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IndyCar
INDYCAR: 2013 Season Preview PT 3
SPEED.com concludes its 3-part IndyCar Season preview with the heavy hitters--Target Chip Ganassi, Team Penske, and a few other teams seeking glory.
The 2013 IZOD IndyCar Series champion could come from one of the teams chronicled in Part 3 of SPEED.com's season preview. (Photos: LAT)
Here's SPEED.com's third and final part of a comprehensive team-by-team preview of the 20123 IZOD IndyCar Season which kicks off this weekend at St. Petersburg. Read Part 1 of the season preview here and Part 2 here.
Team: Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
Driver: Graham Rahal
Car No.: 15
Engine: Honda
Chief Mechanic: Donny Stewart
Engineer: Gerry Hughes
2012 Driver’s Championship Finish: 10th
Pruett Says: Based on the dismal pre-season experience Graham Rahal has had since joining his father’s team, it’s hard to predict great things early in the season for the No. 15 program. Brake issues, an engine fire and other maladies have limited Graham’s opportunities to develop the car to his liking with engineer Gerry Hughes, and in today’s IndyCar Series, it’s beyond hard to show up at the first round without having completed one’s homework.
Looking at how effective Takuma Sato was last year in the same car and with the same engineer, I would expect Rahal’s homecoming to take flight by the time we get to Long Beach. But how high he flies rests solely on his shoulders.
The Ganassi experiment didn’t work for a variety of reasons—mostly down to a lack of chemistry and Graham’s ongoing personal development. Heading into his seventh season as an Indy car driver, he’ll either establish himself as a champion in waiting by the end of 2013...or he won’t.
Child prodigies have a finite shelf life and Rahal has reached the expiration date on that claim.
He’s working with veteran team driver coach Michael Zimicki, which should accelerate the final areas Rahal has needed to refine, so there’s more potential to unlock. Like a few other drivers this year, Rahal needs to deliver.
Miller Says: From winning his IndyCar debut to being a staple in the Fast Six his first two years, young Rahal was on the fast track to stardom. But two years with Ganassi's B team netted more frustration than results and a microcosm was throwing away a sure win at Texas with two laps left in 2012. He's only 25 but Graham's got something to prove and his dad's team will hopefully offer him that opportunity.
Driver: James Jakes
Car No.: 16
Engine: Honda
Chief Mechanic: Vince Bass
Engineer: Eddie Jones
2012 Driver’s Championship Finish: 22nd
Pruett Says: Jakes spent his sophomore IndyCar season in an open-wheel Witness Relocation Program, finishing an anonymous 22nd in points—exactly where he placed as a rookie in 2011. Paired with Eddie Jones, and with a more robust engineering structure to rely upon at RLL, I think Jakes will rebound and show that racy form he’s demonstrated at times.
More than cranking up the speed, I’d be interested in seeing Jakes make improvements on dealing with adversity. When some drivers have an ill-handling car, they concede a race win might be out of the picture but keep scrapping to finish as close to the front as possible. When Jakes has been let down by his car’s handling, it’s like a parachute gets thrown behind him.
If he wants to be respected as an IndyCar driver, he’ll need to run faster and keep pushing when things don’t go his way.
Miller Says: Finished the 2011 season in impressive form but was just part of the scenery in 2012. So which JJ will we see in 2013?
What Jakes Says Needs Improving This Year: “Well, obviously, you start with the basics, and I think if I can get my qualifying up there’s no reason we can’t get back on the podium. It’s just good qualifying. Get the basics, get qualifying out of the way. There's no reason why we can't get to the podium and racing when conditions are right.”
Driver: Mike Conway
Car No.: 17
Engine: Honda
Chief Mechanic: TBD
Engineer: Jay O’Connell
2012 Driver’s Championship Finish: 21nd
Pruett Says: The RLL team is extremely motivated to add more races to Conway’s calendar, and after running fourth in his first day with the team during Spring Training, it’s easy to understand why. With Conway in the mix, RLL obviously becomes a better team on the road and street courses, but his influence on Rahal is what could have the biggest impact of all.
Mike’s days on ovals might have passed, but he’s brutally quick when the conditions are right. Keeping that level of talent on the grid only improves the quality of the series.
Miller Says: Obviously in his comfort zone on a street or road course and he will make the most of his limited schedule if testing is any indicator.
Team: Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing
Driver: Josef Newgarden
Car No.: 67
Engine: Honda
Chief Mechanic: Anton Julian
Engineer: Nathan O’Rourke
2012 Driver’s Championship Finish: 23rd
Pruett Says: Amazing to think SFHR just completed its first full season IndyCar Series campaign--with a rookie nonetheless—and is ready to pose a threat to a number of the bigger teams in Year 2 with Josef Newgarden driving.
The Tennessee native has an ace engineer in Nathan O’Rourke and a phenomenal pit crew supporting him, and if he can ratchet up the maturity to 11, there’s little stopping the one-car program from taking a giant leap forward.
Few question Newgarden’s speed or talent, and few would also question that after a rookie season that included far too many meetings with the wall and/or other cars, dropping the youthful I’m-going-to-win-every-second-of-the-race mentality is all he needs to have a serious breakthrough.
We know he’s fast. Now we need to know if he can maintain that speed while bringing the car home inside the top 12 at every round. If he can, the kid is indeed the racer of tomorrow.
Miller Says: Josef's speed as a rookie got everyone's attention and had Sarah Fisher Racing thinking podium at least three times. But his aggression bit him and it turned into a year of what ifs. Put away the Red Bull and pack this kid in dry ice before the race and things will be fine. He's got the talent.
What Newgarden Says Needs Improving This Year: “Consistency is absolutely key. And it becomes harder I think for a driver at this level because of the distance. And, really, you'd think the distance is not a big deal considering you run Lights and they run an hour race and you sort of get used to that longer distance. But I think with all the added elements of coming into IndyCar, it really just gets tough to stay consistent throughout the whole race. So say you're consistent for one stint, that's great, but that's one stint; you can lose a race in one stint and you could also claw your way back in one stint. But you have to be consistent throughout an entire race, which is just really, really tough. It's harder than it sounds and looks to young drivers I think.
“So, for sure, I learned a lot about that last year. I just learned a lot about the flow of a race, how you manage that with the team, how you read situations, and how you can understand how the race is evolving and had a stay on top of that. You really have got to be on top of that the entire race. It’s not easy to do. That's probably the biggest thing for me. I mean, it's really, really tough to stand on top of that. It's a long race and you've got to be able to watch the ball and be able to adapt to it and stay on top of it yourself. I was definitely not that great at it this year. I really wasn't. I was not where I thought I would be in that situation. That's what I've got to improve.”
Team: Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
Driver: Graham Rahal
Car No.: 15
Engine: Honda
Chief Mechanic: Donny Stewart
Engineer: Gerry Hughes
2012 Driver’s Championship Finish: 10th
Pruett Says: Based on the dismal pre-season experience Graham Rahal has had since joining his father’s team, it’s hard to predict great things early in the season for the No. 15 program. Brake issues, an engine fire and other maladies have limited Graham’s opportunities to develop the car to his liking with engineer Gerry Hughes, and in today’s IndyCar Series, it’s beyond hard to show up at the first round without having completed one’s homework.
Looking at how effective Takuma Sato was last year in the same car and with the same engineer, I would expect Rahal’s homecoming to take flight by the time we get to Long Beach. But how high he flies rests solely on his shoulders.
The Ganassi experiment didn’t work for a variety of reasons—mostly down to a lack of chemistry and Graham’s ongoing personal development. Heading into his seventh season as an Indy car driver, he’ll either establish himself as a champion in waiting by the end of 2013...or he won’t.
Child prodigies have a finite shelf life and Rahal has reached the expiration date on that claim.
He’s working with veteran team driver coach Michael Zimicki, which should accelerate the final areas Rahal has needed to refine, so there’s more potential to unlock. Like a few other drivers this year, Rahal needs to deliver.
Miller Says: From winning his IndyCar debut to being a staple in the Fast Six his first two years, young Rahal was on the fast track to stardom. But two years with Ganassi's B team netted more frustration than results and a microcosm was throwing away a sure win at Texas with two laps left in 2012. He's only 25 but Graham's got something to prove and his dad's team will hopefully offer him that opportunity.
Driver: James Jakes
Car No.: 16
Engine: Honda
Chief Mechanic: Vince Bass
Engineer: Eddie Jones
2012 Driver’s Championship Finish: 22nd
Pruett Says: Jakes spent his sophomore IndyCar season in an open-wheel Witness Relocation Program, finishing an anonymous 22nd in points—exactly where he placed as a rookie in 2011. Paired with Eddie Jones, and with a more robust engineering structure to rely upon at RLL, I think Jakes will rebound and show that racy form he’s demonstrated at times.
More than cranking up the speed, I’d be interested in seeing Jakes make improvements on dealing with adversity. When some drivers have an ill-handling car, they concede a race win might be out of the picture but keep scrapping to finish as close to the front as possible. When Jakes has been let down by his car’s handling, it’s like a parachute gets thrown behind him.
If he wants to be respected as an IndyCar driver, he’ll need to run faster and keep pushing when things don’t go his way.
Miller Says: Finished the 2011 season in impressive form but was just part of the scenery in 2012. So which JJ will we see in 2013?
What Jakes Says Needs Improving This Year: “Well, obviously, you start with the basics, and I think if I can get my qualifying up there’s no reason we can’t get back on the podium. It’s just good qualifying. Get the basics, get qualifying out of the way. There's no reason why we can't get to the podium and racing when conditions are right.”
Driver: Mike Conway
Car No.: 17
Engine: Honda
Chief Mechanic: TBD
Engineer: Jay O’Connell
2012 Driver’s Championship Finish: 21nd
Pruett Says: The RLL team is extremely motivated to add more races to Conway’s calendar, and after running fourth in his first day with the team during Spring Training, it’s easy to understand why. With Conway in the mix, RLL obviously becomes a better team on the road and street courses, but his influence on Rahal is what could have the biggest impact of all.
Mike’s days on ovals might have passed, but he’s brutally quick when the conditions are right. Keeping that level of talent on the grid only improves the quality of the series.
Miller Says: Obviously in his comfort zone on a street or road course and he will make the most of his limited schedule if testing is any indicator.
Team: Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing
Driver: Josef Newgarden
Car No.: 67
Engine: Honda
Chief Mechanic: Anton Julian
Engineer: Nathan O’Rourke
2012 Driver’s Championship Finish: 23rd
Pruett Says: Amazing to think SFHR just completed its first full season IndyCar Series campaign--with a rookie nonetheless—and is ready to pose a threat to a number of the bigger teams in Year 2 with Josef Newgarden driving.
The Tennessee native has an ace engineer in Nathan O’Rourke and a phenomenal pit crew supporting him, and if he can ratchet up the maturity to 11, there’s little stopping the one-car program from taking a giant leap forward.
Few question Newgarden’s speed or talent, and few would also question that after a rookie season that included far too many meetings with the wall and/or other cars, dropping the youthful I’m-going-to-win-every-second-of-the-race mentality is all he needs to have a serious breakthrough.
We know he’s fast. Now we need to know if he can maintain that speed while bringing the car home inside the top 12 at every round. If he can, the kid is indeed the racer of tomorrow.
Miller Says: Josef's speed as a rookie got everyone's attention and had Sarah Fisher Racing thinking podium at least three times. But his aggression bit him and it turned into a year of what ifs. Put away the Red Bull and pack this kid in dry ice before the race and things will be fine. He's got the talent.
What Newgarden Says Needs Improving This Year: “Consistency is absolutely key. And it becomes harder I think for a driver at this level because of the distance. And, really, you'd think the distance is not a big deal considering you run Lights and they run an hour race and you sort of get used to that longer distance. But I think with all the added elements of coming into IndyCar, it really just gets tough to stay consistent throughout the whole race. So say you're consistent for one stint, that's great, but that's one stint; you can lose a race in one stint and you could also claw your way back in one stint. But you have to be consistent throughout an entire race, which is just really, really tough. It's harder than it sounds and looks to young drivers I think.
“So, for sure, I learned a lot about that last year. I just learned a lot about the flow of a race, how you manage that with the team, how you read situations, and how you can understand how the race is evolving and had a stay on top of that. You really have got to be on top of that the entire race. It’s not easy to do. That's probably the biggest thing for me. I mean, it's really, really tough to stand on top of that. It's a long race and you've got to be able to watch the ball and be able to adapt to it and stay on top of it yourself. I was definitely not that great at it this year. I really wasn't. I was not where I thought I would be in that situation. That's what I've got to improve.”
2013 INDY 500 Practice
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