There are signs of improvement at Andretti Green Racing, and I think our fifth and sixth places at Mid-Ohio reflect that. Those results also reflect the fact that we did the Mid-Ohio test; that made quite a difference, and more than we could show at the start of the weekend, to be honest. We botched up qualifying, because we had been suffering some understeer on the hard, black tires, and when we went to the red tires, it just became big understeer. It would have been interesting to see where we'd have ended up if we'd got that right: but I'm not a big believer in saying what might have been, because you need to have something to back it up.

But through the weekend, we were able to use what we'd learned from the test and build on it, which is what it takes and we ended up with something to show for it. To do that, we switched strategies, and having a clear track to click off some fast laps while we were running second was crucial to that. 

It was risky though: we had already got the No. 26 Meijer car up to eighth running a conventional strategy, and if there had been a yellow while we were in second, it would have lost us all our track position. But it stayed green, we got our laps in, did a good quick stop and gained two positions for it, and now we're in sixth place in the championship and closing in on Danica for fifth.

But…it's still only a sixth place finish, so no one in the team is getting too excited; we're just thinking that it's progress. It's a strange feeling. People saying “Well done!” for getting a mediocre result. And the team's working so hard for it, you know? It's no consolation that no one is consistently giving the Ganassi and Penske boys a hard time. In fact, for us I'd say it was doubly frustrating because we used to be able to not just threaten them but often beat them – and not that long ago, either. But I think that's why we all have kept that bit of faith that we can come back from this slump.

I don't know what we need to make that leap, though. I mean, Dixon was just in a class of his own at the weekend, wasn't he? He went way longer on his first stint, because they always find a way to make great fuel mileage, and once he was past Wilson, he just checked out. When your car is as good as his, it becomes easier to make good fuel mileage. If I have a good-handling car, my fuel saving is…well, not bad. Kyle Moyer has been a big help there. There's two ways of doing it: you can turn the fuel down to full lean and drive as hard as you want, or you can just really feather the throttle but carry more speed into the corner, but then that's harder on the front tires.

Edmonton was much less satisfying, because we only got a 10^th place, and all four of us were way out of the ballpark in qualifying. That's frustrating for the whole team, and I know it's something we plan to work on again through the off-season. I think we've got better at the road courses in terms of general set up, but the fine-tuning is more of a struggle. To try and be more specific, I'd say we have most work to do on bumpy circuits.

But I guess the main issue with me in that race was that I got criticized for holding up the leaders when they came to lap me. I guess it's a touchy subject, because these things can come back and bite you at another race. The thing is, it's so important to stay on the lead lap, so that if there's a full course caution, you can go round and catch up and maybe mix up your strategy. Plus, giving way to three or four cars while you're in a battle of your own – which I was at that time - will lose you so much ground to the person you're fighting with.

The other thing to look at is that once I let Will [Power] past me, it's not like he really went anywhere, so I don't know how much quicker he was. But…I won't make excuses: I absolutely did hold him up, and so I went and talked to him and apologized, and we're fine now.

Looking ahead, I'm positive that what we learned at Mid-Ohio over the course of the weekend will be a help in Sonoma. By the time you read this, there will be 17 cars testing there – including ours. But also, I think we're positive about Sonoma because we have had good cars there in the past. If we can get our usual qualifying questions answered during the test, so we're right there and ready to go from first practice on race weekend – it's only a two-day event, remember – then I think we have a strong chance of qualifying well.

And then it's three ovals. We messed up on the race setup in Kentucky – we were trimmed out too much – but I could see the new tech regs had made a difference. I'm pretty positive about the changes that were made. But with the parts that have been removed, the cars now actually make a smaller hole in the air than they used to so you don't get the same drafting effect. It's harder to catch up with someone. But what's better now is that, once you've gotten yourself on the tail of a car – maybe through use of the new boost button or just having a generally faster car – you can stay there because the car's handling is more consistent, and you can run different lines in order to get past. The important thing is, it's better for the spectators, and the TV viewers, and that's who we've got to look after.

Marco

Okay, so everyone is moaning about the Richmond race, and I understand that, and everyone – and that includes me – has their opinion why it was bad. I know it's not just one thing and it's a complicated formula – aero, mechanical grip, tires, downforce – all that plays a role in creating great racing. But we need to figure something out quick. My No.26 Venom car was really good, over a second quicker than a lot of the guys in front of me – but I couldn't get past. These races shouldn't be all strategy. Strategy should be a determining factor but not the determining factor.

Of course, Andretti Green Racing's problems started in qualifying. I ended up 16th, my teammate Tony Kanaan was 17th. The data simulator we use told us that we shouldn't shift on our qualifying run, but we unfortunately proved that we should… I was one of the quickest cars in the corners, but I didn't have the revs for the straight. Coming out of Turn 2 in fifth, it would bog down – it was like hitting a brick wall. Then about halfway down the straight it was revving well in the power band, so we reached the corner quick, but the revs were too low to pull me quick through the corner.

It didn't help that we cleaned the track for everyone else by being so early in the qualifying line. Tony [Kanaan, teammate] and I went late last year and we were 1-2 on the grid.

But anyway, on a track you can't pass, to end up qualifying 16th had me pretty bummed. Sure we ended up finishing seventh, but you hate to be the fourth in a four-car team. You know, I keep leaving tracks this year thinking, “Man, I can't wait for the one time that a yellow goes our way. It seems super-tough to get luck for the No. 26 lately. I missed the yellow that Graham Rahal got by about five seconds and he wound up third. That would have kept us on the lead lap, and it could have gotten interesting, but hey, what are you gonna do? Keep driving hard is the only way.

You could say we're getting used to the bad luck, but it still hurts every time. That crash in practice at Iowa was weird. The team thinks it was failure of either the rear wing or a left-front pushrod. All we can see in the data is that whatever happened, I actually gained speed and gained center of pressure so all the aero went on the front. It was like the rear wing collapsed – But the mysterious bit is that, even after the hit, the rear wing was intact and nothing really looked out of whack. So that's why they're now thinking it was the pushrod, because the left front dropping would have had a similar effect. But we don't exactly know yet. Like I say, it's strange.

So there you see we can't even get a break in sessions that mean nothing. But when you have a run like this, you can't let it alter your performance. You need to keep working as hard as ever to get the best car possible beneath you for when the luck suddenly turns your way. You want to be ready to jump on it and maximize it. I'll be honest, it's really tough right now, with everybody looking down on me – not within the team, I must say – but in general. All we can do is keep working. I've not driven different this year than I did when I nearly won the 500, and got a win in my rookie year, so that keeps me confident in myself.

At least most people wouldn't blame me for the shunt at Indy. Oh man, that one was a bummer. That month was a lot of work, and to have it gone within a few hundred yards of the start of the race really hurt. That's gotta be one of the most frustrating things that can happen. All that preparation, your team is putting so much effort, so many hours to make that car the best it can possibly be, and then that happens. As a team, you all just feel so empty, so quick.

On the one hand I can beat myself up for not recognizing that Moraes wouldn't know I was there, but at the same time… You're in Indy cars, you'd think the guy would be aware of his surroundings, but I guess not. I didn't speak with him about it because there's nothing to be gained from it: it was an accident and we can't rewind.

A couple of races later we got a bit of a boost because we had a good run at Texas. I think the Penske and Ganassi cars had speed on me in the first half, but in the second part, when it came down to handling, I think I was one of the better ones. The long green-flag run we had, I had got up to second and I was closing on Briscoe at about a second a lap, and cut the lead from 12 seconds to about three. And then (of course, the story of our year) there was a yellow flag period, and we had the wrong gear ratios in for restarts: I was just going backward every time, so then I'd have to start passing people all over again.

And that wasn't easy. I mean, what we were saying about Richmond, you can think, OK, it's quite a narrow, very short track. But Texas Motor Speedway? We used to put on great shows for the fans there, but this year it was so tough to pass. I tell you, we really need to do something. At TMS, it was a case of losing grip behind another car, so you couldn't stay close enough to the car in front in the corners and you'd have to back out of the throttle. I think there, it could have been solved with bigger wings, or at least an aero package that gives us more downforce.

Maybe these new rules that the IRL is bringing in will be the answer. We'll see at Kentucky. But it's only a temporary fix until the new car arrives. Longer term, I think we should have bigger wings for running in traffic, but also a lot more power, so the difference between the corner apex speed and your terminal speed on the straight is much bigger. It will mean us drivers have to drive more, and that's got to be a good thing.

Before Kentucky, though, we have a decent run of road and street courses, and I think our test at Watkins Glen a couple of weeks back will be a help. Tony, Danica and myself were there for Andretti Green, and we tackled it in three different ways. I went back to a previous setup and I think we went in the right direction. A lot of the stuff we're changing makes sense, after a period of being a bit lost on road courses. That was because I think we were chasing a setup that suited Dario's style when he was with us, because he was so quick. And the fact is, we can't drive quickly in a car set up for him because our styles are so different. He's a right-foot braker and super smooth, and Tony and I are the complete opposite!

So my engineer Peter [Gibbons] is doing a really good job finding what works for me, really studying my style. That's the only way to get the best results, and let's be honest, we need them. The last win for Andretti Green was Richmond last year – 12 months ago, in other words – so we're very, very driven. AGR needs a win, and I need a win for myself.

What the Watkins Glen test taught us will be more for the race there this weekend, obviously, and also variations of it should work at Mid-Ohio and Sonoma. For the Honda Indy Toronto, we're going to bring my Long Beach setup, because as you may remember from what I wrote in a previous column, I felt really strong there on race day. I'm really looking forward to that one, now I think about it, but let's see how good we are this weekend. We'll stay positive, whatever else.

Marco

Hey, hope you’re as well and positive as I feel right now, as I’m writing this two days before the Kansas City race, third round of the IndyCar Series.

Look at the last two races and you might wonder what I’m feeling positive about. But I’ll tell you here and now that the result in Long Beach was not a fluke, not just getting a break with the full course cautions. There was real progress. I’ll agree that it took a lucky break for us to get into a position to show our pace. But look at the data, and you’ll see that we were one of the quickest cars out there – and that was a place where I thought it might be super-tough for me to perform. I’d never been there before and, as any driver will tell you, it’s a circuit that requires you to build confidence – and that confidence can only come from knowledge.

It was a good feeling coming away from Long Beach having performed well and with a sixth place to show for our efforts with the No.26 AFS Andretti Green Racing entry. It feels like I have some good momentum heading into a long stretch of races on circuits where I had already expected to do well. I think my engineer Pete Gibbons and myself have nailed down what the problems were during qualifying at St. Petersburg and Long Beach. And the weird thing is, I’d say it was the struggles we had in qualifying in last week that benefited us.

I better explain that comment. At Long Beach, the way I looked at it was that we could have tuned a not-so-good car into a mid-grid car, and got 11th, where my teammate Tony Kanaan qualified. But we were at a point where we were far-off enough that we just tried lots of difference concepts, quite radical adjustments and by race time we had hit on something. I don’t think we’d have found that if we’d been doing just the small changes.

Obviously by the time we sorted ourselves out, the damage was done and I was struggling up from near the back, but now I have really high hopes for the street courses for the remainder of the season. I am so glad we approached it like that. The field is so tight this year, we need to make those kind of jumps.

Compared to Tony, we were only out by a little in each corner at Long Beach, but obviously that adds up. Once we have a car that suits me, all of a sudden the little bit that I’m down at each turn becomes a little bit that I’m ahead. Small gains can push you a long way forward. Working with my race engineer Pete Gibbons is going well, and we’ve made good strides towards finding setups that suit my particular style. That’s the goal for every engineer/driver combo, and it’s a case of so far, so good. I know we’re gonna have a lot of good cars this year.

You know, even in practice at St. Petersburg we were second or fourth in practice, and then we made just one change and bam! We’re out of it. The IndyCar Series is super-competitive, and we need to put an emphasis on getting it right first time for qualifying.

I’m enjoying one of the IndyCar Series’ new changes for this year, which is switching between Firestone’s prime and alternate tires. It really does mix it up, and gives you more options. Some people set the car up to be at its best on the reds [soft compound], others for the blacks and each can end up struggling on the other compound. I welcome that. In the past, my driving style has been pretty hard on rear tires, but I think one thing that helped me reduce that trend in the off-season has been racing in the A1 GP series.

That A1 car’s front tires are so dominating the rears that I was forced into learning how to really baby the back end of the car, to make them last for the race. That was huge for me, and improved my discipline as far as throttle application was concerned. I’m a lot less aggressive. I’m still keeping my style, but trying to be a bit smoother. And so far it seems to have worked: I was able to run the whole race on reds in Long Beach, when you’d have been expecting them to burn off, and we were still pretty quick.

Speaking of A1 GP, the decision has been taken to not do any more races in that series this year. We decided that we need to keep my schedule sensible. Before, we were just looking at the series as giving me mileage during the IndyCar off-season, but it’s not the off-season any more, and I really need to stay focused on the task at hand. I was all for going over there because, frankly, I’d be happy to drive a racecar every day. But my team and I believe we’re going to be in the running for the IndyCar Series championship, and I can’t afford to wear myself down right before Indy. We can’t take our eyes off our main focus, and doing A1 would have meant something like 13 straight weekends of racing and therefore 13 or 14 weeks of travel, including testing and so on.

So the team just wants me to go to Miami and sit on the beach, work out, and forget about racing between IndyCar races. Sure, we’re race drivers, we’re ambitious, and we’re always trying to make gains so it’s pretty impossible to do. But at least we can try and distract ourselves.

I think I said in my previous column that your reputation to the outside world can swing backward and forward so quick, and so I’m not really listening to people who have been bad-mouthing me this year; they’re gonna keep saying what they want to, whatever, and nothing I say will change that. My only answer will be to perform well on the race track, which is what you’ll be seeing me do.

We’re now eighth in the championship only 39 points off the lead. Considering where we qualified for the last two races, that’s closer than I might have expected. I’d say my goal would be to lead the championship after Indy. Looking ahead, I’d say this weekend a podium is definitely possible, and taking that momentum into Indy, we’ll be able to focus on the biggest race in the world. If we win that, we’ll come out of there with the points lead.

The Indy 500 is like a championship in itself during the month of May, and that’s a big reason why my team wants me to keep out of the cockpit of other cars and get some down time, clear my head. It’s a stressful month, but I can’t wait to get there.

So hello, welcome to RACER.com, and thanks for your interest in my column. If you’re not a fan, then I hope to convert you over the course of the season. If you are a fan, well… I hope we don’t give you as bumpy a ride as you suffered the last couple of years.

This will be my fourth year in the IndyCar Series, and I haven’t been this excited in my whole career, going into a race season. That being said, it’s not secret that these are tough economic times and marketing budgets are one of the first things to go when an economic crisis hits. Finding a sponsor in this environment is hard.

I consider myself very lucky to be with a team that still has good corporate support and knows how to manage sponsors during tough times like we have now. These days I see the bigger picture, and I know I have to work my butt off in sponsor appearances, because the equation is really simple: money we get from our partners decides how fast we’re gonna go. I’ve got to be happy with the teammates that I have – Tony Kanaan, Danica Patrick and Hideki Mutoh – that they can help attract those kind of sponsors.

But this year, we’ve got to get prize money, too, and I think I’ve got the things and the people I need right behind me. Having strategist Kyle Moyer back is definitely a positive, and so’s working with engineer Pete Gibbons, who worked with Dad when he was racing. Eddie Jones, my previous engineer, is going to be pushing Danica to a new level and Pete’s going to push me to a new level, so it should be great.

The problem about being excited about the season is that I’m impatient to get going. It’s hard to believe but I assure you it’s true: Until Spring Training at Homestead, I hadn’t driven the Indy car since the last round of ’08. What I have done, though, is race in the A1GP series. Those cars are so different from what I know. We’re still way down the learning curve regarding what we need mechanically to make them work. Obviously Team USA is Andretti Green Racing now, and we have a load of talent, but we haven’t yet got the hang of it compared to the other teams with A1GP experience.

I know they’re new cars this year but the tires’ behavior is the biggest difference compared to our Indy cars. But doing A1 is good for me because in the winter when all the other IndyCar drivers are working out in the gym, I’m working the muscles I need use, and I’m keeping fresh and race-ready. You could be in the best shape of your life, but if you haven’t driven a racecar for four months, then you’re gonna be breathing heavy just from nerves. So learning to drive a car that’s less than perfect is really good for me. But I realize we can’t just use the A1 races as test sessions or for my own fitness. We need to perform because people are watching.

We have a clearer direction on what we need from the Indy car. I think we were losing out to the Penske and Ganassi cars mostly on the road courses and the four of us should not be getting beat on road courses, certainly not to the extent that we are. I have loads of respect for the other talent out there, drivers and teams, but there’s no way we should be where we are. In my rookie year I was supposed to be The Man on the road courses and afraid of the ovals. But now people are saying the opposite.

It’s really hard, though, because we’re working with tiny, tiny margins now. The Dallara-Honda is developed. You can look at speed discrepancies on charts and it might look big, but it’s really not. Also, it’s not just one answer that we’re looking for to get up with Ganassi and Penske. It’s a bunch of little things.

AGR absolutely has the capability of catching back up, no question. We’ve been on top before. That’s just the way it goes. When you’re on the top, it’s the hardest thing in the world to stay there, but when you’re not on top, it’s the hardest thing to catch back up. Well, that’s what we’re trying to do.

And we’re all trying to do it, as a team. It’s a lot more than just getting in the car and driving. That’s probably the main thing I’ve learned since my rookie year in ’06. That year, if we were slow on a superspeedway, I’d be like, “You’re the engineer, you make it go faster.” Now, I try and figure out every little detail, because as a driver I can help.

It’s not like we’re so far off, either. We led a lot of different races last year, no matter what type of track, and led properly too – not through pit stop sequences or anything like that. But we need consistency and we need finishes, week in, week out, like Scott Dixon. You look at the last two years, and the first- and second-placed finishers in the championship averaged second place. Seriously. That’s just unbelievable!

Given that, I think there may have to be an alteration in my philosophy in the races, too. My job is to maximize what the car can do. If the car’s a second-place car, and I can’t win the race, second is where I need to finish, rather than pushing for that extra bit and ending up in the wall: that’s not the way to win championships. That’s going to be my goal: to do everything that the car can do, and to enjoy myself. That’s the way as a driver we do our best work. If we get the consistency, I really see myself competing with Dixon every single weekend. That’s what we have to do.

The first few races will be interesting because we’ll find out how the guys that used to be in Champ Car have progressed, now that they’ve had a season and an off-season to get themselves together. There is a lot of talent out there, and if they get a grip of the ovals, then it’s going to be tough getting a championship for sure; but if we get it across all the tracks, week in, week out, we will put ourselves in contention for the title as soon as this season.

Longer term, I still see Formula 1 as my ultimate goal. In an ideal world, we could win the big races over here, maybe a title, and then something might present itself. But it’s not something you can really force. The deciding factors are whether it’s the right time, whether they really want you, who your teammate is, and whether the car’s competitive. Forget the pay; it’s gotta be a car that’s competitive. We need to go over there and do well because they don’t look at Americans with a lot of respect right now, so we need to get the job done, if you know what I mean. A lot has to happen, but I’m willing to do whatever it takes, that’s for sure.