Oh Monterey.
The Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey at WeatherTech Raceway at Laguna Seca is the eighth round in the 2024 NTT IndyCar Series season. The race is holding its fifth IndyCar event since returning in 2019 after it had been a frequent stop in the CART days.
Over 2.2 miles of one-year old asphalt awaits the drivers of IndyCar as they prepare to tackle the grueling elevation change around the 11-turn circuit. The track is most famous for the Corkscrew section, a blind left-hand dive that Alex Zanardi made famous, to the chagrin of the Herta family dynasty.
This is just the third time Monterey has been held in mid-summer for America’s top open-wheel series, as its usual end-of-season date was swapped with the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix in Nashville.
Last Year
Firestone was the sponsor of the race in 2023, but it should have been the manufacturer of the yellow flags that IndyCar officials wave. Owing to a new pavement much like Road America and the highly competitive field, the race was plagued by cars running off track, getting spun in turn 11 before restarts and incidents in turn 2, the best passing opportunity on track. Mayhem was the storyline as the race was run behind the pace car under yellow (there were eight of them) for a third of its distance.
Scott Dixon won, displaying great grit in overcoming an earlier penalty and fighting to the end in his pursuit of Alex Palou, who had already clinched the title. But his win was overshadowed by the plethora of contact on track and the survival mode required for the drivers to make it to the finish.
Does all the contact and aggression return for this year? The drivers, most notably Dixon, have been vocal about the lack of respect on the racing circuit among one another in recent rounds, which was a topic of conversation in a recent The Pit Straight podcast episode. If the drivers race like they’re in a UFC ring, then the yellows will be in full force again, like Detroit earlier in season which Dixon won, coincidentally.
As for Laguna Seca’s second-year pavement, the wear over one year under the California sun will be a significant storyline to observe. Road America’s surface lost a lot of grip in the single winter that Wisconsin unleashed upon it, which caused the alternate red tires to blister if pushed before gathering enough temperature early in the stint. Drivers will find out soon after the first practice how much wear Laguna…
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