Last weekend was (on paper) one of the most interesting race weekends in quite a while.  The NTT IndyCar Series paired with the Xfinity Series for the first-ever INDYCAR-NASCAR doubleheader.  A simply delicious doubleheader for race fans.

In recent years, the now-GMR Grand Prix (GMR stands for Global Medical Response) would normally be the first INDYCAR race on over-the-air television.  That is not the case this year as the NTT IndyCar Series season opener, the Genesys 300, aired on NBC back on June 6.

Regardless, you had a pretty big race on tap.  NBC went all out, bringing in Mike Tirico for the weekend.  These days, Tirico is more or less the voice of NBC Sports, replacing Bob Costas.  If he’s there, he’s supposed to bring a bit of gravitas to the proceedings.

While Tirico is not necessarily the most knowledgeable about motorsports, his role doesn’t require him to be.  In this case, he had only two on-air tasks.  One was to simply introduce the broadcast.  The man’s been on television for over 25 years, so that’s nothing for him.  His other task was to spend time on the pagoda with Dale Jarrett and talk about the atmosphere (with Rutledge Wood chiming in).  The idea here is that NBC likely thought that there was going to be a lot of carryover between the INDYCAR and NASCAR audiences Saturday.  I guess there was quite a bit.  Although the Xfinity race outrated the INDYCAR event, the audience difference was not that great.  That didn’t mean that it didn’t come off as stilted.

Saturday was not the first time that Tirico’s served in such a role at a race for NBC.  He’s previously covered Ford Championship Weekend in Homestead.  I was there and saw him around the Media Center all that weekend.

Given the actual schedule Saturday, there was no real pre-race coverage.  Tirico’s introduction led directly into the command to start engines.  If you wanted a real idea as to who was going to be strong on Saturday, you would have had to do some extra work.  That could have been done either by watching qualifying Friday on NBCSN, watching the morning warm-up that aired on NBC Sports Gold, or by reading some articles.  We’ve got some that can help you out.

Unlike with NASCAR, NBC’s on-air commentators (Leigh Diffey, the very busy Townsend Bell and Paul Tracy) were on-site in the Pagoda at the track.  While it was never specifically stated, it appears that Diffey was on a separate floor of the building from Bell and Tracy.

This was a change from the setup that NBC had in Texas, where the three were all in the same room, but separated from each other.  To a certain extent, it does cut down on some of the usual banter between the three, which isn’t exactly a good thing.

Speaking of Bell, Saturday was a doubleheader for him as well.  As soon as the race ended, he hightailed it to the airport in order to fly to Florida so that he could be compete in the WeatherTech 240 at Daytona.  That ended up being quite the adventure with a diversion and a high-speed ride with Jimmy Vasser from Jacksonville to Daytona Beach.  He’s probably the only person happy that the IMSA race in Daytona was delayed due to lightning.

Much like Sunday’s Big Machine Hand Sanitizer 400 at the Brickyard Powered by Big Machine Records, it was very hot during the race.  Getting fluids at a reasonable temperature into the drivers was a problem.  The in-car camera in Colton Herta’s car revealed on Lap 24 that his drink hose came off his helmet, rendering him unable to drink.  Turns out that this was because his drink bottle broke in half (that’s a new one).  Other drivers actually dumped some of the onboard drinking fluids because they were literally as hot as the cockpit itself.  With in-car temperatures hovering in the 120-130 degree range Saturday afternoon, that’s no picnic.  Even winner Scott Dixon was not immune as the hose from his Koolbox came out of his helmet during the race.  The team couldn’t get it back in, meaning that Dixon roasted his way to victory.

Since then, some rule changes have been made to alleviate the cockpit heat.  RACER is reporting that INDYCAR will move the drinking fluid reservoirs starting this weekend to make for a cooler fluid for drivers to consume.  They're also investigating additional ways to circulate air in the cockpit.

You would think that tire wear would be easier to notice in INDYCAR as compared to NASCAR due to the open wheels?  Not necessarily.  A few drivers did have a telltale black stripe going around their tire like you see from time to time in Formula 1 (most notably Patricio O’Ward), but otherwise not so much.  What did show up were the lap times.  There were multiple seconds of pace between fresh tires and worn tires.

As compared to what we saw Sunday during the Cup race, there was a good amount of racing to be had.  Despite only one caution in the entire 80-lap race, there was still a decent amount of racing for position to be had.  Yes, Dixon won by nearly 20 seconds, but that lead really only got big after the final pit stops.  Basically, he won the race by putting down four or five laps that were literally two to three seconds faster than Graham Rahal.

Still not a fan of the whole zoom in on the flag stand thing at the finish that’s just an Indianapolis thing.  I don’t care if it’s traditional or not, it’s just not cool.  If there was a race to the line for the win, a good number of viewers might miss out on who won.  It’s been a thing for something like 35 years and it’s gone on long enough.  I have no doubt that I’ve written about it in the past.  You’d think that it would have gone away permanently when ABC left INDYCAR, but no.

Despite the race having only one caution, there was very little post-race programming.  Viewers got an interview with Scott Dixon in the revamped victory lane and a check of the unofficial results.  Given that the race actually ended pretty close to 2 p.m., there was an US Bank NBC Sports Report where INDYCAR/Penske Entertainment Corp. CEO Mark Miles joined Tirico and Jarrett on the pagoda to talk about the race weekend in Indianapolis.  In addition, Miles talked about the Race for Equality & Change, INDYCAR’s new effort to support diversity and inclusive in the industry.  Once that was complete, it was onto Countdown to Green for the Pennzoil 150 at the Brickyard.

Overall, this was a relatively quick race in almost every way for those of us who watched at home.  It was anything but for the 26 drivers in the race.  Yes, Dixon kicked butt, but it was enjoyable to watch.  You had good racing.  NBC is not bound here to only show the very front like it can be in NASCAR.  The dudes on the NASCAR side of the fence should watch some INDYCAR races in order to better cover spread out NASCAR races.

Phil Allaway is the Frontstretch newsletter manager. He can be reached at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com.