Story and photos by Tim Adams
The first weekend of June brought IndyCar, the Road to Indy support series, Vintage Indy, as well Radical Cup North America back to one of the most popular tracks on the schedule, Road America. After a thrilling Indy 500, followed by a serious dud of a race on the streets of Detroit, it was great to be back on a proper road course.
Over the winter months Road America continued to make more upgrades to the facility for the fans. New permanent restrooms at turn 1, a new trail that partially goes alongside the inside of the carousel, as well as a new trail in Thunder Valley that leads down to Canada Corner. No need to hike up and down the stairs anymore to Canada Corner!
It was an interesting weekend when it came to the racing conditions. Temperatures were in the 60’s all weekend, which was fantastic. Friday, however, was very windy, affecting the cars on the track. Saturday provided the most challenging conditions. Rain started early in the morning. IndyCar’s first practice before the afternoon qualifying sessions was very wet at 10AM. Raceday on Sunday called for zero chance of rain, so why risk it and practice in the rain? The teams had no choice, because even though the rain was supposed to clear by the afternoon qualifying sessions, they could not take the chance that it might still be raining during qualifying. It was a good thing everyone did get a chance to practice in the rain, because it was still very wet and lightly raining when qualifying started. It was only when qualifying was down to the fast 6, that teams were able to take the risk and come out on slicks. This bit Josef Newgarden hard though. Coming into one of the most dangerous, and high-speed corners in racing, The Kink, Newgarden dipped a tire off the pavement and crashed heavily into the SAFER barrier, destroying the car. The result was only having to start in 6th, but Team Penske had to prepare a new car, and wrap it before the morning warmup on Sunday. For a team like Penske, they were more than ready, the new car was already prepared by late Saturday night, and they were first in line for technical inspection on Sunday morning.
There were a lot of interesting developments off the track as well. Tom Blomqvist, who had great success driving the Acura GTP in IMSA for Meyer Shank Racing, has had a very tough rookie year. The team announced he was being replaced at Detroit and Road America by Helio Castroneves. The team then announced that for the rest of the season he will be replaced David Malukas. Blomqvist is still employed by Meyer Shank, speculation has Meyer Shank returning to the GTP grid in IMSA next year, giving Blomqvist a place to land.
August Canapino was also absent for the race at Road America. Canapino has been involved in some on track incidents this year. His fan base online has not taken this well at all, sending death threats to those racers who have been involved with incidents with Canapino. Canapino made this even worse by liking some of these posts. McLaren is involved in a partnership Juncos Hollinger Racing, who Canapino drives for. As a result of all of this, McLaren ended the partnership effective immediately. Canapino was also parked for the race. In his place, Nolan Siegal, 19 years old, was called up from INDY NXT to fill the position. In the days following the race, it was announced by the team that Canapino would be back in the car for the remainder of the season.
The big story in the Road to Indy support series races was in INDY NXT. Jamie Chadwick dominated the weekend, qualifying on pole, and winning the race. She became the first women to win an INDY NXT race since 2010, and the first ever to win on a road or street course.
The crazy qualifying session, with rain at the start, then a drying track, with the fast 6 drivers on slicks at the end, saw a rookie, Linus Lundqvist driving for Chip Ganassi Racing on the pole. A fantastic result for a rookie. His luck would run out on race day however on the first lap, at turn 2, hit from behind by teammate Marcus Armstrong. Lundqvist would end up in 12th position at the end of the race.The start of the race as mentioned above, was a disaster. Three caution periods in the first seven laps. It did not look like the 55 laps would get completed in the time window of the race. Thankfully, the rest of the race was run under a green flag, giving the huge crowd a race they came to see. After the pole sitter Lundqvist was set back in the first lap dustup, it was a Team Penske affair the rest of the race. First it was Scott McLaughlin, then Josef Newgarden, and finally Will Power leading the race. Power used pit stop strategy to stay in the lead near the end, and ended a two-year winless streak. With the win, Will Power is now your leader in the season long points chase.
Road America continues to be one of the most popular stops in IndyCar. The crowd was amazing again, and Road America continues to pay back the fans support by making improvements to the facility every year. On race weekend it was announced that IndyCar and Road America have agreed on a multi-year extension, ensuring that IndyCar will return for years to come. Nowhere in the press release was the number of years the agreement will last. Curious as to why this is, but regardless, IndyCar will be back.
The 2025 schedule was also released, and the race will be two weeks later next year, Sunday, June 22. Hopefully the fans will get a break on the weather, pushing it back two weeks into June can lead to possibly brutal heat and humidity. Either way, I will see you next year at Road America.
