Pruett's cooldown lap: Nashville

Rarely have we left a race outside of the Indianapolis 500 that produced so many talking points. Buckle in for a mix of serious and silly from IndyCar’s return to Tennessee.

The good? Every NTT IndyCar Series team and driver want the Music City Grand Prix to be a total success. The bad? A lot of work will be required to make the second running of the Nashville street race a home run from start to finish.

Thankfully, it’s not the first time a new event fell short in a few key areas, and in most instances, fixes can be applied. A number of vendors commented on the high prices they were charged to park in an area with limited foot traffic and sell their food, swag, or beverages. As expected, those costs were passed down to the fans, many of whom left the weekend with severe sticker shock. On that subject, offering paddock access for $1500 per person was an all-time low. And yes, that’s not a typo: $1500 for a paddock pass. Not pit lane, but the paddock.

If the series and promoter didn’t notice, the takeaway from many of its most ardent fans was how greed, rather than the usual access they receive at the majority of the races, was felt throughout the event.

On the flipside, plenty of fans reported back with significant positives, with the party atmosphere and spectacle of a new downtown motor race outweighing some of the aforementioned drawbacks. Many hardcore IndyCar fans who regularly attend the Mid-Ohios, Road Americas, and Gateways had harsh things to say about Nashville. Some of the newer fans, who lack the context of what it costs to attend other IndyCar events and don’t know what kind of access they’d receive, said they’ll be returning, but hope the race is more green than yellow or red a year from now.

There’s something brewing here that could be big for the city and IndyCar. The question that can’t be answered until the second Nashville event is, how many fans will indeed return, and how many are one-and-done? It might be worth extending an olive branch to the inaugural ticket buyers and finding a few ways to sweeten the deal for 2022 if the promoters want to make good on the aspects that fell short in their first try.

He deserves a third

Olympic high jumpers Mutaz Essa Barshim and Gianmarco Tamberi shared gold medals last week at the Tokyo Olympics for scaling a pole set at 7.8 feet, but after Marcus Ericsson’s performance on Sunday, I’m wholly unimpressed by the Qatari and Italian athletes.

Ericsson definitely deserves a gold medal of his own for reaching a height they were unable to achieve -- estimated to be 10-plus feet by his Chip Ganassi Racing team -- which should be recognized somehow by the IOC.

Kidding aside, Ericsson’s race engineer Brad Goldberg said the No. 8 Honda was completely airborne for 10 feet after riding over Sebastien Bourdais’ car. From the start of the crash, the front of Ericsson’s hot rod -- including the distance it was 100 percent off the ground, and then when the rear tires touched down and the fronts continued to pop a wheelie -- was sky-bound for 33 feet!

It's always cool when someone gets an IndyCar win and their pilot's license on the same day. Image by Lumen Digital Agency

Narrow track, or drivers gone wild?

Following nine caution periods and two red flags, the top item of postmortem interest is whether the track layout was to blame for the demolition derby, or if 27 men behaving badly was the root cause of the disjointed race.

I have to learn towards the data here, and it points to temptation as the leading cause of the problems, not the track as a narrow monster that loves eating cars. The classic street course crash scenario of going from fast wide-open spaces to a narrow, slow, and sharp turns is where most of the incidents took place.

Just like Long Beach with Turns 1, 8, and 11, and Detroit with Turn 3, and Toronto with Turns 3 and 8, Nashville baited the hook and lured the field to try the "You should know better!" divebombs at Turn 4, Turn 9, and Turn 11, although the latter doesn’t change widths -- drivers just got up a good head of steam and prayed their passes would work.

The first contact-related caution was for Ericsson missing the slowdown entering Turn 11 and stoving into Bourdais. Driver error. The second caution was for Scott McLaughlin being tagged by Ed Jones entering the wide-to-narrow-please-don’t-divebomb-me Turn 4 coming off the bridge. Driver error. The next caution/red flag was the Team Penske fratricide caused by Will Power clashing with Simon Pagenaud at Turn 11. Was Power to blame? Remove that passing attempt by Power, and we don’t have a red flag and 11 cars sitting stranded on the course. Driver error.

The next caution was for Rinus VeeKay’s solo crash in Turn 1. Driver error. Next, it was the continuation of Power’s Greatest Nashville Hits tour in Turn 9 -- a classic wide-to-narrow temptation maneuver -- on teammate McLaughlin that also claimed Dalton Kellett. Driver error. Returning to Turn 4, up next on the caution count was Pato O’Ward, who nailed Alexander Rossi. Driver error. Cody Ware brought out the penultimate caution with a harmless spin at Turn 3. Driver error. And the saddest caution of the day closed the event as rocket man Colton Herta had a modified version of Ayrton Senna at Monaco in 1988 by losing focus and smashing the Turn 9 wall on his own while trying to take first place from Ericsson. Driver error.

To the surprise of nobody, it was the places where the Nashville track is plenty wide, fast, and enticing that narrow on entry to heavy braking zones where drivers caused 50-percent of the contact-based cautions. Just like Long Beach, Detroit, and Toronto.

The problem on Sunday wasn’t the circuit design. It was human nature, and the downside of temptation on a type of racetrack where passing is never easy and often carries some degree of risk.

Unless there’s a call to abandon the wide-to-narrow fast-to-slow braking corners on street courses from California to Tennessee, all I can do is quote Juan Pablo Montoya and say: “It is what it is.”

The bumps

How bumpy is the Nashville circuit in its current configuration? According to one data expert in the paddock, cars were airborne 15 times per lap with anywhere from one to four wheels off the ground. Also, combined, those four wheels were bouncing off the track for approximately one second per corner. Nashville, you so crazy.

Points, they are(n't really) a-changin'

If one driver left the Music City Grand Prix with a giant exhale of relief, it was championship leader Alex Palou. Despite having an unrewarding finish of seventh, the Spaniard dodged a few title-related bullets as his closest rival Pato O’Ward made a mess of things and finished back in 13th.

Palou’s Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Scott Dixon, who held third in the standings before the race, was the only one to gain ground in the quest for his seventh title. Dixon placed second and knocked O’Ward from second to third in the championship. And despite a rough home event, Josef Newgarden didn’t fall far after claiming 10th in Nashville. He held onto fourth in the standings as a result.

With five races left to run, here’s how the championship chase was altered after Nashville, along with some movers elsewhere in the standings.

P1: Alex Palou (39-point lead to second before Nashville, +42 to second entering this weekend’s Indy GP)

P2: Scott Dixon (-56 to Palou before Nashville, cut down to -42 into Indy, rose one spot)

P3: Pato O’Ward (-39 before, grew to -48 into Indy, fell one spot)

P4: Josef Newgarden (-69 before, grew to -75 into Indy)

P5: Marcus Ericsson (-104 before, shrank to -79 into Indy)

After the top five, comprised of three Ganassi drivers, and one each from Arrow McLaren SP and Penske, there are a few who are still in with a mathematical shot of the title, but from a practical standpoint, have no real chance of winning the championship without miracles taking place.

P6: Graham Rahal (-128 before, -124 into Indy, rose three spots)

P7: Simon Pagenaud (-113 before, grew to -130 into Indy, fell one spot)

P8: Colton Herta (-124 before, grew to -135 into Indy, fell one spot)

The biggest negative movement came with Sebastien Bourdais, who was P15 before and P18 after the lap five incident.

Altogether, things got a little bit better for the three Ganassi drivers while O’Ward and Newgarden took a few steps in the wrong direction. Essentially, the championship fight didn’t have any drastic changes, barring Ericsson going from a long shot to closing in on Newgarden, and if someone’s going to mount a big charge to topple the ultra-consistent Palou, they’ll need to make a statement in Indy and hope the points leader has a bad day.

By the time we reach late Saturday afternoon, there’s only four more opportunities to rearrange the standings.

Leaders Circle

A fine day of racing for Ed Jones moved the No. 18 Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser Sullivan Honda off the Leaders Circle $1 million payout bubble for 2022. Entering the event 22nd in Entrants points, the No. 18 car is now 20th.

Behind the DCRwVS car, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s No. 45 entry driven by Santino Ferrucci -- who will be replaced by Christian Lundgaard this weekend -- is holding fast in 21st, and in a notable drop, the No. 48 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda shared by Jimmie Johnson and Tony Kanaan is the new entry on the bubble in 22nd after Johnson finished next-to-last in Nashville.

At 140 points for the No. 48 in the Entrants race, a strong result for AMSP’s Felix Rosenqvist in the No. 7 Chevy has closed the gap to 22nd: the car is not far behind at 130 points. The only change behind the No. 7 is with the No. 4 A.J. Foyt Racing car driven by Dalton Kellett, who fell to last among the regular entries, two points behind the No. 59 Carlin Racing machine of Max Chilton.

Rosenqvist's drive went a long way towards digging the No.7 out of a Leaders Circle hole. Barry Cantrell/Lumen Digital Agency

Marcus math

Marcus Ericsson had what I call a "Bingo Card" race where he seemingly crossed off holding every position in the field at some point in the contest. Enjoy this run through his day in Tennessee:

1. Started 18th.

2. Lap 1: Improves to 15th, but fell to 16th the next lap.

3. Lap 5: Does his Space-X impersonation on the Sebastien Bourdais Memorial Launch Pad, pits for repairs and ends the lap 25th.

4. Lap 8: Receives a penalty for the unapproved moon orbit, pits from 21st to serve a stop-and-go, resumes in 25th.

5. Lap 16: Improves to 24th.

6. Lap 17: Improves to 19th when a bunch of cars pit under caution.

7. Lap 18: Improves to 17th when more cars pit under caution.

8. Lap 19: Jumps to 12th during the one green lap of racing.

9. Lap 20: Pits with everyone else under caution, comes out in 11th.

10. Lap 24: Improves to 10th.

11. Lap 32: Vaults to fourth under caution as many drivers pit.

12. Lap 33: Takes first under caution as more pit.

13. Lap 36: Green flag and leads until lap 43.

14. Lap 45: Pits from first under caution, falls to second as Herta takes the lead

15. Lap 46: Shuffled back to eighth under caution.

16. Lap 49: Takes restart from seventh as O’Ward pits.

17. Lap 52: More pit stops, including one from Herta, moves him up to third under caution.

18. Lap 53: Back to second.

19. Lap 56: Back to first under caution, keeps it to the checkered flag.

So, that’s P1, P2, P3, P4, P7, P8, P10, P11, P12, P15, P16, P17, P18, P19, P21, P24, and P25. Of the 27 positions in the race, Ericsson spent time in 17 of them by the end of the content. How wild is that?

The Golden Bowling Ball Award...

Goes to Toowoomba’s finest, who bowled the biggest strike of the year by creating a pop-up Cars & Coffee Nashville at Turn 11 with Pagenaud, and then wiped out another teammate in McLaughlin because, well, you never want to leave a pin standing if it’s within reach. Fortunately for Josef Newgarden, he was too far away for Power to bowl a perfect Team Penske strike.

Unapologetic

Reading the team’s post-race quotes, Will Power said all he had to say about the two incidents with teammates by mentioning one and icing the other.

“Pretty crazy day,” he surmised. “I feel bad for Scott, definitely. I thought he saw me and I was on new tires and he had like 15 laps on his, and it was totally on me. Just a bad move. Rough day to say the least.”

We can rightfully assume his bosses let their displeasure be known after the event. But what’s that dynamic like between the pair of champions and Indy 500 winners like over the next five rounds? Was that throw-down pass that pitched the Frenchman into the wall a less-than-subtle message of what Power thinks of the likely-to-be-leaving Pagenaud?

Would Power try that same passing attempt in Turn 11 if it were Newgarden instead of Pagenaud? Not a chance.

Cartoon anvil

The dang ACME product just won’t leave Mr. Rossi alone. On target for a podium, O’Ward put in an order for a cartoon anvil and it found the No. 27 Andretti Autosport Honda with exceptional precision. After thinking it was impossible to happen, Rossi’s rotten luck has somehow gotten worse.

Three cheers for...

Best finish of the year for James Hinchcliffe. Best of the year for Ryan Hunter-Reay. Best of the year for Ed Jones. And best of the year for Felix Rosenqvist. I covered off the first three in separate stories on Monday, so let’s visit with the Arrow McLaren SP driver for a quick moment.

Yes, Rosenqvist lost two positions in the closing laps and saw a sixth turn into an eighth, but he was fast all weekend, legitimately outqualified O’Ward (fourth to eighth), which isn’t something we’re accustomed to happening, and send a reminder that when all goes well, he can lead the team and live in O’Ward’s orbit.

He’s safe and secure with AMSP next year, so let’s hope we see more of his Nashville form to close the season. For where AMSP is going in the future with McLaren buying a majority ownership stake, the last thing they want is a continual gap between its two drivers.

A grand failure

The inaugural Nashville event was full of feel-good stories, but don’t tell that to the fans who paid a handsome sum to sit in some of the grandstands that weren’t completed. Fans reported the track was still being assembled when they arrived on Friday with some grandstands waiting to be built.

https://twitter.com/ebarnes442/status/1424054901777256456?s=20

While it wasn’t a big inconvenience for some, the promoter’s failure to deliver for those in wheelchairs who’d bought tickets to make use of the small elevator attached to the grandstand is where the mood changes. The long trek in the heat to find alternate viewing options was not appreciated, I’m told. This is what the promoters sent to those who were affected on Friday and Saturday:

We are pleased to inform you that Grandstand 6 has been fully completed and will be open for Sunday’s Big Machine Music City Grand Prix activities, including the weekend’s marquee NTT IndyCar Series race. On behalf of the promoter team at the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix, we greatly appreciate your patience with the grandstand construction delays by our vendor and extend our apologies for any inconveniences the relocation to other grandstands may have caused the previous two days.

We also wanted to remind you that the event promoters will be issuing a refund to the primary purchaser for the two of the three days you were moved to another grandstand and did not have the opportunity to enjoy your original seating. Thank you for your understanding and we hope you enjoy today’s inaugural Big Machine Music City Grand Prix.

Rossi's had all manner of bad luck this year, yet still managed to leave Nashville ranked second among the Andretti drivers in the points. Jake Galstad/Lumen Digital Agency

MISC

• Considering how well it worked in Nashville, Bourdais, Grosjean, and Pagenaud better keep their eyes on their mirrors on lap five of Saturday’s Indy GP event. "Hit a Frenchman, Win the Race" might be the new race strategy move after Ericsson’s miraculous result.

• Ericsson’s race engineer awoke Monday morning awoke with a goal of getting the victory lane photo of his driver and team to RACER’s Robin Miller as the No. 8 CGR Honda carried "Get Well, Robin" stickers on both sides of the tub closest to the sidepod radiator inlets. (Does that make Miller the winner of one IndyCar race just like Danica Patrick and Carlos "Grumpy Cat" Huertas?)

• First race of the year where Ferrucci didn’t make his presence felt. An 11th isn’t bad, but the boisterous Connecticut product was unusually muted in the GP.

• The late start of 4:30 local and 5:30 ET was due to two factors: The final tournaments of the Tokyo Olympics being aired on NBC and the NASCAR Cup Series race at Watkins Glen wrapping up before handing NBCSN over to IndyCar. And for good measure, IMSA’s tape-delayed race at Road America followed. The downside of the yellow and red flags was felt by fans who drove from Indianapolis or farther who, according to one friend, waited to watch Ericsson climb from his car and celebrate, then jammed across the bridge to get to his car and start the drive home. He expected to arrive at 2:23 a.m. and had work waiting for his arrival at 8 a.m.

• When was the last time a driver completely owned a weekend like Colton Herta, only to have it all go wrong with the checkered flag and a podium -- and possibly a win -- just moments away? He led 39 of the 80 laps, and it felt like he owned the race, but Ericsson ended up leading 37 laps, which was a lot closer to being an equal split than I expected.

• Another race with promise for Meyer Shank Racing and Jack Harvey after qualifying sixth on Saturday, and another race where it meant nothing on Sunday as they finished 15th. Stranger still, Harvey’s Nashville 15th was his best finish since Texas Round 1 on May 1. That’s eight mystifying races in a row of 15th or worse. I wish I had answer to provide here because and the MSR team are better than their results, but IndyCar doesn’t award points on promise.

• The two-seater Indy car had an unfortunate meeting with the wall on Friday and came back to the paddock with the help of a tow truck. No word on who was in the passenger seat or if they left any deposits in the seat after experiencing the real sensations of lapping in an IndyCar and smashing into a barrier.

• Formula 2 driver Marcus Armstrong was at Nashville.

• Every now and then, a next-generation star like Rinus VeeKay has a weekend where he reminds us that he’s still growing and developing. Add Herta to that list as well.

• Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing’s Cody Ware was the recipient of a rare in-race disqualification, having been directed to pit lane on lap 72 with the following note posted on timing and scoring: Lap 72 PENALTY - Disqualification, Car 52 - Failure to Participate at Competitive Speed (9.3.1.5). Although Ware’s fastest race lap was only 2.6s shy of the race winner’s best, his pace in the latter stages of the event were 4-5s off of the leader.

• CGR tested cool shirts with success at Portland in 100-degree heat. Dixon reported being cold in the car at the test, but opted not to use the system at Nashville. Ericsson did, and said he absolutely loved the device.

• I’ve learned former Red Bull Formula 1 driver Alex Albon, who we’ve mentioned as a talent of interest in the last two RACER silly season articles, is inbound for Indianapolis and will be onsite for the combo NASCAR/IndyCar road course event in a few days. Intrepid fans might keep an eye out for a lanky England-born Thai entering and exiting a few motor coaches and transporters in the paddock…