IndyCar went bumpity-bump-bang Saturday on Baltimore’s temporary street circuit. The result was a host of torn-up race cars — one-fourth of the Grand Prix of Baltimore field — likely leading to more track modifications before Sunday’s race. The issue is the same part of the front straightaway that led to the early conclusion of Friday morning’s practice. There are train tracks from the city’s light-rail system that cross through Pratt Street a few hundred yards shy of the flag stand. IndyCar installed two curbs Friday night designed to slow the cars ahead of the tracks, but the aggressiveness of the drivers created another problem: the left-side wall coming at them at the exit of zigzagging.

Running too much over the first curb tossed the cars into the second, which put them airborne into the train tracks. From there it was pot luck. Hit right and miss the barrier; hit wrong and slam into it. The list of the latter was long: JR Hildebrand, Graham Rahal, Simon Pagenaud, Marco Andretti, Justin Wilson and Mike Conway. Other drivers caught enough of the wall to cause lesser problems, too. Andretti Autosport driver Sage Karam had a hard crash in Saturday’s Star Mazda race.

“Where you land, it’s a lottery,” said Dario Franchitti, a member of the drivers group that recommended modifications to IndyCar officials. “I think the whole place is a risk. That’s more a lottery as to where you land and how you land.” Seeking more predictability from the zone, Franchitti asked IndyCar to narrow the walls encasing the entry and the exit. That would help cars out of shape on exit to graze the wall rather than to hit it sharply. “It also slows down your entry because of the angle, and (slows down) the exit,” Franchitti said.

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A year ago, in IndyCar’s race-day morning practice, Tony Kanaan had one of the scariest crashes of his career. He hasn’t forgotten it. Kanaan was following Helio Castroneves’ car down the front straightaway when he went to brake for Turn 1. The pedal depressed but there was no activation. The feeling was one of helplessness.

Kanaan had inspected the run-off area earlier in the weekend and decided that driving full speed into the run-off area wasn’t a good option given the imposing set of tires covering a concrete barrier. He had to think of something else.

“I found it,” he said. “I aimed straight at (Castroneves).” The contact was fierce, sending Kanaan’s car over the top of Castroneves’. Kanaan then tumbled into the tires, which engulfed him. The television replay showed that a corner worker was peaking out from behind the wall, and Kanaan didn’t miss him by much.

“That was the worst (crash) I’ve ever had by far,” Kanaan said. “The other ones have happened quickly. Like Indy (in 2009 in Turn 3), that was a big one. But this had the feeling of knowing what was going to happen.”

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Sebastien Bourdais, who will start third for the second straight race, said he’s down to signing the contract to return to Dragon Racing in 2013. Bourdais added that his body is still unusually sore from last week’s crash with Josef Newgarden at Sonoma. Newgarden is out after surgery on his left index finger.

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Alex Tagliani asked for forgiveness last Wednesday from Ryan Hunter-Reay, the IndyCar driver his car hit and spun late in last weekend’s GoPro Indy Grand Prix at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway.

“Yes, I spoke with him after the race; I stopped by in the pit lane,” said Tagliani, who was penalized by race control. “I apologized to him again about the incident. I wanted him to take a few minutes just to hear my side of the story because when I first got with him (on pit road) it was basically his side of the story, and I accepted it. I also accepted the fact he had the right to be upset.”

The spin and subsequent stalling of the Andretti Autosport car left Hunter-Reay a lap down to the field and caused him to finish 18th. He now trails Will Power by 36 points heading to the final two races of the season, starting with Sunday’s Grand Prix of Baltimore.

“If he has a short memory, it’s not fair because he’s been called for (a penalty) by hitting Scott Dixon in Toronto and Ryan Briscoe at Barber Motorsports Park as well,” Tagliani said. “Everybody is supposed to make a mistake once in a while when you’re fighting for the same piece of real estate in IndyCar. Unfortunately, that day it was him. I will apologize every day I see him until you know that you can move on and understand. That’s the only thing I can do. I’m not going to hide behind my mistake. Other than that, I can’t do anything else.”

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In a risky move Sunday, Michael Andretti kept driver Ryan Hunter-Reay on tires made for dry racing even though it was raining on Baltimore’s downtown street circuit. “We’re going for it,” Andretti said on the team’s radio.

Hunter-Reay, still chasing Will Power for IndyCar’s season title, couldn’t argue with the gamble. “I can’t describe how nerve-wracking that is when it rains and you’re on slick (tires) and you know the championship is on the line,” he said of the Grand Prix of Baltimore, the year’s penultimate race. “But coming in fourth or fifth wasn’t going to do us any good.” As Andretti figured, a desperate Hunter-Reay would deliver the level of driving worthy of a champion, and he did.

After keeping his sliding car on the wet surface for several laps early, Hunter-Reay used a pair of spectacular restarts late to hold off Ryan Briscoe and Simon Pagenaud to win the race he had to have. That Power stumbled on the next-to-last lap was bonus as the title chase goes to the finale Sept. 15 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif.

Fighting back to finish sixth, Power holds a 17-point lead over Hunter-Reay, but that’s not the comfort he hoped for heading to a 500-mile oval race laced with potential misfortune. Power knows all about last-minute defeats, losing the past two titles to Dario Franchitti in year-ending races.

As ecstatic as Hunter-Reay is with a realistic chance to overtake Team Penske’s lead driver, Power was circumspect. “Three races ago we’d have been happy with a 17-point lead,” he said. “But everyone looked at what the potential was and that was winning the last three races.”

Power has led the most laps in each of those races but won none of them. He finished second at Mid-Ohio and second at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway.

Power heads to a 2-mile oval he’s never turned a lap on – he has two tests coming – and is tasked with holding off an Andretti Autosport driver who has won IndyCar’s past two oval races (Milwaukee and Iowa). Power called Hunter-Reay “the best all-around driver in the series,” an admission Hunter-Reay will have an advantage in Fontana.

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TNG’s “Hard Charger Award” (for improving the most positions from the starting grid) surprisingly goes to E.J. Viso with a +13 (22nd to 9th). Second best was J.R. Hildebrand with a +11 (23rd to 12th). And next highest improvement was a tie between Rubens Barrichello (15th to 5th) and Graham Rahal (21st to 11th), with each scoring a +10. The tie is broken by the higher finisher of the two.

Hey, from a road racer agin’er – I really enjoyed the Baltimore race – those guys looked like the were really after it and there was plenty of passing/action. Wouldn’t you just love to see RHR slip in and win the Championship? Wow, too bad he got punted by Tags last week – RHR looks like and old-fashioned charger to me – Go USA !!

Also, I really appreciate Doug Boles comments – it would be very frustrating to be in such a position and have people make stuff up like it is a fact – sounds like Facebook and Twitter stuff to me.

Greg Littleton

Please continue to keep us informed of Jeff’s health. We will keep Jeff and his family in our prayers. You can count me in for a donation [at the Sept. 29th luncheon]. Let me know how this will be set up and where it should go.

Billy Engelhart

 

[To Billy and all readers]: One may send donations to:

 

RACER IN NEED

PNC Bank

1965 Boardman Road

Jackson, MI 49202

517-796-1325

 

or directly to their daughter, Jen at:

 

Jeff and/or Linda Bloom
4065 Baseline Rd.
Bloomingdale, MI 49026

On a side note, co-chair Barry Hindman and I have agreed that the money raised at the Sept. 29th Race Chaser luncheon will go to the Jeff & Linda Bloom fund. Perhaps some would like to make an extra donation at that time.