MicVelo

Anyone going to any of the following:

Z Owners of Northern California (ZONC) Annual Car Show - July 28, 10am-3pm at Brisbane Marina

Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion (The Historics) - August 15-18 at WeatherTech Laguna Seca
(ZONC has secured a corral space again this year. Datsuns will be racing!)

For once, my own calendar is free for both!

If interested in a run up or down from San Jose/Peninsula, PM me and we'll put it together! I've got the roadster running great this year too so will most likely be in that car (or maybe I'll bring one of the Zs to one event and the roadie to the other.)

It's a Z kind of summer!

MicVelo

OK, pretty sure I'm talking to myself here but....

Is anyone going to the IndyCar final round at Laguna Seca week after next?

Tellin' ya, gonna be an incredible race. Unlike F1, Indycar comes down to the final race to decide the championship.

I've not done the math but right now, despite Newgarden leading the points, it's his to lose in the final round, with double points in the ultimate round. So, 100 points to the winner, which means any one of the Top 5 could still take the championship. If Newgarden crashed (not hoping for that but anything can happen) or meatballed out on a technical, Rossi, Pagenaud, Dixon all have a good shot and Will Power could even take it on a long shot if all of the four leaders ahead crashed out or otherwise DNF'd. Wow....

Major League baseball is running a commercial right now about "nail biting fans" going into the post-season. Pshaawwww..... IndyCar is just as nail biting to a motorhead!

So, anyone going?

Oh, and while I'm at it, any drag racing fans out there? Planning on going to Pomona or Vegas final round(s). Interesting happenstance.... was having dinner locally last Friday and I see this guy at the table next to us. When he got up to leave, I stopped him and asked him if he was Mike Salinas. Yep. We had a great talk and it turns out he and his family (not his family but the one he grew up in) all went to the same high school as my wife and her sibs!

Anyhow, long story short, he invited us to come down and come hang out in their pit suite (air conditioned and a great view overlooking the track). We're there! My wife will finally get to go to a drag race! She's been asking me to go for years. We've done Laguna, Sonoma for the big races, F1 in Europe, Indycar in Long Beach, now..... VROOOOOM! Fuelers and funny cars! BTW, Mike is in the Top 10 countdown in Top Fuel so that's a plus!! Local boy makes good!!

MicVelo

That Herta kid is fast!! Qualified number one for today’s championship deciding race!!! But all the championship contenders are up at head of the pack!

I think, based on the driving in practice and qualifying with his points leadership, that Newgarden will prevail and walk with the crown again. But.... things can happen here!

We were seated up at Corkscrew and wife commented “Wow, these pro guys are so much faster than the other guys!” (IndyCars vs Indy Lights) When she notices, it’s a thing! Hahaha!



Heading out shortly for Starbucks then to stake out our spot for today’s race. Might do grandstands at T4 or might do our “shaded lawn chairs up on the hill” again, like yesterday. Likely both.

Doesn’t get any better than this! (Guess this is how my football loving friends feel going to watch the 49ers play the Yankees or something.

Life is good.

MicVelo

CONGRATULATIONS JOSEF NEWGARDEN, 2019 INDYCAR CHAMPION!!!


And congrats to Colton Herta, Winner of the 2019 Firestone Monterey Grand Prix!! Great drive, pretty much flag-to-flag except for pit stops (not passed for lead). And congrats to your promotion to Andretti!

Awesome to have IndyCar back at my "home track" (regarded as such despite more of my schooling and racing was done at Sonoma Raceway (nee Sears Point International Raceway) just 35 minutes from my home back then. ).

A few pics to share. (Didn't spend that much time shooting; just wanted to sit and enjoy.)



Ooops, one wrong move at T8/8A.

Fortunately, no contact. (However damm close!)




Of course, they all qualified on Reds. What I find amusing about IndyCar is they use "only" 15" wheels. Then you have all of us street guys saying, "Wow, 17s are tiny!" Laff...


This was fun and amusing for me to watch a whole team of tire technicians slaving over their Coats machines.


Speaking of the 15" wheels. OZ is the exclusive supplier to IndyCar. Fronts are 15x10 (top), rears (bottom) are 15x14, high offset. Street equivalent size tires: 305/45-R15 F and 415/40-R15 R.


Max Chilton's car rolling into Tech.


IndyCar pace cars. Note the "official Laguna Seca" Lexuses in background. They did a few parade laps at full speed. Those Lexus F cars were NOT slow.


Simon Pagenaud's Penske Chevrolet in their garages. (The high dollar guys, er, I mean, the higher dollar guys all had garages.)


Scott Dixon's spare body parts.


The "lower dollar" teams had huge tents. Still fancier and super well equipped; unlike going to an SCCA or even the big Rolex Motorsports Reunion (historics) races. Laff.



An Indy Lights car exiting pre-grid (a.m. practice session)


Another pair of Lights cars. These are also Dallara chassis cars like the "big" Indycars but with less aero, all powered by the same turbocharged Mazda MZR-R engines, longtime engine in American enduro prototypes.


The amount of tahrs running around the paddock just stymies me! I thought I had a lot of tahrs sittin' in my garage! Haha.


Mechanical. No meatball, he just found a convenient place to pull off out of harms way at the top of the Corkscrew.

Good place too. After the session and track was all clear, the AMR emergency workers pushed him back onto the track and it was a clear, engine-off coast down to the paddock.

A "supporting race" (bet these guys don't think of themselves as a "supporting race", IMSA GT3 Cup (Porsche).




Indy Lights. My wife observed how they all were a study in high front roll stiffness carrying the inside tire off the ground. She also noticed the "big" IndyCars were much faster and flatter, no wheel lift.

She asked me "Why is that?" Simple answer: "The big IndyCars have more aero, requiring less roll stiffness." She also noted how much faster the "grown up" IndyCars were. Yep, I married well. She pays attention to such stuff! Hahahaha.


Graham Rahal


Hinchtown! (James Hinchcliffe) Followed by Series Champion, Josef Newgarden. (I think this was during Saturday qualifying or maybe a.m. Indycar practice.)


Captain America - Ryan Hunter Reay (strange colors on his car this race. Has to do with sponsorship I'd guess. DHL domestic and DHL international.)


My sentimental favorite, Takuma Sato, 2017 Indy 500 winner. "My wife's homeboy." Hahahahahaha.


I didn't leave empty handed... Yeah, I'm a sucker for a T-shirt (or three).



And that's it for this year! Ready for the 2020 finale, again at Laguna Seca, September 18-20, 2020. See you there?