In Driver’s Eye with James Hinchcliffe, the six-time INDYCAR winner will bring you inside the mind of a racer while breaking down the nuts and bolts of the sport for fans.
Still riding the joy from a fantastic INDYCAR trip to the West Coast last weekend.
The Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach delivered perfect weather, plenty of action and more fans than I can ever remember being at the 1.968-mile, 11-turn street course venue. It had an amazing vibe that makes me wish we could go back and race there again this week, which is a familiar feeling when leaving Long Beach.
However, there was another familiar feeling leaving the latest INDYCAR race â and one that surely hasn’t left drivers feeling all warm and fuzzy inside. But it has left them with two choices as they attempt to solve the biggest predicament in the sport this seasonâ¦
You guessed it: Alex Palou and the No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing team pulled off another victory, adding to the list of tracks in their W column. And they snatched their third win of the season with their trademark combination of blinding speed and perfect execution, once again.
At this point, it is genuinely tough to think of another driver that has maintained such a level of dominance over this elite competition. Its not just the wins; it’s also the consistency (but more on that later!).Â
I remember in the early 2010s, Will Power would be good for four to six wins a season, and each time, I would think, “Man, he got another one!” When he was out front, it was so tough to beat him, and it hurt to lose to him so often. But mixed in with those dominant wins were tough days at the office, so the title was still a down-to-the-wire proposition.
Palou and his squad just arent having those days.Â
At Long Beach, pole-sitter Felix Rosenqvist had the edge in qualifying and in the first two-thirds of the 90-lap race. But during a pit stop under a full-course caution, Palou & Co. capitalized and emerged ahead by less than a car length. The stop for Rosenqvist and his No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing crew was marginally slower, no massive mistakes, but it was enough to make the difference.Â
For their first pit stop of the race, Palou and Rosenqvist came in together, and it was a straight fight between the No. 10 crew and the No. 60 crew. And in that instance, the MSR team nailed it, and Rosenqvist came out in front by about 1.5 seconds.Â
But on the second stop at Lap 59, a one-second delay in the grand scheme of a nearly two-hour race was the difference.Â
When a driver is so thoroughly dominant for so long, one of two things happens to the rest of the competition.Â
The first choice is accepting the inevitable. You end up thinking, “They are truly unbeatable. There is nothing I can do. I am racing for second place.”Â
When you think like that, he has already beaten you. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you see him in your mirror, you assume he is going past. If you pit with him behind you, you expect him to leave in front. And when thats your attitude, thats exactly what happens.Â
The other choice is to get mad.Â
Drivers hate to lose as much as they love to win. Use the feeling of getting beat as fuel to do more, push further, train harder. Study the data. Review the video of onboards to find any little thing you can do better. Whatever you have to do to beat the guy.Â
But it cant just be the driver. <a href="https://www.foxsports
