If you’ve come to this site looking for the “Oral History of the 2008 Richmond race” post, it has its own page for archiving purposes.
You can find the link to the complete story here.
Link to 2008 Richmond story
12 Questions with Ty Dillon (2018)
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The 12 Questions series of interviews continues with Ty Dillon, who is in his second season driving for Germain Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series. This interview is recorded as a podcast, but is also transcribed for those who prefer to read.
1. How often do you have dreams about racing?
I don’t now as much as when I was younger. I used to have the worst dream and it stressed me out so bad. The race would be firing off, cars would be rolling off and I was trying to still find my gloves or my helmet. Like, I’d be in the hauler scrambling. And then the race was going and I was missing the race and I just had that recurring dream all the time. That was the worst dream ever, I’d wake up sweating and stressed out.
2. If you get into someone during a race — intentional or not — does it matter if you apologize?
If you make a true mistake and you’re honest with the person, I think it’s worth going and saying something. I think if you’re racing hard, it should be understood.
I tried that a couple years ago with Regan (Smith at Watkins Glen). I told him when he came up to me, “I made a mistake, man. You deserve to be mad.” But he continued to get more and more mad and then it led to what it was (a skirmish on pit road). But I will always be honest if I make a mistake. I always tell the person and we’ll go from there.
So in the Watkins Glen situation, you were like, “Dude, it’s my fault” and he’s still getting mad?
I told him, “Hey, you are 100 percent right to be mad at me,” and he continued to get mad. Then I was like, “OK, now we’re into another realm of getting mad.” So that’s when I flare up.
3. What is the biggest compliment someone could give you?
The biggest compliment someone could give me right now would be just a compliment that I’m being a good husband and a father. That means more than anything to me in life. And then probably third on the list would be that people see that I’m working hard and just appreciate the work that I’ve put in to trying to be a good race car driver and all around good for the sport.
4. NASCAR comes to you and says, “Hey, we are bringing a celebrity to the race and we’re wondering if you have time to say hi.” Who is a celebrity you’d be really excited to host?
Migos was really cool. They’d be high on the list. Like sports star-wise, probably Cam Newton. I love the Braves, so any of the Braves players.
But like entertainment, I really like (rapper) Logic right now. I’ve been bumping him quite a bit, so if he were to come to the track, I’d like to show him around and show him our world.
That would be very cool. That would be very big for NASCAR.
For sure. Another one would be (entrepreneur and social media star) Gary Vaynerchuk, I’d like to take him around.
And he’s doing stuff with NASCAR, right?
Yeah, Vayner Media is doing a lot. I actually had worked with him when I went to Austin for South by Southwest with a vlog and spent a lot of time with him. I’m kind of developing myself outside of racing and inside of racing. I think what they’ve got going on is pretty special.
5. In an effort to show they are health-conscious, NASCAR offers the No. 1 pit stall selection for an upcoming race to the first driver willing to go vegan for a month. Would you do it?
For sure.
You would?
Oh yeah, I could do it. My wife (Haley) is a real good cook, and I’d just be like, “Alright Haley, let’s make this stuff taste good.” We’ll go for it. So I could do it.
I think you’re the first driver all year to say yes. I finally found somebody.
I don’t think the other drivers have qualified as bad as I have all year. (Laughs) So I really understand what the bad pit selection feels like. I’d do it for the whole year. It’d probably make me look better, too.
6. It’s time for the Random Race Challenge. I have picked a random race from your career and you have to guess where you finished. This is the 2015 Spring Xfinity race at Kentucky.
That’s a tough one. I had to be decent…I’ll say eighth.
The answer was P15. So you started second and you must have gotten the lead on the start because you led the first 15 laps. And then I don’t know what happened after that.
I’ve led so many laps at Kentucky. I think we got a speeding penalty or something that might have gotten us a lap down. There’s been a lot of Kentucky races where we started in the top five, led a bunch of laps. The last one might have been the fall race of ’15 or fall race of ’16, where we led the whole race and got beat on the green-white-checkered by Blaney. So I was confused between that one and that one.
Are you good at remembering races?
Somewhat. I can remember the good ones.
7. Who is the best rapper alive?
I think I gave myself away earlier with Logic. I like everything he’s got going on. Migos has some cool content. I just like the way they mix it up. But I’m gonna go with Logic.
8. Who has the most punchable face in NASCAR?
(Laughs) Do people answer this?
Some people do. I’ve gotten a couple answers.
I will just say, out of pure facts, it’s Kyle Busch because I think he’s had the most punches thrown at his face in our sport.
That is a factual answer.
Him and Brad (Keselowski), they both have had the most punches thrown at their faces.
So you’re going for a data answer here.
Data answer. That way I can back it up.
9. NASCAR enlists three famous Americans to be involved with your team for one race as part of a publicity push: Taylor Swift, LeBron James and Tom Hanks. Choose one to be your crew chief, one to be your spotter and one to be your motorhome driver.
I’ll take LeBron as the crew chief just because he’s a good team leader. He’s not as good at (Michael Jordan) though, but he’s the best leader in sports right now. Tom Hanks, I love his voice, so he can be my spotter. And then my wife and Taylor would probably get along well, so she can drive the motorhome.
Do you spend a lot of time with your motorhome driver?
Yeah, we could sit around, we could grill out and she could play the guitar and sing, which would be nice.
10. What is the key to finding the best pre-race bathroom?
That’s a major key. Just the closest port-a-john, really. We’re doing something on the vlog about that, like the best way to find your favorite driver is stand near the port-a-john nearest to their car before the race. That’s the easiest way to do it.
I feel like all tracks should have more port-a-johns. Some tracks really throw us a curve, like Martinsville, I had to run all the way to the backstretch to use the bathroom between the national anthem and “Gentlemen, start your engines,” which there isn’t a whole lot of time there to also get in the car and get all your stuff on.
11. NASCAR misses the highlight reel value brought by Carl Edwards’ backflips and decides a replacement is needed. How much money would they have to pay you to backflip off your car after your next win?
Whatever my medical bill will be to fix my neck when I break it. I’m just not a big acrobatic person.
Daniel Hemric can do backflips. He’ll probably do it when he wins one day. I’ll do something cool, but I can’t do a backflip.
But all they’d have to pay is your medical? You wouldn’t want extra fees on top of that?
I’d be generous because I won the race. Just pay my medical bill.
12. Each week, I ask a question given to me from the last interview. Last week, I interviewed Martin Truex Jr. He wants to know: Did it surprise you just how much harder Cup is than Xfinity?
Yes. When I was a rookie in Trucks and Xfinity, I was racing for championships and winning races right out of the gate my first year. Going to Cup, yeah, our team wasn’t at that level yet, but we had a really good step in the right direction. But to even be better at the Cup Series, it’s not another step — it’s like five steps to be much better.
I would like to mirror my career a lot off of what Martin’s done. To grow Furniture Row from what it was to what it is now, that’s definitely what we want to do at Germain. Yeah, it’s definitely a lot tougher than I expected. I was able to make a lot of starts to get a little bit of a feel for (Cup) to help, and we had our best year statistically that Germain Racing’s had, but it’s definitely a major step that I think a lot of people don’t realize.
The next interview I’m doing is with an IndyCar driver. Do you have a question I can ask a driver in the IndyCar Series?
Why does it seem that NASCAR drivers can come to Indy and IndyCar racing and run well like AJ Allmendinger and Kurt Busch and Tony Stewart in their cars, but when they come to ours, the learning curve seems a lot steeper?
That’s a really good question. I’d like to know that answer myself.
See, I might be the most punchable face in IndyCar after that, so we’ll see.
Previous 12 Questions interviews with Ty Dillon:
Post-Race Podcast: Bristol and Long Beach with Jordan Bianchi and Joey Barnes
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After an eventful race weekend, I’m joined by SB Nation’s Jordan Bianchi and Motorsports Tribune’s Joey Barnes to help break down the Bristol NASCAR race and the Long Beach Grand Prix.
The Top Five: Breaking down the Bristol and Long Beach races
Five thoughts after NASCAR’s race at Bristol and IndyCar’s race at Long Beach…
1. Urgency and impatience
Bristol was the best race of the year so far, and it pretty much has lapped the competition in what has been largely a ho-hum season to this point.
It’s a shame only a few thousand people appeared to be in the stands after a postponement and many were stuck at work on a Monday, because the “old” Bristol everyone has been clamoring for — a dominant bottom groove — was back.
At least for a day.
The combination of the sticky PJ1 compound, the freezing weather and a top groove that never really got rubbered in — thanks to both short runs and the rain — meant the place to make passes was on the bottom. And impatient drivers, knowing the race could end any time if another rain/sleet/snow cell came through, frequently used the bumper to make their way to the front.
Even Kyle Busch’s winning pass on Kyle Larson was a bump-and-run — something that couldn’t be achieved in recent years when the top was the fastest lane. After all, you can’t bump someone out of the way when you’re already next to the wall.
This might have been a fluke situation, given the temperatures. When NASCAR returns to Bristol in August, the bottom might not be dominant anymore.
But at least this was one weekend where the conditions — despite being less than ideal for those in attendance — actually helped make for a great show.
2. Short tracks rule yet again
My favorite part about watching racing is when you can see the driver making a difference in the car. I’ve never cared that much about watching a dominant car that is faster than everyone else; I want to see extremely talented drivers perform and put on a show.
Bristol was another example of a short track bringing the drivers into the equation more than a typical NASCAR track. What made Monday’s race so fun to watch was the various drivers working their way into the top five and having to make decisions on how to work through lapped traffic and preserve their tires.
Look at Bubba Wallace, for example: There he was, battling with Brad Keselowski and Kyle Busch for the race lead. And then he nudged Keselowski out of the way and actually took the top spot! It was very exciting to see a rookie driver do that, because that kind of thing just doesn’t happen on the typical NASCAR oval.
Ryan Newman was up there having a good run for much of the race. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. challenged for the win. Jimmie Johnson reminded everyone he’s still the best driver in history. And viewers could see that a big reason their cars were up toward the front was because of the drivers.
That’s what I love to see, and I assume others watch for the same reasons. Wouldn’t it be nice to see that type of action on a weekly basis?
Once again: More Short Tracks, please!
3. A grand Grand Prix
The Long Beach Grand Prix was the first time in memory I covered a race for work but sort of wished I attended for fun instead.
That’s because everyone I walked by just looked so damn happy. People were enjoying the sunshine, margarita in hand, watching race cars go by all day. You could sit in the grandstands if you wanted to, or change your angle of the race by walking around the course to see various turns.
There was music, a convention hall full of displays and activities, go-karting and, of course, the spectacular scenery (Want to stare at the harbor while race cars drive by in the background? You can!). I could easily picture walking around with my future children and having a relaxing family outing.
It was glorious. It’s no wonder the Grand Prix said more than 185,000 people attended over the course of three days — up slightly from 183,400 last year.
But who are the people that attend? Are they race fans — those who follow IndyCar or IMSA and know the drivers — or are they people who show up because it’s a festival that happens to have a race?
I asked roughly a dozen people that question during the course of the weekend, both on the record and in casual conversation. The most common answer was about 50-50, though no one went higher than 60 percent race fans. And some went as low as 30 percent race fans.
Personally, I think it was closer to the smaller number. As an experiment — admittedly an unscientific one — I watched 100 people walk by and made a tally on my notepad for every person who was wearing racing-related clothing of some kind (even if it was Formula One or a shirt displaying vintage cars). Out of those random 100 people, only 27 wore any type of apparel that would identify them as someone interested in cars or racing.
Now, I’m not saying all race fans wear racing merchandise — and perhaps in a different area of the track, I would have gotten a different number. But the point is, I’m convinced the majority of the people there were either casual fans or not fans of racing at all.
And…that’s perfectly fine! There’s no problem with that. What’s great about having a race right in a city is you bring the event to the people. There’s still the usual opportunity for any hardcore race fan to attend, but it exposes the product to potential new fans as well.
But even if the attendees don’t become fans, those people still paid to get in the gates, along with whatever they spend on food, drinks and shopping.
“Every track should be doing stuff like this,” eventual Long Beach winner Alexander Rossi told me via phone last month. “If you want families and people to come out, you make it an event and talk about all the things you can experience. That’s a positive thing. You’ll get people in the door that maybe would never be there otherwise, and maybe you get some of them hooked on racing in the process.”
Defending IndyCar champion Josef Newgarden said when he meets people at Long Beach, he can tell many of them are just there for the party. But there are also plenty of true fans who bring him old-school racing gear to sign, which shows there’s “a really nice blend of (people).”
“When you put on a street course race, it is kind of like a festival and a party, so you want people to just show up and have a good time and enjoy the atmosphere,” Newgarden said. “But it’s also nice to have those purist racers who are here for the action and want to see the race, and I think you get a good mix.”
4. The garage and the paddock
Prior to covering this IndyCar race, I had been to every NASCAR race weekend so far this season. And I have to say, the general vibes couldn’t be more different.
In NASCAR, there’s a sense of gloom as the ratings have continued to decline. There’s the familiar hand-wringing over the direction of the sport, frustration at the racing getting overshadowed by things like penalties or pit guns, and a high degree of sensitivity over anything perceived as negative. It feels like NASCAR is always fending off one crisis after another.
But in IndyCar, there’s a sense of optimism and enthusiasm. The drivers seem happy to be there and they openly speak about positive changes (like the new car). When you talk to people who work in the IndyCar paddock, they truly feel their sport is going in the right direction.
And yet…NASCAR’s attendance and viewership still dwarfs IndyCar on a weekly basis. So in theory, people in the NASCAR industry should have reason to be happier and IndyCar should be discouraged about the relative lack of attention. But it’s the opposite.
I don’t have the answer for why that is, other than IndyCar seems to already have endured its most challenging stretch and is now on the rise while NASCAR hasn’t bottomed out yet during its decade-long slump.
5. Points leaders
Busch and Long Beach winner Alexander Rossi might race different types of cars, but they have something in common so far this season.
They’ve both emerged as the drivers to beat in their respective series.
Kevin Harvick got the attention with his three wins, but Busch’s last six races have been ridiculous — two wins, three runner-up finishes and a third-place finish. Busch is now the NASCAR points leader by 59 over Joey Logano.
Meanwhile, Rossi leads the IndyCar points by 22 over Josef Newgarden in a series that does not have a playoff.
After Long Beach, veteran driver Will Power said IndyCar right now has “the most competitive, talented group of drivers the series has seen.” And out of all those great drivers, Rossi is out-pacing everyone.
“When you look at what Rossi did this weekend — man, really, really strong,” Power said. “I think he’s going to be tough to beat in the championship. He’s definitely what I’d call a standout of the field right now in every respect.”
Long Beach Grand Prix: Sebastian Bourdais infuriated after race goes sour
Have you ever purchased a delicious-looking donut, dropped the donut after one bite, watched it roll into the street and get run over by a semi-truck?
If so, you might be able to relate to Sebastien Bourdais’ afternoon at the Long Beach Grand Prix.
Bourdais made a holy-crap, did-you-see-that pass of three cars in a single corner entering Turn 1, which lit up social media with a collective “WOW.”
One more look at this pass by @BourdaisOnTrack.????
Because #VISORCAM.???????????? @NBCSN
???? @NBCSports App#INDYCAR // #TGPLB pic.twitter.com/K1PRPEhQHt— IndyCar Series (@IndyCar) April 15, 2018
But that move to take second place turned out to be the highlight of his day, because it all went to crap shortly thereafter.
First of all, Bourdais was penalized by IndyCar race control — which ruled he used the pit exit lane to make the pass. He had to drop back and give one of his spots back as a result.
But Bourdais insisted he was actually forced into the lane by Scott Dixon — who was one of the cars he passed three-wide — which made the incident “an avoided crash that turned into a brilliant pass,” he said.
“It was the biggest save of the day,” Bourdais said, sitting at his pit box well after the race had ended. “When you get forced in there, then you’re braking in an area that has no grip and you’ve got to go over the eggs to come back on track, the car is bouncing up and down and you’re trying to save your life. I don’t see what I was supposed to do, honestly.”
After the penalty, Bourdais fell back to third and said he was so fired up about it that he made another bold pass to retake second place the very next lap.
“I was plain straight pissed off (about the penalty),” he said. “When I make a mistake or violate a rule, I’m the first one to raise my hand. But I did nothing wrong on that one.”
These two…????⬇@BourdaisOnTrack‘s great pass was penalized for using pit row exit to complete the pass on @scottdixon9, so he gave the position back…
…BUT then he did this moments later.???????? @NBCSN
???? @NBCSports App#INDYCAR // #TGPLB pic.twitter.com/EWkhOh4QAS— IndyCar Series (@IndyCar) April 15, 2018
He only got angrier five laps later, when a caution brought out by teammate Zachary Claman De Melo occurred right when Bourdais was coming to pit road. As a result, Bourdais had to drive through pit road — losing track position — and return for his pit stop under caution.
“It was pretty straightforward until my teammate made a mess of it and hung us out to dry,” he said. “On top of that, race control decided to hang us out for two seconds. Greatly appreciated. These races turn into circuses when that happens.”
But that wasn’t even the end of it. Bourdais got even more upset after he had to restart back in the pack — where “you end up racing idiots who don’t give you any room.” He had only gotten back up to 10th when rookie Jordan King spun him around in the hairpin turn, finishing off the bad day.
“Jordan feels like a million dollars, dumps it in there and turns us around. Alright. Have at it, boys,” Bourdais said sarcastically.
REPLAY: Here’s another look at the incident in Turn 11 involving @BourdaisOnTrack and @42jordanking.????
???? @NBCSN
???? @NBCSports App#INDYCAR // #TGPLB pic.twitter.com/QXZxbb7sFy— IndyCar Series (@IndyCar) April 15, 2018
Bourdais, who won four championships during the open-wheel split, said he was deeply disappointed in finishing 13th because he “drove one of my best races in quite sometime.”
He just had nothing to show for it.
Oh, and there was one more thing he was mad about, Bourdais said.
“What really upsets me the way the races are run these days,” he said. “You have a Graham Rahal who turns someone (Simon Pagenaud) around at the start of the race and ends up, what, fourth? (Rahal finished fifth.) I’m sorry, that’s just…we got to do something about this. It’s infuriating.”
Long Beach Grand Prix: How much racing is too much?
There’s no such thing as too much racing — well, perhaps unless there’s not enough time to fit it all in.
Such was the case on a glorious Saturday at Long Beach — “Super Saturday,” which squeezed in track activity for six different series over the course of 11 hours.
It was a fantastic day for anyone who likes racing even the tiniest bit, and a near-perfect one when you factor in the sunshine, spectacular oceanside setting — complete with a harbor and lagoon — and the huge motorsports expo that takes up the entire Long Beach Convention Center floor.
But there was one small blemish on the day: Robby Gordon’s Stadium Super Trucks, which had a 20-minute window to race between IndyCar qualifying and the Motegi Racing Super Drift Challenge, had to end its race after only six laps.
Stadium Super Trucks leap off jumps placed as obstacles in the street course, and driver Apdaly Lopez accidentally flipped his truck off a jump on Lap 5.
Typically, track workers just roll an upside-down truck back over and keep going. But this time, it took too long — and officials ran out of time to restart the race.
Gordon apologized to the fans on the public address system after finishing second, and third-place finisher Arie Luyendyk Jr. — also known as The Bachelor — said the drivers were “a little bummed.”
“There’s a certain time window we have to abide by,” Luyendyk said. “But typically, 90 percent of the time we get a full race in.”
A spokesman for the series was critical of the amount of time to get the truck rolled over, telling reporters the race should have gone back to green.
“We are governed by race control of the Long Beach Grand Prix, who put on an extremely great event every year and we’re lucky to be a part of it,” the spokesman said. “However, we’re obviously very upset with the way things happened. … That was just not right, and it shouldn’t have taken so long.”
Race winner Gavin Harlien said he didn’t expect the race would be over when the caution came out and thus felt a little shortchanged.
“That’s not how I want to win, but, I mean, I’ll take it,” he said.
On the positive, side, this sort of thing is only possible when so many series share the track at once. That’s actually a good problem to have from a fan standpoint.
For a $65 general admission ticket (or a $100 weekend pass with a reserved seat), spectators could spend the entire day wandering the course, which snakes its way through the prime real estate of the Long Beach waterfront.
There are multiple spots to stop and observe the cars, take photos or just bask in the California sun; personally, I walked 7.9 miles during the course of the day while exploring the circuit.
From IndyCar practice and qualifying (Alexander Rossi won the pole) to an IMSA’s slick sports cars to Gordon’s trucks to Historic Trans Am cars (that ran in the 60s and still race), it seemed like a non-stop schedule. As I write this, there are still cars on the track — a drifting challenge competition that goes until 8 p.m. local time.
Anyway, there’s some solace knowing another Stadium Super Trucks race will run tomorrow — and since it’s scheduled for after the IndyCar race, the entire thing should be completed this time.
If not, that’s the only way “too much of a good thing” could ever apply to racing.
Long Beach Grand Prix: Inside IndyCar’s Race Control
You can’t hear the cars inside IndyCar Race Control for the Long Beach Grand Prix, let alone see them.
Buried in the bowels of an arena attached to the Long Beach Convention Center — a venue that will be used for Disney On Ice at this time next week — IndyCar’s top officials are positioned in a windowless room to watch Friday’s second practice session.
The room is filled with monitors — 20 different camera angles of the track are displayed at once, not counting a smaller box showing a variety of in-car cameras — along with more than a dozen people who each have a crucial role in making sure everything goes smoothly.
In the center of it all is first-year race director Kyle Novak, the conductor for a complicated orchestra. He’s in charge of determining whether the track needs to have a local yellow flag, a full-course yellow or red flag, in addition to deploying safety personnel.
Flanking Novak are IndyCar’s two stewards — former drivers Max Papis and Arie Luyendyk Sr., who remain standing at all times. Their job is to determine penalties; if you hear an incident is under review, they’re the ones doing the reviewing.
Just past the stewards are those tasked with communication to various units: One person conveys Novak’s message to the teams, another speaks to the safety workers and so on.
There are also other officials nearby, such as a man who watches a screen full of dots moving around the track — to look at the gaps between the cars — and a woman in charge of IndyCar’s instant message system (every command from race control is also sent via IM in order to provide a record of it, and teams can send back IMs with questions).
Although it’s just practice, but the room is buzzing with activity. Oddly, though, there is no sound — no race commentary, radio chatter or vehicle noise — other than the officials communicating with each other.
The stewards believe it’s important to issue the same penalties during practice they would in a race, setting a standard of consistency so the drivers know what to expect.
For example: Rookie Robert Wickens cuts the exit of pit lane too early — there’s an orange line that marks where the transponder must cross in order to be scored — and receives a pass-through penalty after the footage is reviewed.
A pass-through during practice isn’t too damaging — aside from wasting a couple laps on tires — but it would be in the race. So it’s somewhat of a warning: This will hurt you a lot more on Sunday, so don’t do it again.
The stewards carefully watch any interaction between other cars. Papis’ eyes scan the map of dots to see drivers racing close together, then dart to the camera angle showing that battle.
“It’s way easier for people to watch races on TV and criticize, because you’re just following one story that the camera shows you,” Papis says. “In here, it’s like you are watching many episodes of a show at once.”
Papis believes the drivers and IndyCar are “one team,” and his role is not an adversarial one. He and Luyendyk view themselves as a resource for the drivers, providing an education on what they did incorrectly and gathering evidence during the sessions to present afterward.
For example: Luyendyk pulls out his cell phone to take screenshots and video from the IndyCar replay system, which is like if NASA Mission Control had TiVo. He’ll take the visual proof to the drivers in question as soon as practice ends.
Both stewards must agree on a call in order to issue a penalty, and IndyCar president Jay Frye serves as the tiebreaker for any disputes. When there’s a potential incident to review, replay officials call over the stewards for a closer look.
Everyone in the room seems to work methodically and calmly. But their voices rise and carry an extra urgency when safety workers are present on the track, exposed to danger.
Officials seemed to dislike that one car drove through a local yellow safety zone carrying too much speed. And it wasn’t just a feeling; they had the numbers to prove it. The computer said the driver went through at 94.5 percent of his typical lap speed, and Papis said drivers are asked to slow down a minimum of 15 percent — showing they at least made an effort to use caution.
Practice ends before all the penalties can be issued and served, so Papis sets off to speak with some drivers instead — clutching small printouts that looks like betting slips from a Vegas sportsbook.
In general, the stewards don’t want to issue penalties. Papis said they ask themselves two questions before doing so: First, does the action affect safety? Second, does the action affect competition?
If the answer to one of those questions is yes, a penalty is more likely than not.
“I tell these guys, ‘Don’t put it in my hands, because I haven’t done (the infraction),'” he said. “You did it.”
Papis looks around the room and shakes his head at all the technology present.
“If I would have come in here and gotten this education when I was driving, I would have used the F word a lot less,” he said with a grin.
The session ends when Takuma Sato suddenly has the back end wash out while entering Turn 1, smacking the wall.
Novak immediately spots it.
“Car in the wall, Turn 1. Red flag,” he says.
“Red flag,” the man next to him radios to the teams. “This will be the red and the checkered on the session.”
The officials guide the safety workers to Sato’s car and watch until he gets out, then begin to pack up so the next series can get ready to run.
“Great job, everyone,” Novak tells the room. “You guys are all-stars.”