We wanted a Street Race Party and We Got It!!! The Milwaukee Mile will be transformed into one big festival called the IndyFest. This great concept has been talked in the INDYCAR circles but no one had done it. Kudos to Andretti Sports Marketing for doing this effort and creating what should be a successful event. The racing in this 1-mile oval has always been exciting and the drivers skills take the stage for the most part.
The storylines are as follows:
- Honda Engines – apparently the engines are failing at the Iowa Speedway testing. At least 4 drivers with Honda power will receive a 10-grid penalty for changing engines for the race. It would be interesting to see how many could fail at the race.
- The Justin Wilson Watch – After coming from a win at Texas, Justin would need to prove this was no fluke (or aided by unapproved technical aero pieces) and have a great finish. This being a drivers track he should have no problem posting a Top 5 or even winning again…that would be something!!!
- The Ryan Briscoe Watch – Ryan will be on our watch the whole season. He is poised to win a race soon and this could be it. Another Top 3 is not out of the question.
- TV Partner and Ratings – the race will be on ESPN on ABC tomorrow and there should be no direct competition from other major sports since it is a mid-day event. I would write that a 1.2 rating would be achievable with all the INDYCAR news surrounding the series and the great 5-week competition stretch.
- Will There Be Some Issues at the Race? – I don’t expect anything major except a blown engine or some on-track penalty to damage the competition. The weather apparently is perfect so there is no issue on that front.
As in every race, we should pick a winner, just for the sake of trying to be the guru of INDYCAR knowledge (which I’m far from it, but let’s do it anyway!):
Race Winner: I will pick JR Hildebrand to surprise everyone for the 2nd week in a row after Justin Wilson’s win last week. Panther Racing is due and I think their driver has the skills to master this oval for years to come (hopefully the event stays!!!).
Engine Winner:Chevrolet should be back on the top spot!!!
Highest Rookie: Josef Newgarden should FINALLY make me proud!!!. I still think he is a Top 10 or better driver. He needs patience and a good enough car underneath him.
Well, tune in TOMORROW at 12:30pm on ABC (Channel 20 on Dish Network) to the pre-race show. The green flag should drop at 12:45pm… Enjoy!
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