Gateway, Championships and Dixon

Before I begin blogging, two personal notes. My son Matthew earned his private pilot license. It’s been a long time in the making and we are so proud. Second, I must be the world’s worst blogger. I always have a blog post thought up in my head but I never get around to posting it. I appreciate all of you that show up and check out my blog, even when I’m not faithful about posting regularly.

So before we get into the latest news let me quickly cover a few things.

• Wow! So great seeing Graham Rahal on the pole for the Indy road course race. I so desperately wanted him to win. I was looking for any reason to disqualify Scott Dixon so I was not happy with the fact that the red light on the back of his car was blinking red for the entire race. I don’t care what you say, muscle memory will make you slow down when you see that. It might not be why he won but it was definitely an advantage. I wish they would have called him into the pits for that. However, I will admit, if it were a driver trying to catch back up to the lead I’d be furious if IndyCar call them in for that. I know, you can’t have it both ways. I just really wanted Graham to win.
• When did Josef Newgarden become such a whiner. I was such a huge Newgarden fan when he was racing for Sarah Fisher and Ed Carpenter. I am not such a big fan now. If things don’t go his way or he has an off week he won’t even give an interview and stalks off. Grow up Josef! It’s racing. You won the Indy 500 and drive for the best team. Suck it up, smile for the camera and admit that not everything always goes the way you want it. It’s okay and we will all respect you more if you aren’t pouting about it. And just to clarify, I’m not talking about complaining or being mad but when he literally walks away and won’t speak it drives me crazy. It wasn’t this way before so we know he can pull it together and respond to the interview.
• Jack Harvey was dropped mid season. I am not okay with this. I understand the reason but he had a contract and once we start dropping everyone just because they aren’t having good results it opens the door to this happening much more often. If you sign for a season you should be allowed to continue. I didn’t see Jack returning but this still irked me.
• Simon Pagenaud. My heart breaks for him. Watching him walk away from that crash I thought wow how amazing, he is not even hurt. However, it appears he had a concussion and is still suffering from the effects of that. I did not expect him to be out this long, and I don’t think this is good for his future. Praying Simon makes a full recovery and his back racing soon.

OK, so I think that quickly caught us up on the things I wanted to cover. So let’s move on to Gateway. I know the official name is World Wide Technology Raceway but it will always be Gateway to me.

I was so disappointed to miss this race for the second year in a row. IndyCar, please please please make this a night race again.

Saturday had a severe rain delay and the cars were only on track for a practice session. Qualifying took place on Sunday morning just a few hours before the race. This is not ideal but so much better than running bases on points. I was glad to see qualifying happen. Personally, I prefer if we went back to a qualifying draw so that sometimes the underdogs can catch a break.

The race took place on Sunday afternoon and besides the several obstacles that kept me from attending I didn’t push too much because an afternoon race in St Louis in August sounds sweltering but the weather actually cooperated on Sunday and temps weren’t too hot.

So let’s look at the race

• The flyover. Matthew is in the Air National Guard and his base is Scott Air Force Base. Two years ago he was in awe watching the KC 135 perform the flyover so I asked if anyone there could send a video of the flyover since there was no prerace show on NBC. I don’t think I ever seen a more pathetic flyover. It appeared to be a small private jet. I sent the video to Matthew and he responded, “Well, that is pretty lame.” Huge disappointment.
• Josef Newgarden had won every oval race so far this year. I made the mistake of picking him for my fantasy league figuring even if he didn’t win he would finish up top but a brush with the wall put him in 25th position and he did not earn enough points to challenge Alex Palou in the championship run. Miraculously, he did give an interview after.
• David Malukas was again so fun to watch. He has Gateway figured out and had another fantastic race there finishing in third. There is lots of speculation about which team he will be driving for next year and I can’t wait to see what he can do.
• Scott McLaughlin won the pole but had to take a grid penalty for an unapproved engine change. He still looked fast in the race but ultimately he did not get his first oval win.
• When all was said and done it was Scott Dixon that won the race. I wouldn’t call myself a big Scott Dixon fan. I get tired of watching him win. He isn’t showy like Helio Castroneves, there is no fence climb or big celebration. He isn’t wild like Will Power so no dramatic post race interview. His driving isn’t aggressive like Takuma Sato so no crazy moves on the track. He isn’t exceptional on restarts like Tony Kanaan gaining several positions. Scott Dixon is quiet and methodical. He is the best at saving fuel and always seems to find his way to the front of the race. Once he is there it’s usually over because he doesn’t make mistakes and he never runs out of fuel. Many are calling Dixon the GOAT. I won’t go that far, I honestly don’t feel that todays drivers can even compare to AJ Foyt, Mario Andretti, Parnelli Jones, the Unsers and so many from the past. I also don’t think he is the most popular driver for many of the reasons I listed above. However, you have to respect Scott Dixon and if you aren’t paying attention you are missing out because one day your kids or grandkids will ask if you ever saw Scott Dixon race because he will be compared to the best of the best. His championships, race wins, Indy 500 win are all things that put him in the exact same company as Foyt, Mario, Al and Bobby. What do they say? It’s always the quiet guy you need to look out for. Haha. That’s Dixon, The Iceman, for sure.

And then there were two. Two races, Portland and Laguna Seca and two drivers, Alex Palou and Scott Dixon. Dixon is the only driver with a chance of taking the championship from Palou but it would have to be two disastrous races for Palou and wins for Dixie for that to happen. My money is on Palou but it would be a very Dixon like move for him to somehow find himself the champion.