IndyCar set to race in front of fans at Road America
Simon Pagenaud would love to meet you. He'd love to sign an autograph.
He'd love to make the sort of connection between a champion and fan that's not possible in most sports. To create a memory. To nurture passion.
But that's probably not going to happen this weekend.
Road America in Elkhart Lake will host the first NTT IndyCar Series event this season open to spectators, the REV Group Grand Prix, with races Saturday and Sunday. While that's a big step toward normal amid the global coronavirus pandemic, the weekend will be far different from what patrons of the track and Indy-car racing there have come to expect, with a compact schedule, temperature screenings and limited access.
“I think it's a very tough time we're in right now,” said Pagenaud, the 2016 IndyCar Series champion and 2019 Indianapolis 500 winner. “We just all have to adapt.
“Obviously, health and safety is first.”
Working together
Road America and IndyCar have taken substantially different approaches to
the start of their seasons, which logically can be traced to coronavirus statistics in each area. Through Saturday, Marion County, where IndyCar his headquartered, led Indiana with more than 11,600 positive tests and 683 deaths. Sheboygan County, in which Road America lies, was at 224 cases and four deaths.
IndyCar has been particularly cautious, operating in a bubble for the opener at Texas Motor Speedway and the Fourth of July weekend at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Although Indy was the first combined weekend for NASCAR and IndyCar, contact between the series was extremely limited.
Road America, meanwhile, has had three weekends open to fans and well attended, the national club-level SCCA June Sprints, rescheduled SVRA vintage races and a second round for MotoAmerica after its opener was held with no spectators.
“Going into an event of this scale and accommodating these precautions, it's just part of the territory,” said Mike Kertscher, Road America's president and general manager.
“There's challenges with everything. But being patient and being fluid and understanding each event has a little more customization given the current times, I think we're getting through it.”
At the gate
People entering the grounds will undergo a touchless temperature check and be given a face covering and small bottle of hand sanitizer.
Advance sales were down, which is to be expected, Kertscher said.
The track is strongly encouraging fans to purchase their tickets online and print them at home to streamline the process of entry.
“Quite frankly, we don't know what the attendance is going to be,” he said. “That's why at some point it may be closed. (It's possible) we may not allow ticket purchase at the gate. … It'll be a game-time decision, depending on how things go.”
Some longer-than-usual waits are expected but hopefully no serious backups, Kertscher said.
To expedite entry, gates will open at 7 a.m.
Inside the facility
Attendees will be encouraged to spread out around the 640 acres. In the few areas with bleachers, seating will be limited by barriers. Additional space normally used for hospitality in the popular Turn 5 area will be open for general admission.
“The gates are outside, the cars come in, the people are safe coming in vs. walking through choke points and things like that,” Kertscher said. “Maybe Mr. (Clif ) Tufte, when he built this place 65 years ago, had something in mind. Or maybe we just got lucky.”
Since IndyCar first came to Road America in 2016 the paddock has been open to all ticket-buyers, but that will not be the case this weekend. It will be fenced off – as it has been for the track's NASCAR Xfinity Series weekends – and accessible to only essential race personnel.
Reminders about social distancing continue to be added around the grounds. The track even has a specific page on its website, roadamerica.com/safety, regarding policies and recommendations.
On track
One of the objectives as IndyCar returned to racing during the pandemic is limiting the time drivers and crews are on site. That has led to an odd schedule.
The Road to Indy support series will be on track exclusively on Thursday and Friday and be out before IndyCar teams arrive. On Saturday and Sunday, Vintage Indy is the only other group on track.
Between 10:30 a.m. Saturday and about 2 p.m. Sunday, IndyCar drivers will have had one 90-minute practice session, two qualifying sessions and two races. There'll also a substantial gap in the schedule Saturday afternoon.
“It's strange,” driver Conor Daly said last week, before the Indy GP. “But I know that we continue to tell everyone, hey, we appreciate you, hang with us, we'll get back to the track eventually. Everyone will be there eventually. We'll get back hopefully and enjoy it once again.”
Even if the experience won't be quite the same just yet.