Good News, Bad News Story
The good news was that the website www.IndyProRacer.com sponsored us for the Iowa event. You can check out my pre-race report (and anniversary wishes to Lori!) at the following link: http://www.indyproracer.com/2008/06/indy-lights-r-3.html.
As mentioned previously, the site is a great source of IndyCar and Indy Lights racing info, and they plan to carry my blogs for the remainder of the season. Also consider www.tracksideonline.com as a source of information, as they have generously broadcast my race reports as well.
Okay … you’re right, I’m stalling. Iowa was a bit of a struggle. For the third event in a row, the Iowa Speedway represented an entirely new set of challenges. It’s a 7/8 mile high banked speedway. With a standard 100 mile race distance, that translates to 115 laps – each one requiring a mere 20 seconds. Put another way, that’s 3 laps a minute. Yes, very busy and very fast!
The car was set up with a lot of downforce … almost a road course configuration. In practice on Friday, I quickly got faster than our times in the Open test the week previous. The times were fairly consistent, as well. The only problem was that the whole field improved as well … leaving us a couple of tenths off of where we wanted to be.
As we lined up for qualifying, the skies opened up on us … postponing qualifying until 6:15 at night. Prior to qualifying, though, the league gave us an extra 15 minutes of practice. Kind of an unusual move, but understandable, I guess. I was happy for the bonus opportunity to try some things. Unfortunately, we were unable to match our previous times, let alone improve on them. After the bonus practice, we discovered a suspension issue which would prevent us from getting where we needed to be in qualifying. The decision was made to forego qualifying and save the tires and the car for the race. This decision moved us to last place on the starting grid.
For the race, our “strategy” was to try to stick with the tail end of the field as long as possible, patiently circulate, and let the race come to us. Similar to Milwaukee, the Iowa Speedway presents no room for error and it can bite you at any time. When the green flag flew, I was able to stay reasonably close to the back of the field. I slightly muffed the restart after the first yellow flag and quickly got lapped by the leaders. Once you start getting lapped, the fun factor goes down considerably. Since the track is only 7/8 mile long, it gets to be like an endless freight train coming by.
Anyhow, I kept my line nice and predictable and tried to keep the pace up the best I could (about 4 MPH off of the leaders). By half race distance, I was 2 laps down to the leaders. Throughout the race, I was struggling to keep the car down on the exit of turn 2. From all appearances, my line was right through the entrance to turn 1 and past the apex in 2, but then the car would move up the track. On lap 62, I brushed the wall and ended my day. I damaged at least one wheel and the front and rear wishbones. Ugh!
Apparently, no one noticed that I contacted the wall. So, when I drove the car into the pits, got out, and stormed off to the garage, the webcast commentators thought that I might’ve voluntarily parked the car … angry at the team or something. Anyhow, to clear the air, I was more than a little upset at myself for struggling the way I did, and I did have a loud and colorful conversation with myself back in the privacy of the team trailer, but I was in no way upset with the team, the league, or the situation. Everyone has been really great and supportive, and I never want anything I do to reflect badly on the team or the league. I just demand a lot of myself, and I think most people were pleased to see a little bit of passion expressed. After all, what’s racing without passion? ‘Nuf said.
Unfortunately, due to budgetary reasons (directly related to the Milwaukee crash damage) I’m going to have to sit out the remaining 3 oval races. For a ton of reasons, it’s really disappointing, but those are the realities of racing. I was especially looking forward to Kentucky and Chicago. We will continue to participate in the Firestone Indy Lights series at the road courses, with Watkins Glen being next on the schedule – over the 4th of July weekend.
I hope to announce our 2009 Firestone Indy Lights plans soon, but the details are still being firmed up. More later.
Mark Olson
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