“The unexpected is commonplace.”
Paul Page’s commentary on IndyCar racing to open the 1982 Michigan 500 broadcast on NBC was meant for a time when mechanical trouble or other random happenings more often than not played a hand in who won races.
Nowadays, that statement rings true, but almost as much for off-track reasons as for what takes place between the painted lines of a racing surface.
And if you’re looking for something on that part of the weekend, it’ll be at the end.
On Friday morning (June 7), all seemed normal. Road America had its typical support series action taking place while the NTT IndyCar Series’ drivers had their autograph session. Shortly afterward, the unexpected started happening.
While the Indy NXT championship had its opening practice session, Nolan Siegel‘s session was over after turning seven laps. Unexpected for someone who’s third in the Indy NXT points going into the weekend. What was even more unexpected was hearing that he was going to race for Juncos Hollinger Racing in the No. 78 Chevrolet in place of Agustin Canapino and skip the remaining part of the Indy NXT race weekend.
The team decided it was in Canapino’s best interest to sit the weekend out after what can only be described as a rather chaotic week. Social media discourse surrounding the on-track incident between the Argentinian and Theo Pourchaire reached a boiling point between each fan base, culminating in JHR and Arrow McLaren’s commercial partnership dissolving during the week.
Unexpected? Yeah, you can say that.
As for Siegel, he goes out and turns 18 laps in practice while his teammate Romain Grosjean completes one before crashing heavily in turn 14. The Californian goes just under two seconds slower than session leader Alex Palou, which for some people would be a disappointment.
But Siegel went into the session with no pre-event briefings. No run plans. No session walk-throughs. Hell, he probably didn’t even know everybody’s names until maybe Sunday morning at the earliest. But to go through not only Friday’s sessions but also through qualifying and the race without putting a single wheel wrong while others spun, crashed and stalled was really impressive from the rookie.
Siegel handled the pressure incredibly well. Then again, anybody who saw him at Indianapolis Motor Speedway after his Fast Friday crash could see how well he handled everything during qualifying for the Indianapolis 500,…
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