Usual fanfare of Carb Day just another practice
COVID-19 parks revelry as Indy 500 nears green
It was the saddest Carb Day in Indianapolis 500 history. The Snake Pit sat silent in the empty infield, no sign of any rowdy revelers who turn an important day at the track into Indiana’s biggest party.
The annual “Carburetion Day” began as a critical on-track session of Indy 500 prep as teams adjusted the carburetors of their gasoline-powered engines. There hasn’t been a carburetor on an Indy car since 1963, but Carb Day is part of Indy 500 lore and so it stays.
The current version of Carb Day is the final practice session before the race Sunday, but it has grown into a full-day celebration. Practice was just an appetizer to an always thrilling Freedom 100 Indy Lights race, the popular pit crew competition and driver interviews for those roaming the packed midway.
It always concluded with a concert in the Snake Pit, and this year world-renowned DJ Martin Garrix was scheduled to headline an electric dance music show. Carb Day is supposed to open a huge holiday weekend that ends with the biggest race in the world.
In 2020, Carb Day was little more than a two-hour Friday practice session three months after the usual Memorial Day holiday weekend so familiar to the race. Spectators are not permitted at Indianapolis Motor Speedway this year because of the coronavirus pandemic, so all the ancillary fluff that patrons have participated in over several generations has been stripped from the event.
The only entertainment was 33 drivers shaking down their cars in a final tune-up. It was the first session in which pole-sitter Marco Andretti did not dazzle; he ended 28th on the speed chart.
Andretti is hoping to end a family curse that dates to grandfather Mario’s 1969 victory and said Friday was a test of what the team should not do during the race.
“I’d rather learn that today than on Sunday,” Andretti said.
As for the strange vibe at the empty speedway, Andretti said the drivers won’t complain and credited new track owner Roger Penske for not canceling the event.
“He’s taken a lot of hits in the business part of this, so we know we are luck to be racing here,” Andretti said.
Pato O’Ward of Arrow McLaren SP was fastest on Carb Day in a Chevy, followed by a trio of Honda’s driven by former 500 winners. Scott Dixon was second fastest, then Alexander Rossi and finally Takuma Sato.
A ‘Dragon’ from rear
Ben Hanley knows he is unlikely to spend any time at the front Sunday of the Indianapolis 500. That’s not how he plans to judge success.
The British sports car driver will be behind the wheel for DragonSpeed Racing and starting last in the 33-car field, filling out the traditional 11 rows at the last minute. The team owned by former driver Elton Julian announced just two weeks ago that it would show up at the Brickyard, and the team barely got on the track until the week before the race.
There were mechanical issues. Electrical issues. All the things that a one-off team could expect to happen, but without much time to overcome. Hanley is left not only starting in the back but likely a bit uncertain about what exactly he will have under him.
“It’s been a little frustrating,” Hanley acknowledged ahead of final practice on Carb Day. “We knew it was quite last minute doing the race. The guys did a great job of getting the car ready in the time they had.”
DragonSpeed has been fielding cars in European series for more than a decade, but only recently did the team begin to toy with IndyCar.
JJ down to final chances
Jimmie Johnson is at the win-or-else stage of his playoff push as he hits his favorite track.
Johnson has a record 11 victories at Dover International Speedway in Delaware, a staggering total that started in 2002 and stretched to June 2017, a win that has stood for three-plus years as his last in NASCAR. With Dover moving one of its two scheduled NASCAR race weekends to Nashville Superspeedway next season, Johnson’s mark seems unbreakable. But his farewell season could end in tatters if he’s racing out the string with nothing at stake and no fans roaring from the stands.
“I never wanted to have a winless drought or have a winless season,” Johnson said Friday. “But I’ve worked through so many of those emotions over the last couple of years and also understand that there are factors that I can’t control that have affected my performance.”
Win at least one of the two Cup races this weekend at the Delaware track, and he’s in the postseason.