Written by Saturday(6/22) was qualifying day for the indycars. We got to the track around 9 and set up our chairs at the corkscrew. From there we watched the indy nxt qualy 2. Qualy 1 happened while we were walking from our car to where we put our seats. The indy nxt cars were quite loud as usual, and its always great to see cars on track. After was indycar practice 2 for which we walked down the straight that leads up the hill which is the rahal straight. We walked towards turn six and watched the indycars climb up the hill, and once we got to turn 6, we watched them go around that as well. Turn 6 is one of the fastest turns on the course and is an example of a commitment corner, meaning that you really have to send it to get the most time out of the corner. While we were standing at turn six, I realized that a red flag had been thrown, and we heard from the commentators that the number 20 car crashed at turn 10 and quite heavily at that. We kept walking around the track to the front side of the mountain that the track sits around. We then noticed something really strange. A medevac helicopter. At first we just thought that it was for something else but it eventually landed in the circuit paddock area. Thankfully the driver involved in that accident was unhurt and that medevac helicopter was probably only called as protocol by either the circuit or indycar. After the practice session resumed and we returned to our spot at the corkscrew. After was the first race of the radical cup na which was great to watch. The radicals are some of the most interesting race cars to watch at a race track. They are super powerful and are quite small which provides incredible racing to watch. After was the first of 2 races for indy nxt which was great to watch. Since indy nxt is a spec series like indycar, all of the chassis are the same, which provides great racing. After was indycar qualifying. qualifying is the only part of the race weekend where the drivers are pushing the car at 100%, which means this is the fastest you will ever see the cars on track. My great uncle was really impressed with how much they were pushing the cars. It really is incredible to see just how fast these cars really can be. After the 90 minute qualifying session, according to the schedule we got from the circuit website, was porsche sprint challenge usa west race 2. However this was actually race one. The sound of the porsches echoed through the corkscrew area and was incredible to hear for the following 30 minutes. The radical cup race 2 went after and its really hard not to smile when watching the radicals. They really are just incredible racing cars.
After the radical cup race ended, we left the circuit and drove to pacific grove for dinner. We went to a really good italian place that I don’t remember the name of, but it was very good. We then made the almost hour long drive back to the airbnb in salinas for our final night.