Category: NTT Indy

LEXINGTON, Ohio (Saturday, July 6, 2024) – The relentless pressure of Alex Palou prevailed again Saturday, as the NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship leader won the NTT P1 Award for The Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Presented by the 2025 Civic Hybrid.

Palou earned his second consecutive pole and third NTT P1 Award in the last six races this season with a top lap of 1 minute, 5.3511 seconds in the No. 10 Ridgeline Lubricants Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.

It was the sixth career pole for two-time and defending series champion Palou, whose two race victories this season have come from the top spot, on May 11 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course and June 23 at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. He also won the non-points exhibition race from the pole in March at The Thermal Club.

“It was huge,” Palou said. “We knew we had a really fast car. We also knew we were at a disadvantage with the 5 (Pato O’Ward) with the tires because he did one lap less in the Fast 12, and we didn’t want to risk it. The car has been awesome.”

Pato O’Ward qualified second at 1:05.3535 in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, his best qualifying effort of the season, after leading practice Saturday morning. O’Ward fell just .0024 of a second short of Palou, the closest margin between the top two drivers in the Firestone Fast Six since INDYCAR introduced this format for road and street course qualifying in 2005.

“There’s always more, right?” O’Ward said. “That was a really clean lap, though. I thought we had it, but when I came over the line and I heard (pole) was a 35 and I saw 36 on the dash, I was like, “Urrgh.” The car has been really strong from the start. I told the guys this is the strongest car that we’ve had all year in a race weekend. I’m really excited for tomorrow.”

Live coverage of the 80-lap race starts at 1:30 p.m. ET Sunday on NBC, Peacock and the INDYCAR Radio Network. A 30-minute warmup session precedes the race at 10:25 a.m. (Peacock, INDYCAR Radio Network).

David Malukas continued his remarkable rebound from preseason wrist surgery to qualify third at 1:05.6509 in the No. 66 AutoNation/Arctic Wolf Honda fielded by Meyer Shank Racing. Malukas tied his career-best qualifying spot in just his second start this season, and this was his best-ever performance in road and street course qualifying.

Colton Herta will join Malukas on Row 2 after qualifying fourth at 1:05.7653 in the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda fielded by Andretti Global with Curb-Agajanian.

Marcus Armstrong qualified fifth at 1:05.9402 in the No. 11 Root Insurance Chip Ganassi Racing Honda but will start six positions lower Sunday due to a penalty for an unapproved engine change after the team test June 27 at Iowa Speedway.

Marcus Ericsson closed out the Firestone Fast Six qualifiers at 1:05.9592 in the No. 28 Delaware Life Honda of Andretti Global.

Christian Rasmussen was the top rookie qualifier, ninth at 1:05.6911 in the No. 20 Guy Care Chevrolet of Ed Carpenter Racing. That’s a career best, as his previous top spot was 13th in early June on the streets of Detroit.

While the debut of the new hybrid unit on all engines is a major storyline this weekend, the number of heavy hitters starting from midpack or further back also is drawing headlines. Every team not only worked to understand the change in balance to its cars due to the additional weight from the hybrid unit, but the repaving of the 13-turn, 2.258-mile roller coaster of a road course also created setup challenges due to increased grip.

Series champions Will Power and Scott Dixon, Palou’s closest pursuers in the points, have a long way to go to get to the front Sunday. Six-time Mid-Ohio winner Dixon qualified 14th in the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, while 2020 Mid-Ohio winner Power qualified 16th in the No. 12 Verizon Business Team Penske Chevrolet.

The Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Presented by the 2025 Civic Hybrid Qualifying Results

LEXINGTON, Ohio – Qualifying Saturday for The Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Presented by the 2025 Civic Hybrid NTT INDYCAR SERIES event on the 2.258 mile Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, with qualifying position, car number in parentheses, driver, chassis-engine, time and speed in parentheses:

1. (10) Alex Palou, Honda, 01:05.3511 (124.387 mph)
2. (5) Pato O’Ward, Chevrolet, 01:05.3535 (124.382)
3. (66) David Malukas, Honda, 01:05.6509 (123.819)
4. (26) Colton Herta, Honda, 01:05.7653 (123.603)
5. (11) Marcus Armstrong, Honda, 01:05.9402 (123.275)
6. (28) Marcus Ericsson, Honda, 01:05.9592 (123.240)
7. (3) Scott McLaughlin, Chevrolet, 01:05.6178 (123.881)
8. (7) Alexander Rossi, Chevrolet, 01:05.6427 (123.834)
9. (20) Christian Rasmussen, Chevrolet, 01:05.6911 (123.743)
10. (45) Christian Lundgaard, Honda, 01:05.7705 (123.593)
11. (8) Linus Lundqvist, Honda, 01:05.7805 (123.575)
12. (77) Romain Grosjean, Chevrolet, 01:05.7822 (123.571)
13. (60) Felix Rosenqvist, Honda, 01:05.6921 (123.741)
14. (9) Scott Dixon, Honda, 01:05.8562 (123.433)
15. (27) Kyle Kirkwood, Honda, 01:05.7147 (123.698)
16. (12) Will Power, Chevrolet, 01:05.9654 (123.228)
17. (6) Nolan Siegel, Chevrolet, 01:05.7679 (123.598)
18. (2) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 01:05.9857 (123.190)
19. (15) Graham Rahal, Honda, 01:05.8508 (123.443)
20. (21) Rinus VeeKay, Chevrolet, 01:06.0252 (123.117)
21. (14) Santino Ferrucci, Chevrolet, 01:05.9414 (123.273)
22. (78) Agustin Canapino, Chevrolet, 01:06.0550 (123.061)
23. (30) Pietro Fittipaldi, Honda, 01:06.0973 (122.982)
24. (4) Kyffin Simpson, Honda, 01:06.1034 (122.971)
25. (51) Toby Sowery, Honda, 01:08.2499 (119.103)
26. (41) Sting Ray Robb, Chevrolet, 01:06.6894 (121.890)
27. (18) Jack Harvey, Honda, 01:06.9614 (121.395)a

LEXINGTON, Ohio. (July 6, 2024) – The ABEL Motorsports trio managed varying conditions, a constantly changing track and a rapidly updating information database after a recent repave reset the game for the INDY NXT by Firestone field this weekend at the Mid-Ohio Sport Car Course.

At the end of qualifying, Jacob Abel – second in the series point standings – was set to start third, with YuvenSundaramoorthy 15th and Jordan Missig 16th in Sunday’s INDY NXT by Firestone Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio.

All three drivers have a great deal of experience at Mid-Ohio, with Abel (No. 51 ABEL Construction), Sundaramoorthy (No. 22 S Team Motorsports) and Missig (No. 21 ABEL Motorsports) tallying 61 races between them. But that experience all but went out the window this weekend, as the track’s off-season repaving reset teams’ information databases. That gave the ABEL team two practice sessions to figure out setup and get ready for qualifying.

As is typical for a Midwest summer weekend, the pair of practice sessions saw completely different weather conditions. Friday afternoon was warm, cloudy and threatening rain as all three drivers worked on setup, posting top times early but fighting for rear grip late over Mid-Ohio’s 2.258-mile, 13-turn natural terrain road course.

Saturday morning’s session was sunny and cool, as Abel once again shot to the top of the speed charts, with Sundaramoorthy close behind and Missig just two-tenths back. All three drivers pitted for new tires with 13 minutes remaining in the 40-minute session, but a late red flag limited them to one flyer lap at the end of the session. At the checkered flag, combined session times put Abel P3, Missig P15 and Sundaramoorthy P16.

Missig took the green flag in the first of two 15-minute qualifying sessions, with Abel and Sundaramoorthy both in group two. Points leader Louis Foster set the quick time in group one, but Abel aimed for that speed and better, posting the early quick time. Quicker each lap, Abel’s predictive times were quickest on three separate laps but he could not put that perfect lap together, as 11 of the 19 drivers beat the existing track record. Missig was happy with the setup but found himself missing that last bit of pace, while Sundaramoorthy continued to look for grip.
When the final grid was set, Abel was set to start third in Sunday’s 35-lap race, with Sundaramoorthy 15th and Missig 16th – with the entire field separated by just over one second.

“We made a lot of changes to the car in the two practice sessions, and we’ve made a lot of progress,” said Abel. “The track changed a lot through those sessions, and then again in qualifying, it kind of came to us. We missed pole, just barely, but it’s super close, super competitive in this series. I know we could have gotten pole, I just had to work pretty hard to do it and unfortunately, I just didn’t put everything together there in the end. But we’ll be in a good spot at the start, on the inside, and I’m looking forward to that. It’s always a quick start here, so it’s going to be interesting.”

“The car was great,” said Sundaramoorthy. “The team obviously put together a great car, with Jacob P3, but I just didn’t have it. We need to go back and look at the data and try to put it all together. We know it’s going to be difficult, since this track is known to be rough on passing, but we’ll do the best we can. As far as the new pavement goes, I like it – I think it drives well, I just need to be faster.”

“I just don’t have the base,” said Missig. “The biggest thing right now is just trying to figure out where we’re losing the time in the critical corners and trying to work on that. The car I feel like is there and obviously we’re pretty close on times, and you see where Jacob is, so it’s just a matter of trusting the car, and putting the power down and everything and that’s one of the biggest issues. And yes, we’re re-learning the track after the repave, but at the end of the day, everyone’s on the exact same track, on the exact same tire, so we’ll go back and look at that now.”

ABEL Motorsports thanks partners ABEL Construction Company, Advance Ready Mix, Boyd Cat®, S Team Motorsports, Quest Global and OMP for their continued support.

The INDY NXT by Firestone Grand Prix at Mid-Ohio takes the green flag Sunday, July 7 at 11:15 a.m. ET. The race will be streamed live in the U.S. on Peacock, while international viewers can watch via INDYCARLIVE, with INDYCAR Radio available at indycar.com and on Sirius XM.

LEXINGTON, Ohio (Saturday, July 6, 2024) – Caio Collet is poised for a breakthrough weekend in INDY NXT by Firestone at the Grand Prix at Mid-Ohio on Saturday after earning his first career pole with a track-record lap.

Brazilian rookie Collet took the top spot with a lap of 1 minute, 10.2879 seconds in the No. 18 HMD Motorsports car. That lap on the repaved, 13-turn, 2.258-mile Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course easily scaled the INDY NXT track record of 1:10.8079 set by Oliver Askew in July 2019.

Collet’s previous-best start was second, four times this season. He will aim for his first career win in the INDYCAR development series in the 35-lap race on Sunday (11:15 a.m. ET, Peacock, INDYCAR Radio Network). It could be a safe bet, as the Brazilian has led both practices and won the pole this weekend.

“I was a little nervous at the beginning of this session,” Collet said. “I’ve had a really good car since Friday, and I knew if I put together a lap, we would be up there.

“In the beginning, I just struggled a little bit. I think I was overpushing a bit. I took a step back and down and did a lap. Big thanks to HMD. The car has been on fire since Friday.”

Championship leader Louis Foster, who has won four of the last five races, qualified second at 1:10.3072 in the No. 26 Copart/Novara Technologies car of Andretti Global.

Jacob Abel, second in points, qualified third at 1:10.3890 in the No. 51 Abel Construction machine fielded by Abel Motorsports. Rookie Callum Hedge will join him on the second row after qualifying fourth at 1:10.6302 in the No. 17 HMD Motorsports entry.

Reece Gold qualified fifth at 1:10.4608 in the No. 10 HMD Motorsports car. Christian Brooks continued the strong start to his INDY NXT by Firestone career by qualifying sixth at 1:10.6760 for just his third career race in the No. 39 HMD Motorsports entry.

The smooth pavement and ideal weather helped times to plummet at Mid-Ohio. The top nine qualifiers each dipped under Askew’s track record.

Collet, third in the standings, knows a breakthrough win Sunday will do more than boost his resume. It also would close the gap to Foster and Abel. Collet trails leader Foster by 84 points and Abel by 49 with six races to go.

“Louis has been quite quick,” Collet said. “We know that he’s quite strong. But I think this weekend, we’ve been a little step ahead. Let’s see if we can win the race. I’m really looking forward. We have such a great car.”

CHEVROLET IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES
HONDA INDY 200 AT MID-HIO
MID-OHIO SPORTS CAR COURSE
LEXINGTON, OHIO
TEAM CHEVY PRACTICE ONE
JULY 5, 2024

ALEXANDER ROSSI LEADS TEAM CHEVY IN FIRST PRACTICE SESSION AT MID-OHIO SPORTS CAR COURSE IN DEBUT OF HYBRID POWER UNIT

• Alexander Rossi, No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, posted the second quickest time in the final order of practice one at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course to lead Team Chevy in the debut of the hybrid power unit
• Despite the session being slowed by rain, drivers got laps utilizing the hybrid system
• No issues were reported throughout the session
• Team Chevy finished the one hour, 15-minute practice session with Rossi, then Scott McLaughlin, No. 3 Sonsio Team Penske Chevrolet, Pato O’Ward. No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet finishing fifth and seventh respectively, followed by Team Penske’s No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet driven by Will Power in 10th.
• The 80-lap, 180.64-mile Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio kicks off with first practice Friday, July 5 at 3:20 p.m. ET. Saturday sees second practice at 10:50 a.m., with qualifying and the Firestone Fast Six following at 3 p.m. ET. Race day starts with warm up at 10:25 a.m. ET, and the race takes the green flag at 1:30 p.m. ET on NBC. All practice and qualifying sessions broadcast with Peacock, INDYCAR Radio, and SiriusXM Channel 218.

TEAM CHEVY TOP-10 PRACTICE RESULT:
Pos. Driver
2nd Alexander Rossi (1:07.5093)
5th Scott McLaughlin (1:07.6827
7th Pato O’Ward (1:07.8407)
10th Will Power (1:08.1458)

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING (QUOTES)

Pato O’Ward, No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet:

“We didn’t turn a lot of laps today in Practice 1. I’m just glad we were able to get one solid lap in to analyze some data. We’ll work tonight to see what we need to improve on for tomorrow.”

Nolan Siegel, No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet:

“We’re off to a solid start this weekend. The session got cut short because of the rain and we didn’t get all the running in that we wanted to, which was tough. I thought we rolled off pretty strong, though; that was the strongest session we’ve had together. The No. 6 NTT DATA Arrow McLaren Chevrolet team is making progress and getting more competitive, so we’re in a good spot moving forward.”

Alexander Rossi, No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet:

“We only got one run in because of the rain, but the car seems to be in a good window. The hybrid works as we expected, which is good. We even got a couple laps in the rainy conditions. It’s hard to really know where we’re at, but certainly the No. 7 VELO Arrow McLaren Chevrolet is in a good place to start the weekend.”

Gavin Ward, Team Principal at Arrow McLaren:

“The weather didn’t cooperate today, but everyone had to deal with that. I think we got off to a pretty good start. We learned a few things in the dry conditions and learned a little bit in the rainy conditions. I’m hoping it stays dry for the rest of the weekend here so we can get more laps in.”

Romain Grosjean, No. 77 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet:

“We are here at Mid-Ohio, but the weather didn’t help us much today.But I think we have a decent baseline. I think that is as we could hope for so some work to be done on a car but looking positve for tomorrow.”

Agustin Canapino, No. 78 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet:

“Unfortunately we have a problem today but the good thing is raining after my problem, so we have some luck with that .Tomorrow is another day so we see what happened tomorrow.”

Josef Newgarden, No. 2 Team Penske Chevrolet:

“We just didn’t see a need to take the PPG Chevy out in the rain with the forecast being dry for the weekend. Definitely wanted to get it one more run but the spin I had flat spotted the tires. Thankfully we were able to learn a bit about how the hybrid system will affect the handling. It definitely changes the balance and braking quite a bit. Then, you throw in the new pavement on top of that. I think everyone wished we could’ve had a bit more dry weather to put it through its paces today but so far everything seems good.”

Scott McLaughlin, No. 3 Team Penske Chevrolet:

“The Sonsio Chevy team had a great plan for the session to gradually work in the hybrid system. Unfortunately, the weather had other ideas for us. We got 14 laps in so that gave us something to build on for qualifying tomorrow. We have a lot of miles left to run this weekend, but everything worked great for us. No issues.”

Will Power, No. 12 Team Penske Chevrolet:

“It was nice to get out there and work on the hybrid over a race weekend. Wish we could have had more time but there wasn’t any benefit for us to go out in the rain. The weekend looks to be very clear. Definitely deployed the hybrid on the No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet and it worked pretty seamlessly. Tomorrow will be a big day.”

PATO O’WARD, NO. 5 ARROW MCLAREN CHEVROLET – End of Day Press Conference:

THE MODERATOR: Wrapping up the first day of the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio presented by the 2025 Civic Hybrid. We’ll be joined by P1 in that practice session, Alex Palou, but currently joined by Pato O’Ward, driver of the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, pole winner, NTT P1 award winner here in 2022, three top 10s here at Mid-Ohio.

Outside of the rain, which kind of put a damper on things, your thoughts on day one today?

PATO O’WARD: Yeah, obviously not ideal that it started raining there at the end. Would have liked to get a few more laps. We truly only kind of got one. Everything else was just always traffic, stack-ups, everybody trying to get clean gaps, but these tracks aren’t long enough for the 27 cars that we have. So that’s kind of been a little tough in these practice sessions.

But at least we got one in, a decent lap in, that we can kind of look over and really see what we need. I know what we need from the car, so that’s the most important thing.

THE MODERATOR: The weather looks decent the rest of the way, so practice 2 is going to be crucial it sounds like.

PATO O’WARD: Yeah, tomorrow I think practice 2 will be obviously the most important going into qualifying. I don’t expect this race to be any different to the last few years. It’s going to be a track position race, very sensitive to where you qualify, and yeah, that’s going to be the full focus tomorrow, just trying to get this car as close to the front row as we can.

Q. How does the hybrid — can you sense or feel the hybrid kicking in?

PATO O’WARD: You can feel it. You can definitely feel it when you engage the deploy. It’s obviously not as big as I think people are thinking in terms of lap time. It’s less than two tenths I would say with a perfectly optimized usage of deployment strategy.

I think the system is capable of so much more, so I would like to see that evolve into let’s really push this system and see how much it can actually give us in terms of lap time because if it gives us four, five, six tenths over the lap, I think that’s when we’ll really see it getting optimized by all the teams and just trying to perfect it as much as possible because now it won’t be as — it’ll usually overthrow a little balance difference in the car exactly.

Yeah, so far I think we’re just working through it. Obviously it’s brand new, and we just need to kind of go through the whole process, I’d say.

Q. It seems like it doesn’t even take half a lap in some cases to harvest or regenerate. Are you impressed by that, how quickly you can get back to 100 percent?

PATO O’WARD: Yeah, there’s different levels to that, and it’s very similar to — I wouldn’t say it’s similar to the Formula 1 car, but it’s the same kind of idea of, like, the braking generates the energy, it goes into the pack, and then you deploy it where you wish.

Different to us, we have to manually deploy. If you get out of sequence and you have to manually kind of regen, there’s limits to how much you can regen and limits to how much you can deploy, so there’s a lot of limits that we need to work through.

Q. Do you guys need better weathermen to try and get the red tire run in? I’m surprised nobody put the reds on earlier in the session to at least try that.

PATO O’WARD: My Arrow McLaren is base Arrow McLaren. I don’t have the radar in it, so I couldn’t tell you.

Q. I know it was only nine laps, a dozen laps or so. Was there anything that you learned about the hybrid system running out there today that was new or a surprise or anything like that, or just not enough laps to learn that much?

PATO O’WARD: Nothing we already know from the tests that we’ve done. The balance of the car has changed. I think it’s an accumulation of both the new tarmac and the 100 pounds at the rear of the car that have shuffled the mechanical balance of the car rearwards, but I think you’ll see teams and drivers get creative for the race. I think that’s where you’re going to see a massive shift in, like, effect on the tire or stuff like that.

Q. Pato, you mentioned if you time all of this perfectly, you’re maybe getting two tenths or so on your competitors, say if they weren’t using the hybrid system at all on a lap. With all the work you’re having to do in the cockpit, all the buttons, having to do everything perfect, is there a risk that by going for those two-tenths, if you don’t do it right, you could set yourself back by not doing other things on your lap as well as you might have been able to do otherwise if you weren’t messing with the hybrid?

PATO O’WARD: I’d say car balance is still a priority, but you can’t just ignore it because it’s to the point where, like, the series is so competitive in qualifying I’ve been left out of the Fast Six for half a tenth a couple times this year. If someone uses it that half a tenth better than you do, they’ll transfer and you won’t if you’re right on the throw-out line.

I think there’s a big emphasis on both ends. You’ve got to get it right if you really want to be one of the top performing cars. But I would say it definitely doesn’t outweigh trying to get a better balance for the car. I think that is definitely the priority, and this is just kind of free lap time that you can gain by optimizing it.

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LEXINGTON, Ohio (Friday, July 5, 2024) – Championship leader Alex Palou paced the opening practice for The Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Presented by the 2025 Civic Hybrid on Friday, a session in mixed weather conditions that prevented most of the field from enough track time to give the new INDYCAR hybrid system a full workout.

Two-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Palou was quickest at 1 minute, 7.0650 seconds in the No. 10 Ridgeline Lubricants Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. Palou, who leads second-place Will Power by 23 points in the standings, is a recent master at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, with a victory last July and three consecutive podium finishes dating to 2021.

“Not much running,” Palou said. “Only got I think nine laps. I think everybody wanted to get more. We didn’t really get all the learnings we wanted. Happy with the first run we got, but we’re looking forward to tomorrow.”

Two red flags in the first 50 minutes of the 90-minute session reduced early track time. Then the arrival of intensifying rain with about 26 minutes left divided the session into two distinct parts.

All 27 drivers circulated early on the freshly paved, 13-turn, 2.258-mile circuit, learning the grip limits of the smooth new asphalt and working with the hybrid system INDYCAR is introducing to all engines starting at this event. But once the rain arrived and intensified, only a handful of drivers – Pato O’Ward, Kyle Kirkwood, Colton Herta, Alexander Rossi and Felix Rosenqvist among them – switched to Firestone Firehawk rain tires and tiptoed around the wet track. Nearly every driver stayed in the pits and didn’t risk an incident, as the weather forecast looks clear for Saturday and Sunday.

Rossi ended up second at 1:07.5093 – .4493 of a second behind Palou – in the No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet. Marcus Armstrong was third at 1:07.5442 in the No. 11 Root Insurance Chip Ganassi Racing Honda before spinning off track in Turn 2 to trigger one of the two red flags in the session.

2020 Mid-Ohio winner Herta was fourth at 1:07.6346 in the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda of Andretti Global with Curb-Agajanian. Scott McLaughlin rounded out the top five at 1:07.6827 in the No. 3 Sonsio Team Penske Chevrolet.

Among the closest pursuers to Palou in points, Power ended up 10th at 1:08.1458 in the No. 12 Verizon Business Team Penske Chevrolet, and third place Scott Dixon was 19th at 1:08.4384 in the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.

Up next is a one-hour practice starting at 10:50 a.m. ET Saturday, followed by NTT P1 Award qualifying at 3 p.m. ET. Peacock and the INDYCAR Radio Network will broadcast both sessions, which Palou said will have even greater importance due to the limited laps turned today.

“I think everybody with the hybrid system wants to get reads on all the stages and also get the car where we want because with the repave, everything changed quite a lot,” Palou said. “It’s going to be exciting tomorrow.”

Live coverage of the 80-lap race starts at 1:30 p.m. ET Sunday on NBC, Peacock and the INDYCAR Radio Network.

LEXINGTON, Ohio (Friday, July 5, 2024) – The INDY NXT by Firestone standings indicate it might be a two-driver race for the 2024 title between Louis Foster and Jacob Abel, but Caio Collet clearly had different ideas Friday in the first practice for the Grand Prix at Mid-Ohio.

Brazilian rookie Collet led with a best lap of 1 minute, 11.4390 seconds in the No. 18 HMD Motorsports car on the 13-turn, 2.258-mile Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, which was recently repaved. Collet is third in the series standings with six races remaining, 84 points behind leader Foster and 49 points behind second-place Abel.

“This is the first weekend that we started quite well like that,” Collet said. “I think we always have been starting a little bit on the back foot comparing to Louis, and then we just play a little bit of catch-up during the weekend.

“I think we put in the work after Laguna. This is a track that we tested. I knew a little bit where to turn. So, that was quite nice. The car felt really, really good throughout the whole session, and hopefully we can keep going like this tomorrow.”

Rookie Christian Brooks, making just his third INDY NXT start, ended up second at 1:11.6864 in the No. 39 HMD Motorsports car recently vacated by Nolan Siegel after his promotion to Arrow McLaren in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES. Brooks is doing double duty this weekend, also competing in the USF Pro 2000 event at Mid-Ohio.

Foster was third at 1:11.6920 in the No. 26 Copart/Novara Technologies car of Andretti Global, followed by Reece Gold in the No. 10 HMD Motorsports car at 1:11.8076.

Abel rounded out the top five in the 45-minute session, which started in very light rain, at 1:11.8818 in the No. 51 Abel Construction car fielded by Abel Motorsports.

While Collet was more than two-tenths of a second quicker than Brooks, just slightly more than three-tenths separated Brooks from the eighth-quickest driver, Myles Rowe in the No. 99 HMD Motorsports with Force Indy machine.

Up next is the second practice at 9:40 a.m. ET Saturday, followed by qualifying at 2:05 p.m. INDYCAR LIVE and the INDYCAR Radio Network will broadcast both sessions live.

Live coverage of the 35-lap race starts at 11:15 a.m. ET Sunday on Peacock and the INDYCAR Radio Network.

CHEVROLET IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES
HONDA INDY 200 AT MID-HIO
MID-OHIO SPORTS CAR COURSE
LEXINGTON, OHIO
TEAM CHEVY RACE ADVANCE
JULY 5-7, 2024

TEAM CHEVY READY TO TAKE ON NEW OPPORTUNITY AT MID-OHIO WITH THE DEBUT OF THE INDYCAR HYBRID POWER UNIT

DETROIT (July 3, 2024) – The ninth round of the 2024 NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship sees the dawn of a new era with the introduction of hybrid technology to competition. Team Chevy looks to Mid-Ohio with the new technology that creates a new tool for drivers to utilize as they compete toward capturing the seventh win at the 13-turn, 2.258-mile natural terrain road course.

On road and street courses, Chevrolet NTT INDYCAR SERIES drivers will benefit from the improved drive through and off corners with the new hybrid technology, setting up and executing overtake in the corners with regeneration to the Chevrolet 2.2-liter V6 engine.

The 14th event at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course near Lexington, Ohio since the introduction of the 2.2-liter twin-turbo V6 engine in 2012, Chevrolet has captured the win six times in the past and looks to this weekend to secure the first with the integration of hybrid technology.

“The introduction of hybrid technology provides an opportunity to integrate electrification technologies into the NTT INDYCAR SERIES,” said Eric Warren, Executive Director, GM Motorsports Competition. “During the development of any new technology, extensive analysis and testing are done to identify as many issues as possible. We support INDYCAR’s decisions throughout this process to study testing data carefully and make sure that when the hybrid technology is integrated, the operation and performance are exactly what is expected. This approach has given INDYCAR and the engine manufacturers the opportunity to ensure the high-level of competition continues un-interrupted.”

The most recent winner for Team Chevy at Mid-Ohio, Scott McLaughlin, driver of the No. 3 Team Penske Chevrolet, said “Mid-Ohio has got a lot of new things coming with the repave, with the track for the first thing, so track grip and track pace will be really high. Added to that, it’s the first time with the hybrid, so learning that, understanding what INDYCAR has given us power-wise to work with the manufacturers. I feel like I understand it really well, worked with Team Chevy a lot on this to understand it in our simulators and whatnot, but once you get out in real life, certainly it’s a little bit different. Excited to see a change in INDYCAR, a change for the future, and what a place to start at a very historic place to start at Mid-Ohio.”

Holding 10 earned NTT P1 Pole Awards, as well as 15 podium finishes and 602 laps led on the natural terrain road course, Chevrolet looks to add to the four wins, including the 108th Running of the Indianapolis 500, three earned pole awards, 11 podium finishes, and 331 laps led this season.

The 80-lap, 180.64-mile Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio kicks off with first practice on Friday, July 5 at 3:20 p.m. ET. Saturday sees the second practice at 10:50 a.m., with qualifying and the Firestone Fast Six following at 3 p.m. ET. Race day starts with warm-up at 10:25 a.m. ET, and the race takes the green flag at 1:30 p.m. ET on NBC. All practice and qualifying sessions broadcast with Peacock, INDYCAR Radio, and SiriusXM Channel 218.

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING (Quotes):

Santino Ferrucci, No. 14 AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet:

“I do like Mid-Ohio. I love it in the rain, because it’s super technical. But it’s an all right track. Very fun, very technical. I’m excited to go back to see what the repave is like. So that’ll be something new for us. As for the hybrid, it’s just another tool to have in the car for drivability and it’s helpful for me because I can adapt really well to stuff like this. I’m quite excited to have it as a tool.”

Sting Ray Robb, No. 41 AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet:

“Mid-Ohio is the first place I won at in the Road to Indy. Some of my best results have come there. I think it is because I have enjoyed the layout so much. The elevation changes, variety of corners, and unique lines make it a fun place to drive. I think Mid-O is one of the great American tracks that we need more of on the calendar. [The hybrid engine] should make passing and defending more interesting, if we are allowed to use its full capability. In a sense, it can be used like a mini-P2P (push-to-pass). The only difference is that it is pretty much a renewal resource in comparison to the overtake button. I think it will be of critical use in the race in order to stay ahead of the cars around.”

Pato O’Ward, No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet:

“I’m looking forward to the repave at Mid-Ohio. It was already a very physical race without the repave, so I think it’s going to be one of the most physical races that we’re going to have. I’m expecting that pace to come up and the setups of the car to change a little bit, so it’ll be key to get all of the little things right. It’ll be a good challenge for the drivers and the teams, but I always enjoy driving around this track.”

Nolan Siegel, No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet:

“I’m looking forward to my second race with Arrow McLaren and going into a race weekend after getting into the shop and getting to know everyone a bit more. We’ve got a test under our belt now, and I think going into the first hybrid weekend is going to be very exciting. I think it’s going to even the playing field a little bit, so hopefully I can take advantage of that.”

Alexander Rossi, No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet:

There has been a lot of noise going into the weekend, which is all a part of racing this time of year, but I’m focusing on the second half of the season and the debut of the long-awaited hybrid. We came off our best result of the year at a high-grip road course and with the recent repave at Mid-Ohio, we’re expecting to roll off the truck strong once again.”

Gavin Ward, Team Principal at Arrow McLaren:

“It’s the start of a new era this weekend in Mid-Ohio as we’ll be racing with the new hybrid powertrain for the first time. The new hybrid technology, combined with the track repave at Mid-Ohio, should make for some interesting new challenges this weekend. The team went straight from a strong race in Laguna to tests in Iowa and St. Louis. Our push to improve and grow as a team is relentless, and every time we hit the track gives us an opportunity to learn and get better while doing what we love.”

Christian Rasmussen, No. 20 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet:

“I look forward to what the Mid-Ohio race will bring this year! There will be a lot of changes this weekend with the hybrid getting introduced. It will be interesting to see how that will impact the racing. Other than that, I am excited to see what we can do! We keep getting better each weekend and I think Mid-Ohio could be a great weekend for us.”

Rinus VeeKay, No. 21 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet:

“I am very excited for racing in the middle of Ohio! It Is cool track and of course it’s the 4th of July weekend so there will be many fans! I have finished 4th there before, so let’s do something like that again and we will all be happy! We are about halfway into the season, so this should be a great turning point to getting strong results and ending the bad luck streak. We have had good road course car all year and it will not be any different in Mid-Ohio!”

Romain Grosjean, No. 77 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet:

“Exciting time with the new hybrid system coming. We will try to adapt our car to it as fast as we can and keep our recent improvement to chase some good results. Mid-Ohio is always a nice weekend and a fun track to drive.”

Agustin Canapino, No. 78 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet:

“We arrive at Mid-Ohio with good expectations due to the team’s good performance and because we were testing there, where there is new asphalt and the track changed completely. We begin to navigate the second half of the year and we will seek to continue our growth.”

Chevrolet in Mid-Ohio (since 2012, V6 era, pre-hybrid)

Wins at Mid-Ohio: 6

2014: Scott Dixon

2016: Simon Pagenaud

2017: Josef Newgarden

2020 (Race 1): Will Power

2021: Josef Newgarden

2022: Scott McLaughlin

Earned Pole Awards at Mid-Ohio: 10

2012: Will Power

2013: Ryan Hunter-Reay

2014: Sebastian Bourdais

2015: Scott Dixon

2016: Simon Pagenaud

2017: Will Power

2019: Will Power

2020 (Race 1): Will Power

2021: Josef Newgarden

2022: Pato O’Ward

Number of Team Chevy Podiums at Mid-Ohio (V6 era since 2012, pre-hybrid): 15

Number of laps led by Team Chevy at Mid-Ohio (V6 era since 2012, pre-hybird): 602

2024 CHEVROLET BY THE NUMBERS:

0: NTT INDYCAR SERIES race as V6 engine supplier with hybrid technology integration.

207: NTT INDYCAR Series races as V6 engine supplier since 2012 return to INDYCAR.

115: Wins in the NTT INDYCAR Series since 2012.

130: Earned poles since 2012. Chevrolet holds 135 pole awards in total, with five recorded based on points for weather.

8: Manufacturer Championships since 2012.

7: Driver/entrant champions since 2012.

13: Indianapolis 500 victories by Chevrolet at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

6: Indianapolis 500 wins by Chevrolet since 2012 in the V6 2.2-liter twin turbo direct injected era.

33: Number of times Chevrolet has swept the podium in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES since 2012 in the V6 2.2-liter twin turbo direct injected era. In total, a manufacturer has swept the podium 50 times since 2012 in the V6 era.

27: Wins by Will Power since 2012 – all with Chevrolet power – most of any driver with the same manufacturer.

9: Wins from the pole by Will Power with Chevrolet power since 2012, most by any driver.

46: Pole starts by Will Power since 2012 in a Chevrolet-powered car, most of any driver.

*Will Power’s career total of 70 poles makes him the all-time pole winner in INDYCAR.

About Chevrolet

Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world’s largest car brands. Chevrolet models include electric and fuel-efficient vehicles that feature engaging performance, design that makes the heart beat, passive and active safety features and easy-to-use technology, all at a value. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com.

Debut outing for Malukas saw him finish 16th after contact while running 10th

Monterey, Calif. (23 June 2024) – Meyer Shank Racing (MSR) saw an up-and-down day with finishes on an uptick as both drivers made up ground on a late restart to earn top-16 finishes in Sunday’s Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.

Felix Rosenqvist (No. 60 AutoNation / SiriusXM Honda) recovered from an early-race off-track excursion and race circumstances that scrambled his pit strategy to finish a solid 11th, narrowly missing his sixth top-10 finish on the 2024 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season.

Meanwhile, new MSR driver David Malukas (No. 66 AutoNation / Arctic Wolf Honda) showed no ill effects of his preseason injury and answered any questions about his conditioning with three late-race passes that led to a 16th-place finish.

Rosenqvist earned his first top-three qualifying result since winning the pole at Long Beach and ran at the sharp end of the grid early. The team opted to stay on the same pit strategy as the leaders, enabling Roenqvist to run in the top 10 through the first half of the 95-lap event.

Malukas started 12th but got on a different strategy early in the event and made the most of it, finding himself in the top three during pit cycles on two different occasions. The strategy call put him in the top 10 after the final stops, but a cut right front tire after contact with the No. 5 car forced a pit stop that dropped Malukas deep in the field in the waning laps.

Melee swirled throughout the 2.238-mile Laguna Seca layout over the final 20 laps however, as spins and contact caused three separate caution periods that bunched the field. Rosenqvist started 12th on the final restart with four laps to go while Malukas took the green in 19th, and each driver was able to move up over the final orbits to improve their place at the checkered flag. The 16th-place spot for Malukas was the best result for the No. 66 car since the season opener in St. Pete (15th).

The team will have a week off leading into the season’s most demanding stretch, with a run of four races in three weeks that starts with the July 7 Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio, to be run at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio.

Meyer Shank Racing Driver Quotes:

Felix Rosenqvist: “Up and down day today. I thought we started pretty well on the blacks and had a pretty ‘in control’ stint. We took the yellow and came in and then had to do some fuel save and I just didn’t have the pace. I couldn’t keep up with the guys who ended up up good on that strategy. I was struggling a bit with (brake) locking, I just felt like we got worse through the race. But we got some decent points after recovering ok at the end, I think we were 15th at one point. Disappointing day, I think we wanted more especially after that first stint but we’ll just look at everything and work on coming back stronger at Mid Ohio.”

David Malukas: “Definitely a bummer to finish where we did especially with the pace we had, I think we were tracking to be about 8th. But I guess for us to be sad about this result is ok when we really just set out to finish. I know know for me I just wanted to get across the line. But overall it was a great first outing with a new team and a new hand especially coming into MSR which has been in mid-season form. Hopefully we can just keep progressing and move onto Mid-Ohio.”

MONTEREY, Calif. (June 23, 2024) – After 35 laps of hard-fought INDY NXT by Firestone competition on the fabled WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, ABEL Motorsports driver Yuven Sundaramoorthy (No. 22 S Team Motorsports) finished fourth, with his teammate Jacob Abel (No. 51 ABEL Construction) coming home 11th after a frustrating late race penalty on Sunday.

The duo was looking to back up their solid points-paying run from Saturday, where Abel notched another podium run with a third-place result, as Sundaramoorthy capped a career-best fourth.

Abel took the green from fourth on the grid and slotted into position in the early stages of the race. When a caution came out on lap 16, which bunched up the field, Abel looked to find a way back to the podium. The restart offered little opportunity for progression, but Abel continued to stalk the third-place runner lap after lap, while also keeping as much of a reserve of both push-to-pass and Firestone tire life as he could preserve on the recently repaved circuit.

On lap 28, Abel had a strong run up the long hill that leads to the Corkscrew, making the inside move on Reese Gold going into the turn 8 section. But Gold held firm as the duo made contact atop the circuit, sending Gold briefly off track.

The incident looked to be side-to-side contact, but INDYCAR race officials were swift to ascertain that Abel owed a drive-through penalty for the incident, dropping him from podium contention to rejoin the pack 13th. He was able to recover two spots in the final laps of the race but was classified a frustrating 11th at the finish.

For teammate Sundaramoorthy, the second race marked yet more progress and confidence from the young rookie as he drove a heady race to move from sixth at the start to fourth at the finish, matching his career-best result from Saturday and adding to his continued upward trajectory in INDY NXT competition.

“I was happy with the race, and I think we got everything we could out of the car,” said Sundaramoorthy, who recently closed out his SAE engineering career with Wisconsin, earning an impressive third place result in the electric car competition. “We were on old tires and everyone around us was on new tires, but I think we were still paced in the field pretty much, so I was happy with it. I got close to Bryce Aron (in third) a couple of times, but it’s just it’s so hard with the (aero) wash here. He drove a great race; he really made no mistakes. You need a mistake here to make a move and I didn’t get anything out of him there. So overall, really happy with this weekend and very eager to get back to racing at Mid-Ohio in a couple of weeks!”

“We were way faster than Reese and in retrospect, I probably should have been a little bit more patient, but this track is impossible to pass on,” said Abel. “So I was just trying to make the move whenever I could. The move was really similar to what happened to me yesterday, and I feel like if Reese wanted to back out of it, he very easily could, but he chose to just completely turn into me. And that kind of wrecked him so I think that’s why the penalty was called, so it was very frustrating. But we will move forward, we’ve got some ground to make up now and that’s our full push – to make the most of the next few weekends here in the championship.”

ABEL Motorsports thanks partners ABEL Construction Company, Advance Ready Mix, Boyd Cat®, S Team Motorsports and OMP for their continued support.

Next up for ABEL Motorsports and the INDY NXT by Firestone Grand Prix at Mid-Ohio, Sunday, July 7 at 11:15 a.m. ET. The race will be streamed live in the U.S. on Peacock, while international viewers can watch via INDYCARLIVE, with INDYCAR Radio available at indycar.com and on Sirius XM.

About ABEL Motorsports: Team principal Bill Abel began racing motocross in 1972, earning numerous championship titles as he continued the family racing tradition. In 2015, ABEL Motorsports was launched, starting in the USF2000 series and building up the junior open wheel ladder. The team captured the inaugural Formula Regional Americas Championship with driver Kyle Kirkwood in 2018.

ABEL Motorsports currently competes in the INDY NXT by Firestone series, the official development series for the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, led by third-generation driver Jacob Abel. The team made its INDYCAR debut in 2023 with driver RC Enerson in the Indianapolis 500. For more information visit the official team website at abelmotorsports.com.

About Abel Construction Company: ABEL Construction is one of the largest general contractors in Kentucky, holding licenses in thirteen states. The company has offices in Lexington, Kentucky and Indianapolis, Indiana, with the corporate office in Louisville. Their expertise spans many areas, including general contracting, construction management, design-build, Integrated Project Delivery (IPD), and facilities maintenance.

Abel Construction has helped build some of the region’s most recognizable landmarks. Their projects cover diverse sectors, including automotive, healthcare, post-secondary education, commercial, food/beverage, tech, and industrial/manufacturing. They prioritize client satisfaction, focusing on efficient project delivery regardless of size or cost. The company’s skilled professionals utilize cutting-edge technology and software to ensure successful outcomes. abelconstruct.com/.

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