Story and photos by Tim Adams
It has been a long nine months since my last race report. As everyone now knows the entire sports world was shut down in March as Covid-19 rapidly advanced around the globe. Slowly, sports are starting back up, or trying to start. Leading the way all over the globe is motorsports. The Rev Group Grand Prix Presented by American Medical Response Doubleheader at Road America, was the first race to be fully open to unlimited spectator attendance. Due to safety concerns the paddock area was open only to IndyCar personnel. While many fans were disappointed at this decision it was the right thing to do under the circumstances. Due to the Covid-19 virus, IndyCar has severely limited media access, therefore all my photos this year were taken from the spectator areas.
Road America was perhaps the perfect place to host the first race fully open to spectators. At 640 acres, there is ample room to practice social distancing. The Road America staff performed temperature checks to every spectator, as well as handing out sanitizer and face masks. Numerous improvements were made around the facility, concession stands, and grounds to maintain social distancing and remind spectators to be safe. Ultimately it was left up to the individual to make the right choices. Many spectators could be seen wearing masks, as well as all track personal and concessions in PPE at all times.
The weekend was split in two. On Thursday and Friday, the Road to Indy classes USF2000, and Indy Pro 2000 would take center stage. Testing and practice took place on Thursday, with qualifying and racing on Friday. Missing in action were the Indy Lights. They are taking the year off due to the lack of cars participating. They hope to come back strong in 2021. There is talk of having every IndyCar team also fielding a Lights car next year. We will see if this comes to fruition.
Qualifying for both USF2000, and Indy Pro 2000 took place under very wet conditions Friday morning. The rain stopped minutes before qualifying started, but the track remained very wet throughout. USF2000 was dominated by Christian Rasmussen who qualified number 1 and won both races.
Indy Pro 2000 featured two different winners on Friday. In the first race Danial Frost started from last place and took the lead on the final lap for a thrilling win. The second race was won by the Juncos Racing driver Artem Petrov.
In both classes a little driver rust and excitement after being off for all these months were evident. There were several cautions for offs, and collisions.
On Saturday and Sunday IndyCar took center stage with a 55-lap race on each day. So far the shortened season has been dominated by Team Ganassi. Coming into Road America Scott Dixon had won the first two races. For the first race Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden took the pole position. Newgarden led for 25 laps, but a stall during a pit stop shuffled him back and then another late pit stop pushed him back to 14th. Like a bad dream for the rest of the field, Scott Dixon found his way to the front and won again, three in a row! Will Power finished second, and Alex Palou third.
When Sunday dawned everyone wondered, can Dixon win again, will he ever lose? It was not to be Scott Dixon’s day on Sunday. Dixon qualified a few rows from the front. Sunday was time for the younger generation of drivers to shine. Pato O’Ward qualified on pole and led 43 laps. The end of the race was thrilling, as O’Wards tires began to give up, the 2019 Rookie of the Year and Team Ganassi driver Felix Rosenqvist chased him down. On the second to last lap Rosenqvist was able to complete the pass and drive away for his first IndyCar series win. While Scott Dixon did not win, Team Ganassi still managed to put one of its drivers in the winner’s circle. What a start to the season for Team Ganassi.
The first race weekend with full spectator access was a resounding success thanks the Road America and its staff, and IndyCar. Everyone enjoyed four days of fantastic racing. IndyCar will be following all local restrictions in place due to Covid-19, so you may not see another race this year with full spectator access. I hope that we all do our part to get thru this and get back to some sense of normal racing next year. I am already looking forward to 2021!
