The Heat Is On at Road America
Photo by Chris Owens/Penske Entertainment
By Dennis Krause
Mother Nature is dialing up the heat and humidity this weekend - just in time for the NTT INDYCAR SERIES XPEL Grand Prix at Road America presented by AMR. Temperatures are forecast to be in the low-to-mid nineties both Saturday and Sunday at Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, with humidity levels pushing the “feels like” temperature over 100 degrees.
Josef Newgarden, driver of the No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet is a two-time winner at Road America. Runner-up last year, Newgarden is expecting the heat will be a factor this weekend, reducing the grip of the Firestone tires and testing the stamina of the drivers.
“It's going to be hot, for sure. I don't know how you can really prepare much more for that other than it's just going to be what it's going to be.”
Another factor Newgarden and the teams are facing this weekend is that it’s the first time INDYCAR’s hybrid system will be in use at the iconic 4.048-mile circuit
“Yeah, I mean, hybrid obviously compared to last year, trying to understand the weight difference. A little bit more of a lap time loss at this track relative to others because of the distance. You're going to see a little more lap time loss, a second and a half to last year's would be my guess. Just trying to understand the traits of the car, what we need to do with the tires.
“It's going to be hot. I said that again, but trying to understand not just from a personal standpoint, but how the car reacts. The temperature is going to be a big deal. It's normally never this sort of temperature around this place. That will be the tricky part to get right.”
Adding to the heat issue is INDYCAR’s aeroscreen which limits air flow in the cockpit.
“I mean, it's fine,” said Newgarden. “It's fine the way it is. We got cool suits, all sorts of stuff. I don't think they need to do much more.”
At the Thermal Club IndyCar Grand Prix in March, the hot conditions in the southern California desert caused some of the hybrid cars to overheat. With temperatures this weekend forecast to be hotter than at Thermal, Newgarden believes that’s something the teams will have to come to grips with.
“I think that's a good question for all of us to understand this weekend. Obviously, Thermal, there was some mitigation that had to happen there. We don't want to see that. It's a big performance loss, especially around this track because of the long straights.
“I think there's unknowns with how high the temperature is going to get. We feel comfortable that we have enough room, but you never know until you actually go through it. It is a question mark in front of us right now that we're trying to make sure we have covered.”
Photo by Chris Owens/Penske Entertainment
Felix Rosenqvist is also a previous winner at Road America, taking his only career series win back in 2020. The driver of the No. 60 SiriusXM Honda for Meyer Shank Racing didn’t notice any issues with the hybrid in Friday’s lone practice session, but said conditions will be different during the weekend.
“Seems like we ran fine. The Honda unit was clean. No issues. Tomorrow's going to be way hotter, though. It's going to be up to, like, 90 I heard. It might be a challenge. All regards, track time normally means more slippery, running harder, brakes, engine, hybrids and stuff.
“I think we'll be in good shape.”
As was evident at Thermal earlier this year, the heat can push cars to the limit, and beyond. Rosenqvist noted the hybrid system can effect the cars in a number of ways.
“I think the brakes have been tough this year to dial in. The hybrid is more mass to stop. The brake temps are higher. That's more get it in the right window.
“There (are) long straights here, so I think that helps. I don't expect it to be as bad as Thermal. I think it was more of a Chevy thing in Thermal. We didn't really have an issue.
“Yeah, hasn't really been a topic. We're definitely keeping an eye on things.”
As far as personally, Rosenqvist is changing up his pre-race preparation in anticipation of the heat and humidity.
“Yes. I try to just drink more, hydrate more, drink some salty stuff. Not too much because then you wake up three times every night and have to go pee.
“You try to keep a balance. You don't want to do any, like, big exertion where you're sweating a lot right before. Two days out, you don't want to be doing a two-hour bike ride or something like that. Just keep it in the AC if you can, just build up your reserves.”
Even with the hot conditions this weekend, Newgarden is excited to be back racing at America’s National Park of Speed.
“This is such a marquee INDYCAR track. If you want to go to a place to see what an INDYCAR can do, it's like IMS and Road America. This is the road course version of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to me,” said the two-time Indy 500 winner.
“It's got everything you want: huge straightaway, big high-speed corners, good brake zones, really good race-ability. It's, like, awesome when you show up here. This is where you want to race in INDYCAR.
“I love that about the place. I think it suits my style. I always like high-speed stuff. We always have great cars here, have for the last 10 years. Makes a big difference.”
Photo by Joe Skibinski/Penske Entertainment
In Friday’s practice session, Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood, winner at Detroit and last Sunday at World Wide Technology Raceway at St. Louis, maintained his hot streak by posting the day’s fastest lap of 1 minute, 44.9881 in his No. 27 Siemens Honda.
Devlin DeFrancesco ended up a surprising second at 1:45.1414 in the No. 30 Manitou Group Honda of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.
Dennis Krause has spent decades covering all forms of motorsports, including over 40 Indianapolis 500s, with stints at WIBA Radio, PIT PASS - Radio’s Premier Motorsports Magazine and Motorsports Minute. Follow him on X @DennisKrause500 or motorsportsminute.bluesky.social or motorsportsminute on Threads or MotorsportsMinute+ on Facebook.