Category: NTT Indy

Twenty Drivers Give Workout to New Hybrid Unit as Debut Nears

MILWAUKEE (Tuesday, June 11, 2024) – It appears Wisconsin is Team Penske’s new playground.

Two days after sweeping the podium at Road America, Team Penske drivers Will Power, Josef Newgarden and Scott McLaughlin were the three fastest drivers, respectively, in an NTT INDYCAR SERIES Open Test at Milwaukee Mile.

Two-time series champion Power led with a lap of 161.521 mph in the No. 12 Chevrolet on the historic 1-mile oval. Two-time reigning Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge winner Newgarden followed at 160.759 in the No. 2 Chevrolet, with McLaughlin third at 160.639 in the No. 3 Chevrolet. Power won the XPEL Grand Prix at Road America presented by AMR last Sunday at Road America, followed by Newgarden and McLaughlin in Team Penske’s first podium sweep in a series event since 2017.

All 20 cars in the all-day test were equipped with the new hybrid unit that will make its competition debut Friday-Sunday, July 5-7 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and The Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio presented by the 2025 Civic Hybrid.

“You do feel it’s probably going to assist in passing,” Power said of the hybrid unit. “If you’ve got a run on someone, I think it will work.”

The hybrid units will be used during the NTT INDYCAR SERIES’ first return to this track since 2015 during the Hy-Vee Milwaukee Mile 250 doubleheader Aug. 31-Sept. 1. Power is one of two active series drivers with a win at Milwaukee; he won in 2014, while Scott Dixon won in 2009.

“It hasn’t changed much,” Power said of the famed oval. “I think those patches don’t seem to have much grip though in the middle of the corners, which is really good for passing. It’s the same track. It feels exactly like it did.

“I did really well here. It was one of my favorite ovals. I had been looking forward to coming here.”

Colton Herta was fourth in testing today at 160.137 in the No. 26 Honda fielded by Andretti Global with Curb-Agajanian. Pato O’Ward of Arrow McLaren rounded out the top five at 159.993 in his No. 5 Chevrolet.

David Malukas was eighth at 159.293 in his debut with Meyer Shank Racing in the No. 66 Honda. Malukas missed the first seven races of the season due to a wrist injury suffered in a preseason mountain biking accident. He will make his racing debut with MSR at Mid-Ohio.

Light rain delayed the test for 36 minutes late in the afternoon while teams were in the race simulation portion of the schedule, when the field was divided into two groups. The 20 drivers combined to turn 3,563 incident-free laps on the day. That’s equal to 178 laps per driver, more than half of the 250-lap distance of each of the races over Labor Day weekend.

“This was another important milestone for the INDYCAR hybrid power unit,” INDYCAR President Jay Frye said. “Chevrolet and Honda checked a lot of boxes today, and none of it could happen without the continued partnership and support of our drivers and teams. The anticipation grows, and we cannot wait to see the hybrid era begin at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in a few weeks.”

The next NTT INDYCAR SERIES event is the Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey on Sunday, June 23 at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. Live coverage starts at 6 p.m. ET on the USA Network, Peacock and the INDYCAR Radio Network.

CHEVROLET IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES
XPEL GRAND PRIX AT ROAD AMERICA
ROAD AMERICA
ELKHART LAKE, WISCONSIN
TEAM CHEVY RACE RECAP
JUNE 9, 2024

WILL POWER TAKES CHEVY TO VICTORY LANE AT ROAD AMERICA

LEADS A TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET ONE-TWO-THREE

· Team Chevy driver Will Power, No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, won today’s XPEL Grand Prix at Road America leading nine of the 55-lap race to score his 42nd career victory

· Team Penske and Chevrolet swept the podium with Josef Newgarden, No. 2 PPG Chevrolet finishing second with teammate Scott McLaughlin, No. 3 XPEL Chevrolet finishing third

· Today’s win and podium sweep put Chevrolet back in the lead of the NTT INDYCAR Series Manufacturer Point Standings and Power atop driver standings

· A total of five Chevrolet powered drivers finished in the top-eight-in addition to Power, Newgarden and McLaughlin, Romain Grojean, No. 77 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet finished seventh and Pato O’Ward, No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet finished eighth

Will Power, driving his familiar No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, led the final seven laps of today’s 55-lap XPEL Grand Prix at Road America to pickup his 42nd career victory and his second at the 4-plus mile track likened to the beauty of a national park.

The victory put Chevrolet back into the lead of the very tight battle for the NTT INDYCAR Series Manufacturer Championship, and Power into a five-point lead of the driver standings after seven of 17 races.

“What a great win today for Will Power at Road America”, said Rob Buckner, Chevrolet INDYCAR Engineering Program Manager. “He drove a great race, managing the tires perfectly! The strategy was spot-on and the No. 12 Verizon Chevy crew had excellent stops throughout the race. To score a one-two-three with our Team Penske partnerships is one of those moments we all share great pride. It was a great points day for Will, Josef and Scott as well as Chevy, but there is a lot of racing left. We will take this momentum and move on to Laguna Seca.”

After a 34-race drought since his last NTT INDYCAR Series win, Power led his two Team Penske teammates with Indianapolis 500 winner Josef Newgarden brought his No. 2 PPG Chevrolet home in second with Scott McLaughlin, No. 3 XPEL Chevrolet in third to sweep the podium. It was the first time since 2017 at Sonoma for a Penske trio to sweep the podium. The last time any team swept the podium was 2020 at Mid-Ohio.

Romain Grojean, No. 77 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet finished seventh and Pato O’Ward, No, 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet finished eighth to give Chevrolet five of the top-eight finishers.

Next on the schedule for Team Chevy in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES will be June 21-23, 2024 at Weathertech Raceway Laguna Seca, Monterey, California.

TEAM CHEVY TOP-10 RACE RESULTS:

1ST Will Power

2ND Josef Newgarden

3RD Scott McLaughlin

7TH Romain Grojean

8th Pato O’Ward

WHAT THEY ARE SAYING:

Will Power, No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, Winner:

“I’ve been digging all year. Sometimes it just works out.

Long Beach I was leading by seven seconds. If a yellow doesn’t fall there, I think we were going to have a pretty good day. A reasonable chance at Barber.

Yeah, very good strategy. Very fast cars. A lot of fun. Like, once all the yellows stopped, it was a very fast-paced race.”

Josef Newgarden, No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet, Finished 2nd:

“It was a really good team day. Really good day. I mean, 1-2-3. I don’t think we can be dissatisfied with that. Will (Power) did a great job too. He deserved to win the race as well. He drove really well today. Both things can be true, it was a great team day but I think we let that one go, for sure. That’s what’s hard about it. Our PPG Chevy was fast. Team Chevy 1-2-3, I think we can all be super proud of that. We just put together a great day, we just probably misstepped there at the end. I feel bad that I came in a lap early. I probably should have stayed out.”

YOU STILL ALMOST GOT IT. DID YOU GO INTO THE LIMITER IN ONE THERE?

“Just had a limiter hit. You just can’t keep going like that on a lap. You’re just going to get killed on the sequence. Just the undercut is not working on a day like today. That was the real miss coming in early like that.”

ALL THINGS CONSIDERED, THIS WAS A NEW CAR TODAY AFTER YESTERDAY’S WRECK…

“It was just as good. I think all our cars were really fabulous. (Scott McLaughlin) drove a great race, Will (Power) drove a great race, like I said. I think it could’ve fallen any way. I just know that we were in position there at the end, so it’s tough not to close it. Everybody worked on this racecar, the 12, the 3, the 2, so a big thank you to the entire team. That was a team effort to get that car out there, and it was just as good as the day before. That’s what you get at Team Penske, that consistency.”

Scott McLaughlin, No. 3 XPEL Team Penske Chevrolet, Finished 3rd:

“Huge team day. The XPEL Chevy was great. We led all the laps, obviously. It was a great team day. Will (Power) with a win, first win in a long time, and then Josef (Newgarden) second. I wish we could’ve ran a little bit longer and a couple of those stints. The overcut was really strong. But ultimately, this is a huge day for the team. Really proud of everyone. It’s been a hard slog over the last month-and-a-half. Big few days for the team, big month for the team. Really proud of everyone.”

JUST HOW BIG OF A DAY IS IT TO COME OUT 1-2-3 AS A TEAM?

“In this day and age, it’s amazing. We got the 1-2-3 on the front row for the Indy 500, a really proud moment for everyone. Obviously, a 1-2-3 on podium after a race is sick. I’m super stoked. We’ll take the points, move forward. A huge rebound for me since Detroit. I’m stoked for the team, stoked for Will (Power) and ready to push on.”

Romain Grosjean, No. 77 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet, Finished 7th:

“Very good day at Road America. One of the best tracks of the season, and we had one of our best races. P7 at the end, I think we could be very proud of that. Did a helluva job, and a lot learned this weekend. Excited for Laguna Seca.”

Pato O’Ward, No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, Finished 8th:

“I think we had a strong race, going from starting 18th to finish P13. Of course, we wanted a little bit more. I was lucky to avoid the crash in Turn 1 at the start. Then, I think we pitted a little bit too early and had an issue with refueling on that pit stop, so we lost a little bit of time there. The pace of the No. 6 onsemi Arrow McLaren Chevrolet was good, though; I was happy with the balance and was able to push mid-race. It’s another strong job by the team, and it’s just a matter of time before we put it all together and finish in a good position.”

Théo Pourchaire, No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, Finished 13th:

“I think we had a strong race, going from starting 18th to finish P13. Of course, we wanted a little bit more. I was lucky to avoid the crash in Turn 1 at the start. Then, I think we pitted a little bit too early and had an issue with refueling on that pit stop, so we lost a little bit of time there. The pace of the No. 6 onsemi Arrow McLaren Chevrolet was good, though; I was happy with the balance and was able to push mid-race. It’s another strong job by the team, and it’s just a matter of time before we put it all together and finish in a good position.”

Santino Ferrucci, No. 14 AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet, Finished 15th:

“Honestly really solid day, just unfortunate with the start of the race. Smokescreen…the last thing I saw was Herta was sideways and I didn’t want to go straight through and potentially hit him and kill both of our cars, so avoided through the grass. We came back, had a killer strategy with the Sexton Properties Chevrolet. On the second to last stop the car wouldn’t go into neutral for some reason, so we’re going to investigate why that is because I pressed the button and nothing happened. I think that killed our top ten run but we still managed to finish fifteenth, so happy with that.”

Sting Ray Robb, No. 41 AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet, Finished 17th:

“Another crazy IndyCar race. The start was exciting. We moved up a lot of spots on lap one which was really good. I got into it with Rosenquist there towards the beginning of the race and rightfully deserved a penalty so we went back behind him a few spots. I don’t want to race like that I want to race clean with these guys but we were pushing hard and just like normal racing I guess here in Indy car. I’m really proud of the team. We had good pace today. We went forward a lot and having the Goodheart crew here this weekend was really fun as well. I’m hoping that the next few races we will keep building momentum. But from here I think that we’re doing pretty good.”

Alexander Rossi, No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, Finished 18th:

“Today was a difficult day. We had a wiring issue on the No. 7 VELO Arrow McLaren Chevrolet that resulted in a wastegate failure. We have some work to do to get back in this in Laguna Seca.”

Christian Rasumussen, No. 20 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet, Finished 20th:

“What a frustrating day. There was pace for so much more, but the incident early on prohibited us from doing that with the penalty that I received. A stop-and-go under green when others were able to serve their drive throughs under yellow, I thought that was very harsh and I really did not understand. Other than that, I thought the pace was pretty good. We made great improvements from warm up to the race in terms of car balance, especially on the black tires. While that was a positive, I am just very frustrated with not being able to get a good result.”

Nolan Siegel, No. 78 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet, Finished 23rd:

“Overall I’m happy with the way we handled the variables that were in our control today. The car was fast all weekend and we got the balance into a very comfortable window that allowed for some solid stints. Unfortunately we had an issue with our second set of reds that forced us to do an extra stop and took us out of contention, but I’m extremely grateful to have had the opportunity. Huge thank you to Ricardo, Brad and everyone at Juncos Hollinger for their trust.”

Rinus VeeKay, No. 21 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet, Finished 24th:

“We were running a great race. We had moved forward pretty well, stayed out of all of the trouble at the beginning. We had Top 10 pace, that’s what I knew coming into the race and that’s what it felt like during the race. I struggled a bit with vibrations at the end of tire stints which was not ideal and did lose a bit of pace there. Then near Lap 40, I had a suspension component failure on the left front and that put us several laps back. Really a bummer and I really hope our luck goes the other way sometime. Looking forward to a weekend off and hugging my dog!”

POST RACE PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPTS

WILL POWER

THE MODERATOR: The now two-time winner at Road America, Will Power, driver of the No. 12 Verizon Business Team Penske Chevrolet.

A 34-race drought for you. The drought is over. You can move on now, right?

WILL POWER: Yeah, I wasn’t sure when it was going to happen. I’ve been digging all year. Sometimes it just works out.

Long Beach I was leading by seven seconds. If a yellow doesn’t fall there, I think we were going to have a pretty good day. A reasonable chance at Barber.

Yeah, very good strategy. Very fast cars. A lot of fun. Like, once all the yellows stopped, it was a very fast-paced race.

THE MODERATOR: You get a win and take over the points championship as well.

WILL POWER: We’re working hard. We want to win the championship. I think we have the cars and the team to do it. Keep pushing.

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Will Power.

Q. Not only are you back in Victory Lane but so is Ron Ruzewski. For him to have that strategy of the overcut, how brilliant was that?

WILL POWER: Yeah, I sat back. I kind of couldn’t get Scott without using a lot of push to pass. I sat back. I knew I had a lap of fuel on him. I was making the reds last. My in-lap was super quick. They didn’t really go off for me at all. I was kind of babying them. I sat behind there. That was a big in-lap. Gave me enough of a gap on Josef to be able to get up to speed on the cold tires.

Q. First time Liz has been to Victory Lane since her health issue. How special was that?

WILL POWER: It was very special. She was in tears. So was her mother. Had Beau there. Yeah, been a rough trot. It was last year we didn’t get a win. She wasn’t at a lot of the races.

Yeah, good stuff. Good stuff. Very positive.

Q. You mentioned your in-lap being extremely quick. You turned the fastest leader lap of the race. Can you describe the feeling of doing those two laps back to back so quick, and that’s what ultimately made the difference for you pulling into Victory Lane?

WILL POWER: Yeah, the car was really good. I kind of came across something I hadn’t been running that Josef runs a certain way, how he runs the car. I started driving like that, just using setup, and it really helped. Yeah, was just easier for me.

Yeah, so the car was phenomenal. I haven’t had a car like that for a long time in a race. It was very fast.

Q. You mentioned earlier this year keep knocking on the door. The relief now that you’re through…

WILL POWER: Yeah, we’ll keep working for more. Like I said at the beginning of this year, I want multiple wins this year. I think that’s what it will take to win the championship. We have the car for it. We have the engine for it.

You know how this championship goes: very tough group, no bad driver in this field. You have to put it together very well if you want to win.

Q. You’re tied with Michael Andretti. How much does that statistic mean to you?

WILL POWER: That was the next one I wanted to get. That was the one I’d been wanting for a while. To surpass Michael, big fan of Michael’s as a kid. Watched him win a lot of races. The Andretti family, such a big deal, such legends of this sport. Anytime you’re name is around those guys, it’s a big deal. Cool to be equal with Michael.

Q. You’d been competitive last year, your first winless season in a while. Going into the off-season, was there any change in approach, mindset? How did you attack this year?

WILL POWER: Yeah, I just came in way more prepared like I normally am. I was just back to how I prepared for a year, which is constantly improving on my craft.

I have to say I’m a better driver again this year than I was in ’22 when I won the championship. Last year was sort of a stall-out here. Not much I could do. Spending a lot of time at home, looking after Liz, making sure everything was going well for her.

Back to Liz helping me, like she is a big part of my preparation. She does a lot for me. We’re back as a team again.

Q. Liz’s issues affected you mentally. I assume the not getting back to Victory Lane was a drain on you. How down were you? Were you thinking about maybe this is it? How were you thinking about life?

WILL POWER: You start thinking. When that was going on, you start thinking should I be racing at all. If something happens to Liz and something happens to me, is she going to get better, what’s going to happen. The doctor said this can come back at any time. Should I be racing. That was the thing that was planted in my mind last year.

You certainly don’t perform at your highest level because you don’t want your son to have no parents. That is sort of the thing you’re thinking. Yeah, tough wrestling with that. Ultimately, yeah, if she wasn’t getting better, I would stop. I would have to stop for my son. Simple as that.

Q. To go 1-2-3, front row at Indy, the team camaraderie has continued to build. Talk about the importance of that.

WILL POWER: Yeah, man, a great day. Obviously Indy was a great result for Josef to win it, but then also lock out the front row. I predicted that. I know how hard the guys are working back at the shop.

The whole push to pass thing was just an unfortunate incident. There was nothing malicious in it. There was no intent. No one intended to do that. Just habitually I think people press that at times. I think the whole field would have pressed that button at some point subconsciously in a restart. It just looked bad for us.

Yeah, to come back like that at Indy, then 1-2-3 today. Really, I feel like we’re performing at our highest level right now. That includes Chevy. Chevy’s done a great job with the engine. I think we struggled a little bit last year compared to Honda. They went away, did their homework. So did we. Together we have a very strong combination.

Yeah, like Roger said, I feel bad for Roger, that whole thing that happened. Just one of those things. If you’re a team like Penske, people like to pound you if something like that happens. Ha, ha, we knew that’s how you guys are fast.

I know how much work goes into it. I know they don’t even venture into the gray. It frustrates me at time because I know other teams do. But they will not do that just because of that brand. Roger won’t allow that brand to be tarnished with cheating allegations.

We don’t do that. There’s a lot of talk around the paddock. I know we don’t do that. I know other teams do because people push the rules. If I was a small team, I’d be doing it. That’s how you get a slight advantage.

Q. You’ve been with Penske since ’09. Where is the team at now compared to other periods?

WILL POWER: Like, if you take in sports car, NASCAR, INDYCAR, they’re really firing. They’re at their highest level now. The competition has changed, as well. You have no choice but to be at your highest level now or you simply won’t win.

Just the car preparation, quality control. It’s so detail orientated now to win in this series in particular, but the same in NASCAR, sports car. It’s a very tough business. If you’re not winning, you won’t last long.

Q. Have Josef and Scott pushed you?

WILL POWER: I’ve never stopped improving. I’ve certainly learned off those guys. I’ve learned off all my teammates. The moment you think you’re the best, you’re going to get beaten. You’re not learning anything. I’m constantly evolving as a driver.

I think the biggest step I ever took was ’22, mentality, the mental approach. A big step. Something that I found and still use now.

But it’s a fast pace, man. When I think about that race, it was fast paced. Man, this is seriously like no joke. Qualifying every lap basically. Yeah, good, tough group. Tough group.

Q. You talked about having to think about whether you should continue doing this last year. How close were you at thinking about hanging up your helmet?

WILL POWER: Yeah, in the off-season when my wife is sitting in hospital, we’re just wondering what’s going to happen here. She almost died. You start thinking, Yeah, I’m going to have to stop now, take care of my son.

Then after that also, like, it’s a long process. Once they put the metal plates and all that, you have that infection in the blood, it can stick to the metal, come back. It’s like what’s going to happen.

Continual blood tests. You just got to be on top of it. If it comes, you have to be very quick to have the antibiotics reduce it, I guess. It seems like… The doc said it can come back anytime. You got to be quick to catch it.

Q. This was a tough weekend for you a year ago here. Was this one of the lowest points in the season a year ago?

WILL POWER: Yeah, it was a very stressful weekend because I left thinking that Liz was sick again. I left. She was looking in a glass. Actually getting in the car, had booked a private plane, because that’s the only way she could travel. Get in the car, she looks down and says, Look at all the worms in that cup.

I’m like, Oh, shit.

Mother-in-law, I said, You have to stay here. We already booked this plane. Taking off now. I’ll go, call you on the plane.

All weekend she’s going back and forth to the doctors. Turns out she mixed some medications. Hallucinations. That’s how it all started, hallucinations.

Stressful, yeah, this predicament. Should I race or not? Then you crash bad. That’s why I was so I guess angry or just stressed. Anything set me off. Grappling with that.

Yeah, that’s life. People have it way worse. I’m not complaining. People have it way worse. I’m lucky, very lucky.

Q. Does this season feel a little like the championship season in ’22?

WILL POWER: Yeah, back to that flow again. Except we have to win more this year. It’s a tough field. That’s one thing I was a little cautious in ’22 at times where I felt like I needed to push the envelope a little more. It’s that fine line. I think Palou is the one that nails that perfectly of aggression versus risks and so on.

Yeah, I feel like as a package we are very strong, very strong. You see Colton has incredible speed at times, but things seem to happen, which you go through when you’re young. You know that guy’s going to be pretty strong in the future.

I feel like as a package we’re pretty good. Pretty good.

THE MODERATOR: Congratulations.

WILL POWER: Thank you.

JOSEF NEWGARDEN AND SCOTT MCLAUGHLIN

THE MODERATOR: We are joined by the second- and third-place finishing drivers. Finishing second, Josef Newgarden, driver of the No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet. Finishing second, driver of the No. 13 XPEL Team Penske Chevrolet, Scott McLaughlin.

Josef, can tell the mind is thinking, thinking about what just happened. Your thoughts on the race.

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: It was a great day. Great team day. I think we’re all going to be really pleased with the 1-2-3, especially with the 2 car and the disaster yesterday. It was a real team effort to put a new car together. Everybody pitched in, the 12, the 2 and the 3.

Really rewarding I think for the entire crew when you have to go through something like that, put it all together, we finish 1-2-3, it’s as good as it can get.

At the same time we sort of gave that one away. I mean, I will say this, too. I felt like we gave it away, but all three of our cars were pretty stellar pace-wise. Whether it was the 3, the 12 or me, I think we all had similar pace.

With that capability for any of us to win that race was there. You saw the 1-2-3 because of that, I think.

THE MODERATOR: First Penske podium sweep since Sonoma in 2017. Scott, you’re part of that. A good team day today.

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Yeah, ultimately when the cycle finished, last stop, it was all sort of bringing it home for the team in some ways, yeah, as Josef said. I thought we were really quick in parts. Had a great start, led a lot of laps. I think the strategy didn’t fall our way in terms of the overcut was strong. We knew it was going to be strong, but it was really strong today.

I kind of wish we ran reds in the second stint just to get that over and done with earlier, then I could have attacked a bit more on the black tire.

Ultimately, yeah, it’s a huge day. Really proud. It’s been tough, man. Tough from May to here. The boys have been on the road for a long, long time. Huge props to them and the hard work that’s gone on behind the scenes. It’s not stopping now. They have to work till midnight tonight getting ready for the hybrid test we have got on Tuesday.

A good reward for the team, but ultimately still work to do. We’ll keep pushing on. Just proud to get a podium at the XPEL Grand Prix in the XPEL car.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Josef, you did all this with a backup car, one that was built up overnight. What was the confidence that you had going into the race? Do you feel with the previous car you might have pulled that one off?

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: It wasn’t a car issue, I can tell you that. I think at Team Penske, certainly me, I’m not ever concerned if we have to build up a new car. We have great consistency across the board. This team I think is the best as far as putting another car on track, and it’s going to be the exact same thing.

We switch cars quite a bit. It’s the same product every time we put it on the track. That speaks volumes to the level of the team, the savvy-ness, the execution of the people. It’s just really solid.

There was no concern about that. I don’t think that would have made a difference today. I think we just all had a really good day. We got a 1-2-3 for the team.

Q. What was your view of the first corner incident with Colton? He was upset.

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I haven’t seen it. From what I remember, I remember just everyone checking up on the exit of the corner. I sort of center punched Colton. I hate that most likely affected his race. I’m sure he went spinning because of it.

I don’t know why everyone checked up on the exit. I didn’t see that. I saw people going on the outside. I’m sure something was going on in front of him. It must have been. That’s the only thing I can remember without seeing the actual replay.

THE MODERATOR: The 11 got into the 8.

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: I had a great start (smiling).

Q. For those of us who aren’t good at predictive math, why does the overcut have the advantage in that situation?

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Just depends on the track. Today the warm-up was really tough on the tires. It was literally nearly three seconds of an advantage on an overcut. Two-and-a-half, three-second advantage.

You can’t get overcut on a day like today. You got to work that problem out. We pretty much had it worked out. We got to sort of a confusing place at the very end with the 78. Was it the 78?

It’s all part of INDYCAR racing. You got to sort of manage the situation. I felt like I didn’t make the right call there. We could have kept going, and we should have. So when you go for the undercut, that’s what happens. You just get burned. We got burned at the end.

Q. Scott, when you were managing the alternates, did they start to become a handful?

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Not as much as I thought. I was pretty careful with them. That’s half the reason why I didn’t fight Josef. Ultimately they held on pretty good. Not bad. I definitely probably would have not been able to hold Josef off, regardless. Then a couple P-to-P dramas. I was saving my push to pass for the end of the race or the last exchange.

Yeah, chose to sort of just bring them up and look after them. Obviously thought from a points perspective, after Detroit, just nice to bring home a pretty strong result. I just had to bring that home.

Q. Probably we make a bigger deal about teammates. What Will has been through with his wife over the last couple years, to see the old guy get back in Victory Lane even though you would rather be there…

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: We would. Ultimately we’re race drivers, we want to be the guy. Will is a phenomenal teammate. Josef would concur. Still bloody dead fast. It is awesome to see.

I think most importantly, to have a team 1-2-3 in this day and age, it’s hard. Like, that’s great that Will won. I think the most important story is 1-2-3 for the team. It’s crazy to do that. It hasn’t been done for a long time. I’m really proud of everyone.

Q. Josef?

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: 100%. We love Will. I think another point to hammer home is Will drove just as good of a race as anybody today. He was very deserving to win the race. I would say I felt like we misstepped at the end, but Will very much was a deserving winner. His pace was just as good as anybody. He did a great job today. He just kept clean, was there at the end, got it right. That crew, they deserve to win a race. They’ve been close here for a while.

From that standpoint it’s nice. It’s tough. I think we let it go, but at the same time you feel really good for the 12 crew because they deserved it, too. They did a good job today.

Q. What was the mood in the team after a tough Detroit weekend? How tough was the Detroit comeback?

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I think you get a great reset in this group. There’s nothing that ever really lingers. Personally there’s nothing that lingers. From a team side, you don’t see anything linger.

We rocked up here to normal business. Even after yesterday with my mis-step, it’s like, Okay, we’re going to build a new car.

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Almost get excited for it. They’re like, Let’s do it.

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: That’s so true. We don’t get a chance to do what they did last night. They hammered out a new car in, like, two hours. It’s crazy. I could have wrote that thing off in warm-up and I would have made the race. It would have made the race with time to spare. It’s so cool to see them work at a high level.

But, yeah, there’s nothing that lingers with this group. They were ready to rock. 1-2-3, like Scott said, that’s the story.

Q. Regarding the team success, like at Indy and Birmingham, everything you were facing in late April, what does it say about the team? How were you able to overcome that?

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Look, I think we said it from the start: eyes forward. We were just focused forward. Ultimately felt like all three cars, all three teams, were like that.

No denying there’s definitely some motivation there. Our jobs didn’t change. Ultimately we’ve always had fast cars from the start of the year. Didn’t matter what happened. It’s a matter of just putting it together.

Yeah, we just executed today. We executed better than everyone. Ultimately that’s why we were 1-2-3.

THE MODERATOR: Scott, seven years now since your team, Team Penske, has pulled off a sweep like this. Sonoma 2017.

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Were you part of that?

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Would have been. Sure.

THE MODERATOR: Congratulations on the podium. Rest up tomorrow. We’ll see you at Milwaukee Mile.

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Or Siebkens (laughter).

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 heartbeat, 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

• Jacob Abel retains the INDY NXT by Firestone points lead with his fifth podium in six races
• Yuven Sundaramoorthy earns his best finish of the season to date, while Jordan Missig gets caught up in an incident ahead, ending his day early

ELKHART LAKE, Wis. (9 June 2024) — ABEL Motorsports scored its fifth podium finish of the INDY NXT by Firestone season on Sunday, as Jacob Abel finished a hard fought third in the 20-lap Grand Prix of Road America.

For teammates Yuven Sundaramoorthy and Jordan Missig, it was a tale of two different outcomes, as Wisconsin native Sundaramoorthy earned his best finish of the season while Illinois’ Jordan Missig bore the brunt of an incident between two cars ahead which knocked him out of the race.

Abel started the race in fourth position, with Sundaramoorthy 11th and Missig 15th in his second race weekend with the team. At the green flag, Abel slid to the inside and took third in turn 1, and then set his sights ahead, filling the mirrors of pole sitter Jamie Chadwick.

Sundaramoorthy was on a charge of his own, taking 10th on lap one. Forced wide in turn six, he returned the favor in the following corner to take ninth. Missig was also forced off in turn 6 but held his ground, moving into 13th when two cars ahead made contact, bringing out a yellow.

Going green on lap 6, Abel fended off a challenge from Louis Foster through the first corners, keeping the championship’s second place driver behind him. Sundaramoorthy battled hard in a group of five, holding ninth. Missig continued his charge, taking 11th just before a car off course brought out another yellow.

Restarting on lap 11, Abel got a solid run up the hill to turn 1 and made a move – but as they diced, Foster closed up the gap, getting the draft and passing Abel, putting him back to third. With five to go, Abel and Foster traded positions – and paint – through several corners. Missig made a pass for 11th but two cars ahead made contact, collecting Missig and sending him into the turn one gravel. Only three laps remained, so race control threw the red flag, bringing the field to pit lane, with Abel in third and Sundaramoorthy eighth.

At the green flag, Abel aimed for the leaders while Sundaramoorthy fought hard in the group battling for sixth, taking seventh but then finding himself freight trained back to ninth at the checkers, with Abel third and Missig scored in 20th.

Abel’s lap 14 was the race’s quickest lap, at 1:53.2301. He now leads the championship by 19 points.

Post race, both Abel and Missig were understandably disappointed, while Sundaramoorthy was appreciative – not only for his first top 10 finish, but for all the friends and family in attendance.

“First of all, big congrats to Jamie, she’s been working hard for this for a while and she did a good race there up front,” said Abel. “We had a good battle there the first half of the race, but she was able to hold on to it. Louis (Foster) and I were battling a bit there at the end, really just good hard racing. I think we made contact a couple of times, but it is what it is, we’ll take the points and move forward. But it is a bit disappointing, we had the fastest car, the car to beat today. You’re never happy when that’s the case and you finish third, but it’s a good day when you are disappointed with third. We still have the championship lead, so just keep up the consistent results and eyes forward to Laguna.”

“It was great to be back at my home track,” said Sundaramoorthy, from nearby Oconomowoc. “I had a dozen friends out here today, so I’m happy to have a pretty good race for them. I was happy with the pace – the car was incredible, I just needed to find a bit of pace myself. It was good hard racing out there; the key was just to put the car where someone else was not. I had a bunch of contact, but it was still a fun race, one of the most fun races I’ve ever done. I wish I hadn’t lost a couple positions; I made a couple of poor outside pass choices. I think if I had stayed inside, I would have P5 or better.”

“Not sure exactly what happened when we got to Myles,” said Missig. “He had gotten back by me and was on (Michael) d’Orlando so I tried to pop to the outside. I don’t think I got to the back of him, but he went spinning across me and just caught me. So a tough day. But I’m very happy with the car the ABEL team gave me today, we made some changes over night and the car was on rails, that’s how we were able to pick our way up to the field. So a really good drive here on a Sunday, plenty of positives we can take away, a lot of gains.”

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 will be the Grand Prix of Monterey doubleheader. The races 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/.

Castroneves puts the No. 66 AutoNation / SiriusXM Honda P19 after starting P27.

Elkhart Lake, Wise. (9 June 2024) – As he did last weekend in Detroit, Felix Rosenqvist (No. 60 AutoNation / SiriusXM Honda) fought back after a tough Saturday qualifying session and then used strong tire management and fuel save to overcome contact and lead Meyer Shank Racing (MSR) to a 14th-place finish in Sunday’s XPEL Grand Prix at Road America.

Sunday’s NTT INDYCAR SERIES battle at the 4.048-mile Road America circuit got off to a slow, choppy start as three caution periods took place in the first six laps of the 55-lap event. Getting through a first lap melee, Rosenqvist had moved up six positions before the proceeding caution flag was waived.

Rosenqvist, who started 22nd, saw his workload increased even more after the second of the three caution periods when he got shouldered off track in Turn Six by the No. 41 car, causing the Swedish racer to fall down the order. The team opted to bring him into pit lane for a fill up on fuel and tire change on Lap Seven.

The team fought hard after amending its pit strategy and took advantage of competitors’ stops to lead for the third time this season, but needed to stretch Rosenqvist’s Firestone tires for 15 and 16 laps on their final two stops on a day when most other competitors were changing tires every 12-13 laps. The tire management skill and exceptional fuel save enabled Rosenqvist to make just two stops over the second half of the race, but it also meant that he could not battle hard at the end of the race and settled for a 14th-place finish.

Helio Castroneves (No. 66 AutoNation / Arctic Wolf Honda) ran his second race after assuming driving duties in the No. 66 MSR machine, and also had a heavy workload after qualifying 27th on Saturday. He stayed on strategy with the lead group and gained eight positions on the day to finish 19th.

MSR ends a stretch of three races in as many weeks and heads right into a series test at the Milwaukee Mile on Tuesday which will see MSR newcomer, David Malukas get his first laps behind the wheel of the No. 66 car ahead of his race debut at WeatherTech Laguna Seca.

Meyer Shank Racing Driver Quotes:

Felix Rosenqvist: “It was unfortunate we got taken out at the beginning. We were kind of off strategy trying to save some fuel. We didn’t really have enough pace with the fuel save unfortunately. I honestly think that if we did it again we couldn’t have done anything different, except not getting hit. P14, a very average result but we move forward. I think we were decently quick, just not our luck today.”

Helio Castroneves: “Wow. No. 66 The AutoNation / Arctic Wolf machine was actually pretty strong, from starting 27th and finishing 19th. I have to give it up to the guys, they did a great job. Now I pass the baton to David Malukas who is going to take care of it. I’m looking forward to being in his corner. We are going to a test in Milwaukee which I really love so I’ll be there. Hopefully at Laguna we are going to collect more points.”

ELKHART LAKE, Wis. (Saturday, June 8, 2024) – Jamie Chadwick made history by winning her first career INDY NXT by Firestone pole position Saturday for the Grand Prix at Road America.

Chadwick, from England, turned a top lap of 1 minute, 51.0333 seconds in the No. 28 VEXT car of Andretti Global to become the first female driver to earn a pole on a road or street course in the history of INDYCAR’s development series. She also became just the third female driver to win an INDY NXT pole and the first since Pippa Mann in October 2010 on the Homestead-Miami Speedway oval.

“I’m so happy,” Chadwick said. “We struggled a little bit this weekend chasing balance. When (teammate) Louis (Foster) did the lap he did, I knew we would have a good car. Track conditions improving, this is our shot in our group, as well. I really thought we could make the most of this opportunity.

“It’s going to be a tough day tomorrow, but I’m confident in what we can do.”

Live coverage of the 20-lap race starts at 1:05 p.m. ET Sunday on Peacock and the INDYCAR Radio Network.

Chadwick’s previous best starting spot was fourth last Sunday on the streets of Detroit, as her speed continues to accelerate in her second INDY NXT season. She was a member of the second qualifying group today at Road America in the split-session format used by the series on road and street courses, and drivers in that group benefited from the rapidly drying 14-turn, 4.014-mile circuit as all-afternoon rain gave way to clearing skies about 30 minutes before qualifying began.

Foster locked out the front row for Andretti Global, as he will start second after his best lap of 1:51.0541 in the No. 26 Copart/Novara Technologies car. Foster will try to become the first driver since Linus Lundqvist – who won his first career pole earlier in the day for the NTT INDYCAR SERIES race – in 2022 to win three consecutive INDY NXT races.

Josh Pierson recorded a career-best starting spot of third at 1:51.1621 in the No. 14 HMD Motorsports machine. His previous best was sixth in May 2023 on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.

Championship leader Jacob Abel will start fourth at 1:51.2702 in the No. 51 Abel Construction entry of Abel Motorsports.

HMD Motorsports teammates Reece Gold and Caio Collet will occupy the third row. Gold qualified fifth at 1:51.5069 in the No. 10 machine, with Collet as the top-qualifying rookie in sixth at 1:51.4054 in the No. 18 car.

CHEVROLET IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES
XPEL GRAND PRIX AT ROAD AMERICA
ROAD AMERICA
ELKHART LAKE, WISCONSIN
TEAM CHEVY QUALIFYING RECAP
JUNE 8, 2024

TEAM CHEVY QUALIFYING RECAP

· Team Chevy drivers Will Power, No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, and Josef Newgarden, No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet qualified for the Firestone Fast Six run for the NTT P1 Award for the XPEL Grand Prix at Road America

· A total of five Chevrolet powered drivers progressed to the Fast 12. In addition to Newgarden and Power were Scott McLaughlin, No. 3 XPEL Team Penske Chevrolet, Alexander Rossi, No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, and Pato O’Ward, No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet

· The heavy rain ended after the second round of qualifying started, but the wet track conditions persisted, only starting to dry with minutes remaining in Q3 making for treacherous conditions

· Power lost the back of the car in Canada Corner on his first flyer lap in the Firestone Fast Six. Because of the subsequent red flag, he was relegated to the fifth starting position

· On his last lap, shortly after the Q3 clock had expired, Newgarden dropped a wheel off the track coming out of the Carousel, lost control and crashed hard. He was seen and released by INDYCAR Medical Unit. The team is going to a backup car, and his Chevrolet engine will be replaced as a precaution without loss of his 6th starting position

· Race day starts with a warm-up at 12:15 p.m. ET, and the race takes the green flag at 3:30 p.m. with practice on Peacock and the race on NBC, INDYCAR Radio, and SiriusXM Channel 218

TEAM CHEVY TOP-10 QUALIFYING RESULTS:

5th Will Power

6th Josef Newgarden

8th Scott McLaughlin

9th Alexander Rossi

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING

Santino Ferrucci, No. 14 AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet:

“We’re not where we wanted to qualify. I think we have a better car than that. Just hindsight’s twenty-twenty and we just made ourselves a lot of work for Sunday.”

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

“Tough qualifying session again. The rain was interesting, I thought that we would have had a little bit more similarities to what we had in practice, but it felt like a different car so really surprised and disappointed with the results. I think that to be a long day tomorrow to race forward. But I’m hopeful that we can get a good strategy call; it’s been chaos the last few races in IndyCar so maybe at this point in the chaos will help us out.”

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

“It was a slippery day today, both in practice and qualifying. I thought we had a little bit more pace to find, maybe even enough for the Firestone Fast 6. We just got stuck there a little bit in Round 2 and couldn’t really get what we needed from the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet. We’ll have to work hard and see what we can do tomorrow to make our way forward.”

Théo Pourchaire, No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet:

“I’m disappointed because I feel like I had the pace today to possibly make my first Firestone Fast 6. We had a few issues, and that’s tough because the No. 6 onsemi Arrow McLaren Chevrolet was great in those conditions. It will be difficult to start so far back on this track, but we have the race tomorrow to move forward. I’m still learning, but I think I drove pretty well. We just need to communicate better and we will get the results we’re looking for.”

Alexander Rossi, No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet:

“It was a slippery day today, both in practice and qualifying. I thought we had a little bit more pace to find, maybe even enough for the Firestone Fast 6. We just got stuck there a little bit in Round 2 and couldn’t really get what we needed from the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet. We’ll have to work hard and see what we can do tomorrow to make our way forward.”

Christian Rasumussen, No. 20 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet:

“The time was in it! We were sitting pretty good, you have to push hard on a lap like that. You get new tires and you have to push the limits because it just gets more and more dry. I thought there was a little more in Turn 8 and that’s where I went wide. I lost somewhere around 1.2 seconds in that sector, so that’s very frustrating. We would have transferred without my mistake and that’s on me.”

Rinus VeeKay, No. 21 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet:

“We definitely have much more speed in the Direct Supply car than where our qualifying position shows. The guys who took a second set of wet tires were able to go faster than us there at the end. It is disappointing to be starting so far back but I love this track and I love passing people so we’ll try to have some fun tomorrow.”

Romain Grosjean, No. 77 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet:

“I think we messed it up. We had low pressure and the grip was coming, and then I caught Sting Ray Robb, and he was not very fast, so I backed off. I wanted to go for one more lap, and the boys were like “coming,” and then we had the red flag. I knew one lap, we just didn’t have it. The car was pretty good. It was just took time to generate the grip, and we didn’t have it. I really think that red flag hurt us a lot, and it’s not a bad place to start. 14th is a place we can overtake. Of course, we’re on the back foot on the dry, so no warm up will be great. I’m a bit disappointed because I thought we had a better car. I mean, (warm up) is always important for tire wear and tire degradation, but tomorrow for us, it’s also balance work. I trust the boys have done a good job in getting it set up right. I’m just a bit sad today because I really think we had a shot at doing better.”

Nolan Siegel, No. 78 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet:

“There’s so much to learn. In practice, we actually didn’t end up getting a timed lap with all the red flags, so this is the first time I went through turn one in the wet. It’s tough. I think it was alright. A lot of people pitted for a second set and we stayed out just because of the way the session was going for us. I had to make a gap that we should’ve pushed through and then pitted. A little bit unlucky, but overall I think we’re in a good spot and I’m learning a lot. Everyone’s getting along here. Just so much to learn from the people, to the car, to the conditions. I think the race is going to be dry. We’ll put this behind us. Ultimately, it’s not that bad of starting spot. We’re ahead of a couple of people at least so we’ll see how it goes tomorrow.”

Josef Newgarden, No. 2 Team Penske Chevrolet:

“I’m good. Glad I got to see the replay. What happened is what I thought would happen. I feel like an idiot. I just got a little bit wide. You can’t do that is this condition. Look, this is INDYCAR. It gets tight. I pushed it a little too hard there. I apologize to my guys. Man that was a rocketship car. Man it was good. I don’t know if the lap was good enough, but it was going to be in the rhelm of something decent. So I was definitely trying to go for it like everybody and just overstepped.

“It was slick, but I think if you don’t drop a wheel like I did, you were okay. If you look at the lap times, they were getting very close to dry conditions. It was a mistake from my side which caused that which is unfortunate. The car was really good and we were going for it. We were in the Firestone Fast Six and we could have gotten this PPG baby on pole with Team Chevy, so disappointed to make a mistake for the team. But I think the encouraging bit is we should have a fast car for tomorrow, but I feel terrible for my guys, they are unfortunately going to have a long night.”

Scott McLaughlin, No. 3 Team Penske Chevrolet:

“That’s not bad for a shot, I guess. Always, you want more. Got to learn these tires a little bit. Probably went a little bit too hard on my warm up lap and turned them out a little bit. I really didn’t have much. I’ve got a bit to learn, but there’s a first for everything. Qualified eighth. We’re 10 spots higher than where we were when we qualified in the dry, so that’s fine. You’re also trying to judge traffic, and get out of the way of people and also find a nice gap. Ultimately, it’s technical but you’ve just got to trust your guess. I did that time. The Xpel Chevy has been good all week. I think our dry car is really strong. We’re in a good spot. We can do business from there.”

Will Power, No. 12 Team Penske Chevrolet:

“It feels really good to get through all of the rounds. Very tough conditions and easy to make a mistake and I did. I feel really bad for Josef. That was like an oval hit crashing in that corner. Very easily done in these conditions. So I hope he is okay. P6 A bit of a mixed up grid in the front. GoABOUT 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 heartbeat, 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

ing to be an interesting race tomorrow.”

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 heartbeat, 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

ELKHART LAKE, Wis. (Saturday, June 8, 2024) – Linus Lundqvist achieved a hat trick of firsts in his young NTT INDYCAR SERIES career during a frantic, damp NTT P1 Award qualifying session Saturday for the XPEL Grand Prix at Road America presented by AMR.

First time in the Top 12 group of qualifying. First time in the Firestone Fast Six. First career pole.

2022 INDY NXT by Firestone champion Lundqvist earned the top starting spot for the 55-lap race Sunday with a best lap of 1 minute, 45.1519 seconds in the No. 8 American Legion Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. Lundqvist’s previous best start for a points-paying race in his rookie season of 2024 was 17th at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach in April.

Lundqvist, from Sweden, became the first NTT INDYCAR SERIES rookie to earn a pole since Romain Grosjean in May 2021 on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. He entered this race with three consecutive finishes of 24th or worse after earning his first career podium finish with a third place in late April at Barber Motorsports Park.

“Thanks to the 8 crew for sticking with me,” Lundqvist said. “It’s been a rough couple of races. So, to be able to bounce back like this, it’s nice. There’s no better way of rebuilding confidence than with my first-ever pole in INDYCAR, in these conditions, as well.”

Live coverage of the 55-lap race will start at 3:30 p.m. ET Sunday on NBC and Peacock and 3 p.m. ET on the INDYCAR Radio Network. A 30-minute warmup starts at 12:15 p.m. ET (Peacock, INDYCAR Radio Network).

Colton Herta will join Lundqvist in the front row after his top lap of 1:45.2913 in the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda fielded by Andretti Global with Curb-Agajanian. Herta was quickest in the first two groups of qualifying before falling just short to Lundqvist in the Firestone Fast Six.

Marcus Armstrong was the second young Chip Ganassi Racing driver to qualify in the first two rows, third at 1:45.6592 in the No. 11 Ridgeline Lubricants Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. Kyle Kirkwood will start fourth at 1:46.4498 in the No. 27 AutoNation Honda of Andretti Global.

Team Penske teammates Will Power and Josef Newgarden will start fifth and sixth, respectively. Both drivers lost their best two laps in the Firestone Fast Six due to triggering red flags and didn’t record a qualifying time, with their starting spots determined by their best laps in the Top 12 session.

Power spun in Turn 12, known as Canada Corner, in his No. 12 Verizon Business Team Penske Chevrolet. Newgarden went off track in “The Kink” section of the back straightaway and made heavy side contact with the SAFER Barrier in the No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet on his last flying lap. Newgarden was unhurt.

Drivers used Firestone Firehawk rain tires in the first two qualifying sessions as torrential rain earlier in the day dissipated to light showers. But the rain stopped late in the Top 12 session of qualifying, with a dry line starting to form before the Firestone Fast Six.

Five of the six drivers in the final round of qualifying started the session and stayed on Firestone Firehawk alternate slick tires, with Lundqvist the only driver choosing to start on rain tires. But Lundqvist and Chip Ganassi Racing officials quickly realized that was the wrong choice, and they pitted for alternate slicks after one out lap.

“It was very tricky out there in the wet to start off with and going to dry tires,” Lundqvist said. “I think we were the only ones starting on wets, as well, so I kind of had to make a late switch there. But we made it work in the end, and man, I’m just super, super happy.”

The red flag triggered by Power turned the Firestone Fast Six into a one-lap dash for the pole, as the track continued to dry and get faster with every lap. Lundqvist jumped to the top, and Herta crossed the timing line to take the second position just as Newgarden’s frightening crash unfolded and subsequent red flag ended the session.

Championship leader Scott Dixon will start 10th after his best lap of 2:01.2671 in the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda in the Top 12 round.

XPEL Grand Prix at Road America Qualifying Results

ELKHART LAKE, Wis. – Qualifying Saturday for the XPEL Grand Prix at Road America presented by AMR NTT INDYCAR SERIES event on the 4.014-mile Road America, with qualifying position, car number in parentheses, driver, engine, time and speed in parentheses:

1. (8) Linus Lundqvist, Honda, 01:45.1519 (137.424 mph)
2. (26) Colton Herta, Honda, 01:45.2913 (137.242)
3. (11) Marcus Armstrong, Honda, 01:45.6592 (136.764)
4. (27) Kyle Kirkwood, Honda, 01:46.4498 (135.748)
5. (12) Will Power, Chevrolet, No Time (No Speed)
6. (2) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, No Time (No Speed)
7. (10) Alex Palou, Honda, 02:00.8290 (119.594)
8. (3) Scott McLaughlin, Chevrolet, 02:00.8840 (119.539)
9. (7) Alexander Rossi, Chevrolet, 02:00.9035 (119.520)
10. (9) Scott Dixon, Honda, 02:01.2671 (119.162)
11. (5) Pato O’Ward, Chevrolet, 02:01.5141 (118.920)
12. (4) Kyffin Simpson, Honda, 02:01.6266 (118.810)
13. (45) Christian Lundgaard, Honda, 02:02.3826 (118.076)
14. (77) Romain Grosjean, Chevrolet, 02:01.7626 (118.677)
15. (28) Marcus Ericsson, Honda, 02:02.6460 (117.822)
16. (20) Christian Rasmussen, Chevrolet, 02:02.0944 (118.354)
17. (21) Rinus VeeKay, Chevrolet, 02:02.7088 (117.762)
18. (6) Theo Pourchaire, Chevrolet, 02:02.1745 (118.277)
19. (14) Santino Ferrucci, Chevrolet, 02:03.8144 (116.710)
20. (18) Jack Harvey, Honda, 02:02.9443 (117.536)
21. (78) Nolan Siegel, Chevrolet, 02:05.0248 (115.580)
22. (60) Felix Rosenqvist, Honda, 02:03.3098 (117.188)
23. (51) Luca Ghiotto, Honda, 02:05.1341 (115.479)
24. (15) Graham Rahal, Honda, 02:04.8213 (115.769)
25. (30) Pietro Fittipaldi, Honda, 02:05.6079 (115.044)
26. (41) Sting Ray Robb, Chevrolet, 02:04.8553 (115.737)
27. (66) Helio Castroneves, Honda, 02:09.6837 (111.428)

CHEVROLET IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES
XPEL GRAND PRIX AT ROAD AMERICA
ROAD AMERICA
ELKHART LAKE, WISCONSIN
TEAM CHEVY PRACTICE ONE RECAP
JUNE 7, 2024

TEAM CHEVY PRACTICE ONE RECAP

Chevrolet had five drivers involved in a back-and-forth first practice session at Road America for the XPEL Grand Prix that found the top-10 drivers in the final order only separated by five tenths of a second

· Santino Ferrucci, No. 14 AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet, was the top Chevrolet powered driver with a lap of one minute, 43.3618 seconds around the four mile/14-turn track

· Josef Newgarden, behind the wheel of his No. 2 Team Penske Chevrolet, was only two-hundredths behind Ferrucci in the final order

· Team Chevy was represented by five in the top-10 at the conclusion of first practice session, including Ferrucci; Newgarden; Will Power, No. 12 Team Penske Chevrolet; Scott McLaughlin, No. 3 Team Penske Chevrolet and Pato O’Ward, No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet

· Nolan Siegel will be driving the No. 78 Juncos Hollinger Chevrolet this weekend at Road America

· Romain Grojean, No. 77 Juncos Hollinger Chevrolet, made contact with the tire barrier around turn 14 just 19 minutes into practice and was unable to return to the session

· On Saturday, Team Chevy drivers take to the track for second practice at 10:10 a.m. CT, as well as qualifying and the Firestone Fast Six at 2:25 p.m. ET for Sunday’s race at Road America

TEAM CHEVY TOP-10 FIRST PRACTICE RESULTS:

3rd Santino Ferrucci
4th Josef Newgarden
7th Will Power
8th Scott McLaughlin
9th Pato O’Ward

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING

Santino Ferrucci, No. 14 AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet:

“It’s been a great week. We had a good car here last year with the team. We made some adjustments to kind of find some of the areas we were missing. We’re pretty competitive. So I feel good about it.”

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

“We’re back at The National Park of Speed which is awesome. I love this track. The facility is great, the track is amazing, usually the racing is pretty good here as well, so looking forward to that. I think we have a couple of really good race cars underneath us. I had a slight issue in our run in the Goodheart Chevrolet, but we’re going to figure it out and learn from Santino. That was very quick. P3 on the session so really excited about it. Then we have our Goodheart guests here this weekend which is fun as well.”

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

“I love coming here, especially after the repave. It’s a track that I really enjoy. However, we have some work to do after Practice 1. I don’t think we rolled off as strong this year as we did last year. We’ll be looking at what we need to improve on for tomorrow and get ready for qualifying.”

Théo Pourchaire, No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet:

“We gained a lot from that session. We kept the No. 6 onsemi Arrow McLaren Chevrolet clean, which is a positive. It was a windy day today, which made it tough to drive the car. I enjoy this track, though; it’s really nice but tough. It’s a track that suits the NTT INDYCAR SERIES perfectly. We need to find a little bit more performance, but it’s a good baseline that we can build off of.”

Alexander Rossi, No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet:

“The No. 7 VELO Arrow McLaren Chevrolet was good today, but there are still some issues that need to be sorted out. Hopefully, we can get closer to finding those solutions tomorrow.”

Romain Grosjean, No. 77 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet:

“We’ll need to analyze everything in the car. Let’s see if we can go back out today. Should be alright. I was looking and seeing Nolan Siegel in the other car. He’ll gather information for the team. The weather tomorrow doesn’t look great. It’s not ideal, but it is what it is and we have to deal with it.

Nolan Siegel, No. 78 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet:

“On track I think the session went really well. We had no issues going through what we wanted to get through. I made progress every outing. I was being super conservative. Getting thrown into this is not the easiest thing. It’s also not an easy track to just go out and push hard from the beginning. This track is super high commitment and super-fast, so I took my time to get up to speed. I feel it went smoothly and now we have a good base to work off.

“Now, I feel like we can get the weekend going properly. I can meet everyone as I only had like 15 minutes to get ready to do this. It’s not an easy situation but really happy to be here and excited to be working with the team.”

Josef Newgarden, No. 2 Team Penske Chevrolet:

“Good start. The car was really comfy right off the bat which is nice. Team Chevy looks quick. Good engines. Feeling confident for tomorrow. Just need to see what the weather is going to do. Always love being at Road America. Great track. Excited to see what we can put together this weekend.”

Scott McLaughlin, No. 3 Team Penske Chevrolet:

“Overall car was okay, but we didn’t hit the spot right out of the truck. I think we got into a really good spot now. It’s good to be back in the XPEL Chevy and looking forward to the XPEL Grand Prix.”

Will Power, No. 12 Team Penske Chevrolet:

“A solid start to the weekend for the No. 12 Verizon Chevy team. I love coming to Road America and it’s even better with Chevy power. It’s obviously a big circuit where horsepower is absolutely necessary, and Chevy always gives that to us. We had to battle quite a bit of wind today and there may be some weather in the forecast tomorrow, so that is something that will factor into the rest of our plan to get ready for the race.”

SANTINO FERRUCCI, NO. 14 AJ FOYT RACING CHEVROLET – First Practice Press Conference Transcript:

THE MODERATOR: Good afternoon, everyone. Santino Ferrucci, driver of the No. 14 AJ Foyt Sexton Property Chevrolet.

Santino, your thoughts on a good start to the weekend for you?

SANTINO FERRUCCI: Yeah, actually I love this track. Always enjoyed coming here. Been here as a spectator before, as well. Was at Siebkens last night bartending for Racing For Kids.

THE MODERATOR: Raising money.

SANTINO FERRUCCI: Yeah, raising money.

It’s been a great week. We had a good car here last year with the team. We made some adjustments to kind of find some of the areas we were missing. We’re pretty competitive. So I feel good about it.

THE MODERATOR: Sound start to the weekend. We’ll begin with questions.

Q. What has changed within the program? There is the Penske alliance. How much different does it feel this year compared to last year?

SANTINO FERRUCCI: Yeah, obviously I think if you look at our results, too, we have four top 10s in six races, on all tracks now, so street, road and oval. It’s been a much easier I want to say way of rolling off of the hauler. So we unroll pretty quick.

Last year we were actually competitive here, which was nice. We were able to take some of that and mix it in with our Penske alliance. Obviously we get some dampers from them. So putting everything together, we have a pretty good car.

I actually feel very comfortable because it’s a car I’ve been on before. I’m not trying to learn something new for the first time this weekend as far as setup goes.

It’s a very similar car off of Barber, as well. We’re starting to find the sweet spot for me because I don’t drive quite like the other three drivers or like my teammate. It’s been a bit of a learning curve.

It’s nice to be quick off the trailer (smiling).

Q. You referenced you’re ahead of a couple of your teammates which insinuates the Penske bit. What does it mean for you confidence-wise, even with the alliance, it’s your team that’s ahead of the Penskes with the same dampers?

SANTINO FERRUCCI: Yeah, no, they’re not quite the same. They’re close. But with their help, we’ve been able to do as well as them. It’s very hard to beat a team like Penske. I mean, they won quite a few races already this year. So to be just as quick as them or even for this reference quicker, it feels really good for how small our team is.

Still part of that speed is due to James Schnabel, who is a Penske employee, my race engineer, and them helping us out. It’s pretty cool, so…

Q. Obviously a lot less tension today versus last week. Alex called this a proper racetrack. Are you echoing those comments right now?

SANTINO FERRUCCI: Depends on your definition of a ‘proper racetrack’. No street course in my mind is a proper race course. They’re all very unique, very different. I would say Detroit has definitely had its challenges.

I love street racing, I really do. It was a very tough weekend for not just us but for INDYCAR at Detroit, starting to understand how it works for us. We had a lot of cautions.

This is what you would consider as a permanent track. One of the greatest tracks, in my opinion, across the globe, not just in the series. This is probably one of the coolest.

Also it’s a true racetrack, in my opinion. What I mean by that, it’s not a paved parking lot that you see a lot of the other series that’s (indiscernible). You make a mistake here, you go off and there’s something to hit. It’s high stakes, high reward. The carrousel has to be one of the coolest corners in motorsports.

Q. Any fence mending in the last week? You were a little bit upset at some other guys… How does that work over the last week and today?

SANTINO FERRUCCI: Me and Helio had a great chat on of the grid with helmets on and with helmets off, walking down the grid. I have a ton of respect for him, a ton of respect for Meyer Shank.

I feel horrible about what happened with those guys. Obviously moving forward, I just want to be true to myself and who I am. I think that’s important for my moral values and for my team.

This is a new week, man. We’re going to treat it as is. We’ve been fighting for top 10s now. I’d like to be fighting for a win.

Q. The pace of this practice was about two seconds off of last year. Was that what you expected after the repave? Seems like we had a bunch of offs. Some correlation between those?

SANTINO FERRUCCI: Yeah, I think with the repave last year, the track had this peak of grip, which was phenomenal for our cars. I mean, it was incredibly fast.

Obviously you guys have tough winters up here, to say the least. I’m from Connecticut. When we’re in the middle of summer and I have a hoodie on, I can’t imagine what it’s like here in December and January.

When we saw the practice with the Indy Lights, the Pro 2000 Series, the USF Pro, we saw they were about a second off. We figured we’d be a little bit slower.

We didn’t quite now know what the car balance would be like. But, yeah, the conditions are incredibly technical. Honestly it makes it a lot of fun.

Q. (No microphone.)

SANTINO FERRUCCI: Yeah, I mean, I had my fair share of dropping wheels, too, flying through the dirt, especially coming on to the main straight. I think everyone will agree the balance of the cars is probably pretty snappy right now.

For me, I love driving an oversteer race car. If you looked at my steering trace, you’d think it was not real. I’m definitely very happy and that has a lot to do with it.

Q. This is obviously the fifth successive weekend of cars being on track. How much of a challenge is this congested period? What have you and your team done to manage that?

SANTINO FERRUCCI: Yeah, obviously I think rolling off of Indy and into Detroit was mentally tiring I think for everybody. You’re going into a tight street course. I think having a couple days to rest and sleep, I finally got more than eight hours at home this week, which was awesome.

To come up here and do a full reset, I feel like I have a lot more energy. I can see it in the team. My Texas guys got to go back to Houston. I was very happy about that.

Yeah, racing immediately after Indy is always tough. It would be nice to have the week off. Obviously with the sports this year, it’s very technical to do. With TV, there’s a lot of things behind the scenes that we don’t unfortunately get the benefit of.

But, yeah, I think everybody’s looking forward to getting through this race weekend, going through the Milwaukee test, then sitting at home on the couch (smiling).

Q. Obviously we know about the Penske alliance. Do you put your racing results down to continuity within the team? You’ve been able to hold onto a lot of people, team personnel that you had last year. You have Mike Cannon back, as well.

SANTINO FERRUCCI: Yeah, I think a lot of that has to do with it. The little things throughout the race weekend, we’re trying to minimize. We had made a lot of mistakes every race weekend last year, not just from my standpoint but from procedural stuff. Working through all that, tuning that all out, having a proper go this year, we’ve come a long way. We’ve been maximizing track time.

I think we had a bit of a rocky start trying to maximize our track time. Once we got to Barber, we were pretty good. We had our faults at Indy, which is unfortunate. Our road and street course weekends have been a lot cleaner as a whole. We’ve been on track, making the correct setup changes on the pit lane. I think that shows into our continuity.

THE MODERATOR: Appreciate your time. Thanks for coming over. Good luck tomorrow.

SANTINO FERRUCCI: Thank you.