Auto Racing 2026

[Yespage]

A few shots from the first day and a half.

Michelin Pilot Challenge
Exit turn One (Friday)

VP Racing
Entering Turn 7

VP Series, I think
Exiting from Turn 7. This place is neglected regarding people taking photography. It isn't the best spot to watch the race from, minus the unobstructed view, but it smooth for tracking cars.

Michelin Pilot Challenge
McLaren out of Turn 4.

Mustang Challenge Qualifying this morning in the rain
Exit from Turn One.

The Screamin' Sicilian (MX-5 series)
Entering carousal. The road is drying up, but not quite dry.

Michelin Pilot Challenge second practice.
Track has a dry lane at this point. For about 30 more minutes.

 

[harshness]

A few shots from the first day and a half.

Great photos!

 

[Foxbat]

Looks like perfect weather for you Sunday. Thanks for the great photos!

 

[dfergie]

NHRA New England nationals later today, just watched Clay Millican's Q2 video...
Watched this for a bit last night.

View: https://www.youtube.com/live/5zZtzxAbdUo?si=eC4FCEG2DsFYTTlO

 

[Yespage]

After the deluge, the weather never looked back and was quite pleasant... though a bit warm, but not terribly so.

Into the Essess past Turn 4 for this paid of MX-5s.

Carousel (I did remember at one time how to spell that darn word!). I think this is eastern portion of the Carousel. That thing a like a clock. You can tell time of day based on where the cars need to be for the good lighting. This would mean this has to be qualifying around 4 PM on Saturday. I love me some McLaren too. This car won the race. *spoiler alerts*

MX-5 car coming out of turn 1. Note the wheels and the car banking towards the outside of the turn. I tried to get this for Turn 7 and failed miserably. I was shooting 500 mm, in my defense.

Carousel... west side, pit entrance is just to the top. Means this was this morning for the second Mustang race. Best race they've had that I've seen. The series is getting things going.

This image screams completely fake photoshop and is one of my favs. But it is just between turns 4 and 5. It wouldn't be a good day for Gou. I was across from the pits and saw them come into the pits. The stop seemed off. When I was walking into the paddock to get to the "barn" overlooks (shaded) the car was in the paddock.

Turn 4, the 4-hr race is on! And the best part, the lapping is beginning! A few places to take shots on the exit of Turn 4, this is tight towards 4.

This is the front stretch from one of the smaller stands they have spotting the south portion of the course. It is a nice stand because if it wasn't for the Apex 'well-to-do'' tent, you can see the cars come from the Carousel and go into the front stretch, past the flag stand. Can't see the bridge, but a nice place, and addressable with no more than a 300 mm zoom.

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[dfergie]

The NHRA race was rained out before the finals were over, finish next week in W2..,

 

[Foxbat]

Awesome pictures, Yespage! Thanks!

I caught the end of the four hour race on YouTube so I wasn't "spoiled", but got to see the exciting last lap action in the TCR division!

 

[Yespage]

Awesome pictures, Yespage! Thanks!

I caught the end of the four hour race on YouTube so I wasn't "spoiled", but got to see the exciting last lap action in the TCR division!

I heard on the radio, after the final pitstop, Turner Motorsport were resigned to second place. 'You're in second. Don't worry about it. First is McLaren, we aren't catching them.'

 

[Yespage]

Caught up to the 500... err... k in St. Louis. What a race! Andretti Motorsport were doing very well with Ericsson and Kirkwood, meanwhile Power was moving up the grid. Veekay started cautiously. He was working the tires just right, becoming more lethal later in the stint. Rasmussen was racing likewise, not nearly as insane as he has in the past. Palou was leading the race, in a shocker to all. Caio Collet was having a wonderful ride, making Ferucci potentially sweat a bit. Rain came, rain went, rain came, rain went. Generally mild sprinkles, but enough to pause racing on an oval.

Palou would kind of send Siegel into the wall. Siegel really didn't do much wrong. As he noted, you have to turn at some point. Palou had acres of room below and Siegel might have had his ticket out of Indycar stamped. Dixon was doing the fuel thing and got busted twice by yellows, not pitting before the flag came out. Then the most critical happened... Palou ran out of gas on pit lane, effectively giving Newgarden the race lead and win. Newgarden had a very early pit, so he was able to slide in, get service and go. Meanwhile, everyone else was confused and stuck behind Palou for a bit. Once people figured what was happening, Newgarden had a major advantage of several seconds. Newgarden wouldn't look back and when it went green again, he'd hold the lead for the win.

Massive credit to Juncos Hollinger who bested Penske in getting Veekay out before Malukas in a transition that was oddly bizarre. I haven't had time to check, but I'm wondering if Veekay was about to run out of fuel or cut a tire. He was charging late in a stint, got up to fifth, and then tailed back for a few laps to 10th or 11th. It looked like it was over. Went into the pits, and after the pitting sequence was over, Veekay was well inside the top ten again. It was weird. And he charged, getting up to fourth. He made a late move on Rasmussen, but Rasmussen held his position with some great driving. In fact, there was a ton of incredible racing passing, not passing all race long. Veekay would finish 4th. A podium would have been awesome, but it is a great outcome for a guy who hopefully will get a break with a big team. We saw what Veekay could do with a Honda last season with fuel save, imagine replacing Simpson on Ganassi and having speed to go with fuel saving. His 6th at Indy and 4th at St. Louis get him up to 13th in the points standings and only 5 points outside of the top 10.

Ericsson finished second, resigned to finishing behind the current best in the world guy on a short oval. Rasmussen got the final step on the podium, a nice rebound to what has been an otherwise bad year for him, and a good reward to ECR who just extended his contract.