 3 years it was this is the first time that we’re here in the midsummer Californian sunshine and the NBC team have touched on just how hot it is now we’ve got the new adapted Arrow screen for this 2024 season and what they found so far as though you’ve got the big vent that pushes air now at the top down onto the driver’s chest to keep them cool before it literally was like a finish saer that’s kind of for some reason above my pay grade changed the airf flow into the driver’s helmet so what they were finding is yeah their body was getting cooler but their heads were looking so the air flow into the helmet wasn’t as effective at the beginning of the Season as it was last year with these Arrow screens it’s so hot if the ambient say 30° it’s like 50° in that car no power steering high heart rates for over 2 hours that is the sort of stress these drivers are putting themselves under their core body temperatures will be up at around 40 C which if you were unwell or had a a body a temperature of that number you would be really worried so they are right on the edge of what is humanly capable but we’re about to go green finally here in California the green flag coming [Music] up it’s the fire stone Grand Prix of Monteray thanks for joining us Kevin Lee townell James hin Georgia hury and Dylan Welch Today’s starting grid is presented by Firestone you can see that on the left side of the screen let’s take a look guys at this road course here in our track preview brought to you by Honda we’ll do that coming up in a moment uh who do you want to highlight here who you looking at well a lot of forceful drivers up front but at the back of the field watch a guy like Graham Ray Hall if this race gets crazy early on he has a kg ability to find his way to the front a great racer he’s a game day type of guy here we go the Honda track preview here at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna sea one of the most iconic race tracks in the country see the andred hapin that’s where we see a lot of action off the start and it’s also about the elevation here you’re fiercely downhill double Apex turn you can go side by side but sometimes it ends in tears here certainly can but here as you look to the left hand side of your screen that’s what Petro faldi sees live as he approaches the cork group imagine driving off the edge of a parking garage that’s about eight stories high that’s what it feels like right here as you go up and over the Crest at speed so if you’re watching on and you have friends that only have television access let them know we are joining CNBC in a moments welcome to Weather Tech Raceway Laguna sea in the Central Coast of California for the Firestone Grand Prix of Monteray it’s round 8 of 17 in the 24 NT Indie Car Series sees it Kevin Lee Towns at Bell James Hing Cliff Pace laps are underway we’re just about set to go and leading the field is the official pace car of the Grand Prix of Monteray the 2024 Honda Civic Type R we’ve got a mixed grid today no Pinsky starting in the front three rows it’s Alex poo who has been dominant at this racetrack starting on the pole with andred globals Kyle Kirkwood with his best start of the season in second Felix rosenquist Colton Hera in row two Alexander Rossi has his best start on a road or a street course this season he’s starting Fifth and Christian lard in sixth for this guy right here Kyle Kirkwood it’s a big opportunity on the front row to try to jam up Alex poo at the start get some track position because if poo leads early he is likely to be in firm control at the start of this thing for Kyle Kirkwood he’s on a championship type march with the best worst finish of the season he needs to keep up that high percentage decision- making can we just get through turn one the last three indie car races have had a caution not able to get through the first corner what’s in play today Championship points several drivers that have not won it all this season looking to break through this is the final quarter poo controls the field watching for the green heading up this half mile run through a kink towards the andred herpin we go from WeatherTech Raceway Laguna sea poo gets the jump Kirkwood looking to challenge on the outside nice clean start but Kyle Kirkwood going big deep into turn two can he hold it side by side that pink and black machine to the front that’s what I was talking about jam up Alex pelo Kirkwood getting it done as col Hera and Alexander rosy go side by side and that is Scott mlin in the red white car off in the dirt early at the exit of turn three great move from Kirkwood leading early here you see Rossy there in the orange and white machine side by side there’s Marcus Eric Marcus Armstrong rather in that green Richline machine for chip gassie racing making a move all single file here through turn six or not and Kevin we’ve defined the data so far this is the first race in four that we’ve made it through the first corner of the first lap but we’re not done with the first lap yet fuchi was side by side at the top of the hill let’s hang on until we get all the way through this is the famous cork screw right here Christian Rasmus in that light blue and black car picking up a spot there lus lco got pass going into turn six it threw him off he lost a few more spots up the hill still recovering right now as we make it out of turn 11 and across the line for the first lap of this race all green all 27 cars on track and it’s Kyle Kirkwood the early leader he went around the outside to get past Alex poo who has been on the podium in all three of his starts here with a win there’s Marcus Ericson in 500 winner in the Delaware life car going to the inside for a spot defending against Christian rasmon a tire difference on those two cars Erikson on that black sidewalk firest Stone a little bit harder compound a little bit slower but should last longer conversely you see lar or sorry chrisan rasmon behind him on that red softer sidewall Tire as we see a move down the inside I think that’s Graham Ray Hall into five yeah that’s the black and gold debut for the mobile one car with graham Ray Hall he’s side by side with Reena VK who throws him some shade into turn six and now VK charging on lenus lanquist on board here with Ray Hall that’s Lundquist and VK up ahead push to pass now active on the second lap of this race 150 seconds of push to pass available for these drivers gives you about a 50 horsepower boost to try to make some passes maybe defend against it and here’s the defense right now Ericson on Rasmus Rasmus really wants to take advantage of the softer compound Tire early he gets a pretty an exit here I think he’s going to have a go at Marcus Erikson when they get to the break Zone Armstrong Broan Roan side by side again that tire advantage on the green number 11 of Armstrong as we see raspon getting Erikson getting forceful pushing him off there they’ve gone back and forth a couple times already and rasp his teammate there Arena’s BK also on the red Tire now puts Erikson Under Pressure but this I can’t emphasize how enough how big this was for Kyle Kirkwood he gets a little wheel spin but he sticks with the outside line he has just a nose to force P to leave him room and watch this deep on the brakes and Rodeo Style just wide enough to avoid contact super committed rolled enough speed to just be at least side by side as they got out of it and gave him the inside for turn three and look at this chaos in the background will power lost 10 spots fell all the way to the back that was him rolling through the dirt on the game Bridge on board with Colton herder now Alex Rossy the number seven on the outside a little bit of contact both drivers lucky to get away with that that yellow curb on the inside can really upset the race cars and let’s see now what happened to power might have got hit from behind clear nope peruchi got hit from behind Ras which just kept power on the outside line just not enough out there especially in a fast corner like turn four did a good job to keep it going forwards so Kyle Kirkwood for the second straight race leads the opening lap he finished fourth and Road America early going trying to finish it off here [Music] today so what to look for in terms of strategy now for Alex poo he’ll be looking for the undercut because KL Kirkwood has got his knees and elbows out down into turn one he’s got the lead and that will just be what the Floridian wanted in terms of keeping this race alive because Po’s been so quick throughout the practice sessions he’s always quick here always on the podium and that and Global car now ahead of the CH gassi machine and they’re starting to pull away from Felix rosenquist in the mayor shank and Rossy now will be looking to see what he can do in terms of the swed in front of him the May shank has not been as quick as it’s been over one lap in race trim will today be the day that that changes now the runners on the alterate tire the red side w we want to keep a close eye on them Scott mland and Marcus Armstrong in eighth and Ninth how far is that tire going to go is the question mark there we think this is going to be a three stopper if it stays green that’s what we think will happen and then it will be down to who can get the pit stop working for them the undercut I think will be pretty strong here but we’ll have to wait and see as we ride on board with Joseph new and now Colton herter who had that side by side contact with Alexander Rossy up here at turn three you can see Rossy now trying to close that gap on Felix rosenquist it’s quite difficult to follow in the dirty air here a reasonably short lap around this 2328 miles and it is looking at lap time so 11 103 last time around the red Tire still holding on after six laps who’s that going slowly it’s one of the Ed Carpenter cars is that Reena VK going slowly let’s head back and find [Music] out you’re watching NBC Sports coverage of Indie Car brought to you by Firestone tires for a read of finding the limits Liberty Mutual insurance only pay for what you need hi ve this racing season help H ve reach their goal of 100 million Meals by visiting ivy.com and by NT official sponsor and Technology partner of the NT Indie Car Series just underway from WeatherTech Raceway Laguna sea Kyle Kirkwood took the lead at the start going around the outside of Alex poo he’s in for car length and it’s rosenquist Rossy her a further back Reus VK was running I think right behind Marcus Ericson in 18th and this just happened a moment ago he slip back behind his teammate yeah Christian Rasmus there turn five back steps out and then that right rear just kind of falls off the corner the shoulder of the as faal but miraculously it’s a spin and a roll and a refire and he keeps going Georgia absolutely after that spin teeth came over the radio said you okay Reus responded yep they said that’s okay start making your way forward once again he said yep and he knows now that his work is cut out for him and those strategists now James since it’s green to start this thing maybe surprisingly green to start Laguna sea versus last year they now start to think about if I’m at the back where do I start to gamble how do I get off strategy I think that window opens around lap 13 or 14 in this running so we’ll have to look for what we like to call the dumpster divers that take a gamble try to find a treasure and I wonder if this kind of plays into what you said about Scott McLaughlin in that number three machine currently running eighth he started seventh was the highest running car to start on the red tires you can see that red sidewall as we ride on board the good ranchers on board with McLaughlin here but those used tires I think they were hoping for that yellow to run some of these laps of that first stint under caution and not have to push for an entire 25 27 laps let’s take a look at some Firestone Telemetry on board here with mclin because he probably had four Laps on these tires from qualifying to start the race let’s watch listen and see if it’s a handful for him early signs say no problem with nine plus call it four so 13 Laps on the Reds Dylan it looks to be well in hand for Scotty Mack yeah they have actually been really happy with their red Tire Pace ring 20 laps on a set this morning said they passed poo who was on the black tires and drove away from him so they think it’s a red race and trying to theoretically get their worst set of those out of the way here early but I think they feel like they can maybe go to lap 15 or 17 or so that’s probably about the window you want to get to uh before you take these off and and go to whatever their next set of tires is so Scott hasn’t said much on the radio right now but feel like that they’re in a good spot just kind of getting these used tires done out of the way and and not losing too much track position Glam is the best starting of the Pensky drivers just missing the Firestone fast six starting in seventh Joseph narden has moved forward just a little bit he’s running in 13th right now we documented will power made up a couple of spots back but he’s back in 23rd [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] meanwhile back up front Kirkwood in control right now has gapped another couple of car links on Alex P Dylan tell us SC and he is doing exactly what he needed to do controlling the race is exactly what Brian herd of the strategist just said to keep doing so they also talked at the start of today just about needing a Difference Maker at the start anything they could do to be different from poo they thought it was going to be a tire Advantage at first they expected poo to start on the red tires that’s why they started on the just to try to do something different so when that wasn’t the case it basically got put into Kyle and Brian’s hands to figure out a way to get track position get clean air that’s the Difference Maker they need and if they can hold on to that it may be Kirkwood’s race to lose [Music] here there’s the top three and then running in fourth Alexander Rossy his best qualifying on a root or Street circuit he started fourth in the Indie 500 has moved up a spot he’s running in fourth right now this could be a bit of a breakthrough for him this weekend as we watch the Mission Foods on board yeah it really could I mean all year long Saturdays and qualifying has been the struggle for the seven car Rossy just needed to figure out how to get those laps done and qualifying cuz on Sunday I think he’s consistently the one of the best performers on the grid certainly very strong for the McLaren team the team knows that Rossy knows that and now now he’s got himself a good starting position and he’s got to Parlay that into a strong result this afternoon a Podium very much on the cards I watched him very closely in warmup this morning and I’ll tell you where he could really make a difference today that he worked very hard on and looked really good at was outlasts and in laps charging the the pit Lane entrance charging the pit lane exit it looks like he’s confident he knows what what to expect out of his race car and that guys could be the difference today as inls out laps that might be the only chance to make a move up front he’s picked up a spot in the early going getting by colon Hera and then just ahead of Rossy is Felix rosenquist Georgia he continues to impress in his first year with Myer shank racing you’re absolutely right about that and I’d like to talk about the evolution of Felix rosenquist over the course of this weekend 23rd in practice one big improvements the seventh in practice two and then he told me earlier today the car came alive and qualifying where he started in third he currently runs third the team just came over the radio they said try to extend that fuel number to Extend one more lap before their per pit stop up front Alex below has cut that gap down just a little bit is now two to three car lengths behind Kyle Kirkwood we’ll see what poo has looking for his second win at lagona sake and maybe a chance to take over the championship lead again starting to arrive at that first Pit Stop window you were really struggling on the red tires now you can start to look at pitting between laps 13 and 15 those that started on the blacks they’ll be looking to go much more towards lap 20 and they will have the performance to do it there will have to be a bit of fuel save here there always is and at the moment Carl Kirk were doing a really good job managing that pace out front and Felix rosenquist as well sticking with the front two and that’s no me feet there is Alex poo he’s almost the filling in an andreti sandwich if you like because of course the mayor shank have that technical alliance with andreti global so they will be benefiting from the pace shown from Cen hter and Carl Kirkwood throughout the weekend and of course it goes both ways they’ll be learning from Felix rosenquist who was on poll here last year so he knows his way around this Monteray track Alexander Rossy the best of the Chevrolet cars in the papaya in fourth place at the moment you have to go all the way down to Scott and M for the second Chevrolet in the top 10 and uh then it’s Roman groon as well making it three Scott mclin and Armstrong still on the red Tire they are lapping in the 10 two Mark so it’s still looking really good for the alternate tires and with that if you look now at the primaries they’re starting to go a little bit slower so could this be a red race that’s always the question mark here in indie car and if you listen to Hitch at the start there is a a mix up and down Pit Road depending on who you speak to some Engineers think it’s going to be a black race some think it’s going to be a red race but looking at the times now those on the Reds not doing too badly at all I know there’s a bit of fuel save at this stage but it’s looking good for the red tires [Music] AutoNation mobile service brings their pit crew to you with expert technicians performing over 200 repair and maintenance services wherever you are scan now to [Applause] schedule lap 13 of 95 at WeatherTech Raceway lagona sea for the Firestone Grand Prix of Monteray a picture perfect day just off the Central Coast of California on the auton nation mobile service on board Felix rosenquist running third looking up with two leaders in Alex blow looks like he might be closing in a little bit he’s looking very strong indeed when you run that close behind another indie car only about a half second Gap right now you’re riding in that dirty air that wake that the car creates it takes down Force off of your car that’s taking grip away and with all these fast flowing corners of Laguna sea that cost you big lap time so for him to able to maintain that close a gap shows me that he’s got way more potential way more Pace in this race car and he’s just got to find a clean Way by Kirkwood and get that clean air looking to push to pass seconds remaining right here upper left hand corner you see that P’s used 13 seconds while Felix Rosen twist just one second Rosen twist happy to sit ride maybe find a little bit of Clean Air holding back a second or so from poo saving his tires and then you would press when it’s pit Lane time let’s listen to what the 10 team from Chip gassie racing is talking about behind is still 1.0 is he of cor is not same as you yeah I me Alex poo is always so calm and what I’m watching for and the way he seems to win uh a couple of races every year is he goes longer in a stin and then gets clean track so keep an eye on wi Kirkwood pits wi poo pit yeah something that’s going to be very powerful today is the overcut that is when you can extend your fuel for an extra lap when the car in front of you pits you stay out for at least one more tour around you’re on hot tires you can do a good clean air lap time nice and fast and as that car that’s pitted is struggling on the out laap to get up to speed you’re essentially closing that Gap one of the things I’m a little surprised at James is nobody’s taken the early stop and try to get off strategy and gambled a little bit typically we’ll see a team like dalecoin racing that has drivers in 22nd and 27th right now start to gamble and pit on the early side but they probably think well we we’d go a lap down perhaps look I’d do the same thing if I’m Graham Ray Hall in 19th if I’m Marcus Erikson in 17th you’ve got a car as in Dre Global up in first you’ve got another one in fifth let’s split the strategies do something different try to cover all the bases in case that lucky yellow comes out and if we look at pit Lane you just don’t see anybody laid out ready to go right now so everybody wants to stay with the leader strategy as Alex pelo draws ever closer and there you see it those are Indie Car officials and they look lonely they’re ready for some action down there nobody showing their cards just yet cautions breed cautions the lack there of the opposite no one wants to get in a position where they’re in big fuel save this point either that’s the question is how far can you go full rich I think you’re a 2627 lap stin riding on board with Kyle Kirkwood I could hear some lift and Coast saving a bit of fuel trying to stretch this early spin looks rosenquist looks strong he is with poo with that yellow DHL car the white and pink Auto Nation car up front or the black and pink with white for Kyle Kirkwood and then another Auto Nation Serius XM car with rosenquist is running in third they’ve gapped a little bit in front of Rossy Hera and the rest the other thing is if you if you dumpster dive James and pit now and get off strategy you’re likely to stay on the lead lap by my calculations and then have clean air to press so I I don’t I’m I’m really surprised here nobody’s going for it here’s the thing when you’re not already faced with cautions and different strategy options here yes everything that these drivers are doing is on paper the fastest strategy but if you’re doing the same as everyone in front of you track position is going to win every time somebody has to roll the dice break this trend and then put some of these cars up front in the danger zone in case a yellow does come out however this race Laguna sea taking place in June Midway through the season it’s not the last race of the Season where everybody typically throws caution to the wind to try to get a result so maybe everybody’s thinking points a little bit more than they would in previous Seasons the first to duck in is one that you guys mentioned Marcus ericon try something different there you go the andretic global teams listening to the broadcast guys and they decided to pull Erikson in you see a sticker set a brand new set of of those red sidewall tires he started on the primary so that satisfies the tire rule for the 28 and he has perfectly clean air he’s got about 20 seconds to the next car in front he can go fast and a lot faster than say Alex pelo is going to go over the next 10 laps clean air soft fast tires we’ll keep an eye on the lap times from the 28 and see what kind of difference the leaders right now running around the high 1110s low 111s so we’ll keep an eye to see what kind of effort Erikson can put in is now that black and gold mobile one machine of Graham Ray Hall comes to pit Lane and you see the red side wall tires coming off the primary is going on but a little bit of a trouble with the left front big trouble there with the left front Georgia so Reena VK those init Lane as well they changed an engine earlier in the day but those Firestone red tires went right back on the Ed carpenter racing number 21 they filled it up with fuel and he was away saw power in there as well he was down near the back after getting pushed off track there so again you’ve got as Pensky Scott McLaughlin your highest runner in eighth right now he can be on one strategy split them that’s something Pensky has always been really good here comes Kyle Kirkwood to complete lap 20 and I start to wonder what’s the ride like for Scotty Mack if you look at that left front tire of mclocklin it’s starting to show some ribboning there and Dylan I wonder what’s it like on the radio has he said anything about the balance of his good Rancher Chevy well Kyle Moyer just asked him on the radio said can you go faster and he said I feel like I can so I don’t think All Is Lost for sure they’ve kind of stabilized in this eigh spot here and we talked at the start of the show about this kind of lap 17 18 19 window as being when you could come in theoretically for mlin if you wanted to get these used Reds off but they feel like they’ve lasted pretty well for them so I think they’re going to try to run this out as long as they can before they really start losing time before mlin comes in so James that tells me it’s a red race certainly for that card is as we watch this battle on track black tires on the 15 of Graham rayall looking back at the red tires on the 21 to VK these guys pck together this is where VK is likely on the button he knows he has a tire Advantage early can he use it and go deep here boom going for it they can go side by side here Gran doesn’t have the grip to run the outside clean pass there from VK aggressive but decisive love what you’re seeing there what that does for VK now is if the car is quick he’s got clean track in front of him yes this is for last and next to last but he can maybe pick up some space as others start to make their first stops including powa War Dylan yeah and he has just kind of been quietly riding around the top 10 started in the ninth spot had fallen back to I think 12th so they’ll come in here started on the on the primary tires they will change and put a set of sticker alternates on for the five fresh firestones Shell Fuel for a PO reward back out headed up the hill towards the hairpin and poo is right there on Kyle Kirkwood it’s funny you’re seeing a lot of drivers whether you’re on the reds or on the Blacks doing roughly the same lap time because everyone’s kind of got that 1 second Gap that’s sort of the bubble of air that takes the down Force away and slows you down so we’re not seeing a big crossover in lap time between the two compounds but clearly that’s all starting up front Kyle Kirkwood doing the pace that he can if you look at poo though James he’s so comfortable in dirty air that one second bubble doesn’t seem to exist for him that tells me that poo has a really strong race car if he can get to the lead in the pin stopy cycle he’s going to be really tough to contend with Dylan Scott McLaughlin’s crew is laid out and we were just talking about them starting on the used Reds get a blow to this they are so confident they’re going to second set of used Reds right here so they made it 21 laps before they felt like they needed to come in front Wing change there from mlin just to help the balance a little bit but a second set of used Firestone alternates for the three by the way we talked about Marcus Ericson we watch the lap times he is a second faster than anyone else on the track fastest laps and over two seconds quicker than your leader Kyle Kirkwood right now so look if I’m Alex poo how much fuel is he saving because he can really take advantage of that overcut strategy but if he’s trying to push for that pass he’s not saving as much fuel as he could be the other thing is I think Kirkwood’s got to start thinking now about not losing too much Pace on the blacks if this is a red race maybe the leaders should pit now and finish on reds throughout now that mclin and some of the other cars have showed the performance I just think it’s so car specific I don’t think there’s enough of a decisive difference between the tires that it’s unilaterally agreed up and down unanimously agreed up and down the grid I think some cars are going to prefer the black some cars are going to prefer the red poo as close as he’s been late on the brakes into turn two not quite close enough this is great Defensive Driving though from Kyle Kirkwood you’re so hard as a driver in this scenario towns and as you know you’ve got to be eyes forward hitting your Apex is hitting your break points but at the same time you’ve got to keep one eye on the rear viw mirror to see where that number 10 is that bright yellow DHL car making all sorts of flashes in the wing mirrors of the 27 and keeping Focus keeping your car on track hitting all your marks under this kind of pressure is incredibly difficult but for 23 laps Kirk done it beautifully meanwhile Scotty Mack is going to be anxiously pushing to get past the car of stingray Rob in order to make that earlier stop work he needs some clean racetrack here’s McLaughlin that’s Rob up ahead McLaughlin full push right now I think he is the one to watch the first of the contenders up front that has stopped so can he move forward once we see the other leaders one of the leaders Alexander Rossy who’s been running fourth Dylan is coming to year yeah best qualifying effort on a road course for him this weekend started fourth they started on the Firestone primary tires they will go to a set of sticker Firestone alternates here and make a front Wing change just a little bit too much under steer the report for Rossy you see that there full of Shell Fuel and the sevens down in the way decent stop 7.3 seconds that’s 18 and 1 half gallons of Shell Fuel that goes into these Indie Cars on a full fuel fill that last lap for Kyle Kirkwood that 1110 where was mclin he did a 1099 so a full second faster it’s not going to be many more laps before mclin is going to be able to close the gap hang on yeah all good and that was right after Kyle came on the radio and said the left front is falling apart so it’s not ideal behind the wheel of the 27 but they’re trying to make it last for their number it’s not ideal but he doesn’t sound panicked either does he I mean hey n now all good we can do this I know but I’m watching the three on the tracker James he’s got clean air behind Kyle Kirkwood and now Felix Rosen quiz diving in from third place this will be key to see how this one goes about 30 to 32 seconds lost on pit Lane with a full fuel fill so that’s the number you got to add up distance to the leaders to see where you’re going to come out onto the racetrack so it might might be tights let’s keep an eye on mclin especially when Kirkwood comes in here is mclocklin he’s behind Alexander Rossi who’s wicked fast so mclin let’s watch this lap time as he crosses the timing line last lap a 1099 this lap a 1091 he is chewing big time into Kirkwood’s pace and poo if he can keep this up as rosenquist I think comes out of the pits there so mclin has closed the Gap pretty nice that’s big for Rossy too though because he got out in front of mclin so you got to think Rosen Quest pit from third McLaughlin pit from eight after their first Pit Stop they are nose to tail so that’s a huge gain in track position for Scott ml I just wonder is it a mistake that Kirkwood stayed out this long as both Kirkwood his teammate Hera and Christian lard all come to the Box the blend will be fascinating to see what was better let’s start with Georgia yeah Christian lard he finished six here last year he started six here this year I asked him earlier today are you confident confident and comfortable he said always they went from Firestone black tires to fir Stone Reds it was a quick stop for the high beyonder 45 team Dylan Kyle kir there at the bottom of the screen went to sticker alternate TR tires he’ll beat Colton Hera out but we’ll watch the blend here when they come back and poo did the overcut he stayed out a lap later here they telling telling him to push hard use a lot of overtake on this lap to try to make up some of the Gap there goes Alexander Rossi it’s going to be tight Rossy is in front how about that gets ahead of Kyle Kirkwood Colton Hera and Felix rosenquest lard slotting in between rosenquest and this man Scott McLaughlin but no surprise the drivers that stayed out the gassie duo the 10 and the nine poo and Dixon so good at saving fuel this overcut strategy might work out just well for those two but so far the undercut pitting early is what worked for both McLaughlin and Rossy beautiful stuff for Rossy mlin now desperate to try to attack as those lead cars are on cold tires and the lead Trio is in the pits below Dixon groan as we watch this battle sort itself out oh inside goes Scott McLaughlin Georgia what’s happening in pen Lane is lingard’s off yeah ranoj came to pit Lane he told me earlier today he doesn’t think he’s going to have to be that aggressive today he just has to be smart along with the team he was frustrated yesterday but he knew their Pace was good he’s got those Firestone blacks on load guard off at the exit of nine and now that styrofoam sign is stuck to his right front Maine that is a massive downforce delete for lard it’s going to be tough even right here on the breaks meanwhile rossie pitting early he has taken over the lead by a couple of seconds on Kyle Kirkwood Alex poo staying out an extra lap lost precious time in the pits he’s falling back to [Music] seven that is not normally how it goes here at Laguna sea it’s all gone sideways for the number 10 it’s going great for the seven of Rossy poo is now chasing Rossy so he comes out second after the [Music] sequence was the strategy there as who’s that that runs wide it’s not Kirkwood Kirkwood’s hold up behind find Alex poo here but the undercut has played out not the overcut and it’s always the overcut here but for some reason and you could just see KL Kirkwood’s Pace in the latter stages of that s he was backing everyone up and there was a real opportunity as Erikson goes off it’s chaos here how often have we said that in indar how often have we said that here at the gunaa but with that pace drop off at the front there was a real opportunity for someone to cash in and go big as Colton Hur and goes around the outside of Alex poo and now you can just see how difficult it is for poo on the black Tire the harder compound tire and those cars around him on the Reds with the pace at the moment and it’s the undercut that has served Alexander Ross see well Scotty Mack has made some ground as well he’s on the back of this group of cars he just needed another lap and he would have been ahead of these cars in the good ranchers machine just behind Scott Dixon there you can see and there’s some big hitters in this group isn’t there poo and Scott Dixon they know how to win around here so does Colton hter Alexander Rossi is out front at the moment he’s never won around here neither has KL Kirkwood we’re going to have two more Pit Stop sequences if it stays green like this and if the first set of stops is anything to go by we’re going to see plenty of action in and around those in and out laps as we hit 29 laps completed here in California and it’s Rossy who leads in the papaya you’re watching inbc sports coverage of Indie Car brought to you by the big machine Music City Grand Prix it’s the Indie Car finale in Championship this year September 14th and 15th tickets are on sale now and NT official sponsored technology partner of the NT Indie Car Series and by mobile one the world’s leading synthetic motor oil brand For the Love of driving it’s getting wild here at Weather Tech Raceway lagona sea Alexander Rossy after the first sequence pitted earlier found some clean track fresh firestones he’s moved to the front Alex poo exited pit Lane after his stop later than everyone else from the lead in second but on his outlasts on cold firestones gave up a couple of spots and the question is why did Alex poo decide to go another stint on black tires you can see him struggling here as Kyle Kirkwood easily carves him up on the inside of turn two James I’m scratching my head on that one well hey look we talked to the gassie team before this race they thought it was going to be a black race they’re consider they’re just sticking to their guns on that one even though we’ve seen a lot of evidence to the contract it’s fine to think it’s going to be a black race but when the red shot C uh red shot Tire cars go longer it’s pretty obvious that the red Tire is going to hang in there you know it’s got the pace Advantage they probably thought they had so much Pace in the pocket running behind Kirkwood they were hoping the overcut was going to get them out in front in that clean air and then they could really unleash the potential of that car but now mixing it up in traffic in dirty air it’s definitely going to be advantage to the Reds Kevin if P thought it was a black tire race almost certainly he’s changing his mind right now as he watches painfully Colton Hera Kyle Kirkwood Alexander Rossy pull away well that’s his hope everyone else up front is on the softer faster firestones but will it last as long here’s Christian lard we saw him take that run through the dirt and has that been on there for the last 10 minutes it certainly has and it all came here from a pass attempt on the inside of nine from Scott mlin and right on board with him this is not a typical passing opportunity Townson yeah but that was a good one he surprised lard put his car between lard and the Apex it was clean there no contact and unfortunately there is no chance for lard to hang on as he takes that 200 met board with him now I’m curious how bad as we see again here on board from lard watch the hands never gave up on it unfortunately had to collect the sign but how bad is the front down Force for lard how much of a penalty is this or is it is it making better down Force it’s contoured in quite nicely it has sort of folded and and match yeah as he’s say a contour of the wing but maybe going to be some uh wind Tuttle Engineers trying this out on Monday morning maybe he’s on to something I think not but Georgia maybe you know a little bit more about what’s happening with lard yeah and towns and I think the radio were about to play might answer your question on how much damage is to the 45 high beond where is the debris it’s on the nose it’s stuck or sorry on the right side of the front Wing it’s on the front Wing clear the car doesn’t turn now yeah that’s Christian lard saying that the car just won’t turn I just talked to to the team though they’re not sure if they’re going to bring him in yet they’re weighing out their options but there is a spare nose ring ready and available tires cuz it doesn’t turn in high speed he says it doesn’t turn in the high speed a 1107 was his last lap time the car in front from David MCAS 1107 so here’s what you got to do as a driver you need to get clever with the controls start working the roll bars work the break bias do anything to be able to Rudder this thing into the corner and get yaw angled knowing you’re going to pick up down Force off so you got to get desperate get creative and know that you just have to get to your next pit stop your team can easily pull that off if you can get there do your best hang in there going wrong for lard it went a little bit wrong for Marcus Erikson as well we saw him have an off track Excursion right there in turn 10 made it back on track but running down in 17th let’s take a look back at what happened to the driver of the [Music] 28 just big overseer right it turn into turn 10 it’s so banked there Joseph nard was diving into pit Lane to serve a a penalty that was close the penalty was for an improper pit exit yeah he lost control on pit out and went through the dirt between pit Lane but that was uh a little dicey for Joe new and this is a killer a drive-thru on a race like this where track positions everything has him down in 24th position right now so not all going well for the number two Hitachi machine of Joseph New Garden it’s kind of been all or nothing for him this season uh the all is quite nice an Indie 500 win uh and in a second place at Road America but other than that a lot of finishes near the bat all right let’s go back to this first Pit Stop uh and check out our Pit Stop differential powered by NTT and that’s going to show us a bit how the race has [Applause] turned that leads us to our Pit Stop predictions powered by MTT of when we think they’ll go [Music] next look it’s all gone right for Rossi here that was such a good stint and it continues to keep going right he has pulled out uh he P had pulled out a big gap and is running consistently quick lap times you see on your pile on there when NTT is predicting the next stops are going to happen that window opening soon but you’re going to want to push it as far as you can I’m going to disagree on the PO reward one yeah I don’t think that’s exactly accurate apologies for the mistake there but he is just out front again we’ talked about it earlier clean air is King here at lagona and it was such a good call from the number seven crew Brian Barnhart running Str strategy on that stand to pull Alex in get him some clean air on those out laps and those green flag pit Cycles the in and out laps are so so crucial and you mentioned it earlier Townson watching a warm-up in- and out laps is where Rossy was so so strong and that’s definitely played a part in this advancement Dylan Rossy worked so hard on it this morning so disciplined so aggressive putting himself in race mode in practice to refine the art as Brian Barnhart man somebody to give that guy an nice cream cone Barnhart chilling right now with the ice water very happy with his driver and what a brilliant job they’ve done so far to get Rossy to the lead yeah both of these guys just cool calm and collected always on the radio no matter what is going wrong but I think this right here is an encouraging sign for Rossy because I spoke with Brian earlier today and he mentioned that one of their challenges this entire year has just been getting this red Tire this alternate Tire to kind of just do what they want it to do it’s a harder compound than it was last year and frankly it’s thrown them for a loop so for them to have this kind of pace as we see a big crash 51 kotto Off heavy is that turn four it is at the exit left rear destroyed left front right front a massive shunt for the rookie from Italy we saw a few almost shunts there in practice some big saves luckily the driver jump out or do I have to wait is okay but let’s see the replay here oh he just got loose lost it early maybe even dropped a wheel on the entrance curb but luckily the driver’s okay so we are caution for the first time rossy’s five plus second lead goes away and a restart is coming up at Laguna sea we had eight cautions here last year that tied a track record set in 2001 this the first caution for luuka gioto and that is a big hit at turn four and you saw that he had no chance in that Dale coin car once he got offline he sort of skipped across the gravel into the tire barrier there and there’s comprehensive damage to the car Luca gioto the Italians okay but they’re going to have to repair that tire wall rather quickly the AMR safety our team tending to Luca and they will also tend to the car and the tire wall he won’t be out next time we’re racing at Mid Ohio he’s got a European lont Clash there he’s got a few clashes for the rest of the year I don’t think we’ll see him at the ovals we won’t I’m pretty sure Katherine leg might be in that car we may see a new name in the Dale coin car when we head to Mid Ohio W that is the rumors so far so this looks like it could be a red race and we’ve been scratching our heads as to why the chipkin AY crew and Alex poo are going black black primary primary they think it’s a black race there’s 37 of the 95 laps completed of course this safety car brings everyone closer together so often we say the yellows breed yellows and these drivers will be looking at this restart as an opportunity to try and make hay whilst The Sun Shines if they can get past one or two cars at the restart that will really help shape their all the rest of this stint of course this yellow doesn’t really help anyone in terms of pit stops we’re nowhere near the window for the second stop but as I say that they’re all going to come in that is Peak Inda so they are going to come in and I think that could turn this into a four stopper will it yes it will if there’s no cautions I think Scott Dixon’s had contact there in the pit has he crashed coming in back at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna sea they are in the window for the second stop Dylan Alexander Ross the race leader in they will take a set of threads off put a set of used Firestone alternates on little hcut leaving and Dy nearly stalls again Hera goes around the outside of him there you go a change for the lead Colton her on the 26 crew getting ahead of the seven it’s a little bit of a hold up baby good job boys and there’s Colton on the radio good job boys getting the work done in pit Lane and now those two but Colon’s on the primaries he’s on the blacks that’s going to still give the advantage to Rossi on this restart why did he go primary he started on primaries he satisfied the requirement not everyone Alex poo stayed out he takes over the lead as the AMR safety team continues the clean up for Luca Kyoto’s crash but Tech Raceway lagona sea quite a few of the drivers that makes me feel a little bit better that Alex poo and Chip gassie were on the same math song sheet as I was saying I don’t think people will come in out front and of course as I say that we pan a pit Lane and quite a few of the runners do come in so I think that’s going to make it a full stopper for them but we’ve seen quite a few stay out and they are staying true to what we think is the conventional strategy so as is always the case in Indie Car a caution comes out and that does make the alternate strategy come to light for but quite a few of the runners back or further back because at the moment if it just runs to a three stopper track positions not too uh not too easy to come by now I thought I saw Scott Dixon go super deep into pit Lane as we pan back to the NBC team I’d love to see a replay of that because it did look as though he was in deep but it doesn’t look to have cost him anything and it he didn’t slow him down in pit Lane didn’t slow him down in the Stop and doesn’t seem to have caused any problems coming out he did lose a spot to Scotty Mack though through that sequence so who has stayed out Alex poo certainly has stayed out I’m waiting for my timing screen to update it looks as though p o w stayed out as well in the papay so it’s Roman gron David malucas Mar Armstrong so poo is this a mistake from Chip gassi and Alex poo or is this a master stroke a tactical plot here from Chip gassi to stay true to the three stoer and make this work at lagona sea for [Music] them and you can see p Ward Roman gral David MCAS there and Marcus Armstrong not too far behind it’s not going to be long before we go green here at lagona and we’ll be back racing with a split field some have only stopped once some have stopped twice it’s Colton H lead from the two stop now’s your chance to drive away with a new Corvette courtesy of H ve All Season you’ve had the opport to enter for a chance to win one of three Corvettes they’ve only given one away so two remain grab your mobile device and scan the QR code on your screen to enter under caution of Weather Tech Raceway Laguna sea Kevin Lee towns and Bell James henchcliffe Georgia hurry and Dylan Welch we’ve had a second pit stop for some the top 133 though stayed out Colton Hera the first off pit Lane runs in 14th right now let’s take a look at Scott Dixon orange and blue PNC car he just oh curb slams The Bottom he cases the bottom of his car taking too much Apex watch this he’s going to get too far to the left here little bit of over steer locked the fronts Annie stall and then gets collected a little bit in the back by Scott McLaughlin trying to get around him look at that so that’s Wing contact that could have implications very easily could have damaged that wing on M now or the geometry for the steering arm on Dixon nothing mlin could do there looks like he got away with it there’s the front wing damage to the end fence for Scott [Music] Dixon so we got two strategies in play right now as mentioned the top 13 did not stop 14th on back half have made a second stop they are hoping to get it done on one more the top group is still going to need two more Pit Stop So Alex poo who’s been in front lost the lead by staying out later the first time is in front again behind P Roman Roan was trying to win for Indie Car the first time first time since he was in gp2 13 years ago is in play don’t forget the restart line is different to Sho after they get around the final corner with great jump and Gran is trying to take a peek at botle a ward for second coming up the hill going to be tough for groan he’s on those blacks he’s got award in front on the Reds the grip is going to go to award but Gran’s trying to make it work on the outside TOs and I think he got it done black tires versus red tires and amazingly on a restart groan making those sticker BLS work as someone’s off is that seagull I think that was Nolan seagull yeah the number six exit a turn two the NT data McLaren wonder if he got help or he was one of the cars that had not pellow got be sorry about that really sorry debut for Nolan seagull with Errol McLaren the 19-year-old just announced to finish the season next season and more with Errol McLaren what happens listen here [Music] just spins up the rears and then the right rear falls off the exit curb to the Monterey dirt no traction out there so just like that we are back to caution as the strategy continues to play out from WeatherTech Raceway tetur for the new boy Nolan seagull in that number six Arrow McLaren now back to the ties strategy we said well is it strange that poo thinks it’s a black race also thinking it’s a black race Carl Kirkwood and Scott Dixon and also uh Colton hter on the last set of stops they’ve gone black red black so they think it’s going to be a black race as well so uh plenty thinking this is going to be a black race thank you to everyone who’s getting in touch on on X using the sky IND the car hashtag Lee Hammond has said that uh pointing out hurter is going to be on the blacks Callum is asking what the Dale coin rumor is all about no real rumor yet we just don’t know um yeah plenty of you staying up getting in touch on X thanks for keeping me company uh lap 42 of 95 will’ll be going green very very quickly because Nolan seagull is underway and the AMR safety crew will be tucked back into their slots ready for the action to continue all the while this does actually help the likes of poo on that traditional three stopper at the moment because he saving a bit of fuel uh that means when we go green he can unleash the pace of that Chipen ass car he’s got Roman gr on though behind him at this restart don’t forget he was really quick last time out passing P Ward could he do it to the race leader back to green at Weather Tech Raceway lagona sea Alex poo in front with Roman Gran so hungry for a win in second pot award David malucas on his season debut in fourth and Armstrong in fifth let’s go again from Laguna sea got a little bit of a run Alex poo got a little sideways exiting 11 Here Comes groan but he’s going to take the conservative path in the break Zone crait aaly locking up there side by side with the 41 is stingray Rob Rob’s got the grip Advantage with those Reds but side to side hip check from F aaly pushes him right off now Rossi going around in the orange and white McLaren I don’t think that Petro faliy grew up playing ice hockey in Brazil as poo opens up a big gap on Broan Rossy in the background tried to make a move on Colton her into four didn’t make it stick but you see the Gap already that poo is opened up over groan he’s comfortable out front and he’s going to want to extend this lead oh Gro Oho that was kein Simpson just behind the Argentinian driver canapino Rossy gets through all locked up I think that’s Kyle Kirkwood trying to get around Stingray Rob he makes that happen those drivers that pitted trying to cut through this traffic of the cars that didn’t Hur up to P10 Rossy p12 they are essentially effectively the leaders on that main strategy and that second yellow really helped drivers like Hera as Scott mclin goes forward that yellow extended the fuel range it probably means that Colton Hera can make it on one more stop to the end going to take some saving likely but a lot more manageable it was a short yellow that one for Nolan seagull Stingray Rob tries to fight back on Scott mlin now Dixon in that orange and blue PNC bank machine trying to line up the AJ Foy racing driver and then we’re keeping an eye on mlin and Dixon to see if the contact that they had getting in the pit Lane has any impact on them the Verizon on board with will power he went through the dirt in the opening lap right now running a 19th he is one of those that just made stop and can probably get home on one more so up front for Alex P and the others behind him they need two more stops does he just need to run away from everybody and hope to create a gap it’s all about Pace right now but he’s on that harder Firestone black Tire his last lap a 117 that’s not going to get it done but you got to watch The Gap to Hera right now at 8.6 seconds that was the first lap of a restart cold tires crucially it was 1.3 seconds quicker than groan and two seconds quicker than this man colon herd admed in traffic so pooa crossed the line of 1102 fastest car on track at the moment already opened up 2 seconds almost to groan the game Bridge on board shows us excuse me Talon the leader on this strategy that has stopped would we call this the a strategy but let’s take a look at that graphic it breaks down into two they’re labeled in reverse order so for strategy a that’s Alex below groan and award the drivers that stayed out during yellow strategy B is this guy Colton Hera leading intent along with Rossy and Kirkwood we think that poo is going to have to make two more pit stops barring a ton of yellow so what Alex poo groan need to do is try to put about 23 24 seconds on the car of Colton Hera to be able to make their second stop and still come out in the lead so do we think B the way it’s labeled here is the preferred strategy at the moment it certainly looks that way I mean you see the strategies there powered by NTT you’ve got a bit of a race on our hands certainly but but I’d rather be on the be strategy right now well but if that yellow wasn’t long enough and her us got to stretch a little bit of fuel you don’t want to be in a position where you’ve got to limp your way to the Finish you want to be able to race your way to the Finish NTT giving us that information as Alex poo continues to circulate and tries to open up that gap which at 10.8 seconds right now over Colton Hera look back there and fourth David MCAS has not raced since here at the end of the season last year and it’s a long story as to where he why he’s where he’s at he was supposed to be with AOL McLaren now debting with Myer shank racing with a wrist that’s only 80% useful that’s the most important story is what is he feeling physically in the cockpit we’re at about half distance right now James you saw the size and the scope of the carbon brace pre-race that malucas has to wear and you know the physicality of Laguna sea is punishing it is 125° track temperature probably 110 inside the cockpit can he hang on for another 50 laps here’s the thing we’re not even at the halfway point yet and look you’re battling an injured hand a recovering wrist that’s one thing but the other thing is just being race fit you can get into a gym you can work out all you want but if you haven’t been putting in the Reps putting in the laps behind the wheel there’s certain muscles you can’t work out in a gym and the physicality of a four Race distance is definitely going to catch him off guard but Georgia adrenaline is a powerful drug it can take you through a lot of adversity right about that and we’ve been monitoring David MCAS RIS all weekend long and he’s been trying everything in the book to get it ready for this race they were not sure if they were going to wear the brakes actually throughout the race because it doesn’t allow him to have as much Mobility but 955 laps is the longest stint that he’s done since this track last year so a lot going on in the cockpit for David MCAS his teammate Felix Ros said this was the most physical race that they run all year long but like you said I’m sure adrenaline plays a factor where David MCAS runs fourth down Dylan so poo aard is diving into the pits right there he’s kind of on a strategy Island here pitted on lap 20 so they needed a come in here and top him off with fuel as well again been just sort of a quiet weekend for poto he’s been in the mix but just missing a little bit here they’ll change four tires and add Shell Fuel to the five so what’s he hoping for at this point to salvage something that it stays green and those that stops on the last caution cannot make it yeah he’s going to hope for some clean air here as he comes out there you see Jack Harvey going by so I think award will get that clean air he’s got the use Reds here to try to make some Pace happen and then you’ll be hoping for some chaos James that’s what you really need is the field to go back under yellow get stacked up and try to make some moves but right now it’s go fast time by the way we should mention that his teammate Nolan seagull did continue on he’s still on the lead lap so there was no contact but that was the cause of the most recent caution let’s see who’s been able to move forward since the start of this race with the Euro fora on board new partner for Petro fit aaliis we look at today’s biggest movers brought to you by Firestone he is plus 17 on the day kein Simpson has moved up 13 spots and Santino fui now running fifth is up a dozen positions from mer started that’s all a little bit out of sorts right now as F aaly hits the pit Lane so most in the top 10 still need to make this stop and one more P A W started a bit of a trend here see David malcis into the pit Lane as well sticker Reds for for fit aaly that’s going to feel great for Petro the first few laps there you see p a ward going by on track kein Simpson comes out behind fit aaly and I continue to watch that Gap poo to Colton Hera now 15.5 seconds guys Alex poo doing what he needs to to get the Gap he needs for that extra Pit Stop So fastest man on track once again 1093 on that last two for poo as we see Petro having a little bit of an off on those cold Tires New Garden got a drive-thru for that exact issue earlier so that could be a deal killer for the 30 here if race control deems that he did not trip the transponder at pit exit so just saying a 1093 for p a 1108 for Hera so let’s see where Petro faldi sits does he get the car back before the transponder it doesn’t look like he will James he just passed the line and we just heard from race control this is such a crucial hit for Petro fit aaly he will have to come through pit Lane again for a drive-thru it’s so tough the teams and drivers they put so much emphasis on those In-N-Out laps so so important you’re told to push those outlasts that uh that pit out blend line but we got to do a drive through here you overdo it that’s the penalty and here comes the 30 to serve it so he’ll come to pit Lane and speaking of lap times let’s take a look at the comparison of the last last three laps of this guy Colton Hera to Alex poo P’s got to open up that Gap and job done Kevin over a second a lap faster than Colton Hera it’s a second and a half the last two it’s pretty substantial that Gap now at 17.2 uh. 2 seconds James thanks the NT for that lap count back with the lap times it’s just showing how this is slowly going into the hands of Alex so we’re really looking for The Gap or at least poo in chip gassie racing is looking for that Gap to be up to about a half a minute and it’s continuing to stretch right now it’s 18 seconds approximately that’s about the time lost on pit Lane 30 32 seconds so he pit on lap 26 I don’t think he’s got enough fuel in it to get the Gap that he needs he’s got the pace right now but he’s going to have to come pit for fuel before he has enough laps to open up that kind of Gap lenus lqu making a move on the inside of his team teamate Marcus Armstrong down there in turn 11 53 second and Dylan poo is doing what he can but I’m not sure he’s got the fuel to open the Gap he needs yeah and there’s been a little movement down here as they start to get ready but I’ll kind of be interested too they’re going to go to the sticker Reds on this next stop so they’re going to have some time to make up which which makes sense that’s why you’d go to those sticker Reds but I’ll be curious how long there or how how much this Gap continues to grow and then when the decision is made to come down and put those sticker Reds on what kind of damage they can do with those on so be interesting to watch poo here over the final half of this race yeah Dylan I think they’ll wait Barry wer has guided Alex poo and the 10 teams has so many great wins he looks very calm they’re clearly talking it through looking at fuel remaining but they have the pace right now so they will use every last drop of fuel here to open that gap before they decide to come to pit Lane knowing also that they have that sticker red Advantage weak question the call from Barry wer to stay on blacks Alex poo absolutely proven that it was the right decision based on what he’s able to do latime wise well hinches if you have said it’s different for every team as we see poto Ward moving past the invest Honda of Jack Harvey here some are better on reds some are better on blacks and look at the end of the day poo doesn’t actually know how good he is on reds yet he hasn’t used them he’s going to throw a sticker set on in this next set and they might surprise themselves they might actually find that the car is great on the Reds and be kicking themselves for not using them sooner let’s listen to the good ranchers Chevrolet communication on the tire options that’s awesome lap time for what we’re doing here awesome lap time we will have to do the sticker red understand what you’re saying on the black though oh yeah I think you love the sticker red I’m going have to I’m going to have to that’s the right attitude it’s not really a choice at this point and you want to satisfy that tire requirement before the last stop just in case you find yourself in a difficult position like we saw with pada Ward last year he had to make an extra stop cuz they hadn’t done it [Music] yet m glin is where he started in seventh right [Music] now he is one of those that can go a little bit further and Johan and newart are all going to need to stop before herder Rossy and the rest yeah hery Rossy Kirkwood mclocklin all on a similar strategy as I think will power got wide in turn four so now you’re in the 22nd Gap Alex poo is over colon Hera Kevin I think it’s more like 23 24 seconds they need to find to still come out ahead but we’ll see it’s a short pit Lane in Laguna sea you think about how tight that little turn is to get to pit lane and then you’re off the button little bit more clean air for Colton herd and now that some of these other cars have pitted I’m curious to see what this lap time is he’s coming out of the final corner now just a little bit ahead of will power who we’re riding on board with that’s going to tell us what her can do in clean air how hard is poo pushing look at push the pass remaining he’s burned a lot of time trying to make Pace on this stint right now Colton Hera in really good shape 102 seconds remaining poo just 69 that Gap to her to 20 seconds now 21 to Rossi 24 to Kirkwood and 25 to mlin that’s roughly where he’s going to be coming out somewhere number for me 88.1 88.1 it’s a fuel number that they want Colton herder to achieve to be able to make it on one more stop he’ll finish this lap and still have 40 to go to the Finish get home lap is about when uh I think you’re looking at about lap 68 something like that maybe push it a little bit more like 66 is but that would involve some fuel save Roman Gran is one of those that needed two more stops no way Georgia he can get home from here rangan is in they went fireone black fire stone red tires filled it up with that shell racing fuel and he had a plan all along he felt like he had a rocket ship that’s why he was so frustrated and qualifying but he’s going to be cautious he’s going to be smart this ways the plan seems to be working Dylan here’s Joseph newart he’s one of the cars on that strategy a they put sticker red tires on fill him up with Shell Fuel as well expect Alex poo in this lap so poo will need this next stop and another and he’s 21.7 seconds in front of Colton Hera that was Barry W’s voice saying pit pit pit so the 10 of Alex poo your leader on that strategy your leader on the racetrack will be coming in this time and where he Blends out is so crucial he’ll be burning even more push to pass on this in laap Townson cuz it has to be as quick as possible his last time lap was about 1 second quicker than Colton Hera the DHL team awaits on pit Lane they’ll have a clean in and a clean out Dylan and they had that Gap to Colton Hera at just under 22 seconds when he peeled off on the Pit Road so we’ll watch the blend just need a smooth stop here first stint of the day on those sticker red tires for p front RNG change to counter that Shell Fuel he’s down and away and here comes Hera so Colton Hera should get in front but how close will poo be there’s Hera there’s wasi and Poo’s got to be so careful right here not to lock up and slide off into the dirt like what we saw from New Garden and F aaly poo cleanly Blends just in front of Kirkwood but Kyle Kirkwood on hot tires this will be a great ride right here K Kirkwood on hot tires and push to pass no doubt coming out of turn four trying to line something up for five but he’s got to be so careful cuz the cars around poo oh he can’t do it he’s got to save so much fuel right now and that’s where the advantage can swing back in Poo’s favor and isn’t it remarkable how quickly the sticker Reds come in oh I say that and poo just got all kinds of squirly opportunity for Kirkwood in the cork screw he can’t take advantage of it he couldn’t hit the button he had to lift at the end of the straightaway there’s a big number that’s having to be hit by the drivers that pit colon Hera Alex Rossy Kyle Kirkwood but poo he can run full fuel with a set of sticker Reds now he said this is his less preferred set of tires but we’ll see what kind of pace he’s really got once these things get fired up so it’s still very much in question poo no fuel save others are going to have to save to get home here at Laguna sea [Music] 57 of 95 poo does not have to hit a big number the others do and he can get his head down now as they all need one more stop but poo has certainly got the most Weaponry if you like in his Armory because although he’s used up some of his push to pass the others can’t really use their push to pass certainly in this stint till they get to their get home lap and we think that’ll be around lap 67 66 to 68 really so can they make it count so for 10 laps now Alex poo can get his head down and try to get at least track position on one of the two cars ahead of him if not both of those cars if he can pass both of those cars he’s going to be very very difficult to beat because he’s going to have a a shorter stop as well I think as we look now at will power we haven’t seen too much of power it’s been a difficult weekend for the Pinsky cars apart from mlan and there is the mobile one gold delery machine of Graham Ray Hall and that is to mark their celebrations this weekend and they’ve got likewise in imper and all sorts going on and it’s a fantastic Livery and the suit looks pretty cool as well and you can see now with that fuel number that the cars are having to hit Willow is coming back at Scott Dixon and he’s going to go up the inside of Scott into the corks screw makes that move count and Power on the same sort of strategy stopped 20 laps ago like Scott Dixon so that’s the move on pure Pace from power and that now will put a few question marks in Scott Dixon’s mind he hasn’t got the pace at this stage of the race and all the wild poo closing in on val on Alexander Rossy you’re watching NBC Sports Sports coverage of Indie Car brought to you by euroa a global pharmaceutical company promoting access to health and quality of life hi ve this racing season help hi ve reach their goal of 100 million Meals by visiting hiv.com and by Firestone tires for read of finding the [Music] limits we’re getting close to 2/3 of the way complete from the coastline of central Califor Califoria it is beautiful and the racing has been very interesting today with a couple of strategies in play Colton Hera is in front right now on Alexander Rossy and Alex poo just a moment ago we saw a pass that could have Championship implications two of the contenders will power got by Scott Dixon it’s not an easy corner to make a pass on that break zone is it’s not level it starts up hill it flattens everything top the car gets light and squirly but it was just very committed very decisive from power that is just abusive though of Scott Dixon’s professionalism from will power it’s a full send full commitment knowing that you’re dealing with one of the most heads up driver in the field I mean he leaves Scott Dixon with no choice Kevin but to you know avoid the contact and open the door up otherwise they’re both likely to be out of this race toy Scott Dixon has won six championships that he finishes races generally speaking and will power knows that better than anyone mhm they have fought for championships before power in play for a third this season Dixon trying to tie AJ FY with his seventh they both came into the day very much in play power was the championship leader by five on Alex blow Dixon was third only 11 back Dylan we see Alex below he has gone to the Whip and has already Tracked Down Alexander Ross he for second here’s their game plan for the final 35 laps of this race that’s you in front of you they’ve been out for 20 laps how many laps do we need on these tires we’re going to do a full stint on this set a full stint we both have to hit one more time and they’ve kind of been brought back onto the same strategy as these other cars so they’ll run a full stint here like they said they’ve only got scuffs left they don’t like the used red so that’s kind of off the table for poo with his last stop but they can and will push here try to drive by these cars that are saving fuel like Rossy and Hera and then just build the Gap from there try to give themselves as much of a buffer as they can when they make their final stop to just try and hold on to the track position that they’ve got so it’s looking good for the 10 they may have pulled another one out here if they can just keep it together yeah find Alex poo I want to know that these guys are saving fuel as much as they are he said you know Barry said both still have one stop fine but the number seven and the number 20 6 in front of them they they’ve got to really protect that fuel number in order to make it to that final stop window I want that bit between my teeth as a driver to know yeah you can go after these guys they can’t defend and he’s got a run here up the hill Townson oh but will Rossy give him the space he will poo charging up the inside and now Alex poo can keep that head down and go after Colton Hera nothing out back 4 seconds to KY Kirkwood behind Alex Rossy here’s what I’m going to be fascinated with is when do they pit P for their final stop do they wait till he’s low on fuel or do they pit on the earlier side and protect against the yellow coming out if they pit on the earlier side maybe they try to take fuel only meanwhile for the 14 car of Santino fuchi he has to give up six positions as demanded by race control for blocking let’s see what happened headed to turn six Christian Rasmus pops out fuchi reacts driving Ras M over and race control deemed that a reactive move so the pass started in turn five you see the 20 clearly pull out yep that’s a good call pretty cut and dry the move for the rule for blocking is you cannot move in reaction to the car behind you and even though he didn’t push the 20 off the track it did stop him from executing the pass so about five more laps Kevin before the window opens up for that final stop now you could see somebody further back Gamble and try to pit early and get lucky on a yellow but up front I think it’ll be probably lap 68 give you 27 laps to the Finish maybe even lap 69 the question is when does poo come to pit Lan make one more St also correct should I defend just keep hitting the number we don’t think we’ve got fuel to defend when he gets to you so at one point I and I think others thought that the strategy of those that pitted under the caution on 37 with Colton Hera might be the winning play but it is clearly not at this point because Alex poo is right there hardest thing as a racing driver you know you’ve got to hit the fuel number you also know if you let this guy by it could be the the race at that point so brutal for Colton Hera to try to make the fuel magic work and drive as wide as possible and defend with less gas available and not the ability to burn push to pass you can defend with line you just cannot defend with the button with that push to pass that extra 50 horsepower it just drinks this Shell Fuel and really really sacrifices that number so it’s only a handful more laps that col herd has got to hang on hitting that fuel Target but it is a crucial set of laps for the game Bridge Honda now meanwhile Alex poo knows that he only needs to wait for a high percentage opportunity even if it doesn’t come he can make it work on the in-lap the out laps he’s got lots of time he doesn’t need to force anything he really doesn’t they they’ll peel off in front of him he’ll have as many clear laps as he wants to try to make the overcut work but he’s got a great run he’s going inside here at the at the cork screw and it’s not even a contest her to having to back off and a pass for the lead at the top of the hill and famously you’ll remember a chip kassie driver passing a Hera going into the cork strew this one a lot less dramatic than back when Alex zardi did it in 1996 on Father Bryan too soon too soon too soon for some certainly SS 30 laps to go Colton’s going to have a chance if a yellow comes out and he gets a restart I’m just fascinated to know what happens to poo on tires that’s the big one that’s where it could potentially fall back into the favor of Colton Hera what does poo do does he take fuel only and try to stretch for 40 Laps on red tires we’ll find out since you brought it up those that maybe weren’t around 30 some years ago need to go back and and look at one of the most famous overtakes in Motorsport which uh would not be legal now that would be ruled uh would it no I I believe I’ve heard that in the last few years would they still allow that that would not be allowed frankly unpopular not be it should have been shouldn’t have been allowed back in the ’90s either Brian Hera driving the car in front this man’s father still a two-time winner at the racetrack as his son is trying to make it three but it’s not looking as brosie for the 26 as it was 20 laps ago well and he’s got pressure now from Rossy who seems to be making the fuel and making the pace the driver of the number seven Arrow McLaren car is pressing lap 65 it’ll be 66 at the line for poo so maybe in a couple of laps we’ll see final pit stops just looking at the pil on there got to give credit to Christian lingard coming back he’s P1 right now after having that issue having to get the uh the sign off of his front Wing it’s almost like you’re talking about all that aerodynamic work they do on these these cars bit of a bit of a boond doggle not needed because that car was running fine with a sign on the front the on board with poto a ward he has moved back up to 12th position let’s see how he got there chasing down Marcus Erikson who goes a little bit wide in the Delaware life Honda went a lot wide there all four tires onto the dirt there’s no way to lay down 750 horsepower when you’re out there as a ward breezes by left front lock up is what led to the wide radius for Marcus Erikson second time we’ve seen the 28 off the racetrack through the dirt hanging on to it as best he can 13th right now rookie Nolan seagull as we said managed to maintain a spot on the lead lap the NT on board showing the progress here from The Young Californian so lap 67 Dylan Welch I just wonder what’s the communication like on Final stops and just as I say that we see one Kyle Kirkwood first to dive yeah he’s the very first one in to make their last stop you see Scott Dixon back there as well so they’re not they’re not afraid to do something different Kirkwood’s going to go to sticker black tires for the end here the undercut worked earlier they’ll get this 27 full fuel race in back out as well look at the Gap that P’s already opened up over cold Hera 5 seconds he was a second and a half faster than Hera on that last lap but now that one of the leaders is pit everyone else is exposed you saw Scott Dixon as well exiting the pit lane behind perk wood but yellow comes out now the leaders will have to pit those guys will cycle up to the front so how much of a risk Townson do you want to take you don’t need to if you’re out P you come this lap or the next lap after you take tires you just get it done the problem is where does he come out on track he probably comes out around Marcus Erikson in 11th as we see the gamebridge Honda taking the pit Lane P’s got to come the next lap he doesn’t got to do anything if he wants to cover you want to buy insurance it’s free right now special now that these guys have all made it to pit Lane I agree with you Dylan go ahead and there was some discussion on the 26 at Colton herd a used Reds for new blacks they opted for new blacks as well trying to get a look at what Rossy went with will power Scott M Walkin everybody in here trying to make their final stop and we’ll see what poo does tough exit for Alex brossy he had to drive around the number three lost a little bit of time compared to colon her of getting out of pit Lane bunch of cars now have taken to the pits Kyle kirkut really starting the trend there and now these all critical outlasts as poo continues to lay down fast after fastest lap 8/10 of a second over the next fastest car on track last time around and Hera is in traffic so he is not going to have quick out laps Alex poo has clean track right now W he stays out James taking a risk I was selling free insurance commission free not a taker he’s going to send it so anything that happens shunt wise on the track right now Advantage Colton Hera right on board gamebridge on board of Colton Hera trying to get up to speed there with these sticker primaries take a look at some Firestone Telemetry to see how much he’s having to just tickle the throttle out of these corners getting the power down but you heard Barry wer say to Alex poo we’re running a full stint on these tires I agree with you there’s no need to do it at this point well guys here’s the issue they’ve only got used tires left they don’t have any stickers so is that part of the reason they’ve got used blacks laid out or used lined up against the wall so maybe that’s part of it well he’s got traffic right now too so he’s got to be careful if he tries to get by or careful to just not lose too much time but Dylan I think the reds are probably good enough today to just kind of hang on and take fuel only oh that’s a whole different type of risk but Dylan I think that’s a great call excellent find on that because he doesn’t come in though James I don’t think he’s going to for that reason the tires alone the fact he doesn’t have any sets he doesn’t want to have to take 27 TI set 27 laps sorry on a set of us Prim so risky right now Pi Barry wer finally says enough is enough so he will need just nine more corners in the danger zone before he gets to pit Lane well this is huge that he got by Christian rasm or he would have lost even more time on a two mile plus trip around the racetrack rasm was trying to stay on the lead lap now he is a lap down even just being behind him that previous lap he was 3 seconds slower than his previous lap was Alex Pelos so just in that one tour behind the 20 he lost a significant amount of time so what do you take for Tires I’d say the the least used black set at this point is the safe play absolutely and he’s still going to come out based on the time of solid 8 seconds ahead of Colton Hera and be able to cruise it from [Music] there hustling through turn yeah Cru it’s a relative when I say that someone went off in front of Alex poo Georgia the driver of the 10 makes his final visit to pit Lane what’s he putting on well the driver of the 10 passes me down to Dylan on pit Lane but another driver coming in the 77 of Roman Goan I just talked to strategist Dave O’neal He said they’ve put themselves in a reasonable reasonable position so the Reds come off the Firestone black tires come on and going to run this the end it’s uh used blacks for poo Barry wanser said at the start of the day used Reds are not an option for us that was their only option so used blacks it is oh Poo just barely got in ahead of what might be a caution but he’s already safe he’s exiting pit Lane where’s Colton her a relative to Roman groan cuz groan just made his final stop as Stingray Rob continues crucially kept the car running kept the green flag out no need for a safety car so New Garden still leads but he’ll have to make another stop Alex poo safely ahead of Colton Hera but Colton Hera heading to turn five and groan is just behind him groan will have a lot more fuel though to make it to the end three laps later was the pit stop from groer and he is running here comes Rossy though on groan side by side in the corks grw no love loss between these two and they were teammates at and Drey Global and a great move on the outside from Rossy cold tires for groan in another lap he’ll have those up to temperature and ready to charge and that might be a pass for the final spot on the podium the effective leaders Alex poo Colton Hera Alexander Rossi and then maybe Roman Roan stay with us for the Finish coming up [Music] what a fascinating race this has been so far 23 laps to go and it’s had absolutely everything the Jeopardy of what was the right strategy what was the wrong strategy for so long it looked as though maybe chip ganassi and Alex poo got it wrong especially when that second caution came out for Nolan seagull but the pace that poo has had and also trusting that strategy has really been the difference but the Jeopardy then came back when the likes of hter and Kirkwood and others were pitting and staying out meant that if a caution had come out poo would have hit that snake on the board of snakes ladders that I talk about so often and with Stingray Rob in the gravel at turn five that was almost the case but poo already pitted by that stage and he was back out on the racetrack he looks really good and very comfortable out front now on board with Scott mlin this is a move for position he sends it up the inside of Carl Kirkwood and that sends Kirkwood back a spot and I think that was all because KL Kirkwood was held up a little bit by the recovering Stingray Rob there is stingray Rob he’s been in the gravel recently but the good ranchers team Pensky car of Scott mclin now ahead of that andreetti Global machine of KL Kirkwood and a race that was looking so strong for KL Kirkwood when he led those opening laps at the beginning has just Eed and flowed away from him and it looks as though those hopes of at least a Podium spot have all been dashed as we ride on board with Scott but Scott Dixon who must be struggling with that balance after the contact he had with the pit wall coming in for that stop did a bit of damage to the front Wing is there any handling issues toe in toe out and anything to do with the suspension well I’m sure we’ll find out afterwards but now 20 to go in California race fans you still have a chance to drive away with a new Corvette courtesy of hi ve all season iner for a chance to win one of three Corvettes grab your mobile device and scan the QR code on your screen to enter they’ve given away one two more remain thanks for joining us today at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna sea Kevin Lee in for Lee defy he will be back with us in two weeks at Mid Ohio you can see him tonight on NBC again at the US Olympic track and field field trials in Eugene Oregon that was fun to watch last night James H towns and bell with this as well and Christian lard with a little hip check and that is going to send Marcus was that marus AR strong in the wall he just pulled out in front of a car at huge speed that could have been disastrous he said he sent me luckily I did luckily no contact there but clearly the engine is dead a is going to come out and this helps Hera and Rossi tremendously and puts Alex poo on used tires into the clutches Rossy on the prim on the alternates hurt on the [Applause] primaries we haven’t gone yellow yet I’m not sure if that engine’s still running they’re waiting for maybe to see if he can get it going or they’re letting people like Joseph nard get into the pit Lane yeah he’s in a pretty vulnerable position he’s offline he’s pretty he’s pretty visible but it looks like they’re just allowing the few cars that hadn’t pit yet to dive the pit Lane yeah but offline at the exit of like 140 mph Corner yeah if someone gets it wrong there it could go really wrong but again it’s a yellow flag’s out in the corner so everybody should be approaching it with the appropriate amount of caution yeah [Laughter] right Dy and Joseph newart didn’t get in there’s the full course yellow so he’ll be safe to complete this service red tires cominging off sticker set of primary tires going on Final stop of the day here for new guard with that front Wing change as well remember yet had an early drive-thru he was also one of those that could not make the corner turn at pit exit so he’s been playing catchup all the way back so let’s go back and see what uh happened to Marcus Armstrong with Christian lard coming through lungu guard gets into the inside there Armstrong I thought was in the fence here but then looped it back AC I don’t know who that was can’t see who it was but they had a Harden throat moment fresh out of the pits coold tires for Armstrong lingard trying to make it work here into four you don’t break into turn four you barely lift so it’s hard to make a lunge work left side left side he got loose left side clear I don’t think they touched did they uh I think they might have left front to the floor maybe yeah either way Armstrong’s you know fresh out of the pits yeah they touch so they’ll they there’ll likely be a penalty coming for Christian lingard loss of control of his car leads to contact that fires the 11 off I don’t know about that one I’m just going based on how the the rule is written and has been interpreted in the past I’m with you that one’s on the line but I wouldn’t be surprised either way yeah at that angle right there you can see lard clearly loses it who was oh that was Graham Ray Hall in the 15 almost t-boning Armstrong that would have been a Monumental shunt oh that is a 130 mph Corner maybe he got on the brakes could have shed a couple of those off but so lucky for both those drivers that it didn’t end in contact so Alex Below had a pretty comfortable gap on Colton Hera Alexander Rossy and others now that has gone away also the fuel save needed for Colton Hera and and some others Alexander Rossi also in that category likely has gone away it’s gotten better I I don’t think it’s necessarily gone away they were having to hit a decent size number certainly they’re going to be able to have a little bit of freedom to maybe use some push to pass in offense in defense but poo is still very much in the best the best seat in the house just depends on how long this yellow is I’m sorry this is Joseph nard now just second on Merit because he didn’t have to do an outl Joseph newgarden benefiting wow immensely from the yellow being held until he made it into the pits but doesn’t lose all the time that you normally would in a regular pit cycle by not having to do an out laap at speed you hear Tim synr saying you’re good to go that is a shocking development he was going to cycle out to what somewhere around not second 10th Kev not second I need to look in that again but yeah that’s the safest way to put it that’s a not second that’s going to be something that a lot of teams are upset about and how good are New Garden tires let’s hear from the driver that might have been disadvantaged in this situation Dylan yeah poo had a question to Barry wer on the radio take a listen PA car’s coming out now slow down the PA car is going to pick you up think they really waited for the two car yes they handled it like they normally do by waiting for everyone for an opportunity to P so Barry kind of diffused it there Barry WS are the strategist but there are several other teams on the radio now that this has played out the way it’s played out who are none too pleased we weren’t even looking at the Gap that Joseph nugar had over the rest of the field because again you were not expecting him to be able to come out in anywhere near as advantageous a position but Barry wer is correct that is the way they normally do it if a car is not In Harm’s Way that’s where it’s a little debatable for me the exit of turn four offline very much to me a sketchy place for Marcus Armstrong to be sitting if anybody loses it like he just did in that corner now you have a local yellow to your point you’re not supposed to be pushing but that’s a lot to ask from indie car drivers in the closing laps of the race nonetheless it is the way they’ve normally called it so in all fairness a car is not in the wall That’s the differentiator contact is one of the big issues uh no contact with the wall you could maybe argue there was contact between lard and Armstrong that started the incident but again that’s up to race race control’s discretion to a certain extent but for the most part that is fairly consistent with what we’ve seen I just I just didn’t see that coming you can understand P’s [Music] frustration how about this guy hanging on 18 laps to go what must he be feeling in the cockpit in these conditions he runs P10 David MCAS despite all the indicators saying it’s going to be really hard for him to even make it to the end without having to wave the white flag and and and just pit early from the physical demands but I said it earlier adrenaline can take you amazing places and he’s fine on fuel he actually Pitt it later than everyone ahead of him other than Joseph newgarden who just stopped so malucas is in great shape he was one of those that just came in a moment ago how about push to pass remember all the push to pass that poo had to use to open up the Gap earlier well now the penalty sets in just 22 seconds and now if Colton Hera has the gas he’s got 84 seconds to burn with extra power so we’ve had a few story lines here today at the start Kyle Kirkwood took the lead around the outside on Alex pelo and then for a while it looked like strategy had maybe put Colton Hera in front strategy going long got poo back in charge and now he leads but this last caution it is a straight up fight to the Finish poo new Gard in play unexpected Hera Rossy Gran looking to win time to go again from Weather Tech Raceway Laguna sea James Hera got all kinds of sideways out of turn 11 does Rossy take advantage Here Comes Rossy to the outside he’ll have a look and now he’s going to press he’s going for it it’s not going to work smart to back out of it now he’s got to go defensive against brojan into three but Rossi on those Reds they’re going to be a little bit better for the first couple corners her again sliding out of turn three punishing the rear Firestone on that 26 Kirkwood back there in that pink and white AutoNation car might have to save a little bit as well as Scott McLaughlin is coming through and that’s on his teammate and is’s around contact with power and groan has to write the way or make that McLaughlin as the right the way after the contact per kept it running and going up the hill self- penalizing there that move for Scott mlin look at the blocking the swerving as they go into the cork screw there’s no way that’s going to work full air full send for Christian lard Christian lard cleared a triple Offroad there that was huge air going downhill the car still in one piece as rasb also off at the exit of turn n boy Christian lomard has had one heck of a day off-roading at lagona so the three Pensky cars were back in the top seven before that contact now only one remains Joseph nard running in second lingard’s had to go to the pits as is mlin let’s take a look back at how this started there’s the red and white car middle of your screen going inside the red white and black car in a turn five that’s a tough one he gets some rear locking go sideways into Power then tries to gas it up to keep the position and loses it how will race control see this move sort of self- penalizing I mean he came out the worst for it there’s no doubt about it I’m not sure you know power was able to keep going had he stuck that landing on that one I think it would have been okay based on what we’ve seen as far as penalty calls for wheel tohe action so far this season I’m not sure will power would see it the same way either way both cars continue as Joseph nart what happened to nart is back in fifth so he also spun uh while we were focusing on that replay we saw it in the side by side he went wide and went off so New Garden some would say was gifted an opportunity to still being contention came on the restart in second now he’s back in fifth so Hera is back in play does he have any opportunity to catch up to Alex poo I think poo still has the fuel advantage over the two behind him the real battle here is for second and third and four that final spot on the podium Gran’s going to be in the fight for it let’s take a look at this melee at the top of the corer Christian lingard was penalized for this move I mean when you leave the track with a little kicker and then it’s a downhill drop it’s like a Alpine Ski downhill jump you go for way more distance but lard made it work saw the same move in the ending next race Reese gold doing a little trip through the gravel his car terminally damaged after rejoining the track well after landing I was so focused on the mclocklin power Replay that I really didn’t get to see what happened there with new guard let’s take a look again oh turn six he had the big old tank slapper at the Apex and gets wide so we had the driveth through for lard and also avoidable contact on Scott mclin the three with the contact with his teammate will power so I believe mclin also has a drive-thru coming it’s like mclin’s got trouble too mclin did it he did his drive-thru and this is him on his outl does he have damage to his race car that rep to what they were saying was maybe bent or broken on the three you can see the wheels turned uh turned way down to the right there yeah if you look at the steering as he comes up the hill here gets straight that right right hand is well [Music] down yeah he’s just trying to limp home at this point [Music] James yeah that’s a that’s a tough one to hang on to around this place there’s still 13 laps to go and a huge blow in the championship points as they run right now mclin would lose four spots and B to nth after doing such a great job clawing back from the penalty that started the season at St Pete as Dixon now really starting to cwl all over the back of Kyle Kirkwood power lost a few spots there in that contact oh with and that hurts him and this Harve yeah Jack Harvey is going to have to pull off right side headers blowing smoke that’s right at pit exit pit out look at the marbles and we’ve gone caution stay with us another restart is coming up from Weather Tech Raceway Laguna [Music] sea well it’s all gone a little bit chaotic hasn’t it in the last few laps that was quite the move from Scotty Mack on his teammate will power I wonder if it’ll be will power two point Z on uh on that move when they get to the debrief in the team pensy trucks and Jacky Harvey doing a wonderful job with a bit of reverse parking there all bit I guess he would not want to be doing that at this stage in his Dale coin Honda with 12 laps to go but the caution is back out and what does that mean it means Alex poo will be back back under threat from those behind him this time it’s not Joseph Newen in the firing line it’s Colton hurter and Colton of course the house of hter as it’s known two wins to his dad two wins to his name as well he has a much faster race car than Joseph New Garden does so what can culton her to do at the re start as we see Jack Harvey being recovered into the padic Alexander Rossy will he’s looked fast all weekend really quick yesterday very quick again today and if anyone of the cars is slow away when we wave the green then Rossy will not need a second invitation in terms of sticking that papaya McLaren up the inside or around the outside of the car in front of him and Roman groon can he get on the podium in his green and black hunko Hollinger car there so many question marks with 12 laps to go there’s so much to play for here still in this Grand Prix of Monteray well done everyone who stayed up and you are going to be treated to quite the show and if the last start is ening to go by it might not be the last caution of this race let’s head back and hopefully get to the checker [Music] flag under caution number four at the Firestone Grand Prix of montere from WeatherTech Raceway lagona sea this for mechanical issue for Jack Harvey under yellow Alex poo leads Colton her and Alexander Rossy quick update on pit Lane with Georgia henbury yeah roongo been calm cool and collected on the radio they’ve been telling him routine information the only thing that stands out he says I cannot get these black tires to work Dylan Welch and Colton Hera in second they have been saving fuel this is the conversation between he and Rob Edwards fuel 86 86 4% how does that add up we just do 864 yell we wanted you to get new guard we were giving you something to play with we’ll talk about it later Focus Sport and so unfortunately even with this yellow they are still going to have to be in fuel save when we go back green here so poo in a good spot Hera just going to try to hold off the other cars behind him if he can what a story we have right here we have Alex poo looking to take command in the championship which would be three and four years and behind him drivers that are desperate for a win it’s been over two years for Colton Hera Alexander Rossi the same and won in the last 5 years Roman Gran has not won since he was in junior formulas on the way to Formula 1 all are in play here today getting set to go green with just over 10 remaining poo around the final Corner Hera chasing him he’s got a run Hera going into The andred Hairpin can he go around the outside it’s the sketchy way to do it but doesn’t mean he’s not going to try po later on the brakes covers it off you you heard the frustration in the voice of Hera on the fuel number that he had to make now you see Rossy going on the inside of three Rossy having a look and Roman groan there for hos Hollinger quietly stalking what does groan have for Alexander Rossi as the exit for and make the run to turn five push to pass looking good for groan he has 29 seconds left Joseph narden is not done can think about the podium that’s him in the white and black car chasing the green and black car of groan Hera has the most push to pass if he has enough fuel to be able to use it wheel to newart is the best on fuel as you look at the Hitachi on board he was the last to make his final stop that also means he has the precious firestones Roan in front of him on that onboard really struggling with the back of that race car the 77 wiggling all over you see the laps since they pit that’s the number of laps they have on these tires in some cases these were used tires so it’ be even higher number than that and this guy the Iceman just used the push to pass button for good reason of the top seven drivers nobody has more seconds remaining than Scott Dixon 63 seconds for Dixon but does he have the fuel because he pitted on the same lap as Kyle Kirkwood and a lap before Colton Hera Dixon looking up ahead at Kyle Kirkwood with the PNC Bank on board Kirkwood ahead 24 or sorry only 11 seconds of push to pass left the frustrating part of that last graphic was the fact that herd has got 55 and this will be another yellow big front impact the driver on the right that’s kein Simpson on the left but somebody square into the concrete as we look at the back of the car the mobile one of Graham Ray Hall that was a big hit no tire barrier there where to go you see Graham waving his hand letting the engine die Lally nowhere so close nine laps to go in this race and that fuel that Colton Hera desperately wanted is coming his Direction with this yellow and he still has more than double the push to pass of poo and this will be a long yellow but I think not long enough to end under yellow so this could be a perfect situation for the gamebridge drivers luckily Graham Ray Hall is able to climb out but you can tell little pain in the hands let’s take a look here so it started with ke and Simpson just going a little bit wide hooking to Driver’s left right across the traffic rayall nowhere to go he was so close he avoided that incident with Armstrong earlier actually the first hit hit of kein Simpson was the big one massive contact on board Nolan seagull now oh little bit of a hit from canapino could have cut the left rear of kein Simpson so close to taking out the number six as well but you can understand why Graham was holding his hand yeah he didn’t have time to even get his hands off the wheel yeah you can see the deformation in that tire it is flat that left rear on kein Simpson was flat from the contact with Augustine canapino it doesn’t take much it was such a small bit of contact so really no fault on the number four and the the P pit cannot believe it this is the stress of being a racing dad your kids got the win in the bag and comfortably control the pace and now another restart that Alex poo will have to contend with that was Alex’s dad Ramone kein Simpson was running 13th uh before all that started going gr R Hall was running in 16th that’s three straight uh very negative results for Simpson who had started the season just by getting to the finish the first two he was simply collected in this recent string let’s take a look at a slow-mo replay of Graham rayall as you watch the hands here 3 2 1 whmo and it just torqus the steering wheel heavily the thing is that you and I know you’re heading for concrete it’s it’s trained re reflex to come off the steering wheel but when a car is spinning in front of you you’re trying to avoid it right it’s almost yeah it’s almost impossible to let go if you’re heading into another car I’m happy to see that I don’t see Graham looking at his risk he’s still wrist he’s still holding his helmet with his right hand and it could have just been that as the the wheel ripped all the way over to the right your hand comes over can sometimes just knock the tub and it might have just been hitting the top of his hand his knuckles maybe into the right hand side of the tub with his left hand that can sometimes be the cause as well so perhaps a bruise or two on the knuckles of Graham Ray Hall in the morning so we get another reset and Advantage Colton Hera should not be any fuel save at this point he has more push to pass available than everyone else around him but before we get to this one let’s go back to the last one Townson yeah so this is when Colton Hera had to save fuel on the restart watch him out of turn 11 he’s pressing hard here but he spins up the rear a bit gets a well no this on this one he has a good run excuse me with poo and he goes to the outside now push to pass is not available on the first lap of the restart then he kind of backs out and I think at this point he’s resigned to just try to hold on to Second and get it to the line but now full reset on expectations James as we right on board and take another look excuse me it was poo that got sideways per had the Run maybe next time he goes to the inside and gets more aggressive it it was such an early run that he didn’t really have the option but think about what we talked about before this race for Colton Hera three bad ones in a row you got to wonder how badly does he just want to get a Podium and kind of get back to the good of finishing not as bad as he wants to win it I don’t think I don’t know man I just feel like when you’re this close and you and you have had those those runs of races where Colton genuinely thought and genuinely did have one of the fastest cars a good opportunity for a win and quite literally zero results to show for it short of that comeback drive that wrote America last time out he wants that win yes a Podium today would be a great result it’ll be something the team can Pat themselves on the back four starting from fourth but not only is he going to try to make that move he’s also got to watch his mirrors cuz Rossi is on those alternate tires which traditionally a little bit better in those first few Corners let’s take a little listen to some radio here from Colton Hera I’m not going to say like it’s more important Tire temp here I’m not going to pass him if I don’t get him on a restart yeah copy that you’re driving it I’m just giving you the input did you understand that I’m not going to try to pass him I think he just said I I’m not going to try to pass him if I don’t get it on the restart I believe is what I so he was saying my only chance might be on the restarts I got to get him here or I won’t get him it’s going to be hard either way we need to you know six laps to go we’re going to come down through turn nine here about to clock over to five it’s going to be a short run maybe three laps Sprint to the Finish fuel shouldn’t be an issue I mean Colton’s right there’s no weakness in the car in front it’s going to be very hard to just pass him on Pace so as we understand it uh With a Little Help from pit Lane he’s not going to use fuel to warm up his tires is he still a little bit of fuel Save Right Here hard to imagine with all this yellow but he would know better than anyone we’ve seen now last year you couldn’t get any sense of how long a green flag stint was because we didn’t have any longer than about three laps but two years ago people would go 28 29 laps and that’s what her is looking at it needs to go 28 laps to the finish and there have been now I think three cautions since he last stopped at least two should be solid now on fuel AMR safety team and the track workers here doing a great job getting two stranded race cars removed from the racetrack I could see the lights coming out on the pace car now which means we’re going to be going green with just four laps to go so about 10 miles to decide this one coming up The Cauldron of chaos can rear its head one more time potentially as there’s marbles everywhere on the racetrack right now you can see him offline there heading to six and look at the outside of the corner that’s where things get really squirly try to go too wide through here almost impossible to hang on even going 6 in wide like Joseph newart did gets you wide out into that into that dirty track that those marbles and off into the gravel and it’s going to be tough all these tires are cold they’re old and now we’re going pushing for the win tires are old they’re cold but the drivers bold at the Finish how do you like that Kev here we go there are a lot of Championship contenders up here at the front poo newart still thinking Championship maybe Kirkwood Dixon power in the top 10 positions to be gained but many others just want a win Hera is right there on the gearbox of Alex poo out of this corner is when they go third groan green and black car in fourth then it’s new guard the Indie 500 winner the last two years great jump for Alex poo headed down into The andred Hairpin which is turn two after the kick rossy’s got a run on Hera late on the breaks for Rossy but not late enough P learned from his first one didn’t get the squirly exit out of 11 broon thought about the outside of Ross he couldn’t make it stick they’re all line of stern through turn three how much dirt could Broan get on his tires by going wide because Joseph new Gard in the Hatachi car on the charge it looks like Roan’s okay they’re single file to turn five Santino fui taking a look on the inside of will power things better of it that might allow Marcus Erikson now to get a run up into six this is where we saw that marble and dirty racetrack offline everybody still in line now up to the corks group Erikson has had an adventurous day in 11th right now was a pretty decent recovery for him canapino right behind him Rosen quis was quick but he’s now running in 13 guys Colton Hera has enough push to pass remaining that he could use about 13 14 seconds a lap to the Finish but does he have the gas to use it I’m surprised that he wouldn’t have been in the fuel range now with all that yellow there’s something we have to remember fuel systems in pit Lane are not perfect sometimes you don’t get everything in the tank as new guard looks to size up Broan into turn two groan goes a little wide but not enough to open the door for New Garden keeps the position and tries to focus ahead on Alex Rossy in that last spot on the podium oh squirly for everybody you can tell they’re dancing on pins and needles to try to nurse their car to the finish on used tires a lot of dirt and rubber on the racetrack Scott Dixon starting to draw a little closer here to Kyle Kirkwood poo still in control up front hasn’t been challenged on Pace all day only on strategy but it’s all come his way you had the leader on the one strategy in first the leader on the other strategy in second so both were very viable both will have cars on the podium but it’s looking like it’s another one in the bag for Alex poo with two laps to go as he crosses the line meanwhile from Scott Dixon on back to like Marcus Erikson it’s looking pretty feisty there through 11th a lot of action as poo leads again across the line Hera now almost 2 seconds back and that solid result for Augustine canapino is going to go away penalty for avoidable contact look who’s in 13th 19-year-old Nolan seagull in his debut with Errol McLaren we ride the Delaware life on board with Marcus Erikson looking to try to get in the top 10 up ahead at Santino fuchi what’s interesting about where Nolan seagull runs inside 13th there with that spin that he had nice comeback nice recovery for the young driver in his first race here with McLaren Kirkwood was so strong LED in the early going off Joseph newart again in turn six and he might be Beed guys with two to go the leader coming to get the white flag here if the yellow comes out that’s going to end it oh he’s able to get going so we’ll stay green left some dirt across the racetrack wonder how that happened so a top five goes away for Joseph nard as Alex below sees the white flag one more to go and the Gap is more than two seconds on Colton Hera it’s so impressive to me that no matter which way the strategies play out the 10 always find themselves up at the front chick gassie racing so good at executing race strategy and once again even though it looked like it was all coming unravel from that pole position start once again we are seeing the P show he started up front we said it at the beginning of the race that the only way to potentially stop this guy is to jam them up early and Drey Global did that with Kyle Kirkwood getting to the front now col Hera rides in second but still between both of their star drivers there is nothing for Alex poo today at Laguna sea Podium still somewhat in question does groan have anything to get up to Alexander Rossi meanwhile out front Alex P strategy was ined at one point once again chip kassie racing made the right call one more corers to go for Alex poo and his Mastery at Monteray continues in four races it’s been a Podium every time Alex poo has won the second time at WeatherTech Raceway lagona sea and takes the lead in The Champ thank you so much guys you guys did an amazing job I’m sorry I this Checkered Flag moment is brought to you by Advanced Auto Parts it again belongs to Alex poo in his starts at this track he has finished second first third and first Victory Lane coming up we’ll sort out all the stories talk to the winner and much more it’s poo Hera and Rossy on the podium to [Music] sa I think the house of hurter has definitely just been renamed Palos Palace what a dominant performance lots of jeffardy it was in doubt more than once but the cream always Rises to the top Alex poo was so quick he was so quick yesterday he was so quick today they trusted their process they didn’t Panic they stayed true to their strategy and they knew exactly what they needed to do to execute here today and he had plenty of speed bubs thrown into his path at the end there plenty of restarts drama to manage drivers to fend off down in turn one it didn’t phase him it doesn’t phase him this driver is very very special Alex poo does it again two times a winner around this circuit he joins Colton hter out of the current drivers with two wins around here and uh that make that 17 out of 27 now winners who have started from Pole Position 17 of the last 27 and Alex poo a phenomenal victory at lagona play lagona s a time to look at the penoil moment of the race here is Alex poo going to the front for good on Colton Hera a lot of things thrown at him today but never lost his cool kept composed hit numbers when he had to made lap time when he had to and the end result is a nice short trip to Lane win number 11 for Alex poo that’s a pretty sizable number for a 26y old driver 26y old driver 71 career start 72 today 11 win like you say not a bad percentage for someone in this court this birthday he’s 27 [Applause] Barry wer you see there at the front of the car called the strategy chip gassi owns the the just look back power the last what impressive he has celebrated a couple of championships here finished off the season two years ago with his only win of the season and that’s by the way when chip kassie says he told M call because remember he was headed to McLaren I think we can keep this guy and they are certainly glad they [Applause] did congratulations to all of these crew members familiar sight from the PO every race he’s been on the pole this year including the exhibition race at thermal this has been the result Alex let’s stop you here congratulations and it looked like the strategy maybe at one point was not going to work in your favor then it swung back the other way and you still had to survive some restarts at the end there maybe had a little bit of a tire disadvantage so how did you manage all of that and get in Victory Lane again yeah it was a chaotic race man um didn’t do a really good job on the start and uh those restarts at the beginning uh lost what we’ve been working so hard uh in qualifying to get that first position but um yeah they did a tremendous job strategy was a bit risky uh for the position we were in but we knew we had the pace uh and we just had to execute so was fun uh too much intense at the end with those restarts um but yeah overall an amazing win for the 10 car it seems like there is nobody better than the chip gassie racing group at making these risky strategies plays work at this point how much confidence do you have in Barry and this entire group when that’s the option that’s kind of on the table that that’s the right option yeah I mean 100% uh at that time I doubted a little bit I didn’t know if my radio was working or not but uh everything was fine um I’m sorry that they didn’t have that trust and that believe on on his call uh during those 10 20 seconds but uh yeah overall amazing day for gasi team that all worked out Alex poo a winner again at Laguna sea yeah and as the game Bridge Honda gets moved out of the way we’re here with Colton her I know there was some frustrations throughout the duration of that race maybe even some questions but positively you moved up three spots in the championship points and you matched your season best of second so you know what positives can you take away from yeah it’s it’s a good result it’s a good result and you know we chose strategy what we did and we did did a really good job with what we what we chose so um I’m happy the gameer Toronto was super fast all day whether we were F saving or not we had uh we had a lot of pace so sucks not to win here I really want to win at this place and it hurts not to win here but uh you have to be happy with second place for sure thanks so this is how they finish today with Alex P winning just under two seconds Alexander Rossi gets his best result of the Season yeah Roman groan also finishing fourth on the back of a strong result at Road America at the last race so the 77 driver finding some momentum midseason feel Rosen Quest there Myer shank racing just ahead of Nolan seagull the rookie in his first effort there and all these drivers had issues whether it was McLaughlin Armstrong Simpson one of the other notes third straight top five for Kyle Kirkwood and Santino kuchi with his fifth top 10 of the Season back down to Dylan and let’s check in and catch up with Alexander Rossy who finishes in the third spot so the 26 and 10 were were pretty good today and and you guys were kind of Best in Show but this was I think a good day for you guys seemed like you executed everything as as best you could and ultimately came away with a good result is that how it feels to you no I don’t think that’s a fair assessment I think um before the yell we were we were quite good up front and then when you get into a fuel save race it’s always a little bit difficult but um nonetheless it was an amazing job by the team and and obviously our best result of the year so we’ll take the positives from that and um you know it’s a great job by by P and Nolan as well so we’ll just keep uh keep hammering but yeah certainly a a good good bounce back from the difficulties in North America and we look forward to taking that me a while how do you build on this now moving forward just with everything that you guys had to do today to get this result I think it’s just understanding um you know why we were good right you know it’s it’s always easy to to Monday Morning Quarterback when you’re bad um and believe it or not it’s a little harder to to understand it when you’re good so we’ll just keep keep working at it and um you know the whole AR McLaren group is doing a great job team chev’s great job so we’ll keep Hammer good day for sure Alexander Rossy comes home third Georgia and it’s all smiles all around from rang Rojan and H Co hauling her race saying it’s his best result of the season it’s the team’s best result ever you knew you had a fast race car this whole weekend you told me earlier this weekend how were you able to capitalize on it yeah awesome quite a good race uh I think uh you know we I knew we had the fast race car it was a tough race I think we see a lot of people coming out going off and I went off my a few times it was very physical very hard but uh I think we did an amazing job with the old team with Chevy all weekend I’m very proud of everyone and uh it was close for the podium I think a little bit too many safety car the end because I was on blacks and I knew I didn’t have much de so I was coming for Alex Rossy uh I know we are friends so it’s all good but anyway a fantastic job by everyone and I think we you know we keep working we keep getting better and I think that’s uh just good for all of us and I think we scored a first point for Chevy today so we’re happy with that congratulations on a season best Rango Jean that’s right Georgia kot’s best finish was fifth with the team for a couple of occasions and Alex poo gets to celebrate with chip gassie race ing again with another very impressive performance so we’ve had a good weekend here at Weather Tech Raceway Laguna sea where it is always picturesque and the racing was very entertaining and we didn’t know until the final stretches who is going to get this done we’re back in a couple of weeks Lee dippy will rejoin us again from Mid Ohio and that will begin the hybrid era for towns and Bell James hen with Georgia henbury and Dylan Welch I’m Kevin Lee thanks for joining us from Laguna sea with NBC Sports
