Siegel, Arrow McLaren Look To Unlock Potential at Road America
Photo: Joe Skibinski/Penske Entertainment
By Dennis Krause
It’s been a head scratcher all season long for the Arrow McLaren IndyCar team. They’ve been close, but something still seems to be missing. Even though Christian Lundgaard and Pato O’Ward are 4th and 5th in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship standings, that’s one reason why all three cars were taking part in a one-day test last week at Elkhart Lake’s Road America.
Mired down in 21st place in the standings, Nolan Siegel was hopeful, but non-committal about being any closer to finding that missing something that will unlock the team’s obvious potential.
“We'll see,” said the driver of the No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet. “I think we've been close certain places, but also I think there have been places we've gone where we've expected to be really strong and just haven't quite had the pace. Gateway (World Wide Technology Raceway) is one of those. We've historically been quite good on short ovals and show up there, and we were just a little bit lost, lacking pace with all of us, and a little lost, so there's there's more work to do, for sure.
“But we have great people, and everyone's working hard on it, and I think showing up in testing here, getting to go through some things. I think we're gonna have some tracks coming up where we can show off some of the improvements we've made.”
One advantage of having all three cars testing at the same track at the same time is tripling the amount of data the team compiles according to Siegel.
“We do not really get to test in INDYCAR, so these days are super important, very, very valuable for us. We have all three cars on slightly different programs. We don't want to get too far from each other, but definitely each car has its own set of test items that we're working through.
“I think that's been quite smooth so far for all three cars working through our items,” Siegel added, “so when we come to a day like this, we definitely want to maximize it, just because we have so few of them. So, it's a very organized, laid out test plan, and if we can get through all the items on each list for each car, then that's a huge amount of data to look at before the race.”
Photo: Joe Skibinski/Penske Entertainment
Siegel acknowledged some of the test items on their list may, or may not, directly benefit them for this weekend’s XPEL Grand Prix at Road America, but could actually prove beneficial down the road.
“Yeah, I think so. A lot of it translates, obviously. There's some stuff that's track specific, but a lot of our test items may not even make us better here. But if you get a read on things, and some things that you wouldn't necessarily want to be experimenting with the limited time of a race weekend, just to get reads on stuff like that, you put more tools in your toolbox for all the race weekends, right?
“Everything, all of our really smooth road courses that would kind of apply to this, I think you get a read on these changes, and it carries everywhere.”
While working through a list of test items can be a chore, Siegel was happy to be at a place where the true capabilities of an Indycar can truly be appreciated.
“This is one of my favorite tracks, definitely my favorite town to go to, love Elkhart Lake. So happy to be here, happy to be back, and always enjoy driving around this place.
“We have the track itself, it's a one of our longest laps, if not the longest lap of the year, which I think is just fun. You get to really appreciate the speed of these cars and the capabilities of the car on a track like this, where you have space and long straightaways, big fast sweeping corners.
“It's just cool to feel the car. You go to Detroit or something, where you're very boxed in, it's super narrow, bumpy. It's a different challenge. And then you come here and you get to just open it up and kind of appreciate what the car can do.
“It's a lot of fun.”
While Siegel loves and feels comfortable at Road America, does that actually matter when it comes to a race weekend?
“I think it matters,” Siegel offered. “I think no matter what, if you're fast and the car is good, you're going to be comfortable, and everyone in this series is so good. Even the rookies that have never been here are going to get a hang of it pretty quick. It's not like these guys don't know what they're doing, right?
“So, I don't know how much it matters, but I do think coming to a place you enjoy, and just getting to appreciate driving around it, like when you're having a good time, it definitely makes a difference. And I think it's a lot easier to do a good job when you're enjoying yourself, but again, it's a lot easier to enjoy yourself when things are going well. So they go hand in hand.”
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.