IndyCar hasn’t been this interesting in quite some time.
Sorry if this offends.
This is a feature of the paddock, and not a bug depending on who you ask, but everyone seems to like each other too much over there. There has been too much Bus Brothering over the years and not enough #IndyRivals.
Maybe that is unfair coming from someone who hasn’t spent as much time in that paddock since 2019 but this is also part of the reason it has been that long.
A stereotype about the IndyCar Series is that its an incredibly familial community, and maybe that is why the past week felt so raw, the possibility that such an underhanded infraction was committed on purpose.
That Team Penske, the model of methodical and its Penske Perfect reputation, could potentially do something so obvious and so brazen is counter to the reputation of the IndyCar Series.
Say what you will about the potential damage to the integrity of American Open Wheel Racing but this whole saga is so narratively rich.
Newgarden saw his peers shun him during driver intros and then give him no respect on the track on Sunday at Barber Motorsports Park.
Everyone has read the quotes, that it was ‘bullshit,’ ‘wrong’ and ‘in the not buying it boat.’
Newgarden, especially in a contract year, may be loathe to embrace it but gosh does IndyCar need a figure like this. There has to be some perception of an antagonist and one at the top of his game.
Paul Tracy, say what you will about the man, was must see television for a decade as a character.
Indycar has a lot of protagonists, racers and teams that you want to see prevail, but no final boss for them to overcome consistently on the way there.
The race on Sunday in the Appalachian Alabama foothills was one of the best in recent memory and it came down to a general lack of respect on the race track. Every pass in Indycar is a monumental undertaking, which is the point of overtake assist in the first place, but there sure was something in the water last weekend. Pato, Dixon and Santino especially brought the action.
The entire week, culminating with that race, was the best thing to happen in IndyCar and all leading up to the biggest month of the season too.
IndyCar diehards will tell you this was an embarrassing blemish upon the bonafides of its racing culture but embrace the animus, tension and hard driving.
Embrace the pursuit of a villain. And while we’re at it, embrace the loss of Downtown Nashville in exchange of a much needed oval championship race.
Between the penalties to the Penske teams, and the rough and tumble racing on Sunday, that season finale at Nashville Superspeedway could be poised to become an all-timer.
With the Indianapolis 500 looming, Indycar hasn’t been this interesting in quite some time, so here’s to the sanctioning body running with it this month of May and beyond.