Indy Lights tops 200 mph, produces lots of action at Indy test - MotorSportsTalk

INDIANAPOLIS – The Freedom 100 will run for the 15th time as part of NBCSN’s Carb Day coverage, which begins Friday at 11 a.m. ET on NBCSN with the marquee race of the Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires season at 12:30 p.m. ET.

Known for its scintillating action and incredible finishes, Indy Lights seems set to deliver more of the same of that this go-around, after a pair of 90-minute test sessions held today at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

With a tow-assisted lap of 200.070 mph in the No. 98 Andretti/Steinbrenner Racing Dallara IL-15 Mazda, Colton Herta topped the combined speed charts. This will be the 17-year-old’s first big oval race, after only testing at Homestead-Miami Speedway over the winter.

“The draft was the same in the straight-line everywhere,” Herta said. “Obviously, it was a bit more here [rather than Homestead] since we’re going quicker at Indianapolis.

“The main thing is slipstreaming in the corners. It’s really different from anything I’ve experienced, especially when you’re right behind someone and you put half of a wing out or a quarter of the wing out.

“The balance shift is massive. That’s obviously going to be something all the rookies will have to get used to. I would say down the straights, it’s nothing too different.

“It’s really crazy when you pull out of the slipstream, how far your head will move down in the car. You get pushed down so much with the wind, and that’s probably the biggest difference I’ve felt. You feel like you’re going that fast the first few laps, but once you kind of get into it, the other cars around you move at a similar pace, so I don’t really think about it. But, it feels good to break the 200 mark.”

After a wild evening @IndyLights test session, @ColtonHerta radios "Did I win?!"

…someone can't wait for the #Freedom100! @Follow_SRacing pic.twitter.com/9amQ6YQNsF

— Andretti Autosport (@FollowAndretti) May 22, 2017

Herta’s speed was on display while the race craft of the other 13 drivers competing was also featured prominently on Monday.

Herta is one of seven rookies set to compete in his first Freedom 100, the others being Belardi Auto Racing’s Aaron Telitz (the Mazda Scholarship recipient), Ryan Norman and Nico Jamin also of Andretti Autosport, Matheus Leist and Garth Rickards of Carlin and Nicolas Dapero of Juncos Racing.

Dapero had a spin towards the end of the second test session as when trying to pass Andretti’s Dalton Kellett, he lost control of his No. 31 Juncos Racing entry and did a 360-degree pirouette and spin. The young Argentine contacted the inside wall but sustained only front wing damage.

Scenes from a pit lane…#Freedom100 #MRTI #TeamCooperTire pic.twitter.com/phjhE6NbFS

— Indy Lights (@IndyLights) May 22, 2017

The veterans will look to succeed on Friday. Juan Piedrahita looked racey today in his No. 2 Team Pelfrey machine; the Colombian, who made his 100th career start on the Mazda Road to Indy presented by Cooper Tires last time out at the IMS road course, nearly won this race last year.

The other veterans include Kyle Kaiser, the points leader for Juncos, along with Santiago Urrutia (Belardi with SPM), Shelby Blackstock (Belardi), Neil Alberico and Zachary Claman De Melo (Carlin).

Jamin, Kellett, Kaiser and Alberico (pictured below from left to right) were all on hand at a premiere of “Indy Light” beer at Metazoa Brewing Company in downtown Indianapolis last week.

Head over to @MetazoaBrewing now to meet @Nico_Jamin @Dalton_Kellett (and Poppy) @KyleKRacing and @neilalberico! #MRTI pic.twitter.com/Pgmn7KHHl8

— Indy Lights (@IndyLights) May 17, 2017

Indy Lights has two practice sessions from 9 to 9:30 and 11 to 11:30 a.m. ET on Thursday before qualifying from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. ET. The race is 12:30 p.m. ET on Friday on NBCSN, as noted.

Speeds from today are below.

Media and fan attention focused on a controversial run-in between Haiden Deegan and his Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing teammate Jordon Smith during Round 10 of the Monster Energy Supercross race at Detroit, after which the 250 East points’ Hunter Lawrence defends the young rider in the postrace news conference.

Deegan took the early lead in Heat 1 of the round, but the mood swiftly changed when he became embroiled in a spirited battle with teammate Smith.

On Lap 3, Smith caught Deegan with a fast pass through the whoops. Smith briefly held the lead heading into a bowl turn but Deegan had the inside line and threw a block pass. In the next few turns, the action heated up until Smith eventually ran into the back of Deegan’s Yamaha and crashed.

One of the highlights of the battle seemed to include a moment when Deegan waited on Smith in order to throw a second block pass, adding fuel to the controversy.

After his initial crash, Smith fell to seventh on the next lap. He would crash twice more during the event, ultimately finishing four laps off the pace in 20th.

The topic was inevitably part of the postrace news conference.

“It was good racing; it was fun,” Deegan said at about the 27-minute mark in the video above. “I just had some fun doing it.”

Smith had more trouble in the Last Chance Qualifier. He stalled his bike in heavy traffic, worked his way into a battle for fourth with the checkers in sight, but crashed a few yards shy of the finish line and was credited with seventh. Smith earned zero points and fell to sixth in the standings.

Lawrence defends Deegan — *Jordon Smith failed to make the Detroit Supercross Main and fell to sixth in the points. – Feld Motor Sports*

“I think he’s like fifth in points,” Deegan said. “He’s a little out of it. Beside that it was good, I don’t know. I wasn’t really paying attention.”

Deegan jokingly deflected an earlier question with the response that he wasn’t paying attention during the incident.

“He’s my teammate, but he’s a veteran, he’s been in this sport for a while,” Deegan said. “I was up there just battling. I want to win as much as everybody else. It doesn’t matter if it’s a heat race or a main; I just want to win. I was just trying to push that.”

As Deegan and Smith battled, Jeremy Martin took the lead. Deegan finished second in the heat and backed up his performance with a solid third-place showing in the main, which was his second podium finish in a short six-race career. Deegan’s first podium was earned at Daytona, just two rounds ago.

But as Deegan struggled to find something meaningful to say, unsurprisingly for a 17-year-old rider who was not scheduled to run the full 250 schedule this year, it was the championship leader Lawrence who came to his defense.

“I just want to point something out, which kind of amazes me,” Lawrence said during the conference. “So many of the people on social media, where everyone puts their expertise in, are saying the racing back in the ’80s, the early 90s, when me were men. They’re always talking about how gnarly it was and then anytime a block pass or something happens now, everyone cries about it.

“That’s just a little bit interesting. Pick one. You want the gnarly block passes from 10 years ago and then you get it, everyone makes a big song and dance about it.”

Pressed further, Lawrence defended not only the pass but the decision-making process that gets employed lap after lap in a Supercross race.

“It’s easy to point the finger,” Lawrence said. “We’re out there making decisions in a split millisecond. People have all month to pay their phone bill and they still can’t do that on time.

“We’re making decisions at such a fast reaction [time with] adrenaline. … I’m not just saying it for me or Haiden. I speak for all the guys. No one is perfect and we’re under a microscope out there. The media is really quick to point a finger when someone makes a mistake.”

The media is required to hold athletes accountable for their actions. They are also required to tell the complete story.

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