IndyCar: Pocono Grand Prix Discussion Thread

[Paul Jeffrey]

Welcome to the central discussion thread for the 2019 ABC Supply 500 at Pocono Raceway.

The NTT IndyCar Series has produced a classic year of racing so far in 2019, with plenty of action throughout the field leading to no less than six race winners from the opening 13 rounds of the season.

Heading into the final stretch of the current campaign, 2017 series champion Josef Newgarden leads the standings by just 16 points from fellow American hotshot Alex Rossi, with Penske driver Simon Pagenaud a further 31 points in arrears with just four races left on the calendar.

As 2019 specification IndyCar encourages drivers to race close together, and with the circuits in the United States often designed with a more old school approach then their Formula One counterparts, the last four races should be just as special as the first 13 have been - starting out at the challenging Pocono raceway this weekend.

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[farjam]

Such a bad taste it had last year...

 

[TheSourceOfTheNile]

Can't wait to go this year in person! It's been really tough the last few years here at the track for Indy, but I hope to see this year be much safer.

 

[AlexM71]

Maybe should I start watching indycar, it seems to be great

 

[rubaru]

Maybe should I start watching indycar, it seems to be great

With the season finale moved to Laguna Seca, you should!!

 

[Ryno917]

Maybe should I start watching indycar, it seems to be great

The 2018 Indycar season is one of the best seasons of motorsport I've seen in the modern era, tbh. 2019 hasn't been quite as exciting, but it's been pretty good; still far better than most other series right now.

 

[bgil66]

I'll try to get there Sat to see them in this configuration, looking forward vroom vroom
It's a stretch but Go Marco!

 

[CreamyCornCob]

Enjoy it while its here, Pocono is getting the ax. Actually, Pocono is leaving indycar. At the very best, whats being talked is this race only happening once every three years. Another oval bites the dust.

But thats what happens when the series can't draw more than 23,000 for a race.

 

[Nick Hill]

IndyCar is great fun. The word I would use is "variety", because there is tremendous variety everywhere you look except, ironically, the cars themselves. A variety of pole sitters, a variety of podiums, a variety of strategies, a variety of tracks, a variety of driver backgrounds, on and on.

I'm headed out to Laguna Seca to see it in person in September and I'm really excited! The fan experience is supposed to be really great - sounds like you can roam the paddock with the kind of freedom you would expect at an amateur meet up.

Hoping to see a good and, most importantly, SAFE race at Pocono this weekend. If IndyCar wanted to play it smart, they would make sure absolutely every weekend F1 was off, they would be ON. I think a huge part of the Indy fan base is like me: first and foremost, an F1 guy but finds Indy to be a really, really fun diversion (and, from a pure racing standpoint, a lot more fun than F1 most weekends).

 

[Ryan Robbins]

I like indycars a lot. Saw them at Mid Ohio last year...wish I would have gone this year because it was a fantastic finish (if you haven't watched it it was one of the closest indycar finishes in history I believe)

 

[Wayne Hutchison]

Looking forward to seeing them in Portland in a couple of weeks!

 

[NikiGouda]

Enjoy it while its here, Pocono is getting the ax. Actually, Pocono is leaving indycar. At the very best, whats being talked is this race only happening once every three years. Another oval bites the dust.

But thats what happens when the series can't draw more than 23,000 for a race.

I'm aware it doesn't look too good with Pocono at the moment
but you do sound like the removal of Pocono is already a fact.
How do you know exactly? Can you share a link?
But yeah, it wouldn't be a surprise if they're racing at pocono for
the last time (for now). But race tracks are coming and going, it's
always been like that, in every series to a greater or lesser extent.
We know Indycar is not at it's prime, to put it mildly, but why ALWAYS
so negative? I don't get it. That's almost pathological
Ovals in Indycars have a hard time these days but there are also
good (yes, GOOD) news like that Gateway is a success, or that
decent crowd at Iowa despite of deep night due to rain delays a few
weeks ago. Or Richmond, which will almost certainly be added to
the calendar within the next 1-2 years.

 

[Wayne Hutchison]

They need another race in Canada - Montreal / Mosport / Vancouver / something...

 

[bgil66]

They need an official Indycar Sim done by a kickass developer, I can't believe it is not out there. It would be sooo popular and give me the feels like GP2 gave me

 

[CreamyCornCob]

I'm aware it doesn't look too good with Pocono at the moment
but you do sound like the removal of Pocono is already a fact.
How do you know exactly? Can you share a link?

"Races come and go" yes they do in all series, but most of the time with other series its not because of a lack of a crowd. With indycar it is. Phoenix is a good example - 9,000 people showed up to see a 'premier' series, and the track walks. Same thing with Pocono.
And don't think the final decision is about being there in 2020 - they're not. Pocono's telling indycar, the best were gonna do is a race every three years - take it or leave it - that's the 'decision'.

 

[Ryno917]

I'm headed out to Laguna Seca to see it in person in September and I'm really excited! The fan experience is supposed to be really great - sounds like you can roam the paddock with the kind of freedom you would expect at an amateur meet up.

At every Indycar race I've been to in the modern era (Mid-O, Sonoma, and Barber a few years ago and several Toronto Indys) you need a paddock pass. So, yes, you can get into the paddock but it's hardly all-access like I'm used to with IMSA and PWC events, which both have always had totally open paddock for all.

They need another race in Canada - Montreal / Mosport / Vancouver / something...

I'd love to see them at Mosport, and I'd also love to see Vancouver return to the schedule. I'd actually schlep my arse to the ferry and make my way to the dreary city for the race if it returned. Since moving out here my closest real track is Portland and that's a two hour ferry ride followed by a 6 hour drive and a different country away from me. I made it there for PWC last year, but still. It's a bit pricey and long and too damn hot there for me

 

[Serge.M]

They need an official Indycar Sim done by a kickass developer, I can't believe it is not out there. It would be sooo popular and give me the feels like GP2 gave me

IRacing is very heavy in to Indy

 

[BrettSinclair1]

Outside of Indianapolis, the greatest race on the calendar!
Indycar truly needs a third 500 mile race, not drop Pocono and add more short ovals to the calendar as well.
There is no better racing in the world today.

 

[Filip Carlén]

Maybe should I start watching indycar, it seems to be great

I started watching this year, and I enjoy it. It is a bit overhyped by some, but it's quite good. A few dull races, as with every series, but the last race at Mid Ohio was great, it was a fight down to the last lap.

 

[rubaru]

They need another race in Canada - Montreal / Mosport / Vancouver / something...

I'd love to see them at Hermanos Rodriguez, as well! I think they would eat up those esses and perhaps hit a higher top speed than F1 going to turn one.