(Photo: Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
By Aaron Bearden
The 2020 NTT IndyCar Series rookie class has a claim to fame they hope no other series newcomers have to repeat – making their series debuts virtually.
It’s been a unique experience, but it was far from the initial plan.
Oliver Askew, Rinus Veekay and Alex Palou were among the IndyCar field when they made the voyage to St. Petersburg in March. The rookie trio had arrived in Florida following one of the longest offseasons in motorsports. Askew and Veeklay were ready to make their IndyCar debuts after graduating from the Road to Indy, while Palou had shifted over from Super Formula.
They were prepared to compete in their first IndyCar race. But unbeknownst to them, that initial weekend was destined for failure – lost to circumstances far beyond IndyCar’s control.
Shortly before the race weekend, Utah Jazz player Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID-19. In the aftermath of that incident sporting entities around the country began to shut down competition. The NBA, NHL, MLB and others all announced immediate pauses, and the PGA halted the Player’s Championship after a single day of play. Overseas in Australia, Formula 1 faced a similar setback as a member of McLaren F1 tested positive for the same sickness, resulting in the team pulling out of the race weekend and, ultimately, the cancellation of the race weekend.
NASCAR and IndyCar initially announced plans to continue on without fans, but by Friday evening they had both reversed course. IndyCar sent teams home and called off the season-opening weekend on March 13, beginning a real-life hiatus that is planned to extend into June.
Just like that, the rookies in the field saw their first runs pushed off by another three months.
“It was pretty emotional I think for all of us, especially with team members putting so much work into everything,” Oliver Askew told Motorsports Beat. “They rushed to get the cars ready a couple of weeks prior and having everything set up ready to go.
“At first we weren’t sure if the weekend was going to go on at all, then they decided to run without fans and I think that was going to be the final answer for the weekend. So we just kind of regrouped and did all our debriefs, track walks and acted like it was going to be a normal weekend, my first IndyCar weekend.
“There were rumors going around still that they were going to have to cancel. I still don’t know what the main reason for it was. Maybe the health organization was the biggest motivation to stop the weekend. But in the end it was the right thing to do. In hindsight, looking back at how everything escalated so quickly and how the virus spread, obviously that the right people were in the right position to make that call.”
Over the next two weeks, the new normal for motorsports began to set in. Racers were left trapped at home and social distancing like members of all other sports, but unlike others they had a unique opportunity to keep running – virtually, at least.
After years of development, sim racing platforms like iRacing and rFactor2 emerged as options for competitors in motorsport to forge on and race. Drivers across the world invested time and money in simulators, and racing tours took advantage by creating their own virtual schedules.
That included IndyCar, which launched the IndyCar iRacing Challenge in March. Starting at Watkins Glen International after a fan vote, the virtual open-wheel tour would stretch through six weeks and include surprise races at former mainstays like Michigan International Speedway and Twin Ring Motegi before concluding at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The first race was only to be streamed, but ensuing events would be televised on NBCSN.
The IndyCar field quickly committed to running in the races, including the trio of full-time rookies and planned part-time newcomers like Dalton Kellett, who intended to run a partial slate with A.J. Foyt Racing, and Supercars champion Scott McLaughlin, a racer initially planning to contest the GMR Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course as part of a potential transition to America.
In a twist none of the newcomers could have foreseen heading into 2020, their first runs against the stars of IndyCar would come in sim rigs.
Kellett wasn’t slated to race until the now-postponed race at Circuit of the Americas on April 25. But he took advantage of the early opportunity to compete with the veterans he someday hopes to battle with full-time. He elected to try to “fly under the radar,” learning and avoiding incidents that could affect his perception when real racing returns.
“From the competition side, I think running with the other cars is two-sided,” Kellett said. “We’re learning from this and so are they. We’re all getting to know each other, because as rookies coming into the series we’re an unknown quantity,
“A lot of these guys are older than me. I haven’t actually raced against them. So on the flip side, I’m getting to learn what they’re like on-track, with the caveat that it’s not real life and they may not be driving exactly how they would in the real car.
“From a rookie’s perspective, it’s been a good way to get feedback, especially with the open mics. We get instant feedback if you do something silly.”
Veekay echoed Kellett’s sentiments after a stretch that saw him score a best finish of seventh.
“I think that iRacing really helps define the basics of racing and overtaking,” he said. “For me, it helped me to already work with my strategists and engineers throughout a race so it won’t be all new for me when the real action starts.”
Kellett entered with minimal sim racing experience, primarily using simulator services to work on technique and learn tracks with driving coach Darren Manning. Askew was in a similar position, with his experience largely stemming from Chevrolet’s simulator in Charlotte, North Carolina. Veekay had shared simulator time with Ed Carpenter Racing prior to his joining them for 2020, but he had minimal competitive sim experience as well.
Of the group, the most competitive ones early on were those with the least experience in the real IndyCar paddock – McLaughlin and Palou.
Palou led laps and even tallied his first top-five at Barber Motorsports Park, but it was McLaughlin that emerged as the best of the group during the stretch. The Australian has a wealth of sim racing experience, and it paid off in the form of competitive times and strong runs. He contended weekly and even claimed wins in the second and sixth races at Barber and Indy.
“I’ve had some previous experience on iRacing, so I was always pretty confident if I got a good run I’d be somewhere there or thereabouts,” McLaughlin said of his success in a teleconference after his virtual Indianapolis win. “I’ve really just trying to make the best what I can of the situation. That means staying fit as well as doing this iRacing, racing with all the other guys.
“I’ve learnt a lot, learnt how people race, and some are aggressive, some aren’t, some are a bit — run you a bit tight, some don’t. That’s what I’ve really tried to enjoy and learn.”
While his run wasn’t as successful as McLaughlin’s, few drivers found the six-race stint more eventful than Askew.
Entering the virtual series on the heels of an Indy Lights championship, the Road to Indy graduate showed pace in a fifth-place debut at virtual Watkins Glen. But from there things grew more challenging. Askew had an average finish of 23.75 over the next four races, struggling in the pack and causing controversy in the form of a few on-track incidents that included him accidentally crashing leaders McLaughlin and Will Power while trying to get his lap back at virtual Twin Ring Motegi.
Askew was happy to go through the learning curve virtually before taking to a real Indy car.
“We were very fortunate to kind of get this virtual rookie debut,” he said. “I think we all learned a lot and made mistakes that are not ideal to make in real life. It was good to get that out of the way early in a virtual sense.
“I think it still translates. It was really cool for me, in particular, to understand how each driver races. I know it’s, it’s virtual and people might approach real-world situations a bit differently. But everyone has their own style.
“I’ve been looking up to Scott Dixon, for example, I was around him for a couple of races. We were about the same speed, and I was able to understand how he thinks and approaches a stint, how smart he is on tracking his car placement, where he pushes and where he doesn’t.”
The 23-year-old also got a taste of the gamelike side of iRacing in the finale. At the end of a strong redemptive run, Askew found himself leading coming off of Turn 4 after dodging a pair of crashes at the front of the field in the closing laps. But he was taken out by Santino Ferrucci while screaming down the front stretch for the final time.
He flipped across the start-finish line in fourth – his best result of the virtual tour, and a finish that could easily have yielded a victory and a celebratory glass of milk.
“I was really happy with that run,” Askew said. “Really happy to end out that season and move into what will hopefully be my first IndyCar season. I’m proud to end the iRacing season that way.
“I remember my heart was beating so quickly, just like it would be in a real race, at the end of that last race at Indy. I just remember the emotion of like mine, my timing stand and my strategists and engineers. We were using Discord for radio.”
Palou never quite found himself in contention for a win, but led laps and finished as well as fourth. Veekay enjoyed a quiet iRacing debut, making the most of a late opportunity after having to play catchup when he missed the first three races of the series.
“I didn’t really expect to make my Indy car debut virtually but I enjoyed it,” Veekay said. “It was quite challenging to join halfway the virtual “season” because an Indy car behaves a lot different from iRacing to real life. I got some time to race against my new rivals, but I can’t wait for the real thing to start.”
Kellett’s best results came early on, with a pair of 11th-place efforts at Watkins Glen and Barber. But perhaps his most memorable run came in his virtual oval debut at Michigan, where he got to race with retired NASCAR star Dale Earnhardt Jr., who made a wildcard entry and scored a surprise podium on fuel mileage.
Earnhardt was one of many unique entrants to the virtual tour, which also included fellow NASCAR stars Kyle Busch and Jimmie Johnson. Rallycross champion Scott Speed, Supercars ace Chaz Mostert and McLaren F1 star Lando Norris also joined the tour for stretches, with Norris winning at Circuit of the Americas and leading at Indy until a run-in with Simon Pagenaud derailed his day in the final laps.
“Dale and I spent a good middle portion of the race running side by side and kind of going back and forth,” Kellett said. “That was really cool to get to run with someone iconic like that. Having guys like Kyle and Lando come in I think has been great, too. I like that we’ve done those crossovers. If this is something that we keep doing, I think it’s a great way for guys in different series to get to know each other and showcase that we can all race together.”
Askew saw the benefits of the wildcard entries firsthand, working with Norris and his other McLaren teammate to prepare for the final two races. He hopes the virtual crossover could lead to real-world opportunities in the future.
“I think it was especially important for IndyCar to have the opportunity to run these big names in our sport,” Askew said. “Most of them have already shown interest in racing IndyCar in real life. I think that it was important for the fans to see their names, and for them to bring new fans to the sport as well.”
With the IndyCar iRacing Challenge complete, the incoming rookies can return to preparation for their real-life debuts. The NTT IndyCar Series currently intends to return in June at Texas Motor Speedway, a challenging 1.5-mile oval that should be an intense test for newcomers and veterans alike.
Training never truly stopped for drivers in the paddock, but they’ll ramp up preparations as the physical challenge of the Texas oval approaches.
“The past two months have been pretty strange,” Veekay said. “I got so close to making my real Indy car debut and in a matter of seconds that just jumped away from me. But I hope that we’re going racing soon and these past two months I’ve been training harder than ever to be fitter then I’ve ever been.”
Askew can’t wait for the opportunity to test himself against the stars he’s aspired to join while competing with the Road to Indy. He’s worked hard to keep his competitive fire while preparing for his real IndyCar debut and a return to relative normalcy.
“It’s hard to stay focused in through these events, right?” he asked. “It’s just… As drivers, we need that. We need to be able to push ourselves – to be better than, and to prepare more than the competition. That’s kind of what I’ve based my quarantine on.”
If things go to plan, that real-life start will come in less than a month. It’ll be contested without fans, and may lack some of the sensations of a true IndyCar outing, but the on-track action will be as accurate and intense as ever.
Over time the action of real-life racing will likely overshadow the past two months of virtual competition. The IndyCar iRacing Challenge may prove to just be a distant memory.
But for the handful of drivers that are still preparing for their IndyCar debuts, the six-week virtual stretch always hold special significance as the first opportunity they had to measure themselves against the stars they’ll soon join on-track.
“I think, as a rookie, having my IndyCar debut being virtual… I think that’s something kind of unique that probably won’t happen again,” Kellett said. “We’re all hoping we get back to some sort of normalcy soon.
“It’ll definitely be a unique experience that we look back on and think ‘Wow… That was kind of odd, that we had a class of rookies doing their first race in an online race.'”
