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IndyCar drivers have defended the series’ decision to keep pit lane closed in order to ensure a green flag finish to Race 2 of the Iowa double-header.
Ryan Hunter-Reay triggered a yellow flag with just over 10 laps to go, at a 0.894-mile oval where the lap time can dip under 19 seconds, prompting race control to declare an abandonment of procedure.
The race’s two earlier Caution periods, where the normal protocol of collecting the field before reopening pit lane for yellow flag service applied, lasted 11 and 19 laps.
It was a different approach to that employed less than two months ago at the Indianapolis 500, when three red flags were thrown in the last 16 laps.
The latter of those Caution periods ended with enough time for just a single green flag lap before the chequers were unfurled, during which Newgarden passed Marcus Ericsson for victory.
It was a finish which Ericsson branded “unfair and dangerous,” although the popular view was support for IndyCar’s efforts to ensure a racing finish to its showpiece event.
Drivers were briefed about the Iowa scenario which did play out, and the podium finishers gave their support, post-race.
Will Power, Newgarden’s Team Penske team-mate, explained, “There weren’t enough laps left.
“I think they said that in the driver meeting, that with 10 to go, they’re just going to… it is what it is, which is quite interesting because it would have been a big battle if it was new tyres.
“A bit less with the old tyres – kind of close – but it still would have been a fun restart.”
Alex Palou, who drove his Chip Ganassi Racing entry to third place, said, “It would have been a really fun restart for me.
“Yeah, honestly I said it on the radio, if we were going to take tyres or not.
“But it’s true that the lap is so short that 10 laps is nothing. Yeah, I think they did the right call.”
Newgarden remarked, “It seems to be the most fair way [because] it’s such a short track.
“To procedurally do all the things that they want to do, just to give second, third, and so on place a chance at the end on a restart, I don’t like that, but I think if you’re looking at it from a fairness standpoint, if you’re going to let everyone have pit stops, then you also have to move all the lapped cars.
“I don’t think they have enough time on this length of the track. That’s the situation that happened in 2018; we thought we were going to go green, and we pitted, and we didn’t. We just ran out of time.
“I think the only way they can really approach this stuff is get the lapped cars out of the way, we will go to the restart, and not allow anybody to pit. It’s probably the fairest thing can you do.
“I didn’t love it – I would have preferred to keep the lap cars in between – but looking at it from a competitor, I think it’s the fairest way they can approach it.”
When the idea of a red flag was put to him, the Tennessean said, “Procedurally, this is what they said they were going to do.
“They also have the abandonment of procedures, so they could just do whatever they want, right?
“I guess saying that, the red flag is the option, yeah, maybe. Maybe; that’s definitely doable.
“It’s hard to say. I’ll say this. Whatever they were going to do, I’m fine with it. We’ll race, and we’ll figure it out, and we’ll still try and win.
“What they did, we lived with it. I thought it was fair enough, but if they want to do it differently in the future, I’m all game for whatever anybody wants to do.
“Whatever is going to make everybody happy, that’s what we should be doing. Everybody, every person.”
