I’m just wrapping up a big weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway with IMSA. We were greeted with gorgeous weather and lots of fans who came out for IMSA’s return to the legendary track.
My focus during the weekend was on the JDX Carrera Cup team. They had an outstanding weekend, with many podium results and Elias De La Torre’s continued run of top-10 finishes.
But that success wasn’t as easy as it looked. The team got a strong start in practice, but during the first lap of the qualifying session, Elias had an engine problem, which excluded him from qualifying. That meant he had to start race one at the tail of the 28-car field.
During race one, Elias did a masterful job of working his way up cleanly and passing more than half the field to come home with a top-15 finish. In Carrera Cup, the race two grid is set based on each driver’s fastest lap time in race one. That put Elias further up the grid order for race two, but he would still have his work cut out for him.
For Elias, it really was a weekend of perseverance. Indy got off to such a great start for him, but having to start dead last in race one really put a lot of mental stress on the 17-year-old. Elias proved to be cool under pressure, though. He started from behind in both races, but he was able to persevere and stay calm, and he showed a lot of maturity for a driver (and a teenager, no less) in their first year of pro racing.
The JDX team executed beautifully in race two on Sunday morning, with a double podium and Elias working his way into the top 10. That ended the weekend on such a positive note, and it gives the team a lot of momentum and confidence.
It was a nice return to Indy, especially since there were so many enthusiastic sports car fans there for all the festivities. Looking ahead, I’m excited that the JDX team now gets to take all this momentum into the final push of the season.