Category: NTT Indy

CHEVROLET IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES
CHILDREN’S OF ALABAMA INDY GRAND PRIX
LEEDS, ALABAMA
TEAM CHEVY RACE ADVANCE
APRIL 28-30, 2023

TEAM CHEVY CHASES BACK-TO-BACK VICTORIES AT BARBER MOTORSPORTS PARK

DETROIT (April 26, 2023) – Beautiful Barber Motorsports Park in Leeds, Alabama welcomes the NTT INDYCAR Series for the fourth race of the 2023 season, and Team Chevy as the defending winner of both the NTT P1 Pole Award and the race.

Pato O’Ward of Arrow McLaren captured the win in last year’s event on the 2.3-mile permanent road course and comes in with a strong start to the 2023 season. Ed Carpenter Racings’ Rinus VeeKay arrives this weekend for his 50th career INDYCAR start and is determined to compete for the win at one of his favorite tracks after capturing last year’s NTT P1 Pole Award. “First road course race of the season and our best race last year,” exclaimed VeeKay. “Barber is a very good track for us. I got the pole there last year but unfortunately only finished third when we were able to win. Hopefully, we can pick right back up where we left off last year!”

With three wins at Barber, the most of any driver in the field, Josef Newgarden of Team Penske looks to capture a fourth victory this weekend on top of his 2015, 2017 and 2018 wins-all powered by Chevrolet, saying he’s “so excited for Barber. It used to be my home track before the Music City Grand Prix,” noted Newgarden. “It’s right down the road, two-and-a-half hours. It’s a rollercoaster of a racetrack and I’ve had some good luck there, some very good cars. Hoping we can put together another good run this year.”

Scoring seven wins since 2012 in the 2.2L V6 Twin Turbo Direct Injection era at Barber Motorsports Park along with eight P1 awards, 15 podiums, and 560 laps led Chevrolet seeks its 108th victory in the Bowtie brand’s 186th INDYCAR race.

“Barber Motorsports Park has been a successful venue for Team Chevy since the 2012 debut of the 2.2 liter V6 engine,” noted Rob Buckner, IndyCar Program Manager at General Motors. “Our Chevrolet engineers have worked well with our teams to develop the right combination to produce seven wins in 10 races at Barber. But we also recognize the high level of competition in INDYCAR at the moment. Our engineers will continue to work hard to find improvements with our teams to keep Chevrolet at the front each weekend.”

“As to the track itself, it represents a number of challenges,” described Buckner. “It’s the first natural-terrain road course of the year. That means lots of elevation change and punishing runoff areas that always get the attention of drivers. Consistent power application and fuel management across the hills and around all 17 corners will be key. There’s nothing more we’d like than to go into the month of May and Indianapolis with another victory at Barber.”

The Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix kicks off with Practice 1 Friday, April 28 at 3:40 p.m. ET, with Practice 2 starting Saturday, April 29 at noon ET. Qualifications then start at 3 p.m. ET Saturday. A final warm up will start race day Sunday at noon ET. All practice and qualifying will be live on Peacock, INDYCAR Radio and SiriusXM Channel 160. The 90-lap, 207-mile race Sunday, April 30 will take the green flag at 3 p.m. ET live on NBC.

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING

Will Power, No. 12 Chevrolet at Team Penske:

“I really, really enjoy Barber. It’s a very nice facility. It’s a tough track with super high-commitment corners. We were able to test there, and I think we have a pretty good setup. We’ll roll off the truck pretty good, we hope. The series is so tight now; you never know where you’re at.”

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

“Barber Motorsports Park is one of the tracks I always look forward to – I’ve loved it ever since I started racing there in junior Formulas. It’s a very fast, very flowy track, and it’s easy to enjoy what a race car has to offer around that place. I’m excited to go back. We’ve had a great package there in the last few years, so let’s see what we can do this year.”

Felix Rosenqvist, No. 6 Chevrolet at Arrow McLaren INDYCAR:

”First road course of the year. Barber Motorsports Park is an amazing track, and it’s probably the biggest physical challenge for us drivers. It’s historically our best road course track, so hopefully we have enough to keep that going.”

Alexander Rossi, No. 7 Chevrolet at Arrow McLaren INDYCAR:

”Barber Motorsports Park is always a thrilling challenge, and I’m eager to take it on this weekend. Our team has shown great performance to start the year, but we need to start getting results. As a driver, you always strive for that perfect balance between precision and aggression, and Barber demands nothing less. I’m excited to see the fan energy as we push ourselves and battle for the top spot on the podium.”

Conor Daly, No. 20 Chevrolet at Ed Carpenter Racing:

“Our team has been successful at Barber Motorsports Park in the past and I’m excited to see what we’ve got this year. Obviously, Rinus (VeeKay) has been really fast there, and I hope to be able to learn from him and improve myself. The No. 20 BITNILE.COM car has been a bit unlucky there in the past couple years, so hopefully we can get things to go our way! The goal is now to kind of restart our season at Barber and get things going in the right direction.”

Rinus VeeKay, No. 21 Chevrolet at Ed Carpenter Racing:

“First road course race of the season and our best race last year! Barber is a very good track for us. I got the pole there last year but unfortunately only finished third when we were able to win. Hopefully we can pick right back up where we left off last year! ECR has won here in the past, so I am excited to go back to such a cool track. It’s a lovely place to race at the end of April. Brings some momentum into May, that’s what we need! We haven’t had a great start to the season, we need to turn it around and Barber is a great track to do that at.”

Santino Ferrucci, No. 14 Chevrolet at AJ Foyt Racing:

“Super excited to head to Barber to carry the momentum off of Long Beach. Haven’t been back for a little while now, so we will see how it goes for the team, but I know that Benjamin’s (Pedersen) rookie test proved successful, so I’m very excited to see what they learned and apply it to this weekend.”

Benjamin Pedersen, No. 55 Chevrolet at AJ Foyt Racing:

“I am really looking forward to being back at Barber this week. This is a track I have experience with and have found success at from F3 to Indy Lights. It will be nice to be back on a track that I am familiar with and it happens to be one of my favorite tracks on the schedule. We had a great test here last month in the No. 55 Sexton Properties Chevrolet, so I am excited to see what we can build on and accomplish as a team when we are on track beginning this Friday.”

CHEVROLET AT BARBER

Wins at Barber (since 2012): 7

2012 – Will Power

2013 – Ryan Hunter-Reay

2015 – Josef Newgarden

2016 – Simon Pagenaud

2017 – Josef Newgarden

2018 – Josef Newgarden

2022 – Pato O’Ward

Chevrolet Driver with the Most Barber Wins (since 2012): Josef Newgarden (3 – 2015, 2017, 2018)

Number of Team Chevy Pole Awards at Barber (since 2012): 9 (2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2021, 2022)

Chevrolet Driver with the Most Barber Pole Awards (since 2012): Helio Castroneves (2012, 2015) and Will Power (2014, 2017) – 2

Number of Team Chevy Podiums at Barber (since 2012): 15

Number of laps led by Team Chevy at Barber (since 2012): 560

2023 CHEVROLET BY THE NUMBERS

185: NTT INDYCAR SERIES races as V6 engine supplier since 2012 return to INDYCAR.

107: Wins in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES since 2012.

121: Earned poles since 2012.

7: Five Chevrolet drivers have won seven events since 2012 on the 2.3-mile permanent 17-turn permanent road course.

7: Manufacturer Championships since 2012.

7: Driver/entrant champions since 2012.

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

14: Consecutive seasons with at least one win by Will Power, including past 11 with Chevrolet power.

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

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

*Will Power’s career total of 68 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, available in 79 countries with more than 3.2 million cars and trucks sold in 2020. 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.

2023 ACURA GRAND PRIX OF LONG BEACH
STREETS OF LONG BEACH
LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA
TEAM CHEVY POST RACE RECAP
APRIL 16, 2023

Four Team Chevy drivers capture top-10 finishes on Streets of Long Beach
Will Power – 6th
Felix Rosenqvist – 7th
Josef Newgarden – 9th
Scott McLaughlin – 10th
Santino Ferrucci moved from 18th to 11th for season’s best finish
On-track contact relegated Pato O’Ward to 17th place finish after starting in third row, and to second in the standing
Newgarden remains fourth in points
Next on the calendar is The Children’s Hospital Alabama Grand Prix on April 30, 2023.

WHAT THEY ARE SAYING (QUOTES)

JOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 2 HITACHI TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET:

“I’m sad for my team, honestly. We had a phenomenal race car. Really great. We were chipping away all weekend. It’s been tough to put the laps together all the way up from qualifying and I felt like that was kind of our weakness was just getting everything together. We had good peak potential but just couldn’t realize it. In the race, we really had it together. That car was absolutely phenomenal. Team Chevy did great job for us. The whole No. 2 car with team Hitachi did amazing. Fate didn’t really go our way in the beginning. For our strategy, the yellow did not help us one bit. If there wasn’t a yellow in the beginning, and would’ve gone green a little longer, we would’ve been really pretty. But even with the yellow, we were making the most of it and I still think we had a shot at winning that race, but something else did us in and made the end pretty brutal. I’m not 100% sure yet, but something we had to overcome.”

SCOTT MCLAUGHLIN, NO. 3 SONSIO TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET:

“Yeah, well, you know, honestly, it was the race-it actually cooled the tires off because I was saving fuel on them, and we just got caught in the wrong spot. Ultimately a really good start and got to P4 was looking really good in the first exchange and I think we just got the wrong end of when were on those tires. I mean, ultimately, if you had a crystal ball, you’d start on greens because they are very temperatutr dependent. The blacks were better to look after fuel and all that stuff, but unfortunately don’t have that hindsight. But I think I think you know, we maximized as much as we could. It was a tough second stint because I picked up some rubber and that’s where I lost all my time. The Sonsio Chevy was good. I definitely think we deserved more but it is what it is. We’ll look forward to the Indianapolis test and then on to Barber.”

WILL POWER, NO 12 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET:

“It was good fuel save and tire conservation, there. We said in our strategy meeting if we got a yellow around lap 20, that’s the worse for us starting on black tires. It’s very common just on the restart and everything not to slip the tire. Just tried to look after it best I could and get the number, and that’s what we did. Drove as hard as I could like doing a qualifying lap. Every lap you’re lifting early to conserve fuel.”

On fuel conservation…

“It’s right in my wheel house. I’ve been doing it for so many years. It’s a very big part of INDYCAR racing, is saving fuel. I’m pretty happy when I hear the whole fields’ got to get this number because usually we can go a bit quicker and get the number at the same time.”

Is this a little bit like hearing last year in your head?

“It’s the only way to tackle it. You can’t even think about who’s ahead of you, or what, just what you’re doing in the moment. Just extract the most out of it and make good decisions. It’s as simple as that. Lucky to have Verizon resign and Team Penske re-sign me. We’ve got a very good group of people around me. Very fortunate. I have a lot of fun doing this. It’s fantastic.”

PATO O’WARD, NO. 5 ARROW MCLAREN CHEVROLET:

”It’s just one of those weekends. You’ll have great weekends, you’ll have decent ones and you’ll have miserable ones. Today didn’t start off too bad, but the race result is completely on me. I’m sorry to let the team down. I had a great race car. In the second half of the race, we didn’t have anything to fight with because of how much we were saving fuel to make it to the end. Definitely one to forget, and on to Barber – one of my favorite places.”

FELIX ROSENQVIST, NO. 6 ARROW MCLAREN CHEVROLET:

“P7 here at Long Beach. We came from P10, so it’s a good day. It’s not a fantastic result, but we’ll take it because it brings us back in the game in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship. It was a bad day for my teammates. I felt bad for Alexander and Pato. It was a big fuel-saving race, and we got stuck a little bit in the first stint, but in the second and third we were really strong and made some good decisions. It was fun in the end, good racing and happy to be back in the points. Now, we move on to Barber.”

ALEXANDER ROSSI, NO. 7 ARROW MCLAREN NTT CHEVROLET:

”Supremely disappointing. The car was fantastic for the race. I think we finally found what we’ve been missing so far this year from a performance standpoint in the warmup. It was a good race, and then what happened at two laps to go is unfortunate. Ultimately, it’s really disappointing because the car was so good. The team did a great job, and we’ve just got to take the positives from this and move on to Barber.”

CONOR DALY, NO. 20 BITNILE.COM ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET:

“The first stint was going great. It felt good to able to pass a few guys. The second stop, we had an issue getting the car up in the air and that really hurt us. The things happen in motorsport, it was a shame to see both cars struggle with something today. We have to be better next time and we know we are going into a few tracks were we have been fast at in the past. We just have to look forward!”

RINUS VEEKAY, NO. 21 BITNILE.COM ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET:

“It has been a tough weekend, but we made good progress so we have more of a direction to go when we come back next year. I think we really found something overnight and I was doing pretty well actually but it was tough to pass. I was hanging well with the cars around me and should have been in the Top 12, at least. It’s hard to not get good points. At one point, I was running six to eight miles an hour slower on the straightaways than everyone else. We stopped before we did any damage to the engine, we tried to think long-term. We’ve got Barber coming up and Barber is fun!”

SANTINO FERRUCCI, NO. 14 SEXTON PROPERTIES/ AJ FOYT RACING CHEVROLET:

“Solid day here at Long Beach. Our first actual result as a team, P11. All things considered, I think we did a great job, the team did a great job on pit road. Passed a bunch of cars, moved forward for a very long green race. I’m worn out, but I’m just happy we are improving and better. Everything feels better, so on to the next one.”

BENJAMIN PEDERSEN, NO. 55 SEXTON PROPERTIES/ AJ FOYT RACING CHEVROLET:

“Unfortunately, not a very smooth race for us. Started out great, though, in warm up today. We were very competitive, P15. Very honest lap time in terms of how much Push to Pass we used and everything. The race we just had a lot of internal issues with a couple of things with the car, etc., and an unfortunate penalty. Onwards. We’re going to take what we learned. On the bright side, we had very good pace in the race. Top-10 pace for sure. We’ll just keep working really hard and get the kinks fixed, and onwards to Barber.”

CALLUM ILOTT, NO. 77 JUNCOS HOLLINGER RACING CHEVROLET:

“So overall made a couple of positions finishing p 19. Yeah, we picked up a puncture on I think a lap one then had a horrible pitstop to change it. So it was then put a lap down we managed to get the wave by on that first safety car. Then had another bad pitstop on top of that and then came out in front of the pack and just tried to stay in front and then at that point we had good pace on that second spin saving fuel it was it was the right and then the third stint we had another bad pitstop and then drop back into the pack so then I was a lap down and we were on used tires managed to stay about one pays for some of them but was not a great race. Not a good weekend kind of on the backfoot since the crash Yeah, not not an easy one. Sometimes it’s like that. But it was just a combination of things adding on and adding on. So a bit disappointing. We knew this was gonna be a tough one for us anyway, car wise. So it’s quite nice to move on to barber and back where we’ll be stronger. But yeah, it’s a weekend full of disappointment.”

AGUSTIN CANAPINO, NO. 78 JUNCOS HOLLINGER RACING CHEVROLET:

“So unfortunately we come back but like with the moment when I reentered the race I lost an interval time with Callum because he went out with the cold tires and he lost time. The moment Castroneves tried to overtake me and I didn’t know he was one of down and in this moment touched the car towards the wall and I broke in the car. It is a shame because we had a good car today with the black tires. But this iteration this thing can happen and now we are trying to learn for the next race.”

2023 CHEVROLET BY THE NUMBERS

185: NTT INDYCAR SERIES races as V6 engine supplier since 2012 return to INDYCAR.

107: Wins in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES since 2012.

121: Earned poles since 2012.

7: Manufacturer Championships since 2012.

7: Driver/entrant champions since 2012.

About Chevrolet

Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world’s largest car brands, available in 79 countries with more than 3.2 million cars and trucks sold in 2020. 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.

LONG BEACH, Calif. (Sunday, April 16, 2023) – Kyle Kirkwood sealed the deal.

Kirkwood earned his first NTT INDYCAR SERIES victory Sunday by winning the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach from the pole in the No. 27 AutoNation Honda. The win came in Kirkwood’s 20th career start and third with Andretti Autosport, which he joined after driving for AJ Foyt Racing as a rookie in 2022.

“This is amazing, man,” Kirkwood said. “What a day. The calmest day I’ve had in two years, and it was a win.

“I was so happy with just the pole yesterday, but I’m over the moon right now. This is incredible for the whole team. We had a stellar day for the whole team with Andretti Autosport.”

Andretti Autosport teammate Romain Grosjean finished second in the No. 28 DHL Honda, .9907 of a second behind Kirkwood. It was the first 1-2 finish for Andretti Autosport since Colton Herta, Alexander Rossi and Ryan Hunter-Reay swept all three podium spots at the second race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in September 2020.

2022 Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge winner Marcus Ericsson rounded out the podium finishers in the No. 8 Huski Chocolate Chip Ganassi Racing Honda and took the championship lead by 15 points over Pato O’Ward, who finished 17th in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet.

Southern California native Herta finished fourth at his home race in the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda to help Andretti Autosport take first, second and fourth as its resurgence continues early this season. 2021 series champion Alex Palou placed fifth in the No. 10 Ridgeline Lubricants Honda, as he and Ericsson drove Chip Ganassi Racing to two of the top five spots. There were 253 on-track passes, the most at Long Beach since INDYCAR started tracking passes at the famed street circuit in 2009.

Florida native Kirkwood entered the series last season in the tire tracks of becoming the first driver to sweep titles in USF2000, USF Pro 2000 and INDY NXT by Firestone in successive seasons. But he had an incident-filled rookie season with the Foyt team and ended up 24th in the championship, the second-lowest full-time driver in the standings.

The first two races of this season also were rocky for Kirkwood, 24. He finished 15th in the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg presented by RP Funding and was eliminated by a mechanical problem from the PPG 375 at Texas Motor Speedway in 27th place.

But Kirkwood put everything together this weekend on the sun-splashed streets of the 11-turn, 1.968-mile temporary circuit, finally fulfilling the huge promise he showed throughout the junior categories. The win helped him jump from 20th to fifth in the championship standings.

“I just had a moment of relaxation (after crossing the finish line), to be honest,” Kirkwood said. “I felt like I needed this win, and we got it today. A moment of relief, no doubt.”

Said team owner Michael Andretti: “He’s the real deal. We knew it a long time ago when he won the championship for us in the INDY NXT series. We knew he was something special.”

Kirkwood led 53 of 85 laps and took the lead for good on Lap 56.

Reigning event winner Josef Newgarden had pitted from the lead under green in the No. 2 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet on Lap 52, with Grosjean entering the pits for the final time from second on Lap 53. Kirkwood followed suit on Lap 54 and was able to exit the pits comfortably on front of Newgarden and Grosjean.

When Palou made his final stop on Lap 55, Kirkwood cycled back to the lead. Grosjean kept his teammate honest over the closing 30 laps, lingering within about a second for most of the time. But Grosjean had to conserve fuel due to stopping a lap earlier than Kirkwood and couldn’t use his available, but fuel-gulping, push-to-pass until the final lap. By then, it was too late.

“It’s awesome for Kyle; I’m happy for him,” Grosjean said. “I wish I was in his position right now, but he drove a hell of a race, like a champ, the whole weekend. He deserved that. We tried everything we could on our end, but it was a fuel situation, so we couldn’t really attack.”

Still, like Kirkwood, the podium finish was a needed shot of redemption for Grosjean. He finished 18th and 14th in the first two races, eliminated in accidents in both.

Newgarden led 27 laps after starting eighth but also had to conserve fuel down the stretch and faded to ninth place at the finish.

Kirkwood will split $10,000 with Andretti Autosport and his chosen charity, AutoNation DRVPNK, for his victory as part of the PeopleReady Force For Good Challenge.

The next event of the 2023 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season is the Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix on Sunday, April 30 at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama.

2023 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach
Streets of Long Beach
Long Beach, California
Team Chevy Qualifying Recap
April 14, 2023

PATO O’WARD LEADS CHEVROLET IN QUALIFYING FOR THE GRAND PRIX OF LONG BEACH

• Pato O’Ward led the Chevrolet contingent in qualifying for the Grand Prix of Long Beach behind the wheel of the No, 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet
• O’Ward sixth quickest time in the Firestone Fast Six and will roll off on the outside of the third row for the 85-lap, 167.28-mile race on the 1.968-mile, 11-turn temporary street circuit on the Streets of Long Beach.

Team Chevy drivers starting in top-15
8th No. 2 Josef Newgarden
9th No. 3 Scott McLaughlin
10th No. 6 Felix Rosenqvist
11th No. 7 Alexander Rossi
13th No. 12 Will Power

The 85-lap, 167.28-mile race Sunday, April 16 will take the green flag at 12:45 p.m.PT/3:45 p.m. ET live on NBC.

WHAT THEY ARE SAYING:

PATO O’WARD, NO. 5 ARROW MCLAREN CHEVROLET:

“We sold ourselves short on that first attempt in Q2, which made us put on a second set of tires to end the session which meant we wouldn’t have a fresh set for Q3. That put us at a disadvantage with some of the other guys, especially Kyle Kirkwood. In Q3, I was on a good lap, not as good as what Kirkwood threw down. I knew I would have to bring out a mega lap on used tires in order to get Kirkwood. Obviously being a racing driver, I went for it and lost a little bit of time in Turn 9 being a little greedy, but we’re starting sixth tomorrow. We’ll give ourselves a good race car and we’ll see what we can pull off tomorrow.”

FELIX ROSENQVIST, NO. 6 ARROW MCLAREN CHEVROLET:

“I think we; I mean me personally, I was way quicker on a two-lapper than a one-lapper. I mean we tried tp get it done. We put on new tires like everyone else but I think, obviously we had the best track for the session. The track is getting better and better, so it can be both a benefit and a disadvantage. I don’t know. I didn’t get the tires up to temp and it was really slippery. I gave it everything, but I was three-tenths off what I did on old tires. I wasn’t improving. I think we’ve been strong all weekend anyways. Ran it up to top-10. Not fantastic but also not terrible. Let’s see what we can do from there.”

“I think it’s fun. You really truly see the scale of the drivers when you’re put in that situation. You have one go and there’s no ifs or buts, there are, but it doesn’t matter now. The one who is the quickest is the quickest. I think that’s pretty cool; it really puts us under pressure. I think it’s more sporty.”

ALEXANDER ROSSI, NO. 7 ARROW MCLAREN CHEVROLET:

”That was disappointing. I think we definitely had the potential to transfer to the Firestone Fast Six, but the timing of the red flag didn’t work out for us. Ultimately, we’re still a couple of changes away from where we want to be, but I think the team is showing good pace. We’re in a decent, acceptable spot for tomorrow, so we’ll try and make the most of it.”

JOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 2 HITACHI TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET:

“I meant lucky because we went out early in Q1 with the greens and the track just got better. Kind of scraped by there. Obviously, we‘d do it different if we could now. Yeah, it’s just frustrating. I think there’s time in the car, I just can’t extract it. I just can’t put the lap together. Even there, I as up a couple of tenths, and I just can’t reel it off. I guess we’ll start eighth which is okay. I think we’ve got a good piece, it’s just difficult this weekend to put it all together.”

On the search for raw speed versus long-run speed in the race, how tough is that trade off on a street course like Long Beach?

“You really want both, ideally. Sometimes you don’t get to pick. Your car is an eight one way or the other. I don’t know where we’re at on long-run this weekend, but certainly on the short run, it’s just been hard to piece together.”

SCOTT MCLAUGHLIN, NO. 3 SONSIO TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET:

“Unfortunately, man I’m pissed. I’m being honest, this Sonsio Chevy feels really good. It felt really good in practice, it just I never got a lap in there. I just couldn’t get the fronts up, unfortunately. A couple of others behind us couldn’t go in front of us. We’ve got to work a little bit harder to try and figure that out. As a driver, I could do things better as well. Really proud of my Sonsio Chevy team. I think we’ve something for them tomorrow, see where we’re at.”

CALLUM ILOTT, NO. 77 JUNCOS HOLLINGER RACING CHEVROLET:

“Pretty bad day to be honest. Obviously starting from getting stuffed really by not having any knowledge of the track changes and just approaching it the same way I did before. We got better than the aspects of otherwise moving on from that not having any experience as agreed. We went into qualify with the car just wasn’t really the Liferay window managed to scrap a reasonable time out of it but it just just wasn’t ideal. So better shape from day to day the office for everyone. We were lining up quite well off yesterday. together today is a bit of a bummer but it is what it is we have to review the changes made sure on top of it tomorrow. Try and work towards that now.”

AGUSTIN CANAPINO, NO. 78 JUNCOS HOLLINGER RACING CHEVROLET:

“We had a good qualifying for my first time here, not bad-one second off of the leader. I struggled a little bit. We must take on everything with the new tires and make gain with the start of the weekend. Tomorrow, we will go for what we can to take some points.”

SANTINO FERRUCCI, NO. 14 SEXTON PROPERTIES/AJ FOYT RACING CHEVROLET

“Qualifying was pretty good for us only a couple tenths off we’re making into the Fast 12. So very happy with finding all the time we have hopefully we figured out that car we just need a little bit more for the race tomorrow and we’ll go from there.”

BENJAMIN PEDERSEN, NO. 55 SEXTON PROPERTIES/AJ FOYT RACING CHEVROLET

” Just wrapped up qualifying starting. P 23. For tomorrow, my first ever Long Beach race. Very excited. A lot can happen tomorrow. So just trying to stay clean, have a good strategy and get the most out of the car that we can. But yeah, solid progress all day just trying to get better and better and better. And yeah, looking forward to tomorrow’s race.”

CONOR DALY, NO. 20 BITNILE.COM ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET

“We did not have the speed at all today. There’s no way around it. Not really sure why both Rinus (VeeKay) and I are struggling, but we really need to make an improvement for tomorrow and just make some magic happen. Hopefully, we can take a big step forward at some point coming up soon on the schedule but for now it has been tough.”

RINUS VEEKAY, NO. 21 BITNILE.COM ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET

“That was a really tough qualifying session, really it has been a difficult weekend so far. I expected that we would be better and would be starting higher up tomorrow. We will analyze everything and work to get better for the race, that is

About Chevrolet

Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world’s largest car brands, available in 79 countries with more than 3.2 million cars and trucks sold in 2020. 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.

LONG BEACH, Calif. (Saturday, April 15, 2023) – Kyle Kirkwood earned his first career NTT INDYCAR SERIES pole Saturday, grabbing the NTT P1 Award for the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.

Kirkwood, from Jupiter, Florida, won the top spot for the prestigious Southern California street race with a best time of 1 minute, 6.2878 seconds on his final lap in the Firestone Fast Six in the No. 27 AutoNation Honda. Kirkwood’s previous best starting spot in his NTT INDYCAR SERIES career was fifth in March at the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg presented by RP Funding, his first race with Andretti Autosport after spending his rookie season in 2022 with AJ Foyt Racing.

“Our car is on fire this weekend,” Kirkwood said. “We’re doing really good. I’m ecstatic. We’re just constantly chipping away at it, getting better and better, and I couldn’t be any happier than this. Third weekend with the team, and I already got a pole.”

Marcus Ericsson, winner of the season-opening street race at St. Petersburg, will join Kirkwood on the front row after a top lap of 1:06.3253 in the No. 8 Huski Chocolate Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. That tied Ericsson’s career-best start of second, set in 2022 on the oval at World Wide Technology Raceway, and is his best start on a road or street course.

Live coverage of the 85-lap race starts at 3 p.m. ET Sunday on NBC, Peacock, INDYCAR LIVE and the INDYCAR Radio Network. Peacock and the INDYCAR Radio Network will cover the 30-minute warmup session starting at noon ET.

Romain Grosjean will start third after a top lap of 1:06.5347 in the No. 28 DHL Honda, one of two Andretti Autosport cars in the top three. 2021 series champion Alex Palou will start fourth after a best lap of 1:06.5549 in the No. 10 Ridgeline Lubricants Honda.

Six-time series champion Scott Dixon was the second Ganassi driver in the Fast Six and will start fifth after a quick lap of 1:06.5730 in the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. Pato O’Ward, who led the first two practice sessions this weekend, was the fastest Chevy-powered driver after rounding out the Fast Six at 1:06.6039 in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet.

The first career pole was the highlight of Kirkwood’s young NTT INDYCAR SERIES career, which started last season after he became the first driver to win titles in successive seasons in USF2000, USF Pro 2000 and INDY NXT by Firestone. Kirkwood’s rookie year with the Foyt team was marred by incidents, and he finished a disappointing 24th in the standings.

But a first NTT P1 Award created a mixture of vindication and validation for Kirkwood, 24.

“It’s just a step in the right direction, in my mind,” Kirkwood said. “I knew this day would come. I didn’t know whether this day would come this late or this early. There are a lot of tough guys out here.

“But it’s kind of solidifying myself, right? It’s like, ‘OK, he can do this now.’”

Kirkwood earned his spot in the Firestone Fast Six on a pair of used alternate guayule Firestone tires in the Round of 12, saving his brand-new tires for the final round. That ploy paid off and was just part of the drama that engulfed the latter stages of the second round of qualifying.

“We did our lap on the used tires, I thought, “Man, the car feels really good on Lap 2, but it’s going to be hard to get it done on Lap 1, which is what you saw right there in the Fast Six,” Kirkwood said.

In the second round, Marcus Armstrong ran into the tire barrier in Turn 9 in the No. 11 The American Legion Honda, triggering a red flag with 53 seconds remaining. Standouts Ericsson, Dixon, Alexander Rossi and Grosjean were outside the top six when the red flag flew.

Armstrong was unhurt but eliminated from qualifying. INDYCAR officials ruled that all 11 remaining drivers in the session had one final flying lap in the second round, creating a dramatic run to earn a spot in the Firestone Fast Six.

Grosjean jumped to the top of the Top 12 runners with his final lap, with Ericsson slotting into fourth and Dixon sixth. Colton Herta, Felix Rosenqvist and Josef Newgarden were bounced from earning a spot in the Fast Six on that last lap.

Armstrong, who will start 12th, wasn’t the only driver to make contact during qualifying. David Malukas crashed out of the first round after contact in Turn 4 in the No. 18 HMD Honda. He was unhurt and will start 25th in the 27-car field.

Garcia, Taylor aim to charge forward in street fight with No. 3 C8.R

LONG BEACH, Calif. (April 14, 2023) – Corvette Racing will start fourth in class and fifth among all production-based GT cars Saturday for the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach following Friday’s qualifying session for the Acura Grand Prix.

Antonio Garcia set a best lap of 1:18.329 (90.449 mph) in a tough-luck, 15-minute qualifying for GT Daytona (GTD) PRO cars in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. Driving the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R with teammate Jordan Taylor, Garcia finished the session a half-second off the GTD PRO pole time.

He lost two of his best laps in the qualifying due to cars spinning ahead of him, which meant the Corvette had to bail out on those flying laps. Still, Garcia will look to make up spots early and often at the tight and twisty 1.968-mile, 11-turn circuit. The race likely will feature one planned pit stop, so the potential is there for the stellar Corvette Racing crew to gain spots in the pitlane.

Long Beach is an intense 100-minute dash for the Corvette program and the rest of the WeatherTech Championship teams. It’s an event that Corvette Racing has won more than another team in series history – four times since 2014 – to go along with four more victories in the American Le Mans Series era from 2007-2013.

The event is, of course, miles different than the team’s first two races of the season – the Rolex 24 and Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring. Due to the 100-minute race time and no margin for error with concrete walls lining the circuit, qualifying and track position are everything.

That meant a dual-focused approach in Friday’s two practice sessions for establish the best qualifying and race setups in order to not just earn track position in Friday’s time trials but to also keep and improve it Saturday in the race.

The Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach is scheduled for 5:05 p.m. ET / 2:05 p.m. PT on Saturday. The race will air live on USA Network from 5-7 p.m. ET with full streaming coverage on Peacock. IMSA Radio will carry the race at IMSA.com along with Sirius 217, XM 207 and SiriusXM Online 992.

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – QUALIFIED FOURTH IN GTD PRO: “It was a difficult session in a way. It was difficult to gauge the traffic and when people were going to spin. So far we have been struggling to put temperature in the tires. We definitely needed more laps. It’s a shame I only got one good-ish lap. Maybe it should have been better than that but it’s a shame that a 15-minute qualifying went down to five or six laps total around here.

“The McLaren spun in front of me in Turn Five, and I had to bail on that lap. Then we there was another crash at Turn Eight. Those may have been good laps there. I’m not sure they would have been good for pole, but the car and the rhythm were still coming in. But that’s Long Beach.”

2023 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship – GTD PRO (After two of 11 events)

Driver Standings

1. Daniel Juncadella/Jules Gounon/Maro Engel – 708
2. Ben Barnicoat/Jack Hawksworth – 682
3. Klaus Bachler/Laurens Vanthoor/Patrick Pilet – 659
4. Antonio Garcia/Jordan Taylor/Tommy Milner – 643
5. Jordan Pepper/Romain Grosjean – 612

Team Standings

1. No. 79 WeatherTech Racing – 708
2. No. 14 Vasser Sullivan – 682
3. No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports – 659
4. No. 3 Corvette Racing – 643
5. No. 63 Iron Lynx – 612

Manufacturer Standings

1. Mercedes-AMG – 708
2. Lexus – 682
3. Porsche – 659
4. Chevrolet – 643
5. Lamborghini – 612

CORVETTE RACING AT LONG BEACH: By the Numbers

• 1: As in one team, one manufacturer and one model of car for 16 years at Long Beach: Corvette Racing, Chevrolet and the Chevrolet Corvette.
• 3: Generations of Corvette Racing entries at Long Beach since 2007 – Corvette C6.R (2007-13) and Corvette C7.R (2014-2019) and Corvette C8.R (2021-current). All three generations have won at least once at Long Beach.
• 4: Number of Long Beach race victories for Corvette Racing’s duo of Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor.
• 8: Number of drivers who have competed at Long Beach for Corvette Racing – Olivier Beretta, Antonio Garcia, Oliver Gavin, Jan Magnussen, Tommy Milner, Johnny O’Connell, Nick Tandy and Jordan Taylor. Each driver won at least once at Long Beach.
• 8: Number of Long Beach victories in 15 appearances for Corvette Racing – more than any other IMSA entrant at the circuit.
• 10: Number of Long Beach sports car victories for Chevrolet. Throw in 12 IndyCar wins, and Chevrolet has claimed 22 victories in the event’s two premier races.
• 14: Manufacturer Championships for Chevrolet and Corvette Racing since 2001.
• 19: Number of street circuit victories for Corvette Racing – more than any other IMSA entrant at the circuit.
• 26: Tracks at which Corvette Racing has won races – Baltimore, Charlotte Motor Speedway, COTA, Canadian Tire Motorsport Park/Mosport, Daytona, Detroit, Houston, Laguna Seca, Le Mans, Lime Rock, Long Beach, Miami, Mid-Ohio, Monza, Portland, Road America, Road Atlanta, Sebring, Sonoma, St. Petersburg, Texas, Trois Rivieres, Utah, VIR, Washington DC and Watkins Glen
• 30: Number of wins in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship for Corvette Racing since the start of 2014.
• 34: Number of drivers for Corvette Racing since 1999. Ben Keating and Nico Varrone joined that list with their participation – and victory – in the 1,000 Miles of Sebring for the World Endurance Championship.
• 123: Victories worldwide for Corvette Racing – 113 in North America and eight at Le Mans.
• 269: Event starts by Corvette Racing since 1999.
• 4,081.61: Number of racing miles completed by Corvette Racing in its 15 previous trips to Long Beach. That represents 2,074 laps around the 1.968-mile street circuit.
• 353,311.01: Total number of racing miles completed by Corvette Racing since its inception. To put that in perspective, Corvette Racing is more than halfway to the distance traveled by Apollo 13 – the longest manned spaceflight in history: 622,268 miles. That means Corvette Racing has raced to the moon… and then some!

Corvette Racing at Long Beach (wins in bold)

2007

No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Jan Magnussen/Johnny O’Connell – 2nd in GT1 (Magnussen fastest race lap)

No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta/Oliver Gavin – 1st in GT1 (Gavin pole)

2008

No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Johnny O’Connell/Jan Magnussen – 1st in GT1 (Magnussen pole)

No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta/Oliver Gavin – 1st in GT1 (Gavin fastest race lap)

2009

No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Jan Magnussen/Johnny O’Connell – 2nd in GT1

No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta/Oliver Gavin – 1st in GT1 (Beretta pole, fastest race lap)

2010

No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Jan Magnussen/Johnny O’Connell – 2nd in GT2

No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Oliver Gavin/Jan Magnussen – 9th in GT2 (Gavin fastest race lap)

2011

No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta/Tommy Milner – 5th in GT

No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Oliver Gavin/Jan Magnussen – 2nd in GT (Magnussen fastest race lap)

2012

No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 4th in GT

No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 1st in GT (Gavin fastest race lap)

2013

No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 5th in GT

No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 4th in GT (Gavin fastest race lap)

2014

No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 1st in GTLM (Magnussen pole)

No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 3rd in GTLM (Milner fastest race lap)

2015

No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 3rd in GTLM

No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 7th in GTLM

2016

No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 9th in GTLM

No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 2nd in GTLM

2017

No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 5th in GTLM (Magnussen pole)

No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 1st in GTLM

2018

No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 4th in GTLM

No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 1st in GTLM

2019

No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 2nd in GTLM

No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 3rd in GTLM

2021

No. 3 Corvette C8.R: Antonio Garcia/Jordan Taylor – 2nd in GTLM (Taylor pole)

No. 4 Corvette C8.R: Tommy Milner/Nick Tandy – 1st in GTLM (Tandy fastest race lap)

2022

No. 3 Corvette C8.R: Antonio Garcia/Jordan Taylor – 3rd in GTD PRO (Taylor pole)

Team Chevy high-resolution racing photos are available for editorial use.

About Chevrolet
Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world’s largest car brands, available in nearly 80 countries with nearly 2.7 million cars and trucks sold in 2021. 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.

2023 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach
Streets of Long Beach
Long Beach, California
Team Chevy Practice One Recap
April 14, 2023

PATO O’WARD ON POINT IN PRACTICE ONE FOR CHEVROLET

LONG BEACH, Calif (April 14, 2023) NTT INDYCAR Series points leader Pato O’Ward set the pace for the 27-car field in the first practice for the 48th running of the Grand Prix of Long Beach-the 39th for INDYCAR. O’Ward bested the field with a lap of one minute, 06.6999 seconds behind the wheel of his No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, just over two and a half tenths faster than second place.

“Yeah, we just kept chipping away at it,” said O’Ward. “We rolled off strong, but we’ve been definitely making adjustments to kind of get it a little bit more in the window. A bit more to this tracks characteristics and, to what I like. So far it’s good we’re, we’re gonna look into it and see where we can make improvements but I think we’re in some good shape for tomorrow and it just all about executing. It’s such a tight field. Long Beach always is just such an intense qualifying.

“I mean, I couldn’t get off of the brakes when I flat spotted the tire. If I did, I was gonna go into the tires. It was the last run of the day and when you’re gonna try something like that, that’s usually when you should because you know qualifying definitely not the not the place to be getting experimental. So now we know what we want we don’t want to do but the tracks gonna keep evolving. It’s going to keep creeping up. There’s it’s really quick. It’s a very, very quick section after turn six is really nice now, a lot a lot more smooth. But turn eight reminds me a little bit of what the changes felt like in turn three at St. Pete with a new asphalt that meets the older one meet was a massive bump. That makes consistency a little bit more challenging. But yeah, so far it’s a good start.”

Three additional Chevrolet powered drivers joined O’Ward in the top-nine of the final order. Teammate Alexander Rossi in his No. 7 Chevrolet posted the seventh quickest time with third of the Arrow McLaren drivers, Felix Rosenqvist, posting ninth quickest in the No. 6. Wedged in eighth is Callum Ilott, No, 77 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet.

Remaining Team Chevy drivers finished practice as follows:

13th No.3 Scott McLaughlin

14th No. 2 Josef Newgarden

15th No. 12 Will Power

20th No. 20 Conor Daly

22nd No, 21 Rinus VeeKay

23rd No. 78 Agustin Canapino

26th No. 14 Santino Ferrucci

27th No. 55 Benjamin Pedersen

On Saturday demanding 1.968-mile, 11-turn temporary street circuit on the Streets of Long Beach hosts NTT INDYCAR Series Practice Two at 8:45 a.m. local. Firestone Fast Six Qualifying will start at 12:05 p.m. PT on Saturday. A final warm up will start race day on Sunday at 9 a.m. PT. All practice and qualifying will be live on Peacock, INDYCAR Radio and SiriusXM Channel 160. The 85-lap, 167.28-mile race Sunday, April 16 will take the green flag at 3:45 p.m. ET/12:45 p.m. PT live on NBC.

NTT INDYCAR SERIES News Conference

Friday, April 14, 2023

Pato O’Ward

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Good afternoon. Wrapping up day one with NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice. Pato O’Ward, the NTT INDYCAR SERIES points leader, quickest.

Pato, we heard you talking about the new pavement. You like it, feels pretty good?

PATO O’WARD: It’s a lot better. I think what’s made it a little bit trickier is where the new asphalt meets the old one in turn eight, it reminds you of turn three in St. Pete. It’s smooth moving in, but it’s a smaller scale, not as quick, but there’s definitely a bump there. I think that will be something to watch just throughout the weekend.

Yeah, I’m happy with it. We got into the window. It’s tight, man. I think qualifying is going to be as tight as it’s probably ever been. I think it puts a lot of emphasis on just the little mistakes you can make.

THE MODERATOR: We’ll open it up for questions.

Q. Pato, you said it’s super tight. You’re a quarter of a second quicker than P2. That’s a lot in this series. Where did that last bit of speed come from?

PATO O’WARD: I guess I nailed down the lap. Yeah, it felt good. The little changes that got done to the track maybe not completely changed the setup, but I think it allows you to do a couple different things. You can get away with a couple more things that you couldn’t years past.

But where did it come from? I don’t know. I guess, yeah, I was just driving (smiling).

Q. Pato, it’s usually in the 70s here in Long Beach around this time. Today it was 62. Did the weather have any effect at all on what happened out there today in the session?

PATO O’WARD: Beautiful day. I haven’t really seen what tomorrow’s going to be like. Is it going to be similar?

Q. Colder.

PATO O’WARD: I thought today was beautiful. The track is definitely quicker than what it was last year. There’s not as much rubber down, but the track is fast. I think the more cars laying down rubber, it’s just probably going to gain and gain and gain.

Yeah, the tires and the engines like the colder temperatures rather than it being really hot.

Q. Pato, it’s only Friday, but how much confidence does that give you going into the rest of the weekend?

PATO O’WARD: Things can change really quick in INDYCAR. It’s so competitive. So I think what we’ll do now is just try and make it better. There’s always things you can improve on. Come tomorrow, go out there and just execute. I think that’s the most important part.

You can have the quickest car, but if you don’t get the lap together, you’re looking yourself at a harder Sunday than what it should, I guess.

Yeah, I think tomorrow will just be about getting the laps down and not making the silly mistakes that can put you back.

THE MODERATOR: Thanks for coming by. Appreciate it.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

Team Chevy high-resolution racing photos are available for editorial use.

About Chevrolet

Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world’s largest car brands, available in 79 countries with more than 3.2 million cars and trucks sold in 2020. 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.

LONG BEACH, Calif. (Friday, April 14, 2023) – It’s only fitting that in Southern California, Pato O’Ward continues to ride a wave.

O’Ward led the opening practice Friday for the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, turning a top lap of 1 minute, 6.6999 seconds in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet on the 11-turn, 1.968-mile temporary street circuit.

“It’s a tight field,” O’Ward said. “Long Beach is always such an intense qualifying. We just kept chipping at it today. We rolled off strong, but we’ve been definitely making adjustments to get it a little more in the window, a bit more to this track’s characteristics and to what I like. So far, it’s good.”

The top time continued a roll for NTT INDYCAR SERIES points leader O’Ward, who opened the season with second-place finishes in March on the temporary street circuit at St. Petersburg and earlier this month on the high-banked oval at Texas.

Less than half a second separated the top seven drivers in the 27-driver field under sunny Southern California skies. But O’Ward still managed to build a gap of .2650 of a second over his closest pursuer, six-time series champion Scott Dixon, who ended up second at 1:06.9649 in the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.

“We’re going to look into it and see where we can make improvements, but I think we’re in good shape for tomorrow,” O’Ward said. “It’s all about executing, man. It’s going to be really, really tough.”

Practice resumes at 11:45 a.m. ET Saturday, followed by NTT P1 Award qualifying at 3:05 p.m. (both sessions live on Peacock, INDYCAR Radio Network). Live coverage of the 85-lap race starts at 3 p.m. Sunday on NBC, Peacock and the INDYCAR Radio Network.

Southern California native Colton Herta led two Andretti Autosport cars in the top five of the 75-minute practice, ending up third at 1:06.9808 in the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda. 2022 Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge winner Marcus Ericsson, who won the season-opening street race in St. Petersburg, was the second Chip Ganassi Racing car in the top four after ending up fourth at 1:06.9859 in the No. 8 Huski Chocolate Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.

Romain Grosjean rounded out the top five at 1:07:1049 in the No. 28 DHL Honda, the second Andretti Autosport car in the top five.

Reigning Long Beach winner Josef Newgarden ended up 14th at 1:07.4273 in the No. 2 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet after scraping the wall exiting Turn 5 about 35 minutes into the session. The floor of his car was damaged, as was his first set of tires. Newgarden returned to the pits for repairs and returned to the track but ended his session about 10 minutes early to save wear on his second set of Firestones.

“This place is like a gnarly afternoon on the 405 (freeway) with hella traffic,” Newgarden said. “It’s Long Beach. I about did that (hit wall) four or five times. Some of the settings we started with were probably aggressive, and I was trying to make the most of it.

“But it’s good vibes here. I love this place, and the Hitachi car is quick.”

Star of The CW’s ‘The Flash’ To Take NTT INDYCAR SERIES Thrill Ride

INDIANAPOLIS (Wednesday, April 12, 2023) – Grant Gustin, star of The CW Network’s hit show “The Flash,” will ride in the Fastest Seat in Sports at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach on Sunday, April 16, leading the full field of drivers to the green flag at one of the most thrilling and prestigious stops on the NTT INDYCAR SERIES schedule.

The live telecast of the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach will start at 3 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock.

INDYCAR’s Fastest Seat in Sports is a high-speed, high-octane, super-charged thrill ride in a custom INDYCAR SERIES car with a special back passenger seat. At almost every race on the schedule, the car advances the field of drivers to the start/finish line to signify the beginning of the race, with a special passenger in the guest seat. Previous participants in the Fastest Seat in Sports include Lady Gaga, NBA champions Steph Curry and Kawhi Leonard, actors Simu Liu and Channing Tatum, and many others.

From Warner Bros. Television, “The Flash” debuted its ninth and final season on The CW Network this February and will have its final run at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Wednesday, May 24. Gustin will wear a special “The Flash”-themed racing helmet and suit for his INDYCAR experience Sunday.

The CW Network is also the upcoming home of “100 Days to Indy,” a brand-new documentary series chronicling the exhilarating and intense countdown to this year’s Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge.

The first episode of “100 Days to Indy” premieres on The CW at 9 p.m. ET/PT Thursday, April 27. See the first look at “100 Days to Indy” here.