WILSON: Musical Chairs At 215mph

IndyCar

WILSON: Musical Chairs At 215mph

The last few laps at Chicagoland were just mad and no one was giving any room. It was a game of musical chairs at 215mph.

Justin Wilson | Posted September 08, 2009 Denver, CO

Justin Wilson spent most of the Chicagoland race sandwiched in two and three-wide racing. (LAT)

IndyCars at Chicagoland are renowned for pack racing and this year was no exception! My guess is that some of it is down to the track design which makes it easier than the other mile and half ovals that we race on. The transitions from the straights to the corners are more progressive than any other track we go too. Not just the radius, but the banking too, along with the curved back straight. It all really lends itself to close, wheel to wheel action.

Sometimes the racing was too close! Probably my biggest moment was about half way through the race when I brushed wheels with Graham on the back straight. The cars hardly moved, but I think that was more luck than judgment - it's not a good idea to start banging wheels in an open wheel car, as it doesn’t normally end well! It will happen now and then as everyone is racing hard and no one wants to give anything away. I was trying not to give GRay too much room as he seemed to be all over the track, especially mid-corner to exit.

He was slightly quicker so I thought the only way to pass him and make it to the next group ahead was to hold him to his lane on the exit of the corner and if his car wasn’t handling well he would be forced to lift. I finally made that stick and got by Graham, but a few laps later I was forced to lift too and it felt like the whole field went by. Before you know it, you’re back where you started and the only thing you can do is to put your head down and start again.

I had some fun battles with Tony Kanaan and Oriol Servia. They are both good racers who race hard but fair and you can’t ask for more than that. You know where you stand and you know what to expect which is important on the speedways. I have a lot of respect for them both. Oriol has done a great job since stepping in the 06 car. I seem to find myself racing him every week now, but I wasn’t going to try a slide pass like I did at the hairpin at Sonoma last week. It was too close to a disaster even at those low speeds, never mind at 215mph!

The last few laps at Chicagoland were just mad and no one was giving any room. I remembered being up on Dario’s rear outside corner when we took the white flag. I thought it would be great to finish in the top six. But I also knew I was P10 one lap earlier! It was a game of musical chairs at 215mph. You had no idea where you would be when the music stopped, but I was keeping my foot in no matter what.

I had a problem with my visor tear offs 40 laps from the end. The tab had torn off my second to last one and I had to rip the last two off in one go. The was so much dirt, stones and gravel on the track, on the restarts down the back straight it was like driving in the rain with all the spray and rooster tails coming off the cars in front. You couldn’t see those cars sometimes. All this dirt pits and scratches your visor, hence the tear offs. By the end of the race it had taken the paint of the front off the car! After losing the tear offs my visor just got worse and worse. So in the last few laps everyone was bunched up and I couldn’t see a thing. You just sat there waiting for something to go wrong, knowing that you wouldn’t see it happen soon enough to react.

In those situations you have to really rely on your spotter. Mine, Chris, was doing a fantastic job. Continuity in a team really makes a difference and that’s true in every area. The trust and the fine details in the communication between the driver and spotter are so important. I was starting to understand what Chris was seeing not just what he was saying. It made a difference in this race and it will just keep improving in the future.

Anyway, when the music stopped, I was in tenth and really, we could have been anywhere from fifth to fifteenth so we were happy with that. It’s not first, but from where we started at the beginning of the season it’s a huge gain. We were racing all night long and in the mix on the lead lap. All year we’ve been saying that we will improve on the ovals and I feel we definitely have, but this race really showed that. Don't get me wrong, there is still a way to go for us to win on an oval, but every race this year we have made improvements in the car’s set up and balance.

Wilson and the Z-Line Designs team now head to Japan for the penultimate IndyCar round, September 19th. (LAT)

Motegi is a difficult track to master as is Homestead so we will be concentrating on finding the right set up for these last few races. We want to continue to run strong and improve our position in the championship so we need to keep making these small steps forward. Our aim is to finish in the top eight in Motegi. I believe that we can make the next big step in the car’s speed during the off season once we have had some time to work on things.

Speaking of improvements, it was good to see pictures of Will Power and Nelson Philippe together. It was a big shunt that they had at Sonoma and when I saw it happen I really thought that Nelson would be in trouble. I was shocked to hear that Will was injured, but then I watched the accident again I then realized what a hard hit it was. I'm glad that they are both all right and are on the mend. See you guys soon.

~Justin

The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEEDtv.com, SPEED, FOX, or NewsCorp.

Justin Wilson drives for Dale Coyne Racing in the 2009 IndyCar Series. Wilson first came to prominence in his native England, winning the Formula Palmer Audi championship before graduating to the International F3000 Series. After claiming the 2001 F3000 title, Justin would earn a ride in F1 with Minardi in 2003, completing the season with the factory Jaguar F1 program.

After transitioning to the ChampCar Series, Wilson continued his winning ways, taking four victories between 2004-2007, and finishing 2nd in the championship in 2006 and 2007. His first season in the unified IndyCar season earned Justin another win and 7 top-10’s with Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing.

Wilson lives in Colorado with his wife and young daughter.

Learn more about Justin at www.justinwilson.co.uk and about his team at www.dalecoyneracing.com. Learn more about the unique investment program created to support Justin early in his career at www.justinwilsonplc.com.

The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEED.com, FOX, NewsCorp, or SPEED

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Justin Wilson

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