Race 15: Round of Indianapolis

All for nothing: Team Kwik Fit make Indy for one lap

Team Kwik Fit, the Dash Cup frontrunners, have been trying to make a TMMC for well over a year, and their wishes finally came true when another Dash Cup regular, Carla Rosinski, found herself in the Round of Indianapolis field for the second year in a row when she finished third in her qualifying race.

As Dan Mullen said, the 159 crew had ran into troubles in the last practice session before the race, and unfortunately, the issues kept going until the race session, when Rosinski's Omecha expired on the second lap entering turn one.

Rosinski seen this race as a golden opportunity, as she scored points in the underpowered Atlantic Motorsports car, but with the problems taking her out of the race immediately, her big chance was taken away from her.

"This was a huge opportunity for me. I could have broke into the big leagues with a good result, I feel." said Rosinski mid-way through the race, "I don't know how to feel right now. Angry or dissapointed. It's one of the two. Knowing it's not my fault as well makes it even worse, in a way."

"I can tell you now, I don't plan on coming to Decatur with this team, and I'll be shocked if Avery does as well. He should be making these races with how good he is, but Kwik Fit just aren't performing. I guess they're too focused on their 16 year old wonder child in Dash Cup."

It was revealed shortly after that Team Kwik Fit offered Rosinski a 4 year contract to run for them in the Dash Cup series, and Rosinski rejected the contract. It was believed that this was due to Rosinski not wanting to be the number 2 driver to Cassandra Collins, who is the 16 year old wonder child she referred to in her interview. Ironic, as Rosinski is only 21 herself.

"We're upset Carla feels that way after this great race" said Quinton Young, "One of our mechanics just put too much grille tape on the right front of the grille and as a result the engine never got to temperature quick enough. It's an easy mistake."

Before the conclusion of the race, Rosinski had already left the track, for perfectly understandable reasons.

Scott Bates Snaps Winless Streak

Team EFR's Scott Bates snapped a near two-year winless streak at Indianapolis, his last win coming at Decatur in 2011. While he is one of the older drivers in the TM Master Cup series, his wealth of experience has made him very strong racer and strategist. His massive 140-point haul at Indy means that Bates vaulted himself into contention for the championship, and a man of his determination is not to be underestimated. His relentlessness has earned him fans, respect amongst his competitors, and a great deal of success.

Bates's presence on-track has been noticed by his competitors, and his burgundy 88 car is considered a genuine threat for the title.

"The 88 car can win the title on speed... and no matter how much we try to keep him in mind he keeps sneaking past us and picks up big points." 4-time champion Leonid Roderick was quoted as saying after the race.
"He's almost a bigger threat than Adrien [Devereux] because it's almost like he's still a marine -- you can put as much pressure on him as you want and he won't flinch."

Underdog Heroes Impress at Indy

The Round of Indianapolis has seen underdog performers maximize their opportunities and capture big results in the past. Some of these moments include Nathan Wilson taking Craig Racing's first-ever victory in 1988, and, two decades later, Dale Roswell taking their last win in 2007. On other occasions, it is simply a determined drive and a big result from a team that normally did not contend for such a result, such as the memorable third-place efforts by Ward Corrington in 1993 and then-unknown Gaspar de Sousa in a backup car meant for road courses in 2010.

In 2013, some of those performances were just to make it into the ultra-competitive field, such as Daniel Melrose, Andreas Laporta, Bob Stephans, and Carla Rosinski's efforts in underpowered cars. Other efforts that earned praise were the return of Team Saar USA with their new Carolina MasterSport and Lenard campaigning it's new R37.

Other showings of note included fan-favorite Yevgeny Kuznetsov, who capitalized on a great pit call to put himself in contention for Rookie of the Year. Kuznetsov's 5th place marks his best-ever finish at Indy, and looks to have secured his future with Katzev Engineering on merit. The fan-friendly Russian is known to have a few corporate backers in his homeland, but his rising popularity in the United States could lead to some backing from this side of the Atlantic, as well.

Despite their near-dominance of the Karjala Grand Prix, Indianapolis was always going to be a struggle for Lynxe Racing. The Lynxe L313 just was not fast enough in qualifying, and while third driver Clair Auxier was a long ways off of qualifying, both Divina Henton and Mélanie Clévenot fought their way into the race and showed bullish determination in their slow march through the field. While Henton seemed resigned for a low points finish, Clévenot kept fighting and scored a 6th place effort, making some in the paddock wonder if Lynxe Racing's best chance for the championship lay with Clévenot instead of Henton.

After winning the championship and the Round of Indianapolis in 2004, Matt Taylor's star seemed to fall just as quickly as it had risen. His last full season, 2010, saw a potential revival of his career until he was injured late in the season. While the 2012 Saar Eagle has been a difficult car for Taylor most of the year, his showing at Indy indicated that perhaps he still has what it takes to run in the TM Master Cup series. Taylor's 9th place finish is his best this season, but sadly, it did not count for Independent's Trophy points. Taylor might not be getting any younger, but his drive on Sunday wouldn't tell you that.

426 Motorsports has regularly put a car on the starting grid for Indianapolis, even if they tend to struggle at virtually every other race they show up for. What this team lacks in resources, they make up with ingenuity and continuity -- as they have had Chris Allen in their driving lineup for several years. While there is debate over whether Allen is truly the best choice for the team, his results and pace at Indy with 426 Motorsports continue to improve steadily. Interestingly, 426 Motorsports entered a second car with Jefali Animiha this year, and Animiha missed the race -- indicating that perhaps there is something to Chris Allen that nobody but 426 Motorsports has realized.

But of all of the underdog showings, the one that took most of the paddock by surprise is the third place result turned in by the English driver Morgan Le Fay. Le Fay's debut at Quebec started with a strong qualifying effort, but in the race, to say she made a fool of herself would be a huge understatement. Morgan had her revenge at Indy, where she qualified in the top ten and despite sliding backwards early in the race, made up most of that ground in the pits. Had the race been two laps longer, Le Fay likely would not have finished third. Wysiwyg Team Worldsoft has Le Fay under contract, so it isn't likely she will be switching teams. While it's difficult to tell if Le Fay is a genuine talent, it can at least be said that she understands race strategy very well.

Taube Extends Points Lead

Swede Mathias Taube did everything he could to help his championship tilt with Gessler Richter. His second place at Indianapolis was boosted by many of his title rivals either falling by the wayside or not scoring good results. "Once Adrien went out I was feeling pretty good about points as long as we didn't have problems. Of course I wanted to win, that's even more points than second, but sometimes you have to take what you get and look at the bright side." Taube said after the race.

Taube holds an 89 point lead, enough to secure that he will leave Colorado with the points lead barring any penalties that could be assessed.

Mitchell Slams "Hack" ASCC Drivers

After the Round of Indianapolis, most drivers and teams left the track fairly happy, as long as they started. The same can not be said for the Mitchell & Sons Racing team, the longest still-operating TM Master Cup series team. Team owner Tom Mitchell had choice words for some of the one-off drivers, incidentally enough, all of the targets of his rage were from the American Stock Car Championship -- a point Mitchell hammered home.

"There's a reason I don't run a damn ASCC team, look what those idiots over there did. If it's not [Mike] Whitmore driving like it's all Hot Wheels out there, then you got that worthless fat piece of shit Tom Delgado running into my boys under yellow and in the pitlane... then you got Tony Durbin going too slow and jamming everyone up." Mitchell said. "I think the ASCC must have banned brake pedals or something, either that or they've banned brains, because the guys they sent over here are a bunch of hacks."

Mitchell & Sons driver Kevin Dwyer joined his team owner in his criticisms of the ASCC regulars. "Man, I came up on Tony Durbin like I was running down my grandma." Dwyer said. "I don't care what excuse he makes up, it was like Manny Brown came back, except the difference is that I'm pretty sure he was doing it on purpose." Dwyer said. "If we weren't going 210 into the turns, I might have considered just dumping his ass so that he has to get off the race track. That point is kinda moot because I don't think he's coming back, unless he brings 20 teammates so he can take one of their cars if they make it in."

Penalties are expected to be handed out to both Ocean Motorsports drivers, but no official announcement has been made.

Clévenot Pleased With 6th Place

Lynxe Racing driver Mélanie Clévenot considered herself pleased to not only qualify for the Round of Indianapolis, but to come away with 6th place. The Swiss sophomore placed herself in position to make a championship run, a fact she made apparent in her many post-race interviews. "We got a great result for the whole Lynxe team today, 6th is better than I was expecting, for sure! It didn't occur to me until after I got out of the car that we might be able to take the championship! It's just amazing to think it's my first full year and this is how far we've gotten... but there's still a long way to go!" Clévenot told German reporters. "I'm feeling good about Colorado and Australia... I haven't seen the track in Colorado but it looks like it has a few unique corners."

Clévenot is the defending race winner at New York, a race she won en route to her shock Rookie of the Year crown in 2012. While there have been drivers who have won the championship in their first season, it has not been accomplished since the modern era began in 1978. Before then, drivers seldom ran every race in the season, and there were often a greater number of non-championship races in the season.

Delgado Amused by Mitchell's Comments

Tom Delgado responded to Mitchell & Sons owner Tom Mitchell in the aftermath of the Round of Indianapolis. He laughed off the comments made by the owner of Zack Duff's #74 car, and took another shot at race officials.

"Never thought Tom Mitchell would be just another captain no-balls" Delgado said. "To think, I once wanted to drive for him. Now the world's seeing the kind of scumbag piece of crap he really is. This is why you people shouldn't let idiots speak, kids. Say something to my face next time, captain no-balls. Like I said, the incident was a simple misjudgement on my end, and of course the overzealous officials are going to try and throw book after book at me. To be fair though, race officials in ANY series never get it right, so this really shouldn't be a surprise to anyone with a pulse!" Delgado added.