Some seek push-to-pass changes
Power wants rule banning its use as defensive tool
Graham Rahal was helpless. Desperate to close the gap with race leader Josef Newgarden, there was nothing the third-place driver could do but fume as he watched Newgarden slip farther and farther from his grasp.
Rahal was trapped behind the lapped, last-place car of Carlos Munoz, who was using push-topass to keep Rahal from maneuvering around him and chasing down Newgarden at Mid- Ohio Sports Car Course on July 30.
“How much time did I lose (trying to get around him)? Ten seconds? More?” a frustrated Rahal asked after the race. “And he’s on overtake every single straightaway, it’s like, ‘Come on.’ You know? ‘Come on.’ ”
Rahal thinks it is best for the the Verizon IndyCar Series if back-of-the pack drivers show more respect in these scenarios and let front-runners pass and battle each other for the lead.
But Will Power has a different, more tangible solution for Rahal’s problem.
The Team Penske star’s idea is to enact a no-reply push-to-pass system, which forbids overtake from being used as a defensive measure. Power proposes that push-to-pass be enabled only on cars trying to make passes. In his mind, push-to-pass should be an offensive weapon only.
Not only would this rule tweak — which has garnered support from people such as Chip Ganassi Racing managing director Mike Hull — solve Rahal’s problem of getting stuck behind a lapped car, but it would help create more excitement at tracks such as MidOhio that have short straightaways and have historically produced pedestrian races.
“That would create a lot more passing at tracks like this,” Power said after many bemoaned a race that lacked on-track action last month. “A lot more, because then you don’t have people replying. If they want really good racing, that’s (what I’d do).”
Fellow drivers see the merit in Power’s proposal. They recognize that the on-track product at places such as Mid- Ohio probably isn’t very appealing to fans, but they aren’t sure Power’s proposal is the best way to remedy the problem.
Dale Coyne Racing ’s Sebastien Bourdais expressed concern with how a rule like that would be regulated when cars are in a pack. When a collection of cars gets bunched together, how can IndyCar determine who is using overtake offensively and who is using it defensively?
Another issue with Power’s proposal is that it could make the leader a sitting duck, 2018 IndyCar test driver Oriol Servia said.
What’s to stop someone, the Spaniard suggested, from closely trailing the leader until the final lap and then using push-to-pass to go around and win the race? It doesn’t seem fair that the leader couldn’t defend his position.
“Actually, then he’ll be the first one to hate it,” Servia said, with a laugh. “Because Mr. Speedy Power many times is leading, so he would be the sitting duck.”
Servia added that eliminating the defensive use of push-to-pass would rid the sport of a strategy game he and other drivers are fond of playing.
“I usually agree with Mr. Power on most things, and I see his point, but on this one I disagree, because I like that it’s a bit of strategy game for both sides,” Servia said. “The guy behind can make you believe he’s on it, so you push it. It’s all part of the strategy.”
JR Hildebrand said that while Power’s solution might not be perfect, he would be interested in tinkering with the current system. Others, however, think the system is fine.
“I can’t agree with Will on this,” Marco Andretti said. “I’m happy with where we are on push-to-pass. I think it’s really good. There’s strategy involved about conserving it and figuring out when you want to use it.”
Where all drivers do agree, however, is in their hope the 2018 aero kit will help remedy the problem to an extent. With a smaller rear wing and the downforce generated from the bottom of the car, the car is supposed to create less turbulence for trailing cars to deal with when attempting to pass.
Servia said after the Mid- Ohio test last week that when he ran close behind fellow test driver Juan Pablo Montoya, the air was much cleaner than it is in the current cars. But, he added, even the new kit won’t solve IndyCar’s entertainment issue on some road courses.
So even though he’s not a fan of Power’s proposal, “there’s always room to tweak things like this and improve them.”
Ayello writes for The Indianapolis Star, part of the USA TODAY Network.