The Morning Warmup: Colton Herta Dominates At Laguna Seca
The Morning Warmup
Sept. 20, 2021
(Photo: Chris Owens / INDYCAR)
Colton Herta was unstoppable on Sunday at Laguna Seca.
By Aaron Bearden
The Podium: Today's Top-Three Stories
P1: Colton Herta dominates in Laguna Seca as Alex Palou draws closer to 2021 title (IndyCar)
Colton Herta left no doubt over who the best driver was on Sunday at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.
Herta dominated the NTT IndyCar Series field from pole, leading 91 of 95 laps to comfortably claim the Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey, his fifth career victory and second of 2021.
The only challenges to come Herta’s way in a decimating win arrived from teammate Alexander Rossi and, curiously enough, a bit of local wildlife. Rossi started alongside Herta and tried to take the lead, but spun off-course in the act of doing so and fell out of contention. Herta later collided with a rabbit on the course, but it wasn’t enough to derail his victorious drive. The young star has now won twice in as many starts at the California circuit, with both wins coming from pole.
“I enjoy racing here so much,” Herta said. “It’s an amazing track for me and my family. It’s been so good to us. To go two-for-two so far (at Laguna Seca) is great. We were fast all weekend, and I’m glad we could pull it off in the race.”
Alex Palou furthered his championship advantage in second, pulling 35 points clear of second-place Pato O’Ward with just one race remaining in the 2021 season. He’ll need to finish 11th or better at Long Beach to avoid giving O’Ward a chance to take the series title.
Romain Grosjean mounted a fierce late rally in the final laps to take third, securing his third podium of the year as the Frenchman starts to wrap up his first racing season since leaving Formula 1.
Grosjean nearly charged to the front, closing from over 10 seconds to just 3.7087 seconds back in the final 10 laps. But he ran out of time and suffered a late collision with Jimmie Johnson that slowed his rise.
Graham Rahal slotted in fourth, with O’Ward rounding out the top-five to give himself a small chance at the title next week. Marcus Ericsson, Josef Newgarden, Simon Pagenaud, Oliver Askew and Ed Jones completed the top-10. Scott Dixon slotted in 13th, falling out of title contention in the process. Johnson was 17th, scoring his best result to date with a comparatively competitive drive to his previous efforts.
Honda clinched the manufacturers award as a result of Sunday’s rundown. It’s the fourth consecutive season that the brand has won the title over Chevrolet.
With Laguna Seca in a rearview mirror, all that remains for the 2021 IndyCar season is Long Beach.
(Source(s): Paul Kelly / IndyCar.com)
P2: INDYCAR rolls out 2022 schedule featuring 17 races (IndyCar)
Before the NTT IndyCar Series completed its penultimate race of the 2021 season, the open wheel tour took an early look at the schedule to come in 2022.
Series officials unveiled the 17-race 2022 IndyCar calendar on Sunday afternoon, showcasing a tour that will have 14 of its events broadcasted on the main NBC network. Two others will air on USA Network, with a lone event coming to the Peacock Premium subscription service.
“This schedule continues to build on the growth and momentum the NTT IndyCar Series has achieved, especially in 2021,” Penske Entertainment Corp. President and CEO Mark Miles said in a release. “Our terrific partnership with NBC Sports has led to a fantastic opportunity to place an unparalleled 14 events on broadcast television while completing the rest of the schedule with USA Network and Peacock.
“Our drivers and teams will give the fans a strong, earlier start with six consecutive races on NBC, building even more anticipation for the crown jewel of the Indianapolis 500 in May. Our summer schedule also is full of action, with no extended breaks in the calendar, leading into the crowning of a champion on the West Coast with our last two races also on NBC.”
The season will open with the traditional beginning weekend at St. Petersburg (Feb. 27), which shifts up to February for the first time since 2004. Texas Motor Speedway will again be the first oval race, with a March 20 date.
Long Beach follows, back in its spring date on April 10. May kicks off with Barber Motorsports Park (May 1) before rolling through the traditional month of May at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, with a road course race on May 14 and the Indianapolis 500 to follow on May 29.
June will bring a single race at Belle Isle Park on June 5 — one of the two races on USA Network — followed by a race at Road America on June 12. That will be followed by a break before the busiest month of the season in July, which features single races at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course (July 3), Toronto (July 17) and Indianapolis (July 30) along with a doubleheader return to Iowa Speedway (July 23-24). Toronto will be the lone race broadcasted on Peacock.
The final four races of the season will fall in August and September, with each month hosting two races. August will see the popular Nashville street circuit event return on Aug. 7, with World Wide Technology Raceway (Aug. 20) following as the last race on USA Network. The season will then wrap up with Portland International Raceway (Sept. 4) and WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca (Sept. 11).
(Source(s): Paul Kelly / IndyCar.com)
P3: Francesco Bagnaia scores home win in San Marino GP (MotoGP)
Ducati star Francesco Bagnaia fended off Fabio Quartararo in the closing laps to score a home MotoGP victory in Sunday’s San Marino Grand Prix.
Bagnaia was put to the test, being forced to withstand fierce pressure from Quartararo in the late stages of the 27-lap event as his tires faded. But in the end the local favorite held on after a strong early jump from pole, managing his soft tires even as Quartararo challenged him with mediums.
Quartararo settled for second , unable to match the Ducati’s power on straights with his Yamaha in order to make the pass. He took the checkered flag .364s short of Bagnaia at race’s end, retaining a 48-point lead over Bagnaia in the championship with just 100 points remaining to race for.
The surprise of the podium came in third, as rookie Enea Bastianini mounted a spirited charge from 12th to secure his first podium in third. The Avinitia prospect jumped to fourth in the opening six laps and later overtook Jack Miller to score his best result to date.
Marc Marquez fended off Joan Mir to take fourth, with Miller securing fifth after Mir was issued a track limits penalty that dropped him to sixth. Pol Espargaro, his brother Aleix, Brad Binder and Takaaki Nakagami completed the top-10. Rounding out the top-15 were Michele Pirro, Johann Zarco, Maverick Viñales, Stefan Bradl and Alex Marquez.
With the Italian trip out of the way, the MotoGP field will next venture to the United States for the Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas at Circuit of the Americas on Oct. 3. It’ll be one to watch for series chatter, with some in the industry already voicing uneasiness with traveling stateside given the state of the COVID-19 pandemic in America.
(Source(s): Lewis Duncan / Motorsport)
Other News and Notes
NASCAR
If you watched any of the post-race festivities, you know that The Atheltic reporter Jordan Bianchi was on the scene when Kevin Harvick and Chase Elliott exchanged words after Saturday’s Cup race - much to Harvick’s chagrin. Here’s Bianchi’s writeup on everything that went down. (Jordan Bianchi / The Athletic ($))
A “disappointed” Aric Almirola found himself among the early playoff eliminations following a difficult night on Saturday at Bristol Motor Speedway. (Nick DeGroot / Motorsport)
Hendrick Motorsports teammates Alex Bowman and William Byron were in bubble trouble entering Bristol, but did enough with a pair of top-fives to move on. (Kelly Crandall / RACER)
Less fortunate was Kurt Busch, who was disappointed with the overall weekend for his Chip Ganassi Racing squad. (Kelly Crandall / RACER)
This week’s “Top 5” touched on the Harvick-Elliott run-in, Bristol Dirt and the bubble battle. (Jeff Gluck / The Athletic ($))
IndyCar
Arrow Electronics is continuing its primary sponsor relationship with the Arrow McLaren SP team in the NTT IndyCar Series, having signed a new deal through 2028. (Marshall Pruett / RACER)
Curiously present in the IndyCar paddock this weekend was Stoffel Vandoorne, who could be part of the Arrow McLaren squad’s plans for 2022 or beyond. (Charles Bradley / Motorsport)
A joyous Romain Grosjean admitted to nearly crying after being offered a significant ovation from the local fans in Laguna Seca. (Simon Chapman / Speedcafe)
In Indy Lights, Kyle Kirkwood took control of the championship battle with another win over title rival David Malukas. (David Malsher-Lopez / Motorsport)
He has a comfortable lead in the championship, but that doesn’t mean Alex Palou feels he can relax heading into the IndyCar season finale at Long Beach. (David Malsher-Lopez / Motorsport)
F1
A refreshing summer break was all Daniel Ricciardo needed to turn a disappointing F1 season around at Monza. (Jonathan Noble / Motorsport)
Red Bull boss Christian Horner expects a challenge for his squad in Sochi, though the grid penalty for Max Verstappen isn’t his chief concern. (F1.com)
Supercars
Nick Percat is 33 years old, so he knows his window of opportunity in Supercars could be inching closer to the end. That’s part of what led him to a move away from Brad Jones Racing at the conclusion of the season. (Simon Chapman / Speedcafe)
Sports Cars
Robert Kubica, Yifei Ye and Louis Deletraz secured the 2021 European Le Mans Series lMP2 title with their third win of the year at Spa-Francorchamps. (Daniel Lloyd / Sportscar365)
Stevan McAleer and Toby Grahovic scored the win in a caution-shortened second Pirelli GT4 America race at Watkins Glen International. (John Dagys / Sportscar365)
The GT World Challenge America portion of the weekend was utterly dominated by K-PAX Racing’s Andrea Caldarelli and Jordan Pepper. (John Dagys / Sportscar365)
In GT America, Jeff Burton (no, not that one) brought home his first overall victory for Rearden Racing. (John Dagys / Sportscar365)
Dirt
Stewart Friesen picked up a big dirt win in the Fonda 200 at Fonda Speedway. (Stewart Friesen / Twitter)
Short Tracks
On paper John Goin will be the winner of the Craig Murto Memorial at Dominion Raceway, but the true scenes of the last lap were ones of chaos as multiple drivers wrecked in the final turns. (Andy Marquis / Short Track Scene)
Moto
Something to watch moving forward: Three months after the Federation International de Motocyclisme (FIM) and Feld Entertainment elected to part was, the FIM appears to be in search of a promoter for a new Supercross tour. (Kellen Brauer / Racer X Online)
The drama ran high as the MotoE World Cup was decided on Sunday in San Marino, with contact forcing the stewards to make a decision on a championship-altering penalty following the race’s conclusion. (MotoGP / Twitter)
Suzuki star Joan Mir is disappointed to see the 2021 MotoGP title slip away despite being a “better rider” than in his 2020 title year. (Lewis Duncan / Motorsport)
In Moto2 it was Raul Fernandez that brought him the win, while Remy Gardner narrowly avoided disaster on the final lap. (Daniel Herrero / Speedcafe)
Dennis Foggia followed up last week’s win with another triumph in Moto3, topping a dramatic race for the series. (Christina Bulpett / Bikesport News)
Tom Sykes is conscious, but has been diagnosed with a concussion following a heavy crash during Sunday’s World Superbike race at Barcelona. (Bikesport News)
Michael Ruben Rinaldi claimed victory in the race, topping Toprak Razgatlioglu by three seconds. (Gordon Ritchie / Bikesport News)
Esports
NASCAR is embracing stadium races of the past with its L.A. Memorial Coliseum race next year, but it looked toward the future in using iRacing pros to help sort out the concept. (Justin Melillo / Traxion)
Other
Tim Wilkerson and Josh Hart were among the victorious competitors in Sunday’s DeWalt NHRA Carolina Nationals finals at zMAX Dragway. (RACER)
Colin Turkington scored his 13th British Touring Car Championship win at Croft on Sunday, continuing a streak of success at the track that’s earned him the moniker of “King of Croft.” (Marcus Simmons / Motorsport)
On Track Today (All times ET)
I could have missed something, but I didn’t see anything scheduled to air today outside of a few esports-related events on Twitch. So let’s make today a learning opportunity in the Supercars world. Sit back in your most comfortable chair and throw on the 1999 Bathurst 1000 for the evening.
Fast Fact:
How good has Colton Herta been in his two IndyCar starts at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca? Not only has he won both races from pole, but Herta has also led 174 of 185 laps, or 94.05% of all laps he’s contested at the track to date.
The Morning Warmup is fueled by associate sponsors David Colyer, Cat Hicks, Bob and Sally Wichert, Jory Fleischauer, Spencer Pullins, Nathan K. Thomas, Karen L. Springer. Ethan Davies, Tyler Sorenson, Mary Dzuro and Michelle Cison.
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