Sunday was the first “triple header” of the 2023 racing season with all three major forms of racing occurring on the same day.
More importantly, the scheduling of the triple header was impeccable with the Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix beginning at 10 a.m., followed by the Indy Car Grand Prix of St. Petersburg beginning at 12:30 p.m., and concluding with the NASCAR Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway beginning at 3:30 p.m. It was one of those few days in which the motorsports enthusiast did not have to worry about switching back and forth between races.
By far, the race of the day was the Indy Car race, held for the twentieth time on the sunny streets of St. Petersburg, Fla. The Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, year after year, has produced tremendous action and exciting finishes, this year being no exception.
The move of the day – though not in a good way – came courtesy of New Zealander Scott McLaughlin and Frenchman Roman Grosjean. After winning the pole and dominating the first portion of the race, Grosjean found himself relegated to second position behind 2022 winner, Scott McLaughlin after the initial round of pitstops. During the second tire and fuel run, Grosjean stayed close to the leader, reducing the gap to less than one second when the pit window opened for the final time.
It appeared that the race would come down to who, among Grosjean and McLaughlin, could get on and off pit road the fastest.
Grosjean blinked first, giving up second position to come down pit road with 30 laps to go. One lap later, McLaughlin slowed and surrendered his position on the track while Grosjean raced through the St. Petersburg streets with a fresh set of tires and hopes of overtaking McLaughlin during the pitstop.
In spectacular fashion, McLaughlin emerged from the pits just ahead of Grosjean and the two almost collided as McLaughlin catapulted back onto the racing line. Unfortunately for McLaughlin, his tires were much colder than Grosjean’s, who had one lap to heat his tires, giving him more speed and grip through the circuit.
With a head of steam, Grosjean juked to the outside of McLaughlin on the run down to turn 4, preparing to out-brake McLaughlin and complete the overtake. It was nearly a forgone conclusion that if Grosjean could complete the pass, he would extend his lead and win the race as passing, especially among the leaders, was exceedingly difficult. Grosjean and McLaughlin entered turn 4 side-by-side, however, and McLaughlin’s cold tires could not handle the corner speed and he slid – ever so slightly – into Grosjean’s right side tires, sending both cars into the tire barrier and ruining both drivers’ aspirations of victory.
Such a finish was particularly difficult for Grosjean, who had never won in Indy Car and had put himself in a perfect position for victory. In his post-crash interview, Grosjean was speechless and outwardly disturbed with McLaughlin’s move. McLaughlin was quick to admit his fault and repeatably stated that he “doesn’t race like that.”
Far from being over, young Mexican driver, Pato O’ Ward, inherited the lead and it looked as if he would take 2023’s maiden victory year. However, as he would experience twice on Sunday, it is better to be lucky than good. After exiting the final corner with two laps to go, O’Ward had a momentary engine malfunction that dropped him from the lead and allowed 2022 Indy 500 winner, Marcus Ericsson, to take the lead for good.
In addition to the great side-by-side action, the race saw several spectacular crashes, including a terrifying incident in which Andretti Autosport’s Devlin DeFrancesco’s was T-boned and sent airborne in a videogame-like crash.
Indy Car has been gaining in popularity for the past several years and it is races like this that propel the sport forward. As far as on-track action, Indy Car is by far the most exciting open-wheel form of racing. I would encourage Formula 1 fans to give Indy Car a chance as it on-track products, on many days, is superior to Formula 1.
Zech Yoder is a local resident, an attorney at Adler Attorneys in Noblesville, and a lifelong race fan.