On tap this week:
- July is a tough month for IndyCar
- Tagliani goes back to Mid-Ohio
- Hayley gets best ever truck result
- Ferrari's race review app
- Quote of the Week: Webber on life in Formula One
- Hargrove wins again
IndyCar is probably pretty happy to see its tough month of July in the rear view mirror.
Technically, the July troubles for the series actually began in late June with the MAVTV 500 at the California Speedway where drivers openly criticized the series' ignoring their concerns about the pack racing the track encouraged.
The debate over the MAVTV 500 spilled into July before the series threw gas on the fire when it responded by tightening its detrimental conduct rules. Essentially, the new rule prohibits any IndyCar competitor from saying anything negative in public about the series, its officials, or other drivers.
Many saw it as a gag order on drivers and teams, something that prompted highly respected writer Marshall Pruett to write a tongue-in-cheek column suggesting IndyCar adopt the Lego Movie's "Everything is Awesome" theme as its new anthem.
One IndyCar insider, who will remain nameless for obvious reasons, "just loves the hypocrisy of an organization that says you can't talk negatively about other competitors yet spent two seasons pushing a social media campaign called #IndyRivals."
IndyCar also got a second black eye from the MAVTV 500 after race winner Graham Rahal was not penalized for leaving his pit with a fuel hose attached to his car dangerously spewing fuel in the adjacent pit stall and then causing a full course caution due to the nozzle falling off his car and onto the track. At the time, many were puzzled by IndyCar race control's decision to look at the incident after the race, which Rahal went on to win much to the ire of many fans on social media. He was fined $10,000 on July 1.
The series received more bad news last week when its president of competition Derrick Walker announced he would not be back in 2016, marking the second time in two years that a high profile competition official has left the series. Beaux Barfield departed from the top job in race control at the end of 2014.
Walker's departure revealed another detail that added a punch to IndyCar's gut. He admitted in an interview with Racer Magazine that the reason Rahal didn't get a drive-thru in the MAVTV 500 for his fuel nozzle infraction was because race control didn't know it had happened, even though the TV feed broadcast it for all to see.
Random thoughts
Alex Tagliani will miss the next NASCAR Canadian Tire Series (NCTS) race at Riverside Speedway in Nova Scotia due to a deal to pilot the No. 22 Mustang for Team Penske in the Xfinity Children's Hospital 200 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on Aug. 15. The Montreal native steps out of his regular No. 18 EpiPen-sponsored Chevy after a podium finish for third in Sunday's NCTS race in Trois Rivières, which moved his team into the owners points lead. Last year at Mid-Ohio, Tagliani looked to be a contender for the win in the No. 22 despite an early drive-thru penalty before the Penske team asked him to hold station in fifth to guarantee valuable owner's points.
By the numbers
Racing at his 10th new track in the past 12 weeks, Camping World Truck Series racer Cameron Hayley took home a career best fourth place finish in the Pocono Mountains 150 on Saturday. The Calgary teen started 16th at the 2.5-mile "Tricky Triangle" but found his No. 13 Carolina Nut Co. Toyota Tundra battling Sprint Cup regulars Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick and Austin Dillon late in the action that featured three attempts at a green-white-chequered finish. "I had Cup drivers on all sides and that was a hell of a feeling I've gotta say," the ThorSport Racing driver said after the race.
Technically speaking
Ferrari has developed a neat tool called InfoRacing that help fans see how 2015 grands prix unfolded. The online application plots the trajectory of each car during the race and shows how they progressed, or didn't. Small icons also help explain critical points in the grand prix, such as incidents on track, problems with equipment, pitstops for tires, and safety car periods. Unfortunately for fans of Lotus driver Pastor Maldonado, it does not show drive-thru penalties. The latest InfoRacing graphic reviews the July 26 Hungarian Grand Prix.
Quote of the week
"In Formula One you live in a fishbowl, where price means more than value, relationships are built on false foundations, and the moral compass is sometimes distorted."
— Former F1 driver Mark Webber from his recently published autobiography Aussie Grit.
The last word
Scott Hargrove swept both rounds of the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada in Trois Rivières on the weekend, and he made it look easy. In Saturday's race on the tight street circuit, the Surrey, B.C. native took a handy 14.292 second victory over Daniel Morad to score his first career win in the Quebec town. A day later he was at it again, crossing the line 15.760 ahead of Morad. The pair of wins moved Hargrove into third overall in the points and within striking distance of a second consecutive title with two races left, despite missing the first two races of the season. Hargrove now has five wins in six starts this year.
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Jeff Pappone