Strict immigration requirements to enter Canada have changed the face of the paddock, as notable absences across the field have come as a result of the country’s mandate to inoculate visitors for COVID-19. It means that, in many cases, new faces will be brought into action on the timing stands and during the pit stops on Sunday, which could add some unexpected wrinkles to the show as 25 drivers battle it out for 85 laps around its tough circuit. road. “Yeah, I’d say we’ve got maybe eight or nine guys total, but the meat of the team is intact,” Graham Rahal told RACER of the three-car Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing team. “I just got past someone who’s sweeping the lockers in the trailer that I’ve never seen before, but overall, we’re good to go. “There’s a lot of different guys filling in to help, which is good, but it’s a variable this weekend and we don’t blame anyone who can’t be here… I know they feel really bad about it, but everyone’s coming together and getting on with the job ». Ed Carpenter Racing team president Tim Broyles says the recent addition of a part-time series entry for Paretta Autosport has worked in ECR’s favor for Toronto. With Paretta’s Simona De Silvestro scheduled to return in August, the crew that recently owned the No. 16 Chevy was ready to switch to the Nos. 20 and 21 Chevys and keep Conor Daly and Rinus VeeKay moving without interruption . “We knew what we had to deal with – who couldn’t go – and we had a lot of time to plan for it, so nobody was caught off guard,” he added. “What’s helped is having some of those guys actively making pitstops in a third entry for us who have a drill and can jump right in to support our drivers this weekend. “Going from three to two cars for this event made it easier for us versus Andretti, probably, who always runs four cars, and if they’re under a bunch of guys, it’s probably harder for them to pull people. We always have our spares guys train in the pit stops all the time and they can step in different positions, as if they were an assistant. We have guys that we feel … can step in and we’re not going to ignore.” With an exclusive IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship program running alongside the IndyCar effort, Meyer Shank Racing has the same ability as Chip Ganassi Racing, Team Penske and RLL, to draw from a broader personnel base for any short-term needs such as the one found . in Toronto. “I just didn’t know what to expect with this new world we’re living in and the curveball at the border, so we decided to be a little more proactive with it and having the IMSA program really gave us some flexibility,” Shank said. . “If we ended up needing a bunch of people in our case, we had options available, but we were really lucky. “We were only here for the IMSA race at Mosport, and from both teams and both races, we only had one person lose. I can tell you this – two of my guys at IMSA did IndyCar pit stops all week before this in case we had problems coming to the border and needed to call back to get them here.” Rahal will have a new fuel in his No. 15 Honda for the event, and there are plenty of other drivers who will have a new person or two come through the wall to service their cars in Canada. Fortunately, the RLL team captain says the high state of training and preparation throughout the series is where he and his opponents should find comfort on Sunday. “Our team does pitstop practice with everybody, so not just the No. 15, 30 and 45 crews, but we always have the guys who work in the shop do practice with my coach and our pitstop coach with the idea that if someone goes down, we have backups,” Rahal said. “I think you’ll find most of the teams here are the same way, so it might not all be the same people doing the stops together every weekend, but they’ve trained together doing them in the shop. I know nerves and all those things can come into play at any time, but I feel like we’re pretty prepared.”
