The race at New Orleans Motorsports Park started out with a ton of potential. Rain had plagued the track all weekend, but teams only had limited time to practice, and develop set ups, in the wet. To make matters even more complicated, teams knew that track conditions were going to change over the course of the race. Morning showers meant the track started damp, requiring teams to start on rain tires. However, clear skies at the start of the race meant that the track was expected to dry out as the race progressed. Until the predicted afternoon showers came that is. The race was looking like it was going to be a race engineer's nightmare. In truth the race engineer's were likely bored to tears as the race was basically one giant caution period.
Due to qualifying being cancelled on a-count of thunderstorms on Saturday afternoon, drivers lined up according entrant's points, which meant they lined up according to the finishing order from St. Petersburg. As expected, teams started out on a damp track and rain tires. By lap 13 however, a dry racing line had started to form, and Tony Kanaan, Ryan Hunter-Reay and James Hinchcliffe came in to switch from rain tires to slicks, which in turn caused the other teams to begin to filter into the pits to change to slicks. Little did anyone at the time know but this round of pit stops was the last serious green flag action of the race, and would determine the winner.
On lap 15, rookie Gaby Chavez spun and stalled his car on the racing surface, brining out the race's first full course yellow. It wouldn't be the last. Between laps 15 and lap 47 (the final lap of the race), there were five restarts, but less then seven green flag laps, and no more then two back-to-back green flag laps between cautions. During what was essentially one giant caution period, James Hinchcliffe cycled through to the lead while other teams made additional pit stops anticipating a final green flag stint. A green flag stint that never came, and Hinch, who pitted once during a one hour and fourty-five minute race, cruised to victory behind the pace car.
The reason for the constant cautions was due drivers having a hard time dealing with the drying track conditions. By lap 15, a dry racing line had developed, and slick tires provided a definite competitive advantage. However, standing water was still present on the track's low area's and off of the racing line and resulted in aqua planning as drivers went over these damp areas on slick tires, particularly as drivers jockeyed for position on restarts. Of the five attempts at restarts over the last 32 laps, three of them didn't make it to the first corner. Although experienced drivers struggled in these conditions (Tony Kanaan spun on lap 14, but didn't bring out a caution, while the last caution of the race was caused by a crash between Ryan Hunter-Reay and Simon Pagenaud who collected Sebastian Bourdais in their wake), the rookie drivers seemed to struggle with the conditions more then the veterans did. Rookies drivers were responsible for five of the six cautions. While young, hot-shoe, drivers get a lot of attention in the racing press, the race at NOLA highlights the difference in ability between more and less experienced drivers.
As for James Hinchcliffe, it is easy to write off his win as a stroke of amazing luck, and there was no small amount of luck that went into Hinch's win, but it was also an incredibly gutsy strategy call on his team's part. Hinchcliffe drove 34 laps on one tank of fuel. Hinchcliffe cut his fuel window so close that he ran out of fuel on his way into the pits after the final lap. If there had been only one or two more green flag laps, Hinchcliffe would have been forced to pit for fuel. His team assessed the race conditions, took a gamble on fuel, and were rewarded with a win.
The lack of green flag racing means that we gain no new insight regarding the comparative strengths and weaknesses of the Chevrolet versus Honda aero kits. We'll need to wait until Long Beach to see if the Honda teams can pick up their game compared to their performance in St. Petersburg. If nothing else, the race at NOLA has earned itself a place in the history books as the race that refused to go green.
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