Ah, Labour Day…the last long weekend of summer. By Tuesday the students will be back in school, so this was one last blast of summer vacation. While the Demaras Racing’s competition calendar was empty, the IndyCar Series had a double-header race in Milwaukee. Through the miracles of modern technology, the Demaras family brought the sweet song of turbocharged V6’s to the campsite. As sounds echoed through the trees, brave birds and curious caterpillars visited the RV to see what the fuss was about.
When camping an hour north of Toronto, there really is no way to get TV signals. Even if there was a satellite dish on the RV, there would be fees and subscriptions. But the great thing about modern technology is that if you park your RV just away from the trees, those invisible 5G wireless internet signals are available, and with them, illegally streamed races.
Normally we wouldn’t condone any black-market behaviour. But when the IndyCar Championship hangs in the balance, we are very thankful that websites like Latifi Streams and Burning Wheels take the UK broadcast of a US race, route it through a Russian server, and make it available for everyone, everywhere to watch online.
No. 10 Alex Palou has been leading the IndyCar championship for months, but fan-favourite No. 12 Will Power has made a late season charge for the title. Power is especially good on oval tracks, and managed a second place finish on the Saturday race.
But on Sunday afternoon, with the Demaras clan gathered around the TV the unthinkable happened. Palou, the points leader, broke down on the parade laps. His yellow and red race car had to be towed back to the pits. It was like a gift from the racing gods. Though the race car eventually got running, Palou was 29 laps down!
The moment when race leader Will Power lapped his championship rival was pure joy.
The Milwaukee Mile is a storied and historic track. Built in 1876 as a horse racing track, the Milwaukee Mile has hosted motor racing since 1903 making it oldest operating motor speedway in the world. Since being paved in 1954, the ‘Mile’ became a mainstay of open-wheel racing and IndyCar races were traditionally run there on the weekend after the Indy 500.
Milwaukee has been off the IndyCar schedule since 2015, and only 5 current IndyCar drivers have ever raced there (including 2014 race-winner, Will Power).
The No. 12 lead the many laps in the race and seemed poised for at least a podium finish. But during a late-race restart, Power aggressively spun up his tires, looped the car and nearly smashed into the concrete wall! After repairs and fresh tires, Power returned to the track two laps down. The big championship points haul evaporated.
Those same birds and caterpillars now heard the entire Demaras family screaming at a television set.
The racing gods are fickle; as quickly as they give, they can take away.
Alex Palou still leads Will Power in the 2024 IndyCar Championship as it heads into the final race of the season on September 15th at Nashville Superspeedway. Demaras Racing will be at the CSCS Racing event at Cayuga that weekend, and if it weren’t for those wonderful illegally streamed races, who knows how gearheads like us would make it through the weekend.